Episodes
Sunday May 07, 2023
The Financial Fix: Tax and Financial Planning for Success #MakingBank #S7E42
Sunday May 07, 2023
Sunday May 07, 2023
Welcome back to Making Bank. On today's episode, we have Alex Sonkin who is the founder of the Due Diligence Project and the virtual family office hub. It's a revolutionary platform of vetted resources that supports hundreds of leading tax focused CPA firms and the family offices around the country.
This episode talks about exactly what that is and how that's going to benefit you being an entrepreneur and owning your own company.
Make sure to listen to this Episode of Making Bank with Alex Sonkin.
(2:58) Background
Alex Sonkin came from the Soviet Union at the age of seven with his parents and graduated from University of Michigan. He started as an options trader in Chicago. He then took what he learned from that and went on to work with CPA firms and building family offices. From there on he worked with many other clients, started what was called the Due Diligence’s Project and has been helping different clients ever since.
(7:48) Family Offices
Real benefit of a family office is it's truly one point of contact for the affluent business owner and traditionally, family offices were for very wealthy families. What you're doing is you're building an office. You have your CPA firm, your law firm, you have advisory all in one spot and when you have a problem you just need to contact one source and you are done.
(12:04) Income Taxes
The one specialty that seems most complicated of everything in the world of finance seems to be income tax. Because we're dealing with a document, no one knows how many pages there are. It takes special licenses to understand it and it takes a certain number of hours. It takes at least 10,000 hours of experience in audit and tax court to really understand the risk and to really understand income taxes.
(14:47) Tax Strategies
The key to this is not the strategies themselves. The key to this is having your CPA, your most trusted tax advisor, plug into the network, the Due Diligence Project where they get exposed to the community and certain strategies are going to work well for certain people and certain types of fact patterns.
(17:44) Who’s It For?
The target is the tax advisor. It's the CPA. After the business owners are introduced, meeting their CPA is advised and encouraged so they can get plugged into the network and really work accordingly to help the business and be really diligent at their work.
(19:52) Zero Taxes
It is done by taking reviews every year. Focus on what can be improved based on feedback or questions from many of the CPA firms that are within the program. If there is a problem with the strategy it will be fixed and cleaned up, or the strategy might get revisited altogether.
(23:03) Common Mistakes
Very common mistake is that most business owners have a difficult time differentiating. Many business owners aren't aware of that fact and so they're asking the wrong people the wrong questions, failing to remember that the financial world is very complex and there are specialists for every aspect.
Link:
Alex Sonkin
@grouplombardi
Sunday May 07, 2023
The Financial Fix: Tax and Financial Planning for Success #MakingBank #S7E42
Sunday May 07, 2023
Sunday May 07, 2023
Welcome back to Making Bank. On today's episode, we have Alex Sonkin who is the founder of the Due Diligence Project and the virtual family office hub. It's a revolutionary platform of vetted resources that supports hundreds of leading tax focused CPA firms and the family offices around the country.
This episode talks about exactly what that is and how that's going to benefit you being an entrepreneur and owning your own company.
Make sure to listen to this Episode of Making Bank with Alex Sonkin.
(2:58) Background
Alex Sonkin came from the Soviet Union at the age of seven with his parents and graduated from University of Michigan. He started as an options trader in Chicago. He then took what he learned from that and went on to work with CPA firms and building family offices. From there on he worked with many other clients, started what was called the Due Diligence’s Project and has been helping different clients ever since.
(7:48) Family Offices
Real benefit of a family office is it's truly one point of contact for the affluent business owner and traditionally, family offices were for very wealthy families. What you're doing is you're building an office. You have your CPA firm, your law firm, you have advisory all in one spot and when you have a problem you just need to contact one source and you are done.
(12:04) Income Taxes
The one specialty that seems most complicated of everything in the world of finance seems to be income tax. Because we're dealing with a document, no one knows how many pages there are. It takes special licenses to understand it and it takes a certain number of hours. It takes at least 10,000 hours of experience in audit and tax court to really understand the risk and to really understand income taxes.
