Wealth Formula Podcast

Most investors spend an enormous amount of time thinking about interest rates, inflation, earnings, and the latest AI breakthroughs. But very few stop to think about the one input that makes all of those things possible in the first place: energy. We tend to assume that energy will always be there when we need it—that supply will simply keep growing as demand increases. History makes it feel inevi...

One of the biggest frustrations I hear from successful professionals, business owners, and investors is simple: "I feel like I'm paying more and more in taxes, but nobody is showing me legitimate ways to reduce them." The reality is that there are numerous tax strategies available to high earners. The challenge is separating strategies grounded in well-established tax principles from those that re...

For most high-income professionals, the path to financial success seems straightforward: work hard, earn a great income, save diligently, and invest wisely. The problem is that even the highest-paying jobs have two significant limitations. First, much of what you earn is exposed to taxation. While there are certainly strategies to reduce your tax burden, there is a reason many of the wealthiest pe...

For those of us with kids, summer marks another milestone. School is out, graduation season is here, and for many families, college is right around the corner. My oldest daughter will be a senior this fall, which means our family is now officially entering the college application process. Like many parents, I've been looking at tuition numbers and mentally preparing myself for what feels like an i...

Some of the best real estate investments in history were made when the headlines were overwhelmingly negative. When financing dries up, lenders become restrictive, sellers become motivated, and uncertainty keeps many investors on the sidelines, opportunities begin to emerge for those willing to look beyond today's fear. That is precisely where we find ourselves today. Commercial real estate has en...

A couple of weeks ago, I had Barry Habib on the podcast talking about where he believes interest rates and the economy may be headed over the next several years. Barry has been one of the more accurate voices in housing and mortgage finance during a period when many economists and market commentators have repeatedly gotten it wrong. This week, I wanted to continue that discussion with mortgage ind...

This week's episode of Wealth Formula Podcast is a little different. What you're about to hear is actually a webinar I recently did with Chris Miles on a topic I've discussed on and off over the years called Wealth Formula Banking. Why play this on the podcast? Because I genuinely think more people need to understand the concept. It may or may not ultimately be right for you, but I think it's wort...

The stock market is sitting at or near all-time highs again. And what happens? People rush in. It's called FEAR OF MISSING OUT. Now compare that to what's happening in real estate. In many markets—especially multifamily—we've seen 30–40% price corrections from just 3–4 years ago. Our investor club has been buying, but most investors are sitting on the sidelines. Why? Because investments are the on...

I continue to be surprised by how many sophisticated investors still dismiss Bitcoin as purely speculative. At this point, whether you personally like Bitcoin or not is almost beside the point. The more important question is this: What happens to the price of an asset with a permanently fixed supply when institutional adoption accelerates globally? Because that is exactly what is happening right n...

There's a strange paradox when it comes to wealth. The more you have, the more invisible risk you carry. And most people don't see it until it's too late. I've seen this play out in a lot of different ways. A physician builds a multi-million dollar net worth over decades—real estate, brokerage accounts, maybe a business or two. Everything looks solid. Then one lawsuit hits. Or a divorce. Or even j...

When it comes to investing, boring is good. In fact, in most cases, boring is exactly what you want. The fewer moving parts an investment has, the fewer ways it can break. You're not relying on perfect timing, you're not depending on some heroic execution, and you're not sitting there hoping everything lines up just right. It just… works. That's why a lot of the stuff I like—cash-flowing real esta...

If you want to understand where money is going… don't listen to what people say. Watch what happens when the system is under stress. Right now, in the Strait of Hormuz—arguably the most important energy chokepoint in the world—Iran has effectively taken control of transit and, in some cases, is demanding payment in bitcoin for passage. Why? Because when you're operating under heavy sanctions, the...

If you've ever wondered why the U.S. seems to play by a different set of financial rules than the rest of the world… this is it. It all comes down to the U.S. dollar being the world's reserve currency. Now what does that actually mean? After World War II, at the Bretton Woods conference, the global financial system was essentially rebuilt—with the U.S. at the center. The dollar was tied to gold, a...

If you're paying a ton in taxes right now… it's because you're playing the wrong game. Most people think taxes are about income. They're not. They're about behavior—more specifically, incentivizing behavior. The government is constantly telling you what it wants through the tax code, and once you stop looking at it emotionally, it's actually pretty obvious. It wants businesses. It wants jobs. It w...

This week, you're going to start hearing a familiar narrative again… "Inflation is back." And on the surface, it's going to look true. The next CPI print is very likely to come in hotter than expected. We're already seeing it in real-time data like Truflation. Energy prices have surged, and because energy feeds directly into headline CPI, it's going to push that number up—fast. But here's the prob...

Most people assume a high income leads to wealth. Sometimes it does. But more often, it leads to a very comfortable lifestyle that depends on getting paid dollars for hours. There's nothing wrong with that. For many people, the best path is to keep doing what they do well and invest their income into real estate and other real assets. That alone can create significant wealth over time. But if you...

If you spend enough time listening to economists, you'll notice something interesting. They rarely agree. Over the years on the Wealth Formula Podcast, I've interviewed economists from across the spectrum—Keynesians, Austrians, monetarists, market practitioners, academics. Some are bullish about the next decade. Others are extremely pessimistic. But there's one thing that almost all of them have a...

I recently had a long conversation with a very successful professional. He's 58 years old. Highly educated. Respected in his field. Financially sophisticated — in fact, his job depends on understanding money. If you looked at his résumé, you would assume he was completely set for life. He wasn't. A couple of bad investments. Some concentration risk. A few decisions that looked reasonable at the ti...

There is one truth that has followed every major technological revolution in human history. Energy demand always rises to meet technological capability. When we industrialized, coal consumption exploded. When we built the modern transportation system, oil demand reshaped global geopolitics. When we entered the digital age, electricity quietly became the backbone of the global economy. And now we a...

There's a moment most high-income professionals remember clearly. It's when the first real money finally starts coming in. If you're a doctor, it's when you finish residency training. And almost immediately, the world starts whispering in your ear: "It's time to buy a house." Not just any house. The nicest house the bank says you can afford. And that's where people unknowingly sabotage one of the...

At some point in a successful career, taxes quietly become your largest expense. Not housing. Not lifestyle. Not investing losses. Taxes. And unlike most expenses, they grow automatically as your income rises — unless you deliberately structure around them. You know that my favorite means of tax mitigation is through investing in real assets like real estate and operating businesses. That approach...

For most of my career, I've been focused on two things: Operating businesses and Multifamily real estate. The strategy has been pretty simple. Take money generated from higher-risk, active businesses… and move it into more stable, long-term assets like apartment buildings. That shift—from risk to stability—is how I've tried to build durability over time. Now, to be fair, the sharp rise in interest...

This week's episode of Wealth Formula features an interview with Claudia Sahm, and I want to share a quick takeaway before you listen — because she's often misunderstood in the headlines. First, a quick explanation of the Sahm Rule, in plain English. The rule looks at unemployment and asks a very simple question: Has the unemployment rate started rising meaningfully from its recent low? Specifical...

One of the biggest risks people face when trying to understand the economy, investing, or personal finance isn't a lack of information. It's the illusion of being informed—while quietly limiting the sources that shape your thinking. We live in a world where information is everywhere. Podcasts, X threads, YouTube clips, newsletters, reels. But abundance doesn't equal diversity. In fact, the algorit...

The Wealth Formula Podcast is one of the longest-running personal finance podcasts still standing. For more than a decade, I've shown up every single week to talk about investing, markets, and the forces shaping the economy. What's interesting is how much my own thinking has evolved over that time. Early on, I was more rigid. I was—and still am—a real estate guy. But back then, I didn't give much...