The Real Reason You're Broke (It Has Nothing to Do With Lattes) | Mrs. Dow Jones

23:44trying to keep up with the Joneses.

23:50Lewis Howes:One of the biggest money mistakes I see people make is waiting for the perfect time to get serious about their finances. And I've been there myself. It can be easy to say you'll just deal with it later, but later has a way of showing up fast. And that brings us to today's sponsor, Northwestern Mutual. They'll match you with a financial professional who'll work with you to build a plan based on what's important to you, looking out for your blind spots and finding new opportunities to help grow your wealth and protect what you've worked so hard for. They listen to you, find out what's going on in your life today, and what you have in mind for the near and long term.

24:25Lewis Howes:Personally, Northwestern Mutual has been behind my financial and emotional security as an entrepreneur most of my life. Having someone in my corner helps me make clearer decisions and stay focused on building a future I am proud of. Find a better way to money at nm.com. The Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Company. Paid testimonial by a Northwestern Mutual Policy owner. There's nothing that frustrates me more than when things don't move with speed. And when it comes to building a strong daily routine for your life, the tools that you rely on at home should make things run more smoothly without interruptions.

25:04Lewis Howes:And that's the thinking behind T-Mobile's 5G home internet. And big news, T-Mobile now has the fastest 5G home internet, according to the experts at Ookla Speedtest. Setup is so quick and simple. No technician needed, and you're online in 15 minutes or less. And the price comes with a five-year price guarantee, so you don't have to worry about unexpected price hikes down the road. And when I'm working from home, my internet does a lot of the heavy lifting. It's prepping for the next show on the School of Greatness, uploading files, I'm doing Zoom calls, I'm doing meetings. All these different things are all happening, and I need them to happen fast.

25:37Lewis Howes:And with T-Mobile 5G home internet, things move fast and stay smooth. Pages load quickly, files upload successfully, and I can stay focused without constant interruptions. It makes a big difference. Visit t-mobile.com slash home internet to check availability today. Price guarantee exclusions like taxes and fees apply. Fastest based on UCLA speed test intelligence data, second half of 2025, all rights reserved. You have goals. Strayer University can help you find a clear path forward. For over 130 years, Strayer has been innovating higher education to make it more accessible, like offering bachelor's students access to up to 10 no-cost Gen Ed courses to help lower the cost of tuition.

26:22Lewis Howes:Visit strayer.edu to learn more. No-cost Gen Eds provided by Strayer University affiliate Sophia Learning. Eligibility rules apply. Connect with Strayer University for details. Strayer University is certified to operate in Virginia by Shev and has many campuses, including at 2121 15 Street North in Arlington, Virginia. Yeah. I mean, it seems like a lot of people have shame that they carry around money. It seems like it. Why do you think so many people carry shame when they think about money, talk about money, don't talk about money? And what is the process you have for them with the kind of judgment, free finance conversation you share?

27:08I think that shame really comes from when we are trying to hide something. like when we don't want someone to see us fully and money is so tied to value like even in the world like a dollar can get you something like it's valuable um and so i think that a lot of us think that however much money we have is how valuable we are and that's really complicated because if you don't have that much money then you're not going to think that you're valuable and that's also why I think we see people faking looking rich. Because that gives perceived value.

27:51Lewis Howes:They want to show like they're more valuable than they are. Exactly. When someone shows that they're more valuable than they actually are internally, then what happens with that disconnect? Yeah, well then you're just living a life that's not truthful and it's always going to catch up to you because you're living on borrowed money and that's a hedonic treadmill. like you know it's getting out of debt is very hard it's not impossible but it's something you have to really focus on it's hard yeah it is hard um and so yeah i would say if you're someone who's living with a lot of money shame first of all know that it's not your fault like this is never taught and money relationships are basically set by the time you're seven years old and so depending on how you grew up like there's a part of the money mindset part of my book there's a whole part on blame where I'm like, look, yeah, you're responsible for a lot of this, but there's also a lot of forces outside of you that are causing you to feel like this about your finances.

28:51So let's, we might not be able to change them, but we can work around them. And doesn't it feel good to name them? Because then you can sort of take some of the impetus off of yourself.

29:00Lewis Howes:Did you ever have any blame or frustration around your father for having this knowledge and not passing it down to you? I mean, yeah, I still have it with him. Really? The amount of work that I do to try and get him to do estate planning and I'm so obsessed with planning for death because I, sorry, but I know I'm gonna be so upset when my parents pass away. I'm so close to them. It's gonna devastate me. You're gonna be sad. I don't wanna have - Irrelevant of money and things and all this stuff. You're sad. Yeah, I wanna be able to deal with my grief outside of wondering, oh, do I have access to their bank account?

29:37How do I get access to their digital files? How do I pay the mortgage? I want to understand these things while everyone is healthy and alive. And there's a lot of secrecy around it because I think that he has seen, he works with such high net worth individuals and families and he's seen how much, you know, Buffett always says, you should always give a kid enough money that they can do whatever they want, but not enough money that they don't have to do anything. And I think that my dad has seen a lot of kids who got enough money, they didn't have to do anything. And it really depleted their sense of worth because then they were sort of helpless.

30:22They didn't really have any purpose.

30:23Lewis Howes:For kids that are born into money, what is the biggest challenge they'll face and the biggest opportunity that they'll have as well in their favor. I think the biggest challenge that you face is financial literacy. Really? I think it's the same for everyone because it's not, like I said, it's not inherited. And so, and also understanding the power of financial independence, because, you know, it's such a privilege to be born into anything. And I would, you know, I don't want to complain at all because like that is so much better to have that than not. But also it does keep you stuck whenever you don't have control over your finances.

