Calm Cash

Should you stand out, be distinct, and blaze your own path? That question is more complicated than it used to be. On this episode, with the help of words from Jeff Bezos, Ben explores the challenges and benefits of being different.

It’s great to be back after a short break. On this episode, Ben talks about joy, how it differs from happiness, and how you can cultivate more in your life each day.

The calendar has turned to May which I consider one of the most important months of the year because May is Mental Health Awareness month. Before COVID came into our lives, many people were already struggling with their mental health and as a society we were struggling to have an open and clear dialogue on this sensitive topic. The last year hasn’t helped! Our collective mental health is significantly strained and we still aren’t making much progress. So on this episode, let’s have an open and honest dialogue about where we are, and what we can all be doing to improve the mental health for ourselves and those around us.

We all have unique experiences and situations that impact how we look at our money.  Dr. Brad Klontz, a financial researcher and therapist, uses the term "money script" to help define and frame how our values and experiences shape our personal relationship with money.  On this episode, Ben looks at the research behind money scripts and identifies ways we can all change our outlook on money to meet our goals and us make us happier along the way.

Last week we kicked off April by talking about Financial Literacy Month and our opportunity to recommit to our overall financial wellness. This week, let’s do a deeper dive on one of the challenges of creating broad based financial literacy and outcomes: uncertainty. While we can’t predict when life will throw us a curveball, we can take steps to mitigate the overall impact to our mental health and financial health to keep us on track.  Today we will cover healthy habits, having the right insurance coverages and how to incorporate emergency savings to soften the landing of any setback.

Money is hard. It can be hard to manage, hard to understand what is happening and money can be especially hard on our emotions and the overall impact on our physical and mental health.  But we can all take control over our money and our emotions through learning and self-awareness which is what this podcast is all about. April is the perfect time to recommit to our overall financial literacy because we have so much progress we need to make in this space as a country and connected society around the world. Today, let’s talk about why this month makes sense to rethink our relationship with money and talk about some of the challenges we need to overcome collectively to realize financial wellness.

No one likes to be disappointed. It means our hopes, goals or expectations didn’t quite work out. And it can cause us prolonged discouragement, self-doubt and even depression over time if our feelings of disappointment aren’t managed. But disappointment can also be an incredibly powerful emotion that can help us clarify our personal expectations and pave the path toward the attainment of our goals and help us grow personally and professionally. Today, let’s talk about disappointment and how we can achieve growth and more self-awareness by overcoming it.

Feeling drained from the time change? You aren’t alone. Daylight Savings disrupts schedules and can be bad for your physical and mental health. On this episode, Ben discusses the researched impacts of springing forward on our health and gives 6 tips to get your schedule back on track.

Bitcoin is back in the news after hitting a $1 Trillion market cap last week. This was a big milestone for Bitcoin as an asset. On this episode, Ben discusses why this event is such a big deal and why it could lead to more gains in the months and years to come. To finish the conversation, 4 ways to buy Bitcoin are covered to help you get started buying your own Bitcoin.

The extreme weather in Texas made for a tough week. The snow, ice and frigid temperatures created physical, mental, emotional and financial setbacks for millions of people. For Ben and the Calm Cash podcast, there were two key takeaways that are discussed on this week’s episode.

How do YOUR mornings go? Do they set you up for success? Some of the world’s most successful people rely on a morning ritual to jumpstart their day. On this episode, we discuss the power of a morning ritual and why now may be a good time to remake your mornings.

What a wild week on Wall Street! Game Stop captured everyone’s attention this week but is it a one time event or a sign of something bigger? Ben gives you his take on how technology is shifting power and how FOMO can fuel in ways we’ve never seen before.

Everyone has an opinion especially in a polarized world where there isn’t much time or attention that gets paid to the middle of an issue, subject or experience.  Knowledge is the backbone and framework for how strong opinions are formed. But how you carry those strong opinions will impact your ability to continue to grow, learn and develop as a person and support those around you. So today, we will discuss why it is important to have strong opinions but to hold them loosely to allow yourself the opportunity to react to a changing world where what we think we know can change rapidly. And we will discuss some ways to self-reflect and question your strong opinions to stay adaptable and flexible in times of change.

Self-care was in the spotlight in 2020 but is an aspect of our wellbeing that is still misunderstood by many people. On this episode Ben discusses the five forms of self-care research has identified and how to think about incorporating them into your daily routine.

The holiday season is here and that means gift buying, celebrations and potential stress and anxiety on our minds and our wallets. So today, let’s talk about how to plan for the holidays and spread cheer without breaking the bank.

Fall is here which means it’s time for pumpkin spice everything and picking a healthcare plan. This can be a stressful decision but with some planning and a little bit of info, you can find the right fit for you and your family. On this episode, Ben discusses the most common decision making biases people make when choosing a plan. The. He covers some key information to gather to setup choosing the right plan for you.

You’ve probably heard the phrase “you are what you eat”. And everywhere you look there is science or research that confirms that. Our food intake has been linked to cardiovascular disease and some cancers but there hasn’t been too much discussion until recently about how food affects our emotions and mental health. But the research and science in this space is emerging and showing us some incredibly compelling links between the food we eat and our feelings. So today, let’s go deeper into how what we eat impacts our mental health and how making the right decisions can lead to a happier you.

