Wealth Formula Podcast

Robert Kiyosaki once wrote a book called Why "A" Students Work for "C" Students and Why "B" Students Work for the Government. I remember talking to him about this years ago and telling him that I thought the explanation was pretty simple. The C students had nothing to lose, so they took all the chances. The A students, on the other hand, had been programmed to respond to success like Pavlovian dogs. Study hard, get good grades, go to a prestigious school, get a great job. Every step along the way came with positive reinforcement. Why would they stray from...

There's something fascinating about real estate cycles. In 2009, Las Vegas was practically synonymous with financial disaster. Home prices had collapsed, foreclosures were everywhere, and plenty of people thought the market might never recover. Phoenix wasn't much better. Florida had entire neighborhoods filled with vacant homes. Investors were running for the exits. Fast forward a decade, and some of those same markets had produced extraordinary returns for investors who bought when nobody else wanted to. The funny thing about markets is that the fundamentals often start improving long before the headlines do. And by the time everyone agrees that a market...

America has a housing shortage. You've heard it in practically every real estate investment pitch. We haven't built enough homes. People need somewhere to live. Therefore, owning apartments should be a pretty good business. So why have apartment owners in some of the fastest-growing markets offered free rent just to get people through the door the last few years? Because a national housing shortage doesn't pay your mortgage. Your property needs tenants willing to pay your rent, in your market, right now. That distinction matters—especially when you're trying to figure out whether today's discounted real estate is an opportunity or...

If you want to know what happened to Dallas real estate, look at interest rates and the wave of new apartment construction. If you want to understand where it could be headed over the next few years, look at the people. Dallas–Fort Worth's population grew by more than 123,000 in just 12 months. Compare that with the roughly 33,000 new apartments completed in 2025. That's about four additional people for every new apartment. And this year, apartment deliveries are projected to fall to roughly half their 2024 peak. Those numbers matter because the conditions that hammered the market are changing. The construction boom created in...

Imagine telling a farmer 200 years ago that someday, people would make a living helping businesses get found on Google. First, you'd have to explain Google, then the internet, then computers. And yet, when we talk about AI, we tend to assume we can already see all the jobs that will ever exist. We look at what people do today, consider what AI might replace, and start subtracting. The concern is reasonable. If a machine can do something you spent 20 years learning, that's a big deal. Telling someone to be excited about the future doesn't pay their mortgage. But there's another...

When you finally start making some real money, you don't necessarily realize what that really means. In a way, you've just started another business. Think about it. The money you've earned and saved now has a job. Its job is to make more money. That makes you the CEO of the business of your own money. Now imagine you started a business with a few million dollars of your hard-earned capital. Would you hand it over to someone else to run, check in two or three times a year, and basically hope they were doing a good job? Of course...

AI may ultimately change the world. It may also be covering up how weak much of the current economy really is. Both things can be true. We keep asking whether "the economy" is strong or headed toward recession—as if every part of it moves together. But what if significant parts of the economy are already contracting while an extraordinary spending boom in one narrow area makes the overall numbers look fine? That is more than an academic question. It changes how you invest. If economic growth is broad, today's resilience means one thing. If it depends heavily on government bo...

That's a question I get a lot from investors, and the answer isn't as simple as the math might suggest. For years, the calculation was pretty easy. When mortgage rates were extremely low, borrowing money was cheap compared with the returns you could reasonably expect from investing that capital elsewhere. Even today, with mortgage rates above 6%, you can still make a mathematical argument for keeping a mortgage and investing your money instead—particularly if you believe your investments will compound at a higher rate over the long term. But let's take the math out of it for a moment. There's al...

Whether or not you currently invest in real estate, you've probably heard people talk about the enormous tax advantages that come with it. You hear about people like Donald Trump paying no taxes. You hear people complain that wealthy real estate investors somehow play by a different set of rules. Well, actually they do. But what exactly are they doing? A huge part of the answer comes down to one seemingly magical word: depreciation. Here's what's strange about depreciation. We all know that real estate tends to appreciate over time. But for tax purposes, the IRS generally treats the building...

Every once in a while, it's useful to zoom way out. Most of the time, we look at the economy as a collection of separate stories. The federal government is running enormous deficits. Stock market valuations are near historic extremes. China has emerged as America's greatest strategic competitor. Defense spending is ramping up. And hundreds of billions of dollars are pouring into artificial intelligence. But what if these aren't really separate stories? What if they are all consequences of a much larger transformation that has been taking place for more than 50 years? For most of modern economic history, there were...

