Steven

And I think a lot of times when people argue about money, And they're like, oh, you're investing wrong. Or you're spending. You're not spending enough. You're spending too much. It's not actually people disagreeing with each other. It's people who came from very different backgrounds talking over each other. And they just have different aspirations for what you want to do.

And I think a lot of times when people argue about money, And they're like, oh, you're investing wrong. Or you're spending. You're not spending enough. You're spending too much. It's not actually people disagreeing with each other. It's people who came from very different backgrounds talking over each other. And they just have different aspirations for what you want to do.

Everyone is so different and they're a prisoner of their past. My brother-in-law is a social worker. I may have brought this up when the first time I was on your podcast, but I think about it all the time. And in social work, when you're working with very disadvantaged kids, a lot of those kids who are homeless and foster children behave very poorly at school. They do very poorly.

Everyone is so different and they're a prisoner of their past. My brother-in-law is a social worker. I may have brought this up when the first time I was on your podcast, but I think about it all the time. And in social work, when you're working with very disadvantaged kids, a lot of those kids who are homeless and foster children behave very poorly at school. They do very poorly.

Their grades are terrible in school. They're always getting in fights. And he said, as a social worker, he said, we have a saying in social work. It is all behavior makes sense with enough information. Mm-hmm. So you look at this child who is getting into fights on the playground and failing all of his classes. And it's easy for the teacher to be like, what's your problem? This is not that hard.

Their grades are terrible in school. They're always getting in fights. And he said, as a social worker, he said, we have a saying in social work. It is all behavior makes sense with enough information. Mm-hmm. So you look at this child who is getting into fights on the playground and failing all of his classes. And it's easy for the teacher to be like, what's your problem? This is not that hard.

Just behave. Just stop doing this. And then you look at what that kid's going through at home. Maybe their parents are beating them. Maybe they're foster children, they're orphans. Once you piece together what's going on in their life, you're like, I kind of understand. All behavior makes sense with enough information. And I think you can apply that to a lot of areas in life, money especially.

Just behave. Just stop doing this. And then you look at what that kid's going through at home. Maybe their parents are beating them. Maybe they're foster children, they're orphans. Once you piece together what's going on in their life, you're like, I kind of understand. All behavior makes sense with enough information. And I think you can apply that to a lot of areas in life, money especially.

Yeah. Where you're like, you see someone driving a yellow Lamborghini, there's a story there about someone's past. I'm not judging it, but there's a story in there of someone being like, I want people to know how much money I made. And it's not a criticism, but there's a story. There's something that happened in your life

Yeah. Where you're like, you see someone driving a yellow Lamborghini, there's a story there about someone's past. I'm not judging it, but there's a story in there of someone being like, I want people to know how much money I made. And it's not a criticism, but there's a story. There's something that happened in your life

that that that led you to there and we all have that's not a criticism because i have bits of my past that influence how i manage money today too so just recognizing that there's no one right answer in math two plus two is four for me and you there is a right answer money's not like that we're all just kind of trying to figure out what works given the lens that we see the world through

that that that led you to there and we all have that's not a criticism because i have bits of my past that influence how i manage money today too so just recognizing that there's no one right answer in math two plus two is four for me and you there is a right answer money's not like that we're all just kind of trying to figure out what works given the lens that we see the world through

I think about a thing. When I was in my early 20s at this point, and I met, there was a coworker of mine, and he was, I don't know, 10 years older than me. And he had $25,000 of credit card debt, which I could not fathom at the time. That was such an incomprehensible amount of credit card debt that he was paying 17% interest on.

I think about a thing. When I was in my early 20s at this point, and I met, there was a coworker of mine, and he was, I don't know, 10 years older than me. And he had $25,000 of credit card debt, which I could not fathom at the time. That was such an incomprehensible amount of credit card debt that he was paying 17% interest on.

And at the time, I just thought – and all the debt came from trips that he had taken. He traveled Europe and traveled through Asia and had a great time doing it, but he put it all on his credit card. At the time, I remember thinking, you idiot. Do you understand what this is going to do to your future? And then he died when he was about 32. Wow.

And at the time, I just thought – and all the debt came from trips that he had taken. He traveled Europe and traveled through Asia and had a great time doing it, but he put it all on his credit card. At the time, I remember thinking, you idiot. Do you understand what this is going to do to your future? And then he died when he was about 32. Wow.

And then I remember thinking like, I'm so glad you took those trips. I'm so glad you went into that credit card debt because the truth was at age 32, he had seen more and done more than most people would at age 62. And so I think about that a lot of like it's always a balance. And the truth is that you and I don't know are we going to live until we're 110 or die tomorrow. Nobody knows, of course.

And then I remember thinking like, I'm so glad you took those trips. I'm so glad you went into that credit card debt because the truth was at age 32, he had seen more and done more than most people would at age 62. And so I think about that a lot of like it's always a balance. And the truth is that you and I don't know are we going to live until we're 110 or die tomorrow. Nobody knows, of course.

Right. One thing I think a lot about as a parent is that I've been a big saver my entire life. Since I got my first job at age 16, I've saved the majority of what I made in every job that I've ever been in.

Right. One thing I think a lot about as a parent is that I've been a big saver my entire life. Since I got my first job at age 16, I've saved the majority of what I made in every job that I've ever been in.