In this week's episode we have a chat with one of our members in the WealthBuilders Academy, Claire Snedker, who tells us about the lessons she learnt on her own financial journey. Make sure to tune in to hear what Claire had to say on her wealth now and how she managed to build relationships, knowledge, and assets.
Every month we shine a light on one of our members who have been doing fantastic work since joining the WealthBuilders Academy. In this week’s episode we interview Claire Snedker who has seen a transformation in her wealth in more than one way. Tune in to hear some of the valuable wealth lessons that have helped Claire on her financial journey, including what she’s done to build relationships, build knowledge, and build assets!
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Unknown Speaker 0:01
The purpose of wealth talk is to educate, inform and hopefully entertain you on the subject of building your wealth. Wealth builders recommends you should always take independent financial tax or legal advice before making any decisions around your finances.
Unknown Speaker 0:19
Welcome to Episode 131 of wealth talk. My name is Christian Bob wells, membership director of wealth builders and I'm joined today by our founder, Mr. Kevin Whalen. Hi, Kevin
Unknown Speaker 0:28
Cruz, as always great to be with you.
Unknown Speaker 0:30
Yes, indeed. And great to be with another of our members this week. So it's our spotlight on a member. Every month we like to dive into the community and just shine a light on someone who's been doing fantastic work since joining the wealth builders Academy. And this month, it's so class NECA,
Unknown Speaker 0:49
huh? Yeah. Well, she's got a long history with you, Chris, from your early days pre wealth builders.
Unknown Speaker 0:56
Yes, no, we did touch on that. In the beginning, she picked up a copy of my book. And you know, if anyone else wants a copy of sakib boss, it's available in our wealth builders free membership area. So do log in there. It's Welcome to coterie a membership if you'd like a copy. But yeah, that's how we first connected. And Claire soon got gripped by the wealth foot podcast that she mentions and joins the Academy. And she's been going great guns ever since.
Unknown Speaker 1:22
Hmm. So it was always good to kind of dive a little deeper into what people are doing, Chris. And it's nice to show with no disrespect intended to any of our members. It's ordinary people starting to do extraordinary things. And always with a strength of purpose. And always you'll you'll hear the word freedom wrapped up in their thinking and, you know, you can I think we'll hear some of the lessons that you tease out of Claire, played out probably with every interview you do, Chris does? Well, again, like we did last week, listen out for those lessons, ladies and gentlemen, you know, try and see if you can pick out as you listen to the interview with Claire, what the reason why was you know, what would what did she do to find funds? What did she do to build relationships? What did she do to build knowledge? What did she do to make distinctions? You know, what are the things that she did? And what about that, you know, would be useful for and valuable for you? Just to take on board and go? Well, that's interesting. What can I do about that? So the whole value in all of this is, is there a lesson in there, however small for you. And as we say, your only one, relationship opportunity, or idea, that's our first ROI, relationship opportunity, or idea from a complete transformation in your wealth and Claire's going through a transformation and for most people. So instead of a chrysalis turning into a butterfly, which is a very short space of time, we know that building wealth takes time, and you can't just pull up the roots to see how it's going, or you've got to watch out, you've got to do the work, and then see the results. And that does take time. And for most of our members, Chris, it's about a five year journey on average. And I think Claire is reflecting that.
Unknown Speaker 3:12
She's certainly on track. So I think let's not hang around any longer. Let's head over to our conversation today with member Claire, welcome to off talk today.
Unknown Speaker 3:22
No, thanks for having me.
Unknown Speaker 3:25
Yeah, it's very exciting. I believe this might be your first ever podcast, right? This is my debut. I've made it. Hopefully, you're not trembling, too. But she'll be a nice easy conversation today in the dirt, it's really, really going to be a good one. Because, you know, I remember we first match it, I think it was through escape the rat race, right, my business? And did you grab even a copy of my book, perhaps?
Unknown Speaker 3:51
Yes. Yes. You were the catalyst that started all this question.
Unknown Speaker 3:56
I'm very pleased. And then obviously, you joined us over at wealth builders, and it's been a bit of a whirlwind ride, hasn't it last year and a half for you.
Unknown Speaker 4:03
It really has. And I think you know, I don't quite realize, you know, where it's gonna take you. But the more I get through this journey, the more excited and confident I'm becoming and absolutely loving it. Good.