31:04It means that people have a say on your decisions and how you live your life and that you know nothing's free even in relationships. Like if you marry a rich guy because that's what you're solving for you're going to pay for it every day. You know and it's the same in families where it's like then there's expectations set on you. And so the best thing that you can do is empower yourself financially so you can make your own money because that's going to let you be able to live your own life.

31:31Lewis Howes:For women who marry for money intentionally, they know in their mind, I'm marrying this man because he's got money and he's going to be able to provide or whatever it is. What typically happens in those relationships when they marry for the primary reason that they have money? Well, I mean, you got into a situation where you're dependent and you don't have any ability to leave. And it keeps your, you know, keeps your life really small. Like, OK, I have a story in the book. It's actually about my best friend. I asked her if I can include it. She said yes. And she was someone who was always solving for a rich guy.

32:11What does that look like?

32:12Lewis Howes:What does that mean? So when I first met her, she was living in a townhouse in Brooklyn Heights because she was seriously dating this guy who was like the heir to a fruit fortune. And she's really ambitious, Louis. Like at that point in her life, she had this job that was she was like one of the million milers on United because she was traveling all the time for work. She was just like taking off like a rocket ship in her career and, you know, making money, providing for herself. But also I think there was some part of her that was, you know, solving for the rich guy. And this guy didn't have that career and wasn't supportive of her grind and her hustle.

32:52And they were not aligned. And it broke off. And, you know, he was cheating, the whole thing. And so then the next guy, she started to date another rich guy. And he, I remember she called me and she was like, oh, my God, we're going fly fishing. he it was like one of their first you know weekends away he bought me a full new outfit to go fly fishing tags on she could see it was like six hundred dollars yeah and but she was like that's such a waste like i might never go fly fishing again like this is why would you buy me a new outfit for this i could borrow it from like the people that were going with like rich but it was not her it was not how she um value they were not aligned with their values She thought it was a waste.

33:39Yeah, she thought it was a waste. He thought it was nice. It was like a throwaway for him. But for her, it was like, that's real money. Why are you being so wasteful? The guy that she's with now, who she's engaged to, no generational wealth, son of a plumber, but picks her up from the airport every time that she flies in. And me too, if I'm with her, because he knows that she doesn't like spending money on Ubers from the airport. She thinks it's a waste. and their favorite inside joke is making fun of people who uber home from trader joe's because they're like oh my god like why would you like go to you know get some good deals on food and they're just gonna waste all their savings on an uber like they're and he's really ambitious too and like really into her hustle and together they're building something together but it's not necessarily that they you know that he they came from the same place but they're going in the same direction.

34:30And there's, I think there's something really beautiful in that.

34:33Lewis Howes:That's cool. So I want to go back to what you said. You said you're, you still have some issues with your dad. Yeah. My dad's going to watch this episode. He's like, cool. I didn't realize you were airing me out. Yeah. No, I love, I'm so close with my dad. I want to be super clear, but he just is not, he's, he's seen a lot with money and how it affects families. And so he's extremely, instead of, I'm very open. I love to be open about money. He's very closed. Even still today, even with you being more open and learning more. And having my, I mean, I'm a millionaire. Like, yes, I came from money, but like, give me it.

35:05Like, it's like, you know, I've made the money. Like, it's like, I'm fighting. I can do whatever I want. Like, I'm free. And so it's like, doesn't matter.

35:11Lewis Howes:I'm a dad. You know, I have twin girls, six months old. What are three things you wish your father, not making him wrong, but what are three things you wish he taught you about money growing up that new parents can share with their kids? I love that. So or maybe it's not teaching. Maybe it's a way of being. Maybe it's like three habits. I don't know three things that we can do. I love that. Yeah. So I would say number one to really think about how you talk about money because kids really pick up on that. How should you talk about the words you use, the energy you have around your conversations?

35:49Lewis Howes:What do you mean? I think it's important to make sure that you don't speak from a place of scarcity, but you speak from a place of value. What is the difference between scarcity and value? So, OK, for example, say you're at the store and your child wants to, you know, get a toy and you say we can't afford that. That's very different than saying we're saving towards something else. Like we have this other goal that we're working towards. So that doesn't align with our spending right now because then it shows them that like you're working towards something else. You're value driven versus making them feel like there's not enough, you know?

36:33So just thinking through, you know, how you are talking about money and making sure that you aren't making your child feel like there is not enough, but rather that like you're all working together towards something bigger.

36:49Lewis Howes:Okay. Towards shared goals. That's the one thing. What's the second thing you wish your dad or parents should share with their kids? You know, I think that you should put a dollar amount on chores and like help around the house so that children have their own money to manage. I wish that I had had that when I was younger so much because I talk about this in the book, like my first financial memory of literally just wanting like a snack at school. But I didn't have any money. Like I didn't have a job and I didn't have an allowance. And so I would sort of like sheepishly, there was this plastic container above the washing machine that had like some spare dollar bills.

37:31Maybe I'd find a five if I was lucky. And I would, you know, grab it and go. And it was always sort of secretive and, you know, weird.

37:40Lewis Howes:You felt a little shame around you. Shameful. I don't know how to get this any other way. I'm looking outside of myself. But also like, you know, it just felt sort of dirty. but I wish that but I was always you know helpful around the house dishwasher like you know perfect report from the babysitter the whole thing so I wish that they had instead been like great you did you did the dishes every night this week here's you know five dollars and then I could decide what to do with that did you ever ask your parents for money or were you like hey can I have five dollars no I didn't even ask them for money it was like so weird it was sort of like sneaking around and then I saw that play out later in my life where, you know, I felt like I couldn't really rely on myself for money because no one had really like empowered me in that way.

