The Three Steps to MASTERING your Money

Kalee Boisvert: 00:00:15

Welcome to the wealth and wellness podcast with me Kaylie Bob air. I specialize in helping people to achieve their financial goals. I have a love for all things numbers, and I'm passionate about financial literacy. My goal is to spark healthy and positive conversations around wealth and investment, and create a world where nobody is limited by their financial situation. But wealth is just one piece of the equation of living our best lives. So join me as we explore both wealth and wellness topics. From your net worth to your self worth. Get ready to take confident action.

Kalee Boisvert: 00:00:54

Hello, this is Kaylee. And thank you so much for taking time to listen to this episode of the wealth and wellness podcast. Today's episode, it's very much a wealth focused topic. And I'll be talking all about mastering your money. So I wanted to keep it simple and manageable because as financial professionals have a tendency to overcomplicate things, so I've kept it to the three steps. So I'm going to share with you the three steps on how you can become a money master. Money doesn't have to be complicated. And I urge you not to overcomplicate it, it's possible for us to achieve our biggest wealth goals. And I want to teach you, I guess, or share with you how you can do that in these three steps. So again, keeping it simple. Let's keep it to three steps, and you're going to master your money after we're done this episode. Okay. So step number one, get to know your money. So if you know nothing about your money and your financial standing, then how do you expect to achieve achieve your goals. So just imagine you're using your GPS and trying to figure out how to get to your destination without knowing your starting point. It's basically the same thing. If you don't know a starting point, and you're trying to find your way with GPS. It's just like not knowing where you stand with your finances. But having goals and things you want to achieve. It's just not going to work. You can't get directions to a location without first knowing your current location. And you can't achieve financial goals and reach financial goals without first knowing your current status. Okay, and your current standing. So this goes for your money to financial goals such as, let's say your goal is financial independence at the age of 55 years old? Well, if you don't know where you currently stand with your finances, how are you going to achieve going to achieve that goal? How will you know when you've reached that goal as well if you don't know where you stand, so you have to have an understanding about how much money you have, which includes knowing where your accounts reside, approximate balances to your accounts, knowing amounts that you owe as well. So amounts owing on maybe credit cards, loans on your mortgage, that's all very important to know, for your financial standing and where you are at this point. I find that way too often people are completely oblivious about their finances and their financial standing. One of my favorite shows is the Real Housewives, which you may ask, there's a lot of locations, but I love all of them. I love all the Real Housewives, watch every one of them. When IV sees me watching it, she'll be like, which one is this that you're watching? Don't worry, don't let her watch it. You don't want her learning that stuff. But anyway, I won't name any names and the particular person that I'm referring to because again, I'm a big fan of the show and all the people on the show. But if you're a fellow fan, you'll know who I'm talking about. So this woman is dealing with some major financial implications of her ongoing divorce. Where if the information is true, then you know what this could mean is that her spouse was doing some pretty unethical things with the money that he was earning from his clients in his business. And she's now being implicated in some of these legal proceedings as she was married to him. And you know, when this was all happening now, of course, she will very well may have known nothing about what he was doing in his own, you know, business with finances and things like that. But some of the comments she made were really what sat with me and she said things like having no clue about their finances and just handing over her paychecks to him. So when she would earn money, she would sort of just hand it over to him not really sure. You know how what was going on with their finances. She was just sort of, you know, under the impression she had her credit cards with her and she would use those to buy things and that was that and then kind of was was completely oblivious to the entire whole financial picture which it's very alarming for me as a financial professional. I'm like, Ah, especially when I hear that kind of things, what goes on with women, I'm, I'm very much a proponent of supporting women in their finances and achieving their wealth goals. And so it actually like it hurts me to my core to know that, you know, women are, you know, taking a backseat or not getting involved when it comes to their finances, because it is so important. And this patriarchy, pear, patriarchal approach to finances, that has been, you know, the past where it was men would handle the money and the finances, and they were the the earners, the top earners of the household and things like that, you know, that that was maybe the past, but it can't be what continues on into the future, because it's not the reality. Now, you know, women work, women are financially independent as well, we have to have an active role, we have to have an understanding about our finances. Even in a couple scenario, if you're a couple, if you're married,

