We all want our children to be well educated so they can lead successful lives, but some of the most important subject matter for success is missing from school curricula. Financial literacy includes things like checking and savings accounts, budgeting, investing, the use of credit and credit cards, insurance, paying taxes, paying for college, and even the purchase of a home. But there isn’t much in the way of personal finance on the list of classes that kids take in high school.   The guest in this episode is hoping to change that. Yanely Espinal is a millennial financial educator who started her career as a teacher and is now on a mission to convince lawmakers to make personal finance a high school graduation requirement. She serves as the Director of Educational Outreach at Next Gen Personal Finance (NGPF) and has been instrumental in getting legislation passed in several states including Florida (SB1054), Michigan (HB5190), Georgia (SB 220), Rhode Island (H 5491) and North Carolina (HB 924). CNBC called her “the millennial fighting for Gen Z to learn about money in school.”   Yanely, who’s also known on the internet as MissBeHelpful, is also the author of a newly released book on the topic called: “Mind Your Money: Insightful Stories and Strategies to Help You Reach Your #MoneyGoals.” Her new book is available on Amazon. She’s also the host of a podcast called “Financially Inclined from Marketplace” and one of the youngest members of CNBC’s Financial Wellness Council, among other notable accomplishments.    If you’d like to learn more about how real estate can give you financial freedom, we encourage you to visit our website at realwealthshow.com. As always, please remember to subscribe to this podcast if you haven’t already. If you have a few minutes, please leave us one of those starry reviews!    Thanks for listening! Kathy Fettke

This episode of the Real Wealth Show is a little different! My guest is the winner of an Instagram contest for a free coaching session with me! Courtney Clark won the contest by responding to a promotion on Instagram. Her number then came up in a random number generator, and we booked her for the show! Courtney is an experienced real estate investor. She’s been doing it for many years with her husband, and she offers a very candid view of how that’s worked out, including a few recent losses from flipping that left her feeling unsure of her next steps. We do a deep dive into that fear that’s making her feel like she’s suddenly lost credibility as an investor. It’s a delightful interview with lots of insight into how Courtney is dealing with the ups and downs of her portfolio.  We do offer coaching services at RealWealth. If you’re not already a member, you would need to sign up at realwealthshow.com. It’s free to sign up. Once you’ve done that, log in and go to the Connect tab where you’ll find the coaching information. You’ll also find information on our mastermind retreats here on our website. We just did one for couples who invest together, but we’re planning on doing more, so check back for info. As always, I ask that you please subscribe to our podcast, and leave us as many stars as possible!  Thanks for joining me! Kathy Fettke Follow Kathy on Instagram @kathyfettke and @realwealthnetwork  Follow Courtney on Instagram @heycourtney.clark and @setthestage_

If you follow financial advice on social media, you may already know about “The FI Couple.” They are a husband and wife team in their early 30’s with a huge following on Instagram, Twitter, and other platforms, to help spread the word about financial independence – which is the FI part of their name.   In this episode of The Real Wealth Show, Ali & Josh Lupo talk about their humble beginnings as college students pursuing degrees in social services and a wedding that provided a big wake-up call about their finances. It was bad. They had a whole lot of debt and knew they had to do something about it. They turned to podcasts, and videos, and learned about “passive income” through real estate investing. From there, they mapped out a plan, and within a few short years, they are job optional and expecting a baby girl.   But it wasn’t just the financial part of their relationship that they worked on. They also spent a lot of time on their personal relationship and their skills in communicating with each other to help them envision and align their goals as a couple. They also love to share their experiences with other people as "The FI Couple". Once you are enchanted by them in this interview, you can find out more at their website: theficouple.com, or on social media @theficouple on all major platforms.   My hubby and partner, Rich Fettke, also joins me as co-host for this episode. He is a long-time coach who loves to help people realize their dreams and live their best lives. He recently published a book called “The Wise Investor” about a family man who wants to free up his time with passive income from real estate. Rich's book is available on Amazon.   If you’d like to find out what a coach can do for you, please check out our RealWealth coaching services. You need to be a RealWealth member to access the coaching page inside the Realty Portal, under the “Connect” tab. It doesn’t cost a thing to sign up as a member. Just go to realwealthshow.com. And please remember to subscribe to this podcast!   Thanks for listening! Kathy Fettke

