More Knowledge, More Wealth Ep. 206 - Social Media

[00:00:00] Good day. This is Gabriel Shane, certified financial planner, and your host more knowledge, more wealth here on every weekend, talking about all important topics of personal finance. My goal is to give you the knowledge you need to increase your wealth. Now to the listener, you can always reach out to myself or any one of my colleagues here at Falcon Wealth Planning.

[00:00:52] Our phone number is 855 963 2526. That's 855 96 Falcon. Like the bird now, and you get this episode or any one of our previous episodes as well. And you go to our YouTube channel as well, where we have almost a million views in just under nine months. And feel free to get a video version of this show and also just a bunch of cool information about personal finance.

[00:01:15] I can relate to you and save you a bunch of money potentially. Uh, now I'm the president of Falkenroth planning. We are a fee only non commissioned true fiduciary folks, and we talk about all important topics of personal finance. Anything that involves a dollar sign that goes over where you are today, how retirement looks like investments, estate planning, taxes, insurance, folks, you name it, anything that involves that dollar sign, we are offering one to two meetings, one to two hours at no cost.

[00:01:39] Folks, we're offering a free financial assessment really to help relate this show to your specific situation. Our phone number is 855. 855 963 2526. That's 855 96 Falcon. Like the bird or visit our website at falconwealthplanning. com. That's Falcon WP. com for short. Folks. I wanted to spend some time today just talking about social media.

[00:02:04] I know our company is starting to get more in social media and I'm doing a lot more on social media as well. So feel free to look me up Gabriel Shaheen and you are able to get. Just some important thoughts of somebody who's actually licensed and professional and so on and so forth. So here is kind of the biggest one that I've been seeing.

[00:02:20] I'm not sure if it's because of interest rates, people are making this recommendation or just the difficulty of getting approved or just the difficulty to get a down payment. Um, but this is, this is interesting. This is the third time I've seen this. And this is, uh, talking about if Warren Buffett rented.

[00:02:37] They're saying, listen, at 28 years old, he bought his first house at 31, 500. He still lives in that same house and it's worth almost 1. 4 million. They said, his homes provide a terrific memory, but if he Would have made far more money instead of renting and use the money to purchase stocks if he put the same 31, 500 into the S& P 500 today showing the 10 percent rate of return Over that long period of time he would have had over almost 20 million dollars 19 million dollars Okay.

[00:03:08] Well, this was forever ago, right? We're talking in the 50s Maybe even before that But here's the crazy part about this. This implies so many things and the fact that you're trying to relate that to today is absolutely insane. And here's why. Number one, this assumes you bought that home cash. Number one, who's buying a home cash these days.

[00:03:27] Okay. You're going to have what three, four, 500, 000 million dollars. And this assumes he didn't have to spend any money on rent ever. Think about that. He's saying instead of me renting, what does that mean? Mr. Warren Buffett, what does this mean? Mr. Social influencer that you're trying to explain to me like, oh, yeah, I don't need to buy a house.

[00:03:49] I could just rent. You're going to be paying rent forever. Let's just say rent at that time was 100, 200 a month. Well, now it's what for 1. 5 million a house, maybe six to 7, 000 a month. You never stopped paying. Imagine if you would have continued paying that 200 a month next year, after that 220, then all of a sudden next 10 years after that, it's 450.

[00:04:08] 10 10 years after that, it's 1, 500. You continue to pay that for life. What does that mean? Like, if he literally was homeless? Like, are you trying to tell me, and you're misquoting Warren Buffett, if Warren Buffett was homeless, then he would have had 19 million? This is the dumbest thing, and people are falling for this.

[00:04:32] These people have hundreds of thousands, if not millions of views saying, Yeah, that makes sense. See, I don't have to buy a house. Well, good job. You're going to be living with mom and dad for life? I mean, some parents are okay with that. I want my kids staying with me as long as possible, but like at 55 and they're still in their room like What does that mean?

[00:04:52] They're never married or does that mean their kids will live? Their their spouse and their kids if they have any will be under my roof. I got like a mini hotel At my house Like is that what you want to teach your kids? and then what happens their kids are gonna stay there too all of a sudden like 70 years from now, because that's the math you were doing from Mr.

[00:05:14] Buffett here, in 70 years from now, I'm going to have like 70 people in my house? My whole family tree becomes forest in my house? And this is what they're pushing on social media? They're talking about 401Ks being a scam. Oh, look at this biggest crock ever. The interest rate, taxes are going... Down and you're saving you're gonna pull you think taxes are going to I do think taxes are going up Well, how about you be strategic with it instead of saying 401ks are a scam.