38:30It was. And so I was, you know, looking outside of myself for ways to get it versus just being like, I'm smart enough to do this. I can absolutely earn my own way. And like, let me just go for it.

38:40Lewis Howes:Sure. Yeah. Okay. And then put a dollar amount on chores or like, give them some money to, to manage, I think is really helpful. Okay. And then number three, I would say to explain taxes to them through taxing that allowance, but then use it towards like your family as a government or like as a state. So, okay, you're getting, you know, $10 in allowance, but, you know, taxes are 30%. So it's really going to be$7. and then, you know, say you have three kids, that's$9 in the pot from the quote unquote taxes. And then having a family meeting and deciding, okay, how do we want to use this? Are we saving towards a trampoline?

39:27Do we want to go to Disney World? And like putting it towards something bigger that you guys are all working towards. But I think that that's like a really great teachable moment because so many people are never taught how taxes work and they're the biggest expense that we'll ever pay. And there's something that you have to get used to. And so I think that you can like start teaching that so early on.

39:48Lewis Howes:I love that idea. And I also like the idea of like making it around service, like that tax we have to give away. Yeah. Whether it's to our church or to a charity or to whatever, like we don't keep that. You don't get the tax money you have to give away to the government. Yeah. But let's use this for good that we want to do. Yeah, in our community. Maybe you don't like what the government does because you don't know what they're doing with your money, but you can't get around it. But this money, we can do good with it. I love that. So I think that'd be interesting. Instead of like, I mean, for me.

40:16A trampoline.

40:17Lewis Howes:No trampoline. Yeah, something like that. Yeah, yeah, the church. Use the money for the trampoline that you have. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But the taxes, use it towards church or something else, you know, whatever it might be. I love that. I think that could be good because then you're instilling service mindset as well. Yeah. As learning to pay taxes. That's interesting. I've never seen that tax thing before. That's cool.

40:40Lewis Howes:You know those moments when your energy just drops in the middle of the day and you can't quite figure out why? I used to think it was a lack of sleep or I needed more coffee, but a lot of the time it just comes down to hydration. And when you're even a little bit off, everything feels harder. Drip Drop uses science-based formulas for proven fast hydration. So you feel results fast while getting three times the electrolytes of leading sports drinks. It's trusted by over 90 % of top college and pro sports teams, which says a lot. And I've been loving the orange flavor lately. It's simple, clean, and easy to drink.

41:14Lewis Howes:I'll usually mix it into water first thing in the morning or after a workout, especially on busy days when I know I need to stay sharp and focused. And their Zero Sugar Plus is a great option also. It's got six key electrolytes, 15 essential vitamins and nutrients, and no sugar or artificial sweeteners. Right now, Drip Drop is offering podcast listeners 20 % off your first order. Go to dripdrop.com and use promo code GREATNESS. That's dripdrop.com promo code GREATNESS for 20 % off. Stock up now at dripdrop.com and use promo code GREATNESS. When you're building something great, the people around you matter from day one.

41:55Lewis Howes:And I know how easy it is to get pulled away from the work that actually moves the mission forward. That is where JustWorks comes in. It's an HR platform built for small businesses that care about growth and their people. Payroll, benefits, compliance, hiring, all handled in one place so you can stay focused on what matters most. Go to JustWorks.com to learn more. They do your human resources right, so you can do right by your people. JustWorks for your people. What is the greatest money advice your dad has taught you, whether through his behavior or actions or lack thereof? You know, my dad is successful, but he's really low key and really generous.

42:37So like he gives away so much money, but also like has like drives an old Jeep, wears hokas every day with like just like some sort of down vest. And like, you know, he's very unassuming. And I love that about him. And I think and I always say like, Dad, do you think it's crazy that you have a daughter who has like this like luxury disease. So I'm like, how did I get this mental illness of like, why do I, why? Like I've had to rework my brain so much from like, you know, wanting to look rich versus being rich. And he's like, no, you know, I think it's a lot about your upbringing and whatever. And so he understands, but it's like, he doesn't have it at all.

43:20He's so, he would give the shirt off of his back. Like he's so humble. And so I think that's been something that I've learned from him that's amazing. But then, you know, also just compound interest and how simple it is to grow wealth. Like I now have my own investment portfolio. Of course, I'm very passionate about investing and I talked to him about it. And what's so crazy is that what I'm investing in and what I tell my audience to invest in, these low cost index funds, they're the same vehicles that the billionaires are putting their money into. It's not like you need some secret cheat sheet or whatever.

43:54I always say you should want an above average relationship, above average life above average travels experiences food sex whatever it is but you

44:07Lewis Howes:want your investment returns to be average do not chase getting rich quick why because it'll never work out for you it's too risky yeah slow and steady wins the race that's it yeah how long have you been investing for i wish i had started earlier but i started probably when i was like 27. Okay. Because yeah, my aha money moment was around the time I was like 25. And then it took me about like a year to really get a handle on my spending and also to build my emergency fund, which... Were you in debt back then? I wasn't in debt, but I was in like family debt. You know what I mean? Like I wasn't living a free life.

44:50Lewis Howes:Sure. But I was like, you know... What does that mean being in family debt? Well, you know, like my apartment at that time was maybe like$1 ,500. and I think my parents paid for half of it. So it was - Subsidized. Yeah, it was subsidized. And there's strings attached. So many strings attached. What are the strings attached to being an adult who's still an adult over 21 out of college who's still getting funding through their parents? Okay, so there's a story in the book about this of this girl who is marrying someone who has money. She didn't come from money. And the mother-in-law takes control of the wedding and thinks that she's being so generous and starts to throw this huge$500 ,000 wedding.

45:42Crazy. And the bride is left totally just sort of in the corner because it becomes the mother-in-law's show.

