Hey, guys.
It's Chelsea from
The Financial Diet.
And this week's video is
brought to you by FreshBooks.
And today, we are in a very
new and exciting place.
And with a new person, Hank
Green, who amongst many things,
is the executive producer
of The Financial Diet,
and also makes many other
awesome YouTube channels,
which you can see here.
And we will link them
in the description.
And Hank is also actually in
the Financial Diet book, which
we have briefly mentioned and
we'll give you more information
about soon.
But in the meantime,
la dee da, here it is.
And you can find it in the
link in the description
for preorder.
So today, I thought it
would be fun to ask Hank
just some sort of
awkward and honesty
inducing money question that
will get to the meat of what
he really thinks about money.
I think that we should be
more honest about money.
I really do.
I've never thought that.
I actually disagree.
I think we should be
more opaque about money.
Just never bring it up.
Never bring it up.
So first question, Hank.
Yeah.
Let's get right to it.
What is the worst
money that you've ever
spent in the name of romance?
Well, it wasn't doesn't
necessarily a lot of money.
But I've definitely
spent some bad money
in the name of romance.
I had a girl-- not
even a girlfriend.
A girl that I wanted
to be my girlfriend who
was very into the band Rush.
And I now know a lot
of words to Rush songs
because I was trying to impress
her with my knowledge of Rush.
So you just bought
a bunch of Rush CDs.
I did.
I bought the most
recent one, and I
bought the two biggest ones.
And, yeah.
Because you wanted
to get the deep cuts.
Correct.
Did you by any Rush merch?
No, I didn't want to be
too out there with it.
I just wanted to
sort of bring it up.
And I did.
And she was like, wait a second.
How do you-- why do
you know about Rush.
And I was like, I don't know.
I just love the band Rush.
Let's go swimming.
I actually had a
very similar thing
with a guy who was obsessed
with the jam bands.
And I went to a lot of jam band
concerts, which if you've never
been to one, you think the
songs last 20 minutes, which
is already enough.
They actually last an hour
and 20 minutes on stage.
Yeah, they just keep going.
But I feel like spending on
wooing, to me, should only
be done when you already
are to some level committed
to this person because
anyone that you are required
to spend money on in
order to get close to,
it's a big, big red flag.
Yeah.
Different people feel
love different ways.
And a lot of people
feel love financially.
And that's not a thing
for me or for Catherine.
But I don't want to
necessarily discount that.
Well, I think that a lot
of people, especially
who grew up in numb
financial precariously,
it's a really big deal for them
to feel safe more than anything
else.
Yeah.
And that to me is like a
whole other thing, right?
Because if you can provide
safety and security for someone
that you love, yes, it's
financial technically.
But it's also not about just
being as flashy as possible.
Right.
Which is different.
And it's the different ways
in which we understand value.
The ultimate
manifestation of value
is money, which is really
nice to get away from.
But it's what our culture says.
It is what our culture says.
And also, if you've not
experienced that from someone
or experienced it
in your own life,
it can seem like the
ultimate expression of care,
particularly care even more so
than love. , However a Rush CD,
never going to factor
into that conversation.
I spent like $45 on Rush CDs.
What would the guy at
the CD store think?
I was at the hip little CD
store in downtown Winter Park.
I probably also bought
like a third wave ska CD.
And this guy was
like, I'm so confused.
Is it like when kids try to buy
condoms at the grocery store,
and they get a bunch of other
stuff too so its obscured.
I was just like, I got to
buy some cool CDs so he
doesn't think I'm that weird.
So something we talk
a lot about on TFD
is spending in the
interest of making yourself
a better or different person.
You can sort of buy yourself
and upgrade as a human.
Yeah.
What is a misguided purchase
that you have made in order
to sort of upgrade yourself?
Well, every gym membership ever.
Says the man who just
got back from Pilates.
Well, yeah, that I do because
I do private sessions, which
are very expensive relatively.
But if I don't show
up, then Allison
is like, where are
you, my friend, Hank,
who has let me down?
A lot of people, in New
York I think especially,
bigger cities where people
work really long hours,
it's very popular
to get a trainer.
And everyone says the same
thing, which is, look,
otherwise I just won't
show up to the gym.
