Derick Van Ness  was making it big in real estate when the 2008 financial crisis hit. It also happened right when he was recovering from a snowboarding accident. He remembered laying in bed on painkillers while everything was going down the drain.  That’s when he realized that he didn’t have a strong financial foundation which is why when the cash stopped flowing in, it started to quickly empty out his bank account.

From then on, figuring out financial models that work became Derick’s passion.  He was determined to help people who, like him, are very good at making a lot of money but are quite bad at keeping it and making it grow.  Today, Derrick is a wealth strategist and the founder of Big Life Financial which aims to help people reach their full potential through understanding tax strategies and finances.

In this episode, we talked about:

(02:09) How Derick got into managing money
(05:25) The advantage of keeping a separate bank account for paying off taxes
(07:26) What can you do with the money that you pay yourself
(09:24) What you need to understand about life insurance  
(11:38) Why Derick thinks that the stock market setup is broken
(14:29) Why investing in anything you don’t understand is a bad idea 
(16:22) What are the 3 rules in investing
(19:04) Alternative investments with tremendous tax benefits for higher net worth people
(21:58) How to get a massive tax write-off and do good for other people at the same time
(23:05) How to get tax refunds through real estate research and development credits 
(25:07) What are the biggest financial mistakes people make
(31:01) How to eliminate the fear of money
(37:03) What is Derick’s best piece of advice

To know about Big Life Financial and the services they offer, go to https://www.biglifefinancial.com/