Author: jwithrow

“Your dollar will be worth just as much tomorrow as it is today,” President Nixon proclaimed on television with a straight face. 

“The effect of this action, in other words, will be to stabilize the dollar.”

The date was August 15, 1971. President Nixon just announced that he was closing what was known as the “gold window”. This was the system through which foreign countries could redeem U.S. dollars for physical gold upon demand. 

The gold window was a fixture of the Bretton Woods System of 1944. That was the international agreement which established the U.S. dollar as the world’s reserve currency.

What we’re talking about here is trust. The idea was that if the U.S. started printing too much money, the rest of the world could trade their dollars in for gold.

Makes sense, right? Nobody wants to hold a currency that can be created from nothing at will.

President Nixon got rid of this restraint on money-printing in 1971. The story behind that move is very nuanced. But what followed isn’t…

Continue reading “Beat Inflation With Passive Income From Real Estate”

2022 is the year the rules of money and finance changed.

If we look at a chart of the S&P 500 going back to the early 80s, it’s only gone up over time. 

Sure there were plenty of dips. But for the last forty years we could buy a simple mutual fund or index fund and two years later we would have made money. Fifteen years later we would have made a lot of money.

Meanwhile, if we were to overlay a chart of the 10-year Treasury rate – which is a proxy for interest rates… It’s only gone down over the last four decades.

This dynamic – stocks going up, rates going down – is largely thanks to the Federal Reserve (the Fed). It’s had a hand in both. Through loose monetary policy.

But the game’s over.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell made that abundantly clear last week. The Fed has aggressively raised interest rates this year… and it will continue. There’s no pivot coming.

And that means stocks will have to stand on their own. The Fed will no longer prop up the market. 

We’re in uncharted waters here. Nobody under the age of 60 has lived in a world in which the Fed didn’t push stocks up and rates down.

So to me, the big takeaway is that we have to rethink financial planning 101. And I’m talking about the entire “nest egg” approach to retirement.

By that I mean the idea that we need to pour our savings into financial assets trying to get to this mythical retirement number. 

What’s Your Number? I remember old commercials promoting this model.

The idea is that we build financial assets and we hope our returns get us to a big enough number so we can retire. Then we draw-down our assets to create income for ourselves after we quit working.

So it’s always a choice between assets and income. 

When our assets are going up, we don’t have the income. Then when we want the income, our assets have to come down.

Why put ourselves in this position? Why not get assets and income on the same side of the equation?

We do this by flipping to a model that focuses on monthly cash flow. On creating extra income streams.

That’s how we put assets and income on the same team. 

When our assets go up, so does our income. And when we want more income… we just buy more assets. It’s a far more robust approach.

In fact, with the right vehicle… and the right system in place, anybody can work up to $2,000 or $3,000 a month in extra income in just a few short years. 

From there, getting to $10,000 a month in extra income is just a matter of accelerating the process. It’s completely possible to get there in six years. Ten at the most.

And that’s where our new Rental Real Estate Accelerator program comes in.

Our goal with this program is simple. We want to tear down the barriers to entry around real estate investing.

And we do that by providing a step-by-step system for building passive income with real estate. This is something anybody can plug in to right away.

By the way, when I say passive, I mean it. Our program boils real estate investing down to a system. 

We aren’t pounding the pavement or taking calls. All we have to do is send a few emails occasionally. That’s it.

Best of all, our course is priced such that anybody can afford it. 

We aren’t shilling financial advice for thousands of dollars a year. In fact, we don’t even require a subscription.

Instead, we are offering our core program at a one-time cost of just $42. That’s it. We’re talking about the same price as a decent meal out for two.

And in honor of this brave new financial world we find ourselves in, we’re offering a 30% discount to anybody who checks out our accelerator program this week. 

That means you can tap into a tried-and-true system for less than thirty bucks. Anybody who follows through on what they learn will recoup this and a lot more with their first investment.

For a more detailed explanation of our program, just go right here:

Rental Real Estate Accelerator Program

And to take advantage of your discount this week, just enter coupon code “RREA” at the checkout page.

