24 Lessons Learned in 2024: A Year-End Reflection

Welcome to the weekly Wealth Podcast. I am certified financial planner David Chudick.

This podcast and my wealth management practice are both designed to help the mass affluent to live better lives by how they handle their money. We talk about financial strategies, prosperous mindsets, and simply how to build true wealth. So come on and let's enjoy this journey together.

Alright, well, let's get going. We have a lot to cover today on our 24 Lessons of 2024. I'm not sure if you're like me and you like to reflect.

I journal every day or almost every day and I like to just look at what's been working, what's not been working, and what I can learn in life to help me to achieve my goals. And I wanted to share some of those items with you that I learned in 2024. So. So here we go. Let's get started.

The first one is that our health is precious. Quite a few people in my life had health issues this year and I also had a few people that were indirectly related to me pass away.

So your health is precious. Do all of the things that you can do to give yourself the most optimal health that you can do.

Our health is not totally up to our control, but certainly we do have some influence on our health. Number two is margin. Margin is one of the greatest words that you should have in your vocabulary in relation to your money.

If every dollar that you have come in is basically spent by the end of the week or the end of the month, you have no margin. And then if anything at all goes wrong in your life, you are going to have a lot of stress and a lot of problems. So create financial margins.

By spending less money that you have coming in, your stress levels will go down incredibly. And I can tell you I some unexpected expenses come up, both personally and professionally this year.

Thankfully, I had the financial margin to take care of it and that made my life a lot easier. Number three, if you're in business or any type of a revenue development position, remember that excellence is the greatest sales tool that there is.

Most people think that sales is this word where you have to be overly flamboyant and pushy and everything. No, you just have to know what you're doing. You have to give proactive advice that's applicable to your client.

You have to do what you say you're going to do and you have to have your client's best interest in mind at all time and then the sales will come to you. So number three is excellence is the greatest sales tool that there is. All right.

Number four, you got to work really hard to maintain your long term view on your long term money. So when I talk about long term money, I'm talking about money that you don't need to use this year, next year or anytime soon.

This is your retirement account and your long term savings.

And I have a lot of people that freak out when there's a small dip in the markets, but they forget that this is money that they don't need or for some reason or another can't even touch for decades because it's a retirement account. So little blips in the radar, you forget that they ever even existed when you look back in time.

So make sure that for your monies that are long term monies, you are keeping that long term view and not getting overly emotional about it. And you know that we have to talk about the business owners. I love the business owners because I am a business owner.

If you're a business owner, remember you do not have a job. Let me repeat that. You do not have your job. Do not treat your business as a job. Treat it as an asset that you can grow.

And make sure that you remember you are a leader. You're not self employed. If you're self employed, you have a job with the worst boss in the world and that's yourself.

Number six, do not be the smartest person in your friend and professional groups.

Make sure that you are aligning yourself with people who can lift you up, who can hold you accountable, and who have skills and abilities that you do not have. What I find is that when you're the smartest person in your groups, your standards tend to decrease.

So align yourself with people who have or who are what you aspire to be. Number seven is that my body does not like carbs. Actually, my body really does like carbs, but it also likes turning them into fat.

So I did a carnivore way of eating for a good part of the year and I've really decreased the amount of carbohydrates that I eat and have almost totally eliminated sugars. And my body has lost a lot of weight. It looks better than it has and it feels better. So learn your body.

My body doesn't like carbs, but who knows, maybe yours does. But do some work to make sure that you're helping yourself to eat the right things for your body.

Number eight, simply having a high income does not eliminate money stress. So you hear me say it all the time. I believe that how we handle our money should positively impact our lives in the lives of Those around us.

And what that means is how we handle our money, not just simply having a lot of it.

I have a few high earning clients that have a lot of money stress because there have been things in the past that they didn't handle well with regards to their money. Number nine, everything that you do in life sends a message, either a positive or a negative message.

So how you answer the phone, what your desk looks like, how you dress, how you speak, everything sends a message. So ask yourself, am I sending the message that I want to send? So here's one that's a money philosophical decision.

I have some clients that are thinking about retiring in the next few years and they want to front load the their spending and do some really cool things and have some really great experiences while they're still young enough to enjoy them. Now these people have done well financially so they can afford that.

