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(Transcribed by TurboScribe.ai. Go Unlimited to remove this message.) Welcome to the Business Credit and Financing Show.

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Each week, we talk about the growth strategies

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that matter most to entrepreneurs.

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Listen in as we discuss the secrets to

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getting credit and money to start and grow

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your business, and enjoy as we talk with

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seasoned business owners, coaches, and industry leaders on

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a variety of topics from advertising and marketing

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to the nuts and bolts of running a

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highly successful business.

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And now, to introduce the host of our

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show, financial expert and award-winning author, Ty

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Crandall.

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Hello, and thanks for joining us today.

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I'm super excited you could be here because

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today we're talking about the most important thing

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in your life and in your business, which

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is about building wealth.

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And we're talking about building wealth while building

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your business.

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And here are your insights today from one

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of really the foremost experts on this topic,

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Carter Cofield.

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Now, Carter Cofield is actually a co-founder

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of Melanin Money, a platform dedicated to empowering

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aspiring first-generation Melanin millionaires.

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Now, Carter is a certified public accountant and

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personal financial specialist, and is the lead advisor

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at Cofield Advisors, LLC.

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He's passionate about empowering entrepreneurs to thrive by

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strategically navigating their taxes.

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Now, his dedication to financial literacy led him

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to co-create Melanin Money, the number one

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brand for wealth builders of color, with a

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mission to close the racial wealth gap by

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10%.

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Now, Melanin Money was born out of the

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need to bridge the wealth gap for people

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of color with a focus on providing trusted

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education, resources, and a supportive community.

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The platform equips individuals with the tools to

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start building wealth and securing financial freedom.

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So through a combination of financial education, branded

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initiatives, and merchandise, Melanin Money is creating a

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movement to help individuals of color build generational

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wealth and leave a legacy for future generations.

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Carter, what's up, man?

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Thanks for joining us today.

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So happy to be here, Todd.

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Thank you for that amazing introduction and hopefully

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able to provide your audience a value today.

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Yeah, I think it's pretty cool.

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So your mission is to take this $100

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billion wealth gap and close it.

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So give me some more insight on that.

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What is this wealth gap and what are

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you guys doing to solve that problem?

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Yeah, so I wish it was my idea,

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but my business partner, George, actually came to

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me with this idea because there was an

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article.

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So we were friends for a while and

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he had this company, Melanin Money, and the

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mission wasn't that big then, but he read

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this article that said black wealth is slated

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to go to zero by year 2053.

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And when he read that article, that really

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struck a chord in him because he was

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like, not on my watch.

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I have all the information, I have all

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the knowledge.

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We both have a platform.

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We can actually change this.

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So he brought to me the idea of

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helping 100,000 people of color build their

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first $1 million and that works to effectively

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decrease the wealth gap by $100 billion.

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And that to me was a mission I

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could really get behind.

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So I actually stopped everything else I was

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doing.

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He stopped everything else he was doing.

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We came together, put all of our attention,

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brought our teams together to our company now,

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Melanin Money, which is a financial services firm

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that helps aspiring entrepreneurs reach that goal because

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I believe that you cannot be what you

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cannot see.

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So our job is to show people what

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building wealth looks like and help them understand

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that they can achieve it, especially people that

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have been underserved or undereducated because I mean,

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we all can agree that financial literacy should

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have been taught in schools.

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And if it was taught in schools, we'll

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all be doing a little bit better financially,

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but because it wasn't, even though it's not

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our fault, it is our responsibility to do

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something about it.

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And that's why we are so strong behind

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the mission.

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I love it.

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And it seems like you're really focused on

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helping your clients, your students get to their

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first seven figures of net worth.

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Is that right?

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Yes, yes, because there are a lot of

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people out there helping people earn their first

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$1 million, which is great, right?

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Don't get me wrong.

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But Kai, as you can attest that earning

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a million dollars doesn't mean you have a

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million dollars, right?

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Especially in your business, you earn a million

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dollars, you pay your team, you pay your

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staff, you pay for marketing.

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Depending on how busy you have, you might

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have a couple hundred thousand dollars left over.

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And that doesn't even mean you have invested

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that money.

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So helping people make their first million is

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one thing, but helping people have a million

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dollars in net worth is another thing because

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that net worth is the true indication of

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financial freedom.

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And that's what we're trying to help people

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gain here.

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So what are you doing to help them

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get to that first million dollars in net

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worth?

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I should never ask.

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So I believe that it all starts with

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taxes, because if you make 100,000 or

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half a million or a million, you're giving

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30 to 40, sometimes 50% of that

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money away.

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And taxes, whether people understand it or not,

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is everyone's number one expense.

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So if we can help you eliminate or

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at least minimize that number one expense, you

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will have so much money left over to

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start investing.

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So the first thing that we do when

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a client's hired us is we say, how

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do we completely eliminate or how do we

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minimize your tax bill with various tax saving

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strategies, right?

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And then once we help you legally shelter

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that money from the IRS, now you have

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more money to invest.

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And then that's where my partner George comes

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in and implements investing strategies so that people

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can build wealth faster by having more money

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to invest.

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I love it.

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And your specialty is definitely on the tax

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side or one of your specialties.

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So that being said, what are some of

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these strategies that you recommend to be able

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to help people keep more of what they

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make instead of giving it to the IRS?

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Absolutely.

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So I look at tax strategy in three

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buckets or three levels, right?

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Level one of tax strategy is tax deduction

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strategies, right?

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How do we turn our personal expenses, expenses

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that we're already paying for and how do

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we make them tax deductible business expenses?

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So this is, for instance, like you pay

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for your cell phone, right?

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But once you have a business and you're

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using your cell phone in your business, you

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get to write off a portion of your

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cell phone and your cell phone bill, right?

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And if you work from home, like 65

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% of small business owners do today, you

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get to write off a portion of your

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rent or mortgage via the home office deduction

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or taking advantage of a strategy called the

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Augusta Rule.

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So at the base level is, Ty, how

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do you turn expenses that you're already paying

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for into tax deductible business expenses so you

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don't have to pay all your bills but

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the IRS can step in and help pay

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some of these bills for you, right?

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That's level one of tax strategy.

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Level two of tax strategy is what we

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call income shifting strategies, right?

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This is how do I move money off

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of my tax return and put it somewhere

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else at a lower tax rate?

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So for instance, paying your children from your

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business is what allows you to move the

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money from your 30% tax bracket to

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their 0% tax bracket.

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So we can income shift through paying your

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children.

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We can income shift through strategies like setting

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up a management company.

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We can take advantage of things called private

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family foundations.

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How do we get money off of our

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tax return and put it somewhere with a

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lower tax rate?

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That's level two.

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Level three, which I consider to be the

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highest level of tax strategy is how do

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we invest and still save on taxes simultaneously,

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right?

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And one of the main ways to do

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this is to invest in things like real

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estate where you can make money in cashflow

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but you actually lose money on your tax

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return via depreciation.

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And you can also take advantage of something

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called accelerated depreciation where not only will the

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depreciation offset the income in the real estate

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portfolio but it can also offset income in

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your active businesses.

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So when I sit clients down, these are

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the three buckets that we get to play

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in to maximize their tax return.

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So the very first thing you're really doing

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then is taking normal things that people are

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paying and then using them as tax connections.

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Can you give some other examples of that?

