Are you tired of feeling like you’re running on a financial hamster wheel, working hard but never getting ahead? In this eye-opening episode of the Enlightened Life podcast, I sit down with Dwight Hecht, founder of Give a Heck Financial, to explore how true success goes far beyond just making more money and is achieved through mindset shifts for financial freedom.
Dwight shares his powerful journey from struggling single dad to financial industry leader, revealing the mindset shifts and practical strategies that allowed him to break free from living paycheck to paycheck to achieve financial independence. With over 22 years of experience helping families and businesses master their finances, Dwight offers a fresh perspective on setting meaningful goals, managing money with confidence, and taking ownership of your life.
Key Insights You’ll Gain:
- Why financial success starts with your mindset and willingness to change
- The importance of goal-setting and understanding your true needs vs. wants
- Practical tips for creating a budget that aligns with your values and aspirations
- How to build a supportive network and change your associations
- Strategies for living within your means while still enjoying life
About Our Guest:
Dwight Heck is the founder of Give a Heck Financial and has spent over two decades helping individuals and businesses transform their financial lives. His approach combines practical money management with powerful mindset shifts, proving that lasting financial success is achievable for anyone willing to change.
Ready to take control of your financial future? This episode is your first step towards a life of true wealth – one where money serves your goals, not the other way around.
Dwight’s Wisdom on True Wealth
Beyond the numbers, Dwight shares his powerful definition of true wealth, emphasizing the importance of faith, family, and meaningful work. His insights will inspire you to reconsider your priorities and create a life rich in experiences and connections.
Ready to Take Control of Your Financial Future?
This episode is packed with actionable advice for anyone feeling stuck in their current financial situation. Whether you’re just starting out or nearing retirement, Dwight’s compassionate approach and practical wisdom offer hope and a clear path forward.
Don’t miss this opportunity to transform your relationship with money and start living a truly purposeful, financially empowered life. Tune in now and take the first step towards breaking free from the hamster wheel!
KEY MOMENTS
00:00:01
Introduction to Financial Empowerment
00:01:30
The Importance of Willingness to Change
00:05:15
Building a Supportive Network: The 70/30 Principle
00:09:13
Key Financial Habits for Success
00:16:04
Budgeting for Lower Income Brackets
00:19:40
Managing Inconsistent Income
00:23:18
Living Within Your Means and Saving for the Future
00:27:06
Addressing Retirement Concerns
00:34:37
Understanding Changing Economic Landscapes
00:41:23
Defining True Wealth
00:00:01
Introduction to Financial Empowerment
00:01:30
The Importance of Willingness to Change
00:05:15
Building a Supportive Network: The 70/30 Principle
00:09:13
Key Financial Habits for Success
00:16:04
Budgeting for Lower Income Brackets
00:19:40
Managing Inconsistent Income
00:23:18
Living Within Your Means and Saving for the Future
00:27:06
Addressing Retirement Concerns
00:34:37
Understanding Changing Economic Landscapes
00:41:23
Defining True Wealth
UNEDITED FULL TRANSCRIPT
[00:00:01 – 00:01:15]
All right, we’re on. And here we go. Have you ever felt like you’re running on a hamster wheel, working hard, yet never really getting ahead? Welcome to the Enlightened Life podcast. I’m your host, Scott Allen. Many people believe success is about making more money. But what if true success is about something deeper? Today’s guest, Dwight Hecht, knows this struggle firsthand. As. As a single dad of five, he spent years living paycheck to paycheck, stressed and unsure of how to break free. But instead of staying stuck, Dwight took control, changing not just his financial situation, but his entire mindset. Now, as the founder of Give a Heck Financial, Dwight has spent over 22 years helping families and businesses master not just their money, but their habits, goals, and daily choices, proving that financial success starts in the 6 inches between your ears. So are you willing to change? Do you truly want a different future? If so, this episode is for you. Get ready to learn how to set meaningful goals, manage your finances with confidence, and finally take ownership of your life. Let’s dive in. Hi, Dwight. How are you? Nice to have you on the show. Thanks for being here.
[00:01:15 – 00:01:29]
I’m doing fantastic, Scott. Thanks for having me on and being willing to invest some of your time and letting me share what I’ve learned over the last 22 years of building my life into a purposeful existence.
[00:01:30 – 00:01:57]
Yeah. And, you know, I think this is something that all of us can learn from. Right. There’s a lot of people living paycheck to paycheck and not able to save, and. And they don’t have the mindset. I think they’re running on the hamster wheel, trying to get somewhere that they can’t, they can’t be. You know, a lot of people who do feel stuck in their current financial situation don’t know where to start. So what would you say is the first step someone should take to shift from financial stress to financial confidence? Do you have any suggestions?
[00:01:58 – 00:04:37]
Well, first off, you have to be the willing. Right? And what I mean by that is so many people want to change their life. They talk the talk, but they never include action into the plan. Or they have an ability to understand where they need to go. They don’t know how to goal set. They don’t know where to turn, except for the people that they associate with. Their associations lead them to be the same way. Day in, day out, getting up in the morning, living quiet desperation. They put on a mask, they go to work, they go home. They’re living in addictive person, have addictive personalities. To mask the fact that they don’t like their home life or their work life. They don’t know where to go. So I’d say the first thing is they have to be the willing to want to change, understand it’s not going to be hard, but it’s not going to be easy. There’s going to be some pain. They need goal set, they need to have somebody actually have a conversation, ask good questions and help them understand really what do they want today, what do they want tomorrow, and what do they want for their future? Are they, are they worried about a legacy and is it time to talk about legacy with them? Is their mindset unable to comprehend legacy? And they need to just work on just living at that moment purposefully and then taking that baby step to live the next moment the rest of the day going to bed with gratefulness and gratitude and waking up having the same thing that they have another shot to start again. But it all starts with good conversation, good questions, goal setting before any of the rest can happen. If you don’t help a person with their mental mindset and you put into place something that can help them with their finances, in my experience, in 22 years, it falls apart in about 90 days or less. It’s right back onto the hamster wheels because nobody’s coached them to even change their associations of what they listen to and what they do in their lives. And they literally fall back onto the hamster wheel because their associations are, oh, you don’t need to worry. Why are you doing that? You know, aren’t. Why can’t you just be satisfied to go Monday to Friday and then drink beer all weekend? And why can’t you be sad? You know what I mean? It’s just we gotta change our associations. And that’s important in my industry, that you actually work with people to help them condition and make their six inches between their ears more receptive to change and then helping them understand, oh, you fell back a couple of rungs. It’s okay, you went up three. You’re still ahead, right? Being that person that can coach them to understand that they’re worthy and their life is changing and making sure they’re aware of it.
[00:04:38 – 00:05:14]
Yeah, associations are a big deal. And I say this to people too, just people who they want to lose 15 pounds. And you always get those people that say, you look fine. What are you doing that for? You look okay but you have to feel right about yourself. You have to like what you see, like how you feel. And if you need to lose £15, that’s for you to decide whether you feel like you need to lose 15 pounds, not for someone else to tell you that you shouldn’t do that and you’re okay that you should go out and have cheesecake with them. I mean, it is about those associations. What advice do you have for someone looking to build a more supportive network? How does somebody do that?
[00:05:15 – 00:09:00]
Well, myself, I do a lot of coaching on a principle called the 7030 principle. And basically what that principle is looking at your associations and realizing that people listening associations aren’t just what you people you’re around, right? It’s what you read, what you watch, right? The groups you belong to. What are you bringing into your mindset? Your brain is a giant computer. It does not know the difference between the truth and a lie. So you have to understand you need to put truth into your brain in order for it to develop and it’s for it to grow and quit searching out confirmation bias. Things that where people like you said are going to go, why do you need to lose 15 pounds? You ask that person or have that conversation because maybe that’s what you were looking for to reaffirm that you can go eat that cheesecake, right? So the 7030 principle is no matter what I associate with, I’m reading Scott stuff. Scott and I are communicating and he’s sending me messages and I kind of feel kind of off. I’m not really agreeing with Scott. I’m not vibing whether it’s a verbal video call, text, his posts. He doesn’t even know how I’m feeling. But I’m looking at his post. But 70% of the time I can’t wait to look for Scott stuff. I can’t wait to have a video call, go for a coffee, right? I have that fuzzy good feeling. And only 30% of the time Scott and I don’t necessarily gel. But it’s not because it’s morally apprehensive or anything like that. It’s just we just don’t see eye to eye. But majority of the time I’m smiling when I think of Scott. That is my 7030 principle. If it ever gets 50 50, our association is done. Absolutely done. If I have to worry how I’m gonna feel after I read See talk to you, we’re done. Because I’m looking to continually climb in my life and not be camped. And it’s so easy to be camped when you associate with people that bring you down more than they bring you up and that always give you confirmation of what you’re thinking. And telling you it’s right. They don’t challenge you, they want you to stay where they’re at. Because their lives don’t necessarily negate. You know, the fact that you can do more, they’re not trying to be negate and saying, oh you know what, you should lose 15 pounds, you should do that, you’ll feel better. Maybe I’ll do that too. That’s the type of support you want. So that 70, 30 principle, I’ve talked about it a lot. It’s worked for me. It helps you do something else, Scott. It helps you never have a bad day. And here’s why. It stops you from having not having a bad day. If you associate with things that are more positive and you have a character building moment in your day, you now know what to associate with that’ll help you elevate, calm your state down to continue to climb or just stay level for that moment, just to be at peace with yourself. Right. So it literally is so important that we, we utilize specific things that. I’m not perfect at it. I don’t want people to think that I. But I work on it every day, never to have a bad day, to control my associations of what I listen to, who I talk to and, and become a person that is always a student of human nature, to understand what they’re going through, to know that maybe this is just a hiccup. What is their past like experiences with me? Oh, they’re still in the 70%. Oh no, it’s getting close. 60, 40. You know, it’s analyzing. It’s reflection of what you want for a purposeful life.
[00:09:00 – 00:09:12]
That’s great. So when you changed your life, you know, you went from living paycheck to paycheck to becoming a leader in the financial industry. What were some of the key financial habits that helped you turn things around for yourself?
[00:09:13 – 00:15:18]
Oh, I think the number one thing that helped me understand is knowing the rules of the money game. And here’s the thing, most people don’t understand the rules of the money game. They go out and they spend money. So they make a thousand, let’s say, well, they make $1,000, right? And out of that thousand dollars they spend, spend. They have some automatic withdrawals for, let’s say the mortgage maybe or their utilities or whatever. And there’s $300 left in their account. We’ll use today’s children, adult kids, even ourselves, even myself. I’ll look up my app and I’ll go, oh, I got $300 left. I really wanted this key on the word want. We’ll talk about that more in a minute. I really want this. And they go and spend that 300. Yet they don’t have anything notarized down or anything warning them that next week they have a 200 payment coming out, another hundred dollar payment, another 400 payment, but yet they got that retail kick in the pants. They went and bought something, made them feel good for a few moments. And they have buyer’s remorse if they’re willing to admit it. Yet now they’re into lines of credits, credit cards, loans or. And they’re suffering. They’re in quiet desperation. So they had a dopamine hit from buying something. But the long term result of them not knowing what their money is and the money game, they end up living at night in quiet desperation. And I was doing that. I was a guy raising five kids. I originally had joint custody of them. Then I ended up getting full time custody of him as a dad, four daughters and a son. And literally I couldn’t work as much, I couldn’t do as much. So then understanding the numbers before that, before I got in this industry, I kind of knew, but I kind of didn’t. What do most people do? They take an envelope, they write down a few things, they pay, they miss so many things. So the number one reason my life got helped and other people got helped is when I got in this industry, I started really to focus on questions revolving around budgeting. But the budgeting doesn’t start till I goal set. So I had somebody teach me and I started reading how do I really goal set? How does goal setting work properly to help me be able to understand the rules in a money game? Okay, well, this is what I want. We’re tired of living from paycheck to paycheck. It’s one of the goals they put down. If something happens, there’s a tragedy, we can’t pay bills, we’re in trouble, you know what I mean? Our kids aren’t in extracurricular activities because we can’t understand. So I get all that information, it gets more detailed than that. And as we have meetings, it breaks down more and more and more. And just so people know, I can help anybody in the world through this process. I just maybe can’t help you with the end result of what you need for insurance or investing. Right. Because you’re not where I live. But I can help you through that stage of learning how to do it. And then when you go to deal with a traditional person, it don’t matter. You have all your Ducks in a row. You have the ammo you need, you have the shield and understand how to protect yourself. And now you just go look for it. And I can help people with that, depending on where they live. I understand different investment principles, investment products and tools, depending on where you live. And if I don’t, I’ll find it out for you. But that being said, it’s a matter of goal setting and budgeting, right? Understanding your needs and wants. I get people to write down all their budgetable items. I have a spreadsheet. If people reach out to [email protected] it’s on Excel. I’ll set it to you for free. You can go in, you can put your income sources from significant others. You can put your unearned, your earned income. It’s got a pie chart. It’ll tell you how much you’re spending, how much you have for savings. It’ll list. You can list and edit everything you need in that. And one of the number one things that people don’t put in a budget, Haircuts. Like, obviously those people aren’t. Are listening. They aren’t watching. I’m a bald guy. Do I need haircuts? No, but most people do. So at the end of the day, people say, well, why do we need to put my haircut down? Or what, do I need to put an oil change in there? Well, where does it come out of? Just come out of your same bank account? Well, yeah. So why don’t you think it is something that needs to be documented? Like, I’m very kind about it. I want them to think I’m trying to help educate their brain because they were never trained in school or by their parents. Majority of people, they’re just on that hamster wheel. And we go through and is this a need or a want? I want them to tell me, do something obvious like power. Is this a need or a want? Well, it’s a need. Okay, keep on going down. Oh, it says here you’re paying for a subscription to this. Do you utilize a lot? Not as much as I used to. And I said, even if you use it a lot, is that a need or a want? Oh, it’s more of a want. Okay. And I’ll put a check there and keep on going down through. the bottom, you’ll see the total of their expenses. And you’ll see, well, what do they have left for a month? Negative. Well, so all these things that we finally went through and I got you to put everything in, you’re spending 1500 and you’re bringing in a thousand. Do you see a problem here? Is this sustainable? No, it’s not sustainable. So what can we do out of these things we checked that are wants, is there some of them that we can get rid of? Remember we went through a process. I took you through a work because I’ll take them through a workshop too that teaches about increasing cash flow and managing debt. You were, you know, you said you also wanted to get out of debt. How are you going to do that? And we just have these conversations and I make them have those light bulb moments because if I make the decision for them, it’ll never stick. If they make the decision based on their 6 inches and based on their heart, there’s a more likelihood percentage of people, 70, 80% in my experience that’ll stick with it. They’ll reach out to me and say, hey, we want to do this. We haven’t talked in a year. Here’s our new budget. Or can we update our budget with you because we laxed where can we get the money from? We really need this. And I have that conversation. Right. It’s about connection. It’s about understanding you need to write your numbers down and never forget. And even a pack of gum affects your budget.
[00:15:19 – 00:15:20]
True, true.
[00:15:20 – 00:15:21]
Right.
[00:15:21 – 00:16:04]
And you know, I live in New England. I’m, I’m just north of Boston. And it’s so expensive here that salaries don’t often pay enough for someone to live here and have a home and have a place to live, even if it’s not a place that you own, support your children, send them to extracurricular activities. There’s a lot of people that struggle and they have to work two jobs or three jobs just to make ends meet. Can someone, can someone do this when they, when they don’t have enough income coming in, when they’re just worried about how they’re going to pay for their food and how they’re going to pay for their, you know, their medications and.
[00:16:04 – 00:19:22]
So forth, they’re the people that should do it the most. Because if you make excess income, that’s why people that make too much money don’t care until things fall apart and they have nothing, they haven’t planned for nothing and all that extra income because look at the people there in the pandemic that lost $100,000 jobs, went down to 50 just to be able to have a job. Now they’re still at 50, yet they have the debt load trying to survive. They can’t get ahead. So the people that are, are in the poor or the lower middle class. They for sure need to understand the rules in the money game and go through and have all your prescriptions in there, have everything in there. Because yes, it’s depressing sometimes for people, but it’s more depressing to live a facade, to live a life of quiet desperation. Right, right. To have to go up to your bedroom and lay in bed and avoid your family and, and hide things in quiet desperation and crying at night. I’ve been there many times in my life raising my kids and not knowing I would. But it was more of a. It literally helps conversations with significant others, with family, with business partners, businesses. You do it too. Where all of a sudden somebody will go, we need to do this and this and that. Well, let’s look at the budget. Well, this month we can’t afford it. Right here, we’re at the red line. Right here, we’re in the black. We got a couple hundred extra. Oh, this is important. It’s a need. Okay, let’s talk about. Oh, you’re right, it is a need. You do need a new pair of soccer shoes or whatever because yours have a hole in them. So we’ll buy it this month on credit, knowing next month we can pay it off. We got a black month there. We can justify it then. Oh, sorry. What you want is a want. It is not a need. And the money we have freed up for the next month, that can be used to pay down some debt, save for a paid off vacation a year from now. We all want to go to Disneyland or we want to, you know, help one of our adult kids out. Need a little bit of money. I got a couple hundred bucks. I can use 100 to save for retirement. Give 100 to this kid. It gives you choices. When you understand your numbers, people go budgeting and they get, ooh, that’s terrible. No, I used to be that person because I had people that were in that category of hating their lives telling me that that was terrible because they’re programming me to be them because they’re not happy and they have addictive personalities. And I’m not saying people can’t drink once in a while, they can’t smoke, they can’t do. That’s your choice. But when your life evolves around the fact that you do it and you can’t wait to get home in the evening to do it, you’re ignoring your family or ignoring your responsibilities. If you’re not in a family environment just to move your life forward and you’re Just living on that treadmill, never ending. Right. So, yes, people in the lower brackets, absolutely. I help a lot of lower families out and I, and I very comprehensive, you know, I understand where they’re at and I work with them at the level of what they can even afford. Right. It’s just, it is what it is because I was put onto this planet to use the talents that I’ve now developed, I wasn’t born with them to make a difference in people’s lives, including continuing to make a difference in my life.
[00:19:23 – 00:19:39]
True. What, what, what advice would you give to people who don’t have consistent income? Like they may have commission jobs as an example. They may make, you know, a fair amount one week and nearly nothing the next week. How do you, how do you balance that and know how to plan if you don’t have that consistent.
[00:19:40 – 00:21:21]
Well, here’s, here’s the thing. I am commissioned, I understand that, that, that wheelhouse, I guess, of how people can get in trouble. So for an example, let’s say I get paid $10,000 commission and I know my bills are $7,000, right. I get a $10,000 commission, but I know I have nothing in the pipeline. I’m going to get paid next month or you know, it’s going to be a couple months till I make more. Sometimes it’s impossible to have a consistent stream. So I’ll think I look at my budget because I know it well enough. What are my number one things that need to be paid that are non negotiable? Right. I’m going to put that money aside so I know I got my next mortgage payment. I got this, I got that. So that extra three grand might go there. And the month before I had the same thing. So I put another three grand in there. I make sure that I have a savings that’s going to allow me to pay my mortgage as far out as I possibly can. So I know I got this amount of money. Now all of a sudden I know my mortgage is two grand for an example. I can pay it for the next. There’s eight grand in there. I could pay it for four, four months. Well, oh, okay, let’s add utilities in there, food. I know the basics. It’s only going to last me this long. Do you know what I mean? I’m still going to bring in a small trail of money, but I’m not going to bring in the 10 grand that I’ used to. I’m still bringing in a couple grand. So knowing your numbers is what’s going to make A commission person and understanding that if they get a big payday that month, you need to put money aside. It’s not about going out and going, yeehaw, let’s go buy all our wants. And then all of a sudden have no money. And now you’re paying out of lines of credit, credit cards to pay your bills. And it’s just a vicious hamster wheel thing. Right. You’re happy, sad.
[00:21:22 – 00:21:28]
And when you get the money, you have to pay the debt so you don’t get to keep any of the money. You know, when you’ve got that kind of debt coming up.
[00:21:28 – 00:22:21]
So commission people really need to understand that they need to learn how to put money aside. Is it hard? Absolutely. It can be hard, but you create a positive habit and start doing that and just putting some money aside, understanding these are my needs that for sure have to be met every month. I’m meeting it this month. I’ve got extra. Oh, I needed a new pair of shoes. Okay, go do something. Spend a few hundred dollars on things you might need for the family, yourself, or you’re an individual for your own self, and then put the rest aside. Don’t invest it, because that’s silly. If you put. If you invest it into somewhere, your emergency fund, and then you have to pay fees to get it out or it takes you longer to get it out. Now if you don’t have any ability to not go below it. I teach people. Well, you can go into these type of accounts and you have to wait 24 hours before they’ll even give you the money.
[00:22:21 – 00:22:21]
Right?
[00:22:21 – 00:22:27]
Right. Or 48 hours or whatever to stop them. Because our mindset plays tricks on us.
[00:22:27 – 00:22:27]
Sure.
[00:22:27 – 00:22:55]
It tells us that something is a need when it’s actually a want. And we just help learn that we control our 6 inches all the time and what we’re gonna do. Right. And. And how we live our daily life. So we don’t spend that money. But yeah, it all goes back to understanding your numbers. And what do you truly want? And do you have somebody that can mentor you and help you through it? It’s okay to be. It’s not a weakness. It’s a strength. If you seek out help. Wouldn’t you agree, Scott? On anything?
[00:22:55 – 00:23:04]
Yeah, of course. Because you don’t. We don’t all have the answers for everything. Sometimes you just need another opinion, another somebody with some different knowledge and expertise. Absolutely.
[00:23:06 – 00:23:09]
So it’s all good. One day at a time.
[00:23:09 – 00:23:16]
That’s all you can do. What’s your take on living within your means? How can people balance enjoying their life while still planning for the future?
[00:23:18 – 00:26:40]
Well, again, it goes back to goal setting. When I tell people to live within your means, we’re always going to. We’ll use a thousand dollars because it’s easy for people to think of. Hopefully you’re making more than a thousand dollars a month. But a thousand dollars a month, if you look at it, I will tell people, okay, here’s your goals, here’s what you want, right? And let’s see what can we do to save for the future? Because one of your things is you want to save for retirement for a rainy day. You want to put it together. That’s fine for now. Eventually we’ll split them out. So we’re going to take 10%, we’re going to put away a hundred dollars of that thousand dollars and we’re going to make your budget fit into the 90%, including paying off debt and doing everything else. And you’re going to. This way you’re going to take a little bit of stress off your mindset because you put in your goals that you want to save for retirement. You haven’t saved anything yet or you’ve been saving but not saving enough. Right. And we’ll end up making it so that you save first, always. Even if it’s $10 a month. If they only can do 1%, that changes a person’s mindset. When they see that they have a little bit of a savings going into an Investment, right. Even $10, you’d be shocked because people have never saved $10. So they’re saving $10 of 1,000. They got 980 left to live off of. And we fit it into budget. So it can be. Some people will be 20%, some people will be 5%. We find something that they are comfortable with. Not me, them. Because they have to live with their choices and they need to be confident in their choices. And does it take time? Yes, it does. Building confidence in somebody I know, I went through it building my own confidence, finding the right books and things to read, people to listen to that help motivate me. People that I go on to calls with, ask questions. I made friends with people in the industry because I wanted to learn more. I wanted to learn the ins and outs of people’s mindset, to be a student of human behavior so that I could be the best person I am to help people understand. Living within your means means you need to take ownership. You got to be part of the willing and we’ll help you figure it out. Maybe it’s not the first month. Maybe the spreadsheet I do and help you do is six months out before you’re actually breaking even every month. But when you see some progress on the journey of your life, all of a sudden, now, six months later, you got 60 bucks saved. You saved $10 a month. Wow, you’ve never seen that before. And I’ll ask them, how does it make you feel? It’s not a lot, but how does that make you feel? That you’re saving a little bit and we’re slowly getting all your living within your means, within that $980, right? Oh, it feels great. Do you know, I hope this makes sense. It’s about living purposefully, is about understanding. You have to have goals for what you wanted. Your life and your goals can shift and change. They’re all unique. A month from now, a year from now, as you get more confident, their goals change, they want more, and you help them figure out how they can get more. Or you’re honest with them and say, that’s not possible right now. This based on numbers, it’s four or five years. Well, that’s okay. If we can get there in four or five years, that’s fine. Okay, let’s talk about it. Let’s see. How can we figure this out so you can live a purposeful, meaningful life.
[00:26:40 – 00:27:06]
What would you say to someone who’s ready to retire and they say, you know, I messed up, it’s too late. I mean, I’m ready to retire next year or the year after, and I don’t have it. I don’t have any money. How do you, how do you. I mean, it probably is too late to make any kind of grand, grand plan that’s going to save you, you know, all kinds of money. But is there a way that they can still live in a meaningful way?
[00:27:06 – 00:27:07]
Sure.
[00:27:07 – 00:27:10]<br />As you’re approaching retirement, there, there is.
[00:27:10 – 00:30:02]
But it might not be the level of what they’ve dreamed about, what they’ve programmed their mind to want. And I do get people that are, get sent to me that are retired or hitting retirement that I’ve had to tell, like, listen, what’s your numbers? They don’t know. Goes back to, we have to budget. I’m going out to see clients this week. We’re going to do because of health issues, he’s forced into retirement. We’re going to do all that stuff, go all through all the numbers and I help them. This is what you get right now. This is what you can expect from government pensions or like in Canada we have old age security that you can get once you’re 65. These are some of the things like I understand my industry, so I give them that info to help them put together. This is what they need. They need let’s say 3,000amonth. And they’ve been stressed out and worried because they didn’t plan enough for an example. But I’ll help them understand. Okay, so you’re telling me we can live this. We’ve gone through all the numbers. Three grand a month. Okay, These are the, this is what you’re going to get from what you did save. Oh, you didn’t save anything. Okay, so all we can do is focus on what you’re going to get for government pension, maybe old age security and see if we can factor in. Oh, we figure it out. You’re going to get 3,600. You needed three grand. And they’re like, oh, we can survive. The only thing we can’t get you is this goal. You wanted to go on a holiday once a year. Not going to happen. You can go on a holiday maybe to the local campground or lake or travel in Canada or maybe drive down to the US but you’re not going to be able to do that trip. Oh, you want to do Italy? That’s a really a dream of yours. Okay, Mr. And Mrs. Client, let’s shoot for five years from now that you get to do your dream trip in Italy. Where can we find money to save so you can do it cash based so you do get your dream vacation. You’re still retired on a very little amount of money, but I’m gonna see if I can help you figure it out. I’m not gonna blow sunshine up there, but I’m gonna be very straightforward with them. No, it’s never gonna work going to Italy. Oh, I see a way here because I’m, I can see the forest for the trees. They can’t. So, you know, being retired or about to retire, there’s still hope. Is there hope for 100% of the people that don’t have planning? No, there isn’t. It all depends what level they’ve at. Some of them still have massive mortgages, some of them still have brand new. They had to have a new, brand new vehicle. And they’re still, they still got four years left of payments. Do you know what I’m saying? It all depends on what they’ve allowed and big, how big of a rabbit hole they’ve climbed into, whether or not I can get them out. Right. But there is hope for people that are didn’t plan. There is. It all depends. Everyone’s like their fingerprint. It’s different. I got to talk to them, have a conversation, and whether or not I can give them some hope or shock them into the reality that maybe they can’t retire at 60, they’re going to have to work till 65 or 70. And I’ve had to do that to people. Honestly, I have.
[00:30:02 – 00:30:35]
Yeah. Yeah. Well, it is what it is. Right. And you know, people feel intimidated. I mean, to what extent does psychology play a part in this? I mean, I think that some people might need that. Psychology might need that. I don’t know. Therapy maybe or not. But there’s an overwhelm that I think takes place and people just give up. They just like they shut down because they don’t feel like they can do it. So you’re helping them with the numbers. But it’s almost like they need someone to help them with the mind too as they go through this. I mean, which I do.
[00:30:36 – 00:32:32]
Which I do. I. I do a lot of coaching. I don’t do it. I wouldn’t say I appreciate the comment, but I don’t do it all. I refer people. Some people are broken and I. And I recommend they get some, you know, psychological. See a psychologist or. But, you know, more and few and far between have to go that route. Many times they’re money monsters or conversations we have about their origin, their child, their childhood, what created their mindset and how they got into their circumstances. Well, I always see mum and dad. My. My dad always give my mom everything. And I thought they were wealthy. Then all of a sudden now they’re one of those people that can’t retire. And I learned that behavior. So I’m always trying to please my wife so I don’t tell her that we’re having issues. I’m the only person that deals with the money. She doesn’ to. We don’t. Nobody’s ever forced us to communicate about money. And now, you know, I’ve gotten us in excessive debt. She doesn’t know. And sometimes it’s the opposite. It’s a woman that does it to the man. And it’s just. It’s just terrible. The things that are are money monsters. Our childhood life taught experiences from this, from society when we were younger, our parents that hid things about money. Then be open about it. And it’s just roller. It just basically passes down generation after generation. It never gets broken. So yes, there is definitely mental work that I have to do. I refuse not to do it. Otherwise, then it’s just a transaction, I’m making money. But then that person, I really haven’t made a difference in their life. And that’s not what I want. Because the people I dealt with before I got in this industry didn’t care about me. It was all about commission. It was all about selling me something. And they’d tell me these canned things to make me feel good. They were manipulating me. And you know what I mean? It’s just people don’t need that. People need somebody to just give a heck about them.
[00:32:33 – 00:34:36]
Yeah, I agree. But you know, I want to get back to, you know, you talk about people’s, you know, what they grew up with and what they understand based on how they lived as a child. You know, I can think back even in my own life now. My parents bought their house for under $15,000. It’s now worth eight or nine hundred thousand. It is. You know, my dad had a steady job for years and it was one of those jobs that you got a pension and there were stock options. Plus he was a saver. So he’s great. You know, he’s in good position. He still thinks he’s not, but he is. He’s, you know, you always worry, I suppose, but that’s his conservative brain. He does okay. A lot of people today, you know, you can’t buy a House for 15,000 and the salaries are not going to increase in such a way that, in other words, you know, whatever he made then his salary went through the roof compared to what the house was that he was paying for. You know, he only paid on a fifteen thousand dollar mortgage. Whereas now, you know, he could walk away with, you know, 900, $800,000 just by selling the house. So that’s hard to imagine that anyone is going to be able to see that kind of growth on their, on their homes, their, on their money, on their, you know, that nobody does pensions here anymore. Nobody does stock options. I mean, it’s, it’s, it’s a very different world that we live in. So when my dad and my mom would have something done in the house, they had it done the best that they could have it done because you do it right once and you don’t have to keep doing it over and over and over again. And for some people that’s not even an option. They do it and then they have to do it again, and then they have to do it again because they can’t afford to get it done properly. And I feel like, you know, you talk about the hamster wheel. I feel like we’re, we’re just making the same mistakes over and over and over again. And I think, I don’t mean me personally, but I mean in general, people make these mistakes and then how do we come back from that? How do we live in 2025? It is not the same as it was in 1965.
[00:34:37 – 00:39:19]
It’s all based on demographics. So yeah, all of it is like the price is going from 15,000 probably, probably what my parents paid for their home too, their bungalow and, and isn’t worth 900 grand, but it’s in a small farming community outside of Edmonton where I live. And you know, it’s worth let’s say 400, $500,000. But at the end of the day, it’s all because the demographics, you look at the age wave of what’s happening, we have a specific segment of the population that are still alive in their, in their 90s as centurions. And you have right below them, you have the baby boomers. Right below them you have generation X and then you have millennials and the list goes on. But every generation has had had a different volume of people that were alive. They had different thought processes, they were trained different like your father and my father to, to save money and move forward. And her house is today. You look at what I paid for my house, right? I’m just going to use some fictitious numbers. I paid a half million dollars for my house. It took till just recently. And this is a fact not based on the number I give you, but that where it actually is worth more than I paid to build it. Using builders, architects and getting the house built after 50. Pardon me, after this year in 2025. I moved in the house in 2007. This is the first year that it’s actually been worth what I paid for it. So if we’re looking for capital appreciation like you use your dad’s example where you could sell it for 800, 900 and paid 15, it’s almost impossible for that level of real estate to go up. And here’s why, when you’re looking at demographics, a lot of people didn’t save a lot. So all of a sudden what do they need to do? They hit retirement, they want to sell their house and live off the difference, have it supplement what they currently have saved, right. And then downsize. Well, guess what? With the way that boomer nomics is with the baby boomers and the generations after the fact, they literally are downsizing into smaller places. So let’s say you live in a four bedroom house, 2,000 square feet, you want to downsize to a condo, a little single family dwelling, about 900 square feet. That segment of the population that’s doing that has been doing it in the US And Canada. They’re doing it so frequently, they’re driving up that middle class market of the smaller price homes and their price of their homes is declining because less and less people want big homes. Right? So if that makes sense, less and less people want big homes. They sell their home for 900,000 and they thought, oh, we’re gonna go buy something for half a million. Still have 400 grand. No, no, no. Now they’re paying 7, 800,000 and they’re not getting as much as they should have for that two story or whatever it is because of the fact that like geography wise or part of me, when you’re talking not geography but when you’re talking about literally your population moving through time, housing gets affected, right? It’s going to take years before there’s going to be an, we’re in a negative birth rate in, in the world anyway. They’ve already said our population has hit its peak and it’s going to start declining. Right. What does that, what does that do? Well, let’s bring in more immigrants. They’ll buy the houses. The immigrants are, most of them are getting paid minimum wage. They can’t afford to get a mortgage. It’s going to take them years till somebody gives them a mortgage. Unless they go to a B lender or they have six people in the house working just to try to pay one mortgage payment. The housing industry is in my lifetime is not going to go back up like it did back in. When you looked at the housing market from about, let’s say I bought a property, I’ll use this as true story. $197,000. I bought it in roughly 2002. By 2008 it was worth $615,000. Because of the age wave of economics and people going through, everybody was desperate every, there wasn’t enough houses. Supply and demand, like we learned in social studies, supply was, supply was less than demand. So everything went up. Sold it for 615 grand, paid 197 for it. Is that going to happen again in my lifetime? Not, not when you look and understand that the ergonomics, pardon me, not ergonomics, but the, the actual generational slide of what’s happening and how right now in Canada, for example, the boomers have over $1 trillion that are passing down right now every single year moving Forward till the baby boomers are gone. Imagine what it is in the US if it’s a trillion here.
[00:39:20 – 00:39:22]
Yeah. Wow.
[00:39:22 – 00:39:43]
Right? And then those kids that get the money have never been taught how to manage it. Guess what they’re going to do? They already know most of it’s going to get blowing. Nobody else sat down with them like me. Or maybe they’re my parent. My clients and their kids don’t listen. Right. Just because I have a, A parent, mom and dad, or a single person and they have kids doesn’t mean their kids want to listen.
[00:39:44 – 00:39:45]
You’re right.
[00:39:45 – 00:39:46]
Usually titled society.
[00:39:47 – 00:40:12]
Usually they don’t. My son, he, I drive him crazy, but he’ll get money for Christmas or for, you know, whatever, you know. And no, you’re not spending it on that. You know, I, you have to save some and you have to, you know, we’re not going to put it into something. What drives me crazy are these games that these kids play and then these in app purchases of, you know, this fake money that they can buy things with.
[00:40:12 – 00:40:15]
14.99. Buy a thousand coins.
[00:40:15 – 00:40:19]
Buy a thousand coins. Exactly. You know, it drives me crazy.
[00:40:19 – 00:41:05]
And I, I get it. You know, I get it because I get the notifications from my grandson. He’s on one of my accounts on Apple to help my daughter out. So he’s on my Apple account. And so she. And whenever he tries, because he’s a child account tries buying stuff, I get a notification. So does she. And I never, ever approve it. I always text her saying, this kid like, two of my, two of my five grandkids are on my account. So I, I know whenever they’re trying to do stuff and I set up their accounts for her that she has to prove it or I have to approve it. And why. It’s only $6. It’s only $10. It’s only, you know, it’s only adults use that all the time too. It’s only a thousand dollars. What? You know, crazy.
[00:41:05 – 00:41:08]
I mean, you know, add it up, add it up. It’s true.
[00:41:09 – 00:41:10]
I do. I get it.
[00:41:10 – 00:41:22]
We are, we are getting near the end. I want to ask you, Dwight, this is more of a life lesson question as opposed to a financial question, but what, what does true wealth mean to you?
[00:41:23 – 00:44:18]
True wealth for me is based on my core values. I don’t know how many people listening understand core values. I have three core values. They all have sub categories under them, but I won’t get into them. My three core values and what true wealth is, is faith, my family. And then Work. The number one important thing for me that makes my wealth, me. Wealthy. Feel wealthy isn’t the money, it’s the memories. It’s just spending a time. Last week, for an example, today we had something called Family Day in Canada, which was put into place, I’ll say, maybe a decade ago, and one province started it. Now everybody does it. We started it in our province of Alberta. It’s Family Day. Guess what I did? I went picked some of my grandkids up, we went to a movie, we had some popcorn, we hung out, we laughed and took pictures. That is wealth. That is money. It didn’t cost me a lot, but that is something that nobody can ever take away. With the kids all sitting beside me and grandpa taking a picture of us sitting in there watching, you know, a movie together, going to their house and hanging out with them. Them coming here, seeing my having a FaceTime call with my daughter that lives in BC, that lives like 10 hours away from me. That’s wealth. Having a great conversation on a podcast like this where somebody is willing to invest their time and let me talk on their show. That is wealth. Creating a new friend, Scott and I, that is wealth. For me, it’s about having connection to gratefulness and gratitude. Tonight, when I go to bed and get up to God, that is wealth, right? Not me putting in another. You know, yes, I want to help families and that’s wealth too, for me, in the sense of money, but making me feel good because I changed their lives. But it’s always about my faith, number one, my family and then work, not the other way around. Because true wealth, my. My clients are people that have their core values are all tied around making more money. You missed a journey of life, and all of a sudden tomorrow you find out you have stage four cancer. Good for you. You missed all those memories. You missed those birthday parties. You missed that. Maybe that church event where your kids are at, or maybe you missed gymnastics or basketball or because you wanted to have that one more call. You’re doing it for your family. You justify it all the time. Then all of a sudden, when you grow up, you wonder why your kids don’t reach out to you as much or why they don’t ask you for advice because you weren’t a good example of being somebody that understood a healthier balance. Because having healthy life, work balance is impossible. But you can control and have a good percentage. Where wealth is about family and your faith and work is the last thing that comes to play. Hopefully that answers your question.
[00:44:18 – 00:45:24]
And you know, I can Relate to it because. And when I’m on your show, perhaps we can talk about this in a little more detail. Yes, I was a funeral director. I owned three funeral homes and I had on paper, you know, I had it all. I could travel when I had the time. I had a beautiful home, I had a nice car and I had money to do kind of what I wanted to do. What I didn’t have was time to be near my parents who were getting older, to be there for my niece and nephew. My son hadn’t been born yet. There was a lot that I felt like I was missing out. And I knew that if I didn’t leave, I would never have that. It would just be about work. There was nothing else besides work. And so I made the decision to leave and I got out because I needed to have kind of what you talk about, the true wealth. The true wealth was the engagement with family. And I think that to me is where it’s really at. Is there anything you’d like to share before we close out the show?
[00:45:26 – 00:47:22]
Oh, so many things. We could have a 12 part, 12 week episodes. There’s so many things. There’s so many things that I could share that we haven’t talked about. I will tell you this, though. There’s two things I would share to you that I wish I would have known to share with my own young self as a teenager getting to being 18, 19. Be kind to everybody around you. Be gracious, be genuine and be a person that listens more than you talk. And that’s a tough thing to do for any of us. We sit and listen in conversation of somebody and do we truly hear what they say? I practice that even at my age. Now when we’re having our conversation, I’m listening to what you say. I’m not writing it down, I’m listening to you. I know what kind of response, but my response. If I’m a critical thinker and I’ve worked on being a knowledge leader and sharing knowledge and being a critical thinker, I can think just as fast of a response once you’re finished talking as I could having it centered in my brain, the whole conversation and really only partially listening to you and getting value. Because everybody, when they open their mouth, they remove all doubt. They either have good value or they have bad value. But if you’re not listening, how are you going to know? How can you make a critical response? So as a last message, be kind, be grateful, be genuine. Always when you compliment people and literally talk less than you listen. That person at the store, that’s if you ask him how they’re doing. Mean it or don’t ask it. And then listen and compliment them. Oh, I was watching. You had three, four people in line in front of me. You’re really, you’re really friendly. You’re really efficient. Be genuine. You might be the first thing that’s good in their day because you decided you were going to listen and then talk.
[00:47:23 – 00:47:24]
Love it. Love it.</p>
[00:47:25 – 00:47:26]
So that’s my last message.
[00:47:26 – 00:48:52]
That’s it. Dwight, thank you for joining me. I really appreciate it. You know, your journey from financial struggle to empowerment is proof that taking control of your mindset and money can truly change your life. Whether you’re looking to break free from the paycheck to paycheck cycle, set meaningful financial goals, or redefine success on your own terms, Dwight’s insights offer a powerful roadmap. But don’t let the conversation stop here. If you’re ready to take action and start living with intention, head on over to www.giveaheck.com. you’ll find everything you need from Dwight’s book, podcast, speaking engagements, and financial coaching all in one place. And while you’re online, don’t forget to check out my website at www.mediumscottallen.com. i’d love to meet you and help you along your journey towards enlightenment. Book a reading, attend one of my live events or grab your copy of my new book, in the Presence of Light, A Funeral Director’s Journey From Morning to Mediumship. Finally, you’ll be hosting a mystical journey at Sea on the carnival celebration from December 7 through 14, 2025. We’re headed to the Eastern Caribbean and I’ll be sharing private readings and much more. Head over to my website to learn more and secure your space on the ship. Thank you for tuning in. And remember, success isn’t just about money. It’s about owning your life and creating a future you truly want. Until nex
t time, take care, get out there and give a heck. See you next time.
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