Adulting Is Easy: Making Personal Finance & Real Estate Easy Lauren K Aumond

They kick off by defining what net worth is and talk about why it matters. But they’re sure to point out that net worth isn’t self-worth. It’s just a part of your wealth. Since net worth is the value of your assets, less the value of your debts, they discuss some examples of assets and debts. They all agree that your primary home is an asset. Understanding and tracking your net worth helps you make financial decisions. Adam and Emily track their net worth and income statement monthly, and Lauren wonders if that’s cumbersome. They outline how often they update their real estate numbers. They use software to help track. They started 11 years ago, when they had just started dating. Lauren asks what couples should do when one member isn’t as into personal finance as the other. They say you should try to take an interest in what your partner is up to, even personal finance! And the financially minded one should make an effort to bring them in. Think of it as a monthly money date. Emily points out that if something happens to the person who solely understands finances, that will put the remaining person in a tough spot. They also discuss cash flow versus net worth. Cash flow matters! Don’t have dead money sitting around doing nothing. In many cases, it makes sense to grow your net worth early in life then transition to focusing on cash flow. Lauren points out that even if this stuff sounds overwhelming, you should start slowly and build up momentum from there. You don’t want to look back 10 years from now and wish you started today. Adam closes out the conversation by reminding us that even though net worth is very important, it’s not the only important part of your overall life. It’s just a part of it.

Book:

Buy This, Not That by Sam Dogen

If you liked this episode, you’ll also like episode 173: Passive Income with Andrew from The Personal Finance Podcast, 167: Using Assets to Retire Early. And many, many others.



About A&E:


Adam Roberts and Emily Cortright, both engineers by profession, transitioned from their corporate careers to real estate in 2013, initially focusing on single-family properties. They have since diversified their portfolio through multi-family syndications and by venturing into mortgage notes.

They aim to inspire a wealth-building mindset through their roles as mentors and educators. Adam serves as a coach for a prominent multifamily education program, while Emily educates on wealth-building strategies at Keller Williams offices nationwide. They live in Fort Worth, TX, and they balance their professional pursuits with travel, healthy lifestyle, live music, and family time with their 3-year-old daughter.



Connect with A&E:

https://www.instagram.com/ae_investments

https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-roberts-23918aa/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/emilycortright/

https://www.aeinvest.net/



Connect with Lauren:

https://twitter.com/AdultingIsEasy

https://www.instagram.com/@adultingiseasyreal

https://www.housemoneymedia.com/

Before we talk about selling stock to buy a house, we must understand what a stock is, and how you can buy and own them, so that’s where Lauren and Landon start. They also go over what a brokerage account is, versus your retirement accounts. Sometimes, even for long term investors, short-term needs and wants start to outweigh long-term needs and wants. For example, it may become more important to you to buy a home than hold your stocks. Also, interest rates mean that putting more down pay be a good way to go to keep your payment down. So, Lauren wonders what the interest rate is that make it make more sense to put more into your home than have it invested in the stock market. It truly depends. Don’t forget, there is a possibility you can refinance later. And by the way, Landon believes in 30-year fixed mortgages. If you sell stocks, you pay taxes. What are the implications? Landon says that you decide what you want to do, then taxes can tell you how to do it. You shouldn’t make decisions based on taxes. Note that there is no withholding on stock sales. Lauren then asks about using retirement stocks to buy a house, like 401k loans. They briefly talk about taking $10k out with no penalty, but nowadays that just doesn’t help much. Finally, Landon agrees with Lauren that your primary home is an asset.

If you liked this episode, you’ll also like episode 90: Stock Market History with Brian Feroldi or 115: Dividends with Dividend Dream.

About Landon:
Landon Loveall is a certified financial planner and dedicated advocate for tech professionals to increase their wealth through financial, tax and stock option planning. He is a partner of KB Financial Advisors which has been specializing in maximizing stock options for tech employees since 2014.

