
Money Guy Reacts | Graham Stephan
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Brian Preston
We have a treat for you guys in the money guy family. We got Graham Stephan joining us today for some wild and crazy reacts.
Bo Hansen
Brian, I am so excited about this because I can't wait to see what the content team has put together for us to react to. Graham, thanks so much for hanging out with us today.
Graham Stephan
Thank you for doing this. I'm honored to be here.
Bo Hansen
All right, let's dive right in. The idea to become a millionaire is an adopted concept, is a lazy man's or woman's dream. If you make 400 grand a year, I don't know how you feel good about yourself as a husband and a father. This is why I tell people never get advice from a millionaire. Because when you go from nothing to a million, the first thing you do is you go into conservation. When you study the most successful people on this planet, they're buying whatever the hell they want. Because spending is not the problem. It is for the middle class. And the reason spending for the middle class is the problem is because they've taken their attention off of income and put it onto a budget. And a budget is a defense position. It does not put points on the board. You cannot save your way to wealth, cannot save your way to freedom. You cannot save your business. You cannot save your brand. The only way to save anything. True prosperity and affluence come from expansion and risk taking, not from saving.
Graham Stephan
See, but Grant is great at marketing. Like, he's targeting that 5% of people where they're going to hear that and be like, he's speaking to me.
Bo Hansen
What I think is wild is that I could not agree with him more that you absolutely can save your way to wealth. I mean, we have an entire financial planning business based on folks who have literally saved and invested wealth. And for him to say that, oh, if you make $400,000, how do you feel good about yourself? A million is nothing. That's asinine. That's not the real world. That's not where people actually live.
Brian Preston
Well, I think that Graham is spot on. Is that what Grant is trying to do is stratify to that 5% of the population that wants to that he can sell products to. Because without a doubt, when you start your journey, you better be budgeting knowing what your dollars are doing. As you even catch a little traction, then you start investing index funds and all that stuff. Grant doesn't want those people because if you go get into the apartment complexes and the other products he's selling, you need to be higher than that. I've done a lot of entrepreneurs that have bought grants programs because it helps with sales and other things. So I think he's just thinning the herd. He doesn't really believe it's really good. Click engagement.
Graham Stephan
There's another guy, Sebastian Giorgio, went viral like two years ago by saying that if you don't have a Lamborghini, you.
Brian Preston
Should actually sit down and have like.
Bo Hansen
A serious discussion with yourself as to why you don't have a Lambo.
Brian Preston
200 grand is Trump change.
Graham Stephan
But he got so much attention from it. And his whole point is that the opportunities exist, exist if you were there looking for them and it's your priority. But at the same time, it's just, it's good marketing.
Bo Hansen
It's good marketing and we're talking about it.
Graham Stephan
And this is proof that, like, it's working for gr.
Brian Preston
Yeah. But as the part that are we making the world a better place with the content? It just that that's the part that.
Graham Stephan
I'm like, for the 5%? Yes. For 95, they're going to talk about it like this and move on with it.
Bo Hansen
That's right. This is day 115. Going homeless to buy cryptocurrency. Yet I daily a BMW and sleep in a Tesla.
Brian Preston
This isn't a flex.
Bo Hansen
Both cars need thousands of dollars in repairs and I'm drowning in the negative equity. I would have to pay thousands of dollars to get rid of these cars. I'm not keeping these cars because I want to. I'm keeping them because they're part of my survival strategy. Crypto pumps. I clear my debt, I start a business.
Brian Preston
I don't even know what this.
Graham Stephan
It's high risk, high reward. I've been following this guy on Instagram for like a few months. He's dedicated to it. He's posting every single day. I actually reached out to him and I said, hey, let me know if you're coming to Vegas. Because he's living in, I think it was Orange County.
Bo Hansen
Okay.
Graham Stephan
I'm like, hey, maybe the taxes in California a little high. Maybe there's some other states. But he was saying the opportunities he gets in that part of Orange county, the people he networks with is worth it.
Brian Preston
He's.
Graham Stephan
He's going all in. So, like his dedication from a content standpoint and going in cryptocurrency, 10 out of 10. I don't know if it's going to work. But, like, he's getting attention from it. And even if crypto fails for him, I think he has a career in social media.
