Take it to the Bank

How The Wealthy Live

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

Participants: Cordell Thomas

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Series Code: TITTB

Program Code: TITTB000035


00:01 On Take It to the Bank,
00:02 you'll find ways to get out of debt.
00:09 Solve your credit card problems.
00:14 How to make and stick with a budget?
00:19 Simple ways to save...
00:24 buying or selling a home,
00:26 and many more financial matters on Take It to the Bank.
00:31 Hi, my name is Cordell Thomas
00:32 and thank you for joining us on Take It to the Bank.
00:35 I'm excited to talk to you about something specific
00:37 that we had a couple of questions on,
00:40 in reference, there wasn't direct questions
00:42 on how the wealthy live,
00:43 but that's what we're going to talk about
00:45 and how they think.
00:46 But the questions have come in about,
00:48 "How can I think on a more wealthy basis?"
00:50 "How can I think about savings and investing
00:54 and what are some of the things that I should take to heart
00:57 about making these type of decisions?"
00:59 Well, I think there are several things we can talk about,
01:02 and I think there are things that we can make you aware of.
01:06 One of the things that have happened
01:08 over the past several years is this evolution of smartphones
01:12 and what they have brought to the table.
01:14 Now, for every positive thing, there is a negative thing.
01:17 Now, the smartphones has given us an opportunity
01:20 to download apps, to make our life easier,
01:22 and I'm gonna go through some things
01:24 that you can use apps for,
01:25 that will make your life a little easier.
01:27 There is a flip side to that,
01:29 in reference to the things you should be aware of,
01:32 that these smart phones are actually bringing to the table,
01:34 that you should be concerned about
01:37 because they are sharing information and data.
01:39 Remember something,
01:41 business is in business to make money,
01:43 business is in business to do business.
01:46 So a lot of things at play right now,
01:50 in our economy, that is driving the ability
01:55 for corporations, organizations,
01:58 individuals, groups,
01:59 to study each one of our behavior patterns.
02:02 For example, one of the things that are of concern is
02:07 trying to limit government access
02:09 to the private information
02:11 that is pretty much online now in anything that we do.
02:17 There are many different identifiers on your computer,
02:21 and when we take a look at terminology that's being used,
02:24 it's going to be a lot of it coming at you,
02:27 but I think we'll try to make it as simple as possible.
02:29 For example, government wants access
02:32 to a lot of your private data,
02:34 a lot of people want access to your private data,
02:36 that's how people are making a lot of money
02:38 by selling information about how you go on the internet.
02:42 That's how people recognize who you are
02:45 by different cookies.
02:47 We use the name "cookies"
02:49 not because we like to eat them, I do,
02:51 but because they are referencing
02:53 more of a technical term
02:55 of how you are recognized when you go online.
02:58 And based on some of that information,
03:01 when you go to a specific URL, it takes that data,
03:04 based on where you go, what you do, what you see,
03:07 and how you act online,
03:09 and categorizes it, and compiles it,
03:11 and shares it with those agencies,
03:13 so they can make better decisions
03:15 of how to approach you.
03:17 Look, our lives have become very complicated right now.
03:23 You remember the day when you could basically
03:27 send a note to somebody in the mail.
03:32 You send it to them, you write the letter,
03:33 you put a stamp on it,
03:34 and you put it into the mailbox,
03:36 that is delivered to somebody.
03:37 Now you have email, now you have social networks,
03:41 now you have so many different elements
03:43 of where people can access you
03:46 and people are there looking for that information.
03:51 Facial recognition, what is that?
03:54 Have you ever used a social network
03:57 and it captures a picture of an individual
03:59 that you post online?
04:01 It then can capture that face, how that face looks, who it is.
04:06 And you put the name of that person,
04:09 your loved one, your relative, into the system.
04:12 Now that system has the name of an individual
04:16 that can now recognize them anywhere.
04:19 Location devices, in your smart phone,
04:23 we think it's great, and it is a great resource.
04:25 We're getting a lot of wonderful opportunities
04:28 to use technology to keep us safer,
04:31 to keep us knowledgeable of where we're going.
