Note: We use AI transcription so there may be some inaccuracies
Anne-Lyse Wealth: This is the Dream of Podcast Episode 96 with engineer turned financial consultant and young millionaire Steven Stack. Today is November 2022.
Steven Stack: there's bad debt of where you are going into debt for things that don't go up in value, that's really how I would define, quote unquote bad debt.
Steven Stack: And some people, again, I've never said this publicly either, what I'm about to say, but some people say good debt and bad debt. I won't call it good debt. I call it strategic. because you do have to pay it back, like, cuz if, you're called on it and they say, Hey, we need you to pay it back, now you're in a spot where you have to pay it back.
Steven Stack: But strategic debt says, I'm acquiring this debt. To get access to an asset that goes up in value and potentially generates income or cash flow that has a surplus beyond the debt payments I have to make. so yes, I am a debt. Millionaire,
Anne-Lyse Wealth: Hi. Welcome to the Dreamers podcast. I'm your host an Wealth, and I'm very excited for today's episode with Steven Stack. Steven is an engineer turned financial coach who has a mission to help people build holistic wealth. Stephen became a millionaire by age 31.
Anne-Lyse Wealth: He is 100% debt free, and I am very excited to dig into today's episode here is Stephen Stuck.
Anne-Lyse Wealth: Stephen Stock. Welcome to the Dreamless Podcast.
Steven Stack: Hey, thank you so much for having. Such a planner.
Anne-Lyse Wealth: Can you tell the dreamers a little bit about you and
Steven Stack: what you do? Yeah, so my name is Steven Stack. I do, financial consulting and coaching of helping people with building wealth, and I use my own personal journey and experiences, to be able to.
Steven Stack: People along their path and quickly, I don't normally like to lead with this, but I know it's important to many folks. I actually ended up making my first million at age 31. So I do speak from real experience when helping others and walking alongside others to share, the things that I.
Anne-Lyse Wealth: Yeah, I think you definitely got people's attention with that even though you don't like feeling that . I always like to go back, know, can you tell me about your upbringing, know, where did you grow up and what was your experience with money growing up?
Steven Stack: Yeah, I'm actually really happy that you asked me to start there.
Steven Stack: my upbringing, so I'm originally from from the Capital City, Columbia, South Carolina. So I gotta say that was a little bit of pride, for those that are from there as well and grew up with really just, know, salt of the earth, parents. humble folks. really thankful to have both of my parents in my life.
Steven Stack: My mom and my dad, which actually earlier this year, they celebrated 52 years of marriage, which is amazing, incredible, amazing, insane, like just. true life goals. Like most people, they look at celebrities and things like that, and I'm like, Man, no. I, I look at my, parents that I know personally and have gotten to watch them up close.
Steven Stack: so grew up in South Carolina, with my siblings and as far as really money was concerned, my parents did help me. A, a pretty solid foundation, around money of really three things. number one, don't spend more than what you make. Make sure you put aside money for a rainy day. Which nowadays people tend to call it an emergency fund or emergency reserves or however the savings name is, you wanna put it.
Steven Stack: And the third thing was be generous. Be giving to others, be mindful of others that, we're really blessed to be a blessing, to those around us. And that if you can kind of keep those things, intact, that you'll probably live a meaningful life. So I really felt like I had a healthy, core foundation.
Steven Stack: Now. I didn't know a bunch of stuff about investing and things like. But I, I did have plenty enough to be dangerous. And last thing I'll say real quickly here is, I personally, even though I didn't come from a lot of wealth, financially or materially, I really do personally feel that. I have never had a day of my life where I didn't feel immensely wealthy.
Steven Stack: and I, and I say that because I grew up in a home that was rich in love, enjoy, and peace. we laughed a lot. We actually enjoyed being around each other. Low key or hi key, however you wanna put it. I think that tremendously serves me well when it came time to get out on my own and think about things like delayed gratification, being content with the things that I had while pressing forward, for more that uh, I love
Anne-Lyse Wealth: that.
Anne-Lyse Wealth: You I see this all the time too, generational wealth to me, it's beyond just money and material things. And I feel like values, the things, those intangibles that you get from your parents or previous generations actually will take you much further than the material. I'm so, so, so glad that you led with that.
Anne-Lyse Wealth: I was listening to a podcast interview that you did where, you you talked about the fact that you were. Self-made millionaire. Mm. And it's really refreshing to hear that, especially in a day and age where, you the self-made millionaire narrative or billionaire it's what catches people's attention.
Anne-Lyse Wealth: But literally, I was just on a podcast this week sharing that I would never really call myself a self-made anything because of the foundation, the lessons, the values that I've been able to learn from my family that I've played. Big role in my life. And I know you've touched on some of those things already.
Anne-Lyse Wealth: Some of the financial lessons, but beyond that, all of the amazing things that Your family has been able to teach you. you know, because a lot of times people spend their thirties, even forties and beyond, recovering from financial mistakes that they made early on in life.
Anne-Lyse Wealth: And obviously that was not the case with you. I'm curious to hear more about how those lessons. Those, family experiences guided you in your, you twenties to get to a point where you became a millionaire 31.
Steven Stack: Yeah. thank you for really asking that and just teeing me up here I'm, thinking about fellow dreamers that are, Right now, to a speak.
Steven Stack: And a lot of times when we get into financial conversations, for people especially that may have, families of their own, they're constantly thinking about, Man, you know, I want to give my kids what I didn't have. And they may be thinking about, you the material things and, and opportunities, which there's nothing really inherently wrong with that.
Steven Stack: But always like to encourage people, Don't forget to give the next generation the things you did have and even things that you may not have received that wasn't material. and I say that because I'll just be really real and raw with the fellow dreamers here of being able to grow.
Steven Stack: In a home where I was encouraged, where I was able to be, affirmed, have time to be paid attention to, to work through things, whether it was, educationally of just doing homework together, if I needed to sort some things out, or, or being in an environment where I really didn't have to question.
Steven Stack: Whether or not I was, loved and valued, you would think, Well man, what does that have to do with money? But I'd argue pretty much everything. and maybe we'll talk about this later, and really, I'm not like a, shameless plug kind of person, but I think it's really important, One of the things I wrote in, a book called Simple Money Talks, which is the only one that I've ever written thus far, at least I'll say that, is I said that, most people will say that money makes the world go around, but I actually believe that love and the pursuit it is what makes the world go around.
Steven Stack: because I felt really secure, in the love in the family that I grew up in, I didn't feel a need to say, Man, I gotta have the flyest shoes to feel valuable. Or even now, today as I'm traveling way towards 40. I don't feel that I have to have the nicest vehicle for people to pay attention to me, for, me to be a somebody.
Steven Stack: there's, there's a, a quote that used to be said back in the day, know, kind of this idea of, the suit makes the man. I'm like, No, no, no, no, no. The man makes the suit. Ooh, I love it, . I'm me.
Anne-Lyse Wealth: it seems that, from your upbringing, know, you left your, parents' household as a teenager just knowing that, you your value came from within you.
Anne-Lyse Wealth: Yes. Which I think a lot of times. that's something that people sometimes learn later in life I, I truly believe in value based spending and sometimes we spend our money on things that we actually don't value just because we won't need pension. Just knowing that you don't need those things.
Anne-Lyse Wealth: You can get them if you want them, if you actually value them, I think is half of the battle in terms of, like wealth building journey, knowing exactly, Hey, my value is from within me. I don't need those things to feel valuable and you I'm working towards something as you were. Right. And if I decide to get those things now later, it's really because I want them.
right. Exactly. earlier you said that, you know, you help people, with their finances and But can you talk to me a little bit about what you were doing prior to that?
Steven Stack: Yeah. coming up I was always really good with numbers, which is good for finances, but good for a lot of things in life.
Steven Stack: And so, when I went to college, I actually studied engineering, so that was my major. and I actually ended up starting in the corporate arena with an engineering role, which was a, a really good, respected Pretty well role that I started with and kind of to place the timing for people.
Steven Stack: when I started, it was in that oh 8, 0 9 timeframe of thinking like housing market crisis. Great recession is right when I was entering into the workforce.
Anne-Lyse Wealth: Got it. you became a, Millionaire by 31, and I heard you on the His and Her Money podcast saying that early on when you started working, you decided that you wanted to be work optional by age 45.
Anne-Lyse Wealth: What did you mean by that?
Steven Stack: so the time they know, personal finance. fleshed out the way it is today. So I had made up this word of saying, Hey, I want to be retire. Mm-hmm. at age 45. And what I meant by that is that by that age, whatever work I am doing or whatever work I would be doing would be precisely what I want to do.
Steven Stack: That I would not be working a. Just because I needed the paycheck that it would be, Hey, no, I just really desire doing this type of work. Or even if for some reason I kind of sorta was doing something that I was just meant about, it's only because I hadn't quite identified precisely what would be the thing that I would want to be doing.
Steven Stack: So I just wanted to have flexibility and have options. At least by 45. I did not have a vision of being 59 and a half or 60 or 65 and just plowing through and working, just whatever was in front of me.
Anne-Lyse Wealth: So how old were you when you made that decision?
Steven Stack: I was like 22.
Anne-Lyse Wealth: I'm sure people are listening or watching and they're thinking that sounds good.
Anne-Lyse Wealth: Right? But they might already be 45. like for someone who wants to. Be work optional in the next 10, 15 years. can you talk to me more about how you were able to even educate yourself to achieve that goal? I'm gonna really try to answer that question more for today cuz I'll be able to give people more insight.
Steven Stack: 22. Cause at that 22, my answer to that was I'm going to invest slash say, but really invest at least 50% of my income. But at 22, just is just me. Hmm. so my costs weren't very high and I had just come from college where literally the only thing I owned was a fu. that was my thought process.
Steven Stack: Then today, what I would say is, first off, try to define what are your actual expenses. So like, get an understanding of where you're at, what your typical monthly expenses would be. of just What has to kind of keep life generally going. Now for some people they may want to be a little bit more, liberal with that.
Steven Stack: Some people may wanna be more conservative with that, but I'll let you figure out that number for you of this is what it would take monthly and then say, Okay, well then what would it take yearly and. A way you could look at doing that as saying, multiplying that yearly number by anywhere from like 25 to 30 times of expenses to at least first off help you establish a target that you're shooting for of saying, Hey, I need this amount of assets built up to try to free myself.
Steven Stack: Now that's kind of like a, you more, somewhat of the. Now for something that, man, that's too far for me. can I have 10 years worth of expenses built up in assets? Like you can figure out your number of just what kind of makes you feel more comfortable with what your current situation is.
Steven Stack: that, that's what I would. Of trying to figure that part out and then saying, Okay, how much do I need to invest to get there? What kind of investment return, do I also need to reach that point? Cuz you're not gonna be able to save your way to wealth. You're gonna have to invest, you're gonna have to take risk.
Steven Stack: And the reality is, I know for, predominantly minority communities, many times we tend to. More risk averse and just in the interest of time, I won't get into the depths historically for why that is an earned perspective in a lot of ways. but we just need to understand that if you're only saving and not doing any investing, you are also assuming risk by doing that.
Steven Stack: And it is sure fire. To erode your money just due to inflation. and we're experiencing that right now, like we're in a high inflationary environment. So if you're only saving and not putting. Any money at quote unquote risk, just understand that that is a risk as well. And last thing, I'll give you just a quick example just so people can understand that.
Steven Stack: Cuz you may be like, Oh man, Steven, you're speaking beyond me and I don't want to do that. Like I'm a teacher at heart. Think about it this way. If you have to drive to work or if you have to take public transit, you know, whether it's, you a metro or know, bus, whatever the case.
Steven Stack: You are taking risk when you get into the car to drive to work. It's possible someone could hit you. It's possible. Maybe you get a speeding ticket there's a lot of different things that can go wrong, but you assume the risk because you're like, Hey, I need to get to work to generate income to, you know, live my life.
Steven Stack: Like investing, think of it as, Hey, I've gotta get in the car. I've gotta get in the car towards the potential financial freedom and or independence that I'm looking for. That's
Anne-Lyse Wealth: very interesting. So if I'm not investing, I'm basically choosing to stay home and not a living.
Steven Stack: Yeah. that's really a way to think of it, of make a living for future self.
Steven Stack: Think of it like that, cuz the here and now, Yeah, you're earning money right now, but what if you're in a space where you can't generate active income anymore? if you don't make money in your sleep, you'll work till you die. So at
Anne-Lyse Wealth: 22, when you make the decision to work towards, becoming work optional by age 45, can you tell me about what you decided to invest in?
Steven Stack: Yes. it really was two things. real estate and the stock market. again, if we go back, it was like oh 8, 0 9. So I'm hearing about how bad the market is that we're in the worst recessionary environment since the great depress. it started in 1929 and going forward. So I'm like, Okay, if things are really this bad, then I should be looking to buy.
Steven Stack: This is a great time to buy assets at a discount. Mm-hmm. . those were the places that I really started plowed into in those early years. Now eventually I got some. exposure to, different asset classes, but I never stopped investing like even to this day in the stock market in real estate.
Anne-Lyse Wealth: for anyone that is watching or listening to show that might not know much about the stock market, and they're looking at the news right now and people are saying, Oh, the stock market is, you tanking and all that stuff, like how can they get started and take advantage of the opportunity that you mentioned, Right?
Anne-Lyse Wealth: Buying things are not looking good at the moment. Like One of the simplest ways for people to get started that can potentially be more of a, like a layup or a low hanging fruit is many people, their jobs, their employers offer some type of work sponsored plan, people to contribute to, and they tend to have some type of incentive with it, of giving you a match.
Steven Stack: For you contributing to this plan, obviously you're gonna wanna know things called a besting schedule, which just means how long do you have to be employed there before you get to keep all the money that your employer throws towards your retirement plan in those matches. but that's an easy way to get started.
Steven Stack: That's right there. It's part of your benefits package. Potentially, you I, I know that's not offered for everyone's job. but that's a great place to start. And typically the options are gonna be pretty diversified. many times I'll see. some type of index fund type of a setup or something called a target date fund or like a life cycle fund.
Steven Stack: And so for those who are listening right now and you're like, what does he mean? If you're looking at those options, you might see something say if you are in around your mid thirties, like it might say life cycle 2000. Which just means it's saying, Hey, You're buying assets on a schedule for, if you were gonna retire around 2050 and you would be around like 60 years old.
Anne-Lyse Wealth: earlier you said that at that time you were investing 50% of your income, I'm going to assume that you weren't just investing in your company's, sponsored retirement accounts.
can you tell me more about what you were doing outside of that?
Steven Stack: yeah, so have the company thing set up, did some general investing in the stock market, uh, used, a Roth IRA, used a taxable brokerage account of just a regular, you're just out here investing for some people.
Steven Stack: You do like a HSA health savings account. but I also did real estate, so I knew. I wanted to have long term rental properties. but I didn't have like super duper crazy capital, like just laying on this side. what I did is I started by doing, something called, rehabs or house would, I was buying properties that were foreclosed.
Steven Stack: And then fixing them up, doing repairs and things like that. And then I would have holding cost of just, Hey, now it's fixed, It's on the market, so I'm paying the mortgage, I'm paying for the, you little bit of the utilities and all those things until I got an accepted offer from somebody to buy it from me.
Steven Stack: And then at that, That's when I actually received proceeds and made a profit on those deals. But I was doing it with a thought to take the chunks to then start buying long term rentals, which I started buying multifamily properties. Talk to me more about that. right. Yeah. knowing people get a little bit more excited about real estate
Steven Stack: the, I did the flips, started making some chunks of money. But again, I knew I wanted to have more regulated income of having that kind of monthly cash flow for rentals. Cuz with the flips, no beefs on it. There's people that are amazing with it, but you pretty much don't make your money till the end.
Steven Stack: everything before that is you're just spending, you're acquiring the property, you're fixing it. And then you're waiting until somebody buys it from you. and I'm like, Hey, I would love to just actually receive funds as I go. so yeah, took the chunks. and there was someone that was actually a trusted, friend, that was already buying in a particular area.
Steven Stack: like, he helped me get connect. With people in that local market that I wanted to start acquiring properties, to be able to get, that first multifamily and then I, just, started to continue, to buy from there. But that's where I started. I'll say this real quick for people, they're like, Oh my gosh.
Steven Stack: well, how did you figure that out? Like, how did you find that person? Literally, all I did is I just started talking about what I desired. my company that I was, working for, they had training that I had to do just around like time management and public speaking. I'd have to give like, one minute speech, three minute speech, five minute.
Steven Stack: and it was timed and a lot of times I would use those speeches to actually just talk about my desire to want to get into, real estate. and so eventually it just did it enough times where there were some people who were like, Oh, well actually, you know, somebody. Who's in real estate?
Steven Stack: Hey, let me get you connected with person or that person. Or you can go to r meetings, like Real Estate Investment Association, meetings in your local city to just start building those connections with maybe realtors, contractors, just all kinds of different people that may be affiliated in that industry to start building your team and your connections.
Steven Stack: when opportunities present themselves, you're ready.
Anne-Lyse Wealth: how many units was that first, multifamily
Steven Stack: property? It was a duplex. two units. yeah, was actually really exciting, to be able to do this. And this is actually something I haven't shared publicly that I'll share right now.
Steven Stack: is. first off, the first property that I actually bought, I bought an investment property before I had ever bought a home to in. and if it wasn't for getting an incredible steal of a deal on a foreclosed single family home, was actually looking to buy. A duplex as my primary residence for the first home that I was going to live in because I wanted to live in one side and then rent out the other side. this would've been, I was living in, the Midwest at this time. I actually never shared that. I wanted to do the multifamily, situation, even back in like 2010 slash 2011 of when I was really looking at, getting a home to live in.
Steven Stack: I wanted the house hack, but ended up getting a house that was so far under market at that time and was foreclosed on that. I'm like, Yeah, no, I'm gonna go with. That sounds
Anne-Lyse Wealth: like a good idea. . So, When you bought that first multifamily though, the one that obviously was an investment property, right?
how much did you have to save, uh, to put down for that property and for repairs and things like that?
Steven Stack: Yeah, so I'll give you guys like the crazy numbers, which by the way, when there is a major like recession or market, It is a wonderful time to be looking to buy.
Steven Stack: Like don't look at it fully in fear. Look at it with hopefulness and opportunity. I had to put 25% down to get it cuz it was an out-of-state rental property. and just to give you guys the numbers, the first one I bought it was $50,000. . Wow. That was 2011
Steven Stack: though, right? yeah, yeah, yeah. It's back in that timeframe. So it was only $50,000. But to put it in perspective, the area where it was in, the height of the market in 2007, this same multi-family property was selling for somewhere around. 200,000. Wow. properties that were similar to it.
Steven Stack: I was buying it already knowing that it was way less than what the potential had been. Now the market had been overheated, but I'm like, come on now. It's not, wasn't that much overheated. YouI knew I was already buying. a, in a good space. Got
Anne-Lyse Wealth: it. it's great to hear about your real estate strategies, your investment strategies.
Anne-Lyse Wealth: Obviously you received some very valuable, many lessons, you growing up and you've been making all the right decisions. It seems very age , but you I wanna hear about. Like one of the money mistakes that you've made.
this is actually another one that I've never shared publicly. one that I actually would say I still think about. So in one sense, I don't have regret about it because I operated in what I knew at the time. But in another sense I do because I'm like, Oh my goodness, I knew what was up.
Steven Stack: it wasn't many years after I had started buying properties in that area, the same area where I paid $50,000 for that first duplex. Cause I started to continue acquiring more. there was a deal and, oh man, this, going to kind of bring me to a place. There was someone who was looking to sell nine of those for 60,000 each. deal.
Steven Stack: They didn't want to break off any of them, cuz I, trust me, if I could have gotten all nine, like, I would've offered, 540,000, which would've been the equivalent of 60,000 for each of the nine.
the issue that I was running into at the time was I wasn't legally allowed to have nine mortgages. Like I Cuz coming out of the great recession, there were much tighter, restrictions and regulations on things around housing.
Steven Stack: and like lending practices and things like that. So the regret, or however you wanna look at it was. like, I really stayed within the box of what I knew. I, I tried to figure out how to get it amongst those that were around me and, just what I understood.
Steven Stack: But I definitely wish I would have pushed much harder of. Taking a stance of saying, I'm not gonna take no for an answer. I'm gonna find a way not by hook or by crook, you know, legally and ethically, to be able to get the funds, you know, I did talk to someone who.
Steven Stack: Would've had a large amount and I would've paid them, like a percentage just to be able to get access to it. but I gave up too easily. well how much is it worth today? That's why. Exactly, Exactly. Cause right now the people listening, they're like, Oh, give yourself a break.
Steven Stack: It's not that big of a deal. You know, I feel extremely confident that I could have gotten all nine of them at 60,000 piece or $540,000 total. These properties. we're going for over 200 grand not that long ago, .
Anne-Lyse Wealth: I'm sorry. It hurts.
Steven Stack: Yeah. Oh, okay. So for the listeners, those that, hey, math may not be a thing if I just round it down and say 200,000 times nine, that's 1.8 million.
Steven Stack: What, you acquiring at 540,000? And by the way, all of them were cash flowing too. Oh, oh my. So they were making money too, and, and there were easy wins because I was already a real estate investor. I mean? So I was already a landlord, so it wasn't like I had no experience.
Steven Stack: With, you know, managing properties, had a great property manager, knew I could have negotiated getting the property management fees down, because now that's nine more, properties, or 18 more units that I'm bringing the fold for them. there were easy things that needed to be done that. Given the tenants value, but also increased rents because things would've been repaired or tended to.
Steven Stack: cuz I've always had a mentality of, Hey, I treat tenants with dignity, honor, respect, as people, I don't look at it as just, Oh, this is just money to be made. I'm like, No, people have chosen to make these units their. they're sanctuary of rest and joy and you all that kind of stuff.
Steven Stack: so I wanted to, you reasonably, but still meaningfully do things to reinvest in them, but they were already cash flowing. Very nicely. Like I don't really wanna say, uh, how much it was already making annually after expenses. know, you gonna make me cry. You gonna put me on the couch?
Anne-Lyse Wealth: You said enough, said, you've said enough.
Anne-Lyse Wealth: I'm not even gonna go there. But I think that, You also have to give yourself some slack because you have more information and more knowledge. Now you know more about the resources than back then. I mean, it is a tough, pill to swallow, , I'm not gonna lie. But what's the lesson that we can learn from
Steven Stack: this like, when you have an edge, like when you, have knowledge, some type of market edge or whatever the case may be.
Steven Stack: Go big. Hmm. Go big. Because part of why I gave up ultimately so easily in that situation was just because now was planned small. Because I'm like, you that amount of money, was more than what I had at the time. so it would've been a big risk cuz if I had said, Hey, I'm not taking no for an answer.
Steven Stack: What it would've meant is, Hey, I would've been taking on a lot more debt. whether I just got a personal entity or got some type of, you private loan where, you're saying, 20% down on 540,000, what would be left would be 432 grand of what the loan would. Which is a lot, like, it's close to half a million dollars for a, a guy in his twenties, So there was probably some, just playing too small. I don't know, maybe fear or insecurity. I couldn't tell you what it was, but something stopped me from. Even though I know these things are going to appreciate, stopped me from going all out and saying, Hey, even though I don't have the answers in front of me of how to do this, I'm literally going to go until I get a yes because this is a transformative amount of funds that could be made literal.
Steven Stack: we're probably talking really to the tune of at least 2 million.
Anne-Lyse Wealth: I like what you just said. Now, Actually, I don't know if you mentioned this on the podcast, but I've read or I've heard you on other podcasts, say that you are a debt free millionaire, I'm curious to hear now about your decision to be debt free, because if I'm expanding on what you're saying, then why not leverage debt to continue to build, your real estate portfolio.
Steven Stack: Right, you're really hitting the nail on the head of where I was at, Like my understanding was, oh man.
Steven Stack: What if I have this much debt? I know I don't have that much money to be able to pay for this. So if this goes sideways, now I'm having the work to keep these properties up rolling. it was beyond what I could handle. Like it really would've meant that the investment would've had to work.
Steven Stack: But the reality is it would have worked. But I was, it was already working exactly because it was already working. and, know, I've got a different relationship with even how I view debt. ultimately, I still, I look at debt as it, I understand that it is something that you do have to pay back. But there's bad debt of where you are going into debt for things that don't go up in value, that's really how I would define, quote unquote bad debt.
Steven Stack: And some people, again, I've never said this publicly either, what I'm about to say, but some people say good debt and bad debt. I won't call it good debt. I call it strategic. because you do have to pay it back, like, cuz if, you're called on it and they say, Hey, we need you to pay it back, now you're in a spot where you have to pay it back.
Steven Stack: But strategic debt says, I'm acquiring this debt. To get access to an asset that goes up in value and potentially generates income or cash flow that has a surplus beyond the debt payments I have to make. so yes, I am a debt. Millionaire, which includes even my home is paid off, which that was just a, a personal decision, to do that.
Steven Stack: And I don't regret it. But here's the cool part about it. If I want to, I can always leverage against this thing. . Yeah. Literally at any point. Like it's, been paid off for years now. but it's not like I can't tap. The equity on the home, and for those who are wondering, it's called a home equity line of credit or a helo.
Steven Stack: Like I could do that if I wanted to, have access to a, fairly high six figure amount to deploy strategically to build more assets.
Anne-Lyse Wealth: I really like the strategic debt versus good debt because it gives you a clear understanding that even though there is debt that is better than other kinds of debt, you still shouldn't leverage too much.
Anne-Lyse Wealth: Correct. about it. I love that. since hitting the Millionaire Milestone, how has your life changed?
have you made any adjustment to your.
So in one sense, there were things that didn't change because, mean, the reality is if you were 800 grand or nine 50 and now you're at a million, it's like, okay. cool I'm at a million and now it's over and continuing to, you go. so in that sense, a little surreal, but, it's easier to make money, because you just have more of it. So the compounding effect of it, when the market is churning or, you've got all these different assets, you see how much easier it is to make it, another thing that's kind of just changed with life is I've got more ownership of my time and I'm mindful of it, of being in the spaces that I actually wanna be in versus, less of just kind of what I have to. even right we're doing this podcast, I wanna be here.
Steven Stack: I'm glad you feel . Right, right, right. I wanna be here. mean? So meeting with just good people. And having the space to be able to do that. So those would be kind of like the two big things is it's easier to make money, or make larger amounts because that compounding effect of wealth building and more ownership of my time.
we talked about. know, knowing that you have value within yourself and not having to spend money on things to feel valuable. But I would love to hear about the last thing that you sludged on.
Steven Stack: I'm glad you asked. So, when I actually met you at the conference I was wearing, the last thing that I had splurged on there was some Nike, shoes. That I had bought a pair of these kicks, back in 2019, and they're like my favorite shoes. So comfortable.
Steven Stack: simple, stylish, classic field at white and black, which is kind of like my essence of me. I'm more of a, classic kind of guy with style, but I don't have to be like super flashy, you know what But you know, I'm put together, right? So. I bought these kicks again,
Steven Stack: So I literally bought the same pair of 'em, that I'd had before, and it was kind of as a celebration because Right before going to that conference, I had done 200 days of exercise for the year, which was my goal to hit that. So I had just hit it the night before.
Steven Stack: Um, and I had already bought the shoes they had shipped and I'm like, Man, I'm. Because they super comfortable and they look nice too. if I ain't have to get up, I would put 'em in the camera. .
Anne-Lyse Wealth: mean, Steven, I could really just keep going and keep talking to you, but , I think it might be time to move on to the rapid fire questions. Okay. And you can just answer with the first thing that comes to mind. Okay. Tell me about a book that change of perspective on life.
Steven Stack: Ooh.
Steven Stack: So I'm gonna go different here. It's called The Color of Money by a lady named Mesa Barran. it's the history of, black banks and the racial wealth gap. Phenomenal book changed so much of my thinking in a good way. What's
Anne-Lyse Wealth: one life lesson you learned the hard way?
make sure you understand what you're investing in. likely if you don't understand how it works, how it makes money for you and for all parties involved, it's probably isn't good for you to invest in.
Anne-Lyse Wealth: What's one thing about many you wish you could tell your younger self?
Go big. Don't play small. What's
Anne-Lyse Wealth: the best investment in yourself you've made so far?
Steven Stack: every bit of trainings, certifications, books. Coursework, Like obviously all the good ones, Obviously sometimes when you go through that you'd be like, Dang, Oh yeah. All of them filling
Anne-Lyse Wealth: the blank in three words or less.
Anne-Lyse Wealth: Money to me is
Steven Stack: flexibility.
Anne-Lyse Wealth: What do you want your legacy
Anne-Lyse Wealth: to be? He loved God and people.
Anne-Lyse Wealth: So Steven, it's really been great having you on the podcast. Thank you for sharing all your gems with the listeners and the viewers.
Anne-Lyse Wealth: Please tell the dreamers where they can find you.
Anne-Lyse Wealth: Yeah. Uh, few different ways. I've got a website. It's just stephen l stack.com. Stephen, with a v, so s t e v E N l stack, s t a c k.com. So that's one way, on social media, I like to regularly. Things just encourage people around money, life, just things that are gonna help you ultimately in your wealth on a journey, uh, motivate you, challenge you, et cetera.
Anne-Lyse Wealth: My handle, for Instagram is stacking with stacks or stacking with a g with. Stack. same for, TikTok and Facebook. Uh, for Twitter it's just Stephen l Stack. I'm probably most active on Instagram. but please feel free to follow me. if you met me through this as a dreamer, feel free to even slide in the DM and be like, Hey, what's up?
Anne-Lyse Wealth: I heard you on a Dreamer's podcast. I'm, generally, uh, pretty responsive actually, uh, with, with, the messages as well. All right. Thank you, Steven. You're welcome. Truly. Thank you. .