Ideal Life & Money Academy

There's only 3 things you can invest in (and you must do all three!): #1 - YOURSELF #2 - Your business, if you don't have one, then get one. #3 - Other people's businesses. By far the best investment you can make is in yourself! It will give you the greatest ROI (return on investment). An example, if you pay to get education that costs $10,000 and you are able to create an extra $10,000/year for t...

The subject of money and finances can be very controversial. Many of us fear the subject of money, but most likely it's because of what we've seen money do to other people. It's really easy to fear money if all we see around us are people who seem corrupt by money and greed. But those people aren't you. You are in control of you. It's a choice. If we fear what money will do to us, we naturally avo...

Double your money with this formula: The Rule of 72. This rule will determine how long it will take to double your initial investment when you have a compound interest rate that you will receive. AND you can determine what interest rate you want to achieve if you know you want to double your money (initial investment) in a certain amount of time. It's not exact down to the penny but it's quick/eas...

25 years ago I got a raise. And I was so happy at first, but it made my financial situation worse than it was before! I didn't know how to view and manage my money well at the time so I viewed the raise as "free money". I did what most people do when they get a raise at work. Go out and spend it. I bought a car that cost me more money each month than I was getting with the raise! Have you ever don...

What does physical health have to do with financial health? That is something many people miss when it comes to their money. Let's take a look and see how we can take care of our finances like we take care of our bodies. I know, some of us aren't doing a great job at taking care of our bodies, but almost everyone knows what needs to happen to take care of our bodies. Here are the "big 3": - Proper...

Why you should tell your kids no. No. Is a complete sentence. The sentence "no" allows others to understand there are boundaries. Within your house and outside of their home. It will give your kids confidence while they are young AND when they grow up to be a good adult. Don't say no to everything. Don't say yes to everything. There is a balance!

Have you been saving for retirement? Awesome! But what happens if you want to access some of your money before you reach retirement age?!? We recommend to continue saving in your retirement accounts AND save extra money in a bridge account. With a bridge account you will pay more taxes which will be okay as long as you are still investing in tax favored retirement accounts. You get the opportunity...

Our recommendations for getting a mortgage: - term = 15-year fixed rate mortgage   - 20% down payment (goal to avoid private mortgage insurance)   - payment is no more than 25% of your take home pay Thinking of buying a house? Need to take out a mortgage? What does mortgage mean? Root word definitions   Mort = death   gage = pledge First, consider all the additional costs that...

The Truth About Tax Brackets "Should I accept this raise or this bonus?" Popular myth: "Making more money will put me in the next tax bracket! I don't want to pay the higher rate for my entire income...." Yes, your increased income will be taxed at the higher amount, though NOT your entire income. Tax brackets are portioned at different % rates up to different amounts. For 2023 tax bracket: 10% is...

How long have you been married? 1 day, month, year, or decades..... It doesn't matter because it's time to combine your finances. My wife, Elle, and I combined our finances as soon as we got married. Not before and we didn't wait either. Once you are married, you have committed to someone. Why is it that so many stop there? They don't continue combining their lives, especially financially. Benefit...

Beware of purchasing something at 0% Financing. It's a marketing ploy to get you to buy something you probably can't afford, or at a minimum, don't really need. We are the most marketed to culture in the history of the world, so you need to get organized and intentional about your money so you can keep more of it for yourself and your loved ones. 0% Financing sounds like a good deal, but you need...

Valentines Day ideas that don't cost a lot of money: - Hand made gift (ie cards) - Set a romantic mood at home - Know your and your partners love language (acts of service, gifts, quality time, words of affirmation, or touch) - www.5lovelanguages.com These acts of love don't need to stop once you're married. Marriage bonus idea = set regular date nights! At least once a month, more is always bette...

Remember when cigarette's were cool? Doctors even smoked them. This is exactly how I feel about credit cards! We will view them as the financial cancer they are in the coming decades. Do yourself a favor and stop using your credit cards today. You will avoid spending more than you earn. You will stop borrowing money. And you will greatly reduced your chances of identity theft. I used to have a cre...