Bo Hansen
If I were going to Think about how to build wealth. I don't know that that's the way that I would attack it. Going all that seems like pure speculation. Like, I just don't know from a high probability success standpoint, I don't know that that's the one.
Brian Preston
But chicken or egg, Is his success coming from the content creation and the engagement or is it actually from the way he's structuring his business? That's the thing that's so unique in these day and times is there's people that are trying to use their uniqueness, like living out of the car in Orange county and then doing crypto strategies. That's not a viable. It might, it might be. You know, it could. It could hit. It feels more like this is a content creation strategy and creating a brand.
Graham Stephan
He's hedging himself though, because if crypto does well, then he makes a ton of money.
Bo Hansen
Sure.
Graham Stephan
And if it doesn't, then he's building his brand. Either ways, he's going to win.
Bo Hansen
That's a lot of eggs in that basket though, right? Either crypto has to hit or you got to make it on social. One of those.
Brian Preston
Yeah.
Graham Stephan
But if crypto doesn't hit, then he's going to get more attention on social. And if it does it, he's going to get more attention on social. When you look and you see his posting schedule, he is on it. Like he is so dedicated to it.
Bo Hansen
All right. How long you been following him?
Graham Stephan
For a few months.
Bo Hansen
I can't wait to see.
Graham Stephan
I don't think he's missed an upload.
Brian Preston
That's great.
Graham Stephan
His consistency, I have to say, is admirable. Just from a business perspective like that, crypto investments, I could go either way.
Bo Hansen
Sure.
Graham Stephan
I'm not sure what's going on, folks. It's your boy Sibo got me rolling today.
Brian Preston
I got my dog cam here Approved on the 17 Ford F150. First time buyer. I was just experiencing you today, my man.
Graham Stephan
Several hours in here.
Bo Hansen
It took a little longer than expected.
Graham Stephan
But I was in and out, you know. He made it happen.
Bo Hansen
A miracle with low credit score.
Graham Stephan
I mean, got it going. Well, sir, if you're in the market.
Bo Hansen
For the vehicle, all you need is your id, piece of mail in your name.
Graham Stephan
Shoot me a dms. Steve Okabi Roller. Get your well off today. Is this real?
Bo Hansen
Oh, yeah.
Brian Preston
You've been following the crypto live in your car. We've been following Steve O. Because he makes an entire living off of people with bad credit, small down payments, and then financing years upon years on cars that they'll that are going to depreciate rapidly.
Bo Hansen
It's real.
Brian Preston
This is real.
Bo Hansen
His, his whole thing is matter where you are financially. He can get you in the car of your dreams. You got, you show up and Steve O will get you rolling.
Graham Stephan
Steve got me rolling.
Bo Hansen
And what you end up with is 84 month car loans with like 100 down and 19 interest rates. And he is selling this over and over and over again to a social following.
Graham Stephan
I've seen, I talked to a guy who runs a car dealership who said, who does stuff like this, right? And he says the way he structures it, because some of these buyers are very high risk. There's a large percentage of them that can make the first few payments and then they stop. So the way he said he structures it is by making payments due every other week. So that, that way they're not going to get like a full month behind.
Bo Hansen
Then naturally get ahead just by that cadence.
Graham Stephan
Exactly. So if they default, you'll know after the two weeks and it's an easy repossession after that point.
Bo Hansen
Imagine if your whole business was set up on the same, on the fact that most of your customers are going to fail and fall off. Oh, it drives me nuts. Because we know in our world, in our view, automobiles can be like napalm to your personal financial wealth. If you're borrowing on a car, you're putting a low down payment, you're financing it over 84 months, you are never going to own that automobile and you're never gonna be able to build wealth outside of the car.
Brian Preston
You don't really, you can't afford the car. I mean that's one of the reasons we talk about, you know, the 23, 8 when you have to have transportation. But that never applies to luxury vehicles, large expensive vehicles. That's why, I mean paying $600 a month for the next 84 months, he's not funding his Roth IRA. He's not going to ever have enough capital so he doesn't have to work. And that's the part that saddens me. When people drive their wealth instead of actually building something that can work harder than they can with their back, their head or even their, their hands.
Graham Stephan
Who's loaning the money though? Because it has to be a positive roi.
Bo Hansen
You would think so, but again, it might be one of those things that interest rates are so high so they'll tell you they have like 14, 15, 18% interest rates on these auto loans and the people end up not sticking with. So I don't know what the cost associated with a loan close are, but it's not a great deal for the consumer. These people should not be able to get into these vehicles.
Graham Stephan
They're probably paying fees up front just to get the loans so that even if they repossess the car, they get their money.
Bo Hansen
They're still made money. Yep.
Graham Stephan
This is the strategy that people employ. They buy a property you set up. I do. Rent it out and then you refinance it and say it's now worth 100 grand more than what you bought it for. You can get a loan for that exact amount, which you then use as a down payment on another property. Rinse and repeat. Do I have that right? So let's say the property goes from 1 to 1.1 deal, give you 70 to 80% of that. That extra $100,000, they give you 70, $80,000 of that. It's just that simple.
Bo Hansen
So when it comes to real estate investing, it's just that simple. Right. That's all you got to do. You go buy something for a million, it automatically turns into 1.1. You refinance, cash out, you go buy another one. Anyone can do it.
Graham Stephan
The thing is, the way that works this unfortunately was cut very short. Like, you know, in these clips, this was probably minute segment where I talked about how to buy a property, add value in terms of remodeling it, maybe renting it out at a higher rate. If the market's going up, you can refinance your rate. That was filmed in 2020 and the market has completely changed. Like you could look back at my old videos and it was so easy to invest in real estate back then. It was as simple as just be patient, find a right deal, negotiate. Here's how you could add. I mean it was really rinse and repeat back then. None of those strategies work today.
Bo Hansen
And interest rates are an entirely different place than they were. Right. The whole landscape has changed.
Graham Stephan
My investment strategy is very simple. Be super liquid, have minimal assets that require maintenance. I like three asset classes. One, the hard assets. I like gold and silver. Why? Because I can exchange these things anywhere in the world for a fair price. Right. We all can agree that I can move a thousand dollars of gold anywhere and sell it for a thousand dollars. Same thing can go with. But I can do it in a digital way. Yes, the price fluctuates. Yes, there's a little bit more uncertainty. But I can take a hundred thousand dollars and move it from here to Lithuania with a hard drive and nobody Would ask me a question. If I was to take a hundred thousand dollars worth of gold bars from here to Lithuania, they would be all over me. So on your US Dollar, Swiss franc and Singaporean dollar, banking on those empires on the digital side have digital assets that you can move that are liquid and physical gold, physical silver.
Bo Hansen
So what were his three asset classes?
Brian Preston
Gold, silver and crypto.
Graham Stephan
And then different currency currencies.
Bo Hansen
Right. It was the, it was the, the bullion, the gold and the silver and then the crypto and then the currencies. But those are all in theory supposedly supposed to be sort of like cash and cash equivalents or hard commodity goods. I don't know if I was going to build diversified portfolio. I don't know that those are the ways I would do it because he just said I can take $1,000 of gold right now and exchange it anywhere in the world for $1,000. Well, only at the spot price of gold stays exactly where it is right now. If I buy $1,000 of gold right now, in a year from now, the value of gold goes down. That gold that I bought is no longer worth $1,000. It's worth some, some amount.
Brian Preston
I mean where do you walk into it with a gold bar right now in downtown Franklin, Tennessee where we are.
Bo Hansen
Hard to get a cheese.
Brian Preston
Who's going to go give you the spot price? There's going to be some, I mean you go to pawn shops, you go to other things and they're all going to have different friction costs. I don't think it's a as liquid as he was making. Plus the whole custody of it. I mean if you're walking around with.
Graham Stephan
Gold bull bullion, but that's where bitcoin comes in, then you could just go on your phones.
Bo Hansen
Well, you have your hard drive, you're walking.
Brian Preston
But that's why it's a comparing, contrasting walking around with gold bullion or even silver. There's a little more. I will give that to the crypto side because you probably, you can just have it on a drive or something like that.