We’re at an inflection point in history right now. Things aren’t going back to how they used to be.

I don’t think the financial media understands this yet. But in hindsight, the bread crumbs were right there in plain sight. It comes down to an arcane change at the core of our financial system.

This is the first year in which the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR) went live across the board.

I bet very few people out there even know what this is. And of those who do, I doubt many understood SOFR’s significance.

SOFR is a benchmark interest rate for dollar-denominated loans and derivatives.

We don’t need to go down a deep rabbit hole on this. What’s important to understand is that the interest rates for all loans in the U.S. are now influenced by SOFR.

The London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) used to hold that privilege. Before this year those who controlled LIBOR could influence interest rates in the U.S.

And that means the Fed did not previously have full control over U.S. monetary policy.

SOFR changed that.

That’s why the Fed’s been raising rates aggressively this year. Even though everybody has been screaming at them to stop.

And it’s why they will keep going. The Fed is playing the long game here. It’s all about self-preservation.

So the days of the Fed propping up the stock market are over. The Fed Put is dead.

And aggressive monetary policy will force some dramatic changes with how Treasury debt is handled. I think we may even see gold partially remonetized as a means of offsetting higher rates.

As such, we need to completely rethink financial planning 101. The old ways aren’t going to work anymore.

And that’s where Finance for Freedom comes in.

This is the only financial course designed to account for the current climate. Our program accounts for the major macroeconomic changes that are playing out right now.

Friends, we’re living history right now. The question is – do we want to be on the right side of it?

Finance for Freedom will show us how. More information right here:

Finance for Freedom Course Portal

And please note, this is the last day to take advantage of our 30% off coupon. Just enter coupon code “ER” at the checkout page to get your discount.

Everywhere we look, it seems like the world is falling apart.

The stock market is crashing. Consumer prices are ballooning. Interest rates are on the rise.

It certainly feels like a recession is bearing down upon us. And it’s hard to feel secure about our finances in this environment.

Everywhere we turn there’s another reason to worry. Stuffing money under the mattress now seems like a good idea to many.

The good news is there is a solution.

Our revamped Finance for Freedom program can help you weather the storm.

That’s because it’s designed specifically for times like this. I’m not aware of another finance course out there that can make the same claim.

It all starts with understanding the secrets hidden within the current monetary system. And trust me, they run deep.

Then we cover basic personal finance topics. This helps us optimize our current situation.

From there, we dive into the principles of asset allocation. And we talk about specific investments that are critical in the current climate.

Some of these investments will be familiar. But some won’t. We provide an entire section on alternative investments that provide peace of mind in trying times.

Ready to give it a look? Just go right here.

Occasionally I sit back and reflect upon my life’s milestones.

Graduation. Marriage. The birth of my daughter… then my son. These were incredibly formative events.

And I just added another milestone to the list. Getting banned from the hospital’s rehab unit.

I was visiting a family member who just had a stroke last week. Upon entering the facility, the person at the front desk informed me that masks were required. And he asked me to take a mask from a box on the counter.

So I did. And then I made my way to the elevator and up to the seventh floor.

It turns out the floor’s nursing station is right there as you get off the elevator. And the director happened to be on duty.

She was talking with somebody as I made my journey towards the room. But she immediately called out as soon as she saw me. Sir, you need to have a mask.

I smiled and called back. “It’s okay – I do!”. Then I held up the mask I was carrying in my hand.

Sir, you must put the mask on! She snapped back.

I repeated that it was okay as I walked around the corner. I figured that would be the end of it.

Wrong.

She pursued me. And she barked at me to put the mask on every step of the way.

I simply repeated to her that it was okay. Then I walked into the proper room and shut the door.

For the first ten minutes of my visit I was thinking that security may barge in any minute. But they didn’t. Though, I don’t think I’ll be welcomed back.

Now, I’m not at all a disagreeable person. I would happily wear a mask if there were truly a medical reason to do so.

But the research is very clear. Masks do not stop the transmission of aerosolized particles.

