More Money Podcast - 215 How to Master Your Money - Sandy Yong, Author of The Money Master

Episode Date: November 20, 2019

I met Sandy Yong, author of the soon-to-be-released book The Money Master: Inside Secrets On How to Make Your Money Grow and Stay Safe, about a year ago at the 2018 Canadian Personal Finance Conference. She told me she was working on a book and I soon found out we had very similar personal finance journeys. Having been brought up in a very frugal family, and having finished her business degree during the Great Recession, Sandy worked hard to pay off her student loan and make her way in the corporate world. She soon realized that being frugal was only one part of mastering your money. You also needed to set financial goals, invest wisely and have a clear action plan for all your hard-earned money. That’s what led her to discover personal finance books which eventually inspired her to write her own book to reflect her journey and key things young Canadians should know about managing their money better. In this interview, we touch on what some of those key things are, such as the benefits to passive investing instead of investing in high-fee actively-managed mutual funds, while also discussing some new players in the finance world like investing in the cannabis industry, cryptocurrency and robo-advisors. Her book isn’t out yet, but you can pre-order your copy today. I’m also going to be giving away copies of her book when it’s out, so make sure to enter to win in my massive book giveaway! Visit jessicamoorhouse.com/contests to enter to win a copy of his book! For full episode show notes visit https://jessicamoorhouse.com/215 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hello, hello, hello, and welcome to episode 215 of the Mo Money Podcast. I am your host, Jessica Morehouse. Welcome back to the show, or welcome to the show for the very first time if you just discovered the podcast. And yeah, you've got some work to do in terms of catching up. I mean, I don't expect you to listen to all 215 episodes of the show, but there's actually a lot of people who email me and they're like, I listened to every single one. I listened to your entire back catalog, which is crazy because that is like four years worth of podcast episodes. So yeah, man, so much has changed as I started this podcast. It's actually really crazy. I wouldn't, maybe I'll even like re listen to

some of those older podcasts just to get a sense of like, what was happening back then? Who was Jessica back in 2015? It honestly feels like a lifetime ago. But anyways, that has nothing to do with anything. We're at episode 215. And it is is 2019 and I have the wonderful Sandy Young on the show. She is the author of a new book coming out soon or maybe as this episode airs. As I'm recording, it's not out yet. But anyways, it is called The Money Masterbook. You can find more information about it at themoneymasterbook.com. But I met Sandy at almost like to the day this time last year at the Canadian Personal Finance Conference, which RIP does not exist anymore, at least not this year.

I don't know if it ever will again. Who knows? Anyways, it existed. No, it didn't happen this year. But anyways, I was at the conference in Toronto last year. She came up to me and introduced herself and said, Hey, I'm writing a book. Here's my card. Let's keep in touch.

I'm like, okay, cool. And then she was nice enough to a come to a few of the events that I was speaking at or hosting. And, uh, we just got to know each other and she was just the nicest, uh, loveliest person who really knows her stuff when it comes to money. And so I wanted to have her on the show to talk about different aspects of her book and why she decided to write, to self-publish and write her own book. We have very similar stories, which I think is very relatable. If you're listening to this show and you're probably in our age range, if you're a millennial and want

to get better at money, you will relate to this episode. But yeah, you're going to love this episode. It's really great. And of course, because I'm doing a huge long season, long contest, giving away books, all the books that are basically featured on season nine of this show. If you go to jessicamorese.com slash contest, I'm going to be giving away copies of her book plus books, you know, copies of books of all the other kind of authors that have been on the show this season. So make sure to check that out in case you never listened to the end of these episodes. And this is the first time hearing you. I'm letting you know now. And before I get to this interview with Sandy, I just want to share a few words about this episode's sponsor. This episode of the Mo Money Podcast is supported by

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To learn more, visit coverme.com or manulife.ca slash vitality. Once again, that's coverme.com or manulife.ca slash vitality. Once again, that's coverme.com or manulife.ca slash vitality. Thank you, Sandy, for joining me on the Mo Money Podcast. Thank you, Jessica, for having me. I'm so excited to be on your show. I know. It's about time because I met you, I feel like, for the first time last fall. I want to say that's right, right? It feels like a lifetime ago, but I think it was only a year ago. And you were so nice and so sweet.