But maybe look at front loading your retirement plan so you can enjoy life while you're still young and healthy enough to do so. Number 11, consistency builds results over time.

Whether we're talking about our money, our health, losing weight, having better relationships, do the little things that you can do every day. Now, I told you I lost some weight this year. I've been exercising more consistently this year than in other years.

But I can tell you there have been some days where I've literally just gutted out a 10 or a 15 minute workout and I just said, you know what, that's what I have today. Instead of doing a long workout that I could barely get through, I made myself be consistent. I got off the couch and I did it.

And that's a better workout than not working out at all. So where can you be consistent in your money and in your relationships and within your health practices? Number 12 is to be generous.

Now I've never known anybody who's regretted being generous. So look at how you can help the world. Look at where you have resources that others don't and look to share your resources.

If you're a believer like me, you'll notice that you get rewarded for these things. But maybe we shouldn't be giving just for the purpose of getting back. Maybe we should be giving because it's the kind thing to do.

So number 12 is to make sure that we're being generous.

If you're a parent, number 13 might be a good piece of advice for you and that is that having standards for your kids is the greatest gift that you can give them. So don't accept less than what your kids can give you.

There comes A time where every little toddler gets told to do something, and they look at you and they say no. And if you let that toddler get away with that, then they know that rules don't apply to them. So have standards for your kids.

And for standards, of course, do it lovingly. But know that having standards for your kids is going to be the greatest gift that you can give them as they grow older.

So let's look at number 14 on my list of things that I learned in 2024, and that is that loyalty is to be celebrated. Loyalty is admirable, and we should be loyal to those who are loyal to us. Man, we're moving quickly through this list.

Number 15 is that nobody has everything together, even though they might seem like they do. So in today's world of social media, there probably are some people in your life that you really feel like they just have it all.

Trust me, they don't. Nobody does.

I see the back end of a lot of people's finances, and a lot of people that seem like they have it together have a lot of debt, very little margin, and they are just one little issue away from some serious financial repercussions. So not everybody has everything together. And do not compare yourself to others, because you don't really know what you are comparing yourself to.

Are you a longtime listener of the weekly wealth podcast? If you've learned anything and if you've enjoyed the podcast, will you do me a favor?

Will you tell a few of your friends, your families, your colleagues, or your co workers about the show? And as I always say, I believe that how we handle our money should positively impact our lives and the lives of those around us.

And I hope that this podcast can be a small piece of that puzzle for all of our listeners. Okay, number 16, how about knowing your numbers, know your financial facts, know what they mean to you.

So I've had people on both ends of the spectrum. I've had some clients and prospects who thought they were really, really likely to run out of money in retirement.

And then when we do some calculations, they'll pretty much, like, try to spend all of their money because they have enough. And then I have other people who think that they have enough and they really don't.

So do the calculations, do them yourself, or work with a financial advisor and know your financial facts. Number 17, do you know the difference between marginal and average or effective tax rates? Well, if you don't, maybe you should.

So look at at what income rates you jump into the next tax bracket. Now, if you're in a 32% tax bracket, that does not mean that you paid 32% of your income to the government for taxes.

It means that the next dollar that you make will be taxed at 32%. So there's a big difference between your average tax rate and your marginal tax rate.

And it's something that I just find most people don't truly understand.

Number 18 probably can show up in my Lessons of Life podcast episode of every year between now and whenever my last one will be, and that's that getting uncomfortable is where the progress happens.

So in life, in business and health and relationships and spirituality, we have to do things that we don't necessarily want to do in order to see progress.

Now, one thing that I have found, and I don't know if you found the same thing, that sometimes when you get out of your comfort zone and you do something, you think, wow, that really wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. So make a commitment each day to get uncomfortable, do something that you don't want to do, and watch the growth come into your life.

Number 18 was to get uncomfortable and make things happen.

And number 19 is going to seem like a contradiction because I'm going to tell you to don't do some of the things that you dread doing or don't do some of the things that you're just not good at doing. So, yes, we have to get uncomfortable, but we have to do that selectively, only at areas where it can cause growth.

If there are areas of your life and in your business where you simply don't have the expertise or somebody else can do the job better than you, or even if they can do it 70 to 80% as well as you can do it, why don't you have them do it then?

