Ep 25 - Money Mindset: How Beliefs Shape Your Financial Future

Your relationship with money isn't just about numbers, it's about mindset. This episode explores how limiting beliefs, fear, and scarcity thinking prevent people from achieving financial freedom, and how shifting to gratitude and abundance can transform your wealth-building journey. Former hedge fund manager Joel Solomon shares unconventional strategies from his bestselling book The Nine Money Rules Millionaires Use, including how your emotions drive every financial decision you make. Whether you're paralyzed by investment anxiety or simply want to align your inner beliefs with your financial goals, this conversation offers practical tools to break free from the mental blocks holding you back.

Episode Highlights:

• How to recognize when fear is driving your financial decisions and simple techniques to shift into intentional money management.
• Why your everyday actions reveal your true money beliefs and how to identify which beliefs are limiting your wealth potential.
• The neuroscience behind gratitude practices and how a simple nightly ritual can rewire your brain for abundance and better financial outcomes.

Filmed and recorded at Studio on the Avenue/LMC Media
Mamaroneck, NY
https://lmcmedia.org/
Produced and Edited by Vekterly
https://www.vekterly.com/

Disclaimer: This podcast is for informational and educational purposes only and should not be considered as financial advice, a recommendation for any specific investment, strategy, or financial decision, or legal advice. By engaging with this material, you acknowledge and agree with its intended purpose. Any examples provided are hypothetical and for illustration purposes only. Neither Rich Leimgruber, the EnRich Your Life Podcast, nor its representatives are advising or suggesting any specific action or decision. Before making any financial, legal, or tax decisions, individuals should consult their own financial advisor, accountant, legal professional, or other qualified professional before making financial decisions. All opinions expressed are those of the host and guests and do not reflect the views of any affiliated financial institutions. The views shared may not be suitable for every individual or situation. Past performance is not indicative of future results, and all investments carry risk. Please note that any strategies discussed may not be suitable for all investors, and the appropriateness of any specific investment or strategy will depend on individual circumstances.

Transcript

EnRich Your Life Podcast – Episode 25 – Money Mindset

[00:00:00] Rich L: Welcome to Enrich Your Life Podcast, your host, Rich Leimgruber. I want to thank LMC Media and Vector Lee Studios who help, produce this podcast. If it wasn't for both of those, we wouldn't be able to do this. So thank you so much. I wanna, welcome our guest, Joel Solomon, a former hedge fund manager turned Prosperity Coach TEDx speaker and author of three bestselling books, including The Nine Money Rules Millionaires Use.

[00:00:27] Joel's mission is to help people overcome limiting beliefs, standing between them and true financial freedom. We'll be talking about connection between mindset, gratitude, and money, and how anyone can create their own money mindset or money miracle, right as you put it. So without further ado, I'm excited to to welcome you, Joel, to the podcast.

[00:00:49] And thanks for joining us and thanks for sharing all the wisdom that you've been able to accumulate. 

[00:00:53] Joel S: Thank you so much for having me, rich. It's, it's really a pleasure and an honor to be here today. 

[00:00:58] Rich L: you know, through the years we both [00:01:00] network a lot, and I've met you on several different occasions, and one of the things that you always mention is that you're working on a new book.

[00:01:07] Right. And you've, you've already published three or four Correct. Different books. so I'm excited to. To share that you just, gave me the signed copy of Nine Money Rules Millionaires use. So we'll be, we'll be exploring some of the things that we've, obviously talked about in that book. But Joel, as a financial advisor, you know, I oftentimes see how emotions can influence people's decisions.

[00:01:29] fear. Scarcity, anxiety, even guilt about doing certain things because they feel they don't deserve it perhaps. Right. And, and it really helps, it really stops people from, from making decisions in life. And so they might hesitate to invest because maybe they've gotten, bad results in the past. They may delay a planning for estate planning because it's an inevitable conversation about what happens when you pass away.

[00:01:57] Or they might hold too much cash because they're just too afraid to [00:02:00] invest it. Right? So, what what happens is their past might be determining what their future is 'cause they're holding onto their past. Right? So, what's fascinating about you and I and what we both do is that we're, we're, we're both trying to help people transform.

[00:02:15] And help them achieve their goals, but we kind of do it a little bit differently. Right? So mine is rooted in, in, in strategy and planning, and yours is more rooted in energy and mindset. So that being said, I wanted to just start off and give you the opportunity. How did, how did you get to where you are today and what brought you here to this podcast to where you are writing all these wonderful books, helping people?

[00:02:39] Overcome what's blocking them from achieving their goals? 

[00:02:43] Joel S: Yes, so I did start my careers, in traditional financial services. I started my career as an actuary, and you may know Oh yeah. Which the difference between an actuary and an accountant. An actuary looks at his feet when he talks to an accountant, looks at your [00:03:00] feet when they talk to you.

[00:03:01] They say an accountant is an actuary with charisma. 

[00:03:05] but I'm not the typical actuary. I did go through all the exams. I am a fellow of the Society of Actuaries, a life insurance actuary, still keep up the through the continued education.