04:34 I use my smartphone
04:36 because I don't have to rent that feature
04:37 through the rental car agency
04:39 and I can know where I'm going, tapping where I want to be,
04:42 and it will lead me to that destination.
04:44 But we talk about this simple thing
04:46 called mail now, email now,
04:50 and it becomes far more complex
04:53 because within e-mail is the context of phishing,
04:58 P-H-I-S-H-I-N-G.
05:01 It's just the same concept
05:02 as if you like to go actual fishing
05:04 and you throw out a rod, a line
05:07 to see if you can capture a fish,
05:10 that's what it is.
05:11 Someone throws out an email to you,
05:14 or gets in connection with you,
05:16 and it looks like a legitimate site
05:18 that you can connect with,
05:19 but all they're trying to do
05:21 is to get your specific information,
05:24 and getting you to click on a link
05:27 that could download a virus
05:28 that can actually track your keystrokes,
05:31 that can track where you go online,
05:33 that can invade your computer.
05:36 One of the major concerns people are having now,
05:38 is when they make the wrong click on something,
05:42 there's an automatic download,
05:44 or now they're finding that their purchasing equipment
05:47 that already have viruses or applications in the system
05:52 and they cannot get rid of them.
05:54 These are real-time issues that people are dealing with
05:58 in reference to technology.
06:00 Technology is,
06:01 yes, making life easier and better for us,
06:04 but technology is also providing a platform
06:07 to collect more information, more data,
06:10 more things about what you do that develops a profile,
06:15 about who you specifically are.
06:17 So now they are beginning
06:18 to develop these demographic categories,
06:21 demographic, a demography is a group of individuals,
06:27 you can group them by psychology, how they think,
06:30 by culture, who they are, by region, by how they buy,
06:34 how much money they make, by what kind of car they own,
06:37 by what kind of house they're in,
06:39 whether or not they're a renter,
06:40 or not they're an owner,
06:42 and the list goes on, and on, and on.
06:44 And now, that can be studied even more so
06:47 by where you go online.
06:49 So if I go somewhere online, now I'm categorized
06:52 that an individual that likes these type of books,
06:54 that like these type of extracurricular activities,
06:57 that likes to go biking,
06:59 that likes to do these type of things,
07:01 and that information becomes an overwhelming type of things
07:05 where you can't even store them on your computer anymore,
07:09 but you have to have this virtual space
07:12 where you can lock up all the information
07:16 that you can't necessarily store on your computer.
07:21 Why is this information for you so important?
07:26 Because it has to do with you as an individual,
07:31 it has to do with you as a demography,
07:33 with you as a target group.
07:35 Why?
07:36 You make a certain amount of money.
07:38 As a middle class American
07:40 or anyone that makes between $30,000 and $80,000 a year,
07:43 they know that you spend what you make,
07:46 they know that you as an individual,
07:49 don't have emergency savings.
07:51 And you are looking for that next great opportunity
07:55 to make a lot of money.
07:57 Things happen where they can promise you fortunes and riches
08:01 and you jump into it without necessarily studying.
08:05 It goes back to that issue
08:07 called the critical think on money,
08:09 always asking that question, asking the next question.
08:12 Why are you targeting me?
08:14 Why are you asking me these questions?
08:16 Why are you asking me to get involved in this type of thing?
08:19 Why are you doing these type of things
08:22 and invading my privacy through the internet,
08:25 through the e-mail,
08:27 through the regular mail system?
08:28 And now you have all of these different resources
08:31 that are coming at you in many different ways,
08:34 and studying your behavior patterns.
08:36 So you're amazed when you're on your social network
08:39 and up pops on the right something that you like to do,
08:41 or something you like to purchase.
08:43 Because they studied it,
08:44 and now they can fine-tune their advertising directly
08:49 to what they would like you to buy from them.
08:52 Again, consuming and doing.
08:55 And so it was appropriate for me
08:57 to begin the process of studying,
09:00 what it is that the wealthy do?
09:03 Now, I categorize the wealthy as an individual
09:06 that spends less than they make,
09:09 which is the top thing that comes out of
09:12 how the wealthy think.
