Things The Rich Buy That Make Them Richer

0:00Like I see my buddies where they've got, you know, $25,000 watch, but they've never been on a trip with their kid. So, buy memories not The most expensive line item in your life shouldn't be your mortgage. It's It's actually the network you're not building. So, broke people buy cheap three cheap versions of the same thing in 5 years. Wealthy people buy one good version and forget about it. Welcome back to the Be Wealthy podcast. My name is Brett Tanner. That's Katelyn Mitchell. On our show, we help real estate agents, entrepreneurs, and business owners figure out how to get free with their money. And today is part B of the episode. So, if you haven't seen part one, go back and watch last week. It's all about the 10 things that wealthy people overly spend money on. These are the things that the wealthy people look at, Katelyn, and they say, "I will overspend here." And as we saw in the first five we went through, it's not exactly the things you would think. They're not the things that would come up to your mind. So, we're going to go through a handful of things today and talk about what the wealthy look for. And it's really four

1:02categories though. And I want to start right there, Katelyn, before we jump in. They're focused on four main areas of their life. Time, health, access, and relationships.
Okay.
And so, that's really where the wealthy focus on spending their time. And the first one I want to jump into today is quality and reliability. And here's how I want you to think about it. Wealthy people pay more for things that last. And it's I think lost in today's society a little bit that spending not not looking at the flashy item that is available on Instagram today. But what's the durable item that by making a little more of an investment today it lasts longer, has greater efficiency, or improves your life. And And so, I've got some examples, but where I want to start is a story. Uh I was going around with Gary Keller. And I was going in his conference room and everything when you're with him in a cool way is a lesson, right? And he uses his life as a guide for us all to learn

2:05from. And so, he points out this conference table that like in his room in his like office, but it's this huge conference table, probably seats 12 people. And I'll be honest, it kind of looked

not great.
Okay.
Like it's not the greatest table. I was like, he's like, "Do you see this table?" I was like, "I got it." He's like, "Well, take another look." I'm like, "Okay." You know, it's just wood heavy. Looks like it's been moved a lot.
Totally.
You know, looks like it's been around, seen a few.
She's got a few years on her.
It's not her first board meeting.
If this table could talk.
table could talk, and he goes, "How many conference tables do you think you've had, Brett?"
Aw.
"How many do you think you'll have in your career?" I was like, "I'm going to give a great answer. Five, sir." He goes, "Isn't that interesting? I've only had one." Walks off.
Whenever he says the phrase, "Isn't that interesting?"
"Isn't that interesting?"
That's like, "What am I supposed to take from
I already know what he says when he says that. I know that I did something wrong. I know that I did something I wasn't supposed to do. And so, I thought about it. I was like, "What's the point?" And it was like, "The point is he decided to buy the one conference like, "I'm going to buy something that's quality, durable, hardwood, it's not fake." You

3:08know, like the tables we're using here where it's, you know, you scratch this, it's just particle board. He's like, "I'm going to overspend for the durable thing that I would keep forever." Right? When you study the book, The Millionaire Next Door, kind of similar thing, right? They picked their car not based on what looked the coolest. Right? Back when that book was written, and I think it's in the '90s, don't hold me to that. But the number one car back then of the wealthy was a Toyota. And it wasn't because Toyota was known for being cool. What they were known for is having the lowest cost over the longest horizon, lowest maintenance, longest performing, the car lasts the longest, and it cost you the least during your time of ownership.
But it's not a cheap car. You look at a Ford 4Runner or Ford, excuse me, a Toyota 4Runner.
car, they were probably five or 10% more.
Sure.
To get that car. But it actually paid money to own the car compared to the car that didn't have the efficiency there. And so I think that if you took that analogy of what's the conference

4:10table in your life. Where are you being cheap? So the problem is people look at the wealthy and they think they're exuberant and they're they've got, you know, just pearl necklaces and all the stuff. And what you would see is I think, yeah, they spend maybe 20% more on an item, but the item lasts 10 times longer or the item creates this extra efficiency. So you know, so those are stories about conference tables. I'll use my own life. I drive a Tesla. Very controversial.
Right. We're all aware you have a Tesla. You are obsessed with your Tesla. You talk about your Tesla all the time.
understand why people
to Elon.
I will tell you and and by the way, Elon, I I I love what you're doing in the cars, but I will tell you if someone else tomorrow creates a better car that makes my life better, I will drop it in 11 seconds and be on the next thing. Cuz I want the best thing that enhances my life. So why do I drive a Tesla? Because I don't want to drive a car. And so I get in there and it drives itself. I was in a car there for five and a half hours. I I still have to look

5:12ahead.
But there is, you know, this is going to sound crazy, your mental bandwidth is occupied.
Sure.
Driving.
It needs to be occupied.
does. But what if something that has eight cameras, we only have two eyes. So I'm pretty sure on this. And so I can only see So it's actually safer. They've, you know, the the safety ratings, they've proven it. Human versus it, it wins. So I love it because I have I can get in my car and be thinking about how to improve my life, my business or whatever. And I'm not worried about
Yeah.
getting jackhammered in rush hour. And so I go like, well, why would And then I could go to, why do I have it though? Okay, that's one reason. The car doesn't have an engine. Like it has it like it doesn't have a a It doesn't need an oil change. So like, I don't know. Like It's like regenerative brakes. I got to go to the store. How can you, you know, do an oil change here? And then there's, you know, the flux capacitor's out. And everyone's a thing about a a thing that I don't know.
Totally.
Flush the fluids today. So my point is that thing though, so I don't have to do

6:15that. I don't get gas, which is again, I don't know when you go to the gas station you're like, "Wow, this is nice." Said no one ever to a gas station.
When we're recording this, gas prices are outrageous, right?
Everyone's bitching about gas. I guess who doesn't care? This guy.
This guy.
So the maintenance, then something happens, you go on the app and it says, "Do you want me to send someone to your house?" Yeah. I back the car up. Can I access your car? Sure. I don't even I've never even seen the maintenance people. I don't know if they're aliens that come. I don't know how it works. And I didn't have any problems with my car. The point I'm making, right? Quality, reliability. Most people I hear them, "Well, I had to do this thing. I've got to work on my blinker." Well, you wouldn't if you had a Tesla cuz you don't have any of that. Now apply it, right? It isn't go out and buy a Tesla. It isn't a bougie car, but it's areas of your life where you're being cheap that's causing you pain. Where if you spent $8 more,
Right.
it gets you there.
All right, if you've been listening to the show for any period of time, you know I run a a high-end mastermind for entrepreneurs that are looking to create a different outcome and create more freedom in their life as it relates to