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I mean, I think you said cell phone

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is one example.

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Yeah, I'll probably give the examples that can

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move the needle the most, right?

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So at least one of my favorites.

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So one of my favorite is travel, right?

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So a lot of people take personal trips

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and I love to travel more than anybody

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but none of my trips are personal because

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I understand that the IRS clearly states that

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you could turn any personal trip to a

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tax deductible business trip by finding business activity

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in that location, right?

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So three ways to find business activity in

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any location that you're traveling to.

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Number one, do you have any clients there?

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If you have any clients there, take them

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to lunch.

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That lunch counts as business activity.

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If you don't have any clients there, okay,

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do you have any business partners there, right

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Ty?

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So if I were to come to Tampa,

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I would say, yeah, like you wanna go

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to dinner?

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Let's talk mastermind, let's talk podcast strategies.

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We will sit down and go to dinner.

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I will cover the bill, keep the bill

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for receipt.

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That gives that day business activity.

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Now, if you're traveling somewhere where you don't

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know anybody, use a website called eventbrite.com

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or meetup.com where you can go to

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a networking event, buy a ticket, shake hands,

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kiss babies, network, exchange cards, keep your receipt.

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That counts as business activity.

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If you do that for the days that

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you're traveling, then that personal trip, whether you

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go sip margaritas at night, that makes that

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personal trip a tax deductible business trip.

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And we've been able to implement this to

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help clients be able to take advantage of

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$15,000, $20,000, $30,000 worth of

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business travel that would have been personal travel,

273
00:09:35,740 --> 00:09:36,940
but now we were able to write it

274
00:09:36,940 --> 00:09:37,740
off with a new business.

275
00:09:38,040 --> 00:09:38,580
I love that.

276
00:09:38,820 --> 00:09:40,880
And the other part that you mentioned was

277
00:09:40,880 --> 00:09:42,520
income shifting strategy.

278
00:09:42,820 --> 00:09:44,200
So what do you mean by that?

279
00:09:44,280 --> 00:09:45,640
I mean, what are you doing to shift

280
00:09:45,640 --> 00:09:48,700
income where it actually helps your clients and

281
00:09:48,700 --> 00:09:50,340
your students pay less in taxes?

282
00:09:51,100 --> 00:09:51,720
Oh, I love this.

283
00:09:52,200 --> 00:09:53,200
So Ty, you have any children?

284
00:09:53,980 --> 00:09:55,020
I have two children, yeah.

285
00:09:55,180 --> 00:09:55,800
Okay, great.

286
00:09:55,800 --> 00:09:59,160
So when our clients come to us, we

287
00:09:59,160 --> 00:10:01,400
say, hey, all right, great, you have a

288
00:10:01,400 --> 00:10:01,740
business.

289
00:10:02,040 --> 00:10:04,060
Does your child do work in your business?

290
00:10:04,240 --> 00:10:06,240
And every business owner with a child, you

291
00:10:06,240 --> 00:10:07,440
make your child do some type of work

292
00:10:07,440 --> 00:10:08,920
whether it's shredding the paper, cleaning the office,

293
00:10:08,980 --> 00:10:09,880
they do some type of work in your

294
00:10:09,880 --> 00:10:10,200
business.

295
00:10:10,540 --> 00:10:12,060
And every time I ask business owners do

296
00:10:12,060 --> 00:10:14,100
they pay their children, they say no.

297
00:10:14,260 --> 00:10:14,940
I'm like, why not?

298
00:10:15,040 --> 00:10:16,980
They're like, their payment is the roof over

299
00:10:16,980 --> 00:10:17,320
their head.

300
00:10:17,380 --> 00:10:17,700
What do you mean?

301
00:10:17,760 --> 00:10:18,400
I'm not paying them anything.

302
00:10:18,760 --> 00:10:21,120
And I'm like, I get that, but the

303
00:10:21,120 --> 00:10:24,400
IRS states that you can pay your children

304
00:10:24,400 --> 00:10:27,540
from your business and get a tax deduction

305
00:10:27,540 --> 00:10:29,720
for the money that you pay them as

306
00:10:29,720 --> 00:10:31,660
if you were paying any other employee, right?

307
00:10:32,020 --> 00:10:35,100
The difference though, is if you pay your

308
00:10:35,100 --> 00:10:38,460
child $15,000 or less, which is the

309
00:10:38,460 --> 00:10:41,360
standard deduction for 2025, they don't have to

310
00:10:41,360 --> 00:10:43,340
pay any taxes on that money if they're

311
00:10:43,340 --> 00:10:44,420
under the age of 17.

312
00:10:45,020 --> 00:10:48,600
So if you pay each child $15,000

313
00:10:48,600 --> 00:10:49,720
from your business and say you have two

314
00:10:49,720 --> 00:10:51,460
children, that's $30,000.

315
00:10:51,460 --> 00:10:54,340
And you, the business owner, with a $30

316
00:10:54,340 --> 00:10:56,560
,000 tax deduction, taking that money off of

317
00:10:56,560 --> 00:10:58,900
your tax return and your kids would have

318
00:10:58,900 --> 00:11:01,400
to report that $30,000 on their taxes.

319
00:11:01,500 --> 00:11:03,820
But the thing about that is, the standard

320
00:11:03,820 --> 00:11:06,320
deduction wipes out that income.

321
00:11:06,540 --> 00:11:08,780
So that income is not taxable at all.

322
00:11:09,100 --> 00:11:11,440
So we just took $30,000 from your

323
00:11:11,440 --> 00:11:13,280
30% tax bracket, which is a $9

324
00:11:13,280 --> 00:11:14,420
,000 tax bill.

325
00:11:14,760 --> 00:11:16,760
And we moved it to your children's tax

326
00:11:16,760 --> 00:11:18,880
return, which is a $0 tax bill.

327
00:11:18,880 --> 00:11:21,560
So we just saved $9,000 in taxes

328
00:11:21,560 --> 00:11:23,340
by shifting income off of your tax return

329
00:11:23,340 --> 00:11:24,260
to theirs.

330
00:11:24,600 --> 00:11:26,760
And you're gonna spend the $15,000 on

331
00:11:26,760 --> 00:11:30,180
your kids anyway, between tuition, clothes, games.

332
00:11:30,500 --> 00:11:33,440
So why not spend money that hasn't been

333
00:11:33,440 --> 00:11:34,100
taxed yet?

334
00:11:34,540 --> 00:11:34,920
Does that make sense?

335
00:11:35,320 --> 00:11:36,660
That makes a ton of sense.

336
00:11:37,220 --> 00:11:39,340
And then you're saving, you're doing these things,

337
00:11:39,440 --> 00:11:40,580
you're saving them a ton of money.

338
00:11:40,840 --> 00:11:43,100
And then I think George leads the way,

339
00:11:43,200 --> 00:11:45,960
your partner George leads the way on helping

340
00:11:45,960 --> 00:11:46,720
them invest.

341
00:11:47,240 --> 00:11:48,760
So how are some of the ways that

342
00:11:48,760 --> 00:11:49,300
you're doing that?

343
00:11:49,400 --> 00:11:51,640
I mean, how are they investing the money

344
00:11:51,640 --> 00:11:54,260
the right way and then using it with

345
00:11:54,260 --> 00:11:56,960
the strategy of saving and taxes at the

346
00:11:56,960 --> 00:11:57,380
same time?

347
00:11:58,200 --> 00:12:00,580
Yeah, so a few strategies, right?

348
00:12:00,700 --> 00:12:02,080
And so one of the strategies we take

349
00:12:02,080 --> 00:12:05,600
advantage of is by, as a small business

350
00:12:05,600 --> 00:12:07,820
owner, you can set up your own retirement

351
00:12:07,820 --> 00:12:08,160
accounts.

352
00:12:08,220 --> 00:12:09,360
Most people don't know this.

353
00:12:09,520 --> 00:12:10,980
Actually, I think I saw a study that

354
00:12:10,980 --> 00:12:13,140
said like 70% of business of W2

355
00:12:13,140 --> 00:12:15,660
employees stay at their W2 job to keep

356
00:12:15,660 --> 00:12:17,560
the benefits, not knowing they can just get

357
00:12:17,560 --> 00:12:17,940
their own.

358
00:12:18,200 --> 00:12:20,720
So with our small business owner clients, we

359
00:12:20,720 --> 00:12:22,380
have them set up the proper retirement account

360
00:12:22,380 --> 00:12:25,360
that will allow them to maximize their retirement

361
00:12:25,360 --> 00:12:25,880
contribution.

362
00:12:26,140 --> 00:12:27,740
So a solo 401k is one of my

363
00:12:27,740 --> 00:12:29,500
favorite retirement plans.

364
00:12:30,060 --> 00:12:32,120
And in 2025, you're able to invest over

365
00:12:32,120 --> 00:12:36,240
$70,000 per year into this account, right?

366
00:12:36,300 --> 00:12:37,960
So now we're able to set up, most

367
00:12:37,960 --> 00:12:40,560
people only investing $7,000, $20,000 into

368
00:12:40,560 --> 00:12:41,240
their retirement account.

369
00:12:41,520 --> 00:12:43,160
Our clients are putting $70,000 a year

370
00:12:43,160 --> 00:12:44,060
away, right?

371
00:12:44,060 --> 00:12:46,680
And what George steps in is, we have

372
00:12:46,680 --> 00:12:50,760
a firm belief with our clients that it's

373
00:12:50,760 --> 00:12:52,920
okay to be a copycat if you copy

374
00:12:52,920 --> 00:12:53,960
the right cat, right?

375
00:12:54,200 --> 00:12:59,700
So most people invest their money in index

376
00:12:59,700 --> 00:13:03,000
funds or ETFs, which is great because these

377
00:13:03,000 --> 00:13:06,560
companies like Vanguard spend billions of dollars on

378
00:13:06,560 --> 00:13:08,520
analysts to pick the best stocks to put

379
00:13:08,520 --> 00:13:10,740
in these index funds or ETFs.

380
00:13:10,860 --> 00:13:12,700
What we do with our clients is we

381
00:13:12,700 --> 00:13:14,820
say, hey, we look at these ETFs and

382
00:13:14,820 --> 00:13:16,320
say, all right, we're gonna invest a portion

383
00:13:16,320 --> 00:13:18,220
of our money there, but let's look inside

384
00:13:18,220 --> 00:13:22,160
and see what stocks are the heaviest weighted

385
00:13:22,160 --> 00:13:24,120
in these ETFs, right?

386
00:13:24,140 --> 00:13:26,740
Because these companies spend billions of dollars picking

387
00:13:26,740 --> 00:13:28,660
the top companies in these ETFs.

388
00:13:28,920 --> 00:13:31,640
And if we increase our exposure to those

389
00:13:31,640 --> 00:13:35,520
best companies slightly by 10%, 20%, 30%, we

390
00:13:35,520 --> 00:13:38,340
are actually able to get the stabilization of

391
00:13:38,340 --> 00:13:40,040
having an index fund where you own literally

392
00:13:40,040 --> 00:13:42,080
every stock in the United States, but having

393
00:13:42,080 --> 00:13:44,380
a little bit more exposure to the best

394
00:13:44,380 --> 00:13:45,620
companies in that portfolio.

395
00:13:46,380 --> 00:13:48,040
And when we do this, we see that

396
00:13:48,040 --> 00:13:50,800
our clients are able to consistently beat the

397
00:13:50,800 --> 00:13:53,020
returns of some of these index funds because

398
00:13:53,020 --> 00:13:55,840
we're weighted properly in the best companies, right?

399
00:13:55,860 --> 00:13:57,500
So we still get the stock exposure of

400
00:13:57,500 --> 00:13:59,160
the companies we want, but still with the

401
00:13:59,160 --> 00:14:02,360
diversified basket for exposure to the wide market.

402
00:14:02,960 --> 00:14:05,740
And by maximizing our retirement accounts and increasing

403
00:14:05,740 --> 00:14:09,360
your investment earnings, you see a huge, huge

404
00:14:09,360 --> 00:14:11,700
shift in how much money your money is

405
00:14:11,700 --> 00:14:12,720
able to make for you.

406
00:14:13,280 --> 00:14:15,820
Yeah, it's very Warren Buffett-ish, if that

407
00:14:15,820 --> 00:14:16,260
was a word.

408
00:14:16,400 --> 00:14:17,360
Maybe we just made it up.

409
00:14:18,820 --> 00:14:20,360
Like, if you look at his investment strategy,

410
00:14:20,440 --> 00:14:21,000
it's kind of crazy.

411
00:14:21,160 --> 00:14:23,560
Like he doesn't, I mean, he invested very,

412
00:14:23,640 --> 00:14:26,080
very small amount of companies throughout his entire

413
00:14:26,080 --> 00:14:26,520
career.

414
00:14:26,640 --> 00:14:29,000
He just focuses on the moneymakers, but then

415
00:14:29,000 --> 00:14:31,240
still diversifies a smart way, just super smart

416
00:14:31,240 --> 00:14:31,760
strategy.

417
00:14:32,100 --> 00:14:33,160
It's not our strategy.

418
00:14:33,300 --> 00:14:34,740
We just, we look at the goat and

419
00:14:34,740 --> 00:14:36,060
like, all right, this is what Warren Buffett

420
00:14:36,060 --> 00:14:36,780
does, right?

421
00:14:37,040 --> 00:14:37,720
Copy that.

422
00:14:38,980 --> 00:14:39,420
Yeah.

423
00:14:39,740 --> 00:14:40,800
Well, it's cool that you teach that because

424
00:14:40,800 --> 00:14:42,720
I think people can hear about that concept,

425
00:14:42,800 --> 00:14:45,160
but not know how to actually execute.

426
00:14:45,320 --> 00:14:47,340
You're the first guest in a long, we've

427
00:14:47,340 --> 00:14:49,280
had 900 and something plus guests that's ever

428
00:14:49,280 --> 00:14:50,540
even really talked about that.

429
00:14:50,640 --> 00:14:52,160
So I just think it's a brilliant strategy

430
00:14:52,160 --> 00:14:54,560
to help people set themselves up the right

431
00:14:54,560 --> 00:14:55,180
way financially.

432
00:14:55,680 --> 00:14:58,400
Yeah, we just love to give our clients

433
00:14:58,400 --> 00:15:02,220
new ways to look at money and investing.

