Bob Wheeler is a financial expert, author of The Money Nerve, and host of the Money You Should Ask podcast. With a blend of humor and insight, he helps others navigate the emotional side of money. A certified somatic therapist and CFO of The World Famous Comedy Store, Bob integrates holistic growth with his accounting expertise and has climbed some of the worldβs highest peaks. Today, Bob shares his journey towards understanding the emotional connections with money, how financial literacy can be transformative, and the importance of finding balance between financial planning and self-awareness. Takeaways: Money is just a doorway to relationships, beliefs, and the way we parent Know your money triggers Embrace discomfort for growth Sound Bites: "You have a right to have your financial security, and take the chance." "What do I want? Why do I want it? Why don't I have it? What am I willing to do to invite that into my life?" Connect and Discover LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bob-wheeler-88029512 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/moneyyoushouldask https://www.instagram.com/bobwheelerr https://www.instagram.com/awkwardmoneytalk Website: https://www.themoneynerve.com Podcast: @Money You Should Ask Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@bob.wheeler Hero Basics: https://herobasics.com/ ππ’πππ’πͺ π π π’π‘: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mickunplugged/ Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mick-unplugged Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mickunplugged/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIPaMel-Fb4zQmCSZDPHu4A LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mickhunt/ Website: https://www.mickhuntofficial.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Chapter 1: Who is Bob Wheeler and what is 'The Money Nerve'?
I'm doing so great. I so appreciate you having me.
I am honored to have you here. You know, we were just talking offline. You're out in L.A. and seeing all the tragedies and devastation that's going on out there. Just glad that you could take some time because I know it's pressing and weighing on the hearts of all the folks that are out in the Los Angeles and Southern California area, man.
Well, I appreciate that. It's been crazy, but L.A. has really come together and we will rebuild.
There we go. There we go. Bob, man, out of the gate. And I had to write this down so I didn't forget, man. Like the money nerve. Where did that come from? Like what was the money nerve? Like what was Bob going through? What was it like? I'm already helping people with this. I needed to put it pen to paper and make this happen.
Chapter 2: Why do emotions play a role in financial decisions?
Yeah, absolutely. Well, you know, so I started a tax practice. I have about a thousand clients. And what I realized was a lot of my tax meetings turned into therapy sessions. And people were breaking down, crying, telling me, you're going to be so ashamed of me. And I realized... it's a common denominator, right? Money, fear, belief systems, stories, and things we learned as kids.
And I was also doing my own personal work on myself through Core Energetics and Radical Aliveness, which is a body-based somatic therapy, really like, where do we hold stuff? And For me, the money nerve sort of came out of, you know, if you win the lottery, you're like, ah, and you feel that excitement.
And if your check bounced, you're like, oh, your credit card is declined and you really feel it. And so it hits a nerve. And so to me, money nerve was the embodiment of how we hold our finances together. Within ourselves. And a lot of people are surprised that I tie money to emotions. They're like two plus two is four. But how do you feel about that? Right.
And really getting into the meat and potatoes about what's the underlying emotion. drive or decision making that's going on when we're dealing with our finances. I don't deserve. Other people deserve it better. I'm ashamed. I'm scared. And really starting to just welcome all that in without shame, without judgment, saying, oh, that's so interesting.
I really get shut down when I have to start talking about money.
You're so right. Like I'm sitting here thinking about it from my perspective and I don't think it matters how much money you have or don't have. Right. It's one of those things we try not to talk about it. What's the angle? If it's not my accountant, why is someone asking?
Absolutely. You know, a great example, when you split the bill with a group of friends. Do you pay? Do you split it evenly? I had the water. You had a salad. Let me pay for everything. I'm benevolent. We go through a whole series of internal questions when it's time to split the bill. You're so right, Bob.
You're so right. One of the questions I wanted to ask, talking about the money nerve, because you talk about triggers behind our financial decisions. That's exactly where you're going. What are some of those common triggers that you're seeing, you know, dealing with not just your thousand clients, but people that are coming to you for everyday advice as well?
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Chapter 3: What are common money triggers people face?