(14:47) Tax Strategies
The key to this is not the strategies themselves. The key to this is having your CPA, your most trusted tax advisor, plug into the network, the Due Diligence Project where they get exposed to the community and certain strategies are going to work well for certain people and certain types of fact patterns.
(17:44) Who’s It For?
The target is the tax advisor. It's the CPA. After the business owners are introduced, meeting their CPA is advised and encouraged so they can get plugged into the network and really work accordingly to help the business and be really diligent at their work.
(19:52) Zero Taxes
It is done by taking reviews every year. Focus on what can be improved based on feedback or questions from many of the CPA firms that are within the program. If there is a problem with the strategy it will be fixed and cleaned up, or the strategy might get revisited altogether.
(23:03) Common Mistakes
Very common mistake is that most business owners have a difficult time differentiating. Many business owners aren't aware of that fact and so they're asking the wrong people the wrong questions, failing to remember that the financial world is very complex and there are specialists for every aspect.
Link:
Alex Sonkin
@grouplombardi
Sunday Apr 30, 2023
Money Mastery: The Art of Being Your Own Banker (Part 2) #MakingBank #S7E41
Sunday Apr 30, 2023
Sunday Apr 30, 2023
Money Mastery: The Art of Being Your Own Banker (Part 2) #MakingBank #S7E41
Welcome back to Making Bank. On today's episode, we continue on with Chris Naugle, on ‘Money Mastery: The Art of Being Your Own Banker (Part 2)’.
Make sure to listen to this Episode of Making Bank with Chris Naugle.
(2:32) Being Your Own Bank
Make your money work for you. It doesn’t have any restrictions. It doesn’t need any sleep. We have been taught our whole life to trade hours for dollars. But we won’t be wealthy because we only have so many hours. Make your money work for you. Do not give up control of it. Learn how to be your own bank by doing exactly what a bank does and take back control of your money.
(16:49) The Downside
If you put 10 grand, you won’t be able to use all 10 grand. It will be around 80%. Whereas in the Bank you can use all 10 grand but you won't have any interest. So, the biggest downside is that for the first few years, you will experience a negative drop and for most people this is a deal breaker. Whatever money you put in, you will not have immediate access or access to all of it.
(24:13) Don’t Use Your Money Immediately
You don’t have to put your money to work immediately. If you have nowhere to put it, just leave it as it is. It is earning more than what the bank is already anyway. When the time is right, the money will be there ready to deploy. If there is a recession you will have more opportunities.
(26:30) The Best Part
The interest rate you earned with your bank may be temporary but the interest rate earned with this policy is forever.
(29:00) Private, Protected & Liquid
The policy is the most private policy and the most protected. That is why many of the rich use it and also it is one of the most liquid assets.
(47:22) Private Money Club
Chris Naugle created a private money club which is the dating site for money making and it allows people from all over to meet up and discuss where their money will go. You swipe left and right to get the deals you need to get connected.
Links
@thechrisnaugle
Sunday Apr 30, 2023
Money Mastery: The Art of Being Your Own Banker (Part 2)
Sunday Apr 30, 2023
Sunday Apr 30, 2023
Money Mastery: The Art of Being Your Own Banker (Part 2) #MakingBank #S7E41
Welcome back to Making Bank. On today's episode, we continue on with Chris Naugle, on ‘Money Mastery: The Art of Being Your Own Banker (Part 2)’.
Make sure to listen to this Episode of Making Bank with Chris Naugle.
(2:32) Being Your Own Bank
Make your money work for you. It doesn’t have any restrictions. It doesn’t need any sleep. We have been taught our whole life to trade hours for dollars. But we won’t be wealthy because we only have so many hours. Make your money work for you. Do not give up control of it. Learn how to be your own bank by doing exactly what a bank does and take back control of your money.
(16:49) The Downside
If you put 10 grand, you won’t be able to use all 10 grand. It will be around 80%. Whereas in the Bank you can use all 10 grand but you won't have any interest. So, the biggest downside is that for the first few years, you will experience a negative drop and for most people this is a deal breaker. Whatever money you put in, you will not have immediate access or access to all of it.
(24:13) Don’t Use Your Money Immediately
You don’t have to put your money to work immediately. If you have nowhere to put it, just leave it as it is. It is earning more than what the bank is already anyway. When the time is right, the money will be there ready to deploy. If there is a recession you will have more opportunities.
