Digital Social Hour - Becoming Your Own Bank, Retirement Planning & Life Insurance Strategies | Anthony Ficarra DSH #322

Episode Date: February 28, 2024

Anthony Ficarra comes on the show to talk life insurance strategies, the importance of retirement planing and tax strategies. APPLY TO BE ON THE PODCAST: https://forms.gle/qXvENTeurx7Xn8Ci9 BUSINESS INQUIRIES/SPONSORS: [e-mail] SPONSORS: Opus Pro: https://www.opus.pro/?via=DSH Deposyt Payment Processing: https://www.deposyt.com/seankelly Factor: Use code "DSH50" for 50% off your order at https://www.factormeals.com/dsh50 Digital Social Hour works with participants in sponsored media and stays compliant with Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulations regarding sponsored media. #ad LISTEN ON: Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/digital-social-hour/id1676846015 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5Jn7LXarRlI8Hc0GtTn759 Sean Kelly Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/seanmikekelly/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Let me down this path of like, I am so petrified of being middle class because I feel like middle class won't be here anymore. It's looking like it. That's been my driving focus is like, at all costs, I want to be rich because I don't want to be poor. And middle class is not an option anymore. It's looking like it. It's at the point now where middle class is renting houses. They can't even afford houses. It's that bad. Wherever you guys are watching this show, I would truly appreciate it if you follow or subscribe.

It helps a lot with the algorithm. It helps us get bigger and better guests, and it helps us grow the team. It truly means a lot. Thank you guys for supporting, and here's the episode. Ladies and gentlemen, all the way from Denver, we got Anthony Ficar here today.

How's it going, my man? Good, man. Thanks for having me. Yeah, it's actually still cold here, so it's not even much of a change for you. No, it wasn't bad, no. Yeah. Vegas is, you'd think of like just desert heat. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. And also people think Denver's cold all the time. It's like the opposite.

Oh, really? Denver's nicer than people give it credit for, and I think Vegas gets colder than people realize. Okay. I thought Denver was always cold for some reason. No, dude. It's probably 60 right now and sunny. Damn. Don't tell anybody. Too many people are already moving there. So what are you doing out there business-wise right now? Well, I'm a financial advisor, life insurance especially,

and disability insurance, and then just kind of coaching people through things that they wouldn't understand to get into, like real estate or other outside business activities besides just like stock market stuff. Nice. My friend just inherited a million, so I'm going to put you in touch with him for the financial advising.

What kind of advice are you giving there on the advising side? Man, a lot of it's so traditional advice is like, put your money in a stock market account, don't touch it for 30 years, and hopefully you got enough when you retire, right? Yeah. And I hate that. That's boring. The one that's boring, it's not, it's not financially smart either, but like some, there's so many, you know, if you can go down this rabbit hole of why people do that or

why they're taught to do that. And it's, it's, it's all like hidden incentives, right? Exactly. For the people who are managing your money. Yeah. Not for you. They get a kickback. Oh yeah. Well, not only that, they get rich on your money while they have it. And then you get the scraps when you're 59 and a half. Oh, they're leveraging it while they have it? Well, think about it.

If you've got to put your money in it and if it's invested somewhere, someone has that money and they're using it to do something, right? Wow. Think about it. So, I mean,

if you buy a stock in a company, you're giving that company money. They're investing it into, you know, whatever. Think of it, you buy a Tesla stock. You're buying that. Tesla has that

money and they're investing it in their company. That's the whole idea, right? So when you have money in a 401k and it sits there for 30 years, somebody has your money for 30 years and they're investing it and they're giving you that 10% return. And that's like really good if you get 10%, right? Is that 10% a year you're saying? Well, I mean, overall, if you average out over 30 years, 10%. Yeah, that is pretty good. That's great. You should be happy with that.

And it's probably unrealistic too. But instead, what if you put that money in a tax favorable account that grows guaranteed and it's not in the stock market and you can use it before you retire? And that's what I coach people. And the thing about it is it's in life insurance, but people don't – when you hear life insurance, like, oh, that sounds lame or I'm too young. I don't need that. Yeah. Or how can that be an investment or not?

I shouldn't say investment because I'd probably get in trouble for that. But it's not actually an investment, people. But when you can let money grow tax-deferred and then access that money penalty-free and tax-free before you're 59 and a half. You can use that to go put into another investment like real estate. Got it. And you can leverage that. And then all of a sudden now you've got five or six or 10 rental properties. Well, what's that worth compared to what your 401k could be worth? That's cool.

