I’m packing for Greece next week. Before I zip the suitcase shut, I’m going to open my phone, go to Settings, and scroll through every subscription I’m paying for.

It’s a two-minute habit that saves me money every time I do it. I talked about that habit – and about forty other things nobody teaches you about money – when I sat down with Ed Mylett on his show a few weeks ago.

NEW EPISODE ON THE ED MYLETT SHOW

Ed opened by asking about the couple who changed my life. Jim and Sue McIntyre walked into my office when I was a young advisor at Morgan Stanley. Household income: never more than $50,000. They retired at 52 with two paid-off homes and a net worth of $1.8 million. I asked them how. They said: we automated everything, and we threw a party every time we burned a paid-off mortgage statement. That conversation is the reason ​The Automatic Millionaire​ exists.

We got into the number that’s been going viral since I first said it on another show: $27.40. That’s what it takes to quietly blow $10,000 a year – one Uber, one cocktail, one subscription at a time. Save that same $27.40 a day instead and invest it, and in 40 years you’re looking at over $4.4 million. Ed and I agree that somewhere between 45 and 55 million Americans could do this tomorrow and just aren’t. Half the problem is subscriptions you forgot you have – one famous podcast host I was on found $500 a month of them on his phone when I made him check, on camera. He had 23 subscriptions and confessed he only used three.

We also got into why everyone is on your payroll but you (the government, Netflix, your landlord – they all get paid automatically before you do), why I think telling young people not to buy a home is some of the worst advice going around right now, and a stat that stopped even Ed cold: the average American’s “health expectancy” – the age you can expect a serious health decline to hit – is 63. Life expectancy is actually going down in this country, not up. Which is exactly why the automatic part matters. You don’t have as much time as you think to get this right.

If you’ve ever made decent money and still wondered where it all went, or you’ve got kids you want to teach this to before they turn 30, ​watch this one​.

CHECK OUT SOME OF THE COMMENTS

@barrymastrantonio9702

“This is pure gold and informational. Dare I say this video should be played in every high school in their finance/math classes. Also, the talk is that Social Security benefits will be cut starting in 2032. If this is true, NOW is the time to take this advice to plan for the future. You need multiple streams of income in retirement. Ed Mylett, David Bach, thank you for everything.”

@BradOperationsArchitect

“It is crazy how many trade owners pull in massive revenue but are completely broke and burnt out. The brutal truth is you cannot out-work or out-earn a broken system. If you have to rely on sheer willpower every single day just to keep the lights on, you don’t have a business — you have a high-paying prison. Building real, automated infrastructure is the only way to actually keep what you make.”

@gregdavis861

“I’m putting this in my Ed top 10. A tremendous episode. I’m looking forward to listening a second time.”

WHERE TO GET THE BOOK

​The Automatic Millionaire​, 20th Anniversary Edition, is out now – get your copy.

LISTEN INSTEAD

Prefer audio? The full conversation is also wherever you get your podcasts. Listen on Apple ​here​ and Spotify ​here​.

One last thing. Jim and Sue used to throw a party every time they burned a mortgage statement in the fireplace. I love that image. Somewhere in Greece next week, I’m going to raise a glass to my own version of it. Automate yours, then go live your life while it works in the background.

PS: Are you with me on social media yet? Come by and join me on ​Instagram​, ​Facebook​, or ​YouTube​. I just posted an important announcement about the new ​Trump Accounts for kids​. I also talked about it on the ​Today Show​ in June. Enjoy. And welcome if you are new here – about 200,000 more of you have joined us this year! Thank you.