Episode 1318: Interview with Bruce Scott about his book 14 Steps to Financial Freedom

[00:00:00] Scott Maderer: Thanks for joining us on episode 1,318 of the Inspired Stewardship Podcast.

[00:00:08] Bruce Scott: I'm Bruce Scott. I challenge you to invest in yourself, invest in others, develop your influence and impact the world by using your time, your talent, and your treasures to live out your calling. Having the ability to find your path to financial freedom is a, is key.

[00:00:26] And one way to be inspired to do that is to listen to this The Inspired Stewardship Podcast with my friend Scott Maderer. Thank you.

[00:00:44] It is okay to go into a relationship with an investor who naturally wants to take risk. So the answer to the question is, I think just about any money personality on the couple's side can work as long as they both recognize their dominant personality and be [00:01:00] willing to put the safeguards in to treat the weaknesses.

[00:01:04] And then they have.

[00:01:06] Scott Maderer: Welcome and thank you for joining us on the Inspired Stewardship Podcast. If you truly desire to become the person who God wants you to be, then you must learn to use your time, your talent, and your treasures for your true calling. In the inspired Stewardship podcast, you will learn to invest in yourself.

[00:01:25] Invest in others and develop your influence so that you can impact the world.

[00:01:39] In today's podcast episode, I interview Bruce Scott. I asked Bruce about his journey to writing the book, the 14 Steps to Financial Freedom. I also asked Bruce to share with you how you can focus on the key steps to begin getting your financial life in order. And I asked Bruce to talk with you about how his faith journey intersects [00:02:00] with his work.

[00:02:01] One reason I like to bring you great interviews, like the one you're gonna hear today is because of the power in learning from others. Another great way to learn from others is through reading books. But if you're like most people today, you find it hard to find the time to sit down and read, and that's why today's podcast is brought to you by Audible.

[00:02:22] Go to inspired stewardship.com/audible to sign up and you can get a 30 day free trial. There's over 180,000 titles to choose from, and instead of reading, you can listen your way to learn from some of the greatest minds out there. That's inspired stewardship.com/audible to get your free trial and listen to great books the same way you're listening to this podcast.

[00:02:49] Bruce Scott, a cpa, MBA fca and F C A is an international personal finance specialist. A certified public [00:03:00] accountant, a chartered accountant, and a chartered certified accountant, and he's the chartered accountant in Jamaica and the certified accountant in the UK and the CPA in Colorado, and the creator of the online courses.

[00:03:13] 14 Steps to Financial Freedom. Bruce is the territory leader and a senior partner of Price Waterhouse Cooper's Jamaica. He believes financial intelligence leads to financial independence, and he offers financial training in several countries on strategies and behavioral changes required to pursue a path of financial freedom.

[00:03:34] Welcome to the show Breeze. Thanks,

[00:03:36] Bruce Scott: Scott. Happy to be

[00:03:37] Scott Maderer: here. Absolutely. And so you're actually when we're recording this today, you're not quote on your home base, but you're traveling a little bit. I hope you stay warm today cause you're in chilly New York instead of warm home base,

[00:03:52] Bruce Scott: right?

[00:03:53] Yeah. But happy to be in New York with family, but, Love the sun in Jamaica more.

[00:03:58] Scott Maderer: I would [00:04:00] love the sun in Jamaica more as well. I do not like, do not do well with cold weather. Hopefully as folks are listening to this, they're staying warm themselves. It, we're coming into, we're coming into May, coming into summertime, so folks are probably finally starting to get outta the winter doldrums a little bit, right?

[00:04:16] So we talked a little bit about the, in, in the intro and you just mentioned being at home in Jamaica and we talked a little bit about some of the things that you do from there. Again, you have, Jamaica is your home base, but then you do stuff in the US and you do stuff in the uk and you, can you talk a little bit about your journey and what brought you to the point where you're working as a financial advisor, you're writing this book about the 14 steps of financial freedom.

[00:04:43] What brought you to this

[00:04:44] Bruce Scott: point today? Thanks, Scott. Just before I answer, just wanna remind our listeners that we're, this is given financial education and empowerment, not given financial advice. Absolutely. And it's seek professional help if you want to put anything into action. [00:05:00] I'm actually a personal financial specialist where I give education rather than advice.

