The Secrets to The Wealthy

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0:31are now on Paramount+. Subscribe now. Earners, what's up? Look, building wealth isn't just about making money. It's about knowing where your money is working for you. That's why we partnered with Empower. Empower is all about helping you invest well so you can go out and live a little. Their free Empower personal dashboard gives you a complete view of your financial life in one place. Track your net worth, monitor your budget, analyze your investments, set retirement goals, and more. You've worked hard for your money. Now make sure it's working hard for you. Download the Empower personal dashboard or visit Empower.com.

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2:18Expense reports, receipt chasing, month-end close that takes weeks. You become what you spend on, and that's not what you're building toward brex is the intelligent finance platform that eliminates that work before it starts ai agents that handle the manual stuff automatically so your team can spend their time on what actually compounds it's time to get brex af learn more at brex.com slash af so i started my career uh straight out of high school so i was 19 years old when i started working at the bank i I did everything, teller, personal banker, private banker, branch manager, was the CEO of a credit union.

2:57And for me, I kind of I mean, I've always sort of like been a hustler. Like I always knew that I didn't want people to tell me what to do and things of that nature. Like I wanted to be an entrepreneur. But like you said, that security is what kept me in the game as long as I was in the game. But for me, that transition, it is difficult, though. Right. It is that up and down because I know I remember I retired from banking when I was 30 years old. Key word, retired. Retired, right? I even threw myself a party, a retirement party at 40 Club, right? I was just about to turn 30. And I was making money, right?

3:35I was making six figures at the bank, wound up quitting, becoming an entrepreneur. I almost fell on my face though, right? To be honest, right? I almost got to a space where, you know, I wasn't making as much money because I was used to that lifestyle. And so I had to go back into the working world, figure some things out. And then now I was like, all right, now I'm going to jump back back in there. And so partly what worked for me was being able to create that multiple streams of income. And that's why I tell people that whatever you do, make sure that you're not only relying on one source of income, because having multiple streams of income was what allowed me to say, okay, you know what?

4:12Now I can jump out and be comfortable. But being on the institutional side, it was tough, right? Because, I mean, you know, as being a licensed financial advisor, there's certain things that you're highly regulated, right? And so even when I wrote my first book, My Right, Money Right, so my real name is Ash Exantis, right? And the reason why I write under Ash Cash was because back in 2009, when I wanted to write my first book, Mind Right, Money Right, 10 Laws of Financial Freedom, I needed to ask permission from the institution to see whether I could write the book. Because I was a licensed rep with them, it was a conflict of interest, and they wouldn't let me write the book, right?

4:54And so, ask for forgiveness, not for permission. So, I decided, I'm like, you know what? I'm going to write this book under Ash Cash. If they find out, they find out, but I'll be Ash Xantus from nine to five and I'll be Ash Cash every other time. And that worked for me because I was building both simultaneously to the point where Ash Cash got hot enough where I was able to leave my nine to five and create some income by doing that. And that's something that I always encourage people to do as well, but you don't have to do all at the same time, right? Everything at the same time. So you can still work a regular job while building up your entrepreneurial business.

5:32And then when that gets to a point where it can support you, then you take the lead. Right. Like people, I don't know where this anti-9 to 5 thing come from. Like stop watching social media. They lying. Yo, you know how many people who's out here acting like they independent and then you bump into them at their 9 to 5. You know what I'm trying to say? What's up, bro? Right. Like stop listening to them. It's like it's a lie. Like your job is your investor. It is your first investor. You quit your job. So so so so the reason why. So I have a company called my right money management. The reason why it's my right money management because it's a mindset first.

6:14Money is mindset. If you don't have the proper mindset, I don't care if you make a hundred thousand dollars, a million dollars, ten million dollars. If you don't have the proper mindset, you're still going to be broke. Right. And what people don't realize is that if you have to struggle, the brain space that it takes for you to be creative, you're not going to be as creative. Your entrepreneurship venture is not going to be as successful as it could be had you had the proper brain space to not have to focus on the basics. So I tell people, listen, keep your nine to five. It is your first investor.

