152: The 3 Mindset Traps Keeping You Broke in 2026

0:00Hey everyone and welcome back to the Rich Habits Podcast, a top 10 business podcast on Spotify brought to you by Public.com. By the end of this episode, you'll know exactly which mindset traps are secretly sabotaging your wealth, and more importantly, how to rewire your brain for financial success in 2026. My name is Austin Hankwitz, and I'm joined by my co-host, Robert Croak. Robert is a seasoned entrepreneur with lifetime revenues of over 300 million, and I'm a multimillionaire in my late 20s with a background in finance and economics. As the show name might suggest, every episode, We talk about rich habits as they relate to business, finance, and mindset.

0:39So Robert, what are we going to be talking about in today's episode? We're going to expose the three biggest mindset traps that keep people broke year after year after year. These aren't your typical stop buying Starbucks tips. These are deep-rooted beliefs that most people don't even realize they have. Beliefs like, I'm just bad with money, or once I get that promotion, everything will be fine. 78 % of Americans right now live paycheck to paycheck. And it's not just people making$30 ,000 a year. This includes many high income earners making well over$100 ,000 a year. So by the end of this episode, you'll be able to identify if you are stuck in any of these mindset traps as we head now into 2026.

1:22And then, of course, we will give you the exact mental models to start operating like people who actually build wealth and not this sort of scarcity mindset, right? The podcast is about business, finance, and mindset. So this episode is all about that. So, Robert, let's start off with mindset trap number one. I'm just bad with money. This is the financial equivalent, in my opinion, Robert, of saying I'm just not a math person. And to be honest with you, Robert, I am not a math person. it's it's a cop-out though and it keeps you from ever really wanting to learn or try or improve at that specific subject no one is born good with money Warren Buffett wasn't just understanding compound interest he had to go learn it I wasn't born knowing how to read financial statements I had to go to the University of Tennessee and get my degree learn how to do that right you listening right now you weren't born knowing how to drive you had to go learn how to drive a car right so here's what happens is you tell yourself, oh, I'm just bad with money and you create what psychologists call a fixed mindset.

2:26You believe that your financial abilities are set in stone because you have this mindset trap. So you're not even trying. You don't even care to go learn. You just hand off your 401k to the HR department and say, go put it in something I have no idea. I don't care. You avoid looking at those bank statements and you let your spouse or your partner handle all things money. And then at the end of the year, every year, you look back at yourself and say, why am I broke? Yeah, I think the big issue is so many people turn a blind eye to their money because they don't know what to do. So here's the mindset shift.

3:01Replace I'm bad with money with I'm learning money, present tense and ongoing. Because managing money is a skill, and like any skill, you get better with practice. Remember, I always say you have to get those at bats, this is where it comes into play. Of course, the easiest way to learn more about money and money habits is by listening to this podcast. But it's one thing to learn. It's another thing entirely to comprehend the information. So to help with comprehension, tell other people about what you've learned. Share with a partner, share with a friend, post about it on social media. Teaching others forces you to actually understand it yourself and put it into action.

3:42I love that tip, Robert, being able to know it so well that you can explain to it someone like they're five years old, right? Explain it to me like I'm five. So let's now jump to our second mindset trap to avoid here in 2026, and that is a good job will fix all of my money problems. This, in other words, is called the good job fallacy. The idea that if you just get that right job, make the right salary, all of your money problems are going to disappear. We've heard the phrase, you can't out earn your stupidity. And despite there being people making$150 ,000 a year, which I think is a great amount of money, they are still stressed about money while other people making$50 ,000,$60 ,000,$70 ,000 are proving to you that if you are able to be focused with your budgeting and how you approach money and that relationship with money, you will not have money problems.

4:33Now, Robert, share the stat that we found as we were doing some research for this episode that put our jaws on the ground. About 41 % of American workers earning between$300 ,000 and$500 ,000 are living paycheck to paycheck. And the shocker is over 40 % of those making over$500 ,000 say they're also living paycheck to paycheck, according to a new report from Goldman Sachs. You've heard that right. A new study from Goldman Sachs just came out, and about 40 % of people surveyed making over$500 ,000 a year are living paycheck to paycheck. This is unreal to me. Yes, my jaw hit the floor because you just wanna believe people are learning, they're getting better and they're figuring it all out, but yet that stat exists.