Why is housing so expensive in some American cities—and why does it seem like we can never build enough of it? We tend to blame everything from interest rates and developers to investors and population growth. But a big part of the answer may be much simpler: in many of the places where people most want to live, we've made it extraordinarily difficult to build more housing. My guest on this week's episode of Wealth Formula Podcast is Dr. Jan K. Brueckner, professor of economics at the University of California, Irvine, and an expert in urban economics and real es...

For the last three years, commercial real estate investors have been waiting for a dramatic reset. The expectation was straightforward: higher interest rates, a wall of maturing loans, and distressed sellers would eventually force prices sharply lower, with the correction happening all at once. Instead, the great real estate reset is happening—but it's happening in slow motion. Today, we're seeing selective opportunities where quality multifamily assets can trade at discounts of 30–40% from prices just a few years ago. Naturally, many investors wonder if they should keep waiting for even better deals. But how much better could they actually get? One...

Link to Harry Moser's Resources blog: https://reshorenow.org/blog/reshoring-initiative-resources/ For decades, one of the easiest ways to increase profits was to manufacture products where labor was cheapest. Companies built factories in China, Southeast Asia, and Mexico, while consumers enjoyed lower prices and shareholders benefited from higher margins. It became conventional wisdom that globalization was irreversible. But what if one of the biggest investment trends of the next decade is the exact opposite? Today, the United States is making an unprecedented push to bring manufacturing home. Through the CHIPS and Science Act, the Inflation Reduction Act, and a growing...

Most investors spend nearly all their time thinking about how to make money. They analyze returns, evaluate risk, search for opportunities, and try to identify the next great investment. But there is another side of wealth building that receives far less attention: How much of what you make do you actually get to keep—and continue compounding? Taxes on investment gains can be one of the most destructive forces in wealth creation, not simply because of the check you write today, but because of everything that money could have earned in the future. Consider an investor with a $10 million gain in...

One of the biggest mistakes investors make is assuming that today's conditions will last forever. When the stock market is soaring, they assume it will continue indefinitely. When it's crashing, they assume the pain has only just begun. Real estate investors aren't any different. Today, there are plenty of headlines about falling apartment values, weak rent growth, and rising vacancies. Many investors have concluded that multifamily has lost its appeal. But that conclusion misses a critical point. The very markets experiencing the greatest short-term growing pains are often the same markets with the strongest long-term fundamentals. How can that be...

One of the first lessons you learn as an investor is that the headline is rarely the whole story. The same is often true in history. Take the so-called "October Surprise" of 1980. The theory—which remains debated today—is that members of Ronald Reagan's presidential campaign may have secretly encouraged Iran to delay the release of 52 American hostages until after the election, denying President Jimmy Carter a potential political victory just days before Americans went to the polls. The hostages were, in fact, released on the very day Ronald Reagan was inaugurated. Whether the theory is true or not isn't real...

Most investors spend an enormous amount of time thinking about interest rates, inflation, earnings, and the latest AI breakthroughs. But very few stop to think about the one input that makes all of those things possible in the first place: energy. We tend to assume that energy will always be there when we need it—that supply will simply keep growing as demand increases. History makes it feel inevitable. But it isn't. One of the most fascinating aspects of today's AI revolution is that it isn't just creating demand for more software or faster chips. It is creating an unprecedented de...

One of the biggest frustrations I hear from successful professionals, business owners, and investors is simple: "I feel like I'm paying more and more in taxes, but nobody is showing me legitimate ways to reduce them." The reality is that there are numerous tax strategies available to high earners. The challenge is separating strategies grounded in well-established tax principles from those that rely heavily on subjective interpretations, aggressive valuations, or structures that may attract unwanted IRS scrutiny. Personally, I prefer strategies that are as black-and-white as possible when it comes to the tax code. Over the years on Wealth Formula...

For most high-income professionals, the path to financial success seems straightforward: work hard, earn a great income, save diligently, and invest wisely. The problem is that even the highest-paying jobs have two significant limitations. First, much of what you earn is exposed to taxation. While there are certainly strategies to reduce your tax burden, there is a reason many of the wealthiest people in the world own businesses rather than simply collect paychecks. Business ownership creates opportunities for tax efficiency that are often unavailable to employees. Second, a job—even a very lucrative one—is generally not an asset you can...

For those of us with kids, summer marks another milestone. School is out, graduation season is here, and for many families, college is right around the corner. My oldest daughter will be a senior this fall, which means our family is now officially entering the college application process. Like many parents, I've been looking at tuition numbers and mentally preparing myself for what feels like an inevitable financial hit. And it's a big one. When I started college in the early 1990s, the average annual cost of attending a private university was roughly $10,000-$15,000 per year. Today, many private schools...

