The Wealth Formula Podcast by Buck Joffrey Archives - Wealth Formula: Recent Episodes
Buck Joffrey
Buck and Zulfi dive into the implications of the recent election results, with a focus on the Trump presidency’s potential impact on financial markets, regulatory shifts, and economic policies. They analyze the ‘Trump trade,’ anticipated changes in regulations and tax policies, and the ripple effects on real estate, tariffs, and the broader economic landscape. Key topics include the roles of tariffs, immigration, and the Federal Reserve in inflation management, as well as insights on market trends in cryptocurrency and real estate—offering a roadmap for strategic investment in a changing economic climate.
The post 478: Finance News of the Week 11/13/24 appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Kamala Harris’s big loss on Tuesday night caught almost everyone off guard. Despite widespread expectations that she’d be at least slightly ahead going into the election, the reality turned out starkly different: she got crushed.
In those critical battleground states—Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan, Arizona, Nevada—where many assumed she had an edge, Trump surged past expectations.
Just days before the election, the Des Moines Register poll, one of the most respected in political circles, had Harris leading by 3 points in Iowa. The New York Times and Siena College polling also showed her ahead in several battlegrounds, with Trump solidly up only in Georgia and Arizona. But these numbers were way off on election day.
Even in typically blue strongholds, the polling was off. In Maryland, where Democrats usually don’t even blink at the polls, Harris underperformed her polling average by over a percentage point, while her Republican opponent exceeded expectations by 4 points.
Even in New Jersey, another traditionally blue state, polls were wildly off the mark. Rutgers ran a poll in mid-October that missed Trump’s numbers by double digits, and even the most accurate polling underestimated the gap between the two candidates by six points.
But this isn’t the first time polls have missed the mark by such a wide margin. It happened in 2016, too, when pollsters underestimated the support for Trump because their traditional methods didn’t reach the “silent” Trump supporters—those less likely to take a survey call or respond to pollsters. The same trend seems to have repeated itself in 2024, raising the question: are polling methods outdated?
It’s clear that something needs to change and perhaps artificial intelligence may be the answer. Traditional polls rely on people actually picking up the phone and answering questions, but AI could do so much more.
By analyzing enormous amounts of data in real time—everything from shifts in demographics to social media sentiment—AI has the potential to capture a far more nuanced picture of voter sentiment.
This shift could mean fewer reliance on who answers a call and more focus on where people’s attitudes and thoughts are actually trending.
One guy who didn’t get it wrong in 2016 or in 2024 is my guest on Wealth Formula Podcast this week: Jim Richards. Jim has a unique perspective on why polls keep getting things wrong, even as voter behavior changes and political dynamics shift. On this week’s show, we discuss that as well as his new book on how artificial intelligence will affect the economy and national security.
The post 477: What Pollsters Got Wrong, AI, and the Economy with Jim Rickards appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Communication coach Donald Weber dives into the power of effective communication in leadership and personal interactions. He highlights the impact of nonverbal cues, voice dynamics, and gestures on delivering messages with clarity and influence. The conversation explores practical techniques for sharpening communication skills, engaging audiences, and overcoming common public speaking challenges.
The post It’s Not What You Say, But How You Say It appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Buck and Zulfi discuss the current political climate on election day, the implications for the economy, and investment strategies. They explore the performance of gold and real estate as investment options, the impact of AI on market trends, and the significance of economic indicators such as inflation and unemployment rates. The discussion also touches on the potential for investment opportunities in a bull market, particularly in real estate and uranium stocks.
The post 476: Finance News of the Week 11/06/24 appeared first on Wealth Formula.
When it comes to building wealth, I’m all about putting money into assets that work for you.
Gold has been performing great this year and it has got a certain allure – it’s stable, it’s shiny, and it’s stood the test of time as a “safe haven.”
But, to me, gold’s appeal has some limitations. It doesn’t generate income or adapt to a growing economy. It’s a static asset – just sitting there, relying on scarcity and market sentiment for value.
Compare that to cash-flowing real estate, which earns rental income, appreciates with time, and reinvests in itself. With real estate, your money is working as hard as you are, creating compounding value. Gold, by contrast, just… exists.
Gold shines during uncertainty, which is why people flock to it during market turmoil. But cash-flowing assets, like real estate, can also perform steadily if they’re managed properly. The issues that real estate runs into in rough times relate to the leverage, not to the real estate itself. So, perhaps part of your real estate portfolio should be unleveraged?
Physical gold is tangible and can feel reassuring – like you’re holding real wealth. But it requires secure storage and insurance, which are ongoing costs. Gold ETFs offer easier access and are cost-effective, but in a true crisis, a piece of paper representing gold isn’t as solid as the real thing. Both have their pros and cons, but neither produces income.
Investing in real estate doesn’t just store wealth; it creates it. You’re part of the economy by providing essential spaces and earning rental income, all while the property value grows.
Real estate adapts, reinvests, and compounds – which gold doesn’t. In short, real estate has the flexibility to evolve with the market, while gold’s value remains static.
Gold isn’t free to own either. Physical gold comes with storage fees, insurance, and sometimes appraisal costs. Real estate has maintenance costs too, but those are more than offset by rental income. With gold, you’re continuously paying without any return – it’s a net cost, not an asset that actively pays you back.
But… I will concede one thing… gold has been around a long time and will continue to be in the future. As a hedge against inflation it has withstood the test of time.
An ounce of gold once bought a Roman man a nice toga and pair of sandals and today it will buy you a very nice suit and pair of shoes.
And for that reason, you may still consider owning some gold. This week’s episode of Wealth Formula Podcast will give you some guidance on how to do that.
06:02 The Current State of Gold Prices
08:21 Physical Gold vs. ETFs: A Comparative Analysis
11:01 Understanding Counterparty Risk in Gold Investments
14:19 Tax Implications of Gold Investments
16:53 Best Practices for Storing Precious Metals
The post 475: Gold – Physical vs ETFs and Related Issues appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Buck and Zulfe discuss the implications of gold-backed bonds, the current economic outlook, the impact of the upcoming election on fiscal policies, and the trends in Bitcoin and the tech industry. They explore how these factors intertwine and influence market dynamics and the future of investments and economic strategies.
The post 474: News of the Week 10/30/24 appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Gold bugs love to float the idea of bringing back the gold standard, tying the value of the U.S. dollar to a fixed amount of gold. On the surface, it might sound like a great way to return to “sound money.” But if you dig a little deeper, it’s full of problems that would likely take us backward rather than forward.
First, let’s talk about deflation, one of the scariest economic forces out there. Economist Richard Duncan and others warn that a gold standard would likely send us straight into a deflationary spiral.
Think of it this way: when prices drop, businesses make less money, wages fall, and people stop spending. It’s a vicious cycle that can turn a recession into a full-blown depression.
This is exactly what happened during the Great Depression, and a gold standard would lock us into this kind of problem again by tying the economy’s hands behind its back.
Then there’s the issue of economic growth. The modern economy moves fast—faster than gold supplies can keep up. By tying our money to gold, we’d basically put a chokehold on progress.
Businesses wouldn’t be able to invest or hire as easily because the money supply would be so tightly constrained. In short, we’d be stifling innovation and economic expansion just because there isn’t enough gold to go around.
The reality is that today’s economy is far more complex than it was back when the gold standard was in place. We’ve faced massive shocks like the 2008 financial crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic, and the government’s ability to respond quickly was critical.
The Federal Reserve was able to pump money into the economy when it was needed most. Under a gold standard, that would be impossible. We’d be stuck, watching recessions deepen with no way to cushion the blow.
And finally, the logistics of actually going back to a gold standard? Nearly impossible. The government would have to buy massive amounts of gold to back the current money supply, which would be chaotic and insanely expensive. It would be a transition full of confusion, and it could tank the economy in the process.
My guest on Wealth Formula Podcast this week advocates for a slightly different approach then a gold standard—a gold-collateralized bond. Her idea is to use the Federal Reserve’s gold reserves as collateral to allow the U.S. Treasury to borrow more cheaply.
She envisions it as a product for investors, similar to TIPS bonds (which protect against inflation). Even if you’re not a gold bug, this concept actually makes a lot of sense. It would give the Treasury access to low-cost borrowing while providing investors with a stable, gold-backed product—offering some of the benefits of gold without the downsides of a full gold standard. She’s written a book on the idea and shares it with us on this week’s show.
05:43 Introduction to Judy Shelton and Monetary Policy
11:43 The Concept of a Gold Standard
14:32 Proposing Gold-Backed Bonds
17:55 Investor and Government Benefits
20:44 The Role of Gold in Inflation Protection
23:40 International Monetary Reform and Trade
26:45 Criticism and Support
The post 473: A Sound Money Bond? appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Buck discusses the intersection of financial success and health, emphasizing the importance of longevity medicine. He introduces the concept of a proactive approach to health, advocating for education and empowerment in disease prevention. Buck also unveils his Longevity Roadmap course, designed to help individuals understand their health and prevent diseases, ultimately aiming to enhance their quality of life alongside their financial well-being.
The post Your Health: The Missing Piece in Your Wealth Strategy appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Buck and Zulfe discuss the current state of the real estate market, economic indicators, and the Federal Reserve’s policies. They explore the implications of institutional investments in real estate, the potential for a soft landing in the economy, and the impact of global factors on commodities like gold and silver. The conversation also touches on the speculative nature of Bitcoin in the context of political developments.
00:07 Introduction and Current Events
03:37 Real Estate Market Insights
11:01 Economic Overview and Federal Reserve Policies
18:10 Market Reactions and Predictions
25:01 Global Economic Factors and Commodities
The post 472: News of the Week 10/23/24 appeared first on Wealth Formula.
We’re now in the 4th quarter, and our investor club will have one last chance to leverage a 60% bonus depreciation on multifamily properties this year. If you haven’t signed up for the investor club yet, be sure to do so, as I will be sending out information on this opportunity in the next few days.
While tax benefits are a major reason to invest in real estate, there are many other reasons to enter the market soon. After a period of uncertainty, I believe we’ve entered a growth phase in the real estate cycle, even if it isn’t obvious to everyone. The market is showing clear signs of recovery, making apartment building investments more attractive than they’ve been in over a decade.
Despite recent economic turbulence, the U.S. economy has held up better than expected. Inflation is cooling, growth is stabilizing, and real estate is benefiting. Big money is returning, lenders are easing back in, and the gears of the market are finally turning again. For those who’ve been on the sidelines, I truly believe now is the time to jump back in.
As always, the key to real estate is making smart buys in the right locations. While some areas are oversaturated, others are thriving with job growth and migration. Cities like Austin, Charlotte, and Phoenix, where tech and business sectors are booming, are absorbing new housing supply with ease. Demand for rentals in these high-growth cities remains incredibly strong, so vacancy isn’t a concern in the markets that matter.
Furthermore, multifamily properties have never been more attractive to institutional investors. People will always need housing, and with homeownership still expensive, rental demand continues to rise. Even with new units hitting the market, the long-term outlook is solid, driven by a nationwide housing shortage. As interest rates stabilize, transaction volumes are expected to increase, unlocking liquidity and driving prices up.
But remember, the best deals happen when you buy at the right time. You have to beat the froth. Prices are favorable now, but they won’t stay that way for long. We’re seeing a slowdown in new construction, with starts down 45% from pre-pandemic levels.
By 2026, fewer new properties will come to market, tightening supply and driving stronger rent growth and higher occupancy rates. Getting in now positions you perfectly for when the market heats up.
Look at cities like Phoenix, Dallas, and Tampa—economic vitality and population growth are fueling demand and supporting rent growth. Even major cities like New York and Los Angeles, which struggled during the pandemic, are bouncing back as people return to urban areas.
The opportunity is clear: markets with strong job growth and migration are primed for outperformance. If you identify these high-growth areas early, you could see significant returns as the market recovery gains momentum.
This is no longer just about surviving a tough period—it’s about thriving. By focusing on regions with booming economies, rising populations, and a persistent housing shortage, you’re setting yourself up to capitalize on the next wave of growth. The market is moving, and multifamily investments are where the smart money is. Those who act now will be the ones to come out on top.
That’s it for my take. This week’s guest on the Wealth Formula Podcast will share his thoughts on the topic as well. He’s a real estate economist and consultant who writes for U.S. News & World Report, so tune in to hear his expert perspective!
07:33 Introduction to Real Estate Trends
14:43 Current State of Single Family Homes
18:01 Multifamily Market Dynamics
21:09 Impact of Climate Change on Housing
24:09 Demographic Shifts and Migration Patterns
26:03 Election Policies and Real Estate
28:04 Technology’s Role in Real Estate
30:58 Changes in Real Estate Commissions
The post 471: Catching Up on Real Estate appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Buck reflects on the importance of memories over material possessions. He emphasizes that true wealth lies in the experiences we share with loved ones, which create lasting happiness and bonds. Through personal anecdotes, he illustrates how investing in memorable experiences, such as attending events with family, yields a tremendous return on investment in terms of emotional fulfillment and relationship building.
The post The Best ROI You Will Ever Get appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Buck and Zulfe explore different investment strategies, emphasizing the unique challenges high-income earners encounter in building wealth. They examine key economic indicators, focusing on inflation and jobless claims, while analyzing how markets are reacting to recent data. The conversation also covers the political landscape, considering its potential impact on the economy and the uncertainty surrounding upcoming elections and their effects on fiscal policies.
The post 470: New of the Week 10/16/24 appeared first on Wealth Formula.
This week’s podcast will feature a highly requested replay of the webinar hosted by Rod Zabrieski on a concept we call theWealth Accelerator.
Now, you’ve probably heard Investment Advisors say there’s no value in permanent life insurance, often suggesting: “buy term and invest the difference.” But why do they say that? Is it really in your best interest?
Well, not necessarily. The money used for these types of policies typically comes out of investment portfolios—portfolios that pay advisors based on assets under management. So, there’s a built-in conflict of interest. It’s the same reason they often steer you away from alternative investments.
But here’s the truth: Permanent life insurance designed as Life Insurance Retirement Plans (LIRPs) can provide tax-free retirement income and estate planning strategies. These are tools the wealthy have used for years to engineer and grow their wealth.
Rod breaks down exactly how this works, and I think you’ll find it both insightful and empowering. If you’d rather watch the webinar or access the slides, head over to WealthFormulaBanking.com.
Now, one group that I believe can particularly benefit from the Wealth Accelerator is doctors—people who, during residency, watched their peers jump into the workforce while they were stuck, earning little or nothing.
I talk to these folks every day. They’re earning well now, but many feel like they’re behind because of those lost years. The Wealth Accelerator could be exactly what they need to level the playing field and regain a sense of financial security. Of course, this applies to anyone who got a later start financially.
The post 469: How the Wealthy Engineer Wealth appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Drawing on personal experiences and psychological concepts, Buck encourages listeners to adopt a growth mindset and overcome mental and financial obstacles to achieve their aspirations. He emphasizes that age should not be a barrier to personal growth and transformation.
The post You Are Never Too Old To Set Another Goal or To Dream a New Dream appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Buck and Zulfe discuss the ongoing challenges in the housing market, the implications of recent labor market data, and the current state of financial markets. They explore the historical context of housing shortages, the impact of regulatory hurdles, and the surprising strength of the labor market despite concerns about inflation. They also touch on investment strategies, including exposure to Bitcoin through ETFs, and the overall optimistic outlook for the stock market.
The post 468: New of the Week 10/09/24 appeared first on Wealth Formula.
You can disagree without being disagreeable—yeah right. Not these days!
We’re stuck in this tribal mentality, where it’s less about what you believe and more about toeing the line of your “team.” It’s as if we’ve traded rational, independent thought for this knee-jerk reaction of following whatever beliefs our group holds.
But here’s the thing: If we want to get back to having real, meaningful conversations, we’ve got to break out of this mindset.
Let me take you back to an example of what real debate used to look like: Gore Vidal and William F. Buckley Jr. These two guys were as far apart politically as you can get. Vidal was the quintessential liberal intellectual, and Buckley, the conservative firebrand.
Their debates in the late ‘60s were intense, and yeah, they got personal—at one point, Buckley called Vidal a “queer” on live television, and Vidal shot back with “crypto-Nazi.” Not exactly what we’d call polite conversation. But underneath all that heat, there was substance. They were engaging with real ideas. They weren’t just parroting talking points from their respective teams; they were thinking, challenging, and sharpening their viewpoints in the process.
Now, look at the political landscape today. It’s less about the exchange of ideas and more about shutting down the opposition. We’ve all seen it—whether it’s on Twitter, cable news, or even around the dinner table. People shout over each other, throw labels, and end up more entrenched in their beliefs than before. America is divided in a more violent way that it has been since the 1960s.
But it doesn’t have to be this way. Take a cue from Ronald Reagan and Tip O’Neill. These two were on opposite sides of just about everything. Reagan was the conservative icon, and O’Neill, the liberal Speaker of the House. They fought tooth and nail during the day over policy, but when the work was done, they’d grab a drink together.
They didn’t see each other as enemies. They saw each other as people who cared about the same things—just from different perspectives. Imagine that today! Even when they fiercely disagreed, they kept it about the issues, not about taking personal jabs or making it a win-lose situation.
The big takeaway from relationships like Reagan and O’Neill or Vidal and Buckley is this: They didn’t let their differences destroy their conversations—or their respect for one another. Somewhere along the way, we forgot how to do that. Today, it feels like the second someone hears an opinion that challenges their beliefs, they immediately go into attack mode. Why? Because we’re not listening to understand; we’re listening to respond.
When you actually listen to someone you disagree with, you’re not just doing them a favor—you’re doing yourself a favor. You’re growing. You’re sharpening your own beliefs. You’re gaining perspective. And believe me, this isn’t some fluffy feel-good idea—it’s a practical skill that will make you smarter, sharper, and more resilient in everything you do.
Look, I get it. It’s comfortable to stay in our echo chambers, where everyone agrees with us, and we don’t have to challenge our views. But that’s a fast track to intellectual stagnation. When you never engage with opposing viewpoints, you stop thinking for yourself. You end up just repeating what your group believes, instead of critically evaluating the ideas you hold.
So, how do we start having these real conversations again? It starts with a mindset shift. First, we need to drop the notion that every conversation is a battle to be won. It’s not. In fact, the minute you go into a discussion with the mindset of “winning,” you’ve already lost the opportunity to learn something.
Second, we need to be willing to ask ourselves hard questions. Am I holding this belief because I’ve thought it through? Or am I holding it because it’s what my tribe believes? There’s nothing wrong with questioning your own stance. In fact, it’s how you grow.
Let’s bring it back to basics: Independent thought. Listening to understand, not just respond. And most importantly, disagreeing without being disagreeable. If we can do this—if we can step away from the tribal mentality and start thinking for ourselves again—we’ll not only elevate the quality of our conversations, but we’ll also become better, more thoughtful people in the process.
Why do I bring this all up? Well, this week’s guest on Wealth Formula Podcast is a lot more liberal than me and, while I agreed with some of his ideas, others left me completely befuddled. But, rather then react violently, I did my best to try to learn his perspective as an expert on real estate policy and challenged him where I thought necessary.
09:50 What is the National Housing Conference?
12:21 Current Housing Market Challenges
15:49 The Impact of Rent Control and Price Fixing
22:01 First-Time Home Buyer Assistance Programs
28:24 Insurance Challenges in Real Estate
34:47 Strategies for Increasing Housing Supply
The post 467: Dealing with the Housing Challenges Ahead appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Buck discusses the importance of understanding our emotional responses, particularly the interplay between the amygdala and the prefrontal cortex in decision-making. Through various examples, including high-stakes situations and everyday interactions, Buck emphasizes the significance of self-regulation and the power of pausing before reacting. He offers practical advice on how to manage emotions effectively to foster better relationships and decision-making.
The post You Can Always Tell Someone to Go to Hell Tomorrow appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Buck and Zulfe discuss the critical importance of due diligence in investment, using the infamous Madoff scandal as a case study. They explore the challenges of detecting fraud, the role of auditors, and the relative safety of real estate investments. They also talk about current market trends, economic indicators, and the impact of geopolitical tensions on the financial landscape.
The post 466: News of the Week 10/02/24 appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Due diligence is certainly something you do when making a big investment or buying a business. But it’s actually something that should apply to all areas of life—whether you’re signing a contract at work, getting involved in a new relationship, or even deciding which dating app bio seems like it won’t end in a true-crime documentary.
In the business world, due diligence means doing your homework before diving into any deal. It’s checking the financials, understanding the risks, and making sure everything is legit before you sign on the dotted line. Just like you wouldn’t buy a car without checking under the hood (unless you enjoy random roadside adventures), you shouldn’t make decisions at work or in business without getting the full picture.
The same goes for your personal life. That new person you just met? It’s worth making sure their story adds up. And let’s be honest, these days, doing a bit of digital “due diligence” (a.k.a. light social media stalking) is part of dating etiquette.
That said, even the most thorough due diligence can sometimes fall short. Just look at Bernie Madoff. This guy had years of audited financials and still managed to scam investors out of billions. It wasn’t because people weren’t doing their due diligence, but because Madoff was a master manipulator who played the long con. He reminds us that no matter how careful you are, sometimes bad actors can slip through the cracks. All we can do is to know that we did our best.
In some cases, that might even involve hiring a third party to dive even deeper. In this week’s episode of Wealth Formula Podcast, we will talk to someone who does that for a living. She provides lots of pearls for you to apply in you everyday life.
05:00 Introduction to OSINT and Its Importance
08:05 Understanding Open Source Intelligence Gathering
11:09 The Role of OSINT in Business
13:54 Digital Vulnerability and Reputation Management
17:04 Red Flag Analysis for Investments
19:54 Cost-Effectiveness of Due Diligence
22:59 The Value of Background Investigations
26:01 Conclusion and Contact Information
The post 465: Due Diligence in Investing and Business appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Buck shares insights on how to focus on what truly matters, prioritize tasks, and implement strategies like time blocking and the two-minute rule to enhance productivity. Buck emphasizes the significance of a results-driven mindset and the need to eliminate distractions to achieve goals efficiently. He concludes with the idea that a proactive approach to time management can lead to greater success in both personal and professional endeavors.
The post Practical Tips for Maximizing Your Day appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Buck and Zulfe discuss the recent Federal Reserve rate cuts, their implications for the economy, and how markets are reacting. They explore the rationale behind the Fed’s decisions, the expected trajectory of interest rates, and the potential impact on various asset classes, including stocks, gold, and Bitcoin. The conversation also highlights investment opportunities arising from the current economic landscape, particularly for those looking to refinance or invest in distressed assets.
The post 464: News of the Week 09/25/24 appeared first on Wealth Formula.
One of the rude awakenings I’ve had about the legal system in our country is that its not really about who is right or wrong. It’s about risk mitigation.
In my former life as a practicing surgeon, I saw this in the form of malpractice law suits. Experienced surgeons will tell you that if you have not had some complication during surgery in your career, you simply have not operated enough.
That’s why we have robust consent forms and processes making sure that patients are aware that complications are always possible and do occur.
I once had a complication in a procedure that was well known. In fact, the consent form specifically named this complication multiple times and even provided the incidence of this specific complication based on published studies.
Unfortunately, the patient decided to file a malpractice suit against me even though he recovered fine. Why not I guess? Lawyers will take up just about any case if there is a chance to make a buck.
I was appalled and thought for sure it would go away. But, as it turns out, my attorneys felt that it would be smart to have insurance settle the case rather than risk a bigger loss by going in front of a jury.
Since then, I have been in multiple business litigation matters. And again, its not about who’s right or wrong. It’s often about calculating how much it would cost to continue with lawyers rather then an evaluation of the merits of the case.
Bottom line is, its not about who’s right or wrong. It’s about who’s got the money and who’s willing to spend it.
That’s why the best defense against frivolous lawsuits is to turn yourself into a really ugly target. You want lawyers to look at you and realize that trying to get money from you is just not worth their time.
And that, my friends, is the basis of asset protection. Sounds cynical I know. But that is the truth. So how do you turn yourself into a skunk that no one wants to get near?
That’s what this week’s show is all about. Doug Lodmell, my friend and asset protection attorney will tell you everything you need to know about asset protection in 30 minutes.
06:25 Introduction to Asset Protection
08:32 Understanding the Basics of Asset Protection
12:18 The Importance of LLCs in Asset Protection
16:25 Creating a Holding Company for Investments
20:11 Advanced Asset Protection Strategies
24:34 The Role of Asset Protection Trusts
28:16 Navigating Legal Challenges and Criminal Considerations
32:28 The Bridge Trust: A Hybrid Solution
Get a free consultation with Doug Lodmell:
www.lodmell.com
The post 463: Everything You Need to Know about Asset Protection in 30 Minutes appeared first on Wealth Formula.
In this episode of Longevity Junky, Buck and Nikki sit down with renowned psychiatrist and brain disorder specialist, Dr. Daniel Amen, founder of Amen Clinics, to discuss groundbreaking brain imaging techniques like SPECT scans. Dr. Amen shares insights on diagnosing mental health issues through brain mapping and the role of brain health in overall longevity.
Dr. Daniel Amen’s Free Brain Assessment:
https://brainhealthassessment.com/assessment
Full episode in video available on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jR0nhSfuZRQ
Questions? Send us a message at:
www.longevityjunky.com
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The post Can we see mental illness on brain scans? appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Buck and Zulfi discuss central bank digital currencies, the role of banks, Bitcoin’s volatility and market dynamics, and the economic conditions influenced by the Federal Reserve. They explore the implications of these factors on investment strategies and the importance of understanding economic cycles for making informed investment decisions.
The post 462: News of the Week 09/11/24 appeared first on Wealth Formula.
In 2014, like most people, I was skeptical and largely uninformed about Bitcoin. At the time, it seemed like a quirky internet fad, reminiscent of the infamous Dutch tulip mania from the 17th century—something bound to disappear as quickly as it had come.
Unfortunately, I was listening to the likes of Peter Schiff at the time who convinced me that bitcoin was just a speculative bubble, a digital Ponzi scheme waiting to implode. So, I didn’t question it. I dismissed Bitcoin, just like most people did.
By 2016, however, I decided to take a deeper dive. What I found captivated me. Bitcoin isn’t just a speculative investment; it is a revolutionary form of money, designed to withstand the economic pressures that have eroded every fiat currency in history.
In 2018 Saifedean Ammous published The Bitcoin Standard where he argued for the importance of sound money. History is littered with examples of societies that debased their currency and paid the price for it. From the fall of the Roman Empire to the collapse of the Weimar Republic, excessive money printing always leads to inflation, erosion of wealth, and ultimately, economic ruin.
Bitcoin solves this problem with a hard cap of 21 million coins. It’s decentralized and cannot be manipulated by governments or central banks. In a world where the Federal Reserve can print trillions of dollars overnight, Bitcoin’s scarcity and resistance to inflation are revolutionary.
Ammous makes it clear that Bitcoin, much like gold in centuries past, is a form of “hard money” that can store value over the long term, immune from the whims of political agendas.
Unlike gold, though, Bitcoin is more efficient. It’s easily divisible, transferable across borders, and secured by an immutable blockchain. No middlemen, no gatekeepers, just a decentralized network verifying and recording every transaction. This creates an incorruptible store of value, something that’s sorely needed in today’s financial system.
Back in 2017, Bitcoin exploded from under $1,000 to nearly $20,000 in just 12 months. Some called it a bubble, but I saw it differently. The institutional adoption was beginning. Fast forward to today, and Bitcoin isn’t just a fringe asset—it’s gaining legitimacy among the world’s biggest financial players.
Names like BlackRock, Fidelity, and Grayscale have built massive infrastructure around Bitcoin. BlackRock, with nearly $10 trillion under management, launched a Bitcoin ETF. And when Larry Fink, the CEO of BlackRock, begins referring to Bitcoin as “digital gold,” you know the asset has reached a new level of mainstream credibility. It’s a reflection of Bitcoin’s maturation as an asset class.
Even on the political front, Bitcoin is making waves. Figures like Donald Trump and Robert Kennedy Jr. have publicly stated their intent to hold Bitcoin as part of treasury reserves.
At the same time, demand for Bitcoin is rising. Millennials and Gen Z increasingly see Bitcoin as a more reliable store of value than traditional investments like stocks or bonds.
A recent survey found that nearly 50% of Millennials trust cryptocurrency more than they trust the stock market. As these generations accumulate more wealth, their preference for Bitcoin will only accelerate, driving demand higher.
And with Bitcoin’s supply fixed, the inevitable consequence is upward price pressure. When I first started seriously looking at Bitcoin in 2016, it was trading between $600 and $700. Today, Bitcoin hovers between $50,000 and $60,000. That’s an astonishing 80x return.
If someone had invested $100,000 in Bitcoin back then, they’d be sitting on $8 million today. These numbers aren’t just hypothetical—they’re a real testament to Bitcoin’s growth and future potential.
A common critique of Bitcoin is its volatility. There’s no denying that Bitcoin has seen wild price swings, such as the rapid ascent to $69,000 in 2021 followed by a steep correction. But here’s the crucial point: volatility is not necessarily a bad thing. In fact, in Bitcoin’s case, it’s an opportunity.
As Ammous explains in The Bitcoin Standard, volatility is an expected feature of any emerging asset class. Bitcoin is still in its price discovery phase. As adoption increases and market capitalization grows, the volatility will decrease, much like what we’ve seen with gold.
Right now, Bitcoin’s volatility provides an entry point for those looking to benefit from its long-term trajectory. In a few years, when Bitcoin reaches the market cap of gold—currently around $12 trillion—it will likely stabilize, and the wild price fluctuations we see today will diminish.
So, while volatility may scare off some investors, for those who believe in Bitcoin’s long-term potential, it’s a gift. It creates buying opportunities in a market that is steadily trending upward over time.
If I had to choose one asset to double in value over the next two to three years, it would undoubtedly be Bitcoin. It is arguably the hardest form of money humanity has ever seen, and as more people recognize this, demand will continue to rise. With a fixed supply, the laws of economics make it clear: Bitcoin’s price must go up.
So why am I talking about Bitcoin? Well, this week’s podcast is about central bank digital currencies (CBDC). Without Bitcoin, there would be no talk of CBDC. The topic itself, however, is quite different as it relates not to the freedom offered by the Bitcoin concept but rather the potential issues around your privacy and the role of the banks.
It’s a fascinating conversation and I highly encourage you to check out the show.
11:49 Introduction to David Skeie and CBDCs
12:52 The Concept of CBDCs and the Digital Pound
15:54 The Purpose of CBDCs and the Concerns
21:38 The Technology and Implementation of CBDCs
23:52 Privacy Concerns with CBDCs
28:14 The Relationship Between CBDCs and Cryptocurrencies
31:59 The Role of Technology in CBDCs
34:07 The Interplay Between CBDCs and Bitcoin
38:04 The Future of CBDCs and Digital Currencies
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Buck introduces his brand new health and longevity podcast, Longevity Junky.
Longevity Junky is a compelling and accessible new podcast that works for all longevity enthusiasts, whether you’re a hardened scholar who craves detailed science or a relative newcomer to this fascinating and quickly evolving world.
Dr. Buck Joffrey, MD, is a former neurosurgeon, successful entrepreneur, and self-described health-conscious hedonist.
Nikki Leigh is a jet-setting actress influencer with 6M followers and is the OG Longevity Junky.
They’re good friends and willing guinea pigs for all longevity-related experiments.
From hallucinogens to full body MRIs, micro-dosing Cialis to tech, exercise, and diet to mindfulness, they’re on a voyage of discovery, meeting the best experts in each space, learning and sharing their experiences, and giving listeners actionable tips on how to live a longer, happier life.
The post Has the first person to live to 500 already been born? appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Buck and Zulfe discuss the concept of sovereign wealth funds and their purpose, particularly in countries heavily reliant on a single source of revenue, such as oil.
They also explore the idea of the United States establishing its own sovereign wealth fund and the potential challenges and drawbacks associated with it.
The conversation touches on inflation, globalization, the role of the private sector in investment, and the government’s use of tax incentives to drive investment.
Buck and Zulfe also talk about the recent decline in the stock market, the softening job market, the upcoming Federal Reserve meeting and the possibility of a rate cut.
They touch on the performance of gold and its role as an inflation hedge, as well as the volatility of Bitcoin and its potential as an investment.
The post 460: News of the Week 09/11/24 appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Today, we’re diving into a topic that’s sure to ruffle some feathers, particularly if you’re a fan of Austrian economics.
Look, I get it. Austrian economists have an appealing story. It’s neat, it’s clean. You save money, you balance budgets, and the free market solves everything. It’s almost comforting, in a nostalgic way, like when your grandparents tell you how they walked uphill both ways to school.
But while simple and neat, it just doesn’t reflect the reality we live in today? It’s like using a paper map in the age of GPS—sure, it worked back then, but today, we’re navigating a completely different landscape.
In 2008, Lehman Brothers collapsed and the markets were in freefall. It felt like the entire financial system was about to implode. Now, according to Austrian economics, we should’ve let the whole thing crash and burn.
They argue that economic downturns are necessary to “cleanse” the system, allowing inefficient businesses to fail and making way for more robust ones.
They argue that the economy should function like a forest fire, clearing out the old and dead so new growth can emerge. But what if that fire had spread to every corner of the world economy and left nothing but ashes?
Here’s the thing: in 2008, the world didn’t allow the fire to spread. The central banks, particularly the Federal Reserve, stepped in with unprecedented measures—quantitative easing, zero interest rates, massive injections of liquidity.
Essentially, they flooded the economy with money to stop the bleeding. If you ask an Austrian economist, this is akin to sinning against the laws of nature. But here’s the kicker: it worked. The world didn’t plunge into a Great Depression, and we’re all still here today because of those “unnatural” interventions.
Fast forward to the COVID-19 pandemic. Governments around the world shut down economies, businesses shuttered, and millions of people were suddenly out of work. Once again, the central banks and governments unleashed trillions of dollars in stimulus to keep things afloat. According to Austrian economics, this was another sin—a violation of the sacred tenets of free markets. But what was the alternative? A global economic collapse?
Now, don’t get me wrong—printing money and keeping interest rates low indefinitely isn’t a free lunch. It comes with consequences, like inflation, which we have certainly felt over the past two years. But the point is, we live in a world where pure economic theories rarely align with reality.
The global economy is far too interconnected, too complex, and too fragile to leave it to the “invisible hand” without intervention. Sometimes, we need a heavy hand to guide the way, and Austrian economists often seem to be living in a world where that hand doesn’t exist.
Believe me, I do believe we need to a lot better when it comes to being fiscally responsible and not racking of huge amounts of debt. But the idea that Austrian economics can solve the issues of our day is just a fairytale.
And I know those of you who are followers of Peter Schiff are going to send me hate mail so I might as well turn over my rant to economist Richard Duncan, which we will do right after these messages.
Richard feels strongly about these topics so this is less of an interview than it is a lecture. Hope you enjoy it!
08:03 What is an Austrain Economist?
14:04 Back to the Gold Standard?
23:04 What’s Going On in the Economy Today?
30:35 U.S. Economy in the Next Few Years
The post 459: Richard Duncan on What Austrian Economists are Afraid to Tell You appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Buck discusses the concept of stoicism and its application in modern life. Stoicism is a timeless philosophy that teaches us to master our emotions, focus on what matters, and thrive in the chaos of modern life. The key idea in stoicism is that we have power over our minds, not outside events. We can control our actions, thoughts, and responses, but we cannot control external circumstances. Stoicism teaches us to focus our energy on what we can control and let go of everything else. It also emphasizes the importance of perceiving events in a way that empowers us and leads to growth. The Stoics believed in living in accordance with virtue, which includes wisdom, courage, justice, and discipline. They also emphasized the concept of memento mori, reminding us of our mortality and the importance of living with purpose and urgency.
The post Introduction to Stoicism appeared first on Wealth Formula.
In the fast-paced world of technology, missing out can be costly. History shows that those who fail to adapt often face devastating consequences, while those who stay ahead can seize game-changing opportunities. This is a lesson every investor should take to heart.
Take Kodak and Blockbuster, for example—both giants in their industries, but both brought down by their reluctance to embrace technological change. Kodak, despite pioneering digital camera technology in the 1970s, clung to its profitable film business. By the time the company acknowledged the digital shift, it was too late; Kodak declared bankruptcy in 2012. Blockbuster, meanwhile, dominated video rentals in the early 2000s but failed to foresee the rise of digital streaming. Netflix, then a fledgling company, offered to partner with Blockbuster, but the offer was declined. As streaming gained momentum, Blockbuster’s physical stores became irrelevant, leading to its bankruptcy in 2010.
These stories offer a clear lesson: technology waits for no one. Investors who cling to the past will be left behind.
Another missed opportunity came with the rise of decentralized technology, particularly Bitcoin. When Bitcoin emerged in 2009, many dismissed it as a fad or speculative bubble, failing to grasp its potential as a decentralized currency and store of value. Early investors in Bitcoin saw massive returns, while those who hesitated missed out on one of the most transformative financial opportunities of the decade.
Today, artificial intelligence (AI) stands as the next frontier of innovation. Like digital film, blockchain, and personal computing before it, AI is poised to reshape industries, create new markets, and redefine how we live and work. Companies like Nvidia, which has positioned itself as a leader in AI through its advancements in GPUs and AI-driven software, showcase the potential rewards of early investment in this space.
Nvidia’s success underscores the importance of recognizing and investing in emerging technologies before they go mainstream. Investors who saw the potential in Nvidia’s AI capabilities years ago have enjoyed extraordinary returns. But the AI space is still in its early stages, presenting opportunities for those who are forward-thinking.
The message is clear: staying informed and adapting to technological advancements is crucial for investors. In a world where innovation drives market growth, keeping up with technology isn’t just smart—it’s essential. Those who fail to recognize and act on new technologies risk being left behind, while those who embrace change will have the chance to shape the future.
As AI continues to evolve, it’s vital for investors to stay vigilant and ready to act. The next big opportunity could be just around the corner, and the key is to be prepared to seize it. This weeks episode of Wealth Formula podcast will help you understand the role of artificial intelligence in the coming years.
The post 458: What You Need to Know about Artificial Intelligence appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Buck shares his experience with a retinal tear and detachment and how it reinforced the importance of gratitude and perspective. He discusses the psychological benefits of gratitude, including improved mental health, enhanced resilience, and stronger relationships. Buck suggests practices such as gratitude journaling, mindful appreciation, expressing thanks, and reframing challenges to cultivate gratitude. He emphasizes the power of gratitude in shaping our mental and emotional well-being and overall life satisfaction.
The post Gratitudes from a Retinal Tear appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Buck and Zulfe Ali discuss various topics including the shift from a W-2 mindset to an entrepreneurial mindset, the current state of the economy, and the performance of different asset classes. They also touch on the upcoming Fed rate cuts, the revision of jobs data, and the rise of gold and Bitcoin.
The post 457: News of the Week 08/28/24 appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Most people think that having a job is the safest way to secure their financial future. They wake up every day, punch the clock, and assume that as long as they keep doing their job, they’re safe. But let me tell you something to wake you up a bit: A job isn’t as safe as it seems. In fact, it can be one of the most dangerous financial positions you can be in.
When you work for someone else, you’re living in a bubble. You get your paycheck every two weeks, you have your benefits, and you think, “I’m set.” But what you don’t see is what’s happening behind the scenes—the financial health of the company, the decision-making process in the boardroom, the market pressures that might be squeezing your employer’s margins. You don’t see the icebergs until it’s too late.
Your employer’s financial struggles are hidden from you. The first time you might realize your company is in trouble is when you’re handed a pink slip. And then what? You’re left scrambling, wondering what went wrong, and suddenly that “safe” job doesn’t seem so safe anymore.
This isn’t about quitting your job tomorrow. This is about realizing that your job should be just one part of your financial portfolio. You see, the truly wealthy don’t rely on just one source of income. They understand the power of diversification. They understand that putting all your eggs in one basket is a recipe for disaster.
Think of it this way: If you lose your job, and it’s your only source of income, you’re in a vulnerable position. But if you have multiple streams of income—whether it’s from side gigs, investments in real estate, or even owning a small business—you have a safety net. You have options. And that’s what true financial security is all about—having options. Going outside of the comfort zone of your job is not risky. Not doing so is the bigger risk.
I want you to start thinking of yourself as the CEO of your own life. Just like a company needs to diversify its revenue streams, manage its risks, and always be aware of its financial health, so do you. You need to treat your finances like a business.
What does that mean? It means you need to mitigate your risks. Don’t rely on one source of income. Constantly be aware of the “icebergs” that could derail you. Are you too dependent on your job? Are you prepared for an economic downturn? Are you aware of the blind spots in your financial planning?
Blind spots. We all have them. But the key is to identify them before they become problems. In your financial life, a blind spot could be an over-reliance on a single income source. It could be a lack of emergency savings. It could be not investing in assets that grow over time.
The good news is, once you’re aware of your blind spots, you can do something about them. You can start diversifying your income, investing in cash-flowing assets and build a financial plan that’s robust and resilient.
Now, let’s talk about how to actually do this. How do you diversify your income streams? Here are a few strategies that can get you started.
First, side gigs. Start small. Maybe it’s freelancing, consulting, or even an online business. The key is to start generating income outside of your job. At one point in my life, Wealth Formula was a hobby. It is now my primary business.
Second, consider business acquisition or franchises. This can be a great way to create an additional income stream that’s independent of your job.
Finally, investing in cash-flowing assets. Real estate is one of my favorites. VRBO’s are a particularly good option for W2 wage earners because you can literally use depreciation to offset your W2 income if you follow the rules set forth by the IRS. But whatever you choose, the goal is to have multiple streams of income that aren’t tied to your day job.
Financial freedom isn’t about having a high-paying job. It’s about having control over your financial future. It’s about having options. It’s about not being at the mercy of your employer’s decisions.
Remember, your job is just one part of your financial portfolio. Don’t let it be the only part. Start thinking like a business owner, diversify your income, and protect yourself from the icebergs that you can’t see. That’s the real path to financial security and freedom.
My guest this week on Wealth Formula Podcast has a similar philosophy and serves as a good reminder of what’s at stake.
10:09 Warnings of the Current Geopolitical Climate
13:58 Lessons from the IRS
16:02 Combating the Golden Handcuffs
17:56 Side Hustles for Security
25:20 The Cashflow Quadrant
30:15 Tax Implications of the Election
The post 456: The Illusion of Job Security and the Power of Financial Diversification appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Buck discusses the science of habit formation, specifically focusing on exercise. He explains the habit loop, which consists of a cue, routine, and payoff, and how habits are engineered through repetition and reward. Buck emphasizes the role of dopamine in motivating and craving habits and highlights the importance of consistency and creating a consistent environment. He provides practical tips for creating the habit of exercise, such as starting small, stacking habits, making it fun, leveraging social support, setting goals, tracking progress, and preparing for setbacks.
The post The Science of Habit Formation appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Rod Zabriskie joins the show to discuss the Wealth Accelerator program, which aims to help individuals amplify their returns and accelerate their wealth accumulation. The program involves leveraging life insurance policies to build cash value and generate tax-free income in retirement. The program has been stress-tested against different market conditions and has shown promising results.
The post 455: The Wealth Accelerator appeared first on Wealth Formula.
The COVID-19 pandemic did more than just highlight the vulnerabilities in the global supply chain—it exposed systemic issues that had been brewing for years.
As the world grappled with unprecedented shortages in everything from medical supplies to consum er goods, it became clear that these vulnerabilities were not merely accidental; they were the byproduct of a supply chain increasingly dominated by monopoly power and engineered for efficiency rather than resilience.
For decades, large corporations have concentrated power within the supply chain, pushing the limits of just-in-time manufacturing and lean inventories. These practices, while profitable in stable times, left the global economy teetering on the edge of collapse when the pandemic struck.
The overreliance on a few key players in critical sectors created a precarious situation where any disruption—whether due to natural disaster, geopolitical tensions, or a global health crisis—could send shockwaves through the entire system.
Small businesses, the backbone of local economies, were hit the hardest. Unlike big corporations with vast resources and the ability to weather the storm, these smaller enterprises faced insurmountable challenges. They struggled to compete for scarce supplies, and many were forced to close their doors permanently. The lack of competition in the supply chain only exacerbated these issues, driving up prices and limiting consumer choice.
Yet, while small businesses suffered, big corporations found ways to profit from the chaos. The shortages allowed them to increase prices and consolidate their market positions further. The very vulnerabilities that crippled smaller players became opportunities for the giants to tighten their grip on the market.
