Podcasts about gi bill

Dylan and Max talk Alaska dreams, Southwest's new nonstop to Anchorage, lake lodge podcast fantasies, and Max's brave decision to bypass the discounted Marriott burger for Yemeni cuisine. In the Mailbag, listener Elijah checks in with a unique path back into aviation after the Air Force and a decade away from flying. For Flight Advice, the guys break down why using the GI Bill for PC-12 initial training, single-engine ATP currency, and an Alaska 135 strategy might actually be a no-brainer. Also: meta glasses, janky gravel strips, and potential tax treatment for baklava. TankerBot - Try out the beta version of the Dylan's Tankering Calculator! NewYorkTurk - NYC Food Reviews Show Notes 0:00 Intro 3:55 Max's Musings: Sitting Reserve 15:21 MD-11: PSE vs SSI  27:35 Airports & Tangents 32:37 Special Announcement: Tankering Calculator 35:25 Spirit Comments 41:59 Comments & Reviews 55:16 AI & Mailbag 1:09:35 Flight Advice Our Sponsors Tim Pope, CFP® — Tim is both a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ and a pilot. His practice specializes in aviation professionals and aviation 401k plans, helping clients pursue their financial goals by defining them, optimizing resources, and monitoring progress. Click here to learn more. Also check out The Pilot's Portfolio Podcast. Advanced Aircrew Academy — Enables flight operations to fulfill their training needs in the most efficient and affordable way—anywhere, at any time. They provide high-quality training for professional pilots, flight attendants, flight coordinators, maintenance, and line service teams, all delivered via a world-class online system. Click here to learn more. Raven Careers — Helping your career take flight. Raven Careers supports professional pilots with resume prep, interview strategy, and long-term career planning. Whether you're a CFI eyeing your first regional, a captain debating your upgrade path, or a legacy hopeful refining your application, their one-on-one coaching and insider knowledge give you a real advantage. Click here to learn more. The AirComp Calculator™ is business aviation's only online compensation analysis system. It can provide precise compensation ranges for 14 business aviation positions in six aircraft classes at over 50 locations throughout the United States in seconds. Click here to learn more. Vaerus Jet Sales — Vaerus means right, true, and real. Buy or sell an aircraft the right way, with a true partner to make your dream of flight real. Connect with Brooks at Vaerus Jet Sales or learn more about their DC-3 Referral Program. Harvey Watt — Offers the only true Loss of Medical License Insurance available to individuals and small groups. Because Harvey Watt manages most airlines' plans, they can assist you in identifying the right coverage to supplement your airline's plan. Many buy coverage to supplement the loss of retirement benefits while grounded. Click here to learn more. VSL ACE Guide — Your all-in-one pilot training resource. Includes the most up-to-date Airman Certification Standards (ACS) and Practical Test Standards (PTS) for Private, Instrument, Commercial, ATP, CFI, and CFII. 21.Five listeners get a discount on the guide—click here to learn more. ProPilotWorld.com — The premier information and networking resource for professional pilots. Click here to learn more.   Feedback & Contact Have feedback, suggestions, or a great aviation story to share? Email us at info@21fivepodcast.com. Check out our Instagram feed @21FivePodcast for more great content (and our collection of aviation license plates). The statements made in this show are our own opinions and do not reflect, nor were they under any direction of any of our employers.

Most new officers will blow their first paycheck on too much car, too much apartment, or too much wedding. Don't be most officers. This episode is your 60-minute shortcut to building wealth, freedom, and financial confidence from the moment you commission. Host Joe Brown of Always Ready Financial Planning sits down with Spencer Reese (Military Money Manual) and Rob Shaye (Institute for Leadership / Fireside Finances) to deliver a financial fast-start guide for newly commissioned officers. The conversation covers everything from compound interest to avoiding the biggest wealth killers in military life — and why getting the basics right early beats chasing shortcuts forever Topics Covered Why Personal Finance Can't Wait — The cost of delaying good money habits and why commissioning is the perfect moment to get the vector right The Power of Compound Interest — How $500/month invested over 40 years at 10% can grow to $3 million, and what that means for your 30s and 40s, not just retirement Financial Discipline as Leadership — Why money stress is a distraction from leading your people, and how a clean financial house makes you a more present and effective officer The #1 Wealth Killer: Too Much Car — Why junior officers buy more car than they should, and how delaying that purchase by a few years changes everything The Three Biggest Wealth Destroyers — Expensive cars, oversized apartments, and fast weddings that end in divorce TSP Basics Done Right — Start contributing immediately, bump it to 10–15%, and put it in the Lifecycle Fund (L2070/L2075) — then mostly leave it alone Roth TSP vs. Roth IRA — Why the Roth accounts are the right choice for most junior officers, especially given the tax-free housing and sustenance allowances Combat Zone Tax Exclusion (CZTE) — The "triple tax advantage" of contributing tax-free combat pay into Roth accounts that grow and distribute tax-free Avoiding TSP Get-Rich-Quick Distractions — Day trading the TSP, Robinhood accounts, and newsletter schemes: why consistent singles beat swinging for the fences Business Cards & Business Cards — Why 90% of active fund managers can't beat index funds over 10–20 years, and why you don't need to either Post-9/11 GI Bill Strategy — How to transfer the GI Bill to dependents, why timing matters, and why it can be worth $400,000–$500,000 if handled correctly Military Grad School — Going to graduate school while still getting paid and preserving your GI Bill for your family Living Like the Rank Below You — The "live like an O-2 when you're an O-3" mindset and how each promotion is an investment opportunity Time as Wealth — The concept of being a "time billionaire" and balancing saving with creating memories in your 20s and 30s Resources Mentioned Related Military Money Manual Podcast episodes — Episode 132 (financial guide for new officers) and Episode 2 (deep dive on the TSP); available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon TSP Lifecycle Funds — tsp.gov (L2070 or L2075 recommended for the Class of 2026) Always Ready Financial Planning — alwaysreadyfp.com | joe@alwaysreadyfp.com Fireside Finances (Rob Shaye) — rob@firesidefinances.com | LinkedIn: Robert Shaye Military OneSource — militaryonesource.mil (general military financial resources) Spencer Reese — spencer@militarymoneymanual.com | Instagram: @militarymoneymanual       Spencer and Jamie offer one-on-one Military Money Mentor sessions. Get your personal military money and personal finance questions answered in a confidential coaching call. militarymoneymanual.com/mentor Over 22,000 military servicemembers and military spouses have graduated from the 100% free, Ultimate Military Credit Cards Course available at militarymoneymanual.com/umc3 Military Money Manual may receive compensation from JPMC. Opinions expressed here are author's alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airlines or hotel chain. If you want to maximize your military paycheck, check out Spencer's 5 star rated book The Military Money Manual: A Practical Guide to Financial Freedom on Amazon or at shop.militarymoneymanual.com. If you have a question you would like us to answer on the podcast, please reach out on instagram.com/militarymoneymanual.

Amy King says service members should plan early for transition and retirement. She highlights strategies around the GI Bill, VA loans, and survivor benefits to maximize long-term financial outcomes.======== Schwab Network ========Empowering every investor and trader, every market day.Subscribe to the Market Minute newsletter - https://schwabnetwork.com/subscribeDownload the iOS app - https://apps.apple.com/us/app/schwab-network/id1460719185Download the Amazon Fire Tv App - https://www.amazon.com/TD-Ameritrade-Network/dp/B07KRD76C7Watch on Sling - https://watch.sling.com/1/asset/191928615bd8d47686f94682aefaa007/watchWatch on Vizio - https://www.vizio.com/en/watchfreeplus-exploreWatch on DistroTV - https://www.distro.tv/live/schwab-network/Follow us on X – https://twitter.com/schwabnetworkFollow us on Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/schwabnetworkFollow us on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/schwab-network/About Schwab Network - https://schwabnetwork.com/about

While veteran students pursuing a four-year degree receive 100% of their monthly housing allowance for the duration of their program, veterans entering union apprenticeships face a steep penalty: their housing support is slashed by 20% every six months. In this episode of America's Work Force Union Podcast, we sit down with Joseph Sharpe Jr. (Director of the National Veterans Employment and Education Commission at the American Legion) and Policy Associate Steve Betsch to break down the Reducing Arbitrary Barriers to Apprenticeship Act of 2026 (S.3993). This bipartisan Senate legislation, introduced by Senators Tim Sheehy and Elissa Slotkin, aims to eliminate this arbitrary step-down and bring true parity to veteran benefits. What We Discuss in This Episode: The GI Bill's Modern Flaw: Why the historical assumption that rising apprentice wages offset housing cuts no longer matches today's cost-of-living realities. Personal Stakes: Steve Betsch shares his journey from a Navy submarine to graduating debt-free, illustrating how critical these benefits are to financial survival during transitions. National Security & The Workforce: How bridging this benefit gap can help recruit veterans to fill the nation's 600,000 vacant skilled trades jobs and rebuild critical infrastructure like American shipbuilding. A Call to Action for Labor Leaders: How union locals can throw their weight behind S.3993 to get this legislation across the finish line. Take Action: Union leaders and members are encouraged to contact the offices of Senator Tim Sheehy or Senator Elissa Slotkin to submit a formal letter of support for S.3993. Learn more about the American Legion's advocacy work at legion.org.

On Aug. 26, 2021, Marine Lance Corporal Jared Schmitz, age 20, was among 13 servicemembers killed at the Abbey Gate in Kabul during the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. He had wanted to be a Marine since he was 8.In the weeks after Jared's death, condolence checks from strangers filled more than a foot of mail. His father, Mark, couldn't bring himself to spend a single dollar of it.So he launched a nonprofit instead aimed at honoring the fallen and helping servicemembers with their mental health.On this Memorial Day episode of Tango Alpha Lima, Gold Star father Mark Schmitz joins hosts Adam Marr and Joe Worley to share the story of The Freedom 13, a mission to build therapeutic retreat camps for veterans and law enforcement on 100-plus acres in all 50 states, free of charge, with the first camp already under construction in Missouri. He also discusses the coalition of Abbey Gate families fighting for GI Bill reform and increased death benefits for fallen servicemembers.Also on this episode: Memorial Day events around the nation, the origin story of the Battle Buddy system, and Memorial Day fitness challenges honoring the fallen — including The Murph.SHOW LINKSLearn more about Armed Forces Vacation ClubVisit The Freedom 13 websiteLearn more about the 2026 Angels of Abbey Gate Memorial RideWe Are The Mighty: Battle Buddies originated in the trenches of WWIMemorial Day Challenges: The Murph

It was Saturday, May 14th, 2005. I was sitting in the middle of a packed auditorium on graduation day from Boise State, and I looked left, I looked right, and I saw hundreds of people with huge smiles on their faces. And I was confused. Not for myself - I'd gone to college for one reason and one reason only, to wrestle - but for them. Because I knew what was about to happen the next morning. Most of them were about to walk into entry-level jobs that wouldn't pay enough to cover the monthly payments on their student loans. Loans that, by the way, you can't even discharge in bankruptcy. They follow you forever. And they were smiling about it. This is the episode I've been thinking about for months. The idea that you need a college degree to be successful is not a fact - it was manufactured. It was sold to an entire generation by the same system Edward Bernays used to sell wars and cigarettes, and it's grown into a $1.7 trillion debt machine - more than every credit card in the country combined. And there's a new piece nobody has fully connected yet: AI just made almost every technical skill colleges still charge $200,000 to teach obsolete, while schools across the country are banning students from using the one tool that actually matters in the modern economy. I walk you through the manufactured-consent history, the moment in my own sophomore-year economics class that built my entire business, the seven skills AI just made worthless, and the framework I now use with my own kids. Key Highlights: ◼️The manufactured-consent history of college - how the post-war GI Bill created a massive customer base for universities, how tuition has gone up roughly 1000% since 1980 while wages stayed flat, and how $1.7 trillion in non-dischargeable student debt became the most successful piece of manufactured consent in American history ◼️The single concept I wrote in my notebook during a sophomore-year economics class that built my entire business - and why every other thing I learned in four years of college is worth less today than a $15 book or a YouTube weekend ◼️The seven skills colleges still charge $200,000 to teach that AI now does for free or close to it - programming, accounting, design, writing, legal research, marketing, and finance - and why schools are banning AI for the same reason newspapers banned the internet ◼️The two things real education should actually focus on right now (deep reading and AI literacy), the exact books that taught me more than my degree did, and why I'd rather my kids master those than collect another credential ◼️The framework I give my own kids about college - “stay in school until you're making more money than your teacher” - and the story of why I let three MBAs go in a single year because they couldn't grasp concepts my college-less students mastered in two weeks At the end of the day, this isn't an anti-college episode. There's real value in the social experience, the friendships, the network - I met my wife and most of my closest friends in school, and I wouldn't trade that for anything. But the value is in the people, not the diploma, and you can get that without taking on six figures of debt that follows you to the grave. The propaganda that sold a generation on “you need this degree to succeed” was manufactured. It's maintained by a $1.7 trillion industry that cannot survive if people stop believing it. So the real question for every parent and every young person listening is: are you going to keep paying the tuition the system needs you to pay - or are you going to give yourself the education that actually matters? ◼️If you've got a product, offer, service… or idea… I'll show you how to sell it (the RIGHT way) Register for my next event → https://sellingonline.com/podcast ◼️Still don't have a funnel? ClickFunnels gives you the exact tools (and templates) to launch TODAY → https://clickfunnels.com/podcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, Doug Mitchell of Pray Aviation joins Nic to break down how veterans can make the most of the GI Bill for flight training. He explains why earning a private pilot license is a crucial first step to unlocking these benefits, walks through the costs and structure of VA-approved programs, and underscores the importance of securing a VA Certificate of Eligibility. Doug also shares his own unique journey - from a career in insurance and serving as a flight paramedic in the Guard to leading operations at Pray Aviation's Ozark base and pursuing his passion for flying later in life. To learn more about Pray Aviation, visit www.prayaviation.com, email info@prayaviation.com, or call (850) 983-9363. CONNECT WITH US Are you ready to take your preparation to the next level? Don't wait until it's too late. Use the promo code "R4P2026" and save 10% on all our services. Check us out at www.spitfireelite.com! If you want to recommend someone to guest on the show, email Nik at podcast@spitfireelite.com, and if you need a professional pilot resume, go to www.spitfireelite.com/podcast/ for FREE templates!  SPONSOR Are you a pilot just coming out of the military and looking for the perfect second home for your family? Look no further! Reach out to Marty and his team by visiting www.tridenthomeloans.com to get the best VA loans available anywhere in the US. Be ready for takeoff anytime with 3D-stretch, stain-repellent, and wrinkle-free aviation uniforms by Flight Uniforms. Just go to www.flightuniform.com and type the code SPITFIREPOD20 to get a special 20% discount on your first order.  #Aviation #AviationCareers #aviationcrew #AviationJobs #AviationLeadership #AviationEducation #AviationOpportunities #AviationPodcast #AirlinePilot #AirlineJobs #AirlineInterviewPrep #flying #flyingtips #PilotDevelopment #PilotFinance #pilotcareer #pilottips #pilotcareertips #PilotExperience #pilotcaptain #PilotTraining #PilotSuccess #pilotpodcast #PilotPreparation #Pilotrecruitment #flightschool #aviationschool #pilotcareer #pilotlife #pilot

When GI Bill abuse surfaced years ago, veterans' benefits kept flowing to schools that met higher‑education standards but failed veterans themselves. Now, as accreditation standards are back under review, advocates say lessons from that era still haven't fully been applied. They're pushing to give Title 38, the veterans' benefits law a clearer role in determining which schools qualify for GI Bill dollars. Joining me to explain how those changes could better protect veterans before harm occurs is Vice President for Veterans and Military Policy at Veterans Education Success, Will Hubbard.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Commission to issue recommendations Lisa Maria Nero, the town clerk for Greenburgh in Westchester County and a doctoral student in education at Long Island University, brought a lesson to Calvary Presbyterian Church in Newburgh on April 25. For nearly a year, she has attended public hearings held by the New York State Community Commission on Reparations Remedies, whose nine members are examining the state's history of slavery and its "lingering negative effects" on New York residents. The commission was created in December 2023 by legislation signed into law by Gov. Kathy Hochul. It is tasked with making recommendations to the Legislature on how to proceed. "When we're talking about systemic harms, I'm not sure people realize the extensive list," said Nero. "Chattel slavery, Jim Crow, Black codes, white domestic terrorism, racial massacres, racial property seizures, medical experimentation on Black Americans, sharecropping, convict leasing, Homestead Act exclusions, GI Bill exclusions and FHA [Federal Housing Administration] mortgage exclusions." In a series of meetings and hearings that began in July 2024, the commission has heard presentations from experts on the prevalence of slavery in New York before it was legally abolished in 1827, and the history of discrimination in education, housing, jobs, lending and other areas that came after emancipation. The most recent hearings have looked at gentrification and redlining, and the war on drugs. Churches also discriminated. The Episcopal Diocese of New York acknowledged in a report from February that "countless Episcopal laity and clergy enslaved people and profited richly from the shipping and trade of Africans," and that the church discriminated against Black congregations. One of those congregations, St. Andrew's in Beacon, was "unsupported by the diocese as urban renewal in the 1960s and '70s demolished Black homes and businesses to build Route 9D," according to the report. While the diocese has created a $1.2 million reparations fund, the commission's chair, Seanelle Hawkins, said its members are still "in the learning phase" regarding remedies. "Our work is to educate ourselves and work with a team of researchers, policy analysts and economists to understand what those recommendations are," she said. About two dozen people attended the hearing at Calvary Presbyterian, where they heard presentations by Shango Blake, an educator; Jackie Cody, who runs a Brooklyn nonprofit providing education and counseling services to teens and young adults; and Stephanie James Harris, director of the Africana Studies Program at Seton Hall University. As a child in Jamaica, Queens, Blake said he experienced busing to a majority-white school where "all the Black children in the school were trapped in lower classes, while the students that weren't Black were given the higher, more challenging classes" in math and science. "Reparations acknowledges the harm, names who was harmed and directs resources and policies to repair that harm," he said. Slavery stood as the first harm. In a presentation to the commission in June 2025, Ned Benton, co-director of the Northeast Slavery Records Index, which covers nine states, listed some of its data for New York state: 8,835 records naming people who were enslaved; 43,111 naming enslavers, including 209 elected officials; 1,042 advertisements for fugitives and 559 records of sales. In 2019, Historic Hudson Valley, based in Westchester County, produced an interactive documentary, People Not Property, that acknowledged the earliest Black residents of the Hudson Valley and named their enslavers, including the owners of Van Cortlandt Manor in Croton and Philipsburg Manor in Sleepy Hollow. Africans enslaved by Frederick Philipse (1626-1702), a Dutch merchant, built the manor, whose property covered about a quarter of modern-day Westchester. Philipse and his son would become major slave traders; the family is honored today by the name Philipstown. "Slavery wa...

   In this episode, Master Sergeant (Retired) John Lu joins WarDocs to share his profound journey from a conventional Army medic to a Special Forces 18 Delta and ultimately a doctoral graduate. MSG(R) Lu's narrative is a masterclass in professional evolution, highlighting how he pursued a bachelor's, master's, and doctorate while serving twenty years on active duty. He addresses the perceived barriers to higher education within the enlisted ranks, emphasizing that personal and professional development can—and should—coincide with mission priorities. By framing education as a force multiplier, Lu illustrates how academic credentials provided him with the "seat at the table" necessary to influence military medicine policy and advocate for the welfare of forward-deployed service members.    A central theme of the discussion is MSG(R) Lu's "dot connector" philosophy. He explains that by pursuing a broad range of certifications and education, service members can bridge the gap between tactical execution and strategic organizational leadership. This multifaceted approach allowed him to transition effectively into civilian life, where he now works to solve a critical issue: the loss of military medical training recognition when veterans enter academia. He details his current mission to streamline the transfer of military experience into civilian college credits, ensuring that the rich knowledge, skills, and abilities of medics and corpsmen are not wasted on redundant coursework.    The conversation also delves into the foundational values of humility and lifelong learning. MSG(R) Lu recounts how intentionally placing himself in "receive mode"—whether as a volunteer firefighter or a doctoral student—fostered the growth necessary to lead others. He encourages listeners to align their personal values with their professional work and challenges enlisted service members to maximize their military benefits to unlock their full potential. This episode serves as both an inspiration and a practical guide for any healthcare professional looking to translate military excellence into civilian success, reminding us all that for those willing to learn, the best is yet to come.   Chapters (00:00-01:05) Introduction and Career Trajectory (01:05-04:30) Pursuing Academia While on Active Duty (04:30-08:45) The Strategic Value of Credentials (08:45-13:12) Leadership Through the Dot Connector Philosophy (13:12-20:51) Empowering the Enlisted Voice in Medicine (20:51-26:57) Revolutionizing Military-to-Civilian Credit Transfers (26:57-27:35) Conclusion and Closing Remarks   Chapter Summaries (00:00-01:05) Introduction and Career Trajectory The episode opens with an introduction to the guest's twenty-year Army career, highlighting his transition from a conventional 68 Whiskey to an elite 18 Delta medic. This segment sets the stage for a discussion on how military experience serves as a foundation for higher academic pursuits and leadership roles. (01:05-04:30) Pursuing Academia While on Active Duty This section explores the logistical and cultural challenges of completing a doctorate while serving in Special Forces. The guest highlights the importance of demonstrating the return on investment of education to command leadership to gain support for professional and personal development. (04:30-08:45) The Strategic Value of Credentials The conversation shifts to the necessity of academic titles in achieving policy changes and gaining influence at decision-making tables. A powerful example is shared regarding how a doctoral title changed the receptiveness of leadership to advocacy for behavioral health solutions for forward-deployed troops. (08:45-13:12) Leadership Through the Dot Connector Philosophy The guest discusses his approach to leadership as a "dot connector," utilizing diverse certifications to bridge gaps between different healthcare domains. He emphasizes that humility and a willingness to be a "private" again in new fields are essential components of lifelong learning. (13:12-20:51) Empowering the Enlisted Voice in Medicine This chapter focuses on a direct pitch to enlisted medics, encouraging them to view education as a way to amplify their lived experiences. The discussion centers on the strategic need for enlisted personnel to engage in the military decision-making process at the highest levels of the joint force. (20:51-26:57) Revolutionizing Military-to-Civilian Credit Transfers The final segment addresses the systemic failure in translating military medical training into college credits. The guest outlines his mission to create a streamlined, innovative pipeline that prevents veterans from having to repeat redundant medical coursework in civilian institutions. (26:57-27:35) Conclusion and Closing Remarks The episode concludes with final thoughts on the value of the military medical community and how listeners can support the organization. Information is provided on where to find more details about the guest and the mission of the podcast.     Take Home Messages   The Seat at the Table: Higher education serves as the primary mechanism for enlisted service members to gain credibility and a voice at strategic decision-making tables. Without these academic credentials, the invaluable tactical perspective of the medic is often excluded from the policies that shape the future of military healthcare.   Education as a Force Multiplier: Pursuing a degree while on active duty should not be seen as a distraction from the mission, but rather as a way to enhance it. When service members apply academic theory to real-world military challenges, such as behavioral health advocacy, they provide a tangible return on investment to their organization.   The Humility of Lifelong Learning: True professional growth requires the humility to step into unfamiliar roles where one is a beginner rather than an expert. By intentionally seeking environments that require "receive mode," leaders can stay agile and continue to develop the skills necessary to lead the next generation effectively.   Bridging the Translation Gap: There is a critical need to translate military medical training into the specific language used by civilian academic and accrediting bodies. Streamlining this process prevents the waste of veteran resources, such as the GI Bill, on redundant training that has already been mastered through service.   Aligning Values with Professional Pursuit: Personal professional development is most effective when it is aligned with an individual's core values and a desire to serve others. Finding activities that "fill your cup," such as one-on-one coaching or peer mentorship, ensures long-term sustainability throughout a complex career transition.   Episode Keywords Military Medicine, Special Operations Medic, 18 Delta, Veteran Career Transition, GI Bill, Army Medic, Enlisted Leadership, Master Sergeant John Lu, Higher Education for Soldiers, Clinical Behavioral Health, WarDocs Podcast, Combat Medic, Healthcare Leadership, ACHE Fellow, Professional Development, Military to Civilian Pipeline, Notre Dame Veterans, Special Forces, Medics in Academia, Military Medical Training Credit, Physician Assistant, Nursing, Public Health, Army Nurse Corps. Hashtags #MilitaryMedicine, #VeteranEducation, #18Delta, #SpecialForces, #Medics, #CareerTransition, #Leadership, #WarDocs   Honoring the Legacy and Preserving the History of Military Medicine The WarDocs Mission is to honor the legacy, preserve the oral history, and showcase career opportunities, unique expeditionary experiences, and achievements of Military Medicine. We foster patriotism and pride in Who we are, What we do, and, most importantly, How we serve Our Patients, the DoD, and Our Nation.   Find out more and join Team WarDocs at https://www.wardocspodcast.com/ Check our list of previous guest episodes at https://www.wardocspodcast.com/our-guests Listen to the “What We Are For” Episode 47. https://bit.ly/3r87Afm   WarDocs- The Military Medicine Podcast is a Non-Profit, Tax-exempt-501(c)(3) veteran-run organization supported by volunteers. All donations are tax-deductible and go to honoring and preserving the history, experiences, successes, and lessons learned in Military Medicine. A tax receipt will be sent to you. Make a Tax-Deductible Donation to Support WarDocs https://www.wardocspodcast.com/donate   WARDOCS documents the experiences, contributions, and innovations of all military medicine Services, ranks, and Corps who are affectionately called "Docs" as a sign of respect, trust, and confidence on and off the battlefield, demonstrating dedication to the medical care of fellow comrades in arms.   Follow Us on Social Media Twitter: @wardocspodcast Facebook: WarDocs Podcast Instagram: @wardocspodcast LinkedIn: WarDocs-The Military Medicine Podcast   WarDocs on YouTube https://youtube.com/@wardocspodcast   We Are WarDocs: https://youtu.be/IOC3sCNF9RI?si=NGNwguReefbVMgPW          

