Updated July 27, 2024. My family has been living in Colombia, South America for eight years. In October 2016 we visited Medellín, Colombia. I have to say, without a doubt, that Medellín is one of the most gorgeous places I have ever visited. I would go so far as to say that your best destination in South America is beautiful Medellín. In fact, I would actually put Medellín on the short list of places to live in the future.
I know that many of my friends are from the USA. So, when you hear the word Medellín you might immediately think of a dangerous city, cocaine and the Pablo Escobar drug wars of the 1980’s and 90’s and probably you think to yourself, “Why on Earth would anyone be crazy enough to go there?” So let me tell you a secret that many people don’t know.
Experience ‘The City of Eternal Spring’
I honestly believe that your best destination in South America is beautiful Medellín. Below are several great reasons why you should experience ‘The City of Eternal Spring’ at least once in your lifetime.
Top Five City In The World To Visit
In 2022, Medellín has been named by Time Out as one of the top five cities in the world to visit.
Business Owners Working Together
The business owners of Medellín have been very resilient and worked together to move the city forward and create a conducive environment for entrepreneurship and it shows. The government has leant a very heavy hand to see that entrepreneurs, startups, and existing businesses alike are well funded and well facilitated.
Experience The Best Year Round Weather
The nickname of ‘The City of Eternal Spring’ is unexpectedly accurate. The average year-round temperatures of around 22°C (72°F) and daily highs of approximately 30°C (86°F), meaning that the climate is about as good as it gets. Needless to say, it does rain a fair amount because Medellín is in a tropical country, but it rarely gets cold. If you like the spring, you will probably think you’ve gone to heaven.
Beautiful Views & Stunning Landscapes
Medellín is surrounded by natural beauty. The city is located in a bowl in the Andes mountains, meaning that wherever you go in the city you are basically guaranteed a view of mountains and stunning landscapes. In addition, the city itself is home to some lovely parks and gardens and miles of hiking trails. Medellin is an innovative urban space combining home with beautiful nature at the same time. I truly believe that the best destination in South America is beautiful Medellín!
Incredibly Welcoming People
The people are incredibly welcoming and the pleasant atmosphere is contagious. In Medellín, people smile on the street and you get the sense that people are genuinely very happy to see you there and even strike up a random conversations (whether your speak Spanish or not).
The Coffee Is Delicious
Great coffee. If you love coffee you have come to the right place. I was never a coffee drinker, but after moving to Colombia I have fallen in love with the 100% Colombian Vanilla Cappuccino. What’s more, Colombia is the third largest producer of coffee in the world. It seems that the Colombian coffee region is blessed with an optimal altitude and climate, a hand-picked harvesting process perfected over generations, and some of the finest Arabica beans in the world.
Excellent Food & Restaurants
Wonderful food and exotic fruits. As many of you know, I love food and the food here is delicious. You can enjoy grilled meats, fish, seafood, and amazing vegetables. Colombian food is a mix of the regions within Colombia. Consequently, the Colombian cruisine has its roots in the country’s indigenous people, as well as in the Spanish and African cultures that were brought over by colonialism. Over time, these influences have blended together to create a unique and flavorful cuisine that is loved by locals and visitors alike. What’s more, the two best Medellín neighborhoods of El Poblado and Laureles are full of excellent restaurants.
Medellín at Night. Photo credit: Unsplash.
Innovative Transportation
The transportation in Medellín is innovative and has an extensive public transport network which includes the Medellín Metro and the Metrocable cable car system. It probably helps that Bogota (the capital of Colombia and a real rival of Medellín) doesn’t have a metro system yet. For this reason, it just seems that Medellín is very well organized in the big things as well as the small things.
Awesome Exchange Rate For The US Dollar
USA dollars go a long way due to the conversion rate. Traveling and living in Colombia is inexpensive. Forget about the high cost of healthcare, housing, and food that everyone takes for granted in the USA. For instance, a visit to the doctor here would cost you $50,000 COP (Colombian Peso) or around $10 USD.
The Lifestyle For The Price Is Hard To Beat
Medellín is great value for money. In addition, it also helps that many of the most popular tourist attractions, such as Parque Botero, the Botanical Gardens and the Metrocable, are either free or very cheap. To give you an idea, a 3-week trip to Medellín would cost you somewhere in the ballpark between $1,000 to $3,000 USD depending on your taste and amenities. This includes transportation between destinations, entry fees, accommodations, and meals. You asked about the lifestyle of Medellín? Unquestionably, in Medellín you enjoy a good quality of life at a great cost of living.
I genuinely believe that the best destination in South America is beautiful Medellín!
Check Out The Two Great Blogs Below:
Become A High Net Worth Individual
I would like to share with you one of the people that I have been following now for a few years. His name is Andrew Hendersen and he is the founder of Nomad Capitalist. After many years of experience as a global businessman, Andrew offers his expert advice to successful entrepreneurs and investors on ways to reduce their tax bill, grow wealth overseas, and become global citizens. Hence, he believes that the world has changed forever and says it’s time for you to “go where you’re treated best.” Please check out the YouTube video How To Become an Ultra High-Net Worth Individual.
Best Real Estate Strategies To Make 7 Figures
As many of you know, my passion is real estate investment. 90% of all millionaires did it through owning real estate. The goal and dream for many real estate investors is to earn $1 million dollars a year. Your goal: find the best real estate strategies to make 7 figures. The question is: is this possible?
I can tell you without a doubt, that it is possible, and I have seen people do it. For example, Billionaire Andrew Carnegie famously said that 90% of millionaires got their wealth by investing in real estate. As a result, I can saw that real estate is one of the best ways to seek wealth through investing and achieve financial freedom. Please read about the details in my blog: Best Real Estate Strategies To Make 7 Figures. Most importantly, always remember that you are just one deal away!
Verses For Wisdom & Guidance
Psalm 128:2 NLT. 2 You will enjoy the fruit of your labor. How joyful and prosperous you will be!
Matthew 7:8 NLT. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.
Have a great day!
Last Updated on July 27, 2024 by Financial Goodness
Financial Goodness
George Alexander Roy III and our team are experts in helping you to seek wealth through investing and tips on how to succeed. Join us at FinancialGoodness.com to increase your knowledge through education in the areas of personal finance, real estate, and investments. George has been an owner of a real estate investment business that focuses on wholesaling, fix & flip, and long-term buy-and-hold property strategies with a consistent increase of annual revenues. Consequently, as an entrepreneur, researcher, writer, and speaker he has sought the truth in everything he does, no matter how difficult. Hopefully this value and service will help each person achieve their financial freedom sooner.
Best Real Estate Pre-Foreclosure Help. Photo credit: Unsplash
Updated July 27, 2024. At Financial Goodness, we are experts in real estate pre-foreclosure help. As part of the services that we offer, we provide you with the best real estate pre-foreclosure assistance. Our goal is to help you with your situation, no matter what the circumstances are.
Let’s talk about the word pre-foreclosure. The term pre-foreclosure refers to the first phase of a legal proceeding that ultimately can conclude in a property being repossessed by the mortgage company from a defaulted borrower.
In pre-foreclosure, the lender files a notice of default on the property because the borrowing owner exceeds the terms in the contract for delinquent payments. Generally, a notice of default informs the borrowing owner that the lender is pursuing legal actions toward foreclosure. However, borrowers have a few options available to them if they find themselves in pre-foreclosure.
We understand the stress these situations cause. As a result, we offer the best real estate pre-foreclosure help and we want to be an advocate to help you find the best solution for you.
We Want To Help You
If you are in pre-foreclosure we would like to help. You may feel overwhelmed and think that there is nothing you can do. However, in many situations there are options and solutions. But in many cases, time is of the essence. Therefore, it is our goal to be your advocate. Let us help you to avoid having a foreclosure on your credit report.
We specialize in helping homeowners avoid foreclosure. At Financial Goodness, we offer the best real estate pre-foreclosure help so that you can find the best solution for your situation.
We offer the best real estate pre-foreclosure help and we want to be your part of your solution. If you would like a free, confidential analysis of your specific situation and you would like to learn about your options, please feel free to call us. Our phone number at Financial Goodness is (704) 765-2161 or (727) 342-0503. Or fill out our easy confidential Contact Form and a member of our team will be in touch with you right away.
Financial Goodness Is The Answer
December 3, 2023. Financial Goodness is the areas’ premiere real estate solutions company. Since our inception, our goal has been helping property owners. Our mission is to help home owners as well as improving communities in each and every neighborhood we work in.
We invest throughout the USA with the intention of revitalizing communities. Specifically, we are particularly interested in properties in the southeastern United States. Accordingly, we offer the best real estate pre-foreclosure help available for you and your family. We would like to be an advocate to help you find the best solution. Please contact us today to find the best answer for you.
Last Updated on July 27, 2024 by Financial Goodness
Financial Goodness
George Alexander Roy III and our team are experts in helping you to seek wealth through investing and tips on how to succeed. Join us at FinancialGoodness.com to increase your knowledge through education in the areas of personal finance, real estate, and investments. George has been an owner of a real estate investment business that focuses on wholesaling, fix & flip, and long-term buy-and-hold property strategies with a consistent increase of annual revenues. Consequently, as an entrepreneur, researcher, writer, and speaker he has sought the truth in everything he does, no matter how difficult. Hopefully this value and service will help each person achieve their financial freedom sooner.
Your Goal: Achieving Seven Figures. Photo credit: Unsplash.
Updated July 27, 2024. The goal and dream for many real estate investors is to earn $1 million dollars a year. Your goal: find the best real estate strategies to make 7 figures. The question is: is this possible?
I can tell you without a doubt, that it is possible, and I have seen people do it. For example, Billionaire Andrew Carnegie famously said that 90% of millionaires got their wealth by investing in real estate.
As a result, real estate is one of the best ways to seek wealth through investing and achieve financial freedom. In conclusion, in order to preform such transactions, you will need all of these factors below working together.
Factors To Make Seven Figures
Overall, your plan is to understand and then to set a goal so that you can achieve the best real estate strategies to make 7 figures.
Large Deal Flow
Having and maintaining large real estate deals is extremely important. You will need to know all the opportunities currently in the market, and work on getting as many good ones as possible.
Strong Analysis
You will need to evaluate properties and deals very fast, ignore the bad ones and work quickly on the more lucrative ones. To do this as efficiently as possible a team is necessary. Make it your goal to slowly and maintain the best team possible. In short, having an amazing team means making genuine investments in relationships because this is the key to relationship equity.
Large Customer Base
You will need to be able to communicate with many relevant investors, cash buyers, and real estate agents. Investors needs to have an updated cash buyer list ready and active in each city or region that you work. Have an excellent real estate attorney for these cities and regions that can handle doing assignments and also do double closings if necessary.
Value Of Properties
Most of the people I know, who have been able to pull it all together, are people that started with a small capital and low value properties, and gradually develop to do large flips. In order to make 7 figures annually flipping, you will usually need to buy and sell a wide price range of houses. Be ready for housing prices that are dirt cheap to expensive properties.
Wholesaling houses is an excellent way to make profits quickly without having to actually rehab the houses. You and your team can make a nice income from wholesaling. However, looking at each deal individually, many times even more money can be made by rehabbing houses. Then when the project is finished, put the house in the MLS and look for a motivated retail buyer to pay full value.
Financial Backing
If you are buying expensive properties, you need to be able to face situations where you don’t necessary have another buyer to sell to, and you are ok with paying for this property and not selling it for a few months.
Real Estate Fund
Pretty much any type of business that wants to scale can use a fund to achieve there goal. Therefore, to have the necessary financial backing, a real estate investor needs to have a real estate fund.
Setting up a fund is time consuming but it will pay off. Therefore, depending on the price of houses in your area, you should set your initial goal of having a fund with $1 million. Then continue networking to build the fund to $5 million, $10 million and up.
Best Strategies To Be A Millionaire
Over the last two centuries, about 9o percent of the world’s millionaires have been created by investing in real estate. What are the best strategies to buy and sell houses for profits? Here are three Real Estate Investing Strategies That Work Every Time.
These three Real Estate Investing Strategies That Work Every Time are: residential rentals; wholesaling; and rehab and resell. These three strategies are among the most popular real estate strategies that produce consistent results regardless of the timing. Please read my blog on this topic.
A Win-Win-Win Strategy To RE Wealth
These three real estate investing strategies that work every time are the keys that have made real estate investors very wealthy. They are the win-win-win strategy to real estate wealth. I have made very nice profits with these property strategies and I am sure you can too.
If you are interested in learning the best ways to to improve your rental property cash flows, please read my blog on the three ways to Boost Your Rental Property Cash Flows. These unique strategies will clearly help you build wealth as a real estate entrepreneur.
To Become A High-Net Worth Individual, please read my blog and watch the YouTube video by a fancinating guy named Andrew Hendersen, founder of Nomad Capitalist. In addition, please check out the YouTube video How To Become an Ultra High-Net Worth Individual. He believes that the world has changed forever and says it’s time for you to “go where you’re treated best.”
Set Goals To Succeed
The goal and dream for many investors is to earn $1 million dollars in a year. Have you achieved it already? If so, congratulations! You understand the factors needed to achieve this goal.
If you have not achieved this goal, go for it! Make it your goal to have first have the knowledge and then take action and unleash the best real estate strategies to make 7 figures!
Please feel free to add any comments or questions as you go through the journey. I wish you all the best!
Last Updated on July 27, 2024 by Financial Goodness
Financial Goodness
George Alexander Roy III and our team are experts in helping you to seek wealth through investing and tips on how to succeed. Join us at FinancialGoodness.com to increase your knowledge through education in the areas of personal finance, real estate, and investments. George has been an owner of a real estate investment business that focuses on wholesaling, fix & flip, and long-term buy-and-hold property strategies with a consistent increase of annual revenues. Consequently, as an entrepreneur, researcher, writer, and speaker he has sought the truth in everything he does, no matter how difficult. Hopefully this value and service will help each person achieve their financial freedom sooner.
Financial Goodness is the areas’ premiere real estate solutions company. Photo credit: Unsplash.
Updated July 27, 2024. If you want to sell your house, apartment, or hotel easily, we can help. Without a doubt, we understand the distress that many people face in these situations. Likewise, we realize the pressure many of our customers feel when they think about how to sell your house, apartment, or hotel. Fortunately, we are here for you. As a result, we buy houses, multifamily apartments, and hotels. Furthermore, we understand the distress people face in these situations. So, contact us today and let’s see how we can work together!
Financial Goodness Is The Answer
Financial Goodness is the areas’ premiere real estate solutions company. Consequently, we have been helping property owners along with improving communities in each and every neighborhood we work in.
We invest throughout the USA with the intention of revitalizing communities. As a result, we are particularly interested in properties in the southeastern states. However, if a deal is good enough and the numbers work in another state, we will do it.
Through our extensive knowledge of the business, network of resources, and years of expertise, we are able to assist homeowners with a wide variety of real estate problems. Furthermore, we are a multi-service company that has the ability to BUY, REPAIR, MARKET, and SELL YOUR HOUSE, APARTMENT, OR HOTEL.
Selling Fast For Cash
Financial Goodness works with Sellers who need to sell or want to sell, but do not want to wait six months to market and sell, repair and renovate, pay real estate commissions, or wait for an approved buyer. In addition, our company works with all types of sellers and situations and can buy very quickly if needed.
We have a deep satisfaction on our reputation for working one-on-one with each customer to handle their individual situations. Consequently, with the ability to directly purchase properties and make cash offers, we can create an extremely fast, and hassle-free transaction.
We buy Your House, Multifamily Apartments, or Hotels “As Is”
No Obligation Cash Offer
Guaranteed Written Offer
Strategies To Sell Your Property Fast
Need to sell your property fast? Before, finding a reliable buyer used to be difficult. However, with us the condition of the real estate and the situation does not matter. In addition, there are many strategies that can greatly improve your competitive advantage.
We buy houses, multifamily apartments, and hotels throughout the USA. As a result, when you work with Financial Goodness, you can receive an offer you can trust. Let us understand the stress so that we can help you find a real solution.
Get Your Cash Offer
Whether you wish to move into a larger home or get rid of an unwanted property, we will work with you to achieve your goals! With this in mind, find out how to sell your house, apartment, or hotel easily.
Financial Goodness removes the hassle and headache involved with the selling process. Basically, we offer you a reasonable cash offer for your property, with zero hidden fees or contracts. Therefore, you can accept our offer or pass on the cash. If you accept, we will close on your time schedule.
In short: we buy houses, apartments, and hotels. Furthermore, we understand the distress people face in these situations. Please contact us today and let’s see how we can work together!
We Buy Properties In These Cities
We buy properties quickly all over the United States. In addition, we are also particulary interested in the following cities:
Florida Areas
Pensacola, FL
Panama City Beach, FL
Tallahassee, FL
Jacksonville, FL
St. Augustine, FL
Gainesville, FL
Volusia County, FL
Ormond Beach, FL
Daytona Beach, FL
Port Orange, FL
New Smyrna Beach, FL
Edgewater, FL
DeLand, FL
Deltona, FL
Sanford, FL
Lake Mary, FL
Orlando, FL
Mims, FL
Titusville, FL
Port St. John, FL
Cocoa, FL
Cocoa Beach, FL
Rockledge, FL
Palm Shores, FL
Melbourne, FL
West Melbourne, FL
Palm Bay, FL
Vero Beach, FL
Fort Pierce, FL
Port St. Lucie, FL
Jupiter, FL
Palm Beach Gardens, FL
West Palm Beach, FL
Boyton Beach, FL
Delray Beach, FL
Boca Raton, FL
Deerfield Beach, FL
Coral Springs, FL
Popano Beach, FL
Fort Lauderdale, FL
Hollywood, FL
Miami Beach, FL
Miami, FL
Naples, FL
Fort Myers, FL
Cape Coral, FL
Port Charlotte, FL
Venice, FL
Sarasota, FL
Bradenton, FL
Tampa, FL
Holmes Beach, FL
Brandon, FL
Bradenton Beach, FL
Riverview, FL
Safety Harbor, FL
Clearwater, FL
St. Petersburg, FL
Pinellas Park, FL
St. Pete Beach, FL
Treasure Island, FL
Madeira Beach, FL
Redington Shores, FL
Indian Shores, FL
Indian Rocks Beach, FL
Seminole, FL
Largo, FL
Belleair Bluffs, FL
Dunedin, FL
Tarpon Springs, FL
Lakeland, FL
Winter Haven, FL
Charlotte, NC Area
Charlotte, NC
Huntersville, NC
Matthews, NC
Indian Trail, NC
Mint HIll, NC
Pineville, NC
Gastonia, NC
Indian Land, SC
Fort Mill, SC
Rock Hill, SC
Texas Areas
Houston, TX area
Dallas-Fort Worth, TX area
San Antonio, TX area
Tennessee Areas
Memphis, TN area
Atoka, TN
Bartlett, TN
Brighton, TN
Collierville, TN
Covington, TN
Frayser, TN
Germantown, TN
Millington, TN
Munford, TN
Oakville, TN
Raleigh, TN
Wolfchase, TN
Woodstock, TN
Chattanooga, TN area
Knoxville, TN area
Nashville, TN area and its sub markets
Clarksville, TN
Hermitage, TN
Hendersonville, TN
Smyrna, TN
LaVergne, TN
Murfreesboro, TN
Columbia, TN
Spring Hill, TN
No Decision Is The Worst Decision
Basically, as we all know, the decisions we make each day will help or hurt you in the short run. They will also help or hurt you in the long run as well. Overall, the decisions you make each day can and will provide the destiny that you desire. We look for a destiny of abundance so that the seller as well as the buyer can move ahead.
Everyone wants abundance because abundance means we will have the money to improve our lives. So right now, let’s thank God for his abundance in our lives.
In addition, I would like to share with you the Five Best Rules Of Decision Making. But just please remember that no decision is the worst decision!
Commitment To Help
Financial Goodness is truly committed to helping each individual owner. In addition to this, we focus on fast response, integrity and over-delivering on customer service.
We strive to respond to calls or messages within 24 hours. As a result, by putting the customer’s needs first, whether selling or buying a home, apartment, or hotel, we can help you realize your real estate goals.
Our Mission
We invest with the intention of revitalizing communities and encouraging home ownership. Therefore, our mission is to rejuvenate neighborhoods and increase the standard of living by improving the overall quality for the residents in each community we work in. Please Contact us today.
For this reason, take action and contact us today. We would like to help solve your property problems today. With this in mind, find out how to sell your house, apartment, or hotel easily, because we buy houses, apartments, and hotels. Furthermore, we understand the distress people face in these situations.For this reason, Contact us today and let’s see how we can work together!
Yours Sincerely,
George Alexander Roy III and our Skilled Team
Last Updated on July 27, 2024 by Financial Goodness
Financial Goodness
George Alexander Roy III and our team are experts in helping you to seek wealth through investing and tips on how to succeed. Join us at FinancialGoodness.com to increase your knowledge through education in the areas of personal finance, real estate, and investments. George has been an owner of a real estate investment business that focuses on wholesaling, fix & flip, and long-term buy-and-hold property strategies with a consistent increase of annual revenues. Consequently, as an entrepreneur, researcher, writer, and speaker he has sought the truth in everything he does, no matter how difficult. Hopefully this value and service will help each person achieve their financial freedom sooner.
Yale Endowment Fund. Photo credit: Wall Street Physician.
Updated July 27, 2024. David Swensen, the Yale fund pioneer who reshaped investing, has forever changed the way we view investing. Moreover, Swensen completed a 35-year tenure as Yale University’s endowment chair.
Grew the Yale Fund from $1.3 billion to More Than $31 billion
But, more importantly, David Swensen grew Yale’s endowment fund from $1.3 billion in 1985 to more than $31 billion today. As a result, this means the fund generated returns of 13.1% through June 2020. These are outstanding returns. So, let’s take a look at how he did it.
Swensen never commanded the fame of Warren Buffett, Peter Lynch, or Jack Bogle. However, among industry insiders he is widely considered to be in their ranks.
Willing to Play the Long Game to Win
One aspect of Swensen is the fact that he was willing to play the long game. For example, he invested in assets that had much longer time frames to reach maturity, but that had spectacular return profiles. The key is that his approach to investing worked brilliantly!
Swensen Had An Unlikely Beginning
Like many great careers, David Swensen had an unlikely beginning. On the contrary, many people say that he was self-confident, yet selfless. Consequently, when Swensen was first approached by Yale University in 1985, he assumed a teaching career.
At that time, Swensen was 31 years old, and he had the economic theory with a Yale Ph.D in economics. Nevertheless, he was very unfamiliar with investing.
Unshackled From Conventional Wisdom
Even so, being a novice investor proved to be a blessing. Unlike past endowment chairs, Swensen was unshackled from conventional wisdom. Therefore, at the core of what became the “Yale Model” are the principles that Swensen learned from his mentor, Nobel Laureate James Tobin.
In 2009, Swensen wrote the book Pioneering Portfolio Management. In this book, Swensen describes the Yale Model in -depth, also sometimes known as the Endowment Model. I highly recommend reading his book.
The Yale Model
Particularly of interest was his recognition of liquidity. For that reason, Swensen realized that liquidity comes at a heavy price for lower returns.
Therefore, the Yale fund pioneer who reshaped investing is thus characterized by relatively heavy exposure to asset classes such as private equity when compared to more traditional portfolios. The Yale Model is also more heavily reliant on investment managers who specialize in these specific asset classes.
Don’t Try to Time the Market
David Swensen also realized that market timing was not the answer. He realized that market timing represents a losing strategy.
Swensen recognized that there is no evidence of any large institutions having a consistent ability to get in when the market is low and get out when the market is high. He comprehended that attempts to switch between stocks and bonds, or between stocks and cash, in anticipation of market moves have been relatively unsuccessful.
Swensen’s Allocation Thinking Was Nonexistent
Large institutional funds were almost entirely composed of U.S. equities, some foreign equities, cash, and fixed income. Suffice to say that in the 1980’s, Swensen’s type of thinking was by and large almost nonexistent.
The Yale Model is different from other types of investing because it allocates only a small amount to traditional U.S. equities and bonds. To replace these small allocations, this type of investing relies more on alternative investments.
Accordingly, Swensen built a portfolio allocation model that was more heavily weighted in alternative assets.
Yale Fund Asset Strategy & Allocation
hedge funds
venture capital (VC) funds
real estate
natural resources
private equity
Yale Model Endowment Asset Allocation. Photo credit: Financial Times.
Three Strategy Approach
Construct a portfolio with money allocated to six core asset classes.
The investor should rebalance the portfolio on a regular basis.
Invest in low-cost index funds and exchange-traded funds.
Swensen Model Portfolio
David Swensen described his model portfolio in a 2015 interview with NPR. It consists of the following asset allocation:
How To Replicate Swensen Portfolio Using Vanguard
How To Replicate the Swensen Portfolio using Vanguard. The expenses after the fund name are the expenses. Photo credit: Wallstreetphysician.com/invest-like-yalie-model-portfolio-david-swensen-investment-manager-yale-endowment/
How To Replicate Swensen Portfolio Using Fidelity
How to replicate the Swensen Portfolio using Fidelity. The expenses after the fund name are the expenses. Photo credit: Wallstreetphysician.com/invest-like-yalie-model-portfolio-david-swensen-investment-manager-yale-endowment/
Finding The Best Allocations
If you decide to use the Swensen model portfolio for your investments, I wish you success. In Addition, always remember to invest the funds in a tax-efficient manner.
Put the tax-inefficient REITs, bonds, and emerging markets funds in tax-referred or retirement accounts. Then put your Total U.S. Stock Market and International Stock Market funds in taxable accounts.
Needless to say, David Swensen, the Yale fund pioneer who reshaped investing, has forever changed the way we view investing.
Other Real Estate Strategies To Create Wealth
I would also recommend the strategy of searching directly for houses to invest in. The Three Real Estate Strategies That Work Every Time are: residential rentals; wholesaling; and rehab and resell. These are the most popular real estate strategies that produce consistent results regardless of the timing.
Portfolio of Rental Properties for Passive Income
More importantly, learn the best ways to to improve your rental property cash flows, by reading my blog on the three ways to Boost Your Rental Property Cash Flows. I recommend this strategy because of the excellent real estate tax breaks available on your taxes annually. This strategy will help you build wealth.
Please let me know your thoughts on using his portfolio. Best wishes!
Last Updated on July 27, 2024 by Financial Goodness
Financial Goodness
George Alexander Roy III and our team are experts in helping you to seek wealth through investing and tips on how to succeed. Join us at FinancialGoodness.com to increase your knowledge through education in the areas of personal finance, real estate, and investments. George has been an owner of a real estate investment business that focuses on wholesaling, fix & flip, and long-term buy-and-hold property strategies with a consistent increase of annual revenues. Consequently, as an entrepreneur, researcher, writer, and speaker he has sought the truth in everything he does, no matter how difficult. Hopefully this value and service will help each person achieve their financial freedom sooner.
Unlimited Wealth: The Spirit Of Ecstasy. Photo credit: Unsplash and Anders Nord.
Updated July 27, 2024. Can you imagine life if you had a huge amount of money sitting in your bank account? $1 million dollars. $5 million dollars. $10 million dollars. $50 million dollars. $100 million dollars. Can you imagine if you were a billionaire? Names like Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Warren Buffett, Oprah Winfrey, and Sara Blakely come to mind. These names have achieved what many people would like to accomplish. The goal these people have achieved is to build unlimited wealth with money’s untold truth.
Then there is you. Perhaps you are working a job with the degree you have. There is a big possibility that you don’t have a lot of savings and that the world feels like it is ready to crumble from the high cost of living expenses you deal with every day because you feel you are not paid enough. Or maybe you are a student working hard to get a degree and you see already this scenario right in front of you when you look ahead. How is it that people build unlimited wealth with money’s untold truth?
Getting wealthy and rich seems like a far off dream. You ask yourself, how did it get this way? How did they do it? Am I really that unlucky? Is this really a rigged game I am playing?
Financial Literacy In School
The goal is to build unlimited wealth with money’s untold truth. But first we need to understand how many people have arrived at this mindset in the first place. For a moment, let’s look at the past. Let me ask you a question. Does anyone remember a class called Personal Finance 101? I sure don’t. It didn’t exist. What is more amazing is that it still does not exist today.
Why Isn’t Money And Finance Taught In School?
Financial journalist Dan Kadlec points out several reasons why finance is not taught in schools:
Only one in five teachers feel qualified to lead a personal finance class.
There isn’t a strong agreement as to which finance concepts would be taught.
Personal finance is not part of the ACT or SAT exams.
Education advocate Geoffrey Canada wants to help a greater number of kids to excel. He dares the education system to look at the data of our schools that have failed in teaching personal finance and asks why it looks very similar to the way it was 50 years ago.
It is hard to pinpoint the real reason that personal finance is not taught in schools. However, this is a topic for another blog. But suffice it to say that many people believe that financial education is the responsibility of the parents. Nevertheless, in a 2012 study, 80% of U.S. adults said that they could use help with financial questions.
It seems that the adults are not that savvy either with their personal finances. So why would we expect the younger generation to have more knowledge than their parents? Obviously, we shouldn’t. Instead, we should be asking the question of how to build unlimited wealth with money’s untold truth.
The Taboo Topic of Money’s Untold Truth
As children, we’re taught to never discuss our personal finances. Money is a private issue – a taboo topic. You don’t discuss your income, your investments, or your savings. Never talk about money. Sadly, this is a common view.
This is why kids know absolutely nothing about their parents’ financial situation. As a result, this leads to adults who know nothing about finances in general and that’s where most people stop.
Honestly, that’s where most people are right now. They’re struggling to make it, afraid to ask for help. When instead, the right solution is to build unlimited wealth with money’s untold truth.
Personal Finance Skills Are Essential
Finances are understandably one of the major causes of stress for adults. Everyone can relate to this stress; even the wealthiest people have felt financial pains at one time or another. Debt and/or a lack of savings can cause considerable hardship on a person’s life. And it doesn’t just cause daily stress. Financial problems can lead to divorce, poor health, depression, and bankruptcy.
Having personal financial skills is one of the most important things you can do to live a happy, healthy, and secure future. Your level of understanding around the fundamentals of budgeting, saving, debt, and investing will impact every part of your life and can mean the difference between poverty and prosperity. This sounds drastic, but without understanding money’s untold truth, this could be reality.
An Equation for Unlimited Wealth
However, what if I told you that you were wrong. What if there is a way to do it. What if I told you that there is actually an equation for wealth. How would you feel then?
What if I told you that you could hold onto your dreams of obtaining wealth and living the lifestyle you have always imagined where all the world is yours for the taking. Then using this equation you could make them into reality and build unlimited wealth with money’s untold truth.
Be Rid Of False Beliefs
However, there is a flip side to the coin that you have never looked at. Know that the equation for wealth is real. We are about to be entrepreneurs. Be prepared to change the way that you see money in your life.
Yet be warned, the struggles you will have to overcome are also real. Unfortunately, the truth is that many people will not make it to the other side and the unlimited wealth that awaits them.
The media and Hollywood have always depicted the wealthy as evil and corrupt. Undoubtedly they say that the more evil and corrupt a person is, the more money you make. The question is: is this the stereotype that you believe in? If we want to start building wealth we have to have the millionaire mindset and get mentally set to build unlimited wealth with money’s untold truth.
The First Challenge: Millionaire Mindset
The biggest problem that most of us face is not the lack of ideas or the knowledge. It is the lack of the will to follow through and the heart to never quit no matter how hard it gets. I am talking about how to build unlimited wealth with money’s untold truth. So, I call this the millionaire mindset – the absolute ability to do whatever it takes till you reach your goal.
99% Fail Rate
The fact of the matter is, everyone wants to make millions but 99% stop even before starting once they realize the amount of hard work, dedication, focus, and persistence that is needed to become the person you want to become. If you are one of the very few who always asks, “how do I become a millionaire?” and if you are ready to overcome whatever obstacles get in your way, 50% of the challenge has already been overcome.
Yes, I get it. You want to be a millionaire. Everyone does. But have you thought why 99% of people fail in doing whatever it takes to become one? Why is it that only some people have the ability to take massive action, put in the sleepless nights and never give up? What is the difference? It is not that they have special abilities or were gifted. So what is their secret?
Most Self-Made Millionaires know the answer to the holy grail – “The Why.” They are ready to build unlimited wealth with money’s untold truth no matter what. To achieve greatness, The Why has two key factors that you need to have in your mindset:
The ability to look at failure as a result and not as the end
How to overcome excuses
Make the Promise to Never Quit
If you will never quit, you will never fail. Think about it. No matter what the end result is, look at it and access your situation. Then overcome any obstacles in your way to achieving your goals to being a self-made millionaire. Do this and you will increase your odds of achieving to at least 80% or 90% of doing what is needed to build unlimited wealth with money’s untold truth. Wealth-X World Ultra Report
The world’s ultra wealthy population have a net worth of $30 million or more. If we look at the 8th edition of the Wealth-X World Ultra Wealth Report the ultra wealthy grew by 9.5% in 2019 to 290,720 individuals worldwide. What is even more significant is that more than half of the world’s richest people are self-made and the other studies back up this conclusion of being self-made. The big ones: Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Warren Buffett, Oprah Winfrey, and Sara Blakely are all self-made billionaires.
Your Wealth Equation Is All Wrong
What is it that these people know? The secret is: unfortunately your wealth equation is all wrong. The truth is that most people believe that money equals the salary from a job. Consequently, the sole purpose for an education is to get a job. You might ask, is there a problem with this equation?
If you are reading this blog, I assume that your goal is to make as much money as possible in as short a time as possible. Is this your goal?
Money = Salary from a job
Is this your goal? If so, this mentality is WRONG. Why? Unfortunately, this is not how money works and you will never build unlimited wealth with money’s untold truth by using this mindset.
One Precious Resource: Time
Similarly, we have one precious resource and as the minutes, hours, days go by, there is no way to get them back. That precious resource that I am talking about is time.
In a regular job, the amount of money you earn is dependent on the amount of time you put in. Let’s calculate how long it would take you to earn $1 million dollars. If you make $25 days an hour and work 40 hours a week, it would take you more than 19 years to have $1 million dollars.
However, we just calculated your $1 million without subtracting taxes, sick days, or vacations. The reality is that you would have to live your whole life before you would ever see $1 million dollars. On top of that, the realization that you would have to live extremely frugally and most of that precious resource called time would be gone forever.
Again, you ask yourself the question, how is it that there are self-made millionaires and billionaires that are still young and didn’t have to wait?
The Truth About Money and Wealth
Here is the answer that we have been searching for: stop chasing money. For this reason, stop chasing money and realize that we are all paid in proportion to our perceived value. In essence, our perceived value is a direct correlation of how to build unlimited wealth with money’s untold truth.
The perceived value is the market and consumers of the economy. Who is the market? The market is you, your family, your friends, your neighbors, and your country.
Think about a market that many people love. Take professional sports for instance. In the U.S. the big three sports are baseball, football, and basketball. If you look at the top professional players in the U.S. they are paid millions of dollars to perform a sport that they love anyway.
Why are they paid that much money? The answer is the market. The market determines it will pay them millions of dollars because people love to watch the best people in the world play and then they want to spend money on going to games and buying merchandise. The result is that the market has a high demand for professional sports.
Work Ethics And Hard Work For Wealth?
Understand it is NOT about work ethics and how hard a person works. For instance, take this example. Who works harder? A construction worker or your tax accountant? Most people would probably say the construction worker works harder.
However, your tax accountant is paid more because that person has the knowledge to help you save money on taxes. Overall, the market has a higher demand for your tax accountant. Like it or not, the construction worker is perceived by the market as someone who can be easily replaced. Again, to summarize, it is not about work ethics, it is all about the perceived value and nothing more.
Getting a great job is not the right equation to quickly make millions or billions of dollars. But, it is possible to build unlimited wealth with money’s untold truth. Ask yourself the question, what is it about self-made ultra wealthy people that the market sees as having a high perceived value?
How To Build Unlimited Wealth …
If you want money, then solve problems. Think about this principle of money and solving problems. If you ponder this thought even further, you will realize that this is the holy grail for making money. If someone thinks of an idea to solve a problem it will create money. In short, the bigger the problem, the larger the payout.
This is the equation for wealth. Solve problems and you will build unlimited wealth with money’s untold truth. You will achieve your dreams of wealth and living a lifestyle of luxury. This secret is the untold truth about money. The answer is really that simple: solve problems and build unlimited wealth with money’s untold truth.
Look at the self-made billionaires. All of these people have solved enormous problems. If the problem is a million dollar problem, then the solution will make you millions. If it is a billion dollar problem, then the solution to that problem will make you billions of dollars.
Analysis of Unlimited Wealth: Jeff Bezos
The richest man in the world (at the moment) is Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon. Overall, Bezos is excellent at finding the biggest problem imaginable and solving that problem. For Bezos the problem was getting his products into the hands of customers. As a result of this Amazon was born.
Amazon’s prices are cheaper, the delivery cost lower, etc. Jeff Bezos found a billion dollar problem and he solved that problem. As we know, he makes billions and billions of dollars from solving an immense problem of selling his products. Jeff Bezos is enormously rich because he found a way to build unlimited wealth with money’s untold truth.
Stop Chasing Money and Look for Problems
The paradox is to stop chasing money. Money is not what you should be looking for. Instead you should be looking for problems and even more importantly solutions to those problems. Continue asking yourself about big unsolvable problems that you can actually solve and then build unlimited wealth with money’s untold truth. Once you have identified a problem and you have a good solution to that problem, then start a business.
Open your senses. What are people saying they do not like? Listen to the market, it is filled with problems. But most importantly, find a problem that is worth solving and then pursue it vigorously.
Scalable Solutions
Investors will tell you that they love to put money into startups that are scalable, and ready to scale. But what does that really mean? In general, and simply stated, it means that your business has the potential to multiply revenue with minimal incremental cost. Ready to scale is when you have a proven product and a proven business model, about to expand to new geographies and markets. Your solution to your problem needs to affect a magnitude of people.
Most consulting services, like marketing, are not scalable, since they must be delivered by experts. However, a software product is a classic example of a scalable solution, since it costs real money to build the first copy, but unlimited additional copies can be quickly cloned for almost no incremental cost.
Infinite Scalability
That goal is to build unlimited wealth with money’s untold truth. A system that scales well will be able to maintain or even increase its level of performance or efficiency even as it is tested by larger and larger operational demands. Linear scalability is when the cost of the next user is the same as the cost of the previous user. This means your system doesn’t have bottlenecks.
This is what people usually mean when they say “infinite scalability”. When people talk about scalability, or a system being able to scale, they’re usually referring to a graph that looks something like this:
Infinite Scalability. Photo credit: Udi Dahan
To demonstrate, the red graph indicates a system that does not scale well, the green graph indicates one that does. For example, the Y axis is Cost, Expense, or Money. The X axis is usually the number of users (for instance, internet-type companies). Ultimately, scalability is a cost-function that will tell us how much it will cost to have the system support a certain number of users.
Millionaire Money Behaviors
Finally, I would like to share with you the millionaire behaviors that are directly from The Millionaire Fastlane by MJ DeMarco. The behaviors below are the thoughts and behaviors that you need to have to achieve the millionaire mindset.
I recommend that you say out loud and repeat these time, education, money, and life perceptions daily until they become your reality. If you find that these behaviors are not yours currently, that will change. Add this strategy to your daily routine to build unlimited wealth with money’s untold truth.
Time, Education, Money, And Life Perceptions
Time Perception: Time is the most important asset I have, far exceeding money.
Money Perception: Money is everywhere, and it’s extremely abundant. It is a reflection of how many lives I have touched and reflects the value I have created.
Primary Income Source: I earn money via my business systems and investments.
Primary Wealth Accelerator: I make something from nothing. I give birth to assets and make them valuable to the marketplace. On other occasions, I take existing assets and add value to them.
Wealth Perception: Build business systems for cash flow and asset valuation.
Strategy: The more I help, the richer I become in time, money, and personal fulfillment.
Responsibility and disciple: Life is what I make of it. My financial plan is entirely my responsibility and I choose how I react to my circumstances.
Life Perception: My dreams are worth pursuing no matter how crazy they are, and I understand that it will take money to make some of these dreams into reality.
The Reward Of Unlimited Wealth
Now you have your profitable business running successfully. You see and feel the profit that your business generates. However, now you face a choice. You can sell the business and make a beautiful profit. Alternatively, you can continue running the business and build unlimited wealth with money’s untold truth.
Perhaps you think that you could add even more value to your solution and then sell for a greater price. Maybe this business runs passively and you don’t have to do much to keep it running. It’s also possible that you love running your business and you see yourself going on to achieve even more things in the future.
Live Your Wealthy Dream Of Freedom
Money is just paper with a number on it that people equate to value. This was never about the money. Let’s face it, it is all about the freedom that you were looking for. Now you have the ability to do whatever you want, whenever you want.
This is the dream of freedom that you were seeking all along. I challenge you to do it and have the courage, the belief, and the strength to make this your reality! When you do this, you will have completely conquered how to build unlimited wealth with money’s untold truth because now you know the secret to having a lifestyle of richness.
