The Adventure with Stephen Courson

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On This Episode
Marlon Martinez grew up in Cuba and dealt with the communist government and inability to rise above your station. After his parents emigrated to the USA, he saw the work ethic of his parents and how they adapted to their new life in order to provide for their family.
This gave him advantages that have been statistically proven by a recent study done showing that when comparing native US citizens in poverty against immigrants in the US, the amount of immigrants that become wealthy is almost double. So why is that?
Marlon followed the old American Dream playbook, went to college, racked up lots of student loans getting a Masters degree and then bought a home just before the recession in 2008.
Almost $500k in debt and battling thoughts of depression and suicide, he turned things around fought his way back. His systemic approach to making money and then managing it to become debt free in a few years is a masterclass in mindset and execution.
Now a millionaire, he discusses how lessons from his past led him to success and true wealth.
0:00 Intro
3:02 Growing up in Cuba
6:27 Immigrating to America and crying in a candy aisle
11:35 Knowing what is "enough" and finding contentment
13:30 Lessons learned from parents and the advantage of the immigrant mindset
21:02 Adaptability and WSJ research on immigrants outearning poor US born citizens
32:10 Finding his pupose
34:50 Being $135,000 in debt after his Master's degree
35:50 Buying a home in 2008
40:15 Changing careers and making a pivot in life

Connect With Me

Heroes! Please leave a review on Apple or Spotify if you love the podcast to help it grow and enable me to get bigger guests on the pod!
If you want to join my wealth-building and productivity focused newsletter that takes 5 minutes to read every week, then go to my website.

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About the Podcast

If working a 9-5 for 60 years so you can retire with a little money and die a few years later is what you want to do, then this is not the podcast for you.
This podcast is about contrarian investment strategies around time, energy and money to build the 4 types of wealth and utilize lifestyle design to create the life we want. The interviews are with hi-earning individuals on how they make money so you can copy us and grow wealth too!

Reaching that first $100k milestone is crucial and then the game changes.
Learn how the wealthy view time, energy and money so you can apply these proven strategies to your life.

A survey came out and found that people said they needed $500,000 in savings in order to feel financially secure. I have a huge issue with that number and I get into the details as to why.
I go over the results of the article and give a blind reaction to it in this first ever Super Awesome Article Review Podcast Episode! Not sure we'll end up calling it that or doing it again, but hopefully you'll enjoy it!

Connect With Me

Heroes! Please leave a review on Apple or Spotify if you love the podcast to help it grow and enable me to get bigger guests on the pod!
If you want to join my wealth-building and productivity focused newsletter that takes 5 minutes to read every week, then go to my website.

• LinkedIN
• YouTube

About the Podcast

If working a 9-5 for 60 years so you can retire with a little money and die a few years later is what you want to do, then this is not the podcast for you.
This podcast is about contrarian investment strategies around time, energy and money to build the 4 types of wealth and utilize lifestyle design to create the life we want. The interviews are with hi-earning individuals on how they make money so you can copy us and grow wealth too!

Reaching that first $100k milestone is crucial and then the game changes.
Learn how the wealthy view time, energy and money so you can apply these proven strategies to your life.

COVID-19 has impacted almost every single industry and job in the world. Most for the worst. Few for the better. But everyone has had to adapt or die.

Quote – “It’s not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters.”

THE BAD

How many people were impacted negatively?

42% of Americans said their level of financial security was the same or worse since the pandemic began.

That is with stimulus checks, payments on mortgages and loans being suspended for certain periods of time, bailouts for businesses to keep people hired and more. Despite ALL that, almost half of people in America are the same or worse.

The top areas where Americans have cut back have been on dining out (64%), entertainment (61%), clothes and apparel (55%), and travel (52%). While this has helped many Americans save, the significant cutbacks have destroyed these industries and the jobs associated.

Unemployment spiked to 14% in April 2020, and since then 63% have been living paycheck to paycheck.

1/3 of Americans have opened up a new credit card since the pandemic

Since COVID-19 hit, more than 1⁄4 of Americans have accumulated $10,000 or more in debt.

47% say they ran out of their emergency savings funds.

82% of people said if they were hit with a surprise $500 expense, they could not afford it! That’s up from about 55% pre-COVID.

THE GOOD

63% of people have started to save more and cut back on discretionary spending.

Considering we set records in 2019 for an average car payment of $554/mo for a new vehicle and $391/mo for a used car, this is very good to see. 32% of Americans have said controlling their spending is their top goal for 2021. Let’s hope it sticks.

For those who have 401ks or investment accounts, the stock market main funds returned anywhere from 9.7% on the Dow Jones to 45% on the NASDAQ. It was a great year for tech and other industries.

Also, homeowners should notice that their property values have gone up since there is a record shortage of homes for sale and a huge demand since interest rates are so low.

THE UGLY

Things will continue to get worse and more disparate until the coronavirus cases slow.

Government shutdowns will continue to be sporadic and do significant damage to small businesses if shutdowns continue.

Certain industries such as movie theaters and cruise lines may take years to recover if they do not pivot and adapt quickly to new health standards.

Small businesses in all industries will be forced to adapt to more digital and contactless ways to do business in order to survive the next few years. This is hard to do on a small staff.

Connect With Me

Heroes! Please leave a review on Apple or Spotify if you love the podcast to help it grow and enable me to get bigger guests on the pod!
If you want to join my wealth-building and productivity focused newsletter that takes 5 minutes to read every week, then go to my website.

