A hearty welcome to Grandma’s Wealth Wisdom with your hospitable hosts, Brandon and Amanda Neely. This is the only podcast for strategies to grow your wealth simply and sustainably, like grandma used to. Without further ado here are your hosts.
Brandon: Hey. I'm Brandon and welcome to Grandma's Wealth Wisdom, where we help you break through to a smart, stable financial future with the tried-and-true wisdom grandma used.
Amanda: And hey, I'm Amanda. Today's episode is number 42, and the title is Actions Speak Louder. We are going to share about the worst ways to improve your financial situation and the best ways to improve your financial situation and in our humble opinions, the worst and the best…
Brandon: And accurate - humble and accurate positions. [0:01:00.6]
Amanda: Yeah. And this episode is coming out very intentionally quite a bit before the end of 2019, just before Thanksgiving. We kind of anticipate that people are starting to think about their goals for 2020 and what they want to see happen in 2020, all those kind of things. We actually ourselves do a kind of planning, visioning retreat over Thanksgiving weekend, so we thought we will get this out in plenty of time before the new year to help give you some very practical steps you could take right away. You don’t even have to wait for January 1st. Right? You can take them right away to change, you know, to make that change that you want to see in your financials. So, that's what this episode is really all about.
Brandon: Yeah and I think this episode, too, is doing it early because everyone will be talking about vision. They'll be talking about planning and all of that. So, sometimes listening to 100 of those episodes in January 1st doesn’t get you as far as you want. So, by doing this early and then when January happens, we're going to be in a better place. But before we get into the content, we want to share with you some really exciting stuff, at least exciting to us, for sure. [0:02:15.4]
Amanda: They might already have a heads-up, Brandon, because you said some different things at the very beginning of this episode than what we have said in the past 41 episodes.
Brandon: Yeah, exactly. So, we worked with a brand script specialist, someone that helps us kind of figure out our words in a better, more concise way. All that means our website as well changed. So, our words are reflected in our new website, which should be live and active, as well as a new downloadable pdf that Amanda has been working really hard at.
Amanda: Yeah, this is probably the most important part of this for you, our listeners, that on our website now is going to be a new resource for you. We call it Grandma's Top Tips For An Independent Financial Future, and in that pdf that you can download there on the website, you're going to get the five top tips that grandma has for you and a little bit of behind, like what they are and how they work. [0:03:19.9]
Then there's also a couple of pages of like what is grandma's strategy, like what are some of the top things to know about it is also included in that pdf. So make sure that you check out the new website, but most importantly, you get those top tips. Some of this stuff we have talked about a little bit on the podcast, but this gives you the top tips in a very succinct way. You can print it out. You can save it on your computer, come back to them as often as you want, and really like put them into action.
Brandon: Yeah, and the .pdf looks really good, I might say. It is a really good looking pdf, I think, for what a pdf, if a pdf would look good looking.
Amanda: It's an attractive pdf.
Brandon: Attractive. There you go. [0:04:01.0]
So that's all I've got for that, that little commercial here. Now, let's get into the episode. So one of the… again, the title is Actions Speak Louder. Actions speak louder than what, Amanda?
Amanda: Well I guess than words.
Brandon: Yeah. So, one of my biggest pet peeves, and I've shared this in the podcast previously, is when people ask, "Can I pick your brain?" I hate it when people ask that.
Amanda: So, Brandon - can I pick your brain?
Brandon: No. No. No. I hate it when people do that. It's because they want all my words and they oftentimes don’t want to take the actions that would accompany or the actions I took to get the results that I wanted. The problem is it's just words. There's nothing to it. I remember this professor, and I might have shared it, again, in the previous episodes, that asked us to come speak to their class. She told me she teaches entrepreneurship because she couldn’t do what we do. So, she speaks about it because she couldn’t do the actions that reflected what we do. So, then she invited us. We shared and it's kind of like the same idea of "Can I pick your brain" and it was really frustrating to me. [0:05:23.6]
Amanda: Yeah. It's kind of like, you know, any time you're going to learn from someone, I cringe if I ever hear them say, "Do what I do. Don’t do what I say." Or you know, like there's like that phrase, you want to follow people who walk the walk or like walk the talk, not just talk the talk. I mean, it's kind of one of those things that's part of how we think, but when it comes to our money, like in the advisors that we get about money, that's one of the less common areas that we apply those same lessons. Right? Like when you're working with an advisor, have you ever asked them, "What do you do with your personal money," you know? Are they doing what they're telling you to do. Right? [0:06:05.1]
Would you want them to be doing what they're telling you that you should do? You know, would you want them to have a good budget, if they're telling you to have a good budget? Would you want them to be buying the same kind of stocks that they're telling you to buy those stocks or what have you? The same with, you know, mentors in all kinds of different areas. You want them to be walking the talk, not just talking the talk. But this also comes down to banks. We have a pretty big thing that we have learned from other people that banks are really smart financial institutions. They know how to make money. They know how to work. They… even when they're maybe on the edge of collapse and they get a bail out from the government, there is some intention behind there, some smartness. Right? But what if you could do what the banks do, not what the banks tell you to do? What would that look like? We have had a lot of fun exploring that and we continue to explore that with people - to do what the banks do, not what the banks tell you to do. [0:07:04.2]
Because the banks tell you, "Give us your money and we'll give you maybe 1% interest on it." Meanwhile, they're lending it out and making 9%, 10% interest on it. What if you could do that kind of thing? Right? Instead of just giving them your money and letting them make all the profit off of it? So that's kind of where some of the…you got to be careful what you listen to and look for the actions behind those words. Right?