Which honestly, I feel
like at the end of the day,
it is much better to spend
that money upfront on something
you will actually use than
continually convince yourself
that you will go to something
that you never end up doing.
Was there ever
any specific item?
Yeah, I bought Heelys one time.
What better version
of yourself did you
anticipate that
that would create?
It just makes a more
annoying version of yourself.
Hey, the picture in your head
and the picture in real life
is not always the same thing.
This, but on wheels.
Just at the mall.
I was an adult human.
I was in my 20s.
No!
So what is a guilty pleasure
that you spend money on, even
though you know you shouldn't?
Oh, so many things.
Business costs for sure.
Probably the most guiltiest,
expensivest pleasure that I--
and it's not just the cost.
It's that airplanes are much
more efficient per passenger
when they don't have
a first class at all.
Right.
And so if people are
buying those seats,
then airlines have bigger
first class sections,
which fits fewer people
for the same amount of fuel
being burned.
And so it's worse
for the environment.
So I think about that every time
I sit down in business class
and I'm just like, this is dope.
And I'm bad.
And you watch all the
poor people shuffle by.
You know what?
I like to at least acknowledge
that the people who
are going by.
That's worse.
Well, sometimes I
have a baby, one.
And then it's like, hey,
everybody is having a good day.
I actually think it would be
worse if people in business
class just like waved.
Hello, proletariat.
How charming.
Hold up your glass of champagne.
So how do you then
justify it to yourself?
What makes you keep spending?
I justify by saying,
would I do this?
Would I go on this trip if I
didn't have business class?
And I just wouldn't.
It I fly enough and
it's unpleasant--
I'm 6' 1'' and I have a family.
And so I'm like, would I
go on this trip in economy?
No.
Would I go if it
were business class?
Yes.
So what is something you
are very cheap about,
even though you know you
should be spending more?
I don't know how to buy clothes.
I don't know how to buy more
expensive clothes, nicer
clothes.
Just don't.
I don't know.
I've never had a
tailored anything.
And I feel like maybe I should
have some tailored things.
What about for events?
I went to--
Weddings?
Oh, Montana weddings.
You need a vest max.
You're in like a bolero
tie and cowboy boots.
Yeah.
No, not kidding.
Oh, really?
I see lots of bolo ties
at Montana weddings.
I don't wear one myself.
Oh, my god.
A leather vest is like
the top of fashion.
A leather vest?
No sleeves?
No sleeves on a dress shirt.
Yeah.
No tie at all.
OK, so for all of the world
that doesn't live in Montana
and sometimes goes to weddings
or a business casual work
environment, it's
unusual I think to not
know like how to get clothes.
I went to a Hugo Boss when I was
in Australia just a week ago.
And I was amazed.
In a good way?
No.
Yeah.
I put on the well
I put on the jacket
and I was like, that
looks pretty nice.
And I looked.
And it was $900.
And I was like, you can't
pay $900 for a jacket.
That's not a thing that happens.
You for sure can do.
You know what?
Here's the thing.
But you don't have to, right?
You totally do if you wear
a suit every day for years.
But there's like $250 jackets.
If you get a cheap suit, it's
threadbare within a year.
I did buy a suit coat at
Zara, which I have worn,
I don't know, 20 times.
And it looks like crap.
And so this is why I
say, I should probably
be spending more on clothes.
These shoes I found in an alley.
OK, so I think what
we're getting out
of this conversation is that
Hank lives a unique life that
has made it--
I think you live a unique
life, miss New York City.
All right, poll time.
Everyone in the
comment section who
has a job that requires
them to look a certain way,
raise your hand.
Or type a hand.
Type your hands.
But I would say going back
to-- as someone who generally
has to wear certain things
for a lot of work events,
and has a partner who also does
so, it's always been worth it
for us invest up front.
But if we didn't
need to, we certainly
wouldn't be doing that.
A really easy rule of
thumb is just break things
down by cost per use.
If it's something
that you're going
to be using almost
every day, probably an
indicator to spend
a little more.
Now I'm going to
out you here Hank.
You're someone with money.
It happened.
He's got, by most statistical
standards, quite a lot of it.
And he didn't always.
Although he was never--
could we say he was never poor.
