The Personal Finance Podcast - How to Get Your Financial Life TOGETHER with Haley Sacks A.K.A Mrs. Dow Jones

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Starting point is 00:01:05 aka Mrs. Dow Jones, on how to get your financial life together. What's up, everybody? Welcome to the Personal Finance Podcast. I'm your host, Andrew, founder of MasterMoney.com. And today on the Personal Finance Podcast, we're going to be talking to Mrs. Dow Jones, aka Haley Sacks. And if you have any questions, hit me up on Instagram at Master Money Co and TikTok at Master Money Co. And follow us on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or whatever podcast player you love listening to this podcast to.

Starting point is 00:01:58 And if you want to help out the show, leave a five-star rating and review on Apple Podcast and Spotify. And don't forget to check us out on YouTube as well at Master Money on YouTube. Now today, I am so incredibly excited to share this conversation that I have with Haley Sacks, aka Mrs. Dow Jones. And Haley is someone who is one of the most entertaining creators when it comes to finance on the internet. So I wanted to have her come on the podcast because she has a way of teaching finance to make it incredibly entertaining and incredibly fun.

Starting point is 00:02:33 And she has a YouTube channel that I've been watching for years now and has an amazing way of just teaching you, hey, here's how you. can spend your money and here's how you can buy the things you want and start to build wealth at the same time. Here's why wealth equals freedom. And we talk about a whole bunch of things in this episode from how Haley likes to invest to what Haley would do if she was just starting out. We talk about how to handle debt, financial advisors, how to budget. So this is an all-encompassing way to turn your money around. And this is something that is so valuable for most people to learn. In addition, we talk about generosity. We talk about how she runs her business and some of the favorite money tools

Starting point is 00:03:15 that Haley has as well. So without further ado, here is Mrs. Dow Jones. So today we have Haley Sacks, aka Mrs. Dow Jones. And Haley, welcome to the Personal Finance podcast. Thank you for having me. Wow. The honor is all mine. So you are a self-proclaimed financial pop star. So would you say you're more of a Brittany or Christina? Ooh, I'm definitely more of a Christina just because I am and controlled my own life. No conservorship to be found. Absolutely. So you have one of the coolest names.

Starting point is 00:03:52 I love the name Mrs. Dow Jones. How did you come up with that name? I came up with Mrs. Dow Jones because I view investing. Let's just jump into it. I view investing as a way, obviously, to set yourself up for the future. And I think that there is a history in our society of women specifically looking outside of themselves for their future stability. But I want to teach women and everyone about money so that they understand that the stability

Starting point is 00:04:23 can be found within themselves. So you can be married to the Dow married to your portfolio, but you don't need to be married to anyone for your money. Exactly. And I love that as well because I think that's one of the keys and the freedom and everything that comes along with money is so huge. So huge. There is a ton of boring money advice out there, and you found a way to make it really fun. Tell us a little bit about your background and why you started teaching people finance.

Starting point is 00:04:49 My background is not at all financial. I started in comedy and in entertainment. I worked for Lauren Michaels and for David Letterman and was a content creator. It was always super passionate about having a voice. I loved the internet. I loved creating. But it wasn't clear at the beginning what I was there to say. And money was a huge wound for me. And, you know, for myself, speaking for myself, but I think it's true for a lot of people leaning into your biggest insecurity or sore spot is where your best art comes from. So when I finally started to take care of my finances and teach myself through creating content. Like, I wasn't going to listen to anyone else. I was only going to be able to learn if it was explained to me in this like specific pop culturey way. And it worked for other

Starting point is 00:05:46 people too. Absolutely. And speaking in the beginnings, I've heard you say in a previous life that you didn't have your financial life together at the beginning. So what made you actually turn that around? Oh my gosh. Yes. I feel like all financial gurus or like leaders are so childhood like lemon need stand investor just being like, yeah, I've always, you know, totally understood it. And I had this innate knack for it. And I want to let it be known that that was not me. I did not have an innate knack for it. The only knock that I had was for spending money, ignoring my credit card statements, being supported by other people, looking outside of myself for money and just being like generally yeah, not at all in control of my financial life. And I got to a really dark place. And I don't think