• LinkedIN
• YouTube

About the Podcast

If working a 9-5 for 60 years so you can retire with a little money and die a few years later is what you want to do, then this is not the podcast for you.
This podcast is about contrarian investment strategies around time, energy and money to build the 4 types of wealth and utilize lifestyle design to create the life we want. The interviews are with hi-earning individuals on how they make money so you can copy us and grow wealth too!

Reaching that first $100k milestone is crucial and then the game changes.
Learn how the wealthy view time, energy and money so you can apply these proven strategies to your life.

You can now download my Lifestyle Strategy template for free at www.everything.money
Start with Challenge Question: It’s an age old saying. Money can’t buy happiness. But can it? Like, actual true happiness?

I guess the question is not so much “can money buy happiness” as it is “what do you consider happiness”?

Quote – “Money can’t buy happiness, but it can make you awfully comfortable while you’re being miserable.” – Clare Boothe Luce

Quote – “Anyone who tells you money can’t buy happiness never had any.” – Samuel L Jackson

For the purposes of this conversation, we are going to define happiness as being able to meet your basic needs, enjoying life experiences and having social ties.

Going off of my boy Maslow, our basic needs mostly can be pretty much be purchased. So money checks the box there.

What about enjoying life experiences? A jet ski is a helluva experience. That cost money. Hiking in the park and enjoying nature is free...minus the mosquito repellant. So overall, that’s free. Disney. Money. Stargazing or beach going (if you’re close to one). Free. Watching movies. A little money. Laughing about your favorite movie with friends. Free.

So it goes both ways there.

So, it is possible to have money buy elements of happiness, but its not necessary. However, it is difficult to say that without basic needs like shelter met, that happiness can be found. It doesn’t have to be fancy, but it has to be safe and reliable. That usually takes a form of money. So I’d give the point to money on this one.

Study

In a study done with over 450,000 Americans in 2010, they seemed to correlate a magical number of income where emotional well-being (defined as spending time with people they like, avoiding pain and disease and enjoying leisure) was $75,000.

Adjust for inflation and that’s about $89,000/household.

This is about the average income where the trend of well-being seems to taper off. The study isn’t sure why but they give a few reasons. But I think I have an idea that they kind of danced around but didn’t hit. LIFESTYLE CREEP.

$89k for a household is just enough to keep everyone comfortable, have a nice house, maybe a vacation or two a year if you watch your spending. But its not enough to significantly upgrade your lifestyle and take on debt that can weigh you down and cause stress.

41% of Divorced Gen Xers say they did it because of financial issues and dating experts say that money is the number conflict driver in relationships.

1/3 of couples say they have lied to their partner about debt.

Why is this? Because talking about money isn’t talking about money. It’s a discussion around values

Connect With Me

Heroes! Please leave a review on Apple or Spotify if you love the podcast to help it grow and enable me to get bigger guests on the pod!
If you want to join my wealth-building and productivity focused newsletter that takes 5 minutes to read every week, then go to my website.

• LinkedIN
• YouTube

About the Podcast

If working a 9-5 for 60 years so you can retire with a little money and die a few years later is what you want to do, then this is not the podcast for you.
This podcast is about contrarian investment strategies around time, energy and money to build the 4 types of wealth and utilize lifestyle design to create the life we want. The interviews are with hi-earning individuals on how they make money so you can copy us and grow wealth too!

Reaching that first $100k milestone is crucial and then the game changes.
Learn how the wealthy view time, energy and money so you can apply these proven strategies to your life.

I am experimenting on myself.
For years, I've studied why people don't change and why they do.
Change is hard. Doesn't matter if its about getting your finances together and investing and budgeting or trying to eat healthier and exercise or just get better at a skill for your job.
It's worth it! But its not easy....or is that a lie?
What if it was easy to change? What if all you needed was a mask like a superhero such as a Batman or Spiderman?
Well, that's what I want to find out.
Over the next 90 days, I will be adopting the alter ego of my ideal person and his name is HotShot.
This is the lifestyle and fitness challenge that is part of the experiment.
HotShot loves to wake up at 5am. Stephen likes to get up around 6:30.
HotShot jogs a 5k 5 days a week. Stephen thinks jogging is stupid.
HotShot hits the punching bag 5 minutes everyday. Stephen...doesn't.
I have no goals for this (except to not get institutionalized at the end).
All I have are these rules. Its scary, I'm not going to lie. This is a daunting change for me.
So follow along on YouTube Shorts or TikTok for the next 90 days if you want to see how it goes!

Connect With Me

Heroes! Please leave a review on Apple or Spotify if you love the podcast to help it grow and enable me to get bigger guests on the pod!
If you want to join my wealth-building and productivity focused newsletter that takes 5 minutes to read every week, then go to my website.

• LinkedIN
• YouTube

About the Podcast

If working a 9-5 for 60 years so you can retire with a little money and die a few years later is what you want to do, then this is not the podcast for you.
This podcast is about contrarian investment strategies around time, energy and money to build the 4 types of wealth and utilize lifestyle design to create the life we want. The interviews are with hi-earning individuals on how they make money so you can copy us and grow wealth too!

Reaching that first $100k milestone is crucial and then the game changes.
Learn how the wealthy view time, energy and money so you can apply these proven strategies to your life.