Mark Willis is a man on a mission to help you think differently about your money, your economy, and your future. He shares how to build financial immunity that is pandemic proof and protects you from chaos. After graduating with six figures of student loan debt and discovering a way to turn his debt into real wealth as he watched everybody lose their retirement savings and home equity in 2008, he knew that he needed to find a more predictable way to meet his financial objectives and those of his clients.

Mark is a Certified Financial Planner™, a three-time #1 Best Selling Author, and the owner of Lake Growth Financial Services, a financial firm in Chicago, Illinois. As co-host of the Not Your Average Financial Podcast™, he shares some of his strategies for investing in real estate, paying for college without going broke, and creating an income in retirement you won't outlive.

In this episode, Mark shares how to manage money during uncertain times, the truth about the fee structure in financial services, and how to coordinate your assets to work together.

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Key Insights on Building Financial Immunity

• Living in uncertain times and what is impacting your financial future
• Black Swan events that you can't predict, but will hinder your future
• Things you can do to protect yourself financially

We have to find a way to pandemic proof our cash.

• The three problems of average financial thinking:

1. Having a conflated idea of saving and investing (need a better nest-egg)
2. Getting flawed advice from average financial planners (market investor returns are averaging 3.5%, but their marketing won't tell you that)
3. Buy and Hold is a fallacy (every year of volatility vaporizes your chances of making financial your goals)

Even if you're an owner, you're still working for someone else, either the bank, the IRS or both.

• The low-down on how fee's work and affect your investments
• How to build financial immunity (or, how to antivirus your money)

1. Fluidity: You need ready access to capital to fight back when needed (liquid capital)
2. Quarantine: Get non-correlated assets (spreading the investments around)
3. Antibodies: Invest in areas that you've learned are resilient to calamity
4. Supplements: Creating a balanced portfolio (your investments should work together for best ROI)

• Coordinating your assets so they can work together

Where you put your money makes it act different: A hedge fund is different from a savings account, a syndication deal is different than investing in single-family homes

• The importance of liquid assets that are guaranteed to grow every year
• Using high cash value, dividend-paying, whole life insurance as a liquid asset
• What you can do when banks stop lending
• Will utilizing whole life insurance work for you and your assets?
• Using Bank on Yourself professionals

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Bullseye Round:

Apparent Failure:Paying off debt the old-fashioned way was a mistake, but taught me what not to do in the future.

Digital Resource:

Trello (productivity app)

Podcasting App

Most Recommended Book:

Your Best Bet for a Secure Retirement (Lance Riddle)

Wish I Knew When I Was Starting Out:

Math

Daily Habit:

Full Focus Planner

Curious About:

I want to understand, and share, the most important principles, that will stand the test of time, with my daughter.

Best Place to Grab a Bite in Chicago, IL

Burger Bar

Contact Mark:

Not Your Average Financial Podcast