Invest Like a Boss

A timely topic we’ve been hearing about from listeners for months – U.S. I Bonds. These are bonds issued by the U.S. Treasury to hedge against inflation and currently pay an incredible 9.62% rate… but there are a lot of restrictions and time is running out! We invite CFP Maggie Gomez, aka Money with Maggie, to the show to break down the ins and outs of I Bonds. Then Johnny and Derek discuss if they think I Bonds are a good play or if your money is better served invested elsewhere.

Maggie Gomez is on a mission to help you feel strong and confident in your financial situation. Maggie’s professional experience in major brokerage firms made her realize that clients with less than 6 or 7 figures to invest weren’t getting quality attention from a financial professional. That left most people with nowhere to turn to manage their financial life and start investing in their future! So that is why she started “Money with Maggie”

Experience:

• CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ (designation received after a 12-month intense study program and 6-hour exam covering a full spectrum of financial planning topics) 
• 8 years of experience working at Charles Schwab, Morgan Stanley, and E*TRADE
• Held a FINRA Series 7 License (Stock Broker, i.e. I sold investment products)
• Held a FINRA Series 66 License (licensed to offer investment advice)

Listen to ILAB 252 on iTunes here or subscribe on your favorite podcast app.

Where we are:

• Johnny FD – Greece / IG @johnnyfdj
• Sam Marks – Thailand / IG @imsammarks
• Derek Spartz – Los Angeles / IG @DerekRadio

Sponsor:

• Indeed
  Indeed knows that when you’re doing everything for your company, you can’t afford to overspend on hiring. Visit indeed.com/ILAB for more details.

Discussed:

• Treasury Direct
• Money with Maggie
• Maggie's Free Passive Income Workshop

Like these investments? Try them with these special ILAB links:

• ArtofFX – Start with just a $10,000 account (reduced from $25,000)
• Fundrise – Start with only $1,000 into their REIT funds (non-accredited investors OK)
  *Johnny and Sam use all of the above services personally.

Time Stamp:

• 10:00 – What is an I-Bond?
• 11:11 – What is the interest right now and how long are you locked in for?
• 12:41 – What do you expect the next interest rate to be?
• 14:16 – Is there a limit on how much you can purchase?
• 15:26 – Patreon question: Can you gift I-bonds to family members or friends?
• 16:07 – Patreon question: Is there any other way to purchase the I-Bonds other than the website?
• 17:05 – How often can you buy I-Bonds and can you buy more under other LLCs?
• 18:05 – Do you purchase I-Bonds and why?
• 19:52 – Why do you think no one talks about Bonds anymore?
• 23:10 – Do you have to be a US citizen to purchase the Bonds?
• 23:35 – Patreon Question: How is the rate calculated?
• 24:18 – Has it only recently become popular with your clients?
• 30:48 – What do you think the interest rate will be in October 2023?
• 32:16 – How do your clients feel about the stock market currently?

If you enjoyed this episode, do us a favor and share it! Also if you haven’t already, please take a minute to leave us a 5-star review on iTunes and claim your bonus here! 

Copyright 2022. All rights reserved. Read our disclaimer here.

Sam and Johnny go over their adventures during the third quarter of 2022. Johnny has been bouncing around Europe while waiting for his permanent residency to come through for Ukraine while Sam has been between Barcelona, Tajikistan and Thailand working on an exciting new business deal. Hear those stories and more on this free to the public podcast version. Afterward, the guys go over their portfolio performance (including screenshots) in the Patreon-exclusive section. Plus, Sam gets into detail why he is getting royal treatment on his business dealings in Tajikistan. You can access all of these parts of the show for as little as $5 a month at https://www.patreon.com/investlikeaboss

Listen to ILAB 251 on iTunes here or subscribe on your favorite podcast app.

Where we are:

• Johnny FD – Austria / IG @johnnyfdj
• Sam Marks – Thailand / IG @imsammarks
• Derek Spartz – Los Angeles / IG @DerekRadio

Sponsor:

• Indeed
  Indeed knows that when you’re doing everything for your company, you can’t afford to overspend on hiring. Visit indeed.com/ILAB for more details.

