Boring Investing Wins: What Every Parent Needs to Know | Robert Rolih

#082. What if the financial industry has been quietly working against you all along? In this episode, Justin sits down with Robert Rolih - international bestselling author of The Million Dollar Decision and long-term investing mentor to clients in over 73 countries — to unpack the hidden forces draining everyday investors' wealth and the refreshingly simple strategies that actually work.

Robert shares his personal story of building a business from the ground up in Slovenia, only to lose most of his profits by blindly trusting financial advisors. That wake-up call sent him on a mission to master personal finance — and what he discovered changed everything.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• Why a seemingly small 1% management fee can cost you over $1 million by retirement
• The only investment products worth your money (and the ones to avoid completely)
• Why the simplest investing strategy outperforms most professionals — including Warren Buffett
• How to build a stress-free, long-term portfolio without following the news
• Robert's practical framework for teaching your kids about money, investing, and delayed gratification
• Why keeping your children off social media might be one of the smartest financial parenting moves you make

Whether you're just starting your investing journey or looking to simplify what you already have, Robert's message is clear: investing doesn't have to be complicated — and the industry's dirty secret is that it never was.

Show notes and more at:

https://moneydadpodcast.com/session082

Transcript

Justin: , [00:00:00] what if the financial industry has been playing a game rigged against you all along? My guest today, Robert Rohley, discovered this the hard way after losing most of his fortune by following advisors and so-called experts. Determined to uncover the truth, he spent years researching the hidden forces that quietly drain investors' wealth.

Justin: Today, as an international best-selling author and long-term investing mentor, Robert helps busy professionals take back control of their financial future with simple strategies that actually work. Robert, welcome to the Money Dad podcast. 

Robert: Yeah. Thank you for inviting me. It's an honor to be here.

Justin: , It's an honor to have you here today. And before we unpack what's broken in the financial system today, I think it's important to, for listeners to understand how you arrived at these conclusions because your insights weren't theoretical, they were actually earned the hard way. , You built a fortune as an entrepreneur a- and then you lost much of it, by following- Yeah

Justin: so-called financial experts. Walk [00:01:00] us through that journey, and what that experience taught you about how the investing game really works. 

Robert: Yeah. I grew up in a backwater village in Slovenia. This is a tiny country near Italy and Austria, and at that time, it was still a part of the communist bloc.

Robert: My parents were blue-collar workers, and money was always in, , short supply, of course. , I can still remember my father. He was a very tough guy with this Jimi Hendrix hairstyle. , He was always saying, "Robert, we don't have any money. We cannot afford it." And, uh,, that was the story of my childhood. And then when I was a stud- a student, , I started my own business from scratch, and, , after five years of hard work, my company started to produce quite a lot of profits.

Robert: , At that time, I was completely financially illiterate, but I knew that I should invest part of the money that I'm making. Uh, so I trusted financial advisors [00:02:00] and investing gurus. And after years and years and years of giving them my business profits, uh, my wife Sarah said, uh, "Robert, I know that you trust these guys, but let's maybe check where we stand."

Robert: So I asked for all the reports, and when the envelopes arrived, it was like, what? Are there some zeros missing? Uh, money I worked hard was mostly, uh, gone, and that was the- start of the darkest period of my life because I, uh, became totally depressed. I lost my motivation to work. , It was really a dark, dark, dark period for me.

Robert: Uh, but at that time I was very lucky. Uh, I was working with, , Brian Tracy, the famous, uh, author and public speaker. Uh, we invited him to my country as a speaker, uh, three times. And, , we already had, uh, signed an agreement for his third [00:03:00] appearance, , at, one of our seminars. And, uh, after this seminar, , I asked him, uh, if we can go to dinner together because I have all these problems.

Robert: At this dinner, Brian Tracy said something, uh, that, , totally changed my life, and it may as well change many other lives. He said, "Robert, it doesn't matter how much you earn. All that matters is if you have the skills to manage your money and to invest it." And at that moment I realized I don't have these skills.

