{"id":118822,"date":"2025-03-04T16:58:31","date_gmt":"2025-03-04T20:58:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com\/?p=118822"},"modified":"2026-02-18T15:44:16","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T19:44:16","slug":"198-juan-amber","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com\/198-juan-amber\/","title":{"rendered":"Episode #198: \u201cI work 7 jobs but can\u2019t get ahead. Are we doomed?\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe title=\"\u201cI work 7 jobs but can\u2019t get ahead. Are we doomed?\u201d\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ojGTZO1lgW8\" width=\"100%\" height=\"400\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><span data-mce-type=\"bookmark\" style=\"display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;\" class=\"mce_SELRES_start\">\ufeff<\/span><span data-mce-type=\"bookmark\" style=\"display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;\" class=\"mce_SELRES_start\">\ufeff<\/span><br \/>\n<span data-mce-type=\"bookmark\" style=\"display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;\" class=\"mce_SELRES_start\">\ufeff<\/span><span data-mce-type=\"bookmark\" style=\"display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;\" class=\"mce_SELRES_start\">\ufeff<\/span><span data-mce-type=\"bookmark\" style=\"display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;\" class=\"mce_SELRES_start\">\ufeff<\/span><span data-mce-type=\"bookmark\" style=\"display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;\" class=\"mce_SELRES_start\">\ufeff<\/span><span data-mce-type=\"bookmark\" style=\"display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;\" class=\"mce_SELRES_start\">\ufeff<\/span><span data-mce-type=\"bookmark\" style=\"display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;\" class=\"mce_SELRES_start\">\ufeff<\/span><span data-mce-type=\"bookmark\" style=\"display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;\" class=\"mce_SELRES_start\">\ufeff<\/span><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><iframe style=\"border-radius: 12px;\" src=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/embed\/episode\/2vbys3z4LcpJvIWOQrgg4F?utm_source=generator\" width=\"100%\" height=\"352\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Juan (43) and Amber (40) feel behind on their retirement plans after years of prioritizing travel and expensive hobbies over investing.<\/p>\n<p>Juan, who grew up poor, struggles with a scarcity mindset\u2014undercharging for his work and financially supporting his family. Amber, now earning less, believes they should be doing better.<\/p>\n<p>With financial pressure mounting, they\u2019re considering merging finances but need to align on their money mindset first. Can they change their spending habits, boost their income, and get on track for their Rich Life?<\/p>\n<p><strong>This episode is brought to you by:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Trust &amp; Will | Secure your assets and protect your loved ones. Get 10% off plus free shipping on your estate plan documents by visiting\u00a0<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/trustandwill.com\/ramit\">https:\/\/trustandwill.com\/ramit<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Netsuite | Get visibility to everything in your business in one place. Sign up and defer payments, with no interest, for six months at\u00a0<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/iwt.com\/netsuite\">https:\/\/iwt.com\/netsuite<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Thrive Market | Head to\u00a0<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/thrivemarket.com\/RAMIT\">https:\/\/thrivemarket.com\/RAMIT<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0and get 30% off your first order\u2014plus a FREE $60 gift!<\/p>\n<p>LMNT | Right now, LMNT is offering 8 single serving packets FREE with any LMNT order. This is a great way to try all 8 flavors. Get yours at\u00a0<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/drinklmnt.com\/RAMIT\">https:\/\/drinklmnt.com\/RAMIT<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<h2><strong>Links mentioned in this episode<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/iwt.com\/earnwaitlist\">Want to earn an extra $1,000 on the side? Get on the waitlist at iwt.com\/earnwaitlist<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/iwt.com\/moneyforcouples\">Order my new book: Money for Couples<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong>Show Transcript<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>[00:00:00]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0At one point I had almost 50,000.<\/p>\n<p>[00:00:01]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0In savings? What happened to it? Don\u2019t say the motorcycle.<\/p>\n<p>[00:00:04]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0We have five motorcycles.<\/p>\n<p>[00:00:06]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Five [Bleep] motorcycles? I don\u2019t even have five books I wrote. Why do you have five motorcycles?<\/p>\n<p>[00:00:11]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0This is your fault. This is my Rich Life.<\/p>\n<p>[00:00:14]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0What happened the first time you met?<\/p>\n<p>[00:00:15]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0Amber tried to tell me how to run my business.<\/p>\n<p>[00:00:17]\u00a0<strong>Amber:<\/strong>\u00a0Yeah. He was doing it all wrong.<\/p>\n<p>[00:00:19]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0I didn\u2019t have a good role model for money growing up. I am so far behind on any kind of savings. Amber\u2019s behind as well. We really need to step up how much we\u2019re putting away.<\/p>\n<p>[00:00:30]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0What did you do with that money?<\/p>\n<p>[00:00:32]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0I bought a lot of weed with that\u00a0money. I was not a good sibling. I was not a good son. Caused a lot of heartache and a lot of grief. I\u2019m forever trying to make up for that.<\/p>\n<p>[00:00:42]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Have you ever had to declare bankruptcy?<\/p>\n<p>[00:00:45]\u00a0<strong>Amber:<\/strong>\u00a0In college. I got in over my head. The collection of agencies were following up with me and I tried to pay them a smaller amount and they refused.<\/p>\n<p>[00:00:53]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Did you think that bankruptcy was serious?<\/p>\n<p>[Narration]<\/p>\n<p>[00:01:05]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0I\u2019m about to open up\u00a0Juan and\u00a0Amber\u2019s conscious spending plan, which breaks down their net worth income and where they spend their money. This is a simple one pager.\u00a0You can download the template for free at iwt.com\/csp.<\/p>\n<p>[00:01:19]\u00a0All right,\u00a0I\u2019m looking at the CSP here. 43 years old and 40 years old. Assets of $65,000, investments of $80,000. Okay. Savings of 28,000, and\u00a0debt of 74,000. Total net worth of $98,000. Interesting. Let\u2019s look at the income. That\u2019ll tell me a lot. So their gross monthly income is\u00a0$16,560. That\u2019s a lot of money. That\u2019s $198,000 a year.<\/p>\n<p>[00:01:50]\u00a0Why do they only have 80k of investments at the age of 40 and 43? Also, why do they only have $28,000 of savings?\u00a0Now,\u00a0one possibility is that they just started earning this kind of money.\u00a0That\u2019s possible. Let\u2019s take a look at what else. Fixed costs are 57%. That\u2019s really good. Their rent is at $230. What? $115 each? This is a typo. All\u00a0right, fine.<\/p>\n<p>[00:02:18]\u00a0So basically,\u00a0they\u2019re not paying much for housing at all. Insurance is a little high at\u00a01,000\u00a0bucks. Car payment at 923. You know what\u2019s interesting? As I work my way down this list, I\u2019m like, if you are paying basically no housing costs or very little, then how is your fixed cost at 57%?\u00a0Shouldn\u2019t it be more like 25 or 30%?<\/p>\n<p>[00:02:37]\u00a0So where is the heavy expense under fixed costs? There it is. Debt payments at $2,581. Wow, that\u2019s pretty aggressive. They have a artificially low fixed cost because they\u2019re not paying housing costs, but they\u2019ve artificially raised their fixed cost by probably overpaying towards debt. All\u00a0right, fine. Groceries are fine. Nothing else really stands out.\u00a0At 57%,\u00a0personally, I think that number should be lower.\u00a0But I\u2019d be curious to hear more about what\u2019s up with the debt.<\/p>\n<p>[00:03:09]\u00a0Payment investments are at 10%. At 40 and 43, though, they need to be doing more. I can tell you that right now, especially because they only have $80,000 invested\u00a0and\u00a0they are not\u00a0going to own a house on this trajectory. They will need to dramatically increase their investments. Savings are at 7%. They\u2019re putting 200 bucks a month away for gifts. No way. That needs to go to investments. Long-term emergency fund at 400,\u00a0fine.\u00a0Family at 200. I\u2019ll have to see what that\u2019s about.<\/p>\n<p>[00:03:39]\u00a0And then guilt-free spending at 25%?\u00a0No, no, no, no, no. That needs to come way down. At age 40 and 43, if you haven\u2019t started investing aggressively by that point and you are not on track to own a house, then you\u2019ve\u00a0got to\u00a0be investing aggressively. So just off the bat, instead of 25%, that\u2019d be down to 15%.\u00a0All that would be going into investments. I need to talk to the couple to understand what\u2019s actually going on here.<\/p>\n<p>[Interview]<\/p>\n<p>[00:04:06]\u00a0<strong>Amber:<\/strong>\u00a0Juan and I do a really good job at living our \u200aRich Life today, but because of that approach, we\u2019re not really well set up for retirement.<\/p>\n<p>[00:04:17]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Okay. So you two are not married, correct?<\/p>\n<p>[00:04:20]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0Mm-hmm.<\/p>\n<p>[00:04:21]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Live together?<\/p>\n<p>[00:04:22]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0Mm-hmm.<\/p>\n<p>[00:04:22]\u00a0<strong>Amber:<\/strong>\u00a0Yes.<\/p>\n<p>[00:04:22]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0Yeah.<\/p>\n<p>[00:04:23]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0How long have you been together?<\/p>\n<p>[00:04:24]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0Three and a half years.<\/p>\n<p>[00:04:25]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Okay. All right, cool. Juan, you said in your application, \u201cI have not been able to stop thinking about preparing for the future, but instead of it being a bright outlook, it\u2019s often thought of with worry and fear. What do you mean by that?<\/p>\n<p>[00:04:44]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0Everything I learned about money and savings I learned from Amber. I didn\u2019t have a good role model for money growing up. So the things that I learned about how important it is to save and to leverage money and credit and things like that, I learned from Amber.<\/p>\n<p>[00:05:06]\u00a0And the more that I learned about those things and because of the place where I\u2019m at in my life now, I can see that I am so far behind on any savings that would have me feeling comfortable about retirement age. And that\u2019s just the worry that I feel for myself. But I also have an incredible amount of guilt and worry about being able to take care of my family.<\/p>\n<p>[00:05:31]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Which family?<\/p>\n<p>[00:05:32]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0My mom and my brother and my sister. And I really want to be there for them. But I think Amber once showed me a calculator that showed, if we put away this much money, this is how much we can expect to have. And I was like, yeah, that\u2019s not going to happen. I don\u2019t even think we can help ourselves with the amounts that we\u2019re showing on there. I\u2019m really behind. It sounds like Amber\u2019s behind as well. We really need to step up how much we\u2019re putting away, and the number just seemed insurmountable to me.<\/p>\n<p>[00:06:03]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0I see. You\u2019re 43 years old, so you said that the only thing you\u2019ve learned about money have come from Amber. And since you\u2019ve been together for three years, that means you really started learning about money around the age of 40, is that correct?<\/p>\n<p>[00:06:19]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0Mm-hmm.<\/p>\n<p>[00:06:19]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Amber, any of this surprise you?<\/p>\n<p>[00:06:22]\u00a0<strong>Amber:<\/strong>\u00a0No. Yeah, we\u2019ve talked about it a lot. I think there are definitely a lot of things that Juan and I will sometimes have trouble discussing, but money has always been something that we talked about pretty openly.<\/p>\n<p>[00:06:35]\u00a0To hear that level of worry come from him was a bit surprising \u200abecause I think\u2013 and this also touches upon me wanting us to be on the same page and have the same goals, is that, historically Juan has always been the one that\u2019s like, this level of stuff is enough. We can live within this small amount and do just fine. And I\u2019ve always been the one that\u2019s like, no, let\u2019s elevate things. Let\u2019s earn more. Let\u2019s experience more. Let\u2019s do this.<\/p>\n<p>[00:07:04]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0The way you\u2019re talking about it sounds like things have changed, but have they?<\/p>\n<p>[00:07:08]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0I have slowly come around to the idea of the Rich Life, which Amber had introduced me to. And sometimes it can be a point of friction between us because I am really conservative in a lot of the way I live, partially because I have never really learned how to leverage my skills for the amount of money that they\u2019re worth. So the idea of abundance really scares me.<\/p>\n<p>[00:07:31]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Mm. Amber, are you surprised to hear him say the word scared?<\/p>\n<p>[00:07:35]\u00a0<strong>Amber:<\/strong>\u00a0Yes. Very surprised.<\/p>\n<p>[00:07:38]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Why is that?<\/p>\n<p>[00:07:39]\u00a0<strong>Amber:<\/strong>\u00a0These are not things that he\u2019ll openly share.<\/p>\n<p>[00:07:42]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Why is it that a guy like me who has struggled connecting to my own emotions comes on here for five minutes and suddenly we\u2019re talking about words like scared and behind and sharing our feelings for the first time in three years? What is happening right now?<\/p>\n<p>[00:07:57]\u00a0I don\u2019t know, but I love it. I\u2019ll tell you that. Sometimes we do need just somebody else to make us more comfortable sharing what we have been feeling for years. So I appreciate that you\u2019re letting me be that person today. Of course, my hope is that I give you some tools, some suggestions, so that you two can continue that even when I\u2019m not here. Juan, you said you want to be there for your family. What does that mean for you?<\/p>\n<p>[00:08:27]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0We\u2019re a small family, so we\u2019re pretty tight knit. I have a younger brother and a younger sister, and then it\u2019s just my mom. So it\u2019s a single parent family. And I think we\u2019re there for each other emotionally. We know how to support each other in that way. But the thing that really pulls at me is the financial stuff.<\/p>\n<p>[00:08:44]\u00a0My mom has worked seven days a week for decades. She currently still works seven days a week, and she\u2019s well over 60. And enough\u2019s enough. She is at retirement age, and because of the sacrifices that she made in order to have us succeed, she is not set up.<\/p>\n<p>[00:09:07]\u00a0The only savings that she has set up is, once Amber taught me about money, I immediately opened up an IRA for her. And every month her and I contribute to it together. But we\u2019re talking about only a few years of contributing to this IRA. And I don\u2019t expect her to be able to make up decades worth of missed income.