Westin Smith: Investing Secrets That Could Make You $18 Million From $100k | DSH #1626

Summary

Digital Social Hour: “Investing Secrets That Could Make You $18 Million From $100k”

Guest: Weston Smith
Host: Sean Kelly
Episode: #1626
Date: November 17, 2025

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Episode Overview

In this episode of Digital Social Hour, host Sean Kelly sits down with Weston Smith, an Iowa-based entrepreneur, military veteran, and the founder of Fortis, to reveal unconventional investing strategies, deep financial insights, and the mindset required to turn $100,000 into $18 million over 10 years. The discussion ranges from military service and personal values to life insurance hacks, alternative asset investing, the American tax code, and thought-provoking takes on religion, proximity, and wealth.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Power of Compound Investing & Alternative Assets

• Weston’s Investing Math:

  • Smith opens the episode by walking through the math of compounding at 60% annual returns:

    “If you invest 100k, after 10 years you'll have about $18 million.” – Weston Smith [00:00]

  • He notes this math excludes inflation and taxes but demonstrates the potential of high-return alternative opportunities.

• Alternative Assets (Beyond Stocks):

  • Smith explains his transition from life insurance sales to exploring investments in venture capital, private equity, colored diamonds, gold, and silver.
  • He’s critical of traditional vehicles like term life insurance and standard 401(k)s, advocating for products structured with tax-advantaged growth.

• On Stocks vs. Private Investments:

  • “You're not gonna find a stock that's like that [5% a month].” – Weston Smith [37:07]
  • He argues that private equity and venture capital can provide predictable, “unheard-of” yields when compared to public markets.

• Practical Examples:

  • Loans against home equity, leveraging zero-percent business credit cards, and using whole life insurance as a banking instrument (the “infinite banking” concept).
  • “Anybody that has money just sitting, that's like my prime target. I can go get them massive amounts of passive cash flow for the rest of their life.” – Weston Smith [18:12]

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2. The Life Insurance Industry & Financial ‘Hacks’

• Whole Life vs. Term Life:

  • Smith is adamant that whole life insurance is preferable due to payout rates and tax advantages:

    “Only 7% [of term policies] actually pay out … I would always get a whole life as soon as you can, because you're locked in at that price.” – Weston Smith [06:03–06:19]

  • Critiques agents who oversell coverage for extra commissions; encourages transparency from clients.

• Insider Tax Knowledge:

  • Many CPAs and accountants overlook significant strategies:

    “Nobody reads the tax code. CPAs usually don't even know about this either, dude.” – Weston Smith [06:36]

  • He discusses little-known loopholes – like using trusts and religious designations to minimize taxes.

• Building Wealth via Policy Structure:

  • Details how agents' incentives can misalign with client interests, emphasizing the importance of understanding fee and commission structures.

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3. Entrepreneurship, Mindset, and Networking

• Veteran to Entrepreneur:

  • Smith shares his journey from Army National Guard to early Covid layoffs, and how he pivoted into sales through TikTok outreach.

• Success & Manifestation:

  • Both Sean and Weston credit expecting success and manifesting opportunities:

    “Luck can actually be made … it increases 15 if you expect it.” – Weston Smith [10:59]
    “Right time, right place, right energy, right people. So everything will happen if you expect it to be.” – Weston Smith [11:48]

• Proximity and Environment:

  • Living in a hub of influential or wealthy individuals multiplies opportunities (“Power comes from proximity.” [10:00])
  • Partnership is essential:

    “Nobody gets anywhere alone.” – Sean Kelly [10:32]

• Active vs. Passive Income:

  • While Smith champions passive cash flow, both agree that active pursuits provide meaning and structure.

• Overcoming Struggle:

  • The hardest milestone was the first $100K:

    “First 100k is always the hardest. It is exactly like they said. The first 100k will be a battle, and then everything after that … it's much easier to compound.” – Weston Smith [26:52]

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4. Tax Systems, Wealth Inequality, and Legal Loopholes

• Tax Avoidance by the Wealthy:

  • Details how strategic use of trusts and business structures allow high-earners and even churches to avoid taxes:

    “Anybody, I don't care if you're making a billion dollars a year, you can pay zero in taxes. … There is a trust in the United States where you can defer taxes indefinitely.” – Weston Smith [20:48]

  • Shines a light on “religious” entities (e.g., Hell's Angels) adopting tax-exempt status.

• Property & Cemetery Loopholes:

  • Discusses obscure tricks (e.g., declaring property a cemetery to avoid taxes) [14:42].

• Concern for Ordinary Americans:

  • Stoic about U.S. wealth inequality and the fact that 70%+ have less than $1,000 in savings [16:49].
  • “Again, in supposedly the richest country in the world.” (16:53)

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5. Controversies: Religion, Society, and the Meaning of Wealth

• On Organized Religion:

  • Views religion as a business, citing his own shunning by a church after a failed business deal:

    “The church is a company and I'll probably never set foot in another church.” – Weston Smith [44:26]

  • Discusses hypocrisy and business interests within non-denominational and Catholic settings.

• Faith, Numerology, and Metaphysics:

  • Describes moving from a strict Catholic upbringing to a broader spiritual understanding that incorporates numerology and manifestation.
  • Shout-out to Gary the Numbers Guy and numerological principles for success and compatibility [51:32–53:05].

• Philosophical Take on The Bible:

  • Questions literal interpretations – such as biblical age restrictions – using historical counter-examples:

    “I know for a fact everything in the Bible is not true … the oldest person in recent history has been 122 years old. … There was a guy who lived to be 256 years old.” – Weston Smith [47:27–48:27]

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6. Practical Money Tactics and Wealth Building Shortcuts

• Credit Card Leverage:
  • Explains leveraging multiple $0 APR cards per LLC to finance investments with “free money”:

    “That's, that's again, companies that I partner with, they offer business and personal 0% interest cards. That is truly free money.” – Weston Smith [42:22]

• Loans Against Assets:
  • Recommends pulling equity from homes or using life insurance as collateral for expansion and investment.
• Alternative Real Estate:
  • Mentions investment opportunities in Bali bungalows and luxury properties drawing high returns [43:37].

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7. Hot Takes and Memorable Moments

• Passive vs. Active Income:

  “Passive income is … taking care of the physical needs. And active takes care of like the mental needs of needing to do something, Needing to feel important in some way.” – Weston Smith [19:07]

• On Mainstream Investing:

  "If you think you're gonna get to something that rarely ever happens, acting like everybody else, it's not going to happen." – Weston Smith quoting Hormozi [28:18]

• Wealth is Common:

  “My whole goal with Fortis is to make wealth common. That's like my motto.” – Weston Smith [08:43]

• On Financial Industry Gatekeepers:

  “If you're just having a CPA that calls you once a year... they're not going to do anything for you.” – Weston Smith [07:30]

• On Financial System Frustrations:

  “The banking industry, financial industry, there's some definitely shiesty things going on.” – Weston Smith [26:45]

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Timestamps for Major Segments

• [00:00–00:39] — How $100k turns into $18 million with 60% returns
• [01:12–03:21] — Weston’s upbringing, military background, family history
• [05:03–06:36] — Life insurance industry, whole vs. term life, industry hacks
• [10:00–11:48] — Power of proximity, creating “luck” through expectation
• [14:42–16:53] — Tax code loopholes, cemetery & religious exemptions, America’s hidden debts
• [18:12–19:31] — Active vs. passive income and the psychological need for contributing
• [22:59–24:46] — Life insurance agent fees, commissions, and transparency for consumers
• [26:52–28:30] — The struggle to $100k, entrepreneurship, resilience, and outlier thinking
• [34:27–35:46] — Gun ownership, open carry laws, and the trouble with extremes
• [37:04–41:14] — Private equity/VC vs. stocks, how high-yield products work, rolling over 401(k)s
• [41:19–43:36] — Using credit, business hacks, leveraging multiple LLCs, shelf corps
• [44:26–50:35] — Critique of organized religion, personal experiences, philosophical doubts
• [51:32–53:05] — Numerology, success rituals, and compatibility

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Notable Quotes

• On Wealth:

  “It can be [common], if we just have the right knowledge.” – Weston Smith [08:43]

• On Tax Loopholes:

  “Anybody, I don't care if you're making a billion dollars a year, you can pay zero in taxes.” – Weston Smith [20:48]

