She Hit Rock Bottom and Still Built a Six-Figure Life. Here's How. (With Rebecca Whitman)

Two life-altering losses in one week. One record-breaking fiscal year. Here is what she did differently while everything else was falling apart. 👉 Join Andrew’s FREE Investing for Beginner’s Masterclass: https://event.webinarjam.com/q05p7/register/0o8z9io?webinar_id=21 What You'll Learn in This Episode The seven pillars of abundance and why financial success collapses when the others are ignored Why high achievers who look successful are often secretly burned out and broke in ways that never show up on paper The real reason most side hustles never turn into meaningful income How to know when you have enough financial security to leave your job for your side hustle Why coming from contribution instead of desperation completely changes your business outcomes The mindset shift that helped Rebecca build her best fiscal year ever the same week she lost her father and finalized her divorce What the personal finance world gets wrong about budgeting and why it backfires for most people Start Here Join the community built to help you master your money, stay accountable, and reach financial freedom. 👉 Try Master Money Academy FREE for 7 days today! https://mastermoney.co/join/ 👉 Join Andrew’s FREE Investing for Beginners Masterclass https://event.webinarjam.com/q05p7/register/0o8z9io?webinar_id=21 👉 Join The Master Money Newsletter where you will become smarter with your money in 5 minutes or less per week Here! https://expert-hustler-605.ck.page/6aa7bb9a79 Partner Deals Indeed → Get a $75 sponsored job credit http://Indeed.com/personalfinance Wayfair → Up to 60% off | MEMORIAL DAY WAREHOUSE CLEAROUT http://wayfair.com Policygenius → Free life insurance quote http://policygenius.com Chime → Get more rewarding fee-free banking at https://www.chime.com/PFP Monarch Money → The all-in-one financial tool + Get 50% Off at http://www.monarch.com/PFP Scribe → Sign up for a 30-day risk-free trial ⁠⁠http://www.scribe.how/pfp ⁠ DeleteMe → 20% off with code PFP https://joindeleteme.com/PFP20/ Book/s Mentioned The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz Watch Next How do Your Finances Compare by Age?! (Salary, Debt, Net Worth, Credit, Home) https://youtu.be/Z10g-yd76nk How to Retire in 10 Years or Less! https://youtu.be/nStwD03vJ64 The Hidden Cost of Playing It Safe with Your Money with Ben Carlson https://youtu.be/LG1Jr2xeuDo The Patient Investor's Playbook with Noah Kerner - CEO of Acorns https://youtu.be/l5YZy2q_aVY The Best Ages to Build Wealth (Ranked!) https://youtu.be/JIZ1WrS91v4 Connect with Rebecca Website: https://rebeccawhitman.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rebecca.whitman Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rebeccaewhitman/ X: https://x.com/RebeccaEWhitman LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rebeccaewhitman/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@rebeccaewhitman Connect with Andrew Instagram → https://bit.ly/Skool-Instagram TikTok → https://bit.ly/Skool-TikTok Facebook → https://bit.ly/Skool-Facebook Podcast → https://bit.ly/Skool-Podcast Youtube → bit.ly/Skool-Youtube Newsletter → https://bit.ly/Skool-Newsletter Website →⁠ https://mastermoney.co ⁠ X → ⁠https://x.com/mastermoneyco LinkedIn →⁠ ⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-giancola-45027b340 Question for you: Have you ever chased money thinking it would fix everything else in your life? Drop what happened and what you learned in the comments below. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Andrew Giancola?

  When I started the Personal Finance Podcast, I had no idea how big it could become. I just knew I had something I wanted to share, so I started putting it online. And looking back, I definitely wish I would have started a decade earlier. One of the horror parts about building something online, though, is making it look professional. A website used to mean hiring a developer, figuring out design, and potentially spending thousands of dollars. In fact, on my website, I spent tens of thousands of dollars. That's what impressed me when playing around with Hostinger's AI Website Builder. I told it what kind of website I wanted, and I built the first version in minutes. No coding, no designer, or developer needed. And Hostinger doesn't stop at launch.

• 0:44Andrew Giancola?

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• 1:29Andrew Giancola?

  or piece of content that we record. And that's one of the things that I love about Wayfair. You can shop thousands of products across different styles and budgets, use customer photos and reviews to see how things actually look in real homes, and find something that fits your space. They also have Wayfair Verified Products that are hand-vetted by product specialists using a 10-point quality inspection. And with more than 20 million verified 5-star reviews, you can feel a lot more confident about what you're ordering. I've used Wayfair for this studio and our home, and I absolutely recommend them for your space. So transform your space with pieces that hold up to real life. Join Wayfair Rewards today and get 5% back on every single purchase.

• 2:14Andrew Giancola?

  Head to wayfair.com or shop the Wayfair app for all things home. That's W-A-Y-F-A-I-R.com. Wayfair: Every Style, Every Home.

