GV #04 - Vc quer ser um pagador de contas pro resto da vida?

- Hi, I’m Juliana Baroni. - Hi, I’m Heitor Martinez. And I always watch Geração de Valor.

We’re 18 thousand feet up in the air from São Paulo to Curitiba. On this new Geração de Valor vídeo we have some very nice things to talk about: Amauri Jr. and a special message to you.

So don’t go anywhere because the new Geração de Valor vídeo is coming right up. Is it easy? No!

That’s what I want to do, wake up the audience. The theory sounds good. How do you put that in practice?

Don’t lose focus. You’re always bombarded with commercials aimed at making you spend. Everyone’s already used to, late at night, zapping through the channels and finding Amaury Jr.

on. That’s because he’s been doing that for the last 30 years. The same format, social columnism on TV.

But behind these TV shows there’s an enterprise he’s part of, more than sixty people working together to put this enterprise on the air and make it a commercial success and get good ratings, which has been the case for more than 30 years. I’ve been in São Paulo, in his production company, talked with him, and he’s given us some very interesting tips on how to start a career in journalism or how to start an enterprise in communications. Everyone watching us now is just starting their career; everyone wants to do things right; they know that learning from someone who makes it happen, besides being humble, is a question of being smart.

So I brought Amaury Jr. to give us tips on how to start working as a journalist, how to break into television; Amaury Jr. is going to be our teacher here today and teach us the way to achieve that success, right, Amaury?

I’m a horrible interviewee, I’ve gotten used to interviewing, but I’ll try to remember some tips I find important. I think the first of them is, you’ve got to be sure that this is your thing; nowadays we have all these vocational tests to determine that. So you need to be certain that you’ve got a vocation for it, that you like it.

As I’m a good writer, because my father was a Portuguese teacher and made me read at least one hour every day, here’s the second tip: read. I was hired to write a column for the Diário de São Paulo newspaper, from São José do Rio Preto, that’s how I started out. For two reasons, first, because I found out what my vocation was; second, because I knew how to write.

I think those two are essential tips. Wonderful! Besides Amaury Jr.

the journalist, who has given you these precious tips on how to work in communications, we’ve also got here Amaury Jr. the entrepreneur, behind the TV show, there are more than 60 people involved in this Amaury Jr. enterprise.

Yeah, you, in an Amaury moment, went from journalist to investor, to risk-taker, because you take more risks when you’re an entrepreneur, what would you say to those out there who want to be an entrepreneur in communications? Well, I think the individual has to keep an eye on the market, that’s what I learned: I was a columnist in São José do Rio Preto, a variety columnist, when I began to realize that everything we were doing for the newspaper could be translated into television, but that happened in São Paulo as soon as I left the countryside. So I think the third tip is: keep an eye on the market so you won’t sound repetitive, you won’t turn into a cliché.

If you’re working a segment in journalism, whether you’re a journalist covering economy, sports or entertainment, which is the path I chose to take, you have to keep an eye on things, you have to do something new, something different, or you’ll never call anyone’s attention. On my part, in my field, I try to generate byproducts of what I do. So my show, my viewer likes it when I travel, I went to Dubai; I was the first Brazilian journalist to do a story on Dubai, all their splendor, Turkey, and others.

When I realized the viewer loved the trips I was taking, as they weren’t merely touristic, they were so much more than that, learning about habits, customs, and all that. Then we decided to produce travel guide DVDs that have been doing very well, with great sales figures. What are those figures, Amaury?

Our Dubai DVD has reached the impressive 300-thousand figure. When I realized the songs I play on the show were greatly appreciated, I said, God, let’s make that into a CD. We started to pick the songs, bought the rights to those songs and put out CDs under the name “Amaury Jr.

Soundtrack”. How well did it sell? The results are right there, my first gold record, and we’re already in our sixth CD, one of them is a Christmas album, another one features songs from South Africa, we put that one out with the South Africa DVD and I’ve almost reached one million copies with those.

Then comes Ivete Sangalo and says, this guy does not sing, does not play an instrument, does not know how to do absolutely anything in music, and has sold more than I have this month. She called me joking like that, playfully calling me names, but congratulating me on the sales of almost one million copies of all the CDs put together, in a country where everything is subject to piracy, where the CD is such a wonderful thing, but almost obsolete, unfortunately, isn’t it? So that’s the way.

More advice? Don’t lose focus, stay on the road, always. Is it your show?

It’s your show. Is it journalism? It’s only journalism.

Informative? Try to learn more, try to learn how to inform with precision, how to work your sources. Have sources.

Don’t ever disrespect them. What is off the record stays off the record. Don’t turn it into on-record, or you will lose your source forever.

Look, I could talk here for hours, but I think it all comes down to this: find out what your vocation is. I like what I do, like it a lot, and I think I’ve just gotten started, my TV show is only an iceberg, you can see its tip, but its potential is still coming up. But I’m going to get there, with Flávio.

Wonderful. The words of a great entrepreneur, someone who’s been successful as a communicator and entrepreneur for decades. But I’m learning from Flávio.

Flávio enriches me! It’s been a privilege having Amaury here. All the best, everyone!

Our topic today has been chosen by request. Lots of people have asked me about that on Twitter. It has to do with personal finances.

I want to talk about two specific styles of personal finance management. The first one, the most common, the one I think most people adopt, is the one that’s oriented towards consumption. I’d call it the consumerist model.

What would that be? As the name says, it is a model that’s oriented towards consuming. Isn’t it?

It’s a model that’s entirely devoted to enjoying the fruit of consumption, be it the consumption of goods, clothing, experience, ideas, you name it. It is a model oriented towards consumerism. So, for instance, here’s a practical example: I know people that make five hundred bucks a month, five thousand, 50 thousand, and I can guarantee you those people, most of them anyway, spend everything they make.

They spend it all. Sometimes someone makes five hundred bucks and thinks, look, the day I make five thousand a month, I’ve got it made. Sometimes they work, struggle, and eventually make five thousand, but they’ll spend it all, they’ll spend the five thousand, they’ll burn it all up.

They think, the day I make 20 thousand I’ve got it made. They will make 20 thousand and will spend it all. The first step is to spend it all.

Do you know what the second step is? They will use up all their credit in the bank, their credit card, they will see all their earnings be consumed by interest, credit card interest, and so on. You must know a lot of people like that.

Now some people may even think: no, Flávio, I make very little, how else am I supposed to live? It’s true, some people make very little money indeed. But my advice, regardless of how much money you make, is that you should adopt a different model of personal finance management, one that’s not consumerist, one that’s oriented towards opportunity, sales, predated checks to be cashed 60 days later.

Every day you are bombarded with commercials aimed at making you spend. So it’s very important, if you want to build something, if you want to progress, that you adopt a different model of management, one I like to call as management that’s progress-oriented. Progress-oriented management is the following: you work on your earnings with one goal, which is to build your estate, to become financially independent and make your money work for you.

Well, the theory sounds beautiful, but how do you put that in practice? It’s very simple. My advice to you is that you set apart 20% of your earnings, all your income, and save it, invest it.

Invest in bond mutual funds, index funds, something low-risk. But that’s my advice. You may even ask, but, Flávio, wait a minute.

How am I going to do that? I never have any money left. That’s the question.

In the consumerism-oriented management, people think there’ll come a day when there’s some money left, but there’ll never be any money left. Progress-oriented management is the opposite. Progress is the goal, the construction of your estate is the goal, the achievement of your independence is the goal and everything else adjusts to that.

What does that mean? First you set apart the 20%. There will never be 20% left.

There will never be 1% left. First you set apart the 20% and live on the 80%. But is that possible, Flavio?

Yes, it is, and I’ll tell you why: if you’re unemployed, you won’t be making any money, you’ll find a way, right? You will depend on other people, you’ll manage. That means you’re adaptable, you’re capable of adapting, as long as you want to and as long as you develop a new habit.

Progress-oriented management is like that: you set apart the 20%, right? And you’ll adapt your living to the 80%. But, Flavio, what if my 80% is one hundred and I spend 120?

Cut. Cut the restaurant, the cable TV, the installment, cut down on the car installment. Man, set it apart.

The most important thing is not to enjoy the fruit of consumption today. The most important thing is to build your estate for the future. Stop and think, if you’ve been working longer than ten years, if you had saved 20% of all your earnings in the last ten years.

Invested 1% per month, 12% in a year. Stop and think how much you’d have already amassed. Only then can those who have built their estate invest that money in a business and see that money, that estate, multiply.

Now those who spend it all will always pay bills for the rest of their lives. Very well. Now how do you get around to setting apart that 20%?

You have to develop a new habit. You have to make that effort. If you develop that new habit, what’s going to happen?

In the future, you will achieve your financial independence; you will be able to help other people, because you’re financially capable of that. Not the other way. The other way, you will always be spending all the money you make.

I’m sure there’ll be people saying, Flavio, but in Brazil, where there are 16 million underprivileged, in Brazil, people in absolute destitution. Of course the concepts I’m talking about do not apply, cannot apply to those people. Of course those of you watching this video now are not among those people, because when you’re impoverished you have no internet access, you don’t watch YouTube, so I’m talking to you.

Is it easy? No, it’s not easy. But I want to encourage you to manage your money that way.

Even if it’s just a little, when you’re promoted and start making more, you’ll see that you’ll be able to spend more, you’ll be able to spend as much as you want within the 80%, but those 20% are guaranteed to fund your progress, to enable you to build your estate. That’s my advice to you, change your management style. Leave consumerism and adopt the progress-oriented management I told you about.

It’s not easy, but it is possible. And if you do, you’ll see that your efforts were worth it. See you next time, everyone!