Two randomized control trials confirm this definitively.

The first trial was conducted in Denmark with about 6,000 participants. That was two years ago. The second was conducted on Paris Island with nearly 2,000 U.S. Marine Corps. recruits.

The data clearly showed that masks did not inhibit the spread of COVID-19. And our real-world experience confirms this.

If masks worked, we would have seen a dramatic drop in cases after mask mandates rolled out. But we didn’t. Cases continued to rise.

So why was this person aggressively trying to coerce me into wearing a mask? They don’t work. And all Covid-related restrictions have long been dropped.

I think the answer is simple. Some people are just like that. Sometimes life just wants to push us around. We all know what that’s like.

But there is an antidote. It’s financial independence.

When we are in a good place financially, we can retain much more control over our lives and our decisions. To me, this is the true purpose of money.

I care nothing for consumerism. I’m not interested in luxuries. What I value is freedom. And that’s what financial independence enables.

This is the driving ethos behind our newly revamped Finance for Freedom course. It drills into the fundamentals of money, finance, asset allocation, and investments.

The goal is simple. The course is designed to help people get a jump on their path to financial independence.

And we’re running a 30% off special this week. That’s in honor of all those times when life tries to push us around.

Just go right here for more information on Finance for Freedom. You can use coupon code “ER” at the checkout page to take 30% off the normal price.

Then let’s stand tall and tell life we refuse to be bullied around.

I spent a lot of time in the hospital last week.

A family member endured a stroke, and my duty was to be there for him. My job was to offer support and encouragement.

I saw this as a one-sided affair at first. But I quickly realized this experience had a critical lesson to teach me. That’s what I want to share with you today.

Strokes strip people of everything they take for granted.

Speech. Eye-hand coordination. Basic motor skills. Autonomy… Strokes reveal just how precious these things are. We can lose them at any time without notice.

Strokes also strip away all those layers of social conditioning that gradually build up on us over time.

We all are conditioned to think and act in certain ways, depending on the situation and the people we are around. That’s our social conditioning. It’s about conforming to preset expectations.

Well, that all fades away when you’re lying in a hospital bed unable to speak or move.

At least that’s my observation. What’s left is purely the human spirit that exists underneath it all. It’s beautiful to behold.

To me, this is a stark reminder of what’s truly important in this life.

Family. Friends. Shared experiences. Integrity of character. I believe these are the things that matter in the end.

But there’s one problem here…

To maximize our time with family and friends – and our ability to create shared experiences – we need a certain degree of financial stability.

That is to say, we need to have some control over our time and our decisions. The more control we have, the better.

And that’s what our newly revamped Finance for Freedom course is all about.

This is the financial education that every high school and college student should have received.

It starts with the secrets of money, and then works up to basic personal finance.

Then we dive into the principles of asset allocation. And we talk about very specific investments.

Lastly, we go over exactly how to develop what I call a “cash flow wealth strategy”.

This is all about building passive income streams. If we can work up to having enough passive income to cover all our needs and our wants, we can be free to pursue those things that truly matter in life. At our leisure and on our terms.

And in honor of what I just learned in the hospital, we’re offering the course at a steep discount this week. Anyone who purchases Finance for Freedom before Saturday at midnight will get 30% off.

That equates to a one-time cost of just $21. These days that’s less than a good meal out for two.

You can check out our course offering right here: https://membership.phoenicianleague.com/courses/finance-for-freedom

Just use coupon code “ER” on the checkout page to get your 30% discount.

My sincere hope is that we can spread the principles of financial independence far and wide so that we all can focus on what truly matters in this life.

I spent all day in the emergency room (ER) last Saturday. 

Not for myself. A family member endured a stroke, and I wanted to be there for moral support.

As anyone who has been through such an experience knows, there are lots of lessons hidden in this type of thing. I’m still working through some of them.

Today I want to share with you what jumped out at me very quickly in the ER. It isn’t pretty. But I think there’s a valuable insight we can take away from this.

To set the stage, there aren’t actual rooms in the ER. Patients have their own spaces separated by shower curtains. 

