Adverse Beginnings to Financial Leadership with Justin Buonomo

[00:00:01] Welcome to Business Finance and Soul. My name is Shaun Enders, and I'm a Curious Entrepreneur. I love exploring business, personal finance and consciousness. I'll jump around topics, offer my opinions, and occasionally interviewing interesting people. Looking forward to going on this journey. Let's be curious together!

[00:00:21] Welcome back to Business Finance and Soul. Today I sit down with Justin Buonomo and talk about personal finance and financial mastery. Justin is a CEO of Journey to Financial Freedom, dedicated to empowering business professionals and entrepreneurs

[00:00:42] to achieve their dream lifestyle through financial mastery. And it completely hits on the ethos of my life and things that I'm super excited about just and welcome to the show.

[00:00:52] Thank you so much, my friend. I know we were talking a little bit before, but I think this is just that perfect partnership for this show. And I really hope to impact the audience today, so thank you for having me.

[00:01:02] Yeah, I know you will. You bring a lot of great experience and you're working in real time with clients and right in that ballpark of the area of passion for me. And I wanted to jump right in and ask, why is financial freedom so important to you?

[00:01:22] And why should it be important to others? Great question. And so financial freedom, I'll just give you kind of my definition of it.

[00:01:30] And then, you know, definition we give our clients. And to me financial freedom is only an asset or assets that's been you enough money each month automatically, whether you show up or not and that money is large enough to cover your expenses in your lifestyle.

[00:01:45] Right? And so why is that important? It's because I want to choose how I spend my time, my money and my energy and my choices.

[00:01:54] Right? And so it gives you that money is a great tool freedoms the goal. Right? And so it's impossible for us to live our dream life.

[00:02:03] If we don't have our money under control, and so that's why it just becomes so important to me because I don't want to wait on 65 different tire.

[00:02:10] You know, I want to wake up tomorrow and decide how I want to utilize my time. If I want to bring my daughter to school every day, make her breakfast before that. Right?

[00:02:19] And so I want to go off every single day of the week, right? Or hop in and work with the team at JFF a couple of days of the week.

[00:02:26] However, I want to choose to spend my time, my energy and my choices, right? I want that ultimate freedom. And financial freedom really mastering the money game allows that. That's I think that's so on point. I'm curious where did this come from for you?

[00:02:44] Not a lot of people get this. I sometimes I think parents or family are great influencers and we can have models there. But we all have to live our life and sometimes, you know, it's more painful road for others.

[00:02:57] Some people don't get it until they're late 50s into their 60s and they start waking up and going, oh my gosh, you know what I'm going to do. You've been really early in life. And that's a blessing. Where did that come from?

[00:03:09] So I call it kind of like you said painful. So it was painful at first, then productive later on. And so when I was 10 years old, unfortunately my parents followed for bankruptcy for the second time.

[00:03:19] And because of that, they got a divorce. We lost both cars. I literally washed my parents cars get a repot and we lost my childhood home.

[00:03:28] And even in that move when they split up and they both went to rental properties because every file for bankruptcy, you can't purchase in your home. So they both had to go to rental properties and both rental properties didn't accept pets.

[00:03:40] And I had a three year old, rock wallet at the time, Jake who was my best friend. And a 10 years old, I had to give my doll the way. And so I literally would seem like at the time, I lost everything because of money.

[00:03:51] And I remember being 10 years old and getting this news broken to me. However, I could digest it in articulated at the time. I made a promise to myself that said one day when I can control it, I'll never have to worry about money ever again.

[00:04:03] Right? And so fast forward to when I'm 18, I then get a settlement for $80,000 for getting hit by a car when I was 13.

[00:04:13] And that money was mine. My parents can't tell me what to do with it. And on top of that, I moved six hours away to go to college, play college across and was, you know, your typical last row.

[00:04:25] You know, if you can imagine that. And so all I did was what was just meared to me as a child, which you make a bunch of money.

[00:04:33] And you spend a bunch of money. My parents made, that was the biggest thing I forgot to mention that. At the time it was like the early late 90s, early 2000s. And they were making like 150, 160,000 dollars combined. Right? They were crushing.

[00:04:48] And they were the cream of the crop. Like they were good looking individuals. They were high school, all stars at sports, the popular people, like just very charismatic, right?

[00:04:57] And even with all that, the income included. Right? They were always about making a bunch of money spending a bunch. Like one day I was rich. The next day I was poor. Like one day we're at the mall. I'm getting everything I wanted.

[00:05:09] And literally the next day, I couldn't even go to soccer practice as my dad couldn't afford to pay the coach.

[00:05:14] Or literally the next day, my dad is literally not figuratively literally flipping tables over a $50 random expense. Right? And so all I did when I got that 80,000 Sean was just meared.

[00:05:25] Well, it's shown to me as a child. Right? And so to say that I blew that money would be a compliment for how I spent that 80,000 dollar settlement. Right? And so a couple of years later that money is gone.

[00:05:38] And I learned a lot of lessons in that process. I always talk about this thing called a financial behavioral cycle. How we behave with money is just based off our experiences with it.