Some of the best real estate investments in history were made when the headlines were overwhelmingly negative. When financing dries up, lenders become restrictive, sellers become motivated, and uncertainty keeps many investors on the sidelines, opportunities begin to emerge for those willing to look beyond today's fear. That is precisely where we find ourselves today. Commercial real estate has endured one of the most challenging environments in decades. Rising interest rates, tighter credit conditions, and a wave of new supply have placed significant pressure on many markets. Yet while these challenges have created distress, they have also created something investors...

A couple of weeks ago, I had Barry Habib on the podcast talking about where he believes interest rates and the economy may be headed over the next several years. Barry has been one of the more accurate voices in housing and mortgage finance during a period when many economists and market commentators have repeatedly gotten it wrong. This week, I wanted to continue that discussion with mortgage industry veteran Rob Chrisman because I think there's a bigger lesson here for investors. Right now, the stock market is near all-time highs again, and naturally, people want in. Investors are drawn...

This week's episode of Wealth Formula Podcast is a little different. What you're about to hear is actually a webinar I recently did with Chris Miles on a topic I've discussed on and off over the years called Wealth Formula Banking. Why play this on the podcast? Because I genuinely think more people need to understand the concept. It may or may not ultimately be right for you, but I think it's worth taking the time to understand it so you at least know it exists and can decide for yourself. For years, I ignored it completely because the phrase "...

The stock market is sitting at or near all-time highs again. And what happens? People rush in. It's called FEAR OF MISSING OUT. Now compare that to what's happening in real estate. In many markets—especially multifamily—we've seen 30–40% price corrections from just 3–4 years ago. Our investor club has been buying, but most investors are sitting on the sidelines. Why? Because investments are the only things people don't naturally gravitate toward when they're on sale. When TVs go on sale, people line up. When stocks or real estate go on sale, people get nervous. I've quoted him a million times, but I'll...

I continue to be surprised by how many sophisticated investors still dismiss Bitcoin as purely speculative. At this point, whether you personally like Bitcoin or not is almost beside the point. The more important question is this: What happens to the price of an asset with a permanently fixed supply when institutional adoption accelerates globally? Because that is exactly what is happening right now. Let's start with the simple math. There will only ever be 21 million Bitcoin. Exactly 21 million. And several million are believed to be permanently lost forever. Meanwhile, demand continues to expand at a remarkable pace. According to...

There's a strange paradox when it comes to wealth. The more you have, the more invisible risk you carry. And most people don't see it until it's too late. I've seen this play out in a lot of different ways. A physician builds a multi-million dollar net worth over decades—real estate, brokerage accounts, maybe a business or two. Everything looks solid. Then one lawsuit hits. Or a divorce. Or even just a poorly structured partnership dispute. Suddenly, assets that felt "owned" aren't really protected at all. On the flip side, I've also seen people with less wealth sleep better at...

When it comes to investing, boring is good. In fact, in most cases, boring is exactly what you want. The fewer moving parts an investment has, the fewer ways it can break. You're not relying on perfect timing, you're not depending on some heroic execution, and you're not sitting there hoping everything lines up just right. It just… works. That's why a lot of the stuff I like—cash-flowing real estate, simple structures, things with predictable outcomes—tends to look pretty unexciting on the surface. But over time, that's where wealth is built. But… boring rarely creates outsized wealth. The biggest...

If you want to understand where money is going… don't listen to what people say. Watch what happens when the system is under stress. Right now, in the Strait of Hormuz—arguably the most important energy chokepoint in the world—Iran has effectively taken control of transit and, in some cases, is demanding payment in bitcoin for passage. Why? Because when you're operating under heavy sanctions, the traditional system stops working. Payments can be blocked. Assets can be frozen. Transactions can be tracked and shut down. So you move to something that doesn't rely on permission. In this case, that means...

If you've ever wondered why the U.S. seems to play by a different set of financial rules than the rest of the world… this is it. It all comes down to the U.S. dollar being the world's reserve currency. Now what does that actually mean? After World War II, at the Bretton Woods conference, the global financial system was essentially rebuilt—with the U.S. at the center. The dollar was tied to gold, and other currencies were tied to the dollar. Even after we went off the gold standard in 1971, something interesting happened… The world didn't move on. In...

If you're paying a ton in taxes right now… it's because you're playing the wrong game. Most people think taxes are about income. They're not. They're about behavior—more specifically, incentivizing behavior. The government is constantly telling you what it wants through the tax code, and once you stop looking at it emotionally, it's actually pretty obvious. It wants businesses. It wants jobs. It wants housing. It wants capital deployed in specific areas like energy and infrastructure. And when you do those things, it rewards you with lower taxes. Now contrast that with the high-income W2 professional. You did everything righ...