45:51Lewis Howes:It's not the bride's wedding anymore. It's not the bride's wedding anymore. Exactly. You're a doll. Yeah. It's not your wedding. No, it's not your wedding at all. Exactly. And the mother-in-law had a better dress and it was all her friends coming. And it was like, you know, this woman wondering, what can I do? Like, this is, you know, like, this is not the wedding that I want. Should I push to, you know, have the wedding that I want and, you know, like look a gift horse in the mouth or should I just go along with it? And I thought that it was such an interesting moment because, you know, she would, of course, be silly to like, you know, say no to something so generous.

46:33But in the same way, what's going to happen after the wedding? The mom, the mother in law is then going to say, hey, bought you a house, but it's right next door to me. So I get to come whenever you want, uh, whenever I want to see the baby or, you know, oh, Hey, like I would love to pay for your children's school, but they have to go to this school. And like, maybe it's a religious school. Maybe that's not like the religion that you want, or, you know, like there's just, it always comes with rules attached. And that's why financial independence and freedom is so important because it gives you the paintbrush to, you know, build your own life versus having to like live in someone else's.

47:10Lewis Howes:how did that feel I mean it must also be nice to be like oh my dad's helping me pay for rent and you know I'm going after my dreams in New York City it's expensive here isn't that also like a generous thing oh my god it was so generous it was so kind and I also think that like there's you know I one of I teach people there's a whole chapter in the book about rich kids like I think that it's such a gift to give your kids this financial stability and it's such a leg up. I would be an asshole to complain about it. I understand that completely and I am so grateful to them. And it's more just the lack of financial literacy that I think was really harmful because it kept me in a place where I was always looking outside of myself.

47:55Lewis Howes:Dependent on something else. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And then when I started to be dependent on myself, that's when my life really became so amazing. What is the greatest skill someone can learn to be able to develop more money themselves? I mean, look at you with the cat. It's that self-belief. It's switching your mindset to thinking, okay, like, no, I am a future rich person. I can do this. But then, of course, you do need the tactical tools. Like, you need to understand how the stock market works, how taxes work, how to negotiate, how to, you know, I have a whole part in the book about setting up businesses because it's like, you know, we're my millennials and Gen Z are the biggest generations of entrepreneurs.

48:40But guess what else isn't taught in school besides budgeting and taxes? How to set up a corporate entity, how to, you know, invest for retirement when you don't have a 401k from a corporate job. So it's like really important to get this financial literacy out there so that people can succeed.

48:56Lewis Howes:Yeah. And what, um, what are three things that a lot of people do that will never make them rich? Such an interesting question. Cause I feel like it's sort of different for each person, but definitely, I mean, it starts with spending beyond your means. Okay. That's number one. Uh, so when you have sunk cost fallacy around your career, What does that mean? So you're in a job that's maybe not giving you 10 % to 20 % increase in salary every two to three years, which is really important. But you've been there for so long that you feel like, okay, I should just stay here because one day it's magically going to happen.

49:41So much better to cut your losses. And then not investing. Investing is the key to growing wealth, and it's not complicated. but it's something that everyone really has to do if they want financial freedom.

49:55Lewis Howes:What's the percentage of people in their 20s that you think is investing? Do you know? Well, I do know that Gen Z has the most contributions to their 401ks than any generation. Really? So it is interesting to see the impact of social media on financial literacy, because I think that it is becoming so much more normalized to be good with money, to take control of your finances. Promoting it more to this younger generation. Yeah, 100%. Yeah, that's interesting. What would you say is your biggest money wound today after being a millionaire? My biggest money wound is wanting more versus having enough.

50:34Lewis Howes:Oh, tell me more. Look, like I love money. I'm all about abundance. And I also, you know, it's such an amazing tool to be able to make a difference in the world. Like you talk a lot about service. Like that's so important to me too. But I think my biggest money wound is like I was searching so much for financial freedom and I put it on this huge pedestal. And so I've worked relentlessly the last like eight to 10 years to get to this point where now like I do, I am a millionaire. Like I have, you know, money in the bank and invested and, you know, I'm in a good position. But now I'm really interested in building out the other parts of my life.

51:13because I think that you can have, it's very simple sort of to have a lot of one thing, right? But it's a lot harder to have some of many things. And so for me, I really put balance on a pedestal and like, you know - Now you do. Yeah, because I'm like, okay, if I could have career, health, and relationships and spirituality, then that would be really sick, you know? But I had to get the, yeah, it'd be sick in a good way. But like, you know, I had to start with the money wound and now I'm working on building out everything else.

51:47Lewis Howes:Interesting. You know? And it takes time. Yeah. The money wound gave you a sense of financial independence and financial freedom, not being dependent on parents or outside forces. And so you've taken control of that. But what I'm hearing you say is you haven't gotten the other things. No. And I'm looking for that. Like now I'm focused so much more on that. What's the main thing missing in your life right now? Oh, I mean, I want to have, I want to get married and have kids. That's the biggest thing. Just because, I mean, my parents have an amazing partnership. And I think that when you're in the right relationship, we were talking about this before we started filming, that when you're able to find the right partner, it really can be like one plus one equals three.

52:27And I have a beautiful life on my own that I love, but I really do want to be a mom. And I think that that's something that I really love to do with someone else. so yeah but i'm not uh impatient so i won't i wouldn't do it impulsively or like with the wrong person and that's why you know money is also so amazing because because of my financial independence i've been able to freeze my eggs which then has bought me so much uh time time and you know choice i don't have to rush women used to basically have to belong to a man to have any upward mobility like we couldn't have credit cards till 1974 on our own so you couldn't we couldn't take out business loans till 1988.