And you mentioned that you're working on this book. And is this book now available? Soon. I'm very close to the finish line. I see the light at the end of the tunnel. It's been quite the process. So possibly by the time this recording is out, and of course, people, I will tell you in the intro or outro that it is out, it will probably be available. Yes. Good chance. Okay, great. And so let's go back. So I first met you,

and this may be the first time that people are discovering you as well. Do you want to kind of give a little backstory of who you are and how you came to basically take this big leap of faith and write your own book about personal finance? Because it's something that you feel so passionate about. Sure. Yeah. So for those who don't know me, I went to Ryerson University for the Ted Rogers School of Business program. And when I graduated

from there, I looked at my future for starting out, having a good job. And I knew that I needed to pay off my student loans right away, like OSAP. Did you have a big sizable student loan? Yeah. And then after that, I figured it out like, hey, I've got these major life milestones, just like most other people, saving money for a new property, saving money for a car, having my dream wedding, and then kids RESP, and then my retirement. I'm like, okay, let me sit down. And luckily for me, I like numbers and Excel. So I put together my own document to keep track of how much money I made and what my expenses were and what my life goals were and how much I need to save up to achieve those.

And from there, I think in my 20s, it was kind of a very lonely journey because it's tough for people to talk openly about money, right? But the odd conversations I'd have with my coworkers and my friends, I soon realized that a lot of them were still paying off student loans a decade after, or they were struggling and living paycheck to paycheck. And they had no idea the basics of saving and investing. And how did you, it sounds like you already had like a good head on your shoulders. Like most people after finishing their degree wouldn't have been like, I'm going to make an Excel spreadsheet. Does a lot of that have to do with like maybe your business degree or, or, or how you were brought up? Cause it sounded like you already

kind of knew this stuff. Whereas totally agree. When I talk to people my age, most of the time, they're like, Oh my God, I have no idea what I'm doing with money. I'm like, we're in our 30s now. Huh, interesting. Yeah, for sure. I think a part of it, the business degree helped a bit. But I mean, what you learn in school, you learn about corporate finance and business finance, not so much about personal finance. And it was a good friend of mine who had recommended me to read the classic book, Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki. And that was, I call it my gateway book Robert Kiyosaki. And that was, I call it my gateway book into the world of finance. And from then I was immediately hooked and I went to the local library and I would just borrow personal finance book after personal

finance book. And I just taught myself how to do it. And from there, I was just, in a way, I was kind of an addicted or a money nerd. And I just took ownership to handle my money because growing up, living in a household where my father was a sole provider for our family, it was tough. And we've lived a very modest and humble life. And we didn't really go on any family trips. And you could see that my father was good at budget keeping and managing money and having just enough for us. But with my mom, she had mental illness, so she had to be a homemaker. And there were some good sides to seeing my father handling money, but then also the bad side, seeing my mother struggle and being dependent on my father. And I think that

I realized that I wanted to be an independent woman and to be able to have the lifestyle that I wanted. Right. Yeah. No, I think a lot of people can really identify with that, myself included. Similar situation, grew up in a household where my mom was the money manager. So it wasn't so much the independence factor, but it was just the... grew up very frugal and remember like i'm like once i'm an adult i'm gonna do things differently and obviously i made different choices they had like three kids in their 20s like they did pretty good but you know it's it is one of those things and i think that's like almost a very well i don't know maybe i'm just saying this but i feel like a lot of millennials that come across they have a

very similar kind of perspective in that they grew up a certain way. And then when they, you know, when I become an adult or finish university or whatever, they're like, I want to do better or find a way to get the stuff that I wasn't able to, whether that means like we never traveled as a family. So I want to make sure that is a big priority or, or whatever the case. So I think that's really fascinating. So that clearly had a big impact on your trajectory, I think. So you finished university, you started working and you started kind of getting into reading all these personal finance books. And it sounded like you kind of made a plan and then you just started working towards it. Is that kind of how it happened? Yeah, that's pretty much how it happened for me. I had the benefit of living at home. My parents didn't force me to move out. And even though I

was on a very modest salary at the time working for the conference planning industry, I made sure that every paycheck, I automated it to make sure that it goes into my savings and eventually into my investments. And I saved about probably 40 to 50% of my paycheck by living at home for pretty much the majority of my 20s. And thank goodness, I had a good relationship with my father to make that happen because I know some other people struggle with that family dynamic where they're an adult now, but... Yeah, sometimes it's not an option. Yeah, I remember. I stayed at home after I graduated for an extra year, and I was just so ready to get out of there. But I was broke and I couldn't find a job. And I'm pretty sure your story's

similar in that you, I read somewhere that you graduated have it. Like I couldn't find a job. And I'm pretty sure like your story is similar in that you, I read somewhere that you graduated in 2009. Is that right? Yep. Yep. During the economic recession. Me too. Not a good time. Yeah.

