128 The 12 Step Plan for Creating a Rich Life with Nicole Lapin

"Time is the only thing you can't buy." - Nicole Lapin If you enjoyed this episode, check out show notes and more at www.lewishowes.com/128. Get more from Lewis! Get my New York Times Bestselling book, Make Money Easy! Get The Greatness Mindset audiobook on SpotifyText Lewis AIYouTubeInstagramWebsiteTiktokFacebookX

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

• 0:00Lewis Howes?

  This is episode number 128 with Nicole Lapin.

• 0:07Lewis Howes?

  Welcome to the School of Greatness. My name is Lewis Howes, former pro athlete turned lifestyle entrepreneur. And each week we bring you an inspiring person or message to help you discover how to unlock your inner greatness. Thanks for spending some time with me today. Now let the class begin.

• 0:33Lewis Howes?

  What is up everyone? Thank you guys so much for coming back on the School of Greatness podcast. Excited about today's guest. Her name is Nicole Lapin and she is known for being the youngest anchor ever at CNN. And then going on to claim the same title at CNBC where she anchored Worldwide Exchange and contributed to Morning Joe and the Today Show. Nicole has also served as an anchor and special correspondent for Bloomberg TV. She regularly appears as a financial expert on CNN, Entertainment Tonight, and talk shows, including The Wendy Williams Show. Lapin is also an accredited investment fiduciary and has a personal finance book called Rich Bitch Right Now.

• 1:14Lewis Howes?

  Very excited about this. I've had a lot of fun connecting with Nicole over the last months. Got introduced through a mutual friend, James Altucher, who's been on the show a number of times. And we talk about a lot of the stuff from her book today and also some of the stories that she shared. Learning about money, kind of being thrown in the fire with her job, having to learn about it, having to learn the language about it. And then having to take control of her own finances and really get control with it. So I'm very excited to bring her on and let her dive in and talk about what it means to be a rich bitch. So without further ado, let's bring on Nicole Lapin.

• 1:56Lewis Howes?

  Welcome back and welcome to the School of Greatness Podcast. Very excited today because I've got a new friend on, Nicole. Lapping, making it happen.

• 2:04Speaker 01

  Yeah, baby. What's going on?

• 2:07Lewis Howes?

  I'm excited because we got connected through mutual friends, James Altucher, who's a really smart guy.

• 2:13Speaker 01

  Super smart guy, great hair.

• 2:15Lewis Howes?

  How long have you known him?

• 2:16Speaker 01

  Man, maybe like five, six years. I put him on my show on CNBC all the time.

• 2:21Lewis Howes?

  Did you?

• 2:22Speaker 01

  We caused trouble.

• 2:23Lewis Howes?

  The hair caused trouble.

• 2:24Speaker 01

  Everything about him caused trouble. We had so much fun on TV, it should have been illegal.

• 2:29Lewis Howes?

  Nice.

• 2:29Speaker 01

  For sure.

• 2:30Lewis Howes?

  Nice. For five years or for, this was five years ago.

• 2:33Speaker 01

  Yeah, five years ago.

• 2:34Lewis Howes?

  Gotcha.

• 2:35Speaker 01

  Best five years of my life, knowing James Altucher.

• 2:38Lewis Howes?

  You've got a new book out called Rich Bitch. And it's a simple 12 step plan for getting your financial life together finally. Now, I'm excited about this because I'm all about learning how to master money. Because I feel like it's one of the most important things in our lives that no one really figures out how to do until it's too late. They don't teach us in elementary school or high school or college. Even if you take finance classes, they don't teach you really how to master and manage your money.

• 3:08Speaker 01

  Oh, it's crazy. Yeah, we can learn about macroeconomics and bonds and yields and spreads and all these fancy things. And you don't know how to balance your checkbook. It's bananas. And that's what happened to me. I grew up in an immigrant family, didn't have the Wall Street Journal on the kitchen counter, never talked about stocks or bonds or any of that. And, um, you know, I never learned it in school. So I was pretty clueless growing up. I had a boyfriend in high school who said he wanted to be a hedge fund manager. And I thought he wanted to be in gardening.

• 3:39Lewis Howes?

  No way.

• 3:41Speaker 01

  That happened. So I was like smiling and nodding through these conversations, which I think a lot of women do because it was really intimidating. Made me break out into hives.

• 3:52Lewis Howes?

  Cause it's all these like big words. You don't know what it means and you're trying to understand, but I still understand half this stuff.

• 3:58Speaker 01

  You know, it's, it's like a language, like anything else. And that's what I really realized.

• 4:02Lewis Howes?

  A foreign language.

• 4:03Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 4:03Lewis Howes?

  Very foreign language.

• 4:04Speaker 01

  And then when you start to speak that language, you feel like you're speaking Chinese in your own country. That's what happened to me when I started on the floor of a stock exchange when I was 18. I like had to learn the language really quickly. And when I realized that it was just like learning a language, I could join this conversation and I felt so empowered.

• 4:21Lewis Howes?

  Wow. Interesting. Now was your family, did your parents teach you about money at all?

• 4:27Speaker 01

  Just cash.

• 4:28Lewis Howes?

  Did they?

• 4:28Speaker 01

  Cash money, baby.

• 4:30Lewis Howes?

  Did they have the language down or was it more?

• 4:32Speaker 01

  No, not even close. They were immigrants. So I'm first generation American.

• 4:37Lewis Howes?

  And where are you guys from?

• 4:38Speaker 01

  Israel.

• 4:39Lewis Howes?

  Okay.

• 4:39Speaker 01

  So it was like all cash all the time, which sounds like really gangster.

• 4:42Lewis Howes?

  Like no credit cards. It's like paying cash, everything.

• 4:45Speaker 01

  Paying cash.

• 4:46Lewis Howes?

  Pay our cars, our house.

• 4:47Speaker 01

  Totally.

• 4:48Lewis Howes?

  Wow.

• 4:48Speaker 01

  And so I didn't have a debit card. Um, and I was like that girl who was awkward, uh, when I went out to dinner with girlfriends who had to either write a check or I know. I was that nerd. I was that nerd girl. Like when I first went to college and this whole internet thing was new. I needed to get a flight to Chicago. I went to Northwestern and I wanted to buy an E ticket. Cause that was like all the rage, but I couldn't because I didn't have a debit card. So I had to like roll up to the ticket counter with a bunch of cash. Yeah. I was like that.

• 5:19Lewis Howes?

  How old were you?

• 5:20Speaker 01

  Maybe terrorist.

• 5:24Speaker 01

  Are you joking me? I mean, I was going to school and, um, you know, at that point I said enough is enough. This is ridiculous. Um, you know, I need to take control of learning this language and take control of my life and my finances.

• 5:39Lewis Howes?

  You know, I feel like, I don't even know if I've, there's still so much to learn about money. And you know, I'm 31, I'm going to be 32 in March and I feel like every year I, I feel more and more uneducated. The more I learn about it, I'm like, gosh, there's still so much more to learn about investing and managing and, you know, what do I buy? What do I put my money in? Where does it go? Who do I? Who do I listen to on TV? What are they saying? There's just so much happening that it seems overwhelming. And this book you wrote, is it specifically geared towards women or is it, who's it geared towards specifically?

