Start With A Win - Discussing the Impact of Financial Literacy with Ryan Harris

Starting point is 00:00:00 Every day is filled with choices. You're here because you're choosing to start with a win. Get ready to be inspired, learn something new, and connect with the win nation. All right, coming to you from somewhere in quarantine out here in COVIDville. Yes, we are still not at the office. It's Adam Kotles here with Start With A Win. Producer Mark coming to us from the music center there. You got like a keyboard and guitars and everything behind you. Brand Viva Bunker.

Starting point is 00:00:40 Well, you know, it's a homage to my past. That's it. That's it. For those of you that don't know, Mark is an artiste, a musical artiste. That's right. Awesome. Well, hey, I'm really excited about this show. We have one of our repeat interviewees, guests, and amazing human beings back on the show today. So Mark, what do you say we dive into this? Let's get to it. Our buddy Ryan Harris with us. How you doing, man? Hey, Ryan. Good to be back, man. Honored to be back. Hey, it's great to see you. For those of you that don't know, and I know all of you know

Starting point is 00:01:16 who Ryan is, he's an amazing person, 10-year veteran of the NFL, Super Bowl 50 champion of my favorite team, the Denver Broncos. And since retiring, Ryan travels around and speaks about mindset, financial literacy, and leadership. Best-selling author, radio host. We're so glad to have you back, man. How you been? Dude, I've been great. I've been great. It's great to be back. And I think fondly about being in your rooftop office there at Remax and just learning from you as well as a leader and love what you've done with Remax and loved watching it since getting to interact with you. Thanks. I appreciate that. And I got to tell you, I have quoted you

Starting point is 00:01:55 quite a few times since then with, I am, I can, I will. That has stuck with me, man. You made a dent in my universe by telling us all about that. So thank you for what you did with that. Always happy to help, my friend. That's what I'm here for. Ryan, you've kind of shifted your career focus to financial literacy, which is an incredibly important aspect of society. I mean, I can tell you growing up, there wasn't enough financial literacy education for me. I had to go out and learn it the hard way. You just crash and burn financially, things like that. And you got to figure it out and make your way back. So what made you get into this shift and why do you feel this is so important

Starting point is 00:02:35 now? Yeah. I mean, it's been a constant in my life after my second year in the NFL. I'd made $1.2 million and I started in debt both seasons, $ dollars and I said you know this has to change and I grew up in a household where you know you just debt was you never paid off debt I literally didn't know you could pay off debt until after I bought my first house right like it just it wasn't a part of the conversation where I was and then I started seeing in NFL locker rooms that I was in the amount of money being spent and the amount of players that were broke after. I mean, 78% of NFL football players are bankrupt and either chemically dependent or divorced or all three just two years after playing. So I really wanted to make some

Starting point is 00:03:16 changes to build some lasting wealth for myself and my family. And in doing so, and the small changes, right? It's not gigantic changes you have to take, but small changes that make a huge difference in ways you could never know. And especially in two different parts of my career, pivotal points, it made my financial security based on my financial literacy, helped me get not only the best contract I could,

Starting point is 00:03:38 but play in the best position to continue my career. Awesome. Did you start studying financial literacy in the NFL? Is that kind of, yeah, we've got this whole thing going. And one of my degrees in economics and policy, isn't that crazy? I was doing one of my degrees from Notre Dame in economics and policy, but it was more, you know, economics of poverty and we would do kind of macro things like that. But yeah, man, I just started with 500 bucks in a Scott trade account. Now they're TD Ameritrade. And this guy, Warren Buffet, you know, he was he was talking about financial literacy.

Starting point is 00:04:14 Come to find out it's Warren Buffett, you know, but he was saying, buy what you know. So literally my first five stocks were Apple, Google, Chipotle, Amazon and Firestone tires. You know, that's what I started with. And and I actually forgot about it for a year. And then came back and Apple had gone from 109 to 640. And it was just like, wow, this is a really great way to spend my time. And you get the USA Today in every locker room in the NFL. But the one piece that was never touched was the money section. You got all these millionaires in there. No one's reading about money. So I would just read every day about things and see the trends and see the products. And so, you know, I got jumped on Netflix early, you know, jumped on Amazon early and those kinds

Starting point is 00:04:55 of plays really, really change you. But it's not just stocks, right, Adam? It's also what's the difference between price and cost? You know, the price of that new iPhone is $1,000, but the cost of it is all your expenses in the month plus that $1,000. Now, it's a $4,000 phone. And that's where most people go broke. And just the little everyday behaviors that we could really change, understand, delay purchases, and make a difference in our lives. I mean, you think about society,, you know, I had mentioned, um, I didn't really get much financial literacy training or education or whatever when I was young, when I was growing up and, you know, you start, you start your first job or whatever, you save some money and you're like, Oh, Hey, I want to buy a car. You know, I want to go out