So you hear everything going on around you. And when you’re there for over six hours, you pick up on quite a bit. Here’s what jumped out at me…

There’s a big underbelly out there.

By that, I mean there’s a part of our society that is just scraping along – day by day. I suspect they don’t have vision. Or aspirations. They probably lack hope.

I don’t say this to be judgmental. It’s just a hunch based on my observations.

Whenever a new patient enters the ER, a healthcare worker asks them as series of questions. One of those questions is, “do you use recreational drugs?”. And if the answer is yes, they ask for specifics.

I overheard four or five of these conversations last Saturday. All but one of them answered “yes” to this question. And heroin was the hard drug of choice.

What’s more, the healthcare workers seemed to expect this. At least, as best as I could tell.

And I couldn’t help but wonder – how does one get to that point? The point at which you are in and out of the ER because excessive drug use is destroying your health…

Of course, this is a very nuanced problem. But I think at least part of it is economic in nature.

The government school systems are silent around the subjects of money and finance. 

Public school students spend twelve years trapped in the classroom… yet, they learn absolutely nothing about the one subject that’s critical to building a self-sufficient life. A life in which we are in control of our time, our decisions, and our destiny.

That’s why we created our newly updated Finance for Freedom course. It’s the financial education that every high school and college student should have received.

And I mean that. 

We have put together a program that will help anybody master their finances in thirty days, regardless of their current situation. 

It all starts with learning the secrets of money. We work up to basic personal finance. Then we take a deep dive into asset allocation, specific investments, and the principles of building monthly cash flow.

And in honor of all those people who make up the underbelly of our society, we’re going to offer the course for just $21 this week. That’s 30% off the normal price.

Just go right here if you would like to check out our offering: https://membership.phoenicianleague.com/courses/finance-for-freedom

Please use coupon code “ER” at the checkout page to get the 30% discount.

I firmly believe that many of our problems today are rooted in economics. Let’s help spread financial literacy far and wide.

This post is part of a series:

Part I Part II Part III Part IV Part V Part VI Part VII Part VIII Part IX

When we left off yesterday, we were talking about how to find properties that match our investment criteria. And we discussed the need to plug into an established investment network.

Here’s why…

The network’s job is to bring vetted properties to us. Vetted being the key word. 

That means we have all the pictures and financial projections for each property. This includes market rents, estimated principal and interest payments based on current interest rates, estimated taxes and insurance, as well as property management fees.

These numbers demonstrate very quickly whether a property is likely to match our criteria or not. Then we need to do our own due diligence to verify the numbers. That’s the only way we can know for sure.

In addition, we’ll have a single point of contact in the network. That person can answer any questions we may have about any property available.

To paint you a picture of what this looks like, our network down in Dallas operates via email and phone calls.

When we get allocation to a new construction development, our contact emails us all the information on the properties that will be available. Then we do our individual due diligence and determine if we would like to reserve one or more of the properties under construction.

It may be simple. But this approach works just fine when you work with professionals you can trust.

I also invest through a larger network. It has a presence in more than a handful of major cities.

This network maintains an online investment portal for investment properties. We can simply hop online any time to see what properties are available. And we have all the financials and the pictures right there to go through.

So what we’re talking about here is really deal flow. We want the deals coming to us.

But it doesn’t stop there.

These investment networks also connect us to every professional we need to execute our wealth strategy. This is the “Who Not How” principle.

It starts with vetted lenders in a given market – both conventional and asset-based. When we decide to move on a property, our network will line us up with the best lender for our circumstances.

Our networks also connect us to insurance agents who focus on rental properties. My larger network even maintains a master insurance policy with our insurance provider of choice. This gives us access to materially cheaper insurance coverage.

Then there are property managers. This is the big one.

Remember, we’re not taking phone calls or handling maintenance requests for our properties. In fact, most of the time we shouldn’t even be buying properties in our own area. Not unless they match our criteria.

Instead, we hire professional property management companies to do everything for us. 

