Common Sense Millionaire
Common Sense Millionaire
EP 15: How Did I Get To 1 Million+ In Retirement Savings And Move From Financial Uncertainty to Financial Stability.
Ever felt like you're running on a financial treadmill, hustling hard but not moving forward?
I've been there, and that's why I've dedicated my life to promoting financial education. From spiraling in debt with a credit score of zero to boasting a score of 800 plus, I've turned my financial life around, and I'm eager to share what I've learned.
In today's episode of Common Sense Millionaire, we explore the journey toward financial stability and how it's possible to create a secure future and legacy for our families.
It's easy to feel like the system is rigged, especially when it comes to car dealerships, insurance, and credit. I've been on the receiving end of these pitfalls, and it's my mission to prevent others from falling into the same traps.
Today, we're talking about the importance of planning for the future and making tough decisions that will propel you toward financial success.
This is an invitation to step out of the cycle of financial uncertainty, and take control of your financial destiny.
Let's walk this journey together.
Thank you for listening to The Millionaire Mindset Podcast with George Dines.
To connect with George visit www.georgedines.com
To Schedule a call with George visit: https://georgedines.com/contact/
Welcome to the Common Sense Millionaire, where we work to promote your financial advancement in knowledge process and education so that you and your family become financially secure. This is the place I share Common Sense Action Steps that you can take today to assist your financial advancement. So sit back, grab a drink and let's get started. Common Sense Millionaire here. Thanks for tuning in. It's kind of late, it's 10.30, 11 o'clock at night. Wives already come down talking about oh, you've been working all day, when are you going to bed? And she was right asking that question.
Speaker 1:And it's at moments like this when I really sit back and think why am I doing this? To a certain extent, people will say, well, you don't have to be doing that. You've got a certain level locked up and moving forward and what you feel is the right direction. So why do I do it? People say you don't have to do it, you should do more, you should get out more often, spend money more often, and I hear these kind of things all the time. So here's the real reason that I'm here.
Speaker 1:The real reason that I do this and that I work with people is I'm really tired, really tired of seeing people getting cheated on a regular basis. They're cheated financially all the time. Folk want a car, they get cheated at the dealer, whether it be a new car dealer or a used car dealer Trying to get insurance. You're being cheated there into paying perhaps a larger premium than you actually need to pay. You're trying to get a house? Ok, maybe you didn't shop financing good enough and you're not getting the best interest rate for your financing deal. For black folk there was always a higher premium paid on the insurance cost, just because people didn't like that and nobody knew any better and they may not have shopped around. Maybe because you've got bad credit but no one taught you how to use credit to your advantage so that you could advance financially in your life. Shoot, I understand that I've had like zero credit where I think I don't think I had a zero credit score, but it was something ridiculous like 100 or something like that. Ok, now my credit score is actually fabulous.
Speaker 1:Takes work to maintain that Takes a lot of work. You've got to do a lot of questioning of what you're doing on a daily basis in your life to maintain financial ascendancy, which is you always want to keep going higher than you are right now. If it's just not for you. It's for your family as well. It could be your extended family needs help. But that's the thing. That's so difficult is that I really want to help people, to take advantage of my mistakes to keep you from making the same ones and to be involved over the next five to 10 years as you move on through and you can move on through to. You know I mean it's a saying, but to the brighter day. That can happen. It could happen with everybody. That's why I'm down here at this desk at, you know, almost 11 o'clock at night trying to work on solutions for folk.
Speaker 1:Now, some people you don't want to move in that direction or figure it may be too difficult and I'm like not going to shade that or or dismiss that because it is difficult, because there's choices that you have to make. So I learned the hard way too that there were choices that I had to make and I decided I was not going to go down the toilet financially, but I was going to make changes in my life. I started saving money. I went back to get an MBA, not so that I could work for a firm. I went to get the MBA to just get knowledge and education on how finance works and how investment investments work for people. That's what it was for and it just so happened I was like kind of good at the calculation part of that.
Speaker 1:So it can be done. You don't have to go and get your own MBA. You can have an MBA who works for you, and what that means is you have to make a decision that for the next few years, you are going to get it right. You're going to move in the right direction. You're going to make this serious If you have other issues in your life. It's even more serious If you're separated, if you're divorced. We've talked in these discussions about all of the issues surrounding those life events. You got to figure that stuff out, don't you want to leave a legacy for your kids? You've got to figure that out. It took me a while. It's going to take you a while Not going to like what I have to say. You're going to say that you know I'm nuts, that I can't do something like that. It's too difficult.
