Make Mounds by Managing Your Personal Finance Like a Business with David Mulonas

Welcome back to The Prosperity Perspective Podcast! This week, host Liam Leonard brings on a fellow financial podcaster and investment expert, David Mulonas. David began his financial journey in the negative: his wife owed a mound of debt and he was trying to refinance his house after a divorce. Now, David has accumulated wealth from a variety of investment options, and he’s ready to share it with you!

Hop into their conversation and get tips on running side hustles for profit, the necessity of running a full-scale personal budget first and foremost, and where to even start investing in the first place. Don’t miss the load of information David gives you this week here at Prosperity Perspective!

3 Key Takeaways:

The number one thing people miss in business
Why you shouldn’t get caught in FOMO
The definition of an opportunity zone

Show Notes:

[0:30] David introduces himself

Running an entrepreneurial podcast
Being in the Fortune 500
“When you have control over what you like to do, it’s much more gratifying (even if it’s harder work).” -David Mulonas

[1:35] What David did with his supplemental income once it started coming

His wife’s experience as an abused and homeless individual at times
Maxing out whatever he could
Running side hustles
Making a book
Selling a property
Looking into opportunity zones
Buying into penny stocks, stock options, and the podcast
“The point is that when you get to that level, it provides more opportunities.” -David Mulonas

[4:15] David’s role as an old school guy who wasn’t entrepreneurial

Pulling out his bank statements and looking at her behavior
Running a full-scale budget as a team
Starting to invest money afterward
“The thing we worked on the hardest wasn’t blending the kids. It was helping my wife realize her full potential.” -David Mulonas
His wife goes into management for a handful of years into the A team

[8:20] “You have to have your mind and body right. If you don’t manage your own money underneath, you can’t manage it as an entrepreneur.” -David Mulonas

[9:45] The number one thing people miss in business

“Once they start doing okay, they don’t invest in their business as they go along.” -David Mulonas
Keep investing and spend a little bit more to grow a little further

[10:45] How to know it’s time to invest in the next level

The difference between how they were handling it then versus now
Understand what you need to do to grow
Building a custom studio to include video with his audio
Using it to build social media
“It’s a building process. You have to take one piece at a time and know how to get to the next piece.” -David Mulonas

[13:15] How to know the first piece you should start with

“Start with what you’re most interested in.” -David Mulonas
Research, find a mentor, find something on TV
Don’t jump into the deep end of the pool
Learn that you’re going to fail. You just got to be patient, take time, and put the effort in.” -David Mulonas

[14:55] What he would have done differently

Don’t get caught in a FOMO!
“Don’t get caught up in what everyone else is doing, get caught up with what you want to do!” -David Mulonas
His four stock investment example

[17:17] The most exciting thing that David is investing in today

NFTs and a digital space with his son
Auctions
Sticking with companies that he knows
“The best time to buy is when the market sucks, because everything is on sale!” -David Mulonas

[19:00] What the financial optionality has created for David

Build money in after tax accounts!
You’ve already paid the tax

[21:21] The biggest pillars of his tax accounts

When you’re younger: Roth
When you’re older (60ish): into your 401K
Make sure you’ve got the company mash
You have to put the time in!

[23:20] The other thing he’d say to you

You have to take care of yourself and have a plan for what's going on
Cut back and make decisions
“You have to treat yourself like a business.” -David Mulonas

[24:52] David’s perspective on arbitraging real estate

David doesn’t pay off his own house because they make more money in the market
Go into real estate while you’re young!

[26:30] David explains opportunity zones

His example of Austin
It’s a government program
You’re giving money to gentrify like the movie Shameless
Pooling money together and taking pieces back
“In a nutshell, an opportunity zone is to clean up an area nicely and safely.” -David Mulonas
How David is involved in these opportunity zone
How you find the right partner in charge of this project
Do research; there’s always someone out there
Ensure that you TRUST them

About David Mulonas:

David Mulonas an established corporate IT Project Manager and the host of the Something On My Mind Personal Finance podcast. He is also the author of I'm Not Flipping Burgers When I’m 70 (Personal Finance) as well as a financial coach who provides comprehensive planning for budgeting, debt management, home ownership and tools to invest for the future. He has also dabbled in side hustles from renting homes to making money with stock options.

The Story Behind David’s Podcast Venture:

When I met Cindy she was destitute: bankrupt, in foreclosure, homeless and abused by her ex-husband–and she was paying him alimony! As for me, I was out of work and had to pretend to be the HR department by forwarding an 800-number to my phone at my former job so that I could refinance my home just before the financial crisis (during my divorce).

We both had custody of our kids and we had a lot of "fixing" to do with our lives. We raised our kids successfully and built up portfolios for successful financial wealth over the last 10 years.

In time, Cindy went from the processing department to COO of a national financial wealth management firm with no former college, and I became a published author in personal finance. We have also survived the unexpected with Cindy being hit by a car walking across the street along with two bouts of COVID. So we've been through things.

With our podcast, we cover all things finance, relationships and we mix-in personal and offbeat stories. So we are realists, but we’re always mixing humor into the equation.

Hence: we like to give back with our stories while helping people achieve their financial goals.