Knowledge separates those who take advantage from those who are taken advantage of.

Why? Because knowledge translates to action.

This is especially true when it comes to money.

Think about it. The Sucker “knows” just a few things about money…

“I need money to buy things.”

“I work to earn money.”

“I will never earn much money.”

Now, consider what the Wealthy know about money…

“I can use money to start a business.”

“I can use money to earn compound interest.”

“I can use money to make my family’s life easier.”

“I can use money to leave my loved ones a legacy.”

The difference is simple.

Because the Sucker knows little about money, they see it only as a necessary evil.

But the Wealthy know money creates opportunity.

It all starts with knowledge. If the Sucker knew how money actually works, they would see it—and manage it—differently.

What do you think you know about money? If you’re not sure, scroll up to the top of my site and head over to the Learn section. There, you’ll find the HowMoneyWorks Challenge, a quick quiz that will reveal how much you actually know about money.

When you’ve completed the quiz, let me know how you did. Better yet, what answers surprised you? It may be that you’ve never been taught things like the Power of Compound Interest or Risk Diversification. And that can warp your ability to see money as an opportunity instead of a limitation.

It all starts with your thinking. It all starts with learning how money works.

• Share:

Your knowledge of how money works can make or break your relationship.

Not only can financial illiteracy cause soulmates to fight about money, but it can negatively impact your relationship in other ways.

Are any of the following consequences of financial illiteracy occurring with you or your significant other? Read on for some ways to avoid them.

You’re always on edge about money… and it shows. It’s no secret that money problems cause stress. And prolonged stress, no matter your mental strength, will eventually impact your mental health.

The financially illiterate are often destined for a life of struggle.

How could they not be? They haven’t been taught how money works, yet they desperately need this knowledge to succeed. The results are predictable—foolish financial decisions that, over time, can generate significant money problems and subsequent stress.

Eventually, prolonged financial stress will shape your actions. That could take the form of chronic anxiety, a quick temper, or even indulging in unhealthy coping mechanisms. And those, given time and lack of attention, will erode your relationship.

Conversations about money will be tense because you don’t have a solid basis of knowledge about your finances. Too many feelings of uncertainty and worry can cause words to be exchanged with fear, anger, or blame. They are bound to hurt. And like that, financial illiteracy has caused a rift in your relationship.

You avoid talking about money with your significant other. If you have enough arguments about money, you may decide it’s no longer worth it to “go there”. And it makes sense—financial illiteracy induced stress can make money conversations tense and unproductive, to say the least.

Financial illiteracy can directly disrupt your ability to communicate. The same underlying factor is at play—you don’t have the proper skills to talk about money in a healthy manner.

Soon, every discussion about the family budget degenerates into an argument. The topic of money becomes a lightning rod for blame and accusation. It’s easy to fall into this pattern. But it does nothing but hurt your relationship, because you’re both losing.

The result? You talk about your finances rarely, if at all.

You’re making financial decisions without your partner. All those failed conversations about money can leave you and your partner feeling isolated. Eventually, you may find yourself making critical financial decisions without consulting each other because it’s just too difficult when you try.

This is called financial infidelity. It represents a deep breach of trust. And it can have devastating consequences for couples.

Why? Because it seems selfish and sneaky. It raises questions like, What could your partner be hiding? Why do they need a separate bank account all of a sudden? Where did half of our savings go? Secrecy could be concealing a secret life of spending that will eventually undermine your family finances.

Trust is easy to lose, but difficult to regain. It could be a long time before you trust each other with money again.

These are just some of the insidious ways that financial illiteracy can harm your relationship. In order to have a healthy partnership, both parties need to know how money works. That way, you’re more likely to fight about putting pineapple on your pizza than how you’ll afford retirement.

• Share:

The scandal of the American financial education system is that there is no American financial education system.

It doesn’t exist. And millions are suffering for it.

As it stands, only 21 states require financial education courses to graduate high school.¹ But that number is a mirage—60% of students in those states haven’t actually taken the classes!²

Simply put, almost no one in America is learning how money works. And it’s wreaking havoc on the lives of millions.

Would these statistics even exist if schools empowered students with financial literacy? You be the judge…

• $167 billion wiped out by foolish investments in meme stocks in early 2021³

• Over $1 trillion lost to volatile cryptocurrencies in a single week⁴

• Over $1 trillion in student loan debt shackling Americans⁵

• 1/3 of millennials believe they’ll never have enough saved to retire⁶

These numbers tell a story.

Students go through high school without hearing a peep about how to manage money or build wealth. 

They sign off on student loans without being taught how debt can devastate their future.

Graduation comes around, and they start living paycheck to paycheck. How could they not? It’s all they know.

And then, no surprise, they’re suckered into get-rich quick scams that promise wealth but only deliver crushing losses.

Do these scenarios hit a bit too close to home? If they do, then know this—you cannot rely on the powers that be to show you how to change your story.

If you were let down by your school system—and even if you weren’t—ask me for a copy of How Money Works: Stop Being a Sucker. It may be the knowledge you need to turn your financial situation around and change your future.

• Share:

Gen Z, you’ve been lied to about money.

Social media is swarming with financial predators feeding you falsehoods about how to build wealth.

That tech-bro influencer hyping the “next big crypto” that made him “wealthy”? He’s running a pump and dump scam. You buy in, the value surges. He cashes out, the value plummets. You lose everything you invested.

The 18 year old with the Ferrari earning $10,000 per month using business secrets he’ll show you FOR FREE? He’s actually selling “courses” that give you nothing, but line his pockets.