Kalee Boisvert: 00:06:06

common law, anything, it's just you still need to both be on the same page, you still need to both have an understanding, one might take the lead when it comes to finances and do more of the heavy lifting or more of the intricacies of the finances. However, both need to be on the same page both need to know where things stand, you can't have one that's just out there with the credit card, go into town. And that's not good for either person. So it's both need to know. And it's beneficial for both to know and understand and be on the same page. It's so important. This this way of where it was just one person taking the lead. It has to change. It's not an excuse to just be oblivious, and and hide behind just saying I didn't know I wasn't aware. So let these stories like the one from The Real Housewives be this reminder, especially as women that we have to be in the know, we have to have an understanding and have this be motivation to get well acquainted with your money. These types of devastating scenarios which I come across, it's not just a real housewives, I've come across a real life examples too. I guess the housewives is real, right? It's real housewives. But I come across real examples too, in my day to day business. And it's it's devastating to see when someone just wasn't aware of what happened. And you know what can come from that. So by knowing your money, having a thorough understanding about your finances, including understanding money coming in, and money going out, it just means that you are in control, you are the master of your money. And the best tools for getting organized and having a clearer picture of your finances is to create a net worth statement, which is where you list everything you own. So your assets and everything you owe your liabilities. And you aim to update those values, at least annually, because those are going to fluctuate and change. And then as well, doing some sort of budget or cash flow analysis, to have some perspective on how much money comes in and goes out each month. So that's, that's really knowing your money, that's understanding your money, knowing your money. Those are great tools, I have an entire episode that goes into details about creating a net worth statement and doing your cash flow analysis as well. And that's episode 45. So it's all about money awareness. So if you want to go deeper into the specifics about how to create a net worth statement, I encourage you to go back and listen to that episode 45. But again, I cannot stress enough that if you want to master your money, to be good with your money, make positive changes in your relationship with your money, it starts by getting to know and understand your money, really getting to know it and really getting to know and understand your money. Unfortunately, it's not just a one and done task. This is a lifetime habit. And to make it part of your ongoing routine routine. You can choose whatever way works best for you. But the key is that you can not go back to forgetting about it, you cannot go back to neglecting it, ignoring it and expecting positive results. It makes me like what comes to my mind when I think about is you know having a plant in your home plant or plants and you know, would you expect the plant to just survive and thrive on its own? Well, no, you need to tend to your plant you need to provide it with water you need to give it the proper sunlight. You have to take care of it you have to continue to give it attention you can't just water it once and hope it survives forever. And the same is true with your money you can't completely ignore it and think it's gonna grow and thrive and you know continued to build that's not possible. You have to pay attention to it. You have to give it care and attention to your money as well. It's an ongoing thing, right? So, if your avoidance stems from not being happy with financial standing, so let's say you have been avoiding money to, up until this point, that's completely okay. And that's why you're, you know, we're talking about this right now. And, and hopefully you're thinking about ways that, okay, I'm going to start paying attention, I'm going to get to know my money. But if that avoidance, just, let's say, you know, you have been avoiding it, if that stems from just not being happy with your financial standing, that's completely okay. And I want you to really look at this as not like a, you know, a guilt building exercise, shame, building around money or anything like that. It's simply about building a relationship with your money, getting to know, and so there's nothing right or wrong about it, it's just, this is where you are right now. And that's fine. And the beauty of it is just having an awareness and understanding, it's not about, oh, I should be here, and I'm not so I, you know, it's not comfortable, or I get, I get feelings of shame or guilt when I think about money, because it's just not where I want it to be. If you have debt, that's also completely okay. And it's even more important to have this awareness because that needs your care and attention as well. If you're not paying attention to making your payments on time and to making progress with paying it down, it's going to go and grow out of control. It's like a weed, you don't have to pay attention to weeds, but they somehow managed to grow and thrive on their own and out of control. I guess the same could be true then with Dad is that dad needs attention as well, because, you know, the implications of if you're not giving it that attention, there can be, you know, negative repercussions. So we need to pay attention to our money, whether it's we're paying down debt and working to build wealth, or whether it's that we're building wealth already towards those goals. Okay, again, it's ongoing, it's not a one and done. And so because it is something that's ongoing, I don't like to make work for people, I don't like to feel like it's homework, or another task to do, because we have a lot of tasks already in our day to day lives. So think about this as doing what works for you. There's no specific measurables for what I mean by getting to know your money. But for instance, if I were to ask you,

