Episode #38- The 3 S's of Wealth

Wealth Decisions Podcast Transcript for Episode #38: The 3 S's of Wealth

Listen to this episode on Apple Podcasts or Spotify

Welcome to The Wealth Decisions Podcast, where each week I take 15 minutes or less to discuss crucial wealth decisions and mindset hacks to help you live a richer life.

I'm your host, Brian Muller, and I've been in the financial services industry for over 25 years, and I'm also a certified life and health coach.

And I have a passion for helping people make better decisions around their money and their life.

So, for the sake of time, let's dive right into it.

In today's episode, I'm going to be diving into kind of a topic that intersects financial planning as well as personal growth.

As a certified life and health coach, I think a lot about personal growth and whether I'm making progress in my life.

And I want to just talk a little bit about what wealth means to you.

The three S's of wealth is the topic today.

And those three S's are success, significance and security.

And these three S's kind of shape our money mindset and ultimately kind of shape our financial decisions.

So we're going to break down each of these three S's and how they relate to our relationship with money.

The first S is success.

When most people think about financial success, they often think solely on just the numbers, right?

How much money they make, the size of their investment portfolio, or the value of all their assets or their net worth.

But true success, I think, goes way beyond just accumulating wealth.

Financial success is about achieving your personal goals and living a life on your own terms.

It's about having the resources to pursue your dreams and passions, support your loved ones and create this lifestyle that you desire.

But you have to figure out what success means to you.

I've thought about that a lot over the last 10 years.

And when you're in the industry like I am, or any type of sales industry, you're surrounded by people wanting to always get to the next level.

And you feel like if you don't get to the next level, then you're not successful.

I've struggled with that over the years, but once I defined what success meant to me, everything changed in terms of my mindset.

Success to me means having the freedom to be there for my kids when they get off the bus at school.

Having the freedom to take a day off from time to time.

It's not just about getting to the next level.

It's about creating freedom to live the life that I want to live.

So to cultivate a success-oriented mindset, you first have to define what success means to you personally.

You know, is it retiring early?

Is it starting a new business?

Is it traveling the world?

Your definition of success should guide your financial decisions.

You want to set clear and measurable goals.

Break down this big vision you have of success into actionable steps.

And I think one thing is to keep in mind when it comes to success is we have this outcome of what you want success to be.

Don't focus so much on the outcome that you're not enjoying the progress and enjoying the process.

You have to celebrate your progress along the way and enjoy the journey.

Acknowledge your achievements no matter how small to kind of keep you motivated.

You also have to learn from any setbacks.

You're going to have some setbacks along the way when you're trying to become more successful.

But view those financial challenges as opportunities for growth and learning.

And when you define what success is for you, you don't compare yourself to others.

I have a lot of successful friends and it's tough to compare where I am versus where they are.

But once you define what success is for you, you're only comparing yourself to you.

It's about progressing towards your own vision of what a fulfilling life and successful life is.

Now let's talk about the second S and that's significance.

It's about the impact your wealth can have on others around you and the world around you.

It's kind of the realization that money is not just a tool for your own personal gain, but a means to create positive change.

Most of us are just focused on our own wealth and building our wealth for our own measure of success.

But significance in your financial life can come out in a lot of different ways.

Number one, philanthropy.

You could use some of your resources to maybe support some causes you care about.

Rather than waiting to the end of it all to send money to your favorite charities, you could do some things throughout your life to create more fulfillment, meaning and purpose, but also have this feeling of significance.

Legacy planning would be the second ways something could manifest.

Maybe you want to ensure that your wealth continues to make a difference for future generations.

And some people are just again trying to build wealth for themselves.

But in terms of creating some type of legacy, think about what your wealth could do for generations to come.

You also could look at some type of significance with some type of ethical investing.

Aligning your investments with your values.

A lot of people call that social responsible investing.

If that's important to you, then this is another way to bring significance into your life.

And I think the fourth way to bring significance into your life more is to mentor somebody.

Sharing your knowledge with something you're very passionate about or something you know a lot about to help others succeed.

I think to develop this significance driven money mindset, you need to number one, you need to reflect on your values.

You know, what matters most to you?

How can your financial decisions reflect those values?

Number two, you start small, even, you know, modest contributions or actions can have a significant impact over time.

Number three, educate yourself about, you know, impact investing or sustainable investing.

Number four, consider how you can use some of your skills and resources to benefit your specific community you live in.

By focusing a little bit of your time on creating significance, you'll find that growing your wealth becomes more meaningful and more purposeful.

The last S is security.

It's about creating stability and peace of mind in your financial life.

It's really the foundation that allows you to pursue success and significance without this constant worry in the background about your financial future.

That comes down to living within your means, paying yourself first, and not subjecting yourself to lifestyle inflation when you get pay raises.

Instead of living a higher lifestyle, increase your contributions to the future to feel more secure.

Financial security starts with building some type of emergency fund to handle unexpected expenses.

Typically, you want to have anywhere from three to nine months of your basic expenses in an emergency account.

Number two, a way to create financial security is create multiple income streams.

This way, you don't have everything reliant on a single source.

Most people that build a lot of wealth over time have more than one income stream.

You also want to make sure you have the appropriate amount of insurance coverage.

If you've never done an insurance needs analysis, have a financial advisor run an insurance needs analysis on how much insurance you should have to protect your family against any unforeseen risks.

Number four, just developing a long-term investment strategy.

It's not about getting rich quick.

That is not the way to build financial security.

It's about having a plan, paying yourself first, investing in high-quality investments for the long-term that are aligned with your goals and your specific risk tolerance.

You know, to foster a security focused money mindset, you need to first focus on just educating yourself.

The more you understand about personal finance, the more secure you'll start to feel because you have the tools to succeed.

Number two, practice, you know, mindful spending.

Make intentional choices about where your money goes.

Number three, automate your savings and investments to ensure just a consistent amount of money going to work for you.

That will help you make progress towards your goals.

And number four, just regularly review and adjust your financial plan as your life circumstances change.

Remember, you know, true security isn't about hoarding wealth out of fear, but about creating, you know, a stable foundation that allows you to live confidently and pursue opportunities.

You know, the key to a healthy money mindset is finding the right balance between success, significance, and security.

You know, this is going to be unique to each individual and will shift over time as your circumstances and your priorities kind of evolve.

But here's some strategies to help you kind of maintain this balance.

Number one, just to have some regular self-reflection.

You know, set aside some time to assess how you're doing in each area.

Number two, do some goal setting.

You know, set some financial goals.

Consider how each of those financial goals will contribute to the three S's.

Number three, seek some type of professional guidance.

If you don't work with a financial advisor or you don't have a financial plan, an advisor can help you create a plan that addresses all the aspects of your financial life.

And if significance and success and security is important to you, they can help you set up a plan to achieve those goals.

And number four, just stay flexible.

Be willing to adjust your approach, you know, as you learn and grow.

By consciously kind of considering what's important to you, what success means to you, what you want your money to do for you and others, and focusing on setting financial goals, you're going to develop a better relationship with money and be on your way to living a richer life.

And that's it for today's episode, The Three S's of Wealth.

And if you liked this episode, please rate the episode, make some comments and hit the notification bell to get updated on future Wealth Decision Podcasts.

And please, if you could share it with a family member or a friend, my goal with The Wealth Decisions Podcasts is to reach over 100,000 people by the end of the year in the Twin Cities and beyond, so that people can make better wealth decisions to live a richer life.

If you like to schedule a discovery call with me, you can go to my website at momentouswealthadvisors.com and I'll spend some time to get to know you a little bit and find out if I might be able to steer you in the right direction or help you with your financial future.

Once again, thanks for listening and have a great weekend.

Listen to this episode on Apple Podcasts or Spotify


-Brian D. Muller, AAMS® Founder, Wealth Advisor

Momentous Wealth Advisors in a fee-only fiduciary advisory firm

Disclaimer: This material is for informational purposes only and should not be construed as investment advice. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Investors should make investment decisions based on their unique investment objectives and financial situation. While the information is believed to be accurate, it is not guaranteed and is subject to change without notice.

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