[00:05:05] To answer your question, Scott my financial journey started. Like everybody else, I got the job and I had to figure out my money stuff. But I would say officially where I got passionate about parcel finance is when person started calling me and asking me about tough questions that they needed to solve.

[00:05:24] So I am c p A in the usa. I'm also a professional accountant in Jamaica and the uk, so I have a pretty. Wide profile. So people would know of me and they'll call me and ask me questions about their money. They're in a sea of debt, they're struggling with their relationship. Money is the root of it. And they just casually ask me, Bruce, how can I figure this out?

[00:05:42] And I noticed that the problems were very similar. People are struggling with mountains of debt, making money, mistakes. But the thing that got me, Scott, was persons would say, Bruce, If the things that you're telling me today to help me to fix my money problem, if I knew them when I was in high school, are [00:06:00] college, or I learned it at home, I would not be in this financial storm today.

[00:06:05] And when I heard those recurring themes, I realized that I needed a way to get this message out faster. Hence the idea for the book. I wasn't born in a lap of luxury. I'm from very humble beginnings and I've applied. A lot of the concepts that I coach people through, so I'm very credible. Plus academically, I'm a CPA as well in the us.

[00:06:27] Scott Maderer: And that that idea and I agree with you. I work in the personal finance area some and it's always amazing everyone always says the same thing, right? I wish I would've known this when I was a kid. I wish I would've known this when I was a kid or when I was a teenager or when I was.

[00:06:45] 20 or when I was, whatever when you think about some of those steps that you share and like you said, this is not meant to be financial advice and we're not gonna give any specifics or anything like that. And everyone definitely needs to make sure that [00:07:00] they check in with their own situation, their own expertise, cuz their, the reason why is cuz there's too much detail to worry about to be able to do that.

[00:07:09] What are some of the key steps that people need to focus on? When they're managing their money.

[00:07:16] Bruce Scott: Great question, Scott. And the first thing I would say is that persons need to see money through the right lens. There are some persons especially. Lemme not say especially, but are number of persons who are of a Christian worldview.

[00:07:33] They seem to think that it's so virtuous to be poor. And Jesus came in a manger, reco identifying himself with the low and the weak. That's. That incarnation has its own theological implications, right? So seeing money through the right lens, we need to understand that it is, money itself is not evil.

[00:07:57] It is the love of money that is the [00:08:00] root of a root of all types of evil. So that's the first thing. If you're gonna manage money, it is okay. What we need to do is to be in control of money and not let money be in control of us. Now, having set that foundation, I'm gonna say there are three things.

[00:08:14] And they're articulated in the book in much greater details. I go to them pretty quickly. The book is answering three questions. Number one, everybody needs to understand how to grow their money and everybody needs to understand how to protect their money. And everybody needs to understand how to so their money.

[00:08:31] And if you notice, The G in grow, the P in protect, and the S in. So everybody needs to GPS their money. Very easy. And because you're on a journey, it's 14 steps. You need your GPS clean on the word to direct you as you move towards this journey. So under grow, It's all about learning how to self-assess where you are financially.

[00:08:53] If you go to the doctor can't treat you unless he checks your blood pressure and your vitals. Blood pressure is high, sugar is high, [00:09:00] then you're going to get treatments. Many persons don't realize that you can do the same thing for your finances. So if you're gonna grow money, you need to understand where you are financial wise, financial health wise.

[00:09:10] When you see the ch the weaknesses, you don't have an emergency phone. Your insurance is low. Then you need to move to treatments, remedies. Those remedies are your financial goals. No emergency fund. I need to set a fund in the next 12 months, but under grow, you must learn to save money. You cannot hit any of your financial goals without learning to save money.

[00:09:32] It is the fuel. It is the seed. The farmer cannot eat his seed or her seed. He or she must sow that seed. And when you have the savings, then you invest. To achieve your objectives, and I'm giving up pretty fast. So another protect the storms of life will come. Jesus himself says, when the storms come, not if the storms come.

[00:09:55] So if you grow that money, you need to protect it through insurance, through your living revocable [00:10:00] trust, through right, a will. And my favorite. Having grown your money and you know how to protect it, then you must sow your money. And in that section of the book I talk about love thy neighbor. Seen others in need and using that access to bless them so that they made ing praises to a holy god who sent you to bless them.

