Let me tell you up front that this is going to make a lot of the “gurus” out there very unhappy – after all, it’s a secret that most of them don’t want you to know. You’ve probably heard of “passive income” before, and how it’s the magic bullet to becoming financially free. There are entire training programs out there promising you to set up easy, fast streams of revenue that “fill your bank account”, doing almost no work at all. I know it makes sense on the surface, and is REALLY seductive .. create “automatic cash machines” that spit out money and make you wealthy, while you sleep. There’s one problem with it – chasing passive income is a sure-fire path to DISASTER. I’ve trained thousands of entrepreneurs and investors that chased this dream, and ended up in financial distress. I just shot a brand new video that exposes WHY passive income is such a dangerous thing to go after .. and better yet, what your FIRST goal really should be. I’ll admit this isn’t as sexy as telling you the same crap that so many others are preaching .. but I’m tired of watching people go broke while they get rich. In this video I’ll teach you the 3 types of cash that exist, and show you exactly why so many people get into trouble because they focus on the wrong kind of cash first. This is stuff you won’t learn anywhere else. Check out my video, and let me know what you think. And after you watch the video, PLEASE post a comment and let me know what you got from watching this video! What new perspective do you have after watching it? I wanna hear from you! Post your comments below and please share this with the people you love and care about. This is important stuff. ]]>
101 Responses
Thanks Greg! I love your clarity, simplicity, and simple truths you present! Much of what you said applies to me and my Team New Earth right now!
I thank you for your commitment and dedication to entrepreneurs everywhere!!!
Great video. Clear that cash is king. Thanks
and where is the queen??? 🙂
Very sound and solid advice.
Thank you, good sound information, an eye opener. Clea
Hi Greg, very well presented viewing of RE. I’m a RE Investor and got to own 07 properties, but no CASH TODAY only hoping to have CASH TOMORROW. To make the story short, I made hundreds of thousands of dollars and lost hundreds of thousands too, due to the recent RE correction in Canada. I’m getting rid of them and converting my RE investing in CASH TODAY, as I just LOVE renos. For the people out there, just be careful with the taxes you have to pay when you flip a property.
Good working content-practical
Thank you so much Greg! I love simplicity which is what you did when you explained the concepts. This was a big help and eye opener for me:)
Very good Greg, I am learning all the time! I am starting to apply your strategies on becoming the trusted authority and launching a new site by september and can’t wait to see the results.
Hi Gregg,
I wholeheartedly agree with your approach. In fact there is very little so called passive income where you do nothing. The exceptions are usually when you take a large sum and invest at 14% or so. This may sound unrealistic but brings a point across. In the key in Investing is a long term Plan. First, Try to replace your Today’ s Income with Tomorrow’s cash. This could be a cash flow that one builds over time . It may take up to 20 years. In addition to be successful you must have Cash to play so you can do flips. Tony
Finally! Your message is in line with my actions and my way of thinking about money.
Thank you very much for your support!
Greg,
You hit the nail right on the head. What you just explain in the video is very correct. That is were people miss it big time. You have to leverage your time and money. It takes work, patient along side with good research and the right tools to have success…
Good basic information, but extremely repetitive. Could easily have been a 5-minute video with no loss of impact. That said, your expertise is welcome.
very helful,down to earth advice and useful antidote to the get rich quick and for no effort
mentality promoted by so many gurus.
Simple common sense. Thanks Greg
Thanks Greg.
Very sound advice which only a fool would ignore. Back to basic strategy.
Keep up the good work and with your help your disciples will come out of this global financial economic mess in a stronger position.
Hi Gregg, Very good information. I am just finishing your book and will be following this site and will e-mail when I have complated your greate book THE RRSP SECRET. Thanks for a great book as it is just what I needed at this time. Tom
Thanks Greg for your advice, it was clear, simple and so helpfull to me.
Thanks, Greg. This really helps to keep the focus on what one can do today rather than being waylaid with fantasies about tomorrow.
Disagree on chasing passive income being the “sure fire” way to disaster. Smart, timely real estate investments properly managed are the BEST way to ensure passive income for your future. People just don’t view the numbers correctly and make mistakes along the way. You can start with one and build your portfolio over the years. That’s what investing is all about. What you preach (buying distressed or undervalued or assignments) is speculation, NOT investing, and more people run into problems with this method! Sounds like a repackaging of Rich Dad!
