The Get Ready Money Podcast

The Get Ready Money Podcast with Darrell Young: Closing The Wealth Gap: The $14 million problem

• Tony Steuer

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On the latest episode of The Get Ready Money Podcast, I spoke with Darrell Young, the founder and CEO of Karmeq about changing the way we think about money and closing the wealth gap. 


In this episode we discussed:

  • Why the wealth gap is the single greatest problem facing America today.
  • How the study of economics and the study of scarce resources is the solution.
  • The importance of developing your network.
  • Why gamification does not lead to real life skills. 
  • Why giving is valuable and can bring you joy.
  • Why every spend of our money or time is an investment. 


Darrell Young is the serves as the Founder & CEO of KARMEQ, a broker/dealer investing platform uniquely enabling users to purchase and send Stocks as Gifts.  Coming from the perspective that the Wealth Gap is the greatest problem facing America today, Darrell and his team built KARMEQ not as just another FinTech company – but instead as a FinTeachTM platform designed to help Americans of all ages gain financial literacy. 

Darrell also serves as Principal of Poplar Global Wealth Management LLC, a boutique registered investment advisory practice.  Darrell began his career in accounting, soon earning designations as a California CPA (“Certified Public Accountant”) and CFP (“Certified Financial Planner”). Outside of work, Darrell enjoys Cub Scouting and other outdoor activities with his family. 

Connect with Darrell Young:

Karmeq Website: https://www.linkedin.com/in/darrell-young-3baba3/

Poplar Global Wealth Management website: https://pgwm.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/darrell-young-3baba3

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Speaker 1:

Are you looking to get ready, be prepared and transform your financial future? Then you've come to the right place. This is the Get Ready Money Podcast with Tony Stewart, where Tony has insightful conversations with financial experts who are changing the way we think about money. Catch up on the latest financial trends and hear practical advice from Tony and his expert guests so you can build healthy habits that work, Be empowered with tips for implementing small changes that can have a big impact on your financial future. So sit back and get ready to hear from today's guest.

Speaker 2:

Welcome to the Get Ready Money podcast changing the way we think about money. I'm pleased to be joined today by Daryl Young. Daryl is the founder and CEO of Carmec. In this episode, we'll be discussing Daryl's insights on how we change the way we think about money and closing the wealth gap. Daryl, welcome to the Get Ready Money podcast. Thanks for joining us today.

Speaker 3:

It's an honor to be here. Thank you, Tony.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, excited for the conversation too. You know this is where I start with all the guests. Tell us a little bit about yourself. What is your?

Speaker 3:

origin story. My personal origin story. Wow Got to go back a number of decades um. I'm originally from san francisco, the bay area where I still live today.

Speaker 3:

I grew up in a single income, middle class household. My dad was a blue collar worker. I have to be honest, I was a pretty mediocre student all the way through elementary school, middle school, high school. Back I had no strong interest in any particular subject, no idea what I wanted to do with my life, which I think a lot of kids these days can actually relate to, although I did enjoy a psychology class that I took my senior year of high school. At the time, outside of school, my primary activity was Boy Scouting Shout out to Troop 12 of San Francisco where I eventually earned my Eagle Scout rank.

Speaker 3:

I sort of stumbled into an accounting class in college and that is where my interest in economics and finance took off. Eventually I graduated from UC Santa Barbara go Gauchos with a bachelor's degree in business economics emphasis in accounting. In business economics emphasis in accounting also minored in Mandarin Soon, thereafter earned my California CPA license, certified public accountant, and then my designation as a CFP certified financial planner. Early in my career I worked at several big name multinational firms, before then opening up my own little boutique. Several big name multinational firms before then opening up my own little boutique, and these days I help families and small businesses with their investment management and financial planning.

Speaker 2:

Awesome, Awesome. So, yeah, you know, I went to Chico state so I can't say much about the gauchos.

Speaker 3:

but other than that, we can still be friends.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, exactly, but congrats on being an Eagle Scout. That's always a great accomplishment.

Speaker 3:

It's one of my most proud achievements.

Speaker 2:

That's awesome. So you know, let's plunge in. You know, one of the things that we talk about, that you talk about, is the wealth gap. Can you tell us a little bit? What is the wealth gap?

