Ever wondered why the pressure to become a millionaire by 30 is so intense? Or why deciding your lifelong career path at 17 sounds more like a pipe dream than reality? Join us on the Balanced Blueprints podcast as we tackle these provocative questions head-on. In this episode, we explore the concept of the "10-year gap," a perspective shift that advocates for extending major financial goals by a decade. Instead of stressing over hitting millionaire status by 30, we discuss how aiming for 40 can make financial milestones more attainable and less anxiety-inducing. We also shine a spotlight on the societal expectations that force young individuals to choose their career paths prematurely and how many don't find their true calling until their late 20s.
Can you truly love your job 100% of the time? We challenge this idealistic expectation, arguing that a 70% job satisfaction rate is a more realistic and healthier benchmark for success. We draw parallels between work relationships and personal ones, emphasizing the importance of resilience and realistic expectations. Understand that friction and challenges are not just inevitable but essential for growth. Ultimately, we underscore that true financial freedom and reduced stress come from building skills through overcoming hardships—not from chasing an entirely stress-free existence. Tune in for insights that promise to transform your financial and career journey into a balanced and fulfilling path.
Ever wondered why the pressure to become a millionaire by 30 is so intense? Or why deciding your lifelong career path at 17 sounds more like a pipe dream than reality? Join us on the Balanced Blueprints podcast as we tackle these provocative questions head-on. In this episode, we explore the concept of the "10-year gap," a perspective shift that advocates for extending major financial goals by a decade. Instead of stressing over hitting millionaire status by 30, we discuss how aiming for 40 can make financial milestones more attainable and less anxiety-inducing. We also shine a spotlight on the societal expectations that force young individuals to choose their career paths prematurely and how many don't find their true calling until their late 20s.
Can you truly love your job 100% of the time? We challenge this idealistic expectation, arguing that a 70% job satisfaction rate is a more realistic and healthier benchmark for success. We draw parallels between work relationships and personal ones, emphasizing the importance of resilience and realistic expectations. Understand that friction and challenges are not just inevitable but essential for growth. Ultimately, we underscore that true financial freedom and reduced stress come from building skills through overcoming hardships—not from chasing an entirely stress-free existence. Tune in for insights that promise to transform your financial and career journey into a balanced and fulfilling path.
Welcome to the Balanced Blueprints podcast, where we discuss the optimal techniques for finances and health and then break it down to create an individualized and balanced plan. I'm your host, justin Gaines, here with my co-host, john Prober. In this week's episode, John and I discuss what I refer to as the 10-year gap, as well as other lies that we are told as youth or just as we go down our financial journey. We hope you enjoy the episode. Thank you for listening. A little bit more of a somber intro than we're used to, but that is what it is. It seems like a lot of times we get talking about what sounds best on paper but isn't necessarily achievable. We're always talking about optimal and our closest way to get there.
Speaker 1:
One of the things that I constantly talk about with clients is that a lot of times the advice that we get in our youth or as we start down financial journeys, a lot of times those targets are 10 years ahead of when they should be. So I refer to it as a 10-year gap because you have people who want to be a millionaire by the time they're 30, which is highly unattainable. People will do it. It is possible. It's just the vast majority of individuals will not, but with some planning, some sacrifice and dedication to an investment journey, doing it by the time you're 40 is totally doable.
Speaker 1:
The other one that falls in this gap is high school kids being told that they need to know what they do when they turn 17 or 18.
Speaker 1:
But then most people don't actually figure out the career they want to be in or what journey they want to go on until they're 28, 29, 30, which is part of the reason why that million-dollar target gap becomes an issue as well. And so I like to tell a lot of my clients that whatever financial plan we're working on, add 10 years to it and that's a realistic target that's not going to cause you a ton of stress and, at the end of the day, a lot of these financial targets. They really shouldn't be causing you a ton of stress unless you have a lot of bad debts or you're living paycheck to paycheck because of expenses, or maybe your income's not high enough. Those situations are going to be inherently stressful. So that's not necessarily what I'm talking about. I'm talking about more of these situations where we place a target on something and then we're dissatisfied because of the stress that we're putting on that target.
