We Must Be the Boss of Our Money.

We Must Be the Boss of Our Money.
Why is this so important? Because having blind faith that others are protecting our future can be a very expensive lesson.
 
Below are the topics we’ll cover in this blog.
 
A Few Examples of Money Advice Gone Wrong + Better Strategies
Financial Advisors 
Certified Public Accountants
Real Estate & Mortgage Broker-Salesmen
Stock & Insurance Broker-Salesmen
Fintechs
Estate Planning Attorneys
Debt Reduction Specialists 
Time-Proven 21st-Century Strategies
 
And here is more information on each point.

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Adrian Peterson, running back with the Minnesota Vikings before a game against the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field on October 24, 2010. Photo by Mike Morbeck. Wiki Commons. Used with permission.

A Few Examples of Money Advice Gone Wrong + Better Strategies
 
Financial Advisors 
I recently learned about the heartbreaking story of Adrian Peterson, who is being held personally responsible for $12 million in debt that his financial advisor put him on the hook for. He had been told that he would never be responsible for the business personally. However, that was not what was listed in the agreement with the lenders. According to ESPN, Peterson has been ordered by a judge to turn over assets to the debt collectors.
 
What is the important lesson here? Not only must we be the boss of our money, but we must also read the fine print. The fine print is what is enforced, not the conversation where we might have been misled or misinformed. Additionally, we need to know what we own, receive regular updates and understand whether we’re making or losing money (including those pesky “paper losses” that you might have heard about). Peterson’s debt reportedly started at $5.2 million in 2016, but has more than doubled due to interest and attorney’s fees.  

Certified Public Accountants
In the introduction of The ABCs of Money (be sure to get the 6th edition), I share a very personal story about a friend that I lost to suicide. She had made a number of investments that almost bankrupted her. The money she invested was borrowed against a debt-free home that she had recently inherited. Many of the money pits were recommended by her CPA, who was receiving a notable commission for selling them to her. The third trust deeds that she was assured were safe and would offer her a great income were owned by a private company that ended up declaring bankruptcy. It’s quite difficult to recover funds from private companies without substantial legal costs – potentially even more than her initial investment.
 
What is the lesson here? Anytime someone is offering us an investment opportunity, we need to know what their incentive is. Are they being paid a finder’s fee, a sales commission, a percentage of assets under management, or is this a multilevel marketing scheme? Have we been provided the proper documents to do our due diligence, or are we being asked to act now and have blind faith? Anytime someone is asking us to act quickly or miss the opportunity or is not providing the profit and loss statements that are necessary to do our due diligence, those are all reasons to walk away. You wouldn’t try to hit a ball blindfolded, and you shouldn’t try to invest using only blind faith.
 
Real Estate & Mortgage Broker-Salesmen
In the case studies of The ABCs of Money, sixth edition, I relate the story of a young successful businesswoman who purchased a condo in Miami at the top of the market in 2006. She was assured by her boyfriend and the mortgage broker that this would be a buy and flip situation where she would make enough money in a few short months to put a down payment on a home. She lived in a very expensive city on the West Coast, so this sounded like a golden opportunity. After her purchase the housing market started weakening, home prices began plunging. (The all-time high for that period was 2006.) She was on the line for the monthly mortgage payment, the HOA fees, and a home that was now worth less than what she paid for it. Not only did she lose the investment, but she was also on the hook for thousands of dollars monthly, plus legal fees, and potentially even phantom income if she tried to short-sale the property. She was desperate when she called our office.
 
If you’d like to know how we helped her get out of that terrible situation, read the real estate section of The ABCs of Money. There are many tips for real estate that are very relevant for today’s market, whether you are considering buying, selling, downsizing, upsizing or any other real estate transaction.
 
What’s the lesson here? There’s a lot more to consider before buying a house or a condo than just the simple math that you might be paying a smaller mortgage than your rent. That is not the only cost of ownership. If you buy high, then you potentially have the issue of an investment that could lose value. So, you need to evaluate all of these moving parts before making your purchase. Sadly, according to a survey conducted by Clever in 2024,  up to 82% of homebuyers have buyer’s remorse, while 43% have struggled to pay their mortgage and 44% have taken on additional debt to maintain their standard of living.
 
 
Due diligence comes up again as a primary theme. However, the real estate and mortgage broker were both showing their charts of just how high real estate prices had escalated in the Miami area and all of the people that were moving there. (Both were making a great commission on the purchase and the sale.) What potential downsides were missing from the pitch? Quite a few! One was that prices were unsustainably high, and people who lived in the area couldn’t afford to buy anymore. The other was that a lot of the people who were moving into the area were construction workers, who follow the jobs. When construction seized up and the jobs evaporated, the workers went back home.
 
It’s not possible to do proper due diligence until we learn the life math that we all should’ve received in high school. While this requires learning at least the basics on the relevant data, considerations, macro trends, and other important statistics (that few salesman will ever show us), it’s quite empowering to be the boss of your money. Once we learn this, we have a solid financial foundation upon which to build the life of our dreams. Salesmen will always show us charts that help to make the sale. It’s our job to request and receive the full picture.
 