5:21So when you believe a good job fixes everything, you become lazy with your money, you tolerate going over your budget or completely stopping budgeting altogether because you believe the money will always be there and you don't create other income sources. You don't even save because you think I make good money I don't have to worry. And then the company downsizes, the economy shifts, AI replaces your job. And so that cool, good job that was paying you$150 ,000,$200 ,000,$300 ,000 a year is gone. And because you blew it all along the way, you have nothing, no savings, no backup plan, no other income streams.

5:58You're starting from scratch again. If you think I'm crazy, look at tech the last two years here with AI, Google, Amazon, Microsoft, all of these companies felt untouchable to go work there. Yeah, go make quarter million dollars a year working at Amazon. No problem. Amazon laid off 14 ,000 white collar employees, right? 14 ,000 employees. So please, when we tell you how important it is to kind of get rid of this trap of a good job fallacy, right? This idea that, oh, if I just make 200 ,000 a year, my problems all go away. No, that's not how this works. Yeah. And it's crazy. I had a conversation at dinner the other night with a friend of mine who's a CFO of a very, very large company.

6:40And he said over the next two years, they're going to be ridding the company of over 6 ,000 white collar jobs because of AI efficiencies. So think about that. There's 6 ,000 people in one company that are not going to see it coming. They're not going to be prepared. And they're definitely not going to get ahead of it by living below their means and doing all the things that we share in this podcast each and every week. So here's the mindset shift to make this year if you're a high earner is think of your job as just one tool in your wealth building toolkit. It's not the solution, it's the starting point.

7:15The money you make from your job should be funding other wealth building activities. We always say live below your means and have a plan. And so think of your salary as seed money. Every paycheck you should be planting seeds, investments, side businesses, skills, assets. The goal isn't to make more money to spend more money. The goal is to make more money to buy more assets and be a net buyer of assets in general to set yourself up for the future. 100%, Robert. Wealthy people use their W-2 income to build multiple income streams. They max out that 401k, assuming they have autonomy, and it's all in those great index funds.

7:53They are starting side businesses. They're investing in real estate, right? They're doing things and putting money in different places. So, oh yeah, over the last 12 months during 2025, the stock market just happened to go up 20%. And if you had$100 ,000 in the NASDAQ, it's now worth$120 ,000. And you didn't have to do anything to earn that$20 ,000. By having money planted, Robert said seeds, by seeding your investments all around, that is how you should be using your money as a high income earner. And even if you aren't a high income earner. Maybe you're making$50 ,000,$60 ,000,$70 ,000 a year.

8:29Take 10 % of what you are doing, more if you can afford it, but 10 % of what you are making here and use that to go buy some dividend stock, some NEOS funds, start that online business, learn a high income skill, invest in yourself, is still investing, Robert. And that 10 % becomes how you reach financial freedom. Yes. And mindset trap number three, this is my favorite. I need to look successful to be successful. And this third trap is definitely the most expensive one, keeping up with the Joneses. This is the belief that you need to look successful to become successful. So you lease the BMW you can't afford, you buy the designer clothes with debt, and you get the apartment with the view that eats up 50 % of your income.

9:12We see this every single day. And the average American has$6 ,500 in credit card debt. And according to a Schwab survey, 59 % of Americans admit they live above their means trying to keep up with the appearances. Now, don't get me wrong. Fake it till you make it in business is completely different and no one knows what they're going through until they do it. So go bite off more than you can chew with your side hustle and figure it out later. But we're talking about something completely different, which is trying to look like something you are not financially. I love that advice. Bite off more than you can chew with your business and figure it out later because I feel like that's what we're all trying to do, right?

9:50We're just trying kind of get after it and make some and have some fun along the way. But to your point, it's a massive pyramid scheme where everyone's just pretending to be rich while secretly drowning in debt, right? This person's trying to impress that person who's trying to impress that person who's trying to go in debt to buy something to impress this other person. It is ridiculous. Thomas Stanley studied real self-made millionaires for his book, The Millionaire Next Door, and what he found surprised people. These millionaires next door, they were not dripped out in flashy garb. They were not driving the Range Rover BMWs.

10:20They were not going on exotic vacations every three months. They drove practical cars. They lived in modest homes. They avoided the flashy status symbols. They appear very much middle class because they prioritize building wealth over looking wealthy. I would much rather be rich than look rich. Be rich in 2026. Don't look rich. Yeah, I don't think I've ever been in a meeting or an event with friends and business associates that are 100 million net worth and above and ever seen an Hermes belt or a full Gucci outfit in any of those people because that's just not how wealth really works. So here's the mindset shift.