My guest on Wealth Formula Podcast this week describes this fascinating confluence of events leading to what we experienced during the pandememic and warns that big business greed has not allowed us to protect ourselves against these vulnerabilities in the future.
06:00 Was the Breaking of the Supply Chain During COVID Intentional?
08:42 Have Things Changed Since?
13:43 Small Companies Are Hurting
18:57 Who Can Change This?
24:08 Implications of the Presidential Election
The post 454: Covid Supply Chain Issues Should Not Have Been a Surprise appeared first on Wealth Formula.
In this episode, Buck discusses the transient nature of problems and how to gain a fresh perspective on them. He emphasizes that problems are temporary and that understanding this can bring peace and empowerment. Buck suggests reframing problems as temporary challenges and focusing on solutions rather than dwelling on negative emotions. He also offers practical tips on letting go of emotional weight and immersing oneself in the present moment.
The post Finding Joy in Adversity appeared first on Wealth Formula.
In this Episode, Buck and Zulfi discuss various topics related to the financial market and investment strategies. They touch on the yen carry trade, the impact of the unemployment report on the market, and the potential for a recession. They also discuss the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and its impact on inflation, as well as the SOM rule as an indicator of a potential recession. The conversation then shifts to a discussion on zero-cost premium financing as an estate planning strategy for high net worth individuals. Ryan Haley and Jonathan Wield join the conversation to provide more details on this strategy and its benefits.
The post 453: News of the Week 08/14/24 appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Buck takes a detour from his usual topics to dive into self-help, focusing on the “pain-pleasure principle” as a key driver of human behavior. He explores how our actions are often motivated by the desire to avoid pain or seek pleasure and shares practical strategies for rewiring these associations to break bad habits and adopt positive ones.
The post Harnessing the Pain-Pleasure Principle for Motivation appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Buck and Zulfe discuss various topics including the concept of hypernomics, the recent market volatility, the impact of Fed rate cuts on SOFR and the 10-year treasury, and the potential opportunities in real estate investing.
Takeaways
- Despite market uncertainty, there are opportunities for investors, especially in real estate.
- The correlation between Fed rate cuts, SOFR, and the 10-year treasury is important for understanding mortgage rates and real estate acquisitions.
- Declining interest rates can lead to cap rate compression and increased asset values in real estate.
- There is a potential for increased liquidity in the market as money is redeployed from bonds and money markets.
The post 451: New of the Week 08/07/24 appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Every time we underwrite a new asset, we build models. But modeling an apartment building isn’t like modeling a house. The price isn’t just what someone thinks it’s worth; it’s determined by net operating income and cap rates, which are heavily influenced by interest rates.
Modeling for apartment investing also includes measures of job and population growth in a given area and the impact of new construction. Suffice it to say, underwriting major real estate assets is pretty complicated.
The funny thing is that even the inputs we use in our models are based on other models. So, essentially, you have models based on models. For instance, central banks use models to manage inflation, predicting the effects of monetary policies. In the corporate world, businesses use models to forecast demand, optimize pricing strategies, and manage supply chains. These variables directly influence our underwriting models.
Herein lies the limitation of modeling: it depends on the accuracy of the input data. Models are only as good as the data fed into them; inaccurate or incomplete data can lead to misleading results. So, if the models generating the numbers for your models are off, then your model is off as well. So why do we do it anyway?
Well, it’s the best we can do, and most of the time, in my experience, the modeling points us in the right direction.
On this week’s episode of Wealth Formula Podcast, I interview Doug Howarth. He’s developed a unique approach to economic modeling called Hypernomics. He shares his insights on how Hypernomics can uncover hidden dimensions in markets and provide deeper understandings and strategic advantages.
04:40 What is Hypernomics?
11:21 Application Towards Real Estate Investing
The post 450: What is Hypernomics? appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Buck reflects on the concept of true wealth and the things that bring genuine happiness.
The post True Wealth and Happiness appeared first on Wealth Formula.
In today’s Wealth Formula podcast, Buck and Zulfe dive into franchise ownership as a business strategy, emphasizing its appeal for those who excel at execution. They highlight the visibility of capital requirements, expected revenues, and profitability that franchises offer, while also noting the significant time and resources required, making it less of a passive investment.
For this week’s economy and markets update, with the Federal Reserve’s FOMC meetings underway, they discuss the market’s anticipation of a potential rate cut by September and recent market movements, such as the S&P 500’s dip and the rotation out of big tech stocks. They also note stable bond yields, high gold prices, and Bitcoin’s resurgence. Lastly, Buck and Zulfe analyze asset class performance in a slowing economy, comparing real estate, infrastructure, private equity, and more against a backdrop of declining business activity and consumer confidence.
The post 449: News of the Week 07/31/24 appeared first on Wealth Formula.
When I talk about the mathematical Wealth Formula, I describe it as Wealth = Leverage (Mass X Velocity). For you physics geeks out there, you can see that I’m ripping off Newton a little bit.
In this equation, velocity is your rate of return and leverage is debt such as a mortgage that amplifies positive returns. Mass is simply the amount of money you actually invest.
Mass is critically important. After all, if you don’t invest any of your money, it doesn’t matter how good the other variables are.
Now luckily most in the Wealth Formula community have plenty of mass. Our community is made up of a lot of high paid professionals. Income is not typically our main problem—it’s the other variables that help turn that income into wealth that provide us with our biggest challenges.
I tend to think of my businesses as the fuel that ignites my investments that then turn into wealth. The more fuel I’ve got, the more ability I have to grow my wealth. Imagine me shoveling cash from my businesses into a bunch of real estate to keep the wealth churning—that’s literally how I think about it.
Now you may be quite happy with the amount of money you are able to put into your investments, but if you’re not, one option is to consider is start or buy a business.
There’s no doubt that businesses require more work. Anyone who tells you otherwise is lying. However, that’s also the reason they tend to cash flow more. There are a lot more variables in businesses making them more risky then a piece of brick and mortar. And because there is more risk, there is more reward.
Nevertheless, it might be a risk worth taking. And if you are not a start-up type or need a little bit more structure, franchising might be worth looking into.
This week’s guest on Wealth Formula Podcast is an expert on franchises and gives us all the ins and outs you need to know to determine whether you should consider it for yourself.
08:10 Franchising in Uncertain Times
12:53 Return Profile on Franchises
16:59 Advantages of Franchising Compared to Buying a Business
20:42 Partnerships and Hiring in Franchising
24:33 Initial Capital Investment in Franchising
The post 448: Income is Different from Wealth appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Buck talks about the impact of uncertainty, particularly during presidential election cycles, on decision-making and offers advice on how to navigate through uncertain times.
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This week, Buck and Zulfe discuss various topics related to wealth and finance. They start by talking about the mindset of the wealthy and the common denominators among successful people. They also discuss recent political events and their potential impact on the market. They then delve into the current state of interest rates and how it affects real estate investing. Finally, they introduce Ryan Haley and Jonathan Wield, partners at Velerity Wealth, and discuss the comprehensive financial advisory services offered by a family office.
The post 447: News of the Week 07/24/24 appeared first on Wealth Formula.
The idea that individuals gravitate towards their perceived financial worth can be observed in various real-world scenarios. Consider the case of lottery winners. Research has shown that a significant percentage of lottery winners eventually revert to their pre-lottery financial status within a few years.
Despite the sudden influx of wealth, these individuals often lack the internal belief system necessary to sustain and grow their newfound riches. Their wealth thermostat, set at a lower level, pulls them back to where they began.
A study by the National Endowment for Financial Education found that approximately 70% of lottery winners end up broke within a few years, underscoring the powerful influence of their internal wealth thermostat.
On the flip side, stories of ultra-wealthy individuals who have faced financial ruin but managed to rebuild their fortunes provide compelling evidence of a high wealth thermostat.
Consider the case of Donald Trump. Despite facing bankruptcy multiple times, Trump managed to rebuild his empire each time, driven by an unshakable belief in his ability to generate wealth. His wealth thermostat is set high, and he naturally gravitates back to that level of financial success, demonstrating resilience and unwavering confidence.
Another example can be found in the world of professional athletes. Many professional athletes earn substantial incomes during their careers but often face financial difficulties after retirement. This phenomenon can be attributed to a wealth thermostat set at a lower level, where they lack the financial literacy and belief system necessary to sustain their wealth long-term. These athletes, much like lottery winners, revert to their previous financial state despite their temporary wealth.
Napoleon Hill, in his seminal work “Think and Grow Rich,” explores the principles behind the wealth thermostat. Hill emphasizes the power of thought and belief in shaping one’s financial destiny.
He asserts that success begins with a clear and unwavering belief in one’s ability to achieve wealth. Hill’s concept of the “Definite Major Purpose” underscores the importance of having a concrete and compelling vision of financial success. This vision, when internalized, becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Hill also discusses the role of the subconscious mind in regulating our actions and outcomes. The subconscious mind, influenced by our beliefs and self-image, acts as a powerful force in determining our financial reality. To reset the wealth thermostat, Hill advocates for techniques such as positive affirmations, visualization, and surrounding oneself with influences that reinforce a wealth-oriented mindset.
Resetting the Wealth Thermostat
To reset the wealth thermostat and elevate one’s financial status, several strategies can be employed:
- Belief System Overhaul: Begin by identifying and challenging limiting beliefs about money. Replace these with empowering beliefs that reflect a higher financial worth. Affirmations and positive self-talk can reinforce these new beliefs.
- Visualization: Create a vivid mental image of the desired financial state. Visualization helps to program the subconscious mind to align actions and decisions with the goal of higher wealth.
- Education and Mentorship: Invest in financial education and seek out mentors who exemplify the level of wealth you aspire to achieve. Learning from those who have successfully navigated the path to wealth can provide valuable insights and inspiration.
- Environment and Associations: Surround yourself with individuals who have a positive relationship with money and who support your financial goals. The environment and social circles play a crucial role in shaping one’s mindset and behaviors.
- Action and Persistence: Consistent and purposeful action towards financial goals is essential. Embrace setbacks as learning opportunities and maintain persistence in the pursuit of higher financial worth.
My guest on this week’s episode of Wealth Formula Podcast has taken a strong interest in the psychology of the rich and is writing a book from his observations of wealthy individuals.
08:06 What Makes Rich People Rich?
09:53 Feel Like You Are Worthy of Wealth
13:29 The Habit of Never-Ending Learning
15:35 The Value of “Networthing”
The post 446: The Wealth Thermostat appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Buck recounts the time he met his hero through manifestation.
The post How I Met Robert Kiyosaki appeared first on Wealth Formula.
This week’s episode explores the world of artificial intelligence as it relates to stock trading. While I’m not a stock trader, I find the use of AI in various aspects of finance fascinating.
But before we do that, let’s take a step back for a moment and realize that sometimes you don’t need artificial intelligence to guide you. Sometimes you just need common sense and some guts. If you’ve got those qualities, you should be chomping at the bit right now.
As Warren Buffett famously said, “Be fearful when others are greedy, and greedy when others are fearful.” This contrarian approach has proven successful for many investors who have had the courage to act when others hesitate.
Historical examples demonstrate the potential rewards of this approach. Following the 2008 financial crisis, investors like John Paulson and Sam Zell capitalized on depressed real estate markets. Paulson’s hedge fund reportedly made billions by purchasing distressed properties and securities, while Zell’s Equity Residential acquired thousands of apartments at steep discounts.
The current multifamily real estate market provides another opportunity for people to make extraordinary profits. We are just at the beginning of a new cycle. Unprecedented interest rate increases have decimated property values, creating a unique opportunity for investors.
The key to success in these situations is to identify markets that are temporarily depressed due to external factors rather than fundamental flaws. In the case of multifamily real estate today, the current downturn is driven by interest rates, not a lack of housing demand or oversupply.
When investors purchase already discounted properties in high-interest rate environments, they position themselves for further potential windfall gains as rates normalize. As interest rates decline, property values typically increase.
The moral of the story is this, while fear may dominate current market sentiment, history shows that those who invest wisely during downturns often reap substantial rewards. As Buffett noted, “Opportunities come infrequently. When it rains gold, put out the bucket, not the thimble.” The current multifamily real estate market may well be one such golden opportunity for investors with the vision and courage to act.
All you need is some common sense and some guts. But in this week’s Wealth Formula Podcast, we are going to talk about more nuanced things that might require something extra like artificial intelligence.
05:50 Using AI for Stock Trading
07:30 Do You Use AI for Daytrading or Long Term Trading
11:31 Is AI Closing the Gap Between Institutions and Everyday People?
19:16 How to Get Started with Using AI for Daytrading?
The post 445: Using AI to Maximize Investment Gains? appeared first on Wealth Formula.
How do you measure your professional success?
The post True Measures of Success appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Buck and Zulfe discuss the importance of teaching personal finance to children and share their experiences with their own kids. They emphasize the need to go beyond basic financial literacy and teach kids about debt, investing, and building wealth. They also discuss the power of compounding and the different ways to compound wealth. The conversation then shifts to the market update, with Zulfe highlighting the record highs in the equity markets and the decreasing bond yields. They also discuss the possibility of the Fed cutting rates and the potential impact on the economy. The conversation discusses the potential fall in interest rates and its impact on various asset classes. It emphasizes the opportunity to buy assets at discounted prices before rates decrease. The discussion also touches on the performance of gold, Bitcoin, and other speculative assets. The potential benefits of lower rates on equity markets, bond markets, and real estate are explored.
The post 444: News of the Week 07/10/24 appeared first on Wealth Formula.
My dad is a wise man. Like many teenagers, I didn’t always think he was. Growing up, he didn’t say much. He wasn’t the kind of dad who was keen to talk to me much about life. But when he did, I realized decades later, that he was usually right.
I remember my dad buying a lot of real estate when I was a kid. Most of the houses and small multifamily units he bought looked pretty ugly to me. So I asked him how he chose his buildings. “Cash flow”, he told me.
I didn’t know what he was talking about and didn’t really care but years later the words “cash flow” became serious buzzwords as Robert Kiyosaki released Rich Dad Poor Dad. And, as it turns out, cash flow is indeed the most important element when it comes to buying real estate.
Another time, I remember him asking me why I wanted to go to medical school. He said if I wanted to make money I should be doing real estate, not medicine. I was appalled that he would dissuade his own son from becoming a doctor. But in hindsight, I would also probably warn my kids against medical school as a path to financial prosperity in the future.
Finally, I remember during the late 90s, when I was in medical school in Chicago, Alan Greenspan raised interest rates rapidly. My dad had a lot of floating debt and ended up losing a lot of money. He told me to beware of floating debt. And of course, he couldn’t be more right about that one considering what has happened to the real estate markets throughout the country over the past two years.
Looking back, I wish he had taught me more. But those were different times and parental relationships in immigrant families were quite different than the kind of relationship I have with my children today.
However, I think that it is still the case that most parents undervalue teaching their children about personal finance. Perhaps it’s because they don’t know much about it themselves. Maybe it’s just not that much fun to talk about.
Nevertheless, it is something that I think all of us parents should take a step back and consider what kind of financial education our children are getting at home and what we can do to help them be better equipped for the future.
My guest today took that message seriously enough that he wrote a book on personal finance with his own daughters. Make sure to tune in to this week’s Wealth Formula Podcast as Alpesh Parmar takes us down his own journey of educating his own children on money matters.
The post 443: Teaching Personal Finance to Your Kids appeared first on Wealth Formula.
The first step to stop trading time for money and start building wealth is to figure out how to pay less taxes. Here are two real estate strategies to save on taxes for W-2 employees.
The post Tax-Saving Strategies for High W-2 Earners appeared first on Wealth Formula.
What do you do when you’re not happy with the way things are? That’s a question I have been asking myself a lot lately.
In my case, I’m talking about life outside of business and real estate. You see, I’ve been divorced for a few years now and I have still not really rebuilt my life since then.
When I have my kids, it all makes sense. It’s about being with them. Last weekend we played four square, badminton and threw around a baseball. I’m pretty sure I had more fun than they did.
But when I’m not with them, I sometimes feel like I live in a 7500-square-foot luxury jail. You see, I work from home and really don’t have any reason to leave the house. Every morning I work out. Maybe I go on a hike or I lift weights secretly hoping that bigger muscles will solve my social problems.
Sure I have some friends but most of them are married and busy with their own families. The dating scene in Santa Barbara has been remarkably bad and so… I’m still single. The bottom line is that my social life needs a facelift.
I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately. I don’t know about you, but I spent so much of my life engineering a successful career and virtually no time working on my life outside of it. A lot of guys get away with that and let their wives handle the social stuff.
Well, I don’t have one of those so I have to fix the problem myself. Somehow. But how? It occurred to me the other day that I should start looking at my social life the same way I look at business. What did I do to become successful in my professional life?
Thinking back, I kept seeing a similar pattern. I would decide what I want to do and somehow make it happen by physical movement—even if it didn’t make sense. Somehow, that movement itself seemed to make it happen.
Let me tell you a story to illustrate. As you know, I was a neurosurgery resident for about a year and a half at the University of Michigan before I decided I was done with that kind of lifestyle and quit the program.
It was the dead of winter in Ann Arbor and I suddenly found myself without direction. I decided to do some rotations on some of the other surgical specialty teams at the hospital and ultimately decided to move from Neurosurgery to a specialty called Otolaryngology-Head and Neck surgery—basically head and neck surgery of everything except the brain and spinal cord.
To be clear, I wasn’t passionate about this new speciality. I decided to do it because the hours just seemed better and it seemed like most of the professors had pretty good lifestyles.
Now, I just had to figure out how I was going to get myself a residency position. This was a difficult task. I was looking for a second-year position in a program somewhere in the country where someone had, for whatever reason, left a vacancy for me. Most programs only had 2-3 residents per year to begin with. It’s a small specialty.
I didn’t have a clear place to start, so I decided just to put myself out there and see what would happen. I chose the top 10 programs in the country and wrote letters (not emails) to their chairmen. One of those programs was the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF).
In case you don’t know, UCSF is one of the top hospitals in the world. For me, getting a spot at UCSF would be like hitting the lottery. Beyond the reputation of the hospital, my sister lived in San Francisco and I really loved the idea of moving there. I had had enough of being in a small college town in the Midwest.
So I sent those letters out. A week later, I was sitting in the hospital library looking at programs on the internet when it occurred to me that I had no reason to be in Michigan anymore. I had an impulse to drop everything and fly to San Francisco.
So I turned my internet search over to orbitz.com and looked up the next flight to San Francisco. It was leaving in 3 hours from Columbus—just enough time for me to drive there. So I went home, grabbed my stuff and headed to the airport.
I landed in San Francisco just a few hours later. And, when the plane was taxiing, I turned on my phone and was shocked to see a text message from Dr.David Eisele, then Chairman of the Head and Neck Surgery Department at UCSF. In response to my letter, he was inviting me to interview for an unexpected vacancy in his program. I went to see him the next day and he offered me the job.
Now you can call that coincidence, but the chances of all this happening randomly seem ridiculously small to me. I felt like somehow, I had willed this to happen by putting those letters in the mail and by physically moving myself to San Francisco.
And if this story sounds crazy to you, I’ve got a lot more where that came from. Ask me about them next time you see me. I don’t know how to explain these stories, but I’ve got a lot of them.
So my challenge now is trying to use this same kind of energy to give myself a social life! It’s a lot harder than professional stuff but maybe it will work. I’ll let you know how it goes lol.
In the meantime, the reason I brought up this stuff is because the first time I met Lane Kawaoka was at a meeting that I went to that ultimately led me to podcast. That was almost a decade ago.
Since then, Lane launched his own successful podcast. I mentored him when he was younger and I’ve learned quite a bit from him as well.
On this week’s Wealth Formula Podcast, Lane and I reminisce on the old days and talk about the current state of the investment world. I hope you enjoy the discussion.
12:38 Lessons from the Years
23:15 Investing Outside of Multifamily
29:59 The Construction Space
35:31 The Wealth Elevator
The post 442: Lane Kawaoka on Real Estate and Life appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Does it really?
The post Does Money Buy You Happiness? appeared first on Wealth Formula.
In this weekly update, Buck and Zulfe discuss liability insurance, the economy, and money market funds. They highlight the importance of reviewing and updating insurance policies, the impact of consumer confidence on the economy, and the rising prices in the residential home market. They also explain the difference between money market funds and money market accounts, and the potential risks and returns associated with each.
The post 441: News of the Week 06/26/24 appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Oh man…we are getting really sexy with topics on this show! On this week’s episode of Wealth Formula Podcast, we are going to talk about liability insurance: malpractice insurance, property insurance—all that kind of stuff.
I know this doesn’t sound exciting, but do you know the five different parts of an insurance policy and what part is generally the one that will screw you over? I didn’t think so.
Here’s my suggestion. Grab your property insurance policy and follow along with the show. I haven’t read mine and you probably haven’t read yours either. But this is stuff you need to know a little bit about because if you have to change something or get a new policy, now’s the time to do it.
Liability insurance is your first line of asset protection so make sure you have a grasp on it. This show will give you a nice place to start and it’s actually pretty interesting.
04:06 Insurance 101
05:22 The 5 Main Parts of Insurance
10:29 How to Look for the Right Insurance Policy
13:19 How to Deal with Claim Adjuster
17:35 What Should You Be Asking When Buying Insurance
20:27 Why Property Insurance is Skyrocketing
The post 440: What You Need to Know About Liability Insurance appeared first on Wealth Formula.
This week’s guest on Wealth Formula Podcast is Mark Skousen. He is the producer of FreedomFest which has become an extremely popular annual gathering every year that deals with not only money but other lifestyle topics as well.
What is freedom anyway? To me, It’s the ability to choose what you want to do with your life. Indeed, freedom is the ultimate prize in life and can only be achieved through financial independence.
That is not to say that you can’t be happy without being rich. You absolutely can. Maybe you have a job that you love and a life that you don’t want to change. If that’s the case, congratulations. But happy does not mean free.
What if someday you start hating your job and want to make a big change in your life? Could you afford to follow a dream without being concerned about money? Most professionals can’t. That’s why high-paid W2 jobs are often called “golden handcuffs”.
How do you break free from the golden handcuffs? Well, one of the key variables of the mathematical Wealth Formula is that you deploy capital quickly so that you can start changing the balance of power between you and your money. Eventually, you want your money to work for you more than you work for it.
But achieving financial freedom isn’t easy. It involves not following the herd and not giving up. You see, no one has ever gotten rich from a simple portfolio of stocks, bonds and mutual funds.
Sure they may grow your money a bit and provide some security in the future. But you simply cannot change your socioeconomic status this way. Getting rich involves taking bigger risks.
I have made my money through business ownership and real estate. Have I lost money along the way? You bet I have. But have I made more money investing in real estate and business over the last 15 years than I would have following the herd? Yes…by a mile.
To be clear, I am not giving you financial advice. Personal finance is personal. I just want to open your eyes and see the trajectory you are on and recognize whether or not it will get you where you want to be.
In the immortal words of former NFL coach Bruce Aryans, “No risk it, no biscuit.
Now, make sure you tune into this week’s podcast with FreedomFest producer and “America’s economist”, Mark Skousen.
Show Notes:
08:07 Why are the Numbers not Matching Our Anxiety?
09:54 GDP vs Growth Output
14:32 10% Inflation?
18:00 Implications of the Presidential Election
26:12 The Indicators to Look Out For
30:55 FreedomFest
The post 438: Mark Skousen on Freedom and the Economy appeared first on Wealth Formula.
After finishing residency and swallowing the purple pill (reading a Kiyosaki book), I found my entrepreneurial self for the first time. I was a like a kid in a candy store looking for any business opportunity I could think of.
My initial foray into the entrepreneurial world related to my background—as a surgeon. I started with medical businesses. I say businesses here to make the distinction that these were not run-like practices. They involved branding, heavy marketing budgets and cash pay.
Unlike many entrepreneurs, my first few businesses were successful for several years. However, at times, I also felt a tremendous amount of stress because of the overhead involved in such brick-and-mortar operations.
Anyone who runs a business knows that there are lots of bills to be paid regardless of whether or not your business makes money. You’ve got payroll, advertising, insurance costs, rent—it all adds up.
My fixed costs for my initial Chicago business were running about $200K per month and the costs would go up as income came in because commissions needed to be paid out. Unless we were pulling in north of $300K per month, there wasn’t much profit left for me. So, in certain months I felt rich and in other months I felt like a pauper.
Those initial brick-and-mortar businesses are gone now. They gave me my start and made me some money over the years. But, as often is the case with small startup businesses, they often don’t last forever.
So what did I learn from them? Well, as you can imagine, I learned a lot. I learned that I prefer boring businesses to flashy ones because they tend to have less competition. I learned that you must have competent and reliable management that is not too concentrated in the hands of one person. And, I learned to avoid businesses with significant fixed expenses.
Avoiding significant overhead is perhaps my biggest lesson. It’s really quite awful starting off every month so far in the hole. But how do you avoid that?
Well, one consideration is online business. They can be as boring as you want. They can be automated to a certain degree making management and employees less critical. And, in many cases, there are minimal fixed costs.
Therefore, I have always been curious about buying an online business. For that reason, I invited a representative from one of the largest online business brokers in the world to discuss this type of asset.
It’s an interview where you will learn a lot. I highly recommend tuning it. However, just to be clear, I have never done business with this company nor am I endorsing them. I have no financial relationship with them either so please do your own due diligence if the spirit moves you to contact them.
Show Notes:
05:00 What Does Buying An Online Business Entail?
07:10 How Is An Online Business Different From a Physical One?
08:25 Where Do I Start?
11:50 Where Are the Operators Coming From?
12:55 How Does the Operation Work?
17:11 The Risks
20:03 What Determines the Multiples of Sites?
23:15 The Due Diligence
24:34 The Success Rate
The post 436: Should You Buy an Online Business? appeared first on Wealth Formula.
The post The #1 Trait Every Successful Entrepreneur Needs to Master appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Buck shares the similar path that almost every successful entrepreneur he knows took.
The post How Most Entrepreneurs Get Rich appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Market Updates:
- Economic data since last week’s update:
- Core PCE Price Index rose 0.2% in April, in line with expectations
- Job openings decreased in April, indicating a cooling labor market
- Equity markets have been a bit volatile recently, down a couple of percentage points
- Ongoing volatility is expected as we move through the summer and elections
- However, the economic and inflation backdrop should provide good support for public equity and bond markets
- Potential for the Fed to start reducing rates in the second half of 2024, which could restart the real estate investment cycle
- The recommendation is for investors to be deployed and looking for opportunities, rather than sitting on the sidelines
Investment Topic: Private Credit Funds
- Also known as private debt or direct lending
- Growth in non-bank lending due to regulatory changes making it harder for banks to expand their balance sheets
- Private credit funds raise capital from investors and deploy it as loans and other debt instruments
- Can target different types of credit and debt structures
- Potential benefits include regular interest payments, 7-12% annualized cash returns, and portfolio diversification
- Risks include being locked into a long-term investment and fund manager selection being key
The post 435: News of the Week 06/05/24 appeared first on Wealth Formula.
This week’s episode on Wealth Formula Podcast is a primer on asset protection.
One of the things that I learned a few years back is that asset protection and estate planning are not one and the same.
Asset protection is simply protection against creditors. An offshore trust in the Cook Islands, for example, is a rock solid way to protect your assets but it is not an estate planning vehicle.
Since this week’s podcast discusses asset protection, I want to just remind you of what you MUST know about estate planning.
As of today, if you are single you can leave up to $13.61 million to your heirs without being subject to estate taxes—double that if you are a married couple.
As long as you are below that, you need two things at a bare minimum to ensure that you don’t make your loved ones even more miserable than they already will be.
You need a will AND you need a trust.
The key difference between a will and a living trust lies in how they manage and distribute your assets during your lifetime and after death.
A will is a legal document that outlines how you want your assets distributed after you pass away. It only takes effect upon your death, at which point it goes through the probate process overseen by a court.
On the other hand, a living trust is a legal arrangement where you transfer ownership of your assets into a trust during your lifetime. The trust is managed by a trustee (which can be you initially) for the benefit of your beneficiaries. Upon your death, the assets in the trust are then distributed according to your instructions, bypassing the probate process.
You want to avoid probate at all costs if you want to make it easy on your loved ones. Probate is the legal process that takes place after someone dies to distribute their assets and property to the rightful heirs or beneficiaries. It involves going through the court system, which can be time-consuming, expensive, and open to the public.
It can drag on for months or even years, especially if the estate is complex or there are disputes among heirs. A living trust allows assets to be distributed relatively quickly after death without court involvement.
Furthermore, probate fees, court costs, attorney fees, executor fees, etc. can eat up a significant portion of the estate’s value. With a living trust, you avoid most of these costly probate expenses.
So if you have not done so, PLEASE make sure you get these documents done. It’s not expensive and your family will thank you for it.
Show Notes:
05:47 A Review on Estate Planning & Asset Protection
07:56 How to Determine What You Need
12:03 Protecting Your Real Estate
13:53 When Do You Need a Trust?
16:45 Asset Protection Strategies that Mitigates Tax
19:45 Upcoming Law Changes
23:50 Beneficial Owner Information Report
The post 434: Another Perspective on Asset Protection appeared first on Wealth Formula.
The upcoming wealth transfer from Baby Boomers to younger generations is a significant and unprecedented event in history, often referred to as the “Great Wealth Transfer.” Research indicates that about half of this $100 trillion transfer will go to Gen X, with the other half going to Millennials and Gen Z.
This generational shift is interesting, as Gen X has been described as less altruistic, preferring to retain wealth for themselves, compared to the younger generations’ greater focus on social equity and environmental sustainability. It will be intriguing to see how this “impact” orientation evolves as Millennials and Gen Z age.
For those listeners who will be on the receiving end of this wealth transfer over the next decade or two, it’s important to have the proper structures in place to ensure a smooth and tax-efficient transfer to your heirs. This is something that can and should be addressed now.
Considering this upcoming wealth transfer also leads to some additional implications from an investment perspective. Baby Boomers’ portfolios tended to be heavily weighted in stocks, bonds, and real estate. However, surveys show Millennials and Gen Z investors are much more open to alternative assets, such as real estate, private equity, venture capital, crypto, and other investments.
This shift aligns with the younger generations’ higher focus on sustainable investing, which accounted for 73% of their portfolios compared to only 26% for the general population. While there has been some recent backlash on sustainable investing, this trend could see a resurgence as the wealth transfer occurs.
Interestingly, real estate seems to be a consistent favorite across all generations.
Turning to the current market environment, equity markets remain near all-time highs, bond prices are generally steady, and safe-haven assets like gold and bitcoin are also elevated. The market expects the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation metric, Core PCE, to show further cooling when the latest data is released this Thursday.
The post 433: News of the Week 05/29/24 appeared first on Wealth Formula.
The Baby Boomer generation (born 1946-1964) was historically the largest, peaking at around 78.8 million in 1999 when they were in their prime working years. However, the current Baby Boomer population in the U.S. as of 2019 is estimated to be 71.6 million, having declined due to mortality exceeding births as this generation ages.
The Millennial generation (born 1981-1996) has now surpassed the Baby Boomers to become the largest living adult generation in the U.S. As of 2019, there were 72.1 million Millennials. The Millennial population is projected to continue growing, partly due to immigration, and peak around 2033 at 74.9 million before declining as mortality rises].
Following the Millennials is Generation X (born 1965-1980), with 65.2 million members in the U.S. as of 2019. Gen X is expected to outnumber the declining Baby Boomer population by 2028.
The youngest major generation, Generation Z (born 1997-2012), is also a massive cohort. Gen Z makes up around 20% of the current U.S. population. The Gen Z population in the U.S. is expected to grow from immigration as well, similar to Millennials.
The sheer size of the Millennial and Gen Z generations presents both opportunities and challenges for the U.S. economy. A larger working-age population can drive economic growth through increased productivity, consumption, and tax contributions. However, it also puts pressure on job markets, housing, infrastructure, and social services.
A recognized major emerging problem is the challenge of supporting the aging Baby Boomer population as they continue retiring in large numbers. The burden of funding Social Security, Medicare, and other retirement programs will fall primarily on the Millennial and Gen Z generations. This will almost certainly strain public finances and some economists have even predicted a major national depression around 2030 because of this.
All of these problems have been previously covered to some extent on Wealth Formula Podcast episodes in the past. This week, however, we cover another less appreciated problem…the transfer of massive amounts of wealth to a generation with different political views and values.
My guest on this week’s Wealth Formula Podcast believes this is a major underappreciated issue that needs to be addressed as soon as possible. Find out why.
Show Notes:
00:00 Intro
05:54 The 100 Trillion Dollar Wealth Transfer
08:25 The Mindset Difference between Baby Boomers and Millennials
10:32 The Risk of the Wealth Transfer
14:59 Monetizing Influence
16:39 Where is Gen-X in All of This?
18:36 The Positive Outcomes
21:12 Where Does the Discourse Take Place?
23:10 The Worst Case Scenario
The post 432: Wealth Transfer to Gen Z: A Generation that Thinks Differently appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Buck Joffrey is joined by Rod Zabriskie and colleagues of Wealth Formula Banking to discuss this powerful financial tool that leverages your savings to invest the same money at two places at the same time.
The post 431: Wealth Formula Banking Webinar Replay appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Takeaways
- Tax policies can have a significant impact on businesses and individuals, and it’s important to plan and adapt accordingly.
- The depletion of social security funds is a concern, and solutions need to be implemented to address this issue.
- The stock market has been performing well, with the Dow Jones hitting all-time highs and the S&P and NASDAQ showing significant gains.
- Diversification is key in managing investments and mitigating risks.
- Having a strong financial team, including tax specialists and estate planning experts, is crucial for navigating the complexities of the current market.
The post 430: Velerity Wealth Update 05/22/24 appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Tom Wheelwright, my friend and author of Tax-Free Wealth, describes the US tax code simply as a series of government-sponsored incentives. As someone who hates paying taxes, this fact has made me extraordinarily patriotic. The problem is, that sometimes incentives backfire.
Case in point—during the British Raj rule in India, there was a proliferation of venomous cobras in Delhi. To deal with this problem, the colonial government introduced a bounty/reward program where people would be paid a cash amount for every dead cobra they brought to the authorities.
Initially, this seemed to work as intended – the cobra population started declining as people hunted and killed the snakes to earn the reward money.
However, people soon realized they could exploit this system by breeding and farming cobras specifically to kill them and collect the reward. Driven by the monetary incentive, many started cobra breeding operations.
When the British officials discovered this unintended consequence of their bounty program – people were now breeding more cobras than they were killing – they scrapped the reward program altogether.
This led to another unintended effect – with no more reward money to be made, the cobra breeders simply released their now-worthless snakes into the wild, causing the cobra population to proliferate even more than before the bounty was introduced.
As an American of Indian descent, I would love to tell you that the Colonial British were just a bunch of idiots. But, the reality is that the cobra effect is alive and well in the US tax code.
To explain how, this week on Wealth Formula Podcast I interview one of America’s leading experts on tax policy.
Show Notes:
04:31 What is Taxocracy?
06:11 Tax Codes Are Just Incentives
07:15 Are the Tax Codes Making Americans Disapprove of the Economy?
08:30 The Global Wealth Tax
13:22 President Biden’s Proposal on Capital Gain
14:38 The Death Tax
18:17 In Comparison to President Trump’s Policy
20:39 The Mansion Tax
23:59 Other Tax Influences
25:46 The Tax Foundation
The post 429: Taxocracy appeared first on Wealth Formula.
My key takeaway from our guest (Ryan Bourne from the Cato Institute) on this week’s episode is that policy mistakes that adversely impact the free markets happen for a variety of reasons:
Misread of data
Poor use of policy tools
Political motivation
National Security interests
Whatever the reason, the consequences of policy mistakes are real for investors.
For example, the FED let inflation run too hot when it thought it was transitory, which probably then created a situation where they had to hike more aggressively than they would have if they caught inflation at the front end. Resulting in a detrimental hit to interest rate-sensitive investments such as real estate and debt securities.
Today, we can see examples of potential fiscal and monetary mistakes unfolding in front of us:
On the monetary policy front: the FED is waiting for data it needs to start cutting rates…but, it’s running into the presidential elections timeframe (RNC convention in July, DNC in August). So, it may decide to not touch the FED rate until end of year…Thus the FED may be forced to make a policy error due to political considerations.
On the fiscal policy front: we see large investments to support US manufacturing; large investments to onshore critical technologies such as semiconductors; trade protectionism including tariffs on imports (new tariffs announced today on Chinese EVs, storage batteries, steel and aluminium products); immigration policy is also at risk of politically motivated policy decisions.
As investors, what can we do?
It’s not possible to predict and factor in the impact of all of these policies.
What we can do is isolate key macro themes that are likely to drive secular trends over the coming decades.
For example:
The Aging population in the US and other developed countries. This will drive growth in health and wellness products and services.
Investment in upgrading the US grid to support huge demand of electricity (data centers, AI driving computing, EVs) and to accommodate new energy sources.
Deployment of AI in key industries such as biotech to accelerate drug discovery.
Historically high level of cash ($6 trillion) is sitting on the sidelines as investors decide to clip 5% interest in money market funds.
As soon as any signal comes from the FED that it is ready to cut rates, or even if it is going to significantly taper its Quantitative Tightening policy, there will be an enormous amount of capital rushing back into investments: equities, bonds, real estate etc.
Investors should already start deploying their capital into investments.
Do not sit on cash and/or money market funds. At 5% money markets may be tempting, but that rate will not last when the FED starts cutting and then you’ll be chasing assets that have already appreciated dramatically.
The post 428: Velerity Wealth Update 5/15/24 appeared first on Wealth Formula.
I have frequently described myself as most aligned with libertarian thought when it comes to my own politics. In terms of the economy, libertarians believe in the concept of a free market.
Libertarians argue that a truly free market fosters prosperity, innovation, and individual liberty. But that doesn’t really describe the American economy, does it?
Over the years, the American economy has seen a proliferation of regulations at the federal, state, and local levels that have significantly constrained economic freedom.
In addition, governments constantly intervene in the economy through corporate subsidies, bailouts, and preferential treatment. You don’t need to look further than the recent regional bank bailouts to see that.
Libertarians would argue that such intervention distorts market incentives and motivations. For example, how are banking practices going to change for the better if the bankers know they are going to get bailed out if things go wrong?
Does a truly free market even exist? I don’t know of one. And perhaps the ruthless nature of the free market is one that we wouldn’t truly find appetizing anyway.
However, there is no doubt in my mind that a “freer” market would do the economy some good. My guest on this week’s Wealth Formula Podcast is from the libertarian think tank, Cato Institute, and explains how government market intervention has hurt us and how it will continue to do so if policies do not change.
Show Notes:
04:29 What is the Cato Institute?
05:32 The Market Prices Are Under Siege
08:00 How Do Market Prices Provide Value For the Economy?
11:45 Inflation VS Price Spikes
16:52 Is the Central Bank Policy Misguided?
19:11 Are We Hitting the Inflation Target Soon?
25:13 What Could We Be Missing That Would Keep Inflation Numbers High?
28:13 How Will the Election Affect Decision in Policy?
The post 427: A Libertarian Perspective on the Market Economy appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Regarding the recent Podcast:
- US debt fears overblown
- US debt is high, but not unsustainably so (compared to global economies)
A more relevant concern may be focused on the appetite or ability of investors to buy the quantum of debt being issued by the US government.
- Foreign investment in US debt has declined
- China and other central banks have been buying gold
- US treasury auctions are historically large ($125 billion on auction this week)
As investors how do we position our investment portfolios for risks related to spiraling and unsustainable debt levels by our government:
- Resulting conditions will likely consist of high inflation, high interest rates, higher taxes, slower economic growth
- Real assets tend to perform better. Gold, real estate, aviation assets.
- Better to have some leverage
- Tax efficient investments (such as real estate and aviation assets)
Current market trends
- Latest FED outlook
- Interest rate outlook
The post 426: Velerity Wealth Update 5/8/24 appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Is it me or is no one talking about high U.S. debt levels anymore?
Conventional wisdom has always been that high debt levels lead to inflation and the destruction of currencies, and money printing conjured up images of wheelbarrows full of worthless bills and economies in freefall.
Then one day, the political party that used to care about fiscal responsibility stopped caring and now no one talks about it anymore. After all, doing so would involve cutting things like Medicare and Social Security—not popular political stances.
Instead, the concept of Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) has started to creep into popular parlance and, you could argue, is becoming the rule of the land.
According to MMT, as long as Uncle Sam holds the keys to the printing press, he can rack up debt without any ramifications. It’s a bold new take on economics that’s got the traditionalists scratching their heads and the contrarians doing a victory dance.
So should we care about debt or not? My guest today on Wealth Formula Podcast is definitely a traditionalist and he is not optimistic about how the story will end if we don’t do something about it.
Make sure to tune in as he explains why debt is still so important and what, if anything, we can do about it and protect ourselves.
Show Notes:
05:37 Why is the U.S. Government a Big Ponzi Scheme?
06:52 Is the U.S. Immune to Bankruptcy?
08:04 How Realistic Is It That the U.S. Economy Would Collapse?
12:01 Political Reform for the Fiscal Policy
19:20 How Can We Protect Ourselves From the Collapse?
The post 425: The US Government Ponzi scheme? appeared first on Wealth Formula.
I have been asked by many to give my opinion on where the economy is headed and what to do.
I have been reluctant to do so because I am not an economist and I do not want to give investment advice.
However, I do think I owe it to you to let you know where my head is and what I am doing based on these thoughts.
Last week and this week’s podcast have convinced me that rates are going to fall significantly over the next 6 months. Why? Because I think that inflation, as measured by CPI is going to fall off of a cliff.
I don’t even consider this a prediction frankly. I think it’s already written in stone.
Why? Because 70 percent of CPI is based on rent increases and the variables used to calculate this number are 6 months behind.
The recent CPI of 3.1 per cent used 6 per cent rent increases to get to that number. Anyone in the multifamily space will tell you what’s wrong. The rents are flat. We see it every day and all of the data available to us real estate operators show flat rent growth.
Knowing this, all you need to do is ask yourself what this lagging indicator will show six months from now. Whatever happens between now and then doesn’t matter. That lagging indicator will reflect what is the reality today. And if the rents are where I believe they truly are, CPI will be below two.
A CPI below two along with a slowing economy will result in a swift response from the Federal Reserve to cut rates to avoid deflation..traditionally the Fed’s worst fear.
So, if I’m right, rates will come down and anyone making big decisions today based on the assumption that rates will remain stable or go higher is making a mistake. In other words, my opinion is to make sure you are not selling from a position of weakness. Hold on to what you own.
This week’s interview with Richard Duncan furthered my convictions of the inevitability of falling rates. It also painted a picture of China that looked a lot more like Japan in the 1990s.
The economy and the world are changing quickly. Make sure to listen to this week’s episode of the Wealth Formula Podcast to keep up!
Show Notes:
06:38 What’s Been Going On With Inflation and Rates Cut?
11:21 Indicators That the Fed Uses to Measure Inflation
15:27 Will the Fed Become Hawkish now?
21:33 Why the U.S. Economy Has Been So Strong
28:31 The Economic Crisis in China
42:41 What Can China Do to Stabilize Their Economy?
48:17 Implications for the Rest of the World
The post 424: Richard Duncan: U.S. Strong China in Trouble appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Even really smart people are wrong on a regular basis. I see this all the time in health and longevity-related issues on my other podcast, Sapio with Buck Joffrey.
In case you are wondering…yes, I have become one of those middle-aged California guys trying to stay young at all costs. Not easy. But, I have to admit, the nerdy physician scientist type in me is having lots of fun with the science and enjoying the process of sharing it with my fellow Gen-Xers who are also fighting gravity with me.
But getting back to the point of smart people being wrong—we see this a lot in medicine. In the 1960s, a lot smart people created the food pyramid that said we should be eating a lot of carbohydrates and very little fat. That’s quite the opposite of what recent science suggests.
There was also a period in the 1990s when women were advised not to use hormone replacement because a study was thought to have suggested a link with breast cancer. A generation of doctors gave women bad advice based on what turned out to be a misinterpretation of data.
On the economic side, we don’t have to go far back to see the Federal Reserve calling inflation “transitory” just before it skyrocketed for real. How could so many smart people be so wrong?
And now, the Fed is likely delaying interest rate cuts because of higher-than-expected inflation numbers. Are they missing something here?
My guest on this week’s Wealth Formula Podcast thinks so and his reasons are compelling. I have to say, this was one of the most interesting conversations I’ve had in a long time on the Wealth Formula Podcast and I HIGHLY recommend you listen to it.
Show Notes:
07:28 How Does the Inverted Yield Curve Predict Recession?
18:53 Stirring the Economy by Misreading the Data
The post 423: Campbell Harvey Says the Fed is WRONG on Inflation and Interest Rates appeared first on Wealth Formula.
The notion of moving wealth away from Wall Street into the hands of small private operators sounds great. However, it’s important to acknowledge some of the challenges of navigating these waters; challenges that many have witnessed first-hand in the podcast ecosystem over the past two years.
First and foremost, let’s talk about vetting. Investing is hard. With the ideal operator and business plan, you still have economic cycles, inflation and interest rates to worry about. And sometimes, projects just fail. These are investment realities that are always there even before you choose an operator.
Of course, not all operators are created equal and the vetting process becomes paramount. How do you ensure that these operators have the acumen, integrity, and diligence to manage your wealth responsibly?
You can do background checks, look at resumes and track records. You can ask all the right questions and even get all the right answers. All of this is certainly helpful, but limited to historical data. As the old saying goes, past performance does not indicate future results.
So far, all of this applies equally to Wall Street and Main Street. But I would argue that the one variable that is much harder to control on Main Street is the bad actor.
You would be correct in pointing out that the most famous of modern-day Ponzi schemes was perpetrated by Bernie Madoff, Wall Street’s Godfather. But that just doesn’t happen that often with the big boys. Too much red tape, regulation and heavy-hitting due diligence by sophisticated investors to make an outright fraudulent investment work.
And the bad actors know that too so they set their sites on easier targets like retail investors. They lurk at our events and make the podcast circuit. It is for these various reasons that I no longer will interview anyone from outside of my own circle actively raising capital. It’s also the reason that we now use an SEC-registered broker-dealer to conduct independent due diligence on most of our offerings in Investor Club.
How do you identify a bad actor anyway? Sometimes it’s quite easy. For example, one fund that was circulating in the podcast ecosystem had a founder and CEO who I couldn’t even locate on a Google search despite the fact that he was sold as a major player in the oil and gas industry doing business with some of the world’s top companies.
Sometimes it’s less obvious and you have to know how to look for clues. My guest this week on Wealth Formula Podcast is an expert in identifying fraud, in part, because he once ran a Ponzi scheme himself.
Show Notes:
08:45 From Fraudster to Fraud Prevention
17:10 Do Frauds Generally Start with Intention?
19:36 5 Major Red Flags of Fraud
37:40 James’ Business
The post 422: Avoiding Ponzi Schemes and Bad Actors appeared first on Wealth Formula.
As soon as I finished training, I opened up a cosmetic surgery business. When I say business, I mean a business not practice.
From day one, it was my intention to create a brand that I could hand off or sell someday rather than to create a job for myself. I was also focused on cosmetics. Unlike the traditional way of growing a cosmetic practice, I wasn’t going to see insurance-based patients for 10 years and slowly build a referral base. Nope. I hit the airwaves and pounded the internet any true entrepreneurial business would do to make itself known.
It worked and though I didn’t make much money that first few months, within a year I was pulling in six figures per month. It was my first entrepreneurial success.
And while I rode that wave I felt invincible. It lasted for two years— right before the 2012 presidential election. At that time, I had just decided to buy a building for my business. That was shortly after buying a $2 million house which was a big deal for me just a couple of years out of training.
In short, I was suddenly cash-poor. However, things had been going great so I wasn’t worried about the short-term cash crunch. I assumed I would make it back in short order.
But something happened the October before that election. People stopped buying cosmetic surgery. It was weird—one day they just stopped.
I learned later that this phenomenon often occurs in the luxury sector right before elections. People don’t like to make big decisions when they feel like there is uncertainty of any kind in the air.
Whatever it was, it was killing me. Suddenly I had all these bills and mortgages and for a moment there, I was scared that I was going to lose it all.
Luckily the election came and went and things normalized but I promised myself that I would never let that happen to me again. From that day forward, I would never rely on a single source of income.
And since that time… I have not. In fact, I don’t feel comfortable unless I have at least three solid sources of income. I think of my income sources like a three-legged stool. If there is a problem with one of them, I feel very unstable.
I may sound paranoid, But, the funny thing is that I don’t think most people realize how tenuous their financial circumstance is. If you have a job and you lose it, would you be ok? I don’t care if you are a doctor or a small business person. No one source of income is bulletproof. So you have to have a plan B.
If you listen to this podcast, you might already have this kind of mindset and you might already be looking for opportunities.
And I have to say that this week’s episode of Wealth Formula Podcast really got my wheels turning. If you have any extra space in your house or an empty lot somewhere, you could be sitting on a goldmine.
Find out how you might be able to turn some useless space into some serious cash by listening to my interview with the co-founder and CEO of neighbor.com
Show Notes:
11:18 How to Make Money with Your Empty Space
15:51 How They Mitigate the Risks and Liabilities
22.43 Limitations and Law Restrictions
26:01 How Far Has neighbor.com Gone?
27:54 Have Multifamily Investors Tap Into This Space?
The post 421: Turn Your Empty Space into a Self-Storage Business appeared first on Wealth Formula.
The cost of real estate transactions affects everyone regardless of whether you invest in real estate or not. Why? Because the cost of the transaction will ultimately be included in the price of the real estate.
One of the biggest costs in a real estate transaction is the commission paid by the seller. In the last several years, the way that commissions have worked at the residential level is that the seller’s broker collects the commissions and shares them with the buyer’s broker.
However, that paradigm is about to change as part of a massive settlement between home sellers and the National Association of Realtors (NAR).
The issue at hand: sellers don’t think they should be paying for brokers who are not working for them. The courts have agreed and in order to avoid massive ongoing litigation the NAR has decided to change the way it does business.
These changes will affect real estate investors and homeowners alike. Tune in to this week’s Wealth Formula Podcast to get all of the juicy details on how!
Show Notes:
04:17 The Conspiracy
07:14 The Lawsuits
10:49 The Changes
19:31 The Implications on Real Estate Prices
23:35 The Result?
24:36 The Opportunities
29:16 Will there be less realtors?
The post 420: Realtors Make Legal Settlement: Changes Made to What YOU Pay! appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Last week I sent an update on the WF Velocity ATM Fund which currently has a live tranche. The email I sent, for reference, is below.
The email prompted a number of questions that I answered and also thought it would be useful for my partner, Daryl Heller, who is also the majority owner of the operating company, to join the podcast and discuss the world of ATM investing once again.
This is a sophisticated business model that is worth understanding. Paramount is one of the biggest players in this space and Daryl offers a lot of incite that might be useful to you—even if you decide to go buy your own ATMs instead of investing in a fund.
Show Notes:
04:19 Why ATMs?
05:47 Who’s using ATMs?
07:32 Will ATMs survive a cashless society?
11:24 How do ATMs make money?
16:18 Licensing
19:24 Operator behind the WF Velocity Fund – Paramount
21:45 What are the investors investing in?
23:03 What determines whether or not there is a tranche?
26:03 Returns for the fund
28:35 Consistency through COVID
31:48 Due-diligence
The post 419: The Ins and Outs of ATM Investing appeared first on Wealth Formula.
In the long run, math is pretty much always right. That’s why insurance companies are so profitable. They make predictions using the law of big numbers.
Math can predict pretty much anything. Even Sports! I just re-watched the movie Moneyball about how the Oakland A’s made an improbable run in major league baseball in 2002 by leaning less on star players and heavily on analytics generated by a nerdy Yale economics major.
The genius of applying mathematical principles isn’t confined to the boardroom or the baseball field; it seeps into our everyday lives in ways we might not initially recognize. Beyond the high-stakes world of sports and finance, mathematics offers tools that can help us navigate daily decisions and challenges, often without us even realizing we’re employing them.
Math doesn’t just predict outcomes; it helps us make more informed decisions, maximize our resources, and enhance our daily lives. Math isn’t just about numbers and equations; it’s a vital tool that, when applied, can solve practical problems and make everyday tasks easier and more efficient.
And of course, math can and should be used in your investment choices. This week’s guest on the Wealth Formula Podcast explains how to do this and more.
Show Notes:
06:04 Are people bad at predicting the future?
09:10 Can technology help us predict the future better?
11:46 Why is it so hard to predict the future?
14:16 How do Psychics know about your life?
16:42 Base rule
21:02 When should you avoid using math?
22:39 Math for medicine
The post 418: Using Math to Your Advantage appeared first on Wealth Formula.
I feel like I am going through another major transition in my life. I turned 50 last September—a fact that I deliberately chose not to publicize.
I hate to admit it, but much of my behavior is stereotypical divorced midlife crisis stuff. I got a Ferrari, I’ve been working out incessantly and…I’ve been considering adding publicly traded equities to my portfolio.
The last one might be the biggest surprise to you and to me. For the last decade, Wealth Formula has consistently bashed the stock market. What changed?
Well…the last two years have not been particularly kind to me financially and it is because of my 80% real estate investment portfolio.
Rising interest rates disproportionately affect the real estate markets because they are so heavily dependent on debt. That’s why economists keep talking about how the economy continues to fare well while we real estate investors feel like it’s 2009.
Don’t get me wrong. I am not going full-on stocks, bonds, and mutual funds. I have made my money in real estate and that will continue to be my alpha. And despite a down market, I am WAY ahead of where I would be, had I been a traditional investor using a money manager. No doubt about it, real estate has made me wealthy over the last 15 years despite the recent hiccup.
I’m just thinking about taking lessons from institutional investors. Perhaps it’s middle age, but the idea of a more balanced, less volatile portfolio sounds appealing. Right now, I have nearly zero exposure to publicly traded stocks. Maybe that number should be closer to 25%? Maybe I should be in some kind of “all-weather portfolio?”
Remember, personal finance should be personal. You’ve got to think about your goals and where you are in life. You have to treat your investment portfolio like you are deploying money for your own family office.
Zulfe Ali knows a lot about risk and managing portfolios. He does that for family offices and high-net-worth individuals like you. He’s different from your usual financial advisor because he recognizes the importance of alternative assets in a portfolio—something he learned from running a multi-billion dollar sovereign wealth fund in the Middle East.
On this week’s episode of Wealth Formula Podcast, I speak to Zulfe not only about investment strategy but also get his take on the current economy. Having a guy with his credentials giving us a market update is extremely valuable so make sure to tune in!
Show Notes:
13:39 What’s been going on with the economy?
16:15 Why the interest rate increase did not result in a recession
19:02 Outlook for interest rate
26:35 The inverted curve
35:11 Wealth preservation
41:58 How does Zulfe approach high-level portfolios?
The post 417: Market Update from a Former Sovereign Wealth Fund Manager appeared first on Wealth Formula.
In the latest surge of technological evolution, one titan stands out, reshaping our landscape with the silent swiftness of a revolution: Artificial Intelligence, or AI. It’s a term that sparks a spectrum of emotions, from exhilaration at the dawn of a new era to trepidation about the unknowns it brings along.
As we stand on the precipice of this bold new world, it’s impossible not to marvel at how AI has already begun to weave its threads into the fabric of our daily lives. From the simplicity of asking Siri for the weather forecast to the complexity of algorithms that predict stock market trends, AI’s footprint is undeniable.
Yet, what truly fascinates me is the myriad of opportunities it unfurls for us as investors. It’s not just about the automation of tasks or the efficiency of operations; it’s about the doors it opens to new markets, the insights into consumer behaviour, and the predictive power that can guide our investment strategies with unprecedented precision.
Reflecting on this, I’m reminded of a story that perfectly encapsulates the transformative power of AI. Just a few years ago, a startup leveraged AI to analyze satellite images, predicting crop yields with such accuracy that it revolutionised the agricultural commodities market.
Investors who could once only rely on historical data and often inaccurate forecasts found themselves with a crystal ball, giving them insights that were previously unimaginable. This is the power of AI – turning the opaque into the transparent, the unpredictable into the foreseeable.
And yet, as we chart our courses through these uncharted waters, questions loom large. How do we navigate the ethical quandaries that AI presents? What does the future hold for jobs, and how do we ensure that this technological boon does not become a societal bane? How do we, as investors, harness AI’s potential responsibly and effectively?
To delve into these questions and more, I’m thrilled to welcome Professor Russell Neuman, a leading mind from NYU, specializing in media technology and its profound impacts on society. Russell’s deep understanding of the digital age and the evolutionary path of media, coupled with his insights into AI, makes him the ideal navigator as we explore the intersections of technology, media, and investment in the AI epoch.
So, join us as we embark on this journey, decoding the complexities of AI and uncovering the golden opportunities it presents to the astute investor. Welcome to a conversation that promises not just to enlighten but to illuminate pathways to prosperity in the age of Artificial Intelligence.
P.S. I asked ChatGPT to use my “voice” to write this email. Do you think it sounds like me? Curious what you think.
Show Notes:
03:40 How does AI work?
09:23 The dangers of AI
14:10 The benefits of AI
19:27 The future of AI
21:48 Singularity
The post 416: Artificial Intelligence: The Mother of All Technologies appeared first on Wealth Formula.
“I’m from the government and I’m here to help.” Ronald Reagan described those as the most dangerous words in the English language.
I generally agree with the Gipper who I have fond memories of extending back to the 1980 presidential election that I watched with interest as a kindergartener.
When the government gets too big, it gets dangerous and sloppy, and it costs too much. And like other monsters, it’s got to eat. It does this through taxation.
Now if that monster was lean, mean and efficient, it would be less scary. But this one is fat and keeps growing. Government begets more government which creates more cost and inefficiency.
What’s a better answer? Well, ideally, you would break the whole thing apart and put it back together in a way that makes sense.
Instead, a lot of the benefits that we get from those taxes are taxed themselves making you wonder what the point was in the first place.
When you take a step back and see what’s going on, it’s pure insanity. And to make you crazy, this week’s guest on the Wealth Formula Podcast exposes this problem with gory details.
Show Notes:
08:03 Robbing Peter to pay Peter
12:33 Where is the inefficiency coming from?
15:54 The origin of the tax and return scheme
17:51 How does this affect behavior?
19:48 How can we fix it?
21:45 The origin of the mortgage market
The post 415: Tax and Return: Judge Glock appeared first on Wealth Formula.
When I was fresh out of surgical residency and started to make some money, I started looking for advice on what to do with it.
One of the questions I had was about life insurance. I was a newlywed and had a baby on the way (now she’s in high school by the way). So, I started asking the guys I was working with if I should buy term or permanent life insurance.
One of the younger surgeons was a bit of a know-it-all. He had a lot of advice about everything and most of it was not good. His facelifts weren’t good either as I started revising them just a few months later.
Nevertheless, I listened to what he had to say and he told me quite confidently to “buy term and invest the difference”. In other words, don’t buy permanent life insurance. Stick to term life insurance and, with the money you don’t spend on permanent life insurance, throw it into the stock market.
The older guy had very different advice. It was 2009 and he was planning to retire until the financial meltdown kicked his butt. He told me he wished he had bought more permanent life insurance because that was pretty much all he had left.
And while his viewpoint was thought-provoking, I felt like I needed to do the opposite of whatever this guy suggested because I didn’t want to end up like him. So, I ended up buying term and didn’t think about it again until a couple of years later when I had started my own practice and was making a lot of money.
At that time, I was part of a mastermind with a bunch of high-net-worth business people. At some point, life insurance came up and several of them talked about premium-financed permanent life insurance policies.
It occurred to me that a lot of high-net-worth people actually were buying permanent life insurance despite what that know-it-all young surgeon told me.
So, I decided to look back into my options. What I discovered was that both of those doctors who were giving me advice viewed permanent life insurance as something that it did not need to be: a poor-yielding but stable investment.
The reason for that was that most professionals only get to see poorly designed policies that are primarily created to maximize commissions for those who sell insurance.
What they think of as permanent life insurance is not the permanent life insurance used by the rich. PERMANENT LIFE INSURANCE MEANS DIFFERENT THINGS FOR THE MIDDLE CLASS THAN IT DOES THE RICH.
The policies that the high net worth group had were designed very differently and optimized for investment purposes. In fact, in the high net worth world, these policies have a special name: LIRPs. That stands for life insurance retirement plan.
Permanent life insurance in this world plays a role in not only risk mitigation and estate planning but also retirement income and asset protection. The more I learned about these strategies, the more they became no-brainers for me.
The guys who taught me the most about this stuff are Rod Zabriskie and Christian Allen. They designed all my policies and now design policies for many of you as our Wealth Formula Banking partners.
I especially appreciate these guys because they approach these concepts with an open mind. Where some Life Insurance Producers push one product or another for various reasons, these guys have all sorts of options that fit different types of people with different goals and objectives.
Recently, they have seen a significant uptake in interest in life insurance products. Why? Well, the markets have been hurt by rapidly rising interest rates and people are looking for safe harbors. All you need to do is look at the Great Depression to see that permanent life insurance has been seen as a major safe harbor throughout history.
Given the uptick in interest in these products, I decided to have Rod on to remind people of what these products are and why various permutations of these strategies are right for different types of people.
As always, I found this to be a very interesting conversation and it left me wondering why I’m not doing more of this stuff right now.
Show Notes:
09:12 Wealth Formula Banking
19:03 The Wealth Accelerator
26:55 Battle of the Two Tribes
34:41 Rule of 72
42:20 Does life insurance get more expensive as you get older?
The post 414: The Safest Double Digit Returning Investment in History? appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Retirement means “ceasing to work”. In my case, retirement will describe me when I’ve died.
I understand retiring from a particular activity. Like how I retired from the practice of surgery about eight years ago. But global retirement sounds dire.
It is like admitting that you are of no real value to the world anymore. That your contributions are no longer of benefit to humanity.
I’ve always believed that the universe ultimately pays you what you deserve. If all you’re doing is playing golf, you aren’t worth a dime.
And imagine all of that knowledge, expertise and wisdom you accumulate over the years. You’re just going to waste that?
You’ve got to figure out a way to use it and keep going. At least that’s my philosophy.
As you may know, I have a podcast on health and longevity called Sapio with Buck Joffrey. I want us all to feel like 50 is just the beginning and I don’t mean the beginning of the end lol.
Get inspired. Dreams are not just for the young. As Bill Gates says, people grossly overestimate what they can accomplish in a year and grossly underestimate what they can accomplish in five.
Ok…that’s my rant for today. Let’s get back to reality. I know people need money when they get older and social security is one of the sources.
To be honest, I don’t know much about social security so I thought I would interview someone on the topic. My guest this week on Wealth Formula Podcast was on the “60 Minutes” show recently uncovering social security scams so I thought he might be a good person to listen to.
So… if you’re interested in the money the government owes you when you get older and may or may not get it, make sure to tune into the show.
Show Notes:
04:52 How exactly does social security work?
10:56 Social security: a scam?
20:02 Will social security disappear?
21:36 Clawbacks of social security
29:05 Money Magic
The post 413: Social Security Scams and “Retirement” Planning appeared first on Wealth Formula.
The two most powerful motivations for behavior are fear and greed. If you haven’t thought about that before paying attention to the kinds of messaging you hear especially in the alternative asset podcast ecosystem?
At the risk of offending gold bugs, how many times have you heard someone who sells precious metals on a podcast talking about the demise of the United States and the inevitability of the Zombie apocalypse? Think that’s just a coincidence?
A couple of weeks ago, I had on a gentleman who wrote a book on Ray Dalio, the legendary hedge fund manager whose fund has not beaten the S&P 500 in years.
Turns out that Mr. Dalio has been predicting the collapse of the American economy for three decades now. Maybe he believes it. I don’t know. But one thing’s for sure, it works very well for Ray Dalio’s company.
Ultra Wealthy families don’t care about big returns. They care about not losing money. Beating the market is just an added plus. If Ray is telling people that the world is going to hell and he manages money then maybe he knows how to best protect it? That’s the logical conclusion, right?
There are also people out there talking about the need for a second passport in case the US implodes. After all, we have a divisive political system and enormous amounts of debt.
Again, maybe I’m missing something, but the US is still the biggest economy in the world with by far the highest GDP. We have the best Universities in the world and the strongest military. And if we can get through 1968, we can get through 2024.
So, in my humble opinion, a plan B is not going to get you out of harm’s way. Because if the US goes down, there will be no place to hide.
But, there are certainly other reasons to get a second passport. Maybe you just want to make it easier to travel to certain countries. Maybe you want to benefit from the low cost of healthcare. Or, maybe you just want to diversify your wealth and mitigate currency risk. If you’re willing to move to Puerto Rico (which I am not), there is even a huge potential tax play.
My advice…whatever you do, just don’t get scared into it. It certainly sounds kind of fun to be a Jetsetter and maybe there is sound financial reason to do it as well. Consider it, but for rational reasons.
With all that being said, check out this week’s episode of Wealth Formula Podcast and learn the ins and outs of foreign citizenship. Let me know if you decide to do it!
Show Notes:
08:24 Why consider dual citizenship?
11:17 Benefits of an EU passport
12:48 A second passport for retirement and healthcare
13:54 Financial benefits of dual citizenship
17:10 The challenges
19:17 Dual citizenship by relationship
The post 412: Dual Citizenship: Plan B? appeared first on Wealth Formula.
The challenge with investing is that you can do everything right and still lose. Unfortunately its supposed to be that way otherwise everyone would take the biggest bets possible all the time and always win. That’s just not reality.
In good times, it is very hard to anticipate what could happen if the unexpected occurs. Over the last 24 months, we saw interest rates rise at a slope never before seen in the US economy. This was just a few months after the Federal Reserve called inflation “transient” signaling that it would not raise rates.
In hindsight, the subsequent rise in interest rates to curb inflation is all clear now but I don’t remember hearing anyone talking about the scenario before it happened.
As a result, many including me lost money and continue to hold our breath as rates start to level out. As much as we hate it, this is the way the system is supposed to work.
The thing is, all of what we are experiencing is going to happen again in one shape or another. Over the next few years, those with ice in their veins will buy when everyone else is scared. And hopefully, they will remember what this feeling we all feel now feels like and sell when things feel too good to be true.
As Sir John Templeton put it, the most dangerous words for an investor are “this time, it’s different”.
It would be easier to accept this fact of investor life if it applied to the big boys as well. But it doesn’t. 2008 was the extreme example. The big banks lost big bets. Had those bets come to fruition, they would have made lots of money. But they didn’t win those bets. And the taxpayer paid for their losses and all of the lawmakers said it would never happen again.
But it did. In 2023, the taxpayer stepped in to bail out multiple regional banks. This time, those banks weren’t even being irresponsible. They were investing in a way that would be deemed conservative. Yet, they too were the victim of unparalleled rate hikes by the Fed.
Lucky for them, they were banks and not individuals like us. What happened with those regional banks and is it likely to happen again? My guest on Wealth Formula Podcast this week is a brilliant Professor at Stanford who was brought in to investigate the regional bank failures in Silicon Valley.
When she talks, the government and people like Jamie Dimon listen. See what she has to say about the current state of the banking system and how it affects you.
Show Notes:
08:29 What is wrong with the banking system?
11:34 What went wrong in Silicon Valley?
13:58 How do FDIC rules work?
24:20 What should have been done in 2008 to prevent this from happening again?
28:28 Will what is happening to Silicon Valley happen to the rest of the country?
31:44 Is it still risky out there?
The post 411: Heads I Win Tales You Lose: The U.S. Banking System appeared first on Wealth Formula.
My social life sucks. I moved to Montecito in 2017 from Chicago a married man with 3 children. When we got here, I didn’t know anyone.
Luckily, I had my family and was plenty entertained by my three little girls. My now ex-wife also served as social coordinator to make sure we had things to do.
Then with beginning of Covid, my marriage came to an end. Since moving to Montecito, I had been working from home on businesses that had become very successful but I hadn’t worked on my social life at all because that had been outsourced.
So I entered Covid isolation with almost no community or life outside of business. Needless to say, it was lonely. The only good thing that came of it was a lot of success in those businesses that occupied my time.
I used Covid as an excuse while it lasted but the truth is that my social life still sucks. I have not been successful in that aspect of my life. So, I’m not a good person to tell you how to create a successful social life and will not be writing a book about it anytime soon.
So why am I telling you this? Is this some kind of suicide letter? No. I’m too busy with my longevity podcast for that. What I’m trying to do is to simply illustrate that you can be wildly successful in one aspect of your life and an abject failure in other parts.
The funny thing is that for anyone successful, it is very difficult to truly assess what they are good at and what they are not from the outside.
Take a look at Tony Robbins. Is he a success? He’s a great communicator. He’s helped a lot of people and made a lot of money. But he’s been married multiple times and who knows how his relationships are with his children.
But if Tony Robbins wrote a book on marital a bliss, it would be a New York Times bestseller. Why? Because he’s Tony Robbins and he is a successful guy that people want to listen to. But, like the rest of us, he’s far more successful in certain parts of his life than others.
Similarly, hedge legendary hedge fund manager Ray Dalio has written multiple books on “principles” for investing and for life. Dalio is certainly as qualified as anyone else to talk about money.
But why would we assume that his success translates over to anything else? In fact, there are plenty of people who have worked with and for him who consider his principals outside of investing to be a failure at best and downright fraudulent at worst.
So why would people buy books by Ray Dalio that don’t involve money? Because, again, he’s a hugely successful person and people want to learn how to be successful.
The challenge for everyone is to look at any of these god-like figures and to understand that they are human with all sorts of flaws. And while we may be able to learn some things from them in which they excel, we shouldn’t translate success in certain parts of their lives to suggest that they’ve got it all figured out.
My guest on Wealth Formula Podcast today wrote a book on Ray Dalio that tells the story of a man who may be quite different that the image he has created for himself. It certainly has pushed a button for Ray Dalio as he has threatened to sue the author and has thrown back fiery accusations about him.
It’s a fascinating story that you are not going to want to miss. Tune in to this week’s Wealth Formula Podcast as I interview Rob Copeland, the author who has thoroughly pissed off Ray Dalio!
Show Notes:
00:08:29:06 Who is Ray Dalio really?
00:13:15:03 What made Ray Dalio a successful hedge fund manager?
00:14:53:09 Alpha vs Beta returns
00:18:05:22 The Dark side of Ray Dalio
00:22:42:19 Can Ray Dalio really predict the zombie apocalypse?
00:27:12:16 Getting sued by Ray Dalio
The post 410: Is Ray Dalio Really Who He Says He Is? appeared first on Wealth Formula.
As you may know, I have three daughters aged 14,11 and 8. The oldest, Camilla, is now in high school.
For those of you who have been listening for me for a while, yes, that was the little girl who did an introduction for episode 100. We are all getting older by the minute.
Anyway, recalling that it was at around her age that I began to think about the world in a greater context than simply ice hockey and food, I have begun trying to have more meaningful conversations with her.
Recently, I decided to talk about the political science definitions of conservative and liberal to help her start understanding the basics of political theory.
I told her that conservative ideology values the individual and advocates for small government. I quoted Ronald Reagan who once said, “The nine most dangerous words in the English language are ‘I’m from the government and I’m here to help’.”
Liberal ideology, on the other hand, puts greater value on the collective whole of a people over the individual. In such a belief system, the emphasis on equality trumps individual achievement and focuses on the redistribution of wealth via government services to serve everyone.
While you know that I have a bent toward conservative ideology, I did not try to persuade her one way or another. I was just trying to teach her the difference.
My goal for her was to simply think about her own opinions and share them with me. But she wouldn’t. She got very uncomfortable. And, when I pushed her on why, she admitted that it had to do with the fact that her mother and I don’t agree on some of this stuff.
The funny thing is that while her mother and I certainly do disagree on some political issues, we never fought about it and it was never an emotional issue. But these days, it seems that political disagreement means that you can’t be friends or family anymore. Disagreement has been replaced by disagreeable.
That’s a shame because these discussions are incredibly valuable for people to discover their own true values rather than to simply cling to tribal political party instincts. Sure I’m a conservative, but I have plenty of disagreements with the current “conservative” Republican Party. For example, the party has shifted away from fiscal responsibility, free trade, and civil liberties—all of which are tenets of true conservative ideology.
Having more open discussions about politics without emotion would be good for everyone. It would also help people to understand what is happening on the global stage.
While America has been the Mecca for the individual since its inception, it is starting to move in the direction of a more liberal global arena that values personal achievement and success less than the whole. The growing popularity of political figures such as Bernie Sanders in the last election cycle supports that.
My guest on the Wealth Formula Podcast is a best-selling author who has been sounding the alarm on the coming of this new world order where you will have everything you need but nothing will be yours.
Is she being an alarmist or is this a real concern? Decide for yourself on this week’s episode of Wealth Formula Podcast.
Show Notes:
00:08:52:20 Movements that are trying to stop personal wealth creation
00:12:18:02 Players in the financial world war
00:14:56:08 Private ownership = wealth creation
00:17:16:01 How is Wall Street working against us?
00:24:13:18 Thoughts on the wealth tax
The post 409: You Will Own Nothing and You Will Like It: Carol Roth appeared first on Wealth Formula.
For those of you who have participated in our self-storage offerings in the past with Reliant Real Estate, you know that you can make a lot of money in this space. One of our deals, while not planned this way, nearly doubled investor equity in less than a year.
Those kinds of returns are sexy but self storage itself is NOT sexy at all. It’s just where people keep there stuff when there’s no room for it in the house. But in times like these, boring is good. In fact, when it comes to business, boring is a very good quality in all seasons of the business cycle.
Self-storage facilities have historically shown resilience during economic downturns. Unlike other real estate investments, they often experience steady demand even in challenging economic conditions, as people downsize, relocate, or seek temporary storage solutions.
Everyone needs storage space whether in urban areas where living spaces are smaller, or in suburban and rural areas for personal or business use.
And from the standpoint of the owner of these facilities, it takes advantage of one of the major characteristics of mankind—inertia.
Do you have stuff in storage? I do. How badly do I want to move that stuff to another storage facility in order to save $10 per month? Not nearly enough.
That’s why those rents creep up over time without losing much in the way of occupancy. It’s a great business model if executed well.
Reliant Real Estate has done it well for several years and, although I am not partnering with them on their current fund, I am investing in it and promoting it for them as I think it represents a really good opportunity with minimal risk.
This week on Wealth Formula Podcast I wanted to make sure I got Kris Benson, Reliant’s Chief Investment officer on the show because there are just a few weeks left before the fund closes and I wanted to remind you of that while reviewing some of the key elements of this unique real estate asset class.
Show Notes:
00:04:04:09 The story of self-storage
00:06:56:17 The inertia behind the self-storage business
00:13:51:17 How has the run-up of rates and inflation affected self-storage?
00:16:55:15 How does debt work in self-storage
00:19:51:02 Institutional vs. mom-and-pop
00:23:12:10 The current reliant fund opening: https://reliantfund4.com/
The post 408: Boring is Good: The Case for Self Storage appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Wealth Formula Nation,
Happy New Year! I have a feeling that 2024 is going to be a good year for us.
I think we are going to pick up quality assets at a discount like it’s 2012 and liquidity will come back to the real estate markets.
I’m also eager to develop our own investor platform into a more diverse investment source. Real estate will always be our bread and butter but there will also be other opportunities in which to invest that will be vetted by our world-class due diligence team.
You’re going to new opportunities in sectors like commercial aviation and even business mergers and acquisitions led by Zulfe Ali who used to do that for a sovereign wealth fund.
With the New Year, you might also consider whether you might want to start a business of your own. As you know, I am a strong advocate for business ownership.
And while doing a creative start-up is not everyone’s cup of tea, there are an increasing number of ways to get involved with business utilizing the skills you do have.
One of those options is franchising. We’ve talked about franchising on this show before but I recently met a guy who wrote the most popular book on franchising ever published.
He didn’t try to sell me on franchising at all. Frankly, I left the conversation thinking he probably talked me out of it. But that’s also why the coaching clients he does have seem to do as well as they do.
Is franchising right for you? I think this episode of the Wealth Formula Podcast will really help you figure it out using some very good self-assessment questions. If it is, this could be one of the most exciting years of your life as you embark on a new business venture.
Show Notes:
00:05:50:22 What exactly is franchising?
00:10:36:15 Stats on franchising
00:14:48:02 The personality type that fits franchising
00:21:16:21 Does franchising have to be a full-time job?
00:26:47:09 The scalability of franchising
00:33:14:19 What are people franchising these days?
00:34:34:15 Green flags and red flags
The post 407: New Year, New Business? appeared first on Wealth Formula.
When I first started podcasting a decade ago, I was very anti-Wall Street. But what does that even mean? I guess I hadn’t really contemplated that.
My show started not long after the financial meltdown of 2008-2009. For many of us, the greed that was unveiled during that period was eye-opening as we saw major institutions fold losing ordinary people their life savings yet the architects of the disaster floated out of harm’s way with golden parachutes worth 100s of millions of dollars.
That, to me, was Wall Street and I wanted nothing to do with it. Actually, to be honest, I didn’t have anything to do with it anyway. I had just finished surgical training and didn’t have any money to lose.
But…It did emphasize a concept to me that I grew up with anyway. As the son of a scrappy immigrant slumlord, I knew that there was a different way of creating financial success than simply handing it over to wealth managers that were part of the traditional financial “Wall Street” paradigm.
These days I think I’m a lot more level-headed in my views. I don’t see traditional public equity markets as empirically evil. I am also acutely aware that investing outside of Wall Street has its pitfalls too. You can and will lose money investing outside of Wall Street as well. And while you may avoid the greedy CEOs responsible for the mortgage meltdown in 2008, you also have to avoid the charlatans that inhabit the wild west that is private investing.
What do I mean by that? Well, the economy did a number on a lot of us and we lost money fair and square so to speak. That’s going to happen. But there were also multiple Ponzi schemes and downright terrible business models that were poorly vetted by unsophisticated capital aggregators as well.
The point is that there are landmines everywhere. Pick your poison. The good news is that you just need to win most of the of time. That’s what I have been able to do over the past decade and as a result, by most measures, have become a financially wealthy individual.
That said, I’m always striving to become better as an investor and a lot of that revolves around understanding my own strengths and weaknesses and trying to especially compensate for weaknesses.
For example, I know that I want to diversify my holdings outside of real estate a bit more. I am about 80 percent real estate now. So I’ve gotten Zulfe Ali involved with our platform who is world-class at evaluating businesses as the former chief investment officer for a sovereign wealth fund. This will be good for me and it will be good for Investor Club in the coming years.
I also am thinking about potentially starting other businesses—possibly a franchise or some other low-time commitment endeavor. Why? Well, it’s fun for me and I know that I have a track record of success in business. And, again, I could use the diversity.
Remember, personal finance is personal. There’s not a single recipe for success. The principles of wealth building are pretty constant but the ways people generate the cash to build that wealth is limitless and I encourage you to consider taking a deep dive for yourself on this topic.
You may find that remaining purely passive as an investor is what suits you best and that simply diversifying your assets is all you need. On the other hand, you might discover an inner entrepreneur who wants to come out and shake things up a bit.
My guests on Wealth Formula Podcast today emphasize the differences between investor types which I think might be useful as a topic on which to drill down a bit. They call their show Wealth Without Wall Street and we discuss this and many other interesting concepts on this week’s episode of Wealth Formula Podcast.
Show Notes:
00:10:53:05 When did Wealth Without Wall Street begin?
00:12:21:13 What is the business behind the podcast?
00:14:18:12 Who is their avatar?
00:17:28:10 Owning a job is harder than working one
00:19:00:14 What is their primary content?
00:21:03:20 What have they learned along the way?
00:25:09:23 The analysis tool they use
00:34:25:05 Advice for people who don’t have money to invest
00:38:36:04 Frameworks for investing
The post 406: Wealth Without Wall Street appeared first on Wealth Formula.
During college, I spent a summer working in a laboratory at the University of Chicago where my biochemistry mentor did his PhD. The lab studied prostate cancer and was the legacy of Charlie Huggins, a surgeon who won the Nobel prize for discovering the testosterone dependence of most prostate cancers.
The guy who took over that lab was his protege Shutsung Liao who did some trailblazing work of his own. He was brilliant and for a young biochemistry geek like me was fascinating to be around. He thought differently than most. His thoughts were original.
And that’s what he demanded of people in his lab. In fact, one of the particularly unusual philosophies he had for his postdocs was “do not read too much”.
He felt that reading others work had a role in learning what was known but also could be detrimental in that it could unduly influence the direction of one’s own thoughts. In other words, he didn’t want his postdocs to simply follow and expand on the ideas that others were proposing. He wanted them to have their own ideas.
That idea has always stuck with me and I was reminded of it the other day when a fellow podcaster asked me which podcasts I listen to. He, of course, assumed that I listened to a bunch of other personal finance shows.
I listed my top shows for him which included Purple Daily (Minnesota Vikings Football) and The Drive with Peter Attia which is about health and longevity.
The truth is, I don’t listen to any other investing shows. I used to, but I realized it was a little bit of an echo chamber in the alternative investing podcast ecosystem. And just like Dr. Liao warned about in that cancer lab, I started just saying and believing what other podcasters were saying.
I’m fortunate enough to be interviewing economists and other smart people every week so I’d rather formulate my own ideas based on what I learn from them. One thing is clear, they don’t agree with each other!
For those of you who listen to me, I highly encourage you to listen to others—especially those who do not agree with me. It’s important to hear the ideas of multiple sources when it comes to something that you want to know about.
Economics is not a hard science. It is a social science based on theory. Similarly, personal finance is…personal. So it’s best to learn many different perspectives and philosophies out there and see what resonates with you.
And sometimes, it’s good to get together with others and compare notes. And that is exactly what I’m going to do on this week’s episode of Wealth Formula Podcast. I am going to sit down with another well-known financial podcaster and see what he’s been hearing on his end.
Exposure to different thoughts is critically important when you make important decisions in your life, like what to do with your money. So make sure to listen in to this week’s interview with MC Laubscher aka The Cashflow Ninja and see what he has to say.
Show Notes:
00:09:34:09 Where are we in the economy?
00:19:56:18 What to look for as indicators of how the economy is doing?
00:24:51:06 Permanent life insurance in volatile times
00:32:16:16 Don’t let losing make you too scared to invest
00:37:05:09 Changes in tax code
00:47:02:06 Diligence in the cashflow world
The post 405: Another Perspective with the Cash Flow Ninja appeared first on Wealth Formula.
In this bonus episode of Wealth Formula Podcast, Jorge Newberry shares with us some background on what’s been happening with AHP as well as his perspective on real estate and the debt market.
The post 404: An Update From AHP Servicing With Jorge Newberry appeared first on Wealth Formula.
You know what drives me crazy? Politicians talking about how rich Americans need to start paying their “fair share”.
First of all, they aren’t really taking about the rich. They are talking about you—the high paid professional.
To be clear, if you are making $400K-$800K per year as a W2 wager earner, you’re doing well for sure. But you aren’t rich. Yet, you are the one that gets vilified and gets destroyed by the tax code the most.
And let me ask you a question. Do you think you are paying your fair share of taxes? In California, you’d be paying a tax rate of over 50 percent. I bet you don’t think that’s fair either. At least you can agree with those politicians on something!
Then there is the estate tax. For those of us who have done well in our lives and paid taxes along the way, there is an extra kick on our way out. Its punitive—again taxing over 50 percent on money that has already been taxed.
Do you think the government deserves that money or your family? I think I know the answer. And if you think that you aren’t rich enough for the estate tax think again. Those numbers are coming down next year and there are many who would like to see it start as low as $1 million estates. This will affect you if you don’t plan for it.
Luckily there are groups like the National Taxpayers Union (NTU) Foundation out there that are looking out for us.
In fact, there is a case about to go in front of the supreme court shortly that could have profound affects on your investments. The case is called Moore v U.S. and it is something you should absolutely know about.
To help you understand what the stakes are, I invited NTU member Joe Bishop-Henchman to explain it to us on this week’s episode of Wealth Formula Podcast.
Show Notes:
00:07:47:12 Moore VS U.S.
00:10:21:01 The main arguement
00:15:17:18 What happens when either side wins?
00:20:10:24 What is defined as realised gain?
00:24:37:07 Implications of the ninth circuit court case
00:29:48:10 When can we expect a decision?
The post 403: The Tax Case in the Supreme Court That You Must Know About appeared first on Wealth Formula.
As the end of the year approaches, many of us are thinking about ways to mitigate our tax liability for 2023. Unfortunately, this year there is not a whole lot in terms of options.
The IRS has clamped down on syndicated conservation easements and anything resembling it. If you are being talked into something like that, I would suggest you be very careful. Anyone selling them at this point is not looking out for your welfare.
Similarly, although captive insurance is a legal right of every American, the IRS has made it its mission to audit them. It’s almost as if the IRS has become a branch of government that ignores the legislative process completely.
So what can we rely on? Oil and gas? No thank you. I’ve never made money in oil and gas and would have been better off just giving my money to charity. The space is also ripe for charlatans.
At this point, you are pretty much left with investments that will give you some depreciation and that only helps you if you have passive income to offset.
Real Estate opportunities have been far and few between. We have had one in 18 months and that is currently on waitlist. If you are an accredited investor feel free to check out that webinar at JoffreyCapital.com. You might get lucky and get in.
For the last couple of years, we have been doing ATM machines through the WF Velocity ATM fund. However, because of on-going due diligence issues, I can’t give a green light on that as of now either.
So, what’s left? Well, prepaying things for next year is not a bad idea. I used to prepay advertising for my now defunct cosmetic surgery office. If you are into deferred accounts that will give you some relief as well.
There is one more option and that is simply to invest your money without significant tax benefits. Sometimes, as much as it pains me to say this, paying the tax is the right thing to do.
After all, you can safely invest in a fair amount of stuff right now that is yielding pretty well. It’s just not tax efficient. For example, you can put your money in CD’s and get over 5 percent.
Or, like me, you focus on life insurance products like Wealth Formula Banking or the Wealth Accelerator (hyperlinks to WFB site).
There are many advantages to these kinds of policies that have been characterized as “investing with benefits”. The benefits are often significant and under-appreciated as I have tried to point out on numerous occasions.
But don’t take it from me, take it from others who are doing the same thing and see if there is a line of reasoning resonates with you.
These types of policies should probably be apart of every portfolio in my opinion. And in this week’s Wealth Formula Podcast you’ll hear why—not only from me but from other Wealth Formula community members.
Show Notes:
00:07:06:15 What is Wealth Formula Banking?
00:13:19:07 What are the reasons why investors have chosen Wealth Formula Banking?
00:21:57:20 How have investors been using Wealth Formula Banking?
00:30:30:19 Amplifying your retirement strategy
00:47:57:06 The Wealth Accelerator
00:57:10:22 Advices from fellow investors
The post 402: Investing with Benefits: Real Stories from Wealth Formula Nation appeared first on Wealth Formula.
A lot has happened over the past year in real estate. It goes to show how quickly things can change.
Unless you have been living in a cave, you know that interest rates went way up really quickly. When that happens, housing typically goes down in value significantly.
Oddly enough, in much of the country, that wasn’t quite the case. Why? Well, there wasn’t much inventory. Record LOW rates created both a frothy market and a huge amount of liquidity in the housing market.
People thinking of selling at that time sold. People thinking of buying were able to buy much more expensive homes than they normally could because of cheap money. And many of them locked those rates in.
When there was a huge increase in interest rates, liquidity in the markets went way down keeping prices still elevated because of a supply and demand imbalance.
A similar story was seen in investment real estate that is largely driven by cap rates. The difference being that much of investment real estate is purchased on floating rates. And, as many of us have seen, that has resulted in forced selling.
Anyone who does not have to sell right now is not selling. Those who are forced to sell are losing money. This period in time for real estate investors will be emblazoned in our memories the way the financial crisis of 2008-2009 is. Hopefully some of us will also take advantage of what is occurring like people did in 2010.
I anticipate 2024 will be a time with blood in the streets as many rate caps are expiring. This will be a great opportunity to pick up properties at significant discount. And those who do will very likely be rewarded for the ice in their veins.
Why? Because predictions of lower interest rates in 2025 are overwhelming. If those predictions come true, it will create a situation where the investment real estate market becomes frothy again. People unable to hold on to properties is 2024 will be the biggest losers because they didn’t do what they had to do to stay in the game.
I know that staying in the game is not easy. For many of you, this period in real estate time has been the first and only time we’ve ever experienced loss. We know rationally, that, investors are not supposed to win every single time but that’s what we witnessed for the past 14-15 years and we got used to it.
But real estate is like every other asset in that it has cycles. This cycle ended abruptly and violently but another one is about to start.
In this week’s episode of Wealth Formula Podcast, you’ll once again hear from an expert on the real estate market from the National Association of Realtors.
When you hear what he has to say, along with other economists, you will understand why the mantra in the real estate investor ecosystem continues to be, “stay alive until 25”.
The post 401: Real Estate Market Trends appeared first on Wealth Formula.
When I moved to Montecito a few years ago, I was amazed at how many people didn’t seem to work.
To be clear, we don’t have a homeless problem out here. We just have a lot of people who own businesses. And it’s not quite true that they don’t work. They just don’t have regular hours so there’s a disproportionate number of people hanging out during the day.
Of course, I myself am a business owner and my businesses have experienced their fair share of pain over the last several months. In fact, my cosmetic surgery business in Chicago finally went out of business after almost 15 years.
And I know it’s not just me. Everyone is slow and it seems like there are layoffs going on everywhere—lots of skilled people are losing their jobs.
So I have been racking my brain trying to figure out why the economy is supposedly doing so well. I have come to the conclusion that we are not looking at the right indicators for the time that we live in.
It’s like we bought an electric car but are still watching to make sure we have a full tank of gas when we should really be paying attention to the battery charge indicators.
We’ve always judged the economy in terms of two major indicators: jobs and GDP. And those numbers haven’t looked that bad even after a year of oppressive rate hikes.
But what does the jobs report really tell us? Is it telling us that many people left the workforce during COVID-19 and never came back? After all, you are only considered unemployed if you’re actively trying to work.
And when you see all those new jobs added to the jobs report every month, is that taking into consideration the additional part-time jobs people are taking just to make ends meet? The numbers we get make no distinction.
The bottom line is, I am convinced we are missing something that will become very clear within the next 12 months.
My guest on this week’s episode of Wealth Formula Podcast believes this too. Believe it or not, he’s an Austrian economist I discovered on TikTok. And, because of him, I now have a TikTok account and you probably will too!
Show Notes:
00:05:59:05 Who is Peter St Onge?
00:09:20:23 Is there such a thing as true conservative economics in the modern political system in the US?
00:13:44:01 Is the economy actually doing well?
00:16:38:18 Why is the job rate going up when people are getting laid off?
00:21:38:03 Why high GDP might not suggest a strong economy
00:25:57:21 Statistics on Bankruptcy
00:28:50:18 When is the next recession coming?
00:35:40:04 Why have we not seen more regional bank failures?
The post 400: Trying Not to Run Out of Gas in Your Tesla appeared first on Wealth Formula.
It’s NFL season and I’m still glued to the TV despite my team’s rough start and the fact that we lost our starting quarterback for the year.
In case you don’t know, my team is the Minnesota Vikings and our starting quarterback was Kirk Cousins who just went down with a brutal Achilles tendon tear.
Kirk makes a lot of money—$30 million in 2023. Of course, when we think of professional athletes, we generally think of them as crazy rich so you might not be surprised.
You might be surprised to know, however, that the actual median salary in the NFL in 2022 was only $860,000 per year. I know for a fact that a lot of you Wealth Formula listeners make more than that.
You know what I think of when I hear numbers like that? I think about how much they must be paying in taxes. Kirk Cousins is probably paying at least $12 million of his salary in taxes. And those guys at the median salary level are probably paying out almost $400K. They are, after all, W2 wage earners.
Again, no one is starving even after paying those taxes but it certainly puts things in perspective. After all, it’s not really about how much you make. It’s about how much you get to keep.
Every person’s finances are like a small business. You have income coming in and you have expenses going out. A small business is going to do whatever it can to decrease expenses so it can keep more profit.
So, if you are a business, what is your biggest expense? Probably taxes. And if that’s the case, what are you doing to try to reduce those expenses and bring more money to your own bottom line?
To be clear, we aren’t talking about anything illegal here. As it turns out, there are plenty of things the government wants you to do that will help you save on taxes. My friend, Tom Wheelwright, calls the tax code simply a series of incentives.
That’s the smart way to look at it. As it turns out, your best way of saving on taxes tends to be through the way you invest. And, there is simply no industry that has more tax benefits than real estate.
I truly believe this and want you to understand why. If you choose not to act on this information, that’s fine. But at least know what you are missing out on so you can only blame yourself. I am always amazed at how extremely financially sophisticated individuals have no idea what they are missing.
This week’s Wealth Formula Podcast reviews some of the major concepts in tax mitigation via real estate investing. There’s something here for everyone including those new to the game. So make sure to tune in.
Buck
Show Notes:
00:09:30:01 How are people overpaying taxes?
00:10:34:14 How to get around active income with passive investments
00:18:55:22 Real Estate Professional Destination
00:21:19:24 Audit protection
00:22:29:07 Getting the benefit of being a Real Estate Profession through your spouse
00:24:25:19 Getting the benefit of being a Real Estate Profession with short-term rentals
00:25:29:15 Should I put my real estate in an LLC?
00:26:48:22 The role of a C-Corp
00:28:51:10 How to audit-proof your returns
00:30:45:18 Are you more likely to be audited if you are a Real Estate Professional?
00:32:24:16 How to use your kids to reduce tax
00:34:06:15 What is the cost segregation analysis
00:38:43:18 Upcoming new tax laws
00:42:34:21 Learn more about Keystone CPA
The post 399: Tax Mitigation Strategies in Real Estate appeared first on Wealth Formula.
The world of real estate is kind of a cult. Members of this cult tend to think that pretty much anything outside of real estate is just a waste of money.
I used to subscribe to this religion. And, for the most part, I still kind of do. My portfolio is largely real estate and I truly believe it is the most tax-efficient consistent way of building wealth out there.
But it’s not the only way. I’ve made plenty of money as an entrepreneur and I know that you can make a lot of money in other kinds of business as well.
The key to making money in any of these endeavors is to know what you are doing. I know how to start businesses and I know how to make those businesses profitable, but I don’t really know how to buy them or know which business to invest in.
It’s good to know your weaknesses because they are often not insurmountable. If you don’t have the expertise, you just need to find someone who has it that you can trust.
That is the primary reason that we have partnered with Zulfe Ali in Investor Club. These days Zulfe is a broker-dealer.
But prior to that, Zulfe spent decades in mergers and acquisitions at the largest banks in the world and was the chief investment officer of a sovereign wealth fund in the Middle East that acquired multibillion-dollar businesses on a regular basis.
My goal in bringing him on board is to develop a broader platform of investments in the Wealth Formula ecosystem and, frankly, in my own portfolio. I want to create a platform where all of our investments are of institutional grade whether that be in real estate or any other asset class.
A platform like this for individual retail investors like us does not currently exist. I know that there are plenty of offerings outside of real estate that you see on a regular basis through the podcast ecosystem but I must tell you that I am wary of most of them.
Too many people have been ripped off because the people raising money are either unwilling or unable to do the level of due diligence needed to make sure that an opportunity is real or economically viable.
Hopefully, we can change that with what we are rolling out with the help of Zulfe. He introduced me to today’s podcast guests so I feel comfortable exposing you to them. These guys, in particular, are in the commercial transportation industry and this week’s podcast will focus on an asset class that you are probably unfamiliar with but is dominated by institutional money: the commercial airline industry.
This is one of the areas in which we are currently doing due diligence and my guests today have been identified as a potential partner for our group.
Make sure to tune in. This industry is fascinating and I believe worth consideration as a future addition to your portfolio. Start learning about it now.
Buck
The post 398: There’s More to Alts than Real Estate appeared first on Wealth Formula.
No one getting married thinks that they will ever get divorced. I can tell you that from personal experience.
Yet over half of American marriages end up in divorce. I was lucky in that I had an amicable break-up. Most of the divorces I’ve seen in the past few years have been ugly.
I have two friends finally get through divorces in the last two years. In both situations, the men originally offered what they thought were fair settlements that their wives rejected.
In both cases, the divorces lasted for years costing hundreds of thousands of dollars. And, in both cases, the wives ended up with LESS than originally offered.
But it wasn’t just the ex-wives who lost out. No one wins in an ugly divorce. The kids suffer and there is a huge emotional and financial toll to pay for both sides. The only winner is the divorce attorney.
Knowing this should be enough to convince anyone to have a prenup in place before getting married or even get a postnup in place after the fact.
But it’s not that easy. How do you even bring up a prenuptial agreement when you are in love with someone and planning a life together?
My guest on Wealth Formula Podcast specializes in this area of the law and has experience at the highest level of prenuptial complexity with celebrities, athletes and ultra high net worth individuals.
The issues, whether they are emotional or financial, are often the same and he has great perspective on how to approach these sensitive issues.
So, whether you’re married, divorced or just curious, make sure to tune in and learn the basics on prenups and postnups. LISTEN HERE.
Buck
The post 397: Prenups and Postnups: Marital Finance 101 appeared first on Wealth Formula.
The financial meltdown of 2008-2009 feels like ancient history. And like tragedies that happened long ago, it feel more historical and less emotional.
I remember going to Pompeii several years ago and seeing people turned to stone from Mount Vesuvius erupting. It must have been horrific. But time has made it more of a museum than the scene of an awful natural disaster.
That’s the way most people look at 2008 as well—as ancient history. But for many it was a very emotional time. But those who stuck to their guns and took advantage of blood in the street thrived for more then a decade afterwards.
A very good friend of mine is an incredibly successful entrepreneur in the real estate space. At the time, he was building multimillion dollar houses for celebrities.
He was a household name in Los Angeles. Every famous person wanted a house that he designed. But like many successful real estate people, he got hit hard during that time and lost a lot of money.
It was also around that time that his focus was turning towards hotels. By 2010 he was seeing incredible opportunities on hotels and was looking to raise capital to take advantage of the market. But no one wanted to invest. Even though things were at a steep discount, people were just too afraid.
Fast forward to today, my buddy stopped trying to raise capital and ended up doing everything on his own. And now, he’s in the middle of a $100 million 1031 exchange. And that’s just one of his hotels.
That time for buying is around the corner again. 2010 is coming. Investment real estate is being hit really hard and its important to keep calm and wait for the opportunities that come before you.
My guest today is a new partner that I am going to ride the wave with when there is blood in the street. He’s been here before and has had a stellar record even in these tumultuous times.
In this episode you’ll see how he has not only survived but thrived in this market and also how he intends to take advantage of the coming distress.
Listen NOW!
Buck
P.S. Please note, there is an opportunity referenced in this podcast that can be seen at JoffreyCapital.com. This opportunity may not be available by the time this show airs, but check out the webinar for educational purposes at the least.
The post 396: Preparing for 2010 appeared first on Wealth Formula.
I’m not a doom and gloom podcaster as a general rule. There are plenty of those out there predicting the zombie apocalypse.
However, I have to say that I’m pretty sure I’ve been seeing some questionable zombiesque characters running around town lately.
It has occurred to me, however, that most people are not seeing what I am seeing. After all, the job markets are humming along just great and inflation, while still high, has decelerated.
If you are a high paid professional, you are cranking away at your day job and nothing really seems that much different because a little bump in the price of groceries isn’t a big deal to you.
In fact, you might be irritated that your investments haven’t been performing well and wonder why.
But from where I am seated, I have to tell you, it’s kind of scary out there. The investment real estate market is in turmoil and there is significant amount of distress because of the steepest increase in interest rates in American history over the last year.
Real estate syndicators like me are all chanting the same mantra across the board, “stay alive until 25”.
The office sector of real estate is already bathing in blood. The majority of that debt is held by small regional banks. It is hard for me to believe that we won’t have further bank failures.
And it looks like we are about to have another war in the Middle East. What do you think that’s going to do to energy prices?
Guys…it’s kind of scary out there. Pay attention. 2024 is likely to be a very tough year and there will be pain. And the global economy is not the fault of one person or a single company so stop pointing fingers.
Now there is a silver lining to this all. As much as these transitional periods cause pain, they are also opportunities. Everyone successful says the same thing. Those who can overcome their own fear and can act rationally during this time will be in for the best investing years of their life.
In the meantime, take the time to make sure you’ve taken care of housekeeping items. Make sure your asset protection is in place. Make sure your estate planning is done and that you have adequate life insurance coverage. Do the mundane things that have to be done for proper personal finance plans.
Tax planning is part of that. And, if you haven’t really sat down and thought about how to mitigate your own tax liability, you should do that now.
My guest on Wealth Formula Podcast this week, Tom Wheelwright, is the smartest tax professional I know. Make sure to tune in to our discussion about taxes and his 5 decades worth of perspective on today’s global economy.
Buck
The post 395: Tax Free Wealth and the Zombie Apocalypse appeared first on Wealth Formula.
My portfolio is not what most would call diversified. I am about 70-80 percent real estate, 10-15 percent permanent life insurance and about 10-15 percent higher risk stuff. My only stock exposure is only high-risk stuff like mining companies on the Toronto Stock Exchange. To be clear, I am not advocating for this approach. That’s just what has worked for me up to this point in my life.
I should add that, unlike ten years ago, I am also far more open minded to expanding my investments into different areas. That’s why our investor club started working with a broker dealer/RIA better versed in private equity and paper assets.
Unlike 10 years ago, I am no longer dogmatic in my “alternative asset or bust” position. In fact, as a general rule, I have softened on many of my more emphatic beliefs. My gray hairs have now convinced me that it just makes sense to have an open mind.
I still believe that alternative assets are where the life-changing opportunities are but there are other considerations such as sector diversity, hedging and cash flow. Cash flow is not what you typically think of when you think of paper assets, but it is something that you certainly can create with stocks in very unique ways that don’t involve simple dividends.
Andy Tanner wrote a book about this kind of investing in Robert Kiyosaki’s Rich Dad series and there is really no one better at explaining it then him. So, if you want to continue to explore other ways of investing your money, make sure to tune in to my conversation with Andy on this week’s episode of Wealth Formula Podcast.
Buck
P.S. Here’s the link for the free course Andy mentions in the podcast https://cf.thecashflowacademy.com/tcfa-6sn-wf-reg
The post 394: Beyond Real Estate: How to Cash Flow with Stocks appeared first on Wealth Formula.
The post 393:Economic Impact of Emerging Technologies appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Last week I did a back-to-school episode for you on asymmetric risk.
I told you that my primary asymmetric risk related investments are in cryptocurrency.
As a reminder, asymmetric risk investing means you throw in some money that, if you lose it, isn’t going to kill you. But on the other hand, if things go well, could make you rich.
Cryptocurrency has done both for a lot of people. In fact, in many cases it has done both to the same people at different times (yours truly included).
Let’s take a step back and review this whole crypto thing a little bit for those who haven’t been involved in the rollercoaster ride for the past decade and a half.
It all started back in 2009 with a white paper circulating amongst computer scientists authored by someone calling themself Satoshi Nakamoto.
The idea was a digital currency with no central authority like the US government or some big company.
This currency would be tracked not by one ledger but thousands. In keeping a “distributed ledger”, there would be no need central authority.
This currency would also be immutable and something that no one could simply confiscate like a bank putting a lien on your cash.
This is a massive oversimplification of bitcoin and purists are sure to correct me, but that was the essence of the original bitcoin thesis. It was simply a way to exchange value without a middleman.
Bitcoin has interesting parallels to gold. It requires “mining” to make it. Mining in this case requires computational power to solve math problems.
Back in 2009 nerdy computer types were mining thousands of bitcoins on their desktop computers. Now it takes serious expensive hardware and warehouses to mine bitcoin.
Very few people thought it would be worth anything anyway. In fact, the first commercial bitcoin transaction was made on May 22nd, 2010—almost as a joke.
10,000 bitcoin were accepted as payment for two supreme pizzas from Papa John’s. Last year, the cost of a single bitcoin had exceeded $70K. So, I hope that was a good pizza.
Anyway, over the next few years, bitcoin saw its ups and downs but the regression line was clearly positive and extremely steep.
Within the last 5 years or so, there have been bitcoin futures and publicly traded financial products as well.
It has clearly been adopted by the mainstream. And, in my humble opinion, the chances of it going to zero are about…zero.
Now despite its volatility, bitcoin has been recognized largely as a storage of value. This is another parallel with gold. And also like gold, it’s a little bit difficult to use in everyday transactions.
You see, the bitcoin network is extremely secure but very slow (in part because it is extremely secure). It would make your morning stop at Starbuck’s unbearable. Other technologies like the lightening network have offered potential solutions to the speed issue, but for now, bitcoin really is a gold-like commodity.
In the meantime, tech entrepreneurs have recognized that distributed ledger technology could be used for more than just money. Distributed ledgers are now being used to create a different kind of internet—the so called Web 3.0.
Web 3.0 is owned by the user. So think about internet businesses like google and Facebook now. You use them but they are being monetized by a single company that you don’t own.
Web 3.0, in theory, creates online businesses with similar functionality but now, instead of there being a separate owner, the platform is owned by anyone who owns a token to that business.
So…no more big brother like Facebook or Twitter telling you what you can or cannot post. And you aren’t making money for corporate America by using these platforms.
Anyway, so all these “crypto” projects outside of bitcoin really aren’t about exchanging value. They aren’t really meant to be money.
Instead, the tokens in these alt coins (anything but bitcoin) are more like owning stock in software companies.
Some software companies like Ethereum build infrastructure. Others are more specific and build functional businesses or games using the infrastructure software.
Anyway, hopefully you get the idea. Web 3.0 is coming for sure. It’s just a matter of time where it just infiltrates everything you do on the internet.
You may not even know you are using software built on one of these tech platforms. It will just be one more thing that makes our lives easier that we take for granted.
Anyway, a lot of these new programs and services require infrastructure that is not only on a distributed ledger and safe like bitcoin. But they also need to be fast.
Hedera (aka Hedera Hashgraph) was a project that I learned about and invested in about 6 years ago in a presale. It is arguably the fastest and most secure distributed ledger network in the world. It also currently has the most transactions.
In all transparency, I own a fair amount of its native token, HBAR. And, I have been praying for it to explode like many lesser cryptos have for the last 5-6 years.
At one point it had gone up about 5X from where I bought it but I never sold. Its technology is so good that I thought it had a lot more upside. And I still do despite it being half the price I bought it for a few years back.
Bottom line is that I have not lost faith. The project has met every goal on its timeline. It just hasn’t seen the kind of price action that you might expect from what it has accomplished.
To be clear, this podcast is not an endorsement to buy HBAR but it’s an example of one of my asymmetric bets that I thought I would share with you.
Cofounder Mance Harmon has been on the show before and was kind enough to join me again to tell you about the project and give us some insights into the crypto world today.
So if you’re curious what kinds of asymmetric bets I’m making, make sure to tune in!
Buck
P.S. If HBAR goes $30 I probably won’t be doing this show anymore LOL!
The post 391: Hedera/HBAR: My Asymmetric Dream appeared first on Wealth Formula.
- Other Types of Asymmetric Investing
- Example of Asymmetric Investing: Cryptocurrency
- Considering Asymmetric Investing
- Examples of Successful Asymmetric Investing
- Personal Experiences with Asymmetric Investing
The post 390: Back to School: Asymmetric Risk Investing appeared first on Wealth Formula.
So far in our back-to-school series, we have covered asset protection, estate planning and my capital allocation strategy.
Wouldn’t it be great if you could hit all these important concepts with a single investment? Well, as it turns out, you sort of can.
Let me back up and tell you a story. When I was fresh out of surgical residency and started to make some money, I started looking for advice on what to do with it. One of the questions I had was about life insurance. I was a newlywed and had a baby on the way (she just started high school by the way). So, I started asking the guys I was working with if I should buy term or permanent life insurance.
One of the younger surgeons was a bit of a know-it-all. He had a lot of advice about everything and most of it was not good. His facelifts weren’t good either as I started revising them just a few months later.
Nevertheless, I listened to what he had to say and he told me quite confidently to “buy term and invest the difference”. In other words, don’t buy permanent life insurance. Stick to term life insurance and, with the money you don’t spend on permanent life insurance, throw it into the stock market.
The older guy had very different advice. It was 2009 and he was planning to retire until the financial meltdown kicked his butt. He told me he wished he had bought more permanent life insurance because that was pretty much all he had left.
And while his situation was illustrative, I felt like I needed to do the opposite of whatever this guy suggested because I didn’t want to end up like him. So, I ended up buying term and didn’t think about it again until a couple of years later when I had started my own practice and was making a lot of money.
At that time, I was part of a mastermind with a bunch of high net worth business people. At some point life insurance came up and several of them talked about premium financed permanent life insurance policies.
It occurred to me that a lot of high net worth people actually were buying permanent life insurance despite what that know-it-all young surgeon told me. Anyway, a few years later, I decided to look back into my options. What I discovered was that both of those doctors that were giving me advice viewed permanent life insurance as something that it did not need to be: a poor yielding but stable investment.
The reason for that was that most professionals only get to see poorly designed policies that are primarily created to maximize commissions for those who sell insurance. What they think of as permanent life insurance is not the permanent life insurance of the rich. PERMANENT LIFE INSURANCE MEANS DIFFERENT THINGS FOR THE MIDDLE CLASS THAN IT DOES THE RICH.
The policies that the high net worth group had were designed very differently and optimized for investment purposes. In fact, in the high net worth world, these policies have a special name: LIRPs. That stands for life insurance retirement plan.
Permanent life insurance in this world plays a role in not only risk mitigation and estate planning, but also retirement income and asset protection. The more I learned about these strategies, the more they became no-brainers for me.
The guys that taught me most about this stuff are Rod Zabriskie and Christian Allen. They designed all my policies and now design policies for many of you as our Wealth Formula Banking partners.
On this week’s Wealth Formula Podcast, a couple of guys from that team are going to take us through the basics. If you haven’t heard about this stuff before, chances are that you are going to be blown away and wonder why you don’t already own a policy.
So make sure to tune in. The decision is yours, but you should at least know about permanent life insurance structures utilized by the rich.
Listen NOW!
Rod Zabriskie has been in financial services since 2009. Prior to going into business for himself, he worked in marketing and finance with several small businesses. He had the opportunity to purchase an existing furniture business in 2007, just prior to the Great Recession. The experience of struggling to stay afloat amid difficult economic conditions inspires Rod every day in his efforts to educate and assist his clients in implementing sound financial strategies.
He strongly advocates for establishing a firm foundation, utilizing proven strategies and financial tools to create a strong base upon which we can each build our financial house. In addition to focusing on Wealth Formula Banking and Velocity Plus, he has expertise in retirement income planning. Rod has a bachelor’s degree in Marketing Communications, and an MBA with an emphasis in Entrepreneurship.
He and his wife Jodi are the proud parents of 7 wonderful children. As a family they thrive on spending time exploring nature, playing games and doing projects together. He enjoys sports, music and reading.
Brenyn McConnell started in the finance industry in 2019 after he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Marketing with a minor in Management from Utah Valley University. While Brenyn was in school, he managed a sales team in New York and Connecticut for 3 years. He learned while training, mentoring, and leading more than 75 sales reps that most of his reps had very little financial education. This ignited Brenyn’s own financial education and is what ultimately guided him into the financial industry.
Brenyn started at a finance firm in Salt Lake City and quickly built his own practice with the same ideals and strategies that we believe in. Naturally, this led to a great fit between Brenyn and the Wealth Formula Banking team. He joined the team in 2020 and helps facilitate the education, implementation, and ongoing strategic review efforts of our clients. He is also our resident expert in disability income insurance.
Brenyn enjoys furthering his education in the alternative investment space through books, podcasts, and webinars. He has been married for 5 years to his wife Aubri, and they enjoy boating, camping, and traveling.
The post 389: Back to School: Maybe This is All You Need? appeared first on Wealth Formula.
- Asset Allocation
- Diversification and Leverage
- Permanent Life Insurance and the Wealth Accelerator
- Multi-Family Real Estate
- Asymmetric Investing: Taking a Risk
- How to Avoid Single-Point of Failure?
The post 388: Back to School: Buck’s Investment Philosophy appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Zulfe Ali is a broker dealer and investment advisor—but not your run-of-the-mill type in this field.
He’s been in the middle of the action on Wall Street as a mergers and acquisitions guy for JP Morgan and Bank of America in the 90s and ran a multibillion-dollar sovereign wealth fund for over a decade.
I’ve seen photos of him with world leaders like former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair and others as part of his former position. To say the least, he’s not one of those 6 week course advisors out there.
While he has now opened his door to individual investors like us, he is using institutional principals to help clients grow their money.
As you can imagine, those principals are quite different from your typical advisor and I am happy to endorse him to anyone looking for a third-party financial advisor. Many people have asked me for a recommendation throughout the years and I have not been able to give one until now.
In this episode of Wealth Formula Podcast, I speak to Zulfe about his perspective on asset allocation and the current economy. Make sure to tune in to see what a guy at his level is thinking.
And later on this week, tune in for my “Back to School” episode where I give you insight into how I design my own investment portfolio.
Listen NOW!
Zulfe is focused on bringing his experience and skills to help individuals, family offices and businesses to invest wisely, implement sound financial strategies, and protect their assets.
Zulfe has always immersed himself into the global financial markets. He began his career in the early 1990s, just prior to the “dot-com” boom at a boutique investment bank in San Francisco called Montgomery Securities. That firm was eventually acquired by Bank of America where Zulfe continued to work with investors in growth equities. He then joined JPMorgan’s acquisition finance team working both in New York and London to support private equity and corporate clients. After that, he went on an adventure to the Middle East and worked at a sovereign wealth fund as Chief Investment Officer with a mandate to diversify the existing investment portfolio through a global asset allocation strategy. Following that role, Zulfe joined a London based venture capital firm and helped to expand its presence in the US and launched its first US based fund out of Washington, DC.
Zulfe has an BA in Mathematics from Carleton College and an MBA from Cornell University.
Shownotes:
- Discussion on Retail vs Institutional Investing
- Importance of Diligence in Investing
- Examples of Investment Disasters
- Role of a Broker Dealer
- Introduction to Velerity Group Wealth
- Applying Institutional Investing Experience to Retail Investing
- Role of an Advisor
- Portfolio Diversification
- Current Economic Situation
- Effect of Interest Rates
- Investment Strategies
The post 387: Lessons from a Sovereign Wealth Fund Manager appeared first on Wealth Formula.
- Return to Personal Finance: Estate Planning
- Do You Need a Will?
- Is the Estate Tax Stupid?
- Avoiding the Estate Tax
The post 386: Back to School: Estate Planning appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Those of you who have been listening to me for a while know that I am not really a precious metals guy. I know the arguments and I respect them. Gold has held its price over an unprecedented amount of time. An ounce of gold got a guy a nice toga and sandals in Roman […]
The post 385: Should you buy Silver? appeared first on Wealth Formula.
I live in Montecito, CA. It’s a small beach town of about 5 thousand people at the southernmost part of Santa Barbara.
I moved here from Chicago in 2017 and started living here as a renter. One thing I learned over the years is that whenever I move to a new area, I always end up finding a part of town I like better so it’s best not to buy right away.
There was also quite a bit of sticker shock when I moved here. In the northern suburbs of Chicago where we moved from, I paid $2 million for a 7000 square foot home on 2.5 acres and an indoor pool.
$2 million didn’t get you much of anything in Montecito so I needed some time to digest this new reality for a bit as well.
In hindsight, that wasn’t such a good move. Since 2017, Montecito homes saw an average sale price increase of over 60 percent—the steepest rise in prices in California during this time. And to be frank, that number sounds a bit low to me.
Covid didn’t help. Rich people from LA, San Francisco and New York realized that if they had to work from Zoom anyway, they might as well do it from paradise where they could also hike the mountains and go to the beach on the same day.
You know what else didn’t help?… Low interest rates. However, I will say that the number of cash buyers of multimillion-dollar homes in my area is unreal.
As for the rest of the country, the suburbs pretty much everywhere took off. Near zero interest rates and nowhere to go made people buy homes so they had a nice place to be all day long while quarantined.
Now that quarantines are over and interest rates are high, you might think home prices would have fallen off the cliff. Nope.
Remember it’s all about supply and demand. Right now, supply is low. Why? Well, if you bought an expensive house at a fixed rate in the last few years would you be selling anytime soon?
Mortgage rates have more than doubled. In other words, many people today could not afford the house they bought a few years ago. That’s a problem across the country.
As a result, supply is so low that even minimal demand is keeping housing prices high. All I can say is thank God I ended up buying a house before it got too crazy.
The issues around real estate prices right now are complex but worth understanding. My guest on this week’s Wealth Formula Podcast is an economist who specializes in these specific issues.
Make sure to tune in and see what she has to say about this very unique time in real estate history.
Selma Hepp is the Chief Economist for CoreLogic, America’s largest provider of advanced property and ownership information, analytics and data-enabled services. Selma leads the economics team, which is responsible for analyzing, interpreting and forecasting housing and economic trends in real estate, mortgage and insurance.
Prior to joining CoreLogic in 2020, Selma was Chief Economist and Vice President of Business Intelligence for Pacific Union International, later acquired by Compass, where she oversaw the vital economic and technology intelligence to drive the expanding brokerage’s success. Selma also held the role of Chief Economist for Trulia; Senior Economist for the California Association of Realtors; and Economist and Manager for Public Policy and Homeownership research for the National Association of Realtors, as well as a special research assistant at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Selma frequently appears on local and national radio and television programs and has been widely quoted in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and many industry trade publications such as National Mortgage News and HousingWire. Selma received the HousingWire Women of Influence Award in 2022. She has served as president of the Los Angeles chapter of the National Association for Business Economics (NABE), NABE Real Estate Roundtable co-chair, Board member of the International Student Exchange Program, Advisory Board member of the REALTOR® University Research Center Editorial Review and a Member of the Housing Policy Debate Editorial Advisory Board. Selma held a Real Estate Associate professional license in Florida and Virginia.
Selma graduated from the State University of New York, Buffalo with an M.A. in Economics and holds a Ph.D. from the University of Maryland.
The post 384: High Mortgage Rates Does Not Equal Housing Crash appeared first on Wealth Formula.
I don’t know about you but my kids are about to head back to school. In this spirit of that, I thought it might be nice for us to get back to basics as well.
For the next few weeks, I will be releasing at least one podcast that involves the basics of personal finance in addition to whatever else may be on the docket.
This week’s back-to-school episode is about asset protection and my guest is Doug Lodmell.
Make sure to tune in and let me know if these shows are helpful!
Born in Geneva, Switzerland, attorney Douglass S. Lodmell has excellent knowledge and the highest level of experience in estate planning, taxation and strategic asset protection for domestic and international clients. In addition to a Juris Doctorate from Cardozo School of Law, Douglass has a Bachelor of Science degree in finance as well as an advance law degree (LL.M.) in taxation from NYU School of Law. He has authored numerous articles for professional journals as well as a popular book about the explosion of lawsuits in America called The Lawsuit Lottery: The Hijacking of Justice in America. Doug’s extensive experience in asset protection make him a frequent guest speaker at medical, and professional conferences and seminars throughout the country, as well as teaching concepts of asset protection to other attorneys at continuing legal education seminars throughout the country. For information on inviting Doug to speak at your group, meeting or convention contact Coletta Anderson at Coletta@www.lodmell.com.
The post 383: Back To School: Asset Protection appeared first on Wealth Formula.
I have a medical degree and am a former board-certified surgeon. Yet that is not my identity. My identity is that of an entrepreneur and investor. This is an identify for which I did not go to school. Without trying to sound dramatic, I was born this way. I think it’s a genetic thing. You […]
The post 382: Should You Consider Buying a Franchise? appeared first on Wealth Formula.
It turns out that the conversation about getting out of fossil fuels and into green energy is a lot more complicated than just energy. Of course “black gold” has literally fueled our society into its wealthiest state since the beginning of man. No one argues that. But there is a clear movement globally to try […]
The post 381: Clean Energy Solves Only Part of the Problem appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Buck: Welcome back to the show, everyone, today. My guest on Wealth from your podcast is Hazzard Lee. He’s a fighter pilot, author and speaker and the author of The Art of Clear Thinking Stealth Fighters Pilots Timeless Rules for Making Tough Decisions. HAZZARD Welcome to the program. Hasard: Thanks for having me on. Buck: […]
The post 380: Investing Through the Eyes of a Fighter Pilot appeared first on Wealth Formula.
It has been a tough year for real investors. Inflation and interest rates have created distress and uncertainty. But let me remind you of a few things. Investing isn’t for the faint-hearted. EVERYONE loses at some point. The idea that you can always win is a fallacy. Of course everyone would agree with that statement […]
The post 380: Investing Through the Eyes of a Fighter Pilot appeared first on Wealth Formula.
I was in high school when the Berlin Wall came down. The ensuing decade was really like no other I have experienced in my life. It was the 1990s. There was no more cold war. Decades of fear of nuclear annihilation vanished into thin air. And 9/11 had not yet happened so we did not […]
The post 379: Do Human Cycles Drive Economic Cycles? appeared first on Wealth Formula.
The post Bonus Episode: Breakthrough in Early Cancer Detection? appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Why is financial education not part of our school system? To understand that, you have to understand where our school system came from. Our educational system started during the industrial revolution and was influenced heavily by the Prussian system. What do you think of when you hear “industrial revolution?” I think of factories and conveyor […]
The post 378: Forcing Schools to Teach Financial Literacy appeared first on Wealth Formula.
This week’s podcast is about energy. But before we do that I want to comment on a few things about our investing ecosystem. A decade ago when I first started playing around with this podcast concept I was very excited about a whole new world of investing that I was learning about. Why invest in […]
The post 377: Why is Oil Still Expensive Despite Clean Energy? appeared first on Wealth Formula.
What a crazy ride it’s been. Despite Covid, plunging interest rates actually made home prices explode to new highs. In my own neighborhood, housing prices doubled. Then it started to look like the housing bubble had started to burst. There were mortgage companies in distress and laid off thousands. Economists warned the next housing recession […]
The post 376: What Big Data Has to Say about Home Prices appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Last week I called the economy schizophrenic. Actually, that’s an insult to schizophrenics. This is simply a dysfunctional economy. It’s the product of a good idea called capitalism with excessive intervention—namely by the Federal Reserve Bank of the United States. Today’s economy reminds me a little bit of the movie, Jurassic Park. Altering the natural […]
The post 375: Stalking Economists for Answers: Richard Duncan appeared first on Wealth Formula.
I am annoyed with this economy. That doesn’t seem like a very professional thing to say but I don’t know how else to express my feelings any better. You see, nothing really makes sense. Inflation has been as high as it has been since the 1980s. At first, the Fed didn’t think it was real […]
The post 374: Trying to Understand a Schizophrenic Economy appeared first on Wealth Formula.
There is a significant amount of distress in the investor world right now. With inflation and interest rates climbing quickly, it has left the equity and real estate markets in shambles. We will get through this. And while I encourage you to fight against the fear of investing so that you can take advantage of […]
The post 373: The Investment that Keeps on Giving (Even When You Die) appeared first on Wealth Formula.
With rising interest rates, I keep getting questions about whether value-add real estate is dead. The answer to that question is a firm no. Remember, people have made money and lost money in all kinds of interest rate and cap rate environments. The interest rates we have right now aren’t even close to the highest […]
The post 372: What You Need to Know About AI appeared first on Wealth Formula.
This week’s Wealth Formula Podcast features me trying to answer your questions. Make sure to tune in as I try to answer questions about interest rates, the state of value add real estate and Central Bank Distributed Coins! Listen HERE
The post 371: Ask Buck June 2023 appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Joe Biden says the economy is “strong as hell” but he’s wrong. Interest rates increasing at the steepest slope in history over the last year have caused a serious problem for the economy and hell is about to break loose.
I’m not the zombie apocalypse type but I have seen some shady-looking dead people walking around with silver dollars in my yard and I am a little concerned.
Bankruptcies are up 216 percent on the year, higher than the 2008 crisis and double that during the Covid lockdowns. This is before a recession has even been declared.
Banks aren’t lending. Much like they did in 2008, they are sitting on bailout money. Not only does this cause bankruptcies but it also keeps healthy companies from thriving.
The Federal Reserve has really screwed us and it could take a while before we dig ourselves out of the impending mess. It doesn’t help that the current administration appears blind to the problems that we face.
We as real estate investors are not immune from the carnage. We rely heavily on debt and those rates have made the markets illiquid and have significantly affected property values.
So we need to come to grips that there is a good chance many of us are going to lose some money soon. I know I have already.
But it is important to put things in context. The ride up has been fun. Anything people bought and sold between 2009-2021 invariably was a win. But that’s not how markets work. Everybody loses sometimes.
The key is understanding that to get ahead you have to win more than you lose. That means learning lessons when you lose and also not giving up.
In other words, just because you lose some money in this market doesn’t mean you don’t prepare yourself to take advantage of the same set of facts on the buy side. That would be a mistake.
Nothing that happens in the next year is going to kill you. Don’t lose sleep over it. This too shall pass.
My guest on Wealth Formula Podcast this week has thought and written a great deal about the psychology of investing and retirement. Listen to this interview as it may help you to navigate the headwinds before us.
Emily Guy Birken is a finance writer who writes the “Live Like a Mensch” column for The Dollar Stretcher. She is also a contributor to Wise Bread, PT Money, Money Crashers, Yahoo! Finance, and Business Insider, and many other personal finance sites. She edits and writes for the FinCon blog, an annual conference for financial bloggers. She is the author of The 5 Years Before You Retire, Choose Your Retirement, Making Social Security Work for You, and End Financial Stress Now. You can visit her at SAHMnambulist.blogspot.com.
The post 370: Psychological Components to Investing and Retirement When the Economy is Screwed appeared first on Wealth Formula.
I was a surgical resident for years. I started out as a neurosurgeon, moved over to Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery then ended up in cosmetics.
During my training, it didn’t matter how much I worked. I would always get the same paycheck. I wasn’t lazy but I certainly didn’t enjoy working for what amounted to minimum wage. And I was not about to volunteer for any more work than I was assigned.
Eventually I did finish training and I was hired by a facelift company. I know it sounds kind of weird but they would recruit patients with questionable marketing tactics and hired an army of young surgeons to do the work.
I got paid about 15 percent on revenue I generated for the company. They didn’t charge as much as your typical facelift surgeon, but because I was doing 3-4 facelifts a day, it turned out to be really good money. For reference, my most recent job was as a chief resident in San Francisco for which I was paid $50K per year (that’s poverty in SF).
The day I became a capitalist was the day I got my first real paycheck. In two weeks, I made more than I did in my entire surgical internship year. It blew my mind.
Suddenly I realized that the harder I worked the more money I could make. And that made me work really hard! Suddenly, I was more than happy to put in long hours. I enjoyed doing the procedures and I was good at it. But I also liked the idea that my work was getting proportionally rewarded with dollars.
There was a noticeable change in my spirit. Even though I didn’t own the place, I cared about the office and wanted to make sure we were doing a good job. I took ownership and that mattered. After all, in the history of the world, no one ever took a rental car to the car wash.
Of course, like all entrepreneurs, I eventually realized that there was an even better way to make money than getting paid for the amount of work I did for the business—own your own business.
I went on to start multiple businesses and the rest is history. But the moral of the story is that opportunity for those who have talent and work hard is endless in our country and getting paid for the first time gave me my first taste of that. Anything that threatens that reward system threatens the very core spirit of who we are.
Of course not everyone shares my views—especially these days. And it’s not always as simple as perhaps I make it sound. We still need to take care of people in need and we still need to provide opportunity for the underprivileged.
This became even more evident during Covid when people simply couldn’t work. But I fear some of the remedies of a difficult time have permanently altered our culture. After all, it is difficult to take things away from people after you give it to them.
My guest on Wealth Formula Podcast today was right in the middle of policy making during the Covid crisis and was making decisions like what to do about people who couldn’t pay their rent.
What makes his perspective interesting is that he is a libertarian who works for a libertarian think tank. Find out how a small government guy navigated the biggest government intervention in American history on today’s economy on this week’s Wealth Formula Podcast!
Mark A. Calabria is a senior advisor to the Cato Institute. He provides strategic input and direction on the federal economic policymaking process. He previously served as director of financial regulation at the Cato Institute, where he cofounded Cato’s Center for Monetary and Financial Alternatives.
Calabria is the former director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, which regulates and supervises Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the Federal Home Loan Banks. During his service at the agency, Calabria led the response to COVID-19, as well as laid the groundwork for a removal of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from government conservatorship.
Prior to his heading of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, Calabria served as chief economist to Vice President Mike Pence. In that role, he led the vice president’s work on taxes, trade, labor, financial services, manufacturing, and general economic issues, including serving as a key member of the team that enacted the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 and on the team that crafted the United States‐Mexico‐Canada trade agreement. Calabria served as the vice president’s primary representative for the U.S.-Japan Economic Dialogue.
Calabria served as a senior aide to the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs under chairs Richard Shelby and Phil Gramm. During his Senate service, he acted as the primary drafter of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008, which established a stronger regulatory framework for the government‐sponsored housing enterprises. He also led the banking committee’s response to Hurricane Katrina, as well as its work on the Shelby‐Dodd Flood Insurance Reform and Modernization Act of 2008, which served as the basis for the Biggert‐Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012.
Prior to his Senate service, Calabria served as the deputy assistant secretary for regulatory affairs in the Office of Housing at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Calabria has also held positions with Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies, the National Association of Realtors, and the National Association of Home Builders. He holds a doctorate in economics from George Mason University.
Shownotes:
- Risk-Based Pricing in Financial Services
- The Importance of Credit Scores
- Limitations of Landlord-Eviction Pause
- The Soundness of the Banking System
- Market Caution and Investment Opportunities
- Federal Reserve Actions and Inflation
The post 369: Big Government Craziness in a Troubled Economy appeared first on Wealth Formula.
When I was a kid, my dad deposited $1,000 for me and my two siblings at a local bank. I’m not exactly sure why he did that, but what I do recall is that my older siblings showed me that I could go into the bank every couple of months and ask for “interest.”
I remember being about 7-8 years old and riding my BMX bike to the local bank with my bank passbook in hand. For those of you who remember, the passbook was kind of like a passport with your bank information. Every time you made a deposit or withdrawal, they would put the record in there.
This was the early 1980s, and interest rates were exceeding 15 percent. Now I don’t know exactly what my rate was, but I do remember coming out of that bank with serious dough—like 20 bucks at a time. To celebrate, I’d cross the street and get myself a 99-cent McDonald’s cheeseburger.
Times have changed. No more passbooks, and I doubt the bank would let my 8-year-old daughter walk in and ask for the interest on her account. In fact, they would probably laugh at her and tell her that banks don’t pay interest anymore.
But wait…should they be? Back in those high-interest days, people were getting 10 percent interest on their money and living off of it. Of course, for the last several years, we have been accustomed to near-zero interest rates. It was great for taking out loans but not great for deposits.
The thing is that now interest rates have risen back to levels more consistent with historical levels, and banks really ought to be paying us more interest. They know that.
But as my buddy Peter Arts recently pointed out to me, they aren’t going to offer it to you unless you ask. Pete’s my old neighbor in Chicago and knows the banking system as much as anyone else.
He’s getting over 5 percent on his money sitting in the bank, and he says we should be too. Simple tweaks to make you thousands of dollars per year sounded like a great reason to interview him for this week’s Wealth Formula Podcast.
Not listening to this podcast could literally cost you tens of thousands of dollars, so make sure to tune in!
Peter Arts served as the Bank of Montreal’s Global Asset Management’s global head of liquidity for the last ten years. In addition, he was also the head of U.S. private debt, taxable fixed income, and Canadian fixed income. He oversaw $50 billion in assets across Toronto, Chicago, and London, managed by a global team of portfolio managers and credit analysts. He has also served on global committees for counterparty investment and risk.
Shownotes:
- Insights on Banking and Interest Rates
- What happened with SVB?
- What is the difference between SVB and larger banks?
- Banking for Profit and Economic Indicators
The post 368: Your Bank Probably Owes You Money appeared first on Wealth Formula.
When new listeners of Wealth Formula Podcast tell me they started from the beginning to catch up, I cringe a little bit.
It’s not that the original material was bad. For me, it’s just like looking at pictures of guys in the 80s with feathered hair (Think Dukes of Hazard). Or guys with perms.
At the time it seemed like a good idea but it isn’t anymore. But then again, maybe it will be back in vogue again in the future. (P.S. PLEASE MOM JEANS BE A THING OF THE PAST!)
Like hairstyles through the decades, my views on personal finance have changed with time and some have gone full circle.
Was I wrong before and right now? Not really. My perspective is just different. And, I suspect 5 years from now I will, again, cringe at some of the things I am saying today.
Like many guys approaching 50, I am becoming a little bit less dogmatic about my opinions than before— a little more open-minded.
For example, I no longer look down on people who invest in stocks and bonds. In fact, it might not be a bad idea to grab a Vanguard index or two while the markets are in the toilet.
That said, I’m still deeply dedicated to the alternative asset space. At my core, I’m a real estate guy but I’ve even opened up to other alternative assets lately.
You know I like my ATM machines, but have now begun dipping my toes into private business—random stuff like cargo ships and trade finance in the Middle East.
My opinions on gold as an alternative asset have been the most dynamic throughout the years. I started out telling people to buy gold and to load up on silver dollars.
I was telling people to buy monster boxes of American Eagles in preparation for the Zombie Apocalypse—because everyone knows Zombies only accept silver coins as tender.
Then one day I became violently against buying precious metals. I didn’t see the point. What do precious metals do that real estate does not? Both are physical inflation hedges but real estate cash flows and has tremendous tax advantages. The IRS code for gold profits is downright punitive. And where would I bury it?
Then some banks started failing and I started to see a glimpse of the doomsday perspective again and it started to make more sense to own some gold. To be clear, I still don’t own any gold now. I just have that monster box of silver coins sitting somewhere in a nuclear bunker.
So now, I’m back in the camp of “maybe I should buy some gold”.
But… I’m still not sure. I’m listening and reading to a lot of people on this topic. One of the more respected gold bugs out there is Brien Lundin. Brien is a very rational guy on the topic and has a great newsletter to boot.
This week on Wealth Formula Podcast, I pick Brien’s brain on the whole topic of gold again. It’s a conversation worth listening to.
Listen NOW!
With a career spanning four decades in the investment markets, Brien Lundin serves as president and CEO of Jefferson Financial, Inc., a highly regarded producer of investment-oriented events and publisher of investment newsletters and special reports. Under the Jefferson Financial umbrella, Mr. Lundin serves as publisher and editor of Gold Newsletter, the publication that has been the cornerstone of precious metals advisories since 1971, and as the host of the annual New Orleans Investment Conference, the oldest and most respected investment event of its kind.
As editor of Gold Newsletter, Mr. Lundin covers not only resource stocks, but also the entire world of investing, from small-caps of every type to macroeconomics and geopolitical issues that ultimately affect every investor. As host of the New Orleans Investment Conference, Mr. Lundin has annually brought the giants of investing, economics and geopolitics together in intimate presentations with many of today’s most sophisticated private investors. In all of these endeavors, Mr. Lundin has striven to burnish the brilliant legacy of the late James U. Blanchard III, his great friend and the founder of both Gold Newsletter and the New Orleans Investment Conference.
The post 367: Is Buying Gold a Good Idea or Not? appeared first on Wealth Formula.
I used to be a guy who prided myself on being a minimalist. Despite doing pretty well for myself financially, I drove the same 2007 Prius I bought the day after residency until just a couple of years ago.
My clothes often didn’t fit and I never shaved. Oh yeah—I was about 25 pounds heavier because I didn’t really care how I looked. I also didn’t really spend much on vacations or special events— I used to just blame that one on parenthood.
It’s funny because I sort of took pride in my rejection of material possessions and my frumpy looks. I was sort of giving society the finger.
Then all hell broke loose: namely the beginning of Covid lockdown and the end of my marriage. They kind of happened at the same time so it was a little rough.
Confused and disoriented, I didn’t know what to do so I just began to hike the beautiful mountains in Montecito. It reminds me of the movie, Forrest Gump, where Forrest just decides to run one day and keeps going back and forth across the country until he seemed to figure something out.
I hiked so much during those days that I pretty quickly shed most of my extra weight. Meditating on my life through those gorgeous trails every day made me see myself for what I had become: kind of repulsive.
Ok, so maybe that sounds a little harsh but that’s the way I saw the old me. I needed to update my self-image for myself.
It started out with the material things. I bought that Italian sports car I always wanted. I bought clothes that actually fit me and that were younger than my children and I started to take my health seriously. Oh… and I started shaving every day.
They say the Chinese word for crisis is the same as the word for opportunity. Well, I took this crisis as an opportunity to overhaul my life and to start over.
In starting over, I became acutely aware of the time I had wasted not living the life I want: material or otherwise. I just didn’t want to spend the money. But why wasn’t I spending any of this money that I was working so hard to make?
After all, I can’t take the money with me after I’m gone. I’d already done a good job of setting my kids up with assets and insurance. Why not spend on me?
Well, that’s what I started doing! And I have to tell you it’s a lot more fun than the alternative. And maybe I’m spending too much now, but I also have a lot of time to make up for.
So now I’m buying the stuff I want and also living a life full of new experiences. The funny thing is that this was supposed to be about me, but I found that this change has also been great for my daughters as we now travel more and go to a lot of cool events.
So why do I bring this up? Well, a couple of months ago, a friend and WF listener texted me and suggested I read a book by Bill Perkins called Die with Zero and it seemed to encapsulate so much of my new ethos that I wanted to share my thoughts on it with you. So I grabbed a couple of familiar faces to do a little book club on this week’s Wealth Formula Podcast. Make sure to tune in!
Rod Zabriskie has been in financial services since 2009. Prior to going into business for himself, he worked in marketing and finance with several small businesses. He had the opportunity to purchase an existing furniture business in 2007, just prior to the Great Recession. The experience of struggling to stay afloat amid difficult economic conditions inspires Rod every day in his efforts to educate and assist his clients in implementing sound financial strategies. He strongly advocates for establishing a firm foundation, utilizing proven strategies and financial tools to create a strong base upon which we can each build our financial house. In addition to focusing on Wealth Formula Banking and Velocity Plus, he has expertise in retirement income planning. Rod has a bachelor’s degree in Marketing Communications, and an MBA with an emphasis in Entrepreneurship. He and his wife Jodi are the proud parents of 7 wonderful children. As a family they thrive on spending time exploring nature, playing games and doing projects together. He enjoys sports, music and reading.
Christian Allen joined the financial services industry in 2004. Over the course of his career to date, he has developed a broad-based knowledge and experience set. He began as a traditional advisor, working with local clients in his home state. In that context, he began a movement of successfully partnering with other professionals, including accountants and attorneys, to assist clients in implementing sound financial strategies. He spent more than five years in management with 2 regional planning firms, during which time he assisted new and seasoned professionals in creating efficient systems and methods to build meaningful practices. Over the last several years, he has expanded to working across the country, teaching financial principles, and working with clients across a broad spectrum, including wealth accumulation, retirement distribution planning, as well as innovative, advanced planning strategies for both high-income and high-net-worth individuals and businesses. He’s a member of AALU, and holds the designations of Accredited Asset Management SpecialistSM and Accredited Wealth Management AdvisorSM Christian is married and has two children, and is an avid sports fan.
Shownotes:
- Die with Zero by Bill Perkins
- Is there a benefit to getting convertible term insurance now?
- How can you enjoy your life right now without worrying too much about retirement?
- Rod and Christian’s event: https://mivirtualsummit.com/
The post 366: Book Club: Die with Zero appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Government is a funny thing. It is an organization that makes and enforces rules and regulations. The more rules and regulations it makes, the bigger it gets. It’s a monster.
Government is also a significant employer that doesn’t seem to care much about being lean and profitable. Instead, it thrives on making itself even bigger and creating more things to control.
But as the government starts to infringe on people’s perceived personal space, people start to push back and that is the only force that resists this monster’s thirst for power.
Make no mistake, during these times when governments are held in check by their people, the monster’s appetite for power and growth does not go away. It lurks in the background waiting for its opportunity to pounce.
That opportunity comes when people are at their most vulnerable—in times of crisis. When things go south, people are willing to give up more of their freedoms in exchange for stability. Governments are more than happy to oblige.
Just think about some of the crises in recent history and the government response to those events: The Terrorist attack of 9/11, the 2008 financial crisis, Covid, and the Silicon Valley Bank failure. In each situation, the government found an opportunity to change the rules and obtain more control.
This playbook isn’t just a conspiracy theory. It’s just how things work. Mainstream government figures will tell you the same as you’ll find out in this week’s episode of Wealth Formula Podcast.
Listen Now!
Alex J. Pollock is a Senior Fellow with the Mises Institute, providing thought and policy leadership on financial issues and the study of financial systems. His work includes cycles of booms and busts, financial crises with their political responses, housing finance, government-sponsored enterprises, risk and uncertainty, central banking, banking and financial regulation, corporate governance, retirement finance, student loans, and the politics of finance.
He previously served as the Principal Deputy Director of the Office of Financial Research in the U.S. Treasury Department 2019-2021. He was a Distinguished Senior Fellow with the R Street Institute 2015-2019 and 2021, and a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, 2004-2015. Among the many aspects of his AEI work, he developed the One Page Mortgage Form to give borrowers in clear form the key information they need in order to know what they are committing themselves to. He was President and CEO of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago from 1991 to 2004. There he invented the Mortgage Partnership Finance program, which successfully created front-end mortgage credit risk sharing beginning in 1997. His decades of banking experience include being a Visiting Scholar at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, 1991.
Pollock was a director of the CME Group 2004-2019 and of Ascendium Education Group 1989-2019. He is a director and past-chairman of the Great Books Foundation and a past president of the International Union for Housing Finance.
He is the author of Surprised Again! – The COVID Crisis and the New Market Bubble (2022), Finance and Philosophy—Why We’re Always Surprised (2018), and Boom and Bust: Financial Cycles and Human Prosperity (2011), as well as numerous articles and Congressional testimony.
Pollock is a graduate of Williams College, the University of Chicago, and Princeton University.
He and his wife, Anne, live in Lake Forest, Illinois; they have four grown children and ten grandchildren. His interests include political finance, policy, history, ideas, management, music, and the pursuit of clarity.
Howard B. Adler is an attorney and former government official. He served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for the Financial Stability Oversight Council, where his job was to monitor and remediate threats to the financial stability of the United States. The Secretary of the Treasury awarded him the Treasury Distinguished Service Award for his work. For over 30 years, he was a partner at the law firm of Gibson Dunn & Crutcher, LLP, where he was cohead of the firm’s corporate transactional practice. He received numerous professional accolades as a lawyer, including recognition by Chambers USA: America’s Leading Business Lawyers as a Senior Statesman and Tier 1 mergers and acquisitions and private equity lawyer in Washington, D.C.; Best Lawyers in America for securities law and mergers and acquisitions; and Super Lawyers for mergers and acquisitions and securities/ capital markets law. Prior to Gibson Dunn, he was Executive Vice President and General Counsel of The Riggs National Bank of Washington, D.C. Mr. Adler received his B.A. from The Johns Hopkins University and his J.D. from New York University School of Law, where he was Note and Comment Editor of the Law Review. Mr. Adler has served as a member of the Board of Governing Trustees of American Ballet Theatre, Treasurer of the Washington D.C. Bar and Secretary of the Johns Hopkins Alumni Council.
Shownotes:
- Government agencies tend to use moments of shock in the boom and bust cycles to gain power
- Is all finance political?
- Surprised Again! – The COVID Crisis and the New Market Bubble
The post 365: Crisis=Opportunity for Governments to Seize Control appeared first on Wealth Formula.
You know the old saying coined by Ben Franklin, “Nothing is certain except death and taxes”. Longevity science might eventually prove that death is not inevitable but for the time being it is.
As for taxes? Well, I’ve spent a lot of episodes talking about tax mitigation while you live and I know for a fact that a number of you are legally not paying income tax. (HINT: REP)
But there’s another kind of punitive tax called the estate tax (aka death tax) that kicks in when you die. The death tax is sometimes also referred to as the “stupid tax” because it has been creatively dealt with by savvy estate attorneys for years. They would tell you if you died with a ton of money without this kind of planning you might have been kind of stupid.
All of this stuff might seem a bit too sophisticated for your situation if you are not in the ultra high net worth crowd. After all, doesn’t that estate tax thing kick in at $25 million if you’re a married couple? Well…for now, yes. But various tax laws are changing and that amount gets cut in half in just a couple of years.
Do you think you are likely to have an estate of greater than $12.5 million ($6 million if single) by the time you die? If you listen to my podcast then there is a good chance the answer is yes.
In other words, don’t think that the world of irrevocable trusts and gifting does not apply to you because you aren’t worth that much today. It’s probably a pretty good idea for you to at least know your options.
Even if you believe you will never get that wealthy, there are some things that pretty much everyone should do when it comes to estate planning. These things are inexpensive and only have to be done once.
Whichever camp you fall in, this week’s episode of Wealth Formula Podcast will be of interest to you as I interview my own estate planning attorney, Joe Longo.
This topic might not sound sexy but I’m quite sure you will find this interview to be extremely useful and pragmatic. Make sure to tune in!
Joe began the LONGO LAW GROUP, LLP on the foundation of service of clients and results. He was influenced by his father, Dominic Longo, who founded Longo Toyota at a converted gas station with a 4 car inventory and eventually built it into a 22 acre facility housing the #1 selling car dealership in the world based on customer satisfaction. When most people are looking to hire a law firm its because they need something in the legal world accomplished. Its not to get overcharged and to have your attorney stop communicating with you. This firm’s philosophy is to provide the most vigorous representation, best service, ongoing communication, and at the most competitive rates. Joe has numerous Federal and State jury and bench trials under his belt, along with his sports practice that includes arbitrations, grievances, drug suspension hearings and appeals. Over the past two plus decades Joe’s practice has included Civil Litigation (business), Criminal (both State and Federal-Tax), Probate Litigation, Sports (MLB and NBA), Asset Protection, Trust and Estate planning. His clients have ranged from publicly traded, international, corporations, professional athletes, professional sports franchises, leagues, individuals, to volunteer pro bono work for indigent clients. Along the way he has taught law at Los Angeles City College, Mission College, and Pasadena City College, and is currently an Adjunct Professor at Loyola Law School. He has sat as a Judge Pro Temp in the Los Angeles Court System. He has been a Panelist on many law panels including “USC Gould School of Law— Institute on Entertainment Law and Business”, “Loyola Sports Law Institute on Collective Bargaining & Individual Contract Negotiation In Professional Sports”, and “Negotiation For Lawyers—Lessons from Baseball Salary Arbitration Cases” Joe is also the President of Paragon Sports International, LLC (www.ParagonSportsInternational.com).
Joe has attained an “AV” peer rating from Martindale Hubbell, the national directory of attorneys, indicating preeminent legal ability and the highest ethical standards. He is a member of the California Bar, the Beverly Hills Bar Association, the Los Angeles Bar Association, the Sports Lawyers Association, and The Wealth Counsel. He received his B.A. from Brown University in Rhode Island, where he was a starting Defensive Back on the Brown University Football Team in the mid 1980’s. He obtained his Law Degree from Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, CA. His charitable endeavors include sitting on the Board of Ability First.
The post 364: Death Without Taxes appeared first on Wealth Formula.
I have been at this alternate investment game since I finished surgical residency in 2009. Luckily, since then my wins have significantly outnumbered my losses and I have made a lot more money than I ever did as a physician.
But It hasn’t always been smooth sailing. The first apartment building I bought for myself in 2010 was a big flop. Why? Well, I knew how to do real estate from reading lots of books and crunching numbers, but I didn’t really know how to not get bamboozled. Let’s just say the seller in that first deal was creative with his financials and I didn’t anticipate blatant fraud while I was doing my due diligence.
I should have known better than to buy in a D-class South Side Chicago neighborhood anyways. I lost $300K when I sold that building but it was a tremendous relief to get it off my hands. Sound horrible, I know. But frankly, the amount I learned by experiencing my own personal real estate horror story was priceless. Since then, I’ve never lost money on any apartment building.
When I started investing in assets as a limited partner, the skill set for success was different. Early on, I was given some reasonable advice: Only invest with those who you know, like and trust. That’s not terrible advice but what I’ve realized over the years is that it is incomplete. There is a lot more to investing than to know, like and trust the operator.
For example, you may know, like and trust your brother-in-law who is starting out in real estate syndication. But that doesn’t mean he knows how to operate a multimillion-dollar asset. He may give it his best shot but that doesn’t make him competent and certainly does not put your investment in good hands.
Know, like and trust is only useful to the extent that it should give you some confidence that someone is not trying to rob you (on purpose). After that, you have to do your own research. Ronald Reagan used to say, “Trust…but verify”. You can trust the operator but you still need to verify their competence. Ask a lot of questions. Look at the qualifications of the team to carry out the business plan put forth and be cognizant of the operator’s track record.
If you do all of these things, you will minimize your risk of disappointment. I say minimize because there are no guarantees in the world of investing. In competent hands, real estate will provide a profitable outcome most of the time. But not always.
So what is an alternative investor to do? The task of vetting where you deploy your assets may seem both critically important and daunting. So, what are your options? Well, you could give up and invest in Vanguard ETFs. If you do that, you might be able to preserve your wealth but you aren’t going to get wealthy. Alternatives create wealth on a regular basis.
So what else can you do to maximize your chances of success? I have said this before but will say it again—there is great power in collective intelligence—especially if people bring different skill sets to the table. At the very least, creating such a tribe of like-minded individuals will help to pool the right questions to ask about any opportunity.
So how do you put together a tribe? After all, chances are that your friends and family are not into this stuff. If they are, you are all set. Otherwise, you may need to go to some in-person meetings like our Wealth Formula Events and network with others of like mind.
The concept of tribe is really important in alternative investing. My guest on this week’s Wealth Formula Podcast created a business to help various tribes to deploy capital in an efficient way. Make sure to listen in for some ideas on how you and your tribe could use these tools!
Tribevest CEO, Travis Smith, dreamed out loud about building generational wealth and forever altering our family’s financial trajectory. However, he’d never been introduced to ways of private investing, and wealth-building seemed out of reach. Travis and his brothers realized that they could overcome our lack of experience and know-how if we worked together.
But they had to confront the more obvious and immediate barrier — we lacked the capital required to break into wealth-building, freedom investments. By forming and funding an Investor Tribe, they unlocked a new future and the secrets of the wealthy.
Shownotes:
- TribeVest.com/wf and use the code “BUCK50”
The post 363: Know, Like and Trust is Not Enough appeared first on Wealth Formula.
I am going to keep this brief because I have a cold and I don’t want to subject you to Sudafed altered commentary.
This week’s Wealth Formula Podcast features an interview with Jay Parsons who is Chief Economist at RealPage. He is an authority on topics affecting multifamily apartments which, of course, is of significant interest to us all.
The picture that he presents is one of transition. The short term is consistent with what we are already experiencing…pain.
But as I said last week, there seems to be an undercurrent of optimism for the near future given the significant interest from big money to invest in apartment buildings.
I was encouraged to hear what Jay had to say and I think you will be too.
Let me know what you think!
Jay Parsons serves as Senior Vice President, Chief Economist for RealPage, leading the Economist and Industry Principal teams to provide deep insights on market trends and consumer behaviors. He is a frequent author and speaker on topics affecting multifamily apartments and single-family rentals, including rental housing investment and asset management strategy, rental housing policy issues, risk mitigation and property management.
Jay has been cited in The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, The Financial Times, The Economist, and The New York Times, and he has appeared on CNBC and BloombergTV. His commentaries have been published by Barron’s, the Pension Real Estate Association, the Mortgage Bankers Association, the National Apartment Association, American Banker and GlobeSt.
The post 362: Multifamily Real Estate is STILL the Place to Be appeared first on Wealth Formula.
The Fed just raised rates another 25 basis points despite global banking instability and investor angst. This wasn’t a surprise. Curtailing inflation continues to be their primary motivation.
How long will the Fed continue to raise rates? Well, inflation has to be clearly under control and/or there must be something else that happens that threatens the global economy. Isolated bank failures remedied by corporate takeovers do not appear to be threatening enough.
So what is it going to take to get inflation really under control? I hate to say it but it’s hard to see inflation getting under control without increasing unemployment. You see, the economic pain is shaping up to be a top-down phenomenon.
Every day people have not felt the pain yet so they have not curtailed spending. When people either lose their jobs or start worrying about losing their jobs, inflation will finally be curtailed.
Until this happens, expect more of the same. The investor class is going to feel more pain. But as I’ve been emphasizing in recent podcasts, with pain comes opportunity and I continue to believe that is what we will see in the latter half of this year.
In this week and next week’s podcasts, you will hear a similar theme that should make you feel somewhat reassured if you invest in multifamily real estate. The common theme is that multifamily assets are favorable in down economies and that these assets have become a darling for large investors and institutions alike.
On this week’s Wealth Formula podcast, I interview Harry Dent. Harry is a really interesting guy. In recent years, he has been pretty pessimistic about the economy. And now, he’s raising even more red flags. But again, pay attention to what Harry thinks is going to happen with the economy as a whole and also his take on multifamily real estate.
Harry is also famous for his economic forecasts based on demographics which I find fascinating. It’s definitely worth a listen.
Tune in now!
Harry S. Dent, Jr. is a best-selling author and one of the most outspoken financial editors in America. Using proprietary research, Harry developed a unique method for studying economies around the world, and uses his analysis to provide insights on what to expect in the future.
Instead of focusing on endless graphs that assume people behave rationally, Harry instead looks at real people, making real economic decisions for themselves and their families. He combines demographics with actual spending to inform his research.
Harry received his MBA from Harvard Business School, where he was a Baker Scholar and was elected to the Century Club for leadership excellence. He then joined Bain & Company as a Fortune 100 business consultant and now heads the independent research firm HS Dent Publishing.
Since then, he’s spoken to executives, financial advisors and investors around the world about demographics and the power of identifying different trends. Harry has appeared on “Good Morning America,” PBS, CNBC and CNN, Fox News and is a regular guest on Fox Business. He has also been featured in Barron’s, Investor’s Business Daily, Fortune, U.S. News and World Report, Business Week, The Wall Street Journal, and many other publications.
Harry has written numerous bestselling books over the last few decades, from The Great Boom Ahead in 1992 to Zero Hour in 2017. In 2019, Harry published his latest book Spending Waves, where he shares decades of extensive research covering over 200 businesses across 14 different industries to give readers insight into business and investing trends for the years ahead.
The post 361: The Calm Before the Storm with Harry Dent appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Oh what a mess this economy is! Helicopter money during Covid and supply chain issues brought on inflation like we haven’t seen in decades.
To respond to this self-inflicted predicament, the Federal Reserve began raising interest rates at an alarming pace. Never have we seen interest rates rise at this steep of a slope—even in good old Paul Volker’s days.
Inflation has been going down for several months although the most recent CPI figure is still 6 percent. That is well above the 2 percent target the Fed has had for years.
That’s why Jerome Powell was so hawkish last week about continuing to raise interest rates aggressively. They could do that without worry if nothing bad happened.
But in the last week, something broke. Specifically, we saw bank failures of two regional banks. They weren’t doing anything nefarious. In fact, they seemed to be doing what they were supposed to do—investing in conservative bonds that became worthless as interest rates rose.
Things are moving quickly now. By the time I release this podcast a week from now, things could get a lot worse. So now, the Fed is in a pickle.
Usually, when something “breaks” like it did, that is a signal for the Fed to back off its hawkish stance. But with inflation still at 6 percent, that isn’t exactly an easy decision.
So what do I think is going to happen? Well, whether or not rates go up at the next meeting is irrelevant. Unless there are other signs of systemic weakness too hard to ignore, the Fed will continue to raise rates until inflation is tamed.
That is going to result in a lot more destruction to the economy than we see now. We are hearing all about banks right now but the real estate market is also about to see a reckoning.
I do believe within the next few months, there will be the proverbial blood in the streets. In that process, it is quite possible that you will lose some money. However, the most important thing is to keep a level head.
You see, it is in times like these that the most money is made. Those who are paralyzed with fear will lose out. Those who act rationally will win big. A buyer’s market in real estate will be here shortly.
This week on Wealth Formula Podcast, I speak with Jorge Newbery about the real estate and debt markets. Make sure to tune in!
Jorge P. Newbery is Founder and CEO of American Homeowner Preservation LLC, which crowdfunds the purchase of nonperforming mortgages from banks at big discounts, then shares the discounts with struggling homeowners. A 2004 natural disaster triggered the financial collapse of Newbery’s former business, leaving him with $26 million in debts he could not pay. Newbery rebuilt himself through AHP, sharing what he learned from his challenges to help families at risk of foreclosure stay in their homes.
The post 360: Real Estate Update with Jorge Newbery appeared first on Wealth Formula.
If you want to build wealth quickly, you have to learn as much about tax mitigation as you can. Most of these mitigation opportunities are in the world of real estate and business.
However, there are creative (and legal) ways to mitigate taxes for W2 employees as well—just not that many. And sometimes it’s not obvious that, despite a very attractive tax benefit, you should probably stay away. I learned that the hard way by investing in oil and gas multiple times.
Oil and gas drilling comes up often for high-paid W2 employees because of the compelling ability to deduct most if not all of the investment in the first year. The problem is that oil and gas investing, by nature, is quite risky. After all, you’re essentially a speculator hoping your team hits a well. Oil and gas is also ripe with fraudsters and charlatans I have learned.
Unfortunately, after multiple investments in oil and gas almost a decade ago, I have yet to get even close to recovering my money on any of the investments. I stopped investing in oil and gas years ago and now have stopped even interviewing anyone in that space. You’re better off paying the tax in my opinion.
Fortunately, there are a hand full of other opportunities available that don’t rely on speculation or trusting PT Barnum types. For example, recently I interviewed a guy on short-term rentals. If I was a W2 guy, I’d be all over that.
Ultimately though, you’ve got to figure out a long-term plan that potentially can transform your W2 income into non-W2 income. We’ve talked about this on the show before. In order to accomplish a complex strategy like this you need a good CPA.
Tom Wheelwright, as you may know, is a great CPA. So, while you figure out who’s going to get your tax plan together, take time to listen to this week’s episode of Wealth Formula Podcast where Tom will update us on important new tax laws and give us some free tips on how to lower our tax bills. Listen now!
Tom Wheelwright is a CPA, CEO of WealthAbility (Tempe, Arizona) and Best-Selling Author of Tax-Free Wealth. Wheelwright is a leading wealth and tax expert, global speaker, and Entrepreneur Magazine Contributor. Tom is best known for making taxes fun, easy and understandable, and specializes in helping entrepreneurs and investors build wealth through practical and strategic ways that permanently reduce taxes.
As a Rich Dad Advisor to Robert Kiyosaki (Rich Dad Poor Dad), Tom frequently speaks at conferences worldwide to entrepreneurs on these topics. His work has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Forbes, Accounting Today, Investor’s Business Daily, FOX & Friends, ABC News Radio, NPR, Marketplace and many more media.
Robert Kiyosaki, bestselling author of Rich Dad Poor Dad, calls Tom “a team player that anyone who wants to be rich needs to add to his team.” In Robert Kiyosaki’s book, The Real Book of Real Estate, Tom, himself, authored Chapters 1 and 21 of this book. Tom also contributed to Robert Kiyosaki’s Rich Dad Success Stories, Who Took My Money, Unfair Advantage, Why the Rich Are Getting Richer and More Important Than Money: an Entrepreneur’s Team.
Tom has written many articles for publication in major professional journals and online resources and has spoken to thousands throughout the U.S., Canada, Europe and Australia. Tom has also used his superior relationship and team building skills to advise the Canadian market in the art of investing in the U.S., by contributing to Philip McKernan’s South of 49 and Fire Sale.
For more than 30 years, Tom has devised innovative tax, business and wealth strategies for sophisticated investors and business owners in the manufacturing, real estate and high tech fields. His passion is teaching these innovative strategies to the thousands who come to hear him speak. He has participated as a key note speaker and panelist in multiple roundtables, and led ground-breaking tax discussions challenging the status quo in terms of tax strategies.
Tom has a wide variety of professional experience, ranging from Big 4 accounting, where he managed and led the professional training for thousands of CPAs at Ernst & Young’s National Tax Department in Washington, D.C., to in-house tax advisor for Pinnacle West Capital Corporation, at the time a Fortune 1000 company. Tom also served as an adjunct professor in the Masters of Tax program at Arizona State University for 14 years where he created the course for teaching multi-state tax planning techniques and personally taught hundreds of graduate students.
Tom has his Master’s of Professional Accounting degree from the University of Texas at Austin and his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Utah.
The post 359: A Tax Update with Tom Wheelwright appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Why is decentralized finance advantageous? Let’s ask artificial intelligence. As you may recall from last week’s episode, ChatGPT is widely accessible to anyone right now.
Here’s the explanation on the value of decentralized finance from the ChatGPT software itself:
“Decentralized finance, or DeFi, is advantageous for several reasons:
- Accessibility: DeFi allows anyone with an internet connection to access financial services without needing to go through traditional financial institutions or intermediaries. This opens up financial services to people who might not have had access before, particularly those in underbanked or unbanked regions.
- Transparency: DeFi operates on a public blockchain, which means that transactions and financial data are visible to anyone. This transparency reduces the potential for fraud or corruption and allows for greater accountability.
- Security: DeFi uses cryptography and smart contracts to secure transactions, making it difficult for bad actors to manipulate the system. Additionally, DeFi eliminates the risk of a single point of failure, which reduces the risk of a catastrophic failure of the financial system.
- Interoperability: DeFi protocols are designed to be interoperable, meaning that they can work together seamlessly. This allows for greater flexibility and innovation in the development of financial products and services.
- Efficiency: DeFi operates 24/7 and is not subject to the same regulatory constraints as traditional finance, which means that transactions can be processed quickly and at lower costs. Additionally, DeFi eliminates the need for intermediaries, which reduces fees and transaction costs.
Overall, these advantages make DeFi a compelling alternative to traditional finance, particularly for those who value accessibility, transparency, security, interoperability, and efficiency.”
Not bad for a robot, right?
Here’s the thing. Decentralized finance is going to become mainstream finance in our lifetime. Large institutions are going to have to adjust or they will be irrelevant as the phone booth 20 years from now.
So we need to understand what it’s all about and figure out how we can capitalize on it. My guest on this week’s Wealth Formula Podcast will give us a human expert’s opinion on why.
Listen NOW!
Emmanuel Daniel is a global thought leader in the future of finance. He is listed as a top 10 global influencer in the “Fintech Power50” list for 2021 and 2022. He is also an entrepreneur, writer and a model train enthusiast.
Much of Emmanuel’s writing is based on his experience in founding and running his TAB Global research and consulting house since 1996. Through platforms such as The Asian Banker and Wealth and Society, Emmanuel has had extensive contact with leaders in banking and finance around the world. He won the Citibank Excellence in Business Journalism for Asia in 1999 for his work on the internet in banking. “The Asian Banker Summit” won the best finance conference from the Asian Conference and Summit Awards in 2012.
In his first book, “The Great Transition – the personalization of finance is here” published in September 2022, Emmanuel outlines how the banking industry will evolve from being focused on platform technologies to a level of personalization never seen before. He describes the roles of cryptocurrencies, blockchain, gaming and other technologies in this transition.
The book features forewords written by former congressman Barney Frank, the co-author of the Dodd-Frank Act set of legislations that regulate the financial services industry in the US today and Richard Sandor, an innovator widely regarded as the “father of financial futures”.
His writing is also based on his extensive travel to more than 100 countries, and he is intent on visiting all. He posts regularly on his travels and is working towards his second book which is tentatively entitled “The Winning Civlisation” and due for publication in 2014.
As an entrepreneur, he was previously a member of the Entrepreneurs Organization (EO), a prestigious grouping of young business owners worldwide. He has served or is serving in advisory or consulting roles for various public and private sector institutions at any time, and is a well regarded confidante in leadership circles.
He is a well-regarded global speaker on a variety of topics. But he prefers working on strategic assignments with selected clients. He is sometimes interviewed on BBC, Bloomberg and CNBC.
Emmanuel was trained as a lawyer, has degrees from the National University of Singapore and the University of London, and attended a course on economics at Columbia University in New York. He travels widely and divides his time between Singapore, Beijing and New York.
The post 358: The Personalization of Personal Finance appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Ok, I know you keep hearing about how the world is going to look radically different soon. I have too.
But what is that radical change and when is it going to happen? I’m no expert in technology but it is clear that the radical changes we are expecting are coming from two emerging technologies: blockchain and artificial intelligence.
Blockchain really defines this thing that people call Web 3. We’ve talked about it before on the podcast but essentially Web 3 is the decentralization of various industries such as social media and finance (aka DeFi).
Artificial intelligence (AI) is the other technology that is supposedly part of this great disruption that is about to occur. We’ve seen it in action without necessarily thinking about it already. Look at the WAZE application for example where shortest driving routes are based on huge amounts of human generated data points.
In the last couple months, a new demonstration of the power of AI has come to surface and is widely available. It’s called ChatGPT.
Again, I haven’t used it yet but essentially instead of searching for something on google, ask ChatGPT anything and it will give you an answer. Ask it to generate a speech on interest rates and it will. Ask it to give you a summary of a book and it will. It’s really fascinating stuff that I wish I had during college to do all my homework but, as you can imagine, it also has the potential of being dangerous.
The problem is technology is growing at a faster pace than perhaps we are ready for. Just because these technologies are powerful doesn’t dissuade nefarious actors. It may be a bumpy road ahead.
This entire space is so complicated that I wanted to get a real expert to discuss it…especially this ChatGPT thing. That’s what this week’s Wealth Formula Podcast is about. This was a really fun interview to do and I encourage you to tune in NOW.
KARY OBERBRUNNER, is a Wall Street Journal and USA Today bestselling author of 11 books in multiple genres ranging from business to fiction to technology. He’s the founder and CEO of Igniting Souls and Blockchain Life. Together, these companies help authors, entrepreneurs, and influencers publish and protect their Intellectual Property and turn it into 18 streams of Income. In the past twenty years, he’s ignited over one million people with his content. He lives in Ohio with his wife, Kelly, and three children.
The post 357: Is Everything About to Change? appeared first on Wealth Formula.
The two most common mistakes I’ve seen people make in personal finance is to not think about asset protection and to not think about estate planning.
Not thinking about estate planning is sort of understandable. Death is a topic that many try to avoid. Some are even superstitious in that if they set up an estate plan, it could trigger their demise.
The topic this week is not estate planning but we’ve done that show in the past. Here’s a little hint: The bare minimum you need is a will and a living trust to keep your assets out of probate should you die.
OK, enough about estate planning. As I mentioned earlier, failure to implement a reasonable asset protection is the other most common mistake I see in new investors.
Now I get it. If you don’t have much then you have little to worry about. But once you start accumulating assets you’ve got to do something.
Let me explain why. If you are a real estate owner, you have got two enemies to defend against. The first is the tenant who slips and falls. The second is the guy with the broken bones your kid hit driving her new car. Either one would love to get at something valuable that you own in retribution (and probably a little greed).
That’s where asset protection comes in. And here’s the thing. If you set up good asset protection from the beginning you may not get sued at all. A lot of this legal stuff is optics.
If you put up a lot of walls and traps, you’re less likely to get sued in the first place because your estate will start looking a little bit like a turnip to any attorney working on contingency.
Asset protection can be fairly simple but needs to be done right. My guest on Wealth Formula Podcast this week explains how and why that is important. He also spends a little time talking about tax advantages of producing movies which I thought was interesting as well.
Listen NOW!
Garrett Sutton has been practicing corporate law more than 35 years, assisting entrepreneurs and real estate investors around the world in protecting their assets and maximizing financial goals through his companies Corporate Direct and Sutton Law Center.
Garrett, a highly sought after guest speaker, serves as a member of the elite group of “Rich Dad Advisors” for bestselling author Robert Kiyosaki. Garrett has authored several successful books for business owners, including “Start Your Own Corporation,” “Run Your Own Corporation,” “Writing Winning Business Plans” and “Loopholes of Real Estate.” These books are part of the bestselling Rich Dad, Poor Dad wealth-building book series.
Shownotes:
- How does an asset protection plan aid an investor?
- Asset protection requirements for real estate and other types of investments
- Movie investments
- Veil Not Fail: Protecting Your Personal Assets from Business Attacks (Rich Dad Advisor Series)
The post 356: Getting Your Assets in Gear with Garrett Sutton appeared first on Wealth Formula.
When you are in the alternate investment space like me, everyone assumes you are a gold guy. I used to be. The idea of gold holding its value over time is very real.
An ounce of gold in the times Christ would buy you a nice toga and sandals. Now, an ounce of gold will buy you a nice suit and shoes.
Admittedly, that is a pretty darn good track record. So does gold belong in your portfolio?
Well, for me, gold is not an investment. It’s money. So to the extent that you may want to have some of your “liquid assets” in gold, it may make some real sense. It’s just hard to carry in your wallet.
I am still trying to find someone to convince me otherwise, but to me, real estate has all the qualities of gold that I want while providing additional benefits.
First, gold does not cash flow. When you buy real estate it should. In fact, with real estate, you can leverage and buy more of it and pay off the debt with income from the property.
You really can’t reasonably leverage the purchase of gold and, if you did, you’d have no income to offset interest rate payments.
Both gold and quality real estate are hedges against inflation. Residential property is particularly advantageous when it comes to inflation because leases are typically year to year and can keep up with the rise in the price of other goods and services.
But to be clear, this is just my opinion. I don’t own physical gold but a lot of smart people do. I don’t claim to be right in that regard. Personal finance is…personal.
On this week’s episode of Wealth Formula Podcast, I have a guest who speaks eloquently for the case of gold. Whether you are a gold bug or not, it’s worth a listen to help you make your own decisions.
New York Times bestselling author and radio personality Charles Goyette, known for his outspoken libertarian views and his economic commentary, has been described as a fearless champion of liberty, peace, and prosperity.
Charles and former presidential candidate and Congressman Ron Paul join forces on the nationally syndicated radio commentary Ron Paul’s America, heard twice daily on 125 radio stations. Charles also hosts Ron Paul – The Weekly Podcast, a sponsored, long-form discussion podcast.
Charles is the author of New York Times bestseller THE DOLLAR MELTDOWN and RED AND BLUE AND BROKE ALL OVER. He is the co-author of THE LAST GOLD RUSH… EVER!
Goyette spent many years as an award-winning and popular Phoenix radio personality with America’s leading broadcast companies, including Pulitzer, Hearst Argyle, and Clear Channel. Charles was widely known as “America’s Most Independent Talk Show Host,” and was voted Best Phoenix Talk Show Host by listeners who couldn’t get enough of his “Fearless Talk Radio.”
Charles has also been a participant in the national political debate as a popular public speaker and is often called upon to share his views with national televisions audiences, including Fox News, CNN, MSNBC, PBS, CNBC and Fox Business Channel. He has appeared often on popular programs like Fox and Friends, the O’Reilly Factor with Bill O’Reilly Fox News; Stossel with John Stossel and FreedomWatch with Judge Napolitano on Fox Business; NOW with Bill Moyers on PBS; and on Lou Dobbs Tonight on CNN, and many others.
He has written for a number of magazines including The American Conservative and Gannett magazines, and for LewRockwell.com, CNBC.com, WorldNetDaily.com, and TheStreet.com.
Charles Goyette is a U.S. Army veteran and a recipient of the Army Commendation Medal for meritorious service. Goyette had long rejected the U.S. national security policy known as Mutual Assured Destruction or MAD, in which the civilian population of the U.S. was rendered defenseless as a matter of policy and held hostages in the nation’s nuclear strategy. Before the election of Ronald Reagan, Charles became a supporter of a new defense policy to end the cold war standoff. After Reagan’s election, at the invitation of Reagan advisor General Daniel O. Graham, former Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency and Deputy Director of the CIA and the originator of the Strategic Defense Initiative, Charles became a member of the national speakers’ bureau of High Frontier, the private organization founded by Graham to promote what became known as Reagan’s Star Wars defense policy.
Beginning in 2002 with the lead up to George W. Bush’s elective war in Iraq, Charles Goyette found himself in a whirlwind of controversy and national attention for his outspoken opposition to the war. Accounts of his experiences opposing the war while a talk show host for Clear Channel Communications, the nation’s largest owner of radio stations and a company that had close ties to Bush, are available online, including the transcript of a speech called Wartime Confessions of a Talk-Radio Heretic he made to an economics group the very night the war broke out in March, 2003, as well as an account he wrote for the American Conservative magazine called How to Lose Your Job in Talk Radio.
During the Iraq war, Goyette became a regular contributor of geopolitical radio shows, commentary, and interviews to AntiWar Radio, a service of the leading website AntiWar.com.
On a more personal note, Charles is a founding member of the Board of Directors and recent President of the Leonardo da Vinci Society for the Study of Thinking. The Society’s annual inductees include theoretical physicist Michio Kaku, creative thinking theorist Edward de Bono, physicist Fritjof Capra, inventor and futurist Ray Kurzweil, biologist Lynn Margulis, and lunar astronaut Edgar Mitchell.
Charles has completed a screenplay on the life of the famous American seer Edgar Cayce.
Charles enjoys skiing, hiking, good company and conversation. He and his wife, Ali, live in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Shownotes:
- The performance of the US Dollar versus gold
- Is gold a wealth preservation tool or a wealth building tool?
- Owning gold versus owning real estate assets.
- The Last Gold Rush… Ever!
The post 355: Should You Buy Gold? appeared first on Wealth Formula.
I’ve never spent much time on the concept of short-term rentals (Vacation Rentals) before because it didn’t sound particularly appealing to me. But after interviewing Tim Hubbard for this week’s podcast, I may have changed my mind.
Here’s the deal. Unless you are a limited partner in a syndication, there is no such thing as truly passive income in real estate. If you want your asset to succeed, you are going to have to do some work for it. And for me, making $300 per month for anything that takes more than 10 minutes per month is not really acceptable.
But short-term rentals provide a sexier take on active ownership of real estate for busy professionals. Make no mistake, there will be some work involved. But now you may be making 5X the monthly income that you would with a traditional long-term rental.
Maybe the rental income is still not that compelling. But what if you started buying properties in places you might actually like to visit yourself on occasion? At any point in the future, you could theoretically flip the switch and make it all your own.
In the meantime, short-term rentals have extremely advantageous tax benefits—and not just to the real estate professional status types like me. If done properly, you could have a short-term rental, do a cost segregation analysis and apply that depreciation to other active income.
Let me reiterate that I am not a tax professional but my understanding here is that through material participation in short-term rentals, depreciation losses can be ACTIVATED and used against your W2 income.
If you can pull this off, the tax savings alone would be worth doing it in my humble opinion. With conservation easements pretty much DOA (victims of the IRS) and with oil and gas being full of crooks and fraudsters, short-term rentals could possibly be the best thing out there if you are trying to mitigate taxes.
If this sounds intriguing, I highly encourage you to listen to this week’s episode of Wealth Formula Podcast. At the very least, it’s an option you ought to know about.
Tim is originally from Sacramento, CA and started his career in real estate as an investment broker selling multi-family and commercial properties in Northern California. He worked with a small team of five who completed cumulatively over $2 billion in transactions. He has been personally investing in real estate for the last 11 years and has since acquired a multi-million dollar portfolio comprised primarily of small multi-family properties in multiple markets.
He has traveled extensively throughout the world in over 70 countries and stayed in hundreds of different short-term rental accommodations. About 7 years ago he realized the high returns that could be made from converting properties in to furnished short-term rentals and renting them by the night. Through trial and error he has figured out how to set up operations so that the business could be passive and has since successfully accommodated over 15,000 guests with excellent reviews from all over the world.
He continues to expand with the help of his teams and manages everything remotely from his home in Medellin, Colombia. He also teaches others to do the same and shows them how they can successfully increase their income 3,4, or even 8x by implementing the right strategies to convert existing long term rentals in to nightly rentals.
He holds a degree in International business and an MBA from the University of California, Davis.
He’s a co-author in the Amazon best-selling book “Resilience” and the host of the popular “Short Term Rental Riches” podcast.
The post 354: Short Term Rentals=Hidden Tax Gems appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Digital currency is not dead. But it was wounded pretty badly over the past few months.
Paradoxically, the undoing of the decentralized world happened from centralized companies and individuals like Do Kwon of Terra Luna and Sam Bankman-Fried of FTX.
Ultimately, the greed of both these individuals and the flawed platforms that they ran resulted in billions of dollars being lost in the market. No one was immune. Companies like BlockFi ended up declaring bankruptcy and others, like the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) are on the brink of insolvency.
Digital currency has never been a favorite of the SEC. This is an institution with a deep distaste for the wild decentralized west as it represents a very difficult animal to tame.
The IRS also wants to dig its claws into digital currency realizing that they are likely missing out on hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue because of people not reporting. They are also left with a huge challenge on their hands—trying to figure out who is misreporting.
Bottom line is that the climate is right for some serious changes to the law involving digital currencies.
This week, I speak to one of the foremost experts in cryptocurrency tax law to discuss the recent crypto collapse along with all of its implications. Make sure to tune in. There is some free tax advice in there for you as well if you own cryptocurrency!
Andie Kramer is widely regarded as one of the foremost authorities on the regulatory, tax, commercial, and governance matters that arise for individuals and businesses in trading environments. Andie represents multinational corporations, financial service firms, exchanges and trading platforms, hedge funds, energy companies, insurance companies, family offices, and businesses in all stages of their life-cycle. These clients are typically dealing with securities, commodities, derivatives, digital assets, energy (production and distribution), renewables, ESG (environmental, social, and governance) matters, nontraditional assets, and emerging asset classes of all types.
Andie is widely respected for her multidisciplinary knowledge concerning the legal issues arising in market and all types of products that trade in them and the participants which use them. She is a trusted advisor and sought-after problem solver who provides the comprehensive advice that clients need to navigate the complexities that arise from the intersection of multiple asset classes, commercial realities, and ESG matters. Before founding ASKramer Law, Andie spent 30 years at McDermott Will & Emery, where she established and led the Financial Products, Trading, and Derivatives Group.
She is the coauthor of Financial Products: Taxation, Regulation, and Design, the two-volume authoritative treatise widely used by market participants, advisors, and regulators. She has been ranked since 2009 by Chambers and Legal 500, the leading independent legal ranking firms. Andie was also named by the National Law Journal as one of the “50 Most Influential Women Lawyers in America” for “demonstrated power to change the legal landscape, shape public affairs, launch industries, and do big things.” The National Law Review recognized Andie as a “Go-to Thought Leader” in virtual currencies and J.D. Supra readers voted her a “Top Author” in cryptocurrency taxation. Additionally, she is qualified by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) as a tax expert witness. Andie was selected by the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin and the Chicago Lawyer as an “Inaugural Women in Law Honoree”; by Crain’s Custom Media for the “Chicago Notable Women Lawyers” list; named by Women in Law Business Guide as one of the leading tax practitioners; and honored as one of the “Most Influential Women Lawyers in Chicago” by Crain’s.
Andie is also known for her longstanding work addressing and dismantling workplace gender discrimination. She served as a member of the Diversity & Inclusion Advisory Board for the Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Professionalism and was coauthor of What You Need to Know about Negotiating Compensation, a 2013 guide published by the American Bar Association. With her husband, Al Harris, she has written two award-winning books, Breaking Through Bias: Communication Techniques for Women to Succeed at Work and It’s Not You, It’s the Workplace: Women’s Conflict at Work and the Bias That Built It. Their forthcoming book, Beyond Bias: The PATH to End Gender Inequality at Work, will be released this spring.
Andie is a Phi Beta Kappa, summa cum laude graduate of the University of Illinois, where she received the Bronze Tablet Award, and she is a cum laude graduate of Northwestern Pritzker School of Law where she served as an adjunct professor for more than 20 years. She is an editor of and contributor to Energy and Environmental Project Finance Law and Taxation (2010) and Energy and Environmental Trading (2008).
Generously philanthropic and civically engaged, Andie is the recipient of the “Unsung Heroine Award” from the Cook County Board of Commissioners and the “National Public Service Award” from the American Bar Association for her public service and pro bono activities. She founded and serves on the boards of a number of nonprofits and professional associations. She is a founding board member and chair of TWTC (formerly The Women’s Treatment Center) that provides housing and healthcare support and assistance to Chicago’s most vulnerable residents. Andie is a co-founder and the chair of WLMA (the Women’s Leadership and Mentoring Alliance), and she serves on the board of the Design Museum of Chicago.
Shownotes:
- The recent crypto meltdown
- How did the FTX collapse affect the crypto sphere?
- What do people holding cryptocurrency need to know to report their taxes appropriately?
- Are there any laws that are different for 2023 than they were for 2022 that we should be aware of?
The post 353: Updates from the Wild West of Crypto appeared first on Wealth Formula.
What is all this wealth stuff for anyway? I have spent the last 15 years trying to accumulate wealth. It wasn’t until about two years ago that I decided to start spending it.
Why? Well, there were some major changes in my life and it made me think about mortality. Don’t worry…my health is great. But everyone has to die someday right?
Before this realization, I was doing what pretty much all responsible professionals do. I was working hard and wouldn’t spend much money on myself. In hindsight, I’m not sure what I was waiting for. I probably should’ve tried to spend more on myself in my 20s and 30s and had some more fun.
Of course, I can’t change that now. But what I can do is to start enjoying life and trying to figure out how to stay feeling young as long as possible so I can make up for lost time.
The good news for all of us is that there is an abundance of science and technology growth in the field of longevity and it’s developing fast.
We know so much more than our parents did on what to eat, how often to eat, how to optimize exercise and…what supplements and prescription drugs appear to lengthen not only lifespan, but more importantly, healthspan.
There is so much information out there that it is also a time to be careful. Just think about all the money fraudsters can make off people by selling them the fountain of youth.
As a physician myself (not practicing), I have spent a lot of time trying to understand what’s real and what’s not. Some of my friends and investors in our own community have pivoted their careers to the practice of longevity medicine. They know more than me.
One of these guys is Dr. Rob Hamilton. Rob spoke at our last Wealth Formula event and seriously blew the audience away with his presentation. He is an encyclopedia of knowledge in the field of longevity and my guest on Wealth Formula Podcast this week.
If this stuff is new for you, I urge you to start looking into what’s out there. After all, what’s the point of accumulating wealth if you don’t have a long healthy life to enjoy it?
Whether you are already on that journey or are interested in learning more, you will want to listen to this podcast. I’m biased because of my interests, but I think you might find this to be one of the most useful podcasts you’ve ever listened to in your life.
Doctor Rob Hamilton attended the University of Colorado for both his undergraduate degree (in Electrical and Computer Engineering) and medical degree. He completed residency in Emergency Medicine at the University of California in San Diego.
He worked in a variety of settings including serving as part-time faculty at the Stanford University Emergency Department, but eventually moved to Redding, CA, where he has served the North State Region since 2002 as an Emergency Physician at Mercy Medical Center Redding and St. Elizabeth’s Community Hospital in Red Bluff, CA.
He has also held a variety of administrative roles, including Medical Director of the MMCR ED and ultimately Regional Director of the North State Region for his medical group. In his capacity as an Emergency Physician he held a faculty appointment through the University of California Davis School of Medicine.
After taking care of thousands of patients in the Emergency Department, Dr. Hamilton realized one of his goals was to help his patients avoid the ravages of aging and the disease that followed. He pursued advanced training in Age Management Medical Education and worked with Cenegenics San Francisco. Dr. Hamilton completed additional Fellowship Training in Anti-Aging and Regenerative Medicine as well as Stem Cell Therapy. He was awarded a Ph.D. honoris causa in Regenerative Medicine from the PanAmerican University of Natural Medicine. To this day he continues to attend conferences and seek additional advanced training to improve and hone his practice and skills.
He partnered with the innovative direct primary care practice, Prestige Urgent Care, in Redding California to start Prestige Regenerative Medicine in 2015 and provides affordable care for patients across Northern California seeking his expertise in improving their lives and prolonging their health span. Dr. Hamilton now oversees the course of care and treatment protocols administered by all Prestige Regenerative Medicine providers nationwide.
The post 352: You Can Live A LOT Longer Than You Think appeared first on Wealth Formula.
If you read business or entrepreneurial books you are probably sick of people telling you that you have to take risks and get uncomfortable. I get it.
But what are you doing to take risks and to get uncomfortable? After all, it’s really the only way to grow in your career or in your life.
These concepts apply to everything. Think about all the things you didn’t do in life but would like to. Maybe you should try to do some of those things? After all, what’s the purpose of wealth? It is to have the freedom to focus on self-actualization.
Need an example? Well, I never learned to swim as a kid. I remember my older brother and sister going to swim lessons. I would go with my mom to drop them off. But I was terrified of anything but the baby pool.
When it came my turn for swim lessons, I declined. And, unfortunately, my parents didn’t push back. So, I spent a good chunk of my adult life not being able to swim and it bothered me.
As an adult, I tried private lessons on numerous occasions. I wasn’t afraid of the water anymore. I just couldn’t figure out how to move in the water.
I had given up until 5-6 years ago when I heard Tim Ferris talking about having a similar experience as an adult who couldn’t get swimming down. He also had multiple trainers who failed to get him functional in the water. That is until he met Terry Laughlin, the creator of the Total Immersion (TI) Technique. Tim said that Terry got him swimming laps by the end of a week.
Well, I had to give this a try. So I reached out to Terry who lived in upstate New York. As it turned out, he had end-stage cancer and hadn’t been doing lessons for some time. However, he had just finished chemo and was feeling a bit better so he invited me out anyway.
So a few weeks later, I was at Terry’s house out east in his training pool. The way Terry taught me was very easy and methodical. And believe it or not, by the end of the day, I was swimming. I stuck around for another day but had to get back to work. I figured I’d come back in a few months to get down the only part that I still struggled with—breathing. I wish I had stayed. Terry passed away just a couple of months later.
So now I can swim, but not long enough to do laps for exercise. I still can’t breathe. I tried another TI instructor, but it wasn’t the same. Terry was a master.
The point of this story is to illustrate getting uncomfortable to get over a lifetime full of anxiety and self-consciousness about being unable to swim. All I had to do was find the right instructor and be uncomfortable for a day.
You could probably apply this to things in your life. What have you been avoiding for the last few decades? Is it time to confront these things and move on with your life? You’d probably feel better. And if it’s something you need to do physically, well, you aren’t getting any younger either.
My guest this week on Wealth Formula Podcast has a unique take on risk and discomfort. He suggests that we should constantly be seeking discomfort in our lives. Maybe he’s right. Listen in and see what you think!
Sterling Hawkins is out to break the status quo. He believes that we can all unlock incredible potential within ourselves, and he’s on a mission to support people, businesses and communities to realize that potential regardless of the circumstances.
From a multi-billion dollar startup to collapse and coming back to launch, invest in and grow over 50 companies, Sterling takes that experience to work with C-level teams from some of the largest organizations on the planet and speaks on stages around the world.
Today, Sterling serves as CEO and founder of the Sterling Hawkins Group, a research, training and development company focused on human and organizational growth. He has been seen in publications like Inc. Magazine, Fast Company, The New York Times and Forbes.
Based in Colorado, Sterling is a proud uncle of three and a passionate adventurer that can often be found skydiving, climbing mountains, shark diving or even trekking the Sahara. Maybe you’ll even join him for the next adventure – and discover the breakthrough results you’re looking for. He’ll have your back, #NoMatterWhat.
Shownotes:
- How Sterling’s journey started
- How does one determine what type of discomfort can help them move ahead?
- Hunting Discomfort: How to Get Breakthrough Results in Life and Business No Matter What
- https://www.sterlinghawkins.com/
The post 351: Seeking Discomfort in Life and Business appeared first on Wealth Formula.
We are in a unique period of time with the economy. We know something is going to declare itself soon enough but have no idea when or what it will look like.
This time it’s not just the contrarians. Everyone is predicting some kind of trouble in the coming months ranging from a mild recession (Biden) to an all out zombie apocalypse.
Even the big brain contrarians differ on what lies ahead. Jim Rickards sees a rapidly coming deep recession followed by the Fed capitulating its hawkish stance.
Nomi Prins forecasts a deep recession as well but sees the markets as relatively shielded because of a great distortion between the real economy and the financial markets as the Fed caters to what the markets need to grow.
My guest this week on Wealth Formula Podcast, David Stockman, differs from both Rickards and Prins. He believes that the Fed will not reverse its course regardless of recession and he also believes that what Prins describes as a distortion between financial markets and the economy will not last and that, rather, a great catchup will see the equity and real estate markets correct in significant fashion to reflect the fledgling economy.
David Stockman was Ronald Reagan’s budget director and was in Washington through hyperinflation and the Paul Volker years. He has also spent a significant time on Wall Street in his career. He knows what he’s talking about.
But so do Nomi Prins and Jim Rickards. None of them are dummies but they can’t all be right. That’s just the nature of the period that we are in. The best any of us can do is to study what the economic gurus are saying and try to make decisions based on what we can conclude for ourselves.
Listen to my interview with David Stockman HERE. And, if you haven’t done so, go back and compare these opinions with those of Rickards (episode 348) and Dr. Nomi Prins (episode 339). They all make sense but they can’t all be right.
Let me know what you think!
David Alan Stockman (born November 10, 1946) is an American politician and former businessman who was a Republican U.S. Representative from the state of Michigan (1977–1981) and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (1981–1985) under President Ronald Reagan.
Stockman was born in Fort Hood, Texas, the son of Allen Stockman, a fruit farmer, and Carol (née Bartz). He is of German descent, and his family’s surname was originally “Stockmann”. He was raised in a conservative family; his maternal grandfather, William Bartz, was a Republican county treasurer for 30 years. Stockman was educated at public schools in Stevensville, Michigan. He graduated from Lakeshore High School in 1964 and received a BA in History from Michigan State University in 1968. He was a graduate theology student at Harvard University from 1968 to 1970.
He served as special assistant to United States Representative and 1980 U.S. presidential candidate John Anderson of Illinois, 1970–1972, and was executive director, United States House of Representatives Republican Conference, 1972–1975.
The post 350: Reagan’s Budget Director Forecasts Rocky Roads Ahead appeared first on Wealth Formula.
The new year makes me think about how things keep changing so rapidly (including my age). For those of us who went to high school in the era of pay phones, it is a truly remarkable trajectory and it makes me wonder what the next few decades will unfold.
There are so many technological advances in Science and Technology that have already laid the foundation for a completely different world. As a former practicing physician, I can’t help but be excited about things like longevity science and potentially eradicating killer diseases such as cancer and cardiovascular disease
If you think that sounds far-fetched for the next decade, I would disagree. All those billionaires who made their money in tech now realize that they are getting older and will die someday. They don’t like that idea and now a ton of their money is going into research to battle death.
But how quickly can we get there? The problem in making those kinds of estimations is that we don’t know what other tools will be available to accelerate the work that needs to be done.
One of those tools that will play a major role in revolutionizing healthcare and pretty much everything else in our lives will be artificial intelligence (AI). AI sounds scary but we are already using some of it today. Think of the app WAZE which calculates shortest drives based on traffic etc. Just like this application sneaked into our culture, I think you will see a ton of new technologies like this in several fields. One day you’ll see it all around you.
Anyway, Artificial Intelligence is an exciting science and to help us learn more about it, I have an expert in AI on this week’s Wealth Formula Podcast. This is fun stuff that you might consider investing in. Listen now!
Avi Goldfarb is the Rotman Chair in Artificial Intelligence and Healthcare and a professor of marketing at the Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto. Avi is also Chief Data Scientist at the Creative Destruction Lab and the CDL Rapid Screening Consortium, a faculty affiliate at the Vector Institute and the Schwartz-Reisman Institute for Technology and Society, and a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research. Avi’s research focuses on the opportunities and challenges of the digital economy.
Along with Ajay Agrawal and Joshua Gans, Avi is the author of the Globe & Mail bestselling book Prediction Machines: The Simple Economics of Artificial Intelligence.
He has published academic articles in marketing, statistics, law, management, medicine, political science, refugee studies, physics, computing, and economics. Avi is a former Senior Editor at Marketing Science. His work on online advertising won the INFORMS Society of Marketing Science Long Term Impact Award. He testified before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee on competition and privacy in digital advertising. His work has been referenced in White House reports, European Commission documents, the New York Times, the Economist, and elsewhere.
Shownotes:
- What is Artificial Intelligence?
- The disruptive economics of Artificial Intelligence
- What are the big opportunities using AI that are out there right now?
- Power and Prediction: The Disruptive Economics of Artificial Intelligence
The post 349: The Next BIG Technology appeared first on Wealth Formula.
I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas! As we head into the last week of the year there is much to reflect upon.
The last few years have been absolutely bonkers. If someone had told me in mid-2019 that a global pandemic would happen, and the world would be practically paralyzed for the next two years I would never have believed it.
Oddly, during 2020-2021, the stock and real estate markets did great! Historically low interest rates made cheap money abundant for investors and, for that reason, the markets paradoxically rose as the real economy actually shrunk.
Nomi Prins talked about this phenomenon on one of our past shows—“The Great Distortion” refers to the decoupling of financial markets with reality.
While monetary policy made asset prices rise, fiscal policy contributed to inflation. Certainly, supply chains created problems of low supply. But helicopter money gave people extra money to spend and a huge injection of liquidity directly onto Main Street.
The fact that we have been dealing with high inflation, therefore, should not be a surprise. It’s simply policy chickens coming home to roost. And when there is high inflation, rates must go up and that’s exactly what happened.
What happens next is the big question. The Fed has never raised interest rates over 400 percent in 9 months. Usually, a small change in interest rates isn’t really accounted for in the economy for about six months.
The economy and inflation have clearly slowed down but what happens in the next few months will be very interesting. Will we indeed have a deep recession? And if we do, does the Fed reverse course on its hawkish stance?
Interest rates will probably not go back to zero anytime soon. But remember, investors have always made money regardless of absolute interest rate percentages. There were investors making a lot of money even when interest rates were double digits. We just need a stable interest rate environment to get back to business and I do believe that will happen in 2023.
That’s my take on where we are now and what may happen. That said, as Yogi Berra said, “It’s tough to make predictions, especially about the future”.
All we can do is to watch and wait and hopefully educate ourselves a bit. That’s what this podcast is about and that’s why this week I interviewed one of the smartest people you’ll ever meet on these topics: Jim Rickards.
You won’t want to miss this show. LISTEN NOW!
James Rickards is the Editor of Strategic Intelligence, a financial newsletter, and Director of The James Rickards Project, an inquiry into the complex dynamics of geopolitics + global capital. He is the author of The New Case for Gold (April 2016), and two New York Times best sellers, The Death of Money (2014), and Currency Wars (2011) from Penguin Random House. He is a portfolio manager, lawyer, and economist, and has held senior positions at Citibank, Long-Term Capital Management, and Caxton Associates. In 1998, he was the principal negotiator of the rescue of LTCM sponsored by the Federal Reserve. His clients include institutional investors and government directorates. He is an Op-Ed contributor to the Financial Times, Evening Standard, New York Times, and Washington Post, and has been interviewed on BBC, CNN, NPR, C- SPAN, CNBC, Bloomberg, Fox, and The Wall Street Journal. Mr. Rickards is a guest lecturer in globalization and finance at The Johns Hopkins University, The Kellogg School at Northwestern, and the School of Advanced International Studies. He has delivered papers on risk at Singularity University, the Applied Physics Laboratory, and the Los Alamos National Laboratory. He is an advisor on capital markets to the U.S. intelligence community, and the Office of the Secretary of Defense, and is on the Advisory Board of the Center on Sanctions & Illicit Finance in Washington DC. Mr. Rickards holds an LL.M. (Taxation) from the NYU School of Law; a J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania Law School; an M.A. in international economics from SAIS, and a B.A. (with honors) from Johns Hopkins. He lives in New Hampshire.
The post 348: Jim Rickards: Inflation, Interest Rates and the Supply Chain appeared first on Wealth Formula.
As you know, we have an Automatic Teller Machine offering and you can take a look at it at WFVelocity.com
I’ve personally been invested for 6-7 years without issue. That’s not surprising as the use of cash continues to increase in the US.
The biggest risk to investing in this type of asset is obvious—the end of cash.
Is it possible? Yes of course it is. In fact, I would say that there is a high probability that we will be a cashless society. China is there already.
However, we are not China. There are many differences inherent in Chinese culture and government that made it easier for a cashless society to evolve quickly.
And what does a cashless society in the United States look like anyway? I keep hearing people talking about central bank distributed ledger tokens replacing cash. In my view, that doesn’t really make sense. The only thing I see here is the advantage of blockchain technology over the SWIFT system.
Most US dollars are already digital. Central bank digitized dollars, in my view, would really be there to upgrade current technologies.
Cash is important to our society because it allows some level of money transfer that is truly private. Imagine if every penny you spent was tracked by the government. I bet you wouldn’t like that.
Of course lawmakers know that as well. Therefore, despite all of the speculation about the role of decentralized digital dollars, there is no active legislation in congress that suggests that this is going to happen anytime soon.
We will probably eventually be without cash but it’s not going to happen overnight. The end of cash is, in my view, is a generational change that will need to have the support of citizens. That day is not here.
But don’t take my word for it, listen in to this week’s Wealth Formula Podcast to hear my discussion on this topic and more with an expert on financial technology.
Martin Chorzempa, senior fellow since January 2021, joined the Peterson Institute for International Economics as a research fellow in 2017. He gained expertise in financial innovation while in Germany as a Fulbright Scholar and researcher at the Association of German Banks. He conducted research on financial liberalization in Beijing, first as a Luce Scholar at Peking University’s China Center for Economic Research and then at the China Finance 40 Forum, China’s leading independent think tank. In 2017, he graduated from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government with a masters in public administration in international development.
Chorzempa is author of The Cashless Revolution: China’s Reinvention of Money (PublicAffairs, October 2022). He has been quoted in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Washington Post, Financial Times, MIT Technology Review, and Foreign Affairs.
The post 347: China is Cashless…Are We Next? appeared first on Wealth Formula.
The cryptocurrency markets have been crushed and don’t be surprised if they go even lower once the full extent of the FTX meltdown is realized.
However, it’s clear to me that this in no way is the end of cryptocurrency. Believe me, I’ve been around crypto long enough to have seen it declared dead several times over. It won’t happen.
The reason for this is that behind cryptocurrency is a technology. It’s not just tulips. Tulips didn’t do anything. Underlying crypto assets lies decentralized distributed ledger technology that will change our world.
Ok…so you’ve heard me and others make that statement before and it might be getting old. So, I think it’s important to go into more detail and highlight examples of what this technology can do.
Decentralized Finance (DeFi) is a major revolution that is happening now. It is still in its infancy but it is pretty clear that this technology represents the future of banking and really all market transactions.
But why is it advantageous? This is an important question. You can easily be fooled by people selling you “tokens” while they are raising money for real estate or other assets. Tokenization does not replace good operations. In reality, most of these offerings are just marketing gimmicks. Just because your shares are represented by a token doesn’t mean a lot.
There are clearly advantages to tokenizing assets in the sense that they can be traded and potentially provide more individuals access to things in which they might not otherwise be able to invest.
But there are a lot of kinks to be worked out. And while I believe in the technology, the current state of DeFi is still fraught with charlatans and Ponzi schemes. A major reason this is possible is that few DeFi projects are purely decentralized. When someone is in charge, that’s not decentralization.
It’s a complicated topic so I asked someone knee-deep in the DeFi world to help us understand it a bit better. You should know a thing or two on this topic as it will enter your world sooner or later. So make sure to listen to this week’s episode of Wealth Formula Podcast!
Alex Vergara is a Community Lead and Founding Member at EarthFund, the decentralized platform for a better tomorrow.
The post 346: What’s the Big Deal about DeFi? appeared first on Wealth Formula.
It’s cold outside…even in Santa Barbara. The real estate markets are especially frozen now and will continue to be at least for the next couple of months into the new year.
Why is this happening? Real estate, more than any other investment, is highly dependent on interest rates. Right now, there is simply too much volatility for reasonable underwriting. To be clear, it’s not HIGH interest rates that are the problem. It’s moving goalposts. All markets hate uncertainty.
That said, we need to keep deploying money to keep up with inflation. I know a lot of people are sitting on cash which isn’t a terrible idea. But just know that in the process you are losing 7-8 percent buying power on an annual basis.
My own strategy has adjusted to this current reality. I’ve started looking at businesses as investments. In the right hands, businesses can provide streams of income that exceed cash on cash of real estate acquisitions.
Indeed, if you bought your own business chances are that your return on capital would project out to about three years. Larger businesses will have smaller multiples.
You see it’s all about risk and reward profile of any investment. The reason large apartment building tend to trade at cap rates slightly below the mortgage rate is because they are extremely stable assets with few moving parts. Businesses inherently have more moving parts and, therefore, you should be rewarded for taking a bit more risk.
I’m different from many of the podcasters in the personal finance podcast ecosystem because I started out as an entrepreneur. In fact, I started 3 multimillion-dollar businesses before I ever got into real estate syndication.
In other words, I know a thing about starting businesses. That said, evaluating and buying businesses is a different skill set altogether. Zulfe Ali who you may have met at one of our last couple of meetups used to run a sovereign wealth fund and spearheaded acquisitions of multiple billion-dollar companies. That’s a different level of expertise in business acquisition and that’s why I’m following his lead.
To be clear Not everyone should be an entrepreneur. My friend Jorge Newberry and I once talked about how you are most often born an entrepreneur and it’s often a curse for people around us.
So if you are not an entrepreneur but are interested in investing in businesses, what should you do? Well, you can look for private acquisitions to invest in passively. We have one of those coming up this week!
But if you want to get your hands dirty, you might consider looking into franchises. Franchises often provide the guardrails for people who are not natural entrepreneurs and/or want a greater level of support.
This week’s guest on Wealth Formula Podcast is an expert at matching people with franchise opportunities. Listen in. This could be something you might get interested in and end up finding your next calling!
One of America’s Top Franchise Consultants, Host of Kim Daly TV on YouTube, Author, Speaker, Thought Leader, and Franchising Expert
For the past 20 years Kim Daly has been helping entrepreneurs, investors, and stuck 9-5 professionals take control of their lives and step out of the corporate cycle by investing intelligently in the franchise businesses and become “franchisepreneurs.” She is an international best-selling co-author of Franchising Freedom and the founder and host of the Kim Daly TV YouTube channel.
Before becoming a franchise consultant Kim was an entrepreneur and highly sought after consultant in the health and fitness industry working with brands such as Denise Austin, Dr.Denis Waitley, Gold’s Gym and eDiets.com. She is the creator of “The Daly Plan” – a millionaire mindset coaching program that enabled her to build the largest franchise consulting business in the history of franchise consulting in 2012. She aspires to be the most influential and motivational voice in the franchise industry. Kim is a mom of two teenage boys. She is passionate about fitness and nutrition. She lives on the beach in Southern New Hampshire where she loves to ski in the winter and workout year round.
Shownotes:
- How is the current economy affecting businesses?
- Can you own a business and be completely passive?
- How challenging is it to own and operate franchises?
- What is the good thing about franchising?
The post 345: Should You Consider Buying Franchises in this Economy? appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Happy Holidays everyone. I’m very thankful for you Wealth Formula Nation! It is a great pleasure for me to serve you as clarifier-in-chief at Wealth Formula.
Listen in to this week’s edition of Ask Buck. We talk about real estate depreciation issues, asset protection and more!
Don’t miss it!
The post 344: Ask Buck: 11/27/22 appeared first on Wealth Formula.
It’s been a while but this week’s episode of Wealth Formula Podcast is the latest “Ask Buck” episode. As you know, most of the time I interview other people so I don’t get a chance to talk to you directly. These episodes are great for learning. In fact, go back and listen to the last […]
The post 343: Ask Buck: November 2022 appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Warren Buffet talks about being greedy when others are fearful. I think it’s fair to say that there is a great deal of fear in the financial system right now with interest rates climbing as quickly as they are. Eventually, this will lead to distress in all financial markets. The stock market is already down—especially […]
The post 342: Blockchain is Not Dead appeared first on Wealth Formula.
As we get closer to the end of the year, I know a number of you are trying to figure out how to deploy capital. We will have some opportunities that are not real estate oriented. I also believe that it is a surprisingly good time to consider various life insurance strategies that we have […]
The post 341: Why Now Is The Perfect Time For High Cash Value Life Insurance Strategies appeared first on Wealth Formula.
What makes for a highly successful entrepreneur or investor? It is the appetite for calculated risk. As Bruce Arians, coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers famously says, “No risk it, no biscuit”. In entrepreneurship this might be more obvious. You probably know entrepreneurs who took risks by leaving their day job and pursuing a business […]
The post 340: No Risk It, No Biscuit appeared first on Wealth Formula.
The last 15 years have been a game of chicken between the Federal Reserve and the financial markets. Think about the old movies where the kids would speed in their cars towards each other until someone decided to quickly turn out of the way and avoid collision and certain death. Similarly, the financial markets and […]
The post 339: The Great Distortion: Dr. Nomi Prins appeared first on Wealth Formula.
If you made it out to our event last weekend I want to thank your for taking the time to prioritize our meetup. And if you were there, I’m guessing you were not disappointed. We had a few familiar faces in the morning talking about taxes and asset protection and some great presentations around asset […]
The post 338: The Road Less Travelled with Dr. Irene Lambiris appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Boring is Good when it comes to investing. I’ve started hearing others echo that sentiment lately. I’m not sure if I had something to do with it but I’m glad that message is spreading in the podcast ecosystem. A decade ago, I used to be perhaps the busiest cosmetic surgeon in Chicago. I worked hard […]
The post 337: Computer Chips are Sexy and Profitable (Well Maybe not Sexy) appeared first on Wealth Formula.
I guess by now you’ve heard—we’ve got some inflation problems in the United States and globally and Central Banks are going to continue to ratchet up interest rates in attempts to reverse the tide. But wait a second. Why inflation now? Didn’t we print billions of dollars over the last 15 years or so? Why […]
The post 336: We’ve Had High Inflation for YEARS and Didn’t Know it appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Have you heard of the Financial Independence, Retire Early (FIRE) movement? The movement is defined by extreme frugality and extreme savings and investments in hopes of retiring early and living on small withdrawals of accumulated funds. The general rule of thumb is to live on only 30 percent of your income and invest the rest. […]
The post 335: How to Buy Expensive Toys and Profit! appeared first on Wealth Formula.
First of all, if you have not signed up for the next Wealth Formula Meetup, you should do so NOW. This is going to be a very cool event. We are going to do personal finance talks in the morning like we usually do with lessons on taxes, asset protection and real estate. We are also […]
The post 334: Cognitive Bias in Life and Investing appeared first on Wealth Formula.
When I was growing up, the Republican Party stood for small government and free trade. Democrats were apparently on the other side of the table. Maybe it is an incorrect generalization, but one thing is for sure…neither party supports real free trade anymore. Why? Well, I think it stems from an overriding trend towards nationalism. […]
The post 333: Congressman James Bacchus on the state of Free Trade and the WTO appeared first on Wealth Formula.
We haven’t talked about cryptocurrency much lately. Admittedly, I am like everyone else who gets excited when the markets are going sky-high but quickly loses interest when markets are struggling. However, In times like these, regardless of asset class, it is critically important to stay rational. Let’s take bitcoin as an example. As I write […]
The post 332: How to Use Tax Law to Benefit from the Cryptocurrency Bear market appeared first on Wealth Formula.
It’s time for another round of “Ask Buck”. This week’s episode includes questions on taxes, multifamily real estate investments and the Wealth Accelerator. Listen HERE!
The post 331: Ask Buck Summer 2022 Part 2 appeared first on Wealth Formula.
It’s been a while but this week’s episode of Wealth Formula Podcast is the latest “Ask Buck” episode. As you know, most of the time I interview other people so I don’t get a chance to talk to you directly. These episodes are great for learning. In fact, go back and listen to the last […]
The post 330: Ask Buck Summer 2022 appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Investing is hard enough without worrying about all the crooked stuff going on out there. When you add that to the picture, it’s a miracle that most of us have actually made money investing. And if you think the nefarious activity is limited to the private space, you would be mistaken. Big money can manipulate […]
The post 329: The Untold Story of the World’s Biggest Con appeared first on Wealth Formula.
This week’s episode of Wealth Formula Podcast is about emotional intelligence. Why would we talk about such things on a personal finance show? Well, let’s define emotional intelligence for a moment. We all have emotions. If you want to see emotions in their rawest form, look at a toddler. One minute you might have an […]
The post 328: The Emotionally Intelligent Investor appeared first on Wealth Formula.
You’ve probably noticed that my emails have been pretty short the last few weeks. I’ve been in Europe so I’m letting the podcast speak for themselves for the most part. This week we go back to fundamentals. There’s a reason why real estate is the foundation of the Wealth Formula personal finance ethos. There is […]
The post 327: Real Estate and Taxes: What You Need to Know! appeared first on Wealth Formula.
When I think about all of what has happened to our economy over the past two decades, it’s quite astounding. National debt has gone up by about 5x. Interest rates hovered at nearly zero for multiple years and we went through multiple shocks to the system like the 2008 meltdown and Covid. Again—all in the […]
The post 326: 200 Years of Financial Panics appeared first on Wealth Formula.
There is a fine line between being a “quitter“ and a pragmatic individual navigating life. Quitting has a very negative connotation in our culture. It’s un-American and is associated with weakness and lack of grit. In reality however, quitting is often the best thing you can do and the sooner that you do it the […]
The post 325: No Pain…Plenty of Gain appeared first on Wealth Formula.
One of the consequences of inflation is increasing wealth disparity. Think about it for a moment. CPI indices only measure a basket of goods and services. But you and I know as investors that inflation helps us out with our investment portfolios as well. Asset inflation is a real thing. If you don’t have the […]
The post 324: Are We Running Out of Food? appeared first on Wealth Formula.
When was the happiest time of your life? I mean like inner-happy type happy? For me, it was definitely as a kid. My childhood was by no means all roses, but the little things in life brought me a ton of joy. I remember riding my bike to friends’ houses and knocking on their doors […]
The post 323: Bringing Back Wonder to Your Life appeared first on Wealth Formula.
There is a major distinction between economists and investors. While most economists classify themselves with schools of thought such as Keynesian or Austrian, successful investors cannot afford to do so. I just spent a significant amount of time reviewing the work of Saifedean Ammous, the author of The Bitcoin Standard which has really become the […]
The post 322: How Playing the Tax Game Can Be Profitable appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Big changes in the world seem to sneak up on you. One day you reflect on the way things used to be and wonder how the heck we got here. Anyone who has kids knows what I mean. My 13-year-old daughter is tall and beautiful and writes songs. I can remember the day she was […]
The post 321: Bitcoin Ecosystem and Infinite Fleet appeared first on Wealth Formula.
What makes a great investor? Genetics? Personality type? Luck? Probably all of the above. But one thing I’ve noticed is that all the best investors in the world are very curious people and they tend to read a lot. Apparently Warren Buffett was reading between 800 and 1000 pages per day in the early days […]
The post 320: The Soul of a Value Investor appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Should you be investing in real estate now? After all, we have double digit inflation and rising interest rates. Well, let’s start with an even more basic question. Should you be investing in anything right now? What is the alternative? The alternative is to sit on cash while inflation erodes the value of your money […]
The post 319: Janet LePage on the State of the Real Estate Market appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Nothing saddens me more than to see my fellow physicians and other highly trained professionals who spend their youth studying hard for the promise of a fulfilling career that will take care of them financially only to realize that they have been sold a false bill of goods. Physicians in particular have gotten really screwed. […]
The post 318: The Wealth Accelerator appeared first on Wealth Formula.
No matter how open-minded you think you are, you are always going to approach things with a certain bias. And it only takes being completely wrong about something that you would have bet your life on to realize that. My perspective on Covid-19 in the early days is a good example. Now I know there […]
The post 317: The Financial Cold War with China appeared first on Wealth Formula.
When times get tough, it is always easier to have a scapegoat. After all, it is easier to blame an enemy than an unfortunate circumstance. The enemy can be punished and held responsible. Circumstances cannot. The most extreme example of this in modern history is the vilification of Jews during World War 2. Reparations for […]
The post 316: The War Against the Wealthy appeared first on Wealth Formula.
The post Bous Episode: How to Become an Accredited Investor without the Money appeared first on Wealth Formula.
I don’t know about you but sometimes I have so many different things cycling through my brain at the same time but it’s hard to keep track of any one of them. I’m not talking about just work or personal finance related issues. I’m also talking about trying to keep my kids’ schedules straight. I’ve […]
The post 315: The Monkey Mind appeared first on Wealth Formula.
The hardest part about understanding economics is terminology. In reality, economics really just comes down to understanding human behavior based on incentives. Let’s take for example the Cobra Effect. This is a term coined by economist Horst Siebert to describe a time in India under British rule when the local governor was trying to figure out […]
The post 314: Is Economics Just Common Sense? appeared first on Wealth Formula.
As I write this email, I’m on my way to Phoenix for our biannual meetup. So…I’ll keep it short. Coming up Covid and in the midst of a war in Europe we are experiencing unusual inflation forcing the Fed’s hand at raising interest rates. Over the last several weeks, we have had several economists and […]
The post 313: Is There Such Thing As Economic Truth Anymore? appeared first on Wealth Formula.
The most common question I get from investors these days is how increasing interest rates will affect the performance of our real estate holdings. There is often concern, for good reason, that as rates go up our net operating income will go down. The good news is that things aren’t that simple. Rate increases don’t […]
The post 312: Should Real Estate Investors Be Worried About Inflation? appeared first on Wealth Formula.
I have started a number of small businesses over the past decade. I know that a number of you run your own business or are thinking about some kind of new entrepreneurial endeavor. So, let me tell you about some of the things that I have learned. First, fewer variables make businesses easier to run […]
The post 311: Walmart’s Chief Economist on Inflation, War and What it Takes to Scale a Business appeared first on Wealth Formula.
My kids are little. My oldest is 12 and her sisters are 9 and 6. Admittedly, I’ve spent no significant amount of time trying to teach them about money as of yet. If anything, I have taught them a little bit about the burden of taxes by eating half of the cupcakes and ice cream […]
The post Bonus Episode: Financial Education for Kids appeared first on Wealth Formula.
You would think from the vilification of capitalists in recent years that we are nothing but a waste of space on earth. “Pay your fair share capitalist pig!” That’s what you hear these days from popular politicians on the left. Of course, in reality, without us, the government would be broke. What makes America great […]
The post 310: What’s the Big Deal about Venture Capital? appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Money has taken on many forms throughout history. In the last couple of centuries gold has been the dominant form of money recognized globally. In 1912 J.P. Morgan himself said, “Money is gold, and nothing else”. Yet the relevance of gold has really come into question since Nixon took the dollar off the gold standard […]
The post 309: A Money Revolution? appeared first on Wealth Formula.
I write this on the “Ides of March” one day before the Federal Reserve meets to discuss the economy and its plans for the near future. The 900-pound gorilla in the room is inflation although the war in Ukraine may be a mitigating factor for the impending hawkish moves anticipated. By the time this post […]
The post 308: Interest Rates, Inflation and Cryptocurrency! appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Americans have always enjoyed the advantage of geographic isolation from much of the Western World. It has allowed us, in many ways, to look at many of the world’s conflicts from a relatively disinterested distance. Who knows if we would have gotten involved at all in World War 2 if not for the bombing of […]
The post 307: What does the War in Ukraine Mean for You? appeared first on Wealth Formula.
In June of 2008, I graduated from my surgical residency program, got married and discovered Robert Kiyosaki. 14 years later, I’m no longer a practicing surgeon nor am I married anymore. However, the impact of Robert’s books defined the course of my life. It’s really extraordinary when I think about how a single book that […]
The post 306: Robert Kiyosaki on Vietnam and the Politics of Money appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Distributed ledger technology is revolutionary and creates some problems for the old guard—specifically banks and the traditional financial markets. The young guns creating all of this technology are really shaking things up. But you can bet that the traditional guys who have been making millions of dollars off the old system aren’t giving up easily. […]
The post 305: What is Decentralized Finance? appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Disruptive technology always creates casualties. I still remember a few years ago walking in a city with my oldest daughter who was about five or six at the time. We passed an old phone booth and she asked, “Daddy what’s that?”. Think of all the technological dinosaurs that have been forgotten in your lifetime. Records […]
The post 304: Will Crypto Kill the New York Stock Exchange? appeared first on Wealth Formula.
If you were an alien from another planet visiting who got stuck on earth and had to figure out how to get by you would quickly realize that you would need some money. This would probably lead you to a job which would not be difficult given your extraordinary intelligence. In fact, it might land […]
The post 303: ALIEN Thinking for Profit appeared first on Wealth Formula.
I still remember listening to the Peter Schiff podcast seven years ago when I lived in Chicago. I was at the tail end of my Austrian Economic phase and so I believed in everything Peter had to say. One day I was sitting there at my computer listening to him make fun of something called bitcoin which […]
The post 302: The Next Crypto Revolution? appeared first on Wealth Formula.
People listening to the show for the first time often feel a little overwhelmed by the basic terminology and concepts that we use as the basis of our conversations. We throw words like bonus depreciation and cost segregation analysis around like everyone knows what we are talking about. The Ask Buck shows that we have a great place to […]
The post 301: Ask Buck? 1/29/22 appeared first on Wealth Formula.
This week’s show marks the 300th episode of the Wealth Formula Podcast. That means about six years’ worth of shows. Wow! How did that happen? What started out as a little time to speak to myself (I had no listeners) has become a show with well over a million downloads and an extraordinary community. When […]
The post Episode 300! ASK BUCK! appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Why is it that the rich get richer? Well, for one thing, they have money to invest. Think of how many people out there live paycheck to paycheck. Meanwhile, people with money like you and me are able to invest our money and get it working for us. Remember the mathematical Wealth Formula? Wealth=Leverage(MassXVelocity) Velocity […]
The post 299: The Lords of Easy Money appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Okay—let’s talk about debt. I bet at some point in your life, someone has told you that you need to pay it all off. On TV, you see the likes of Suze Orman and Dave Ramsey telling you that you have to get rid of it before anything else. They aren’t entirely wrong. They are […]
The post 298: Is PRIVATE Debt the Real Danger? appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Happy New Year! I don’t know about you, but I am looking forward to another profitable year in the roaring 20s. If you have been investing in real estate for the last several years, you are obviously doing very well. The big question on everyone’s mind seems to be whether or not the market is […]
The post 297: Another Look at the Real Estate Market with Jorge Newbery appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Technology is great but the burdens of technology are significant. Think of all your accounts and all your passwords. You may have cryptocurrency and might be trading on cryptic DeFi platforms. What if something happened to you today? How much of your money would be a giant mess to the family you left behind? There’s […]
The post 296: Investor Cybersecurity 101 appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Inflation is running at about 6-7 percent right now. That is significant. In fact, we haven’t seen those numbers in about 4 decades. On this week’s show, we will talk to an economist to explain what this means at the macro level and what may potentially be the long-term outcome. I’m not an economist. I am […]
The post 295: The 900 Pound Gorilla in the US Economy appeared first on Wealth Formula.
A number of people told me that they really enjoyed last week’s podcast interview with William Green, who spoke about what we can learn from the greatest investors of all time. One line that still haunts me is Sir John Templeton saying that the four most dangerous words for an investor are “This time it’s […]
The post 294: Navigating the BOOM/BUST Cycle with Murray Sabrin appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Asset prices are booming. We have more than doubled price per door costs on acquisitions made in some markets just two years ago. That’s just what our investor club has seen in real estate. To look at rising asset prices on steroids, just look to the crypto markets. A guy who works out at the […]
The post 293: Lessons Learned from the Greatest Investors in History with William Green! appeared first on Wealth Formula.
When you are trying to figure out how to become more successful in life, don’t try to re-recreate the wheel. Success stories aren’t all the same, but they often rhyme. My first two successful businesses were nothing other than me ripping off other successful business models and giving them a twist of my own. I knew the […]
The post 292: Dave Liu on Using Psychology to Hack Life for Success and Wealth appeared first on Wealth Formula.
It’s been 2 years since Covid-19 first became the major global topic. I must admit, if you told me back then that we’d still be wearing masks and living our lives with Covid-19 precautions every day, I would have never believed you. So much about this period in time is extraordinary. It’s hard to really […]
The post 291: A Shot to Save the World: The Story Behind the Covid Vaccine! appeared first on Wealth Formula.
At the core of every individual’s subconscious there is a wealth thermostat. What sets the temperature is a combination of nature and nurture. Once it’s set, it’s difficult to change it. But if you know you have a thermostat, it’s a lot easier to change your mindset. What do I mean by this? Well, think […]
The post 290: What are the 7 Deadly Economic Sins? appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Last week I did an emergency podcast to make sure everyone is aware of an upcoming change related to the whole life policies we use inside of Wealth Formula Banking. It all revolves around recent changes made to IRC Section 7702, with is the IRS code that dictates how life insurance policies are taxed. Since […]
The post HNW Charitable Strategies that are PROFITABLE appeared first on Wealth Formula.
I began talking about cryptocurrency on Wealth Formula Podcast in 2017. Many joined the crypto world after that and have made a significant amount of money. If you are one of those people…you’re welcome! Those who stayed on the sidelines often felt, for good reason, that cryptocurrency was just a big digital fad and that […]
The post 289: Is Bitcoin the Next Layer of Money? appeared first on Wealth Formula.
This is a 5 minute update on Wealth Formula Banking changes that are occurring because of current tax legislation. PLEASE LISTEN NOW!