[00:03:14] Rich L: Great. 

[00:03:14] Joel S: And information, so I could still sign the financial statements of an insurance company if they wanted me to. But I went through all the exams, I was doing that job and really not loving. Getting up in the morning and I had a hobby, which was analyzing stocks. And I said to myself in 1992, '93, if I could ever align my hobby and my career, it wouldn't be work.

[00:03:40] It'd be fun, 

[00:03:41] Rich L: right? 

[00:03:42] Joel S: And so I reached out to many actuaries on Wall Street, and I got consensus. Absolute doubt, tons of rejection. Everyone. I said, just stay where you are. You're an actuary. You, you can't come here and, and be a professional money manager. And then I found one guy who gave me [00:04:00] his path. And so I followed it mostly.

[00:04:03] And 15 years later, 2008, I became a professional hedge fund manager. And so timing 

[00:04:10] Rich L: couldn't have been worse. 

[00:04:11] Joel S: Timing couldn't have been worse, right? So, so my goal is. To ensure that my long road can lead to everyone who's listening shortcut. 

[00:04:22] Rich L: Yeah. 

[00:04:22] Joel S: Right. And so I don't want you to have to take 15 years to achieve your dream.

[00:04:27] But yes. In 2008, I became a professional money manager at Citi. the market was down 40% that year. Financial stocks. But that was the year that, you know.

[00:04:37] People really were scared. Yeah. Talking about fear, I had, I had friends calling me up and saying, Joel, should I take my money outta my bank account? 'cause they were literally scared of a run on the bank. 

[00:04:48] Rich L: Yeah. 

[00:04:49] Joel S: And at Citi, the stock cratered from $40 to 96 cents. 

[00:04:55] Rich L: It was down a less than a dollar. Yeah, I remember that.

[00:04:57] Yeah, I do remember that. Yeah. 

[00:04:59] Joel S: The next year was [00:05:00] better, a lot better, and basically won the lottery. and I might actually still be there, but there was a law that was passed that said banks can't own hedge funds, so we were all laid off, which gave me the kick in the butt to actually achieve my true dream, which was to have my own fund.

[00:05:16] Rich L: Great.

[00:05:16] Joel S: So I raised the money. I hired the required service providers, and in June of 2013, I launched Salomon Capital. And again, I might still be doing that except I went to a personal development course few years later and two things happened there that completely changed my life. First, we had a guest speaker speaking for one hour about stocks and stock options, and when he spoke about options in particular, he made it sound.

[00:05:47] Easy. He said, you don't need much time. You don't need much money. This is how the rich get. Rich and options are essentially risk free. And I was sick to my stomach. It was day two of the conference [00:06:00] and people were tapping me on the shoulder, whispering me or Joel, does this make sense? Are options really riskless?

[00:06:05] So I was polite. After he was done, we went out of the auditorium. I said, please don't do this. 

[00:06:11] Rich L: Right. 

[00:06:11] Joel S: He has no idea about any of you individually and most importantly, no idea about your belief that you become rich using stock options. 

[00:06:19] Rich L: Right. So I'm gonna stop you right there. Just so our guests know and our and our listeners know that there are a lot of risks when it comes to options.

[00:06:28] Yes, absolutely. 'cause it's a multiplying effect. 

[00:06:30] Joel S: Yeah, 

[00:06:31] Rich L: it's leverage. You can make money very fast. You can, you can lose it all, lose it all extremely fast. Right. Yeah. So that's, that's one of the things like, I, I get chills when you just said that. How, how could a professional come out and say that to people?

[00:06:42] It was, it's completely a lie, right? 

[00:06:44] Joel S: Yeah, it was. And so that happened, 

[00:06:46] Rich L: okay. 

[00:06:47] Joel S: And then the second thing that happened was we were given a wooden board, two inches stick, and we were told we're gonna break it with our bare hand. Have you done it? 

[00:06:54] Rich L: Nope. 

[00:06:55] Joel S: Well, the exercise was called obstacles are Illusions.

[00:06:59] And on [00:07:00] one side of the board we had our writer, our biggest obstacle. And then on the other side of the board, our ultimate goal, which stumped me for a while. And then it hit me, make everyone in this room financially free. 

[00:07:13] Rich L: Mm. 

[00:07:13] Joel S: Make everyone in this room financially free. And then a few minutes later, I broke the board like everyone else did in that room.

[00:07:19] 200 people. I went home that night, couldn't sleep. First the guy was in my head and I realized if I could ever get up the courage to speak on a stage, because my biggest fear that day was public speaking. Sure. I could teach people the truth about money, not lie to them and be of service. Yeah. And then the second thing going on in my head at 3 34 in the morning was that wooden board staring back at me from across my bedroom.

[00:07:41] Actually half of it make everyone in this room financially free and it hit me at four 30. I jumped outta bed, I quickly got dressed. I was at my office in Midtown Manhattan before the sun rose. I sent an email to my investors telling 'em, I'm giving 'em the money back. I'm shutting down my fund. 