• 6:10Speaker 01

  Well, you are our honorary male rich bitch.

• 6:13Lewis Howes?

  Yes.

• 6:14Speaker 01

  If you can deal with the stories.

• 6:15Lewis Howes?

  Rich bastard.

• 6:16Speaker 01

  Yeah, baby. If you can deal with the stories of my ex-boyfriends and, you know, all of my girl talk. Because I do have a lot of confessions in there. They're called confessions of a rich bitch. Where I talk about my personal stories, warts and all. Like, I get really real because for so long I was an anchor on CNN, CNBC, Bloomberg. Like, I was reporting on the biggest financial story of our time, but I was never, you know, able to be authentic and be real. And to say, here's all the ways I messed up and please laugh at me.

• 6:49Lewis Howes?

  Why weren't you able to talk about that?

• 6:51Speaker 01

  You know, because I was really reporting about a financial crisis. I was reporting the news. I was, it wasn't about me. And it wasn't supposed to be about me. But I think when I realized that my stories could, you know, help my former self, that girl who was like, yeah, gardening, yeah, dude.

• 7:12Speaker 01

  Then I felt really

• 7:15Speaker 01

  inspired to sort of get real, get naked. It's like, I talk about financial dieting being like a regular diet that you, you know, allow yourself small indulgences and you won't binge later on. And I think the best actual diet, and you will forget more than I will ever know about that, is to only eat when you are sitting in front of the mirror naked, because then you won't eat a chocolate cake.

• 7:38Lewis Howes?

  So when do you spend money or invest money?

• 7:40Speaker 01

  Well, I think it's about looking at yourself in, in using that analogy. It's sort of like looking at your financial situation naked. Like, you need to see it for what it really is in order to take control of it. That's why the first step, borrowing from my friends at other 12-step programs, is admit you have a problem.

• 7:58Lewis Howes?

  Do we all have a problem?

• 7:59Speaker 01

  We all have problems. I have more issues than Vogue, so you will see, you will see that in that book. For sure.

• 8:06Lewis Howes?

  Interesting. Okay. So Mitch, you have a problem that what that you don't understand the language, that you're not set up effectively. What's the, what's the problem usually for most people?

• 8:15Speaker 01

  We all have different issues and I

• 8:17Lewis Howes?

  Overspending or?

• 8:18Speaker 01

  Yeah. I mean, we've, I've been there. I got myself in $5,000 of debt when I first moved to Atlanta, when I started at CNN, because I needed new clothes, obviously.

• 8:26Lewis Howes?

  You needed the apartment or the car or whatever. Yeah.

• 8:29Speaker 01

  And you can't come back on that. And then it costs more to move. And you know that cycle. It just snowballs out of control. So I've been there. Like, I know what it's really like. And I went to the school of hard knocks, which is the best school of them all. Yeah, baby. My favorite alma mater.

• 8:46Speaker 01

  So, you know, I, I wanted to keep it real and say like, this seems like it's a closed off boys' club, this like money world.

• 8:54Lewis Howes?

  Understanding money and making money, investing and

• 8:56Speaker 01

  But I was in that club. And while it feels like, you know, there are velvet ropes out front, you can't get in, like, I was in there. And I'm here to tell you, it's not that serious. And if learning from my issues might help other folks sort of confront their own, you know, I created a 12 step program where you can read them all consecutively, or you can jump around, depending on what your issues might be. I like the choose your own adventure books when I was little.

• 9:21Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 9:21Speaker 01

  You remember those? So that's kind of how I

• 9:23Lewis Howes?

  I didn't read, but I understand what you're talking about. I didn't read when I was a kid, though. I couldn't. It's kind of like Sex and the City meets like a financial book.

• 9:31Speaker 01

  That's right. It's like skinny bitch for money.

• 9:33Lewis Howes?

  There you go. Yeah, it's cool. There's like these bitch tips and confessions of a rich bitch.

• 9:37Speaker 01

  I really wanted to keep it real and, and try to say that money isn't and shouldn't be compartmentalized into like feeling your checkbook.

• 9:46Lewis Howes?

  Right.

• 9:46Speaker 01

  It should, you know, go back to every part of your life. I realized being a news anchor, that every story goes back to money. So I wanted to follow the money trail of your life. And when you realize that your love life goes back to money, in the end of the day, your fun goes back to money.

• 10:03Lewis Howes?

  Your freedom.

• 10:03Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 10:04Lewis Howes?

  Your feelings on freedom or your emotions or your stress levels, a lot of things.

• 10:08Speaker 01

  Your career. It really goes back to your hopes, dreams and goals and Realizing that you're gonna need money for that.

• 10:15Lewis Howes?

  Interesting. Now, when I was learning to salsa dance back in 2006, I think it was about 2006. I was living above a jazz club that had salsa dancing once a week and I went down there. And I was committed to become the best white salsa dancer that I could be. And I went down there and for three months, I trained and studied and had group classes and I did private lessons. And I watched YouTube videos and practiced in front of my mirror by myself, like I was dancing with a girl. It was a little weird, but I remember the moment when I felt like I actually understood the language of salsa dancing. Cause it was a complete foreign language. It was like speaking Chinese. And I remember the moment when I like, it finally clicked and I was fluent.

• 10:59Lewis Howes?

  It was like, I understand salsa, how to speak the language.

• 11:02Speaker 01

  Stand up and do some salsa, for the love of God.

• 11:06Lewis Howes?

  Let salsa dance afterwards.

• 11:07Speaker 01

  Okay, fine.

• 11:10Lewis Howes?

  But I remember the moment that it clicked. Do you remember the moment where it's the language clicked for you? Where you were like, I'm starting to get it. This all makes sense and I want everyone else to understand this language.

• 11:23Speaker 01

  Yeah, it was when I was on the floor of the Chicago Merc, for sure. It was, um, you know, when I could answer back to all these guys on the floor. Like it was a locker room down there. The guys did not care. You know, if you were doing a live report on TV, they would pick you up and move you. It was like their world and you were just paying rent in it. Um, you know, there's part of the book too, that talks about the first time you knew you made it. So I finished a show with AOL that I sold called, I'll Never Forget My First. Where for me, my jam is kind of business, money with a little innuendo. You know, to make it more entertaining because for me, I love it. I think it's so interesting. But for a lot of folks, it feels boring. So I wanted to jazz it up and make it more entertaining and say, you know,

• 12:07Speaker 01

  this can't like Shark Tank, Undercover Boss, great business shows. I think Cake Boss is a great business show. I wanted to be accessible for the first time. So with I'll Never Forget My First, I talked to power women about the first time they knew they made it. Ha ha, sneak attack. You think you're gonna like click on it and get that other first sexy time? We talked about that too, but. For me, it was important to celebrate those career milestones too. So my first time was when I could buy avocados for the first time. Um, and I was like, God, I knew I made it because avocados were really expensive.

• 12:38Lewis Howes?

  Yeah. Wow.

• 12:39Speaker 01

  Avocados are like two fifty. And so I would always just working my way up through my career, like not be able to buy avocados. And so when I could, I was like, oh.

• 12:49Lewis Howes?

  Cause it was like a luxury for you. It wasn't like a meal. It was like this extra thing.