09:15 But we also begin to understand
09:16 that they don't behave the same as we do
09:20 on those social networks.
09:22 They don't do the same type of things
09:25 and, of course, when they do participate
09:29 in some of these networks in online,
09:32 because of their wealth,
09:33 and because they have been categorized,
09:35 they are targeted a whole different way
09:37 than we are targeted.
09:39 They make those different decisions way differently
09:42 than we make decisions.
09:44 Because we are caught up in the lottery mentality.
09:48 They are caught up in more logic
09:51 and the ability to utilize their resources
09:56 to gain access to more money.
09:58 So if you begin to think like the wealthy think,
10:02 it has nothing to do with how much money you make.
10:06 We go back to the issue of studying
10:09 where you're at and where you wanna go.
10:12 If you have debt that you're dealing with,
10:14 try to get rid of that debt.
10:16 Set up a formal process of getting rid of the debt
10:19 and we hear many different, different processes.
10:22 One is, I've heard and I agree with is,
10:25 start with the smallest
10:26 and work up to the largest debt that you have
10:28 and pay those off in sequence.
10:30 Pay the minimal amount you can on the others
10:33 and target one, pay it off.
10:35 And it feels, you feel like you've accomplished something
10:38 and work on the next until you've targeted all of those.
10:41 The other thing I would ask you to use
10:43 are some unique apps online
10:45 that you can actually download on your smartphone,
10:49 that can help you figure out how much debt you have,
10:52 and how quickly you can get it paid off,
10:54 if you can pay off certain amount
10:57 on each one of those debts that you have.
11:00 There are fantastic opportunities
11:02 and it can tell you,
11:03 you're gonna take about three and a half years
11:05 to pay it off.
11:06 But now you have not a resolution,
11:08 not an opportunity, but you have an actual goal,
11:11 and if you follow through, I'm gonna take a step back.
11:14 Wealth is also about developing,
11:16 developing a mindset to become a producer.
11:21 Okay, what is a producer?
11:24 When I say wealthy, producer, it's all the same,
11:27 it's not about business ownership,
11:29 it's about how you manage your money.
11:33 The overall context of what I believe is this.
11:39 A producer is someone that thinks of wealth
11:43 in a different capacity than we do as individuals that,
11:48 that spend what we make.
11:51 There are approximately, in a 2010 study, it said,
11:54 "There's approximately 3.07 million millionaires
11:57 in the United States."
11:59 That's quite a bit.
12:00 And then when you think about it,
12:02 we have the most number of millionaires in this country,
12:07 more than any other country in the world.
12:10 But how did they get there?
12:11 And what did they do to get there?
12:13 So you begin to assume that the United States
12:16 is the country where social economic advancement,
12:19 is better than any other country.
12:22 But when you look at that study,
12:24 we are really not the country where you can move up in wealth
12:29 as easy as other countries.
12:31 In fact, in Canada,
12:33 you're two and a half times more likely to get wealthy
12:36 than in the United States.
12:39 But what is it about those that understand wealth
12:43 versus those that are consumers?
12:46 Well, there is a difference between a consumer,
12:49 someone that goes and buy things
12:51 when they get money to do things
12:52 versus those that produce things.
12:56 Now, let me give you this type of example.
12:59 There are many,
13:01 if you listen to talk shows on Sunday mornings
13:02 or if you listen to different caveats of talk shows,
13:06 where you can hear ex-presidents
13:08 or ex-politicians or politicians talk,
13:10 you'll hear different hints to what that is all about.
13:14 The first thing you think about is
13:17 a tax incentive verse a welfare handout,
13:19 they're both the same thing
13:21 because we are looking at government funds being utilized
13:24 to handout to different agencies.
13:27 It's labeled, again, categorized as a tax incentive,
13:32 if they see that there will be a return on that investment.
13:36 They call it a welfare handout, still a tax incentive,
13:40 to those that are in need of it
13:41 but they know, they know,
13:44 that those that get a welfare handout
13:46 are those that are not going to turn around
13:49 and use those funds to create wealth
13:51 in their own life.
13:53 They're gonna use those funds to buy things,
13:56 and there is a difference between the producer mentality,
14:00 of using funds to produce more funds and create wealth
14:05 versus those that take money and spend
14:08 without managing the money well.
14:11 Now, as we talk about wealth and producer mentality,
14:15 it's very easy to get to that perspective,
14:18 because what it means is that, you become a process
14:21 in the major continuum of GDP.
14:27 What is GDP?
14:28 Gross domestic product.
14:30 What is gross domestic product?
14:31 Basically, gross domestic product
14:33 is the amounts of goods and services
14:36 that United States distributes on a global basis.
14:38 What is that amount?
14:40 $15.09 trillion in 2010 and 2011.
14:44 That's a lot of money.
14:46 We have approximately 990,000
14:49 different products and/or services
14:51 that in the United States we produce on an ongoing basis.
14:55 And a producer mentality is,
14:57 "How do I access to some of that $15.09 trillion?"
15:02 Because when you look at this statistic,
15:05 for an average man of 30 years of age, between,
15:08 I believe it is 1974 and the year 2000,
15:14 his average paycheck actually dropped about 7%.
15:18 An average paycheck of about $40,000 in 1974
15:23 has dropped to about $35,000 a year,
15:26 for a 30-year-old gentleman, over that course of that time.
15:29 But in reference to gross domestic product,
15:33 the difference is astounding.
15:36 Because over the same time frame,
15:38 the gross domestic product,
15:40 GDP of the United States has grown 150%,
15:43 so the producers who are selling
15:45 and or providing services to other individuals
15:48 in other countries has grown 150%
15:51 versus those, in the consuming perspective,
15:55 their amount of income has actually dropped off.
15:58 When you take a look at a minimum wage,
16:01 it's only going up in real value about 21%.
16:04 When you take a look at the cost of living index
16:08 and during the same time frame,
16:10 it's actually gone up about 67%.
16:13 So your cost of living has gone up
16:15 three times the amount of your, the minimum wage,
16:20 from a real value standpoint.
16:22 And these are things to keep in context
16:24 because then it takes you to the realization that,
16:28 "If I really want to become a producer,
16:31 I need to change my mentality
16:33 and change how I approach the value of the dollars
16:36 that I'm given on a monthly basis.
16:38 And if I value that well,
16:40 then I will manage it well by sticking to a budget,
16:43 by developing a budget, by paying off my debt,
16:46 and beginning the process of saving money,
16:48 putting money away, investing those funds
16:51 and making sure you have access to something that you can use
16:55 to acquire assets with."
16:59 What is it like to think like a wealthy individual?
17:02 I've given you a certain hint.
17:04 Start the process now.
17:05 Begin to understand
17:07 what it is in your life you need to give up,
17:09 so you can bring the amount of money
17:11 that you spend on a monthly basis
17:14 under the amount of money that you spend on a monthly basis.
17:18 And when you can understand that, you have won,
17:22 you've taken a leapfrog from where you were in the past,
17:26 so now you have extra funds on a monthly basis
17:30 to do something with.
17:31 Now what are you going to do with those extra funds?
17:34 Are you gonna put it into savings?
17:36 Are you gonna put it into investments?
17:37 Are you gonna put some of that money away
17:40 to start a retirement fund?
17:44 These are all things you should start thinking about,
17:46 and talking to a financial planner,
17:47 so that you can get the right type of advice
17:50 and learn from someone that has managed
17:54 that type of investment and doing things the right way.
17:58 So that's how you start thinking,
18:00 and that's how you start producing,
18:02 but then look for opportunities,
18:03 and I'm gonna share with you something.
18:05 In many different geographies around the United States,
18:07 in different markets,
18:09 if you are able to sit through a six-hour presentation
18:11 on financial literacy on money, you are then able to be,
18:17 you can apply for a free savings match.
18:19 What do I mean?
18:20 If you get involved in the program,
18:22 if you reach your goal of saving $1,000,
18:25 there are some programs that will match your monies,
18:28 two, three, or even four to one.
18:31 I know in the southern California area,
18:33 they have a program wherein if you target saving
18:36 approximately $1,000 or even $2,000 a month,
18:39 you can get a two to one match or a three to one match
18:43 on those funds.
