[00:02] buy. Today I am doing the opposite. 10 things that you should upgrade money because I think that's the point of having money. It's to make your life better. Now this assumes you already
[00:14] some money left over, let's get into number one, upgrading your desk setup. think this is one of the things that you can upgrade for your setup and benefits from day one. That's because if you're able to break up your standing
[00:28] going to increase your energy levels, your mood, and there are even other health benefits that there have been so many studies on. Cleveland Clinic, for example, has noted that standing desks improve energy and mood levels, increase
[00:41] your productivity and focus, reduce rates of obesity, increase circulation back pain. And if you do some digging online, I'm sure you will find some the whole idea here is that it's not really about the desk so much as it is
[00:55] standing and the sitting. Us Americans are so sedentary in our lifestyle that if we're able to break up the sitting time with some standing or perhaps some pacing or walking around, it's going to be a lot better for our health and our
[01:09] setup that I found really useful is having a second monitor. This just allows me to be more productive because then I can put, let's say, research on other. Or perhaps I can have all my messaging apps and music apps on one
[01:23] workspace that I'm working on. I'm literally always so surprised to from home. They literally look like laptops. And the ergonomics of their setup is so bad that it just hurts my
[01:37] posture and back looking at them. if they just bought one external monitor or really improve the quality of their work and their back itself. And these days, I that expensive. And you can even get an
[01:52] Other items in your desk setup that you could upgrade are your keyboard or headphones. All right, that's enough about desks. Let's talk about the second on, and those are experiences. When you get some disposable income, I think
[02:06] something nice to spend money on are new experiences or fulfilling experiences that you like. In fact, I would upgrade experiences first before you upgrade any material items that you have. But that's
[02:19] just me. According to the University of Texas, spending on experiences versus possessions advances more immediate happiness. And they state in this article that quote experiences also provoke more satisfaction even though
[02:31] people typically spend more time using their material possessions. The explanation is the endurance of experiences in people's memories while the perceived value of material goods weakens over time. So that's really
[02:44] stating that even if you use a material possession for a long period of time, let's say you buy a really fancy watch and you use it for the next 10 years, there could be a trip that you had taken 10 years before that provides way more
[02:57] satisfaction than that watch ever did. I personally found that to be true in my own life. Every time I spend money on a physical material item, I really cherish it for a period of time, the honeymoon period, but then those feelings fade.
[03:09] memories of trips though that I've taken with my mom or my friends or my dad, those are the ones that I still remember and I think fondly of. So, I think that extra trip every single year or perhaps a weekend trip, try to do it with some
[03:22] people that you enjoy. Have fun and don't forget to write me a postcard as portion, the third item you should upgrade today is an investing upgrade. It's the backdoor Roth IRA. There's a point in time where you can make too
[03:36] much money for a Roth IRA, so you can't even contribute to a Roth IRA anymore. If you're someone making over $165,000 as a single person or a couple making over $246,000, you are not eligible for the Roth IRA
[03:50] still do is what's called the backdoor Roth IRA contribution instead. It sounds secretive and illegal, but if you Google it, it's actually pretty easy to do. You basically create a traditional IRA. you contribute the funds to it. You don't
[04:04] traditional IRA and then all you have to do within your brokerage account is click convert it to a WTH. The only times where this gets a little bit existing traditional IRA with funds invested at that point you would have
[04:17] traditional IRA funds as well as Roth IRA funds. And so you need to be a little bit careful here and avoid what's called the pro rata rule. I will leave a link in a resource down below on how to do it as well as 17 backdoor Roth IRA
[04:30] to do this successfully, I think it's one way to upgrade your investing life, even if you have a higher income. Along the finance lines today, number four today is to get an accountant to file your taxes. Currently, up to 75% of
[04:44] Americans file their own taxes with 31% of them doing it completely by themselves and 44% relying on software like Turboax, H&R Block, and Tax Act. using do-it-yourself software like Turboax increases the chances that you
[04:58] make a mistake. You could easily even misinterpret a question and input the wrong data, which in turn could affect your return or perhaps a refund if much cheaper and it's way more convenient than say hiring a CPA. But I
[05:12] accountant can give you a lot more support. A good accountant doesn't just fill out forms. They proactively look for ways to reduce your tax burden you can write off, which retirement account strategies make sense for your
[05:25] situation, and how to structure things to reduce what you owe. both now and in the future. Usually CPAs for filing your taxes can be anywhere from $500 to $2,000 for the year. But if they can save you $3,000 in taxes or $4,000 or
[05:39] maybe $5,000, that's a pretty clear ROI to me. I think the best part is is that if you do hire an accountant, you don't have to file your taxes yourself, which means that you get to save a lot of time and you save a lot of anxiety that might
[05:51] come up by not answering those questions correctly. If you are making upwards of 150k or more per year, or perhaps you have multiple income streams, like you well as your normal job, or you have more complexity to your taxes than just
[06:04] filing a W2, I would probably start to consider looking at a CPA just as a should upgrade when you start to make more money is quality food. So, when you usually buying the cheapest food available because it fits a purpose to
