January 23, 2023

It is unlikely that you have a finance coach. It may seem like something only the rich and famous can afford. Luckily, this is not true. On this week’s LearnlikeaCPA podcast, John Eringman joins us to talk about his work as a finance coach and full time content creator. 

John started the show by telling us how he got to where he is now. He told us how he had side hustles all the way back in highschool. From there, he studied finance in college, but was disappointed by the lack of personal finance that was taught. When he graduated John got a job as an accountant working on audits. After two years he realized that working for an employer wasn’t for him and decided to go full time into content creation. John had a lot of advice that he learned along the way and wanted to pass on, so let's see what he had to say. 

Question: How detrimental is it for money to be a taboo subject around friends and family?

Answer: If money is a conversation that is off the table, it becomes very hard to learn. This can lead to bad decisions where people can be grossly underpaid because they simply don’t know any better. 

Q: What does life look like after leaving a traditional job?

A: The biggest change is increased learning. The first thing that you will learn is that systems are everything and it is so important to have good people and teams behind you to help you grow.

Q: What are the most valuable processes and systems in your opinion?

A: Calendly is a game changer. It takes the place of a full time admin. Calendly allow for scheduling and booking meetings between professionals in a much more affordable way. Another great software is notion. Notion catalogs and organizes content and saves a lot of hassle. 

Q: What are your current offerings of products and services?

A: One on one used to be a primary service, but was too inefficient. It makes way more sense to take time to make a quality video that can be shared broadly as opposed to repeating the same message in multiple one on one sessions. 

Q: What is house hacking and how can it promote financial freedom? 

A: House hacking is purchasing a multi-family house and renting out a portion of it to offset cost of living. It allows you to live very cheaply and is one of the best ways to build wealth as a young person. House hacking is also a great way to transition into real estate investing. 

Q: What does a good budget look like in terms of investing?

A: It is important to look at what gives the best return on investment. The stock market is great for the majority of people, but if you own a profitable business it is important to consider investing in that as well. Money spent on a business can often go a lot further, but it is still important to diversify. 

Q: What strategies are important to understand and implement in your business?

A: It is important to realize that there is a huge difference between tax planning and tax preparation. Tax planning takes place earlier in the year and is a strategy for reducing your tax bill. Tax preparation is gathering all the required documentation for the year and is often too late to implement strategies to lower taxable income. Some great tax planning strategies are using depreciation from rental properties as well as using a solo 401K loan to purchase more real estate. 

Q: What is on the forecast for 2023?

A: It will be important this year to focus on content. Making quality content especially is a daunting, but upcoming goal. Another goal is creating a good community and audience spanning multiple platforms. 

Q: What is one great piece of advice for new investors?

A: Play the long game. Investing is not a one time get rich scheme. It takes years and effort. It is important to change your mindset from the here and now to the future. This is not easy to do, but will help your investing journey tremendously. 

Having John on the podcast was very educational. He had so much experience through trial and error to share with the masses about investing and personal finance. Check out the whole show below. 

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