53:08Like, so it's, you know, it's very new for us to have this freedom. And I take it really seriously to use it to actually carve a life that like my grandma would be jealous of, you know? When do you think you will know you're ready for the right relationship?

53:24Lewis Howes:What needs to happen for you to say, okay, I'm going to commit and go down the path of, you know, being together, getting engaged, getting married. I think it is meeting the right person. Like I've done a lot of work on myself. and so I think that it's just about building trust with the right person and then making sure that we have the same financial values, family values, spiritual values, all of these sexual values that were aligned on all of these other planes is so important. But I'm also like, I was with a friend yesterday who has been married for like 10 years and her husband is a different man than when I met him because they have grown so much together.

54:08He is now like Yossified. Like he's like awesome version of himself. I'm like, go off King. Like you're killing it, you know? Like I'm so happy for them. They have two kids. Yeah. And so I think it's also about really seeing the potential with someone too. It's not like someone has to come in so perfectly, but it's about like, okay, is this someone that's going to make me better that I can make better that we can build with?

54:27Lewis Howes:That's cool. I'm curious what you think in order for someone to increase their net worth, what needs to change within their self-worth so that they can receive more money and feel peaceful around that money? So in the book, I have, uh, my five-step money mindset program called Ibiza, which unfortunately it doesn't mean that I give you a ticket to Spain, although maybe I'll see you there. And each of the letters in Ibiza stands for a step. And so I is identify, B is blame, I is interrupt, Z is judge, and then A is action, of course. And so I think it's really important to just work those steps so that then you're able to shift your self-identity so that you are someone who's able to, you know, be able to handle money.

55:23Because a lot of people will then get money and they'll like it'll slip through their fingers right away because they are scared to hold on to it they're like i don't know what to do with this like and that's also why we see i see this a lot with women that they will have huge amounts of money sitting in their checking account because it makes them feel safe but they don't know exactly what to do with it um and so it's just like there but they're not putting it to work but maybe they know a little bit that they should be putting it to work but like they you know it's something that is feels very uh off limits and sort of out of bounds.

55:54And so, yeah, it's really just comes from working that those steps. And I've been using that program for like eight years. It's helped tens of thousands of people. Yeah, it really works.

56:02Lewis Howes:Was it identify blame? What are the first two? What does that mean? So identify is to identify your like stuck money beliefs and like your patterns. And most people never look at themselves in that way. So, you know, the same way we go to therapy, we figure out, OK, why I could keep getting in this bad relationship. Let's figure out why you're broke or why you're stuck with, you know, at a certain net worth or, you know, why you can't leave that job or, you know, why you can't leave that relationship that maybe gives you financial security. Like, what is it actually about yourself where you're like, wait, maybe I can't take care of myself or, you know, maybe there's not something else out there for me or, you know, like we have to break down those limiting beliefs.

56:40Lewis Howes:Yes. Okay. And then B is blame, which I think I talked about a little, but it's like, you know, there's a lot of, you can't talk about building wealth in America without talking about like the systemic issues that hold many people back. You know, most people really, besides like, no offense, white guys. And so I, you know, blaming that is okay. My therapist says, don't blame, but I think you can blame a little. You can blame. It's important to identify, you know, to, you know, talk about what's working against you. And it doesn't mean that just because there's forces working against you, you can't win, but still got to call them out.

57:15Lewis Howes:This is what's been challenging me and holding me back, right? Yeah, exactly. Yeah. And then I is interrupt, which I'm sure, you know, you're someone who's really changed your life a lot. And I'm sure you had to interrupt a lot of bad thoughts in order to get yourself to the place that you're at now. 100%. Probably still, you know, it's a once in a while. But yeah, I mean, I feel like I'm really in a good system. Like the moment I wake up throughout the day, I'm constantly thinking of gratitude. I love that. Appreciation and gratitude. I'm like, listen, do negative thoughts come in? Yes. But then I'm like, all right, this doesn't make me feel good.

57:47Lewis Howes:can I do something about it? If not, then go back to gratitude. If I can do something, take the action and then move back into gratitude. That's a great practice. Yeah. I mean, again, 90 % of my day, I'm feeling and thinking, empowering things. When there is a breakdown or something that frustrates me, or I'm not perfect, I'm human. If something makes me angry, I might sit in it for a few minutes, but then I'm like, all right, can I act upon this so I stop feeling this? Not react, but can I act upon it? Or can I course correct? And if not, then I can't do anything about it. There's nothing I can do.

58:24Lewis Howes:I can't change some system. It's like, if I can, let me act on it and feel empowered and then go back to appreciation and gratitude. Yeah. Well, that's where I can. You don't have helplessness though. Everything is within your locus of control, which is a huge mindset shift that people have to have in order to become future rich people or to grow wealth, to change their lives at all. I used to feel pretty helpless though in my early twenties, cause I was like broke and dependent on people and felt like, oh, I can't make any money and everyone's out to get me. Yeah, exactly. The system. The system, yeah.

58:58Lewis Howes:No one wants to hire me, all these things. I felt all those frustrations. And then I started meeting mentors that I was like, oh, they have certain skills that I would like to acquire. Let me learn from them on how they acquired them. And okay, let me go spend a week every year learning how to do public speaking. Let me go learn these other skills that it helped them generate financial freedom. I had to learn how to read and write in my twenties. I wrote a book when I was 25 and I had a mentor who had written a number of books and he worked with me every week on learning how to write, to write a book.

59:34Lewis Howes:and I spent a year doing that. I was like, how do I develop skills to become more valuable, have more confidence and then share more value to other people? But it took work. You can't just be a victim. You have to learn something. So true. And I always talk about that as a, you know, a big part. One of the new rules of building wealth that I feel like people don't talk about enough is just like, you know, we put so much energy towards saving money. It feels so easy for so many people, I think, to cut back. But I have a whole chapter in the book called Secure the Damn Bag about helping people instead shift their mindset to making more.

