Thread by @roncaruthers

1. How to crush your finances (in a GOOD way).

A Primer.

Each day, I get asked what is the best way to get started building for the future.

Pay off debt first?

Save?

401k?

Emergency fund?

So, I decided to put this together to help you get started the right way!

2. First, you need to make enough money.

I'm not @daveramsey (who blocked me, btw. 😂) so I'm not going to yell at you to never go to Starbucks.

If you're out of control spending wise, then stop, but some of you just don't have enough money.

3. Guess what? You're in the right place.

Twitter is a GOLDMINE of ideas for getting side hustles and businesses going.

Here are a couple that I recommend, and yes, they are affiliate links.

My friends drank all my good whiskey, and I need to replenish my supply.

4. If you like stuff and being out and about, @CoachJoeHart has a great course on flipping stuff that ANYONE, including teenagers, can use.

Check it out here:

gumroad.com/a/213496947

5. If you'd rather stay at home, @joserosado has 2 great courses.

The first is on how to make money on Twitter with Twitter.

(You're here already, so why not?)

The bonuses are killer too.

gumroad.com/a/618034291

6. Or, you can help businesses build their websites and charge for it.

His course on that is excellent as well.

gumroad.com/a/81163379

BTW, don't forget that the MAN (In this case, the IRS) let's you write off all KINDS of stuff on your taxes when you run a business....

7. Now, once you're making enough to cover your bills, have fun, AND set some money aside, let's get serious:

-First, you need a ONE month of expenses emergency fund in cash or savings.

Not 3, not 6, ONE.

We'll come back to this later.

8. Next, if you have a 401k at work, you need to contribute enough to get the company match and NOT ONE PENNY more.

Remember, you are not 'saving' taxes with a 401k, you're just postponing paying them.

9. Once that is going, let's set aside another month of living expenses in cash.

So, now you have 2 months in savings.

10. And then you would want to start a properly structured life insurance account for a couple of reasons.

A. Because it will also have cash that you can use in an emergency.
B. You can get the upside of the market without the downside.
C. Tax free income later, and best of all:

11. D. YOU HAVE ACCESS TO THE MONEY EVEN BEFORE YOU RETIRE.

OK, I'll stop yelling now.

But do you know what THE number ONE thing that screws people financially is?

NOT having access to money, cause it's all tied up in their house or 401k.

12. Next, you start aggressively paying down your debt and student loans.

Why not sooner?

Because it's too easy for life to get in the way, and all of a sudden you're mid 40's with almost nothing saved, and because compound interest needs TIME for it to do it's magic

13. So, save and invest FIRST, then pay down your debt.

Got a client worth 20 million. He owes 6 million.

You think he's worried about his debt?

Actually, he heard Dave Ramsey and wondered if he was doing something wrong.

I assured him he wasn't.

14. THEN, you can start investing in real estate, stocks, bonds, or whatever else your heart desires.

But the foundation of your plan should be

-Make enough (and you can use real estate to make money too
-Savings (cash and cash value)
-retirement accounts
-debt pay down

15. And, as a general rule of thumb, try to set aside 20% of your income, and live on 80%.

IF you can do more, awesome, but that should be your baseline.

THAT is how you win financially, my friends.

/end

Note: you can pick up The Art of Flipping today for only $50.

Code: sidehustle