18:44 And so you walk away with after $2,000,
18:46 they will put another $4,000 into your account,
18:50 so you come out with $4,000, with about $6,000.
18:54 That $6,000 isn't given directly to you
18:57 as an individual,
18:58 but is written towards your specific goal,
19:00 your specific objective.
19:02 So if you want to buy a home and you need a down payment,
19:06 you can have access to those funds.
19:08 If you need to pay tuition for school,
19:11 they'll put the funds towards tuition.
19:13 If you want to buy a new car,
19:15 they will put the funds towards that.
19:17 And if you want to start a business,
19:19 they'll take that and put the funds towards
19:21 that actual business that you'd like to start,
19:23 and give you the opportunity
19:25 to become one of those that produce.
19:28 Being a producer is a part of gross domestic product.
19:32 And you can be a part of the solution
19:35 to the problem of consumerism.
19:37 What I would like you to do is take a look at where you're at,
19:41 become that mindset of thinking like the wealthy do,
19:46 and then begin to understand how they think,
19:49 which is what we'll do towards closing of this session.
19:52 There are approximately, there is a story written
19:56 of approximately 21 different things
20:00 that the wealthy do differently.
20:02 And what I've done is try to synthesize
20:04 some of that information
20:05 and then come up with a top ten list
20:07 of what the wealthy do
20:08 and how they think about their...
20:11 How they gain their wealth
20:13 and replicate that process with their wealth gross.
20:17 One of the things they do is,
20:18 they acquire specific knowledge.
20:22 They study certain things.
20:25 They ensure that they understand
20:27 what they're getting into
20:29 and that they make the right type of decision
20:33 by talking to the qualified professionals.
20:36 This is one of the major issues that we begin to see,
20:39 that their mindset is they get the specific knowledge
20:43 about what they're trying to get into,
20:45 and then they study it well, so there's no room for error.
20:50 The wealthy think this way,
20:52 they believe that poverty is the root of all evil.
20:56 I don't believe that. I disagree with that.
20:58 But they believe that poverty is a bad thing
21:02 and they want to gain access to wealth,
21:04 so that they can in turn turnaround
21:06 and help solve some of the problems
21:09 that are out there in society today.
21:11 So you, as you change your mindset
21:13 from being a consumer to one that produces things,
21:17 you now can help resolve specific concerns
21:19 that our ministries may have, limitation of funds,
21:23 limitations and access to certain type of technology.
21:27 That is what you should begin thinking,
21:29 not it's the root of all evil,
21:31 but it's an opportunity now to help
21:35 and to do something that develops your legacy.
21:38 They believe that, that it's more appropriate
21:42 to take logical action on opportunities
21:46 that are out there in the marketplace
21:49 as opposed to the lottery mentality.
21:52 The chances of winning the lottery is,
21:54 1 in 176 million.
21:56 And many people fight to play this lottery thing
21:59 every single month,
22:01 that there's millions of dollars available.
22:04 I will tell you that many of the wealthy
22:07 haven't played that game.
22:09 They worked hard to get their wealth,
22:11 and their wealth has grown exponentially
22:14 because they take action and don't take chances.
22:19 There's a story of a young man that had a father
22:23 or did have a father, he still has a father,
22:25 the father had a bad back and was looking to get a chair,
22:29 and needed a specific type of chair
22:32 to help his back problems
22:34 and this young man at that time,
22:36 searched far and wide in the United States
22:38 to find that type of chair
22:39 and the cost associated with the chair
22:41 and wasn't able to find it.
22:43 This is the producer mentality.
22:46 He went in search globally
22:47 and found that same type of chair
22:49 that was produced in a different country
22:51 for a lesser price.
22:53 What is... What did you think he did?
22:56 Well, the rest of the story is out there.
22:58 Because now he owns a major organization,
23:00 making hundreds of millions of dollars a year,
23:03 and now his dad has quit his work to work for him.
23:06 The context is, "Where do you see that opportunity coming up?
23:09 Where is that chance to make a difference in life?"
23:13 Not about making the hundreds of millions of dollars
23:15 and becoming wealthy.
