jwithrow, Author at The Phoenician League

Crafting Financial Freedom

We talked quite a bit last week about the secret world of mortgage notes as an alternative investment class for financial freedom.

The power of mortgage note investing can be unlocked if we commit to building a portfolio of mortgages – just like an institutional investor would. This is how we can craft true financial freedom.

When we left off last week, we profiled a mortgage note listing that will generate $605 a month in extra income for whoever invests in it.

Starting there, let’s assume that we commit to buying a new mortgage note each year with similar characteristics to build out a portfolio. Obviously the numbers will be a little different for each note, but let’s assume that we can get another $605 in monthly cash flow for each note that we acquire. We’ll call this our financial freedom plan.

Here are the numbers if we simply add one mortgage to our portfolio each year:

Again, the numbers won’t be quite this clean in practice. But investing in a new mortgage note like the one we profiled each year can create thousands of dollars in extra monthly income for us in just a few years’ time.

And this projection may be overly conservative… because it assumes that we aren’t reinvesting our profits. So what if we took this extra income and committed to adding a second note to our portfolio each year?

Mailbox Money from North Carolina

Here’s a mortgage note listing that hit the market recently.

At first glance, this looks like a charming home in a nice neighborhood in Plymouth, NC. It’s a small town on the banks of the Albemarle Sound in eastern North Carolina – about an hour and twenty minutes away from the Outer Banks.

The mortgage balance is $57,000 and there are 173 payments remaining. That’s over 14 years. The interest rate is 9.5%, and the monthly P&I payment is $605 a month. That would become our cash flow if we made this investment.

The seller listed this note for $45,000. That’s the ask price… but it is negotiable.

The seller’s estimate suggests that this home is worth $125,000, which is more than twice the mortgage balance. That’s good. But we would do our own due diligence to verify the home’s value – because it would become our collateral if we were to invest in this mortgage.

What’s great about this asset class is that we have all the numbers up front. That makes it easy to analyze from an investment perspective.

Given the monthly payment of $605 and the remaining term of 173 months, we can quickly calculate that we will receive $104,665 in payments over the life of this note. That’s mailbox money coming to us from North Carolina.

Mortgage Notes – Breaking Down the Barriers

I mentioned yesterday that you don’t need any specialized knowledge to invest in mortgage notes. And that’s because we utilize professional loan servicing companies to manage the mortgages that we invest in.

These companies are akin to property management firms for real estate investors. They send out monthly statements, collect the mortgage payment, and provide ongoing customer service for homeowners.

That makes investing in mortgage notes completely passive – investors don’t need to do anything other than communicate with the loan servicer periodically. The homeowner has no idea that we exist.

I suspect many of us have received a letter in the mail at some point notifying us that our mortgage had been transferred.

That letter provided us with information on how we should make our mortgage payment going forward, and it gave us a website and phone number we could call for customer service.

The letter was likely an indication that a new investor had bought our mortgage. Except it didn’t provide us with many details on that matter… it simply gave us the information we needed to manage our mortgage going forward.

So, investors don’t need any specialized knowledge to invest in mortgage notes. We simply let the professionals do the work for us.

The Secret World of Mortgage Note Investing

As I’m sure we know well, when a homeowner takes out a mortgage to buy a property, the lender issues a promissory note that outlines all the terms of the loan.

That note is an asset. It gives the lender the right to receive the monthly mortgage payments that the homeowner makes, and it spells out the lender’s security interest in the underlying home as collateral should the homeowner default on their obligations.

However, lending institutions today only keep a small fraction of the mortgages they originate on their own balance sheet. That’s because holding mortgages reduces the capital they have available to make new loans, which is their core business.

For this reason, lenders sell most of the mortgages they create shortly after origination. And who do they sell these mortgages to?

Well, 80% of the time they package a group of mortgages together into mortgage-backed securities through a process called securitization. But the other 20% of the time, they sell each individual mortgage to investors.

Most often those investors are insurance companies, pension funds, and hedge funds. They tend to buy large blocks of mortgages in one sitting. But here’s the thing – there are no accreditation requirements. And that means individual investors can also buy mortgages at will. Anyone can engage in mortgage note investing.

Of course, most investors don’t realize that this is an option. And the prospect of buying a mortgage seems daunting. It sounds like it requires a lot of work and specialized knowledge. Not to mention the cost – doesn’t it require deep pockets to buy somebody’s mortgage?

From Bank Runs to Cash Flow – A Flashback to the 1980s

It was Friday afternoon and the financial markets had just closed for the day… but the mood was tense in the boardroom of Gateway Savings & Loan.

President I. Owen Funderburg knew he needed to steel his resolve, but he couldn’t help pacing nervously. He needed to find an answer to an unexpected problem.

The year was 1980, and the Federal Reserve (the Fed) had just raised interest rates again – sending shockwaves through the small thrift’s once-steady world.

Gateway’s ledger was bleeding red, and the phone lines buzzed with worried depositors demanding to withdraw their money. The threat of a bank run was imminent.

Funderburg understood the problem very well.

Gateway Savings & Loan had built a large portfolio of fixed-rate mortgages throughout the 1970s – when interest rates were more reasonable.

But with Mr. Volcker at the Fed hellbent on whipping inflation by raising interest rates dramatically, the bank’s short-term deposit costs now exceeded its loan yields… making its mortgage portfolio a millstone around Funderburg’s neck.

Bulletproof Money Session Three Summary

This session concludes the three-day financial workshop, shifting from building a secure financial foundation to creating financial independence with passive income and advanced tax strategies. It offers detailed, actionable steps, practical examples, and clear distinctions between real estate and mortgage note investing—all designed to accelerate your journey to consistent, tax-advantaged income.

1. Transition: From Security to Independence

Recap: Previous sessions established your cash warehouse (liquid reserves), gold and Bitcoin (reserve assets), and a permanent portfolio.
The next phase is generating passive income that can fully or partially cover your living expenses, freeing you from the need to sell investments or rely on the “retirement” model.
Key Principle: Don’t wait for a future retirement date—create multiple income streams now that let you “retire” at any age (or simply enjoy greater freedom).

Bulletproof Money Session Two Summary

This session dives into the actionable tactics for building genuine financial security, modeled on the robust strategies of the world’s best long-term business—property & casualty insurance. The hands-on workshop covers what assets to prioritize, how to structure your asset allocation, and step-by-step ideas for immediately enhancing your household’s financial security and independence.

1. Foundation: Lessons from the World’s Best Business

The Model:
The oldest, most resilient business—property & casualty insurance companies—have survived centuries and countless crises. Their “secret”?
- They receive money up front (premiums), forecast their liabilities, and then strategically invest the float again and again in a diversified, long-term portfolio.
- These investments compound their wealth and income, allowing them to grow stronger during both good times and bad.
Takeaway:
Households can mimic the insurance business for lifelong security: Cover fixed commitments, invest the “float” first, and harness compounding.

2. Strategic Wealth Diagram—The Bulletproof Structure

Diagram Walkthrough:
- Income/Nest Egg flows into a series of “buckets”:
  - Cash Warehouse
    Keep reserves for emergencies/opportunities. Consider money market accounts (for liquidity) or, preferably, max-funded whole life insurance (“IBC” policies) for tax-efficient, liquid compounding.
  - Gold Reserve & Bitcoin Holdings
    These form the “reserve assets”—your personal hedge against inflation and economic shocks. Both are savings, not speculations, and function as the foundation for preserving purchasing power.
  - Permanent Portfolio/Equities
    A small (typically 8–20%) allocation to high-quality, dividend-producing stocks, selected for long-term themes—not quick trades.
  - Investment Real Estate & Mortgage Notes
    Vehicles for future passive income (to be discussed in depth in Day 3).
  - Alternative Investments
    Optional: things like Timberland, collectibles, new asset classes. Add for extra diversity, not as your core foundation.
- Monetary Flow:
  - Consistently direct new surplus cash into these “buckets” in order of priority, just like an insurer invests surplus before discretionary spending.
  - As invested assets spin off returns and income, re-cycle those for further compounding.

Bulletproof Money Session One Summary

This session is the introduction to the “Bulletproof Money Three Day Challenge” with Joe Withrow, focused on building true financial security and rethinking conventional retirement planning in the new economic era post-2022. The session blends personal experience, economic history, and practical challenges, laying the foundation for actionable strategies in the subsequent days.

1. Setting the Stage

Personal Connection:
Joe broadcasts from his off-grid, solar-powered office in Virginia, emphasizing authenticity and transparency.
Event Structure:
Three interactive workshop sessions: ~45-60 minutes teaching, followed by live Q&A (no scripting).
Emphasis is on actionable advice, not sales pitches.

2. The Big Economic Shift (2022)

Historical Turning Points:
Key monetary events: 1971 (Nixon shock/gold standard removal), 1980s-2022 (falling interest rates), 2008 (zero interest rate policy, Bernanke era), LIBOR scandals, and—most crucially—the full rollout of SOFR (Secured Overnight Financing Rate) in 2022.
2022 as a Breaking Point:
- SOFR replaced LIBOR, ending an era of easy central bank manipulation of long-term interest rates.
- Long-term rates are now market-driven, influenced by inflation, government fiscal health, and global trust.

The Skim Economy is Shattering

Let’s take a moment to pull back the curtain on “Retirement Inc.” — the Wall Street-created ecosystem that now controls most Americans’ life savings.

For decades, financial professionals have told people to trust their future to 401ks, IRAs, and various kinds of funds. First it was closed-end mutual funds… then open-end mutual funds… then index funds… then target-date funds… then exchange-traded funds (ETFs)… and then leveraged ETFs.

The industry just continued to put out a deluge of new financially engineered products for decades – each one sold as the “next big thing”. But what always went unsaid is that this system was designed to keep Americans stuck in the rat race for 30 or 40 years, paying hefty fees to Retirement Inc. the entire time.

What we’re talking about here isthe skim economy.

Think about the average American’s 401k. Every month workers automatically contribute more money to their 401k, and most employers then match that contribution up to a certain amount.

But before those dollars have a chance to grow, a slice is carved out to provide fees for the fund provider, the plan administrator, the custodian, and in the case of actively managed funds, the fund manager.

These fees can range from 0.5% up to 2% or more. Over a 30+ year career, that skim quietly siphons off hundreds of thousands—even millions—of dollars from the nest egg.

And this happens regardless of how the funds perform because fees don’t stop in down markets. Retirement Inc. gets paid no matter what.

Worse, many conventional financial advisors are compensated based on what products they sell, not how well their recommendations perform. That’s why so many portfolios are stuffed with high-fee offerings, annuities, and packaged products – instead of customized strategies tailored to create financial freedom.

Then to put a bow on top of the multi-generational skim economy, retirees are forced to sell off a portion of their financial assets held in qualified retirement accounts each year to satisfy minimum withdrawal requirements.

This triggers taxable events, which siphons hard-earned money away and shrinks the asset portfolio each year. Is it any wonder why most retirees are afraid of outliving their money?

A few figures to consider:

Old Money Secrets: Six Timeless Principles for Financial Freedom

The self-help industry has been preaching “financial freedom” for roughly thirty years now. In that time, I’ve read countless books geared towards this wonderful idea.

Think and Grow Rich… The Richest Man in Babylon… Rich Dad, Poor Dad… the 4-Hour Work Week… and my personal favorite, The Instant Millionaire.

You’re probably familiar with these titles as well. And I bet you have your favorites.

But I have to ask – with all this material on financial freedom, why do so few ever seem to get there? After all, these books each make it sound so simple.

And to be sure, it is simple. The name of the game is simply to build extra income streams such that your passive income exceeds your expenses.

It’s an easy concept. So why do so many fall short?

What the Old Money Knows That Most Don’t

Ever noticed how, no matter what tumult hits the headlines—recessions, market crashes, rampant inflation—there are certain people, certain families who never seem to be impacted much?

The mainstream culture chocks it up to them “having money”… but that’s not at all the case.

The “old money” – those schooled in the principles of wealth preservation within the current system – they know better than to “have money”. Because money is constantly under attack by inflation.

Instead, they have assets… and those assets provide them with access to money should they need it. That’s the big secret hidden in plain sight.

And more than just having assets, the old money relies on: