300: [Kevin Matthews II] The Money Journey: From Tariffs to Teaching Kids about Wealth
In this episode of About That Wallet, host Anthony Weaver sits down with the insightful Kevin Mathews II, a financial expert and author of From Burning to Blueprint: Rebuilding Black Wall Street. Together, they explore the intricacies of financial literacy, the impact of tariffs, and the importance of communication in building generational wealth.
Kevin shares personal anecdotes about his upbringing and how his father's budgeting strategies influenced his understanding of money. They discuss the complexities of tariffs, their effects on consumer prices, and how they can lead to inflation. Listeners will gain valuable insights into the motivations behind tariffs and how these policies impact everyday spending decisions.
The conversation also delves into the significance of financial education for children, emphasizing the need to instill good money habits from a young age. Kevin discusses practical ways to engage kids in financial discussions and the importance of transparency in family finances.
💬 Question of the Day: How do you approach teaching your children about money? Share your thoughts in the comments!
🔗 Connect with Kevin Matthews:
Website: buildingbread.com
Social Media: @BuildingBread
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=|| 📚 Chapters ||=
(00:00) Welcome and Introduction
(02:30) Kevin's Financial Journey
(10:15) Understanding Tariffs and Inflation
(20:00) The Importance of Financial Communication
(30:15) Teaching Kids About Money
(40:00) The Role of Delayed Gratification in Wealth Building
(50:30) Final Thoughts and Resources
(55:00) How to Connect with Kevin
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⚠️ DISCLAIMER:
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#AboutThatWallet #FinancialLiteracy #GenerationalWealth #Tariffs #MoneyManagement
Episode 300
Transcript
>> Kevin L. Matthews II: He would sit down like, here's how to pay bills.
Speaker:When we went on ski trips, ski trips didn't just
Speaker:happen, right? We said, oh, we just going this well, nowhere. Like,
Speaker:uh, no, my dad had a coin jar. It was like,
Speaker:hey, every time I pay for something, I get changed. I put it in this
Speaker:jar. When it gets full, we take it to the bank,
Speaker:and then we see how much we got. And then if we get enough, then
Speaker:we're gonna go to Colorado and have a fun ski trip. So to
Speaker:me, there's a process here. There's a budget here.
Speaker:It was not an overnight trip at all.
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: It's a
Speaker:welcome back, everybody, back to another exciting show, the
Speaker:about that Water podcast, where we help the
Speaker:sandwich generation build strong financial habits
Speaker:so that they can talk about money, spend money,
Speaker:and even enjoy their money with confidence.
Speaker:I'm your host, Anthony Weaver, and one
Speaker:of the things that I have with me today is one of the
Speaker:great people that I've met multiple times,
Speaker:but this is the first time I actually have him on the show.
Speaker:He has done well over dealing, uh,
Speaker:with over $140 million in
Speaker:assets. He is the number one bestseller
Speaker:book. I mean, this is the second book that I got, which is
Speaker:called From Burning to Blueprint
Speaker:Rebuilding Black Wall Street. After a
Speaker:century of silence now.
Speaker:Welcome to the show. Kevin, how have you been today?
Speaker:>> Kevin L. Matthews II: I've been doing pretty good, thank you.
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: You're welcome, man.
Speaker:So what is a tariff?
Speaker:>> Kevin L. Matthews II: Yeah, so the most
Speaker:basic definition of a tariff is it is an
Speaker:indirect tax on the consumer. So when you go
Speaker:and buy something, you are going to see a higher
Speaker:price. And the reason why that is is because the
Speaker:importer, the store that you are buying it from, has
Speaker:to pay a higher price from where they got it from, and they
Speaker:just pass on the higher price to you.
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: And that's great that they have that. So
Speaker:why do you know, countries
Speaker:actually feel as though, like, hey, we're going to
Speaker:threaten tariffs on you if it all automatically
Speaker:comes down to the customer, like, what's the point of doing that?
Speaker:>> Kevin L. Matthews II: All right, so there are two primary reasons as to
Speaker:why we impose tariffs. So, number one is to kind of
Speaker:somewhat of a punishment for one country to
Speaker:another to kind of get them to comply with whatever it is you're trying to
Speaker:get them to do. Obviously, you don't want to go to war, right, and
Speaker:fight with somebody every time you try and get them to do something.
Speaker:Because if you will, one way
Speaker:to kind of look at it. So you are saying, hey, anytime you
Speaker:are selling or Sending some stuff over here, we are
Speaker:going to make it more expensive. So our people
Speaker:are going to buy your stuff and that's going to hurt your companies and
Speaker:your industry. So that's one way. And perhaps, you
Speaker:know, whether it's China or Canada or Mexico,
Speaker:they may change that behavior depending on what that behavior may
Speaker:be. So that's number one. Number two, the other side
Speaker:of it is the US consumer and what they are trying to do
Speaker:is disincent, incentivize, try and tell you,
Speaker:hey look, if there are two things and one of them is
Speaker:20 higher and they're the exact same thing, let's say
Speaker:washing machines for example, are you going to buy the one
Speaker:that's 20 more expensive? Probably not. Not. They are
Speaker:the exact same thing. You're going to buy the American because
Speaker:the American made one does not have the
Speaker:tariff. And um, by doing that you would think
Speaker:that if the American made thing is the exact same and
Speaker:the exact same quality, it doesn't have a tariff because it's
Speaker:20% cheaper now, then you would
Speaker:support American jobs, build more American factories,
Speaker:so on and so forth. Now does that work in real life?
Speaker:That's a different story. But that is, that
Speaker:is the thought and that is why people do it. Again, it worked way
Speaker:better in the 1800s. Not necessarily as,
Speaker:as well as what people think it will do and what they think it does
Speaker:in today's age.
