He Raised $650M With Self-Directed IRA's: Here's The Playbook (Greg Herlean)

0:00I never had an appetizer or soft drink until I left the house. Like literally until I was like 19 or 20 years old. So, I say find something that can allow you to live your dream and your your best life. And you might fall into love with it. So, I can pay all my bills, 4 grand in 3 months. You know, that's where it began. And we're going to break down the one asset that every single person, yes, every single person needs to have. Welcome to the Be Wealthy podcast where we help entrepreneurs grow their income and figure out what to do with their money so they ultimately build massive wealth and live the lives that they want. Today's guest is Greg Herlean with Horizon Trust. Gregor, welcome to the podcast. Thanks, Brett. Thanks for having me. Excited to be here and talk to you today. I um as you know, Greg, you're one of my favorite friends for a variety of reasons. Uh one, you love adventure. Right? You're uh you travel, you do epic things with the people you love and create memorable moments, which is one of the missions of my life. The second thing is you're

1:01very, very real. I tell people you're my most real friends. Uh and we'll have a joke that'll come back in a moment, but as you know, you're uh in a world that seems like it's getting a little more fake every day. You're a real you are very, very real and I love that about you. So, thanks for being here, man. And thanks for saying that. That means a lot cuz you know what that means sometimes. Real is hard sometimes. It is uh I will tell you what, being a truth-teller in a fake world is an interesting thing. Uh-huh. Um it is a fascinating thing. So, I want to go back before Greg became Greg. Uh back to the early childhood. And one of the things we talk about on this podcast is our views of money and wealth are largely shaped at the family dinner table at 10 years old, right? How was it talked about? How was money? What was the feeling? So, in your household, you're going back to 10 years old, was money scarce or abundant? Not did you have it, but what the thought of it when it was talked about? Was it abundant or was it scarce? It was absolutely scarce. It was it was scarce. But obviously, we you

2:04know, roof over the head and and and food, which is, you know, a win. Uh but it was scarce. Dad Dad We didn't talk about money. That was not something that we talked about. Something Something we had. Uh definitely scarce. Okay. And was it feared or criticized or was money applauded? When you saw success out there that you guys were having, um did you root it on or was it like, "Man, they just they must be tricking somebody to get it." Was it Uh you know, it just wasn't talked about, to be honest. It wasn't wasn't like a bad thing or a good thing. It was just uh you know, we lived the way and where we lived. My dad was in Air Force, right? So, we moved around a bit. And then after that, he still moved we still moved around. And so, we lived with our people. So, there was no like we were all were the same. So, I didn't really think that I didn't have I mean, every once in a while, right? Like what like Johnny's dad had a Corvette, right? Like that was like that was a big deal. Brian actually, Brian's dad, Brian Brooks home, forget Chicago, had a Corvette. Like that was cool, but like same

3:05houses, same you know, we don't But I didn't, you know, he had you know, his dad was around. You know, he had donuts on Saturday mornings. We never had donuts on Saturday mornings. That might sound like a little thing, but it was kind of a big deal. Like appetizers, we I mean, this I I didn't I haven't thought about this, but but thanks for sharing to kind of or asking cuz it I could relive it a little bit. I never had an appetizer or soft drink until I left the house. Like literally until I was like 19 or 20 years old. There was no soft drinks and no appetizers. I did remember that cuz when I went out with my other friends, they have those things. Isn't it it's funny these little experiences though how you and then you think back of how different you're going to be with your kids. Like I growing up for me, when we went to the movie theater, which was rare, there was no way we were going to buy a soft drink for for $4. Like that would be I remember I started dating my wife at 19 years old at the movie theater. She bought a soft drink. I was like, "Are you crazy? What do you What do you think we're the Rockefeller?" I mean, it's just funny to think about growing up. The other thing is our my treat, Greg, which was rare, was frozen raspberries. If I got to have

4:07frozen raspberries and ice cream as a kid, it was like, "Holy cow, what's going on?" And it's just it's just interesting how those things like So, people got to reprogram their wealth mindset, think differently about money. Um and it's it's really interesting to see you today and to go back to thinking like I didn't have a soft drink or an appetizer Yeah. uh growing up. So, give me Give me some of that background from then to today. Give me Give me Greg's story. Well, look look, guys. So, I in Chicago, I would get up my mom would get up and with me and we I delivered newspapers. Like it's the good old, you know, fashion story. Like literally was doing newspapers at 12 years old in Chicago in the winter. And so, I was taught, you know, the importance of like if I wanted to do something, uh I had to earn money. Like and I remember like her lean chores. Like there was a rotation of chores and and and and we got paid allowances, one, two, or three dollars a week, you know, for you know, what for the chores for the full week. My dad was in Air Force, right? So, he was like he was very militant. And and I look it back at that at that and that was

5:10probably a a huge blessing. I mean, that taught me a lot. But that's that's where it began. And then, you know, I didn't have those things. And and so, you know, as I got older and I saw other parents around and had more things, but more importantly around. Like that was when you talk about real, like like that's what's important to me. Like that's my why is I want to be around. What you know, in at home and away or where but I want to be around. And so, that's what I saw growing up was parents that were around. Not They were not bad parents, by the way. My parents were not bad. But and and and we were living in a safe place, but uh I didn't see them as much and they didn't understand money and how it worked. And so, you know, that's where I started. Then I was doing, you know, when I was in Idaho, I was mowing lawns. I was shoveling snow. And and that's what I did. And but that's when I got to start seeing real like other people have money. I mean, growing up, you know, my you know, my friends didn't come over and like raid the pantry. Like there was no pantry to be raided, right? But you know, but you remember that

6:12friend, right? Growing up, when you go to their house and they had everything? Well, that's my house now. My house now has like every candy, every soda. But you know what's interesting uh is my kids don't eat or participate in any of those things. They want protein drinks and water. And and I it's funny because it's it's the opposite of what I had, but that's why they don't want it because they have it. It's right there. They can take the chips and the candy and their friends raid us and I love it. They're all their friends come over. So, you know, it was it was that's where it started and and you know, it was a slow, you know, for me it was it was lifestyle. It was being present and I saw that in other other families. And that's true That's actually how I, you know, eventually got into at the young age of early 20s after after my mission, which is where I went on. Uh uh that's that's where I got into seeing someone in particular and what their lifestyle was like, the particular product or to to the with the an industry uh that we'll talk about. All right. If you've been listening to the show for any period of time, you know I run a a high-end mastermind for entrepreneurs that are looking to create

7:15a different outcome and create more freedom in their life as it relates to their wealth and their money. And that's what I want to offer you a risk-free opportunity to come check it out. We have two seats available at our upcoming mastermind. You can book a call with my team over at bewealthy.com, navigate to the mastermind section and book a call. We would love to have you at the event and check it out and see what it's all about. What's the next evolution of the entrepreneurial journey?
College college for a semester and uh I was I was going to keep going, but then
One semester? Well, I did I did a year before. So, I did a year before my mission. And I did a semester after and and I was planning on keep going, but uh I came home for a weekend and my mom introduced me to this uh girl for lunch. We had a lunch date. You know, she wanted me to get married to be married right away and uh we didn't get married, but I um I met her her family that weekend. Uh it was a first date. You know, that's how it is. You move fast. Like meet the family. Uh it was like it was like an Actually, it was a Thursday. I was home. Cuz cuz I won't forget. It was a weekday. I think I even I might have said it before, but it was a weekday at 2:00, 3:00. And the father was home. He