[00:07:56] Rich L: Wow. 

[00:07:56] Joel S: I figured out my true purpose in life.

[00:07:58] Okay. To help [00:08:00] others become financially free to teach 'em the truth about money. 

[00:08:03] Rich L: Yeah. 

[00:08:04] Joel S: And 

[00:08:04] Rich L: there there's a lot of truths. Right. And there's a lot of different strategies and, and you know, I, I think ultimately. The idea of an advisor or somebody like us is that we just have to show people the way and give them the confidence, right.

[00:08:18] Joel S: To actually do it. Well, there's a lot of people. True. And there's a lot of people out there who are not telling people the truth about money. One of the truths is there's hundreds and hundreds, if not thousands of way to become rich. 

[00:08:31] Rich L: Mm-hmm. 

[00:08:32] Joel S: And look outta the 200 people in the room, probably five. Were kind of.

[00:08:37] Become rich using stock options. Then out of the other 195, it could be real estate, it could be crypto, it could be your business, it could be YouTube modernization. I mean, there's almost an infinite number of ways to become rich, right? Sure. And so by telling what I teach is first what's your passion [00:09:00] what are you interested in?

[00:09:01] Because that's where you're gonna mo be much more likely to be making a lot more money, become more prosperous. So first, find your passion, and then you gotta be interested in learning about it, not having somebody force it on you and say, this is the way, 

[00:09:14] Rich L: right. 

[00:09:15] Joel S: If somebody wants to learn something from me, I'll teach them.

[00:09:18] Right? Because they're interested, they come to me. Yeah. Like Raphael came to me in 2019. And he was living in poverty consciousness. He hadn't taken a vacation in 20 years. He was still wearing the same boots for the same three year, the last three years of his life. And he came to me and he said, Joel. I saw what you've done.

[00:09:39] I saw your transition. I wanna learn everything you know about stocks. 'cause I believe that's the way to become rich. I said, I'll do that. But first we need to work on the mindset, 

[00:09:49] Rich L: right? 

[00:09:49] Joel S: Because if you don't have a strong foundation and I teach you stocks, it's gonna crumble. 

[00:09:55] Rich L: Right? 

[00:09:55] Joel S: So the first step is mindset.

[00:09:57] So I, I over, I worked with him on [00:10:00] creating individual individualized affirmations. We used audio files so that he. Knew that he could become rich. Now, he believed he could become rich using stocks to begin with, 

[00:10:11] Rich L: right? 

[00:10:12] Joel S: But we had to work on these poverty conscious actions he was taking. 'cause actions are really good.

[00:10:17] Tell on your beliefs. Sure. So, worked on that. Got him from feeling fear and worry about money to expectation and fun. He expected the money to flow and after spending. Like he really wanted to learn everything I knew. So it took many years. It took two and a half years, right? He got to a point where he was comfortable investing 

[00:10:39] Rich L: Hmm. I mean, so, and, and for our listeners, I think, you know, when, when I explain to somebody who's coming in and speaking to me about being financially stable or what have you, I, I say, you know, there's a cost to it. There's some time to it, and their question is, well, [00:11:00] is what we're paying for the actual financial plan?

[00:11:02] And I say, well, that's, that's the data part of it. Your entire experience and you paying attention to what's going on now is gonna make you make better decisions. . Because I'm asking you a question about, well, let's talk about your cashflow. Never even thought about my cashflow. What should I be thinking of?

[00:11:19] Every time you spend your money, you should be thinking about, is this gonna help me or hurt me? Right. Right. And if you are now having that mindset and mindset suggests that you have the awareness. 

[00:11:29] Joel S: Correct. 

[00:11:30] Rich L: Right. And that's the same thing, like if somebody had to get from point A to point B, they're not gonna get there just by getting in a car and driving.

[00:11:35] First. They gotta think about how do they have to get there? Right. You gotta put the car gear, take my car. Do I have to take a bus? You know? So you gotta figure things out. And that's the same thing with what you know, I guess, you know. Mindful money management is right. Right. What is one Money mindfulness practice that you teach your readers, that have changed how they spend, how they save and, and, and invest?

[00:11:58] Joel S: I think the most [00:12:00] important part of Mindful Money Management is really. Not operating from a place of fear as you started out the conversation. Right. And, and a lot of people are operating from fear. So the first point is to put the, to get away from the emotions of fear and worry and scarcity, the low vibration emotions.

[00:12:23] So when you're operating from mindful money management, your mindfulness, you are. Taking action from a place of expectation. high vibrations, appreciation, gratitude, fun, joy, love, passion, those high vibrations will generate more abundance in your life. So being mindful to me means being aware mm-hmm. Of what your emotions are before you take the action.

[00:12:49] And if you're not feeling those high vibration emotions, if there's some fear or worry involved, then stop. And. Shift [00:13:00] those low vibration emotions, and I have techniques that I teach my clients of how to move out of those low energy fearful feelings to high vibration feelings, which you can then make better decisions from.

