When investors go through several boom-bust cycles, some develop an allergy to the public markets.

Many of those investors see the promise of alternative investments, ways to deploy capital that aren't correlated with the stock market roller coaster. But then why do so few invest successfully?

For unique insights I brought in Bob Fraser, Co-Founder and CFO of Aspen Funds and co-author of Invest Like a Billionaire™. Bob shared his contrarian views on the economy, investing landscape and mindset of billionaire investors.

What You'll Discover In This Episode

• Two mistakes crushing commercial real estate 3 structural forces driving 'sticky' inflation
• The sector where Bob is 'backing up the truck' looking for great deals
• Why he's bullish on oil and gas, despite the push to 'go green'
• Why Bob is investing in 'picks and shovels' over any one AI company
• How an evergreen fund lets investors play the billionaire game, tax-efficiently
• Why this bull market won't end with everyone getting rich
• How investors can learn from billionaires like JP Morgan and 'buy when there's blood in the streets'

About the Guest

Bob Fraser is CFO and Chief Macro Strategist for Aspen Funds, a fund sponsor in multiple asset classes, including private credit, commercial real estate, distressed debt, energy, and others.

Aspen focuses on data driven investing, identifying top macro trends, then constructing opportunistic investment funds. Bob is known for his data-driven and paradigm-shifting lectures, and he is cohost of the Invest Like a Billionaire™ podcast (investlikeabillionaire.org).

Bob is a former magna cum laude UC Berkeley computer scientist, tech-start-up founder, and Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award winner. Bob has been happily married for forty years and has four amazing grown children.

About Your Host

From pro-snowboarder to money mogul, Chris Naugle has dedicated his life to being America's #1 Money Mentor. With a core belief that success is built not by the resources you have, but by how resourceful you can be. Chris has built and owned 19 companies, with his businesses being featured in Forbes, ABC, House Hunters, and his very own HGTV pilot in 2018. He is the founder of The Money School™ and Money Mentor for The Money Multiplier.

His success also includes managing tens of millions of dollars in assets in the financial services and advisory industry and in real estate transactions. As an innovator and visionary in wealth-building and real estate, he empowers entrepreneurs, business owners, and real estate investors with the knowledge of how money works.

Chris is also a nationally recognized speaker, author, and podcast host. He has spoken to and taught over ten thousand Americans, delivering the financial knowledge that fuels lasting freedom.

Resources

Private Money Guide: https://go.moneyschoolrei.com/book-podcast

Wealth Wednesday Webinar: https://go.moneyschoolrei.com/wednesday-webinar-podcast

Mapping out the Millionaire Mystery: https://go.moneyschoolrei.com/newbook-podcast

Franchising is promoted as passive income, mailbox money, even a 5-hour a week side hustle. SBA loans come easy, and you can even use a government incentive program to roll over retirement assets into a franchise.

But for wealthy investors, there is both opportunity and risk. I wanted to take an honest look at both, and break down how savvy investors evaluate a franchise opportunity.

So I brought in guest expert Alex Smereczniak, co-founder and CEO of Franzy, a platform for franchise discovery and acquisition. He laid out the realities of franchising so wealthy investors can make good decisions.

What You'll Discover In This Episode

• The ROBS program for rolling retirement assets into a business

• How franchising starts you on '3rd base'

• Why the typical franchise working capital requirements are unrealistic

• The real workload of a typical franchise

• The 60% broker commission most franchise buyers never know about

• How to vet a franchise opportunity for free

About the Guest

Alex Smereczniak is a serial entrepreneur and the co-founder and CEO of Franzy, a platform revolutionizing franchise discovery by making it easier for aspiring business owners to find, compare, and finance franchise opportunities.

Before launching Franzy, Alex co-founded 2ULaundry and LaundroLab, where he helped scale the business from a college side hustle into a multi-unit franchise brand with over 100 franchise licenses sold and a rapidly growing network of stores.

About Your Host

From pro-snowboarder to money mogul, Chris Naugle has dedicated his life to being America's #1 Money Mentor. With a core belief that success is built not by the resources you have, but by how resourceful you can be. Chris has built and owned 19 companies, with his businesses being featured in Forbes, ABC, House Hunters, and his very own HGTV pilot in 2018. He is the founder of The Money School™ and Money Mentor for The Money Multiplier.

His success also includes managing tens of millions of dollars in assets in the financial services and advisory industry and in real estate transactions. As an innovator and visionary in wealth-building and real estate, he empowers entrepreneurs, business owners, and real estate investors with the knowledge of how money works.

Chris is also a nationally recognized speaker, author, and podcast host. He has spoken to and taught over ten thousand Americans, delivering the financial knowledge that fuels lasting freedom.

Resources

Private Money Guide: https://go.moneyschoolrei.com/book-podcast

Wealth Wednesday Webinar: https://go.moneyschoolrei.com/wednesday-webinar-podcast

Mapping out the Millionaire Mystery: https://go.moneyschoolrei.com/newbook-podcast

The real estate investing landscape is a mess right now.  Real estate investors who were going heavy during the Covid era, enjoying low interest rates, are struggling to keep their doors open and wondering what's next.

But not everyone. Some investors are looking at this market as a buying opportunity. In this episode, you'll meet Chris Lopez, co-founder of Property Llama.

He spotted an opportunity most investors miss: to switch to the credit side for the best risk-adjusted returns. You'll get the story behind the switch, what he's seeing in the real estate market, and how they run their private lending fund for consistent returns to real estate investors.

What You'll Discover In This Episode

• The real estate 'debt cliff' and why Lopez is glad he switched to lending

• How lending avoids the gap between pro forma and reality

• Why real estate gives you an edge you'll never get from stocks

• How lending's risk-adjusted returns stay so consistent through cycles

• Why Chris will work with a lender with 9 months experience…but won't touch an operator at that level

• How SPVs can actually pay lenders more than investing with the operator directly

About the Guest

Chris Lopez is a real estate investor with over 20 years of experience, from owning a single property to facilitating more than $300 million in transactions for his clients. He is the co-founder of Property Llama, a platform that helps investors track and optimize the performance of their rental portfolios, and Property Llama Capital.

Chris co-hosts Passive Pockets and he has shared his strategies on the BiggerPockets media network and other real estate podcasts. Connect with him on LinkedIn.

About Your Host

From pro-snowboarder to money mogul, Chris Naugle has dedicated his life to being America's #1 Money Mentor. With a core belief that success is built not by the resources you have, but by how resourceful you can be. Chris has built and owned 19 companies, with his businesses being featured in Forbes, ABC, House Hunters, and his very own HGTV pilot in 2018. He is the founder of The Money School™ and Money Mentor for The Money Multiplier.

His success also includes managing tens of millions of dollars in assets in the financial services and advisory industry and in real estate transactions. As an innovator and visionary in wealth-building and real estate, he empowers entrepreneurs, business owners, and real estate investors with the knowledge of how money works.

Chris is also a nationally recognized speaker, author, and podcast host. He has spoken to and taught over ten thousand Americans, delivering the financial knowledge that fuels lasting freedom.

Resources

Private Money Guide: https://go.moneyschoolrei.com/book-podcast

Wealth Wednesday Webinar: https://go.moneyschoolrei.com/wednesday-webinar-podcast

Mapping out the Millionaire Mystery: https://go.moneyschoolrei.com/newbook-podcast