The “investing wizard” who turned $100 into $1,000,000 using specialized secret algorithms that he’s willing to share—again, FOR FREE—at his upcoming seminar? He gambled on risky startups and got lucky. Now he needs your money to feed his addiction.

Each of these bottom-feeders scratch an itch that Gen Z deeply feels. Who doesn’t want to build wealth quickly? Who doesn’t want a better life for themselves and their family?

And if you’ve never been taught how money works, you might just believe their promises. They sure sound better than the bleak realities of stagnant wages and debt that Gen Z has watched Millennials suffer through.

It’s why 41% of Gen Z investors turn to TikTok for financial advice.¹ Traditional schools and institutions have failed them, and they’re desperate to learn how money works, regardless of the source.

But until they’re financially literate, they’re susceptible to schemers, frauds, and charlatans. That means more wealth lost to false online gurus, cryptocurrency roller coasters, student loans, and more.

You need to learn how money works today. Not tomorrow. Not next week. Today.

It’s the only way you’ll develop the savvy needed to see through scams and recognize real wealth building opportunities.

• Share:

Want to be financially independent? Study the wealthy.

Why? Because observing the wealthy is one of the most effective guides for creating— you guessed it—wealth. By using the wealthy as your guide, you can reduce debt, increase cash flow, and protect what you earn.

To study the wealthy, pattern their behavior.

Start by observing your social circles. Ask yourself who in your contact list is building real wealth…maybe a friend, family member, or mentor. Got someone in mind? Talk to that person. Spend time with them, hang out with them, and ask them questions. You’ll begin to absorb their insights, habits, strategies, and ways of thinking just by being around them!

If no one in your circles fits that description, it’s not hard to study the wealthy from a distance. Read the biography of a successful businessperson, watch a CEO’s TED Talk, or follow respected financial experts on social media. Be consistent. It takes time to unlearn unhealthy habits and replace them with new, beneficial behaviors.

Also, consider reading the HowMoneyWorks: Stop Being a Sucker book. It’s the quickest path on the market today to learning how wealth is built. You’ll come away with a fresh understanding of what’s possible with your paycheck and the milestones you need to hit.

• Share:

Inflation is financial erosion, a slow and steady force that eats away at the value of money—YOUR money.

Here’s how it works. The trend is that over time, the prices of goods and services tend to rise. As a result, the purchasing power of your paycheck, your savings, and your retirement income is reduced.

The sucker ignores inflation—an abstract concept they may feel they have no control over. But the wealthy understand inflation and prepare for it—calculating the impact into their budget, their future purchases, and their retirement goals.

Here’s an example that drives it “home”…

Let’s say that in 1980 you received a $100,000 inheritance check. You were diligent enough to put the money into an account earning 2% annual interest. Your hope was that one day it would grow and be enough for you to afford a $200,000 dream home—a brick estate with a one acre yard, five bedrooms, three garages, and a pool in the back.

After waiting patiently for 40 years, retirement has arrived. The growth of your inheritance money had exceeded your goal—you now have over $220,000. Time to buy your dream home!

But while you waited, inflation was growing too. It increased at the average annual rate of 3.1%—more than tripling the average costs of goods… and houses.¹

Your $200,000 dream home with three garages and a pool in the back is now for sale at over $600,000.

The takeaway is that you can never ignore the impact of inflation on your goals for the future. You need to know how it could impact the value of your 401(k), the equity in your home, and the death benefit of your life insurance policy.

If you haven’t factored in the impact of inflation on your dreams for the future, there’s no time like the present. Consider scheduling a conversation with your licensed and qualified financial professional today to discuss strategies to beat inflation!

• Share:

Most people don’t know how money works.

In 2018, a global survey asked over 100,000 people in 15 different countries 3 simple questions about interest, inflation, and risk diversification. 70% failed to answer all three basic questions correctly.1

The cumulative effect of that lack of knowledge can result in some sketchy decision making. So are you wondering how you’d do? See if you know the answers to the following questions…

• How much interest will you pay over the life of your car loan? • What about over the life of your mortgage? • How much life insurance do you need to protect your family financially? • How much do you need to save for retirement? • Are you on track with that? • If you’re not on track, at what age will your money run out? • How much will Social Security pay you each month? • How much monthly income will your 401(k) provide? • How old will you be when it runs out?

If you can’t answer questions like these, ask yourself if you’re like so many others who assume there will always be enough and hope everything will turn out OK.

How is that possible?

A lifetime of wild guesses and blissful ignorance explains why so many people facing retirement panic when they see how little they’ll be forced to live on for the rest of their days. Is this true for you? If so, you could find yourself saying “Wow! I thought it’d be a whole lot more.”

It’s time to face it. You’re a sucker.

Does that offend you? Good, it should. Let it be a wake-up call. When you don’t know how money works, you can be taken advantage of time and time again.

You’re a sucker. Own it and you’ve taken the first step toward not being one.

Being financially illiterate sucks. But knowing how money works will help you transition from sucker to student and from student to master. The whole point is never to be fooled again.

Not by banks.

Not by credit card companies.

Not by online offers.

Not by employers.

Not by family or friends.

Not even by the number one person in your life responsible for making money—YOU!

But how do you transition from sucker to student? Well, every student needs a teacher. YouTube videos and online tutorials are great if you need a quick fix around the home. But unless you’re REALLY handy, would you try to tackle a major plumbing job in your house based on a video you watched online? Of course not. It’s too involved and too important. You need someone with experience who does that sort of thing for a living—in other words, you need a plumber. In the long run, your personal finances are even more important than a busted pipe in your home. That’s why it’s critical to work with a licensed and qualified financial professional, who can help you repair your finances and keep them flowing smoothly.

