The Gentle Year

Teaching Kids About Money Without Passing Down Fear with Albert Butler

• Knikki Hernandez • Season 2 • Episode 2

Share episode

Money isn’t just about numbers—it’s about fear, identity, habits, family, and the stories we inherit.

In this episode of The Gentle Year, Knikki sits down with Albert Butler, CPA, for a deeply human conversation about finances, family, and what it actually means to build stability in an uncertain world. Together, they explore why so many families—especially millennials—feel stuck despite “doing everything right,” and why budgeting, purpose, and self-awareness matter more than chasing more income.

Albert reframes money as a tool, not the goal, introduces the idea of an internal economy built on skills and time, and explains why avoiding financial conversations often creates more stress—not less. The conversation also dives into parenting and money: how children learn financial attitudes, how scarcity thinking gets passed down, and why transparency without fear is essential.

This episode covers:

  • Why financial stress is emotional, not just mathematical
  • Inflation, cost of living, and why money keeps feeling tighter
  • Budgeting your life, not just your bank account
  • The limits of the traditional 9–5 model
  • How families can change habits without earning more
  • Teaching children abundance instead of anxiety
  • Work ethic, compassion, and breaking generational cycles
  • Why purpose is the key to boundaries, clarity, and peace

If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed, behind, or unsure how to talk about money—with yourself or your family—this episode offers clarity, grounding, and a way forward that doesn’t rely on hustle or shame.

🎧 Listen in for a conversation that brings money back to where it belongs: the kitchen table, the family unit, and a life lived with intention.



Send us a text

Turning The Tide Tutoring
Sponsored by Turning The Tide Tutoring — empowering students and parents to grow and thrive.

Acting With Pippi
Acting with Pippi is acting program that helps youths build courage & presence through performance.

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.

Support the show

[ 00:00:01,950 ] Hey, everybody. Welcome back to The Gentle Year. You are in for a special treat today. We have Albert Butler here today, and let me tell you: I talk to a lot of people who want to come on this show, and I don't pick every single person who wants to come on here for various reasons. One of the reasons why I picked Albert, though, is because he is definitely a man of substance, but I will let him speak for himself in that regard. So, Albert, can you introduce yourself? Tell us a little bit about who you are, what you do, and how you do it, please.

Well, Knikki, thank you so much for the handoff for introduction. Well, again, my name is Albert Butler. I am a CPA licensed in several different states.

[ 00:00:37,580 ] From a professional perspective, I also have an MBA in small businesses and family enterprise, with a concentration in international business. So, from that perspective, I help clients along the way, making sure that their taxes, bookkeeping, consulting, and governance of business development is all done in a unique, boutique-type way.

But I will say also: I am a person that believes that every family has a mantra that they can follow to allow them to develop, walk, and grow to build their legacy. That’s another thing that I consult about, because every aspect of family is one thing that is a nuance that we don't spend too much time talking about as a collective group, as a people. So I want to be the one to actually spearhead those conversations.

[ 00:01:25,450 ] So that is something that I hope that your audience can possibly resonate with, and we can have conversations around those topics that, from a financial perspective and from a family perspective, I can show you how they all can be merged into that great conversation at the kitchen table.

Yeah, most definitely. I really appreciate that. And one thing I wanted to say is you sparked this idea in my head. I've been looking at my analytics and my data for these podcasts, and what I have found is that most of the podcasts that I've been doing—the ones that are emotionally riveting, the ones that are emotionally driven—are the ones that are the most successful. The ones that are technical and have all of this great information and facts, they're great, but they definitely don't, for some reason, they're not performing as well.

[ 00:02:07,490 ] Thank you. When we approach this topic of finances today, I think that we're really going to start looking at this from an emotional lens because there are a lot—not just the fathers. Of course, you're a father. You manage finances for your family and for other people. But there's also a lot of mothers that are in control or in charge of the finances, and I want to make sure that emotional component regarding money is really addressed today.

And how we'll start today is: in my personal experience, I've really seen that a lot of parents right now—especially seeing it on Facebook, especially with the holidays, and people spending money and all of that—many parents are just feeling super overwhelmed and behind financially. And a lot of them, some of them are saying it out loud, but some of them are just kind of… kind of suffering quietly.

So, from your experience, you know, what is the real source of financial stress for families today, however you define “real” in this case?

Well, it's interesting because it is real. I actually like to align it with a strain—a problem—that we collectively overlook consistently, and that's truly understanding the definition of money and truly what money really is.

And I advocate heavily that money is purely just a tool. It is a tool to acquire resources. And with the holiday season just ending behind us, we feel compelled to use that tool to consume, consume, and not understanding where that consumption mindset actually came from.

[ 00:03:48,450 ] And if you don't understand where it came from, how could you possibly do anything about it? Because it turns into what's called an unconscious bias about how you move and use your money and what you do with it.

So there's a level of education of discipline that lines up with consistency on how you apply that discipline, to give your audience and anyone else who is interested in listening—to align them on how they see money, how they use money, and how they view it from the perspective of overall growth for them and for their family.

So I would say the strain is truly the definition of what money really is and what it's really, really for, and how that problem comes into play—feeling that you are forced to do something that, really, you really don't have to. You really should be more governed on how you're going to use that money resource.

[ 00:04:31,600 ] Yeah, and I appreciate you for bringing that full circle there. When we did our pre-interview, one of the insightful comments that you had made to me was that, of course, money is a tool. But I remember asking you, “What's it a tool for?” And you had explained to me—correct me if I'm wrong—but you had explained to me that money is not the end game. The end game is not getting more money. It’s not necessarily trying to make more money and keep up with this hustle and this grind. It's to gain money so that you can acquire assets that are going to allow you to live more freely.

And that was definitely a shift for me personally, to think of it that way. I even shared that bit of information to my mom. And we had spent the evening together, and I shared that with her. She said, “Oh, that's rather insightful.” And I said, “Yeah, I definitely think so as well.”

So could you kind of elaborate on the definition of money so that people—if that's the fundamental issue—then I think we need to get down to brass tacks and really discuss and hash out what money actually is and what it isn't.

Right. So I'm glad you brought it up, and it's very, very powerful when you properly align yourself on that aspect. Like I mentioned before, it is a tool.

[ 00:05:52,680 ] It is a tool that, from a historical perspective, was only used to exchange goods and services.

Now, what are goods and services? Well, those goods are the things that we need for the comforts to be able to sustain our families and sustain ourselves. That's really all it's for.

So, if you think about it, you roll back the onions a little bit further back through history: if I'm a professional person and I grow potatoes, and you're a professional person and you have the resource to pick the potatoes, I need to get them picked up. I can't do it by myself. So I would have this median of giving you this quote-unquote money to get you to help me pick my potatoes so I can go ahead and scale my potatoes and be able to make more from them.

Well, if we sit back and just worry about the medium—the money—and think that that's what we need to accumulate, not the resource of having the person to pick the potatoes or having the potatoes, we lose focus. And we constantly are trying to gain something that really—you lose track of what the costs for things actually really are.

And you get sucked into this system of inflation, system of deflation, system of stagnation, where you are acquiring a tool that's going to go up and down in value, as compared to acquiring the resource, the asset that's only going to appreciate. Even from a historical perspective, when you look at land: land is the one thing that they're not going to make any more of.