Speaker 3:

Well, that is the $14 million question. The wealth gap, according to me, is the single greatest problem facing America today, by far. It's a fairly broad term. I think it's applied in many demographic contexts. For the purposes of our conversation, I'd say that the wealth gap is the enormous chasm between the top 1% of American households and the middle class. And to put a data point on that, to be in the top 1% of American households one would need a net worth of 14 plus million. That's where the number comes from. The stark reality is that the top 1% of American households today have more collective wealth than the entire middle class.

Speaker 3:

Now, the reason I say that the wealth gap is the single greatest problem facing America is because again, this is just my opinion it perpetuates, among other things, the political divisions in our country. I think it factors into the declining marriage and birth rate. Back to politics. You know, according to me, to solve real problems, we will need to be able to sit down with each other, have thoughtful discourse and arrive at meaningful compromise. I'm not convinced that our elected officials are currently doing that, but, you know, I think that might be a topic for another podcast.

Speaker 2:

But you know, I think that might be a topic for another podcast. Yeah, you know, try to stray, not into politics, but it does impact the financial world and how we think about money. You know. So when you say you know that it's a $14 million, problem is that in the average net worth. So that's the average net worth that somebody would need to have to be considered part of the 1%.

Speaker 3:

That's the cutoff to be in the 1%. And again, the problem, as I define it, is that the 1% in America has more collective wealth than the entire middle class, and call that 40 to 50% of the country.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, and that's been what over the last? What 10 or 20 years?

Speaker 3:

Yeah, it's a decades long phenomena, but I think it's. It's been exacerbated in recent years and I think I'm guessing we're going to get to some of that in some of your other questions.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, you know so. Just to continue along that line, though, is do you think part of this is caused by the compensation gap or the compensation multiple between the lowest earning employee and the highest earning employee? You know that's, you know, ballooned so much over the last 30 or 40 years.

Speaker 3:

Oh, you took the words out of my mouth. I mean, I think that it's preposterous to have a CEO earning, you know, three, four, 500, even a thousand times what the average worker earns. Yeah, so you know, as we talk about it.

Speaker 2:

What do you think are some of the things that we can start to do about the wealth gap? Is there anything like you and I can do or the listeners on the podcast can do?

Speaker 3:

Well, I'm going to say that I have two answers for that and I think we're going to get to both of them. But the first is to teach economics and then the second is to replace traditional, tangible retail gifts with stocks. Now back to that first point of teaching economics. You know, maybe, to answer the question of what do we do about this wealth gap thing, you might have been expecting me to say well, we need to boost financial literacy, especially in schools, which is, of course, true, but I think the foundational concept of financial literacy, often overlooked, is economics. Helping the middle class understand economics will do more.

Speaker 3:

Now, best definition I've ever heard of economics is it's the study of scarce resources. And that makes total sense, right, because if there was no scarcity, there would be no need to budget to economize. I mean everything is abundant. There would be no need to budget to economize. I mean everything is abundant. Now, to put that in an everyday life example, when you picture a spoiled kid, for example, you say well, what does that really mean? Now, to me, what it means is it's a kid with a distorted sense of economics. And why is that? Well, because everything came easy for that kid. Everything was abundant, never had to work for anything or never had to compromise for anything. So again, this kid, which you want to label as a spoiled brat, is really just a kid with a distorted sense of economics.

Speaker 3:

Now, add to that our economics have evolved dramatically thanks to technology. I mean, if I lived in colonial America several hundred years ago, I could raise crops, I could, if I needed to, maybe hunt a deer and bring some food home for my family. Using that scenario, imagine that my neighbor in colonial America developed somehow this technology that he, with one shot of his bow and arrow, could kill 10,000 deer to my one, and that person was able to therefore commandeer all of the local resources. And my best option is to go work for this person.

Speaker 3:

Now, of course, I want to emphasize I do believe in meritocracy, I believe in capitalism, but then I also want to ask these people how much is enough? Because when you go back to what you were asking a moment ago, should the CEO of a company earn a thousand times that of the average worker at the same company, and then, on top of that, take advantage of tax loopholes, get out of paying taxes as well? And so this whole thing about closing the wealth gap or at least addressing it. I think that we need to help students and families first understand economics. And why is that? Because, spoiler alert financial literacy does not teach you how to actually make money.

Speaker 2:

Well then, you know, the natural question, of course, is how does economics help you do that?

Speaker 3:

Why. I think that each person needs to sort of figure that out for themselves. I think that if you're able to add value to the people around you, either in products or services, you will earn a living. But to understand economics right like to not to get into this side debate about you know whether or not people should go to college, but go to college for the right reasons. Understand what it's going to take in terms of the investment to get through four, five, six years of college. What you're going to do with that degree afterward. These are economic questions to me.

