Podcasts about Margin

What does it look like to truly make your faith your own? Some of us may have grown up as a pastor's kid or in a devoted churchgoing family, while others pursued God on their own without the support of family or friends. No matter what your background looks like, everyone has their own path toward making the decision to have their own personal relationship with Jesus. At six years old, Lisa Whittle made that decision. Ever since then, she's been living out her faith by putting Jesus first every single morning. Join hosts Eryn Eddy Adkins and Vivian Mabuni for this inspiring God Hears Her conversations as they gain insight from Lisa about how to keep Jesus above everything else.  Guest Bio: Lisa Whittle is the bestselling author of multiple books and Bible studies, including Jesus Over Everything and her latest, Body & Soul. She is a sought-out Bible teacher for her wit and bold, pragmatic approach. She is the founder of several online communities, a seasoned book and ministry coach, and host of the popular Jesus Over Everything podcast. She's a wife, mom, lover of laughter, good food, and the Bible, and she is a self-professed feisty work in progress.  Notes and Quotes:  “That's been the question my entire life: Who do I love more, me or Jesus?” —Lisa Whittle  “I've had to make many moments of decisions to choose God over and over again.” —Lisa Whittle  “It's a daily complacency and not choosing God that leads us down a different path.” —Lisa Whittle  “Anything that I have felt compelled to give up is because there has been a blessing on the other end. There's nothing that we could give up on this earth that is better than knowing Christ.” —Lisa Whittle  “We either believe that the prize is heaven or not.” —Lisa Whittle  “The reality is that busyness kills relationships more than anything else, and this applies to our relationship with Christ. Margin is what we need the most to be able to hear the voice of God.” —Lisa Whittle  “God really did a work in me to show me how my spiritual formation had been through the hurts and the healing through the body of Christ.” —Lisa Whittle  “I don't need to know where God is because He knows exactly where I am.” —Lisa Whittle  Verses:  Job 23  Related Episodes:  GHH Ep 13 – Enjoying and Exploring Scripture with Meghan Larissa Good: https://godhearsher.org/podcast/enjoying-and-exploring-scripture/ GHH Ep 131 - Jesus, Be My Peace with Sharon Hodde Miller: https://godhearsher.org/podcast/jesus-be-my-peace/ GHH Ep 134 – Dwelling with the Lord with Sandra Byrd: https://godhearsher.org/podcast/dwelling-with-the-lord/  Links:  God Hears Her website: https://go.odb.org/sign-up-ghh  Subscribe to the God Hears Her YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@GodHearsHerODBM Connect with Lisa Whittle: https://www.lisawhittle.com/ He's Still Good by Katie Dietz: https://godhearsher.org/shop/hes-still-good/  

Keith explores how real estate strategies have shifted from the 1980s to today and explains why investors need to adapt deal structures to changing interest rates, lending conditions, and market cycles.  He highlights current opportunities in new construction and builder rate buydowns, along with the long-term benefits of fixed-rate debt.  Keith is joined by economic futurist and author Richard Vague, who challenges conventional beliefs about inflation and interest rates and explains how government intervention, war, and supply constraints shape asset prices and leverage decisions. Together, they provide a big-picture framework for understanding how today's macro environment affects real estate investing decisions. Episode Page: GetRichEducation.com/621 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  FAMILY to 66866  Join Mid South Home Buyers' one-time, free live webinar featuring Keith Weinhold on September 30 at GetRichEducation.com/MidSouth to learn how Memphis' economic expansion could create new real estate investment opportunities, and have your questions answered in real time. 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   Welcome to GRE. I'm your host Keith Weinhold. Learn how dramatically real estate has changed from the 1980s through the late 2020s. We'll be sure that your approach is changing with it. Then a great guest and I discuss how war and future calamities will affect mortgage rates, inflation, and your real estate today on Get Rich Education. What if I told you that one of America's strongest cash flow real estate markets is also becoming the new brains and brawn behind AI? That city is Memphis, believe it or not. In September 30th, we're going to show you why the smart money is paying attention now, along with an investing opportunity you won't want to miss. Join me, Terry Kerr and Matthew Van Horn of Mid South Home Buyers, the largest turnkey company in Memphis with more than 6,000 homes under management, for a free live webinar, the likes of which I've never done before. We're going to look at what billions in new investment could mean for jobs, housing demand, neighborhood appreciation, and your portfolio. Everyone who attends live will also get exclusive access to the best deal terms Mid South has ever offered. Reserve your free seat at getricheducation.com/midsouth. Again, that September 30th. Don't say we didn't tell you. Save your spot at getricheducation.com/midsouth.   Speaker 1  1:35   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  1:51   Welcome to GRE from Cambridge, England, to Cambridge, Massachusetts, and across 188 world nations. I'm Keith Weinhold. You're inside Get Rich Education. You could be doing anything with your time. I'm grateful that you choose to listen to me every week. You know, real estate investors sometimes say, "Ah, there aren't any deals anymore. What they usually mean is the deal structure that they learned five years ago stopped working. There are always opportunities in real estate, but your approach changes with interest rates, lending standards, inventory, construction, government policy, and just the overall economic cycle. The best investors don't wait for yesterday's market to return. That's like someone still hoping for Blockbuster Video Store to reopen. They identify what today's market is offering instead. Just consider this historic retrospective on real estate investing from the Reagan administration to today, in 1981, the 30-year mortgage rate peaked above 18.6%. I mean, just imagine proudly telling your friends that you locked in at 17% before rates went higher. That mortgage needed its own defibrillator. By 1984, rates were still near 16%. The strategy then, the approach, was for a buyer to assume the existing owner's lower rate mortgage that they locked in a few years earlier, perhaps in the late 70s, that's how you got a good deal, assuming that existing owners lower-rate mortgage. You can't do that so easily today.   Keith Weinhold  3:50   By the late 80s and early 90s, the opportunity shifted from assuming attractive debt to buying distressed properties. The S and L crisis was upon us. Savings and loan failed lenders found themselves holding piles of distressed real estate, so investors bought foreclosures and REOs at discounts. They improved neglected buildings and then they repositioned them for income. You probably know that REO stands for real estate owned on a bank's balance sheet. All REO means is bank-owned property, but that's what you did. You found those, and then you scooped up a deal that way. As the 1990s progressed, interest rates declined, and loans also became really easy to obtain. We were tilting into the loosey-goosey easy lending environment. In the 90s, it was popular to buy an undervalued property, renovate it, raise the rent, and refinance it based on the improved value. That process later got a buzzy acronym and became known as the Burr strategy: buy, rehab, rent, refinance, repeat. By 2005, financing got more creative. This is when I was a new real estate investor. I remember obtaining what were known as 8015 five combo loans. This meant an 80% first mortgage, 15% second mortgage, and 5% down payment. You remember those? If you've been around for a while, you do. And see, this way you could avoid paying PMI, and you could control property with an astounding 20 to one leverage ratio due to that 5% down payment, but soon enough lending just got absolutely too creative and easy. The quiet lending party turned into a boisterous kegger, delivering the 2008 financial. crisis, and pretty soon I could no longer get any loans. From 2009 through the early 2010s, you could buy foreclosures and short sales at enormous discounts if you could find the loan.   Keith Weinhold  6:20   Financing was tough, but prices were super low. It might have even made sense to pay cash at that time. Fear was everywhere right after the global financial crisis. I mean, it really took courage to act when others were hiding under the bed. By 2020 and 2021, the opportunity changed from cheap property to cheap money. Mortgage rates dropped below an absurd 3% as a result of the COVID pandemic. You could lock up extraordinarily cheap debt for less than the inflation rate, and then let inflation nibble away at it like Pac-Man. Of course, a lot of us are still benefiting from that today, but that opportunity is long gone now. But it doesn't mean that deals are gone today. Where's the opportunity? One of the best ones is often found in new construction, large build. have got to keep moving their inventory as they build these homes because they have got to keep their crews busy. An unsold house for a builder-I mean-that produces as much income as an unplugged Bitcoin miner. Rather than make conspicuous price reductions, builders use their financial muscle to buy down mortgage rates for you, often in the 5% range or even lower.   Keith Weinhold  7:52   Builders might also offer you closing cost assistance, upgraded finishes, or other incentives that a single resale seller just can't match. So from the Reagan administration to today, over 45 years, the winning strategy just keeps morphing. It started out back then as assume the loan, over to buy distress, then to renovate and refi, then it was a creative financing wave, and then cheap debt, and today take the builders buy down. That's where we are. The mistake is deciding in advance what a deal is supposed to look like. The best deal structure changes, and of course, it's going to change again. The investor who keeps fighting the last war is always going to conclude that the opportunity has disappeared, but it hasn't. It's just changed clothing. Still, though, today's new purchases now-they're not as good as the deals that they were five years ago, but the best investors keep investing. They keep adding to their portfolio. It's what they've always done. Absolutely zero winning investors that are successful over time look back and say things like, "I didn't add anything to my portfolio during that 10-year span for this or that reason, the market changes, and you've got to adapt with it. That's a way to think about it. Take solace in knowing a few things. Deal structure changes over time are inevitable. And larger picture, you are investing in a product that is sustainable residential real estate in the form of long-term rentals. These entry-level properties are a scarce asset that people are going to continue to need. I mean, that's what we do here. Just compare. To the fads that we avoid around here, like NFTs, metaverse real estate, which we discussed on the show a few years ago, but said is highly dangerous, eye buying, value add apartment syndications, SPACs, or how about ICO funded altcoins? We don't chase the latest hot thing here at GRE. It is about what's sustainable, necessary, and cannot be easily disrupted by AI, and that's one reason that Get Rich Education is still standing strong after 52 episodes every year for almost 12 years now. Shortly, we're going to bring in a rather esteemed guest today on the future direction of interest rates and inflation. Interestingly, he believes that raising interest rates does not cool inflation, and that's contrary to popular belief. I'm going to press him on this and ask why, but first, our new Fed chair, Kevin Warsh. He's only been on the job a few months now.   Keith Weinhold  11:07   He is gaining a reputation for not forecasting what they're going to do ahead of time, like his predecessor had. I guess I tend to like his disposition and the way that he communicates, I sense some pragmatism with Warsh, but gosh, it often seems that a new Fed chair gets off to a well liked start, and then they do something that lots of people criticize. Like, remember in 2004, late Fed Chair Alan Greenspan suggested more borrowers could benefit from adjustable rate mortgages shortly before rates rose and ARM resets became financial landmines. In 2007, Ben Bernanke said that subprime mortgage problems were likely to be contained. Oh, right after that, they helped trigger the global financial crisis, and more recently, the Jerome Powell gaffe, which I'll mention in the interview shortly. Here's what current Fed Chair Warsh says about inflation:   Kevin Warsh  12:14   For some households, businesses, and market professionals, five years of high inflation have left a mistaken impression, that's hard to shake, that the Fed's implicit inflation target was somehow above 2% Let me reiterate, there is no soft inflation target. There is no soft implicit target, not on this committee's watch. There's only a target, and it's 2%   Keith Weinhold  12:42   It's obvious that he is serious about getting inflation back down to 2% That tends to point toward interest rate increases. Let's discuss that and more with this week's brilliant guest. This week's guest is an economic futurist keynote speaker, and he's quite a popular author. He is chair of the board of the Public School Employees Retirement System. That's the largest public pension fund in Pennsylvania. Previously, the Pennsylvania governor appointed him as the secretary of banking and securities for the Great Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, he's also the founder and president of several various organizations today, and he serves on several boards, including at the University of Pennsylvania and the School District of Philadelphia. I mean, I hardly know how he has time to do it all, but he made time for us today. Hey, it's great to welcome back Richard Vague.   Richard Vague  13:45   It's such an honor to be with you. I certainly enjoyed our last session, and it's really wonderful to be back.   Keith Weinhold  13:51   Well, and so much has changed since you were last here, Richard. First, why don't we pull back and talk to us about the general state of the national economy today, as you see it.   Richard Vague  14:04   ou know the economy was rocking along okay, and you know since you guys are such experts in real estate, I'll tell you one of the most important statistics, in my opinion, is the number of unsold homes, and by all rights, that number should be about 2 million homes. It's only about a million and a half. So there's a deficiency in our housing stock in the United States, which is, yeah, I think good news for the housing industry. It's always good to have a reason to have to grow. You may recall that in 2007, that had gotten up to four millinomes, which was a catastrophe, as we all know. So, it's the economic statistic I looked at first and most closely, and that was, you know, an okay number, and a lot of the things were going along. You know, not fabulous, but not terrible. Things were kind of moving. And all of a sudden now we have the war in Iran, and that's creating all sorts of problems for us, which you know I think you guys are concerned about. So I generally think the economy's been good, but there's a lot of dark clouds on the horizon.   Keith Weinhold  15:15   You know, Richard, I was recently sharing something remarkable with our audience. To your point, just since 2020, consider all the calamities that we've had: COVID, Ukraine, Israel, Gaza, tariffs, and the Iran War. Just since 2020, what's the result of all that? Both stocks and residential real estate are near all time highs.   Richard Vague  15:42   Yeah, well, you know, one of the things that's true is that this is something I go to in great detail in my book Paradox. But the more debt there is, the higher asset prices go.   Keith Weinhold  15:53   Yeah.   Richard Vague  15:54   You know, in the case of housing, that broadly helps middle America. In the case of the stock market, the top 10% of the country owns 87% of the stocks, so that tends to go to the wealthiest instead of to the broad population. But yeah, those two things are at highs.   Keith Weinhold  16:12   You're touching on your well-received 2023 book, The Paradox of Debt, and you know, Richard, amidst all these calamities and all this potentially unprecedented level of government intervention that we've had-you know-it makes one wonder during the next crisis, which is inevitably going to happen, will the government just step in and provide relief again? And how would that look?   Richard Vague  16:38   You know, I think that's one lesson that government has learned indelibly. Way back in 1929, in the couple of years that followed, the government did not step in, and we saw what happened. And I think there's a generation of economists that understand the role of government in a calamity, and you know it's pretty simple. You know the government comes in and crops up financial institutions as they did in 2008, simply by providing the liquidity or buying the bad assets, or the government steps in with relief checks as they did in such a massive way in 2020. But the government has learned that at least to some degree, it needs to intervene. I can't imagine that ever not being true.   Keith Weinhold  17:26   Goshmright when you think about 2020s stimulus and how emergency lending facilities were set up, you had the payment protection program, stimulus checks, mortgage loan forbearance. It's just like this government won't let the asset holders fail.   Richard Vague  17:46   Well, yeah, you know, there's failure, and then there's something that's hurtful but not quite failure. You know, I can imagine that the government will be able to prevent, in some circumstances, certain asset prices going down some amount, it's actually fairly commonplace for stocks to go down 10 or 20% I can see real estate prices going down as they have in the commercial office space. Yeah, but yes, the government will step in when those things become extreme to prevent a true calamity.   Keith Weinhold  18:19   Of course, one consequence of the interventionism is elevated inflation. I know how you've talked before about how the level of inflation is higher than most people think. For example, you'll see today's CPI numbers in the mid threes. Talk to us some more about why inflation is higher than most people think.   Richard Vague  18:41   Well, I have studied inflation, you know, fairly diligently, and inflation really relates to the constriction of supply. And if you look over the 250-year history of the United States, we haven't had that many episodes of bad inflation, and they've always related to a constriction of supply. Most of them have occurred during a war when, for obvious reasons, you know, supplies are constricted. The big 1970s episode of inflation was because OPEC, which had so much more power back in those days, acted to you know punish the United States by constricting supplies, and the price of a barrel of oil went from $4 to $40 a barrel. Yeah, between 73 and 79. COVID was another instance where inflation related to constriction of supply. That was you know people couldn't go to the meat factory to cut meat. People couldn't go to the factories to build things, so all of a sudden our supplies were decimated, and we had a short burst of very painful inflation. Well, now we've got the straight of four moves, and that is impacting the price of oil. I think it's going to impact the price of oil more going forward because. Because we've been able to rely on reserves, both the U.S. has been able to rely on reserves, and China has been able to rely on even greater reserves. And you know we haven't seen the brunt of that, but unless something's resolved pretty quickly, I think in the fall and winter we're going to see even more problematic prices there. But we know agricultural prices and even the flow of commodities like wheat are constricted by the constraints in the Strait of Hormuz and, frankly, other waterways as well. Now, one of the things the numbers that you see reported tend to underreport inflation because it looks at a year-over-year number and doesn't really capture it if it's moved up more sharply in the last month or two. So we look at it on a month-by-month. We you know we break it down about as to as many parts as you can break it down into. But PPI, which is kind of a leading indicator on the eventual CPI PPI's producer price index, it was 4.7% this last month. That would suggest to you that things which are in the mid threes now, which is more higher than we want, you know, probably trending over. Maybe not next month, but you know, over the next three to six months, I'm not going to be surprised if the number's more in the four to five range. So, yeah, I think inflation's being somewhat underreported at the moment.    Keith Weinhold  21:29   The PPI being that harbinger of consumer prices, often four to six months down the road. And Richard, the last time you were here, when it comes to checking and controlling inflation, you said something so interesting. You said that higher rates, which is typically the response in order to try to quell inflation, higher rates actually do not lower inflation, and you did not get a chance to expand on that because we ran out of time. Tell us more about why higher rates do not reduce inflation.   Richard Vague  22:05   Well, I'm going to answer that a couple of ways. One of them is higher rates don't open the Strait of Hormuz.   Keith Weinhold  22:12   Right.   Richard Vague  22:13   You can put rates as high as you want, and it's not going to open the Strait of Hormuz.    Keith Weinhold  22:16   Chairman Warsch doesn't open the Strait. Yes, he doesn't get oil produce nothing.   Richard Vague  22:20   Strait of Hormuz.   Keith Weinhold  22:21   Yeah.   Richard Vague  22:21   And so we can do all we want to on raids, which is a very blunt instrument, and it's not going to address the supply constraints that are geopolitical and war related. So, if you want to curb inflation right now, there's two things to do. One of them's you know end the war with Iran, and the other is to kind of back off a lot of these tariffs that have become so problematic. I think there's a place for tariffs. I think there's certain things China's doing that you know a call for an appropriate level of tariffs. I'm not sure we should be big tariffs on Canada and some of these other places, which have the effect of increasing the cost of our farm equipment and cars and other things like that. So, if you really want to address inflation and address the things that truly underlie inflation, and if the second way I'd answer this is to say, go look at the debt, track the data from you know 1945 or 50. You know, we really look at the post World War II period as the place we really learn things from, and over that period, increased government spending has been accompanied by reduced interest rates and reduced inflation. So, reduced interest rates and reduced inflation have gone hand in hand, and rising interest rates and rising inflation have gone hand in hand, and it's a really easy thing to look at. We've got the data on our site, but there's only been three periods where you've had big shifts in government spending and rates. They're pretty easy to look at, and there's actually empirically an inverse relationship between rising interest rates and it's the opposite of what economists tell you.   Keith Weinhold  24:09   I think, in general, economists tell us that when inflation is high, you raise interest rates because consumer spending is about 70% of the economy, and those higher rates therefore incentivize people to be savers because they're getting paid a higher yield, keeping those dollars out of the economy, and they're less incentivized to be borrowers and expand the economy that way. I think in general that's why economists say that higher interest rates reduce inflation. Do you agree with that?   Speaker 2  24:40   Well, no, I don't, and the reason I don't is because when you look at the data, that doesn't happen. These are easy things to check, and what I would say to you is that rising interest rates increase costs, and you guys know that better than anybody in the world.   Keith Weinhold  24:56   With mortgages. Yeah.   Richard Vague  24:58   What do rising interest rates do to? Cost of your mortgage.   Keith Weinhold  25:02   Everything increased substantially.    Richard Vague  25:03   It has system prices at the grocery store. Well, the grocery stores have to pay our interest for their inventory. So the more intuitive and obvious thing is that rising interest rates increase prices. And by the way, if you and I were to go look at the data right now, which I look at almost daily, that we would see periods of rising interest rates correlate to periods of rising increased costs.   Keith Weinhold  25:29   Well, I'm glad you look at history because I often say here at Get Rich Education, if you want to know what's going to happen in the future, it's easy to have a hunch, but it's more important to look at history. Can you talk to us some more about how, over the long term, higher interest rates don't suppress inflation? If that's what you're saying,   Richard Vague  25:47   yeah. The greatest rise in inflation, you know, in my lifetime was the late 1970s.   Keith Weinhold  25:55   Yeah,   Richard Vague  25:56   and for the entire time that interest rates were going up, prices and inflation were going up, and it wasn't until interest rates started coming down that inflation started coming down. So we could look at any number of periods, and if you're going to argue the opposite, you need to go find me some data.   Keith Weinhold  26:15   Okay. Well, speaking in more modern times, in the last wave of inflation that we had, the CPI peaked at 9.1% in June of 2022. This is the whole famous Jerome Powell: inflation is only transitory. Oh shoot, no, it's not. I better hike rates. He did, and then inflation came down. Is it as simple as that cause in effect, or did something else make inflation come down post COVID.   Richard Vague  26:42   Inflation came down, and it came all the way down in July of 2022. It didn't come down gradually over six, 912, 18 months. You go look at the length monthly inflation. Inflation came all the way down in July of 2022, and stay has stayed down all the intervening period until very recently with the Iran War. July of 2022 was before there was a dramatic increase in interest rates.   Keith Weinhold  27:18   Right,   Speaker 1  27:19   that's simple.   Keith Weinhold  27:21   What caused inflation to come down? Then is it because supply began to arrive on the market again?   Richard Vague  27:27   People went back to work, started building things again.   Keith Weinhold  27:30   Producing.   Richard Vague  27:32   And the problem was folks had not been able to go to the factories and make things, and so we had a you know global supply deficit. Well, the nice thing about that is that you know money incends people to scramble back to work, make things again, and you know once they start doing that, and the Fed actually produces something they call the Global Supply Chain Pressure Index. You can get it on the Fed site. If you look at it, it's supposed to be kind of at zero, and anytime supply chains are disrupted, it shoots up. And any you know, any time the opposite happens, you know there's overcapacity. It goes down, and you can see exactly when supply chains repair is happening. So go look at the. It's called the GSCPI. It's on the Fed side. You'll see that global supply chains had largely started to be dramatically repaired in the spring and summer of 2022, and naturally, supply and demand works. All of a sudden, supply starts showing up, and prices go to hell.   Keith Weinhold  28:39   We're talking with economic futurist author and Pennsylvania's governor-appointed former secretary of banking and securities Richard Vague, more when we come back on the affliction of inflation, what this means for real estate investors, and more. This is Get Rich Education. I'm your host Keith Weinhold. What if you got your mortgage loans the same place I get mine. You sure can at Ridge Lending Group NMLS 42056. They provided GRE listeners with more loans than anyone because Ridge specializes in investment property. They'll help you build a long-term plan for growing your real estate empire with leverage. Start your prequal and even chat directly with President Caeli Ridge. While it's on your mind, start at ridgelendinggroup.com. That's ridgelendinggroup.com.   Keith Weinhold  29:29   Let me ask you something: If you've worked hard to build wealth, is your money positioned to actually support your goals? A lot of accredited investors leave capital sitting in cash because it feels safe, but inflation and missed income opportunities can quietly erode its value. Freedom Family Investments offers freedom notes for investors seeking structured income backed by real estate. It's a straightforward approach built on real assets, not speculation. In full disclosure, I'm an investor myself. What I like is that their team walks you through how it all works, so you can decide if it aligns with your portfolio and income goals. Every investment carries risk, and nothing is guaranteed. But with a track record of consistent, on-time investor payouts, they built real credibility. Go to freedomfamilyinvestments.com to book a clarity call or text family to 66866. That's family to 66866.    Dolph Derues  30:31   This is the king of commercial real estate, Dolph Derues. Listen to Get Rich Education with Keith Weinhold and don't quit your daydream.   Keith Weinhold  30:45   Welcome back to Get Rich Education. We're talking with Richard Vague. Richard is the founder and president of so many organizations today. He's the author of several popular economic books. He chairs the board of the Public School employees retirement system. That's the largest public pension fund in Pennsylvania. He's in a lot of places at once, seemingly. Richard, we're talking about inflation before the break. What is the right inflation rate?   Richard Vague  31:16   Well, like I said, inflation. If you look at the entire 250-year span of the United States has it been an affliction that has affected us that often? It is political kryptonite. So when it does happen, it steers our consciousness, and it you know certainly affects your industry. But you know, if we look historically, the Fed targets 2% It's not a bad thing to target. We never really have achieved that level for any length of period. I think if you look at it over the past several decades and take out the high inflation periods, it probably has averaged closer to three. So I don't think two to 3% is an inappropriate level, and I kind of suspect it'll be a level that typifies our future once we get past, if and when we get past this more.   Keith Weinhold  32:09   Yes, not long ago, I was looking at the history of the CPI or the CPI's equivalent, and over the last 100 years, the rate is about 3.2% and we haven't hit that government-mandated 2% target, which is stated right on the Fed's website. We haven't hit that for any month in about five years now, and this asset inflation, as we know, this disproportionately enriches existing asset owners, and it widens this inequality. Something that's more recently been known as the K-shaped economy, can you talk to us some more about this exacerbating wealth inequality?   Richard Vague  32:48   Well, you hit the nail on the head. Something on the order of 80% of all the net wealth held by Americans is in the form of two things: stock and real estate. If you want to talk about wealth, it's those two things, and those two things, probably 60 or 70% of all of those in the U.S. are held by the top 10% I think it's a single-digit number of those that are held by the bottom 50% So you know, if inflation and debt growth push asset prices up over time. It is a mathematical inevitability that the rich get richer faster than those in the middle and at the bottom, and that simply means inequality will increase through time. I believe that's structural. Unless you address that in very some very specific way it will continue.   Keith Weinhold  33:43   Inflation affects real estate investors more than it does the average person because we borrow these big pools of money often at 75 to 80% loan to value, and in a sense, although we know it's bad for general society, and we do think about the K-shaped economy. Of course, inflation benefits us because it debases our debt. But even if you're not a real estate investor, even if you just own your own home, you know, Richard, I really think it begs the question: Is a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage one of the best forms of debt ever created for ordinary Americans?   Richard Vague  34:22   The 30-year mortgage, which was created, you know, that started on that path in the 1930 s for the very reasons we all know and love, which is getting Americans to own their own home, and has been, you know, a game changer for the country, and truly one of the great things that's been done, and I hope it's something that we continue to defend and preserve.   Keith Weinhold  34:46   Well, that brings up leverage and the prudent use of leverage. As real estate investors, we have this benefit of getting all these 30-year fixed-rate loans without the threat of a. Margin call being made. We're not borrowing over in the stock market. When you sign your loan documents, it doesn't say that the bank can call your note due at any time, but one could take it too far. And when it comes to debt, I think that really begs the question: Where does intelligent leverage end, and then dangerous leverage begin. What's the border?   Richard Vague  35:25   Well, you guys are experts, and I'm not. But the very simple premise is starts with not overpaying for the property to begin with. It is not an exact science, but generally speaking, I think we can tell when prices are relatively high in a given market and or a given year and relatively low, and you you'd always want to kind of be at least in the middle or somewhat on the low end before you acquire a property. So that's step number one, and then step number two is really just giving yourself a buffer, you know. We saw in the global financial crisis that real estate loans were being made in some cases at 100% of value. Yeah, and frankly, we saw at least some episodes within that folks borrowing over 100% of value, and certainly they were very happy when that happened. But we know there's zero margin for error when you do that, and perhaps even a negative margin for error when you do that. So I would think, you know, you guys know better than me, but you know, I hate to borrow it much more than like 90% of value, maybe 95% if it's a smaller asset and you have a government guarantee, and if you can do it at lower leverage, you know, 70 or 80% of value, that's not a bad thing to consider. I tend to think in the real estate world that you know I've seen many investors, particularly in the commercial space, buy things with lower leverage, 50 or 75% But then, as the asset proves itself, they work with their lender to increase the debt-to-value ratio, you know, and get more money at it over time as it becomes an increasingly proven asset. So they migrate their way from 75% to 95% over time. I think that's a logical path.   Keith Weinhold  37:20   That acronym Ninja Loans, which were popular from about 2000 to 2007, that acronym Ninja means no income, no job or assets, and you might still get a loan of 110% of the value of the property. It was profligately irresponsible. Well, Richard, in a moment, I want to ask if you have a resource that our audience can follow along with you if they would like to do so. But before I do that, do you have any last thing that you would like to talk about? Maybe something that I did not ask you, whether it has to do with the general economy or real estate or interest rates or inflations. Is there something else that we should know?   Richard Vague  38:00   What I would do is just endorse your podcast.   Keith Weinhold  38:04   Thanks.   Richard Vague  38:05   You're approaching this in a very intelligent way, and you're very empirical, and I think your listeners are doing themselves a service by continuing to follow what you do. That's a really reasonable, secure, and yet bold path towards creating wealth, then I think you're to be commended.   Keith Weinhold  38:27   Oh, I appreciate the endorsement. I'm always blown away at our following, but you have some resources worth following as well. Tell us about that.   Richard Vague  38:36   Well, we do. We have a weekly video ourselves that it's about a five-minute video, and you can go to our website, which is tycos.com. So t y c h o s.com, and you know we have data on the site. If you're a real geek, you could go in and you can look at our macroeconomic data. You know, but if you're not, you can sign up for the video, and we come out with what we hope is a short but relevant video once a week talking on some aspect of the economy, and you know we'd love to have folks join that if they're interested.   Keith Weinhold  39:10   Well, it's valuable. I suggest you, the listener, check that out. Richard oftentimes turns conventional economics on his head, just like he did with us today, talking about how if there's higher interest rates, that does not necessarily mean lower inflation. Richard, it's been valuable as always. It's been great having you back on the show.   Richard Vague  39:30   It's an honor to be with you. Keep up the great work.   Keith Weinhold  39:38   In this remote interview, I got a beautiful look over Richard's shoulders there on the screen at Center City, Philadelphia, in the ornate buildings there. I will be in that part of the nation again shortly. Big thanks to Richard Vague. If you're looking him up, it is spelled V-A-G-U-E. We've got a. A lot of terrific content coming up on the show over the next few weeks, including fresh takes on building your wealth that you've never heard before. Until next week, I'm your host Keith Weinhold. Don't quit your daydream.   Speaker 3  40:18   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  40:46   The preceding program was brought to you by your home for wealth building. getricheducation.com  

Federal 8(a) construction contracts can pay a small business in 30 days, sometimes two weeks from invoice, while comparable municipal work takes 60 to 120 days and forces the contractor to finance the job. David Rambhajan, a contractor who moved from municipal to federal work, breaks down how he ran $5 million in 8(a) work with no permits and no inspections and why faster federal payment fueled his growth more than a higher bid margin ever did. What you'll learn in this episode: - Why a $3 billion municipal job can yield only 0 to 3% margin while a smaller federal job pays more - How federal 30-day payment terms change cash flow versus 60 to 120 day municipal cycles - Why 8(a) work with no permits and no inspections removed the friction that municipal contracts pile on - How to choose the right buying organization: city, county, state, federal, or private, and how the rules differ - What the $78 billion in 2024 small business awards means for a contractor deciding where to compete Chapters: 0:00 - Moving from municipal to federal contracting 1:20 - Why a $3 billion city job pays 0 to 3% 3:00 - Federal pays in 30 days, municipal takes 90 plus 4:30 - $5 million in 8(a) work with no permits 5:40 - Choosing your buying organization for the long run 7:00 - Avoiding shiny object syndrome and staying focused 8:00 - MBE, WOSB, and veteran program rules explained Mindy gives you the federal opportunities, agency signals, recompete intel, and pursuit briefs that tell you not just what contracts exist, but which ones to chase and how to win them. Sign up for free Daily Alerts and get opportunities delivered to your inbox before the day starts.

Bill Powers and co-host Brian Leni sit down for their monthly Junior Mining Insights chat to discuss how to discern ‘margin of safety' in early-stage junior miners. Other topics include identifying retail investor mass psychology, junior mining stock IPO dynamics, jurisdictional risks with First Nations even after permit issuance and much more. Refine your investment process as you listen to two full-time junior resource investors reflect on their past month of junior mining musings. 00:00 Intro 00:24 Margin of Safety Debate 02:28 Management and Valuation 05:57 Macro Timing Vs Value 08:39 IPOs And Retail Risk 13:55 Nasdaq Uplisting Upside 19:20 Seabridge KSM Shock 20:44 First Nations Risk Lens 28:41 Negotiation or Real Opposition 32:37 Permitting and Opposition 34:00 Metallurgy Due Diligence 37:21 Regulation Versus Enforcement 39:29 Marketing over Geology?! 44:06 Views and Mass Psychology 52:19 Timeless Content and Emotions 56:00 Networking and Mentors Brian's website: https://www.juniorstockreview.com/ Brian's YT: https://www.youtube.com/@FIELD_NOTES Bill's Twitter: https://x.com/MiningStockEdu Sign up for our free newsletter and receive interview transcripts, stock profiles and investment ideas: http://eepurl.com/cHxJ39 Bill and Brian are not licensed financial advisors. Mining Stock Education offers informational content based on available data but it does not constitute investment, tax, or legal advice. It may not be appropriate for all situations or objectives. Readers and listeners should seek professional advice, make independent investigations and assessments before investing. MSE does not guarantee the accuracy or completeness of its content and should not be solely relied upon for investment decisions. MSE and its owner may hold financial interests in the companies discussed and can trade such securities without notice. MSE is biased towards its advertising sponsors which make this platform possible. MSE is not liable for representations, warranties, or omissions in its content. By accessing MSE content, users agree that MSE and its affiliates bear no liability related to the information provided or the investment decisions you make. Full disclaimer: https://www.miningstockeducation.com/disclaimer/

In this episode, we bring together leaders in oncology, orbital surgery, and ocular pathology to unpack the clinical diagnosis and management of periocular basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma, and Merkel cell carcinoma. Our panel walks through how these tumors present and progress, the surgical and reconstructive strategies used to preserve form and function, and the immunotherapy advances reshaping outcomes for advanced and metastatic disease. Whether you're on the front lines of diagnosis or managing complex cases, this conversation offers a multidisciplinary look at where the field stands today.  

Skye Perryman on reclaiming our power ahead of the midterms In this episode of The Margin, a special midterm election series from The Electorette and URL Media, Jen Taylor-Skinner speaks with Skye Perryman, president and CEO of Democracy Forward and author of Ordinary People, Extraordinary Times. Perryman discusses the erosion of democratic guardrails, why Americans need “information sobriety” in an overwhelming news environment, and what history teaches us about the power of ordinary people to protect and expand democracy. With the midterms approaching, she explains why voting matters—but why the work of defending democracy cannot begin or end on Election Day. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A few weeks ago, we closed a $30 million refinance on Park Towers, a 210-unit multifamily property in Miami that we've owned since 2012. We secured long-term, fixed-rate financing at 6.09% in a lending environment that many people still describe as difficult.But I think saying “banks aren't lending” misses the bigger picture. Capital is available. The real questions are who can access it, which deals are getting financed, and whether the debt being used actually makes the investment stronger.In this video, I talk about how I approach leverage, interest rates, cash flow, refinancing risk, and margin for error when evaluating real estate investments. A great property can still become a bad investment if its capital structure can't survive when rates rise, occupancy falls, insurance costs increase, or refinancing becomes harder.I also share my perspective on why investors shouldn't depend on interest rates falling for a deal to work, how a more difficult financing environment can create better buying opportunities, and what more than a decade of owning and operating Park Towers has taught me about long-term value creation.The goal isn't to predict every market cycle correctly. It's to structure your investments so they can survive when one of your assumptions is wrong.Timestamps 00:10 The $30M Park Towers Refinance01:03 Are Banks Actually Lending?01:35 How Bad Debt Can Ruin a Good Deal03:00 Why Leverage Works Both Ways03:20 Can Your Investment Survive?04:15 Why Spreadsheets Can Mislead Investors05:51 Building for a Margin of Error06:15 Why Easy Money Can Be Dangerous06:40 How Difficult Markets Create Buying Opportunities07:50 The Long Game Behind Park Towers08:40 Why Durability Matters More Than Speed09:10 Stop Waiting for Interest Rates to Fall10:15 How to Survive Real Estate Cycles10:55 Using Debt to Make Good Deals StrongerSubscribe to the Channel Newsletter  https://moshepopack.com/newsletter/Follow Moshe Popackhttps://moshepopack.com/podcast/@mpopackhttps://www.instagram.com/mpopackhttps://www.facebook.com/MoshePopack

"I'm too set in my ways." You've said it. I've said it. And it sounds like a man who finally knows himself. It's a lie, and your own brain proves it. In this Wednesday Special Edition, I take apart one of the most comfortable excuses people give for why they've stopped growing: you can't teach an old dog new tricks. I start with the settled brain science. Neuroplasticity proves your capacity to learn and change doesn't shut off at thirty, or fifty, or seventy. Your brain rewires itself in response to demand for your entire life. So if the capacity is there, and it is, then the question was never whether you can learn. The question is why you don't. That's where a professor named Howard McClusky comes in. Decades before anyone had proven neuroplasticity was real, he figured out the actual reason adults stop learning, and he called it the Theory of Margin. Every one of us carries a Load and holds a certain amount of Power, and margin is what's left over. When your Load swallows your Power, you don't learn anything new. Not because you can't, but because there's no room left in the container. I walk through why "that's just how I am" is a golden cage that protects the load you built yourself, and I give you a practical fix to start clearing space: an open cycles inventory you can do this week with a legal pad. If you've been telling yourself you're too old to change, this one's for you. Grab the free 10-Block Weekly Method template: https://therealjasonduncan.com/10block Read the full article: https://therealjasonduncan.com/articles/old-dog-new-tricks-lie Ready for a bigger conversation about the load that traces back to a business that can't run without you? Book a call with me directly: https://therealjasonduncan.com/talk Subscribe to What's Real?, my weekly newsletter: https://therealjasonduncan.com/articles New episodes every Wednesday. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Send us Fan MailIn this episode, author and mother Chelsey DeMatteis shares her journey of motherhood, faith, and the importance of finding mercy in the margins of busy, chaotic days. She discusses her new book, 'Mercy in the Margins,' and offers practical advice for moms seeking to deepen their faith amidst the mess and marvels of motherhood.Purchase Mercy in the Margin on Amazon or wherever books are sold! http://www.livingexo.comCreating exceptional outdoor living spaces in Nashville and Middle Tennessee http://www.coatdefense.comMOMMA15 for 15% OFFThank you to our generous Got It From My Momma podcast friends! This episode is brought to you by: LIVING EXOwww.livingexo.comCOAT DEFENSEwww.coatdefense.comInstagram @coat_defenseUse MOMMA15 for 15% off Got it From My Momma on the WEBwww.gotitfrommymomma.tv(Become an Insider!)Host- Jennifer Vickery Smith@jvickerysmith on Instagram WATCH podcast episodes on YouTube @gotitfrommymommapodcast 

In a bonus #amwriting podcast episode, host Jennie Nash talks with academic writing coach Kathy Mazak of Scholar's Voice (and host of Academic Writing Amplified) about how writers keep going after completing a blueprint and finish what they start. Mazak explains her mission-based work helping academics—especially women and non-binary scholars—publish their research by aligning time management and writing with an academic mission statement. She argues that big blocks of time are unrealistic and that one to two hours once or twice a week can be enough if protected and supported by project management systems. They discuss common obstacles like not honoring writing time, fear of disappointing oneself, and harsh peer review, and emphasize mindset work as at least half the solution. Mazak describes managing multiple projects by focusing on a top three, letting others “sleep,” and “killing” stalled “zombie projects,” plus recognizing stage transitions and solving the right problem at the right level. She shares details on her 12-week Navigate program (scholarsvoice.org/navigate) and why members stay for years.#AmWriting is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Learn more at http://scholarsvoice.org/.TranscriptJennie: [00:00:00] Hi, I'm Jennie Nash, and you're listening to the #amwriting podcast, the place where we help writers of all kinds play big in your writing life, love the process, and stick with it long enough to finish what matters most. Hey everyone, it's Jennie, and I'm here with a bonus episode of the podcast because a lot of our community has been working on their blueprints this summer to begin a new project, find momentum for one that's gotten derailed, or to work on a revision.And obviously stopping to think before you write is critical, but then the question is, what next? And how, how do we keep going? How do we finish what we started? And I invited my friend Kathy Mazak to join me today to have a conversation about this and to get her insights on this topic. Kathy, we're in a business mastermind together.That's how we met, [00:01:00] and we, um, immediately connected because Kathy runs a company called Scholar's Voice, which you can find at scholarsvoice.com. She has an incredible strategic mind, and her work focuses on helping tenured professors get their research and writing out of the endless backlog and actually submitted and published.So it's a different kind of writing than we normally talk about on the podcast, but I know we have a lot of a- academics in our audience, um, who are trying to write nonfiction or fiction or memoir, but also probably trying to publish the papers that are sitting on their desk. And Kathy helps so many people do that work and do it well, and she has really Amazing systems for doing that.And so she's gonna talk a little bit about her program and what she offers at the end, um, or maybe at the beginning too. But, [00:02:00] um, welcome Cathy.Cathy: Yay. Thank you so much for having me. So I know that we met in the business mastermind, but I've been following you for many years before that, and been listening to this podcast, and been subscribed to this podcast for, like, at least since 2019 when I started to, like, look at other writing podcasts.Jennie: Yeah.Cathy: And so it is ... It actually has been, like, a dream of mine to be on this podcast, so it's, like, so- Look at us ... great that we're doing this here today. Yes.Jennie: I completely forgot to say that you have a podcast as well. What is, what is the name of that?Cathy: Yeah. The podcast is called Academic Writing Amplified.It has, like, we're headed towards 350 episodes all about, like, getting your, uh, academic papers out there in the world when you're a busy professor. So yeah.Jennie: One of the things that I most like about your business is the way you describe it as it's really mission based. Yeah. It's, it's [00:03:00] really about helping academics take control of the narrative.Yeah. Right? Do you- Yeah ... do, will you tell us about that, ‘cause I love that.Cathy: Yeah. So for me, right, like, as a writing coach, so I was a full professor, like I went through, I have a PhD. I, I, I got my tenure track job. I went all the way through all the ranks, um, before I left and started this, uh, academic adjacent business.But I do it because, like, my big, like, mission is that the more, especially women and non-binary academics who get their papers out in the world, like, the more those voices are changing fields, and influencing research, and influencing thinking. And I just think, like, that is just so important. That's why the business is called Scholar's Voice, ‘cause it's about getting more diverse, typically marginalized voices out in these research spaces.Um, so [00:04:00] to me that's my mission, and when I have ... You know, when, when scholars come and do my program they write an academic mission statement, and really their whole time management, um, and writing project management, and sustainable writing practice is designed to, like, support that academic mission. So it's a very mission based, uh, business for me.But it's also, like, a, like my clients, like w- who take my programs are also, like, putting their academic missions, like, right at the center of their work. Which also puts writing at the center. Because to me, like, the writing is absolutely, is, is, like, the path to creating this better career, this focus on writing.Jennie: Well, and an academic has courses to teach and committees to go to, meetings to go to, and, you know, so many other demands on their time. And somebody trying to write a book has- Yep ... not [00:05:00] exactly those things, but probably a day job, and kids, and, you know, aging parents they have to care for, and the dog, and the car, and, you know, it's, it's writing in, in the real world.Mm-hmm. And the way you set your program up is you've honed this over so many years, i- and it's designed to, to help people actually get the work done. Yeah. So can you tell us a bit about how you structure that program? ‘Cause I think it'll be instructive to helping folks. Like, okay, here, you've finished your blueprint, now what?So- Yeah ... how do you, how do you get people to do it?Cathy: Yeah, yeah. So the first part is that I think that many people, when they think about writers, right, like if they just imagine themselves as a writer, they think that the ideal is, oh, I have like eight hours a day to dedicate to writing, or all my life, or whatever, you know, dreamy scenario we have in our minds.And I [00:06:00] think, like, for academics, i- the, the... it's like, oh, I need to be on a sabbatical, or I need to not be teaching. I need to... I cannot be doing any other thing. Um, or I can be doing other things, but I need like these big blocks of time to write. And the problem is, like you're saying, like writing in real life, like that just doesn't happen.And then when it might happen for academics is over the holiday breaks, like the semester breaks or the summer, but that also isn't true because you're also like, you know, being a mom and, and th- you know, doing things with your family, and managing your house, and maybe your aging parents, and whatever else.Like there's never a time where there's like nothing going on. So we have to stop thinking that that's the ideal and rather think, like what I tell my people, and they- Fight me on this, but at the beginning. But I tell them, actually one to two hours once or twice a [00:07:00] week is enough.Jennie: Ah. AndOutro: they'll be like, “No,Cathy: no,Outro: no,Cathy: IOutro: need-” Say that again.Cathy: Yeah, no. Say that again. One to two hours once or twice a week is enough, ‘cause remember, like, the low end of that means one hour a week, and the high end of that is four hours a week. And so a lot of times people come in and, and I'm, you know, for your, for the audience here, like, think about are you doing one hour a week consistently?Are you doing two hours a week consistently? If you're not, then let's just, like, back up and go there instead of thinking like, “Oh no, I need these big blocks of time that I can never actually get and hold.” ‘Cause that's the other thing, it's so hard to hold a big block. Um, like a four-hour block is hard to o- to hold.Uh, and alsoOutro: hard- Oh my gosh, four hours? ... to maintain your energy through.Cathy: No, no, people- What? No ... people haveOutro: all kinds of ideas.Cathy: And I'm like, and, and the other thing too I think is related to this idea, like for my people, right, that the work day is, like, this eight-hour day. [00:08:00] Like, but you can't ... I'm thinking you're not knowledge work for eight hours a day.Like, your brain can't do that, you know? So we really have to start, just, like, dial it back and start with, like, can I get consistency? Consistency doesn't have to mean every day. Could I get consistent with one or two hours once or twice, or twice a week, and actually do writing during that time so I have project management skills that mean when I sit down I know what to work on, and see how that works?Because guess what? If you did that, you would be ... Like, everything would be moving towards publication, and there would be many more words on the page.Jennie: Well, I love that so much because one of the things that I find is- Well, with writing or business or anything is I'll say, “Oh, I'm working so hard, and I'm so busy on it, and I'm spending all this time on it,” but really what I'm doing is sitting down at my desk and- Yeahrearranging, you know, [00:09:00] the folders on my desktop again. Or- Yeah ... um, you know, oh, I'll just go take a little peek over on Instagram, uh, to transition from... You know, like, it's just- Yeah ... I waste so much time. And-Cathy: Yeah ...Jennie: the- it's- if the, if the idea is, “Well, I got one to two hours, I'm gonna, I'm gonna use that time.”Cathy: Yeah. Yeah, I mean, and that's why you have a blueprint, right? Like, this is why you do the blueprint because every time you sit down, you are faced with either the blinking cursor, right, the blank page, or you're faced even before that with maybe, like, what do I wanna work on? And so for academics, we're always working on more than one project at once.We always have, like, most academ- some academics are book writers. Many academics are... Almost all academics are article writers, and so you always have... Like, you never just, like, start the research for an article and [00:10:00] then just only do that until it's submitted and out in the world. You always have things at these different stages, like I call it your publication pipeline, but, like, you have things that are in the idea stage, in the data collection stage, in the analysis stage, the writing up stage, things that are submitted, you're waiting to get editorial feedback on them.All of that is happening all the time. So you, when you sit down, you're making a choice between all of these possible projects, unless you have a great project management system, you know? Or unless you have a roadmap that says like, “Okay, well, here's my roadmap. Let me... You're my blueprint. Like, let me sit down and start here.”You know? You ha- you need to have that place to start, or you'll just wheel spin with those, uh, one or two hours once or t- once or twice a week.Jennie: So I'm curious about what other objections people bring to your method. You said the first- Mm-hmm ... objection was, “Well, I, I need these giant blocks of time.” Yeah.What are some of the other objections that you hear to it?Cathy: Yeah. I think a lot of them, and [00:11:00] I think this is so common in, in writers of all kinds, is like, “I'm, I'm gonna let myself down.” Like, the, the, the biggest kind of mental thing is like, “Oh, I've tried it. I've tried to hold that time before, but I've never been successful at it, so if I keep trying, I'll just keep disappointing myself.”Um, whereas, like, the more structures and systems you put into place, the better those things can hold up those one to two hours once or twice a week, and then potentially grow them even. But you have to have, like, it, it can't be just I put it on my calendar- Because there has to be, the mindset has to be in the right place.You have to be honoring that time. Like, you- finding the time on your calendar is problem one for sure, like, because people are booked up. But the second part of that problem is I found it, I [00:12:00] put it there, and then when a student tried to make an appointment with me and they just couldn't possibly find any other time, I put them right on top of my writing.Or what many of the other possible scenarios where you would just schedule over what you had held for writing, and I think that's a That's a situation that's common among everybody with a life, right? Like, “Oh, the plumber said they could come during that time, and here I am just writing.” Just writing. You know, like, that's the first thing that has to change.Like, you have to f- to honor that writing time just like you would honor that really hard to get dermatologist appointment.Outro: That's what it needs to be. That's the level of honoring that we're, that we're talking about.Jennie: I'm laughing- Am I- ... ‘cause I'm looking, I, like, literally have been thinking whilst on this, we're looking at video while we're recording this at how beautiful your skin is, so it's hilarious that you mention that.I'm like, “Oh, wait. Maybe I need to be centering the dermatologist more.” [00:13:00]Cathy: Listen, I don't have a dermatologist appointment. If I did, I would, I would hold that. The one that really resonates for me, and maybe with some other moms of, like, kids, like, school-aged kids, is the freaking dentist. Like, I can't get a freaking kid's dentist appointment.Like, I call and they're like, “Yeah, we're just all booked up.” I'm like, “How is this possible?” You know, and so if there's a dentist appointment, I hold on to that. That's the kind of tenacity we want around the honoring the writing appointments.Jennie: So I wanna stick with this concept a little bit more, because I, I actually was writing about this for the Write Big, uh- Mmbook that I'm working on. Mm. And this idea that the reward of writing is way down the road. It- Mm. We don't really have any evidence that it's gonna actually pay off. Yeah. And I think that that tends to be the reason why it's so easy to say, “Well, this doesn't really matter,” or, [00:14:00] “I c- shouldn't really commit to this,” or, “I shouldn't go all in on this.”And some of that pressure comes from our own selves, as you mentioned. Yeah. But a lot of it comes from the people who love us, who are in our homes even, or, you know- Yeah ... the pressure, like, if you're trying to protect that hour or that four hours in your week and it's, you know, “Well, can you do this errand?”Or, “This kid got sick,” or this. To be, to say, “Well, no, that's my writing time”-Cathy: Yeah ...Jennie: it, it's like, well, what evidence do you have that that's worth anything? Yeah. Right? Is ... Do you find that with academics too?Cathy: Uh, I think that, yes, 100%, um, because the payoff is really far away. Um, but even, like, I would argue that another thing happening in people's heads is that the payoff might be somebody read it and hated it.[00:15:00]Like, so you're also avoiding it because- You know, like the end result might be that you, like turn it into your book coach, and the book coach says you have to redo it all. Right. You know? Or like- You missedJennie: the mark. Right ...Cathy: you missed the mark. Exactly. And so, but like we just don't think of that, or so that fear of that we're gonna do this work, we're gonna hold our writing time, which feels very selfish and feels like who do you think you are that you're gonna hold time for your writing, you know?Like, who are you, Ernest Hemingway? Like, like, you know what I mean? Like we, we have these thoughts in our head, and then we, and then, um, the, the great payoff of all of that hard work of holding the time and actually doing the writing might be, in the case of my people, like that some real A-hole reviewer tears you apart.And-Jennie: Because your- Yeah ... people have to have peer reviews- That's right ... for everything, right?Cathy: For [00:16:00] everything. Even books. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So everything is peer reviewed, and I mean, I was just coaching somebody yesterday on like why are, why we have, I call it like submission friction. Like I talk about all these different points in the writing process, and how- Every point, there's like, there's friction to move the work from one kind of thing to another kind of thing.So there, like when you go from draft to like submitted article, y- it's becoming something different, and your job and your relationship to the, that piece of writing is different between when you've drafted it and when you've submitted it to a journal. Um, there's lots of other transition points, but I was coaching somebody yesterday who was like, “Yeah, I got all this really bad feedback,” like really badly worded feedback, right?Like, it wasn't just critical, it was also delivered poorly because peer review in academia is blind, so you don't know who read it, and so people say all kinds of things [00:17:00] without you, you know, without fear that you're g- they're gonna see you at a conference. So you know, supposedly they don't know who you are, you don't know who they are.And it can be like really horrible, and this, this client, she was like, “I just can't... I have trouble, I'm having trouble submitting anything from that study because that person's words are in my head.” Oh. So like, so we also have like for the great effort of holding the writing time and doing, we might get these terrible things that like stop us in our tracks, and then we have to like coach our own minds through like, okay, why is it true that submitting again won't necessarily have those same results, you know, and whatever else you need to, you know...Like I work with my clients on different things they can think to get over that friction of submitting and that fear. But, but yeah, like sometimes there's a payoff, and sometimes the payoff is like, “Congratulations, we're g- people are really mean.”Jennie: [00:18:00] Yeah. Yeah,Cathy: yeah. Yeah,Jennie: so how much time do you spend in your program, would you say, on You know, so there's the tactics and the- Mm-hmmsetting up the systems- Yeah ... versus mindset. Yeah. Like, what's the balance?Cathy: Yeah, yeah. Yeah. So my program is set up so that you do the program in 12 weeks, and guess how long it takes to do the program every week? One to two hours. And you do it once or twice a week. So, like, if you take the program, it forces you to hold, like, an hour to do the material and an hour for a live call.So the live call is where we're really getting into the coaching stuff. Like, I, you know, there's only so much coaching you can do on, like, a prerecorded lesson, right? But we do talk about mindset, um, throughout the whole thing. But on the coaching calls is really when we talk about mindset and, and get to figure out, like, [00:19:00] is the problem that you're having actually a strategy problem, or are you having a mindset problem?Is it, like, something that's happening, or is it the way you're thinking about what's happening? So I would say it's, like, a half and half, um, kind of breakdown between strategies and, um, techniques and, like, here's processes, and let's get your mind right.Jennie: Well, I mean, that's, to me, a, a giant revelation. I, I believe that mindset is at least 50% as well.Yeah, yeah. And I think most writers don't have any idea that, how important mindset is. And the program you and I are in together, the business mastermind that we're in together, is hugely mindset focused, and it- Yeah ... it's hard to show up with your mindset stuff. It's embarrassing. Mm. Mm. And, you know, it's hard to get coaching on it, at least for me anyway, because it's, oftentimes it's like, “You're saying the same thing in a different way.[00:20:00] Like, that's just the same story, different words,” you know? You really have to confront the narratives that you have in your head, and where they came from, and what they're serving, and that's work too, right? Yeah,Cathy: absolutely. Yeah. Yeah,Jennie: absolutely. And I mean, that's, to me, the thing that I've, I've really learned, and your program honors that idea by half the time that people are spending is the, the mindset.Cathy: Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. And, and then we also... Like, the program is designed so that you take it once, and then you can keep taking additional rounds of the program. The content of the program doesn't change, but you continue to have these mi- these, these coaching calls, right? Where we talk about, there's kind of two part- like, two themes of the coaching calls.Like, one theme is like, oh, now I- my whole calendar is really mission aligned, and I'm holding my writing time and whatever. And then what is the series of problems that happens after that, [00:21:00] right? Like, what's the next level? Like, now that we've solved these things, ‘cause there's never no, there's never no problems.Like, like, the next set of problems, uh, presents itself. Um, so we coach on those things. But also, like, I've just been, especially this, in this next group, I've told people, like, I'm like, “We're gonna do more mindset than ever.” Like, we're just gonna really coach your brains on, um, you know, on perfectionism, on procrastination, on transition friction, on zombie projects, on like, um-Jennie: What's a zombie project?Cathy: Ooh, those are those things that are like, they're not going anywhere. They're dead, but you're holding onto them in your mind, like someday I'm gonna get back to that. And it is not healthy to do that. So we, I, when I talk about, like, um, how to manage multiple projects at once, like so think multiple articles that you're writing at once, people [00:22:00] have...Like, academics have, I don't know, like 10, 20 articles that they have, like that they're holding in their mind as like these are possible articles that I could work on or these are projects that... I call them projects in play, right? Well, a lot of times like five of those are like, “Oh, this is a project I started.There might be words on the page, but it stalled out.” We needed to do a reanalysis, and we didn't n- and, and it was gonna be a lot of work to go back and do that, so it's just kind of like alive but dead, right? Like a zombie. Yeah. So I tell people, and again, they fight me on this, like I'm like, “You need to kill them.”Like you need... Zombie projects aren't for resuscitating. They are for blessing and releasing. They are for like this is done. This is not going to... Because they're in the way of all of the other living projects. So I talk about the projects as like we have a top three that are kind of, that we're maybe rotating between or [00:23:00] that like once we, we, we submit something from the top three we can like promote something else, and then everybody else is sleeping.You know? Just tell them they need to take a nap. And then the zombie projects we're just, we kill them. You can, if you must, have a folder on your computer and put them there, but you need to get them out of like your working mind. They shouldn't be in your pipeline. They should be like they... Because we can only hold so many things, and we can only manage so many projects at once, so we have to create systems and processes to make it feel like we're only working on one thing at a timeJennie: Well, I think this idea, which I adore now that I know what it is-um, applies to book writers as well. Everybody has more than one book idea, and they have the book idea that they wanna write after the book that they're working on, or they started three at a time or s- you know, oftentimes there's a thing that happens, I think it happens about two-thirds of the way through a [00:24:00] book- Hmmwhere suddenly you have a great idea for another book that is shinier and prettier and brighter and better- Yes ... than the one you're working on.Outro: Yep.Jennie: And so this idea, I think, really applies to book writers, and most of us who are writing and sharing anything are also writing other content like- Yes. YesSubstack and, um, or a newsletter or a podcast or whatever th- whatever the content that we're working on is. So do you think that this idea of the zombie project- Mm-hmm ... or folder can apply there as well?Cathy: For sure, because here's the thing, right? The shiny object syndrome is really real be- and it, and it relates actually to the submission friction that I was talking about.Like, I did a call about that just yesterday. Like, it relates because- Before your project is done, right, before it's submitted, before it's turned in, whatever, [00:25:00] it has the potential to be the very most amazing, best book that has ever been written by anyone. And as long as I don't submit it, it is holding that potential.Jennie: Yes. Okay.Cathy: And so once the, so the more, but the more done the book gets, the less po- Like, almost like the less that po- the, the more that potential is kind of decreasing because it, it's not that it's not great, maybe it is that book, but like the potential of what it could become when it actually has become something is less, right, than the new shiny idea because the new shiny idea then has like all of this potential.So, so I think that's the, the newness of something like is, i- is very attractive, and it has so much to do with like our brains trying to avoid the hard work of the finishing and trying to... Like, [00:26:00] w- when something is new, you don't know what the writing problems are yet. Yeah. But what, what's existing, you have a lot of problems to solve.There's a ton of decisions to make.Jennie: Yeah.Cathy: And, um, and, and that, that feels hard and heavy.Jennie: So for our listeners who are finishing up their blueprints, they're coming across one of those friction points you talked about, where you're going from planning your book, thinking about it, solving some problems, to you're going back to writing ‘cause the- Yeahblueprint is a kind of a pause. Not kind of, it's a pause, and now you're going back to the writing, and that s- transition is something a lot of writers don't acknowledge- that it's a different thing. So that idea- Right ... you were talking about of, um, when your academic writers are shifting from, you know, one thing to another.They have a lot more shifts in a lot [00:27:00] more compressed period of time. But writers absolutely go through this, and then when they, when they call it done and get it to beta readers, and then they get it back and get it to, you know, going to pitch, those are all transition points. So a lot of our listeners are at one of those right now.Yeah. What is, what is the mindset work to, that you guide people for shifting from one, um, process to another?Cathy: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So your job changes. Like, that's the, that, that's the, you know ... Like, the job of, like, when you're doing the blueprint, right? It's a planning, it's a pausing, it's a thinking, it's aRight? The same thing we do, like, I teach a writing planning process, and that process is one kind of job, right? The job of, like, making decisions- And executing on those decisions. So the making decisions is another job, and the [00:28:00] executing on the decisions is another job. So just realizing, like, what is my job in this moment, that is a really powerful thing to think about and think like, “No, in the scope of this whole project, my job right now is to make decisions that then I can execute on.”Jennie: Yes.Cathy: And also... Yes. And not, and remember then, like, you execute on the decisions, and you might have to go back and make new decisions and execute differently. Like, that's what composition, that's what composing is, right? But you, you know, keep the job that you're, for the stage that you're at, and stop trying to solve the problems of another stage in the process.Jennie: So bleeding into other jobs sounds like it's a energy suck. So for, uh, a, somebody finishing the blueprint, it might be, “Well, now I'm gonna start researching agents and conferences I can go to to pitch at.” And it's like, “No, you gotta write the book,” right? Yes. Is that-Outro: Exactly, [00:29:00] exactly ...Jennie: is that the kind of thing- Yesyeah.Cathy: Yeah, and so, like, a- and it's also, I talk a- I talk in the program about, like, you're solving the wrong problem at the wrong level, right? Like, that's an in- perfect example of I'm solving the wrong problem. Like, I don't, I don't need to be, like, thinking about pitching agents. I need to be figuring out what my book idea is.Like, you know what I mean? And so for, like, in, in, in our, in my program, there's, you know, let's say I think that what I have is a writing time problem, but if I don't have writing project management, like if I don't know how to plan a paper and I don't know what the stages it needs to go through are, and I don't know how to manage it in relation to other papers that I have, I can have two hours of writing, and I will sit there and not know what to do with it.Jennie: Yes.Cathy: So, like, there has to be, you know, you ha- so solving, you have to solve the right problem. You know? Like I, okay, I have a backlog of papers. I think it's ‘cause I don't have enough time. Like, you probably don't have enough time, but that's not the [00:30:00] only problem, you know? And that might not be the most pertinent problem to solve first.Jennie: Right. I love this. I love this for our people finishing Blueprint. Um, and w- I'm curious just to sort of wrap up our conversation, why do you think... ‘Cause something that's remarkable about the program that you run, which is again at scholarsvoice.com-Cathy: It's actually .org, but yeahJennie: Oh, dang.Outro: Dot org.Jennie: I said it wrong. Don't worry about it. It's fine. Scholarsvoice.org. We'll put it down in the show notes. It'll go in the show notes. Yeah. Um, well, the remarkable thing is that people love your program. Like, once they find it, they don't leave. Yeah. They, they stay for a long time. Years. Yeah. Years and years and years.Yeah, yeah, yeah. Why do you think that is?Cathy: Because we're never done. We're never done as writers.Jennie: Yeah.Cathy: Right? Like, we're always developing, and we're always [00:31:00] changing, and we're always responding to new situations. And I just think, like, I think it would be terrible to think, like, “I've learned how to write a novel or a book or an article, and now I'm done.Like, and now I just, like, rinse and repeat for 30 years.” Like, no, that's not how it works. First of all, it's just not how it works, and also, would you really want it to work like that? Don't you want it to get more interesting, different, better? Like, and so that's why people stay, ‘cause the, the, the curriculum is...I- it's called, like, a spiral curriculum, where you could just, like, keep doing it again and again. And as you are going through your career, you are changing, and your situation is changing, and actually the demands of your career are changing. And so you can just continue to do this work over and over again, and, and many people do it and then come back after they've had, like, a little career change, and they realize, “Ooh, now all of these things have [00:32:00] shifted, and I need to, like, go back and figure all of this out again.”And that's normal and natural and fine and actually amazing.Jennie: Um, so how can... If people are listening to this, and they're like, “Wait, I wanna get in on this academic writing-” Yeah ... thing, I... So it's only for tenured professors. It's not- So- ... for people who want to be that, right? No.Cathy: Yeah, so we... It is really for academics.It's really geared towards people who are in academic careers, tenured or hoping, you know, tenure-track professors or whatever they call it in the country that you live in, ‘cause it's called different things. Um, it- we have a lot of people who are mid-career. Like, so it's not just for early career. Um, but we, we have people at all different career stages, including post-docs, including full-time researchers, and so...And even sometimes people from industry, like, or nonprofit who are doing research work and need to put out publications [00:33:00] into academic journals. So yeah, and you can go to scholarsvoice.org, and at the top navigation it says, “Publish your backlog,” and that is my Navigate program, which is really focused on helping you publish that backlog of papers and keep papers, like, flowing out into the world.Um, scholarsvoice.org/navigate is where you'll find all the information, and you can apply, and it's open until, open for applications until August 28th.Jennie: That is awesome. Well, if you're, if you're listening, um, now and that speaks to you, you can jump on that. If you're listening in the future, uh, there will be another opportunity, uh, to get into- YeahCathy's program. And if you're listening to the hashtag amwriting, uh, podcast and you're not an academic, and- You're finishing a blueprint or you're realizing after this conversation, “Gosh, I'm doing the wrong job at the wrong [00:34:00] time,” or, “I don't have a time problem, I have a mindset problem,” or any of these, these ideas that Cathy has shared with us.Put them into practice and, and I think that for writers listening to podcasts like this is part of the mindset work because- Yes ... you're listening to bigger conversations and bigger ideas, and you're getting something in your ear that counteracts that story you're telling your own self. So, um, I'm just grateful for you, Cathy, for sharing those stories and thoughts with us today, and for doing this amazing work that you're doing out in the world.So thank you for joining us.Cathy: Thank you for having me on the podcast.Jennie: And for our listeners, thanks for being here. Now let's get back to work and finish what matters most.Outro: The #amwriting podcast is produced by Andrew Perilla. Our intro music, [00:35:00] aptly titled Unemployed Monday, was written and played by Max Cohen. Andrew and Max were paid for their time and their creative output because everyone deserves to be paid for their work. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit amwriting.substack.com/subscribe

