Welcome to another episode of Passive Real Estate Investing. I'm your host, Marco Santarelli. And welcome if you are a new listener, and there are many of you who listen to the show on a regular basis but have not subscribed, remember to do so, just click the subscribe linker button, wherever that may be, from wherever you're listening. If it's on your smartphone, it's usually a little button nearby or to the right of the cover art. So we have an interesting episode today. You know, for the first time in American history, several events are happening and unfolding simultaneously. And when combined, they create a new level of risk and contagion that we've never seen before. You take the factors such as human longevity, an aging population, and really something we've known about for decades, but an unprecedented level of debt and deficit. These things come together to create a serious financial situation or even a crisis.

And the worst part is that it's all our fault. I mean, if you really think about it as a society, we've brought ourselves to this point, and you're gonna discover more about this here in today's interview with my guest. But the question is, are you prepared for when a crisis hits? You see, most Americans don't have enough money saved up to cover a medical emergency, never mind retirement. And many assume the reason for this is that they don't make enough money. And while learning how to be more productive with your time and earn more money is part of that equation, the problem is really more complicated. See, the basics of saving and investing are not taught in schools, as we know. We've talked about this many times on the show. So most people go into the workforce, you know, behind the Eight Ball, lacking education and really not knowing how to make money, invest it, protect it.

So, you know, those are the things that we do talk about on the show. But what makes this problem exponentially worse is this thing that you can call a disease called consumerism. And consumerism has spread throughout our culture like wildfire for many decades. Every day we're bombarded with advertisements convincing us to buy things that we don't need. You know, the grand lifestyle we are being pitched is not attainable by the average citizen. It just isn't. And it's not attainable without properly saving and investing. So my guest today basically has a wake up call for those who want to become wealthy and stay wealthy. It doesn't matter what your background or your age is. It doesn't matter if you desire to work hard or not, but you should work hard. But if you do desire to work hard and you have the discipline to make money, save it, and properly invest it, you'll do well.

You will not only become wealthy, you will stay wealthy, and you will have the financial freedom and time freedom that you all look for. So, I hope you enjoyed today's episode. It's a good one. It's a little bit of a longer one, but let me know what your thoughts are and we will see you on the other side.

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If you missed our last episode, be sure to listen to Ask Marco: Investing Using Cash versus a HELOC (Line of Credit)

Well, it is my pleasure to welcome Paul Daneshrad to the show. He is the founder and CEO of Starpoint Properties, a private real estate firm that he started back in 1990. He has built it into one of the most respected real estate development firms in the industry. And Paul speaks at national conferences all around the country. He has contributed to publications like Forbes, multifamily Executive, Multi-Housing News, national Real Estate Investor in Commercial Property News. He is also the author of a new book called Money and Morons, How to Build Wealth and Protect Yourself from the Great Influx. And I have to tell you, I love that title, Money and Morons. Paul, welcome to the show.

Thanks Marco. Pleasure to be here.

Well, I'm glad to have you on.