Laura, you seemed to have missed the point I was making. I wasn’t criticizing any particular strategy in particular. My point was that most people get into real estate investing because of the dream of “passive income” of how easy it is to buy houses, rent them out and sit on the beach. Problem is, most new investors leverage themselves right up, and don’t realize that it’s not easy to get cash flow from the start. So they choose the Cash Tomorrow Strategy because of the seduction of it and that actually causes them to have financial distress. The point I was making was that you MUST start with a sound Cash Today strategy before you move onto Cash Tomorrow strategies. I’ve trained thousands of real estate investors, and I’ve seen this repeat over and over again. And, you’re completely wrong that flipping is speculating. It is if you don’t know what you’re doing and if you think flipping is the same as speculation, you’re wrong. It is ONLY if you’re betting on prices. But if you can buy 30-50% below market value and know the market well, that has nothing to do with speculation. Like it or not, buy and hold is a Cash Tomorrow strategy, and thinking that it’s a good way to “get into” investing is exactly what leads to failure.
Great reminder that puts one back on track. The tendency to get off track where one gets on diversified lines without mastering any is what I can see in myself and a lot of those in business.
There is always that temptation to jump into anything that promises or shows passive income,
wealth accumulation, creating a million dollars in a short period of time, or anything where one’s dream for income or wealth can come true.
One big challenge though faced by those in business to include the self employed like myself is that everybody even businesses seems to be holding on to whatever they have and cutting down on costs that they believe are unnecessary, can be deferred or eliminated especially at these difficult times.
Thank you very much for reaching out. It truly means a lot.
God bless
Thanks again Greg. I appreciate you speaking in layman’s terms. Keeping it simple and to the point. Plan for living expenses today and daily living, build a wealth strategy for tomorrow while you live today, plan and prepare for fun money (retirement). What ever the case, make a plan, set goals, and take action to live a vibrant life. Its not that hard. You just have to overcome the inner fears and look to the future you want. Start today!
Great job Greg!
Few people talk about that. It is easy to get equity rich and cash poor in real estate. Things are great as long as you have money to eat today and cash reserves for things that come up. Lines of credit dont cut it when the market changes since the bank takes them away or lowers them.
facebook and investor always think in the future.
when facebook start have a negative number and now is more than cash flow
Your honesty and integrity stands head and shoulders above all those who are just in it for themselves. You say more in minutes than others can in hours – thank you!
Very valuable information Greg!!! yes, I’ve found myself buying and buying assets for tomorrow’s stream and ending up without money today to buy a bread. Cash today vs. Cash tomorrow, interesting!!! Thanks a lot!!!
Thanks, Greg, your comment really is valuable to me. It helped me take a different look at the Cash Flow concept. I realize that I’m on the right track but would like to have a private session with you, if that’s possible. I’ll be in touch with your office. Thanks again,
Hi Greg. Awesome material as always! Thank you very much for sharing your thoughts and your knowledge and helping others. Have a great day!
thanks Greg! in other words, it’s to have a “cash cow” in the strategy. A continuous cash stream that gives me the time and freedom to become an effective investor
Thank you for such clear, simple and practical advice. Pie in the sky info seems to be everywhere these days. It’s reassuring to hear someone speaking and making good sense.
Great to provide a checkpoint to bring you back to what you should be doing
Thanks
Eye opening, enlightening, and vital to those who seek create a living in real estate, in short don’t put your cart before the horse.
Just watched a Tony Robbins video saying the same thing. Great sound advice! Thank You!
Thanks for the timely reminder, clearly explained.
Thank you Greg, sounds great! Greetings from Aini and Erkki!
Great advice. Simple but profound at the same time. Thank you.
Thanks for the clarification Greg. It helps when someone can demonstrate and reinforce the common sense that can easily be overlooked.
As a budding business man my focus is on cash today and even more so now as I have felt the pain of investing too much of my time in “tomorrow money”.
Commend you on your content creation. Very Impressive.
I completely agree with Laura’s comment. My husband and I built a six figure income stream through a patient buy and hold strategy that took years of focussed commitment to create.
Flipping a property is a gamble. You really don’t know what’s behind the walls until you start renovating and a quick cosmetic money maker can spiral into a money pit. I think it’s irresponsible to peddle this type of “investing” to someone who has limited funds and cannot afford to take a hit if costs soar.