This episode is dedicated to real estate investing as a couple, and the real life story of two RealWealth members who are making it happen! This is the second time we’ve featured Kevin & Michelle Yu on the Real Wealth Show to find out how far along they’ve gotten with their real estate plans, what’s changed along the way, and how they are dealing with it. Kevin & Michelle are working parents with full-time jobs but their real estate portfolio has made it possible to quit those jobs if they want to. They started investing about ten years ago and have almost reached a goal they set for retirement. They will share stories about where they’ve invested, how they’ve learned to be flexible as the market changes, what’s next, and why they feel it’s so important to create a real estate nest egg for themselves and their two young children. My hubby, Rich, joins me as a co-host for this special episode on couples investing, which we’ve been doing for more than two decades! If you’d like to take the RealWealth assessment that Rich mentions, please go to https://realwealth.com/assessment/. Kevin also mentioned a Netflix series you might be interested in called “How to Get Rich.”  To learn more about real estate investing, please sign up as a RealWealth member. It’s free to join and gives you access to hundreds of webinars and other educational material, along with our investment counselors who can answer any questions and help get you started. And don’t forget to subscribe to this podcast! Thanks for listening, Kathy Fettke LINKS: Join RealWealth: https://tinyurl.com/joinrealwealth Subscribe to the Real Wealth Show podcast:  https://tinyurl.com/RWSsubscribe Take RealWealth Assessment: https://realwealth.com/assessment/ Netflix series "How to Get Rich": https://www.netflix.com/title/81410436

How can you dramatically increase your ability to invest with the money you are currently sending to Uncle Sam? By redirecting those big checks you send to the government into investments that also benefit the government;.. and change your life while you're doing it.   In this episode, you’ll hear from Susan Geist who had a wake up call when she wrote a six-figure check to cover her tax obligations. She analyzed the situation and with strategic investment-related tax deductions, figured out a way to reduce her federal tax bill by more than $100,000 annually!    It’s an incredible story considering her background as someone who grew up in a lower-class family in rural Appalachia. Her story is one of financial hardship as a child and a commitment to attain financial security for herself and help others do the same.   With a salary of just $42,000 a year, she managed to buy her first property in 2008. Today she owns a multi-million-dollar portfolio consisting of long-term rentals, short-term vacation rentals, and limited partnerships in commercial real estate that pay her six figures of passive income annually.    She also helps women working to attain financial freedom with her company Rising Femme Wealth, LLC, out of Austin, Texas. She provides coaching and workshops that teach women strategies for financial freedom, including ways to reduce their tax bills. In her spare time, she likes to travel with her husband and two sons, and create music with her all-female band.   You can get help creating your own financial lifeboat by joining RealWealth at realwealthshow.com. Although Susan created her own investment portfolio, she has gravitated toward RealWealth as an investing opportunity. And she has recommended RealWealth to her coaching clients, which I’d like to thank her for. It doesn’t cost anything to check us out, and it takes just a minute to sign up.   We also appreciate positive comments about our company and the podcast on social media. And please don’t forget to subscribe to our podcast!    Thank you! Kathy Fettke

Working on an investment plan with your spouse can be challenging because money can be a source of tension and conflict. But it can also be a source of strength within your relationship with the right tools and strategies to help align your goals and work as a team.   My husband Rich and I have been investing together for more than two decades, and have experienced a lot of challenges, especially at the beginning. But we’ve come up with ways to foster a better understanding of each other, our visions for the future, and how to get there without damaging the love we have for each other.   In this episode, Rich joins me to talk about three of the things we are doing to unite our unique inspirations, visions, talents, and personalities for a unified approach to couples investing. It’s also a preview into an extraordinary RealWealth Couples Retreat we have planned for next month at our home in Malibu on June 9th, 10th, and 11th.   It’s a mastermind that is designed to help strengthen and deepen the connection between partners while learning and/or practicing tools and strategies for a teamwork approach to investing.   This is what we aim to accomplish with each couple:: 1 - Grow and strengthen relationships 2 - Learn and connect with like-minded couples 3 - Enjoy fun outdoor activities 4 - Create a compelling shared vision for the future 5 - Design a multi-year plan to achieve a shared vision 6 - Enjoy delicious, healthy food 7 - Celebrate together   The event is limited to six couples. At the time of this podcast, there were still two spots left. You can find out more at realwealthcouples.com   You can also find out more about what we are doing at RealWealth by becoming a member. It’s free to join at realwealthshow.com, and gain access to all parts of our website. When you log in to the investor portal, you will find sample properties, rental market data, and recommendations for professionals who can help you reach your goals. You’ll also have access to our experienced investment counselors.   We appreciate your positive comments on social media, and please be sure to subscribe to this podcast!   Thanks for listening, Kathy Fettke