[00:05:47] And at first, when we're younger, it's just indirect experiences like how our parents handle money. Right? Or how we see money talked about handling the entertainment world.

[00:05:56] You know, I grew up in the era where like rappers were wearing their jerseys backwards with the bandaid on their face and you know, just spending ridiculous amounts of money on materialistic things. You know, to each to roam.

[00:06:06] But what was the people that I'm looking up to at there at the time? Right? And so then you get your own money one day. And all you do is just really meared what you were shown as a child through those experiences through those indirect experiences. Now you have your own direct experiences money.

[00:06:19] And again, mindless can clearly blowing 80,000 dollars, not investing a single bit of it and all of it being gone and gone very fast. And so fast forward now to maybe 23 years old.

[00:06:33] A lot of lessons in that process. And I got a job at Johns Hopkins Hospital as a senior level administrator that I had no business to be again, but the job was open for about a year.

[00:06:45] I had a really good mentor who got me into the interview and then I interviewed really well and didn't have anybody else crazy enough to take on this big old position that they combined like three full time positions into one.

[00:06:54] And I was the only one crazy enough to say yes. And so I got put into this position where the responsibilities are massive, but also for a 23 year old so is the pet.

[00:07:03] But safely I was bright enough at that time or like, okay, I need to make a change here, right?

[00:07:09] Because with the writing on the wall, all of you to do is just climb this corporate ladder, make more money here at Johns Hopkins Hospital or wherever I go in hospital administration.

[00:07:19] Right? And I'm only going to make more money. Right? I was bright enough to realize that I should probably learn how to manage this thing called money.

[00:07:27] And thankfully, we had a lot of financial responsibilities in these positions in hospital and then the administration started off at the first position.

[00:07:33] I managed a budget about $7 million for the department that I was in. So I learned a bunch of skills there professionally and thankfully again was bright enough to carry it over to the personal world and start building systems for myself to start managing my money better. That's kind of how all this started.

[00:07:48] That's unbelievable. I mean, I just think that it's interesting.

[00:07:55] There's so many areas that I want to kind of touch upon. It's very interesting that at that age you recognize it. And this is what I think and what I want to get into later in terms of pattern interrupt and being able to disrupt old patterns that people have because you saw what happened at 10 you made a commitment.

[00:08:16] But yet you still got a settlement and you went back to a pattern even though you knew better. And I think that this is a key point that we'll get to a little bit later, because I have some questions around it.

[00:08:31] But this is very prevalent for most people is their subconscious behavior really just continues time and time again. And you don't realize it. You just don't understand that you're a product of, you know, either some modeling or bad code that was installed, you know, at a young age that you need to to highlight and manipulate.

[00:08:57] But what you brought up with your parents is I think a key point because there's a lot of high earners in the world that people that make good money.

[00:09:07] And the assumption is that those people are rich, but, you know, enriches the subjective word, but let's just say use it in the financial terms only. But those people are wealthy or rich and the truth is, is many are a paycheck away from losing everything.

[00:09:28] And your parents highlight that of where they're actually doing all the right things from the outside, you know, being good people, making good money, raising a good family.

[00:09:42] But then financially, they didn't actually have that experience. Did have you ever been able to sit down with them and kind of dissect where their financial behavior started? Was it did it come from their family or

[00:09:56] Where has this come from and have you ever gotten to that point and where you guys have sat down and actually dissected, you know, where the the family tree started financially.

[00:10:06] I don't think we've actually dissected it, but more so my panel is that on my end just doing what I'm doing now, right, and just understanding people's money behaviors and beliefs.

[00:10:17] And really with my father, the thing was with him is that I always at the same, we don't have money problems, we have behavioral problems, leaky in where our lives and disguising themselves as money problems.

[00:10:31] Right, and so our reality is just a direct correlation to our behaviors, right, our behaviors come from our beliefs and our beliefs are formed from our traumas and experiences in life.

[00:10:40] Right, and so my dad had a belief system, right that he gained his love and his acknowledgement, has acceptance from other people from his accolades, accomplishments and money, right, like he thought it is, but more money he had the more money that he spent on other people and more that they were going to accept him and love him.

[00:10:58] Right, and so to him and I struggle with this too as well, it's why I can speak to it so well.

[00:11:04] Is that art ego, we'll do anything that I can to avoid death, not actual death, but what our ego thinks is death, right, you've got to subconscious earlier.

[00:11:13] And so, on the death can be to some people being rejected by individuals being rejected by their loved ones and people see how they can avoid that rejection obviously is by having acceptance.

[00:11:27] He believed that they gain acceptance through materialistic accomplishments and needs, and that was definitely the case with my dad so he would, but literally the definition of trying to buy people's love.

[00:11:37] Well, that was my mwell arm or arc has friends or just he felt that the more money that he made and spent and showed that he may had money, right, the more he was being accepted and his ego was avoiding death.

[00:11:48] I know this because I struggle with it all the time and so, and personal example is you know our behaviors with money again are just directly correlated to our beliefs which are just directly correlated to our experiences and traumas in life.