8:18was cleaning his boat outside, shirt off, big house. And I was like, "What does this guy do?" Whatever it is, that's what I want to do. Yeah, that that's that's uh that's I mean, it didn't matter to me now. I'm 20 I'm 21. I'm I'm 21, almost 22. Okay. 21 or 22, you see this guy's cleaning his boat. He's got a great house. It you know, this is a little thing. This this is him, man. That's it. Cleaning a boat. And he was home, by the way. He was home on a Tuesday or Thursday at 2:00. And so, I was like, "What is he doing?" Like that he's figured it out, right? You I've heard about it, seen it on TV, but he was doing that. So, I literally got his information and asked if I could work for him almost immediately. And I dropped out of college a couple weeks later and started working for him. What What was the business? What did he do? Well, I didn't really know what he did. He said insurance. And so, I was like, "Okay, insurance. Here we go." You know, for again, it was and and that and I'll come back to this, but but I want to say something cuz you asked that question,

9:21too, is one of the I think the things that is wrong with today's world is people say do what you love. I used to say it for the longest time. And then I started thinking about what I do for a living. And I was like, "Do you think that I was like, 'Oh, I'm going to be the self-directed guy?'" Like I know we haven't got there yet, but like No, but I have fallen in love with it. So, I say find something that can allow you to live your dream and your your best life. And you might fall into love with it. I mean, and that's kind of what happened is he was selling life insurance, but I didn't care, right? Um and so, he was selling life insurance and he was also selling trust deeds, hard money loans in real estate. And so I got to go on appointments with him and I saw how he spoke to people and how he overcame you know, obstacles and and and and answered people's questions. But I also more importantly got to see what his clients got excited about. So I'd sit in the room and take notes and do whatever he said, right? Coffee, drinks, take notes, applications. But when people talk about annuities and

10:25life insurance, there's no excitement. There's commission. I learned that real quick. But when you start talking about uh real estate and you know, monthly income, 12% interest rates, they got excited. And and so literally within 6 7 months, I paid attention to that. And I was just learning how he spoke to people, uh what what hard money was, who he was working with, what I mean, I I I just took it all in. It was the best education I could have got. Uh and you know, then I left on my own after about 9 months. And and I just thought I'd be, you know, the best real estate hard money lender, uh you know, guy there was. So. What was his business? So he was what was the idea that people would use life insurance and then develop cash value and then invest those funds in real estate at a higher Was that the idea or was it not that related? No, not It's not like today, right? It's not like the banking that you and I talk about. No, no, no. This was selling annuities and universal life insurance policies and term policies. This is old school. And annuities cuz annuities were a big deal,

11:26right? Cuz it was a big commission. It was fixed. It was guaranteed 5 to 10-year fixed uh thing, you know, annuities and and but I I just didn't That was not exciting to me. And and so that's what he sold. And so he'd go out and find leads. How he found him was interesting, where he got I mean, I just learned uh so much. How to find a lead, how to talk to a lead, uh talk about guaranteed products like insurance and then also talk about trust deeds. And that was uh the most important thing that I uh you know, that I do today still is he taught me how to talk about money and how to raise it. And that's that's what he did. It didn't It doesn't matter the product. I mean, it does, right? But that that I just that was He was so good at those things it didn't matter. He could have been selling water and he would have done a great job. Like he was just talking about money and up to. Do you remember how was he generating leads back then? Yeah, I do. How was he doing it? Uh and I'll come back to some of these things a little bit. So two two things. Um he negotiated a deal with the school district. And and what he did is he

12:30said, "Hey, I want I'm going to give." Cuz he had he had an attorney that working with him, too, that did estate planning. He said, "Hey, I'm going to um offer a living trust package for all school teachers, administrators for $300. Living trust, will, everything, right? And so um he would market that everywhere. In school districts, fired, you know, departments. Uh he would do, you know, direct mail. And um people would come in for a trust. And when they came in, he said, "Hey, look, here's what we do. We're going to help you get your trust done, but we're also going to take a look, if you're open to it, uh about where you know, where your money's at and how you're doing. And if you'd like any recommendations, where is you know, kind of a financial check." And if the client if the person said, "No, they don't they're not interested," then he would never see the client again. The attorney would just finish the trust work for 300 bucks and it was done. But if the client's like, "Yeah, sure, I'll you know, I'll look at you know, what other opportunities or whatever he got uh then he would see that be there throughout the process. And so that's that's how he found leads and he found a

13:32lot of them. And that's what he did. Wow, that's uh that's fascinating. I want to go back to your comment on passion. You mentioned um you know, you people say follow your passion. One of my early mentors, I went to him and I said, "Hey, I'm in real estate. I'm I'm successful." This was like my first year, you know, I'm rookie of the year, all those things. I I go, "I don't know if I'm that passionate about it." And he goes, "Yeah, that's cuz following your passion is a bunch of crap peddled to you by other people." And I'm like, "Really?" He goes, "The reason you're not passionate about real estate, Brett, is cuz you're not world class at it. You're not the best at Become world class at something, then you'll find out you're passionate about it." It's well said. It's It's exactly how I feel. I didn't But you know, it's easier to say it now for you and I where we are today. You know, that that's one of the things I feel like when we're out and about talking to people and or on stages or hear other people talking, right? You and I have those experiences. And they you know, they're like preaching about, you know, this subject. And it's like, you and I can say that today. Like we can say that because we've lived it and now we love and we're experts at what we do. But back then, I don't know, 20 years

14:33ago, you know, or someone new today listening to this, feel like, "Yeah, okay, that sounds cool, Brett. Yeah, yeah, like you know, I'm not an expert. So so like that's not that's not
But go be But go on the journey to become world class at your thing, right? Well, here's an example for you, right? You just started golfing, right? You said you picked up golf. Yep. I've played golf for probably 15 20 years. And I started out the same way everyone does. I was awful. I was just terrible, right? And in the last COVID was the greatest gift for me because I had more time. I was at my cabin. So I got lessons where my kids were getting lessons. And I went from like an 18 handicap to a 10. And now I'm down to like a seven. And what happened though, is you know what I'm really passionate about now? Golf, cuz I'm good at it. That's right.
Well, when I was shooting 110, it it was fun to go with my buddies, right? I enjoyed I was going to golf to hang out with my friends. Today I go to golf to hang out with my friends, but I'm excited to see, right? To compete against myself on my best day. Can I beat my best score? Right? Can I And I'm

15:35not competing against anybody else and I'm not one of those people that breaks my clubs and gets pissed off. I win when I get on the course because I'm getting to do something I with people I love. But I think the passion thing is so overrated that get world class or be on the journey to become world class. Yeah, it's so good. And I think you'll find some passion. Totally, that's so good. Yeah. So you leave 9 months in, you've got all the tools and skills you need, you've learned what you could and you go, "Boom." Where do you go from there? Uh so I I go take I take it on the road, man. I I I I go I go sell living trusts, man. I go sell some living trusts. And um and
On the road and this is like flying places to do this? Is it I'm I'm just joking. I just you know, I left his office, right? So I'm still in town. I'm in Las Vegas. But you know, but I'm an expert now, right? In my mind. I can do this. But but you know, and so I mean, that's a whole lesson in itself. But I I I I decided that I would I could go find some money. I would sell living trusts. I went to another attorney and did the same kind of deal. Uh and uh I found some money. I did the same

