Wealth Formula Podcast

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 and compact discs? Typewriters? The Yellow Pages? Technological innovation is so powerful that it frequently overwhelms even corporate interests. Kodak was not very successful in blocking the digital camera, was it? In fact, it paid the price for not innovating itself. Could that happen to the New York Stock exchange and the mighty brokers and custodians that profit from it? Could distributed ledger technology disrupt the equity markets and turn our financial institutions into dinosaurs? My guest on this week's episode of Wealth Formula Podcast thinks that some form of re-organization in the way cryptocurrency and equities are held and traded is inevitable and his company is at the forefront of that evolution. Listen HERE

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 you a high-paying technical gig with Google or Facebook. You might enjoy the work at first but the long hours and stale routine might start getting on your nerves. You might realize that the only eventual way out of the rat race would be to figure out how to put all that extra money from your paycheck to work for you by investing it. Now here's the question. If you were an alien from outer space, would your immediate thought be to hire an investment advisor to invest your cash in a balanced portfolio of stocks bonds and mutual funds? Probably not. As a highly intelligent life form you would quickly realize that this would not be the most efficient way to grow your wealth. Unadulterated by conventional wisdom, your attention would likely target tax advantaged real estate and other sources of income. The point I'm making here is that it might not be a bad idea to question conventional wisdom once in a while. Unfortunately, conventional wisdom is often tainted by special interests or, sometimes, just plain wrong (ie. The world is not flat). Approaching personal finance, entrepreneurship and even the way you live your life with a fresh perspective every day without fear of violating societal norms is a very healthy and potentially lucrative way to live. Take it from a guy who left a high-paying surgical gig to become an entrepreneur. In fact, my guest on Wealth Formula Podcast this week believes that a fresh look at your surroundings might even turn you into a flaming entrepreneur. Listen to what he has to say in this week's Wealth Formula Podcast!

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 was making some waves at the time. The way he made it sound made bitcoin seem like a completely ridiculous concept. So, I didn't take it seriously. Even when I heard others speak of it favorably, I just ignored them as financially unsophisticated. By 2017 I figure out that I was the one who didn't have a clue. Now don't get me wrong, I think Peter Schiff is a very smart guy and I don't blame him for sticking to his guns on something he truly believes. Peter still thinks bitcoin is going to zero! The mistake made was mine. There was a buzz about this bitcoin thing that was selling for about $300 (now $37,000). I just didn't take the time to learn about it. In fact, if I had been more open to it, I would have noticed that a lot of very smart people were making calculated bets in this area. But I wasn't paying attention. That was a mistake. Now, I've made mistakes as an investor before and I will again. But I won't let a mistake go by without taking a lesson or two away from it. One of those lessons is simple: pay attention when people get excited about stuff and when there is a buzz about something new. Right now, that buzz is about non-fungible tokens (NFTs). This is an area related to distributed ledgers and cryptocurrency. Many are calling the NFT and metaverse technology the next horizon in cryptocurrency and it really is in its infancy. If you don't get it. You aren't alone. This is an unusual area that is somewhat difficult to understand for some of us. But that's the reason you should be paying attention. After all, for those of you now sold on bitcoin, there was a time when you didn't understand it either. There is real potential here to make money. I'm certainly no expert in the field so I found one who could explain what this world is all about on this week's episode of Wealth Formula Podcast. Listen HERE

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 build the framework for understanding the Wealth Formula alternative personal investing ethos. This week is no different as we continue to talk about depreciation, tax mitigation strategies, NFTs and more. Do me a favor though. If you haven't listened to last week's podcast, start with that one. This week's episode assumes some knowledge that we went into pretty deeply during last week's episode #300. Also, if you like these kinds of discussions, you might be interested in Wealth Formula Network—our private community. Go to WealthformulaRoadmap.com to sign up. In short, this page is where you go in order to sign up for our course. But the course just provides a foundation to maximize our discussions which happen over our Facebook page and over our biweekly live Zoom conference calls. If you want to get deeper into this personal finance stuff and your spouse and friends have no interest in it, this is the perfect outlet for you! In the meantime, listen to this week's episode of Ask Buck HERE.

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 I reflect over the last six years, I'm really encouraged. I see the incredible progress that I have made professionally within the financial space and I see how much smarter I have gotten. I am even more impressed with how powerful this brand has become and the community that we have built together. It's really amazing. I'm so excited about the years to come. Thank you for being a part of Wealth Formula Nation! So, in honor of the 300th episode, I am doing a special ASK BUCK show this week. We'll even ask my daughters some questions! Make sure to listen HERE!

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 is the rate that you get your invested capital back in your pocket to redeploy. Leverage is good debt. These variables are critical to the Wealth Formula but meaningless without Mass: the amount of money you actually invest. If you are able to invest 90 percent of your income, you're going to grow your money a lot faster than if you can invest only 10 percent of it. You get the idea. These days, there are variables beyond the Wealth Formula that are helping the investor class to pull away from the pack. The Federal Reserve Bank is fueling the growth in value of those assets in which we invest whether it be equities or real estate. Easy money is rewarding those of us who invest our money by giving those assets a higher price. And of course as real estate investors, we are not only benefiting from the growth in asset prices, but we are also benefitting from inflation that washes away the value of our mortgage debt. If you have a million dollar mortgage and inflation is 6 percent per year, the value of what you owe is decreasing by 6 percent per year as well. Not a bad deal for us, right? But now the Fed is getting a little nervous because inflation is pretty darn high and they don't want to let it get out of control. Hopefully the eventual improvement in the post covid supply chain will make the supply side more favorable and bring inflation down itself. If not, the Fed will have to figure out how to get itself out of the mess. My guest on Wealth Formula Podcast this week explains how this mess was created in the first place by the Federal Reserve over the past decade or so and what it can potentially do to reverse it. LISTEN HERE!

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 Suzie Orman and Dave Ramsey telling you that you have to get rid of it before anything else. They aren't entirely wrong. They are just talking to the masses. The masses aren't a group of sophisticated real estate investors like you, who are distinguishing between different kinds of debt. Robert Kiyosaki famously made this distinction between good debt and bad debt in his writings. He said that good debt is business debt that helps you grow an asset and puts money in your pocket. Bad debt takes money out of your wallet. A mortgage on a cash flowing asset would therefore be considered good debt. Credit card debt to buy a television would be bad debt. Pretty simple right? But what about a mortgage on a personal residence? That's where it gets a little tricky. A mortgage on a personal residence isn't putting any money in your pocket is it? On the other hand, paying off your mortgage and having all that money in your house makes it essentially dead money and a target of creditors. It's not as cut and dry is it? At any rate, what we do know is that personal debt is skyrocketing right now and it is something that tends to be over-shadowed by the behemoth national debt problem. My guest on this week's podcast, Richard Vague, believes that the real focus should be on personal debt that is now over 160 percent of GDP in the United States—a growing burden that threatens economic calamity if not mitigated in the coming years. LISTEN HERE

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 too hot to continue investing. There is no one right answer to this. In fact, when we talk about the "real estate market", we aren't even talking about one market. Real Estate investing takes many forms. Investing in single-family homes in Oklahoma is quite different than investing in apartment buildings in Dallas. And neither of these is anything like investing in non-performing notes. Each sub-sector of real estate is quite different. And, when market cycles change, they react differently. Some have more exposure to recessionary environments. For example, if you are investing in re-performing notes, that's pretty risky for an economy that you think might go south. Most recessions are not catastrophic and do not necessarily hurt more stable assets nearly as much. As I've said to you before, my real estate strategy is not changing in 2022. First of all, I do believe we have a few years of significant runway for profit in this decade. Next, we have significant inflation which makes the risk of not investing very high. And finally, the investments we are making in strong markets in apartment buildings have been traditionally more resilient than other real estate classes. That being said, there are other opinions out there and you need to make your own decisions. Often those opinions are based on what the specifics of the individuals investing strategy are. Jorge Newbery, for example, has made a career out of investing in pools of non-performing notes. The major strategy he has used over the years involves negotiating with people who have defaulted to create re-performing notes. These can also be sold off for a profit if successful. But, as you can imagine, if someone has defaulted on a note once, then the risk of doing it again will probably be higher. Anyway, the point I'm trying to make is that the approach each investor makes should be based on the specifics of their business model. As you will see in this week's interview with Jorge Newbery, he's doing what he can for risk mitigation in uncertain times. Make sure to tune in to get Jorge's perspective on what's going on today with real estate. LISTEN HERE.

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 a New Year's resolution for you. Make sure your house is in order! Meanwhile, while we want to make sure we don't lock our loved ones out of the things we want them to have when we are gone, we need to be vigilant in keeping hackers from taking our money and data now! Most people are way too laissez-faire about cybersecurity thinking that it will never happen to them. But this year alone, I know two people within our Wealth Formula Community that had major identity theft that left them in a world of hurt for some time. The good news is that with a few basic steps, we can avoid the vast majority of cyberattacks on us as individuals. And, while I know it's not the sexiest topic, this week's podcast will give you the basics of what you need to know. Now, it is the holidays and I want to make sure you get some additional entertainment, so I will also answer a few questions from you at the end of this week's episode of Wealth Formula Podcast! Listen HERE!

