"I Quit Gambling... Now What?" (Listener Intervention)

Support for today's episode comes from Square, the easy way for business owners to take payments, book appointments, manage staff, and keep everything running in one place.

On this show and in my books, I always talk about how important it is to have multiple streams of income.

But how do you actually go from hobby to hustle?

The answer is Square.

I have seen it so many times in real life.

Just this weekend at the farmer's market, there was a mom selling banana bread.

We love banana bread.

And I could not resist.

In the past, I might have missed out because I never never carry cash but with square she was able to take my card in seconds i got my delicious treat she got paid and neither of us had to stress with square you can get all the tools to run your business with none of the contracts or complexity and why wait right now you get up to 200 off square hardware at square.com slash go slash mnn that's square.com slash go

slash mnn as in money news network run your business smarter with square Get started today.

I am so excited to head up to Big Sur with my husband this fall.

We are celebrating our anniversary and while I will miss the little mush so much,

we are also really excited to have a little parents time.

We deserve that.

But you know, it got me thinking about this feeling when you walk out of the door for a trip and you wonder what your blaze is doing while you're gone.

Well, it turns out it could be working for you.

I've been hosting on Airbnb for forever now and I tell all of my friends to do the same because it's an amazing way to make passive income from an asset you already have, your home.

But some of my friends who are super busy worry that hosting on Airbnb would feel like having a second job.

And that's when I tell them about Airbnb's co-host network.

Anything you don't have the bandwidth to do, a co-host can handle for you.

They can create your listing, manage reservations, manage guests, provide on-site support, even handle design and styling.

So whether you're traveling for work or you're escaping the winter, or if you have a second place that just sits empty way too often, your home doesn't have to sit on the sidelines.

Instead, you can earn a little extra cash without adding another job to your plate.

Find a co-host at airbnb.com slash host.

Hey, money rehavers.

Before we start this episode, I just wanted to let you know that the episode includes some descriptions of compulsive gambling.

If this is a subject that's difficult for you, please take care while listening.

If you or someone you know is struggling with compulsive gambling, you can call the National Gambling Hotline to be connected with local resources at 1-800 Gambler.

I'm Nicole Lapin, the only financial expert you don't need a dictionary to understand.

It's time for some money rehab.

In the last quarter of 2023, DraftKings, the sports betting app, reported revenue of $1.2 billion, which is up 44% from Q4 the year prior.

And that is just one app.

With the rise and legalization of sports betting platforms, gambling has never been easier and compulsive gambling has never had a lower barrier to entry.

Today, I talked to a money rehabber who, as he tells me, does not identify as a gambling addict, but he has had his fair share of highs and devastating lows over a decades-long career of gambling.

Today, he shares how he's building a healthier relationship with money, and we make a plan together that helps him pave the way for a better financial future.

Brandon, welcome to Money Rehab.

Thank you very much for having me on today.

I would love to chat about your money goals, but first, I want to hear about your money story.

You've had a complicated, is that fair, relationship, sometimes difficult, it sounds like, with money sometimes, but have come out on the other side and are now better for it.

Can we go back to where your money story begins?

Yeah, sure, absolutely.

So it all happened.

I've been involved in sports my entire life.

Love watching them.

love playing them.

And it all happened going to New York Mets games and New York Yankee games.

And what I mean by that is you would go to the games and they would have a promo offer for a credit card.

So I would go there, apply for a credit card, get a limit of $1,500 on two credit cards.

And I believe I was 18 at the time because I was going into my freshman year in college.

And I would just go, I would go to Chili's, go out with my friends.

and just charge, charge, charge everything as much as I could after dinner.

That's where it all started.

um i come from a single mom who raised me and with that said we had to hustle our lives in terms of making money and saving money and i should have known better what i mean by that is there was no safety net i didn't have anywhere to go i should have hustled more and more responsible with my money choices and again at 18 you don't know these things Back then, social media was not there 100% at all.

We were still using beepers at the time.

So phones remember I had, I had a blue one with sparkles.

Yes.

Yes.

We do.

Yeah.

So that's how it all started.