[00:13:14] Rich L: Yeah. So that's something very similar to what I do is I say, you know, when I provide strategies or recommendations, one of the expectations you should have of me is an education, right? And that education can help overcome some of those fears. So somebody might say, oh, I've heard, you know, you could lose all your money in the stock market.

[00:13:32] Well, that's not necessarily true. There's ways to mitigate risk and, and when you teach them. Hopefully that will result in, in reducing their fears. And then it takes experience too, right? So you have to be able to try it a little bit and realize maybe I was wrong in those fears. Right? 

[00:13:51] Joel S: Yeah, it's really interesting 'cause I give the example of, first it's what's your belief and are you willing [00:14:00] to be open-minded enough to know that it's a belief and not a truth?

[00:14:04] This, this happened. Once, many years ago, and actually as recently as this past week, where like when I first started coaching people, a woman came to me and said, stock market's risky. I've been keeping my money in cash. There's no way I'm ever gonna invest in the stock market. I've seen what's happened in the past.

[00:14:25] No. And so I said, okay, but. You know that there are examples where people have made a lot of money in the stock market. Are you open to changing that belief? 'cause do you know that that's a limiting belief, 

[00:14:40] Rich L: right? 

[00:14:41] Joel S: And she said, no, no, I'm, I'm, there's no way I'm doing that. And I said, okay. So she was closed-minded.

[00:14:47] Rich L: Yeah. 

[00:14:48] Joel S: I did a workshop this week in Manhattan and had a similar experience with a woman. And you know what she said to me? That's impossible. I said, I have documented results, right?

[00:14:59] [00:15:00] She, she said, no, nobody can do that. Like, Warren Buffin can't do that. Nobody can do that. So I said, are you, do you know, do you believe that that's a limiting belief or an empowering belief? And she's like, no, that's the truth. I'm like, okay, well, so if you are open-minded and willing to change beliefs, then I can help you.

[00:15:20] Rich L: Yeah. 

[00:15:20] Joel S: But if you're closed-minded, not willing to change your beliefs, then I can't help you. And so people fill out a financial freedom survey before they start working with me, and I asked them what their beliefs are in, you know, is this statement true? Is this statement false? So on and so forth. Dozens of statements, and if they're not willing to change a belief, be open-minded, then they're not coachable.

[00:15:47] Rich L: Right. And 

[00:15:48] Joel S: they're not. Well, 

[00:15:48] Rich L: that's the same old phrase, you know, you can lead a horse to the water, you just can't make 'em drink it. 

[00:15:52] Joel S: Right, exactly. Yeah. So look, like we talked about earlier, there are many, many ways to become prosperous, and [00:16:00] if you're not open-minded to. Seeing the possibilities, the infinite possibilities that are out there, then you know, people like us can't help you.

[00:16:09] Rich L: Right? 

[00:16:09] Joel S: And so they have to be willing to say, okay, I realize that this is fearful thinking. I realize that this is a limiting belief and can you help me shift it? Mm-hmm. And then I can help them correct. But look, there's 8 billion people on the planet. There's probably, you know, 7 billion people who need our help and.

[00:16:31] Probably only 70 million who are. Available, open-minded and have, are in that Venn diagram of willing to be helped. So that's still planning. 

[00:16:41] Rich L: So, and sometimes it also takes somebody's experience to say, you know what, I don't wanna ever have to experience it again. So the fear is actually pushing them 

[00:16:48] Joel S: right.

[00:16:48] Rich L: To do something different. Right. Yeah. It 

[00:16:50] Joel S: can be. 

[00:16:50] Rich L: It can be, right. Exactly. So, you know, many people separate financial decisions from the emotional ones. Right. And I always say one of the first things I learned when I became a [00:17:00] financial advisor is. Um, we cannot control our emotions, but we can control how we react to each emotion.

[00:17:07] Right? Yeah. So how do you show those that financial decisions and emotional ones are deeply entwined, and how can our listeners begin to bridge that divide?

[00:17:17] Joel S: Yeah. Like I said earlier, I think it's, it really is related closely because past experiences tend to make you. Feel a certain way about potential future experiences.

[00:17:32] So if 

[00:17:32] Rich L: even though they might not have had a Joel or a Rich to help them with those decisions and get themselves and messed up, 

[00:17:38] Joel S: right? And so. You know what I say is having somebody who is holding your hand, an accountability partner, a coach who's helping you through making decisions in a better way 

[00:17:50] Rich L: mm-hmm.

[00:17:51] Joel S: Can help. And so, yes, I think they're very intertwined. Like so when I was managing money for Citigroup between 2008 and 2012, and [00:18:00] staring at four screens and seeing in 2008. You know, 98% of all those stock tickers going down in, you know, during the Lehman crisis. Yeah. In September of '08. And you know, I, I, like I said, I was investing in financials, so all those 90% of those were crisis.

[00:18:20] Yeah. So 90% of those stocks were, uh, financials. And so I saw. Fear, 

[00:18:28] Rich L: right? 

