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On the one hand, people
are really striving for homeownership,

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and people also like to improve themselves
by getting a higher education.

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But unfortunately, what a lot
of people don't talk about is

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on the other side of
those two big goals,

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homeownership and college, is that
nasty little four-letter word, debt.

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And we've got $1.5 trillion 
in student loan debt outstanding,

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a trillion dollars
in auto loans,

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so the challenge is how
do you meet those goals

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without putting yourself
in the hole financially?

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Part of the big mistake that 
a lot of people make is ignoring it.

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So many people abdicate
financial responsibility.

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I'm all for people
having trusted advisors

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and accountability
partners,

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because I think that having
an expert in your corner

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definitely helps you to reach
your goals more quickly,

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but what I don't like
is for people to just turn over

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their finances 100% to any
third party, whether that's a spouse,

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a family member,
an advisor exclusively,

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without being plugged in
and engaged and sort of

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knowing what's going on
with their finances.

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If you spend more than you earn,
you will always be broke and in debt.

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That's economics, 
you will never get around that.

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And so it really doesn't matter
if you make $50,000, $150,000,

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$15 million, if you're
living above your means,

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it's going to catch up
with you.

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It's frankly, much easier to get out
of debt than it is to stay out of debt,

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because staying out of debt
requires a mindset shift.

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It really does require you
to reorient your thinking

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and to not care so much
about everything else

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that's going on 
around you.

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And increasingly, as we move
into this era of social media,

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I find that a lot of
people fall victim to this,

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because they're watching their
Instagram pages or on Facebook,

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and they're seeing
what other people have

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or the curated
version, at least,

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of what people
want you to see.

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The challenge is to understand
where was I a year ago?

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Where was I 
two years ago?

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I'm not going to compare
myself to others.

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I'm just going to benchmark
myself against me

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and measure 
my financial progress.

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Once you start doing that and
kind of disassociating yourself

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to the extent that's possible from
what other people are doing,

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it actually really
liberates you.

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Because you start to say
I'm on a unique path

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and that journey is all about me
and what my financial goals are,

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what my priorities are, and what
my special considerations are

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given my family
circumstances.

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One of the things that I think
women in particular need to do,

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especially young women who
are starting out in their careers,

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is to negotiate
more.

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And this is true whether
or not you're an employee

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working for 
somebody else

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or you're a business owner
and you're charging clients.

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I think when women fail
to realize their value,

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it impacts them financially
for decades to come.

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As a matter of fact,
research shows that

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women who don't negotiate,
they actually lose out on about

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2 million dollars' worth
of earnings in their lifetime.

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So it's critical that women
see themselves as capable

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and that they know
their worth and frankly,

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assert it and demand
that they get paid

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what they are, 
in fact, worth.