• On Proximity:

  “Power comes from proximity.” – Sean Kelly quoting Bedros Coolian [10:00]

• On Passive Income:

  “I mean, that's where we all want to be... But we still need to feel productive, wanted, needed.” – Weston Smith [18:59]

• On Religious Disillusionment:

  “The church is a company and I'll probably never set foot in another church.” – Weston Smith [44:26]

• On Thinking Independently:

  “You have to look at what the crowd's doing and do the opposite.” – Weston Smith [28:24]

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Conclusion

This episode delivers a wealth of unconventional financial strategies and candid opinions on wealth creation, taxes, and the societal systems that shape them. Weston Smith provides practical, actionable advice for those looking to build wealth outside the mainstream, while challenging listeners to reconsider their beliefs about money, religion, and success.
Connect with Weston:

• IG/TikTok: @alt.investments.by.wes
• Website: fortisbywest.com

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Listen to this if you want:

• Alternative paths to wealth that most financial advisors don’t discuss
• Honest takes on religion, taxes, and the reality of American finance
• Mindset tools that separate the top 1% from the rest

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“My whole goal with Fortis is to make wealth common ... it should be in the land of the free.” – Weston Smith [08:43]

Transcript

[Weston Smith]

Whatever you have in those accounts. Imagine making 60% every single year. Well, it'll take the first year. The next year you're investing 160k, so it's going to be like 200. And. And if you do the math, if you invest 100k after 10 years, you'll have about $18 million.

[Podcast Host]

Dude, off 100.

[Weston Smith]

That, that. Now that doesn't factor in inflation or tax.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[Weston Smith]

If you put it into investment calculator dot com. 100k one time.

[Podcast Host]

You.

[Weston Smith]

No additional contributions every single year. Just have it compound. That's 18 million.

[Podcast Host]

Okay, guys, we got Weston Smith on today. I think he's the first guest from Iowa. We'll have to fact check it, but I think he's either the first or second. So. Thanks for the flight over, man.

[Weston Smith]

Yeah, no, thanks for the invite, man. So happy to be here. I love your show. You had some really, really high caliber people here. I'm just happy to be in the same chair as them.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah, I'll suit it up too. I love the brown.

[Weston Smith]

Yeah, I mean, I mean, this is real. My first real podcast, so. Got to look good.

[Podcast Host]

Let's go, baby. I'm getting married next month and all my best men are wearing brown, so. Oh, yeah, It's a cool color, right?

[Weston Smith]

Yeah, I thought it was kind of different, so.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah, I love it, dude. Well, you've been in Iowa for. For a while and now or.

[Weston Smith]

Yeah, man. So I was born in Nebraska and then actually kind of cool story. Different story. My mom and dad never married, so my dad lived in North Carolina and my mom lived in Nebraska. So every six months I'd actually fly back and forth, forth.

[Podcast Host]

Whoa.

[Weston Smith]

Until about four, I think. And then, yeah, both their families are from Iowa, so they decided, hey, let's just live in Iowa. And. Yeah. Been there since again. Yeah, four or five or so.

[Podcast Host]

And I know you. You were in the military. Was your dad par. Military?

[Weston Smith]

No, I was the first one. Well, actually I wasn't the first one, but I was in the army. My dad was not. I did have a grandpa that fought in the Korean and Vietnam war in the Navy. And then my great grandpa, he was a tanker in World War II and he actually saw Mussolini being hung.

[Podcast Host]

No way.

[Weston Smith]

He has a picture of it. Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

What?

[Weston Smith]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

How'd they take a photo back then?

[Weston Smith]

Oh, they got. They got pictures and cameras. They had like war reporters and stuff back then for sure. But yeah, they have a. He saw literally Mussolini being hung. So I mean, we could probably give that to a museum or something.

[Podcast Host]

Dude, that is nuts.

[Weston Smith]

Right?

[Podcast Host]

Yeah. You should auction that off.

[Weston Smith]

No, that'll stay in the family for sure. But, yeah, I was. I was in the army for eight years.

[Podcast Host]

So your grandfather pushed it, or you kind of made that decision on your own.

[Weston Smith]

So. Yeah, the tanker grandfather, he had passed before I was even born. Yeah. It was just kind of something in me that I always wanted to do. I can't really explain it, you know, I was happy where I grew up here, wanted to do my service, and I would have kept going, but there's so many red. So much red tape and bureaucracy.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah. Politics.

[Weston Smith]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

Man, I can't stand eight years. So that's two terms. Right.

[Weston Smith]

So actually, they keep elongating the term. Right. So World War II, it was like two years.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[Weston Smith]

And then it was four years, and there was six years. And now it's when I was in. It was eight years. So you did six active and two inactive.

[Podcast Host]

Oh, wow. So that's one term.

[Weston Smith]

It's one term.

[Podcast Host]

Holy crap.

[Weston Smith]

So you can. There's always a way out of it. You know, you medically. Discharge, get hurt, whatever. But, yeah, I thankfully was safe through the whole thing. And yeah. So six active. You do your service, do your time, do your thing, and then two inactive. Where, really, they'll only call you if, like, World War three happens.

[Podcast Host]

Got it. And it looks like that might happen.

[Weston Smith]

It might. But you can't call me anymore, man.

[Podcast Host]

You saw that. I don't know if you keep up with it, but Hegseth called, like, a big meeting a couple days ago.

[Weston Smith]

Yeah, I mean, that's kind of concerning. They've been saying that since, like, North Korea first got their missile capability. So if it happens, that would be very, very bad. And we got a lot more things to worry about if that happens. But I think America would be okay.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[Weston Smith]

Just because, I mean, we are the greatest superpower in the world.

[Podcast Host]

How hard was it reintegrating with normal society after those eight years?

[Weston Smith]

So I was in National Guard. So I did. I signed up when I was 17. And then, you know, I went to school. I did. Still went to college, got my degree, living civilian. And then, dude, did the, you know, one week in a month, two weeks this summer type of thing. That's what they tell you. But it's usually like a month out of summer. And then. Yeah, like two to sometimes three weekends a month, depending on what we're doing, what we're training for. So I wasn't active. I was just active. Meaning that I was still going to do those trainings Got it. Okay. Yeah, there's National Guard, there's army Reserve, and then there's active duty army where you go, you go live on the bases. You know, you do that. Wake up 4:38. Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

Okay, so it wasn't a big change for you?

[Weston Smith]

No, yeah, it was like. Yeah, it was not like very hard.

[Podcast Host]

And now I believe you can have companies on the side while you're serving. Right?

[Weston Smith]

Yeah, I mean, I mean they'll pay for your school. They used to be 100%, but again, government making cuts. It's like less and less each year now. So I think I was the last year where they fully paid. State covered, state sponsored school.

[Podcast Host]

Got it. Wow.

[Weston Smith]

So private school then. They Never will pay 100%, but they'll usually cover just tuition, room and board was on me. So, yeah, that was.

[Podcast Host]

So they covered your school. And when did you start your company Foris? Was that after or was it during so fortis?

[Weston Smith]

I started working on it about seven years ago. I didn't really have a direction. I was. Got my life insurance after Covid 2019 happened or 2020 happened. Got my first big boy job. I graduated college in 19. So I was like, all right, the world is my oyster. And then worked for six months, first guy to get cut. So, yeah, after Covid, you know, like, what do I do? So found a guy selling life insurance on TikTok, messaged him and then. Yeah, that started it. And then, then I slowly integrated, you know, venture capital, private equity, colored diamonds, gold, silver. So all these other things.

[Podcast Host]

Interesting. Yeah. The life insurance industry, I've had on a lot of guests in that space.

[Weston Smith]

Yeah, it seems like it. Yeah. So it's really a hack if people don't know about it. So first off, I personally don't like term and I'm gonna say why? Because only 7% actually pay out.

[Podcast Host]

Wow.

[Weston Smith]

So yeah, 93%. All that money just goes right to the company. So if you don't really have, you know, like a dangerous job, a. It'd be hard to cover you anyway. But you don't really need the term. I would always get a whole life as soon as you can, because you're locked in at that price with a good company.

[Podcast Host]

Other companies.

[Weston Smith]

Yeah, other companies, they will continue to charge up. But yeah, I'm a big proponent of whole life and how the tax code is written for life insurance to be like an unknown hack, which nobody reads the tax code. CPAs usually don't even know about this either, dude. Like, yeah, tax attorneys, they're like, no you can't do that. Oh, yeah. Here's a tax code. Oh, yeah. Okay.