Proper breathing is critical to physical and mental well-being but few people prioritize their breath or have a regular practice. On this episode, Ben covers the importance of proper breathing and covers 5 breathing techniques you can employ to regulate your blood pressure, reduce heart rate and calm your emotions. Check it out!

Gratitude isn’t something that gets talked about very much. And with everything going on in the world today, it can be really hard to find things to be grateful for. This week was especially hard with the raging wildfires in California, not one but two hurricanes in the Gulf, the political season kicking into full gear and the Coronavirus continuing to surge and disrupt our lives. But the fact is good things are still happening. We just have to look for them. And thanks to science, we know that people who seek out the good and are grateful see real physical and mental health benefits. So today, let’s focus on gratitude, what it is and why it can be the thing you need right now to improve your overall wellbeing.

Looking for ways to simplify your day, set boundaries but also boost your productivity?  On this episode Ben talks about 8 strategies to prioritize your Most Important Tasks (MITs), enhance your focus and ultimately get more done.   For the full written transcript, check out https://www.calm.cash/post/simplify

This is the fifth and final episode dedicated to the 50/30/20 spending plan (aka budget). Hear why personal savings is now more important than ever because of changes no one bothered to tell you. Topics covered include emergency savings, retirement accounts and HSA’s. Most importantly, Ben discusses the balance between paying down debt and starting to save.

Debt can be a stressful part of our financial picture, but with some basic understanding and a solid plan, you can drain your debt and its impact on your well-being. In this episode, Ben explores 5 strategies to help you pay down your debt by using your 50/30/20 spending plan. Check it out!

I fully embrace that there are things or experiences that I want to buy. And I fully allocate my 30% Wants bucket of my spending plan to fund these things I love or passions I want to pursue with my time AND my money. And I firmly believe you should spend money on your wants too. Just a quick refresher that Wants are going to include things like vacations, gifts, entertainment, clothes, eating out, most memberships and subscription services and the money spent towards our hobbies and interests.  Basically the money we allocate and spend on the fun stuff. The items and experiences that bring us happiness. Research has found that engaging in enjoyable activities during down time were associated with lower blood pressure, lower total cortisol levels, slimmer waist circumference, and lower body mass index. Engaging in hobbies also correlated to higher levels of positive psychosocial states and lower levels of depression and negative affect. Hobbies are good for your mind and your body. Hobbies can even promote positive stress. I know that sounds like an oxymoron but it is actually a real thing. It is called Eustress. Eustress is the opposite of chronic stress and is a type of stress that keeps us vital and excited about life. The excitement of a roller-coaster ride, a scary movie, or a fun challenge are all examples of eustress. The anticipation of a first date, the first day at a new job, or other exciting firsts also fall under the umbrella of eustress. Eustress is a type of stress that is actually important for us to have in our lives. Without it, we would become bored or in more serious cases, depressed. We would begin to feel a lack of motivation to accomplish goals and a lack of meaning in life without enough eustress. Not striving for goals, not overcoming challenges, not having a reason to wake up in the morning would be damaging to us, so eustress is considered 'good' stress. It keeps us healthy and happy. And hobbies are great ways to challenge ourselves and create this positive stress in our lives to help us grow and keep going. If you don’t have a hobby, there is a really good New York Times living guide that can help you pick out a hobby and get going. If you just google “how to find a hobby” it will be one of the first articles that pops up. Give it a read and get going! Another benefit of items in the Want spending category in our plan is they can really save you time to re-invest in things like being with family, working on that hobby you just picked out or just having some “me time”.  If I had to go to different stores or shop on many company websites for all of the needs and essentials and a few wants too that come from Amazon, I would lose hours and hours a month shopping. But Amazon isn’t the only time saving service like this. Grocery delivery services like Instacart, meal prep kits like HelloFresh and errand running or handy work apps like Task Rabbit just to name a few free up our schedules and simplify balancing our list of “to-do’s”. These conveniences apparently can also make us happier. There is also power in purchases sometimes. Physical items have the ability to give us the confidence we need to face the world, especially during setbacks or challenging times, but don't let impulse buys distract you from your short and long term financial goals. Being good with money is the ultimate balancing act between needs and wants. Depriving yourself isn't sustainable and rarely leads to success. So have a plan, stick to it and use your money where it makes sense to support your passions, bolster your hobbies, save you time and buy the things you need to be confident and successful in life. Stay safe out there…see you next week.

Ben discusses where we've been and where we are going with our mental health and money health in 2020. Topics include the latest information on how coronavirus and social change is impacting the economy and our emotions as a country as well as strategies to navigate these trying times.