Speaker 1:
Well, if we just added a 10-year window to it, if you were a millionaire by 30 versus a millionaire by 40, your life's not going to be significantly impacted by that, because you're still going to work. If you hit a million at 30 or 40, you're still going to continue to work, because what else would you do? A million dollars isn't enough to retire on, especially not at that age. So you're still going to continue to work, because what else would you do? A million dollars isn't enough to retire on, especially not at that age. So you're going to have to continue to work. And hitting those investment targets at that age isn't isn't doing much other than causing you a ton of stress in order for you to aggressively hit that target definitely.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, you see that with fitness stuff too. I mean, you just put so much stress and pressure on what you want to achieve and it's a very long life. You forget that this off camera. But this just popped into my mind too, of like, I'm sure if at 17 years old, if your only goal was to be a millionaire and you did not care at all what job you worked, I I'm sure a ton of people would be able to achieve that. But the problem of well, I hate this job comes in and you keep switching jobs or looking for other ones, because otherwise people like we've talked about, if that was your only goal, you didn't care what work you did, go right into the trades and you'd be pretty, pretty well off, probably.
Speaker 1:
But that actually right now, yeah, going to the trades and you'd be golden making 30 40 dollars an hour right, but we run into that problem where that's.
Speaker 2:
That's a tough motivator in my mind like I think it may get people started or it drives them for a while, but long term I think that's that money motivator itself usually Like, is it?
Speaker 1:
bragging rights. Is it the ability to say you're a millionaire, like what is driving you to want to have that target and, a lot of times, what's actually driving you did that would be a lot less stressful, but a lot of times the wanting to have a million dollars comes from, you know. Maybe they lived a childhood that didn't have a ton of vacations or a ton of things that they could have, and so now they want to be able to have that.
Speaker 1:
So they want to have a million dollars, because they feel that that is their point at which they can do whatever they want and they're not going to have to stress about it.
Speaker 1:
Or there's that other fallacy where they want to hit that point and not have to think about money anymore which we talked about in a previous episode where that's just not going to happen. The way to get to having a million dollars is by thinking about money consistently, not in a unhealthy, obsessive kind of way, but in a healthy, slightly obsessive kind of way, where you're tracking it, staying on top of it, making sure that you have a balance there. And so if we can get down to the root of why do we want to be at this target, that's going to actually highlight the insecurities that we have and determine why we're trying to get there. And then that's going to allow us to back up and determine how to set our financial journey in a way that'll make us successful and achieve our actual goals. Because the number one way you can debunk somebody saying that they want the money just to have the money is okay. If I could write you a check for a million dollars right now, but you couldn't spend it it could only go into an investment account or a bank account would you be satisfied? If you achieve that goal today by me writing you a million-dollar check, would you be satisfied?
Speaker 1:
Most people are like no, I'm like okay, why? Well, because I can't spend it, I can't do anything with it. If you had the million dollars in the bank, what would you do with it? And that's another way of asking why do do you want the million dollars? So then you get a mindset where they're primed okay, I have a million dollars in the bank, what am I gonna go do?
Speaker 1:
I would say, half of the time, people give you answers that they can achieve on a smaller level without having a million dollars.
Speaker 1:
It might be a vacation, it might be going on a yacht, it might be a helicopter ride, all these sorts of things where in their mind they're thinking about I want to own the yacht, I want to own the helicopter, be able to do it whenever I want, instead of just paying to go on a helicopter ride or paying to go on a yacht trip in the Caribbean or the Mediterranean Sea, wherever the case may be. But you can rent those experiences without having to own the depreciating asset that comes along with that. So there's other ways to achieve those outlines and I would say, the other 50% of the time it comes from wanting the security, wanting to be able to not have to stress about money and not realizing that not having to stress about money comes from having that healthy, slightly obsessive view on tracking your numbers, being on top of your budget and making sure that you have a window for emergencies and, on a day-to-day basis, you are living below your means and not overspending.