2 Chronicles 31:21 And every work that he undertook in the service of the house of God and in accordance with the law and the commandments, seeking his God, he did with all his heart, and prospered.
Acklowledgements
This blog was heavily inspired by the incredible writings of MJ DeMarco and the superb YouTube video The Untold About Money: How to Build Wealth From Nothing by James Jani. This blog is a condensed summary on how to build unlimited wealth. Please bookmark this blog: Build Unlimited Wealth With Money’s Untold Truth. It is very difficult to cover in detail all the topics that this blog includes. Nevertheless, I look forward to talking about the other closely related topics in future blogs.
Last Updated on July 27, 2024 by Financial Goodness
Financial Goodness
George Alexander Roy III and our team are experts in helping you to seek wealth through investing and tips on how to succeed. Join us at FinancialGoodness.com to increase your knowledge through education in the areas of personal finance, real estate, and investments. George has been an owner of a real estate investment business that focuses on wholesaling, fix & flip, and long-term buy-and-hold property strategies with a consistent increase of annual revenues. Consequently, as an entrepreneur, researcher, writer, and speaker he has sought the truth in everything he does, no matter how difficult. Hopefully this value and service will help each person achieve their financial freedom sooner.
Retire with a beautiful view. Photo credit: Unsplash. Thank you Alexandre Chambon @goodspleen
Updated July 27, 2024. Many of us dream of a beautiful house that is in a fantastic location, awesome vacations, and millions of dollars in the bank. Many people would like to become millionaires, but few know the steps it takes to reach this goal. Most self-made millionaires got there through hard work, disciplined saving habits, and investing wisely. If you want know how to be a millionaire by retirement, you are about to find out how to do it.
Most people would like to eventually retire and know that they have enough money to live comfortably in their retirement years. If you have already achieved the milestone of having accumulated $1 million dollars, congratulations! I invite you to continue reading this blog as a way to increase your wealth by focusing on developing multiple streams of income.
How Much Money For A Similar Lifestyle?
The big question that so many people have been asking is: how much money is needed to have the same lifestyle in retirement? If you try to research by looking online or talking to a retirement expert you will find that the answers vary widely.
Basically, this question of becoming a millionaire by retirement can be divided into two sub-categories. One: how much money is enough for retirement? Two: how to be a millionaire by retirement?
How Much Money Is Enough For Retirement
The 4% Rule
The widely accepted financial rule of 4% states that your savings should last for at least 30 years without exhausting their portfolio.
Many experts say that your retirement income should be around 80% of your pre-retirement salary. Suppose you make $100,000 a year at retirement. In this example, you would need at least $80,000 to have a comfortable lifestyle after you leave the workforce.
Of course, the $80,000 amount annually can be adjusted depending on your other sources of income, like Social Security, pensions, and other part-time employment. To have the $80,000 necessary, you would need a nest egg of about $2 million dollars. To calculate this using the 4% rule, simply take $80,000 and divide by 0.04. Also, keep in mind that this strategy assumes a 5% return on your investments.
If you are like many adults, you have probably thought of taking an early retirement at some time in your life. If you are thinking about an early retirement, is it possible to retire on $500,000? Let’s do the math. Using the widely accepted financial rule of 4%, the $500,000 will allow you to access $20,000 for 30 years.
If you have saved and invested your money wisely, the $500,000 would last you 30 years, assuming a 4% withdrawal strategy, for $20,000 a year. Say you live to be 85 years old if you are in good health. If you wait until age 55 this strategy could work.
Key Takeaways
If you retire on less than $1 million it could affect your quality of life.
Retiring before you reach 55 years will hinder you from your prime earning years that could potentially increase your Social Security benefits.
Ways To Become A Millionaire By Retirement
Would you like to retire and have the lifestyle that you already have, but you don’t have enough money to make it happen? In my opinion, $20,000 or even $40,000 is really not enough money to live on comfortably even if you live in a South America country. For instance, our family has been living for more than eight years in Colombia, South America, and the value of $20k to $40k is more or less equivalent to $80 to $100k in where we used to live in Charlotte, NC. The $80k to $100k in Charlotte, NC will pay your bills, but many people won’t have the vacation lifestyle that many are dreaming of.
Who wants to have financial stress in retirement? As we all know, people are living longer in the last century than they ever did before and we need to plan for this to happen as well. If you want to have more sources of income, I have researched some of the best ways that you can increase your cash and have the kind of retirement that we all dream of.
Money Rules To Help You Reach $1 Million
If you are motivated, then follow these rules of how to be a millionaire by retirement:
Become financially savvy. Learn as much as you can about money. Read websites and books about saving money, investing, generating multiple streams of income. Every piece of information will help to guide on your quest to become a millionaire.
Live like you are poorer than you are. Be careful and frugal about things you buy on a daily basis. Be humble and don’t show off to your friends or on social media. Live in a modest house. Make your meals at home. That way when you do go out to a restaurant you can really enjoy it and also do so on a modest budget.
Build an emergency fund. Start by saving a month’s worth of expenses. Then build toward having three to six months. Just be conscious and do not use this money for vacations. This fund can only be used for emergencies.
Manage your debt. The less debt you have the quicker you’ll be able save and not have to pay off credit cards and other monthly debt bills. If you have credit cards, many of these have high interest rates. Pay off these credit cards as rapidly as possible. Certain kinds of debt like a home mortgage are necessary and can help you move ahead long-term. The key is to find a house that fits within through budget.
Save daily. Each week contribute to a savings account or a 401(k) account. Try to save at least 20% of your after tax income each year.
Consider utilizing a conservative approach to value investing. If you think of the value stock market investors today, most likely you will think of Warren Buffett. Warren Buffett, chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, and Charlie Munger, vice chairman, are value investors that only invest in a handful of the best value stocks. Take an in-depth look at what many consider to be the best passive income investment stock: Berkshire Hathaway B shares (BRK.B). Warren Buffett and his team and his successors have purchased and are continuously investing in the best value stocks so that you don’t have to. On top of that, Berkshire Hathaway has an incredible record for the last 55 years of 20.3% annual compound interest! (link)
Earn more money. First try to maximize the money that you make in your day job. For instance, ask for a pay increase, work overtime, or consider switching jobs and finding a more lucrative position. Look for side hustles that you can do. This could be anything from driving for Uber or Lyft to selling things online.
Increase Your Wealth
If you are the type of person who realizes that just because you reach a certain age you really don’t want to retire. Maybe you have seen other people retire and watched them lose all their energy. If you are one of these people, chances are you said to yourself, I don’t ever want that to happen to me.
If this is the case, then probably you have an entrepreneurial spirit. Rather than watch your retirement wealth decrease, you see the opposite. You want to increase your wealth in retirement. At Financial Goodness, we are the same way. We are entrepreneurs at heart.
Owning your own business means that you directly reap the benefits of all the hard work that you have put in. When you work for someone else, working harder does not necessarily mean more money in your pocket. As a business owner, you also build equity in your business. You are calling the shots. Basically, you can work on the things that are important and add more to the bottom line and ignore everything else.
Finally, I would like to share with you the millionaire behaviors that are directly from The Millionaire Fastlane by MJ DeMarco. The ideas for starting a business that are listed below are the thoughts and behaviors that you need to have to achieve the millionaire mindset.
The good news is this: after the COVID-19 coronavirus, the U.S. estimates that people working for themselves will increase to around 40%. What even better is that many of these ideas you can do from the comfort your computer in your home!
The Bottom Line For Success
Many of the steps to becoming a millionaire are not overly difficult. However, they do take hard work, discipline, time, and perseverance. But, it’s the emotional side that prevents many people from reaching the millionaire mark. Perhaps the most important two factors are time and perseverance. Without these two, new ideas and new businesses will struggle and possibly fail.
Make the decision to focus on your goal of how to be a millionaire by retirement and write down your plan of action. With your plan of action of the key steps you will have the confidence needed because you know exactly how to be a millionaire by retirement.
Then put in the work and you will be surprised at how your net worth grows over time from your multiple streams of income. Through the hard work, discipline, and through your preseverance you will be grateful at the end result you and your family have achieved.
Last Updated on July 27, 2024 by Financial Goodness
Financial Goodness
George Alexander Roy III and our team are experts in helping you to seek wealth through investing and tips on how to succeed. Join us at FinancialGoodness.com to increase your knowledge through education in the areas of personal finance, real estate, and investments. George has been an owner of a real estate investment business that focuses on wholesaling, fix & flip, and long-term buy-and-hold property strategies with a consistent increase of annual revenues. Consequently, as an entrepreneur, researcher, writer, and speaker he has sought the truth in everything he does, no matter how difficult. Hopefully this value and service will help each person achieve their financial freedom sooner.
US & Other Central Banks Printing Endlessly New Dollars. Photo credit: Unsplash.
Updated July 27, 2024. Let’s take a look at how to profit from the substantial inflation that is already starting to happen. The US government has been printing massive amounts of new money. On January 6, 2020, the US Federal Reserve had around $4 trillion dollars. On January 4, 2021, the number increased to $6.7 trillion dollars. As of 2021, over 40% of US dollars were printed in the last 12 months.
Viewing The US Federal Reserve Numbers
FRED M1 Money Stock, 2020. Photo credit: https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/M1REAL
Updated June 22, 2022. Below is the same chart from updated to May 24, 2022:
FRED M1 Money Stock, updated May 24, 2022. https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/M1REAL
Simultaneous News Hits At Same Time
This is what has happened in the United States. But, with the world reaching the end of the long-term debt cycle, and having the COVID-19 hitting at the same time, all countries are facing the same problem. Every government and every central bank, not just the US Federal Reserve but also the European Central Bank, the Bank of Japan, etc. As a result, it looks like inflation is their best business plan as they will profit from substantial inflation very soon.
Jake Tran did an interesting YouTube video titled, “Why Haven’t We Seen Hyperinflation?” He interviews Peter Schiff who points out that we have had an incredible surge in government spending. A lot of the spending has been related to COVID-19 and to the economic shutdown. Many people were no longer out there earning money and the governments have looked to replace some of that money with government stimulus money. There were no tax hikes, nor prioritization of government spending. So the governments had no choice but to ramp up the printing of new money – BRRRRRRRRRR…. The governments printed the new money and then put it into circulation through government programs.
No Historical Precedent
All the currency that has been created is hugely staggering. Jason Hartman, podcast host, says that we have never seen anything like this before. There is no historical precedent to what has now happened and it feels like we are in uncharted territory. However, with all the new money many people do not think this is a problem. Nevertheless, all this new currency has a distinct possibility of being highly inflationary as time passes. A look at the chart below you can see how high the deficit has reached.
Federal Deficit Trends Over Time 2000-2020. Photo credit: https://datalab.usaspending.gov/americas-finance-guide/deficit/trends/
So the question is, where is the inflation? Everyday goods like food and gas have not increased by 40% and other countries are seeing the equivalents in their price of goods. So what gives and where is the inflation?
Updated July 26, 2023. The Federal Reserve increased interest rates again by a quarter of a point. This brings the benchmark borrowing rate to a range of 5.25% to 5.50%.
Updated June 22, 2022. The war between Ukraine and Russia continues. President Biden announced that the US will not purchase oil and gas from Russia in an attempt reduce the foreign money that Russia receives.
As a consequence, the U.S. gasoline price on June 13, 2022 was $5.006 a gallon. Food prices were 9.4% higher in April 2022 than in April 2021. This is the largest annaul increase in food prices in 41 years. As a result, grocery prices leaped 10.8% for the year.
Four Factors of Inflation
The question is, what are the factors that cause inflation? As well, how do you profit from substantial inflation? The answer is that the amount of money being printed is just one factor that makes up inflation. According to the YouTube channel Economics Explained, the other big factors of inflation include:
Industrial output. The economic output is the number of things available. The higher this number, the lower the prices will be and vice versa.
Employment. Too little employment leaves employees looking for jobs which leads to decreased wages and decreased prices.
Money supply. Increasing the money in an economy will increase the prices that everyone has to pay.
Velocity of money. The movement of money is also a factor as to how fast money goes from one person to another.
FRED Velocity of M1 Money Stock. Photo credit: https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/M1V
Inflation Analysis
What we see is that the money supply has definitely gone up. Industrial output is more or less a non-factor because businesses are not producing as much, but also people are buying less right now. However, employment and the velocity of money have decreased because of a high degree of uncertainty in the world. As a result, Inflation is starting to creep up, but for right now, it is happening slowly.
US Markets & the Everything Bubble
What we have seen in the US is an increase in the markets. For example, the stock markets, real estate, and bitcoin have been on a continuous tear as prices continue to go up. This is so big because of its effects on society. Many people have called what we are seeing right now as an “everything bubble”.
In March 2021, Charlie Munger, vice chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, and I believe is one of the wisest people in the stock market today, was being interviewed by the Daily Journal Corporation in Los Angeles, CA. A lot of people were asking Charlie Munger about the very real possibility of a stock market bubble. Here is what Charlie had to say: “Yes, I think this must end badly but I don’t know when. I think this kind of crazy speculation in enterprises not even found or picked out yet is a sign of an irritating bubble.”
Undoubtedly, Charlie Munger is very intelligent individual and I am sure he knows exactly how he will profit from the irritating stock market bubble and the substantial inflation that is already taking place.
No Experience for Pre-Retirement Investors
Rising rates have been forecast before. However, this time the analyst survey is showing that it is already proceeding. Pre-retirement investors are not experienced in dealing with a market backdrop of steadily rising rates. The Federal Reserve on Friday, March 19, 2021, said that it will not extend an exemption that would end on March 31st. In essence, the Fed won’t extend relief for banks because they believe that banks have strong capital positions.
Starting on April 1, 2021, the nation’s biggest banks will not be able to exclude treasuries from SLR (supplementary leverage ratio) calculation. This and its ramifications are big news. It looked like everything was status quo, but the status quo will not continue. This is something that clearly upset the markets and will continue to upset the markets.
The Cantillon Effect
About 250 years ago, a famous economist named Richard Cantillon wrote a book where he talked about the “cradle of political economy”. This is called the Cantillon Effect. The premise of the book is that people who are close to the money benefit the most. The people who are farther from the money benefit less because prices have already risen.
Wall Street, the central bankers, the politicians, the tech entrepreneurs, the wealthy people take advantage of being close to the money. These individuals get to take advantage of all of these opportunities first. This circumstance has a tremendous impact on wealth inequality and is the basis for huge problems in society.
Honestly, if you look at the people who are close to the money they do not care about anyone else, they are just thinking about themselves. In my opinion, they are greedy beyond comprehension. This is why these central bankers have created the stimulus checks. They want to keep the average worker from rising up, rioting, and having civil unrest as a measure of security.
The central bankers want to take advantage of this Cantillon Effect opportunity. They want to profit immensely from the situation we all see before us. The good news is that you can profit from the massive inflation that is directly ahead of all of us too. Here is how to anticipate and prepare for the next year and a half to three years and how not to be a victim of the wealth gap.
How You Can Benefit from Inflation
The other way to is benefit from inflation. Inflation is the secret way that the governments and central bankers can wipe out hundreds of billions of dollars of debt off the balance sheet very quickly. Remember that the US government’s debt is owed in US dollars. So, as a result, we can inflate our currency to pay off the debt.
This is an extremely powerful inflation strategy and it is the plan that we should follow as well. Like it or not, this is the game that is being played. This is a plan that is way too big to do anything about. The secret is to learn how to profit from substantial inflation ahead. The result will be an incease your investments and your wealth.
So, we should align our interest with the two most powerful forces the human race has ever known: governments and central banks. We need to align our business plans so that we are on the same plan that they are on.
Wealth Redistribution
Inflation is a hidden tax and it is a wealth destroyer. Inflation destroys the value of our savings, our stocks, our bonds, and our equity in our real estate. But inflation destroys the value of our debt as well. Herein is the huge advantage of inflation. Inflation is the most powerful method of wealth redistribution. Inflation redistributes wealth from lenders to borrowers and from old people to young people.
First let’s see what happens if you borrow money from a bank. If you go to a bank and ask for a loan, you will get the money at today’s value. Yet when it comes time to pay the money back, you will pay it back at tomorrow’s lower value because of inflation. You have won the inflation game! Why? You have won because you will pay back the inflation gain in cheaper dollars. This is a winning strategy that will have you saving the extra as profits.
Inflation will also redistribute the wealth from old people to young people. How does inflation do this? In most cases, old people have assets such as savings accounts, investments in the stock market, bonds, and equity in real estate. These assets are their preparation for the future and their retirement.
Young People Will Benefit
The problem for the old people is that inflation is munching on those assets. On the other hand, the young people are just starting out in life and they usually have a lot of debt. As a result, inflation is an intergenerational wealth transfer from the older people to the younger people. The good news is that the younger people don’t have to worry about an inheritance because the powerful force of inflation will do a lot of it for them!
If the interest rate on the debt is cheap and the inflation rate is high, then the debt is benefiting you. This is essentially a negative interest rate. Higher inflation in the future will help to negatively impact lenders and help people’s debt. This is the secret to profit from substantial inflation ahead. Are you thinking of taking advantage of the power of inflation? For the intelligent person, the secret is to look for commodities that are indexed to inflation.
One Possibility: Maximize With Real Estate
Everyone on Earth needs a place to live. Using debt in a positive way to create wealth is the key when it comes to income property real estate. An investor who decides to become a landlord and purchases multiple income properties understands this concept. Debt is the hidden wealth creator and it has helped millions of people already. Read my blog on the 3 Ways To Really Boost Your Rental House Cash Flows.
Let’s take an example of a person who buys an owner-occupied house to live in. At this time the mortgage rates are historically low. But with inflation already kicking in, you know that the interest rates on everything will increase. Inflation also affects the interest on a 30 year fixed rate mortgage. Below is a US 30-year fixed rate mortgage interest rate chart from 1971 to 2021. If you look at the right hand side, you can already see the mortgage interest rate going up.
FRED 30-Year Fixed Rate Mortgage Average in the United States. Photo credit: https://fred.stlouisfed.org/graph/?g=NUh
Inflation: Prepare Now
To anticipate and prepare for the next year and a half to three years and not be a victim of the wealth gap, take advantage of the powerful force of inflation. Align your strategy with the governments and central banks. This is the hidden secret to profit from the substantial inflation that is ahead. This is a win-win strategy that will give everyone an edge.
In my opinion, I suggest preparing your inflation strategy right now if you have not done so already. In the comments, please let me know your thoughts on the massive amount of money printing taking place today and on your personal views on inflation.
Last Updated on July 27, 2024 by Financial Goodness
Financial Goodness
George Alexander Roy III and our team are experts in helping you to seek wealth through investing and tips on how to succeed. Join us at FinancialGoodness.com to increase your knowledge through education in the areas of personal finance, real estate, and investments. George has been an owner of a real estate investment business that focuses on wholesaling, fix & flip, and long-term buy-and-hold property strategies with a consistent increase of annual revenues. Consequently, as an entrepreneur, researcher, writer, and speaker he has sought the truth in everything he does, no matter how difficult. Hopefully this value and service will help each person achieve their financial freedom sooner.
Generate More Wealth. Photo credit: Unsplash. Thank you @morganhousel
Updated July 27, 2024. If you are worried about the world economy, you are not alone. We have watched as businesses and workers have struggled with the new regulations imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, I believe that the U.S. will generate more wealth in the next two years under President Joe Biden than in the previous decades combined.
As many know, we have just added more US debt to the economy than the debt of World War I and II together. With President Biden, you may be asking me why I would make such a bold statement on the future of the US and the world. For the most part, I believe that many factors are setting up nicely for you to generate more wealth in the next two years. Let’s take a look at those factors.
Biden Signs Stimulus
On Thursday, March 11, 2021, President Joe Biden signed the passage of the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan. As he signed he said that the bill and the IRS will begin sending out payments as soon as the next day – Friday, March 12, 2021.
All the markets in 2021 are going up. The Russell 2000 holds relative strength and is leading the indexes higher. Look at the other indexes in the stock market and in real estate. They are increasing rapidly because of inflation. But don’t be scared of rates yet. For this reason, I believe that this environment should be very favorable for stocks and other risk assets.
Rates Are Just Part of the Picture
If we examine the recent decline in the major indexes, we can see that the timing appears to coincide with a sharp increase in interest rates.
U.S. 10 Year Treasury. Photo credit: CNBC. https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/US10Y?qfsearchterm=
Updated June 22, 2022. On Wednesday, June 15, 2022 the Federal Reserve raised interest rates by 0.75%. This is the largest move the Fed has made since 1994. In the projections released after the meeting, the Fed expects to further raise interest rates to roughly 3.4% by the end of this year.