(26:30) The Best Part
The interest rate you earned with your bank may be temporary but the interest rate earned with this policy is forever.
(29:00) Private, Protected & Liquid
The policy is the most private policy and the most protected. That is why many of the rich use it and also it is one of the most liquid assets.
(47:22) Private Money Club
Chris Naugle created a private money club which is the dating site for money making and it allows people from all over to meet up and discuss where their money will go. You swipe left and right to get the deals you need to get connected.
Links
@thechrisnaugle
Sunday Apr 23, 2023
Money Mastery: The Art of Being Your Own Banker (Part 1) #MakingBank #S7E40
Sunday Apr 23, 2023
Sunday Apr 23, 2023
Welcome back to Making Bank. On today's episode, we have Chris Naugle, a man who has dedicated his life to be America's number one money mentor.
Chris has built over 16 companies with his businesses being featured in Forbes, ABC House Hunters, and his very own hgtv. He is currently the founder of the Money School, which teaches you to be your own bank.
As an innovator and visionary in wealth building and real estate, he empowers entrepreneurs, business owners, and real estate investors with the knowledge of money, how it works, so they can solve their money problems as well as take control of their money. Chris is also a nationally recognized speaker, author, and podcast host.He has spoken to and taught over tens of thousands of Americans delivering the financial knowledge that fuels lasting freedom.
Make sure to listen to this Episode of Making Bank with Chris Naugle.
(3:01) Background
Chris talks about how he started working in a farm at 14, which he later then got into a job at an Italian restaurant at 16. He quit the restaurant due to poor working environment and then proceeded to start his own clothing brand called Phat Clothing. He started selling his brands to school, to shops and eventually earned enough money to open a shop in a mall. This was how his days as an entrepreneur started.
(10:08) Chasing Your Own Dreams
Most of the time our dreams won't align with others and many times other people will put us down when we talk about our dreams. Chris faced the same thing. When he wanted to be a professional snowboarder, he was told to give it up. However, he stood by his dreams and although he did lose some friends along the way, he stood by his dreams.
(16:05) Pro Snowboarder To Entrepreneur
During the period of recession, Chris’s business sank forcing him to look for a job. He applied to many firms and he got accepted to only one and that was Wall Street firms. This was the beginning of his transition from a snowboarder to a businessman. He quickly started picking up and started learning about the corporate world and he worked hard everyday to be successful today.
(22:12) How To Plan For A Recession
Get your mindset right. A recession may be bad but if planned properly, it can turn into one of the biggest business opportunities. You'll be able to grab more market share in a short period of time than you could ever do spending massive amounts of marketing. Go into a preservation mode, keep your business going, try to grow, but don't shoot for those big numbers. This will be the greatest opportunity of most business owners' lives if they get ready right now.
(26:03) Strategies For Your Money
If you put your money into a regular bank, the regular bank's in control of your money. Imagine you had a place where you could put that same savings that you kept in a regular bank but you just changed one thing, and that's where your money goes. Now you’re getting a guaranteed interest rate till the day you die, plus you’re getting dividends on that money. But the best thing is, you can purchase what you want to purchase but your money actually never left the account.
Links
@thechrisnaugle
Sunday Apr 23, 2023
Money Mastery: The Art of Being Your Own Banker (Part 1)#MakingBank #S7E40
Sunday Apr 23, 2023
Sunday Apr 23, 2023
Welcome back to Making Bank. On today's episode, we have Chris Naugle, a man who has dedicated his life to be America's number one money mentor.
Chris has built over 16 companies with his businesses being featured in Forbes, ABC House Hunters, and his very own hgtv. He is currently the founder of the Money School, which teaches you to be your own bank.
As an innovator and visionary in wealth building and real estate, he empowers entrepreneurs, business owners, and real estate investors with the knowledge of money, how it works, so they can solve their money problems as well as take control of their money. Chris is also a nationally recognized speaker, author, and podcast host.He has spoken to and taught over tens of thousands of Americans delivering the financial knowledge that fuels lasting freedom.