[00:12:01] And so I grew up with a dad who I always wanted to please like most guys and boys, right, and it just to me and felt like it never was enough.

[00:12:10] Right, and so if I took 15 shots in a game and I made 14 and missed the one it was always about the one that I missed.

[00:12:18] Right, if I got 5 A's and 1 B was always about the one B, right, you know, and so I just felt like I can never please my dad and so I thought that through accolades accomplishments and achievements.

[00:12:28] I was going to buy his love, right, or in his love and so I always used the example like did I create JFS my company to, you know, impact, you know, thousands of lives and change make sure they live a better life by avoiding unnecessary stress and anxiety and problems around money when 1000%.

[00:12:45] But did I also create it to make millions of dollars and go back to my dad and say hey dad, is it enough now? 100%.

[00:12:51] Right, and so, like, aes, one or, right, and so two things can be true at once. And a lot of times our motives with money can be good and can be bad or like, I don't like the use of those terms, I like to say they can either bring you further away from God or closer to God.

[00:13:04] Right, and so before I get too deep down a rabbit, well, like I haven't spent that time with my dad to figure that out. But I've definitely spent the time with myself and my clients over the years and so when I first got started with JFS, I have a lot of clients that would come to me and maybe making good money but have no money.

[00:13:19] They've been making good money and have a lot of high interest debt and they're making good money but scared of money.

[00:13:25] And then we've got to plan for them and like, okay, if you follow this plan, Sean, you'll have $15,000 in your bank account in six months and you'll have all of your high interest rate debt paid off.

[00:13:35] We get to the end of the six months. A lot of that didn't happen and we're like, what is going on here? Right, we just followed up.

[00:13:42] All the plan was doing was just showing them what their behaviors need to do. Right, but what we found is when you start to address things at a belief level, not a behavioral level is when you start to get long-term real results, particularly around finances and so,

[00:13:55] addressing things at that belief level, it's ultimately what's going to change behaviors which is then going to change the outcomes in the realities. Yeah, you hit upon something with spending money, you don't have to oppress people that you don't know.

[00:14:10] And I think that because the people you know that actually care about you really don't care, right? You know, they, because they're too if if if if they really care, they're more than likely wrapped up into their own world about how people think about them not so much what you're up to.

[00:14:26] So it's very nuanced in terms of, you know, behavior and how it applies to the way we see our own worth out in the world. And that's a thing that like you said, you struggle with it. We all do because we're human and we're in a multiplayer, you know, environment, you know, a co-creative environment. This is in a singular game.

[00:14:48] This is in a singular mission. We're out doing our thing and we can feel like we've got it. And then something throws us off, right? I'm in Southern California.

[00:14:59] And so I can feel like, you know, and I'm sturdy, you know, I know what my values are, what my mission is and then you know, I take a right down a street in a nice zip code.

[00:15:14] What I live and then I'm like, oh my god, I want that house. You know, and it's like, it just, it's something that you have to go through and check yourself. And I think that when, you know, this goes back to your clients that you're saying six months down the road, they were all in on day one.

[00:15:30] And life changes, but they're in the stimuli gets introduced on a daily basis. And you have to go back to some type of practice, some foundation, something that is your nor start to get you through that.

[00:15:43] What is it and how do you work with people, and yourself included to really stay balanced, stay focused on what it is that you're going after because there will be a lot of disruptions. There's going to be, you know, a lot of competing interests and your ego is there to help you also, you know, it's self awareness, it's your place in the world.

[00:16:08] But it also is very harmful in a materialistic society, you know, work in superrism is what drives us. So how do you get people to work in that space? Is there a daily practice that you recommend? How do people stay on track?

[00:16:24] You use a lot of practical and strategic things that you can do, like I just taught a lesson earlier to our community in a big way to avoid going down that path from a practical standpoint as they have a mission for your money.

[00:16:35] I simply put like what are your goals with your money? So when it comes in there being allocated to those goals instead of spent suboptim.

[00:16:43] So like, I think that that's a good strategic way. We can get into the strategy of it all day long, but a very simple question I have found is the most effective, particularly for me because I spend my money.

[00:16:55] I mean, I teach her that teach, but I definitely spend my money for good and for bad times, right? And like I still struggle just like anybody else when it comes to trying in my spending under control.

[00:17:05] But also I want to be able to spend my money and live my life because you know, we work hard for it. And so, you know, you don't want to make spending your money at the end of me, but you also don't want to use it as a license to just freely spend on whatever you want because you know where that leads.

[00:17:18] So one very simple effective question. I ask myself when it comes to my motives with money, whether it's earning or spending is this endeavor bringing me closer to God or is it bringing me further away?

[00:17:29] And so, you know, we're getting ready to launch a mastermind, right? And obviously it's going to make me in the company of entrepreneur money, right?

[00:17:37] And I'm asking myself going into that, like is, are my motives behind this earning strategy bringing me closer to God or bringing me further away?

[00:17:45] Right? And my wife and I right now, we're looking into buying a beach house and saying Augustine Florida. And we're asking ourselves, is this bringing us closer to God or is this bringing further us further away from God?