Not a good time. Right. And you're like, okay, so this isn't what, cause like literally it's funny. I talked to people who graduated a few years earlier, like 2006,

2007. And they're like, Oh, like it was easy peasy. They found a job right away and started earning. And they're like, oh, like it was easy peasy. They found a job right away and started earning. And I'm like, wow, if I'd only just like graduated a few years earlier, I'm so curious what, I mean, I'm glad I'm on the path I am, but I'm so curious how things would have been different. Cause I feel like because I graduated when I did and it was so difficult,

like I had to learn about money cause I had none. Yeah. Just starting from the ground up and being able to learn that you have to earn money and be able to preserve that and build your own wealth. And I think in hindsight, it's kind of like a blessing in disguise that I'd graduated during the economic recession. And I had some savings in an RRSP. And I remember my dad telling me, okay, don't touch your money. And even though it's down right now, eventually it'll bounce back up. And I took his advice and he was right. So I'm glad that he kind of gave me some few tips here and there to kind of make sure that I had the right money mindset going forward. Yeah. And the truth is like, you know, you and I were lucky in that we had some good role models that were there to kind of give us those kind of starting out tips, whereas a lot of people,

they don't because maybe their parents also aren't very financially literate, which is, you know, I think it's even harder for those people because they really are starting from unlearning some things and then learning these kind of new habits to kind of start implementing in their lives. So I assume that is kind of one of the inspirations of you creating this book so people will have kind of a new modern take on how to kind of get started with that kind of stuff. Yeah, I just figured, you know, after spending a good decade teaching myself how to save and invest my money in the stock market and now being a real estate investor, I figured, hey, if I can do it, I can teach other people how to do it. And so I can help others to become financially independent.

So let's get started with this book because it seems like a very huge undertaking. What was like when you were thinking of like, I'm going to write my own book about personal finance to help people where you kind of wish you had maybe this particular book in the layout that it is, what is the main kind of message that you want to get across from this book? What do you hope people after reading it will feel or take away from? Having surveyed and spoken to friends and family members and colleagues, I noticed that a lot of people, especially millennials, they tend to feel like they don't know where to begin or they feel overwhelmed or they want to defer it till the future or later date and they just want to hide away from it because let's face it, when you see

all these figureheads on TV, sometimes they use complicated terminology and it just sounds just so sophisticated and as if it's really complicated. But then when I started reading a bunch of these personal finance books, a lot of them had the same message being like, well, you can have a diversified portfolio and buy and hold passive investing for the long term. And then once you have the foundation, it's really simple. And that was kind of a light bulb experience for me. And I think that just being able to shed some light on that for millennials to know that they have the power to handle their own finances in many different ways, whether they're on or with technology or with a financial

advisor. All the resources are right in front of them. They just need to take action and take ownership to start learning and applying those skills. Yeah, I think you mentioned something so important there. And that's definitely like I had a light bulb moment too, when I just kept on doing research specifically about investing, because I always felt like I had all the other stuff down pat, I got it. But when it came to investing, it just seemed like a huge hurdle. Like I just couldn't, you know, there's a big fog in front of me, and I just could not see to the other end. And whenever I'd have conversations with people that were, you that were very educated in investing, they would use terminology that I didn't know what that word was. So I felt

like I couldn't understand the meaning behind what they were saying. And then I started doing research and then I realized, okay, well, all of these very credible investing books are literally saying pretty much the same thing. So it's not that hard. And I think that's kind of like a really important takeaway that I feel like whenever I have a guest on this show and we talk about investing, I'm like, it isn't that hard. It actually is so simple. The people that make it sound like it is complex or just for the elite, or you already have to have wealth to build wealth. Those people have some sort of MO. They want to sell you something like a service or a specific product. They want to scare you away from something. They have some ulterior motive,