Graham Stephan
This appeals to the doomsday prepper though, where it's like, hey, you might have to go to, to like New Zealand one day, you might have to do that. So you have your currencies.
Bo Hansen
But in the event that you don't have to do that. Here's what I didn't hear him say. Hey, I really like buying, you know, solid American companies via a low cost index fund in the S&P 500.
Graham Stephan
That's not exciting, right?
Bo Hansen
You know what I mean?
Graham Stephan
Like, that's Luke Belmont.
Bo Hansen
Talk about that sort of thing.
Graham Stephan
This is the same guy who says that, like, drinking tap water is like lowering testosterone. Red number 40 is, like, ruining everything.
Bo Hansen
Got to stay away from all.
Graham Stephan
Yeah, got it. So it's Luke Belmont. Like, I wouldn't expect anything.
Bo Hansen
Okay, so it's on. On brand. It's marketing.
Graham Stephan
It's marketing. But again, it's like, that's the 5% who see this. Like, oh, yeah.
Bo Hansen
When you think about general audience out there, financial advice you're going to take, Be careful taking advice from folks who are speaking to 5% of the population. Right. Because the advice that they're giving may not be the advice that actually makes the most sense for you.
Brian Preston
I feel like I'm learning more than anybody else, probably in the audience. And the fact that I feel like this whole game of education has been our motive and an operation of why we create content. Graham is educating me that maybe we be pushing this in a completely different way.
Graham Stephan
It depends on what your goal is. If it's reach and views. Everyone that's on here is, is doing that because their goal is to maximize viewership. If you maximize impact, you're going to take a different approach. But you could also argue that the more reach you have, the more impact you're going to have.
Bo Hansen
As long as you're sharing good stuff.
Graham Stephan
Right. Or you get fewer views and there's people who watch you really enjoy your content.
Brian Preston
You want me to.
Bo Hansen
To be happy with a measly 12%.
Graham Stephan
On average return when I need to come up now. I need to come up now.
Bo Hansen
Look at these returns. If I, if I was dumb and.
Graham Stephan
I invested in VTS X, I get 12%. But look, if 10 years ago, I.
Bo Hansen
Go all in on the real stuff that makes.
Brian Preston
All I do is I hold Fang.
Bo Hansen
+Nvidia, Meta, Amazon, Apple, Netflix, Google and Nvidia. I would have gone up 713%, 873%, 633%, 1,268%. JL Had I put my $3,000 into.
Graham Stephan
Nvidia, I would have gone up 26,209% in 10 years.
Brian Preston
That's amazing. And if you had wings, you could fly.
Graham Stephan
Yeah. So what crystal ball did you have.
Brian Preston
10 years ago that told you that?
Graham Stephan
I don't.
Bo Hansen
I just.
Brian Preston
Oh, oh, oh.
Bo Hansen
I don't have one.
Brian Preston
Oh, oh. Yeah. Obviously, if you knew that was going to happen, if you knew the bitcoin, this guy's great. From a penny a coin to $100,000. I would have sold everything, everything and gone into bitcoin. The thing is, you don't know that's going to happen. And there's a lot of stocks that looked every bit as promising as those that you put up 10 years ago that flamed out and went to nothing. You would have wound up broke. You don't know which horse is going to win. But I do know that VTS X will reliably make me wealthy. And 12% a year, compounded over time. 8% a year, let's be much more conservative. Compounded over time is an extraordinarily powerful thing.
Bo Hansen
That guy is awesome.
Graham Stephan
That took a different turn.
Bo Hansen
That's awesome. It's about high probability. Do you have a high probability of picking the next Nvidia or Amazon or Google? Google? Not likely. Because like we said, we don't know what the future is going to hold. But we do know over the last 50, 60, 70 years, a well diversified basket of large US American companies has done really, really well. So I like when it comes to investing, I like betting on the side of probability.