<\/p>\n<p>[00:09:28]\u00a0And I don\u2019t have any illusions of taking care of all three or all four of us. I also have my partner to think about. But if my brother and sister were to need something that I could pitch in with, I want to be able to comfortably say like, \u201cYes, I have this to give to you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>[00:09:45]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Okay. Let me understand a little bit more about your family and what it was like growing up when it comes to money. What do you remember about money as a kid?<\/p>\n<p>[00:09:55]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0Four years old is, I think, a great place to start because that\u2019s when I immigrated to the United States. So I was four, my brother was two, my sister was not yet born. We\u2019re seven years apart. But the level of poverty that we experienced upon arriving to the United States was to the level of having to go to the church to ask for stipends to be able to purchase things like milk and basic necessities.<\/p>\n<p>[00:10:20]\u00a0I have a really vivid recollection of a tree with dates of going to a park and collecting a bunch of those so that we could have little snacks and stuff to hold us over sometimes between meals, and we didn\u2019t live that type of poverty for very long, thankfully.<\/p>\n<p>[00:10:35]\u00a0But it was enough to make an impression that we didn\u2019t have enough, and that also we shouldn\u2019t be a burden and ask for more because it was hard enough to have just what we had at the moment. But I saw my mom fight tooth and nail and work dust till dawn to get us out of that situation as quickly as possible, moving us up into middle class by any means necessary.<\/p>\n<p>[00:10:56]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0How did she take you to the middle class as a single mom of three while working crazy amounts of hours?<\/p>\n<p>[00:11:06]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0So my mom\u2019s specialty is cleaning, but she did everything. She would clean offices at night, graveyard shift, and then come home in the morning, sleep a couple of hours, and then go to a construction site and put up drywall. And then after that, then she would go and clean houses, or she would get a job in the apartment complex that we had, cleaning out vacant apartments to earn more income.<\/p>\n<p>[00:11:27]\u00a0And so it was basically just a few hours of sleep in between jobs here and there. Sometimes she would take us to the movies just so she could take a nap during the movie and then be ready to go to work.<\/p>\n<p>[00:11:39]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Wow. Were there any phrases she ever said about money?<\/p>\n<p>[00:11:44]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0There were never any phrases about money because we just didn\u2019t talk about it. And she just never wanted us to go without. I think, even though, we understood that this was a huge undertaking. And so we didn\u2019t ask. She also wanted to make sure that we didn\u2019t go without, so anything that we needed for school, for clothes, for anything like that, once we had the means, then it was always provided for us.<\/p>\n<p>[00:12:12]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0That\u2019s pretty amazing. She sounds like an amazing lady.<\/p>\n<p>[00:12:15]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0My hero. There\u2019s nobody I hold higher.<\/p>\n<p>[00:12:19]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Wow. When you got a little older, let\u2019s say 13, 14, 15, did you get a job?<\/p>\n<p>[00:12:26]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0I did. Yeah.<\/p>\n<p>[00:12:28]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Okay. What was the job?<\/p>\n<p>[00:12:29]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0McDonald\u2019s.<\/p>\n<p>[00:12:30]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Yeah. Nice. Okay, cool.\u00a0What did you do with that money?<\/p>\n<p>[00:12:35]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0We can say whatever on the podcast?<\/p>\n<p>[00:12:36]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Yeah. He\u2019s like,\u00a0\u201cI bought drugs. I bought cocaine.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>[00:12:42]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0I bought a lot of weed.\u00a0I bought a lot of weed with that\u00a0money.<\/p>\n<p>[00:12:49]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0That\u2019s so [Bleep] funny. I thought he was going to be like, I gave it to my mom. Mom, here you go. I love you. He\u2019s like, \u201cI bought a ton of weed, bro.\u201d Well, that\u2019s real. That\u2019s a real show. All right. So you did that. All right, fine.<\/p>\n<p>[00:13:05]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0I know we\u2019re laughing about buying a lot of weed, but part of the guilt that comes with wanting to make sure that I\u2019m there for my family is that in those pivotal years, 14 to 18, when I was just trying to make sense of the world and trying to understand like how I fit into everything, I was not a good sibling. I was not a good son. I caused a lot of heartache and a lot of grief, and that was before knowing anything about what life was like and what it cost. And so I\u2019m forever trying to make up for that.<\/p>\n<p>[00:13:36]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0I hear you on that. Do you ever tell them that, your family?<\/p>\n<p>[00:13:40]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0I remember just talking to them one by one and just saying like\u2013 I remember it took me a long time just to tell my brother, I\u2019m really sorry, man, for just being such a jerk to you when we were little. And my sister too. I wasn\u2019t a jerk to my sister because she was so much littler than I am, but just not setting a good example and just not being there for anything that she might\u2019ve needed.<\/p>\n<p>[00:14:03]\u00a0And by the time I was really old enough to start figuring any of those things out and the impact that they had, I had already moved away because I moved away at 18. So I couldn\u2019t even make up for the fact. And so I\u2019ve just spent my entire adult life trying.<\/p>\n<p>[00:14:16]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0And what did it feel like for you to say that maybe for the first time?<\/p>\n<p>[00:14:21]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0Yeah. It was definitely a burden off of the shoulders, for sure. It felt like relief. I think it\u2019s easier for them to forgive me than it is for me to forgive myself.<\/p>\n<p>[00:14:32]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0That\u2019s very insightful.<\/p>\n<p>[00:14:34]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0I just want to say like, \u201cHey, I was [Bleep] to you for a period of time when you probably really needed my help and guidance because I\u2019m the oldest, and I freaking let you down. So if you need something, I wouldn\u2019t be able to give that to you.<\/p>\n<p>[00:14:47]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Okay. That\u2019s cool. I appreciate that. Sounds like your family really appreciates it. Amber, before I ask you about your family, did anything that Juan just said surprise you?<\/p>\n<p>[00:14:59]\u00a0<strong>Amber:<\/strong>\u00a0No. That\u2019s also one of the things that I really love about him, and I love how family oriented he is. And you can just tell Juan is such an amazing perso. And his family\u2019s amazing. And I also agree. I want us to do well so that we can take care of them. And that\u2019s also why I am continually harping on Juan sometimes to be like, we need to think bigger.<\/p>\n<p>[00:15:22]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Mm-hmm. When you say the word harping, what does that mean?<\/p>\n<p>[00:15:26]\u00a0<strong>Amber:<\/strong>\u00a0Even from the first time we really hung out and we started getting to know each other, I came in\u2013<\/p>\n<p>[00:15:32]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Wait. What does that look? Hold on. Juan just broke into a big old smile. What happened the first time you met?<\/p>\n<p>[00:15:37]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0Amber tried to tell me how to run my business.<\/p>\n<p>[00:15:40]\u00a0<strong>Amber:<\/strong>\u00a0Yeah. He was doing it all wrong. I was like, \u201cYou need to charge like double.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>[00:15:42]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Wait. Okay. Hold on. Hold on. Take me back. Where\u2019d you meet?<\/p>\n<p>[00:15:45]\u00a0<strong>Amber:<\/strong>\u00a0We had a mutual friend who was setting us up, and so we had a group dinner coordinated at Juan\u2019s apartment and then these friends conveniently had to leave early.<\/p>\n<p>[00:15:54]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Whoa.<\/p>\n<p>[00:15:55]\u00a0<strong>Amber:<\/strong>\u00a0Just the two of us<\/p>\n<p>[00:15:56]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0\u200aAll right. Matchmakers. All right. Respect to all the matchmakers out there. So you end up having dinner and then was it 12 minutes into the conversation, you\u2019re like, \u201cPull out your whiteboard and diagram your business model\u201d?<\/p>\n<p>[00:16:08]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0Were you there? Were you there that night? Ramit was there. He was there.<\/p>\n<p>[00:16:13]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Amber, is this what happened?<\/p>\n<p>[00:16:16]\u00a0<strong>Amber:<\/strong>\u00a0More or less.<\/p>\n<p>[00:16:18]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Oh my God. This is what half the FIRE community recommends on a first date. They\u2019re like, \u201cYou have to talk about everything. Break it down.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>[00:16:26]\u00a0<strong>Amber:<\/strong>\u00a0I think we were both thinking, this is not a match. And I remember getting in my car and laughing like, ha, I just went the last 40 minutes telling this man how to run his business.<\/p>\n<p>[00:16:38]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0But we went out again, and unbeknownst to you, you were an integral part of the beginning of our relationship.<\/p>\n<p>[00:16:44]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Me?<\/p>\n<p>[00:16:45]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0Yeah.<\/p>\n<p>[00:16:45]\u00a0<strong>Amber:<\/strong>\u00a0Mm-hmm.<\/p>\n<p>[00:16:45]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0How?<\/p>\n<p>[00:16:46]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0Yeah, yeah. Can I tell him about sour, our second date?<\/p>\n<p>[00:16:52]\u00a0<strong>Amber:<\/strong>\u00a0Sure.<\/p>\n<p>[00:16:53]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0So I had this motorcycle and I was like, \u201cHey, can I pick you up on my bike, take you out for on this date? And I think all the stars aligned for this date. I picked her up. It was beautiful. No rain, clear skies. Stars are out, full moon. We\u2019re on the floating bridge, having a picnic, and we\u2019re just having these really awesome conversations. And I\u2019m just like, \u201cYeah, a kiss is going to happen.\u201d And we\u2019re inching closer together and I didn\u2019t realize that she was just leaning in so that she could look me dead in my eye, dead in my eye, and ask me what my credit score was and if I had any debt.<\/p>\n<p>[00:17:33]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Is this for real right now?<\/p>\n<p>[00:17:35]\u00a0<strong>Amber:<\/strong>\u00a0Yeah.<\/p>\n<p>[00:17:36]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0Can\u2019t make it up.<\/p>\n<p>[00:17:37]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Amber, is this seriously what happened?<\/p>\n<p>[00:17:38]\u00a0<strong>Amber:<\/strong>\u00a0Yes, yes. This is seriously what happened.<\/p>\n<p>[00:17:42]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Hold on. I\u2019m trying to get a grasp for this. This is freaky. I never heard anyone ask this on a second date. Did you get the answer you wanted, Amber?<\/p>\n<p>[00:17:54]\u00a0<strong>Amber:<\/strong>\u00a0It was really funny because I\u2019d been married before. I had just gotten out of a divorce, and I was like, \u201cWoof, that was a lot. Wow, I never want to get myself in a bad situation again.\u201d And so, yeah, I needed to know what I was working with and where things stood, and I figured I would just be upfront, figure things out right away.<\/p>\n<p>[00:18:17]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Cool. I appreciate it. All right. So it worked. You two connected. I love that.<\/p>\n<p>[Narration]<\/p>\n<p>[00:18:21]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0I have to say, I love hearing from couples that talk about money early in their relationship. And I\u2019m flattered to be able to play just a small part in the early days of their courtship. I also\u00a0want to\u00a0jump in here and point out a couple of clues I heard when Juan described his childhood.\u00a0Did you notice anything about the words he used when he described his early relationship with money?<\/p>\n<p>[00:18:44]\u00a0He used words including\u00a0poverty, guilt, worried and scared. And when he described his current goal of saving more money, he used the word insurmountable.\u00a0The words we use to describe money are very telling, and the common thread here is that they\u2019re all negative, which tells me one has a negative relationship with money.<\/p>\n<p>[00:19:07]\u00a0Just listen to your own language. When you talk about it, do you use words like\u00a0stressed, overwhelmed, guilty, shame, never enough, too far behind? That\u2019s very telling. It\u2019s hard to feel good about money when you are constantly using negative words.\u00a0I also\u00a0want to\u00a0point out that this is a common theme I\u2019ve noticed among many immigrants and certainly children of immigrant parents.<\/p>\n<p>[00:19:28]\u00a0The idea is that if you\u00a0want to\u00a0have money, you have to work hard for it. Not just hard, but you have to be exhausted. You have to give everything you\u2019ve got. It shouldn\u2019t be easy.\u00a0It should be hard. And in Juan\u2019s case, he watched his mother give up sleep to take on as many jobs as possible to provide for her kids.<\/p>\n<p>[00:19:48]\u00a0So it\u2019s easy to come to the conclusion that he did, which is you have to suffer to have money. What\u2019s interesting is that this very same line of thinking is preventing him from reaching his financial goals.\u00a0And now that we know a little bit more of the root cause towards his mindset around money, now we can work on changing it.<\/p>\n<p>[00:20:09]\u00a0We\u2019ll dig into Amber\u2019s background with money after a quick break to support our sponsors.<\/p>\n<p>[00:20:15]\u00a0Now back to Juan and Amber<\/p>\n<p>[Interview]<\/p>\n<p>[00:20:17]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Amber, I wonder if I can learn a little bit about what growing up was like for you as it relates to money. You remember any phrases, any things your family said about money when you were a kid?<\/p>\n<p>[00:20:28]\u00a0<strong>Amber:<\/strong>\u00a0I grew up primarily with my dad, who was basically raising me as a single dad \u200abecause my mom was living elsewhere. And so my dad was just a lot like Juan actually. Just really hard worker, big heart. But he would often work two jobs just to provide for us.<\/p>\n<p>[00:20:46]\u00a0We lived very simply, but my dad made enough money to eventually buy his own house, and he\u2019s been living there ever since. I\u2019m from Hawaii, so cost of living there is exceptionally high. There was a lot of things that I went without in my childhood that maybe other kids got to do.<\/p>\n<p>[00:21:04]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0And did anything change as you got a little bit older?<\/p>\n<p>[00:21:07]\u00a0<strong>Amber:<\/strong>\u00a0I think a lot of kids, as they grow up, they have this mindset that like, oh, my family\u2019s going to pay for college. My family\u2019s going to provide me a car. They\u2019re going to do all of these things. And my family didn\u2019t have the means to do that, so I knew from the get go, like, if I\u2019m going to go to college, I got to figure that out for myself.<\/p>\n<p>[00:21:26]\u00a0So there was a lot of overachieving. I was part of all the clubs and trying to apply for all the scholarships and taking all the AP classes and just really trying to position myself so that I wouldn\u2019t have to take on so many student loans getting out. It was always just this attitude of like, okay, I\u2019ve got to be responsible for myself.