[00:10:18] Awesome gps.

[00:10:21] Scott Maderer: I'm gonna, I'm gonna ask you a trick question real quick that as well, do you know how GPS actually works in terms of mechanically how they actually work? Yes, there's satellites and stuff, but in terms of how it plots the route.

[00:10:35] Bruce Scott: I don't know the technical in the networkings a bit, but from the perspective of giving direction and helping you to get from point A to point B, I'm. Using the ideas under the G and the P and the S so here's something that you can add to your knowledge base. It actually doesn't help us get from point A to point B oh Lord. It helps us get from point B to point A. [00:11:00] And what I mean by that is, believe it or not, a GPS mechanically works. When you put in the destination, it TA plots the route backwards from the destination.

[00:11:10] Scott Maderer: Back to the beginning where you are today, which actually adds to what you're talking about because part of that whole, when you said that diagnosis and grow, part of that too is figuring out. Where are you being called to go? What are you being called to do? Where, what direction are you heading in?

[00:11:25] Otherwise cuz if we don't plan to go somewhere, then we'll end up wherever, thanks, Scott. So you could add that as a seed to your GPS analogy too. Yeah. It actually goes B to A, not A to B. It goes from the destination back to the beginning.

[00:11:39] Bruce Scott: Thanks. I learned something. So that

[00:11:41] Scott Maderer: adds to your G p s analogy a little bit.

[00:11:44] You mentioned in their faith and that faith lens being important to you can you talk a little bit about how your faith journey has intersected with your own personal journey and what you do for others?

[00:11:58] Bruce Scott: So I would say my [00:12:00] faith journey has played a significant role in my personal finance journey.

[00:12:06] And what I mean by that, and I don't want to sound all mushy and super spiritual, right? But when you read the text that says IU doesn't provide first family is worse than an infidel. When you read passage, talk about husbands love your wives. As Christ love himself, then those passages implicitly challenges you as an individual to, to find a means of earning money that you know that, and that's a seed, right?

[00:12:31] You need income. So from that perspective, it's very difficult for a person who have see scripture with authority to not be willing to go and generate some form of income. But having gotten that income, The real intersection is my sensitivity to those who are in need. The scriptures say if you see your brother in need and close your bowel of compassion, how say you have the love of God in you?

[00:12:55] And that's what I said earlier when I saw the need, Scott of [00:13:00] couples who are struggling. I spent four hours one night with a couple having heard me on a financial webinar, working through some tough. Stop and people ask me where you find the time, and I say it to persons passion trumps everything. When you see the need and you recognize you have a gift, and that will bring glory to God, now that you're dealing with that consciousness and you see how it affects positively the people that you're helping, then I believe that is the thing that inspires me.

[00:13:27] So one, you can't be someone who sees scripture with biblical authority without just recognizing that you have to. Produce, you have to grow what you have. But then having grown it, which is actually what the Sawyer money part is, I have a strong sensitivity and we don't learn any trumpet. So working one-on-one to give my time and to do amazing projects privately to help to deal with some of the inequities in our society, whether it's in the educational system or otherwise.

[00:13:55] Scott Maderer: You mentioned in their couples, and you talked [00:14:00] earlier about having worked with folks that are struggling with money. I want to talk about two different parts for us as individuals for a minute, and then we'll talk about couples. As well as individuals.

[00:14:15] Why is it important for us to understand people call it different things, but how we relate to money, how we view money, our beliefs about money all of that framework. Why is that important for us as individuals?

[00:14:29] Bruce Scott: It is extremely important because we may be blindsided by our natural tendencies.

[00:14:35] So in the world of finance, there is a whole discussion and debate around money personalities. And so I believe, and I write about this fairly extensively in the book, where part of growing your money is to understand first your natural dominant money personality. And in the book, I argue that there are four types in my book.

[00:14:54] So I have talk about moguls, I talk about savers, I talk about. Investors and I talk about ostrich [00:15:00] and every single one of us ostrich bears ahead. Naturally. In sand money, the mogul is a big spender. Investor not afraid to take risks, and the save elect hoard wanting to feel a sense of security. I am naturally a saver.

[00:15:13] I know that about myself. And the reason is those personalities are shaped by our childhood experiences and how we saw those around us managing money. So because. So it's important for individual and scenario personality because each personality comes with weaknesses that need to be safeguarded. So in my case, I'm a natural saver, and if it's up to me, I would hoard everything.