[00:17:55] Bringing closer to God, an example here would be to be able to have an asset that's making our family money, right as a rental property, right?

[00:18:02] To provide more freedom and more opportunities and less stress and anxiety. Bringing us further away from God would be so I can show off my beach house and tell my friends how cool I am and get acceptance and love from my dad wrongfully.

[00:18:15] And so, just an example there and that question works really, really well. I always say, your results, right? And your life, your business and your finances are a lot of times directly correlated to the questions that you ask yourself, right?

[00:18:30] Or I love this say like, your life will grow into direct proportions to the hard conversations you're going to have with yourself other people in God. And that question, those simple sometimes a very hard conversation.

[00:18:41] Yeah, you know what I like is that you really established a foundation for your line of questioning. What's important to you and I think that that's the point is, you know when you listen in to a podcast or, you know, you read a book or you're getting, you're getting other people's perspectives on how do they do it?

[00:19:02] Doesn't mean that everyone has to do it this way, but what it does mean is there's a foundational approach.

[00:19:07] You know, a spot of where you can rely on to go back and start your decision tree, right? Like you don't come from a scattered mind you come from a very clear point of perspective which is, hey does this get me closer to God.

[00:19:23] How's my relationship with my creator? And I think that that's great because it allows you to anchor over and over again. You know, your business promotes and assists in the journey to financial independence and financial freedom.

[00:19:47] How do you help others? And because sometimes it's a foreign mind set to have, because retirement has been pushed for so long that the idea is retirement retirement retirement and you know when the fire community initially came out, you know, maybe 20 Mr. Money Mustache was what probably 20 years ago.

[00:20:11] It was interesting because it was all about financial independence to retire early, so like to go do nothing.

[00:20:18] But I think now it's really moved into a financial freedom and financial independence mindset which is, hey, you may always want to be doing something. You may always want to work.

[00:20:26] You might not have to earn some money for it. You know, maybe you don't actually have to go earn a paycheck. That's financial freedom of where you're doing things.

[00:20:35] And if no money came from it, you'd be just as happy. But oddly, universally people end up making money because they're not worried about making money anymore.

[00:20:44] And other just, they're just like, it's like a big star doesn't need any, any promos but they're getting gifts and they're getting all this free stuff and it's like, they actually have more money than, you know, like, you don't have to, you don't have to comp them.

[00:21:01] But the more that you have, the more people want you to be associated with what you're doing. So how do you help people establish a financial freedom number?

[00:21:11] And is there a specific strategy that you go down or that you would recommend for the listeners to establish a financial independence or financial freedom number?

[00:21:20] Absolutely love this question so much. Projecting me how I do things. I'm going to answer your question. How many give your audience the exact equation that our high ticket clients get and work to come up with that financial freedom number?

[00:21:31] And so I love the quote of once you stop needing what you want, you get what you want. All right. And so once you're stopping needing money, you will make the most money you've ever made.

[00:21:43] And so I also love the idea of shifting the mentality of retirement to financial independence. It's, I've pictured the quote in the beginning, are my definition of financial freedom. I'm going to say it again.

[00:21:52] Right. But financial freedom is owning an asset or assets that's been you enough money each month and a year to cover your expenses in your lifestyle. And what did you choose to show up or not? Right. And what is an asset?

[00:22:03] Asset is just something that is money, is making your money or can make you money. And the second option is our business, right, for business owners, right.

[00:22:09] That asset is something that is making us money. And so thankfully I'm in this space where I don't have to show up to my business to make me money that I need to make.

[00:22:17] The way that I show up, I choose to show up. Right. And so ever since we hit financial freedom, we became millionaires when we were 28.

[00:22:25] My wife and I were 31 now. And so I've been showing up to work just because I want to show up over these past couple of years. And we've just because of that, have made more money than we've ever made. And so I'll never stop where how go crazy.

[00:22:38] I love golf. I'm a pretty decent golfer. Right. I fall about maybe taking a run at it. You know, going to a pro amtor or something like that.

[00:22:45] But it's like, I could not not help people with their finances in their business. You know, like I just love it. I love it. I are clients. I've probably way more access to me than most coaches and mentors and millionaires give their clients.

[00:22:58] But it's because I love it and I choose that. I choose the life that I live. And so here's how we did that, and how we help our clients do that.

[00:23:05] So we want to figure out your financial freedom number. Your financial freedom number is just simply how much money do you need a month and a year to cover your expenses in your lifestyle?

[00:23:15] So let's figure out that number. Right. So what I would tell people is go through your budget right now. Right. You're expenses right now and just see what they are, right?

[00:23:24] With lifestyle baked in, I'm not saying cut out eating out. I'm not saying cut out x, y and z. Just go through it right now. So for easy numbers, let's just say I go through mine.

[00:23:32] And my lifestyle right now is $10,000. Right. That's definitely figure out what your expenses in lifestyle are right now currently. Step two is I could probably imagine most people's number that that expense list doesn't have everything in there that you would want to live your dream life.

[00:23:51] Financial freedom isn't financial freedom unless you're living your dream life. I think at least right? And so now had add in some expenses, add in some lifestyle. So would you want a bigger house? All right. Cool. There's $2,000 more for a mortgage.