16:38process. And uh I found it immediately actually within weeks of doing this. And someone with their So So he taught me about self-directed IRAs and all so many years ago. And so so I I introduced the subject of self-directing to one of the estate planning clients. And they and I, you know, I I said how would you like to be my partner on my next deal? You know, it was my first deal, by the way. But it was my, you know, the next deal. And so uh so he gave me $60,000 out of his IRA. I gave him 75% of the profits. And I was off, you know, I was 22 years old and I got to prove what I had learned to myself, to him, and uh do my first deal. And uh with a with a My first deal was a self-directed IRA in my life. And and uh so that's why it's so near and dear to me cuz that I I've lived it. I see my kid living it now, but it's he he got This guy let lend me $60,000 out of his like $600,000 that he had. And uh you know, the rest is history, really. We did a few deals

17:41after that and it was really really good. Well, so well, two things stand out there, right? Number one, this is probably 20-some years ago, right? We're talking about. So self-directed back 20 years ago was That's the early days. It was 24 years ago, really. Uh yeah, it was very early. It was very Yeah. So you go through that. Tell me about this first deal cuz I think that, you know, listeners out there I love your story and and I've heard it before. Um I love where you go, "Hey, I found a great deal, but I didn't have the money." Right? I think there's no doubt people listening to this right now go, "Brett, you know, I don't have the money." And I'm like, "No, no, you're missing a deal. Money's easy. And and that's easy to say, but it's the reality, right? If you have a world class deal, and you just started You could go to a grocery store and start talking to people. "Hey, I've got a I've got a deal you that's worth 200,000 I can buy for 100,000, you'd find the money for that deal." So tell us about the deal and then you gave up 75% of the profit. Yeah, I could have done it differently. That's right. So so look the look the deal is a simple condo reno. It was a

18:46fix and flip. And and look, I was It wasn't like I I it all came together at the same time. I was finding deals, but it couldn't find money. And and and and and I did I still believe a newbie today, you know, they say you you know, you find a deal, you can find money. I actually don't believe in that. I believe in it for me and you and people that done it for a minute or two. But newbies listening, that's it, you know, there's deals all around you, but if you don't have access to money or you don't how to get access, uh then I I I think it's hard. So that's so for me, I'd found a deal I was finding deals. A realtor was giving me, you know, opportunities. Uh and so just so happened once I found the money that particular month at the same time that I had this necklace client, I put it all together. And so it was, you know, for me the terms looking back on it, you know, that's that's a subject in its own. Like I uh I would have not changed a thing about it. Some people are like, "Oh my gosh." Yeah. Uh if I had to give him 100% of the profits,

19:49uh I would do that. And I think that's the lesson today. I I tell that story to people on my son today who's who's in the business, you always take care of your limit and overpay in the beginning especially. You're building you know you're building trust, you're building a money relationship. And I mean that guy invested with me for 15 years till he died. I mean so so if if if I was too cheap or not too cheap but you know I kept more than I should have, he might not have messed with me. And I mean he was a pinnacle turning point for me. And so I gave him 75% of the profits here in 12 grand in 90 days on his IRA, right? Didn't pay and and and I earned like 4,000 bucks, little less than 4,000 in uh in 90 days but I thought "Dude, I can pay all my bills. 4 grand in 3 months, you know, no bill you know I had no you know no no kids quite yet." So um so yeah, I mean it was it was that's where it began. That's the that's the firm working for me. You know, I had a similar journey. You know, I was flipping homes and I had enough money early on that you know I

20:52was successful selling houses and I was doing two or three flips at a time. And one of my employees said would you meet with my CPA? He's out of San Francisco. I said sure and he goes do you have a a copy of all the deals you've done? I said sure I keep a book, right? I had a settlement sheet when I bought and settlement sheet when I closed, before photos, after photos and net returns. And I kept the book just for me to like what I was doing. So I slid across the table and he looks at it and he's like you're crushing it. And I was like well I don't know about crushing it, it's all relative but I'm making money. And I said what I love about it I get to make my own decisions, I'm my own boss, right? When I sell real estate I'm there to serve other people in that context they're my employer, right? I mean they're in charge but when I flip a home I'm in charge, right? I can blow this wall out, I can I get to make all the decisions and if I'm right I get paid and if I'm wrong I get punished. Yep. And I I do well in that environment. And so he's like I'll put up I'll I'd like to invest with you and I said absolutely not. I have no interest. Because I don't want a boss. Yep. And I said he goes "Throw out your terms." I said "We never talk. There's a written

21:53agreement." I said "We never talk. Like I don't want your feedback on the decisions I make. I'm happy to show you full transparency on accounting, everything. I just don't want you You're welcome to go to the job site every day. I don't want to talk to you about what we're doing." Yeah. Like it just I don't want any question reporting to you. Yeah. I'm not reporting to you like why we're painting or why we're turning that wall. So we do it and and the rules were uh 50%. He put up all the money. I did all the work. He got 50% of the profit, I got 50%. If we wanted to do another deal we would go from there. If I ever lost money uh we if we shut it down right then he took all the loss. As long as he let me do another deal we would pay back the loss out of the next deal. So those were the terms. Uh he wires in some funds and we get going and it was probably two or three years and I made a millions. And one day I wired it all back. I said hey I I it's been great. You've been incredible. And he goes and I was starting to do a lot of hard money at the time. He's like "Oh would you put in some hard money for me?" And I said of course but so I started in a similar way to you where that that investor that had confidence

22:56in me was an absolute game changer. And there's no doubt to this day we still talk. Um you know I don't have anything to do with his capital anymore. I hadn't for years but it was a you talk about a turning point is finding that person that invests in you, believes in you. It's your point. Even if I would have given up a lot more of the the percentage it was worth it for what I got to you know I got to learn. And I think in our whole time together we lost money on like three deals. It was minimal. You know, you lose 10 on this one or 20 on that one and I would say in flipping if you haven't lost money in flipping yet you just haven't done enough deals cuz you're going to have one that That's right. Something comes up, right? Things are going to happen. Nothing you know life altering. So you go from there, you've got you've you've done a deal now, you've got an investor. Where does it go from there? Did is it right then you started Horizon? You said "I'm going to be one of the largest trust companies in the United States" or what was the stepping stones from there? No, I that just that that just I I got really good at teaching and talking to people about

23:59self directing and IRAs and funding my deals. And and I was basically you know leveraging or brokering you know real estate agent or two that would send me deals. They were good at finding deals and I was good at getting the money. And so I just made you know I I I created a role for myself and just got really good like I started I did hundreds of those. Then we started doing land deals and apartment complexes in St. George and and uh so but but my focus more and more over time became talking to people and raising money. And and I I liked it, I understood it. It was easier. I didn't I didn't like the boots on the ground. Didn't did not like that and I mean I had to show up, right? In the beginning at the end but that's about it. And and so um you know I I mean obviously not right away after uh about a year of doing deals I was like okay, I'm I can find money, you can get deals, you know, you can find the deals. And so I just got got good at that and I started raising uh

24:59millions and millions of dollars um for different projects and deals and um I did that uh with a couple thousand investors and and I was referring everyone to this is for a decade uh before I started the trust company. So I was referring it to you know the Goliath Equity Trust Company and another company, right? And every time I would you know me and or the sales team, right? Next time I'm building a team uh would would talk about investing with their IRA, you you the part of process was opening it up with another trust company. And they were slow and difficult and their service was terrible. And so every time we they do that we actually created a department in my office that did all the paperwork for the trust company. Like it was on a platter finished like we called the client with them and we're like here and they still took forever. And so when they took forever when you're dealing with someone's retirement funds it's it's sensitive, right? If you spent