Starting point is 00:06:41 it's talked about enough how not taking care of your finances impacts your well-being. I always say that if your financial health, your emotional health, and your physical health are not in harmony, then your quality of life is going to be really deteriorated. And I saw that happen to myself. Absolutely. And I completely agree. I think it's one of the most refreshing things. when you can actually tell people, I didn't have this together at the beginning. I did not know what I was doing. So I decided to go figure it out. And that's what anybody can do. And that's why I think anybody can build wealth. They just have to have that first step in that financial education. And that's one of the biggest things that you provide, which is absolutely amazing.

Starting point is 00:07:19 And I always tell people, because I know from my own experience, like, it's so overwhelming at the beginning. There's so much to do, so much to learn. And I have a course called Start here, which is like our best selling, basically first step course. And it's a really fun content. Like you want to, I say it's the only bingeable financial course you'll ever watch. Like you actually want to watch it. But we only let people, like we have something. I don't do the coding or whatever, but there's something on it where you're only allowed to do it for 20 minutes a day. because we're so much more interested in the consistency of your habits versus going all in. And like, we've all had that manic Sunday night where we feel so broke and we're going to change.

Starting point is 00:08:10 We make a mint account or whatever. And we're like, we're never going to spend money again. We're moving. We're going to live in a van. And then two days later, you're back to your old bullshit. So I'm all about the small changes. and I know in my own life, that is the only thing that saved me was little changes every day, just trying to be better.

Starting point is 00:08:33 Exactly. It's that 1% better every single day. I love that 20 minute time limit. Yeah, 20 minutes a day. I still do it. I literally still do it. That's awesome. Like I know what my task is for today with my finances.

Starting point is 00:08:46 Right. That's awesome. I love that. And I know one of the biggest outcomes that you can have with your money is becoming financially free. And you had a great tweet recently that said, I don't know who needs to hear this, but if you become financially educated, you can turn your dreams of freedom, security, and independence into reality.

Starting point is 00:09:02 And I could not agree more about that. So how has this impacted your behavior and your everyday decisions? Well, I think that something that really changes, at least for me, and I know from my community, when you start to learn about finance, is you start to weigh decisions today versus your goals for tomorrow. So, I mean, I find financial goals to be like really broad. I sort of hate when people tell, especially people who are early in their financial journeys to have financial goals. I'm like, I'm going to give you a financial goal. Let's like have an emergency fund. Let's get out a high interest rate debt. But, you know, once you do sort of get motivated, you start to realize how much is

Starting point is 00:09:52 within your control and how big the world is and how much opportunity you have and how much potential your money has if you use it in the right way and you can grow it and you can actually control your spending and be able to have it compound. Right. And it's one of the most powerful things. I think it's one of the most freeing feelings. Once you figure out how to turn that around, you just have complete control over your life and you can figure out how much more do I have to save to have that freedom. I can figure out that in number

Starting point is 00:10:25 because it's really just a math problem. So I love that as well. I totally like I love your energy. It's like I feel like we're very much on the same page where it's like we both feel like, okay, like this is the key to freedom. Like it's not even about having a yacht or anything like that. It's literally just about feeling in control of your life

Starting point is 00:10:45 and like anything is possible. Like I am investing my money right now. now towards having a biodynamic farm on St. Lucia. That is my dream. I want to live in the Caribbean. Like that's it. I want to buy dope property and like build it out. And that gets me so excited. I will say no to anything just because I'm like, oh my gosh, I'm working towards something that is like better. The like short term satisfaction of something doesn't really compare to like the long term what I'm building towards. Exactly. That's amazing. To what guys, you into that. Honestly, I've been Mrs. Dow Jones, like, working in this since early 2018.

