169: Cash Uncomplicated. Aaron Nannini

[00:00:00] Bob Wheeler: Welcome to another episode of Money You Should Ask, where everyone has something they can teach you. I’m your host, Bob Wheeler. In this episode, we are going to explore why we do? What we do when it comes to money as a CPA for the past 30 years, wait, let me say 25 because that makes me sound younger. I have seen it all when it comes to money and emotions. And if you think I’m talking about my clients, I’m not. I’m talking about myself.

My relationship with money has been and sometimes still is an emotional roller coaster. Maybe that’s something you’re also familiar with. Good news, you and I are not the only ones. Our next guest is going to share their money beliefs, money blocks and life challenges as well. Buckle your seatbelt and enjoy the ride.

[00:01:05] Bob Wheeler: Our next guest Aaron Nannini is the founder of ‘cashuncomplicated.com’. As an everyday person with an average salary, Aaron achieved financial success through implementing basic and uncomplicated principles such as a life goals, daily habits, intentional money, decisions, and a value based spending mindset. After struggling with money in his 20s, and sick of living paycheck to paycheck, Aaron started educating himself on personal finance. Through years of intense study and practice. He went from barely getting by each month to complete financial clarity and harmony all in less than five years.

He believes that anyone can achieve financial freedom without sacrificing their lifestyle or happiness. Aaron, welcome to the show.

[00:01:46] Aaron Nannini: Hey, Bob, it’s great to be on the show. I appreciate it.

[00:01:48] Bob Wheeler: So I want to start off with you wrote a book ’Cash on complicated’, that’s for a lot of people, that’s probably lets them relax right there. Because people hear money and they panic. So tell me a little bit about why you decided to write this book and why it doesn’t have to be complicated?

[00:02:05] Aaron Nannini: Yeah, for sure. You know, the reason I wrote this book is I messed up for years. All throughout my 20s and early 30s, I was kind of I would get a paycheck, spend it, and then I’d be done for that month. And I would kind of wonder why I was struggling financially. And I can remember there was this moment where when I would call a restaurant now back in the day, I would call it a bar, I over drafted my account, spent a bunch of money, and I was on a Monday afternoon after work. And I was looking at I was like, you know, this is not okay anymore.

[00:02:30] Aaron Nannini: I need to fix it. It wasn’t just the spending money. But I was like 31, 32, I had almost no money to my name. A lot of my friends were doing a lot better than me and I was wondering, what am I doing here? And so that’s where I went to a kind of an old fashioned bookstore, started reading ‘Rich Dad Poor Dad’ and some other books. And that got me started. And it just kind of snowballed in a positive way where you know how you learn one thing that connects you to something else to something else, and it just went there.

[00:02:56] Aaron Nannini: So I really started to do better financially, started to save money and actually invest. And I was starting to notice people around me, who are also struggling with money. And as you know, above like, it’s super obnoxious just to go up to someone and say, hey, I’m spotting what you’re doing. And this is not correct. So I decided, you know what, I’m gonna write a book about this to kind of backtrack about 10 years, I had started a book before that. And I got up to about page 14, three of the pages were graphs.

[00:03:23] Aaron Nannini: So I can’t really count those. I just stopped that book. And I thought, no, this time, I’m going to commit to it. I’m going to finish this book. And so I committed to writing one page a day. And I was like, okay, let’s see what that gets me. That got me to a complete book. And then I got to the editing process of they go, oh man, this is a whole another mess. So got a really good editor, cut out some things, added some more things kind of made it a polished diamond and that’s where I am today.

[00:03:49] Bob Wheeler: Well, that sounds awesome. And I want to reflect back on something that I want to reiterate for our listeners. You said, you messed up a lot.

[00:03:57] Aaron Nannini: Yep

[00:03:58] Bob Wheeler: And it’s so important for people to hear that people see sometimes successful people. And I think you talked about this a little bit too. And look and go, oh my God, they’re successful. Wow, they’ve always had an easy. Oh my gosh, I wished I had a silver spoon.

[00:04:11] Bob Wheeler: Well, maybe that’s not what happened or maybe you’re just catching a snapshot. And most of us if we’re willing to admit it have messed up. So can you just touch on that a little bit more because I know there’s so many people out there that have shame around their failures?

[00:04:25] Aaron Nannini: Yeah, that’s another reason I wrote the book is. I wanted to kind of show some vulnerability that, you know, I was someone who messed up who for years had no investments, no savings, living that classic paycheck to paycheck. And so I wanted to show people you can mess up for years, and recover and learn. And so it’s kind of goes to that growth mindset of always improving yourself.

[00:04:45] Aaron Nannini: And I think it’s intimidating because I can remember like, out of college, and in my early 20s, I would see people investing and doing well financially. And it just seems so far out there that there was no way I could achieve that. And the reality is like you’re not going to get from A to Z In a week.

[00:05:01] Bob Wheeler: Right

[00:05:01] Aaron Nannini: You need to go A to B, A to C, and so it’s a process and kind of show some grace to yourself in that process and you will get there.

[00:05:08] Bob Wheeler: You’re speaking my language, I do talk a lot about A to Z and A to B. And one of the things that I hear people say is, well, you know, I don’t want to be a multimillionaire. I don’t want to own 22 properties. I don’t want to spend 20 hours a day just trying to make sure that the money staying in the bank, and that I’m following my budget, and all I can do is think about the money. I don’t even have time to like, take a vacation, or watch a show on TV because I got to be focused on the money. What’s the balance?

[00:05:38] Aaron Nannini: Yeah, I don’t think people have to think that way. And the first question, I would ask someone who says that is, well, what do you want? I would kind of pause and I find that when you ask a question like that, there’s a long pause, and you can kind of see the wheels turning. And they’re like, Well, I don’t know what I want. I know, I don’t want to be a multimillionaire, I don’t want, as you said to 22 properties.

[00:05:57] Aaron Nannini: But I do want to be able to take a vacation with my family for a month in the summer, or I want to go skiing in the winter time or whatever it may be. And so once you can clarify those values, I think that really helps you break down exactly what you do want and then you can work towards that goal.

[00:06:13] Aaron Nannini: Because a lot of people find they don’t necessarily want to be a multimillionaire, but they do want to have some money in the bank, they want to have that freedom, they want to have the ability to be in a job that they like, or have some purpose in their life. So that’s why I actually started my book. I’m glad you brought that up with value based spending and writing down what those values are. Because I think once you get clear on the values, your money decisions will follow a little more naturally and it makes more sense.

[00:06:38] Bob Wheeler: Yeah, I do think that is so important because if I’m saying that I want to take a vacation, or I’m saving for a house, if I’m trying to think about should I buy this extra beer? Should I go off budget on my grocery list, that I can stop and say, wait a minute, is this in service to what I say that I want? And so it helps keep us in a way. And I don’t know if you agree with this, but I feel like it helps keep us in integrity with what we say we want.

[00:07:04] Aaron Nannini: 100% agree, I think I love the way you phrased that kind of integrity with, you know, the way that you’re spending.

[00:07:09] Bob Wheeler: Yeah, it’s so important. And it doesn’t mean that if you misstep, or you do something wrong, that you have to take yourself out and beat yourself up. For me, there’s a bit of compassion here for ourselves when we’re going through this process, because it’s not an easy process to undo, and unlearn. Years and years of socialization, money beliefs, a mindset that didn’t serve us. Not did you have brothers and sisters?

[00:07:35] Aaron Nannini: You know, I’ve got one sister, and then I live with both my parents growing up, and we kind of came from a middle upper class background, I was very fortunate where my dad made good money, and were able to live comfortably. So I’m not one of those stories of looking for the next meal. So I kind of went in reverse where I started with a good financial background with my upbringing. And then somehow I blew it in my late teens and 20s and then I recovered and got a lot better.

[00:08:01] Bob Wheeler: And did your parents talk a lot about money when you were a kid? Did they tell you to save your money? Did they tell you to be thrifty or what were the messages you got?

[00:08:10] Aaron Nannini: You know, not a lot, the most my parents talked about money was more, if you want something, you need to save and buy it. So I can remember like, I’m a huge sports fan. So I would want these, remember those old school starter jackets. And so I wanted a starter jacket for my favorite football basketball baseball team. And so the mission was basically, okay, do your chores, save your money, then you can go buy it.

[00:08:31] Aaron Nannini: And so that’s the mindset I took. But what I’ve learned in my later years is, earn your money, but then go invest it and invest as much as you can. And then you can use some of that money from investment. So that piece wasn’t covered but they did a good job as far as telling me go out and earn it, which I think is great advice for everyone. And then you can kind of get what you want.

[00:08:50] Bob Wheeler: And looking back, and maybe it wasn’t really obvious, and maybe it didn’t happen. Are you aware of any differences in the way that your parents talk to you about money and the way they talk to your sister about money in terms of gender?

[00:09:02] Aaron Nannini: You know that’s a really good question. I’m trying to think about that. And I don’t think so I feel like it was pretty similar. Because I know, like, my sister would get some things and my parents would give a similar message. But that’s a great question. I probably have to think more about that. Maybe in like two days, I’m gonna call you and say, Hey Bob, got some clarity here, but I don’t recall that.

[00:09:23] Bob Wheeler: Yeah. So let me ask you this, you took about five years to really have the shift of the mindset. And that’s really talking about going from A to B to C to D, and ‘Rich Dad Poor Dad’, fantastic book. It’s a starter book for anybody. It really gives such clarity. So I can’t recommend that book enough. I think it’s really helpful.

[00:09:44] Bob Wheeler: But how do you stay on course, in other words, you got married, you’ve got kids, and maybe you did all this before then. But talk us through that a little bit because I know there’s people out there saying, well, I only have four hours at the end of my day and I’m tired.

[00:09:58] Aaron Nannini: Yeah, you know, it’s funny you mentioned that because most people say when they have kids, sometimes their finances will fall off the cliff. And for me, it was almost opposite. You know, the moment that I had kids, it was kind of I was starting to beginning point of my financial journey. And so my finances actually got better with that. And part of that might have been getting a promotion a job, or just learning more. But you know, as far as like, the amount of hours in the day, we have more than we think.

[00:10:22] Aaron Nannini: So if anyone commutes to work, like that’s an opportunity, listen to your podcast, Bob, that’s like a half hour, 40 minutes right there where you can kind of get that knowledge. And that’s even before you get to work. There’s little hacks like that. And then there’s audio books as a variety thing. So you don’t have to study for that three or four hours a day.

[00:10:40] Aaron Nannini: I mean, you have to live your life, you have to do other things. There’s other responsibilities, you know, social life, there’s practices for your kids, and all those things. So like, I would never ask someone to spend all that time which is more, look at your day and analyze it work. Can you fit that in, and go from there?

[00:10:57] Bob Wheeler: Yeah, and I think it’s so important, even if you don’t read the books initially, get it on the radar. So for me, I’m a CPA, I’m out there giving other people advice, but not following it myself, right? Because I’m an exception, and I’m gonna beat the system somehow. I have a special power knot.

[00:11:14] Bob Wheeler: But what I did to start getting ready for this transition was I went out and bought like 20, or 30 books, and I had them on my nightstand. I haven’t, like I just had books all around me. I’m like huh, I don’t want to read that. So I could just feel my resistance to like I know better, and actually forcing myself to start to be open, oh wow, there’s some other ways to look at this other than the way that I’m doing it, which isn’t quite working.

[00:11:41] Aaron Nannini: For sure. I hear you, and one thing that I did like for myself, and this may not work for everyone, but I write down what I need to do every day. And so part of my day is to read for half hour. And that’s just something I’ve kind of ingrained in my day. And it’s natural to me, and it doesn’t feel like I’m pressing.

[00:11:55] Aaron Nannini: And it actually kind of calms me down to read it. It’s funny. After college, I was like, okay, kind of done with reading, I probably went 10 to 15 years of barely even picking up a book. And then it’s funny. Once I started to read again, my finances did turn around and as well as other things in my life.

[00:12:12] Aaron Nannini: So I think that reading is a big thing. It’s kind of overlooked these days. It’s like, well, there’s YouTube videos, there’s different things and those are great supplements. But there’s nothing like getting into a good book and really analyzing those details and what the author’s saying,

[00:12:25] Bob Wheeler: Yeah, I think reading is so important. And it’s interesting. I don’t know what time you get up and start your day. Although I’ve let it slide a little bit, I typically get up around 5:30 and I go walk the dog for an hour.

[00:12:38] Bob Wheeler: And then I come back, I do a little workout. I do some reading. I do some meditation. I try to get all that stuff done. So by nine o’clock. Yeah, I’ve knocked out so much stuff that no matter what distractions come the rest of the day, like I’ve done my duties.

[00:12:52] Aaron Nannini: Yep, you’ve got your biggest wins already. And it’s funny, I’m the same time as you. I set my alarm for 527 for some reason. I’ve always done like odd times like that. But yeah, 5:30 that’s a great time, because it’s like the sun hasn’t risen yet you get ahead of the day.

[00:13:05] Aaron Nannini: And it reminds me there’s this book by Brian Tracy, ‘You Eat That Frog’ and one of the premises to do the hardest thing first in your day. And once you do that, like as you said, by nine o’clock, like you’ve won the day already, and whatever happens after that, it’s almost gravy.

[00:13:19] Bob Wheeler: Yeah. And it’s, I know, some people say, well, everybody else gets more hours in the day than I do. We don’t know, we have to plan it. And I think it is so important. I do list out all my stuff. I probably have 20 notepads with the list and a list and then I sometimes Oh, I didn’t get that I have to rewrite it down. But for me writing it down. And I don’t know how you feel about this.

[00:13:35] Bob Wheeler: But for me, there’s actually a relationship between my mind and writing something down. When I studied in high school in college, I actually aced Latin, because I would write out the assignment four times before the test. And so then when the test came, I just went oh yeah, I know this done. It was natural. So I don’t know how you feel about any relationship between mind and writing things down.

[00:14:02] Aaron Nannini: Yeah 1,000% agree. And there’s actually been studies on this, that old fashioned pen to paper is what makes that difference. And, you know, one of my theories for why that’s the case is when you’ve got an idea in your head, it’s just in your mind, and like, you haven’t shared it with anyone.

[00:14:16] Aaron Nannini: Once you write it down. It’s like all of a sudden, even though it’s just a piece of paper, it’s become real. And when it becomes real, like you have to do it. So if you don’t do it, you’re looking at that paper all day and like, well, why haven’t I done my writing? How come I haven’t done my meditation?

[00:14:30] Aaron Nannini: What about that exercise, and it becomes real and then there’s also a huge power I’m not sure how you do it, but I’d like to check it off when I’m done. Because I kind of get satisfaction making that check mark and it feels like a victory right there.

[00:14:42] Bob Wheeler: Yeah, absolutely. Well, I draw a small line through it sometimes and sometimes I check it and then if I didn’t accomplishment, a big zero around it to remind me incomplete, that’s for tomorrow or later tonight.

[00:14:55] Bob Wheeler: But I do, I have lists, I’ve got whiteboards, I’ve got all these things around me when I’m really about with making a shift, I put it on sticky notes, posting notes. I’ve got them on the refrigerator, my dashboard of the car, like everywhere so that I keep being reminded of the annoying thing that I’m trying to change.

[00:15:11] Aaron Nannini: Yeah, it’s very powerful because you don’t want to let yourself down. You don’t do it, you’re lying to yourself. You’re saying I made a commitment to do this, and for whatever reason, I didn’t do it.

[00:15:20] Bob Wheeler: Absolute, like, do you journal or did you journal and the importance of that?

[00:15:25] Aaron Nannini: I don’t journal. I hear a lot of people who say they do. And I’ve kind of thought about that something I should do. I just really haven’t. But I’m not opposed to it, or I can remember there was one time I journal, I studied abroad in college. And so for those two months, I kept a journal. It was cool. And I still go look back on that now and then but it’s not a habit that I’ve, you know, really taken on.

[00:15:45] Bob Wheeler: Yeah. And I’m glad that you mentioned that, because I do think it’s important for people listening, find your own path, find your own way to get there. Don’t do, I should, I should, I should. Maybe you should spend less, you don’t even that you shouldn’t. It might be helpful if you spend less, it might be more beneficial if you spend less, but I really like to stay away from the must the absolutes.

[00:16:09] Bob Wheeler: You have to, we all have to find our own path in different ways. And so keep checking in with yourself. What I do think it’s important to do is trust ourselves, know our intention, set the goal, and then figure out the best path for each of us.

[00:16:24] Aaron Nannini: I agree. And I think when you ask questions, or make statements like I should, I should, I should, I kind of look deeply at why I’m asking that question is, am I saying I should because someone I looked up to is saying that, or because my parents are saying that, or is it because I really want to do it.

[00:16:38] Aaron Nannini: And I think once you really want to do it, and you find a reason why that’s important for you to do, then it becomes an easy answer. It’s like, they should goes to you’re actually doing it.

[00:16:48] Bob Wheeler: Yeah, absolutely. Now, I’m going to jump to personal for just a second, do you and your wife have money conversations, or money conflicts?

[00:16:55] Aaron Nannini: We have conversations, she’s really great about that. When we first met, she was someone with no debt, she was someone who always kept a job and we have similar mindsets. And she kind of saw me go off on my journey where I’m reading a bunch of books and listening to podcasts and then writing one of my own.

[00:17:11] Aaron Nannini: And so she kind of told me, you know, you’re a lot better at this than me, she said that she’s good at saving. But she wants to kind of give me that control over the money and investments and what to do with it. So we have a really great working relationship on that.

[00:17:24] Aaron Nannini: And we’ll talk now and then about like, what adjustments we should make, like, should we allocate more than vacations or to kind of our personal accounts or to a certain thing, but other than that, I think she really trust me, I trust her. And I honestly don’t think we’ve ever had a money fight, which is huge.

[00:17:38] Aaron Nannini: Because like, you know, the stats, that’s usually number one or two for reasons for divorce and fights.

[00:17:45] Bob Wheeler: Absolutely. And it seems to me when you’re on the same page, and even if you’re not on the same page, but you at least have an understanding of each other, and how you work, there’s a little bit of relaxation, and that you can trust that you’ve got a partner that’s got your back.

[00:18:02] Aaron Nannini: Yeah,

[00:18:02] Bob Wheeler: Right. There’s not this financial infidelity

[00:18:05] Aaron Nannini: Exactly.

[00:18:06] Bob Wheeler: There’s not these hidden secrets and hidden credit cards, right, you’re on the same page, so that even if one of you missteps, there’s not somebody else coming and going, I knew it, I knew you were gonna ruin everything, because I know a lot of relationships are like that.

[00:18:18] Aaron Nannini: They are, you know, it’s like I just saw on Instagram, there was a post someone who was talking about financial infidelity. And this person had their spouse for years, was hiding money behind their back. And like they posted, and that’s kind of airing out their dirty laundry, but they actually posted that.

[00:18:33] Aaron Nannini: And I was thinking that’s not that unusual for people. There’s a lot of couples who do that. And that’s just kind of a lack of trust, not just for the person, kind of quote unquote, being duped, but also the person who’s doing the deceiving because that can’t be a good feeling, you know, hiding something from your spouse.

[00:18:50] Bob Wheeler: Yeah. And I think, you know, one of the things when I’ve worked with people in workshops, and I’ll say to people, couples, when I’m working with couples, how about you guys stand next to each other, and work as a team as opposed to you stepping up and then you stepping back and used?

[00:19:04] Bob Wheeler: And for a lot of people, it’s sort of a foreign concept of working as a team. I think sometimes what happens, not always, but I think sometimes what happens is we have a mindset or belief about what marriage is the role of a husband, the role of a wife, the role of being married, and then we get caught up in that story, instead of the authentic relationship with that person.

[00:19:28] Aaron Nannini: Yeah, I give an example my book and it’s a kind of paraphrase it. But if you had 60 seconds, you and your spouse to solve a puzzle, and it’s just 60 seconds, and in that 60 seconds if you can solve the puzzle, you get $100,000 would you argue with your spouse for the first 30 seconds? Would you fight? Would you have different arguments? Would you kind of bicker?

[00:19:47] Aaron Nannini: No, you would hone in you’d focus for the 60 seconds so that you could solve the puzzle and win. And so I kind of make that analogy to other people because that 60 seconds really is life. So why are we wasting our time arguing fighting, bicker and like, just like you said, let’s stand together, create a solution and then go from there.

[00:20:05] Bob Wheeler: Do you talk with your daughters about money? And what do you share with them?

[00:20:10] Aaron Nannini: I do. Yeah, I do. So I’ve got a six year old and an almost three year old, and so they’re still learning. But what I’m starting to teach them is, especially with a six year old is to invest 30% of her money. And so she’ll get money from birthdays, or from doing little things around the house, like my in laws are really good about putting change in her piggy bank.

[00:20:27] Aaron Nannini: So what we’ll do, we’ll put in a bag, we’ll go take a trip to the store, we’ll put it in the, you know, the coin thing, and we’ll take 30% out and the rest of it, I tell her the rest of it, you can do what you want with that. But this 30%, we’re going to save it.

[00:20:39] Aaron Nannini: And I’ve also started to show her the online account that I created for her of how much money that is. I think she’s still trying to conceptualize just how much money is on the computer. But I think within a year or so she’s gonna really start to grasp that concept.

[00:20:53] Bob Wheeler: Is her piggy bank clear, or is it I mean, to see through or is it solid?

[00:20:58] Aaron Nannini: It’s a solid old school piggy bank. Another thing I was gonna mention is, one thing that’s been great about writing the book is she sees the book on the bookshelf, and she’ll point both her and my three or will point me like, That’s daddy’s Booker, they’ll see my email, and they’ll see my picture on that. They’re like, hey, that’s daddy.

[00:21:14] Aaron Nannini: So I think it’s really important, not just the money conversation, but to see mom and dad doing really good things like my wife’s running a half marathon tomorrow.

[00:21:21] Bob Wheeler: Awesome

[00:21:22] Aaron Nannini: And so my kids have seen her go out and train and see her workout gear. And so that’s just part of their routine. It’s like, well, mommy and daddy do these really great things. And so I think it’s so critical that they can see that because kids don’t learn from us telling them, it’s more by the way, we lead them in by our examples.

[00:21:39] Bob Wheeler: And how do you find with all that you have going on because I see this with parents, they’ve got so much going on. And they don’t always have the patience to sit with their kids, or model a good behavior, because they’re feeling so overwhelmed.

[00:21:55] Bob Wheeler: And is there a piece of advice, and I put you on the spot here, but for people to like be able to stop, take a breath, and how to catch themselves in that moment, there has to have been a moment or two where you got frustrated with the kid?

[00:22:07] Aaron Nannini: Sure. I think that’s hard. I don’t want to like put out an illusion that I’m some perfect parent, I do all these right things, I make a lot of mistakes as a parent. But one thing that I really do is try to take my own interests, and express those to both my daughters and try to help them with understanding some of that.

[00:22:23] Aaron Nannini: And I find when I’m teaching something that I’m passionate about, they can kind of see that enthusiasm. And then the second part is kind of like what we alluded to earlier is just leading by example, and demonstrate to the girls how to have a money conversation, how to parents respectfully speak to each other, like not arguing in front of them, things like that.

[00:22:42] Aaron Nannini: So it’s kind of a long winded answer to your question, but I think it’s a work in progress. Like, we should all be better parents two years from now than we were two years ago. And it’s that again, it goes to that growth mindset and learning and like realizing we’re going to make mistakes as parents, but learn from it move on and go from there.

[00:22:59] Bob Wheeler: So besides wanting to finish the book, because it was a goal, and you wanted to see it through, and besides wanting to tell people how to change their behaviors, because you’ve noticed it, and not wanting to get like punched out. What were the other reasons that it felt important to really put this out there and share your story?

[00:23:19] Bob Wheeler: Because, you know, some people can say, there’s somebody out there right now that might have a story and say, well, I can’t really share that story, because 10 other people have told us sort of similar story. But every story is unique, and there’s power in numbers. So why was it important to you?

[00:23:34] Aaron Nannini: Yeah, I would say probably the number one reason is, especially with my daughter’s getting older, I wanted to leave a legacy. So I wanted to have a book where they could actually physically see something that dad wrote, whether that’s a year from now, two years from now, or in 60 years, when I’m long gone.

[00:23:48] Aaron Nannini: I wanted them to see that. And then the other thing is, there’s kind of that power in when you write something and you do something like that’s your legacy. And so that was a critical piece for me too. And you had kind of a second part of that question, what was that?

[00:24:02] Bob Wheeler: Well, just yeah, I wanted to know, you know why it was important? Because there are people out there saying, well, you know, I got a similar story. It’s maybe…

[00:24:11] Aaron Nannini: Oh, that’s right. So I do think, yeah, there’s a lot of similar messages and a lot of personal finance experts with very similar messages. But like you said, Bob, when you put your personal spin on it, and your personal touch, you frame that story in a different way for people.

[00:24:24] Aaron Nannini: So a message from Dave Ramsey, or from someone else who is very well known. Maybe that’s not resonating as much as one person. But when you say it, where Bob, you’re the CPA and you’ve got a different perspective and maybe a different way of storytelling.

[00:24:37] Aaron Nannini: Maybe that’s going to resonate with one person more than hearing it from someone who’s more famous. So I think there’s a piece of that too, because most of this information is recycled info. I mean, if you look at like even some of the greatest personal development people, they’re taking ideas from Socrates and from Aristotle like, this is nothing new and a lot of ideas from Jim Rohn.

[00:24:58] Aaron Nannini: There’s so much out there so it’s about putting your personal spin on it. And then there’s that old adage, you know, when you teach something, you’re the one who benefits more than anyone. And so that’s a huge thing too, is like, I’ve written some blog posts.

[00:25:10] Aaron Nannini: And when I’m writing, I kind of realized, as I’m writing, you know what, I’m being a little hypocritical here, because the information I’m giving is not exactly what I’ve been doing, and so all adjust my behavior to fit that, like you said, I don’t want to have that feeling of being a hypocrite or, you know, not practicing what I preach.

[00:25:28] Bob Wheeler: Yeah, I mean, for me, it’s so much about that self-awareness, being really intentional, being conscious in our story, so that we can make those fine tune adjustments when we realize, ahh, our messaging is a little off from what we’re actually doing, let me clean that up real quick.

[00:25:47] Aaron Nannini: Yeah. And you know, when you write something down, like in a post or a book, you better follow that too, because it’s gonna feel bad. If you know, number one, you know, yourself, but when other people see it, like, didn’t you say in your book not to do that? You’re right. Sorry.

[00:26:00] Bob Wheeler: Oh, I’m the exception again. I’m the exception again.

[00:26:03] Aaron Nannini: Yeah, I’ve got this under control. Don’t worry about me.