• 2:28Andrew Giancola?

  A lot of people go out there and they chase money, thinking it is going to fix everything else. When does that backfire?

• 2:34Speaker 01

  We can look to the example of celebrities who have money, power, and fame, yet so many of them are ODing and dying, or suicidal, or having really dysfunctional relationships. We think, our society tells us that money, power, and fame are the three things to constantly be striving for, and that they're going to fix us. We're looking for outside validation to fill a God-sized hole in our heart, and it starts from within. Happiness is a decision, not an acquisition. It was 2016. It was the hardest year of my life, because as my marriage was slowly and painfully unraveling, my dad was slowly and painfully dying. And I never knew when the divorce would end, or when my dad would die.

• 3:18Speaker 01

  And it just so happened, they culminated in the same week. My dad was buried on a Wednesday, and my divorce was finalized on a Friday. A few months later, I was sitting across the desk from my financial planner, and he said, "Rebecca, you lost your dad, you lost your marriage, but you're having your best fiscal year ever. You've actually become a self-made millionaire. I'll get happy when I get over there, but guess what? Over there never comes."

• 3:45Andrew Giancola?

  She lost her father and her marriage in the same week. And most people would have fallen apart. Most people would have let everything burn, including their finances. Rebecca Whitman didn't. And when I sat down with her, I wanted to know why. Because what she figured out is it isn't about money. It's about why the people who grind the hardest are often the ones building the least. Why high achievers, who look successful on the outside, are secretly burned out and broke in ways that don't show up on paper. And a lot of them are chasing a version of freedom that they'll never actually reach. Rebecca has worked with thousands of people who, by every external measure, have made it. They have a good income, they have a busy calendar, and they look successful. But she keeps seeing the same blind spot. And over and over again, it is quietly destroying their wealth.

• 4:29Andrew Giancola?

  Now she built a framework around the pillars of abundance. Not because it sounds good, but because she learned the hard way that when one collapses, they are all going to collapse. Including your money. So in this episode, we get behind the real psychology of lifestyle inflation, why most side hustles fail before they even get started, and what it actually takes to build a six-figure income from scratch. The one thing that the personal finance world doesn't talk enough about and is not honest enough about. This episode is going to shift the way you think about money entirely. So without further ado, let's welcome Rebecca to the Personal Finance Podcast.

• 5:05Andrew Giancola?

  So Rebecca, welcome to the Personal Finance Podcast.

• 5:08Speaker 01

  Thank you. I'm so excited to be here, Andrew.

• 5:11Andrew Giancola?

  So you've built this really cool framework around abundance. And I want to talk about financial abundance a lot because the psychology behind money is one of the things that we love to talk about. And I say this all the time, 90% of money is your psychology and only 10% is kind of your know-how. And I love kind of how you think about this and how you think through abundance overall. So you've talked about financial abundance and how it can't exist in isolation. And you talk through these six different pillars. So I want you to kind of introduce those six pillars to our audience and then we can kind of dive into this.

• 5:42Speaker 01

  Well, thank you so much. It's actually seven pillars. So your audience gets a bonus pillar that you didn't even know about. So the first pillar is spirituality, and they are in order of importance, according to my experience. So having a relationship with a power greater than yourself. I choose to call that power God. You can choose to call it whatever you want. The second pillar is fitness, body before business. And if you're strong and healthy, then you can go out and build a great business. If you're sick and have to stay in bed, then you can't do anything. So health is wealth. The third pillar is emotions. I believe all emotions come from scarcity or abundance. You're in a conversation of not enough time, not enough energy, not enough money, or more than enough time, more than enough energy, more than enough money.

• 6:27Speaker 01

  I mean, you, for example, have all these different businesses, as I do. And a lot of people are like, I'm overwhelmed with just one. Well, it's just, it's just a mindset that we have enough time and we have enough like energy to do all this, all these different businesses. And it's, it's a lot of fun. We can get into that. After emotions, it is romance.

• 6:48Speaker 01

  And romance affects all the other areas. If you're in a healthy, loving relationship, or even happily single, you can keep everything going with a high vibe and a good attitude. After romance is mental, and that's listening to shows like this awesome show, Top 5% in the World, the Personal Finance Podcast, working on your mind and learning things all the time. It could be creativity, it could be travel, it could be learning a new recipe, learning to play pickleball. After mental is social, and that is having a community and having mentors and mentees. And finally, it's financial. And I believe all of these things affect your finances. A lot of people think abundance is just financial.

• 7:33Speaker 01

  I'll go out, make a ton of money. I'll hire a personal trainer. I'll look totally hot. I'll manifest my soulmate. And we'll travel and go on spiritual retreats and work on our mindset. But in my experience, money is the last thing that comes into play.

• 7:47Andrew Giancola?