434
00:15:02,660 --> 00:15:06,740
And another strategy that we leverage for our

435
00:15:06,740 --> 00:15:09,560
clients, I think is super interesting because a

436
00:15:09,560 --> 00:15:10,520
lot of people don't understand that.

437
00:15:10,640 --> 00:15:12,940
I didn't fully understand this until my partner

438
00:15:12,940 --> 00:15:14,020
George explained it to me.

439
00:15:14,140 --> 00:15:17,380
When you're investing your money in a non

440
00:15:17,380 --> 00:15:18,300
-retirement account, right?

441
00:15:18,320 --> 00:15:21,620
Let's call it a traditional brokerage account, right?

442
00:15:22,160 --> 00:15:28,540
You are able to borrow against the value

443
00:15:28,540 --> 00:15:30,020
of your portfolio.

444
00:15:30,020 --> 00:15:31,920
So let me, I just want to let

445
00:15:31,920 --> 00:15:34,020
your audience know the difference between borrowing from

446
00:15:34,020 --> 00:15:36,780
your portfolio and borrowing against your portfolio.

447
00:15:37,100 --> 00:15:38,840
So let's say you have $100,000 in

448
00:15:38,840 --> 00:15:39,260
your portfolio.

449
00:15:39,540 --> 00:15:41,460
And now a quick break to hear from

450
00:15:41,460 --> 00:15:42,140
our sponsor.

451
00:15:43,160 --> 00:15:44,780
Hey, it's Ty Crandall with Credit Suite.

452
00:15:44,940 --> 00:15:46,380
Many of our subscribers want to get the

453
00:15:46,380 --> 00:15:48,160
most money to grow their business at the

454
00:15:48,160 --> 00:15:49,100
best terms.

455
00:15:49,200 --> 00:15:51,400
Whether you're looking for startup capital, low interest

456
00:15:51,400 --> 00:15:54,080
credit lines and loans, or business credit, we

457
00:15:54,080 --> 00:15:55,060
can definitely help you.

458
00:15:55,100 --> 00:15:57,000
So give us a call at 877-600

459
00:15:57,000 --> 00:16:00,640
-2487 or schedule your free consultation at creditsuite

460
00:16:00,640 --> 00:16:03,020
.com forward slash consult to see how much

461
00:16:03,020 --> 00:16:04,720
money you can get approved for today.

462
00:16:05,140 --> 00:16:05,760
Right?

463
00:16:06,480 --> 00:16:09,680
If you borrow from your portfolio, you borrow

464
00:16:09,680 --> 00:16:13,340
$50,000, your portfolio has 50,000 left

465
00:16:13,340 --> 00:16:14,820
and you borrow 50,000.

466
00:16:14,960 --> 00:16:17,280
So you've taken away $50,000 from your

467
00:16:17,280 --> 00:16:17,760
portfolio.

468
00:16:18,040 --> 00:16:21,700
But if you borrow against your portfolio, you

469
00:16:21,700 --> 00:16:23,680
take that $50,000 loan against your portfolio,

470
00:16:24,040 --> 00:16:26,920
but you still have $100,000 invested because

471
00:16:26,920 --> 00:16:29,780
you borrow from, I'm sorry, you borrow against,

472
00:16:29,980 --> 00:16:30,460
not from.

473
00:16:30,760 --> 00:16:34,100
So this whole concept of borrowing against allows

474
00:16:34,100 --> 00:16:37,380
your full amount of money to stay invested

475
00:16:37,960 --> 00:16:41,460
while you still able to leverage your own

476
00:16:41,460 --> 00:16:43,640
portfolio to get more cash, which you can

477
00:16:43,640 --> 00:16:47,080
then use that cash for another investment.

478
00:16:47,400 --> 00:16:48,640
So I'll give you all an example of

479
00:16:48,640 --> 00:16:50,720
something that I did that was able to

480
00:16:50,720 --> 00:16:51,840
help me make more money and save more

481
00:16:51,840 --> 00:16:52,180
taxes.

482
00:16:52,280 --> 00:16:54,000
So let's say I had a portfolio, you

483
00:16:54,000 --> 00:16:54,800
know, $100,000.

484
00:16:54,800 --> 00:16:57,520
If I borrow $30,000 from that portfolio,

485
00:16:57,820 --> 00:17:00,260
I still have $100,000 invested, but that

486
00:17:00,260 --> 00:17:02,040
money is going at 10, 20, 30%.

487
00:17:02,580 --> 00:17:03,700
That money is still gonna grow.

488
00:17:03,859 --> 00:17:05,560
But now I can take this $30,000

489
00:17:06,180 --> 00:17:08,359
and use it as a down payment for

490
00:17:08,359 --> 00:17:09,300
a real estate property.

491
00:17:10,380 --> 00:17:12,079
And then now I use that as a

492
00:17:12,079 --> 00:17:13,200
down payment for a real estate property.

493
00:17:13,280 --> 00:17:14,760
That real estate property is cash flowing.

494
00:17:15,079 --> 00:17:17,760
I can use the cash flow from that

495
00:17:17,760 --> 00:17:20,260
real estate property to pay back the loan

496
00:17:20,260 --> 00:17:22,319
that I took against my portfolio to make

497
00:17:22,319 --> 00:17:23,760
sure I'm making my payments on time.

498
00:17:23,760 --> 00:17:26,920
But now I've basically borrowed against an asset,

499
00:17:27,160 --> 00:17:29,380
which again, loans are not taxable.

500
00:17:29,480 --> 00:17:32,440
So that $30,000 loan I borrowed from

501
00:17:32,440 --> 00:17:34,720
my portfolio, I didn't get taxed on that.

502
00:17:35,120 --> 00:17:36,720
And now I'm buying a real estate property

503
00:17:37,280 --> 00:17:39,200
and the cash flow from the real estate

504
00:17:39,200 --> 00:17:41,480
property is paying off the loan, not to

505
00:17:41,480 --> 00:17:44,100
mention I'm not paying taxes on the cash

506
00:17:44,100 --> 00:17:46,080
flow from the real estate property because of

507
00:17:46,080 --> 00:17:48,500
this thing called depreciation.

508
00:17:48,620 --> 00:17:49,920
The IRS is gonna let me depreciate the

509
00:17:49,920 --> 00:17:52,000
property against the income the property makes.

510
00:17:52,000 --> 00:17:54,540
So I'm able to like use my money

511
00:17:54,540 --> 00:17:57,660
two or three times without having to take

512
00:17:57,660 --> 00:17:59,120
it away from my investment portfolio.

513
00:17:59,280 --> 00:17:59,800
Does that make sense?

514
00:17:59,920 --> 00:18:00,580
I know that was a longer.

515
00:18:01,000 --> 00:18:01,820
It's brilliant.

516
00:18:02,040 --> 00:18:04,080
I mean, like you're turning me on in

517
00:18:04,080 --> 00:18:05,260
a non-sexual way.

518
00:18:07,220 --> 00:18:10,760
Because I oftentimes teach us like securities financing

519
00:18:10,760 --> 00:18:11,980
is insane.

520
00:18:12,080 --> 00:18:13,200
Like it's double dipping.

521
00:18:13,400 --> 00:18:15,320
I don't even understand how it makes sense

522
00:18:15,320 --> 00:18:17,380
that you can have money invested in the

523
00:18:17,380 --> 00:18:20,320
stock market and have the exact same money

524
00:18:20,320 --> 00:18:23,960
pulled out and used for another investment purpose.