Also, consider shadowing a money mentor. Who do you know that’s financially successful? Become their friend so you can discover what they did (and do) right. Observe their daily habits and how they make decisions. What time do they wake up? How do they use credit cards, if at all? Where do they put their money? Do they make financial decisions with their partner or separately? What you could learn from a financially-savvy friend could pay dividends down the road.

And if you need a beginner’s guide, consider the HowMoneyWorks: Stop Being a Sucker book. It’s a super-readable crash course on the basics of financial literacy that you can read in an hour but think about for a week. Just ask me how you can get a copy!

• Share:

I’ll bet you don’t think you have much in common with John D. Rockefeller.

After all, he was America’s first self-made billionaire.¹ At the time of his death in 1937, he was worth over $340 billion in today’s money. How rich is that? If you combined the wealth of Warren Buffett, Bill Gates, and Jeff Bezos, Rockefeller would still be richer. We’re talking hard-to-imagine rich. Think Scrooge McDuck doing the backstroke in his money vault—but even richer.

But Rockefeller wasn’t born with a silver spoon in his mouth. Before he became a mega-wealthy oil tycoon, Rockefeller grew up in a humble country home in upstate New York. The only thing that set him apart from his friends and neighbors (and you) is that he learned a pivotal lesson about how money works when he was just a kid.

At 14 years old, Rockefeller had saved up $50 ($1,500 in today’s money) selling turkeys and doing chores for neighbors. Like many 14-year-old boys, young Rockefeller received some shrewd advice from his mother.

She encouraged him to lend his $50 to a local farmer. It was arranged that the money would be paid back in 12 months with 7% interest. A year later, the farmer made good on the deal, returning to Rockefeller the $50 plus $3.50 in interest.

It was around this same time that a neighbor hired Rockefeller to dig potatoes for three days. Rockefeller was paid $1.12. Rockefeller’s New York Times obituary said that “on entering the two transactions in his ledger he realized that his pay for this work was less than one-third the annual interest on his $50, and he resolved to make as much money work for him as he could.”1

What if you had learned that your money could make money when you were fourteen? I’ll bet you would have spent less on movie tickets and clothes and done everything you could to put your money to better use! But many parents aren’t as savvy as Mrs. Rockefeller. Which is why their kids become adults who end up “digging up potatoes” their entire lives so to speak, just like their parents did.

Many adults have never discovered the power of compound interest. So they can’t show their children how to put money to work to build a future they could never earn with just hard work. But they should.

It’s not too late to get your family to start thinking like the Rockefellers.

Here are two practical, very doable things that you can use to leverage the power of compound interest for you and your family, starting today!

Find a high-interest account and start saving.

You probably don’t know any farmers who need quick cash. But that doesn’t mean you can’t put your money to work. Actually, the problem is usually that there are too many options! Fortunately, you, like a young Rockefeller, have wise counselors you can turn to. Contact a licensed and qualified financial professional to have a conversation about your vision for the future. They’ll have insights into which strategies and steps best align with your goals. There are many amazing ways to take advantage of the power of compound interest, even if you only have a small amount to put aside each month.

Teach your children about how money works.

Would Rockefeller have stopped digging potatoes and built an oil empire if he hadn’t discovered the capacity of his money to grow? We’ll never know. But the same is true for your kids. The sooner they learn that their money can earn money, the better chance they’ll have to stop wasting time and start seeking how to put their money to work.

Ask me for a copy of the HowMoneyWorks: Stop Being a Sucker book.

It explains concepts like the Power of Compound Interest and the Time Value of Money at a level that anyone high school age and above can understand. You might enjoy reading it yourself!

You have more in common with the wealthy than you’ve been led to believe. Their techniques can be yours. Don’t wait for financial wisdom to knock you on the head from out of the blue. Meet with a financial professional and start learning and teaching your loved ones about how money works.

Once you’ve done that, you’ll really be thinking like a Rockefeller!

• Share:

Instant Gratification Has Overtaken Your Financial Power.

“Waiting sucks!” Like weeds in a field, this wealth-strangling lie can overtake every financially illiterate mind. If you don’t know how money works, you may succumb to society’s financially destructive desire for instant gratification.

It’s time to learn how money works, Old MacDonald, because a field overtaken with weeds produces no harvest. Start pulling up the weeds of instant gratification by asking yourself this…

In today’s world you can buy now, one click order, get no interest down, and enjoy same day shipping—but have you asked why? Why is it so ridiculously easy for you to spend your money?

Is it…

A. Because they’re committed to your convenience? (You’re not that naive.)

B. Because you’ll buy from their competitor if they don’t? (Getting closer.)

C. Because they want your money, they want it all, and they want it now?

Know the answer? It’s “C.” Understand that your need for instant gratification is a conditioned response. From birth, you’ve been brainwashed to want everything ASAP. They know this—THEY’RE THE ONES who brainwashed you. Why? Because they want your money—all of it! Picture a tiny stopwatch inside every dollar you own. When the start button is pressed, the dollar starts earning interest. Each dollar is ticking away, earning money for someone. Is it you, or is it the institution that has your savings account, car loan, mortgage, student loan, paycheck, or your next pumpkin spice latte? Every dollar that passes through your hands will earn money for either you or someone else. Every time you put your hard earned cash in the hands of someone else, you’re handing out little money stopwatches that never stop ticking.

