At twenty-three years old, I found my way into an advanced strategy session I didn’t have the credentials for. It was designed for professionals with years of experience and very specific licenses. I had neither.
What I did have was obsession.
I was infatuated with learning. Money. Finance.
How wealth worked instead of how it was talked about to the masses.
At that point in my life, I believed the path to wealth was obvious. Simple, even.
Spend as little as possible. Save everything. Be frugal at all costs.
And the same year I got married, that belief didn’t soften. It intensified.
I felt pressure to provide. To protect. To be responsible. But with a scarcity mindset and an underdeveloped philosophy, I didn’t become disciplined. I became a miser.
When my wife and I were dating and still in school, I was fun. Romantic. I loved spending money on experiences. On her. On us.
But once we got married, and even on our honeymoon, something shifted. I became a penny pincher who knew the price of everything and understood the value of nothing.
Case and point: In New York City, my wife wanted a chocolate covered strawberry. Seven dollars. Even way back in 2002… seven dollars felt absurd to me then. Honestly, it still does. But instead of pausing, laughing, or just enjoying the moment, I reacted defensively. It turned into a fight. Over a strawberry.
Still on our honeymoon, she wanted to buy a bag. I didn’t see the point, because she already had a perfectly good plastic bag complimentary with the cruise. I said it out loud. As if logic would save me. As if being right mattered more than being connected.
That wasn’t intelligence though…
That was fear. Scarcity.
And it wasn’t just showing up in money. It was permeating every part of who I was becoming.
Until multiple things came together quickly that shifted my mind and completely changed my paradigm:
- Two new mentors.
- One game changing conversation.
- An event.
- And even going back to two college textbooks after I graduated.
(Yes, I went back and read them without a grade attached, without a professor watching, just trying to make sense of money.)
What I discovered changed everything, and it’s probably costing you right now.
Because if you’re following conventional financial advice, you might be building wealth for a future you never get to enjoy.
So come along and let me show you what the ultra-wealthy know that most people never figure out…
The Crazy Contradiction Between Finance Gurus and Real Textbooks
Up until my infamous plastic bag honeymoon experience (which my wife rightfully doesn’t let me live down)…
Nearly everything I was reading reinforced scrimping, saving, and sacrifice.
That message came from personal finance talking heads, training at the financial firm, and even university courses labeled personal finance.
But when I went back to corporate finance and economics textbooks, I realized something unsettling…
They weren’t saying the same thing found in most mainstream finance books, written by so called gurus and people peddling and touting the slow track to wealth.
In fact, they were saying the opposite!
They talked about things like opportunity cost…
- Hurdle rates…
- Efficiency…
- Growth…
- Utilization…
Not deprivation. Not delay. Not reduction at the expense of production.
Not starving the present for the hope of a future that might never arrive.
This wasn’t a nuanced difference my friend… it was a complete contradiction.
One Conversation with a Mentor Changed Everything
That same year, I won an award at MDRT (the premier association of Financial Professionals)…
Standing in the hallway, holding the certificate, riding that brief high of recognition, I started talking with a seasoned advisor named Nancy.
She looked at me and said something that cut through all the noise.
“I can’t wait until you get to the next level and see how they view money.”
“Huh, what do you mean?” I asked.
She presented me with a few questions in return. I answered them honestly, from the only framework I knew at the time.
Defer. Delay. Protect. Save.
I said things like we can have a baby once we have X amount of savings, or we can move to a home when we have a million-dollar net worth or make a million dollars in a year. We can keep cutting back and holding on for as long as it takes.
She paused, looked at me, and said, “I wonder what it’s like living in the financial prison you’ve created for your wife.”
Ouch.
I wanted to defend myself, but she was right. I was the ahole!!!
I called my wife immediately, tried to choke back the tears as I apologized.
People probably thought I was emotional from winning the award. I put my back against the wall and slowly slid down as I felt the heaviness and limitation I had created in our life and marriage. That conversation with Nancy alone would have been enough, but this trip was monumental and created even more momentum.
At that same event, I heard Dan Sullivan speak. I met Steve D’Annunzio. I joined Strategic Coach (Dan’s program). I hired Steve for one-on-one coaching.
