In this episode, Greg Herlean, a renowned entrepreneur and expert in financial independence, shares his insights into building wealth through smart investments and strategic planning. Greg, known for his expertise in self-directed IRAs and real estate investing, begins by recounting his early struggles and how they shaped his relentless drive for success. He takes listeners on a journey through his unconventional strategies, highlighting the importance of taking control of one’s financial future by thinking outside the traditional investment box. As the episode unfolds, Greg dives into the key principles that have guided his success, from embracing calculated risks to cultivating a mindset of persistence and adaptability. Along the way, he addresses common misconceptions about investing and provides actionable advice for listeners looking to achieve financial freedom. Whether you’re a seasoned investor or just starting to explore the world of personal finance, this episode offers valuable insights and inspiration to help you chart your own path to success. CHAPTER TITLES 3:00 - The Surprising Start of the Journey 6:00 - Overcoming the First Hurdle 9:00 - A New Perspective Emerges 12:00 - Challenges of the Unknown 15:00 - The Turning Point 17:00 - Reflections on Progress 19:00 - Facing the Final Obstacle 21:00 - A Triumphant Resolution 23:00 - Closing Thoughts and Takeaways Connect with Greg Herlean:SOCIALS - Greg [email protected] with Rudy Mawer:LinkedInInstagramFacebookTwitter
Chapter 1: What sparked Greg Herlean's journey into real estate?
Most people don't know they can use their retirement money to invest in things they know, like, and understand. There's over 100 million IRAs in the United States that have over $17 trillion in them. If you were to show me a new business that you were going to start, I could put my IRA, partner with you, And all the profits and distributions would go back into my IRA and I'd pay nothing in taxes.
And I never knew before I heard someone talk about this, this was even an option. A bank wouldn't lend me money. My family had zero money. So for me, that's kind of where it started was understanding where money and capital is at.
Chapter 2: How can retirement funds be used for investments?
My name's Rudy Moore, host of Living the Red Life podcast, and I'm here to change the way you see your life in your earpiece every single week. If you're ready to start living the red life, ditch the blue pill, take the red pill, join me in Wonderland, and change your life.
What's up, guys? Welcome back to another episode of Living the Red Life. Joining me today is Greg. He's a real estate master, financial master, and investor, and done a whole bunch of stuff. But we're going to focus on a couple of things today. He's been in the real estate game for a very long time, done over $1.4 billion. Yes, billion with a B in transactions and real estate and investing.
And he's fixed and flipped over 450 homes, 2,000 apartment units. And we're going to talk today about the financial secrets that your financial advisor doesn't want you to know. So yes, I have your attention. And Greg, welcome to the show. Thanks for having me. I appreciate it. Good to be here. So Greg, let's just start.
Chapter 3: What are the common misconceptions about investing?
Before we dive into these juicy secrets that everyone wants to know, give me a minute summary just on yourself, who you are for those who don't know you. A minute summary.
Look, I have started from nothing. My dad was in the military. I was going that path that I think most parents want you to go. And I had a pivotal point in my life where I had to make a decision if I was going to go that direction. I decided not to. I dropped out of school. And and I got into real estate at 22 years old.
Not only did I get into real estate, I also started a family and I have five kids. That's a big part of my why. But real estate has been a vehicle for me and I've been able to create massive wealth that way. to afford the five kids and the memories. But really, I mean, I started with nothing. My dad was in the military and got into real estate.
Chapter 4: How do successful entrepreneurs leverage capital?
But I think what we're going to talk about today is really what catapulted me to the next level, learning how to avoid taxes and do things that I didn't really know was possible, nor did my parents know was possible 23 years ago.
Yeah, it's funny, you know, just to dive straight in on the tax thing. Like, I think every entrepreneur that becomes successful, we'll go through this journey of like, we first learn how to make a lot of money and grow our business. And then we end up paying a lot of taxes. And then if we get pretty advanced, we go, oh, crap, there's got to be a better way.
Chapter 5: What are the secrets financial advisors might not share?