Unknown Speaker 4:18
So, we are going to follow a familiar format today with our member spotlights. And that's just really walking through the recurring revenue roadmap, which is our process which we teach all of our members inside the wealth builders Academy, to move from a place of financial insecurity to financial security, and then on to independence. And we know, on average, that's a journey that takes people around about five years or so, if they're committed if they're focused if they really stick to the process. So we're going to begin from step one. So the roadmaps broken down into three stages. We know stage one is all about building confidence. And then stage two is building knowledge and stage three is building assets. So stage one building confidence and then step one is all about them. mindset clear. So let's begin with the reason why was there a particular catalyst for you? Or a point, which you can look back to and say, you know, that was kind of the trigger. That was where I decided enough is enough. I've got to do something about this.
Unknown Speaker 5:14
Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I sort of reached a point in my life where I just felt a bit stuck. And I've been feeling like that for a few years. And I think felt stuck in my career, I didn't really know, I didn't really know where the next challenge was coming from. And the challenge had gone in my job and sort of gone in life in general for me. And I remember feeling particularly fed up, I think it was around Christmas time with work. One year, picked up your book, Christian sack, the boss, brilliant title as the boss, yes. And it was just such a great read, just to hear how things could be different. And actually, there were other options out there, you didn't have to follow this, you know, work till you frog yourself to die. But the format. And then then it was from your book, they led me on to wealth builders. And then I started listening avidly to anything you guys put out a weekly podcasts and any of the content that you shared you and Kevin shirt. And it didn't take me long to know that I really wanted to be part of wealth builders. And really what I was listening just blew my mind. I always hear you know, you don't know what you don't know. And that was just so true. I just didn't know so much. But I didn't even know that. So yes, yeah. So that's, that's what led me here.
Unknown Speaker 6:42
I took that all important first step. And okay, so that leads us on to step two, then Claire, which is the foundation. So this is about getting crystal clear on how much asset income that you're generating currently in your life, and then how much you require in order to reach the next wealth level. So which of the five wealth levels were you at when you joined Claire?
Unknown Speaker 7:04
So when we joined, we're financial insecurity, heavily reliant on job income by himself and my husband, and had a tiny amount of asset income coming in from a buy to let, but not a lot. So now after sort of joined about a year and a half ago, we we've reached about or about 16 1700 pounds a month, recurring income now, we're looking towards 2022, hitting our financial security number of sort of 3000 pounds. Yeah, and, yeah, and we're well on track for that. And we just can feel really the momentum picking up pace as we go along. That's great
Unknown Speaker 7:52
progress. Yeah. So kind of halfway to security in 18 months or so. So really, really good. And then another aspect of the foundation is, is a review of what we call the debits process. So just looking at all the outgoings in your life, and following that process. So is that something that you and your husband went through? Did you did you have any observations? Any savings there?
Unknown Speaker 8:13
Yeah, I think, um, you know, I'd always been pretty good at tracking what we were spending, and my husband not so much. So it was good for us to sit together. And I was like, What are you paying for? Let's get rid of it. But it was really nice. We sat together. And actually we looked at,
Unknown Speaker 8:30
you know? What, can we cut out that at the moment? You know, he's not going to get us to our goal. Yeah. And we managed actually to cut out quite a lot. And we've managed to have quite a quite a high savings rate because of that. So yeah, I managed putting quite a bit away a month. Good,
Unknown Speaker 8:50
good. And then yeah, the key is then obviously re allocating those savings into other wealth building activities. Yeah,
Unknown Speaker 8:57
yes, yes. And that's what I never knew I was always good at saving money, but I didn't then know what to do with it. So this is where wealth builders is just invaluable.
Unknown Speaker 9:07
Great. So the final step in stage one is the roof. And this is all about protecting you and your assets and your family. So we're able to review the elements of the roof clear. And did you have all of the necessary protection in place?
Unknown Speaker 9:23
And I'm very embarrassed to say that we had nothing in place. So I had on a to do list will for about five years, and then never got around to it. Yeah. So now I'm really thankful to say that we've got a William place with sort of lasting power of attorney. So if anything, you know happens to us. We've got all our affairs taken, you know, people that helped us and we had no life insurance. We have no critical illness cover. You know what I think? back, I was like, Oh my gosh, you know, I guess I didn't really know about this stuff, either. So we've educated ourselves about why it's so important to have this in place and to protect all your assets as you're building them
Unknown Speaker 10:14
up. How does that make you feel? Now that you know you've got that in place?
Unknown Speaker 10:18
Oh, amazing. Like, Yeah, amazing. I've just, you know, Steven, things that keep you up at night, sometimes you're like, Oh, I must do that. Well, but actually, where do I start? Who do I go to? What does that even mean? Oh, it's just such a nice feeling to feel. Yeah, that that's all done.
Unknown Speaker 10:39
Yeah. So that's, that's the importance of stage one. And sometimes, you know, we speak to people clear, and they, you know, they perhaps already feel like they're progressing quite well on their journey. And they say, Oh, well, I think, you know, foundation, I've kind of covered all that stuff, right. But there's a lot in there. And actually, you know, most likely, there are a few little things, important things, which just need to be double checked to make sure that they are done. And that gives you the peace of mind to then go on, and start building your knowledge and building your assets, which is where we're moving into now. So stage two, is all about building knowledge. And step four is the Seven Pillars of Wealth. We call it the assets there. So the seven different pillars, as you well know, Claire, which did you already have some experience with when you first joined wealth builders, and what other pillars Have you been able to utilize since.
Unknown Speaker 11:28
So when I first joined, we had just bought a buy to let so we've been left some inheritance money, unfortunately, my husband's father passed away. And we really wanted to use that money towards starting to create a different life for ourselves. And not just fritter it away, really. So we have little bit of knowledge on property, but that was it, to be honest. So I went on a bit of a journey finding out about property. And before wealth builders, I guess I didn't really know where to turn Asian as well. So when I joined the wealth builders, sort of few months after I did, Bronwyn Byrne comes. She's got a property course, which teaches you a bit about all the different strategies, which was amazing. You hear all these names flying around. So yeah, I did that it was amazing. And also did in half pennies by refurb refinance course. And you know, for a relatively small amount of money you can learn just so much. Yeah, so we so since joining, we've done property, we've done home capacity, joint venture and pension. Yes, we've ticked off and property. Yeah, so I think that's five we were at four, I think,
Unknown Speaker 12:49
yeah. Okay, so yeah, that's good. You know, one of anything is risk is we say, so a lot of people, you know, relying on one source of income, that's often just from a job, and we know that could disappear tomorrow. But then some people just build their wealth in one pillar as well. And you know, that can be risky as well. So diversifying across as many pillars as possible, again, just gives you that financial stability, that peace of mind, no matter what's happening out there in the economy. So, so Okay, good stuff for assets. And and then step five is leverage. So leverage is the key to wealth building, and isn't necessarily always financial, but it could be intellectual leverage relationship, Leverage System leverage and time leverage. So can you provide us with an example of how you've brought leverage into play to help you build your wealth?
Unknown Speaker 13:39
Yeah, I think one of the, one of the key things actually with our joint venture and you know, I sort of gained a lot of confidence from the wealth building community was to go out and you know, I had the finances but didn't have the knowledge of the holiday industry. So my joint venture partner runs holiday lights. So I've sort of leveraged his knowledge of the holiday lair and he runs it and he's teaching me a lot about that side of things. And you know, in turn, I've been able to provide some finances to fund the project or part of the project. I think what my favorite thing about the wealth building wealth builders is community and everyone's working towards a better life and future for themselves. But we all do get stuck. We get frustrated, we need help. And I love we've got a SAS focus group, which is a SASS holiday let focus group and it's full of people all different stages of their journey. And you just come away feeling so inspired by, you know, the different levels people are at. Yeah, and and also actually, one of the things that happened recently, is I connected with a new wealth builder in the community. She wanted to know and a sister want to know more about holiday, let's say Yes, I know that. And she's like, Oh, I'm doing HMOs I was like, Oh, I don't know anything about that. How they can do a bit of a knowledge swap. And we're actually meeting up in a couple of weeks time we're doing a wealth builders face to face meet in East London. Yeah, so I'm really looking forward to that as well.
Unknown Speaker 15:14
Yeah, well, I think there might be more than just a couple of you there, I can see the momentum building for that one in our Facebook group. So that's really cool. And you mentioned your joint venture partner there. How do you go about finding them?
Unknown Speaker 15:27
So they were a part of Simon's uchis mastermind group, which I sort of learned about Simon zushi, you know, obviously extremely knowledgeable about property. So I'd sort of read a couple of his books, and then again, sort of led on to the pin community. And founder, a founder, you know, the guy called is called Phil Saunders. He won't mind me mentioning me I know. And he was he was actually doing some holiday let's and actually renting out some glamping space. And he's got a lot of yurts outside, that just sounds so cool. And we it probably took about a year, to be honest, to go from our first conversation to buying this property together. But before wealth builders, I just wouldn't have had the confidence to even approach somebody like that, you know, I just literally sent me a message going, Oh, I really like what you're doing. Let's chat. And yeah. And then we went, and we met his wife and his family. And we stayed in the holiday lap that we've now got together. So that that's been an amazing relationship as well.
Unknown Speaker 16:34
Excellent. Yeah, really good. Okay, moving on Step six, then. So Step six is strategy. So we know, there's many, many strategies out there within each of the pillars. And this is where overwhelm can kick in for people because they just don't know where to begin. So what's been your primary wealth building strategy clear? And what other strategies are you also looking at?
Unknown Speaker 16:56
So we started off with our in property with our buy toilets, sort of that's our little foundation, then then we did learn about sort of buy refurb refinance. So we've done a couple of those. And now we're really looking to the holiday lets you know, we've done one, we're currently I'm currently in talks with some other members in the wealth build community about doing another joint venture with them. They also look after holiday. Let's say that that will probably that'll be our next. Our next deal. I think we're really excited about as well.
Unknown Speaker 17:29
Excellent. Excellent. Yeah. So what kind of length of stays you doing on their holiday? Let's,
Unknown Speaker 17:35
and they are typically long weekends or weeks? The one we've got it's in the Peak District, you know, sleeps a, you know, so it's, it's lovely all year round, because you've got the beautiful walks and hikes.
Unknown Speaker 17:52
And are you managing those yourself? Or do you have someone to help?
Unknown Speaker 17:55
So this is where the sort of leverage will comes in again, is that, you know, I'm in London, he actually lives lives in the Peak District, so he can pop into the house, and he actually runs it all. But we have regular we catch up probably once a day. So what we do about Christmas decorations.
Unknown Speaker 18:14
There's a good lesson there anyone living in London saying, Oh, it's too expensive down here or combine your phones. There are other places available in the UK?
Unknown Speaker 18:22
100%? Yes, completely great, actually. Yeah, all my properties have set as well are all you know, they're not in London, not saying that you can't find anything in London. But yeah, they're all around the north.
Unknown Speaker 18:33
Okay, good stuff. So that completes stage two. So now we're moving into stage three, this is all about building assets. And this is really ongoing, you know, really working the plan and just staying the course. You know, we were chatting earlier that, you know, people just kind of give up too easy sometimes. And you know, wealth building isn't easy. It is hard work. And it does take time, and you've got to stick with it. And I've said before, you know success is a lagging indicator, you have to put the hard work in. You don't necessarily see the results immediately, but they do come. So Step seven. Step seven is focus clear. So once someone has chosen a strategy like you did, the key is to follow the wheel of wealth. And that means education, support connections, due diligence, and then taking Guided Action. And this is where our wealth coaches are there each month to help you stay laser focused and turn that wheel. So what benefits have you gained from following this process clear and having that accountability from your coach
Unknown Speaker 19:33
all the wealth coaches just amazing, I think at the start, and I don't know if everyone's like this, but you go off in all these different directions down all these rabbit holes. I remember emailing you, I want to start a call. So I want to write a book I want to launch this launch that you sort of get all these ideas, and then you get overwhelmed will I do it anyway. And the wealth coaches to I have Chris Emery at the moment has been amazing, really amazing. Just helping me To be laser focused on, you know what we're currently doing at the moment. And I've really, really just niched everything down. And since then, it just kept so much clarity, and I'm moving so much quicker. And they have just such a vast wealth of knowledge and tools at their disposal that I find if I'm feeling a bit stuck, or nothing's really moved after a session with them. I sort of feel I'm on my way again, and I've got the motivation back and yeah, you for the welcome. Geez.
Unknown Speaker 20:32
Yeah, I think the key word I'll pick up on naclo is clarity. Because I think when you don't really know what you're doing, like, you know, you're uncertain, that's when you don't do anything, that's when people can drift, right. And then when you get clear when you get clear, and you're confident that you know exactly what you need to do just small steps, but you're clear on what those small steps are. And that's what the coach is there to help you with every month, just consistently taking small steps forwards, then you look back where you are now 18 months, and you go wow, I've come a long way. Yeah,
Unknown Speaker 21:04
definitely. And it's just challenging. Sometimes, you know, you get certain things in your mind. And they challenge you, you know, in a nice way to just reframe things, think differently, try something different. And before you know it, you're off. You're off again. So brilliant. All right. So
Unknown Speaker 21:19
as we said that momentum is definitely building now. So step eight is results. So we encourage all of our members to track their progress every 30 days. And we send you out a wealth chart when you join and stick that up on your wall. I think was it your son's that? You posted a picture in the Facebook
Unknown Speaker 21:34
group? Yes. Yeah. Yeah, we're regularly talking to them about property as well. And holiday let so that yeah, they love listening to it. Oh,
Unknown Speaker 21:43
yeah. Well, that was so so nice to see that picture. And, you know, then, from those progress reports, you know, we we track the progress. Right. And and you've had a good month recently clear. So what did you do? And how much additional row recurring income has that added to your wealth monitor?
Unknown Speaker 22:01
Yes, so we recently added the holiday lit to our portfolio, and that's added, that's added a sort of conservative 600 pounds a month, at the moment, the basement that we've got the property, it needs a little refurb. And so we can turn that into a games room. So I think once that's done, probably looking about more like 800 to 1000 a month. So I love the fact as well as the holiday let that I sort of feel is a mini business. And you can go, you know, what, what can we do to add more value to it? And how can we promote it more drive more people in? Yeah, so yeah, very excited about that.
Unknown Speaker 22:39
And as we said, at the beginning, you know, halfway now towards security, yes. And feeling confident that, you know, you're gonna hit that.
Unknown Speaker 22:48
Yeah, like, there is absolutely no doubt in my mind that we will hit it. You know, it just for me, it's a certainty. It's just a matter of time. Yeah,
Unknown Speaker 22:58
that's so great to hear. And we have, you know, that's what we hear so often from members. Okay, final step, then accelerate. So by repeating the process of choosing your pillar, then your strategy and working out what your points of leverage are, then you will move towards a place to financial independence. For most people, that journey from insecurity to financial independence takes about five years, as we mentioned. So what do you see as being key to helping you continue to stay focused, and take the necessary steps to reach that financial goal?
Unknown Speaker 23:28
Yeah, I think a key will be to make sure we still do our monthly wealth coaching calls. So I think the coaching calls are so important just to keep focus still and hold us accountable, keep us on track. And also, recently, we had one with Chris and he, he's like, Oh, I think you should do a 90 day plan for a project we're going to be working on Oh, that's great idea. So I think again, having a big visual 90 Day plans get us to the next stage of what we're trying to work on. And also connecting with other wealth builders and finding out how they're getting on Yeah, and just sharing sharing with other wealth builders and keeping that motivation inspiration going and also a massive important one to celebrate the wins which sometimes I'm not very good at I'm a bit like keep going keep going. But you know, I think celebrate those wins and reminding ourselves why are we doing it? You know, we want a different life. We want complete freedom. Yeah, and yeah, so
Unknown Speaker 24:40
very important. And at some point, you might be stuck in your boss
Unknown Speaker 24:48
I've started a new job so maybe
Unknown Speaker 24:51
that's hopefully not listening.
Unknown Speaker 24:55
But that is that is the ultimate goal. Complete freedom for us as a family Do we want in knights? Yeah, well,
Unknown Speaker 25:04
no doubt that you will soon be achieving that clear. So well done on everything that you've done so far. Thanks been a great member of the community. And thanks for sharing with us today.
Unknown Speaker 25:15
Yeah, thanks so much. Thank you.
Unknown Speaker 25:19
Well, congratulations to Claire there for making some really, really good progress. And we look forward to debriefing that in a second Kevin, before we do that, let's read out one of our latest reviews from Trustpilot. And this week, it's from Sam. Sam is saying forever grateful for the advice. I've known Kevin for a number of years after first seeing him present at a property event. And I must admit, I was quite skeptical to start off, as I had some bad advice in the past, Kevin provided me with some key bits of information during a couple of phone calls regarding SAS in relation to my father's pension, which resulted in us taking control of that pension and ultimately, his retirement, which I will be forever grateful for. He now has a virtue, actual income, and an asset that is growing in value every year. And I'm an avid listener to the wealth builders podcast. And I find it very inspirational and full of useful knowledge and advice, as well as interviews with people that have successfully put strategies in place to improve their financial position and their lives. And I'm also a member of the online community, as well as the Facebook group, which again, is full of great content to support people looking to grow their wealth and reclaim their time. Many thanks to Catholic Christian for all their hard work. Wow, that
Unknown Speaker 26:36
was an essay.
Unknown Speaker 26:38
A nice one. Yeah, I
Unknown Speaker 26:40
mean, look, when I know I'm joking, but when somebody takes the time to craft a few words, and in this case, you know, many words, all carefully chosen, all with sincerity. You got to be very grateful. And humbled actually. And then it was very interesting, because we we met some, didn't we at the networking event we had in Surrey, just recently, and it was lovely to say hello to him face to face. And that obviously, you know, sprung to mind, again, his relationship with us. And we're so glad that we've got very nice people like Sam and so many others in our community, and I want to pick up on that community thing straight away, Chris, because that came out loud and clear from Claire didn't it that so many different ways she's tapped into the community, the community of the coaches, the community of education, the community of joint ventures, the community of networking, a real life community, you know, she's tapped in, in a major way, into all of the, the ways that we're trying to make the wealth building journey, not a DIY journey, but a dynamic journey, a dynamo, where two things get together, and you create more more light and heat and power. And I think that's what a good community does, is makes the whole process faster, safer, and more enjoyable. And that's why I'm so pleased that she pulled all those things out. I'm not getting ahead of ourselves on the lessons, Chris, but that was to me, the very powerful one and, and also picked up from the very nice words, that assumption with us as well. Yeah,
Unknown Speaker 28:23
yeah, well, I remember Claire saying, You don't know what you don't know. And at the beginning, she was, you know, stuck feeling stuck in her career. And we know that that's, you know, a common, a common place for people to be in, they kind of hit that crossroads and think, well, we'll just continue down the same path that next 20 years or so we'll do actually take some action now and do something about it. And that's exactly what Claire has done. And she also joined the program, she referred to her husband now. And it was interesting, actually, when she was talking about the debits process, that she reviewed that with the husbands and sometimes he might live with someone for a long time. And it's actually quite different spending habits. And, you know, sitting down and actually reviewing those things together might bring some surprises and you know, those could be good or bad.
Unknown Speaker 29:09
Well, they're always good in the end, because you know, when two people with different wealth dynamics, and we always provide wealth dynamic tokens for for a family, so husband and wife in this case. And when you discover the difference in thinking, you know, sometimes it can become curative. You look at and go. Now I see why we think differently. So instead of it leading into a confrontation, it can lead into a collaboration where you recognize that the other person is bringing a different perspective to you in the same way as if you know, the easiest way to look at wealth dynamics. And the perspective is to imagine you were in a lighthouse. And you know, you were looking at, let's say, imagine it was there were four different windows one looking north one South one One West. And if you were perched just looking in that one direction, you're only going to see that one direction. And this is what wealth dynamics is all about. That if you combine somebody else's dynamic with somebody else's dynamic with somebody else's dynamic, you get a 360 view of the world. And that gives you greater clarity. And I think when you can do the debits, which is a very, very useful exercise, I know it's right to the foundation. And I know you mentioned, Chris, that sometimes people kind of think they know it. But I think everybody who's ever done the debits, exercise of debt, education, bills, insurance, tax, and support costs, and I'll touch on support costs, because the thing you know, there's a big one that I want to focus on in 2022. On that, but there's, there's a whole raft of things that people can save. And one things I want to mention a set of many times the thing is, we don't encourage people to save their way to wealth, that's not the point. We don't restrict our way to wealth, we, we increase our capacity, we widen our ability to add value. So we expand our way to wealth, we don't contract. And but but of course, it makes sense. If you can find money that's just languishing, because you haven't been paying attention, and you can plant a seed and make that money work, then it gives you an instant kickstart like a booster almost to your wealth plan. And and we encourage everybody to do that. And certainly one of the big ones I'm going to be focused on on Chris in 2022, which gets a very poor hearing, which is the S for support costs. And what I mean by that, for the most part is almost everybody we meet as we help people on their wealth journey, have got money in the stock market somewhere. And maybe I'll change it from support costs the stock market, Chris, maybe that might be an interesting change as the program continues to evolve. Because stock market fees, you know, the benefit now with technology is that it costs so little to manage money. But historically, those costs have not been passed on the institution of financial services is not passing on those costs. Within with intention, they're kind of hanging on to old costs. And I would like everybody who's connected to us to be reviewing those stock market fees in 2022. Because you know, wasn't that long ago, Chris, we talked on this podcast, and we saved someone 15,000 pounds a year. So you know, whatever that is $20,000, you know, 15,000 pounds in fees, you know, in stock market costs. And I think we want to drive that message home in 2022.
Unknown Speaker 32:51
And picking up on another thing that Claire mentioned at the beginning there, she you know, she said about overwhelmed, just wanting to do so many different things. And again, that can cause people to just not do anything. And you have to focus and you need to turn the wheel and first step of the wheel is always to get some education. And that could be free education. You know, maybe you can learn enough from books and podcasts and webinars, or sometimes it could be paid education. And Claire chose to take some education actually with a couple of our wealth coaches. So she mentioned Bronwyn van coming in half Penny. And that gave her a broad overview of a lot of different property strategies. And from there, she was able to niche down and choose obviously buy to that, and brr and holiday debts as the area's she wanted to focus on.
Unknown Speaker 33:39
Yeah, and I think she said herself, you know, didn't cost a lot of money to get a wealth of knowledge. And and further, if you dive into that interview a bit more, Chris, you'll you'll hear her say she swapped knowledge. Do you remember? So she was doing? Excuse me? She's doing something on the holiday let's that she gained some knowledge. And she was talking to somebody else who had knowledge in a different area of HMOs. I think if I recall. So you can you can obviously get together in a trusted environment. And what people don't discover thing unless they join a community is how helpful and how open the community is. I think sometimes employed people get a bit of a shock, don't they think hang on a minute, why? Why are people sharing when there's nothing in it for them. But what's in it for them is shared values. Everybody's on a journey to create freedom for themselves. And they absolutely delighted and thrilled to share in the successes of others and to help anybody else on that journey. That's a very community that I'm proud to say we've curated and nurtured over the over the last few years.
Unknown Speaker 34:47
Yeah, and obviously part of community that can lead to joint ventures and we've seen that many times from our members and just pick up on you know how long that can take because during that is all about relationships. And Claire mentioned, it took about a year to build that relationship with Phil. And she ended up, you know, going up visiting, meeting the family staying there. And, you know, that's something we teach as well in the program is how to approach joint ventures correctly.
Unknown Speaker 35:16
Yeah, it's really important to do that. And then it's usually about mapping out expectations. And that can take time. And you need to take time, you know, to establish resonance, and you need to take time to do due diligence, not just on on the people, but also the individual project. And of course, the legals and the paperwork. And we teach that in wealth builders, the people project and paperwork. But it's also interesting that you mentioned, Chris, as you often do, that wealth building has a lagging indicator, you know, you have to wait and see you can't put a result on those relationships, you can't hurry up relationships, you've got to build the relationships. And sometimes you will start a relationship and for whatever reason the relationship doesn't work is not quite the right thing for you, or the strategy might not be the right thing for you. And which is why, if you can learn these lessons quickly, you can move on, to change your strategy to look at another pillar or look at another strategy within the same pillar, and, and accelerate that, and again, make it quicker, safer and more enjoyable. And this is the whole essence that you're not on a DIY journey of discovering lessons on your own on your own on your own, which can take many, many years, we're talking, we're talking about five years. And for most people they work well, as Warren Buffett would say, if you don't find a way to create recurring income, you're going to work till you die. While it doesn't take longer than five years to find streams of recurring income, so why not work. And enjoy the journey of trying to do that within a community than so many people who try and cut corners and do everything on the cheap and a DIY, you know, the DIY people frustrate the heck out of me, because you can get there in five years instead of 10 years. And you can get there and enjoy in there, as you said, As Claire said, didn't cost a lot to get the right knowledge, and what is your cost and our community, you know, to be a member, you know, a few 100 pounds a month, that's it, you know, pay that for a few years, and then you're financially free for the rest of your life. I don't know why people find this. It's a, it's a really big secret that we're trying to get out, Chris. And I know it sounds a bit self serving, but it isn't. Because we obsess about giving away free information as well. You don't have to pay for everything. You can get free information. But it doesn't cost much to join a community. Wherever you find that community, whether it's within wealth builders, or outside of wealth builders, find yourself a community, you'll get the different distinctions from the different wealth dynamics, and it will give you a place to have conversations and start to build at least the thought of joint ventures.
Unknown Speaker 38:04
Yeah, and, you know, important point to end on perhaps is not forgetting to celebrate the wins, and actually on our wealth plans, which all of our members have their own wealth plan each month, which they, you know, fill out work towards and, and debrief with their coach. The last question on there is, you know, what, what's been your big win for the month. And, and Kate said, you know, ultimately, it's about complete freedom for her and her family. And, you know, touching on the family aspect there, she mentioned sharing those lessons with her children as well. And of course, we're passionate about that, too. And hence, we are putting together wealth goods Families Program, which will be coming out very early in 2022.
Unknown Speaker 38:48
Yes, and please, if you're as passionate as we are, about helping the next generation to build the right habits and the right knowledge in the right environment, to become financially responsible adults in the future. So few children are taught this, we know the schools don't do it. Most parents don't do it. It's massively massively neglected in society. If you feel passionate about this, or that you've got a story to tell about what you're doing with your children how whatever age they are, or you want to get involved in and help spread the word or you've got something you want to do to participate in, you know, helping get the message out, or there's something you want to share with us. What's the best way people could do that, Chris?
Unknown Speaker 39:35
Yeah, I'm going to share two URLs. One is for anyone interested in just being kept up to date on the families. So that's wealth builders.co.uk, forward slash families. Fa n i l i e. S. And if you'd like to find out a bit more about the Academy, which we've been talking about today, then just head to wealth builders.co.uk forward slash Academy.
Unknown Speaker 39:57
Very good. And Chris You know that one of the thing just while we're reaching out to the listenership is, you know, we do like to have the the members spotlight every month, do let us know, if you enjoyed that, you know, it's it's individual people who are on the journey as opposed to snippets where we give during the course of the month of other people with a specific skill set. But what are the things I think we would like to do for next year, is maybe be a little more interactive, and maybe have a members question session. So if you've got a question you not quite ready for, you know, joining us in the academy, you're not quite ready to join the community, but you have a question, then reach out to us and, and ask that question. And then we'll get a chance to do so will will air it on on the podcast and share that answer to the question for you. And for the people who would also benefit? Because the good thing about asking questions, is somebody else's thinking the same question. And when you hear an answer to a question, sometimes it can stimulate you to do something else and just nudge you in a different direction. And we know that the wealth building journey is very transformative. And it just made me laugh. Chris, I was talking to Richard CO, you know, who's our Community Support Manager, and we were chatting when we had that big networking event, we had 300 people or so last week, and I was chatting to her about her property journey. And she was saying, you know, the properties that she has now are being filled by contractors who are building wind, wind farms in the North Sea. And I said, Well, that's incredible, isn't it, you know that your properties are fully occupied, often by three months, six months, or even 12 months, let's buy big businesses who are putting their contractors in nice properties, rather than putting them up in hotels. And she said, You know what, Kevin, I would never have thought that was not my strategy, when I started to discover properties or strategy, and then you know, the service accommodation as as, as a strategy was in the property pillar, I didn't know that it was only going on the journey with other people. That helped me discover that. And this is the other thing I want to say about wealth building. It's a journey of transformation, and you have to be prepared to go on it. And what most people do, I think, because still only 5% Make it, Chris. Despite our efforts to help the 50,000 people we want to help his people don't get on the journey at all. They want the journey to be mapped out. And the joy of wealth building is it's not mapped out, it's to discover things for yourself that you didn't know. And 18 months later, with Richard co doing something completely different. She never even heard of 18 months ago, if she hadn't started the journey, she wouldn't be where she is now. And I encourage you please start the journey of building wealth. Get started. Don't get perfect.