Brian Preston
Can I old man perspective here. I have like Apple. I was the guy with a group of friends. We bought a chunk of Apple during the Great Recession. And I talked about this in Millionaire Mission. My buddy, one of them still owns all that Apple. And I'm Talking about a 5 to $10,000 investment is worth close to half a million dollars. I took my five to $10,000, but as soon as it turned to 15 to 20,000, I was like, can you believe I turned five to $10,000 into this 20,000 I sold to go diversify. That's the thing. Even if you win, you lose. Because most people who buy these horses that do so well, these stocks that do so well, the moonshots, you're going to sell it before it reaches the 10,000% return. It's just human behavior. You'll start getting antsy. You'll get nervous. It'll be like you brought this stock to your Thanksgiving dinner because you're just so emotionally vested with it. Dear Lord, Steve Jobs. Or as our brothers to the south call you, Steve Jobs, we thank you.
Graham Stephan
So much for this bountiful harvest.
Brian Preston
So that's why I tell you, be careful, be because I've also seen people where they, they bought these stocks, they, they sold it too soon and now they just kick themselves every time they, they see the stock keep going up. Nvidia. I have friends that still three years ago asked me about this stock. They didn't buy it. And now they're like, do you know that's why I, I don't even play those games. I think that they're not healthy.
Graham Stephan
Oh, I beat myself up over that all the time. I look at the stock that I sold and it's worth this now. I think, oh, that could have been. I'm bad at that. I do that all the time.
Bo Hansen
That's the problem with individual stock investing is you got to get two decisions really, really right. I gotta buy it at the right time and I gotta sell it at the right time. But if I get either one of those slightly wrong, I'm gonna live in the world of what it coulda, shoulda.
Graham Stephan
What's the worst financial decision you see 20, 30 year olds make? Not setting up a Roth IRA. You could be a millionaire from this. And it's incredibly easy. It's a retirement account. And by the time you're 65, all that profit you make within the account is tax free. But the goal is that when you're young and doing that, you have 40 years of compound interest where all of a sudden that $800 you invest could be worth 8,000. Yeah.
Bo Hansen
So you would say the number one mistake that you see people make is not doing a Roth ira, not just getting something working for them early on.
Graham Stephan
Yeah, that's like the easiest low lift thing you could do because it takes you five minutes to set up. You could contribute anything you have into it. And most people like in their late teens, early 20s, they're below the income threshold anyway. Most people just are below. So you may as well. It's like the way I see, it's a free opportunity, it's free money they're giving you, so you may as well just take advantage of it. If you don't, you're leaving out hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Brian Preston
Now I have to ask, you have a successful platform, viral videos. That was a 95% answer. Meaning that was. I consider it educational. Hits everybody. Because we've had quite a few videos we've reacted to that where you kept calling them 5% answers. You gave a 95. I think that's commendable. But it's just interesting to.
Graham Stephan
I did, when you look at my early videos talking about a Roth ira, my video that got like a few hundred thousand views when I first started my channel was how to be a Tax Free Millionaire. That was like, that was. The 5% is like, how do I be a millionaire tax free? Oh, it's with a Roth IRA. So don't lead with a Roth IRA.
Bo Hansen
Yeah.
Graham Stephan
I lead with, hey, do you want $1 million? Let me show you how exactly how you could do it with like, you know, 90% probability. If you stick with these things, it will happen, barring, you know, a massive collapse. I mean, we have no idea.
Bo Hansen
What I love is you said that when I first started doing these YouTube videos and early started out. My answer is Roth iron. It sounds like still today, even now you'd say that's one of the best things for young people to go out there and do. Open a Roth IRA and get something in it and something working for you.
Graham Stephan
From an investment standpoint, yes. And then outside of that, like sales, I think people are sleeping on my sales careers. I love it and the trades.
Brian Preston
Hello, Kieran? Yeah, it is Christian from BotV. Nice to meet you. How are you?
Bo Hansen
Good, thank you. How are you?
Brian Preston
I'm all right. Your family's kept a bit of a secret from you. I got something parked down the road for you. You've just won a v8 defender for 18p.
Bo Hansen
Don't know what to say. I'm starstruck.
Graham Stephan
So this technically would be your first.
Brian Preston
Car, would it indeed?
Graham Stephan
Yeah.