That'll free you up to enhance your customer experience and to also to do those things that only you can really do, to do those things that have the biggest impact on profitability and on your life. So number 19 is to delegate the things that you dread doing that you're not good at doing. As long as these are not high, high growth items.

Man, we're getting too close to the end here. We're on number 20 here. And to me, memories are better than things. So spend your money on making memories with the people that you love.

If you're like me, and if you're like most of the listeners of the weekly wealth podcast, you're part of the mass affluent or even the high net worth. So you probably have enough stuff so Spend your time, spend your money making memories. Life is short. Do this with the people that you love.

Number 21 is geared to the business owners or anybody who's in any sort of a business development role in their company. And this one is that not everybody is an ideal customer or client for you.

So be selective in who you work with because your skills, your abilities, your time is very valuable. Not everybody will appreciate what you bring to the table from a professional standpoint.

So look at ideal client profile and find those types of people, find those types of companies and go after them. Those are the people, those are the clients that will have enjoyment from working view and also in many cases, they'll be even more profitable.

So number 21 is make sure that you are working with people and clients who fit your ideal client profile. The kids nowadays talk about not letting somebody live rent free in your head. So don't let people live in your head rent free. What do I mean by that?

Have you ever just been angry at someone for like an hour or two hours or a day or several days? The odds are they don't even know that you're mad at them. And the odds are that you're misinterpreting the scenario.

So do your best to forgive people and do your best just to not let them live rent free in your head. Life is short and there's no sense in wasting any time with, with bad feelings or malice towards others. Okay, we're getting close to the end here.

Number 23 is make sure that you hold the right assets for you. So almost every asset type has positives and negatives and make sure that you're looking at the positives and negatives of your asset types.

Make sure that you have the right asset types for you. Make sure you have the right amount of diversification. Make sure that you own assets that are not correlated to each other.

So if all of your assets are in one sector, and if that sector goes south, then more than likely most of your net worth will go down.

So different asset types are cryptocurrencies or real estate, commercial real estate, stocks and bonds and stocks and bonds can even be subdivided into smaller sections, but you get my point. Private equities, privately held businesses. So look at your asset list and determine if those are right for you.

Determine if the liquidity requirements are adequate for you. Determine if the risk requirements are adequate for you. Just make sure that you're holding the right types of assets for you.

I see it a lot where people are holding the same assets today that they did 10, 20, 30 years ago. And just because you held something in the past does not mean that it's still appropriate for you.

So be purposeful, make sure that you are holding the assets that you should be holding. And finally, number 24 is that God is good. We go through some chapters in life where sometimes it seems like things are really, really difficult.

But it's been reinforced to me over and over and over in 2024 and in all of the other years of my life that I serve a God that is watching over me and that takes care of me. So if you've never experienced the love of God, I encourage you just to look for it.

And if you seek, you shall find I really hope that you enjoyed this episode with some of my lessons that I either learned in 2024 or that I had reinforced in 2024, I would really be interested to know if you learned anything different.

If you disagree with any of my with my lessons or if there's something you might like to add, you can always leave me a message at www.weeklywealthpodcast.com voicemail and would just be interested your opinions and also if you've ever wondered what it might be like to work with me personally as your financial advisor. The process is pretty simple.

So you can go to my website www.weeklywealthpodcast.com you can click on the Contact Us icon at the top and from there you can schedule a 30 minute appointment.

During this appointment which will be either Zoom or in person if you're local, we can talk about some of your hopes, some of your dreams and some of the issues that are keeping you up at night with regard to your money. We can talk about some of the 30,000 foot level details of your money and then we can decide if there are any next steps.

It really is that simple and there is no cost for that appointment.

So www.weeklywealthpodcast.com click on the Contact Us icon at the top and go ahead and schedule your appointment so we can get started on having a great 2025 with regards to your money.

So it's a privilege for me to bring this podcast to you every week and I appreciate the fact that you take time out of your day to listen to the Weekly Wealth Podcast. Don't forget to share it with your friends. Have a Merry Christmas, have a happy holiday season and I will see you in 2025. Thanks everybody.

Investment advice offered through Parallel Financial, an SEC registered investment advisor able to conduct advisory business in states where it is registered or exempt or excluded from registration contents contained herein or for informational purposes only, and should not be construed as an offer or solicitation for investment advice or for the purchase or sale of any security, insurance or other investment, production.