[00:24:03] Would you want to buy that range over great? There's $500 more for a monthly payment. Right. Would you want to take a vacation a month with your loved ones? Awesome. Would you want to up your investments into the stock market or into your business? Whatever.

[00:24:14] So let's just say after we do that, we find another $10,000 on top of the original $10,000. Right. So now that means that we need $20,000 a month right to be produced by one of our assets if not all of our assets to give us financial freedom.

[00:24:30] And all the question is, right? How do I produce $20,000 a month through my assets? Do I get five rental properties that profit $4,000 a month? Great. You're financially free.

[00:24:42] Technically, I always say if I'm an entrepreneur, I'm really as a financial freedom unless you fully enjoy and get fulfillment on what you're doing to get there. I mean, I don't know how many people are waking up tomorrow morning.

[00:24:52] Hell yeah, I can't wait to be a landlord and fix these toilets or deal with the property management company instead. You know what I mean?

[00:24:57] Just like again, I'm not knocking the real estate industry. We're in it, right? But you know, I think financial freedom, you know, you really want to go so that fulfillment in the process.

[00:25:06] And so, you know, talking about how do you create that business, right? To beat that financial freedom vehicle that asset, right?

[00:25:12] And so just for fake numbers, let's just say all in each month of my wife and I have 50 can expenses lifestyle and investments that we want to make.

[00:25:20] Our business makes $150,000 a month automatically, right? So it covers all of that and we have 100K leftover to then go buy more assets with, right? Then use those funds to go buy rental properties, then use those funds to go buy stocks and bonds.

[00:25:34] Then use those funds to go buy whatever other assets we want, right? But for business owners, I really think the best way to reach financial freedom is investing all of your time money and energy into your business

[00:25:45] To get it to a point where I can produce you this amount of funds to make you financially free and then anything left over, then go buy other assets with that.

[00:25:55] Love that. And ultimately, I think that when you have that mindset of building the dream life to, right? I think that's such an important point to double click on because a lot of times yeah, you can cut your way to financial freedom and that's, you know, where I reference the old school fire movement of why it was a very niche group,

[00:26:22] because that's not really something everyone is attracted to not everybody's attracted to, you know, just living on virtually nothing to say that you don't actually have to go to work anymore. It's not much fun. I mean if that's financial freedom, I don't think a lot of people want to live that way and go off the grid and, you know, just, you know, completely live in a very vulnerable way.

[00:26:52] You know, I don't think it's a very important thing to do to keep people safe and go out and they're really happy to help you.

[00:27:01] So, you know, you know, you're like, gosh, anytime my life, if I want to expand a little bit my interests, I can't do that, you know, I haven't worked in six years. My resume is dusty and now I actually do want to, you know, have children.

[00:27:09] Or I do want to aspire to a beach house in Saint Augustine, right? Like you can aspire to any of that. If you didn't dream a little bit before you went on that financial freedom.

[00:27:21] Think they what you're recommending is really cool because it does allow you to take a step back and go, okay.

[00:27:28] What, what is the dream lifestyle to me? Well, like, what is that? And then when you look at all those numbers and you're like, okay, that's a big number. All right. Let's let them out. Let's forget.

[00:27:39] Yeah, and it should be, you should look at it and get a little bit scared. Especially if you're somebody that can achieve and you understand that like, truly it's not about cutting your way to financial freedom. It's now about saying, okay, well how do I get there?

[00:27:56] And this is there is an element of trust that you have to now start putting a plan in place in order to earn that way.

[00:28:05] And if you don't have the desire for that, if you don't have the interest in, you know, truly growing a company to cover those types of expenses or, you know, that isn't something that you want to do like you mentioned being a landlord.

[00:28:17] You know, getting that call to, you know, I mean, you can outsource the property management and pay for that. But let's just say in the beginning you're doing that that work.

[00:28:28] You got to get your mind around the fact that that's just going to come with creating wealth, you know, there it's never a smooth path on your way to building something substantial. It's going to come with some some hard work.

[00:28:41] But it's worth it because you know now at this is the life I want this is my financial independence number. This is the asset that I need or assets that I need in order to create that.

[00:28:53] A lot of business owners have tons of network tied into their business. And you know, what I'm hearing a little bit from use is you've got more of a diversification mindset, which I think is is pretty cool when you're working with somebody that is very heavily tied into one business.

[00:29:14] How do you work with with people like that? Sometimes cash flow isn't necessarily the thing that they can accomplish because they're reinvesting all of that money and that capital back into the company as oxygen to grow the value.

[00:29:34] But at the same time, you know, it doesn't mean that they're going to be able to sell that asset when they want to sell it. I mean that you hear about business sales all the time and our positions that doesn't mean that's a very small percentage for a lot of people. So how do you work with entrepreneurs in that space between growing their companies and still spitting off that free cash flow.

[00:29:59] Such a fantastic question. So, a couple of things coming in. The first thing is really when it comes to your business, there's only two best case scenarios. There's really only two good options or best case options.