1:00:13Lewis Howes:You're not talking about the Louis Vuitton bag. No, no, no. Yeah. No, no, no. I know you're not going to let me live that down. Secure the bag. Secure the damn bag. What does secure the damn bag mean? Secure the damn bag means we have a finite amount of this financial energy every day. So instead of focusing on all the things that you can cut back, think about how you can actually earn more because that's going to move the needle so much more for you. So like, you know, and investing in your skills, 70 percent of people who increase their skills see a huge career boost. Yeah. I saw that statistic today because I was doing a whole video about how reading ways for people to increase their income and really, you know, increasing your skills 10 out of 10.

1:00:54And especially now in the age of AI, people are so scared that AI is going to take their jobs. But it's really that people who know how to use AI are going to take their jobs. So like invest in the skills so that you can, you know, understand that system.

1:01:08Lewis Howes:Future proof yourself too. Yeah, I have a lot about AI in the book as well. What are three skills that anyone, no matter how old you are today, can learn to develop to earn more money in the future? Well, I think it's dependent on your industry. like you know it might be that you need to learn video editing it might for you it was that you needed to learn probably public speaking and writing books um and you know for me it was i and i still invest every day in my financial literacy like i that's why i was so passionate about writing a book about money is because i am the biggest consumer of money books they've changed my life like i truly believe that what stands between any person and the life that they desire is just a money book that actually makes sense to them.

1:01:52And that's why I wrote this book, because it's like it's in plain English. There's tons of celebrity references. There's a lot about my life, like, you know, a lot of stories from people. So it's sort of like a brownie with spinach in it that you I wanted it to be like a binge read. But at the end of the day, you're like, wow, I really have, you know, increased my financial knowledge. And now I know exactly what to do.

1:02:13Lewis Howes:That's big. Yeah. I remember I was in like, I can't remember if I was like 18 or 20 grand in debt, but it was somewhere around there. And I read, I will teach you to be rich by Ramit Sethi. Such a good one. Within six months, I was completely out of debt and I felt free from that kind of debt that I was in. And it just gave me a better framework for how to do things moving forward. And that was kind of like early stages of my financial literacy journey, I guess. And when you get little financial wins, you want to learn more. Yeah. You're like, okay, how do I and learn how to maximize this. And there's a lot at this season of life, now getting married and joining assets and creating trusts and all these different things.

1:02:54Lewis Howes:It's like, I feel like I still know nothing about money. Like there's so many new levels. Oh, there's so, I mean. You know what I mean? It's like, now I'm on a whole new level. I'm like, I have no clue what I'm doing. I've never merged money. I've never merged assets. Like, what do I do now? So it's like the last year I've been learning this process of new levels. And I feel like there's so much more to learn. Yeah, there is. for me, the first book for me was Warren Buffett's Ground Rules. And it's like all of these shareholder letters of Warren Buffett to Berkshire Hathaway. And basically all of them just say the same thing, which is like compound interest, compound interest.

1:03:28Same thing. Invest early and often. Exactly. Like no getting rich quick. Like just be consistent. And so after that, I was obsessed with getting my money in the market. And I was like, okay, what do I have to do to start investing? Because it's like the best day to invest was yesterday. And the second best day is today. I'm like, we got to get there. And I'm still like that, where I'm like, you know, obsessed with compound interest. And like, you know, whenever I get paid or anything, I'm like, okay, this is going right in the market. I love the market.

1:03:53Lewis Howes:Yeah. I'm married to it. I really am. Yes.

1:03:59Lewis Howes:When you're building something great, the people around you matter from day one. And I know how easy it is to get pulled away from the work that actually moves the mission forward. That is where JustWorks comes in. It's an HR platform built for small businesses that care about growth and their people. Payroll, benefits, compliance, hiring, all handled in one place so you can stay focused on what matters most. Go to JustWorks.com to learn more. They do your human resources right, so you can do right by your people. JustWorks for your people. I am big on simple daily habits that support how you show up.

1:04:35Lewis Howes:And this is about building a routine that helps you eat, sleep, thrive, repeat. Nature's Bounty is all about helping you thrive from your head to your heels. You can support your heart, bone, nerve, and muscle health with magnesium glycinate. And if you want a little extra heart support, there is Vital Heart Rapid Release Soft Gels made with magnesium and CoQ10. And for digestive and immune health, Probiotic 10 delivers 20 billion live probiotic cultures in a one pill per day formula, which makes it easy to stay consistent. And if you care about building habits that support your goals, this is one way to stay intentional with your health.

1:05:09Lewis Howes:Nature's Bounty, it's in your nature. Learn more at naturesbounty.com. These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. What do you say to someone who puts a lot of their money that they have in the market and then boom, it goes down for the next few months and they see 20, 30 % of all their money they've been making for the last five to 10 years gone or hypothetically gone based on the number in the market. And they feel like I just made the biggest mistake of my life. I put my money in the market.

1:05:43Lewis Howes:It just went down 30%. That was a year of my hard work, money gone. I'm never going to invest again. What do you say to someone who has done that and they're afraid to invest in the market because of that? I would say, first of all, do not sell because that's how you lock your losses. And historically, the market has always bounced back. And you really have to see volatility as the tax that you pay for getting to grow wealth in the market, because it's sort of magical that we're able to put our money into this thing, and then it just grows and gets bigger and bigger. And nothing good in life comes without some sort of trade-off.