Sandra, you’re making alot of assumptions here – first of all, I never said that someoen with limited money should start doing major renovations! You didn’t listen to my message at all. Clearly, you’re committed to buy and hold investing, which is great – I am too. My point is, someone with limited funds should NOT START with buy and hold investing – and not with renovating houses either. There are several strategies that are Cash Today strategies that take virtually no money, like assigning contracts to other investors on undervalued properties. You also make it sound like every renovation is going to turn into a money pit – which it can if you don’t know what you’re doing. “Flipping a property is a gamble” – depends on how you do it. If I can buy a house a 40% of it’s current value, and then go to sell it, do you think that’s “a gamble?” The answer is no. It’s not black and white, and the entire point of my video was that you need to make sure you have the cash today to survive, before you get seduced by the cash tomorrow strategies like buy and hold.
This information seems obvious.
Thanks Greg. Your advise makes a lot of sense. Keep up the good work.
hi Laura, DITTO! well said
Great clarity on what to focus on when. I’ve fallen for the ‘passive income’ myth in the past, so really appreciate your explanation of that, as well as the value of cash today. I’ll be sharing this video with many of my friends!
OMG I was doing that! I was missing the first step. I get it!!
Thank you for the sobbering perspective. Very helpful.
Soul
Thanks Greg, another great advice gem!
Hi Greg, Its really true to my system right now,I ended up struggling for cash because of too much investing to non profitable property. Your amazing and a very honest person to show people the reality of life. I salute you and looking forward to hear more advices. Thank You.
Greg, Thanks for your insights on the money today. You keep it simple and that’s necessary for sucess.
Thank you Greg, I always learn something new from you, thanks for keeping it simple and easy to grasp. Would’t life be a lot easier for everyone, if learning how to manage money and investing was thought in schools, the majority of us walk out into the working world with blind folds on when it comes to taking care of money, often experiencing painful loss’s, learning the hard way.
Excellent you have me thinking as to what I have done _ yes cash to morrow, was were we had started, struggle divorce ,now getiing more in line with cash today and looking at how cash tomorrow can manifest- I like it thankyou for the clarity to see differntly- AM
Very helpful, thanks…It still didn’t convince me to go buy a good deal in real estate or a foreclosure, which is something I am looking for for about a year; the state of the market is too scary, I understand your point of view, but even after fixing it and amplifying the value, I think about how long I will have to wait till I sell it..if I sell it! Negative thinking, of course, but it is also a fact to have in account. Its good to listen to this kind of guidance more often and get more clues and stay more well informed.
I actually got caught in this exact situation. And to boot I did it with an investment partner that turned out to be not very solid partnership material. Over 3 years, I personally lost more than 4 $40K . Great vid. Thanks Greg.
Kimberlay
Words spoken are ‘truth’! The insight ‘SHARED’ confirmed to me what always has been known and or is possible; yet because of the hype in this Social Environment of Media and Business together with a Sales Person’s enthusiasm has confusion take place; and the basic information that was being followed then flies out the window until like this Video, the ‘pure truth’ information IS SHARED AGAIN to be heard plainly, for the journey’s road being continued without confusion and peace then is felt …. did that make sense? Thankyou Greg – peace this day is felt, sight/vision is seen, and the road’s journey is paved with freedom of confusion. Again, thankyou for sharing. AnnA T
Common Sense , which is rarely common these days.
Well done.
So true, and there is never something like passive income as you always have to do something to get it!
Great information, I have never looked at it from that perspective before.
One of the key considerations is liquidity. In a downturn (and real estate is cyclical), you could get caught with no rental income (vacant property) and inability to realise the property either because the market is down. [Or taking a total bath on sale.]
There’s a lot of work and research in getting real estate investment right.
Wish I’d heard this a few years ago. Thanks for making it clear even to financial dummies like me
Excellent Greg, thanks for the ideas.
Hi Greg, It sounded like you were describing me! I have used all of my cash today to buy several properties for cash tomorrow. As a result, I have had several years of struggles with my own cash flow. I caution people to take their time and not try to stretch limited cash into as many properties as possible like I have done. I wish I had seen this video four years ago. I do have concerns about flipping though as well, but your idea of placing a deal under contract and finding a buyer for it is interesting. More information on how to do that would be useful.
Thanks for the advice!
Gord
Hi Greg iam new to all this but learning quickly and i think that this i great stuff keep up the good work thanks.