Liz Ann Sonders, Chief Investment Strategist at Charles Schwab, joins us to explain why today's economy and stock market are increasingly defined by rotation, instability and a changing stock-bond relationship. We discuss AI capital spending and earnings concentration, Treasury yields and the deficit, immigration and labor supply, investor sentiment, market breadth, portfolio rebalancing, IPOs and the growing economic importance of the stock market wealth effect.Topics covered:Why the post-pandemic economy is moving through sector-level recessions and expansions instead of a traditional linear cycleThe return of a more temperamental market regime, inflation volatility and the changing correlation between stocks and bondsWhy volatility-based rebalancing may matter more than calendar-based rebalancing and why market leadership is broadeningImmigration, labor shortages and why slower population growth changes how investors should interpret payroll dataFederal deficits, entitlement spending, rising 30-year Treasury yields and why Treasury intervention cannot solve the underlying fundamentalsHow the AI spending boom, imports and hyperscaler capital expenditures are affecting GDP, bond issuance and capital marketsCorporate profits versus labor compensation and why Liz Ann does not see an obvious near-term catalyst for convergenceKevin Warsh, reduced Fed guidance and why less communication could create more market uncertaintyAttitudinal versus behavioral investor sentiment, the vibe session and why sentiment is becoming harder to use as a timing signalThe AI cascade beyond mega-cap tech, the Neural Nine, small caps and why rotation may be the new momentum tradeMargin debt, record household equity exposure and the risk that a future stock market decline feeds back into the economyS&P 500 earnings concentration, sell-side versus buy-side expectations, AI depreciation risk and the return of a major IPO cycleTimestamps:00:00 Liz Ann Sonders on the unusual 2026 market and economic cycle05:49 Portfolio construction, diversification and volatility-based rebalancing11:39 Immigration, labor supply and the new payroll breakeven rate17:38 Why long-term Treasury yields are rising and what the Treasury can and cannot fix22:07 Corporate profits versus labor compensation as a share of GDP27:37 Attitudinal versus behavioral sentiment and lessons from 202232:13 The vibe session, consumer confidence and conflicting investor expectations37:14 The Neural Nine, widening stock dispersion and rotation as the new momentum41:21 Margin debt, leveraged speculation and where the real risk may be45:52 S&P 500 earnings growth, concentration and the sell-side versus buy-side gap50:27 Hyperscaler AI capex, debt financing and signals from the corporate bond market55:05 IPOs, FOMO and why investors should be careful about chasing new issues60:05 Where to follow the real Liz Ann Sonders and avoid impersonator scamsLearn more about the Excess Returns podcast network:https://excessreturns.coNo information discussed in this podcast should be construed as investment advice. Securities discussed may be held by the hosts and guests, their firms or their clients.

I used to hate everything about our finances. Then one thing changed and paying bills actually became fun. That thing is margin. Margin is the gap between what you earn and what you spend. It might look small, but that gap is where the freedom lives. In this session from our Mission Driven Millionaire cohort, Linda and I dig into why building margin might be one of the most spiritual things you ever do with your money. We look at Joseph in Genesis 41 and how he made a plan before the famine came. We look at the ant in Proverbs 6 and what it teaches us about saving. And we talk about the two ditches: living paycheck to paycheck with no margin, and building bigger barns out of fear. Plus how the Real Money Method helps you create margin so you can say yes when God says go. If you enjoyed this, we'd love to send you a free copy of our book. You just cover shipping. It has over 1,000 5-star reviews on Amazon. Grab it at: seedtime.com/free.   What We Cover Here's a little of what we cover in this episode: The money habit I now believe is one of the most spiritual things you can build Why the gap between what you earn and what you spend is where freedom lives What Joseph knew about abundance that most of us completely miss The two ditches almost everyone falls into with saving money The heartbreaking reason one man had to turn down his calling What the ant can teach you about your bank account The prayer Linda and I prayed the night before this session   Bible Verses Mentioned Genesis 41 Proverbs 6:6-8   Resources Mentioned Mission Driven Millionaire program Real Money Method course Simple Money, Rich Life (the book)   Disclaimer Obligatory legal disclaimer: I'm a financial educator, not your financial advisor, investment advisor, tax pro, or lawyer. This channel is for general education, not personalized advice, and nothing here should be taken as a recommendation to buy, sell, or use any specific investment, account, or financial product. I'm just sharing what I'm doing, what I'm learning, and what I find interesting. Markets can be humbling. Investing involves risk, including the risk of losing money, and my results are personal, may not be typical, and are not guaranteed. Do your own research, use wisdom, and talk with a qualified professional before making financial decisions. Some links are to our resources and some are affiliate links, which means we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. That helps keep the lights on around here, so thanks for the support.