I've been gambling since I was 15 years old.

That's my action.

And what do I define as my action?

I drink socially.

I don't do any drugs.

I don't smoke cigarettes.

I never had a cigarette in my life.

It just doesn't do it for me.

But gambling was the one thing of vice that I just wanted to do.

I want an action all the time.

There was nothing more exciting for me to be calling in a bet.

Nicole, back in the day, you would call up a bookie on the phone.

Hey, what's your name?

Hey, my name is Pineapple for 10.

I want $1,000 on this game.

$1,000, Nicole, I was 18, 19 years old.

What kind of gambling were you doing then?

So only sports gambling?

Sports gambling.

But my favorite thing to do, one of my favorite things to do, is gamble at the horse track.

My first big win at the horse track was a trifecta.

Now, a trifecta is you hit three horses, win, place, and shell.

I hit 571.

Those were the exact numbers.

It paid a total of 1528.

I'll never forget it.

And this got me going.

And also at the same time, 1528, like $1,500.

That was the total amount paid, $150.28.

Yeah, so it's always been sports gambling, not much in the casinos, only roulette, blackjack, poker, I'll get eaten alive.

Craps, I'll get eaten alive.

I know I'll lose my money.

But for some reason, I think that I could win every sports bat.

I don't know why.

When I was 18 to my 30s, yes, I did.

It's a this action for me.

I would win at times a lot.

I would win.

I would go on hot streaks.

I would win 15, 20, 30 in a row.

I would lose a lot of money as well.

I got into trouble where I owed $3,000.

I couldn't pay it.

It's not an easy lifestyle, especially if you're dating someone.

What are you doing?

You're committed to that person.

Yes, you're 22, but you're still in a relationship.

You still made that choice to date that person.

And what am I doing?

I'm on my phone checking scores left and right.

It's uncomfortable.

Yeah.

and listen i have i've dated people who are very very into gambling and it definitely can take over it never really clicked with me like i never really got it it was not my vice or my action as you call it maybe because i came from like a scarcity mindset around money growing up so it's really surprising to me that you say you had a similar upbringing with a scarcity mindset never had enough money single mom Then what was the drop for gambling?

Like, why did you feel like you you needed to gamble when you were 15?

And then how did that evolve when you got older?

Because there's never enough money at the house.

I always wanted to make more money.

So I had stuff.

I wanted to buy stuff.

I want to have nice clothes for some reason.

For some reason, that mattered to me.

And it should have mattered.

And again, you're 15, 16, you're in high school.

You're watching so many people.

And I've had good friends my whole life.

I don't have any sisters and brothers.

But I've had good friends, the same friends that I've had since I was six years old in kindergarten.

And they're still my friends today.

Some of them are better off at times.

Their parents are more successful.

My mom was very sick in her life.

She couldn't do things that my other friends' parents could do.

And I said to myself, I have to make more money.

I don't want to be poor.

I want to succeed.

I always had that drive to work harder than anybody else.

My mentality is Kobe Bryant.

My mentality is Tom Brady, my two favorite athletes that gave it all.

I didn't have the mentality at all times like I should have had.

I was careless, irresponsible.

At the time, I didn't own up to it, but I knew it was going on.

I just wanted to keep doing it because it was the fun in my life.

That was my action in my life.

Nothing fulfilled me more than doing that.

With that said, what happened was as I got older, I made more money, really good money at times.

However, there was a time.

You were making that money through gambling.

No, for my work, my career.

So I would never use my rent money towards it ever.

That was the rule.

My rent comes first, gambling second.

I have to be fair to the person I'm renting from.

And it's just doing the right thing for somebody.

I still had a good mindset.

I never changed the person that I was.

I had a good background, I was always pounded with my mom, my friends, again, always there for me at all times.

But they couldn't see it, they know enough to gamble.

But I was the only gambler of my friends that used to bet a lot of money.

I'm not talking about small peans, like a hundred-dollar bets.

I'm talking about five.

What's the biggest bet you've ever replaced?

$3,287.