“White men are 29 percent of the population but hold 90 percent of Fortune 500 CEO positions, 90 percent of venture capital, and 98 percent of all money managed by money managers. Is that because they're smarter? Or is it because there is preference, inequality, and active bias in favor of white men?” — Steve Phillips Are white men really smarter than other Americans? Some white men might think so, but few others are convinced. Especially the Stanford educated Steve Phillips whose new book, Are White Men Smarter Than Everybody Else? is designed to “play offense” in the fight for American racial justice. The title of Phillips's new book is, of course, a provocation. White men are 29 percent of the population, he tells us, but hold 90 percent of Fortune 500 CEO positions, 90 percent of venture capital, and 98 percent of all investment funds managed by money managers. Is that really because they're smarter than everybody else? Or is it because the system is biased in favor of white dudes who graduated from Harvard, Princeton and Stanford. After the murder of George Floyd in 2020, Phillips argues, there was, albeit all-too-briefly, broad agreement that systemic racism existed and needed to be addressed. Then came the 2024 election and the MAGA war against DEI. It's time to fight back, Phillips says. Rather than defending affirmative action, Phillips says that the question is why, in the richest country in the world, white men hold 90 percent of the power when they are only 29 percent of the population. Until that mathematical inconsistency is explained, there's no point in pretending that the arc of American history bends toward justice. Five Takeaways •       29 Percent of the Population, 90 Percent of the Power: The book's central data point. White men are 29 percent of the US population. They hold 90 percent of Fortune 500 CEO positions. They receive 90 percent of venture capital funding. They manage 98 percent of all investment money in the country. Phillips's argument: you don't need to allege conscious racism to explain this. You just need to acknowledge that a system shaped by centuries of exclusion doesn't self-correct. The question the title asks is the question nobody wants to answer: if the system is meritocratic, why do these numbers look like this? Either white men are smarter than everybody else, or the system is not meritocratic. •       Playing Offense: The book began as a study of what happened to the post-George Floyd consensus. The broad agreement that systemic racism existed — widespread in June 2020 — dissolved within months. By 2024, the political momentum had reversed entirely. Phillips's diagnosis: the left spent the intervening years playing defense — defending DEI, defending affirmative action, defending the language of equity. The result was a retreat. His prescription: stop defending programmes and start prosecuting the inequality. Make the other side explain the numbers. Reframe the question from “should we have DEI?” to “why do white men hold 90 percent of the power?” •       The Biker Gang Analogy: To the objection — common from white Americans — that they personally didn't create the racial wealth gap: Phillips offers the biker gang. A gang comes into someone's house, takes all the resources, occupies the house, and passes it on to their children. The children can say: I didn't do anything. But they inherited a structurally unequal situation. The GI Bill after World War II gave billions of dollars in wealth-building to white Americans while largely excluding people of color. The average white family has more than ten times the assets of the average black family. “I didn't do it” is not the same as “I don't benefit from it.” •       The Confederates Never Stopped Fighting: Phillips's underlying argument: the division in American politics is not left vs. right. It is an existential question that has never been resolved — is this a white country, or is this a multiracial democracy? The Confederates and their ideological heirs never conceded the answer. White fear and resentment at equality is the single most consistent driving force in Republican politics since 1965, the year Lyndon Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act and no Democratic presidential candidate has won the majority of the white vote since. •       America Can't Pass a Bill to Study Reparations: The wealth of the United States was created by the labour of enslaved black people and on land taken from Native Americans. Banks and insurance companies trace their original capital to the bodies and labour of enslaved people. The racial wealth gap is the direct structural consequence of that history. Congress has repeatedly failed to pass a bill not to pay reparations, but merely to study the question. Not a single vote to begin the conversation. Until America can have that conversation, it hasn't begun to confront what is owed. About the Guest Steve Phillips is the founder of Democracy in Color and the author of Are White Men Smarter Than Everybody Else?, How We Won the Civil War, and Brown Is the New White. He is a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress and a former San Francisco school board president. References: •       Are White Men Smarter Than Everybody Else? Playing Offense in the Fight for Racial Justice in America by Steve Phillips. •       Democracy in Color — Phillips's organisation focused on race and politics. •       Episode 2883: Melvin Patrick Ely on A Terrible Intimacy — the companion episode on interracial life in the slaveholding South that immediately precedes this one. About Keen On America Nobody asks more awkward questions than the Anglo-American writer and filmmaker Andrew Keen. In Keen On America, Andrew brings his pointed Transatlantic wit to making sense of the United States — hosting daily interviews about the history and future of this now venerable Republic. With nearly 2,900 episodes since the show launched on TechCrunch in 2010, Keen On America is the most prolific intellectual interview show in the history of podcasting. WebsiteSubstackYouTubeApple PodcastsSpotify Chapters: (00:30) - Introduction: from slavery to the present — has anything changed? (01:11) - The short answer: no. And what it took to end slavery. (02:03) - Why the racial wealth gap persists (03:26) - The Confederates never stopped f...

What happened when America wrote policy to solve problems instead of perform ideology?In this Throwback Thursday, Chad Law looks back at three major examples of government policy that didn't just sound good — they actually worked:How California tackled a literal smog crisis through compromise, engineering, and real-world resultsWhy Medicare originally worked because it respected limits and realityHow the GI Bill helped build the American middle class and returned dividends for generationsAnd the bigger question:What changed?When did politics stop being problem-solving and become moral theater?This episode is about:compromise vs dogmapolicy written by people forced to live under itwhy old programs often solved conditions while modern systems often manage themand whether America can remember how to build things again.They fought. They compromised. It worked.

In this Contacts Coaching Podcast episode, host interviews Nate “Blackjack” Pototschnik, associate director of strength and conditioning for BYU football, about his path from the U.S. Military Academy to flying helicopters for 10 years, deploying twice to Afghanistan, and using GI Bill benefits to earn a master's in exercise physiology at the University of Virginia. Nathan shares why he left the cockpit for coaching, how success habits built his confidence, and how trusting his gut and prioritizing family guided career decisions when coaching opportunities shifted. He explains what transferred from aviation to coaching (explicit vs tacit learning, staying calm under pressure), discusses not tying self-worth to wins and losses, and outlines strength-and-conditioning priorities: movement quality screening, full-range training preferences, power clean vs full clean, building culture through standards, objective feedback and competition, staff alignment, and maintaining daily relationship touchpoints with athletes.00:00 Meet Coach Blackjack00:40 From 9/11 to Coaching03:27 Betting on Yourself05:22 Confidence and Gut Calls10:04 GI Bill Explained11:59 Combat Pilot Lessons16:51 Staying Detached from Outcomes18:50 Weight Room Priorities24:08 Movement Screening Basics26:52 Full Depth vs Quarter Squats29:33 Power Clean vs Full Clean31:03 Be Ready Before Promotion33:20 Head Coach Time Demands35:48 Hiring and Coaching Trees38:58 Healthy Dissent Culture43:07 BYU Grouping and Mods44:25 Testing Buckets and Profiles47:08 Freak Athletes and Standards49:10 Environment and Competition52:33 Leadership Lessons and Alignment55:10 Building Relationships at Scale56:40 Strength Coaches as Conduit57:58 Wrap Up and Next Round

Gina (perinatal fitness trainer and doula) and Roxanne (certified nurse midwife) break down what labor & delivery nurses do versus midwives, OBs, and some family medicine providers, including who typically handles low- vs high-risk care and which interventions midwives can't do. They explain why some people choose midwives versus OBs, and note midwives can provide full-spectrum women's health care. Roxanne outlines three midwife paths—CPM (apprenticeship plus education/exam; licensing varies by state), CM (non-nurse bachelor's plus grad midwifery; limited states), and CNM (nursing degree to grad midwifery, boards, state licensure, collaboration requirements). They discuss clinical hour/birth requirements, costs, licensing logistics, and how Roxanne used ROTC and the GI Bill to pay for school, then end with a top tip: attend births (even on YouTube) to see if the calling is real.00:00 Welcome and Episode Setup01:17 Feeling Called to Midwifery02:40 Nurse vs Midwife vs OB07:15 Choosing Midwife or OB13:06 Midwives Beyond Birth Care14:54 Three Midwife Types Overview15:47 CPM Path and Licensure17:57 Unlicensed CPM Tradeoffs22:13 Certified Midwife Route24:19 CNM Training and Nursing Paths29:06 Midwifery School Format and Clinicals33:16 Clinical Skills and Birth Requirements39:02 Clinical Volume Matters40:04 Choosing the Right Provider41:40 Certification Exam Reality45:20 State Licensure and Reciprocity48:46 Midwife Training Pathway50:48 Costs and Barriers52:52 Military Funding Options58:49 Paying for Grad School01:03:53 Labor and Delivery Nursing Route01:06:08 Best Tip Attend Births01:09:23 Wrap Up and Resources————Get Your Copy of Training for Two on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3VOTdwH

Most military families are leaving thousands of dollars on the table because no one clearly explains the benefits available to spouses. In this solo episode, David Pere breaks down how to use MyCAA, GI Bill transfers, and federal hiring preferences to build a six-figure, portable career while moving every few years. Whether listeners want to jump into real estate, remote work, or federal jobs, this guide will help turn a spouse's service into long-term family wealth.   Timestamps (00:00) - Intro (00:27) - The hidden advantage of military spouse benefits (01:00) - Overcoming the challenges of a portable career (02:53) - Utilizing the MyCAA $4,000 scholarship program (04:40) - Rules for transferring the GI Bill to your family (05:56) - How to use federal hiring preference on USAJobs (08:24) - Stacking benefits to build generational wealth (09:35) - Free resources and final thoughts   About the Show On the Military Millionaire Podcast, I share real conversations with service members, veterans, and their families. Each week, we explore how to build wealth through personal finance, entrepreneurship, and real estate investing. Resources & Links Download a free copy of my book: https://www.frommilitarytomillionaire.com/free-book Sign up for free webinar trainings: https://www.frommilitarytomillionaire.com/register Get an intro to recommended VA agents/lenders: https://www.frommilitarytomillionaire.com/va-realtor Apply for The War Room Mastermind: https://www.frommilitarytomillionaire.com/mastermind-application Join our investor list: https://www.frommilitarytomillionaire.com/investors Guide to raising capital: https://www.frommilitarytomillionaire.com/capital-raising-guide   Connect with David Pere Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/militarymillionaire YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@Frommilitarytomillionaire?sub_confirmation=1 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/frommilitarytomillionaire/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-pere/ X (Twitter): https://x.com/militaryrei TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@militarymillionaire

Arizona celebrated V-E and V-J Day along with the rest of the country. But as the veterans started coming home, it was an Arizona senator who helped lead the charge to make sure there was a place for them.

You might be wasting over $100,000 in education benefits without even realizing it by defaulting to the GI Bill. In this episode, I break down why the Veteran Readiness and Employment (VR&E) program is often your "ace in the hole" for funding your education, certifications, or even business equipment while preserving your GI Bill for the future. If you have a disability rating of 10% or higher, you need to hear how to use these tools tactically to maximize your long-term wealth and career.   Timestamps (00:00) - Intro (00:41) - Why the GI Bill is a default trap (02:00) - Breakdown of the Post-9/11 GI Bill (02:38) - VR&E Chapter 31 eligibility and perks (03:14) - Comparing VR&E vs. GI Bill benefits (03:52) - Tactical strategy: When to use VR&E first (04:24) - Using benefits for advanced degrees and certs (05:05) - The truth about VA disability and ownership (05:58) - Action steps: Talking to a VR&E counselor (06:50) - Call to action   About the Show On the Military Millionaire Podcast, I share real conversations with service members, veterans, and their families. Each week, we explore how to build wealth through personal finance, entrepreneurship, and real estate investing.   Resources & Links Download a free copy of my book: https://www.frommilitarytomillionaire.com/free-book Sign up for free webinar trainings: https://www.frommilitarytomillionaire.com/register Join our investor list: https://www.frommilitarytomillionaire.com/investors Apply for The War Room Mastermind: https://www.frommilitarytomillionaire.com/mastermind-application Get an intro to recommended VA agents/lenders: https://www.frommilitarytomillionaire.com/va-realtor Guide to raising capital: https://www.frommilitarytomillionaire.com/capital-raising-guide   Connect with David Pere Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/militarymillionaire YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@Frommilitarytomillionaire?sub_confirmation=1 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/frommilitarytomillionaire/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-pere/ X (Twitter): https://x.com/militaryrei TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@militarymillionaire

Episode 453 of Friends Talking Nerdy brings together The Reverend Tracy and Tim The Nerd for a deep, thought-provoking, and surprisingly personal educational discussion on the past, present, and future of multi-generational living. It's an exploration of how we got from tight-knit family units to the often-isolated nuclear households many experience today.At the heart of the episode is a compelling argument: the nuclear family isn't the timeless norm we've been led to believe—it's a relatively recent social experiment. The Reverend Tracy and Tim The Nerd trace the historical prevalence of multi-generational households, showing how living with extended family was once the default setting for human society. They break down how major policy decisions like the GI Bill of 1944, combined with suburban expansion and cultural messaging from mid-20th century television, reshaped the American Dream into something far more individualistic—and, as they argue, far more isolating.The conversation dives into the economic forces that continue to shape where and how we live, from skyrocketing housing costs to shifting job markets and the growing pressures around elder care and childcare. But this isn't just about economics—it's about human connection. The Reverend Tracy and Tim The Nerd explore the profound mental and physical health benefits of living in closer proximity to family. Drawing from research and cultural examples, they discuss how social isolation has become a public health crisis, with effects comparable to smoking 15 cigarettes a day. They emphasize that as a social species, humans are wired for connection, and the erosion of extended family networks has contributed to rising loneliness, depression, and challenges in elder care.The episode also tackles the myths that keep people from embracing multi-generational living. From the stigma of “failure to launch” to the cultural obsession with independence, The Reverend Tracy and Tim The Nerd challenge listeners to reconsider what success and adulthood really look like. They argue that these narratives are outdated—and in many cases, harmful—especially when compared to cultures around the world where extended family living is not only normal but essential for longevity and well-being.Listeners will also hear insights into how stronger family support systems can reduce vulnerability among older adults, including protection against scams and cognitive decline, while also providing emotional and developmental benefits for younger generations. The discussion highlights how shared living arrangements can ease financial burdens, strengthen community resilience, and create a more sustainable model for caregiving in an aging society.Episode 453 is equal parts history lesson, cultural critique, and heartfelt conversation. Whether you're already living in a multi-generational home, considering it, or just curious about why things are the way they are, this episode offers valuable insights into how reconnecting with family—literally and figuratively—might be one of the most important shifts society can make moving forward.As always, we wish to thank Christopher Lazarek for his wonderful theme song. Head to his ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠website⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for information on how to purchase his EP, Here's To You, which is available on all digital platforms.Head to Friends Talking Nerdy's⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ website⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠for more information on where to find us online.

Some stories start as a plan. Others start as a punch to the chest. My guest's journey is both: she went from joining the military to earn the GI Bill, to teaching, to becoming a principal, and eventually building an alternate school in rural Texas for students who are behind on credits but still deserve a real path to a diploma. We talk about what's changed for kids over the last decade, why anxiety feels so much more common after COVID, and how flexible education can still hold high standards when it's built around real life circumstances. Then we go somewhere more personal. She explains the emotional origin of her first book, sparked by multiple losses to suicide and the insights found inside a young girl's diary. We sit with the hard question many parents and mentors carry: how can someone who seems “okay” be fighting a constant internal war? Her answer isn't a slogan, it's a story-driven attempt at understanding, written to help families feel less confused and more connected. We also shift into pure craft and curiosity: how a trip to Salem lit the match for her historical fiction witch series, why accurate history can act like an outline, and how research into herbal remedies and early medicine adds texture without turning the books into lectures. If you love creativity, discipline, storytelling, and the strange ways grief can become purpose, you'll take a lot from this conversation. Subscribe, share this with a friend who loves books, and leave a review with the most meaningful story detail that stayed with you.Support the showElsa's AMAZON STORE Elsa's FAITH & FREEDOM MERCH STOREElsa's BOOKSElsa Kurt: You may know her for her uncanny, viral Kamala Harris impressions & conservative comedy skits, but she's also a lifelong Patriot & longtime Police Wife. She has channeled her fierce love and passion for God, family, country, and those who serve as the creator, Executive Producer & Host of the Elsa Kurt Show with Clay Novak. Her show discusses today's topics & news from a middle class/blue collar family & conservative perspective. The vocal LEOW's career began as a multi-genre author who has penned over 25 books, including twelve contemporary women's novels. Clay Novak: Clay Novak was commissioned in 1995 as a Second Lieutenant of Infantry and served as an officer for twenty four years in Mechanized Infantry, Airborne Infantry, and Cavalry units .  He retired as a Lieutenant Colonel in 2019. Clay is a graduate of the U.S. Army Ranger School and is a Master Rated Parachutist, serving for more tha...

Today on the America's Work Force Union Podcast, we tackle two critical issues facing the American workforce: the "benefit cliff" for veterans entering apprenticeships and the rising tide of AI-driven scams targeting Social Security recipients. Segment 1: Jeff Stoffer (American Legion) Jeff Stoffer, Director of the American Legion's Media and Communications Division, joins the show to discuss the April edition of The American Legion Magazine. We dive into the policy gaps in the GI Bill that make it harder for veterans to pursue union apprenticeships compared to traditional college degrees. We also explore the human side of reintegration and why the skilled trades offer a sense of mission that many veterans crave. Segment 2: Rich Fiesta (Alliance for Retired Americans) Alliance for Retired Americans Executive Director Rich Fiesta discusses the dual threat of Social Security data security and sophisticated online fraud. From potential data mishandling at the SSA to AI-generated voice scams on social media, Fiesta breaks down how the Alliance is fighting for better accountability and providing retirees with the tools to "Stop the Scam." What we discuss in this episode: The decline in GI Bill housing support for apprenticeship participants Why the skilled trades are a natural fit for military veterans The legal battle for Social Security data transparency How AI is making senior scams harder to detect The American Legion's and the Alliance's 2026 legislative priorities

Join us for a discussion on legislative priorities, legal battles, and ongoing efforts to protect veterans' benefits. In this episode, Rob and Brittany are joined by Ryan Gallucci, VFW General Counsel John Muckelbauer, and National Legislative Committee Chairman Jason Johns as the conversation dives deep into the impact of the VFW Washington Conference and the power of grassroots advocacy. The group reflects on the energy and outcomes of the conference, including direct engagement with lawmakers and efforts to push forward key legislation like the Major Richard Star Act. They also break down ongoing legal fights, including the VFW's lawsuit against the Department of Veterans Affairs over GI Bill benefits following the Rudisill Supreme Court decision, highlighting concerns that veterans who serve longer may be unfairly denied benefits they earned. The episode also tackles the growing threat of "claim sharks" — predatory companies exploiting veterans navigating the VA claims process. With insight from legal experts, the panel explains the risks, potential fraud implications, and why accredited representatives remain the safest and most effective path for veterans seeking benefits. Additional topics include delays in Camp Lejeune Justice Act claims, concerns about VA policy changes and fraud detection tools, and the importance of maintaining trust in the system while protecting veterans from exploitation. The episode closes with reflections on overseas missions to account for missing service members and a reminder of the enduring commitment to those who serve. Hosts: Rob Couture – Director, VFW Public Affairs & Strategic Outreach Brittany Dymond Murray – Associate Director, VFW Public Affairs & Strategic Outreach Featured Guests: Ryan Gallucci – Executive Director, VFW Washington Office Jason Johns – Chairman, VFW National Legislative Committee John Muckelbauer – General Counsel, VFW National Headquarters Episode Highlights: 0:00 Intro and St. Patrick's Day Roll Call 4:37 Washington Conference and legislative advocacy (Wash Con discussion begins) 9:16 Major Richard Star Act is blocked in unanimous consent vote 17:37 Camp Lejeune Justice Act delays and legislative fixes 24:00 What surprised Jason Johns about the Washington Conference 27:13 GI Bill lawsuit and Rudisill decision explained 46:57 Claim sharks and risks to veterans 1:11:19 VA fraud detection tools and DBQ concerns 1:23:33 Overseas missions and POW/MIA recovery efforts 1:28:11 Good of the Order Links Mentioned in Episode: https://votervoice.net/VFW/register https://www.congress.gov/members/find-your-member https://www.benefits.va.gov/gibill/rudisill.asp  https://www.vfw.org