It’s time to reclaim the earning power stolen by your need for instant gratification.

Money you put to work today has the potential to earn more interest than money you put to work tomorrow. Why? Because it has more time to grow. Those who know how money works never want to waste a single day of earning potential.

Did you think it’s a coincidence that taxes are taken out of paychecks now but tax refunds are not paid until the next year? Ever wondered why financial companies hold funds for a few days rather than release them to you immediately? They pay it out only after they’ve squeezed out every possible day of earning.

They’re not doing anything wrong. They’re just taking full advantage of the Time Value of Money. It’s time you did too.

It’s good if this makes you mad. You should be—you’ve been treated like a sucker. Your logical mind and personal finances are covered with the weeds of instant gratification. This threatens ALL your goals for the future.

Start ripping the weeds out by reading HowMoneyWorks: Stop Being a Sucker today. Ask your HowMoneyWorks financial educator how you can get a copy immediately.

The book coupled with guidance from your licensed and qualified financial professional can help you increase your financial literacy, stop the counterproductive behaviors of instant gratification, and start thinking—and acting—like the wealthy.

• Share:

Who will teach your kids how money really works? Don’t count on school!

Only 17 states in the U.S. guarantee a financial literacy course during high school, and 4 of those states have some of the worst financial literacy levels in the country!¹,² It’s no wonder that only 28% of college students were able to answer 3 basic money questions about inflation, compound interest, and risk diversification.² Think about it; many kids who don’t understand the fundamentals of money are also pulling out huge student loans that they have no clue how to handle. They’re getting taken advantage of before they even graduate!

Think that’s scary? Here’s where things get even scarier. The simple fact is that many people don’t start learning about money until they’re already in deep debt and sense a looming crisis. By that time, even if it’s not too late to avoid a catastrophe, many of those people can face a lifelong struggle to achieve robust financial health. What’s the solution? People should start learning how money works in their twenties? Nope. As teenagers? No way. People need to start learning how money works as kids—long before they’re in charge of their own personal finances.

Researchers from Cambridge discovered that our money habits are basically formed by age seven.³ The deeply indebted college freshmen of today spending 50 bucks a month on lattes and energy drinks are the result of financial under-development. It’s like tossing the keys of a $200,000 sports car to a teenager with zero driving experience and saying, “enjoy.” The most likely result down the road—disaster. ($200,000 also happens to be less than the cost of a 4 year private college in America.⁴)

So what are your kids learning about money?

First, ask yourself what they are learning from YOU. If you’re like many Americans, your kids may think that money is supposed to be spent on what makes them feel good—right now. They might be completely unaware of the full power their money possesses to grow and build wealth and help them achieve their dreams.

Many parents do talk to their kids about working hard and earning money. They can, however, fail to bring them into the process of creating personal finance goals and showing them how to protect and grow their money to hit those goals.

Roll up your sleeves and consider showing your kids how money really works while their minds are little sponges and they haven’t made any money mistakes yet.

Here are nine tips to get you started:

1. Read the book, HowMoneyWorks: Stop Being a Sucker, together.
2. Discuss the concepts and 7 Money Milestones in the book.
3. Let your kids in on some of your financial decisions and share a bit about your home budget with them so they understand the decisions you make for the family.
4. Help them figure out ways to make money, save it, protect it, and watch it grow.
5. Show them that putting all their money into a savings account is an opportunity for the bank to make money—not them.
6. Explore smart tactics to avoid the impact of procrastination, inflation, losses, and taxes with their money.
7. Use imaginary money and investment scenarios to teach them financial principles.
8. Open an account for them with real money and take them through the entire process. Watch the money together each month as the balance changes.
9. Have them accompany you to your next meeting with your financial professional, so they can ask a few questions of their own.

Perhaps your kids are older or maybe even have kids of their own. Know this—it’s never too late to start learning about how money works and teaching your kids about it too—no matter how old they are.

Let me know if you don’t have a copy of the book, How Money Works: Stop Being A Sucker. I’ll get you one ASAP! It’s packed with all the information you need to jumpstart your family’s financial literacy journey.

• Share:

College can be a lot of things. Fun. Scary. Exciting. Confusing.

But one thing is for certain—it’s that time of life when students finally break away from their parents and start making their own decisions—like how to spend their money.

And it turns out they have no clue what they’re doing in that department—statistically speaking.

Only 25% of students entering university have had access to any previous financial education.¹ Is not knowing how money works the major reason why freshmen blindly contribute to the $1.75 trillion of total student loan debt that exists?² Of course it is. But taking on giant loans without understanding the full magnitude of their decision isn’t the only financial mine lying in wait for undergrads. According to a College Finance survey,the average college student had $3,280 in credit card debt.³

Massive student loans and thousands in credit card debt don’t position students well for post college success, prompting many of them to take a job they don’t care about, in a field they don’t want, for a boss they don’t like. The obligation to make debt payments, which the student once thought was far in the future, now robs them of their freedom to explore, grow, and develop.

If only they had been given a true financial education in high school—or even before, they would have learned the following financial literacy basics for college freshmen…

1. Manage your debt.

Student loans help millions of students fund an education that, on average, is worth about $2.8 million over the course of their lives.⁴ But it’s important to highlight that debt is nothing to take on lightly. Many students are unaware of the heavy burden they’re acquiring in the form of student loans and credit card balances.