Make sure to listen to this Episode of Making Bank with Chris Naugle.
(3:52) Background
Chris talks about how he started working in a farm at 14, which he later then got into a job at an Italian restaurant at 16. He quit the restaurant due to poor working environment and then proceeded to start his own clothing brand called Phat Clothing. He started selling his brands to school, to shops and eventually earned enough money to open a shop in a mall. This was how his days as an entrepreneur started.
(11:00) Chasing Your Own Dreams
Most of the time our dreams won't align with others and many times other people will put us down when we talk about our dreams. Chris faced the same thing. When he wanted to be a professional snowboarder, he was told to give it up. However, he stood by his dreams and although he did lose some friends along the way, he stood by his dreams.
(16:57) Pro Snowboarder To Entrepreneur
During the period of recession, Chris’s business sank forcing him to look for a job. He applied to many firms and he got accepted to only one and that was Wall Street firms. This was the beginning of his transition from a snowboarder to a businessman. He quickly started picking up and started learning about the corporate world and he worked hard everyday to be successful today.
(23:04) How To Plan For A Recession
Get your mindset right. A recession may be bad but if planned properly, it can turn into one of the biggest business opportunities. You'll be able to grab more market share in a short period of time than you could ever do spending massive amounts of marketing. Go into a preservation mode, keep your business going, try to grow, but don't shoot for those big numbers. This will be the greatest opportunity of most business owners' lives if they get ready right now.
(26:54) Strategies For Your Money
If you put your money into a regular bank, the regular bank's in control of your money. Imagine you had a place where you could put that same savings that you kept in a regular bank but you just changed one thing, and that's where your money goes. Now you’re getting a guaranteed interest rate till the day you die, plus you’re getting dividends on that money. But the best thing is, you can purchase what you want to purchase but your money actually never left the account.
Links
@thechrisnaugle
Sunday Apr 16, 2023
How To Be The Best Entrepreneur #MakingBank #S7E39
Sunday Apr 16, 2023
Sunday Apr 16, 2023
Welcome back to Making Bank. On today's episode, we have Larry Brinker Jr, who is an award-winning entrepreneur, impact investor and mentor. He serves as Chief Executive Officer and President of Brinker, a group of family owned and operated commercial construction service companies responsible for several billion dollars in construction projects. The company played a critical role in the transformation and revitalization of Detroit. He also serves as the CEO of the Brinker Family Asset Management Company.
Don’t miss this episode of Making Bank with Larry Brinker Jr.
(1:20) 2nd Generation Entrepreneur
Larry is a 2nd Generation entrepreneur who was raised in the environment of entrepreneurship by his Father. His father started off as a carpenter but then he moved to owning companies. Larry has owned restaurants, nightclubs, music production studios etc. Entrepreneurship has always been in his DNA.
(2:17) Success Lessons
Preparation plus opportunity equals success. You have to have the preparation. You have to have the opportunity. When you get the opportunity, you have to work extremely hard to be successful. Don’t waste any opportunities and work every time one comes along your way.
(5:11) Capitalizing Opportunities
You can get an opportunity, but it's what you make of that opportunity after it, which really sets the course going forward. If you waste it, if you don’t work hard for it, no matter how many opportunities you get along your journey, it won’t matter. However, even if you get just one but you work extremely hard for it, you will bear the fruit of it. So always capitalize on your opportunities.
(9:27) Spotting Opportunities
Always remain humble. Always be open with your time to someone. Never think you are more important than the next person. Recognize that we are all the same and there's a different level of how you can relate to people that makes you comfortable giving the time. Then you can spot opportunities easily.
(13:54) Biggest Challenges
Building a team that is strong and smarter than you is a crucial move in the business world. However, the biggest challenge is trying to get non entrepreneurs to think like an entrepreneur. Not everyone is all about the grind. Most people want a day job and that is it. That is not the life of an entrepreneur. Biggest challenge is finding people who will stay motivated to work as much as you will.
(18:01) Working With Passion
Whatever you do, have the passion for it because if you have the passion for it, you're going to work harder, the money and the success will come. If you do something only for the money, you won't have a passion. You're not going to work as hard, and typically you're not gonna be as successful, and you definitely won't be as happy either.
(21:35) Building Your Team
One thing that is super important for entrepreneurs is to not only build your team the right way, but to trust your team and give your team accountability. Give them the autonomy to feel invested in what they're doing. Give your team the autonomy to feel like they're invested, and then don't be a micromanager.
Links:
@Larry Brinker, Jr
Sunday Apr 16, 2023
How To Be The Best Entrepreneur #MakingBank #S7E39
Sunday Apr 16, 2023
Sunday Apr 16, 2023
Welcome back to Making Bank. On today's episode, we have Larry Brinker Jr, who is an award-winning entrepreneur, impact investor and mentor. He serves as Chief Executive Officer and President of Brinker, a group of family owned and operated commercial construction service companies responsible for several billion dollars in construction projects. The company played a critical role in the transformation and revitalization of Detroit. He also serves as the CEO of the Brinker Family Asset Management Company.
Don’t miss this episode of Making Bank with Larry Brinker Jr.
(3:16) 2nd Generation Entrepreneur
Larry is a 2nd Generation entrepreneur who was raised in the environment of entrepreneurship by his Father. His father started off as a carpenter but then he moved to owning companies. Larry has owned restaurants, nightclubs, music production studios etc. Entrepreneurship has always been in his DNA.
(4:55) Success Lessons
Preparation plus opportunity equals success. You have to have the preparation. You have to have the opportunity. When you get the opportunity, you have to work extremely hard to be successful. Don’t waste any opportunities and work every time one comes along your way.
(6:12) Capitalizing Opportunities
You can get an opportunity, but it's what you make of that opportunity after it, which really sets the course going forward. If you waste it, if you don’t work hard for it, no matter how many opportunities you get along your journey, it won’t matter. However, even if you get just one but you work extremely hard for it, you will bear the fruit of it. So always capitalize on your opportunities.
(10:24) Spotting Opportunities
Always remain humble. Always be open with your time to someone. Never think you are more important than the next person. Recognize that we are all the same and there's a different level of how you can relate to people that makes you comfortable giving the time. Then you can spot opportunities easily.
(14:51) Biggest Challenges
Building a team that is strong and smarter than you is a crucial move in the business world. However, the biggest challenge is trying to get non entrepreneurs to think like an entrepreneur. Not everyone is all about the grind. Most people want a day job and that is it. That is not the life of an entrepreneur. Biggest challenge is finding people who will stay motivated to work as much as you will.
(18:59) Working With Passion
Whatever you do, have the passion for it because if you have the passion for it, you're going to work harder, the money and the success will come. If you do something only for the money, you won't have a passion. You're not going to work as hard, and typically you're not gonna be as successful, and you definitely won't be as happy either.
(22:31) Building Your Team
One thing that is super important for entrepreneurs is to not only build your team the right way, but to trust your team and give your team accountability. Give them the autonomy to feel invested in what they're doing. Give your team the autonomy to feel like they're invested, and then don't be a micromanager.
Links:
@Larry Brinker, Jr
Sunday Apr 09, 2023
Taking Control Of Your Personal & Professional Finances #MakingBank #S7E38
Sunday Apr 09, 2023
Sunday Apr 09, 2023
Welcome back to Making Bank. On today's episode, we have Brandon Dawson who is a business scaling turnaround expert and leadership mentor who helps business owners and their teams achieve their personal, professional and financial goals through the growth of their business. He's achieved numerous awards in business such as Achieving the Ink 500, ink 5000, fastest growing companies five times, etc. Today he is the CEO and co-founder branding coaches Cardone Ventures clients using his proven leadership and business.
Make sure to listen to this week’s episode of Making Bank with Brandon Dawson.
(3:49) Background
Brandon talks about how he worked in his parent’s Hearing Business and this was where he really got to learn all the things that helped him kickstart his life as an entrepreneur. He eventually moved out from his parent’s business to start something of his own using all the expertise he gained from that.
(5:56) Important Lessons
Brandon talks about his early life where his dad grounded him and he got an opportunity to allow his fellow classmates to come work at his parent’s farm to raise money instead of him having to do it on his own. He paid them without working at all. This was when he realized that he does not ever want to do work that he can easily pay someone else to do and this was the start of his journey as an entrepreneur.