11:01Rich is loud and wealth whispers. The goal is not to look rich. The goal is to actually be rich. And every dollar you spend trying to look rich is a dollar that can't make you actually rich. Warren Buffett still lives in the house he bought in 1958 for$31 ,500, and he could buy any house in the planet. And he understands that money is a tool for building more money, not by impressing strangers. And here's the irony, right? When you stop trying to look wealthy and you start actually building wealth, you develop confidence, real confidence in who you are. And you're not trying to look like someone because you want someone to think, you know you are cooler or richer or whatever right you don't need the bmw to i drive a toyota forerunner which is a cool car but it's a five-year-old toyota forerunner 2021 i paid like fifty thousand dollars for it back during you know 2021 i think it was it's not a crazy bmw it's not a range it's probably worth 30 something thousand now right i live in a modest 1400 square foot home i've got two and a half million dollars in the bank i don't care what people think about me when i drive i don't care i'm pulling up in khakis and a peter millar polo shirt like i genuinely do not care.

12:12And that is what confidence is, right? Having real wealth that allows you to feel confident in who you are, not going out there. And I remember this, Robert, because I did it. I got the new job out of college. I was making$65 ,000 a year. So the first thing I did, the very first thing I did was I went and bought a Lexus. I went and I bought a car that I thought was going to prove to the world that I made it. Car payment plus insurance, all that stuff was so much money that I could no longer afford to contribute to my Roth IRA at 23 years old. That is ludicrous, right? That is exactly what we're talking about.

12:48I fell victim to it. I'm sure Robert did as well. Everyone falls victim to this. And the faster that you can make the flip, that wealth whispers, rich is loud. I don't care to be loud. I care to be wealthy. I care to be rich, not look rich. The faster you can make that switch here in 2026, the better off you will be in the future, I promise. Yeah. And I think one of the best ways to illustrate this entire episode from a wealth whisper standpoint is to drive through a middle-class neighborhood or go to an event in a middle-class area and watch all the people look at their cars in the driveways and all of that.

13:24Then go to a really wealthy neighborhood. You will see the middle-class cars in the driveway are way nicer than the really wealthy neighborhoods because the wealthy people understand money and the freedom that it provides. That is why they focus so much on building wealth early on and implementing these strategies to have financial freedom for life. So to close this out, we can give you all the tactics in the world, how to invest, how to budget, how to start a business. But if your mindset is broken, none of that matters. You'll sabotage yourself every single time If you don't learn from this episode, take notes and take action like we always say and get your mind in the right place.

14:05In the three mindset traps that we've talked about, right? I'm bad with money. A good job will fix my money problems. I need to look successful. Those are all poverty mindsets. They keep you feeling small. They keep you feeling stressed. They keep you feeling broke. But when you replace them with growth mindsets, I'm learning money. I might not be good at it, but I'm learning, right? present tense ongoing income is a tool i go make all this money as a tool to plant seeds and and more money in the future and riches loud wealth whispers right i want to whisper with my wealth everything begins to change it doesn't change overnight and not dramatically it might take several months if not years for you to really feel this but with consistency your financial life will inevitably transform so here's your new year's resolution courtesy of us at the rich habits podcast.

14:54Pick one of the mindset traps we mentioned in this episode that you know you're stuck in. And for the next 30 days, every time that old thought pops up, consciously replace it with the new one we've shared with you today. One mindset, 30 days, conscious replacement. You're not broke because of the economy, your job or your circumstances. You're broke because of what you believe about money and your relationship with money. And if you can change your beliefs, you can definitely change your bank account. They may get that tattooed. If you can change your beliefs, you can change your bank account.

15:28I love that. That's the abundance mindset we need here. We've had into 2026, Robert. Rock and roll. Robert, I'm so excited. I'm so pumped. What a fun episode. Let's now jump to the Q &A section of the episode of the Rich Habits Podcast. As a reminder, if you're new around here, we have three episodes that come out every single week. Monday episodes, which are what we're talking about here. These are those evergreen business, finance, and mindset-focused episodes. very tactical very informative and educational type episodes we also end those episodes with three questions from you all we also then have our thursday episodes these are our q a episodes dedicated seven eight sometimes nine questions are answered in these episodes we love hearing from y 'all and we love answering your questions so be sure to ask us some here we'll tell you how in a bit and then friday of course is the rich habits radar these are our episodes talking about the biggest headlines impacting you and your money.