[00:30:11] One, you scale it to be an ATM like we're talking about the your financial freedom vehicle, right? Where you hold on to it, you show up all you want and it automatically spins you the money that you need.

[00:30:21] Or second, you sell it for top dollar and go your separate ways. Right? And so the beautiful part is the same exact thing that is needed to scale your business to a financial freedom vehicle is also the same exact things that you've got to do to turn it into a business that will sell for top dollar money. Same exact input.

[00:30:39] And so I think that it's smart for people to reinvest all of their extra funds into their business short term. Right? So always teach our community the best way to become a millionaire.

[00:30:51] Best way to become a millionaire is becoming an equity millionaire first than a cash money. Because with your current situation right now, if you look at your leftover money, your profits.

[00:30:59] Let's just say after all expenses set and done, you've got $2,000 left over, right? Do the math and how long that would take you to save to become a cash millionaire.

[00:31:09] Instead, take those extra funds reinvested back in the business and become what it is called an equity millionaire first. Which doesn't mean that you have a cash, a million dollars in cash, and your banker in stocks and bonds, right?

[00:31:21] But instead it means that you own something like a business that is worth a million dollars. Right? And so my wife and I were very close to becoming cash millionaires, but we're equity millionaires. We've got two seven figure businesses.

[00:31:32] Right? And on our balance sheet, our net worth is $6.5 million in full transfers. Right? I feel like this is the audience we could share that with.

[00:31:40] And so we became equity millionaires first, right? And so what that means is that we created businesses that are worth millions of dollars. And eventually, if you're doing it the right way, if you're a business that is worth millions of dollars, right? Eventually, right?

[00:31:54] You'd start cash flowing, you larger chunks of money than your past situation. So instead of seeing $2,000 left over at the end of each month, right?

[00:32:02] You're not seeing 50, 60, 70, 80. Right? And still, some of that might be needed to go back into the business, but you should get to a point where all of that money is not needed to be invested back in the business.

[00:32:12] If they're, if they're, if that is the case, we should probably chat, right? And so the point being is you should be, if you become an equity millionaire first, which means,

[00:32:20] if business that is worth a million dollars, eventually it's going to start cash flowing, you enough money to have enough left over money to reinvest back in the business to sustain and scale it.

[00:32:28] While also leaving a bunch of left over money to then start buying those other assets then. But in the short term, we tell our clients, right? Like your money is probably best to spend going back into your business right now.

[00:32:40] Probably not best spent going into the stock market, right? I'm not against a stock market. I invest a ton of money in the stock market, right?

[00:32:46] If you can put a dollar in your business and get $5 back or not doing that in the stock market right now, right? Let's put your extra money back into the business to ramp it up to a point where then it is cash flowing you that amount of money.

[00:32:58] And then we can go buy those other assets and plan for the long term. Yeah, I like that a lot. I think that what you're touching upon really, it continues to be focused on that long term runway of where you're saying, hey,

[00:33:14] listen, building something with substantial equity will eventually spit that cash flow off. I mean it's inevitable if you are building a and you go from a six to a seven figure business and you know,

[00:33:27] I know there's moments of where there's cash crunches because you're reinvesting back into anything like, you know, when somebody buys a house, you've been saving for a long time, you've got, you know, maybe a couple hundred thousand dollars ready for your down payment and then it's got,

[00:33:43] you know, but it's not gone. It's equity right? And you now have that built into your home over time, you know, dependent upon when you have an exit or you sell that house, you should get that back and definitely when you buy commercial or, you know,

[00:34:01] multi-family anything over four is considered commercial, but yeah. The idea is that you're going to have these these cash flow compression moments of where you are reinvesting back in.

[00:34:16] The question that I have is, do you like to set target dates with individuals? Do you kind of work backwards to say, hey, you know, there's an age that people should be trying to accomplishes of where it becomes a, hey, this is, this is you've invested enough.

[00:34:34] Now we want this thing to really start to produce that income for us. You started really early and you've achieved a lot, you know, within your early 30s, which is amazing.

[00:34:45] A lot of people are starting businesses that, you know, 40, 45, and building from there. Do you think that people can still get there starting later? For sure. I think you're building the business the right way. You can make a million dollar business in 12 months.

[00:35:03] You can get to that cash flow in 12 months. I've seen several of our clients do it, right? It's a big thing that we teach. That's the definition of our business. They are the name turning to financial freedom. Like our client, Ernie is one clients first come to us.

[00:35:17] Right? Our first step is we help them implement the right systems and strategies around their money. And also we do a lot of internal coaching too as well, like the human being behind the money. So we help them develop a better relationship with money.

[00:35:30] Right? Once those things are in place, then we shift our focus to their income. Right? And their income usually comes from their business and now it's time to optimize the business.

[00:35:38] My point of saying that though is that when people first come to us, it doesn't make sense for us to teach them how to make 50k a month or 20,000 dollars more a month

[00:35:46] If you can't handle your current situation correctly, it just can be a recipe for disaster. So we implement those foundations and then shift the focus to the income.

[00:35:52] And again, a lot of times the focus is now optimizing the business. And we have found if we build the business the right way, right? It could it could turn into that financial freedom vehicle within 12 months.

