Invest Smarter

With a solo 401(k), you have so much more flexibility when it comes to your retirement account. This week we have solo 401(k) expert Daniel Blue on the show to give the lay of the land. One of the biggest pain points with your traditional 401(k) is the incredibly limited menu of investment selection. With a solo 401(k), your investment universe is virtually unlimited, allowing you to make your retirement dollars work for you the way you want them to.

A solo 401(k) can give you the flexibility you need to access your money without triggering a taxable event, invest in real estate, pay down debt, or fund a new business venture. 

Listen now to learn and become a smarter investor. 

Mark Willis is a man on a mission to help you think differently about your money, your economy, and your future. He graduated with six figures of student loan debt and watched everybody lose their retirement savings and home equity in 2008. He knew that he needed to find a more predictable way to meet his financial objectives and those of his clients.

The Bank on Yourself™ that Mark employs has its critics, but from my research and conversations with others, I believe it can be a great strategy for the right person as a complement to all the important other parts of a well-rounded financial plan.

As co-host of the Not Your Average Financial Podcast™, he shares some of his strategies for investing in real estate, paying for college without going broke, and creating an income in retirement you won’t outlive. Mark works with people who want to grow their wealth in ways that are safe and predictable, to become their own source of financing, and to create tax-free income in retirement.

Check out Mark's podcast by clicking below

This is the first episode of our new midweek episodes, where we will be talking all about retirement planning and investing topics in a shorter format. All of these episodes will be best enjoyed on our YouTube channel, where graphics will accompany the audio. We hope you enjoy this new expansion of our Podcast/YouTube channel. 

In this 15 minute podcast, you will learn what it is, why it's so surprising, theories as to why it has occurred, and reasons it may continue. In short, the age-old wisdom of more risk, more return hasn't particularly held up that well through history.

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Investing smarter can mean a lot of things. In the case of serial entrepreneur Rob Kessler, it means investing in yourself. After starting a screen printing and embroidery business, one thing led to another and he learned early that the best investment was in himself. It makes sense because he has a good track record! He also appreciates the importance of diversification, which is important for many entrepreneurs. In this show, he shares his story, gives valuable advice for entrepreneurs, and much more. He drops nuggets of knowledge throughout the interview, so give it a listen. 

In this show we talk about:

• The Million Dollar Collar and how he started the business
• His yacht charter business
• How his screen-printing business became a million-dollar business
• Advice for entrepreneurs
• Much more!

Sean Adams is the CEO of Leveraged Life Management. His goal is to help the wealthy change their relationship with their money and become their own banker. Rather than try and explain it here, listen to the episode, and let me know what you think by emailing at investsmarterpod@gmail.com. The concept he introduces was new to me and it is probably new to you, so I hope you find this interview interesting and valuable. Note: The information in this podcast is for educational purposes only and should be viewed as specific investment advice. 

Welcome to the Invest Smarter podcast. On this show, we aim to leave you a smarter investor by the end of every episode. We will simplify investing, provide actionable ideas, and discuss timeless investing wisdom.

In this episode, we talk about whether or not you should invest when the market is at highs. Just thinking about whether or not to invest when the market is at highs means you are engaging in market timing, and we know throughout history that humans are simply not good at timing markets. Markets are incredibly complex, and every transaction has a seller and buyer, and both are humans, or algorithms designed by humans, and humans are emotional and vulnerable to irrational decision making.

We discuss statistics to dispel the notion that investing highs is a poor idea.

Articles Discussed:

In this week's show we cover:

• Biden's proposed taxes
• Risk of retiring at a market peak
• Dogecoin and Reddit
• Investing in what you understand- Peter Lynch
• Passive investing shortcomings
• Bill Miller's Q1 market letter
• Housing boom!

Stories Covered:

Are Growth Stocks Dead?

Have you heard the saying, "if it's in the news, then it's in the stock?" If you have watched CNBC recently, you would constantly hear the narrative that value stocks are back and growth stocks are done. Meanwhile, value stocks are already up significantly from their lows, and growth stocks are already down significantly.  While I am not suggesting that this dynamic won't continue, I am suggesting that generally speaking, by the time an idea becomes mainstream, it is frequently too late. And the consequences for the average investor are often poor decision-making. Let's look at an example.

In growth's corner, we have the Ark Innovation ETF (ARKK). This represents the highest-flying tech stocks over the past fifteen months. In value's corner, let's go with the airlines and energy, two of the harder-hit industries from COVID. We will use the U.S. Global Jets ETF (JETS) and the SPDR Energy Select ETF (XLE).

This week's episode was a blast to record. We start off by covering a great piece from Morningstar about the challenges Cathie Wood and her Ark funds are likely to face now that her funds are enormous. We chat about the Fed and what Jerome Powell said to make markets happy. We discuss a great 2020 and 2021 outlook from legend Howard Marks from Oaktree Capital Management. We discuss some interesting Bitcoin facts, particularly as it relates to environmental concerns. We also look at how there is truth to the idea that investing in stocks a  monkey picks by throwing darts at a stock dartboard is potentially a better option than a cap-weighted index fund. And we wrap up trying to figure out NFTs and Metaverses! Enjoy!

Articles Discussed:

The lowest 2021 S&P 500 large bank price target is 3800, which is essentially where we are. In 12 of the last 15 years, the consensus end of year S&P 500 price target has been overestimated. Being bullish is good for business and a safe choice for analysts when everyone is following the herd. We discuss this in our latest episode. We also take a look at the valuation of the market which is at levels hard to justify even in this low rate environment. We discuss Jeremy Grantham's piece from early January about the nature of bubbles, and why he believes we are in a bonafide bubble at the moment. Finally, we answer a listener question about what to do with the cash that you want to use to buy a house in a few years. 

Articles Discussed

In this episode, we talk about

• A new way to invest in space (coming soon)
• The state of the market
• The ongoing OLED revolution, and lessons learned from investing in it
• Why a housing crash is probably not in the cards in 2021

Articles Mentioned:

In this weeks episode, we talk about the following:

Why you should not wait for the market to drop to buy stocks, 2020 Recap, 2021 Outlook, Why we love Costco, Value buying and avoiding value traps, stock market performance under Democratic leadership.

Articles Discussed

In this week's show we talk about:

• Tesla
• Ark Funds and how they invest in innovation
• How innovation is bubbly
• Passive funds vs. active funds historically
• Economic Activity collapses, but not the stock market
• Market Cycle Investing
• How to get into the market if you missed out?
• How lowering your car payment by 50 bucks a month could get earn you 60K in 30 years
• Roth IRA conversion

Articles Discussed:

Our second podcast covers some tax considerations investors should think about when investing. Topics covered include:

Changes from the CARES act investors should think about, the types of securities which generally make sense in different account types, harvesting losses, and how to save and invest efficiently