[00:18:29] Joel S: Right. So in like, it was reflected in the movement of the stocks. And so I have a lot of people in my network who are empaths. They really feel other people's feelings. Like to an extreme. And so I was kind of being that way. 'cause I saw from the stock price movements how much fear and worry there is around the world reflected.

[00:18:52] 'cause there's millions of decisions being made in 600 different stocks. Right? 

[00:18:57] Rich L: Yeah. 

[00:18:57] Joel S: And they're all being reflected in, in those, [00:19:00] in those stock price 

[00:19:00] moves. 

[00:19:00] Rich L: Who's, 

[00:19:01] who's selling, right? Right. Why do some people buy. If they have less fear, why are some people selling on the exact same day with the exact same news?

[00:19:06] Exactly. 

[00:19:07] Joel S: Right. 

[00:19:07] Rich L: Opportunity versus fear. Fear, right, 

[00:19:10] Joel S: exactly. And so, so it's really separating the opportunity from the emotion and saying, okay, look, there is a like, and, and as recently as you know, this week in the stock market, there was some. Big moves with some concerns about some bankrupt com companies, Jamie Diamond, talking about the cockroach.

[00:19:36] You know, you know, usually if there's one credit event, there's multiple credit events. 

[00:19:41] Rich L: Sure. 

[00:19:41] Joel S: And so, or people get scared and they operate based on fear rather than, wait a second. I was actually telling people in my Invest Mart engine, I have a. My, I I've been giving people the results of my five step stock screen the last few months, and so we have a group meeting, so we had a group meeting [00:20:00] yesterday and I, I said, look, this is probably a really great opportunity if you can look out one to two to three years Sure.

[00:20:09] Because when, when these stocks are not moving on fundamentals. They're base, they're moving on fear. Yep. Then as an individual, you can take advantage of that, and I know having been a professional investor at a large corporation, my colleagues and I got tapped a number of times over the four years to sell as the market's going down.

[00:20:33] Rich L: Mm-hmm. 

[00:20:33] Joel S: Because the risk managers seeing more volatility and their. Average risk factor goes up when there's more movement in the stock prices. Mm-hmm. 

[00:20:43] Rich L: Mm-hmm. 

[00:20:44] Joel S: And usually those are, that's the best time to buy for the longer term. But this is happening not just in one bank, but in hundreds of banks. Sure.

[00:20:53] Across the globe, right? Mm-hmm. And so they're all doing, they all have the same measurement systems. 

[00:20:59] Rich L: They all have the [00:21:00] knowledge. But they're seeing people sell, and I was just giving this example to a client yesterday is like, you know when you have good fundamentals, like you said, the, the economy's doing well, things are doing great around, and then all of a sudden the market starts going down because they start to hear noise.

[00:21:15] I call it noise, right? Yeah. That noise is, is usually coming from. From, uh, news stations that want you to continue to listen so they can sell more advertisements. Right, right, right. So they're gonna tell you the worst things 'cause they want you to hold onto your seat and continue to watch them. Right.

[00:21:30] Right. Creating fear and anxiety, then people sell. But that's an opportunity. Markets going down if they're not going down a substantial amount is a healthy thing. 'cause you're giving people an opportunity to get back in. 

[00:21:41] Joel S: Right, 

[00:21:41] Rich L: right. You give them, yeah. In your book, the The Nine Money Rules Millionaires Use, you, you provide a mixture of spiritual tools, practical ideas, and exercises for increasing money flow.

[00:21:53] Was there one rule that surprised even well off readers that you, you wanna share? 

[00:21:58] Joel S: Yes. Uh, [00:22:00] the most controversial of the Nine Money Rules is don't diversify. And so here's the background. When I was. Professionally managing money. Mm-hmm. 2008 to 2016. And now before that I was an analyst, so I saw other portfolio managers and how that went.

[00:22:20] But for those years where I was the portfolio manager, those eight years, each year that I was managing money, I wrote down my top five. Highly convicted, highest belief ideas. And those five ideas each year generated more than a hundred percent of the return of the overall portfolio. Meaning the other 60, 70, 80, 90 stocks, depending on the year, lost me money on average.

[00:22:47] Rich L: Okay. 

[00:22:47] Joel S: And so I was thinking about this. I it a lot of ideas when I jog. I jog pretty much every day and I said, man, this would be an interesting concept to really look into 

[00:22:57] Rich L: explore. Yeah. 

[00:22:59] Joel S: And so I [00:23:00] did, and I found that Charlie Munger, who was the chairman of, of Berkshire Hathaway with Warren Buffet, uh, until he passed away a couple years ago, he said the whole, the secret to successful investing is non diversification.

[00:23:21] If you know nothing, diversify. 

[00:23:23] Rich L: Mm-hmm. 

[00:23:24] Joel S: Warren Buffet himself said. If I had my druthers, I would invest more than 50% of my net worth in one company. And then there's Peter Lynch from the 1990s. He was the portfolio manager of Fidelity Magellan, and had the best return over a 10 year period of any mutual fund manager ever.

[00:23:45] He said for individual investors. The best investment strategy is to have three to 10 stocks. 