16:19Think what just happened in Venezuela. Think about what's going on with Anthropic raising at$350 billion. Think about everything as it relates to what's moving the markets and moving your portfolio. So if you have a question, though, you want to ask us for the Rich Habits Podcast Monday episodes or these Thursday episodes, you can email us at richhabitspodcast at gmail.com, or you can send us a DM on Instagram at rich habits podcast all three of these questions i think came from our instagram dms which is uh that's an anomaly normally try and mix things up but before we jump to this first question i do have to give a shout out to public.com public is the investing platform for those who take it seriously and if you're listening to the show here in 2026 i think you're ready to take your investing seriously now in the new year because on public you can build a multi-asset portfolio of stocks bonds, options, cryptocurrency, and now they've released generated assets, which allow you to turn any idea into an investable index with artificial intelligence.

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18:01That's public.com slash rich habits. Paid for by Public Investing. Full disclosure in the podcast description. So our first question comes from Madison on Instagram. Madison says, Happy New Year. I hope it's the best one yet. Austin, congrats on your engagement. I've been listening since episode one, and this podcast has changed my life. Thank you, Madison. We just signed actually for a venue on Christmas Eve. We're getting married spring of 27. So that's exciting. So Madison says, I'm 24 years old. I'm a nurse making$100 ,000 a year. I'm debating on going back to school to become a nurse practitioner, trying to weigh out if it's worth it or not financially, or if I should just try to work my way up.

18:39If I was going to go to grad school, I'm assuming it would be about$110 ,000 of student loans for three years. I haven't looked into loans, but I'm wondering if it would be better to take out those loans or maybe do part-time and pay out of pocket. The average salary I'd be making as a nurse practitioner would be about $140 ,000 compared to the$100 ,000 I'm making right now. Or maybe I stay at my current job, make$100 ,000, work my way up, and just invest the money I would have put towards school. My current employer matches 50 % of my contributions up to 4 % of my salary. I have 11 % now of my salary being contributed to my 401k with that 4 % match, and it's got$16 ,000 in it.

19:19I have$46 ,000 in my Roth IRA,$10 ,000 in savings, and$70 ,000 in my bridge account. Whoa, Madison, at 24 years old, not only are you making six figures, but you've got$16 ,000 in your 401k, 46 ,000 in a Roth IRA, and 70 ,000 in your bridge account. Unreal, unreal. So Madison, at 24, you have built your base. Unbelievable. That is, it's like record timing. Because you know, Robert, we always tell people to get that first$100 ,000 invested into index funds and ETFs across retirement accounts and bridge accounts and anything they can get their hands on here to get that money deployed. But it on average takes people seven years to accomplish that.

20:04And I don't know when Madison started doing this, I'm assuming two years ago, because that's probably when she graduated college with her nursing degree. But look at you, Madison. So Robert, what's your take here? Do you think Madison should go take on$110 ,000 of student loan debt to make$40 ,000 more a year in perpetuity? Or maybe she works her way up. I don't know what the work your way up could mean for a nurse. Does Does it mean she's a nurse for five more years before she, I don't know how that kind of works there, but I'll let you kick this one off. Yeah. I love this. And I wish we had a celebration button because we need one.

20:31We need a sound effect of the podcast. I'm going to find one online. I think Madison is a rock star. This is incredible. And based on what she's already done at 24 years old, I would absolutely spend 110 grand over three years. I would get to that nurse practitioner level and get that extra$40 ,000 a year, because by the time that three years is up, it's probably going to be more than$40 ,000 a year she's going to earn. So she'll be able to knock out this debt in two to three years and already have given herself probably like a 50 % higher salary level in her compensation package. So I love this for her, especially at 24 years old, because she will be done up and running and be a nurse practitioner by 30, long before 30 by 28.

21:21And she'll be rocking and rolling. I love this for her, especially because she already has her base built. And as long as the base can ride and keep growing and she takes out these loans, I think it's a tremendous way to do it. And she could consider the part-time job, but I don't know if there would be room unless she did maybe two or three shifts a week to offset the pay for the schooling. But that's totally up to her, but I would definitely go for it to become the nurse practitioner. Yeah. I like that take, Robert, because I just looked it up here. So over the last 10 years, the median salary in the United States for nurse practitioners has actually grown by 36%.

