WE HAVE BEEN SOLD A LIE.  

And instead of being educated about finance, we have been indoctrinated in a system that is rigged against us, one that has created more risk than return, is especially slow and dogmatic, one without cash flow along the way, and has been reluctantly accepted… to our demise.

Most feel a bit hopeless wondering is there an alternative?

What other options do you have?

Wall Street wants to remind us of the many demands on our time.

They create the narrative of reliance and constraint spewed with complicated jargon.

Wall Street does not make it easy (intentionally) for anyone to understand…

• Collateralized Debt Obligations
• Mortgage Backed Securities
• Derivatives
• Options (calls, puts, straddles, and saddles)

Or making more bips on the initial public offering…It sounds like they are sacrificing someone at the end.

Yeah, and that someone is YOU!  They even use animal terms like “bull and bear” to describe the market, but did you know there’s also ostrich, pig, sheep, butterfly, condors, dogs, cats, and even Unicorn stocks.

Does Wall Street deserve to babysit our money?

Are they worthy of taking our money through the phases of our life until we reach retirement?  Do they have a track record of performing for us or more for themselves?

The story we have been told is one of…

… handing over our money over to the “experts”

… saving 10 percent of our income into retirement plans

… starting as early as possible

… just “trust” those in charge because in the end we will be fine, it will be fine…will it? 

Has it worked?

Has it been fine?

Inflation, taxes, volatility, loss, fees, and the like.

This old, antiquated way of retirement planning has provided more wealth for those who spout its ideas, not so much for those who follow them.

What does the old portfolio look like?

1. Mutual Funds filled with stocks and bonds or real estate
2. Maybe some Real Estate/Property through leverage (financing)
3. CD’s, savings, and money markets to handle liquidity
4. On the fringe you hear about Gold and Silver in case it all falls apart

And we are supposed to handle this with 10 percent of our income after inflation has robbed us of 30 percent purchasing power in the last few years.

It is time for different questions, a better method, the things that have worked for centuries but forgotten and replaced with faulty, fragmented information incapable of leading to financial freedom.

Financial Freedom: A broken promise.

A bastardized phrase that has lost its power.

When did investing become…

… Products over people

… Risk over skillset

… Paper and automation over value and creation 

It began by decimating the trust we have in ourselves.

• its too complicated
• you don’t have the time, the knowledge, or the access
• who are you to try
• rely on us

So, now we have been taught to hand money over to people that have reduced us to numbers with revenue goals, stock valuation pressure, exit plans.

These aholes tout their ivy league degrees designed to extract value rather than create it.

Extract value rather than create it.

They earned their reputation.

Venture Capitalists: aka snakes.

You know Wall Street bros. depicted in the Wolf of Wall Street, Boiler Room, Wall Street and every inspiring movie about moving the money out of your life and into theirs.

WAKE UP. 

The ongoing neglect, the abdication of responsibility, and putting our trust in a system that has continued to fail will NEVER create wealth and CAN NOT and WILL NOT work – EVER.

Your money and your life.  Money represents the value you have created and stored.  Money is a storage of energy and the ability to tap into value others can create.  Handing it over to the wrong people, the faulty system, and with a limited philosophy will lead to less than ideal results.

Trust in yourself or get used to being disappointed.

Take responsibility for your finances or be taken.

I understand that those at ivy league schools are good at becoming indoctrinated in the ways of Wall Street.  They can continue to confuse and be relied upon for what serves them even if it no longer serves you.

They may be able to pass tests that seem like a foreign language to you, and get good grades that require a massive amount of study, but does that translate to performance for your portfolio?  That is the question.

Performance of persuasion?

Can the ivy league degrees predict the market or overcome dark pool investing, flash trading, robo advisors, fund objective restrictions, economic turmoil and/or shutdowns, the devaluation of the dollar, and consumer confidence?