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 a professional investor and the way I see things right now is at that level. Let me tell you that, if you are investing in real estate with leverage, inflation is not really a bad thing. What is inflation in the first place? It means that the value of the dollar is going down. It has less buying power. And for those of you who are afraid to invest in this kind of environment let me emphasize that, if inflation is running at 6-7 percent per year and you are in cash, you have essentially guaranteed losing 6-7 percent per year by sitting on the sidelines. On the other hand, if you are investing in leveraged real estate, the debt on those assets is also losing value. In other words, inflation rewards debtors by making that debt worth less. Think about that for a moment as it is critically important to understanding how leveraged real estate is such a tremendous hedge against inflation in the right hands. You're raising rents to keep up with inflation and the money you owe is diminishing in value. What a great deal! Obviously, there are other implications to inflation that may not be such a good thing. And if inflation gets too out of control, there are other ramifications as well. However, most experts don't seem to think double-digit inflation is likely. So, without sounding flippant, let me say to all of you real estate investors: enjoy the ride! Now back to the macro level, this week's podcast features an interview with a brilliant professor of economics, Dr. John Horn, to talk about inflation from a different, more global perspective. Understanding this stuff is really important so I urge you to listen to this podcast and figure out what you are going to do with all of this inflation!

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 different". Why does it haunt me? Listen, the economy is in a massive boom right now. There is no doubt about that. Should you invest in a booming economy? What is the alternative? Right now inflation is running at about 6 percent. That means doing nothing guarantees that your money is losing 6 percent per year. As Robert Kiyosaki says, "Savers are losers." Nevertheless, it is important for you to think about what is happening and what you should do with your own money. To do that, you really need a framework. Macroeconomics does provide us a type of framework that shows how business cycles work and how they affect the investor. However, we must also understand that historical macroeconomic data is not necessarily predictive in the new world order of easy money and pandemics. I am not here to give you financial advice but I will urge you not to act out of fear. Just look around to see how many doomsayers have been sitting on the sidelines for 5-6 years now and how much money they have lost by doing nothing. So what am I doing differently in this economy? Personally, I'm not doing much differently at all. I continue to invest in high quality real estate through our Investor Club that is already cash flowing, but has significant value-add elements to create equity. My reasoning is that, in doing so, with the wind at my back I might average 35-40 percent annualized returns or better like I have been lately. But even if things tighten up, my assets are of high quality and are very likely to weather the storm better than most other investments. But again, that's my philosophy. To create your own, learn as much as you can and think for yourself. This week's interview with retired Professor and former libertarian senate candidate, Murray Sabrin, would be a great start to educating yourself on the business cycle. Listen HERE

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 place I work out bought $400K of gala token under 1 cent and is now sitting on a couple hundred million bucks. When you see that kind of stuff, it's hard not to get FOMO. To be clear, I still truly believe we have significant runway in real estate given the level of inflation we have seen and pure supply and demand issues in the markets we invest in. However, as a general rule, it is wise to remember Sir John Templeton's four most dangerous words in the investment world, "This time it's different". On this point, I go back to cryptocurrency as it seems to teach lessons at a pace magnitudes faster than other markets. In the winter of 2017, it looked like anyone could get rich on crypto and you would be foolish not to buy. Later that year, we were deep in crypto winter. As we have seen, however, the reports of cryptocurrency's death was, as at one time Mark Twain's death was, greatly exaggerated. When people should have been buying like crazy, they were scared away thinking this was the final knockout punch to bitcoin (which had been served several knockout punches already). Now, at the top of the crypto market or possibly somewhere near, I hear myself once again telling myself that this time, it might be different. It may be a runaway train. I'm not saying I have the answers to what happens next. However, I do think it is critically important to examine the thoughts you have on a daily basis with regard to investing. This is personal finance. You shouldn't be listening to me or anyone else to tell you what you should do. You should be listening to us to help you make sure that you are thinking. You want to have lots of opinions to consider. And, it is particularly helpful to hear the voices of those individuals that have extraordinary success in this arena. William Green is a financial author that has spent most of his life talking to and writing about the greatest investors of our lifetimes and has written a book about what he's learned from that process. And this week, he was kind enough to join me for an interview on Wealth Formula Podcast to share some of that wisdom. DO NOT MISS THIS EPISODE!!!

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 concepts already worked in other markets and there was, in my view, no reason why they wouldn't work in mine. I was right. I now live in a place surrounded by entrepreneurs like me. What I discovered was that I wasn't the only one who took a former employment situation to learn a trade and turn it into a profitable business. MOST successful entrepreneurs that I know did exactly that. And guess what? When a young person asks me how to become an entrepreneur, I tell them to take some jobs at businesses they think are interesting and learn everything they can. Never see a job as just a paycheck. It's a chance to learn skill sets and perhaps even an entire business model that you can take for yourself and set up shop. No one told me to do that. I just got lucky and discovered this path the way many others did: by accident. But if someone did give me this advice, I might have done things a little differently. Maybe I would have taken a job in private equity as a young man instead of practicing medicine. Who knows? But at least I would have approached life a little differently. The larger point I'm trying to make here is that finding successful people, especially those that are willing to share their experience, is gold. Sometimes you hear them say things that are so simple but fundamentally change the trajectory of your life. Books and podcasts make finding these people pretty easy these days. Sure you can't ask them questions but there is plenty of life-changing content out there. I've talked many times about the paradigm shift I had after reading Robert Kiyosaki's Cash Flow Quadrant—an experience I call "taking the purple pill". Dave Liu is one of those guys worth listening to. He is a highly successful guy who made it as both an employee on Wall Street and as an investor. This week's episode of Wealth Formula Podcast is jam-packed with nuggets to help you succeed at your job, as an entrepreneur and as an investor. Don't miss it. LISTEN HERE!

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 appreciate that as we continue to live in the moment while this chapter in history continues to unfold. We continue to see new variants pop up, we see ongoing restrictions to everyday life, and we are starting to see the economic impact of unprecedented monetary and fiscal stimulus including inflation rates not seen in over three decades. Eventually the events during these years will take up a lot of chapters in a lot of history books. And through the lens of history we will decide what we did right and what we should have done differently. Certainly, there were many mistakes made along the way but we also had a lot of successes. One of the most underappreciated accomplishments throughout this period was the extraordinarily fast development of an effective vaccine through the combined efforts of the public and private sectors. New York Times bestselling author, Gregory Zuckerman, provides an inside story of this miraculous success in his new book A Shot to Save the World. I had a chance to interview him about the book for this week's episode of Wealth Formula Podcast. Don't miss it!

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 about yourself for a moment. Are you $200K/year type? $500K or a million/year type? Now, try to imagine yourself with either one more or one less zero behind your yearly income. Does that fit with your image of yourself? I'm sure it doesn't. If you are a $500K/year type, it's good that you don't see yourself as a $50K type because it's what keeps you from becoming that person again (not that it's a bad thing). But that limited image of yourself is also what will keep you from becoming a $5 million/year person. I know this sounds like a lot of psychobabble but I truly believe it. The money thermostat exists. I have recognized it in myself and manipulated it several times in my life already. Now the question is why we would limit ourselves to a certain amount of money. Certainly you can understand not wanting to be poor, but why would you create mental blocks from becoming a great deal wealthier than you are? Well, maybe part of you doesn't want to be rich. Maybe you grew up believing that rich people only got there because they took advantage of the poor. Maybe you believe that there is a finite amount of wealth out there and to take more than your share is greedy. After all, we live in a Judeo-Christian society. The Bible says that money is the root of all evil. What was once considered "usury", arguably is the basis of our economy now! Our cultural baggage on money is deep and would require years of national therapy to unravel. But its effects are not hard to see in the modern, guilt-laden financial politics of progressive left today. The truth is that money is a tool and a fool with a tool…is still a fool. But it can also do so much good. It can take away hunger and alleviate pain. It can and has raised the standard of living for the entire world. Wealth is not bad. Wealth is a gift to us created by capitalism. All you need to corroborate that statement is to look at world history through the lens of economics. Yet, politicians cannot escape what my guest on this week's Wealth Formula Podcast, James Otteson, calls the 7 Deadly Economic Sins, that continue to mislead people and misdirect policy. Make sure to tune in to this week's show to make sure you don't fall into these mental traps!

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 1980's, the code mandated insurance companies who offer whole life to offer a 4% guaranteed interest rate on the cash value. Well, as you know, interest rates have come a long way since then. In essence, the change allows the insurance companies to choose the minimum rate they'll offer on their products, putting it somewhere between 2.0–3.75%. The companies who have already released their new product have come in at a 3% guarantee. To be clear, anyone who has one of these policies will continue to get your 4%. And, it isn't as if the total return in these policies will all of a sudden drop dramatically. The change really only impacts things if the total return including the dividend, which is currently between 5–6%, drops to a level where we start bumping into the guaranteed rates. With that being said, if you are someone who is planning on or even considering using Wealth Formula Banking to increase investment profits and would like to lock in the 4% guarantee, you'll want to get the process started ASAP in order to make sure we hit the end-of-year deadline. The underwriting process typically takes 4–6 weeks to complete, and we expect to see a large surge of new business as we get closer to the deadline of January 1, so the sooner we act, the better chance we have of getting it done before the deadline! If you'd like to review this option for yourself, send a message to [email protected] to discuss and decide the best course of action. Now, in the spirit of Life Insurance Related Strategies, I am releasing a bonus podcast shortly about charitable strategies that involve life insurance. The interesting thing about these strategies, as you will see, is that they are win-win-win propositions. And for the high net worth individuals who can implement them can end up giving a ton of money but receiving even more. It's real and it's perfectly legal. Listen to the podcast HERE.