  And this is something that I love, because I think really, when you have a wealthy life and an abundant life, overall, you need to have a balance in all these different areas. And so that's why I love that you kind of talk through this stuff, because it is very, very important. And overall, I know for me specifically, a lot of times I can feel like, hey, I'm doing really well in some of these areas. And in some of these areas, I feel completely out of whack, or I feel like I'm just completely lacking. So for someone out there who is kind of working really hard, maybe they're working really hard on their finances, but they feel out of balance kind of everywhere else. Where would you tell them to start?

• 8:19Speaker 01

  I say to start with your morning ritual, have a connection with a power greater than yourself, whether you call that, you know, God, Jesus, Allah, nature, Buddha, your coffee, anything to start your morning off, having a great mindset. And when I was 20 years old, I met someone who changed my life. She gave me some journal prompts that helped me create an abundance mindset to go from negative, critical, fear-based thinking to positive thinking. And these journal prompts are a gift I'm going to give you guys at the end of the interview. So make sure you stay tuned till the end. But these journal prompts, I've been Writing them every morning for 30 years and they've completely changed my thinking.

• 9:03Speaker 01

  And it just has given me a way to process what I'm learning and what I'm going through, and then spin it to the positive. So having that journal practice, just having some quiet time in the morning. I think that is the first foundational thing. The second thing is to have some exercise in your life, whether you can do it in the morning, afternoon, evening, even if it's just walking, even if it's just doing some gentle stretching in between Zoom calls. Having movement in your life is so important. And just, I call fitness H and M, not the discount store, but hydration, nutrition and movement. And those are the two things that I think are the foundation for everything else. And then you can work on your finances, work on your love life,

• 9:47Speaker 01

  you know, work on getting a more expansive social life. But having the spirituality and the fitness, I feel, are essentials. And, and those you can work on if you can, every single day.

• 9:57Andrew Giancola?

  And the cool thing about this is you're kind of talking through, hey, first, let's get our mind right. Let's make sure our mind is, is, you know, in the right spot. And then in addition, let's make sure that our body is in the right spot. If you do those two things alone, you're going to feel a lot better in your situation, where especially you really want to be working on this stuff, even when life is going good. When you feel like things are going well, it is really important to make sure that you maintain a lot of these different habits to ensure that when life gets tougher, or when life gets harder, you can actually overcome some of these things. And you went through one of the hardest weeks in your life, where you had a divorce, the loss of your father at the same time, and you still came out high performing. Can you kind of talk through it? And what was it about having those pillars that you have in place that helped you through that process?

• 10:40Speaker 01

  Yeah, it was 2016. It was the hardest year of my life because as my marriage was slowly and painfully unraveling, my dad was slowly and painfully dying. And I never knew when the divorce would end or when my dad would die. And it just so happened, they culminated in the same week. My dad was buried on a Wednesday and my divorce was finalized on a Friday. And a few months later, I was sitting across the desk from my financial planner. And he said, Rebecca, you lost your dad, you lost your marriage, but you're having your best fiscal year ever. You've actually become a self-made millionaire. And I think you should inspire people to be resilient because it's usually when you go through

• 11:22Speaker 01

  these life-changing tragedies that things are going downhill financially. But because of the seven pillars, they went uphill because I had the daily morning practice with the abundance journaling, because I poured all my anger and sadness and angst into my workouts, because I shared with my community, all the uncertainty and insecurity I was feeling about not knowing how much the divorce would cost me or where it would end. And I was working on my mindset constantly. If I was awake, I was listening to positive podcasts or YouTube videos or audibles, constantly just pouring into myself in the mental pillar that I was able to get out. And even though I had a bad romantic year, all the other areas

• 12:07Speaker 01

  either stayed the same or leveled up because I knew that it was kind of like it was going to make or break me that year. And I did not want to let it break me.

• 12:15Andrew Giancola?

  I almost think about it in terms of a lot of folks out there know that we talk here about investing a lot in this podcast. And one of the things we talk about a lot is the kind of S and P 500, where you have this diversified group of stocks that you can buy all in one, you know, stock or investment, where you're buying basically a ton of different stocks all at one time. And the beautiful thing about this is, is because you're diversified across all these different companies, a lot of times, if one of those companies starts to struggle, it doesn't hurt you as bad because you have all these other companies that you're diversified into. And this is almost a way, what you're talking about here is to make sure you're diversified in life, where you are covering all the major areas of your life and you're consistently making sure that you are kind of doing the things that are going to help you, the habits, put those habits into place that are going to help you moving

• 12:59Andrew Giancola?

  forward, even when you don't need them. So that one, win one area, just like what you had to go through, when one or two areas starts to really become painful, you have those other areas that are going to help lift you up in life. And I think that's a really cool way to kind of think about this and the way that your pillars are kind of working, where a lot of people go out there and they chase money, thinking it is going to fix everything else. When does that backfire? And what would you tell them to do if that's something that they do do?

