8 Money Lessons

Today's Newsletter:

• My Latest

• The Theme Park

• 8 Money Lessons

• A Money Question

My Latest

One of my favorite accounts is one most either:

Don’t contribute to or have never heard about it.

Yet it is incredibly powerful coming with a triple tax benefit:

• Tax Deduction on Contributions

• Tax Free Growth on Investments

• Tax Free Distributions (for qualified expenses)

My latest dives into everything you need to know about Health Savings Accounts (HSA): 

• What is it?

• How do I contribute?

• What are the contribution limits?

You can check it out here ⬇️⬇️⬇️

The Theme Park

We recently took my kids to Silver Dollar City.

For those that arn’t familiar with it here is my best description.

A cross between six flags (rides), Disney (themed) all supercharged by a midwest vibe.

It was a ton of fun but one thing I noticed as my son and I went from ride to ride ~ constant distractions. 

We had our plan mapped out to hit the key rides yet at each turn ~ a show, pop up venue, or some “world famous” food distracted us.

It got me thinking, the planning was the easy part but avoiding the distractions was the hard part.

Heck, it reminded me of conversations I have with clients about building wealth.

So in today’s episode I am going to share 8 hard earned lessons about navigating the “theme park” that is building wealth.

Let’s dive in…

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8 Money Lessons

1. Risk is Relative

Determining your risk appetite is the number one factor any investor should understand.

Total risk is a combination of your ability to take risk + your need to take risk.

Yet both of those factors are relative or said another way hyper specific to you.

A business owner taking out a personal guarantee might not feel it is risky if the business is cash flowing well. Yet a retiree living off their portfolio might feel putting any money in stocks is to great of a risk.  

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2. Stay in the Game

The financial media has trained us to focus on our yearly rate of return.

Heck they want us to think about our returns on a daily basis ~ greed on the best of day and fear on the worst of days.

Instead I want you to think about your years of return.

The most important factor in building wealth is how long you stay in the game.

• Years of investment returns

• Years of continued savings

• Years of increasing income

That is what builds wealth.

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3. Volatility is the Price of Admission

“Markets in turmoil” might be my favorite headline news station plaster whenever the market has a correction.

While it is meant to grab your eyeballs and make you panic (so you tune into their advice) ~ it should make you smile.

Remember when it comes to investing we are trying to get a rate of return.

The price of admission for that rate of return is volatility ~ embrace it.

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4. No Perfect Investment Portfolio

Let me tell you a secret ~ there is formula, analysis, or framework that gets you to the perfect investment (or portfolio).

The best (not perfect) investment is simply the one you are able to stick with longer than anyone else.

You know those fancy charts that show you 3,5,10 year returns of investments?

Well they rarely matter because most investors don’t hold their investments long enough to realize them.

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5. Fixed Costs Can Kill You

You need to know the cost to be you.

Yet even more important you need to understand your fixed costs and your variable costs.

• The house you own = fixed costs.

• The vacations you go on = variable costs.

One can be modified at a moments notice.

One you are stuck with for the foreseeable future.

To build wealth you need to be wary of adding fixed costs.

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6. Stuff Alone is Meaningless

Some of my greatest memories have come from spending money.

Yet study after study shows that money doesn’t bring happiness…what gives?

Well stuff alone does nothing outside of make life a bit more comfortable.

Yet what supercharges your benefit is when you multiply people x things.

• A 5,000 square foot house with no family is lonely.

• A 5,000 square foot house with loved ones is magic.

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• A fancy car with no community is a 30 second thrill ride.

• A fancy car with a community of car affienanadoes is a weekend ritual.

The next time you consider making that big purchase, ask yourself who would you be creating memories with?

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7. Emotions Rule Decision Making

Investing is easy.

Execution is hard.

The simple reason…money is emotional.

Emotions rule nearly every decision we make ~ now multiply that times 100 when it comes to money.

To build wealth you have to find a way to detach from your emotions.

Three ways I do this:

• Take time before action (a lot of time)

• Hire professional help (that is unemotional)

• Assess after the decision point (to always improve my process)
  
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8. Planning is Fun ~Execution is Boring

I love planning.

We get to talk about dreams, goals, and all these things out in the distant future.

Then we get to the execution…

Execution is that winding trail through the theme park.

To win all you have to do is stay on the path, make it to the end of the park, and not get sucked in by one of the attractions.

Yet each attraction is more and more appealing.

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As I read back through these lessons one thing comes to mind.

Beauty in simplicity.

If you focus on simplicity with your financial planning and only add complexity when absolutely needed ~ your chances of winning the money game go up.

Now just to be clear your chances of having something fun to share about your investment portfolio at the next fire pit conversation go down.

You just need to ask yourself what is more important to you:

A plan that works.

or

A story that provides a thrill.

Until next time, my friends!

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A Money Question

What is one thing you have spent money on that has given you the greatest return (non financial)?

Here is mine:

Going on vacations with my families. It creates memories and stories that we will cherish for years to come.

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3 Ways I Can Help You

💰 Schedule an introductory call with Moment. We help athletes, entrepreneurs, and key employees build and protect wealth.

📹 Check out my YouTube channel. A safe place to get smarter with your money.

📷 Interact with me on Instagram. Where I provide bite-sized daily content to level up your money game.

Moment Private Wealth, LLC is a Registered Investment Advisor, located in the State of Missouri. Moment Private Wealth provides investment advisory and related services for clients nationally. Moment Private Wealth will maintain all applicable registrations and licenses as required by the various states in which Moment Private Wealth conducts business, as applicable. Moment Private Wealth renders individualized responses to persons in a particular state only after complying with all regulatory requirements, or under an applicable state exemption or exclusion. Nothing in this content is intended to be, and you should not consider anything in this content to be, investment, accounting, tax, or legal advice.