The post Urgent Wealth Formula Banking Announcement! appeared first on Wealth Formula.
It’s not easy becoming a physician. You have to be at the top of your class in college to get into medical school. Then medical school itself is a pretty big commitment. Of course, I’m one of those crazies who added 7 years of residency training to my education. But by the time you get […]
The post 288: Dennis Gartman: Inflation, the Fed and Trouble Ahead! appeared first on Wealth Formula.
I am a natural entrepreneur. It’s not something I tried to be. I’m just wired this way. School does not teach you to be an entrepreneur. However, there is no doubt that certain subjects parallel my thinking as an entrepreneur. It may surprise you to know that the classes I took that most resemble my […]
The post 287: Artificial Intelligence, the Robot Revolution and the New World Order! appeared first on Wealth Formula.
At our Wealth Formula meetup in Dallas a few weeks ago my CPA, Tom Wheelwright, got up on stage and surprised me. Tom is a very smart guy. He wrote one of the books that I consider a “must read” for personal finance called Tax Free Wealth. He is the Michael Jordan of CPA’s. He […]
The post 286: Ninja Tax Strategies with Tom Wheelwright! appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Economics is a social science. While science is knowledge and application of existing aspects of the world and applications through physical laws, mathematics and research, social sciences deal with society and human behaviors. Certainly there is plenty of math involved in economics but the math is predictive insofar as the behavior is predicted correctly. That […]
The post 285: Chinese Evergrande and the state of the Global Economy! appeared first on Wealth Formula.
“It’s tough to make predictions, especially about the future.” -Yogi Berra The residential real estate market is on fire. No doubt. We are seeing this across the board from single-family homes to massive apartment complexes. I’m not an expert on single-family home values. I don’t understand them as they are not rooted in cap rates […]
The post 284: Jorge Newbery on the State of the Real Estate Market! appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Personal finance is personal. However, there is a type of conventional financial wisdom that leads us to believe that there is one right way of doing things. That becomes very confusing to people…especially in our alternative investment world. After all, financial advisors are the experts, right? In reality, financial advisors are usually most interested in […]
The post 283: Ask Buck 9/25/21 appeared first on Wealth Formula.
When I first read The Cash Flow Quadrant by Robert Kiyosaki (the purple pill), I was fascinated by the concept of using earned income to produce streams of passive income, that would eventually become a great river that would replace ones earned income all together. That concept is what I now call Wealth 1.0. You […]
The post 282: The Cash Flow Ninja! appeared first on Wealth Formula.
There is a saying, “People grossly over-estimate what they can accomplish in a year and grossly under-estimate what they can accomplish over five years.” As I write this to you on my 48th birthday (September 8th), I look back on the last 5 years and it’s hard to argue the point. Five years ago, this […]
The post 281: Should We Be Buying Hotels Yet? appeared first on Wealth Formula.
As a flaming entrepreneur I had a serious problem when I was a young man: Shiny Object Syndrome. After surgical residency, I had a couple of major business successes. Having never failed in business before, I kept pushing the limits. It wasn’t about the money back then. You see, natural entrepreneurs like me enjoy money—no […]
The post 280: Angel Investing and Shiny Objects! appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Henry Ford once said, “Whether you think you can or think you can’t, you’re right”. The older I get, the more I am convinced that he was right! I believe that mindset is the single most important element to success in life—be it financial or otherwise. Mindset is a broad term but the way I […]
The post 279: Should You Buy a Franchise? appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Once you realize how much you don’t know, you always feel like you’re playing catch up. At least that’s how I feel when it comes to personal finance. Wealthy families often implement family offices to help keep things straight. Theoretically, that’s a great solution. However, from what I’ve seen, family office structures often leave clients […]
The post 278: Asset Protection: Everything You Need to Know! appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Over the last three weeks, you have heard actual members of our Wealth Formula Community talk about their financial journeys. A recurrent theme through these interviews was the concept of Wealth Formula Banking. In case you didn’t notice, all three of these individual investors are essentially using Wealth Formula Banking as the cornerstone of their […]
The post 277: Investor Roundtable on Wealth Formula Banking appeared first on Wealth Formula.
In June of 2008, I had just completed my surgical residency and gotten married the day after graduation. There was already quite a bit of change in my life. On the way back from my honeymoon, I looked for something to read at the Puerto Vallarta airport—not many choices as you can imagine. Most people […]
The post 276: The Purple Pill appeared first on Wealth Formula.
“Coming out of left field” is a slang derived from baseball which basically references something unexpected. What does that equate to in personal finance? Well, the opposite of something unexpected would be something expected or… conventional. Conventional financial wisdom includes stocks, bonds, and mutual funds as the foundation of a solid, responsible portfolio. Conventional finance […]
The post 275: What’s a Left Field Investor? appeared first on Wealth Formula.
In the last few episodes of Wealth Formula Podcast, we have had some serious specialists in the area of Real Estate and Natural Resources. These shows are important because you, as an investor, need to know what’s going on out there so you can make educated decisions about where to deploy your capital. Solid information from […]
The post 274: How to Become a Prolific Investor! appeared first on Wealth Formula.
The real estate podcast ecosystem is full of contrarians. Somehow we got mixed up in a crowd full of Austrian economic dogmatics and we constantly hear that the sky is falling. They tell us that the Zombie Apocalypse is near and that you should load up on precious metals (because everyone knows zombies only accept […]
The post 273: The Rise of America with Marin Katusa appeared first on Wealth Formula.
We talk about a lot of concepts on Wealth Formula Podcast related to personal finance and sometimes it can be overwhelming: especially for the newbies in our community. So let me summarize the basics. First, make sure you are protecting your family against the economic fall out of unexpected death. Estate planning, including life insurance, […]
The post 272: Dave Steele on Why NOW is the Time to Buy Real Estate! appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Everyone loves talking about how to make money. Those who are already making money love talking about how they can pay less taxes. But you know what almost no one likes to talk about?…what happens to that amassed fortune when you die. Of course, there are some like me who are ultra paranoid about controlling […]
The post 271: Is the Government Going to Inherit Your Wealth? appeared first on Wealth Formula.
In recent years, I have made some pretty darn good bets that have made me a lot of money. Now I know you are thinking that I am referring to my investments. And you are correct. But I am not referring to financial investments. The investments that have made me the most money over the […]
The post 270: Is a Wave of Mortgage Defaults Coming? appeared first on Wealth Formula.
I remember when I got out of surgical training and started my new life as an adult (at 33 years old), I was terrified by anything related to audits or legal issues. Any time I got a letter from the IRS about anything, I broke out into cold sweats. Every time I got a letter […]
The post 269: Is the IRS Going to Audit You? appeared first on Wealth Formula.
One of the secrets to my own success as an investor has been to involve myself into a variety of tribes. What I mean by that is that I am around other intelligent, successful people who have a wealth of experience collectively as investors. For me, that has resulted in introductions to people with whom […]
The post 268: What is Tribevest? appeared first on Wealth Formula.
The US tax code is thousands of pages long. What could it possibly have to say for that many pages? Well, as it turns out, only a very small fraction of the pages are devoted to how much you are taxed. The majority of the tax code provides for ways you can potentially pay less […]
The post 267: URGENT: Tom Wheelwright Discusses New Tax Legislation! appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Lots more questions to answer on this week’s “Ask Buck”! This episode includes questions on life settlements, Wealth Formula Banking, passive income, asset protection, and more. Listen HERE!
The post 266: Ask Buck! Q2 2021 Part 3 appeared first on Wealth Formula.
This week’s episode features a discussion with Ian Kurth—radiologist and highly sophisticated investor. Ian is a member of Wealth Formula Network and one of its major assets. He is doing exactly what, in my opinion, every high-paid professional ought to be doing. He has really transformed himself into a sophisticated investor and thought leader on […]
The post 265: Ask Buck & Ian! appeared first on Wealth Formula.
It’s time for another round of “Ask Buck”. This week’s episode includes questions on Wealth Formula Banking, cryptocurrency, taxes and multifamily real estate investments. Listen HERE!
The post 264: Ask Buck! Q2 2021 Part 2 appeared first on Wealth Formula.
If you have been ignoring distributed ledger technology, you will regret it if you don’t start paying attention. I understand why people get suspicious of the space. The cryptocurrency ecosystem is full of scammers and hype. Talk of “lambos” and “mooning” can hardly be taken seriously by sophisticated investors. But amidst the din, lies technology […]
The post 263: Is Hedera the Best Long-term Alt Coin Investment Today? appeared first on Wealth Formula.
It’s time for our next series of “Ask Buck” episodes. These shows have become extremely popular over the years and, if you are new to the Wealth Formula community, are particularly useful to “catch up” on recurring themes in our world. Tune in now for the first “Ask Buck” episode of Q2!
The post 262: Ask Buck! Q2 2021 appeared first on Wealth Formula.
I’m always fascinated by stories of entrepreneurs showing early signs of interest in the world of business as children. Warren Buffett was apparently inspired by a book he checked out from the Omaha library at the age of seven called: One Thousand Ways to Make $1000. He went on to pursue several childhood business ventures such […]
The post 261: Teaching Your Kids about Money appeared first on Wealth Formula.
In case you didn’t notice, we are in the middle of a massive cryptocurrency bull market. We haven’t been here since 2017 and who knows how long it will last. For those of you with solid positions, enjoy the run but don’t get greedy! I certainly learned my share of lessons from the last cryptocurrency […]
The post 260: Does Crypto Have a Role in Real Estate? appeared first on Wealth Formula.
What gives something value? Gold has been considered valuable since ancient civilization. It has been used as money, as a store of value, and as jewelry. Gold is also scarce and it is not easy to mine. But…at the end of the day, gold is valuable because of a social construct that says it is […]
The post 259: Should You Invest in Wine? appeared first on Wealth Formula.
The alternative investing podcast ecosystem is full of doom and gloom. It’s always that way. Any time we get out of a recession and the economy gets a little hot, everyone’s calling for the zombie apocalypse. They tell you to prepare for the worst because the zombies are coming. Start growing your own food and […]
The post 258: What’s Next for the US Economy? Boom or Bust? appeared first on Wealth Formula.
“Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.” -Mike Tyson Life is full of surprises…both good and bad. The last 12 months were, to say the least, unexpected. Everyone has a different story. Hundreds of thousands of people died from Covid-19 and left even more people behind to mourn their loss. Businesses […]
The post 257: Do You Have the Pandemic Blues? appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Value is a social construct. Things have value because we, as a society, agree that they are valuable. That is the only reason that gold has the value that it does. Yes, it has unique metallic qualities and it is scarce, but there is no intrinsic quality that gives it the value it has in […]
The post 256: What You MUST Know about Bitcoin! appeared first on Wealth Formula.
I am not an economist but I do recognize the importance of understanding a little bit of macroeconomics to guide me as an investor. After all, financial markets don’t move in a vacuum. They are affected by all sorts of things including monetary and fiscal policy. As a reminder, monetary policy is dictated by the […]
The post 255: Are the 20s about to Roar? appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Life is not long enough to take advantage of the wisdom that comes with age. It’s really kind of a cruel joke of nature if you think about it. You get smarter as the rest of your body becomes less functional and closer to death. This phenomenon really needs to be experienced in order to […]
The post 254: What Just Happened and What Next? appeared first on Wealth Formula.
It’s time for another episode of “Ask Buck”! This week, we field questions on the economy—inflation or deflation, interest rates, and cap rates. We also touch on two sides of the same concept—owning permanent life insurance either your own policy or one that you buy from someone else! Make sure you tune in!
The post 253: ASK BUCK 3/21 appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Investing is hard. It’s hard because you have to know what you are doing. But it’s also hard because you have to be tough psychologically and sometimes do things that seem counterintuitive to your own emotions. Believe me, I’m not immune to psychological miscues. At one point, I owned about 100 bitcoin. But, during crypto winter, […]
The post 252: What is the Best Risk-Adjusted Investment Today? appeared first on Wealth Formula.
A few weeks ago I had my CPA, Tom Wheelwright, on the show to discuss what’s going to happen with taxes in the next year or two under the new administration. Of course, the news was generally bad for high-income earners. Taxes will invariably go up. The idea is that the rich can afford it […]
The post 251: Should You Acquire a Business? appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Nassim Taleb, author of the Black Swan, extrapolates his theories on unpredictable events by suggesting that perhaps the ideal way to allocate your capital is by focusing on the extremes. He says that perhaps the ideal portfolio is one where there is extreme safety on the one hand—US Treasuries for example—and extreme risk and upside […]
The post 250: Infinite Fleet! An Asymmetric Risk Play? appeared first on Wealth Formula.
It’s been nearly 5 weeks since my Covid diagnosis. The good news is that my brain seems to be back. The bad news is, I still feel about 40 years older than I am. That said, at least the trajectory is in the right direction. And, as many well-meaning people have reminded me as of […]
The post 249: Ask Buck 2/21! appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Political difference aside, I for one was relieved to see some order restored to the government last week. Whatever policy differences I have with Joe Biden, I believe him to be a man who cares dearly about his country and a man of integrity. As a person who loves this country first above any party, […]
The post 248: New Government, New Taxes with Tom Wheelwright! appeared first on Wealth Formula.
I’m still recovering from Covid so please excuse any typos and oddball things I might say. I am actually on steroids that do make people a bit different psychologically. As an update on my progress, I am about 10 days out from diagnosis. Overall I am relatively stable but have been dealing with something that […]
The post 247: How to Defer Capital Gains of ANY Kind! appeared first on Wealth Formula.
For those of you in our accredited investor club, you might have noticed an abrupt cancellation of our real estate webinar last Tuesday conveyed by a cryptic message from my assistant, Madalyn. Well, here’s what happened. Sunday, I went on a hike with my daughter. She is 11 years old and has the lungs of […]
The post 246: Financial Insights from Quarantine! appeared first on Wealth Formula.
When I just finished surgical residency, I took a job with a cosmetic surgery company for a few months before realizing that I was not employee material. It was a hodgepodge group of surgeons there. Some of us were younger guys who recently finished training and were looking for experience. There were also a couple […]
The post 245: Back to Basics: Where to Start with Your Financial Plan! appeared first on Wealth Formula.
We are finishing the year off with one final episode of “Ask Buck”. This episode has a wide variety of questions with issues ranging from cryptocurrency to child-rearing. Make sure to listen! P.S. Thank God 2020 is coming to an end!
The post 244: Ask Buck Q4 2020 Part 4! appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Lots more questions to answer on this Christmas week episode of “Ask Buck”! We talk about real estate markets, equity vs debt in your home and lots more. In the holiday spirit, I even asked a couple of our Wealth Formula Network members to join! Lot’s of fun as usual. Enjoy the episode!
The post 243: Ask Buck Q4 2020 Part 3! appeared first on Wealth Formula.
It’s time for another round of “Ask Buck”. This week’s episode includes questions on Wealth Formula Banking, cryptocurrency, gold and real estate markets. Listen HERE!
The post 242: Ask Buck Q4 2020 Part 2! appeared first on Wealth Formula.
It’s time for our next series of “Ask Buck” episodes. It used to be that we just did one of these every few months. But now we get so many questions that it has become a quarterly series! While all of our shows are educational in nature, the nice thing about the “Ask Buck” shows […]
The post 241: Ask Buck Q4 2020 Part 1! appeared first on Wealth Formula.
What if you were in a 747 jet airplane traveling 500 miles per hour. You could get to where you want to be pretty quickly. But what if you didn’t know where you wanted to end up? Well, then it wouldn’t do you much good to move at 500 miles per hour. In fact, depending […]
The post 240: A Million Dollars a Month with Rod Khleif! appeared first on Wealth Formula.
I am not an oil and gas investor. That’s because I am not incentivized to do so by the tax code. The only time I was really incentivized to do so was before I became a real estate professional. Now with bonus depreciation, every time I invest in real estate, I can deduct the majority […]
The post 239: Should You Invest in Oil and Gas? appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Wealth Formula does, in fact, have a mathematical formula behind it. Wealth=Leverage(MassxVelocity) I believe the key to building your wealth is behind maximizing each one of these variables. Mass is simple. It’s how much money you invest. If you have more money to invest then you are going to create more wealth. Leverage is critical. […]
The post 238: THE NEED FOR SPEED: The Western Wealth Way! appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Boring is good. Beware of shiny objects. When it comes to investing, those are the words that I generally live by. When I keep true to this wisdom, I don’t generally lose money. Now that doesn’t mean I have never lost money! Remember, before I became a boring domestic real estate guy, I was a […]
The post 237: Is Angel Investing Right for You? appeared first on Wealth Formula.
In 1798 Thomas Malthus published a theory that predicted that human population growth would eventually outpace food production and thereby push living standards backwards. He based this on a simple mathematical observation that human population was growing at an exponential rate while food production growth was linear. While Malthus’ theory was mathematically sound, it did […]
The post 236: Will Technology Lead to Deflation? Jeff Booth appeared first on Wealth Formula.
We live in interesting times: a global pandemic, a recession and a divided country heading into an election year. Anyone who says they know for sure which way the economy is headed for sure in the next six months is lying. So, what can we do now to prepare for an uncertain future? Well, that’s […]
The post 235: Cashing in with Cash Machines! appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Estate planning is by far and away the most ignored topic amongst the high paid professionals with whom I talk to every day. First of all, it’s not a very sexy issue. Who likes talking about dying anyway? It’s kind of a buzz kill. But I got news for you…eventually you are going to die […]
The post 234: What You MUST Know about Estate Planning! appeared first on Wealth Formula.
It’s not what you make but what you get to keep. Think about that for a second. If you are a physician in California that makes $500K per year, do you really make $500K per year? No you don’t. With combined state and federal taxes, you make half of that. The Federal government and the State of […]
The post 233: Tom Wheelwright: Change Your Tax By Changing Your Facts! appeared first on Wealth Formula.
We are now just a few weeks away from a presidential election. Ordinarily that is, in and of itself, a wildcard for the economy. People tend to freeze up in times of uncertainty. Factor in some kind of October surprise which would not surprise me, on-going COVID-19 fall-out and decreases in government support and who […]
The post 232: Real Estate Volatility Ahead? appeared first on Wealth Formula.
“Saying yes will get you to a million. Saying no will get you to $100 million.” That’s the advice I once got from a very successful centimillionaire friend of mine. And while, on the surface, it may seem like one of those things rich people say to sound profound, I assure you that the power […]
The post 231: Should You Buy a Franchise? appeared first on Wealth Formula.
If you want to be wealthy, do as the wealthy do. The wealthy do not use IRAs and 401Ks to invest in heavy loaded mutual funds. That system is set up to make others wealthy! The ultra-wealthy get a completely different set of options when it comes to investing their money. They often have direct […]
The post 230: The Secret Weapon of the Wealthy! appeared first on Wealth Formula.
People are social animals. We aren’t designed to be wearing masks, not touching each other, and quarantining. Yet for the last six months, that’s been our predicament. At the same time, we are increasing our dependence on digital socializing through social media and have significantly increased our collective screen times and subsequent exposure to toxic […]
The post 229: Pandemic Got You Down? appeared first on Wealth Formula.
It is the second week of September—my birthday week. And…as I reflect on the past 12 months, I can’t help but think, “What a shitty year”. The only solace I take in my reflection is knowing how radically things can change over the course of 12 months. The pendulum just needs to move the other […]
The post 228: Should you Invest in Hotels? appeared first on Wealth Formula.
If you like these “Ask Buck“ shows, you’ve been enjoying the last few weeks. I would love to get some feedback from you as I’m always trying to improve the quality of my content. In the meantime, here is the third and last ask Buck episode of the summer! We will do it again sometime […]
The post 227: Ask Buck Part 3 appeared first on Wealth Formula.
We do a lot of interview based content on Wealth Formula Podcast. However, the feedback I get is that the most learning happens during our “Ask Buck” episodes. The good news is that we have a bunch of questions lined up so we will do a couple of “Ask Buck” shows in a row for the next […]
The post 226: Ask Buck Part 2 appeared first on Wealth Formula.
We do a lot of interview based content on Wealth Formula Podcast. However, the feedback I get is that the most learning happens during our “Ask Buck” episodes. The good news is that we have a bunch of questions lined up so we will do a couple of “Ask Buck” shows in a row […]
The post 225: Ask Buck appeared first on Wealth Formula.
“You’re nuts!” That’s what I would say to anyone a year ago who suggested that we would face a global pandemic that would put us in a recession magnitudes greater than 2008 (based on GDP), make all bars and restaurants shut down and cancel professional athletics. I would also think you were nuts if you […]
The post 224: Multifamily Macroeconomics in the Twilight Zone appeared first on Wealth Formula.
There is a phenomenon in finance that I have witnessed first hand that I find fascinating. The best way to explain it is to tell you about a guy I know out here in California who has been very successful as a fund manager. I asked him once about the expectations of his investors and […]
The post 223: Self-Storage and Why Boring is Sexy appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Back in the early 1990s, I was a freshman at Columbia University in New York. Frankly, I wasn’t very interested in the academic part of college at the time. I was too busy doing what a college kid might do after being dropped into Manhattan after going to private school in the midwest. In fact, […]
The post 222: The Dollar Milkshake Theory with Brent Johnson appeared first on Wealth Formula.
“Be careful what you wish for…lest it come true!” -Aesop’s Fables I remember back in college going to the mail center daily in hopes of finding and acceptance letter to medical school. Back then, I really romanticized the idea of being one of those heroes in a white coat. Fortunately, I got what I wanted […]
The post 221: Average Sucks! appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Entrepreneurs are just professional problem solvers who keep score by how much money they make. I know this because I am an entrepreneur at my very core. It’s not a choice I made, it’s the way I was born. Entrepreneurship is not usually glamorous as frequently depicted in the movies or on reality shows. Most […]
The post 220: Crisis=Opportunity for Real Estate Entrepreneurs! appeared first on Wealth Formula.
When in Rome, do as the Romans do. If we follow that advice, what do we do in an economic environment like today? Austrian economists would tell us to stop printing money and to keep the Fed out of the bond market. If we did that, we would go into a depression. No one denies […]
The post 219: Macrowatch with Richard Duncan! appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Robert Kiyosaki’s Real Estate Advisor, Ken McElroy, was kind enough to give his perspective on the current state of apartment investing on last week’s episode of Wealth Formula Podcast. Ken’s perspective on the state of the apartment market was pretty bleak. While there is no doubt I respect Ken’s views, I also think it is […]
The post 218: Resilience of Apartment Investments During the Pandemic: Dante Andrade appeared first on Wealth Formula.
I have been on the record for a while now anticipating the “tsunami following the earthquake.” In other words, COVID-19 was a destructive economic force but the aftermath may be even worse. The theory is based on historical observations of how these things tend to play out. The problem and potential flaw in the rationale, […]
The post 217: Ken McElroy: What’s Happening with Multifamily Real Estate? appeared first on Wealth Formula.
In our latest Wealth Formula Network video conference, a question was asked that I think pretty much all of us have at this point. If the economy is in the tank, why does the stock market seem to be tone-deaf to what’s going on? It’s the elephant in the room, right? Well, I don’t claim to know […]
The post 216: Tom Wheelwright: Update on Taxes and the Economy! appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Robert Kiyosaki is the author of Rich Dad Poor Dad, the best selling financial book of all time. He went on to publish several books including Cashflow Quadrant which fundamentally changed my life. To say that Robert Kiyosaki has made an impact in the world is an understatement. He has helped to create a generation of entrepreneurs inspired by his […]
The post 215: Robert Kiyosaki on the Post-Pandemic Economy! appeared first on Wealth Formula.
There were a few questions left in the “Ask Buck” file that have finally been answered! You can listen to the latest episode HERE. The good news is that this format seems to be quite popular. I really do enjoy these virtual interactions and encourage you to keep those questions coming! Enjoy.
The post 214: Ask Buck Part 3 appeared first on Wealth Formula.
The post Bonus Episode: Tom Wheelwright on Important New Changes in the Tax Code! appeared first on Wealth Formula.
As I mentioned last week, we had a lot of questions piled up in the “Ask Buck” file that I need to get answered. As a result, we ended up with multiple shows. You can listen to the latest episode HERE. The good news is that this format seems to be quite popular. I really do […]
The post 213: Ask Buck Part 2 appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Ever since this COVID-19 thing started, it seems like there is no other news. Maybe what that tells us is that most of the news we ordinarily get on a daily basis is worthless. But seriously, doesn’t it seem like the world has just frozen into a COVID-19 coma? My ER doc friends joke that […]
The post 212: Ask Buck Part 1 appeared first on Wealth Formula.
“It’s hard to make predictions—especially about the future.” That’s one of my favorite Yogi Berra quotes. It’s funny but also incredibly true. Think about what is happening now with COVID-19. Social scientists make predictions based on assumptions. The epidemiologists are making projections on the spread of the virus even though they have no significant knowledge […]
The post 211: Are We Headed Towards a Depression NOW? appeared first on Wealth Formula.
“Be fearful when others are greedy and greedy when others are fearful,” said a wise sage from Omaha. We’ve heard these words from Warren Buffett for years. On the surface, the advice seems pretty obvious in the investing sense right? After all, when a sector gets obliterated it will either disappear entirely or it will […]
The post 210: Be Greedy When Others Are Fearful: Oil and Gas appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Last episode we talked about the realities of COVID-19—what it is, what makes it so challenging and how dangerous it really is. We also talked about potential medical treatments. In this episode, we go into vaccinations and economic impacts of COVID-19. Listen to Part 1 here: https://www.wealthformula.com/podcast/208-4-doctors-a-virus-and-a-battered-economy-part-1/ Shownotes: The path to the new normal The […]
The post 209: 4 Doctors, a Virus, and a Battered Economy: Part 2 appeared first on Wealth Formula.
What a strange time we live in where even public health issues are politicized. The wingnuts on the right want to downplay a virus that has already taken the lives of more people than the Vietnam war. The wingnuts on the left want to demonize anyone who even suggests an alternative approach to dealing with […]
The post 208: 4 Doctors, a Virus, and a Battered Economy: Part 1 appeared first on Wealth Formula.
What are notes? Well, for simplicity, let’s call them mortgages. You owe the lender money when you take out a mortgage. However, that lender can sell that mortgage to someone else. That’s what it means to buy or sell a note. Notes can be performing or non-performing. Non-performing notes are simply those that have had […]
The post 207: Non-Performing Notes in a Non-Performing Economy with Jorge Newbery appeared first on Wealth Formula.
As expected, the government roll out of the multi-trillion dollar stimulus program to save the economy has been sloppy and slow. People who need to tap into unemployment insurance can’t get through on the phone. Businesses who need money can’t get the money they applied for and, when they do, the terms are very unclear. […]
The post 206: The Realities on the Ground appeared first on Wealth Formula.
I have to admit, I did not think that this Coronavirus thing was going to hit us this hard. To be clear, I’m not just talking about how deadly this pandemic has turned out to be in terms of human life. A month ago, if you told me that just about every small business in […]
The post 205: How to Protect Your Real Estate Investments appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Remember a month ago when this whole Corona-thing was sort of a theoretical issue? After all, we only had 15 cases reported in the whole country and no one had died. Sure, we were starting to see the news in China and Italy but they were so far away. Even the president said it would just […]
The post 204: Wealth and Tax During a Meltdown: Tom Wheelwright, CPA appeared first on Wealth Formula.
A few days ago we had the worst single day loss in US stock market history. The next day we had the single best day seen by the Dow Jones Industrial average in 80 years. I have no idea what kind of volatility there will be between the time I write this email and when […]
The post 203: Profiting Through the Only Guarantee in Life. appeared first on Wealth Formula.
What we are experiencing right now is truly a black swan event. Even those who predicted a recession had no idea how badly the global economy could be crippled in just a few weeks. Hopefully it will be short-lived. But frankly, even a few months of people staying at home and not buying anything will […]
The post 202: What is the Safest Investment in American History? appeared first on Wealth Formula.
We live in a world where things can change fast! A couple of weeks ago, it seemed like this novel coronavirus was some exotic disease in China. Before you know it, it became a big enough problem in Italy to cause a national lockdown. Then last week, the NBA season in the United States was […]
The post 201: Coronavirus, Oil, and Recession with Richard Duncan! appeared first on Wealth Formula.
“People tend to overestimate what can be done in one year and to underestimate what can be done in five or ten years.” That’s a quote with unknown origin that I’ve heard a few times and one with which I cannot agree more. All you have to do is to look at my podcast to […]
The post 200: Comments and Questions from the Wealth Formula Nation! appeared first on Wealth Formula.
- In case you are wondering—I didn’t get a chance to finish episode 200 yet so we are going to call this one episode 199.5! One of the great things about Wealth Formula Network is having a community where people can share what they know including who to stay away from. For example, through our […]
The post 199.5: Private Investments, Ponzi Schemes, and Fraudcasters appeared first on Wealth Formula.
“Be careful what you wish for, lest it come true!” The origin of this saying is Aesop’s Fables (circa 260 BC), not a modern country singer as some might think. Either way, it is a powerful statement when it comes to financial wealth. You see, I talk to hard working, high paid professionals every day […]
The post 199: How to Acquire the Ultimate Asset: Happiness appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Yogi Berra once said, “It’s tough to make predictions, especially about the future.” He was a wise man. No wonder they named a cartoon character after him. The problem is that everything we do in finance ultimately relies on some kind of belief of how the future will play out. As a result, we often […]
The post 198: When Is That Depression Coming Anyway? appeared first on Wealth Formula.
If you are part of our Wealth Formula Investor Club you know that we do a lot of multifamily real estate. In fact, 95 percent of what we do is working class, value-add multifamily real estate with the same two operators. Some of you have invested literally millions of dollars into these deals. I’ve got […]
The post 197: Good Deals, Bad Timing, and a Retirement Account Update! appeared first on Wealth Formula.
I don’t really like basketball and have never watched a full game in my life. Despite that, I knew who Kobe Bryant was and was shocked by the news of the tragic accident that took his and his daughter’s life. His passing actually reminded me very much of Princess Diana dying in a car crash […]
The post 196: Russell Gray on Life After Loss appeared first on Wealth Formula.
People send me real estate deals to look at all the time trying to get an opinion on whether or not they should invest. Usually it’s some glossy executive summary showing nice pictures and impressive proforma numbers. “What do you think?”, they ask. My answer is pretty much always the same. “I don’t know these […]
The post 195: Wealth Secret #1: Know, Like and Trust! appeared first on Wealth Formula.
I have a question for you. Did you make any significant New Year’s resolutions or set some serious 2020 goals for yourself this year? I bet when you set those goals, you likely felt a lot of energy: “This time I’m going to do it!”. You felt like nothing was going to stop you. Now, four […]
The post 194: Hal Elrod and the Miracle Equation! appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Our private group, Wealth Formula Network, has a biweekly zoom video call to discuss anything and everything about personal finance. These calls are a lot of fun for people like me who like to geek out on money stuff. If you are the only one in your social network who likes this topic, Wealth Formula […]
The post 193: The Real Investors of Wealth Formula Nation: The High Paid Doctor! appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Happy New Year! This is my first podcast of 2020 and I’m looking forward to another great year. I don’t know about you, but I get very reflective this time of the year and it is usually pretty helpful. I have a suggestion for you. Write down where you are today and where you would […]
The post 192: What’s Happening with Real Estate in 2020? appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Last summer I had a drug reaction that made me pretty sure I was going to die. There was nothing terribly remarkable about the day it happened. I was with my wife and kids visiting my parents in Minnesota. On our last evening there, I stayed up a little later to chat with my parents. […]
The post 191: What you MUST know about Estate Planning! appeared first on Wealth Formula.
The end of the year is a good time for giving. Of course we are already in the mood with the holidays. Buying presents has a way of greasing up the credit cards and making it easier to pull the trigger. The end of the year is also a good time to give to charity. […]
The post 190: A Time to Give (and to Receive)! appeared first on Wealth Formula.
If you are struggling about finding the right Christmas present for your loved ones this year, I have a suggestion for you. Think EXPERIENCE. Last week I snuck my ten year old daughter out of school and drove her down to Los Angeles to be part of a live studio audience. It was for her […]
The post 189: Ask Buck Part 3 appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Recently I started poking my nose into various physician financial facebook groups. I try to stay away from these things because they tend to put me in a bad mood. But facebook alerts make them constantly pop up on my phone and my brain reacts instinctually for its dopamine hit. When I do poke around […]
The post 188: Ask Buck Part 2 appeared first on Wealth Formula.
I spend most shows interviewing other people. However, once in a while, it’s fun to speak to you directly. We call these question answer shows, “Ask Buck”. I recorded this podcast episode just before the holidays and I hope you enjoy it. By the time you get this note, Thanksgiving will be over but I […]
The post 187: Ask Buck Part One appeared first on Wealth Formula.
With the recent boom of real estate crowdfunding platforms, I often get this question, “What do you think of the (fill in catchy name) platform? What platforms do you like?” The problem with this question is that it’s really not asking the right question. I am a real estate investor. When I invest in real […]
The post 186: High Yield and Liquidity with Notes! appeared first on Wealth Formula.
In college, my two favorite courses were biochemistry and organic chemistry. The logic was very soothing to me. In high school, the only thing that gave me that sense of logically progressing to an answer was mathematics—especially geometry proofs. In other words, I like concrete answers and am not as comfortable leaving arguments unsettled. Like […]
The post 185: Zero Hour and the Demographic Cliff! appeared first on Wealth Formula.
A simple question can have so much complexity around it. Here’s one I get all the time: “Should I pay off my house?”. Conventional wisdom says this is a no brainer. Look at all the financial gurus out there like Dave Ramsey and Suzi Orman—they all think you ought to be paying off your mortgage. […]
The post 184: Should You Pay Off Your Mortgage? appeared first on Wealth Formula.
With the end up the year coming up, my mind is focused on what I can do to mitigate my tax burden. We’ve done multiple investor club webinars on different strategies already this year within investor club. However, my favorite strategy to minimize my tax liability is to maximize depreciation. As it turns out, I have […]
The post Bonus Episode: Cost Segregation and Bonus Depreciation! appeared first on Wealth Formula.
By now, you know my paradox. The more I invest in real estate, the less I pay in taxes because of my real estate professional designation. It could be worse. I could not have the designation and not be able to apply passive losses to all sources of my income! It’s a good problem to […]
The post 183: Investing in Collectible Cars! appeared first on Wealth Formula.
If you read the title of this email and felt a little weird about it, I think that’s pretty normal. It was intended to get a reaction out of everyone. For those who believe in giving for the purpose of being a good person, it might disgust you to think of adulterating your good deeds. […]
The post 182: Charitable Giving for Profit and Gain! appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Where are you today? Where do you want to be? Based on what you are doing right now, is there any chance that you are going to get there? Those are questions that I ask myself frequently—especially when I feel like I’m in a rut. Why is it important? Well, for those of us who […]
The post 181: Changing Your Wealth Mindset with David Phelps appeared first on Wealth Formula.
I’m a doctor, but Wealth Formula is not a doctor podcast. Sure, probably 30-40 percent of my Accredited Investor Club is made up of physicians and dentists, but that just happens to be the byproduct of my own professional past. People with common background tend to flock together I guess. That’s fine with me. I […]
The post 180: Is Venture Capital Right for You? appeared first on Wealth Formula.
I am in a financial position that may seem somewhat unusual to you. You see, the IRS rewards me for my real estate investments by taxing me less. If, on the other hand, I keep my income in the bank, or invest it in traditional equities or bonds, the IRS shows me no mercy! Admittedly […]
The post 179: Buy, Borrow and Die: Bitcoin Style appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Have you heard of the 4 percent rule? I’m guessing you have as it seems to be some magical number espoused by traditional financial advisors and bloggers alike. The idea is that you should safely be able to withdraw 4 percent of your portfolio to live on for retirement. Theoretically the 4 percent is based […]
The post 178: Fixed Income for Dummies! appeared first on Wealth Formula.
I am a simple guy. When I bowl, I throw the ball right down the middle of the lane. I couldn’t put any spin on it if I tried. My thinking is equally simple. In order for me to understand things, I have to break them down into smaller, easier to digest bites or I […]
The post 177: Agricultural Investing in Paraguay? appeared first on Wealth Formula.
There is clearly fear in the heart of investors in the equity markets and real estate alike as talk of trade wars and recessions abound. Meanwhile, I’m investing more in multifamily real estate this year than I ever have. In fact, I’m investing my 80 year old dad’s money in the same offerings—the opportunities everyone […]
The post 176: Should You Invest in Multifamily Real Estate NOW? appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Up to 10 percent of my liquid assets are in very risky stuff—specifically digital assets and startups. A lot of people people think I am being irresponsible—particularly because I have a captive audience with whom I have influence. Now if I was shooting at the hip and telling you to put all your money in […]
The post 175: Cryptocurrency and Asymmetric Risk with Teeka Tiwari appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Last week I was in Monterrey for car week. While I still drive my Toyota Prius from 2008 that I purchased during my final surgical residency year, I have an appreciation for vintage Italian cars so I attended the annual Concorso Italiano. Those old Ferrari’s are beautiful! There was a particularly stunning silver 1973 Ferrari […]
The post 174: How to Invest in Fine Art with Beer Money! appeared first on Wealth Formula.
With the rocky stock market and concern for recession in the air, it is always interesting to go back and reflect on investing behaviors over time. These days, when people are frightened, they don’t invest. Instead, they keep all of their money in the bank. Why? Well, you’ve probably never witnessed a bank failure and […]
The post 173: What Worked During the Great Depression? appeared first on Wealth Formula.
A while back, I had a guy on the show who had created an entire business focused on the creation of new Udemy content. Udemy is an app that allows anyone to make a course and publish it for others to buy. Courses are peer reviewed so you get a pretty good idea of what […]
The post 172: Ask Buck appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Everything was fine until I got up from that recliner and walked down the stairs of my parents home to call it a night. Suddenly something seemed very wrong. It was like I was in a dream. I could not keep a thought and my whole body started to feel very heavy. I made it […]
The post 171: Sudden Death, Vintage Ferraris and Wealth Formula Banking! appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Is this market hot? Are real estate and equity prices too high? Invariably you are hearing this left and right these days. In fact, I can honestly say that I have been hearing that for at least the last three or four years. My initial response to the impending zombie apocalypse was to stop deploying […]
The post 170: How to Deal with Capital Gains Taxes! appeared first on Wealth Formula.
At a recent investor conference in Tenafly, NJ, I spoke on the topic of what I call Wealth 2.0. This is my preferred paradigm for investing that can be simplified into the the following equation: Wealth=Leverage(Mass X Velocity) Mass is simply the amount of money that is actually deployed into investments. After all, it doesn’t […]
The post 169: Wealth 2.0: Leverage Your Deductions! appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Learning is an electrical function of the brain. When we first start learning something, our brains start developing connections to integrate that information. Over a period of time, those electrical connections become stronger and stronger giving the perception of something becoming second nature. It isn’t until a basic function becomes second nature that you can […]
The post 168: Multidimensional Investing with Tom Wheelwright! appeared first on Wealth Formula.
If you can’t explain it, you don’t understand it. Remember that the next time you look across the table at a financial advisor type and feel confused. Ask yourself if you could explain what you were just told to someone else with some level of confidence. If not, start asking questions because the advisor will […]
The post 167: Are You Ready for an Asset Protection Knife-Fight? appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Let me tell you about another one of my failures. A few years ago, I was listening to a well known podcast and I heard about this concept of turning single family houses into elderly care facilities. The idea sounded pretty compelling so I decided to go to the “course” in Phoenix. In fact, I […]
The post 166: Should You Invest in Assisted Living Facilities? appeared first on Wealth Formula.
We recently had a Wealth Formula Network call in which we talked about an offering some members were participating in that I didn’t care for as much. One thing to remember is that smart people can disagree about things without anyone necessarily being wrong. I pointed out some things I avoid when I invest and […]
The post 165: Gray Hair, Peacocks and Unicornomics appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Last week, I got a few emails wondering why I was sending out “scammy” emails from my friend Teeka Tiwari about investing in pot. Actually, I totally understand. If you don’t know Teeka, those emails might sound a little bit like snake oil advertisements. As you know, I pride myself on not being a platform for […]
The post 164: Should You Invest in Marijuana? appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Debt is like a lethal weapon. It can be used for good and it can be used for greed. It can be used to create wealth and it can be used to destroy it. In short, debt is nothing more than a tool. The problem is that a fool with a tool is still a […]
The post 163: When Bad Debt Happens to Good People with Jorge Newbery appeared first on Wealth Formula.
These days you hear a lot of people use the word “sustainable”. It’s actually one of those words that I don’t really understand very well. I guess by definition, it means something that you can keep on doing in perpetuity—something you can recycle and use over and over again. In that regard, the kind of […]
The post 162: Are We Seeing the Extinction of Fossil Fuels? appeared first on Wealth Formula.
We’ve had a number of webinars and podcasts related to tax mitigation over the last several weeks. Unless you are new to the Wealth Formula ecosystem, you know that when we think about investing, we think not only about how much we are going to make, but also what we are going to keep. For […]
The post 161: Opportunity Zones: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly appeared first on Wealth Formula.
I am a lousy trader. I’ve said it before and I fully recognize this fact. That’s why, I try very hard to stay focussed on investing rather than trading. Nevertheless, I still get trapped in behaviors that I invariably regret. For example, you may know that I am a believer in bitcoin. I truly believe […]
The post 160: Bull Markets in the Least Ugly Economy in the World! appeared first on Wealth Formula.
You might remember me talking about a part of the brain called the prefrontal cortex (remember I spent some time in the brain surgery business). The prefrontal cortex is the CEO of the brain. It’s the part that’s really good about making good decisions. For example, if you see a teenager doing something very dangerous […]
The post 159: ASK BUCK appeared first on Wealth Formula.
In recent weeks, I have had a series of webinars for Investor Club called the Tax Day Postmortem Series. Investor Club is the Wealth Formula accredited investor email list. The webinars so far have been for strategies limited to accredited investors such as oil and gas and conservation easements. However, we will have some coming up that will be […]
The post 158: Tax Perspectives with Diane Gardner appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Back in 2014, two of my medical businesses were KILLING it. I was making money hand over fist. Unfortunately, however, I made a mistake that many entrepreneurs make. Instead of taking money off the table and putting most of it into stable assets, I decided to dump the majority of it back into the business […]
The post 157: Harvest Returns appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Lately, I’ve been getting a lot of questions from investors on how to choose investments—particularly private placements that are readily available to accredited investors. First, let me be clear that there is no magic solution to getting all of your investment picks right. In fact, if you invest long enough, something will go wrong. Next, […]
The post 156: Centimillionaire Secrets with Richard Wilson appeared first on Wealth Formula.
When I first described by “work” to my CPA, Tom Wheelwright, he said, “So you are an entrepreneur who just happens to be a surgeon”. I hadn’t thought about it that way, but I guess that’s what I am. Now listen, I don’t take the label “entrepreneur” necessarily as a complement. It’s more of an […]
The post 155: TribeVesting appeared first on Wealth Formula.
It’s funny how long lasting paradigms perpetuate without question for centuries without being questioned. It used to be in most places, specific religions were mandated by the government to its people and heretics were persecuted. Of course that still exists in many parts of the world but the point is that a large part of […]
The post 154: The Separation of Money from State appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Sometimes in this “alternative investment” podcast world in which we live, I hear about great “investments” that are yielding 20 percent or more. On the surface, they sound great. In fact, the yield part might actually be real. However, because we are so ingrained in the “investment” world, we often fail to see an obvious distinction that […]
The post 153: Should You Buy an Online Business? appeared first on Wealth Formula.
I was just interviewed on a podcast earlier today and we got on the topic of gold. You know that I’m not a huge advocate for precious metals right now. Anyway, the argument became a little familiar. Ie. The global economy is going to melt down, there will be a zombie apocalypse and the the […]
The post 152: History of Money, Gold and Crypto appeared first on Wealth Formula.
You may know that by the end of last tax year, I sold most of the real estate that I held by myself—as owner and operator? Why? Well, first of all, I realized that to do real estate right, it really is not ever TRULY passive unless you have a full time operator doing all […]
The post 151: How to 1031 into a PASSIVE Asset appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Remember when you were a kid and you would go to the doctor? Your parents revered your doctor. The held him in high esteem. They trusted him. They would never say things like, “He’s just doing that test so he can make some extra money” or “He’s getting kickbacks from the drug company”. These are […]
The post 150: How to Invest in Pain appeared first on Wealth Formula.
