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I’m absolutely thrilled to dive into a topic that’s close to all our hearts: money, financial freedom, and the empowerment to attain greater wealth in our lives. Today, I had the honor of sitting down with the incredible Dr. Sharita Humphrey, a powerhouse in the realm of personal finance, leveraging credit, and embracing calculated risks that drive the creation of wealth across all life dimensions.
But let’s not forget that wealth extends beyond dollars and cents, and I’m here to share a candid conversation that unveils the true essence of wealth.
Let’s jump in!
This episode will help:
👉Entrepreneurs striving for financial freedom by making informed choices and investments.
👉Women looking to empower their finances and feel more confident in their money management
👉Business owners who want to secure their financial future and plan for retirement without relying solely on traditional methods like 401(k)s
Money: Not the Ultimate Goal
As we chatted off-record before the podcast even started, one realization hit us both: Money actually isn’t the ultimate goal. Sure, we’ve all been conditioned to believe that having more money equals happiness. But when we look around, we see folks with limited means who live content, fulfilled lives. And conversely, we see people drowning in wealth yet plagued by constant stress and overextension.
You know what it comes down to?
Time freedom. Not money freedom.
Defining True Wealth: Beyond Dollars and Cents
So let’s break this down. Money makes life easier, no doubt about it. It’s wonderful when you can pay your bills without fretting over expenses. But when money becomes the sole pursuit, a dangerous cycle can ensue. We lose track of when to hit the brakes, which often leads to overextension and eventual burnout.
So what exactly is wealth? Well, to put it simply: it’s freedom. You don’t need a million dollars, ten million dollars, or even a hundred million dollars to be wealthy. Wealth isn’t confined to the realm of multimillionaires like Warren Buffet or Jeff Bezos.
What is Your Wealth Number
Wealth is a mindset and a journey, not a fixed monetary goal. It’s about knowing your unique wealth number, that magic figure that aligns with your dreams and aspirations, and figuring out what it truly takes to reach it. Sharita highlights the importance of setting your sights on what you want during your golden years, attaching a number to that vision, and then working towards that magic number.
She shared a gem she picked up from Warren Buffett himself – write your own obituary and work backwards.
Morbid…maybe? But I actually think it’s incredibly profound! It’s about sculpting the life and legacy you desire while you’re still here to experience it.
Remember, your wealth number is personal and distinctive, much like your DNA or fingerprints. Comparing it to others or relying on external influences like social media won’t do you any favors. Life’s unpredictable, circumstances change, so be adaptable and ready to tweak your number along the journey.
The Wealth Mindset: It’s a Lifestyle (not a diet)
Sharita emphasizes that wealth isn’t just about accumulating assets or hitting milestones – it’s about cherishing the process and small wins. If you’re solely fixated on the destination, you’ll miss out on all the joy and satisfaction embedded in the journey.
And let’s face it, when you hit that magic number, what then? The thirst for accomplishment doesn’t dry up; it evolves. New dreams arise, new aspirations, and you keep moving forward. As Sharita puts it, you’re going to get bored if you’re not striving for something new.
So, what’s the key takeaway? Cultivate your unique wealth number, keep it in sight, let it guide you, but don’t let it rule you. Balance the journey with the destination and remember that wealth isn’t just about money – it’s about the experiences, memories, and legacy you’re building.
Here’s the hard truth: money isn’t the ultimate end goal. Money is a tool, a vehicle of transfer. It’s the means to create unforgettable experiences and cherish time freedom. It’s about reveling in those moments that can’t be priced. True wealth is living life on your terms, making the most of your time, and carving out a legacy you’re proud to leave behind.
Links You Need:
Connect with our guest, Sharita Humphrey
The Big Leap by Gay Hendricks
Happy Money: The Japanese Art of Making Peace with Your Money by Ken Honda
The One Thing by Gary Keller
The Millionaire Next Door: The Surprising Secrets of America’s Rich by Cotter Smith
Let me know what you thought of this episode by connecting with me on Instagram
Other Episodes You’ll Love:
Demystifying Cryptocurrency ( Ep 61)
Stop Stressing About Money ( Ep 56)
- [00:00:00]What is wealth for you? And I think there’s actually a very bigdifference between being rich and having wealth. Today I’m talking to SidaHumphreys, who is a financial expert. She is someone who helps specificallywomen learn how to build financial freedom and wealth, and we’re gonna havea conversation about.[00:00:26]What wealth really is and how we get there no matter where we’re at.And I love that. Cherita is someone who has been. Both places. She will sharethis, but she has been rock bottom whereshe literally was homeless with twokids all the way to having financial abundance, time freedom, financialfreedom, being named the 2020 National Financial Educator of the Year.[00:00:55]I mean, how incredible is that to go from homeless to the 2020?National Financial ed educator of the year. She took control of her money, shegot it to work for her, and she learned how to get over the fear, how to get overthe fact that she didn’t know anything about how to be financially smart, and sheshifted everything.[00:01:19]So let’s jump into this conversation and truly learn how we can buildfinancial freedom and wealth for ourselves.[00:01:34]Sina, I am so excited to talk to you about all things, money, financialfreedom, and how we get empowered to justhave more wealth in our lives. Sobefore we jump in, will you just tell everybody a little about you? So, I amSerena m Humphrey. I help working women who want to take that entrepreneurleap are for those who are already startup entrepreneurs who are looking to beable to grow and scale their businesses to create it by build, by building wealthbefore it ends in their bank, before it lands in their bank account.[00:02:38]I help them to do that with personal finances, leveraging, um, theircredit and understanding how important it is as we grow financially to takerisks. But calculated ones that’s gonna help you to create wealth in every aspectof your life and give you one of the things that many people always forget whenthey’re on their journey to financial freedom, and that’s making sure that timefreedom is at the top of your list.[00:03:04]Hmm. Okay. So you and I, we basically had a whole podcast beforewe even started recording. Right. Just chatting. This is, and one of the thingsthat we were talking about, and we both were like, yes, is. Money is not actually
the ultimate goal. That’s what we’ve been sold. That’s what we all think. Like ifI had more money, but that’s not actually it.[00:03:25]It’s time freedom, not money freedom. Because Ev and,and here’sthe best way, I think like we can just break this down to make everybodybelieve us. Everybody knows someone who has very little money and yet, Liveswithin their means and feels good. Mm-hmm. And everyone knows someonewho seems to have a lotof money and yet is stressed out of their minds all thetime and way overextended.[00:03:50]It’s not money. Now, I’m not gonna lie. Money makes things easier.Let’s just be totally honest. Like it’s a whole lot easier when you are not worriedabout Right. How you pay the mortgage or the rent, or buy the food, or takecare of the things for the kids or whatever it is. But if we’re just go, go going formoney, that’s dangerous.[00:04:12]And that can get us in a lot of trouble because we don’t know whentostop, right? When we’re going for time freedom, then we’re about buildingwealth, and then that wealth gives us the lifestyle that we want. So my very firstquestion for you is, what is wealth? Wealth is what you say? Freedom. But it’snot just in a way that most people think.[00:04:37]They’re like, okay, if I had a million dollars, if I had $10 million, if Ihad a hundred million, if I had millions like Warren Buffet, Jeff Bezo, andCharlie Munger, then I’m wealthy. But guess what? I have clients who makeunder six figures and they feel wealthy because they are able to have timefreedom because they’re managing and staying within their means.[00:04:59]Inve, taking, calculated, investing risks. Speaking with their wealthteam, because every one of us should have a wealth team. We should be makingsure that tax planning is important. Mm, yes. Because that’s important.Understanding how important that is. Someone doing your taxes and someonetax planning is not the, is not the same thing and is not a wealth, is not a wealthcomponent.[00:05:23]So number two, understanding that your wealth number, your wealthnumber, is going to look different from everybody else. It’s almost like yourfingerprints, different d n a different wealth number. So understanding.[00:05:39]Think about this, I was, I had the privilege of going to, um, WarrenBuffett’s stakeholders meeting, um, this year, and I thought, I said somethingthat I’m putting, it’s on my wall now. He said, write your obituary and then work
backwards sothat way that you know, that you create the life that you’ve alwaysdreamed about and the legacy of wealth that you’re happy about.[00:06:02]Even before while you’re still here. I thought that was profound.Mm-hmm. Yes. So one of the things, so one of the things is what does yourgolden years look like? What is it that you desire to do? And then put a numberon it. How much do you need to feel comfortable to retire and then put a date onit? I know my retirement date, I have a lot of opportunities that Iwanna do.[00:06:30]So I’ve put a date on my next level of retirement because anybodyknows that once you have time freedom, they, there’s no way you’re just gonnasit at home. Because a lot of people say, if I have more money, then I can justrelax. Butguess what? I can tell you something. You’re gonna get bored veryfast.[00:06:47]Very, very fast. You are gonna.[00:06:57]Are still working or they’re running their businesses, so they, you aregonna need something else to do. And there’s another dream. Yes. Your goal,you’re like, if I hit a million dollars, that’s it. Guess what? We see people hit amillion dollars all the time, but they’re still doing more things. You know why?[00:07:15]Because there’s still more dreams, there’s still more desires,there’sstill more aspirations inside of you. So that’s why it’s important to know yourwealth number. Don’t base it off social media, your friends, uh, people that youknow where you are right now, because guess what? That can certainly change.[00:07:32]Life is day to day. So figure out what does your, what does yourwealth number look like? And know that it’s okay to adjust on the way. Well,remember, wealth is a journey, not a sprint. You need benchmarks andmilestones to let you know that you’re on the right path. And let’s, that’s, let’s behonest, we all just like traffic.[00:07:52]We see a little road jam and we detour. Same thing with buildingwealth. Don’t beat yourself up. Know your wealth number. Make sure it’ssomewhere where you can see it.Because one, one of the things is that whatstays important to us, if we see it, we believe it. If we see it, we believe it. So Ihave my wealth number and everywhere I can see it, I see it daily, but I don’t letthat number determine how my day’s gonna be.[00:08:17]I know that sounds crazy because sometimes there’s, we can get sodriven by the number without enjoying the experiences of getting there and
enjoying the journey. So understanding that you know your number, it’sconcrete. It can change. You can, you know, you may, but, and you may takesome detours, you gonna hit some benchmarks and milestones.[00:08:38]But enjoying the journey of wealth, not just, not just running the raceor being on hamster wheel to make the number happen. Because guess what?You’re gonna get there and then you’re gonna be like, I didn’t really enjoy this.Right. Right. Did you take the moment? Did you take the small wins and enjoythem?[00:08:58]You’ve knocked off this. You’re one step closer. So, and then lastly,letting you know that you guess what? Even if you come short of your wealth,your wealth number, that it’s okay because guess what? There’s still more foryou to be able to figure out and to know that if you don’t hit your wealthnumber, trying to do it on yourown and wealth is not built the loan, okay.[00:09:22]Wealth is number three. Wealth is not building built alone. Having awealth team, someone who understands tax planning versus someone doingyour taxes, those are not the same things. Wealthy people tax plan. So startdoing things that wealthy people do. Wealthy people know that money is not theend all, be it all, that it’s a transfer vehicle.[00:09:49]Hmm. But it’s not the thing that’s gonna make your life happy. And Iknow some people are like, well, let me just get wealthy. And people, myself,you see a lot of wealthy people, that does not mean they’re, they’re not allhappy, because guess what? Life is more than money. Make, use your money tomake memorable experiences, and that’s gonna keep you wealthy on yourjourney.[00:10:11]Mm, I love that. I think there’s a difference between wealth. AndRich. Right. And I, that sounds a little weird, but, but I really do think there’s abig difference between those who are wealthy and those who look rich.Lookingrich. Ooh, I like that. Is is about the aesthetic, right? It’s about I wanna show thatI have all the things, not that there’s anything wrong with that.[00:10:33]I’m going to just confess right now I’m bougie. Okay. I like my nicethings. I willadmit it. Um, that’s just it. I’ve been that way my whole life, youguys, my entire life. Even as a little girl, when everyone else would be like, Canwe go have hamburgers? We wanna go to McDonald’s. I’d be like, I’d like a nicesteak.
