DMD 005: Let Others Do The Talking
Social proof is undeniably the best way to convince anyone to do something. Take a listen to Tony and Amanda sharing their results from doing their money differently.
Issue #5
We all see plenty of ads on TV and social media for products or services showing us that if you buy their product or service you will see a positive result or that your life will be made easier after you buy. And nothing is more powerful than those before and after photos of someone who went on a new diet or exercise program.
Here’s what we’re covering:
Social proof of DMD - Tony and Amanda. Out of thousands of people that we have been honored to help, here are two quick testimonials that showcase how they have been positively impacted by the financial concepts that we teach inside of YMU and DMD.
The markets - stocks and crypto
My stock and crypto investment portfolio and updates
Popular Q&A - a new mindset to create a budget you actually like
Tony’s Social Proof
Here is Tony’s story of the positive impact of what we call “The Money System" (the 5 steps to financial success that is taught inside of DMD).
Amanda’s Social Proof
I met Amanda in Savannah, Georgia over a year ago when I was doing a financial success training for Center Parc credit union. She was 27 at the time and agreed to share in studio her story of impact.
The markets - stocks and crypto
The S&P 500 (where most of the stocks in your ETF’s and mutual funds are located) is up 4.1% through Feb. 17, 2025.
Chinese related stocks like Alibaba (BABA) - the Amazon of China - rose significantly last week due to excitement over AI related developments.
AirBnB (ABNB) stock soared after reporting strong quarterly earnings and stating that bookings continue to grow.
Bitcoin trades around $96,000 with it’s all time high (ATH) at $109,000.
Top alt coins Ethereum, Solana, XRP and Chainlink trade at $2,738, $178, $2.62 and $19.14 respectively with the total crypto market cap at $3.3 trillion - about $600 billion shy of an ATH.
My investment portfolio (stocks and crypto)
Below, I share my personal investment accounts of stocks and crypto and any sales or buys I make each week (if any) with you, and my reasons for those decisions. I automatically invest weekly or monthly into my Roth IRA and SEP-IRA and one of my personal investment accounts. I also list what investment brokerages/companies I use.
Stock Portfolio
ROTH IRA (held with T. Rowe Price)
Science & Technology mutual fund (PRSCX)
Growth Stock ETF (TGRW)
Money Market (cash)
I bought Robinhood (HOOD) stock last week at $53 ahead of quarterly earnings reported on Feb. 12. I simply like what this company is doing to become a top brokerage and asset manager over the next 10+years. The Great Wealth Transfer (Baby boomers to younger generations) is expected to see as much as $50 trillion passed down. HOOD stands to benefit from a portion of these assets to be managed and their mobile app is the most intuitive and easy for trading and transfers. Not to mention HOOD’s ongoing moves to offer and manage more digital assets (crypto) - which younger generations are more comfortable with.
SEP-IRA (held with the Acorns saving and investing app) - this is my “401(k)” because I’m self-employed
Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO)
iShares Core S&P Mid-Cap ETF (IJH)
iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF (IJR)
iShares Core Total International Stock ETF (IXUS)
iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF (AGG)
Personal investment accounts (Acorns, Robinhood & E*Trade)
Moderately aggressive portfolio (mix of stock and bond ETFs) inside my Acorns account along with individual stocks of Tesla (TSLA), Nvidia (NVDA), Stryker (SYK), Adobe (ADBE) and Visa (V). This is another long term investment account and I do not trade in this account because it does not allow you to (which is a good thing).
MARA Holdings, VXX and Money Market (cash) inside my E*Trade account. Another long term investment account and I do not trade very often in this account.
Basic tenet of investing in stocks - when you automatically invest weekly or monthly into solid growth stock ETF’s and mutual funds you don’t have to worry about the ups and downs of the stock market. Time, based on historical evidence, does the heavy lifting of wealth creation for you. Stocks are one of your foundational investments to winning the money game.
Young Money University (owner of DMD) has an exciting partnership that gives anyone a $40 bonus just for opening up their first Acorns investment account (as long as you set up at least a $5 weekly or monthly recurring investment). I have two Acorns investment accounts (Acorns Invest -personal and Acorns Later - my SEP-IRA) so I am certainly walking the talk. Here’s the link to get started - $40 Acorns Bonus
Crypto Portfolio
No new buys or sells of my crypto this week. Still waiting patiently on how the current administration may bring transparent regulation to the crypto market and any updates on potentially creating a Bitcoin reserve.
Bitcoin (BTC)
Chainlink (LINK)
Ripple (XRP)
Ondo Finance (ONDO)
Internet Computer Protocol (ICP)
Immutable (IMX)
Render (RNDR)
Parsiq (PRQ)
Basic tenet of investing in crypto. Crypto is high risk/high reward asymmetric investing which means you can risk a small amount of money ($500 - $1000) for the potential of higher outpaced gains than traditional investing in stocks. Taking the time to research and investigate new blockchain tech related projects/organizations that are being used for legit long term use cases and value for the world we live in.
Crypto is no different then if you invest into little known publicly traded stocks that are trading below $10 per share that you have conviction in. Knowing ahead of time, however, that you could lose your entire investment.
Popular Q&A
Question: “I suck at budgeting my money. I will stick to a budget for a few months and then I’m back to my old habits of spending money on a whim. Which leads to more frustration and feelings of not getting ahead. What do you recommend?
Answer: Get a strong WHY
Part 1: Take hold that traditional financial education in America is terrible so setting up a “budget” in the traditional sense will likely not help you with your ongoing frustration. What is left out of most financial education is the non-money stuff that moves our mind and heart to fight fiercely for something you desire. Thus you will then change your behavior.
Take a day or two to write down why you ultimately want to be financially successful. Maybe it’s:
I don’t want to experience financial stress for the rest of my life
I want to provide well for my current or future family
I want to travel more often with my family and friends
I want to start a business
I want to help others who are truly in need and give to organizations who are impacting the lives of others.
I want to be able to spend money more freely because I have it
your list could have 5, 10 or 20 + things on it. Just make that WHY list from the biggest to the smallest things you want your life to look like in 5, 10, 25+ years.
Part 2: Create your new zero based monthly cash flow plan (budget) which means if your monthly net income is $4,000/month then you will tell each dollar of that $4,000 income where it will go before the start of each month.
Fixed expenses include rent/mortgage, utilities (electric, water, trash), car payment, car insurance, cell phone, subscriptions/memberships you can’t live without like gym, Netflix, medications, etc.
What you value expenses include clothes/shoes savings account, travel savings account, new car savings account, car repair savings account, giving savings account, house down payment savings account, etc.
Investment accounts (that don’t include any employer 401(k) or 403(b) plan) such as Roth IRA monthly contributions and personal investment account.
Part 3: As you make more money at your current job or begin taking on a side hustle to earn extra cash, plug and play more money into your named savings accounts, create new ones that line up with your life and increase your weekly or monthly automatic investments.
Summary: Your new STRONG WHY will move you to take action to set up automatic saving and investing and/or move you to get a new job or side hustle to increase your income. A feeling of more financial control will come your way and you will have a real reason to change behavior and chase your WHY.
Remember, you have what it takes to do money differently!
Todd