7:17their wealth and their money. And that's what I want to offer you a risk-free opportunity to come check it out. We have two seats available at our upcoming mastermind. You can book a call with my team over at bewealthy.com, navigate to the mastermind section and book a call. We would love to have you at the event and check it out and see what it's all about.
Brett, you have taught me this since the first day we started working together. You are crazy about making sure that the what you are buying. I mean, we both have a Yeti cup here, right? And we know that without question this cup will outlive us, right? The quality of this cup.
You know what I know I'm Kaelin, you know what I'm going to want in about 8 hours? I'm going to want ice. I don't know why I'm going to want it. No, I know there's coffee in here now, but I'm going to wash up like in 8 hours I tell Kaelin she's like, I'm going to pack this with ice. And then I go around and I get water through and it just I will tell
piece versus if you buy just a junky one for four or five dollars on Amazon. Brett, I don't I know you remember this because I think that's when you said I think this is when you really understood

8:20me the best was we were working together. It was 2019, almost 2020 and I needed a new car. My car was just like that girl was not really running great anymore. I needed a new car. Oh, no, this was when I had my lease. So, I had a lease and you said, "Isn't that interesting?" That's exactly how it started. You said, "Isn't that interesting? Why do you have a Mercedes SUV lease? Ooh." As we're looking at my balance sheet. And I went home to Russ and the lease we were going to be trading it in and I went and looked at a new lease and I was like, "Oh my gosh, this is never going to fly at my one-on-one if I tell Brett like I'm going to trade it in same model again." Cuz this was my third time with the exact same car. So, you said in our one-on-one, "Help me understand. So, you keep every two or three years getting the exact same car in the exact same color and paying out the nose for it." And I was like, "Brett, it's a great quality. I never have to worry about maintenance. I never have to worry about these things. I have a fixed expense. I like it." You said, "Is your brain

9:23broken? Let's talk through it." So, I go home to Russ and I'm like, "Oh my gosh, I have to find a better option." We go car shopping and I know that I've got to come back with some realistic, "Here's what I'm going to buy, right?" I know that if I come in and I've asked you to coach me in my entire life, right? I want you to help me with my wealth. If I come back and tell you some crazy idea I have, you're going to say, "Baller, is your brain broken? I do not understand. What are we doing here?" So, I think and I think I shop and I shop. And do you remember I decided to buy at the time you had a 2016 Model S Tesla.
Yeah.
And you had a specific battery specific everything and I literally found one that was used. And I bought the exact same car you had.
Greatest decision ever.
Because I knew for a fact there was no possible way that you could tell me it was a bad decision. I came in, I showed it to you and you said, "I've never seen a smarter car choice."

10:25
No.
I absolutely love it. It was my favorite car I've ever had. Quality, reliable. So, all I'm saying is guys, if you need help picking your model of car, just message Brett, ask what he's driving, it's probably the right choice.
I think you're making a great point with what you just said about why do you buy what you buy? And I think most people buy because they're solving some other need, right? An external validation or whatever. Like the things that I have, actually everything I own has a reason. Yeah. I don't own anything cuz I'm like, "Oh, I wonder what that" Like I am very biased on the type of TUMI backpack that I have to work daily. You know why? Cuz my last backpack lasted like 7 years. I still have it. Right? So, I mean yeah, I keep it in my car. Like the compartments, the way it's organized, the quality and reliability of this I care I I use TUMI luggage. Now, I could get a piece of Samsonite luggage. It'd be fluid around. And just here, cold notice, he goes, "Hey, they you know in the airlines, you know how they throw your bags around. Broke the wheel. I go, "Oh, not a problem." I will take that thing into me and they will instantly get put a brand

11:28new wheel on it for as long as for I don't know how long it works, forever. Okay? This isn't like I just bought it.
Correct.
And what do they cuz you know what they do? They go, "The wheel cost us a dollar. The bag cost 500 or whatever it is. This guy is going to buy his next bag with me and I own all Tumi because I just love where they take care of the thing that I bought.
You gave me a Tumi suitcase in 2015, maybe 2016. It's the one that I took to come here. It has probably hundreds of thousands of miles on it at this point. That thing is beat up. I've sent it through warranty, but to pay the extra to have something you're going to have for 10, 15, 20 years.
It you would have saved money because you buy the crappy one and you get three flights out of it and it's just shredded. So
So being cheap for cheap's sake doesn't make sense.
You lose by it.
You need to be frugal on a consumable and invest in a quality thing that can stay long-term that's not a consumable.
Certain things you derive no value from, right? And so those things you would be very So Now, Katelyn, we talked about

12:31stuff and things in your life, right? So everything you own you should think about it. Now let's go to your businesses and your investments.
Okay.
People do the same kinds of things. So Buffett, frugal everywhere. I mean, the most frugal human at home. If you go and if you read his book Snowball, which I would encourage everyone to read, I mean, an amazing book on him. I've never read every book on Buffett. Every single one. And this guy, like his big challenge at home was like his wife, his first wife, Susie. He was like, "No, you can't spend money on basically I mean, he had the budget just locked down." And here the guy is worth at the time, you know, when these being super conservative, he's probably worth a half a billion dollars. Bought a home for $31,000 when he's 26 years old and a millionaire.
Like this guy is literally exemplifies, I spend nothing at home. I think he put like a racquetball court in his basement or something. Like he had some weird thing going on there. Uh I guarantee it's cuz he's like, "It's more efficient. I can just go downstairs. I'm not paying a thing. I already had the basement. But this guy is investing every dollar to become one

13:32of the wealthiest people on the planet. Right? But how did he do it? He was frugal where it mattered. So he could invest in And then then what he do? He started out being cheap in business. Warren Buffett's original success was buying he called it a cigarette butt or cigar butt companies.
What does that mean?
He bought companies to where there was one puff left. So like the company's got like the company's going out of business, but it's got enough assets that I could basically break it apart, still sell the company, and make money. But there's nothing really. It's just got a little bit of juice left in it.
What was his methodology of why?
Cheap. He was His whole model was you wanted to find something where the book value was greater than what it was trading at.
Got it.
He was a deal guy.
Got it.
I just kept finding deals. And you And And Munger comes along, his partner, who was like, "Yeah, you can make money doing that, but you're All the competition you're you're He was figuring it out,

14:34but it's going to be there, but you're buying stuff that doesn't It's got like kind of a one-time use left. Right? You're not going to turn around. And Munger's argument What if you bought great businesses? Incredible companies, but the deal's not as good. You're just getting them at good prices. Warren was buying average companies
at great prices. And Munger argued over time the other will work better.
And Munger was right.
And Buffett to this day gives all the credit to Munger saying if he Charlie wouldn't have came along, he goes, "I think I would have figured it out, but him hitting me over like And Buffett's one of his arguments would be like a See's Candy. Right? The candy's more expensive than any other candy of its type that's the same. But what do you buy? Nostalgia. It's a brand. Like the opening, the wrapping.
The the outfits, the way the style of the store is.
So, I think too often in life we're being like penny wise and pound foolish, right? We're spending over a dollar to pick up a quarter, there's a hundred rolling by us. And I I think we

15:36do it in all areas of our lives. And so what I want you to think about what are the quality reliability? It could be tools, it could be appliances, it could be vehicles, it could be software, it could be furniture. Where could you make investments? And and I it goes beyond those things, but the whole point of this is what I see the wealthy do is the things that consume the time of others, they're not consumed by. I mean, I could give you just one more like a an example that I think would go through a lot of different areas. So, before the internet and subscribe and save and all of these things that make our lives easy today, Taylor and I were dating and we moved in together when we were like 20 years old, 21 years old. And the first time I had $10,000 in a checking account that was mine, I made a very unusual investment. It was a Costco. And I went down there and I said, "Honey, currently like I would go buy a stick of deodorant or two and then you run out and then now I got to go that day to get deodorants or we're out of toilet paper today." I mean, you just the things that people do. I went and took $1,000 of my 10 and I bought up 400 rolls of toilet paper.

16:39This is a real story. Taylor can tell you right to this day. I bought 30 sticks of deodorant, I bought 10 bottles of shampoo. I'm not kidding you. 20 tooth pastes.
You created your own inventory.
Everything that was a consumable in my life that was going to cause me to go, "I need to go get some toothpaste today." I cuz I viewed them like that's going to take 45 minutes.
It's a waste.
I could go you give me calls I can make in 45 minutes. So, all the things I did allowed me I removed all of the requirements that are to be a human in society to do my daily life so I could just focus on the thing I can either be with my future wife and be present, and I'm not doing maintenance, or I could do the work. And so, it made all the difference. So, broke people buy cheap three cheap versions of the same thing in 5 years. Wealthy people buy one good version and forget about it. And And I just think it's so important that paying more once is cheaper than paying less forever. And I just think people miss this. And so, it's your personal life, it's your

17:42investments. Right? As we've learned, right? And I'll tie like you know, I'll end with this on this one, which is you buy a a cheap single family at a really great price, okay? Buy a great commercial asset, like we're sitting in here, at a good price. And fast forward 10 years, and the returns are 10x.
Yeah.
But people don't look at it that way. All right, my favorite one is the next one, Katelyn. It's the thing that I believe in more than anything, which is experiences, not things. You know, my friends that are wealthy, which sadly the majority of my wealthy majority of people in our on social media, so you wouldn't I couldn't say, "Go look at it. Go look at his thing." When they have real money, they would all tell you, and you looked at their lives, and you talked to them, when you sit down at dinner, and they're sharing, "Let me tell you the experience I had with my son last week. Let me tell you what my daughter and I did. Let me tell you what my wife and I did." So, they're looking at epic experiences with people they love, right? It might be wrapped around, typically, and we've talked about this

18:45in another episode, it's around rituals and traditions. So, they've got the heli ski trip with the family that we do every year. They've got we go to the Masters. We do Like, my family, our rituals and traditions, we do Christmas in Kauai. Right? I know 30 years from today, I know on Chris- on Christmas Day, I know that I'm at the Brennecke Beach Broiler. I just know where I'm going to be. I know what I'm having.
Potentially having a mai tai. They're delicious.
I will be having one, but I know where I'm going to be.
Yeah.
Because that's an experience. Like it's it's baked in in my kids go even when they when they get married they're like my I guarantee you my family will go well your your family has to come on our traditions. I mean it's just or we can't get married. I mean I don't know what like you're coming to Christmas in Kauai. So that we've invested in that. So Bill Perkins wrote an incredible book called Die with Zero which I fundamentally disagree with nearly everything the book says cuz you shouldn't die with zero. His whole point is that it's not about acquiring money, it's about acquiring

19:46experiences in life. That part I agree with. The person that if two people die with equal amounts of money and the person with the most experience points in life does win the game. I just don't believe you have to go broke to achieve it. I think you can have the money and the experiences. I think they feed each other and I think there's a way that those fit together. But experiences compound. And experiences have a unique kind of dividend unlike a stock. Like there's that whole idea around a memory dividend. And you go back like I'm currently having the memory dividends for the trip in Korea with my boys that I just went on. And you're going like can you remember that? Like I'm still we're creating many memories here. Like we were out last night. The four of us Caleb's husband was with us too Ross. We were out playing golf. We happened to jump they jumped in at hole six or whatever and we played till dark where you couldn't even see your ball anymore. It was a black but I'm going to replay that dividend the sunset the whole thing. It's an experience. Now experiences can cost as much as those you want. I think that the myth around maybe people that don't have the

20:48money they want yet today. When I say hey go to the Masters or heli-skiing it's like listen you pretentious jerk. Right? That's not helpful for my situation. And what I would say is when did you take your kid camping though? Cuz camping doesn't cost a lot. You can do it in the back of your your car your truck whatever. So epic experiences don't cost money. But, they do require to be attention like Cole and I were the first time we got in here, the fireflies had just lit up. I was like, "Have you ever seen a firefly?"
Can you believe Cole had never seen a firefly?
And I go He goes, "What does it look like?" And I was like trying to think of an analogy.
It's a fly. It's a
like a Do you Do you see the stars? Imagine it now in the size of a bumblebee floating across the grass. So, when you see a star near the ground and look at he's like, "Man, you nailed the description." But, like my first time my kid saw it, we spent 45 minutes trying to catch one. I mean, like cost nothing. Cost nothing to see a firefly. So, epic experiences, right? So, Branson, I think when you look at the leaders out there, I look at people that

21:50who's living epic experiences. Richard Branson is where you If you say a guy that's creating epic experiences, bought Necker Island.
Yep.
Found his dream and he's like, "No, adventure, work, relationships." I call it life. I'm not separating my personal life from my business life. And getting to work on the Wi-Fi on the building over here today, that's not real work. I think it's play. I get paid to do it. A lot of money to do it, but it doesn't feel like work. And so, you know, you're you're still here. Memories pay dividends. Stuff depreciates the moment you buy it. So, over and we're back to the the experiences, Caleb. What the experiences we create matter. And so, early in my career, I think the mistake I made, I think when you're on your way to when you first get money and you're getting more money than you need to pay your bills, you probably got some stuff and things you want to buy. The things that you wanted from when you didn't have it. And everyone I think has to go through that and get the thing that they thought they wanted to realize that wasn't the

22:51answer.
It's interesting.
Cuz you get it and you go like I think there's three levels of understanding in stuff and things. The first level of understanding is I want the BMW. Right? You know, you got 19-year-old Braddies running around flipping books on the internet, and all I wanted was a BMW. I wanted a 7 Series. It's all I wanted. All I thought about. Why? No clue. So, then I bought one, right? My model, 2 years old, sub 20,000 miles. Bought it. Cool car. I had it. And it was awesome for like 90 days. And at the end of 90 days, you're like, this isn't that cool. I really wanted it. I got the thing. The last level of this is I could have anything. But I choose this because it goes back to where we started, reliability and quality. I could drive any car today. Like there's no there would be no limit on price. I choose to buy the car that gets me the most value in my life, right? Not Again, but it's hard to get there, right? Cuz so we're we're conditioned to not think that way.
Hey, if you're getting value from the

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You know what's funny is you you we talk about these two topics. We just talked about quality and reliability is the way that wealthy spend money, and experiences not things. And as you were saying and and going through and explaining your methodology on it, I realized it's also how you give people gifts or show appreciation. So, if I look at our past Yes, if I look at our past, you know, we've worked together 10, 12 years, and you've always been so gracious, not just in your time and coaching and leadership, but you've also shown me, you know, hey, I'm going to you know, this is a gift that I want to provide to you and your family or or just to you. And you give gifts in two

24:57ways. Number one, you give gifts when you see a problem that you can fix with a reliable solution.
Something that improves the quality of the person's life.
Correct. So, those for me were like we were in Vegas and I had my suitcase and it was just a disaster and my bag was flying all over the place and you looked at it and you said and you looked at me and you said, "Noted." And I was like, "I don't know what that means." And then that Christmas you gifted me a Tumi suitcase that I'm still using.
I'm looking at all your gear. I I gifted you all of that.
Correct. But functional equipment that I needed to be able to better do the job that is something I would not at the time have invested in myself because it was a really expensive. Going and spending $700 on a suitcase when I was 28 years old.
it I did not do it. I want to be clear to make your work better. I did it to make your life easier.
yes correct. Next, I had a huge computer issue and like my computer just wasn't doing and you were like, "We're going to get you just a really It's not going to be like the world's flashiest computer but we're going to get you a really

25:58great Mac computer that's going to do an awesome job for you to make your life easier. It's going to stop crashing. It's going to stop doing these things. We're going to make your life easier." So, as I look over the years, I'm like all of Brett's gifts were always things like material gifts were always things that were reliable that I'm still using today that withstand the test of time to make my life easier and they were quality pieces. Then I look at, "Okay, the only other gifts and I say only that you've gifted me." I got two in particular, right?
Epic experiences.
No, exactly. Epic experiences. So, when we had first started working together, we achieved some really cool goals and you called Gary Keller and said, you know, you worked with Jason called him and said like, "Can we get Katelyn and her husband out on your private water, excuse me billionaire? Can we you Katelyn and her husband out there with your fishing guide to go and fish out at the Greenbrier. And you flew us out there. It was unbelievable. So cool for a young married couple to go that loves

27:01to fish and have that experience.
Well, that is an experience that That's one of the TRICK OF
CAN'T BUY IT?
Money would not buy this one.
Then you said just this last year, you said you know, I want to send you and Russ You sent us down to your place in Belize, helped us with like a whole itinerary of fun ideas of what to do. We spent 4 days in the jungle and then like 4 more days out on the beach staying in your and gave us the people that we should go fishing with and then the Mayan ruins we should go see and created this experience for Russ and I to go do something we had never done before and probably would not have gone and done had you not done it. And so now Russ
wouldn't have done it like that cuz you wouldn't know. You wouldn't know.
have no clue. I mean you It was unbelievable. And the way that you show gratitude to people is in those same things. Right? I just I just clicked with you.
never forget you but you'll never forget Belize, private water at West Virginia.

28:04
And we'll always have gratitude to you for it.
do it for those reasons. I do because
But what a great gift.
You're not going to forget it. So when people give gifts and they don't think, right? They think like, oh here's a new shirt for Tom.
Right.
You know what Tom would have loved to have done? He would have liked to gone Why don't you give him a gift certificate of dinner that's only redeemable with him? Let's go spend time. My gifts are all With my kids it's like, here's a gift. It's we're going to go do something together. Like I don't give here's an Xbox. Whatever. We We take care of those things for our kids but like that's not what I'm going to give.
Even Trevor, right? He's our partner in the insurance business. He crushed a goal and what did you give him as an incentive? Not just a little bonus on your check or something like that. Trevor's crushing it. What you said was, "We want you to go in to a very special dinner and spend the night out with your wife and do a staycation with her." They've got little kids. "Take her, you guys go spend the time together." And he was so jazzed because the extra little bonus here or something smaller wouldn't