[00:10:54]I have always known who I am but I have learned over the years andas I am, you know, growing in my financial. Understanding and, and becomingmore knowledgeable. That there are people who, you know, you look at ’em andyou’re like, oh, they’re rich. Theygot the house and the cars and the toys, and allthese things.[00:11:16]Mm-hmm. But they’re doing it in a way that is, is hurting them. Theyare stressed out their minds because they are too leveraged when it comes to alltheir expenses. And then thereare those who are. Wealthy and, and I have manyfriends where you have no idea how much money they actually have. No oneknows, and they are sitting on an insane amount of money and it is not obviousbecause they don’t, they don’t live it flashy.[00:11:45]Now I’m gonna say I’m somewhere in the middle, right? Like I dolove a little bit of my flash, but I’m also trying to be wise. And build wealth. Nottemporary. I look rich, but it’s at the detriment of my family, of my future, ofmy health and all thosethings. So I think that just understanding each of thosethings.[00:12:10]I heard somebody once say, I’m gonna butcher this, but it was a venaven. It was essentially that. They considered wealth for every month. Youdidn’t have to work now you could ifyou wanted to, but you didn’t have to. Soif I have six months in the bank, I am six months wealthy. If I have a year in thebank, I’m a year wealthy.[00:12:30]If I have the rest of my life in the bank and a legacy to leave on,boom, I have made it. Right. Right. I love that. I, I do too. I’ve never forgottenthat, and I’ve always been like, yes, that is what I want. So, Now the questionbecomes, and why I am soexcited to dig deeper into this conversation with youis like, okay, when we define that, when we say that is what I want, now, howdo we get there?[00:12:58]How do we leverage, how do we build assets? How do we invest?How do we take from, okay, I’ve built my, my emergency fund, I’ve built mysavings, I’ve got money. Now what do I do with it? And I think we also have totalk about how do I get over the fear of doing something with it and not, youknow, just keeping it in in our bank accounts.[00:13:21]I think a lot of times we have to think about most people when we’regonna make sure that we keep this, um, you know, tax bracket friendly. Becausea lot of people think that, okay, I can’t because they, I love that you know,
everybody, everybody is in different tax brackets and that’s okay. And you canbuild wealth in every tax bracket.[00:13:43]And so a lot of times most people are like, well, I can’t do anythingto build wealth. I’m just trying to keep my head up water. But just like you said,just imagine if you just took a list at and just said that I’m gonna, that one smallbill, I’m gonna try to get ahead one week, one month. Two months, threemonths.[00:14:02]That’s how I started. When a lot of people, if you haven’t, you know,I, she’s heard mystory. I was, I hit rock bottom. I didn’t come from wealth. Wedidn’t have money conversations around the table. I was raised by a singlemother. I. But I was always intrigued by numbers. I didn’t, I just thought I wasjust a nerdy kid.[00:14:21]I was just like, look, I was, I was, I thought the introvert in me mademe just wanna go gravitate to numbers. But who knew that me not having thosepivotal conversations about money would be the thing that helped me. Andagain, we have to take responsibility, making negative financial behaviors. Um,I ended up homeless with two small kids, but that didn’t mean that I was alwaysgonna stay there.[00:14:44]I. I didn’t have anything. I hit financial rock, rock bottom creditscores hit to the three hundreds. I’m still trying to figure out if somebody else, ifyou’re bold enough, please, please comment or, or, or share with us. So I didn’tfeel, I won’t feel alone because I hit three hundreds. My credit scores were inthe low three hundreds.[00:15:01]So when I saythat I hit financial rock bottom, no, not even nobanking institutions was going to lend me anything.I didn’t have anything. Butone of the things that I did have and that I want to be able to give to everybodylistening, The one thing that builds wealthis you plus hope. Hmm.So good you,because one of the things is if you don’t lose hope in you, and then guess what?[00:15:29]That’s all it takes. I didn’t lose hope in me. Even those, you know, thebanking institutions, the, my, the creditors that I owe, they counted me out. I didnot count me out. I still invested into me. Even when I didn’t have money,because the one thing that’s free is learning and the library, those two a’s helpme to avoid future a’s losses.[00:15:55]Oh, that’s so good. I love that. And so I tell you, yeah, so one of, so Itell people no matter what tax bracket that you’re in is to know. That you can