Can they use specialized knowledge to outperform an efficient market or your Soul Purpose, your skillset, your ability to deliver value, and to know yourself?

Soul Purpose: That is where your power is. 

That is where your value exists.  But it means you have to take that power into your own hands and life and stop relying on liars, sorry, smart liars.

The smart, ivy league indoctrination has led to people believing that investing is:

1. Stocks and bonds rather than mental and relationship capital
2. In risk rather than skill and staying uninformed rather than responsible
3. In others rather than themselves.  

We did it because it was a great story.

Ease and return.

No effort and results.

But have we called this into question or merely accepted the poor results?

There are times the market performs well, but then volatility and fees confiscate years of patience.

Inflation ruins the bull run.

And good returns can’t make up for poor planning – overpayment of tax, overpayment of interest, paying of investment fees during down years, and paying for all the homeowners insurance premiums (so they can in turn advertise every third commercial).

I’d like to say it more politely and less directly, but there are billions of dollars in marketing working to have you stay asleep, hand over your money, spend your energy, and hope for the best.

But Wall Street knows damn well it isn’t going to end well for you.  That the fees, the losses, and the actual returns won’t create financial independence for you in the end. In fact, their failure will create more dependence.  That when it doesn’t work, they will tell you to put more into the faulty system.

So if the option to put more money away than 10 percent doesn’t sound great, you can always live off less income in the future by moving to a cheaper area (rural town, downgrading your home, reducing expenses, or becoming a minimalist (last one here is not a terrible idea).

I guess their message has been to get used to disappointmentv – thanks Wall Street.

The better way may be to do less of what they say and more of what they do…

… without the fraud that is!

You could instead:

1. Invest in yourself
2. Focus on cash flow
3. Plug financial leaks
   •  Tax
   • Interest
   • Non-performing fees with investments
   • Poor insurance design corrected
4. Grow yourself and your income, then grow your money
5. Take control of your finances and your life
6. Create YOUR portfolio, the new portfolio

Old Portfolio

1. Mutual Funds (stocks and bonds and REITS)
2. Leveraged Real Estate
3. CDs, Money Market, and Savings Accounts
4. Gold and Silver

OR

New Portfolio

1. Entrepreneurship/Intrapreneurship
2. Intellectual Property
3. Whole Life Cash Value
4. Bitcoin

Instead of leveraging money by borrowing, you can leverage your skill sets, become a 3-dimensional investor, and invest in the three Ps rather than mutual funds.

The three Ps are – People, Process and Procedure.

The first P is People – you and your relationships.

Invest in your abilities, skill sets, communication skills, and ways to add value, serve others and solve problems.

The next part of the first P (people) is to build your Relationship Capital and protect it.

To protect it is about who you spend your time with.

Do you have toxic relationships or people who you are trying to please at your expense?

Is there any communication that you keep putting off due to fear of conflict?  Address it.  Reclaim your time and power.

Then take that time and invest in those that bring out the best in you, those that support and inspire you.

Finally, invest in a team so you can bring forth your best value… networks, organizations, masterminds, employees, mentors, implementers, tax attorneys, accountants, due diligence professionals, etc.

The second P is Process.

Who ensures implementation?

Who does the things you aren’t great at?

How can you make sure there is progress without getting bogged down or taking on more than you can handle?

Ultimately, how can you build a canvas that you create value into?  This is the key to the new portfolio.  The portfolio that represents you and who you are.

The final P is Procedure.

Automation, AI, and technology that can support your personal portfolio.  Leverage efficiency and be more supported in all that you do.

My new portfolio consists of my books, videos, and speeches.  It is the real estate that I live in and create value from.  It is the cash value I can tap into to build the portfolio that is representative of who I am and the value I create.  It grows as my skill set grows.  It gets better over time.  It creates energy and excitement because of my actions, rather than relying on salespeople posing as advisors.