6:48It is investing in your business. it removes you having to think about the basics where i'm gonna live how i'm gonna eat and then the rest is how you invest your time period well the key the key to that is that you have to be willing to put in overtime oh absolutely when i say overtime not overtime at your job overtime as far as to say okay i work from nine to five from six o 'clock to eleven o 'clock at night not a lot of people are willing to do that right that's the thing that and we talk about the social media thing it's like that's what stops a lot of people is to say okay i can still work a job but i'm gonna work another job right that i'm not gonna get paid for right because you you entrepreneurial the first year first two years first five years whatever you might work the same nine to five on the night end yeah and not get a dollar for it yeah that's a sacrifice that a lot of people's not willing to make but let me ask you this because i wanted to um you all right so you said that one position in general um kind of changed your whole way of thinking right were you You're the CEO of a credit union?

7:47Of a credit union, yep. And Queensbridge, right? Queensbridge Projects. So, all right. So Queensbridge is the largest projects in North America, if anybody's not familiar. Also home to hip-hop royalty. Yes. Nas. NAS. Mobb D. Mobb D. Breath of the Beast Project. Yeah. Ron Artest. Capone. Ron Artest. Quamega. Yeah. A bunch of people. They ran Queensbridge in the 90s, late 90s. MCC. Don't forget them. We got them all the way back. Yeah, yeah, yeah. We got all the way back. But we can't fit. I was just having this debate about rap, right? And in the 90s, it was like Queens, the borough just was unstoppable.

8:20It was a resurgence. It was a resurgence. I don't know. And it's like Queens Bridge specifically. If you think about it, for one project to have that much talent come out of it, it's crazy, but it's 96 buildings. 96. So they had their own credit union in the projects, right? Yeah. So Urban Upbound is a nonprofit that provided services within that area. and so Bishop Taylor, the CEO of the nonprofit, decided that he wanted to open up a credit union to serve those members. And so we had a mutual friend when I was working at Citibank at the time, we had a mutual friend and he was like, listen, you're the perfect person.

8:54You grew up in the projects, you're a VP at a bank, you understand our people, but you also understand how to run a branch from P &Ls and all that stuff. And so he tapped me and was like, listen, I want you to run this credit union. And so I was 31 at the time. And so at the time I was one of the youngest CEOs of a federally chartered bank. And that really kind of changed my perspective on just what we need, you know, from a financial education perspective, because a couple of things I realized is that when I was working at Citibank in the same type of environment, right? I was running a$45 million branch right on 144th Street and 7th Avenue in Harlem, same demographic, public housing, it was low income.

9:37But because we had the capital, we were able to provide the products and services that they needed. Working at the credit union, I realized that, Jay said this, right? He says, I can't help the poor if I'm one of them. So I got rich and gave back to me. That's the win-win. I didn't understand that until I became the CEO of a credit union and realized that in order to help them, one, we needed to educate them first because they were so used to using check cash in places and giving their money away that there was an education part first. But then there was a capital thing as well, right? Meaning that a lot of people were going to the check cash in places, were going to the pawn shops, were taking payday loans, were doing all of those things because they needed access, right?

10:26I, as a CEO of a credit union, could not give them access because there's a balance between taking risk as an institution, right? And so let's say, for instance, I had$2 million in deposits. That means there's a reserve, right? I can't lend up the$2 million. I have to keep a reserve. And so let's say I can lend$1.2 million, but now I have to look at the risk. Like as a credit union, the people who put their money in own the credit union, right? You're owner of the credit union, but I can't lend$5 ,000 to somebody who has not demonstrated that they will be able to pay it back, even though I know that they need it and that I can help.

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14:58PayPal Open, built for all business. Visit PayPalOpen.com to get started. That's PayPalOpen.com. It made me realize that, yes, access to capital is important, is very, very important. But that financial education piece is more important because, again, we've seen people who come from places who they don't have any money. You give them money, they will lose the money. They will go back to square one because they haven't changed their mindset. They haven't recalibrated. And that's what changed my life. I said, you know what? I have to be on a mission, not only locally. Right. So prior to that, you know, I was working in Harlem.