Starting point is 00:11:24 So for a while. And I'd always, obviously, like the financial goals thing, I, you know, read so much. I do so much research and, like, create so much content. And there was always the thing about, like, have financial goals. And I didn't understand it because I was ever motivated by, like, retiring in Florida or, like, I don't even know if I want to retire. Like, I love my job. I would love to just keep working forever and like I feel so grateful to even have my community that I can't imagine that I would ever be like peace see y'all in the next life like you know what I mean like that's not my MO but I was in St. Lucia and I'd never been before and I was on like a boat around the island and I was just looking at the island and I was like whoa is this my financial goal like I was so happy

Starting point is 00:12:13 and I for the first time it just clicked for me I was like this is really what I want like Like, I want to live here. I don't know why it's not more normal to live in the Caribbean. Why do we always go there for vacation? But how come I can't make it my dream to live there? Exactly. And I want everybody listening to hear that because that is the power that your money has is you can kind of figure out and have that aha moment of what you want your dollars to do.

Starting point is 00:12:38 And then all of a sudden, once you figure that out, you can start changing your behavior to put your money towards exactly what you want to do. It's that financial freedom. So that's absolutely amazing. I love that. What is your financial goal? I have a ton of them. I don't think I'm going to ever retire either.

Starting point is 00:12:53 For me, I think I want to do this for the longest time because my passion is teaching people how to build wealth. I absolutely love doing it. Yeah, it's such a good thing to do. It is. It's one of the best things because it just creates freedom for everybody's life like we're talking about. So that's my main thing.

Starting point is 00:13:07 It's really like actionable therapy for people. Exactly. That's exactly right. And it's all about like who clicks for you as a teacher too. Like I think, you know, like it's like people always. ask me about other people in the space. And I'm like, it's so beautiful that there's other people in the space because all I want is like for more people to be reached. I have to know, yeah. So you don't know what it is. You want to keep working. And I've noticed there's so many different

Starting point is 00:13:32 types of people that just click for people. And some of their methodologies may be different than, you know, each of ours. But it's one of those things that if their methodology works for you and your psyche, then it's going to, you know, go towards that because there's so many different ways to build wealth. It's the best way to just figure out what works for you and go towards it. So if someone was just starting off and just trying to get their finances turn around, what would be the first thing that you would tell them to get started? The first thing that I would tell people to do is to have a money date, like sit down and figure out where they're starting, you know?

Starting point is 00:14:05 And then I would also tell them to slow down. Like the momentum is incredible, but momentum doesn't last. Energy doesn't last. habit is what lasts. And so that's why I'm so tied to the 20 minutes a day thing because I know with my students, like they are that person who's like, okay, I'm investing myself. I'm going to buy this course. I want to, you know, level up, change the game. And you want to keep them motivated. And the best way to do that is, A, to figure out where their starting point is so that they see like the potential of change. And then also to rein them in and make sure that they come back to

Starting point is 00:14:45 So one big thing I hear you saying is for beginners is to kind of focus on that habit instead of trying to set financial goals, which I love. And it reminds me of atomic habits, the book Atomic Habits, where he kind of talks through. You love Atomic habits, yeah. Exactly. And I do the same thing where you give yourself rewards. Like, it is a habit. Like being good. And you know what? Being out of control of your money is a habit too. So. Exactly. Yeah. But like it's, it really is the first step for anyone is really just taking inventory and in start here, my course, we built out this amazing interface called the money book, which is you put in all of your spending from the last month. Because I mean,

Starting point is 00:15:28 a lot of people say, okay, you got to go through your spending for like the last six months or three months. But like if last month was pretty normal for you, like we can use last month. Like we You know, the first time I ever tried to do my finances, I audited a year, which was insane. I should never have done that. But, you know, there's a lot of weird advice out there. I don't think you need to do a year. I think you can just do one month. And go through the month and see where you're at.

Starting point is 00:15:54 And then we compare it automatically to the like Elizabeth Warren 50, 30, 20 budget, which, I mean, overall is a pretty solid framework, I would say, for anyone's asset allocation in terms of like rent, and, you know, future you. And then from there, you can see, oh, my God, I'm spending so much more on rent than I should be, or I'm like, you know, underspending in this way. And then you're able to figure out what are the small changes that I can make towards the next month and you just keep going. It's sort of like, you know, when you read about people who have lost like 400 pounds and they're like, the first thing I did was cut out the leader of Coca-Cola that I drink every day.

