https://www.alainguillot.com/poor-people/

Poor people stay poor because they are afraid other poor people will judge them for trying to get rich. -Dave Ramsey I think this is very appropriate, we are victims of our environment and we are deeply influenced by the people around us. I have a few friends who are rich, and I try to learn as much as possible from them. I also have some friends who are poor and although I enjoy their company, I try not to be like them. In the artistic community where I navigate, people are often called “Sold out” if the primary reasons to produce art is to make money. The truth is that in North America, many people are poor because they prefer to be poor, they have all the resources necessary to get out of poverty, but there are psychological factors that prevent them from building wealth. Reasons Why People Prefer to Stay Poor Social Pressure: People often conform to the expectations of their social group. Most stay poor not due to a lack of resources—especially in an era when everyone has a supercomputer in their pocket—but because they don’t want to betray their social group. This is a sociological phenomenon known as “crab mentality” or “crabs in a bucket” mentality. This idea suggests that members of a community or social group may, consciously or unconsciously, prevent each other and themselves from achieving success or rising above their current status. Religious Beliefs: There are many religions that discourage building wealth. In Christianity, the Bible states in Timothy 6:10, “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil,” and in Matthew 6:24, “You cannot serve both God and money.” Islam teaches that “Richness does not lie in the abundance of worldly goods but richness is the richness of the soul.” Buddhism warns that attachment to material possessions and wealth can lead to suffering and distract individuals from the path to enlightenment. Hinduism views wealth as one of the four goals of life but emphasizes pursuing it in a balanced way that aligns with dharma (moral duty) and without greed. Self-Sabotage: Individuals from poorer backgrounds who achieve some level of success may feel like imposters or believe they do not deserve their achievements. This can lead to self-sabotage or not pursuing further opportunities. Breaking the Cycle Jim Rohn famously said, “Your net worth is the average of your five closest friends.” The people you spend the most time with have a significant impact on your attitudes, behaviors, and ultimately, your success. Although many of my friends are artists who struggle financially, I constantly seek the friendship and wisdom of those who are more successful than me. Steps to Breaking the Cycle: Surround Yourself with Successful People: In your environment, try to find the friendship of people who can guide and mentor you. Consume Inspirational Media: I constantly read books, listen to podcasts, and watch YouTube videos that motivate me. The messages are often repetitive, but they continuously reinforce the idea that I must do better. By adopting these strategies and changing your mindset, you can break free from the cycle of poverty and embrace a path to wealth and success.

https://www.alainguillot.com/inflation/

Inflation is high, and I can feel it. Food costs more, going out to restaurants costs more, and the cost of housing is going through the roof. Many of my friends are nervous and unhappy, and most of them are looking for solutions to cut costs.

Cutting costs is easy: you buy the bare minimum and only buy things that are on special, and you deprive yourself of this or the other thing, but there is a limit to how much you can cut cost. The solution has to be on the other side of the equation. Instead of looking for ways to cut costs, you could be asking yourselves, how can you earn more? There is no limit to how much you can earn, so if you look for solutions, you might find them.

A big part of inflation is the cost of labor. This means that if you are part of the labor force, you need to find a way to get paid more. If you are an employee, this is a good time to ask for a raise or switch to another company that will pay you more. If you are an entrepreneur, this is a good time to increase your prices.

Also, if you are an investor, you have no reason to complain. Inflation is currently about 3%, while if you are invested in any broad-based index fund or ETF, your returns are well above 10%. The S&P 500 is up 17% so far this year and 24% over the past 12 months. You should be celebrating.

In conclusion, try to find a way in which inflation is working for you and not against you.

https://www.alainguillot.com/frugality-2/

I have always lived a frugal life, but now as I am transitioning into retirement, I am questioning my frugality.

When I came to Canada, as an international student, I experienced financial hardship, like most college students. I was working under the table because I didn’t have a work visa and I hardly had enough money to pay for my food, my rent, and my tuition. Since then I developed the habit of excessive frugality. I didn’t see how I could earn more money, so I decided to go on the extreme of spending as least as possible.

This continued later on in life, I became a freelancer because I was never able to find a job that paid me a regular salary. Never in my work history I had a regular salary and I was always anxious about money, so I continued my habits of extreme frugality.

Along the way, I learned about the FIRE movement, which is based on only spending a small portion of my income so that I could accumulate enough wealth to retire early. This is exactly what I did, but this goal to retire early continue reinforcing my habit of extreme frugality.

Finally, this year I reached my FIRE number, and I aware that the mentality of extreme frugality is no longer serving me well. Now I have to learn how to spend more money and enjoy life a bit more.

I don’t follow any budget. Instinctively, I have an aversion to spending. For years, my trick was to pay myself first first. Once I deposited money in my bank account, I would allow myself to spend the rest. Now that I am retired, I withdraw a set amount from my broker’s account every month. If I need more, I just withdraw more.

This brings me to the subject of investing. Most financial advisors suggest that as you approach retirement, you should own less stocks and more bonds. I have mentioned it several times, that investing in bonds is shooting yourself in the foot. I am 100% invested in stocks and my money is growing at a faster rate than I can spend it.

I also feel fortunate to be a man. As a man I don’t spend much money on clothing or cosmetic, as many women do. I see some of my female friends spending money on beauty and fashion and I just shake my head and count my blessings.

I do enjoy spending time with friends, but that’s easy for me. My closest friends live only a few minutes away from my apartment and most of the time we open a bottle of wine and meet at the park. It’s easy and not expensive.

I find joy in the simple things of life, such as reading, writing, eating with friends.

I do have two advantages in keeping my expenses low. My rent is low, and I don’t own a car. I own a bicycle, I take the metro, I enjoy walking, and use a car-sharing service when I need to go far.

Since I mentioned walking, I walk about one hour ever day, that way I stay in shape and I don’t have to pay a membership to the gym.

Another advantage is that I shop at a small family grocery store close to my apartment where the prices are much cheaper than at the big brand grocery stores in Canada.

Also, I make it a point never to buy processed foods. I think that processed foods are poison to our bodies. I cook most of my meals at home. They consist of vegies, frits, and grains. I tend not to eat meat.

I have nothing of value in my apartment, most of my furniture I have is second hand. The only thing in my apartment that I really care about in my laptop and my two computer screens. Since I have nothing of value in the apartment, I don’t pay for apartment insurance. And of course, since I don’t have a car, I don’t pay for car insurance either. Finally, I don’t have any dependents, so I don’t need life insurance either.

I never eat at restaurants or order takeout if I am by myself, I can always prepare a meal in a few minutes. However, I do go to restaurants when I am with friends and that happens about once or twice a week.

https://www.alainguillot.com/passion-vs-paycheck/ There is an ongoing debate about whether to study what you’re passionate about or to study for a job that will pay well. I studied to make money, and now that I have financial stability, I am able to pursue other passions such as dance, photography and podcasting. On the other hand, many people who study to follow their passion often end up working in fields unrelated to their studies and struggle financially because they don’t make a enough money to pay their bills. For example Britney here studied drama and communications and now owes $118,000 in student loans. Most of these young students don’t understand the consequences of getting student loans. They have a herd mentality. They get a college degree and get into debt without realizing that one day they will have to pay those loans back. Britney works three jobs to pay her student loans, none of those jobs require a college education, and Britney is not doing the thing that she studied for, which is drama, so she could had gotten those jobs without going to college, without getting into debt, and she could have joined a drama club on the weekends, or evenings. And she would have been much better off. Many colleges are encouraging students to get degrees in fields where there is very little employment opportunities. You definitely can study anything you want, but if get a student loan, you have to be aware that you have to pay it back, and most likely your crazy degree will not help you do that. In this video from New York University Gallatin, students get to make up their own major, which is ok, if that’s what they want to do with their time, but I have a hard time figuring out who will give them a job, other than Starbucks. Here is another liberal art student, she cannot find a job after graduating with two degrees, communications and acting. I have mentioned it several times in my blog posts and videos that you should only go into debt if you are reasonably certain that you will get a job that will at least allow you to pay off that debt. If you have artistic dreams, you really don’t need to go to school for that. I have shared many times how I became a dance teacher and then the owner of a dance school without studying dance, and how I became a professional photographer without ever taking a photography class. And I don’t owe any money for learning those skills. If I can do it, I am sure you can do it too. I think that all these young students who are getting into debt for degrees with limited job opportunities should have a conversation with someone who cares about them and who can provide a realistic picture of what life looks like with a degree that has limited value in the market place. Young students face immense pressure to choose a college major, get into debt, and figure things out later on in life, because that’s what everyone else does. My main advice is this: Don’t go into debt for a liberal arts degree. If you or your parents can afford it, that’s fine, but please, don’t get into debt for a degree that has limited market opportunity.

https://www.alainguillot.com/billionaires-generosity/ Billionaires are giving away most of their wealth. All my life I have been hearing that Billionaires are greedy, that all they care about is their money, at the exclusion of everything else, but that’s not true, billionaires are extremely generous, with many of them giving all their wealth away to many charitable organizations. Last week, it was announced that Warren Buffet is donating another $5.3 billion dollar to a charity organization. He’s 93 years old, he probably knows that the end is near and he’s ramping up his donation endeavors. So far, Warren Buffet has donated $57 billon and he’s planning to donate 99% of his wealth to different charities. Right now he’s worth $128 billion, so he’s giving away $127 billion. ( Hey Warren Buffett, I would not mind receiving a $1 million to continue working on this blog). But Warren Buffet is not the only billionaire giving his money away. Other successful billionaires are giving billions most of their money to different charity organizations. Bill Gates: Co-founder of Microsoft has donated billions towards global health, education, and poverty alleviation. Mark Zuckerberg: The founder and CEO of Facebook, committed to giving away 99% of their Facebook shares over their lifetimes for causes such as health, education, and community-building. Elon Musk: CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, he has donated significant amounts to science, engineering education, and renewable energy research. George Soros: has given away billions to promote democracy, human rights, and social justice around the world. Michael Bloomberg: Former Mayor of New York City and founder of Bloomberg LP, he has donated billions towards public health, climate change, and other civic initiatives. And most rich people who don’t have the stature of billionaires, are also giving away most of their wealth. Through their charitable endeavors, these individuals inspire us all to think beyond ourselves and contribute to the greater good.

https://www.alainguillot.com/woke-ideology/ Tractor Supply Company, a $29.3 Billion company, the largest rural lifestyle retailer in the U.S, ranking 291 on the Fortune 500. Yesterday, June 27th, decided to stop all DEI (Diversity, Equity, an Inclusion) ideologies. The company will end all “Diversity, Equity, Inclusion” programs and will no longer support LGBTQ and global warming causes. “We work hard to live up to our mission and values every day and represent the values of the communities and customers we serve. We have heard from customers that we have disappointed them. We have taken this feedback to heart. Going forward, we will ensure our activities and giving tie directly to our business,” In their news release they said that they: stop sponsoring nonbusiness activities like pride festivals Eliminate DEI roles and retire our current DEI goals We will continue to listen to our customers and Team Members. The Tennessee company also will break from the widespread U.S. corporate practice of submitting data to the Human Rights Campaign for the Corporate Equality Index score that the LGBTQ lobby group issues. I must congratulate the company for listening to the community, its customers, and Shareholders. It’s not every day that a company publicly recognize their mistakes. In early 2023, Bud Light partnered with Dylan Mulvaney, a transgender influencer, to promote their brand. This erroneous decision cost the company billions of dollars, and the company never apologized to its customer base. To this days, many people, including myself, would not spend any money on a Bud light. I believe that a business should focus on running a business. CEOs and other employees are stewards of the capital entrusted to them by the shareholders. A company’s leadership team is not there to entertain the latest ideological trends. Hiring should be done strictly on the basis of merit, nothing more.

https://www.alainguillot.com/disney-is-racist/ In an effort to promote DEI Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Disney is discriminating against white, straight men. Here is Michael Giordano, Senior Vice President at Disney describing how Disney has an unwritten policy to discriminate against white straight males in favor of blacks, females, or gays. Disney from an investor’s point of view Disney as an investment has been a failure. Disney’s stock price has gone down 25% during the last five years while the S&P 500 is up 85%. Its focus on politics, wokeness, and racism is robbing it of the best talent. In the movie/streaming war they are losing against Netflix. In the Park entertainment business, they are facing new challenges and they are turning away regular heterosexual families in favor of the zoo of sexual diversity clients they are catering to. How to boycott Disney If you are against racism, this is how to boycott Disney Stop Supporting the Company: Stop purchasing their products or using their services. Cancel any subscriptions or memberships, specifically the Disney channel and don’t attend to any movie produced by Disney. Encourage friends and family to do the same. Spread the Word: Use social media platforms to raise awareness about the company’s actions. Share articles, reports, and personal stories that highlight the issue.

https://www.alainguillot.com/matt-dicks/ In a world where businesses are constantly competing for attention, ‪@matthewjohndicks‬ Matt Dicks’ “Stories Sell” is a guide for anyone who wants to get ahead. As a storyteller myself, I felt connected with Matt’s approach to the art of storytelling in the business context. From the very first chapter, Matt shares his personal story. He starts telling us how he became a wedding DJ. In chapter 6 he talks about “Homework for Life” a daily exercise collecting everyday experiences to remember your life and to have and to use as a depository of daily stories. The book is divided into four parts, each describing the mechanics of storytelling. Matt shows you how to craft a story, starting with the basics and moving into advanced techniques. In the chapters on marketing and sales Matt give us actionable advice on how to incorporate storytelling into crucial aspects of business. What I like about the book is that Matt makes complex concepts accessible and enjoyable. He writes with humor, and shares many personal anecdotes that make the lessons memorable.