(10:42) Resilience
Resilience in the human mind is the most important tool. People that punch through regardless of how tough it may be will end up having more stamina, more courage and more guts. A lot of people have gotten to be so soft from their parents, they can't compete against those people who want it really super bad and that affects them in their workforce.
(15:31) How To Be Successful
You need to have a plan. You need to know what you're moving to. Targets are so important and most business owners don't set targets. They build from the inside out. Most people make the mistake of just hoping instead of building a strategy. It is very important to have a clear cut plan to be successful.
(18:47) Growing Your Business
Once you know what you do works, you must always and constantly innovate to be better, to make more money, to improve in your delivery, to improve in your product offering. Most businesses fail even after being successful because they lack innovation and end up getting stale after a few years.
(30:45) Biggest Regret
Brandon’s biggest regret was not slowing down a little bit with some of his decision making. He wished he sought from some really good mentors instead of assuming he was smart and could figure it out. He was in survival mode because he was doing everything people said he couldn't do and so he had a high confidence in himself which eventually led to him losing.
(32:55) Best Time To Create Wealth
There's never going to be a better time than in the next three to five years to create significant net worth with all the disruption going on, with all the distraction going and short of getting a nuclear bomb dropped on our heads, there's never going to be a better time to be in business and and to create a net worth than the next three to five years.
Links:
@brandonmdawson @BDawsonWJBF @Brandon Dawson
Sunday Apr 09, 2023
Taking Control Of Your Personal & Professional Finances #MakingBank #S7E38
Sunday Apr 09, 2023
Sunday Apr 09, 2023
Welcome back to Making Bank. On today's episode, we have Brandon Dawson who is a business scaling turnaround expert and leadership mentor who helps business owners and their teams achieve their personal, professional and financial goals through the growth of their business. He's achieved numerous awards in business such as Achieving the Ink 500, ink 5000, fastest growing companies five times, etc. Today he is the CEO and co-founder branding coaches Cardone Ventures clients using his proven leadership and business.
Make sure to listen to this week’s episode of Making Bank with Brandon Dawson.
(3:49) Background
Brandon talks about how he worked in his parent’s Hearing Business and this was where he really got to learn all the things that helped him kickstart his life as an entrepreneur. He eventually moved out from his parent’s business to start something of his own using all the expertise he gained from that.
(5:56) Important Lessons
Brandon talks about his early life where his dad grounded him and he got an opportunity to allow his fellow classmates to come work at his parent’s farm to raise money instead of him having to do it on his own. He paid them without working at all. This was when he realized that he does not ever want to do work that he can easily pay someone else to do and this was the start of his journey as an entrepreneur.
(10:42) Resilience
Resilience in the human mind is the most important tool. People that punch through regardless of how tough it may be will end up having more stamina, more courage and more guts. A lot of people have gotten to be so soft from their parents, they can't compete against those people who want it really super bad and that affects them in their workforce.
(15:31) How To Be Successful
You need to have a plan. You need to know what you're moving to. Targets are so important and most business owners don't set targets. They build from the inside out. Most people make the mistake of just hoping instead of building a strategy. It is very important to have a clear cut plan to be successful.
(18:47) Growing Your Business
Once you know what you do works, you must always and constantly innovate to be better, to make more money, to improve in your delivery, to improve in your product offering. Most businesses fail even after being successful because they lack innovation and end up getting stale after a few years.
(30:45) Biggest Regret
Brandon’s biggest regret was not slowing down a little bit with some of his decision making. He wished he sought from some really good mentors instead of assuming he was smart and could figure it out. He was in survival mode because he was doing everything people said he couldn't do and so he had a high confidence in himself which eventually led to him losing.
(32:55) Best Time To Create Wealth
There's never going to be a better time than in the next three to five years to create significant net worth with all the disruption going on, with all the distraction going and short of getting a nuclear bomb dropped on our heads, there's never going to be a better time to be in business and and to create a net worth than the next three to five years.
Links:
@brandonmdawson @BDawsonWJBF @Brandon Dawson