Starting point is 00:16:39 And automatically in one week, I lost 70 pounds. And you're just like, wow, that's amazing. But it's such a small thing and it's such a big impact. So just looking for those simple changes at the beginning is really important. And that's the same thing I did because I watched some advice early on. I remember going back like an entire year and it was so overwhelmed. Yeah, it was horrible. Yeah.

Starting point is 00:17:00 It's terrible. So it's one of those things where I agree with. Because we made it. Right. I know. It is. I think it's one of those things that I agree with you. Just go back a month or two and then figure out, you know, if it's normal, that's going to be

Starting point is 00:17:11 very close to where you are and you can make those adjustments on the fly because adjustments are part of managing your money anyway is making those adjustments over time. 100%. It's not going to be a straight line. Like it's really just about like having the intention and then just to remain in tune with yourself checking in. Absolutely. So lately, I've been noticing how fast things are changing at home.

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Starting point is 00:20:30 at IDPrivatewealth.com. So now I want to shift gears here because I hate to be a debty downer, but I want to talk about debt and how you think people should handle debt because a lot of people are in debt right now. Consumer debt's at his highest. So what is your best tips for the first step someone should take? If say that, for example, they're in credit card debt. First of all, I feel for anyone who's in debt because any time that you're relying on

Starting point is 00:20:55 someone else for money or like someone is like paying for your lifestyle and it doesn't feel like you can afford it. It's just such a horrible, debilitating feeling. So I think it's really brave. You have debt that you're even listening to this show and that you're making these small steps to educate yourself. So good on you. And I'm sure that you can guess the next part of my answer, but it is to drum roll, please, figure out where you are. What debt do you have? What are the interest rates? What are the amounts? Actually, we have a free debt payout planner on financescoal.com, which is really great. So you can download that and put in all your amounts and figure out what you should prioritize because any debt below 7% is not going to take as much a

Starting point is 00:21:49 priority as debt that is over 7% interest rates. And I also think it's really sort of exciting with debt because you can see how little changes really add up, you know, like if you just add a little bit more payoff to that monthly amount, it really can just slim down the amount of principle that you are dealing with. So I think just like facing it, like staring at your debt naked in the mirror and being like, hey, debt, like what is up? We are going to crush you. And here's the step that I can take today to do that. But I also think with debt, it's like, there's so many people who are so aggressive with it, which is if that is your personality type, amazing. But like, again, I would rather you be consistent than I would want you to be like so intense about it. Like,

Starting point is 00:22:42 I would still want you to enjoy your life, you know? For sure. And that's the key is being able to put some of your dollars towards the things that brings you value in addition to paying off that debt. And I agree with you on the high interest debt is the first thing to go for sure. Anything above that 7% range is absolutely the best way, the fastest way to do it as well, which is awesome. But also, like, money is not, like, really money is not happiness. I can tell you this as from being on the other side as someone who, like, grew up with privilege, like, it does not do anything. And so, like, yeah, it brings you peace of mind, but, like, really freedom is happiness. So, like, even if you feel FOMO missing out on

Starting point is 00:23:18 something because you're prioritizing your debt payoff, ultimately the rewards of your mental health will be higher because you'll be attaining freedom. Exactly. It reduces your stress. It reduces your anxiety. Every and it makes you feel so empowered. Yeah. You're like, I can do anything. I have my own back. Exactly. It can absolutely change your life when you do that. So if someone is just starting out, how would you tell them to control their spending? You talked about the 50, 30, 20 budget. Is that the best way to start, you think? Yeah. So I think the biggest thing with controlling your spending is like I really, I don't believe in like the super itemized budgets of like,

Starting point is 00:23:56 this is how much you can spend on a movie this month. It's like, what if I don't want to go to the movies this month? But I'd rather just have you review your spending so that, yeah, you understand the 50, 30, 20 budget and you can understand like, broadly speaking, what is the amount of discretionary income that I have and then be able to weigh your purchases around that. I also really encourage people to take a second before they make a purchase, like emotional spending is real. I mean, I've struggled with it in my own life before.

