Left feeling insecure and unprepared during these troubling, uncertain times? In today's episode Kevin Whelan joins us and reassures us that there are still plenty of opportunities to build your wealth and what we should be doing to keep on adding value. Make sure to tune in to hear what he has to say.
There’s a storm approaching, leading to uncertainty and challenges from a lack of fuel, lack of opportunity, inflation and furloughs coming to an end. People are left feeling as if they don’t have enough protection in place. In this week’s episode of WealthTalk, Kevin Whelan reassures us that wealth-building opportunities are still out there and we should concentrate on adding value. Tune in to learn more about what can be done to get through this turbulent period.
Resources Mentioned In This Episode
>> Episode 82: What Is Supported Living?
>> Episode 81: Property Strategy: Multi-Unit Blocks w/ Stephanie Taylor
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Oh, come to episode 124 of wealth taught. My name is Christian Rodwell, the membership director for wealth builders, and I'm joined today by our founder, Mr. Kevin Whelan. Hello, Chris. Good to be with you again and hope you and join your little trip and sunning yourself and cruising around in. I did in date.
Yeah. And, um, oh, I noticed the nip in the air this morning. That's for sure. After, after a week of sunshine and don't mention a nip in the air, we're heading for a winter of discontent. Well, we are aren't we? And, uh, obviously we're speaking to members and clients every day and certainly some people. Uh, concern to say the least about all of the things that seem to be brewing out there.
And we're going to touch on some of those today, Kevin. Oh, there's doom and gloom everywhere. There's a storm approaching, you know, that a challenge that we're seeing from a lack of fuel, to a lack of opportunity, furloughs come to an end in a, so many things, uh, making people feeling like they're in the cold a little bit naked from protection.
Um, but look, there's always hope. It's the same wind that blows on us all. Even if you feel it because you've come back from a beat that there's so many things you can do. To equip yourself to brave the wind that's on us and come out, you know, feeling actually sometimes, you know, you can feel quite warm after a brisk breeze county.
You feel very confident in re refreshed and rejuvenated. And I think there's plenty of opportunity for us to talk about today. Yeah. And as we know, often, it's the mindset as well that dictates these things. You know, when you believe the bad things are gonna happen or you believe that you can always see some good opportunities and, uh, you know, approach these things with a positive mindset, instead of being negative about things that are going on, because the same wind flows on us, all Kevin.
And that worries me though, that the doom and gloom merchants jump, jump out of the. Cupboard so quickly, and we're starting to see, you know, there particularly around. Fuel prices. And, uh, we're all gonna have to cut back and tighten our belt and count the number of lattes we have. Uh, I'm not counting lattes, Chris, um, Manju.
I normally have an American who don't I, but, but, uh, I'm not saying cut back. You don't cut back. You expand your way to wealth. That doesn't mean we don't pay attention to costs. Of course we do. We do. So in the program. Under the process called debits. And by the way, Chris talking about debit, we had a fantastic bit of news from one of our clients this week.
Um, one of our members who posted that a little bit of connection from us in the program to one of our team who helped her review her pensions, she was. Discovered that through our guidance or the guidance of our advisor. Anyway, say 15,000 pounds a year in fees, 15,000. Now, what does that tell you? It tells you, well, one we're talking about quite serious of money.
Two fees were being ignored. No fees that were there without the current wind was still there. And so financial services as an industry, doesn't always seek to provide the best value for the client. They provide. The service and, you know, they charge for that when there's ways to reduce that. So we're delighted and thrilled that, uh, our clients managed to save that money.
And, uh, we'll be encouraging her to give a little bit more detail at that. But suffice to say, though, if you can increase your income by 15,000 1,250 a month, you know, if you, Bill's not going to go up that much, is it? And that was for just a couple of hours of that time. A couple of hours at a time for 15,000.
I mean, it's a good, hourly, right? I know we don't like hourly rates, Chris, and we often say that we're not looking to trade time for money, but I do a few hours at seven and a half grand an hour. It's not a bad rate. Isn't really. No, no, not at all. So. Okay. So, so where do we begin then? What, what are you hearing coming up most at the moment that's causing our members concern Kevin?
