In our culture today, you might hear people say things like:

“It’s impossible to graduate from college without taking out student loans.”

“You can’t buy a car or have nice things without debt.”

“The only way to become a millionaire is to be born into a rich family.”

But believe it or not, our culture doesn’t always tell the truth. Shocking, I know.

So, in the latest episode of The Rachel Cruze Show, I’m going to set the record straight. You’ll learn:

• Three truths society doesn’t tell you about money
• How a school teacher paid off $40,000 of debt in just 14 months
• The proven plan to become a millionaire, no matter your income

Resources (everything mentioned in this episode):

Become a Financial Peace University Coordinator!

The 7 Baby Steps:
Smartvestor Pro:
Investment Calculator:
Zander Insurance:
Financial Peace University:
Everyday Millionaires:
Show page:
– Well I hate to be
the bearer of bad news, but society has been lying
to you about your money. And as your money BFF,
I'm here to make sure that you know the truth. (upbeat pop music) Listen guys, society is not
always going to tell you truth. Yep, you're going to hear that
you have to go into debt for things you want, and to live a life where
you control your money and your future is impossible. But I'm here to tell you, that's not true. So today I'm going to show
you how to do some things that society tells you are impossible— things like winning with money right now, no matter who you are, not going into debt for things you want, and becoming a millionaire, because it is still possible. So I'm going to bring on Elizabeth who did the impossible and
paid off $40,000 in 14 months. And then we're going to have Chris Hogan back on to talk about how everyday people are becoming millionaires. Because again, society tells you, "To be a millionaire, you
have to be rich and famous." But that is not true. So I thought it'd be fun to see what people are
saying out on the street about these topics. So I sent
out my friend, Will Smith— not that Will Smith, sorry,
a different Will Smith— to get some insight, so take a look. – Hey guys, Will Smith here. I'm out here in Nashville. Let's go see what people
have to say about this topic. – Do you have student loans? – Yes. – Yes, quite a few. – Yes. – Do you think student
loans are a normal thing? – Yeah, I would say they're very normal. College is super
expensive, so most people who go to college, yeah, have them. – I think most millennials, particularly, have student loans. – Do you think it's possible for someone to go to college with zero student loans? – Do I think it's possible? Yes. Do I think it's likely? No. – No. – I think you'd have to have either parents or
somebody helping you out. – Do you have a car payment? – I do have a car payment. – Yep. – Yes, I have a car payment. – If you were going to buy a car tomorrow, how would you pay for that? – I would probably
put a small down payment and finance the rest. – How long would it take
you to save to buy a car? – With my income, I feel like it would be at least 10 years. – Maybe, two to three years. – How many millionaires do
you think there are in the US? – 100,000? – 1,000. – Somewhere in the 40,000s? – I would say, maybe,
anywhere between 100 and 200. – What if I told you there
were 11,000,000 millionaires? – That's shocking. – Do you think you'll
ever be a millionaire? – No. – Fingers crossed, maybe, one day. – We can hope. – And what is your plan,
to becoming a millionaire? – I am going to become an actress. – Maybe, not teach yoga anymore. – Make wise decisions with my investments. – Probably, get internet famous. That's what most people do, right? – Do you think you could ever
teach a class about finances? – No, I don't think I could ever teach a class about finances. – Not yet, no. – If someone asked you
to teach a class on personal finance tomorrow,
would you be able to do that? – No, but I would love to take that class, if it was offered tomorrow. – All right, let's jump into it. You can buy a car without debt. Mmm hmm. It may not be a great car, but you save up and
you pay cash for a car. You can go to school
without debt. It's possible. You may not be going to your dream school, or your teenager may not be
going to their dream school. Stay in state, go to a community college, work, scholarships and
grants, all those things, and you can still go to school without debt. And, you guys, you can
become a millionaire. We'll talk about that
later in the episode, but it is possible. But, there's a few things
that you must do first to set yourself up for success. (whimsical piano music) Number one: You have
to change your mindset. One thing I noticed, through
all those interviews, is that people really believe
that they just can't do it. And dealing with your
money, it is 80% behavior. It's only 20% head knowledge, okay? So understanding how money works
is only a very small portion of it. But doing it is actually
what's going to cause change. But, in order to do
something, to have action, you have to have hope. You have got to believe that you can. Number two: Stop believing the lies. Yes, society is going to tell you so many things about money. Everything—that debt is normal,
and the only way to succeed and to get what you want
is just the avenue of debt. That's the way it is. Guys, if that's what you believe, then you're going to be normal. Now, let me break it down for you. Normal—78% of Americans
live paycheck to paycheck. That's right. Their money comes in, they pay all the bills,
all the credit cards, all the car loans, all the student loans, their mortgage—everything.
It goes right back out and they have nothing. They have to wait for next month's paycheck. So, if you'd like to be
normal, you can be normal, but if you're sitting there, thinking, "That doesn't sound fun,"
or maybe that's your reality and you think, "Mmm, I can't do that." You get to change. You really, really do. Which is number three: Get on a plan. You have to be intentional. Now, this is not going to happen over night, but you have to stick to the plan. And the plan we teach,
over and over and over, is the Baby Steps. The Baby Steps are seven
steps that get you from zero savings, full of debt,
living paycheck to paycheck, all the way to living completely
debt-free, building wealth and being tremendously generous. Now, if you're not familiar
with the Baby Steps, make sure to click the link below, because that video is going to show you everything about the Baby
Steps, so that you can get to it. Guys, it works. I'm telling you, it works. And now, I'm so excited,
because I have Elizabeth coming on, who did the
steps. She's doing it. She did the impossible
and made it possible. And now, she is even teaching
people how to do it herself. So, take a look at her story. – I felt out of control. I
felt chaotic. I felt no peace. I had $40,000 in student loan debt. I had no idea how I was going to pay off the student loan debt that I had accrued. I'm a teacher, so I had heard,
"Oh, they'll forgive it after a certain number of years." So, I spoke to the student loan company and they said that the plan that I was on would never repay my student loans. She said, "We will forgive
your loans when you are 50 years old, or whenever you repay it all back." And that was my moment of reality. Once I started working the
Baby Steps in Financial Peace, and saw the momentum of
my debt snowball starting, I felt so victorious.
I felt like I had won and I had beat the system, almost. After I paid off all of
my student loan debt, my coordinator reached
out to me and he said, "You have a story to tell. And you did this on a teacher's salary, which
people can really connect with. And they think that that can't be done." It began to click for me,
that I had something special to share. So in December, I
decided to be a coordinator, and I led my first class in January. And it's so inspirational to
me, because it challenges me in the best ways, and it helps
me be a part of something that's life changing. People are motivated and want
to change their family tree, and I'm just so blessed that
I get to be a part of that. – Thanks, Elizabeth.
Thanks for being here. – Thank you for having me. – Yes, your story's so great. I love it, because not only did
you do the impossible, what some people would say,
which is pay off $40,000 in 14 months. But you
overcame some myths and lies that our society believes about money. So, first and foremost, $40,000— – [Elizabeth] Yeah. – in 14 months. Okay, how did you do that? – I became gazelle intense— – [Rachel] Yes. – to use your dad's words. – I love that. – I just, worked really hard. – So, you're pretty
vocal about your journey, like, you told people. – Yes, yes. – What do most people think about it? – They thought I was crazy. Especially since it
was student loan debt. A lot of people would say,
"You know that they'll forgive that, right?" or "After so
many years, it'll be gone. You don't have to worry about it. Why are you wasting your money, now?" And I'm like, I don't want to live that way, I don't want to be indebted to someone else. – Yes, that's so good,
because that's a great point, that you brought up is—there
really is this myth out there, of people believing that
student loans, they'll just be forgiven one day, don't worry about it. And so, you fell into
that some, you feel like? – Yes, what they don't tell you when you sign the paper
for your student loans, is that the loan forgiveness
is very difficult to get. – Yes, it's beyond rare
for that to be a reality. So the reality, for most
people, is that they're going to have this debt and, if
they don't do what you did, then they keep student loans
around, forever and ever, and stay in debt. But you got intense. You worked like crazy
amounts. Because how many jobs did you get? – I had like eight jobs, at one point. – That's unbelievable. Tell
me what some of them were. I'm just curious, what'd you do? – Yeah, I worked at a bakery, part-time. Babysitting became my jam. I babysat all the time. I do calligraphy, so I
would write on chalkboards and address envelopes for people. And I just tried to use any
talent that I knew I had in my back pocket to help
me make some extra money, on top of teaching full-time. – And you did it, yes. That's incredible. So, then you became debt-free
and then became passionate about this message of living debt-free, and living intentionally,
and the Baby Steps, and all that's taught in
Financial Peace University. And, with the class,
there's always a coordinator that helps facilitate the discussion. And you became a Financial
Peace University coordinator. So, you taught a class. How'd it go? – It was so great. We had an amazing group of
people and great attendance they really stuck with it. It was transformational. – Were there a few
people in the class that you loved their story
and you were like, wow. Like the transformation
they made was unbelievable? – Yeah, there was one
couple who made $120,000 total, so they had a good amount of money, but they were so in debt. – Isn't that amazing? – Yes. – I mean, seriously, though. A lot of people really believe, "If I just had more
money, I could do this." I'm like, no, if you don't
have good money habits, the more money you have, the
bigger the mess is going to be. – Right. – And so, just because
you're making a huge income, you could have a big
mess, which is this family. That is always
so interesting to me. So keep going, sorry. – Oh, you're fine. So, they paid off $15,000 of
debt, just in the two months that they were in my course,
so I was so proud of them. And now they want to be
coordinators and help share their success and help people, so. – That's amazing. That's so great. So, what made you want to do this? Because not only is going
to the class, somewhat a commitment. You go nine
weeks and you're with a group. But when you say, "Hey, I'm
going to go and do it again, and actually facilitate."
It must have obviously changed your life for you to do that. So what was the why for you? – The course transformed my life so much. And I'm just so thankful
that I took Financial Peace in that moment in my life,
that I can't keep quiet about it. I want to tell everyone
about what this course can do for you. No one taught me,
growing up, how to budget, and how to save, and how to invest. And so, now that I have that knowledge, I just want to tell everyone I can. That's my why. – Yeah, it's so good. It's so good. Because so many of you
watching are thinking, "Oh my gosh, we have so
much debt, we don't budget," and all of this, so going
through Financial Peace University, just as a member is huge. But people may be watching
this and thinking, "Okay, I'm doing this. Maybe
I'm on the other side," like you are. Would you say that you have
to be super financially smart and that you have to have all the answers? Because some people could
be intimidated by it. – Right, I would definitely
say I was in that boat before I got started
with being a coordinator. I thought I didn't' know enough about investing and real estate
and all of the Baby Steps, past Baby Step three, basically. But, my coordinator
from when I went through Financial Peace, really encouraged me and met with me and talked to me about how to be relatable and share my story. And that was what was
going to connect with people. And if I didn't know the answers, I could reach out to
someone and they would help me figure out the answers. – So good. Well, seriously, I know from
our seat, our perspective, at Ramsey Solutions, we always say the radio show can only reach so far. Only so many people
know about the podcast. Only so many people watch the shows or go to the events. But
it's the coordinators that are in their cities, in their towns, all over America, thousands and thousands of you all, sitting down with
people on a Tuesday night or a Wednesday night or a Sunday night and have this group.
Really it becomes a family, in this class and completely
transforming their lives and you spearheaded that, for you guys. So I so appreciate it, seriously. You're like in the trenches,
boots on the ground, helping spread the message. It's spreading the
message of hope, you guys. It's what we want—for you
to take control of your money. And so, I so appreciate it and I'm so glad it was a great experience for you. – Thank you. – So, if you guys want to coordinate a Financial Peace University
class, just like Elizabeth, make sure to click the
link in the show notes. And, coming up next, Chris
Hogan is going to come on and we're going to talk about how
you can become a millionaire. (upbeat pop music) (shifter clicks)
(door knocks) (latch clicks) Guys, let's be real—being
a parent is hard work. Now that I have two daughters of my own, it feels like the to-do list never ends. And, as every parent knows,
your priorities change and you have to make important decisions for your child's future. – That's why term life
insurance is a must, for every parent. It's so easy to get and it's affordable. What you're looking for is 10 to 12 times your annual income, to make sure everyone in your family is taken care of. Winston and I use Zander Insurance. They do all of the work for you to find the best prices and options, so go to Zander.com to get
started on a quote today. Because that's who we trust
to take care of our family. (easy pop music) – Hogan, you're back. – I am back and I'm
excited to be with you. – I'm so glad. Okay, so I can't wait to dive in, because people believe the lie that you just can't become
a millionaire today. But it's a lie, people. It's a lie. So, let's go through, really quickly, the top three lies people believe, and I want you to hit me with the truth. – Okay. All right. – I mean, don't really hit me. – No, I would never do that. – That would hurt. – No, I wouldn't do that. But, I'm going to tell you the truth. – Yes, do. – Because, you're right. There
are some lies out there, so. – Yes. – You lead. – First lie is: A lot of people believe, to become a millionaire, you
have to inherit your money, or that millionaires, they've
only become millionaires because they inherited a bunch of money. – Rachel, people actually believe this. And you know why? It's easy for people to believe that, hey, someone just handed it to them. Nobody really worked hard themselves. So here's the fact: We studied over 10,000 millionaire's
all across the country. We did the largest study
that's ever been done. We found out the truth. According to our research,
79% of the millionaires didn't inherit a dime. – Nothing. – Nothing. That means, that they didn't
have it handed to them. This was someone that actually worked hard and built up wealth over time. So, inheritance? No. – Okay, another lie is: People say, well, I have to make a ton of money. I've got to make at least six figures in order to become a millionaire. – Rachel, this is another
myth. It's not true. According to our research we had a third of the millionaires that we studied, never had a six-figure household income. Can I tell you something else? – Oh, bring it on.
– Top three positions. Top three positions of the
millionaires that we studied. Number one was engineers,