Starting point is 00:24:30 Like, I'm a sucker for, like, any sort of witchcraft store that wants to sell me, like, an oil that will attract love or, like, prosperity or sage or whatever. I mean, it's like $70 out of my pocket every time I walk into one of those. Or, you know what I mean? Or it's like, or I love, like, a bookstore. I love to buy notebooks and greetings. cards and just stupid, stupid stuff. And it's totally emotional spending 100%. Because in that moment, I feel like, wow, this purchase is going to change everything for me. I'm going to buy this, like, scented oil. And suddenly, like, I'm going to, you know, have the man of my dreams and have billions of dollars and whatever else I'm looking for. But it doesn't actually help. So I think taking a

Starting point is 00:25:22 is really important because that is a habit. A lot of the emotional spending is a habit. So just asking yourself, like, do I really need this? Why am I buying this? How do I feel? Like, do I have so much anxiety right now walking into this purchase? And like, is this even going to help? You know? Right. A lot of like making any strides in your life is like managing your emotions. Because if you don't manage them, they'll manage you. And I get that emotional spending all the time. I mean, that Amazon button is way too easy for me to click and I click it all day long. So it's one of those things that there's probably three boxes at my door right now. So I want to shift it over to a little bit to investing in retirement and stuff like that. Now we want to make sure that everyone isn't retiring

Starting point is 00:26:04 in a visa without us. So what is your favorite way to invest so that we can grow our money and pursue financial freedom? So the biggest thing for me that I always say is like I'm always with people who are like, oh my God, Haley, you are a financial pop star. What do you think about crypto? What do you think about this star? And I'm like, wow, it's so anticlimactic because I'm actually the most boring person in the world. I am so safe with my money. I am literally, I do not want to get rich quick. I know all the statistics.

Starting point is 00:26:34 I am not trying to skip anyone in line for my wealth building. I am all about those like normal returns. So give me an index fund. Let us buy the S&P 500. Let me buy a basket of stock. so I am automatically diversified. And I know because I work with public.com, which is a great brokerage, I love them

Starting point is 00:26:58 because there's like a social aspect to it too. So like, you know, there's a timeline. People talk about what they're investing in, whatever. But I like, when I first started using it, I would start buying individual stocks. And I was like, wow, not only is this, again, emotional spending because I'm like seeing that random person bought this stock. I should buy it too, which is like the same thing as like you go to Thanksgiving and your cousin is

Starting point is 00:27:24 telling you to buy crypto really quickly. But also they never work out. Like the returns just never work out. And yeah, so I'm all about the long game. Exactly. That's exactly what we talk about here too is index funds and ETFs because. ETSs and index funds for sure. They're the best. And it's one of my favorite stats is that professional money managers, 90% of them can't outperform the market. And then the 10% that do, they don't outperform the market year in and year out. So why does anybody else think that they can is the biggest key there? I know it's so crazy, right? It's wild. And there's so much bad information out there, and I go through Instagram or TikTok or whatever else. And there are so many people pitching things from investing into life insurance, it's cash value to crypto things. It's just going all over the place.

Starting point is 00:28:08 But the biggest thing is to just maintain focus that unless you think the U.S. economy is going to go down, index funds and ETFs are the way to go because you're just buying a large diversified basket of stocks. It's the best way to really have consistent returns. And you can kind of just index and chill. You don't have to sit there and index and chill. I like that. Exactly. I also think about a lot like with volatility. Like I never really care about stock market volatility because I really view it as like the fee that you pay in order to have the privilege of growing wealth. So like, you know, I have to deal. with these ups and downs, a bear market, a bull market, whatever, as like a payoff. And doesn't that makes sense? Like, shouldn't I have to give up something in order to have my money grow? Like,

Starting point is 00:28:55 it's nothing in life is like easy. It's always going to have another side of it. So that really helps me a lot too. And I tell people that a lot. I find like the financial news to be as exaggerated as like pop culture news, which is I think why I like it because I love the Kardashians and I love pop culture and stuff like that. But like I now start to read it like that and it really has made the impact less. Like I'm still gossiping about all of it. But it's a I don't think that much of it is true. I agree as well. And I'm actually intentionally ignorant when it comes to financial news now. I just kind of ignore it because it may be kind of make too many emotional spending decisions when I would watch all the time. Yeah. I agree. So if someone's starting out,