Like these investments? Try them with these special ILAB links:

• ArtofFX – Start with just a $10,000 account (reduced from $25,000)
• Fundrise – Start with only $1,000 into their REIT funds (non-accredited investors OK)
  *Johnny and Sam use all of the above services personally.

Time Stamp:

• 04:10 – What are the headlines of this Quarter?
• 05:37 – Why was Johnny in Paris?
• 08:52 – How Sam got stuck in Tajikistan
• 11:55 – Johnny’s changes to how he travels
• 19:16 – Johnny almost move to Chiang Mai
• 21:38 – Thailand “Special” Visa
• 25:37 – Sam's travels over the past few months

If you enjoyed this episode, do us a favor and share it! Also if you haven’t already, please take a minute to leave us a 5-star review on iTunes and claim your bonus here! 

Copyright 2022. All rights reserved. Read our disclaimer here.

Derek interviews Stocktwits CEO Rishi Khanna to talk about social investing, how Stocktwits can help you invest smarter and how they are evolving. Then Derek and Johnny catch up with their travels and Johnny has an update on his status to get back into Ukraine.

Rishi Khanna is the CEO of Stocktwits, the original social platform for individual investors and traders with 6M registered members. Before Stocktwits, Rishi was Managing Director at SS&C GlobeOp at SS&C Technologies Holdings Inc, where he had overall responsibility for sales, product, operations and strategic direction of a number of businesses serving the alternative assets industry. In 2007, Rishi co-founded and served as President of Novus, a global portfolio intelligence platform company that invented the art of portfolio intelligence, solving unique data and analytics challenges facing capital allocators and fund managers across liquid and illiquid investments. Prior to co-founding Novus, Rishi was responsible for the development of the technology and product platforms for Gerson Lehrman Group. Rishi holds a B.S. in Computer Science from Cornell University.

Listen to ILAB 250 on iTunes here or subscribe on your favorite podcast app.

Where we are:

• Johnny FD – Austria / IG @johnnyfdj
• Sam Marks – Tajikistan / IG @imsammarks
• Derek Spartz – Los Angeles / IG @DerekRadio

Sponsor:

• Shopify
  Get 14 days free and access Shopify’s full suite of features to get selling online today! Just go to Shopify.com/ilab to get started.

Discussed

• Stocktwits

Like these investments? Try them with these special ILAB links:

• ArtofFX – Start with just a $10,000 account (reduced from $25,000)
• Fundrise – Start with only $1,000 into their REIT funds (non-accredited investors OK)
  *Johnny and Sam use all of the above services personally.

Time Stamp:

• 14:25 – Can you give us the origins of Stocktwits?
• 16:18 – Lets talk about the “cashtag”
• 18:13 – What is your background and how did you get to Stocktwits?
• 22:10 – How have you seen the landscape change since starting at the beginning of the pandemic?
• 26:32 – How many registered users do you have and what is the activity like?
• 30:35 – What kind of data can you research on Stocktwits and does it help an individual investor?
• 36:02 – What reactions were you seeing on Stocktwits when the market activity was high?
• 37:58 – Do you have a team looking for fraudulent trades?
• 41:11 – Patreon: Is there a way to reward users who are doing well?
• 42:32 – Patreon: Do you have performance tracking and what makes you different from other similar apps?
• 45:25 – Fun closing questions, who do you follow, any cool stories, any celebrities you have worked with?
• 49:32 – Where do you see Stocktwits in about 5 years?

If you enjoyed this episode, do us a favor and share it! Also if you haven’t already, please take a minute to leave us a 5-star review on iTunes and claim your bonus here! 

Copyright 2022. All rights reserved. Read our disclaimer here.

Johnny and Derek discuss an investing game plan for a (hopefully) potential victory for Ukraine in their ongoing war with Russia. They talk about real estate, infrastructure, industry and more in Ukraine around what they’ll need to recover in a post-war environment. Johnny also gives us an update on what he’s seeing from Ukraine and why he thinks a victory over Russia in the coming months could be a possibility.

Listen to ILAB 249 on iTunes here or subscribe on your favorite podcast app.