Robert: I blindly trust the financial advisors. So I made perhaps the most important decision of my life. I will become one of the most financially literate people in this world, no matter what. So that was the start of my journey, where I became financially literate. , I learned, , a lot of stuff about, , financial industry, what is going on behind the scenes, [00:04:00] and so on.

Robert: And that is, um... That also led me to start, uh, my current business, where I teach people about, , personal finance and investing. , I help them avoid all these, uh, traps, uh, that the Wall Street has set up, , in this investing world. Yeah. 

Justin: Thanks for sharing that. I mean, that, that sounds like, , opening those envelopes and, and looking at your hard-earned, uh- Yeah.

Justin: It was really- ... fortune gone. And- Unbelievable. Yeah ... and that can be shocking and unbelievable and, you know, and you mentioned that, you know, that was one of the darkest periods of your life. Yeah. Y- you know, but the good thing is that you took, You used that, you turned that into a positive, right?

Justin: - Yeah, 

Robert: that's the important message, you know, for everyone, , if something bad happens to you in your life, , you can always, , turn it around and, , and make something good out of it. , Whenever you have a problem in your life, , think about, you know, h- what, what can I do to, to make it, uh, to make something positive out of it?

Robert: To learn something out of it. [00:05:00] To maybe start, um, uh, going into an- another direction, uh, um, yeah, m- moving forward, or something like this, you know. So this is a, a, a big, big, big, , learning, , point here. 

Justin: Looking back, what, what beliefs about money or investing were the most dangerous for you at that stage in life?

Robert: Yeah, good question. , My core belief was that it's too complicated for me, that I'm a business owner and, uh, I need professionals, , who will help me to manage my money and to invest it. And that, that was one of the, , this is, I believe, one of the most, , dangerous beliefs that you can have, , when it comes to investing and personal finance.

Robert: Why? Because, , I learned that, , f- their interests, or Wall Street interests, , are not aligned with our interests, because they may, they, they, they basically want to, , take as much money out of our pockets as [00:06:00] possible, and we want to have g- great returns, and this is not compatible. , And this is a, a big, big, big issue in the financial world, in the investing world, that, , our interests, , are not aligned with, , interests so that most financial advisors and, uh, brokers have.

Justin: - Yeah, you talk about that misalignment of interest. I mean, a lot of times, , a lot of those so-called financial advisors, experts, they get paid based on assets under management. So it doesn't matter how you- Yeah ... you know, how your- Perform, yeah ... how you perform How, how your, how your portfolio 

Robert: performs.

Robert: They're gonna get paid. They make money anyway. Exactly. 

Justin: , You talked about, and the other thing you talked about was really, you're right, the fundamental belief is that, you know, you need professionals for- Mm ... to manage your money, which is, which is not correct, right? Which is in- incorrect.

Justin: Yeah. It's, it's a dangerous belief. , No one's gonna care more about, about your money than y- than you. Than you. Uh, exactly. Yeah. And so, you know, you talked about, , learning and making yourself [00:07:00] financially literate and, and studying and, and-... How would you describe, you know, what are those dark forces of Wall Street?

Justin: What are, what are those forces and, and why, why do you think the system is designed in such a way to work against everyday investors? 

Robert: Yeah, that's a good question. , Six dark forces of investing. I think that the most, uh, important, uh, force to understand is w- something that I call the commission camouflage effect.

Robert: Um, it's, , where small annual fees like 1% or 2% that seem harmless, , over time, they eat away a massive portion of your returns. , Sometimes they cut your retirement fund in half. And the industry knows this, but they rarely talk about it, and this is one of the most, uh, important forces that you need to understand.

Robert: , I can give you an example of what, , for example 1% management fee does to your portfolio if, , we have some... a couple of minutes. 

Justin: [00:08:00] Absolutely. 

Robert: . , If you pay a small 1% management fee to your financial advisor or fund, it may sound very small, but, , it's not just the fee that you lose. You also lose all the growth that money could have made for you over time.