Right? So when you think about it that way, it's like, oh, wow, the 401k is pretty lame. Yeah. So at what level of wealth are you recommending people look into life insurance policies? Dude, if you're 18 and you're working at McDonald's. Really? That early? Start. Yes. Because it's harder to get. The older you get, it's harder to get. Okay.

Right? So if you're, it's health, it's age and health related. So if you are broke, you can get a term policy for 30 bucks a month, right? I think we all spend that on gas stations. Yeah. Easily. Right? We piss that money away not thinking about it. So if you put $30 a month towards life insurance when you're 18, then you start making real money when you're 25. You can just convert it. And now you can make it whole life insurance, overfund it,

and now it can be an advantageable plan. That's cool. Yeah, I got to look into that more. And the tax-deferred stuff, so basically you put the money there. Yep. And then that money, instead of being income, is tax deferred.

Yes, and it's actually tax-free if you use it the right way. So let's say you put money away to a policy and it grows and then 10 years later you want to take that money out. We don't actually take the money out. You get a loan against that value.

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day like breakfast midday bites and more they've done the math guys this is actually less expensive than takeout and all their meals like i earlier, are dietitian approved, so they're nutritious and delicious. It's the perfect solution if you're looking for fast meals. It's flexible for your schedule. You could choose between 6 to 18 meals per week. No prep, guys. Definitely check it out, factormeals.com slash dsh50 for 50% off your order. That's a big discount, guys. Factormeals.com DSH50. Check them out. Take money out of your house. HELOC, right? Any kind of borrow money, it's tax-free. So same thing. You borrow against the value of your policy and it's tax-free until you die. So you can also take the money out later on and it's called taking the policy paid up. And

sometimes there's tax implications there, but if you never take the money out and you just borrow against it, it's always tax-free. Wow. That's a good strategy. It absolutely is. But people are underutilizing it. They're not aware. Not aware. And then there's another side to all this is like, some people who set these policies up aren't looking out for your best interest either. So there's ways to build these policies that are really advantageous for the agent, for commission, and less for the person.

Oh, got it. So if you don't know what you're asking for, I just need life insurance. Cool, here you go. All right, well, if you know what you're asking for and you ask for it, I've had people come to me and be like, well, my agent said you can't do that. I'm like, I know why he's telling you that, because he's not getting the commission. So. So when you over fund a policy and it's kind of a slang term, there's actual technical terms, every company's different, but like my company would call them paid up additions. When you put money towards paid up additions, there's almost no commission for it. But the same budget out of your pocket, you wouldn't know the difference, right? You say, I got a thousand bucks a month. And if

I put full thousand bucks a month towards insurance, well, that commission looks really good. If you put, and then the policy itself doesn't perform great. It performs okay. Long-term, long-term okay, but like we can make it better. And the way we make it better is instead of putting $1,000 towards insurance, let's put $500 towards insurance and another $500 just towards cash value. Now that plan performs quicker and better and there's no denying it. There's nobody out there that can show me math that's wrong. But the argument's like, well, you know, and it's just

like, it's all, it's all commission based. And now that I can see that, because I didn't come from insurance where I came from blue collar. So I just see it through a different lens and I can see it. I'm like, oh, now I get why people don't trust certain people. I can see why every industry has, you know, in it, and I'm like, oh. So I kind of just figured out kind of the matrix of it, and then now I show people that, and they're like, well, this actually makes sense now. That's good to see,

and you actually see that with a lot of money managers too because my mom used to use one, and you could see there were some hidden agendas there. I hate that, dude. I hate the industry sometimes. I like that I'm able to help. I like that there's people I work with that are really helpful for me too.

We kind of have this whole do the right thing and we're showing people it's been f***ed up for a long time. But the fact that it has been f***ed up for so long, it drives me nuts. And people don't even know. They have no clue. They just do it. And then you'll get people who will like Dave Ramsey. A lot of people are big Dave Ramsey fans.

For certain crowds, that works. If you're poor, listen to Dave Ramsey. Get And for certain crowds that works, if you're poor, listen to Dave Ramsey, right? Get unpoor, get your money right. But you're not going to get rich listening to him. So he'll shit on whole life because of the way it's structured 95% of the time. He's not wrong. But when you do it the right way, there's nothing, you can't talk bad about it. But he'll just prey on the fact that most people do it wrong, tell people that. So when I get clients like, well, Dave Ramsey says this, and I'm like, here we go. Like, now I got to explain to you why this is wrong.