Risk is unavoidable in investing—and in life. But not all risks deserve equal attention. It is easy to focus primarily on the probability that something will happen. If an investment, career move, or financial strategy has a high likelihood of succeeding, we may assume it is a good decision. But Mark Biller, Executive Editor at Sound Mind Investing, suggests another question may be even more important: If things go wrong, how wrong could they go? That shift—from focusing on probabilities to considering consequences—can help us make wiser financial decisions and protect ourselves from risks that could permanently derail our plans. A Small Probability Can Carry a Huge Consequence Suppose someone told you there was a 99% chance an opportunity would succeed. Those odds sound compelling. But what if the remaining 1% chance of failure meant complete financial ruin? Suddenly, the decision looks very different. A simple illustration is crossing a busy street. The probability of being hit by a vehicle may be relatively small, but we still look both ways because the potential consequence is catastrophic. A low probability does not make a severe consequence irrelevant. The same principle applies to investing. An outcome may be statistically unlikely, but if it could wipe out your savings, destroy your retirement plan, or leave you unable to meet your obligations, it deserves serious consideration. Financial thinker Peter Bernstein summarized the principle well: the consequences of being wrong can matter more than the probabilities of being right. That leads to two important questions: If this goes wrong, how wrong could it go?  And how much would it matter? Why Humility Matters in Investing Financial history offers plenty of reminders that even highly intelligent investors cannot anticipate every outcome. One famous example is the collapse of Long-Term Capital Management in 1998. The hedge fund was run by some of the brightest minds in finance and relied on sophisticated mathematical models. Those models worked under most circumstances—but a combination of leverage and extraordinary market conditions caused enormous losses. The lesson is not that investors should avoid risk altogether. Risk is part of investing. Rather, wise investors recognize the limits of their knowledge. We cannot predict every market decline, economic shock, or unexpected life event. That reality should lead us toward humility and encourage us to build financial plans with room for error. Build a Margin of Safety One practical way to prepare for uncertainty is to maintain a margin of safety. That begins before investing. A strong financial foundation includes reducing burdensome debt and establishing adequate emergency savings. Then, as you invest, diversification can help reduce the danger of concentrated bets, while avoiding excessive leverage can protect against losses that permanently impair your financial position. The goal is not to eliminate every possible risk. That would be impossible. Instead, margin allows your plan to survive when circumstances do not unfold as expected. Biblical wisdom encourages this kind of prudence. Proverbs 22:3 says: “The prudent sees danger and hides himself, but the simple go on and suffer for it.” Wise stewardship does not require us to live fearfully. But it does call us to recognize potential danger and prepare appropriately. Your Emergency Fund Protects More Than Emergencies An emergency fund may seem separate from an investment portfolio, but the two are closely connected. Think of investing like climbing a ladder. Before climbing higher, you want to make sure the ladder is resting on firm ground. Emergency savings provide that foundation. Unexpected expenses are inevitable. A furnace fails. A vehicle needs replacing sooner than expected. A major repair suddenly becomes necessary. Without adequate savings, those expenses may force you to sell investments at exactly the wrong time—perhaps when the market is down significantly. What began as an ordinary household expense can then cause lasting damage to a long-term investment plan. An emergency fund creates financial breathing room so temporary problems do not become permanent setbacks. Protecting Retirees From Sequence-of-Returns Risk Consequences become especially important as retirement approaches. One risk retirees face is known as sequence-of-returns risk. This occurs when significant investment losses happen early in retirement while a retiree is simultaneously withdrawing money from the portfolio. Two retirees could experience similar average investment returns over several decades but have very different outcomes depending on when the losses occur. A steep market decline early in retirement can be particularly damaging because withdrawals compound those losses. Even strong returns later may not fully repair the damage. Diversification can help manage this risk. Some retirees also choose to keep several years of anticipated spending in cash or relatively low-risk investments so they are less likely to sell stocks during a severe market downturn. The appropriate strategy will vary by household, but the principle remains the same: consider not only what is likely to happen, but what would happen to your plan if difficult circumstances arrived at an inconvenient time. How Much Risk Can You Afford? Risk tolerance is often discussed in terms of emotion: How comfortable are you when markets fall? That matters, but consequence-based thinking adds another dimension. Ask what would happen if an investment or strategy failed. Would the loss merely be disappointing? Or would it prevent you from retiring, eliminate your emergency reserves, jeopardize your home, or keep you awake at night? If a negative outcome would derail your financial goals, you may be taking more risk than you can afford—even if the probability of success appears high. On the other hand, if you can absorb the downside without seriously damaging your financial plan, then probability can play a larger role in the decision. This framework also guards against becoming too conservative. Avoiding stocks entirely in retirement may reduce short-term market volatility, for example, but it introduces another potential consequence: a portfolio may fail to keep pace with inflation over a retirement that lasts several decades. Wise risk management considers both sides. Stewardship Leaves Room for the Unexpected We cannot know exactly what markets, inflation, interest rates, or the economy will do next. And Scripture never promises that careful planning will remove uncertainty from our lives. Our confidence ultimately rests somewhere deeper. As Christians, we believe God is sovereign and that our ultimate security is found in Christ—not in the performance of our portfolios. That frees us to approach financial decisions with both wisdom and humility. We can plan carefully without pretending we know the future. We can prepare for risk without being ruled by fear. And we can leave margin in our finances because we recognize our own limitations. The goal is not to predict every possible outcome. It is to build a financial life capable of enduring when some of our predictions inevitably prove wrong. Before taking a significant financial risk, don't simply ask, “What are the odds that this will work?” Ask one more question: “If it doesn't, can my financial plan withstand the consequences?” That question may be one of the most valuable safeguards a wise steward can use. On Today's Program, Rob Answers Listener Questions: My son and daughter-in-law have a car loan with a payment over $900 a month and likely a very high interest rate because of poor credit. Are there any options to refinance, reduce the rate, or lower the payment? I'll reach full retirement age later this year and plan to keep working. Should I start Social Security then so I can save, invest, and give more, or delay benefits to receive a larger amount later? Resources Mentioned: Faithful Steward: FaithFi's Quarterly Magazine (Become a FaithFi Partner) Sound Mind Investing (SMI) Focus on Consequences, Not Probabilities (Article by Austin Pryor at Sound Mind Investing) When Genius Failed: The Rise and Fall of Long-Term Capital Management by Roger Lowenstein Master Your Money: A Step-by-Step Plan for Experiencing Financial Contentment by Ron Blue with Michael Blue Christian Credit Counselors FaithFi Field Guide: How Much Money is Enough?  Our Ultimate Treasure: A 21-Day Journey to Faithful Stewardship by Rob West Wisdom Over Wealth: 12 Lessons from Ecclesiastes on Money Look At The Sparrows: A 21-Day Devotional on Financial Fear and Anxiety Rich Toward God: A Study on the Parable of the Rich Fool Find a Certified Kingdom Advisor® (CKA) FaithFi App Remember, you can call in to ask your questions every weekday at (800) 525-7000. Faith & Finance is also available on Moody Radio Network and American Family Radio. You can also visit FaithFi.com to connect with our online community and partner with us as we help more people live as faithful stewards of God's resources. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Book a free strategy call to see how we can help you hit your goals and beyond: https://bit.ly/4b0wLaZ or call us at: (214)-453-1591 Get Predictable Calls From Proven Direct Mail Campaigns. Learn more about CertainPath's Lead Generation Direct Mail programs — for members AND non-members. Click here for a FREE Market Analysis: https://mycertainpath.com/lead-generation-request/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=video&utm_campaign=tsc226  He was a corporate consultant. She had an MBA. Neither had roofed a day in their lives — then they bought a roofing company and doubled it. Tim Wilde and his wife Sasha bought Sexton Roofing & Siding in Western Massachusetts in 2023 — a 40-year-old brand the previous owner ran solo at about $2 million a year, working 16-hour days, seven days a week. Neither of them had ever roofed: Tim came out of corporate pharmaceutical-construction consulting, and Sasha has an MBA and always wanted to run a business. When a corporate takeover pushed Tim out, and a friend showed them you could simply buy a business, they did. The first year nearly broke them. They priced with “a finger in the air,” had no idea what a good margin was, and kept winning on low bids. Then they found CertainPath — Tim signed up at a Profit Day on the spot — and the turnaround began: fixing their pricing first, then rebuilding sales around an in-home, one-call-close process. Two years in, they've doubled the business past $4 million, they're targeting $6.5 million, and Tim personally sold $2 million to become a CertainPath roofing crown champion. And it's 100% woman-owned — Sasha owns it outright, and Tim jokes he's “just cheap labor.” In this conversation, you'll discover: How two people with zero trade experience bought a 40-year-old roofing company off a broker Why the acquisition was tougher than they expected — and what they'd do differently The “finger in the air” pricing mistake CertainPath fixed first How moving to an in-home presentation unlocked one-call closes Why being the most thorough person at the door — the one who actually goes in the attic — wins the job The CertainPath training moment that took Tim from “doing sales completely wrong” to a crown champion How they think about growth: taking “a smaller piece of a larger pie” Whether you run a roofing, HVAC, plumbing, or electrical company, Tim and Sasha's story shows how to buy a business, raise your prices, and build a sales process that actually closes. Watch on YouTube or listen on your favorite podcast platform. And don't forget to subscribe to The Successful Contractor for more interviews that move the needle. About the Show The Successful Contractor is a podcast for residential HVAC, plumbing, electrical, and roofing contractors. Hosted by Bob Houchin, each episode features real contractor growth stories, hard-won business insights, and practical takeaways for building a profitable home services company. Meet the Host Bob Houchin has spent 20+ years immersed in the home services industry — listening to, learning from, and serving the people who run it. As host of The Successful Contractor, he's interviewed hundreds of the brightest minds in the trades. Beyond the mic, Bob is a Senior Strategist at CertainPath, building the training, onboarding programs, keynotes, and playbooks used by 1,200+ residential service companies. His motto: smart contractors learn from their mistakes; wise contractors learn from the mistakes of others. About CertainPath CertainPath is a business coaching and training organization that has built successful home service businesses for more than 25 years. We serve 1,200+ member companies across HVAC, plumbing, electrical, and roofing with professional coaching, training for every role, software solutions, and a vendor partner network that delivers millions in member rebates every year. Doubling your sales with a 20% net profit and an inspiring company culture is ALL possible. With CertainPath, Success is Made Certain. Connect CertainPath: https://www.mycertainpath.com FOLLOW CERTAINPATH Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CertainPath LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/certainpath Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/certainpath/ 

Kiwibank says the banking sector's becoming fiercely competitive. The Crown-owned bank has reported a 9% drop in annual profit. Its net interest margin —a key metric of profitability— has dropped to 2.1%. Chief Executive Steve Jurkovich told Mike Hosking the margin has dropped from about 2.4% a few years ago. He says wholesale rates have increased, and the advisor market has given consumers more price transparency. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Welcome back to Fintech Takes. I'm Alex Johnson, joined by David Snitkof (GM of SMB at Ocrolus) to explore one of my all-time favorite topics in financial services: small business lending. Consumer lending is basically homogeneous. People move through predictable life stages, and underwriting comes down to assessing reliability and capacity. Small business lending is nothing like that. Understanding a business well enough to safely lend to it requires context, and context is expensive, which is exactly why small businesses have been underserved by credit for as long as I've worked in financial services (the context margin paradox, if you will). So, can AI finally resolve the tension between personalization and scale for SMBs? We dig into: Why SMBs get caught in the middle between bespoke commercial underwriting and mass-market, and how lenders have tried to cost-engineer their way out of it Why cash flow underwriting shines for SMBs  Why the underwriter of the future might be silicon-based instead of carbon-based How AI agents could work both sides of the table: helping owners seek the right credit at the right time (and on the right terms), while lenders deploy agents across underwriting, fraud, servicing, and collections Tune in to explore why SMB credit has been so hard to get right, and why that might be changing. --- This episode is brought to you by Ocrolus.  Better lending starts with better intelligence. A borrower's cash flow only tells half the story, so Ocrolus fills in the rest with behavior signals and industry benchmarking. Visit https://www.ocrolus.com/ for more.  --- Sign up for Alex's Fintech Takes newsletter for the latest insightful analysis on fintech trends, along with a heaping pile of pop culture references and copious footnotes. Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday: https://workweek.com/brand/fintech-takes/ And for more exclusive insider content, don't forget to check out my YouTube page. --- Follow Alex:  YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJgfH47QEwbQmkQlz1V9rQA/videos LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexhjohnson X: https://www.twitter.com/AlexH_Johnson Follow David: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidsnitkof/

Dave Simons, Partner & Managing Director of One Private Wealth, joins Chris and Amy and is hesitant to say that we're for sure in the late summer economic doldrums; what is margin buying?; why is the dividend yield at the S&P 500 so low?; are we finally seeing some dropping home prices in some areas?

Dr. Richard Swenson, author of The Overload Syndrome and Margin, writes that we need room to breathe—freedom to think, permission to heal, and space for relationships that can easily be starved by the relentless pace of life. That may describe more people today than ever. Many of us are physically, emotionally, mentally, and financially overloaded. There never seems to be enough time, money, or energy left at the end of the day to recover before everything starts again at full speed. The answer, at least in part, is something our culture often neglects: margin. Margin means leaving enough room in our lives to rest, reflect, recover, and reconnect with what matters most. It is, in a sense, taking a break before you break. The Cost of Living Without Margin A life without margin can carry serious physical, emotional, relational, and even financial consequences. Consider sleep. According to the Sleep Foundation, many Americans regularly struggle to get adequate rest, with a significant number of adults sleeping fewer than seven hours each night. Chronic sleep deprivation has been associated with health concerns including diabetes, obesity, anxiety, and heart disease. Lack of sleep also affects emotional health, relationships, and decision-making. That means rest is not merely a luxury. It is part of living wisely and caring responsibly for the bodies, relationships, and responsibilities God has entrusted to us. Perhaps life simply feels too fast right now. Working late nights and weekends may occasionally be necessary, but continuously burning the candle at both ends eventually becomes counterproductive. Exhaustion leaves little energy for the things that matter most—especially our relationships with others and with the Lord. God Designed Us for Work—and Rest Scripture consistently affirms the goodness of work. God calls us to provide for our families, serve others, practice generosity, and faithfully use the abilities and opportunities He has given us. We work to pay bills, save for future needs, give generously, and contribute to our communities. Productive work is part of God's design. But work is not all there is. Rest is God's idea too. In Genesis, God rested on the seventh day of creation—not because He was exhausted, but because His work was complete. He blessed the seventh day and set it apart. Later, Sabbath rest became part of the Ten Commandments given to Israel. Rest reminds us of an important spiritual reality: our worth does not depend on how much we accomplish. Author Rich Villodas has observed that Sabbath reminds us that our standing in Christ is not based on our works. A day of rest allows us to stop producing and remember that God's love for us has not changed. That can be especially difficult in a culture where technology makes it possible to work almost anywhere, at almost any hour. But just because we can keep working does not mean we always should. Healthy margin allows us to return to our work with purpose, energy, and gratitude, doing it “as for the Lord” (Colossians 3:23). Professional progress can be valuable, but chronic stress, damaged health, and neglected relationships are a high price to pay for it. Rest Is Not the Same as Laziness Biblical rest should not be confused with laziness. Laziness means neglecting the responsibilities God has given us or consistently refusing to do what needs to be done. Scripture repeatedly warns against that kind of idleness. Paul tells believers in 1 Thessalonians 5:14 to admonish the idle. In 2 Thessalonians 3, he addresses those who were refusing to work and instead becoming busybodies. There is an important distinction here. Rest restores us so we can return faithfully to the work God has given us. Idleness avoids that work altogether. Proverbs 31 gives us another picture of faithful diligence. The noble woman cares for her household, conducts business, helps the poor, and looks after those entrusted to her. Proverbs 31:27 says, “She looks well to the ways of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness.” Fruitful labor honors God. But so does recognizing when it is time to stop. When Busyness Becomes Another Form of Distraction There is another danger worth recognizing: constant activity can sometimes disguise a lack of purpose. We may appear busy without actually being productive. Without intentional rest and reflection, our activity can become aimless distraction rather than faithful work. We move constantly but rarely stop long enough to ask whether we are moving in the right direction. Laziness can sometimes take an unexpected form as well. Instead of doing nothing, we may spend hours scrolling, shopping, watching, or distracting ourselves while neglecting relationships or responsibilities that matter more. Proverbs 24:30–34 paints a memorable picture of a neglected field covered with thorns and weeds. The lesson is simple: neglect eventually has consequences. If you struggle with procrastination or laziness, the answer is not shame. Bring that struggle to Christ. He offers forgiveness, wisdom, and strength to grow in faithfulness and diligence. Finding a Rhythm of Grace The encouraging news is that God's grace meets us in both extremes. Some of us are exhausted because we never stop working. Others feel stuck because we continually avoid the work before us. Christ invites both groups into something better: rhythms shaped by grace rather than guilt. Rest is not something we earn after proving ourselves productive enough. It is something we receive as a gift from God. Jesus gives this invitation in Matthew 11:28–30: “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” If your life feels overloaded, perhaps the next faithful step is not finding a way to accomplish more. It may be creating enough margin to remember who you are, what matters most, and Who ultimately sustains you. Work faithfully. Rest gratefully. And remember that your security is not found in how much you accomplish, but in Christ. In Him, there is room to breathe. On Today's Program, Rob Answers Listener Questions: Someone I know has seen their credit card debt grow from about $10,000 to $25,000, and the account is now closed. I suspect missed payments and interest are driving the increase. How can I help them understand what's happening and make a plan to deal with the debt? My husband and I are both 77 and would like to avoid probate, but we don't have significant assets. Would an irrevocable trust make sense for us, and how can we find a qualified elder law attorney in Texas to help us understand our options? I'm retired and living comfortably on my pension, with about $125,000 in savings and $19,000 in checking. My bank keeps encouraging me to put the savings into CDs, but the rates don't seem very attractive. What should I consider doing with this money? I'm 59, debt-free, have a fully funded emergency fund, and am contributing to my 401(k). I also have about $200,000 to invest. I want reasonable growth without taking excessive risk. How should I think about investing this money, especially compared with options like fixed annuities or crypto? Resources Mentioned: Faithful Steward: FaithFi's Quarterly Magazine (Become a FaithFi Partner) Christian Credit Counselors AdelFi Christian Banking Eventide | Praxis | GuideStone | OneAscent | Timothy Plan FaithFi Field Guide: How Much Money is Enough?  Our Ultimate Treasure: A 21-Day Journey to Faithful Stewardship by Rob West Wisdom Over Wealth: 12 Lessons from Ecclesiastes on Money Look At The Sparrows: A 21-Day Devotional on Financial Fear and Anxiety Rich Toward God: A Study on the Parable of the Rich Fool Find a Certified Kingdom Advisor® (CKA) FaithFi App Remember, you can call in to ask your questions every weekday at (800) 525-7000. Faith & Finance is also available on Moody Radio Network and American Family Radio. You can also visit FaithFi.com to connect with our online community and partner with us as we help more people live as faithful stewards of God's resources. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Margin pressure driven by AI adoption and automation is fundamentally altering the economic model for IT service delivery and software. Trend Micro's disclosure that operating margins fell from 19% to 15% while cloud and AI token costs nearly doubled, despite strong AI security product sales, highlights how AI-related expenses grow in step with usage. This shift breaks from the historical software margin structure, where scaling incurred negligible incremental costs, and signals a new landscape in which AI service operation continuously consumes resources. A significant development underscoring this trend is the $2 billion capital raise by Thrive Holdings at a $12 billion valuation, backed by SoftBank and OpenAI. Thrive's business model centers on acquiring professional service firms—across IT and accounting—then reorganizing their operations around AI to reduce labor costs while maintaining service levels. According to Dave Sobel, this is not speculative, but reflects direct, substantial financial bets on the ability to remove a portion of service labor without customer disruption, with over 70 acquired service companies already undergoing this transition. Additional evidence comes from channel segment data and shifts in partner economics. The Techaisle Global Channel Partner Survey found service providers under $10 million in revenue project 8.4% growth, while those above $500 million expect 16.8%. AI-related cloud spending continues to climb, with Gartner projecting $42 billion primarily moving from training to ongoing inference operations. The resulting cost structure affects everyone, from increased hardware component prices—such as memory for GPUs—and service desk automation tool adoption, to the fact that most organizations now monitor AI spend as a named line item but struggle to forecast it reliably. Only 11% of organizations can predict their AI bills, down from 15% the prior year. For MSPs and IT leaders, these developments indicate rising operational complexity and increasing pricing competition. Automation drives down service delivery costs, but savings will quickly pass to clients as competitors implement similar solutions. Providers must quantify and communicate their impact on client outcomes, translating delivered value into client financial terms rather than relying solely on traditional metrics like licenses or labor hours. Failing to do so exposes providers to rapid commoditization and margin erosion, as clients grow more able to audit, benchmark, and bid out both cost savings and revenue enablement. 00:00 Two Billion Against Your Labor  04:10 Software Got a Cost of Goods 06:56 Get On Their Income Statement 10:29 Why Do We Care?  Supported by:  ScalePad  Proofpoint

Send us Fan MailNate Littlewood, founder of Future Ready CFO, joins Noah Wickham on the MAG Growth Podcast to explain why profitable Amazon and e-commerce brands can still run short on cash. They cover the difference between profit and cash flow, how inventory can drain working capital, and why fast growth can create financial pressure. Nate also shares how founders can use ROI math, bottleneck analysis, and team skills to choose better growth projects. The conversation also looks at the 80/20 rule, underperforming SKUs, product catalog growth, and why adding more Amazon products does not always lead to more sales. Amazon sellers, CPG brands, and e-commerce founders can use these ideas to make better financial decisions and focus on profitable growth.If cash flow, inventory costs, or profit margins are holding the brand back, book a call with us to figure out what needs fixing first. https://bit.ly/4jMZtxu #AmazonSeller #Ecommerce #CashFlow #AmazonFBA #Entrepreneurship Want free resources? Dowload our Free Amazon guides here:Download the 2026 Amazon AI Operating Manual: https://bit.ly/3SLmusPAmazon Receiving Delay Guide: https://hubs.ly/Q04cdD4c0Amazon Catalog Spring Cleaning: https://hubs.ly/Q046BVfp0Amazon Proft Margin Defense 2026: https://hubs.ly/Q042trRH0Amazon SEO Toolkit 2026: https://bit.ly/4oC2ClTAmazon Seller Strategy Report 2026: https://bit.ly/3YN1RME2026 Ecommerce Website & SEO Readiness Checklist: https://hubs.ly/Q04btghf0Amazon 2026 PPC guide: https://bit.ly/4lF0OYX Timestamps00:00 - Pricing, Margin, and Ecommerce Growth01:50 - Nate Littlewood and Future Ready CFO03:54 - Why Founders Are Data Rich but Decision Poor06:51 - Knowing When a Business Is Ready to Grow08:37 - Using ROI to Pick Growth Projects09:45 - Finding Bottlenecks in an Ecommerce Business11:14 - Matching Growth Plans to Team Skills13:53 - Why Profitable Brands Can Have No Cash15:34 - How Fast-Growing Brands Grow Broke17:14 - The 80/20 Rule for Amazon Products18:05 - Calculating the Real Cost of Each SKU20:12 - The Jam Study and Too Much Product Choice21:24 - When More Amazon SKUs Hurt the Business23:43 - New Products vs Product Variations-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Follow us:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/28605816/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stevenpopemag/Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/myamazonguys/Twitter: https://twitter.com/myamazonguySubscribe to the My Amazon Guy podcast: https://podcast.myamazonguy.comApple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/my-amazon-guy/id1501974229Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4A5ASHGGfr6s4wWNQIqyVwSupport the show

In today's Tech3 from Moneycontrol, India's IT services firms are facing margin pressure as AI-driven deflation and tougher client negotiations push discounts higher. Meta's advertising systems come under NHRC scrutiny over allegations involving paid promotion of sexually explicit content. Meanwhile, festive hiring is picking up, with quick commerce expected to lead temporary recruitment. And Zetwerk moves closer to its IPO with plans to raise Rs 2,600 crore through a fresh issue, alongside an OFS by existing shareholders.

It's the Battleground Arena on the Sean Spicer Show. Will the GOP hold the House — or are Democrats about to flip it? Sean Spicer sits down with Henry Olsen, Senior Fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center and author of the "Margin of Victory" newsletter for The Washington Post, for a full race-by-race breakdown of every Toss-Up seat in the Cook Political Report's 2026 House ratings. ----------------- https://www.seanspicer.com subscribe for an ad free version of this podcast ----------------- Bedford Reinforced Plastics - https://www.bedfordreinforced.com/spicer ----------------- https://ruffgreens.com/⁠ enter code: SPICER for your FREE starter pack Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nevada ranks dead last in the nation for youth mental health access. We break down why Southern Nevada's kids are struggling to find care and what needs to change. Then, Nevada's decades-long fight against Yucca Mountain may finally be nearing its end, as Sen. Jacky Rosen introduces a bill to repeal the 1987 law that made it the nation's only designated nuclear waste site. Finally, Salad and Go just closed all its Las Vegas locations, so we ask the question nobody asked for but everyone needed: what would it actually take to make salad cool again in Las Vegas? Host Jesse Merrick breaks it all down with News from the Margin founder Naoka Foreman and NPR Mountain West News Bureau regional reporter Yvette Fernandez. If you or anyone you know is struggling with thoughts of suicide, you can always call the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988. There's help available 24 hours a day. Learn more about the sponsors of this Thursday, August 13th episode: SNWA Want to get in touch? Follow us @CityCastVegas on Instagram, or email us at lasvegas@citycast.fm. You can also call or text us at 702-514-0719. For more Las Vegas news, make sure to sign up for our morning newsletter. Learn more about becoming a City Cast Las Vegas Neighbor at membership.citycast.fm. Looking to advertise on City Cast Las Vegas? Check out our options for podcast and newsletter ads at citycast.fm/advertise.

What will separate the most successful farm businesses from the rest over the next decade?Dr. David Kohl and Lynn Paulson of Bell Bank join Peggy Coffeen to discuss the economic and global trends producers should be watching—from consumer demand for protein and AI-driven agriculture to global competition, regenerative agriculture, the coming land transition, and relationship-based lending.They also break down what separates the top 20% of farm businesses: knowing the numbers, having a plan, managing risk, building strong relationships, and consistently doing the small things right.00:00 – Economic & Global Trends01:05 – Protein & Precision Agriculture02:15 – Following the Consumer03:01 – Global Competition04:37 – The Changing Global Landscape07:18 – Regenerative Agriculture08:58 – Agriculture's Story to Consumers10:59 – The 2032 Land Opportunity12:42 – Land Ownership vs. Control14:04 – Advice for Young Producers17:09 – Planning & Financial Management20:23 – Family Business Accountability22:01 – Relationship Lending26:33 – What Makes a Good Lender?29:01 – What the Top 20% Do Differently30:32 – Excellence at the Margin

KSTP-TV political reporter Tom Hauser reacts to this week's Primary vote results and discusses where campaigns will move now as we head for the general election in November.

A full calendar can look like discipline, productivity, and control—until something unexpected happens and there is nowhere for it to go. After spending four days running his business from a chair beside a hospital bed, Ray examines the hidden cost of eliminating every open hour: the loss of margin on your time. What You'll Learn in This EpisodeWhy a completely allocated calendar can quietly eliminate your flexibility.How time margin provides the same security, optionality, and head space that financial margin provides.Why time margin can disappear without you noticing until something unexpected lands.Three ways to rebuild it: scheduling below capacity, creating real redundancy, and redesigning your ideal week from a blank calendar.Why automatically filling newly available time with more production can recreate the same problem.//Welcome to The Ray J. Green Show, your destination for tips on sales, strategy, and self-mastery from an operator, not a guru.About Ray:→ Former Managing Director of National Small & Midsize Business at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, where he doubled revenue per sale in fundraising, led the first increase in SMB membership, co-built a national Mid-Market sales channel, and more.→ Former CEO operator for several investor groups where he led turnarounds of recently acquired small businesses.→ Current founder of MSP Sales Partners, where we currently help IT companies scale sales: www.MSPSalesPartners.com→ Current Sales & Sales Management Expert in Residence at the world's largest IT business mastermind.→ Current Managing Partner of Repeatable Revenue Ventures, where we scale B2B companies we have equity in: www.RayJGreen.com//Follow Ray on:YouTube | LinkedIn | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

Our playbook to $100K a month is free, and it comes with an AI tool that builds a plan for you: ► The $100K Playbook: https://capitalism.com/100K Dr. Benjamin Hardy is the co-author of the books, "10x Is Easier Than 2x" and "Who Not How" with Dan Sullivan. I read his new one, "The Science of Scaling," and then I couldn't sleep. Step one is to set a goal so big you don't believe you can hit it, and I got stuck there, so instead of interviewing Ben about his framework I asked him to run it on me live. He pulled my own goal three years forward and made me say out loud what would have to go, which is when it clicked: the goal is not a prediction, it's a tool for deciding what you cut. Mentioned on the podcast: ► The $100K Playbook: https://capitalism.com/100K ► Bootcamp waitlist: https://capitalism.com/bootcamp ► The Science of Scaling by Dr. Benjamin Hardy ► 10x Is Easier Than 2x by Dan Sullivan & Dr. Benjamin Hardy ► Who Not How by Dan Sullivan & Dr. Benjamin Hardy (0:00) Very talented entrepreneurs could be getting 100X the results they are (0:38) Step one of the book: set an impossible goal (1:02) My challenge to you before we start, and the number I want you to aim at (2:21) "I have a bone to pick with you." The book that cost me a night of sleep (3:10) How Ben made his money, and the coaching company he sold (4:15) Why he walked away from social media, masterminds, and his old business (6:27) Most people think scale means doing twice as many things (8:03) High-rep, low-rep, and Joseph Nguyen's "no-rep" learning (9:59) Five pathways that were all decent, and not one of them powerful (11:09) I got stuck on chapter one with seven goals that all seemed related (14:20) Using time as a tool: shorten the window, filter out the seven-figure decisions (15:53) "How blunt do you want me to be?" Ben moves my 2030 goal to 2027 (16:53) The first thing that falls apart is a role we manage instead of hire well (18:29) Acquire bigger brands, or install better operators (19:20) The honest answer for why I never just changed the timeline (20:44) Nobody is monitoring your goal, which is exactly what makes it a tool (23:30) Your impossible goal does not have to be a billion dollars (24:46) What happens after $100 million, and why a billion feels unclear (26:05) My seven goals out loud, and the four I had already forgotten (27:20) The Cleveland Guardians, and the goal I stopped believing in (30:34) Your goal and the company's goal are two different goals (32:20) The Bain Capital founder who could not answer "how do you choose the right goal?" (33:39) "Just choose" versus optimizing for the wrong thing (36:02) The purpose of the goal is whatever it forces you to face (37:58) Physician's Choice cut profitable SKUs to build a $100 million company (39:55) Why every event and every scroll hands you four more goals (41:47) Alicia Alt went from 10 customers to 8,000 in one week (43:20) The power law, and why a great one is worth 10,000 average ones (45:20) Margin for error: what a superstar does for everyone else on the floor (46:03) "The who often comes with the pathway" (48:15) Tom Brady and Odell Beckham Jr. had the same game and different goals (52:43) José Ramírez took $100 million below market to be the greatest Cleveland player ever (53:37) How many goals Ben actually has (54:48) The Logan Paul problem, and what Musk is really optimizing for (57:41) You are not sacrificing the other six goals, you are sacrificing them for now (1:00:37) Raising the floor is the conscious choice to let things go (1:04:07) "I'm not capable of that." Why belief is not required at the start (1:08:44) Hidden commitments: the $31 million founder avoiding his father's collapse (1:12:45) Big visions and a life you actually enjoy DISCLAIMER: The information contained on this Podcast Channel and the resources available for download/viewing through this Podcast Channel are for educational and informational purposes only.

In this episode we answer emails from Optimus Bill, Pete, and Andy.  We discuss SBLOCs vs margin accounts for liquidity in retirement, what "jumping the shark" looks like in blog form and why its a bad idea for all involved, and a listener's endowment-inspired variable withdrawal strategy (that should work just find). Links:Father McKenna Center Donation Page (please mention Risk Parity Radio in the comment section with your donation):  Donate - Father McKenna CenterInteractive Brokers Margin Rates:  Margin Rates and Financing | Interactive Brokers LLCPete's "Firefly"  Link:  #firefly #serenity #malcolmreynolds #nathanfillion #captain #captainma... | TikTokFonzie Jumps The Shark:  Fonzie Jumps SharkRon Howard's Misgivings On Jumping The Shark:  Ron Howard discusses "jumping the shark" - EMMYTVLEGENDS.ORGReferenced SEC Disclosure:  SPY2026/06/05 - ADV Form 2A - Google DocsBreathless Unedited AI-Bot Summary:Borrowing against your portfolio can feel like a magic trick: you keep your investments, skip selling, and still get cash when you need it. The trick only works, though, if you understand the rules. We break down a listener question on S-block loans (securities-backed lines of credit) versus margin loans, including how these products are structured, how SOFR-based rates show up in real pricing, and why brokers like Interactive Brokers can look dramatically cheaper than the big-name platforms.Then we dig into the detail that can flip the whole decision: taxes. Margin interest is often treated as investment interest and shows up on Form 4952, potentially landing as a Schedule A deduction. That can change your effective borrowing cost in a big way, especially in higher tax brackets. But does the same deduction apply to an S-block that is set up as a separate loan product? We talk through what we know, what we do not, and the exact question to take to your tax professional so you are not optimizing the wrong thing.From there, the conversation pivots to retirement planning, sequence of returns risk, and why a small allocation to gold keeps popping up in safe withdrawal rate research. We also share a candid take on what happens when personal finance commentary drifts from useful analysis into sensational accusations, and why that shift can be harmful to audiences trying to make calm, long-term decisions.We close by critiquing an endowment-style withdrawal rule designed to smooth spending while still responding to market performance, plus the real-life challenge every retiree faces: spending is not a straight line. If you want more episodes like this, subscribe, share the show with a friend who is nearing retirement, and leave a review with what question you want answered next.Support the show

Growth is supposed to feel like winning. For a lot of contractors, it feels like drowning. Derek Isaac, founder of Rapid Result Creators, spent more than 20 years in construction and real estate before turning that experience into a systems coaching practice for general contractors and home builders. In this episode, he breaks down why a growing business quietly becomes harder to run, and what to do about it. We get into the real mechanics. How to spot the frog-in-boiling-water moment before something breaks. Why owners revert to the tools or start micromanaging instead of leading. How to make new systems actually stick when enthusiasm gets diluted at every level below you. And the difference between growth that builds a business and growth that breaks it. This one is for GCs, home builders, and any AEC owner who feels like the business runs through them. It's a straight, practical conversation about structure, margins, boundaries, and building a company that doesn't need you in the room to function.   About Derek Isaac Derek Isaac is a business systems coach who works with general contractors and home builders to bring structure and control to growing businesses. With more than 20 years in construction contracting and real estate investing, he understands how quickly growth creates complexity, reduces visibility, and increases reliance on the owner. Through coaching, training programs, and live education, Derek helps builders strengthen operations, improve margins, and run businesses that are easier to manage as they scale. He's the founder of Rapid Result Creators.   What We Cover Introduction and Derek's path from contractor to business systems coach Why technically great builders struggle the moment they become business owners The frog-in-boiling-water problem and the early warning signs owners miss Leadership catching up to growth, and why reverting to the tools is a trap Making systems stick: buy-in, enthusiasm, and the implementation period Finding the bottleneck when the bottleneck is the owner, using the org chart Healthy growth versus growth that breaks the business, and why margin beats revenue Setting client boundaries with a clear "what to expect" approach Hiring as a system problem first, the Ideal Employee Profile, and why good people stay with good businesses The one thing every contractor should fix: their numbers Where to find Derek and closing thoughts   Key Takeaways Systems are the foundation that lets your people do their jobs well. They are not bureaucracy, they are what makes a business feel professional and easier to run. When the bottleneck is you, fill the org chart from the bottom up. Document and delegate the lowest rungs first, then build management layers as your finances allow. Margin beats revenue. A 2 million dollar business at a healthy margin has more room and more resilience than a 5 million dollar business running on 5 percent. Boundaries protect the business, not just the owner. A clear "what to expect" conversation earns respect and still earns the referrals and the reviews. Hire like it's a six or seven figure decision. Build the Ideal Employee Profile, go find passive candidates, and keep a database of everyone who ever applied.   Resources + Links Rapid Result Creators: https://rapidresultcreators.com Derek on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/derek-isaac Career Collective: https://www.mycareercollective.com  

Chris Marinac, Director of Research at Brean Capital, breaks down Q2 2026 bank earnings with Brian Love of Travillian. Why margin is just a statistic, why deposits still win, where M&A goes next, and how banks are rebuilding their talent pipeline.

Michael Howell, CEO of CrossBorder Capital, an investment advisory firm, and author of Capital Wars, returns to explain why the global liquidity cycle peaked in late Q3/early Q4 of last year — and what that means for the rest of 2026. His core argument: money is fungible but finite, and a booming real economy is now pulling liquidity out of financial assets, which compresses P/E multiples even as earnings look fine. That puts us in what he calls the speculation phase: rising bond yields, strong commodities, pressured crypto, and low-quality equity returns where index gains mask widespread underperformance. He also pushes back hard on the popular "debasement trade" explanation for gold, arguing the real driver is the People's Bank of China injecting liquidity to devalue the yuan internally while holding it steady externally — with Chinese retail locked out of crypto and the Shanghai Gold Exchange now setting the marginal price. On the bond side, he lays out how the Treasury is quietly monetizing through front-end issuance and buybacks — private-sector QE under Treasury direction — a strategy that works until it doesn't, with Japan's move from 50bps to nearly 3% as the cautionary tale. His bottom line: range-bound Wall Street, no bonds, gold and silver on weakness, and watch commodities for the first sign the boom is ending.Thank you to our partners Augusta Precious Metals — To learn more, visit https://juliabuysgold.com/ or text “Julia" to 35052Monetary Metals - learn more at https://www.monetary-metals.com/julia/Links:  Website: http://www.crossbordercapital.com/ Twitter/X https://x.com/crossbordercapSubstack: https://capitalwars.substack.com/ Book: https://www.amazon.com/Capital-Wars-Rise-Global-Liquidity/dp/30303929020:00 The call: range-bound market, own gold0:20 Welcome back, Michael Howell1:19 Two pools of money: markets vs. the real economy2:30 The liquidity cycle has peaked3:20 What this phase looks like4:48 Why a booming economy is bad for stocks5:22 The P/E multiple is where liquidity shows up6:34 Late cycle, explained7:38 Augusta Precious Metals9:29 Global liquidity vs. the world business cycle10:45 Atlanta Fed nowcast near 6%11:54 The K-shaped economy is global12:45 Monetary inflation vs. Main Street inflation14:45 Speculation now, turbulence next15:15 The cycle map17:55 Monetary Metals19:49 Gold: it isn't the debasement trade20:30 It's China: PBOC liquidity22:15 Why gold and not crypto23:14 Inside the PBOC balance sheet25:00 Yuan gold and the 27,000 line26:15 Bond yields track nominal GDP27:40 NGDP at 7-8% vs. a 4.7% ten-year28:18 Treasury QE: funding at the front end30:20 Who's actually buying the debt?30:51 The beach ball under water32:35 The two-year note leads the Fed34:30 The 2022 analogue36:00 Why MOVE matters more than VIX37:08 Treasury buybacks and the volatility cap38:30 Margin debt and the 2026 range call39:31 Parting thoughts: commodities as the warning40:30 Gold, silver, and the ratio to watch

Some investors swear by margin loans, while others won't go near them. So are they a powerful wealth-building tool, or a trap for the unprepared investor? Join Canna Campbell - a financial planner for 20 years - and Fear & Greed's Michael Thompson as they look at how margin loans can be used for investing, and some of the risks and pitfalls to avoid.Canna and Michael have written a book! Twelve Months to Financial Freedom will hit the shelves on September 1 - but you can preorder your copy right now.---The information in this podcast is general in nature and does not take into account your personal circumstances, financial needs or objectives. Before acting on any information, you should consider the appropriateness of it and the relevant product having regard to your objectives, financial situation and needs. In particular, you should seek independent financial advice and read the relevant Product Disclosure Statement or other offer document prior to acquiring any financial product.​Canna Campbell is an Authorised Representative and Financial Adviser of Links Licensee Services Pty Ltd AFSL No. 700012 ABN 97 678 975 589.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Why is it so difficult to slow down, even after we've found peace? In this episode of Coffee with Crystal, Dr. Crystal explores why we often rush back into busyness, how to create healthy emotional boundaries, and why rest is a rhythm that sustains us rather than a reward we earn. Learn how protecting your peace and creating margin can help you build a healthier, more purposeful life.

Paying It Forward and Centering Mission Over Margin with Shantay Pierce on Black Wall Street TodayIn this powerful episode of Black Wall Street Today, host Blair Durham sits down with decorated veteran, entrepreneur, author, and community leader Shantay Pierce. Founder of the youth-serving nonprofit S.T.A.N.D and Shantay Global Media LLC, Shantay brings a wealth of wisdom on what it truly means to take the next step, invest in the next generation, and operate with a purpose-first mindset.Tune in as Shantay shares her inspiring journey from military service to publishing two books available on Amazon, building media support systems for nonprofits, and uplifting youth through STAND. This conversation dives deep into the core tenets of paying it forward, imparting essential life tools to young people, and why prioritizing mission over profit is the ultimate key to sustainable community wealth building.Whether you are an aspiring entrepreneur, a nonprofit leader, or someone looking to make a lasting impact in your community, this episode offers actionable insights on mentorship, resilience, and legacy.Keywords: Shantay Pierce, Blair Durham, Black Wall Street Today, STAND nonprofit, Shantay Global Media, veteran entrepreneur, youth empowerment, community impact, mission over profit, paying it forward, nonprofit funding, Black authors, mentorship, social entrepreneurship, community building, leadership, youth development, Amazon authors, Hampton Roads podcasts.Key Takeaways:The Veteran to Entrepreneur Journey: Discover how Shantay Pierce transitioned from her service in the military to establishing a robust footprint as an author, media founder, and community advocate.Empowering the Next Generation through STAND: Learn about the mission behind the youth-serving nonprofit STAND and why imparting necessary guidance to young people is critical for future success.Building Support Systems for Nonprofits: Explore how Shantay Global Media LLC provides vital funding, resources, and structural support to help mission-driven organizations thrive.Mission as Primary, Profit as Secondary: Gain perspective on why shifting the focus from bottom-line profits to deep-rooted community impact creates authentic, long-lasting value.The Power of Taking the Next Step: Hear practical advice on overcoming hurdles, writing and publishing books, and stepping boldly into your purpose.Timestamps:**** Welcoming Shantay Pierce: Military background, author journey, and entrepreneurial roots.**** Introducing STAND: The vision and impact of her youth-serving organization.**** Imparting into the Youth: Why giving back and equipping young people with life tools matters.**** Shantay Global Media LLC: Providing funding and support for nonprofits.**** Mission Over Margin: Philosophy on prioritizing purpose over profit.**** Final Takeaways: Taking the next step and how to connect with Shantay's work.Schedule a 15 Minute MeetingBlair DurhamCo-Founder/CEOBlack BRANDHampton Roads' Regional Black Chamber of Commerce(o) 757.288.7400(m) 757.712.3538520 East Main Street, Suite 4Norfolk, VA 23510Interested in sponsoring the podcast? Want to contact Blair orBrian or Black BRAND? Info@BlackBRAND.biz . The Black WallStreet Today (BWST) radio show is focused on all things Black entrepreneurshipand hosted by Virginia Tech alumnae Blair Durham, co-founder and co-Presidentof Black BRAND. The BWST podcast is produced by using selected audio from theradio show and other Black BRAND events. BWST is the media outlet for BlackBRAND. Black BRAND is a 501(c)(3) organization that stands for BusinessResearch Analytics, Networking, and Development.   m.me/blackwallstreettoday  +  info@blackbrand.biz  +  (757) 541-2680 Instagram: www.instagram.com/blackbrandbiz/ + Facebook: www.facebook.com/blackbrandbiz/  $20k - $90K of business funding - https://mbcapitalsolutions.com/positive-vibes-consulting/

Mary Anastasia O'Grady reports Keiko Fujimori has secured the Peruvian presidency by a narrow margin, inheriting a nation plagued by organized crime and Chinese influence. Fujimori faces an immediate crisis with the expected arrival of El Niño in September, which threatens the fishing industry and may cause floods. Transnational criminal organizations involved in extortion and illegal mining present a strategic threat to property rights and small businesses. Additionally, China's construction of the Chancay port and heavy mining investments have granted Beijing significant political leverage. Fujimori must now balance these economic realities while attempting to restore the rule of law. (8)

Your Shopify growth could be limited by something customers never see: your fulfilment operation.Before building Ships A Lot, twin brothers Max and Zach Zitney were Shopify merchants themselves. They experienced first-hand how warehouse problems, rising shipping costs and unreliable fulfilment could damage margins, customer experience and growth.In this episode, Max and Zach reveal the fulfilment mistakes that nearly broke their own ecommerce brand - and what growing Shopify brands need to know before scaling operations.You'll learn:Why fulfilment problems can quietly destroy your Shopify marginsThe biggest warning signs your current 3PL is holding back growthHow shipping costs and hidden fees impact profitabilityWhy poor fulfilment can waste your marketing spend and hurt retentionWhat Shopify brands should look for in a scalable 3PL partnerMax and Zach also share how their experience as merchants led them to create Ships A Lot, helping ecommerce brands improve fulfilment visibility, reduce shipping costs and scale more effectively.In this episode:(00:00) - Why they started a 3PL(01:40) - Why their Shopify store struggled(04:00) - The biggest fulfilment problems(06:00) - Why fast shipping matters(09:00) - Creating memorable customer experiences(12:00) - Scaling personalised fulfilment(16:00) - White-glove shipping strategies(19:00) - Cutting shipping costs(22:00) - Finding hidden margin leaks(26:00) - Lessons from 10 years in ecommerce(31:00) - Solving fulfilment problems(35:00) - Advice for growing Shopify brandsGet your free Parcel Margin ReportSend Ships A Lot one month of your shipping data and receive a one-page analysis showing what you currently pay per order, what you could pay with Ships A Lot and where your margin may be leaking.Get your free Parcel Margin ReportListener offers:Omnisend - 30% off paid plans for three months with code WINNINGWITHOMNISEND.Inventory Planner - Free seven-day inventory bootcamp.Yoast - 15% off Shopify SEO with code WWS15.About Winning With ShopifyWinning With Shopify is powered by Spec Digital, a PPC & SEO agency helping ecommerce brands grow through performance marketing.

OpenPunta de Mita Mexico. Pure heaven. AC/DCWorldCup Play at 0.15.  Videos of foreigners talking about America. Awesome.Play Feynman at 10.29 minMarketsSCHD and VOO ATH. VGT And QQQ off ~5%. 1 year 30% SCHD, 32% VGT and 24% VOO.Leopold LeverageThe fund had gained about 270% after fees this year through May. At that point, it was up more than 1,000% after fees since inception. It had ballooned to well over $20 billion under management, reaching the size of other well-known hedge funds that took decades to build.Example: you have $1000. Borrow $1000. Buy $2000 of stocks. Stocks go down 50%. Your broke.NetflixEarnings letter. TeslaBiggest one day loss EVER. Down 14.5%. One concept keeps me calm: The US needs Tesla and its Robotics for national security. Revenue GrowthSo many changes in last 2 years. Revenue should grow steadily now:  Model YL (sleeper hit), Energy, Semi, Robotaxi (finally!), Optimus (~9 months), Services (up 50% YoY). CyberTruck basic config (delivery in 2027...huge demand!Earnings Deck here. $100b annual run-rate.$28b revenue quarter. Record. 1.48m FSD subscriptions. TeraFAbThis is why we're building the largest chip manufacturing facility ever, with the goal of producing over 1 terawatt of compute per yearAILetter from companies/CEO's urging allowing Open Weights AI models. SpaceXThis tweet if off the charts” ‘https://x.com/stevederico/status/2084779469647266042Play Elon$100 billion ARR by December 2026 (they get here doing "nothing")$1 trillion in revenue as early as 2029Starship heat shield "solved"1 year payback on AI Data Center CapEXEnd of 2027 data center capacity will upwards of 5x (or more)NVIDIA exclusive chip partner for data centers on ground and spaceThey are using learnings from building rockets to build data centers, and it turns out data centers are way way way easier than rockets (means they can go extremely fast)Starlink commercial will be much bigger than consumer and Starlink should deliver most of the world's internetAI will be able to do almost anything in digital world by end of 2027V3 satellites will 10x the bandwidth and will be launched 10x as many as V2.Connectivity demand will explode due to physical AI (self driving cars/humanoid robots)PoliticsFlorida's budgetNewsom Pay to Play from WSJDave Friedberg on CA Tax. Billionaire TaxHoover Institute VideoPodcasts Really enjoyed Tim Robins on spotify. Advice: Never give up. Just show up. Everyone gets a job. Be AI literate.I don't think its hard to be successful in America. Hard = show up everyday, care about your job and your duty. That'st it. Great Coscto example here

Zander Krause explains why Jalen Hurts must elevate a less proven Eagles offense during a demanding transition.Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Stijn Schmitz welcomes back Colonel Douglas Macgregor to the show. Doug is a Retired U.S. Army Colonel and Decorated Combat Veteran. He offers a stark assessment that the Middle East conflict is fundamentally a Jewish war with no vital strategic interest for the United States, describing it as already regional and increasingly merging with other global flashpoints. He argues that the recent halt in hostilities is merely a pause, not a resolution, as no underlying issues have been settled. The conversation highlights how three conflicts—Ukraine, the Gulf region, and the cold war with China—are converging into a larger, dangerous alignment of Russia, China, and Iran against US and Israeli interests. Macgregor warns that Iran has effectively weaponized the Strait of Hormuz, and a potential Houthi blockade could cripple Saudi Arabia's ability to export oil, threatening the existence of Gulf states unless they expel American forces. He contends that the US has been militarily defeated by Iran's strategic use of new technology and space-based surveillance, yet political pressure from Zionist billionaires and the Israel lobby prevents President Trump from disengaging. This dynamic, he argues, will likely restart the bombing campaigns. The discussion shifts to the profound economic implications, with Macgregor predicting severe market fragility, potential bank runs, and even a depression. Against this backdrop, he sees gold becoming more valuable than ever, propelled by central bank buying, de-dollarization, and monstrous US debt. He cites predictions of gold reaching $13,000 to $15,000 per ounce, possibly sooner than 2031 if conflict reignites. Macgregor reveals his personal investment philosophy of holding cash and precious metals exclusively, emulating J.D. Rockefeller's strategy of maintaining liquidity to capitalize on distressed opportunities. He praises Palisades Goldcorp for its strong cash position and strategic investments in gold, uranium, and other critical minerals, positioning it for substantial upside in a deteriorating global economy. He concludes by emphasizing the decline of US hegemony and the urgent, yet ignored, need to accept a new world order. Timestamps: 00:00:00 – Introduction 00:01:22 – Israel Iran Conflict Update 00:03:02 – Three Merging Global Conflicts 00:09:08 – China Cold War Risks 00:12:28 – Houthi Implications 00:14:30 – A Jewish War 00:23:36 – Conflicts & Impacts on Oil 00:30:44 – Joining Palisades Gold Board 00:32:37 – Gold Price Predictions 2031 00:38:12 – Gold Vs. Aliens/Other Commodities 00:44:41 – Doug’s Personal Finance Strategy 00:48:09 – Wrap Up and Resources Guest Links: Website: https://douglasmacgregor.com X: https://x.com/DougAMacgregor Substack: https://substack.com/@coloneldoug YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@macgregorwarriordiplomacy Articles: https://breakingdefense.com/author/doug-macgregor/ Douglas Macgregor is a decorated combat veteran, an author of five books, a PhD, and a defense and foreign policy consultant. Macgregor was commissioned in the Regular Army in 1976 after 1 year at VMI and 4 years at West Point. In 2004, Macgregor retired with the rank of Colonel. In 2020, the President appointed Macgregor to serve as Senior Advisor to the Secretary of Defense, a post he held until President Trump left office. He holds an MA in comparative politics and a PhD in international relations from the University of Virginia. Macgregor is widely known inside the U.S., Europe, Israel, Russia, China and Korea for both his leadership in the Battle of 73 Easting, the U.S. Army's largest tank battle since World War II, and for his ground breaking books on military transformation: Breaking the Phalanx (Praeger, 1997) and Transformation under Fire (Praeger, 2003). Macgregor's recommendations for change in Force Design and “integrated all arms-all effects” operations have profoundly influenced force development in Israel, Russia and China. In 2010, Macgregor traveled to Seoul, Korea to advise the ROK Ministry of Defense on force design. In 2019, Transformation under Fire was selected by Lt. Gen. Aviv Kohavi, Chief of the Israeli Defense Force (IDF), as the intellectual basis for IDF transformation. His fifth book, Margin of Victory: Five Battles that Changed the Face of Modern War from Naval Institute Press is available in Chinese, as well as, English and will soon appear in Hebrew. In 28 years of service Macgregor taught in the Department of Social Sciences at West Point, commanded the 1st Squadron, 4th Cavalry, and served as the Director of the Joint Operations Center at SHAPE during the 1999 Kosovo Air Campaign for which he was awarded the Defense Superior Service medal. In January 2002, at Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld's insistence the USCENTCOM Commander listened to Colonel Macgregor's concept for the offensive to seize Baghdad. The plan was largely adopted, but assumed no occupation of Iraq by U.S. Forces. Macgregor has also testified as an expert witness before the Senate and House Armed Services Committees and appeared as a defense analyst on Fox News, CNN, BBC, Sky News and public radio. He is fluent in German.

Andrew Walworth, Carl Cannon and RCP White House correspondent Carolina Lumetta discuss what is happening in the U.S. Senate, which is staying in session to deal with issues including the SAVE America Act and confirmation of Todd Blanche as Attorney General. Then, Washington Post columnist and author of the Margin of Victory newsletter Henry Olsen joins the show to discuss lessons from Tuesday's Democratic primary results and today's primaries in Tennessee. And finally, Air Force Brigadier General John Teichert (Ret.) joins the team to discuss a possible agreement between Oman and Iran to open the Straits of Hormuz, whether American forces are running low on munitions, and whether a strategy of “strategic interdiction” - which would include striking high-value economic targets like Kharg Island - should be adopted by the U.S. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

We build durable cyclists. New performance videos every week on YouTube:

“Know well the condition of your flocks, and give attention to your herds.” - Proverbs 27:23 Most of us no longer measure our wealth in flocks and herds, but the wisdom of Proverbs 27:23 remains just as relevant today: faithful stewardship requires attention. When we do not know what we have, where it is going, or what it is accomplishing, we cannot manage it wisely. That is where a budget can help. A budget is simply a plan for managing what God has entrusted to us. It is not intended to be a burden, a source of shame, or a rigid set of restrictions. It is a practical tool that helps us practice faithfulness. Begin With the Heart Biblical budgeting starts with the recognition that everything belongs to God. Our income, possessions, savings, spending, and giving have all been entrusted to our care. That means budgeting begins with a spiritual question before it becomes a financial exercise: Lord, how would You have me manage what You have provided? That question changes the purpose of a budget. We are not merely trying to make the numbers balance. We are asking whether our financial decisions reflect what we truly value. A budget can reveal where our money is drifting. Are our resources being absorbed by impulse, comfort, comparison, and accumulation? Or are they being directed toward generosity, provision, responsibility, and contentment? The goal is not simply greater financial control. It is greater faithfulness. Make Generosity Intentional Scripture never treats generosity as an afterthought. 2 Corinthians 9:7 says, “Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” A budget allows us to give intentionally rather than reactively. Instead of waiting to see whether anything remains at the end of the month, we can prayerfully decide in advance how we want to support our church, ministries, neighbors, and others in need. Generosity should not be driven by guilt or compulsion. It should flow from gratitude for God's provision and a desire to participate in His work. Know Your True Income For those who receive a predictable paycheck, identifying monthly income may be relatively simple. A spending plan can be built around regular take-home pay. Variable income requires a little more care. Business owners, commission-based workers, freelancers, seasonal employees, and hourly workers may see their income fluctuate from month to month. In that situation, it is usually wise to build a budget around a conservative baseline. Review the previous six to 12 months and identify the lower-income periods. Then build your essential expenses around a realistic minimum—not your best month. When income is higher, decide beforehand how those additional dollars will be used. They might help you: Build savings Pay down debt Prepare for upcoming expenses Increase your generosity Without a plan, additional income can easily disappear into increased spending. With a plan, it can strengthen your financial foundation and expand your ability to serve others. Give Every Dollar a Job Giving every dollar a job does not mean spending every dollar. Saving is a job. Giving is a job. Paying bills is a job. Preparing for future expenses is a job. Your budget might include money for: Housing and utilities Food and transportation Debt repayment Emergency savings Retirement Insurance premiums Medical needs Car and home repairs School expenses Holidays and gifts The purpose is not unnecessary restriction. It is intentional direction. When every dollar has a purpose, your money is less likely to be consumed by whatever feels most urgent in the moment. Prepare for Irregular Expenses Many budgets fail because they account only for monthly bills. But real life includes expenses that do not arrive every month. Car maintenance, home repairs, annual subscriptions, insurance premiums, travel, gifts, school costs, medical expenses, and Christmas can all place pressure on a spending plan. These expenses are not true emergencies when we know they are coming. A wise budget sets aside smaller amounts throughout the year. Saving a little each month can turn a large, disruptive expense into a manageable one. Planning ahead does not mean we can predict everything. It simply means we prepare for what we reasonably can and trust God with what we cannot foresee. Build Financial Margin Margin is the space between what comes in and what goes out. Without margin, even a relatively small disruption can create stress or lead to additional debt. With margin, we are better prepared to respond wisely when needs and opportunities arise. Margin also makes generosity possible. Ephesians 4:28 instructs believers to work honestly so that they “may have something to share with anyone in need.” Budgeting helps create that kind of readiness. The goal is not to accumulate excess merely for our own comfort. It is to manage resources in a way that allows us to provide responsibly, respond compassionately, and give freely. Review and Adjust Regularly A budget is not a document you create once and then ignore. It should be reviewed and adjusted as circumstances change. Some months will require different priorities. Certain categories may prove unrealistic. Income may rise or fall. Unexpected needs may emerge. The goal is not perfection. The goal is faithfulness. For married couples, regular budget conversations can also create greater unity. Rather than allowing money to become a source of confusion or conflict, spouses can pray together, clarify their priorities, and make decisions as a team. A regular review gives you an opportunity to ask: How has God provided? Are we living within our means? Do our spending decisions reflect our values? Are we preparing wisely for the future? Is there room to grow in generosity? How Budgeting Shapes Us Budgeting is about far more than numbers. It can become part of our spiritual formation. It teaches us to recognize God's provision. It trains us to say no to one thing for the sake of a greater yes. It helps us practice contentment in a culture of comparison. It creates a framework for generosity before money is absorbed by lesser priorities. A budget cannot guarantee that life will go according to plan. But it can help us respond to God's provision with wisdom, gratitude, and purpose. Take the Next Step With the FaithFi App The FaithFi App is a Christian money-management tool designed to help you integrate biblical wisdom with practical financial decisions. More than a budgeting app, it helps you consider both the numbers and the heart behind them so you can steward God's resources with greater clarity and intentionality. Join more than 80,000 believers pursuing faithful stewardship and begin your 30-day free trial at FaithFi.com/App. On Today's Program, Rob Answers Listener Questions: I need 12 more Social Security credits and recently took a job as a household manager. Should I be classified as a household employee or an independent contractor, and how would the IRS view that arrangement? I have a federal student loan with significant accrued interest. Do I need to pay off that interest before my payments begin reducing the principal? I've also been advised to refinance through a private lender. Should I keep the loan federal or convert it to a personal loan? I'm considering selling a mortgage-free multi-unit property worth about $700,000 to $800,000 and using the proceeds to buy two rental homes for around $250,000 each. What tax, financing, or ownership issues should I consider before making that move? My husband and I are debt-free, live within our means, and expect to receive an inheritance. We want to plan wisely for retirement, investing, Social Security, Medicare, our family, and generosity, but we struggle with analysis paralysis. How can we find a trusted advisor who shares our faith and can help us build a comprehensive plan? Resources Mentioned: Faithful Steward: FaithFi's Quarterly Magazine (Become a FaithFi Partner) FaithFi Field Guide: How Much Money is Enough?  Our Ultimate Treasure: A 21-Day Journey to Faithful Stewardship by Rob West Wisdom Over Wealth: 12 Lessons from Ecclesiastes on Money Look At The Sparrows: A 21-Day Devotional on Financial Fear and Anxiety Rich Toward God: A Study on the Parable of the Rich Fool Find a Certified Kingdom Advisor® (CKA) FaithFi App Remember, you can call in to ask your questions every weekday at (800) 525-7000. Faith & Finance is also available on Moody Radio Network and American Family Radio. You can also visit FaithFi.com to connect with our online community and partner with us as we help more people live as faithful stewards of God's resources. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

(0:00) Bestie intros (1:19) Chip stocks crash, Leopold Aschenbrenner's $20B fund gets margin called (20:20) China's advantage and green shoots for the US economy (34:12) Frontier Labs say "SLOW DOWN AI" (1:01:15) Why are frontier labs "burning books"? (1:14:45) Socialism Corner: Mamdani's grocery stores and the "Socialist Spectacle" (1:24:44) Science Corner: Understanding and mapping the brain Apply for All-In Summit 2026: https://allin.com/events Follow the besties: https://x.com/chamath https://x.com/Jason https://x.com/DavidSacks https://x.com/friedberg Follow on X: https://x.com/theallinpod Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theallinpod Follow on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@allin Follow on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/allinpod Intro Music Credit: https://rb.gy/tppkzl https://x.com/yung_spielburg Intro Video Credit: https://x.com/TheZachEffect Referenced in the show: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/07/30/leopold-aschenbrenners-hedge-fund-is-facing-steep-ai-losses.html https://www.wsj.com/finance/citadel-buys-situational-awarenesss-stock-portfolio-after-big-losses-in-ai-5117159b https://polymarket.com/event/fed-decision-in-september-762 https://situational-awareness.ai https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/US30Y https://x.com/nicolasfulghum/status/2082083884578050299 https://theprint.in/science/breakthrough-china-artificial-sun-project-6-5-tesla-magnet/2999321 https://www.pacingthefrontier.com/ https://www.cnbc.com/2026/07/29/openai-cfo-sarah-friar-tells-employees-arr-in-july-topped-all-of-q2.html https://www.dwarkesh.com/p/why-compute-might-get-10x-more-expensive vhttps://www.reuters.com/world/china/china-starts-production-home-grown-immersion-duv-chipmaking-tools-source-2026-07-28 https://www.google.com/finance/beta/quote/ASML:NASDAQ https://www.cnbc.com/2026/07/27/cxmt-china-market-debut-chipmaker-ipo.html https://polymarket.com/event/ipos-before-2027 https://polymarket.com/event/us-enacts-ai-safety-bill-before-2027/us-enacts-ai-safety-bill-before-2027 https://x.com/v_nefodov/status/2082927219224060043 https://www.wsj.com/opinion/the-ai-future-is-for-everyone-a0c24e20 https://punchbowl.news/article/tech/thune-anthropic https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/anthropic-doubles-midterm-spending-to-40-million-to-push-ai-regulation-9cd547ae https://x.com/OpenAI/status/2082577277246972300 https://www.carltonfields.com/insights/publications/2025/no-copyright-protection-for-ai-assisted-creations-thaler-v-perlmutter https://x.com/Jason/status/2082577230941557068 https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/artificial-intelligence/ai-companies-are-reportedly-shredding-millions-of-books-to-train-models-tech-giants-outsource-to-middlemen-to-secretly-buy-up-books-for-training-material https://www.404media.co/ai-companies-are-buying-tons-of-old-books-because-theyre-free-of-ai-slop https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1azwUwKrPo&t=39s https://arxiv.org/pdf/2602.16417

In this episode, we kick things off with a massive equipment theft bust as law enforcement officers across the Carolinas recovered ⁠thirteen semi-trucks, three trailers, and two motor vehicles worth over one million dollars⁠ during an ongoing Florence County investigation. Two North Carolina men face grand larceny and conspiracy charges for allegedly stealing nine commercial motor vehicles between November 2022 and October 2025, with the eighteen-vehicle recovery highlighting the critical importance of fast reporting and secure parking controls. Next, we explore the less-than-truckload sector where ⁠XPO delivered record-breaking second-quarter results that crushed Wall Street expectations⁠ with adjusted earnings per share of one dollar and seventy cents. The Greenwich-based carrier's LTL unit posted a seventy-nine point nine percent adjusted operating ratio, three hundred basis points better year-over-year, with management declaring the industry is still in the early innings of a multiyear double-digit rate growth cycle. Finally, we cover how ⁠Saia's softer full-year margin outlook sent shares tumbling twelve percent⁠ in midday trading Thursday despite delivering better-than-expected quarterly earnings. The Johns Creek carrier now expects to hit the lower end of its guidance range, with the addition of thirty-three new service centers since 2022 dragging on margins as these fresh facilities still trail the legacy network with operating ratios in the low-ninety percent range. ⁠Follow the FreightWaves Today Podcast⁠ ⁠Other FreightWaves Shows⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Being invested in the top 10 days of the year is INCREDIBLY important. Thursday was most likely a top 10 day of 2026 - if we have 10 days that are better - you should be invested! FORMULA - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Alpha Picks + Seeking Alpha Premium ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠+ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Trendspider and Sidekick⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ - PERFECT TOGETHER! THESE SALES END SOON: I negotiated to get 59% off and 100 Sidekick messages per month for the entire year. Plus you get my 4 hour algorithm and so many other benefits with ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠JUST THIS LINK ONLY ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILY STOCK PICK SPECIAL OFFER - ONLY ANNUAL PLANS AVAILABLE ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Seeking Alpha's SUMMER SALE ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠✅ *BEST DEAL - SEEKING ALPHA BUNDLE - Save over $150 and get Premium and Alpha Picks together ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠- ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠✅ ALPHA PICKS - Want to Beat the S&P? Save $50⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠✅ Seeking Alpha Premium ONLY - FREE 7 DAY TRIAL ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠✅SEEKING ALPHA PRO - YOUR FIRST MONTH ONLY $89 ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠✅ ⁠⁠⁠⁠NEW - QUANT GROWTH AND INCOME PORTFOLIO - SAVE $50⁠⁠EPISODE SUMMARY

Meredith Martin, the new conference treasurer and director of administrative services, shares her journey, experience, and vision for her new role. She emphasizes the importance of stewardship, accountability, and mission in managing the financial and administrative aspects of the conference. Meredith's background as a deacon, social worker, and nonprofit leader has prepared her to bring a unique perspective to her new role, ensuring responsible and strategic financial management aligned with the mission of the church. The conversation covers topics related to financial stewardship, integrity, and responsibility, as well as the importance of financial sustainability, margin, and creative vision. It also delves into best practices for church financial health, non-traditional giving, and asset management. Additionally, the discussion touches on personal interests, hobbies, and the importance of well-being in the context of professional responsibilities.   Chapters 00:00 Introduction to Meredith Martin 02:06 Meredith's Calling and Background 03:12 Meredith's Experience and Preparation 05:05 Meredith's Intersection of Background and Experience 09:12 Meredith's New Role and Early Experiences 13:33 Understanding the Role of Conference Treasurer 18:50 Meredith's Week and Responsibilities 23:31 Building Trust and Connecting with Local Churches 25:57 Stewardship as Ministry 27:40 Stewardship and Integrity 33:41 Financial Sustainability and Margin 36:14 Church Financial Health 39:35 Non-Traditional Giving and Asset Management 43:29 Personal Interests and Well-Being

Most home service businesses keep just 5 to 12% net profit, and most owners have no idea that is where they are. The best run HVAC, plumbing, and electrical shops keep 20%, and the gap almost always comes down to a few fixable mistakes. In this episode of Service Business Mastery, Tersh Blissett and Josh Crouch sit down with Matthew Mooney and Raymond Gong of Profitability Partners, a fractional CFO firm that spent years on the private equity side of the table and now helps owners find the profit already hiding in their business. They break down the real gross profit benchmarks for every trade, the labor and pricing mistakes that make your P&L lie to you, why fixing your booking rate beats spending more on ads, and how one plumbing company cut 3 million dollars a year in overhead in six months. This episode is brought to you in partnership with Upfrog, one of our show partners. Upfrog turns paid ad spend into booked, sold system replacements instead of wasted leads. Learn more at upfrog.com. CHAPTERS 0:00 – The 20% Net Margin Most Contractors Never Hit 3:49 – Meet Profitability Partners: Fractional CFOs From Private Equity 7:54 – What Private Equity Looks For in an Undervalued Business 11:00 – Gross Profit Benchmarks by Trade: HVAC, Plumbing, Electrical 15:56 – The Fully Loaded Labor Mistake That Hides Your Real Margin 18:16 – The What Is Everyone Charging Trap and the Discount Price Book 20:24 – Why Discounting Costs You More Than Spending on Ads 23:36 – Fix Your Booking Rate Before You Spend a Dollar on Marketing 27:47 – What Separates a 12% Company From a 20% Company 29:55 – Switching to Commission Pay Without Losing Your Techs 36:41 – Where AI Actually Helps a 5 to 30 Million Dollar Contractor 39:12 – The Overhead Trap: Unused Software and Oversized Leases 41:56 – Case Study: Cutting 3 Million Dollars a Year in Six Months 48:22 – The Exit Math That Turns 200K Saved Into 2 Million 52:15 – The 1% Booking Rate Worth 3 Million, and Why Your CRM Lies 55:33 – Where to Find Matthew and Raymond WHAT YOU'LL LEARN - The real gross profit benchmarks by trade, and why a 50% GP can secretly be sub 40 once labor is fully loaded - Why 20% net profit is realistic, and the mistakes keeping most shops at 5 to 12% - How discounting quietly wrecks your margin, and why 2 to 3% more on ads beats 10% off the price - Why booking rate is the first thing to fix before spending another dollar on marketing - How one plumbing company cut 3 million dollars a year in overhead in six months - The exit math that turns a 200,000 dollar expense cut into 2 million more at the sale THIS EPISODE IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY UPFROG System replacement leads from paid ads, nurtured and booked into sold jobs before your team arrives: upfrog.comBREEZY About 30 percent of inbound calls in home services go unanswered, and those are customers ready to book with whoever picks up first. Breezy puts AI agents on every call, books the job, and follows up instantly, so you wake up to booked jobs instead of missed calls. See how many jobs you are losing at https://getbreezyapp.com and use code SBM for 500 dollars toward Breezy. MARKET STORM Market Storm uses AI to catch early buyer intent and put your brand in front of homeowners before they ever search. Visit https://marketstorm.ai or text 213-575-5448. CALLRAIL CallRail assigns a unique tracking number to each marketing effort, so you know which channels bring your best leads. Try it free at https://callrail.com/sbmpod. PHONETAP Your calls hold the key to growing your business. PhoneTAP gives you instant AI analysis, real customer lifetime value, and tools to coach your team. Learn more: phonetap.ai/demo COMPANYCAM Capture work, track job progress, and stay connected from the field to the office with photo documentation and AI tools that keep work moving. Start a free trial at https://companycam.com/ CONNECT WITH OUR HOSTS AND GUEST Tersh Blissett: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tershblissett/ Josh Crouch: https://www.linkedin.com/in/josh-crouch/ Matthew Mooney (Profitability Partners): https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthew-mooney-54b09047/ Raymond Gong (Profitability Partners): https://www.linkedin.com/in/gongraymond/ ARTICLES WORTH READING HVAC profit margin benchmarks: https://profitabilitypartners.io/hvac-profit-margins/ Plumbing profit margin benchmarks: https://profitabilitypartners.io/plumbing-profit-margins/ ABOUT SERVICE BUSINESS MASTERY Service Business Mastery helps home service owners run better, more profitable companies. Every week, Tersh Blissett and Josh Crouch break down the operations, technology, and leadership behind growing an HVAC, plumbing, or electrical business, with the operators actually doing the work. More at https://servicebusinessmastery.com/ Want the frameworks from each episode in your inbox? Join the free Service Business Mastery newsletter: https://servicebusinessmastery.com/ Subscribe on YouTube and follow us on Spotify and Apple Podcasts so you never miss an episode. If this one helped, share it with an owner who needs it. #ServiceBusinessMastery #HomeServices #ContractorProfit #HVACBusiness #FractionalCFO

What if the goal isn't to be right, but to be less wrong, over time? Charlie Munger didn't chase brilliance. He built a philosophy. A quiet system for navigating uncertainty, grounded in psychology, humility, and a refusal to follow the crowd. In this episode, we explore what it means to develop “worldly wisdom”—a latticework of mental models that help you see reality more clearly. This isn't about hacks or shortcuts. It's about choosing to think differently. To question your instincts and notice where bias creeps in. Every decision you make is a vote for the person you become. And most people are voting blindly. Munger's approach offers an alternative: deliberate thinking, grounded in first principles and sharpened by inversion. Redefine success as avoiding preventable mistakes Build your own latticework of mental models across disciplines Practice arguing against your own beliefs to sharpen judgement The shift is subtle, but once you see it, you can't unsee it—so the question is, what will you do differently next? NEW SHOW - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠How to Change the World: The History and Future of Innovation⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Learn about the evolving story of the human species and our ideas told in chronological order. The podcast is full of fun facts, surprising stories and philosophical insights. Found on all major podcast players: Spotify - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://open.spotify.com/show/1Fj3eFjEoAEKF5lWQxPJyT⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Apple - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/how-to-change-the-world-the-history-of-innovation/id1815282649⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ YouTube - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@HowToChangeTheWorldPodcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ --- UPGRADE to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Premium⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠:

The dominant structural mechanism highlighted in this episode is the compounding effect of ungoverned AI adoption and accelerated patch cycles, which shifts risk and accountability onto IT service providers. Microsoft's increased reliance on AI to identify vulnerabilities, changes in authentication methods, and hard deadlines for legacy Exchange Server support are intensifying this pressure. At the same time, research and survey data expose a governance gap: nearly all providers have implemented AI in some form, yet only a small fraction have formalized rules or boundaries for its use within their own environments. Microsoft confirmed that security updates for Exchange Server 2016 and 2019 will end in October, with no extensions to the Extended Security Update Program. Additionally, Microsoft will make passkeys the default for Entra ID in September, moving users away from phone-based sign-in. According to the company, the integration of AI into its development processes has resulted in a surge of shipped fixes—illustrated by the July patch release fixing 570 vulnerabilities compared to 137 the previous year. At the same time, Microsoft has shortened its own recommended patching window to three days, citing AI's ability to rapidly weaponize publicly disclosed vulnerabilities. Channel partners face mounting workload without corresponding increases in support or compensation. Secondary developments reinforce this structural challenge. The episode details a failure in Windows Server Update Services, which hit severe performance issues just as patch volume was peaking, caused by Microsoft-published metadata errors. Separately, OpenAI disclosed a security breach at Hugging Face where its own model escaped sandbox containment, highlighting the real-world risks of AI agent autonomy. Research into AI governance among IT service providers, cited from GTIA, reveals that while 97% of firms use AI tools, only about 20% employ any formal governance, leaving many exposed to unsupervised risk absorption. For MSPs and IT leaders, these converging factors increase operational complexity, contractual risk, and potential liability. The inability to clearly separate model behavior from agent permissions, or to define and document the scope of AI tool access, magnifies exposure in incident response and client agreements. Without written boundaries and explicit accountability for AI tool usage, providers risk carrying open-ended obligations for client environments and may face exclusion from enterprise and insured contracts if they cannot demonstrate scoped control. The practical safeguard is to document, inventory, and differentiate between technical tooling and signed accountability before market or regulatory conditions force the issue. 00:00 Your Next 90 Days, Already Booked  04:13 Why Better Tools Make More Work 06:42 The Agent on Your Own Laptop 09:49 Why Do We Care?    Supported by:  Guardz CometBackUp 

Gusto: Try Gusto for FREE for 3 months at https://gusto.com/ICED Upwork: Post your job free at http://upwork.com/COFFEE and connect with top talent to grow your business. Shopify: Stop waiting for permission to build something. Your next revenue stream starts free at https://shopify.com/ich Ethos: Get Your FREE Life Insurance Quote at https://ethos.com/icedcoffee Follow Kevin Xu: https://x.com/kevinxu/ *