and you have to be aware of that. Yeah, definitely. The ones that I find that usually kind of divert from that kind of main messaging of, it's not that hard. Build that foundation through a diversified portfolio of passive investments. And then you can build upon if you want some alternatives or real estate or anything like that. That is kind of like the main messaging of any good investing book. But there's a lot of articles out there that I think are kind of clickbaity. And there was one recently I saw in the news that was just like, basically the title was a complete opposite of any kind of good financial

advice. And people will read that and think that, oh, well, maybe that is truth. And that's where it kind of gets convoluted and confusing. And then that's where people are like, I'm just going to opt out. I'm just not going to. Yeah, for sure. No, I definitely agree. And yet those clickbait articles that entice people and you really have to take a moment

to step back and reflect, does what this person say make sense? Are they backing up with facts and statistics? And sometimes it's really hard to tell because especially the talking figureheads, they sound like they're all credible and as if they can predict the market, but in reality, no one can. Yeah. It's, it's, it's frustrating. And also, you know, like you said, like there's so many, you know, people that are, you know, the personal finance experts or these, you know, uh, very well-known authors that are still around and still talking. And some of the information that they're saying, I'm like, I don't think that's accurate or factual. So where

is that coming from? And it's, it's, it's one of those things where it's like, if you want to be savvy with your money, you have to be a very critical thinker and really consider like every piece of content that you read. Cause sometimes, man, the stuff that I read sometimes from people that like, I, Oh, this person wrote a really good book. Why are they saying this information that doesn't go along with all this other information that I know is accurate? It's really, it's frustrating. For someone who knows this stuff, I'm like, it is so frustrating. Right?

Yeah, I can definitely relate. Yeah. So hopefully when people do want to get a good starting point, they will kind of go to your book. And you have so many different kind of topics in your book to kind of, I feel like, give people a kind of full perspective on the most important things they need to know in terms of personal finance. I also love that you do have a chapter about cryptocurrency and Bitcoin, which is something

that, well, lots of the personal finance books out there, they really just talk about traditional investments. Why did you want to make sure that was a chapter in your book? Yeah. For me, hearing about what's hot in the industry, I would go to dinners or events and people would just brag about the latest cryptocurrency they bought and how much money they're making. And then I'm listening and observing. I'm like, really? When you know that everyone's talking about it, there's something fishy going on. And I remember Warren Buffett talking about cryptocurrency. And he said that it was going to be like the last thing he would ever invest in. And I think that with cryptocurrency, of course, like for people who want to try to make a quick buck, I'm sure there's definitely ways that you can do it. But in the long term, is it sound? Like, is it going to last? I guess, the tolerance to go through the emotional roller coaster rides because the

highs and the lows are just so dramatic. And I mean, if someone does want to invest in cryptocurrency, they can look into the blockchain technology and more so how it was built and what their purpose is. But I mean, you have to be very wary and know what you're getting yourself into. And based on my research, I've discovered that if you do want to dabble in it, that's okay. But maybe take a first couple hundred dollars and test out the waters and be willing to lose all the money because probably about 90% of them probably won't make you much money. And when it comes to say the cannabis industry, that's all the rage nowadays. And I had interviewed Mark Noble from Horizons ETFs and he was saying that it's a very exciting industry. It hasn't been

fully established yet. There's still a lot of industry regulations and legalizations to take place all across the world. But as people are warming up to it, I think people feel like it could be the next big thing, like the next big Apple or Amazon, and that's what's feeding that frenzy. you have to look at your whole entire financial portfolio and make sure that you're diversified because you could make tens of thousands of dollars. I have coworkers who's made tens of thousands of dollars and then the next week they've lost it all. Oh, yes. I totally know what you mean. Me and my husband, he bought a bunch of individual weed stocks and ETFs. I have an ETF that I bought and I'm just holding. I have lost a ton of, I didn't invest much money. I invested like $300 or like nothing. I just wanted to test it out. And I've no, that's, I think invested more than that, but it doesn't matter. Anyways, I lost a lot of money, but I'm not going to sell. I'm just going to hold it and see what happens. But yeah, my husband got really