[ 00:07:23,340 ] So if you're trying to acquire that resource of land, or you're trying to acquire the money, the money, the money, it makes it very complicated because I can acquire all the money in the world and the cost of things can continuously go up, and I'm still in the same place I was in when I started.

So that's the education that is—it’s one that's not consistently applied for individuals. We're told that we got to go, quote-unquote, get the bag. You ever heard that term? “I got to get the bag.” Bag of what? That's the funny part. Bag of what? And why are you trying to go get that bag as compared to going get the thing that you would use for the bag, at a reasonable number, to help you and your family scale and grow?

Yeah, definitely. The one thing that keeps coming back into my mind is just the rising cost of everything right now—the rising cost of food and rent and everything. Everything is just so expensive. I mean, from basic necessities. I went to Harris Teeter the other day to go get my Pond's cold cream that I wash my face with every day. It was like around six or, you know, seven dollars. Then now it's twelve. It's doubled. I'm like, “Oh my gosh, this is crazy,” because the last time I went to Harris Teeter, it was like $9 or $10, and now it's $12.

[ 00:08:46,040 ] And so you're right. It does just keep going up and up and up and up and up. And then, you know, somebody—I don't know if this was you or somebody else—had said this to me the other day, but the dollar today is less than the dollar tomorrow. Was that you?

That's exactly right. Every dollar today is worth less; the dollar is going to be worth less tomorrow. So inflation is going to constantly go up. It's not going to change. That equation is not going to change because we have a fiat currency.

You know, if we were talking about, “Hey, you know, we exchange everything with gold coins—the one-ounce gold coin,” I would challenge everyone in your audience to go look at the price of gold and how it's crept up over the past five years. It has dramatically gone up. And that is the direct correlation to the value of our own dollar and how much it's gone down.

So I would caution everyone, especially when you hear the stimulus things are taking place, where the government's trying to put money into the system: be mindful what you do with that money if you do get it. Be mindful what you do with your paycheck on a regular basis and make sure that you're allocating it based off your actual needs, and then line up your actual savings and investing, and then line up what your actual wants might be, and know how to do that proper budgeting process.

[ 00:10:00,790 ] Because if you don't, you're going to constantly be on the same hamster wheel over and over and over again. And you're going to look up one day and realize, “Wow, I made all that money and it's still not worth anything. Or it's gone. It's gone. Or it's gone.”

Yeah, definitely. I can say that for—I’m a millennial—and for a lot of us millennials, we were not educated financially in many ways. Now, of course, there's always exceptions to that rule. There's always outliers and people who have made it out of the system. I was just talking to a friend of mine who's also a millennial. He's a little bit older. I think he's probably a year or two older than I am. But anyway, he…

[ 00:10:38,070 ] He was able to grow his own business, and he was able to pay down all this debt that he had because a lot of millennials are in debt—student loans and different things. And then he was able to pay off that debt, and his business took off. And then he was able to acquire some real estate, sell his house, and then make a nice, nice little penny off of his property. And then he was able to move his family to, um, I guess you'd say a more affordable area.

But he is doing great, but he acknowledges, as a millennial, he goes, “I'm one of the few. I'm one of the few that have made it out,” because I know my other millennial friends and colleagues and associates.

[ 00:11:16,600 ] They feel like they're on this hamster wheel, as you say. They're stuck, and they don't necessarily have a retirement plan or any money saved up in the bank, and they're just kind of… stuck on this hamster wheel paying down debt and trying to figure it out.

You know, for instance, where my concern is is people are kind of between a rock and a hard place right now. They're stuck paying these exorbitant bills like rent and the high cost of living and the high cost of everything, and their salaries are not keeping up with the pace of the inflation of everything else. And then it's kind of like, “Well, what do I do? How do people break that cycle?”

Because these are people who have played by the rules. These are people—well, the rules that they were given, anyway; not the rules of the game, but the rules that they were given—they have played by those rules. So, what do they do? What would you tell a struggling millennial right now?

I would tell a struggling millennial that when you align yourself up with your purpose, everything else in your walk, your talk, and your energy makes a lot more sense for you.

It's unfortunate, Knikki, that we have been trained through marketing to want so much stuff, and we never sit back and realize that in every successful business, someone had to struggle to make it successful. Someone had to go the extra mile. Someone had to be the one to pull up the bootstraps to be able to push to the next level.

[ 00:12:51,170 ] It's unfortunate, but a lot of us don't want to struggle. A lot of us don't understand what struggle really is. A lot of us get in a position that we just want all the newest and latest and greatest of things, and not realizing that that is the problem.

So, every millennial that's listening: what is your purpose? What are you really doing? Why are you really doing this? Why do you get up every day to go out into this world to go and try to make something happen?

And the second question: what is it that you're trying to make happen? Because if you cannot have that own social proof with yourself—if you are not in a position to align yourself and you're not in a position to scale yourself—how can you possibly scale any job that you're on? How can you actually—I mean, think about it—how can you be successful at work if you are uncomfortable with what you're doing, with the resources that you get from the work that you're doing, and the time and the energy that you put into it?

And you basically, when you work for somebody, you're selling your time for money. And if you're selling your time for money, that's a finite amount because it's only 24 hours in a day. So what are you doing with that 24 hours? Because I got 24, you got 24, and every listener has 24. The question is: what are you doing with your 24 hours?

[ 00:14:11,660 ] And if you're struggling to make ends meet, why are you struggling to make ends meet? What are your actual ends? And what do you really, really need when you lay it all out?

I'm talking about a budget right now. I'm telling everybody that you have to make sure you budget—not just your finances, but budget your life. Budget your time. Budget how you go about approaching your morning. What is your routine? Budget how you go about approaching your midday. What is your routine? And budget how you approach your evenings.

What do you actually do to compound yourself? What skill sets are you actually growing? How are you making yourself better than what you were yesterday? These are all personal questions that we have to answer for ourselves because that's the only way that you're going to be able to scale yourself.

[ 00:14:56,450 ] And you got to start with self first—self-governance—to scale yourself.

Yeah, there's a concept called the internal economy. I was reading a post by Robert Kiyosaki one time, and he said, “There's two economies. There's the external economy, the one you hear about on the news and whatever else, and then there's the internal economy,” which he was kind of ambiguous about being specific about. But he basically said that the internal economy is what you're talking about. “It's the skills that you bring to the marketplace.” It's what you decide to invest in. It's how you're using your time and how you're able to leverage the skills, the gifts, and the powers—you know, the superpowers that you do have—to make money and to get yourself out of this situation.

[ 00:15:40,050 ] And there was also another book that I had read one time that talked about the internal economy during the Great Depression. And it said that a lot of people during the Great Depression, they just kind of went along with it. And they were the ones standing in line, you know, waiting for hours and hours for a bag of beans or flour or whatever.

And then there were people who got tremendously wealthy during the Great Depression because they, quote-unquote, decided not to participate in the depression. And they just had a totally different mindset. They said, you know, “I'm going to be successful. I fully believe in what I'm doing, and it's just going to work out for me.” And they had this tremendous belief. Things did work out for them.

[ 00:16:19,100 ] Now, I recognize that for somebody who's like me, who's a highly in-tune spiritual being, that type of mindset absolutely resonates with my soul. And I get it. I can always—no matter how dark the financial situation gets—I always believe that the light is just around the corner. Always. Because I'm a natural optimist.

But there are people who are not like that. They're pragmatists. And that's okay, because it takes everyone to make the world go around. But there are some people who are pragmatists, and they're not looking at this quote-unquote internal economy and saying, “Okay, how can I leverage my skills?” They're just saying, “I just want to live my life. I want to be able to feed my family, support my family, and live a normal life.”

[ 00:17:04,119 ] I don't want to go out here and be a hustler. I don't want to go out here and be an entrepreneur or a CEO. And I think that that's okay, too.

So, in terms of—and for those people, you know—how do they balance their family life and also this horrific financial situation that many people are in without sacrificing who they are? Or do they have to give up who they are as a human being to try to make it in this world?

Or are we just all playing Monopoly where there's winners and losers, and then eventually the game just gets thrown across the room? What happens? What's the end game here?

All three of your questions are all three of your answers, in every aspect of it.

[ 00:17:46,430 ] Like I mentioned before, this is a personal conversation for the individual about where they want to go. It's tough because, in some cases, yeah, the world is turbulent. Life is turbulent. There are going to be a lot of ups and downs along the way.

But in every last single one of us, we have a true North Star of what we really want. And if we align up with that North Star, a lot of these things become inconsequential because we properly align with our own personal North Star.

You can be a glass-half-full, glass-half-empty type person. That's totally fine. But within that aspect, what is your true North Star? Because we're all going to have one. I've met many people who are very comfortable with working a nine-to-five, and that's the road they want to be on.

[ 00:18:36,600 ] And that's where they want to go. But you have to realize that working a nine-to-five—and this is very, very true, and a lot of people might not like this, but it's very, very true—you can't get rich from working for somebody. So if that is a given, it's just not going to happen. Because the person who's paying you is always going to keep control of where that cost structure is going to go.

So unless you're ready to take on the risk of doing something bigger than you, of being part of something that was bigger than you, and stepping out on that level of faith, you're going to get what you've been getting. You're gonna— and if that's the case, that's totally fine, but you have to accept that.

[ 00:19:18,920 ] And realize that there are going to be certain constraints that are outside of my control—of the boundaries that others are going to put on me with that. And the only true way to break out of that boundary is to take a risk, to do something that you've never done before, and to do something that is bigger than yourself—to make yourself better than what you were yesterday.

So I will tell you that my advice 100% is that accept who you are as a person and understand where your boundaries actually are. But then realize, too, that you're playing on a board that you didn't create. And because you didn't create the board, there are certain rules around playing on that board that you're going to have to be governed by.

[ 00:20:06,730 ] You're—you might not want to be a rule maker. You might not want to be that person. You might be fine with playing the game that way. But don't be surprised that when certain rules come up with those who are going around and writing, rewriting the rules, that you have to accept that.

So, in a nutshell, I will tell you that people have to know who they are, and people have to know if they really want to be the type of person to bust around those rules or line up with those rules and accept what comes right along with that.

Yeah, that's an interesting perspective and a good metaphor that I read.

There's a book for anybody who is looking to just kind of educate themselves on finances and how they can leverage their skills and abilities.

[ 00:20:50,320 ] There's a book called The Millionaire Master Plan. I believe it's called Millionaire Master Plan. And I have it in my apartment. I've been reading it. And it's really interesting for several reasons.

Number one, at the end of each chapter, there is a checklist that helps you to gain clarity about where you are on this prism. It has a prism of, like, at the very bottom, you're like a victim, a survivor—something like that. It's at the very bottom. And then you go from that to being a worker, and then you go from worker to being something else, etc.

So there's this whole prism, and it teaches you how to move up the different levels of this prism financially. It's really interesting. But the checklists—they are brutal. Absolutely brutal.

[ 00:21:34,570 ] I look at these checklists and I said to myself, “Holy cow, even the most basic of checklists, I can't even check off a third of these boxes when it comes to my own financial situation.” And I'm like, “Okay, that would be why I'm not moving from this prism to this prism, because until I can get these things checked off and be confident in them, I'm never going to move out of infrared. It's just not going to happen.”

And one thing that the book does talk about is it talks about there are four intelligences, and I want to get your opinion on this. Thank you.

So the four intelligences are—if I get them right, I'm probably going to miss one—but there's the tempo, the tempo genius.

[ 00:22:19,190 ] The tempo genius is someone who's intelligent, intuitive. They naturally have their ear to the ground. They're about service. These are people who are always service-oriented. I'm a tempo because I'm a teacher. So people who are nurses, teachers—like that—those are going to be your tempo people because they're just all about service and serving people, and then that's where their genius lies.

And then you have the next genius, which is blaze. The blaze genius is the people genius. These are going to be your Ellen DeGeneres's, your Oprah's, your Larry King Lives. These are people who are just great at talking and networking and connecting people in that kind of a way—even podcasters. So I guess I could sort of consider myself kind of a blaze in that way, too, because I like talking with people.

Then there's another genius, and that genius is called the steel genius.

[ 00:23:03,950 ] The steel genius is someone who is all about data and information systems, spreadsheets, numbers, facts, figures, systems—all of that. And the book says that those—the steel geniuses—are the deepest thinkers of all because they're always looking at life as this complex web of systems and things that are interconnected and how they all work together.

And then, last and finally, you have the dynamo geniuses. And the dynamo geniuses are your big-idea people. They're not great at execution, but they are great at coming up with amazing ideas. So if your business is stuck and you don't know what to do, you don't know where to move, you don't know how to level up from making a hundred thousand to a million, you go to a dynamo genius because they're going to have all the ideas.

[ 00:23:48,140 ] That’s just kind of how it all works. So have you seen anything like that? Do you kind of help people on an individual level understand who they are from a financial perspective, a spiritual perspective? I don't even know if that plays a part in what you do, but do you kind of help people understand their gifts so that they can kind of navigate this situation? Because I've never met a financial advisor who does, quite frankly.

So I'll tell you 100% yes. So hello and welcome. You just met the first one. It's interesting because I'll go back to that whole purpose and every one of those different personalities that you just mentioned. Yeah, those are individuals, but they're also interrelated as well, too, because one person can have a touch point in each of those.

[ 00:24:32,310 ] So I will tell you that communication is the one that stands out far and beyond above because that's the one that, if you cannot communicate your level of genius to the masses to have them align up with you, you can be the smartest person in the room and nobody listens to you, and you're just being smart by yourself.

So it's interesting because I walk people through understanding the importance of those different levels and identifying where you're starting from. I have a different framework, and it's a little bit more straightforward. It's called a one-word SWOT. People do SWOT analysis about companies all the time, but the one-word SWOT is: you give one word about a strength, a weakness, an opportunity, and a threat—just one word for each of those components.

[ 00:25:28,180 ] And when you do it, you do it in a way that helps you understand truly where you are today.