21:59So I guess it's a toss up if that's outpaced inflation during the same period of time, but regardless, right? Salary has grown by about 36, 37%. And so at this 140, right? You're 24 right now. You'll be 30 years old, probably making 150, maybe 160 if you're lucky. And I believe because you have so much money invested and will continue to invest over time, Madison, that you'll be able to knock out these$110 ,000 of student loans very, very quickly. So I agree. I think going into this eyes wide open that you are going to be going into some student loan debt, but you're approaching it from a place of strength.

22:32You already have your base built. You already got well over$100 ,000 in your retirement accounts between the 401k, the Roth, the bridge, the savings. You are rocking and rolling that way. So you got our blessing. You got our permission here. Go get your 140. Hopefully the three years goes by quicker than you think. And maybe by the time you are, you know, 27, 28, 29 years old, you're making 150, 160 ,000 in a very high demand and predictable job. That's the, you know, think AI going to replace this or that. AI is not replacing a nurse practitioner. That's for sure. Our next question comes from an anonymous listener.

23:05They say, hi, Austin and Robert, please keep me anonymous. First, thank you for everything you do. I've been following your podcast since the beginning and applying the lessons you all have taught me has radically changed my family's financial trajectory. I have a question about how to approach my traditional brokerage account aka my bridge account. I understand the concept of the core satellite portfolio strategy that you all talk about but I was wondering if that is for each account or an investment portfolio as a whole. Here's some context. My wife and I are 29. We make$230 ,000 a year, have$30 ,000 in a high-yield savings,$250 ,000 in our retirement accounts, and we co-own three rental properties with our equity being about$100 ,000 between the three of them.

23:47And now we're focused on building up our bridge account, which has only about$10 ,000 in it. We have two kids and no debt besides our mortgage, which is at 3%. At first, we approached our bridge account putting in that 80 % into those ETFs and about 20 % into the individual stocks. But because the bridge account only has$10 ,000 in it, I was wondering if this is too risk-off. Of course, the other side of the coin is that between my retirement account, the real estate, and the bridge account, only the bridge account has liquid investments, can't pull early from the retirement, can't sell the real estate that easily, which makes me think we should treat it as its own portfolio and stick to that core satellite model.

24:26But any help on this mindset and strategy for this investment account would be super appreciated. and as an aside, it feels crazy to see how blessed our financial situation is when it's typed out like this. And again, I'm so grateful for both of you for helping us get to this point. Thank you. Well, to our anonymous listener, you have absolutely crushed it. It is so rewarding, Robert, to hear from Madison over here, who's built her base at 24, saying she's a day one listener. We got our anonymous listener right here saying, listen, y 'all have changed it for me. We are just, oh man, I'm over the moon on this one.

24:56So let's talk about this, Robert. When we talk about the core satellite portfolio strategy, I like to think about it as the bridge account. Like, yes, theoretically speaking, it could be applied to your retirement account, like your Roth IRA. But me personally, I do not apply it like that to my Roth IRA. My Roth IRA is strictly index funds and ETFs that track these major indices that go up by 10, 12, 15, whatever percent every year for the last 90 something years. Because my retirement accounts, I don't play about that money. That's my forever money. That's the I'm not going to be broke when I'm older money.

25:32And by playing with that money, I mean, hey, in a bridge account, or in this core satellite, these satellites are opportunistic names, opportunistic single stocks and other asset classes that we think will outperform the markets, but sometimes they don't. And so that's why I don't get too fancy when it comes to my Roth IRA and these retirement accounts. But in my bridge account, I definitely have some of those diversified. If it's precious metals, cryptocurrency, you know, I've got my Amazon. Amazon's been crushing it so far this year. You know, I've got the Mag 7. I've got some Tesla. I'm doing all that stuff.

26:05And I feel good about that. So in your situation, our anonymous listener, I would follow the core satellite portfolio strategy for that bridge account. You want to switch it up, do it at your own risk. But I think having, you know, and again, just make sure on the same page, the core satellite portfolio strategy, All it means is 65 to 85 percent of the portfolio is invested into index funds and ETFs. The other 15 to 35 percent is diversified between cryptocurrency, real estate, precious metals, blue chip single stocks, dividend stocks, Nios funds, things like that. Right. So that's what I think you should do, our anonymous listener.

26:42But of course, personal finance is personal. Yeah, I agree with you totally. They've done a really good job getting everything dialed in. They have the high yield savings, the retirement, and now it's time to build up the bridge account. You want to have some of this liquid money available and building in that core satellite strategy, but also it's available to you so you don't ever get in a situation where your cash broke and you have to go rob from the retirement accounts or put something on a credit card. So we always like to make sure the bridge account is getting built along the way as well.