[Podcast Host]

Okay. Yeah, yeah. I had an older accountant as my first accountant. He didn't know shit about that stuff.

[Weston Smith]

Yeah, dude, accountants now, like CPAs, accountants, they can. Okay, yeah, they know the normal stuff. Go. If you're a business owner, go buy a car that's £6,000, get that deduction. You know, use the two week Augusta rule, whatever. But it's changing all the time.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[Weston Smith]

There's literally writing like, or adding to it like every week. It seems like you got to be.

[Podcast Host]

Proactive these days if you're in that space.

[Weston Smith]

Yeah. And if you're just having a CPA that, you know, calls you once a year and. Okay, you ready to go? I got all your paperwork ready. And then. Yeah, they're not going to do anything for you. So. Actually, another part that I also work with under Fortis, another company I sell for is an advisory firm, but they work with you all year long, whether personal or business, so they can help you set up a tax plan. Again, personal or business, they can get you those deductions. You got kids, you got business, you got, you know, when a write off part of your house, if you, if you need a plan or if you haven't forgot to file for the past couple years and IRS is coming at you. They'll take care of all of that. So that is a huge, huge, man. I actually got fined for forgetting to file, too, so I know it happens.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah, I did, too.

[Weston Smith]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

No one teaches you this stuff, dude.

[Weston Smith]

Yeah. I hate, I hate the first time.

[Podcast Host]

I had to pay taxes. I was like, what? Baffled by the amount.

[Weston Smith]

Fika, who's fica? Like, yeah, it's ridiculous, but there's. There's ways around it and nobody talks about it.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[Weston Smith]

So, yeah, I went online, started making like tick tock videos probably four years ago. And yeah. Just started giving out all this information for free, so.

[Podcast Host]

Wow.

[Weston Smith]

Yeah. My whole goal with Fortis is to make wealth common. That's like my motto. Because it should be in the land of home. Home of the free, land of the brave. And we're supposed to be the richest country in the world. It sure doesn't feel like it when we walk down the streets, you know, so. But it can be if we just have the right knowledge.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah. So are you seeing a lot of wealth in Iowa? I've never been there.

[Weston Smith]

You know what? Yeah. Outside of Connecticut, Iowa is the number one hub for life insurance.

[Podcast Host]

Wow.

[Weston Smith]

There's 27 firms headquartered in Des Moines, Iowa, or something like that. Yeah. So. And then, of course, the agriculture scene. There's a lot of wealthy farmers out there as well. Iowa does have one billionaire.

[Podcast Host]

Who is it?

[Weston Smith]

Stein? Is his last name Stein? Yeah, he. He. He developed a hybrid seed that's resistant to certain diseases and sold it to Monsanto, I believe, you know, billions of dollars.

[Podcast Host]

So did they actually use it or. That was just like a. Let me buy that off.

[Weston Smith]

No. Yeah. Oh, we got to buy this guy. Yeah. No, I'm pretty sure they still use it because you can drive down the cornfields and you'll see like Steinstein, Steins. Steinseed. Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

That's good to know. Yeah, there's a. I think there's eight or 10 in Vegas. Founder of Panda Express is here.

[Weston Smith]

Oh, nice.

[Podcast Host]

One of the adelsons is here. Yeah. There's some ballers out here.

[Weston Smith]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

Where you live is important.

[Weston Smith]

Absolutely. You. You actually Bedros Coolian said your power is like the proximity. Power comes from proximity. That's why, like, everybody wants to go to Miami, everyone wants to go to la, everybody wants to come to Vegas. There's a reason for that.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah, yeah.

[Weston Smith]

There's a lot of cool things to do, but there's also people that can help you and that you can help get to wherever you want to be.

[Podcast Host]

So fortis is the main focus for you right now?

[Weston Smith]

Yeah, for sure.

[Podcast Host]

Growing that. How many people are part of that?

[Weston Smith]

So it's all me. It's all me. Except I do have a website gu. And then some support, for sure.

[Podcast Host]

Nobody gets anywhere alone because you've done some significant revenue.

[Weston Smith]

Yeah. Thank you, man. Yeah, it's been great. But it's again, proximity is power. Partnering up with the right people at the right time, the right place. I would say it's all luck, but I don't know if I necessarily believe in luck.

[Podcast Host]

I think you could create your own luck.

[Weston Smith]

Absolutely.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah. 100%.

[Weston Smith]

Actually just saw a quantum physicist, a quantum physicist study saying that luck can actually be made.

[Podcast Host]

Really?

[Weston Smith]

Yeah, they said like it increases 15 if you expect it.

[Podcast Host]

Dude, I need to look into that.

[Weston Smith]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

So that's manifestation kind of, right?

[Weston Smith]

Yeah, kinda. I mean, you could say that. Yeah. But it's quantum physics. Quantum science, you know. Wow. And people use that word quantum a lot.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah. Especially these days.

[Weston Smith]

Yeah. And like ant man. Quantumania. Like I think it's kind of a buzzword and a lot of people don't know what it means. All quantum means is just small, like microscopic atomic level. That's what quantum physics is Just a study of just those super small molecules and how they react.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[Weston Smith]

So, yeah, I mean, I wouldn't be where I am without manifestation, without expecting it, because you don't just fall into, you know, one of the world's top podcasts like this, you know.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah, I mean, I. I found you too.

[Weston Smith]

Yeah, yeah.

[Podcast Host]

It wasn't the other way around.

[Weston Smith]

That's right. Yeah. So, yeah. Thank you for saying that again. Right time, right place, right energy, right people. So everything will happen if you expect it to be. It might not always be on your timeline, but it'll happen if you keep going.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah, yeah. I'm big on energy, big on attraction. Growing up, were you big on that sort of stuff? Like the astral stuff?

[Weston Smith]

No, man. So I grew up again, small town, Iowa, Catholic school. Every Friday we had mass before class. Then I go back to mass again every Sunday with my family. No. Yeah. This stuff was witchcraft. You know, anything that's not in that book, not in the Bible, automatically witchcraft, which I don't like. So I'm not an atheist, I'm not agnostic. I definitely believe in God, but I believe religion is so muddled up, muddied. So religare is where the word religion comes from. It's a Latin word. So lagare actually means to tie together, to bring together remains again. So to bring people together. I mean, you could say any cause is a religion then if you go by that definition.

[Podcast Host]

Right.

[Weston Smith]

But yeah, the way the, especially the Catholic Church works now, all these. I think you've had maybe a couple priests or maybe a Sean Ryan show as well.

[Podcast Host]

I've had some pastors.

[Weston Smith]

Yeah. They come on here and then, you know, all the corruption. And then I think you had, you had said to somebody that you try to get pastors on here to like debate things from the Bible and they won't do it.

[Podcast Host]

They won't do it.

[Weston Smith]

It's insane.

[Podcast Host]

Because religions become a business.

[Weston Smith]

Exactly.

[Podcast Host]

And if they were to come and debate, they would lose business.

[Weston Smith]

Yeah. And that's just not the way, again, we've bastardized it and it's. It's terrible. And if they really believed in God, I mean, what are they doing? Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

If they really believed in God, they would do their business without making money.

[Weston Smith]

Yeah. They should be like Mother Teresa, just go around helping poor people. But they're all these private jets. And again, the tax code does help them because every religious entity, all the money they bring in, is completely now tax free.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[Weston Smith]

Which is insane because a lot of these celebrities are investing or Part of some church to have their money be tax free.

[Podcast Host]

Wow. I didn't even.

[Weston Smith]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

Think of that.

[Weston Smith]

So I learned this, actually. The Hell's Angels motorcycle gang.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[Weston Smith]

They're classified as a religious entity.

[Podcast Host]

I actually just found that out recently. Yeah, that's nuts.

[Weston Smith]

That's. Yeah, the. The biker gang is a religious.

[Podcast Host]

So if they rob a place, they don't have to pay taxes on the gains. Yeah, that's insane.

[Weston Smith]

So, yeah, the tax code is, you know, it's like a dollar five foot long, super thick, but. But yeah, if you know at least part of it, you'll be so thankful. You know, that little.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah. There's so many loopholes. Did you hear about the cemetery one?