into it. Cause it was when it was really, really popular. I want to say like a year ago, maybe two years ago. And he made a ton of money and he lost a ton of money. But the reason I'm not like, you know, ripping my hair, I'm like, what did you do? It's because we really talked about, okay, we're gonna, you're gonna do this. That's fine. And it's your own personal money. But what percentage of your portfolio are you going to play with? And so it doesn't affect his retirement portfolio or anything like that. No, it's a very small percentage just for speculative investments. And that's just exactly what you said. There's nothing wrong with doing individual ETFs or stocks or speculative stuff like that. However, you've just got to make sure it's a specific part of

your portfolio so you don't lose all of your retirement savings by trying to bet on this horse that may or may not win the race. Exactly. Yeah. I mean, by all means, if you have some fun money set aside and you're willing to risk that portion of it and know that it could go down to zero, then sure. And I mean, as long as you also have a learning experience from it and to learn about how much risk you can take and what were your emotions going through the ups and downs and just to kind of test the waters, I think that's fine. But would you put all your life savings in it? I probably wouldn't recommend that. No, like you wouldn't gamble, you know, go to the slot machine and like put your whole

life savings or anything like that. Like you would never do that in real life. But I think people get caught up because they hear of these people that bought the stock that just came out and made a ton of money. It's like, oh, I wish I did that. Well, maybe I'll do it for the next one or whatever. And it's just it's hard because it's like, yeah, no one can predict the winners really. So you just never know. Part of your book, you also talk about, which I really like, just the kind of habits and thoughts of some of the wealthiest

people. Because I feel like in general, all of us are trying to learn about personal finance and how to better manage our money and invest our money and all that kind of stuff. So we can build our wealth and, you know, live a better life. We don't always want to be stuck to a budget and all that kind of stuck stuff. So what are some of the things that when you were doing your research, you found, oh, these are, so these are how the wealthy people are kind of managing their money or, you know, these are some of the habits that maybe we should kind of take into consideration for our own lives. Yeah. So one of my favorite things that I recommend is to create a dream board or a vision board. Big fan of that.

Yeah. And I think that is great because, so what a vision board is, is that you take all of your goals that you want to achieve and there could be different categories. It could be education, career, of course, what kind of house do you want? What kind of car? Do you want to go on vacations? What kind of lifestyle do you want to have? What kind of skills do you want to achieve? Or maybe you want to have a family and you write

down those goals and, and you can go through Pinterest, which is what I did, or lifestyle magazines and cut out different pictures and put them on a poster board. And you can write down the, the date that you want to achieve it by. And so my husband and I put together our vision board, and we update it maybe about every six months or every year. And it's really great to visually see what you want to achieve. And we just have it on our dining table so that every day when we're having a meal together, yeah, we're constantly looking at it and it kind of helps to inspire us when we're having breakfast and to kind of look to see, okay, where are we headed in life? And I think that helps to put you in the right mindset for your day. And another thing that we have recently picked up

is the five-minute journal. Oh, is that like the bullet journal that we see everywhere? Is that what that is? Or is that different? I'm not sure what the bullet journal is. I have no idea what it is either, but everyone has one and I feel left out. Yeah. And so my husband and I, we love listening to podcasts, especially when we're driving in the car. And he noticed that a lot of successful entrepreneurs were talking about journaling. And so one of the most popular ones is the five-minute journal. And what you do is that when you first wake up, you spend the first few minutes writing about what you're grateful for, the top three things that you want to achieve during the day, and you write an affirmation, so like an I am statement. And then at night before you go to bed,

you pick up the journal again and you reflect on what three amazing things that happened today. And also what was one thing that could have made your day better. And yeah, we've been doing this since probably for the past four months now. And it's really been beneficial. It's such an easy and simple exercise, but we spend the time writing it together and then we share what our goals are and the things that we wrote. And it kind of just helps to make you focus on what you want to achieve. And I assume it only takes you five minutes, so everyone has time to do it. I'm a huge fan of it. And I think it's great for people to pick up and it's just so easy. Yeah. And those are just like two very simple things to do. And when I talk to people, because again, lots of this stuff in terms of just like

learning what you need to do in finance isn't that complicated, but it really does come down to that focus. And most of us don't have it because I mean, everyone's trying to pull us in every direction. And if you don't have, I think it's so important to have that first clear vision of like, what is your life? What do you want it to be? Because we think about that, I think a lot when we're in school, because it is all like we're working towards our future. But after school, we are like, oh, so this is adult life now. And I'm just like, you know, going to work every day. And then you just get into this routine. And I remember in my 20s, there's times where I'm like, oh, my God, three years went by. Like, what the hell happened? And so it's true. I do the same

thing. I have a vision board. I've been doing it for years. And it really has helped me be like, what am I doing? Cause it's, it's hard. You know, life is hard and there's a lot going on and we're very busy all the time. It's very easy to lose focus on like, what the hell are we even doing? Why are we working so hard? Why are we working all these hours? Why are we making this money? Why are we saving this money? You need to have a clear vision of like, what do I want in life? And that will give you kind of some sense of, I think, clarity, but also like, in my mind, like it gives me some security. Like I don't worry as much because I know everything's going to be okay. I'm working towards this. It's not always going to be an easy, straight, narrow path. And then I love the journal because then it kind of goes a little

bit more, you know, we went macro, now we can go micro and be like, okay, day to day, what do we want to do? What do we want to achieve? Because that's definitely something I have to work on. I definitely have some to-do lists, but I don't necessarily do the kind of positive affirmations and, you know, take a moment to be thankful. I think that's actually really interesting. I should implement that into my day to day. Yeah. It's so great. Like when you just take that, that moment to think about what you're grateful for and then it just makes you feel happier and more positive. Yeah. Because I think we're always as a society thinking of what we do not have and what we want to get. But what about the things that we do have? We've got, you know, like there's so many times where

I'm like, we're so lucky to live in this country. We're so lucky to live in this city or to, you know, me and my husband, I'm so glad city or to, you know, me and my husband, I'm so glad I found you, you know, all these, like, there's so many things to actually be grateful for. We just need to, I think, just, yeah, take a fricking minute and just, you know, think about it now to kind of, uh, end off. There's a ton of chapters and we're not going to go through all of them. There's so many helpful nuggets in your book. You kind of ended off on how to take control of your financial future. What does that kind of mean to you, take control of your financial future?

Oh, gosh. That chapter definitely brings some emotions to it. And so one of the things that I talk about, well, I talk about having a will, I talk about insurance, and just making sure that you're protected. And I think that for, oh gosh, I feel like there's so many things. And also to talk about choosing the right bank and knowing your bank fees as well. But I want to say, okay, even though this might be a little bit morbid, but I think that it's important to have a will and a power of attorney because even though a lot of us are in our 20s or 30s and retirement might be a few decades away, it's important to make sure that you have the proper legal documents so that when you pass on, which could be any time, that the people you leave behind,

your loved ones, that they're protected. And yeah, it may seem like it's early, but for me, I had an older sister and she passed away from leukemia at the age of 27. And I was only 13 at the time. And so I knew from very early on in my teenagehood that life is precious. And having to deal with family affairs like this state with someone who doesn't have a will, it was a huge headache and a huge burden. And I think that sometimes these are things that people in our age group may overlook, but especially for people who have young children, as parents, you should definitely have a will so that you have caregivers to take care of your children. Yeah. No, it's so true. And I recently came out

with a video I did on the idea of wills because, again, it is something that is such an important part of your financial plan. And most of us millennials or younger people don't really think about that because that is like, oh, yeah, that's at the end of the list of all the things that I need to do. And it's hard,'s, it's hard to, it's like, if you've been in a situation where you've never experienced a death in your family or friend group or anything like that, then it isn't really front of mind. But for people that have had that experience, you know, how, like you said, much of a burden it can be. And, uh, it is, and it's actually a very simple thing to do. Like, yeah, it's not a five minute, you know, journal, but it doesn't actually take more than a couple hours. It's and the options, actually,

there's a lot more options these days. So yeah, no, I totally agree. I think if you want to make sure that you've got that off your list, and it's not something, you know, weighing on you, it actually isn't as hard as you think it is. And it's so, so important. Because yeah, like you said, like, I recently saw there was someone I went to university with and she's in her early thirties. She was married and she announced that her husband passed away and suddenly, and it's like, wow, you just don't ever know what could happen. So, I mean, obviously hope for the best, but prepare, you know, for the inevitable because we all die one day. But yeah, that does sound morbid. Let's not end on that note. I'm going to find a more positive note that we can end on. When I first met you and you were telling me that you were working on this

