Money Lessons from a Guy Who Drives a Skimpy Honda Civic — and Has Worked in Finance for 9 Years

Minimalism can make your life a lot easier — and cheaper.

I joined the finance world in 2011. Nine years in, it has been one hell of a ride. Watching the world of finance every day and noticing all the subtle surprises has led to a lifetime of learning.

I’ve learned many insider secrets to the world of investing and finance. These insights were hidden in the depths of long finance books, and in complex concepts like Quantitative Easing and the Velocity of Money. My mind has consumed everything it possibly could to understand what value is and how the system we operate in can make us poor if we don’t understand it.

Why did I take the time to learn about money?

It was my 9–5 job to do so.
I wanted to understand how to make art without having to stress about paying the rent all the time. (Maybe you do too.)

The money I earned from understanding finance didn’t go into buying a Lambo either. I drive a modest Honda Civic because of what I learned, that you can borrow from.

Your Wealth Is Determined by How You View the World.

— And people BUY your view of the world.

People literally pay you for your worldview. Tom Kuegler said readers are just buying a writer’s worldview. I think this concept translates well beyond writing and into finance/business too.

If you want to do better with your finances then change your worldview. Understand how your worldview of society, politics, work and business is limiting your potential.

My worldview used to be “start a business and get richer than the employees.” My worldview then became “get a good job and get rich off a fancy job title.”

My worldview is now this: help other people reach their goals and be generous and helpful in the process. The more I give, the better I do. A shift in thinking really impacts your bank balance.

Terrible Investments Are Everywhere.

That’s the harsh reality. Retail investor apps like Robinhood sell their user’s behavior to investment firms who use it to bet against the uneducated investor. The markets are rigged against you.

Then there is the secret world of leveraged products. A leveraged product is simply one where you put down $1 and get $10 worth of assets. The other $9 becomes a secret loan. Leveraged products are everywhere and many people don’t know they’re buying them. There are also complex products like Options Trading where you have the option, not an obligation, to buy the underlying asset you’re betting on.

That brings me to another misunderstood concept: financial markets are nothing more than betting on whether the price is going to go up or down. There are so many different factors that nobody really knows, not even Warren Buffet, who admitted recently he’s been wrong for a while.

Learn what each asset is using Investopedia before you buy anything. And then diversify your money across lots of categories to protect you when you’re wrong.

Money and Minimalism Are an Astonishing Match.

If you discover a minimalist approach to money, you won’t need to earn so much of it to support yourself, resulting in a lot less stress.

Driving a Honda Civic is minimalism. I can afford a much better car yet I don’t bother. The extra cash is invested into more productive uses that make life easier. Think about your life in a simpler way.

What could you do without? That’s a question that can transform your financial future. All the stuff you think you need is a lie.

You can live with a lot less.

Think about all the experiences you thought you had to have in life. Now think about how being in lockdown and wearing a mask because of a health crisis has changed all of that. A holiday to an exotic location feels like a distant dream — yet I’m sure you can find other ways to enjoy life.

Money Can Make You Ugly like a Possessed Witch.

I was going to partner with a person here in Melbourne to deliver live education two years ago. Money turned them into a zombie.

They started to see the opportunity and became deluded by how much money they could make. They became so crazed by the idea of money that they ran around, and chopped and changed between six different ways to earn a living.

They ended up executing on nothing. Money steered them in the wrong direction. They became lost. Now they’re sitting at home in lockdown with nothing.

Money can possess you to do stupid shit. Focus is underrated.

Money Can Work for You, or Against You — You Decide.

There’s a lot of stinking-rich poor people.

They earn big salaries or have businesses that make them giant profits. Yet they can’t rustle together a few dollars. Why? Money works against them like this:

They have too much debt
Their lifestyle exceeds their income
They try to impress people with their wealth

The other hidden killer: the devaluing of money.

The other force working against them is the devaluing of money. They put their money into stuff that goes down in value or gets eaten away by the hidden tax of inflation.

When the governments fire up the money printers to save the world from a recession caused by a health crisis, these supposed rich people are eaten alive. The car drops in value. Their home drops in value. The debt they took out to buy property becomes harder to pay, because the market becomes soft and people decide to pay them less rent.

If their money is in the wrong asset at the wrong time, or they got too greedy during the good times, they lose the lot. They are wiped out in a matter of months.

Greed can screw up your life.

Cash Can Help You Sleep Better.

I lived this money lesson recently when I sold all my investments.

There seemed to be way too much hype. The markets resembled the previous bubbles of 2008 and the Dot-com Crash. So I sold everything and decided to sit in cash. The peace of mind it brought me was incredible. The reduction in stress was worth every dollar. I may not have been the best demonstration of a smart investor because of my decision, but at least I took profit and paid tax.

You can sit in cash when the world goes crazy and watch from afar for a while. Getting into an investment is the easy part; getting out is where the challenge lies.

Giving Money Away Feels Phenomenal.

A dude told me the other day that he wanted my eBook so badly and couldn’t afford it.

I sent him a free copy rather than charge him the $20. It felt pretty good. A few hours later he’d read the entire book from cover to cover and shared with me everything he learned. Being the teacher in that moment felt better than the $20 he couldn’t afford to pay me.

Now he contacts me regularly to show me how he’s implemented what he’s learned. We’re going to collaborate on a business opportunity together.

Don’t underestimate free to change your financial future — and give you a meaning for your life.

Losing All Your Money Can Change Your Life.

My friend, Michael Thompson, was swindled out of $250,000. I lost most of what I had in 2011, too. But losing your money can be a good thing.

Losing your money is like a reset:

It resets your level of greed.
It makes you discover alternate possibilities.
It helps you find a different dimension to your life.
It stops you being an asshole — if you accidentally became one (like me).
It can help you rebuild.
It can accidentally help you to find a way to serve others that becomes more fulfilling than the money itself.

Don’t underestimate the financial freedom of having your money taken away. It’s a money strategy no banker will ever give you, that can make you feel wealthy without necessarily having the dollars to support the label.

Final Thought

You can have everything you want in life when you change how you think about money. Love, fulfillment, and meaning don’t have price tags you can use conventional money to pay for. Think about that deeply.

This article is for informational purposes only, it should not be considered Financial or Legal Advice. Consult a financial professional before making any major financial decisions.