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: Yeah, Considering that we don't make too many things in
Speaker:the US and a lot of the times we have
Speaker:like private prisons that actually
Speaker:employ the prisoners to do made in the
Speaker:US products. So
Speaker:how can we as consumers be more
Speaker:mindful of what are we actually purchasing, what are
Speaker:we actually supporting, uh, when it comes
Speaker:to our everyday spending.
Speaker:>> Kevin L. Matthews II: Yeah, I mean you, you gotta just dig deep
Speaker:and read into it. Sometimes when you
Speaker:dig deeper into who the suppliers are,
Speaker:that will kind of give you some info. Sometimes it'll list it in
Speaker:the packaging and tell you this came from this
Speaker:factory, this came from X, Y and Z. If you really
Speaker:want to go into deeper detail
Speaker:in the the they call it the
Speaker:10K. These are the annual reports that
Speaker:companies have to put out every year. What's called
Speaker:annual report. It'll cite the risk and sometimes it'll
Speaker:say supplier risk because X company in
Speaker:this country is gives us chips or
Speaker:glass or they make 95% of our products. If that
Speaker:country shuts down or we get a tariff, we're not going to make our products.
Speaker:Well, if it tells me that, I'm like, well your stuff
Speaker:is you know, in this country or in this, this
Speaker:area, I may or may not support that. Um,
Speaker:so that is that they'll usually list it that way.
Speaker:And, and those are some of the ways that you can kind of decide
Speaker:how deep you want to go down that rabbit hole and whether or not you want to put your
Speaker:dollars behind it.
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: Now, will the tariffs actually impose, like, inflation
Speaker:or anything like that to like?
Speaker:Because, uh, right now we are actually trying to fight inflation.
Speaker:But yet you put tariffs on things at the same time.
Speaker:Oh, yeah, that work,
Speaker:yeah.
Speaker:>> Kevin L. Matthews II: So that is, that is the odd thing as to why
Speaker:the tariffs were, were baffling in
Speaker:a wide case. Meaning you're just slapping tariffs on
Speaker:everything that's coming from an entire
Speaker:country. So everything from China, everything from Mexico, everything
Speaker:from Canada, and you just name a country and
Speaker:you just put a tap on all of that stuff.
Speaker:Then, yes, you would see inflation, because
Speaker:we import a lot of those things. And that is
Speaker:not a good, good thing. Right. At the end of the day, because if I'm
Speaker:Walmart, if I'm Target, if I'm Costco,
Speaker:I'm not going to eat that cost. You
Speaker:think about, if you are running a business and your costs go up by
Speaker:10%, you're not going to take that usually. All right, that's.
Speaker:That sucks for me. I'm just going, I'm gonna change the sticker
Speaker:price and I'm just passing on the consumer. Right. So it's
Speaker:obvious that that is the logical case as to what they're going to do
Speaker:usually. And what we saw during the first Trump administration is
Speaker:it was very narrow and it was that, hey, just washing
Speaker:machines. We're just going to put tariffs, just
Speaker:soybeans for an example. We're just going to put a tariff on.
Speaker:And we did see both washers and dryers. Even
Speaker:though dryers didn't have a tariff, both of those actually
Speaker:did raise in price. But that's not the entire economy.
Speaker:Right. That's. That's not as bad, but it depends on
Speaker:what you're putting a tariff on and how wide the tariff is going
Speaker:to be and who the tariffs are going to be on. So right now it's
Speaker:on China. As of today, we'll see what's going to happen
Speaker:with, with Canada, Mexico, Europe and other
Speaker:nations that we import from.
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: Yeah, I saw an article from the BBC
Speaker:that was just talking about how there's just
Speaker:a blanket tariff on all products.
Speaker:>> Kevin L. Matthews II: Yeah.
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: And right now the UK is kind of like, hey,
Speaker:um, you're going to mess up our economy.
Speaker:Too.
Speaker:>> Kevin L. Matthews II: Yeah, and that's, and that's, that's that twofold thing.
Speaker:Right. So if a tariff is going to mess up the entire
Speaker:economy and I don't think it's the right thing to do, but if
Speaker:that's the threat and say, hey, I'm putting terrorists going ruin your entire
Speaker:economy, that I need you to do whatever it is, uh, it's kind
Speaker:of like a strong arm tactic. So
Speaker:perhaps that's, that's the first point we talked about trying to get
Speaker:you to do whatever it is I want you to do
Speaker:without being more aggressive. So
Speaker:we'll see what that aim is going to be. We'll see whether or not they're going to do
Speaker:it. The other thing too is if you do that,
Speaker:there is a, uh, thing called retaliation and they can also slap
Speaker:a tariff on you. And that's not going to be great for us either because
Speaker:we also sell things to other countries,
Speaker:especially for the US for agriculture. We sell a lot of
Speaker:stuff to other countries around the world, especially
Speaker:in China and India and other places. We're very good at
Speaker:growing food. We have way too much food in the US
Speaker:you can tell for a lot of other reasons.
Speaker:So, um, if they start slapping tariffs on us,
Speaker:we can't sell that stuff because they're not going to want to buy it because
Speaker:it's 20 or 30% higher. If we can't sell
Speaker:that stuff, what happens? We lose
Speaker:money, we lose jobs. And that's going to become a
Speaker:problem here. So not only are you going to see inflation,
Speaker:you might start to see unemployment start to
Speaker:rise and you start to get high inflation and high
Speaker:employment that is going to equal a recession. Now the get
Speaker:the big thing here is if, right. If
Speaker:and how long and how drastic these things are,
Speaker:that's going to play, play a big factor into this.
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: So what are your thoughts on universal basic income?
Speaker:>> Kevin L. Matthews II: It was the, Is it this
Speaker:depressing?
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: I had to ask. I had that.
Speaker:>> Kevin L. Matthews II: Yeah, yeah. So, so I actually did
Speaker:a panel on this for
Speaker:Fincon in
Speaker:2018,
Speaker:2017 or 2018 I
Speaker:think. And I, I'm for it.