Stock & Insurance Broker-Salesmen
Most managed plans do whatever the market does. When stocks are high, everyone is happy. When stocks descend, everyone blames their broker. However, no amount of regret or complaining will make the lost money return. There is a very high turnover in the broker- salesman industry in recessions.
 
In terms of insurance products, they are not FDIC-insured. Some can go down in value with the markets, while others might have fees and terms that we are not aware of and were not properly spelled out in the sales pitch. Again, here is where the fine print is going to be enforced, not whatever we were told.
 
What is the lesson? Fix the roof while the sun is still shining. Don’t wait for stocks and real estate prices to drop before we protect our wealth. It’s easy to feel complacent when stocks and real estate prices are at all-time highs, as they are today. It’s also easy to want to jump in and join the party, hoping that prices will keep escalating ever higher. A better plan is more strategic than that. We want to have an age-appropriate, diversified, regularly rebalanced, nest egg strategy, and a housing and real estate plan that can survive a recession, while keeping more money in the family. The goal is to stop making the landlord (and the insurance salesman) rich. However, it must be down strategically. We will be hosting our 100-year Multigenerational Family Wealth Plan Masterclass soon. Email [email protected] with 100 Years in the subject line to learn more.
 
Fintechs
Fintech companies have become so popular that many of us don’t even know the difference between them and the bank. Cash App, Venmo, Paypal, Wealthfront, our brokerages who have a deal with a bank – all of these are not FDIC-insured against their own failure (only if their partner bank fails). This is a giant sinkhole in the FDIC-insured promises that so many are counting on.
 
We will be hosting a Bond & What’s Safe MasterClass on October 26, 2024. You can also learn more in our Fintech blog. Email [email protected] with What’s Safe MasterClass in the subject line to learn more. Prerequisite: the 3-day Financial Freedom Retreat. 

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Restormel Castle was built in the Middle Ages and was occupied by The 1st Prince of Wales. Photo of Natalie Pace by Marie Commiskey.

Estate Planning Attorneys
It’s a great idea to stop making the taxman rich. If you’re not maxing out your retirement accounts (including a Roth IRA and a Health Savings Account), then you might be getting eaten alive in expensive capital gains taxes – particularly if you like trading and are subject to short-term capital gains.
 
Estate planning attorneys can be an important part of our wealth preservation strategy, particularly as many are quite keen on tax strategies that most of us are not aware of, including foundations, DAFs (Donor-Advised Funds), legacy planning under the gift tax level, and other sophisticated, legal structures that help high-net worth individuals pay less in taxes (percentage-wise) than their executive assistants. However, here again, it’s important for us to be thinking about the complete picture. For instance, the attorney may have a great plan of how to put our home in a trust for the next generation, but are they also thinking about ways that we might stop making the landlord rich now, particularly if our young adult is a renter (and receiving a little help from the Bank of Mom & Dad). Should we have a vision that looks out 100 years, while also benefiting three generations now? While many estate-planning attorneys are astute on tax strategies, be sure that we are also factoring in having an age-appropriate, diversified portfolio that is rebalanced, as well. Protecting and growing our family wealth requires more than just trusts and taxes.

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HOUSEHOLD DEBT AND CREDIT REPORT (Q2 2024)

Debt Reduction Specialists 
We must be super careful when we are looking for debt reduction assistance, especially from people who say they can eliminate debt, and even more so if they charge us a fee upfront. A debt problem is a budgeting problem. So, any debt reduction plan must also include a Thrive Budget®. It is hard to acknowledge that the budget is the problem because many of us are not shopaholics. We might consider ourselves to be very frugal. Meanwhile, we’re drowning and going deeper in the hole, due to the high cost of the big-ticket items, including housing, transportation, healthcare and health insurance, food, gas and more. Each quarter, U.S. Household Debt keeps hitting new highs.
https://www.newyorkfed.org/microeconomics/hhdc
 
While it isn’t our fault that things are so expensive, extricating ourselves from the rat race in order to live a richer life today and provide better for tomorrow is only possible if we make brave, resourceful choices with regard to budgeting, investing, and reducing debt.
 
There is $1.6 trillion in college loan debt. On average, Millennials and Gen Z are being forced to wait 7 years longer than Gen X and Boomers did to buy their first home. For many, owning a home may seem like a pipe dream. Whether you are a parent, a college student, high school student or someone who is thinking about going back to school for an advanced degree, student loans are an important factor in the College Experience. In The ABCs of Money for College, we outline how to get a better degree for up to half the cost and include important information on skills and trades that will be in high demand in the 21st Century that do not require a diploma.

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Time-Proven 21st-Century Strategies
Our time-proven 21st-Century budgeting and investing strategies are enthusiastically recommended by Nobel Prize winning economist Gary Becker, MacArthur Genius Award winning economist Kevin Murphy (and other VIPs), and are embraced and applauded by many Main Street investors and denizens. We’ve been saving homes and nest eggs since 1999, while adding a splash of green to Wall Street. You can read about them in The ABCS of Money 6th edition. You can learn an implement them at our 3-day Financial Freedom Retreat (online). You can consider getting an unbiased 2nd opinion of your current wealth plan through my private coaching. Email [email protected] or call 310-430-2397 to learn more.

