Becoming Money Smart in the Face of Life’s Challenges with Gary Grewal, Author of Financial Fives: The Top 325 Ways to Save, Earn and Thrive to Retire Before 65.
Author of Financial Fives, Gary Grewal, shares several of his financially formative experiences, from growing up with a mother who exemplified positive financial qualities to learning from the mistakes of others (friends, neighbors, and customers at work). Because of these lessons, Gary has avoided credit card debt his entire life. That’s not to say he’s never made financial mistakes or that he wasn’t tempted to use credit cards and debt contrary to these lessons. Still, listeners will learn valuable lessons themselves from Gary’s experiences and from the advice he shares about money, credit, debt, and the power of respectful negotiations.
- Gary learned the value of a dollar from his mother and the power of negotiation and the value of investing from a mentor.
- His determination to stay out of debt sprang from a certain amount of fear based on the negative financial experiences of Gary’s neighbors and friends.
- When working at Circuit City, a customer was stunned when she was declined for the store credit card after having just got a mortgage and taken out two car loans.
- The tradeoffs between consumer debt and missed opportunities.
- The importance of doing your research before opening a credit card or store card.
- Negotiation skills are critical in our society, but a good negotiator does it from an informed and respectful perspective.
- Good negotiators see themselves as equal to the other party.
- Laying out five financial priorities: know what you’re worth, know how much you bring in and spend, automate your finances, lower your cost of borrowing, and know what’s important to you.
- The principle of minimalism is all about prioritizing and intentionality.