[00:05:40] They're not a scam It's just the irs is a genius They give you little write offs here and there, then you go to take it out later and you're going to pay taxes on it. You only got write offs on the principle, but all the growth. So they're acknowledging the growth, right? You can't, they're not, there's like double edged sword here.

[00:05:57] They're not even doing that. They're just focusing on negative negative. So much so where people are questioning them. To say, oh, so should I just even take advantage of my 401k? There's like so many laws being broken here. As a person who couldn't even pass a license certification to provide financial advice, is providing this data and giving these people advice saying, well my company matches 6%.

[00:06:21] So if I put in 6%, they match 6%. Is that not good? Mr. YouTuber, this is crazy to me, folks. By the way, folks, if you're just joining me, you're listening to Gabriel Sheen, Certified Financial Planner, and your host of More Knowledge, More Wealth here on every weekend, talking about all important topics of personal finance.

[00:06:38] And here I'm just trying to set everybody straight here to say the crap that's going on in social media right now is frustrating. It's frustrating because you've got extremely intelligent people being told one side of a story. They're not even looking at the full financial piece of it. I mean, there are so many more and whether it's buying a house, getting the tax benefits today, what are you doing?

[00:07:02] You're saving money and getting tax benefits today, depending on your tax bracket, you can, and where you live, that can be 55 cents on the dollar. You save 10, 000, the government gives back 5, 500 in tax savings and you're calling a 401k of fraud, and then you take that 55 and you can invest that. You're literally investing 155%.

[00:07:20] Of what you're saving because remember the company is matching you so you made a hundred percent on day one plus the tax benefits It's crazy to me that people are giving social media this attention I don't understand and then they're like picking on. Yeah, then it's it's like they're like contradicting themselves a million times over Then they're like, yeah look at our rich politicians investing in stocks and putting all their money in betting on the like pelosi and tesla like Take a step back.

[00:07:51] Let's just ignore corruption, because that could be argued until you're blue in the face. So you're saying the stock market is a scam, even though you just quoted Warren Buffett, even though you just said a 401k is bad, which invests in the stock market, and then you're telling them to go buy insurance products?

[00:08:08] What are you doing? What are you saying? This is insane to me, and people are believing it. Thanks, I'll hit you up in a DM. I had to, I had to ask. My younger brother what that meant. I guess that's a direct message. I know some of you are laughing at me. And yes, I have social media accounts but I just, a DM.

[00:08:31] I didn't, I didn't know. You know, listen, and they kind of bait you in to giving some good content. Like I love it when people are comparing discount going to like a Spirit Airlines. Sometimes it's better just to go to the American Airlines or Delta. It's cheaper. By the time you factor in paying for your carry on baggage, a checked baggage, choosing the seat that you want, paying for Wi Fi, paying for a soda, and the joke is using the bathroom fee.

[00:09:03] You get what I'm saying? There's just so many people out there that are misleading our youth. And they're getting their information from social media. At least TV. Okay, at least TV, whether it's Fox News, CNN, whatever, at least it's somewhat honest. It's not blatantly a lie. Now you can talk about COVID, you can talk about that, but at the time they were conned too.

[00:09:26] Okay, well they were in on it. My point is, is at least there's some level of screening and you can hold them accountable. Versus a bunch of nothings and nobodies that aren't licensed, like they're not allowed to give financial advice on TV. You get what I'm saying? At least there was some regulation behind whether you agree with it or not, whether you think it's real or not, whether you think it's fake or not, at least there's regulation behind it here.

[00:09:47] There is nothing and it's freaky and it's scary because our youngins are trusting in this stuff and they just keep looking at like hype investments and comparing, uh, what is it called? Uh, meme stocks, you know, Reddit stocks, they're comparing our billionaires to non billionaires. I mean, it's just, it's just, it's disgusting.

[00:10:12] It really is. So my comment to you is, use social media for fun. Don't use it for decision making. Because the problem with social media is doing now, it's messing with your emotions. And actually affecting the way you live life. It's affecting your views. Not political views. Not religious views. Your personal views.

[00:10:34] Your personal values. You're thinking what you're seeing on TV is real. Well, you're thinking what's on internet is real now on social media just because they're linked to somebody that you can identify with Doesn't mean it's real you think people post that take pictures of sad times No people take pictures of happy times and you're seeing these people like every day in their life is great and happy My point to you is find within yourself what makes you happy.