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 it would probably die out like tulips of the past. Well, there was a deep frost that did kill many projects between then and now, but one thing is now very clear. Cryptocurrency is here to stay. Now learning about cryptocurrency is a little challenging because, in my humble opinion, it is actually more than one thing. Let me summarize how I see the cryptosphere today. There is bitcoin which has established itself, even at the level of governments, as a digital asset with intrinsic value—a type of digital gold. Then, there are cryptocurrencies that are not bitcoin. These are known as alternative coins or altcoins. To me, each of these altcoin projects are essentially a tech start-up. Bitcoin purists like calling altcoins "shit coins" and promise that they will all eventually fade away. I don't personally believe that prophecy. Let's riff off of this idea that each altcoin is a tech start-up. Back in the dot com era there were companies like Amazon, Google and Apple that became legends in the tech sector. There were also companies like pets.com that went belly up in flames. That's what I think is going to happen with the alt space in cryptocurrency. Most of these tokens will be losers but there will be a handful of projects that will become household names or will simply become part of the fabric of daily life. Today, you certainly see that some are less risky than others. Ethereum is a pretty safe bet to be in that future successful crew. It's likely to be worth a lot more in 10 years than it is today. As far as crypto goes, this would be a blue-chip stock. Others will be more risky bets, but the gains could dwarf those that will be seen by Ethererum investors. You could go down the line and make an argument about a number of decentralized protocols, a potential long-term success or failure. I look at them the same way I would look at startup companies and invest in them with my asymmetric portfolio accordingly. But getting back to bitcoin—it's totally different from the alts. Bitcoin is not a tech company. Bitcoin's closest comparison in today's financial world is gold. And as Wall Street and various governments start to adopt bitcoin, you can see it make its way into the future of money. Nik Bhatia sees this economic history unfolding in real time and will explain it to all of us in this week's episode of Wealth Formula Podcast. Listen HERE.

This is a 5 minute update on Wealth Formula Banking changes that are occurring because of current tax legislation. PLEASE LISTEN NOW!

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 done with all of that training, you really do get an opportunity to master a body of knowledge. And while medicine is always changing, what we know about human physiology doesn't change much these days—at least the basics. You know that the heart has to keep beating and your brain needs to keep functioning to live. You know that it's better not to be obese and that cigarettes are bad for your health for a myriad of reasons. There is some beauty in knowing the consistencies of the human body—that despite the fact that futuristic medicine is on the way and will change the way we live, the basic knowledge of form and function of the human body remains constant. That makes it easier as a practitioner. Now if you are on the diagnostic side of the economy, it's a little different. What financial diagnosticians, aka economists, use as the core principles to predict the health and well-being of the economy are in flux. The rules are changing rapidly. This has made it much easier to predict the rhythm of the heart than the future pulse of the economy. It used to be that the United States Federal Reserve Bank had two mandates: to maximize employment and to stabilize prices. It typically did not respond to the whims of the financial markets. In other words, if the heart stopped on the New York Stock Exchange, stocks would get crushed and there would be no immediate resuscitative effort by the federal government or the Fed. Now, the rules seem a little different. The Fed artificially suppresses interest rates and responds briskly to any potential downturn. The Fed responds to what's going on in the stock market—emboldening people to continue investing even during the pandemic when it made no sense to have sky-high asset prices. The net result, in my view, is that whatever rules we played by in the past don't matter anymore. It's a free for all. We are living in times characterized by an artificial economy without natural cycles or anything else that you could previously use to forecast its future. And let me be clear, I'm not imposing my ideology here. I'm simply making an observation of the way I believe things actually are. On a recent episode of Wealth Formula, Marin Katusa made the point that as investors, our job is not to be stuck in dogmatic positions because of our beliefs. It is to respond to the reality on the ground. So with this chaotic new economic paradigm, it is interesting to speak to someone from the economic old guard. Dennis Gartman is famous for his Gartman Letters that he consistently wrote since the early 1970s until just recently. In this episode of Wealth Formula Podcast, I discuss what Dennis thinks is going on in the current economy and what his predictions are for the coming years—especially in light of what is an obvious new world economic order. Listen HERE.

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 way of entrepreneurial thinking, were in the area of organic chemistry. Higher level organic chemistry relies on integrating the knowledge of how chemicals interact in order to create new relationships. My organic chemistry exams typically consisted of just a couple of exercises. There would be an image of one complex molecular structure and then another more complex molecular structure. The exercise would be to use all of the chemical reactions that I learned as tools to help me figure out the appropriate reactions in appropriate sequence to make one structure out of the other. There were often multiple ways of doing it. You just had to prove that the way you got to your destination was supported by all of the chemical interactions that were possible. It was challenging for sure. In fact, organic chemistry is considered the primary "weeder" class for pre-med students. Most people didn't like it much. I was one of those odd balls who really liked organic chemistry and excelled at it. In fact, my campus job for two years in college was to serve as an organic chemistry tutor. I loved the idea of solving complex problems via logical progressive reactions. There was a certain creativity about it that I now find in my entrepreneurial life. In organic chemistry, the primary limitations of the problems I could solve were chemical reactions, with which I was not familiar. If I had the knowledge of a reaction, it served as a tool for solving problems. If I wasn't aware of the tools that I needed, then I couldn't solve the problem. There is an interesting parallel with that limitation in the entrepreneurial world. First, you have to recognize a problem. You have to at least be exposed to it. If you don't have any exposure in a particular field, then you don't know what the problems and inefficiencies are. That is to say, if you are in the medical field, you know what the problems that need to be solved are because you are confronted with them every day. Where there is a problem, there is a business. However, someone with an entrepreneurial mind can only solve that problem if he is familiar with that specific inefficiency in the medical field. He may be the guy to solve the problem, but he will never know it. Therefore, I contend that the best thing for an entrepreneur to do is to learn about as much stuff as he can in hopes of finding problems. The benefit of broad education spanning multiple fields, is the ability to use tools acquired in one field to tackle problems in others. In organic chemistry parlance this would be akin to learning more chemical reactions to solve different kinds of organic chemistry problems. These days, my entrepreneurial spirit is focused on investing. You know by now that most of the time, I like to keep it boring. Apartment buildings and self-storage are things that people need and will continue to need in the foreseeable future. However, as an investor, it would be foolish for me to not pay attention to technology. Wouldn't it have been great to get in early on the internet? What about blockchain? I started talking to you about bitcoin and blockchain in 2017 when I discovered it for myself. Many of you benefitted from those podcasts significantly through the financial gains we have seen in that arena since then. But what if we got in just a couple years earlier? So what should we be paying attention to now? I think the next major technology disruption will be in the field of artificial intelligence (AI). We are already seeing it play out in real time. But believe me, we haven't seen anything yet. AI may be the single biggest technology disruption the world will see in the next decade. We need to pay attention to it. It will change our lives in ways that we can't even imagine. And when you are aware of that kind of disruption on the horizon, you have an opportunity to make a lot of money along the way. Martin Ford is one of the world's leading experts on Artificial Intelligence and is my guest on this week's episode of Wealth Formula Podcast. You won't want to miss this interview! Listen HERE!

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 has several high profile clients including Robert Kiyosaki and is Robert's Rich Dad Advisor on taxes. I thought I had read up on or been exposed to just about every strategy Tom taught, but then he got up on stage and completely caught me off guard with a structure I hadn't before seen. It solves one of the biggest questions that high earning business owners have—how to turn active income into passive income. Of course, being able to use depreciation losses from real estate is a tremendous advantage. But if you are not a real estate professional, you can't use those passive losses against your active income. But…if you can figure out how to turn that active income into passive income, then you can benefit from all of those tax advantages that real estate provides against your earned income. Tom got up on stage and drew out a structure that not only showed the way to convert active income into passive income, but also showed how to do it while creating bullet proof asset protection and estate planning benefits that would survive even if the current tax legislation passed in entirety. Not bad right? Well, after that talk, I got a lot of questions about how this all worked so I decided to ask Tom to come on our show and explain it to all of our Wealth Formula community. And lucky for us…he agreed. Curious on how it works? Make sure to tune into this week's Wealth Formula Podcast!

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 is not an easy task when trying to predict things like the way the Chinese government will react to an internal crisis. That's why very smart economists often disagree with each other all the time. The disagreements are not insignificant either. One might predict hyperinflation while another predicts deflation. One might predict a decade of prosperity while the other predicts an outright depression. I am not an economist, I am an investor. In that role, I pay attention to as much as I can understand and make my own conclusions on how to proceed with my money. If I followed a gold-shilling Austrian economist to make investment decisions over the last decade, my wealth would be a standard deviation or more below where it is right now. That said, the reality of all these predictions is that someone is usually right. While you might not be able to predict the future, you should be aware of what's going on and make decisions based on knowledge rather than emotion alone. A good example of economists disagreeing is playing out right now. China's largest real estate development company, Evergrande, looks like it is about to go bankrupt. If you were at our meetup last week, economist Ryan Davis felt that the fallout would be isolated to Chinese banks. My guest on Wealth Formula Podcast this week, Richard Duncan, does not buy that. He is far more concerned about the global ripple effects of default from this behemoth company. Make sure to tune in to this week's Wealth Formula Podcast to get his perspective!

"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 etc. However, I can comment on larger residential real estate. Cap rates have gone down primarily because of mortgage interest rates being at historic lows. This is just math. Leverage only works if the money you borrow at is less than the cap rate. Otherwise, you are leveraging losses, not profits. So the question I often get from investors is, "What if interest rates go up?" It's a good question but we have to understand that no component of the economy happens in a vacuum. Cap rates are low because interest rates are low. Interest rates are low to avoid asset deflation. The fed is controlling mortgage interest rates by buying up 10 year treasury bonds. The 10 year treasury typically reflects inflation. If it goes up, that means we've got inflation on the horizon. So, even if cap rates go up following increased mortgage interest rates, we should be able to raise our rents to match that inflation and offset the negative impact on us as sellers with increasing cap rates. That's why I consider apartment complexes a hedge against inflation. But the reality is that the economy is pretty darn fragile right now. The likelihood of the Federal Reserve allowing interest rates to naturally rise seems unlikely as any downward trends in the economy would likely result in a knee-jerk response and economic stimulation. Of course, I could be wrong, but my personal feeling is that we have a runway of a good 5 years or more before the party ends. So what to do? I'll tell you what I'm doing. I'm doing what I always do. I'm investing in value-add real estate that does not rely on market appreciation to be profitable. If the market keeps heading north, then great. If not, it's not the end of the world. We still have equity that we force through our value-add programs. The bottom line, in my view, is that a reasonable approach is to continue to volume average into your investments. Not investing in an inflationary environment guarantees the loss of your buying power so you don't have a lot of choices. But my friend Jorge Newbery is trying to give us a few more choices. He's a little less enthusiastic about the market over the next few years and is hedging his bets in a different way. On this week's Wealth Formula Podcast, Jorge gives us his perspective on the real estate market and his formula to come out ahead in this economy either way. Listen HERE

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 your money going into traditional investments such as stocks, bonds and mutual funds so that they can charge you for assets under management. I'm not vilifying them for it. It's just the way it is. Furthermore, traditional advisors tend to know very little about our world of real estate and other tangible assets. There are some out there who offer coaching as a way to navigate the alternative space. But in my experience, these coaches are not wealthy. After all, one-on-one coaching takes a lot of time. If you are really wealthy, would you spend your time coaching or focusing on what makes you a lot of money? Whenever I try to learn something new in this space, I try to learn from people who are wealthier than I am. I don't take financial advice from people with less money than me. I am unaware of anyone who makes more money than most of us who is offering one on one coaching. So, what do you do? It's a very good question. To me, the single best resource for learning personal finance in the alternative space is through peer groups. As you may know, we have our own private peer group called Wealth Formula Network. I can honestly say that I have learned more from this group over the past few years than any other resource. Collective intelligence is very powerful. If you have friends and family of like mind that can help you navigate through this space and feel confident, then good for you. Otherwise, I strongly suggest you consider finding a group of peers for collective learning. There simply is no better way to increase your financial IQ and to feel confident about your decisions. Ask questions. Don't be afraid because someone else will likely have the same question, but is afraid to ask for fear of looking stupid. But everyone has the same questions at some point in their journey. Speaking of questions, this week's episode of Wealth Formula Podcast begins the latest series in our "Ask Buck" episodes. Make sure to tune in as we have got some great topics. I can pretty much guarantee you will learn something. I know I did! P.S. If you want to submit your question to the show, click HERE!

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 see, while the concept is appealing, the math is not. Let's do some simple arithmetic to understand the challenge. Say for example you make 500K per year. Let's assume that at a 30 percent tax rate, that leaves you with $350K. Let's be generous here and say that, out of that remaining $350K, you invest $200K per year into something that yields a consistent 8 percent cash on cash. How much would you have to deploy to replace your $500K? (.08x=500,000). The answer is $6,250,000. If are investing $200K per year, how long would that take you? It would take you about 31.25 years. By that time, with inflation, your 500K wouldn't be worth nearly as much as it is today. Ok, I know this is a very simplified model, but I think you get the point. Linear cash flow growth is not particularly efficient. When I realized that, I knew there had to be a better way. That better way is what I call Wealth 2.0 and can be described with the mathematical Wealth Formula: Wealth=Leverage(MassXVelocity) Mass is simply how much you invest. In the above example, if you invested $400K per year, you would get there in half the time. Velocity is the amount of time it takes to get your money back from your initial investment and redeploy into the next opportunity. Leverage is good debt. We can amplify our results with using bank money or anything else that can lever our investments. Practically speaking, significant growth in your wealth can be obtained by deploying as much capital as possible into leveraged assets that can quickly be refinanced or divested. This allows you to recycle capital rather than simply using new earned income to grow your wealth. A well-known example in our investor club is from an early investor with Western Wealth Capital who deployed a total of $750K across multiple offerings. Through a series of refinances and divestments with quick redeployment of capital, his principal is now worth over $4 million. In our earlier example of Wealth 1.0, had he simply gotten 8 percent on that initial 750K, he would be looking at about $60,000 per year. But now, if he deployed that $4 million into simple 8 percent cash on cash investments, he would be making $320,000 per year. The idea is to grow that principal rapidly until you are ready to flip the switch into linear cash flow. Again, I know the modeling is simplistic but it is illustrative of the power of a Wealth 2.0 model. The difference between the two approaches is the difference between checkers and 3-dimensional chess. Of course, this is not to diminish the value of straight up cash flow investments. You may want to have some of those in your portfolio as well. Mailbox money does certainly make you feel good. Speaking of cash flow, my guest on this week's Wealth Formula Podcast spends a lot of his time looking into cash flow investments. His name is MC Laubscher aka the Cash Flow Ninja. Make sure to tune in to this week's podcast to hear what he has to say on the topic! Listen HERE

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 podcast did not exist. Today, Wealth Formula Podcast gets about 25K-30K downloads per month and we have an Investor Club with over 2000 members that control over $800 million in assets. I am in awe of what we have created together. But the bigger lesson here is that even though it may not seem like it, all the little things you are doing now DO make a difference over time. If you don't like change, you are out of luck. Change is inevitable in life. You can either fight it or guide it in the direction you want to go. The same can be said about investing. The type of investing we do in our community requires planting seeds today and waiting patiently for a few years in most cases. Just think about those people who sat on the sidelines over the past 5-6 years while Western Wealth Capital delivered average annualized returns of over 30 percent to its investors. Indeed, time IS money. Understand that investing in real estate requires some level of faith. You can't track your net worth daily on an app. However, once you are in it a few years, you start to see things come to fruition in a big way. Once you've been through the cycle a few times, it really gets exciting. But again, the choices and investments you make today are for 3-5 years from now. The longer you wait to start, the longer it will take to get results. It's time to get off the sidelines. While you take action today, it is also important to keep contemplating your next move for the future. In my case, I have been interested in the hotel industry for a while and have been collecting data and looking for the most opportune time to get involved. On this week's Wealth Formula Podcast, I reconnect with hotel broker, Steve Usher, to get an update on the hotel investing landscape. Listen in as I get the scoop on whether it's time to buy!

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 doubt. But we use it mostly as a way to keep score. If you create a successful business, you make money. That means you win the game. If you don't make money, you lose. At first it wasn't a big deal. I was tinkering with businesses that were costing me thousands of dollars but I was already making seven figures. Then, I made a major mistake. I pushed the limits on the goose that was laying the golden eggs. I tried to expand a highly successful business way too fast while financing it entirely myself. It was a big gamble. In fact, had I won that one, it would have been game over. But I lost. And losing this one was a big deal because I killed that gold laying goose! I was millions of dollars in debt and things only seemed to get worse (it's a long story). In fact, the reason I survived that big mess was because of something boring I was doing on the side. You see my dad has been a real estate investor all his life. I grew up thinking that real estate was the only conservative investment. So while I was tinkering with shiny objects, I also decided I would buy apartment buildings like a grown-up the way I was taught. Admittedly there was some luck involved, but the buildings I bought during those early years ended up yielding about 500 percent return in less than 5 years—enough for me to sell them and bail myself out of the big mess I had made. The whole thing was a big lesson for me. Sure I saw cash flow from those buildings but I only truly appreciated the equity growth that had occurred at divestment. It was a real eye opener. Too bad I had to spend it all paying off the sins of bad decisions made by me and my management team. This all happened pretty quickly after residency so I was fortunate to have plenty of time to recover and re-build myself. When I retired from medicine and became a full time investor 4 years ago, I still had to control my impulses. Shiny objects existed not only in the business world but with investments as well. I made some stupid investments in exotic things early on as well but quickly learned that the only asset class that was consistently making me money was real estate. I had to keep repeating a mantra to myself that I continue to do every day: "boring is good". There is nothing sexy about working class apartment buildings. You're not going to brag to your friends about owning them or drive by them with a ton of pride. They are often ugly and in areas you might not even want to drive through. But in the right hands, they consistently make money. In many cases, the returns themselves are quite sexy. My lifetime annualized returns on real estate are probably 40-50 percent all in. So, even though it seems boring, every year the vast majority of my investable income goes into apartment buildings. Do I invest in riskier stuff? Yes but it's calculated. 10-15 percent of my investable assets now go into things that could potentially create a meaningful change in my quality of life. What's a meaningful change? Well, it's going to be different for everyone but it usually means adding some zeros to your net worth. On the other hand, I approach those investments knowing and being ok with the possibility that there will be no return of capital at all—like the Maserati I bought last year. There are some people, however, who make their living entirely on the asymmetric side of the investment world. This week's episode of Wealth Formula Podcast features one of those guys: Jonathan Hung. If you are curious about the world of angel investing, make sure you tune into the show!