26:01decades saving it. And so all of a sudden they're doing something new, it's a little different and then it's then something breaks. Someone doesn't call back, the money takes longer. So it makes them second guess it. So now they think my deal's bad. It has nothing to do with my deal. I'm losing deals now. So I was like all right, I got to fix this. So I started a trust company. I started a trust company and uh and that was 15 years ago really. Uh There's a little stint in there another story for another day but that 15 years ago I started Horizon Trust Company for that purpose. Truly just I wanted to solve the the lack of efficiencies in the in this marketplace of just doing what we say we're going to do. I was like look all we're going to do is just not nothing more, nothing just do what we say we're going to do. And and so over time I actually ended up uh getting out of the money raising and real estate deal making with others. You still I still do it myself personally. And and and just focus on self directing now. That's it. That's what I do and I absolutely love it. It's so fun now I get to see other people that are raising

27:04money and I'm part of the process. Like I I created my company for exactly what they're trying to do. Like and so when someone refers us business I take it really seriously cuz I know what it feels like to be a trust company and have it set up. And So anyways that's so that's so that's what we do and and and we've got you know my clients not only the end user but my client really are are are people that are raising money some scaling their business, their fund, their deals. Uh so we we take really good care of them. So that's how I got into it and never thought I'd be the self directed guy ever but I I never knew that you were you were referring out and actually started the trust company as a need to increase the level of service. I I never knew that part of the story. 650 million dollars in hard money loans. Yeah. It was uh it was a really but it's also why I love the trust company cuz I don't do that part anymore. Because when when you're

28:05brokering you know you know I mean hard money you know you're people come to me me and you. I mean at the time me at back then but you know they want to give me $100,000 and I get entrusted and you know I do my underwriting and due diligence and everything else but when they're late or there's problems and there are they're calling me. They're not calling the guy who's got the money. And so you know imagine that times $650 million. Imagine that 2008 when every single loan went to default. Imagine you know I mean I mean you know I mean you've lived you've lived these this cycle too and so and so so so that's partly why I also love the trust company business is I don't I don't make I don't advise I don't solicit investments. Uh and I let people invest in products and people that they know like and trust and it doesn't have to be something I'm doing as well. Well I'm the biggest advocate as you know for self directing, taking advantage of your own retirement, putting your money where you have an unfair advantage which usually is in your own you know if it can be somewhere

29:07along your own business. Obviously there's rules but I mean like if I'm a real estate agent or real estate investor, me using my retirement to do real estate deals makes a lot of sense, right? I'm closer to that than I am the stock market or something else, right? If I'm being on the business you're in, right? Like where do you have expertise that is a valid asset that you can invest in legally, right? Again, there's rules to all this. So when you see all of the investment opportunities in all your clients at Horizon Trust the people that are doing it the best, what do you think they're investing in? Like where are they placing those funds? I'm you already know I'm biased. I came from the same background you do which and I still do this day, hard money lending and the debt side of all things, you know, and for private capital, venture debt, hard money, all that stuff. I'm a I'm obsessed with it. I love lending. Uh I love deals, right? I'm a deal junkie at heart. So, I always want to look at the deal and I'm not the operator on the deals anymore, but I get like to look at there and I get to look at my snapshot and fund it and and see them win and I think that's cool. Where do you see What's the most interesting things you

30:09see people doing with their funds today? Most interesting. Look, I I think uh most interesting or exciting, uh I would say are are, you know, the big hits. Like the the big like buying the land, getting it, you know, permitted and change zoning and then they get these big hits, right? Like the like, you know, there's there's as you know better than me, probably, is there's just there's there's times where you make money on a project, right? You buy the dirt, you get it zoned, permitted, you then do the construction. I mean, there's and and so I those people that are buying and and rezoning and going to, you know, different permitting. Like the the storage is a massive good example. You know, you and I have got friends in the in the in the self-storage space, right? They're buying the land in California, right? I'm not sorry, in California. No, it's too expensive there. In Florida. And and they're, you know, putting under contract with their IRA, right? And they have a team that goes in but while it's

31:13under contract for 6 months, get it rezoned to storage, then rather than like, you know, office or, you know, whatever zoning it is, uh but it's not storage, right? And in that process, you know, there's so much value. That that $100,000 piece of property goes up to 250, 300,000, you know, in in a year. Takes takes a minute, right? Then they close it 6 to 12 months. Uh those are those are exciting, but it you know, that it the the the the the real answer for everybody and and and I you teach this, too, is is do what you know. And so, that's what really gets me excited is when I see Parker. You know Parker, right? He's he's using his IRA in the area that he's really good at. He's not doing storage because he heard Greg talk about storage at a conference cuz everyone's off in making money in storage, which is what, you know, the problem is in today's world. Oh, he's making money on that. I'm going to start a coaching program, right? Or I'm going to do a whatever. So, it's like So, investing and doubling down in what you know. I mean, my my son with his Roth IRA, he's making 15% every

32:17quarter uh flipping uh construction equipment. Think I brought it up at one of your events before. That's That's what he's doing. I didn't teach him teach him that. Good for him. 15% every every 3 months, that's a good return. I think it's so interesting what's available when you start and when you scratch the surface of self-directing, right? You get in there and people probably self-direct cuz they think I'm going to put it into maybe the stock market, but I want to pick my own thing or I want to just take in more control. And I think when they get in there, what they learn is that there's almost like this infinite array of options that show up in their like you said, in their own world. Like the guy doing equipment financing. Right? Like that's a cool that's a really cool return, right? I've seen people you I mean, from or you and I you and I have got good friends in the natural gas, the royalty side. I think that's a a fascinating space to play in. Um there are just so many options that don't follow the path of I'm just going to put it into something I don't understand. That's right. I mean, it it it it is And And by the way, that's part of the that that can be overwhelming. I mean, it

33:19the sky is the limit almost right? There's a few exceptions, but uh that's that's why it's important to do your own due diligence and and invest in what you know and who you know. And uh but that's also what's exciting. And And look, only 5% of Americans do this, even though it's been around for over 40 years, 45 years over. Uh but it's uh but this is not for everybody. Like, you know, some people like And you and I got people that you know, people get up on stage like you should do this. Well, no. Look, what what you and I do is not for everyone and that's okay. Same with self-directing. It it is meant probably for 15% of a population. Not not 5%, uh but not 50% either. Most of America's not going to do it do diligence, doesn't understand alternative asset classes, shouldn't put all their money in cryptocurrency or in a storage deal or with somebody they don't know. Uh for for entrepreneurs, people like that are listening to this, uh most likely are doing due diligence. They're into it. They're they they enjoy it and and just to understand the power of unlocking your money and investing it

34:24in these different asset classes and not paying taxes potentially ever, uh if you, you know, get it converted to a Roth, that's just powerful. And it's fun to watch. It really is fun to watch. So, let let's go there. Let's kind of break down self-directing. Let's talk to maybe the people that are in that percentage of the they're in the 95 that don't even know what it is. So, Greg, what is self-directing? If I want to What do I do? How do I do it? How does it work? It's uh self-directing is simply uh utilizing and/or using your unlocking your retirement funds and and enabling them to invest in alternative asset classes, things that are not the typical like the stock market. And so, a self-directed IRA is not a a type of IRA. Uh if it's if you have a traditional or Roth or simple, whatever you have, it's still a simple or Roth or traditional with us at Horizon Trust Company. It's just a self-directed simple or Roth. So, the rules still apply. So, excuse me, for contributions and

35:26distributions. But uh what you can invest in is the only difference. So, when it comes to self-directing, it's really about what you what you can invest in. Uh not what the rules are when you can take money's out. And so, you know, if you go to your your typical, you know, brokerage house, Fidelity, Charles Schwab, TD Ameritrade, you can't say, "Hey, look, I'm going to go and lend, you know, I want to move $50,000 and lend it to Brad or to, you know, my deal, whatever." You can't It's not allowed. It's not on their list of approved uh investment classes. And so, that's, you know, there By the way, there is it's not a quick elevator pitch, although I could probably do a better job, but that's what self-directing is is is giving you uh the access to direct your funds, your retirement funds, in asset classes that are typically alternative. So, let's talk about who it applies to, right? So, if I had a former job that I had some retirement, that I've left that job and it's, you know, sitting in something, there's a chance and not all I don't want to, you know, like wide-sweeping statements, but is there a way that I could possibly convert that

36:28to an IRA and self-direct it if I've got some old retirement plan? Yeah, so if you have Depending. If you have any kind of retirement If you have a traditional or any kind of IRA, you can move it. If you have an old 401k or TSA, I mean, any any kind of government old pension plan, uh though all those plans also can be moved if you're no longer employed there or working there. And so, And look, we're we're we're talking about over 120 million not 120, 105 million of these accounts in the US. So, this has over 20 trillion dollars. And so, most likely if you're listening to this, you or someone you know that lives in your home has one of these old, you know, when I say old, an old 401k that you're like, "Oh, it only has $25,000. I don't know. It's my with my previous employer. I don't know what it's doing." That there there's tens of millions of those and over 100 million of IRAs. And so, they're they're all around you. You probably have one and and you're not paying attention to it.

37:29Well, and that's where I want to go. So, let's say I've got that account with 25,000 and it's from a I had a job, you had a 401k. I don't I'm no longer working there. I've just been leaving it doing whatever it was doing. So, I would go to Horizon, I go to you. Uh and there's a process, right, to take those funds and move them over to Horizon Trust. And now I've got access to these alternative investments. So, once I get it there, Greg, talk to me about now I want to grow it, right? Cuz I've got 25,000. It's it's cool, but it's not enough to maybe do everything I want to do. But now there's ways, right, that I could put money into there. So, talk to us a little bit about How do we take that 25 and add funds to it so that we could do, you know, bigger deals, more deals, whatever. Well, look, the the those the same rules apply if you were with us or with Charles Schwab as far as contributions go. You can You can You can put in money every year into your retirement plans. Uh that's a little bit based upon also talking to your CPA to find out which accounts you can fund or you can't fund. But the most importantly is is utilizing what you currently have to get big gains

38:33cuz as it grows and compounds, you can use that 25 that turns into 35 or 40, it can obviously reinvest. And then you can also add contributions, especially if uh not especially, but if you're looking to add a lot more money cuz you maybe feel like you're behind. Most of America is, by the way, so don't feel bad if you are. Uh you can create and we can help you do this, create a 401k for your business. And now you're able to put away a lot more money, up to 72 or 3,000 dollars now in contributions. Uh you got you know, you got to pay yourself some W-2 income to do that, uh which all that we go over in a phone call with those that that are interested, but uh you can add contributions, you know, 7, 8,000 dollars per year in certain accounts or more if it's a simple uh or, you know, a SEP, etc. Uh but you can always make contributions. Uh sometimes you can't make contributions to Roth's uh because you might make too much money, uh but but that's something that we, you know, we review with you. But you can make contributions, you can double down on your, you know, on on whatever you're

39:35investing in, take those profits and then reinvest. Uh that's that's that's what's exciting is is is doubling down and look, the idea about self-directing and success comes from getting rid of the ups and downs. I'm not I I don't I don't preach go out and make 20% per year. That's bull or my account. You don't have to. If you're making 6 to 8% in the market, which is probably what you're making, if you can just consistently make 10 or 12%, that 2 to 4% difference per year is a difference compounded of hundreds of thousands of dollars people will have when they retire. So, the idea is not get crazy and you put it all in crypto. Although I do say you should buy some now crypto. I used to not say that, but I wouldn't say put it all in crypto or all in a real estate deal either. This is your retirement. But but I the idea is making 2 to 4%. Hey, if you're getting value from the show, do me a favor. Take less than 10 seconds and hit subscribe. Whether you're on YouTube, Apple podcast,

40:38Spotify,

hit subscribe, leave us a review. It helps us immensely. Our goal is to help more people and you are one of the keys to doing that. So, please do us a favor and leave us a review and also subscribe. So, and you've got two really ways to think about or you got the traditional, you know, IRA and then you've got the Roth. How do you talk to people about converting? And how do you think about, you know, that process? What's your kind of internal dialogue when you're advising clients? And I'll give my story on what it Yes. Yeah, so you know, again, I'm not a CPA, so consult your own. That's my disclaimer, but I recommend everybody should get their money into a Roth as quick as possible. And I mean, unless you're going to start taking distributions in the next like 24 months or 36, otherwise, the question becomes a plan it's a it's a it's an it's math. It's it's you know, you can play with this calculator all day long, but take, you

41:40know, convert to a Roth and you can do it over time, by the way. So, let's say you have a million dollars and when you convert, you got to pay taxes on the conversion from a traditional to a Roth on the amount that you convert. So, you could potentially, when you do that conversion, bump yourself up into a higher tax bracket. And and so, it's really important you do talk to your CPA about how much and when to do it. I've got a lot, you know, those that are I mean, you're good at this, Brett. You I've seen you teach this and and and probably will do a better job me at but but I I would say once you once you know your dollar amount, every year you you know, you have, you know, a bonus depreciation on asset and you have tax write-offs, those are the years that you convert your IRA. And so, if you have X amount and and write-offs, depreciation, then you should do that much in a conversion from a traditional to a Roth and do it until you get it all converted to a Roth because as you convert it and you if you don't have to pay tax on it because you're doing it strategically, then you you know, then now it's all

42:43compounding and growing and when you pull it out, you pay nothing in taxes ever. And that's the that is the goal. It's not to pay taxes now when you convert it or later when you pull it out. Okay, Brett, I want to anchor in your point. I want to make sure you can see my screen. Can you see this okay? Yes. So, I went to the most famous calculator earthbewealthycalculator.com and I plugged in these numbers. I assume someone's 44 years old out there. Hypothetically, that's my age. And I said they're going to retire at 65 years old. They started with 300 grand. They're putting away let's assume we're going to put away $3,000 a month and they're going to get a 12% return. Okay, so over that, whatever 21 years, they've got now what do they got? 7 million bucks. So, I'm anchoring in Greg's point here, which is so if if you as you as you pull that 7 million out of your regular IRA, you're going to pay taxes you pull it out. If it was a Roth, you're going to pay no tax and so

43:45I I could not agree with your your statement more. I converted my Roth and I ate the tax pretty early on. To your point, years when I had things I could depreciate and it made more sense from a tax perspective, but getting my funds into a Roth account was critical because I didn't want to pay the 37% of the tax rate on the 7 million. I'd rather pay nothing and pay the tax today using other tax strategies today and I didn't It's just a point where the people they miss. Yeah, and and Brett, can I add leave that calculator up there? There's two things here. So, let's say that was just a traditional IRA. And look, this is what and I geek out on this cuz it's so exciting, but you're going to pay on that 7 million dollars if you were to take it out cuz you will, you or your beneficiaries if you don't use it while you're alive. And you're going to pay tax on that. And I don't know what the numbers you want to throw that at least 20%, right? I mean, maybe more, but at least that. So, call it a million and a half, right? So, now you're at five and a half. So, so go back and put 250 instead of 300,000 in there. Just for fun. Okay.

44:49See what that does. Got it. What does that do? 6.4 So, so basically, by paying taxes today, moving your 300 to 250. Let's just say you didn't have bonus depreciation. You you could not write it all off. Let's just say you just you wrote 50 grand off. You know, you paid in taxes. So, now you're starting with 250. In that scenario, you pull out 6.4 million dollars tax-free rather than the other number of 7 million dollars, 7 million 61,000, rather than 7 million 60,000, just a 20%. So, 5.5 million. It's a million dollar difference by paying 50 grand today. 50 grand today saves you now a million dollars based upon this this hypothetical person. Well, and now, Greg, well, let's go let's run it out another 10 years. Let's go to 75. You're just getting you're just going to get a
Well, now you got that Well, now you go to Now you've got 21 million dollars, right? That you're

45:52avoid I mean, it gets to be And by the way, Greg, we're not talking crazy numbers. There's not a person who's watching this today that couldn't grow their skills and figure out a way to put away $3,000 a month, right? Like that's really what we're Now, this person started with 250. But let's say you started with 50 grand. Or maybe you're just starting. We'll we'll do the numbers in a minute. It's still 13 million dollars. Now, Greg, let's go different. Let's start at the zero. It's 11 million dollars and you're putting away three grand a month. So, what when I talk to people and you've seen it in our masterminds, what I'm talking to you like everyone has the opportunity to be really wealthy. And every we can determine we can wealth can be different things. It's way more things than money. The things that wealth brings are actually all the things that aren't money are actually the more important things. But I just like to show this because you know, you can make your numbers. Let's drop it down to 1,500 bucks a month. It's still 6 million bucks, 5.9 million dollars, right? In a Roth retirement account in things that you understand. I also think, Greg, the thing we don't

46:54talk about enough in self-directing is where's your passion? Is your passion for the stock market? Or is your passion for something related to your business or people you know or deals that you could be a part of and play a totally different game. And I I just love what you do so much because I think you're unlocking you're unlocking entrepreneur and savvy employees' potential. Well, this is why I I preach literally preach the importance of starting to invest now. No like no matter where you are, what you're doing, now. And and contrary to what you'll see where people say pay off your expensive debt. I don't say that. And I know that might not sound right. You know, you got 20% debt, save regardless. Why? Because if you pay off your debt first, it's going to take you 6 months. So, just 6 months of not saving. And then what's going to happen? You're going to have more debt. And so, you're now you're going to delay the saving even

47:57saving money even more. So, I always say you're never going to be unhappy that you started saving. And you're going to figure out how to pay your debt. So, just start saving. It's um it's so massive. I do say I rarely do I get on stage or talk to my coaching clients and say everyone should do this, but everyone should have a Roth retirement account. I'm that passionate. Like I every single like is life is whole life insurance for everyone? No. Do I think it's a great tool that a lot of people should look at? Absolutely. But a Roth retirement account is for absolutely everybody. Greg, let's go to mistakes people make when they self-direct or they're thinking about doing. What are the big mistakes they make? Okay, for the the the biggest mistakes are not knowing who you're investing with and not doing your due diligence on the asset. That that is you know, there's there's self-directing mistakes, right? Like you know, prohibited transactions, things you shouldn't do. Those are the easy cupcake things. Like they're just rules. You

49:00know, you can't you know, you can't invest in your own deals that you like in a in a home or Airbnb that you live in or you know, you can't do the the construction personally on the project that your your money is invested in. But I mean, those are the you can't do's. You know, prohibited transactions. But but the no-no's are not understanding or knowing who you're investing with. Not making sure that your IRA has the right documentation. That that's that I think. In in in the other thing is is something I also preach is no is not final and yes it's It's okay if you don't like let's say you get your your money over to us at Horizon Trust Company. You're all excited and and you and you don't need to rush into a deal. There's always a deal. In my life In fact, I made more money when the market was you know, tanking in 2009 than almost any year. And there's always a there's always a deal. So so be patient. No is not final, yes is cuz sometimes you say yes too

50:05soon. And it's it's a bad decision. Uh there's always a good deal. Always a good deal. I I got to tell I'm going to use that Greg. No is not final. Yes is. That's a good That's a great line. Yeah. It's true. I said it many many times. I want to talk to you I want to go where you went which let's talk about the due diligence on deals. Uh not real estate deals but cuz you see people pitching stuff, right? And I think in weird times like we're in today, you know, we're filming this uh in the September that I see more people pitching bad deals. Whether that's a syndication, it's something that has 0% chance of ever making money other than the GP's charging fees. I know you know what I'm talking about. And I see people go around I I looked at one yesterday and I almost laughed out loud on the call like this is unbelievable. Um I mean it was literally it was there was no chance of make They're buying a deal. Uh I'll give you some of the mechanics. They're buying a deal that has a 6% cap

51:07rate, very little value add upside and they're promising the investors like a 7% return. And I couldn't help but looking at it like the So someone asked me, how do they make money? But how does this work? I said, oh they're just going to feed you to death. Like they're the GPs are going to make great money here. But the investors So how do you go through and and know Greg like what do you look at? Cuz you look at probably more deals than anybody I know like this. What are you looking for? Well, but but besides all the due diligence that you do on who you're investing with, you know, that that's that's number one and I learned that the hard way, right? I used to chase great performers, right? I used to chase pretty marketing. Uh but first and foremost that, who you're investing with. Uh and there's things to do there. I I now have my counsel before I invest in anything look at stuff because he's told me don't ever effing do something again without having me look at it. Uh you know, I used to you know, like I know I know the guy or you know, he's a friend of a friend and and and I know real estate and I know

52:10this area but so first that. Number two, documentation. Again, I'd get counsel on making sure that whatever documentation you're signing, you know what you're signing. You understand the terms. Uh I like to find things like like one of my favorite things are how I invest now is is there's certain deals that are just like great. They're great deals. Good people, good deals. They come to me and like, hey look, if you put up X, I'll give you 50% of the profits, right? Or whatever it is, 30% of the profits. And and and by the way, 30% means you're going to make uh you know, between 25 and 40% annual returns, right? We've seen them all over this. And I'm like, look, this is great, love it. Uh I'll instead of taking your proposed 30% I'll take I'll take 20%. So I I actually offer them less than what they're telling me. But I say, I want a floor, no less than 18%. Why? Because every deal goes longer and and costs more money. I'm not going to make

53:13I I'm not going to make and I don't and I don't want to care too much about the decisions and or fees uh or or bad decisions they make. It's going to happen. The market changes. So so so I put a floor on my deals. I'll take less equity but a floor cuz that's more important to me is getting the floor. So it has to come out of their side at the end of the deal. Uh that that's that's what I prefer doing. So I'm uh that's how I look at equity deals. You know, and then debt's debt, you know, I I love to lend as well. Uh but but the equity deals, that's that's what I like to do. I I love you said bringing counsel. Um my new comment these days is the value of so much of the value of the deal is in the value of your agreement. Yeah. Right? Like it's the what cuz the agreement only matters when we disagree. Right? I mean it's all great we're printing money but when we if we disagree have an issue, it all it's going to be or what those words say. Well, that you appreciate it cuz you've been on the wrong side of it a few times, I'm sure as I have. And that's why it's so important. And and and by the way, that that lesson alone

54:15if someone's you know, listening to this, that alone will save you hundreds of thousands if not millions of dollars. Just just that one thing. Don't be too smart, too cool, too knowing of a deal. Have someone review it and I know it's going to take a little bit longer. It's going to cost you a little bit of money but it's actually not going to cost you. You you're going to save yourself lots of money by mistakes in the contract. I I would say this where I think you're you know, due diligence. I I I just did due diligence on a big project that I ended up not moving forward with cuz the diligence came back and it was just things we couldn't move forward with. So I probably spent on this deal 20 25,000 dollars in due diligence for something I didn't do. And you know, my wife asked me she goes, is that frustrating? I go, uh no. It was the best investment I could have made because honey, if we went into this, we could have lost or I mean they have the chance to make money but we could have lost millions. Spending 20,000 to save millions is a great investment all the time. And so I look at due diligence now probably just different than others that

55:16I look at it's it's just my entry fee to play and I'm on if someone's like we don't have time or you know, you you got you got to make a decision in the next week and you don't have time. It's not for me, man. I I'm not going to make that deal. I can't. I find that the deals that have to happen like there's times in a lending deal where they have a close of escrow, it's not refundable. I get that. But most deals can We're not heart surgeons. No one's dying today. Another week doesn't actually move the needle and if their person is not willing to give me the week to actually get to the facts why are they pressing you for their money? Take your time. Due diligence to me is everything. It's a lost art and I've learned to respect it just more and more of the the more white hair I get. Uh Greg, you don't have enough white hair away which we're not getting on that subject matter today but man, that is a Have you not experiencing any the distress that I have or is it just me?
No no no, I've definitely experienced the stress. I think it's just hidden. I got good lighting here. I got I got good lighting. All right, Greg. I I want to I want to switch gears and I want to talk to your strategy like where you I want to you to

56:19talk to a little bit about our people with the if they're out there, they're doing deals. Um how do they find more money to scale their deals? What's the best way to find quality relationships, quality money? Cuz I think you do that you know, better than anybody I know. Yeah, look, it's it's uh when people ask me that question, I always feel like I wish I had like a a prettier answer. Uh I I've done it my whole career and I've gotten better and better and better at it. But it it's the same thing. I mean, back in the day, I was doing mailers for living trusts, right? And I was building relationships and finding dollars. Today, we have, you know, chat GPT and Facebook and social media and we've got our CRMs that have, you know, 10 to 10,000 clients or potential clients in there. So for me it's about talking about the subject all of the time. And and that's what I did and and I think the true key to success in any business is you have to raise

57:23money. You're always raising money. Do You might not need it today. You might but you might tomorrow. So you don't wait for the deal in my opinion. You should always be talking about money, always be talking about self-directing even if you're not the expert. You leverage on us as the experts but when I didn't have a trust company for 10 years and raised over 600 million dollars, didn't own a trust company. But I all I talked about was self-directing. I didn't talk about the deal, hard money. I said, do you have an IRA? Do you like the returns? And then I listened. And that's one of the most critical things is asking those questions. Did you know Do you know? Are you happy? What's the interest rate? What makes you happy? What's important to you? And then as you as you hear them and you have these conversations with people you're listening to what's important to them. Collateral or interest rate. And someone's going to be like, yeah, I I only want to make 20%. Cool. Cuz there's going to be a deal where I actually could probably pay 20%. Not right now.

58:24But but there will be and so I would I made lists. I mean I wrote on my whiteboard. So and so, 25,000. So and so, 200,000. Only wants multifamily. Only wants to lend. Wants to partner. Just on the list. I I just would listen and hear what they had and what kind of money. So so for those that are trying to raise money And by the way, you can do this for businesses, too. I I mean I funded a couple businesses with other people's IRAs. I mean that's that's I had to survive, you know, when you had you know, three almost four kids at the age of 31. I was like, all right, I need to scale and I need money. And so so I I also have had my business funded by someone else's IRA um around 30 years old. So So what what I'm sharing with you is it's it goes back to the basics. Hustling opening your mouth. It's all around you. There's a hundred million or more people in the United States that have money that are most likely not happy that could be your future, you know, for me it was Ron the Wigley. That was his name. You know, it Find your Ron. Find you know, you had your guy. Find your your person and or persons but you should always be talking about it.

59:28And unless you don't need money. But I I I've yet to see people listening to a podcast and going to events and building businesses who don't need money to scale. All right, if you've been listening to our show for a bit, you've likely heard that I run a wealth-building mastermind largely around some of the same concepts and content that we talk about here on the podcast. We have an upcoming mastermind. We've got two seats left for it. If you want to come shadow our mastermind, take a look at what it's like, get an actual feel for what it feels like to be with a tribe of people that are on the same journey as you, we've got a completely risk-free way to do so. Just go to bewealthy.com, navigate over to our mastermind, and book a call with one of my team members to learn more about our mastermind, and you can how you can come completely risk-free and check it out. I actually I You said that answer wasn't pretty. I think it was a great answer. That I don't think people are They think they're trying to find money, but I don't think they're doing the work. I don't think, to your point, they're talking about it all the time. They're going, "Hey, what do you do for a living?" "Oh, what do I do?" I'm

1:00:29actually, you know, I'm a lender. Or, right? I I But they're not doing that, which is what makes it good. All right, Greg, I want to go to some some recommendations. I want to go to your some book recommendations, some habits, and then advice to your younger self. What are you What are you reading right now that you love? Or what's the book that's had the biggest impact in your life? Uh well, look, I I just finished The Obstacle Is the Way. I don't know if you've read that. Uh I have. Uh Ryan Holiday? Yeah, Ryan Holiday. Yeah. I I I've So, that's fresh on my mind because I just finished it, and I I feel like there's been a lot of obstacles. There's always an obstacle in the way, and how we approach them, how we get through them. So, So, that's a recent one. Uh Uh Not to say Well, I shouldn't even I don't want to preface it this way. I I'm reading the Bible in a new way. Uh I've doubled down
tell me about that. And
Okay, I love that. Tell me um tell me about your reading it in a new way. Uh uh I'm, you know, growing up, I'm very religious uh

1:01:30and Christian. But I read it in a way that was, you know, in a in in a you know, I have to read it and/or, you know, just cuz I was check the box, it's part of my morning routine, you know, and it's, you know, brings the spirit into my life. And by the way, it does all those things. But I I've now read it from a business perspective. Uh and I still get the uplifting part of the spiritual side. But the lessons that you can learn, the people like the the the the apostles, and how they were persecuted, and then the obstacles they went through, and then they listened to their leader. I mean, obviously, the best parts, in my opinion, obviously, is is when Christ is on the earth, right? And and and it's their, you know, their their stories and the parables and the uh tight Titus. I mean, talk about uh And this guy That's a book, Titus 10, by the way. Good That's a it's a it's a it's a it's a That's a good book. Anyways, the the Bible and the lessons that are learned from a business perspective, so applicable today. I mean, it's a cycle. In today's world as

1:02:32well, right? I mean, uh Sorry, I you got me on one cuz I get excited about it. And I No, I love this. I love where you The the the the the cycle that we read about in in in that we've we live is the pride circle, right? We We're We're humble. We're struggling. We're hustling. We're good people. We're building relationships. We get success. We start making money. We're too cool for school. We got all these things, and all of a sudden, family gets sick. Someone's got cancer. An employee steals from you. Uh so something major happens, right? Bible as well, same thing happens. So, every, you know, if you read it differently, you see the success in the in the the wealth and the food and and and they're living really well, and then what? They're too cool. They don't need God anymore. They're not They don't need God. They're not giving. They're not By the way, your your your community is such a big commu- a giving community. When we stop giving, and in the Bible, you stop giving, you start losing. And all of a sudden,

1:03:36uh deaths happen. And and they're you know, wars happen. Anyway, so so I want to I'll go on and on, but but but read it If if you if you can try If you're reading it, read it a little bit differently, and it really's changed my perspective on the Bible cuz I always thought it was pretty boring, to be honest. I read it, tried to get edified a little bit, and uh my whole life, by the way. Uh not you know, not saying I've read it every day by beats, but uh that that's that's what I'm into right now. I'm doubling down on God, for sure. Dude, that is um that's incredible. I'm glad you shared that. Well, thank you.
If you um talking about daily habits or routines, what habit or routine do you have that some of you've been doing a while that that you just love? I love my mornings. I love waking up before everyone else. So, my my morning routine is really important, and when I don't have it, it's really hard. Uh so, I love that, and I also love, as far as routine goes, uh I love owning my schedule, and and I make more money that way. So, So, I love that my team, my family, everyone kind

1:04:40of knows what days I take meetings. There's a few exceptions, right? No Brett Tanner calls, right, on the weekend. I'm like, all right, I'll take it. No, but but but all seriousness, I like I want to be able to take, you know, a Brett Tanner phone call or someone else's. So, I like having my focused meetings in a schedule, and so that's really important to me. And then my mornings. That's in in and and that's it. I mean, everything else If I do those things, I have more success, make more money, able to be with the important people in my life, uh and be available for a phone call or call anybody back uh the same day because I have put together my schedule way where I can do that. What's the morning routine? Give me the What time do you wake up? What time? What's that What's that morning routine look like? Uh so, it it depends on uh school, the kids' schedule. And so, uh so, it's it's an hour before the kids wake up. So, right, summer time's a little bit pushed back, but it's typically around between 5:00 between 5:15 and 5:45. Uh and so so, I'm up. I I'm kneeling in

1:05:43prayer. It's the first thing I do. Uh And so, uh kneeling in prayer, I like to go outside as well. I mean, in California, the weather's usually pretty nice uh or crisp, and I love that. So, um so so, I read, uh I pray, uh and I, depending upon what's kind of going on the day, I like to prepare myself for what's to come that day. Who I'm going to see, what meetings I have, I review things. And so so, for me, it's a spiritual thing, it's a little bit of personal thing, and then it's preparation for uh for for what's to come. But I I will tell you, like, I'm not just like anybody, not perfect at it. When I travel, and I travel a lot, so do you, you know, that messes you know, things up. And then I, you know, I don't go to the gym till later. Like, so, my my go time is my my my most important time is 5:30 till like 9:00 uh between work, meetings, family, school, coffee with uh you know, we do coffee at 8:15, Jess and I. And that's important to me as well. And then and then I do gym at 9:00 for the usually, right? 9:00 9:00 to 10:00.

1:06:46And then I get back at it until about 2:00. So, that's that's my morning regimen. Uh when I'm not traveling, I would I wish I would could say I'd I'm traveling I do that, but but I would say it's 50/50. So. I love that. Last thing I want How What's the one piece of advice if you would go back to 21-year-old Greg, what would you say to him? I would say, start I should have I should have started what I said earlier in this podcast, which is I should have started saving sooner. Uh that's the only thing I would change. I hustled, I learned great lessons, I built relationships. I failed and got up. But I would say start I should have started saving sooner. And my Look, my son's doing it. I mean, I get to see him, and and I I share these lessons with him. You know, I just hope they like listen to a few of them. Uh but I mean, he's I mean, his Roth IRA, he's 23 years old, is is you know, I didn't have a Roth IRA at 23, you know. So,

1:07:48uh he's got that, and and so and he's got, you know, a whole life, you know, a couple whole life policies. He's 23. I would you know, I wish I would have started sooner. My whole life policies I started about 12 years ago. So, I was 35. I imagine if I started 23 like he did. I mean, Jeez. Dude, I would say it's the it's the biggest gift we can give our kids is those two things, right? That's what I've done for my kids is Like Like my kids will say, "Hey, what am I you know, what does it look like?" Or I'm like, "Listen, you're probably I'm not going to leave you nothing. Don't plan on that." Um now, that's not the truth. I'm like, "You should plan on zero, and anything's a bonus. But I'm going to give you two tools. One is I'm going to fund your Roth account until you're 18 years old. It's all on me. You're the employees, they do the work. Um but I take some of that and I put it in the Roth account, and I and doubt invest it. Yeah. Right? So, it goes in alongside you. Sometimes they own 0.01% of the deal I'm doing, but they're in there, right? And it's But they're in it, right? And they're like, "What do I own?" I'm like, "Well, you own the toilet seat, kind of, in this particular deal." Uh so, but a Roth account and I But I I give them the statements, and I'm saying, "You got to tell me the numbers. What happened here?"

1:08:49Right? If you cannot tell me your returns, you the money won't last long. So, the one is a Roth account that every parent should give their kids, and the other thing is a whole life policy. I funded um the max policies I could for them. And I I didn't do it when they were, you know, very very little. It was probably when my youngest was six. Huh. But to your to your point, uh I think giving someone a teaching kids today that they can have be their own bank. Right? Like, my vision for, you know, my kids is when they go to get money to buy their first car or there's something that, you know, they didn't have the funds for, I want them to borrow from themselves. Take it out of your life, and then pay yourself back, and start understanding you are your own bank cuz everyone watching this is their own bank whether they want to be or not. Right? They've got inflows, you got outflows, and you can run a really crappy one or a really great bank. But how you run it determines where you land, and I think teaching our kids that because to go back and not to just I'll make I want to go back to this thing one more time, Greg, and and then I'll and we'll we'll end. I want to show one more thing on my screen, which is let's do some math here. Let's go say like my little guy

1:09:54I did it when he's 6 years old to 75, you know, and each year you could put in 6 grand. Let's just say he does that his whole life, puts in 500 bucks a month, 12% interest. He started with 6 grand, and he's going to do it for this, 69 years. You can see my screen, right? This is 69 years, starts with $6,000, and just funds it $500 a month.

Let's see the math here. It's $211 million, right? I mean it's crazy, right? You could even say, "Well, Brett, 12% you're insane. No one's going to get 12%." Fine. We'll go We'll go 8 and 1/2. It's $26 million, right? So, the biggest gift I think so many of us would be teach our kids that, get them, you know, get them started your point on savings, teach them about money. It's not that complicated. Whether or not you did it for yourself at that age is irrelevant. You can actually help your kids live in crazy life, and and it's all done through education. Uh Greg, thanks for coming on today and sharing so much. You are an absolute rock star, and I every time I'm with you

1:10:57I learn something. And uh the quote of today was yes is permanent. What is no is No is not final. No is not final, and yes is. No is not final. Yes is permanent. Greg, thanks for your time, dude. I appreciate you so much, and I will hope to have you back on here again, sir. Thanks. Great seeing you. Talk soon.
See you again.