On average we spend about a third of our entire lives sleeping and we know that adults need on average about 7 hours of sleep every night to function effectively throughout the day. Now we are all different physiologically and some people will need a little more and some a little less. Also, at different developmental stages of our lives or during different life events our sleep needs will change. For example, kids and teens need 9 or more hours of sleep for proper brain development and life events, like having a baby, will create disruptive sleep patterns for both males and females. Here’s a crazy fun fact about having a newborn. The parents of newborn babies on average lose 6 months of sleep in the first 2 years of their child’s life. 6 months! That is crazy! But instead of getting into those specific life events, we will just talk about the needs of an average adult which means the magic number is going to be 7 hours. Today only 21% of Americans are getting 7 hours of sleep each night. That means 4 out of every 5 people are not rested and recovered to function effectively throughout the day. And there are a number of side-effects and physical and mental health concerns for those of us not getting the rest we need.  And the number 1 cause of this lack of sleep is the sleep disorder called Insomnia. For most people suffering from Insomnia, stress or anxiety is the culprit of the loss of sleep. Right now COVID is occupying our minds and causing this anxiety like we saw in that stat in the intro with 77% of Americans losing sleep because of the pandemic. I know that I’m one of those people and my wife is too. But when there isn’t a pandemic, money, relationships or family problems and work are the common causes of not getting the shut eye we all need. So how do we get better sleep?  Well first and foremost, attacking the underlying cause of any stress or anxiety is important for long term improvement in your sleep. If the anxiety of the coronavirus is keeping you up, check out the “Coping with COVID Stress” episode for some practical ways to manage your feelings. If money problems are stressing you out and you can’t sleep, you have to create a plan to chip away at those parts of your financial live that are causing concern. Calm Cash has strategies to help with asking for a raise, considering a side hustle, building emergency savings and in the coming weeks we will be focusing on budgeting and getting back to basics with where our money is going. So check out some of those past episodes and stay tuned for more strategies to help solidify your money situation and goals. There are some more tactical things you can do to start getting a better night’s sleep too. Here are 5 tips you can do now to get more zzz’s: First – a consistent schedule is everything. Having a set time to go to bed and waking up each day is a proven way to get longer, more consistent sleep. Second – the sleep environment is critical. The temperature of the room, noise level and the amount of light can all play significant factors in how much sleep and how restful that sleep is for you and your body. Third – get rid of the screens at least an hour before bedtime. Any light before bed isn’t good for getting to sleep but the blue light emitted by your phone or iPad is twice as bad as other types of light. This blue light impairs the secretion of melatonin which is the sleep-inducing hormone that helps us rest. Fourth – don’t have stressful conversations right before bed. If money conversations or relationship discussions create stress or anxiety, they should be had earlier in the day. And the fifth and last tip – use strategies to relax and calm down before your set bedtime. You have an hour now before bed right? Use this time to read, practice meditation or yoga. All of these activities have been studied and prove to boost relaxation and help you have a better night’s sleep.

Times continue to be really tough and stressful and right now we need grit and persistence more than ever.  Today we are going to talk about the characteristic of grit, the combination of passion and perseverance over extended periods of time.  It is a skill that we are born with but researches and psychologists have now proved that we can improve our grit even in the face of rising adversity. We will talk about the 4 characteristics of people with high levels of grit to better understand the behaviors and principles we can all apply to our own lives. Want to find out your own grit score?  Take the assessment using this link: https://angeladuckworth.com/grit-scale/

Empathy is an essential skill that is in short supply in 2020. Our collective empathy is diminishing and we need it now more than ever. On this week's episode we discuss what IS empathy and ways we can cultivate more of it to better connect and advocate for others.

Hi and welcome to Calm Cash. A lot has happened since last week. While our country continues to be plagued by the coronavirus pandemic, an old, insidious plague that has existed since the founding of our country has taken center stage this past week. Of course I’m talking about racial inequality and all the fear, hate, violence, death and unfortunately silence and inactivity that go along with it. The wounds re-open frequently and never heal mainly because most of us do nothing. Maybe out of our own fear about saying the wrong thing. So instead of being silent…let’s talk. First, let’s talk about the landscape. The George Floyd video was heartbreaking and I was unable to watch it all. It was so affecting because of the length, dialogue and horror of the video. At the memorials, protests and rallies you see the names of past victims too but we might be missing the full context of the problem when it comes to profiling and police brutality. In 2019, 1004 citizens were fatally shot by the police.  The rate of fatal shootings in Black Americans was much higher than any other ethnicity. There were 996 people shot in 2018 and so far 429 civilians have been killed by police in 2020. For every George Floyd or Michael Brown in Ferguson there are 100s of other people, Black men and women, who have died at the hands of the police whose names we will never know or hear. This has to stop. Next, I want to speak very bluntly about something that bothers me and has to change for us to advance the dialogue. If someone says “Black Lives Matter” and the word you hear out of someone’s mouth in response is “Well”…and then something that follows like “of course ALL lives matter”. We need to call that person out and help them understand how that sounds to a Black person. At best it is tone deaf and at worse it is highly offensive. It discounts and diminishes the focus on the violence and discrimination black individuals face every day. I’ve heard a bunch of analogies to help explain this but the one that constantly resonates to me is one I heard a few years ago when a Black man was explaining Black Lives Matter to a group. He said: I have a son and a daughter and if someone says to me “do you love your daughter?” and my response is “I love all my kids” then my daughter I’m pretty sure would think “you don’t love me. If you do, why wouldn’t you just say it.” Everyone already knows All lives matter, we are past it and it doesn’t need to be said. Speaking of bubbles, let’s talk about how we get out of the ones we are in when it comes to information and education on issues that matter. The term used is “filter bubble” and this is the phenomenon of being isolated from information that differs from your preferred viewpoints. You would think in 2020 that sharing information and educating yourself on the facts would be easier than any time in history. But ironically it isn’t because of technology…mostly social media. It is easy to get locked into these thought and idea filter bubbles because we curate our friends and connections online, can easily mute or block the people and opinions we don’t want to see and then AI and machine learning serve up content, ads and information that reinforce our context from the algorithms running Google, Facebook, Twitter and news sources. This has been happening for years and we have learned this behavior. There is a news app called Read Across the Aisle whose goal is to burst your filter bubble. Another good solution is AllSides. This is a news aggregator app that will take a topic and bring together 3 well-written articles – one each from the left, center and right sources – to give broader coverage to a story. It is a good way to expand your news and information.