Kalee Boisvert: 00:12:20

you know, where were all of your accounts held? So maybe you have an a, like a retirement savings plan, maybe you have a Tax Free Savings Account, maybe you have an account, you're saving for your children's education, to know where those all are? So if you can't answer that question, if you kind of have account sort of hanging out there from you know, different employers you've been with, and things like that, where you've had some contributions going to them, and then you left and went to another place, and you just you have these accounts, you know, all hanging out there, but you're not really sure where they are and how much they are, you know, that's sort of an indication that you maybe are not as intimately getting to know your money is you could be, and you might have some work to do. Or if you don't have an approximate idea about how much you spend each month, that would really indicate that your money needs a little bit more time and attention. And the more questions that you can really answer correctly about your money, the more you know it. So let that be your measurable as you're starting to get to know your money, and learning these things about your money. You know, where are my accounts? What's my approximate balances? How much do I proximately? Spend a month, as you're starting to get to know more about that and getting more acquainted and keeping track of things more than you're going to be able to answer these questions, they're going to be a lot easier for you to answer. And so that's an indication that you've made progress you've really gotten to know it. And how, you know, what are some other ways to incorporate it? Again, it's just about giving your money, time and attention. So getting to know it is just about saying, Hey, I never really spent any time working on or thinking about, you know, my money and where I stand right now and understanding, you know, my current situation. So one idea is just to then increase that if it went from you don't spend any time, make sure that you're adding some time to your schedule that you're doing that. So one idea is I give this idea on some of my past podcasts too, but it's having a monthly money date. So just having a time in your schedule where you set aside, you know, maybe it's an hour, maybe it's two hours or whatever it is one time per month, and that's your money date or it's your, you know, dedicated to sitting down and spending some time working.