Greg, love the no BS approach! I agree with your comment about starting a business, in the last 9 years the cashflow from my 50s diner has afforded my family an amazingly however modest lifestyle. For the passed two years I have been trying to make the shift to cash tommorrow either thru acquiring another business or realestate, I have yet to make the transition, I am working a realestate deal now that I hope to flip for $200,000 in cash today, no not a scam, just a great solution that allows a 4 plex to be built for under $100/sq ft land included. Looking for a co signer? you interested?
Hi Greg, We have been a provider of economic information (US) to real/estate and mortgage professionals for 16 years. We now advocate for a group of 150k or so and would love to share some of your content with them. I myself really like the nuts and bolts approach you are taking and am benefitting from it. Thanks so much, Teresa HousingMatrix.com
Not sure I see the connection between the material delivered in the video and the title of the blog…
Nice to have new technique to share around. Thank you very much for the insight very helpful. I’m looking forward to hear more about your better technique to keep the wealth growing instead of stressing on it. Thank you very much for your time and wisdom. Until next time
Thank you Great advise!
I really enjoyed your talk, it is certainly food for thought, not sure how to make it work in the Australian market, at I need a real estate ticket just to be able to put out a for sale sign. So no doubt many hings to learn still. However, having signed up for program after program with the passive income idea and leaving myself so stoney broke I can’t even feed myself, I fully accept what you are saying as being so true. Thanks, I will keep this video just so that next time someone tells me how I can do the passive income thing, I will show them your talk. THANKS. from Charlotte
I think Greg makes many good points and I think some of the things he says are dead wrong. I agree with Laura and Sandra. I have built a six figure passive income (I work less than 2 hours per month, including walking to the bank to deposit my checks) in less than 2 years. Sandra is right – flipping is a gamble. People get in trouble with real estate because they do not understand financing.
Paul, you’d be the highly rare exception in the real estate investing world to have done what you have. It’s easy to create a six figure income, if you buy all the properties cash as an example. You didn’t say what you’ve actually invested which is a big part of the equation, but I also think that saying “flipping is a gamble” is like saying “owning rental properties is a lot of work”. It COULD be true, but it depends on the investor, the situation, and what systems they have in place. And no, most people don’t get into trouble because of financing, they get into trouble because they lack understanding of market fundamentals. Plain and simple that’s the biggest reason that people fail in real estate.
2 hours/month…Really?? I have four rental properties and they are more work then I’d like. Amazing property manager????
Love your video, I know at least one person who is stuck in this trap, going for the passive income, but doesn’t have enough for today. They keep on trying, as they are told they are not following the process well enough. They end up trying to follow another guru after another. Going deeper into a hole.
Thank you for your honesty.
excellent! thanks:)
I like this way of thinking: first the first step, than go to passive income. In any kind of passive income you have to first invest, time or money or both anyway.
Very clever simple and clear Greg ,thank you-Cristian Ionescu entrepreneur from Romania
First, today, then tomorrow. Then, play! Nice. Let’s say I’ve got plenty of cash today, and living well below my means. Then according to what you’re saying, I could focus on cash tomorrow. That’s what I’m doing 🙂 Thanks, for excellent content as always Greg.
Excellent video that focuses right to where I need to be in simple terms, Thanks
Thanks you Greg, it’s phenomenal and clarifying. I didn’t know there were so many good available properties to deal with.
Hi Greg , it is amazing to see that people still disagree with this. I have seen small businesses go broke because of chasing the money tomorrow principal. I have my own small business and if i don’t have cash today / cash flow I might as well close. It might be old but, cash is king .thanks Andre
I think perhaps I wasn’t clear enough in my video that you have to START with cash today if you don’t already have money. Some of the people here defending cash flow obviously had the cash today covered already – I’m talking more to someone that is NOT sitting with capital and funds to pay for their life today. I want to make sure people don’t jump into real estate thinking cash flow is the immediate goal. Take care of today’s needs first, and THEN cash tomorrow should absolutely be the goal.
Thanks for this eye opening video, it’s always good to get the other side of the story.
Thanks for this eye opening video, it’s always good to get the other side of the story.
Greg, to me this makes a lot of sense. Thank you for your honesty and professionalism – and for not trying to sell us something (this was like a breath of fresh air). Thanks again, and best of luck!
Thanks for that Greg, fundamentaly first things first.
Louis
Thanks for that Greg, fundamentaly first things first.