Starting point is 00:29:39 what is your opinion on financial advisors? Because I've heard you tell you. a story about how Rihanna was fleeced by her financial advisor. So should people use a financial advisor? That's one of my favorite stories, the Rihanna's story. And I'll tell it, but I will preface it by saying that the moral of that story is more that no matter who you are, how big you get, how rich you are, how many people are working for you, you have to have an eye on your bottom line or no one else will. So we see it with women who abdicate financial power to men, get like screwed when he dies or when they get divorced or whatever like you can never fully let go of your finances and i feel like people are always wanting to like that i'm like this the one thing you

Starting point is 00:30:25 really can't do so basically i think riana was like coming up she had ponder replay she was you know working with jz she was busy and she was making all this money and i'm sure someone in her like record label was like use this business manager he's great he's great he's he will, like, grow your wealth, whatever. So she just was cashing checks, funneling them to him, never was really explained what was happening, never understood it, just sort of blindly agreed as a lot of people do, and found out that pretty much all of her earnings had been lost. And that is where the song, bitch, better have my money comes from.

Starting point is 00:31:11 And obviously it's an amazing story because now she's a billionaire. And I also really believe that you can't learn without getting, like, I learn best on my feet as well. So I'm like, okay, this happened for a reason. Like there's something good that came out of this because I'm sure that that will never happen to her again. But I don't think that means that all financial advisors are bad. I think that it really just means that if you're working with someone who is not, making their decisions clear to you, then you need to work with someone else because no one should make you feel stupid financially. Finance is not that hard, honey, I do it. This is not rocket science,

Starting point is 00:31:55 okay? I could grow your wealth in my sleep. So if they're making it sound like it's a foreign language and something that you could never, ever explain, then I would run the other direction. I would also run the other direction if anyone ever told me that they could bring insane returns. Like, I just, I'm so, like, that's just so not my vibe. Absolutely. And that is the biggest key is nobody's going to care as much about your retirement and your money as much as you do. So making sure you check it is the biggest key overall if you're going to work with the advisor. So one big thing that we are big on here is being generous with your money.

Starting point is 00:32:29 And I've heard you talk about this a little bit. What is your opinion about generosity with your money? So I believe, really, that money is energy. and I don't think that it will come to you if you hold onto it so tight. So I really believe that there is an abundance of money in the world and that I can attract as much as I want if I do work that is actually like aligned with my goal and with my purpose. And I also don't believe in being stingy or holding onto it.

Starting point is 00:33:01 And I think that you get as much giving as you do getting. You actually get more giving. So it's really important to me to be generous just in my daily life, but also overall, like, as a person in the world, making sure that I'm donating. And I have an impact part of my company where we help women who were affected by COVID, which is like every woman, but like especially moms. And we give them financial advisors and financial planning. And we help them get back on their feet. But I love that you bring up generosity. I think it's like really not talked about enough.

Starting point is 00:33:37 world and it's so greedy to be like, it's mine, all my money. Like, I'm never like none for you. That is an insane way to live and it will not bring you more. Because the hard, think about it if you're like dating someone, like the more that you hold on to someone, the less they're going to want to be with you. So you have to be free with it. And you also like think about how much money has improved your life, you, the general you, how much it could improve other people's lives. And so much of life is just circumstance. Like, I know that I'm sitting here because of my parents and like the life that I led that allowed me to become a content creator.