To all those who made it out to Scottsdale last weekend, it was great to see you! Of course I’m biased, but I have NEVER seen such a high quality group of people at an investors event before ours. You guys are by far the most interesting podcast listeners in the entire podcast ecosystem—guaranteed. Of […]
The post 149: Real Investors of Wealth Formula: The Goose appeared first on Wealth Formula.
I’m a surgeon—a retired surgeon. I started out in neurosurgery. Then, after a couple years, I fled to a specialty where I could operate on the head and neck without the brain. I loved neuroscience, but found the brain, itself, to be a pain in the ass. When the brain gets injured, you can’t wait […]
The post 148: Dentacoin? What? appeared first on Wealth Formula.
As you know, I have been on a kick to challenge myself to learn more about things that I don’t know about and to challenge my personal investing dogmas. Recently, you saw me come out of the proverbial gold closet and proclaim that I don’t see the point of owning physical gold. You can hedge […]
The post 147: Are Mobile Home Parks Right for You? appeared first on Wealth Formula.
If I hadn’t listened to Peter Schiff, I would have made gobs and gobs of money in the past few years. Now, don’t get me wrong. I like listening to Peter Schiff’s podcast. He is a very smart guy. In fact, he predicted the financial meltdown of 2008. It would be even more impressive if […]
The post 146: Mini-Malls in 2019? appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Bitcoin and Blockchain are not dead. In fact, if you look at the history of bitcoin itself you see that it seems to have a feline propensity for multiple lives. After being battered and beaten up so many times, why is bitcoin not dead? I am reminded of a movie that I recently watched with […]
The post 145: Nic Carter on the REAL Value of Blockchain appeared first on Wealth Formula.
If I have given you the impression that my life since leaving surgical training has been all ups and no downs, I have unintentionally misled you. The first business I started which was an owner operated medical business did well quickly its true. It allowed me to start investing in real estate. But that first […]
The post 144: Millennial Money with Grant Sabatier appeared first on Wealth Formula.
It’s so strange to think of the way our politics have evolved even in my lifetime. The first president I remember (barely) is Jimmy Carter. Most of grade school for me were the Reagan years. After a bumpy start, the 1980s became the roaring 80s. It was a decade remembered for wealth and excess. Remember Wall […]
The post 143: Who Cares About Poverty and Equality? appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Changing your personal financial belief system is like changing religions. Think about it. Maybe you grew up Christian or Jewish. Whether you practice or not, you have some pretty established beliefs. That’s why it’s not that common for people to convert from one religion to another. Maybe that’s an extreme example but there is a […]
The post 142: Gold: To Buy or Not to Buy? That is the Question appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Not everyone is that excited about blockchain. Especially these days as the market is about 90 percent down from its January highs. But remember, while the bubble was real, so is the technology. There is something here that will start to permeate our world—even if we have no desire to invest in cryptocurrencies. You see, […]
The post 141: Tokenizing Real Estate with Matthew Sullivan appeared first on Wealth Formula.
I remember being in medical school thinking that I wanted to be a surgeon. The idea of it appealed to me very much. I certainly had the personality of a surgeon. But there was something about which I felt very insecure. You see, growing up, my dad was about as white collar as they get. […]
The post 140: Multifamily Mastery and Infinite Returns with Janet LePage appeared first on Wealth Formula.
You know it’s been a hell of a year in terms of market volatility right? Now, in cryptocurrency, we expect that. It is a speculative asset class with binary outcomes. That’s why we only invest money in money that we can lose. In 2018, we definitely lost it (who knows about 2019). But the equity markets are […]
The post 139: Ask Buck New Year’s Edition! appeared first on Wealth Formula.
I’d like to give each and every one of my listeners a gift this year so I’m going to do that the only way I know how—to give you some unsolicited advice (not to be confused with financial advice). Take it or leave it but these concepts have served me well. So…let us begin! Invest […]
The post 138: Ask Buck Christmas Edition appeared first on Wealth Formula.
People keep asking me the same question these days—Buck, what are you investing in given the relative instability of asset prices and the economy? Now I won’t give you financial advice—that is my disclaimer. But I will tell you what I tell everyone else. In times like these, I stick mostly to multifamily real estate […]
The post 137: Wealth Formula Banking: The Things We Never Talk About appeared first on Wealth Formula.
How was it that some people were able to predict the 2008 financial meltdown? Were they clairvoyant? To be clear, I’m not talking about those who predict a financial meltdown every year. I’m talking about groups like ITR economics who we had on the show a few weeks ago that also accurately predicted periods of […]
The post 136: How to Predict the Future with Richard Duncan appeared first on Wealth Formula.
I have written and talked before about the value of gold. What is the real purpose of holding gold anyway? Gold bugs will argue that gold is the only real money and that’s why they hoard it. I think that’s fair. Gold is money and if you just want to keep some money around gold […]
The post 135: Is Real Estate as Good as Gold? appeared first on Wealth Formula.
When I was a kid growing up in the early eighties, I remember my parents opened up a savings account for me and let me take the interest out as an allowance. That was a pretty good deal for an eight-year-old. I remember riding my bike to the bank every couple of months and showing […]
The post 134: Global Disintegration and Robots Stealing Your Job! appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Is it just me or does politics these days resemble a reality television show? It’s crazy. Take a step back for a moment. Regardless of your political preference, you have to admit that the last two years have been unprecedented. Remember when having an affair was enough to end a political career? Now, we have […]
The post 133: Spies, Lies, and Leaks with Valerie Plame appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Remember ARPANET? There’s a good chance you don’t. It was a precursor to the internet that essentially allowed researchers to access each other’s data. It was actually a revolutionary technology that, as you know, ultimately led to the creation of something that fundamentally changed the world. With the rise of the internet and all the […]
The post 132: Investing in the Internet… 2.0 appeared first on Wealth Formula.
When I go back to some of my earliest interviews, I am always shocked at how my opinions have changed over just a couple of years. When I first started Wealth Formula Podcast, I was less sophisticated than I am now. I was being overly pessimistic about the economy just like other podcasts in the […]
The post 131: Buy Notes or Invest in a Fund? appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Most people aren’t trying to become ultra-wealthy. They just want to feel safe and to feel some level of freedom from the shackles of the daily grind. You see, the majority of us have one source of income and it’s usually being paid by someone else. That is not a recipe for stability. No matter […]
The post 130: Willpower Doesn’t Work with Ben Hardy appeared first on Wealth Formula.
It’s very hard to become an entrepreneur without any life experience. I know it seems like that’s the way it works. After all, look at Mark Zuckerberg and the other teenage tech superstars out there who did it shortly after puberty. But in reality, most of the entrepreneurs that I know spent some time working […]
The post 129: Trust Fund Rats and Behaviorceuticals appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Beware of Chicken Little. The financial podcast space is small and we often tend to start believing each other and then spreading those same opinions to our listeners as facts. General sentiment in the alternative investing communities is bearish right now. The problem is, that has been the case for the last 3-4 years. And guess […]
The post 128: The Roaring 2020s and the Depression of 2030 appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Never try to convince a fool that he’s a fool. He won’t believe you anyway. I hate to say it, but that’s why I never talk money with people unless they bring it up with me first. That’s what’s great about being a podcaster. People CHOOSE to listen to you or to be on your […]
The post 127: Tom Wheelwright and Tax Free Wealth 2.0 appeared first on Wealth Formula.
It’s amazing how we learn isn’t it? I watch my little girls and I realize how much we, as adults, take for granted when it comes to everyday things. My three-year-old does not know how to tie her shoes yet—in fact, she puts her shoes on the wrong feet 50 percent of the time. At […]
The post 126: Ask Buck appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Visit consensusnetwork.io for the full episode and more crypto content!
The post Bonus Content – Consensus Network: Cryptocurrency News & Education appeared first on Wealth Formula.
I’ve learned a lot of stuff in my life—from the principles of neurosurgery to the intricacies of cryptocurrency. Some of this stuff is pretty complicated…at first. But, I’m going to let you in on a little secret if you don’t know it already. Just about everything that appears complex at first can be broken down […]
The post 125: Wealth and the Deathbed Framework appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Leverage in the form of bank debt is a double edge sword. Obviously, consumer debt to buy things like televisions and mall junk can only be negative in the financial sense. However, using debt to buy cash flowing assets is perhaps the single most powerful weapon we can use to create wealth and the thing […]
The post 124: Real Estate Millions with Grant Cardone! appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Man am I tired of hearing people with a lot less money than me giving financial advice. I have to actively suppress my temper when someone forwards me an article full of misinformation that someone, that is clearly clueless and NOT wealthy, wrote on a blog! There is a lot of know-it-alls in this financial […]
The post 123: Invest Like a Centimillionaire with Richard Wilson! appeared first on Wealth Formula.
A few conversations I had with investors over the last week got me thinking that we need to talk about some basics again. First of all, let’s start with why I generally prefer to own an asset (either in entirety or a fraction) as opposed to simply holding a note. What is a note or […]
The post 122: Cash Talk with the Cash Flow Ninja appeared first on Wealth Formula.
When I was in high school, I remember taking my first political science course. That was the first time I learned the political meaning of conservative or liberal. Up to this point, I had viewed those words as synonymous with Republican or Democrat. Of course that wasn’t quite the same thing. A conservative, I learned, was someone who […]
The post 121: Are We Really a Capitalist Society? A Harvard Professor Explains. appeared first on Wealth Formula.
The prefrontal cortex is the CEO part of the brain. It is involved with personality, decision making, and moderating social behavior including impulse control and risk taking. You may not be surprised to learn, therefore, that this structure matures late in life. One study found that the prefrontal cortex may continue maturing late into your […]
The post 120: Prefrontal Investing with Dr. David Phelps appeared first on Wealth Formula.
I remember being a kid in the back of my parents’ car on long driving trips to Wisconsin—we used to go to a place called Wisconsin Dells which is kind of a “Las Vegas for children”—lots of water parks, go-karts, and stuff like that. We’d stay in a cheap hotel with a swimming pool and […]
The post 119: Why WAX is HOT! appeared first on Wealth Formula.
The other day, I was listening to the radio and heard that protesters were outside of JP Morgan Chase Manhattan CEO Jamie Dimon’s house protesting the bank’s investment into facilities that were used to separate children from their parents at the border. Of course that story of separation has been all over the news and, […]
The post 118: Return on Investment AND Return on Impact! appeared first on Wealth Formula.
One thing I’ve learned in life is that someone is always ready to tell you why something can’t be done and usually they are wrong. I had that happen with my first accountant. Years ago, I was reading some of Kiyosaki’s and Tom Wheelwright’s stuff and told him what I wanted to do. He told […]
The post 117: BETTER than a Self Directed IRA! appeared first on Wealth Formula.
The central theme of Wealth Formula Podcast is that there are two investing worlds. One is for the poor, middle class, and the upper middle class. The other is for the ultra-wealthy. Now the funny thing is, that many of those in the middle and upper-middle classes could be investing like the ultra-wealthy but one […]
The post 116: Central Bank Collusion with Nomi Prins appeared first on Wealth Formula.
I don’t know about you, but I love the 4th of July holiday. I love getting together with family and watching fireworks—that’s for sure. But the 4th of July, to me, reminds of the greatest advantage with which I was born—the opportunity to grow up an American. I am two generations away from poverty in […]
The post 115: Ask Buck with Lane Kawaoka appeared first on Wealth Formula.
I’ve really been thinking about this thing lately that they call the law of attraction. I’m sure you’ve heard of it. Remember a few years back when that book, “The Secret” came out and they made a movie of it as well? Actually, that book was sort of a rip-off of “the secret” that Napolean […]
The post 114: What is the Freedom Formula? appeared first on Wealth Formula.
As you know, I left medicine entirely about a year ago. I still have a couple of medical related businesses but that’s about it. Without question, I have moved on. All of my physical and emotional energy are devoted to things outside of medicine. Why? Well, I used to think it was a touch of […]
The post 113: How to conquer burnout and the golden handcuffs appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Everywhere I turn, it seems like someone is talking about how the market could crash any day. As I write this, I see that the Dow has taken a beating today because of the Trump “tough on China” rhetoric. Tariffs, rising interest rates, ballooned asset prices—is this baby going to blow or what? I don’t […]
The post 112: Death: The Ultimate Financial Hedge appeared first on Wealth Formula.
If you listen to Wealth Formula Podcast, there is a good chance you listen to other shows with similar themes and opinions. In my niche, the one on-going theme is that the zombie-apocalypse is just around the corner. The zombie apocalypse is of course another financial meltdown reminiscent of 2008 or worse. And to be […]
The post 111: The Current State of the Economy with Doug Duncan appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Robert Kiyosaki told me that Rich Dad Poor Dad was written to be a promotional piece for his Cash Flow board game. He really did not write it with the intent of making money on the book itself. Well, that little promotional piece ended up being the number one best selling financial book of all time—not bad! […]
The post 110: What’s Your Financial IQ?: David Norris, M.D., M.B.A appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Why is it easier for the rich to get richer? Why is it that the “first million” is the hardest? Well, there’s lots of reasons for that and I go through them in some detail in Your Roadmap to Real Wealth. But one very important reason that the rich get richer is because they have […]
The post 108: The Bitcoin Killer: Mance Harmon on Hashgraph appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Some times when I go back and listen to my podcasts from when I first started this show, I think to myself, “This guy is clueless.” Of course I wasn’t clueless. I still knew more than most about investing but man have I evolved. The key to that evolution has been my ability to not […]
The post 107: Cash Flowing with Stocks with Andy Tanner appeared first on Wealth Formula.
I am proud to say that I have overcome a major handicap to become a successful entrepreneur. It took me 33 years to figure out how to get past this obstacle… but I did it. I’m proud of that fact because very few people with this fate in life become successful business people and even […]
The post 106: Entrepreneurship and Mobile Home Millions with Kevin Bupp appeared first on Wealth Formula.
It’s actually not that hard to make money. Yes… I said that. And, I mean it. You see, everywhere I turn, I see opportunity. Why am I seeing things that others aren’t? Well, I think it’s because I’m not looking the same place that most people are. You see, there is a herd mentality amongst […]
The post 105: Cash Flow with Raw Land: Mark Podolsky appeared first on Wealth Formula.
We are living in a world that is technologically transforming at light speed and distributed ledger technology is on the cusp of that metamorphosis. Most people think of distributed ledger technology in terms of bitcoin—but bitcoin only scratches the surface of what will be the most important technological advancement since the internet. That is the […]
The post 104: The Next Crypto BOOM with Teeka Tiwari! appeared first on Wealth Formula.
I know I’m always ranting and raving about the evils of Wealth Advisors but the reality is that I have learned a great deal from some of them. You see, there is a difference between Wealth Advisors who work for you and those that live OFF of you. There is also a big difference between […]
The post 103: Wealth Tips and Tricks with Jim Dew appeared first on Wealth Formula.
When I was a kid, $20 dollars seemed like A LOT of money. When I was a surgical resident making less than $50,000 per year in San Francisco, making $300,000 like my professors sounded like A LOT of money. Since embarking on my entrepreneurial and professional investing journey, I have had $300,000 MONTHS on multiple […]
The post 102: The Millionaire Mindset with Michael Bernoff appeared first on Wealth Formula.
One of the reasons I don’t like investing in the New York Stock Exchange is that by the time a stock become publicly traded, most of the upside is already gone. Let’s take Square, Inc. for example. This is the mobile payments firm with that software that allows pretty much anyone to take credit card […]
The post 101: Invest like the rich with equityzen appeared first on Wealth Formula.
In 2008, when I finished my surgical residency, my net worth was about negative $75,000—not bad considering that number included education until I was 33 years old! As you know, 2008 was also the year of the great meltdown of the financial system. Doctors that I knew who had been practicing for decades with the […]
The post 100: Your Roadmap to Real Wealth! appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Before I had a clue on how to invest, I thought I could just figure it out on my own. How hard could it be? After all, it’s not brain surgery right? And to a certain extent that is true. The math is quite easy. And yes, there is a simple equation. Wealth=leverage(Mass x Velocity). […]
The post 099: Profiting in Leisure with Beth Clifford appeared first on Wealth Formula.
When I first learned about the concept of cash flow investing, it was like a religious experience. In my case, I went around everywhere proselyting the virtues of cash flow investing to my friends. I was so excited about the concept that I couldn’t stop talking about it. In the process, I bored the heck […]
The post 098: Monetizing What You Know with Jonathan Levi! appeared first on Wealth Formula.
If you’re heading into a dark cave for the first time, bring someone who’s been there before. That’s sound advice–not only for exploring caves, but also for investing your money. In fact, when it comes to investing money, it would be even better if you brought a geologist with you who had previously studied that […]
The post 097: Profiting from Broadway with Erica Schwartz! appeared first on Wealth Formula.
I don’t even watch the news anymore. The advent of the 24 hour news cycle combined with our reality television culture has changed what used to be “news” into entertainment. The fundamental problem with this juxtaposition of news and entertainment is that something that was supposed to be unbiased—just facts becomes something that has to […]
The post 096: Why Solar Might Start to Shine with Stephen Honikman appeared first on Wealth Formula.
“Sexual transmutation is the most powerful tool in existence when it come to creation, invention, accomplishment, creativity, advancement, and achievement.” – Napolean Hill, Think and Grow Rich This is a quote from one of my favorite books. It’s in the chapter than no one talks about on sexual transmutation. If you have read the book, […]
The post 095: Untold Secrets of the Successful: Jorge Newberry appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Are you a great multitasker? Are you sure about that? After all, it’s impossible to think about two different things simultaneously (I am a former brain surgeon, I know). So, what does it mean to be a multitasker anyway? Well, I think most people loosely define this term as being able to get a bunch […]
The post 094: The ONE thing with Jay Papasan appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Funny thing happened over the last few weeks—I learned how much people love the idea of getting rich fast! I’m sort of half way joking about this but we had two funds—both Reg D 506c offerings so I’m legally clear to talk about them. Anyway, one was a highly speculative crypto fund. I emphasized several […]
The post 093: Self Storage is Sexy and Profitable! appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Ray Dalio, legendary Hedge Fund Manager and over-all smart guy has been talking about the coming “financial winter” for the last few years. He’s looking at the same things we talk about on this show all the time–near zero interest rates for a decade, ballooning asset prices, quadrillion dollar derivative markets, etc. Neither Ray Dalio […]
The post 092: Gold, Crypto, and AI with Kenneth Ameduri appeared first on Wealth Formula.
The Chinese word for crisis and opportunity is one and the same. I know this from personal experience. My entrepreneurial career was launched because of a crisis. It was 2009 and I had my first job out of training at a company called Lifestyle Lift. You may recall late night infomercials showing miraculous rejuvenation of […]
The post 091: Crisis, Opportunity with Kathy Fettke appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Why the heck did I start a podcast anyway? A lot of people ask me that. Well, it went something like this. I used to listen to podcasts all the time—most of them real estate related. But after a while, I realized a few things. First of all, even if I liked a particular podcast, […]
The post 090: Podcasting for Fun and PROFIT! appeared first on Wealth Formula.
I don’t have an IRA or a 401K. In fact, most people I know who are higher net worth do not. You see, what I’m realizing more and more as I continue to gradually climb up this wealth ladder is that there seems to be a separate set of rules at each stop. Don’t get […]
The post 089: Why The Rich DO NOT use IRAs appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Robert Kiyosaki’s CPA, Tom Wheelwright performed a miracle. He made me think taxes were interesting! Why? Well, most people think of taxes as, at best, a necessary evil and at worst down-right punative. But after reading Tom Wheelwright’s book “Tax Free Wealth”, he made me look at taxes a totally different way. As Tom likes […]
The post 088: Is Trump’s Tax Plan Good for You?: Tom Wheelwright CPA appeared first on Wealth Formula.
You know, one of the interesting things about getting older is that you have the ability to look back and tell a story about yourself—to create a narrative about the moments and the people that, for better or for worse, changed the course of your life. I remember the day I decided to become a […]
The post 087: Robert Kiyosaki on Why Educated Professionals Make Lousy Investors appeared first on Wealth Formula.
In 1593 a Dutch botanist named Carolus Clusius planted several tulip bulbs in his botanical garden and over time he proved their ability to grow in the harsh conditions of the Low Countries. Tulips were new to Europe and they looked nothing like plants the Dutch had seen. Furthermore, a virus specific to the Tulips […]
The post 086: Tulips or Technological Revolution: Cryptotalk with Teeka Tiwari appeared first on Wealth Formula.
I am a refugee of the Thomas fires that crept dangerously close to my home in Montecito, CA. That’s why my audio sucks on the introduction of this week’s podcast. Fortunately the actual interview was done before my evacuation. As I mentioned in the introduction of last week’s show, I woke up to ash on […]
The post 085: Accredited to Accredited with Gena Lofton appeared first on Wealth Formula.
I cannot tell a lie… Despite the fact that I am a libertarian and seem to run in circles with some pretty depressing people: I do not see the future filled with doom and gloom. I do not believe that the United States is screwed and that you should start preparing for Armageddon. I do […]
The post 084: Preparing for the Storm with Chris Martenson appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Thousands of years ago, in the Roman Times of Christ, you would go to your local store and trade your ounce of gold coins for a nice toga and a pair of sandals—something worthy of wearing to the coliseum. Today, an ounce of gold will buy you a pretty nice suit and a pair of shoes—something […]
The post 083: What You Need to Know About Gold with Dana Samuelson appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Why do you believe what you believe? Are you a republican or a democrat? Are you pro-choice or pro-life? How about guns? Should guns be outlawed in the United States? Do you ever look at the “other side” and wonder if they are absolutely nuts? “How could they believe what they believe and stand for […]
The post 082: The Moral Case for Fossil Fuels appeared first on Wealth Formula.
When you listen to my podcast or read my book, you might think I am rigid about my investing. After all, the principals of wealth creation that I teach are: Invest in cash flowing assets. Understand how your investments work. Invest in real things—things you can see touch and feel. Invest in things that people […]
The post 081: Become an “Insider” with Nick Hodge appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Being a podcaster is kind of unusual. Last month I had over 30K downloads (not bad) yet I only speak to a fraction of you through investor club. Even fewer of you know each other despite the fact that you have a lot in common. The good news is that I will be launching a […]
The post 080: Ask Buck appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Last summer I learned how to swim for the first time. I was an athletic kid but somehow missed that window in my life when it was ok to not know how. After all, when you are two or three years old, not knowing how to swim is par for the course–but not when you […]
The post 079: Self Directed IRAs and Solo 401ks with Theresa Fette appeared first on Wealth Formula.
How our brains have evolved over time is a funny thing. The same things that make us wildly successful in life have the potential to make us miserable. This is the cruel paradox of the high achieving, high paid professional. We are strivers and we have very high expectations of ourselves. That’s not a bad […]
The post 078: Zen and the Art of NFL Football with Dr. Colleen Crowley appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Why do I advocate investing in real things like real estate and precious metals instead of stocks, bonds, and mutual funds? Because I understand them and they are, for the most part, predictable. I understand that, when I buy an apartment building, people have to pay me rent. That property might go up and down […]
The post 077: Confessions of an Artificial Intelligence Hedge Fund Manager: Howard Getson appeared first on Wealth Formula.
The wealthy think differently than most of us– Here’s the challenge–In order to be wealthy, you must think like the wealthy! “But Buck, if I don’t know how they think how can I do that?” Well, I’ll tell you. You see my job on Wealth Formula is to infiltrate the world of the wealthy. Think […]
The post 076: Setting Your Wealth Thermostat: Rod Khleif appeared first on Wealth Formula.
In 1943, psychologist Abraham Maslow published a paper called “A Theory of Human Motivation.” In this paper he described, what has come known as, Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. Basically its a pyramid structure describing different human motivation drivers. At the bottom of this pyramid lies physiological needs–food, water, etc. The next level up is safety […]
The post 075: Maslow’s Hierarchy of Investing with Mike Ayala appeared first on Wealth Formula.
I cannot tell a lie–in my first business I made a small fortune sucking fat from places where people didn’t want it and putting it back where they wanted more! I told Robert Kiyosaki about that last April and that’s how he remembered who I was the rest of the cruise. My wife hates it […]
The post 074: Make an impact AND make a profit! appeared first on Wealth Formula.
“Can you explain what internet is?” That’s the question Katie Couric asked her colleagues on the Today Show in 1994 as an equally confused Bryant Gumbel looked on. Now don’t you wish you knew what the internet was back then? Don’t you wish you had enough foresight to see this seismic shift in not only […]
The post 073: What the heck is bitcoin? appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Robert Kiyosaki opened my eyes to the notion of passive multiple income streams 9 years ago and it changed my life. Of course, my dad had been talking about “cash flow investing” since I was born but for some reason I was too dense to figure out what he meant. In the context of Kiyosaki, […]
The post 072: Automate Streams of Income Through Amazon! appeared first on Wealth Formula.
I have said on a number of occasions that Wealth Formula Podcast is NOT a Real Estate Show. So why do we talk so much about real estate? Well, for people who want to grow their wealth, there simply is no other asset class with a better track record and more upside than real estate. […]
The post 070: Real Estate Investing with Russell Gray! appeared first on Wealth Formula.
I have arrived to Southern California and I am now writing to you from my new office which, for the first time in Wealth Formula Podcast History, is NOT a part of my home. This time away from the show has given me some time to reflect. I do have a lot to say to […]
The post 069: Deconstructing Destructive Belief Systems appeared first on Wealth Formula.
When I was in high school, I used to BLAST Led Zeppelin on my drive to school. My favorite album was Led Zeppelin IV. My music tastes haven’t changed much since then. In fact, my music repertoire pretty much ends 1992–the year I graduated high school. Even ’92 is a bit late for most of […]
The post 068: Going to California appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Several weeks ago, I sent out a “Weekly Wealth Widget” about BASIC estate planning–the stuff you absolutely have to have to protect your family in case you die. I was amazed at the high percentage of people who did not already have this information. That’s downright scary. Listen–no one likes to think about dying much […]
The post 067: Estate and Asset Planning ESSENTIALS with Kevin Day appeared first on Wealth Formula.
I have been on a real anti-conventional wisdom kick lately if you haven’t noticed. You see, I think that conventional wisdom in personal finance is a big Wall Street scam! Invest in stocks, bonds, and mutual funds for the long run? Why is that conventional wisdom? Well, who benefits if you continuously dump money into […]
The post 066: G. Edward Griffin and the Institutionalized Theft of Your Money appeared first on Wealth Formula.
If you haven’t figured it out yet, I believe strongly that investing is a team sport. Like team sports, it can be fun and rewarding–especially when you win. I talk to investors in Wealth Formula’s Accredited Investor Club all the time and often hear the frustration of those interested in investing outside of the equity […]
The post 065: Angel Investing with David S. Rose appeared first on Wealth Formula.
As many you know, I will be leaving Chicago in August to move to Santa Barbara, CA. For the last 5 years, my family and I have gone to the same beach house every August. It always ends up being the best couple of weeks of the year. So last year in August, I did […]
The post 064: The Step After Wealthy with Dean Graziosi appeared first on Wealth Formula.
I have a lot of people in Investor Club who lend to flippers. These notes pay pretty well–I hear over 12-15 percent on a regular basis. These investors ask why they would ever invest in anything with less return. It’s a fair question but there is a very good answer. When you lend to people […]
The post 063: Investing in Businesses with Victor Menasce appeared first on Wealth Formula.
In 1789 Benjamin Franklin wrote, “Our new constitution is now established, and has an appearance that promises permanency; but in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” Well, if you have paid attention to any of my emails and posts in the last couple weeks urging you to download […]
The post 062: Investing in the ONLY Guarantee in Life appeared first on Wealth Formula.
The other day, I was speaking with a member of investor club and he said that it was very hard for him to look around and see funds (like AHP) that were offering double digit returns and take them seriously. He was comparing them to the low single digits of dividends in the equity markets. […]
The post 061: Investment Secrets of the Ultra Rich with Richard Wilson appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Last week, my wife and I took our daughters to a town fair. We stayed until the end and as we were walking out were offered free cases of blueberry yogurt drinks and bottled ice coffees–whatever was left over from what they couldn’t sell at the fair. At my urging, my eight year old daughter […]
The post 060: Cash Flow to the tune of Barry White with Jeff Schneider appeared first on Wealth Formula.
I keep reading about how the equity markets are bracing because of all of the things going on in the news–senate hearings on Trump and Russia, the referendum in the UK, and the fed about to raise rates again. People are worried about how these national and global events will affect their retirement money. Never […]
The post 059: An Economy on the Eve of Disaster with Peter Schiff appeared first on Wealth Formula.
I used to be a neurosurgery resident–at least for a couple years before I realized that brain surgery did not suit my lifestyle. Actually, brain surgery was not really compatible with having a lifestyle at all! Anyway, I moved on but I sure did love neuroscience and the brain. When you operate on the brain, […]
The post 058: Brain Surgery and Avoiding Financial Mind Traps with John Howe! appeared first on Wealth Formula.
I’m writing this the day after Memorial day. First of all, I want to take this chance to thank all of you veterans out there for putting your life on the line so that we can live the relatively carefree life that we do. Compared to the rest of the World, we’ve got a pretty […]
The post 057: Personal Finance Tips and TRICKS with Jordan Goodman appeared first on Wealth Formula.
It is route important to remember that when I have people on the show, it is purely for educational purposes. I want to expose you to asset classes and hopefully open up a new way of thinking. However, I want to make sure you understand that it does not mean I am endorsing those particular […]
The post 056: Fannie Mae’s Chief Economist Speaks: Doug Duncan appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Everyone grows up with some kind of belief system that is an amalgam of religion, culture, and life circumstances. These beliefs influence how we see the world and how we behave within it. Make no mistake, belief systems have a lot to do with how successful or not successful you are in life. I am […]
The post 055: Confessions of a Cash Flow Ninja: MC Laubcher appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Last week’s show with Chris Martenson was very popular and for good reason. Chris has done his research and thinks we are in trouble. He also gives us some solutions about how can potentially approach the world that he sees coming. For me, the biggest takeaways were related to some of his incites on social […]
The post 054: Solar Profits with Bryan Birsic appeared first on Wealth Formula.
I have spoken in the past about how I believe that time is the currency of wealth. In other words, it’s not dollars or euros that most of us are after, but rather time. We want to be able to do what we want, when we want. Some of us love our careers and wouldn’t […]
The post 053: Peak Prosperity with Chris Martenson! appeared first on Wealth Formula.
We are a culture of robots created by the industrial revolution. Our current public educational system was modeled after a system created by the Prussians in the early 1800s and was imported to us during the industrial revolution by guy named Horace Mann. This system was then fine tuned by a group of 10 guys […]
The post 052: Be Passive and Prosper with Marco Santarelli appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Should you always invest in things with the highest returns? Well? That’s an interesting question. When I first started investing, that’s all I cared about. When I bought my first apartment building, I did the numbers and looked at the tax returns. It looked like I was going to get over 25 percent cash on […]
The post 051: Wealth Grows in Trees with Alex Wilson appeared first on Wealth Formula.
I just got back from the Real Estate Guys Summit at Sea. Wow!!!–those guys know how to deliver. If you don’t listen to their podcast, by the way, you should. It’s the Real Estate Guys Radio Show. There are lots of copy cat real estate shows out there but only one Robert and Russ! I […]
The post 050: Financial War with Jim Rickards appeared first on Wealth Formula.
What is leverage? The action of a lever by definition is to gain some kind of advantage. It can be physical like when you are using a tool or, in finance terms, it is the use of borrowed money to enhance buying capacity (and hopefully increase return on investment). A few shows ago I emphasized […]
The post 049: Leverage is time with Ari Meisel appeared first on Wealth Formula.
When I finished my training and figured out that I had to invest money somehow, the hardest thing for me was figuring out who to trust. The first apartment building I bought was a 14 unit building in the southern suburbs of Chicago. I would now characterize that as a C- to D+ area. My […]
The post 048: Robert Kiyosaki’s Real Estate Advisor Ken McElroy appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Everyone defines wealth a little differently. My own definition of wealth is in the form of an equation wealth=time. Time is my currency of choice. It gives me the freedom to do whatever I like with my life. For the last 2 days, I took my three little girls (8,4,2) sledding in in the afternoon […]
The post 047: Making Yourself Rich and Giving to the Poor with Old Dawg Manassero appeared first on Wealth Formula.
My investor club is for “accredited investors.” What is an accredited investor? Well, it’s not something you apply for like it sounds. Being an accredited investor is just something you are or you are not…like you are either pregnant or you are not. An accredited investor is a defined by our friends at the SEC […]
The post 045: Private Investing with Mauricio Rauld appeared first on Wealth Formula.
The ideal business is not one that is necessarily glamorous. I have a cosmetic surgery business that is uncomfortably glamorous for me–I’m not a really flashy guy. Nevertheless, my plastic surgeons do a great job of making people get over their body hangups. It’s not just about changing a person’s physical appearance, it is actually […]
The post 044: Small Change, Big Profits with Eve Picker appeared first on Wealth Formula.
In the 1980s, you could get double digit returns on your savings. Interest rates were that high. That said, inflation was out of control as well so the real value of earnings might not be as attractive as it is at first glance but certainly better than today. Today’s economy punishes savers be eroding there […]
The post 043: Inflated: How Money and Debt Built the American Dream-Christopher Whalen appeared first on Wealth Formula.
I recorded this interview with Reed Goossens several weeks ago but could not figure out where to put it because it is focussed on investing the USA for foreign investors. I did not want to leave all you Yankees out for a whole week so I decided to broadcast this as a bonus episode. Going […]
The post 042: Bonus Episode: Investing in the USA appeared first on Wealth Formula.
I’m going to Belize next weekend. Actually, by the time you get this message, I will already be back. I’m looking forward to seeing some of you there at the field trip. Our Mahogany Bay Village investment opportunity in Ambergris Caye, Belize with its world class luxury affiliation is active and we are fast and […]
The post 041 : Get Wealthy FASTER with “Momentum” appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Wherever you stand on the political spectrum, you must admit that the Trump presidency has already demonstrated that it is going to do things differently over the next 4 years. Curiously, history shows us that presidents have very little to do with the state of the economy. Mostly, they are just in the right place […]
The post 040 : Interest Rates, Mortgages and Apartment Buildings with James Eng appeared first on Wealth Formula.
I had a really interesting week. As you know I launched my book 7 Secrets of Eternal Wealth a week or so ago and it became an international best seller. I also got invited to appear on 7-8 TV show to talk about the book. So I’m excited to get our message out to more […]
The post 039: Chocolate Covered Profits with David Sewell! appeared first on Wealth Formula.
The inauguration was yesterday and the world is pretty much the same. It’s actually sunny in Chicago which is a rarity this time of the year Meanwhile, the Dow is going crazy…flirting with 20,000. Trumpenomics has got people excited. Small business future confidence indices are off the charts. The enthusiasm has not been this high […]
The post 038: Trump, the economy, and the future with Lior Gantz appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Robert Helms and Russell Gray are known best as “The Real Estate Guys.” This radio show and podcast is the number one real estate show in the world. Many of you already know them and listen to them. What most of you probably don’t know, however, is that Robert and Russ are also very good […]
The post 037: Hotel Investing In Paradise with Robert Helms! appeared first on Wealth Formula.
I have said it before, but the wealth formula is not just about real estate. it’s about owning things. If it’s real and it makes you money, it’s an asset and that’s all that matters. Obviously you can layer some conditions on top of that. For example, you may want to only invest in things […]
The post 036: Cashing in with Cash Machines! appeared first on Wealth Formula.
The elegance of Robert Kiyosaki’s Rich Dad Poor Dad is in its simplicity. You invest for cash flow. An asset is something that puts money in your pocket while a liability is something that takes money out of your pocket. That simplicity was frowned upon by Kiyosaki’s critics when the book came out. Financial critics […]
The post 035: Surgical Investing with Tom Burns! appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Happy holidays everyone! I hope you all had time to rest and rejuvenate. How about we make some New Year’s resolutions and stick to them in 2017. There are thousands of you out there listening to me from around the world. If you’re listening to my program, that means that you are already investing in […]
The post 034: Apartment Investing with Jake and Gino from Wheelbarrow Profits! appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Everyone has to protect their assets. The problem is that most of us don’t think about it very much until it’s too late. We live in an incredibly litigious society. Who knows when you might get into a fender bender or one of your kids does and the next thing you know you’re getting sued. […]
The post 033 : Robert Kiyosaki’s advisor on Asset Protection: Garrett Sutton appeared first on Wealth Formula.
As you know, I am pretty passionate about entrepreneurship and investing. Specifically, I tend to be dogmatic on investing in real assets. Am I right? I don’t know. Obviously I think so. That said, there are plenty of rational, smart human beings that are investing in a more traditional fashion. Are they wrong? Obviously I […]
The post 032 : Cash Flow vs Capital Gains with the White Coat Investor appeared first on Wealth Formula.
It has been a crazy couple weeks for me. As some of you know, I am aggressively pursuing some deals in a couple of great US multifamily markets and I’m getting really close to getting some under contract. That’s good news for me and for my investors! If that sounds interesting to you, make sure […]
The post 031: Get Rich Education with Keith Weinhold appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Real asset investing is not limited to the rich. In fact, if you look at the crowdfunding movement on the internet, you can now invest in just about anything you want. Crowdfunding laws in recent years were intended to rectify the “unfair advantage” that the more affluent had to investments with greater profit potential. But… […]
The post 030: Buying Turnkey Rental Houses in Alabama! appeared first on Wealth Formula.
No one wants to get old but it’s better than the alternative. Imagine getting to that age when you are unable to take care of yourself and you start feeling like a burden on your kids. What do you do? These days, most people in this situation end up at an assisted living facility. When […]
The post 029: Assisted Living: Huge Profits and Good Deeds! appeared first on Wealth Formula.
I have talked about Jorge Newbery several times on my show in the past. It has always been in the context of his 12 percent yield mind blowing fund. But little did I know that before that, Jorge was a real estate prodigy making literally millions of dollars from dilapidated, rejected, apartment buildings and resurrecting […]
The post 028: The Story EVERY Real Estate Investor Must Hear! appeared first on Wealth Formula.
This show is about Tax Free Wealth with Tom Wheelwright. So with all my posts about taxes and my special report, you are probably thinking I’m a little obsessed with this whole tax thing. Well, I am and it’s in part because I read this book called Tax Free Wealth from Tom Wheelwright about 3 […]
The post 027: Robert Kiyosaki’s Advisor Tom Wheelwright on TAX FREE WEALTH appeared first on Wealth Formula.
I am not your typical physician if you have not figured that out. I am more of a “raging entrepreneur”. That doesn’t mean I’ve had only success. In fact, without question, I’ve failed lots of times but the difference between most people and me is that I keep trying until something sticks. I’ve used this […]
The post 026: Attention: This show will make you money! appeared first on Wealth Formula.
To be a successful investor, you must have a personal investment philosophy. You need to think about not only the deal but whether or not it fits in with your own goals and your view of the world. In this week’s episode of Wealth Formula Podcast, I give you my own framework for investing that […]
The post 025: What’s your Investment Philosophy? appeared first on Wealth Formula.
My goal with the Wealth Formula Podcast is to build a community of likeminded individuals who can learn from one another. A community implies some level of interaction. Therefore, every once in a while I like to do a little show called “Ask Buck”. In this week’s Ask Buck episode, we had some pretty interesting […]
The post 024: Ask Buck: Gold, Debt, and Inflation appeared first on Wealth Formula.
I have been talking to many high paid professionals like you lately who have found some inspiration from the guests that I have had on the show. Whenever I get a chance to ask people what kinds of things they want to invest in, they rattle off a lot of great stuff like real estate, […]
The post 023: Use your IRA to invest in real estate and other real stuff appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Ask any tax professional about the tax code and they will tell you that it is 90 percent gray. Then why is everyone being so conservative? Well, professionals have a terrible fear of being audited. They have a terrible fear of breaking the law. I get it. No one wants that kind of stress in […]
The post 022: How Donald Trump pays no taxes and what you can learn from him. appeared first on Wealth Formula.
When you put aside money for retirement, who’s advice are you taking? Are you taking the advice of the wealth advisor who makes money every time you make a deposit? Why do you trust your wealth advisor? Is he or she wealthy? These are questions that are critical to ask yourself if you want to […]
The post 021: High paid professionals professionals dying broke: how to avoid the retirement deathtrap appeared first on Wealth Formula.
The words “real estate investing” conjure up many different images. For some, it might make you think of Vanilla Ice’s reality show on flipping homes. For others, The idea of real estate makes you think of real estate moguls such as Donald Trump. The reason for these very different images is because real estate is […]
The post 020: Real Estate Cashflow and Capital Gains with Andrew Holmes appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Let’s talk, for a minute, about how a bank works. You deposit money in the bank. These days, they pay you less than 1 percent interest. Because they are a bank, they are able to lend out most of the money you deposited. This is called the fractional reserve system. It’s complicated and best addressed […]
The post 019: Cashflow from Owning Commercial Mortgages! appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Your typical wealth advisor stresses the importance of a diversified portfolio. However, to them, that means investing in a variety of stocks, bonds, and mutual funds. I believe in portfolio diversification, but diversification should NOT be limited to different classes of paper assets that react to the emotional whims of normal geopolitical undulations. Diversification should […]
The post 018: Cashflow from Specialty Coffee in Panama! appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Wealth Formula podcast is not a real estate show. However, we do love real estate! Why? Because real estate is real. It’s not a piece of paper and it’s not a digital equity that you trade on Ameritrade that goes up and down with the whims of global emotion. It is an investment that allows […]
The post 017: Taking Real Estate to the Next Level appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Over the last several podcasts I have been impressed by the increasing number of listeners that are tuning in to the show and am really excited about the community we are growing together. For that, I thank you. This week I’m traveling but thought it would be a great opportunity for me to share more […]
The post 016: Confessions of a Serial Entrepreneur appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Solving the wealth formula is dissociating time from money. In other words, you no longer need to actively work in order to maintain a particular lifestyle. It is important to know that entrepreneurship is not required in order to get to this point. In fact, if you already have a high-paying job, your quickest way […]
The post 015: How to figure out if you are an entrepreneur appeared first on Wealth Formula.
I approach everything in life similar to the way I approach business. One of my cardinal rules as an entrepreneur is to avoid working IN a business so much that I stop working ON it. For example, if you have a bakery, you don’t want to be the one who is baking, doing accounting, and […]
The post 014: What is your dream and WHY aren’t you living it??? appeared first on Wealth Formula.
This week’s episode of Wealth Formula features the first of many episodes of “Ask Buck” where you, my fellow professionals looking to transform into entrepreneurs and sophisticated investors, ask me the questions that are on your mind. This week’s topics include questions about cash flow versus cash reserves, topics in real estate LLCs, flipping versus […]
The post 013: Ask Buck appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Lane is your classic highly educated, high wage earning professional. However, he doesn’t throw his hard earned money into the stock market. Lane uses his money to buy houses and is gradually phasing out his own need to have a boss. At the age of 30, he’s already more than half way to replacing the […]
The post 012: An engineer turns to turn-key real estate! appeared first on Wealth Formula.
In this episode of Wealth Formula Podcast, we talk with Dr. Eric Tait, MD, MBA about his transformation from an internist to founder and president of Vernonville Asset Management LLC. Dr. Tait gives his insight into the economy and ideas about how to invest your hard earned money (hint: NOT the stock market!)
The post 011: Doctor, my portfolio hurts! appeared first on Wealth Formula.
We learn to walk by repeatedly falling down. We learn to talk by first making unintelligible noises. We are hard wired to learn through trial and error but are brainwashed by an educational system that teaches us that doing things a different way is wrong and that failure is bad. The reality is that any […]
The post 010: The biological secret to success: repeated failure appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Zed Williamson was a high paid professional but was not satisfied. He shed his golden handcuffs and went on to build a company just like the one he worked for…but better. In the process, he gave him self a BIG raise!
The post 009: From High Paid Professional to Higher Paid Entrepreneur appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Implications of the world order on your pocket book.
The post 008: What the heck is Brexit? appeared first on Wealth Formula.
The post 007: Kiyosaki’s Quadrant from a Professional’s Perspective appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Is the stock market about to crash? Is inflation about to take off? What should you do?
The post 006: The crash is coming! appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Back to Basics. What is exactly is the wealth formula again?
The post 005: What is the Wealth Formula? appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Interview with Jorge Newberry, Director of American Homeowner Preservation LLC. http://www.ahpinvest.com Call: (800) 555-1055
The post 004: Helping Others While Getting 12% ROI! appeared first on Wealth Formula.
Interview with Dennis Blitz, President of The IRA Club. http://www.iraclub.org/
The post 003: Using Your IRA to Buy Assets Instead of Worthless Paper appeared first on Wealth Formula.