• 13:24Speaker 01

  Well, I think we can look to the example of celebrities who have money, power, and fame, yet so many of them are ODing and dying, or suicidal, or having really dysfunctional relationships, or end up checking themselves into a psych ward. We think, our society tells us that money, power, and fame are the three things to constantly be striving for, and that they're going to fix us. And we spend our life like the donkey chasing the carrot. And I used to say, "Well, I know they're not going to fix me, but I still want to get them, and then I'll decide on my own." But I will tell you, we can learn through the power of example. And we're looking for outside validation to fill a God-sized hole in our heart, and

• 14:08Speaker 01

  it starts from within. Happiness is a decision, not an acquisition. And happiness is a choice that you get to make every day. And when you choose to prioritize your happiness, you are going to become magnetic to more business opportunities. For example, you found me through the law of attraction, the law of magnetism. I didn't go out seeking you, and now we're doing a great collaboration. We're going to do a podcast swap, but it was through the magnetism. That's why my nickname is the Magnetic Abundance Mentor, because when you have these areas in place, and you have a full life, and I don't call it, even though my podcast is The Balanced, Beautiful, and Abundant Show, it's more like a symphony.

• 14:51Speaker 01

  Different areas take different precedence in different seasons. I know you have young kids. They're going to take more time and more of a precedence now than when they go off and leave the nest. So there's reasons and seasons for different things. I'm not saying you can have all these seven areas perfectly balanced every single day. But my intention, when I teach my clients, is just to touch them at least once a week. Like, have one date night a week. Go to one social event a week. But the other things, you can do more of, like the morning practice and the fitness. But just knowing that there's all these instruments of life, and if you don't get hyper-focused on money, you can actually be happy while you're making money, instead

• 15:35Speaker 01

  of put your happiness over there. I call it over-therism. Like, I'll get happy when I get over there, but guess what? Over there never comes.

• 15:44Andrew Giancola?

  Exactly. And I think, you know, a lot of people are looking to the future. They're going to do that someday. They're going to get, they're going to get healthy someday. One day they'll kind of get to that point in time where they're going to have enough money and they'll have a little more time and then they're going to get there. But what I find a lot of times with most people is that the goalpost continues to move. And when that goalpost continues to move and your goals just become, you know, greater and greater and greater, they never actually get to the point in time where they prioritize these areas. So it's so important to make sure that you stay balanced and you prioritize other areas, even as you're working on building wealth. Now, one of the things that we talk about a lot here is that income is the number one lever that you can pull in order to fix a lot of areas of your financial situation. You can only cut back so much, but you can earn infinitely more. And I think you and I talk about, you know, building businesses and side hustles so much

• 16:29Andrew Giancola?

  that I think this is something that you can really, really help a lot of our listeners when we go through this. So you have an entire program built around this and how to kind of build your income up over six figures. But what is the number one reason that people who start a side hustle don't actually turn it into meaningful income? Because one of the things we want them to do when we talk about side hustles is we talk about side hustles that can become a full-time income. That's the overall goal that I'm looking for a lot of times when people are building businesses. So why do you think that people who start a side hustle usually don't turn it into something meaningful?

• 17:00Speaker 01

  Well, if you treat your side hustle like a hobby, you're going to make hobby income. If you treat your side hustle like a serious business that you could make six figures or more on, then you're going to make six figures or more. And it's not the time. You can, you can create a successful business with one dedicated power hour a day, five days a week. It's not the amount of time. It's doing income-producing activities versus busy work. There's so much busy work to do as an entrepreneur that you can get caught up in the weeds and never actually ask people if they're going to, you know, pay you. Ask people if they're open to taking a look at your product, good or service. Unless you're doing the ask, you are just getting caught up in the busy work.

• 17:45Speaker 01

  And I like to tell my clients, dedicate one power hour a week and make that hour just as important as any doctor's appointment or any other appointment you would have. Put boundaries around that hour and really focus and put your pedal to the metal and do some income-producing activities to move your business forward.

• 18:05Andrew Giancola?

  One of the things that I do is a lot of times in my business is when I feel like I'm getting out of whack and I'm too doing too much of that busy work, I will literally take out a spreadsheet and I will go and track every 15 minutes of what I am doing for an entire year. And when I go through this, all of a sudden identify, oh my goodness, I am spending 15 hours a week just on busy work, stuff that really doesn't matter. And/or if it is something that needs to get done, but it is not highly important, you can either, you know, if your business is making enough money, you could hire someone to kind of solve those problems for you so that you're not continuing to do the, the non-income producing activities. And I think that's what the most powerful word that you said there was the income producing activities. You must focus on those and that should be what propels your business forward is making sure that you do that so you can generate revenue, so you can grow your business,

• 18:49Andrew Giancola?

  so you can hire people and do all these other things if you want to. And that I think is a really, really important thing there that you said. You teach people coming from contribution rather than desperation when they're building a side business. Why does that mindset shift matter financially? And how does it actually change the outcomes that people get?