build from where you are and that you first have to know your numbers. I’m notasking you to be a C P A if that’s not, I’m not asking you to be an accountant.[00:16:15]Hire hire professionals if that’s not your area of expertise, but you docontrol where your wealth starts and how it ends by just knowing what’s goingin and what’s coming out. Doing something as simple as looking at,what didyou spend last week, last month? And comparing it to what you did last year,you would be surprised if you were just to sit with yourself.[00:16:41]And I like to always tell people, date yourself, date your money. Justgo back and pull out thatbank statement and make some highlights. Everythingthat was not essential. Add it up. And guess what if it those non-essential thingsthat many of us can do with mindless spending, you can put that right back intoyour bank account.[00:17:03]It could be used for an emergency fund paying off debt, but makingsure that most people are, this is gonna be, this is gonna make you happy. Mostpeople forget to put you on your budget because that’s what’s gonna help youstay consistent because no one wants to just get up and go to work, whether youare working a nine to five or working your business and not be able to enjoy thefruits of your hard work.[00:17:30]So making sure, no matter if it’s small, $5 50 or for those who are alittle bit more bougie, two 50or 500, don’t judge me. Um, making sure that youhave you on your budget and you can increase it $5 cents and percentages asyou continue to be able to decrease your spending. Figure out ways how youcan monetize things that people that you do effortlessly.[00:17:57]’cause a lot of times those side hustles are built off of gifts andtalents and skillset that we’re not monetizing. Yes. Yeah. We don’t. We don’t.Many times we’re just like, because I’m pretty sure there’s somebody, if youthink right now we’ll give you 1, 2, 3. What is something that everybody asksyou to do?[00:18:14]And you’re like, oh, I can do that without even thinking, can youmake money from it? 99%. Most of the time you can’t. Yeah. And so manypeople doubt that because they think,oh no, this is so easy. Like I don’t even,like everyone knows how to do this. No, everyone does not know how to dothis. You know how to do this.[00:18:34]This is one of your gifts. It’s something that comes very natural toyou and you need to recognize that there is an opportunity there and stop
believing that, oh, it, it must be easy for everyone. I also love how you talkedabout you need. To put you into the budget, you need to give money to you.You know?[00:18:53]And as you were saying that, I was just thinking about, we knowthis, we intrinsically understand this, but it, it’s, it’s one of those things that getsforgotten. Anything we ever do that is too stringent, doesn’t work. Look at everysingle diet where it’s like, So incredibly restrictivethat you feel like you are,you know, being tortured.[00:19:16]Same thing with, with the budget, you know, you, you see all themoney things and you, you have this moment of clarity where you’re like, thingshave to change, but then the pendulum swingsso far the other way that you goso stringent on yourselves, we’re not doing anything that is not a bill or. Youknow what?[00:19:34]Whatever that might look like. And then that’s not maintainableeither, because again, you feel like you are being punished. We’ve got to findthe medium that will allow us to stay consistent because it is always consistencythat wins in anything. I don’t care what we’re talking about in life, right? It’swhen we show up consistently that we see the gains and.[00:19:56]Youknow, we don’t win when we have these blitz moments ofshowing up, trying, and then we fall off again because it’s, it’s too much and it’stoo restrictive. Right. And I like how you said that because many times, like youjust said, if we look at our health, which is our first form of wealth, and reallytake care of that because you can have all the money in the world.[00:20:20]But if you’re spending it trying to stay healthy or to it, it doesn’t do,or you can’t spend it at all because you’re not in thecapacity to be able to do itthen isn’t really well. So are you someone else enjoy enjoying your wealth andmany times they’re going mindless ’cause they didn’t have to build it.[00:20:37]And so those are some things that you really wanna think about. Likeyou said, when a diet is too restrictive, if a workout is too restrictive, if you’relike, oh, I can’t eat anything. You’re not, it’s only gonna be a diet. A diet and alifestyle is just like you managing your money and building wealth. Mm.[00:20:58]So good. And that’s the key. It can’t be, so that’s the key. We are notlooking for a diet, and I use that with like finger quotes because whether we’retalking about our financial goals, we’re talking about our, our physical goals,we’re talking about even. Our, our growth goals, our educational goals, right?
[00:21:18]Like it can’t be a diet mentality, it has to be alifestyle mentality.[00:21:24]Leah:Oh, I cannot wait to keep unpacking this. We are gonna jumpright into the answer in part two, so go ahead and click to listen to part two rightnow.
you said: