Show Notes

In the latest episode, we dive deep into the world of Coast FIRE (Financial Independent Retire Early) with Dexter Zhuang, who has not only achieved this milestone but has also embraced the journey of aligning finances with life goals. As the conversation unfolds, Dexter shares his personal experiences, from navigating the complexities of finances in a multicultural relationship to understanding the true value of money as a tool for flexibility and security.

Dexter's journey began in San Francisco, where he started his career in tech with limited resources. His focus was on learning the fundamentals of personal finance while reinvesting a significant portion of his earnings. Fast forward to today, at 33, he has achieved Coast FIRE, which allows him to step back and reflect on what truly matters in life.

One of the key themes discussed is the importance of open communication about finances in relationships. Dexter recounts how he and his wife began discussing their financial future early in their relationship, navigating the complexities of joint accounts and shared expenses. This journey led them to explore the concept of financial independence together, emphasizing that money should be viewed as a tool to achieve personal goals.

Dexter also highlights the misconceptions people often have about aligning finances with values. Many view money in black and white terms, but he emphasizes the importance of self-awareness in understanding what one truly values. This reflection is essential for making informed financial decisions that resonate with personal goals and lifestyle choices.

Moreover, Dexter introduces his newsletter, Money Abroad, which caters to expats and those living overseas. He offers practical advice for individuals considering a move abroad, including how to navigate career opportunities and the financial implications of living in a foreign country.

As the episode wraps up, Dexter shares his thoughts on the evolving landscape of financial technology, which is making personal finance tools more accessible and user-friendly. He encourages listeners to take advantage of these resources to better manage their finances and invest wisely.

This episode is a treasure trove of insights for anyone looking to build strong financial habits, whether you're just starting your journey or seeking to refine your approach to money. Tune in to gain valuable perspectives on financial independence, relationship dynamics, and the importance of aligning your finances with your values.

More Dexter:

Website: https://www.theportfoliopath.com/

Linkedin: 

https://www.linkedin.com/in/dexterzhuang

Instagram: 

https://www.instagram.com/dexteryz

Threads: 

https://www.threads.net/@dexteryz

Transcript

Money is a tool to help you achieve whatever kind of life goal you

have

Anthony Weaver: This episode is sponsored by the portfoliopath.com.

Dexter Zhuang: Of course, financial, uh, independence, uh, kind of came into that

conversation because the way we view money is that it's a tool to help you achieve

whatever kind of life goal that you have. For us, we care about that flexibility. But for

other people, maybe it's a certain level of security that they want, or maybe they want

to, um, be able to, you know, take on a certain kind of career path. Um, so we see that,

uh, for, for us, money is a tool to achieve flexibility, but for other families it may be, uh, or

couples, it may be different.

About that Water podcast helps Sam's generation build strong

financial habits

Anthony Weaver: Welcome back, everybody, to another exciting show, the about that

Water podcast, where we help the Sam's generation build strong financial habits so that

you can spend your money, talk about money, and enjoy your money with conf. Today, I

have somebody who's been doing this for quite some time and has achieved so many

different things, but also he has achieved fire, which is financial independence andretire early. His name is Dexter Zhuang. How you doing today, sir?

Dexter Zhuang: Doing well. Thanks for welcoming me onto the show, Anthony. Uh, yeah,

just a quick clarification. Is your Coast Fire?

Anthony Weaver: Oh, coast fire.

Dexter Zhuang: Okay, definitely, uh, so one, one milestone, uh, on that journey. Uh, not

quite at that, uh, that bigger milestone, but yeah, happy to share more.

Anthony says his definition of success has evolved since achieving a

financial milestone

Anthony Weaver: Awesome. And one of the cool things about, uh, this particular topic is

that, um, it's something that everybody wants to achieve. And so my main question to

you has your definition of success has evolved since you've achieved such a great

financial milestone.

Dexter Zhuang: Great question, Anthony. Um, in the beginning, when I was starting out

my career, I was in San Francisco. I was working in tech there. I, um, didn't have a

whole lot of money when I was starting out my professional, ah, journey. But I was very

motivated and my main priorities at that point was really to learn the fundamentals of

personal finance. Uh, so while I was growing my career then I could reinvest a high

percentage of my earnings into investments. And I could also, you know, focus on

growing my, um, my own skill set and grow my income potential through my career. I

think that that part was really my main focus throughout my 20s, now that I'm 33, and,um, a couple years ago, across this coast fire milestone. And that really helped me just

be able to take a little bit of a step back, uh, to understand what did I really value in

terms of my work and in terms of my lifestyle and how did I want to spend my time, um,

more and more importantly. So my journey has evolved a little bit past this milestone

because it gave Me a bit more space and flexibility to ask those questions for myself

and then answer those questions of, like, how do I want to spend my time? So, uh, that

flexibility, uh, is probably the biggest change for me.

You and your wife discussed personal finance before getting married

Anthony Weaver: Nice. And because, you know, you and your wife have been dealing

with this for quite some time, um, how would those conversations happen? Like, when

you decided, like, hey, I really want to start dealing and diving into this higher

community?

Dexter Zhuang: Yeah, that's a good question. So when we first, uh, started dating, you

know, six, uh, six years ago, I think personal finance came, uh, up. But it wasn't until

maybe like a few years into, uh, that the relationship that we started really talking about

this, um, more deeply because we, you know, we're talking about, okay, should we

open up, uh, joint bank accounts, shared accounts?

Anthony Weaver: I know.

Dexter Zhuang: We started getting deeper into, uh, the rabbit hole for context as well. I'm

American. My wife is Australian. Um, we met in Singapore. Uh, so our finances were

also a little bit more complicated. And when we start talking about it, then, uh, we hadto go down the rabbit hole of, uh, really, uh, planning out what we wanted to do, uh, in

terms of finances, uh, because there were more variables when you're bringing

together, um, bank accounts from different countries, like investment accounts, uh, from

different countries. Um, we started talking about that. And then, of course, financial, um,

independence, uh, kind of came into that conversation. Because the way we view

money is that it's a tool to help you achieve whatever kind of life goal that you have. For

us, we care about that flexibility. But for other people, maybe it's a, ah, certain level of

security that they want, or maybe they want to, um, be able to, you know, take on a

certain kind of career path. Uh, so we see that, uh, for. For us, money is a tool to

achieve flexibility. But for other families, it may be, uh, or couples, it may be different.

Anthony Weaver: That makes sense because, you know, you had a discussion. You all

had a discussion right before you guys decided to get married. What would that like?

Like, how was that conversation leading up to. To the big day to say, like, hey, um, I. I

would like to be with you, like, and. And like, I want to share my money with you. Uh, do

you guys do, like, separate accounts or what was. What was those discussions like?

Dexter Zhuang: For sure. I think, uh, the first step of this was we. We were in Singapore

during COVID and that's when we started, um, you know, talking about, hey, maybe we

should open up, like, a joint accounts for our shared expenses. Right. Uh, because we

would buy groceries together. We would, you know, uh, spend on rents, uh, together.

Right? And these things were all joint. And previous to that, we were using an

application called Splitwise. If uh, you're not already familiar with Splitwise, it's like a,

uh, really simple mobile app for you to like, share expenses with your friends or with uh,

your loved ones. And it requires you to log every expense. Right. So, uh, I think the

where. Where push uh, came to shove moment was like we kind of got tired of having

to log all the expenses in split wise. And you know, I'm a little bit embarrassed to saythis, but I'm kind of like, uh, like, Like a tracker, right? So I'm like, oh, can we just track

everything in split wise? And she's like, it was like a $5, you know, thing, or it was like a

two, three dollar coffee. Like, is that really needed? And then we had to like, agree on,

okay, maybe like things below $10. You don't have to track it and split wise. But, you

know, it just kind of became a hassle. Whereas if we could, uh, create a joint account,

then we could, ah, on a monthly basis, just transfer in a certain amount and then, um,

and then spend from that joint account and not really think about it, uh, too much. Uh,

so that. That was, I think one of the big kind of conversations that we had and then

taking a step forward in terms of sharing our finances. And then I think the next kind of

big kind of conversations that we had leading up to that as well was like, okay, how do,

how do we decide how much we're contributing, you know, to our joint account? And

um, I'm sure this, you know, different for every. Every couple that you've, uh, spoken

with. But in the beginning, we actually started off with splitting, um, it evenly, like half,

half, half. But this kind of became a issue. Like this was a mistake more on my part

because we were making different levels of income and at that point in time I was

making more than her. And so, uh, it felt like it wasn't a, um, kind of like a fair, uh,

system for how we've decided to contribute to this joint account. So yeah, there were

some, um, discussions there, heated discussions there. And eventually I realized, okay,

we. We can't do this split thing. Um, this isn't working for us. So, uh, we divided the um,

like our contributions up based on our income level, right? Like our income divided by

like the total household income. That became like our contribution to uh, the. The joint

account. And that, uh, worked for us. Yeah. Of course, every couple decides to do it a

little bit differently. For us, that worked out. We were happy with, um, that setup.

Anthony Weaver: Okay, so I'll take it. You lost that argument.

Dexter Zhuang: Yeah. Uh, yeah. You want to simplify it to that? That's totally cool. Yes.Anthony Weaver: Like, I'm sorry, babe. Uh, uh, yes.

Dexter Zhuang: Well, now I think it's a great idea. Now I think it's. Yeah, just a sm. It just

makes sense.

Anthony Weaver: Yeah. And you know, that's one of the things that we kind of leave out

a lot. It's more than the numbers that kind of drive everything. It's also like, how do we

actually want to live with each other and if we want to bring somebody on into that

journey?

How has your parents impacted your decision making for finances

Um, and so obviously she's dealing with her background and you're dealing with your

background. Um, when it comes to finances, uh, how has your parents impacted your

decision making for finances?

Dexter Zhuang: Oh, so I come from. I'm a second generation, um, immigrant to uh, the

States. My parents, um, are from China originally. My dad initially, um, moved from, uh,

Shanghai to Canada for graduate school with like $300 in his pocket. So I think they

came from a bit more of like the scrappy, underdog kind of immigrant, um, you know,

journey. And because of that growing up, I think, um, you know, for better, for worse,

they. They wanted to be frugal and they wanted to be very mindful about, uh, the

spending and expensive side of things. And that's, uh, you know, kind of continued, I

think in terms of how they, uh, they perceive money or their relationship with money.

Things have changed a little bit over time now that they're retired, they're, you know,

going to resorts in Mexico and you know, spending on travel with friends. So they aredefinitely spending on what they're enjoying a whole lot more. But I think in terms of,

um, how that has evolved, their relationship with me is like, they obviously want the best

for me and they care about, uh, how, uh, me and my wife, how we're thinking about

personal finances and having a plan in place and um, making sure that, you know, um,

we're going to be taken care of, uh, while we're going to be able to take care of

ourselves. Um, I think there are. Fortunately, you know, when it comes to the

relationship with me and my parents, I, um, don't think there's a whole lot of

expectation, um, necessarily around, you know, got to take care of their retirement or

the, you know, there's not that expectation, uh, for sure. Would they appreciate me

helping out? Yes, um, I'm sure they would. Uh, but I do feel, uh, fortunate in that, you

know, they have explicitly at least, at least said, like, don't worry about us, uh, we got

the retirement covered. Uh, so far. Um, so that, that's, uh, been a conversation at least

we've had.

Anthony Weaver: And that's really good that you guys are having that open discussion,

because when it comes to retirement, a lot of the times the parents are usually hesitant

on even opening up about their finances. Um, how did you all, ah, got to that so

comfortable talking about it. Like, uh, what, how did you even start that conversation?

Dexter Zhuang: Well, to be candid, we haven't talked about like, you know, super

detailed, uh, you know, they haven't shared like, their financial plan or, uh, or anything

like that. But they did share kind of, um, how they're feeling about their finances, how

they were feeling about their plan, um, where do they feel comfortable and where they

don't. Uh, so I think it was a evolution. When I first started out working and kind of

taking care of my own career growth and finances. My parents started sharing a little bit

more about their own journey and their progress in personal finances and how they've

thought about it. Uh, but it probably wasn't until more recently, you know, now that mywife and I are married and now that my parents are retired, that we're both kind of like

in a stage of life where, um, they're more openly sharing, you know, m, what, what

they're planning for in the future because they understand, like, we're trying to make our

plans as well, and they don't want to feel like they're in the way of any of those plants.

Anthony Weaver: Nice. Okay.

Dexter Zhuang: Yeah. So I think that's probably the main trigger. Um, uh, more and more.