Speaker 2:

That's interesting. I mean, you know, like we talked about pre-show is I don't think anybody else has come on the show and really talked about economics, you know, in this light and in this way connecting it to financial literacy. But I think this is really important for people to understand this whole value proposition and laws of supply and demand. So you know, just for people, do you have any resources where people can learn more about economics, any websites or anything that they can put in the show notes about economics?

Speaker 3:

I don't think it's well addressed in school. That is something that I hope to change with CARMEC. Insofar as resources are concerned, I mean, I think that the usual suspects out there like Nationwide Jumpstart, that sort of thing. All kinds of resources are available. You could even go to your podcast and other places but I think that what we need to do is get our teachers armed with this information and get it out through schools. That, to me, would be more effective than sending people to, in my humble opinion, an online resource and having them try to be self-taught.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I was just curious because for a lot of adults, you know, it's like, well, you know they're not going to be going to school again, so it's, you know they're curious about learning. But yeah, and maybe I need to have an economist on the show pretty soon.

Speaker 3:

That would be great.

Speaker 3:

So that's awesome, so you know let's switch gears and talk a little bit about Carmack. What inspired you to start Carmack? Well, I would like to say that it was to close this wealth gap, I mean. But of course, it would be preposterous to state, or even imply, that Carmack will single-handedly resolve this issue. That being said, our mission is to inspire and enable financial independence for future generations. What inspired me to start Carmack? Well, there's a little bit of selfishness there. I mean, picture me. This is our origin story for the company. Picture me 13 years ago about to get married downtown San Francisco, walking around getting our wedding registry together. You're probably familiar with that concept.

Speaker 3:

And all the while as I was following my fiance around zapping items to put on our wedding registry, I was like I don't want any of this stuff. I don't need linens and cookware. Why can't I just register for stocks and have our guests buy us that? Now, of course, the selfishness comes from the standpoint that I saw Carmack as a solution for the receiver of stocks. Now, as a married man and as a parent, I see it as a tool for me to give stocks to the people I care about. So what is Carmack anyway? I'd like to say that it's not just another FinTech company financial technology but instead we built our platform to be a FinTeach company because we endeavor to use our platform to promote financial literacy through schools. If you haven't heard about us, carmec is, at its essence, a broker dealer. It's an investing platform uniquely approved by regulators to enable people to easily send stocks as gifts. So use case would be something like you're heading to a birthday party some such celebration could be for an adult or a kid and rather than purchasing some off the shelf birthday item bottle of wine, toy, clothing, whatever you instead purchase and send a gift of stock or an ETF. Functionally, that is what Karmic enables. I'm proud to say that the essence of Karmic is actually found in our name, which is the intersection of karma and equity. So Karmic K-A-R-M-E-Q. If I wanted to put a finer point on that, I would say that it comes down to fairness. If I wanted to put a finer point on that, I would say that it comes down to fairness.

Speaker 3:

Many of us believe, or are at least familiar with, the concept of karma. And why is that? I think it's because we all want to believe that for the most part, life is fair. Now picture yourself you're in your car, you're on the freeway, some aggressive driver cuts you off and you're thinking to yourself I hope that that guy gets a speeding ticket. Universe, I need you to make it right. That's what you're thinking, right. You're thinking you know, karma needs to even the score. That guy cut me off, that guy deserves a speeding ticket, and I hope he gets it. It also works in reverse, right? So sometimes maybe you did something that you kind of knew you weren't supposed to do and you ended up with some bad juju that you got to work off right. But that's essentially it. Equity the other half of the name, I think, is often interpreted the same equity, fairness. But then I like to use the double meaning because equity also means ownership, as in stocks yeah, no, I, I love that and I I think, well, we can talk about karma.

Speaker 2:

That could be a whole podcast.

Speaker 3:

Karma and finance, too political discourse in the country and karma.

Speaker 2:

These are totally separate podcasts yeah, definitely, you know, I could play instant karma at the end of this episode, you know, to take us out. Um, you know, so it's probably probably that you know. I mean, you said so much, but I think something that's really cool that I'm probably going to use and steal from you is FinTeach company, because I think that is such a better word than FinTech, and that is what so many of us are trying to do in the industry is really to teach people how to do something differently, or at least to think of doing something differently. So that's awesome, you know. So what is your long-term goal with Carmack?