They screen and place our tenants. They collect our rent. They take all phone calls and handle all repair requests. 

In short, our property managers take care of our properties and make sure that they operate optimally as an investment.

In exchange, we pay them a small percentage of gross rents. It’s 6-8% in most markets.

So plugging into existing real estate networks takes all the guess work and the grunt work out of it. It provides deal flow. And it connects us to the professionals who can make everything happen.

This makes building monthly cash flow as simple as sending a few emails. No kidding. We can go from start to finish with each property without ever leaving our home. Then the monthly rent starts showing up in our bank account at the first of every month.

And we always have a point of contact within the network who can help us with anything. That makes the income we’re building about as passive as it can be.

This is how we systematize our wealth strategy. And it’s how we can juggle so many moving pieces without too much headache.

Leveraging existing networks like this puts us on the fast track to $10,000 a month or more in passive income. But we’re not quite done.

We also need to implement a tax strategy that will work hand-in-hand with our wealth strategy. Remember, debt and taxes is the name of the game.

For this, we’ll need to find a CPA who specializes in real estate. And again, the best way to do this is to get references from an existing real estate network. Easy as that.

So the only question that remains then is this: how do we go about plugging into existing networks?

And the answer is The Phoenician League.

Our new membership provides both the core training and the connections we need to go from zero to $10,000 a month in passive income. 

We can provide personal introductions to CPAs, LLC strategists, and asset protection attorneys. And we can get members plugged into existing real estate networks to make building cash flow simple. Who, not how.

For more information, please see our membership portal right here: https://membership.phoenicianleague.com

This post is part of a series:

Part I Part II Part III Part IV Part V Part VI Part VII Part VIII Part IX

Yesterday we talked about our why. 

Today we are going to talk about the how. How do we become financially independent as quickly as possible?

It all starts with having a wealth strategy and specific investment criteria in place.

Think about horse racing for a minute here. I’m not big on the sport, but my old man was. I only know enough to know that when people race horses, they put blinders on them. 

The blinders restrict the horses’ vision so they can only see what’s in front of them. What’s in their lane.

You know why they do that? 

Because if the horse has full range of vision, it might start paying attention to what the horse in the next lane is doing. And if it does that, it runs the risk of drifting. It might even wipe out, taking a bunch of other horses down with it.

Our wealth strategy and our investment criteria do the exact same thing. They keep us focused on our own plan. 

My wealth strategy is simple. I use rental real estate to build monthly cash flow. And I set specific cash flow goals each year. Those goals keep me focused on the plan.

That said, I’m not running around looking at every possible rental property I can find. Instead, I only consider properties that fit my investment criteria. 

Each year I’m focused on specific markets. At first it was Dallas. Then I moved into Birmingham. Then Kansas City… and so on. 

My point is this: Our investment criteria keeps us focused. That’s its purpose.

And it goes a step further. 

I only consider specific properties in my target markets. In Dallas and Kansas City, I was only interested in new construction homes. In Birmingham, I focused on smaller homes that had just been rehabbed and renovated.

And there’s one more element to our investment criteria. How much do we want to make?

I require a minimum cash on cash return for any investment I consider. This also keeps me focused. If a property doesn’t meet my minimum return criteria, I don’t consider it. 

It doesn’t matter how pretty it is. Or how great the neighborhood might be. I stick to my criteria no matter what.

This is how we take the entire universe of real estate investments out there and narrow it down into a streamlined analysis process.

Of course, this begs the question – where do we find these properties? 

Do we spend hours on Zillow? Are we calling realtors all the time?

Nope. 

To systematize everything, we need to plug into an investment network. We’ll wrap up our series on that note tomorrow.

Until then, time is running out to check out our launch workshop for The Phoenician League.

You can find it right here: https://phoenicianleague.com/join

This post is part of a series:

Part I Part II Part III Part IV Part V Part VI Part VII Part VIII Part IX

When we left off yesterday, we closed the loop on how debt and taxes are the key to financial freedom. 

It’s all about monthly cash flow and creating a “snowball” effect. That is, we need our income to far outrun our expenses.