Yeah, they, they, they want us to feel like we have our own level of independence and

ability to take, um, control of our life decisions.

Anthony Weaver: That makes sense because you're focusing on others, helping them

out with their money path. And I'm always curious how it is when it comes to family and

one of those things. Family members always look at you like, okay, well, here you go

talking about money again. Like, can we talk about something else?

What are the biggest misconceptions about aligning your finances

with your values

Like, so, uh, uh, so what are the biggest misconceptions that people have about

aligning their finances with their values?

Dexter Zhuang: Oh, um, biggest misconceptions for me, um, I, I, I would say that a lot of

people that I see when they want to talk about money, it's really a, um, more black and

white kind of kind of measure. Right? It's like, oh, you have either a lot of money or you

don't. And that's Kind of the perception of talking about money and personal finances.But um, I think what's really underrated is the self awareness of what you value. Right.

And ultimately whatever you spend on is just a reflection of whatever you value. But

reflecting on your values takes a lot of work. It actually takes some time, takes some

effort. Maybe that looks like doing some reflection. Maybe that looks like trying out

different career paths. It's different for everyone. But I think that exercise of continuing to

iterate, like your own understanding of your values is kind of like this foundational piece

that then you can put um, like whatever kind of personal finance lesson on top of that.

Kind of like a building block. Um, and money is that lens. Right. That your, your values

really looks through.

Anthony Weaver: Nice.

Money Abroad started off as a money newsletter for expats or people

living abroad

Dexter Zhuang: Okay.

Anthony Weaver: That's a good way of doing it and I appreciate you sharing that

because you know, some of our money values actually come from when we're children.

And I'm glad that you were able to open up about your upbringing during that process.

Um, so you ultimately come up with this cool product called like Money Abroad. What is

it?

Dexter Zhuang: Definitely Money Abroad started off as a money newsletter for expats or

people living abroad. And that was a reflection of my own personal um, experiences.

Uh, moving from the US to uh, Singapore after. Yeah, pretty pretty much like most of myadult life. Um, up to that point I was, I was 20. 28. Yeah, 28 or so. Uh, when I made that

move. And what that's really showed me was like oh, wow, money kind of gets

complicated when you're overseas. And that's how I initially started that newsletter. But

over time it has evolved, uh, a little bit, has attracted people who are also non, non ah,

expats. But they're excited about uh, carving out a, um, way to live on their own terms.

Tends to be people who are maybe you know, seven to 15 years of um, experience into

their careers and they're trying to figure out, okay, what next? Um, after the point of

maybe you're thinking about starting a family or maybe you're realizing that you're not

um, interested in walking the same career path for too much longer, then it's like okay,

what next can you do? Um, and that's why I talk about Coast Fire as one of these

topics, uh, and talk about portfolio careers and kind of introduce different alternatives,

uh, for people in the newsletter that makes sense.

Anthony Weaver: Especially what's going on today. And as a recent event, a lot of

people are looking to become expats.

What is the, I guess you could say what are the main steps that

somebody can do

What is the, I guess you could say what are the, the main steps that somebody can do

right now to kind of prepare themselves if they thinking about going abroad or living

abroad.

Dexter Zhuang: Totally. I think the biggest blocker for a lot of people is understanding.

Um, you know, if. If you're just an individual at this point, uh, then you just got to think

about your own career path. And then you got to figure out, like, okay, how does yourcareer path translates to something overseas? Right. And then if you have another, uh,

if you have a partner, then, uh, that means also translating, like, what they're doing

career wise into something overseas. And finding kind of the intersection of that can be

a little bit, uh, can be a little bit tricky if you have, uh, specific kind of career goals.

However, if you're more flexible or if you're fortunate and there's like, certain cities that

just like, really map really well with what you're trying to do, then that can work out, like,

that can be feasible. An example of this would be for, uh, me. I'm in Mexico City now,

but before we were in Singapore, and, uh, that was a great intersection of. My wife is

Australian. A lot of Australians moved to Singapore for career opportunities. Anyways,

thanks. Um, so that was a, you know, good next step for, for her. And then for me, I was

interested in living in Southeast, uh, Asia. And there were, you know, uh, in terms of my

industry, there were a lot of opportunities in terms of the tech industry at the time, um,

in Singapore. So there was that kind of happy intersection for us that happened there.

Uh, for others, it might be, uh, different. I think I saw you had, uh, Stephanie on your

podcast. Yeah, yeah. Um, we met at fincon as well, and Stephanie's a great example of,

you know, um, the Portugal expat community and, you know, lifestyle in Portugal kind of

being a match for what her and husband, um, were looking for.

Anthony Weaver: Nice. Because, I mean, we try to figure out, like, how do we actually

make money? You know, when you're.

Dexter Zhuang: Exactly.

Anthony Weaver: And exactly. Do you teach somebody, um, English or usually. That's

usually the one that everybody go to. And I'm like, okay, do something.

Dexter Zhuang: Oh, no, no, no, no, no. Yeah, that's. That tends to be like a recent collegegrad, maybe 22 or something. Great, great, great. You know, starting point for a lot of

people. Um, definitely not knocking English teachers, uh, you know, in South Korea or

something. I think it's really cool. Um, but, yeah, probably not, like, if you're. If you have

a family, if you're, you know, in your 30s or, uh, 40s, looking to make a transition. So

definitely, you know, figuring out how you're going to make money like the career path,

seeing if your career path can continue to extend overseas. I think it's quite important.

Um, and if you can take a look at your particular industry and see like are there any

cities where your industry is pretty prominent then you might find some m. Happy

overlaps. So I know for example in terms of um, you know the tech industry, because

I've been in this industry for a decade, is that there's several global cities um, that now

have uh, thriving kind of tech ecosystems and they want to invest further into it. So

places like uh, London, um, is one example that is I've known several um, people

working in the tech industries either as professionals or as founders moving there in

Asia. Of course Singapore is uh, an example of that. Ah so those are some um,

potential examples. Um Mexico City as well there are um, as a hub for Latin America it's

becoming more um, attractive for tech, uh, companies kind of like base their operations

there, uh, uh, for the Spanish speaking part of Latin America. So those are some

examples of how uh, when you take a look at your industry you might find like a few

cities that are quite good for your industry and then um, you can maybe visit, you know,

talk to some people, get a sense on the ground as well. So for example when um, my

wife and I were considering moving to Singapore, I had already visited before and then

I spent some time networking like I did a couple trips in addition just to network and

meet people, uh, working in an industry that I want to work in. And uh, I learned a lot

from those conversations because the reality is like most of the time the information you

see on the Internet is like totally out of date or it's just not always like an accurate

reflection of what's happening um, on the ground. So uh, actually going, meeting

people, having conversations, um, or if you can't visit, you know, having at least doingoutreach to uh, to potential ah, people are kind of in a similar role in your target city. Or

maybe a super connector, like someone who is really um, like ah, like a community

manager or a community leader. Right. Um, in, in that city. I think it's a great person to,

to connect with and that can, that can be helpful to get some feedback on um, how is

like the job market doing. What are the opportunities for someone like with a, with a

background like me? Those kind of questions.

Technology is always changing. And personal finance is one area

where tools change rapidly

Anthony Weaver: Yeah, and you've been doing, I say yes, traveling is awesome but also

you gotta get a means to, to why you want to travel, um, but also in your journey you've

done so much in tech. Where do you see the tech industry when it comes to financial

tech that's going to help out the people, the everyday person that's really pinching

pennies right now.

Dexter Zhuang: Definitely. So I think on one hand, uh, you know, you're seeing obviously

like more uh, technologies. Uh, technology is always changing. Right. And because of

that the tools that we have are always changing. Uh, personal finance is one kind of

area where those tools, uh, change really rapidly. They're getting so much easier to use

from a consumer standpoint. I think in terms of managing finances, 15 years ago, 10

plus years ago, I think all I can really think of using at that point in time was mint. But

now there's like, you know, so, so many different options. Right. So it's I think a great

time for consumers of these tools. So a lot of these tools are pretty low costs as well.

Uh, or like the, the cost of using these personal finance tools are also getting um, less

and less. And, and it's not just the tools for managing finances. It's also the um,investment tools, the uh, funds for investments. Uh, so example this would be like

Vanguard is continuing to reduce their, their fees. I think they just announced they

reduced their fees again, um, right. Over time. And I think that's something that anyone

can take advantage of. Right. Uh, those, those um, reduced fee kind of opportunities for

investments.

Anthony Weaver: That's good. Um, because I, I just want people to know. Well, I want

the person that's listening right now to know that you do have what it takes. I mean it's

right there at your fingertips. Just gotta press the button.

Dexter Zhuang: Exactly, exactly. So the tool, the tools are there, uh, the, you know,

investments are there with low fees are there. And yeah, it's really, it's really um, up to

you to you know, do, do some light research on like what, what it is, you know, fits your

particular goals. But they're definitely accessible, um, at this point in time.

Anthony Weaver: Yeah.

What areas of focus do you feel need improvement for yourself right

now

So this is about you though. Like what areas of focus that you feel needs the most

improvement for yourself?

Dexter Zhuang: Oh, good. Uh, question. So I think in terms of, um, in terms of, you know,

life stage, my wife and I are kind of at the stage where, you know, we don't have kids

yet. We haven't really thought of, uh, you know, plan too far ahead, of course, but we dowant to like, be financially prepared. Uh. Right. Like if and when we do have kids, uh,

then don't want to be totally like blindsided by all that. And then I think the other thing.

Exactly. Uh, and then I think the other thing is just figuring out like, you know, because

she's Australian, I'm American, we're living in Mexico City. The question we always get

is like, where are you going to end up? You know, where you were going to, uh, put

roots? Like that kind of question. And. Well, I think it's a very valid question. Uh,

because of our background, I think we're a bit more flexible in terms of, in terms of

location and um, in terms of the lifestyle that comes with that. Uh, but I think that is

something we want uh, to figure out at least on a year by year, like a shorter time frame

kind of horizon. Maybe let's say next two to three years. Okay. Like this, this kind of

chunk of time. Um, whereas some people want to plan out much longer. It's like, okay,

next, like 20 years, like we want to be here. Right. Um, so those areas, the family

planning and also planning, um, out, okay, location wise, where, where do we want to

like, uh, let's say, uh, open up accounts or figure out our cost of living? Like those,

those kind of questions are impacted by where we're going to be for the next two or

three years.

Anthony Weaver: That makes sense.

How are you feeling about renting versus owning? Great question. So

I'm going to be own bias

So that brings up the question then, how are you feeling about renting versus owning?

Dexter Zhuang: Great question. So I'm going to be own bias because my life has been

overseas and definitely been shaped by the desire for flexibility and mobility. So while Ithink earlier in my career I was interested in potentially uh, buying at, at that stage,

especially I think in the middle 2000 and tens, it seemed to make a lot of sense or I had

a lot of peers, like friends, colleagues signing to buy at that um, point in time. Uh, but for

me I realized, okay, well, if I'm gonna try this moving abroad thing, which, you know,

first started off as a travel sabbatical and then move and then actually moving overseas

after I realized like, oh, this is actually kind of nice, I, I like this. Then I discovered, well,

it might not be totally worth it, right. From a financial perspective and from a lifestyle

perspective if I'm not living in that home, so I'm not really using it and I have to rent it

out. Um, but then I have to also consider the operational pieces of it putting uh, the

sweat of figuring out what happens when things go wrong, who's going to deal with it,

how to get a property manager in that area, that kind of thing. So um, long story short, I

am, I, I prefer renting. And the main, yeah, the main thing for me and my wife is that ah,

ah, Flexibility. So Kenley, I mean, my wife also has, ah, um, uh, property in Australia.

But even still, uh, that was like, from before we got married. And um, I don't think we're

totally tied to the idea of like, keeping it for forever or anything like that.

Anthony Weaver: Hey, I mean, this is why it's the features. I like having this open

discussion because a lot of people are at that point now. It's like, hey, we have our

foundation nice and solid. So what now? And you're a perfect example of like, hey, we

don't know what's going to happen next, but at least within the next two years there'll be

something.

Dexter Zhuang: Exactly, exactly. We, yeah, we, we do consider that, that downside risk.

And what we want to avoid is a situation where, let's say, oh, we have to move because,

uh, our, our parents are, you know, not feeling well. That that's a real possibility. Um,

well, they're healthy now, of course, but, you know, just, just in case. And in that

scenario, then if we had a property that we had purchased and we had the mortgageand the loan payments, um, that would probably restrict our mobility and restrict our

flexibility. Unless if we like, rent it out. But then we have to then go through the whole

process of, um, getting property manager, like, figuring out the operational, operational,

uh, uh, side of it. So that's what we wanted to avoid and give ourselves a bit more

breathing room.

