Ep 2: Unlocking Financial Freedom

In this episode, Julia and Emelia dive into the essential topics of financial literacy, real estate, and investing, offering listeners a window into long-term wealth-building. Uncover the effects of inflation on your finances, the advantages of home ownership, and the importance of understanding your risk tolerance when investing. With a spotlight on actionable strategies, they discuss financial management tools, from savvy budgeting and early saving to the wisdom of seeking professional advice. Emelia underscores the role of social media in making financial discussions more accessible, encouraging listeners to take control of their finances and pursue investment opportunities. The episode wraps up with a discussion on unlocking wealth and future planning, emphasizing the critical importance of making informed investment decisions. Armed with the right knowledge, you hold the power to achieve financial freedom and transform your financial destiny. Don’t miss this opportunity to transform your financial destiny—tune in now!

Transcript

Intro: 
Welcome back to another exciting episode of #FEMPIRE I'm your host, Julia Pennella. And today we have an exceptional guest who's making in the world of real estate and investing. Joining us is Emelia Dandan, a dedicated and dynamic real estate agent with almost five years of experience at Century 21 Leading Edge Realty Inc. Amelia holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from the prestigious Schulich School of Business, where she specializes in finance and entrepreneurship. Her expertise lies in pre-construction and residential real estate, making her go to professional for buyers, sellers and renters alike. But that's not all. When she's not closing deals and finding dream homes, Emelia loves to travel, salsa, dance and explore the beauty of nature. So whether you're a seasoned investor or a first time homebuyer, you'll want to stay tuned for some invaluable insights and tips from Amelia. Let's dove right in.

Welcome back, everybody. And I have a very exciting guest today. Emelia Dandan  is here to talk to us about unlocking wealth and the importance of financial literacy and just talking about money in general. So welcome, Emelia. 

Thank you so much for having me on. This is my first ever podcast that I've spoken on, so I'm super excited for today's session and looking forward to chatting about tons of different topics and about financial literacy and just different things in the economy. 

Yeah, no, it's great. And I think with your wealth of experience, like both working in the financial sector and in the real estate sector, I really wanted to bring you on just to share that knowledge with folks, because I think there's a lot of, you know, misinformation that we're seeing online, which we're going to get into, but also just like understanding the importance of it, because I think there's a lot of disconnect, especially because these aren't things we learn in school. We don't learn about mortgages, we don't learn about investing. That's where you get a bit more into those niches in university and college, and now you have those degrees, but you're also working the front lines of that. So think maybe if we wanted to dove in, it's been a big week for housing with federal announcements. We had 30 year amortization come out for first time homebuyers on insured mortgages on new builds. They're going to be combating or exploring combating mortgage fraud increases to withdrawals from your RRSP to help with down payments. What is that like with your clients earlier that you're hearing about this? Is this good news? Did they want to see more from the government? What are your thoughts? 

Well, I think all of these programs are really good tools to help people get into the housing market, so take advantage of all of the tools that are available max So your RRSP is maxed out, your first home savings account maxed out. Your TFSA is really let your savings and then the market start accumulating your wealth so that if you have a goal of home ownership one day to really take advantage of the tools that the government's putting out available for Canadians. And it's nice because there are some of these limits, they've doubled them. The room of contribution that people can put in, because I think the government is really recognizing how expensive housing has become and they're trying to keep up with, tools that we have in place can actually be useful for people. So if you look at all the different resources you have available, there's longer periods for repaying the home buyers plan if you take the money out of your RRSP. So they're really trying to help with these programs where they can to allow younger people and just Canadians in general get into the housing market. 

Yeah, absolutely. And I think those are well set. I mean, working in the housing space as well. Like I think this is a good first start. I don't think this is going to solve all our housing crisis as an issues, but I think it is a bit, like you said, all these tools, the FHSA say, delaying the repayment, I think they're good first steps and I guess segway into a bit of my one of my first questions with you are following up question to that is what are your thoughts on the real estate market. You know buying a home with current rates in Toronto, your licensed here in Ontario some of the most expensive prices and cities we've seen not only in our country but as a G7 country across the world. What advice do you have to people who, do I buy now? Do I sit and wait? Because I think there's a lot of uncertainty. We obviously don't have a crystal ball and can't predict when rates are going to come down. But, you're working in the sector. What are your thoughts on it? 