A mutual friend who attended the same event was noticeably different, and I had to know why. That difference was Steve.
The combination of two mentors, one confrontation, a new environment, and a new framework cracked something open in me. It showed me the spell scarcity had cast over me.
That my methods and mindset were one of poverty, even if I was on track to being a miserable millionaire. Plenty of money, but no sign or ability to enjoy it.
What a year that was for me.
Inside a Real Family Office (and What Stunned Me)
Just a few months later, I attended that advanced strategy session in New York City. For the first time, I saw a Family Office in action.
Attorneys. Accountants. Investment strategists.
All in one room discussing how to properly manage a four hundred-million-dollar transaction from every angle. I’m talking…
- Due diligence.
- Ownership structure.
- Tax implications.
- Risk mitigation.
- Efficiency.
It was fascinating. And then it was frustrating.
After the meeting, I asked how someone could work with a firm like that. The answer stunned me.
“Oh, this is a low tier firm. You need thirty million to invest.”
Low tier. Thirty million. What?!
At the time, I didn’t know a single person worth that amount. But I knew something else.
This was the way finance was meant to be handled.
That moment changed the course of my business and my marriage.
Finally, after all the mentorship, the conversations, and seeing a Family Office, it was clear to me: you can’t shrink your way to wealth.
Wealth is built through production, investing, and value creation, not just saving and reduction.
Prosperity is a way of being. A perspective.
And with that perspective, with that paradigm, you can create substantial wealth.
This wealth is unlocked when you invest in yourself, your skills, your team, and your business, then, very strategically, you turn business wealth into personal wealth.
It isn’t about handing your money over to things you don’t understand but instead getting things to be coordinated and work together.
- Save on tax.
- Keep more of what you make through efficiency, instead of taking on unnecessary risk.
- A comprehensive team designed to work on your behalf, doing due diligence, saving your time and boosting your bottom line.
- Mentoring.
- Coaching.
- Systems and tools.
- Accountability.
- Community.
This is the formula, and with that realization, I went all in.
When I Tried to Do Everything Myself
I started building teams. Started businesses. Trying to recreate what I had seen in that Family Office for people who weren’t already there yet…. First generation entrepreneurs.
People on the way up.
People with drive, intent, and potential, but without access to coordinated expertise.
Naively, I tried to do everything…
I started a mortgage company. Bought a property and casualty firm. Had life insurance professionals working with me. I outsourced tax, legal, and investing.
It was better than most models out there, but it still wasn’t what I was looking for.
Capacity became an issue.
Inefficiency with duplication as people had to upload the same documents for multiple professionals.
They had to tell the same story to different experts.
My mortgage company was small, which meant less influence with underwriters. Deals took longer. Friction increased.
I invested hundreds of thousands of dollars into software that quickly became outdated.
That was painful. More painful was starting a bridge financing fund that got absolutely hammered during the economic collapse of 2008.
That period taught me a lesson I will never forget.
Risk is not in the investment. Risk is in the investor.
Better investors have better teams. Better due diligence. Better self-awareness. They know their Investor DNA.
They have people that help them to say no. People that can point out the problems and consider the ramifications and circumstances that hope and optimism rarely see.
I was fooled. Confusing opportunity with distraction.
Trying to provide too much with too little expertise. It is hard to admit. It was painful to go through. But thankfully I kept learning, asking questions, and remaining curious.
What Billionaires Taught Me About Money
Eventually I spoke for more than twenty family offices representing billionaires, and one thing became clear. They were incredibly focused. They obsessed over efficiency:
Taxes. Interest. Legal structure.
They didn’t just chase returns or get di-worse-ified into too many streams of income and investing.
They had old money habits. They understood risk management. They had teams with substantial knowledge in their area of expertise.
All of them focused on saving millions in tax. They were strategic on how they borrowed money and had preferred interest rates with relationships and organization. They had full time people working solely for their family.
That realization took me right back to the same question that inspired my book, What Would the Rockefellers Do?
What can we learn from the ultra-high net worth, and what would it take to apply those principles in a simple, affordable way for people who are still building?