Well, they keep saying down day, the four winds up blow and you know, one of the four winds that are blowing on a certain moment. Well, we can look at where we are, you know, in our life, in our wealth building plan. And we can see where. Different people are saying that, you know, there are different tragedies and different ill winds blowing.
So let's deal with the employees first. Right? So what are we hearing from the employees that are out there trying that, what we call the ambitious employees on a Chris? Yeah. People trying to make change, uh, being successful at trading time for money, but wanting to trade that for a different way of life.
Creating assets and building wealth. And what we're seeing is the end of furlough. We're seeing prices going up. We're seeing inflation. All of those are blowing on us all, but, but certainly they're feeling a lack of protection and feeling worried about things and think who is now the time to be building my wealth is now the time to be.
Differing this, you know, and just, just sticking to the job and carrying on 2020 time for money. But the opportunities are always there. I mean, furlough is there to really try and protect the economy and protect livelihoods. And you've still been in the same position and just concentrate on adding value, you know?
Focus on value. You're always going to be able to create more value for yourself. Well flows to value. So even if temporarily you stay where you are, you play your heart out for the team. You're in talk about teams by the way, Chris. Um, I don't know when you were away, did you hear that you see United being taken over?
I was getting some funny WhatsApp messages and I had no idea what they're all about. I've all these Newcastle players on them, but now I, now I know. Yeah. I mean, I know where they, some just bought out the club for 300 million, but I think there's a 400 billion war chest, which means the team, our support, um, and you know, that 50,000 a number of people we want to help build their wealth, which is my visualization of St.
James as part being filled with people, enthusing about their own wealth building activities. Trying to positively infect others for good, rather than codify COVID effecting us for bad. Um, well that team's going to be supported now with a bit more money. And somebody jokingly said, were you part of the consorting?
Well, maybe that stadium might say increased slightly larger than 50,000 didn't need. No, but you know, joking aside, look at, if you're an employee out there, there are, there are so many opportunities and the opportunities will always come. From, from thinking about how you create value for others. And that's always the case, whether you work in a team, whether you're looking to build another asset of property or whether you're looking to build an asset, a business, you know, there's always the deal, winds blowing our business, isn't there.
Right? So if you're a business owner, you're feeling. Well there's, there is no government money, so you're, you're going to be left to your own devices. You're going to be feeling the economy's going to be tough. You're going to be feeling that whatever money you've got in your bank account, isn't going to go too far because interest rates are so low, you're going to be worried about, um, inflation and, and, uh, all sorts of different things, but kinda the whole thing about business.
As you expand your way and your business life to create more value for more people. It's exactly the same thing. And there are many ways that business owners are now able to look inside of whatever they're doing. I mean, look it up business owners, not just this one who we just talked about to say 15,000, but business owners, who've got some.
They've kept back for, you know, difficult times instead of just sitting on that money and getting no 0.1%. What if there was a way that they could lend that money to other, let's say property people who've been struggling to get access to funds and they couldn't lend that money, be a banker and become their own bank and participate in another industry, which is the banking industry and lend their money out, which I frequently do.
I'd say 10 or 12%. Well, let's say it's 10% if you're getting no 0.1 in the bank, but you can become the bank and get 10. You're getting a hundred times more return on your money for taking a little bit of time to understand how you can become like a banker. And this is the skill that when your own business, under some difficulties, you can expand your business and entrepreneurial skills into looking into others.
And I would encourage anybody. To be looking to build other assets and diversify. So you don't see the business that you're in is the only asset. So many business owners that I meet have a tunnel vision view that their businesses, their baby, their businesses, their wealth, their businesses, but it isn't the biggest asset that God is the.
You know, the real estate between the two years. So they've got the brain power to see other opportunities. And that's really what I do. And that's what we try and teach is to see outside that box and take your business, building entrepreneurial skills, and you create more, leverage, more value from other ideas.
And this is the joy of being in business, right? And you can be flexible. You can pivot, you can change direction really, very quickly. So. Definitely. That would be one. I would encourage people to look out and become a bank, or at least explore that idea about how you could help. Yeah. I just like to pick up on a point, actually, Kevin going back almost to the employees there and the business owners is if you're an employee, but you want to get into business, then one of the perhaps best ways could be to try and find that opportunity at work and almost partner up with your employer.