So I think there's been a little bit of a stigma put around home ownership in social media. And just in general, it is costly and it is difficult to qualify. But long term, I think the Canadian real estate market is still a great place to be in and there's a reason why so many people have been coming to Canada. So we have a very multicultural city, we have a lot of the downtown core and Toronto is so vibrant and different cores and hubs are being built all across the GTA in Mississauga and in Burlington, different areas all around. And I think, and I'm not saying, you have to get into buying like $1,000,000 home, but as a young person and being a first time homebuyer, if you're going to be paying, the high rents that are out right now and they've been high for a while, if you actually calculate how much you're paying in rent every month and you multiply that over three, five years, that's the down payment for a home, so you can if you get your parents or if you have a family member that can help get you into the market you can save maybe they can help you qualify or they can help you get the down payment for the property long term. it's a good way if you can manage to pay similar rent or mortgage, then it's much better off, in my opinion, to put your money towards a mortgage, which is something that's going to appreciate. You're going to be able to leverage that and then maybe move to something even bigger later on. When you save a little bit more and you get some equity in your home. And a lot of the wealth of Canadians is actually linked to home ownership. So if you don't dip your toe into that bucket, as the years passed, you might be missing out on building a lot of wealth long term. So I encourage younger people to, you know, it might seem very unattainable if you're looking at the really the more expensive, you know, million plus. But if you look at a condo, you look at something smaller to begin with, something that doesn't break the bank, maybe you rent it out in the beginning and then once you pay it down, once rates go down, then maybe you want to move into it later on. Look at different strategies just to get your your foot in. And I think once you just take the first step, then it becomes a lot easier to build wealth. So they say once you start building and you start accumulating more, it becomes easier to accumulate more and more. And then, some people think, okay, maybe I'll wait. But a lot of that time, our savings are outpaced by the the amount the homes are going up in value, that houses are increasing. So if you keep waiting, you might keep getting priced out, the market. So it's good if you can manage to find a way to just insert yourself somewhere. And that's a great starting point and then you can start building up wealth in the real estate space that way. 

I think you hit a lot of really important points, especially as young people that we feel there's this barrier, right? I mean, quite literally, there is a barrier. But I think what you pointed out specifically was you don't have to go for that million dollar home. Yes. You don't also want to live in the boonies. But finding that middle ground and that balance of what can I make work and how can I adjust my lifestyle to make these things work? And I know that's a theme we've actually we'll be exploring a bit more through the podcast of how can we set up financial goals and how can we plan for the future? Because I think the future is very daunting. But at the same time, we also live in a social media culture that's now know now. So with that being said, what do you think of you mentioned your savings and your portfolio, your investing portfolio. what are your thoughts on investing? Maybe you've got money back for that down payment into the stock market versus maybe a what? Like what would you say? I know this isn't an all silver bullet question or answer, but I think, you know, myself, for example, I'm kind of torn between that. I'm like, I'm living at home, I want to move out, but it seems unattainable. But I'm also doing very well in the stock market right now. So I guess what are your what are your thoughts on investing? 

So I would say that each person has their own risk tolerance. Each person has investments that work for them. So some people like to know that they have brick and mortar. That's the kind of traditional saying that they know they have a property somewhere. So they put their money and they say, okay, even if the value of my home goes down, I know that I still have a condo at Yonge + Eglinton and or a condo downtown. So it gives them some peace of mind. But if you're comfortable going into the market and you have a little bit of higher risk tolerance and you're okay with, you know, market fluctuations and and you feel more comfortable in that space, then for sure, it's a great way to also accumulate wealth. They're they're very different. I think people if you're worried about what to invest in, there's lots of financial advisors that you can ask to invest the money for you on your behalf. You can even just go into your branch and and just ask them, book an appointment, say, this is kind of my risk tolerance. And then they'll maybe they'll show you some portfolios or something that they think might be suitable for you. And then you can start building that way because if you're if you have money at the end of the day right now, if you just have a lot of money sitting in the bank and it's not earning any interest or a return, the inflation rate is really high. And just in general, inflation will erode your money. So if it's sitting there doing nothing, your money is actually being devalued. So it's really important to always think of, what can you do? If you're comfortable with GICs, something less risky, then put it into something less risky. But at least it's getting some return or a great way to start is ask your friends, what are your friends investing and how is their experience, there's a lot of people on social media that show a lot of ETFs that they're investing in, that you can, open an account yourself and do some direct investing or even you can start by making an account, use a very small amount that you're comfortable. If it goes up or down, you don't have to go all into anything all at once and just see what does that experience look like? What happens in the market? You can check what what it's valued at each day. So it's just to take away the idea that this is such a difficult thing and it's a very unattainable thing. If you change the mindset and you start learning more about it and learning what you're comfortable doing and testing, dip your toe a little bit and you can slowly accumulate more and more as you get more comfortable. Then it's a great way to get into the market because some people, young people could have a very low risk tolerance and that's okay. So it's just finding whatever investment is suitable for you in the stock market or in real estate. And I think it's good, they see a lot of the most successful people. They don't have all of their investments in one space. So you don't have to have everything in real estate. You don't have to have everything in the stock market. You can diversify. So you can use the stock market as a way to increase your savings enough. You're able to buy a home that you can live in instead of paying rent. And then once you have that home, then you can continue investing again and start to grow your savings again in the stock market. So you can use both of. The same time for different things. But you have to reflect on your own goals. What are what are your goals? Where do you see your future? Like, what are you comfortable with? And then you can decide, you know, what kind of channel you want to go into. 