The company Student Loan Planner reports that roughly 90% of borrowers experience significant anxiety due to their loan burden.⁵ Couple that with a 2015 survey by Equifax that revealed 55.7% of students listed ‘student loan debt’ as their top reason for not being able to afford their first home.⁶

Along with student loan debt, the average college student holds a credit card balance of over $3,000. Credit cards for students are often justified as a necessary lifeline to cover living expenses. In reality, they’re often used for frivolous, impulse purchases that contribute to 49% of students being saddled with permanent credit card debt in addition to their student loans.¹

If you can’t avoid using student loans and credit cards to afford your education and living expenses, follow these guidelines to help remove debt swiftly after graduation. With your psychological and financial future at stake, the key is to reduce your debt before an onslaught of new expenses (i.e., your mortgage, children, car payments) make it even harder to pay off.

First, get a part-time job or side-hustle if you haven’t already. Second, identify your credit card with the lowest balance. Third, put as much of your income towards eliminating that debt as you can. Once that’s done, move on to the next lowest card. Repeat until your credit card debt is a hazy memory.

2. Identify a money mentor.

There are two ways to gain wisdom. You can either make mistakes or learn from someone else’s. Finances are no different. Never again will you have such a perfect opportunity to find a money mentor than when you’re attending university. It’s like a learning shortcut where you get access to a whole lifetime of experience without a lifetime of making mistakes. You just have to keep an open mind and be willing to establish a real relationship with someone with financial know-how.

Your money mentor could be a parent, a grandparent, an uncle or aunt, the parent of a friend, a professor, or even a responsible upperclassman. Once you’ve identified your mentor, ask hard questions about how to spend and manage money. Pick your mentor’s brain for how they built their wealth, mistakes they made along the way, and advice for specific challenges you face. Show them your budget and have them hold you accountable for your spending decisions. Be willing to put in the work of being open, scheduling and spending time with your mentor, and implementing their advice. The connections and networks you build today will serve you long after you graduate!

3. Start building wealth NOW.

Look at your bank account. Then look at your income. They might not seem like much, but they’re the humble beginnings of your future wealth—if you play your cards right! Your money has more growth potential right now than it ever will again. Allow me to demonstrate.

Let’s assume you’re 20 and want to retire at 67 with a million dollars. You find an account with a 9% annual interest rate, compounded monthly. It would only take saving $113 per month to crush that goal. What’s more, you wouldn’t have to increase your saving as you get older to retire as a millionaire. Want to retire with more? Increase it. If you start saving $226 each month now—without ever increasing the amount—you’d have $2 million. If you’ve got the flow, and you want $4 million at retirement—make it $452 each month. Starting young is the most affordable way to build wealth with compound interest.

What if you didn’t start young? What if you decided to wait until you’re 35 to start saving? Those 15 years of procrastination means you’ll have to stash away $451 monthly just to reach your million dollar retirement goal. $452 monthly now for $4 million or $451 monthly starting at 35 for $1 million. You don’t need the wealth of a king or queen to enjoy the freedoms of royalty in retirement—if you start building wealth NOW. It’s your decision whether time robs you or robes you. Even if you start saving with less than these amounts, start the habit now to set aside a regular sum of money for your future.

4. Use a budgeting app.

Budgeting is important. It can also be a huge pain if you don’t know what you’re doing. Punching in numbers, setting up spreadsheet formulas, and stressing if that pizza delivery tip counts towards groceries can make tracking your expenses such an aggravating process that you don’t even bother. Fortunately, there are some excellent apps and websites out there that can take the hassle out of money management. Mint and Pocketguard, for example, are free budgeting apps that sync to your bank account and credit cards to allow for real time updates to your spending and saving goals. And it’s all conveniently located on your phone, just a few taps away. Scrap the spreadsheet, do a little research, and download a headache-reducing app ASAP.

A financial education isn’t like a sociology or history class. Those last for a few months, you learn tons of facts, you pass a test, and you move on with your life. Learning how money works is a lifelong process that will impact almost all of your daily decisions and future experiences. Few other skills will open your eyes to the exciting possibilities that life can offer. So hit the books (the How Money Works, Stop Being a Sucker book, to be precise) and start being a student of personal finance TODAY.

• Share:

People with a high level of financial literacy are able to make informed decisions by putting their financial education to work.

Understanding how money works is practical by nature and can be a make-it or break-it knowledge base and skill set for one’s life.

Financially literate people are able to organize their money to meet their future goals—regardless of what those goals may be—by simply being smart with money. This is usually best accomplished with the assistance of a financial professional.

Financial literacy is becoming increasingly essential in today’s evolving world. A lack of financial literacy could lead to a wide number of financial difficulties for people, contributing to important social issues in our nation including poverty, job scarcity, and wealth inequality.¹ It can also create stress that can have a negative impact on mental and emotional health.² Financial skills can help provide benefits that go beyond mere financial awareness. They can also lead to an improvement of personal well-being because those who are financially literate usually have greater success and peace throughout their lives.

To understand what financial literacy means it’s important to know and follow the correct steps—like the 7 Money Milestones—which can be found in the book HowMoneyWorks: Stop Being a Sucker. Having financial literacy adds to the values, skills, and self-confidence necessary to make insightful, strategic money decisions.

Yes, becoming financially literate takes work. But the outcome can greatly improve quality of life.

Financial literacy helps people understand relevant money concepts. Knowing about the Time Value of Money is a great example. This concept informs us that the money available now is worth more than the same amount in the future because of its ability to earn interest.

Concepts like this create urgency, inspiring people to increase their financial education, and then use that knowledge to take action and create healthy money habits.

