The Business Brew Abdul Al Assad - Leverage For The People
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Dec 11, 2025 Abdul Al-Assad, founder and CEO of Basic Capital, passionately advocates for more leverage in retirement portfolios. He explains how his platform provides long-term, non-recourse financing for retail investors, aiming to democratize wealth-building. Abdul contrasts traditional loans with his innovative 'retirement mortgage' concept and discusses historical credit crises to highlight market resilience. He challenges listeners to consider how leverage can work in their favor, pushing back against public skepticism surrounding retail investment strategies.
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Moral Barriers Slow Financial Innovation
- Finance and healthcare carry a higher moral bar which raises the innovation hurdle in those industries.
- Abdul argues this slows constructive entrants and concentrates innovation among extreme actors willing to bear criticism.
We Remember Crises, Not Compound Returns
- People overweight rare catastrophic events and remember crises more than steady gains, biasing views on leverage.
- Abdul says long-term horizon and regulation improve safety over time, so crises shouldn't permanently bar participation.
Mortgage As Model For Democratizing Wealth
- Mortgages democratized homeownership by giving long-duration leverage, creating widespread wealth accumulation.
- Abdul uses the mortgage's history to argue long-term leverage can similarly broaden stock-market ownership.