Speaker:I think in certain instances it does make sense.
Speaker:We've had. Now again, my, my research is
Speaker:dated so you know, we'll, I'll have to
Speaker:go back and see. But there were many
Speaker:instances, I think in like certain cities across the country
Speaker:where they actually did test it out, whether it was $1,000 a month or
Speaker:whatever it was, it was successful. A lot of the
Speaker:mistakes or the, the threats that people thought was going to
Speaker:happen Actually didn't happen. People were fine.
Speaker:And I think there, there's a good case for it.
Speaker:Um, no, I don't think UBI
Speaker:Universal Basic Income is going to cause mass inflation.
Speaker:It really depends on how it is implemented.
Speaker:And then what else happens when around it, there
Speaker:is somebody out there yelling at me right now. Could you
Speaker:say that the pandemic was a
Speaker:case for that, where we were giving people
Speaker:stimulus checks and people had a bunch of,
Speaker:you were sitting at home, you got a check for just being there,
Speaker:which, it was a challenge. We earned that.
Speaker:Right. But, but because of that, that
Speaker:caused inflation. My argument would
Speaker:be, yes, you could say that it caused inflation. But the
Speaker:other part was we couldn't go anywhere and do anything.
Speaker:Therefore, that is why we're all bidding
Speaker:up for random stuff like Meme Coin and all that kind of stuff.
Speaker:If we could just travel and go out to restaurants and
Speaker:do the stuff we would normally do, I don't think we would have saw inflation in
Speaker:the same way.
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: I can see that. Yeah. Because right now, uh, actually
Speaker:a lot of people probably use that money even to start off their investments for
Speaker:the first time.
Speaker:>> Kevin L. Matthews II: Yeah. And, and there were some, some amazing impacts from doing
Speaker:that as well.
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: I wonder. I mean, I'm just trying to think
Speaker:philosophically here. It was like, I think
Speaker:a lot of the reasons why we don't have it is
Speaker:because they was like, oh, this other
Speaker:demographic of people want to get it too. Like,
Speaker:uh, yes. Why can't we, why can't we just keep it for
Speaker:ourselves, you know?
Speaker:>> Kevin L. Matthews II: Well, yeah, I mean, and this, this goes
Speaker:into perhaps we
Speaker:can't, we can go there.
Speaker:Yeah. So, I mean, there's, there are two things.
Speaker:One is we don't necessarily, like,
Speaker:help other people in America anymore. I, I,
Speaker:I don't know if we ever did. But, uh, we, we definitely do not like to
Speaker:help other people, especially black and brown folk in
Speaker:America. If we see that it helps other
Speaker:people, then we are, we are not going to
Speaker:like that particular benefit. It has always been that way.
Speaker:Free lunch programs. Oh, it's helping 40 people. That's
Speaker:black. Oh, let's cut it. Like, that's, that is a wild thing.
Speaker:But it happens. Like the Affordable Care
Speaker:Act. Free health care. Affordable health care. What?
Speaker:I'm not saying it's perfect, but, oh, y' all get free health care.
Speaker:No, we don't want that. It's just like, damn,
Speaker:that's wild. You know, it's helping people. And y'
Speaker:all don't want that student loan forgiveness. Right.
Speaker:I know. People are saying it's expensive and all kind of stuff, but when
Speaker:you really think about, hey, can we make college more affordable?
Speaker:No, we don't want to do that. It's just like,
Speaker:why? You know, it's just there was a, um,
Speaker:there was a program that was blocked by the new
Speaker:Trump administration by just trying to lower
Speaker:the interest rate on student loans. They were
Speaker:trying, oh, it's new payment plan. It was new pay. They
Speaker:were trying to pay their loans. All the plan was
Speaker:doing. It wasn't giving nobody a handout. It wasn't
Speaker:trying to, you know, forgive any debt
Speaker:if that was the concern. You know what? I don't want to pay for that
Speaker:for my tax dollars, whatever, right? It's just a new payment
Speaker:plan to help me to pay my debt off faster and that's it. And I am
Speaker:paying it all. It's like, no, we don't want to do that. It's just like,
Speaker:why not? Uh, why, when do we get to a point we just help
Speaker:nobody at all? Right? So that
Speaker:is a big part of it. The other part is there is a
Speaker:psychological thing that is really kind of built into the
Speaker:fabric of the United States. People, uh, call it like the
Speaker:Protestant work ethic. We feel
Speaker:like you got to get it out the mud. And it is a
Speaker:bootstrap mentality, which has actually never been the
Speaker:case, um, where people feel like a
Speaker:handout is un American and that's not how things are
Speaker:built. When in reality there is a long paper trail
Speaker:of, I, uh, would say more than 90% of the wealth that
Speaker:is built in the United States is through
Speaker:some government program. The wealthiest
Speaker:man in the United States right now, Elon Musk, would not
Speaker:exist today had it not been through
Speaker:government programs for SpaceX to exist,
Speaker:through government grants and programs for Tesla
Speaker:to exist. Those carbon credits were through
Speaker:a government program. Today, like
Speaker:those things don't exist through, without government programs,
Speaker:the entire real estate market. There was a point,
Speaker:right, where. Yeah, yeah, like special tax
Speaker:benefits for owning real estate, uh, used to get
Speaker:special write offs for the interest for owning a
Speaker:home. Like that is a government benefit
Speaker:to help you to build wealth. You know,
Speaker:like it's not just I did it on my own,
Speaker:but that is the American ethos that we, we feel like that
Speaker:has to happen. And anything that goes counter to that, or at least obvious
Speaker:counter to that makes it feel like it is
Speaker:some, some moral sin against that
Speaker:individual.
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: Yeah.
Speaker:>> Kevin L. Matthews II: Long, uh, answer. I'm sorry.
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: No, you're good.