So I can sit here and I can tell you, Knikki, that I'm a relentless person who sometimes struggles with getting rest, but for me, I'm trying to grow and scale as well, but I can't do it without support. I just gave you a one-word SWOT to show you what I'm good at, what I struggle with, where I'm going, and what I'm not going to let stop me from getting there really, really quickly—so I can align myself up with you to see if anything that I said can spark interest for us to work together. That's very, very important from a communication perspective.

[ 00:26:11,940 ] And if people cannot communicate where they are today, how can you possibly be ready for where you want to go tomorrow? And how can you galvanize the masses to join you in that?

So knowing where you are, being able to identify that, knowing what your genius actually really is—I'm glad you brought that up—because that's important, too, because we're all great at something. We all are gifted with something to allow us to find that little piece that we do better than somebody else, to take it to the market. And then we have to make sure we can articulate what that greatness really is. And the one-word SWOT does that. So 100%, yes, I do do that.

[ 00:26:53,120 ] And if I could say this just a little bit further: we mess up because we try to go do things without knowing who we really are to begin with. And that's the scary part. Because when you do that, you end up having certain failures to learn who you really are. So in every failure, you have the equation of time and you have the equation of money spent in learning that.

I call it “bought sense,” where you had to pay a price to learn a lesson. And that's a very, very powerful thing to step back and think about because you want to make sure that you know who you really are before you go out and venture out from a current-state perspective to really give yourself a future state.

[ 00:27:36,740 ] So, yes, I take people on a journey all the time.

Yeah. And one thing that's really interesting about what you said is knowing who you are. It does—regardless of where someone is financially—it does give a tremendous amount of peace to know, to finally know, to pull back the curtain of your bank account, of your situation, of all your debt, and this and that and the other, and to know every cent and every dime that you've got coming in and going out. It just provides you with a sense of peace and knowing.

That's the first thing I think is really super important: people just should not be afraid of knowing who they are. And yeah, they're geniuses, and the SWOT—I think that's all awesome—and being able to articulate those things is definitely the first step. But just knowing where you are financially is so huge because a lot of people don't want to look, including myself.

[ 00:28:24,190 ] Some days I just don't want to look at my bank account. Sometimes I just want to swipe that debit card or swipe that credit card and not even pay attention to anything and not worry about where that money is going.

But let's kind of transition over to families real quick. From your experience, what happens, or what typically happens, to families where money is never tracked or talked about or discussed? What typically happens to those families?

I will 100% tell you those families move in a randomization of life.

Oh. I have another term called accounting—is the heartbeat of business and the key to personal finance success. The second part of that: accounting is the key to personal finance success. I tell everyone this because if you don't take the time to understand the accounting for your personal finances—

[ 00:29:27,520 ] which means that you're not taking the time to understand the accounting of the way that you move—you’re not aligned. And because you're not aligned, you're guessing. And when you guess, you have randomization of things happening. And you're wondering why the good happens to you, and you're also wondering why the bad happens to you.

The accounting gives you clarity. And having that level of clarity—knowing what those numbers actually are—does give you that peace, but it also gives you the gift of understanding equilibrium. Because your accounting is going to give you a balance that nothing else can possibly give to you, because you're going to have the clarity of balance. You're going to understand equivalent exchange. If I do something for you, you're doing something for me.

[ 00:30:15,730 ] And on each side of that equation, we have to balance—just like the human body has to balance.

You ever wonder why you get sick? You get sick because you're out of balance. Something has infiltrated that normal system, that normal flow, that has caused you to go out of balance, and now you want to be in sync.

Same thing with the universe. The universe is always looking to be in balance. That's why certain things happen on a consistent basis that we don't even see because it's seeking balance.

Well, your own accounting—your own personal finance—seeks balance as well, too. And knowing where that balance really lies gives you the clarity so you can move, make decisions, and it allows you to scale. Because when you're guessing, you can't make good decisions when you guess.

[ 00:30:59,750 ] And you're going to be randomized on what results you're going to actually receive.

Yeah, definitely. You cannot go through life blind. That's for sure. There's one interesting point you made in the pre-interview that we did. I think it was you—you had mentioned that money is not made; it's gained. Can you talk a little bit more about that?

So money—we don't make money. Banks make money. You know, but the actual paper money that we use is actually made through the Federal Reserve and banking system. We are money takers. So you do something for me, we exchange money—I take it from you. I do something for you, we exchange money—you take it from me. So we're just purely money takers, and understanding that definition as well, too, is that I'm not going to go make no money—I'm going to go and take money from whatever I'm going to go and do.

[ 00:31:39,430 ] Because I run a business, I have employees, and they're coming to apply services for me to be able to run this business. I'm going to pay them. So they're taking the money that I actually already had to pay them.

Well, I have clients. The clients—I’m going to go do something for a client. The client is going to pay me. I'm going to take money from that client. So that money cycle—it's constantly flowing. And it has to be continuous because if there's ever any stops and cogs in that, that's when a recession takes place. That's when a depression takes place because the money cycle has stopped.

[ 00:32:20,650 ] And when the money cycle stops, our economy will begin to freeze and stiffen. And not understanding that accounting will make the economy have a heart attack.

Yeah, ain't that the truth.

So in terms of families, do you think a family can turn things around right now without a big raise or a big jump in money or some dramatic life change? Can they make a change right now? Can they turn the ship around? What's realistic?

Realistically, I would say yes, they can, but it's very painful to do so. You can't expect something on the top line—the money coming in—to be the windfall for you. What I'm talking about is that you're changing your habits and how you spend. You get wealthy by not spending so much. That's just a bottom-line, straight answer.

[ 00:33:16,410 ] Because the amount of money that you make is one thing, but how much you spend is the one thing that's truly under your control.

You might not—you know, you might not be able to afford a certain lifestyle that you might be living. That's a hard, hard thing to look in the mirror and say to yourself: if I'm struggling to make ends meet and I'm really struggling in that, maybe I'm kind of overextending myself. Maybe I'm at my capacity on the amount of money I can have coming in. And maybe I've overextended myself on the amount of money that I have going out.

Tracking that and understanding that requires a real detailed budget, and you need to make sure that you're doing that as a personal testing for yourself—to do a budget and try to live within that budget.

[ 00:33:55,000 ] And that's the only thing that's going to right the ship and turn it around, to make sure you have certain disciplines and guardrails you put around how you handle and deal with your own personal money situation. Because everybody is different. It's a personal situation for each and every one of us that we have to identify and acknowledge—our own habits of how we spend the money that we actually receive.

Yeah, I appreciate that.

So in my neck of the woods, in my ghostwriting business, sometimes I have to work with authors on their mindset about authorship, about selling books—that it's not just about writing the book, which is a huge accomplishment in and of itself. But there's also this marketing component in the business and seeing yourself as an author business, not just an author, that a lot of people have a hard time—not understanding, but accepting.

And I was just working with somebody through email just a couple of days ago where his overwhelming negativity was—it was a lot. It was a lot to handle. And I had to be very direct with him and say, “This is not… this is not who you are, and I will accept nothing less than X, Y, and Z.” And he finally came around, and he was much more positive, and he did some things that I, you know, recommended that he do. And that all worked out, but sometimes it doesn't.

[ 00:35:11,900 ] So for you, especially for parents, you know, everybody's got their own beliefs about money, their own theories about money, but what type of language do parents need to adopt or have to: A, protect their kids from money-related stress, but also empower them as well?