<\/p>\n<p>[00:21:45]\u00a0But also, again, I was a teenager, so I didn\u2019t really feel that strongly about money and saving back then. And then on the other hand, my mom was always the big spender in her relationships. And so as a result, I think she\u2019s filed for bankruptcy once or twice.<\/p>\n<p>[00:22:07]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Okay. Can we fast forward to today? In this relationship, who\u2019s the spender?<\/p>\n<p>[00:22:13]\u00a0<strong>Amber:<\/strong>\u00a0Oh, me for sure.<\/p>\n<p>[00:22:14]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Oh, okay. And who is the nice person who works hard, sometimes has two jobs?<\/p>\n<p>[00:22:21]\u00a0<strong>Amber:<\/strong>\u00a0Juan has what? Seven jobs? How many are we at right now?<\/p>\n<p>[00:22:25]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0A lot of jobs.<\/p>\n<p>[00:22:27]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0How much of your family\u2019s relationship, Amber, do you see in your current relationship?<\/p>\n<p>[00:22:33]\u00a0<strong>Amber:<\/strong>\u00a0Yeah, I think there\u2019s definitely some patterns playing out. I think just this sense of not having a really solid plan with my dad. He and I never talked about finances. I think my mom would talk to me more about her lack of finances or where she was at, but I never got a lot of input from my dad except for save your money, save your money, save your money.<\/p>\n<p>[00:22:57]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Do you remember what my question was?<\/p>\n<p>[00:22:58]\u00a0<strong>Amber:<\/strong>\u00a0No.<\/p>\n<p>[00:23:00]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Okay. My question was what patterns from your family upbringing do you see being recreated in this relationship? And your answers were 1, 2, 3 examples of patterns that are not being recreated in this relationship. Can I tell you what I see?<\/p>\n<p>[00:23:19]\u00a0<strong>Amber:<\/strong>\u00a0Yeah.<\/p>\n<p>[00:23:19]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Okay. So you mentioned your mom was the spender. In this relationship, you are the spender. You said that your dad was the nice guy who would basically grind it out. If he needed to work more, he would work more. You paralleled that with Juan, who is a nice guy. He\u2019s willing to work more. In fact, he has not two, but maybe seven jobs. And what I take away from that is your dad probably worked hard. That was what he knew.<\/p>\n<p>[00:23:45]\u00a0If he needs something, he will go and get another job and work extra hours for it. He will grind it out. Maybe did not understand money as well, the game of investing, the game of compound interest, those kinds of things. Probably relatively similar to Juan until recently. Fair?<\/p>\n<p>[00:24:04]\u00a0<strong>Amber:<\/strong>\u00a0Yeah, totally fair.<\/p>\n<p>[00:24:06]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Okay. The reason that I\u2019m pushing on this is, I always say, if you want to live a \u200aRich Life, you have to be honest with yourself and the people around you. And you can\u2019t change a pattern if you don\u2019t recognize it. And then we decide do we like the patterns or do we want to change them? Do you want to change any of those two patterns that I just described?<\/p>\n<p>[00:24:28]\u00a0<strong>Amber:<\/strong>\u00a0I would love for there to be, I guess more balance in the relationship. Maybe spending a little less, or just being a little bit more intentional, I think, about where my spending is going, and having a situation where Juan doesn\u2019t feel like he needs to have seven jobs.<\/p>\n<p>[00:24:47]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Okay. Love it. We could definitely talk about that. Also, is this really seven jobs? Is that for real?<\/p>\n<p>[00:24:55]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0Yeah. I work as a personal trainer for a boxing gym.<\/p>\n<p>[00:25:00]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Okay.<\/p>\n<p>[00:25:00]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0I also personal train for rock climbers.<\/p>\n<p>[00:25:03]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Two.<\/p>\n<p>[00:25:04]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0Then I also do some translating of documents from English to Spanish for a company that deals with human resources.<\/p>\n<p>[00:25:11]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Three.<\/p>\n<p>[00:25:12]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0Yeah. Then I also manage the building that we live in. It\u2019s 100-unit apartment complex.<\/p>\n<p>[00:25:18]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Four.<\/p>\n<p>[00:25:19]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0And then I just got a job also teaching boxing classes at the gym that Amber and I weightlift at.<\/p>\n<p>[00:25:25]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Five.<\/p>\n<p>[00:25:26]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0I also guide outside for rock climbing. So I train climbers indoors, but then I guide outside.<\/p>\n<p>[00:25:31]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Okay. Six.<\/p>\n<p>[00:25:31]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0Yeah. It\u2019s six jobs. Yeah.<\/p>\n<p>[00:25:33]\u00a0<strong>Amber:<\/strong>\u00a0I feel like we\u2019re forgetting one. There\u2019s got to be more.<\/p>\n<p>[00:25:36]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0Oh, oh, oh. The social media stuff that I do for [Inaudible] sometimes. Yeah.<\/p>\n<p>[00:25:40]\u00a0<strong>Amber:<\/strong>\u00a0Oh, see. I knew it. I knew that there was more.<\/p>\n<p>[00:25:43]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0Yeah, that\u2019s right.<\/p>\n<p>[00:25:43]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Why do you have so many jobs?<\/p>\n<p>[00:25:46]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0This is a product of how I grew up. I\u2019m influenced by the way that my mom made it so that we could stay in that middle class zone. The model that I had for money as it pertains to like savings, I had always learned it was like you put it under the mattress. That\u2019s what I knew about savings. And then the other thing I learned is that you have to work hard for the things that you want. And if you want something and you don\u2019t currently have enough to get it with the job that you have, that you get another job.<\/p>\n<p>[00:26:21]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Whoa. Yeah. That is quite interesting. Do you think that most people grew up with that message?<\/p>\n<p>[00:26:27]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0I don\u2019t think so. I don\u2019t think so.<\/p>\n<p>[00:26:30]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0They didn\u2019t. That\u2019s good to know though. Sometimes we grow up and we meet other people, maybe it\u2019s in college, maybe it\u2019s a coworker, and you start talking about stuff you just take for granted. And then you realize, oh my God, the stuff that I thought was totally normal in my family is actually not that common.<\/p>\n<p>[00:26:44]\u00a0And I think we can see that here. You grew up with your model of your mom getting more and more and more jobs and she just grinded it out. And that\u2019s what you\u2019ve done. Okay. That\u2019s very interesting.<\/p>\n<p>[Narration]<\/p>\n<p>[00:26:56]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Real quick. If you enjoy these videos and you\u00a0want to\u00a0be the first to know when we drop a new one,\u00a0make sure you hit the Subscribe button right now. It helps my team and me grow this channel.<\/p>\n<p>[Interview]<\/p>\n<p>[00:27:04]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Let me come back to Amber for a second. Amber, you mentioned that your mom declared bankruptcy once, maybe more times. Have you ever had to declare bankruptcy or any extreme financial decision?<\/p>\n<p>[00:27:18]\u00a0<strong>Amber:<\/strong>\u00a0Yeah, for sure, in college. I got in over my head and it was such a small amount. It was $3,000, I think. So the collection of agencies were following up with me and I tried to work with them to pay them a smaller amount and they refused and they said, \u201cNo, you\u2019ve got to pay us X amount.\u201d And it was just such a high amount that I wasn\u2019t able to pay it and also pay for my living expenses.<\/p>\n<p>[00:27:43]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Did you think that bankruptcy was serious?<\/p>\n<p>[00:27:47]\u00a0<strong>Amber:<\/strong>\u00a0Yes.<\/p>\n<p>[00:27:48]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0You did?<\/p>\n<p>[00:27:49]\u00a0<strong>Amber:<\/strong>\u00a0Yeah, yeah. But I spoke to a lawyer and the lawyer was like, you are young enough. You\u2019re going to bounce back. I would file for bankruptcy.<\/p>\n<p>[00:27:57]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Did you talk to your mom about it?<\/p>\n<p>[00:27:59]\u00a0<strong>Amber:<\/strong>\u00a0No.<\/p>\n<p>[00:28:01]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Why is that?<\/p>\n<p>[00:28:01]\u00a0<strong>Amber:<\/strong>\u00a0We weren\u2019t close at the time. I think that might\u2019ve been during a period where we actually were estranged for a bit.<\/p>\n<p>[00:28:07]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0I see. Okay. All right. So you declared bankruptcy and wiped that credit card debt away.<\/p>\n<p>[00:28:16]\u00a0<strong>Amber:<\/strong>\u00a0Right.<\/p>\n<p>[00:28:17]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0But your credit was affected, etc. What were the effects over the next seven years?<\/p>\n<p>[00:28:21]\u00a0<strong>Amber:<\/strong>\u00a0It definitely made getting an apartment difficult. And so I remember moving into a different place and just having to really tell my sob story to the landlords to see who would be willing to rent to me with my credit being so low. But it definitely refocused me quite a bit. And so I think I was able to bring it back up within a year and a half, I want to say.<\/p>\n<p>[00:28:47]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Wow, that\u2019s impressive. I appreciate that. What\u2019d you learn from that entire experience?<\/p>\n<p>[00:28:52]\u00a0<strong>Amber:<\/strong>\u00a0That it was just really important to be aware of things and not get myself into trouble.<\/p>\n<p>[00:28:57]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0You carry that lesson with you today?<\/p>\n<p>[00:29:00]\u00a0<strong>Amber:<\/strong>\u00a0I\u2019ve never had that issue come up again. I\u2019ve just made sure that I\u2019m no getting myself into massive amounts of debt credit card wise. And right now my credit score is 820, something like that.<\/p>\n<p>[00:29:13]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0When you had that second date and you asked about the credit score, etc., was this what was behind that?<\/p>\n<p>[00:29:21]\u00a0<strong>Amber:<\/strong>\u00a0I think that was part of it. And also, in prior relationships, I\u2019ve just been the person who had to support my partners, and I just didn\u2019t want to play that role anymore.<\/p>\n<p>[00:29:32]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0But it\u2019s interesting because, Juan, you said that you didn\u2019t really know anything about money until you met Amber. So Amber, how did he pass that test or that question that you asked?<\/p>\n<p>[00:29:42]\u00a0<strong>Amber:<\/strong>\u00a0Yeah. His answer was that he didn\u2019t really have any credit.<\/p>\n<p>[00:29:46]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Mm-hmm.<\/p>\n<p>[00:29:47]\u00a0<strong>Amber:<\/strong>\u00a0But he also didn\u2019t have any debt, and so I was like, \u201cI can work with this.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>[00:29:52]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0That is very interesting.<\/p>\n<p>[00:29:54]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0I would\u2019ve never asked Amber that because my approach has always been, I come in with what I have and that\u2019s mine to either deal with or spend, and you have what you have. I don\u2019t need to know about your debt because I\u2019m not taking care of your debt. You\u2019re taking care of your own debt.<\/p>\n<p>[00:30:10]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Question, have you been in a serious relationship before?<\/p>\n<p>[00:30:14]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0This is the most serious relationship I\u2019ve ever been in.<\/p>\n<p>[00:30:17]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Okay. That\u2019s what I thought. No judgment. Just because when you first come into it, it\u2019s like, yours is yours, mine is mine. And if there\u2019s some crossover, we\u2019ll figure it out. But as you get deeper and deeper intertwined, whether there\u2019s kids involved, whether there\u2019s a house involved, elderly parent involved, things necessarily become intertwined. They have to.<\/p>\n<p>[00:30:41]\u00a0Money is not just some peripheral thing. It\u2019s central to a relationship and who we are. And so I totally understand Amber\u2019s question. I get it. And I think that the deeper you go with this relationship, the more you\u2019re going to realize, oh my God, getting on the same page with money, truly becoming teammates is actually one of the best things we could have done.<\/p>\n<p>[00:31:05]\u00a0One thing that I\u2019m trying to figure out with both of you, you\u2019ve both gone through a lot in the way that you were brought up with money, lots of things that most of us cannot imagine. And you\u2019re here, and I\u2019m thankful that we get a chance to explore and talk about this together. Juan, you grew up with a lot of scarcity around money and a model that if you need something, you get another job.<\/p>\n<p>[00:31:27]\u00a0It sounds like you have adopted what you grew up with, which was, if I need something, I\u2019m going to work harder. You say, I live a conservative life. I can cut my spending. I don\u2019t need to spend a lot. It\u2019s very analogous with how you grew up with your family.<\/p>\n<p>[00:31:43]\u00a0Amber, you grew up with a mom who was a spender, a dad who grinded it out. Work hard. If you need something like college, you\u2019re going to have to find a way to do it. You adopted a lot of that. You worked hard. You took AP classes. You figured it out. You made some financial mistakes similar to your mom.<\/p>\n<p>[00:32:02]\u00a0Now you have a job, you have money. But what\u2019s interesting is, even with all the scarcity, all the things that you went through, you described yourself as the spender. So the two of you had similar childhoods at a high level when it comes to money, but one of you chose to be very frugal and the other calls herself the spender. How did that happen?<\/p>\n<p>[00:32:27]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0I just always assumed that because I didn\u2019t go to college and I didn\u2019t have a degree that an abundance of money was just not going to be something that was going to be available to me. But, I didn\u2019t want that to stop me from being able to have experiences. So I just learned every which way I could to be able to do that at the most basic level, but not deny myself the experience.<\/p>\n<p>[00:32:52]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Okay. I appreciate that. What about you, Amber?<\/p>\n<p>[00:32:55]\u00a0<strong>Amber:<\/strong>\u00a0For me, my family always had that attitude, or my dad did anyway, of like, save your money, be frugal, and I swung the other way and was like, no, I refuse. I want to have a much bigger, better life. I think that\u2019s why I don\u2019t mind spending more money on things to get like a higher quality experience or a higher quality item.<\/p>\n<p>[00:33:18]\u00a0Juan and I both really love traveling, and so that\u2019s something that we spend a lot of our resources on. And one of the arguments that came up from one of our trips that we took last year is we went to Turkey. And so we had this budget in mind for\u2013<\/p>\n<p>[00:33:35]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Hold on. Let me guess, let me guess. $5,000.<\/p>\n<p>[00:33:40]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0Oh, it was pretty close.<\/p>\n<p>[00:33:42]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0How much?<\/p>\n<p>[00:33:42]\u00a0<strong>Amber:<\/strong>\u00a0No. That was not the budget. The budget was much less.<\/p>\n<p>[00:33:46]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0How much?<\/p>\n<p>[00:33:46]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0Three.<\/p>\n<p>[00:33:47]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Three. Okay. All right. And what ended up happening?<\/p>\n<p>[00:33:51]\u00a0<strong>Amber:<\/strong>\u00a0Well, we spent a lot more.<\/p>\n<p>[00:33:53]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Like how much?<\/p>\n<p>[00:33:54]\u00a0<strong>Amber:<\/strong>\u00a0I think it was six. Yeah.<\/p>\n<p>[00:34:02]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Hello.<\/p>\n<p>[00:34:03]\u00a0<strong>Amber:<\/strong>\u00a0Yeah.<\/p>\n<p>[00:34:04]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0All right.<\/p>\n<p>[00:34:04]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0Wait, this is where some of that friction comes in though.<\/p>\n<p>[00:34:07]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Tell me what happened.<\/p>\n<p>[00:34:08]\u00a0<strong>Amber:<\/strong>\u00a0So he had said in his mind the budget for the accommodations and I was like, \u201cAll right, fine. We\u2019ll dial it back. We\u2019ll stay at the hostels and whatever.\u201d But when we were going to Cappadocia, I was like, \u201cNo, we\u2019re only going to be here one time in our lives probably. I want to stay in this really nice place.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>[00:34:27]\u00a0And so I sprung for the difference in price to get us this nice hotel. And I told Juan it cost a lot less so that the amount that we split was much closer to the budget we had set. And then we went there and Juan was like, \u201cHoly [Bleep], this place is amazing.\u201d And I\u2019m like, \u201cYeah, I know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>[00:34:45]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0Yes. And that was without me knowing how much it costs.<\/p>\n<p>[00:34:49]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Then what happened? Did it change any of your dynamics around spending?<\/p>\n<p>[00:34:52]\u00a0<strong>Amber:<\/strong>\u00a0No, I don\u2019t think so.<\/p>\n<p>[00:34:55]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0But you did get the most important thing in a relationship, which is to be able to say, I told you so.<\/p>\n<p>[00:35:00]\u00a0<strong>Amber:<\/strong>\u00a0I was right. Yeah.<\/p>\n<p>[Narration]<\/p>\n<p>[00:35:02]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0I love this story because it perfectly illustrates how differently their spending dynamics show up in everyday life. It\u2019s interesting to me how two people with similar upbringings can take such different approaches to scarcity. For one, scarcity is what he knows. He\u2019s most comfortable there, and so he is frugal.<\/p>\n<p>[00:35:24]\u00a0Amber is on the opposite side. For her, scarcity is uncomfortable, and so she says,\u00a0\u201cI want more.\u201d\u00a0I see this a lot. I will see two people raised in very similar upbringing, sometimes siblings raised in the same household, same parents, and yet their approach to life, certainly to money is completely different.<\/p>\n<p>[00:35:47]\u00a0One will overspend dramatically saying, oh, money comes, money goes. There\u2019ll be more tomorrow.\u00a0Another is fearful and frightened of money, and you ask yourself, how did this happen? And truthfully,\u00a0nobody knows. Human beings are puzzles and we can\u2019t predict everything about how people are\u00a0going to\u00a0react. That is why I love my job. Everybody\u2019s a puzzle. Everybody has a story, and I get the chance to try to figure out what\u2019s going on.<\/p>\n<p>[00:36:16]\u00a0I am curious how their opposing views show up in other areas of their life. So after a short break, we\u2019ll come back and find out more.<\/p>\n<p>[00:36:23]\u00a0Welcome back. Listen in as I ask Juan about a common phrase that he uses in everyday life.<\/p>\n<p>[Interview]<\/p>\n<p>[00:36:29]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Juan, you\u2019ve used this phrase before, it could be worse.<\/p>\n<p>[00:36:33]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0I always say that because you got to know when enough is enough. Sometimes you have this thing that is good, and if you look downstream, it could be worse.<\/p>\n<p>[00:36:47]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Is that your code, Juan, for let\u2019s appreciate what we have because it could be worse?<\/p>\n<p>[00:36:53]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0Yes.<\/p>\n<p>[00:36:55]\u00a0<strong>Amber:<\/strong>\u00a0Yeah, for sure.<\/p>\n<p>[00:36:56]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Okay. All right. I understand that. And then Amber, how do you respond to that?<\/p>\n<p>[00:37:00]\u00a0<strong>Amber:<\/strong>\u00a0But it could be better, meaning there\u2019s also so much more that we could be experiencing. And let\u2019s not limit ourselves.<\/p>\n<p>[00:37:08]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Do you say that because when he says, \u201cIt could be worse,\u201d that\u2019s basically putting a box around where you are and it\u2019s saying, \u201cThis is where we are. We could have cockroaches running all over us, but we\u2019re here.\u201d And you\u2019re saying, \u201cI\u2019m not even thinking about cockroaches. I\u2019m thinking about we could have this view, or we could have this excursion of whatever.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>[00:37:32]\u00a0<strong>Amber:<\/strong>\u00a0Right, exactly.<\/p>\n<p>[00:37:33]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Okay. That\u2019s interesting. Okay. I understand both perspectives. Both seem valid to me. How do you resolve that when that comes up?<\/p>\n<p>[00:37:45]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0Yeah. This is where Amber got me drinking the Kool-Aid about the \u200aRich Life.<\/p>\n<p>[00:37:49]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Oh-oh.<\/p>\n<p>[00:37:50]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0Yeah.<\/p>\n<p>[00:37:50]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0What is she saying?<\/p>\n<p>[00:37:51]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0And this where I was saying that you play a pivotal point in the beginning of our relationship, because on our third date she tried to throw that book at me that you got back there, and I didn\u2019t know anything about you.<\/p>\n<p>[00:38:01]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0I Will Teach You to Be Rich?<\/p>\n<p>[00:38:02]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0Yeah.<\/p>\n<p>[00:38:02]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0How did you not hear about this book before? All right, that\u2019s my marketing work on that. So she gives you the copy of the book and then when she says, what? Read this and report to me on the financial scams outlined in Chapter 6.<\/p>\n<p>[00:38:13]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0Yeah. I got to be honest, man. I saw that title and I thought, this is snake oil. And I was like, \u201cI\u2019m not reading this.\u201d I didn\u2019t even take it.<\/p>\n<p>[00:38:22]\u00a0<strong>Amber:<\/strong>\u00a0He was like, \u201cNo, I don\u2019t need that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>[00:38:23]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0I have to tell you, it never gets old hearing how people reject my advice. There\u2019s no end to it. People go, \u201cThis sounds like a scam. The [Bleep] covers ugly. I don\u2019t like the paper in the book.\u201d I\u2019ve literally heard thousands of reasons people hate me and my work. And for some reason, it never gets old.<\/p>\n<p>[00:38:44]\u00a0I\u2019m like, \u201cOkay, what did you say then? You said it was a stupid [Bleep] book. That sounds like a goddamn scam.\u201d Yeah? What happened next? All right. And then what happened?<\/p>\n<p>[00:38:56]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0Amber and I were going on a trip to Bengo, and on the way there, and without telling me, she just put on a podcast episode with you and this other guy named Tim Ferris. I listened to this episode grudgingly, and man, I was sold, 100% sold on the idea of a Rich Life because it dawned on me that I Will Teach You to Be Rich wasn\u2019t like, I will teach you to be rich millions, like pyramid scheme rich\u2013 is I will teach you how to make the most out of your life at any level that you\u2019re at.<\/p>\n<p>[00:39:33]\u00a0And that really spoke to me because that\u2019s the way I teach climbing. That\u2019s the way I teach boxing. That\u2019s the way I guide when I take people out. That\u2019s the way I treat people, meeting them at their level.<\/p>\n<p>[00:39:44]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Love that.<\/p>\n<p>[00:39:45]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0It just resonated with me so much that then I was like, \u201cWhat do we do? What do we do? I\u2019ve been lost all this time. And that\u2019s what started this whole thing about having us really take a look at how we agree and disagree with money, how we\u2019re thinking about our futures.<\/p>\n<p>[00:40:04]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0First of all, I really appreciate that. Amber, I especially appreciate you not giving up. Not just because you\u2019re sharing my material, which is very meaningful to me, but also because this is obviously something that\u2019s important to you. And now that I understand your family and your childhood, I can understand why.<\/p>\n<p>[00:40:23]\u00a0And what I love is that you have been clear since date 1, date 2, about what\u2019s important to you. And like any good partner, there are things that are important to one person and the other person might not connect with them. Maybe it\u2019s the wrong time, maybe it\u2019s the wrong source of information, whatever.<\/p>\n<p>[00:40:43]\u00a0You didn\u2019t give up, and it turns out, in order to connect with one, we just need two bros sitting down, being slightly fratty and speaking for hours about a \u200aRich Life. And boom. Now the two of you have a common language. So I love that. Thank you, Amber. And I love that, Juan, you are open to hearing it, listening and then participating. I think that\u2019s really cool.<\/p>\n<p>[00:41:09]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0I am seeing the error of my ways, and I need to turn this around, but how do we work together to do that?<\/p>\n<p>[00:41:16]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Let\u2019s do this. Let\u2019s take a look at your numbers. You have the CSP that you sent me. Before I put those numbers on screen, what was it like doing this CSP together?<\/p>\n<p>[00:41:27]\u00a0<strong>Amber:<\/strong>\u00a0For me, it always feels a little anxiety-inducing because I always feel like, ugh, we\u2019re behind, or this number should be higher. This one should be lower.<\/p>\n<p>[00:41:36]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Okay. What about for you, Juan?<\/p>\n<p>[00:41:38]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0It\u2019s easy enough to plug the numbers in, but I just don\u2019t know how to make sense of it all. I just know that somehow we\u2019re not in debt, but somehow we\u2019re also not increasing our savings at a rate that\u2019s going to work for what we\u2019re trying to do.<\/p>\n<p>[00:41:58]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Fair enough. Let\u2019s take a look.\u00a0Amber, can you read off the word in bold and then the full number next to it? And let\u2019s just work our way down this box. Go ahead, Amber.<\/p>\n<p>[00:42:09]\u00a0<strong>Amber:<\/strong>\u00a0All right. Assets,\u00a064,795.\u00a0Investments 80,063. Savings,\u00a028,674,\u00a0and debt 74,847. And total net worth, 98,685.<\/p>\n<p>[00:42:29]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Okay, cool. What do you think about those numbers?<\/p>\n<p>[00:42:31]\u00a0<strong>Amber:<\/strong>\u00a0I would love to get rid of the debt and increase savings and investments. I think that for our age, that those numbers need to be a lot higher.<\/p>\n<p>[00:42:40]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0I love your answer, Amber. I\u2019d like the good one to go higher, and I\u2019d like the bad one to go away. Juan, what about you? What do you think about those numbers?<\/p>\n<p>[00:42:49]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0I\u2019d like the same things.<\/p>\n<p>[00:42:51]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0All right. Let\u2019s continue.\u00a0All\u00a0right, let\u2019s talk income. Juan, will you give me the combined gross monthly income?<\/p>\n<p>[00:42:59]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0Yeah.\u00a0It\u2019s\u00a0$16,560.<\/p>\n<p>[00:43:02]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0That means combined the two of you make $198,720. Did you know that?<\/p>\n<p>[00:43:10]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0No.<\/p>\n<p>[00:43:10]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Okay. He says no.\u00a0Amber?<\/p>\n<p>[00:43:13]\u00a0<strong>Amber:<\/strong>\u00a0Well, that number\u2019s not accurate because we get a rent credit that inflates that number. It should be less.\u00a0It should be 24,000 less.<\/p>\n<p>[00:43:22]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Yeah. Okay. So you\u2019re saying you actually make 175K.<\/p>\n<p>[00:43:26]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0Mm-hmm.<\/p>\n<p>[00:43:27]\u00a0<strong>Amber:<\/strong>\u00a0Yeah. That\u2019s more realistic.<\/p>\n<p>[00:43:29]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Okay.\u00a0Fair enough. We\u2019ll keep that in mind. You get a rent credit. Is that because you\u2019re the handyman so you don\u2019t pay for rent?<\/p>\n<p>[00:43:37]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0Right.<\/p>\n<p>[00:43:37]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0All\u00a0right, fine. Your net is 11,282. Probably a little bit less if we take out that rent thing.\u00a0Fine.\u00a0Your fixed costs are, who can read this number out loud to me?<\/p>\n<p>[00:43:48]\u00a0<strong>Amber:<\/strong>\u00a057%.<\/p>\n<p>[00:43:50]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0All\u00a0right.\u00a0So I\u2019m thinking to myself, they\u2019re paying no rent. So how is their fixed cost 57%?\u00a0There must be one massive expenditure,\u00a0and it turns out yes, there is.\u00a0Your debt payments are $2,581 a month.\u00a0Whoa.\u00a0There\u2019s a lot of debt here. Let\u2019s break it down. You have $74,847 of debt. How much of that is student loans?<\/p>\n<p>[00:44:13]\u00a0<strong>Amber:<\/strong>\u00a050,000.<\/p>\n<p>[00:44:15]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0All right. So then you have $25,000 of credit card debt?<\/p>\n<p>[00:44:20]\u00a0<strong>Amber:<\/strong>\u00a0No. My car debt is 18,000.<\/p>\n<p>[00:44:24]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Okay. 18k for car loan.<\/p>\n<p>[00:44:25]\u00a0<strong>Amber:<\/strong>\u00a0Mm-hmm. And then my credit card debt right now is 2,000.<\/p>\n<p>[00:44:30]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0And that\u2019s trips, etc.<\/p>\n<p>[00:44:32]\u00a0<strong>Amber:<\/strong>\u00a0Yeah.\u200a Because we just took a trip last month basically.<\/p>\n<p>[00:44:35]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0How much is the interest rate on the car loan, and what kind of car?<\/p>\n<p>[00:44:39]\u00a0<strong>Amber:<\/strong>\u00a0I have a Subaru Forester, and the interest rate is 4%.<\/p>\n<p>[00:44:44]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0All right. I don\u2019t have hate in my heart for a Subaru. I don\u2019t mind it.\u00a0Let\u2019s move on. Your rent\/mortgage is $230, which is like nothing.\u00a0We\u2019re talking about like utilities, whatever. It\u2019s some minor thing. It doesn\u2019t even matter. Utilities,\u00a0$154. Amazing. Insurance is 1,037. Huh? What\u2019s that for?<\/p>\n<p>[00:45:07]\u00a0<strong>Amber:<\/strong>\u00a0I am a freelancer,\u00a0and I have to pay my own insurance.\u00a0So my insurance alone\u00a0is\u00a0$650 a month.<\/p>\n<p>[00:45:14]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0All right, fine. So one person has a $645 car payment plus gas and all that stuff. And then another person has 278. Is that you,\u00a0Juan? What kind of car you have?<\/p>\n<p>[00:45:25]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0I took out a personal loan to purchase a motorcycle.<\/p>\n<p>[00:45:28]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0What kind\u00a0of\u00a0motorcycle and how much?<\/p>\n<p>[00:45:30]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0It is a 2020\u00a0CB500X,\u00a0and the personal loan I took out was for 7,000.<\/p>\n<p>[00:45:37]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0What\u2019s the interest rate?<\/p>\n<p>[00:45:38]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0I don\u2019t know.<\/p>\n<p>[00:45:39]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0You don\u2019t know. I also wish I hadn\u2019t asked what kind of motorcycle it was, as if I [Bleep] know. I don\u2019t even know. There\u2019s 10,000 types of Harleys. Why am I even asking this question? Okay, you have a motorcycle. Fine. Paying off a ton in debt. I\u2019m curious, Amber, why are you paying so much towards this debt?<\/p>\n<p>[00:45:57]\u00a0<strong>Amber:<\/strong>\u00a0I\u2019m trying to get rid of it. Last year I paid off one of my student loans, so it was actually higher.<\/p>\n<p>[00:46:02]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Okay.\u00a0Pet care\u00a0is 100\u00a0bucks. What do\u00a0y\u2019all have? A dog or a fish or something?<\/p>\n<p>[00:46:06]\u00a0<strong>Amber:<\/strong>\u00a0A dog.<\/p>\n<p>[00:46:07]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0All right. Phone\u00a0is 135,\u00a0and subscriptions are 421?\u00a0What\u2019s that?<\/p>\n<p>[00:46:13]\u00a0<strong>Amber:<\/strong>\u00a0Gym memberships.<\/p>\n<p>[00:46:14]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Aren\u2019t you a boxing coach? Don\u2019t you get a free membership?<\/p>\n<p>[00:46:17]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0I do at the boxing gym.<\/p>\n<p>[00:46:19]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Oh, you got another gym.<\/p>\n<p>[00:46:19]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0Is part of that for weight training with Heather and all that stuff, Amber?<\/p>\n<p>[00:46:23]\u00a0<strong>Amber:<\/strong>\u00a0Yeah, but not the personal training because we took that out last month.<\/p>\n<p>[00:46:27]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0We had decided that once we knew that Amber\u2019s income was going to change pretty dramatically, and that it was going to be unstable at best.<\/p>\n<p>[00:46:34]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0What happened with the income?<\/p>\n<p>[00:46:37]\u00a0<strong>Amber:<\/strong>\u00a0I\u2019ve had one client that\u2019s been my primary source of income, and they\u2019re pretty unstable at the moment, so I can\u2019t rely on having the same high level of income that I\u2019ve been having.<\/p>\n<p>[00:46:49]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0So right now the income breakdown is 6,500 a month for partner one. Is that Juan?<\/p>\n<p>[00:46:58]\u00a0<strong>Amber:<\/strong>\u00a0Yes.<\/p>\n<p>[00:46:59]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0And then partner two makes 10,000 a month. That\u2019s you, Amber. But you\u2019re saying that number might drop?<\/p>\n<p>[00:47:04]\u00a0<strong>Amber:<\/strong>\u00a0Yes.<\/p>\n<p>[00:47:05]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Has it already dropped?<\/p>\n<p>[00:47:07]\u00a0<strong>Amber:<\/strong>\u00a0Yeah.<\/p>\n<p>[00:47:07]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0How much? From 10,000 to what?<\/p>\n<p>[00:47:10]\u00a0<strong>Amber:<\/strong>\u00a05,000 and 7,500.<\/p>\n<p>[00:47:12]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Whoa.<\/p>\n<p>[00:47:14]\u00a0<strong>Amber:<\/strong>\u00a0Yeah, big difference.<\/p>\n<p>[00:47:15]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0What happened when you did that?<\/p>\n<p>[00:47:16]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0So the moment that that happened, I started looking for more jobs.<\/p>\n<p>[00:47:22]\u00a0<strong>Amber:<\/strong>\u00a0Yeah.<\/p>\n<p>[00:47:24]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Okay. And what about you, Amber?<\/p>\n<p>[00:47:27]\u00a0<strong>Amber:<\/strong>\u00a0Yeah, I mean I also took on extra gigs, pet sitting. Those kinds of quick fixes. But then again, looked at where we could really cut most of our expenditure, and that\u2019s where I cut out the personal training that I was having every month.<\/p>\n<p>[00:47:41]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Good job reacting. That\u2019s really smart. You all saw a change happening. You instantly made moves. That\u2019s a great decision. All right. Again, your fixed costs are at 57%, which is overall good, but now that we see, number one, you\u2019re paying basically no housing costs. So theoretically your numbers should be way lower than that.<\/p>\n<p>[00:48:03]\u00a0And second, your income might actually be going down, which means that fixed cost number will go up.\u00a0Let\u2019s continue on to investments. Investments at 10% post-tax and maybe a little pre-tax from what I can see. Is that accurate?<\/p>\n<p>[00:48:20]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0Yeah.<\/p>\n<p>[00:48:21]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0All\u00a0right. So you\u2019re putting a little bit away into a 401k, things like that.\u00a0That\u2019s good. You\u2019re investing aggressively. We can talk about how much more we want to put in there, but overall we have a nice baseline for your investments. Savings are at 7%. You have zero for vacations.\u00a0Come on.<\/p>\n<p>[00:48:40]\u00a0You have\u00a0400 bucks a month for an emergency fund. Okay.\u00a0200 bucks a month for family. I assume this is where you\u2019re funding that Roth IRA and helping family out, things like that. All\u00a0right. 200 bucks a month for gifts,\u00a0for a total of 800 bucks a month. I want to note that you have $28,000 in savings, which is almost five months of an emergency fund. Is there other reasons you have that much in savings?<\/p>\n<p>[00:49:07]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0Well, most of that is Amber\u2019s. 8,000 of that is mine. But at one point I had almost 50,000<\/p>\n<p>[00:49:14]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0In savings?<\/p>\n<p>[00:49:15]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0Mm-hmm.<\/p>\n<p>[00:49:16]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0What happened to it? Don\u2019t say the motorcycle. I [Bleep] knew it. Tell me.<\/p>\n<p>[00:49:24]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0We have five motorcycles.<\/p>\n<p>[00:49:26]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Five [Bleep] motorcycles? I don\u2019t even have five books I wrote. Why do you have five motorcycles?<\/p>\n<p>[00:49:32]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0This is your fault.<\/p>\n<p>[00:49:33]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Oh, tell me.<\/p>\n<p>[00:49:35]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0This is my Rich Life.<\/p>\n<p>[00:49:37]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Don\u2019t [Bleep] me on this. Goddammit. How many people take my advice, \u200aRich Life? Then they twirl around three times. They go, \u201cRich Life, Rich Life, Rich Life.\u201d And then they just buy whatever the [Bleep] they want. That\u2019s not how the concept works. You know this.<\/p>\n<p>[00:49:51]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0This is the only thing I allowed myself. I was like, \u201cI love bikes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>[00:49:55]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Oh, me. I\u2019m such a martyr, me. Little old me. I only allowed myself five [Bleep] motorcycles. What the hell? I got a series of questions about these motorcycles. When you go to get these bikes, what type of numbers do you run before you make these purchases?<\/p>\n<p>[00:50:14]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0None.<\/p>\n<p>[00:50:16]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0No numbers. Okay. Got it.<\/p>\n<p>[00:50:18]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0I\u2019m like, \u201cDo I have enough in the bank to pay for a cash?\u201d Yes. Then I go and buy it.<\/p>\n<p>[Narration]<\/p>\n<p>[00:50:22]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0What the\u00a0[Bleep]\u00a0is this? Everybody sees a guy like me and then I use the word rich,\u00a0they go,\u00a0\u201cRich?\u00a0I\u00a0want to\u00a0be rich.\u00a0\u200aRich Life.\u00a0I\u2019ll just buy whatever I want.\u201d Guys, that\u2019s not how it works. How many freaking times, how many books do I have to write where I talk about\u00a0saving, investing, automating no credit card debt?\u00a0Do I need to write a whole book saying,\u00a0\u201cDon\u2019t misinterpret my\u00a0[Bleep]\u00a0philosophy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>[00:50:44]\u00a0Of course,\u00a0I don\u2019t,\u00a0because\u00a0you\u2019re not\u00a0going to\u00a0read that book. You see the cover.\u00a0It says the word rich. You go,\u00a0\u201cRich.\u00a0I\u2019m\u00a0[Bleep]\u00a0rich. Let me buy everything.\u201d\u00a0Don\u2019t do this. Don\u2019t intentionally misinterpret my philosophy and then use it to justify your random discretionary purchases. That\u2019s not how it works.<\/p>\n<p>[00:51:00]\u00a0We\u2019re building a\u00a0Rich Life,\u00a0and a\u00a0Rich Life\u00a0involves a\u00a0clear vision, involves discipline, involves knowing your numbers.\u00a0God, what the hell am I doing on this podcast? I will say it is a little funny that he blames me.\u00a0You\u2019re\u00a0going to\u00a0blame me for your spending decision?\u00a0Okay. That\u2019s certainly one approach. I wouldn\u2019t do it, but all\u00a0right. That\u2019s interesting.<\/p>\n<p>[00:51:20]\u00a0What\u2019s really going on here, besides totally misunderstanding what I talk about is an\u00a0unsophisticated account set up.\u00a0Juan had a bunch of cash sitting in a savings account, and because it had no clear purpose, no direction, he spent it.\u00a0And actually, this is really common. This is exactly why I recommend setting up your accounts correctly.<\/p>\n<p>[00:51:42]\u00a0In his case, the money could have been flowing\u00a0to investments. It could have been flowing to specific sub-savings accounts called Tahiti Vacation, or Motorcycle Fund, or even family,\u00a0Family Love with a little heart.\u00a0And that would make it more specific. Trust me, you\u2019re not\u00a0going to\u00a0dip out of your family love account to buy your freaking\u00a0Yamasaki.<\/p>\n<p>[00:52:03]\u00a0I don\u2019t even know if that exists anymore. It did when I was a kid. When your accounts are truly aligned with your Rich Life\u00a0vision,\u00a0it\u00a0suddenly becomes very easy to see where your money should go, and you can find everything you need about opening up your accounts\u00a0in\u00a0Chapter\u00a09\u00a0of my new book,\u00a0Money for Couples.<\/p>\n<p>[Interview]<\/p>\n<p>[00:52:22]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Let\u2019s go down to guilt-free spending. So your guilt-free spending is 25%, $2,835 a month. Is that accurate?<\/p>\n<p>[00:52:30]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0I\u2019ve never seen it.<\/p>\n<p>[00:52:32]\u00a0<strong>Amber:<\/strong>\u00a0Yeah. I don\u2019t know where that goes.<\/p>\n<p>[00:52:34]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Ah, okay. So you don\u2019t actually have any idea.<\/p>\n<p>[00:52:37]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0I just know that we can do all the things that we want to do. We\u2019ve been able to do all the things that we want to do. I know that every month I pay my credit card off 100%. But I don\u2019t have this tangible money.<\/p>\n<p>[00:52:50]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0I totally understand your confusion. You\u2019re like, \u201cHey, this freaking spreadsheet says $2,835 a month in guilt-free spending. Where\u2019s my money? I want 2,800 bucks in my hand every month.\u201d But that\u2019s not how it works. This is simply a way of looking at the money that is flowing in and out of your accounts at different times. So because money comes in, it comes out, it all gets a bit confusing.<\/p>\n<p>[00:53:14]\u00a0So this is just basically a way of putting on a set of lenses, the conscious spending plan, that allows you to visualize, on a monthly basis, where\u2019s our money going. And what the real magic of the conscious spending plan is is it allows the two of you to decide, where do we want our money to go?<\/p>\n<p>[00:53:33]\u00a0If you love traveling, amazing. If you love motorcycles, let\u2019s figure out a way to support that. But what I find is that most people, they say, I love this thing or that thing, but their conscious spending plan actually does not match up.<\/p>\n<p>[00:53:51]\u00a0<strong>Amber:<\/strong>\u00a0Mm-hmm.<\/p>\n<p>[00:53:51]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0So for example, Juan, you mentioned to me you want to support your family. You want to \u201cbe there\u201d for them. I love it. It\u2019s laudable. I\u2019m all for it. Where on this CSP can I find that?<\/p>\n<p>[00:54:03]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0Just under the $200 for a family?<\/p>\n<p>[00:54:06]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0I agree. You\u2019re putting money aside, which I respect. That\u2019s more than most. I love it. You\u2019re also putting more than 10 times that amount towards guilt-free spending. What do you think of that?<\/p>\n<p>[00:54:17]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0My guess is you\u2019re pointing that out because you\u2019re like, \u201cOh, if you want to support your family more, there\u2019s a bunch of these things out here that you can cut out and you can give more to your family.\u201d Right?<\/p>\n<p>[00:54:26]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Could be. It\u2019s your money, but yes, you could do that.<\/p>\n<p>[00:54:29]<strong>\u00a0<\/strong><strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0Definitely do want to do it. Yeah.<\/p>\n<p>[00:54:31]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Do you want to do it so much that you\u2019ll sell one of your bikes?<\/p>\n<p>[00:54:35]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0Yes, I would sell four out of five.<\/p>\n<p>[00:54:41]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Guy was about to leave it all on the field. I would sell every\u2013 ah, [Bleep] it. Let me keep one of them. I love my family, but I got to have that bike.<\/p>\n<p>[00:54:48]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0I got to keep one because that\u2019s how I get around.<\/p>\n<p>[00:54:50]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Okay. All right. That\u2019s good to know. That\u2019s good to know. Hey, how much would you get if you sold all those bikes?<\/p>\n<p>[00:54:56]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0I think 20.<\/p>\n<p>[00:54:57]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a020 grand? All right, cool. Is it offensive if I call a motorcycle a bike? Is it like calling a ship a boat?<\/p>\n<p>[00:55:05]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0No, no. They\u2019re bikes. Yeah.<\/p>\n<p>[00:55:08]\u00a0<strong>Biker Clip:<\/strong>\u00a0I\u2019m going to learn so much on this Godforsaken show that I\u2019m going to be able to interact with every single different subculture on the planet. I\u2019m going to roll up to a bunch of grizzled old motorcycle rows, whatever the [Bleep].<\/p>\n<p>[00:55:22]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0Gearhead.<\/p>\n<p>[00:55:23]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Yeah, gearhead. I\u2019m going to have a fake tattoo. You know those ones you put on for Halloween? You get them on the Halloween store. And I\u2019m just going to roll up with my [Bleep] jacket or whatever. Obviously, I don\u2019t even know what I\u2019m talking about. I can\u2019t even say the right word. But they\u2019re going to be like, damn, this is the first Indian guy I ever saw\u2013<\/p>\n<p>[00:55:38]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0Looking like this about [Inaudible] in spring and forts.<\/p>\n<p>[00:55:43]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Okay. I don\u2019t even know what any of those are, but I\u2019m going to do that. All right. Good. So here we are. We have the CSP. Now, the two of you have not combined your finances. Is that accurate?<\/p>\n<p>[00:55:56]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0We haven\u2019t, and that is something I\u2019m super interested in because I\u2019ve never done it before. We watched the Netflix special, and there was a couple on there where the guy was like, we should combine income. And I was like, \u201cWhoa. I had never have thought about something like that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>[00:56:11]\u00a0But that\u2019s actually what it was with me and Amber when she was making a steady income. She was making 10, making three. And my whole thing was like, you work hard for that money. I don\u2019t want to take any piece of your money. But when it got cut down to five, I was like, okay, now I might make more sense because you make five and I make three. But together we make eight.<\/p>\n<p>[00:56:32]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0That is powerful, to realize that as a team you have an ability to do things financially that you couldn\u2019t do alone. And if you think about it one way or another, if you\u2019re living apart, you\u2019re each going to pay for internet.<\/p>\n<p>[00:56:46]\u00a0You live together, there\u2019s some savings to be had. You probably don\u2019t want to combine everything. I would keep things separate until you get married. I think that is important, that\u2019s healthy, but it\u2019s sure, good practice to have this joint expense.<\/p>\n<p>[00:56:59]\u00a0And I\u2019m going to say one other thing. In my opinion, I would pay proportionally. The person who earns more, pays more. So you can add the numbers up and you can divide them. One of you makes, I don\u2019t know, 70%, the other makes 30%. The person who makes 70% pays 70% of the joint expenses. That is proportional. And I think for joint expenses, when you\u2019re not fully together, especially when you have a disparity like this, that can be a little bit more fair.<\/p>\n<p>[00:57:30]\u00a0<strong>Amber:<\/strong>\u00a0Okay.<\/p>\n<p>[00:57:30]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0All right. So what that would do is that would increase the amount that you, Amber, are paying, and I think it would probably cause you to think about how much you\u2019re paying towards debt. Because you\u2019re paying a lot, and I respect that. But you may dial that back if you have to pay a little bit more proportionally.<\/p>\n<p>[00:57:49]\u00a0That would also allow you, Juan, to have more money each month for whatever you choose to. And considering you\u2019re scared of being behind, if I were you, I would put all that money into investments. We\u2019ll get back to the finances in a minute. But I do want to ask about the income because it\u2019s really striking. So Juan, you work seven jobs, and you make $6,560 per month gross.\u00a0What does that tell you?<\/p>\n<p>[00:58:16]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0That I\u2019m working too much for not enough money.<\/p>\n<p>[00:58:20]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Yes. Do you agree with that?<\/p>\n<p>[00:58:23]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0This is a sore spot, but the answer is yes.<\/p>\n<p>[00:58:26]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0What\u2019s that smile on Amber\u2019s face? Is that smile like, [Bleep], I\u2019m so glad Ramit gets to talk about it because I\u2019ve been talking about this for three goddamn years? Is that it?<\/p>\n<p>[00:58:34]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0Exactly what that is.<\/p>\n<p>[00:58:35]\u00a0<strong>Amber:<\/strong>\u00a0Yeah.<\/p>\n<p>[00:58:37]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0So what is that? Why do you have seven jobs? You\u2019re making less than $1,000 a month per job?<\/p>\n<p>[00:58:42]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0For a long time I didn\u2019t know how to monetize my skills for what they were actually worth. I\u2019ve been a climber for 25 years. There\u2019s this term of endearment that exists among climbers called a dirtbag climber. The mentality of the dirtbag climber is that you live on as little as possible so that you can just have enough gas to make the trip to the next destination, and I just saw the world through that lens.<\/p>\n<p>[00:59:07]\u00a0I just assumed that everybody else was also in the same boat that I was with, like not a lot of income. And so then, even though I have perfected and really honed these really good skills that I can then pass on to people through all the trainings that I do, I always see it through the lens that they might also not have enough money to afford it. And so I usually price things like super, super low.<\/p>\n<p>[00:59:35]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Okay. I appreciate that honesty, and I hear you loud and clear. That way of looking at the world, that\u2019s real. Now, here\u2019s my question for you. Are you good with that worldview?<\/p>\n<p>[00:59:48]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0I\u2019m good with the feeling it gives me in my heart, but it conflicts with the reason that Amber and I are here today speaking with you.<\/p>\n<p>[00:59:55]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Which is?<\/p>\n<p>[00:59:56]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0We want to make sure that we\u2019re comfortable for the rest of our lives and to be able to help our families.<\/p>\n<p>[01:00:05]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Would you be okay if being comfortable for you and your families meant that you might not be able to be that dirt bag climber anymore?<\/p>\n<p>[01:00:16]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0It requires a shift in my way of thinking, but I am open to that, or I wouldn\u2019t have applied.<\/p>\n<p>[01:00:22]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Okay. What kind of shift do you think it requires?<\/p>\n<p>[01:00:27]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0I just have this ingrained mentality about what I have to give is worth. For example, at the boxing gym, the owner of the boxing gym, when she asked me to work for her, she was like, \u201cI\u2019d love you to do private lessons here.\u201d She\u2019s like, \u201cThe gym rate is $65 an hour.\u201d And that\u2019s the first time that I realized I could potentially be worth $65 an hour.<\/p>\n<p>[01:00:47]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0How about if I walked in your gym as a client and I tell you I never put on a pair of gloves? I\u2019m unathletic. I haven\u2019t done any of this stuff since I was in high school. What would you tell me?<\/p>\n<p>[01:01:00]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0It\u2019s a point of personal pride for me to make sure that you feel good and successful about the session that you and I are going to have together in the gym. And you may come in thinking that, but you won\u2019t walk out thinking that for sure.<\/p>\n<p>[01:01:13]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Wow. [Bleep] love the confidence. Okay. I love that philosophy. That\u2019s very inspiring. Let\u2019s flip that. I want you to coach yourself right now. What would you tell you?<\/p>\n<p>[01:01:24]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0I would say, you spent a lot of time honing skills. You\u2019ve gone through a lot of trial and error. You have done really well at figuring out formulas and making things approachable and presentable to people, and that is worth something.<\/p>\n<p>[01:01:39]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Love that. Amazing. Hold on. Round of applause. So good.<\/p>\n<p>[01:01:43]\u00a0<strong>Amber:<\/strong>\u00a0Yeah.<\/p>\n<p>[01:01:43]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0So good. How did that feel? It felt very natural hearing it. How did it feel for you saying it?<\/p>\n<p>[01:01:50]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0Uncomfortable. It\u2019s not that I don\u2019t believe those things. I think I\u2019m just so tied to the mentality that I want to make sure that everybody has a chance to be able to benefit from these things that I\u2019ve amassed and I\u2019m able to teach.<\/p>\n<p>[01:02:05]\u00a0<strong>Amber:<\/strong>\u00a0I feel like there\u2019s also a sense of good and bad happening too, though. Because you also regard all of your clients as friends as well, and there\u2019s a part of you that feels like it\u2019s bad for me to ask my friends to pay more money for my services, so I\u2019m going to continue to undercut myself.<\/p>\n<p>[01:02:25]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0That\u2019s a vision of money that is very, very deep, the idea that paying money is bad. You are my friend. I don\u2019t want to cause you harm, so I\u2019m going to charge you the least I can get away with. I\u2019m going to give you a different philosophy on money. The very best clients love to pay more. Have you ever met a client that loves to pay more, Juan?<\/p>\n<p>[01:02:50]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0I don\u2019t think so, because I never asked for more.<\/p>\n<p>[01:02:53]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Yeah. It\u2019s not even a figment of your reality. Okay. Well, you\u2019re talking to one. I\u2019m a client. I love to pay more. Why do you think I like to pay more?<\/p>\n<p>[01:03:03]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0The thing that comes to mind is the experience. What you\u2019re paying for is connection and somebody that really is invested in your success, right?<\/p>\n<p>[01:03:13]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0All that could be true. It\u2019s a little vague. I\u2019m going to tell you why I pay more.<\/p>\n<p>[01:03:18]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0Okay.<\/p>\n<p>[01:03:19]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0I pay more because, I want somebody who\u2019s going to be there when I get to the gym. They\u2019re already there. I\u2019m not waiting around for them to show up three minutes late. My time is too valuable. When we start, we have a program. In fact, we have a program mapped out for the entire year. We\u2019re not just randomly doing whatever today. They map it out.<\/p>\n<p>[01:03:36]\u00a0Oh, you\u2019re going to be traveling these two months? Perfect. We\u2019re going to work around that. We\u2019ll add a cut here, there, blah, blah, blah. Mapped out. They\u2019re tracking sets. They\u2019re tracking reps. They\u2019re writing it down. They\u2019re doing photos, check-ins, weigh-ins, all that kind of stuff. So what do I the client get to do? Show up and lift. But I know that every single other thing is taken care of at a highly professional level. Now, let me ask you a question. How long have you been doing this?<\/p>\n<p>[01:04:04]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0Training climbers for almost 20 years.<\/p>\n<p>[01:04:07]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a020 [Bleep] years?<\/p>\n<p>[01:04:09]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0Yeah.<\/p>\n<p>[01:04:10]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0How much do you charge for that service?<\/p>\n<p>[01:04:12]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a075. That\u2019s just until recently because I was charging 35.<\/p>\n<p>[01:04:17]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a035 per hour? Juan, that\u2019s the way you grew up. Having to pay was bad. Money was scarce. And so you always believe paying less is better. But there\u2019s a whole world of people out there who actually can pay a premium rate or even a luxury rate because they\u2019re not seeing the world by how little they can pay.<\/p>\n<p>[01:04:39]\u00a0They\u2019re seeing the world by how many results can I get? How pleasant can the experience be? Do I like this coach, and do I believe he or she\u2019s invested in me? And when you get to that level of connection, then the price in many cases becomes a mere triviality. Do you see a future where you could learn to believe that?<\/p>\n<p>[01:04:59]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0I really, really enjoy the people that I work with. That\u2019s why I call them friends and not clients, because they\u2019re just so incredibly cool. So the question is, say like tomorrow I\u2019m going to charge 125 but now I\u2019m working with people that I don\u2019t necessarily connect with. Is that worth it? Is it worth it to go up and then hate what you do for a living, or have it be just a job, or stay a little bit on the lower side and enjoy the work that you do?<\/p>\n<p>[01:05:25]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0I\u2019m going to go to Amber\u2019s phrase, which is, \u201cIt could be better.\u201d Let me tell you what I mean by that. If you raise your rates, let me tell you what\u2019s going to happen. Some of your clients are going to stick with you because deep down, they know they\u2019re getting a deal, and they love you, and an extra 20 bucks or 30 bucks an hour is nothing to them.<\/p>\n<p>[01:05:45] But there are also people who are price sensitive. You\u2019re going to lose them. That\u2019s okay because it could be better. Your future is bigger ahead of you. And what I mean by that is there\u2019s lots of amazing people out there who will be a fit for you charging market rates. Some of these people are going to be incredible. You\u2019re going to build new friendships. Some of them are going to be clients. Maybe you won\u2019t like them. You don\u2019t have to take every client.<\/p>\n<p>[01:06:17]\u00a0In fact, when you limit your availability and raise your rates, you can actually be more selective about who you choose. If you\u2019ve been doing this for 20 years, you actually get to work with the best, the clients you like, the ones who show up, the ones who are serious.<\/p>\n<p>[01:06:32]\u00a0So I\u2019m borrowing Amber\u2019s phrase \u201cit could be better\u201d because you asked a really good question, but it was all focused on what if it gets worse. What if I raise my rates and I get worse clients and everybody leaves and I have no friends? The better question is, what if it gets better?<\/p>\n<p>[01:06:47]\u00a0What if I make almost double the money? What if I\u2019m working less? What if I can stop working some of these jobs that are taking up all this time and actually making no money, spend more time with my family who I love, work with higher quality clients, get better results, and it goes into an upward spiral?<\/p>\n<p>[01:07:04]\u00a0It\u2019s a different way of looking at the world, and deep down it really comes to you valuing yourself and realizing like, I\u2019m worth it. And it\u2019s probably not normal to be working seven jobs. If I\u2019m working seven jobs making less than $7,000 a month, I probably should take a really tough look at, what are my goals? So what do I need to change? Well, the most obvious one is you need to charge what you\u2019re worth.<\/p>\n<p>[01:07:26]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0Yeah. So basically just listen to Amber.<\/p>\n<p>[01:07:31]\u00a0<strong>Amber:<\/strong>\u00a0Yes.<\/p>\n<p>[01:07:31]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0I\u2019m not going to say this.<\/p>\n<p>[01:07:31]\u00a0<strong>Amber:<\/strong>\u00a0Validation. All right, we\u2019re done here. We can pack it up.<\/p>\n<p>[01:07:40]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0How do you feel about hearing all this, Amber? I know there\u2019s a bit of like, \u201cI told you so.\u201d I get that. But what else do you feel hearing this?<\/p>\n<p>[01:07:46]\u00a0<strong>Amber:<\/strong>\u00a0It\u2019s one thing to hear your partner saying that, but to have other people share this and say like, \u201cHey, with your level of experience and your skillset, it\u2019s okay for you to charge more.\u201d And I think that perspective is super helpful. I also think that Juan\u2019s framework of how he doesn\u2019t want to burden his friends or these other clients by charging more makes the assumption that everybody\u2019s operating from that same mindset, which is not the case.<\/p>\n<p>[01:08:14]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0That\u2019s so right. That\u2019s such a great way of looking at it. Not everyone\u2019s operating the way you are. In fact, you have a very unique upbringing, which in many ways made you so self-reliant, Juan. But it also has given you a bit of a distorted view on the industry you work in. The industry you work in is a luxury industry.<\/p>\n<p>[01:08:33]\u00a0Luxuries cost more. Nobody\u2019s walking in to hire a personal trainer or a guide who doesn\u2019t have discretionary income. Those are expensive industries. People know that. So I\u2019ll tell you something. It actually, in a way, is a little bit weird. If I walk in and a trainer or a coach is like, \u201cOh, I\u2019ll charge you like 25 bucks an hour or something.\u201d I\u2019m like, \u201cWhat the [Bleep]?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>[01:08:52]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0Yeah, it is just ways of looking at things that I\u2019m not used to and that I don\u2019t think about myself.<\/p>\n<p>[01:08:59]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0My suggestion, first off, Juan, is to get comfortable with realizing that charging money is not a bad thing. It\u2019s actually a good thing. People want you to charge them fair, premium, sometimes luxury rates, and to deliver them an amazing experience. If you can deliver them an amazing experience, it makes perfect sense for you to charge accordingly. Amber, can we talk about your income for a second?<\/p>\n<p>[01:09:29]\u00a0<strong>Amber:<\/strong>\u00a0Sure.<\/p>\n<p>[01:09:30]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0So your income may drop 25 to 50%. What are you going to do about\u2013<\/p>\n<p>[01:09:34]\u00a0<strong>Amber:<\/strong>\u00a0Yeah, it has already.<\/p>\n<p>[01:09:35]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0All right. \u200aWhat are you going to do?<\/p>\n<p>[01:09:36]\u00a0<strong>Amber:<\/strong>\u00a0Also, now I\u2019ve got to hustle and find some other clients.<\/p>\n<p>[01:09:41]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0How are you going to do it?<\/p>\n<p>[01:09:42]\u00a0<strong>Amber:<\/strong>\u00a0I set up a LinkedIn, but I\u2019ve also been putting out feelers to friends who are also running their own businesses, and I\u2019ve got a couple of leads so far.<\/p>\n<p>[01:09:53]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0What do you do?<\/p>\n<p>[01:09:54]\u00a0<strong>Amber:<\/strong>\u00a0I help businesses become more profitable and successful.<\/p>\n<p>[01:09:58]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Whoa. [Bleep] great. Okay. I love it. That was a great answer. If we want to make the big bucks, we got to act accordingly in everything we do. We show up early, we describe ourselves correctly in an enticing way. That\u2019s how we do it. It\u2019s everything we do. I have no problem with people charging above market rates, but I always insist you deliver above market returns for the people who are paying for your service. So that\u2019s how we\u2019re going to do it. Okay. I love that.<\/p>\n<p>[Narration]<\/p>\n<p>[01:10:27]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0If you\u00a0want to\u00a0know how to start a business and grow it,\u00a0go to iwt.com\/earnable. I teach the same techniques I use to grow my own business, which has been around for over 20 years. That\u2019s iwt.com\/earnable.<\/p>\n<p>[Interview]<\/p>\n<p>[01:10:41]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0How confident are you that you can replace your income and bring it back up to $10,000 a month?<\/p>\n<p>[01:10:49]\u00a0<strong>Amber:<\/strong>\u00a0Pretty confident.<\/p>\n<p>[01:10:51]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0How many outreaches would you need to do in order to close a new client?<\/p>\n<p>[01:10:55]\u00a0<strong>Amber:<\/strong>\u00a0I don\u2019t even know, but I know it would be a numbers game, so I would probably just have to start reaching out to at least, I don\u2019t know, 10 to 30 leads a week, maybe.<\/p>\n<p>[01:11:06]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Okay. All right. I think that\u2019s a good start. Can we get back to the numbers for a second?<\/p>\n<p>[01:11:10]\u00a0<strong>Amber:<\/strong>\u00a0Yes.<\/p>\n<p>[01:11:11]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0So there was a lot of talk, Juan, especially that you said about taking care of your family. And right now you\u2019re putting $200 a month aside in a Roth IRA for your mom, which I think is great.<\/p>\n<p>[01:11:22]\u00a0<strong>Amber:<\/strong>\u00a0What about the money that goes to your siblings?<\/p>\n<p>[01:11:24]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0I didn\u2019t put that down.<\/p>\n<p>[01:11:25]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0How much?<\/p>\n<p>[01:11:26]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0It is probably around $300.<\/p>\n<p>[01:11:29]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Why are you sending them hundreds of dollars a month?<\/p>\n<p>[01:11:33]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0It is actually my sister. My sister just didn\u2019t set herself up very well.<\/p>\n<p>[01:11:37]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Mm-hmm. Is she in a relationship?<\/p>\n<p>[01:11:39]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0Yeah, she\u2019s married.<\/p>\n<p>[01:11:40]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0And is it possible that she has a discussion with her partner and she\u2019s able to have some financial relief from there?<\/p>\n<p>[01:11:49]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0I would love for that to happen. One of the things that frustrates me is, on her husband\u2019s part, I just don\u2019t understand why it\u2019s not possible for their finances to be enough. It\u2019s not my business. It is just when she\u2019s like, \u201cWe\u2019re shot this month. Can you help me?\u201d I just cannot say no.<\/p>\n<p>[01:12:08]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Okay. How often does that happen?<\/p>\n<p>[01:12:10]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0Semi-regularly. I\u2019d say every other month.<\/p>\n<p>[01:12:12]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0How long has it been going on?<\/p>\n<p>[01:12:13]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0Couple years, three years, four years. I wish it wasn\u2019t that way. I just wish that they were in a better position. Also, that guilt comes back. I just was not a good role model. I wasn\u2019t there for a lot of things that they could have used help and guidance with.<\/p>\n<p>[01:12:28]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Are you being a good role model when you send cash every other month for years?<\/p>\n<p>[01:12:33]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0I do think it\u2019s a good role model.<\/p>\n<p>[01:12:36]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Okay. Because?<\/p>\n<p>[01:12:37]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0Yeah, because blood is blood, and if they need help, then you should be there to help them.<\/p>\n<p>[01:12:45]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Could be. I\u2019m never going to tell you not to take care of your family. I do think that if your family member is asking for financial help every other month, there\u2019s probably a deeper issue here. And if you were multimillionaire, I would say just send the money. But you\u2019re not. You don\u2019t have a ton of extra money.<\/p>\n<p>[01:13:07]\u00a0Right now, you\u2019re making 6,400 a month gross working seven jobs, and you only started investing at the age of 40. You have some serious investing to do just for yourself self. In addition to that, you have partner, Amber, who wants to live the life together with you that you\u2019re co-creating, and you have your mom.<\/p>\n<p>[01:13:27]\u00a0So I don\u2019t think you\u2019re being a good role model for Amber. I don\u2019t even know if you\u2019re being a good role model for your sister when you simply say, \u201cYes, here you go.\u201d every single month. I think there might be a different approach. The approach might be, \u201cLook happy to send you some money to help, but I\u2019m also going to send you a copy of this book. I would like you to read it. And I want you and I to talk about it a couple of weeks from now.\u201d That\u2019s an easy option.<\/p>\n<p>[01:13:56]\u00a0Another option is, \u201cHey, I\u2019m happy to send this money to you, but if you want to talk about your spending plan, love to sit down with you and work through yours.\u201d A third option, a little bit more aggressive is, \u201cHey, happy to send this to you. Here\u2019s how much I can send you every year. This is what I can do. It\u2019s up to you how you spend it, but once I send that money, that\u2019s it. What do you think?<\/p>\n<p>[01:14:21]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0Option number two intrigues me the most because it opens up a path. I think what that would do is enable us to further deepen our relationship, and she can see that I\u2019m just trying to help her so that it doesn\u2019t have to be this revolving thing where like, hey, we don\u2019t have enough. I got to ask my brother.<\/p>\n<p>[01:14:40]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Do you think that she would be receptive to that?<\/p>\n<p>[01:14:42]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0Yeah. I just need to make sure that I phrase that in a way that shows a clear white flag to help.<\/p>\n<p>[01:14:49]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Let\u2019s just practice right now. I\u2019ll be your sister. You be you. Let\u2019s do it. Hi, Hermano. Sorry to have to ask again, but we\u2019re a little short this month. Can you help?<\/p>\n<p>[01:15:06]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0Yeah. Happy to. Just give me a couple minutes. I\u2019ll send the money over via Venmo. And also, I wanted you to know that Amber and I had been working on this thing called the Conscious Spending Plan, and it has really helped us organize our finances. If you want, I can help you guys plug some numbers in so you can see how your money\u2019s working and where you can make some changes to maybe have ends meet month to month.<\/p>\n<p>[01:15:33]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Okay. Amazing. Good job. And now I\u2019m going to make it a little harder for you. I\u2019m going to be your sister, but watch my reaction. I want you to play along. We\u2019re still in the role play now. That sounds really good, but right now there\u2019s just a lot going on. Maybe in a couple of years when I have more time I can look at that. But right now, honestly, I just need just this, just to tie this over for now.<\/p>\n<p>[01:15:53]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0Yeah. I don\u2019t even know what to do, man. I would just give the money.<\/p>\n<p>[01:15:57]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Okay. Do you want to keep doing that?<\/p>\n<p>[01:15:59]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0I love the idea of empowering them to get their things in order a little bit more because there might be an event where I can\u2019t do it.<\/p>\n<p>[01:16:09]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0What would happen then if you were sick from work, for example, for a month or two, you got injured, you couldn\u2019t collect money, and then your sister asked for money? You couldn\u2019t give it to her. What would happen then?<\/p>\n<p>[01:16:18]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0It would default to my mom.<\/p>\n<p>[01:16:20]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0So they would take it from your mom who\u2019s in her 60s or 70s, working seven days a week, and your mom would send it to them because she can\u2019t say no, correct?<\/p>\n<p>[01:16:29]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0Mm-hmm.<\/p>\n<p>[01:16:29]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0And then what would happen.<\/p>\n<p>[01:16:30]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0It\u2019d probably happen again.<\/p>\n<p>[01:16:32]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Yeah. So do you see that by simply Venmoing them, you\u2019re not actually empowering her. It\u2019s been happening every other month for two years. It\u2019s probably going to keep going on for years and years. There\u2019s got to be something else besides just continuing to feed that, wouldn\u2019t you say?<\/p>\n<p>[01:16:47]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0I\u2019m lucky in that I had Amber to start me on this journey about being curious and learning more about money. And I think what you\u2019ve just done is presented an opportunity for me to be able to at least try to open that door for them. It\u2019s about them being able to figure out a way to make things work. It doesn\u2019t matter the circumstances that they find themselves in because we\u2019re doing that.<\/p>\n<p>[01:17:11]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Do you see that the same lesson your mom taught you is the same lesson that your sister also learned? You\u2019ve got to take off these lenses that you grew up with and put on a different pair of lenses. The lenses in her case is probably, hey, we need to talk about what\u2019s our money situation.<\/p>\n<p>[01:17:31]\u00a0They probably need to read both of these books together. They need to have a reason to change. But right now, with you just answering the call every other month and Venmoing money immediately, there\u2019s actually no reason for them to change. So that\u2019s something that I would really consider. It\u2019s also something, if I were you, I would encourage you to talk to a therapist about, because setting boundary is really hard, especially with family.<\/p>\n<p>[01:17:54]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0I appreciate the guidance, for sure.<\/p>\n<p>[01:17:57]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Let\u2019s take a look at the investments. You currently have $80,000 in investments. Whose money is that?<\/p>\n<p>[01:18:07]\u00a0<strong>Amber:<\/strong>\u00a048,000 is mine.<\/p>\n<p>[01:18:10]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Ah. And the remainder is yours, Juan?<\/p>\n<p>[01:18:12]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0Mm-hmm.<\/p>\n<p>[01:18:13]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Wow. Okay. That\u2019s great. It\u2019s basically equal. Let\u2019s just call it equal for easy math, huh? Okay. 80,000. I\u2019m going to plug it in this calculator. And how much are you adding every single year?<\/p>\n<p>[01:18:27]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0I have $500 automatically deducted from my property management job, and that goes into, what did you call that, Amber? The 408P or something?<\/p>\n<p>[01:18:37]\u00a0<strong>Amber:<\/strong>\u00a0I think that\u2019s what it was called. Yeah.<\/p>\n<p>[01:18:39]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a06,000 a year. Plus the Roth IRA, that\u2019s another, let\u2019s just say\u2013<\/p>\n<p>[01:18:42]\u00a0<strong>Amber:<\/strong>\u00a0Seven.<\/p>\n<p>[01:18:43]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0Yeah.<\/p>\n<p>[01:18:44]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Seven. Okay.<\/p>\n<p>[01:18:45]\u00a0<strong>Amber:<\/strong>\u00a0Mm-hmm. And then my seven.<\/p>\n<p>[01:18:47]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0All right. 20k a year. Years to grow, 22, shall we say? All right. 7%. Factors in inflation, etc. That\u2019s a nice conservative number. 1.4 million. That would be about $56,000 per year in income. And we should factor in that y\u2019all would not own a house and you also are underpaying right now. You\u2019re dramatically underpaying because you pay no rent. So this is not nearly enough. What does this make you feel when you hear this number?<\/p>\n<p>[01:19:18]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0That makes me nervous. Scared, actually.<\/p>\n<p>[01:19:22]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Why? You would just do what you\u2019ve always done, which is just keep working. So why are you scared? That\u2019s the future that you always thought you would have?<\/p>\n<p>[01:19:28]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0I\u2019m scared because now I\u2019ve been shown that, there are other possibilities and if we want those other possibilities, they\u2019re not going to happen on 56,000 a year.<\/p>\n<p>[01:19:37]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0That\u2019s correct. There\u2019s no way you could survive on 56,000 because you\u2019d have to pay rent. Your rent alone might be a significant percentage of that. So should we make some changes?<\/p>\n<p>[01:19:48]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0Yeah.<\/p>\n<p>[01:19:48]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Okay. Do you all see now that these seemingly small expenses that you choose to pay will actually add up to tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands of dollars? Who can name some of those seemingly small expenses that you both pay for routinely?<\/p>\n<p>[01:20:07]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0Trips.<\/p>\n<p>[01:20:08]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Okay. That\u2019s one.<\/p>\n<p>[01:20:09]\u00a0<strong>Amber:<\/strong>\u00a0I\u2019ll do DoorDash.<\/p>\n<p>[01:20:11]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Great. DoorDash is two.<\/p>\n<p>[01:20:13]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0Motorcycle stuff.<\/p>\n<p>[01:20:15]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Motorcycles. I love how he\u2019s like, I don\u2019t know. Coffee. Guy has freaking 20k of motorcycles he could sell tomorrow. All right. Agreed. What else?<\/p>\n<p>[01:20:25]\u00a0<strong>Amber:<\/strong>\u00a0Amazon purchases.<\/p>\n<p>[01:20:26]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Great. That\u2019s four. What else? Anything relating to family perhaps?<\/p>\n<p>[01:20:30]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0300 every other month. Yeah, that family stuff.<\/p>\n<p>[01:20:34]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Right. There\u2019s 1,200 bucks. There\u2019s money for the mom, sister. I\u2019m sure there\u2019s some holiday stuff. There\u2019s gifts and on and on and on and on and on. Thousands. Now you all want to see what this looks like? I\u2019ll show you the calculation. Just pick one. Let\u2019s go and do the calculation for gifts. What do you say you spend on gifts per year?<\/p>\n<p>[01:20:53]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0Let\u2019s say 10,000.<\/p>\n<p>[01:20:54]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Let\u2019s say you give no gifts anymore for the foreseeable future. You go, \u201cLook, we can\u2019t give gifts. We\u2019re trying to build our financial future.\u201d So instead of $20,000 a year, we\u2019re doing $30,000 a year. Now watch what happens to the math. At $20,000 per year invested, you have $1.4 million. By just increasing that number to $30,000 a year, you now have $1.9 million. And then instead of 56,000, $77,000 a year in income. What do y\u2019all think?<\/p>\n<p>[01:21:30]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0To take Amber\u2019s phrase, it could also be better.<\/p>\n<p>[01:21:34]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Oh [Bleep]. [Inaudible]. Let\u2019s make it better. You want to make it better? Let\u2019s make it better. I agree, it could be better. But we\u2019re going in the right direction. Would you agree?<\/p>\n<p>[01:21:43]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0Yeah.<\/p>\n<p>[01:21:44]\u00a0<strong>Amber:<\/strong>\u00a0Yeah.<\/p>\n<p>[01:21:44]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0All right. So let\u2019s get rid of these [Bleep] bikes. 20k. Shall we just put them away? 20k. Sell them.<\/p>\n<p>[01:21:51]\u00a0<strong>Amber:<\/strong>\u00a0Yes.<\/p>\n<p>[01:21:52]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0All right. So instead of 80k, I\u2019m going to make this a 100k. So instead of 1.9 million at your age of 65, we now have $2,016,000. Not bad, not bad. We\u2019re getting there. Candidly, I don\u2019t think you\u2019re in the position to be spending $10,000 a year on gifts. I definitely don\u2019t think you\u2019re in the position to have all these motorcycles. There\u2019s just no way. You can\u2019t afford it. Where else do you think are the big levers that you can pull to be able to really get to a Rich Life?<\/p>\n<p>[01:22:25]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0Charging more.<\/p>\n<p>[01:22:27]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Oh, charging more. Like how much more?<\/p>\n<p>[01:22:29]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0If I was charging $85 an hour and I chose every six months to raise the rate but by a percentage amount, would that be a good strategy?<\/p>\n<p>[01:22:41]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0If you were to raise your rates, let me tell you what would happen. Naturally, you would start making more. You would realize, hey, it actually makes no sense for me to be doing this social media thing and this thing because I\u2019m not making close to what I\u2019m making over here.<\/p>\n<p>[01:22:56]\u00a0So you\u2019re going to start naturally working more on the higher value, higher return thing, which you enjoy. You\u2019ll probably end up having one, maybe two jobs. If you\u2019re charging 85, 95, 110 an hour, why do you need two jobs? Crush it. Do an amazing job. Over deliver to your clients. How much more do you think you could be earning per year?<\/p>\n<p>[01:23:21]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0Man, I\u2019m terrible at math.<\/p>\n<p>[01:23:22]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Let\u2019s just approximate it. Right now, gross, you make $78,720 a year. Let\u2019s just say 79,000. How much more could you earn?<\/p>\n<p>[01:23:33]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0I\u2019d love it if it was a six-figure salary. That was comparable to what Amber was making, so 100,000, 110,000.<\/p>\n<p>[01:23:40]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Honestly, that\u2019s only $2,000 a month more. That\u2019s not much. I\u2019ll run the math for you. 2,000 bucks divided by, what are you going to charge per hour? 85? That\u2019s 23 hours of client work. Divided by what? Four. That\u2019s six hours a week extra of that high value stuff. I\u2019m being very simple here. It might be that some of your clients come back more often because you offer them something. This is totally doable. Amber\u2019s smiling over here. She\u2019s excited. But Amber, let\u2019s talk about you. How much more can you make?<\/p>\n<p>[01:24:17]\u00a0<strong>Amber:<\/strong>\u00a0I could easily get to 160 a year.<\/p>\n<p>[01:24:22]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0[Bleep]. So 40k more?<\/p>\n<p>[01:24:25]\u00a0<strong>Amber:<\/strong>\u00a0Yeah.<\/p>\n<p>[01:24:26]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0I love it. Tell you what, let\u2019s be conservative. Let\u2019s say that the two of you make 50k more per year. One of you might make more this year, the other makes more next year, whatever. I like to be conservative with our estimates, but all I can see right now is you\u2019re dramatically undercharging, Juan.<\/p>\n<p>[01:24:43]\u00a0Let\u2019s say you\u2019re making 50k more. We\u2019ll say 30k of that you\u2019re going to invest. Okay, I don\u2019t know if this is realistic because this number is freaking huge, but I just want to show you what it looks like. It\u2019s really big. Instead of 30k, I\u2019m making it $60,000 a year invested. That\u2019s a lot, wouldn\u2019t you agree?<\/p>\n<p>[01:25:03]\u00a0<strong>Amber:<\/strong>\u00a0Yeah, that\u2019s a lot.<\/p>\n<p>[01:25:05]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0That\u2019s a salary.<\/p>\n<p>[01:25:07]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Yeah. In this example though, what we\u2019ve seen, if I came to you at the first five minutes of this call and I was like, \u201cYou guys need to invest $60,000,\u201d you\u2019d be like, [Bleep] off. This guy doesn\u2019t know what he\u2019s talking about. He doesn\u2019t know us. But what we just did was we really broke it down.<\/p>\n<p>[01:25:21]\u00a0We\u2019re like, \u201cHey, here\u2019s what you\u2019re currently doing. In order for you to have 30 k more to invest per year, that means each of you needs to do this. You need to break it down. It\u2019s all math. It\u2019s not magic.\u201d And we realize this is feasible. In fact, I think you could probably do this in 12 to 18 months. Let\u2019s take a look at what the math says. Are you all ready?<\/p>\n<p>[01:25:43]\u00a0<strong>Amber:<\/strong>\u00a0Yeah.<\/p>\n<p>[01:25:45]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0All right. We\u2019re starting with $100,000 \u200abecause we sold those bikes. We\u2019re investing $60,000 a year, 22 years to grow. Watch this. $3.5 million. What do y\u2019all think? A lot of nods around the room. What\u2019s going on right now?<\/p>\n<p>[01:26:00]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0That\u2019s a great number.<\/p>\n<p>[01:26:01]\u00a0<strong>Amber:<\/strong>\u00a0Yeah. I think that\u2019s closer to where we need to be.<\/p>\n<p>[01:26:04]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0That\u2019s $143,000 a year in safe withdrawal.<\/p>\n<p>[01:26:09]\u00a0<strong>Amber:<\/strong>\u00a0Wow.<\/p>\n<p>[01:26:10]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Now that is what I\u2019m talking about.<\/p>\n<p>[01:26:12]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0Yeah.<\/p>\n<p>[01:26:12]\u00a0<strong>Amber:<\/strong>\u00a0Mm-hmm.<\/p>\n<p>[01:26:12]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0So what do you need to do in order to get there?<\/p>\n<p>[01:26:16]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0We have to make, obviously, some adjustments to the spending habits, and we have to sell some of the things that we don\u2019t entirely need right now, or charge more.<\/p>\n<p>[01:26:26]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Grow your business income. I agree. Yes. Amber, what do you see?<\/p>\n<p>[01:26:30]\u00a0<strong>Amber:<\/strong>\u00a0Yeah, same thing. And also getting more clients, finding higher paying clients.<\/p>\n<p>[01:26:36]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0The way you both are talking, I 100% confidence you can knock that out. What\u2019s the stuff you\u2019re not talking about? What are the skills you need to develop that you are not talking about?<\/p>\n<p>[01:26:49]\u00a0<strong>Amber:<\/strong>\u00a0I think we\u2019d have to have more of a structured plan even between the two of us, where we\u2019re actually sitting down and talking about how do we want to allocate our resources this month. Setting better boundaries with family and what that looks like.<\/p>\n<p>[01:27:05]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Hmm. First time I heard that word today, boundaries. Because you can\u2019t get where you\u2019re going if you have no boundaries. You\u2019ve got to have boundaries. That means that the skill you have to build is knowing what is your Rich Life and what is not part of your Rich Life. Maybe you want to support your family in some way.<\/p>\n<p>[01:27:28]\u00a0Love it. I\u2019m all for it. But how much? There has to be a number. You have to decide proactively. It can\u2019t simply be when somebody calls me, that affects my finances and our finances. You can\u2019t let somebody else control your Rich Life. You\u2019ve got to set a boundary.<\/p>\n<p>[01:27:49]\u00a0The Rich Life is about deciding, what do I want? What do we want? And then using your money to live that. You two come from a lot of sacrifice. You went through a lot in the way that you grew up with money. You also come from scarcity. Especially Juan, your family, when they call, it\u2019s like, I\u2019m here to help. I\u2019m here to help, I\u2019m here to help.<\/p>\n<p>[01:28:15]\u00a0But there\u2019s so many ways to help besides writing a check or Venmo. So many ways. One of those ways is to actually become an amazing role model with money. The Rich Life is your decision together. It can\u2019t simply be what other people in the world want from you.<\/p>\n<p>[01:28:32]\u00a0<strong>Amber:<\/strong>\u00a0Makes a lot of sense.<\/p>\n<p>[01:28:33]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0Yeah, that\u2019s a good message.<\/p>\n<p>[Narration]<\/p>\n<p>[01:28:35]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0Thank you to Juan and Amber for sharing the details of their story so openly and so vividly. They both have a lot of work to reach their retirement goals, but given that they both run their own businesses, there\u2019s actually no limit to how much they can earn.\u00a0If they commit to increasing their client list\u00a0and Juan increases his prices,\u00a0I actually have a lot of confidence that they can get there, which is why I offered to share my business program with them to help them get to their goals faster. I wish them the best. Juan and Amber, I\u2019d love to stay in touch. Please keep me updated.<\/p>\n<p>[01:29:08]\u00a0In the meantime, let\u2019s hear about the changes they have made since we spoke just a few weeks ago.\u00a0First up is Amber.<\/p>\n<p>[01:29:15]\u00a0<strong>Amber:<\/strong>\u00a0One thing that really surprised me was how receptive Juan was to this discussion around his money mindset.\u00a0It\u2019s something that he and I have talked about a lot over the years, but something about this conversation with you really clicked for him.\u00a0And it was amazing to see him finally start to believe that it\u2019s okay to charge more for his services.<\/p>\n<p>[01:29:35]\u00a0He\u2019s an exceptional coach,\u00a0and he\u2019s really effective at what he does, and he deserves to be paid more. And so we started making changes almost immediately from how we collect payments to what he\u2019s actually charging. And it\u2019s already making a difference.<\/p>\n<p>[01:29:50]\u00a0Another thing that I found really helpful was our discussion around gifts. Having that perspective shift really motivated me to find more creative ways to show that I care besides just spending money.\u00a0Oh, and the credit card is officially paid off.<\/p>\n<p>[01:30:04]\u00a0I wasn\u2019t too worried about it because I had the money, but it does feel good to start the month off with no balance. I\u2019ve also scaled back on aggressively paying off my student loans so that I can divert those funds instead to building up our cash savings. So yeah, lots of positive changes already.<\/p>\n<p>[01:30:22]\u00a0<strong>Ramit:<\/strong>\u00a0And now Juan\u2019s follow-up video.<\/p>\n<p>[01:30:24]\u00a0<strong>Juan:<\/strong>\u00a0Hey, Ramit.\u00a0First,\u00a0I just wanted to thank you.\u00a0I think it was great that you let us know that we were on the right track with the things that we had already started,\u00a0but also gave us a really objective view and opinion on the things that we could be doing better and things that we hadn\u2019t yet thought of, which were really, really helpful.<\/p>\n<p>[01:30:39]\u00a0Speaking of one of those things, my sister did reach out for some income recently,\u00a0and I was happy to provide her with that income, but I also took the opportunity to bring up the spreadsheet. I asked if she would be comfortable going over that with me to see if maybe I could help her get into a better place with her finances. And she was super receptive to that. I really appreciate you bringing that up in a way that made it comfortable for me to bring it with my family.<\/p>\n<p>[01:31:04]\u00a0You\u2019ll also be happy to\u00a0know\u00a0that we put three of the five motorcycles up for sale. You helped me see that it is really important right now at this moment in time to prioritize setting money aside for retirement, especially if we want to take care of our families the way we say we want to.\u00a0So it was no problem to put the bikes up for sale. I know that in time we\u2019ll get back to that\u00a0\u200aRich Life\u00a0experience. So I\u2019m happy to make those changes now.<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\ufeff\ufeff \ufeff\ufeff\ufeff\ufeff\ufeff\ufeff\ufeff Juan (43) and Amber (40) feel behind on their retirement plans after years of prioritizing travel and expensive hobbies over investing. Juan, who grew up poor, struggles with a scarcity mindset\u2014undercharging for his work and financially supporting his family. Amber, now earning less, believes they should be doing better. With financial pressure mounting, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[290],"class_list":["post-118822","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-podcast-episodes"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"modified_by":"Nasrin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118822","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=118822"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118822\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=118822"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=118822"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}