Brandon: Yeah. So obviously, and again I have to say "obviously," we need actions, not just words. Like in order to get to the results we want, we need actions not just a vision board that says, "Hey, this is where I want to go," and we write down these words, but we need actions to reflect that. Like we said in the previous episode, philosophies don’t change anything. Actions lead to change. Again, philosophies don’t change anything. Actions lead to change. [0:08:01.0]
Amanda: But we will say there is some power to words. There is power behind vision boards. There is something like behind the actions that maybe can propel those actions forward and give those actions meaning. I think "vision" is a great word for that, to have a vision you know your actions are getting you where you want to go. Like actions by themselves, you know, there's that… I think it was some like football person - I always get those people confused - that said like if you don’t know where you're going, you'll end up anywhere or something like along those lines. Like you have to know where you're going and then that's your vision. Then your actions lead you toward that vision. That vision is words. It's pictures. It's out there in the future. It's not in reality yet, but you put those actions together to get to that vision.
Brandon: So, in 2020, everyone is going to be talking about vision. For some reason, when we get to that year 2020, you know, that whole optical thing, it's going to be all about vision. [0:09:07.0]
I mean, I'm telling you - I'm no psychic - but I bet you that there's going to be so many podcast episodes about it. I think it's going to get annoying, but at the same time, vision is really important. We need to have a vision for the future. We need to kind of know where we're going. We need to have those vision boards.
Amanda: Yeah and in fact, you know, just thinking about vision, Brandon and I both wear glasses. If we don’t have our glasses on, we're stumbling around. We can't do anything and we have to be really careful to have a backup pair, like know our vision is going to be there for us because we're both like very bad without that vision. That's a pretty cool metaphor for life. Right? You've got to put on your glasses and then take your actions forward.
Brandon: I know if I've lost my glasses, if they've fallen on the ground, I'll call help to find them for me. I've called Amanda and saying, "I can't… I don’t know where they're at." [0:10:00.8]
Amanda: Yeah. So that's just like a good metaphor for, you know, taking some time to set your vision for your life, put on your glasses. Whether those glasses are like your next year vision, whether they're your 5-year vision, whether they're a vision for your entire life - it doesn’t matter. You got to put on your vision. You got to get that clarity on what you want to do and how your money needs to work for you to get to where you want to go. Right? Let's all put on our glasses and then now let's look at what are the steps we're going to take? What are some actions that you could do to help get you to that vision that you have for yourself?
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Brandon: So, before we say what to do, I think big thing is what not to do.
Amanda: Absolutely.
Brandon: So, here's the thing - don’t go backwards and look at all your transactions for 2019 or all that wasted time or whatever that you did in last year, 2019, or 2018 or whatever. Don’t go backwards. Instead…
Amanda: Wait, wait, before you get to the "instead," like I know too many people that download all their transactions from their bank or go, you know, download all their pdfs, monthly statements, or get their file out where they put all those statements throughout the year. They look through and they say, "Here's how much I spent on electric each month." and "Here's how much we spent on eating out." They like play in Excel or they put it into Quick Books or into another software or something like that and maybe they do it in pen and paper. [0:12:05.4]
I think that is just a total waste of time, unless you've already done it, right, and you're doing it throughout the year to kind of maintain things. But at this point, looking backwards, if you haven’t been tracking so far, I think is a waste of time, for most people, most of the time. You don’t need to look back. You need to start looking forward. So, go ahead with your "instead," Brandon. Sorry.
Brandon: Yeah. So then instead, forgive yourself for your mistakes this year and in previous years and then build a plan to move forward. But really, it takes a thing of forgiving yourself. Maybe if it's good things, you pat yourself on the back for what you did right and move on. Go into the next season not like reflecting so long, for hours, days on the past, but looking into the future. [0:12:59.5]
Amanda: Yeah. So, now we can get to what to do. The first thing to do is just start with what you have. Find out what your account balances are. How much do you have in your checking? How much in savings? How much in your 401K? How much on the credit cards? Like just get the balances and then ask what the funds that you have need to do for you. You know, what does that $100 in your checking account need to do before you get paid again? What is that $5000 sitting in your savings account for, or however much it is? You know, give those dollars that you have purpose and meaning behind them. Say what they need to do. Start from that point, where you start with your current balances.