Yeah. And I think you hit a lot of good points because I think this is a space I have been slowly starting to educate myself in. And for the listeners here are probably like, what the hell is a GIC? What's an ETF? And that that leads me to ask you like, why do you think financial literacy is important? Because I think there is this disconnect, like where like I was just saying earlier, we're not taught these things in school. So why is financial literacy important? And why do you think people may be shy away from having these conversations, whether it is with their friends or their colleagues? Like, why do you think there's that? It's like, I think you said it the stigma around talking about money I know it's something we're always kind of talk pulled it's a taboo topic you know don't bring it up at the table but I think it personally I think it hinders people's financial growth by not talking about these things, by not speaking with my friend about what they're making versus my skill sets in the market. So yeah. What do you think. A long, long roundabout me saying again, why is financial literacy important and why do you think we should be talking about it more as a society? 

So I think the first thing is to look at the middle class. The way that you're able to move up into different classes in society is by investing. the idea of just working the same job, your whole life saving money, that kind of notion is not as successful and does not work as effectively anymore. So young people increasingly are switching jobs to try and get the most pay. But on top of that, you need to have something that's building your wall. It's not you working and you putting in the hours because there's only so many hours that you work. But then you have to have that money growing as well, because when you have that and you're investing long term, then that's what will be able to allow you to get to more financial freedom later on, to be able to retire earlier, to be able to, experience the things you want to experience because you have that disposable income. And I think a lot of families, if your family was maybe there's just a stigma in general or maybe an immigrant family, your parents came from another country. And a lot of people would keep, cash under their bed. And they're scared of banks and they're scared of financial systems. And, oh, stock market is super risky. And don't put your money, you're going to lose everything. Of course, not every investment is 100% safe, but I think there's misconceptions about investing that are really prominent. And I think a lot of us have to unlearn some of these misconceptions that have been placed in our minds and then say, okay, yes, just because you invest your money, it doesn't mean that it's going to go down. But understanding how investment cycles work and that, sometimes that will be up, sometimes that will be down. Is this a reliable investment that I'm putting my money into? Because there are things that you could lose all your money and go to zero for sure. But, you know, if you educate yourself enough and you do more educated investments and you just do things the long term. the value of time, you know, we're younger. And with investing, just the compounding over time of you put $100 and your hundred dollars increases a little bit and then the next year the return is on the 100 plus the return you got the year before. And then it compounds and compounds over 20, 30, 40, 50 years. That alone, just having the money growing itself as a part of the return. So just being in the market is part of the return plus what you're contributing and then the actual return of whatever you're invested in. So I think that if people, you open your mind and you say, okay, maybe everything that I was taught is not the best way that I can, you know, use my money and plan for my future. And if you just make your mind more opening to just learning new things and questioning things and, learning, listening to podcasts, reading the news, you know, trying different things, we can put ourselves into a better financial place than maybe where your family was. You'll be able to push yourself into a higher class later on or just to amass more wealth. And that can lead to wealth that you can transfer to more generations after you as well. So it's like a rolling effect. If you become more financially literate and understanding how money works, then you can pass it on if you have a family and grow wealth that way. So I think it's rooted in a lot of. experiences that people have had in the past. But we have the opportunity to change that future for ourselves and to change it for the future generations that are going to come after us as well. 