[Weston Smith]

Yeah. If you, like, bury somebody on your property, it's now a cemetery. You know, pay property tax or something like that.

[Podcast Host]

I would save you a lot of money. I don't know if I'd want their energy lingering around.

[Weston Smith]

Yeah, that's another thing, too. Yeah, there's a. There's. There's a limit that, you know, you can have the $200 in property tax or whatever, so.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah, there's a limit. Like, the people change their whole lives to live in Puerto Rico. What do you think about that?

[Weston Smith]

I think it's. It's easy, like just to physically pick up and move. But if you study trust law, I mean, the United States itself is a trust as well, and every state is also a trust within the United States, if you study trust law at all. Yeah. You should look up how America, Great Britain, and the Vatican are all still tied together.

[Podcast Host]

Really? Wow. And what. What?

[Weston Smith]

I'm not. I'm honestly not like 100 an expert in, but I've heard a lot of podcasts and read a lot of research that America is still indebted to uk.

[Podcast Host]

Wow.

[Weston Smith]

Yeah. From the Revolutionary War.

[Podcast Host]

Holy crap. That was so long ago.

[Weston Smith]

Yeah. So 1776, man, is when we gained our independence. Ever since then, I mean, it kind of even goes back to 13 colonies, us sending, you know, ties and offerings to King George.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[Weston Smith]

It still goes on today. When they don't want you to think.

[Podcast Host]

That that is nuts. I've never heard that. But it. I mean, when you look at our debt numbers, it's. It's concerning. Right.

[Weston Smith]

And part of that is, you know, who are we in debt to? A lot of people ask that question. And a lot of it's, you know. Yeah. China, Russia, we buy a lot of things from them. A lot of it's UK though, too.

[Podcast Host]

Interesting. What do you think of the whole tariff debate, where do you stand on that?

[Weston Smith]

I'm not a political expertise at all. I don't really. I, I can see the math. Yeah. You put certain prices on other companies, that puts pressure on them to come here. Gives more American jobs for sure. I understand that. But it does affect all the mom and pop nine to fivers that are barely scraping by anyway. So I think the new stat is like less than 70 of Americans have a thousand dollars in their bank account.

[Podcast Host]

Holy.

[Weston Smith]

Or can cover an emergency of a thousand dollars.

[Podcast Host]

So. 70.

[Weston Smith]

Yeah, something like 70. 72. Yeah, something like that. Which is absolutely absurd. Again, in supposedly the richest country in the world.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah. That's actually insane. That's borderline communism. Right, right. If you look at it just based off stats.

[Weston Smith]

Yeah, yeah. Which is again, why Fortis is. I want to make wealth common because it can be.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[Weston Smith]

I don't, I don't care how little you have, what your credit score is, it can happen again. If you don't have a lot of cash, if you have terrible credit, it's going to take a little more time. But yeah, people sitting on money from like the equity in their house they don't know how to use. But you can use that to invest with. Or if you want to use the 401k, you can move that anywhere else. Some jobs don't allow it, but if they. What's offer what's called an in service rollover, you can move that to an annuity, you know, and a private placement product. Absolutely.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah. That's. That's interesting. I paid off 30% of my house. I wonder if I should look into that, using the equity.

[Weston Smith]

Oh, bro. Yeah, yeah. It's again, money just sitting there that the bank is using but you're not. So. Yeah, whatever that is. Usually they'll give you a loan up to like 80%.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[Weston Smith]

50 to 80, depending on your credit score and all that. But yeah, you can. That's cash you can use to, I don't know, expand the studio, bring on bigger, bigger guests, whatever. Yeah, absolutely.

[Podcast Host]

I need to look into that. Yeah, that's six figures, you know.

[Weston Smith]

Yeah. Put that to work. Yeah. Again, yes. Any. Anybody that has money just sitting. That's like my prime target. I can go get them massive amounts of passive cash flow for the rest of their life.

[Podcast Host]

So you believe in passive income?

[Weston Smith]

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Podcast Host]

I know. That's a hot take, right?

[Weston Smith]

Yeah. I mean, everybody thinks passive income is just. Oh, made a, made some money today. I'm going to go sit on the beach. And eat some bon bons or whatever, which some people do, but that's going to get boring. So, I mean, I could do that if I wanted to, but I want to come on these shows. I want to give the knowledge because there's still more, more people that need help.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[Weston Smith]

So, yeah, passive income is. I mean, that's where we all want to be. You know, guys like Ed Mylett, you know, Bedros Coolian, Robert Herjavec, they don't have to work anymore. They work because they want to.

[Podcast Host]

They.

[Weston Smith]

We still need to feel productive. Wanted. Needed, absolutely.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah. Active income is, is what gives you, I think, purpose. Right?

[Weston Smith]

I would say, yeah. Passive is more taking care of what? Of the physical needs. And active takes care of like the mental needs of needing to do something, Needing to feel important in some way.

[Podcast Host]

Agreed.

[Weston Smith]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah. Active income makes me feel like I have meaning in life.

[Weston Smith]

Exactly.

[Podcast Host]

I'm actively working towards something.

[Weston Smith]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

Passive income's like, it's great, it's great.

[Weston Smith]

Let's go do something. Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah. Like, I couldn't just live off passive.

[Weston Smith]

No. It'd be really boring.

[Podcast Host]

It'd be terrible.

[Weston Smith]

Yeah. Even if you, you know, travel around the world, you can only go to Bali so many times. You can only go to Thailand so many times. So, you know, you still need something to do. That's why all these like lottery winners and athletes go broke because they expect the money. But it's now, now it's not there.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[Weston Smith]

You know, and you know, I've been blessed to be able to help some NBA athletes, pro bowlers. Yeah. Shout out to Chris White, Miami. I mean, he's a master networker. Again, power is in the proximity.

[Podcast Host]

So these, yeah, these guys need good people around him. I just saw a clip of Kyrie Irving talking about how much he's paid in taxes. But if he knew the right people, he probably could have saved tens of millions.

[Weston Smith]

Oh yeah, we, we can get people to pay zero. Even athletes, anybody.

[Podcast Host]

Because their income is personal. Right.

[Weston Smith]

I think it's still considered personal while they're playing. Yeah. But I don't think sponsorships is taxed the same.

[Podcast Host]

Got it?

[Weston Smith]

Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's the way it works.

[Podcast Host]

So sponsorships, there's some write offs and workarounds.

[Weston Smith]

Yeah, yeah. But yeah, anybody, I don't care if you're making a billion dollars a year, you can pay zero in taxes. There's certain. Again, if you study trust law, there is a trust in the United States where you can defer taxes indefinitely.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[Weston Smith]

You will Never pay taxes again.

[Podcast Host]

Look at Trump, look at Bezos. They pay nothing, I don't think. I don't know. The last time they paid a single dollar in tax.

[Weston Smith]

They. They do things a little more difficult. You know, they set up like the. I think Amazon especially, they set up like a shell corp that owns a company that owns a company that owns a company. And you can do that. There's. There's a million ways to do something, right? Yeah. For the simplest way, just open up one of these trusts and you will pay $0 in tax for the rest of your life.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah, Trust was a great move for me because it's also the privacy thing, too.

[Weston Smith]

Yeah, that. Yeah, exactly. Right. So all my businesses are registered in Wyoming for privacy, low tax and very low filing fees.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah. The car. To the car you got a car in. What is it Wyoming or is it. I forget what state.

[Weston Smith]

People register cars in South Dakota and Montana.

[Podcast Host]

Montana, yeah. They do no tax, right?

[Weston Smith]

Yeah. It's either low or like $10, something like that. Yeah, yeah, very low there. And some people make an LLC just to buy a car. And that's the only asset in that state for sure. Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

And then are you taking loans out against all your assets? You can.

[Weston Smith]

Yeah. Again, another way you live off. For sure. I don't really do the stocks and bonds things, so I don't take them out that way. I do the life insurance way. Yeah, I'm a life insurance broker. So by trade, anyway, again, it's expanded into all these other realms. But yeah, you can absolutely do it if it's set up the correct way. You know, infinite banking, it's such a hot term right now, and a lot of people don't know what that means, and it's a little misconstrued. So you don't become your own bank a if you don't have any money. So if you're trying to get one of these policies, they are a little bit pricey to set up and you do have to be healthy because it is life insurance first. So if you find an agent that sets it up the right way, they should make not a lot of money. If they set it up the wrong way and have you pay a lot in fees, they make a lot of money. And I know you've had some guests say that, too. So again, go through your policy. If the death benefit is more than what you really need, the higher the death benefit, the higher the commission for the agent. That's a simple rule of thumb anybody can remember, again, for whole life, for term it's totally different.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah, that is good to know when you're establishing these policies because people don't ask these questions of, of like, yo, how much are you making off this?