Speaker:Because it gets you to think of like, why do we
Speaker:do or why do we purchase the things that we purchase? And people
Speaker:who are these business
Speaker:gurus who are out there be like, oh, yeah, you know,
Speaker:just kind of like you said, do it with your bootstraps or whatever. Oh,
Speaker:I did this on my own. But would you be doing it
Speaker:if you get in. Like, why would you even get into real estate if you
Speaker:wasn't getting these tax benefits? Why would you
Speaker:get into or try to pay off your city loans
Speaker:if there wasn't any tax benefits? Because I think they give it to, like, twenty
Speaker:five hundred dollars per year for single. And I
Speaker:think if you're married, I think they still keep it at 2500.
Speaker:But it's like you're getting all these tax implications
Speaker:because that's what they trying to push out there.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:>> Kevin L. Matthews II: And that's the thing. Like, it is all economics is.
Speaker:The study of economics is all about incentives. People do what
Speaker:they are incentivized to do. And the government is supposed
Speaker:to. In a perfect world, they do. They incentivize people to do the
Speaker:right thing. Right? But even look at what Elon Musk is
Speaker:doing now, right? But
Speaker:he's getting a $400 billion contract
Speaker:for armored Teslas from the Department
Speaker:of Defense. Now
Speaker:you think he just sitting next to the president for no reason? It's
Speaker:like that. Is that not. Is that not government
Speaker:welfare? Like, if eli gets a
Speaker:$400 billion check for his business,
Speaker:it's fine, right? But if. Lord
Speaker:forbid that. If I was ever on government
Speaker:assistance for food stamps, now I'm a welfare
Speaker:king, and my family's terrible, right?
Speaker:You see, like, the difference? Or if I were to ask for
Speaker:student loan forgiveness for 30,000,
Speaker:I'm a terrible person. I need to get out the mud.
Speaker:But he can get 400 billion.
Speaker:It is just like, well, wait a minute here. Yeah,
Speaker:it's the same government, and it's my tax. It's still my tax
Speaker:dollars in this case. And that's something that's like,
Speaker:I still pay taxes. So
Speaker:you know why? Why?
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: You know, because I try to look at it from. Also it's
Speaker:like, hey, this person. Some people can look at it this way.
Speaker:I'm gonna try to play devil advocate here. Um,
Speaker:they will say, well, he is the least
Speaker:actually bringing in jobs. He's providing jobs for
Speaker:other people to get more money. Okay? But
Speaker:you as an individual, just because you're trying to get
Speaker:out of your situation, not
Speaker:realizing the implications of you getting out of that
Speaker:situation that you're in, you can actually help other People to
Speaker:get paid for the jobs that they doing.
Speaker:>> Kevin L. Matthews II: Mhm.
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: Make it make sense.
Speaker:>> Kevin L. Matthews II: Yes. I mean, I would also argue, I mean
Speaker:he's also cut a lot of jobs too, so.
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: Yeah, today.
Speaker:>> Kevin L. Matthews II: Yeah, yeah. I'm like, I mean even what, a year or two
Speaker:ago. You mean the guy who cut 80% of the jobs at
Speaker:Twitter, the guy who, who laid off
Speaker:was however many people that worked in a nuclear office
Speaker:and then realizing, oh wait a minute, we need those people.
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: So you saw that.
Speaker:>> Kevin L. Matthews II: Yeah, yeah. So,
Speaker:so, you know, uh, again, side note,
Speaker:rant, but it's that, that
Speaker:ethos of, well, I want to help
Speaker:certain people, but then when they do it, it's not help, but when I
Speaker:do it, it is there, there are a lot of those
Speaker:instances. But I, I will, I, I. On my
Speaker:reading list for this year is a book called When
Speaker:Welfare was White. Um,
Speaker:so I haven't read it yet, so I can't endorse it yet, but
Speaker:the title caught me.
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: And the reason why I might have to watch that.
Speaker:>> Kevin L. Matthews II: Yeah, yeah. And the reason why is because there have been
Speaker:tons and tons of programs that were like the
Speaker:GI Bill, which is, that's, that's one of them. A government
Speaker:program that was almost exclusively for white
Speaker:people that set up one of the greatest generations,
Speaker:uh, the boomer generation. Right now it gave
Speaker:them loans for housing, helped them to go to school, made
Speaker:it extremely affordable. But black veterans who did the
Speaker:exact same thing went over, fought for World War II,
Speaker:almost never got those grants. We're talking less than 10%
Speaker:of black vets were approved for those
Speaker:that generational wealth from the homes and the,
Speaker:the free college for the most part, that was
Speaker:passed on. And because they didn't have student loans, they could
Speaker:help save for their kids and so on and so forth. We didn't
Speaker:get that. And now right when
Speaker:we are asking for student loans, all this kind of stuff,
Speaker:it feels like a handout to us when you know, you're looking
Speaker:at, they had the same thing, right. Uh, the
Speaker:Homestead act, where land was given
Speaker:primarily to white people. I think it was 1852,
Speaker:you have to correct me in the notes, uh, for that exact year,
Speaker:but it is in the, in, in the book from Burning the Blueprint,
Speaker:that was also a major land giveaway
Speaker:primarily to white folk. That land
Speaker:still exists. Those people used it for farming. Those
Speaker:people sold that land and got cash for it. Black
Speaker:people didn't get that. And that's, that's the wealth I'm talking about
Speaker:where it was a government funded
Speaker:program given to A
Speaker:specific population. That wealth gap, it didn't
Speaker:happen from Gucci belts and people being lazy.
Speaker:Go to the Gucci belts and the Jordans. I'm like, uh,
Speaker:I don't know if 200 pairs of J's or
Speaker:200 pair of J's. That was started in
Speaker:1984.
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: Really?
Speaker:>> Kevin L. Matthews II: Really what it did, you know, 200 years of damage. I
Speaker:don't know.