I would tell you the biggest language is transparency. Um, we are too—we're way too guarded around our kids on what we show them about life. We're not taught about money in school. We're not taught about the political process in school. We're not taught about paying taxes in school.

So where are we supposed to learn it? From our parents, at the kitchen table. And if we do not—or should I say, if we're not comfortable having those conversations—we need to seek out the education to become comfortable.

[ 00:36:10,690 ] Because if you truly love your children, if you truly love your family, this piece of it has to be transparent. Because you're going to send them out into a world when they become adults, and they're going to be ignorant. And they're going to be just caught off guard completely on the responsibilities of being an adult that's required.

So much so, from a tax perspective, if you don't do it, you can go to jail. That's how serious it is. And understanding how all that comes together requires a level of education that starts at home first.

So… I'm a big advocate. If anybody is interested, anybody wants to have conversations about how to talk to families about dealing with the money equation, you're more than welcome to talk about any of that type of stuff.

[ 00:36:58,750 ] But at the same token, it's one that we should all have as a true-driven passion for us because we want to make sure we educate the next generation about this wonderful topic of money and the tool that it really is, and how to make sure we spend in a way that's going to benefit—and not spend just to consume.

Yeah, definitely.

In your personal experience, did your family educate you about money? Is that how you got involved in it? And then based on that experience, in your opinion, what is a healthier way to involve children in financial conversations?

Because I could see it going… I could see a parent being very transparent about money—they're transparent in a negative way. They could constantly be like, “Oh, we can't afford this, this is blah, blah, blah.” And I even hear some of my students at the school where I work, they talk very negatively about money. And I know that that negative talk about money comes from their parents who are, quote-unquote, being transparent about their financial situation.

So what's your experience, first of all? And then what's a healthier way to involve children—even young ones—in financial conversations?

So I'll be very open and tell you and your audience that my father blessed me by sitting me down at a very early age, on a monthly basis, with their checkbook. When the bills came in, his role between my mother and my father was that he was the piece of the relationship that dealt with the bills.

[ 00:38:29,780 ] And he sat me at the table, and he walked me through his process of dealing with the bills—quote-unquote, dealing with. I didn't say paying; I said dealing with. And that education really helps open your eyes and say, “Hey, you know what? It might not be perfect, but it is something that we do need to do and have to have a level of understanding about.”

I can remember these conversations as early as being six and seven years old, and sitting at the table with my dad doing this. And I advocate—I deal with my children, and I think it's important because, again, this is something that we all have to do.

Now, to the point about the conversation piece—the best way to do that—I mentioned transparency first, but I will say that budget comes right along with it.

[ 00:39:21,620 ] For those parents that are out there that are complaining about their money situation and have a hard time with this, my question and challenge to you is: do you do a budget? Is it something that's a part of your regular cadence?

If you do a budget, have you identified that you are “in the red” on a consistent basis? Do you have some tightening that you can possibly do? That needs to have a real reckoning that needs to take place.

My experience says that a lot of times these two questions are not answered. And until they're actually presented—by a different third party in some cases—to challenge you, because if they're not answered for you personally and you're not being challenged about them, you wind up running a race throughout life and constantly having a bad relationship with money.

[ 00:40:10,670 ] That's a major, major problem that comes as a result of all this. And then, when it's finally all said and done, you have a lot of regret inside of you. A lot of us should have “I wish I would have…” inside of you.

As you get older and you actually learn more and more and more: “I wish I would have started this early. I wish I would have shared this earlier. I wish I would have talked about this earlier.” And it ends up being too late.

And that's the real fear that I have for everybody. You don't want it to be too late. So it's okay—have those conversations with your family about money. Be open and transparent about it. We all make mistakes, and it's okay. We also learn from mistakes as well, too.

[ 00:40:56,300 ] So if you keep your mistakes to yourself, what if your kid makes the same mistake? Is that what you really want to take place? I don't think so. So go ahead and share it. It's okay. They'll be happy that you did.

Yeah, yeah, for sure. One of the interesting quotes I heard one time was there was a lady who mentioned that she didn't learn a lesson about money until she was in her 30s—a very important lesson. And she had remarked that even though she learned the lesson later in life, she wanted to teach her own child early.

And so the quote essentially was: “What lessons you learned later in life, when you have kids, you should teach those exact lessons—the ones you learned later in life—to your child as early as possible, so that it can kind of break that generational cycle, and so that we're not, as parents, passing down… just like we do genetics, we're not passing down our anxieties and our ignorance onto the next generation. We certainly wouldn't want that piece of it.”

[ 00:41:42,190 ] So if a family right now—let's say somebody's listening to this podcast and they're feeling a bit overwhelmed, they're feeling a bit scattered—where should they start today?

I say you should start with a pause. You know, it's… finding a good CPA. It's like going to your financial doctor. When you go to the doctor, you have to be completely exposed and tell them all your health issues. They're going to poke and prod on you in every single way. But finding a good CPA does the exact same thing.

[ 00:42:26,580 ] I'm going to find all your financial woes and all your anxiety around it, and understand where you are from a tax perspective, and really try to align that up as well, too, because without having that level of conversation, you're going to do a real deep dive personally. You really—again—let randomization take place.

A lot of people say, “Hey, you know what? I can do my taxes myself.” Okay, yeah, you can in some cases. But are you really an expert in that space? Is that something that you do on a regular basis? Do you know all the ins and outs related to that? Can you really represent yourself in that way?

Your tax return 100% is a narrative of numbers. And that's the interesting thing about it because you're just telling your story about how you made your money.

[ 00:43:11,400 ] So do you know that language to be able to tell that story?

So I say find a good CPA to have that conversation with. You'd be amazed at what benefits you can have with that and what's going to come from it. In some cases, it's not that expensive as you might think it might be.

So I highly encourage it. And it will help you have some of those conversations that you might have felt a little bit weary about in the past—that you didn't want to have. It actually might give you some clarity that you might have been looking for that you really didn't want to have to address.

So I encourage it. And it is a very, very powerful tool for your system that you can apply for yourself.

[ 00:43:48,660 ] Yeah, I appreciate that a lot.

And so for the families that you have worked with, what does—let's say a family is trying to turn it around—what does progress typically look like, especially in the first 30, 60, 90 days for a family that is getting serious?

And then before you answer that, there's one thing I wanted to share. A friend of mine—you probably are familiar with this—but a friend of mine had recommended there's a program called NACA, and it's for people who want to buy a home. And he told me to go through the program. So I did. And one of the things that they had mentioned was just what you said.

[ 00:44:22,530 ] They said, “We are going to go through every financial document that you have because we want to get…” Because their sole purpose, I think—it's a nonprofit founded with banks. There's some connection between them and Bank of America or whatever, but it's a nonprofit nonetheless.

And so anyway, the people in the room when I went to the seminar—these were individuals that you could tell were not comfortable with money. They were comfortable with spending it, but not comfortable in managing it. You could tell—there's no doubt—that that was the case in the room.

Then anyway, those people—the directors of the program—said, “Hey, we are going to go through every single financial record that you have. So if you've got more than one bank account, we're going to find it.

[ 00:45:05,610 ] You've got a secret Venmo account, we're going to find it. You've got a this and a that—we are going to find it because we are going to monitor every single transaction that you make within your bank accounts.”

Because you actually have to connect your bank account to their system, and they get to see every single thing that you're spending. So it's not like you're telling them. They actually do see everything.

And I thought, you know, what a… what a serious boot camp—a good boot camp—for people who are trying to get serious about money. And those who did get serious about it, they got into their first homes and, you know, and they were able to actually afford the mortgage payments because they had been coached throughout this process.

[ 00:45:48,200 ] And there were sacrifices that they had to make—significant sacrifices. Some of them, they couldn't go out on Saturday nights to the bars in Virginia Beach and drink all night. And some of them, you know, had obsessions with shoes. They couldn't go out and buy a new pair of Nike shoes or Jordans or whatever every month—or whatever the case was—they had to cut back. And for some people, it was eating out. That can eat up your budget big time.

But eventually, through discipline and months and months of hard work and discipline, some of them were able to get into their homes. I think that that's just a testament to what you're talking about as far as getting a CPA and going to that financial doctor.

[ 00:46:24,200 ] Because once people actually start getting serious, yeah, it'll really open your eyes.

But anyway, back to the question: what does progress look like for a family who is looking to get serious for the first 30, 60, 90 days?

So powerfully enough, that's a great example of progress—100%. Clarity brings about a level of ownership and responsibility and pride that you can wear on your chest and be excited about the opportunities that's coming down, down the pipeline.

When you become serious, success looks like what you want it to look like. So again, I go back to my original statement: knowing where you are—knowing where you are through that one-word SWOT. What are my opportunities? And aligning your opportunity up with what you're good at.

[ 00:47:14,560 ] And then using what you're not so good at and focusing on it to make yourself better. And then having that clarity to apply along the way—your walk is going to change. Your talk is going to change. Your mindset will overall change. And when those things take place, your results will show you.

So you gave a very, very powerful example of that by people who went through that program. It helped order their steps and how they moved because now somebody is actually working with you—talking to you, looking over your shoulder. And some people need that. Some people need that level of discipline to be applied.

But once you go through that, you want to pick up those habits and then you start doing it to yourself.

[ 00:47:56,320 ] So you spend different. You want different. Your focus is different. You don't buy that expensive coffee anymore. You just don't. You don't even like it. And then you realize that, you know what? I want this overall goal that I set for myself more than these daily bad habits I have for myself. And you change.

So that's what we're really talking about. We're talking about a mindset change, and that's the way that results change. So that's what I see success—success turns into a complete mindset shift.

Yeah. Speaking of the mindset shift, I remember speaking during the pre-interview with you, and I want to share this with the audience. On Reddit, I had seen a post where a mother—and you probably remember this too—there was a post by a mother who had written about her daughter.

[ 00:48:43,970 ] She was like a five- or six-year-old kid, and she had put 50 cents in her piggy bank. And she held the piggy bank over her head and was so excited, and she was saying, “I'm rich, I'm rich,” and just, you know, was super happy.

The mom wrote on Reddit that she didn't know how to handle that situation because she—the mom—thinks that 50 cents was not a lot of money. And she was basically asking the Reddit community: should she beat her child over the head with a cold, hard truth about the fact that she wasn't rich?

And so I had asked Albert that question. And Albert's answer was really insightful. You can elaborate on this, too, if you want to, because I thought it was fantastic.

[ 00:49:27,370 ] When I shared that story with Albert during the pre-interview, he said, “What that mother doesn't realize is that the little girl was rich because she was making an investment. When she put that 50 cents in her piggy bank, she was making an investment into herself. So by definition, she really was rich, but the mother didn't see it that way.”

So do you care to elaborate a little bit on that, especially when it comes to the mindset shift that families may need to adopt to not pass down their financial woes onto their own children?

So even the term “financial woes” is one historically we've used as what's called a generational curse. And the little girl was 100% rich. And I would go one step further and say that she was actually wealthy.

[ 00:50:11,610 ] Because her mindset—by putting that 50 cent into that actual piggy bank—she received a 100% return on her zero investment. That it was way more than what she had yesterday, so she was rich.

And as parents, it's our responsibility to truly explain and give to our children the mindset of abundance and not have a scarcity mindset. The fearfulness in that Reddit post is that the mother potentially sounded like she had a scarcity mindset and not one of true abundance—worrying about things that we have no control over as compared to being focused on what we can control.

What can we control? We can control how we spend. We can control how we save. We can control how we invest. Those are things we can control, especially as being an American citizen.

[ 00:51:10,290 ] Being in America, you have all these great opportunities that are set out in front of you. You can control how you spend. You can control how you invest. You can control how you save.

Notice I didn't say you can control how much you make. Because if you work for somebody, you really don't control how much you make. And if you are a business owner, technically you don't control how much you make either because your customers control how much you make.

The question really is: what are you going to do with the money that you made? That little girl did something with the money that she made. She invested in her future, and that's how powerful that really is. So kudos to her.

And we can counsel the mother to be able to let her know that abundance is how we should always live. And don't worry about things we don't have control over. Control what you actually can control.

Yeah, most definitely.

You know, I've noticed that a lot of people, especially in the Gen X—and yeah, mostly in the Gen X generation—some of them grew up with, well, they grew up with baby boomer parents. Most of them dead. And they talk about how they did not know that they grew up poor. They didn't know that they were poor when they grew up. I've heard countless people say that they did not know that they were poor when they grew up.

And I just think that that's kind of a testament to a child's mentality—that they're not looking at the world the same way that adults are in terms of finances and stress and all of that. They just have a totally different mindset.

[ 00:52:38,800 ] There was this individual who shared with me an interesting story. His father had acquired a lot of wealth through his business. He was, I believe, a welder. And he was a Hispanic man, and he had children, and he was married and all of that.

And the person—the Gen Xer—who was this child of this man who was the welder said that when he was growing up, his father never, ever, ever let him know how much money he had in the bank or anywhere. He never let him know. And he also said that his dad made him work.

This child—this person who's now an adult now—had to become a welder. He had to drive the trucks. He had to do all the same work that his dad did because his dad was trying to pass on this work, this level of work ethic, in his son so that all of the wealth that his father was eventually going to pass down wouldn't just get squandered with the next generation.

Because I'm sure you've seen it before where a family accumulates a lot of money, and then they pass it down to their children, and then… gone. They invest. Maybe they don't invest, but they squander the money. They buy a new car. Whatever the case is, countless people have talked about how their children have squandered hundreds of thousands of dollars because they did not have the financial savviness to keep up with the money.

[ 00:54:15,080 ] And this father, he really instilled in his son an appreciation for the work that it took to gain this money—not make it, like you say, but to gain it—through hard work.

And so—um—he was just saying that he really appreciated his dad for that because he felt like—I mean, there were many other things that he said—but he felt like he absorbed his father's attitude towards money in a good, positive way, and he felt like he absorbed his mentality about what hard work and success really looked like for his family. And that was a great thing.

So my question for you in this case is: is a kid growing up not knowing that they're quote-unquote poor a hindrance? Is it a good thing? Is it a bad thing? Or is it just about how the family handles it?

Because so many people have said, “I didn't know I was poor when I was young. I didn't know I was poor when I was young.”

[ 00:55:04,870 ] You know, I grew up in a very traditional lower-middle-class family earlier in my life. And as I got older, my parents started a business that was very successful, and we moved from being very lower-middle class to being upper-middle class and somewhat—we'll say—a little bit wealthy as well, too, based off their decisions and based off the risk that they actually took.

So the story that you gave about the son working for the dad and the dad not telling him about the many things about money and all that is a powerful, powerful story.

[ 00:55:54,860 ] My only question of the story would be: what is he going to teach his kids? And I think what he would teach his kids is that same work ethic that he learned from his dad. But what I didn't hear in there is this: did the dad ever tell him how to use the money that came?

Yes, he did. The one thing that he didn't do—and this isn't necessarily related to money per se—he gave his son an impeccable financial education. But what he didn't do was he didn't say to his son that he loved him. So he was all about hard work, all about, you know, teaching those skills with money and stuff like that as he got older and was ready for it and could handle those things and whatnot.

[ 00:56:46,230 ] But it wasn't until his father was on his deathbed that his father told him that he loved him, and he apologized for not saying it more.

So the guy, when I was speaking to him, he said that the one thing he took away from that experience—and he was kind of tearing up and all that kind of stuff because he's talking about the first time that his dad said that he loved him, etc.—he said that the one thing he took away from that experience was that he wanted to pass down all the same values in terms of work and money to his own children. But the part that he also wanted to pass down to them was that compassion that he didn't have when he was a child.

So that was kind of the main lesson that he took away—this important experience with his father.

[ 00:57:31,910 ] He took the good lessons, but he also took the bad lessons, and he learned from it. And the lessons that he learned were that compassion—that sensitivity piece—that he also wanted to bring to his children, in addition to being a good father and a good worker and, you know, being a good provider and those kinds of things.

That's interesting because I'll tell you, I can align with that story as well—very similar interactions. And it's a generational thing as well, I will say. It's very important to…

I do it now with my son. Not only do I tell him I love him, I tell him that I believe in him. Mm-hmm. And I hug him, and I'll give him a kiss on the cheek.

[ 00:58:11,180 ] These are the things my dad would tell me—that he loved me—but it was more so like he was proud of it. That was kind of the conversation. Yeah. And hugging my dad was like hugging a brick wall. It was very, very, very, very, very like, “That's it.”

So I can appreciate the story because I lived that as well, too. And it's one that, as men and as parents, we need to make sure we hug and we encourage our children and tell them that we love them so, so, so, so much because this world is a lot different than what it was when we were coming up. And I think I might be a little bit of a different generation from you as well, too. It's a lot different.

[ 00:58:55,970 ] And there's a lot more opportunity for things. And there's a lot more opportunity to be exposed at a younger age to many things that I was never exposed to. I didn't have to worry about being exposed to.

And you don't want someone, through other avenues, to give your child something that they might be missing, and they really should be getting it from the parent.

And so I would always challenge parents always to read to their children. I would encourage them to also have their children read back to them. Have their children stand up and have speaking, and be open and free to speak and communicate with them. Be slow to judge from their perspective, and try not to be so condemning upon them from that regard as well.

[ 00:59:49,110 ] But on the same token, there's a level of consistent discipline that should be applied to these things, for what's expected. So it helps the child learn these different leadership… about life. So when they are ready to go out into life and go do these things, they're not doing it blindly.

And I think the story that you just gave just shows a real strong testament of that, where he did take the good and he did take the bad. He's using that for his children now. It's very, very, very powerful. Very powerful. So thank you.

Yeah, definitely. Well, I appreciate that. So this is a question—it's the last and final question that I always ask every single guest that comes on the show, and you can interpret it however you want to.

[ 01:00:30,810 ] And the question is: what do you believe is the most important education that a child could ever receive?

Wow. The most important education, 100%, I would say, is that it's… self-independence comes with family independence. We're part of something, and being a part of that, we have to make sure that we're governing ourselves accordingly for self-leadership because we're part of a family who needs us to be governed appropriately.

And as a family, as the self grows, the family grows. When the family grows, the family can scale because we have to be connected as a family. So I challenge everyone to be from that—to believe in that and go from that perspective—because life is hard, and trying to do it on our own…

[ 01:01:24,720 ] it becomes almost overly encompassing with anxiety and being overwhelmed and not being able to know if you're going or coming. Without having a solid nucleus—a family that you can actually lean upon—this becomes almost impossible. So that's always important and always, always, always critical. And I think that's a powerful, powerful lesson.

Yeah, it really is. And one of the things about the family unit that I think you brought up that's super important is the fact that a lot of cultures, they understand what a lot of Americans… families don't understand, and that is that it really does take a village. It really does take a village to support one another—not just to raise a child, but to support one another.

[ 01:02:04,900 ] Because I'm 38, and, you know, last year—let me just tell you—last year financially, man, I mean, it felt like I was in the boxing ring with Muhammad Ali and… thank you. Thank you. I mean, it was—oh my God—it was brutal. It was brutal.

This year, definitely, it's already started off on the right foot, which is great. Great to see. I remember, you know, it was kind of one of those situations where it's like, “Take my advice because I'm not using it,” kind of thing.

And when my grandma—you know, she struggles sometimes with her finances. She's on Social Security and all that kind of stuff—and she needed some money. I'm very, very free-hearted with any money that I do have. I mean, I will just give you—I will give you everything that I have. I mean, I just—I have no attachment to money in that way.

But anyway, she needed that money, and she was like, “No, no, no, you don't. Don't give me that money. That's for you. You need that money. Don't do that.”

And I told her, “Nanny, we are family. We are family. We are here to help one another. When you're down, I'll pick you up. When I'm down, you'll help pick me up,” etc.

But the thing was, I wasn't planning on being down. So when I finally did get down—because, you know, God be humbling you sometimes and you need to sit down and just shut up—but anyway, so I got humbled big time.

[ 01:03:24,090 ] My grandma, she gave me a little bit of money. And I know that she's still in the same financial situation. I mean, she's still struggling for her money or whatever, but she gave me some money when I needed it—to get some food, etc.

And I was really adamant about her not giving me that money. I did not want to take it. And she used my own words against me, and she said, “We are family, right? This is what we do. You help me when I'm down and I help you when you're down. Isn't that right? Is that what you said?”

And I was like, “I can't.” I guess. So, you know, it was just one of those things.

[ 01:03:55,380 ] So I definitely think that that lesson about families really supporting each other is—if you can't turn the ship around by yourself, and you can't, for whatever reason, the stars are just not aligned for you to make millions and millions of dollars—the next step really is to just come together as a family. And then you can make it through and you can break through all of those obstacles together.

So anyway, Albert—last thing—you've been a stellar guest. Thank you so much, and just express my appreciation for coming on The Gentle Year. And we'd love to have you back on the show. We can talk about some more fun financial things if you would love to be on again one day.

[ 01:04:33,920 ] But is there anything that you would like to promote or to share with our audience today?

Well, before I get to the promotion, I want to touch this one little piece.

Yeah, please. Absolutely. I got all the time in the world, so you go right ahead.

