My New Favorite Financial Book: No Worries By Jared Dillian

Feel overwhelmed by all the financial advice out there?

For years, I haven't been able to recommend many books, but that changed with No Worries: How to Live a Stress-Free Financial Life by Jared Dillian.

This book cuts through the noise with just three key principles to focus on, so you can forget the rest.

It has easy-to-manage strategies you only need to check on once a year. 

In this episode, we discuss:

• Why most financial advice is overwhelming

• The 3 key principles to financial freedom

• Easy-to-implement strategies for long-term success

Links:

Buy Jared's Book: https://amzn.to/3xkwDCn

• Transcript

  Introduction and Host Welcome

  Welcome to me financial the podcast designed to inspire your financial life. Hello everyone. And welcome to the podcast. I am Michelle Moses, your host. And today it is just going to be me on the podcast. You're going to be just hearing my beautiful voice for the next few minutes.

  
  Book Introduction: No Worries by Jared Dillon

  Uh, and I want to talk about this book that I have been reading because it basically says everything that I have come to believe with, uh, investing and personal finance over the years.

  Uh, it is, uh, the book, No Worries by Jared Dillon. A newsletter that he does, uh, weekly. And he's, he basically writes for a living. Now, he used to be a traitor, but I, I do read his newsletter and he just came out with this book, and I wish I would've written it honestly, because after all of these years of doing this, uh, we're inundated [00:01:00] with all these messages about money and especially investments and stocks, and you need to be doing this.

  And what about real estate? And you know, what about. giving a loan to my, you know, cousin and should I be doing this? You know, all these things that you should be doing. Uh, can I be renting clothes? Can I be buying clothes and reusing them? You know, I mean, you could go with the list, right? And I'm just coming to the realization that it's just like, not that complicated and we make it.

  So, so very complicated.

  
  Key Financial Principles from the Book

  And in his book, the premise is basically that you keep your car payment low, you keep your house payment low, and you keep your student loans low. And if you get those three things right, and he has thresholds in there of as a percentage of whatever your income is. But if you get those three things right, then you can have a stress free way of living.

  And so the whole point of the book is to not think about money is how can you be stress less about money? [00:02:00] And that's where I'm trying to go. And I don't know about where you guys are trying to go, but that's, that's my goal in life is that I don't want to worry about it.

  
  Personal Reflections on Financial Freedom

  I, you know, I hate, and I've said this in a couple of other episodes before is I really do not like the term financial freedom because I think one, it's overused.

  And two, we often think of financial freedom as like, Oh, I'm just like floating around and I'm able to like spend money on whatever I want. And to me, financial freedom is being able to make decisions from a grounded place, a place where I feel good about it, where I know. Yes, I want to give money to this charity and I have enough money to do it.

  And I feel fulfilled by doing that. Yes, I want to buy this car and I know that it will fulfill me in some way and I will enjoy it because money is there for us to enjoy life. Right. And I, I realized that there are certain thresholds and if you are not making that threshold, it [00:03:00] is super duper stressful.

  Okay. I get that. That's not what this one is about. There are different. Thresholds, I think of our tiers of people in life and where you are in your earning years. And, uh, I am talking to the people that are, have the basics met and you are striving for other things in life. You may want a new house. You may want a new car.

  Uh, you may want a, you know, uh, something to happen at work to make more money. And, you know, all of that is fine and dandy, right? But what we're trying to go for here is where you're not stressed about money. And I really think, and I've, and it's so funny that this book came out because just quite a few months ago, I was like, man, it's just really not that hard.

  Like if your house isn't that expensive and your car isn't that expensive, then. You know, life is pretty good. It's pretty easy. And, uh, you know, I have some [00:04:00] clients and, um, they retired and sold their house and they downsized majorly. And so they have no debt and all this cash in the bank. And it has really opened my eyes to what striving is.

  does to us, because now they have no worries. I mean, they are making enough off the interest in their checking account that they could just live on it. And you know, they're, they're just like living their life and doing whatever and checking things out and their life is not driven by, I got to go make this money so that I can go pay my bills.

  I got to go make this money so I can do, you know, whatever it is. They have set themselves up in a position to where now they have the money in the bank. And they obviously do not spend a ton, um, because if they were, they wouldn't be able to be living on the interest, but it has just opened my eyes to what it has done to them emotionally of just being so calm about money and being able to just make decisions on what do [00:05:00] they really want to do?

  Do you, you know, and they like having the money in the bank because they realize What the freedom that it gives them of the choices. So I realize we're not all in that. I mean, they are older and we are not all in that position to just have that much savings sitting there. But it does bring it back to if you aren't spending a lot on a car and if you aren't spending a lot on a house and you don't have a lot of student loans, then.

  the chances of you being able to save more for retirement and to save more in your short term savings so that you do feel better are higher. Uh, and it's just with these certain little decisions in your life. And so, um, and then he goes on to talk about, which I find really, really interesting too.

  
  Balancing Frugality and Enjoyment

  I hadn't ever thought about it like this is that the People that are super cheap, uh, we'll call them frugal.

  Uh, they, and the ones he's saying, you know, clipping the stamps, you know, [00:06:00] not tipping when they go get their haircut or tipping, not very much, uh, not wanting to go out to eat, uh, driving a car until, you know, the smoke is coming out the back. Uh, and I thought this was good to not wanting to pay for their child's education because they didn't have anybody to pay for their child's education.

  So, We often hold these people up like on a pedestal because in personal finance, you see it all the time, right? That people like, you know, the millionaire next door and all of these really popular books about being cheap and just having all this money in the bank. But the argument is that they're letting money rule every single decision in their life.

  And I could not agree more because you're not allowing, you're not enjoying any of it. I mean, you're not going to be able to die and take all of this with you. You are having this money to have an experience. And so there's definitely a balance that goes with this, right? You're not going to want to be jumping all around and just like throwing money all over the place and spending [00:07:00] God knows what on who knows what, but you, you don't want to be totally ruled by money.

  In the sense that you don't want to spend it at all because you're not, no one's going to enjoy going out to eat with you. No one is going to want to serve you because you don't tip well. And you know, I don't think you're setting your kids up. Like even if you have the money and then you don't pay for college.

  I mean, I could see like having them take loans and then maybe paying it off later, um, so that they can actually see what they would pay for or what they, you know, how much it is. But putting them intentionally in a hole, just because you're a miser, I don't think is a great way to live life. That's also a very stressful way.

  Uh, and in the book, he also talks about the other side are the people that only want the best and they've got the best car and they, um, you know, and then there's another book that's very popular where it's like, um, get tons of debt, buy these passive, you know, buy a laundromat and some, uh, rental homes and just.

  Live [00:08:00] day to day and you'll be fine. That is also being ruled by money because you want the best in life. You're spending every dollar that you have, but you're also fueled every day because you have all of these debt payments to make. And there's obviously what I'm talking about is that you wanna be in between.

  And that's what I'm just, after all these years discovering, and I know I kind of feel stupid saying that just because I've been studying this for so long and you go into all these classes learning about annuities and learning about how the stock market works. And, and I just, Um, I don't think the stock market should be that complicated.

  And in the book he does talk about, he has a portfolio that he talks about in there. And I say, I got to agree with him. I got, I don't agree with every single thing in this book, but I would say 75 to 80 percent of it is what I agree with.

  
  Final Thoughts and Recommendations

  And people often ask me, Oh, what's a personal finance book that you would recommend?

  And I would say this book by Jared [00:09:00] Dillon is one that I would. Absolutely recommend. And I wish I would have written it and I'm probably going to buy 20 copies and be giving it to people. It's a quick read. He's a really great read. He's a really great writer. And I, um, I, again, I agree with it that we just don't need to make it that stressful.

  And so if you are less like, I just don't understand the stock market, you don't need to understand the stock market. Like you just don't. Yeah. Just put some money in, keep your, your debt low, and then start saving into an emergency fund. And I think where we all get hung up is that we want to take vacations and do all these other things.

  I'm going to have another podcast about, um, Trying to keep positive about all of those things. But, uh, this is just specifically about keeping it simple. And I really think that you can keep it simple and not worry about money and not even think about it. I mean, you, once you start to get some savings, then, you know, people will email you and say, Hey, Uh, you know, [00:10:00] can you donate to my kids fundraiser?

  Yeah, no problem. And I mean, some of that does come with, you need to have an earning capability. And if you aren't earning enough, and you know, there's people that decide, I mean, if you're working in the nonprofit, if you're a teacher, I mean, you're kind of deciding to put a cap on your income. And I got to say, I hats off to all of you.

  And, you know, I, I don't think that that's a bad thing, but if you're wanting to earn more, then you're going to have to do something else. And if you're in a job where you're not earning a lot, you're going to have to do something else to where you can earn more. And I've done other episodes where people, they, which I hadn't done, but this guy went and drove for an Uber so that he could go, um, do like sports car racing.

  Uh, at once a month. And that's how he earned the money to go do that. So there are extra things that you can do, but you know, you've got to have the earning potential, but the idea is that all these things come together so that you're not worried about money.

  
  Conclusion and Call to Action

  And [00:11:00] that's kind of what I'm here to say, is that if you could get to the point where you aren't worried about money and that you're just not thinking about it, What a great place to be.

  And so I just hope that this inspires you to just think about it and, uh, maybe pick up the book, um, talk to me about it. I would love to hear what you think, um, when, after you read it. Uh, the one part of it that I didn't necessarily agree with is he doesn't really like credit cards. And I think we just come from a different standpoint.

  You know, Jared, uh, comes from, Like he was really poor growing up and I came from a middle class, uh, family and I really liked the credit card points. And so I will always put things on credit cards and then pay them off. And I am always looking on how can I put more things on credit cards and then pay it off.

  Uh, cause I'm getting really into like, you know, travel hacking and how to book flights and all that sort of thing. Uh, so that part of it, I didn't necessarily agree with, you know, there's certain, there's certain things that [00:12:00] I. think that you don't, I guess you could look at it in a different way, but the overall premise of the book of just not having any stress about money, I thought was really great.

  So, um, pick it up. I mean, it's on Amazon. I did the Kindle, you know, you can buy it wherever, uh, and look them up online. And I mean, I think the premise of it is, is just, it just doesn't have to be so stressful. And I think our marketing makes it just like two extremes of either being the miser, Or just spend, spend, spend, and like just have all of this debt and invest in all this real estate or, you know, laundromats.

  And I think you need to be in between. And that's just a really boring message and people don't want to hear it, right? And I'm here to tell you that the boring message is where you're going to find a stress free financial life. So let me know if you have any questions. Uh, I hope that this inspired you a little bit and thank you so much for listening.

  I really appreciate all of [00:13:00] you.

Disclaimer: The information provided in this podcast is for general informational purposes only and should not be construed as professional financial advice. Always consult with a qualified financial advisor or professional before making any financial decisions. The hosts and guests of this podcast are not responsible for any actions taken based on the information presented.