• 12:53Speaker 01

  My best friend Nicole, her, her name is also Nicole. Um, she says, and I write this in the book, that, uh, her first time was when she could valet park her car because when she was paying off her student loans, she had to walk like all the way to the club.

• 13:07Lewis Howes?

  Oh, man.

• 13:08Speaker 01

  And like, you realize you appreciate those little moments. Chrissy Teigen, her first time was when she didn't have to mix water with the little bits of shampoo and conditioner.

• 13:16Lewis Howes?

  Oh, my gosh.

• 13:17Speaker 01

  Oprah was when she could buy linens for the first time. Some celebrities are when they are on SNL or if they're in a crossword puzzle. So it can be like little things, like an avocado or as big as a house. But I think it's also important to celebrate, you know, those moments you knew you made it in your career and your life.

• 13:33Lewis Howes?

  Interesting. So what is it about, once people know the problem, what is the next step for people? After they know they have an issue with money, maybe they're not saving well, maybe they're overspending, maybe they're just have no clue what's happening. Maybe they're like, oh, my parents take care of my money or I've got someone to look at that. I never look at it because I don't want to deal with it. What is something people can do to start being responsible? Like, what's the first thing to own their money?

• 13:56Speaker 01

  I think the first thing you should do after admitting you have a problem or like assessing your situation real and straight up is coming up with your goals in three aspects of your life. I call them the three Fs. I like F words. So fun, finance and family. And I sat down for the first time when I was getting my financial life together and did my one, three, five, seven, 10 year goals in each of them. And they actually have to be compatible in areas you don't necessarily think about. So you can't be a trauma surgeon in the finance part of your life and also be a stay at home mom in the family part. They actually have to work together. And so, once you have a cohesive narrative

• 14:39Speaker 01

  for your life, studies have shown that women who come up with a plan, but also reserve the right to change that plan, and I've changed my plan many times, right, are more likely to succeed because you can actually answer the most simple question, but the one that used to give me so much anxiety, which was, what do you want to do? I used to

• 15:00Lewis Howes?

  With your life?

• 15:00Speaker 01

  Home and home. Yeah. It's like elevator pitch. Go. And once you can actually create a cohesive sentence for that, you feel a lot more in control. You don't feel like everything's so chaotic.

• 15:12Lewis Howes?

  It's always a very interesting conversation when I'm talking to my girlfriend and I say, what do you want for dinner? And she just says, I don't know.

• 15:17Speaker 01

  What do you want?

• 15:18Lewis Howes?

  Constantly, what do you want?

• 15:20Speaker 01

  It's the what do you want, Kay?

• 15:20Lewis Howes?

  Just tell me what you want to eat and we'll pick a place. Oh my gosh. But I think there's a challenge. I think most women have this where they don't know specifically what in their life. They have like these ideas, but they're not like clear. Maybe it's about, maybe I'm generalizing, but about money, usually if I ask a woman, like, what do you want with your money life? Like, they have no clue. How do you even know what you want?

• 15:40Speaker 01

  No, it's coming up with small goals for each of those aspects. So also allowing yourself to have fun and, you know, factoring that in because a financial diet, like I said, is like a regular diet. And think of it like a spending plan. It sounds better. It feels better instead of talking about it like a budget, right? It's like an eating plan. But like you're allowing yourself to spend money on extras. So you don't binge later on. Like you're keeping yourself on track. You're not feeling deprived. You're, you're feeling, you know, because then you'll just go out and buy a pair of shoes or whatever.

• 16:16Lewis Howes?

  You feel like you can't spend any money.

• 16:17Speaker 01

  That's right. And that's the worst because you want to come up with something that's sustainable. So I think for me, you know, in networking, which is your jam.

• 16:26Lewis Howes?

  Our jam.

• 16:27Speaker 01

  Our jam, bam. You know, it's also important to stop the what do you want to do or where do you want to go game? Like when you are reaching out to contacts too, even if you have nothing to do all day long and for the rest of the week and you're reaching out to someone you want to network with, come up with specific times and places, like be very specific. So like

• 16:49Lewis Howes?

  When you want to meet them.

• 16:49Speaker 01

  Exactly. How's Tuesday at 2:30 or Wednesday at 4? Even if you're just like sitting your ass on the couch all day long, then come up with like a specific thing. So this whole back and forth game can stop.

• 17:02Lewis Howes?

  It can spend like hours of your day just emailing people back and forth figuring out times to meet. It's crazy. When we could just jump on the phone and talk. But yeah, I always like to give two options, a morning, one day, and then an afternoon, the next day. I'm sure. Sounds like you do as well. I think that works well.

• 17:17Speaker 01

  Well, it just cuts the, cuts the BS.

• 17:19Lewis Howes?

  It does. Yeah. I like it. You have these like, what are they called? The myths that you bust, right?

• 17:24Speaker 01

  Yeah, I'm a mythbuster.

• 17:27Lewis Howes?

  You've been on the show?

• 17:28Speaker 01

  That's right. I like to debunk.

• 17:31Lewis Howes?

  Yes. Myths.

• 17:31Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 17:32Lewis Howes?

  Sorry.

• 17:32Speaker 01

  Conventional financial wisdom.

• 17:34Lewis Howes?

  Okay.

• 17:34Speaker 01

  Here's the deal. So women, I think, will talk about everything I say blowjobs and diarrhea before we talk about money. Okay?

• 17:40Lewis Howes?

  I like it.

• 17:41Speaker 01

  I'm saying.

• 17:41Lewis Howes?

  I like it.

• 17:41Speaker 01

  This is just a little preview of what you'll be expecting when you get

• 17:45Lewis Howes?

  In the book.

• 17:46Speaker 01

  into it, bitch. And so for me, it was really important to help young women specifically rethink conventional financial wisdom and start thinking for yourself because you hear like this peanuts gallery thing like wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah, buy a house wah wah wah wah, get invested in a 401k wah wah wah wah wah wah. And it's like, ah, I want to blow my brains out because you know, it feels like this whole austerity thing where you have to stock up on water, curl in the fetal position, go in your basement and wait for doomsday. And no, it doesn't need to be that way. So I wanted to prove that there could be another way that it's, you know, that a 401k might be for you or buying a house might be for you, but it's not for everyone. And the, the point of that saying

• 18:30Speaker 01

  that not everyone should invest in a 401k is just that not everything in finance is for everyone. There's no one size fits all. And You know, when the first time I decided I wanted to be vegetarian, like my family ate meat for my whole life. And finally, I was like, do you have to eat meat? I don't feel like eating meat. So like, there's a moment.

• 18:49Lewis Howes?

  You start to question everything.

• 18:51Speaker 01

  Yeah, where you start saying, okay, I understand enough of this. And, you know, the conventional financial wisdom is cool for some people, but maybe not for me. And like, you know, there's this new normal of people starting podcasts.

• 19:05Lewis Howes?

  Exactly.

• 19:06Speaker 01

  You know, entrepreneurialism is a big winner of the recession that we talked about before. And so it's not the American dream. It's your dream and it's your destiny. It's about taking your life by the balls, obviously. And it's, you know,

• 19:20Lewis Howes?

  With vagina.