[00:23:56] Rich L: Highly convicted, 

[00:23:57] Joel S: highly convicted. Mm-hmm. And so, [00:24:00] and then let's go to modern portfolio theory. Harry Markowitz. So Harry Markowitz. And, and by the way, diversification comes from his theory, which, uh, has a lot of.

[00:24:13] Incorrect assumptions, like humans aren't emotional. Like you gotta make rational decisions. Like risk is defined as the volatility of a stock overall, which why would I care if a stocks has upside volatility? Right? Right. If, if it's going up more than the stock market overall every day, that's considered risky.

[00:24:37] To me, that's not risky. That's value. That's value, right? 

[00:24:39] Rich L: Yeah, absolutely. Right. 

[00:24:39] Joel S: So, so anyway, Harry Markowitz said. Even though everyone's using his theory as the reason to diversify, he said in his theory, in order to maximize returns, minimize the number of stocks you own. 

[00:24:56] That's in his theory.

[00:24:57] But he said also [00:25:00] that if you wanna minimize your risk adjusted return, and again, his risk definition is both upside and downside. Sure. Volatility then. You diversify, 

[00:25:11] Rich L: right? And, and, and the way that I put it is I always try to diversify within timeframes. So money that you need in the next one to three years, you shouldn't be taking any risk on that, right?

[00:25:22] So that should be the cash or liquidity money. Four to seven years you want to have, uh, provide income outpace inflation. Buy some bonds, buy some large cap value, but any money, seven plus years out, that's the money that you can take the risk on because if you look at the S&P 500 over the last hundred years, on average, the S&P pulls back and has a correction.

[00:25:44] Every 7.1 years. Right, right, right. So, so what I, what I explain to clients is the riskier money, that's the money that you're not gonna have to worry about for at least seven years. Right. If it's in a stock and you're down. Right. That was money we had allocated that you weren't gonna need to for Exactly.

[00:25:59] For at [00:26:00] least seven years. So I understand what you were saying, but there also could be diversification when it comes to timeframes. Yes. Not so much diversification within the individual stocks, right? Yeah, yeah. Okay. So that, that's, that was a very, you're right, that is controversial. 'cause everybody always talks different about that.

[00:26:15] So which rule do most people resist and why? 

[00:26:20] Joel S: Well, I think that is the one they most resist. Okay. Um, and again, rule number one is when you believe. And so again, if. You're open to change. If you are open to saying, okay, this is not the truth, and you know, I, I'm willing to change this belief, then it's okay.

[00:26:43] But some people are very hesitant about changing their beliefs and they don't even realize that It's a belief. It's a 

[00:26:50] Rich L: belief. Yeah. We, we, 

[00:26:52] Joel S: right? 

[00:26:52] Rich L: Yeah. 

[00:26:52] Joel S: Yeah. And so this hap 

[00:26:53] Rich L: they think it's fact 

[00:26:54] Joel S: this happened at the workshop. Uh. I, I spoke, I, [00:27:00] I gave a workshop on, uh, in Manhattan this week, and this woman said I, I was giving them the opportunity to come into my Money Miracles membership at a 90% discount for the month.

[00:27:13] Rich L: That's great. 

[00:27:13] Joel S: And she said that the reason why she wasn't signing up is that. People don't buy from people until they've had seven on average connections with that person. And I said, well, is that a limiting belief or an empowering belief? 

[00:27:34] Rich L: No, it's definitely limiting. 

[00:27:35] Joel S: So she said, that's the truth. And I said again, is it limiting you or empowering you as an entrepreneur?

[00:27:42] She's an entrepreneur. As an entrepreneur, could that be limiting you? Possible that the average for you could be different. 

[00:27:52] Rich L: Right. 

[00:27:53] Joel S: And the average for you could be a one touch. 

[00:27:55] Rich L: Mm-hmm. 

[00:27:56] Joel S: And so it's really interesting to [00:28:00] ask yourself what your beliefs are on various topics, on various a like actions are a really good tell on your beliefs.

[00:28:12] Sure. So how are you acting? Like I had one client who came to me with massive poverty consciousness, even though he, he's a financial advisor, he was taught by his dad to get a piece of wood. And put it at the end of the toothpaste tube and roll it forward so you don't miss a drop of toothpaste. And at 55 years old, he's still doing this 45 years later.

[00:28:37] Wow. Even though he's making hundreds of thousands of dollars. 

[00:28:40] Rich L: Yeah. 

[00:28:41] Joel S: Right. And so I said to him it, what is that action saying about a belief? Do you, are you believing that the world's massively abundant? Are you believing that you need to get that last drop? Mm-hmm. Because [00:29:00] there's not enough, 

[00:29:01] Rich L: and I think that comes from the experience, right?

[00:29:03] So I, I, I mean, one of the things that I always explain to clients is that when you come from affluent families, you tend to. Waste a lot of money because you're used to the money. The people who are building careers and working their butts off and trying to do better for themselves always come from a place of like, you know, distress.