And that's what we call being an entrepreneur. Right. And I think after COVID a lot of people now returning back to the office place, The way of working has changed so radically that I'm sure if people look around and think, is there a way that we can run this business differently, we can cut costs. We can save some money here and then negotiate some of those savings with their employer upfront.
This is a great way of generating an income stream there for them. And they're kind of learning the ropes of business in the current environment. Yeah, and that's, uh, just a great point you make. And I know later on this month, Chris, we're meeting with our whole team and giving them the vision of what we're doing and empowering them to, to be part of what the business is doing, not just to be receiving, you know, instructions on what to do.
Well, we've got that kind of empowering thought within our own team. You could create that thought within the team you're working in and, and use that creativity to either find ways to add value or reduce cost, both of which are adding value. Um, or if you're working from home and increasingly spending two or three days, You know, at home, as opposed to working in an office, then save that commuting time and, and use that time to leverage your knowledge and can create more opportunities.
And those opportunities will abound. Look at the let's talk about property for a moment. You know, we've seen. The challenge with property. We've seen that those people who, uh, let's say, have got a property portfolio have seen that there's been an embargo on those, uh, on evicting tenants. Not that we're encouraging that act, but you know, when we know that some tenants have taken this time to not pay for.
Um, and that's been, yeah, it's been some negatives in for some people, but that's all gone now. So, you know, we're definitely seeing people taking back more control, doing much more with, with their property now. But the thing is whenever we have hard and difficult times, it's often a store that breaks somebody else's back.
And we'll find people who are tired now of wanting to be a landlord. Tired of wanting to continue doing things in the way they're doing, and you can find ways that can solve their problem. Just look at the fantastic work we've seen from Stephanie. And you wanted to mention one of our members definitely has just been won some awards.
Absolutely. Well, Stephanie Taylor, who's been a previous guest on wealth talk of course. And we'll share the link to that episode, but yeah, it's definitely posted in our wealth builders academy community. That she's just one, the inspirational person of the year. And that was at the potential unlocked awards of 2021.
So fantastic achievement and, uh, so nice to see all the other members, you know, greet, uh, congratulating her in the group. Yeah. And of course, you know, she's, she's written a book specifically about this concept of rent to rent, which is identifying landlords who are tired and maybe. Crusty properties and crusty dispositions themselves maybe.
And they want to freshen that up and you can take that control from them, pay them a fair rent, but you can make more money. And this is the art of being a wealth builder. You create leverage, you create more value from what already exists, and that's a great skill. She has an skill you can learn even in a few hours.
A week that you find by changing your working practices. So there's no shortage of opportunity, Chris. There never has been. There never will be. And I think those people who will always see themselves as a victim, or we see themselves as being at the mercy of things, we'll, we'll come out of the woodwork now.
Um, but I think true wealth builders will see. The real opportunity and not worry about that wind, but we'll set that sale in a different way and create more power from that wind, as opposed to just listening to the bluster and, uh, and, and kind of getting fooled into this winter of discontent, which I'm sure we're going to see play out in the press, um, in the coming weeks and months, particularly as you know, flu.
Comes up as well as another issue. And, uh, we're going to hear lots of things. So I'm just going to try and get people to set their mind on the positives and get into a community of positivity rather than even another community. Interestingly enough, Chris talking about positive communities and so on, um, mentioned last time that I'll be, um, going to the house of Lords to, um, to talk about.
The pensions with some other people. And that's an interesting subject, but nonetheless, it's a, it's a big issue. And, um, interesting. It's been chaired by, uh, Baroness rose Altman, who was the pensions minister, and she recently did a post. I'm saying it's about time that people got interested and got felt proud of their pensions.
And I'll be rating the subject of SAS with a, when I see her next week and say, you know, is that something that, you know, she knows more about and she can see that people take control of their pensions, not being at the best of your things is a very positive thing to do. So I'm looking for. Yeah. And just again, remaining on property for a minute there, Kevin, and we know that there, there might be more homeless, homelessness coming and evictions repossessions, but, um, you know, again, if you're in property already, then it could be looking at different strategies.
And we had Lisa Brown as a guest back on episode 81, and Lisa was talking about supported living and, um, you know, that's something that we've seen become much more popular and obviously, really supporting those people who are finding. At difficult out there at the moment. Yeah. There's some dangers though.
I definitely see some real danger that people will be suckered into sayings and I'm not casting aspersions at any people, but I think with. Currencies under increasing pressure from inflation. Um, we're going to see quite a ramping up. I think of marketing around crypto, which will mean that some people will be tempted by FOMO, the fear of missing out to invest in things they may not know enough about.
So I'm not saying. Cryptocurrencies good, bad or indifferent. I have no view to share on that, except that you must not, in my view, at least just dive into something because you fear missing out and I'm beginning to see this message being peddled a little bit out there. So be cautious. By all means. It makes sense to learn about cryptocurrency, learn about the various language that's out.
There you go to trusted sources to get this information, but don't be tempted to jump on an alternative bandwagon and go in a different direction just because the wind is a bit chilly at the moment. And another word die. Popping up quite a lot. Kevin is inflation. And with your economist background, what are your thoughts around where things are heading in that.
Well, look, inflation is always a wealth killer, right? Because you know, whatever you're owning your money has to work even harder to combat the impact of inflation, but whatever inflation is, and we're hearing rumors of a, sort of a 4% level, but typically for those people who are taking entrepreneurial decisions, they're following the wheel of wealth, they're getting their education.
They're getting, uh, unbiased support. Feeling connected in the community. They're doing appropriate due diligence. They are typically getting substantially higher than that as a return on their investment. So if you continually making more money than inflation, you're gaining. If you're leaving your money on deposit, you're investing in traditional ways.
It's going to be more challenging to make a headway against that. Um, inflationary almost, um, a handbrake on your money really it's so you've got to find ways to improve what you're doing and that always starts with yeah. And, and the other, you know, topical thing that always comes up is, is the interest rates and what's going to be happening to them.
And how should you. Preparing yourself for potential rise in the interest rates? Well, that's an interesting one from a macro perspective because governments right now, you know, they're borrowing trillions, not billions, but trillions. So there'll be there be keeping interest rates as low as possible for as long as possible, because that impacts on the cashflow of.
Um, if you've got higher interest rates, they've got to pay more interest to keep the economy turning. So I think interest rates will stay low for a long period of time, but nonetheless, in the end interest rates will inevitably rise as a. You can't get lower than zero. Can you really? So interest rates will rise.
So we must always keep imbalanced what we're doing and keep a sense check on the interest rate. And particularly if we're using leverage of any kind. So these are all common things, but not expecting any upward pressure on interest rates in the short term, Chris, that's just from what I see. But you must make your own view and see what you think.
Okay. So just to recap then on some of the positives out of the potential dark winter, that we're heading into Kevin. So we're saying, you know, look at your own assets that you currently have in your life. That could be your home. It could be a pension, could be a current investments, properties. We know the seven different assets, the pillars that are out there, and most people are sitting on something that is not leveraged as much as it could be.
So always looking at what you've got currently. And then of course, partnering and working with others. Collaborating is a way to, you know, as you said, Be your own bank and lend money to others as well. Um, and opportunities, certainly within the property market, there will be tired landlords out there, and there may be some opportunities there to, again, work with them, collaborate with them and find some, uh, some deals, any, any other opportunities that I think, you know, with the way that it's easy to quite business now, uh, with the use of technology, if you spot a niche and you realize Chris.
That a niche and being outstanding and delicious. One of the key components of an excellent business, then you can turn your attention to solve that problem really, really quickly. So you don't have to be, you know, creating a hugely established business with high overheads and high costs. You can be pretty lean and mean.
Um, and spot those opportunities, uh, in all sorts of ways. So I think, uh, just look for where there are problems and wherever there are problems, there are always opportunities because people need the solution to the problems that you can see. So have a think about that. If there's something you want to share with us, if there's something that you sees an opportunity out there that he wants some help to, to reach out, to, and try and solve, then let us know.
And we'll. Do our best to connect you. And we're always looking for opportunities cause that, that makes life more about seeing the benefit that you can bring to others rather than seeing the warranties. Okay. Well, I hope you enjoyed listening to today's episode and as always, if you've got comments, if you want to get in touch, then one of the best ways is within the wealth builders, Facebook community.
So head to wealth builders.co.uk forward slash Facebook. And, um, I've been, I guess, we'll catch up next week. Same time, same place. Looking forward to that Christian until then my friend. See ya.
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