Robert: Let's look at an example. If your portfolio is now worth, let's say, $100,000, okay? A 1% fee means that you pay 1,000 in the first year. Now, that 1,000 is not only gone, but it's no longer growing for you. So if the market grows, for example, 8% per year, that 1,000 could have turned into more than 10,000 over 30 years, and that's just from one year of fees.

Robert: So if you account for all these fees over a 30-year span, the total cost is over 120,000 in lost growth, and that's more than your current portfolio value. , [00:09:00] So a 1% fee doesn't really cost 1,000 a year. It can cost you financial freedom or delay your retirement by three to 10 years. And that's the key message about the small fees.

Robert: Small fees are, , a devil in disguise. , Over time, over a, a longer period of time, they really grow a lot, and that's something that we need to understand. . 

Robert: , That's also the reason why, uh, my, the,, the title of my book is The, The Million Dollar Decision. Mm-hmm. Because even a regular investor, , somebody investing, like, I don't know, 3,000 or 5,000 or 10,000 per year, , can lose, , more than $1 million, , by the time they retire.

Robert: Yeah. And that's, that's terrible, you know? 

Justin: , So there's a lot of, a lot of people out there who, , purport themselves to be, , financial advisors, and a lot of time they work for the banks. They work for financial institutions that are designed to, , take your money [00:10:00] from you, , without giving you the full picture of what else you could be investing in.

Justin: , What are the red flags that someone's advisor , or other financial products, , might give off that signal that they might not be aligned with your best interests? 

Robert: Yeah. So the most important thing that you need to check when investing is what is the annual fee you are paying. These are so-called management fees.

Robert: So if, , the fee that you are paying for a certain product, , is, let's say, more than 0.2%, , annually, , this is a lot, okay? Mm-hmm. So, , you should stick, , with products, , that have z- that have less than 0.2% annual fees, and the only, , suitable product, , that fits into this category are ETFs. So, , for example, , stock ETFs, these are basically, , big baskets of stocks.

Robert: So you will invest in, let's say, 500 stocks, , uh, when you invest in a simple S&P 500, , ETF. Mm-hmm. [00:11:00] And, , the, the fee that you are paying, annual fee or management fee, , is, , 0.05% or 0.03% or 0.1%, in this, , range, you know? And, - This is the first thing that, , that, , I, I urge people to check, , when they are investing.

Robert: , And then of course, , you should stay away from, , all, , short-term trading. Short-term trading is, um, uh,, or day trading or swing, swing trading. , Many brokers, , and, , also educators, , they are promoting short-term trading, but this is the game that you cannot win. Mm-hmm. Only a few professionals are winning, , this game, , and it's like, um,, it's very similar to gambling.

Robert: Mm-hmm. , But, , compared to gambling, less people win the game of day trading compared- Right ... to going to casino ... to Las Vegas. Right. So it's, , it's, it's worse than gambling. Yeah. Yeah. ,. 

Robert: Yeah, it's only [00:12:00] brokers and, , people who are educating, , investors about this that are winning.

Robert: , It's in their interest, of course, , that you trade as much as possible, , because every trade brings them additional fees. . 

Justin: For a typical family investing, whether they're investing through pensions, 401Ks, here in Canada they're called registered retirement savings plans, , , other than the fees, what are the other, , factors or invisible leaks hurting their long-term returns?

Robert: Yeah, of course, the choice of, , products, , is, , super important. So for example, uh,, if you, , invest, , in a certain market or certain industry that is not performing well, , this can be a big drag on your returns. , So one of the simplest ways, , how to avoid that is to simply invest in, , in, , the whole market.

Robert: So for example, if you choose a global ETF, uh,, you will automatically be investing [00:13:00] in the most successful companies, , around the world. And most of them are from the U- US of course, because US, , represents, , more than 50% of the global stock market. Um,, And all the, uh,, the most successful companies are from the US.