Brian Preston
Yeah. That's an interesting first car to have, that's for sure. We start it, foot on the brake. Which one's that? Nearly 85 grands worth of wow motor and you've got your provisional license and you didn't know which one was the break. So like we're off to a good start. Will you take the cash alternative or do you think you'll take the car?
Graham Stephan
Oh, come on, car.
Brian Preston
Your family's like, car, take the car. Can I ask a question? Let's all be honest, 18 year old versions of ourselves. Do we take the cash or do we take the car?
Bo Hansen
18 me, I'm probably taking the car.
Graham Stephan
Because it seems, Graham, I, I might take the cash.
Brian Preston
Really? I would like grand over the car. I mean I was the guy driving the $1,000 car with $2,000 worth of subwoofers. So I'm, I'm worried. 18 year old me would have taken the car. But now, with wisdom that is a.
Bo Hansen
Mistake.
Brian Preston
Go get a much more modest vehicle and then invest that money. It'd be an incredible issue.
Graham Stephan
At least in the United States when you receive something like that, you have to, to pay tax as though it's income. So I don't know if they're covering the tax or not or what the law is in the uk, but he might have a pretty big tax bill and then he's going to have to take the cash equivalent at some point.
Bo Hansen
Even from a behavioral standpoint, not even factoring in the taxes. If you start out and you're 15, 16 years old and that's your very first car, where do you go from there? What happens when that car it's time to replace a new. And do you, do you go back to the Corolla then? Right. Like the ah. That's one of my biggest gripes that I see with wealthy folks or folks who've had any sort of financial success, they'll go buy their kids really nice luxury automobiles. And I think in my opinion they're setting them up way too early with something way too nice that's going to create a very difficult to sustain lifestyle over the long term. I don't think they're doing them any favors. I don't think they're doing that guy any favor. Set him up in that car.
Graham Stephan
I would agree.
Brian Preston
So, Graham, this has been an absolute pleasure having you here. This is kind of fun doing it.
Graham Stephan
I really, I thought this went by too fast.
Brian Preston
I think that we needed that's what.
Graham Stephan
The episode to be an hour when.
Brian Preston
You came in town. We like, we promise this will be really quick. This won't take long.
Graham Stephan
This should be longer.
Brian Preston
But if anybody, just in case. I think it's almost laughable to say this if they don't know who you are or where to get more info on you, where can they go check.
Graham Stephan
You out if they want to check out the channel? Honestly, at this point, Iced Coffee Hour like I would recommend the podcast and you guys are going to be on maybe by the time this posts our podcast will have gone live. So I would just recommend the Iced Coffee Hour podcast.
Brian Preston
Guys. We love creating this type of content and by the way, we're trying to create both the 95 and the 5 giving you the best of all worlds so you can maximize every dollar that comes into your army of dollar bills. I'm your host, Brian Preston. Mr. Bo Hansen. Graham Stephan Money Got Team out The.
Bo Hansen
Money Guy show is hosted by Brian Preston and Bo Hansen. Brian and Beau are partners with Abound Wealth Management. Abound Wealth Management is a registered investment advisory firm regulated by the securities and Exchange Commission. In accordance and compliance with the securities laws and regulations, Abound Wealth Management does not render or offer to render personalized investment or tax advice through the Money Guy Show. The information provided is for informational purposes only, may not be suitable for all investors, and does not constitute financial tax, investment or legal advice. All investments involve a degree of risk, including the risk of loss.
Money Guy Show: Financial Advisors React featuring Graham Stephan – Detailed Summary
In the August 11, 2025 episode of the Money Guy Show, hosts Brian Preston and Bo Hansen welcome financial YouTuber Graham Stephan for an engaging discussion filled with insightful critiques and strategies related to wealth building. This episode delves into contrasting perspectives on wealth management, high-risk financial strategies, real estate investments, and the importance of long-term, diversified investing. Below is a comprehensive summary of the key topics, discussions, and conclusions drawn during the episode.
Brian Preston kicks off the episode with enthusiasm, introducing Graham Stephan as a special guest for a session of "wild and crazy reacts."
[00:00] Brian Preston: "We have a treat for you guys in the money guy family. We got Graham Stephan joining us today for some wild and crazy reacts."
Bo Hansen expresses excitement about the content they will be reacting to, highlighting Graham's expertise.