• 19:05Speaker 01

  Well, a lot of business coaches tell you to sign up for their high-ticket coaching program, spend 25, 30 grand, max out your credit cards, quit your job. And they say you gotta burn the boats to take the island. And that puts you in a do or die situation where when you are, you know, you have your business set up and you finally get to talk to the prospect, you're like, oh my God, I'm like, you know, in credit card debt and my kids don't have health insurance and like, I've got to make this sale. And people can pick that up. So I tell them, keep your job, keep your health benefits, keep the money rolling in so you can feel secure and also reinvest into your own business and come from contribution.

• 19:48Speaker 01

  Don't be a go-getter, be a go-giver. And I was just at a conference this weekend and they said, don't get yourself rich, give yourself rich. And when people feel that you're coming from contribution, not desperation, they're going to want to give you their business. We're in a trust recession right now. There's so many entrepreneurs and so many people are selling stuff online. People are like sales averse and they're like, oh God, every time you say hi to someone, like I'm doing the same thing. Oh, if somebody says hi to me, what do they want? What are you trying to sell me? And so it's so important to learn how to build relationships and truly come from contribution.

• 20:26Andrew Giancola?

  I agree, and I think that's one where I know a lot of people out there who are even looking for folks who say that, for example, they wanted to do business with them, or they wanted to partner with them, that they wanted to do all these other things. And a lot of times, they go first and they ask them for something. They ask, you know, hey, can I have some of your time for, you know, 30 minutes of coffee? That is one of the worst things that you can ask a busy entrepreneur, because their time is their most valuable asset. And so a lot of times, if you can come up with ways to help contribute, just like Rebecca's talking about, and come up with ways to, you know, find, find ways to actually help them, find ways to contribute with them, to collaborate with them, to make their lives better, I think that is such a powerful message for a lot of people out there. So, you, your own story started with, you wrote a book, and then you turned that into coaching, which I think

• 21:09Andrew Giancola?

  is absolutely fantastic. For someone who doesn't see themselves as an entrepreneur, what's the first signal that they might have something worth monetizing? If they're thinking through, okay, I want to do something as a side hustle, and I want to try to turn it into a full-time business. Is there a signal out there that may say to them, hey, this is worth pursuing?

• 21:28Speaker 01

  Well, I like to ask them, what is your superpower? What could you give a TED Talk on right now? Speak for 20 minutes without checking your notes. What is something that people come to you and ask your advice in? What is something you were always good at as a kid? What is something you're constantly Googling or listening to podcasts about? What is something that you could do, like, blindfolded? That would be a great place to start as a side hustle, and then you can expand from there. But my goal is to help take people's passion to a profitable business. For example, I had this young woman, she was in her 20s, she's working as a vet tech, and she's like, I don't see myself as a vet tech, I want to

• 22:10Speaker 01

  start a side hustle. I'm like, well, what brings you the most joy in your vet tech job? And she said, it's helping people find their perfect soulmate pet. And I, and I helped her create a brand called The Furry Godmother, and her business was connecting people to their soulmate pet and doing the search for them. And that business is very profitable, and she's still doing the vet tech, but now she's taking her passion of matching people to their soulmate pet, and she's making a great side income, and eventually it'll be her full-time income.

• 22:43Andrew Giancola?

  I think that's a really cool way to think about it because for most people out there, you need to realize that if you're going to turn this into a side hustle, you really do need to have that passion in place because a lot of times when it gets tough or when you hit a wall, you need to find a way to push through that. And for some folks, if they're not passionate about what they're talking about or they're not passionate about their business, it's gonna be a lot harder to push through those walls than would be if you actually had that passion in place. And so because you enjoy the process, because you enjoy doing it, I think that can be something that is really, really helpful. Have you seen that with a lot of your students where, have you ever seen any of them kind of come up with something that they're not passionate about and they get stuck? And/or have you seen them push through any obstacles because they were passionate about it?

• 23:22Speaker 01

  I have a client who has made a lot of money as a financial planner and she just grinded it out because she actually loves helping people. But now she's at a stage of her life where she's like, I'm so tired of being on call 24/7 and having the responsibility of people's life savings. And she's like, I just want to do something that's fun, like flip houses because it's creative and I get to like see a before and after. And she's selling her financial planning business because it just stopped being fun. And so that's an example. Or myself, I'm a huge believer in the network marketing profession. One out of four self-made millionaires come from network marketing and I've been successful at it.

• 24:06Speaker 01

  So I get pitched all the time and I love health and wellness. I love beauty. Those are the products that I'm already recommending to my friends. I would not recommend like life insurance or legal help or anything like that, long distance services for the phone or anything. So I tell people, find something that you're already going to recommend to your friend. If you're trying to look forever 21 like I am already, I'm trying to tell my friends about what to take, so I might as well get paid for it.