At the same time, this approach requires us to handle quite a few moving pieces. That’s not difficult to do. But it requires a little extra time and thought. Nothing happens without effort.

So today, let’s talk about why any of this is worth doing. Why should we strive for financial independence?

Well, the answer is easy if we are stuck working a job we hate. 

I’ve been in that position. I started out in the corporate banking arena. It was soul-crushing. I just wanted out. I thought about that every day.

I am sure most people have been in that position at some point. But if we need the paycheck to pay the bills, what options do we have?

Well, not many.

But if we can start generating income from other sources, our options increase rapidly. We need the paycheck less and less as our monthly cash flow goes up.

And with the right system in place, it doesn’t take very long to build substantial cash flow. Not if our focus is on a tried and true asset like rental real estate.

Think about it this way…

Yesterday I mentioned that our real estate network is currently bringing us properties that each produce up to $900 a month in cash flow. If we work up to five properties, that’s $4,500 a month in extra income. 

And look at what happens if we work up to twelve of these properties… That’s over $10,000 a month. Buy two a year and we’re there in six years.

That’s how simple it is to hit our $10,000 a month target.

And for those who implement a complimentary tax strategy, everything goes exponential at a certain point. The tax benefits we accrue make it easier and easier to acquire new properties. 

That’s the power of debt and taxes.

And with $10,000 a month coming in from real estate, how many of us need to work a job anymore? 

As long as we live within our means, that should be more than enough to cover all our expenses and then some.

But again, what’s the point? Why walk this path?

I don’t presume to speak for anyone else here. But for me it’s all about pursuing a higher purpose.

The late Gary North used to talk about the difference between a job and a calling. 

A job puts food on the table and pays the bills. A calling is that one productive thing each of us can do better than nearly everyone else on the planet.

I’m paraphrasing a little bit here, but that’s the gist of it.

The thing is, for most of us, our calling needs to be self-funded. At least partially. 

And that’s what financial independence enables. If we can build $10,000 a month or more in passive income, we can spend our time doing exactly what we want to do, with whom we want to do it. Every day.

To me, this is about becoming a good steward of civilization. 

Speaking from an American perspective, we have been conditioned to be the ultimate consumers. We are encouraged to make as much money as we can so we can buy stuff and go on trips.

And I’m not knocking that… not entirely. 

This has led to an explosion of products and services that have made our lives incredibly convenient. And it’s generated a mountain of wealth for plenty of companies and their investors.

But my sincere belief is that we are here to be much more than consumers. We each have the ability to bless the world in ways that no one else can… if only we have time to focus on our calling.

That’s what this is all about.

From my perspective, we’ve been stuck on a treadmill. And my observations suggest that most of us don’t like being on the treadmill.

So I think it’s time we got off. 

And that’s what our new membership, The Phoenician League, is all about. 

The Phoenician League provides a road map to financial independence. To $10,000 a month in extra income.

It all starts with our Seven-Part Success Path to Financial Independence. This is our core training program. It’s designed to help people go from wherever they happen to be financially right now, to securing their finances, building an asset base, and generating $10,000 or more in passive income.

And here’s the best part – it’s just a process. We’re going to walk you through it step by step.

We are also building a vibrant community within The Phoenician League. 

We have the back-end infrastructure in place so that we can communicate with each other in real time. This enables members to ask any question they may have on our core training program and get a specific answer right away.

In addition, members can share ideas and strategies with one another. And we can discuss what we are seeing on the ground and in the markets in real time. 

This creates a powerful network effect. And it gives us greater insight than we would have if we were going it alone.

We also provide members with monthly and weekly updates around money, finance, investments, and macroeconomic conditions. This helps keep everybody informed and in the loop.

And finally, we help members with investment deal flow and personal access to professionals and specialists. This includes CPAs, asset protection attorneys, and all the real estate professionals we need to make $10,000 a month in passive income a reality.

For more information on The Phoenician League, including how to join as a founding member, check out our video workshop right here: https://phoenicianleague.com/join