Speaker 3:

Some years ago, a person taught me that my goal statements should be smart, specific, measurable, time-oriented, that sort of thing. So if you had to pin me down to a goal, I'm going to say this Reach a base of 12 million users by the time I retire, or in my lifetime. Now, why 12 million? I think that, according to my projections, that is about 3.5% of the total population in America, or maybe 30% of the American middle class by the time I retire. To hit this goal, I will, of course, need help from academia, not-for-profit foundations, financial institutions, podcasters, financial literacy experts like yourself, anybody who actually cares about the financial health of generations to come. That is my goal.

Speaker 3:

Now, admittedly, the figures that I just gave out, you know, 12 million users, I mean hugely ambitious and probably would take me the balance of my life to achieve, but you know, it's something that I think is important to this country. I think, for the reasons that I gave earlier, we want to see future generations have a fighting chance at sustainability, and we also want to be able to sit down with our neighbors, I think, and have calm conversations about how we solve problems, and I think that this is all going to help us again, like I said, reduce this chasm between the so-called 1% and everybody else.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, no, I agree with you. There's so many reasons why we need to close the wealth gap. It's for the long-term health of everyone. You know. One of the things is you know, you've mentioned it is, you know, and I completely agree is financial literacy for kids. Why is financial literacy for kids so important?

Speaker 3:

Well, let's agree that financial literacy is important for everybody, that's true.

Speaker 3:

We got that out of the way. Why is it so important for kids? Because we all make mistakes as we learn, but as kids our mistakes tend to be smaller. So you can say well, you know, I was helping mom or dad, you know, chop vegetables for dinner and I kind of nicked my finger. Or I was learning to ride a bike and I skinned my knee. And the lessons that come from that help you later in life. Because as adults the stakes are higher, the risk levels are higher and I would argue if you were taught about money at an early age and you were allowed to make small mistakes, you will not make grave errors later in life. And that is why I think financial literacy for kids in particular is so important.

Speaker 3:

Now I'm also going to add into that this might get me in trouble, but I'm not convinced that gamification works. Now I know that a lot of you know FinTech-y type companies think that they can deliver financial literacy to kids through games that sort of mimic real life. Let me give you an example. My son, who's seven, plays video games in his free time and he has a car driving game. He doesn't think that he can drive a real car just because he does well in this game.

Speaker 3:

I mean, kids are not that naive and I think that kids would do better if you allow them to learn, like I said, with small amounts of real money, as opposed to giving them access to a game which they're, you know, whatever, earning and spending imaginary coins and whatnot. I mean, it's a game and, like the example of driving a car or kicking a soccer ball or doing whatever, it does not lead to real life skills. It just doesn't. And you know, I think that kids this is another reason why it's so important for kids kids that are exposed to financial literacy early in life will also, in my opinion, better navigate financial stresses later in life or be better equipped for it. It's well documented that money issues are the number one cause of divorce. It's well documented that money issues are the number one cause of divorce, even above infidelity, causes, I'm sure, huge amounts of mental stress on college students and beyond.

Speaker 2:

And if you felt a little more informed about finances growing up, it might help you better navigate all these other traps later in life. Well, definitely, and just you know, I mean, the one thing is just thinking about how it affects us emotionally, because you'll feel more confident with money. I mean, right there, you know, and I agree with you on the gamification is that makes a lot of sense, as, yeah, you know, I don't think my son thinks that he can drive a car, just a car, just because he's played Mario Kart a few thousand or hundred thousand times. Right, you know, I'm not, and so I think that's important for people to realize. The other thing that I learned is, you know, I did some coaching for kids. It's a kids really, you know, understand more than a lot of adults give them credit for, and they're able to learn these concepts when you talk to them about it. So I applaud you for doing that.

Speaker 3:

You know it's funny. I wrote a piece about this as an aside some number of years ago. How soon do kids even start to grasp the concept of money? And I said probably by like age one or two. I remember this is this is kind of a joke uh, the first time that my son said to be mine, m-i-n-e. Mine. And I thought to myself where did he learn that? How is it that it's one of the first 100 words that a kid uses? And I thought well, what does that imply? What is? Is he really saying this is my asset, I own it, I control it and it's a stuffed animal. Sure, and I don't dispute the fact that it's yours, but you felt the need to tell me and to you this is your property. That's a financial concept. Property is a financial concept and kids start to get it as as early as one or two. Like I said, it was one of the first words that he ever said.

Speaker 3:

And mom, and I, mom and daddy, are not a threat to you. Mom and daddy are not trying to take your stuff, and yet you said it to us anyway yeah, I think every kid said that.

Speaker 2:

Every parent has experienced that you know. And then kids start to trade things. Yeah, you know, at a very early age. You know you can play with this. If I can play with that Bartering, exactly, yeah, you know. So they are learning skills and I think, as you said, that's a real-life example that kids can understand Right.

Speaker 3:

But they pick up on it very early. Yeah, and they pick up on it very early.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, and they pick up on a lot more than we think they do. Yes, absolutely so, you know, daryl.

Speaker 3:

Let's get into the get ready questions, the first one is what basic money concept do you wish people knew? Wow, there's so much. But I'm going to say that people should treat every spend of their money or time like it's an investment, treat it as such themselves, really of enjoyment and that sort of thing. But I think, everything in balance and moderation. So, for example, you pick up a candy bar at the store and you say, oh, this candy bar these days cost $2.50. And what am I getting? And you flip it over to the back and you say, oh, I'm getting 350 calories of chocolate out of this bar. Okay, so there's a trade off to be had there, right, it's an investment.

Speaker 3:

Investment in what? Well, investment in guilt, because now I need to go to the gym for an hour. Or is it an investment in nutrition? Well, not really, compared to like what you could have had instead, which is like a piece of fruit, you know. Do you really need a 12th pair of jeans? Do you really need a 20th pair of shoes? Do you need another wristwatch? What if you instead spent your money on art supplies, which is just as fun, right, just as enjoyable, an online class that teaches you something, or your kids something? Point being is that when you think about money conceptually. I think that people should treat it like every spend is an investment. What are you getting from it? Do you really need that? Does it really nourish you?

Speaker 2:

I think that's really important. You know, and other guests you know that I've had on talk about that as intentional spending and I think that's definitely in you know along the same lines is, you know, think about how you're spending your money is because you're not saying, or I don't think you're saying and other guests are not saying you know, like, don't do it, but think about it.

Speaker 3:

Balance and moderation. Exactly, I'm not asking people to deprive themselves. I'm saying to give it a thought before you go ahead with that spend, and this applies to both money and time.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, now that's awesome advice. So, daryrell, what is one simple thing people can do each year to set themselves up for financial success?

Speaker 3:

Here's where I go off script Develop your academic and professional networks.

Speaker 3:

Now you asked about financial success. Now you asked about financial success, and I don't mean to make a joke of the old cliche that it's not what you know but who you know. But those kinds of sayings exist for a reason, you know. Sometimes they're kind of top out in their career or maybe they want to make a change, but they don't really know how or what they can change. And I think more doors would have been open to them had they spent more effort developing academic and professional networks, and I think that that will better ensure, in my opinion, your long-term financial success. Now, what do I mean in practical terms? Go out of your way to meet or work with somebody in some meaningful thing every two months, and meaningful to me means it is worthy of telling other people about it, worthy of telling other people about it. If you're doing that, if you're constantly working on those connections, building things, working with other people, you will, in my opinion, have a much better shot at longevity in your financial success.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I think that's powerful advice because I think so. You know so much or so many times, excuse me, that people think you know that it's a money thing you have to do to get ahead, but so many times it's like education it's your network. I know personally. My network has benefited me tremendously. Is you know? I found you on LinkedIn and, for people who listen to and watch this podcast, the majority of my guests I've connected with on LinkedIn or they've connected with me and you know it's a powerful way what you get to know new ideas, new experiences but you also get to hear about new opportunities. So I think that's amazing advice.

Speaker 3:

It's not what people run to right when they think about financial success, but I believe in my heart that it matters more your academic and professional networks.

Speaker 2:

And I think it. You know it gets back to that thing. You know the money is interrelated to so many other parts of our lives, and this is just another way that illustrates that. Yep, exactly, yeah. So what is one habit that people can change when it comes to their money?

Speaker 3:

I think it kind of ties into what I said earlier, which is do not make purchases on impulse. I mean, if you're going to make a small change, one that you can reasonably manage in daily life, do that. Do not make purchases on impulse. Set up your own guidelines for yourself. For example, I'm going to the grocery store to get food for the week. I made a list this is what I'm going to the grocery store to get food for the week. I made a list, this is what I'm going to buy. And if I'm trying to buy something that's not on that list, I need to wait. So I'll give you an example.

Speaker 3:

I see this $5 item that I want to get on impulse. It's kind of by the cashier. I saw it, I kind of want it. I go well, then wait five minutes, wait one minute per dollar of extra money that you were going to spend, because in five minutes you might decide, oh, I don't really need this. Set up your own guardrails, whatever you think is right for you. Like I said, one minute per dollar, but the idea being that, again, you're not buying things on impulse.

Speaker 3:

You're also not going to subscribe to things that you don't need to or that you haven't tried three or four times first, because this whole thing ultimately is going to end up costing you more. Like, if you subscribe to something, realize that you don't need it, but gosh, darn it, you're locked in for like a year. If you subscribe to something, realize that you don't need it, but gosh, darn it, you're locked in for like a year. Or a gym membership that you never use or something or other.

Speaker 3:

And I think that if you're able to do that to not buy things on impulse, to avoid subscriptions whenever you can unless you're sure you're going to use it, or at least you get in three or four one-time uses first, I would say, get a second opinion on large purchases from somebody that you think can be objective about it, because you know, for example, if I take my buddy with me to the Corvette dealership, I'm like, hey, I was thinking about getting this car. My buddy's like, yeah, man, you totally should. I'm like, well, of course my buddy's going to tell me that, but maybe my significant other wouldn't agree as much. So I think, on whether it's a small scale impulse purchases or whether it's on a large scale, like that red sports car that you've always wanted, I think that you need to step back. Don't be so quick to act. Really think through what you're going to do before you do it, and if you can muster that habit, I think that you will dramatically change your financial outcomes.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I think that's wonderful advice, you know just taking a little bit of time, you know to think through things. You know like just wait overnight on a big purchase.

Speaker 1:

Make yourself wait, see if you still feel the same way.

Speaker 2:

Make yourself wait so often you'll go. Yeah, I don't really need that, you know, if you think overnight, I mean that's why grocery stores they put all that stuff right up there at the front they know impulse purchases are a real thing. Yeah, I really need that chocolate. Who knew so? What money myth are you trying to break?

Speaker 3:

I don't know if this is a myth per se, but I do think that people need to understand that financial jargon is very nuanced. Now, the following words do not all mean the same thing. They're not measured in the same ways Financial literacy versus financial wellness or financial well-being, financial sustainability, financial freedom, financial independence. Like you hear these words and if you're the average person, you might be thinking these are all the same thing, right, they're talking about the same stuff. I'm like no, they're not. These are all the same thing, right, they're talking about the same stuff. I'm like, no, they're not.

Speaker 3:

And what I'm about to say may sound cynical, but accountants like myself call that professional skepticism. When you read a pamphlet about an organization promoting financial wellness, take an extra minute to understand what the author really meant by that. If you hear someone talking about financial sustainability, take another moment to understand what the speaker meant. Now, reflecting back on our company mission, you know, to inspire and enable financial independence for future generations. To me, financial independence means that you can support yourself for the balance of your life through your working years, through retirement, etc. That's what financial independence means to me. But again, you know, again, I don't necessarily think that this is a myth, but I want people to be cautious that when they hear these kinds of words out there, they don't all mean the same thing.

Speaker 2:

I think that's powerful advice, you know. I mean just with life in general. Anything is you know, make sure you understand the words that you're using. But I think, especially when it comes to the financial world, is you know, people oftentimes think that they're getting involved with one thing when it's really something else. So you know, without taking the time to fully understand, that Right.

Speaker 2:

So you know, let's get out the time machine for a minute. What advice would you give your younger self if you could go back in time, knowing what you know now about money?

Speaker 3:

Well, I want to be clear that what I would tell my younger self doesn't necessarily apply to across the board your audience. I mean mean because we all walk our own path in life. You know, I wish I spent less money on video games when I was a kid, but that's me and that's not necessarily everybody in your audience. So maybe what I would say is I'll answer the question by what I would tell my son, and again, he's age nine Focus on building skills, build something, do your best in performing, in competing, don't be afraid to do that. Build connections with your teammates, perform together, compete together, look at opportunities to help them as they arise. I think that if you approach life that way, even from a younger kid's perspective, you will go far, and I don't mean to suggest that you can't have idle time.

Speaker 3:

I don't mean to suggest that life is all work and there's no time for play, but I do mean that at certain moments where you're called upon to practice your soccer skills or your basketball skills, you're in class and there's an opportunity to speak in front of the class about your weekend or whatever, or there's a music recital coming up for those who want to participate, but not everybody. Take those opportunities. Get in there, perform, compete. You will be surrounded by people that support you and that will prepare you for later in life. It's a good use of your time. Again, I'm not asking people to deprive themselves, to not have free time, to not play. I am saying, when those opportunities are presented to you, take them not play.

Speaker 2:

I am saying when those opportunities are presented to you, take them. I think that's wonderful advice. Take advantage of your opportunities. So, just taking a note, people who watch and listen know sometimes I take a second to take those notes. I think the other thing you said that's so important too is to focus on building skills. You never know what skills are going to come in handy, so when you have the opportunity to learn a new skill, you know.

Speaker 3:

It goes hand in hand with building connections with your teammates. You're on a soccer team, a basketball team, musical team, a speech and debate team or whatever team. You're on a chess team. I mean, build those connections like you're preparing for later in life, building your networks.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, same thing building that network. So you know, to close out, what is your number one tip on changing the way we think about money.

Speaker 3:

Well, I don't want to get into defining what money is, because I think we all see it differently. The one thing that I've learned is that I get so much more happiness and fulfillment seeing what my money has done for other people. Now, I don't mean to suggest that you should give away everything you own and become a monk I'm not saying that. But I remember as a kid, you know, my folks would tell me that it's better to give than to receive. And of course, when you're a kid, you're like yeah right, I mean, you know who cares, I just want my presents.

Speaker 3:

And I remember, shortly after I landed my first job, that it gave me enormous joy to spend my hard earnedearned money on gifts for my friends. It's the first time I had done that when I got my first job and that was the first taste of doing exactly that seeing what my money could do for other people. And that is, I think I don't know if this is too hopeful or not but changing the way we think about money. Think about how much joy do you get walking around in your $200 jeans and your $300 shoes and instead I would take that same money and I would throw a birthday party for my son and let him invite his closest friends with the same money and watch the joy on their faces. And that does so much more for me as a human being than how I feel about myself just because I have like an expensive pair of shoes or whatever.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I think that's powerful, that you know there is a lot of power in giving and I personally like to give as well, give my time, give money. I think it's beneficial and I think, for those of us who do give, do you see how much other people get from it? And that is a reward in and of itself.

Speaker 3:

I do emphasize that balance throughout this entire conversation that you and I have been having, that I'm not telling people to deprive themselves. I'm not telling people to give away all their worldly possessions and become monks. I am saying to seek balance and to understand that you can look at money in different ways and really think to yourself okay, well, how do I maximize my happiness and my fulfillment? Is it because I'm wearing this really expensive jacket or is it because I did something for these kids or these young adults?

Speaker 2:

Definitely no, that's great. So, daryl, to wrap up, where can people learn more about you, connect with you, stay in touch with you and find out more about Carmec?

Speaker 3:

connect with you, stay in touch with you and find out more about Carmec. Well, in terms of getting in touch with me, I would say how you and I connected things like LinkedIn or what have you. I'm glad you asked about how people can find out more about Carmec. Obviously, you can go to our website, karmqcom, check it out when you feel ready. Maybe send a gift of stock to somebody that you care about. Hopefully, the recipient of that gift will love the idea so much that they'll want to pay it forward, just like you did, and then this idea of gifting stocks just self-perpetuates.

Speaker 3:

If you felt like you wanted to even go a step further than that, and maybe you have kids in school, tell the school administrators that you want to see Carmack introduced into the classrooms. Now, I think that you know learning more about Carmack, right? That was the question. Well, let's learn by doing. That's what we would tell our kids, right? So learn about Carmack by checking us out. Send a gift of stock to somebody you care about, see how it makes you feel, and I would bet it's going to make you feel terrific.

Speaker 2:

That's awesome. Well, thanks, daryl, so much for coming on today and for everybody watching and listening. As always, there will be links to Daryl's LinkedIn profile, other social media profiles, as well as to the Carmack website, so you can check it out for yourself. So thanks for joining us today, daryl. On the Get Ready Money podcast.

Speaker 3:

It's been a privilege and I hope to talk with you again soon.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, this is a lot of fun and, as always, thank you everyone for tuning into this episode of the Get Ready Money podcast. If you like this episode, please be sure to subscribe and share this with a friend. And until next time, let's change the way we think about money. Thank you.

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Tony Steuer

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