1:06:22So yeah, sometimes it's going to be up and down, but that's why you have an emergency fund, because you should never invest money that you need in the next five to seven years because then you know if there is a down cycle and you're in need of that money then you are going to have to lock your losses out and you're going to have to interrupt that compounding cycle and so that's why it's so important to set up your financial life so that you're not in a position where it's so all or nothing um and you also you have to

1:06:50Lewis Howes:manage your emotions around it that's the biggest yeah you have to yeah you have to understand that like that's actually really normal like and that actually just means the market's on sale so like do i have any extra money that i could put in more because i'm going to be able to like get these index funds that i'm really into interesting yeah for a discount on ebay yeah exactly you're you're not ever gonna let me i'm gonna have to send you like a picture of the bag after yeah i will send it is that the bag out there no no you can't miss this bag though because you know the lv is so big yeah what do you think um tell me about ai and making money I don't know if you've studied AI.

1:07:27Lewis Howes:I'm not saying you're like a master of AI, but where do you see as an opportunity for AI over the next five to 10 years around making money? Is it around learning it for your industry, no matter what industry you're in? Is it around investing in it? Like what is, what should people be thinking around AI and making money? Well, okay. So, you know, I like to use the example of the elevator because, you know, when the elevator was first invented, there was someone who would be in the elevator with you physically. Isn't that interesting? Hold it. Still in the Upper East Side. Yeah, on the back elevators.

1:08:04Yeah, there are. Exactly. How'd you know that? Yeah, exactly. So the elevator person manually operating it, and then technology advances, we get buttons, and that job goes away. Does that mean that that person who was running the elevator never works again? No, they look for other opportunities to make money.

1:08:27Lewis Howes:Get out of a box all day. And get out of a box all day. And maybe they start working for the elevator company, whatever. They find other opportunity. But historically, there have always been moments of technological advancement that have been scary and felt like they were going to absolutely change everything. And maybe they did. Maybe they didn't. But the people who still win are the ones who ran towards that change instead of desperately clinging to what was and trying to maintain that old order because AI is here. We can't avoid it. And the people who are going to win are the ones who know how to use it.

1:09:09And so I think that specifically with finances, I have been using Claude Cowork a lot, which is really simple to set up. I'll probably end up making videos about this on Mrs. Dow Jones, so stay tuned. But, you know, you can create these systems within it that can just help you manage your finances a bit easier. That's cool. You can connect your email to it and, you know, set up a flow so that it is finding any subscriptions. Things like that to just make it a little bit easier to, like, catch things and be in control of your finances. So I think that there's a lot of opportunity. But I think that, you know, no matter what happens with automation and AI and all these things, you always have to have an eye on your bottom line or someone else will.

1:09:58And so you can never automate, you can never like, yeah, you can never fully give up your financial responsibility ever. Like I, you know, think a lot about Rihanna, of course, any girl does. You might do. She's a great gal. But, you know, when she started her career, she was, you know, 15 or 16 from Barbados, got signed to Jay-Z's label. And I think they were like, she's a star. Let's get her in the studio. Let's throw her on tour. It was the whole thing. And they set her up with these financial advisors who she never second guessed because she was not someone who was like used to managing money.

1:10:39This seemed like a trustworthy situation. OK, great. She goes on this whole world tour, working every night, touring all over the world. You would think, you know, making millions of dollars and comes home to buy a house. There's not enough money for a house. And not only that, she realized that her taxes had been all messed up. They were overcharging her, you know, all of these things because she did not have an eye on her bottom line. And this is a great example of if you don't have an eye on your bottom line, no one else will. So what did Rihanna do? Fired them, got a new team, wrote better have my money about those accountants.

1:11:14Wow. Yes. And now, of course, happy ending. She's a billionaire. But I guarantee you, Louis, that Rihanna is signing her own checks. because it doesn't matter where technology goes. You still have to have an eye on your bottom line or someone else will.

1:11:28Lewis Howes:Yes. Yeah. I love that. I'm curious about old wealth versus new wealth. You're obsessed with old wealth. I'm like, we're going to do a whole - I'm just curious about it. Yeah, I know. I'm curious about it. I'm like, I'm really, I should have worn like a gossip girl headband. There you go, there you go. Yeah, I'm like upset that I'm not in like a prep school blazer. Like, yeah. What is - I could have brought you some relics from my childhood. You should have. Yeah. You should have. That bag, you know. That bag. What is one way of thinking that old wealth still has today that makes them succeed?

1:12:01Lewis Howes:And one way of thinking that new wealth has today that makes them succeed over the old wealth? Something that old wealth does really well is they leverage. Old wealth loves debt. they are obsessed with borrowing money at a lower interest rate than they could make investing it somewhere else and that helps them exponentially grow money and that's why in the book because you don't have to have old wealth to do this in the book i talk a lot about uh paying off debt and how you should be focusing on paying off debt that's above seven percent interest rate because that's like high interest rate debt, but any debt below 7 % interest rate, pay the minimum on and put whatever extra money you're going to put towards that debt into the market where you could earn more than 7 % because the market on average is 8 % to 10%.

1:12:57So you have that difference. So I think that is a key thing that old money does. Yeah, they love to leverage and they also love to grow generational wealth, which is why I have a whole chapter on rich kids too. with all the secrets of how to set your kids up because it really, kids are so young, they're zero. You know, when they come out pretty young, they've got a lot of time for compounding. So even if you start with, you know, small increments of money, you can grow them a lot. But you also have to remember to put your own oxygen mask on first because they can take out loans for school, but you cannot take out loans for retirement.