He has such a big influence. You probably get that all the time. And again, I'm sure he's a nice guy. Yeah. He also has an agenda too. He sells certain things. Yeah. He sells clicks.

He's got, you know, his own agenda. Good for him, right? But like what he's saying is not completely accurate either. There's a lot of stuff that he says is completely inaccurate about life insurance. And again, he's got his reasons, I'm sure, and some of the stuff lies in underlying truths. But really, there's a lot of stuff that he's inaccurate about too. So how can people watching this find a reliable life insurance broker? Are you interested in coming on the Digital Social Hour podcast as a guest?

Well, click the application link below in the description of this video. We are always looking for cool stories, cool entrepreneurs to talk to about business and life. Click the application link below, and here's the episode, guys. DM me. That's easy. But you could do every state, or are you limited? Yeah, so for life insurance, you have to be licensed in the state you sell a business in. Okay.

So I'm licensed in pretty much I got licensed in the state you sell a business in. Okay. So I'm licensed in pretty much I got like the ones I knew I'd have clients in. And then as I get a client in a different state, I just get the license. Got it. Got it. Yep. So you get a home license, right? I'm in Colorado and that reciprocates kind of to all of the states. You have to go to that each individual state and pay their fee. Certain states like California, obviously they want more money and another- Typical Cali move. fee. Certain states like California, obviously they want more money and another course. And there's like some other shit I got to get. So like, that's a little bit more. Florida's a little weird. Texas is a little weird. There's different like, but I get all those, you know? So yeah, I'd say nationwide. And if I don't have the license in your state, I'll get it before the underwriting is done. Yeah. That's cool. So you went from blue collar worker to this,

what were you doing there? I was building power lines. Wow. Yeah. I was a lineman. That is cool. It was big, big shift. Scary though, right? You know, I never, I don't know. I can see how it's scary, especially now. Like now that I've stepped away from it.

Yeah. I normalized a lot of weird shit. Wow. I normalized a lot of stuff that was like hazardous, dangerous, not healthy, a lot of stuff. So like now it's like, oh yeah, it was pretty dangerous. Yeah, because you're high up. But when you're in it, you're like, this is just Tuesday. How do they get installed basically?

Like is it? Well, it's all kinds of ways. So there's like, there's maintenance, there's new construction, there's storm work restoration, there's, and I did all of it, right? So there's whatever stage of line work I did pretty much everything. Yeah. Yeah, it all depends. New builds are cool because it's just new wire, dead wire.

A lot of it though was like pole change outs on existing live conductors. That was, you know, again, looking back, kind of dangerous. But that's like, that was actually really routine. Wow. But you could train really well. I was part of a union, so we had really good union training. Yeah. And like a good apprenticeship and people, you know, it was a lot of, a lot of hazing, but like for good reason, right? Cause like, if you can't cut it being called,

pick a name, you know, but if you can't cut that, you're not going to cut like when it really goes bad. It's true. So it was like, almost like, you know, military style training where like, Hey, we're going to make you hard because we need you to, because, you know, we could all die here if someone's not on their game. Right. So, and I was fine. You know, I didn't think it was that bad when I was in it. I still don't think it was that bad. I think it's necessary. Yeah. But,

um, certainly different lifestyle. I didn't know it was that intense. I saw a clip on your Instagram of you hanging out of a helicopter, installing one. I was like, what the hell is going on? That was fun.

You know, like people think like, oh, I got so scared. That was really fun. And that's like, when I think about everyone always asks me, oh,

do you miss it? And I'm like, I miss that. I miss that. Cause that was such a rush. Like you, everyone always asks me, oh, do you miss it? And I'm like, I miss that. I miss that. Because that was such a rush. Like you, you can't pick another job where you get to do that. You know, literally it was called long line and

you would just have an LZ, they'd pick you up from the helicopter and they'd fly you to the tower because you couldn't get a truck to it. And then you'd either hang off the, you know, long line and, or they'd land you on the tower and do the work that way. So it was. That's cool.

And it was the boys and the camaraderie, right? Yeah. I'm still very close to most of those people, but it's not the same as like the day in, day out, like with your boys. Yeah. The camaraderie,

like it was, it was a lot of fun. But there's a financial cap there. So that's why you left. Yeah, definitely. Cause it was all hourly. Right.