But he certainly
wasn't at the place
financially that
he is now, which
means he's sort of
gotten to experience
a little bit of the
financial spectrum,
from what is probably
closer to the average
to what is very
far away from it.
So as a result of
this sort of shift,
can you tell us
at least one thing
that wealthy people
know about money
that not wealthy people do not?
First, I think that it is
very easy to spend money.
And that's something
that everybody knows.
But you think that
it will become--
that it will start
to be like, well,
I don't know what to
spend all this money on.
That never happens.
Lifestyle inflation.
The money just keeps going away.
And so it remains
important to have
a budget because the
luxury of having money
isn't being able to
indulge in luxuries,
it's being able to
not worry about money.
Oh, 100%.
And if you continue to
indulge in luxuries,
and you're like,
well, I'm going to I'm
going to enjoy the
fruits of my labor,
then you don't get
that ultimate luxury.
I'm trying to keep my
own spending in check
and my own sort of experience
of the world in check.
Your lifestyle inflation--
to go back to it--
your increasingly expanding
idea of what is normal
and what is a luxury.
And one thing that I
will say in learning
a lot about rich
people and how they
operate through making
The Financial Diet
is I think rich people
intentionally obscure
how easy it is for them
to make more money,
and how little they
pay on that money.
Yeah, and it's very
strange fruit for me
to talk to some of my wealthy
peers and have them be like,
well, I earned this.
And I worked for this.
And I'm like, you know how
much easier it is to make money
once you have it, right?
It's so much easier.
But I think that that whole
narrative, especially when it
comes to entrepreneurship, of
you built this, you did this,
is just so dangerous.
And it's pretty easy to believe.
And people tell it to you.
Strangers will say, what a
great thing you've built.
And you're like, I
hear what you're saying
and it's a load of bull.
Totally.
The value that was
added to this company
was added by all over
the people who work here.
And there's 30 of them.
And so to say that
I built this--
I maybe built a 30th of it.
I think that rich people think
in terms of opportunity cost,
not in terms of cost cost.
Not everybody thinks
of it this way.
But I think if you can
get to that place, it's--
and it results in
a lot of spending.
When you say, OK, well,
how much is my time worth?
Because my time's worth--
according to what the
economy is valuing it at--
enough that I probably
shouldn't be mowing the lawn.
I should probably
pay someone to do
this who has equipment,
who can do this faster,
and has the skills to do it.
Well, it's really about
money isn't valuable.
And it's on its own.
Right.
And understanding that.
And also that
money in investment
is worth far more
than just the money.
And so when I think about
making $1 right now, I think,
is spending this dollar
worth the $5 that it
will be by the time I retire?
And that's also I think a really
healthy way for a lot of people
to think about money.
But it becomes easier
when you have it
and when you've seen how
investment functions.
And we try to encourage our
audience because a lot of them
are very interested
in investing,
but don't have a lot of money.
And a lot of them
have the misconception
that there's a financial
barrier to doing so.
There really isn't.
To the extent that perhaps
with some big providers
of investment options
and maybe a couple
hundred dollars a year.
But generally
speaking, especially
if you have something like
a 401K available to you,
we can all invest, even
with a few dollars a month.
We can call it future you.
If you start thinking
in terms of future you,
it's a lot easier to
make these decisions.
Also, to echo what
Hank said, rich people
tend to put an actual value on
their time, which is something
that everyone can do.
And even if it comes down to
something as simple as, hey,
I noticed I'm
wasting a lot of time
on this thing that doesn't
really enrich me in any way.
You can say, hey, my
time's worth more than that
and cut it out.
What is something that
2017 Hank does with money
that 2007 Hank would not
have thought possible?
I own a house.
I own it.
I don't have a mortgage.
Oh, wow.
Which is amazing.
That's nice.
Giving health insurance
to a bunch of people.
That's the best thing I do
with my money is I make it
so that my employees don't have
to think about health insurance
because thinking about health
care is the worst thing.
So I think that does it
with Hank, who has taught us
quite a lot about what
he thinks about money
and also being a business owner
and starting your own things,
which if that is something that
you are interested in doing,
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So as always, guys,
thank you for watching.
And don't forget to subscribe
and to come back every Tuesday
for new and awesome videos.
Bye!
Seriously, they're really good.
Thanks.