Robert: , So you need to, you need to be careful that you are not investing in some obscure industries or small countries, uh,, but that you diversify into, uh,, into global stocks or biggest US stocks. Um, this should be a core of your portfolio. And then of course, if you want to play a bit, um, and try to get, , better returns, you can also add maybe for, um, for, for a smaller part of your portfolio, you can add technology stocks or, , biotech or disruptive innovation stocks or something like this, you know.

Robert: Um, or, or a certain industry like pharmacy or something like this. So, uh, but, but the core of the portfolio should be these biggest [00:14:00] global stocks, because they are driving the global growth and, , yeah, it's, it's automatic, it's passive. You don't need to think about it. . 

Justin: , You definitely need to be exposed to The US markets because it is one of the biggest, , and best markets, uh, out there. And 

Robert: they are the most aggressive entrepreneurs there, so, um, the most innova- innovative companies are from The US, so you cannot, you cannot avoid US. 

Justin: , If you could fix, , just one behavior that causes investors to sabotage themselves, what would it be?

Robert: . Maybe don't overcomplicate things. 

Robert: Many people are trying to invest in 15 different products, and, , they don't even understand them. They don't even know, , what these products, um, invest into. , They don't know the background. So just try to keep it simple. Try to keep it simple, because the simplest strategies work the best when [00:15:00] it comes to investing, and also in business and in other areas of life.

Robert: In life- The simplest things- in general ... are the most effective. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, in general. For sure. Yeah. Um- That- So for example, my wife, she's only investing in two ETFs, in two stock ETFs. One is a global, , ETF that covers the biggest, , companies, , from around the world, and the second one is technology ETF, and that's it, you know?

Robert: Mm. She doesn't need anything else. And she's outperforming, like, 95% of investors out there. Right. Uh, she's outperforming Al- also Warren Buffett. Yeah. Because Warren Buffett, War- Warren Buffett, of course, is, , is quite old. Now he also, it's, , he's also, also almost, , retired. Um, and, , you know, when, when you are, , old, you become very, very conservative with your investments.

Robert: So that is why, um, Warren Buffett never invested heavily in technology companies. , And of course, the, the technology companies, um, had the best returns if we, if we take a look at the last decades. [00:16:00] So yeah, it's, it was not hard to, uh, to outperform Warren Buffett in the last decades. You just simply invested in a couple of, uh, ETFs, like my wife, and - Yeah

Robert: you outperformed Warren Buffett. Yeah. Well, 

Justin: that's a good, that's a good, uh, good title to have. And I think a lot of times, , as you get older in life, you tend to become more risk-averse, and you're thinking more about capital preservation as opposed to growth. Yeah. And when you 

Robert: are, when you are young, you are, you are- Yeah

Robert: you, you, you take too much risk. Uh, so, , , if, uh, I, I could send a message to my younger self, it would be, , be more conservative. Be, be more careful, you know? Yeah. Uh, because I was, , of course, when I started, , my, my investing career, um, and I didn't know all the stuff that I'm know- that I know now, , of course, I was too aggressive.

Robert: I also went into short-term trading, Forex trading, all, all these crazy things where I lost a lot of money. Yeah. So yeah, yeah, I was too aggressive, definitely. 

Justin: Well, those lessons early on, of, of course, have [00:17:00] helped, um, I'm sure have helped you now in, in later in life. Yeah. Many, many of my audience are parents juggling careers, kids, life.

Justin: What, what does stress-free weal- wealth building actually look like for busy professionals? 

Robert: Yeah. Um, when it comes to investing, . one of the most, um, common things is that, , when you are investing, you try to follow the news. You try to, , get in and out of the markets, and so on. But it's best if you just, , ignore the news.

Robert: Mm. Because all this news is just noise. , , , you should have this long-term mindset, and you should ignore everything that is going on in the world, , and in the investing world, , especially the financial n- uh, financial news, , financial media. Because, , they will just, , make you sell at the worst possible time.

Robert: Let me give you an example here. Um, I also [00:18:00] invest a bit in Bitcoin. Mm-hmm. Uh, now I'm out of Bitcoin, but, uh, I, I, uh, I invested in the past. Now I think that Bitcoin is in a, a bear market, and that is why I exited, uh, with a very nice profit. And now I'm waiting for new opportunities. But the, the, the, the best opportunity to invest in Bitcoin, , was when, , everybody hated Bitcoin.