Kalee Boisvert: 00:14:37

Cannot one of the tasks I mentioned, maybe it's understanding your net worth statement or creating net worth statement. Maybe it's understanding your cash flow, how much money you're spending. Maybe it's that you use your money date and you say, Okay, I work with a financial professional who assist me and I'm going to make sure you know, this month I set up a meeting just to have a review with them to see where things are at. So all these are just ideas ideas that I'm giving, but again, do what works for you. If you're with you, if you have a spouse or partner a great ideas, you know, you said and both you coordinate with your schedules on what you know, date and time works for you both, and you both sit down and have a conversation, because then it's, again, you're both getting on the same page or having a conversation, maybe it's looking through your past monthly expenses, and just seeing, you know, hey, is this kind of aligned with what we thought we're spending is the changes we want to make? Or is everything you know, great, and we're staying on track, and we just need some confirmation of that. Okay. So again, it's just, it's remembering to check in even doing things like checking in on your bank account. Everything's very digital and virtual. So there's no excuse to, to not just even be looking in on your accounts on a regular basis, just to again, check in and see how things are, if for some reason, you know, your account, your card had gone missing, and someone was using it. If you're not checking in on your accounts, and things like that on a regular basis, you wouldn't catch something like that. So again, it's giving your money time and attention, giving it a little bit of time of time, you know, maybe it's every day, maybe it's every week, again, it's probably you know, anything you can do. That's progress on possibly what you do right now, because I know for a lot of us there was, it's more so there's avoidance or not any time spent so. So this is my step one, getting to know your money, okay? And there's, again, lots of different ways to do it. And it should be what works for you. And what's easy, because I don't want to get you discouraged already on step one. Okay, so step one, get to know your money. Now, let's move on step number two, to mastering your money is about being the boss of your money. So too often people take a passive role with their money, and they treat their financial life as something that is happening to them, rather than something that they're in control about, or in control of. So maybe your paycheck comes in, and it just feels like you're the middleman and it's you know, you go right to redistributing it all right back out to other people, you're paying your bills, and, and things like that. Or you don't actively plan your financial goals. And instead, you just act like you know, it's What can I do? So maybe you look at your finances and go, you know, when can I retire more of like when it's you know, it's happening to you, you're at the mercy of your finances, are saying, you know, I probably will never be able to retire or, you know, those kinds of statements that really shows that you're not the boss of your money that shows that your money is being the boss of you. So it's time to step into the driver's seat, when it comes to your money. You are the boss, you are the CEO of your finances. Okay, so really take that in, I'm the CEO of my finances, and like any good leader, okay, because now you've just been given the CEO role. Maybe you didn't realize it before, but you're the CEO. And you know, any good leader, as any leader would say or attest to you have to actually lead, you need to direct your money and tell it where to go. Your money needs a good leader in order to maximize its, you know, its potential and achieve positive results. So how do you go about being a money boss, one thing I would suggest is take time to get clear on your financial goals, write them down and get really specific and check out episode 60. Because on my Episode 60, which was just a couple episodes ago, I go into much deeper dive into financial goal planning. But once you're clear on goals, it's all about executing in the steps that will get you closer to achieving these goals. For instance, maybe your goals, I want to retire at 58. And I want to have $6,000 a month in income when I retire.

Kalee Boisvert: 00:18:48

And then maybe that goal is then it turns out okay to do so you have to save $800 a month, again, I'm just throwing out random numbers. So it would very much depend on your scenario and your age and things like that. But that's basically getting really specific and understanding your goals and planning it out. So being the boss means you're going to also have to direct your money exactly where it needs to go. If you don't, what I find with money is has a very interesting way of disappearing on its own. So you know when those times where you feel like you get paid and you wonder you say to yourself Where did all my money go, like I just got paid and it just feels like after you know your paycheck comes in, it goes out just as quickly. So if you feel like that if you're if that's been happening to you, then obviously you're not really stepping into that CEO role. Because being the boss needs means that you have to direct towards going so if you can reverse this and really take a proactive approach with your money, you get to direct exactly where it goes. And there's no more you know, wondering there's no more you left going huh? I thought I had more money than this. And you know where where did it all go? So as the money Boss, you're going to tell it where to go. And this means generally when it comes to our money, sending up disciplined auto payments, for instance, or sending up just a discipline strategy of where it's gonna go each month into your separate buckets. And I always talk about the separate buckets. So what do I mean by this, these buckets, I see them as is, is kind of the, I think of it as like, you know, when you have your kid like allowance, and they show you how you could start it out by having these little jars and like one is like, they get to spend it and one's for like, maybe donating and one's for more of like a long term. So same is true. So we grow up, and we still have now I call them buckets, because jars that's not gonna fit all our money, we need buckets. So you have these separate buckets, and maybe one so maybe one bucket is, you know, I want to assist my child with funding their post secondary education, that's one bucket. And then the other one is I want to have a vacation fund, because I want to take one big trip, like a really great vacation every year one, one of those. And then another bucket is I want to be financially independent, you know, in my late 50s, I don't want to work a day into my 60s. So that's your other bucket. And then so these are those separate buckets, again, you might have more, you might have less, but when you're the boss, you're going to tell the money exactly where to go, you're going to say, okay, you know, this much each month is going to go to that child's education funding, maybe it's okay, I'm putting $200 away into that bucket. Or you can even say in percentage terms, okay, towards my financial independent goal, I'm putting 10% away for that every month. But again, it's you're directing it, you're telling you exactly where to go, whatever method you do, or the amounts, that's fine, like you take your time and work out what that is to you. But the key is that when money comes in, the first thing that happens, the absolute first thing is that you get to be in charge and say directing it, you're like, Okay, money comes in, now, you're going to the chart, the education savings, you're going to my financial independent, and you're going to my trip, savings account, and that's what happens first, and then.