[00:15:38] But that's not good because there's something called inflation that will eat away at the value of my money. So as a saver, I have learned how to invest and take some risks wisely. So if you don't understand your money personality, you will fall within the weaknesses of that personality and you will not grow your money as much as you should.

[00:15:59] Scott Maderer: [00:16:00] So as individuals before we go to couples, actually I had a follow up question on that. You mentioned that as we identify the personalities, we can fall into the weaknesses. Do those personalities also have strengths that they carry with them?

[00:16:13] Bruce Scott: Mr. Scott? Brilliant question. The personalities have strengths.

[00:16:19] Maybe one of them. Doesn't, but certainly the save outs amazing strength because I said earlier that you must learn to save money. You must fight against the cultural influences that are trying to take that money out of your pocket. So savers are amazing because they have the fuel. They just now need to learn that you can't just have it in the savings account that earns less than the inflation rate.

[00:16:42] So that's good that you're learning how to save, invest stock. That's an amazing strength because you have to learn to invest. You have to learn to take risks wisely. So that's a strength. But what investor needs to learn is that you have to learn to diversify and you have to learn to be patient and not trying to play the [00:17:00] market all the time.

[00:17:01] The ostrich. Not sure if there is any strength there because arid naturally bears ahead and don't want to talk about the pain of their problem Moguls. I can't think of any strengths because mogul likes to fra flask and bra and to win friends by spending rather than the short foundation of love. So those two.

[00:17:18] And finally, Scott, if you're gonna become financially free or improve your financial freedom status, you must learn to save money. And you must learn to invest money. So those are the two super personalities that if your natural personality is a saver, you have to take on some of what it means to be an investor, and that's where you can get financial advice to help with that.

[00:17:42] Scott Maderer: What about when you're in a partnership situation with another person? They always talk about opposites attract and things. Does that happen to us a lot in the money personalities too?

[00:17:54] Bruce Scott: Whoa. You know what I can even use my own personal [00:18:00] experience, so I was attracted to my wife.

[00:18:03] Based on the, what the theologians and the psychologists called the attraction gift. I saw this hot girl and I was naturally, physically attracted to her. But you're right. Once we started learning about each other, then I realized that I was important to understand her money, personality. Now, I will argue that couples before you walk down the aisle are, if you're not.

[00:18:29] Going to mark at a marital stage or courting seriously, before you get too deep, you need to have a confession session. So before you confess vows, before the priest or pastor, or before you have that fiance engagement. You also need to confess to each other your aspirations, your life goals, as well as your current financial situation.

[00:18:54] Because if I want to have six children and I want to have a house on the hill with a [00:19:00] view and a S U V, and you have a completely different personality, and I didn't check that out before, to see the financial implications, that's gonna be problematic. So the thing is, Talk about money before, establish each other's personality.

[00:19:12] And the last point, Scott, if I might keep going, is I don't believe you need to have the same, a couple having the same personalities otherwise, because that's not where the relationship starts. It starts with that natural attraction. So I would argue that if somebody is a natural model and somebody is a natural investor, The mogul needs to understand that they must not win friends based on spending, and that they need to learn to save money if they get that safeguard and apply it well, it's okay to go into a relationship with a investor who naturally wants to take risk.

[00:19:47] So the answer to the question is, I think just about any money personality. On the couple side can work as long as they both recognize their dominant personality and be willing to put the safeguards in [00:20:00] to treat the weaknesses, and then they'll have a happy life. All of the things remain equal.

[00:20:06] Scott Maderer: And again, I mean it talking about money, so often what I tell people is a lot of times if couples are having money fights and money problems, it's the symptom.

[00:20:17] It's not the cause. Where a lot of times the communication or the understanding or the alignment or the all of that is, that's actually the problem. Yes. But we're gonna fight about money because that's the that's where the friction is, even though Yeah. The problem's a little deeper than that.

[00:20:34] Bruce Scott: Yeah. It's a huge deal. The statistics, 50% on average of couples. That's the separation rate, that's the divorce rate in the US and probably not far in many other countries. And the. Is money problems, right? So if you wanna increase the probability of your marriage or your relationship surviving, you have to be bold to talk [00:21:00] before, talk about money, understand each other's personalities, and willing to work through.