Robert: Mm. , This was in, um, , in 2021. Bitcoin went to 66,000. And then it fell in one year, it fell to 16,000. Mm-hmm. That's a 77% drop. And at that time, Jim Cramer on CNBC, a very famous, , TV host, was, , saying, "Get out of crypto. Get out of Bitcoin while you can." Yeah. Uh,, So he said Bitcoin is going to zero, and so on.

Robert: And at that time, uh, I, uh, I started to heavily invest in Bitcoin at 16,000. , So, um, I also sent an email, , to, to my members, to my clients, you know, , [00:19:00] saying, , "Jim Cramer said this, I'm doing the opposite." So, , if you, if you listen to mainstream media, , you are doing it wrong. , You are making the, the worst possible decisions.

Robert: And, , when everybody, when all, when, when the media was like, "Bitcoin is dead," we were investing, and then Bitcoin went from 16,000 to 126,000. That's, , like seven- 700%, um- Yeah ... , up move. And, , yeah, and we, , we went out of Bitcoin. We sold Bitcoin when it was at 120, 106, and, , something, , and also we sold, , the rema- the remainder, , when it was 96.

Robert: So we had, , huge profits with Bitcoin. But you need to understand, you know, that, um, when media tells you, when all the media is telling you, , that something is dead, it's probably the best time to invest. Of course, it needs to be a good asset class. It needs to- Yeah ... have a long-term perspective. Uh,, But Bitcoin fits this, you know.

Robert: It does. Bitcoin is, , digital gold. It is a new [00:20:00] gold for, for new generations. , It's a store of value asset, , but, um, , it has a bright future. , It's very volatile, , but it's, very young, you know. Compared to gold, gold has been around for thousands of years. Bitcoin has been around for 15 years.

Robert: Yeah. So it's behaving like a teenager. Yeah. Yeah. Um, and, and gold, gold is behaving like an old gentleman, you know. Slowly, steadily going up, , with long periods of s- uh, sideways moves, you know. So but this is the, the, the nature of the beast. 

Justin: Well, gold was one of the, uh, one of the, one of the standout, , performing a- outperforming asset classes in 2025 and, and has reentered the conversation today, , for many families.

Justin: How should parents start thinking about allocating, whether it's to gold, whether it's to Bitcoin, whether it's to, to stocks? How should they think about allocating to those different asset classes within their portfolio without overcomplicating it and keeping it simple? 

Robert: [00:21:00] So, , if you are saving or if you are investing for your kids, um, or if, , your kids want to invest, , their, , their, um, savings, , what my kids are doing, , we are allocating, , like 80%, 70 to 80 percent to, into a world, a global, , ETF, stock ETF.

Robert: Okay. Mm-hmm. So the, the, the biggest part of the portfolio should be stock ETF, um, so global stock ETF. And maybe you pu- you can, you can put, , I, I'm putting, like, 20%, , into Bitcoin regularly- Okay ... for kids. Yeah. Um, simple and easy. So you are exposed to, uh, the stock market that is performing well, uh, all the time, and it will probably continue to perform well, , unless, , aliens invade or,

Robert: or the, there is the world, the end of the world or something like this. That's right. Um, stocks will perform well in all the other, , scenarios. , And Bitcoin [00:22:00] is also, um, like I said, new, new gold, uh, digital gold, a very young asset class but with huge potential. So we are basically doing a mix of that.

Robert: But, , what I, what I'm doing with my kids, I have two kids. Yeah. , Both boys. , They are teenagers now. Same with me 

Justin: Oh, okay. 

Robert: Yeah. Um, , when, when we are driving, , in, in my car because I'm, I'm taking them to school every day. Yeah. , We are, not every day, but we are, we are, , listening to, , different videos on YouTube.