Connect with Landon:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/landonloveall/
https://kbfinancialadvisors.com/

Connect with Lauren:
https://twitter.com/AdultingIsEasy
https://www.instagram.com/@adultingiseasyreal
https://www.housemoneymedia.com/

Lauren and Rocky open up the conversation talking about what success means in business. Most business comes down to math, and simple math at that. If you sit down before starting a business and do the math, you should have an idea about whether the business can be successful. The conversation takes a turn towards cash washes, which Lauren welcomes. Is this really becoming as oversaturated as it seems? Lauren then asks Rocky to demystify and differentiate “money” in business: revenue, profit, cash. A huge key to understand here is that you can have a profitable business that runs out of cash. This occurs when you try to grow too fast. Not enough business owners understand this! Rocky also points out that you should be aware of some initial success, and that it won’t necessarily continue. He also recommends using conservative numbers when “underwriting” your business plan. Lauren then asks Rocky about buying a business. Is that easier than creating one? You should take into account how much involvement the owner has, the client number and mix, and more. This is when rocky explains the Profit First system, which is very like paying yourself first in the personal finance realm. Speaking of personal finance, Rocky touches on the importance of separating personal and business finances. Rocky closes with reminding people to do the math before they start (or buy) the business they’re considering. He warns us about going into franchises. It should make business sense, not passion sense.

If you liked this episode, you’ll also like episode 67: Starting Your Own Business or 140: Online Businesses.

About Rocky:
Rocky Lalvani is the Chief Profitability Adviser for business owners. He teaches them how to ensure they get paid and make profit a priority! As a certified Profit First Professional, he implements Mike Michalowicz's Profit First System. Rocky started with nothing when his parents immigrated to the United States when he was two years old, and his parents were in their 40's. It was his parents' second time starting over in life as they moved here to experience the American dream. Despite a lot of struggles and his mom passing away when Rocky was 7, he has achieved financial and life success. Rocky loves to share his journey and inspire others to achieve their dreams even faster.

Connect with Rocky:
http://richersoul.com/
https://profitcomesfirst.com/
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/rocky-lalvani/
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/richersoul
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/richer.soul/
Twitter - https://twitter.com/rockylalvani

Connect with Lauren:
https://twitter.com/AdultingIsEasy
https://www.instagram.com/@adultingiseasyreal
https://www.housemoneymedia.com/

First, Lauren needs to know why people call him Rock/Rawk. Then, she asks about the “accidental landlord” thing. It turns out, what happened to Rawk and his wife is a tale as old as time: they bought a house thinking they’d stay a while, but then a job offer took them elsewhere. Lauren and Rawk dive into the numbers of that “deal”: purchase price, interest rate, and rent. Then, the conversation transitions to overall personal finance, like saving vs investing and budgeting. Interestingly, Rawk and his wife are long-distance landlords, but they rent in Atlanta! How did Rawk get into investing? One of his professors at UCF told him about Roth IRAs, and that’s how it started. Later, someone came in and spoke at his job about personal finance basics, like compound interest. It sounds like Rawk and his wife are aligned, which we know is very important. Currently, they are investing in index funds, hoping to have enough to live off of in their late 40s or early 50s. At that point, they will have flexibility to go part time or start a business. They’re very into traveling right now too. This leads to discussion about what it’s worth spending money on. Obviously, the answers are travel, good sauce, and movers. For Lauren, it’s wine. Lauren asks another difficult question: rent vs buy. And then she asks about Hondas vs Toyotas. They’re both Honda fans. Lastly, she asks about Rawk’s parents and what they taught him about money, and whether kids are on the horizon.

If you liked this episode, you’ll also like 168: Keep Finance Personal or 156: Financial Independence Doesn’t Have to Be Extreme.

About Rawk:

Rawk is a project manager with a passion for personal finance. A Florida native now based in the Atlanta area, he is a self-proclaimed finance junkie. Rawk has been investing since 2018 and he became an accidental landlord since 2023 with 1 rental. For fun, Rawk is an avid hiker in his spare time.