15:41I was working downtown. I was working in Queensbridge. But I said on a national level, I want to reach people. And that's why I continue to write books. That's why, you know, I started to reach out and become a national voice for financial education, because our people, most importantly, have been been shut out. Right. Shut out of this information for so long. And not just like we didn't do it. Like if you read the book, Color of Law, you'll realize that there were government sanctioned laws that shut us out financially. And so now we have to take back control and re-educate people. It's dope because like from an education standpoint, right, and the same thing from the financial world, you're inside the system.

16:24So you can see that the customers and your clients really don't have knowledge. And the same thing that we're kind of doing where I'm in the education system. I know it's not being taught in school. So we have to go out and give the financial education. But one of the things that you said is that your culture is responsive. Absolutely. And that is so powerful because, like I said, culture always changes, right? Down to the name of your company, right? Money Right Management. Like when I heard Money Right on Map League, I thought Memphis Bleed. For sure. And when I was like, yo, is there something there?

16:51Yeah, absolutely. Without a doubt. And so it's so funny. And this is a testament to why you be your authentic self and do not care what people say. I'm gonna tell you a quick story. I wrote my first book in 2009. Right. It's going on 10 years. It was called My Right, Money Right based on a Jay-Z and Memphis Glee song. Right. When I wrote the book, though, you know, I did not write the book as if the influence was hip hop. Right. Like I tried to, you know, at the time you had the Dave Ramsey, Susie Ormans out there and people were advising me against using hip hop and money. They were like, yo, it's a serious topic.

17:28Do not blend it to. How can you possibly do it? And I listened to them. And so I said, you know what? Nah, I'm going to write this book. I'm going to do it the way I want to write it, whatever the case may be. Fast forward, right, you know, eight years later where I finally was like, nah, I hear the Jay-Z 444 album. We're hearing it different. And I'm like, nah, I've got to mix hip-hop and, you know, and finances together. and it became my most successful book. Had I listened 10 years ago and said, you know what, now I'm feeling this hip hop and money, I'm going to mix the two together. But to your point about being culturally responsive, it's that, right?

18:10Is that a lot of times, and this is not just financial education, this is a lot of things that we're trying to teach people. We tend to teach people based on our level of understanding, but we don't realize or we forget that we had to go through a journey to even get here. And so as the educator, let's stop trying to reach people from where we are, but let's reach them where they are. And I think that now that we look at hip hop as being the great equalizer where, you know, when I listened to my first Jay-Z track, I was 15 years old, right? And so throughout those years, I've grown, right? People who listen to hip hop have grown.

18:47We have homes now, we have kids, we have families. You know, we have some even have grandchildren and are thinking about legacy building. We are the grown up hip hop. It's like, oh. Right, right. Yeah, it's like, it's Derrick Falcon. Derrick Falcon. Derrick Falcon, where he said, you know, we didn't know neo entrepreneurs, whereas we don't necessarily have to wear a suit if we don't want to. Right, right. We can wear Vapor Mags and we can wear t-shirts. Yeah, the dude wearing Vapor Mags is hiring. That doesn't discredit the information. Absolutely. Right? Because it's like, okay, we grew up in the hip hop era.

19:14We grew up playing sports and this is what it is, right? So it's like, you know, as opposed to trying to water it down, be something that we're not, we can deliver the message in a language that the people understand. And that's one thing I like about you because it's in line. What we do as far as with the podcast is like, you know, it's always easy to be yourself. Absolutely. You know what I'm saying? I think that's one of my favorite Drake lines. He said that line. He was like, you could be anything you want, even yourself. Right. It's brilliant. Even when AZ, when he said, still do me because it's easy to do.