So you can make overtime, you could work hours, but I was working. And I looked at my statement every year for my retirement. It was like 4,000 hours a year. Jeez. And I was like in a row for like five years. That is insane. I just averaged 80 hours a week. That's like 10 hours, what, 12 hours a day?

It'd be 80 hours a week for 70. I mean, it was a lot. Oh, so you're working every day. For some jobs, yeah. There was jobs. My longest I ever worked in a row was 56 days in a row, 16 hour days. Holy crap, man. And I did that once, took a two-week break, went back, did it again. It came out weird. It was 56 days in a row both times.

Jeez. But big storm work, you kind of have to, right? I mean, you don't stop working until the lights are back on. Oh, so after like a hurricane or a big snowstorm. That one happened to be Irma. That was in the Virgin Islands. Wow. Oh, so you flew all the way there?

Yeah. Wow. So you were like one of the best if they're calling you to be Irma. That was in the Virgin Islands. Wow. So you flew all the way there? Yeah. Wow. So you were like one of the best if they're calling you to come out there. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it's one of those things where, yeah, I mean, I like to be humble. Like on that particular job, it was really cool because we got, we were a smaller contractor on St. John, which is a smaller island. And then as we're

wrapping that up, another bigger contractor has St. Thomas, which is a bigger island. And they as we're wrapping that up, another bigger contractor has St. Thomas, which is the bigger island. And they were kind of fumbling and like, hey, we want two of your best crews to go over there, make an impact so we get that contract. And I was one of the crews. Nice. That's cool. That's cool. And then, yeah, you go over there, we made a huge impact. And then that company got

awarded a massive contract that I think that they just wrapped up like last year. Damn. It was like five years worth of work based on, I mean, I didn't have all that input. I'm not taking all that credit. Yeah. But I had a little bit of that. That's cool. Do you ever want to go in the ownership route in that industry or did you just want to leave

it completely? You know, I didn't, never really got to thinking about that. There was one opportunity that kind of presented itself and we entertained the idea. But, you know, I just think that that really wasn't for me. What I'm doing now I think is way more impactful. Yeah, you're changing people's lives now. I mean you were before too, but. Yeah, well, yeah, exactly.

Before it was like I was very big on helping the apprentices, helping other journalists. I was very influential. People came to me. But my reach was only so far. Right. You could reach around your crew, maybe a couple of guys within your yard. That's about it. And then that guy would top out, become a journeyman and go across the country and he'd go

work. And some of your teachings would make it down the road, but it wasn't, it was impactful. But like now I'm changing, like you said, lives and bloodlines and helping people. And it's, it's amazing. Yeah. That's cool. Yeah. Some of your videos are going super viral. That's cool. Yeah. You're changing thousands of lives at least. I'm trying. Is it true if you touch a power line with your hands, you get electrocuted? Yes and no.

Okay. There's definitely both. So like if you're on the ground and you walk up on a power line that happens to be down from a storm, you touch it, you can die. Oh, really? You probably will die, yes.

Wow. So like that's a big safety PSA. Like if you can see down power lines. I've seen those before, dude. It's definitely not de-energized. I've been tempted too as a kid. Don't. Don't.

You will die. Imagine grabbing an electrical fence because you're on the ground. Now, if you're up in a bucket or if you're in an isolated platform, you touch it, you won't feel it. You might feel a little zap, but you're not grounded. So it's like a bird on a wire. We use that phrase all the time in line work. Literally birds fly on power lines. They land on them.

Yeah, I see that. They become the same potential as the power line. Got it. The difference of potential is what kills you. So if you're on the ground, that's a conductor. On the ground. Or if you touch two at one time. Two at one time.

So then you've got a difference of potential between the lines that is more than the difference of potential to the ground. Yeah. It's even higher potential. That's crazy. So difference of potential will kill you. Did you ever get electrocuted? No, even the phrase.

So like the phrase electrocuted means to die, right? Oh. Cuted, electrocuted means to death. Okay. Shocked or, you know, making contact. I never did. Typically that's pretty life-changing. We're talking about like losing limbs or...

Oh, it's intense. Oh, it's pretty intense, yeah. So no, never anything that was – you don't get too many second chances. That's true. We were a lot of PPE, a lot of training, lots of precautions taking place for that. And actually that kind of leads to one of the reasons I left and made my career change because I made a very difficult job very easy for me. And that breeds complacency. And complacency.