Yeah, I really like that idea too, of like breaking the cycle because you did make a good point. Like my nonno, my grandpa used to put money, under his mattress because he didn't there was that skepticism of his background that with coming from a fascist country and all these pieces and I think to like you hit really good points there of long term investing and managing that expectation that it's not going to grow overnight. Because I think that's what frustrates me. Seeing investing tips on social media is if you're not making over a hundred K on your investments or day trading, these kind of, I think scary things where investing gets that bad rap. But if you put yourself in a very nice S&P 500 ETF and see, like you said, that grow, if you're putting in that $100, it's growing 10%. Now you have $110. And we're doing this now in our early age. But in 20, 30 years, that's going to be a good chunk of change that you didn't have to do. You just put your money in hands off. And we need to save for the future because, yes, we're working now and we're taking, our paycheck. We have our deductions on our cap. But that's not going to that's going to be drained. The fund will be drained by the time we are old. And I think it is important for people to utilize their RRSP their TFSA is and I again if these terms are foreign. Do your homework YouTube the school of YouTube is amazing or it comes down to also talking to you mentioned it a financial advisor your family you obviously I'll also give that PSA you got to take everything with a grain of salt and make an informed decision on yourself. I would never trust a financial advisor and give them all my money to to invest unless I understood the investments. What is a safe mutual fund? What are the expense fees with this? What is an ETF for those listening? It's like a basket of stocks, but I think that's something really important. And I also want to acknowledge, I know you said this is your first podcast, but you're making a name for yourself on social media by educating the public and your friends about money and real estate. What is that journey been like for you and why do you think that's important to also have that public platform? 

It's just exactly why you're even starting this podcast as well. I just think it's so important that wealth, knowledge is wealth. The more knowledge you have, it's powerful. So just so that people know everything that's available. If you didn't know that you could take money from your RRSP to to use towards your down payment, that might be putting you at a disadvantage because that's a tool that, you know, you'll get your tax deduction, you can grow it without paying any tax on it. And then, now because they extended the repayment period. These are little things that if everyone uses all the little tools that are available and they have access to it can make it easier to build the wealth. So even just your TFSA, there's no reason that you should just invest without putting it into your TFSA because your TFSA will let it grow tax free and then you can take it out later with whatever interest in return you got without paying any taxes. So, you know, it will never hurt to be more informed. And it's good to know because the more informed you are, then you can see more opportunities where you say, Oh, okay, then this sounds like it could, be suitable for me and make even more return on my money. you can kind of question you can get information like you were saying from an advisor or from your friends. But then, you use your thinking as well and what you've researched and you can listen to what someone says, get someone else's opinion, Google it, go on, TikTok, go on, on Instagram. There's tons of financial influencers now and I just want to make all the knowledge and and just take out that stigma with, real estate, with investing, with money, and have it available to everyone so that we can help everyone succeed as much as they can, because that's really all you want. if you're an advisor or I'm as a real estate agent, when you succeed, I succeed. So if you're able to save more, if you're able to, get your first home and then upgrade to another home and another home, obviously, like I'm getting paid my commission, but you're also building your wealth as well. So it ends up translating to everyone's benefit that we're all more informed, we're all, maxing out the resources that we have. We're all building wealth and doing the best based off of whatever situation that we're in. So that's why, on my social media, I try to make videos about, all these accounts that are available and different things that are happening in the market. And even some emails that I've got for some students like maybe you think, Oh, I am in science or I'm in another trade or another industry. I don't really know about business businesses that really make sense to me. I want it to be a more open, easier conversation. I don't want you to shy away from it people to think, Oh, because I just study something else. I can't really know business. Of course you can. Of course you can know about the markets. Of course you can be up to date with what's going on. It doesn't matter, what background you and what degree you got. You can be a specialist as well and be informed on those topics and that will help elevate your life and the decisions and the way that you plan for the future. 