Kalee Boisvert: 00:22:14

So it's that happens first, it's about paying yourself first, that's where it comes from that whole statement, pay yourself first. So you're the boss, you're directing it, you decide where it goes first. And then once you're done, of course, paying yourself first filling up your buckets, then you can kind of divvy up what needs to be paid for the other bills and things like that. And with changing the way we do this and look at it instead of again, it coming in, and we're just sort of divvying it up, or letting the bills then go through and start to erode away at what we have just received as income. What you find is when you're taking control like this, and you're directing your money, it just naturally happens that less of your money is going to disappear to those useless purchases are the ones you look back on and wonder, you know, why did I spend money on that or I regret that purchase. Instead, when you're in control and getting to really put your money towards the things that mean the most to you, when you're stepping up and saying, Hey, this is what really matters, these are those buckets, and they're representing what matters to me, I'm putting the money towards there first, you might find yourself just being more diligent and more aware and seeing, you know, the places where your money's going, or was going before and going, hey, you know, that's not as important to me. And you have more of this momentum of like, I want to fill up those important buckets, I want to fill up those pieces that really matter to me, that where or where I have put value that they make me excited and inspired to want to save more. And so you start seeing things like okay, you know, making my coffee at home saves me from buying a fancy coffee outside of the home. And that's that little bit extra that I can throw into that vacation fund to go on that vacation of my dreams or whatever it is. And it's so when you sort of change that relationship with money, where it's not the control, it's not controlling you, you're the boss, you're the CEO, you're deciding what happens, you're designing it, you're just it's so empowering. And it's like, wow, you know, this is what I want. And then you find yourself more towards working towards those things that you really want. Rather than again, just letting it kind of fall through the cracks and money just to go where it goes. It's something very powerful happens when you shift this to being in control. So I really urge you to step into and embody the role of being the money boss, okay, so that's step number two, you're the money boss. Now you've just been promoted to CEO. Now we're on step number three. And so now that you're aware of your money, which was step one, and you've directed it, you've told your money where to go. You were the boss, that was number two, there's still very one more very important step and it can't be neglected. This is the it's a very important piece. The whole three steps. And that's about now that your money is where it needs to go. You have to have your money pull its weight to and be put to work. So step number three to mastering your money is make your money work for you. So you work so hard to earn your money, you likely exchange the majority of your waking hours to earn money at your career or in your business if you're a business owner. But if you work that hard, don't you think that your money should be working to

Kalee Boisvert: 00:25:34

remember, you're the boss, and then your money's working for you? Well better be working right, it wouldn't really be fair to let it just sit around and be idle. Right? Now, we don't want that happening. We can't just have idle staff members or money, standing around doing nothing. So your money has to work hard to just like you do. And that's how you're going to be able to grow and build on your savings to meet those big goals that you're planning for. So how do we put money to work? We invested. And this of course, is, you know, the part I love is investing money, watching it grow, having it worked for you by earning capital gains, interest, income, dividend income, all done through investing. So investing is a very vital step to mastering your money, because it's going to assist with growing your wealth exponentially. And that's through the power of compounding. Compounding is a powerful tool to make it work work. So it's working for you. And there's a potential return and to do so you need to have the ability for it to make a return and give it some time. And with those two elements, that's really when the magic of compounding can happen. So when your money is working for you, you're going to get to your goals much quicker. Think of compounding growth as having, you know, a money workforce that just continues to multiply. So would you rather have to take on a task solo and complete it yourself? Or would you rather have a team working with you on it. Obviously, if you have a team, you're going to get to your goal or your end result a lot faster than doing something on your own. So the same is true with putting your money to work and investing it.

Kalee Boisvert: 00:27:24

Let's say you discovered that your financial independence number. So you're saying okay, I want to retire at this age and have this much income. And I, you know, you found out whether by yourself or through the help of a financial professional, that it's $1 million, that you need to reach $1 million, and then you'll have enough to be that financially independent. Again, this number is different for everyone. So it's just my example, in this scenario, okay. So if I say, okay, that's what it is for you, it's $1 million, well, if you alone have to put away that much money, it's gonna be a lot of work to do on your own. But if you can put away some of that money, and have it be invested and working for you, as you're adding to it, it's going to grow and compound and instead of having to save $1 million on your own, it's going to build for you. So if you put away for instance, $1,000 a month for 25 years, at 9% annual rate of return, it will grow to a million dollars. So over that time, that 1000 a month for 25 years, you've only technically put away $300,000, but it's grown to a million dollars. So your money working for you has done the rest of the work and it's added $700,000 to that. Okay, so that's really the power of getting your money to work for you. So it's not all just a one person job that it's out there. It's compounding it's growing and it's building for you. Keep in mind, of course, investing isn't a risk free practice. And unless, of course, unless you utilize something like a GIC, which is guaranteed investment certificate, and it has a guaranteed return. But for the most part, there is fluctuation in our investments. But you can manage and mitigate and reduce some of that risk by really choosing an appropriate investment strategy based on the goal and the timeframe. So, for instance, for saving for my daughter's education. That goal for me, has about a 10 year time frame. And then for a financial independence goal that might have, you know, a 20 plus year time frame for me depending on when that financial independence number is. So those are very different timeframes and different goals and even for the financial independence one, it's not that you're going to pull out all the money the first day you retire or that money can continue to grow throughout your retirement years, which can be you know, 3040 50 like I'm putting you guys out to 100 you can look past 100 Right. So that money is going to keep growing through that time and you're going to slowly draw down on it. So investing appropriately for your goals. is going to be very important. So yes, we need our money to work for us. But we have to give it the appropriate jobs. So each bucket has to, you know, the buckets I just talked about before, they have to be invested accordingly with the goal. So, money can help. Money can grow by investing in, you know, in mutual funds, ETFs, stocks, bonds, there's so many tools to help our money grow. But it's just important to find the right combination for each goal. So again, though, the key is, you do not want to let your money sit idle, and every bit helps. So too often I come across people that aren't invested. So again, maybe they've told their money, you know what to do or where to go, they directed at step two, but they haven't actually invested it. And they're just sitting on the sidelines, and not using any sort of the investing or the growth and taking advantage of compounding. So in that example, we said putting away 1000 A month growing at 9%.