29:09have meant as much. You're helping to I would don't want to use the word force, but you're helping us to see that the experience is worth so much more than a a material possession ever could be.
So, here I'm going to anchor this point as we do it, Katelyn. I want everyone watching this, I want your day-to-day consumable lifestyle to be the cheapest person you can possibly imagine. I want you to look at the cost of ramen and drive it down. I want you to all the little stuff that's just you're going to I want you to drive those costs down.
Yeah.
Then what I want you to do though, I want you to be a little more lavish in experiences that you'll never forget. And I'm telling you those to It'll feel It's the same dollars. We're just going to spend them a little different, right? Like I look at the coffee I drink every morning. I look at the cost of the K-Cup and I I look at, you know, how can I margin get it down to 26 cents? You know, I look at that stuff. Cuz I I'll be honest, I cannot tell the difference between the greatest K-Cup in the world and the one that I have. I've tried them all. I can't tell any difference. So, if

30:10I can't tell the difference, it's the whole, you know, one of the thing It's funny, if you look at and I hate to use alcohol on our show, but if I, you know, the people I've got to have Tito's, can't have Grey Goose or whatever it is. You know the data of the data, right? I could give them Kirkland's vodka to the top of the line and we could give people a taste test and I'll give you $50,000
thinks the Kirkland is amazing, right?
Well, now they do, right? But like people would argue, "No, I've got to have the I've got to have I've got to have the Grey No one knows the difference. You're doing it because it sounds cool.
Mhm.
No one says I want a Kirkland and soda, right? No one says that.
I wish they would.
They want a Grey
It's part of a very private club.
Right, but think of it, there's only two brands of vodka you can call out. You Grey Goose or Tito's or whatever it is, right? So, but you're doing it not because you notice any difference.
Right.
And so what I would say is if there's no difference, why are you doing it?
Fair.
Why? Doesn't make any Like I know and all my peers, you'll notice I don't I haven't had watches, you know, I only have one watch. My wife gave it to me when I was I turned 30. She managed to embezzle a bunch of money for me.

31:14
By embezzle, you mean she just helped to move some things aside?
Here's what happened. Over the years, I would always, you know, be hey, here's a couple of like here's money for
Some walk around money.
For some walk around money. She chose not to spend it on herself and saved it for like 5 years and then went and bought me this watch. So, I still I have the watch and I wear it occasionally. But I don't like my but like oh, you got to See, I go the watch, I actually could take it or leave it. The fact that she gave it to me, the symbol of what it means, means something to me. But it could also been a wristband, it could be um I I I'm not into a status symbol. Like I see my buddies where they've got, you know, a $25,000 watch, but they've never been on a trip with their kid. And I'd go, isn't that interesting? It says everything about you. You value a status symbol for people you don't know and wouldn't have over versus a dividend experience with your kid. And to me, I I find it gross. I really do. And I would forego everything for the epic experiences. So, buy memories, not okay? All right, Katelyn, next. Hospitality in relationships.

32:19Okay? It's where I believe the wealthy overspend. So, the category that I would say people that don't have the money they want, they don't even think about it, okay? When I say hospitality relationships, Katelyn, this is where it does get a little bougie, but I want you to think it stick with me for a minute.
Okay.
I'm thinking like a a chef that might come in to a hosted dinner in your home. I'm thinking a group trip, which I'll put a pin in and we'll come back to. Think like a lake house or a cabin. Think it could be season tickets to your favorite game. It could be a membership of a club of sorts. Think country club dinner, Elks Club, right? It could These could scale at any level. They could be very inexpensive. But they think about relationships. So when you think about hospital hospital relationship, they think about how the relationship compounds way more than money. So they're very cognizant of they want to be in the right room with their peer group, and they engineer the room.
So you're saying like for a chef, right?

33:21Well, the example You actually helped me with this. My We were hosting My mom was hosting Easter at her house, and she said, "Katelyn, can you do the food?" I did the food last year, and I ran around like a psycho. It was, you know, I'm prepping it all the night before, and then how do I get it there? And then I've got to go down to church, do all these things, and I didn't enjoy Easter at all last year. It was terrible. And I think I shared this with you, and you said, "Find an easier way. There has to be." This year, called a chef. They just came, dropped off the food. I didn't have to do a single thing. And it was very easy, so I could enjoy the relationships that I had there with my sister, her girls, my mom, Brad.
Here's the best part of your story. I bet this chef situation, if you all would You all all could have
I think the cost was almost the same.
You all could have gone out to lunch and dinner or or whatever.
That would have been the most expensive, yeah.
It would have actually been more expensive.
Totally.
You would not have been sitting in your couch playing a game, laughing, setting up the computer.
You're bringing up the computer issue. That was a hot topic.

34:22
that but even that thing where you guys have a little iPad thing, you're talking about it.
A thousand percent.
You would not have talked about it if you were out at
have I've never been in there. I'd been in the kitchen just
No, or you'd have in the kitchen, which that's awful because I see you
Or I get what you're saying.
Or you're out at dinner and we're like, well, there's a seat and the it's too loud. But you know, so many people make that it's not it's about all the other which it is. I got to go pick up the groceries.
Right.
Well, when you don't do it together, you're not building the relationship. That person comes to your home, you have this incredible experience for less money than you could So when I say chef, I know people are going to go, oh,
That's so
bougie.
That's so I'm like, what? No, it's not. It If If How's it bougie if it costs less than going in the alternative? But the experience is 40x.
Totally.
So I'll tell you I'll give you I'll give you I'm going to give you five examples in my life. My cabin over the summer. We will have most Saturday nights we host all of our friends, anybody that wants to come one, come all. I For a while there Taylor and I were cooking

35:23and it's like, man, this is you know, I like to barbecue and so I've got the trigger It's an all day thing, which I love to do it. It's just I want to spend the time with my kid playing golf, not behind the grill.
Not smoking a pork butt.
So I cook really good Like I'm I used to cook in competitions with my father-in-law. He taught me everything. Like I
Well, I was in I'm in I have done competition barbecue. Like the KCBS, I mean I know the Oh, chicken I mean full tournament like race
You're serious?
I've competed in a a legitimate
I not know this?
Well, I've lived 10,000 lives. So my father-in-law won best ribs in Arizona. Like he's a world-class cook. I couldn't cook anything when I I married Taylor our first kid. I was like, I'm going to start learning to cook in like a grill like a smoker and I mean the food I would make like no human could eat it, right? It was disgusting. I just I I couldn't get it too smoky, not so He showed me how to become a world-class cook. So we did competitions together and I would be basically the worker and he would be the, you know, chef. I wasn't even a sous chef.
Classic vision of marriage.
shoveling like the the charcoal and the