The US is constantly printing dollars with no end point target. In my opinion, ride it out for two years if possible. But be aware as long as the US money presses keep printing money everything will most likely rise. Likewise, if you feel you are missing out on a bull market and you want to get in, be careful and look at the technical analysis for each stock you invest in. Just remember that the market is most likely in a bubble in the long term it could be very unsustainable.
Everything I have just written above is true. But I understand your concerns if you are sceptical. If you pay attention to the news, they focus on negativity. Why do they focus on negativity? One simple reason: because it sells.
Entrepreneurs: Rocket Up
However, in my opinion, people in the world, particularly in the US, these entrepreneurs and businessmen are just getting started. These people are launching new businesses, inventing new technologies, solving real world problems, and creating cutting-edge medicines. Previous generations would be astonished at our life in the 21st century.
I would argue that middle class Americans today are far better off than the wealthiest people from 100 years ago. For example, the middle class today have air conditioning, the internet, and medical care available every day. Travel is available if needed. As a result, I would say that the innovations the world has gone in the last 100 years have been breathtaking, to say the least. To clarify, I believe individuals will generate more wealth in the next two years. So let’s learn what people are doing so that you can increase your wealth as well.
Big Increases In Life Expectancy
The increase in life expectancy is amazing. More than one billion people have been lifted out of poverty. Take a look at the chart below of the increase in life expectancy that has happened in the past 150 years.
The increase in life expectancy has created the one thing that man cannot control and that is time. The addition of more time in a person’s life will have a dramatic effect. As a consequence, life expectancy will continue to increase the work output for individuals and for businesses. As a direct result, these individuals will see the opportunity that is presenting itself and generate more wealth in the next two years.
I believe the key here is time. If we increase the precious amount of time we have on Earth by twenty years to thirty years or more the results will be amazing. I say this because time has always been a limiting factor to bring things to fruition with businesses and technology. Please take a look at the chart below. Do you agree?
World Life Expectancy. Source: Riley, Clio Infra 2015, and UN Population Division 2019. Photo credit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_expectancy#/media/File:Life_expectancy_by_world_region,_from_1770_to_2018.svg
Launching New Businesses
I believe that the U.S. will generate more wealth in the next two years. Let’s take a closer look at this exciting arena of launching new businesses, inventing new technologies, solving real world problems, and creating cutting-edge medicines.
Chart of Number of Business Establishments Less Than 1 Year Old in the U.S.:
Number of Business Establishments Less Than 1 Year Old in the U.S. 1994-2020. Photo credit: https://www.statista.com/statistics/235494/new-entrepreneurial-businesses-in-the-us/
Look at the number of new businesses happening now. In March 2020, there were 804,398 new businesses that were less than 1 year old. This is an increase from the March 2019 figure of 770,609.
Small Business Survival Rate
50% of small businesses survive 5 years or more, while only 25% make it to 15 years or more. 20% of new US businesses fail within their first two years, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. 45% fail during the first five years. 29% of small businesses failed because they ran out of money, while 17% failed due to a lack of sound business model and poor product offering.
In general, the small business success rate depends on a number of factors. One of the most important factors is to be passionate about your business. Then set goals and plan ahead. But always keep your mind open to new ideas.
The most essential plan of action is to do these three things very rigorously: budget carefully, be disciplined, and focus on the needs of your customers. By realizing this awesome opportunity to generate wealth and doing these necessary steps, you increase the chances of taking your startup business and growing it into a $1 million+ company.
Technology And Innovations
We all know about the astounding growth of technology companies. Elon Musk is perhaps one of the great innovators of all time. In the last year, from 2020 to 2021, Tesla stock has risen more than seven times. Intuitive Surgical is another one. In 2004 Intuitive was $6 a share. Now it is more $700 a share in 2021. If you bought these stocks they are awesome gains to have in your portfolio.
But the secret is to find these technology companies when they are just getting started. If you look at the real builders meaning the innovators, the entrepreneurs you will find that innovation is accelerating faster every day. For example, when the microprocessor first came out in 1971 it could hold about 2,000 transistors. However, now in 2021, the microprocessor can have more than 39 billion!
Prediction: U.S. Will Generate Great Wealth
I believe that the U.S. will generate more wealth in the next two years under President Joe Biden than in the previous decades combined. If you are not sure where to look, I highly suggest real estate. Billionaire Andrew Carnegie famously said that 90% of millionaires got their wealth by investing in real estate.
If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you.
Last Updated on July 27, 2024 by Financial Goodness
Financial Goodness
George Alexander Roy III and our team are experts in helping you to seek wealth through investing and tips on how to succeed. Join us at FinancialGoodness.com to increase your knowledge through education in the areas of personal finance, real estate, and investments. George has been an owner of a real estate investment business that focuses on wholesaling, fix & flip, and long-term buy-and-hold property strategies with a consistent increase of annual revenues. Consequently, as an entrepreneur, researcher, writer, and speaker he has sought the truth in everything he does, no matter how difficult. Hopefully this value and service will help each person achieve their financial freedom sooner.
Warren Buffett is an American investor, business tycoon, philanthropist, and the Chairman & CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. Photo credit: https://www.marketwatch.com/story/this-mutual-fund-may-have-cracked-the-buffett-code-berkshire-hathaways-secret-sauce-2020-09-21
Updated April 13, 2024. My years of research tell me time and time again that the best stock to invest in is BRK.B by Berkshire Hathaway. The company is known for its control and leadership by Warren Buffett, who serves as chairman and chief executive. Berkshire Hathaway is a publically traded entity and is an overwhelmingly American multinational conglomerate holding company that is based in Ohama, Nebraska. This is a publicly traded stock under the tickers Berkshire Hathaway A or Berkshire Hathaway B (BRK.B).
The main difference between Berkshire Hathaway Class A and Class B shares is their price. The Berk B shares are much more affordable and offer the benefit of flexibility. Subsequently, if an investor owns just one share of Class A and is in need of some cash, the only option is to sell that single share, even if its price far exceeds the amount of capital he needs to access.
In contrast, a holder of Class B shares can liquate part of his or her Berkshire Hathaway holdings just up to the amount needed to meet cash flow cash flow requirements. In addition, Class B also provides a potential tax benfit. Its much lower price means that BRK.B stock can be passed to heirs without triggering the gift tax as passing Class A shares does.
One final difference is that Class A shares can be converted into an equivalent amount of Class B shares any time a Class A shareholder wishes to do so. The conversion privilege does not exist in reverse. Moreover, Class B shareholders can only convert their holdings to Class A by selling their Class B shares and then buying the equivalent in Class A.
Warnings Of Possible Financial Crisis Emerging
Many people are wondering what is happening with the U.S. and global markets. In a wide-ranging conversation, I recently watched a video where you were interviewed by Charlie Rose in April 2022. In the beginning of the interview you explained that after reading The Intelligent Investor, you understood to buy businesses that are publicly traded. You became an owner of the business and you did not care whether a stock went up or down the next day, or next week, or next month, or next year because you understood the principal of value investing. You didn’t care because you knew businesses. Looking at the numbers of the businesses that you completely understood made you comfortable enough to invest in these companies.
As Warren has said, he is an extremely bright man who is terribly interested in the work that he does. He has spent a lifetime doing it and he have surrounded himself with people who bring out the best in him. Warren has said many times that he doesn’t have to be a genius in what he does and that’s the great thing about it.
From my perspective, the genius is that Warren Buffett realized, many years ago, is that he is in a game that allows him to succeed over time to the highest of levels because he didn’t really need extra intelligence. He has dedicated himself and his eventual success by focusing on one thing: investments.
Warren said it best himself: you need the right orientation where the investor would think about what the companies are going to be worth 10 or 20 years from now. What I like best is that if a person truly internalizes everything, all the necessary ingredients, they too will make a lot of money. Warren Buffett has said, “I got rich when I understood this.”
The Gem: Berkshire Hathaway Stock
Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B) is an American multinational conglomerate holding company headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska and is owned by Warren Buffett. As probably everyone knows, Warren Buffett is one of the most successful investors of all time. As well, my years of reading and research tell me over and above that BRK.B that the best stock to invest in.
Similarly, BRK.B is a stock that combines the best value in publicly traded companies as well as privately owning a number of companies themselves. Investing in Berkshire Hathaway provides investors with property and casualty insurance and reinsurance, utilities and energy, freight rail transportation, finance, manufacturing, retailing, and services.
Berkshire Loves Collecting Dividends
Berkshire Hathaway famously doesn’t pay dividends. Nevertheless, Berkshire stock loves collecting them. In 2018 alone, Berkshire took in $3.8 billion in dividends. “A sum that will increase in 2019,” Buffett said in the annual letter.
As of August 2020, Berkshire Class B stock is the seventh-largest component of the S&P 500 Index. On January 10, 2018, Berkshire Hathaway appointed Ajit Jain and Greg Abel to Vice-Chairman roles. Abel is vice chairman for non-insurance business operations, and Jain is vice chairman of insurance-operations. In addition, for the fiscal year 2019, Berkshire Hathaway reported earnings of US$81.4 billion, with an annual revenue of US$254.6 billion, an increase of 2.7% over the previous fiscal cycle.
Berkshire Hathaway Is Undervalued By 20%
The Berkshire Hathaway current valuation is $495 billion. If Berkshire Hathaway businesses are valued at 20 times operating earnings approximating the S&P 500 Index, then they would have an enterprise value of $480 billion.
In comparison, subtracting the float of $130 billion would then result in an equity value of $350 billion. Then adding $350 billion (businesses) to $385 billion (stock portfolio plus cash) results in an overall equity valuation of $715 billion. As such, the Berkshire Hathaway current valuation of $495 billion represents a 30% discount!
Berkshire Has Top Management
Berkshire Hathaway is a stock that is run by top management. Consequently, the huge advantage is that the management regularly optimizes the companies Berkshire Hathaway invests in so that you don’t have to. Basically, you can sleep well every night knowing that your investment is secure.
When Warren Buffett speaks, Wall Street and investors listen intently. That’s because Berkshire Hathaway has a track record few other money managers can match. Over the last 55 calendar years, Berkshire Hathaway’s stock rose at more than 20.3% annualized pace, versus 11.8% for the S&P 500. More than 20% annually for 55 years! In my opinion, this is one of the best investments of a lifetime. The best stock to invest in is BRK.B. I ask you to research Berkshire Hathaway, if you haven’t already, and add your comments below.
Berkshire Stock With A 18.6% Annualized Return Since 1965 Versus S&P 500 With A 11.8% Annualized Return. Photo credit: https://svencarlin.com/berkshire-vs-sp-500/
Berkshire Hathaway Publicly Traded Portfolio
Below are the publicly-traded U.S. stocks owned by Warren Buffett’s holding company Berkshire Hathaway, as reported to the Securities and Exchange Commission in filings made available to the public. There are times when Berkshire asks for, and receives, the SEC’s permission to temporarily withhold data on some stock holdings.
Update March 2020. With the Covid-19 pandemic creating uncertainty around the world, it is unsurprising that many may have seen their top stocks underperform the benchmark indexes. Investing legend Warren Buffett is no exception. Indeed, it is reassuring that Berkshire Hathaway has managed to find value in this volatile environment.
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Many investors regularly look at investor Warren Buffett’s top holdings to see what they are and then to do their on research and decide if they like the value of these stocks. Berkshire Hathaway current top holdings by size are Bank of America, Apple, Coca-Cola, Kraft Heinz, American Express, Verizon, U.S. Bancorp, and General Motors.
Warren Buffett’s investment strategy is to build a portfolio of blue-chip companies with strong balance sheets, and then to hold this stock in BRK.B and invest with the right orientation over a long time frame. Apple is Berkshire Hathaway’s largest portfolio holding, comprising 49.1% of the portfolio. In addition, Buffett has held shares of Coca-Cola since the late 1980s; the company accounts for about 8.6% of Berkshire Hathaway’s portfolio. Furthermore, in 2011, Buffett began investing in Bank of America when Berkshire Hathaway purchased in a private offering 50,000 shares of the company’s preferred stock at a liquidation value of $100,000 per share.
Despite his unparalleled success, Buffett’s investment model has always been transparent, straightforward, and consistent. Fundamentally, he invests in fairly-priced, high-dividend paying blue-chip companies that feature strong balance sheets. Buffett buys such stocks with the intent to hang onto them over the long haul.
Listed below are the public and private businesses that add up to the best stock to invest in, which, in my opinion, is BRK.B.
Clothing: Union Underwear Corp., Fruit of the Loom, Garan, Fechheimer Brothers, Russell Corporation, H.H. Brown Shoe Group, Acme Boots, Brooks Sports, Justin Brands, Chippewa, Justin Boots, Justin Original Workboots, Nocona Boots, and Tony Lama Boots
Building Products:
Acme Building Brands, Benjamin Moore & Co., Johns Manville, MiTek Inc., Shaw Industries, Inc., Clayton Homes Inc.
Flight Services:
FlightSafety International Inc., and NetJets Inc.
Retail:
Nebraska Furniture Mart, RC Willey Home Furnishings, Star Furniture Company, Jordan’s Furniture, Inc, CORT Business Services, Ben Bridge Jeweler, Helzberg Diamonds, The Pampered Chief, Ltd., See’s Candies, Dairy Queen, Orange Julius, Karmelkorn, Oriental Trading Company, and Pilot Flying J
Media:
Buffalo Evening News, Buffalo Courier-Express, Business Wire, Omaha World-Herald, Richmond Times-Dispatch, Winston-Salem Journal, The Eagle, Waco Tribune-Herald, Tulsa World, Greensboro, North Carolina-based News & Record, Virginia’s Roanoke Times, Press of Atlantic City, and ABC affiliate WPLG
Real Estate:
Berkshire Hathaway’s Energy’s HomeServices of America, Home Capital Group Inc., Store Capital, and Clayton Group
Other Non-insurance:
From 1986 to 2003: Albecca Inc., CTB International Corp., McLane Company, Scott Fetzer Companies including: Kirby Home Cleaning Systems, Wayne Water Systems, Ginsu Knives, and World Book Encyclopedia.
In 2007: acquired TTI, Inc, and Marmon Group
In 2014: Berkshire Hathaway Automotive created through the acquisition of Van Tuyl Group; acquired Duracell from Procter & Gamble in an all-stock deal.
Finance and Financial Products
Clayton Homes
Investments
Russell Corporation including Spalding NBA Official Basketballs, and BIKE Athletic Company
Lubrizol Corporation
Preferred stock in Wrigley
Goldman Sachs
GE
Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corporation
Indian insurance BerkshireInsurance.com
H.J. Heinz Co.
Berkshire owns 1.74 million shares of Gannett, and Precision Castparts Corp.
2020: Berkshire added a position in the Q2 2020 of 20 million shares in mining company Barrick Gold
2020: Q3 2020 agreed to buy Dominion Energy’s natural gas transmission and storage operations.
Between September 2019 and August 2020, Berkshire purchased more than 5% of the outstanding stock of each of the five largest Japanese general trading companies: Itochu, Mitsubishi, Mitsui Sumitomo, and Marubeni.
The Rich Didn’t Get Wealthy By Investing In Stocks
Have you ever wondered how the wealthiest investors in the world became wealthy? For example, if you look at Warren Buffett you might think that the wealthiest investors in the world enjoyed their success due to wise investing decisions.
However, despite the fact that the best stock to invest in is BRK.B, the reality is that Warren Buffett is a rare exception. Buffett’s investment returns over the decades have been nothing short of phenomenal. His investments over the years are the reason for his success. While replicating his success might not be possible, you can emulate his strategies to become a successful investor.
One of the primary reasons for Buffett’s success has been his ability to recognize the deeper value behind a company. The best stock to invest in is BRK.B, but understand that Warren Buffett invests in businesses that he understands and knows that the inherent value of the business is more than its evaluation at the time of investing. As a result, all the work that Warren Buffett and his team of people do will add up to the best stock to invest in, which is BRK.B.
Create A Product Or Service To Add Value
Contrary to popular belief, the wealthiest investors did not use stock market investing to find the best stock to invest in such as BRK.B in order to maintain the wealth they had already acquired. Almost all of them made their wealth by starting companies that were very successful or some have received an inheritance.
I invite you to read my FinancialGoodness.com: About The Writer and scroll down to “Think of Knowledge As A Tree.” One of the entrepreneur’s I have studied is Ryan Daniel Moran.This entrepreneur realized that you have to strategically position yourself to create value in service to other people. Please read my blog on how to Build Unlimited Wealth With Money’s Untold Truth. To summarize this article, find the biggest problem you can think of and then solve that problem. You have to create a product or a service that people really want and then think of a way to deliver it to them. This is the secret for creating unlimited wealth.
Imitate Strategies Of Successful Investors
Once your business is profitable, you can then use some revenue to maintain your wealth that you have acquired over the years. You can then imitate the strategies of successful investors. In this way you can use your wealth by investing in wise investment moves in the stock market. The combination of these two strategies, of having a profitable business and then investing in the markets, is really the best way to maintain and to increase your wealth over time.
Consequently, have you ever thought about the relationship between money and wealth? Specifically the fact that money is just paper with a number on it. Nevertheless, people have equated money to value.
In the end, perhaps this was never about the money. Let’s face it, it was all about the freedom that you were looking for. Accordingly, if you make wise investments you will have the ability to do whatever you want, whenever you want. Thus I am talking about your choice of freedom.
This is the dream of freedom that you were seeking all along. Truly I challenge you to do it and have the courage, the belief, and the strength to make this your reality! When you do this, you will have completely conquered how to build unlimited wealth with money’s untold truth because now you know the secret to having a lifestyle of richness.
Conclusion
I hope you enjoyed my research on the best investment to make. If a stock market crash happens again or a big dip occurs, the long-term buy and hold value stock is apparent to me. My years of research tell me again and again that the best stock to invest in is BRK.B.
To conclude, I like the peace of mind that the BRK.B stock has with it. In the same way, I can invest in BRK.B and rest good every single night. In the final analysis, I know that the leading management at Berkshire Hathaway will look after my investment and make sure it grows slowly over time for years to come.
“An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest.”
– Benjamin Franklin
Matthew 7:8 NLT. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.
Last Updated on April 13, 2024 by Financial Goodness
Financial Goodness
George Alexander Roy III and our team are experts in helping you to seek wealth through investing and tips on how to succeed. Join us at FinancialGoodness.com to increase your knowledge through education in the areas of personal finance, real estate, and investments. George has been an owner of a real estate investment business that focuses on wholesaling, fix & flip, and long-term buy-and-hold property strategies with a consistent increase of annual revenues. Consequently, as an entrepreneur, researcher, writer, and speaker he has sought the truth in everything he does, no matter how difficult. Hopefully this value and service will help each person achieve their financial freedom sooner.
How To Become A High Net Worth Individual. Photo credit: geekFence.com.
Updated April 13, 2024. How to become a high net worth individual? To become a high net worth individual it typically means that you have grown your wealth and are holding financial assets with a value greater than US$1 million. However, if you haven’t achieved this goal, can you imagine your life if you had a nice amount of money sitting in your bank account? So now let’s take a look at some individuals who have achieved this goal of $1,000,000+.
“Go Where You’re Treated Best”
I would like to share with you one of the people that I have been following now for a few years. His name is Andrew Hendersen and he is the founder of Nomad Capitalist. After many years of experience as a global businessman, Andrew offers his expert advice to successful entrepreneurs and investors on ways to reduce their tax bill, grow wealth overseas, and become global citizens. Hence, he believes that the world has changed forever and says it’s time for you to “go where you’re treated best.”
Become More Of A True Global Citizen
Updated April 13, 2024. I have to agree with this philosophy of going where you are treated best. As many of you know, I lived in the United States for almost five decades. Without a doubt, I thought that I was doing well. But moving to Colombia, South America more than eight years ago has changed my mind-set completely. For instance, the most obvious realization for me was the drastic reduction of prices in Colombia from the prices that I had grown accustomed to when living for so many years in the United States.
As equally important, I began to realize that there were other countries that offered distinct advantages in other areas of business as well. The problem is, as Andrew Hendersen confirms, there is no one country that offers all these advantages for the entrepreneur and investor. For this reason, you must do research on the topic and, in many instances, seek them out individually.
Consequently, now I view myself as becoming more of a true global citizen. I have recently watched a YouTube video by Andrew entitled, How To Become an Ultra High-Net Worth Individual. I would like to share below the key ideas that Andrew discusses is this video.
Building Long-Term Wealth
Being from the United States, I have felt that the tax rate has been high for many years. If you look at the US, which is considered a high-income country, the tax revenue is high, equaling about 24% of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2018.
Below is a chart that compares the tax rates of the US with other 35 members of high-income countries. These 35 countries represent the member countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. The reality of the situation is that the tax rate of the 35 high-income countries averages around 34%.
If you want to build long-term wealth it makes sense to research countries where the tax rate is much lower. The good news is that there are a number of countries that are tax-free. If you look at Europe for example, European countries, for the most part, have relatively high taxes.
But there are several tax-free countries, territorial tax countries, and countries with tax exemptions that provide a great opportunity for entrepreneurs to keep more of their own money. These European countries include: Monaco, Portugal, Georgia, Switzerland, Italy, Gibraltar, Channel Islands, Malta, United Kingdom, Ireland, Cyprus, and Montenegro. Check out these other tax-free countries in another YouTube video from Nomad Capitalist.
Intentional Mindset
If you want to be truly successful and take yourself to the next level, put yourself in that environment. When you travel overseas, have the intention of seeking out individuals that are living at a higher level. By seeking out individuals that are living at a higher level it will allow you to live more intentionally and grow into that mindset.
Being Wealthy As Your Top Priority
The COVID-19 pandemic is interesting because now no one can say that they are too busy. The world is going through a big reset. Don’t be afraid to give up the good and go for the great. However, always remember that it is more important to be happy than to be rich. I believe these are words to first consider and then to live by.
Passion For Work
If you have a passion for work, you realize that there is no passion to be found in playing small. Don’t settle for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living. Develop a passion for lifelong learning.
Don’t just live for the moment. Think about and plan to have the necessary money for retirement early. Set a goal of retiring early. Right now the FIRE movement (financial independence, retire early) is gaining traction through online communities where people share blogs, podcasts, and online discussions.
Eight Key Points To Become A High Net Worth Individual:
Focus On Goals, Not Numbers
Increase Your Risk Tolerance
Rely On Yourself
Set Targets
Increase Your Active Income
Save More Than You Spend
Live Wealthy, Live Rich
Diversify What’s Left
Diversify With Real Estate
One of the best ways to diversify your assets is to invest in real estate. Many countries have very good tax advantages to owning property. Here is an excellent article on investing in real estate: Real Estate Investing Strategies That Work Every Time.
Conclusions
How to become a high net worth individual is important because it typically means that you have grown your wealth and are holding financial assets with a value greater than US$1 million. Please check out the YouTube video How To Become an Ultra High-Net Worth Individual. This video by Andrew Hendersen is a gem because it contains many tips that will help you to achieve this goal. It contains many of the ingredients to take your life to the next level of success.
What popular articles and blogs do you recommend?
Finally, what if I said that there is actually an equation for wealth. How would you feel then? Please read my blog on how to Build Unlimited Wealth With Money’s Untold Truth. By building unlimited wealth with money’s untold truth you can achieve your dreams and live an amazing lifestyle.
Please leave a comment and share your thoughts on increasing your wealth and net worth. Everyone please stay safe and look for my next blog. Best wishes!
Matthew 7:8 NLT
8 For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.
Last Updated on April 13, 2024 by Financial Goodness
Financial Goodness
George Alexander Roy III and our team are experts in helping you to seek wealth through investing and tips on how to succeed. Join us at FinancialGoodness.com to increase your knowledge through education in the areas of personal finance, real estate, and investments. George has been an owner of a real estate investment business that focuses on wholesaling, fix & flip, and long-term buy-and-hold property strategies with a consistent increase of annual revenues. Consequently, as an entrepreneur, researcher, writer, and speaker he has sought the truth in everything he does, no matter how difficult. Hopefully this value and service will help each person achieve their financial freedom sooner.
Unexpected COVID-19 Impacts On Single Family Homes. Photo credit: Unsplash. Thank you Avi Waxman.
Updated April 13, 2024. Many states are loosening their self-isolation orders and are allowing people to return to work. But the road ahead for the US economy coming out of this pandemic induced recession is a long one. I obviously have many concerns about this. Hopefully, the employers have implemented the necessary procedures so that people can work together and still be self-isolated while maintaining distance between the co-workers. Let’s learn more about the unexpected COVID impact on homes.
The Good and The Bad
First, the good news. According to Myles Udland, during the transition phase, the bounce in economic activity we are going to see is now expected to be stronger than previously forecast. We are currently in this phase of the unexpected COVID impact on homes.
But in Bank of America’s view, the impact from the lockdown phase that hit the economy hardest in March and April and the return of the economy to pre-COVID-19 levels of GDP will be larger drag on the economy than previously expected.
Bank of America expects that the second quarter GDP of 2020 to decline at an annualized rate of 40%. Not good. In addition, the 40% decline is a revised estimate from BofA’s previous number of 30% GDP decline. To put the 40% decline in perspective, during the financial crisis of 2007-2008, the GDP decline was 4%. This means that the COVID-19 pandemic is possibly ten times bigger than the previous recession in 2007-2008.
Looking at the next 18 months, BofA sees a soft labor market, disinflation, and a lack of investment conspiring to keep growth below pre-COVID levels into 2022. Disinflation is what happens when price slows down temporarily. Deflation, which is the opposite of inflation, is a decrease in general price levels throughout an economy.
The news media has been covering the effects on the real estate market as the coronavirus has swept the world in the last few months. But interestingly, three surprising and unexpected situations have occurred that effect single family homes. What is even more surprising is that the mainstream media hasn’t really been reporting on these three situations. Taking all these things into consideration, the unexpected COVID impact on homes could surprise you.
Surprise #1: Dramatic Inventory Reduction
The first major surprise that has occurred is that there has been a drastic inventory reduction. The inventory is the available properties on the market for buyers to purchase. This is known as supply. This inventory reduction means that the supply of houses has dropped dramatically.
It seems that once the virus hit hard enough so that lock downs occurred, what a lot of normal sellers did was to take their property off the market. They did that for a number of reasons. Some sellers didn’t want to move in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic.
Other people thought that buyers were not going to be out and about looking for a new home to buy. Others didn’t want to sell their property when they thought about all the people who would be traipsing through their home. As we all know now, a person could be infected with the COVID and not know it for days.
What does this mean to the selling of homes? As it turns out, the selling of single family homes is a huge deal. When you have to sell your property you compete against all the other similar priced houses. Let’s say that you have done your homework and know the area and the comps in that area and decide to put your house on the market for $200,000 USD. But there is another house that is identical to your property that is in just as good a shape and they are listed at $175,000 USD. What does this mean to you?
That means that any of the available buyers in the marketplace looking for a property like yours are going to go to the $175,000 listing before they are going to go to yours. The offer is going to go to the $175,000 listing first. That’s just how it is.
With a reduction in supply it makes it so much easier. Now you can ask for and get full price or even more than full price for your house. A reduction in inventory is a very good thing to have. If you sell houses this is what you dream of.
Perhaps you are thinking that it is possible that when the coronavirus pandemic wears off and people get back to “normal” life the prices of houses will stabilize.
However, we also have to consider the fact that some of the people who were going to sell decided not to. Why? They have been living in their house for two more months while self-isolating and they have decided to fix the cosmetic problems. Now they have made the decision that they are going to stay in that property and enjoy living there. Why? Because the house is all fixed up and they realize that the house isn’t so bad after all.
Maybe you have been reading the news and have heard that there is going to be a tsunami of foreclosures because of the people who have lost their jobs and are not going to be able to pay the mortgage. This may or may not happen. The foreclosure process is a lengthy process in most US states. So it takes a long time.
Many people are still in their forbearance period and they could stay in the forbearance period for quite a while. So if there is an influx of foreclosures it wouldn’t happen until the end of 2020 at the earliest. As well, many of the lenders could tack the forbearance onto the back of the loan. So it is possible that there might not be this flood of foreclosures.
Surprise #2: Increase In House Demand
Surprise two is the drastic increase in house demand. These are people looking to buy a single family home. When you think about it, it makes a lot of sense. If everyone is self-isolating at home, then people are going to want to have a real home with a lot of amenities.
People are not going to want to be in an apartment building or in a condo complex where they are right next to all their neighbors. Seems pretty logical and this is exactly what is happening. There is now a huge demand for people to have their own home.
But this increase in demand goes a step further. We are talking about people living in urban areas. Now that our society has had to shift to Zoom conference meetings as opposed to in-person meetings. Now more and more people are not commuting to work on a daily basis.
You might be one of these people as you start to get used and like working from home. As companies get used to managing their teams from home it is possible that there’s going to be less of a requirement for someone to drive into the center of a city to go to work in a big office building. It might be possible to commute from a home that’s further away from the inner city core.
What that means is that it is possible to increase demand for homes that are more suburban and even rural houses out in the country. These are homes where people have more room to do more things on their own property. As you can see already, the unexcepted COVID impact on homes is going to have a huge effect on where people decide to live.
Are you worried about unemployment as you read the newspapers? Before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, the US had hit record employment numbers. But now in the US the unemployment rate was at 14.7% in 43 US states in April, 2020. However, that means that more than 85% of the people in the US still have their jobs. Many of these 85% of people are moving towards the idea of buying a home.
As we know, we are having an affordable housing crisis in the US. There is even more of a demand on affordability and portability as you move further away from the downtown areas as you find your price point houses in the suburbs or further out. Can you see what is happening? To that affordability crisis we add a much lower supply of houses for sale combined with an increase in house demand. Wow.
Surprise #3: Rising Value Of SFH
Hopefully you came to realize the significance of what this means when you suddenly have dramatically lower levels of supply and dramatic demand. Those of you that have been following real estate probably guessed it: you will see rising real estate values.
Rising property valuations are actually happening right now. Unbelievable right?! Now it is a fact. As you know, the basic fundamentals of real estate values in your area is all about supply and demand.
Right now we have both working in our favor. Even though less people can get a mortgage loan, there’s still so much demand with the people who can get a loan versus the supply. Many experts are looking at what is happening and are scratching their heads saying they didn’t see it coming. But remember in real estate 101, it is all about supply and demand. Check out this article from The Wall Street Journal on single family homes. Here is another article from Forbes saying that the coronavirus effect of lower interest rates and commodities have traditionally been beneficial for real estate.
People are saying that the prices of houses in the future are going to have the same value as they do now or they could rise a little bit more slowly. Either way, make the most of this situation. As a seller, you cannot ask for anything better!
If you are a real estate investor or just like to dabble with properties, I invite you to read my blog on the Three Real Estate Investing Strategies That Work Every Time. I promise that the strategies discussed in this article will definitely help you increase your wealth over time.
Hopefully you gained some insight from this blog on the unexpected COVID impact on homes. Until my next blog, stay healthy and best wishes!
Last Updated on April 13, 2024 by Financial Goodness
Financial Goodness
George Alexander Roy III and our team are experts in helping you to seek wealth through investing and tips on how to succeed. Join us at FinancialGoodness.com to increase your knowledge through education in the areas of personal finance, real estate, and investments. George has been an owner of a real estate investment business that focuses on wholesaling, fix & flip, and long-term buy-and-hold property strategies with a consistent increase of annual revenues. Consequently, as an entrepreneur, researcher, writer, and speaker he has sought the truth in everything he does, no matter how difficult. Hopefully this value and service will help each person achieve their financial freedom sooner.
Updated April 13, 2024. Ray Dalio is an extremely successful American billionaire hedge fund manager and philanthropist. Nonetheless, in a recent article Ray Dalio predicts end of long-term debt cycle as we have known it. This is the logic that Dalio uses to make his case.
Comparing 2020 To The Great Depression
The economy of 2020 is producing a lot of debt by the government. Also the economy of 1930 to 1945 was very similar. In 2020 we were seeing zero interest rates. In 2020, the Federal Reserve was buying the Treasury debt and getting that money to mostly Americans in some imperfect, but remarkably large way. The Europeans were doing the same with the European banks that are smaller banks than the U.S. banks. The World lives with about 70 percent US dollars and only a small percentage of Euros.
Problem Of Limited Number Of Banks
But the problem is that there aren’t many banks around the world. Consequently, the rest of the world is going to have gap holes that won’t be filled. The result is that the American printing of money and the borrowing will leave us with a lot of debt and monetization. But who will pay this?
In 2020, the debt figure is sitting at about $25.3 trillion dollars. That’s about 107% of the GDP. Dalio asks the question: with all the debt on our hands and with the printing press running, who at the end of the day will pay the bill?
Inflation is the secret way that the governments and central bankers can wipe out hundreds of billions of dollars of debt off the balance sheet very quickly. The US government’s debt is owed in US dollars so we can inflate our currency to pay off the debt.
We should align our interest with the two most powerful forces the human race has ever known: governments and central banks. We need to align our business plans so that we are on the same plan that they are on. To learn how to align your business plans, read Profit From Substantial Inflation Ahead.
Four Economic Driving Factors
Ray Dalio explains that the economy template that is being used has been used for the last one thousand years. Dalio predicts end of long-term debt cycle as we have known it. Dalio sees four factors that are the driving forces of our economy and our lifestyle.
Productivity
The first and the most powerful is productivity. Productivity comes from people learning and investing and doing things well. Productivity grows slowly at about 1 or 2 or 3% a year. In addition productivity is not volatile because knowledge is involved, but it grows. That raises our living standards over a period of time.
Short-Term Debt Cycle
Next there’s a short-term debt cycle. The short-term debt cycle is made up of recessions and expansions. The booms and recessions last about eight to ten years.
Long-Term Debt Cycle
Then there is a long-term debt cycle. The long-term debt cycle which goes on about once every 50 or 75 years. The long-term debt cycle is when you begin a new type of money and a new type of credit. This happened in 1945 when the New World order at the end of World War II with the establishment of the Bretton Woods monetary system. The Bretton Woods system defined all currencies in relation to the US dollar. The US currency was now effectively the world currency and the standard to which every other currency was pegged. Currently 70% of the money and credit that exists in the economy is running by dollars and what you have traditionally is a breakdown.
Interior & Exterior Politics
The fourth influence on the economy is largely how we deal with each other. This includes interior and exterior politics. The interior politics is how do you deal with the wealth gap? How do you deal with the value gap? Do you have a common mission? Do we have a American dream that we can agree on and that we are pursuing together? Or do we fight over wealth?
History Of Mankind & Revolutions
Dalio says that when we look at the history of mankind, what we see are revolutions. When we look at these revolutions, some revolutions are peaceful and sometimes they’re disruptive. But on a granular level, there is a wealth shift that needs to take place.
Examples are when Roosevelt shifted policies and changed taxes. In other countries, there was a turning over of democracy when Hilter came to power because of that gap. There are also external politics. Here we are look at the power between countries. A good example is a rising power challenging an existing power which results in a risk of war.
Possible End Of Short-Term Debt Cycle
Dalio says that right now, at least in the short-term debt cycle, it appears that we are coming to the end of that cycle. The chart below of the Dow Jones history gives a good indicator for the entire USA markets. As the graph shows, it has been 12 years with a bull market.
Big Possibility Of The End Of Long-Term Debt Cycle
If we look at the Dow long-term debt cycle of the United states that goes back 70 to 80 years, we get a better look at the long-term debt cycle which averages 50 to 75 years. Dalio points out that the United States has been exactly 75 years since the start of this current long-term debt cycle that we are in that started in 1945. If you look at the graph below you can see that things might be about to change. This is the reason why Ray Dalio predicts end of long-term debt cycle.
Clearly, Ray Dalio predicts end of long-term debt cycle. The big question is this: are we in a part of the long-term debt cycle that is very similar to the 1930 to 1945? If we are, watch out. The ingredients are exactly the same as now with massive debt, low interest rates and the vast printing of money. To find out even more, watch this YouTube video: Ray Dalio: This Crisis Will Be Bigger Than The 2008 Recession.
The bad news is that this period of time from 1930 to 1945 wasn’t exactly the most fun or profitable period to be in for investors. As we recall this was the time of The Great Depression and the markets were quite volatile.
So now the question of what to do with investments during this time? Dalio says that the worst thing that one can do is think that they can time the markets. So what the individual investor needs to do is know how to diversify well and in a balanced way.
What Investments To Make?
Ray Dalio predicts end of long-term debt cycle as we have known it. The question is, what stock market investments would be correct? For years Ray Dalio has created something he calls the All Weather Portfolio. I invite you to read the specific details of Ray Dalio’s All Weather Portfolio.
Investing on a regular basis rather than trying to time a lump sum investment can help you become a more disciplined investor. You’re forced to invest regardless of whether the price is high or low. This takes some of the emotion out of investing and avoids any delays in putting your money to work.
Passive income is necessary for creating your retirement income. Most financial planners advise saving between 10% and 15% of your annual income. Please read my blog on How To Invest Wisely In The Stock Market. This article has my top four passive income strategies for stocks.
My Prediction Of The Markets
In my opinion the stock markets could fall further. I base my opinion on the large number of newly unemployed people that just came out for March 2020 and the fact that the consumer spending in the US in Q1 decreased. The 2019 Q4 consumer spending was $13,414 billion (USD). In the 1st quarter of 2020 it declined by 2% with wages and salaries, which is the largest part of incomes. Please look at the chart below. This not a good sign, especially when you consider that January and most of February of 2020 were good months. With most people self isolating in the homes, 2020 Q2 has the probability to be even worse than Q1.
December 9, 2023. US employers added 199,000 workers to their payrolls last month in November, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said yesterday. The unemployment rate unexpectedly ticked down for the first time since July, to 3.7%. But the economy looks like it is still too good for Powell. The upbeat numbers make it less likely that the Fed will lower interest rates in early 2024.
December 1, 2023. The Wall Street Journal believes that the Fed’s interest rate hikes are probably over, even though officials are reluctant to say so. The Fed’s Jerome Powell warns against prematurely declaring victory on inflation.
May 3, 2023. The Fed raised the interest rate 0.25% today for the 10th consecutive time. This will move the target range to 5% to 5.25%, which is a 16-year high to try to curb inflation.
April 26, 2023: First Republic Bank cast a shadow over the stock market yesterday. The regional lender, which experienced the unpleasantness of losing over $100 billion in deposit outflows last quarter, crashed to a record low. But the reality is that First Republic’s condition is so bad that they could potentially ask the US government to intervene.
Updated March 22, 2023: Awaiting the Fed’s interest rate decision. Many expect a smaller 25 basis point hike.
In the afternoon, Powell announced the decision of the monetary policy meeting. The Federal Reserve raised the interest rates by 25 basis points. This move brings the benchmark funds rate to a range of 4.75% to 5%. However, Fed Chair Powell indicates that future hikes are less likely in the wake of the recent bank failures.
Updated March 21, 2023:
This is the first day of a two monetary policy meeting for the Federal Reserve. At the closing stock market bell today the major averages climbed as the the U.S. Treasury Secretary made reassuring comments about shoring up the banking system. The Dow finished up close to 1%, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq rose slightly more than 1%.
Many are expecting the FOMC to ratchet up its key interest rate by 50 basis points because the economy appeared to be surprisingly robust. But with three U.S. banks collapsing, the Fed policymakers may have to rethink their expectations. It seems that even more uncertainty may lie ahead.
CPI for October 2022 was 7.7%, but less than the 7.9% that analysts had expected. It seems that inflation has more or less flatlined at an abnormally high level since spring 2022. As a result, the stock market rockets higher Thursday morning. Investors are hoping that the Federal Reserve may slow the pace of interest rates increases that have weighed on the market.
U.S. employers added 261,000 jobs in October, down from September’s upwardly revised gain of 315,000, but above the 200,000 economists had expected, as jobs in health care, technical services, and manufacturing rose. The unemployment rate also climbed, edging up to 3.7% in October from 3.5% in September.
Updated September 14, 2022:
After a report for August 2022 which CPI came in higher than anticipated yesterday, the U.S. markets did a nosedive. The Dow and S&P 500 sank about 3% and the Nasdaq went down 4%. Core inflation rose to 0.6% in August, up from July’s 0.3% gain. If you look at the annual basis for core inflation, it accelerated to 6.3%, up for 5.9%. In conclusion, a higher than expected inflation rate will likely strengthen the Fed for more aggressive interest rate hikes. The FOMC will have a meeting on September 20-21, 2022 and will likely vote on a 75 bps rate hike.
Updated June 22, 2022:
As the chart below shows, consumer spending in the United States increased to $13,924.80 billion (USD) in the first quarter of 2022 from $13,818.40 billion (USD) in the fourth quarter of 2021.
Dalio believes are are in a New World with massive debt on our hands. I have to agree that Ray Dalio predicts of end of long-term debt cycle appears to be real.
The other chart I would like to post is a chart of the psychology of a market cycle. As we all know, the stock market was on a bull tear until late February 2020. Then it crashed. Then there was a bounce all the way up to 61.8% Fib level.
On the chart below, you can see the big bounce up to where it says “Return to normal.” I am expecting stocks to go back down and to at least to retest the lows of March 23, 2020.
Psychology Of A Market Cycle. Photo credit: Dr. Jean-Paul Rodrigue, Dept. of Global Studies & Geography Hofstra University.
Please stay safe and stay isolated as much as possible during and after the COVID-19. I will see you for my next blog. Best wishes to all….
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Last Updated on April 13, 2024 by Financial Goodness
Financial Goodness
George Alexander Roy III and our team are experts in helping you to seek wealth through investing and tips on how to succeed. Join us at FinancialGoodness.com to increase your knowledge through education in the areas of personal finance, real estate, and investments. George has been an owner of a real estate investment business that focuses on wholesaling, fix & flip, and long-term buy-and-hold property strategies with a consistent increase of annual revenues. Consequently, as an entrepreneur, researcher, writer, and speaker he has sought the truth in everything he does, no matter how difficult. Hopefully this value and service will help each person achieve their financial freedom sooner.
Updated April 13, 2024. Say that you want to buy houses, but you don’t have cash or credit. In addition to not having cash or credit, you don’t think you would qualify for a home mortgage. What is the answer? You have read books and videos about investing in real estate. Again, are there any options available to buy houses without cash or credit? The answer is yes! You can be buying houses right now using creative financing without any cash or credit.
Three Ways To Buy Houses
Here are three ways that you can buy houses without cash or credit. All you definitely need is a really motivated seller. If the seller isn’t really motivated, the answer is simple. Wait for the next deal to come up.
The three options to buying houses that we will go over in more depth are: owner financing, subject to, and lease options.
Owner Financing
Owner financing is a transaction in which the property owner finances the purchase directly with the person or entity buying the property, either in whole or in part. This type of arrangement can be advantageous for both the buy and the seller. Basically, it eliminates the costs of a mortgage from a bank. As the real estate investor, ask for $0 down payment, and an interest only payment.
If you have ever purchased a house before, you know that when the house ownership changes hands it seems everyone wants a piece of the pie, so to speak. The mortgage is part of this equation because a part of the mortgage each month always goes to pay down the principal. If you can negotiate an interest only payment with the seller, you will pay down the price of the property more quickly.
Subject To
Subject to means that the investor will offer to take over the original owners payments because the owner was falling behind. Why would anyone agree to leave their name on the loan and let you become the new owner? There is a rule in business that says “you are not your customer.” So you can’t really put yourself in the owner’s shoes. For whatever the reason, the original owner is highly motivated to get rid of their property. The good news is that luckily you are there to creatively solve the issues and problems so the owners can get on with their lives.
You agree to take over the original owners payments. Why would you do this? There are two reasons. One: time is of the essence. You don’t have time to see if you qualify for a mortgage. The owner’s want out now. The second reason: the original owners payments are less than the bank would give to an investor by a few percent points. So use the mortgage that is already in place. Basically, the bank doesn’t care where the money is coming from each month to pay the mortgage. The bank just wants the money each and every month. After you take ownership of the property, then you can start to consider if having your own mortgage makes sense for this property.
Lease Options
Lease options. The buyer investor pays the seller option money for the right to purchase the property at a later date. The buyer and the seller can agree to a purchase price at the inception of the agreement. Perhaps the buyer might agree to pay market value at the time the option is exercised. As a result, owner financing and subject to do not work.
If owner financing doesn’t work because there is already a mortgage on the property, and in addition, subject to doesn’t work because probably they owe too much based on the value of the house. If that is the situation, then a lease option could make the deal work.
Lease Option Agreement Example
The value of the house or apartment is $150,000. The loan on the property is $140,000. The investor would agree to lease the property for a period of say five years for $1000 a month with the option to purchase the property for $145,000. Then you, the investor, can rent out the property. Keep the original owner’s mortgage in place and just make payments. Check the numbers and make sure you are positive with your cash flow.
Depending on the location of the house, if the area is appreciating, in five years you could exercise your option and purchase the property. However, if the area is depreciating you may be better off deciding to not purchase the property. In this instance you can always try to renegotiate the price of the property to an agreeable value.
No Excuses For Owning Multiple Properties
So there you have it. These are three awesome ways to buy houses without cash or credit! Many real estate investor professionals use these three ways exclusively in their careers. If you are looking to invest in real estate or looking to take real estate investment to the next level, seriously consider the techniques we have just talked about.
I know real estate investors that stick to these three buying techniques and have the profits each month from hundreds of property rental houses that they control. Therefore, if are interested in finding out how they do it, please read my blog on the best three ways to Boost Your Rental Property Cash Flows.
What popular articles and blogs do you recommend?
Finally, if you are interested in Becoming A High-Net Worth Individual, please read my blog and watch the YouTube video by a fancinating guy named Andrew Hendersen, founder of Nomad Capitalist. He believes that the world has changed forever and says it’s time for you to “go where you’re treated best.”
Best wishes to you in achieving your financial freedom sooner!
Last Updated on April 13, 2024 by Financial Goodness
Financial Goodness
George Alexander Roy III and our team are experts in helping you to seek wealth through investing and tips on how to succeed. Join us at FinancialGoodness.com to increase your knowledge through education in the areas of personal finance, real estate, and investments. George has been an owner of a real estate investment business that focuses on wholesaling, fix & flip, and long-term buy-and-hold property strategies with a consistent increase of annual revenues. Consequently, as an entrepreneur, researcher, writer, and speaker he has sought the truth in everything he does, no matter how difficult. Hopefully this value and service will help each person achieve their financial freedom sooner.
Updated April 13, 2024. Ever wondered if there was a way to get more money from your rental houses? In my opinion I believe these are the best three ways to boost your rental property cash flows into a real cash flowing machine.
There are three ways to dramatically increase the rental income for a property. Do you have rental houses that are close to colleges or universities? Do you have a vacation rental property that is close to the beach? The three kinds of rental properties that you could be making more money are student housing, vacation rentals, and my favorite: rent to own.
Let’s take a look at the 3 ways to boost your rental property cash flows into a real estate cash flowing machine.
Difficulty Finding Good Rental Tenants?
If you have or are thinking about buying other houses as rental units you can significantly increase the rent from these houses. Let me show you how. Let’s suppose that you decide to rent out a property. One of the problems is the occupant. What if the tenant decides not to pay the rent? You are getting no money on that unit. This is a huge problem because on most properties you still have taxes, insurance, maintenance, management fees, etc. On top of that many times you have a big mortgage to pay every month.
So if the tenant decides to move out you have a real financial issue on your hands. If you think about it, if the family moves out of the rental unit for one month so that it is vacant, a lot of time that will remove all the cash flow for the entire year for that property. So basically you have to have a 0% vacancy on the rental houses to make them work. But 0% vacancy is not realistic. In the real world, the reality is that some renters don’t always pay you.
Problems With Rental Cap Rates And NOI
The other problem is a lot of the time the rental houses will have a low cap rate. Say you rent out a property to a tenant for $1,200 a month. But then say you have to deduct the $100 for the taxes, $75 insurance, $100 property management fees, and $125 for maintenance. These costs total $400. So $1200 rent – $400 = $800 NOI (net operating income). In this example, after paying all the expenses you will have $800. Then multiply the $800 x 12 = $9,600 is what you receive each year for renting out this house. BUT this is assuming that you do not have a mortgage.
Determining Property Cap Rates For Rentals
To determine the cap rate you need to take the NOI of $9,600 and divide by the purchase price of the house. The typical family single home prices vary widely in the world. But let’s say that the cost for purchasing this house is $150,000. So $9,600 divided by $150,000 = 6.4 cap rate. A cap rate of 6.4 is bad. Most real estate investors look for a cap rate of 10 or above.
Blueprint To Boost Cap Rate On The Same Property
So here is the millionaire dollar question. How do we increase the cap rate above 10 on the same property? The cap rate is so bad in the example above we just looked at because the cost to purchase the house is so much more than the rental rate. Therefore in order to make this house a cash flowing machine we are going to have to get very creative.
Now let’s take this very same house and not change anything at all. We want to have a house that a person could move in and live in that home as their primary residence. Basically we still have the highest and best use of the house: a single family residence has the highest and best use.
There are three ways to boost your rental property cash flows. These three techniques will greatly improve your cash flow each time you find another house to buy. Let’s take a look at the 3 ways to boost your rental property cash flows into a real estate cash flowing machine.
3 Ways To Boost Your Rental Cash Flows
Idea #1 Student Housing
Are there universities, colleges or specialty schools in the area of the rental house? If the answer is yes, then get some more furniture and you can rent out the house by the room. The furniture for student housing can be bought very inexpensively at a second hand store and that will be fine for student housing.
Say the rental house has four bedrooms. You rent the house for $550 per room. 4 bedrooms x $550 = $2,200. Not bad right? $1,200 to a family or $2,200 for student housing and you market the student housing directly to the college or university.
Now usually you have to time it right because there are certain times of year that students will be looking for their housing. Once the students find their housing they are locked in for a year. You just have the parents co-sign, that way you are going to get paid no matter what. Once the students are there at the rental house, they will tell other students and the student rental house will be all set for years. This is an awesome way to turn a rental house into a cash flowing machine!
Idea #2 Vacation Rentals
Vacation rentals are the perfect way to rent your house if you are by the beach or by a beautiful place in the mountains. For most vacation rentals you are renting by the night. Let’s again use our example of the rental house with four bedrooms. This four bedroom rental house could easily rent for $4,000 a month. Compare $4,00 a month vacation rental to $1,200 a month for a normal typical family! What a huge difference between $4,000 a month versus $1,200 a month!
Remember though that there are a couple of expenses. One is furniture. This furniture needs to be a little bit more expensive. You need to be thinking about people writing positive reviews of your vacation rental. A little bit nicer furniture will positively impress the photos when people are looking online to decide which house to rent for their vacation. You may have to spend $5,000 or more on furniture depending on your location.
The other expense is utilities. Depending on the location of your vacation rental property, the utility bills could be a larger expense. Factor in air conditioning, gas, water, electricity, as well as internet and cable.
Earlier I was talking about cap rates for this four bedroom rental house. I was saying that to rent this unit to a typical family produces a cap rate of 6.4. A 6.4 cap rate is lousy. But here are the cap rates for student housing and a vacation rental.
Student Housing & Vacation Rentals Cap Rates
Student housing with purchasing second hand furniture: Double the cap rate of 6.4. Here you are looking at 10 or 12+ cap rate. Now you have a much better rental solution!
Vacation rentals with nicer furniture and possibly larger utilities: The cap rate can go to 20+. As you can see, a 20+ cap rate is awesome! But the best part is this. People come, stay, and then leave. You don’t have to worry about evictions because the people are there on their vacation! You have so much money coming from your vacation rental that you can afford some of the hassles (like little things getting broken) that will happen when people stay.
Idea #3 Rent To Own
Rent to own is a beautiful way to build nice profits in residential real estate. The big secret is this: so few people are doing this technique! People don’t know about it. The other real estate investors are concerned and there are not that many professionals that the other investors can call and ask for help. Please check out the laws of your rental properties to make sure that their are no laws against rent to own properties.
This technique is huge because for the most part student housing or vacation rentals are not an option for many cities and locations. There is no school nearby and it is not a vacation destination. So what do you do in these cases to turn the house into a cash flowing machine?
Setting Up A Rent To Own In Order To Boost Cash Flows
You have to offer the house on a rent to own rental agreement. Here is how to set up the rent to own strategy:
Get an upfront, non-refundable option payment. When the people are first moving in, they are getting a lease with you (one document), and another document which is the option to purchase the property at a specified price when they first move in (second document). To get that option they are going to pay you upfront.
How much are they going to pay you? Could be anywhere from $5,000 to $10,000 or even more. Can you believe it?! Anybody could ask for $2,000. If you are good at marketing you can get even more. A lot of people have mattress money (more than you think). They have this money, especially around tax return time when they are getting a tax refund. Around the month of April in the US is a huge time of year for the rent to own strategy.
Move All Maintenance To Tenants & New Owners
Push all maintenance to the tenants. As a result, there is no more maintenance. They are becoming the owner of the property. If something bad happens, that is all them. For this reason, you can push all maintenance off to the new owners. Important: there are certain tenant and landlord laws that will supercede this. For example, even though the tenants signed an agreement saying that they will maintain the property, if the HVAC goes out, the owner might have to fix it.
So be wise and check and see what the laws in your area look like. But for the most part, this will save you $125 in maintenance that we were talking about previously in the four bedroom rental house example. This is awesome because now the tenants are handling the maintenance!
Higher rental amount. Usually the tenants want to pay less rent for the house. Normally. But here you can do rent credits. Check with your location to see if this is allowed. Rent credits allow you to raise the rental rate. Say rent is normally $1,200 a month. You bump that up to $1,400 a month. Then you give the tenants a credit of $300 a month. The tenants can use the $300 credits to reduce the price of the house when they are going to purchase.
Big Secret About Rent To Own Properties
Here is the big secret to rent to own properties. Ready? Over 90% of the people who do a rent to own will NEVER EVER exercise their option to purchase. They are NOT going to buy the property in almost all cases. So relax and do not worry. The probability is that no one will buy your rental home.
Now if you keep renting the rental house out, the probability will increase that someone will eventually buy your rental house. But if you keep doing the rent to own strategy, the rental house profits should make you very happy. If one out of ten buys your property, it’s ok. Just go and buy another property. It is a win-win situation.
What I love is this. With the rent to own houses I get the money up front. What if there is a problem and you have to evict the tenants? If that’s the case you already have money up front to do it. As well, what if you have to replace the interior of the house with new carpet and paint? Again you have the money to do these renovations as well. Whatever happens, with the upfront money you already have, you are covered!
I often get the question: why do people do the rent to own and then change their mind? The reason is because these people typically don’t have a better financial situation tomorrow than they do today. Typically these people are just not trying to better and improve their lives like you.
Advertise Your Rental Property
The rent to own is so exciting because so few people are doing it! If you put up a signs around town that say:
With this sign you will get hundreds of phone calls. You will have to get up a different phone to handle taking the messages you will receive. The phone will ring off the hook. This Rent To Own sign will work in urban or rural areas. It really doesn’t matter. Why? Because there is a huge population of people who want the OPPORTUNITY to rent to own their own home and almost no one offers it!
Examples Of How To Make The Phone Ring
So when you do it and the phone starts ringing you will find out that the majority of the people have some problems. Examples? No jobs, and no money to put down. Get a voicemail message machine. I say in the message on the answering machine that I am looking for people who have $5,000 dollars to put down and $3,000 dollars earnings a month. Please leave your information. You are going to have to filter the people because you will get hundreds of calls. Believe me, you will not have an issue with potential people to screen when looking for the right tenant.
Improve Your Cash Flow Today
There are three ways to boost your rental property cash flows. The best three rental properties are student housing, vacation rentals, and my favorite: rent to own. These three techniques will greatly improve your cash flow each time you find another house to buy. These strategies are the foundation of any creative real estate investor, and in my opinion, these strategies will build you wealth as a real estate entrepreneur.
What popular articles and blogs do you recommend?
If you are interested in finding out the secret to buying houses when you don’t have the necessary cash, please read my blog: Buy Houses Without Cash Or Credit to get you on the right path for creating wealth.
If you are interested in Becoming A High-Net Worth Individual, please read my blog and watch the YouTube video by a fancinating guy named Andrew Hendersen, founder of Nomad Capitalist. He believes that the world has changed forever and says it’s time for you to “go where you’re treated best.”
Best wishes! Until then, watch for my next blog….
Last Updated on April 13, 2024 by Financial Goodness
Financial Goodness
George Alexander Roy III and our team are experts in helping you to seek wealth through investing and tips on how to succeed. Join us at FinancialGoodness.com to increase your knowledge through education in the areas of personal finance, real estate, and investments. George has been an owner of a real estate investment business that focuses on wholesaling, fix & flip, and long-term buy-and-hold property strategies with a consistent increase of annual revenues. Consequently, as an entrepreneur, researcher, writer, and speaker he has sought the truth in everything he does, no matter how difficult. Hopefully this value and service will help each person achieve their financial freedom sooner.
Stack of $100 US dollar banknotes. Photo credit: depositphotos.com
Real Estate Myths
Updated April 13, 2024. There are a lot of myths in real estate investing. One of these myths is the most successful real estate professionals have perfect timing. However, if you think of this, it is absolutely not true. This would mean that these “professionals” buy when the economy is down and sell when the economy hits the absolute peak. Well this my happen sometimes, but the vast majority of the most successful real estate professionals apply specific strategies that always work. Here are three real estate investing strategies that work every time.
Three Strategies That Work
These three real estate strategies are: residential rentals; wholesaling; and fix and flip. These three strategies are among the most popular real estate strategies that produce consistent results regardless of the timing. Think about this for a moment, when you are doing your best financially it is usually in a good economy. Why? The prices of real estate are going up. For example, right now in January 2020 the prices of real estate are trending higher.
The Secret For Real Estate Guru’s Timing
The question is: how can you time it so that you can buy when the prices are low and sell when the prices are high? Well…
You can’t do it. It doesn’t make any sense unfortunately. You cannot take advantage of something like that. Clearly, you are not in that type of situation. If you think about it, it is really impossible to predict the future six months or a year from now.
The Future Is Not As Certain As The Past
Everyone knows the past. But how about this: right now are we in a real estate bubble? Some will say yes and others will say no. The point is no one has a crystal ball and can predict the future. No one really knows until we can look back six months or a year from now and can see what really happened.
What makes these strategies so important is that regardless if you have enough money in your pocket, and regardless if you can time the market, you can do these three strategies to increase your wealth.
Gain More Wisdom As Time Passes
As you get older you get smarter. You gain wisdom, knowledge and understanding. So with each year you are better and have more tools to be a real estate investor. Therefore, with each potential year you can apply the wisdom you have gained so you can apply it quickly to each house or apartment.
These three strategies will transform the way you look at real estate investing in the future. That way you can apply them at any moment in time. Then with more experience you will get better and better at them over time and become successful.
Here Are The Three Real Estate Strategies
Let’s get back to the three real estate strategies. This is my blueprint of the three real estate investing strategies that work every time and in any market. So our strategy is a combination of residential rentals, wholesaling and then balance that with rehabs to resell.
Residential Rental
The first one is rentals. But more specifically we am talking about residential real estate where people live in the property. People always need a place to live in good times and bad times. Typically when the economy goes down more people will rent. Residential rentals will always work if the numbers work. In fact, buying rentals will increase a person’s wealth more than any other strategy out there. If you do this correctly, are you ready to be a millionaire??!!
Need For More Capital
But the problem with rentals is that you need money. You need money for the down payment, money to fix up the house in some cases, money in the form of something like a line of credit so that if a tenant doesn’t pay you have to pay the mortgage temporarily while you evict and the related legal fees.
Wholesaling
This is where wholesaling comes into place. You put a property under contract directly from the seller. There are no agents listing the house on the MLS, these are off market deals. You go directly to the seller and made a deal.
Then you need to resell the property to a retail buyer or an investor. Basically you’re getting the property under contract at a wholesale or lower price and then you sell the property to another investor or at retail. Look to buy single family residences if possible. We recommend single family houses because they are the most plentiful. But depending on your market this could be apartments or condos. Here is the good news, in this real estate market right now, this strategy is working very well!
Right now, after 2018 and 2019, when a lot of people made money in the stock market, people are looking at real estate after the shakiness they saw in 2019 in the stock market. A lot of these people are in there 50’s or 60’s and are looking to invest their money wisely and some are looking to park their money in real estate.
When selling the wholesale properties, look for what are called sucker buyers. These are people that will offer you the most for the house that you have under contract. These people are willing to pay ever more for the house than you know it is worth.
If the dollar value from these buyer’s is the best price for the house, ask if they have all the documents to do a mortgage with a lender. Also, be sure to ask if they have approval for a mortgage. Obviously time is of the essence.
90% Of Investors Only Do 1 Deal
Have you heard that over 90% of real estate investors do one deal only? One deal! This means that only 10% are doing one deal after the other. The 90% may have lost money or not make much money. These 90% come in and buy one house. They go fix it up themselves. Then they realize it was a lot harder and a lot more work than they thought. Then guess what? They go and move on to something else in life.
So these 90% are always new people every time you wholesale a house. Can you believe it?! Remarkably this is very much the case. Therefore, take advantage of this never ending source of retail buyers!
Wholesaling Will Always Work
Wholesaling will always work because there will always be new people wanting to buy houses to fix them up. On top of this, houses are always deteriorating over time. For example: bad roofing, exteriors, the look of the houses is constantly changing, floor styles, paint colors, kitchens, bathrooms, etc.
Houses always need to be remodeled on a consistent basis. Always. If the houses are not constantly being maintained and improved, then the house becomes more difficult to sell and falls into the wholesaling category.
There are people that are looking to buy real estate thinking they are going to get rich quick. You absolutely cannot lose if you buy these wholesale houses at the right price. These three real estate investing strategies that work every time are a no-brainer, win-win-win situation!
Fix & Flip / Rehab And Resell
The third way to make money on houses is fix and flip or it is also called rehab and resell. This is where you buy the house, fix it back up and resell it. The reason why this always exists is again the fact that residential real estate is always deteriorating. Once you buy the house and get everything in your home, generally people are reluctant to fix everything.
For one thing, it is expensive, and it is a difficult task when you have all of your stuff in the house already. So the majority of people that buy homes normally don’t fix them up continuously to keep the market value increasing as the housing that are looking to be resold.
Look For Distressed Properties
There are always going to be deals in the real estate markets. One reason for these deals is that something happened that is completely separate from the market. These are what we call personal issues. A perfect example of this is a grandparent passes away and deeds the property to a son or daughter.
In case the son or daughter is extremely happy, but a lot of the time the son or daughter is broke financially and doesn’t have the money to handle this house. Often the son or daughter just wants money and they want it right now.
To top it off, the person who owned the house originally hasn’t done repairs in a long time. The house is old and outdated. This is a personal issue that is always going to exist. There will always be people passing away. This creates a consistency that will always need to be filled.
You may have the question of “What if I am in a market that is no longer hot. When people are no longer selling their houses for top dollar. Properties are sitting on the market longer. How do I buy a property and make sure I can do the rehab and resell and still make a profit?”
First of all, it is very important that you move quickly. You have to have all of your contractors lined up and ready to go. If you are not in a position of rehabbing the property in one to two months and get the property back on the market, you want to consider wholesaling.
Put Houses Back On The Market Quickly
So be careful about sitting on a property. One thing is fixing the property as fast as possible. The other factor is how fast you sell the property. You need to put the property on the market for as low of a price as possible. By doing this, you can generate instant offers. It has got to be fast. The rehab and resale of the property will always work consistently as long as you move fast.
If you need to get permits and other government documents you better consider your options. Sometimes the government is going to take months to approve things. That will slow down progress substantially. If you work on a property for six months, let me ask you a question. Do you know what is going to happen six months down the road? The answer is no. I have no idea what the economy is going to be like six months in the future.
Sometimes you can get fortunate when the market continues to go up. You can make a lot of mistakes in the last few years and still come out nicely when the market continues to go up and you have been able to fix your own problems. But now certain market in the upper price points things are not like that anymore. Builders have built enough inventory. An example is the coastal markets in the United States, especially in the west coast where prices have leveled off when you get up above the prices for affordable houses. You tend to see a lot more inventory in the luxury house markets, so be careful.
Do All Three Strategies To Create Wealth
There are a lot of myths in real estate investing. However, the vast majority of the most successful real estate professionals apply specific strategies that always work. We hope you liked my blueprint of the three real estate investing strategies that work every time.
What is nice about wholesaling is that you have a lot less risk. The problem with wholesaling is that you don’t make as much money. You will make a fraction of the price that someone is going to pay in the end to own the house. When you buy a property wholesale, then rehab and resell the property you are selling to a retail buyer. Retail buyers pay the most money. So you can make more profit.
But wholesaling has less risk. So a strategy that works very well is a combination of wholesaling and then balance that with rehab to resell. This way you are always flipping properties. With this strategy you can build up enough cash and capital so that you can start buying some residential rental properties. The residential rentals can then create long-term wealth.
If you are interested in Becoming A High Net Worth Individual, please read my blog and watch the YouTube video by a fancinating guy named Andrew Hendersen, founder of Nomad Capitalist. He believes that the world has changed forever and says it’s time for you to “go where you’re treated best.”
These three real estate investing strategies that work every time are the keys that have made real estate investors very wealthy. They are the win-win-win strategy to real estate wealth. I have made very nice profits with these property strategies and I am sure you can too. Until next time, best wishes!
Last Updated on April 13, 2024 by Financial Goodness
Financial Goodness
George Alexander Roy III and our team are experts in helping you to seek wealth through investing and tips on how to succeed. Join us at FinancialGoodness.com to increase your knowledge through education in the areas of personal finance, real estate, and investments. George has been an owner of a real estate investment business that focuses on wholesaling, fix & flip, and long-term buy-and-hold property strategies with a consistent increase of annual revenues. Consequently, as an entrepreneur, researcher, writer, and speaker he has sought the truth in everything he does, no matter how difficult. Hopefully this value and service will help each person achieve their financial freedom sooner.
Updated April 13, 2024. Which is potentially better? Buying stocks versus real estate investing. The best answer is that the stock market tends to increase in value faster than real estate. Historically, from 1968 to 2009, the S&P 500 has resulted in returns of 7.5% annually. But real estate prices head in the direction of outpacing inflation, but just slightly. After accounting for inflation, home prices have increased by 1.5% per year.
But, after accounting for inflation, stocks have returns of approximately 7% per year. Remarkably, the stock market gain of 7% is 4.65 times the rate of real estate. But there is more information to think about. In reality, stocks have experienced more peaks and valleys, making them a far riskier investment.
But numbers don’t tell the whole performance story. You also have to look at the impact of tax advantages, income yield, and the fact that real estate investments often allow for significant leverage.
Which investment is best depends on more than just their returns; other factors must be considered. But if history is an indicator of future performance, both stand to produce attractive gains in the long run.
The Benefits of Investing in Real Estate
In real life, real estate has higher risk-adjusted returns than the stock market. Despite their potential to generate sizeable returns, stocks have no tangible value; on the other hand, real estate is a valuable, tangible asset and profit generator.
The Big HOWEVER…
One reason why real estate as an investment has better annual returns is leverage. With real estate, the investor can do a significant amount of financing to leverage the property and purchase the property without adding a lot of risk to the investment.
However, real estate as an investment has a much stronger return POTENTIAL, especially with rental properties. Not to mention the awesome tax advantages.
Tax Advantages of Rental Properties
Operating expenses are deductible
Mortgage interest is deductible
Depreciation deduction of 27.5 years for buildings
Defer capital gains tax
Owner expenses are also tax deductible
Avoid FICA taxes
Qualify for pass-through deduction
Two Real Estate Investment Scenarios
This leverage can amplify small returns greatly. Let’s say you decide to buy a house or apartment for $100,000 using your own money. Say the value of the house increases by 3%. $100,000 times 3% equals $103,000. This means you have earned $3,000 on your initial investment of $100,000.
Now let’s say you find a house or apartment and purchase it for $500,000. But you only invest $100,000 of your money. Then you finance the other $400,000 with a mortgage. Let’s say again that this property increases in value 3%. $500,000 times 3% equals $15,000 profit.
Leverage Your Way To Big Profits
So, let’s take a look at difference in the potential profits. In both cases you have made a $100,000 investment. The big difference is the leverage that you use. In the first scenario, you purchased the house with your $100,000 and did not ask for a mortgage because you already met the buy price.
Conversely, in the second scenario, you also invested $100,000, but you asked for a mortgage of $400,000. The $400,000 mortgage that you asked for here will give you more leverage when you own the $500,000 house or apartment.
In the second scenario, you are using more advantageously using leverage. In the second scenario, you have now increased your potential profit to $15,000 versus the $3,000 with the same $100,000 investment in both cases.
Big Difference In Returns Is Leverage
In the second case, the leverage increased your returns by $12,000 for the same initial investment. Not bad…. But keep in mind that when you borrow money from a lender you usually have to pay the lender an origination fee at the closing as well as possibly other closing costs. Also, usually you will have to make monthly payments for each month that you own the property.
Nonetheless, most people choose to use leverage. When dealing with real estate, leverage can completely increase your returns when looking at potential investments. The idea behind leveraging real estate is to use other people’s money to increase your returns without having to put as much capital into buying the property yourself.
Many people still ask the question of which is better: buying stocks versus real estate investing? Real estate has a much stronger return POTENTIAL because of leverage. For myself, I like leverage. You can have $0 dollars and no credit. All you have to do is find the right property and put it under contract and the leverage of real estate will make you a nice return on that property.
Rent Out The Property
The other big reason that investors choose real estate is that investment properties can be rented out to generate more income. Look at the total money needed to make the mortgage and other payments each month. If you can justifiably increase the rent to cover the cost of the property, the rest is profit before taxes.
Real Estate Has Greater Potential Returns
In my opinion, real estate investments have a much greater potential return over the stock market if you look at the long-term returns. However, be that as it may, investing in real estate is arguably time consuming.
You or your management team will need to factor in the time spent to maintain your properties in order to justify having a portfolio that includes real estate. But if you take the time to set everything up properly, the investment returns on your real estate properties will dramatically increase your wealth for the long-term.
Greater Initial Time Commitment For Real Estate
If you are looking to buy houses or apartments that need to be renovated before you sell or place a tenant to rent out the property, going through this process is very time consuming. If you are perhaps younger, and have a lot of energy, this could be feasible way to invest and make nice returns. In addition, in many countries real estate investors also have enjoyed greater real estate tax advantages than have the investment in stocks.
Perhaps Best Scenario Is Invest In Both
On the other hand, if you already have a job or other time commitments, you might not have the time or energy to focus on real estate investments. I completely understand this perspective. In this scenario, maybe it would be better to focus on the stock market and buy the S&P 500 on dips.
Which is better: buying stocks versus real estate investing? Real estate has a much stronger return POTENTIAL because of leverage. Honestly, I would invest in both.
Invest On A Regular Basis In Stocks
Investing on a regular basis rather than trying to time a lump sum investment can help you become a more disciplined investor. You’re forced to invest regardless of whether the price is high or low. This takes some of the emotion out of investing and avoids any delays in putting your money to work. Most financial planners advise saving between 10% and 15% of your annual income. If you want to learn some key stock market investment strategies, please read my blog on How To Invest Wisely In The Stock Market.
Invest In Real Estate
Conceivably the best scenario is to invest in both real estate and the stock market. This way, if you have some rentals and regularly invest in the stock market, no matter what happens to the economy annually you will have a better chance of coming out ahead in the long run for retirement.
However, time is always a factor and many people have to choose. Which is better: buying stocks versus real estate investing? If you feel you are in this category, then we highly recommend real estate. We would say real estate because it has a much stronger return because of the leverage factor.
What popular articles and blogs do you recommend?
A strategy that works very well is a combination of wholesaling and then balance that with rehab to resell. This way you are always flipping properties. Please read my blog on the Real Estate Investing Strategies That Work Every Time. With this strategy you can build up enough cash and capital so that you can start buying some residential rental properties. The residential rentals can then create long-term wealth.
If you have ever wondered if there is a way to get more money from your rental houses, please read this blog on the three ways to Boost Your Rental Property Cash Flows. This article goes in-depth into the three kinds of rental properties that you could be making more money are student housing, vacation rentals, and my favorite: rent to own. This will make your rentals into a real estate cash flowing machine.
Further Reading on FinancialGoodness.com:
If you are interested in Becoming A High-Net Worth Individual, please read our blog and watch the YouTube video by a fancinating guy named Andrew Hendersen, founder of Nomad Capitalist. He believes that the world has changed forever and says it’s time for you to “go where you’re treated best.”
Until our next blog, best wishes!
Matthew 7:8 NLT
8 For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.
Last Updated on April 13, 2024 by Financial Goodness
Financial Goodness
George Alexander Roy III and our team are experts in helping you to seek wealth through investing and tips on how to succeed. Join us at FinancialGoodness.com to increase your knowledge through education in the areas of personal finance, real estate, and investments. George has been an owner of a real estate investment business that focuses on wholesaling, fix & flip, and long-term buy-and-hold property strategies with a consistent increase of annual revenues. Consequently, as an entrepreneur, researcher, writer, and speaker he has sought the truth in everything he does, no matter how difficult. Hopefully this value and service will help each person achieve their financial freedom sooner.
Updated April 13, 2024. Santa Barbara is the best neighborhood in Bogota. Colombia’s capital, Bogotá, is brimming with hotspots that draw more and more locals and visitors each year. For example, Usaquén, and more specifically Santa Barbara, are definitely experiencing a renaissance. As a result, Santa Barbara is by far the city’s most vibrant one, packed with antique stores, modern cafés, outstanding eateries and a popular Sunday market.
Real Bogotanos Live In Santa Barbara
To illustrate the culture of the area, if you want to know how real “Bogotanos” live, look no further than Santa Barbara. Consequently, this is by far one of the most authentic and energetic neighborhood in the city. Additionally, if you look at the architecture of the buildings, the new urbanism is shaping the area with the property owners making the transitions with the construction companies to construct newer design buildings.
Map of Santa Barbara Neighborhood. Photo credit: Google Maps.
Santa Barbara Lifestyle
For those looking for new apartments for sale in Bogotá, Santa Barbara is the area to that promises exciting news. Accordingly, the northern neighborhood of Santa Barbara is taking a large move towards modern architecture. Furthermore, the new buildings have many amenities as well, including security, entertainment and community services rooms such as business suites that are all equipped with the latest smart technology.
For this reason, if you would like to find out more information go to Properati.com.co. Or click on the Neighborhood Guide and scroll all the way down to Santa Barbara, because for me, the best neighborhoods in Bogota include Santa Barbara. Quite simply, Santa Barbara is a gem of a neighborhood.
Price Comparisons
Let’s look at a price comparison of properties in the Santa Barbara area and compare that to the prices of properties in Cedritos, Bella Switzerland, and Chico. Likewise, if we glance at the website properati.com.co/guia_de_barrio/santa-barbara we can see that the price for apartments in Santa Barbara is just below $6 million.
Overall, the price of apartments in Santa Barbara is more than those in Cedritos and slightly more than those in Bella Switzerland, but less than the apartments in Chico Norte, which is just to the south of Usaquén on the south side of diagonal street named Diagonal 92.
In my opinion, Santa Barbara is the best neighborhood in Bogota. Santa Barbara’s new modern urban buildings are a buy for the price, the value, and strength of the U.S. dollar.
Let’s calculate the Colombian prices to US dollar prices. As of today, Tuesday, December 12, 2019, 1 US dollar (USD) equals $3,382 Colombian pesos (COP). By the same token, let’s also assume that the average price for Santa Barbara neighborhood is approximately $5,950,000 COP. Doing the math $5,950,000 divided by $3.382 equals 1.759 per m 2. For those of you not used to thinking in square meters let’s take a look at what this can buy and you will probably be very surprised at the affordability.
Updated June 27, 2022. The US dollar exchange rate continues to climb against the Colombian peso. As a result, currently 1 US dollar (USD) equals $4,135 Colombian pesos. In short, this is an awesome time to invest in Colombia and take advantage of the great exchange rate!
Why Invest In Colombia?
The World Bank catalogues Colombia as the fifth country in the world, among 183 countries, and as the first in Latin America, to protect investors. In fact, the Colombian investment atmosphere has been considered as one of the most favorable for foreign investment. In addition, Colombia is one of the most open economies, in terms of percentage of property own by foreigners, in Latin America.
Four Apartment Examples In Central Santa Barbara
In our opinion, Santa Barbara is the best neighborhood in Bogota. Take advantage of the strength of the US dollar and invest in a residential home. Clearly, Santa Barbara’s new urban buildings are a buy for the price, the value, and strength of the U.S. dollar.
Here are four apartment examples that I found online today. To show a comparison, the first apartment is a brand new one bedroom apartment. However, the other three apartments were not new, but they are similar, modern apartments.
Finally, I was quickly able to find a one bedroom, two bedroom, and three bedroom apartments for comparison. All of these apartments are listed on the website by LA HAUS at lahaus.com.
Example Of A Brand New Apartment
The first apartment is located at Vita 118 location in central Santa Barbara. The unit has one bedroom, two bathrooms, and two parking spaces for a total of 73 m 2. The price is $511 million.
You can see this apartment online at www.lahaus.com/p/vita-118-apartamentos/bogota. The description of the new apartment at Vita 118 says the amenities include a swimming pool, fitness center, and a jazucci. As equally important, the outside aesthetics of the building are quite simply beautiful and amazing.
New one bedroom apartment in Santa Barbara Central, priced at $511 million COP. Photo credit: lahaus.com.
More Apartments In Santa Barbara Central
Firstly, I scrolled down the web page of Vita 118 until it said “More Properties in Santa Barbara Central” and clicked to enter to search for more real estate for sale. My computer immediately went to lahaus.com/propiedades/bogota/santa-barbara/santa-barbara-central.
Secondly, I was looking for a one, two, and three bedroom apartment. Ideally, I was looking for apartments that were newer and modern as a way to reduce overhead maintenance costs. Moreover, I was also looking for better priced deals. For this reason, I found these four apartments to do a price comparison, but there were other apartments in the same price range, as you can see in the chart I created below.
Santa Barbara Central Apartments
Bedrooms m 2 Price COP Price USD
1 BR – New
73
$511,000,000
$151,094
1 BR – Modern But Not New
55
$315,000,000
$93,140
2 BR – Modern But Not New
79
$480,000,000
$141,928
3 BR – Modern But Not New
117
$540,000,000
$159,669
Comparisons: Santa Barbara Apartments
In general, the price for the brand new one bedroom apartment was definitely higher at $511 million COP or $151,094 USD. In addition, the outside of the apartment complex is beautiful, possibly has a more exclusive address, and the amenities could make a difference.
However, from a real estate investment point of view, the one, two, and three bedroom apartments, that are also located in the same Santa Barbara Central area, were all newer and modern. In addition, the total prices were much more affordable.
In conclusion, if you are looking to purchase one of these apartments for yourself as a home or as a rental, we would have to suggest that the better deal would be to buy a newer, modern apartment for a much better price.
Furthermore, for the last ten years the prices of real estate continue to increase in value annually. Therefore, going forward, if the prices of real estate continues to increase, as it has been doing in the last ten years, you will be glad for the future equity in your property.
Below are the details of the modern residential apartments that are for sale with the current owners. However, please do your due diligence to determine the IRR for these properties. In conclusion, our outlook is that there are some good deals for buying a house for your family or for added rental income if you look in the Santa Barbara area of Usaquén neighborhood.
One Bedroom Apartment:
Modern one bedroom apartment in Santa Barbara Central, priced at $315 million COP. Photo credit: lahaus.com.
Firstly, this one bedroom apartment that I found at lahaus.com, says it has one bedroom and two bathrooms, with one parking space. Also, this apartment has good lighting and ventilation, with a functional fireplace in the living room. Additionally, it is close to a wide range of shopping centers, restaurants, and banking. This one bedroom apartment is near Carrera 15, Calle 127, and Autopista Norte. Finally, the price of this one bedroom apartment is $315 million COP.
Two Bedroom Apartment:
Modern two bedroom apartment house in Santa Barbara Central, priced at $480 million COP. Photo credit: lahaus.com.
Three Bedroom Apartment:
First, I scrolled down and found a three bedroom, three bathroom apartment that looks new and modern. In particular, the description says this duplex penthouse is strategically located close to the Unicentro Bogotá Mall and is close to supermarkets and parks.
Second, the area is quiet and well lit. The first level contains dining room, remodeled kitchen, laundry, and bathroom. The second level contains the three bedrooms, a study, and two bathrooms, one with a jucuzzi. In addition to this, there is an elevator and two parking spaces. Finally, the price for this three bedroom 117 m2 apartment complex is $540 million.
Modern three bedroom apartment house in Santa Barbara Central, priced at $540 million COP. Photo credit: lahaus.com.
Conclusion
In our opinion, Santa Barbara is the best neighborhood in Bogota. At this time, Santa Barbara’s new urban buildings are a buy for the price, the value, and strength of the U.S. dollar.
In conclusion, are you interested in taking advantage of the excellent opportunities in the capital city of Bogota, Colombia? In this case, if you are interested in purchasing a rental property, but are not sure about how to complete the process, please read my blog on how Everyone Can Buy And Own Property In Colombia. Overall, this article has many details about how to buy the affordable real estate in Bogota or Medellin that have the potential for excellent returns.
Last Updated on April 13, 2024 by Financial Goodness
Financial Goodness
George Alexander Roy III and our team are experts in helping you to seek wealth through investing and tips on how to succeed. Join us at FinancialGoodness.com to increase your knowledge through education in the areas of personal finance, real estate, and investments. George has been an owner of a real estate investment business that focuses on wholesaling, fix & flip, and long-term buy-and-hold property strategies with a consistent increase of annual revenues. Consequently, as an entrepreneur, researcher, writer, and speaker he has sought the truth in everything he does, no matter how difficult. Hopefully this value and service will help each person achieve their financial freedom sooner.
Updated April 13, 2024. Let’s meet the best real estate neighborhoods in Bogota, Colombia! Bogota neighborhoods in the northern part of the city, or what are called Bogota North neighborhoods, are absolutely exquisite. As a result, the North Bogota areas are definitely the nicest when looking for a real estate home or an investment property.
In addition, these homes have a higher level of security. Thus, the Bogota North neighborhoods are the best and safest neighborhoods to look for a home or apartment in Bogotá, Colombia.
Similarly, let’s take a look at some of my favorite neighborhoods for buying a home or for investing in real estate. In my opinion, they are the neighborhoods of Usaquén and Chapinero.
Usaquen and Chapinero Neighborhoods
First, we will focus at the beautiful neighborhood of Usaquen and then we will take a look at the trendy neighborhood of Chapinero.
Usaquen
The best real estate neighborhoods in Bogota, Colombia would not be complete without Usaquen. Usaquen is a beautiful and charming area in the Northern part of Bogotá. Nevertheless, Usaquen still has a nice small-town feel.
Specifically, Usaquen is among the 20 localities that make up the Capital District of Bogota. However, Usaquen was a separate municipality of Cundinamarca until 1954, when it was annexed into the city. As a result, Usaquen is the 1st locality of Bogotá, capital city of Colombia, and is located in the northern part of the city.
Similarly, today Usaquen is home to more than 474,000 inhabitants as of 2017. In addition, this district is mostly inhabited by upper middle and upper class residents.
Photo of Usaquen. Photo credit: Google.
Usaquen Location
Usaquen is bordered on the north by 240 Street. To the south by 100th Street in the town of Chico. In the west, by the North Freeway, located in Suba. Finally, on the east by the Eastern Hills, a long chain of hills forming the eastern natural boundary of the Colombian capital of Bogota.
Map of Usaquén neighborhood. Photo credit: Google maps.
Usaquen Sites Of Interest
The Country Club of Bogota, in fact, is the largest golf course in Bogota (the green area that is just above the word Usaquen on the map.)
Hacienda Santa Barbara, a colonial style Hacienda that now serves as a shopping mall
Unicentro, Bogotá shopping mall, dating back to the mid seventies
Santa Ana Centro Comercial, a shopping mall
Awesome Restaurants in Usaquen
Usaquen has many outstanding restaurants housed in colonial buildings. For example, Trendy Usaquen is a foodie hotspot. In particular, the Asian fusion eateries, upscale French bistros and mellow garden cafes cluster around Usaquen Park, the district’s focal point. Similarly, the brew pubs and chic cocktail bars keep the scene buzzing until late.
Usaquen Sunday Morning Stroll
If you need rest and relaxation combined with a little exercise after a night out on the town in Bogota, the neighborhood of Usaquen is the perfect place for a Sunday morning stroll. For instance, the neighborhood of Usaquen is known for its Sunday flea market. You can walk around to see hundreds of artisans, featuring street musicians, gourmet food stands and stalls selling handmade jewelry.
Excellent Urban Cycling
If there’s one area in which Bogota is a world leader, its urban cycling in Bogota. Moreover, the great news is that the cycling route goes right through Usaquen! The metropolis of Bogota is credited with initiating the world’s first ciclovía in 1974.
As a result, Bogota has one of the world’s most extensive bike-route networks, with more than 375 km of separated, clearly marked bike paths called CicloRuta. In addition, free Bogota maps from PIT information centers show the CicloRuta paths. PIT stands for Punto de Información Turística Centro Histórico. PIT is located at Cra. 8 #9-83.
In total, about 121 km of city roads in Bogota are closed to traffic from 7am to 2pm on Sundays and holidays for the citywide Ciclovia, a well-run event to get Bogota out and bicycle around the city. If you feel like biking, you can rent a bike at Bogota Bike Tours.
Ciclovia runs along Carrera 7 all the way from La Candelaria to Usaquen. In particular, I have seen the Autopista Norte, in Usaquen, many times on Sundays. The left lane of traffic is closed with a long line of orange cones to separate the cars and the bicycles. Besides the bicycles, the bicycle lane also contains some rollerblades, scooters, skateboards, pedestrians and anything else without a motor.
Indeed, this much-copied two-wheeled happening regularly attracts around two million participants – 25% of Bogota’s population! In fact, it is amazing that so many people who ride their bikes on Sundays have smiles on their faces. Consequently, it makes me proud of the people of Bogota and their innate happiness for life.
Torca, located at the extreme north, is the largest park of Usaquen. Notably, the Country Club’s polo area was acquired by the District and transformed into a metropolitan park for northern Bogota. Undoubtedly, the Torca area is a place of absolute beautiful.
The Estratos Of Usaquen
The social classes of Usaquen are primarily the upper middle class and upper class. Hence, the socio-economic estratos are four, five and six. Consequently, in the highest estratos of five and six (six being the highest estrato), the residents pay an increase in the utility bill price for water, gas, and electricity.
Yet, when I drive around the Usaquen neighborhood it reminds me of the nicer, beautiful neighborhoods in the larger metropolitan cities of the US; London, England; Paris, France; or Madrid or Barcelona, Spain. Consequently, I really love the Usaquen area and believe it is one of the best real estate neighborhoods in Bogota, Colombia.
Usaquen Malls And Business Center
Unicentro Mall: being one of the largest malls in the city with people not only from the town of Usaquén, but from the entire city of Bogotá.
Hacienda Santa Bárbara Mall: unites the modern with the colonial architectural styles. Built on the grounds where the hacienda (the estate) was originally located.
Santa Barbara Business Center: a set of nine modern buildings between Calle 112 and 116 and between Carrera 7 and Carrera 9.
Santa Ana Mall: located on Avenida Carrera 9, is one of the most exclusive, upscale retailers in the city.
Unicentro Shopping Center in Usaquén. Photo credit: https://www.semana.com/contenidos-editoriales/esta-bogota-promete/articulo/unicentro-bogota-y-sus-programas-de-responsabilidad-social-y-ambiental/548004 Santa Barbara Business Center in Usaquén. Photo credit: https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centro_Empresarial_Santa_B%C3%A1rbara#/media/Archivo:Centro_empresarial_St_b%C3%A1rbara_Bogot%C3%A1.JPG.
Important Neighborhoods in Usaquen
Furthermore, if you are interested in this area, I would highly recommend further research for the important neighborhoods in the Usaquen area. These great neighborhoods include:
Lijacá
Verbenal
San Antonio
Servitá
San Cristóbal Norte
Toberín
Barrancas
Cedritos
Bella Suiza
La Carolina
Santa Ana
Santa Barbara
San Gabriel Norte
Cantón Norte
Francisco Miranda
Las Margaritas
San Patricio
The colonial heart of Usaquén
Chapinero
The best real estate neighborhoods in Bogota, Colombia would not be complete without Chapinero. Indeed, Chapinero is touted as the hipster area of the city.
Photo of Chapinero. Photo credit: Google and Alejandra Porto.
As an example, in this neighborhood, you’ll find Bogota’s under 30 creatives, young professionals, students, and a large LGTB community. Overall, the feeling of the area is a bit more underground. Specifically, enjoy the hip eateries, coffee shops, and independent design boutiques to discover around every street corner.
Map of Chapinero neighborhood. Photo credit: Google maps.
Chapinero Location
Chapinero is located in the north of the city and is one of the more affluent districts of the city of Bogota. Consequently, this district is mostly inhabited by upper class residents. Thus, the boundaries are Calle 39 in the south, Avenida Caracas in the west, Calle 100 in the north and the Eastern Hills in the east.
Chapinero is the 2nd locality of Bogota, capital of Colombia. As well, Chapinero is among the 20 localities that make up the Capital District of Bogota. Hence, Chapinero has its own local administration that is under the jurisdiction of the District’s Government secretariat.
Chapinero’s Economy
Generally, the Chapinero economy is one of the most important commercial and economic zones of the capital city of Bogota. Banking and financial centers are headquartered along Calle 72, Carrera 7 and Calle 100. Whereas, the major shopping areas located along Carreras 11 and 15.
Furthermore, several universities are based in the located in Chapinero, including:
As well, the zone of Chapinero also includes popular dining areas and nightlife centers. For instance, look for the Zona Rosa, the Parque 93, and the Zona G (G stands for Gourmet), known for its wide selection of upscale restaurants.
Chapinero Points Of Interest
Chicó Museum (Museo del Chicó): which includes an old manor house and a surrounding park.
Our Lady of Lourdes Basilica (Basílica de Nuestra Señora de Lourdes)
93rd street park (93 Park; Parque de la 93): which is also a hot spot for upscale restaurants, bars and nightclubs.
Shopping centers:
Avenida Chile (formerly known as Granahorrar)
Centro Andino
Atlantis Plaza
El Retiro
Chapinero Alto
Finally, the best real estate neighborhoods in Bogota, Colombia would not be complete without mentioning Chapinero Alto. In contrast to the flatness of the city, Chapinero Alto (Upper Chapinero) is located between Carrera 1 and Carrera 7, as the streets begin to slope up into the mountains.
Chapinero Alto lies roughly between Calle 40 in the south and Calle 70 in the north. As a result, a lot of students live around Calle 45. This is due to its proximity to the Universidad Javeriana, one of the country’s oldest, most traditional, and prestigious institutions.
Likeable Neighborhoods In Chapinero
Finally, I would highly recommend further research for the likeable neighborhoods in the Chapinero area. These neighborhoods include:
El Nogal
El Chicó
Antiguo Country
Rosales
Villa del Cerro
Chapinero Central
Chapinero Alto
La Cabrera
El Lago
El Virrey
Quinta Camacho
Pardo Rubio
Marly
La Salle
Bosque Calderón
La Porciúncula
Conclusions
In conclusion, the neighborhoods of Usaquen and Chapinero are my favorites whether you are buying a home or looking for investments in real estate. Therefore, please research these neighborhoods further and I am sure that you amazed by the amenities and possibilities that these locations have to offer.
Again, the best real estate neighborhoods in Bogota, Colombia are in the north. The Bogota North neighborhoods are absolutely beautiful. In my opinion, the best neighborhoods are located in the neighborhoods of Usaquen and Chapinero.
Neighborhoods For Investment
If you are looking to invest in Colombia, please read my blog on the Real Estate Investing Strategies That Work Every Time. Therefore, these three real estate strategies are: residential rentals; wholesaling; and rehab and resell. All in all, these three strategies are among the most popular real estate strategies that produce consistent results regardless of the timing. Additionally, these investment strategies will increase your families long-term wealth.
If you are interested in learning the best ways to to improve your rental property cash flows, please read our blog on the three ways to Boost Your Rental Property Cash Flows. As a result, these strategies will help you build your long-term wealth as a real estate entrepreneur.
What popular articles and blogs do you recommend?
In addition, if you are interested in Becoming A High-Net Worth Individual, please read my blog and watch the YouTube video by a fancinating guy named Andrew Hendersen, founder of Nomad Capitalist. In short, he believes that the world has changed forever and says it’s time for you to “go where you’re treated best.”
That’s it for now. By and large, I hope you have received value. Lastly, I look forward to providing you with more information and value on the great real estate investments in Colombia. Best wishes.
Last Updated on April 13, 2024 by Financial Goodness
Financial Goodness
George Alexander Roy III and our team are experts in helping you to seek wealth through investing and tips on how to succeed. Join us at FinancialGoodness.com to increase your knowledge through education in the areas of personal finance, real estate, and investments. George has been an owner of a real estate investment business that focuses on wholesaling, fix & flip, and long-term buy-and-hold property strategies with a consistent increase of annual revenues. Consequently, as an entrepreneur, researcher, writer, and speaker he has sought the truth in everything he does, no matter how difficult. Hopefully this value and service will help each person achieve their financial freedom sooner.
Updated April 13, 2024. Bogotá is everything a capital city should be. It is the economic, cultural and artistic heart of Colombia. Bogota should be thought of as a vibrant core and a beam of modernity. This mix is the quintessential feel of a country that is held together between the exotic Caribbean and the captivating Andes. Bogota is so much more than a mere springboard to South America. Bogota is, in fact, one of the best Colombian experiences! But the big question is, why should you invest in real estate in Bogota, Colombia?
Facts About Bogota, Colombia
Colombia’s capital city of Bogotá, the Capital District, is the country’s largest city. The population of Bogota is estimated to be at 8 million. 3 million of these people live in the areas immediately surrounding Bogota. Meaning there are 11 million people living the greater Bogotá area.
Moreover, it is also interesting that Bogota is the fourth highest capital city in the world. The altitude of Bogota is 8,600 feet or 2,640 meters above sea level. For people reading from the U.S., the city of Denver, Colorado, also called the Mile High City, has an altitude of 5,280 feet above sea level or 1609.3 meters. So, Bogota is a high city!
A view of the center of Bogotá with the Andes in the background. Photo credit: Unsplash
Bogota, Colombia Is Rapidly Growing
In the last few decades, Bogotá has been expanding rapidly. Bogotá has rising tourism, a booming economy with high consumer confidence, an expanding middle class, and falling interest rates.
Not to mention, the cultural, historic highlights that make Bogota one of the of Latin America’s most rewarding destinations. “It’s a city that’s starting to catch up and come up after being held back for a long time,” said Sam Miller. Miller is a Canadian that moved to Bogotá years ago. He loves living in Bogotá, Colombia because the air temperature is so much better than living in Canada.
Sam Miller co-founded a real estate investment company called Colombia International Real Estate (a subsidiary of Lifeafar). Miller said in a recent interview, that there are tremendous opportunities “with a growing middle class and one of the largest English-speaking populations in Latin America.
As a result, Bogota, Colombia now completes for international home buyers. The sprawling metropolis of Bogotá now has sleek skyscrapers, and some of the finest restaurants, nightlife, museums, and shopping scenes in Latin America. Let’s look at those opportunities now in Bogotá for tourism, economy, and the real estate property market forecast predictions.
Growing Tourism In Bogota, Colombia
In Bogotá and across all of Colombia, tourism is on the rise. Over the last decade or so, tourism in Colombia has soared by more than 300%. The tourism has risen from one million foreign visitors in 2006 to more than three million in 2017. Colombia is a country that has seen unprecedented tourism growth over the last ten years. Consequently, Bogotá continues to lead the way as Colombia’s most popular destination for foreign visitors.
According to Ministry of Tourism data in 2018, Bogota receives 51% of the country’s total tourist traffic, followed by Cartagena at 11%, and Medellin with 10%.
Between 2011 to 2017, the number of annual passengers arriving at Bogota’s El Dorado International airport jumped from 20 million to 31 million. Airlines have added new direct flights to Bogota from destinations like Amsterdam, Europe, and Los Angeles to accommodate the rapid increase in Bogota travel.
In 2019 and beyond, we expect steady tourism growth to continue across Bogotá and all of Colombia. Likewise, Colombia continues to shed its dangerous reputation. Subsequently, Bogota will continues to receive glowing press releases and is building its name as South America’s hub for technology and culture.
The ever-evolving city of Bogota is forecasted to continue to attract a steadily growing stream of business travelers and government workers. These business travelers and government workers are in addition to the tourists, vacationers, and remote workers attracted to the city. If you would like to invest in real estate in Bogota, Colombia, please let us know.
Economic Growth In Bogota, Colombia
All of Colombia has seen tremendous economic growth over the last ten years. The country’s economic prosperity is evident in Bogota’s positive indicators. As the seat for government and business in Colombia, Bogota averages around 30% of the country’s GDP. In particular, the city is home to most of the multinational corporations. As well as national and governmental agencies in the country.
In its American Cities of the Future report for 2017/18, the fDi Intelligence research center recognized Bogotá as having the second-best strategy for promoting foreign direct investment in South America. Bogota was second only to Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Currently, the local economy is primarily based on the service sector, including financial services and telecommunications. Looking to 2019 and beyond, we expect to see solid growth in Bogotá’s tourism and agricultural sectors.
Over the next ten years, a steady economic upturn is forecasted to continue in Bogota and across the country. This is due to increasing oil prices, steady private consumer consumption, and recovery of non-oil exports, among other variables.
Real Estate Investment Opportunities
Bogota real estate investment opportunities. Photo credit: Unsplash.
The Bogota real estate opportunities are fantastic. Bogotá (and all of Colombia) has enjoyed historic real estate growth over the last ten years. Under the administration of President Álvaro Uribe in 2003, Colombian real estate prices took a massive uptick after crime rates have decreased. Since then, property market prices have gone up steadily across Colombia, rising an average of 8% per year in Bogotá.
In our opinion, Bogota is definitely a very exciting global investment opportunity to consider. If you would like to invest in real estate in Bogota, Colombia, please let us know.
Understanding Housing Estratos
To understand real estate opportunities within the city, let’s understand how the government housing stratum system works.
In Colombia, homes are ranked in socio-economic categories known as estratos. Estrado 1 are the least expensive and Estrato 6 are the most expensive properties. Bogota has four or five estrato 6 areas versus the single estrato 6 area in Medellín. According to Rich Holman, chairman of Lifeafar, Bogota properties in estrato 6 can be as much as 40 to 60% more expensive than the same properties in Medellin.
In particular, the Bogota’s rapid economic growth and expanding middle class are putting pressure on the upper estratos. This in turn is driving up demand even further in these already pricey areas. As a result, as real estate becomes more difficult to obtain, opportunities lie in new upcoming neighborhoods that have been previously overlooked.
It should be noted that with the majority of its properties in estrato 3 and 4, the increasingly trendy Chapinero Alto is a great example of an emerging barrio.This emerging barrio has a lot of room for growth (the term barrio in Colombia is used to describe any urban area neighborhood whose geographical limits are determined locally).
Therefore, more home buyers, renters, and business owners seek affordable pricing in neighborhoods like Chapinero Alto. The increased demand and urban renewal are likely to translate to increased property prices. Consequently, investors who purchase properties in up-and-coming neighborhoods now will likely see substantial returns as real estate prices continue to climb in Bogota and across Colombia.
USD Strength Compared To The Colombian Peso
Yet another attractive reason to invest in Bogotá real estate is the current currency exchange of the Colombian peso (COP) against the U.S. dollar.
Total real estate housing units sold each year from 2018 to 2021. Photo credit: BBVA Research.
November 8, 2022 update. In Colombia, people see the purchase of housing as a great investment. The current currency rate against the US dollar continues to be a favorable opportunity to acquire new housing with exceptional financing conditions and interest rates. New homes in Colombia grew by 9.4% in 2021.
In addition, the vision for 2022 continues to be encouraging. In 2022, is projected that investment in housing will grow by 10.6%, with more than 240,000 units sold.
March 26, 2019 update. As of March 26, 2019, the COP is trading at 3,144 to the USD compared to 1,872.5 on this day eight years ago.
To illustrate, the present-day U.S. dollars investor holds 67% more buying power than investors eight years ago. Similarly, for 2019 buyers with U.S. dollars, the undervalued COP makes high-quality real estate in a rapidly appreciating market a global bargain. Furthermore, with the great exchange rate these days for the US dollar, the Colombian markets are very appealing when looking to purchase real estate.
The Bottom Line For Real Estate Investment
In conclusion, tourism and economic factors continue to improve in Bogota. In our opinion, we do not expect the rate of real estate to slow down in the next five to ten years. Sam Miller says that “in emerging neighborhoods like Chapinero Alto, we see unparalleled opportunities for substantial returns as real estate demand continues to climb.”
Thus, imagine five to ten years of growth in real estate as demand continues to climb with an average of 8% a year in Bogota! So, invest in real estate in Bogota, Colombia! Bogotá is everything a capital city should be as the tourism and economic factors continue to improve.
In future articles I will investigate different neighborhoods for investment. We will explore the neighborhoods of Usaquen, Chapinero, and Chapinero Alto. We will give you our thoughts as we look at potential properties for growing wealth through real estate investments. In our opinion, Bogota is definitely a very exciting global investment opportunity to consider. If you would like to invest in real estate in Bogota, Colombia, please let us know.
Please read my blog on how Everyone Can Buy And Own Property In Colombia. We recommend doing more due diligence on specific property regions and areas you may be interested in. We would also recommend looking at property in Bogota or property in Medellin. Both of these locations have the potential for excellent returns. If you have a question or need more help, please send us a message.
Last Updated on April 13, 2024 by Financial Goodness
Financial Goodness
George Alexander Roy III and our team are experts in helping you to seek wealth through investing and tips on how to succeed. Join us at FinancialGoodness.com to increase your knowledge through education in the areas of personal finance, real estate, and investments. George has been an owner of a real estate investment business that focuses on wholesaling, fix & flip, and long-term buy-and-hold property strategies with a consistent increase of annual revenues. Consequently, as an entrepreneur, researcher, writer, and speaker he has sought the truth in everything he does, no matter how difficult. Hopefully this value and service will help each person achieve their financial freedom sooner.