__Financially literate people…

- Ask the right questions of their financial professional

- Are aware of the reasons behind their decisions

- Set aside part of their income on a regular basis

- Make plans for the future

- Protect their family in the event of sickness or premature death

- Set financial goals and make plans to achieve those goals

- Set aside savings for emergencies

- Keep their financial obligations under control

- Monitor their spending patterns

- Understand concepts such as loans, credit, and debt

- Are aware of the services banks provide

- Are knowledgeable about investment options

- Do not spend more than they earn

- Have an understanding of tax-related issues

One of the best resources that teaches the basic knowledge, skills, and behaviors of a financially literate person is the HowMoneyWorks: Stop Being a Sucker book. If you develop the skills outlined within, you can consider yourself well on your way to becoming financially literate.

— Tom Mathews

• Share:

Do the wealthy know ways to make money that are unknown to everyone else? You better believe it!

John D. Rockefeller, one of early America’s richest tycoons, once said, “I have ways of making money that you know nothing of.” How does that make you feel? Shouldn’t everyone know the best ways to make money and create a prosperous future?

But the fact remains. There are wealth-building principles that are common knowledge to the wealthy but are largely unknown by the majority of the population.

So why is the average citizen in the dark?

How money works is simply not taught in schools. Only 21 states in the U.S. teach at least one high school class in financial education.¹ Interestingly, all 50 states teach a class on sex ed. So the one thing you can learn on your own, they teach. And the one thing you’ll never learn on your own, they don’t. Go figure.

Actually, it does figure.

Think about it. If the financial industry were to educate consumers about money savviness, people might stop socking away so much of it in low-interest savings accounts that earn less than a 1% rate of return. And before you leave the branch do they offer you a brochure on financial concepts to help you get out of debt, avoid money missteps, and start saving like the wealthy?

Pfff—yeah right!

No. It’s like, if you’re dumb enough to open a low-interest savings account and take the free lollipop (it’s like their sucker litmus test), then they’ll try to sell you a car loan at 6% interest.²

What a deal. You earn less than 1%—they earn 6%. It’s like a lose-lose for you, but you still thank them on the way out.

But they don’t stop there.

With your new car loan monthly payment, you might run low on cash from time-to-time. But thanks to partnerships with credit card companies, the bank can also offer you a shiny new charge card—but “just for emergencies.”

Do they make it clear how much they charge for late fees before they sell you on the benefits and points you can earn? No, that’s what the back of the brochure is for—as far away from the exciting offer as legally allowed. And you can bet it’s the same customer who opened the savings account and took the car loan who never flips the brochure over. They can always count on a customer with a sucker in their mouth to help drive their profits from late fees.

Hard to fathom there are that many suckers? It’s true…

With an overall outstanding balance of $5,313, the average American has 3.84 credit cards, and 80% of all Americans have a credit card.³ All told, Americans owe just shy of $1 trillion.⁴

The financial industry thrives on customers who are stuck in the “Sucker Cycle” of foolish spending. While consumers are binging on Netflix, shipping on Amazon, and ordering from DoorDash, institutions are quietly leveraging the power of compound interest to make their customers’ money work for themselves. While consumers live paycheck-to-paycheck, financial institutions and shrewd businesses build profits sucker-to-sucker.

For most people, earning (and spending) a paycheck is the extent of their experience. But the wealthy know the real deal. To become financially independent, you must know the concepts and strategies to save, protect, and grow your money.

Did this article make you mad? Hopefully, it did.

So what do you do about it? You stop taking the sucker and you stop being the sucker. You learn how to take control of spending, protecting, saving, and investing your money. How? You do it by reading the book, “HowMoneyWorks, Stop Being a Sucker.” It will only take about an hour.

Don’t have a copy? Contact me and I’ll help you get one.

Use that anger to fuel action. Read the book. Then reach out to me and say, “Now that I know the ways of making money Rockefeller spoke of, I’m ready to chart my own course to financial independence.” We have a clear action plan for you to follow called “The 7 Money Milestones.” I’ll help you check off each one.

Let’s do it together.

• Share:

There’s an old saying: “What we think about, we bring about.”

The expression holds true over the course of our lives in determining both our struggles and our successes. What you think about becomes your reality.

What will your reality be?

It will largely depend on how you think about money.

If you’re like many, you think primarily in emotional terms. You get excited to buy something new. You grow frustrated when paying bills. Because you find the mechanics of money uninteresting and confusing, you end up like so many others—never learning how money really works.

No big deal, right? But here’s the thing about money. It’s not like cooking, golfing, or any other skill you can get by without. If you don’t know how to properly grill salmon, who cares? If you can’t drain a 20-foot putt, so what? But if you don’t know how money works, you might wake up every day wondering why life SUCKS.

That’s a strong word, but yes, not knowing how money works… sucks. It sucks up your time. It sucks up your freedom. And, most importantly, it sucks up your income. So where does it all go? It goes to your mortgage lender, your credit card company, your bank, Apple, Amazon, Netflix. You know—the guys who know exactly how money works. W.C. Fields said, “It’s morally wrong to allow a sucker to keep his money.”

This is what you’re up against. You become a sucker. They become wealthy.

The world is full of people who are happy to tell you what to do with your money.

Fortunately, you have tools at your disposal to transform your sucker mindset into a money mindset. Here’s how to start:

Test your literacy with the HowMoneyWorks challenge.

In five quick questions, you can discover if you have the knowledge you need to help make measured financial decisions and alter your future for the better. Ask me for the link and we’ll review your results together!

Read the HowMoneyWorks: Stop Being a Sucker book.

