Crushing Credit Card Debt

Dave Won took his experiences as an officer in the Air Force, and turned them into a successful business.

One of my favorite parts of journalism is talking with people outside my area of expertise. People from different backgrounds — such as veterans — bring perspectives that often surprise me. Today’s piece was one such talk; an interview with David “Dave” Won, veteran of the Air Force who saw an opportunity to help people become more responsible with their budgets, and developed an effective way to help them based partly on his experiences as an officer.

THE BIG STORY

Crushing Credit Card Debt

Dave Won took his experiences as an officer in the Air Force, and turned them into a successful business.

After leaving the Air Force, Dave Won had some decisions to make. The experience of serving in the U.S. Air Force had been satisfying, and he found a great sense of purpose in training and assisting young officers and airmen to become better versions of themselves.

When he started coaching people and helping them get out of debt, though, Dave didn’t realize one of the first clients he worked on would be himself. Even though everything on paper looked perfect for him and he knew the exact steps to build wealth and make money, his subconscious fear of the unknown and uncertainty surfaced and revealed itself when he bought his first house in 2016. The answers he discovered to those fears helped him develop a unique strategy for helping people get out of debt and stay out of debt — addressing the cause, rather than the symptom.

Dave’s method has helped hundreds of people crush crippling debt and be on a path to living life with contentment, purpose and intentionality. Here, he spoke with Military Media about his journey and business.

Dave Won, “The Budget Captain.”

Adrian Bonenberger: What is the number one problem when it comes to veterans and their finances?

Dave Won: The number one problem that I see with veterans and their finances — it's not just veterans, it's people in general —is they lack a foundational understanding of money. Part of that is logical. You make this much money, you spend this much money and whatever is left over is what you could save and invest. That's the logical side. But modern Americans also lack understanding when it comes to the emotional side of money: why they spend the way they do. Many purchases are emotional, impulsive. When you’re in debt, it’s often for that reason. And that piece has led to a lot of veterans going bankrupt, veterans losing jobs, veterans ending up divorced or out on the street. U.S. veterans are Americans, and financial difficulty is endemic to Americans in general, but given their training and the support systems in place in the U.S. people probably find it surprising that many veterans are in debt and in financial turmoil. So I think that's the number one issue. Once you solve that, then a lot of other issues can be solved. 

Adrian Bonenberger: Why don't you talk a little bit about the business that you run and how that plays into that financial issues that veterans and non-veterans have?

Dave Won: I help six figure income earners crush credit card debt. Debt is a specific pain point that many Americans understand and from which they suffer. I believe there is a deeper reason as to why people are in credit card debt and it’s not because, they're spending more than they make (above and beyond the minimum needed to survive). One example is that they’re trying to keep up with the Joneses. Why is that happening? My business focuses on answering the why through understanding those two aspects of money, the psychological aspect, and the practical aspect. The practical aspect looks at the numbers: what's coming in? What's going out? The psychological aspect digs a little bit deeper into those numbers and asks: what is causing you to spend? Why are you doing it? And where does that impulse come from? I give people a blueprint to kind of uncover what's really holding them back from economic health, which I like to call an “invisible wall.” Going through this protocol helps people crush credit card debt and lays the foundation on which they can build wealth.

Adrian Bonenberger: How did you get interested in this subject?

Dave Won: My parents are immigrants. They came to this country — or, my dad came to this country with $20 in his pocket — and we struggled a lot as a family growing up when it came to money. That background motivated me to do something different, to live differently than as I had as a child. I didn't want to experience the pain of poverty as an adult. That's how I initially got into business and financial wellness, and why I started teaching people how to do basic budgeting and basic numbers when I was teaching at the Air Force Academy. From there, it evolved into something deeper.

Adrian Bonenberger: Where did you come up with the idea for the name “the Budget Captain?”

Dave Won: My last name is Won. For the longest time, I wanted to do a play on words with my last name for the business. But I struggled, I couldn't think of anything. One day my wife and I were leaving a restaurant after a meal. And me being a former captain in the Air Force, one of my former students came out of nowhere. He said “hey captain!” And I'm like, “Oh, hey, what's up.” As we were walking to the car, I thought about how the business started out with me teaching people how to budget. I left the Air Force as captain. So literally on our three minute walk to the car, it just came together. Now, although the business started out with me teaching people how to budget, as I went through life, and I encountered some very challenging experiences. Those experiences helped me see that budgeting is more than performing simple arithmetic. It's deeper. So even though the business started with budgeting, and I ended up the Budget Captain, the process is more comprehensive than the name might imply.

Adrian Bonenberger: It’s strong. It’s a strong name.

Dave Won: I think it's strong. I have a hard time letting go of it. Because it's emotional to me, I'm connected to it. And even though my business is doing something much deeper than just budgeting, there’s something powerful and meaningful about the name.

Adrian Bonenberger: Captain is one of those concepts where, if you went back 2000 years, and were in the Roman Empire, I think a lot of people would have trouble explaining what it is they are did or do. But Captain is essential. A soldier in charge of 100 other soldiers. In ancient Rome that would make you a Centurion. I feel that if somebody 2000 years ago would understand what you did or do, it’s a strong concept.

Dave Won: Yeah, and I think initially people have a general idea of what I might do just based off of the name, but then a lot of people have given me feedback that they were intrigued and taken back that it goes much deeper than that. But that's how it started, and then once I got the name and got it going and got a lot of feedback from people saying they loved it. I trademarked it and made sure I registered the name and went from there. 

Adrian Bonenberger: One thing I noticed looking at the website is a lot of the testimonials on the page are from ostensibly single men. I was wondering if you'd noticed any built in advantage to being in a relationship or to being married when it comes to managing one's finances? 

Dave Won: You mean from the consumer side?

Adrian Bonenberger: Right — do you notice that like, single people and especially single men are more likely to go into debt than partnerships or marriages?

Dave Won: I don't know the statistics on that. I have worked with a lot of couples. The testimonials that I get don’t do justice to the landscape of who I've worked with up to this point. Not everybody wants to do a testimonial. Whether you have a single person really struggling with money, or a relationship where either or both of them struggle with money, it's a recipe for disaster. There may be a study out there saying that men are better off or worse off than women when it comes to finances. From my point of view, it's really just essential whether you're single or married to be organized, to understand your history, understand your emotions, feel your emotions, understand the math, understand the numbers behind it, and then be able to execute with action and habits.

Adrian Bonenberger: Is inflation over the last couple of years affecting savings strategies at all, or how to deal with credit card debt?

Dave Won: Inflation affects tactics, with things being more expensive, but it doesn’t affect strategy. The strategy is simple and straightforward. It's income minus expenses equals cash flow. When your expenses go up, but your income stays the same, your cash flow is going to be impacted. So yes, inflation does impact the tactics, it forces you to hold back a little bit, it forces you to not spend as much. And it's going to impact your cash flow at the end. But what I believe is more costly and more expensive than inflation, is lifestyle inflation. Right? And it's important to understand why lifestyle inflation is happening. Why are you keeping up with the Joneses? Why are you spending more than what you make? Beyond the bare minimum that is needed to survive? Why is that happening? There's a math component to, but it goes much deeper than that. And that, to me is a manifestation or an outward result of what's going on deeper inside. What void are you trying to fill? By buying all these things that you don't really need to survive? Why do you need that larger car? Why do you need a bigger house? Why do you need the new MacBook when you just bought one last year? The iPhone 15 just came out — why do you need it? My wife’s iPhone 11 just broke, but it had worked perfectly fine up until then. Do you need that iPhone 15? What is it about that, that you that that you need? Speaking broadly, I believe there's a void in the heart of America that Americans are trying to fill. And it's important to fill it with something more permanent than items you’ll have for a few years before they break. That something varies for different people. So yes, inflation is high. Everything costs 10% more whatever the situation might be. Even more expensive than inflation, is an unstable foundation that causes you to go above and beyond that 10% increase. One way to understand and build a solid foundation is to really dig deep and understand your values. Everybody's values are different. But few people want debt for their family, for their children. Once you understand yourself and your values, you line up your spending habits to fit that. If and when there's a break, there’s debt, that means something’s wrong and needs to be explored on a deeper level.

Adrian Bonenberger: Last question; if you could give people one piece of advice for finances and their financial health in general, what would it be?

Dave Won: My biggest piece of advice is to not ignore your emotions. Between the ages of zero and eight is when the amygdala, the most primitive part of your brain, develops and forms. And there's a strong connection between that and the frontal prefrontal cortex, which is the logical side of the brain. If there is a lot of disruption in the first eight years of your life, the amygdala is not going to be operating efficiently and maximizing its output the way it should. The first eight years of your life really impact and determine how you behave as an adult. Trauma and formative experiences at an early age will have an outsize impact on your development. It's really important to understand that you're not bad with money. You're not a crazy person, you're not evil or misguided for trying to spend money you don’t have, something’s going on. It's vital to understand why it's happening. Then you can separate yourself from what's holding you back, and be able to realize your full potential moving forward. So the biggest piece of advice that I can give is not simply to spend less than you make. Everybody knows that. And everybody obviously knows that needs to happen. The real key is to understand that there's something in your past that influences your behavior. Find that and fix it.

Adrian Bonenberger: Makes a lot of sense. Thank you for sharing your thoughts. 

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HUMOR

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