[00:21:04] And in the book I talk about this very same thing, and I even close that section by saying, if you find that there are irreconcilable differences, then maybe you shouldn't. Father to walk down the aisle. Sep separate before you get married, not after, avoid the pain. Not to mention the fact that getting it after marriage is always more expensive too, so there's another money reason to not do it.

[00:21:30] Scott Maderer: Exactly. So I've got a few questions that I like to ask all of my guests, but before I go there, is there anything else about the book or about the work that you do, that you think it's really important to share with the listener?

[00:21:43] Bruce Scott: I would say two things, Scott. Number one, I believe every single person.

[00:21:47] Needs to come into the awareness that finding the time to manage their money is super important. And I'm not gonna be casting any judgements, but when you look at many [00:22:00] things that persons do with their time persons with binge watch stuff. If you just realize that you need to take some of the time to invest in yourself in one of the chapters in the book, I call it the greatest financial investment you will ever Make.

[00:22:14] And in there I talk about, and it's an investment in yourself, in your mind to learn about money. It's an investment in your financial legacy. So make time for your money and to learn and to become financially wise. And the second thing that I would say is that this book, there are many books out there in personal finances, but I think one of the distinguishing marks of this book, Is that it is empowering.

[00:22:39] It is a book that literally gives you a very easy to understand set of steps as to how you can get the financial freedom. It's inspiring. I tell you about my own personal story and how I was in. Financial difficulties, and yet I kept it real and I kept it raw. And thirdly, so it's not only empower, empowering and inspiring, it is also [00:23:00] entertaining.

[00:23:00] There are some light moments. There are some Jamaican dialects, some Jamaican jokes. So when you put that package together, you can't put that book down based on some of the reviews on Amazon, not my words.

[00:23:11] Scott Maderer: Awesome. And does, do they, does the, every copy of the book come with a trip to Jamaica?

[00:23:20] Bruce Scott: You've just given me an idea. Maybe I should have a live session and put a trip to Jamaica

[00:23:26] Scott Maderer: Or have a prize, have a drawing and a prize. Yeah. I've been to Jamaica and it is a beautiful. If folks haven't been and is a beautiful country and the people there are some of the most awesome people that you run into everyone that we ran into was so nice and yeah.

[00:23:42] And it and some of that I, granted some of that was cuz we were tourists there, but, so we were probably going to some of the touristy places. But yeah, honestly, even the people that we just ran into that were on the street were really nice and really fun to be around.

[00:23:58] It was [00:24:00] a beautiful country. So thank you for that, Scott. Absolutely. So one of my, my brand is inspired stewardship and I kinda run things through that lens of stewardship, and yet I've discovered that's one of those words that for a lot of different people, it means a lot of different things, or it shows up in their life in different ways.

[00:24:19] So I'd like to ask you, what does the word stewardship mean to you, and how has it shown up in your life?

[00:24:25] Bruce Scott: So the word stewardship literally means to me that I am. The owner of nothing and the stewards of everything, meaning that I recognize that stewardship to me means that. I have been given custody of some goods to manage on behalf of another.

[00:24:44] And the other, or the another, to put it metaphorically is God, I believe God. And I like how you have presented your material, Scott, on your website. I have goods that have been given custody to manage. I have my time, I [00:25:00] have my talent, and I have my treasure. So I recognize that having got those goods, like what happened in the parable, I have to give an account to the owner of those goods and I want to be found faithful.

[00:25:14] I don't want to be like the third guy who has rebuked. You've are so lazy. You could have put my money with the bank, but you went and buried it. I want to be found faithful. The Apostle Paul in Monte pieces says, stewards must learn to be found faithful. So stewardship to me is that I don't own myself.

[00:25:35] It's and I have to give an account because in this parable, the owner came back and he asked, how did you manage in the power? It was literal money, but for us it's at least our time, our talent, and our treasure. And I want to make sure that when the master comes, he says, brother Bruce, they're good and fruitful servant come into a [00:26:00] kingdom and paraphrasing, so on and so forth.

[00:26:02] Yeah. So that's what it means to be, I'm a custodian. I'm gonna have to give an account. And I want to get an A plus grade when God looks at how I've delivered on my grades, and when the community looks, they'll see that this guy was a good student and I'd like to be like him.