• 19:21Speaker 01

  Wherever you want to grab it, just grab it. And it's, it's about, you know, saying that, um, I know the rules and I know how to break them.

• 19:29Lewis Howes?

  Okay, so speak to me about buying a home, since you talked about that. I've been thinking about it for the last year, but I haven't really like researched enough. I moved to Los Angeles and part of me is like, okay, I've got some money that I can play with. If I want to have a home or should I reinvest it in my business? Why or why shouldn't you buy a home?

• 19:48Speaker 01

  You should buy a home because you want a home.

• 19:51Lewis Howes?

  Not for an investment?

• 19:52Speaker 01

  Ever buy a home for an investment. And it's a joke.

• 19:55Lewis Howes?

  Unless it's like your business is flipping homes, maybe like that's your company.

• 19:59Speaker 01

  Go on HGTV, be a house flipper star.

• 20:02Lewis Howes?

  I've had a friend who's been flipping my house, this house, yeah.

• 20:04Speaker 01

  That's awesome for him.

• 20:05Lewis Howes?

  And he makes a lot of money in his business.

• 20:07Speaker 01

  That's great for him. And he is an expert in that. And he will forget more than I will ever know about that. But for everyone else who thinks like, oh, buying a house is such a great investment. Or my grandma bought a house for 50 grand and now it's worth 350 grand. Well, guess what? Your grandma is 80 years old.

• 20:23Lewis Howes?

  30 years ago.

• 20:24Speaker 01

  And there was this little thing called inflation, which is the reason that movie tickets when we were younger,

• 20:29Lewis Howes?

  Six bucks or five bucks.

• 20:30Speaker 01

  Right? And now it's $15 or whatever. So that's like inflation. And people forget about the little bugger called inflation. And so a time adjusted, the largest study ever done over the last hundred years for housing, showed that it barely beat inflation. And the money that you put in to a house, like remember, look in the mirror, you will be your landlord if there's termites.

• 20:52Lewis Howes?

  Like you gotta deal with it.

• 20:53Speaker 01

  Right.

• 20:53Lewis Howes?

  And that's a lot of money to reinvest in and constantly fixing things. I'll tell you what, I love renting because the stuff is always fixed.

• 20:59Speaker 01

  That's right.

• 21:00Lewis Howes?

  It's always done and it's done on time. And I wouldn't only imagine, I'm like, gosh, this guy's putting so much money into this. And there's always some type of fix up or homeowners fees or whatever it is. It's like 1,200 bucks a month, just to like have valet or whatever. You're just like, man.

• 21:15Speaker 01

  The lawn.

• 21:16Lewis Howes?

  Everything.

• 21:17Speaker 01

  Snow removal, depending on where you live.

• 21:19Lewis Howes?

  Okay, so.

• 21:20Speaker 01

  Something breaks. Yeah. So adjusted for inflation barely beats inflation over time. So don't think of it as an investment. Think of it like, if you want to live in a house and you're going to stay there for the rest of your life and you're going to be like an old man in that house, then great, get a house. But don't be delusional and think of it as a good investment because it's not.

• 21:39Lewis Howes?

  Yeah. You might get lucky and maybe like your market goes up or whatever. And then you sell it a few years later and make a little bit of money, but.

• 21:45Speaker 01

  Or it could go the other way.

• 21:46Lewis Howes?

  Or you go the other way.

• 21:47Speaker 01

  Or you could use that in, you know, that chunk of money that you have for down payment, I'm assuming that you're thinking about. And, you know, think of the opportunity cost that you could be losing by reinvesting in yourself.

• 21:58Lewis Howes?

  Exactly.

• 21:59Speaker 01

  And, you know, making more podcasts.

• 22:01Lewis Howes?

  Exactly.

• 22:01Speaker 01

  More School of Great.

• 22:03Lewis Howes?

  Exactly.

• 22:04Speaker 01

  And who knows, that pays dividends later on. Maybe you could get a bigger house.

• 22:07Lewis Howes?

  Exactly. I like that.

• 22:08Speaker 01

  Invested in yourself.

• 22:09Lewis Howes?

  What are some of the other myths that you demystify?

• 22:13Speaker 01

  I think the biggest financial myth is don't buy your morning latte, which makes me crazy.

• 22:20Lewis Howes?

  Why not buy a morning latte?

• 22:21Speaker 01

  Well.

• 22:21Lewis Howes?

  Oh, that's a myth.

• 22:22Speaker 01

  Yeah. I think it's a myth because, you know, so many financial experts.

• 22:26Lewis Howes?

  Six bucks a day because over the year you'll be $3,000 or whatever.

• 22:29Speaker 01

  Whatever it costs. I don't know what kind of like triple venti blah blah latte you're buying, but like, yeah, 1,500 to 2,500 dollars a year. So most financial experts and, you know, I'm doing like the little.

• 22:40Lewis Howes?

  The quote.

• 22:41Speaker 01

  Things, um, say, don't like cut out your morning latte, go make your coffee in the morning. I think that's crazy town, USA, because you have to think of yourself as someone who has billable hours, like an attorney, even if you're making minimum wage, your time is money. Your time is valuable. Even if you're making $10 an hour, 30 minutes in the morning, you're spending $5 fussing with a filter.

• 23:03Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 23:04Speaker 01

  Um, getting, you know, like you could have used that $5 for that latte, gotten to work earlier, had a pep in your step, been happier and worked harder to get maybe a bonus that would have trumped that $1,500 or $2,500 that other financial experts.

• 23:19Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 23:20Speaker 01

  Say you would have saved by just making your coffee.

• 23:22Lewis Howes?

  And it's just like the energies put into doing those things. Like I talk about coffee, but I also talk about, you know, in New York City. When I lived here, I would put my laundry in a bag and just drop it off next door and have it done. And it would save me three hours of time, you know, for 12 bucks. And for me, it's worth doing those little things that are like little luxuries. Whether it's buying your coffee or getting laundry done or whatever it may be, having someone run errands for you to save you the time and the energy to then create more and make more.

• 23:52Speaker 01

  Time is money.

• 23:52Lewis Howes?

  Right? Yeah.

• 23:53Speaker 01

  Time is the only thing you can't buy.

• 23:55Lewis Howes?

  That's it. Man. Okay.

• 23:57Speaker 01

  So I think it's about, yeah, investing in yourself. That's going to pay dividends later on. Allowing yourself small indulgences, allowing yourself to feel, you know, satisfied in whatever that is. Whether it's a latte or a yoga class or salsa class.

• 24:12Lewis Howes?

  Right, or a trip.

• 24:13Speaker 01

  Whatever. As long as you put it in your spending plan, it's accounted for, it's above board. That's what I've learned from those so many CEOs that I've talked to, um, who've run major companies and, you know, if they decide that they're going to have cupcake day on Friday, like it's in the budget, it's accounted for.

• 24:29Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 24:30Speaker 01

  So it's above board. You can go buy cupcakes. You don't have to sneak it. So find that small indulgence, whatever that is, and put it in your budget. So you can plan for it and it's all good.

• 24:39Lewis Howes?

  I like it. I like it. I do a lot of automatic saving. I have a lot of extra money that I just like. Well, I should say, I should reframe it this way. When I'm in New York.