[00:11:02] Don't need motivation from an outside source, from somebody you've never met, talking about how great their life is. And as long as you pay them 10 a month, a hundred bucks, 10, 000 bucks, whatever the case is, that they can help you to find that happiness. It's a scam and it's been going on for ages.

[00:11:18] Sometimes you just need to have a good network of people around you, whether it's parents, family, distant family. Friends, coworkers, old school mates, just some people that a network around you that keeps you motivated. You are the average of the five people you surround yourself with. With that being said, focus on your future.

[00:11:42] You don't have to make 275, 000 a year. You don't have to make 100, 000 a year. Heck, 50, 000 a year with a company that gives good benefits that matches and you saving 10 to 15%, you're going to be just fine over a long period of time. Folks, if you need help to find the positive thing in your situation, the other person you can talk to is a professional, somebody who does this on a daily business, whose job is to find good and positivity in your situation, who does this over and over, over again, and sees where you're going to be by just making the right decisions today, 10, 20, 30 plus years from now.

[00:12:21] Give us a call. We would love to help folks. Our phone number is 855 963 2526. That's 855 96 Falcon. Like the bird. Or visit our website at falconwealthplanning. com. That's Falcon. WP. com for short. Folks, we're going to go on a quick break and we'll be right back after a few words.

[00:12:42] Welcome back folks. This is Gabriel Sheen, certified financial planner and your host of more knowledge, more wealth here and every weekend talking about all important topics of personal finance. Today I just wanted to go over with you. Just be careful of the social media fools that are out there trying to sell you an insurance product, trying to bash a 401k just so they could tell you to sell you an index universal life insurance policy, which oh, by the way, pays commissions up the wazoo.

[00:13:56] Thank you. And yeah, you could start with a hundred dollars a month and they're going to say you're going to have a bunch of money that money. You're going to have that bunch of money is based on ridiculous hypotheticals and that you borrowing 50 percent of what you put in until that policy implodes.

[00:14:10] Just be careful. So many sales people out there is using social media to take advantage of you It's the new version of a free dinner seminar and you look at their credibility of how many followers they have They pay for those followers. A lot of them are bots. A lot of them They pay a company that has a somebody with a post with millions of followers say hey And they tell you you pay them just a few hundred bucks.

[00:14:35] They say hey I can add 10, 000 followers to you for a few hundred bucks. And so you think they're credible. Be careful what's out there. There's no substitute of staying disciplined. There's no substitute of staying knowledgeable. Don't give your money to somebody that you haven't had in depth conversations with and you haven't shopped.

[00:14:57] I mean, we recommend people here at Falcon while planning. Take advantage of multiple meetings. See value in what we're providing real value not talking about hypotheticals and a contract That's that thick trying to sell you a product. You need to be buying a service not a solution product There is no one solution that could solve the world for you that could give you financial independence and financial freedom That's a product.

[00:15:23] You need a service that can help you on the finishing line That can help answer the questions that you have that are logical that are tangible, whether it's tax related, finance related, mortgage related, not somebody try to tell you to rent forever because you'll have extra. I don't get that. Where's the logic?

[00:15:43] Like, how dare they? I mean, the mortgage by itself, not to digress, but it's a tax write off for you. It's fixed for 30 years, that mortgage payment. So it's a write off. It's fixed for 30 years. Part of that payment is principal, even at these high rates. No, It's a tax write off for you, and eventually that mortgage goes away.

[00:16:05] Where in God's name do they come off saying that it's not a good investment, it's not smart for you? I mean, you can argue not having kids is smart for you from a financial point of view. Potentially not getting married. Potentially, why are you living in the house here and now? Why don't you just set up a tent?

[00:16:22] In downtown LA, you don't pay anything. Heck, they give you housing. Where do you draw the line? And so their point of view is so narrow minded. I mean, I challenge any one of these fools to a battle of telling me why you think your tax free insurance crap, excuse me for saying, it's sold as an investment, and insurance, you're not allowed to sell it as an investment.

[00:16:50] You have to sell it as a protection. That's the only way you make money on insurance is to use it. Insurance, it's illegal to be, make a profit off insurance. You know that, right? It's designed to make you whole. A lot of people forget that. Because they see these idiots on social media trying to take advantage of you.