1:13:35So, you know, don't get too caught up in it. Yeah. And then the new rules of building wealth that I feel like the old guard needs to understand more is this whole rent-versus-buy thing. I feel like there's such a premium put on owning property, but in many places in America, if you rent and invest your down payment money instead, you're actually going to make more. So I think old wealth is very obsessed with owning assets, which is so important, but I think new wealth sees the opportunity that is without like judgment or the, you know, like having to do things just because everyone else did them.

1:14:16Lewis Howes:Yeah. Did your dad, does he want to create generational wealth with you? Oh, my dad is like really intense about like, like for like for generate, like wants it to be like, won't let there's, you can't touch the money. Like whatever there is there, it's like, it's not, it's very tightly guarded, you know, because it's I think that he he wants to he doesn't do with it I don't know what he wants he just doesn't want what happens to so many of his clients kids to happen to us you know you take the money you spend it all and then you're broke or something yeah or to just make a bad decision but the thing is is like everyone's gonna make money mistakes like he's made money mistakes too I've made money mistakes you made money mistakes like it's like don't cry over spilled milk as long as you didn't lose the cow like we have to you have to take risk in order to like get where you want to go in life a little bit.

1:15:10So, you know, but yeah, I think that it's complicated for him.

1:15:14Lewis Howes:Your book's exciting. Future Rich Person, The New Rules for Building Wealth. Not the old rules, the new rules. The new rules. I want people to get a copy of the book. A lot of great stories and lessons in here for people. So make sure to get a copy, get one for your friends as well. If you know someone who's struggling financially, they maybe they feel stuck or maybe you know that they try to overspend to fit in, but you know they don't have anything in investments or saving and they still have debt, maybe just get them a copy of this book by Haley Sachs and check it out, Future Rich Person. I think everyone wants to be a future rich person.

1:15:47Lewis Howes:They want to be rich now and in the future. And I think the power of compound and interest, like you said many times here, the best time to invest was years ago. The second best time is today. So it's like put it in now, often, and as much as you can for long term. I've got a couple of final questions for you, Haley, and I appreciate you opening up and sharing many stories about the bag, securing the bag. You're the only one who's gotten that out of me. I'm like, I have to tell my dad not to watch this. This is a question I ask everyone at the end of the show called The Three Truths. You've already kind of shared like three rules for money, but imagine you get to live as long as you want and you have total balance in your life.

1:16:31Lewis Howes:money, relationship, health family, kids, everything and you live the life of your dreams for the rest of your life but it's the last day on earth many years away and everything you've shared in your books, your content, your messages have to go with you to the next place hypothetically but you get three lessons to share with the world doesn't have to be around money, anything at all what would those three lessons or three truths be for you?

1:17:01Number one, I would say the importance of rest. I have a pretty serious TM practice, and I think that it's something that's accessible to anyone, but we're so encouraged to go, go, go. But what's really helped me get ahead has been being able to slow down and give myself space every day during the day, and I have to carve it out and fight for it, Lewis, to rest a little. really really really helps number two i would say that like if you are sad about where you're at if you don't feel uh happy in your life the best way to get out of yourself is to give back find a way and that doesn't mean necessarily with money but just find a way to help someone be as small as smiling at them but really you know finding ways to give back to your community finding a cause that you champion like that's so important um and third i would just say like experiences over anything like i think that on my last day on earth i'm gonna remember like the sunset in greece when i was like 34 with my best friends like you know in the summer not necessarily because we were at like the fanciest hotel or you know this or that but just because it was like one of the best days because it was so simple.

1:18:23Lewis Howes:No bag, but simple experiences. Yeah, I really don't care about the bags anymore. I know, but I'm like... Those are the things, the experiences are things that I think we remember the most. It's not the nice house and the cars or whatever the things we have, but the people we share things with. Yeah, and the bags. And the bags. And also, you can buy the bag. If you want a nice bag, get a nice bag. Yeah, and on my final day on Earth, I'm just going to think, please make sure Louis sees that he's in my will to get the big Louis Vuitton bag. Give him the bag. Yes, give Lewis the bag. He secured it.

1:18:54Lewis Howes:Secured the bag. Future Rich Person is out. People can get it right now. Also, you got a podcast, Financial Tea Podcast. You share a lot of your tips and strategies and lessons on there as well. And also just your social media is great content. So if people want fun, entertaining financial content, they can go check it out there as well. A couple of a lot of stuff on culture, things that are happening right now in the world. So check that out. Love your work, Haley. I've got one final question for you, and that's what's your definition of greatness? My definition of greatness is people who are able to see that the system is flawed and things aren't perfect and there's all these forces that are working against you and reasons from your childhood and your family not to do it anyways.

1:19:46There you go.

1:19:47Lewis Howes:Appreciate it. Thanks for being here. Thank you for having me. Of course. I hope you enjoyed today's episode and it inspired you on your journey towards greatness. Make sure to check out the show notes in the description for a full rundown of today's episode with all the important links. And if you want weekly exclusive bonus episodes with me personally, as well as ad-free listening, then make sure to subscribe to our Greatness Plus channel exclusively on Apple Podcasts. Share this with a friend on social media and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts as well. Let me know what you enjoyed about this episode in that review.

1:20:22Lewis Howes:I really love hearing feedback from you and it helps us figure out how we can support and serve you moving forward. And I want to remind you if no one has told you lately that you are loved, you are worthy, and you matter. And now it's time to go out there and do something great.

1:20:46Lewis Howes:Ever notice how life's best stories don't happen in your living room? They happen on the open road, out on the water, or parked under the stars. At Progressive, they get that you want to focus on the experience, not worry about the what-ifs. That's why they offer quality insurance designed for your ride, whether that's a boat, RV, or motorcycle. Adventure with confidence. Visit Progressive.com and see how easy it is to protect your favorite way to get away. Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and Affiliates. not available in DC. Prices vary based on how you buy.