which isn't surprising— they plan stuff. Number two was accountants. That doesn't surprise.
– Makes sense, sure. – They know money. Number three blew me away. Number three was school teachers. – Okay, I love that you mentioned that, because we actually just
had Elizabeth on the show. She's a teacher. She's on Baby Step six. So she's working her
way there, and she will. She will become a millionaire— – She will, Rachel. – which I love. – Because she's attacking
with Baby Step six, she's going to pay off the house. And then she's got that value, plus the money she's
putting into her 403b. She's well on her way, because debt's not stealing from her anymore. She's being intentional. – That's right. Okay, so there's a lot
of interesting things you guys found out in the survey. Things like typical
millionaires, they coupon, they drive used cars,
all these cool things. But I want to know the real tactical stuff. To truly have a net worth
of $1,000,000 or more, there's really three big
things that you have to do. Yes, all these other
things help, for sure. But one of them is, when you start to win, to keep your lifestyle still at a minimum. That you don't go crazy,
spending a bunch of money. No, these people—these
everyday millionaires, I call them, because they're
everyday men and women— you wouldn't know it,
Rachel, when you met them. They knew what allowed them
to get to that $1,000,000 net worth—being intentional
with their money, being very focused. And
yeah, they have nice things, but they save up and they pay cash for it. – It's so good. So even
upping their lifestyle, just a very small percentage,
they don't go crazy. – That's right.
– I love that. Okay, another thing, to get
you there, is investing. – Rachel, you know this
is the truth, right? Can I tell you this? 80% of the millionaires we studied said the number one thing that caused them to build their $1,000,000 net worth was one thing: employer
sponsored retirement plans. And one more thing: 68% of
the millionaires we studied used an investment professional. That means they had someone
to guide them along the way. That's why you and I talk
about the SmartVestor Pros. You don't want to do this alone, right? If you've got car trouble,
you go see a mechanic. If you've got a health
issue, you go see a doctor. We're talking about your
dreams and your future. You need to talk to an
investment professional. – So good, you guys. I mean, seriously, when you're investing, your money is working for you. But I want you out of debt,
to have your emergency fund in place and start down that path. – Yes. – Okay, the other big thing
is paying off your house. A lot of millionaires say
they got a lot of their net worth by paying off their house. – Yeah. This is the last big step. You and I know this, being plugged in with Financial Peace University. When you become 100%
debt-free, and now that mortgage payment isn't
leaving you anymore, that mortgage payment is there
to do more for your family or to help you catch up
for your retirement dreams. But, this is a big deal. So much so, that I developed a free tool. It's a net worth
calculator, at my website chrishogan360.com to
help people understand what is your net worth right now? And I want to explain it to your viewers. So, to get to net worth, what you take is all that you own—that's
in your bank account, your 401k, your IRAs—add all that up and subtract out anything you owe on. So, what you own minus what you owe. If that end number is $1,000,000 or more, then congratulations, you're
an everyday millionaire. – You're a millionaire. – That's right. – And the great thing
is, we talked about it earlier in the episode, but it's so true, is that this is possible. Society is going to tell you,
no, unless you're famous, or you have a rich family, there's no way you can become a millionaire. You can—anyone can—and your
book is to prove it, right? – [Chris] It does prove it, yeah. – [Rachel] The "Everyday Millionaires." – That's what got me
started down this path. The American dream is alive and available. What we have to do is make a
decision that we're going to do it and you have to keep deciding, every day. – So good, you guys. You can do the impossible.
It's possible for you. – It is possible. – Okay, if your curious about this book, because it is so good,
you could actually read the first two chapters,
completely for free. Just click the link below. – Are you giving away my stuff? – Just a little bit, you know. Just a giver. I'm a giver, on the show. – You are a giver. – It's called The Rachel Cruze Show. – Yeah, you are kind of in charge. – Welcome, welcome. (laughing) – You're kind of the boss. You're small, but you're the boss. – I'm bossy, sometimes, yes. – So much so. – Hogan, thanks for coming on. – Thank you, for having me. – Seriously, great information.
– Good to see you. Thank you, ma'am. – All right guys, thanks
for tuning in today. I loved this episode, because
there's so much truth in it. And so I hope you feel
encouraged, because you guys can do this. Thanks again, to Chris
Hogan for coming on, and Elizabeth for sharing her story. So to get everything we
talked about in this episode, make sure to click the
link in the show notes. And if you've not subscribed
to my podcast yet, make sure you do that,
because there's always some fun bonus material there. And, as always, for you
all, be sure to take control of your money and create a life you love. – Rachel Cruz. – What do you think, Chris Hogan? – I have no idea. – I think it's just really great. – It is hilarious. – Be a millionaire, Hogan. – You can become a everyday millionaire. (laughs) – All you have to do is invest. (both laughing) – No more. – That's so good. – That was hilarious.