It’s designed to help you learn how money really works so you can stop being a sucker, start being a student, and be the one to call the shots throughout your life with confidence.

Meet with a financial professional.

When your car is broken, you go to a mechanic. So why not do the same for your finances? A licensed and qualified financial professional can give you the knowledge you need to answer questions like “How do I get the best rate on my mortgage?” and “How can I pay off my credit card debt?” and “Am I financially prepared for an emergency?” Plus, they’ll help you leverage that knowledge by working with you to prepare a financial roadmap for your future.

Grand failure or grand finale?

You choose. It all starts with your thinking. It all starts with knowing how money works.

• Share:

The average American reported that they lost $1,279 in 2019 due to financial illiteracy, according to a recent survey.¹

That’s enough to potentially cover a mortgage payment or car repair bill. If the assessment is accurate, that would mean the country lost $307 billion last year simply because citizens were clueless about how money works. (For reference, the entire annual GDP of Pakistan in 2019 was $278.22 billion.²)

But the situation is far worse than you might imagine.

The result of financial illiteracy is far greater than buying things you don’t need, sinking deeper in debt, and mismanaging your cash by shoving it all in low-interest savings accounts. It’s costing you the opportunity to truly build wealth and pursue your dreams. That’s the true price tag of financial illiteracy.

The opportunity cost of financial illiteracy.

Think about a decision you wish you could redo. Maybe you missed out on an awesome job or experience because you chose a safer option or didn’t know what huge potential you were letting slip by. That’s called opportunity cost. It’s why you kick yourself for selling your home a year before a sellers’ market explodes or why you wish you’d studied abroad for a semester in college. Who knows what your life would look like now if you had just been able to see the future!

You need to start realizing that every dollar in your bank account is bursting with potential. What if the $1,279 that Americans think they lose every year was in an account earning 8% interest that compounded monthly? That squandered cash would grow to $13,987 after 30 years. That’s a much closer estimate to how much financial illiteracy actually costs Americans every year. We’re losing $1,279 every year plus however much that money could have grown if we had just known how money works.

The personal cost of financial illiteracy.

But there’s more to the opportunity cost of financial illiteracy than just numbers. It can cost us the lifestyle that we’ve been daydreaming about. Financial instability and unpreparedness can result in massive emotional and mental stress that can take a serious toll on health and relationships. It can limit educational opportunities for our children. The true price tag of money ignorance isn’t just dollars in a bank account; it’s the ability to live our lives in confidence and to pursue our dreams.

The book, HowMoneyWorks: Stop Being a Sucker describes financial illiteracy as the #1 economic crisis in the world. As you can see, that’s not an exaggeration. Let me know if you want to learn more about the severity of our global financial ignorance pandemic and how it’s impacting you right now. I can get you a copy of the book and help you see the financial opportunities that surround you—if you just know how to take advantage of them!

• Share:

If you read this blog before, you know how to find your credit report and credit score.

But what’s your game plan if you don’t like what you see? A low credit score can make getting and/or paying for a mortgage or car loan much more difficult since lenders are more likely to charge you higher interest rates.¹ Insurers, employers, and even landlords sometimes factor your score into their decision-making process.¹ There are few parts of your life that will be unaffected!

Boosting your score is a key step in helping to achieve financial independence and pursuing your dreams. You basically have two plays at your disposal to start putting credit score points on the board. Read on to see what they are!

Defend your score. Let’s say you get your credit report back and notice something’s wrong. Maybe your credit card company incorrectly reported a late payment or there’s negative information that’s now expired and can come off the report. Errors on your report can sabotage your credit score, so it’s important that you rally to defend your creditworthiness!

First step is you’ll need to write a letter to the credit reporting agency that’s in error. State your name and address and exactly what you’re disputing. Hunt down documents that will support your case and include those as well. The Federal Trade Commission has a sample dispute letter you can access on their website.²

If the credit agency agrees with your dispute, they’ll adjust your credit report accordingly and send you a new copy. You can also request that they send the revised report to companies that viewed the flawed version. If the credit agency denies your claim, you can take the dispute to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.³

Attack your score. You might see your score and realize that it’s on the low end. You’ve been late on payments, you always max your credit cards, and it shows. So what can you do? How do you go on the offensive and start lifting your number?

Your first volley is to start paying your bills on time. See if there are ways of automating your payments to make them as hassle free as possible. Second, make sure that you don’t max out your credit cards. Borrowing as much as possible at every opportunity can wreak havoc on your score. That doesn’t mean you should necessarily close all of your credit cards (that can negatively impact your score as well). But come up with a plan to limit your temptation to use plastic and start paying with cash as much as possible. Finally, avoid opening up new lines of credit, especially all at one time. Credit reporting agencies will look at how many creditors have inquired about your records to get an idea of how much debt you might accumulate.

Taking your credit score from a landslide win for lenders to a win for your bank account takes time and work. Remember that you have resources. The Federal Trade Commission has pages of consumer information on credit reporting and scoring that are 100% free and just a click away.⁴ And having a financial advisor in your corner can help boost your chances of turning around your credit score!

• Share:

Lenders know all about your credit score.

A good score means they should give you a competitive rate or you might go elsewhere. A bad score means they can crank up your interest rate and make your money work for them.¹

Do you know what your credit score is and where it comes from? It shouldn’t be a mystery. So how do you find out what your score is before getting gouged for the foreseeable future?

Reports and scores.