• 24:50Speaker 01

  Automatic in my.

• 24:51Lewis Howes?

  When I'm in New York, I feel like I spend $200 just walking outside because there's always like a I want to get a nice green juice. I want to get good food, healthy, organic food. You know, I pick up whatever. And I'd never feel guilty because I know that I have all my money going into automatic accounts in every savings that I have into my 401k, into my insurance plans, into everything. It's like my savings, it's all filled up to the max. And then I do more accounts. So I'm like, whatever I have left over, it's like, I'd never feel guilty about spending. But I don't really buy things in the first place. I buy like good food.

• 25:25Speaker 01

  Green juice.

• 25:26Lewis Howes?

  And sometimes like brownies.

• 25:28Speaker 01

  I'm all about it. It's okay. You got your carbon credit with your, with your green juice. It's total offset.

• 25:35Lewis Howes?

  Do you recommend this, having these automatic systems in place? You don't have to think about it because I don't even think about it anymore.

• 25:39Speaker 01

  Not only do I recommend it, but I'm obsessed with it. What's your favorite sub savings account?

• 25:43Lewis Howes?

  Sub savings account?

• 25:44Speaker 01

  Let's nerd out a little.

• 25:45Lewis Howes?

  Now you're, you're talking a different language. Now subs, what does it, what do you mean? Like?

• 25:48Speaker 01

  Okay. So for me, not only do I do automatic into savings, but I create little buckets.

• 25:54Lewis Howes?

  Okay, got you, got you.

• 25:55Speaker 01

  Called sub savings accounts.

• 25:56Lewis Howes?

  For like, for like a trip or for like a house or like a diamond ring or whatever maybe. Is that what you're talking about?

• 26:02Speaker 01

  Or like a broken iPhone fund, which is like typically what I, you know, I'm a klutz. I drop my iPhone probably on average twice a year. And you know, when people say to me, listen, Lapin, like I've gone through your plan. I set up my savings plan. I accounted for my essentials, end game and extras, which are the three E's. I'm all about alliteration.

• 26:23Lewis Howes?

  End game?

• 26:24Speaker 01

  End game, extras and essentials. So essentials should be 70% of your gross monthly income. End game, like retirement, what you want to do with your life and extras, the latte, the salsa class, whatever. But they say, I did all that, but my car got towed. How would I know my car got towed? So everything like spiraled out of control. And I say, my friend, like you could have probably predicted. Shit's gonna happen. Like shit is gonna happen and sometimes it happens like one after another. Like the time when I backed my car out of the garage and busted my mirror off and then I did the exact same thing like two weeks later. It seriously happened with an iPhone.

• 27:05Speaker 01

  Like normally that could throw you off budget, but I know that I'm a klutz. So I put money into my I broken iPhone account. Right. So it's in there. I put in like, you know, so I have about $200 a year in this account and it doesn't throw me off.

• 27:22Lewis Howes?

  Tell me some other myths that you debunk.

• 27:26Speaker 01

  Wills are for rich people. Make a damn will.

• 27:28Lewis Howes?

  Wills are rich for rich people?

• 27:30Speaker 01

  People think that. People think I don't need a will. Do you have a will, Louis?

• 27:33Lewis Howes?

  I believe I do.

• 27:34Speaker 01

  What do you mean you believe you do?

• 27:35Lewis Howes?

  I believe I do.

• 27:36Speaker 01

  It's a yes or no question. It's not a believe.

• 27:38Lewis Howes?

  Actually, I'm not sure if I have a will yet, but I know that I have a beneficiary for like everything. So it's not like, it's not a will, but I feel like.

• 27:47Speaker 01

  Do you have money?

• 27:48Lewis Howes?

  Yeah. So I need to have one. So I need to have a will.

• 27:50Speaker 01

  You need a will.

• 27:50Lewis Howes?

  Okay. Educate me.

• 27:51Speaker 01

  It's, it's.

• 27:52Lewis Howes?

  What else do I, what else do I need?

• 27:53Speaker 01

  It's all like donkey gun.

• 27:54Lewis Howes?

  So I don't need to buy a house. I need to get a will.

• 27:56Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 27:57Lewis Howes?

  What else do I need?

• 27:58Speaker 01

  Buy your green, buy your green juice. It's gonna be okay.

• 28:01Lewis Howes?

  What else do I need?

• 28:03Speaker 01

  Um, what's your, what's your retirement situation all about? Do you have?

• 28:08Lewis Howes?

  I've got a lot of money saved up and I put so much money away. Yeah.

• 28:12Speaker 01

  Where are you investing?

• 28:14Lewis Howes?

  Well, I've got, let me think about it. I've got.

• 28:19Speaker 01

  It's not a trick question, dude.

• 28:20Lewis Howes?

  Yeah, I know. I've got it in like different buckets. I've got investing in like, I'm investing in stocks. I'm investing in funds. I've got a, a fund that I'm investing a lot of money into. I've got investment in my 401k. I've got an investment in, there's something else. I forget the name of it. It's something like, I'm not that educated. Yeah. But what do you feel like it should be the main investments outside of, so you don't think about 401k or you do like 401k?

• 28:47Speaker 01

  Well, do you have a 401k or what? You do?

• 28:50Lewis Howes?

  I have a 401k and I max it out. Yes.

• 28:53Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 28:53Lewis Howes?

  Yes.

• 28:53Speaker 01

  Cool. What about an IRA?

• 28:55Lewis Howes?

  I have that, but I can't put money into it anymore.

• 28:57Speaker 01

  Why are you maxing?

• 28:58Lewis Howes?

  I make too much money.

• 28:59Speaker 01

  Um, you, you can, there's a legal, um, little loophole where you can, um, get into a Roth IRA by putting money into IRA and then the very same day rolling it over. I don't know why it is legal, but it exists and that's a way to kind of get around.

• 29:16Lewis Howes?

  Okay.

• 29:16Speaker 01

  System. So you should just, you know, have as many sort of buckets, which is your favorite.

• 29:22Lewis Howes?

  I think it's good.

• 29:24Speaker 01

  No, I think people should realize that, you know, even if you don't have an accountant, even if you don't have a CPA hanging out with you, investing is not for rich people and that the only way to grow wealth is to invest. And then we talked about inflation earlier on, it's, um, you know, let's call it 3% a year. If you put your money in savings, even if you think you're doing a great job with all your savings and your sub savings accounts, maybe if you're lucky, you'll get 1%. That doesn't even, you know, account for inflation. So like what you could buy in a few years will not be the same. Like you're actually losing money. So the only way to really make your money grow is through investments.

• 30:05Lewis Howes?

  What are the best investments then?

• 30:07Speaker 01

  I think if you want to start with baby steps, you know, think about mutual funds, about index funds.

• 30:12Lewis Howes?

  Index funds is supposed to be.

• 30:15Speaker 01

  Low, low cost index funds. It's basically where like where you're buying everything within an index, which do you?

• 30:22Lewis Howes?

  Yeah, yeah. Well, I've heard mutual funds actually are not what you should be investing in because of the fees. Uh, are very high, but maybe you can educate me on this, but I was reading Tony Robbins book and he was talking about how index funds is what you should be investing in.