[00:26:04] Bob Wheeler: Yeah. That’s the old adage, do as I say, not as I do that I learned from my parents. So, God bless them. Well, Aaron, we are at the Fast Five, which is brought to you by Acorns is an app that helps you invest your spare change.

[00:26:20] Bob Wheeler: It’s a great little app, it’s a great way, even if you’re only saving 50 cents. It’s a great way to start to cultivate a habit. And I think you might agree that creating habits, creating consistency is way more important than the actual dollar amount initially.

[00:26:38] Aaron Nannini: Yeah, I agree. You know, it’s funny, I’m sure you read it, but atomic habits, that was like one of the most influential books for me is just some of the information that author gives in the book was like, oh my gosh, and they put some things that I used to think about into words. And they did also brought up some new ideas for me, and it’s the [inaudible 26:55], that was a game changer for me.

[00:26:58] Bob Wheeler: Yeah. There’s so much information out there. It’s so important to absorb it all up, sponge it up. All right, well, I’m going to run these Fast Five. There’s no right or wrong answer. Do you choose to give your kids an allowance?

[00:27:09] Aaron Nannini: You know, right now we don’t but that’s because they’re really young. But that’s going to change as they get a little older. And I think allowance to, is a great way to kind of no pun intended to piggyback on that. So when you get the allowance that teach about investing, and what money you can allocate, what you can save?

[00:27:24] Bob Wheeler: Yeah, awesome. If you could undo one financial decision you made in the last year, what would it be?

[00:27:30] Aaron Nannini: Oh, the last year, I would say probably I should have invested more, especially in real estate. I’ve got a few rental properties that I knew when that pandemic was starting, I should get more, and then I didn’t do it

[00:27:42] Bob Wheeler: Didn’t follow your gut it, didn’t follow your gut?

[00:27:44] Aaron Nannini: Didn’t follow my gut. And it’s probably a couple of $100,000 mistake

[00:27:48] Bob Wheeler: It’s a couple 100,000 among friends. No big deal, no big deal. What have you learned about life from having kids?

[00:27:55] Aaron Nannini: Oh man, it’s really to be humble. You know, it’s so easy to judge other people with kids when they’re in the mall, and they’re screaming, or they’re at the store screaming. Like, why can’t you get your kids under control?

[00:28:05] Aaron Nannini: And I’ve learned you really have to be humble. Sometimes kids do things that you didn’t teach them. And you didn’t want them to do, but they did it. And so you have to make a new teachable moment. It’s definitely been humbling for me.

[00:28:17] Bob Wheeler: Do you think there’s such thing as good debt?

[00:28:19] Aaron Nannini: I do, I do. I think leveraged debt that you’re putting into income producing assets. So as an example, a real estate investment where you have some debt there, because the tenants paying that and you have so many other benefits.

[00:28:30] Aaron Nannini: What I hate is consumer debt. And that’s one thing I definitely avoid. And I would recommend to other people to avoid consumer debt. And I just think, like, if you can get consumer debt out of the way you create this massive, great financial foundation, where you can do more creative things.

[00:28:46] Bob Wheeler: Absolutely consumer debt, man, you’re paying 18, 20 like crazy. I’m amazed at how many people want to ask them how much they’re paying interest. They have no idea. And like it’s on the statement. Oh my gosh.

[00:28:59] Aaron Nannini: So it was funny to me as people will go to the store, and they won’t buy an Apple because it’s 25 cents more this week than last week when it was on sale just like you said they’ll pay 18% interest hundreds of dollars and not bat an eyelash.

[00:29:12] Bob Wheeler: Yeah. And I would say if you’re still going to have consumer debt, please don’t spend it on groceries. Spend it on at least on a TV or something. But yeah, I would agree consumer debt man, they have. Do you have any spending habits you wish you didn’t have?

[00:29:26] Aaron Nannini: You know, sometimes I think I can be a little too frugal. And that’s something I’ve really had to work hard on. It’s the advice I gave in the first chapter of my book is that value based spending, so I really focus if I’m ever not wanting to spend some, you know, dollar here or there.

[00:29:39] Aaron Nannini: I’d look at okay, what are my values and then if spending does align with my values, I go ahead and spend it. So I have to kind of train myself a little bit. They’re probably the opposite of most people that.

[00:29:50] Bob Wheeler: Yeah, I can relate. I can relate. I’m still trying to pay $5 meals and pay 20 bucks for a pair. [Crosstalk 29:57 – 29:58] crazy.

[00:30:00] Aaron Nannini: Yeah

[00:30:46] Bob Wheeler: Well, we’re at our M&M moment, our sweet spot money and motivation. Can you give the listeners a practical financial tip or a piece of wealth wisdom that has worked for you?

[00:30:10] Aaron Nannini: Yeah, I would say probably one of the number one things for me is to automate my money. I heard you talk with Joe from Stacking Benjamin, a few episodes ago where you kind of talked about like gamifying, or tricking yourself. And I feel like automation is a very similar thing.

[00:30:25] Aaron Nannini: So if you can at the start of the month, or you know, at the start of your pay periods, if you automate a certain amount of money, if you want to save 20%, 30%, do that. It’s amazing the way your mind shifts, you’re not even missing that money.

[00:30:37] Aaron Nannini: It’s almost like you don’t get paid that amount. And then after a while, you’re like, whoa, I’ve got all this money invested. So that’s probably one of my number one things.

[00:30:45] Bob Wheeler: Yeah, I can’t stress that enough. Automation really takes it out of your hands.

[00:30:51] Aaron Nannini: It does

[00:30:52] Bob Wheeler: Because we do, we mentally if we send the bank account, what oh, I can’t. But if it’s just gone you know, oh, that went into my savings account.

[00:31:01] Aaron Nannini: Okay

[00:31:02] Bob Wheeler: All right. I’m alive. And I’m still eating.

[00:31:03] Aaron Nannini: Yeah

[00:31:04] Bob Wheeler: So yeah, absolutely. Aaron, this conversation has been great. I love that you’ve got this book out there uncomplicated, because people want to make it so complicated. But what I really appreciate, and you ultimately said, this is really coming from a place of being humble.

[00:31:20] Bob Wheeler: You could have run around to people and said, you know what you’re doing wrong, I could fix it. Now, you know, I think I’ll be quiet. Watching other people have their kids have meltdowns and going wait, oh, you know what, let me, I think that is such an important component in this whole journey. I get humbled all the time.

[00:31:37] Bob Wheeler: For me, my mantra is humbled and grateful, because I like to, you know, I’ve traveled the world. And I see what’s out there. And I’m so blessed, even in my sad little story, oh, I don’t have this and that, like, truly, to be able to be humbled and not think that I’ve got it all dialed in and not think I know everything, and not coming from a place of, hey, look at me, let me tell you how to live your life.

[00:32:01] Bob Wheeler: I can model, I can share, and maybe something you can take away from that. But I really love this place of the humbleness and the continuing to grow. And like I want to be a better parent in two years. These are the kinds of things that I think really helped, like, shift us into that mindset and to really help us to have the life that we want to have.

[00:32:23] Bob Wheeler: And we don’t have to be multi-millionaires. We don’t have to read four hours a night, but we can make these incremental shifts to get us from A to B, get to C, C to D, and stop trying to get there without doing the work.

[00:32:37] Aaron Nannini: The way you said, you know, doing the work is so critical. Like I could not have said that better.

[00:32:41] Bob Wheeler: You got to do the work. You got to show up.

[00:32:43] Aaron Nannini: Yeah, there’s no shortcut there.

[00:32:45] Bob Wheeler: Yeah, you don’t have to work 24/7. And it’s important to stay intentional conscious, and really stay in integrity in your spending to really like, you can have it and so I love that you’re bringing in another perspective and another voice about really shifting and really offering people some tools to have the life that they say they want.

[00:33:07] Aaron Nannini: For sure. Yeah, I appreciate that.

[00:33:09] Bob Wheeler: Where can people find you on social media? Where can they find you online? And where can they find your book?

[00:33:14] Aaron Nannini: Yeah, the best place to find me is my website cashuncomplicated.com and so me being uncomplicated person is I may my book title and my website the same thing. So hopefully that’s easy for people to see.

[00:33:25] Aaron Nannini: And then on Instagram, I’m also cashing complicated that I’m on Facebook and some other forums but my websites probably the best start there. I’ve got links to buy my book and all that several free resources and you know, different blog posts and all that.

[00:33:37] Bob Wheeler: Great. Well, we will be sure to put all that in the show notes and we’ll drive people there. I hope people buy your book, check you out and hopefully they will learn to have a cash uncomplicated life.

[00:33:47] Aaron Nannini: You know, I had a great time of the show, Bob, appreciate all the questions and all the insight you gave.

[00:34:00] CLOSING: We hope you enjoyed this episode. Did you learn something new about your relationship to money today? Maybe you have a friend who has some financial blocks or beliefs that are holding them back. Please share this podcast so they too can get off the roller coaster ride of financial fears and journey towards financial freedom. To learn how to have a healthy relationship with money, visit themoneynerve.com that’s nerve, not nerd. We’ll be back next week with another perspective on ‘Money and the Emotions That Bind Us’.