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 think about it is as a thermostat for your expectations of the world. In my experience, there certainly is a wealth thermostat. You are highly unlikely to make a lot more money than you think you can. You are also highly unlikely to make a lot less. Part of thinking you can involves what you visualize for yourself everyday. What do I mean by visualize? I'm not talking about meditating or doing anything else other than what we do everyday on autopilot that results in various images of who we are in our mind's eye. If you are around a bunch of people who make a lot more money than you do on a daily basis, you are more likely to see yourself in that position. If you know people personally who have accomplished various exceptional milestones your subconscious will be more likely to allow you to accept that you, too, can achieve such things. A wealth mindset is a prerequisite to actual financial wealth. That doesn't mean that you will get there for sure if you can see it. But if you don't, you can be pretty sure you will never get there. If the world around you isn't pushing you, you need to find other stimuli that do. That's where a lot of people who actively manifest their futures use image boards and other tools to train their subconscious. I don't actually do that myself but I certainly understand how it might help. I'm not an expert on mindset nor am I a coach of any kind. I'm just an armchair quarterback with some observations. My guest on this week's podcast is Kim Daly—and she is sort of an expert at this mindset stuff. Kim is also known best as an expert on franchises. That's a pretty good combination because, if you want to succeed as a business owner, you have to really focus on the mental part as well. Kim's enthusiasm is infectious. If you want to learn about franchises or just how to be a more fulfilled person, make sure to listen to my interview with her on this week's Wealth Formula Podcast. P.S. Don't forget to sign up for our Wealth Formula Meetup in Dallas on Oct 1-2. Click HERE to learn more!

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 with a false sense of security. No matter what your level of wealth, YOU need to be the CEO of your own finances. No one else cares as much about your money and your legacy. What that means is that you need to be educated on personal finance one way or another if you are going to be successful in this realm. For most high-paid professionals that means not only surrounding yourself with competent CPAs, lawyers, and investment advisors. It also means being active in designing strategies and making sure they get implemented. I have one of the best CPAs in the world but I am far from passive in my interactions with him. I'm constantly challenging him and providing him with new ideas. After all, I know my finances better than he does. And every time I acquire a new asset or make a new investment, I have to be the one who understands how it fits into my portfolio. It can be exhausting at times but at least I can be confident in the decisions I make. That's why so many people find Wealth Formula Podcast to be a useful resource. This is a platform for me to learn about things and share them with you in real time. Nothing about the show is theoretical. It's the information I use every day in my own financial affairs. Because of that, you often hear from my advisors. After all, what better way for me to communicate these concepts to you than having you listen in to the conversations that guide my own decisions? This week's episode features one of those discussions as I chat with my own asset protection attorney, Doug Lodmell. I highly encourage you to listen. This might be the most comprehensive but understandable podcast on the topic of asset protection you've ever heard and, hopefully, will leave you with a clear understanding of what you need to do in this area right now.

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 investor strategies. You might, therefore, be wondering what exactly Wealth Formula Banking is. Well, it's actually an investing strategy that utilizes permanent life insurance. Now you might be thinking: "My financial advisor told me to buy term and invest the rest". Believe me, I've heard that one a million times. In fact, I used to believe it. But then, during my own financial journey, I noticed that pretty much all of the high net worth individuals that I met were utilizing some kind of permanent life insurance in their own portfolios. If permanent life insurance was not a good strategy, then why were all of these smart people who made a lot more money than most doctors doing it? After some digging, I had the answer. Permanent life insurance, the way it is presented to most people, is not a good strategy at all. However, the devil is in the details. Structured appropriately—-maximizing cash value and minimizing fees, these policies are extraordinarily powerful in amplifying wealth creation. Perhaps the best book on this concept is written by Nelson Nash called Become Your Own Banker. This is an older book but drives home the fundamentals of this wealth-building concept in an easy to understand format. Nash's concept is further optimized for active investors by the Wealth Formula Banking concept. In short, Wealth Formula Banking involves an asset protected, tax efficient vehicle that allows you to invest the same money in two places at the same time. We call that double-dipping. And while it may sound too good to be true, I can tell you from my own personal experience that it's not. That's why, at the very least, you need to learn about it and decide if it's right for you. There is no better way to do that than to hear fellow Wealth Formula community members like you discuss the concept and how they are using it in their own portfolios. So… that's what we are going to do on this week's episode of Wealth Formula Podcast. LISTEN NOW!

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 in at the Puerto Vallarta airport—not many choices as you can imagine. Most people heading back stateside are too hung over to read on the plane. There on the shelf, I grabbed one of the three available books and the only one that did not have a picture of buff dude with long hair appealing to romance novel enthusiasts. It was called Cash Flow Quadrant and the author was, of course, Robert Kiyosaki. I read that book on the plane and my life has never been the same. I've heard lots of stories like this over the years. Something about Kiyosaki's way of explaining concepts really inspires people. To this day, I am quite sure that he has been the impetus behind more millionaires around the world than any other individual in history. The funny thing is that some of those concepts that resonated with me like "cash flow" were nothing new. My dad used to call himself a cash flow investor long before Kiyosaki wrote Rich Dad Poor Dad. The point is that sometimes it's not about what is said but how it's said that matters. Guys like Kiyosaki know how to communicate important concepts. When that happens, you can get quite an aha moment that sends you down a rabbit hole. After reading Rich Dad Poor Dad, Ryan Stieg set out on his journey to figure out how to make sense of his own purple book experience. Part of that journey led him to the Wealth Formula Community. On this week's Wealth Formula Podcast, he takes us down his path from W2 wage earner towards his trajectory as a full-time investor. Ryan's story could sound a lot like your own if you want it to! LISTEN NOW!

"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 has even labeled investments out of this core set of products as alternative. I wonder why? Well, when you think alternative, what kinds of images pop up in your mind? Purple hair? Nose rings? Well, that's not by accident. The conventional financial apparatus would like investors to think of investing in real estate and other non-paper assets the same way you might think of those alternative images: unstable, unsafe? It's a rather clever use of language for marketing purposes I must say. But it's disingenuous all the same. After all, how could real estate be an alternative investment? The ownership of real estate and other real assets far outdate the more modern phenomenon of paper assets and certainly any kind of public equity market. Owning stuff is the only way investing existed just a few hundred years ago! Nevertheless, I can't tell you the number of times I've witnessed genuine anxiety from investors first realizing that they ought to be investing another way other than the way they had been conditioned their whole life. I get it. That's what our alternative investing communities, like Wealth Formula Network are for. We are kind of like support groups for recovering paper asset investors and we provide each other the support and courage to do what is in our own financial interests. Of course, ours isn't the only support group (or cult) out there. Jim Pfeifer's Left Field Investors is another one. It just so happens that he's part of our community as well. Listen to this week's episode Wealth Formula Podcast to learn how Jim's journey from high school teacher to financial advisor ended up leading him into podcasting and a career as a full-time investor. These intra-community shows are a great chance to reflect on your own financial journey. Make sure to listen NOW.

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 experts is important, but the actual implementation of personal finance strategies is often daunting for individual investors in the alternative space. If you follow the conventional financial path, it's easy. You just keep dumping your hard-earned money into stocks, bonds, and mutual funds and help your financial advisor retire comfortably. However, easy does not mean wise. Blind faith in conventional financial wisdom can be hazardous to your financial health and catastrophic for your retirement plans. In my 47 years of life, I have come to realize that nothing worth doing is ever easy. Taking charge of your own finances requires some work. The good news is that, if you are a listener of Wealth Formula Podcast, you are probably already a high-paid professional doing something that requires a great deal more brain power than personal finance. Yes. Managing your own money takes work but it's not that difficult. In fact, the hardest part is overcoming the fear of making the wrong decisions. That said, letting someone else make those decisions for you doesn't guarantee success either. The reality is that if you are managing your own money, at least you know for sure that the decisions you make are in your own interest and they are decisions you made. So how do you become confident about making your own financial decisions? Well, for one thing, it takes some time. The only way I know how to speed up the process is by learning from others. And it's not just the good stuff you need to learn either. It is true that the best way to learn is through mistakes. However, they don't need to be your mistakes. Learning through your peers is priceless. That's why the next few episodes of Wealth Formula Podcast will feature interviews with real investors just like you. This week I interview a guy who worked for Boeing for three decades and went through a divorce before his personal finance journey really took off. That's real stuff. So if you're curious about the financial journeys of your Wealth Formula peers, make sure to listen to this interview and learn why Chris Odegard now feels more confident than ever in his financial future!