19:46Because it's like, that really is easy. It takes a lot of effort to try to be somebody that you're not. But a lot of times people do that every single day in the work world and just life in general. And A, it never works because you're trying to duplicate somebody else. And B, it's just not even comfortable. So the message is never going to get delivered because the people that you're trying to be like, they know you're not them. And the people who you really are like, they're looking at you like, you're talking down. You don't sound like us. You turned your back on us. But I wanted to ask you something because you said something that was very key.

20:22You said when you was on the institutional side working in banks, you realized that wealthy people, they have a team. And we even said, bringing it back with the lyrics, when Nipsey said, I don't need an ID in my bank. I walk in, I got a team in my bank. And you was like, that's one of the things that motivates you to just educate people. Because we're so far, when I say we are community, we're so far behind the eight ball, we don't even know what's on the other side of the door. Can you just explain what's on the other side of the door? So for two years, I was a private banker and I managed assets.

20:55I had a book of business, 400 mass affluent clients. So the term mass affluent just means$250 ,000 in investable assets. So you have to have liquid$250 ,000 or more to even qualify to have a private banker. And so my richest client was worth$22 million. I was part of a team though. I wasn't the only person that worked on that on that wealthy person's portfolio. You know, I managed the banks and the mutual funds. And there was somebody who was the mortgage guy. There was somebody who was the banker. There was somebody who, you know, worked on, you know, the investment banking side. Like they had a whole team of people who not only worked for them, meaning that this wealthy person didn't have to think about their money.

21:43Like this wealthy person got up and did what they did every single day to keep their wealth. If your best finance people are doing expense reports, chasing receipts, or spending time on month-end clothes, it's time to get Brex AF, a gentic finance that eliminates that work before it starts. Learn more at brex.com slash AF. Discover a spectacular island destination with crystal blue seas, endless sunshine, and the cool Bahamian breeze. Baja Mar, located in Nassau, Bahamas, offers your choice of three luxury hotels, over 45 fine dining and nightlife venues, John Batiste's all-new jazz club, the Caribbean's most luxurious casino, and one-of-a-kind experiences for the entire family, like our 15-acre tropical water park, wildlife sanctuary, world-class golf course, and so much more.

22:32Visit Baja Mar.com today. Innovation is what gets your business to market, And Wasabi is designed to give every business a shot at competition. How? Break free from skyrocketing storage costs and unpredictable egress fees from old and top-heavy legacy providers. You know, the big guys. Wasabi is the world's hottest cloud storage company and the go-to provider for professional and collegiate sports teams and leagues around the world. And here's why. Innovation. From Wasabi's AI-enabled intelligent media storage, Wasabi Air, to the industry's only cloud storage service with triple protection against cyber criminals, data deletion, and ransomware, the world's top companies trust Wasabi.

23:16Remember, Wasabi is up to 80 % less than market competition and doesn't charge a cent for businesses to access their own data. Wasabi, another championship story. Check them out for free at wasabi.com. Wasabi Hot Cloud Storage, proud partner of iHeart Podcast Network.

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24:25PayPal Open, built for all business. Visit paypalopen.com to get started. That's paypalopen.com. Make it a summer of life at Credit Union 1 Amphitheater. Get four lawn tickets for just$99 and see Evanescence on July 8th, John Mellencamp on July 11th, The Black Crows and Whiskey Myers on July 24th, Neo and Akon on July 28th, Avenged Sevenfold and Good Charlotte on July 30th, and many more. Get your friends and grab tickets now at creditunion1amp.com. And there were people working around the clock to manage their money to make sure that their money grows, right? Meaning that from a banking perspective, there were no fees.

25:15They weren't charging anything. From an investment perspective, they had someone watching their portfolio. You know, from a mortgage perspective, they had somebody if rates dropped. So these were all people working proactively to maintain or build this person's wealth. while us, you know, people in our community, people who don't have access to this team, like we're trying to figure out how to do stuff day to day. And we got to think about our money. We got to think about how to make the money. We got to think about how to manage the money. And so that's why when they say that term, you know, the rich get richer is because they have a team.