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: Well, it gets me to think of the term
Speaker:financial literacy, um, and that.
Speaker:Or financial generational wealth. And I
Speaker:listened to that and I had to think about
Speaker:long and hard about it, because when it comes
Speaker:to generational wealth. Air quotes here.
Speaker:To me, it's almost like cleaning your house,
Speaker:if you want to use that. Uh, I'm trying to use that as analogy.
Speaker:Generational wealth is like, bring it up to cleaning your house.
Speaker:Okay, well, you want to clean home
Speaker:how? And that's where the
Speaker:subtopics start to come in. And that's where, you
Speaker:know, you and I kind of thrive in. Is like, yes, you
Speaker:can get to that. But what are the small things
Speaker:that you're doing dayto day to kind of get to that level?
Speaker:Um, and I know we talked about tariffs, uh,
Speaker:but what the. What are one of the things that
Speaker:you seen that has been really helpful as a
Speaker:subset of financial generational wealth,
Speaker:um, that you seem to
Speaker:resonate the most with?
Speaker:>> Kevin L. Matthews II: I would say probably one that I don't
Speaker:think enough people talk about. It's
Speaker:really the communication piece.
Speaker:Uh, far too often we talk about
Speaker:the money part of generational wealth for obvious reasons.
Speaker:The wealth is in the name. Right? It's right there in the name. So
Speaker:obviously you got to talk about it. Um, and
Speaker:as I'm thinking about, it's actually two parts. So the first one is
Speaker:the communication piece, because
Speaker:you do have to talk
Speaker:about that transfer
Speaker:of I am building X, Y and Z
Speaker:for you, and it's going to be
Speaker:transferred. I've got this in your name, this in your
Speaker:sister's name, so on and so forth. And the reason why that
Speaker:is so important, whether it is a lot of money or a little,
Speaker:is because, one, it shows that you had intention
Speaker:and that I didn't just leave this earth
Speaker:and just throw stuff out there. And when you pass it on,
Speaker:it tells your kids, like, hey, this was the purpose of
Speaker:this. And it gives them direction as well. Because I've seen as a
Speaker:former financial advisor, a lot of times
Speaker:family member passes, they all fight over stuff and nobody
Speaker:knows where anything is supposed to go because there was no
Speaker:communication. So that's That's a big part of it.
Speaker:Uh, and then that, like, hey, I am saving this.
Speaker:I am building this thing. Here is how I did
Speaker:it. That's a big part, too. What I see, especially
Speaker:for millennials and maybe, um,
Speaker:Gen. Gen Z coming up now is
Speaker:that for our parents, though, things were way cheaper.
Speaker:$5 houses don't exist anymore. But
Speaker:when we grew up, and this is just the nature of being a kid, right?
Speaker:When you grow up, you grow up, your parents look as if they have
Speaker:everything together. And it's just like, yeah, when I
Speaker:come of age and just notice things, y' all had a car, y' all had a house, and
Speaker:everything seemed fine. Parents should really talk
Speaker:about. Not that you got to show them all the struggles of life,
Speaker:right? But you, you should say, hey, when they're in their
Speaker:20s. Like, hey, actually, this is what I was doing
Speaker:when I was your age. I was hustling and doing two
Speaker:jobs, if that were the case, or I. This is how I built all of these
Speaker:things to show them that it wasn't just all magic and
Speaker:unicorns. Because showing your kids the process
Speaker:by which you acquired those things
Speaker:is important. You need to show them the
Speaker:blueprint to do that so that they can do that. So that's
Speaker:communication. So that was number one.
Speaker:Um, we talked about. I mean, we all, all know,
Speaker:um, the wealth piece. And the second piece is
Speaker:time. Far too often, I think we
Speaker:assume the generational wealth is going to be. It's going to be built by me, and we
Speaker:done. That's not always the case. I know it's
Speaker:unfortunate at times, but it may not always.
Speaker:It may take a generation to build generational wealth, and that's
Speaker:okay. You might be that first domino that just
Speaker:passes the baton, and you might not see it
Speaker:through the end, but you might be the first, most important
Speaker:person to start it. I think that's important, too.
Speaker:So for me, I'm on track to hit
Speaker:that, that million dollar mark.
Speaker:Yeah, probably before. We'll see. We'll see how the market goes.
Speaker:Right? But, you know,
Speaker:if all things hold up, I should hit there before
Speaker:40. Definitely before 45. We'll see.
Speaker:Uh, however, even if I weren't,
Speaker:I would still set my kids up to
Speaker:get there. Right? So even if I'm paying
Speaker:off my student loans to do all this stuff, I still would
Speaker:have set my kids up to hit that mark by
Speaker:3540. Right? By putting away
Speaker:$50 a month, $100 a month or whatever. Right. You see
Speaker:what I mean? Like, I, uh, Even if I didn't, I might not get there,
Speaker:but I'm going to make sure somebody else is. And that.
Speaker:And that's a part of it too. Right. So you may not
Speaker:always get there, but again, through that communication, through that
Speaker:intention, and say, hey, I mean, I hit a million,
Speaker:but, hey, I got four or five hundred thousand.
Speaker:That's why I'm leaving y' all. And y' all get to start here. Y' all
Speaker:get to start 500,000 further
Speaker:than what the previous generation did. And that is how
Speaker:it starts. Leave them further than what the
Speaker:previous generation did.
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: And that goes back to
Speaker:the, uh. I guess you could say the old saying
Speaker:is that you kind of act like the
Speaker:people that you hang around with the most. And if your
Speaker:kids are hanging around with you a lot and
Speaker:you actually teaching them these different values, see, different money
Speaker:values, they're going to more than likely either, A,
Speaker:see what you're doing and say, like, oh, uh, man, I really like what they
Speaker:were doing. Let's mimic that. Or B,
Speaker:resent all of it. Because I hated having
Speaker:just peanut butter and jelly sandwich with rice and beans every day
Speaker:because I'm gonna just eat steak and, you
Speaker:know, cereal just because I can
Speaker:be. And also because I didn't have it when I was younger.