36:25you know, the the steam lump into the giant smoker box. That was really my job. And just to make sure the temperature is right. Anyway, I can make this incredible barbecue.
So Saturday you could do that.
I Dickey's is in town. And if you close your eyes, I don't think anyone else there could tell the difference. I can tell the difference in my food because I know that's like the way we do it. But no one else can tell. So now Dickey's, I can also get it delivered to my cabin.
Yeah.
So and by the way, the meat, by the time I do it, yes, is it a little cheaper if Brett's time's free to buy it at the grocery store, prepare it, and cook it. I could save, let's call it 10%. 15. However,
cheaper, but the cost is the afternoon you don't get to play golf with your kids.
And when my guests are there, I don't really get to see them either because I'm like, "Hey man, get I hold on, I got a lot going on right now at the grill, you know, in that moment." Now, we've got a warming drawer situation. We just we set it up. Everyone is hanging out.
So fun.
It is Katelyn, it I'm like and and then

37:28when it's over, you know, we we keep whatever left over for our, you know, we're going to eat I'm going to eat the chicken for the week anyway, I needed anyway. But it makes it to where we now enjoy the moment. So incremental cost, $28 more investments, time enjoyment thing, right? For me, the cabin was the same way. I bought a cabin in a very specific area that I stared at for a 15-year period of my life wanting this thing. And I knew I would build all the memories around. Right? So certain things in my life I bought them for the hospitality and the relationship and the way that it was wrapped around.
You know the coolest thing? It's so fun when we have these conversations because it helps me to tie together different things going on in your life. So we were literally just sitting here yesterday morning and you were sharing with me that your son for the first time had the opportunity to go up to this cabin you're talking about and bring up some of his friends. He's old enough now, right, to go and do it on his own and he sent you the most beautiful text to tell you that this place is so

38:31special and he has all these
legendary.
You legendary. You have all these memories of your family there and that you're bringing in friends and you're you really done all this and and you dreamed about it for 15 years, acquired it, made it come to life with all these memories.
Yeah.
You know, not once did you say to me, Katelyn, it just so happens to be on a golf course with like arguably the prettiest view of all time. You you talked about the memories that occur inside of it and looking out at those things, but it wasn't a status symbol that you wanted to tell the viewers, "Oh my gosh, I've got a golf course cabin." No, it was I got this special place that's the most important thing that I can create these memories. And now your kid is doing the same thing. He's driving his friends out from the valley to go there and he's creating and modeling what you do with your friends and family. Is that freaking cool?
The best part of the story is that when we were playing not last night, the day before,

39:33
We've been playing a lot of golf, by the
I text the my family and our you know, I have I only have one group chat, which is my wife and my three kids and I text a picture of us playing golf. Cooper replied back and there was a picture of him playing golf right in front of our cabin. Same Same thing. Same thing.
He's modeled it and he's doing it. Is that stinking cool?
But so, what's your thing where you can better connect with your people?
Yeah, awesome.
It could be a membership to a campground.
Totally.
It could be my father growing up modeled this for me. So, he was a member of the Elks Club. Cole, you don't know what the Elks Club is and for those viewers that don't know either because
I didn't know until like five days
Katelyn, neither. I'm like, "Oh my god, it's the
Brent said, "Let's host the Elks Club." And I was like, "You're making things up." It's a thing.
I grew up, the golf course, the clubhouse is here, the Elks Club was here. So, you finish your round, you're a member I think it costs today $340 to be a member of a But, the cool part about being a member of the Elks Club, beers $3 for a draft. I mean, they drive It's

40:35not They're not trying to make money. It's a They're making money, but it's the goal is to provide value to the membership.
Okay.
And so, the the the guys, the business guys, come off the golf course, they go up to the Elks Club. So, you're in an environment with people that are all like they like golf and they have a business most likely. That's kind of the room you wanted to be in. And so, you've engineered the room. Like for us, we're now we're engineering experiences through our masterminds. They're coming here 2 days from now, we're going to have this rigged out in in kind of like a a setup for a 1-day event. And people can come here and get in a group of their peers to have a like-minded discussion around that wealth is more than money. Let's figure out how we go get the amounts we needed in the passive income for the freedom.
Totally.
Then let's talk about how you're living the freedom. And it And it all go goes down to to just hospitality and relationship. And so, for for most people, right? The most expensive line item in your life shouldn't be your mortgage.

41:37It should be the It's It's actually the network you're not building. That's the most expensive.
Say that again.
The most expensive line item in your life isn't your mortgage. It's the network you're not building.
Interesting.
So, I think people think, "Oh, my more Like I'm like, "Your network is so much more valuable." And in many ways, right? You You'll get so many benefits from it, um not just financial. They're but financial will be one. So, the point I want to make here when you think about it, host a table or eat alone. Hospitality and relationships. We're moving to the next one. Next thing they overspend money on Proximity and environment. So, I want you to think of it this way, Katelyn. The zip code, the neighborhood, the office location, the membership, the second home near family. What makes your life better? They overpay for who's around them, not what. So, I'll give you some examples in my world. I was driving in 2008, 9, and 10.

42:38I was driving. I picked an office location in the center of the city cuz I was doing all these short sale appointments. I was doing like 10 a day, and I believed I could get the customer to come to me. I was driving all over like I put my office in the center of the city, I'll get the customer to come to me. And I could be more efficient and add better value to the customer. But, this drive, even though it was 15 miles from my house, took an hour every day cuz I had to hit rush hour right at the end. I'd get within 5 miles of it, and then it's just gridlock. And so, I did that for years, and it was like 2 and 1/2 years. And I went, this is the most inefficient thing in my life. I was spending 2 hours a day. Didn't have a self-driving car back then. So, I'm spending 2 hours a day that I cannot utilize. It is adding no economic value other than the fact that people were coming to me, but then we were getting into where we could do I I had someone else doing it, and we were doing more, so we needed people in different areas. And so, I'm like, what if I bought an office that reduced my drive time by at least 75%?
Okay.
So, like if I got back an hour and a half, so I bought the office over on Baseline, the one you're familiar with.
Yeah.
I bought it in 2010. The day the Wall Street Journal wrote an article only a

43:41would buy an office, and then I bought mine the next week cuz I'm like, I know that everyone's saying it's the worst time ever, this is when I should absolutely buy.
Smells like the recession.
This is the right time. I mean, I bought an office building for I think I paid $110,000 in 2010. I'll be real close on that. The place was listed at 300. Now, mind you, this is where the great reces- like the world was coming to an end.
dark as a thousand suns.
They had boarded up all the car dealerships down McDowell. Like it was just not good. They dropped it from 300 The bank owned it from 300,000 to 160 or 180 was the price reduction. Irrelevant. Doesn't matter. I'm like, no one want I offered 110 off 180 and it was no counter. Have it. Literally, they were like, "Take it." Okay. I knew at that moment I was paying Well, the broker drove me there. I was paying $2,500 a month in rent. Everyone told me I was an idiot. Hold on, but I'm paying $2,500 a month.
To rent a space inside your
And I've got an office there and three down I got like it's some spread inside of another business, right? Like an executive office suite.
Sure.