So I recognize that. I'm like, man, I am around way too much. I am, I didn't take too many shortcuts, but I recognize this could lead to something bad. I started looking at something else. That's cool. Now on the wealth planning and retirement planning side of things, I'm curious, how much money do you think someone needs to retire these days to be safe? Oh man, it all depends on what your like living expenses are, your lifestyle. Like for me, I don't want my lifestyle to go down when I retire. That's why

I ask people, like, do you want to like eat ramen noodles and ketchup popsicles when you retire? Or do you want to enjoy the lifestyle you enjoy now? Right. So it's like whatever you can, you should do. And then some, like most people are probably behind. That's what I see. I see these crazy articles where people are retiring with like very little on average. Yeah. I mean, think about inflation, right? Like, so like, yeah, your money is like, you have a million bucks to retire. Okay, cool. How long is it going to last? 30 years from now, right? 30 years ago, a million bucks is like what 2 million is now, right? So like how much, how far is it going to go? We don't know. No, that's true because like growing up as a kid,

I'm like, yo, I want to be a millionaire. And now like a million isn't even. You feel poor. Yeah, a million is not enough. Well, that and like think about real estate. What does that usually do? That keeps up with inflation, right? Well, what about if you had your retirement base in real estate?

Probably a better idea than 401k, right? That's why I like pushing, repositioning my life insurance money into real estate because if you put it into real estate. Probably a better idea than 401k, right? That's why I like pushing, repositioning my life insurance money into real estate. Because if you put it into real estate, that's going to grow with the economy. That house is going to be relatively the same cost, if not more. We all know what real estate's done in the past 10 years, right? So yes, it goes up and down and people can talk about, oh wait, crashing and whatnot. But like, compared to other things, it's pretty safe. Yeah. Real estate and gold, that's both pretty safe. Yeah. So when you leverage your 50, 100 grand from your life insurance policy and put that as a down payment on a property, well, that's going to outpace inflation typically. And you've

got some income that's paid off. You can leverage it, buy another one and you can just keep buying versus your 401k. You can't touch it until you're 59 and a half and you hope it grows. Yeah. Now I know the government's released their inflation numbers the past two years, but what do you think it actually is? Oh, dude, way more. Way more. I mean, we're all smart. We all go to the store.

We all buy shit. It's like you can tell us what it is, and we can also go to the store and tell ourselves what it is. It's shit. I think it's like 20%. Yeah, exactly. It's nuts. I'm spending hundreds.

Yeah, we think of 20% on food. OK, yeah, it might be one of your smaller bills, but like it's still 20%. Yeah. Right? So people forget like, oh, you know, groceries went up 50 bucks. Well, what was that compared to 100 bucks? Like that's a lot, dude. Dude, yeah.

When I go to Costco now, it's like no joke. It's like 300 bucks. Think what eggs did a couple of years ago, right? Or whatever. It's just like, yeah, it's silly. It's kind of what's led me down this path of like, I am so petrified of being middle class because I feel like middle class won't be here anymore.

It's looking like it. I'm just so like, that's been like my driving focus is like at all costs, I want to be rich because I don't want to be poor. Yeah. And middle class is not an option anymore. It's looking like it. It's, it's at the point now where middle class

is renting houses. They can't even afford houses. It's that bad. It's f***ed. Yeah. It's scary. The only thing middle class is renting houses. They can't even afford houses. It's that bad. It's f***ed. Yeah, it's scary. The only thing you can really do is like you can just work hard and be smart with your money because like maybe you can't increase your income, but you can leverage it and you can be smarter, make better decisions. And that's like curbing that is tenfold. You can make so much further moves by just correcting some decisions.

So many guys I work with will make between $200,000 a year and they'll spend between two and 400 grand a year. And it's like, dude, if you just put things in different order, you can still go buy the big camper, still go buy the big truck, but like put it in something else first, then you can buy, you know, so education is what I do the best. I've lived their lives. I am a lineman still. I work a lot of linemen, a lot of blue collar people. And I'm like, I can still do what you do. Yeah. I still relate to you. I walk in like this most time, you know, like I, versus some guy in a suit.

So like I can relate to them. Yeah. Hey guys, just, I've been where you're at. I've bought the big dumb truck. I've bought the big dumb camper. I've done the dumb shit. Like just do it this way first and it'll be better off. You know, so young kids are, or should I call them kids, but like people your age, you know,

like showing them, hey man, I've been down that road before. Like let's, let's do a little bit different. Yeah. They got no guidance, man. They need someone like you that's been there, done that for sure. Now you got guys like Kiyosaki saying the

dollar's crashing, a few other notable people in the finance space. What's your take on the dollar and its future? Man, I'm not, I'm not going to say I'm an expert like those guys, but what i believe is that there's too many people that are in too much power that would suffer if that happened right i think there's too many people have their money in certain places that they've kind of figured out a way to like artificially inflate this whole thing yeah i think they kind of figured it out like it's gonna stay

that way like i think that people recognize that hey we can pump this thing up and it can crash but like we can also keep it pumped up. And that's what's happened for the past, I don't know, five years or 10 years. It's been kind of on a good run. They've been figuring it out. That's what I believe. So crashing, I don't know. I think too many people have too many things to lose if that happens.

They just want to keep on riding this wave out. And eventually maybe it's like a mega bubble because of it because it probably can't go on forever. That's what I'm thinking too. I think the in the next, I think the cycles will be more infrequent, but more drastic. Yeah. I can see that.

I actually saw some crazy stuff. I think almost every currency that's ever existed has failed. Isn't that wild? Yeah. Well, governments do same thing. Yeah. Every government's failed,

you know, here it is. Democracy is what, 200 years old and we're still doing all right, but like probably going to fail. Cause just by looking at past, every government's failed, every currency has failed. Yeah.

So I wonder if there is an actual system that can just not fail. Yeah. Greed. Greed's always – Greed's always up, you know. So it's like until you can take that out of the factor, I don't think it's going to be foolproof. Yeah.

And I don't think you ever can with the way we're doing it right now at least. I agree. But, you know, back to that point when things crash, like life insurance is safer than a bank. So when things do crash and you have your money in life insurance, you can go out and go there and buy stuff on sale. Is it insured? Well, it's been, yeah, it's insured. And it's also been around since 1847. Wow.

It's never not paid out. That's cool. Plenty of banks have come and gone. The dividend's been paid every year since 1847 with my company, yeah. But if the company crashes, because I know banks up to 250K, right, FDIC, what happens if the life insurance company goes out of business? That's a good question.

It hasn't. I don't know that there's and people smarter than me could probably answer that question better than me, but the fact that it hasn't since 1847, I think it's kind of like a testament to like, we've been through the Civil War, a couple World Wars, a kind of like a testament to like, we've been through the civil war, a couple of world wars, a couple of planes flying into buildings. Like we've been through a lot of shit

and it hasn't ever failed. Well, I think everyone dies. So that type of industry, it's always going to be there. Exactly. And I think that's exactly part of it. Like that doesn't, that never goes away.

So I think having that as like the safety or the guaranteed, and that's just the dividend that's paid out. The companies existed even longer. That's the dividend that pays out that they've never missed, which is pretty impressive. That is cool. That's paying a profit even when times have been terrible in this country.

How did you get this confident mindset? Was that instilled in you at a young age or were you kind of born with it? Dude, I don't even know. You're right. I don't know because it must have been something I was born with or something I just had or I don't know. That's cool. It's hard to explain because sometimes I don't realize because it must have been something I was born with or something I just had or I don't know. That's cool. It's hard to explain because I don't – sometimes I don't realize how different I am because it's like that's just how I am.

Yeah. I look at someone else who's not or who's weak or who's giving up, who's quitting. I'm like, that's weird. Like that's not even in me. I don't know what the fuck you're doing, but this is not even a thought to me. Like skipping the gym. Like what do you mean? That's cool, man.

We're going. You know, we're not going to fail. So, yeah, I don't know if the confidence or the mindset, it's gotten improved over time. It's always been in me, though. That's cool. I'd say 80% of people are pretty negative mindset. Oh, dude. 80-20 rule.

Huge. And the mindset's so powerful, so key. And that part's changed probably the past five years. When I moved from Denver, from Chicago to Denver, my whole mindset kind of just changed and everything. Like, I get to move to Colorado. I don't have to get up and move. Like, get to versus have to.

Right. I don't know. I heard that somewhere. I'm pretty good at hearing things one time and like, oh, that's cool. Yeah. I like that. I'm going to use that. Implement it. Yeah.

Like, I get to versus have to. Yeah. Big difference, that's cool. Yeah. I like that. I'm going to use that. Implement it. Yeah. Like I get to versus have to. Yeah. Big difference. I love that. Yeah. Some people, they hear stuff and they don't follow up. They don't take action. Like it drives me nuts.

Most people. Most people hear things and they're like, it's sing-songy, little, that's cute. That's romantic. I like that. But are you actually going to do it? Yeah. That's ****. Ice bath.

That's hard. I'd do it. That's cool. Yeah. It sucks for the two minutes you're in there and you feel better. Yeah. So it's like, that's an easy trade. At least try it, man. That's an easy trade Ice bath. That's hard. I'd do it. That's cool. Yeah, it sucks for the two minutes you're in there and you feel better. Yeah. So it's like, that's an easy trade. At least try it, man.

That's an easy trade for me. Yeah. You tell me something's going to suck for two minutes, but the rest of my day is going to be better. Okay. Done. And I think that's what separates a lot of

people from the pack because we'll listen to advice from people doing better than us and take immediate action. Yes. Some people will just not implement any of it. Or be jealous. Yeah. Or get jealous.

What's this guy doing? He's 26 years old. What the fuck is that guy? You know, it's like, no, what's he doing? When I see someone doing better than me, I love it, dude. I don't get jealous. That's one of those things, and it's one of those phrases I use or heard one time, if there's a smartest guy in the room or in the wrong room.

Yeah. And I heard that and implemented that when I was in line work. My lineman buddies would give me shit for this, but I could fuck up the smartest guy in the room. Like, all too often, I'm like, dude,eman buddies would give me shit for this, but I could tell I was the smartest guy in the room. Like all too often. I'm like, dude, I'm, everyone's looking at me way too much. Like I need to boom up, get a different room,

you know? And that's where I'm at now. Now I'm the dumb guy in the room and I love it. Yeah. And I don't mean that like for my profession, cause I'm pretty intelligent for my profession, but like overall wealth and stuff and like just other stuff.

I'm like, I'm in the right rooms now. Cause I'm in, I'm learning from these guys. Yeah. It's so, it's so cool. That's cool. So what are your current projects outside of the health insurance stuff? Yeah.

So life insurance is the one, disability insurance. But then also like I got some exotic cars. Nice. Renting them out. Turrell. Kind of. I got a, a company in Denver that I use that I have them rent out long-term.

Nice. To some high profile celebrities in the area. Okay. Yeah. So they got it. I don't want to use the names, but it'll come out some other time. Yeah. But I actually have a meeting with them next week.

Okay. To do some life insurance with them. So it's kind of networking the cars and leveraging the cars into other circles and networks. Yeah. And I bought the cars and it was kind of like the initial initial plan was like I'm going to rent them for rental income. And it kind of like didn't work out. So I'm like, well, what else can I use them for? Shoot.

People see me in my car, they take me more serious. See, I'm like this stupid Rolex. Like people take me more serious. I never liked wearing Rolexes. I never liked this shit. But like it makes sense. People will talk to you. It's a conversation starter.

These cars, you see, get me out of Lambo. It's like, man, you're pretty young because most people at Lambos are a little older or they're younger, whatever. But like, you must have something going on or you may have something that's, you know, credible to listen to and it just starts conversation.

And it's the credibility, yeah. That's why I bought a watch. That's why I got a Tesla because as sad as it may seem materialistically, it opens doors. Right. I hate that it works, but it works. Exactly. It's tough.

It's part of the business. It's one of those things, yeah. And I've seen it because I go to networking events without a watch and I go to the same one next year with a watch. Way more. Because you're young looking too, so people are already going to like, kind of young. Yeah, and I pull up in sweatpants or shorts and people don't take me serious. Put the watch on,

changes everything. Yeah. And I've had conversations, I've had business pay for this watch 10 times because of the conversations I've gotten just from the watch. Again, I still hate that it works, but it works. And I've done it in the Rolex store in Vegas. So I wore a hoodie. So I covered the watch. No one went up to me.

I'm in the store for 10, 20 minutes, pull up my sleeve. Within two minutes, someone's up to me. It's like a magnet. Again, I hate that it works, but man, it works. Same with the cars, man. So yeah, back to that, the cars. I got some rental properties too. So I'm preaching what I'm doing what I preach, right? It's rental properties as part of my portfolio.

Nice. And then I've got the rental cars kind of, you know, renting them out was kind of an initial plan, but then to pivot into marketing them myself. And I've taken clients on rides before too. I've let my clients take their kids for rides. Yeah, it's good networking. It's cool. Opportunity. Yeah. And I think with the real estate stuff, people are now, now, but you're just holding, you're not even worried. I'll buy more. I'm buying more. I was looking at houses the other day. I'm buying more.

With the interest rates you're buying? Think about it. If the interest rates are down for a year or I'm saying up for this year, next year, even if they stay at 8%, let's say they stay at 8%. Well, what's rent do every year? Goes up. Goes up. So if I'm upside down for two well, what's rent due every year? Goes up. Goes up. So if I'm upside down for two years, what am I ahead of for 28 years? So you're just going to factor that into the rent increase. Yeah.

It goes up. You got to think through a 30-year lens, not through a five-month lens. And that's what people do. All people look at that pack of gum versus the whole picture. It's like you got to think outside the box or think longer term. How did you shift your mindset like that? Because most people are thinking day by day, month by month, year by year. You know, it helps when you make more money. I mean, I'm not trying to be like a about that, but like it helps when you're making more money to think longer term. And what I, my mindset was when I was building power lines,

I'm like, I don't want to do this forever. I know I'm making good money right now and I'm too smart to work like this forever. So I started shifting towards real estate when I was doing that. Now that I make even more money, it's like, well, that makes sense to keep just doing a version of this. Yeah. Versus spending every dollar you get, man. It's nothing long-term. Also, to be fair, I've heard other smarter people tell the same story. And it's like not just me.

I'm not dreaming this up. I've heard smart people say things like, oh, that makes sense. This guy's buying and holding real estate. Or, yeah, rent goes up every year. To deal with it for two years, you'll be fine. Yeah. Because what's the difference if you rent out, let's say you're up to down 200 bucks a month, right? What's that for a year?

Okay, times that by two years. Okay, you're down a few grand. What are you up after 30 years? You're up a lot. Right. Millions versus if you're down 20, even down 20 grand in two years. Yeah. Some people can't absorb that.

I get that. But like generally speaking, like, or, you know, pick a number. If it's five grand, you know,

cause of rent didn't quite cover it. Cause you're still going to get rent. Just may not cover. Maybe your rent doesn't cover by a couple hundred bucks a month. Yeah. It's not the end of the world. Like build it into your,

build it into your, your budget, your plan, you know? Yeah. So you are all single family homes right now? Yep. Eventually have enough equity to start

buying some bigger, bigger pieces and, um, you know, just keep, just keep growing. Yeah. Eventually have enough equity to start buying some bigger, bigger pieces and, you know, just keep, just keep growing. Yeah. I saw this one guy, Dan Fleischman,

he was like, if you just buy a house a year, like you're set for life. Yeah. And it's that simple. So if you have a primary residence, you can move every year and turn your primary house

into a rental property. So now you've gotten 5% down and you keep moving every year. Exactly. Like you said. Wow. Yeah. I haven't heard that track.

I'm already on that one. I've got three of them. Yeah, that's cool. So the state tax, you're able to get good rates. Well, you think about it. You're only putting 5% down. If you put a million dollar house, right? Yeah.

You can do a million dollar house for 50 grand down. Wait, how are you getting it for 5% down? Conventional loan. I thought it was like 20. No. Really? 20% down for an investment property. Oh, got it. 5% down for an investment property. Oh, got it. 5%

down for your primary residence. Oh. So if you move every year, if you just move, now your primary residence is over here. Dude. And this one is a rental property. So you could do it in every state? Every, I have three in the same neighborhood. Yeah. Wow. That is a good hack, man. Yeah. Again, I heard some smart person say that and I implemented it. Damn. Yeah. So 5%, what kind of. But people get hung up on moving. Yeah. That's their bugaboo. I don't.

Hire movers, five grand mover, come move my shit. I'm not even going to pack it. Yeah. That's what people get hung up on though. I don't want to move. My kids like the school. It's like, I don't know, f*** them kids. That's a whole nother, school is a whole nother conversation.

I know, right, right. Time for that. You see what I'm getting at, right? Yeah. That's what people are hung up on, the small picture. That's funny. Well, Anthony, it's been a blast, man. Where can people find you?

Instagram's a big one. Anthony underscore Fakara underscore. Cool. I'll link it in the video. Great. Cool. And how can people do the wealth stuff with you? Is there a site?

DM me up. DM me on Instagram. I have a website, too. There's a QR code on there. Okay. Yeah. Cool. Instagram's the easiest way.

My number's on there, too. Perfect. Sounds good, man. Thanks for coming on. Thank you. Yeah. Thanks for watching, too. There's a QR code on there. Okay. Cool. Instagram's easiest way. My number's on there too. Perfect. Sounds good, man. Thanks for coming on. Thank you. Thanks for watching, guys. See you tomorrow.