Keith sits down with the youngest guest in show history—a 19-year-old college sophomore and student-athlete who's already deeply immersed in real estate and economics, Hunter Taddy. You'll hear a candid Gen Z perspective on money, debt, and the shifting social landscape, along with what's really being taught in today's real estate and econ classrooms.  They explore how young people are navigating college costs, work, and early investing decisions, and how hands-on property management education is shaping one student's path.  If you're curious about where the next generation of investors is headed—and what that might mean for your own strategy—this conversation offers a rare, on-the-ground look without the usual clichés. Episode Page: GetRichEducation.com/597 For access to properties or free help with a GRE Investment Coach, start here: GREmarketplace.com GRE Free Investment Coaching: GREinvestmentcoach.com Get mortgage loans for investment property: RidgeLendingGroup.com or call 855-74-RIDGE  or e-mail: info@RidgeLendingGroup.com Invest with Freedom Family Investments.  For predictable 10-12% quarterly returns, visit FreedomFamilyInvestments.com/GRE or text  1-937-795-8989 to speak with a freedom coach Will you please leave a review for the show? I'd be grateful. Search "how to leave an Apple Podcasts review"  For advertising inquiries, visit: GetRichEducation.com/ad Best Financial Education: GetRichEducation.com Get our wealth-building newsletter free— GREletter.com  Our YouTube Channel: www.youtube.com/c/GetRichEducation Follow us on Instagram: @getricheducation Complete episode transcript:   Keith Weinhold  0:01   Keith, welcome to GRE. I'm your host. Keith Weinhold talking with a 19 year old guest that I befriended last year. He's a college sophomore with a real estate investing related major. What does he think about generation Z's future is in person, social life, dead. And what do you really learn about real estate and economics in college today on get rich education.   Corey Coates  0:27   Since 2014 the powerful get rich education podcast has created more passive income for people than nearly any other show in the world. This show teaches you how to earn strong returns from passive real estate investing in the best markets without losing your time being a flipper or landlord. Show Host Keith Weinhold writes for both Forbes and Rich Dad advisors and delivers a new show every week since 2014 there's been millions of listener downloads of 188 world nations. He has a list show guests include top selling personal finance author Robert Kiyosaki. Get rich education can be heard on every podcast platform, plus it has its own dedicated Apple and Android. Listener phone apps build wealth on the go with the get rich education podcast, sign up now for the get rich education podcast, or visit get rich education.com   Keith Weinhold  1:11   the same place where I get my own mortgage loans is where you can get yours. Ridge lending group and MLS, 42056, they provided our listeners with more loans than anyone because they specialize in income properties. They help you build a long term plan for growing your real estate empire with leverage. Start your prequel and even chat with President chailey Ridge personally, while it's on your mind, start at Ridge lending group.com that's Ridge lending group.com   Speaker 1  1:44   You're listening to the show that has created more financial freedom than nearly any show in the world. This is get rich education.   Keith Weinhold  2:00   Welcome to GRE from Concord, New Hampshire to Concord, California and across 188 nations worldwide, you're listening to one of America's longest running and most listened to shows on real estate investing. I'm your host, Keith Weinhold, and this is get rich education. Increasingly, you know, people ask why even go to college? Is the value of higher education even worth it to drag yourself to an 8am American Lit class while living off of dining hall Breakfast Biscuits and chicken strips for $100,000 a year, it's been estimated that one in seven men are meats, n, e, e, t, that means not in education, employed or training. Why put on a suit and tie and show up at a job when you have a reasonable facsimile of life online and you have discord and Reddit and trade stocks on Robinhood and crypto on Coinbase. Now I don't think that's going to be good for you, and I still think that there are a lot of positives about attending college. At least 15 to 20 colleges close each year in the United States. And despite this, you know, most people that I talk to, they still seem to be mostly positive about college, or they have this expectation that their kids go to college. So anecdotally, this hasn't changed. I probably wouldn't even be as aware of this shift if I didn't read media like I do, if I just talked to people informally, I really wouldn't know. One thing that has not changed also is the notion of the broke college student. I used to be one of those. Now America is just a couple years removed from that wave of elevated inflation and war in Iran has positioned to stoke a second wave of inflation. Today's guest told me that he does pay credit card finance charges, even though he makes more than the minimum payment, just kind of like I did as a college student. The default state of teenage society today is different. It used to be boredom, and now that's been replaced with anxiety. That part has certainly changed, and often it tends to be teen anxiety over such nonsense things. I mean, I have a teenage niece. One example is the burden of maintaining your Snapchat streak? Oh my gosh, if you're a Gen Z or you know what I'm talking about, basically a snap streak where you've got to send a friend a photo or video every single day to keep your streak going, two people have to send it to each other, and people with long streaks, they even like send each other a photo of the floor, just. To keep the streak going. I mean, talk about anxiety over the wrong things.    Keith Weinhold  5:04   Well, today's team guest Hunter, he has a somewhat better grip on life. I haven't met his parents yet, but they've done an amazing job. In fact, Hunter's dad owns rental property, which kind of helps to fuel some of his interests and desire. But in order to cope with inflation and expenses, buy now pay later programs have really taken off. They're widely known, but less widely known. Our rent now pay later plans. They're booming. Platforms like livable, flex and affirm. They're used by lower income and lower credit score tenants that often live paycheck to paycheck. And how it works is that these tenants are extended money at the beginning of the month to pay the rent. They often pay a flat subscription fee plus 1% of the rent. And you know, hey, that could be better than the tenant paying late fees to the landlord. I learned from one tenant that had trouble paying his $1,850 in rent that flex charged him a $15 monthly subscription plus 1% of the total rent for providing the service. So his total fees for the app were around $33 a month rent. Now pay later. You're probably only going to hear more about it, but if you're a landlord, you probably do not know that your tenant is using a rent now, pay later plan, because you just received the full payment on time, and then your tenant pays back the service later. Remember, it is called rent. Now, pay later. Oh, before we bring in our guest, can I ask you for some quick help? Maybe you wanted to tell me what you think about the show. You could have been listening for years, but you don't think that you can reach me. If this show has helped you become a better investor, the best way to support the podcast is to leave a quick rating or review. It helps more investors discover the show. Just tap the five stars in your podcast app. It can take as little as 10 seconds, and I will read it myself. Thanks in advance for leaving a rating and review. Let's meet this week's guest.   Keith Weinhold  7:22   This week's guest is the youngest we've ever had in show history. He's a teenager, so he's about a generation younger than me, and it's his first time on a podcast. He is a sophomore student athlete at the University of Alaska Anchorage, where he competes in the 800 meters for the track and field team. He runs about a 155 his major is management, with a specialization in real estate and property management, and he's just into so many things beyond athletics and academics, he serves as an ambassador for the Widener property management and real estate program. He's also an officer of the real estate management and investment club from Wisconsin. He's 19 years old, a straight A student. He's also an RA that's a Resident Assistant there helping out students at the dorms. Welcome to GRE Hunter, toddy.    Hunter Taddy  8:18   Yeah, I'm happy to be here. Thanks for having me.   Keith Weinhold  8:20   Taddy is spelled T, A, D, D, Y. I met Hunter almost six months ago. A property manager introduced us just thinking that we might have some things in common, and she sure was right. We've gotten together a few times, including going running at one time where, well, I had more than a little trouble keeping up with an active college athlete. The last time we sat down for coffee, just last week, I looked at my watch. We were done, and we sat almost two and a half hours like how many teenagers could really hold my attention for that long? But he just understands the world and politics surprisingly well. For a 19 year old. He's confident and well thought out. He's read War and Peace. He even got some of his own cooking and avoids seed oils. And you know, Hunter being born in 2006 when GRE debuted in 2014 you were eight years old. So before we talk about you, let's talk about your generation, generation Z What do you think some of the markers of your generation are?   Keith Weinhold  9:28   Yeah, so it's as I've shared with you in the past. It's interesting, because especially at UA, I'm mostly surrounded by like, athletes. So athletes tend to be a lot more social, just like how they grown up, they're always around people that tend to be a lot more driven. But then when I talk to, like, non athletes, it's a little bit different. Like, my generation is definitely they're on their phone a lot. I mean, I've told you before, like, I avoid social media. Well, I wouldn't say like the flag, but I avoid it a lot, because I know, hey, how addicting it is. And B, just like, you know, the.The word of my generation is slop or brain rot, and which is most of the stuff on the internet, but Yeah, seems to be like, there's a lot of anxiety in my generation, a lot of, like, lack of accountability, which I've noticed a lot lot of, like, lack of responsibility. And it's almost like self indulgent in a way, where it's like, oh I'm so lazy, or Oh, I'm so this, or I'm so that, and it's just kind of weird. You don't really get that much with like the athletes. Back to the social aspect. I don't know if you've seen that headline recently, that's like, the alcohol industry has lost eight, $30 million over the past four years because he doesn't drink. The real story isn't about Gen Z not wanting to drink alcohol. It's about Gen Z, not like really being social, right? I mean, I don't see that many like, Hangouts as much as, like, when I hear from, like my parents, you know, every night you're going somewhere with your friends or your you know, you're going to the bar, you're going to a bonfire, or things like that. And it's just, you don't see it as much. A lot of people are just in their rooms or online and, you know, the online gaming, online gaming, I don't game a lot, but gaming with friends is actually really fun to do sometimes. But everything's a lot more digital, you know, from the communication to like the spaces, you know, where you hang out, whether it's video games or whether it's VR chat, and some people do that, or discord, or just like internet forums and things like that. Yeah, just lot more digital.    Keith Weinhold  11:24   Yeah, you use little or no social media. Personally, I know you manage the Instagram page for your real estate organization, but yeah, there is more of this perception of in person, social life, maybe not dead, but dying. I've learned that 51% of 18 to 24 year old men have never asked out a woman in person you were sharing with me at how you know people have anxiety just about ordering food in person at a restaurant in Gen Z.    Hunter Taddy  11:54   That's actually funny. So because of how that conversation escalated, I technically did ask her out in Snapchat, but then she was like, you have to ask me out in person. And then I did eventually ask her out in person.    Keith Weinhold  12:06   Now, when it comes to in person meetings, after a few meetings with you, I noticed something rare when it's about seeing people in person, you have virtues that I think are somewhat rare for Generation Z. I mean, you actually show up on time. This this chat we're having right now. It's the fourth time we've gotten together, and you actually showed up early each of the four times, which is something that I really notice and appreciate, which, even for people my age, it seems like it's a virtue that they've lost. I mean, showing up on time is just common decency. That's just doing what you said that you were going to do. I find that pretty interesting. But when it comes to your generation being in college now, I mean, college is tough. You know, when I went to college, I took on student loans. My parents and I each paid for half of the tuition, and also worked a part time job while I was there. So I mean, you hang out with a lot of athletes, but how is it with balancing, you know, the income and student loans? Because, you know, college kids are still pretty poor   Hunter Taddy  13:10   I wanted to run for a division two program, because you can get athletic scholarship. I came in as a walk on. I'm not on any athletic scholarship. I get free housing and free meals for being an RA. Yeah, with my RA position, I actually got the RA position my second semester. So I got it as a freshman, which was like, really, really clutch. So my dad was in the Air Force for 20 years, and I got the GI bill for like, I think, six months. So I got my two first semesters of tuition paid for, and then I got some, like, some money for, like, housing and stuff. I mean, I pocketed most of that just because, I mean, I got it for free already. I don't get any more help from the GI Bill, because I'm not in Wisconsin. But if I went to Wisconsin, I could go to any school for free, like, tuition free. So, I mean, sometimes I do think about that, but with my real estate program. I mean, oh my gosh, the scholarship deadline. Every year they give out like, $50,000 in scholarships. A lot of them are from Widener and then just other like local real estate companies in the area. Last year, I got a $2,500 scholarship to travel to the National Apartment Association's apartmentalized It's like, their yearly conference in Las Vegas, and that was pretty cool. So that stuff kind of went over my head, but a lot of the stuff about AI was, like, just really interesting to hear, especially just about property management. And it's crazy to me, because, like, AI is almost like, my generation's thing, since we're, like, growing up with it, yeah. And then hearing, like, a lot of like, the older people in the property management profession talk about, I mean, they're still talking about when they had to keep their records on pen and paper, or, like, files and stuff. And I'm like, This is crazy. So I have scholarships with the real estate program, if I'm lucky, I can get up to almost $10,000 after the spring. It's.That means I pay in state tuition because I live on campus. It was a deal they were running after covid. So that's only like $5,700 I mean, my scholarships will be able to cover that. This semester, I paid like 2000 of it or something, and then my parents were kind enough to cover the rest, and then I'm going to pay them back right away after the year ends once I get those scholarships. And then, yeah, I get $11 an hour for working desk at my RA job. It's tax free, so, I mean, it's not totally bad, but I don't working desk hours that much because we only have them at night. And then, you know, being an athlete, I don't like staying up until, you know, one o'clock sometimes. I mean, the other night, I had to work a nine to three desk shift, and that screwed my whole for an entire week. Yeah. Okay,    Keith Weinhold  15:48   so when you graduate college in a few years, you could very well come out with a lower student loan balance than a lot of others did, although you might still have an informal loan with dad in there as well. How do you and a lot of people of your generation see your financial future? They sure can be hard to predict, but a lot of people see this crushing debt with student loans, and I wonder, even though it could be far into the future if really Gen Z thinks that they're ever going to be able to afford a home. Now, when it comes to the student loans, I know I shared with you when we sat down for coffee that I had a balance. I think it was like a $20,000 balance when I graduated, because again, my parents paid half of it and I worked part time when I went to school, I shared with you that I just took that balance and paid very little interest on my student loan balance because I kept transferring it repeatedly onto these 0% APR credit cards, and when my introductory rate expired on one card, I would just transfer it onto another card. So I've long been comfortable with debt.    Hunter Taddy  16:52   So me, personally, I do not want to take out a loan from any entity. I'm very fortunate and privileged that my parents are able to, you know, front that money for me when I need it. When I need it, I try to pay them back right away. I do not want student loans like my goal is to get out of college, you know, without owing anybody any money. It's weird, because I'm from such a small town in Wisconsin, and I view trades a lot differently than, like a lot of my peers who grew up in the big cities, I know blue collar millionaires, right? People who just, you know, put their nose to the grindstone, pouring concrete. You know, working driving a semi. Only do that for maybe five or 10 years, like my cousins. My cousin pours concrete, and then the other one, I think, works for construction company, the Midwestern work ethic, they're sitting on 10s of 1000s of dollars in their savings account right now. You can make the argument. Well, their back is going to give out in a couple years. And some of that's true. But also, you know, you don't have to be the guy pouring concrete for how long. You could be the business owner, or you could be the guy who's the plumber for 510, years, and then, you know, start your own plumbing business. That's why I don't look at student loans as, like, I need this college degree to, like, make money or be successful. Like, I've met a lot of people who legitimately have that mindset. That's like, I understand that if you've grown up in that sort of, like sphere, you've grown up with those ideas. But to me, it's like, I know if I can't pay for college, or if I don't graduate college, I know I'm going to be fine. I could go, you know, work construction, or I could go, you know, mow lawns or something. I know, I guess I just view it differently. But a lot of people think they need those student loans. So, I mean, they sign up for them. And I looked it up the other day, the average time to pay off student loans is, like, 20 years or something like that. Yeah, I believe it. That is kind of sad. That's insane to me. I want my lawyers going to college. I want my doctors going to college. I want to college. I want all these people to have a good education. But I mean, like 100,000 to $200,000 I just see that, and it's like, oh, I don't know, man, I sign up for the fast flow every year, but I never get anything Free Application for Federal Student Aid, yeah, but I know some people get, like, Pell Grants. If I'm not wrong, I think the Pell Grants are just, I don't know they have to pay those back. It seemed like I was applying for the Stafford Loan. I was lower middle class. I don't think we quite qualified for the Pell grant. The grant being like, free money and a loan of stuff that you need to pay back. Yeah, of course. And of course, in addition to student loans, we regularly have students using credit cards and probably not being able to pay the full balance, is they make their way and try to pay their way through college. That's certainly one thing that I did.    Hunter Taddy  19:28   Here's something for you, DoorDash, my generation and DoorDash is so crazy. I mean, I look at some of these people we have like a desk, at some of the halls, and the amount of people who just DoorDash some of these people are doordashing every night. And that's not cheap, like, that's sometimes it's like 30 bucks just to get Taco Bell or, you know, Wingstop or something like that, and then Klarna, it's like, finance a pizza. Like, what are we doing here?    Keith Weinhold  19:54   Sure, yeah, you're making a down payment on a blooming onion and financing it and making the last payment on it. Years later or something. Yeah, crazy like that, 100% and yeah, I would imagine home ownership is just seen as something that's so far into the future, it's almost unfathomable.    Hunter Taddy  20:12   Yeah, it's funny to me, because, you know, I come from, again, very small town, the cost of living is, like, extremely low compared to the country. I'm pretty sure Green Bay was voted number one place to live by us, News and World Report couple years ago, number one place to live in the United States. But more of the people back home who work these jobs in the trades, like the thought of owning a home seems a lot more real to them than my friends who are in college. And a lot of that has to do with, you know, like we're in bigger cities. Again, people have more debt, but yeah, I mean, you look at those prices of homes, I think the median home price in Anchorage is like $426,000 and just, you know, looking at that numbers like, how am I ever going to afford that? One of my friends, he's in the real estate program. He's got $40,000 saved up. He's got his Roth IRA maxed out. It's weird, because this is one of the points I want to make. So in my generation, you have people who have all these resources, you know, especially with the internet, and they're doing very well with it. They're taking it and they're running with it. And then you have the other part of my generation who's doing the buy now, pay later option. It's almost like a upside down bell curve or something like that. The people who are good are getting so much better, and the people who are making the bad decisions are getting so much more worse.    Keith Weinhold  21:25   Ah, the K shaped economy starts young.   Hunter Taddy  21:27    It's just interesting to see sometimes, because you have some people like, I can't afford this, I can't afford that, and it's like, yeah, being college student is hard. But then it's like, you buy your $6 coffee every day, and it's, you know, I'm guilty of that too. My spending habits aren't the best. And then you look at like home ownership inflation is real. Cost of living is getting higher. But also my dad talks about this a lot like our standards are getting so much higher, too great. Our houses are getting bigger. Kids don't share bedrooms anymore. All our kids have to have our phone. All our kids have to have the newest thing or the newest coat. And you know, you want nice things for your family. I get that, you know, I don't have a family, so I can only talk about this so much. But I mean, our standards are getting a lot, a lot higher as well. I mean, you look at our grandparents houses, and they're like, these, just small, one story houses, one bathroom. You know, I look at the house that my dad grew up and he shared a room with his brother until he graduated, right? And then you look at all these families kids live in their bedroom, it's so weird to me that like siblings, they know each other, but they don't know each other because they're sitting in their rooms all day and they're looking at their phones.    Keith Weinhold  22:31   You surface a good and salient point hunter that a lot of people don't bring up because the K shaped economy that means a widening disparity between the haves and the have nots, but the entire K also keeps moving up, so standards of living continue to get better for both the haves and the have nots, even though the disparity between them continues to widen, and yes, a poor person today has Wi Fi and has Air Conditioning and a lot of minor conveniences that poor people didn't have 75 years ago. You're listening to get rich education. We're doing something different this week, talking to the youngest guest in GRE history. His name's Hunter toddy. We're going to talk more when we come back about what he's learning in classes, economics and real estate classes, because that is one thing that college students do. Remember, I'm your host. Keith Weinhold.    Keith Weinhold  23:24   Flock homes helps you retire from real estate and landlording, whether it's one problem property or your whole portfolio through a 721, exchange, deferring your capital gains tax and depreciation recapture. It's a strategy long used by the ultra wealthy. Now Mom and Pop landlords can 721, the residential real estate request your initial valuation, see if your properties qualify@flockhomes.com slash GRE. That's f, l, O, C, K, homes.com/g.R, E,    Keith Weinhold  24:00   you know, most people think they're playing it safe with their liquid money, but they're actually losing savings accounts and bonds don't keep up when true inflation eats six or 7% of your wealth. 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Keith winehill, we're talking with Gen Z and student athlete Hunter toddy. He's a sophomore college student, and he's got a management degree with a concentration in real estate investing. So yeah, Hunter, tell us some of the things that you've learned about in an economics class or two that you've taken there at UAA.    Hunter Taddy  25:51   So I had an economics class last semester, but the teacher is basically tenured, and he only posted YouTube videos and like three quizzes was like the entire grade. He made us great at 2000 wasn't gonna say and didn't even grade it. So I didn't learn anything about economics, but that was macro, and now I'm in micro. And this professor, he's fantastic. He talks to Anchorage and Alaska legislators all the time. He was on Meet the Press Like he's very, very, very, very smart and well spoken, one of my and professors, and he's also Yale educated, as I understand. Yeah, I always get crap from my cross country teammates because most of them are STEM majors. There's a lot of engineers, and then there's, you know, you have people who are in, like, kinesiology, and then a lot of aviation, but they always give me crap because, like, oh, business, it's supply and demand, blah, blah, blah. But then, like, legitimately, economics has been so fascinating for me, just like, you know, consumer behavior, opportunity cost, trade off. One of the things is rent control, right? Definitely a big conversation, especially in, like, my generation, you know, because of all these rising prices. And then, you know, the landlord always gets the negative connotation, right? Landlords are greedy. I wouldn't even as a college student. Well, you think about rent control is like as soon as you put that binding price ceiling on the rent prices in an area, that's why there's not enough housing on the West Coast. That's why landlords are painting over the light switches, or they're not fixing your toilet, or they're not fixing the leaky sink. There's just a lack of understanding general society about, like, just how markets work and why. You know, businesses make certain decisions that they do. That's one thing with, like, a lot of my generation, is a lot of them are almost anti business, in a sense, right? In a sense, but they love being consumers. What my dad talks about a lot is as the business owner, like when you work for a company, a lot of the times you can clock in, clock out, you go home and you lay your head on the pillow, and you don't have to worry about anything, right? But when you're the business owner, like my dad, and if you have a lot of anxiety, like he does, about certain things, and you stress a lot, you're up at 2am wondering if the LVP you put in someone's kitchen is going to buckle, well, then you're gonna have to go back and fix it all and all these things, and so I definitely have a lot more to say understanding for like business owners and like landlords. Yeah, the economics classes just broaden my understanding of how the world works. I think that's a class everyone should take, and it is a general ed but I think it's a class everyone should pay attention to as well.    Keith Weinhold  28:18   Sure, rent control gives landlords no incentive to make improvements to a property. So yeah, it's good that you're learning about this in econ class. Tell us about some of the other things that you've learned in economics or in your more real estate investor centric college courses.    Hunter Taddy  28:36   So I'll focus more on the real estate stuff. So Dean Widener, Widener apartment homes, one of the top five, I think, largest owners of apartment homes in terms of units like in the United States, right? He basically came to Anchorage, and he wanted to build the Widener program, basically like a farm for property managers, like, you know, give this education. And then they, you know, they come work for widener. They come work for, you know, whoever a lot of the education has to do with property management. So there's leasing, asset maintenance. Talk a lot about operating budgets, risk management. All students in the program memorize the cash flow performer by heart. So, you know, you have gross potential income loss to lease, vacancy, net revenue, other income, expense reimbursements. Maddie poo, which is maintenance, admin, taxes, insurance, payroll and utilities. Have you heard that acronym before? What is it? Yeah. Maddie poo, I pretty sure my professor, like, that's kind of like his thing. I didn't finish it all, but we have it all memorized, and then we do, like, a lot of fair housing and landlord tenant law. Yesterday, in my Real Estate Investment Finance course, we were analyzing loans, and we were making like amortization tables, yeah. And then so we were looking at like interest rates, how a balloon loan works, variable interest rates. I took real estate Maintenance and risk last semester, and that was really awesome. We got to visit buildings all across Anchorage and talk with the property managers, talk about maintenance systems, general maintenance of the property, property management, the day to day, things like that. And then leasing, we actually had us basically go undercover. We have to have three properties, and we go do a showing at all of them, and then we had to review them, and we did a presentation about them, and, like, we basically reviewed them and graded, like the leasing agent, and how they did that one was really cool.    Keith Weinhold  30:33   Okay, so the mock tenant, grading a leasing agent, yeah, then showing you amenities, explaining lease length, things like that,    Hunter Taddy  30:41   and then seeing if, you know, they violated any like Fair Housing things. He said, Don't necessarily try and bait them, but one of the questions that one of my classmates asked, so what kind of people live here? And then the good property manager, you know, it says we rent to anyone that fits our criteria. And then you have some people that's like, oh, you should have said that. Yeah, yeah, it's pretty touchy, age, race, family status, right? Yeah. So we definitely have that drilled in our heads as well, like landlord tenant law and then, like, fair housing, you    Keith Weinhold  31:11   told me something interesting when we got together, when you run the numbers for property, that the numbers always work better in one condition than they do in another.    Hunter Taddy  31:20   So we do cap rate. And so cap rate is noi over value, I believe, yep. So we analyze the cap rates for all the properties, and then we see what is our return if we pay cash or whatever is our return when we pay leverage. And sometimes it's better if you pay cash, or sometimes it's better if it's leveraged. But I always think even if you could pay cash, you pay, say, $3 million for the whole complex, well, you could put a $500,000 down payment on six other properties. So I always thought that was weird, because that's just, I read Rich Dad, Poor Dad, after my dad recommended it to me, and then it just talking to my dad about leveraged investments. Yeah, why don't you do that instead? Oh, he said,    Keith Weinhold  32:00   right, as long as you control your cash flow and pay the mortgage and the operating expenses. Yeah, we typically talk about getting the leverage here, because the appreciation grade has absolutely nothing to do with the amount of equity that's in the property. Is there anything else interesting that you learned from going out in the field and actually seeing some properties or talking to some managers? And I think this is really interesting, because a lot of times when people graduate college, they tend to broad brushstroke students or new graduates, and say, Yeah, but they haven't gotten out in the real world yet, but you actually are as a student.    Hunter Taddy  32:33   Yeah. So that's one thing I really love about our program, and I really love our professor. He owns properties himself. It's not like a pyramid scheme thing where, like, almost like, you're going to college to learn how to be a professor, and sometimes that we need those people for, like, research and stuff. But like, he's actually done the work. He knows what it's like. He can relate to things that we're talking about. Yeah, we get a lot of that real world experience, which is really awesome going about that, like the leasing experience. One of the things with, like, a lot of the managers, especially in Anchorage, because there's such a housing shortage, a lot of them didn't really like try, because they like, almost don't have to, because, I think a lot of them assume you're gonna lease someone anyways, no matter, because it's not necessarily really competitive. So because the vacancy rate is so small, yeah. So it's just like, here's the kitchen. You know, we're actually taught in leasing class, leasing strategies. And also, what's really good about our classes, we read, like, a lot of personal growth books in our classes. So like in our leasing class, our professor had us read The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey and yeah. And then I think for our real estate investment class, we're going to read the compounding effect. I don't know what it's about, but I mean, I really appreciate how our professor gives us, like, those books and that knowledge that's not just, you know, specific to real estate. It's like how to become like a better person, or how to become better at personal finance in general.    Keith Weinhold  33:58   All right, so some conceptual and some mindset stuff, along with more of the hands on and more of the numbers. Well, before I ask you, what's next for you, do you have any last thoughts with what you've learned in class, or just anything overall about your generation and lifestyle and getting along financially? For a college student,    Hunter Taddy  34:18   in April, I'm going down to Austin for the property con, which is Institute of real estate management, big conference. I think they have this one every year too. I think John Quinones, the guy from what would you do, is going to be like one of the keynote speakers. So looking forward to that, definitely looking forward to some of, like, learning more about, like AI, and how it's used in, like, the property management, like real estate sphere, and then I'm kind of interested in green building, because it almost seems to be like, Win win, right? Because better for the environment and then better for the investor most of the time, you know, like, through these retrofits, like you're just switching to LED light bulbs, we actually, we ran those numbers a lot in my.In its class. Like, you know, what would it be like if you switch from iridescent to LED light bulbs? And it's like, that's like, what are the things that all property managers should do? Because you're saving, sometimes 1000s of dollars and seven or 10 year period, or whatever it is, improve the cap rate, right there? Yeah, I want to definitely learn more about, like, the green building. And also, just because, you know, I'm a healthy person, when I build my house one day, I don't want to have, like, a lot of toxic materials and stuff as well. I have one friend. He's really, really dialed in his health. They're talked about him with you before, but he, like, he's not even have drywall in his house because there's some, like, toxic thing in drywall, or something, like, he's gonna build it out of brick and mud or something, I don't know.    Keith Weinhold  35:39   Oh, he can't just go live in any rental. Yeah, well, Hunter, this has been really good. Your dad owns rentals in Wisconsin, and like you mentioned, he's red, Rich Dad, Poor Dad himself. So that's kind of an influence on you. And you do have a management internship back in Wisconsin this summer. But before we go on, you mentioned to me that your dad owns a certain type of apartments in Wisconsin, and I've never heard of that type before. What are they called? And then, what does that mean?    Keith Weinhold  36:06   I think the name is local to the city itself in Manitowoc, Wisconsin. So they're called custerdales. I think there were homes built after World War Two, I believe, for like GIS and things like that so well. Just before he got in the Air Force, he was in Saudi Arabia for a year, and he was thinking about, you know, what am I going to do when I retire? Because he knew after the year was done, he was going to retire and come back to Wisconsin. And one of his friends got him into real estate, and he talked to my mom a little bit, and they just started buying properties. So that was in 2018 and now they own about 70 units, mostly duplexes, with their biggest being a five Plex. They also have a 18 bed assisted living facility. Most of the the 70 units are called custerdales. They're all like, cookie cutter, like, the same they're basically the same layout, you know, sometimes it's just flipped or whatever. And he basically did the same thing each time, a lot of them were, like, really run down ones that they purchased had someone with a chicken living on top of the refrigerator. And then when they locked the place up after they bought it, he broke back in and took stuff. And so they've really, actually, like, helped the community in a way, by remodeling a lot of these homes. And then my dad would refinance them, and then he would take that money and then invest it into another property. And he just kept doing that again and again and again. Yeah, so buy and hold we self manage, because there's not really a reputable property management service in the area. This is near Manitowoc, Wisconsin. Maybe you've heard that name before. Manitowoc, they make heavy construction equipment, and you are going back to Wisconsin this summer for a management related internship, yeah, well, Hunter, well, this has been great talking about what your generation's like, what you do in your classes, and the practical experience that you're already getting as a 19 year old. I mean, you're just substantially further ahead than I was as a geography degree student and major way back in the day, if anyone wants to reach out to you, see what you're doing, or contact you. What's the best way for them to do that? Hunter.    Hunter Taddy  38:09   So I don't have Instagram or Facebook, but I do have LinkedIn. So if you just search Hunter toddy again, T, A, D, D, y, on LinkedIn, you can find me there. Also just give my email. It's H hottie 007 at Gmail.    Keith Weinhold  38:26   All right, look that up if you want to reach out to Hunter. Yeah, it's been great having you here. Thanks so much for coming on to the show.    Hunter Taddy  38:32   Thanks forhaving me.    Keith Weinhold  38:40   Yeah, a fresh perspective from college student, Hunter toddy today. He has got his act together amazingly well for a teenager, and you know, talking to him made me think about something like I said when I graduated college, and it was just with a bachelor's degree. By the way, pretty humble bachelor's double major, geography and regional planning, I had that 20k in student loan debt, which I transferred onto 0% APR credit cards, over and over again and inflation adjusted terms, that might be 40k in today's dollars. I had no incentive to pay it down, let alone pay it off, since my finance charges were essentially zero, so that's why I probably carried that balance for close to 20 years. But this is the first time that I thought about the fact that that very habit was probably a benefit to me, not because it saved me from paying interest on student loans, but because it got me comfortable withholding debt for the long term and rationalizing that there would be an opportunity cost of paying off that debt, because a payoff would have meant that I would forego the opportunity of investing those dollars to get gains, that habit got me comfortable with prudently using debt and leverage as a real estate investor, and that helped me own and control more property sooner. So it was a somewhat autodidactic approach to good debt. Today, we talk with a young, likely soon to be investor, oppositely next week here on the show. We're talking about the book end, on the other side of the shelf, and that is when you're ready to retire from real estate, you can exchange your properties into a fund, pay zero capital gains tax or depreciation recapture. And unlike a 1031 exchange, what you've done is you have totally exited the direct real estate business with a 721, exchange, and you still get financial upside with zero management duties retired. Finally, if you've ever wanted to tell me what you think about the GRE podcast, if this show has given you some fresh perspective or helped you become a better investor. The best way to support the show is to leave a quick rating or review. It helps more investors discover the show. Here's how to do it inside the get rich education Show page on Apple podcasts, scroll about halfway down to ratings and reviews. Tap the purple stars to rate, and then tap the purple words write a review on Spotify from the get rich education podcast, tap the three dots near the top of the show page, tap rate podcast and leave your star rating. That's all it takes. It's crazy that this show has almost 6 million total listener downloads, but yet, across all platforms, we have perhaps only 1000 reviews, and that's probably because I rarely ask for them. I would greatly appreciate it. Until next week, I'm your host. Keith Weinhold, don't quit your Daydream.   Unknown Speaker  41:59   Nothing on this show should be considered specific personal or professional advice. Please consult an appropriate tax, legal, real estate, financial or business professional for individualized advice. Opinions of guests are their own. Information is not guaranteed. All investment strategies have the potential for profit or loss. The host is operating on behalf of get rich Education LLC, exclusively   Keith Weinhold  42:27   The preceding program was brought to you by your home for wealth, building, get richeducation.com  