[00:36:02] It could be worth a million dollars within 12 months. Right? And so if you think about what makes the business valuable, right?

[00:36:10] It's your pipeline of leads, right? It's your IP or your assets that you have. Right? So if it's let's just say for online spaces, it's the courses that you've created, right? The resources that you have, the recordings that you have, right? The masterminds that you have, whatever your products actually are.

[00:36:25] Right? Number three is your team or your leadership team, particularly, can the business work without you, right? And then number four is obviously your profit margins. And so those things can be accomplished to a million dollar evaluation over 12 months if you do it the right way.

[00:36:40] Yeah. And you know, something that you're very fortunate to have probably by design. I know I'm the same way my wife. We've been together for 25 years. So you know, I went to our high school prom.

[00:36:58] It's pretty awesome that we've grown together, you know, over the years instead of a part, you know, like our philosophy and our, you know, our approach on business and money.

[00:37:11] Super fortunate. Some of this just, you know, like it's it isn't something that you can always design that the other person is going to stay on this path with you.

[00:37:21] Seems like your wife is in lockstep with you in terms of, you know, how you see philosophically the way money as a tool interacts in your life. When you're working with people, do you find that there is,

[00:37:38] that there is a struggle between, you know, at home like the way one person spends and they spend or do you try to get people together to kind of go on this journey.

[00:37:50] How do you start with with someone who they might be actually financially successful but they are spending all of it or their wife is spending all of it or the husband is whatever. How do you work with two people?

[00:38:03] Hopefully they're both willing to do the work up front. So the very beginning of it, we get so many people on calls with our team to see if we can help them and then's being a great fit, we can help them but then they're significant others not on the call rights and then they go and talk to them and they're like, yeah, my significant other is not on board right now and man, it ruins them from the beginning because we're, words of a company we're thankful that we don't need a sale and we have people's best interests in mind I really pride myself on that.

[00:38:30] So we'll never sell anything that anybody that they don't need or we'll never want to partner with somebody less it's actually in their best interest let alone get a life changing for that.

[00:38:39] And so I can't tell you how heartbreaking it is the amount of people we get a month that their significant other is not on board or doesn't want to move forward and it's tough, it's tough to see but then if people do enter the doors,

[00:38:52] and what happens is a lot of times the significant other one of them won't be fully on board right so we tell them get started on your own right that you don't need them to be fully on board from the beginning right you can get started on your own you have your own choices you have your own independence right you know you can start to learn how to manage money better on your own right and hopefully over time if you stick with it rights.

[00:39:14] Your partners gonna be like okay, this is actually working I see the value they seem happier our bank account actually has more money in it rights are you know our kids you know are getting better energy around money and like what's in my wife from my husband's cup of tea right now I'm ready to hop on board right but unfortunately unless that happens you will bottleneck at some point right you can only do it on your own for so long so we'll see clients do not on their own for three four five months which is great.

[00:39:41] They're getting great results in three four five months, but they hit this bottleneck right because. On if you're in a household with somebody else like your money's their money and vice versa whether you shared or not right like somehow some way like your money situation is impacting theirs.

[00:39:58] And I it's sad to hear this stat but money is the number one reason for divorce and United States by a landslide right and with in fidelity in fidelity of the end second but a huge gap again I think it's much deeper than money is not actually the money itself, but it's labeled as money in the divorce papers.

[00:40:16] All right and so that that's saddens me because.

[00:40:20] Join finance is being able to partner with your best friend for compliments or strengths of weaknesses to accomplish a common goal together let alone one that's in the best interest of you and your family should be a massive advantage you got two people instead of one two incomes instead of one possibly two people to hold up duties whether that's household and professional or vice versa right so it should be a massive advantage to households in the United States when it for chance the number one reason tearing us apart.

[00:40:45] I particularly my family.

[00:40:47] And so you saw first hand absolutely and people are living in every day and I think this is it's something that I want to hear more of as we talk societally that the biggest decision that you will make in your life and a lot of people you know you could be like well the career I choose or you know.

[00:41:09] The college I go to know the number one biggest decision you'll make is who you partner with you know so whatever whoever that person is on your journey.

[00:41:19] That is going to be the single biggest decision because you either will rise up together or you will sabotage each other somebody will hold each somebody back there will be something and there's a lot of you mentioned infidelity there's a lot of financial infidelity of where.

[00:41:37] And you know I had an employee where the husband had a gambling addiction and so that and she was saving and using our 401k the match and everything and she came in tears one day it was like her husband had had gammled that all wet and I'm lying.

[00:41:52] I didn't even know how to react to that because that's just not my reality where somebody would go behind my back and drain accounts. And take loans out and do all of this stuff and so I think it's awesome what you guys are doing and I think that.

[00:42:07] You know the more we beat this drum about financial freedom and financial independence and the more that it becomes something that's fun.

[00:42:17] You know where we actually can have like this really awesome life you can go get a second house you can go invest in multiple properties you can drive a nicer car it isn't either or you know I think that that's kind of what you've been you know really pushing in terms of.