Brandon: Well, for example, if you want to be more generous, maybe you increase your giving by 1%.
Amanda: So this is…once you have those account balances, now you're ready for action. Right? So that's like the first action, is just to know your account balances. Then you've got your glasses on; you know what your vision is. Now you find the next action. This is the examples that we're going to give is these next actions, the first step that you take after having those account balances ready to go, and you know what those dollars need to do for you. [0:14:11.2]
Brandon: So then you would, if you want to be more generous, maybe you increase your giving by 1%. If you want to save more, maybe you start with saving 1% because you, again, you know what those numbers are and then you can incrementally increase them. Then another example is if you want to start a business, maybe you set aside 1% to save up for the start-up expenses or for that Leap Fund. So you start - again, maybe 1% is too small - you would know what that percentage is.
Amanda: Yeah, but the idea is you find the next action. You know, the first action that you can take and you take that action. You say, "Okay, the next time I get paid, I'm going to take 1% or 5% or 10% or whatever and I'm going to put it in this bucket over here. I'm going to give it to a charity. I'm going to put it into a savings account or into grandma's strategy. [0:15:07.6]
I'm going to, you know, do something like that and that's my next action. So then once you have determined your next action, then you can start to set the course for how you get from where you are and that action that you just took to getting closer and closer to your vision. So using those same examples, if you want to be more generous, you know, or save up or get that business started, maybe you start with that 1% change, but then you say, okay - next month or next quarter or however long you want to settle into that 1% change that you made, that small step, then you move up to 2% or 4% and you do that on a regular basis. So if you… let's say December 1st, you start with 1%. Then January, you go to 2%. Then, February 3%, until you reach that vision of whatever it was that you had. [0:16:02.9]
Or maybe you do it on a quarterly basis where you start December and you do that for December, January, February. Then March 1st, you move up and maybe you move up 3% or 2% or whatever. Kind of give yourself stepping stones to get to that ultimate vision that you have. It could be, you know, something like you want to give 10% of your income to charity. Work your way up to it or just jump right there - up to you. But figure out what that next step is, and then after that, what is the next step after that but only go like two or three steps down the road. Set up a system for how that goes and what you want to do with your money from there. Anything you would add to that, Brandon?
Brandon: I think, just again, having those steps and not just thinking 10 steps down the line and as we build this 5-year goal, trying to be in that 5-year mark, not whenever we should be in our 1-year mark and really building those little incremental things that will then build to that 5-year goal that we want. That's going to really get you there. [0:17:07.5]
Amanda: Yeah. The next step, you know, kind of… you've put on your glasses. You've thought about here's where you are right now. Here's the next step you want to take and maybe what you're going to move forward from there. A great thing to do is to get some outside perspective. Be able to share that vision. Share what you're thinking about doing with someone that can give you feedback and help you think through what that could continue to look like and maybe small changes you can make or you know, stuff like that. That's actually Brandon and I would love to do with you. We have talked before about that we do a financial analysis process with people to help them kind of get this 30,000-foot view picture of their financial situation, what their goals and concerns are, and then talk about like steps to reach that. That's exactly what we do with people all day, as much as we possibly can. We actually are starting to call this financial analysis with our new like word clarity that we were talking about before, we're calling it Take Stock. [0:18:03.6]
Everyone has different goals. Everyone has different needs. When we chat and we do that financial analysis, we're taking stock. We're helping you figure out what is that vision? What are some of those goals? Where are you at now, you know. Then like what are those current balances and what is a great next step that you could take as well as maybe what are some of the future steps from there and kind of mapping out that path and that journey that you could go on and what it could look like with the idea that you make changes along the way as well? But with the whole idea of being able to enjoy more of your life now, enjoying more of your life later, and enjoy the process and the journey as you go. So again, get some outside perspective. All that you've got to do is go to GrandmasWealthWisdom.com. Check out the new website there. You'll see a button for requesting a meeting or booking a free call, a free consultation. Click on one of those buttons. Get on our calendar. We'd love to chat with you, especially during - I mean, any time - but especially during this critical time - end of year/beginning of year - when it… lots of people are making changes. This is a good time to talk with someone and talk about what those changes could look like for you. [0:19:13.5]
Brandon: So, words have power, but not as much power as actions. Vision is important, but it has to shape your actions to make a difference in your life. So, that's pretty much the recap of the episode. There you go. I should have just cut that part.
Amanda: Yeah, that's the recap. Tell us what we can expect next time.
Brandon: Alright. Be sure to subscribe so you don’t miss our next episode, where we'll chat about financial lessons we learned from running a brick and mortar business and how it applies to everyone's everyday life. That's going to be in a couple of weeks.
Amanda: Yep. Hit that "subscribe" button. Until next time, keep building your wealth simply and sustainably so you can break through to a smart, stable financial future.
The topics presented in this podcast are the general information only and not for the purposes of providing legal, accounting, or investment advice. On such matters place consult a professional who knows your specific situation.
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