[00:29:22] Right? Yeah. Maybe. And I always, I always explain to people that we were a middle class family growing up on Long Island and we had what we had and we weren't complaining about it, but we would always want more. Right. Right, right. And that's what drove me to say, I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna, you know, be. At the point in my life where I can't afford anything.

[00:29:42] Right. Right. And it drove me to change my, uh, my beliefs. It, it, it drove me to change my actions. Right, exactly. To do something differently. Right. 

[00:29:50] Joel S: Yeah. So it's belief, actions, words, thoughts, all of that combined together. 

[00:29:56] Rich L: Yeah. 

[00:29:56] Joel S: And so how you brought up doesn't [00:30:00] mean you have to act that way as an adult.

[00:30:02] Sure. But if you're never coached. Then you're still operating from lack in poverty consciousness, even in your fifties when you don't need to be sure. And that kind of life creates more stress. Even though for probably 90% of the world, he, the guy I'm talking about who I coached, is living the dream life.

[00:30:24] Mm-hmm. Of 90% of the world. He's still operating from lack and poverty consciousness so that he's not enjoying. The life that he has. So he could be operating from a place of gratitude and appreciation, which is rule number five in the nine money rules millionaires use. But he's operating from a place he was operating from a place of worry and fear.

[00:30:47] Rich L: That's great. 

[00:30:48] Joel S: Right, and so you have a choice. 

[00:30:50] Rich L: Yeah. 

[00:30:50] Joel S: You know how you grew up, even if you grew up affluent. There are a lot of affluent people I know who are still operating from a [00:31:00] place of poverty consciousness.

[00:31:02] And, and there are a lot, there are people who grew up with, you know, barely making ends meet, who are now have changed their thinking and their actions so that they're operating from.

[00:31:16] An abundance mindset. 

[00:31:18] Rich L: Great. And so moving on, oftentimes, you know, I have clients come to me and they ask me, how much money do I need to retire? And my answer is always, well, it all really depends. It there's a need that you're gonna need, but there's also the wants, right? And so what I always say is, your needs are probably the similar to what other people's needs are, but the wants are gonna be different.

[00:31:41] So your. Your neighbor, your brother, your, your siblings, your, your children might think that, Hey, this worked for this person and it's gonna work for you. But that's not necessarily the case because everybody's needs and wants are different. Right. So, uh, in your book, infin Infinite Love and Money, you suggest a spiritual [00:32:00] or energetic dimension to wealth.

[00:32:02] How do you define abundance in that context? And why is love a part of that?

[00:32:08] Joel S: Yeah, because, um. I think everything comes from the frequency, right? And so we talked about earlier, if you're operating from this frequency of love, passion, joy, gratitude, appreciation, that's actually the highest vibration. And that frequency is the same frequency as abundance and prosperity.

[00:32:28] Rich L: So that energy 

[00:32:30] bringing, 

[00:32:30] Joel S: yeah, right. You're attracting. More abundance and prosperity into your life. Imagine if you were ecstatic, you know, just full of passion and love and joy, and appreciation, and just completely ecstatic. 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Of course you'd be attracting more abundance and prosperity into your life.

[00:32:50] So it just goes hand in hand. That's why you know, Molly Singh and I co-wrote this book, infinite Love and Money, because we truly believe [00:33:00] that it goes hand in hand, love and abundance, love and prosperity, and she's a relationship coach. Teaching people how to change the mindset, how to come together, you know, to create more loving relationships.

[00:33:12] And as a prosperity coach, I want. The people to have more prosperity, to have more love as well. 

[00:33:20] Rich L: Yeah. That's, and, and you know, when you're saying this, thi this is how I grew up and I wake up every day. I'm a morning person. Um, people tend to not like morning people sometimes, especially if you're not. Um, but I, I, I.

[00:33:35] Appreciate everything I ever have in front of me. I actually recognize that all of my hard work is paying off and I have everything I need. Right. Right. In life. And, and I appreciate that. And I do attract, you know, I do attract more people because I have nothing to hide. Right. And if, if, if you walk into a room and there's somebody who's not wanting to be there, you can tell.

[00:33:57] Joel S: Right. 

[00:33:57] Rich L: Right. If there's somebody in the room that loves what they're [00:34:00] doing and they enjoy it, yeah. You're gonna tell, you're gonna see it from their expressions and everything else. And those are the people that I would want to go talk to. Right, right. I would, I, you know, I don't wanna go talk to the miserable people in the other side of the room.

[00:34:09] Joel S: Exactly. 

[00:34:09] Rich L: Because I don't wanna be miserable. Right. I want be happy and I want to stand around with happy people. 

[00:34:14] Joel S: Exactly. 

[00:34:14] Rich L: And the old saying, if you want to be successful, hang out with successful people. 

[00:34:18] Joel S: Yeah, 

[00:34:18] Rich L: absolutely. That, that's very similar. Right? 

[00:34:20] Joel S: Yeah. 

[00:34:20] Rich L: So. You know, you write, uh, about harmonizing your inner life through gratitude and visualization with your financial goals.