We want you to get rid of debt, but that's just the beginning. The real fun comes after the debt is gone! There are lots of people out there who focus on helping us get out of debt. I'm a financial coach and know a lot of other coaches who help their clients with this important step. For the record, I agree that debt is a problem and needs to be eliminated from our financial life, but what I have...

The most desirable places to live are always the most expensive but how can you afford to live in these places? In this video, we give you some practical tips and several real-life stories of how we've lived in some of the most expensive areas in the world, but didn't have to pay the market rate for rent. Here are several ways to live in an expensive area cheaply. Watch the video for more explanat...

Budgeting will help you: - Gain more control of your life and money - Make different decisions so you can save more and allocate those dollars to other things - Assess what is important to you - Teach you how to say "No", but also teach you how to say "Yes" (without guilt) Check out our budgeting resources here: Coach Mike's Course - https://www.moneylikemike.com/budget Coach Jason's Course (get $...

I saved at least $100,000 in 2023!!!! That is huge as we only spent $40,000 in total for the year. That's right, my wife and I spent less than $40,000 for the entire year driving across the country in our RV. This also includes over $6,000 worth of prepaid expenses/travel in 2024. The 3 big ticket items that I did NOT purchase in 2023 that saved me $100,000: 1) NBA Lakers basketball tickets ~$2,00...

Tip #1: Get rid of your credit cards If you cut them up, then the debt can't grow more or grow back! Tip #2: Decide to change If you continue to do the same things and expect a different result = insanity. Tip #3: Combat the guilt and shame Give yourself some grace. We have ALL made mistakes. **Increase income and decrease your expenses** We tend to need a little of both. Think about asking for a...

Tip #1: Net worth spreadsheet Coach Mike does this every January 1st. Updating your net worth document is key to making sure you are moving in the right direction. "What doesn't get measured, doesn't get managed" Tip #2: Adjust your budget Coach Jason recommends reviewing your budget and make any changes so you can anticipate increases or decreases for the new year Tip #3: Review goals/dreams Coac...

We all want to invest for our future, but what we don't know may end up hurting us. So, I put together a few tips on what you need to know or ask when investing your money. Should you work with a Financial Advisor for your investments or do it on your own? That's the big question isn't it? Depending on who you talk to, many say a Financial Advisor is expensive and not worth hiring for your investm...

After living in an RV for a year, I have learned a few things! Here are my top 5 tips: 1) Try it out before you buy 2) It's not always glamorous 3) Be aware of the extra costs 4) Never buy a new RV/Van 5) Pay cash When we talk about your Ideal Life, many people say they want to travel. And some think that traveling full time sounds like fun. The Van/RV life can be thrilling, but before you spend a...

People have been dealing with and struggling with money for generations. So why have we not learned to figure this subject out? After thousands of years, we are still in the same boat. We want more and we don't make enough to get what we want. Finances are very complex with multiple facets to it, but if you follow this 1 simple rule, you'll get rid of the vast majority of your financial problems....

Renting a car with a debit card in 2023 isn't always easy but it is possible! My favourite way is using Turo, simple to get set up and an easy app to use. If you don't like HUGE companies then by using Turo you are not contributing to big rental car companies and helping them buy/manufacture more and more vehicles. Bonus: you get to help out the struggling individual who is willing to rent their c...

First thing first: Money is EMOTIONAL. It's no fun owing people money or having people owe you money. Especially if they are family or friends. You never expected to borrow and not pay money back so you have faith that someone will pay you back if you lent them money, right?!? Join our conversations and experience with being on both sides of this equation and what to do about it going forward! ___...

Gifts don't have to be expensive! If you are trying to save money, gift giving can be really stressful because we all WANT to give amazing gifts, but sometimes you either don't have the money or you are trying to save for something else important. The good news is gifts don't have to be expensive to be good. There are a ton of ways to give amazing gifts that don't cost a bunch of money. In this vi...