Let us know what you think!Veterans Challenge the VA Over GI Bill BenefitsIn this episode of Security Halt! Podcast, host Deny Caballero explains the legal challenge against the Department of Veterans Affairs over access to GI Bill education benefits.Following a Supreme Court ruling, veteran organizations argue that the VA's interpretation of the law continues to limit access to benefits that veterans have earned through their service.In This Episode• Understanding the Montgomery GI Bill and Post-9/11 GI Bill • The Supreme Court ruling affecting veteran education benefits • Why veteran organizations are challenging the VA • How long-term service could penalize some veterans • What the legal process could mean for over one million veteransChapters: 00:00 Introduction to Veteran Issues02:33 Legal Challenge Against the VA04:20 Understanding the GI Bill Programs06:03 Supreme Court Ruling and Its Implications09:15 The VA's Interpretation of the Law10:43 Next Steps in the Legal Process12:28 Final Thoughts on Education BenefitsSponsored by: Dr. Mark Gordon & Millennium Health Centers  Get the book Peptides for Health Vol.1 Medical Edition today.  Use code PTH25 for 25% off through March 15  Use code Phase2P for 10% off Millennium products  Available only at MillenniumHealthStore.comPure Liberty LabsUse code: Security_Halt_10Website: https://purelibertylabs.com/ PRECISION WELLNESS GROUP Use code: Security Halt Podcast 25Website: https://www.precisionwellnessgroup.com/  Security Halt Mediahttps://www.securityhaltmedia.com/ Instagram: @securityhaltX: @SecurityHaltTik Tok: @security.halt.podLinkedIn: Deny Caballero Connect with Jay Today!Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jaylimp/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jay-fain/ Looking for custom handmade items, military memorabilia, or laser engraving? Contact Eric Gilgenast.Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/haus_gilgenast_woodworks_main/Website: https://www.hausgilgenastwoodworks.com/SOF Heritage Designs Custom belt Buckles. Of the Regiment for the Regiment SOF-HD.Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/sofhdesigns/Support the showProduced by Security Halt Media

Send a textWhat happens when a benefits formula turns healing into a liability. We dig into the VA's now-paused plan to reduce disability pay when medication improves symptoms and explain why that logic clashes with the lived reality of trauma, pain, and long-term earning capacity. Framed as a “clarification,” the proposal sparked immediate backlash because veterans have seen this pattern before: fast budgets for war, slow debates for care.We explore the deeper issue at stake—a covenant, not a calculation. Disability compensation is not a reward for good performance on a medicated afternoon. It is a recognition that service can leave permanent marks, even when treatment helps you function in moments. From the Bonus Army to GI Bill inequities to the Walter Reed scandal, history shows how rhetoric often outpaces responsibility. Policies that penalize progress push veterans into a cruel choice: avoid healing to keep support. That is a moral failure and a policy trap.Along the way, we share clear language for understanding why medication management is not the same as restoration, how incentives shape behavior, and what “no-penalty healing” should look like in a just system. We also step back to talk mental health in an age of alarm—how to limit saturation news, reclaim agency through local action, and build embodied anchors like sleep, movement, sunlight, and real conversation. Calm isn't denial; it's disciplined presence that helps us think and care better.If you care about veteran rights, public ethics, and practical resilience, this conversation offers context, history, and tools. Listen, share with someone who needs it, and leave a review to help more people find the show. Subscribe for future deep dives and join us as we push for policy that honors the people who carried the weight for us. Support the show

In this episode, I break down nine military benefits that are often overlooked but can completely transform your financial future. I share the exact tools and strategies, from credit card fee waivers to GI Bill transfer secrets, that helped me go from a negative net worth to a millionaire in just over five years. Whether you are active duty or a veteran, this is your roadmap to using the military as a legitimate financial launchpad.   Timestamps (00:00) Intro (00:37) Benefit 1: Military Lending Act (MLA) and Credit Card Fees (01:36) Benefit 2: SCRA Interest Rate Caps on Debt (02:47) Benefit 3: Using Space-A Travel for Free Flights (03:38) Benefit 4: State-Specific Benefits and the Hazelwood Act (04:21) Benefit 5: How to Correctly Transfer Your GI Bill (06:50) Benefit 6: Skill Bridge Paid Internships (08:26) Benefit 7: Veteran Preferences in Federal Hiring (08:49) Benefit 8: Veteran Disability Compensation and Healthcare (09:40) Benefit 9: Maximizing the VA Loan for Real Estate (10:39) Bonus: The Military as a Financial Launchpad   About the Show On the Military Millionaire Podcast, I share real conversations with service members, veterans, and their families. Each week, we explore how to build wealth through personal finance, entrepreneurship, and real estate investing. Resources & Links Download a free copy of my book: https://www.frommilitarytomillionaire.com/free-book Sign up for free webinar trainings: https://www.frommilitarytomillionaire.com/register Join our investor list: https://www.frommilitarytomillionaire.com/investors Apply for The War Room Mastermind: https://www.frommilitarytomillionaire.com/mastermind-application Get an intro to recommended VA agents/lenders: https://www.frommilitarytomillionaire.com/va-realtor Guide to raising capital: https://www.frommilitarytomillionaire.com/capital-raising-guide   Connect with David Pere Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/militarymillionaire YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@Frommilitarytomillionaire?sub_confirmation=1 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/frommilitarytomillionaire/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-pere/ X (Twitter): https://x.com/militaryrei TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@militarymillionaire

Time for another reunion! Sarah Haider, Meghan's co-host on the late, great A Special Place In Hell, has a lot to say about the Epstein files, so she visited the podcast to unload. After opening the episode with an homage to the classic intro from our former podcast, the ladies talk about how everyone's a pedophile now, why Ghislaine Maxwell was drawn to such bad boyfriends, and why Epstein's favorite muffins (yes, literal muffins) were so delicious they inspired poetry. Because it's Sarah, they also discuss the latest in Fertility Crisis Discourse, including new nostalgia about teenage motherhood and Sarah's idea of a GI Bill for mothers. Finally, they reveal the only conditions under which we would revive A Special Place In Hell. The answer may (not) surprise you.

ICE, Noem and The War on Free Elections. Ukraine Won the Olympics. Prince Andrew Arrested in England Over Epstein Ties. Hegseth, Tuberville Continue to Embrace Dumb Ideas. Spring Training a Homerun. The drumbeats of war are growing louder. In this solo episode of Independent Americans, host Paul Rieckhoff reports that President Trump has signaled the U.S. military could strike Iran within ten days — with zero congressional authorization, zero public debate, and zero accountability. Congress is rolling over, America's sons and daughters are in harm's way, and the American people deserve a vote. Meanwhile at home, Paul holds nothing back on DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, who reportedly pulled a Coast Guard search-and-rescue aircraft away from a missing 21-year-old service member to prioritize a deportation flight, and on ICE's escalating cruelty — including a nine-year-old girl detained in San Antonio for eight months and the heartbreaking death of Ophelia Torres, a 16-year-old who fought cancer while her father was held by ICE. These are not statistics. Paul refuses to let their stories disappear. Pentagon Secretary Pete Hegseth's culture war rages on. Paul breaks down Hegseth's move to block military members from enrolling at Harvard, Duke, Johns Hopkins, and dozens more elite universities — followed by the VA's decision to strip veterans of their post-9/11 GI Bill benefits at those same schools. Denmark, one of America's most steadfast NATO allies, now views the U.S. as an adversary, with 60% of Danes saying so. Paul also covers Venezuela strikes without congressional approval, the staggering losses in Ukraine, and a personal word about the courage of Stephen Colbert and the growing chorus of ordinary Americans pushing back. Paul closes on something good: spring training. He was at Yankees practice in Tampa Bay this morning, where his boys got balls signed by Aaron Judge — proof that community, access, and joy are still very much alive. Episode 445 ends with a clear mission: country over party, people over politics. If you're among the 45% of Americans who call themselves independent, this is your show. Stay vigilant. -WATCH video of this episode on our YouTube channel. -Learn more about Paul's work to elect a new generation of independent leaders with Independent Veterans of America. -Learn more about American Veterans for Ukraine here. Connect with Independent Americans: Subscribe on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and all podcast platforms Read more at Substack Support ad-free episodes at Patreon  Connect: Instagram  • X/Twitter • BlueSky • Facebook  Follow on social: @PaulRieckhoff on X, Instagram, Threads, and Bluesky -Join the movement. Hook into our exclusive Patreon community of Independent Americans. Get extra content, connect with guests, meet other Independent Americans, attend events, get merch discounts, and support this show that speaks truth to power.  -And get cool IA and Righteous hats, t-shirts and other merch now in time for the new year.  Independent Americans is powered by veteran-owned and led Righteous Media.  And now part of the BLEAV network!  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Josh Perschbacher joins the VET S.O.S. Network to dive into why connection—not duplication—is the missing link in military transition. As a Navy veteran and founder of VetWork, Josh shares how regional ecosystems, mentorship, and smarter coordination help veterans move from service to purpose-driven civilian careers.In this episode, we explore:• Why veterans shouldn't have to choose between jobs, education, and mental health support• How VetWork deconflicts veteran programs to maximize impact• The importance of building skills before transition, not after• Why mentorship and community are critical long after TAP endsIf you're transitioning, supporting veterans, or building veteran-serving organizations, this episode offers clear guidance, lived experience, and practical next steps.Josh Perschbacher is a U.S. Navy veteran, veteran education advocate, and founder of VetWork. With years of experience helping veterans navigate GI Bill benefits and workforce pathways, Josh focuses on connecting people, organizations, and opportunities to create stronger veteran outcomes nationwide.The VET S.O.S. Network connects veterans, spouses, and service members with real resources and real people who want to see you thrive.VET S.O.S. VET S.O.S. – Operation StartupVET S.O.S. – Learning LifelineWebsite: vetsospodcast.comX/Twitter: @vetsospodcastLinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/vetsospodcastYouTube: youtube.com/@vetsospodcastFacebook: facebook.com/vetsospodcastInstagram: instagram.com/vetsospodcastTikTok: tiktok.com/@vetsospodcast#VETSOS #VeteranTransition #VetWork #MilitaryLeadership #VeteranCommunity #ItsOurTurnToServe #TheMilitaryEffect #VeteranResources #Mentorship #GrabTheLifeline

Sergio Alfaro, Army Medic and GWOT veteran, in Episode 234 of the Transition Drill Podcast, his experience highlights the importance of preparing for the mental and emotional side of transition, not just the next job or degree, and building support systems early instead of relying on a single post-service plan. Ultimately, his path reinforces that successful transition preparation requires adaptability, self-awareness, and permission to redefine success when the original mission no longer fits.Sergio talks about Iraq, PTSD, and the long road from wanting to become a doctor to rebuilding a life that actually works. If you're a veteran or first responder trying to figure out who you are after the job, this one's for you.Sergio was born in Los Angeles and grew up in Maywood and Burbank, seeing two very different worlds early on. He joined the Army with a long-term plans of becoming a doctor. In the Army, he became a medic, trained and deployed to Iraq in 2003–2004, based in Hamadi, west of Fallujah. He describes the reality of frequent mortar attacks, watching for IED threats, and the kind of moments that never really leave you. He also shares the loss of his commanding officer overseas, and how survivor's guilt and “why him, not me” thinking followed him home.After one enlistment, that turned into four and a half years because of stop-loss, Sergio struggled with trauma, but was hopeful of getting the option for the Army to send him to college to be a doctor. He wanted to keep serving and also go to school, but he ran into the “ask command” reality of the system, and it changed his outlook on staying in. He got out, determined to chase the goal on his own terms.That drive carries him all the way to acceptance at Harvard Medical School, with the GI Bill and Yellow Ribbon support helping make it possible. But also dealing with PTSD, a medical culture not built for that, and a training path that puts him in a VA inpatient psych ward rotation at the worst possible time. Things spiral, and he shares what it's like when your identity is tied to one mission and you feel it slipping away.The second half of this conversation is about what actually helped: support systems, weekly check-ins, and eventually getting connected with Wounded Warrior Project's Warriors to Work, job fairs, resume feedback, and a shift toward a new career path built around what he always loved most, training and teaching others.CONNECT WITH THE PODCAST:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/paulpantani/WEBSITE: https://www.transitiondrillpodcast.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulpantani/SIGN-UP FOR THE NEWSLETTER:https://transitiondrillpodcast.com/home#aboutQUESTIONS OR COMMENTS:paul@transitiondrillpodcast.comSPONSORS:GRND CollectiveGet 15% off your purchaseLink: https://thegrndcollective.com/Promo Code: TRANSITION15Blue Line RoastingGet 10% off your purchaseLink: https://bluelineroasting.comPromocode: Transition10Frontline OpticsGet 10% off your purchaseLink: https://frontlineoptics.comPromocode: Transition10