Anthony Weaver: Yeah. And considering you're selling your 30s, which is a great way to

kind of like you starting to slow down a little bit from when in your 20s, you were just all

over the place. Uh, and it's a good way to do it. I mean, I wouldn't mind if. I would say

I'm not sure how this show will evolve, but if the show was still here in 10 years, I would

love to actually have you back on and be like, you know, we did wind up doing all the

things.

Dexter Zhuang: I love that. Yeah, that would be fantastic. And I don't know if you've done

this for, uh, previous, uh, podcast guests, but I think that's a great idea just to, uh, show

like, hey, we talked about these topics. Let's take a look, you know, few years later, what

actually happens in their life?

Anthony Weaver: Well, I can tell you a lot of the people that I interviewed during my first

season, they no longer have that business. And I can't even find them on social. So

they, uh, dismantled. So it's very few of them has continued on. And my podcast is only

coming up on five years. So it's wow to See, that's really interesting. Yeah. And I try to

send them emails but it's good like you know, that uh, the 404 error. And I'm like, I at

least wanted to at least come back on to at least say what happened.

Dexter Zhuang: But ah, that would be a really great episode if you do manage to get

them back on. Maybe we'll see them at fincon and I, I can help.Anthony Weaver: Maybe.

Dexter Zhuang: Yeah.

Anthony, what advice do you have for entrepreneurs heading into

final four questions

Anthony Weaver: Um, so is there anything that you want to leave the audience with

before we dive into the final four questions?

Dexter Zhuang: I m. Think uh, just to summarize what we had uh, talked about a little bit

earlier, I want to emphasize that it really helped, uh, me and my wife did the exercise to

figure out, you know, what we viewed as our top values. And fortunately a lot of them

were aligned, uh, which is great. And that really helped us get clarity on how do we,

how do we approach like work more intentionally, how do we approach money, uh,

more intentionally, uh, and prioritize, you know, how, how we want to save and invest,

uh, for, for different things. An example of this is like so when my wife and I got married,

we had a couple smaller banquets in uh, Singapore, in Sydney and in Shanghai with

our family members and some extended family and um, you know, a few friends here,

here and there. But we didn't do like a really, really big wedding because uh, neither of

us really prioritized that as like, oh, we really, really want to have like a huge wedding

celebration. I mean in the future we would like to maybe do like a uh, do like an

anniversary party with a group of friends and that would be really fun. Um, but instead

what we did with, you know, what we would have spent on a wedding, we put it put

away for a honeymoon. So later, you know, we'll take a really nice honeymoon to do like

a safari in Tanzania and like go to Hawaii and like that. That doesn't really put anypressure on us financially because we already had allocated that, um, and we're pretty

excited for it and looking forward to making that happen. But that required us to make

some trade offs right in terms of um, what it is we wanted. And that started with the

values.

Anthony Weaver: That is awesome that you guys were on the same page with that and

hopefully that uh, the person that's listening is really taking note on. Hey, it doesn't have

to be done all at once. You can have everything but just not at the same time. You'll get

it.

Dexter Zhuang: Exactly, exactly. Well said. Yeah, we can do a party, maybe not, you

know, for the wedding itself, but Maybe in, like, a few years, do an anniversary party,

Something like that.

Anthony Weaver: Yeah. Well, you ready for the final four questions?

Dexter Zhuang: Yeah, let's do it, Anthony. Let it rip.

Anthony Weaver: All right, next. They're ready.

Number one, what does wealth mean to you? Wealth is about

flexibility

So, number one, um, what does wealth mean to you?

Dexter Zhuang: Wealth? For me? Yeah. It used to traditionally mean, like, just havingtons of money, but now, uh, the older I get and maybe, you know, 10 years later when,

uh, we revisit this, it'll sound different. Is that in my 30s, it really is about flexibility. It's.

It's about giving me some control over my time and, uh, flexibility and not having to

worry, uh, too much about, uh, about how I'm spending money.

Anthony Weaver: Perfect. Number two, what was your worst money mistake?