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 silver coins). Usually this group is at odds with mainstream economists. They rarely agree on anything—except when it comes to one thing: The Demise of America. Why? Ultimately it all comes down to a fact that no one can ignore. US sovereign debt is skyrocketing. We are spending at an unparalleled pace and that should result in the weakening of the dollar that will render it useless. Makes sense right? As you may know from past podcasts, I don't believe that America is going anywhere. I'm as bullish on our economy as I have ever been. We still have the largest economy in the world. American ingenuity is still unrivaled globally. And, as far as the dollar? It's still by far and away the least ugly currency in the room. I'm not denying we have problems. We do. But we are the 900-pound gorilla in the world arena. Our adversaries don't like that but we have the gravitas to keep it that way by exerting our geopolitical and economic weight at will. This week on Wealth Formula Podcast, I interview a guy who will explain why. His name is Marin Katusa and he is the author of The Rise of America: Remaking the World Order. This is a MUST READ for anyone interested in the future of the American economy. And to be clear, this is not coming from another talking head academic. While Marin is an ex-calculus teacher, he is also a self-made millionaire that has relied on significant research and clear-headed thinking to get him where he is. Do yourself a favor and listen to this podcast AND read his book.

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, is critical. I am a firm advocate of cash value life insurance such as Wealth Formula Banking to also allow your defensive moves like insurance to help you amplify your wealth. Next you need asset protection. You don't want to be a lawsuit or creditor away from bankruptcy. Cover your assets as they say. Get in touch with someone like my attorney, Doug Lodmell, sooner rather than later. Finally, the Wealth Formula ethos is to invest in real assets that not only make you money but also mitigate your tax burden. In my humble opinion, the ideal investment for this purpose is to invest in apartment buildings. I have searched high and low for investments that offer comparable yield with the same risk/benefit profile as investing in value-add working class apartment buildings in fast growing markets. I can't find anything that comes even close. Even real estate development doesn't really make sense to me right now. The yields are no better than what I'm getting on value-add apartment buildings with a fraction of the risk. We have also seen the resilience of apartment building investments in the hands of competent operators. Pandemics, deep recessions, and eviction moratoriums aside, we have fared quite well and investors are seeing that first hand. And now, we are out of immediate danger and the economy is growing at an incredible rate. Fiscal and monetary policy combined with pent-up demand for goods and services is creating an economic boom that, in my opinion, will be the second coming of the roaring 20s. I believe we are just at the beginning of one of the best times to make money in decades. I also believe that people who invest as much money now into real estate will be very happy in a few years if those properties are improved and managed competently. Sitting on the sidelines is a guaranteed way to lose money. Why? Well, along with that real economic growth, we are also going to see some significant inflation. Your money in the bank is, therefore, guaranteed to lose value. If you are in our accredited investor club, you are going to start seeing our rate of acquisition pick up quite a bit for all of the reasons cited above. It's GO TIME! To help you understand why that is, I interviewed Dave Steele, co-founder and principal of Western Wealth Capital. Dave has been in real estate for three decades and has been extraordinarily prescient in his forecasts. If you want to know why I think it's "go time", make sure to listen to this week's episode of Wealth Formula Podcast!

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 their legacy. The moment my first daughter was born, I made sure that I bought as much term life insurance as I could. It's the only way I knew to protect her in the event that something happened to me. That was 12 years ago and I was only a year out of surgical training. Since then, my personal wealth has grown substantially. It happened because of a lot of hard work and a few good breaks. God willing, I still have decades of life and wealth creation ahead of me. I'm creating this wealth for my family and for me. When I die, I want my hard-earned money to go to my children and perhaps to causes that I care about. I'm not doing this so that the government can take half of what I leave behind. If you don't start planning now, there is a reasonably good chance that's going to happen to you. I am talking, of course, about estate taxes. And if you think that you don't make enough money or have enough wealth to worry about this, you (or your family) could be in for an unfortunate surprise. Estate exemptions are as high as they have ever been and are very likely to be reduced to the point where the majority of individuals in our accredited investor group will be affected by the end of their life. In fact, current legislation has those exemptions as low as $3.5 million. If you listen to my podcast, there's probably a pretty good chance that you expect to have at least this much wealth accumulated by the end of your life. Just imagine for a moment that you have accumulated a decent portfolio of real estate that you would like to pass on to your heirs. If you don't plan correctly, your heirs will not get to enjoy the fruits of your labor. Instead, they will have to sell that real estate off just to pay the taxes on your estate. Unfortunately, very few people think about this stuff. I really think it's because people don't like to think about their own mortality. Some are even superstitious. I get it. However, If you're going to make the money anyway, don't you think it would be smart to structure your Wealth in such a way that your kids can continue to enjoy it when you're gone? Current legislation proposed by the Biden administration is trying very hard to make it virtually impossible for you to plan around estate taxes. Whether they are able to accomplish what they are trying to do or not remains uncertain. However, you do have a window of time right now in which you might be able to grandfather into current law. Believe me, this is something you ought to be thinking about NOW. To help you understand the issues at hand, I interviewed my own estate planning attorney, Joe Longo for this week's Wealth Formula Podcast. This is important. Please listen!

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 past few years are investments into relationships. One superpower that I have been blessed with is the ability to read people—what might be best characterized as "Spidey Sense". I am, of course, referring to Peter Parker and his web-slinging alter-ego's ability to sense imminent danger. By the way, I must give Wealth Formula Network member, Ian Kurth, credit for giving my superpower this name. As ridiculous as it may sound, I credit it for staying out of a lot bad deals and away from the many charlatans out there in the investment world. Don't get me wrong, early in my investment career I got burned too. In retrospect though, the signs were always there. If I had harnessed my senses better, I could have probably avoided those mistakes. To be clear, there is always risk in investing. There's always a chance you are going to lose money. I'm ok with that. As long as you win a lot more than you lose, you are going to do just fine. Believe me. The way you mitigate the losses, however, is to align yourself with competent individuals with high integrity. Know, like and trust are requirements for me when it comes to partnering or investing with anyone. However, they also have to be damn good at what they do. That's why the saying "your net worth is equal to your network" is so true. Having relationships with people who you trust and who are incredibly smart and good at what they do is absolute gold. For me that includes guys like Dave Steele, Tim McLeary and Dante Andrade. It also includes one of my favorite entrepreneurs and one of the smartest guys I know, Jorge Newberry. I can honestly say that whenever I have a problem, Jorge is one of the first guys I call. He knows his stuff and he's always got great wisdom to share. This week on Wealth Formula Podcast, Jorge updates us on the area that he knows best—the single family residential market. And…well, he sees some trouble on this horizon. Make sure to listen to why!

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 from an attorney I would do the same—-even though most of those letters were actually advertisements. Now, 47 years old and owner of multiple businesses and complicated financials, I don't have visceral reactions to any of this stuff anymore. Why? Well, when it comes to taxes, I would venture to say that any business owner making a lot of money will likely get audited eventually. After all, what is an audit? An audit is an inspection. If you aren't doing anything wrong, then what are you worried about? I've been through three tax audits now. In all cases, I did nothing wrong. I broke no laws. The audits mostly focussed on documentation. In some cases, the documentation was not done as well as it could have and that's what the auditor wanted to focus on. In my experience, the tax audit process is just a negotiation. If you get audited, they are going to find SOMETHING no matter how ridiculous it may seem. Then you come to some kind of settlement. The legal system in general works on these principles. That's why I don't really fear frivolous lawsuits anymore. Very rarely do things go to court. The dirty little secret is that whoever has the most money usually wins disputes simply by draining the opposition of financial resources that cover legal fees. Once you realize that complexity of the real world, it's much easier to sleep at night with audits and legal issues. One more point. If you have good asset protection, that's another reason not to worry about frivolous lawsuits or even legitimate personal liability. Talk to my attorney friend Doug Lodmell about that one. But getting back to taxes, I want to emphasize that most of the tax code is gray and you need to have a quality tax professional on your side rather than a robot who just keeps telling you why "you can't do that". As you know, my CPA is Tom Wheelwright and I highly recommend you consider someone on Tom's Wealthability team. However, it's really good to get different perspectives as well. That's why this week's interview with tax attorney, Stephen Moskowitz was really eye opening for me. If you make a lot of money and worry about taxes and audits, you are not going to want to miss this episode of Wealth Formula Podcast!