Starting point is 00:05:39 with everybody. And then one, one trip to get some pizza or whatever, and you're broke again. What do you think would change in society if this became a bigger focus than it is? I mean, how would that help? You look at the underserved communities and there's no financial literacy training going on. How do you help the folks in the underserved communities, as well as just across the general society? I mean, what do you think this could do or could do if we actually focused on this more? It would change everything. It would change everything. And that's why I've gotten so much response talking about financial literacy, because it doesn't matter if you're making $10 or $10 million, you probably didn't learn or learn, like you mentioned earlier, through crash and burning the mistakes, but it would change education. This should be taught in schools. Why do I need the quadratic formula when I don't understand compound interest and how I can actually have the leverage and interest rates, right? Why would we teach those two things separately?

Starting point is 00:06:50 It would make our community safer, right? Because you have more people invested in their communities, investing in homes they bought through REMAX and others, right? So you get to get these opportunities to have ownership and now you're empowered. And also then employers, they have a happier workforce. So you're talking about all kinds of ways. And especially in the social justice awareness we have now, think about this. I was talking with the police chief of Denver police, and they talked about how there's a kid they had, they had to arrest. He got caught with three stolen credit cards. They don't, they couldn't prove he stole it. But now all of a sudden, because you look at money differently, let's look at this case.

Starting point is 00:07:25 This kid got caught at a grocery store buying $380 worth of groceries at 17 years old, right? So $380 on three credit cards of food. Now he's going to jail for two to six years because it's a class two felony. Now it's $600 to book this young man in the prison system. $34,000 per year. So I'm not saying you should take and go buy groceries with stolen credit cards, but I'm saying once we understand financial literacy, you can say, I'm not going to pay for a $300, $400 crime that didn't injure anybody. And it can change everything that we touch and interact with every day.

Starting point is 00:08:04 I love that part because nobody wakes up in the morning and goes, hey, I want to be broke today. It just doesn't happen. But at the same time, you kind of start spiraling into this helpless feeling of being or lacking the financial literacy. And so that's what you know is, okay, I'm going to end up broke by the end of the day. Again, I got to go find some way to get some more money and people, they not only don't have focus on, okay, if I focus on building, you know, the compound effect of their finances and making investments and deposits into their accounts, things like that, knowing that if you, if you serve the community this way, you'll have the ability to put money into savings or put food on the table for your

Starting point is 00:08:50 family, things like that. And then not just that, but look what happens when you start leveraging that over your life. And, and, you know, you had mentioned it, um, you know, our friend Warren Buffet. Uh, I mean, I'll, I'll tell I'll tell you what, that's exactly what that guy talks about. Yeah. Buy what you know. And I get people, and it also increases market share in so many areas, right? The financial industry. If you have more people with more savings, that's more money for, you know, different types of the financial industry. Housing, right? Entertainment, right? And also, how about the emotional feeling? That's one of the things that, housing, right? Entertainment, right? And also, how about the emotional feeling? That's one of the things that you don't get when you don't save

Starting point is 00:09:29 your money is you don't get the emotional power to be happy to purchase something. I think about that scene in Wayne's World 2. He walks in and he gets the guitar. Not today, my friend. I'm paying cash, right? That moment, when you do make a purchase, you've been planning for it, saving for it, and you can purchase it with joy. I mean, you take the joy out of your purchases when you're always in that rat race, and it can really change just by a few small things. Wow. So yeah, the emotional benefit, and we talk a lot about emotional health and psychological health, things like that. So we know we need to head in that direction. What change can someone make

Starting point is 00:10:12 who does not feel like they have savings? You talk about these changes that people can make. Shed some light on those for us, please. Yeah, I'll give you three quick ones. One, listen, and nobody tells us this, saving money will be the hardest thing you'll have to do in your life as an adult. No one tells us that. I got a $450,000 check. I wanted to buy everything. You know what I'm saying? Because I had the money. What I didn't know is there was a $60,000 tax bill waiting for me in April. And you wouldn't believe, Adam, how many times just in the NFL, people get caught like that. So just know that saving money is incredibly hard to do. If it's

