 Guys welcome back to the independent investor channel Ryan here Thought it would be prudent to come out with a video and talk about what everybody's talking about right now And that is the volatility not only the stock market, but the general economy and in general I typically take a fairly neutral perspective when these things happen and I go on about my daily life Understanding that there's going to be ups and there's going to be downs and we're just going through What is perceived to be just the end-all be all of the world right now and that the sky is falling I want to leave you with a few perspectives that help me Endure volatile times and give a little bit of tough love to what I feel like is somewhat of a sense of entitlement and this sense of entitlement has gotten worse and worse over the decades the older I get the more I Am disappointed in what people feel like they need and they misconstrue what basic needs are and what luxury items are and unfortunately those two they kind of get interchanged so much that people start to accept luxury as Basic needs and it's times like this when you start to look at your Luxury items being affected because everybody's telling you that that's the way that you need to feel and People in general are very very easily manipulated to think that everything is going to hell in a handbasket overnight I would fail to or Pose each and every one of you guys to compare where we were a year ago Even two years ago five years ago and ask yourself are we really that Different off now and a lot of people would say wait Ryan. Hold on a second every time I go to the fuel pump I've got to pay five dollars a gallon in gas every time I go and I Shop for my groceries. I've got to pay an over exuberant amount of money For that food a lot of people are continuing on with their bad habits Go into restaurants multiple times per week And they still want to complain about the high cost of goods and I think there's probably a middle ground there I think a lot of people Have a hard time digressing and pulling back a little bit in those areas that maybe they've never even looked at those areas That they can pull back on because they're stubborn and They want to blame the economy and they want to blame everything political and they want to blame this and they want to blame that But they fail to take a few moments just to look in the mirror and say you know what with regard to our most basic needs Food and fuel they're both in the sunken category cost But when was the last time you evaluated your food budget and Identified or earmarked those areas where you might be able to find a little bit of cost savings Okay, and these little injects can kind of help with the holistic picture. It can really help Not allow you to get caught up and succumb to the negative sentiment that is surrounding the World economy it was explained to me that everybody is reshaping the way that they live I don't allow society to affect the way that I live as a matter of fact I'm in a better position this year than I was last year and I'll be in a better position Next year than I am right now. It's just that simple I know it to be true and I will evaluate for myself One year from now whether or not that statement is true, but here's the thing after 43 years on this earth I fail to understand how we are that much worse off now Because we have to pay a few more dollars at the pump for gas. We have to pay a few more dollars On our groceries, I would challenge each and every one of you guys to question how much you're actually shopping for groceries As compared to going out and spending your money on other things such as restaurants Which in my mind fall in the luxury category and it just goes with that lack of discipline for people to say You know what I can kind of cut that out for the time being Guys, I like going to restaurants just as much as anybody and we just We did a move Here from Virginia to New York Relocated and when you do that you're forced to go into restaurants You're pulled away from your ability to cook and I have a family of four So, you know when you're stuck in that situation It helps make you realize that when you do away with those things that you know You get used to and we certainly do not take that stuff for granted because we are a cook at home family I think there's ideas that you could probably earmark in your food budget to allow yourself to take Take a skinny meal every now and then. Okay. Do you have to have meat five times a week? Can you segue some of those meals with a little bit more of a simple diet? We run a fairly simple diet and that helps us save immensely. That's what we do normally anyway And I think those little things, you know are not going to compound into multi millions Into your future. However, as a small aspect of your budget It can certainly help you contribute to the greater whole now with regard to fuel cost. I Hear a lot of people complaining right now about fuel costs, but the same token They're driving vehicles that don't get north of 10 miles to the gallon. Okay Now there's not a lot you can do about your commute. You have to get to work I totally understand that but when the market was going bananas There was a ton of people out there that were probably Extending themselves into vehicles that they did not need Again back to my point of mixing the basic need of getting from point a to point b Okay, now that doesn't mean you have to surrender all Stylistic need or desire in the car that you purchase is actually the contrary I would challenge each and every one of you guys to try to find the Balance between getting from point a to point b and finding that niche of look Maybe I don't need a Toyota Tundra. Maybe I can fall back and get something. That's a little bit more economical Which was my rationalization personally when I was looking at my desire to purchase a truck Opted for the Tacoma. I had owned one before you get north of 20 miles to the gallon and I'm not feeling the pinch Now our family car is a Honda Accord That Honda Accord gets 36 miles to the gallon and where a lot of people might be feeling the pinch at the gas pump having to Be subject to a commuter distance that's chewing them up But they're getting double-wacked Because they decided to buy a vehicle that was strictly on the luxury side You only have you to blame and this video isn't about being judgmental. It's about making sound decisions Look, if you're a multimillionaire out there guys, go buy whatever you want But people tune into the independent investor channel to get grassroots ground level in the trenches okay information about what you can do day to day to get ahead and Not be subject to the 58% of households out there that are struggling to make ends meet and you $250,000 household earners per year you need to listen up as well because you're the worst You have money and you're struggling as well 30% of that Specific demographic of people right now have admitted that they are feeling the pinch They are having trouble making ends meet you will get very little sympathy for me. I've never made $250,000 a year nor have I ever Made over six figures in my life However, the flip side of that is that I've been able to build a net worth that is worth Acknowledging of a half a million dollars now the difference between those two and the staunch reality is I make sacrifices And I would challenge you folks out there to look at if you're making a new car purchase Anybody who's making a new car purchase now or a used car for that matter You need to be very very diplomatic about your decision-making because the appreciation on the used car market has really driven those prices up to in some cases to be Dare I say Unaffordable for a lot of buyers out there that are looking to enter into a car where they would have opted for something different last year In more of a luxury category I think right now in these times where people are reshaping How it is that they're going to get by and weather this storm to really opt for something that is a little bit more in the In the budget and basic needs category when it comes to your autos to help combat the high fuel prices I don't think they're going anywhere. We have cut production in this country right now We exported a record number of oil just this month statistics right now are staggering How we are exporting from this country, but for environmental purposes We've cut off the spigot here and it's driving up the prices and we can only blame Geopolitical tensions right now that are going on to a certain extent. I think a lot of that is our own doing And we only have us to blame With regard to the stock market going down in the volatility This is where I have the least sympathy on people a lot of people got overextended in the market A lot of people got interested in the market at the very peak of the market now. I'm an advocate for that I don't think if there's interest on the high side or the low say side I don't discriminate by either one of them Maybe a little bit ill timed on the inconvenient side of getting involved in the stock market at record highs Okay, it's easier to get excited about the stock market when it's riding high. Okay, it's much much more difficult to Rationalize to yourself actually buying the markets here when the volatility is cut kept kicked up That's exactly what you want to do. You want to continue to fund the markets here You want to continue to if you need to ignore the noise? Ignore all of those people out there that are talking about the stock market going to zero the markets recovered 1,200 points. I was able to make up today in around an hour a $6,000 swing in the stock market I was up around 500 all day and all of a sudden at the end of the market my stock portfolio went up $6,000 in a matter of an hour now There's no way that you can play the swings of the stock market that it has to dole out right now if you're not Just looking to take a long tried and true fundamental approach to the stock market weather storms This will not be the last it will not be your first Whether the storm and anticipate others down the line and live to fight another day My sympathy goes very very little for the stock market noise right now If you're going to be an investor over the long term, don't just say it Do it live it learn it love it It's the only way to succeed long term in the stock market the last thing that I'll mention here about employment status A lot of people may have their employment a little more up in the air right there right now than normal Hold tight Continue to buckle down continue to stay positive continue to work hard at your employment because it's times like this for you folks And I'm in this conversation myself when the stock market's going bananas. Everybody's talking about retiring at 35 Everybody's talking about retiring at 25. He'll go ahead and retire at 19 If that's what you feel like you want to do with your life I think it's kind of pathetic to be honest with you to Not consider a career a profession something that you can sink your teeth into it's the very backbone of why it is I'm in the position that I'm in and I started with nothing The very key to my success is the constant flow of injects every two weeks Made possible by my employment and I want to protect that with all of my all of my passion And it's times like this where I look at this and I'm very very thankful for that So I look at other areas to digress on and I acknowledge how important that is To help buffer the very volatility that's going in that's got everybody talking right now Wanted to offer my unique perspective on how I'm dealing with this I'm a lot more neutral than I come across than a YouTube video But I want to play into that a little bit and let folks know look it's okay. It really is You got to step back have a perspective about this thing earmark those areas that can use some improvement Maybe it's an opportunity to allow yourself to digress how How much do you allow yourself to? Navigate across your spectrum when things are really really good. Yeah, enjoy it but how capable are you of digressing on your spectrum of needs and Digressing and pulling back and getting a little bit closer to the vest I would encourage each and every one of you to run yourself through a self-test right now and ask yourself that very question Do you even have the capability the ability to digress on your spectrum of needs? Or are you one of those people that always demand and have a sense of entitlement about you and Always expect to be operating in that luxury category guys if you enjoy the content coming through the independent investor channel I'd invite you to subscribe to the channel man. We do provide grassroots information on wealth building at its core This is real talk. This is how I do it and this does transcend to the masses I'm not going to tell you how to do it in so far as you sit back and listen Deploy and it means nothing to you This means everything to me and I'll continue to build my way because this stuff works it works What it requires on your part is a little bit of action a little bit of wherewithal a little bit of perspective About approaching life a little bit more diplomatically and not getting caught up in all of the wind Guys you want to leave your comments the bottom of the video share the message with anybody out there It's you think is struggling right now. I hit the thumbs up notification bell on this video if you like the content coming through the channel guys Thank you so much for tuning into the message and good luck in your investment future