Yeah. So one of the biggest things, imposter syndrome, I don't deserve this. If people knew the truth about me, negating our experience, negating our education, like I don't, like I just got really lucky. It shouldn't be happening to me. There's, There's a lot of shame around our past financial choices. I should have known better if people knew the truth.
You know, I was working with a couple of the other day and he's like, you must think I'm so stupid. And because I was asking questions, I don't know the answers. And so there's this, this embarrassment, like that we all should have learned everything when in fact, none, most of us weren't taught. by the schools, by our parents.
It wasn't modeled that it's okay to talk about money and it's okay to set boundaries as to when and where you want to talk about money. That's amazing, dude.
Like, again, the little things that are big things that I've learned following you and listening to you just are those. And I've always wanted to ask you this question because I'm a believer that those who have done can teach better. So did Bob ever go through some type of setback and you were like, okay, What's the emotion behind the decisions that I'm making?
Because Bob appears to be the everyday man, right? Like you go through the same things that we all go through. And I just love to know, like, did you go through something, Bob?
Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. And, you know, that's the thing. Yeah. I remember when I had just was getting ready to sit for the CPA exam. I was staying with a friend. We went out to dinner. I wanted to appreciate him. So I I used the credit card to pay for dinner, declined. Second credit card, declined. Third credit card, declined. I'm like, let me write you a check. He's like, let me cover dinner.
I'm like, no, let me write you a check. Bounce the check, right? I was just financially so tight thinking, oh, it'll just work out. but I'm not going to plan for it. And I didn't have a lot of financial literacy education. I'm not blaming anybody right here. It's just, that's the reality. And yes, I've had a couple of homes a few times.
Every time I go through it, I'm like, they're going to deny me. I go through all these crazy, even though I've got the credit, I've got more than enough down payment. I've done all the right things. They're going to personally take me out. Right. Yeah. I go through the same drama and trauma that a lot of other people go through.
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Chapter 4: How has Bob Wheeler's personal journey influenced his financial insights?
Absolutely. Absolutely. And so the servant heart that you have, the educating mindset that you have, I want to know, like, what was Bob's or what is Bob's because? What's that reason? What's the thing that's deeper than your why? Like, what makes Bob not only want to do this? but do this affectionately and do this with a servant heart, a heart of gratitude.
So for me, money is just a doorway, right? To relationships, to beliefs about our parents, to the way we parent, to the way we, whatever we do. For me, money is one of those doorways where we think it's just about money, but it's really about a whole lot of other stuff.
And for me, I was, for a very long period of my life, people used to say, when I started doing the work, you look like you're trapped in a box. I couldn't, I didn't have a voice. I was afraid to have my voice. I wanted to have a voice. I wanted to have impact. I wanted to let people know they mattered. I wanted to know that I mattered. And...
but i was paralyzed there's flight and there's fright and flight there's also freezes in the middle and i was frozen most of the time my life was fear-based everything that was going to happen was going to kill me and i literally thought this will kill me and as i started
doing my own work and realizing how many other people out there couldn't find their voice, didn't feel they were entitled to have their voice, didn't know how to get there.
For me, money was one of those pieces that if I could start to have a healthier relationship with my money, not be a multi-billionaire, but to just be comfortable within my means and starting to appreciate, then I could start to actually show up fully and authentically and say, this is me. This is how I show up.
You don't have to love it, but I'm not going to apologize for it as long as I'm coming out of kindness and service. This is me. This is how I'm going to show up and I'm going to have my voice. And even if it's shaking and even if I don't know all the answers, I'm still going to show up. because that's what I'm here to do. And that's what we're all here to do.
I love that wholeheartedly. And now I want to get into some tips, Bob. So again, huge follower of yours. Bob does a lot for free. Like I'm not saying Bob's work is for free, but you provide a ton of just free resources out there for everyone. And so I definitely at the end want to give you time for that. But I want to talk to two different people today.
So I want to talk to the business owner first. So if I'm a business owner, or a CFO at a business, what are some things that I need to be looking at from a financial literacy standpoint? And let's say that we're a small business, right? What are some things I need to be looking at, Bob?
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Chapter 5: What advice does Bob Wheeler have for business owners?