Starting point is 00:10:50 hard for you, good. It's hard for everybody. And number two, how about just thinking about delaying your purchases, delay your purchases three months to three years. I had a, I had a guy who I was big on teaching guys how to invest when they're in the NFL. And one of the guys, he's a brand new player. He was in his second year, but he really didn't make money this first year. So he's making $585,000, which at the end of taxes is about, you know, call it 385, right? Then you've got fees and living. So you're down to about 250 without getting your parents tickets and eating and doing all that stuff. So I tell this young man, I'm like, listen, do not go buy a new car. Do not go buy a new car. And he goes and buy a brand new Porsche

Starting point is 00:11:29 Panamera. That's a $98,000 car. Now delay your purchases three months to three years. Three months later, my teammate was released, never played in the NFL again. He's got no home, no income, no savings, no investments with a Porsche Panamera going back to Philadelphia without winter tires. It's preventable, right? surviving pretty good before without it. So just delay it. You can probably get a discount on it. You're in the real estate industry. If a house sits for three months, am I getting a discount? You know what I'm saying? And it's like, so all of a sudden my negotiating is better. And if three years, somebody will give you, you know, whether it's a TV or something, you'll get some deals. So just delay your purchases. It's practicing that. Then we mentioned price versus cost. Don't get caught up on the price of something.

Starting point is 00:12:28 Understand your budget, what you need every month to live, and then anything you want to buy, add that value to that price. So now that's the cost of that iPhone, of going out of that trip, and that's where people get lost. Yeah, it's so true. One of the worst things you can do to yourself is find a windfall and not be financially illiterate when that happens. I don't remember what the percentage is, but some ridiculously high percentage of people who have nothing, who win the lotto, end up with nothing again in a very short period of time. Yeah, we don't get taught what to do with money.

Starting point is 00:13:04 And then also, there are entire businesses that make money off of us not knowing what in a very short period of time. Yeah. We don't get taught what to do with money. And then also there are entire businesses that make money off of us not knowing what to do with money, right? Whether it's the payday loans or loan interest rates or an adjustable rate mortgage. I mean, these are all things that really take people who don't have financial literacy and squeeze them for every penny they got. That's a good point there because it is easy for people to fall in that trap, but it's harder for them to fall in the trap when they learn about financial literacy. So where can someone learn about financial literacy? Yeah. Well, listening to your podcast, of course, you know what I'm saying? Also, just find out whatever interests you, you know, in terms of if you're an artist, what does financial literacy look like for an artist?

Starting point is 00:13:46 Is that renting a studio? Is that tax breaks for a studio you create in your house? You know, if that whatever your industry is, learn who's wealthy and also look around. You know, one of the best things that I've been able to have are some mentors. And it's amazing. Wealthy people don't look rich. I haven't seen Bill Gates in any chains and diamond Rolexes. You know what I'm saying? Jeff Bezos either. You know, Adam, you're missing your chains. Where are they at, man? amazing. Wealthy people don't look rich. I haven't seen Bill Gates in any chains and diamond Rolexes. You know what I'm saying? Jeff Bezos either, you know, Adam, you're missing your chains. Where are they at, man? Because wealthy people don't look rich, but we have this idea that wealth is that fast car chains, watch helicopters and private jets and wealth is sustained growth over time. So learn, I would, I would advise reading about just Google,

Starting point is 00:14:26 you know, Warren Buffett, Buffet, Warren Buffett. You know, also there's a lot of other actors in the area as well as myself. So just even searching financial literacy in Google will bring up a bunch of different topics. And also, you know, as a real estate agent, real estate agents have an ability too to talk about the tax deductions in a mortgage. You know, when a real estate agent, real estate agents have an ability to talk about the

Starting point is 00:14:45 tax deductions in a mortgage. When I was looking for a house, I never understood why agents only focused on what I was available to get. How about, hey, you're in a great spot. You're going to be able to deduct this much from your finances every month. And this is a huge purchase for you and your family. We're so excited to be on this journey with you. I mean, which real estate agent do you want to go with? So it's all this opportunity there and just search financial literacy, search or price out your payments. If you bought a house or a car, write out how many payments you got, see how much more you're paying by not paying that mortgage down early. I love it. Some great tips there. This is really interesting. And obviously learning

Starting point is 00:15:23 is part of this process. So you really have to be interested in learning and applying these things. And I was told long ago, a few books to read. First of all, Think and Grow Rich is a good one. Richest Man in Babylon, another good one. And then Rich Dad, Poor Dad. So I mean, just those three, type in rich in Google and you end up with all three of those. But they have some great financial, just philosophy. But ultimately, I mean, the stuff that you talk about and have educated some of your peers on is a little more mechanical, which is fantastic because everybody wants to know, okay, what should I do? You know, the, the philosophy you you've touched on that so well here, but what can I do? And mean, I learned a lot. I felt pretty smart when I knew about dividends because I had some stocks with dividends. And Adam, you and I are around wealthy people. Does anybody ever talk about stock prices and companies? All the time. So now you

Starting point is 00:16:36 even just by learning, you have a whole language set that puts you in a class of wealth that you haven't been before. And like you said, it's also small mechanical things. Yep. That's right. That's awesome. So you talk about lead to win also. Yeah. I love this. You know, give us a quick, uh, fly over again real quick of, of lead to win. I, I just, I love this mindset. I love the, the, uh, the focus and intent on that. Yeah. Well, I think, you I think it's been my experience, whether it's speaking to companies, being a part of companies, being in the NFL, sometimes people

Starting point is 00:17:11 get put into leadership roles or you become a leader or you get the job you want. And it all becomes about what kind of leader am I? What type of leader should I do? What are the best practices of leaders? And those things are all good, right? But also, why are you leading? Don't become a manager just to fly under the radar. If you're going to lead, lead to win. And you do that with the right mindset. But most importantly, as a leader, you've got to lead with an example, not by example. People lose the context.

Starting point is 00:17:42 In one story, the year we won the Super Bowl, you know, we had a teammate who was going to, we weren't going to go to the playoffs, let alone win a Super Bowl if he didn't get his play together. And players would scream at him on the field and coaches would scream at him in meetings and nothing was changing. And so finally, one day I went to him, I said, you know, when I was your age, I started taking copious notes. I took notes on everything I could. And I went from making two mistakes a game to two mistakes a year. And wouldn't you know, the next day he had five pens on his desk in a notebook because I led with an example. That's how you win. Because I've been taking notes next to him for months and he didn't realize it. We have to give examples. People may look at you, Adam, and say, oh, it's always been peachy, right? Well, you've been in some pretty un-peachy situations, but we forget that context. And especially as leaders,

Starting point is 00:18:29 to win, you must give an example of a time you had to fight through that's very similar to those who are working with you or underneath you. And then lastly, have fun, man. Do not be a leader who sucks the joy out of life. If you are that leader, I'll tell you right now, you suck. You're an awful leader and everyone around you knows it. If you can't have fun, what are you doing? Even on our radio show, we have funky Fridays because funk can be celebrated and enjoyed by everybody. But now you know, every Friday you tune into our show, we're going to give you some great tunes. We're going to laugh and move. We're going to have fun every day, but especially Fridays. And there's so many opportunities like that, whether it's morning meetings to do that. So by having the right mindset to lead to win, leading with an example and having fun, you can lead to win.

Starting point is 00:19:15 Man, this is an action-packed podcast here. I love this. This is great. Ryan, we just ate up all the time, man. We're out of time already. So we're going to have to have you on the show again. Cause this is a good conversation. I really appreciate it. But Ryan, I know you've answered this before, but everybody wants to know. I ask all of our guests here. You've, you've done so much cool stuff. You're helping society so much, uh, your friends and businesses and leaders and things like that. Ryan, how do you start your day with a win? Man, that is a great question. I've really found that we can create our day by making an intention. So even this morning,

Starting point is 00:19:59 I got three kids, a little tired, but hey, I woke up, I'm happy, I'm alive. I'm going to have a great day with my kids. I'm going to smile, I, I'm alive, I'm going to have a great day with my kids, I'm going to smile, I'm going to laugh, and then try and have a bad day after that. So I always try and smile and choose gratitude right early in the morning to get my soggy bottom out of bed. Smile and choose gratitude. That's a very powerful, very focused effort that makes a huge difference on everybody that you come in contact with. So thank you for sharing that. Ryan Harris, Super Bowl 50 champion, 10-year veteran of the NFL, amazing leader, amazing public speaker, radio show host. I mean, you're doing a lot of great

Starting point is 00:20:38 stuff for society. Thank you so much for being on Start With A Win. Thank you, Adam. And thanks for everything you're doing, educating us all. Love your podcast. Love your work, my friend. Thank you so much for listening to Start With A Win. If you'd like to ask Adam a question or potentially be on our next episode, give us a call and leave us a message at 888-581-4430. Don't forget to go onto iTunes and subscribe, write a review and rate the show. For more great content, head over to startwithawin.com, follow Adam on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter, and remember, start with a win.

Start With A Win - Discussing the Impact of Financial Literacy with Ryan Harris

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