Success starts with being uncomfortable
Philip Munroe shares his side hustle to full time hustle story and his thoughts on taking risk.
Welcome to issue #015 of DMD.
Need some inspiration to think of a side hustle that could turn into a full time business? South Florida entrepreneur Philip Munroe recently joined the Do Money Differently podcast (Apple Podcasts and Spotify) to share fun, inspiring stories and words of wisdom of why many young people are afraid to take risks. He nails it.
Be sure to listen to the end of the 25 minute interview which encourages you to think of what you already are good at or like to do that could help you make $500 + per month in side hustle income. And who knows - it could lead you to something you never thought possible. Enjoy!
Money Moves
Invest in a taxable brokerage account for medium range goals like buying a house, car, extravagant vacation, or starting a business.
You can do this in less than five minutes through simple investing platforms like Acorns or Betterment. And you don’t have to pick the stocks. Phew!
Your taxable brokerage account can be for 5-10 years or you can keep it for the long term.
Your company sponsored 401(k) or 403(b) plan and Roth IRA are your long term retirement accounts with excellent tax advantages but have limits on how much you are allowed to invest per year. A taxable investment account like Acorns has no annual investment limits.
Markets update (stocks and crypto)
The S&P 500 (where most of the stocks in your ETF’s and mutual funds are located if you have an investment account) is up 0.5% YTD. A big reversal from being down over 10% about 45 days ago.
The Nasdaq (which has a heavy concentration of tech related stocks) is down nearly 2% so far in 2025. Another big reversal from being down almost 20% in early April.
Stock in focus: Walmart- The stock of this global retail giant with over 2 million employees that also operates Sam’s Club and sells groceries, electronics, clothing and more trades at $95 per share is up 47% over the last 12 months and 131% over the last 5 years.
Bitcoin trades at $111,000 and is up 60% over the last 12 months and 1,161% over the last 5 years.
Top alternative cryptocurrencies Ethereum, Solana, XRP and Chainlink trade at $2,631, $178, $2.41 and $16.64 respectively with the total crypto market cap just over 3.6 trillion - about $300 billion from all time high (ATH).
Get Savvy: Liquidity
Definition: Liquidity refers to the ease with which an asset (like stocks in a taxable investment account as noted above) can be converted into cash without affecting its market price. High liquidity indicates an asset can be quickly sold or bought; low liquidity suggests an asset like a house might take longer to sell and potentially at a discount.
Your 401(k) and Roth IRA is not liquid because you will pay a penalty for taking money out before a certain retirement age.
Why it’s important: Understanding liquidity enables you to make good financial planning decisions because some of the things you are looking to purchase - in say 3 years or less - need to be liquid like an emergency fund, high yield savings account or your general named savings accounts that we teach you to have.
Stocks
ROTH IRA (held with Robinhood)
Currently own the following ETF’s: VOO (tracks 500 stocks that make up the S&P 500 index), VTI (total stock market that tracks 4,000 U.S. stocks) and VYM (tracks high dividend paying stocks).
Currently own the following individual stocks as of May 22, 2025: Cava (CAVA), IonQ (IONQ), Celestica (CLS) and IBIT (Bitcoin ETF).
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) and individual stocks of Tesla (TSLA), Nvidia (NVDA), Bitcoin ETF (IBIT), Stryker (SYK), Celestica (CLS), Robinhood (HOOD), Adobe (ADBE) and Visa (V).
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 of the U.S. stock market returns, does the heavy lifting of wealth creation. Stocks are your primary foundational investments to winning the money game.
Over the last 150+ years the U.S. stock market has given investors about a 10.2% annual ROI. Fantastic annual returns that compound into significant wealth over time.
Crypto
Currently own Bitcoin (BTC), Chainlink (LINK) and Star Atlas (ATLAS).
We consider crypto an asymmetric investment opportunity and philosophy whereby you can invest small amounts of money that can possibly lead to high investment returns over time. There is nobody that can argue with crypto returns over the last 10 years in certain blockchain projects like Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, XRP and others. But you always need to be aware that asymmetric investments can always go to zero too.
Until next time, thanks for being a valued subscriber to DMD and choosing the path of financial rebellion to create a better life for you and others.
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Todd