[00:17:13] Yeah, you can tell I'm upset. Because this is, you worked hard for this money. You should be, our business is so heavily regulated by the SEC. And you got insurance state regulators. Watching these people or not watching these people. It's just disgusting when all they do is sling crap across the table from you and try to tell you it's going to solve the world.

[00:17:37] Just get that second opinion for heaven's sake. Talk to a professional that, oh by the way, doesn't get compensated unless you buy. Think about that for a second. The only way you can get paid, or they can get paid, is if you buy their product. Is that really how you want to do it? Oh, you may be asking, how do we get paid?

[00:17:55] Well, we charge a few bucks for our brain. Yeah, you write a check based on you wanting to hire us based on us guiding you, giving you a service of making sure you make the least amount of wrong decisions as possible. To think if you work with us at 10 years from now, you're going to be much better off.

[00:18:16] And if you're by yourself versus somebody trying to sell you a product, say, Hey, why save 20 percent down on a half a million dollar house, that a hundred thousand, you can put it into insurance policy. That's tied to the index. Cause yes, I do preach indexes all the time. Stop trying to outsmart the market.

[00:18:34] Last episode was all about that. Just stick it in globally diversified portfolio. And they're going to say they can do that through insurance where you can't lose. I mean, give me a freaking break. If it sounds too good to be true. Yeah, you can finish it for me. Probably is. By the way, folks, if you're just joining me, you're listening to Gabriel Shane, Certified Financial Planner and your host of More Knowledge, More Wealth here on every weekend talking about all important topics of personal finance.

[00:19:00] I recommend that you give us a call to be that second opinion. We are the good guys in this industry. You know why? Because we don't sell product. We sell brain. We don't make commission. We're on salary. We're not insurance pushing, whatever you call YouTubers. We are certified financial planners. Our planners can help with your situation in the most unbiased manner.

[00:19:26] Yes, we have social media. Yes, we're on YouTube. But it's knowledge based. If you notice, there's no sales pitch, no product put. It's purely helping you with personal topics of personal finance. Look up Falcon Wealth Planning. You see, we've had almost a million views in nine months. And my point to you is just take a look at your situation.

[00:19:48] Find the positive side of it. Your financial plan will always, always, always work. Always. No matter how dire you may think it is. If it's really bad, you know what? You gotta get roommates. If it's really bad, you know what? You gotta work more. If it's really bad, you just spend less. Get what I'm saying? It's our job is actually quite frankly.

[00:20:12] It's simple That's why our mantra at the firm is planning made simple because I and of course the irony is is every situation so unique Every situation is actually not so simple for you for us. We do it every day We're offering a free financial assessment Well, we'll give you one or two meetings one to two hours of our time at no cost where we can answer the questions That you may have Our phone number is eight five five nine six three 2526, that's 855 96 Falcon, like the bird.

[00:20:49] We can help put an assessment to you to help relate this show to your specific situation. All I'm trying to tell you is be careful of the hunters that are out there. They're not sharks. They're not slick. They found a way to market a product that's supposed to protect you upon death. And trying to sell it to you where you can take cash out of it.

[00:21:11] And you know what you're taking out? 50 percent of what you put into it. Half of it's already yours. With limited upside. Because of all the fees and junk and commissions that are involved in it. Be careful. Don't pay, you see, I hear this all the time. Just because it's on TV, it's not true. If it's on the internet, doesn't mean it's true.

[00:21:33] And if it's on social media, it's even worse. I could go as far as saying almost all of it's fake. Just be careful. I don't care how many hundreds of thousands or millions of views they have. Just be aware because the issue that we're finding today is we're cleaning up a lot of people's mess. It'd be a lot easier if you just never got in it to begin with.

[00:21:56] Don't be strong armed. Don't be sweet talked. Talk to a professional that is not incentivized to sell this crap. That was a fast, fast show today. I want to thank you for tuning in with me. You can always reach out to myself or any one of our colleagues here at Falcon Moth Planning, but just give us a call.

[00:22:13] Our phone number is 855 963 2526. That's 855 96 Falcon. Like the bird or visit our website at FalconWealthPlanning. com. That's FalconWP. com for short, where you can get this episode or any one of our previous episodes as well. And you can always look it up, look us up on Spotify or on podcasts. Just look up more knowledge, more wealth.

[00:22:39] And you can get, go to our YouTube channel, FalconWealthPlanning, where you can get this episode video version of it and any one of our helpful library topics where we are adding to that on a weekly basis. Folks, I want to thank you for tuning in with us. I want you to enjoy your weekend, have a great week, and God bless.