• 30:36Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 30:36Lewis Howes?

  As opposed to mutual funds.

• 30:38Speaker 01

  It depends. Like there's, again, I love Tony. He's awesome, but I, I don't care. Like there's no one size fits all answer for everyone. Like I don't know your particular financial situation. Maybe like mutual funds is a way for you to go because, you know, what's great about mutual funds is that it gives you more leverage as part of like, uh, a whole fund to get into stuff that you wouldn't have access to if you were buying yourself. Like you couldn't get into Berkshire Hathaway on your own. Like the power of a fund can give you exposure to a ton of cool stuff for not a lot of money. So like, and maybe that's a, that's a better way for you. Like I'm not, who am I to judge?

• 31:14Lewis Howes?

  Right, right, right.

• 31:14Speaker 01

  You know, and realizing that, you know, even you as a consumer might have a good eye for buying investments like Lululemon. If you're going to the mall.

• 31:24Lewis Howes?

  Right.

• 31:24Speaker 01

  You know, and you think Lululemon is killing it, then like. Or Starbucks, or you know, if you think, if you walk into a Coach store and you're like, ah, Coach, mm, they're announcing it so well. You know what? Their stock price is actually reflecting that. So trust yourself as like a shopper and consumer, that CPI thing that we talked about in the back of the book, consumer price index, like consumers account for 70% of the economy. So remember that like, it's not, it's not that serious. Like the investing world, like, don't feel intimidated and feel scared. Um, because it can be as easy as like loving Lululemon pants and.

• 31:56Lewis Howes?

  And then putting your money there. There you go. Talk to me about the mindset of money with women. And we talked about this a little bit, but.

• 32:02Speaker 01

  Wouldn't you like to know?

• 32:05Lewis Howes?

  How does someone like, you know, you talk about like acknowledging that you have a problem, but how does someone really overcome 20, 30, 40 years of thinking a certain way? Or always having like their parents take care of it, or without paying them, without hiring them to take care of it, or just never even thinking about it, or thinking that money just comes from wherever, or maybe they were entitled, maybe they just given money a lot? How does someone shift their mindset and really start thinking of this way of saving, putting in buckets, automating the process when they have never even, again, don't even have this education?

• 32:39Speaker 01

  It's the biggest thing actually that can get people off track. I mean, it's the mores that you've had growing up. Like, you know, it's, it's the same thing that, you know, when I was younger, my family ate meat, so I ate meat. That's like just how it's always been done. Well, you know what? Until I put my big girl panties on and realized like, it wasn't for me. And people get into that trap all the time, whether it's from how their family used to do it, whether it like in your family, your dad got a new lease on a new car like every few years. So that's how you're predisposed to think, or your mom got a new dress every time she went out, like, that's just the way it's always been done. Or y'all went to like, out to dinner on every Tuesday night. So you need to go out to dinner every Tuesday night. Like, grow up. And also a lot of times after women are getting out

• 33:21Speaker 01

  of relationships, like you can fall into that trap too. Well, date night was every Saturday night. So like, we have to go out, like, okay, no, it's not always every Saturday night. Like, it's a, there's nothing always that needs to be. It's like what you decide for your life. Is how it needs to be.

• 33:36Lewis Howes?

  Do you ever feel like you're gonna stop learning about money?

• 33:39Speaker 01

  Never. When you stop learning, you should die.

• 33:41Lewis Howes?

  That's true. Yeah. But do you feel like there's a moment where you've got to figure it out? Or is there always gonna be a new thing? Because it seems like when it comes down to simple investing and saving, it's pretty basic. Once you understand all the crazy madness. It's like, okay, here's what you need to do. It becomes easier, right? So is there ever gonna be a thing, like a time in the future where like, okay, now actually I'm gonna do something different? Or there's like this new funding thing or savings plan? Like, it seems like it's gonna always be very simple. There's just different jargon or terms or plans that'll come out, right?

• 34:10Speaker 01

  Well, I think every story goes back to money. So yeah, there's always different.

• 34:14Lewis Howes?

  Every story, is that what you said?

• 34:16Speaker 01

  Every story. Absolutely. That's, I mean, that's how I like follow the money trail of every story. Whether I go on Entertainment Tonight to talk about the business of Hollywood, or Wendy Williams talk about, you know, saving money. I think, you know, you can follow the money trail of every single story. And that's why I think the topic of money is so interesting is because it just doesn't have to do with mutual funds and index funds and all that stuff, which it does. And yes, there'll always be some new innovation, but it's also like weird ways to make money, which I love is like the new share economy idea, like renting out your dog. That poor dog, talked about earlier. For your friend, you go rent it out.

• 34:51Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 34:52Speaker 01

  Or rent your tent, or, you know, put your house on Airbnb, or, you know.

• 34:56Lewis Howes?

  I'd see stories talk about it, right?

• 34:58Speaker 01

  Totally.

• 34:59Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 34:59Speaker 01

  You know, and there's cool new ways to make money. Like, you wanna be a referee, you wanna be a blogger, you wanna be like, I just find it so interesting that this like fun employment movement with so many young women, and boys too. Like, you wanna be an alpaca farmer? Great. Go be an alpaca farmer. You wanna start a chocolate shop? Great. There's like this amazing entrepreneurial spirit.

• 35:18Lewis Howes?

  It's like you can do anything you want.

• 35:19Speaker 01

  Yeah. But, you know, at some point, like, I'm all about fake it till you make it. Like, I had a fake assistant, a fake Gmail assistant, for sure.

• 35:27Lewis Howes?

  Really?

• 35:27Speaker 01

  I talk about that.

• 35:28Lewis Howes?

  And you were doing, you were replying, but it was like?

• 35:30Speaker 01

  Yeah, it was Dorothy. I know. I know.

• 35:33Lewis Howes?

  It's amazing.

• 35:33Speaker 01

  Well, I mean, there's certain, like, you know, fake it till you make it that you have to do, until you have to get real and realize, like, I think there's a little bit of. An entrepreneur in all of us are always like, well, what if? And I think for me, it's also about talking to women, especially that, you know, you can be entrepreneurial, even if you work for somebody else, even if you're in a big company, you can be entrepreneurial, you're the business of you. Like if you work at a coffee shop and you want to be the best barista ever, like you could go and pitch yourself to, there's Haro, which is Help a Reporter Out, which is a site like you could get some press, like own that. So I think it's about like embracing this entrepreneurial spirit, but then also being like, okay, do I have three to six months of savings? Do I have health insurance?

• 36:16Speaker 01

  Like, am I keeping up with my contacts just in case like shit doesn't go as planned?

• 36:20Lewis Howes?

  Right, right, right.

• 36:20Speaker 01

  Like, can I go back? So all these questions that like you should ask before you go out and do it. I think what's amazing is that being an entrepreneur has become easier than ever before.

• 36:31Lewis Howes?

  So much easier.

• 36:32Speaker 01

  You can get a business card at Staples that says Lewis House.

• 36:35Lewis Howes?

  You don't even need a business card.

• 36:36Speaker 01

  You don't need a business card.

• 36:36Lewis Howes?

  You just get Twitter.

• 36:37Speaker 01

  Totally.

• 36:38Lewis Howes?