Starting point is 00:34:20 Like, this is privilege. So you have to make sure that you're thinking about others always. Yeah, it's super important to me. I want to have more impact. I want to be more generous. I would love to do something with schools to. to bring financial literacy to the masses in like a really fun way. I know that now it's like being taught in schools a little bit,

Starting point is 00:34:40 but I can't imagine that the curriculums are any fun. So I would love to like get in there, jazz them up. I think it's super important. I agree. And that is one of the biggest reasons why I want to teach people to build wealth is because imagine if everybody learned how to get their money together and then they gave away, say 10% of their income after they got their money together, figured out how their money worked and how much different the world would be

Starting point is 00:35:02 if we actually started to build wealth, because I think money is abundant as well. That's why I believe anybody can build wealth. So I think if everybody starts to do that and they could give money away how amazing it would be. And that's one of the keys and one of the mission statements of why we actually do this. I love that. So you are a financial pop star like we talked about and someone who also runs their own business. So how do you actually manage your time to get it all done? Oh my gosh.

Starting point is 00:35:24 I mean, I have the best team in the world. Like, I think that I would not be anywhere without them. Like I have an amazing project manager who literally like 10 minutes before this interview. I was shooting something was like, you need to stop right now because you actually have this and you need to go get ready. You know, like I always say I like people in my life who will dom me because I'm a pretty powerful person. And so I like to have people around who keep me in line. But something that's really important for me with managing my own business is my mornings. I know that's so cheesy and you're probably waiting for me to tell you I take an ice bath next.

Starting point is 00:36:05 But I truly believe in all of that stuff. And I think like as much as you can put effort in like as much as you can be disciplined and like show yourself that you are the boss, it will pay off. Because a business is so much work. Like it's crazy. Like being creative and doing what we do is such a pleasure and such a privilege. But the business part of it is can be really tough. And so, you know, making sure that I am taking care of myself is really important. And then also having people around me who can support the things that I am not good at naturally.

Starting point is 00:36:39 Absolutely. I love that. And that's where I think the content creation side is one thing I always talk about. The content creation is energizing and the business side is somewhat draining. So you have to kind of find that balance. And that's one of the keys is starting your day with something that's grounded, like what you're talking about there. Totally. Like meditation. I read so much. Even just I got a dog walking my dog. so nice, like, I don't know, not taking in content. I talk a lot about that and people always connect to it, like, not listening to anything. I feel like it's so second nature and just be like, where's my music? Where's my podcast? Even though obviously we love this podcast, but like, you know, letting your mind be still. Just, yeah, letting your nervous system calm down. Like, just trying to

Starting point is 00:37:23 chill. Absolutely. Absolutely. So what are some of your favorite money tools that you use, if any? Are there anything that you use? Like, do you have an investing app that you love or you talked about public a little bit? I like my money book. Like the money book on was built for me. Like, everything that I do is sort of like I am patient X. If it works for me, then I'll tweak it and hopefully it will work for you. So that is huge for like monthly expenses. And honestly, I do a lot analog too still, which I don't know. It just sort of puts me in the moment, like especially when I'm going through bills and things like that. I find that like when things are too automated, it goes too quickly and then I'm not like actually doing the work.

Starting point is 00:38:10 You know, it's sort of just I can check it off my list, but like did it really get done? So, yeah, that can be tough. But I am all about just like whatever works for people. So, I mean, if you're looking for tips, I really love the money book, which is part to start here, which is my course on finances school.com. I like public, which is amazing, the brokerage, which is just like fun. You don't even need to invest on it. But like if you're interested in finance, you're interested in investing, it's like there's great. And there's also such great educational resources on public.

Starting point is 00:38:43 Like, they really built out their curriculums. So I'm super into that. And yeah, I mean, that's pretty much it. Awesome. I love that. And we're going to link up everything Haley's talking about here. We're going to link up in the show notes. We'll give you it.

Starting point is 00:38:55 We'll give a discount. Oh, awesome. Discount code. Perfect. Yes. So I'm going to shift to questions that we ask everyone. Oh, I love that. Haley, because some of these are cool and I love some of the answers that come out of this.

Starting point is 00:39:05 So what is the best book that you have read recently? Ooh, I read Angelica Houston. Do you know who that is? She was like in Royal Tenen Bounds. She's the, I love dames. Like, I love like, just women who've had like, story lives and are in Hollywood and glamorous. Like I love like Zaza Gabor and Helen Gurley Brown who started Cosmopolitan.

