Top 3 Money & Life Lessons Learned This Year

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[The following is a partial transcript of this episode of The Scott Alan Turner Show. Listen to the full episode to hear this story, listener questions, money hacks, and inspiring stories of people that are changing their financial lives. Subscribe to the free podcast on iTunes or Google Play]

As 2018 winds down, most people think back to how the year went.

• What adventures did you have
• what were the most memorable moments
• were there some big wins or a lot of little wins

Maybe what people discovered was some of the slow or low points. For some people maybe there was a loss, and what were the great memories about that person or pet. My father-in-law, Katie’s dad, passed away on Christmas eve four years ago. We talk about how he loved being a Marine, and he could take apart a car and put it back together, he was a servant for life.

When you think about 2018, do you have some things that didn’t go as planned, are you doing the happy dance? Probably both, right? Take the wins and losses you learned and see how those can make 2019 a better year.

I’ve got a few lessons, based on some of the stuff I went through. If you’re a long time listener you’ve heard some of this stuff but for people that are new, here’s a quick rundown which will set the stage for the lessons:

I went whole hog and knocked out passing my CFP exam and doing the education requirements in 7 months instead of the usual 13+ it takes people. Because I’m crazy. I barely watched TV and read nothing but text books from Christmas of last year until July this year.

Katie got her realtors license. That’s going to allow her to save some money on our rentals but also a lot of you are interested in real estate, buying a house, selling a house, and we’re just lifelong learners around here and want to provide the best information to help you.

We finally got this amazing studio built. And it took so many people and time and money, because I just wasn’t going to start doing live video until it was right, and we could bring this message to more people who like video instead of podcasts.

And I share that not to say ‘hey look how amazing the year was’, that just sets up the stage for, it was a freaking hard year, but lots of good stuff.

So out of all the madness, here are the 3 big takeaways that will help you heading into next year.

1. Health is important

Years ago Katie dealt with chronic hip pain which we think she got from jacking up her hip snowboarding and training for a 1/2 marathon. And her life sucked for two years until someone finally figured out the problem.

I’ve been dealing with stomach issues for at least six years, maybe ten I can’t even remember. It’s kind of like debt for some people – I’ve lived it with for so long I just got used to it. And I’ll admit for the first time in my life I can truly understand people who say they are depressed.

I’ve tried paleo, Keto, elimination diets, SCD, high fat, low fat, and through it all I ended up confirming what I said all along – spinich really is the silent killer.

I’m on the all meat diet, which is weird, but I haven’t felt this good in years. It’s truly bizarre, and I may cut a few years off my life, but I’m glad to no longer be in chronic discomfort, pain, depressed, all because of my health. Everything I used to eat that was healthy food, was ruining my mood 6 out of 7 days a week. My wife finally challenged me to do this new diet for 30 days because she was sick and tired of me feeling sick and tired all the time.

I’m adamant about not trying new get-rich-quick schemes, because they don’t work. Most of personal finance is just common sense – which isn’t always common practice – using tried and true strategies. But outside of money, most people would benefit from trying something new. A date night? Breaking a bad habit? Challenging yourself? Just trying something you may have resisted up until now and give it 30 or 90 days. What about budgeting for the first time?

If you were going to start the next year off with a bang, what’s one healthy thing you could do?

2. Don’t miss the important stuff for the stuff nobody will remember

I’m not in charge of the nuclear codes, the ship running aground, or a life saving liver transplant. I love what I do dearly, and helping you, but this year more than ever I remind myself to hit the pause button and hang out with my kids. The twins turned five this year! When my little girl walks into my office in the morning talking about unicorns, I stop what I’m doing to listen. I take my kids to the park or the library in the afternoon. We travel a lot.

Stuff doesn’t get done as fast as I would like, but the important stuff like drawing unicorn town on a white board is what I’ll remember.

I don’t know what your work or life situation is – I do know some listeners are doctors – but I’m telling you to ask yourself daily

Am I giving too much priority to low priority things.

3. Save that emergency fund

It seems emergencies happen in our lives every 6–7 years. That’s not very often which is why too many people are not prepared – because an emergency is not going to happen to them. Until it does and they have those ‘Oops’ moments.

This is the perfect of example of an experienced teacher practicing what they preach, not just because they read it somewhere in a book, but because I’ve lived it.

It’s kinda like when someone asks me how to invest. Please don’t do what I did and lose a lot of money and have stress, do this thing I’ve learned works and you’ll be better off. We’ve made the mistakes so you don’t have to.

When you follow a proven plan that works, you can ignore the noise.

Once you pay off the debts, get a 3–6 month emergency fund in place. You’ll thank me one day.

Ok, I’ve got time for a bonus lesson:

4. Greatness takes patience

Greatness takes patience

Exactly one year ago I made the decision to do a live video broadcast of the show. I thought I would make a couple phone calls and the studio would be done in mid-January. The best studio builders were very busy, and they live in Portland, I’m in Dallas.

I’m not saying I’m great – I’ve only got a 150 word vocabulary – but this studio my contractors built is great. And like my twin 5-year-olds say, Dad, we’ve been waiting and waiting and waiting.

November – last month, one of the guys came back to finish up. That was an exercise in patience, to think this was going to be done in January, and wait 11 months.

I play the game of life with patience, and I know you do to. I know this about people,

• They can’t get rich quick, but you can get rich slowly. You have to have patience to be great.
• They can’t get out of debt overnight, but you can get out of debt no matter your stage or your age. You have to have patience to be great.
• They can’t succeed by dabbling, but you can succeed with mastery. You have to have patience to be great.

Me especially but the staff appreciates all the kind words you’ve sent in this year, they really keep us motivated.

Make sure you’re following me on Instagram and Facebook. We’re sharing the best daily tips, hacks and inspiration for foolproof finances with unbiased advice. They will motivate you. I’m sharing the stuff I learn every day and how it’s changed my life.

 

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