What happens when addiction, loss, and uncertainty collide with discipline, honesty, and trust. In this episode, I sit down with David Price, a visionary CEO who shares his journey from growing up with addicted parents and battling his own drug addiction to building a multi-million-dollar insurance organization in less than a year. David opens up about hitting bottom, finding clarity through recovery, and learning how mindset, patience, and consistency reshaped his life and business. We explore what it really takes to build trust, lead people well, and stay focused when growth feels uncomfortable. This conversation is about resilience, personal responsibility, and why an Unstoppable mindset is built one honest decision at a time. Highlights: 00:10 – Hear how David Price's early life with addicted parents shaped his resilience and stress tolerance03:18 – Learn how growing up unstable planted the seed for David's drive to become a business owner05:01 – Discover the moment David realized addiction was no longer something he could manage alone15:51 – Hear the unexpected reason David walked into a recovery meeting that changed everything24:16 – Learn how small, achievable habits helped David rebuild his life after getting clean37:50 – Understand the hard business lesson David learned after choosing the wrong partner44:34 – Hear how losing six figures of monthly income overnight forced David to rebuild from zero53:49 – Learn why David believes trust is more valuable than money when building an unstoppable business About the Guest: David Price – CEO & Founder, The Price Group IMO David Price is the visionary CEO and Founder of The Price Group IMO, one of the fastest-rising organizations in financial services. His journey to success was anything but ordinary. Growing up in a broken home and battling drug and alcohol addiction for years, David hit rock bottom more than once. In 2013, he made the life-changing decision to get clean and rebuild his life. That moment of clarity became the foundation for everything that followed, teaching him resilience, grit, and an unshakable drive to create a better future. In 2018, David discovered the insurance industry. With no prior experience, he earned his license and built a simple, scalable system that allowed everyday people—single moms, career changers, and those just looking for a side income—to succeed. Within 36 months, he became a millionaire, and by his fourth year he was generating more than $1 million annually. In October 2024, he launched The Price Group IMO, partnering with top carriers and introducing a superior lead program that created even greater opportunities for people to work from home and build real financial freedom. In less than 350 days, the organization produced over $10 million in sales, cementing itself as one of the fastest-growing IMOs in the country. Today, David's mission extends far beyond personal success. He is dedicated to helping people reinvent their lives, showing them how to earn an income, work flexibly from home, and build businesses of their own. Many of the agents and agencies he mentors are already on track to reach six and seven figures, proving the power of his model. Beyond business, David is a member of the Forbes Business Council and an active voice on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and YouTube, where he shares transparent insights, strategies, and motivation for people seeking more freedom, flexibility, and purpose in their careers. Ways to connect with David**:**

Rebecca W. Walston: https://rebuildingmyfoundation.comAt Solid Foundation Story Coaching, we believe that stories shape our lives. Our experiences—both joyful and painful—define how we see ourselves and interact with the world. Story Coaching offers a unique space to explore your personal journey, uncover patterns of hurt and resilience, and gain clarity on how your past shapes your present. Unlike therapy, Story Coaching is not about diagnosis or treatment. Instead, it's about having someone truly listen—without judgment or advice—so you can process your story in a safe and supportive space. Whether you choose one-on-one coaching or small group sessions, you'll have the opportunity to share, reflect, and grow at your own pace.Jenny McGrath: https://www.indwellcounseling.comI am Jenny! (She/Her) MACP, LMHC I am a Licensed Mental Health Counselor, Somatic Experiencing® Practitioner, Certified Yoga Teacher, and an Approved Supervisor in the state of Washington.  have spent over a decade researching the ways in which the body can heal from trauma through movement and connection. I have come to see that our bodies know what they need.  By approaching our body with curiosity we can begin to listen to the innate wisdom our body has to teach us.  And that is where the magic happens! Danielle S. Rueb Castillejo: www.wayfindingtherapy.comDanielle (00:06):Welcome to the Arise Podcast, conversations on faith, race, justice, gender, spirituality. We're jumping here and talking about this current moment. We just can't get away from it. There's so much going on, protest kids, walking out of schools, navigating the moment of trauma. Is that really trauma? So I hope you enjoy this conversation with Danielle, Jenny and Rebecca,Rebecca (00:28):A sentence that probably I'm going to record us. Maybe it's fair, maybe it's not. But I feel like everyone is, is traumatized, and I'm only using the word traumatized because I don't have a better word to say. I think there's very little time and space to give this well reasoned, well thought out, grounded reaction to everything because there's the threat level is too high. So trying to ground yourself in this kind of environment and feel like you're surefooted about the choices that you're making feels really hard. It is just hard. And I don't say that to invalidate anybody's choice. I say that just to say everything feels like it's just difficult and most things feel like there are impossible choices. I don't know. It just, yeah, it's a crazy maker.Jenny (01:45):I agree with you. And I also feel like it's like we need a new word other than trauma, because Bessel Vander Kott kind of came up with this idea of trauma working with veterans who had gone through the war. We are actively in the war right now. And so what is the impact of our nervous system when we're not going, oh, that's a trauma that happened 10 years ago, 20 years ago, but every single day we're in a nervous system. Overwhelmed. Is there a word for that? What is that that we're experiencing? And maybe trauma works, but it's almost like it doesn't even capture what we're trying to survive right now.Rebecca (02:31):Yes. And even when you just said the idea of nervous system overwhelmed, I wanted to go, is that word even accurate? I have lots of questions for which I don't have any answers, like minute to minute, am I overwhelmed individually? Is my people group overwhelmed? I don't know. But I feel that same sense of, it's hard to put your finger on vocabulary that actually taps into what may or may not be happening minute by minute, hour by hour for someone. Right? There might be this circumstance where you feel, you don't feel overwhelmed. You feel like you could see with startling clarity exactly what is happening and exactly the move you want to make in that space. And 30 seconds later you might feel overwhelmed.Danielle (03:35):I agree. It's such a hot kettle for conflict too. It's like a hot, hot kettle. Anytime it feels like you might be at odds with someone you didn't even know it was coming. You know what I mean? Jude, which just amplifies the moment because then you have, we were talking about you got your nervous system, you got trauma, whatever it is, and then you're trying to get along with people in a hot situation and make decisions. And also you don't want to do things collectively. You just want to, and also then sometimes it needs to be all about this long process, but if ice is banging at your door, you don't have time to have a group talk about whistles. It's just like you can't have a group meeting about it. You know what I'm saying? Right, right.Speaker 2 (04:37):I think if you, and I remember us having this conversation in a total other setting about what's the definition of trauma? Is trauma this event that happens or is it the feeling of your system being overwhelmed or any other host of things? But I think if we think about it from the frame of, are the support systems that I have in place either individually or collectively overwhelmed by a particular moment in time or in history, maybe that's a decent place to start. And what I think is interesting about that is that the black community is having this conversation. We are not overwhelmed. This is not new to us. This whether it's true or fair or not. There's a lot of dialogue in the black community about, we've been here before, and so there is this sense of we may not be overwhelmed in the way that someone else might be. And I still don't know what I think about that, what I feel about that, if that feels true or right or fair or honest. It just feels like that is the reaction that we are having as a collective culture right now. So yeah.It means to be resisting in this moment or taking care of yourself in this moment? Just for you, just for Rebecca. Not for anybody else. Honestly,Rebecca (06:25):I have been in a space of very guarded, very curated information gathering since the night of the election back in November of 2024. So part of my selfcare sort of for the last, I don't know what is that, 18 months or something like that, 15 months or something has been, I take in very little information and I take it in very intentionally and very short burst of amount of time. I'm still scanning headlines, not watching the news, not taking in any information that's probably in any more than about 32nd, 62nd clips because I cannot, I can't do this.(07:38):Someone, Roland Martin who is this sort of member of the Independent Black Press, said this generation is about to get a very up close and personal taste of what it feels like and looks like to live under Jim Crow. And I was scrolling to the puppies, I cannot absorb that sentence seriously, scroll on the Instagram clip because that sentence was, that was it. I was done. I don't even want to hear, I don't want to know what he meant by that. I know what he meant by that, but I don't want to know what he meant by that.(08:36):I a lovely neutral grass cloth, textured, right? The way the light lights off of it be the very little imperfections. It does something to make a space feel really special, but it's still very ated it. Yes. And I would say this is like if you want to try wallpaper, if you don't want the commitment of a large scale pattern just is a great way to go. I think if there's here the jaguar off the top.Danielle (09:16):It's interesting when you pose a question, Rebecca in our chat this morning about white America waking up. The people that I've noticed that have been the most aware for me outside of folks of color have been some of my queer elders, white folks that have been through the marches, have fought for marriage equality, have fought for human dignity, have fought as well, and they're just like, oh shit, we're going, this is all happening again.Rebecca (09:59):I think that that comes, again, a lot of my information these days is coming from social media, but I saw a clip of a podcast, I don't even know what it was, but the podcast was a black male talking to someone who appeared to me to be a white female, but she could have been something else. She didn't exactly name it, but whatever it was they were discussing like the dynamic between men and women in general. And the male who is the host of the podcast asked the female, what gives you the authority as a woman to speak about men and how they do what they do. And her answer was, and I'm going to paraphrase it, the same thing that gives you the authority as a black person to talk about white people, if you are the marginalized or the oppressed, everything there is to know about the oppressor, things about the oppressor that they don't know about themselves because you need to in order to survive. And so that is what qualifies. That was her answer. That's what qualifies me as a woman to speak about men. And when the sentence that you just gave Danielle, that's what I thought about. If you've ever had to actually live on the margins, something about what is happening and about what is coming from experience, you've seen it. You've heard it, you've heard about it. AndDanielle (12:00):I was just thinking about, I was just talking about this yesterday with my editor, how for Latinx community, there was this huge farm workers movement that ran parallel to the what Martin Luther King was doing, the civil rights movement and how they wrote letters and solidarity and Dolores Huta, these people in 90, they're in their nineties. And then there was this period where things I think got a little better and Latinos made, it's like all of that memory in large pockets of the United States, all that movement got erased and traded in for whiteness. And then that's my parents' generation. So my mom not speaking Spanish, raised not to speak Spanish, all these layers of forgetting. And then it's me and my generation and my kids we're like, holy shit, we can't tolerate this shit. That's not okay. And then it's trying to find the memory, where did it go? Why is there a big gap in this historical narrative, in recent memory? Because says Cesar Chavez and all those people, they started doing something because bad things were happening for centuries to our people. But then there's this gap and now we're living, I think post that gap. And I think you see that with the two murderers of Alex Preti were Latinos from the Texas border that had come up from Texas and they're the actual murderers and they unli him. And people are like, what happened? What happened?Are they perpetrating this crime? What does all of this mean? So I think when we talk about this current moment, it just feels so hard to untangle. JustRebecca (14:01):I think you said, I think you said that there was this period where there's all this activism that's parallel to the civil rights movement and then all that disappeared in exchange for whiteness, I think is what you said.(14:23):And if I said, if I heard that incorrectly through my cultural lens, please let me know that. But I think that that phrase is actually really important. I think this notion of what whiteness requires of us and what it requires us to exchange or give up or erase it, is something that we need to meander through real slow. And in this moment, we're talking about people of Latino descent in the United States, but we could easily be talking about any other number of cultural groups. And I have to ask that same question and wrestle with those same answers. And I think I saw recently that, again, this probably could have happened anywhere of a dozen places, some part, somewhere in the country, there's some museum that has to do with African-American history and the markers were being taken down.(15:52):But you can watch it in real actual time, the required eraser of the story. You can watch it in actual time. If you lay a clip of Alex Pertti's murder up against the Play-by-play that came out of the Department of Homeland Security, and you can watch in real time the rewriting of what actually happened. So your sense of there's this gap where the story kind of disappears. What has it been 60 years since the timeframe and history that you're talking about 1960s. It makes me wonder what was on the news in 1960? Where were they? Where and how did they intentionally rewrite the story? Did they erase markers? Did they bury information?Jenny (17:16):Where I have a few thoughts. I'm thinking about my Polish great-grandfather who had an engineering degree, and to my understanding of the family's story, because it's not often told, and he worked in a box factory, not because he wanted to or that's what he was trained for, but in the time that my great grandfather was here, Polish people were not considered white. And even my dad spent most, he spent his childhood, his early childhood, his family was the only not black family in his community. And his nickname was Spooks growing up for his first few years in life because he was the only light-skinned kid in his neighborhood. And then with the GI Bill, Polish people got adopted into whiteness. And that story of culture and community and lineage was also erased. And just the precarity of whiteness that it's like this Overton window that shifts and allows or disallows primarily based on melanin, but not just melanin based on these performances of aligning with white supremacy. And we don't tell these stories because I think going back to nervous systems, I do think,And I don't think a lot of white bodies want to contend with them. And so then we align more with the privileges that being adopted into whiteness floor to ceiling.Rebecca (19:47):You had just finished telling the story with the GI Bill that Polish people got adopted in to whiteness. And that story and that sort of culture, that origin story disappeared off the landscape. And you might not have said the word disappear. That might be my paraphrase.Jenny (20:07):Yeah. And I think on a visceral level, on a nervous system level, white bodies, whatever that means, know that story, whether that story is told or not. And so I think white bodies know we could be Renee, Nicole Goode or Alex Prety any day if we choose not to fall in line with what whiteness expects of us. And I think there are many examples through abolition, through civil rights, through current history, it is not the same magnitude of bodies of color being killed. And white bodies know if I actually give up my white privilege, I'm giving up my white privilege. And that the precarity that whiteness gives or takes away is so flimsy, I think. Or the safety that it gives is so flimsy.Rebecca (21:15):I mean, I agree with you times a thousand about the flimsy ness and the precariousness of whiteness. Say more about the sentence, white bodies know this because if the me wants to go, I don't think they do. So yeah, say more.Jenny (21:41):Well, I will say I don't think it's conscious. I don't think white people are conscious of this, but I think the epigenetic story of what is given up and what is gained by being adopted into whiteness is in our bodies. And I think that that's part of what makes white people so skittish and disembodied and dissociated, is that the ability to fully be human means giving up the supposed safety that we're given in whiteness. And I think our bodies are really wise and there is some self-preservation in that, and that comes to the detriment and further harm because we are then more complicit with the systems of white supremacy.(22:46):That's what I think. I could be wrong. Obviously I'm not every white body, but I know that the first time I heard someone say that to me in my body, I was like, yep, I know that fear. It's never been named, but having someone say white bodies probably know, I was like, yep. I think my body does know. And that's why I've been so complicit and agreeable to whiteness because that gives me safety. What do you think, Rebecca?Rebecca (23:32):I am probably I'm that am the ambivalent about the whole thing, right? Partly I get the framework that you're talking about. I've used the framework myself, this idea that what your body knows and how that forms and shapes how you move in the world and how that can move from one generation to the next epigenetically without you or spiritually without you necessarily having the details of the story. And also, I'm super nervous about this narrative that I'm nervous that the narrative that you're painting will be used as an excuse to step away from accountability and responsibility. And because I think this sort of narcissistic kind of collapse is what tends to happen around whiteness, where you're so buried under the weight of everything that we can't continue the conversation anymore. And this is the whole why we cannot teach actual American history because some white kids somewhere is going to be uncomfortable.(25:04):And so I get it. I got it. And it makes me super nervous about what will be done with that information. And I think I also think that, and this could be that my frame is limited, so I don't want this comment to come off a, but I think there's not enough work around perpetrator categories and buckets. And so where we tend to go with this is that we go, that harm moves you to victim status and then victims get a pass for what they did because they were hurt. There's not enough to me work, there's not enough vocabulary in the public discourse for when that harm made you become a perpetrator of harm as a collective group and as a consistent collective narrative for hundreds of years. And so that makes me nervous too. What I don't want is, and this is I guess part of the same sort of narcissistic collapse is that we go from cows harmed, and I do believe there's significant harm that happens to a person and to a people when they are required to be complicit in their own eraser in order to survive that. I absolutely believe there's massive harm in that. But how do we talk about then that the reaction to that is to become the perpetrator of harm versus the reaction to that is to learn to move through it and heal from it and not become the group that systematically harms someone else. And there's some nuance in there. There's probably all kinds of complexities there, but that's what my head is around all that, what I just said.Danielle (27:18):I have a lot of thoughts about that. I think I would argue that it's a moral injury, meaning? Meaning that the conditioning over time of attachment instead of what I wrote to y'all, the attachment isn't built as an attachment to one another. It was reframed as an attachment to hierarchy or system. And therefore for a long time, you have a general population of people that don't have a secure attachment to a caregiver, to people that it's been outsourced to power, basically a church system or a government system that's protecting them versus a family and a community, their culture. And in that you have a lot of ruptures and it leaves a lot of space. If your attachment is to power versus belonging to one another, you're going to do a lot of violent damage. And I would argue that that's a repeating perpetrating wound in the collective white society, that attachment to power versus attachment to community.(28:48):That's what I think. I could be wrong, but that's what I've been writing about.Rebecca (28:56):That's a pretty brilliant application of individual attachment theory to collective identity and yeah, that's pretty brilliant actually.(29:09):That's a very nuanced way to talk about what happens in that exchange of a cultural identity for access to the category. White is to say that you advertise to community and family and you tether and attach yourself to power structures, and then you hold on for dear life.Danielle (29:32):You can see it playing out across the nation. It's not that republicans and evangelicals aren't, they're actually arguing against an attachment to community and belonging and saying, we can do these things because we have power now and we're attached to that power. Jesus. They're not attached, I would argue. They're not attached to Jesus either.Rebecca (30:00):Now you want to start a whole fight. How is that attachment structure that you're identifying? And I'm going to steal that by the way, and I will quote you when I steal it. How is that a moral injury?Danielle (30:18):Well, for me, immoral injury is like someone who goes to war or goes into a battle or goes into a situation and you, at some point, someone consciously violates what they know is right or wrong. And so someone took a whole boat over here, a whole journey to do that. So even the journey itself, there's no way, it doesn't matter if they didn't have social media. It doesn't matter if the pilgrims of whatever we want to call them, colonizers didn't know what was here. They know that on lands there are people, and in that journey, they had a decision that was separating themselves saying, when I get there, I deserve that land no matter what's there. So they had all, I don't know how many months it takes to sail across the sea. It was like a month or a couple months or something. You have all that time of a people becoming another kind of people. I think(31:25):That's what I think. You talk about the transatlantic slave trade and that crossing of the water. I think in some ways white people put themselves through that and there's no way, I don't know a lot of ways to explain a complete detachment from morality, but there's something in that passageway that does it for Yeah,Rebecca (31:51):I get it. I mean, you're talking about maybe even on the pilgrim ship that landed in Jamestown passage. But(32:02):If you read, I saw this in a book written by an author by the name of Jamar Tis. He's talking about the earlier colonial days in the United States, and he's talking about how there's a series of letters that he recounts in the book. And so there's this man that is making the journey from England to the colonies, and he professes to be a missionary of Christianity. And what he's discussing in these letters is sort of the crisis of faith that if I get here and I proselytize someone that I encounter a Native American or an enslaved African I do in their conversion to Christianity, am I compelled to grant them their freedom(33:04):And the series of letters that are back and forth between this man and whoever he's conversing with on the con, and you'll have to read his book to get all the historical details. They basically have this open debate in the governing days of the colony. And the answer to the question that they arrive at both legally and religiously or spiritually is, no, I do not. Right? And whatever it is that you had to do to yourself, your faith, your understanding of people to arrive at the answer no to that question feels to me like that moral injury that you're talking about.(34:07):Cardiovascular system powers, everything we do.Jenny (34:10):I mean, it makes me think, Danielle knows that this is one of the few Bible verses that I will always quote nowadays is Jesus saying, what good is it for someone to gain the world and lose their soul? And I see that as a journey of forfeiting. Whatever this thing we want to call the soul might be for power and privilege.Rebecca (34:42):It reminds me of my kids were young and we were having a conversation at the dinner table and something had happened. I think there might've been a discussion about something in the history class that opened my kids' eyes to the nature of racism in the United States. And one of my children asked me, doesn't that mean that we're better than them?(35:17):And as vehemently as I could answer him, I was like, absolutely not. No, it does not. It does not mean that, right? Because you feel that line and that edge for a kid, a fourth grader who's learning history for the first time and that edge that would push them over into this place of dehumanizing someone else, even if it's the proverbial they and my insistence as his mother, we don't do that and we're not going to do that. And no, it does not mean that. And my whole thing was just, I cannot have you dehumanize an entire group of people. I can't, I'm not raising kids who do that. We're not doing that. Right. Which is back to Michelle Obama saying when they go low, right?Rebecca (36:37):It is that sense of that invitation to a moral injury, that invitation to violate the inherent value of another human being that you have to say, I'm not doing that. I refuse to do thatJenny (37:18):I know I'm a few years late and watching this movie, but I just watched the Shape of Water. Have you ever seen it(37:26):And there's this line in it where they're debating whether or not to save this being, and the man says it's not even human. And she says, if we don't do something, then neither are we. And this really does feel like a fight for my humanity for what does it look like to reject dehumanization of entire people groups as much as I even want to do that with ice agents right now, and things like that that make it so hard to not put people in these buckets. And how do I fight for my own humanity and willingness to see people as harmful and difficult as they may be as sovereign beings, and what potentials can come if we work to create a world that doesn't split people into binaries of victim or perpetrator, but make space for reparative justice? I don't know.Rebecca (38:58):You used the phrase reparative justice, and my thought was like, I don't even know what that is. Trying to even conceptualize any sense of that in this moment is, I mean, again, I heard a podcast of this some white man who I think is probably famous, but it's not in a cultural circle that I run in, not this race, but however he is major Trump supporter publicly in his celebrity is a Trump supporter. And he's talking on the podcast about how watching what has happened with ICE the last couple weeks has changed his perspective that he feels like it's this tipping point in his sentiment that I didn't think things like this were possible in America. And now they are. And the person that he's talking to is a black man who's pissed that you even are saying the sentence, I didn't think this was possible.(40:04):Pissed in a way of, we've been telling you this shit for 400 years, excuse my French, you can edit that out and you didn't listen. And if you had listened, we might not actually be here in this moment. And so even that conversation to me feels like attempting to do something of repair in some capacity. And you can feel the two people that are trying to engage each other just be like, I mean, you can feel how they're trying. They're sitting in the room, they're talking, they're leaving space for each other to finish their sentence and finish their thought. And you still just want to go, I want to beat the shit out of you. And I am sure they both felt that way at different moments in the conversation. So yeah,Danielle (41:12):We were in the I know. Because it's all like, I know there's all that we talk about, and then when we walk off the screen, when we get into the world, I know Rebecca, you mentioned someone got stopped at a checkpoint or my kids marching around town or Jenny, I know you're out in the wilds of Florida or wherever. I just(41:38):Yeah. Yeah. I just think there's all of this we talk about, and then there's the live daily reality too, of how it actually plays out for us in different ways. Yeah. Now I saw you take a breath. Yeah.Rebecca (41:59):Do they feel like really disconnected?(42:19):I actually think this conversation, I think, and I don't mean this one, I mean this sort of ongoing space that we inhabit in each other's lives is actually a pretty defiant response. I think there's every invitation for us to be like, see, when I see you,(43:03):I know that you some stuff going on personally, and you picked up the phone and called me the other night, Danielle, just to say, I'm just checking on you. And I was like, crap. Right. I mean, with everything that I know that you have going on both collectively and personally for you to pick up the phone and call me and go like, I'm just checking on you.(43:41):Right? But there's this swirl of, there's a whole conversation the black community is having with the Latino community right now that is some version of, screw this. And you, we not we're, it's not entirely adversarial, but it's not entirely we're doing this dance around each other right now that you could have easily just have been like, I'll talk to you in 27. You could easily have been like, I have too much going on that can't actually tend to this. Whatever it is that you heard in my voice or read on my face that made you call me, you could have chosen not to and you didn't. And that's not small.Danielle (44:49):Yeah. Thanks for saying that. I really do believe love is bigger than all of what we say is the hate and the crimes against us. I really do believe every day we wake up and we get to be the best. We get to do the best we can. Jenny,Jenny (45:26):I just feel very grateful to know you both. Yeah. I think this to me is part of what fighting for our humanity looks like and feels like in the midst of systems, creating separation of who we should or shouldn't commune with and be with. And I just feel very grateful that I get to commune and be with both of you.Danielle (46:18):Oh, good question. Do you ever feel like you're your own coach? So I have the Danielle that's like sometimes I get into trouble that Danielle, and then there's also the part of me that's like, you can do it. You got this, you got it. You can do it, so you're going to make it. So I got the coach. I had to bring her out a little bit more later lately. Also, just like I just got back from watching my kids do this walkout and man, just hearing them scream the F word and jumping around town, blowing whistles and being wild, it just made me, I feel so happy. I'm like, oh, we're doing something right. The kids, they're going to be okay. They know. So I think just I've really tried to just focus on my family and my off time. Yeah, that's kept me going. What about you two?Jenny (47:31):I have been doing standup comedy, open mic nights in Pensacola.(47:40):And it has been a very nice place for me to release my healthy aggression. Aside from the hosts, I've pretty much been the only woman there. And most of the comedians are racist and sexist, and I get up and give lectures basically. And I've been really enjoying that. It has been a good way of off-gassing and being defiant and giving me some sense of fight, which I've liked to, that has been self-care for me.Rebecca (48:30):I would probably say, actually I had to, I have this elliptical, one of those under the desk kind of pedal thingies that, and the other night I had to get on it. I feel like my whole inside was just racing, but then on the outside, I'm just sitting here, all right. And I was like, I have got to get whatever this is out of me. So there was this moment where, and it took probably 15 minutes for my body to actually start to exhale and for my breathing to kind of normalize. And that isn't because I was exerting so much energy. It took that long of just moving to get whatever it is out of me. And then also, I had this really, really great moment with my son, how you're saying, Danielle, that your kids, and then you feel like, oh, they're going to be fine. He was watching a documentary or he is watching a movie, some movie about black history, what he does. And the movie referenced this written communication between two slave traitors, one of whom was in the United States and the other one who was in the Caribbean. And they were discussing how to basically break the psyche of a person so they would remain in slavery,(50:15):Which is a crazy sentence to say, but literally they're discussing it back and forth. They're talking about how you bake a cake. And my son read it, and then he came and sat next to me and he was like, did you know about this? Not about the letter itself, the letters, but about the content in them. He was like, did you know this is what they think about us? Did. These are the things that they say and do that are purposely designed to mess with our psyche. And it just spawned this really great conversation for an hour about all kinds of things that made me go, he's going to be all right. In the sense of where I ended up, where I ended up going as his mom was like, yes, I knew. And now the fact that I raised you to do this, or I raised you to do that, or I taught you this or that, or I kept you from this or that. Does that make sense now? And then, yeah, it was just actually a very sweet conversation actually.Danielle (51:38):I love that. I do too. It's been real.   Well, first I guess I would have to believe that there was or is an actual political dialogue taking place that I could potentially be a part of. And honestly, I'm not sure that I believe that.

