Morning, money nerds!
Got a cool story for you…
One day a friend of ours, Kevin, was having a really bad day at work. He was a lawyer at the time and sadly didn’t enjoy his profession very much.
So that day, Kevin opened up his calendar and set an appointment exactly 1 year into the future. He labelled it: “Quit Job By Today”.
Just typing those words out must have sparked some crazy motivation… because he spent the next 365 days building up his side business and finding freelance gigs, enough to provide a steady stream of income. And by the time that quit job calendar appointment popped up, he handed in his resignation and never looked back.
Pretty cool, hey? Goal setting at it’s finest!
We’re not saying everyone should quit their jobs… Just sharing this story as a cool reminder that: simply writing your goals down (and setting a due date!) can make them real-er, and it kick starts motivation to move things from “ideas” —> “reality”.
Something to think about this week… What are your lofty goals? How are you committing yourself to them?
Ps. Kevin also has a finance blog where he shares more of his hustling journey — you can check out his stuff here!
TO DO
(Re)connect with 2-3 old contacts 📲
I was going to make this week’s action “update your resume“, but then I got to thinking… There’s a TON of potential value in simply reaching out to old contacts and just seeing what they’re up to. Only takes a few minutes, and it’s not just for people job seeking.
Jordan Harbinger calls it “digging the well before you’re thirsty”… Sometimes just a quick email or text checking in w/ others in the industry (without asking for something) can lead to really cool stuff. New opportunities, fun projects, interesting connections, or just a happy catch up.
At minimum it keeps you front of mind and shows you’re proactive.
There’s gold in your network — dig a little! 💪
WORK
Productivity hacks we use…
We’re always trying to improve our efficiency here at HTM… Because the more productive we can be, the more stuff we can accomplish, and the more it helps our bottom line!
It also helps our work/life balance… Kicking butt at work allows us to completely shut down and be fully engaged for family and play time.
Here are a few things we’ve implemented at the office that are working well for us (and might work well for you too 🤷♂️)…
1) Set specific times to check email. Most people think that they need to be constantly attached to their inbox, but the reality is that most folks can easily get away w/ checking email once in the morning and once towards the end of the work day. Constantly checking *mostly non-urgent* emails ALL DAY breaks focus from other meaningful endeavors. (Gotta admit, this is a really hard habit to form. But, even if you limit to checking your inbox just once per hour – 8 times a day – you’ll see huge benefits with focus in other areas)
2) Create a “hook” to finish and shut down work. We learned this from Cal Newport — His hook is saying “schedule shutdown complete.” He literally says it out loud. That’s more of a computer-nerd way of doing it… But we actually have a glowing neon dollar sign that automatically turns off at 4:30pm which is a Pavlovian reminder for us to shut everything down. It helps us mentally unplug from work. (and a nice bike ride home afterwards creates a delightful buffer between work and going full-on into our family evening routing). Here’s a pic of our sign 👇
3) Zone out with background noise. Matt listens to Irish Coast on mynoise.net for a lot of the day. It tunes out distractions and allows him to stay focused on the task at hand. It’s also called the “Mozart Effect”… listening to classical (or instrumental) music can help with focus.
4) We set firm, recurring meeting times. This ensures that our schedule stays mostly consistent and that we have to spend less time scheduling things that are going to happen every week or day like clockwork.
5) Keep our work area tidy, and get indoor plants! There’s some science around plants in the office linking to more productivity (and less stress). We recently got a money tree for our new office and love it! Also decluttering in general reduces distractions and helps us think clearer.
6) Eat well, hydrate, and get plenty of sleep. This may sound like a no-brainer, but it’s surprising how many people neglect their body/mind and then expect to perform at 100% all day. We try to pay attention to our body and how we feel, because if we haven’t gotten enough sleep or aren’t at our healthiest, productivity is one of the first things to slip.
Yes, there are hundreds of other hacks out there… But for now we just wanted to share a handful that we find most helpful. (And we’d love to hear yours too if you’ve got any secrets!)