You know, I had another client started this whole business, education, got into it and said, this is too much work. I'm stopping. I don't know what I'm going to do, but I'm stopping. And then they just took a couple of years off and then relaunched in a different direction that served them much better and was a lot more authentic for them and a whole lot less stress.
Wholeheartedly. And now for that second person, Bob, like I want to talk to the individual now. And I get these questions quite a bit, but Bob's the expert. So Mick doesn't have to answer these questions anymore. We're going to get it straight from Bob. So. I'm a person. Financial literacy isn't something that I know.
But like Bob is saying, when I apply for something, you know, I have confidence before I press send. And the moment I press send, it's like, oh, my God, nothing's going to happen. It's not going to work. For that person that no financial literacy foundation, what are some things that we can do just with the basics of just understanding finances and how money is working?
Well, the first thing that I, you know, there's a couple of things that I do before even jumping that. The first thing I do is sit down because I know I'm getting ready to do some thinking about how I want to move forward. And then I take a deep breath and just go. Let me arrive with myself for a minute.
And then for me, and for some people, this will sound crazy, but I got to tell you, it's so important, is just start journaling. What do I want? Do I need to learn more? Do I need more education? Do I need an expert? Do I want to have retirement? What do I want? How do I want to show up financially? Because if I don't know that, I don't know, do I need to get more classes?
Do I need to find an expert? Do I need to find an accountability buddy that we can go through our numbers together? Do I need to create a budget? So for me, taking a breath and just getting to know myself for a minute and stopping all the distractions that are coming at me and just, what does Bob need in this moment? What's not, what do I feel is not working or what could be better?
What would I like to change? And all right. OK, great. So, oh, I probably need an expert for that. I might need to get some counseling. I might need to go to a credit bureau and have some conversations. And because there's a lot of great resources out there. So for me, that's where we start. And the other part.
The other thing that I really recommend to people, and this works in so many different situations, including diet, lifestyle, everything else. What, why, why, what? What, why, why, what? What do I want? Why do I want it? Why don't I have it? What am I willing to do to invite that into my life?
Because if I want a fancy car and the reason I want it is because it's shallow and it's flashy, I'm not going to judge that because that's the truth.
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Chapter 6: How can individuals improve their financial literacy?
15 minutes just to get it. Oh, this didn't kill me. This isn't so bad. So those are the first couple of things. Just dip your toes in. Look at the statement. I think a real big... piece of advice that's really super helpful. Pull out your credit card statements and your bank statements and go through and look for charges to see what you're charging on a monthly basis that you don't even use.
And your phone bill.
Bob, that last year, I found out And I feel like I have a handle on things, but I found that I had $500 a month of things I was paying for that I either thought I canceled, didn't know I really had, something that I signed up for 10 years ago. Ten years ago is an exaggeration. But three or four years ago that I forgot that I was paying for. And that was just me.
Like, if people do what Bob just said, I promise you, you're going to find a car payment that you had somewhere that you could actually pay for through other things that you had. Like, you're going to have three or four hundred dollars that you're spending that now it's like, oh. I do have money extra for my car payment.
Or, you know, we can go out to dinner once a month now because I've been paying for this. Like, Bob, that right there, I personally took bad advice from you.
Listen, it's so crazy. I looked at my phone bill and I was paying for a free iPad. They told me it was free and I didn't look at my bill because it's the phone bill. And then I started looking. I'm like, why do I have six phone lines on my phone bill? Yeah. I had something tied to my car, you know, like it was crazy. Just because we like and that's for me, too. Right. Double checking. Wait.
Is everything going on? The other thing is don't let it sit. Looking at the bank statements, especially if you have a business, I had a client. She checks her books like every six months. There had been fraud. About $30,000 was taken out of her bank account.
But because she waited five, six months after the fact, the bank's like, if you had said something within the first 60 days, we would have gotten you all that money back. But you waited a half a year.
Yeah. Yeah, that's crazy. Totally crazy. So another thing going down almost that same path, especially for businesses, I think checking your monthly statements is extremely critical. But let's talk about, Bob, like how important... is credit, right? To both businesses and for the individual.
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