[00:26:18] Scott Maderer: So this is my favorite question that I like to ask everybody.

[00:26:22] Imagine for a minute. I invented this magic machine and I could pluck you from where you are today and transport you into the future, maybe a hundred fifty, two hundred fifty years. And through the power of this machine, you were able to look back on your entire life and see all of the connections, all of the ripples, all of the impacts that you've left.

[00:26:42] What impact do you hope you've left on the world?

[00:26:45] Bruce Scott: That is such a big question. The impact on the world is if I were to take my time, my talent and treasure and put all of them on a scale of one to 10. [00:27:00] I would want, first of all to see that I got as close as possible to 10 to die in empty, where I used up as many of those, the talent, the time in the treasure.

[00:27:09] And when I look at the impact of that one, and again, I don't want to sound super spiritual, I would've wanted to see where I used those, the time, talent, and treasure to advance. The kingdom of God and I, yeah and that simply means supporting churches, missionaries, for example. Right now I do support an overseas missionary going places that I cannot go.

[00:27:31] And number three, my community in the book, I talk about that's the last part of the book, sewing and helping others who are weak and broken and naked. I want the records to show that Bruce Scott spent time working with the youths who did not have the equity to access educational system like others, and I.

[00:27:52] Quite a bit of funds there. I have a heart for inner city churches, inner city, anything. So I would want to look back and see. Yes, Bruce, [00:28:00] it did make an impact in the life of all these young persons, all these families, and that has a rippling generational effect in terms of their spiritual worldview through my influence on the church and in terms of their own financial independence, learning, and understand how to manage monies as individuals and families.

[00:28:16] Scott Maderer: Awesome. So what's coming next? As we come into the summer here what's next on your journey? For the rest of the year?

[00:28:24] Bruce Scott: I learned a very important lesson. That is not good to have a good thing and the world does not know about it. I've gotten a lots of good reviews. I have an Instagram page.

[00:28:34] I have all that wonderful stuff, but I recognize that I need to promote the book. And so I want to thank you for this opportunity. So I'm just spending a lot of time using different channels to promote this book, and for me, the book is a community project. I have a day job. I'm the managing partner at a very large accounting firm.

[00:28:50] So this came out of love and passion, but I also recognize that I need to spend some time promoting the book. And the second thing is that I wanna formalize my mentoring program. [00:29:00] A lot of young persons. I did a lecture at one of our universities last week, and when I saw those faces and one of those persons, I was already mentoring young people need.

[00:29:09] Experience people to show them the potholes to avoid so they don't have to suffer as much as probably we did. So mentoring and promoting my book.

[00:29:18] Scott Maderer: Awesome. You can find out more about Bruce on his website and find out more about the book as well over at 14. That's the num, the numerals 1, 4 14 steps to financial freedom.com.

[00:29:33] Of course, I'll have a link to that over in the show notes as well. Bruce, is there anything else you'd like to share with the listener?

[00:29:40] Bruce Scott: What I'd like to say is Jesus said if you hear his words and don't do anything, you're like, Amanda, Billy's house in the sand. But if you hear and put him into action, then you're like, Amanda, bill his house on the rock.

[00:29:53] So I would say the nuggets that I shared earlier, Just take at least one or two things and see how you [00:30:00] can apply some of those points about doing the health test where you are financially. Start moving. The website has some details. There's a free help test on the website that you can use, so I'm challenging you to go on the website, do the free help test, and it will tell you your scores to where you are and use that to inspire you to fix those weaknesses so you can move forward along the road to financial freedom.

[00:30:22] Take some action. That's what I'm saying, the intentional having heard this interview.

[00:30:31] Scott Maderer: Thanks so much for listening to the Inspired Stewardship Podcast. As a subscriber and listener, we challenge you to not just sit back and passively listen, but act on what you've heard and find a way to live your calling. If you enjoyed this episode, Please. Please do us a favor. Go over to inspired stewardship.com/itunes.

[00:30:58] Rate all [00:31:00] one word iTunes rate. It'll take you through how to leave a rating and review, and how to make sure you're subscribed to the podcast so that you can get every episode as it comes out in your feed. Until next time, invest your time. Your talent and your treasures. Develop your influence and impact the world.