Ep 60He is a Jewish Millionaire Sharing His Top Money Advice for The First Time
It's not your money: give a fifth to tzedakah and you can buy a Bentley
Shmuel (Steve) Goodman
He is a Jewish Millionaire Sharing His Top Money Advice for The First Time
If I got everything I wanted, it would have killed me.
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Quotes
“The three Cs will kill you: cancer, competition, and complacency.”
“Good investing is like being a Jew. It's simple, but not easy.”
“There's two ways to be rich... make a large income and also get by on less.”
“A livelihood to me is a byproduct of solving people's problems. It's that simple.”
“If I want a Porsche, my kids want a Porsche... If I drive a nine-year Subaru, which I do in good shape, it's for a reason.”
“Doing a mitzvah compounds. It's just that it's not tracked by Morningstar.”
Takeaways
- 1 Growing up in Bexley, Ohio, Goodman wanted to be a billionaire and a community 'player', with Les Wexner as his mentor. He grew his parents' three children's clothing stores to 42 in malls across 10 states.
- 2 Competition from Kids 'R Us and Gap Kids brought losses. He refused to raise outside capital because he didn't believe in the strategy, and walked away, losing his job, dream and equity. The company later failed in bankruptcy.
- 3 At 37 he faced Hodgkin's lymphoma, a creditor suit, his first IRS audit and family business turmoil all at once. He focused on how to be a top-decile patient, not why it happened. His youngest son was born just after treatment.
- 4 Retail taught him that following through on delivery promises is everything, and that caring about customers is a real edge.
- 5 He founded the Nest Egg Group, a registered investment advisor (RIA) with Schwab as custodian. RIAs now hold about 30% of the market. Earning about 1% of assets makes it slow to start but steady.
- 6 His investing mentors were John Bogle (Vanguard) and Zalman Bernstein. Good investing is simple but not easy. Avoid red-flag firms and Ponzi schemes.
- 7 High earners chase their tails too. Doctors who lived below their means retired early, while those with fancy cars work extra years.
- 8 Accepting a 'reset' after failure, like a seed that breaks down before a tree grows, is healthier than faking it. Children copy their parents' spending.
- 9 Tzedaka is the best insurance for your business and your mental health. He helps clients open donor-advised funds, and a small gift can spark a much bigger one from someone else.
- 10 Success, in a teaching of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, is the constant struggle to do what's right. He seeks counsel before big decisions and prefers blessing over brains.