Let’s start by fleshing out the concept of credit scores. Certain companies collect information on you—like payment history, the number and type of accounts you have, whether you pay your bills on time, collection actions, outstanding debt, and the age of your accounts.² This debt rap sheet is called your credit report. Its goal? To determine how reliably you’ll repay lenders if they lend you money.

Data from the credit report gets run through an equation. Each algorithm is slightly different at each credit reporting company, but they all spit out a number that’s supposed to estimate how likely you are to pay off a loan. High scores mean you’re “credit worthy”, low scores mean you aren’t. Pretty simple, right?

How do I find my personal credit information?

Despite what you might think, credit reports are actually easy to find if you know where to look. The government mandated that the three major nationwide credit reporting companies (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion) offer you a free credit report every 12 months. All you have to do is head over to annualcreditreport.com and request your report.

Credit scores are a bit less straightforward. The government doesn’t mandate free credit score disclosures, but there are still ways to find them for free. Some credit card providers, banks, and lenders participate in FICO Score Open Access Program, making it a breeze for regular people to check their credit scores.³

Keeping up with your credit report and credit score might feel like one of those necessary evils, however nurturing and maintaining them can pay off. What should you do once you get your report and score and you don’t like what you see? That’s what we’ll cover next time

• Share:

Can everyone agree that not knowing how money works sucks?

It sucks up your time.

It sucks up your freedom.

And, most importantly, it sucks up your income.

So where does it all go?

It goes to your mortgage lender.

It goes to your credit card company.

To your bank.

To Apple, Amazon, and Netflix.

You know—the guys who know exactly how money works.

And here’s something else they know—the moment you also learn how money works, their power evaporates.

Why? Because you’ll suddenly start seeing all the ways your money can work to make YOU wealthy, instead of someone else.

You start recognizing—and avoiding—the raw deals that banks keep throwing your way.

And you’ll finally stop wasting time feeling like a fool—and start living your life and providing your best to the people you love most.

It’s really simple. The only antidote to the pain of not knowing how money works is to actually learn how money works.

Get a financial education, and watch the amount of suck slowly drain from your life. I’ll be right here the moment you’ve had enough.

• Share:

Your financial education must include both knowledge AND what steps to take. It must teach you wealth building concepts AND wealth building strategies.

If you’re lacking knowledge, it’s impossible to start your journey to financial independence because the money decisions you make without it are likely to do more harm than good.

But knowledge alone is not enough. Knowledge without guidance leads to information overload and analysis paralysis.

It’s what all financial professionals hear: ”You’ve taught me about the Power of Compound Interest. Great! And now I know about the Time Value of Money. Wonderful! But where the heck do I find an account with the interest rate I need to reach my financial goals?”

Tony Robbins said it best. “Knowledge is NOT power. Knowledge is only POTENTIAL power. Action is power.”

So before you create a strategy to start building wealth, learn how money works. Discover the financial illiteracy crisis and its impact on your peace of mind. Learn about the Power of Compound Interest and the Time Value of Money and how those concepts can make your money earn more money. Realize the wealth building potential of starting a business.

Then, get with a licensed and qualified financial professional. Start working through The 7 Money Milestones. They’re time-proven steps that can move you from financial hardship to financial independence. The Milestones are…

• Financial Education

• Proper Protection

• Emergency Fund

• Debt Management

• Cash Flow

• Build Wealth

• Protect Wealth

Why these steps? Because they apply what you’ve learned to simple strategies, like…

• Securing proper financial protection for your family

• Leveraging a side hustle to boost cash flow

• Protecting your wealth with an estate plan

The Milestones take your newfound knowledge and transform it into action. They move you from having the potential to be wealthy to walking the path towards securing your future.

In short, they help unlock your power to create the future you want.

Learn how money works. Follow the Milestones. Take control of your financial future. With this education, you can be on the road to wealth in no time flat.

• Share:

No one has money. You may think other people have money, but they don’t.

For each generation, it’s the same.

They don’t get taught how money works from K-12.

High school graduates head off to college. They don’t learn how money works there, either.

College graduates enter the workforce and start earning a paycheck… and spending their paycheck.

Soon, they enter a cycle of foolish spending. Earn a paycheck. Spend a paycheck. Earn a paycheck. Spend a paycheck.

They join the hundreds of millions living paycheck-to-paycheck. Always spending. Barely saving, if at all.

When retirement finally arrives or accidents or illness occur later in life, a terrible realization dawns on them…

They have no money.

According to a recent survey…1

◼ Gen Z adults have saved an average of $37,000 for retirement ◼ Millennials have saved an average of $63,300 for retirement ◼ Gen-Xers have saved an average of $98,900 for retirement ◼ Baby Boomers have saved an average of $138,900 for retirement

Only Gen Z and Millennials are even close to being on track for retirement. Gen-Xers and Baby Boomers fall short of bare minimum savings by over half.

It’s not for lack of income—many Americans make enough to put their money to work.

Rather, it’s because they lack knowledge. They just don’t understand how money works beyond earning and spending.

The takeaway? If you’re a Gen-Xer or Baby Boomer, the time to start building wealth is now.

But for your income and skills to translate into wealth, you need tools. You need concepts like…

◼ The Power of Compound Interest

◼ The Time Value of Money

◼ Wealth Equivalency

These concepts will help you answer questions like…

◼ What interest rate do I need to close the gap between my savings and my retirement goals?

◼ How much do I need to save each month to retire with $1 million?

◼ Should you save a nest egg or start a business?

If those are answers you need to get, ask me how you can learn. I’d be happy to introduce you to resources that can set you on the right path towards discovering how money works and building wealth.

• Share: