[SPEAKER_02]: For years, let's be honest, men, I stood on stages and I told people they exact same thing.
[SPEAKER_02]: Cut up your credit cards, I needed to burn them, I needed to throw them away, they are 100% dangerous.
[SPEAKER_02]: Because I worked for the general and financial literacy space by the name of Dave Rams in an amazing organization.
[SPEAKER_02]: And I believed every single word of it.
[SPEAKER_02]: And I was still, I still, I still, I still, I want to say this again, I still respect and love that man.
[SPEAKER_02]: I still respect the mission, but after years of watching my own life, watching the people who I coach and watching what this economy is doing to real families right now, specifically in the African-American space, I have to tell the truth today.
[SPEAKER_02]: My position has changed.
[SPEAKER_02]: Now, not all the way.
[SPEAKER_02]: but it has changed.
[SPEAKER_02]: And I owe you the honest version of myself, not a rerun of who I was five years ago, not the man who doesn't evolve and change as he's evolving and changing.
[SPEAKER_02]: So listen, welcome back to the table.
[SPEAKER_02]: For those of you who have come, because you saw the title, because you saw the thumbnail, my name is Anthony O'Neill, some people call me A-O.
[SPEAKER_02]: And this is the conversation.
[SPEAKER_02]: All boats, nobody in person to finance is willing to have, honestly.
[SPEAKER_02]: And today, I'm going to have it with you all together.
[SPEAKER_02]: And I want you to comment, let me know your honest thoughts and opinions about today's episode, because I really want to be honest.
[SPEAKER_02]: And here's why I am bringing this up today.
[SPEAKER_02]: So former teammate, and one of the most, I would say, educational, one of the most educated, one of the most widest individuals in the financial space within this time, George Campbell, just sat down with Graham Stephan on the ice coffee hour podcast.
[SPEAKER_02]: And he talked about credit cards, and he talked about debt, and he talked about, you know, the Ramsey philosophy.
[SPEAKER_02]: everywhere since then, and I got tagged on so much of it.
[SPEAKER_01]: First and foremost, an X-Ramsi employee, Anthony O'Neill, made a video claiming that he's shifted perspective since working at Ramsi.
[SPEAKER_01]: He said that if you have paid off your debt and stayed, paid off for two years, then it's fine to start maybe getting an MX card, paying that off at the end of every month, having a system in place to make sure autopay is on and start building credit.
[SPEAKER_01]: What do you say about that?
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, I disagree.
[SPEAKER_00]: I see as point in that, you say, hey, once you've had the discipline of not going back into debt, you can sort of reintroduce it.
[SPEAKER_00]: But to me, the same reasons you went into debt, that person is still inside.
[SPEAKER_00]: And you can change.
[SPEAKER_00]: You can be disciplined.
[SPEAKER_00]: But I don't think it makes it better than if you use your own money.
[SPEAKER_00]: So once upon a time.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I mean, I had some credit card debt, and I haven't been in debt for 13 years.
[SPEAKER_00]: So could I potentially use a credit card?
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm gonna put this in huge air quotes wisely.
[SPEAKER_00]: Pay it off every month, and maybe accumulate some points.
[SPEAKER_00]: Probably.
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't think the juices were at the squeeze, and I think I still would spend more than if I stuck to my debit and cash.
[SPEAKER_00]: So I disagree that's advice that people should go out there and open credit cards if they've been debt free for two years.
[SPEAKER_00]: I think you're just better off never opening it again.
[SPEAKER_02]: And it's, it's beyond us, let's, let's, let's, let's be honest.
[SPEAKER_02]: American credit card debt just hit 1.33 trillion dollars and that is a record and I want to be clear that is with AT.
[SPEAKER_02]: 27 million Americans can only afford the minimum payment.
[SPEAKER_02]: The average interest rate sits between 22 and I want to say right around 25% and eight out of 10 Americans say they are struggling to make ends meet.
[SPEAKER_02]: This is the loudest conversation in person of finance that needs to be going on right now.
[SPEAKER_02]: So I'm going to step into this conversation and I'm stepping into it and an honest, transparent way because the people listening to me, the people within our community deserve nothing less than that and nothing less than my truth.
[SPEAKER_02]: So before I say anything else, I want to hear me clearly when I say this.
[SPEAKER_02]: Financial Peace University changed my life.
[SPEAKER_02]: The seven baby steps founded by Dave Ramsey is amazing organization changed my life.
[SPEAKER_02]: I would not have the freedom I have today without the years.
[SPEAKER_02]: I spent that range of solutions without the years of being around his amazing personalities without the education that the baby steps taught me.
[SPEAKER_02]: There no debt principle is 100% right.
[SPEAKER_02]: I'm saying that front.
[SPEAKER_02]: George Campbell, like I said earlier, is one of the best teachers in person finances.
[SPEAKER_02]: Rachel Cruz, Dave Dota, is one of the best teachers in person finances.
[SPEAKER_02]: And I'm here to tear down anybody.
[SPEAKER_02]: I'm not here to start a few because I love them.
[SPEAKER_02]: I love them.
[SPEAKER_02]: I've had George and my show.
[SPEAKER_02]: I've had John Deloni on my show.
[SPEAKER_02]: I've had them on my show, right?
[SPEAKER_02]: But I'm here because...
[SPEAKER_02]: The people listening to me deserve the most honest version of myself and this may not be for everyone and not understand that y'all like I and a part of me is it's kind of getting tired of this because I've been out of my own for five years now, but the truth is, I got to be honest, all right, here's the most important thing I'm going to say in this entire show.
[SPEAKER_02]: If you have any consumer debt at all, the Ramsey Room is still the right room for all of them.
[SPEAKER_02]: This is a family.
[SPEAKER_02]: If your savings account is earning less than 1%, you're literally donating money back to the bank.
[SPEAKER_02]: You see, traditional savings accounts are paying penny.
[SPEAKER_02]: While high-year savings accounts are paying dollars.
[SPEAKER_02]: And the gap is costing you real well every single year.
[SPEAKER_02]: I want to get real with you here real quick.
[SPEAKER_02]: When $10,000 a regular bank might pay you $40 a year, but a top high yield savings account, that's $400 to $500 a year, just for moving your money.
[SPEAKER_02]: That's hundreds of extra dollars in your pocket.
[SPEAKER_02]: No extra work, no risk, and your money stays safe, and FDIC and Shoe.
[SPEAKER_02]: Nearly one and four Americans have zero emergency savings, and most who do are missing out on free money.
[SPEAKER_02]: By leaving their cash and lazy accounts, how your savings account is the fastest, simplest upgrade you can make to hit your emergency fund and short-term goals faster.
[SPEAKER_02]: So, listen, stop letting your heart earn dollars say lazy.
[SPEAKER_02]: Visit anthonyonil.com for us at savings.
[SPEAKER_02]: Compare the best high you'll save as accounts and open yours in literally two minutes.
[SPEAKER_02]: Every extra dollar interest gets you posted to financial freedom.
[SPEAKER_02]: So please do not wait.
[SPEAKER_02]: Don't let another year go by earning pennies.
[SPEAKER_02]: Go to anthonyonil.com for our savings.
[SPEAKER_02]: Let your money start working for you today.
[SPEAKER_02]: All right, let's keep back to the show.
[SPEAKER_02]: So here's truth, man, you gotta cut up those credit cards.
[SPEAKER_02]: You have to pay off all your consumer debt.
[SPEAKER_02]: You have to build the emergency fund and you do not skip steps instead of one more time.
[SPEAKER_02]: You cannot skip any steps.
[SPEAKER_02]: That part has not changed from what I believe and what I teach.
[SPEAKER_02]: And honestly, it will never ever change.
[SPEAKER_02]: Here me clearly, because debt I believe is still the enemy, and it will always be the enemy.
[SPEAKER_02]: I don't care what they say.
[SPEAKER_02]: Consumer debt does not produce financial freedom for the majority 98% of people in America.
[SPEAKER_02]: Not here, here.
[SPEAKER_02]: Let's get to it.
[SPEAKER_02]: Here's where my position has changed.
[SPEAKER_02]: All right.
[SPEAKER_02]: And I want to walk you through it slowly because this is not a small thing.
[SPEAKER_02]: All right.
[SPEAKER_02]: I know I believe a credit card can be a tool in the hands of a disciplined adult.
[SPEAKER_02]: You got to earn the right to hold it, not buy it, not apply for it.
[SPEAKER_02]: I'm going to give you three rules today.
[SPEAKER_02]: And I need you to write these down.
[SPEAKER_02]: They should come up on a screen.
[SPEAKER_02]: I need you to save this video, send it to your spouse, send it to your accountability partner, because and tell them, hey, Anthony has announced his change.
[SPEAKER_02]: And I really do dive through all of this inside of my brand new book, stop living, pay attention to paycheck, and I break it all the way down even more.
[SPEAKER_02]: So make sure you get a copy of that book.
[SPEAKER_02]: The information is out of show notes, and we'll talk about the book a little bit later on.
[SPEAKER_02]: But these three rules will protect you from the biggest mistake people make, and 2026 when it comes to personal finance.
[SPEAKER_02]: All right, here's rule number one.
[SPEAKER_02]: Consumer debt is still the enemy.
[SPEAKER_02]: Someone, if you're watching this line, put it inside the chat.
[SPEAKER_02]: That consumer debt is still the enemy.
[SPEAKER_02]: You see, carrying a balance is bondage.
[SPEAKER_02]: No exceptions, no excuses.
[SPEAKER_02]: If you cannot pay it off in full, every single month, the card needs to be cut up, it needs to be thrown away into the conversation.
[SPEAKER_02]: All right.
[SPEAKER_02]: Now, let me tell you something.
[SPEAKER_02]: I talk about this specifically inside of my brand-new book, Stop Live in Pigeon, the Pigeon.
[SPEAKER_02]: There is an entire chapter called Why Your Dead is Deadly.
[SPEAKER_02]: And in that chapter, I lay out exactly what your dead is costing you.
[SPEAKER_02]: Because we all know this is gonna cost you money.
[SPEAKER_02]: You see, the average American adult between ages of 27 and 54 carries about $31,000 and non-mortgage debt.
[SPEAKER_02]: So a typical middle-class married couple is carrying around $62,000 in non-mortgage debt, 62 bands.
[SPEAKER_02]: What could you do with $62,000?
[SPEAKER_02]: If it was sitting inside of your account today, instead of sitting on a balance oath to a credit card company.
[SPEAKER_02]: So now all this is a call shoot, money, but it calls you time.
[SPEAKER_02]: You see the average household spans 11.25% of their monthly income just to service their debt.
[SPEAKER_02]: That is one out of every nine paychecks going straight to a lender.
[SPEAKER_02]: Not to your family, not to your future, not to your freedom.
[SPEAKER_02]: Straight to Wells Fargo.
[SPEAKER_02]: With my brother Brian Bullitt taught us that Wells is a family's last name.
[SPEAKER_02]: Fargo is a family's last name.
[SPEAKER_02]: So your time and your hard work is going to another family, but not going to you.
[SPEAKER_02]: Family, can I be real with you for a quick second before we get into today's episode?
[SPEAKER_02]: Let's be honest, Gash just hit over $5 a gallon.
[SPEAKER_02]: Ground beef is over $6 a pound.
[SPEAKER_02]: Home prices are up almost 70 to 80 percent in some cities.
[SPEAKER_02]: In almost 870 people, this year alone have lost their jobs every single day.
[SPEAKER_02]: If you feel like you're working harder than you ever have and still fall in behind, be honest with you, you are not crazy and you are not fairly, but the system I have to be honest is broken.
[SPEAKER_02]: You are not the person who has broken.
[SPEAKER_02]: I need you to listen to me here real quick.
[SPEAKER_02]: I honestly do not come from a financially wealthy family.
[SPEAKER_02]: I come from a hard working Christian bone of five family.
[SPEAKER_02]: And I firmly, I firmly do believe everyone watching this works hard too.
[SPEAKER_02]: But hard work without a proven plan does not get us anywhere anymore.
[SPEAKER_02]: This is why I have spent the last five years building this plan.
[SPEAKER_02]: And this is my brand new book, Stop Living paycheck to paycheck.
[SPEAKER_02]: This is the system I wish I had, when I was falling behind in life and living paycheck to paycheck.
[SPEAKER_02]: Why?
[SPEAKER_02]: Because it works no matter what is happening in this economy, no matter what is going on in your life.
[SPEAKER_02]: Because this is not just a money book.
[SPEAKER_02]: This is a freedom book.
[SPEAKER_02]: I need you to pre-order today and get over 275 dollars in free bonuses, but you have to act before August 20.
[SPEAKER_02]: Listen, all you do is go to www.anthonyoneo.com forward slash book.
[SPEAKER_02]: Again, that is www.anthonyoneo.com forward slash book.
[SPEAKER_02]: The link is right below in the description.
[SPEAKER_02]: But I want to help everyone, all of my family members get free together.
[SPEAKER_02]: Go to www.anthonyoneo.com forward slash book.
[SPEAKER_02]: Let's get back into today's shop.
[SPEAKER_02]: Okay, let's keep going.
[SPEAKER_02]: your debt also calls you choices.
[SPEAKER_02]: And your debt calls you peace.
[SPEAKER_02]: 86% of workers today say they feel stress because of their debt.
[SPEAKER_02]: 86%.
[SPEAKER_02]: That is not a small number.
[SPEAKER_02]: That's beyond us.
[SPEAKER_02]: 86% is almost
[SPEAKER_02]: Now, I tell a story in the book, I want to share with you right now, because it is the picture of what debt does to a life.
[SPEAKER_02]: I had just landed from a long flight.
[SPEAKER_02]: I left the airport right around midnight.
[SPEAKER_02]: I was hungry and I didn't want to go to bed with a hunger headache.
[SPEAKER_02]: The only thing I could find open was a McDonald's drive through.
[SPEAKER_02]: When I rolled up to the second window after paying the first window from a food and
[SPEAKER_02]: she looked exhausted.
[SPEAKER_02]: She looked tired.
[SPEAKER_02]: The bag was shaking inside of her hands.
[SPEAKER_02]: So when she handed me the food, I noticed the shaking.
[SPEAKER_02]: She barely had the strip to hold on and midnight.
[SPEAKER_02]: I asked her how old was she?
[SPEAKER_02]: She said I made it three.
[SPEAKER_02]: And I responded 83 years old.
[SPEAKER_02]: Working at McDonald's drive through and midnight.
[SPEAKER_02]: And then she said to me,
[SPEAKER_02]: I know, baby.
[SPEAKER_02]: I know.
[SPEAKER_02]: I didn't make the right decisions at your age.
[SPEAKER_02]: Some of you I have heard this story before and I'm telling you this story again because at 83 years old, that woman should be home and her bed waking up to her grandchildren.
[SPEAKER_02]: She should be having morning coffee conversations with God, not morning stress because she got to go back to work at midnight.
[SPEAKER_02]: She should be at peace instead.
[SPEAKER_02]: She is standing in a freaking drive through window at midnight
[SPEAKER_02]: this is what debt does.
[SPEAKER_02]: That is the future debt is trying to give all of us.
[SPEAKER_02]: So when I say the number one rule, the number one rule debt,
[SPEAKER_02]: That is still the enemy, and I'm not playing the body.
[SPEAKER_02]: The Bible says it plainly, not Anthony, or the Bible, on Proverbs 22 verse 7, the bar where it's slave to the lender.
[SPEAKER_02]: That is not Anthony or Neil talking, that is scripture talking, slave to Wells Fargo, slave to what another family.
[SPEAKER_02]: Read that bird's out loud before you swipe a card.
[SPEAKER_02]: You cannot pay off this month.
[SPEAKER_02]: Read it twice.
[SPEAKER_02]: I'm about to be a slave to this bank.
[SPEAKER_02]: If you can't pay it off with no penalties and penalty is interest, you should not be swiping it.
[SPEAKER_02]: You should not be swiping it.
[SPEAKER_02]: Was pushes me over the rule number two.
[SPEAKER_02]: You earn the right to use a credit card.
[SPEAKER_02]: Hear me, hear me, hear me.
[SPEAKER_02]: I know.
[SPEAKER_02]: You do not get it.
[SPEAKER_02]: You've matured to the point where you've earned it.
[SPEAKER_02]: What does earning look like?
[SPEAKER_02]: I'm gonna lay it out for you step by step.
[SPEAKER_02]: And this is where Anthony has evolved.
[SPEAKER_02]: This is where Anthony is now different.
[SPEAKER_02]: First,
[SPEAKER_02]: You have to be consumer debt-free.
[SPEAKER_02]: Not almost debt-free.
[SPEAKER_02]: I'm talking about you are consumer debt-free.
[SPEAKER_02]: Meaning you have all you consumer debt paid off and you may still have a real estate, right?
[SPEAKER_02]: So zero consumer debt.
[SPEAKER_02]: That means no credit cards, no car loans, no personal loans, no buy-not-pay-lators, no student loans, zero.
[SPEAKER_02]: You are completely consumer debt-free.
[SPEAKER_02]: And watch this, this is what's gonna get you all.
[SPEAKER_02]: You have to stay there for 24 months, two, four years.
[SPEAKER_02]: I get it.
[SPEAKER_02]: I hear you, I already hear you, I hear you.
[SPEAKER_02]: Why 24 months, A.O.
[SPEAKER_02]: Because anybody can be disciplined for 30 days.
[SPEAKER_02]: Let's go there.
[SPEAKER_02]: Anybody can be disciplined for 90 days.
[SPEAKER_02]: I think some people can stretch it to a hundred and twenty days, but twenty four months.
[SPEAKER_02]: But two full years of no consumer debt tells me something about your character.
[SPEAKER_02]: It tells me that discipline is built and ready.
[SPEAKER_02]: It is not a season.
[SPEAKER_02]: It is who you now have become.
[SPEAKER_02]: you have to have a fully funded emergency fund.
[SPEAKER_02]: And let me be very specific here, because this is extremely important.
[SPEAKER_02]: And in my book, stop living on a paycheck to paycheck.
[SPEAKER_02]: I walk you through exactly how to build this in two stages.
[SPEAKER_02]: Stage number one is what I call a one month buffer.
[SPEAKER_02]: And I want to be transparent with you.
[SPEAKER_02]: You should also teach how about $1,000 starting emergency fund.
[SPEAKER_02]: And I did that for years.
[SPEAKER_02]: I said, say, up to $1,000 and then you start attacking your debt.
[SPEAKER_02]: But times have changed.
[SPEAKER_02]: Anthony has changed.
[SPEAKER_02]: Anthony has evolved.
[SPEAKER_02]: And then the answer to you, I still think having $1,000 before you start paying off your debt is better than half of American people.
[SPEAKER_02]: but I'm talking to my people today.
[SPEAKER_02]: I'm talking to my people today.
[SPEAKER_02]: The cost of living house going up, gas is up 21% in a single month.
[SPEAKER_02]: Beef is up 15%.
[SPEAKER_02]: Let's be honest, $1,000 does not stretch the way it used to back in 2019, 90s.
[SPEAKER_02]: Hey, $1,000 does not stretch the way it used to before COVID.
[SPEAKER_02]: So Anthony O'Neill has adjusted his perspective.
[SPEAKER_02]: I now teach before you attack your consumer debt.
[SPEAKER_02]: I need you to have a full month of your net pay set aside.
[SPEAKER_02]: So whatever you bring home in a month after taxes and insurance, that is your one month buffer.
[SPEAKER_02]: I bring that up for a reason because here is something I want you to understand about me.
[SPEAKER_02]: When the data changes,
[SPEAKER_02]: I'm going to assess it.
[SPEAKER_02]: And a data got to change and be staying here.
[SPEAKER_02]: And if it's going to stay this way, there's a small possibility I may update my teachings.
[SPEAKER_02]: When my understanding grows, I'm going to update my teaching.
[SPEAKER_02]: I'm not too proud to tell you my position has matured.
[SPEAKER_02]: I would never lie to you just to stay consistent with something I've taught for 10 years.
[SPEAKER_02]: That's what's happening in his credit cards in his video.
[SPEAKER_02]: Yes, Anthony has evolved.
[SPEAKER_02]: Yes, Anthony has changed.
[SPEAKER_02]: Yes.
[SPEAKER_02]: And I've never really came out and just said why.
[SPEAKER_02]: This is why.
[SPEAKER_02]: Stay tuned.
[SPEAKER_02]: Stay tuned to the emergency fund.
[SPEAKER_02]: It's what comes after you are consumer debt free.
[SPEAKER_02]: You're going to have three or six months of your net pay and a high yo savings.
[SPEAKER_02]: And honestly, I'm kind of leaning towards telling everyone I need you to get six months in that pay.
[SPEAKER_02]: Now, I personally recommend so far how you'll save as a count.
[SPEAKER_02]: I have a list of about the five top how you'll save as a count.
[SPEAKER_02]: You can go to anthonyo.com for SaaS savings and that link will be inside of today's show knows.
[SPEAKER_02]: But I need you to have 36 months, not 36 weeks, not 36 months of expenses, none of them.
[SPEAKER_02]: I need you to have 36 months of your net pay.
[SPEAKER_02]: If you do not have that, you do not have the cushion to handle a credit card safely.
[SPEAKER_02]: because the moment life hits and this life is going to hit you, you will be tempted to let a balance sit on that card.
[SPEAKER_02]: And the moment the balance sits, you are back in bondage.
[SPEAKER_02]: Anthony O'Neill still hates.
[SPEAKER_02]: Still thinks debt is the enemy.
[SPEAKER_02]: So we're not going back there.
[SPEAKER_02]: Third, you have to have a written budget at every single month, and I call it your monthly money vision in the book.
[SPEAKER_02]: Every single penny, every single dime, every single quarter, every single dollar has to have a mission.
[SPEAKER_02]: Every dollar has to have a name.
[SPEAKER_02]: And you know exactly where it goes before the month starts, you'll have to know that.
[SPEAKER_02]: Not after, but before.
[SPEAKER_02]: And I personally use the best app out there called in the black app to track mine.
[SPEAKER_02]: You can go to anthonyo.com4slash app.
[SPEAKER_02]: We'll have that inside of the show notes because this is crucial.
[SPEAKER_02]: If you do not have a system for telling your money what to do, a credit card will tell your money what to do.
[SPEAKER_02]: And I promise you it would not be in your favor.
[SPEAKER_02]: It will work against you.
[SPEAKER_02]: It will destroy you.
[SPEAKER_02]: If you don't hear nothing else, you got to tell your money, what's it is going to do?
[SPEAKER_02]: Here's the fourth thing.
[SPEAKER_02]: You have to have the proven discipline to treat the car like a debit car.
[SPEAKER_02]: Now I know some of people in my paths are going to come for me on this one, but this is where I'm at now.
[SPEAKER_02]: Notice I said proven, not promise, but proven.
[SPEAKER_02]: You have to look back at your life and see the receipts.
[SPEAKER_02]: Watch this.
[SPEAKER_02]: Two years of pain every billion times.
[SPEAKER_02]: Two years of staying inside your budget.
[SPEAKER_02]: Two years of saying no to things you wanted, but could not afford.
[SPEAKER_02]: That is the discipline I'm talking about.
[SPEAKER_02]: If you do not have all four of those things, honestly, people you're not ready for a card.
[SPEAKER_02]: And that is okay.
[SPEAKER_02]: Most people are not ready.
[SPEAKER_02]: This is no shame today.
[SPEAKER_02]: There was only shame and pretending you're ready when you're not.
[SPEAKER_02]: There was only shame and pretending that you're ready and now you're drowning in debt.
[SPEAKER_02]: Remember, everything about me right now is about, it's not about money, it's about how do we get to freedom.
[SPEAKER_02]: And this is how we get into freedom.
[SPEAKER_02]: And a credit card should not be hindering you get to freedom.
[SPEAKER_02]: Here's rule number three.
[SPEAKER_02]: Even when you have earned the right, you have to treat the credit card like a debit card.
[SPEAKER_02]: Listen to me carefully.
[SPEAKER_02]: I want you listening to me carefully.
[SPEAKER_02]: Come in closer.
[SPEAKER_02]: Come here.
[SPEAKER_02]: Listen to me.
[SPEAKER_02]: Listen to me carefully.
[SPEAKER_02]: I am so fearful of debt that I pay off my credit card every single week.
[SPEAKER_02]: Not every month.
[SPEAKER_02]: Every single week.
[SPEAKER_02]: Monday morning.
[SPEAKER_02]: Right before the new week begins, why?
[SPEAKER_02]: Because the moment you let a balance sit, the lender starts winning.
[SPEAKER_02]: And I'm just so fearful of allowing myself to get comfortable that honestly a bucket.
[SPEAKER_02]: paid off every single day.
[SPEAKER_02]: I really look.
[SPEAKER_02]: But I know I can't do that because it's like I just only had a time to sit there and just make that pain with every single day.
[SPEAKER_02]: But I paid off every single Monday.
[SPEAKER_02]: It is a part of my Monday morning ritual.
[SPEAKER_02]: Before I after I go see my physical therapist, I come home, I take me protein, shake, I eat my breakfast, I meet, I read my Bible, after read my Bible, I pay my bills.
[SPEAKER_02]: And that is on my schedule every single money is actually in my calendar to do every single Monday morning.
[SPEAKER_02]: So even if you plan to pay it off at the end of the month, we can pay off bills, the muscle that keeps you safe.
[SPEAKER_02]: It keeps the card on us and it keeps you on us.
[SPEAKER_02]: It keeps you to the level of freedom that you're trying to get to.
[SPEAKER_02]: And let me say this loud and super clear.
[SPEAKER_02]: Points of miles are never the reason to have a credit card.
[SPEAKER_02]: I said it.
[SPEAKER_02]: Never.
[SPEAKER_02]: I do not care how many freaking free flights they promise you.
[SPEAKER_02]: I don't care how many cash back rewards they advertise because studies still do show people spend more when they use a credit card instead of cash or debit.
[SPEAKER_02]: That's a fact.
[SPEAKER_02]: But if you spent $200,000 to earn $4,000 in points, you did not win.
[SPEAKER_02]: You spent more than you would have spent.
[SPEAKER_02]: The bank won.
[SPEAKER_02]: Points are a small, and I mean, it's a small bonus on top of a discipline you already had.
[SPEAKER_02]: They are never the strategy.
[SPEAKER_02]: Generosity over rewards, points?
[SPEAKER_02]: That is what I teach.
[SPEAKER_02]: Now, now, let me tell you why my position has changed.
[SPEAKER_02]: And I really want to draw to hear this part because honestly, I owe you all this explanation.
[SPEAKER_02]: I watched myself over the last, I would say four years.
[SPEAKER_02]: I've been out of my own for five.
[SPEAKER_02]: I've been watching the people with them like community.
[SPEAKER_02]: Going back to school, change me a little bit,
[SPEAKER_02]: I don't, I still don't agree with, I will say 80% of the things that I've learned within my finance, my finance degree, but I love the education that my degree has given me, which is why
[SPEAKER_02]: By the time I turned 50, I'd be 42 this year.
[SPEAKER_02]: I want to be a HBCU professor.
[SPEAKER_02]: I'm already that.
[SPEAKER_02]: By 45, I want to be a dean at an HBCU.
[SPEAKER_02]: And then by 50, I would love to be an HBCU president, because I do believe that there are some things that we could be doing differently to teach our students, our young people this next year in the race and specifically, people of color.
[SPEAKER_02]: So as I have evolved, I saw what happens when somebody's debit card gets hit by fraud.
[SPEAKER_02]: And now they're rent money disappears overnight, not now.
[SPEAKER_02]: They have issues.
[SPEAKER_02]: Federal protection, let's be honest, federal protection on a credit card is just stronger and that is a fact.
[SPEAKER_02]: Look at that.
[SPEAKER_02]: That is a fact.
[SPEAKER_02]: I personally experience what a clean credit profile does when it comes to financing real estate and getting car insurance.
[SPEAKER_02]: Because I do finance real estate.
[SPEAKER_02]: I'll just close on another property just a few weeks ago.
[SPEAKER_02]: I know what it feels like to go from a, I had a, I had a low credit score as a 500 when I started my financial journey about 12 years ago now, because I had all my debt paid off, but I didn't have anything active.
[SPEAKER_02]: My current insurance was high.
[SPEAKER_02]: My homeowner's, that my homeowner's, but my home mortgage rate, I wouldn't say it was high.
[SPEAKER_02]: I ain't gonna say any lie about that.
[SPEAKER_02]: But it was higher than what it could have been.
[SPEAKER_02]: I know what it feels like to go from to get my current insurance cut in half simply because my score was higher.
[SPEAKER_02]: And I've always said this,
[SPEAKER_02]: That the money, how to win with money is to understand that it is necessarily a game.
[SPEAKER_02]: And how do you play the game without them winning?
[SPEAKER_02]: But you're still involved in a game.
[SPEAKER_02]: There is a strategy.
[SPEAKER_02]: There's a system.
[SPEAKER_02]: That is a part.
[SPEAKER_02]: Or I'm say, that is part, let me say that.
[SPEAKER_02]: That is part of the wealth architect system that I'm teaching inside the book.
[SPEAKER_02]: that, yes, consumer debt is the enemy, but there is a strategy on so how to play the game.
[SPEAKER_02]: A mortgage on an appreciating asset is a completely different conversation, specifically for people of color.
[SPEAKER_02]: Because when you do the math,
[SPEAKER_02]: If you look at the average white person, compared to the average black person, and if you look at the wealth gap, it is simply because black people, we could not own homes.
[SPEAKER_02]: We couldn't own real estate.
[SPEAKER_02]: We couldn't own land.
[SPEAKER_02]: So for me to tell black people, do not go get real estate and pay cash for real estate.
[SPEAKER_02]: I just can't do that knowing that that is one of the biggest reason for a wealth gap.
[SPEAKER_02]: But now I do not take on consumer debt, but I do finance real estate strategically because those two are not the same thing.
[SPEAKER_02]: I'm currently inside of my DBA program at Region University and right now I have to wash of that for my DBA program.
[SPEAKER_02]: I have to wash the economy.
[SPEAKER_02]: Heck, I am a consumer economics professor at Virginia Union University.
[SPEAKER_02]: Now, honestly, just finish a economics class inside of my DBA program.
[SPEAKER_02]: I've been watching my own life and I had a choice to make.
[SPEAKER_02]: I can keep teaching this, that same thing I taught in 2018, even though my understanding has grown, it has changed, or I could be honest with you, and update the teaching.
[SPEAKER_02]: So I just chose honesty.
[SPEAKER_02]: And in this season of life, I'm always going to be honest, even if it means somebody else will not follow me anymore.
[SPEAKER_02]: Even if it costs me subscribers and
[SPEAKER_02]: Now, hear me on this part.
[SPEAKER_02]: Hear me on this part.
[SPEAKER_02]: Because this is the most important section of the entire episode today.
[SPEAKER_02]: I need every single person watching this video to slow down and just pay attention.
[SPEAKER_02]: If you're driving, lock in, if you're watching this, listen to me, watch me.
[SPEAKER_02]: The credit card industry made 160 billion dollars and interest charges in 2024 alone.
[SPEAKER_02]: A hundred and sixty billion dollars in interest charges in one year, does that look like they're your friends?
[SPEAKER_02]: They for so many on your team.
[SPEAKER_02]: And we tag on no they're rooting for your freedom.
[SPEAKER_02]: That's their business model.
[SPEAKER_02]: And their business model depends on you carrying a balance period.
[SPEAKER_02]: If you are anywhere near the paycheck, the paycheck line, if you do not have an emergency fund, if you are not on a written budget, if you are not 24 months consumer debt free, if you know for a fact,
[SPEAKER_02]: which I will say it is respectfully, 90% of American people are not financially mature enough to have a credit card.
[SPEAKER_02]: Hear me clearly.
[SPEAKER_02]: Today's episode is not permission to go open up a freaking credit card.
[SPEAKER_02]: Let me say it again.
[SPEAKER_02]: And this is not permission.
[SPEAKER_02]: This is a graduate level conversation for people who have already done the work.
[SPEAKER_02]: This is a let me clarify what's going on.
[SPEAKER_02]: Y'all tag me y'all, ask me my thoughts, my perspective, why have I changed?
[SPEAKER_02]: This is a video explaining why Anthony O'Neill has changed.
[SPEAKER_02]: If you have done the work, let us, if you have not done the work,
[SPEAKER_02]: I need you to read my book.