And we partner with, you know, big companies. financial experts and people like yourself. And I've got lots of advisors that work with billionaires and you start learning all these legal, but more advanced tax strategies on how you can obviously write off stuff and do it all properly. So I'm excited to dive into some of that today and
And also, you know, one thing that I know we're going to talk about that's interesting is how to actually leverage capital to in less typical means. Right. Versus just going to the bank. So super excited to dive in. But let's start with the main secrets. Right. So what are some of the main things most entrepreneurs don't know about about money?
Chapter 6: What strategies exist for tax savings in investments?
Well, look, I think entrepreneurs, one of the most difficult and important things is raising money. And so being able to get capital or partners or leverage and where to go. And the typical places people go would be a bank or a friend or a family member, right? And that's usually where it would end.
And I learned at the age of 22, like, okay, someone taught me what we're going to talk about today of a whole nother place where there's tons of money that people are just unhappy with that you can start talking to. And literally my first real estate deal, someone lent me money from their retirement plan, like just a little condo in Las Vegas, a $60,000 condo.
And I never knew before I heard someone talk about this, this was even an option. A bank wouldn't lend me money. My family had zero money. But someone taught me this and I was like, wow, someone with their IRA can give me the money and then I can pay them back profits and they pay nothing in taxes until they pull it out someday.
So that was, so for me, that's kind of where it started was understanding, you know, as far as entrepreneurs, understanding where money and capital is at. And I think that's really important.
Chapter 7: How can listeners take control of their financial future?
Yeah well I think it's funny too because I think when you start life I at least me right and I think most people you assume when you look at these billionaires or people with a ton of real estate whatever you assume they somehow earned that money and just bought it all right and then you actually learn like I'm friends with some billionaires and stuff. They rarely ever use their own money.
I hate like the smart billionaires never use their own money. They're always using. And I actually got into real estate when I was about 20 and I used my student loan. I took a student loan out and I worked full time, had a personal training business. So that paid all my bills and I'd save like 30 grand. just from that business.
And then I took the student loan out and put all of that towards my first real estate deal. And then every year I bought another one because the profits I put straight into a separate account to work on the down payment. So I just, you know, that's one example. And I'm sure that's how you've got some of your 2000 doors and units isn't like you're not buying them all in cash, right?
You're leveraging money.
Leveraging money in particular, my place is retirement funds. I mean, that's something you and I spoke about for a second, but I don't think people really grasp that they understand how much money is in retirement accounts. And this is one of the secrets.
That is a lot, right?
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Chapter 8: What closing thoughts and takeaways does Greg offer?
Yeah, there's over 100 million IRAs in the United States, just obviously here, that have over $17 trillion in them. So if you're listening to this and you're like, hey, I don't know where to find money, most likely the person to your left or right has some of their money in a retirement account that frankly, besides this last week, right?
This last week was good in the stock market, but besides that, It just goes up and down and people are frustrated and have no control of that. So what's, I think, exciting is learning about this concept and realizing that there's opportunities all around you for you to leverage, for you to borrow, for you to use to scale your business. And that's why this subject is so near and dear to my heart.
And it's how I've got where I am today.
Yeah, and I mean, I think people like Trump are a good example, right? Like, I'm not into politics, and whether you love or hate him, it's like, you know, he built a lot of his wealth from loaning money and stuff, and then he also saved a lot on taxes by... On taxes, right? You know, so it's like a lot of the smartest people are doing that.
And you always see, I think it's funny in the news, right? Like you see these articles where it's like Jeff Bezos pays zero in taxes or whatever, right? And it's like, you know, obviously they are paying a lot in taxes and many other ways because there's lots of different types of taxes. But yeah, I mean, you have to be smart about these things, because if not, if you just
kind of just pay everything at face value without doing any sort of advanced strategy, it gets kind of ridiculous. So I think the access to capital is so key too, because everyone, like you said, they just think about the bank, right? That's the go-to place. So how do they start using this method we're talking about? Where would someone start and how would they go about this?
Well, look, one of the big things and secrets I feel like that is really not a secret, the wealth are using these things. Like you just mentioned, the wealthy keep getting richer and bigger because they're using these techniques that are approved. There's no scam. This is approved by the rich, the IRS, or the government officials and lobbyists. So look, advisors in general are good people.
So I'm not here to hate on advisors. They're right for majority of America, frankly.
But for entrepreneurs... Designed for the average guy saving 10 grand, right? Not entrepreneurs.
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