Speaker:>> Kevin L. Matthews II: Yeah.
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: So, yeah.
Speaker:What are the things that you actually felt
Speaker:that you feel that you're doing right now for your children?
Speaker:>> Kevin L. Matthews II: Yeah. Yeah. So my kids are a little
Speaker:younger. Um, so my son will be seven in.
Speaker:In March, and my daughter is now. But
Speaker:what I do is. So we've ordered some
Speaker:finance flashcards. Uh, my son
Speaker:got his first wallet for his birthday last year.
Speaker:Congrats and thank you. And what I do
Speaker:is I have him to make very small
Speaker:financial decisions at this point in time, when
Speaker:I am. And it's something my. My dad kind of did for me. But
Speaker:like you said, like, I have him when I do certain
Speaker:YouTube videos, if he's home and not at school, depending on what time
Speaker:I'm recording, I'll have him come and sit in the room
Speaker:and watch me talk about money. Right. If I'm
Speaker:editing or something and he's trying to read
Speaker:or. Or I'm not trying to distract him, but if he's
Speaker:reading or doing his own work or something, I was like, hey, just sit here
Speaker:and edit a video, because I'm showing him the process. But also,
Speaker:he is hearing about index funds, he's hearing
Speaker:about the stock market, he's hearing about retirement. And that
Speaker:stuff slowly, over time, does kind of
Speaker:seep in to. To you. When I go to
Speaker:a grocery store, I'll say, hey, pull out your
Speaker:wallet. I'll give him the money instead of making him pay for it, right?
Speaker:But I'll give him the money, put it in his wallet, and he'll
Speaker:go and pay for something so he can understand how
Speaker:money works, how to talk to people, right? And
Speaker:ask for things. Since it was the digital world, you still got to deal with people
Speaker:and have those conversations. And that's how
Speaker:it starts. As it gets older, we'll start to read money books
Speaker:and have deeper conversations, but really getting
Speaker:them into the practice of dealing with money,
Speaker:understanding the vocabulary. Um, what my
Speaker:dad did, he would sit down, like, here's how to
Speaker:pay bills. Um, when we went on ski trips,
Speaker:ski trips didn't just happen, right? I was
Speaker:like, oh, we just going to do this? Well, nowhere. Like, uh, no, my
Speaker:dad had a coin jar. It was like, hey, every time I
Speaker:pay for something, I get changed. I put it in this jar. When it gets full,
Speaker:we take it to the bank, and then we see how much we got.
Speaker:And then if we get enough, then we're going to go to Colorado and have a fun
Speaker:ski trip. So to me, I'm like, there's a process
Speaker:here. There is a budget here. It was not
Speaker:an overnight trip at all. It took years.
Speaker:So, you know, I'm, like, slowly sitting here like,
Speaker:m. This is not, like, instant gratification,
Speaker:right? So I got to sit slowly, see
Speaker:it. And that is what kind of got my realization
Speaker:around how money actually works and something that we're doing with them.
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: Man, I love that story and actually
Speaker:bringing them into that. Um, has
Speaker:this. And he also talked about your relationship with your parents.
Speaker:So that is amazing that, you know,
Speaker:everybody. You starting everybody off young because it's,
Speaker:you know, at the age of, what, eight is
Speaker:when everybody kind of remember that money story.
Speaker:I think you said you remember yours from when you were
Speaker:six, which is rare for a lot of people.
Speaker:I don't recall what I was doing at 6.
Speaker:I was.
Speaker:>> Kevin L. Matthews II: I was a strange child.
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: Uh, so we want to dive into which is the third segment
Speaker:here, which is the futures. Um, so, like, what
Speaker:areas of focus that you feel that you have to make
Speaker:the most improvement on in your life?
Speaker:>> Kevin L. Matthews II: Just in general.
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: Yeah.
Speaker:>> Kevin L. Matthews II: Ooh.
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: Oh.
Speaker:>> Kevin L. Matthews II: Uh, man.
Speaker:Just in general, I think.
Speaker:So. I. At 35, I.
Speaker:I am by no means a master at anything, so let me. Let
Speaker:me say that. But I do feel that
Speaker:I. I've gotten to a point where I. I
Speaker:now feel Like I'm
Speaker:competent at most things that I'm trying to do in my life. I will
Speaker:say improvement wise. I'm trying to learn more
Speaker:instruments and try to just find ways to
Speaker:de. Stress and find avenues to.
Speaker:We work hard, we do content, you do work dealing
Speaker:with, you know, there's a lot going on and
Speaker:music. Trying to learn music has kind of been my,
Speaker:my place. So trying to be
Speaker:better at that, finding those avenues and really
Speaker:taking the time to dive
Speaker:into it and really invest in it is the thing I'm trying to improve
Speaker:in.
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: Which instrument are you looking into?
Speaker:>> Kevin L. Matthews II: Right now? It's bass guitar.
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: Oh, okay. That is pretty cool.
Speaker:Left, uh, hand, Right hand, right hand. Okay.
Speaker:All right. Well, we might talk offline because I have a
Speaker:regular. I have a six, I have two six string guitars and I was going
Speaker:to get back into it and I was like,
Speaker:I, I have them, I had them for years, but just don't
Speaker:ask me to play a song.
Speaker:>> Kevin L. Matthews II: Yeah, I, you know, it's something kind of
Speaker:going back to, you know, wealth and sometimes
Speaker:as you get older, you buy the things that you wish you
Speaker:would have had. So for me, I just, for whatever reason, I just wish
Speaker:I had a piano when I was a kid and wish I just grew
Speaker:up in a house that just was full of music
Speaker:and just wish that I just
Speaker:started off as a child knowing that.