[00:08] Bo Hansen: "Brian, I am so excited about this because I can't wait to see what the content team has put together for us to react to. Graham, thanks so much for hanging out with us today."
The conversation begins with a critique of conventional millionaire advice, emphasizing the difference in financial behaviors between millionaires and the middle class.
Bo Hansen challenges the notion that aspiring to be a millionaire is merely a superficial or "lazy" goal, especially when juxtaposed with making a substantial income.
[00:19] Bo Hansen: "...I tell people never get advice from a millionaire. Because when you go from nothing to a million, the first thing you do is you go into conservation..."
Graham Stephan responds by commending Grant (likely Grant Cardone) for his effective marketing targeted at the top 5% of the population, suggesting that such strategies are influential for a select audience.
[01:05] Graham Stephan: "See, but Grant is great at marketing. Like, he's targeting that 5% of people where they're going to hear that and be like, he's speaking to me."
Bo Hansen counters by advocating for saving as a viable path to wealth, emphasizing that their financial planning business is built on clients who have successfully saved and invested to build wealth.
[01:17] Bo Hansen: "What I think is wild is that I could not agree with him more that you absolutely can save your way to wealth..."
The discussion shifts to scrutinizing high-risk financial strategies promoted by certain individuals online.
Graham Stephan brings up Sebastian Giorgio's viral statement about owning a Lamborghini, critiquing it as a marketing ploy aimed at a narrow audience.
[02:15] Graham Stephan: "There's another guy, Sebastian Giorgio, went viral like two years ago by saying that if you don't have a Lamborghini..."
Bo Hansen criticizes the unrealistic financial pressure such statements can impose on individuals, especially when tied to high-cost purchases like luxury cars.
[03:01] Bo Hansen: "Both cars need thousands of dollars in repairs and I'm drowning in the negative equity..."
The hosts further discuss Steve O, who promotes getting expensive cars through financing to individuals with poor credit, highlighting the detrimental impact of such practices on personal financial health.
[05:43] Brian Preston: "You've been following the crypto live in your car. We've been following Steve O. Because he makes an entire living off of people with bad credit..."
Bo Hansen emphasizes the long-term financial harm caused by such high-interest loans and prolonged car financing.
[06:00] Bo Hansen: "What you end up with is 84 month car loans with like 100 down and 19 interest rates..."
The conversation transitions to real estate investing, comparing past strategies to the current market landscape.
Graham Stephan acknowledges that traditional real estate strategies, such as buying undervalued properties, adding value, and refinancing, have become less effective due to significant market changes since 2020.
[08:05] Graham Stephan: "The thing is, the way that works this unfortunately was cut very short... the market has completely changed."
Bo Hansen concurs, noting that rising interest rates have fundamentally altered the feasibility and profitability of such investment tactics.
[09:22] Bo Hansen: "And interest rates are an entirely different place than they were. Right. The whole landscape has changed."
Delving into his personal investment philosophy, Graham Stephan outlines his focus on liquidity and minimal maintenance, advocating for three primary asset classes:
Gold and Silver:
[09:26] Graham Stephan: "Be super liquid, have minimal assets that require maintenance. I like three asset classes. One, the hard assets. I like gold and silver."
Cryptocurrency:
[11:11] Graham Stephan: "But on the crypto side, you might have just have it on a drive or something like that."
Currencies:
Bo Hansen critiques this approach by questioning the practical liquidity and value stability of physical gold, suggesting that index funds might offer a more reliable investment path.
[10:18] Bo Hansen: "And then the crypto and then the currencies... I don't know that those are the ways I would do it because he just said I can take $1,000 of gold right now and exchange it anywhere in the world for $1,000."
Brian Preston adds that the real-world liquidity of physical gold is often hindered by friction costs and custody issues.
[10:58] Brian Preston: "Who’s going to go give you the spot price? There's going to be some, I mean you go to pawn shops..."
The hosts explore the challenges and risks associated with individual stock picking compared to diversified investment strategies.
Graham Stephan reflects on the difficulty of consistently selecting winning stocks, acknowledging personal mistakes in selling high-performing stocks too early.