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 I have partnered over the years and who have made me money. It is important not to underestimate the power of collective intelligence. In saying that, I must make the distinction between collective intelligence and heard mentality. Herd mentality bias refers to the tendency of investors to follow what others are doing rather than by their own analysis. I differentiate that with collective intelligence where a group of individuals independently analyzes opportunities and vets them together. In other words, it involves having intelligent conversations with one another and coming to collective conclusions that might be more accurate than any individual one. A good example of this kind of tribe is our own Wealth Formula Network. This is our private community where we interact over Facebook and also do biweekly Zoom video calls. I think about personal finance a lot in case you haven't noticed. But I am not arrogant enough to think I know everything and I am also very open to changing my mind if people can convince me with good data. In that regard, Wealth Formula Network has been at least as valuable for me as anyone else in our group. On a more practical level, investment groups can sometimes allow you to participate in private offerings to which you might not otherwise have access. That's been a huge advantage for me I must say. Finally, investment "tribes" can actually make it possible for you to invest in more opportunities with limited resources. For example, you might be interested in opportunities for which minimum investments are $100K. If you want to invest in 7-8 opportunities in a year that's quite a bit of money. However, using the tribe model, my guest on Wealth Formula Podcast this week has figured out an ingenious way for you to participate with less money yet maintain the broad investment exposure you want. If you want to invest in more opportunities than you have money, you won't want to miss today's show with Tribevest founder, Travis Smith! P.S. If you decide to sign up for Travis' service with your tribe, go to TribeVest.com/wf and he will give you $50 to start. Use the code "BUCK50"

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 tax. You see, the tax code is nothing more than a series of incentives. It is intended to direct your behavior and your investments. Case in point…for years, drilling for oil and gas on US shores has been an initiative of the US government. The idea was to make us oil independent from a bunch of Middle Eastern countries who don't like us very much. Reflective of that goal, investments in oil and gas drilling operations have been extremely advantageous to investors in terms of tax mitigation. In fact, for the last few years, up to 100 percent of oil and gas drilling investments have been deductible for investors. Well, as it turns out, the US became a net exporter of petroleum in September of 2019 meeting its goal to be oil independent. Then, the Biden administration took over in 2021 and made it clear that green energy was at the top of its agenda. So, if it is true that the tax code is a series of incentives, what kind of legislation do you think reflects the current administration's values? You might expect the end of all of those tax benefits for oil and gas replaced by green energy benefits. Well, as it turns out, that's what is on the table right now along with a series of other tax code changes that reflect the Biden administration's values. Sure we can complain about it. I certainly don't like a number of the proposals that we are seeing. But our job as investors is to continue understanding what the government wants us to do and to do it. That is…if we want to reduce our taxes. None of the legislation that has been offered is law as of yet. So, it's not quite time to panic. However, it is time to understand which way things are going and start preparing yourself. So, that's what we are going to do this week as we talk with my CPA, Tom Wheelwright. You don't want to miss this show!

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!

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 personal finance for our demographic. The current discussion is inspired by a 90-minute Wealth Formula Network call around how to think about bitcoin and cryptocurrencies. It's important to note that just a couple of years ago, Ian was a bitcoin skeptic. So you are going to want to understand how he has transformed into a very pro-bitcoin investor despite his conservative nature! Listen HERE! P.S. Ian has also compiled a list of resources that he has found helpful in his journey to becoming crypto-competent. He has kindly permitted me to share them below: Podcasts https://www.theinvestorspodcast.com/bitcoin-fundamentals/page/2/ - Recommend starting with - (#1, #3, & #5 first - links below) #1 - https://www.theinvestorspodcast.com/bitcoin-fundamentals/bitcoin-common-misconceptions-w-robert-breedlove/ #3 - https://www.theinvestorspodcast.com/bitcoin-fundamentals/bitcoin-a-deflationary-world-w-jeff-booth/ #5 - https://www.theinvestorspodcast.com/bitcoin-fundamentals/bitcoin-michael-saylor-a-masterclass-in-economic-calculation/ This is an outstanding 9 podcast series. Muscle through the sometimes amateur audio production quality. Michael Saylor is a visionary, who has overqualified background experience. - The "What is Money?" Show The Ultimate Bitcoin 101 with Vijay Boyapati What Bitcoin Did Tim Ferris Show - Balaji Srinivasan Many, many more podcasts are available depending on which direction down the rabbit hole you choose. YouTube BTC vs. Gold debate "The Best Bitcoin Debate Ever Recorded (Anthony Pompliano vs. Mike Green)" Michael Saylor - CNBC Ross Stevens (NYDIG) Articles The Bullish Case for Bitcoin The Case Against Bitcoin Why Bitcoin, The Series Norwegian Billionaire Investor Letter on Bitcoin Investment Illuminating the Path Forward - NYDIG Books The Bitcoin Standard: The Decentralized Alternative to Central Banking Inventing Bitcoin: The Technology Behind the First Truly Scarce and Decentralized Money Explained - Here is a referral code to download this book free: https://www.swanbitcoin.com/Kurthian?gc=yanbook1020&utm_campaign=yanbook1020 Bitcoin: Hard Money You Can't F*ck With: Why bitcoin will be the next global reserve currency Websites Case Bitcoin. Lots of solid info/compilations of news/articles/pricing https://www.lopp.net/bitcoin-information.html http://billybitco.in/ https://www.keepitsimplebitcoin.com/bitcoin-security-guide/ Graphs https://wtfhappenedin1971.com/ https://www.lookintobitcoin.com/charts/stock-to-flow-model/ https://dcabtc.com/ Corporate custodianship and legal issues Microstrategy Corporate adoption conference Twitter Raoul Pal Preston Pysh Lyn Alden Plan B Willy Woo Robert Breedlove Greg Foss Buying Crypto If you decide to buy on a crypto exchange, I recommend coinbase PRO b/c it has the cheapest transaction fees. (https://www.coinbase.com/join/kurth_6) If you want to do daily buys at a cheaper trx fee, and then auto send to a cold storage device, I use Swan Bitcoin. I like to dollar cost average on a daily basis. https://www.swanbitcoin.com/Kurthian If you'd like to earn % interest on your bitcoin, you can explore BlockFI. You get some money for signing up. For other digital assets that are not on Coinbase Pro, I use Crypto.com. Use code 2grceqsvjv for $25. Voyager is decent for more exotic coins. https://www.bitwiseinvestments.com/ is a good private equity index type option that I have used since 2017. From a brokerage account, GBTC and ETHE are reasonable bitcoin proxy investments, particularly in qualified retirement accounts.

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!

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 that will fundamentally transform the world. I see the current crypto market as very similar to what happened in the 90s with the dawn of the internet and related technology companies. Yes…most of the dotcoms went out of business. There was ridiculous hype and valuations of companies that had no revenue-generating product and certainly didn't even come close to making money. And when the dotcom crash came, the skeptics all said, "I told you so". Indeed, they were right about the hysteria. But if they ignored the technology completely, they also missed out on early investments into companies that would eventually become the largest companies in the world. Recovering from the ashes of the dotcom debacle were companies like Amazon, Google, and Apple to name a few. The dotcom period of the 90s was, therefore, hardly a failure. Cryptocurrency skeptics look at the current technology craze the same way. However, just like in the dotcom era, there will be some big winners that come out of the frenzy and will become household names. Don't you want a chance to be part of that?… to go back in time and invest in companies like Amazon and Google in their infancy? If so, you have to change your perspective on what's happening now. Try to weed through the useless stuff like dogecoin and start looking at these projects like you would look at any other project in which you might invest. Learn, at a high level, what this whole distributed world is all about and why it's such a big deal. Then learn about individual projects. Look at them like you would any other investment. Who are the developers? What is their mission? What do they aim to do and what have they already done? Cryptocurrency is not going away. Bitcoin is here to stay and will become a globally recognized commodity like gold someday. And while most other projects will die, others will become the fabric of a new decentralized world. As an investor, opportunities like these to be part of the new evolving economy don't happen very often and may never happen again in our lifetime. I recognize that and, while I have no idea who the winners and losers will be, I can tell you that Hedera (Hashgraph) is my personal pick for a company that will become a household name over the next few years. And, full disclaimer, its native token HBAR, is by far and away my biggest cryptocurrency bag. In this episode of Wealth Formula Podcast, you will learn why I'm so bullish on Hedera as I welcome back co-founder and CEO Mance Harmon to the show. Don't miss it!

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!

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 as selling gum and Coca-Cola bottles and, of course, the rest is history. Stories like these attached to big-name entrepreneurs are fun to think about. And I certainly see some of my children's friends with unusual enthusiasm for making money at a young age. I can't wait to see what they do in the years ahead. However, my experience as an entrepreneur amongst entrepreneurs is that most of the time, the narrative doesn't quite go that way for entrepreneurs. What I have noticed is that most entrepreneurs stumbled their way into the world of business and surprised everyone around them, including themselves. I identify as an entrepreneur who happens to be a doctor. If someone looked at my childhood trajectory, I don't think they would guess that I would end up doing what I did. For one, I was a good student who fit well into the professional tract. The only question that someone might have had about me during high school or college is whether I would end up in law school, business school, or medical school like I actually did. The idea of entrepreneurship never crossed my mind. I was trying to figure out what kind of job that I wanted. It wasn't until accidentally stumbling upon Robert Kiyosaki's Cash Flow Quadrant that the idea of entrepreneurship ever crossed my mind. And boy did it…like a bolt of lightning. And while I don't agree with everything Robert says, I do owe him a debt of gratitude that, apart from my parents who brought me into this world, I owe no one. Now once you are in the entrepreneurial mindset, you can see opportunities everywhere. Not surprisingly, therefore, most entrepreneurs do what I did. They learn a business from somewhere that they are working and have that moment of clarity when they think to themselves: "I don't have to work for this guy. I'm doing all the work. I can make more money on my own" This, I guarantee you, is the number one on-ramp to entrepreneurship. Now, the interesting thing is that the type of business an individual typically pursues is often dumb luck. Let me give you a couple of examples to illustrate my point. One of my buddies has a tile company that supplies a bunch of major retailers like home depot. He does pretty well for himself. He makes a half million dollars a year and lives comfortably in a great place to live. This is a big deal considering the fact that he came from nothing. His story? Well, you guessed it. He worked for a tile guy who gave him all the responsibility while he played golf. My friend learned the business and started his own shop. Now another guy I know had a similar story. Except in his case, his job involved energy arbitrage. The company he worked for bought energy from countries where costs were less and sold it to countries where it was more expensive. Of course, that brokering came with a nice little commission on the trade—meaning millions of dollars per transaction. Well, one day this guy looked at his coworker and said, "You know, we could do this by ourselves.". And that's how he ended an entrepreneur. However, lucky for him, his job gave him the inside knowledge to execute a business that was quite a bit more lucrative than tiles or medicine. He didn't work harder than the rest of us and I don't think he was any smarter. He was just in the right place at the right time with the right mindset. When I think about these guys and myself, I can't help but think how random fortunes can be. I also think to myself whether there is a way to systematize this seemingly arbitrary reality of fate so that we can better guide our children. Based on what I've seen, the advice I have for any young person looking to find their way or their jackpot is to get as much exposure to life as possible. College teaches you some things, but it might be best as a resource for the people you meet. College graduates should look at their first few jobs after school as paid education. Furthermore, they should be quick to find other employment once they learn the skills available at that position. Not everyone aspires to be filthy rich, but anyone who has an interest in entrepreneurship should make sure that the business that they are going to rip off and make their own be lucrative. After all, working hard has very little correlation with being rich. I have three little girls-the oldest is only 12. Given my own interest in entrepreneurship and investing, people often ask me what I'm doing to provide them a financial education. Sure, we talk about money once in a while. I explain taxes to them by taking away half their ice cream..that kind of thing. But I think the best thing I can do for them right now is to simply encourage them to le