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Bottom Line
Stocks are at all-time highs. Real estate prices are at all-time highs. Rather than be complacent or jump in just to join the party, it’s important to protect and diversify our wealth now, while we still have plenty of options. Remember: most people don’t buy low because they can’t. When recessions hit and stock and real estate prices drop, most people are struggling. Few have the resources and vision to take advantage of lower prices and opportunities.
 
So, fix the roof while the sun is still shining. Don’t have blind faith that someone else is doing this for you. Be the boss of your money and life. Know what you own and why. The sooner we do this, the faster our secure financial home gets built and our life transforms. Call 310-430-2397 or email [email protected] to learn more now.

Join us at our online Oct. 18-20, 2024 Financial Freedom Retreat and our Bond/What's Safe Master Class Oct. 26, 2024. Learn how to:

* Invest in hot industries, such as Nvidia and artificial intelligence,
* Hedge against a weaker dollar,
* Invest and compound your gains,
* Green your retirement plan,
* Easy and efficacious nest egg strategies,
* Get hot and diversified (including in artificial intelligence and EVs),
* Evaluate stocks,
* Keep an age-appropriate amount safe, and,
* Know what's safe in a Debt World.

You'll even discover how to save thousands annually with smarter big-ticket choices. Yes, it's a complete money makeover. 
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Email [email protected] to register. Learn the 15+ things you'll master and read testimonials in the flyer on the home page at NataliePace.com. Register with friends and family to receive the best price. ​

"Ten minutes into the first day I was already much smarter about investing than I ever thought I would be in my life and I knew I was in exactly the right place at this retreat. I am amazed at how EASY and FUN it is to make my money work for me and those I love. I think this kind of information should be compulsory in schools. I wish I'd learned this sooner." CM

If you’d like an unbiased 2nd opinion on your current wealth plan, email [email protected] for pricing and information.

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Join us for our Online Oct. 18-20, 2024 Financial Freedom Retreat. Email [email protected] or call 310-430-2397 to learn more. Register with friends and family to receive the best price. Click for testimonials, pricing, hours & details.

Join us for our Restormel Royal Immersive Adventure Retreat. March 7-14, 2025. Email [email protected] to learn more. Click for testimonials, pricing, hours & details. There is very limited availability. Register now to ensure that you get the exact room you want. (There may not be an opportunity to register after Sept. 15, 2024.) This retreat includes an all-access pass to all of our online training for a full year for two, and three 50-minute private, prosperity coaching sessions. Much more affordable than you might think. Email [email protected] to learn more.

Natalie Wynne Pace is an Advocate for Sustainability, Financial Literacy & Women's Empowerment. Natalie is the bestselling author of The ABCs of Money and The Power of 8 Billion: It's Up to Us, and is the co-creator of the Earth Gratitude Project. She has been ranked as a No. 1 stock picker, above over 835 A-list pundits, by an independent tracking agency (TipsTraders). Her book The ABCs of Money remained at or near the #1 Investing Basics e-book on Amazon for over 3 years (in its vertical), with over 120,000 downloads and a mean 5-star ranking. The 6th edition of The ABCs of Money and the 2nd edition of Put Your Money Where Your Heart Is are the most recent releases of these books. Follow her on Instagram. 
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Natalie Pace's easy as a pie chart nest egg strategies earned gains in the last two recessions and have outperformed the bull markets in between. That is why her Investor Educational Retreats, books and private coaching are enthusiastically recommended by Nobel Prize winning economist Gary S. Becker, TD AMERITRADE chairman Joe Moglia, Kay Koplovitz and many Main Street investors who have transformed their lives using her Thrive Budget and investing strategies. Click to view a video testimonial from Nilo Bolden.​

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Important Disclaimers
Please note: Natalie Pace does not act or operate like a broker. She reports on financial news, and is one of the most trusted sources of financial literacy, education and forensic analysis in the world. Natalie Pace educates and informs individual investors to give investors a competitive edge in their personal decision-making. Any publicly traded companies or funds mentioned by Natalie Pace are not intended to be buy or sell recommendations.

ALWAYS do your research and consult an experienced, reputable financial professional before buying or selling any security, and consider your long-term goals and strategies. Investors should NOT be all in on any asset class or individual stocks. Your retirement plan should reflect a diversified strategy, which has been designed with the assistance of a financial professional who is familiar with your goals, risk tolerance, tax needs and more. The "trading" portion of your portfolio should be a very small part of your investment strategy, and the amount of money you invest into individual companies should never be greater than your experience, wisdom, knowledge and patience.  

Information has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable. However, NataliePace.com does not warrant its completeness or accuracy. Opinions constitute our judgment as of the date of this publication and are subject to change without notice. This material is not intended as an offer or solicitation for the purchase or sale of any financial instrument. Securities, financial instruments or strategies mentioned herein may not be suitable for all investors.