[16:26] Graham Stephan: "Oh, I beat myself up over that all the time. I look at the stock that I sold and it's worth this now."
Bo Hansen emphasizes the reliability of diversified investments like low-cost index funds, which historically offer steady returns without the need for precise market timing.
[14:59] Bo Hansen: "But we do know over the last 50, 60, 70 years, a well diversified basket of large US American companies has done really, really well."
Brian Preston shares a personal anecdote about investing in Apple during the Great Recession, illustrating the benefits of long-term, diversified investing despite the temptation to switch to high-risk, high-reward stocks.
[14:33] Brian Preston: "I took my five to $10,000, but as soon as it turned to 15 to 20,000, I was like, can you believe I turned five to $10,000 into this 20,000 I sold to go diversify."
A significant portion of the discussion centers on the Roth IRA as a critical tool for wealth accumulation, especially for young investors.
Graham Stephan identifies not setting up a Roth IRA as the worst financial mistake he sees among 20-30-year-olds, advocating for its tax-free growth potential and ease of setup.
[16:46] Graham Stephan: "What's the worst financial decision you see 20, 30 year olds make? Not setting up a Roth IRA."
Bo Hansen echoes this sentiment, highlighting the simplicity and significant long-term benefits of contributing to a Roth IRA.
[18:26] Bo Hansen: "What I love is you said that when I first started doing these YouTube videos and early started out. My answer is Roth IRA... it sounds like still today, even now you'd say that's one of the best things for young people to go out there and do."
Graham Stephan further emphasizes the compounding power of early and consistent contributions to a Roth IRA, potentially turning modest monthly investments into substantial retirement funds.
[17:13] Graham Stephan: "...when you're young and doing that, you have 40 years of compound interest where all of a sudden that $800 you invest could be worth $8,000."
As the episode wraps up, the hosts reflect on the diverse strategies discussed and the importance of choosing investment paths aligned with individual goals and risk tolerance.
Graham Stephan advises that the choice between high-reach content creation and impactful, educational content depends on one's objectives, noting that both can coexist.
[12:34] Graham Stephan: "It depends on what your goal is. If it's reach and views... If you maximize impact, you're going to take a different approach."
Bo Hansen and Brian Preston acknowledge the value in targeting both broad and niche audiences to provide comprehensive financial education.
In a light-hearted segment towards the end, the hosts engage in a playful discussion about car preferences, emphasizing the importance of making financially responsible choices, especially when young.
Finally, the episode concludes with standard disclaimers regarding financial advice, ensuring compliance with regulations.
Bo Hansen on Millionaire Advice:
[00:19] Bo Hansen: "...true prosperity and affluence come from expansion and risk taking, not from saving."
Graham Stephan on Marketing to Top 5%:
[01:05] Graham Stephan: "See, but Grant is great at marketing. Like, he's targeting that 5% of people where they're going to hear that and be like, he's speaking to me."
Bo Hansen on Saving to Wealth:
[01:17] Bo Hansen: "...you absolutely can save your way to wealth."
Graham Stephan on Competence in Content Consistency:
[05:15] Graham Stephan: "...he is so dedicated to it."
Brian Preston on Financial Strategies:
[07:45] Brian Preston: "...they are putting a low down payment, you're financing it over 84 months, you are never going to own that automobile and you're never gonna be able to build wealth outside of the car."
Graham Stephan on Roth IRA:
[16:46] Graham Stephan: "Not setting up a Roth IRA... it's incredibly easy."
Bo Hansen on Diversified Investing:
[14:39] Bo Hansen: "...a well diversified basket of large US American companies has done really, really well."
This episode of the Money Guy Show provides a thoughtful analysis of various wealth-building strategies, contrasting aggressive, high-risk approaches with more conservative, long-term investment philosophies. Graham Stephan’s emphasis on liquidity, diversification, and tax-advantaged accounts like the Roth IRA aligns with sustainable financial growth, while Bo Hansen and Brian Preston highlight the importance of disciplined saving and investing in proven vehicles like index funds. The discussion serves as a valuable resource for listeners seeking to navigate the complex landscape of personal finance and investment with informed, strategic choices.