[00:34:27] Can you walk us through one of the visualization or gratitude exercises that you portray in the book?

[00:34:32] Joel S: Yes. So yes, both of those are really, really powerful techniques and what I'll say is for gratitude, as I said just before, it's the highest vibration. Normally what happens is people feel gratitude after something happens.

[00:34:48] Rich L: Okay. 

[00:34:48] Joel S: Right. Yeah. So what about feeling gratitude right now for what you have? So I started this practice in 2012 after I read a book called How to Be Wildly Wealthy Fast by Cindy [00:35:00] Foster, and she recommended writing down three to five things you're grateful for and why. At the end of the day, I would go to sleep before 2012.

[00:35:10] Think about all the things I could have done better that day. Criticizing myself worrying, you know, being that perfectionist. And I tried and, and of course my sleep up until 2012 wasn't really good, but I started doing this practice and. Completely changed my sleep, completely changed my outlook on life.

[00:35:30] Rich L: Yeah. 

[00:35:31] Joel S: And it's a really powerful technique, so I highly recommend who's ever listening to write down three to five things you're grateful for and why Now, professor Seligman at the University of Virginia did this study, I think 25, 30 years ago, where he connected electrodes to brain synapses of his students.

[00:35:53] At the beginning of the 30 days, and then had them write down three things they're grateful for before they go to sleep and why. Mm-hmm. [00:36:00] At the end of the 30 days, he put the electrodes back on the brain to check the synapses, and they had actually expanded in the areas of happiness. So if you're writing down gratitude every day, you are actually expanding your brain.

[00:36:14] The brain is elastic and the synapses are expanding. And how cool is that? 

[00:36:19] Rich L: That's, that's incredible. That's incredible. Well, I think you just answered my last question for you, which was, what was the biggest shift in your own mindset that you've had and how has that changed the way you think about money?

[00:36:28] So that's, that's a big 

[00:36:29] Joel S: one. 

[00:36:29] Rich L: That's great. That's, that's really great. And, and so one of the things that, uh, you know, we wanted to just mention is that you have a new book coming out, right? Yes. 

[00:36:38] Joel S: Yes. 

[00:36:38] Rich L: It's called Your Path to Purpose and Prosperity. 

[00:36:41] Joel S: Yes. So I co-authored it with a purpose coach. Okay. And I truly believe, and as I mentioned earlier, that if you're on purpose, if you're doing your passion, you're gonna be more prosperous.

[00:36:52] Rich L: Mm-hmm. 

[00:36:53] Joel S: And so think about ways you can get to doing [00:37:00] your purpose. And in this book, we have a lot of exercises. It's an interactive book. It's not, you know, you're just reading, 

[00:37:06] Rich L: right. 

[00:37:06] Joel S: But there's exercises throughout the book to be very introspective to see how, how you can get on your path. 

[00:37:12] Rich L: That's 

[00:37:12] Joel S: great.

[00:37:13] And, uh, Jackie, Roberge, who co-authored the book is, uh, she's an expert. Purpose coach, and she's been doing it for many years. So I, I'm excited to have this book come out shortly. When's it coming out? And, uh, good question. Uh, it'll, it'll be in the next few months. Great. In the next few months. 

[00:37:30] Rich L: I'm looking forward to getting it and reading it myself.

[00:37:32] Yeah. I think this is really, really helpful. So, um, do you have a website that, uh, anybody listening can go check out all your, all your work? 

[00:37:39] Joel S: Absolutely. 

[00:37:40] Yeah. So it's salaurmor.com. So my company name is named after my daughter's Lauren and Morgan. So it's essay for my last name.

[00:37:47] LAUR for Lauren, MOR for morgan.com.

[00:37:51] And halfway down the, the homepage, click on the link to sign up for in my calendar. And I'll, I'll work with [00:38:00] you to create a personalized roadmap. 

[00:38:02] Rich L: Thank you very much. Well, that's for the first 20 listeners, so, uh, if you're listening and you're interested in finding out more, uh, we'll put the link to Joel's website, uh, within the, uh, the notes of this program.

[00:38:13] So, uh, Joel, thank you so much Sure. For sharing your insights, your experience with us today. I've learned more than I thought I would actually learn, so that was really good. Um, to our listeners, I hope you're walking away with some new perspective, uh, some hope, uh, some gratitude. Uh, if you wanna learn more, uh, about Joel again, uh, check out the, the, the new show notes.

[00:38:38] And as always, if you're looking for help with anything that we talked about today, I'm also here for you. You can reach out to us at hello@enrichlifepodcast.com. Don't forget to check out our website, enrichlifepodcast.com, as well as on YouTube and all of your podcast channels. And, uh, we look forward to.

[00:38:58] To sharing this [00:39:00] wonderful information with you. Uh, just remember the tagline is always enrich yourself with everyday financial strategies. You just need to find which ones are right for you and your situation. Right. So thank you very much again, and uh, thank you. We look forward to seeing you. 

[00:39:16] Joel S: Thank you, rich.

[00:39:16] Rich L: You're welcome.