We do not borrow money from family. We do not borrow money from family. We give to family. And I want to stress that really, really hard because one thing that can tear a family apart is when we, quote-unquote, borrow money and we can't pay it back, and now it's a level of negativity that never should have been there to begin with. So I would challenge your audience, and I would say this.

[ 01:05:15,990 ] If you have somebody in your family come to you to ask for money, and you actually do have it and you can actually give it to them, just give it to them. Don't expect to get it back. It's a gift, and give it—give it out the love you have for the person.

Because they wouldn't be coming to you if they could pay it back. Think about that. If they could actually pay you back, why would they even come to borrow the money to begin with?

And one bill leads to the next bill. The next bill leads to the next bill, and it turns into a snowball, and that person will never catch up. And truly, you could be the blessing for that person.

[ 01:05:51,630 ] By just giving this money over to them that you were blessed with from something else that took place. So never, never lend money. Always just give it. Give it freely.

Because when you give it, more likely it's going to come back to you in some form, way, or fashion. It's going to come back. You don't even have to ask for it. It's going to come back. It's not going to come back from the person who took it from you, but it's going to come back from somebody else. But it will come back. The universe will realign some type of way to bring it back to you, and you'll be amazed.

It's going to come back sometimes two-, three-, four-, five-times-fold just because of the goodness of your heart and the space that you were in to be able to do that.

[ 01:06:32,839 ] Go ahead.

No, no, no, no. I was going to transition over, but that's a major thing. I just had a quick question for you.

So on that piece about, you know, just giving money freely and loving your family and helping them during times of need and all that—that's all wonderful. But I always want to be balanced.

What if there is a family member that's kind of taking advantage of a situation? Maybe they go from one person—let's say they borrow $1,500 from one person—and they don't pay it back. Thank you. Um, and then they go… and then the next… that person who they borrowed that money from, and they come back to that person because it's kind of like a cat—you know, you put some milk out, you put some cat food, they're going to come back. I mean, just the way that it is. It's not like you fed them once and now they're just off on their own and they're going to go find their own food. No, you fed them once and they're going to come back again and ask for more.

So, um, you know, is it also okay to say no to family members as well who are, you know—

We have just begun to talk. I agree. It always happens at the end of the podcast. This is why we're going to have to do another podcast. Yes. Yes.

And I'm going to give your audience a powerful reason as to the why and how to get there. I began my comments by talking about every individual has a purpose and identifying what your purpose really is.

[ 01:07:47,500 ] And what does that really, really mean? Well, your purpose can be found by going through a process about what I call the circle of dreams—how big you think for what you really want, and how you really want things to be for you. Not today, not tomorrow, but 10, 20, 30, 40 years from now: what do you want to have built along the way through the journey that you've been on?

Whatever those top three things are, that's your purpose. Then pick one and stick to it. That one thing is going to give you the power to say no. It's going to give you the power to say no because there are going to be many opportunities—many times people are going to come to you with something different to challenge you, to request from you, to pull from you.

[ 01:08:32,899 ] And if it doesn't align with your purpose, you have the right, the authority, and the consistency to say, “No.” And you can give them a reason why by saying, “That doesn't allow my purpose for where I'm going and what I'm trying to accomplish. That's not something that I can do right now. No.”

And it's okay. And they will respect you a whole lot more for saying no because they're going to know they can't come back and say, “Man, let me go back again with that same story all over again.” No. And it's okay. It's perfectly okay.

So that's a very, very powerful tool—a very, very powerful thing that everybody can do—to make sure that you're aligned to be able to say the most powerful word in the world: no.

[ 01:09:15,620 ] No.

Yeah, yeah. No, I appreciate that. I'm just kind of ruminating in my head about all the things we've talked about today and just can't wait to, you know, for part two of this because this is gonna be really exciting.

But anyway, yes, back onto the promotion side of things. I want to be respectful of your time. So tell us where we can find you. I think you mentioned before that you also wrote a book as well.

Yes, that's right, Knikki. Basically, if you Google Albert Butler CPA, the search results will pop up where you're going to find my website. You're going to find my—you're going to find my current firm. You're going to find where I have my legacy alignment system as well, too. You're also going to find my book.

[ 01:09:54,630 ] The name of the book is Life, Truth, Love, Loss, Success and Failure. And this book was written as a true testament of advice that I wanted to give to my children that I want to memorialize.

And this advice is advice that was given to me by my parents, by my grandparents, and all those champions in my lineage that I'm standing on their shoulders right now to be in the position I'm in today. So I want to memorialize that and write it all down.

So the book really has turned into, from me writing to my children, to something that anybody can pick up and read and gain certain advice that maybe was never given to you.

So if you are looking—or never had a father; if your father left you too soon; or if you have one that just didn't have the right advice to give you—this book is designed for you to open up and have a read.

[ 01:10:51,330 ] And I promise you, you're going to get something from it.

And as a special bonus inside the book, there's an actual section that talks directly about money. And everything that we've shared today is listed inside the book, from doing a proper budget, to being able to scale yourself personally, to making sure that you spend the right way, to even down to doing your taxes. All those things can be found inside my book, Life.

You can find the book on Amazon. Just type in “Life” by Albert Butler and it'll pop up for your purchase. And I'm sure, again, you'll find something in it that's going to be something that you can share with everyone in your inner circle.

Okay.

[ 01:11:27,640 ] And not to put you on the spot here, but I always like to look out for my listeners at The Gentle Yearbecause they're amazing people. So again, not to try to put you on the spot here, but is there anything that you would like to think about, or ruminate on, or offer right now—specifically to the listeners of The Gentle Year?

Yes. And you're not putting me on the spot because I was actually going to go here.

Cool. See, like you said, we're now just starting to talk.

Yes, we're now just starting to talk. But I will tell your listeners to take it and hold this lesson to your chest: life is turbulent. You're going to have ups. You're going to have downs. But in those downs, realize that the up is right around the corner.

[ 01:12:13,800 ] But when you're in the valley and you feel like you're in the in-between, remember that you can always tell yourself, “I can because I will,” and “I will because I can.” Those words alone will help foster you a mindset of perseverance to keep going for the next day, because joy will come in the morning if you keep on going forward.

But don't try to make hard decisions when you're in a storm because when you make those decisions in a storm, sometimes you make the wrong decision, and it will take you off your purpose and your God-given path that you should be on. So know that “I can because I will,” and “I will because I can.” And I will leave that for your listeners to make as something that they can possibly resonate with.

[ 01:12:54,990 ] Yes, most definitely. The truth is that if you're not guided by confidence and you're not guided by spirituality and self-awareness, you will be guided by emotion—and that is never a good thing.

So, yes, we appreciate you so much, Albert, for being on the show. Thank you again. And we'll have to let the listeners know when you want to come back, but you're always welcome back here, and we wish you the best of luck.

If anybody wants to reach out to Albert for CPA services and support in that area, feel free to do so because I'm sure he will give you a financial education that is much needed and much like, I guess you could say, a boot camp—a swift kick in the arse, so to speak—because we all need it sometimes.

So thank you so much, Albert. We appreciate you. And thank you guys for listening to The Gentle Year. We appreciate you for being here today. Thank you.



Head Shot

Albert Butler

Guest