[SPEAKER_02]: If you are struggling, I need you to read my book and cut up the freaking credit cards.
[SPEAKER_02]: Pay them off, build that emergency phone, get on a written budget, and then come back to this video 24 months from now.
[SPEAKER_02]: But you can't skip the steps.
[SPEAKER_02]: Skipping steps is what got you in trouble in the first place.
[SPEAKER_02]: Here's a heart of this whole conversation.
[SPEAKER_02]: And I want you to really, really, really, really hear me on this.
[SPEAKER_02]: The point of money is not money.
[SPEAKER_02]: The point of money is freedom.
[SPEAKER_02]: The point of this gate plan inside of the new book, Stop Living Pages at the Paycheck, is to stop being controlled.
[SPEAKER_02]: by debt, by lenders, but other families who own your debt, by image you cannot afford, by any one else's rules.
[SPEAKER_02]: You graduate from rules to wisdom.
[SPEAKER_02]: Rules are for people who have not built the discipline yet, and rules are good.
[SPEAKER_02]: Rules honestly saved my life, but wisdom is what comes after the rules.
[SPEAKER_02]: Wisdom, I believe, says this.
[SPEAKER_02]: A credit card is a tool.
[SPEAKER_02]: Tools are only safe in the hands of someone who has earned the right to hold them.
[SPEAKER_02]: If I put fire in your hands, would you use it to warm up the house?
[SPEAKER_02]: But in the wrong hands, it can burn down the house.
[SPEAKER_02]: If you have earned it, the car is plastic.
[SPEAKER_02]: If you have not earned it, the car is a trap.
[SPEAKER_02]: And here's the truth.
[SPEAKER_02]: You've got to know which one you are.
[SPEAKER_02]: And you've got to be honest with yourself.
[SPEAKER_02]: And here's the truth again.
[SPEAKER_02]: A lot of people are not going to be honest with yourself, but let me be vulnerable and real with you all.
[SPEAKER_02]: I just got mature to handle an American express.
[SPEAKER_02]: I don't have a quote unquote credit card.
[SPEAKER_02]: I have a charge card that I pay off, that I have to pay off.
[SPEAKER_02]: I just got mature here recently to have it, and I'm 42.
[SPEAKER_02]: Because one thing I totally agree with George Campbell, I don't care who you are.
[SPEAKER_02]: You're going to be tempted to buy more and spin more on a credit card.
[SPEAKER_02]: You are.
[SPEAKER_02]: But you gotta be matured about now, I don't need it.
[SPEAKER_02]: It's not in my budget.
[SPEAKER_02]: If I can't afford in my budget, if I can't afford to pay for a cash, I'm not going to put on the car.
[SPEAKER_02]: I need you to marry the vision and date the method.
[SPEAKER_02]: The vision is freedom.
[SPEAKER_02]: The method gives, or I would say, the method evolves as you grow.
[SPEAKER_02]: If this is your first time, hear me.
[SPEAKER_02]: Again, I have a brand new book that just got released here within the last couple of weeks called, stop living paycheck to paycheck.
[SPEAKER_02]: Comes out August 25th.
[SPEAKER_02]: It is the full system that takes you from broke and overwhelmed.
[SPEAKER_02]: all the way up to the discipline that lets you handle any financial tool wisely.
[SPEAKER_02]: This is not a money book.
[SPEAKER_02]: This is a system to get you to freedom book.
[SPEAKER_02]: If you purchase other books today, we're going to give you up to 205 worth of free bonuses.
[SPEAKER_02]: Free masterclass, a free budget and we're going to help you find the thousand dollars
[SPEAKER_02]: Everything I just walked through is in there in deeper detail the chapter on debt the chapter on the emergency fund The chapter on the monthly money money vision all of it is there all you got to do again go to Anthonyo.com for a slash book What a link is inside of the show description today.
[SPEAKER_02]: Yo, send it to somebody you love who is stuck right now
[SPEAKER_02]: They say the majority of people in America are living page at the paycheck.
[SPEAKER_02]: That's why I wrote the book and I titled it that way, because I want to help build discipline.
[SPEAKER_02]: I want to help build freedom.
[SPEAKER_02]: And I believe everyone is getting a bad, every single day, and busing their butts, but we don't have a system.
[SPEAKER_02]: And as I end this episode, I experienced true financial freedom when I followed a proven system.
[SPEAKER_02]: While this book is for everybody, I want to encourage you that if you're saying I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired and more come up but off and I don't see no fruit from my labor.
[SPEAKER_02]: Get the book.
[SPEAKER_02]: It's probably the best book, most vulnerable book, most honest book I've ever written in my life.
[SPEAKER_02]: The promise you have blessed you.
[SPEAKER_02]: I'll see you in the next show.
[SPEAKER_02]: I'll show this with someone.
[SPEAKER_02]: Thank you.