Why you know that number is that

very specific and the reason why is that's how much money i had in my account and i put that much money on a tennis bet because i knew it was going to win and it won and i it was a guarantee i knew it was going to win 100 so i won that money i think it was six grand i think it was and the guy goes to me like what are you doing how are you winning all this money are you cheating i go no i'm not cheating i'm like are you kidding me as quick as i can win is as much i'm going to lose so what happens yeah it's kind of hard to like count cards in a sports game.

Like, how are you cheating?

Unless you're like tonight,

or something, god forbid.

But, how did you end up funding all this gambling?

Was it through your main hustle, your regular job?

Like, rent was first, but then was everything else toward gambling?

You had a great relationship, it sounds like, with your family and friends.

Did you ever ask them for money?

Did you take out more credit cards?

Did you take out loans?

How did you fuel this addiction okay great questions never borrowed money from my friends for gambling ever what i did though was credit cards personal loans personal loans personal loans times seven i think it was total or maybe eight first one i was at the bank i did business with so i knew i was going to get approved because why my direct deposits coming out of that account so i knew i was going to be able to pay it back That was what I think the first one I got was for $3,000.

I think I was 24 at the time because it wasn't easy.

I had to prove my income.

So I had to show my W-2, my paystops.

So I got that.

Then it just kept rolling, $3,000, $5,000.

But then once I understood the system and how it worked and how the underrater is the one that makes the final decision, how I could challenge the underrater, I'm like, let's go.

Game on.

I'll do this.

Trust me.

Now I know the facts.

I did my research.

Now I know what to do.

And you're saying, what do you mean by that?

I would ask for $10,000 purposely, like a sales call.

I want to go ask for more money and then let them talk me down.

And that's what happened.

The $10,000, hey, you know what's on the New York branding?

We can't improve the $10,000.

We're going to give you $7,500.

Sure.

How quick can I sign that paper?

As quick as I sign that paper is when I sign on to a company and I sign my direct deposit for it.

And that's how it was for my loan.

Let me sign that, get it in my account right away.

So let's just say, example, $5,000, boom, that $5,000, $2,000.

I'll go home and bet right away.

It was so sick at times.

I would bet, I would bet on what color car was coming up next if I wanted to.

I would bet on anything.

It did not matter.

I just wanted action for some reason.

And again,

I guess you can say maybe it's out of boredom, but I have a good life.

I have good friends.

I have good family.

I just wanted the action at all times.

It was so much fun for me to come home.

And what I mean by that, I'll give you an example.

Let's just say you're having a losing day on a Saturday.

It's a big college football day.

You would wait until Pacific time to be a Pac-12 games.

Oh, I remember this.

I dated somebody that was into this type of stuff.

It wasn't only the West Coast.

It was like Hawaii after that.

Yes.

Yes.

Because all you're doing and the worst you could do in sports gambling is chase your bets.

I use the word addiction, Brandon, but I guess I should ask you, would you say that you were addicted to gambling?

To this day, I'm still going to say no.

And everyone else that you probably, if you talk to my friends, they probably say yes, he definitely was.

To me, it was.

It was my actions.

It was an entertainment in my life.

There are things that my friends do that's entertaining to them.

To me, this is what I want to do with my life.

I want to be a professional sports gambler my whole life.

That's that's what my career, what I wanted to do.

And honestly, at all devices, I shouldn't have done this.

There's, I should have had better outlets.

I should have worked three jobs.

It sounds like you got in some financial trouble here.

I mean, between all these credit cards and loans, were you getting into debt?

And then what was going on with the credit score?

So, the highest I had was, I think, a 717 or 715, one of those.

And again,

I had to take out more loans.

I couldn't pay them sometimes because I would have three loans,

seven credit cards, I think at one time.

And I'm talking about good credit cards.

And that was not even the pay.

for gambling.

That was the pay for other things, like my everyday expenses.

You know, saying, well, you have a $20,000 limit.

Yeah, what are you doing with your money?

I had no idea.

I I was careless.

I don't even know what I was buying.

I know I was buying a lot of clothes.

I was buying a lot of DVDs back in the day.

It was just out of control, my spending.

But the worst thing was when you're in relationships or just casually dating,

your partner knows what's going on at a point.

But to be honest, my friends never knew.

I'm not an actor, but for this, I was the best actor for the last 25 years of my life, to be honest with you.

Did you ever go to a breakup because of gambling?

No.

nobody ever dumped you because of it.

No, I ended the relationship because, my opinion, the relationship ran its course.

I couldn't give the other person exactly what they wanted.

It was unfair to them.

I cut it off, good or bad.

I had to do it.

I had to make a decision.

It wasn't right.

There were some good people in my life, but it's not fair to them.

They should have someone that'll be there for them 100% of the time and give it all.

And I cannot do that.

It's not fair to them.

So, again, there are a lot of lonely nights too.

Because you had a whole other relationship, it sounds like, with gambling, do you know how much money, all in all, you lost?

Not an exact number, probably between 15 and 17,000.

And again, going back to the credit scores, my credit kept diminishing.

It went from a 717 or 715 to as low as a 460.

Now,

I don't have my own house.

I never wanted a house.

I don't want it.

I always like renting.

When you have bad credit, good luck getting approved for an application.

Good luck getting electricity at your house.

Gas company, good luck.

It's not easy.

So again, my cell phone service, I've had the same one since college.

If I change it, they're going to run a credit report.

Insurance, sometimes it goes up because of my credit.

It is not good at all.

It is not healthy.

But at the same time, no one is going to.

And I had a friend who helped me do this through this, to be honest with you, in 2020.

I had a friend that we negotiated stuff with a credit card company in 2020.

We had a good payment plan.

I'll negotiate with Capital One, Chase,

Discover Personal Loans.

And I was doing well in the beginning but it was 2020 2021 I started a new career and the career was very challenging because I had a staff locations that I couldn't do and my phone was non-stop and I

it was just too much happening at once between

the my the stress with my credit score gambling becoming too mainstream now it's legalized in more states now it was just too much for me to process and you add covet on top of it

i it was just it just it was just a lot for me to intake at once.

And I could have went to my friends, but I didn't because a lot of my friends have families.

I didn't want to interrupt them because their one friend is gambling.

But at the time, that's what I thought.

They would have been there for me.

I just had too much going on mentally in my head where I just couldn't do it.

I stopped paying them.

I stopped paying them.

I started getting certified mail.

certified mail.

It was crazy.

Like they were going to go to court with me and take me to court.

I did not care.

It would come in.

As soon as I saw it, boom, rip it off.

Garbage.

See you later.

I'm not going to think about it.

And I can't do that because what are they going to do, Nicole?

Start garnishing my wages.

So what I do.

Nope.

I quit the job.

I'm not going to let them do it.

I quit that job.

And it was a bad decision on my end, a really bad decision.

I lied to my friends.

I said, hey, due to staffing concerns, due to COVID, I used to covet those serious.

They had to let go of people.

I had a great boss who let me do my thing with my job, my career.

And I just let him him down.

I quit.

I'll never forget writing that email, typing it up.

It's all because of the debt struggles, paying stuff, COVID, stress,

not having an outlet source.

Oh, I went by that, I went by that Nicole.

My mom passed away in 2012.

So all the, nah, thank you very much.

So I really haven't been the same mentally at all at the same time.

But I wouldn't say that was my addiction.

I'm not calling it an addiction.

I wouldn't say that's what made me gamble.

I just, you know, I just missed her because she always told me that I'm going to miss her a lot when she's gone.

And that's the truth.

I did.

I do.

But here we are now.

Okay.

I figured it all out.

I have.

I said, I have to change my ways in my life.

I have to figure this out.

No one's going to do it for me.

No one's going to, all people, no one wants excuses.

So it sounds like that was like a turning point moment for you.

Did you feel like after your mom passed and you left your job and it was COVID?

Was that rock bottom?

Yes.

Hold onto your wallets.

Money rehab will be right back.

What is your bank doing for you?

And how much is it costing you?

That's a serious question because if they're charging you $8 a month with zero extra services, I've got to stage an intervention here.

What are you paying them for anyway?

To hold your money for you, you deserve better.

That's what I love about QIIME.

There are no monthly fees, no maintenance fees.

My younger self would have definitely benefited from this.

It's not just the no fees thing.

It's what they have to offer you too.

If you set up direct deposit, you can get paid up to two days early automatically.

And with qualifying direct deposits, you're eligible for free overdraft up to $200 on debit card purchases and cash withdrawals.

Plus, they have over 47,000 fee-free ATMs.

So seriously, ask yourself, what is your bank doing for you?

and just how much are they charging you to do it.

And if the math isn't mapping, think about making a change.

Work on your financial goals through Chime today.

Open an account in just two minutes at chime.com/slash MNN.

Chime feels like progress.

Chime is a financial technology company, not a bank.

Banking services and debit card provided by the Bank Corporation Bank NA or Stride Bank NA members, FDIC, spot me eligibility requirements and overdraft limits apply.

Timing depends on submission of payment file.

These apply at out-of-network ATMs, bank ranking, and number of ATMs, according to US News and World Report 2023.

Chime checking account required.

And now for some more money rehab.

After your mom passed and you left your job and it was COVID, was that rock bottom?

Yes.

Yes.

Because I couldn't get a job right away and I had to work labor jobs and work my butt off.

I was doing it overnights.

It's not easy.

But you know what?

After everything, I needed that.

I needed that motivation.

And I've changed.

And this change has happened within the last 12 weeks.

I am different.

Oh, this is recent.

Yes, Nicole.

Definitely recent.

I am back at a high level the way I used to be.

It took me 12 years to get to my point that I am today.

It feels good.

And you cut gambling, Colt Turkey?

Not 100%.

For now, yes, I still want it, but I don't need it in my life anymore.

And the reason why I'm saying that is it's become too mainstream where all the states legalize and friends that I would never thought would gamble, gamble.

They try to give me advice.

I'm like, I don't want to hear it.

You don't know what you're talking about.

You really don't.

It's just not me anymore.

That chapter of my life is over.

over i work hard for my money i'm saving it i'm doing things with it i'm enjoying my life i'm a i like going out having fun again when you are gambling and losing you don't want to be around anybody you have to be introverted i am an extroverted person so it sounds like you haven't gambled for three months is that right no no i haven't gambled in three years oh okay so this three month thing is a new mindset or what's the last 12 weeks The last 12 weeks is getting back to what I used to be, getting back on track of my life, going through my credit report, calling Experian

TransUnion.

Yeah,

yeah.

First of all, thank you so much for being so open and honest about your story, Brandon.

It's really refreshing to hear how you have no filter around what happened.

And I think that's really helpful to a lot of people who might be struggling or no, but somebody who's struggling.

So I really appreciate that.

And I would love to talk more about this next part of your journey.

And I'd love to help you with it.

I'd love to be part of it.

I know you wanted to talk about setting up a plan for your money goals.

I'd love to know what your money goals are before we can come up with a plan.

Look, I can't tell you what they are.

Only you can tell hopefully me what they are, but at least tell yourself.

Do you know what your money goals are and how you are thinking about those right now?

Well, one thing about you, and I was so thankful that you got back to me from one of your reels that you posted on Instagram, is you're very good in your sector, you're on point.

And in terms of money goals, I guess what I would say to you is, obviously, there's no gambling anymore, so that money is not getting allocated for that.

What I wanted to ask you is, what would you say are the correct steps of saving money?

Were you paying bills at the same time?

Like, how would you calculate that?

And

what kind of formula would you use?

Not you personally.

What would you use for someone like myself and everyone else listening yeah so it's a it's a great question do you know what you would be saving for like is it a house is it a vacation is it retirement

retirement vacation those two things specifically and what's your source of income right now uh working working several jobs right now you know one of them i've i've learned a transportation business something i did not know before i'm a cfo of that company it's a new company so i look at the books every I reconcile them every Monday.

I've been doing this for over two years now.

I'm also doing other jobs as well, just to make money.

That's all I'm about is how do I make the most money possible?

How do I see?

Because a lot of my life is gone and

was gone because of all the money I had to pay and debt and everything.

Let's bring it back to what?

Back to basics.

Let's come up with a plan.

And that's why I'm here with you today, because I know you.

You know that plan.

You can give us advice of how to do it.

Let's make a plan.

Okay, so how much are you making now between the three jobs i would say total about thirty three hundred dollars a month okay and how much debt do you still have you said you pay down half which is awesome so i only have one credit card company coming after me and 10 of them only one of them one

and that's only i pay two hundred dollars a month and that's a total of three thirty two hundred dollars that i still owe and that's it do you know what the interest rate on the debt is there's no interest on it the money that i owe there's zero interest on this zero oh so this is like you owe somebody money, not like a credit card.

Yes.

So what happens is it was charged off.

Capital One used another company to outsource it.

So it's the lawyers that are paying.

They're the ones coming after me.

They say, if you don't pay this, we're going to garge your wages.

And all I had to do, Nicole, was just be honest, be vulnerable.

That's all I said.

This is what's going on in my life.

This is what happened.

If you just tell people the truth.

If it's just realistic and you break it down and say, this is what I can do.

And you own own your own life, because one thing I've learned: life is one thing, it is not a dress rehearsal.

You got to do it over again.

And that's always funny that you said that about the interest.

Like, wait, no, there is no interest on it.

That's so interesting.

And I'm so glad that you said that because I do know and I do talk about the idea that it is important to actually speak with creditors and not just ignore them.

Like, they're so scary.

It's so scary when they're calling you and hounding you and all that stuff.

But yes, absolutely.

Tell them your story, talk with them, negotiate with them.

All right.

So you have

three grand, a little bit more than three grand in debt.

All right.

I also have rent and I also have a car that I had to buy.

And can you please, you're good at this.

I think you're going to get the number.

What do you think my interest rate?

Now, again, it's not a new car.

What's your credit score now?

So if you look at credit karma, it's 480s.

But if you look at Experience Self, where it breaks you down every single thing, it's in the fives throughout the three.

So going back to this, 28%.

Damn.

I was going to say 20

which is high

damn 28

insurance 150 a month when i was four years ago my insurance was 96 a month or 90 a month and that's only because i live in new jersey where the insurance is out of control all right hold on okay so we we take in 3 300 a month my suggestion is to take 70 of that toward essentials so that's 2310.

how much is your rent 1150.

and how much is your car payment

So after getting it reduced down to the original car payment is $6.07 a month.

Okay.

And how much you have $200 a month for the lawyer debt thing?

Yes.

Yes.

So, all right.

So we're up to like 2K with all of this stuff.

Did you know that?

I think you know me by now.

I do know that.

You know me by now.

Yes.

Okay.

And so my suggestion is like, how much are you spending on food?

In my budget right now, now, you have about 300-ish bucks.

I don't go out to eat.

So I cook.

Yeah.

I mean, whatever I, I don't throw food out.

So if I go to a store and buy stuff, the food's getting eaten.

There's no need to go out to eat.

When I have all this food in the house, there is no need to.

So you think 300-ish a month for food works?

I'm not talking like going out and going to the bar because that's in a different category.

Yes.

But like

what it costs to live.

Just where we're at right now.

That's how much it'll cost me to live.

The The bare minimum.

Yeah.

So, so rent, car, like transportation, you know, utilities, basic food, health.

Like, you have

ideally around 23-ish a month for all of that.

And then my suggestion, you have a thousand left.

I would say half of that, 500 bucks at least to your savings.

And Nicole, this is only because I have this going on right now.

I literally have, I have my resume.

I had someone redo it for me real quick because I don't want to reformat.

And I honestly just have AI do the bylaws underneath it, but I just didn't want to reformat it.

That's all done now.

So I'm applying for high-level jobs now again.

This is only holding me.

Okay, Tom.

Okay, Kobe, let's go.

That's fine.

And this is totally fine.

And, you know, what the great thing about financial plans and goals are is that they change.

They will change.

They're not set in stone.

Like life and shit happen.

So we're going to change them again.

But for right now, ideally, it's like 70% to the essentials, 15% to the end game, which is what you just told me.

You want to start saving for retirement and a vacation.

I would say like the other 15% is for extras.

I might, I might think about the vacation being in the extras category, but that for you is fif.

That for you is 500 bucks.

Correct.

Can we start to try and save 500 bucks a month?

I have no choice.

Yes, absolutely.

You're right.

100%.

Yeah, that's a good way of putting up the 70%.

I agree with you.

Absolutely.

And again, like I just told you before, it's just a whole new for now.

So, because your question is, like, how do I save and pay bills, right?

And that's an important question.

And so I think having this parameter, having these guidelines, like, okay, I have 2310 to pay rent, to do everything I need to do.

I have 500 bucks that I'm going to save.

And we can talk about what to do with that 500 bucks and like how to to maximize that and start making it grow right because you work really hard for that money i think it should return the favor and then the other 500 bucks which it sounds like right now you're not really into going out and doing fun stuff like you want to use that toward a vacation so you can put that at another

interest

What's cool about interest is that you know how it works against you, but it can also work in your favor, which is great.

It can make your money work for you.

So that five other 500 bucks, or ideally you could put a little bit more into savings and, you know, play with those numbers.

But like that's a general guideline that I would suggest for you.

And then put those into something that will start earning you interest.

Right.

No, and thank you for the advice.

I will say, I did just come back from vacation.

I haven't taken a vacation in four years.

And one of my favorite places where I want to go is Las Vegas.

Oh, God.

Can we, I i don't know if that's a good one for you let me tell you why please let me get into that trust me it's not what you're thinking trust me i was there on business they have a pull out they have a pool out there they have a survivor football pool contest are you familiar with that no but i'm sure you're gonna tell me about it i'm scared i still am not convinced but continue they have they have a survivor pool gambling so me and two of my friends we entered a contest out there because the grand prize is 10 million dollars is It's the biggest football pool there is around.

But yeah, that was my vacation.

It was a business trip.

And you're saying, What do you mean by business?

I went there for a purpose and a reason.

I always wanted to work at a sports book

my whole life.

I wanted to be involved.

I wanted to be on the air.

They have this network called VCIN, Vegas Sports Information Network.

I listen to them every morning.

My favorite show is Follow the Money.

It's 4 a.m.

to 7 p.m., 4 a.m.

to 7 a.m.

on Pacific time.

So I went there to meet the guys in person.

At 4 a.m., I was at the casino, not betting, sitting down at the sports book, relaxing.

That's all I was doing.

Met them.

However, I wanted to meet the top guy there, not the owner, his right-hand person, who's the VP of three of his casinos.

Six o'clock Thursday morning.

Hey, Mike, nice to meet you.

I want to be respectful of your time.

I know you're going on the air to do two segments.

Can you just carve out 10 minutes for me?

I mean, a couple of minutes?

Absolutely.

Finishes his segments.

He gave me 10 minutes of his own time.

Had a great conversation.

He was going to give me somebody else's email, but instead, what did he do?

Email me.

Brandon, email me right here at this email address.

So I did that when I flew home on Friday.

That's why the resume service that I use had it all done for me.

Boom.

Sent the email to him.

That's what I wanted to do.

I also met the owner out there who gave me his business card.

He gave me.

two minutes of his time.

The thing is, like anything else, you have to do your research.

You have to know what they like, the ins and outs, because in life, what I've learned is if you're good, people will create positions for you no matter what, because I've done it myself.

Okay, so just to be clear, this is not you going there to gamble.

This is you getting involved in the business.

Both.

Okay.

For us to do that.

I don't endorse the

gambling part, but I endorse like actually looking at this and what you've gone through as a potential business opportunity more from a management side.

Exactly.

It's your life, Brendan.

Only you have to wake up in it.

So here's what I'd say.

If you can take 500 bucks a month and start investing, do you have a brokerage account?

I never even want.

Okay.

But now you do.

I'm listening.

Okay.

I'm listening.

Okay.

Do you know what a brokerage account is?

Like, kidding a second.

Yes.

I'm familiar with it.

Correct.

So banks and brokerages are different.

Like brokerages would be the Fidelities and the Schwabs and the Vanguards and the E-Trades of the world, right?

Banks like Bank of America.

Cool.

So if you start investing, like over time,

the stock market as a whole, not individual stocks, but as a whole, will get you 8% over time.

So we're going to want to take that 500 bucks and make it work for us.

And honestly, when you get in your investing group, I think you're really going to like it because I know this is a hot take, but investing and gambling do have a lot of crossover.

You know, I'm going to give you two quotes.

First, risk risk comes from not knowing what you're doing.

And then the second is hunches cost you more than it will gain.

Do you know who said those things?

No, but I'm aware.

I'm very aware of being risk adverse.

No, I don't know who said that.

The first one, risk comes from not knowing what you're doing is Warren Buffett.

Do you know that is?

Greatest investor of our time.

The second one came from Stanford Wong, who's an expert on blackjack.

Oh.

So they're both basically saying the same thing, right?

You should make rational decisions that are backed by real information when it comes to your money.

So you'll see with investing, just like gambling, there are winners and there are losers.

And sometimes the difference between the two is honestly pure dumb luck.

But getting savvy on investing strategies is like.

counting cards.

I know that wasn't your thing, but legally, the purpose of counting cards is to increase your likelihood of winning, right?

Getting educated on investing does the same thing.

Right.

You're correct.

Absolutely.

So what if you take that 500 bucks and open

a brokerage account and put that into what Warren Buffett suggests are low-cost SB 500 index fund?

What do you think?

Yeah,

absolutely.

Thanks for the recommendation.

I never, honestly, I never even thought about that, having a brokerage account, to be honest with you.

But if I'm going to trust anybody, again, someone's a financial guru has made a career out of this.

So, absolutely.

You recommend it.

Why would I say no?

It makes doesn't make sense.

Thanks, Brendan.

I wish all the guys said that.

Is it true.

How do you feel now?

No, I feel it's good.

And again, thank you so much for your recommendation.

I think it is.

I never even thought about that, to be honest with you, until you mentioned it.

I am familiar with brokerage accounts.

I just never thought about doing one.

This wasn't me all these years.

But maybe that does make sense.

Maybe that's an option I do, I do turn to.

But the person you are now, right, is not the person you used to be.

So the person you used to be, brokerages and investing and you know, traditional savings and you know, non-gambling endeavors like were for you.

And that's okay.

But maybe today they are.

And that's also okay.

In fact, it's more than okay.

Thank you for that, Nicole.

Thank you.

Seriously.

Thank you.

That means a lot.

Yeah, of course.

And I think there's going to be a lot of crossover.

I think you can channel a lot of that gambling energy and like the desire for winning and getting information.

Because I know that with sports gambling, there's a lot of research that goes into it, right?

You're not just like willy-nilly putting money on some game and not knowing knowing what's going on.

If you take that same zest and channel it toward, you know, maybe some more like above board things to do with your money and just, you know, as we're moving into this new chapter, it's so exciting.

I think you could get really into it.

I think you could get really into stocks and funds like index funds or ETFs, which are exchange traded funds, which give you like a whole basket of different stocks in there in the same way that you got really into the research for gambling because you can like i said everything also win but just in a different way right and no you're right i mean i should

sustainable way i should say right no you're right i agree i can't disagree with you i i'm 100 on board with you everything you're saying

okay i'm not talking past the close we're good things are coming on yes we're good we're good never talk past the close right yep

Money Rehab is a production of Money News Network.

I'm your host, Nicole Lapin.

Money Rehab's executive producer is Morgan Lavoy.

Our researcher is Emily Holmes.

Do you need some money rehab?

And let's be honest, we all do.

So email us your money questions, moneyrehab at moneynewsnetwork.com, to potentially have your questions answered on the show or even have a one-on-one intervention with me.

And follow us on Instagram at MoneyNews and TikTok at MoneyNews Network for exclusive video content.

And lastly, thank you.

No, seriously, thank you.

Thank you for listening and for investing in yourself, which is the most important investment you can make.