I hear people complaining about how the US treats its service members all the time, so I'm here to set the record straight. In this episode, I breakdown how our benefits stack up against allies like Canada and Australia, and the nightmare reality of serving in countries like North Korea. We might not be perfect, but between the GI Bill and the VA Loan, we have it pretty damn good.   Timestamps (00:00) - Intro (00:27) - Canada's comprehensive vet care (01:12) - Australia's transition support programs (02:18) - The UK's structure and covenants (03:05) - The worst benefits: Eritrea's forced labor (04:00) - North Korea's 10-year mandatory service (05:13) - Where the US stacks up: Education (05:35) - Why the VA Loan is the best mortgage on earth (06:06) - TRICARE and VA Healthcare explained (07:35) - Where allies actually beat the US (Family Support) (09:44) - Sage advice for a better VA experience   About the Show On the Military Millionaire Podcast, I share real conversations with service members, veterans, and their families. Each week, we explore how to build wealth through personal finance, entrepreneurship, and real estate investing. Resources & Links Download a free copy of my book: https://www.frommilitarytomillionaire.com/free-book Sign up for free webinar trainings: https://www.frommilitarytomillionaire.com/register Join our investor list: https://www.frommilitarytomillionaire.com/investors Apply for The War Room Mastermind: https://www.frommilitarytomillionaire.com/mastermind-application Get an intro to recommended VA agents/lenders: https://www.frommilitarytomillionaire.com/va-realtor Guide to raising capital: https://www.frommilitarytomillionaire.com/capital-raising-guide   Connect with David Pere Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/militarymillionaire YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@Frommilitarytomillionaire?sub_confirmation=1 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/frommilitarytomillionaire/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-pere/ X (Twitter): https://x.com/militaryrei TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@militarymillionaire

Top Stories for January 29th Publish Date: January 29th PRE-ROLL: GCPS From the BG AD Group Studio Welcome to the Gwinnett Daily Post Podcast. Today is Thursday, January 29th and Happy birthday to Tom Selleck I’m Peyton Spurlock and here are your top stories presented by KIA Mall of Georgia. UGA’s online degree programs rank among nation’s best Archer students walk out of school to protest ICE actions State Rep. Scott Hilton files bill to protect kindergarten 'redshirting' Plus, Leah McGrath from Ingles Markets on saturated fats All of this and more is coming up on the Gwinnett Daily Post podcast, and if you are looking for community news, we encourage you to listen daily and subscribe! Break 1: SUGAR HILL ICE SKATING STORY 1: UGA’s online degree programs rank among nation’s best The University of Georgia’s online programs are making waves again, landing several top-10 spots in U.S. News & World Report’s 2026 Best Online Programs rankings. UGA held strong at No. 18 overall, keeping its place among the nation’s top 20. What’s behind the rankings? The annual survey looks at things like student engagement, faculty credentials, tech, and peer reviews. And UGA? It’s shining. The numbers tell the story: UGA’s online retention ranking climbed to No. 4, and its graduation ranking jumped from No. 20 to No. 7. The Mary Frances Early College of Education continues to lead the charge, offering programs that help Georgia’s teachers grow their skills while staying in the classroom. Highlights include: No. 3 in Best Online Master’s in Curriculum and Instruction (up from No. 11) No. 3 in Educational/Instructional Media Design No. 4 in Special Education No. 6 in Educational Administration and Policy UGA’s programs for veterans also earned recognition, ranking No. 11 for making education more accessible through the GI Bill and other financial aid. The Terry College of Business wasn’t left out either—its online master’s in business and technology ranked No. 23 nationally. STORY 2: Archer students walk out of school to protest ICE actions At Archer High School, Sandra Brown-Peraza says immigrant students live with a constant, gnawing fear. Every day, stepping off campus feels like stepping into the unknown. “We’ve seen ICE waiting outside schools—places that are supposed to be safe,” she said. That fear boiled over on Tuesday when hundreds of students walked out, chanting “No more ICE.” Organizer Nehemiah Hamilton estimated 800 students braved the freezing cold to protest. The protest wasn’t just about raids—it was about lives lost. Students spoke of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, U.S. citizens killed by ICE agents in Minnesota. “They’re killing innocent people,” said Sasha Molnar. Not everyone supports the protests. U.S. Rep. Mike Collins dismissed them as “woke indoctrination,” but Hamilton fired back: “We’re not safe. We’re not backing down.” Meanwhile, Gwinnett Board Chairwoman Tarece Johnson-Morgan stood with the students, saying, “Their voices demand our empathy and care.” STORY 3: State Rep. Scott Hilton files bill to protect kindergarten 'redshirting' A new bill could give Georgia parents the final say on when their kids start kindergarten—at 5 or 6. Right now, the law says kids must be in school by 6, but it’s up to local districts to decide if a 6-year-old can start in kindergarten or must go straight to first grade. State Rep. Scott Hilton introduced House Bill 1048 to clear up the confusion. The bill comes after Gwinnett County Public Schools stirred controversy by ending its long-standing practice of allowing “redshirting,” where parents delay kindergarten until age 6. GCPS now sends all 6-year-olds straight to first grade, even if they’ve never been in a classroom. Parents pushed back hard, arguing that some kids—especially younger ones—need that extra year to mature. GCPS has hinted at a compromise, with an “expedited student support team” process to decide on a case-by-case basis if redshirted kids can go to kindergarten. But it’s no guarantee. If Hilton’s bill passes, though? That decision would be in parents’ hands, not the district’s. We have opportunities for sponsors to get great engagement on these shows. Call 770.874.3200 for more info. We’ll be right back Break 2: KIA Mall Of Ga - GCPL Passport STORY 4: Gwinnett Stripers hiring gameday staff for 2026 The Gwinnett Stripers are gearing up for the 2026 season and looking for gameday staff to join the team. If you’re all about creating awesome fan experiences, this might be your shot. You can apply online now at GoStripers.com/jobs, or swing by their in-person Job Fair on Saturday, Feb. 7, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. It’s happening in the Suite Lounge at Gwinnett Field. They’re hiring for part-time, seasonal roles in concessions, fan services, ticket sales, security, parking, gameday production, and even photography. Pro tip: Bring a few printed resumes to the Job Fair. Parking’s free, and you’ll enter through the Main Gate. STORY 5: Nalani Gainey reaches 2,000 career points in Seckinger victory It was a big night for Nalani Gainey—2,000 career points and counting. Oh, and Seckinger’s girls basketball team took down Chattahoochee 47-32 in Region 7-AAAAA action on Tuesday. Not a bad way to celebrate. Gainey was everywhere, racking up 24 points, five rebounds, five assists, five steals, and two blocks. The Jaguars, now 14-8 overall and 6-3 in the region, leaned on her leadership—and she delivered. Savan Johnson chipped in eight points and three boards, while Janyla Reed and Selah Wells dominated the paint with a combined 16 rebounds and four blocks. Titi Makinde added three points to round it out. GLADIATORS: The Atlanta Gladiators edged out the Orlando Solar Bears 2-1 Monday night in a gritty ECHL matchup at the Kia Center. It wasn’t pretty, but it was effective—and it keeps Atlanta rolling. Orlando struck first, capitalizing on a 5-on-3 power play midway through the first. Jack Adams buried a backdoor pass to make it 1-0, and the Solar Bears carried that lead into the second, outshooting Atlanta 9-6. But the Gladiators answered. Jack Matier ripped a power-play rocket from the point to tie it 1-1 in the second, with assists from Mike McNamee and Ryan Francis. Both teams traded chances—power plays, odd-man rushes, you name it—but the goalies stood tall. After two periods, Orlando had a 25-11 shot advantage, but the score stayed deadlocked. Then came the dagger. Early in the third, Alex Young sniped one short side off a slick feed from Isak Walther, giving Atlanta the 2-1 lead. From there, it was all about Semptimphelter, who slammed the door with 31 saves, earning his 12th win of the season. The Gladiators improved to 25-9-1, extending their point streak to five games. Next up? A three-game showdown with the Everblades in Estero. Buckle up—it’s going to be a battle. We’ll be right back. Break 3: EAGLE THEATRE And now here is Leah McGrath from Ingles Markets on saturated fats We’ll have closing comments after this Break 5: Ingles Markets Signoff – Thanks again for hanging out with us on today’s Gwinnett Daily Post Podcast. If you enjoy these shows, we encourage you to check out our other offerings, like the Cherokee Tribune Ledger Podcast, the Marietta Daily Journal, or the Community Podcast for Rockdale Newton and Morgan Counties. Read more about all our stories and get other great content at www.gwinnettdailypost.com Did you know over 50% of Americans listen to podcasts weekly? Giving you important news about our community and telling great stories are what we do. Make sure you join us for our next episode and be sure to share this podcast on social media with your friends and family. Add us to your Alexa Flash Briefing or your Google Home Briefing and be sure to like, follow, and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Produced by the BG Podcast Network Show Sponsors: www.ingles-markets.com www.kiamallofga.com Ice Rink – Downtown Sugar Hill Team GCPS News Podcast, Current Events, Top Headlines, Breaking News, Podcast News, Trending, Local News, Daily, News, Podcast, Interviews See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What if everything we've been told about making college "affordable" is actually making it more expensive and worse? Robert Bortins sits down with Dr. Ben Merkle, President of New St. Andrews College and Oxford-educated scholar who wrote the foreword to "Woke and Weaponized." As one of fewer than a dozen colleges that refuse all federal student loan dollars, Dr. Merkle offers a rare insider perspective on how government money has corrupted higher education—and why K-12 schools should learn from their mistakes. Dr. Merkle traces the problem back to the GI Bill after World War II, explaining how federal funding changed the customer of education from students to government. Once colleges became dependent on Title IV money (Pell Grants and student loans), they became subject to Title IX mandates—leading Christian colleges to spend a year teaching students "how to receive consent for fornication" and removing backbones from administrators who now compete to be the most compliant rather than the most excellent. The financial impact is staggering. While other colleges charge $55,000-$60,000 annually (with fake "scholarships" discounting sticker prices), New St. Andrews provides superior classical education for just $18,600 per year—proving that without compliance officers and administrative bloat, quality education is affordable. Dr. Merkle exposes the Bennett hypothesis: every dollar added to federal grants causes reciprocal tuition increases within 18 months, creating a self-perpetuating cycle that makes education more expensive and worse quality simultaneously. Most provocatively, Dr. Merkle warns that classical Christian education—"the single biggest cultural victory for the American evangelical church"—is being handed over to the state through school choice programs. Charter schools aren't pulling kids from public schools; they're pulling families from Christian education into secular classrooms. He challenges administrators: stop serving mammon, define your mission clearly, and understand that funding is authority. The institutions we've sacrificed to build will be wasted if we trade them for government money. Resources: https://nsa.edu/ This episode of Refining Rhetoric is sponsored by:  "Woke and Weaponized: How Karl Marx Won the Battle for American Education—And How We Can Win It Back" – A new book written by Robert Bortins and Alex Newman.  Discover the shocking truth about how current education reform efforts may actually accelerate the destruction of educational freedom. Through meticulous research, Woke and Weaponized traces the philosophical roots of educational corruption from Robert Owen and John Dewey to critical race theory, while offering practical strategies for families ready to pursue genuine educational independence. Join our exclusive list to be notified the moment it becomes available — plus receive special launch updates and insider information.  www.WokeAndWeaponized.com

Tactical Transition Tips Round 108 of the Transition Drill Podcast offers practical guidance and career readiness for veterans and first responders, organized based on how far out your exit is. In this episode, the systems in place to protect you require documentation and use before you're out.Benefits don't fail because they're weak. They fail because they sit there unused.In these careers, it's easy to treat “benefits” like paperwork you'll deal with later, once life slows down. But later is the trap. The system isn't going to chase you down and make sure you're set up. If you don't learn what you're entitled to, document what needs documenting, and use what's available while you still have access, you can end up paying out of pocket, delaying care, or walking into transition with avoidable problems on your back.This episode addresses benefits as protection, not perks. That includes medical documentation, but it also includes education options (like the GI Bill), financial and investing support, home buying programs, and even outside organizations that offer help for you and your family. The point isn't to become a benefits expert. It's to stop treating protection like background noise.Here are the three transition tips covered:Close Range Group (transitioning within a year): Get it on paper before you get outYou're running out of time for “I'll handle it later,” so this is about getting appointments, issues, and records documented now so you're not trying to prove things from memory after you're out.Medium Range Group (transitioning in 3 to 5 years): Fix it while you're still inYou've still got the advantage of structure and easier access, so you use this window to address real issues and use available resources before transition pressure makes everything harder to prioritize.Long Range Group (transitioning in a decade or more): The most important equipment maintenance is youThis is where you build habits and track patterns early so neglect doesn't become normal and small problems don't turn into long-term damage that follows you into any future transition.Get additional resources and join our newsletter via the link in the show notes.CONNECT WITH THE PODCAST:IG: https://www.instagram.com/paulpantani/WEBSITE: https://www.transitiondrillpodcast.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulpantani/SIGN-UP FOR THE NEWSLETTER:https://transitiondrillpodcast.com/home#aboutQUESTIONS OR COMMENTS:paul@transitiondrillpodcast.comSPONSORS:GRND CollectiveGet 15% off your purchaseLink: https://thegrndcollective.com/Promo Code: TRANSITION15Blue Line RoastingGet 10% off your purchaseLink: https://bluelineroasting.comPromocode: Transition10

Welcome to another rousing edition of the Tom Bilyeu Show Live! In this episode, Tom Bilyeu and co-host Drew dive deep into the latest headlines shaking the world—from global politics and economics to heated debates around government spending, immigration policy, and the true cost of regulation. They start by unpacking a flurry of international headlines, including escalating tensions in the Middle East, Trump's controversial “Peace Board” and the rumors swirling around America's military strategy and alliances. The conversation quickly turns to domestic issues, as Tom Bilyeu and Drew candidly discuss California's open approach to healthcare for undocumented immigrants, the fallout from Congress's new budget, and the economic realities most Americans are facing. Expect sharp analysis of everything from ICE's media optics to the politics of meme culture at Davos, Elon Musk's side-eye at Trump, and the age-old debate of how much regulation is too much. You'll hear why overregulation could be strangling Europe's entrepreneurial spirit, and get a no-holds-barred assessment of government intervention—from hotel junk fees to historic examples like the GI Bill and the perils of bureaucratic overreach. If you're looking for unfiltered, passionate, and insightful takes on the forces shaping our world—and a few laughs along the way—this episode promises to bring both the heat and the nuance you crave. Let's dive in! Quince: Free shipping and 365-day returns at https://quince.com/impactpod HomeServe: Help protect your home systems – and your wallet – with HomeServe against covered repairs. Plans start at just $4.99 a month at https://homeserve.com Shopify: Sign up for your one-dollar-per-month trial period at https://shopify.com/impact Incogni: Take your personal data back with Incogni! Use code IMPACT at the link below and get 60% off an annual plan: https://incogni.com/impact Sintra AI: 72% off with code IMPACT at https://sintra.ai/impact Huel: High-Protein Starter Kit 20% off for new customers at https://huel.com/impact code impact Bevel Health: Visit https://bevel.health/impact and use code IMPACT to get your first month free. Ketone IQ: Visit https://ketone.com/IMPACT for 30% OFF your subscription order Cape: 33% off your first 6 months with code IMPACT at https://cape.co/impact Plaud: Get 10% off with code TOM10 at https://plaud.ai/tom Pique: 20% off at https://piquelife.com/impact What's up, everybody? It's Tom Bilyeu here: If you want my help... STARTING a business: join me here at ZERO TO FOUNDER:  https://tombilyeu.com/zero-to-founder?utm_campaign=Podcast%20Offer&utm_source=podca[%E2%80%A6]d%20end%20of%20show&utm_content=podcast%20ad%20end%20of%20show SCALING a business: see if you qualify here.:  https://tombilyeu.com/call Get my battle-tested strategies and insights delivered weekly to your inbox: sign up here.: https://tombilyeu.com/ ********************************************************************** If you're serious about leveling up your life, I urge you to check out my new podcast, Tom Bilyeu's Mindset Playbook —a goldmine of my most impactful episodes on mindset, business, and health. Trust me, your future self will thank you. ********************************************************************** FOLLOW TOM: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tombilyeu/ Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@tombilyeu?lang=en Twitter: https://twitter.com/tombilyeu YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TomBilyeu Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Welcome to another rousing edition of the Tom Bilyeu Show Live! In this episode, Tom Bilyeu and co-host Drew dive deep into the latest headlines shaking the world—from global politics and economics to heated debates around government spending, immigration policy, and the true cost of regulation. They start by unpacking a flurry of international headlines, including escalating tensions in the Middle East, Trump's controversial “Peace Board” and the rumors swirling around America's military strategy and alliances. The conversation quickly turns to domestic issues, as Tom Bilyeu and Drew candidly discuss California's open approach to healthcare for undocumented immigrants, the fallout from Congress's new budget, and the economic realities most Americans are facing. Expect sharp analysis of everything from ICE's media optics to the politics of meme culture at Davos, Elon Musk's side-eye at Trump, and the age-old debate of how much regulation is too much. You'll hear why overregulation could be strangling Europe's entrepreneurial spirit, and get a no-holds-barred assessment of government intervention—from hotel junk fees to historic examples like the GI Bill and the perils of bureaucratic overreach. If you're looking for unfiltered, passionate, and insightful takes on the forces shaping our world—and a few laughs along the way—this episode promises to bring both the heat and the nuance you crave. Let's dive in! Quince: Free shipping and 365-day returns at https://quince.com/impactpod HomeServe: Help protect your home systems – and your wallet – with HomeServe against covered repairs. Plans start at just $4.99 a month at https://homeserve.com Shopify: Sign up for your one-dollar-per-month trial period at https://shopify.com/impact Incogni: Take your personal data back with Incogni! Use code IMPACT at the link below and get 60% off an annual plan: https://incogni.com/impact Sintra AI: 72% off with code IMPACT at https://sintra.ai/impact Huel: High-Protein Starter Kit 20% off for new customers at https://huel.com/impact code impact Bevel Health: Visit https://bevel.health/impact and use code IMPACT to get your first month free. Ketone IQ: Visit https://ketone.com/IMPACT for 30% OFF your subscription order Cape: 33% off your first 6 months with code IMPACT at https://cape.co/impact Plaud: Get 10% off with code TOM10 at https://plaud.ai/tom Pique: 20% off at https://piquelife.com/impact What's up, everybody? It's Tom Bilyeu here: If you want my help... STARTING a business: join me here at ZERO TO FOUNDER:  https://tombilyeu.com/zero-to-founder?utm_campaign=Podcast%20Offer&utm_source=podca[%E2%80%A6]d%20end%20of%20show&utm_content=podcast%20ad%20end%20of%20show SCALING a business: see if you qualify here.:  https://tombilyeu.com/call Get my battle-tested strategies and insights delivered weekly to your inbox: sign up here.: https://tombilyeu.com/ ********************************************************************** If you're serious about leveling up your life, I urge you to check out my new podcast, Tom Bilyeu's Mindset Playbook —a goldmine of my most impactful episodes on mindset, business, and health. Trust me, your future self will thank you. ********************************************************************** FOLLOW TOM: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tombilyeu/ Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@tombilyeu?lang=en Twitter: https://twitter.com/tombilyeu YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TomBilyeu Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After years of studying, tests, and residency, you've finally moved up and the job offer comes with a forgivable loan they're calling a signing bonus. Nate Reineke and Chelsea Jones look at one case where the numbers are huge, meaning a job change for this physician could cost them huge. We break down why saving these bonuses could save you in the long run and some way's we've seen doctors navigate these loans. We also answer your colleagues questions. A Psychiatrist in Maine asks, “If my kids are likely to have much of their college covered through scholarships and unused GI Bill benefits, how should that change the way I approach college savings?” A Psychiatrist in West Virginia says, “When I did my estate plan, the service that I used suggested that I put age restrictions on distributions. I need more education on why the need to divvy it up, when I assume our children would need access to the funds for support as young adults even prior to the age of 25.” A Psychiatrist in Kentucky wonders, “When it comes to life insurance, my husband and I both have several policies with different terms. If I want my parents to get the payout from one of the policies (with my husband still being contingent if my parents have passed), what is the easiest way to do that? Do I change the beneficiary on the policy itself? Should we change the beneficiary to the trust first and then have instructions for the executor to give my parents the money?” Are you ready to turn worries about taxes and investing into all the money you need for college and retirement? It's time to make a plan and get on track. To find out if we're a match visit physicianfamily.com and click get started or, you can ask a question of your own by emailing podcast@physicianfamily.com. See marketing disclosures at physicianfamily.com/disclosures