book, I can tell that you were so excited and passionate to come out with this book and also just like basically help people, which is, I think, what drew me to you because that's exactly where I come from. It's like, I love, you know, doing what I do for a job. But at the end of the day, the reason I'm doing this is to get that kind of, you know, feedback from people be like, wow, I learned this and this is really going to help me just like how you, you know, found those books similar. I found a bunch of books and they just changed the course of my life. And I don't know where I'd be without them. So with that being said, what is kind of one thing that you, just a significant message that really affected you in your life

that you want to share to listeners right now? Ooh, so many thoughts. I know. That's a big question. I think what I really want people to do is to start taking action. And no matter what age you're at or what your financial situation is, just get up and do something because the longer you delay, it really impacts your financial future. And I know that a lot of people don't really want to think about retirement, but I mean, now really impacts your financial future. And I know that a lot of people don't really want to think about retirement. But I mean, now we're in a society that a lot of people can't even retire at the age of 65 and they're forced to stay working. And it's really sad to see, right, whether it's our parents or grandparents going through that. And I think that it's time for us to stand in truth and just to take some responsibility and go out there, go and read some personal finance books,

read some blogs, listen to podcasts, and just take the time to educate yourself and start doing something. Even if it's the smallest thing, I think that over time, if you create these good financial habits, it will make such a huge, huge difference in your life. And when it comes to compounding interest, which is one of my favorite things, basically what it tells you is that your money can grow and compound and it'll start making more money and more money for you. And that way, you don't have to slave away at work trying to put all the savings aside. If you start investing, and there's many ways to invest, you can have that money work for you. And that way, you can have a secure financial future. Absolutely. No, I really love that. I think that is such a clear and important message is we all need to take responsibility for our own financial lives because I don't know why,

but I think, yeah, growing up and when I finished university, I never thought about that. I thought, I don't know, someone else will take care of it or I'll hire someone that will take care of it. That's what all the wealthy people do, right? Like they don't deal with it, you know, directly. It's like, well, actually the smartest people that are the richest, they are involved in their finances. So you do have to take responsibility for that part of your life. And it's not that hard. You can absolutely learn it, but yeah, you do have to take the time and energy to, to put that effort into it. But like me now I'm in my 30s. And I'm so glad that I did take action in my 20s. Because now that I'm in my 30s, and I tell everybody this, like it is crazy. It feels like this deck, like the past 10 years went by so quickly. But because I was doing all of those kind of things,

like make an automatic start investing early, all that kind of stuff. I now am in a situation where like, I have never had this much financial security and that i thought i was gonna be poor forever you know in your 20s this is it's a hustle it's a struggle and it's not easy your 20s kind of but if you put the work in in your 20s you can kind of reap the rewards for the rest of you know your 30s 40s 50s and so on. Yeah. And just gives you that peace of mind, right? Absolutely. Well, thank you so much, Sandy, for taking the time to chat with me. I can't wait for your book to come out and for people to grab a copy and start getting to work. Yes. Well, thank you so much, Jessica, for having me. And I'm so excited

to share my story with you. Absolutely. Oh, sorry. I forgot to ask, where can people find more information about you and your book if they want to check you out? Yes. Well, listeners can head over to sandyyong.com. That's spelled S-A-N-D-Y-Y-O-N-G.com. And you can find me on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter at The Money Masterbook. Perfect. Thank you so much again, Sandy. Thank you, Jessica. And that was episode 215 of the Mo Money Podcast with Sandy Yong. Make sure to check out her website, sandyyong.com or themoneymasterbook.com. You can also find her on Twitter and Instagram

under The Money Masterbook is where you can find her on the Insta and Twitter. And of course, I'm giving away copies of her book. And you can find out more information at JessicaMorales.com slash contest for all the deets on that. Also something I didn't mention at the beginning of this episode, but I think it's also very important and pretty cool is for every copy that is bought of her book, she is going to be donating $2 to the Center of Addiction and Mental Health. So you're doing some good. You're giving some money to charity if you purchase a copy of her book. And of course, you can check out the show notes for more information, all these important links, all easy peasy in one nice

place. The show notes on my website is of course, jessicamorris.com slash 215 is where you can find all that information. I have some very important things to share with you. So do not go away. Just a few words I want to share about this episode's sponsor. This episode of the Mo Money Podcast is supported by Manulife Vitality. What's your vitality age? I just checked mine at vitalityage.ca and discovered I've got a vitality age of 32. Not bad considering I'm 33. You see, your vitality age is an indication of your overall health. And depending on your daily lifestyle choices, it could be higher or lower than your actual age. To get more people thinking about their overall health, Manulife is expanding its Manulife Vitality Wellness Program to help you understand how to improve your health and give you that

extra bit of accountability and motivation you've been looking for. Available on all Cover Me health and dental plans, the program works so that the more engaged you are and the healthier choices you make, the more points you can earn towards earning Amazon gift cards, discounts at hotels.com, and savings on insurance premiums. Plus, you can get an Apple Watch for as little as $0. To learn more, visit coverme.com or manulife.ca slash vitality. Once again, that's coverme.com or manulife.ca slash vitality. Okay, first things first. Well, yesterday, if you weren't able to attend, I hosted and organized my sixth millennial money meetup in Toronto. And it was a very exciting, fun freaking time. I love doing these events. I love being able

to hang out with people like you that's listening that we actually get to hang out in person. And if you were not able to attend or if you did, and you're like, damn, they talked about some great things. What was that thing? I cannot remember. You're in luck. I have recorded that whole panel discussion video and audio. I will be releasing it soon. Uh, maybe next week. I don't know. Soonish, very soonish. Um, it will be a live and, uh, of course to, to find out when these things go live. Cause I, I'm doing a lot of things. I do a fricking lot of things. Um, you just go on my email list. Cause that is how I announced things. That's how I let everybody know in real time what is up because, you know, I record these in advance of sometimes things have happened and I don't even share it on the podcast.

So go to JessicaMorehouse.com slash subscribe. You can just go to the website, JessicaMorehouse.com. There's a bunch of buttons where you can subscribe. I also have a bunch of freebies that you may or may not be aware of, like checklist free, like past webinars, like on-demand webinars, worksheets, guides, so many freaking free, amazing things to help you with your financial situation, whatever you're looking for. Like if I've got a moving out checklist, if you're moving out and you're like, what do I need though? You know, tax prep help,

budgeting spreadsheets, all these great things that you may want to check out because it's free again. Just go to jessicamorehouse.com slash resources and you can find all that stuff there. And I also have a great Facebook group called the Money Life Balance Facebook group, and you can find it at facebook.com slash group slash Money Life Balance. But it's just a private Facebook group where we can all talk about money and ask each other questions and not be afraid to ask a stupid question because there's no such thing as a stupid question. It just means you just don't know the answer again, right? So I started a couple years ago now there's over 2000 members is a great place. You can be American, you can be Canadian, you can be from any freaking country does not matter. It is all

about positivity and helping each other out and helping each other to like, you know, just get empowered and feel confident about our financial situations. Because that is what this is kind of the purpose of what I'm doing here is just so you can feel good about money or better about your money in the future because it's not that hard. It is all learnable and we all earn money, so we all got to figure out how to manage it properly, right? So yeah, hope to see you in the Facebook group. And one last thing before I let you go, you may not know this because I started out as a blogger and then I started this podcast, but recently, really this summer, I've been really focusing on making video content because, you know, might as well use that film degree that I got all those years ago. So I have a YouTube

channel just under my name, Jessica Morehouse. I've been putting out videos every single week about pretty much every kind of topic, you know, topics that I share on this podcast, but it's just me giving you pretty much answers to your questions. So, uh, you know, investing debt and credit, um, just managing your money. And then sometimes I do ridiculous things cause I just want an excuse to make a video on it. Like, you know, uh, talking about doing a DNA kit and stuff like that. Uh, totally irrelevant, but I just like sometimes just want an excuse to make a video about something that's not about money. But anyways, if you want to check it out, just go to YouTube, Google my name, Jessica Morehouse. You'll find me right up there. Make sure to subscribe and

check me out. Let me know what you think or what you want me to make a video on in the future. I think that'd be really, really cool. So that is it for me. Thank you so much for listening. I will be back here next Wednesday with a fresh new episode of the podcast and you're gonna love it. Actually, I've got two episodes for you next week. Exciting. So thanks again. I will see you back here next week. Have a good rest of your week. See you later. This podcast is distributed by the women in media podcast network find out more at women in media.network