This week, you're going to start hearing a familiar narrative again… "Inflation is back." And on the surface, it's going to look true. The next CPI print is very likely to come in hotter than expected. We're already seeing it in real-time data like Truflation. Energy prices have surged, and because energy feeds directly into headline CPI, it's going to push that number up—fast. But here's the problem… That's not the whole story. Energy is notoriously volatile, which is why the Fed focuses more on core inflation—stripping out food and energy. But even core isn't immune here. Petroleum touches...

Most people assume a high income leads to wealth. Sometimes it does. But more often, it leads to a very comfortable lifestyle that depends on getting paid dollars for hours. There's nothing wrong with that. For many people, the best path is to keep doing what they do well and invest their income into real estate and other real assets. That alone can create significant wealth over time. But if you look at the people who build outsized wealth, there's usually another element involved—they own something that scales. The key difference isn't how hard they work. It's what they ow...

If you spend enough time listening to economists, you'll notice something interesting. They rarely agree. Over the years on the Wealth Formula Podcast, I've interviewed economists from across the spectrum—Keynesians, Austrians, monetarists, market practitioners, academics. Some are bullish about the next decade. Others are extremely pessimistic. But there's one thing that almost all of them have agreed on in private conversations. The entire economic outlook changes if artificial intelligence dramatically boosts productivity. And that possibility is no longer theoretical. The Latest Jobs Report Was Weak Last week's employment report came in significantly weaker than expected. Instead of adding jobs, th...

I recently had a long conversation with a very successful professional. He's 58 years old. Highly educated. Respected in his field. Financially sophisticated — in fact, his job depends on understanding money. If you looked at his résumé, you would assume he was completely set for life. He wasn't. A couple of bad investments. Some concentration risk. A few decisions that looked reasonable at the time. And suddenly he's essentially back at ground zero — trying to start a new business at 58. This story is far more common than people realize. The Dangerous Assumption is that many successful professionals assume they'll be fine...

There is one truth that has followed every major technological revolution in human history. Energy demand always rises to meet technological capability. When we industrialized, coal consumption exploded. When we built the modern transportation system, oil demand reshaped global geopolitics. When we entered the digital age, electricity quietly became the backbone of the global economy. And now we are entering the AI era. What most people don't appreciate is that AI is not just a software revolution. It is an electricity revolution. Training a single advanced AI model can consume as much electricity as tens of thousands of homes use...

There's a moment most high-income professionals remember clearly. It's when the first real money finally starts coming in. If you're a doctor, it's when you finish residency training. And almost immediately, the world starts whispering in your ear: "It's time to buy a house." Not just any house. The nicest house the bank says you can afford. And that's where people unknowingly sabotage one of the most powerful wealth-building windows of their entire lives…by becoming house poor. You see, the bank is not qualifying you based on what will make you wealthy. They're qualifying you based on what will ma...

At some point in a successful career, taxes quietly become your largest expense. Not housing. Not lifestyle. Not investing losses. Taxes. And unlike most expenses, they grow automatically as your income rises — unless you deliberately structure around them. You know that my favorite means of tax mitigation is through investing in real assets like real estate and operating businesses. That approach has been the backbone of my own strategy for years — taking active income and redirecting it into assets that generate cash flow while providing meaningful tax advantages. I've also recently explained how you can use Wealth Accelerator in conjunction with...

For most of my career, I've been focused on two things: Operating businesses and Multifamily real estate. The strategy has been pretty simple. Take money generated from higher-risk, active businesses… and move it into more stable, long-term assets like apartment buildings. That shift—from risk to stability—is how I've tried to build durability over time. Now, to be fair, the sharp rise in interest rates a few years ago put a dent in that model. But zooming out, it's still worked well for me overall. So I'm sticking with it. That said, there are other ways to think about real e...

This week's episode of Wealth Formula features an interview with Claudia Sahm, and I want to share a quick takeaway before you listen — because she's often misunderstood in the headlines. First, a quick explanation of the Sahm Rule, in plain English. The rule looks at unemployment and asks a very simple question: Has the unemployment rate started rising meaningfully from its recent low? Specifically, if the three-month average unemployment rate rises by 0.5% or more above its lowest level over the past year, the Sahm Rule is triggered. Historically, that has happened early in every U.S. recession since World War II...

One of the biggest risks people face when trying to understand the economy, investing, or personal finance isn't a lack of information. It's the illusion of being informed—while quietly limiting the sources that shape your thinking. We live in a world where information is everywhere. Podcasts, X threads, YouTube clips, newsletters, reels. But abundance doesn't equal diversity. In fact, the algorithms behind social media are designed to do the opposite: they show you more of what you already agree with. Over time, your worldview narrows—not because you chose it to, but because it was curated for you. I noti...