[00:42:37] From a macro view you can live and have a lot of fun but let's do it with a plan stick to it. Let's get systematized and I think working with the coach you're an athlete you know you played lacrot you wouldn't dare.

[00:42:54] Play college sports and not have you know a coach around you a strength and conditioning coach hopefully even somebody for mindset.

[00:43:04] But a lot of us are just going out wing in it you know just thinking we can do the financial thing on our own and most people don't even know anything about. Forget it the stock market.

[00:43:15] I don't know anything about mutual funds and other investment vehicles to be able to to grow their wealth so I really highly recommend that more people. Work with whether it's with you or neither financial coach they need to get out and actually get somebody that's on their side.

[00:43:37] I couldn't agree more. I think you know finding a financial coach that obviously knows their stuff is really important you'd be yeah he'd be surprised I'm going to be on the financial space are walking around.

[00:43:47] Talking about something that they don't actually embody right until exercising something is a heck of a lot different than embodying something. Right so obviously you want somebody that walks the walk but I think also.

[00:43:58] Having people that have your best interest in mind and also will help you are helping power you to make the best decisions around your money on your own.

[00:44:07] Right so I tell our clients after you work with us whether it's three months, six months, 12 months whatever they sign up for it's like I don't want you to need us afterwards. I don't want you ever after the time for our services ever again right and so.

[00:44:19] I think a big part of doing that is empowering people to make their own decisions but I think the best financial coaches are people that understand unique variables right unique variables are what make us different as human beings right our age where we live, what we do for living what our goals are what our fears are how many kids we have.

[00:44:36] Just a few just a name a few. I mean because unique variables are really important to get you optimal results with your finances right there's a massive difference between good results and optimal results and that gap in between those destinations are extremely costly not even just.

[00:44:52] I mean, I think that's a great thing.

[00:44:54] But when you can understand unique variables then that helps you create a custom approach to your finances that gets you optimal results because what I do may not make sense for you Sean or what you do may not make sense for one of the listeners at least fully in totality.

[00:45:07] Because of our unique variables and so when financial coaches can understand that and create plans and strategies for you understanding those nuances and really be in it for best results right that's where things really start to go to the next level on there's probably a lot of very smart people listening to.

[00:45:21] When you could probably figure some of this stuff on your own you could probably get good results on your own but again there's a massive difference between good and optimal and I constantly tell our clients and or you know people that we're talking with like.

[00:45:36] You're going to cost yourself a heck of a lot more money time energy and stress and anxiety by not having us than you would by having us.

[00:45:46] And you know what I think that for a lot of individuals the old school default was I'm going to go with this financial advisor, you know and well why did I walk out of that with whole life insurance and you know.

[00:46:04] You know, you're making money on assets under management but yet I haven't learned anything in terms of financial empowerment.

[00:46:12] I just know that I've essentially just outsourced everything to someone and I'm giving a big cut of my portfolio way and I have no idea about what I'm doing they haven't talked to me about financial independence.

[00:46:25] I think that's a really smart college educated professionals around where I live and I've got two kids.

[00:46:34] You know that are almost 11 and 14 and so I'm hyper plugged in to people that are doing extremely well at this age and a lot of people have just outsourced everything to their financial advisor they don't they don't know if I mentioned a financial independence number like I'm like why are you working.

[00:46:52] Because if I want coffee with with a guy that I know and he's like man, I'm shops so I'm so burned right now I can't be you at 10 for coffee.

[00:46:59] I'm like let me just ask you why are you working like what's your financial independence number they're like huh you know and it's like I'm speaking Chinese. So I love the space that you're in I like the journey to financial freedom being much more intentional about education.

[00:47:17] You know and empowerment and the point is that hey we do want to have a tradition with our clientele you know we want you to go out there and walk we're going to teach you how to do it.

[00:47:27] Rather than just just give me all your money you you stay uninformmed and then I'll just manage it for you and you don't have to think about it.

[00:47:36] Yours is much more engaging and I think it's where the future needs to to continue to go people need to to wake up start understanding how to manage you know their own finances.

[00:47:49] Because I know a lot entrepreneurs a lot of business owners and a lot of important executives that are just in the dark so yeah just and where would you like people obviously I'll link to the show notes and we'll get links on where people can find.

[00:48:05] Journey to financial freedom but additionally work in they find you Instagram would be the best spot just an underscore bwanamo B you oh and oh m oh the spelling will be in the show notes it's a heck of a time.

[00:48:18] I'm going to try to spell on your own and feel free to shoot me a DM there. I'll be the one answer you would love to chat and then also I'm going to give your audience a training that actually do for our exclusive community.

[00:48:30] It's called how to make and save more money because the first ones useless about that can skills that and again like you were saying earlier we're in and community I want you to make financial progress and deliver your life.

[00:48:43] Do things smart with your money and go out and spend your money how you want and I promise you. You can do both of those in parallel as long as you're wrong following the right systems and strategies and I think this train is going to teach people how to do that and I hope in him.

[00:48:58] Spot on thanks for your time Justin and I appreciate you and until next time everyone stay curious and I appreciate I everyone this listening.