Speaker:Um, so maybe three years ago we got a keyboard.
Speaker:Um, yeah, three years ago I got
Speaker:a keyboard. Two years ago I taught myself how to play trumpet. I
Speaker:wasn't good at it. Um, I could play tune with tick a little
Speaker:star. Okay, I can do that.
Speaker:Yeah. My biggest accomplishment is when my, my daughter at
Speaker:this point was 2 and I played it and she was like, oh, I
Speaker:know that song. I was like, there we go.
Speaker:I've won. Um, so I
Speaker:did that and then now, now I'm on
Speaker:bass and just, you know, just picking up different things, figuring out what I
Speaker:like, and then just, you know, finding a space to just
Speaker:vent and recharge really.
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: And that's one of the things that we don't talk about enough
Speaker:as we become adults is
Speaker:where what is really the balance of
Speaker:the things that we want to do versus things that we have to do.
Speaker:And I like that for you that you actually taking time out to do
Speaker:that. Um, but yeah, maybe we might have to bring it back
Speaker:on to talk about like the different strategies that
Speaker:you use and to kind of figure it out. Are you taking like an hour a
Speaker:day? You know, what, what do you guys.
Speaker:Your thoughts on that.
Speaker:>> Kevin L. Matthews II: Yeah. I mean, I'll say this. So, uh,
Speaker:in. In this space, like in. In personal finance,
Speaker:like, I, uh. This will be 15
Speaker:years in September that I've been
Speaker:doing this, right? Whether
Speaker:it's been blogging or
Speaker:video or. Or whatever, right?
Speaker:Which is just thinking about, like, I have
Speaker:not done anything other than be black
Speaker:for that long. I ain't done
Speaker:nothing for that long. Um, and I've
Speaker:never been burned out. I've never taken a break.
Speaker:I've never quit. Right? And not everybody
Speaker:can do that. And that's. You know, people go through things, Right?
Speaker:But, uh, one way that I've been able to do that
Speaker:is because I've always had that
Speaker:recharge thing. And for me
Speaker:right now, it's music. Other times it's, you know, I
Speaker:still work out, but it's. It's working out. It's learning a new
Speaker:skill. Um, so that's what keeps me going where I
Speaker:don't. I never feel like, oh, this is too much. Oh, I'm
Speaker:taxed. Oh, I need to take a break. It's because, like, I gotta do what I
Speaker:gotta do. And I have fun doing this. And then I'm off.
Speaker:Gonna go, I don't know, learn archery or something crazy, you know,
Speaker:go watch the Hunger Games, who knows? And then come back
Speaker:and then do what I do. And that's been the thing.
Speaker:That's. That's been. Keep me going.
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: Awesome.
Speaker:Um, so, Kevin, before we
Speaker:dive into the final four questions, is there anything that you
Speaker:want to leave the audience? Um, before we get into it?
Speaker:>> Kevin L. Matthews II: Yes, I have one request for the
Speaker:items. It's going to be a little random because we haven't necessarily talked about it.
Speaker:All right, so there is a proposal for the
Speaker:fdic. All right. The FDIC is the Federal Deposit
Speaker:Insurance Corporation. When you go into a bank and it's right there in
Speaker:the bottom left hand corner of the window, in most cases,
Speaker:this is the entity that ensures that you
Speaker:get your money if the bank fails. If y' all
Speaker:remember correctly, I know a lot of people, a lot
Speaker:happened the last two years. Two years ago, Silicon Valley
Speaker:bank collapsed. And the reason
Speaker:why that's not, uh. Do you remember that when that happened?
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: I remember. Yeah.
Speaker:>> Kevin L. Matthews II: Okay. All right, so. Yeah, so. But. But it's not like, uh.
Speaker:You remember the day that it happened?
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: No, I don't remember the day exactly.
Speaker:>> Kevin L. Matthews II: Reason. Okay, so the reason why it's not like, uh,
Speaker:March 10, 2023, and why it's like, not like
Speaker:a thing that circled on your calendar, like, we all remember where you were
Speaker:when the pandemic hit, because that was a big thing. The reason why we don't
Speaker:remember why that bank or remember exactly
Speaker:where you were in that bank collapsed because the FDIC exists. It
Speaker:worked. People got their money. It was not a. It
Speaker:was a big deal when it happened. But it's like, okay, you got
Speaker:insurance, right? Okay, cool. You got your money. Nobody
Speaker:cares, right? There is a current proposal to
Speaker:make some major changes at the fdic.
Speaker:That is not a good thing. That's not a good thing for anybody.
Speaker:So right now on my website, I have
Speaker:a letter posted where you can copy,
Speaker:paste, send it to the fdic as well as
Speaker:send it to your local representative. I got
Speaker:instructions on how to do it. You can do it in less than 10 minutes.
Speaker:It's@buildingbread.com
Speaker:FDIC. So send it so
Speaker:we can keep our money and leave it alone. Okay, so
Speaker:that's my one call to action for y' all.
Speaker:Wrote it out. I talked to people in Washington and local
Speaker:government, uh, officials, to make sure we send it to the right people.
Speaker:But all you gotta do is email it, send it to your. Your people,
Speaker:make as much noise as possible, because, again, it does
Speaker:affect us all. I want to keep my money at a
Speaker:normal bank. I know a whole bunch of other stuff is happening everywhere else.
Speaker:That's wild. But
Speaker:I'm gonna control what I can control. I'm gonna do my part right,
Speaker:and help us keep our money safe. Because if it ain't broke,
Speaker:don't fix it. Just leave it. Leave it alone. The FDIC
Speaker:is fine. Wouldn't bother nobody. Let's keep it that way.
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: Yeah, you're so right about that.
Speaker:>> Kevin L. Matthews II: Yeah. That's my speech.
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: All right. Ready for number final four?