• 24:38Andrew Giancola?

  Absolutely, and I think that's a great lesson overall. Like an example of that, same thing as like my sister, for example, is an esthetician. She became an esthetician because she's so passionate about, you know, just beauty products and that type of stuff. And so she actually figured out a way to kind of turn it into a full-time business. She took her time and kind of went through that process. And I think a lot of people will kind of get to this point in time where they say to themselves, okay, I'm really passionate about this subject. I want to start this side hustle. And they start the side hustle and all of a sudden, boom, it makes a little bit of money. And they start to see some real impact happening and they start to see some revenue coming in and they are really, really excited because they see that revenue happening. And you talk about transitioning from this side hustle to a full-time job, but first you need to have that financial security. So what does that actual threshold look like?

• 25:22Andrew Giancola?

  Or what does it look like for someone to have financial security in your mind?

• 25:26Speaker 01

  In my mind, if you can pay all your bills and then have a little bit of a cushion, then it's time to switch. And I know David Ramsey, a lot of people say you should have six months savings. I have started a lot of businesses without six months savings. So I would say if you could have three months savings, that would be great. And yeah, if you can match your income, or even if you can't match it, maybe you have a really high-paying job that you hate, if you can just pay your bills with a little bit of wiggle room at the end, then I think you should go for it. And if it's too uncomfortable, you don't have to force it because you can think of your job as a way to reinvest into your side hustle.

• 26:09Speaker 01

  And when you have a side hustle, you can be more passionate about your job because instead of feeling burned out and stale about it, you're like, oh, I'm just doing this so I can have extra money to reinvest into my virtual assistant, or my software, or the conference, or the coach that I really want. So it actually can fuel your passion for your job.

• 26:29Andrew Giancola?

  I would agree is having that emergency fund in place, making sure you have enough cash on hand to give you enough runway going. And then, once you are paying all of your bills, in addition to having some extra cushion with that side hustle, that is a time or an indicator where you can pursue it. And I've seen people do both. I've seen people kind of even, you know, hang on to their side hustle and their job at the same time until their side hustle hits double their income. We talk about something called the sleep well at night number, which is your SWAN number. And a lot of times when we talk to that SWAN number, it's like for each person, it's a little bit different and possibly one of those areas where if you feel more comfortable, the revenue is, you know, a longer runway and/or you just have a bigger emergency fund. I think that is kind of the area where a lot of people land.

• 27:08Speaker 01

  It's okay to go the other way, too. Like, if you, if you leave your job, want to become an entrepreneur, and then you hit some hard times, I don't see any shame and judgment in going to get a job to get you out of survival mode. And people have, people that I really respect who are super successful entrepreneurs, at certain times in their careers, they had to go get a job. So, there's no, nothing wrong with doing it the other way, too. If you make that decision too soon, or if you hit a rough patch, there's no harm in getting a job and getting back to that SWAN security threshold that you talked about.

• 27:46Andrew Giancola?

  And I think careers, a lot of times for most folks, are a lot more flexible than they think they are. You can go and do exactly what Rebecca said. You can go get a job, even if it's a part-time job, while your business is still kind of building that revenue back up. Maybe you hit a hard time or a season. I think that's really important to even be willing to do that. Some people almost have this pride in place where they're not willing to kind of go back. And I think if you don't go back in a lot of situations, you've got, you've got to go back even to save your business and kind of continue on what you're doing there. So, a really great tip there, because I think it does go both ways on the spectrum. You define freedom as doing what you want, when you want, with whom you want. And we say that phrase literally all the time on this podcast. It is one that we talk about constantly when it comes to building wealth, because we feel as though the real reason

• 28:29Andrew Giancola?

  why you want to build wealth and you want to gain this money is not for the money or the things that you can buy, so that you can buy your freedom, so you can do what you want, when you want, with whom you want. And so, I think this is a real, powerful message that a lot of people need to hear. When does freedom become real and not just a concept for people? It's kind of amazing how much can change in just a single year. Every summer, the kids are a little bigger, a little more independent, and life looks a little different than it did the year before. And it reminds me that while we can't predict the future, we can prepare for it. That's one of the reasons I like PolicyGenius. See, PolicyGenius isn't an insurance company. They're an online marketplace that lets you compare life insurance quotes

• 29:12Andrew Giancola?

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• 29:56Andrew Giancola?

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• 30:40Andrew Giancola?

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• 31:21Andrew Giancola?

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• 32:00Andrew Giancola?

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• 32:43Andrew Giancola?

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• 33:27Andrew Giancola?