525
00:18:24,280 --> 00:18:26,120
Then you are talking about taking it to

526
00:18:26,120 --> 00:18:29,020
a whole other level with investing in real

527
00:18:29,020 --> 00:18:30,600
estate, which I've never heard it explained that

528
00:18:30,600 --> 00:18:33,460
way, of investing in real estate and then

529
00:18:33,460 --> 00:18:36,120
basically using your returns there to pay the

530
00:18:36,120 --> 00:18:36,920
payments on it.

531
00:18:37,040 --> 00:18:38,700
And then you're bringing in depreciation.

532
00:18:38,860 --> 00:18:40,520
Like I said, it was one thing that

533
00:18:40,520 --> 00:18:41,180
you're double dipping.

534
00:18:41,280 --> 00:18:43,480
Now you're like quadruple dipping.

535
00:18:43,640 --> 00:18:44,600
I mean, it's brilliant.

536
00:18:45,620 --> 00:18:46,520
Thank you, thank you.

537
00:18:46,600 --> 00:18:47,380
So this is what we do with our

538
00:18:47,380 --> 00:18:50,640
clients and like full transparency, my head was

539
00:18:50,640 --> 00:18:51,140
blown off.

540
00:18:51,200 --> 00:18:52,780
When George told me you can do this,

541
00:18:53,120 --> 00:18:55,440
I did a literal lap around the restaurant

542
00:18:55,440 --> 00:18:56,460
because I had to come back and say,

543
00:18:56,520 --> 00:18:58,240
wait, wait, wait, you mean to tell me?

544
00:18:58,560 --> 00:18:59,560
And he told me and then I said,

545
00:18:59,680 --> 00:19:01,880
well, you do realize that we could add

546
00:19:01,880 --> 00:19:02,640
tax strategy.

547
00:19:03,000 --> 00:19:04,160
And that's when we started shaking our hands

548
00:19:04,160 --> 00:19:05,320
and said, we can buy a real estate

549
00:19:05,320 --> 00:19:07,460
property and try not to get beside myself,

550
00:19:07,520 --> 00:19:08,240
I'm a tax nerd.

551
00:19:08,640 --> 00:19:11,440
But it can get deeper because depending on

552
00:19:11,440 --> 00:19:13,040
what type of real estate property we buy,

553
00:19:13,480 --> 00:19:15,800
if we take advantage of a cost segregation

554
00:19:15,800 --> 00:19:17,580
study on that real estate property, which is

555
00:19:17,580 --> 00:19:19,660
just a fancy word, a fancy word for

556
00:19:19,660 --> 00:19:22,040
accelerating the depreciation, right?

557
00:19:22,660 --> 00:19:25,120
With a good cost seg study, we can

558
00:19:25,120 --> 00:19:27,560
write off 30% of the value of

559
00:19:27,560 --> 00:19:31,500
the property against our business income, right?

560
00:19:31,960 --> 00:19:35,280
So now if I buy a half a

561
00:19:35,280 --> 00:19:39,380
million dollar building and I do a cost

562
00:19:39,380 --> 00:19:42,000
seg study, which I just did, that's $150

563
00:19:42,000 --> 00:19:43,140
,000 deduction.

564
00:19:43,680 --> 00:19:46,160
And I could take that $150,000 deduction

565
00:19:46,940 --> 00:19:49,120
against the income that I made in my

566
00:19:49,120 --> 00:19:49,500
business.

567
00:19:50,120 --> 00:19:50,900
That's crazy.

568
00:19:51,440 --> 00:19:52,260
It's insane.

569
00:19:52,760 --> 00:19:54,120
I've never even heard of something like that.

570
00:19:54,540 --> 00:19:57,620
Yeah, so like, now I'm borrowing my portfolio,

571
00:19:57,940 --> 00:19:59,440
buying real estate, using the money for the

572
00:19:59,440 --> 00:20:01,500
real estate, pay out the portfolio, using the

573
00:20:01,500 --> 00:20:03,580
depreciation from the real estate to offset my

574
00:20:03,580 --> 00:20:04,240
business income.

575
00:20:04,620 --> 00:20:05,700
Now I'm not paying any taxes in my

576
00:20:05,700 --> 00:20:07,200
business and now I have more money to

577
00:20:07,200 --> 00:20:08,060
reinvest in my portfolio.

578
00:20:08,420 --> 00:20:10,420
And then it just becomes a cycle of

579
00:20:10,420 --> 00:20:10,980
wealth building.

580
00:20:11,400 --> 00:20:13,180
It's, and if you listen, if you're watching

581
00:20:13,180 --> 00:20:14,720
this, I honestly don't know if you know

582
00:20:14,720 --> 00:20:16,560
how brilliant it is what he's saying.

583
00:20:16,680 --> 00:20:18,440
I mean, like it is the wisest use

584
00:20:18,440 --> 00:20:19,920
of money I've ever heard on the show.

585
00:20:20,400 --> 00:20:22,560
And melaninmoney.com is where you should go

586
00:20:22,560 --> 00:20:24,420
to learn more because again, this is one

587
00:20:24,420 --> 00:20:24,900
strategy.

588
00:20:25,200 --> 00:20:28,180
Just those of you watching, melaninmoney.com, this

589
00:20:28,180 --> 00:20:30,220
is literally, this is one strategy.

590
00:20:30,700 --> 00:20:33,260
And it really, it might sound complicated because

591
00:20:33,260 --> 00:20:35,600
it is, that's why nobody's doing it, right?

592
00:20:35,620 --> 00:20:37,480
And that's why you have experts like this

593
00:20:37,480 --> 00:20:38,680
that are saying, if you do this and

594
00:20:38,680 --> 00:20:39,820
move it here and do this and do

595
00:20:39,820 --> 00:20:42,640
this, then you're literally like, there's four or

596
00:20:42,640 --> 00:20:45,000
five times the benefits of what you're doing.

597
00:20:45,000 --> 00:20:47,740
It's really, that's such a smart strategy.

598
00:20:47,940 --> 00:20:49,780
And now I can understand why you're so

599
00:20:49,780 --> 00:20:52,600
successful within helping people get to that million

600
00:20:52,600 --> 00:20:53,500
dollars in that work.

601
00:20:53,820 --> 00:20:55,760
Yeah, the more you learn, the more you

602
00:20:55,760 --> 00:20:56,780
earn, right?

603
00:20:56,860 --> 00:20:59,880
And I'm a very, very firm believer in

604
00:20:59,880 --> 00:21:00,600
that concept.

605
00:21:01,020 --> 00:21:02,640
And here's the thing, like for anybody listening,

606
00:21:02,720 --> 00:21:04,320
if I know, you know, me and Ty

607
00:21:04,320 --> 00:21:06,060
just did some back and forth and some

608
00:21:06,060 --> 00:21:07,320
of y'all like, y'all please come

609
00:21:07,320 --> 00:21:08,620
back to earth because y'all talking over

610
00:21:08,620 --> 00:21:08,980
our head.

611
00:21:09,460 --> 00:21:12,840
This is not something you're expected to know,

612
00:21:13,500 --> 00:21:13,820
right?

613
00:21:13,820 --> 00:21:16,000
Like, and I'll be fully transparent.

614
00:21:16,720 --> 00:21:19,460
I have an undergraduate degree, a master's degree

615
00:21:19,460 --> 00:21:20,840
in accounting, I have a CPA.

616
00:21:21,040 --> 00:21:22,440
Like I tell people all the time, I

617
00:21:22,440 --> 00:21:24,300
have more degrees than a thermometer, okay?

618
00:21:25,660 --> 00:21:28,100
But when I left work and I started

619
00:21:28,100 --> 00:21:29,600
my first job in the workplace, I didn't

620
00:21:29,600 --> 00:21:30,860
know what an IRA was.

621
00:21:31,620 --> 00:21:32,920
I didn't even know what a, I didn't

622
00:21:32,920 --> 00:21:34,880
know how a 401k worked, right?

623
00:21:35,040 --> 00:21:38,100
And so I think there's this imposter syndrome,

624
00:21:38,260 --> 00:21:39,920
which I know, cause I went through it,

625
00:21:40,240 --> 00:21:42,760
of we're just expected to know this stuff

626
00:21:42,760 --> 00:21:45,300
and then we're scared to ask questions because

627
00:21:45,300 --> 00:21:47,540
we don't want to look stupid and we

628
00:21:47,540 --> 00:21:48,560
don't want to look ignorant.

629
00:21:49,140 --> 00:21:51,980
And I believe the only ignorant question is

630
00:21:51,980 --> 00:21:52,860
an unasked question.

631
00:21:53,340 --> 00:21:56,040
And so I would rather look ignorant than

632
00:21:56,040 --> 00:21:56,820
actually be ignorant.

633
00:21:56,940 --> 00:21:58,940
So I think that anybody who like doesn't

634
00:21:58,940 --> 00:22:00,280
know this, I want to give them the

635
00:22:00,280 --> 00:22:02,720
grace that it's not your fault you don't

636
00:22:02,720 --> 00:22:04,980
know it, but that's why you surround yourself

637
00:22:04,980 --> 00:22:05,840
with experts like you.

638
00:22:06,780 --> 00:22:08,040
Yeah, I love it.

639
00:22:08,260 --> 00:22:09,600
It makes me think something.

640
00:22:09,600 --> 00:22:11,620
Why did you guys choose the company named

641
00:22:11,620 --> 00:22:12,200
Melanin Money?

642
00:22:13,220 --> 00:22:16,000
Yeah, so Melanin is actually a skin tone,

643
00:22:16,180 --> 00:22:16,460
right?

644
00:22:16,640 --> 00:22:17,600
That's what I thought.

645
00:22:17,740 --> 00:22:19,520
It just actually just occurred to me if

646
00:22:19,520 --> 00:22:20,400
that's where that came from.

647
00:22:20,540 --> 00:22:21,500
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

648
00:22:21,720 --> 00:22:23,200
And people ask us all the time, like

649
00:22:23,200 --> 00:22:24,660
why we picked that name?

650
00:22:24,760 --> 00:22:26,920
We just believe in super serving people of

651
00:22:26,920 --> 00:22:27,140
color.

652
00:22:27,260 --> 00:22:29,000
Now, do we have clients in all other

653
00:22:29,000 --> 00:22:29,240
races?

654
00:22:29,400 --> 00:22:32,080
Yes, but like, I know that people of

655
00:22:32,080 --> 00:22:34,920
color are behind the eight ball when it

656
00:22:34,920 --> 00:22:37,200
comes to financial literacy, are behind the eight

657
00:22:37,200 --> 00:22:39,900
ball when it comes to understanding how money

658
00:22:39,900 --> 00:22:40,180
works.

659
00:22:40,320 --> 00:22:41,700
So we want to super serve people of

660
00:22:41,700 --> 00:22:43,640
color, but we have clients in every race,

661
00:22:44,160 --> 00:22:45,180
physical shape or form.

662
00:22:45,440 --> 00:22:46,880
But the name is ringy, isn't it?

663
00:22:47,480 --> 00:22:49,500
Yeah, I just realized I was sitting here.

664
00:22:49,580 --> 00:22:50,700
I was like, man, I think that's what

665
00:22:50,700 --> 00:22:51,160
it stands for.

666
00:22:51,620 --> 00:22:53,860
But what's interesting is why is this wealth

667
00:22:53,860 --> 00:22:56,520
gap that exists like in the business loan

668
00:22:56,520 --> 00:23:00,520
space and credit space I'm in, overwhelmingly, there's

669
00:23:00,520 --> 00:23:05,140
this massive disparity of people of color and

670
00:23:05,140 --> 00:23:06,440
not being able to get money.

671
00:23:06,440 --> 00:23:08,180
I mean, it is significant.

672
00:23:08,480 --> 00:23:10,740
Then you add like women on top of

673
00:23:10,740 --> 00:23:13,520
that, like women of color, like it's astonishing

674
00:23:13,520 --> 00:23:16,220
how much of an uphill battle they face

675
00:23:16,220 --> 00:23:18,240
to be able to get business capital over

676
00:23:18,240 --> 00:23:18,800
anybody else.

677
00:23:18,920 --> 00:23:20,480
The statistics are just disgusting.

678
00:23:20,640 --> 00:23:21,460
It's just disgusting.

679
00:23:21,960 --> 00:23:24,340
So why does this wealth gap, what creates

680
00:23:24,340 --> 00:23:25,500
this wealth gap, do you think?

681
00:23:25,840 --> 00:23:28,620
I will try to summarize my thoughts in

682
00:23:28,620 --> 00:23:29,460
the best way I can.

683
00:23:29,820 --> 00:23:33,740
I believe that there obviously were a lot

684
00:23:33,740 --> 00:23:35,300
of things that were out of our control

685
00:23:35,300 --> 00:23:39,100
that put us behind the race of wealth.

686
00:23:40,440 --> 00:23:44,200
But from a person that has, by the

687
00:23:44,200 --> 00:23:45,920
grace of God, been able to overcome that,

688
00:23:46,920 --> 00:23:49,640
I believe that one, it starts with knowledge

689
00:23:49,640 --> 00:23:51,960
and two, it starts with thinking that it's

690
00:23:51,960 --> 00:23:52,280
possible.

691
00:23:52,360 --> 00:23:53,320
I think it actually starts with thinking that

692
00:23:53,320 --> 00:23:53,700
it's possible.

693
00:23:53,860 --> 00:23:54,660
So as a kid that grew up on

694
00:23:54,660 --> 00:23:56,400
the South side of Chicago, nine of us

695
00:23:56,400 --> 00:23:59,280
in a two, three bedroom home, I could

696
00:23:59,280 --> 00:24:01,600
not believe that wealth was possible.

697
00:24:01,600 --> 00:24:03,800
And if you can't believe that wealth is

698
00:24:03,800 --> 00:24:06,440
possible, you won't be able to achieve wealth.

699
00:24:06,880 --> 00:24:08,980
So I think that, as I mentioned earlier,

700
00:24:09,120 --> 00:24:11,100
it is really hard to be what you

701
00:24:11,100 --> 00:24:11,740
cannot see.

702
00:24:12,220 --> 00:24:15,000
So I think exposure is the greatest gift

703
00:24:15,560 --> 00:24:18,660
that we can give ourselves to see that

704
00:24:18,660 --> 00:24:20,160
there is more to attain.

705
00:24:20,720 --> 00:24:22,740
So I used to like drive through some

706
00:24:22,740 --> 00:24:25,660
like nice neighborhoods as a kid just to

707
00:24:25,660 --> 00:24:28,680
like show myself that more is available.

708
00:24:29,200 --> 00:24:31,500
And I believe that as a people, as

709
00:24:31,500 --> 00:24:34,200
a group, we really have to try to

710
00:24:34,200 --> 00:24:36,400
do our best to put ourselves in environments

711
00:24:36,400 --> 00:24:38,980
to where like we can see that wealth

712
00:24:38,980 --> 00:24:39,760
is attainable.

713
00:24:40,040 --> 00:24:41,440
Because once you set your mind to something,

714
00:24:41,540 --> 00:24:43,220
once you like knock down the limiting beliefs

715
00:24:43,220 --> 00:24:45,700
that wealth is attainable, you can start to

716
00:24:45,700 --> 00:24:47,360
move in the right direction, which is to

717
00:24:47,360 --> 00:24:50,000
get informed on how to build wealth.

718
00:24:50,120 --> 00:24:52,360
And I don't want to undermine anybody's circumstance

719
00:24:52,360 --> 00:24:53,800
by saying that it's not hard, because it

720
00:24:53,800 --> 00:24:55,000
was really, really hard.

721
00:24:55,120 --> 00:24:57,660
Shifting my mind and my perspective to think

722
00:24:57,660 --> 00:24:59,580
that wealth was possible was probably one of

723
00:24:59,580 --> 00:25:00,680
the hardest things I had to do.

724
00:25:01,000 --> 00:25:03,560
But once you do that, then the rest

725
00:25:03,560 --> 00:25:06,140
of your energy just goes to learning and

726
00:25:06,140 --> 00:25:07,560
executing, right?

727
00:25:07,860 --> 00:25:10,400
And that's where reading became my mentor.

728
00:25:10,580 --> 00:25:11,620
Rich Dad, Poor Dad was one of the

729
00:25:11,620 --> 00:25:12,140
amazing books.

730
00:25:12,200 --> 00:25:12,960
So I read a lot of books by

731
00:25:12,960 --> 00:25:13,540
Warren Buffett.

732
00:25:13,880 --> 00:25:15,040
And then when you start to get the

733
00:25:15,040 --> 00:25:17,940
knowledge, you can just start to execute properly.

734
00:25:18,060 --> 00:25:19,820
There are other things in the system that's

735
00:25:19,820 --> 00:25:20,800
gonna make it a little bit harder for

736
00:25:20,800 --> 00:25:20,980
you.

737
00:25:21,220 --> 00:25:22,860
Of course, let's focus on the thing that

738
00:25:22,860 --> 00:25:23,380
we can control.

739
00:25:23,460 --> 00:25:24,320
We can't control that.

740
00:25:24,600 --> 00:25:25,840
We can't control what we know.

741
00:25:25,840 --> 00:25:27,560
We can't control what we execute on.

742
00:25:27,820 --> 00:25:29,440
We can't control who we surround ourselves with.

743
00:25:29,760 --> 00:25:31,880
And money doesn't have a race color.

744
00:25:32,020 --> 00:25:33,800
So investments don't care if you're green, white,

745
00:25:33,920 --> 00:25:34,980
yellow, blue, orange.

746
00:25:35,200 --> 00:25:36,860
If you invest your money in the same

747
00:25:36,860 --> 00:25:38,600
investment somebody else does, it doesn't look like

748
00:25:38,600 --> 00:25:38,780
you.

749
00:25:39,020 --> 00:25:40,560
Y'all get the same returns, right?

750
00:25:40,900 --> 00:25:42,900
So I hope that's a summarized way of

751
00:25:42,900 --> 00:25:43,260
putting it.

752
00:25:43,300 --> 00:25:46,020
I believe it starts with exposure, then it

753
00:25:46,020 --> 00:25:48,080
goes to education, and then it comes to

754
00:25:48,080 --> 00:25:50,740
your environment, and then it's execution after that.

755
00:25:51,420 --> 00:25:52,580
I love it, and I appreciate that.

756
00:25:52,620 --> 00:25:54,240
I want to do my part to help.

757
00:25:54,240 --> 00:25:56,800
So I think having that knowledge helps me.

758
00:25:57,120 --> 00:25:58,460
And I really love the way that you

759
00:25:58,460 --> 00:25:59,440
put it because it's right.

760
00:25:59,560 --> 00:26:02,980
If you don't believe it's possible, like it's

761
00:26:02,980 --> 00:26:04,380
no way you're gonna achieve it.

762
00:26:04,740 --> 00:26:06,120
And that little bit helps me quite a

763
00:26:06,120 --> 00:26:07,320
bit because I've got a lot of people

764
00:26:07,320 --> 00:26:08,840
of color that are in our tribe, and

765
00:26:08,840 --> 00:26:10,420
it helps me to know that we have

766
00:26:10,420 --> 00:26:13,100
to start there with a belief that it's

767
00:26:13,100 --> 00:26:15,320
possible, and then laying out the path to

768
00:26:15,320 --> 00:26:16,040
be able to get there.

769
00:26:16,180 --> 00:26:18,560
When you're talking to students and bringing them

770
00:26:18,560 --> 00:26:20,720
in and your clients, what do you find

771
00:26:20,720 --> 00:26:22,540
that they're making the mistakes?

772
00:26:22,540 --> 00:26:24,500
What are the common mistakes that they're making

773
00:26:24,500 --> 00:26:26,740
that you see that you turn around and

774
00:26:26,740 --> 00:26:27,560
correct pretty quickly?

775
00:26:28,260 --> 00:26:31,800
Well, yeah, I'll start with people that we

776
00:26:31,800 --> 00:26:33,360
might speak to at school as a student,

777
00:26:33,540 --> 00:26:36,060
but then our client base right now and

778
00:26:36,060 --> 00:26:37,620
the students is a little bit different, but

779
00:26:37,620 --> 00:26:38,700
I want to make sure that my answer

780
00:26:38,700 --> 00:26:39,960
helps everybody.

781
00:26:40,100 --> 00:26:42,300
So I think the most common mistake that

782
00:26:42,300 --> 00:26:45,400
most people make with their money is they

783
00:26:45,400 --> 00:26:48,940
don't understand how much life they're trading for

784
00:26:48,940 --> 00:26:49,720
the things they're purchasing.

785
00:26:49,720 --> 00:26:52,960
And this is one of the best concepts

786
00:26:52,960 --> 00:26:54,480
that, and this is George's concept, I'm just

787
00:26:54,480 --> 00:26:55,640
doing my best at explaining it.

788
00:26:55,900 --> 00:26:58,400
If you make, let's say you make $100

789
00:26:58,400 --> 00:27:02,000
an hour at your job, so let's say

790
00:27:02,000 --> 00:27:03,900
you make $25 an hour at your job,

791
00:27:03,960 --> 00:27:06,060
so you work eight hours a day, that

792
00:27:06,060 --> 00:27:08,540
is $200 a day, right?

793
00:27:08,640 --> 00:27:10,320
It's $200 a day, if my math is

794
00:27:10,320 --> 00:27:10,540
correct.

795
00:27:11,100 --> 00:27:15,860
And so if your car payment is $600

796
00:27:15,860 --> 00:27:20,060
a month, you're exchanging three days of your

797
00:27:20,060 --> 00:27:21,780
life for a month to have that car,

798
00:27:22,420 --> 00:27:22,660
right?

799
00:27:22,740 --> 00:27:26,380
Or essentially 24 hours of your life for

800
00:27:26,380 --> 00:27:27,300
a month to have that car.

801
00:27:27,680 --> 00:27:29,540
Is that something you want to, is that

802
00:27:29,540 --> 00:27:30,320
okay trade?

803
00:27:30,620 --> 00:27:32,580
Because that's what you're doing.

804
00:27:32,880 --> 00:27:34,920
And I think at the surface level, the

805
00:27:34,920 --> 00:27:36,840
people are spending more than they're saving.

806
00:27:37,220 --> 00:27:39,340
So, but the frame is that when you

807
00:27:39,340 --> 00:27:41,220
stop buying, if you start looking at something

808
00:27:41,220 --> 00:27:43,440
before you purchase it and say, oh, this

809
00:27:43,440 --> 00:27:46,380
cost me 36 hours of my life, do

810
00:27:46,380 --> 00:27:47,180
I want to make that trade?

811
00:27:47,280 --> 00:27:48,380
Probably not, right?

812
00:27:48,640 --> 00:27:51,780
And that helps young people get a hold

813
00:27:51,780 --> 00:27:54,160
of their spending because it's as simple as

814
00:27:54,160 --> 00:27:54,620
this, Todd.

815
00:27:54,820 --> 00:27:57,780
If you invest more than you spend, you're

816
00:27:57,780 --> 00:27:58,840
going to be fine.

817
00:27:59,020 --> 00:28:00,460
You have a compound interest, but most people

818
00:28:00,460 --> 00:28:03,400
just don't have that extra to start investing.

819
00:28:04,060 --> 00:28:06,740
Now with our clients, our client base is

820
00:28:06,740 --> 00:28:09,080
usually entrepreneurs making $200,000 or more.

821
00:28:09,420 --> 00:28:13,440
Their biggest mistake is not understanding all the

822
00:28:13,440 --> 00:28:15,040
tax deduction that they can take within their

823
00:28:15,040 --> 00:28:16,720
business to stop giving the money to the

824
00:28:16,720 --> 00:28:19,000
IRS to start having more money to invest.

825
00:28:19,300 --> 00:28:20,800
So I think the first thing it starts

826
00:28:20,800 --> 00:28:24,020
with, how do we increase the gap between

827
00:28:24,020 --> 00:28:25,820
how much we make and how much we

828
00:28:25,820 --> 00:28:26,160
spend?

829
00:28:26,380 --> 00:28:28,360
Because the bigger that gap is, the more

830
00:28:28,360 --> 00:28:28,980
we can invest.

831
00:28:29,080 --> 00:28:30,720
And the more we can invest, the faster

832
00:28:30,720 --> 00:28:32,120
you'll hit your financial freedom goal.

833
00:28:32,760 --> 00:28:33,720
Powerful stuff today.

834
00:28:34,120 --> 00:28:36,100
Carter, where can everybody go that's listening and

835
00:28:36,100 --> 00:28:38,340
watching where we just dove into a few

836
00:28:38,340 --> 00:28:39,960
strategies and you have a lot of them.

837
00:28:39,980 --> 00:28:40,760
Where can they go?

838
00:28:40,880 --> 00:28:41,880
What should they do to be able to

839
00:28:41,880 --> 00:28:42,260
learn more?

840
00:28:42,720 --> 00:28:44,100
Yeah, so I think our YouTube channel would

841
00:28:44,100 --> 00:28:45,220
probably be the best resource.

842
00:28:45,380 --> 00:28:47,120
If you type in Melanin Money on YouTube,

843
00:28:47,140 --> 00:28:50,040
we put out two videos per week on

844
00:28:50,040 --> 00:28:53,260
different investing strategies, tax strategies between me and

845
00:28:53,260 --> 00:28:53,480
George.

846
00:28:53,560 --> 00:28:55,940
And that's the best place to go for

847
00:28:55,940 --> 00:28:58,300
education because we wanna reach the masses.

848
00:28:58,640 --> 00:29:01,360
Like we want to be able to reach

849
00:29:01,360 --> 00:29:02,780
and touch as many people as we possibly

850
00:29:02,780 --> 00:29:03,980
can in a positive way.

851
00:29:04,320 --> 00:29:05,380
So that would probably be the best place

852
00:29:05,380 --> 00:29:05,880
to find us.

853
00:29:07,060 --> 00:29:08,380
Carter, thanks for coming on with us today.

854
00:29:08,900 --> 00:29:09,700
Hi, thank you so much.

855
00:29:09,760 --> 00:29:10,540
I appreciate your time today.

856
00:29:11,240 --> 00:29:12,520
All right, so listen, make sure that you

857
00:29:12,520 --> 00:29:14,420
go to melaninmoney.com.

858
00:29:14,560 --> 00:29:16,700
Okay, that's M-E-L-A-N-I

859
00:29:16,700 --> 00:29:18,020
-N money.com.

860
00:29:18,360 --> 00:29:19,840
If you go to melaninmoney.com, you go

861
00:29:19,840 --> 00:29:21,140
all the way to the bottom, you're able

862
00:29:21,140 --> 00:29:22,760
to access their social media channels.

863
00:29:22,820 --> 00:29:24,400
So you're able to access their Insta, you're

864
00:29:24,400 --> 00:29:25,740
able to get their Facebook, you're able to

865
00:29:25,740 --> 00:29:27,920
access that YouTube that Carter just talked about

866
00:29:27,920 --> 00:29:28,140
as well.

867
00:29:28,220 --> 00:29:29,500
Listen, I wanna tell you before you go

868
00:29:29,500 --> 00:29:31,420
here, this is literally the best site I've

869
00:29:31,420 --> 00:29:32,980
ever seen of any guest we've had on

870
00:29:32,980 --> 00:29:33,100
the show.

871
00:29:33,180 --> 00:29:34,500
I think we're approaching a thousand guests on

872
00:29:34,500 --> 00:29:34,800
the show.

873
00:29:35,260 --> 00:29:37,620
And I was blown away by the quality

874
00:29:37,620 --> 00:29:38,540
of this website.

875
00:29:38,820 --> 00:29:41,240
It's just phenomenal the way that they've done

876
00:29:41,240 --> 00:29:41,440
it.

877
00:29:41,440 --> 00:29:42,900
And so if you really wanna look at

878
00:29:42,900 --> 00:29:44,160
the right way to set up a website,

879
00:29:44,320 --> 00:29:46,060
just design purposes, look at this.

880
00:29:46,360 --> 00:29:48,800
But there's so much information on here as

881
00:29:48,800 --> 00:29:49,140
well.

882
00:29:49,440 --> 00:29:50,760
You're even able to take a quiz to

883
00:29:50,760 --> 00:29:51,940
see where you are right now.

884
00:29:52,180 --> 00:29:54,220
And then they're able to break down the

885
00:29:54,220 --> 00:29:55,720
steps that you need to take to kind

886
00:29:55,720 --> 00:29:56,300
of move forward.

887
00:29:56,600 --> 00:29:57,800
You're able to join the club, you're able

888
00:29:57,800 --> 00:29:58,980
to do so many cool things.