I just got back from being on the road for a week in four different cities and at three different events. A few people asked me what my company, Real Wealth, does. I thought that was funny since we've been around for 20 years and I just assume people know.    But in case you were wondering, it's pretty simple. We help people increase their passive income by helping them acquire a portfolio of cash-flowing rental properties in growing markets nationwide.    We simplify the process by identifying experienced property managers who specialize in working with out-of-state investors. These teams have everything an out-of-state investor needs to purchase rental properties including acquisition teams, renovation teams, property management, and most importantly, experienced professionals with a proven track record of success.    We offer a free mastermind to these teams so they can continue to improve their service and share their best practices and knowledge with each other. Any team on our referral list comes with rave reviews from our RealWealth members. And if they don't, they are removed from our referral list until those issues are resolved.    And, all that we do at RealWealth is free to our members because we get paid from a broker-to-broker referral fee that the buyer would have to pay anyway. It just gets split with us.    In this episode, I'm going to interview one of our newest teams located in Cleveland, Ohio. I love Cleveland and have been investing there for years. But it can be tricky. You really need a good team there because the city regulations can be burdensome and some neighborhoods look good on paper but in reality can be very challenging.  To get in touch with Mike and his team in Cleveland, sign in to the RealWealth website and login to the Investor Portal. If you haven't become a member yet, please click on the "Join for Free" button. It's easy to sign up and will give you complete access to our website where you can see sample properties in more than a dozen markets across the country, our market data, and our list of preferred real estate professionals including our RealWealth investment counselors. And please remember to subscribe to the podcast to help boost our ratings!    Thanks for listening! Kathy Fettke

How would you like to reach your financial goals in half the time you planned?  Our guests today are doing just that. Sophie bought her first rental property when she was just 23 years old, thanks to having a Mom who encouraged her to buy real estate.  Sophie's husband Ben didn't know much about real estate when they got married, but they both had MBAs, and both worked at Northern California tech companies making a great income. They ended up with two rental properties in the Bay Area that didn't cash flow. In this episode, Sophie and Ben share how they used those negative cash flow properties to build a cash flow machine by investing out-of-state. They say they've reached their financial goals 15 years earlier than they had planned.  You can learn more about doing this for yourself by joining RealWealth. You’ll find plenty of free educational material on our website. Our investment counselors can also refer you to experienced property teams who can help you get started in real estate. And please remember to subscribe to this podcast and leave us a review! Thanks for joining me on The Real Wealth Show! Kathy Fettke

The dream of being a passive investor is turning into a bit of a nightmare for some people who invested in commercial real estate. They are getting bitten by higher interest rates, slow rent growth, and dramatically higher costs for rate caps and insurance. A 229-unit apartment complex recently foreclosed in Houston, making headlines across the country and leaving hundreds of investors at a total loss. How can investors be more prepared moving forward?   In this episode, you’ll hear from Whitney Elkins-Hutten on the eight deal breakers that limited partners should be looking for when they work with an operator or for any kind of real estate deal. Whitney is the Director of Investor Education at PassiveInvesting.com and a partner in $800+ MIllion in real estate. Her investments include over 6500+ units in residential housing (single-family, multi-family, manufactured housing, and assisted living), seven express car washes, and more than 2200+ self-storage units across 11 states. She also has experience flipping more than $5 Million in residential real estate.   The content of this interview is why I love my single family rental fund. We are raising cash, buying with cash, renovating with cash, increasing values, and refinancing if we get a really good rate with a fixed term. All in an area experiencing job and population growth with high demand for housing. You can find out more at GrowDevelopments.com.   Be sure to join RealWealth for full access to our educational material and our investment opportunities. We also encourage all listeners to subscribe to this podcast, and leave one of those sparkly five-star reviews!    Thanks for joining me here on the Real Wealth Show! Kathy Fettke

In Part II of my interview with James Eng, the conversation continues about the commercial real estate correction that we’re already starting to see. In this half of the interview, James will dig in a little deeper into how the foreclosure of a $229 Million multifamily Texas portfolio is just the first domino to fall, and what he expects to see in the coming months. James has more than 17 years of experience in commercial real estate lending, and is currently the National Director for Old Capital. He started his career as an underwriter at GE Capital Real Estate and joined Old Capital in 2014. He has worked with hundreds of investors to help them acquire over $1.5 Billion in multifamily properties totaling over 20,000 units nationwide. In addition to financing multifamily, he has invested in over 10,000 units as a limited partner in nearly 40 properties in Texas. Often called "The Professor" of Multifamily Financing, James has produced hundreds of hours of educational multifamily content on YouTube. He received his finance degree from University of Texas at Austin and resides in Dallas-Fort Worth with his wife and three boys. LINKS Contact James Eng at https://oldcapitallending.com Join RealWealth here. Subscribe to the Real Wealth Show here. For more information on Kathy's Single-Family Rental Fund, go to: GrowDevelopments.com. Follow Kathy Fettke on Instagram.  Purchase Kathy Fettke's book, 'Retire Rich with Rentals' on Audible