A few more resources:
- 🎵 Playlists: 7 Best Playlists for Productivity
- 🎙 Podcast Episode #569: Achieving Balance in a World of Work Domination (63 mins)
- 📚 Book Recs: Atomic Habits, ReWork, Eat that Frog — All contain great productivity hacks and ways to rethink how you spend your time 😉
INVESTING
The advantage of starting early…
Most people think time and money are interchangeable… The more you have of one, the less you need of the other.
But the truth is, time is way more valuable than money when it comes to growing wealth.
Here’s a large, round number — $2M — that we’ll use as an example… The below chart shows how much you would need to set aside every money (assuming a growth rate of 8%) to reach $2M starting at a particular age 👇👇👇
As you can see, the younger you start investing, the less you need to save because you have a bigger time advantage.
But with less time to invest, you don’t just need more savings… you need exponentially more! The difference between a 20 year old saving $432 per month and a 40 year old saving $2,280 is 5X the amount to reach the same goal.
**Of course this is just an example illustration showing the power of starting early. In reality, growing wealth rarely happens on a fixed schedule and this $2M goal was just made up. Everybody shoots for a different amount.**
Related thoughts:
- 401(k) matching makes a huge difference for young folks. If you’re 25 and your employer chips in a few hundred dollars per month, that’s like half the work being done for you. Later in life the same match amount has less of an impact. (Although it’s always worth getting a match — free money!!)
- Just for fun, here are the numbers if we used $1 million as the goal by age 65… (cut everything in half)
- Age 20: $216 per month
- Age 25: $322 per month
- Age 30: $484 per month
- Age 35: $736 per month
- Age 40: $1,140 per month
- Age 45: $1,822 per month
- Age 50: $3,070 per month
Related resources:
- 🔢 Networthify: A great calculator to determine your goal timeline based on your personal savings numbers.
- 🎙 Podcast Ep #425: Ownership is THE Key to Wealth Building (46 mins)
- 💻 Latestarter Blog: For older folks just beginning to invest, you are not alone!! Here’s a blogger that interviews other “laterstarters” and shares strategies and strengths for people with less time.
ICYMI
The latest news circles…
Flat beer 😭
A huge carbon dioxide shortage is now threatening beer production across the USA! Small breweries may have to shut down production (or pay 3-4x the usual cost for CO2)… Sadly, this also means craft beer costs will likely rise soon. 😭
Repair or replace? 🤷♀️
Consumer Reports just released a series of Repair or Replace Calculators for common household appliances! Just input your costs and how long you’ve had the appliance and it’ll compare your options to show which is cheaper.
Texas Checks 💵
We’ve talked about unclaimed property aka “missing money” in the past… Well, the state of Texas is holding so much unclaimed money it’s now proactively returning missing money (without people having to even file a claim). Great for some peeps in Texas! For everyone else, keep searching the missing money site!
Swipe right 📲
Described as a “dating app for real estate dealmakers”, a new app is about to launch from Private Money Club which will allow everyday investors to access large private real estate deals by simply browsing and clicking a few buttons. What could go wrong? 😓… This seems like a good time to remind everyone: PLEASE only invest in stuff you understand!!
Fed Rates 📈
The Fed met last week and raised interest rates another .75%. By raising the cost of borrowing, people (and businesses) are less likely to take out loans to purchase stuff like cars and houses — resulting in demand dropping and inflation cooling down. The downside of all this is anyone with a variable rate loan (credit card debt, many car loans, lines of credit) will see an immediate rate increase and higher payments. Prioritize paying your debt, folks!!!
Just for fun 😉
All you parents out there will get a kick out of these funny carpool drop off signs an Ohio elementary school created to make pick-up and drop offs more fun.
COMMUNITY
BEST & WORST Money Advice
Cheers to our buddy Jason Brown for making this video at FinCon a couple weeks back!
Jason walked around the conference asking all the money experts “What is your best and worst financial advice for people”… Great answers from some great content creators!
That’s it for now! Wishing you a great week ahead, full of unicorns and rainbows.
Best friends out 🍻
*****
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