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 bull run. I could have come away from it with a lot more money than I did if I had done things differently. However, like anything in life, investing is about learning from your mistakes and trying not to repeat them. Let me give you an example of one of the lessons I learned. In 2017 I invested in an initial coin (ICO) offering on a project that I liked. ICO's were all the rage back then but have since been banned by the SEC in the United States. I invested $50,000 into that project. One day the guy who told me about the project in the first place shot me a text that read "you must be happy you bought into that ICO!" Indeed, when I looked up the price of the token, my $50,000 was worth $4 million! Now there are times to buy and hold, but this was not one of them. That kind of profit on a token that really represented an idea more than anything else was a sell for sure in my humble opinion. The problem was that I couldn't sell. You see, first of all, the only platform where the token was trading was not open to Americans. My friend who texted me is Canadian so he didn't have that problem. So, for several months, I watched handcuffed as the euphoria around the project drained out. By the time it was on a platform where I could theoretically trade it, it was worth $500K. That was still 10X so nothing to scoff at. But then I ran into another problem. There was virtually no liquidity on the platform where I could trade it. In other words, the token I had may have been theoretically worth something, but there weren't any buyers. By the time the token was on sizable trading platforms available to Americans and had some liquidity, crypto winter was upon us. Soon, my $50K that was worth $4 million was worth only $20K. What a miserable story right? You're right but I can't say I ever let it bother me that much. This kind of stuff happens once in a while when you are an active investor or trader. The key is to learn something and don't repeat the mistake again. For those of you who are holding on to significant profits in alternative coins right now, make sure you can sell them if you want to. You might even consider very slowly moving out of the token into something traded on Coinbase where everything is liquid. Anyway, I thought I'd share that story with you for you to learn from my experience. Crypto is the wild west still, despite tons of added regulation. Have fun and try not to lose money. In frenzies like this, that is very easy to do. Speaking of frenzies, beware of charlatans in times like these. Just like last bull run, you are going to see a lot of unnecessary tokenization and random companies adding the word blockchain to what they do in order to create a buzz. Here's a case study: an iced tea company called Long Island Iced Tea. The company made beverages from 2015-2017. But suddenly, in December of 2017 at the peak of the crypto market, the company changed its name to Long Blockchain Corp. (LBCC). The company never really made its mark in anything related to blockchain and, in a press release stated, "there can be no assurance that the company will be successful in developing blockchain technology, or in profitably commercializing it, if developed." In other words—they were just using the name to pump the stock price. And sure enough, the share price increased by 500 percent! The moral of the story is that in times like these, it is important as ever to ask questions. Yes, I do believe blockchain and, more broadly, distributed ledger technology is the biggest technology advance since the internet. But make sure when you hear people using crypto terminology actually have a real purpose for it other than marketing. There certainly are some potential use cases. My guest on this week's Wealth Formula Podcast, for example, wants to securitize real estate ownership via security tokens. Does it make sense to do so? Well, listen to this interview and decide for yourself!

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 and that it will continue to be going forward. The longevity of gold's claim to value certainly adds to its standing as a valuable asset. Gold bugs who disparage bitcoin often point to the relative newness of the asset and its lack of track record over time. However, if we are going to give so much inherent value to the variable of time, it might be reasonable to consider other assets that have been considered valuable for a long time. We have almost certainly been eating and drinking for longer than we have been hoarding precious metals. That's why we value rare foods the way we do. The European white truffle is a good example. They grow underground and need to be sniffed out by special dogs and pigs! They cannot be commercially cultivated. How much are people willing to pay for rare food? Well, in 2017, a two-pound specimen sold for $61,250. I love truffles but really? Anyway, I guess it doesn't matter whether you or I would spend that kind of money on a mushroom. Someone will and that's why European White truffles are so darn expensive. That brings us to something else that we know can get pretty pricey quickly—wine. I like wine but am certainly no connoisseur. I pretty much put wine in two categories—wine I like and wine I don't like. I know a little bit more about bourbon. Of course, buying and selling fancy wine has been, for the most part, for the wealthy. However, as we have seen recently in assets such as art and rare cars, technology is allowing for the democratization of many of the investments that were simply too expensive for most to participate in. Vinovest is doing just that for investment quality wine. So whether you're an investor or you just like drinking this stuff, you are going to want to tune in to my interview with Vinovest founder, Anthony Zhang, on this week's Wealth Formula Podcast.

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 buy lots of precious metals. Because, of course, silver coins are the currency of choice for zombies. Eventually, the natural cycles do their thing and the economy does go south. That's when the doom and gloomers do their end-zone dance and tell you that they had predicted the down-turn the whole time. They are right. After all, even a broken clock is right twice a day. Now let me be clear. I understand that we live in unprecedented times of sovereign debt, record low interest rates, and the Federal Reserve is printing money at unparalleled levels. Oh yeah—and we have a hell of a demographic cliff coming up next decade. But… if you listened to the doom and gloom crowd for the last 6 years, you missed out on a lot of opportunities to make money. Case in point: our investor club partner Western Wealth Capital has been around for about 6-7 years. Over the last 6 years, one investor turned $750K of invested capital into over $4 million! Now compare that to how far gold has come since 2015. Yeah…no thanks. The reality is that the economy is dynamic and you have to make money when you can. If you're worried about a depression happening 10 years from now and stop making good investments today, you probably will not fare as well as someone who is actively growing their wealth right now. Building wealth creates resilience. Fear does not. But listen…if you listen to a lot of podcasts, I don't blame you for stashing gold under your bed. There's a lot of opportunistic financial forecasters out there telling you that the world is coming to an end...again. You know what I would love to see? I would love to see all economists, especially those who shill gold, provide a scorecard on their financial forecasts. My guess is that in most cases, those who predicted the last two recessions, would also be the ones who predicted 5 more recessions that didn't happen in between. If you're good at predicting the future, show us your track record, right? Well, as it turns out, there is one group of economists who have been keeping score since the mid 1940's and have predicted economic events with 97 percent accuracy since that time. Not surprisingly, they predict both good times and bad. That's the way the real world works! The firm is called ITR economics and I listen closely to everything they have to say. Maybe you should too. You can get started by listening to this week's Wealth Formula Podcast where I interview ITR economist, Taylor St. Germain. Learn about the pandemic economy and what's on the horizon over the next decade. Don't miss this show!

"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 closed, people lost jobs and some experienced poverty for the first time. Marriages came to abrupt ends and kids couldn't go to school. But the funny thing is that, for those of us who survived, we seem to be doing ok. Human beings are incredibly resilient. And, as it turns out, can adapt to pretty much anything over time. I often talk about a certain kind of "wealth thermostat" that keeps people in a certain range of wealth. If you are a $100K person you will somehow find a way to make $100K per year but you won't make a million. If you are a $1 million per year person, you will find a way to make that amount etc. Unless you figure out how to reset your financial thermostat, you are kind of stuck where you are. As it turns out, there is also a "happiness thermostat". Most people think that more money will make them happier. But studies recently done suggest that's only true until you hit about $75K per year. If you can afford food and a roof over your head, you've covered the essentials to get to your baseline happiness. Lottery winners, as it turns out, aren't any happier than most people. The initial thrill of making a lot of money and being able to buy stuff seems to get old pretty quickly. In fact, studies show that they tend to rate the pleasure of mundane events of everyday life lower than others. On the other hand, people who get paralyzed in accidents don't seem to be any less happy than the general population after an initial period of mourning. The moral of the story is that we tend to get accustomed to pretty much anything in life that punches us in the face or gets handed to us on a silver platter. Happiness, it seems, exists outside of objective life circumstances. No matter what happens, we tend to drift back to where our happiness thermostats are set. How do we turn up the temperature on happiness in our lives? I wish I could answer that. In fact, a lot of people are trying to answer that question. The topic has spawned an entirely unique body of research which is called positive psychology. Joel Wade is an expert in positive psychology and he is my guest on Wealth Formula Podcast this week! Don't miss this interview. Listen NOW.