[06:18] get full and not be hungry. Cheap food is really good for building wealth and the biggest expenses that everyone incurs in their lifetime. And I think it's an expense that we have our direct control over. That's why if you ever
[06:31] watch a Dave Ramsey episode, he's always asking the person on the other line what their expenses are. And usually if that person spends too much money on food or if that person is just in a lot of credit card debt, he will tell that
[06:43] and rice. and that serves the purpose of rotating all of that person's or doing something more responsible. and disposable income, I think it's worth upgrading the quality of your
[06:56] food. The health benefits of quality food will compound over time. So, higher more nutrients, less processed you in the long term. Eating quality food will also improve your productivity
[07:09] just eating McDonald's every day or fast food all the time, you actually might find yourself experiencing brain fog or just energy spikes and crashes quality foods, they are usually more nutrient-dense and they're a little bit
[07:22] as much of it to feel full and energized. Now, I'm not saying you have to go shop at Arowan every day or Whole Foods every day. Nothing like that. I cheapest thing at the grocery store anymore once you have some money. You
[07:35] for the foods that you eat very often. And if you go to a Michelin star that was a bad joke, but okay. The goal isn't to be wasteful with your dollars when it comes to food. It's just to recognize that if you can afford it, the
[07:48] quality of what you eat directly impacts the quality of your life and your work. So, I would look to upgrade that. Now, speaking of quality, the next upgrade is money on convenience. And that is item number six today. Because when you have
[08:01] some disposable income, convenience and services are actually a category that can make your life easier or you can buy back your time. One example of a service could be a food delivery app. I know that's kind of a controversial topic and
[08:13] some people are going to view it as a waste of money, but sometimes people that their time is valuable. I've personally used Door Dash or Uber Eats before because I just don't want to spend an hour cooking for just myself.
[08:25] work on something else that can make me more money than the fee of the delivery, Another service might be like wash and fold laundry. There are lots of wash and fold places across different cities and suburbs, and I've even used this service
[08:39] building. I used to drop off a load of laundry at a wash and fold place once a week. It cost me about $25 a week, but in turn, I was able to get my laundry back the next day. It came back all washed and folded, hence the name wash
[08:52] and fold. And I really valued it at the time because I didn't have to do my own laundry. I got to save an hour and a half to two hours and it would come back myself. Other services you might consider here are housekeeping services,
[09:05] food prep services, lawn care services, etc. According to payments.com, consumers that are not living paycheck to paycheck spend an average of $237 per month on services. Now, this article also had a stat on how much people that
[09:18] live paycheck to paycheck spend on services. It was $171 a month. If you want to be mindful of how much money you are spending on services. Maybe you can wait until you have more money to do so. All right, we've talked a lot about what
[09:32] makes a fulfilling life so far, but number seven, I think, is by far one of it's lucky number seven, and that's upgrading your health. When you get more invest it is in your health, because everything else in your life depends on
[09:46] it. You can't build wealth, enjoy experiences, or be productive if you're health issues. Starting with sleep, I think this is one of the highest ROI buy a quality mattress, a quality pillow, blackout curtains, and even a
[10:00] third of your life sleeping. There are studies out there that say that just one night of sleeping less than 4 hours can reduce the activity of your natural cancer fighting cells by 72% and increase your rate of getting sick. Good
[10:14] sleep also promotes brain health, cognitive function, and aids in your you can do when you start to make some money is to have a quality gym membership at a place that you actually want to go to. Or perhaps if you prefer
[10:27] to work out at home, maybe you build out a home gym that you will actually use. between you and your workout because then it becomes a habit much easier. Back when I used to live in the suburbs, it would take me 20 minutes of driving
[10:39] to get to my gym. And oftentimes, if I was feeling lazy that day or there was If you're able to get to a gym that's walking distance or perhaps you like to go running outside, I think you will find yourself working out a lot more
[10:51] often. And once I've removed that variable of driving, when it came to my I was definitely more active. There are so many other ways you can spend money could have preventative physical therapy appointments, regular doctor checkups,
[11:05] you could have mental health support, so going to therapy. You can buy recovery rollers, and maybe you could even splurge on a massage. The point is that and your longevity, I think that's an excellent use of your money. And that's
[11:19] the whole point of money anyways, which is to live longer and experience things here. A professional that you might want to consider when you have some money is a financial adviser. And that is going to be item number eight today. You could
[11:32] guidance on tax and estate planning, college planning, or even investing. My personal opinion as an ex-financial adviser is that you don't really need a investing. They typically kind of just put you in a standardized product like
[11:46] an ETF that will match the market. However, they can act as a behavioral coach and prevent you from destroying your wealth through emotional decisions. A good adviser will keep you from chasing hot stocks, constantly tinkering
[11:58] with your portfolio, and also panic selling. Sometimes you need that situation, especially when emotions are running high or perhaps the market is down 10%. Just to tell you to be reasonable. Also, financial advisors can
[12:11] help you with your major life decisions like getting married, having a baby, or can't really help you have the baby [laughter] or get married, but what I'm with the finances of understanding how those life situations will impact you.