Starting point is 00:39:31 And so I found a memoir of Angelica Houston and I devoured that. It was so juicy. And then I read Tick Nahan, who's like a Buddhist monk, has a really small little book called How How to Relax that I really like that I've been reading, just like picking up here and there and going through because it is hard to relax. I find I'm always going. So any tips I can get on how to slow down I'm into. I'm definitely going to check that out because I need to learn how to relax too.

Starting point is 00:40:02 I don't think I ever stopped working. Yeah, you should read it. It's so good. It's literally just like, oh, you're breathing. Remember that you actually are breathing right now. So maybe think about that for a sec instead of like letting your mind spin. Awesome. I'm going to, we'll link those up down below as well.

Starting point is 00:40:17 So what part of your work or life makes you come alive? Oh, I love the content creation. And then the biggest thing for me is like the audience connecting with the audience really makes me come alive and meeting people. Like that's something I love in New York is like I walk around and every day someone comes up to me, knows me from Mrs. Dow Jones, tells me their story. I think what's so cool about what we do is it like breaks down barriers and makes me so familiar with so many strangers because we're not strangers. were actually on the shared mission of like getting rich. And so I just love meeting people. I love people.

Starting point is 00:40:57 I love connecting people. I love that. So what do you want people to remember about you? I want people to remember about me that I made it cool to talk about money. Like in the same way that you would gossip about celebrities or relationships. I want people to talk about their money. careers and their finances, and I want to be the one who creates that change. I love that. And that's exactly what you do. I mean, if I think of any person who makes money

Starting point is 00:41:31 fun, it's definitely you. I mean, you have the best skill at doing that. Wow, thank you. I think you're such a good interview. I'm like, wow, this is like, I'm loving. I may have to come back. I appreciate it. Thank you. Yeah, you're so good. So this is the biggest question that we ask everyone. It's always the last question that we ask everyone before we wrap up. And everybody loves the answers that come out of this. So what does wealth mean to you? Well, to me is freedom. Like, just literally freedom, being able to do whatever you want. That's the biggest thing that wealth is for me. I don't think that wealth is like spending because I actually think that like real wealth is not spending. Like knowing that nothing, no material good is really going to bring you fulfillment and like how

Starting point is 00:42:19 How many purchases is it going to take us to know that? And really wealth is just like being able to choose what you do with your time, being able to nurture yourself and to enjoy your life and your family and like the things outside of money because those are really the most important things in life. Absolutely. It's finding out, you know, how much is enough and then going after achieving that freedom is the most prolific thing that you can do with your dollars. It's the best thing that you can do with your money is that freedom aspect, which I absolutely

Starting point is 00:42:48 love that. So Haley, where can people find out more about you, your course, your Instagram, your YouTube channel? Tell us all about that. Just go to financeis cool.com. It's super easy. It's everything's there. Like, oh, my social, my university. I also, we put so much effort into creating like a ton of free tools, which is super important to us. And so, you know, if you're someone who's like, yeah, I would love to do all this, but like I can't afford cert here or whatever. like there's so much there for you regardless. So yeah, don't let money be a barrier because we've got you either way.

Starting point is 00:43:24 And just be, yeah, join our community. And yeah, that's it. Awesome. So we'll link up to everything we talked about today down below for you guys so that you can check out Haley and check out our Instagram and everything else as well in addition to her course. Perfect. So thank you so much, Haley, for coming.

Starting point is 00:43:42 We truly appreciate you having you. This was so much fun. I had the best time with you. so much for having me. Absolutely. Thank you guys so much for listening to this episode of the personal finance podcast. If you guys have any questions, don't forget to hit me up on Instagram or TikTok at Master Money Co.

Starting point is 00:44:01 And please, if you want to hop out the show, thank you so much for doing this. Leave a five-star rating and review on Apple Podcast and Spotify. It truly does help us spread the message that money equals freedom. So we're so excited to share that message with as many people as possible. So thank you so much for tuning into this episode. And we will see you on the next episode. Rosen lasagna, medium power, 15 minutes. Sounds like Ojo time.

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The Personal Finance Podcast - How to Get Your Financial Life TOGETHER with Haley Sacks A.K.A Mrs. Dow Jones

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