I don’t have stocks, or apartment buildings that I don’t live in, or money in the bank (beyond what is required for a month’s worth of bills).  I’ve put my money in creating a comedy special, books, multiple educational courses, and a cabin to host one-on-one immersions.

The old portfolio.

In my past I had two IPOs, a hard money lending fund, money in oil and gas, a 401k with mutual funds, duplex and fourplexes with tenants and a commercial property.  This took a massive amount of time, an inordinate amount of energy, and brought no joy or fulfillment.  This is what I was told by “gurus”, planners, and the talking heads.

Sure, these can be ways to make money, but at the expense of what?

This is a plan that requires sacrifice, that requires discounting our time, and something that is nearly impossible to enjoy life and the process along the way.

Now, some people love to manage and do some of the things I mentioned.

If that is part of your Investor DNA, great.

But for me, and for many people that I work with doing immersions, it is simply not the case.

It has merely become that mantra of the masses because it is what we were programmed to believe.

Manipulated and marketed.

Tolerated.

Combine the three P’s with 3-Dimensional Investing to unlock a portfolio that is aligned.

A portfolio that gives you a sense of control, a feeling of being fulfilled, and where you trust in yourself.

Warning.

There will be mistakes.

It won’t always be easy.

It requires responsibility and a leap of faith, but if financial freedom matters, it may be the only way.

The first dimension begins with a cash flow focus.  Rather than accumulating and taking risks for decades, you work to create economic independence.  Have assets that create enough cash flow that work is a choice.

My intellectual property creates royalties.

Ongoing cash flow for years.

Courses that continue to sell.

Books that were released in 2008 are still paying dividends.

My cabin is something that creates tax advantages, a podcast studio, a place for immersions, and rental income.

A place for creation and cash flow.

It is more active up front, but creates recurring revenue due to the three Ps.

The next part of 3-dimensional investing is equity.

Cash flow first, equity next.  The more cash flow intellectual property can produce without requiring more personnel, the more potential equity there is.

Finally, the last dimension is fulfillment.  Feeling personally connected to the outcome of your income.  To see the difference, the value, and the impact your work your portfolio is making is a dimension that old portfolios just don’t have.  Your stock, not just any stock.  Your value, not just dots on a piece of paper.

What are you great at?

What are you most interested in?

What skills lead to the most value?

What problems is the world facing that you can uniquely solve?

What do you want to invest your time doing?

What have you been saying you would do if you had the money (and maybe you already do, in your retirement)?

What is keeping you from fully investing in yourself and creating the life you don’t want to retire from?

The old portfolio exists when we are exhausted from work we don’t care about, that we aren’t engaged in, or that we feel stuck with.

The old portfolio exists when we stop our education and transfer our stewardship to those that don’t deserve our money or our trust.

The old portfolio might be something we hoped would work for us, but has failed us.

The old portfolio isn’t serving you.

The stories that convinced you this was the way are no longer serving you.

The new portfolio is aligned with who you are.

It begins with the education of economic independence – plugging financial leaks and using those dollars to invest in yourself.

The new portfolio means that value is in your hands, expanded by your actions, and meaningful to you and your life.

The new portfolio takes time, but makes money in a way that matters and brings you energy.  You learn along the way.

You grow along the way.

My portfolio IP, Entrepreneurship, cash value, and a little crypto.  It is books, courses, and speeches.

Anything else is a distraction.

A risk.

An abdication of responsibility and purpose.

I store my money in the guarantees of whole life cash value.

I use it as a peace of mind fund.

I utilize the cash when opportunities to control my destiny with my books, comedy specials, and at times I can bet on myself.

And instead of building up silver and gold, I am stocking up on Bitcoin.

It is decentralized, easier to utilize, and in my opinion a better hedge (albeit more volatile).  As the Federal Reserve adds to their balance sheet (doesn’t even print money), I continue to move towards Bitcoin.

So who are you?

What are you capable of?

And how can you design a life and portfolio that is consistent with your legacy and the life you want to live?