  Right?

• 36:38Speaker 01

  Or about.me.

• 36:40Lewis Howes?

  Exactly. And you've got a lot of examples in the book about how to make extra money.

• 36:44Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 36:44Lewis Howes?

  Which I like because it's very like how to be creative and how to do things on the side. Even when you feel like you have a full-time job and you can't make more money, you don't know how to, there's some great examples. And I think the best way to save is actually just to make more.

• 36:56Speaker 01

  I think that's exactly right. It's one of my biggest mantras. It's like, stop focusing and killing yourself on nickel and diming yourself. If you make more money, guess what? You don't need to save as much money. It's genius.

• 37:07Lewis Howes?

  Why are people not able to make more money? Or why are they stuck in those mindset of like, I don't have the time? Or, you know, I'm already working 50, 60 hours a week and we've got a family. How am I going to make more money? What do you think people are stuck in that?

• 37:20Speaker 01

  I think, you know, it's going back to the idea of investing in yourself. And even if you are trying to start a new business or you want to be like the best alpaca farmer ever and like just burn your bra and leave your job.

• 37:32Speaker 01

  You know, try something a little bit on the side because realizing you don't like something is almost just as important as realize you do like something. So sort of get it out of your system. If you want to be the best handball athlete ever. Like, maybe you don't want to do that full time, but you're trying it, right?

• 37:49Lewis Howes?

  Exactly.

• 37:49Speaker 01

  As you're going. And so maybe you do want to say like, F the podcast world, like, I'm out. Everybody's going to be really sad, obviously. But you're at least, you know, like, you're, you're trying out something that you had, you know, burning in you. And I think that's a really important lesson for folks who are dabbling with going out and starting their own business or starting their own thing. Because, yeah, it is easier now than ever before. Start your own URL, start your own anything. It's like, it's a blessing and a curse.

• 38:18Lewis Howes?

  It's so easy now. I mean, I feel like I'm just so grateful because I don't know what I'd be doing right now if I had to work a job. And I don't think, I feel like 10 years ago or 20 years ago, I wouldn't have these options that I have right now. Like, there would be no podcast, there would be no online business, there would be no, you know, it wouldn't be this easy to write a book. It's so much easier to do things now more than ever. And it's like, there's no excuses for people to make money.

• 38:42Speaker 01

  Can you imagine you would have to do your own laundry?

• 38:44Lewis Howes?

  Right?

• 38:45Speaker 01

  Crazy.

• 38:45Lewis Howes?

  I know.

• 38:48Speaker 01

  My heart is bleeding for you.

• 38:50Lewis Howes?

  I've been, I've been in New York City all month and I've been actually doing my laundry.

• 38:53Speaker 01

  Who does your laundry? The little man down the street?

• 38:56Lewis Howes?

  No, by assistant.

• 38:57Speaker 01

  Oh, gee. Oh, Louis. Good to be Louis.

• 39:03Lewis Howes?

  You know, I work hard.

• 39:04Speaker 01

  Yeah, you do. No, and you deserve it.

• 39:05Lewis Howes?

  I'm very clear on what I want and I'm clear on the way I want my life to be.

• 39:09Speaker 01

  I'm all about it. I feel the same way.

• 39:11Lewis Howes?

  If I don't want to have to cook or clean or do laundry or run errands or...

• 39:14Speaker 01

  Own it. Yeah.

• 39:15Lewis Howes?

  Then why should I?

• 39:16Speaker 01

  Your time is more valuable. The ROI on you creating another podcast or you going and taking a meeting, like, could yield more money.

• 39:23Lewis Howes?

  30 minutes of, or 60 minutes of laundry.

• 39:26Speaker 01

  Or green juicing, for sure.

• 39:28Lewis Howes?

  Exactly.

• 39:28Speaker 01

  That's messy.

• 39:29Lewis Howes?

  It takes forever to clean up.

• 39:30Speaker 01

  I agree. You don't want to get...

• 39:31Lewis Howes?

  I'd rather just make more money.

• 39:33Speaker 01

  And get some little green juice man to come over to your house and juice it for you. Yes, yes.

• 39:38Lewis Howes?

  Or just go buy a bunch of bottles at the store.

• 39:41Speaker 01

  Done.

• 39:42Lewis Howes?

  I love it. So when people go through the 12 step plan, what's next for them? Do you have online resources? Do you have worksheets for people afterwards? Is there

• 39:52Speaker 01

  For sure.

• 39:53Lewis Howes?

  A website?

• 39:54Speaker 01

  Whole budgeting tool, whole everything, a whole bunch of content, a bunch of videos.

• 39:59Lewis Howes?

  And all the links are inside the book?

• 40:00Speaker 01

  Inside the book, nicolelappin.com. It's a good site. And realizing, you know, that your whole body is your business. Your home is your business. Like it goes, it touches so many aspects of your life that you don't feel like is money conversation.

• 40:14Lewis Howes?

  But it all comes back to money.

• 40:15Speaker 01

  Taking care of yourself, for sure. What kind of food you're buying.

• 40:17Lewis Howes?

  Your health comes back to money.

• 40:18Speaker 01

  Yeah. Vegetables are going to be more, you know, cheaper than any package than you could buy. Um, you know, making sure your home is like your sanctuary, keeps you more productive. Um, working out, all that stuff.

• 40:32Lewis Howes?

  I want to ask you about relationships and money because even though you have an ebook out about this, isn't that like the one of the biggest issues in relationships is money?

• 40:39Speaker 01

  For sure. Over anything else. Over laundry, over taking care of kids.

• 40:44Lewis Howes?

  Green juice.

• 40:45Speaker 01

  Anything.

• 40:45Lewis Howes?

  Sick dogs.

• 40:46Speaker 01

  It is money.

• 40:48Lewis Howes?

  Why?

• 40:48Speaker 01

  Because people lie to each other about money.

• 40:50Lewis Howes?

  Why? And what do they lie about?

• 40:53Speaker 01

  How much debt they have, who they owe. Um, you know, I think being straight up about all of it. There's, you know, sort of a trend, I want to say, of relationships not working out because of people's student debt. Um, like there was a woman that I counseled who was like a brilliant, um, young woman who had a hundred thousand dollars of debt. And she met this great guy and he was like, I'm sorry, I'm out. Like, I don't want to take that on.

• 41:20Lewis Howes?

  It's so tough though. Like if you've got a hundred thousand dollars or 300 or 400, something like doctors have like three, 400,000. It's like, how do you take that on? It's, it's almost like a burden that you bring on just by being in a relationship with someone.

• 41:30Speaker 01

  And I don't hate him for it, actually.

• 41:32Lewis Howes?

  It's hard.

• 41:33Speaker 01

  Yeah. I, I mean, when I get my, when I got my financial life together, like, I don't know if I would want to take on somebody else's and, and take a few steps back.

• 41:41Lewis Howes?

  So how does someone deal with that? Or how does someone navigate through that process? Because what if you're fully committed or love someone, but it's like, or you fall in love and you can't help it? Do you just not be in a relationship because of their debt?