Yeah, I think that's that makes me just really excited and happy to hear too. knowledge is power and it also helps make the economy go round as like capital is different sounds. But I think people, when they hear wealth, they get intimidated. But I think what you're doing on your platform is great. And even just taking the time to be on my podcast today is breaking down those barriers of understanding, even taking $50 from your paycheck and putting that in your automatically. You can set this all up with your bank automatically putting that into your TFSA, your TFSA, your RSP, and putting that in an automatic investment, you will have that long term growth. It's I think the challenge is people think you're have save, save, save, but you have to invest that money saving is the first step. And I think that is sometimes a challenge for our generation because we have so many luxuries like, our phone costs something. We have temptations like going for Starbucks. And I think there's a challenge when it comes to maybe saving. Don't get me wrong, life is very expensive right now. Groceries are skyrocketed. You know, there's price gouging going on. But we do live and I think in a very different environment that our parents and our grandparents where they didn't have to pay for their Internet or, the latest iPhone or their phone service. So it's a bit of a segue into me saying to you or asking what strategies or advice would you have to someone who's maybe trying to manage their debt and save? Because I think people. Feel overwhelmed. They don't know where to turn. we did mention a few. Like talk to people. That's a huge piece. But What advice would you have for anyone who's looking to start out saving? 

I know there was a video that was going around and someone just calculated if you spend $30 a day, that will come out to around $10,000 at the end of the year. Don't quote me, but something like that with the math and. It's really important to not when you start, you want to start saving and you have plans for the future. It's important not to cut on on things that you want to do as well, because, like you said, we all need to keep living. There's a lot of costs that, it costs a lot to live right now. So it doesn't mean that you're not allowed to go get your coffee or. I mean, does that mean that you're never allowed to go out again? This is what I would say if if someone wants to budget if you want to save, let's say, $10,000 by the end of the year, look at what you're spending money on and analyze what's important to you, what can be reduced, what can be switched to different things and and see what you'd have to do on a monthly basis to get to that goal. So if that means going out maybe less to restaurants and going out to parks or going on walks or trying different activities that don't cost as much with friends or maybe you don't go shopping as often, or maybe you start thrifting or you try different ways of saving money, but it's more you have to start at the end. How much do you want to save and work backwards and actually look at what you're spending on a month to month basis? Because I think it's so easy with our credit cards, debit cards tapping on our phone, you top, top, you know, money's disappearing. You don't even feel it leaving. We're just you pay off your credit card and you can just go to the next month. So just being more conscious, budgeting, you know, make an excel, make a document and and just say, okay, I want to spend this much per month on going out and I want to spend this much on this and and budget it that way and then maybe even tell somebody, hold yourself accountable and see, okay. This month I was 90% to my target or this month I was 100% at my target because it's easier to work towards something when you have an end goal in mind. Like let's say you wanted to own property one day and just thinking, okay, you know, I'm going to save here because I'm working towards this goal. If you don't have anything that you're working towards, then you say, okay, like it doesn't really matter if I spend it because there's nothing really that you're saving for anyway. So you kind of become more lenient with yourself. But if you say, No, I want to own a condo and live in this area and it's going to cost me this much and I need to have this much saved, then it's going to become a lot easier for you to actually start planning backwards to save that amount of money. And then when you save that money, maybe go invested as well so that it's not just the saving, but you save it. Plus the money is going to grow and then that combined you'll be able to reach your goal. 

Yeah. And you made a good point, Emelia. And the point that just visualize in my head when he said, tap, tap, tap. I'm thinking back when we were kids, when credit cards weren't really a thing, like you couldn't tap with your watch, but your parents maybe gave you like $50 and that's all you were allowed to spend. And you had your day at the mall with the girls. And you you literally were forced to budget because you wouldn't have any other money otherwise. You had to you want to buy your little shoes, you want to buy your little slushie and your lunch and like all these things. And and yeah, it's really interesting when we come to this just completely virtual space where like, I think Equifax recently came out with a report where people are struggling to service their debt. And I would be interested to see how much of that is because they just don't know how much they're spending. And you said really basic things like have an Excel spreadsheet, divide up what are your necessities and when I mean necessities as if you are paying rent. How much is your rent? What is your hydro and utilities and breaking that up? How much debt do I have to pay off, whether it's a car loan I took out or a line of credit or your student debt and just managing that because I know that's also helped empower me to understand where can I invest? Because I think it was just you're going through life. I just I've got money, I'm just going to spend it. But I'm coming to a bit of an age. I sound like I'm super old. I'm not. I'm 27. But it's just like like you said, you have these end goals you want to do. I want to own a house one day. I want to have a family one day and, you know, making my salary now, that's not enough. And I need to have that money growing and it's not going to grow sitting in a savings account where you get 0.001%. And I think it's really, really important. And I'm glad we're having these conversations and especially as women, I think and correct me if I'm wrong, I feel like it's a bit of a space unknown. And quite literally, I think it was last week. It's the 50 year anniversary of women being able to apply an owner credit card. So this is almost still a new space for women because it was always controlled by men. You always had to go through your father. If you want to buy things, land titles would, you know, skip over you or go to your husband. I'm going on a bit of a tangent here, but what I'm trying to say is I'm glad we're having these conversations and also talking about the importance of saving and how can what tools can we use, who can we be talking to? Because I think it's really, really important. And you brought you've been bringing up great points. And I'm wondering as well, like from your experience, what are some like other investing vehicles or outlets available to people? And how do you think someone could decide which one aligns best with their financial goals? 