Robert: Um, when I'm, when I'm using You- YouTube and I see a very good video that would- Mm ... , that would be good for, for my kids, I download it, , and then we play it in, , in, , in the, in the car. Mm. , So, , I'm teaching them about business, , about, , psychology, about, , selling, about negotiating, about, um, marketing, , and of course about money and investing.

Robert: So, , I try to get, , I try to download these, , short videos, like five-minute videos, 10-minute video- [00:23:00] videos at most. Yeah. , Because, , I don't want to, um, let's say overburden them. Yeah. , But you know, every day one short video. And, um, and then I, th- then we talk about it a, a bit, and that's, that's a very good way how to educate your children about a specific topic because, , nowadays we have all these free videos on YouTube- Yeah

Robert: that you can watch. It's amazing. You know, we, we never had something like this, , in, in the hi- in the history of humankind. , So it's easier than ever to, , to learn stuff. , We have ChatGPT. Yeah. , So, uh, you know, e- every question that you have, just ask ChatGPT, Yeah. You know? So it's, it's easier than ever to learn stuff.

Justin: Well, that, that's a great way and method you're talking about there, where you're, you are sharing, um, you know, relevant videos that you think are important, , with your kids, and then you are talking about them- Yeah ... and, and helping them- Yeah ... understand and learn whether, you know, whatever the topic is.

Justin: Yeah. [00:24:00] And you're right, it's, it's n- in, you know, in today's day and age, it's not a shortage of information. There's so much information out there. Yeah. So much great content, much of it free. So there's really no excuse to, um, to being able to get... The challenge is really trying to- Yeah, instead of watching-

Justin: wade through that information and curate it to get, you know, the, the right information, uh, for you, if that makes sense. Yeah, instead 

Robert: of watching N- Netflix all the time or- Yeah ... or, , using social media, , spend some of the time to learn something, you know. And this can quickly, um, this can quickly, , affect your life in a, in a very, very positive way.

Robert: , Because everything that I did in business, , was because I was learning a lot. I was reading books. , At that time, internet was, , very still young, so there were, there was not a lot of information on internet, , when I was, um, building my business. , But I read a lot of books. , I, um, attended quite a lot of seminars, , workshops, and, [00:25:00] um, because I did that, I learned how to, , be successful in business.

Robert: Uh, so yeah, if you, if you want to succeed in a certain area, , of course you need to learn. Yeah. 

Justin: You need to learn. Yeah, and the best way, I mean, one of the, the best ways that I find I learn with my kids is we read, we read together. So we'll read- Yeah. Mm-hmm ... a book on Bitcoin, on other topics to help- Yeah

Justin: and, and have that make, make that a conversation piece that we can talk about things, um- Mm-hmm ... concepts within that, uh, within that subject. Uh, and that's a great way just to make sure that you, um, you know, you have those open conversations, and they can ask questions, and, and you can learn together.

Justin: Well, one of the hardest lessons for adults, let alone kids, is patience. How can parents- Yeah ... practically teach children the power of long-term thinking, of compounding, you know, have that long-term mindset? 

Robert: Yeah, that's especially tough in this a- day and age because everything is instant. [00:26:00] Um, if you go to social media, there is, you know, 100 pieces of content per minute.

Robert: Mm-hmm. , So it's, yeah, it's, it's very difficult. It's much more difficult to, , to, , to be patient than it was, , in the past. So that's a big challenge. That's a big challenge. , One thing that we are doing with our kids is that they still don't have social media. , They still have, , these old phones- , that are not smartphones.

Robert: Oh, that's great They don't have screen. Yeah. , The... My kids are 11 and 14, but they still have the phones, , like all... These old Nokias, you know- Old school. Oh, yeah ... from 2005. Oh, yeah The old school. I remember those. Yes. Um, they can, they can only, they can only text and call, and that's it, you know? Yeah. , And, um, they are fine with it.

Robert: They are fine with it because we explained, , the effect of social media on their brain. We ex- we, , explained, , how this, um, , how this world can really make you unhappy and, , not satisfied with yourself- Yeah ... um, because you are [00:27:00] only seeing, you know, great supermodels, rich people, and so on. Yeah. But in reality, it's not like this, you know?