[Weston Smith]

Right. Yeah, they shouldn't and, or they, they should, but yeah, they don't because maybe they don't know them that well or they don't want, you know, they want to ask about money because it's taboo.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[Weston Smith]

But yeah, I mean, some agents, you can make $30,000 off one policy.

[Podcast Host]

Holy shit.

[Weston Smith]

Yeah. Is that a year from one policy? Oh, so yeah, you do get some residual income, but that's paid every month when they pay their policy.

[Podcast Host]

That's nuts.

[Weston Smith]

It's not going to equal 30,000. But again, depends on the company. Depends on how much your, your pay is because in life insurance industry you can get paid up to like 200% of what someone pays in a year.

[Podcast Host]

Holy crap.

[Weston Smith]

Yeah, so you're paid as an advance life insurance world. So based on your annual premium, let's say annual premium is 300k. That, that's what your customers pay in a year. All your customers together, they pay 300K. You can make 600K that year if you, you're at the 200%. Now, not a lot of people are. Most people are at start at the 20 to 30% and some people. There's a difference between captive agents and non captive agents. So I'm non captive. I can go to any life insurance company in the world and say, hey, I want to sell this product. Pay me this much essentially. But like State Farm, they're terrible to work with. They, they pay a small salary and then I think like 15 to 20% AP. So again, yeah, anybody looking to do life insurance, go to Fortis F O R T I S by west dot com. You can message me, email me and I will walk you through step by step. Good companies, bad companies, how to get your license. Another thing is you can't have any felonies because it is in the financial world you got to be 18. But yeah, they're just like anything, it's good and bad companies.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah, sorry, Jake from State Farm.

[Weston Smith]

Yeah, you got to go, buddy.

[Podcast Host]

You got to go. Good ads, good, good marketing.

[Weston Smith]

They are good at marketing. But I've helped clients roll over things from like estate, farm, annuity and they are the worst people to work with.

[Podcast Host]

Oh really?

[Weston Smith]

It should, because it's your money. You know, like the JG Wentworth commercials. It's your money, use it when you need it. But you should be able to go get whatever money you have with them and take it relatively easily. They. It took six months for them to give them their money back. They requested.

[Podcast Host]

Holy shit.

[Weston Smith]

Yeah. And if you go look up, you know, State Farm has a ton of lawsuits on them right now because of things like that.

[Podcast Host]

Dude, that sounds like PayPal.

[Weston Smith]

What's going on?

[Podcast Host]

You ever deal with PayPal getting your accounts frozen?

[Weston Smith]

No, I don't have any PayPal.

[Podcast Host]

Oh, you don't? You're lucky, man. A lot of people I know that use PayPal. They'll lock your funds for six months and then give it back. But who knows what they're doing in those six months? They're probably investing it.

[Weston Smith]

Really? Yeah. That's crazy.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[Weston Smith]

Ever happened to you?

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[Weston Smith]

Really?

[Podcast Host]

Sometimes years.

[Weston Smith]

Really?

[Podcast Host]

Yeah. PayPal, they call it a reserve because your account's too risky or something. Of course, you know, but even banks like you walk in and try to take out 100k, good luck.

[Weston Smith]

Yeah. In cash. Yeah, absolutely.

[Podcast Host]

Good luck with that.

[Weston Smith]

I tried to do that. And they say, oh, we don't have that. I'm like, this is from Chase. You're supposed to be one of the biggest banks in the world.

[Podcast Host]

Probably call the police on you. Yeah.

[Weston Smith]

They said they have to order it, and then it'll be like two weeks. I'm like, it's right there for a hunter car. Yeah. Well, again, this is Iowa, so they probably. Yeah, this isn't like Dallas or Vegas where, you know, people blow money like that. But, yeah, they said two weeks. I'm like, it's. It's right. It's right here on my account. You don't have this in this location right now? They say no. And even 10k is a toothpull from them.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[Weston Smith]

Like, oh, can we give you some of these bills and some of these bills and so it can equal 10k. I'm like, just give me the hundreds. Wrap the thing around it so I know how much, and just give it to me. It's my money. So, yeah, the banking industry, financial industry, there's some definitely shiesty things going on.

[Podcast Host]

100%. What was the hardest financial status for you? Was it the first one? Okay, Was it the first million? Like, first 10k?

[Weston Smith]

First 100k is always the hardest. It is exactly like they said. The first 100k will be a battle, and then everything after that, it's like the avalanche, snowball effect. You know, it's much easier to compound. Grow faster and faster and faster. Yeah, I agree.

[Podcast Host]

I think the first 100 took me a couple Years. Yeah, yeah. To hit as an entrepreneur because the average entrepreneur only makes what, 40k a year?

[Weston Smith]

Yeah. I mean, and then on top of that they got to play pay self employment tax, which again is ridiculous. Being penalized to work for ourselves. But whatever. There's ways around that too. But yeah, 40k a year and then that's below the national average salary at like 65K.

[Podcast Host]

So you're working double the hours too.

[Weston Smith]

Double the hours, twice the risk. Yeah. But again, it can pay off if you expect it. And just keep believing on yourself. You will get to wherever you need to go.

[Podcast Host]

You need a lot of resiliency to make it as an entrepreneur.

[Weston Smith]

Yes, yes.

[Podcast Host]

You gotta have the capability to play the long game too, which a lot of people aren't there. Like you said, they can't even afford $1,000 expense.

[Weston Smith]

Yeah. So Alex Hormozi said that the top 1% make 600k a year. So if you want to make a million dollars a year, a, that's about 1 in a 300% chance across the world, let alone just America, but 1 or 300% chance. So if you think you're gonna get to something that rarely ever happens, acting like everybody else, it's not going to happen.

[Podcast Host]

I love that.

[Weston Smith]

Yeah. Again, that's Alex, that's not me.

[Podcast Host]

No, I mean numbers don't lie, right?

[Weston Smith]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

You got to look at these numbers and be real with yourself.

[Weston Smith]

And you have to look at what the crowd's doing and do the opposite.

[Podcast Host]

100.

[Weston Smith]

That's probably the biggest piece of advice I've ever received.

[Podcast Host]

That's why on YouTube I only listen to people for the most part that do better than me.

[Weston Smith]

Yeah. Yeah. Because nobody's ever going to criticize you that's doing better. They'll coach you, but nobody's ever going to come after you.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah. Hormozi's been great though. I watch his stuff. Layla stuff. There's a couple upcoming guys got to watch. Guys that are doing five to time 10 times better than you.

[Weston Smith]

Yes, yes, 100%.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah. His launch was nuts, dude. Yeah. 105 million in a day, dude. Shout out to him, man.

[Weston Smith]

Yeah, shout out Alex, for sure.

[Podcast Host]

Putting Vegas on the map.

[Weston Smith]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

You ever go to one of his workshops?

[Weston Smith]

No, not Alex's. I have not.

[Podcast Host]

Oh yeah. This is your first time in Vegas? Yeah, yeah. He has one every week out here.

[Weston Smith]

Every week.

[Podcast Host]

Oh really?

[Weston Smith]

I didn't know they were so common.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah, really? That's nuts, dude. Good business model. So you said no stocks earlier. What about crypto you own any crypto?

[Weston Smith]

I do have some. Just because, you know, I got a little money. So I'm like, ah, what the heck? You know, I don't really understand the technology. I understand it's super anonymous, which a lot of people don't like and government doesn't like, so they're making their own fed coin or something coming out. But again, yeah, I don't, I don't like it.

[Podcast Host]

You don't like it?

[Weston Smith]

No, I, I don't like it. I don't. I think the technology can be used for a lot of other things, like buying a car or a house. Oh. This person had it from here to here, and they did this to it or whatever. Carfax kind of does that or whatever. Or even firearms. That'd be really good for help. Keep. Crack down on firearms a little bit. And I'm a huge gun guy again. I was in the army for eight years. I love guns. But I do think there needs to be a little bit tighter control or back at least checking who can get it.