44:42
Now I've got three times the space. I could pay myself $2,500 on a $100,000 investments. Fairly lucrative. I know I'm going to pay cuz it's me. I can have more space I can do more So, and I get back 45-minute drive each way. It was a life-changing thing. So, and I've moved my office now and my office is 2 miles from home. And I'm looking there's another one that's 200 yards. It's like, I'm Why? I I actually I built a whole When I rebuilt my house, I built a beautiful home office which as of 6 months ago I've been working from home for the first time in my life. But, I don't do it for the reasons and the other It's proximity and environment. My cabin that we used the example of a minute ago, Katelyn, the best part of its location is something that no one sees. They look at the lake and the gate and the All that's cool. The coolest part of it, I walk to the club.
I walked When I want to go get range balls, I can grab my seven iron at 5:00 p.m. and I walk to the range. And I may hit seven balls. I may hit

45:44zero and just sit out there and just stare at the grass. I don't know what I'm feeling. But, I walked there.
So cool.
And you don't realize it like I know that I could get my car and drive five minutes I could get the whole that that with your something when you're walking up the fairway that just doesn't feel like it's pain.
And the smell of the grass, get out of here.
So, what if you start engineering your life for proximity to people, the things that make your life better, or the environment?
Key thing though, cuz when I first heard you say this, I was like, I'm slightly confused. Proximity to the right things and people that will make your life better, not proximity to status. So, like you started it and you said the right zip code and I was like, when we hear the right zip code, we're like, "Oh, it's got to be Beverly Hills, 90210, right? The best
Zip code that enhances your life the most.
That enhances your life, not the zip code for status. So, they don't overpay for the status, but they do overpay for the right zip code for the right location, for the right thing for their life.
Like if you live in Austin and you are

46:45an outdoors person, there's that one area that where you literally own and you walk across and you're like on this like trail system.
Lady Bird Lake.
Okay. You get on that and you're like
I've walked the daylight out of Lady Bird Lake.
Like if that was your thing to overpay a little to get near that. That wouldn't be You're not doing that for anybody to say, "I can walk a 10-minute walk to Lady Bird." No one would care. But if that's your thing, you should care.
Totally.
So, you might get a less house
in the right location.
in the right zip code that enhanced your life. It might actually be a crappier home. I use 500 sq ft of my home. Literally.
I'm like,
I use 500 sq ft of my home.
Pool side I never go down.
Pool, I could give a where it's located. I need it to be close to the other stuff that I can that make my life great.
Right.
Right now. So, again, I think that geography ultimately becomes destiny. Pick yours on purpose.
I love it.

47:45
Like really think, "Why am I choosing?" All right, Katelyn. This one's not as sexy, but it's something we got to talk about. Wealthy overspend on privacy, security, and structure.
You're right. That is not sexy.
I'm going to add one more. I'm going to say I'm going to add in airline status. They invest in things that make that part of the process less pain. And I'll come to that in a minute. So, when you say privacy, security, structure, think about a gated property, a better security system. But, it's LLCs when I say privacy. So, you could set up an LLC like mine are all done through They're owned by a Wyoming corporation. And then once you go to Wyoming, you have total It's totally anonymous.
Right.
So, when you get my entity, you're like, "Oh, and it's owned by a Wyoming corporation." And then who owns that? Now, we don't know.
I hate to brag. I followed your model. I'm also a Wyoming LLC now.
Right, but it's but it The point is you don't want the world knowing what you're doing. It's not that you have

48:46anything to hide. The real wealthy are not on Instagram posting garbage all day.
The real wealth whispers, right? It whispers.
It's so quiet almost you can't hear it. Because they they're not out there fighting for it. So, the bigger you get, the more this matters. And I What what You think about this, my mentor Russell Shaw, who he calls this a profile issue.
What does that mean?
I never I didn't know. He's like, he goes, "Well, Brett, that's a profile issue." And I was like, "Oh, 25, I don't know what that means." It means like at some level you get big enough, you have a profile, you have a like you're known if you get big enough. That's where privacy matters more. Like it's a As your profile gets bigger, you have to make better and better decisions. Like when you're you're first out there and you're doing what you can do, you're concerned about everything in your business, but like something slips, you're okay. The bigger you get, that bad review, you can't have it. So, you got to get better at managing every aspect of risk, the customer. You're just thinking differently due to the size of your profile. Think about The president gets away with nothing. Makes one-off comment, you're canceled, right?

49:50And I know our guy a little bit of a loose cannon today, but you can't go too crazy. And so, but you go down a cliff, you could be the mayor of some small town, and you could get away with it like the same thing was said by someone else.
Correct.
The size of the profile is how tight you got to be. So, privacy, security structure. Get ahead of it. The wealthy don't hide because they're paranoid. They hide because they've already been sued, robbed, or targeted, and they learned that lesson the least expensive way. The expensive way. So, set up your LLCs right. Be cognizant of the you know, the world's more online than ever. What is your structure? And when I say, you know, the last part it kind of it could leak into experiences, but I really see the wealthy focus on getting the right membership status thing in order that enhances their life. Like for me, when I go to the airport, you know, I've got clear. But I think that like I think clear is a security thing. So, I'm going to get TSA precheck, global entry, clear plus,
touchless face, whatever they come up