Speaker:>> Kevin L. Matthews II: Yeah,
Speaker:let's.
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: All right, number one, what does wealth
Speaker:mean to you?
Speaker:>> Kevin L. Matthews II: Wealth means choices and options. Those words
Speaker:are the same thing. But what
Speaker:does mean, like, I. I get choices. I could decide when I
Speaker:don't have money or I have less wealth. I don't really get to choose.
Speaker:You know how I get to point A to point B? Sometimes it's just
Speaker:Greyhound, and that's it. I've been there,
Speaker:right? But with more options, I can say
Speaker:Greyhound, first class, driving rental,
Speaker:whatever, right? So with the. With the more money I have,
Speaker:the more wealth I have, the more choices I have.
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: Like it. Number two, what was your
Speaker:worst money mistake?
Speaker:>> Kevin L. Matthews II: Ooh, my worst money mistake?
Speaker:I would say there was a point.
Speaker:I did a teacher. I did Teach for America teaching program,
Speaker:which they at the end of the program they did pay
Speaker:you? Uh, it was. You could only use it for
Speaker:grad school or for. To pay down your student loans.
Speaker:And during that two years, they, like, froze your
Speaker:student loans. You did not have to pay. Looking
Speaker:back, I probably should have paid those loans
Speaker:just to get things down and get out of, uh,
Speaker:like pay that debt off two years faster,
Speaker:I think. I don't know the exact year, but maybe I would have paid it off
Speaker:in 2016, which would have freed up even more money.
Speaker:So that's probably the biggest mistake that I've made.
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: Give this whole another episode. Um,
Speaker:we got, what, two.
Speaker:>> Kevin L. Matthews II: Two in the chamber now, right?
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: Number three. Is there a book that
Speaker:inspired your journey or change your perspective?
Speaker:>> Kevin L. Matthews II: Ooh, changed my
Speaker:journey or inspired my journey or changed
Speaker:my perspective? There
Speaker:have been, uh, a few that have changed my
Speaker:perspective, but the one that started it all
Speaker:was the Automatic Millionaire by David Bach.
Speaker:I was a.
Speaker:I guess a rising. I was graduating
Speaker:senior, going into college,
Speaker:so a freshman. And I was a janitor at the
Speaker:library, and I was, you know, cleaning floors and
Speaker:stuff at the library. Closed. And I saw it,
Speaker:you know, and the librarian's desk. I'm like,
Speaker:billionaire, automatic,
Speaker:just gonna just take this and walk off.
Speaker:Did I perhaps
Speaker:borrow. Because it's library. So I did. It was. I
Speaker:literally did borrow that book. Yeah. Did I go
Speaker:through. Did I scan the book? No. Did
Speaker:I return the book? I honestly do not remember.
Speaker:Um, I don't know what Toast Can Library is going to
Speaker:do about it. Anyway. Um, so that
Speaker:is.
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: Um.
Speaker:>> Kevin L. Matthews II: But that. That's the. That's the book that started off. So I was
Speaker:like, again, automatic. I was like.
Speaker:The words automatic millionaire just lit me up at that time. Um,
Speaker:so that's why I really started getting very deep into it
Speaker:to figure out, because I was like, if it can be automatic,
Speaker:I have to sit back and just be rich. Yeah, and
Speaker:you can. It wasn't like I thought it was, you know, at
Speaker:18, but it does work. It. I'm on
Speaker:that track. Right. So it was definitely worth it. But that is what
Speaker:started the entire thing.
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: Awesome.
Speaker:Uh, number four, what is your favorite
Speaker:dish to make?
Speaker:>> Kevin L. Matthews II: My favorite dish to make?
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: Yeah.
Speaker:>> Kevin L. Matthews II: Depending m on how much time I got, you have to. You're
Speaker:in time box. Me?
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: Yeah. If you got notes, if you got unlimited time, you can make
Speaker:whatever with this.
Speaker:>> Kevin L. Matthews II: If I'm. If I ain't got no time, I'm smoking a brisket. That.
Speaker:That's. That's what I'm doing. I'm smoking some ribs as we speak.
Speaker:I am. But,
Speaker:um, but yeah, um,
Speaker:yeah, if I have unlimited time, I'm definitely smoking a brisket.
Speaker:It's gonna take me 18, 16 to 18
Speaker:hours, depending on how big it is. And I
Speaker:like to. It's one of those things I, I, One of those
Speaker:ways. Got recharged. Right. I just learned the art of
Speaker:barbecues, um, over the last two years.
Speaker:But, you know, I'll season it, trim it, do that whole
Speaker:thing, put on smoker overnight, and then, you
Speaker:know, that next afternoon, it's going to be exactly
Speaker:where we need it to be.
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: It's always that delayed gratification that's constantly coming up
Speaker:in your story. This is great.
Speaker:Um, so this is going to be the last question of the
Speaker:show, which is where could people find out more about
Speaker:you?
Speaker:>> Kevin L. Matthews II: Yes, you can find more about me at Building
Speaker:Bread on all social media platforms. You can find me
Speaker:on YouTube at building bread, where I, uh, drop
Speaker:three brand new videos every single
Speaker:week. And then obviously, you can get that
Speaker:letter@buildingbread.com
Speaker:FDIC.
Speaker:>> Anthony Weaver: Thank you, sir. So if you made it this far
Speaker:and you was like, man, I really have all
Speaker:these things going on in my life and my finances aren't looking right.
Speaker:It's okay. Have that delayed gratification.
Speaker:Um, you're doing the right thing. Think of all the things that you
Speaker:have right now in your household or all the things that you have
Speaker:accomplished so far in life. It's okay.
Speaker:You're going to get there. You just got to stay
Speaker:focused. Don't lose sight. You got this.
Speaker:And as always, I wish you all the best.
Speaker:We out.
Speaker:>> Kevin L. Matthews II: Peace.