[Podcast Host]

Interesting.

[Weston Smith]

Yeah, I, I, I personally think so. I mean, I have a lot of other fun things outside of just guns, too.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[Weston Smith]

Like, I got a flamethrower.

[Podcast Host]

Oh, yeah, that's the one from Elon.

[Weston Smith]

No, so the boring company. No, so this, that's more of a blowtorch. It doesn't really shoot out flames.

[Podcast Host]

Okay.

[Weston Smith]

This one, like, propels it out with an electric motor.

[Podcast Host]

Jeez. How many meters is it?

[Weston Smith]

I think without wind, it'll go up to, like, 15 meters.

[Podcast Host]

Holy crap. That's this whole table?

[Weston Smith]

Yeah, it goes out pretty far and it's. It puts out heat, Man. I have some great video. As every Fourth of July, our family has this big party at the lake house. So I bring that and, like, shoot it over the lake at night. I'll use it to melt ice during summer or winter, you know, since I'm in Iowa. Absolutely. Yeah. Clear.

[Podcast Host]

Clear driveway with that.

[Weston Smith]

Yeah, exactly. Right. Yeah. So it's. It's advertised to be, like, for pests, like, to shoot, like, hornets nests and stuff.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[Weston Smith]

But, I mean, anybody can take that and go do something really nasty with it too.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah, for sure. Wow. You can legally own that? Just. Did they check your ID or what?

[Weston Smith]

I just ordered it online. What's my door?

[Podcast Host]

Yeah. You ordered it online?

[Weston Smith]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

Dude, that's crazy.

[Weston Smith]

I don't think you can in California, but everywhere else. Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

What can you do in California? I mean.

[Weston Smith]

Yeah, breathe.

[Podcast Host]

They actually don't let you own a gun in California. Ironically, yeah.

[Weston Smith]

And if you want to, it's like a ton of classes, ton of background checks, and you don't even. You can't even hold that. That much bullets.

[Podcast Host]

So that's why I wonder what the actual solution is. You make it harder or should you make it easier?

[Weston Smith]

You know, they. Well, I saw a study that in Texas, Wyoming, Montana, they have the least amount of murders because they had the most open carry people.

[Podcast Host]

Okay, so open carry kind of intimidates people, maybe.

[Weston Smith]

Yeah, it could. Yeah. I mean, you see a guy packing, you know, 357, Dirty Harry on the hip, you're. You'll think twice before you try to mug him.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah. So maybe open carry, but more vetting on who can do it.

[Weston Smith]

Yeah. And Iowa just got rid of concealed carry license, so you can open carry or carry anywhere except, like, bars, government buildings, hospitals, things like that. Yeah. And then if a business has, like, the no gun sign, and if you bring it in, they can ask you to leave. And if you don't, then you'll just get a trespassing charge.

[Podcast Host]

I like that. Yeah. Because when people say to ban guns.

[Weston Smith]

I mean, I don't think that's.

[Podcast Host]

It would not work.

[Weston Smith]

That's an extreme.

[Podcast Host]

Look at the war on drugs, and when they banned drugs, it made it worse.

[Weston Smith]

Yeah. Yeah, exactly. So, yeah, I think any extreme is never a good thing, whether it be political, religious, like. It's because there's always a spectrum to everything.

[Podcast Host]

Did the Charlie Kirk stuff mess you up?

[Weston Smith]

I wouldn't say it messed me up. I think it's really sad. You know, he was a super young guy, like, 30, 32 or something like that.

[Podcast Host]

31.

[Weston Smith]

31. Yeah. Leaving behind kids, wife, and he got shot. We. I don't think they really know the political affiliation of the person, but just because someone disagreed with them, I don't think that's okay. Yeah, that's. Again, we need to decide and keep track of who can even have one.

[Podcast Host]

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[Weston Smith]

And I know, you know you can always steal a gun, but I don't know, I don't really know what the answer is. Man. I don't think banning them is the right answer though. I don't think so either because I mean guns are just so ingrained in American history. That's how we got our freedom from, you know, uk. So yeah, I don't think it's the right answer.

[Podcast Host]

You invest in any gun companies?

[Weston Smith]

I don't. I should though. I, I again I don't really do much in the stocks, stocks world.

[Podcast Host]

So I just saw Iron man last night. They were. Did you watch that movie Iron Man? Yeah, of course. Yeah. The first one. Oh, 2008. And how he used to own the gun company Stark Industries. Stark Industries, baby. Yeah.

[Weston Smith]

And then he had the realization when the bomb like landed right next to him and he said never again.

[Podcast Host]

Morals over money, right? Yeah, yeah. I, I'm kind of in that stage of my career to conscious capitalism. Not all money is good money.

[Weston Smith]

Yes. That's something a lot of people don't understand. Again, when you don't have a thousand to cover an emergency, you act out of desperation rather than forethought thinking like how does this affect someone or me? So yeah, I mean people invest in these huge businesses in the stock market because they're told to, but those big businesses usually aren't doing great things either.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah, yeah. I think. What percentage of people lose money on stocks? It's really high.

[Weston Smith]

Oh yeah. Especially if you're trying to day trade.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah. Like I think it's in the 90s.

[Weston Smith]

Yeah. It's very rare to find a successful day trader.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah. Because those firms just have all these algorithms and stuff. They'll wreck you. Right. If you're not playing the long game, you're screwed.

[Weston Smith]

Yeah. If you're like J.P. morgan, Goldman Sachs, you know, they have the best tech, the best computers, the best analytics and analytics. They're going to beat you 10 times.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah. Plus by the time they're on the stock market, they're already overvalued Yep. Right. You're not getting a good deal.

[Weston Smith]

The only way I would invest in the stock market is an IPO if I can get it in.

[Podcast Host]

Before you do any private equity and VC stuff.

[Weston Smith]

Yeah, so I do work, I market for a couple other private venture, I'm sorry, private equity and venture capital firms for sure. They, they do things a little bit differently. So most VCs, you go Google venture capital right now, they buy a company, gut it and then sell it for parts. Basically this company does the opposite. They buy it, scale it and then they'll sell it to somebody else for 10 to 20x their money. And they only buy established running companies than like startups, nothing tech, nothing hot, you know, straight out Silicon Valley. If you're making money, they'll consider buying it. You know, they'll, they'll buy your podcast if you're making money with it. And then through that predictive business that again, because they, nothing new, nothing startups, they go through the cash flow, they say, hey, we can make this much from this company. Okay. We buy it, they can pay predictable income back to investors. So I mean I can get people anywhere upwards of like 5% a month or like 60% per year on average.

[Podcast Host]

Holy crap. And that's 5% a month.

[Weston Smith]

That's not gonna, you're not gonna find a stock that's like that.

[Podcast Host]

Dude, people aim for 5% a year.

[Weston Smith]

Yeah. Again, brainwashing. So if you think outside the box, there's ways to make money that you don't know about. Nobody does the research. They just invest in their company's 401k and listen to the HR person that has no financial experience. Oh yeah. Hey, invest in that, let it grow. Yeah, it's not bad, but you might make some money. But inflation is going to wear that way faster before you can retire. And again, it is still at risk.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah. When you factor in inflation, you're actually losing money a lot of the times.

[Weston Smith]

Yeah, the silent tax. Yeah, yeah. It's always going to be there. Can't do anything about that. I mean they can, they don't just don't choose not to, I think.

[Podcast Host]

But I think the value of the dollar over 100 year period has gone down 97% or something like that, which.

[Weston Smith]

Is mind boggling insane. Right? Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

So our grandkids will have to make $100 million to be a millionaire.

[Weston Smith]

Yeah. At this current, at this current rate. Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

That's nuts.

[Weston Smith]

Yeah, I mean that's like being a.

[Podcast Host]

Millionaire now is just like, I mean.

[Weston Smith]

It'S Still a great thing. Yeah. It's rare, but it's still not like what people think.

[Podcast Host]

No. It's not. Like when I was a kid, I was like, I want to be a millionaire.

[Weston Smith]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

You know, I'll be set for life. I could be a millionaire.

[Weston Smith]

Yeah. Right. I'll never have to work again.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[Weston Smith]

Yeah. But it's just not the way it is.

[Podcast Host]

No.

[Weston Smith]

Not like it's everything you see on Tick Tock. Everything you see on Instagram, it's not the way it is.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[Weston Smith]

Dude.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah. Raising a family with a million, it's not enough anymore.

[Weston Smith]

Yeah. I just saw like there's no state where a 40 hour work week will pay enough for two thousand dollar rent or something like that.

[Podcast Host]

Wow.

[Weston Smith]

Yeah. And that's nuts. Yeah. It.

[Podcast Host]

And we can't make enough houses, so it's only going to get worse, it looks like.

[Weston Smith]

Yeah. And then probably all the, the big private equity, they're buying up all the houses. That's what, I don't like that.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah, that's, that's not fair.

[Weston Smith]

Right. That's malicious. That's not, that's not providing the opportunity we're all promised with the American dream.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah. They're controlling whole city markets.

[Weston Smith]

They, yeah, they, they can influence any time a company can influence parts of government. That's not okay by me. So I don't work with those type of firms. I don't work for Black Rock. I don't work for, for Blackstone. And yeah, it's, it's just not.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah. When you get to that level, it must be way harder to make the same gains because you're, you're a, your assets are so high, right?

[Weston Smith]

Yeah, I mean, I think they're. When people ask me, you know, when is enough going to be enough for you? I think my answer should be way different than Black Rocks because they're going to like own half the world or the world. You know, we need, we need Elon to get on us, get us on Mars like asap. We need a. Yeah. Something else. We need to escape from this, man.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah. For me, I think I calculated it. 20 to 30 million liquid. I'll be chilling there.

[Weston Smith]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

Because I could live off the passive income for the rest of my life.

[Weston Smith]

Yeah. I mean even on 20, 30 million, you can put that in just to a CD.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[Weston Smith]

Or high yield savings.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah. I think I calculated like 7% interest. Nothing compared to yours. But yeah, man, you're. You're doing some crazy numbers. That's impressive.

[Weston Smith]

Yeah. Well, thanks, man.

[Podcast Host]

Has that been pretty Consistent or is that a one time thing?

[Weston Smith]

So yeah, it's consistent. It's never going to go up, never go down. You sign a contract, you know, full disclosures. You keep a copy, they keep a copy.

[Podcast Host]

Wow.

[Weston Smith]

Yeah. And you get paid once a month. So have about.

[Podcast Host]

And that's the life insurance stuff or.

[Weston Smith]

No, that's. Those are for venture. Venture capital class.

[Podcast Host]

Oh, got it.

[Weston Smith]

Yeah. And then if they, once they get a little bit more money again, taxes are going to come. Now we can put them in the advisory side and have them pay no taxes or they get enough money now they can get a really good life insurance policy. Now they can, you know, it's again the snowball avalanche effect. You start them off. I like to start them off in that because it doesn't require to be an accredited investor. So almost 90% of the people I talk to, they're like 60%. Oh, no way. It's a scam. That's the big thing. I mean, right? You know, let's face the facts here. I thought the same thing too when I first heard about it. But here's the thing. You don't know what you don't know. So to come in and tell me something's a scam. Without any evidence, primary resources, anything like that, you just kind of sound like an idiot.

[Podcast Host]

So my thing is like, don't knock it till you try it. So like start small when you're skeptical and work your way up.

[Weston Smith]

Yeah, I mean nobody says you got to go balls deep and do $1,000,000 right away. Start with 10K or whatever. And again, that firm is really good to work with because they can roll over 401k, they can roll over IRAs. So whatever you have in those accounts, imagine making 60% every single year.

[Podcast Host]

Compound odds, dude. So even like 100k, that's 60k a year, that could cover your rent.

[Weston Smith]

Well, it'll take the first year. The next year you're investing 160k, so it's going to be like 230k.

[Podcast Host]

Holy crap.

[Weston Smith]

You know, and if you do the math, if you invest 100k after 10 years, you'll have about $18 million.

[Podcast Host]

What? Dude, off a hunter guy, that, that.

[Weston Smith]

No, that doesn't factor in inflation or taxes. But yeah, if you put it into investment calculator.com, 100k one time, no additional contributions every single year. Just have it compound.

[Podcast Host]

You got my brain rolling. Because there's zero percent credit cards.

[Weston Smith]

Exactly.

[Podcast Host]

So you could get real fancy with this.

[Weston Smith]

So that's, that's again Companies that I partner with, they offer business and personal 0% interest cards. That is truly free money.

[Podcast Host]

You could get 100, 200K.

[Weston Smith]

Yeah. And. Or more if you can show like profit from a business. Half a million plus. So. Absolutely. I highly, highly am an advocate for good debt. Robert Kiyosaki is a genius.

[Podcast Host]

That's how I kept the pot afloat with those cards.

[Weston Smith]

Really?

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[Weston Smith]

When?

[Podcast Host]

The first year. It was tough.

[Weston Smith]

Yeah. Just like. Absolutely. As any business venture is going to be, you got to find a way. So congratulations.

[Podcast Host]

That's.

[Weston Smith]

I didn't know that.

[Podcast Host]

That's awesome. No, it's a hack though, because you could do it for each LLC.

[Weston Smith]

Exactly.

[Podcast Host]

You could start a new LLC tomorrow, get 50 to 100k.

[Weston Smith]

Yeah, that it. And that. It's. It's better if you can buy a shelf cork, you know, and get that aged.

[Podcast Host]

Business age helps a lot.

[Weston Smith]

Yeah. They'll give you, you know, 300, 500K. Damn. But yeah, for sure. Again. And it's all 0% interest credit cards, so you don't have to pay anything back except 1% of the balance every month. So 100k, you pay back a thousand. A thousand bucks a month. But you're making 5k a month if you invested that into like, say the 60%.

[Podcast Host]

Yes. You got a money, money machine. Money printer.

[Weston Smith]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

It's like a money glitch.

[Weston Smith]

Yeah. Really. Credit, taxes, life insurance and the right venture capital. VC companies. Yes. And again, I work with, just onboarded a new company where you can invest in Bali Bungalows. They're developing bungalows in Bali. Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

Staying out of bungalow in Maldives for my honeymoon.

[Weston Smith]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah. It wasn't cheap.

[Weston Smith]

Yeah, no, absolutely not.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah. That's a good investment.

[Weston Smith]

Yeah. You probably should have just bought it.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah, if I bought it would have been cheaper. It was like 5k a night or something.

[Weston Smith]

Yeah, yeah. Those are not cheap places. Yeah. But I'm all about hacking because there's always, always another way. There's always another way. If you don't see a way, there's a way.

[Podcast Host]

Love them. And anything else you want to close off with here.

[Weston Smith]

Oh, man.

[Podcast Host]

Your controversial opinions, we kind of got through that, right?

[Weston Smith]

Yeah. Controversial opinions. The church is a company and I'll probably never set foot in another church.

[Podcast Host]

Wow, you're that affected by it?

[Weston Smith]

Well, see, here's the thing. So long story short, I was going to a church where I'm, you know, in Iowa and business deal went sour with a guy. Nothing that I could control. Nothing at all. But you know, he did Lose some money. And the pastors found out about it and, and you know, I got a call from one saying, hey, you going to come into men's group on Thursday? And I'm like, yeah. And he said, maybe you don't come in this week. Which is an odd thing to hear from a pastor from a church who's a non denominational, so they should be accepting everybody. And, you know, I said, what. What's going on? So then I called him and I said, you know, dude, what's going on here? And he said, oh, you know, I heard about, you know, so. And so he lost some money with you, and I just didn't want it to be awkward and yada yada. And I said, first off, you don't know anything about the situation because that was over a year ago and I've been talking to him every day since then. Secondly, you're choosing to not allow me to come to church for your comfort, so you don't think it's awkward. Is that right? He said, yeah, you know, I just, you know, I want church to be good, you know, everyone be happy. And I'm like, that's. Church is not a place for happy people. You go there. Supposed to go there if you're broken, if you need something, right. And then if you're happy, great, you can stay. But after that, that. That really affected me growing up in church.

[Podcast Host]

Oh, so it was the same church you went to your whole life?

[Weston Smith]

No. So it's one down. Not where I'm from.

[Podcast Host]

Oh, okay.

[Weston Smith]

I moved down to the capital. It's in Des Moines. So, yeah, that affected me because I grew up in the church. You know, grandma's super religious and all that. So yeah, that affected me very deeply that I heard from a pastor, you can't come to church anymore. So I said, okay. So then I just swore off that church. Probably going to swore off every other church because. And again, it's non denominational, so it's not like the Catholic conspiracies and all the things you hear about, but it's a small church. That said you can't come because this deal went sour. And I don't want it to be awkward. I don't want to be awkward there. I said, okay.

[Podcast Host]

Wow, that's nuts. Did he ever hit you up again after that? Nope, neither of them.

[Weston Smith]

But I still see him at the gym. You want to ask me if he talks to me?

[Podcast Host]

Does he talk to you?

[Weston Smith]

He doesn't talk to me.

[Podcast Host]

He's probably ashamed.

[Weston Smith]

He's probably, yeah. He looks down, looks away. He should be. He's. He took. I think pastors take an oath of some kind. They definitely go to seminary school to be accepting, to be think, you know, welcoming in people. And I. And another controversial fact. I know for a fact everything in the Bible is not true.

[Podcast Host]

How so?

[Weston Smith]

Again, not an atheist, not an agnostic. I definitely believe in a God. But the Bible says, for instance, you know, I forget the, the timeline here, but I think after Noah, Noah's ark situation, God said, okay, nobody can be live over 120 years old anymore because Moses, Noah, they were like 4 to 800 years old or something like that. But the, a. The oldest person in recent history has been 122 years old. Okay, so that's wrong. If you go back even farther, Joe Dispenza, his book Becoming Supernatural. Have you ever read a great book? Yeah. So in the foreword he actually talks about a guy who lived to be 256 years old.

[Podcast Host]

What?

[Weston Smith]

Lee Li Qing Yuen. I hope I'm pronouncing that right, but Li Qingyuan, he was an herbalist and martial artist and Szechuan region of China. He was born in 1677, died in 1933.

[Podcast Host]

Holy crap.

[Weston Smith]

And they found this to be true from the Institute of Noetic Sciences. So they went through about 3, 500 resources brought in by 80 different articles that was translated in 20 different languages. The Bible said we're not supposed to be over 120. How is this guy 120 or 256 years old? And every now and then, like I think in Japan, like they have a ton of people really close to the 120 age mark. And I'm like, where is that?

[Podcast Host]

Don't see that covered.

[Weston Smith]

Exactly. And then also the Bible talks about another God called L that is above the Christian God. I don't know the exact scripture. I can't pronounce it, can't, can't recite it. Sorry. But if you go look it up, El, He's a God that is supposedly above the Christian God. So are we supposed to pray to this God, that God. And then the more again, since I've been away, you know, if you can zoom out a little bit, it's really based on fear. And you know, Christian God's supposed to be all about love. So if, if you do, if you do things wrong, if you're, you don't do things the right way, you will go to hell and burn in fire for the rest of eternity. That sounds scary, but I thought you loved me, you know?

[Podcast Host]

Yeah. I had a lot of fear when I went to church as a kid of, like doing the wrong things and sinning.

[Weston Smith]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

And like being ashamed.

[Weston Smith]

Yeah. Yeah. And again, that's kind of how all these Catholic. Because confession is kind of a Catholic thing that you're supposed to go tell your sins to the priest. But God also says never confess your sins to another man or you don't have to. You know, if you. If you are truly sorry, I will throw the sins as far as east is from the west and forget about them. So why am I going to this 80 year old pervert in the freaking confessional. He's telling me to go say eight Hail Marys for penance and I'm suddenly forgiven. No.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah, I don't know about that either.

[Weston Smith]

No, no.

[Podcast Host]

When did you start looking into numerology? I know. Gary, the numbers guy is someone you've consumed content of, right?

[Weston Smith]

Yeah. So, I mean, even throughout all the Bible, numerology is everywhere. You know, Jesus died at 33. We have 33 vertebrae, and a lot of people assimilate our third of three vertebrae to be Jacob's Ladder. And our mind is consciousness. Our mind is the creator. Right. I don't know. I'm not an expert on that, but that's what I've heard and it makes sense. You know, a lot of things make sense. Yeah. GG33, Gary, he's awesome. He. He's all about the. The Chinese new, you know, lunar new year calendar. I found that to be pretty true too. You know, with my. With my girlfriend and I were the most compatible on the map and everything's been great. Oh, nice. For about almost three years now. So that. And then. Yeah, just the history of it. Because the Chinese culture is one of the oldest that's still in existence.

[Podcast Host]

Right.

[Weston Smith]

You know, they know something we don't, so let's learn from them. And he has. And, you know, he kind of made numerology mainstream, that I would say, for sure. And I think he has like his own community now, his own app. You know, you can go learn it, take it. But yeah, you know, it's the number of money. You know, I always do. I always pay bills on eight days. I always shave and cut my hair on eight days to embed that. Money, energy. It's been working out pretty good.

[Podcast Host]

Let's go. Yeah, I ran. I ran my wedding date by him. Really? I ran my address by him. His app's pretty solid too. Yeah, I use it.

[Weston Smith]

Yeah. Yeah. Thinking about getting Onto that as well.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah. It shows you who you're compatible with.

[Weston Smith]

It's.

[Podcast Host]

It's pretty interesting, man.

[Weston Smith]

Yeah, I think it does. Like, does it also recommend, like kids names and stuff too, or.

[Podcast Host]

It might. I know it recommends brands to wear.

[Weston Smith]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

Like, what's your year, for example, what's your.

[Weston Smith]

So I'm a 96. Rat.

[Podcast Host]

So you're a rat. So he would tell you to wear companies that were founded in a rat year, right?

[Weston Smith]

Yeah. And I was looking that up, like, even states, cities, you know, when he moved down to Florida, that was his same year. So he just blew up when he moved to Florida. You know, if it happened once, you could say it's a coincidence. But it happened with all of his clients, all of his students, whatever, you know, it's not a coincidence. There's something.

[Podcast Host]

He's got hundreds, maybe thousands of students now. Yeah, I've met a lot of them, too.

[Weston Smith]

Yeah. And again, I do think the world operates in numbers because that's the universal language.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[Weston Smith]

And again, God knew that when he created the world. Again, I do believe in a God, just not the way we're taught. There's definitely something out there. There's no way this came from a little bang.

[Podcast Host]

Not the white guy in the sky.

[Weston Smith]

No, it's not that. It's not that. It's not that. So, yeah, man, he GG33's been really instrumental for me, my. I would say my success by implementing those principles. And I only found about him, you know, for mentors. So get a mentor, find a mentor. If you don't have one, get one 100%. They will remove the minds out of your path, for sure.

[Podcast Host]

Anything else, man? Also, thank you for the diamond.

[Weston Smith]

Oh, yeah.

[Podcast Host]

Very cool gift.

[Weston Smith]

Yeah, for sure.

[Podcast Host]

Thank you.

[Weston Smith]

Yeah, no problem. Yeah. Congrats on the engagement. Yeah. Long happy.

[Podcast Host]

Hope to see you next.

[Weston Smith]

Yeah, absolutely.

[Podcast Host]

Coming up, huh?

[Weston Smith]

Yeah. Yes. Yes. Three years is coming up and. Yeah, so we'll see what happens, man. Absolutely. Yeah. No, no worries. I thought, you know, I love giving gifts. It's definitely one of my love languages. I like to see people smile, you know, like what you said. Oh, this is one of the coolest gifts I've ever gotten. Like that. That's so cool. I love having that effect on people.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah. Gifts are great because they're memorable. You'll always associate that object with the person. Like, someone gave me a wallet. So now, like, now every time I.

[Weston Smith]

Pull it, I'm like, you think of that guy? Yeah, for sure.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah, they're great.

[Weston Smith]

I love gifts.

[Podcast Host]

Absolutely. Well, where could people find you, man, and learn from you and everything?

[Weston Smith]

Yeah. Alt.investments.by.wes on Instagram and TikTok or F O R T I S by west.comfortis by west.com boom.

[Podcast Host]

Check them out guys. Thanks for your time.

[Weston Smith]

You bet.

[Podcast Host]

Pace. Wherever you guys are watching this show, I would truly appreciate it if you follow or subscribe. It helps a lot with the algorithm. It helps us get bigger and better guests, and it helps us grow the team. Truly means a lot. Thank you guys for supporting. And here's the episode.