50:51with.
whatever they come up with that make that By the way, I don't pay for any of this.
No.
I have a credit card that they reimburse me for it. So, I don't I don't get the game they're playing, but I don't pay for it. Cuz when I go to the airport, I don't want to wait in the general security line that's 2 hours long or an hour and 45. And like, well, you're choosing to do that for no reason, just to endure pain. There's little things you could do that help the structure of the way you do things to make it easier.
Sure.
Having something like Does everyone need the Centurion Lounge?
No.
But most credit cards give you the priority pass, and so you got a little lounge when you're traveling that allows you to just sneak away for a minute.
Remove the friction, get some Wi-Fi, and whatever. So, so you go there, and you've got build the moat before they show up at the gate. We've got to think about making the structure better.
I love it.
All right, Katelyn, we went through just a lot of things that people that the wealthy overspend money on. I want to recap them briefly here. We We talked about time. Wealthy over They overspend on anything to get some more time. We talked about health and longevity. We

51:54talked about learning and skills. We talked about your kids, your education or exposure. We talked about trusted advisors. All of that was in the last episode. So, if you're listening to this, you're watching this, go grab that one if you haven't listened to it yet. Today we talked about quality and reliability. We talked about experience. We talked about hospitality relationships. Talk about proximity and environment. And then we went through privacy, security, and structure. And so, if you go into those and you dig into the pattern, every one of those items buys you time, makes your health better, it gets you access, or it deepens relationship. There's not a single thing we went through that depreciates in value. And now when we just compare it, right, to what everyone else is doing, most of the things are stuff and things and status flexes, sadly.
All right, if you've been listening to our show for a bit, you've likely heard that I run a wealth-building mastermind largely around some of the same concepts and content that we talk about here on the podcast. We have an upcoming mastermind. We've got two seats left for it. If you want to come shadow our mastermind, take a look at what it's

52:57like, get a actual feel for what it feels like to be with a tribe of people that are on the same journey as you, we've got a completely risk-free way to do so. Just go to bewealthy.com, navigate over to our mastermind, and book a call with one of my team members to learn more about our mastermind and you can how you can come completely risk-free and check it out.
What goes through your head, Katelyn, as we're
I think the overarching theme for me is I always try to I always try to look at when I was first learning these things from you, where did I doubt it or where did I not implement it that that someone listening may think, right? So, I always try to go like the contrarian side. Like, why would I listen to this episode or listen to your advice? And what is the person that's not going to move forward? What lie or story are they going to tell themselves that's going to stop them from doing this, right?
that is?
What's going to hold them back? They're going to say I can't afford it. And so I think the big theme is, you know, and we can say something quippy and and say

53:59like, "No, you can't afford to not do it, right?" But like if we really go down to it and say like if someone says they can't afford it, I go back and I look at this list and there's all of these things you can afford. Either they're free or have capacity to be to be free or the theme throughout it is spend the money on the things that are going to matter the most. And so the theme is you said, "Here's what the wealthy spend their money on." Sure, you may not be able to join the country club. I get that. But that same thing, if we look and apply it, there is a a less expensive version, but also the theme is cut the expenses on the crap that doesn't freaking matter. So like you're a psychopath, and I use this all the time. I'm sure we're going to have an episode where I get the opportunity to tell everyone about your crazy paper towel story.
Yeah.
Where you just
Hey, it's a silver
absolutely
It's over 75% reduction in cost.

55:01
Correct. And you wanted to spend a lot of time to drive that home for the business so that we all understood that those expenses can be compressed. You should be looking at what are the things that you can absolutely do not add any value. Compress those expenses as much as you can so you can do two things with the remaining income. Number one, you can invest it in assets that are going to provide a cash flow. Number two, you are going to invest it in things that you've listed here, these 10 things. You're going to invest it in getting your time back, health and longevity, learning and skills, kids education and exposure. Cut out the crap. Reduce the expenses on the crap that doesn't matter, so you can now take and invest it in two ways. Invest it in cash flowing assets or these 10 things. That's it. That's all. And yeah, I said crap a couple times and my mom's going to listen to this and say, "We don't say crap." I'm saying crap. It's crap. Compress it over here, reduce it over here. So, with the remaining in

56:03remaining money you have, you can go in those two directions. That's it. That's all.
I uh I I mean I I think that was an incredible explanation. I would go right where you first started, which is the person watching this that says, "I can't afford it." And what I would argue is in that that's a story. And that's your 40-year-old programming. It goes back to his plan it in your head when you heard your parents say it, you've heard society say it, and you've anchored it in, "I just can't afford it." And it is the same thing. It doesn't work in my market. So, the first thing when someone says that I go, "Actually, you can't. I agree." With that question, you're you're toast before you start it. You have to ask a different question. How can I afford it? You have to start there. Cuz what do I What I would Because, Calen, I'm going to tell you you couldn't have been more poor than where I started out at 19. I had no money, zero dollars. I So much so that I spent a day, Taylor was out of town working, and I drove around because I needed to find an apartment that would give me the

57:05first month free with the 12-month lease because I didn't have the deposits. But, I was asking a different, "How can I afford it?"
Okay.
The money's out there.
That's a good paradigm shift.
And you keep going, "How can I?" Well, I don't know. I got it. How can I though? Your brain is so Then in the shower you're going to go, "You know what? I I know how to do it." And you take the first bite-size piece.
Ah.
You go buy the used tent and you take your kid camping and you had the same experience
I?
How can I do it? That isn't working in my market.
for me.
How can I do it in my market? How can I do it in my situation? And the minute you cuz you know like if someone says I can't do anything I'm like I can First of all, I can do anything. I was born I'm lucky I'm lucky that I was born naturally gifted at everything. What a gift. It's not true, right? I wasn't born naturally gifted at absolutely anything. I'm willing to do the work to get great at anything I want to do. So just it's a different mindset.
Like you just let it go. How So if you're watching this and you might have you go through it like hey that's bougie

58:07that works for Brett when he's got money now and Katelyn they bought this resort and that's so cool. Yeah, I was doing it before I had the money though. And there's a book and you could you should go back and watch the episode that I did with Mark Victor Hansen. He wrote the book called the Aladdin Factor. And the Aladdin Factor it's kind of it takes you 2 seconds to understand. I mean you can almost one of those books you read the title you got it. But what if you just asked the world what you wanted?
So it's not about a magic carpet.
It it is about magic that you get to rub the lamp of life. Everyone gets to rub it. And you get to ask it for anything.
So how
What if it just gave it to you? My question I would leave this episode and I'd go How can I do it? I'm Brett Tanner. That's Katelyn Mitchell. This is Be Wealthy. See you back here next week.