in the space where I work in investments, not the real estate side, but just financial investments in general, it's a mainly predominant male space. Most of my coworkers are males, so for sure this is a space where even women in the corporate world, there's still that dominance of it being very a male dominated space. So women should ensure a way because we are, you know, as capable and you can learn whatever, you know, the men are learning, you can learn it as well. I hope women are not intimidated to go into that space because, I'm an example of a woman in this space. And I think anyone can do it, when you train and study and, set yourself up for that success. And, you know, just the cost of having a child even, it can cost around 300,000 or 250,000 for a child from, 0 to 18. So there's a lot of costs with if, you want to have a family and you want to, go through these different stages of life. So it's really important to up, set yourself up financially in a way that you can do, go through these different stages of life, in a more comfortable way if you invest and have more money to do those things. And I challenge the listeners and the viewers to go online. There's a lot of different sites where you can just search up an investment growth calculator. And it can literally you can put in an initial amount, you can say, I'm going to put in $1,000 and you say I'm going to contribute $100 per month. And then you can play with the time horizon. You can put ten years, 20 years, 30 years, and you can see how much that $100 per month than your initial investment of, let's say, $1,000 in 40 years, how much it will grow and play around with the different return rates so that. Okay, you say, first you thought, okay, I want to do something more conservative, but then you see the return and you play and you say, if I do something with a little bit more risk and obviously it's so calculated risk, 3% more, let's say 8% over 40 years is going to get me this much more money. And then so you can say, okay, maybe I'm comfortable, increasing a little bit more because this is the kind of impact that it's going to make. And there's even a lot of tests and things that you can do to say testing your own. What's my risk tolerance? So find a website. They'll ask you questions. how would you feel if this happened? How would you feel if this happened with your money? And at the end of it, it will recommend, what kind of investor you are. And then that way you can kind of learn more about how you, feel and view money and what kind of options you should look for. And investing is an experience that you're constantly going through and learning. So a lot of people because, in the past couple of years we had a very turbulent kind of market. So people thought that they were very risk tolerant. But then when they saw the huge dips in the market, even though they understood that there are dips, it really made you feel uncomfortable or really pushed your. Comfortability with the investment. So, just think of it as a dynamic, ongoing thing. It doesn't have to be you don't have to be in the exact same investment all the time, people in different stages of their life. If you're an accumulating stage or did accumulating when you're retiring, you choose different kinds of risks and like risk tolerances and things. So it's just honestly, I would say it's really important to just research, try to figure out, what are you comfortable with? Like what's an investment that you're okay with and just start put your money in something, start doing something. And then I think once you just take that first step, it will snowball into you doing more things. And, that way once you start, then you'll, you'll say, okay, you did the first step. You know, I managed to do this. I'm still alive. I didn't come buster anything. I'm still here. Okay, I'll do a little bit more. I'll try more. And then and just kind of like a set it and forget it. If you want to invest, you know, long term, put it in. Don't worry, every day if it goes up a little bit, go down a little bit you're going to go nuts. You're buying it and you're saying, this is for my retirement, this is for down the road. So you say, okay, you're in it for the long haul, and that way you don't get discouraged. If, you know, you see it go down, go up and just know. But you because, you've done the research and you have your long term mindset, that all of this will pay off over time. so that's the thing that you mentioned before, Julia. A lot of people in our generation, social media says, oh, make your million. I make $10,000 after I took this $5 course. And and now I'm a millionaire. And overnight, I just took two months to do this and I was able to amass all this wealth. Sure, it does happen to, a very small, maybe less than 1% or I don't know, you know, exactly what the percentage of the population is. But I think our parents and the older generations understand that working hard and being consistent over time is how you actually are successful with things, There's an old saying that good things don't come easy and it's true because anything that's really worthwhile usually takes a long time for you to grow and to nurture and to have the patience, to really see it grow, to get the benefits of it. And I think that applies to real estate, applies to investing, applies to a lot of different things. Saving, having that long term view, you know, putting aside that $200 for 40 years is going to make a huge difference. you go out and you spend a just one dinner, 30, 40, $50, but we don't think about that. But then if we want to put $100 aside every month, we're not prioritizing that. So it's it's just looking at little things in your life and just saying, okay, this setting this $100 or $200, I have to prioritize this because you understand how much of an impact that will make if you consistently, put that small amount aside and invested, but long term and if you have it invested, it will pay off long term. 

I think the biggest thing that what seems to be here, what it what I'm hearing from you is you have to change your mindset on money. And whether that's like, like you said, financial planning, prioritizing, it's easy for us to spend $100 out. When you go out. That's the minimum. Now I find to oh gosh I should save that $100 is is is a much different and I would say even difficult conversation with yourself and to that too like one of the best advices it was from my dad. But the best advice is about investing that he said to me, he said, Julia, you can have personal connection to your money. You have to respect your money. You work hard for it. But if you lose it, like if you're investing, you can't have that personal, oh my God, it's down 10%. Like, for example, I'm invested in Apple right now. It is down. But I know Apple is going to come back up. It's a staple in our economy. There's there's no where you turn that you don't see someone carrying some sort of Apple device. So it's like you have to like you set risk tolerance. What is my risk tolerance? You have to respect the money. You work hard for it, but if you lose it, you have to also be okay with that. And I think that's where people struggle with investing. And it's no fault to your own. You did your informed decision. I would say, you know, don't listen to anyone trying to sell you a course to make millions overnight because that's not realistic. But I think having those informed decisions and looking at money through a different perspective, that you might lose it, but you might also gain it, right? The amount of times I've heard people, oh shit, I wish I would have invested more in X, Y and z stock. But like you said, changing your perception, educating yourself, being empowered with this information and sitting back and understanding what do I actually want and getting out that noise chatter of I need a Lamborghini, I need the big million dollar house. Well, no, you can start off with like a studio apartment and then build up from there. And I think that's just having those honest conversations with your self and also surrounding yourself with smart people. I think there was a stat recently that came out where it's like if you have a lawyer, a banker and like a doctor in your friend group, you are almost guaranteed success in some capacity in your life. And I thought that was just really interesting. And, like I even just look at us chatting. We're, we met through a friend of a friend but you're here talking about it because I know this is something you're very passionate about and again, very appreciative you're here. But it just goes to show knowledge is power, talking to people and opening up. And I think that's where a lot of people get bogged down sometimes is they don't open up, they don't talk. And I guess also just rambling on here like you're doing well for yourself, Emelia, you've gone through school. I believe you own your own place, too?

 I do. Yeah. So I own a condo in North York, and I'm also invested in a pre-construction project in Vaughan that should be built this year. So I was able to purchase the pre-construction with the family member. We did 50/50, but then I was able to purchase the condo completely by myself. 

So yeah, I think it's being savvy that way. Like, can I pull investors? And it's not like, working with your family if you're in that fortunate position to be like, can you give me this like loan kind of or gifting that loan? Like there's so many little loopholes here and there. But I think it's it's really important. And you're young and you've you've been able to do that. So it's not like it's impossible. And I think that's that barrier people are struggling with. I know I struggled with it for a while until I started educating myself. I made a career change and started expanding in these spaces. And I guess, as we're wrapping up a little bit here, like what other advice would you say for people who are trying to financial plan and goal set? Like what made your success happen is maybe a better way, I should ask you. 