Louis
Thanks for the video … very helpful. I was in a coaching program before that encouraged me to buy lots of rental property, but as you say, that is cash tomorrow and would have gone broke going that direction, so didn’t continue. But I had charged a lot of money onto my credit card and now have a huge credit card bill! Yeh … Other People’s Money … that I get to pay off! No thanks.
I would tend to agree with the most part! I have a question though, what is the CASH TODAY for me; I think it would be different for each individual. So if my monthly expenditure is $3000, would my CASH TODAY (monthly) be the same?
Hi Manish – yes, it’s different and unique for everyone. Basically, it’s the concept of making sure your bills today are paid before you start trying to create money in the future. Like I said in the video, what most people do is “go broke while they get rich”. In other words, they invest in things that are supposed to create “passive income” but they don’t have the money to actually support themselves until that magic cash flow kicks in. So if your monthly expenses are $3,000, you need to make sure you have that covered before you start investing in things for cash flow that don’t create immediate results. If you already have capital that you can invest to generate the monthly income you need to cover your expenses, great. For example of if you had $300,000 of investment capital, you could invest it at 12% per year, and get $3,000 a month interest income – you’ve now covered your monthly needs. But the problem is, most people do NOT have that capital to start with and have little or no money to start with. So, you need to focus on active income strategies that will create cash today – in the real estate world, that would be things like flipping or assignments. And when I say flipping, I don’t mean buying a house and investing a lot of money in renos. I’m talking about finding properties and selling them to other investors, and making a little bit on each one. Hope that helps.
Wow. I just finished an investing class in college. What you had to say mkes a lot of sense to me. I realized I was using what I learned and “falling in love with” the cash tomorrow scenerio. So glad I watched!
Cash tomorrow IS a great thing – but at the right time. Ultimately, that’s the goal.. to generate a lot of predictable cash flow by having your assets put to work so they work to generate your income, not YOU. But, you have to cover today’s needs first and that’s the secret so many investors fail to follow.
That’s good information and perspective.Totally different from what I am use to hearing but refused to believe. I think I am in the right place. How can you lock a property up with no cash or credit. That’s been my experience with some agents and brokers. They all had the same mentality. The cash reserve that I did have I thought about using it for a smaller property and building on that. That didn’t work either as well as hard money,at least the with ones that I encountered. I may need a new coach. Can you provide some insight On what I may have done wrong With this deal?
I was in a coaching program around late 09. I pitched for private money to finance a 4 unit building for 69k that only needed about 5k in repairs I found out later. I offered a percent of the profit to the investor and ARV was 175k. (comparable properties were selling for 225-330k with tenants on much older properties that possibly needed more work) I offered more than average to get the deal done and start the marketing process before the property was finished which is the logical thing to do. Why didn’t this deal happen? I even offered to put up 10k of my own money…where did I go wrong?
Really helpful Greg – only thing i didn’t understand is the part about searching for bargain properties then finding someone who has money to actually buy it. is there more on this?
thanks!
Thank you Greg…just what i needed to hear today.
this info is good and sets the things in perspective for most people.
Thank You Greg. Clear explanation. Like the idea 🙂
getting away from the real estate strategy here
focusing on cash today has always been my downfall
I’m a big picture thinker and always focus on my ideas for a few months and then crank up another idea never to get each one going – “focusing on passive income”
the transition income or cash today is what has always slowed me down as it would be helpful to use to fund my businesses
Greg, any thoughts for someone who knows the business they want to build but who is having trouble with the cash today or transition income before the main business supports everything
I’ve used all kinds of strategies to find my ideal businesses and niches but can’t seem to do the same for transition income. Probably because it relates to a job or some type of freelancing and I’d just prefer to skip ahead, even though I know I need to be self reliant get that cash today settled and move and build on cash tomorrow.
Totally love it. Agree. I use same argument in my business.
thanks! Can use a different spin in presenting this concept.
Greg,
I think you are correct in that a lot of investors get into trouble with Buy and Hold. They think if a property cash flows say $200, that is money to spend. However, any property will eventually need a new roof, flooring, tenants, etc.These will use up your cash flow – if you keep if long enough. Cash flow from a buy and hold in my opinion is to be set aside for long term maintenance and expenses to hold until the asset has appreciated. It really isn’t a cash flow asset as you say Greg.
Todd Zimmer
Zimmer Real Estate Investments
Great post! Thank you for posted a very informative article.keep it up
http://passiveincomeformula.net/