Speaker 2:
It's funny too, because my mind goes to I don't know this for certain, but the concept of oh, I want to do that whenever I want, especially a lot of the things that people want to do whenever they want. I would imagine once you do it once or twice, they probably lose a lot of the things that people want to do whenever they want. I would imagine once you do it once or twice, they probably lose a lot of that like excitement. So it's funny because it's even a better idea of, like, like you said, go rent it and do it once. Like, if you do it once, like that might get your fix and it's like, yeah, now you realize, well, you shouldn't have spent all the money to to do that. You don't need that type of money to buy those things whenever you want because, like you said, you could rent them. But yeah, I just think that you can also find out that you hate it yeah, that he wants to you.
Speaker 1:
Take somebody who wants to buy a boat, like for me for instance, I want to buy a boat.
Speaker 1:
I really, really want to buy a boat and so I've rented boats. I've gone on boating trips with friends and family and love it, know that I would get a lot of satisfaction and joy out of doing this consistently. Okay, I should go and buy a boat. I shouldn't take that off the table and say I shouldn't go and buy a boat. There are plenty of financial reasons why you shouldn't buy a boat. But I'm saying, is this a hobby that I want to put into the expense categories, onto my income statement and put the money into this and enjoy it?
Speaker 1:
Or is it something I'm going to put a bunch of money into and I'm going to be like 90% of boat owners who complain about all the expenses associated with the boat and that's because they bought a boat without doing their research and also aren't getting the joys and satisfaction out of it. I could have gone boating and been like, oh fun, but it's kind of boring. I'm not really into this, like what's the point? And then in that case I would have spent a couple hundred dollars renting a boat for a few hours versus spending tens of thousands of dollars buying a boat yeah, yeah, and the other thing I'm getting at too, because I like this scenario of like, okay, you have a million dollars in the bank.
Speaker 2:
You can't touch it, like you mentioned, because I think it's a great way to try and figure out. If someone's like, what do I want to do with my life? Like that's a good way to figure it out. Like, okay, now you can spend it, what would you do and that's why I kind of mentioned that before, cause it's like, oh, I would buy a helicopter, I do this. It's like I think those are cover up things. It's like, ok, you can go do those one, like one time, but I don't think they're as fulfilling as like what would you do your entire life? You know, I mean, if you're 30 and you're a millionaire, if you're 40, you're a millionaire, I don't think you're, unless you love. Like some people would want to fly helicopters for a living.
Speaker 2:
But it's like what do you want to spend most of your time doing? I think that's a good way of finding it out, especially because I was going to say this, but you already said it. You know being balanced. It's like I know people that know what they want to do, but for some reason they're still focused on the money and I'm like, well, like you're, you're almost more miserable because you're trying to achieve this type of money. But you could go work at the job you want to work, but it doesn't make enough money for you. I'm like that makes no sense in my mind. I was like just go work the job you enjoy, save like and do the nice strategies we've talked about in all of these podcasts of how to save money long term.
Speaker 1:
Right as long as.
Speaker 2:
long as what they want to do will actually cover the expenses.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, right, as long, as long as what they want to do will actually cover the expenses and allow you to not jeopardize your financial position? Yes, I mean that's where you fall into, that you know, your hobby, your hobby has to, you know, make you enough to actually cover your expenses, but that's.
Speaker 1:
The other thing that I would say is that's another fallacy that we get told in our youth is go and do what you love. And most people that I know that have followed their hobbies into careers now hate their hobbies. And it's because once you turn into a job and you have to do it 24 seven, it's no longer enjoyable. And so you know, both of my brothers are in that situation where they followed their hobbies and they loved what they did, but now it's 50, 60 hours a week doing that stuff and it's just no longer enjoyable. And so they will.
Speaker 1:
Both of them will tell you if you're looking to figure out what career you want to go into, line up your hobbies from first to fifth and don't choose your top one. Choose something between two and four and don't choose your top one. Choose something between two and four, something that you enjoy. But that isn't what you do to get rid of stress and have a good time. Don't go after that thing. Go after the next rung on the ladder. Go after something you enjoy that can. That, too is job. Satisfaction isn't talked about in a sliding scale. It's talked about as you either love your job or you hate your job, instead of a level of satisfaction, because I think I would say that I'm somebody who's very fortunate and I absolutely love what I do for a living.
Speaker 1:
It's very hard for me to pinpoint what that is because I have several different businesses and so I'm constantly running around doing different things, which I think plays a role. But I pinpoint what that is because I have several different businesses and so I'm constantly running around doing different things, which I think plays a role. But I love what I do. But I also would tell you that I'm at about 65% 75% job satisfaction. There's still 25% to 35% of the time that I absolutely hate what I'm doing, but I firmly believe that once you crest that 70% or better of satisfaction, you have found the job that you're going to love and you've found what you're meant to do, because even at 50-50, 50% of the time you love what you do, 50% of the time you hate what you do. You're in a good spot.
Speaker 1:
But I think society has told us oh, follow your dreams, follow your passions, do what you love. But I think society has told us, oh, follow your dreams, follow your passions, do what you love. And that's been misinterpreted as do what you love is loving what you do 100 percent of the time, and getting out of bed is not going to be hard for it. It's going to be very easy. Every single day You're going to be jumping for joy and that's just not reality.
Speaker 2:
That's not reality.
Speaker 1:
It sounds nice, it's great, it's very easy to sell, it's very easy to swipe and listen to and buy into that, but that's just not reality, like if you want to be able to have an income that's going to cover your bills and live a moderately stressed life instead of a high stress life, because I also don't think, you know, the idea of a stress-free life just doesn't exist.
Speaker 1:
There's a reason why there's shows like the Real Housewives and all this stuff that follows very wealthy individuals who are chock full of stress and drama because money does not solve that, and so backing up a little bit and just finding something that gives you a manageable level of stress covers the bills. You're going to have to do some things that you don't want to do and that you don't like to do. That is part of it. Whether it's trying to get to your financial freedom target, whether it's going to work, going to a family party, hanging out with friends, there's always going to be a certain level of friction as a result of us being humans, and so I would take the same approach that we do in friendship relationships as you do with your job. You're your best friend. It's not because you've never had any struggles, it's not because you've never gone through anything. It's because you've gone through things successfully. You've been able to have stressful moments and you've gotten past them. That's what solidified and firmed up that relationship and what makes you love it so much.
Speaker 1:
The same attitude should be approached when we're talking about jobs, where it's not that we want the easiest job with the least amount of friction and the least amount of stress. It's one that we want that challenges us, but that also allows us to grow as an individual and learn things about ourselves, get through them, and there's going to be crappy days. There's going to be days that you want to quit. There's going to be days in your best friend relationship that you're like screw this person up, like I'm so done with this person, I'm cutting them out of my life, and then two weeks later you have a responsible conversation about it. As adults, you know like, okay, we're both emotional and overreacting and let's get past this. That's going to happen in the in your work life too.
Speaker 1:
If you take your best relationships and you compare those to your your work life and your job, are you approaching it with the same level of you know realistic attitude? Or are you trying to say like, okay, I should have a job that's going to be perfect all the time and I'm never going to have any issues? If you do, you're going to end up jumping from job to job to job, because the minute something gets tough, you're going to walk out and you're going to want to leave, and then your ability to get the next job is going to become that much more difficult and that is going to then compound into your financial position where you're going to have to take a lower salary because nobody wants to hire you, because they only think you're going to be there for a year or a year and a half before you leave. And so now, okay, you take a lower salary. Now your finances are pinched and your ability to hit your financial freedom target gets strained.