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• 33:53Speaker 01

  If somebody asks you to do something like spur the moment, oh my God, I got an extra ticket to go to this concert or this ballgame and it's in a different city, you don't have to hesitate. You're like, yes, I definitely, I've always wanted to see this team play. I've always wanted to see this band. Absolutely. Yes, yes, yes. And it gives you the freedom to be spontaneous. It also gives you freedom because unexpected expenses come up where you could have like a, you know, a car or a home repair that would break you. But it's like, yep, I can, I can handle that. I can pay for that car or home repair and it's not going to break my stride. And I think it's, it's having fun money and it's also walking away from toxic relationships.

• 34:38Speaker 01

  If you are making enough money where you can pay your bills on your own, you do not have to stay in a negative environment just because somebody's helping out with the rent and helping out with the bills. That's the ultimate freedom is having the freedom to be around people that are positive, loving and supportive and to walk away from negative, toxic people because you have your own money.

• 35:00Andrew Giancola?

  It truly is and being in those relationships is a key one. Another one is even, you know, if you're in a job that you you hate, but you have enough savings and investments on hand and your boss is, you know, someone who could be, you know, abusive or emotionally or whatever else, that is another amazing reason to focus on building wealth, because you can walk away from a job that just not is good for you. It's not good for your environment or your mental capacity or anything else. I think that is another great thing for freedom. Location, even if you are in a location, maybe you are and then, you know, up north and you hate being up north or maybe you're in the south and you hate the heat. You can change your location and absolutely change your entire financial life just because you built wealth. Money is the tool. It is the tool that gets you what you want in life.

• 35:40Speaker 01

  Or health, you know, if God forbid, you have a health crisis and, you know, a lot of treatments that are alternative that work are not covered by insurance. You have enough money to get the best treatment, to travel for treatment, to hire the best doctors or practitioners. Like, health is another huge asset you would get from having financial freedom.

• 36:03Andrew Giancola?

  Exactly. It is the tool that gets you these things. And that's where I want to reframe a lot of people's minds. It's not to get the stuff so you can buy the fancy car. It's not to get the stuff so you could buy the mansion. It's not to get the stuff so you can buy the designer clothes. Even if that's what you love, okay, that's completely fine. But it is the tool to get you what you want out of life so that you can actually change your entire life. You can literally change your life with using money as a tool. Not to, again, not to gain the money, but to be able to use it as a tool. So I think that's one that is really, really important. What do you think the personal finance world gets wrong or doesn't talk about honestly enough when it comes to building wealth?

• 36:37Speaker 01

  The personal finance world, what they get wrong is people do not want to come from deprivation when it comes to budgeting. People think of budgets the way people think of diets. They think, oh, my God, I'm going to feel restricted. My freedom's going to be impinged. I'm not going to be able to go out with my friends, you know, and have whatever I want on the menu. People feel that way when they're put on a budget. So I think it's important for financial planners to have like a slush fund or to have Fun and recreation portion of the budget allotted. So people don't feel that restriction because it's just like dieting. When people feel like they're on a restricted diet and they go off, they're like, I'm gonna eat the whole cake.

• 37:22Speaker 01

  Right? So people would like go on a shopping spree. If they feel like, oh, I've been following this super strict financial plan and I'm on such a budget. I mean, I had a friend who was doing a financial planner's thing and she had to have a garage sale like every weekend. Like until all her personal belongings were almost gone. Like it's crazy. So yes, I would say take the, use a different word for budget to make people feel more expansive. Or if you are going to use the word budget, have a fun name for a slush fund or a fun recreation fund. So people feel like they can still have some room to play and live a life.

• 38:00Andrew Giancola?

  It's funny, anytime we put the word budget in any of our episode titles, it is our worst performing episode title ever. And it tells you everything of just about what you're saying right here, which is, you know, overall, we want people to actually spend more and lavishly on the things they love. And then cut out everything else they hate. And spending really comes down to a skill. It's a skill that most people have never been taught and it's most people have never learned. And really, once you learn the skill of spending, a budget is something where you really don't need it as much anymore. You can kind of throw it out. It's not a big thing that you need. Instead, you want to make sure that you're spending and living lavishly on those things that you want and cutting out everything else that you hate. And you can find ways to do this by just developing that skill and developing that muscle over time. I think it's a really, really important thing that, that most people need to realize is they think through finance and they think through money.

• 38:45Andrew Giancola?

  And they say, oh, if I, if I want to get good with money, I gotta cut back all the things that I want. I can't go out to, like you said, I can't go out to dinner with my friends. I can't, you know, buy the things that I want. But instead, and I have a friend, Paula Pant, who says, you can afford anything, you just can't afford everything. And so you gotta make sure that you are looking at this in a, in a way that, that makes a ton of sense. So this has been fantastic so far, Rebecca. I'm going to switch gears here and I'm going to ask you some questions that we ask a lot of our guests on this show to kind of see what, what your answers are. Cause this is always fun. What is the best personal finance tip you have put into practice in the last year?