Speaker 1:I see too many people and not just in my practice, but people who I hear talking and I listen to them talking. They're worried about their future. How can they pay for their bills in the future. We see now the attempt to unravel social benefits in terms of social security and in terms of Medicaid and Medicare. This is very scary. We see how much all of these things cost, but nobody is trying to struggle to address these concerns, to move them further. The only thing you can do is to produce more income so that you can be prepared for these issues.
Speaker 1:One of the worst things I ever saw and I've seen bad things was the death of a parent who was in a nursing home for about two years. Well, as soon as that parent passed, there was a lean place against the property by the state to collect from that estate the money that was spent by the state on behalf of that parent. That is one of the most disgusting things I've ever seen. That only your house is your only asset and it could have been avoided. Okay, it could have been avoided, but we don't discuss these issues. So in that case that I'm just talking about, family got nothing. Maryland got its money, but the family got nothing.
Speaker 1:So it's like what are you going to do? When are you going to stand up and take on the challenge that you have? You have debt. I did too. You're filing a bankruptcy thing? I did too. You couldn't buy a house I couldn't either. You couldn't afford to go to school I couldn't either. But the difference is, even though you can't now doesn't mean that you can't start tomorrow. And in every one of those situations that I just talked about, yeah, I couldn't buy a house, but yeah, hey, the first house I bought was an investment property. First house Okay, I didn't go to school. Nope, I went to school with my lousy credit card. Okay, paid for the semesters with the credit card and then paid it off.
Speaker 1:Bankruptcy hey, I went through there. Worst thing you can ever go through Horrible situation. So all I'm trying to say is if you're concerned that you can't do it, don't worry about that. What you do is talk to me. I don't care if you become a client, I'm just glad to help you. If you want to call, you call, send me an email, that's fine, but take a step, take the first move.
Speaker 1:You've got to move. The journey starts with the first step. You've got to face all of the issues. You cannot hide them in a fantasy. You've got to take strategic, serious action to protect your financial identity. That's extremely important nowadays, as you see, the only people they get the pure benefit of interest rates or allocation of resources or whatever are those that have a financial process in place to bring stability to their financial management of their lives. This is why I'm here. My wife knows this is why I'm here. Other people know this is why I'm here. It's very important to me. There's so many examples I have of things that have gone wrong for people but have not. They have not at all. They haven't tried to move forward, no matter where we are, no matter how tired we are, no matter how hard we work and we think that it's not getting anywhere.
Speaker 1:What's important is do you have the strategy to make it happen? I had to come up with a strategy. It was a multiple-point strategy Make sure taxes are paid on time. Making sure I make room for the note. Establish a baseline for my credit score and build up for that. Right now, my credit score is ridiculous. The last time it was eight-something, which is totally ridiculous. Making sure that I'm not late on any bill payments, especially any credit-related bill payments. Credit card, car note, house note. All of these things can be fixed. Requires a level of determination that you're just going to have to put out. You're going to have to put the energy out to make it happen. It can happen. It takes time. If you're working with me, or if I can recommend you for someone, they'll be working with you to help you make the first step and to make the final step to resolution on any of the issues that you have or any problems.
Speaker 1:I think for me to talk about some of these issues was very embarrassing for me personally, embarrassing for family members. I couldn't have made it without my wife for working with me and not telling me to go to the curb. I didn't think I was ever going to get married because I could not see getting married going in with the deficits that I had. It didn't make sense to me. My wife is a very good team member. In addition to being a wife, she was instrumental in helping me to make sure that I kept the eye on what I was trying to do for, at the end of the day, both of us.
Speaker 1:All I have to say is this finally, and I'm going to wrap this up, if you need help, give a call, we'll figure it out. We'll come up with a plan and help you move forward. Instead of moving backwards or sideways, we have to move forward so that in the future you'll be able to have a legacy for your family. If that's what you want for your kids, you want to own a home and you want to own a car, without doing crazy stuff and risking bankruptcy because of bills. Thanks a lot. Have a good evening. Thanks, landscape you.