Where we are:

• Johnny FD – United Kingdom / IG @johnnyfdj
• Sam Marks – Barcelona / IG @imsammarks
• Derek Spartz – Los Angeles / IG @DerekRadio

Sponsor:

• Indeed
  Indeed knows that when you’re doing everything for your company, you can’t afford to overspend on hiring. Visit indeed.com/ILAB for more details.

Discussed

• 183: Kiev Real Estate Recovery Funds Founder John Suggit

Like these investments? Try them with these special ILAB links:

• ArtofFX – Start with just a $10,000 account (reduced from $25,000)
• Fundrise – Start with only $1,000 into their REIT funds (non-accredited investors OK)
  *Johnny and Sam use all of the above services personally.

Time Stamp:

• 02:57 – Johnny elaborates on his permanent residency in Ukraine and some benefits
• 12:38 – What is the update on the war between Ukraine and Russia?
• 22:42 – Where do you see the war going in the coming months?
• 28:15 – What is the best thing to invest in Ukraine?
• 32:56 – Why is the real estate market so cheap and why can’t you purchase with a mortgage?
• 34:23 – Where is the best place in Ukraine to purchase Real Estate?
• 38:44 – What about investing/working in the rebuilding of infrastructure in Ukraine?
• 42:05 – Johnny’s attempt at buying a tiny home?
• 48:40 – What has everyday life look like in Ukraine during the War?
• 54:25 – Where do you see Ukraine as an investment market next year?

If you enjoyed this episode, do us a favor and share it! Also if you haven’t already, please take a minute to leave us a 5-star review on iTunes and claim your bonus here! 

Copyright 2022. All rights reserved. Read our disclaimer here.

Derek goes on site to the Los Angeles headquarters of Azure 3D Printed Homes to see how their approach to affordable housing with 3D printing differs from Boxabl’s assembly line approach (ILAB Episode 245). Derek sits down with co-founder Gene Eidelman to talk how he went from growing up in Ukraine to running a startup to solve the housing shortage. Then Derek and Johnny discuss if they’d invest in this, and how they’d utilize these homes for themselves.

Gene Eidelman is a co-founder of Azure Printed Homes, the first-to-market construction company to utilize 3D printing technology and recycled materials to create modern prefab units 70% faster than traditional building methods, while making a positive impact on the environment. Gene went to undergrad school at USC and holds an MBA from Pepperdine. He was recognized for resettling 6,000 refugees from the former Soviet Union in the late 80s by the United States Jaycees. In addition, he appeared on Oprah Winfrey Show, and served on numerous non-profit educational organizations in the US, India, and the UK. He has over 35 years of experience building and developing residential properties. His startup before Azure was an education management company which he grew to $120MM in revenue with 1,800 employees on three continents. He co-founded Azure in 2019. Azure initially bootstrapped its growth and raised a pre-seed angel round earlier this year and is in the middle of a $5MM seed round raise. Azure generates $400K/mo in revenue and has over $14MM in pre-orders. Mass production of the units will begin before the end of this year.

Listen to ILAB 248 on iTunes here or subscribe on your favorite podcast app.

Where we are:

• Johnny FD – Ukraine / IG @johnnyfdj
• Sam Marks – Barcelona / IG @imsammarks
• Derek Spartz – Los Angeles / IG @DerekRadio

Sponsor:

• Netsuite
  Join the over 31,000 businesses that use the #1 Cloud Financial System now at Netsuite.com/ILAB and receive a special one-of-a-kind financing offer.

Discussed

• Azure Printed Homes
• Invest in Azure Printed Homes
• Azure Printed Homes (@azureprintedhomes)

Like these investments? Try them with these special ILAB links:

• ArtofFX – Start with just a $10,000 account (reduced from $25,000)
• Fundrise – Start with only $1,000 into their REIT funds (non-accredited investors OK)
  *Johnny and Sam use all of the above services personally.

Time Stamp:

• 10:54 – What is your background and how did you get here from Ukraine?
• 13:30 – What housing problem is Azure trying to solve?
• 15:45 – How can you build a house from a 3D printer?
• 18:06 – What customization options are there?
• 20:01 – What advantage do you have by 3D printing as compared to assembly lines like your competitors?
• 21:38 – What comes with the unit?
• 24:05 – Why do you think LA is the best spot to start the business?
• 25:48 – How do you think people will utilize their homes?
• 27:10 – What is the pricing of the units?
• 28:00 – What permits do you need to get approval for the home?
• 29:14 – How many pre-orders do you have and how soon are the units going to be ready?
• 32:23 – How much have you raised thus far in investment and what is the goal?
• 35:52 – What are the requirements to invest and what fees are associated?
• 37:07 – What's the future of azure?

If you enjoyed this episode, do us a favor and share it! Also if you haven’t already, please take a minute to leave us a 5-star review on iTunes and claim your bonus here! 

Copyright 2022. All rights reserved. Read our disclaimer here.

Sam and Derek do a one on one episode to discuss how your spending habits change at various high wealth levels. The guys break down real cash flow, income growth and spending habits for income brackets from $10-30 Million, $30-100 Million, $100M-1 Billion & $1 Billion + net worth. Sam belongs to one of these brackets already and is able to share his personal experiences on this while for Derek this is more of an aspirational episode as he hopes to be in these brackets soon.

Listen to ILAB 247 on iTunes here or subscribe on your favorite podcast app.

Where we are:

• Johnny FD – Ukraine / IG @johnnyfdj
• Sam Marks – Barcelona / IG @imsammarks
• Derek Spartz – Los Angeles / IG @DerekRadio

Sponsor:

• Indeed
  Indeed knows that when you’re doing everything for your company, you can’t afford to overspend on hiring. Visit indeed.com/ILAB for more details.

Discussed

• ILAB 130: Family Offices – Lifestyle Strategies of the Super Rich with Richard Wilson - Invest Like a Boss

Like these investments? Try them with these special ILAB links:

• ArtofFX – Start with just a $10,000 account (reduced from $25,000)
• Fundrise – Start with only $1,000 into their REIT funds (non-accredited investors OK)

*Johnny and Sam use all of the above services personally.

Time Stamp:

• 05:45 – What does it look like to be in the $10-30 Million income bracket?
• 12:40 – What does it look like to be in the $30-100 Million income bracket?
• 23:00 – What does it look like to be in the $100 Million -1 Billion income bracket?
• 35:40 – How would your life change if you had $100 MIllion?
• 53:00 – Bonus content with patreon answers to if they had $100 Million

If you enjoyed this episode, do us a favor and share it! Also if you haven’t already, please take a minute to leave us a 5-star review on iTunes and claim your bonus here! 

Copyright 2022. All rights reserved. Read our disclaimer here.

Derek travels to the Las Vegas headquarters of gaming company Winner Winner to speak with co-founder Cody Flaherty. They discuss how Winner Winner is allowing users to play real machine gaming from anywhere in the world via their mobile phones. Plus, Winner Winner has since expanded to online gaming, live trivia events and more. Sam Marks is an active early investor in Winner Winner and has worked extensively with one of their founders. Sam and Derek wrap up the episode discussing Sam’s investment, why he believes in it and what he expects from the company going forward.

Cody Flaherty is the Co-founder and COO of Playtertainment, the development studio behind the live gaming app Winner Winner.  Prior to launching Winner Winner with his partner Jon in 2019, Cody was an early member of the PetFlow.com team, an online retailer of pet food and supplies. Cody was a key member of the senior executive team, helping the business realize an exit to the largest distributor of pet products in the US. Cody sits on the advisory board for Ithaca College's Customer Experience program and also consults for businesses in the ecommerce space.

Winner Winner is a robust gaming platform that allows you to earn real rewards for playing games you know and love! Whether its playing physical games or playing digital games you already love to play, you can earn tickets and redeem those tickets for real rewards that are shipped directly to you!

Listen to ILAB 246 on iTunes here or subscribe on your favorite podcast app.

Where we are:

• Johnny FD – Ukraine / IG @johnnyfdj
• Sam Marks – Barcelona / IG @imsammarks
• Derek Spartz – Los Angeles / IG @DerekRadio

Sponsor:

• Shopify
  Get 14 days free and access Shopify’s full suite of features to get selling online today! Just go to Shopify.com/ilab to get started.

Discussed

• Winner Winner

Like these investments? Try them with these special ILAB links:

• ArtofFX – Start with just a $10,000 account (reduced from $25,000)
• Fundrise – Start with only $1,000 into their REIT funds (non-accredited investors OK)

*Johnny and Sam use all of the above services personally.

Time Stamp:

• 08:25 – What is your “elevator pitch” for Winner Winner?
• 09:35 – How did you get into the gaming industry?
• 11:27 – What kind of investors do you have currently?
• 12:10 – What is your goal for Winner Winner as a business?
• 14:00 – How has Winner Winner evolved over the past 3 years?
• 16:28 – How does technology work?
• 18:10 – Has anyone figured out how to hack the games?
• 19:20 – How many users do you have and how often do they use the app?
• 22:16 – At what level are you at raising capital?
• 22:52 – Who can invest and what is the minimum request?
• 23:13 – What is the next plan for the business?
• 24:38 – Why did you start your business in Vegas?
• 25:49 – What is your demographic like?

If you enjoyed this episode, do us a favor and share it! Also if you haven’t already, please take a minute to leave us a 5-star review on iTunes and claim your bonus here! 

Copyright 2022. All rights reserved. Read our disclaimer here.

Derek travels to Las Vegas to visit the Boxabl Factory, where they are taking advantage of the tiny home/ADU trend happening in housing right now. He sits down with Father & Son founder team Paulo & Galiano Tiramani to discuss Elon Musk buying one of the first casitas, scaling up to multiple factories to fulfill demand, investment opportunities & more. Then Johnny & Derek talk about their experiences with the concept and whether or not they would invest in the company. Each have their concerns but are also optimistic about the industry if they can execute.

Boxabls are built in a precision factory environment from cutting edge materials and are packed with the latest technology. This means your building will be stronger, last longer, and be more energy efficient. The Boxabl mission is to significantly lower the cost of homeownership for everyone. Obsessively designed to the highest standards of quality, strength, and sustainability to last for generations.

Listen to ILAB 245 on iTunes here or subscribe on your favorite podcast app.

Where we are:

• Johnny FD – Ukraine / IG @johnnyfdj
• Sam Marks – Barcelona / IG @imsammarks
• Derek Spartz – Los Angeles / IG @DerekRadio

Sponsor:

• Indeed
  Indeed knows that when you’re doing everything for your company, you can’t afford to overspend on hiring. Visit indeed.com/ILAB for more details.

Discussed

• Boxabl
• Invest | Boxabl
• Offering Circular
• Galiano Tiramani (@box_pusher)
• SpaceX Launch Facility - Can you spot the Boxabl?
• Full Interview with Boxabl Founders
• Tour of Boxabl Factory

Like these investments? Try them with these special ILAB links:

• ArtofFX – Start with just a $10,000 account (reduced from $25,000)
• Fundrise – Start with only $1,000 into their REIT funds (non-accredited investors OK)

*Johnny and Sam use all of the above services personally.

Time Stamp:

• 12:42 – How did you start with Boxabl?
• 13:41 – Why did it take so long to get to the stage of building a house in a factory?
• 16:03 – Is Elon Musk living in a Boxabl?
• 19:35 – What do I need to have ready to have one delivered to my home?
• 21:14 – How are you going to deal with the high demand?
• 25:32 – What are the opportunities for investment?
• 30:00 – Patreon: Can you explain some of your Instagram Content?
• 33:20 – Patreon: How will repairs compare to a regular home?
• 35:22 – Patreon: How durable are the houses?
• 37:09 – Patreon: How long does it take to get to your house?

If you enjoyed this episode, do us a favor and share it! Also if you haven’t already, please take a minute to leave us a 5-star review on iTunes and claim your bonus here! 

Copyright 2022. All rights reserved. Read our disclaimer here.

Fan favorite Meb Faber returns to the show after a 6 year absence to tell us about the current state of inflation. Johnny & Sam also talk about how inflation has effected them living in Europe compared to what Meb is seeing in the United States.

Mr. Faber is a co-founder and the Chief Investment Officer of Cambria Investment Management. Faber is the manager of Cambria’s ETFs and separate accounts. Mr. Faber is the host of The Meb Faber Show podcast and has authored numerous white papers and leather-bound books. He is a frequent speaker and writer on investment strategies and has been featured in Barron’s, The New York Times, and The New Yorker. Mr. Faber graduated from the University of Virginia with a double major in Engineering Science and Biology.

Listen to ILAB 244 on iTunes here or subscribe on your favorite podcast app.

Where we are:

• Johnny FD – Ukraine / IG @johnnyfdj
• Sam Marks – Barcelona / IG @imsammarks
• Derek Spartz – Los Angeles / IG @DerekRadio

Sponsor:

• Indeed
  Indeed knows that when you’re doing everything for your company, you can’t afford to overspend on hiring. Visit indeed.com/ILAB for more details.

Discussed

• Meb Faber
• Cambria Investments
• Meb Faber (@MebFaber) / Twitter

Like these investments? Try them with these special ILAB links:

• ArtofFX – Start with just a $10,000 account (reduced from $25,000)
• Fundrise – Start with only $1,000 into their REIT funds (non-accredited investors OK)

*Johnny and Sam use all of the above services personally.

Time Stamp:

• 15:30 – What is new with you for the last 2 years?
• 22:20 – Have you seen similarities with investment being made between the start of covid and the start of this bear market?
• 27:10 – What are you seeing being affected by inflation, besides the obvious (gas etc)?
• 31:08 – How does inflation affect your profit and what can you do about it?
• 46:49 – How are collectibles affected by inflation?
• 51:18 – Do you ever invest in tips?
• 53:52 – Anything new you are working on at Cambria Investments?

If you enjoyed this episode, do us a favor and share it! Also if you haven’t already, please take a minute to leave us a 5-star review on iTunes and claim your bonus here! 

Copyright 2022. All rights reserved. Read our disclaimer here.

An ILAB Callback episode to our original interview with Meb Faber from ILAB 15. Johnny and Derek create an all-new intro and outro to Sam’s interview to give an updated version of a timeless interview that is very much still relevant to today. We wanted to re-air this interview in preparation for Meb’s return on next week’s episode where he will talk about inflation.

Mr. Faber is a co-founder and the Chief Investment Officer of Cambria Investment Management. Faber is the manager of Cambria’s ETFs and separate accounts. Mr. Faber is the host of The Meb Faber Show podcast and has authored numerous white papers and leather-bound books. He is a frequent speaker and writer on investment strategies and has been featured in Barron’s, The New York Times, and The New Yorker. Mr. Faber graduated from the University of Virginia with a double major in Engineering Science and Biology.

Listen to ILAB 243 on iTunes here or subscribe on your favorite podcast app.

Where we are:

• Johnny FD – Ukraine / IG @johnnyfdj
• Sam Marks – Barcelona / IG @imsammarks
• Derek Spartz – Los Angeles / IG @DerekRadio

Sponsor:

• Indeed
  Receive a $75 credit for a sponsored job post when you visit Indeed.com/ILAB

Discussed

• Meb Faber
• Cambria Investments
• Meb Faber (@MebFaber) / Twitter

Like these investments? Try them with these special ILAB links:

• ArtofFX – Start with just a $10,000 account (reduced from $25,000)
• Fundrise – Start with only $1,000 into their REIT funds (non-accredited investors OK)

*Johnny and Sam use all of the above services personally.

Time Stamp:

• 09:20 – How did you get into finance?
• 14:00 – What is Traditional investment advice vs. modern?
• 22:50 – Is there any guarantee to profit after 20 years with the US market?
• 25:41 – What does risk parity mean?
• 33:18 – Can you summarize the review of the ALL Seasons Portfolio
• 40:38 – Do you have a model for an upcoming decade?
• 43:48 – How do you compare Small Cap and Large Cap growth prospective?
• 47:16 – What are your thoughts on Robo-Advisors?
• 50:28 – Is it a good route to do diversified allocation to keep your investment liquid?
• 53:39 – Where do you want to be invested if there is a WWIII?

If you enjoyed this episode, do us a favor and share it! Also if you haven’t already, please take a minute to leave us a 5-star review on iTunes and claim your bonus here.

Copyright 2022. All rights reserved. Read our disclaimer here.