Connect with Rawk:
https://twitter.com/Rawk_FI
https://www.threads.net/@rawk_finance

Connect with Lauren:
⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/AdultingIsEasy⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/adultingiseasyreal/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.housemoneymedia.com/

Lauren needed a vacation, so we're replaying one of her favorite episodes in which she and her friend Kurtis absolutely destroy the beloved self help book Think and Grow Rich. Note that the sound wasn't as good back then, but it's still very easy to listen to. The original episode was posted October 12, 2021.



The book Think and Grow Rich was written by Napoleon Hill and published in 1937. It is a famous personal finance book recommended by many. On this episode of Adulting Is Easy, Lauren and Kurtis discuss what they liked and what they didn't like about this book - mostly what they didn't like. Let's just say, neither would recommend this book, and you certainly don't have to read it to enjoy listening to this one. As a matter of fact, you should never read it. Lauren gets HEATED at one point.

Kurtis Hanni is an Accountant who has a love of all things personal finance. After teaching Dave Ramsey classes, he thought 'there has to be a better way" and thus started the journey of creating his own finance content. Today Kurtis has a podcast Delve into Money and shares additional insights on Twitter daily.



Books You Should Read Instead:

Lauren: Your Money or Your Life by Vicki Robin, The Simple Path to Wealth by JL Collins, Set for Life by Scott Trench

Kurtis: 7 and a Half Lessons About the Brain by Lisa Feldman Barrett, Essentialism by Greg McKeown, Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel, I Will Teach You to Be Rich by Ramit Sethi



Connect with Kurtis: 

https://www.kurtishanni.com/

https://twitter.com/KurtisHanni



Connect with Lauren:

⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/AdultingIsEasy⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/adultingiseasyreal/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.housemoneymedia.com/

You can’t talk about Bitcoin without starting with defining cryptocurrency. When you think about it, even the US dollar is somewhat digital. What makes cryptocurrency different is that it’s decentralized. Bitcoin started as a cryptocurrency, but it’s morphed over time to a store of value and hedge against inflation. Andy emphasizes that Bitcoin is very much in its infancy. He goes on to explain mining, the global ledger, blockchain, and how it all fits together. Andy explains how Bitcoin is inflating, and how the supply of Bitcoin is pre-programmed. Lauren wonders who created this interesting new space? Andy explains that no one exactly knows who Satoshi Nakamoto is/was. This person’s or group’s Bitcoin has not been touched, which has 1 million Bitcoin in it (worth billions of dollars). Lauren also asks about who mines Bitcoin currently and who will be doing it in the future. Recently, Bitcoin went through one of its “halving” instances, which decreased profitability in the short-term. Andy himself has 25 machines mining Bitcoin. Lauren asks about other cryptocurrencies, of which there are over ten thousand. In short, most are scams. Lauren asks Andy to discuss his portfolio. About 40% of his crypto portfolio is Bitcoin. And about 60-70% of his overall portfolio is crypto. Again, Andy emphasizes how young the cryptocurrency space is. Lauren also has to ask why crypto enthusiasts keep telling her to have fun staying poor, and Andy has a great answer for that. Andy is a believer in Bitcoin as an inflation hedge. Then, the conversation transitions to the future of Bitcoin. He’s obviously very optimistic about the future, but we need to remember that this is still a bit of an experiment. Lauren is also curious about custody of Bitcoin, which is a great feature for those in other countries because you can access your money with your password and the government can’t take it from you. But you don’t have to go that route. Then, the two transition to discussing Bitcoin ETFs. These transactions are not recorded in the blockchain. Surprisingly (or maybe not?), Andy holds some Bitcoin ETFs in a Roth IRA. Finally, he encourages you to keep learning if you interest is piqued at all.

If you liked this episode, you’ll also like episode 62, the first time Lauren interviewed Andy.



About Andy:

Andy has been in crypto for 7+ years, is a Bitcoin miner, a content creator on YouTube and Twitter, and a passive income enthusiast.



Connect with Andy:

https://youtube.com/c/YourFriendAndy

https://youtube.com/@andyandfriends

https://passivebites.beehiiv.com/subscribe



Connect with Lauren:

https://twitter.com/AdultingIsEasy

https://www.instagram.com/@adultingiseasyreal

https://www.housemoneymedia.com/