At twenty-three, I had the right idea. The problem was timing and expertise.
Because the technology didn’t exist yet, it wasn’t possible. It was too slow, too expensive and therefore out of reach for far too many.
What’s Possible Now (That Wasn’t Before)
Not anymore. The future is here. We can access and train from years of transcripts, models, forms, frameworks, and translate that in minutes instead of weeks.
That is what is possible for you now.
To have a team that works in unison and learns from each instance, trains the technology, brings visibility, elegance and ease in implementation, and accuracy.
This not only saves you money, but it also saves you time.
It brings you clarity, peace of mind, and confidence knowing everything is working together, in an accelerated way.
Advancements in technology and AI have fundamentally changed what is possible.
With the prompts we have developed, and the X1 Wealth technology Mat Silverstein has created, we can now organize, analyze, and optimize what used to take a family office team twenty to forty hours in a fraction of the time.
This is not about replacing human intelligence. It’s about enhancing it.
Removing redundancy. Eliminating inefficiency. Freeing up human expertise to focus on judgment, strategy, and results.
This means the meetings can be more about quality of life, legacy, and creation.
Less time in the minutia that is critical, but a slog that drains energy.
The duplication is gone. Less meetings, more results.
With newer rules and regulations, I can now partner directly with Attorneys and CPAs.
With a centralized portal for document uploads and a unified system used by our Results Facilitators, redundancy disappears. Information flows. Decisions improve.
Again: Time and money are saved.
A Family Office Built for You
This is the foundation of Multiplier Family Office.
We handle all things finance, but unlike a traditional family office, Multiplier is a community.
We focus on money mindset. Psychology. Healing your relationship with money.
Because true wealth isn’t just financial.
True wealth exists in five tracks:
- Financial.
- Purpose.
- Mental.
- Physical.
- Social.
And true wealth is your ability to be present and at peace.
You have the co-pilot to help you with the most efficient Wealth Operating System, but you also have the community to learn from and grow with as well.
At Multiplier, you are the asset. Not the account. Not the portfolio.
There is no minimum asset requirement to work with us. There is a minimum amount of revenue before these principles and strategies make sense or can be applied, but we have resources for those that aren’t quite at that level just yet as well.
With Multiplier, we host weekly live sessions designed to increase financial IQ, inspire action, and create dialogue (because wealth is built through conversation).
The framework is simple and practical.
Make. Keep. Grow. Multiply.
Your Results Facilitator is your guide. Your quarterback.
They coordinate with attorneys, tax strategists, investment professionals, and the Money Multiplier Network to save you time, reduce costs, eliminate blind spots, and build a comprehensive financial blueprint.
Members have saved millions in tax. Uncovered massive cash flow leaks. Improved asset protection. Reduced unnecessary expenses.
And perhaps most important, gained clarity, confidence, and peace of mind.
What Would a Family Office Mean For Your Future?
Most people fall into one of two categories.
Underserved and missing pieces or overpaying for fragmented advice.
Without coordination, money slips through the cracks. You deserve better.
This is not traditional financial planning.
It’s not solely about choosing an IRA or chasing a number in the future.
It’s about being financially fit, independent, and free.
Creating cash flow that supports life today while being prepared for the future.
The future of finance is integrated. Intelligent. Efficient. Human centered.
Powered by technology. Guided by principles. Anchored in purpose.
A family office the way it should be. Not just for the ultra-wealthy, but for value creators who are becoming so.
Ready to see what’s possible?
For those interested, we offer a discovery session and a personalized Report of Findings that’ll show you what this kind of Family Office can unlock for you.
(It’s best for business owners with $350k+ in annual income)
Learn more about Multiplier and see if it’s the right fit for your financial future.
To your prosperity,
Garrett
P.S. Want to accelerate your wealth journey?
My next Money Multiplier Masterclass is coming January 27th–29th!
Our last Masterclass was a hit. We got amazing feedback. I had a blast sharing my message with passion. And we even built a fun, collaborative community with VIP members in a private WhatsApp group.
Tickets are on sale now for just $97. Join us, and go from money chaos to financial clarity.