• 39:18Speaker 01

  The best personal finance tip was moving from a super expensive area, Los Angeles, where I was living a middle-class lifestyle to Cincinnati, Ohio, where I'm living an upper middle-class lifestyle because my money goes so much farther and I don't have to work as hard and I have more money.

• 39:38Andrew Giancola?

  It's a huge life hack to change your location, especially if you're in a high cost of living area. We have had a lot of people like do that and you know, it's based on their values, obviously, but they do that and they are just amazed at how much money they are saving. So that's a great one.

• 39:52Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 39:52Andrew Giancola?

  What is the best book you have read over the last year?

• 39:56Speaker 01

  Wow, I gotta confess, I haven't been reading a lot because I'm one of these people that likes podcasts and audibles. But I will tell you my favorite book of all time self-help is The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz. And they are always do your best, be impeccable with your word, don't take anything personally. And I forget the fourth one, do you know it?

• 40:25Andrew Giancola?

  I can't, and I read it about a while ago.

• 40:27Speaker 01

  Never assume, never assume.

• 40:28Andrew Giancola?

  Yes, that's it, that's it.

• 40:29Speaker 01

  So that book completely changed my life. The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz.

• 40:36Andrew Giancola?

  That is one too, and I haven't reckoned. We, we talk a lot about books on this, this show, and I haven't recommended that one yet, but it is a, it'd go a good one. I've actually forgotten about it until you brought it back up. So that's a, that's a great one for sure. What is the number one thing you can do to change your finances long-term? Is there anything that you've thought through like, hey, if I do this differently, it'll absolutely change my finances dramatically? Or maybe you just did it, maybe it was the move. But is there anything that you are thinking about doing long-term?

• 41:02Speaker 01

  I think it's been, I haven't been investing in Roth or regular IRAs every year. If I, you know, make a certain threshold, then I can invest in a Roth because I make too much, then I'll invest in a regular. But depending on my year, I've been investing every single year for years. You know, probably for 25 years now in IRAs. And I just make that a priority every year, whatever I can find to invest in a Roth or a regular. And now I have a nice financial portfolio and a retirement fund because I've had the discipline to invest in IRAs, Roth or regular every year for 25 years.

• 41:41Andrew Giancola?

  You're speaking my language on that one. And then the last one is, what does wealth mean to you?

• 41:47Speaker 01

  It's what we talked about. It's freedom to do what I want, when I want, when I want, where I want, and with whom I want. And it is also what we talked about. I call it FU money to have enough money to get out of any situation. I was in a really toxic marriage, and he was threatening, "I'm gonna go after everything you have. I'm gonna go after your real estate, your stocks, da-da-da." And I was like, "You know what? My freedom does not have a price tag. My freedom, I can make money. I know how to make money. I've made it once. I've lost it, and I've made it. I can make it again. But you cannot control me with money." And my parents used to control me with money, too, because they paid for

• 42:29Speaker 01

  a very fancy Ivy League education at Princeton. They'd say, "We've spent all this money on your Ivy League education. Now you have to go be a doctor or a lawyer." And I was so determined to make it as an entrepreneur without being a doctor or a lawyer, so they wouldn't be able to control me by giving me money. So I just think it's having FU money and having that freedom to not be bought by people and not being beholden to anyone based on their emotional blackmail and using money to control you is the ultimate wealth.

• 43:01Andrew Giancola?

  I love that. And I think that's the ultimate testament to what happens when you use money as a tool. You have it available to you, and once you have enough there, you know, a lot of people wouldn't be able to take advantage of that situation if they didn't actually build wealth and have money there as a tool. And I think that you are the ultimate testament on why you need to do that. Well, Rebecca, this has been absolutely fantastic. Where can people find out more about you, your podcast, and everything else?

• 43:23Speaker 01

  I want to thank you so much. This has been a great conversation, and your questions are amazing. Your research on me is amazing. So I can see why your podcast is super successful. I want to give you guys a gift. It's called the Balanced Beautiful Bundle. It includes a free digital copy of my book. It includes that amazing Abundance journal, which I promise you, if you do it every day for 10 days, you will have a major shift in your financial life. You're also gonna get Ageless Beauty Tips and The Elegant Warrior Manifesto, which is a poem I wrote about how to be, you know, an amazingly Resilient person. So you're going to get all that, the Balanced Beautiful bundle

• 44:00Speaker 01

  as my gift to you. You can find me on my website, rebecca whitman.com, R E B E C C A W H I T M A N. Or you can find me on Instagram at Rebecca E Whitman.com. And you can also find me on LinkedIn, Rebecca Whitman. I'd love to hear from you and hear about your biggest takeaway and just learn like which pillar of abundance do you feel like you're the most challenged by these days?

• 44:26Andrew Giancola?

  Fantastic. We will link all that up down below in the show notes as well. So you guys can take action on that. Rebecca, thank you so much again for being here.

• 44:33Speaker 01

  Thank you.