May is an important month to me. I got married in May, I started the job I’ve been in for over 10 years now in May but May is also important because it is Mental Health Awareness month. I usually release new episodes of the podcast on Sundays and this episode is dropping on May 31st, the last day of Mental Health Awareness month. That is very intentional because we still have a problem as a country when it comes to talking about mental health and we need to think about and discuss mental health for 12 months a year and not just one. Because most of you will listen to this in June, this is a small step but it is something I can do to keep the dialogue going. We aren’t talking enough about what IS mental health, sharing our stories and reducing the stigma around the subject. So today, I’m going to talk a little bit about Mental Health Awareness Month and then tell my story because one of the best ways to de-stigmatize the subject is to shed light on the fact that most of us will deal with some kind of mental health issue in our lives.  So let’s go…

Our economy is going through lots of change right now as this virus creates significant disruption for people and businesses. Small businesses are really hurting as forced closures and stay at home orders have made it hard for them to stay afloat. This same thing is happening to really large companies. Bankruptcy filings by companies like JCrew, Neiman Marcus, JC Penny, Hertz Rental Cars and Gold’s Gym show that well known brands are not immune to the impacts of the virus and show how our behaviors around eating, shopping, and working out have changed…maybe forever. Certain industries are really getting hit hard. But how do we know what those industries are with data? Well one report that gets lots of attention is the Jobs Report which you’ve probably seen in the news lately telling the bad news around unemployment. Millions of people have lost their jobs or been furloughed because of the virus. But within that report are some really important numbers and indexes that tell us a lot. One of those is the diffusion index which shows which industries are gaining or losing jobs. There are 258 total industries tracked by the index and only 7 industries experienced job growth. Yikes! To put it in numeric terms, in February the diffusion index was 53 but in May it is 4. And that is out of 100 where bigger numbers are good. This shows just how widespread the job loss and impacts are. So this index can help us understand in the short term what industries to avoid potentially investing in like travel (so the airlines) leisure and hospitality companies (which are food services, hotels and even online booking sites), traditional retail stores, transportation, construction and the gaming industry like casinos. It all really makes sense when you think about it. So what industries are still doing well, even thriving in this environment and what themes or narratives can we create to help us invest?  Here are four: 1. Ecommerce  2. Consumer Staples 3. Our New Normal at Home  4. Healthcare  The episode continues by discussing how we check our work, ways to buy these themes, a discussion on cash positions in our portfolio and dollar cost averaging.

Robin Sharma has a pretty cool quote about change. It goes “change is hard at first, messy in the middle, and so gorgeous at the end.” I feel like we are still in the middle because things sure feel and seem messy. But I’m hopeful that on the other side of all this we will find something gorgeous. Today we are going to talk about goals and how to create change in your life. Macro Goals: Before we dive into micro goals, let’s first start talking about our big picture goals. In the example earlier, our superstar set a goal to lose 25 pounds in 2020. This is a good goal because it is a SMART goal. SMART is an acronym that stands for: Specific – goal is direct, detailed and meaningful Measurable – trackable and easily quantifiable to identify your progress Attainable – is it in your power to accomplish it with the necessary tools & resources Realistic – within reach and relevant to your life’s purpose Time Based or Time Bound – has a specific, defined period of time These are really important to set yourself up for success. So a goal that isn’t SMART is something like “I want to pay down debt”. Now let’s make that a SMART goal. It would be “I want to reduce my outstanding student loan debt by $5000 before Christmas 2020”. I recommend that you write down your goals, make them SMART and focus on 1 – 3 tops at a time. It allows you to give it your all and take the next step of creating a plan through micro goals or tiny habits to be on your way to success. So now that we have our macro SMART goal, lets get micro: One of the prominent voices helping individuals make positive change happen is Dr. BJ Fogg who is a professor at Stanford University. In his book “Tiny Habits: The Small Changes that Change Everything” Dr. Fogg gives the strategies and research behind creating lasting behavior change to reach your goals. It is all based on taking baby steps and using existing behaviors and routines to jump start our new, positive habits. Dr. Fogg created a behavior change model with a pretty easy to remember equation. It is B=MAP where Behavior is driven by Motivation Ability and a Prompt. Let’s take a closer look at each element: Motivation – high vs. low; primary driver that creates the desire for change; has physical, emotional and social levels or elements as well Ability – hard vs. easy; running a marathon vs. walking for 5 minutes; affordable, feasible, realistic Prompt for the behavior – a trigger or signal to kick off the change; health scare, a loss or a spark of an idea Things that are easy to do in terms of the Ability element require less motivation to do the behavior and create the habit whereas hard things will require more Motivation and potentially multiple Prompts. Regardless of how easy or hard the goal or chance is in front of us, setting micro goals or tiny habits around existing behaviors we do every day or week will help us get ahead. You can create your micro plan around this sentence: “After I _____existing behavior______, I will ______tiny new behavior_______” After I start my morning coffee, I will take my daily vitamin After I check Instagram, I will do 2 minutes of box breathing After I get my paycheck direct deposited, I will put $10 in my emergency fund Take an existing habit (brushing teeth, walking the dog, etc.) and add the tiny behavior. Over time you can expand the tiny habit to get you closer to your overall goal. Dr. Fogg wanted to do more strength training as he got older to boost his physical wellness. So he came up with a tiny habit based on something he does 6 to 8 times a day. His habit started as: After I pee, I will do 2 pushups.  There is one last piece of behavior change that Dr. Fogg says is critical. We have to celebrate ALL of the successes.

Today we are going to talk about the money from the government that may be coming to your checking account soon. We will talk about how much people are getting and if you get a refund, how you should be spending it.  How did we get here? The Coronavirus has caused massive impact to the economy. Unemployment rates have spiked to what is estimated to be about 10% of the US workforce and the thinking is that number will continue to climb in the coming weeks, especially if we continue to struggle containing the spread of the virus. To help assist with the overall impact, Congress passed an economic relief plan in late March worth over $2 Trillion of spending and bail outs. Included in the stimulus bill was the authorization of payments to individual Americans. For right now, this will be a one-time direct payment. Not everyone will get these payments so let’s first talk about who is eligible and how much people will get. The plan provides $1,200 for each adult and $500 for each child under the age of 17. So a married couple with 2 children would start out by receiving $3,400 as a payment from the IRS. However, there is an income requirement as part of the eligibility that could mean you get a reduced payment or even zero. So let’s talk about how that works. Your payment will be based on how you filed your 2019 taxes, or your 2018 filing if you haven’t yet filed for the 2019 year. If you filed as an individual and made less than $75,000 in adjusted gross income, you will receive the full $1,200. If you are an individual and make more than $75,000, your payment will be reduced by $5 for every $100 you make above $75,000. So for example, if your adjusted gross income is $80,000, your payment would be $950. If as an individual you make more than $99,000, you will not get a refund. The eligibility is different if you are married and file your taxes that way. For married couples, the income threshold raises to $150,000 and any married couples making more than $198,000 will not receive any payments. The IRS will do the calculation and then send the payment to the banking account information they have on file for you. For most people that will be direct deposit and not a physical check, but, if the IRS doesn’t have direct deposit account information for you, they will launch a website in the coming weeks where you can provide than info. Check the IRS.gov website for updates. The hope is that payments start to go out in the next 2 to 3 weeks. If you are getting a payment, you may be wondering what you should be doing with it. Well here are some tips for how to use this money to boost your personal situation. Idea 1: Shore Up Your Basic Necessities Idea 2: Feed Your Emergency Fund Idea 3: Support Your Favorite Restaurant Idea 4: Treat Yo Self Try to find local businesses that still have online ordering or are taking orders over the phone with different ways to pick up or have your products sent to you. They need our help and you can still get something nice to use or wear at home. There are times in life to be aggressive and times to be cautious. That is true for the risks we take with our careers and with our money.  Given all the unknowns in play, I’m going to be more cautious for now. We are all different and can handle different amounts of risk and stress. Now is a good time to reflect on how much risk you are willing to take and what that means for your budget, your investments and your emergency savings.

Just like we get a physical for our health, this is a version of it for our money.  Ben explores the areas of your financial picture where you should spend some time including: Reviewing Your Spending Plan Checking Your Emergency Savings / Rainy Day Fund Knowing Your Debt Picture Tracking Down Your Credit Score Shopping Your Insurances Why Charity Donations Matter  Companies and resources discussed include the Trim app (www.asktrim.com), www.ftc.gov, The Zebra (www.thezebra.com), Gabi (www.gabi.com), and Policy Genius (www.policygenius.com).

Happiness researcher Shawn Achor teaches the importance of the "3 Good Things" exercise in his book the Happiness Advantage.  Ben talks about that exercise and wants you to add your good things to the list in this Google doc so we can take a timeout on the virus and see the good that is still happening around us. https://bit.ly/GoodThingsDoc Take care of yourself...

Make your quarantine time quality time and learn some new things. Here are ways to do that: Learn to Cook If you want to learn cooking skills and get access to some great recipes, I recommend the website Chef Steps. There are a ton of “how to” videos and articles on the site and countless recipes. Some of them are really easy for beginners but Grant is a hardcore chef too and has advanced recipes for sous vide cooking and molecular gastronomy techniques if you are beyond a beginner. This week I did his 24 hour sous vide short rib recipe served over polenta. It was awesome and I mean I had the time to do it! That particular recipe is available to non-premium members but other recipes and videos are for paying subscribers. I’ve had a subscription for a few years now and I can say it is worth the $69 a year if you can spring for it. Learn a New Language News flash…we aren’t going to be flying to Europe anytime soon for vacation. I hate to break that to you. But there is a silver lining to that. That gives us time to learn French! That is the language I picked with the Duo Lingo app. My pronunciation is terrible but I’m working on it. Duo Lingo has gamified language learning and walks you through the basics like phrases, food, animals and a lot more for 35 languages from Arabic to Klingon (I’m not kidding…Klingon is in Beta right now on the app with over 300,000 users). The amazing thing is it is free to start. There is a plus version that is a subscription that gives you no ads, more quizzes and offline content. I don’t have the plus version because I think the free one is pretty great and the interruptions don’t bother me.  If learning a new language is on your downtime list, check out Duo Lingo. Learn to Code I’ve been brushing up on my coding skills using the app MiMo. This one requires a subscription but I’ve been using it for almost a year and would recommend it. There are tons of different languages they teach for coding websites, apps, cybersecurity and big data analytics like Python and AI. I’m working on learning Swift which is the language a lot of iOS apps are coded with. My skills are rusty but the way MiMo breaks the lessons up in 10 – 15 minute lessons is really cool. It also makes coding approachable if you’ve never started. I don’t think I will ever be in a job where I’m coding 10 hours a day, but having an understanding of the capabilities of current programming languages makes me a more informed business leader. It also helps with problem solving and mental focus. Those are always good skills to have and never become obsolete. Learn a New Skill for Work or for You Sometimes it’s just good to learn something new. That could be for work or to deepen your understanding of a subject that really interests you. There are more and more online platforms that help us learn virtually which is essential in these times of social distancing. One that we have talked about before is Coursera. I love this website and have used it to take specific courses on a variety of topics including entrepreneurship and innovation. They have college level classes across over 3,900 courses and specializations. It isn’t just all about business or technology either. You can take virtual museum tours to learn about modern art or learn about chord charts and progressions from teachers at Berklee College of Music. Many of these courses are free or have nominal fees.  A more expensive option but a pretty cool site is Masterclass. They go to famous and gifted experts in a technical field and create a multi-session class.  These are a few ideas to make your time constructive and find ways to challenge your mind to stay sharp.

Welcome to a bonus episode of Calm Cash…Coping with COVID. So needless to say, this wasn’t in the plan for my podcast. A couple of months ago I sketched out the topics I wanted to cover and in a general order that seemed to make sense. Well, those other ideas or themes or stories are just less important now. I don’t think there are many scarier words than pandemic. And while the world has had them before, this one just feels different. Maybe it is because of social media and how instantly connected we are to what is happening in all corners of the globe. Maybe it is because we are hearing about the symptoms and struggles with actually having the disease. Hell, maybe it is because of the name itself. Coronavirus or COVID 19 just sounds scary. Whatever it is, the first thing to acknowledge is that it is okay to be scared or anxious or stressed out about this. You have every right to feel those emotions or any emotions when it comes to this exceptionally scary situation. I mean people ARE dying. There is another component to COVID that could also be causing anxiety and stress…this is hurting our economy and our own financial goals or progress. As I’m writing this, we have now officially entered a bear market after a 20% fall from the record highs of the stock market in February. This ends the 11 year stock rally, which was unprecedented and something we may never see again. The experts also think the drop could continue with much debate over how low we can go. So we have challenges with our money health and our emotional health when it comes to this outbreak. Well, that is exactly why I created Calm Cash because those parts of our life our so interconnected. Let’s try to chip away at both of these areas to create a little relief if possible. First off, let’s look at the mental and emotional side of dealing with COVID…the money stuff can wait till later. Here are 4 things to do to cope with the COVID stress #1 Find Solid Information #2 Create a Prevention Plan #3 Recommit to Self Care #4 Do Something Fun To Stop Thinking About It Listen to hear Ben talk more about each action you can do to manage your stress.

Resilience is a buzzy word that you’ve probably been hearing for a couple of years now. It is all about your capacity to bounce back from adversity or difficult situations. The reason it is important is because everyone goes through adversity. It doesn’t matter how much money you have or how smart you are, we will all lose loved ones, fall short, come in second or be affected by things happening around us that drive stress, anxiety and uncertainty (Coronavirus anyone!?!). The great news is that resilience can be trained and built. We can actually get better at rebounding from a setback. And when we practice and develop this skill, we have ways to manage our emotions during times of stress and can avoid developing mental health issues that could set us back further. The science backs it up too. So let’s talk about how we get better at being resilient… The American Psychological Association has been studying resilience for a while. Recently they published a nice summary of the 4 components that can empower you in difficult times to bounce back and learn from what life throws your way. Here are the 4 areas: 4 Components To Build Your Resilience: 1. Build Your Connections 2. Foster Wellness 3. Find Purpose 4. Embrace Healthy Thoughts The first component, Build Your Connections, is all about the people that we surround ourselves with and who we let in when times are tough. Having social support of empathetic and understanding people supports the skill of resilience. Sometimes our natural inclination during tough times or traumatic events is to isolate ourselves. Even when work is stressful, there is that old saying of “put your head down and get to work”. Well I would say this is largely wrong. Hard work for sure is important, but when the going gets tough, you should pick your head up and find others to help you work it out. The second component is Foster Wellness and that is all about self-care. This isn’t just our physical fitness but taking care of our whole self. So that means what we eat, how we sleep, being physically ready with exercise but also being mental strong and ready with our mindset and mindfulness. We’ve actually talked about this before in episode 2 with our happiness hacks and episode 5 with the luck diary. Both of these activities help us find a positive mindset and open to opportunities. Another great way to boost our mindset is through meditation, prayer or even journaling if the first two don’t seem right for you. If you are ready to dip your toe in the waters of meditation, check out the app Insight Timer. It is totally free and the leader in the app space for meditation, anxiety and stress management. The third component is Find Purpose.  One of the ironic things with adversity and difficult experiences is that they can actually help us find our purpose. Lastly, the fourth component is Embrace Healthy Thoughts. That is easier said than done when times are tough, but how we think plays an important role in how we feel. An easy way to focus your mind on healthy thoughts is to embrace a personal mantra for yourself. These affirmations can motivate and inspire us to be our best or help us bounce back from a challenging situation. There is a last element to resilience and dealing with hard times. Sometimes our grief, trauma or overwhelming stress requires help beyond practicing these 4 components. Seeking help from a mental health professional is a great option to help you cope with life’s difficulties. In no way is this a sign of weakness or your inability to be strong. It just means that this time around you need a little more help from an expert to be your best. I hope this episode helps you to better understand resilience and gives you an appreciation for why it is an important skill to practice.

This week we are going to talk about one of the most polarizing and emotional topics of the last few years…cryptocurrency. Specifically, we will focus on Bitcoin but it is important to understand that there are now about 3,000 different cryptocurrencies that are being traded. This topic is so complex and sensitive that my plan was to put it off till later but this week had some of the richest people in the world arguing about cryptocurrency and whether it should be part of our portfolio. All this was happening while the market lost $3.6 Trillion dollars of value. It was a hell of a week! There are so many potential starting points to dive into the crypto world but let’s start with a really fundamental imperative of investing: you have to do your homework. That applies to buying a stock, bitcoin or pretty much any material investment you are making. If you are going to buy the stock of an individual company, you should do some research on what they do, how their business is going and the future prospects of the company which will hopefully lead the stock price to go up. This process applies to cryptocurrencies as well. Ok, so let’s start by defining what cryptocurrency is…it is an internet-based medium of exchange which uses cryptographical functions to conduct financial transactions. Cryptocurrencies leverage blockchain technology to gain decentralization, transparency, and immutability. The most important feature of a cryptocurrency is that it is not controlled by any central authority: the decentralized nature of the blockchain makes cryptocurrencies theoretically immune to the old ways of government control and interference. Cryptocurrencies can be sent directly between two parties via the use of private and public keys.  These transfers can be done with minimal processing fees, allowing users to avoid the steep fees charged by traditional financial institutions. Bitcoin was the first cryptocurrency created in 2008 by an unknown person named Satoshi Nakamoto. In fact, you can read the white paper that outlines the creation of a peer-to-peer network for electronic cash, defining the steps to run the network, establishes the incentives (the actual coins for mining and maintaining the network to send transactions) and all the math behind the cryptography and the creation of the limited supply of 21 million coins that will ever be issued into circulation. It is brilliant on a number of levels. As a pure technology, blockchain is and will continue to change how business is done. As an economic framework for decentralized, non-state dependent money, it is an innovation in economics. Let's hear from Warren Buffet, Tim Draper and Chamath Palihapitiya on their Bitcoin thoughts... So where does that leave us? Really smart, well-connected people disagree on the value and future of this asset. You have to decide for yourself what you think after reading and assessing. On our website…www.calm.cash, I will post some articles and videos in a bitcoin blog that can help you make your own assessment if cryptocurrency makes sense for you and your portfolio. My personal opinion after researching blockchain technology and assessing if bitcoin can be a store of value is that there could be some real upside here. Just like I own stocks, mutual funds and other assets like real estate in the form of my house, I think bitcoin and certain cryptocurrencies are nice long-term investments and a type of asset that I want to have some exposure to in my holdings. This won’t be the last time we visit cryptocurrency. Until then, I encourage you to do your homework and think critically about if bitcoin or crypto is a good investment for you and your family. Just be careful about all the emotion potholes exist on this journey. Whatever your feelings, I hope you find a happier life and healthier wallet.

A new year is a great time for a reset. For 2020, an estimated 164 Million Americans made a New Year’s resolution. 50% of all people make a resolution about getting healthy or losing weight and 49% of people resolve to save more money. The not-so-great thing is about 88% of people will give up on their resolution during the year. Yikes! Change is hard. Today, we will talk about how to get back on track if you need a boost or to keep your great momentum going if you are still on your way to meeting your goals. The good news is that our brains like habits because these free up our mental resources to think and focus on other things. So any behavior can be learned or un-learned (think smoking) with the right effort and attention. But just know that the more time intensive or physically taxing the new habit, the more we have to practice and reinforce it until it just becomes part of what we do and who we are. So why do we fail to follow through? Here are the most common three reasons: Reason 1: Where most people get tripped up is they know “what” they want to do…like lose 20 pounds but they haven’t identified the “why”. People that can be very specific about what they want to accomplish and why are more likely to keep making progress. So as you think about changes or positive habits you want to see in your life in 2020, you also have to meditate and reflect on why those specific goals are important.  My goal for 2020 was to launch and grow this podcast. That is my what. But the thing that is equally or even more important is the why I’m doing it. I want to help other people stress less about their money. There are definitely days where I don’t really want to research or write or record, but when those days happen I always think back to my why. You can’t help anybody by doing nothing. So let’s go back to a fitness goal…specifically the one about losing 20 pounds. That is your what. But maybe the why is you want to have more energy to play with your kids. Or you want to lose the weight to set a good example for loved ones in your life so they can lose weight too. We all have our own why’s that drive and motivate us to learn, improve and grow as people. If you find your why, you will make it a lot more likely you will achieve your what. Reason 2: The next reason people don’t make it across the finish line is they lack accountability around them to keep them going. A key part of achieving a goal is having a social support network around you to hold you accountable. The benefits of social support have been studied numerous times and we see many businesses built on the science of people helping people.  I encourage everyone to find a buddy to keep them on track. You can ask a friend or co-worker to be your accountability partner. If that feels weird or awkward, it is easier than ever to connect to people with a shared passion or interest in your city or online. There are online groups and apps like Supporti (https://www.getsupporti.com/) that can help you get paired up with someone to keep you on track. Also there are Meet Up groups in most cities where you can find like-minded people to help you stay the course. Reason 3: That last really common reason people don’t see their resolutions completed is because they are focused too much on short-term, instant results and fail to see and commit to the long term nature of achieving goals. Said different, we get really focused on instant-gratification and when we don’t see significant progress or gains we stop going. It is cliché to say but it is often true, “it is a marathon and not a sprint”. I hope you are achieving all your goals in 2020. And I hope Calm Cash can be a part of you being your best self.