23:17 Because that young man wasn't thinking about wealth
23:21 and becoming rich,
23:23 he thought more so of satisfying a need.
23:28 And that's the first thing I want you to think about
23:30 when you're coming into this mindset
23:32 of developing this producer mentality.
23:35 Okay, so there's several steps that we've talked through now.
23:38 What is it?
23:39 One is, setting up goals.
23:41 Two is, paying off debt.
23:43 Number three, setting up that budget,
23:45 so that you can plan for retirement plan,
23:49 for investments plan, for the acquisition of assets.
23:51 Acquisition of assets,
23:53 for the purchasing of things that you can use
23:57 to make a product that you can sell to the public
24:00 or creating a service that you can sell to the public,
24:05 and with the internet as it is,
24:07 it provides a virtual space that people can come to you.
24:11 Did you know over this last holiday season,
24:13 there have been people,
24:14 the growth of sales on the internet
24:16 has grown exponentially and there are people out there,
24:19 simple individuals that are not wealthy
24:22 but understand how to make that internet work for them.
24:26 And, yes, the millionaire next door
24:29 could be that blue-collared worker,
24:31 an individual that fixes radiators,
24:34 that individual that understands
24:35 how to manage his money well, and it's that plumber.
24:38 And it doesn't have to be that corporate attorney
24:42 and that corporate individual.
24:43 It has everything to do with
24:47 how you manage your money.
24:51 So what is it about the wealthy and what they think,
24:54 and what they do?
24:55 Successful people don't create backup plans
25:00 because they plan so detailed
25:04 that they have no intention of failing
25:07 and having to go to the plan B.
25:11 They also use other people's money.
25:14 I was amazed at one of these past election cycles,
25:17 of wealthy people who are running for office.
25:19 And I receive in the mail,
25:21 I still have that piece of mail,
25:22 I saved it.
25:24 I have an individual worth well over $250 million
25:27 writing me a letter, asking me for a donation.
25:30 I hadn't mind to send him the letter back
25:31 saying, you know what?
25:33 "Why don't I ask you to donate the money to me
25:35 so I can give it to you?"
25:37 Or if I have that savings,
25:39 I could actually have taken it from that
25:41 and sent him an immediate contribution.
25:43 Whatever the case was, I thought it very humorous
25:45 to think that someone worth that amount of money
25:49 and, believe me, I don't believe
25:51 that they actually tapped into any of their wealth and riches.
25:55 What they had done is utilized the funds of other people
26:02 to run for government.
26:04 And that's the wisdom of these wealthy.
26:06 They leverage other people's revenue,
26:09 other people's cash to grow their own business
26:12 and to make more money,
26:15 one of the things that you should be aware of.
26:18 Now one of the big things that I'll leave you with is,
26:22 avoid low expectations
26:24 and don't be driven by emotion or greed.
26:28 One of the things that wealthy think
26:31 and what they do is this.
26:33 They set high expectations for themselves.
26:36 They set high goals for themselves.
26:39 And they make it a point to reach those goals.
26:42 They don't let anything get in their way
26:45 to reaching and attaining those goals.
26:47 And the other issue is a true wealthy mindset
26:50 is not about greed.
26:52 It's about fulfilling a needed service
26:56 by producing a product and a service
26:58 that people can use.
26:59 How do you get there?
27:01 Wealth is not about being a millionaire,
27:04 wealth is about spending less than you make,
27:08 wealth is about taking advantage of the opportunities
27:11 that God has given you to pay off your debt,
27:14 thinking wisely, about creating that budget.
27:18 Go through your budget line by line by line,
27:21 see what you don't really need, see what you can live without,
27:25 save that extra money, put it away,
27:27 put in a place that you can get access to those funds
27:31 and or put in investments where you can have
27:33 a retirement fund actually setup.
27:36 And most importantly, most importantly,
27:39 begin the process of thinking more so
27:41 as a producer mindset and not a consumer,
27:44 think about making that money make sense and work for you
27:49 because if you are able to think like the wealthy think,
27:54 you will be far better than anyone else
27:57 in your category.
27:59 Take that to the bank.
28:00 God bless.


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Revised 2017-04-13