How You Can Use Alternative Investments to Create Creative Financial Strategies
The podcast is pivoting to focus on something I'm extremetly passionate about - alternative investments.
🎙️ As a Certified Financial Planner and independent financial advisor, I've witnessed the growing desire for investment strategies beyond the traditional stock market. Our revamped podcast aims to guide accredited investors toward alternative investment opportunities that diversify their portfolios while adding financial strategies not often seen in the marketplace.
Here are three key takeaways:
Explore Alternative Investments: Discover a plethora of investment opportunities, from hotels and self-storage to wine and car washes, which can diversify your portfolio and potentially yield exciting returns.
Maximize Your Returns with Strategy: Learn strategies, like tax minimization and Roth conversions, that can enhance your financial growth. For example, rolling capital gains from a sold rental property into an alternative investment can defer taxes and create income streams.
Independent Insight and Expertise: As one of the first advisors to embrace alternative investments since 2016, I cut out hefty fees by being an independent RIA. This ensures I have a hands-on approach to vetting investment opportunities, giving you tailored advice and minimizing risks associated with conventional avenues.
Join us on this journey to redefine your wealth-building strategies and embrace the future of investing. Tune in and let's diversify your portfolio together! 📈
Links:
Take our quiz - How Alternative Investments Can Fit in Your Portfolio
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Introduction to The Unconventional Investor Podcast
Welcome to the unconventional investor podcast. I'm your host, Michelle Moses, certified financial planner, licensed realtor and founder of me financial. If you're an accredited investor feeling overwhelmed by managing your portfolio and looking for alternative investment strategies that go beyond the traditional stock market, you're in the right place.
Let's head into today's episode so you can start taking control of your financial future. Hello everyone. And welcome to the podcast.
Exciting Announcement: Pivot to Alternative Investments
As you will have noticed, I am making a little pivot to the unconventional investor, and I am so excited to give you this announcement. Um, this has been a long time in the making, and I know a lot of you have been listening.
Uh, and so I'm pivoting to talk about more about alternative investments and how you can add those to your portfolio, what the different alternative investments are and how they play out. Work. I think alts are kind of the, I don't know about the way of the future, but for me, uh, for people that want [00:01:00] to get out of the stock market and they want to, I should say diversify outside the stock market.
It's really where I want to focus. Uh, I have a lot of experience with this and it's, something I'm really passionate about and excited about. So we are pivoting the entire, uh, podcast to be about alternative investments, how you can put them in your portfolio. And I think most importantly, the strategies that you can use and the way that you can then go into retirement.
And this is my goal, the way that you can go into retirement and know exactly how much you're going to have every single month for retirement and having some of these investments, not only diversifies you from the ups and downs of the stock market. But a lot of my clients find them more interesting.
And, you know, if you've listened, I'm a lot about like making yourself feelgood about whatever your investments are, uh, because not only do you need to make smart decisions, but you also need to be able to sleep at night and be excited about what you're doing. And I find that [00:02:00] Implementing some of these alternative investments, uh, helps people to not only sleep better at night, but they're more excited about it.
And they like learning about some of these businesses.
Exploring Alternative Investments
So what do I mean by all of these alternative investments? I am talking about investments in hotels and self storage in mobile home parks. There's even alternatives that we're going to talk about that invest in wine, uh, invest in carwashes. There are all, there's a whole world out there and I don't feel like people know about it.
And so that's why I'm pivoting the entire podcast to talk about these alternatives. And in talking about these, you know, self storage or, you know, there could be oil and gas, there's all kinds of different ones, farmland.
Strategies and Benefits of Alternative Investments
a lot of them come with different strategies that you can use to either minimize your taxes or different strategies to do Roth conversions.
And so that's, those are the different things that I want to talk about because you [00:03:00] can. Sell a residential rental. Let's pretend you have a residential rental and then you have capital gains taxes. Well, instead of paying those, you could then roll them into an alternative investment and then make a return on those, you know, and get a monthly check or a quarterly check, uh, and not have to pay the taxes until, you know, then you could leave it to your heirs.
And then they would get the step up in basis. So I want to talk about different strategies like that. Um, this is what excites me of how you can put some of these things together. And I think it gives people an option to where you can invest in these businesses, but then you don't have to do the work.
And that's also what my clients love about them. They're like, this is great. These people are operating these hotels. I'm getting a quarterly check and I absolutely love this. Uh, and as you'll hear me mention, it obviously depends on who you're putting your money with, uh, and how you're going to get your money back.
But, um, we'll, we'll talk about the [00:04:00] safety of some of them, somethings to look out for. I have a litmus test for investments.