Robert: So, , I think that one of the, one of the most, , i- important things that you can do for your kids is to, is to talk, , to, , with them a- about the effect of social media. , There are a couple of great movies about that. Um, I don't remember the, the, the title right now, but there are, uh... I think that there, there is also a documentary on, on Netflix, uh, that is talking about, , this Facebook, , addiction, stuff like this.

Robert: So yeah, there is a lot of information about that. Yeah. Um, and, , yeah, talk, , talk about that with your kids. And, , my kids are perfectly fine with, , using, , these old phones. ... For now, they don't have a need to, , to scroll all the time Yeah ... on Facebook, and so on. And I, I, I hope that they, they will continue to do so to, to, to stay away from social media for, , for as, as long as possible.

Robert: Okay, at one point in time, of course, you need to, , be on Facebook [00:28:00] and so on. Especially if you are in business, , you need to, , learn how to use this media, , for marketing and selling, and so on. But, - Yeah ... , when you are a kid, try to stay away from, from this, , for as long as possible. 

Justin: ... Social media can be quite damaging for young children- Yeah ... um, especially given that they just... Their minds are not developed and fully formed in order to be able to- Yeah, yeah ... offset the negative impacts of that addictive behavior- Yeah ... right, of continuing scrolling, seeing- Yeah ... and having perceptions- And one, one, one, one-

Justin: of how the world is 

Robert: Yeah. And one trick that I learned, um, , on your, on your phone, um, if you want to, , decrease the number of minutes that you are on social media, remove, , Facebook, , LinkedIn, X, , icons from the home screen. Right. Yeah. Because you will... When, when you open your phone, you... The, , you, you will not, , automatically be clicking on that.

Robert: So first thing, you can remove that. And the second thing is that you, , that you, , that you make your [00:29:00] screen, um, grayscale. , Not a color, but grayscale. , You can u- you can use ChatGPT and ask how can you do that on your phone. But this is very effective, and it will automatically decrease the use of your phone.

Robert: So that, th- these kind of tricks - Yeah ... can really help you a lot, you know. Yeah. , Also for, you know, for, for adults, not for children. Is n- yeah, exactly. Yeah. I remember 

Justin: there, th- uh, I was gonna say there, for adults as well because there was a period of time where- Yeah ... I felt like I was spending too much time on Instagram.

Justin: So what I did was I actually, um, , deleted the app. I mean, I deleted the app from my phone, so I couldn't use it on my phone. Yeah. And then there's, there was a time where I thought, "Okay, for Facebook, I actually just change the password," and I don't even know what the password is, so I can't- ... get back in.

Justin: Yeah. Yeah, yeah. . 

Justin: Uh,, I wanted to switch gears and talk about, so your book.

Justin: You wrote this book- Mm-hmm ... The Million Dollar Decision: Get Out of the Rigged Game of Investing, Add a Million to Your Net Worth. What would you, um, say are some of the main takeaways that you want people to [00:30:00] walk away with after reading your book? Mm. 

Robert: Yeah, so the most important thing is, uh, the, the, uh, the, the, the entire story about, uh, the fees.

Robert: Uh, we already talked about that, so this is, um, maybe the most important part, uh, of the book. Mm-hmm. Um, and then the second thing, , that, um, that is, , super, super important in the book is what I call the financial success formula. , When it comes to financial success, you need to have, , two, , sets of skills.

Robert: The first set of skills is, , how to make money. Mm. And the second set of skills is how to invest money, and you need both. Yeah. With just one set of skills, um, you can still be financial failure. Let me give you an example. , Boris Becker or Mike Tyson- Mm ... , they, , they made a lot of money, , in their boxing or, and tennis careers.

Robert: They were very good at [00:31:00] making money, but, , they both, , went into personal bankruptcy, , later on in their career, , when they finished their careers. Why? Because they were not financially literate. Because they didn't know, , how to invest that money. They didn't understand how to manage that money.

Robert: So they were very good at making money, but terrible at investing and managing their mo- uh,, their money. And, um, this is something, , , that is in this financial success formula. So I, I always teach people how to be aggressive when it comes to, , making money, because there you need to learn a lot of stuff.

Robert: , For example, if you go into business, , you need to take some risks. , So you need to be aggressive when it comes to making money. Uh,, But when it comes to investing, you need to be, , more conservative. You need to be very, , very, very patient. You need to be very, um, very, very, , also, , passive.

Robert: Don't overtrade and, , get in and, , don't get in and out of the markets all the time and so on. , And you need [00:32:00] to be, to be very careful. So, um, these two, , sets of skills, , are super important, and they go hand in hand. You cannot just survive with, , with, , one skill. - Yeah ... for example, if you only have money, , money management and investing skills, but you don't know how to make money- Right

Robert: you will be investing, like, I don't know, , $20 per, per month. , And you will become financially independent in 187 years. So- Yeah, it's a long time. Yeah, you... Yeah, that's a long, long time. , So yeah, you need, you need both skills. You do. You do, absolutely. 

Justin: . One final question before we kinda wrap up here, uh, was, you know, I was gonna ask you, what, what's one, , a piece of advice you would give to yourself, your younger self?

Justin: And I remember, you know, early in the episode you mentioned that, ... to be less aggressive than you were. Don't take, don't take- Don't take- ... so many 

Robert: risks. Yeah. 

Justin: Um, what would you... Any other piece of advice that you would give to your 20-year-old self, knowing what you know now? Yeah, 

Robert: definitely. [00:33:00] Um, go international sooner.

Robert: Uh, I, when, when I started my business, it was a local business. , It was only focused on this small country of Slovenia. And, um, it took me quite a while. So I made some money, but it was not, you know, a lot of money. It was, you know, comfortable living. Um, I could afford a lot of things and so on. , But, , the biggest breakthrough for me came when I went international.

Robert: So right now I have, , clients or members from, , 73 countries, and I also have a lot of members from Canada. , So yeah, it's, , it's a totally different ballgame Yeah. Yeah ... when you, when you, when you have the global market. 

Justin: Right. So go international. Of course. Wise advice. Yeah. Um, so as we wrap up here, where can my community stay in touch with what you're doing, , with what you're up to, or, or pick up a copy of your, of your great book?

Robert: Yeah, so the easiest way, , is to go to my website. It's, , my name and surname .com, so robertrolih.com. , And there [00:34:00] I also, , have an option to register for my masterclass. , It's an online masterclass, it's totally free of charge, , where I teach, , how to invest in the age of artificial intelligence and excessive money printing.

Robert: , So it's for long-term investors who want to g- get great returns in the future. , And I dive deeper into the topics that we, , covered today. , And of course I, , I also cover some additional topics. So that would be the, the best way to learn more about me and, , a- also, you know, about investing, long-term investing.

Robert: Wonderful. And we'll have 

Justin: all of those links in the show notes as well. , So Robert, yeah, I just wanted to thank you so much for, uh, coming on today, sharing your wisdom, sharing your journey, , the path that you took in terms of learning how to become financially literate, , taking ownership and control of your own future, um, to, to avoid some of the mistakes, um, that were made early on.

Justin: Um, thanks for the advice and, uh, you know, about allocating, keeping things simple, , and really helping our kids learn [00:35:00] key, , key skills, , whether that's, you know, how to make money, how to, , invest money, as well as staying off social media, so , to develop that long-term mindset. So thank you so much for, uh,, your time today.

Justin: Anything else that, , we didn't touch on that you want to just cover off before we f- sign off here? 

Robert: Yeah, maybe I can just wrap up with a quote, uh, the, the most famous quote from my book, "Investing is simple. It's the financial industry that works hard to make it complex." Mm-hmm. So just keep everything simple, and you will succeed in investing.

Justin: Wise words. Thank you so much for this, Robert. 

Robert: Yeah, thank you for inviting me.