Speaker 1:
There's all these different levels that as a society we don't want to step into the uncomfortable and we're constantly trying to avoid it. And the reality is is that, from a financial perspective, if you want to get to a point of financial freedom, you're going to have to go through financial hardships and financial stress in order to build those skills and those tools to get to that level of success that you're looking for, where things become less stressful. And I firmly believe that as you grow your savings and your investments, it becomes less stressful. Yes, because you have the safety net, but it's also because now you know how to get out of those tough situations, you know how to weather those storms.
Speaker 1:
You know, what timeline it's going to take. And so, instead of you being stressed because it's not happening, now, you know that it's going to take three to six months to take. And so, instead of you being stressed because it's not happening, now, you know that it's going to take three to six months to take care of that problem. And now, when it takes three to six months, you're like okay, I know, this is the process, this is what we have to go through, and so a portion of it comes from the experience of walking through that and now knowing the timelines, how to handle it, how to get past it, how to handle the, the objection. And I just don't think that's the attitude that we approach with these things. We take the attitude of I want it now, I want it easy and I want to stress, free, and that's just not realistic clip it.
Speaker 2:
I mean that was good. Um, no, that's yeah, that was a great way of putting it. I'm not even going to try and add anything to it. But, like you said, I mean, yeah, we're black and white, that's how we're taught to think. And now the other thing too, not like it's that because we want that stress-free life. But I saw one researcher, someone, talking about the brain, where the brain's a problem solver. I mean that's what it's made to do. So if you don't have problems, it will create problems. And that's what the housewives makes me think of. And I've seen people that don't work or you know, or stay at home and you sometimes look at, like the problems they have and you're like like really that's a problem. So it's funny just because even as people try to escape the stress, it's like then you'll start stressing about the dumbest little things and not even realize that, because the brain just wants to solve problems.
Speaker 1:
Right, yeah, that makes sense. I've definitely experienced that myself.
Speaker 2:
where you like, you're trying to de-stress your life and you get to a point where you're like, oh, there's not a lot of stress.
Speaker 1:
And then like little stupid stuff is what puts you over the edge and it's like yeah, I might work tough about that, it's not really a problem. But that makes sense that your brain is trying to solve. Your brain is trying to work and you're not giving it anything to work on.
Speaker 2:
So yeah, but when you were doing like 10 jobs at once and it's like the little things, they even bother you.
Speaker 1:
Well, sometimes. Sometimes people blow up too, right. Well, but even from a stance that you know the statement of if you want something done, give it to the busiest person schedule. When I have really busy weeks, I get three to four times as much done as I do on slow weeks, because when I have a slow week I'm like, oh, I can putz around and get this done in 45 minutes, instead of just getting it done in 20 because, oh, I can look, I can follow this little trail and figure out what what's going on here, dive a little deeper into it. But it's not necessarily important to do those things, and so you just get distracted.
Speaker 2:
But when you know you have a very limited amount of time to do it, you're going to get it done in that time frame yeah, well, I just added that in not to take away from the nice thing justin said, but but, um, yeah, I mean that that was. I was like that was a good episode. I like that well, yeah.
Speaker 1:
Well, it emphasizes the point of the fallacy that if I get to this financial target, I won't have any stress, because the minute you remove all stress from your life, your brain is going to produce it and make it out of nothing. So having a certain level of stress is important and it's not a bad thing. It's not something we should be trying to get away from. We should be getting away from the unhealthy, toxic stressors and making sure that we have the appropriate levels of stress in there that are allowing us to grow as individuals and build whatever we're trying to build, whether it's a larger financial pie that we're a part of, whether it's a bigger family, better family relationships, whatever the case may be but your brain is always going to be attacking some sort of stress.
Speaker 2:
Thanks for listening to our podcast.
Speaker 1:
We hope this helps you on your balance freedom journey.
Speaker 2:
Please share your thoughts in the comments section below. Until next time, stay balanced.