So I'm fortunate because my aunt is in the real estate business and that's how I got into it. And from very early on she ingrained in my mind, you're going to own properties, you're going to have lots of investments and you can do it. It's very attainable. So it was something that I always had in the back of my mind and I work towards from very young. So right when I started working, I started saving. I started working when I was 16 and the kitchen and I was doing a lot of different jobs and with every single job I was saving a lot of money. And what I encourage, you know, the people around me to do is I try to ask my friends, how much do you have saved? What are your goals? What are you invested in? I know a lot of people have investments with just an advisor and they don't even know, what they're invested in, what kind of return they're getting. I ask my friends, how much are you making? Like, how much do you take home? What are you how are you using that money? what do you want in the future? I've seen lots of people getting wealthy, investing in the stock market, lots of people getting rich, investing in real estate. I'm encouraging people to just be more open about what you're making, what kind of the goals you have, be more involved in your own future, ask more questions, get more involved, and and sharing stories. I know a lot of my friends, when I shared how I was able to purchase my condo with them, they said, Oh, wow, wait, I have a similar amount saved. And this seems like something that could be attainable for me, too. And I actually didn't realize, obviously, depending on kind of financial situation you're in, but they said that's not that unrealistic. This is actually something that's pretty attainable that I can work towards. And I think, then just hearing my story sparked something in their mind because I was fortunate enough to have someone put that seed in my mind. So I just try to I would just say keep having open conversations and talking to more people. And just about what you were saying when you surround yourself with a lot of really successful people that are going after the big hotshot jobs and the jobs and make a lot of money, and they're investing a lot and they're buying a lot of real estate. And you hear how people get to those points. Then I can give you a roadmap of, okay, if they were able to do it that way, I'm in a similar situation or I can see myself following a path like that and then I can get to that end goal as well. we're all on the same team here. It's like when you empower others, you're empowering yourself. They say, when people are super successful, you're never doing it alone. You're always with other people. So, that's that's kind of what my takeaway would be is just really take control of your life, take control of what you make. It doesn't matter what situation you're in, you can start investing with any amount of money you can, eventually possibly have a goal of home ownership all these things, if you make the right plan and you have the right support system and and you take the right steps, you can get towards those goals. And then once you hit one, then you set the next one and you keep going and all of your work will accumulate over time and allow you to hopefully everyone can become more financially literate, more financially free and and be able to enjoy, like, all the savings and work that they've done and homes that they live in or however you want to spend it and you're able to, just enjoy the hard work and savings and investing and the steps that you've taken. 

So yeah, and, another thing that comes to mind, all great points, but like diversifying too. And I like I know this conversation we started off with real estate, moved into stocks and again all those fancy words, GIC's and whatnot, but diversifying your assets and I think that comes along with that experience and building up with, I accomplished one goal yes checkmark but now what's the bigger goal and there's so many great resources out there. I forgot to mention this earlier when you brought it up. But like for example, RBC has a once you open investing account with them, they actually have like a practice account you can use through hundred K and you can just play around with what the stock market would be and there's no risk to you. So I think it's like you got to put yourself out there. And I think that's one thing that I keep hearing you say in so many words is put yourself out there, educate yourself diversify. It's the only way I think anyone can get ahead. And sometimes it frustrates you when people complain and it's like, well, more or less we come with a lot of similar opportunities. It's who's going to run with it, who's going to educate themself, who's going to hustle, who's going to be ambitious. And I think that's where it comes to, again, having those honest conversations with yourself about where do I want to be? What do we want to do? If I want to stay at the same job, that's great. That's that's your path for me. I could never. But that's just the type of personality I am. And again, like a really appreciate you taking the time and sharing all your advice. Is there any closing thoughts you wanted to share with viewers? And maybe if you want to plug yourself where you where they can find you, if they want to follow you on social media. 

Yeah. So I'm on Instagram is my main social media platform. @emeliatherealtor, and I specialize in pre-construction resale, buying, selling, renting. So anything that you needed help with, I can assist with all kinds of residential real estate So you can follow me on those platforms. And if you are thinking, you're a young person, you wanted to get into the real estate market, you can do me send me an email. all my contact information is on my social media and I'd be happy to chat and just talk about different ways that you can get yourself and stick your foot into that real estate market. So it's yeah, it's just @emeliatherealtor. You want to pick my brain about anything? We can talk about where the economy's going, when's a good time to buy, sell, rent? So I'm happy to have those conversations again. Exactly. Um, the theme of this podcast is to just keep having these open conversations and dialog about investing in real estate and just finance and money in general. So well, very well said, Emelia, and I appreciate your time and I definitely hope my viewers and listeners take you up on that. No excuses. You have a resource now, but this was an awesome talk, again, wrapping up here with Emelia Dandan as we talk about unlocking wealth and money and that's everything, I hope you guys tune in next week for my next special guest, but that's everything for tonight. Thank you so much. Thanks, Julia. That was great.