Kalee Boisvert: 00:31:01

And that would be until being invested. So being invested in stocks, mutual funds, ETFs, you're actually invested to earn a return like that. But if instead you wanted more of a conservative approach for your long term goal, and you only grew, maybe you took very more conservative options for the investing, and then your money only grew by 3% a year instead, well, that money that in the previous example, grew to a million dollars only grows to $400,000, in the example of only growing by 3%. So really, your money in that case grew by about 100,000, and you put away the 300,000. Okay, so in the last example, it was you put away 300. And it grew by, you know, and on top of the 300, it was 700,000 was added because of the the power of compounding, but in this example, with a lower return, you put away the 300. And it grew on top of that 100,000 Only because of a lower return. So, again, in that case, it seems like well, you worked a lot harder than your money for that long term goal. And so it's important that the that the types of investment you're doing are aligned with those different goals with those different buckets, right. So obviously, you can potentially take on more risk for the take on more risk for more return potential. In the case of those longer term goals. And then if it's a very shorter term goal, again, we're gonna want to take on less risk, but still not having our money sit idle, not necessarily having it sit idle. So maybe use utilizing a short term instrument that offer some sort of return, maybe seeing if the bank is offering, like a higher interest savings account or something like that for that money. Because every little bit does count. So I want to add one caveat about putting your money to work and heavy and grow through compounding because it's such a game of patience, when I say these numbers, about putting away $1,000 a month and have you grow to a million dollars. That's huge. And it takes time, like when I in that example, I used to 25 years. So it's not you know, it's not day to day, it's not week to week, it's 25 years of growth. So our mind, it's sometimes hard to comprehend those longer term timeframes and, and it can be very overwhelming, especially if you're just getting started or near the beginning of that 25 year time frame. It's going to feel very slow when you're putting away your $1,000 a month. And you know, you're saying well, this is supposed to be a million dollars eventually, like, how is that possible? Because maybe you're just focused on what the numbers are at that moment in time. And it just feels like so far off and so far away. And

Kalee Boisvert: 00:33:45

so a strategy that I want to suggest that might help take the focus off that overwhelming sense that can come with that. It comes from a book I've read recently, and I thought it has such a neat overlap with investing in money and finances. So the book is the gap in the game. So this is not my concept at all. But it's about how oftentimes, we focus on the gap and the gap being comparing ourselves with where we are now to our ideal scenario of where we want to be. So if in this case, you're comparing yourself to where you are now and let's say your accountants at $100,000 or $50,000, and the math worked out to you know, you're going to grow to 1 million or 2 million or whatever that is, that's going to feel really big. And if you really focus on the difference in how much there is to go, it can feel very, you know, demotivating or it just, you know, you might not be too excited to work towards that goal when you're like that seems so far off that it doesn't even feel like making a dent. Because that's focusing on the gap. You're saying, you know, this is where I am, this is where I want to be. And it's it's a lot, right. So instead in the book, the concept is they urge you to really focus on the game, and the game is comparing yourself or All right now to where you started. So instead of focusing on the end goal of where you want to get to it, seeing, hey, this is where I am today. And this is where I started. And it's such a neat concept to look at that with money too, because you can look at that account. And maybe like I said, it's at $50,000. And a million seems far off, or 2 million seems even further off. But saying, Oh, my gosh, I started with $0. And now I'm at $50,000. That's amazing. Like, if I can do that I can keep growing and keep adding, and it's very motivating. Or you can say, you know, I started off putting away $50 a month. And now I've, you know, changed some things with my finances, and I've moved up in my career, and I'm able to put away $1,000 a month, and seeing that progress for and really, you know, giving yourself that time to be like, you know, congratulate yourself. That's amazing, that's huge. That's progress, and progress is going to keep getting us closer to the goal. So instead of focusing on that, that big goal that seems very far away, and hard to comprehend, and get our head around, and it feels like the steps we're taking today aren't making a difference, but they very much are. And if we say wow, you know, look at me, today, I've grown, what was nothing to $100,000 to $200,000. And as you keep focusing on that, and seeing the growth and go, Wow, you know, the dividends that my account used to generate was, you know, $100 a year and that now it's $3,000 a year, something like that. And looking at that progress and the growth, there's just so much power to doing that, and having that be your focus. So that's the gap and the gain. And I really strongly urge you to focus on the gain when it comes to your money because it is so much motivating and inspiring to see, hey, look how far I've come. And that's what's going to ultimately get you to the end goal anyway. So might as well feel good about it along the way, too. Right? So those are the three steps to mastering your money. So it's, it's all about first getting to know your money. Then being the boss of your money telling your money, you know exactly where to go. And third is about putting your money to work. So once it's gotten to where you've, you've sent that money, you want to make sure though it's growing. It's compounding. It's working for you. I hope you're feeling inspired. I hope you're ready to master your money. And I will catch you on next week's episode. Thank you so much for your time by now.