Future Money Trends, Buying Cash Flow, and Financial Independence

Daniel Ameduri is a self-made multi-millionaire, a full-time skeptic of conventional thought, and a proud father of three. He is the cofounder of the Future Money Trends newsletter and FutureMoneyTrends.com, which, with nearly 150,000 subscribers, is the most widely recognized online authority in investment ideas and economic advice.  He’s been featured in The Wall Street Journal, on ABC World News Tonight, and on Russia Today TV. Daniel correctly predicted the collapse of Lehman Brothers, AIG, and Washington Mutual on “Vision Victory,” the YouTube channel he launched in 2007 and which now has had more than thirteen million views.  Podcast Highlights Who is Daniel Ameduri?  Daniel is a guy that has always been fascinated by money. As a kid Daniel thought of money as a video game and later on as an adult money meant freedom. We’re all told we’re born free but for that to be true you need to be financially independent.  Right out of high school Daniel bought his first rental property but that was completely derailed in 2008, to the point where he gave up on his dream of becoming financially independent. Lucky for Daniel, his high school sweetheart kept encouraging him and pushing him toward what would eventually become Future Money Trends. Daniel has a saying in his home office, “Everything in life is a gift, even the worse things have always lead to the best lessons in my life.” Without the 2008 crash Daniel may have been burned even worse later on but it was lucky that he was young and he had time to recover. Have people missed their opportunity? Even if someone has a small amount of money in their retirement account they could still take that money and put it into cash flowing investments. This is one of Daniel’s biggest frustrations, that people are living this dream of deferred life. If they just shift and start buying cash flow, they could be on the road to financial independence in 12 months. What are the top 3 things that you have learned on your way to 7 figures that you would never have learned through formal education? School never teaches us about personal finance. The top three things that education doesn’t teach people but should are about getting down to the basics. What are you going to do with the income you make? Most people have been conned into just buying things that will hopefully gain in value. Why not be relentless about buying things that bring in checks? How are you going to maintain a sustainable life? It’s not about copying everyone else and never ending debt. The third thing is how to actually buy an investment and how to analyze a good rate of return. We should be able to break down the numbers and figure out if an investment makes sense. This is something that is completely absent in formal education. The Turning Point That Lead to Future Money Trends In 2008 Daniel and his wife were in a bankruptcy attorney’s office. But they had one duplex left that they didn’t want to lose and that was the reason they didn’t actually declare bankruptcy, which ended up teaching them an invaluable lesson. They learned that cash flow trumps appreciation, even in the worst housing crash ever in the US, so from that day on they only bought things that made them money.  The next step was to make sure they wouldn’t become poor. They cut spending and started building their financial moat. Over the course of two to three years, their cash flow was able to cover their expenses and that opened up new opportunities which lead to where Daniel and his family are today. Buying Cash Flow Daniel doesn’t just invest in real estate, there are plenty of options that can create cash flow. Dividend paying stocks and private equity being some good choices. Daniel tells people to focus on buying cash flow in something that you are familiar with and understand.  If you don’t have the money to get started, chances are you are living a life that is perceived as normal but is costing you. In order to get started you are going to have to go against societal norms and have one to two years of sacrifice. Don’t finance a vehicle for 8 years that’s equal to your annual income. Don’t pay for an expensive rental, pay for a rental that is below what you can afford. The biggest expense is where you live, the fastest way to financial independence is to cut spending so that you can buy yourself some cash flow. In the beginning it’s not about earning more money. You can’t just be looking at the numbers, your life is more than how much you earn at your job. Most people can be happy earning a lot less, but they need to ask what actually makes them happy.  Start small without getting overwhelmed. Focus on how you can get cash flow in place that will cover your water bill or hydro bill without having to work for it. Once you start thinking about life that way you will start to see how much time something costs and what you should be doing instead. When Daniel was getting started, his only target was to cover his utilities and grocery bills. They also started paying off debt. Even when Daniel had become financially independent he was still driving the same car when he started on his journey. What are you doing intentionally to give your children a leg up? Daniel includes his children in nearly every deal and aspect of their finance. He regularly reads Rich Dad, Poor Dad and has discussions about it with them. The most important thing you can teach your children is delayed gratification, don’t condition them to settle or just spend their money. Make investing habitual so it doesn’t feel like a sacrifice later. Daniel’s Takeaway Write down everything that you have, including assets and current income and current expenses. Get the last three months of your credit card bill and bank statements and see where your money is being spent. You will see areas where you can make immediate improvements so you can start purchasing cash flow. Think about the three things that you want people to say at your funeral because that is likely what your life’s purpose is, then write down what you need to be doing to achieve that and put it somewhere you have to look at everyday.  Links: futuremoneytrends.com/save Thank you for listening! If you enjoyed this podcast, please subscribe to the show on iTunes and Stitcher Radio!