In this episode, I break down Chapter 35 education benefits and explain why they're one of the most overlooked opportunities for disabled veterans' families. I walk through what these benefits actually are, who qualifies, and why they can be life-changing for spouses and children. Unlike the GI Bill, this money is paid directly to the dependent, which creates a lot more flexibility in how it's used. My goal here is to make sure you don't leave money or opportunities on the table simply because no one explained this clearly.   Timestamps (00:00) — Intro (01:12) — Direct payments explained (02:35) — Eligibility requirements breakdown (03:58) — Application and certification steps (05:02) — Monthly payment amounts (06:32) — Stacking benefits strategy   About the Show On the Military Millionaire Podcast, I share real conversations with service members, veterans, and their families. Each week, we explore how to build wealth through personal finance, entrepreneurship, and real estate investing. Resources & Links Download a free copy of my book: https://www.frommilitarytomillionaire.com/free-book Sign up for free webinar trainings: https://www.frommilitarytomillionaire.com/register Join our investor list: https://www.frommilitarytomillionaire.com/investors Apply for The War Room Mastermind: https://www.frommilitarytomillionaire.com/mastermind-application Get an intro to recommended VA agents/lenders: https://www.frommilitarytomillionaire.com/va-realtor Guide to raising capital: https://www.frommilitarytomillionaire.com/capital-raising-guide   Connect with David Pere Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/militarymillionaire YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@Frommilitarytomillionaire?sub_confirmation=1 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/frommilitarytomillionaire/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-pere/ X (Twitter): https://x.com/militaryrei TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@militarymillionaire

In this episode, I break down VA Chapter 31 benefits and why so many veterans overlook how powerful this program really is. I walk through how VR&E goes beyond the GI Bill by combining career counseling, education funding, and employment support into one end-to-end transition tool. From aptitude testing to identifying civilian career paths, this benefit is designed to help veterans find work that actually fits their skills and limitations. My goal is to give you clarity on what's available and how it can change your post-service trajectory.   Timestamps (00:00) — Intro (01:28) — Career counseling explained (03:02) — Education and training coverage (04:55) — Living allowance and stipends (06:42) — Eligibility and application steps (08:48) — How veterans maximize VR&E benefits   About the Show On the Military Millionaire Podcast, I share real conversations with service members, veterans, and their families. Each week, we explore how to build wealth through personal finance, entrepreneurship, and real estate investing. Resources & Links Download a free copy of my book: https://www.frommilitarytomillionaire.com/free-book Sign up for free webinar trainings: https://www.frommilitarytomillionaire.com/register Join our investor list: https://www.frommilitarytomillionaire.com/investors Apply for The War Room Mastermind: https://www.frommilitarytomillionaire.com/mastermind-application Get an intro to recommended VA agents/lenders: https://www.frommilitarytomillionaire.com/va-realtor Guide to raising capital: https://www.frommilitarytomillionaire.com/capital-raising-guide   Connect with David Pere Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/militarymillionaire YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@Frommilitarytomillionaire?sub_confirmation=1 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/frommilitarytomillionaire/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-pere/ X (Twitter): https://x.com/militaryrei TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@militarymillionaire

Army combat medic veteran Adam Fluegel talks about answering the call for medics after 9/11, running patrols during the first Iraqi elections, losing a brother-in-arms in his first real trauma case, and coming home with no decompression. To hold it together, he leaned on alcohol, hydrocodone, and Adderall, which fueled anxiety, insomnia, paranoia, and eventually a stay in a psychiatric ward. He then walks through the night, he took his pistol from the safe, and almost ended his life before the thought of his daughters pulled him back. That choice started him on the path of PTSD recovery through journaling, facing memories from Iraq, and using medication as a tool instead of a crutch. Adam and Scott dig into veteran mental health, suicide prevention, therapy dogs and service animals, and the damage of pretending to be fine at work, then pivot to Operation Overwatch, a veteran nonprofit and app that connects vets and veteran nonprofits for community, PTSD support, fly-fishing and skydiving groups, GI Bill-backed scuba therapy, and more. Timestamps: 00:04:45: From Baghdad streets to a calm warehouse floor 00:13:25: The first IED and losing a brother in his care 00:24:30: Adderall, burnout, and a life spinning out of control 00:31:30: Pistol in hand and the thought that saved him 00:40:04: Operation Overwatch and a new way to find your people Links & Resources Veteran Suicide & Crisis Line: Dial 988, then press 1 Follow Adam Fluegel on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1A3KitAG2b/ Follow Adam Fluegel on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fluegeladam Follow Adam Fluegel on LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/in/adam-fluegel-b14793150 Transcript View the transcript for this episode.

Retired Navy Senior Chief Travis Winfield is a bestselling author and the CEO of Military Operated Real Estate (MORE), the first national real estate brand built specifically for service members and veterans. He went from growing up with almost nothing to building a powerhouse six‑agent team that has closed over 700 homes and more than $350 million in sales, and his mission now is to fix the financial literacy crisis holding military families back from real wealth. On this episode we talk about: How Travis went from bad credit, 25% car loans, and debt to building a multi‑million‑dollar real estate business. Why so many service members leave the military in a worse financial position than when they joined. The blended retirement system, why it's dangerous without financial literacy, and what it means for younger service members. How military families can use benefits like the VA loan, GI Bill, and state education programs to build long‑term wealth instead of selling key assets. How MORE and programs like SkillBridge and GI Bill on‑the‑job training help veterans transition into real estate with a real runway instead of starting from zero. Top 3 Takeaways You do not need to start wealthy to build wealth; understanding budgeting, debt payoff, and compound interest is enough to change your financial trajectory. Military benefits like the VA home loan, education benefits, and the new blended retirement plan can be powerful wealth tools—but only if service members actually know they exist and how to use them. Real estate remains one of the strongest paths to long‑term wealth for veterans, especially when combined with VA loan strategies, house hacking, and guided transition programs into the industry. Notable Quotes "Everybody thinks you need to have wealth to build wealth—but you can come from nothing and still build a multi‑million‑dollar business." "Congress basically banked on the lack of financial literacy with the blended retirement; if you don't understand it, you'll choose spending today over security tomorrow." "Every service member deserves to own a piece of the land they defend—hard stop." Connect with Travis Winfield: Website & book: traviswinfield.com Military Operated Real Estate: militaryoperatedrealestate.com ✖️✖️✖️✖️

In its duration, geographical reach, and ferocity, World War II was unprecedented, and the effects on those who fought it and their loved ones at home, immeasurable. The heroism of the men and women who won the war may be well documented, but we know too little about the pain and hardships the veterans endured upon their return home. As historian David Nasaw makes evident in his masterful recontextualization of these years, the veterans who came home to America were not the same people as those who had left for war, and the nation to which they returned was not the one they had left behind. Contrary to the prevailing narratives of triumph, here are the largely unacknowledged realities the veterans—and the nation—faced that radically reshaped our understanding of this era as a bridge to today. The Wounded Generation: Coming Home After World War II (Penguin, 2025) tells the indelible stories of the veterans and their loved ones as they confronted the aftershocks of World War II. Veterans suffering from recurring nightmares, uncontrollable rages, and social isolation were treated by doctors who had little understanding of PTSD. They were told that they were suffering from nothing more than battle fatigue and that time would cure it. When their symptoms persisted, they were given electro-shock treatments and lobotomies, while the true cause of their distress would remain undiagnosed for decades to come. Women who had begun working outside the home were pressured to revert to their prewar status as housewives dependent on their husbands. Returning veterans and their families were forced to double up with their parents or squeeze into overcrowded, substandard shelters as the country wrestled with a housing crisis. Divorce rates doubled. Alcoholism was rampant. Racial tensions heightened as White southerners resorted to violence to sustain the racial status quo. To ease the veterans' readjustment to civilian life, Congress passed the GI Bill, but Black veterans were disproportionately denied their benefits, and the consequences of this discrimination would endure long after the war was won. In this richly textured examination, Dr. Nasaw presents a complicated portrait of those who brought the war home with them, among whom were the period's most influential political and cultural leaders, including John F. Kennedy, Robert Dole, and Henry Kissinger; J. D. Salinger and Kurt Vonnegut; Harry Belafonte and Jimmy Stewart. Drawing from veterans' memoirs, oral histories, and government documents, Dr. Nasaw illuminates a hidden chapter of American history—one of trauma, resilience, and a country in transition. This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars. You can find Miranda's interviews on New Books with Miranda Melcher, wherever you get your podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

In its duration, geographical reach, and ferocity, World War II was unprecedented, and the effects on those who fought it and their loved ones at home, immeasurable. The heroism of the men and women who won the war may be well documented, but we know too little about the pain and hardships the veterans endured upon their return home. As historian David Nasaw makes evident in his masterful recontextualization of these years, the veterans who came home to America were not the same people as those who had left for war, and the nation to which they returned was not the one they had left behind. Contrary to the prevailing narratives of triumph, here are the largely unacknowledged realities the veterans—and the nation—faced that radically reshaped our understanding of this era as a bridge to today. The Wounded Generation: Coming Home After World War II (Penguin, 2025) tells the indelible stories of the veterans and their loved ones as they confronted the aftershocks of World War II. Veterans suffering from recurring nightmares, uncontrollable rages, and social isolation were treated by doctors who had little understanding of PTSD. They were told that they were suffering from nothing more than battle fatigue and that time would cure it. When their symptoms persisted, they were given electro-shock treatments and lobotomies, while the true cause of their distress would remain undiagnosed for decades to come. Women who had begun working outside the home were pressured to revert to their prewar status as housewives dependent on their husbands. Returning veterans and their families were forced to double up with their parents or squeeze into overcrowded, substandard shelters as the country wrestled with a housing crisis. Divorce rates doubled. Alcoholism was rampant. Racial tensions heightened as White southerners resorted to violence to sustain the racial status quo. To ease the veterans' readjustment to civilian life, Congress passed the GI Bill, but Black veterans were disproportionately denied their benefits, and the consequences of this discrimination would endure long after the war was won. In this richly textured examination, Dr. Nasaw presents a complicated portrait of those who brought the war home with them, among whom were the period's most influential political and cultural leaders, including John F. Kennedy, Robert Dole, and Henry Kissinger; J. D. Salinger and Kurt Vonnegut; Harry Belafonte and Jimmy Stewart. Drawing from veterans' memoirs, oral histories, and government documents, Dr. Nasaw illuminates a hidden chapter of American history—one of trauma, resilience, and a country in transition. This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars. You can find Miranda's interviews on New Books with Miranda Melcher, wherever you get your podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/history

In this episode of Govcon Giants, Eric sits down with Justin Vianello, CEO and equity partner at SkillStorm, to unpack how federal agencies and large integrators can stop recycling the same expensive talent and start building net-new cleared technologists. Justin shares his global journey from chartered accountant at PwC to scaling multiple companies and exiting, and how that experience led him to a "hire, train, deploy" model that develops new talent instead of bidding up the same résumés. He breaks down why traditional degree requirements are outdated, how certifications and apprenticeships are creating better ROI, and where the real opportunities are in cybersecurity, AI, cloud, and platform-specific roles like Salesforce, AWS, and Palantir. You'll hear Justin's take on why big consulting firms and government need to rethink workforce strategy, how SkillStorm pays people during training to focus on learning, and why soft skills—communication, leadership, and presentation—are the real differentiators in an AI-powered world. Eric and Justin also explore the gap between college promises and reality, the power of apprenticeships and military "cool"/GI Bill pathways, and what agency heads must do now if they want lower costs, better teams, and faster delivery on critical missions. Key Takeaways: Upskilling & reskilling are the real moat: certifications + platform skills (cloud, cyber, AI) + soft skills beat generic degrees in today's federal tech market. Custom-built teams > resume recycling: Skillstorm's "hire, train, deploy" model creates new cleared talent, reduces costs, and gets billable teams productive on day one. College is optional, not mandatory: for many roles, apprenticeships, technical certs, and on-the-job training now offer better ROI, especially for veterans and career changers. Learn more: https://federalhelpcenter.com/ https://govcongiants.org/  Encore Funding: https://www.encore-funding.com/  Join the bootcamp: https://govcongiants.org/bootcamp  Justin's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justin-vianello/  Justin's Twitter/X: https://x.com/justinvianello

What happens when the machinery of war is turned loose on the home front? In this episode of Built to Divide, host Dimitrius Lynch traces how the end of World War II, the GI Bill, and federal housing policy combined to build the largest middle-class expansion in U.S. history—while quietly deepening racial and economic division.Beginning with the surrender in Tokyo Bay and the massive demobilization of Operation Magic Carpet, Lynch follows millions of returning veterans back to a country racing to answer a simple question: Where will they all live? The answer reshaped the nation. FHA and VA loans, the rise of Fannie Mae, and the secondary mortgage market drove homeownership from 43% to nearly 62% by 1960, cementing the single-family house as the centerpiece of the American Dream.But this “great reset” came with a price. Lynch unpacks how zoning laws, redlining, racial covenants, and underwriting standards drew hard lines around who could belong in postwar suburbia. He contrasts the inclusive vision of Case Study Houses and Eichler Homes with the mass-produced segregation of Levittown, where black families were explicitly barred and violence met the first to cross the color line.From John Dean's warning about homeownership “booby traps” to the weaponization of media by business elites like Henry Regnery, this episode reveals how corporate interests used patriotism, racial fear, and Cold War anxiety to roll back New Deal gains and reframe government as the enemy. Along the way, Lynch explores how Fannie Mae's privatization, the birth of American Express credit cards, and the cultural glorification of the nuclear family turned housing into a speculative asset, a consumption engine, and a source of isolation.We end in Roseto, Pennsylvania, where a community's disappearing social bonds literally changed its heart attack rates—proof that how we house ourselves shapes how we live, connect, and survive.If you want to understand how postwar housing policy, suburbanization, zoning, media, and finance fused into a system that still determines who gets stability and who gets left behind, this episode shows how the board was reset—and who it was reset for.Episode Extras - Photos, videos, sources and links to additional content found during research. Episode Credits:Production in collaboration with Gābl MediaWritten & Executive Produced by Dimitrius LynchAudio Engineering and Sound Design by Jeff Alvarez

Keith discusses seven ways to get a lower mortgage rate, emphasizing the historical impact of the 1940s GI Bill on homeownership and wealth creation.  Caeli Ridge, founder of Ridge Lending Group, digs into smart tactics like adjustable rate mortgages, DSCR loans, and down payment options, plus insider tips on boosting your creditworthiness, timing your rate lock, and planning ahead so you can maximize your returns.  They also explore trends like 50-year mortgages and portable mortgages, and the benefits of FHA and VA loans for first-time buyers.  Resources: Want expert guidance on your next real estate investment or mortgage? Reach out to Ridge Lending Group for personalized support and a full range of loan options—whether you're a first-time buyer or seasoned investor. Visit ridgelendinggroup.com or call 855-74-RIDGE to take your next step! Episode Page: GetRichEducation.com/582 For access to properties or free help with a GRE Investment Coach, start here: GREmarketplace.com GRE Free Investment Coaching: GREinvestmentcoach.com Get mortgage loans for investment property: RidgeLendingGroup.com or call 855-74-RIDGE  or e-mail: info@RidgeLendingGroup.com Invest with Freedom Family Investments.  For predictable 10-12% quarterly returns, visit FreedomFamilyInvestments.com/GRE or text  1-937-795-8989 to speak with a freedom coach Will you please leave a review for the show? I'd be grateful. Search "how to leave an Apple Podcasts review"  For advertising inquiries, visit: GetRichEducation.com/ad Best Financial Education: GetRichEducation.com Get our wealth-building newsletter free— GREletter.com or text 'GRE' to 66866 Our YouTube Channel: www.youtube.com/c/GetRichEducation Follow us on Instagram: @getricheducation Complete episode transcript:   Keith Weinhold  0:01   Welcome to GRE. I'm your host. Keith Weinhold, seven ways you can get a lower mortgage interest rate. We'll break them down loan types available to you that you never heard of, and learn how the 1940s GI Bill shaped the mortgage that you get today on get rich education   Speaker 1  0:22   Since 2014 the powerful get rich education podcast has created more passive income for people than nearly any other show in the world. This show teaches you how to earn strong returns from passive real estate investing in the best markets without losing your time being a flipper or landlord. Show Host Keith Weinhold writes for both Forbes and Rich Dad advisors, and delivers a new show every week since 2014 there's been millions of listener downloads of 188 world nations. He has a list show guests include top selling personal finance author Robert Kiyosaki. Get rich education can be heard on every podcast platform, plus it has its own dedicated Apple and Android listener phone apps build wealth on the go with the get rich education podcast. Sign up now for the get rich education podcast, or visit get rich education.com   Corey Coates  1:07   You're listening to the show that has created more financial freedom than nearly any show in the world. This is get rich education. You Keith,   Keith Weinhold  1:23   welcome to GRE from the Romanian Black Sea to the Egyptian Red Sea and across 188 nations worldwide. I'm Keith Weinhold, and this is the indefatigable get rich education before we discuss the seven ways that you can get a lower mortgage rate and more in the 1940s before my dad was born, the GI Bill gave veterans returning from World War Two access to cheap home loans, and that single policy decision might have done more to shape the modern American Housing landscape than Anything else in the last 100 years. Think about it, millions of young men, almost kids, really had just spent the better part of their early adulthood in Europe or the Pacific. They came home, married their sweethearts, started families, and suddenly America had this booming demand for housing, but demand alone doesn't build homes. You also need money. You need access to credit, and that's where the GI Bill stepped in. It didn't just thank returning service members for their sacrifice. It handed them something way more powerful, the ability to buy a home with little money down a low interest rate and underwriting standards that would frankly look like a fantasy today, that access to credit sparked one of the biggest housing booms in American history. You had these entire suburbs that sprang up overnight, Levittown in New York, Lakewood in California. These were master planned communities, and they really became a blueprint for Post War America. We had the booming 50s, and this had a lot to do with it. Here's the part that most people don't understand. This wasn't just about housing. This was about wealth creation, because for better or worse, home ownership has been the primary wealth building vehicle for the American middle class these past 100 years, when you give millions of people a subsidized path into property ownership, you're not just giving them a roof. You're giving them equity appreciation, leverage, tax benefits. You're giving them the engine, this flywheel that spins up generational wealth in a lot of ways. The GI Bill is the earliest institutional example of what I at least tell you here on the show, real estate pays five ways. Now they didn't call it that in 1947 but that's exactly what it was. Veterans earned appreciation as suburbs grew. They had amortization working for them, they collected tax advantages. Inflation slowly eroded their fixed rate mortgage balances too. And here's the thing, these weren't even speculative investments. They were homes that they lived in. Now, of course, the GI bill wasn't perfect. It expanded opportunity for millions of people, but it excluded a lot of people too. Lenders and local governments often blocked black veterans and other minorities from accessing the same benefits. That's a whole story unto itself, but the takeaway for today is, when you combine demographic momentum with favorable financing, you can remake a nation, and that's why housing policy still matters today, which we'll get. Two shortly, when you change access to credit or just tweak it, you change the trajectory of families and markets for generations, and the GI Bill proved that. So when we talk about interest rates, affordability, supply shortages, or any of the high frequency housing data that we cover here, remember that the stories aren't just about numbers. They really are about people. They're about giving ordinary Americans the chance to build wealth the same way that those World War Two veterans did through ownership, stability and the quiet compound leverage, not compound interest. Compound leverage that real estate delivers over time.    Keith Weinhold  5:49   I'm bringing you today's show from, I suppose, a somewhat exotic location. I am inside Caesar's Palace, which is right near the very middle of the famed Las Vegas Strip, that's where I'm at. The hotel staff is always accommodative of the show setup. This might seem a little strange to you, because I'm not a gambler. The reason I'm here is that my brother lives 25 minutes away, and I've been with him during Thanksgiving. Next week, I'll bring you the show from Buffalo, New York, and then two weeks from now, I have something heart warming to tell you about that, and it is a real estate story. I'll be broadcasting the show from upstate Pennsylvania. I'll be there to visit my parents. My brother's also coming in from Nevada to be there. That's where the four of us, mom, dad, my brother and I will sit around the same dining room table in the same kitchen of the same home that my parents have lived in since the 1970s nothing has changed, and all four of us know our spots at the table. And actually, it's not even called the dining room table. It is the supper table, as my parents call it so, from flashy Caesar's Palace today to Buffalo and then to Appalachian simplicity in Pennsylvania, the stability and continuity of my parents living in the same home and four wine holds sitting around the table during the holidays, it is so rare. I imagine less than one or 2% of people can do this. I'm just profoundly grateful and proud of Kurt and Penny Weinhold for being the best, most stable parents I could have asked for. It's almost too much to ask, and if you don't have that in your life. Ah, you can do something about that. You can provide the same decency and stability for your children.    Keith Weinhold  7:50   Let's talk about seven proven ways you can get a lower mortgage rate with this week's terrific guest. Though, we'll focus on investment properties. A lot of this applies to primary residences as well.   Keith Weinhold  8:07   We are joined by the founder of the lender that's created more financial freedom for real estate investors than any other mortgage originator in the nation, the eponymous Ridge lending group. And though that sounds impressive, my gosh, she didn't even need that introduction for you the listener, because she's one of the most recurrent guests in show history. Welcome back to GRE Caeli Ridge,   Caeli Ridge  8:30   I am delighted to be here as always, Keith, thank you for your support and acknowledgement. I love what you do, and I'm hoping that I can bring more value today to your listeners in what it is that we do, educating the masses, right?   Keith Weinhold  8:42   You've been doing that here for about 10 years. And yes, we're talking about a woman with a reputation for writing emails in all caps, yet still maintains a great relationship with everybody. I mean, congrats, shaile. I couldn't possibly pull that off myself.   Caeli Ridge  8:58   Thank you, Keith. And you know, I'm going to stay by my all caps, man, it's a speed thing. It all boils down to the number of seconds in the day that I can just move quickly through an email. Yeah, I love my all caps.   Keith Weinhold  9:09   Apparently recipients are still replying, well, you can get a lower mortgage rate in at least seven ways. You can get an adjustable rate mortgage, do a midweek lock in, negotiate seller credits. Have a high credit score. Do a two one buy now, which is kind of old school, but some home builders are using it boost your DTI or buy now, not later. Those are some of the strategies for lowering your mortgage rate. What are your thoughts with regard to that?   Caeli Ridge  9:39   I think all of those are viable. I would just say on the adjust for a mortgage. The pushback I would give there is, is that for residential property, specifically, single family, up to four units, we are not finding that spread between the arm and a 30 year fix. We've been the industry as a whole, secondary specifically been on the inverted yield. Now this gets a little tough. Nickel, and I won't go down that rabbit hole, but 08, 09, the housing and lending crash created an environment within secondary markets where an inverted yield has made a 30 year fixed mortgage more favorable in the rate department. Now that's not always going to be the case. I am a huge fan of the adjustable, but what would work right now is an adjustable with the all in one not to take too much time on that topic, but that would be an adjust rate mortgage that I think would save interest or reduce the rate of which interest is accruing,   Keith Weinhold  10:30   the all in one loan, which we discussed extensively back at the beginning of this year here on the show. Long term, though, I have seen adjustable rate mortgages work for a lot of people, because really, the compelling proposition of the arm is that it guarantees that you get a lower rate in the near term, and yet there's only a chance that you're going to have a higher rate in the long term   Caeli Ridge  10:53   and further. Let's I mean, let's dissect that a little bit. I am a huge proponent. I love an adjustable rate mortgage when the arm is pricing a half or a full percentage point plus over a fixed especially for non owner occupied and the reason for that is, and this is statistically speaking, feel free to look this up, guys, the average shelf life of a mortgage for an investment property is about five years. Great point, right? And we know that if that's the case, right, we're refinancing to harvest equity. We're refinancing maybe to reduce an interest rate from where the market was before, et cetera, et cetera. So that would be the first thing I would say. And then also remember, you guys the first 10 years of an amortized mortgage, 30 year fixed, amortized mortgage, how much of that payment is going to the principal? Because people will often push back by saying, well, either an interest only, or an adjustable and what happens if it changes or it goes up? Most of your payment is going to the interest anyway, and that reset to harvest equity. Borrowed funds are non taxable. We always say that, right? I think it's fully justified. So I love an arm, I just don't know, in comparison to a 30 year fixed today, like a five year ARM versus a 30 year fixed we are in a place that it makes sense, but normally, to your point, absolutely. Fan   Keith Weinhold  12:06   that spread needs to widen for the arm to make more sense. What about doing a mid week rate lock in? Is that a thing?    Caeli Ridge  12:13   Yeah. And you know, I don't have any empirical evidence here. Okay, I don't have any data points that actually prove this, except for 25 years in the business and locking loans every day of my life. There's something about a Monday and a Friday. And I have some conspiracy theories. I don't know that. I it's necessary to share them here, but midweek locks tend to be more favorable in both points and interest rate than you'll find on a Friday and a Monday. I think largely it has to do with, you know, the stock exchanges shutting down for the weekend, right? You got a Friday, you got two days in between. You got foreign markets, and all the things that can explode and happen during that amount of time. So I think they hedge a little bit. So on Friday, going into the weekend, I think that there's something about that and why interest rates are a little less favorable. And then Monday, of course, coming off the weekend, similarly, maybe there's some truth to that too.   Keith Weinhold  13:02   Now, negotiating seller credits has really been a trend to help with affordability. Tell us about specifically what you're seeing there, what's common.   Caeli Ridge  13:11   So we're talking to investors. I can tell you that the loan products you guys are going to have access to are going to cap you, okay, you're going to cap at, per guideline, 2% of the purchase price. Okay, remember that your points that you're paying when you get into locking an interest rate are going to be calculated on the loan size, all right. So the first thing to know is seller paid closing costs, maximum is going to be 2% per underwriting guidelines. That 2% is based on your purchase price. Anything that you're paying points for is going to be on the loan balance, the loan size, so there's going to be a little extra there for you that can contribute or can pay for some other closing costs, right, depending on the numbers. Now, if you're smart enough, or lucky enough, or whatever, the market is viable enough that you can negotiate more than 2% from the seller to pay towards closing costs, you're going to be limited on what you can do on the loan side. But let's say that you go and you've negotiated 4% seller will pay 4% towards your closing costs. Then in that case, you can reduce, you got the two points that you're allowed per guideline. And then you can reduce the purchase price by the difference you don't want to leave that money on the table.   Keith Weinhold  14:15   That's how it's done. And then there's just simply having a higher credit score. What's the highest credit score that really helps you get the lowest mortgage rate for both primary residences and non owner occupied properties. Loan product   Caeli Ridge  14:29   type dependent. But I would say overall, 760 and above is kind of that threshold. There are products that go 780 maybe even on the rare occasion, 800 and above. If I had to pick a number as the absolute pinnacle, I'm going to go 780    Keith Weinhold  14:41   All right, so having a credit score above those thresholds really doesn't help get you a lower interest rate. It's really just a little flex that you've got an 811, credit score, or whatever it is. Now the two, one buy down. That's something that we used to see long ago. A few home builders are bringing it back. And what that does it allow? Homebuyers to pay a lower interest rate for the first two years with the seller covering the difference, and that allows the seller to get their price. They don't have to lower the price of the home at all. But the two one buy down, and you see that written, two, one that has been employed more recently. Tell us about that.    Caeli Ridge  15:18   Well, the builders are struggling in some cases, right? The affordability buzzword is all over the place. So they've had to get creative and find ways in which they can move their inventory. So I think they've done a good job at kind of shaving off some of their margins to satisfy or improve the terms for the consumer. So I like the two. One, if you can get it   Keith Weinhold  15:37   now, one can boost their DTI as well their debt to income ratio and Taylor. When we've talked about that before, we've usually talked about reducing your debts in order to improve your DTI. However, a lot of people don't think about the fact that, oh, well, you can increase your income that lowers your DTI to help you qualify. So tell us what is the max DTI that you can have   Caeli Ridge  16:00   maximum debt to income ratio, in most cases on a full dock loan is going to be 50% now, depending on the type of income that you earn or that you've demonstrated, how you calculate that can get a little bit tricky. But if you're just a straight w2 wage earner, we don't have, you know, commissions or bonuses or anything that we consider variable income, then you just take your gross income times 50% whatever that number is, all of your liabilities on the credit report, we do not count ordinary living expenses like food and gas and utilities and cell phone bills. It's the minimum payments on the credit report. As long as whatever that add up is fits within that 50% you're good to go.    Keith Weinhold  16:37   Now, when it comes to improving our DTI to get a lower mortgage rate, I tend to think it's easier to knock out some debts to improve your DTI. But what about the other side of it? What about increasing your income to improve your DTI, lower your mortgage rate and qualify? Can you talk about some of the strategies for increasing your income with respect to DTI?    Caeli Ridge  17:02   Absolutely. And the biggest one, I think that we probably want to focus on most is going to be on a schedule E, right? That's the one that you're going to have more control over. So when we talk about rental income and how we might be able to boost that first, it might be important to share that there are two ways in underwriting that we will calculate or quantify rental income. The first way is called the acquisition year formula. I'll give you that in just a second. It's very easy, but the way I think we focus on here, because acquisition year is going to be what it is, you're going to have very little ability to manipulate or change that once our rental properties fall on our tax return, specifically the Schedule E of a federal tax return, you as the taxpayer or the borrower are going to have some access to maximize or increase the income, or, let's actually get a little bit more granular there to maximize the gain or minimize the loss, by means of depreciation, maybe a cost seg, maybe we make sure that one time, extraordinary expenses are demonstrated on the tax return in the appropriate way so that underwriting can add those things back. So I know that this sounds technical, but the scheduling is the way that I would say is the easiest for an investor to maximize income, reduce debt to income ratio. And I will close by saying that ridge lending, I think one of our most valued value adds is the ability to help our clients look at their draft tax returns on an annual basis and present them with, Hey, listen, Mr. Jones, if you file this way, this draft tax return, if it files this way, this is what it means to your debt to income ratio. Here's my advice, right? We go into a lot of depth there with our clients.   Keith Weinhold  18:39   That is a smart, long term planning piece that most mortgage companies are not going to give you. They're not going to be forward looking, looking out for your next three years of growing your income property portfolio. And shortly, we'll talk about a way for you to qualify loans where you don't have to show tax returns or W twos or pay stubs. But while we're talking about how to get a lower mortgage rate and some creative ways to do that, I brought up, buy now, not later. And what do I mean by that? What I mean is say, properties appreciate even 3% over time. Buying now, I mean that is going to net you more equity if you buy now rather than waiting, than it would in the savings from a rate drop, when you look at the appreciation run up, however, if rates go up, then you get both the lower price and the lower rate by buying now, not later.   Caeli Ridge  19:32   And I would add to that, we have to remember that in addition to a very modest 3% in the home appreciation, we should be appreciating our rents at even a modest 2% a year, right? Depending on where you are, et cetera. I know that there's exceptions to the rule. And then finally, we got to add in that tax benefit, what you're going to get in your deductions, et cetera, et cetera.   Keith Weinhold  19:51   Yeah, great point. Well, I brought up seven ways that you can get a lower mortgage rate. Can you share a few more with us? Some common ones? Because I know. That almost everyone that calls in there wants to inquire about mortgage rate as well.    Caeli Ridge  20:03   Everybody wants, yep, everybody wants to talk about the rate, despite my vervet opposition to say, do the math. Do the math. Do the math. You know, the easiest one there would be buying down the rate. I'm going to try and formulate an example. Let's say you've got a really high wage earner and in the thick of their earning years, and they're trying to prepare for retirement down the road. It's a longer term burn. They desperately need tax deductions, and the deal that they're looking at, yeah, it's okay, but they want some extra expenses on the Schedule E, maybe they buy the rate down by three even 4% because points on an investment loan transaction are tax deductible, so that might be something, and they obviously benefit from the lower interest rate. Now I may push back on this, and I think again, I know I sound like a broken record here, but we really need to do the math. What are we getting versus what are we giving up to get a 6% or five and a half percent interest rate? What does that mean in real, tangible cost, and what's that? Break even? It's actually a fairly simple calculation. When you just divide the difference in what you're getting versus what you're paying for, and that'll give you the number of months that it takes to recapture the incentive versus the expense. But that would be the easiest one. Keith, I would say buying down points, using paying additional points to get that lower interest rate,   Keith Weinhold  21:20   buying down your rate. It could feel good in the short term, but it's often not the best long term or even intermediate term move when you do the math, as you always like to say, well, you the listener here, you know that you can qualify for mortgage loans, for rental properties without needing a w2 without needing a pay stub and without even needing to show tax returns, because you need all those things for a conventional loan, but for a DSCR loan, debt service coverage ratio, you don't. So talk to us about the pros and cons of a DSCR loan versus a conventional   Caeli Ridge  21:53   loan. Okay? And I've got a hook here too, because I think the listeners are gonna be very, very pleased to hear at the end of this statement, what's happening with DSCR in conjunction or comparison, rather to the conventional so DSCR everybody means debt service, coverage ratio. It's a very simple formula. We are going to take the gross rents and divide it by the principal and interest and taxes and insurance and association. If it applies, that's it.   Keith Weinhold  22:18   $1,000 in gross rents, $800 in p i, t i, that yields a DSCR of 1.25 Correct?   Caeli Ridge  22:25   Yes, you're absolutely right. The one that I use as I, just to keep it simple, is 1000 rents, 1000 piti. That's a 1.0 right? As long as the gross rents are equal or greater than the p i, t i, you're going to be in a position to get the more favorable rates. Now that's not to say that we can't go below a 1.0 ratio. You can actually have a property, we have products that will allow the DSCR to be a point seven five. That would mean, in this scenario, if you had rents, gross rents of 750, and the piti was 1000 you can actually get that loan done. That is allowed. The rate gets a little bit hairy. So more often than not, we're at the 1.0 and above. So this is just a really great way for investors who are either recently self employed, maybe they're adjusted gross, they just write everything off for reasons that you can imagine. Why? Right? They don't want to pay the taxes. It could be 100 different reasons. The DSCR option is such a great solution to provide a 30 year fixed mortgage same same similar leverage, if not sometimes even better than a Fannie Freddie, than a conventional loan, you can usually leverage a little bit more, in some cases, on a DSCR like a two to four, for example, two to four unit residential property, Fannie Freddie, they kind of cut those loan to values a little bit, and the DSCR loans don't care about that. So you can get the same leverage as a single family would in a DSCR. The only other primary difference is these DSCR loans are going to come with prepayment penalties. Typically, the standard is about three years, but we're usually not refinancing in the first 36 months. Anyway, if you know that that's applicable to you, then you'd have to buy the prepay down or out, which you can do otherwise. DSCR is amazing. Oh, and I'll give you the little hook here. So something I have observed this is maybe very recent 4550 ish days, the margin for interest rate difference between conventional and DSCR is really starting to narrow. DSCR products are really performing well, and that interest rate improvements that we've been seeing for those products is not far off from what the Fannie Freddie's are, and I've even seen examples where DSCR beats a 30 year fixed Fannie Freddie rate. Now those are for the higher loan amounts. I can explain if you want, but otherwise, that's good news.   Keith Weinhold  24:36   Okay, this is really good news. It's a time in the cycle where dscrs could very well make sense for you without that huge documentation Shakedown that you need with W twos and pay stubs and everything else. There are a lot of nascent trends in the mortgage industry, and we're trying to separate some of them from being rumors, from being something that can truly happen. We're talking about 50 year mortgages and poor. Affordable mortgages. More on that. When we come back, you're listening to get rich education. Our guest is Ridge lending Group President, Chaley Ridge   Keith Weinhold  25:07   You know, most people think they're playing it safe with their liquid money, but they're actually losing savings accounts and bonds don't keep up when true inflation eats six or 7% of your wealth. Every single year, I invest my liquidity with FFI freedom family investments in their flagship program. Why fixed 10 to 12% returns have been predictable and paid quarterly. There's real world security backed by needs based real estate like affordable housing, Senior Living and health care. Ask about the freedom flagship program. When you speak to a freedom coach there, and that's just one part of their family of products, they've got workshops, webinars and seminars designed to educate you before you invest, start with as little as 25k and finally, get your money working as hard as you do. Get started at Freedom family investments.com/gre, or send a text now it's 1-937-795-8989, yep, text their freedom. Coach, directly, again. 1-937-795-8989,   Keith Weinhold  26:18   The same place where I get my own mortgage loans is where you can get yours. Ridge lending group and MLS, 42056, they provided our listeners with more loans than anyone because they specialize in income properties. They help you build a long term plan for growing your real estate empire with leverage, start your pre qual and even chat with President Chaley Ridge personally, while it's on your mind, start at Ridge lending group.com, that's Ridge lending group.com   Dana Dunford  26:50   this is hemlanes co founder, Dana Dunford. Listen to get rich education with Keith Weinhold, and don't quit your Daydream.    Keith Weinhold  26:58   welcome back to get rich education. We're talking with Ridge lending Group President and Founder, Chaley Ridge about how you can get lower mortgage rates, and also about some trends in the industry, separating what's really a rumor in what could really happen squaring on 50 year mortgages and portable mortgages, those are both things only being discussed by the administration to help with affordability. FHFA Director Bill Pulte created some jarring news recently when he publicized this. What are your thoughts on the 50 year mortgage?    Caeli Ridge  27:39   You know, on a primary residence basis, I'm not so sure I need to maybe put some more thought into that. But for an investment property, I love it. Man, anything to keep that payment down so that, because, remember, we talked about earlier in the show here the percentage of mortgages, let's just use our 30 year fixed for a second that for a rental property that start on day one and then stroke a check 360 times later to pay that to zero. Is a fraction of a percent right? We are refinancing these things. We are selling them and doing 1031 exchanges. So anything that can keep my cash flow higher and my payment lower, I am all for it. Now, the people that push back and say, Well, I want to pay off my mortgage in 15 years. I don't want to pay extra interest, you are welcome to do that. So there's a second piece to this that I think is equally as important as maximizing cash flow, and that is your qualification. All right, if this comes to pass, and right now, it could just be noise, okay, and I'm speaking specifically for investment property, but if this is available to us, the debt to income ratio component, because think about it like this. So I'm going to keep using my 15 year and my 30 year, because that's kind of what we understand. The payment difference between a 30 year 360 month and a 15 year 180 month can be substantial depending on the loan size. I mean, it can be hundreds and hundreds of dollars for the individual that is dead set and say, I don't want to pay the higher interest. I want to pay these things off. We may have arguments about that whole strategy to begin with, but overall, if they still want to do that and that's their decision, Fine, take the 30 year fixed payment. Take the 30 year fixed mortgage. Apply the difference. You can figure out that payment difference very easily. Apply it religiously. Every month. You will cross the finish line in about 15.4 years. Download an amortization calculator online. You can find them everywhere. Plug in your numbers, and you'll see what I'm talking about. If you were to do this, let's say the difference is 200 bucks a month, and you send it in every month with your 30 year fixed mortgage payment, you will cross the finish line to pay that thing off in about 15.4 years. So yes, you'll pay a few extra months of interest. But what have you done to your qualifications, right, your payment now on your debt to income ratio, when we're looking at this thing for a future optimization, never take the shorter term amortization, ever, ever, ever, you won't pay the higher interest that the 30 year or the 50 Year will probably come with because you've accelerated the payoff so long, if that's your choice. Now for everybody else that really wants. To maximize that cash flow. And they get that, they're going to be refinancing this every five, six, whatever it is, years take it, man, I am all for the longer term amortization on a rental.   Keith Weinhold  30:10   I agree with you. I even like the 50 year on a primary residence, but yeah, Chaley, right here on the show, several weeks before Bill Pulte made the announcement, I actually talked about the 50 year mortgage and compared it to the 30 and the reasons that I like it because I knew there was a chance it could be coming, since this administration is trying to do so much to help out with affordability, people buy based on a payment, not a price that lowers the payment. A 50 year mortgage helps you benefit from inflation, and there are a lot of other advantages that have to do with that, although you probably are going to pay a higher interest rate on a 50 than you would a 30. And you know, Chaley, when the 30 year mortgage had its Advent just after World War Two, I'm going to guess 75 years ago, people were having this same conversation like, oh, 30 years, my gosh, you're never going to pay off the home. And really, that's not what it's about.    Caeli Ridge  31:01   Not at all, not at all. And remember, you guys, I would encourage everybody listening to this to actually go get that amortization table and see how much interest is baked in and how it is applied and paid. It is the back end of any of these amortized mortgages where the principal actually starts to get applied in a meaningful way. The 50 year mortgage, or the longer term amortization is a huge advantage. I'm speaking for investors. Mostly. I love it.   Keith Weinhold  31:26   Some people say, are you nuts? Look at how much more interest you're paying over the life of the loan on a 50 year mortgage versus a 30 year mortgage. We already touched on that you're not going to keep that loan for the life of it, and if you just take the difference from the lower payment that a 50 Year gives you, and invest that in 8% return, you are going to crush 2x to 3x oftentimes, what the paltry interest savings are over several decades,    Caeli Ridge  31:26   and somebody else is making that payment right. We have tenants that are responsible   Keith Weinhold  31:47    100% and then there's something that I don't know if portable mortgages would fly. And what this means is that when borrowers move, they could keep the rate, keep their term and keep their lender, presumably for the new home you might have seen it in the news. You the listener that Fannie May remove the minimum credit score requirements from desktop underwriting. And Chaley, I think you let me know elsewhere that those changes don't affect non owner occupied, but of course, it could affect the broader housing market in pricing. What are your thoughts about lowering the credit score requirement   Caeli Ridge  32:28   so similar to the portable stuff, until it really reaches mainstream and it affects the non owner occupied I'm not deep diving into those things. The basis of it, though, is, is that, yeah, they're removing that minimum credit score requirement from a du underwrite that stands for desktop underwriter, as you said, that is Fannie Mae's sophisticated, automated underwriting system, and I think it's just going to give more eligibility to lower income households and people trying to become homeowners that have found the barrier for entry very restrictive because They have credit issues.    Keith Weinhold  33:00   Well, let's talk about FHA and VA loans, something that we have rarely, if ever touched on. Our listeners know that I started out making my first ever property of any kind, an FHA loan with three and a half percent down on a fourplex, living in one unit, renting out the other three. Tell us about some trends there in FHA and VA loans   Caeli Ridge  33:21   we actually just did house hack campaign. We did a webinar on it, co living, all those different ways in which, you know, the younger generation, especially, and this is true for anyone. I don't want to pigeonhole it, can get themselves into home ownership and propel them into the real estate investing as an asset class. I am such a big fan of this model, in this strategy, for anybody that's interested and willing to kind of coal mingle or habitat, like you did a four Plex at three and a half percent down, you've got three tenants that are making your mortgage payment. VA, likewise, any of the Gubby loans, which include VA, FHA, USDA, you can get high, high leverage and up to four units. So I'm a huge fan of that. And then the CO living is another thing that I think is not quite mainstream, but I think it's gaining steam    Keith Weinhold  34:09   for those that don't know what we're talking about, you can use an FHA loan with a three and a half percent down payment, as long as you live in one of the units, your credit score can even be pretty low, and you can do that with a single family home, duplex, triplex or fourplex. You can get those same benefits with a VA loan and zero down   Caeli Ridge  34:29   USDA also zero down if you're in the right zip code. How does one qualify for a USDA loan? You know, there's a website I would have you check out. We don't do a ton of those. We have the ability, of course, but there's income restrictions and all of this. They've got, actually, a pretty slick website where you can go online, type in the zip code, make sure it's in a rural area, what your income is. There's all these inputs, and it'll tell you if you'd be a candidate for it. But yeah, it's good. Rates zero down. I like the product.   Keith Weinhold  34:56   Well, there have been a lot of newsy items when it comes. Comes to mortgages. Caeli and I think we should drop back before we're done here and talk about the basics. Just basically, what does it take to get a non owner occupied loan for residential income property?   Caeli Ridge  35:12   You know, there's so many options for investors today that I would say that if you have access to and even with what we just said, house hack. I mean, listen, if you've got 3% down, three and a half percent down, you can probably assure yourself you can get into a property. And if you can't qualify from a income debt to income ratio perspective, you've got three or four other models, which include DSCR, bank statement loans, asset depletion loans, overall, I would say that this is an individual conversation. Chances are you could probably qualify today, and if you can't, one of the things that I love about Ridge lending is, is that we're going to help you plant the seeds and show you how to qualify. If it takes you three months or six months or a year, that's what we do.   Keith Weinhold  35:56   Yeah, we've definitely noticed the difference here and that you do help that investor with long term planning? I do my own loans at ridge, and my assistant here at GRE she recently got the ball rolling with you in there at Ridge as well.   Caeli Ridge  36:11   Brenda, yes, yes, that was fantastic. We are very looking forward to helping her.   Keith Weinhold  36:16   Well, you know, chili, I've come here with a lot of questions that I had. What's the question No one's asking you, but you wish that they would.   Caeli Ridge  36:25   I think it probably would be for me, planning. You know, we get a lot of questions about interest rates. That's kind of top of mind for everybody. More about planning, having people that are interested in real estate as an asset class and an investment have the conversations to say, this is where I'm at today. This is where I'd like to be in five years. Tell me how to get there, and we can have those high level conversations that really sort of reverse engineer it and say, Okay, this is where you stand today from an underwriting perspective. This is where you need to be, and here's how we're going to get you there. It's always about planting seeds and creating those roadmaps, as I like to say so I would say that that would be top of my list.   Keith Weinhold  37:02   That's exactly what you do in there, and that's really what sets you apart. Well, remind our audience how they can get a hold of ridge.   Caeli Ridge  37:11   Yes, there's a couple ways. Of course, our website, Ridge lending group.com Please email us info at Ridge lending group.com and then call us toll free. 855-747-4343, 855-74-RIDGE  is an easy way to remember.   Keith Weinhold  37:25   It's really been valuable this time. Chaley, thanks so much for coming back onto the show.   Caeli Ridge  37:29    Appreciate you. Keith.   Keith Weinhold  37:36   Oh yeah, good pointed info from Chaley over at Ridge, I think that the important things for you to remember from our conversation is that, gosh, isn't it so glaring like in your face that you have options. All these options when you engage with a lender, you're going to learn that there are probably loan programs that you've never even heard of, some that you might fit into and even if you aren't adding more property, if you're not in that phase, there are ways that you can take your existing loans and consolidate them or refinance them, or use them to produce a tax free windfall for yourself and the US is often the envy of other world nations with the flexibility that we have here in our mortgage market. I've never known anyone that does this better than Chaley and her team. I mean, they are real difference makers. If you learn something on today's show, hey, Don't hoard the good stuff. Engage in the nicest kind of wealth redistribution. Tap the Share button right now and share this on social, or text this episode to one friend who'd appreciate it. That would mean the world to me. I'm your host. Keith Weinhold, don't quit your Daydream.   Speaker 2  38:57   Nothing on this show should be considered specific personal or professional advice, please consult an appropriate tax, legal, real estate, financial or business professional for individualized advice. Opinions of guests are their own. Information is not guaranteed. All investment strategies have the potential for profit or loss. The host is operating on behalf of get rich Education LLC, exclusively   Keith Weinhold  39:25   The preceding program was brought to you by your home for wealth building, getricheducation.com  

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