Today is February 15th, exactly 2 months away from Tax Day…April 15th. If you are new to Calm Cash, you should know we talk about money and mental health and ways to be happier and less stressed, especially when it comes to our finances. Is there anything more stressful than taxes? For me, it is one of the most stressful things in my financial life.  And I’m not alone. Each year Tax Slayer does a poll to measure America’s stress when it comes to taxes. Last year 52% of American said taxes were unbearable. These feelings got me thinking about this question: who the hell invented taxes? It also got me thinking about how to help others answer the question: how should I spend my refund? The best way to manage money is to have a plan. And that is what we will talk about today! What isn’t discussed often is the stress that people feel when they get a refund. In 2019, 111 Million Americas received a refund from the IRS with an average refund check of $2,869. This was down from $2,910 in 2018. This is a good chunk of cash and most people want to spend it wisely. The best way to make sure you don’t have refund regrets is to make a simple plan BEFORE you get the money for how you are going to spend it. Here is my suggestion for creating that plan. Step 1: Divide your total refund amount into 3 equal chunks. So if you are getting the average refund of $2,869, that divides into 3 chunks of $956. Step 2: Take the first chunk and put it in your rainy day fund. We’ve talked about this before, in fact that was a topic in episode 1 of Calm Cash. As Americans, we have an emergency savings problem. This is something we all have to keep working on, until we have saved at least 3 months worth of living expenses and up to 6 month of expenses if you are super conservative. This is our “stuff happens” fund for when life throws us curveballs. Keep feeding it and your IRS refund checks are a great source of cash to boost this part of our financial picture. Step 3: Take the second chunk and go have an experience…with a loved one. This can be your significant other, a family member or an amazing friend. But the idea is to go do something incredible with another person. It will open your eyes to new opportunities and sharing experiences with friends or family has been scientifically studied with countless benefits. Connecting to others makes us more compassionate and gives our lives a greater sense of belonging and meaning leaning to improved motivation, happiness and even longer lives! Step 4: This is our last chunk of money. Think about the area in your personal financial life that is creating the most stress or anxiety. Is it a student loan balance or a credit card? Is it saving up for a big expense like buying a house or going back to school? Whatever that worrisome item is, put this last piece of money towards that stressor.

There is so much innovation happening with financial technology making it easier than ever to save, invest and understand where our money is going.  The rise of the FinTech industry is still in its infancy and there are even better apps and solutions on the horizon.  What technology is really good at is taking in lots of data and identifying opportunities.  There are a number of apps that can help us save money either before we hit the buy button or even after we’ve completed a purchase by watching for sales and rebates. But like most things in life, there is a trade-off.  In order to take full advantage of most of the savings apps that are out there, we have to give them data about ourselves. Some require us to link an account or credit card, while others need access to our email to scan for receipts.  And we have to assume that they are paying attention to what we are buying which is incredibly helpful to build a profile about what we like and don’t like.  For some of you, saving some extra cash isn’t worth giving up this information about yourself.  And I totally get it and respect it.  If you are all about saving money, you may happily make this trade off.  Either way, I encourage you to read the privacy statements and legal disclosures so you know what they are and aren’t doing with your information. Here are 4 apps that can help you save fast! Honey (joinhoney.com) Ibotta (home.ibotta.com) Paribus (paribus.co) Drop (earnwithdrop.com)

Having different sources of income to save money or pay down debt faster is a great idea.  Side hustles are a great way to supplement your paycheck and reach your money goals faster.  But are they right for you?  Ben asks four key questions you should consider before starting a side hustle.  #savemoney #paydowndebt

Does it feel like bad news is everywhere?  Let's change your mindset to focus on the positive!  Ben discusses a happiness hack to help train your brain to scan for positive things happening in the world to boost your happiness and find opportunities.

Maximizing our income is always a priority for Calm Cash.  On this episode, Ben walks through the Six Steps to consider when asking your boss for a raise.

Start your New Year's Resolutions for your money with Calm Cash to learn how emotions cloud our financial decision making, ways we can manage our emotional state with Box Breathing and Calm Breathing and get some quick tips on saving for a rainy day.