Dexter Zhuang: For me, you know, I started investing when I think I was 18, and I just got

into college, and I opened up a brokerage at E Trade, and I just picked a couple stocks

and, you know, started started, um, investing that way. And then it wasn't until, like,

maybe a couple years later, I learned about index funds. And I was like, oh, this is a

much smarter way, uh, to. To do this. And I thought that afterwards I kind of figured it

out. I was like, oh, well, I just invest in boring index funds. And that's, like, pretty simple.

But what I didn't expect is how, uh, emotional investing is. And inevitably, you know,

over the past, uh, like 12 years or so since then, I've still, like, felt the. Felt the attraction

of, like, oh, maybe it's, like, speculating on, um, certain stocks. Or maybe. Maybe it's

like, oh, crypto bull run.

Anthony Weaver: Why.

Dexter Zhuang: Why are all my friends talking about it? Maybe. Maybe I should, like, you

know, put more than I should into. Into some of that. Um, so I think speculation is still

the worst money mistake, but it's also one that I realized, like, it can keep hap. Like, it

can keep coming up in different forms or shapes.

Anthony Weaver: That is awesome. Uh, that you look. You do a lot of reflection on

yourself. It seems like you do almost like an annual, at least a monthly reflection onyourself just based on your response. Wish I had that intuition when I was your age.

Is there a book that inspired your journey or changed your

perspective

Number, uh, three. Is there a book that inspired your journey or changed your

perspective?

Dexter Zhuang: All right, so the book that, um, really inspired my, uh, expat journey and

how I thought about personal finances, uh, as an expat is one called Millionaire Expat.

It's by Andrew Halen, and he built a million dollar plus investment portfolio even as a

school teacher overseas. So I thought that was really cool. Um, and I liked his personal

Journey of how he learned about investing by investing on the side and how he also

talks a lot about, like, as an American, when you're overseas, there's like, certain tax

implications or a lot of questions that come up. It's like, how do I invest while overseas?

Should I use my home brokerage? Should I use a brokerage in, uh, this new country?

And all those nitty gritty questions he dives into. So if you're someone who is looking to,

uh, move overseas or kind of wants to learn more about what investing is like when, uh,

when that's your life situation, then Millionaire Expat is a potentially good book for you.

Anthony Weaver: Awesome. Number four, what is your favorite dish to make?

Dexter Zhuang: Uh, recently my wife and I bought a instant pot. That's like a nine. Nine in

one instant pot. The ninja. Uh, you're nodding your head. Maybe you know it, but air

fryer in it. Okay. Air fryer. Uh, saute. It's got everything. Anyways, uh, one of our, yeah,

favorite things to make, uh, with it is, uh, a chili. It's like a 20, 20 minute chili. You know,you just throw in, um, you know, all the, uh, all the minced meat. Uh, you know, we use

beef here, and then you can saute it in the same pot that you later. Then, uh, use the

pressure cooker to, uh, make the chili all in 20 minutes. And I, I feel like it's. It's just the

best because you can do it on Sunday night, and then you get pretty much your meals

for the rest of the week.

Anthony Weaver: That's amazing. All right. I might have to, um. I had to try that out one

day.

Dexter Zhuang: Yeah, thanks for saying it.

Dexter is known for helping people with personal finance issues

Anthony Weaver: Uh, so this is the last question of the show, which is where could

people find out more about you?

Dexter Zhuang: Absolutely. You can go to moneyabroad, uh, co, and there you can, uh,

find all my contact information and, uh, more information about what I'm working on.

Anthony Weaver: Right. Thank you so much, Dexter, for all of your information, all of

your personal stories. I know we didn't dive into all the businesses and everything like

that. Y'all can go to the other platforms that he's been on to talk about that fun stuff, but

we are here to learn more about the man behind all of the cool things that you've been

doing. Um, and I just want to congratulate you on all of the things that you've been

doing, uh, especially when it comes to helping people out with personal finance. And as

you heard, everybody, like, you have what it takes. You just got to really take time out todo your research and really understand what it is that you want out of life so that you

can align your finances for it. So I wish you all the best if you need to. If you didn't get

anything out of this one, but you think somebody else would listen to this, definitely

slide it on over to, um, them, because they could actually help them out as well. So

thank you so much. Y'all have a great day. We out. Peace!