• 41:53Speaker 01

  I don't, it's, it's your choice. Like, that is all you, but there are big considerations that sometimes mess up, you know, things that you don't think about, like your love life, like getting married, like all of that stuff. And so it's a real consideration right now. And I think that's one of the biggest things when I talk to women that they get right away. It's, it's when you're getting divorced, when your husband dies, like when you need to get your financial life together. I think deep down, you know, we want to be financially independent, but those are the like, the trigger points in women's lives specifically, when they're like, oh, yep, this needs to happen. Until then, it's like, okay, later, later, later, later, later.

• 42:31Lewis Howes?

  Just put it off. Man, money can be stressful unless you have it under control.

• 42:35Speaker 01

  Yes and no. And just realizing that like, money is so cultural, that like, you want good relationships. It's like anything else. You want a good relationship. You don't want to be that weird girl like I was at the ticket counter, or like paying with the check at dinner. Like, I didn't want to be that girl.

• 42:49Lewis Howes?

  Everything cash.

• 42:50Speaker 01

  So it did not see with money. It was like a cultural experience, right? Stacks on stacks on stacks.

• 42:56Lewis Howes?

  I love it. A couple of questions left for you. I want everyone to make sure they pick up the book, Rich Bitch. We'll have it all linked up on the show notes. We'll tell you guys where to go for that, but you can get it on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, bookstores, everything else. What are you most grateful for recently, Nicole?

• 43:09Speaker 01

  I'm grateful for you.

• 43:10Lewis Howes?

  Okay, what else besides me?

• 43:12Speaker 01

  My goodness. Honestly, and this sounds really cheesy and Pollyanna-ish of me, but I'm really grateful for finally birthing this book.

• 43:20Lewis Howes?

  It's a lot.

• 43:21Speaker 01

  You know, like, I don't need to tell you, it's a process, but I had a vision that like, you know, we could swear when we spoke about money. There's no other finance book that throws down bitch, like I do, or, you know, shit, or all this stuff. Like, I just talk the way I talk right now in a book, because I couldn't find something else that was like that. Everything else was like, oh my God, I'm gonna cry myself to sleep, or, you know, I, I felt like a mission to fill this void. And, you know, it's, it's a serious topic, but like, You know, the only way to make it resonate is to speak in unconventional sissies, you know.

• 44:01Lewis Howes?

  So people can connect with it. Yeah, and get it.

• 44:04Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 44:04Lewis Howes?

  I like it.

• 44:05Speaker 01

  And if I had to like be the guinea pig, I'd take it for the team to, you know, show all the ways I messed up my publishers. Like, seriously Nicole? Like, you wanna go there? And I'm like, yes. Like, as real, as raw, as possible.

• 44:19Lewis Howes?

  What do you want women to know about money moving forward?

• 44:21Speaker 01

  Yeah, I want them to know that being a rich bitch isn't about having more money than you know what to do with. It's about having confidence and being empowered to live a full, rich life in all aspects of the word. So being a rich bitch isn't about having bling bling and private jets. It's about living a rich life in, you know, in all aspects of what the word rich means.

• 44:45Lewis Howes?

  That's interesting. I like that. What is a question or conversation starter that women can apply today when they go out to lunch or dinner with their girlfriends about money? What's something they could say to get them started?

• 44:58Speaker 01

  How much money do you make? I think it's such an important, basic conversation, but like, actually, if I knew more about how much my colleagues made, like, I would have been much better off when I was negotiating for myself, when I was looking for different jobs. Like, more transparency, I think, is helpful.

• 45:15Lewis Howes?

  Why do people not like to talk about that?

• 45:17Speaker 01

  It's awkward because you feel like you're gonna be judged by it. But I think that, you know, more honesty, like, full of all hopes, we can help each other. Kum byah. We are the world.

• 45:28Lewis Howes?

  You think that's the first question they should ask? Like, how much money do you make? Or is there a way to get people into it so it's not as?

• 45:34Speaker 01

  Foreplay? You wanna ease on into the?

• 45:37Lewis Howes?

  I mean, I'm all about asking that type of question.

• 45:39Speaker 01

  I'm just about going there. I'm really, I think that it's a good conversation starter because you can either be surprised or you could, you know, feel like you make the same amount. Or like, what are you doing then with that money? Like, you know, I think?

• 45:51Lewis Howes?

  Interesting. I like that. What are you doing with your money?

• 45:54Speaker 01

  Folks don't.

• 45:55Lewis Howes?

  Are you saving your money? Do you know what your, how your plan is? If you don't know, you should check out this book I just checked out. It's called Rich Bitch.

• 46:01Speaker 01

  Well, bam.

• 46:01Lewis Howes?

  It'll tell you everything you need to know. I like it. Very cool.

• 46:05Speaker 01

  Drop the mic.

• 46:05Lewis Howes?

  Well.

• 46:07Speaker 01

  I'm out, Louis. You're welcome.

• 46:09Lewis Howes?

  Well, I appreciate you sharing and for, for coming on here. I want to acknowledge you really quickly for taking on this project because this is not an easy subject to talk about. It's not an easy subject to master and you've been doing it for the last 12 years plus through your own struggles and mistakes and you know, all this, all the interesting stories are in here. So if you just want to read something that's interesting about all her struggles, check this out. But really for being a voice to women who have no clue what they are doing, some of them, or for the ones that don't have a clue, for being a voice, a clear, simple, concise voice and educating them

• 46:50Lewis Howes?

  on how to have complete ownership and responsibility for their money and their life. So I acknowledge you for that. Thank you for that. Want to ask you one final question. It's what I ask everyone at the end. It's what's your definition of greatness?

• 47:03Speaker 01

  Louis Howes, the School of Greatness. Actually, Melma Howes. She is the greatness behind the greatness.

• 47:08Lewis Howes?

  She is. She burns through greatness.

• 47:10Speaker 01

  She is. She's my definition of greatness.

• 47:13Lewis Howes?

  Do you have another definition or is that your definition?

• 47:15Speaker 01

  I thought that was the best definition ever.

• 47:17Lewis Howes?

  I think it is.

• 47:18Speaker 01

  Broke records on this podcast.

• 47:20Lewis Howes?

  I'll tell my mom this. Awesome. Well, I appreciate it. Thanks for coming on.

• 47:32Lewis Howes?

  Thanks again so much, guys, for coming on. Make sure to check out lewishouse.com/128. Go pick up this book. If you feel like your finances or your savings are not in order, then make sure to check it out. Learn what she talks about in this book. All the show notes back at lewishouse.com/128 with a link back to where you can get the book, where you can connect with Nicole, where you can find her on social media and her website. And you're going to want to make sure to stay connected with Nicole for a long time because she's always got lots of good little. Nuggets and words of wisdom to share. So thank you guys so much for coming on again. Leave a comment over on the blog over at lewishouse.com/128 of what you most took away from this

• 48:15Lewis Howes?

  episode. Make sure to subscribe if this is your first time over at the School of Greatness Podcast. Leave us a review if you enjoyed this and I'm so pumped for all of the great episodes we have coming up very shortly. Again, we're doing this three times a week now, every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and we've got a lot of great things coming here this entire year. So thank you guys so much for coming on. Thanks again to Nicole for sharing her wisdom. Make sure to check out the show notes, lewishouse.com/128. And you guys know what time it is. It's time to go out there and do something great.