[12:26] adviser, I would look for someone who's a flat fee only fiduciary adviser. That's someone who is legally required to act in your best interest and charges adviserss, that's actually most of the industry, and they make money selling
[12:41] that you generally need to avoid. They will usually charge you a percentage of never made sense to me. It's like if you get more money, you now pay more of a fee. So, I would look for someone that's a flat fee. Honestly, if your financial
[12:55] situation is really straightforward, like all you're doing is saving and complexities, you probably don't need a financial adviser yet. All right, item number nine today is that once you do get more money, I think that you can
[13:08] that will in turn transform your value back and get another four-year degree or two-year degree, but what you can do is focus on certifications, trainings, and education that directly increase how
[13:21] professional certifications like getting a CPA, CFA or PMP can immediately make you more valuable within your industry. You could also get a technical training. So whether that's a coding boot camp or maybe you take a data analytics course
[13:35] technical skill is within your industry that can also increase your earning into that. I really like the idea that let's say you get a technical training and it cost you $3,000. If you know that
[13:48] $3,000 investment will eventually turn into 10,000 or even $20,000 more dollars per year for your salary, you can clearly see that there's a correlated education could be going to a networking event or a networking conference within
[14:02] your industry. I know that might not sound like a good use of money, but even if you just make a connection there and that could eventually translate to an worth it. The key question here to ask yourself is is will this education pay
[14:15] for itself within one to two years? If yes, it's probably worth it. If not, you might need to re-evaluate. I think that reinvesting some of the money back into one of the smartest money moves that you
[14:28] your best investment. So, I would keep that in mind. Now, speaking of investing in yourself, number 10 today is investing in your hobbies. I think that when they start making more money, but investing in your hobbies can
[14:41] dramatically increase how you feel about your life and how fulfilled you feel on give you something to look forward to outside of work. And often times, if you acquire a skill within that hobby, it can sometimes transfer back to your
[14:54] here could be like a photographer and you have all of a sudden more attention to detail because you're taking photos of all these really great landscapes or you go back to work and you're looking at a PowerPoint presentation, maybe you
[15:08] don't. Hobbies also help you meet people. And some of the best friendships formed around a shared interest. So, I think that when you're actually able to seriously, you're not just buying like better equipment, you're actually
[15:22] you are a part of. If you're into running, maybe you upgrade from a random pair of shoes to a more fitted pair of shoes. If you're into golf, maybe that means you're getting lessons or perhaps buying new clubs. And if you love League
[15:34] of Legends, which is a hard ask, maybe it's hiring a League of Legends coach that teaches you not to be toxic in game every game when your teammates are being really big idiots. Just just saying. And here's something that people don't often
[15:47] talk about a lot. Hobbies can sometimes turn into side hustles and even full-on careers. I'm not saying that has to be the goal from the get-go, but when you passionate about, sometimes opportunities just present themselves.
[15:59] maybe you start shooting weddings, or maybe you're a runner who becomes a running form coach. The point is is that your hobby might just remain a hobby or thought of. Life isn't just about acrewing wealth in my opinion. I think
[16:13] it's about living a rich and fulfilling life. And a huge part of that comes from spending money on the things that bring you joy, bring you health, or perhaps if you're interested in my video on the 10 things that I stopped buying, make
[16:26] Because if you like this video on what to buy, I think you'll like that video you guys in the next one. Thank you for being here again. Peace.