Case Studies and Real-Life Examples
And then I also want to talk about case studies, about the returns that people have gotten, uh, the, Mindset changes that have happened from people investing in these and then what percentage of their portfolios do they put into the alternative investments?
Uh, some specific things that I want to talk about besides the kinds of things that you would invest in like the mobile home communities and self storage is That alternative investments also run the gamut of their, our income or their growth or their growth and income. Um, and there's a lot of lingo.
Yeah. I go to these conferences and it's like, I understand it now, but at the beginning, I mean, there's just so, so much. So much lingo.
Understanding Investment Lingo and Goals
Uh, this is an income play. This is a growth play. This is like how they talk. Uh, and really it's just, if you want income, you would invest in something like [00:05:00] a, uh, you know, a hotel or something that did residential units that were rented because they're paying every single month.
And then you would then obviously. Get a check every single month. Uh, and there's other ones that are growth where you would invest your money and you may not get it back for eight years. So it just really depends on what your goals are, how old you are, you know, your risk tolerance. Are you new to alternatives?
Because if you're new and you're doing your first alternative, I wouldn't recommend you invest your money and wait eight years to see a result because you're not going to stay. excited consistently for that long. So those are the kinds of things that I want to talk about is not only how they're going to fit in your portfolio, but all of the different alternatives that you can then invest in, in the different ways.
And you might be able to pair them together to, You know, to do your goals.
Interviewing Fund Managers and Due Diligence
And I'm also going to interview a lot of these, uh, investments on the show so that we [00:06:00] can go through and you can hear how I am interviewing them, the kinds of questions that I'm asking and the things that you may need to worry about, because I'm not, you know, there's websites out there where you can do this yourself.
If you're accredited investor, you know, there's, there's multiple websites out there where you could prove you're accredited investor. And then there's just. you know, pages of investments that you can invest in. For me, I have a hard time with that just because I like to interview the, the manager of the fund.
They call it the sponsor of the fund. They are offering the fund and I like to talk to them, see their history. You know, there's a lot of things when you're reviewing these deals, um, that you learn. And then I I also have the advantage of going to conferences where I talk to other advisors about their experience with some of these.
So the people that I'm going to have on are ones that I have vetted that I have talked to other people about, you know, I'm not going to [00:07:00] just have anybody on here. Uh, and then I also want to have an episode of a fund that presented and it was one that I would never do. So, you know, I kind of want to run the gamut of how you can add some of these things and then it's not only going to be.
I want people to realize that you don't own your wealth doesn't only lie in, you know, the stock market, that there's a whole world out there. So I'm also going to branch out in a little bit into, you know, like travel points and there's other ways to enrich your life with alternative ways of, you know, your finances, if you could put it that way.
Uh, if there's Uh, I've also thought about having someone on about, um, like Medicare Advantage program. So I'm still going to kind of keep the whatever I'm interested in is a topic that we want to have, but I want to do more focus on the alternatives because I do think that they are the way of the future.
I think people are very interested in them. Uh, and [00:08:00] you know, there's tons of advisors out there talking about things and, you know, this is what I'm interested in the way that I stand out. So I am.
Michelle's Experience and Credentials
I don't really talk about myself a lot on the, on the podcast, and I'm going to use this one episode to talk about why I do have the experience to do this.
I start, I started my RIA when no one was going independent and everyone, I wouldn't say everyone, but I got quite a few comments about not only being so young and going independent and fee. only and having my own business, um, which allowed me to then sell these things. Because if I'm with like a big company and they're telling me what to do, they vet these deals and then say what you can sell.
And a lot of times what happens is they're taking a fee and then the advisor takes a fee. and then whatever else is left over is what the investor gets. And so by doing it the way that I am, by being what's called a [00:09:00] registered investment advisor, which means I'm an independent, independent financial advisor, I am cutting out that man of, which is usually seven to nine percent.
And I think that's, that's a lot of percentage, right? Um, so seven to nine percent of not having this big conglomerate tell me, you know, what I can sell and what I can't sell. The downside is that all of that due diligence and all of that risk falls on me, right? Of whether this is a good investment or whether it's not, because my clients are just going to be trusting me, whether it's good or not.
I have been doing these alternative investments since 2006. 16 was the first time that I did these. So where I'm eight years in, 40% of my business is alternative investments. Um, and when people come to me, that's often why they come to me is that they don't find the stock market is exciting anymore or.
They don't really want to put more in there. You know, they're like, I've got my401k, I got all this. And my only other option is to invest in the stock market. Like I want other things, but I [00:10:00] don't have time to manage a rental or, you know, an Airbnb or VRBO, they want other options. And so these alternatives have ended up being a great option for them.
Uh, and so I have been doing them for a long time and I first got into them and I went to a conference and I think that the, this, I don't know, I don't know. This guy was head of one of these large companies and this person asked, how do you do learn about this? You know, and I'm thinking he went to a class or he took a law class, you know, Oh, it's just by reading deals.
And it truly is just by reading deals. Like I have read hundreds of these, I spend, um, multiple hours a month going through deals and I maybe find one or two a year that I'll actually put my clients in, but I will interview maybe 15. Uh, and so I go to multiple conferences. I pick a couple then and, you know, an interview and there's different reasons why I might move forward with some, uh, because there's different tactics that you can do.
But, um, [00:11:00] For the most part, I have read hundreds and hundreds of deals. Again, my clients love them. I was one of the first people to start an independent RIA and, and I was also one of the first advisors to go into alternative investments. I have more experience than most of these people. And, um, just because I'm a woman, I'm going to tout this that I am one of the only women sitting in the room.
Uh, so I'm really proud of that. And I want to bring this to you because I'm really, really passionate about people investing in things that they're excited about. And I don't think that a lot of people are excited about the stock market. If you love watching stocks go up and down and you're, you know, what's going to happen with this?
There are certain people that absolutely love it. And I'm not saying it's not going to take up a portion of your portfolio, but it doesn't need to be all of it. I go on Reddit and I see, um, some of these people that are, uh, the Henry's, the not rich yet, the high income, high earners, not rich yet. And they'll [00:12:00] say, okay, I've maxed out my 401k.
I have an emergency savings. You know, I'm doing a backdoor Roth IRA every single year, which is basically when you convert. Your regular IRA to a Roth, um, to get money into the Roth. Okay, so what should I do now? And the recommendation is to open like a regular brokerage account and do more stock. And to me I'm thinking, wow, that sounds like not exciting at all.
Like if I had all of that taken care of. To me, I want to go like invest in real estate or I want, you know, I want to invest in these hotels. I want to go into a different realm. And that's what this show is going to be about. If you have all of these things taken care of, and you are, you know, you've got savings and you don't have a debt problem.
and you want to go into something else and you didn't even know that this world existed, then this podcast is for you. And I encourage you to share it with people that you might think that would be interested in alternative investments.
Accredited Investors and Investment Risks
Uh, with a lot of these, you are going to have to be accredited investor, which means that you need to be earning over 250,[00:13:00]000 a year, have a million dollars over net worth.
Uh, And there are some where you don't need to have that. But the reason that they have this accredited investor is because you are going to be investing 25 to 50, 000 at a minimum. And someone could literally walk away with that. You could invest that with a company and then that could go belly up and you'd lose all of it.
I haven't had that happen, but it does happen. And the reason that's why they have. this rule is because if you're not an accredited investor and you invested, you know, your only 25,000 that you had or your 50,000 that you had in your portfolio, then you would lose, you know, you have nothing to build on versus if you have all of these other things in place.
losing this money. It's not fun. I'm not saying that it would be, but you wouldn't be destitute and, you know, not be able to retire. Uh, these are something that you want to add to your portfolio. And I also think, you know, if it's something that you just aspire to [00:14:00] because you will get there and there are some alternative investments where you don't have to be accredited investor and the investment is 10,000.
And we'll be talking about those two, um, here and there, but for the most part, it's going to be for accredited investors that. can, um, afford to, you know, invest 25 to 50,000 inside of their IRA or otherwise, uh, to, you know, expand their portfolio. Uh, so I, this is the reason that I am a realtor is because I, it gives me insight into the market.
That I wouldn't otherwise have. It gives me access to tools, to reporting, uh, to meetings and things like that. And so I think with all of that going together, um, it's kind of creating the perfect storm.
Conclusion and Next Steps
So I'm really excited for this pivot. Uh, so Let me know if you have any feedback on it, if you're excited about it.
I really appreciate you guys listening. [00:15:00] And, um, here's to kicking it off because I am really, really excited about the unconventional investor because it really, I feel like it's who I am and, uh, where I've come to as being an advisor. So thank you so much for listening. And To you on the next episode.
Thank you for listening to the Unconventional Investor Podcast. I hope you feel more confident in how you can grow your wealth using the strategies I shared in this episode. If you're ready to take the next step in, diversify your
Disclaimer: The information provided in this podcast is for general informational purposes only and should not be construed as professional financial advice. Always consult with a qualified financial advisor or professional before making any financial decisions. The hosts and guests of this podcast are not responsible for any actions taken based on the information presented.