The Business of Solving Problems. Brett Swarts

[00:00:00] Bob Wheeler: Welcome to another episode of Money You Should Ask, where everyone has something they can teach you. I’m your host, Bob Wheeler. In this episode, we are going to explore why we do? What we do when it comes to money as a CPA for the past 30 years, wait, let me say 25 because that makes me sound younger. I have seen it all when it comes to money and emotions. And if you think I’m talking about my clients, I’m not.

I’m talking about myself. My relationship with money has been and sometimes still is an emotional roller coaster. Maybe that’s something you’re also familiar with. Good news, you and I are not the only ones. Our next guest is going to share their money beliefs, money blocks and life challenges as well. Buckle your seatbelt and enjoy the ride.

[00:01:06] Bob Wheeler: Our next guest is Brett Swarts. Brett is the founder of Capital Gains Tax Solutions. His company helps people escape feeling trapped by Capital Gains Tax with his deferred sales trust. His experience includes numerous deferred sales trusts, 1031 exchanges, and 88 million in closed commercial real estate brokerage transactions.

He’s an active commercial real estate broker and investor with brokerage experience and ownership in multifamily, senior housing, retail, medical office and mixed use properties. He’s a licensed real estate broker who holds series 22 and 63 licenses. He has also created and hosts a podcast, Capital Gains Tax Solution. Brett, welcome to the show.

[00:01:47] Brett Swarts: Thanks for having me.

[00:01:48] Bob Wheeler: So Brett, I got to ask, how did you get started with helping people with Capital Gains Tax? Was that something like as a five year old you said, Man, I want to help people avoid tax?

[00:02:00] Brett Swarts: No, it’s not. I fell in love with real estate at a young age as a five year old. I fell in love with building wealth throughout my teenage years and had a chance to go to college and study Business Bible and Theology and got a minor in counseling psychology as well take an internship at a place called Marcus and Millichap. But I fell in love with underwriting cash flow, multifamily brokerage on a bigger scale. And so it’s helping people buy and sell to 1031 exchanges. And that was my first introduction to tax deferral and the power of using, you know, pre-tax dollars to grow wealth and to do that in a compounding way over time.

[00:02:35] Brett Swarts: But it wasn’t always that way. You know, 2005, 2006, 2007, all of a sudden, something happened 2008 and there was a crash in the marketplace. And when that happened, it changed my perspective on what tools are actually available. And also thinking outside of the traditional I call blockbuster 1031 box, and looking at more of like the Netflix type of deferred sales trust, Exit Planning for clients. So they can create and preserve our wealth and never have to feel trapped by Capital Gains Tax ever again. And really the story is the marketplace fell apart.

[00:03:06] Brett Swarts: And we had clients, friends and family lose half or everything within a couple of years. And the thing we could identify was the overpaying of the 1031 exchange properties here in Northern California. And we couldn’t help but figure out what went wrong, what we could do better. And that’s when we learned about the deferred sales trust. And I learned about it for the first time. And I started to apply it to clients to solving problems because I always say, Bob, we’re not in the business of selling real estate or tax deferral, actually just in the business of solving problems.

[00:03:32] Brett Swarts: And if you can help enough people solve their problems, your business tends to grow. And so that began the journey of rolling this out educating multifamily owners in Sacramento. And that has grown to a national, we do crypto currency businesses, Premier homes, of course, commercial real estate transaction [inaudible 00:03:47] 1031 exchanges. And it’s a lot of fun, because not all people know about it.

[00:03:50] Bob Wheeler: That sounds really cool. And I would imagine the studying psychology gives you a little edge up than other people, because business for me is relationships. And like you said, it’s about actually solving problems. Versus oh, we’re gonna do this exactly. It’s solving problems, that’s why people come to you because they don’t know how to solve them.

[00:04:08] Bob Wheeler: Now, I have a question. Brett, the 1031 for people that don’t know, is basically this way of deferring the capital gains on one property and move it into another property. My question to you because there has been talk about this, and I won’t hold you to it. But there’s talk about the 1031 going away. And if that 1031 goes away, they’ll still be able to use the tools that you have. What are your thoughts on the 1031 and it’s placed in the tax code?

[00:04:34] Brett Swarts: Well, I think, it’s real estate entrepreneurs or real estate owners or investors or brokers. We all hope that the 1031 does stay and it does look like by the way at the latest I’ve heard that what was proposed to take away is now off the table or mostly off the table. So that’s good news for all of us who love investment, real estate in deferring tax and doing more and more deals. However, the 1031 exchange can also be very frustrating and I actually just did a poll I spoke at a conference last week and I ask, what’s the biggest frustration with the 1031 exchange?

[00:05:01] Brett Swarts: And it was interesting to see the answers and some of the top ones was the shotgun 45 day [inaudible 00:05:07] 180 day wedding, right. You got to get married, engaged in wedding quick. And we all have friends and family got engaged and maybe marry too quickly, right. And that’s part of what this 1031 challenge a shotgun wedding creates this pressure situation where you’re selling high and buying higher 180 days later, and our parents taught us to do the opposite. Bob says sell high and buy low, right, and too often, especially right now in today’s real estate environment, there’s low inventory, very high prices, and lots of money chasing very few deals that make a lot of sense.

[00:05:39] Brett Swarts: And so I love a 1031 when there’s a forced value out appreciation opportunity, where you can go in and buy something on its cash on cash initial return, as well as a chance to grow the rents through forced appreciation opportunities. That’s fantastic. But the challenge with the 1031 is, those are hard to find. Number two, your old depreciation schedule travels which is also a challenge net because one of the number one rays to own real estate is for the depreciation offset the income from the property and potentially even your own income if you can become what’s called a real estate professional, okay.

[00:06:08] Brett Swarts: So and using something called cost segregation. The other thing of the 1030 ones you can’t diversify. You typically selling one asset, moving it into one other asset right. In other words, you can’t go into stocks, bonds, mutual funds, can’t go into hard money lending a new business venture crypto currency, you can’t dollar cost average, you’re doing it all in one single six month period of time. We like to call it blockbusters like going on a Friday night, Bob, you had that movie, you want it to get at the end of the aisle, it’s behind that cardboard box, but somebody grabs it right before you can grab it.

[00:06:37] Brett Swarts: Even if you got that movie at the return within three days. And if you didn’t rewind it, or if you returned it after that time you have a penalty. That’s like the 1031, it’s very restrictive. It doesn’t work for things like crypto currency, like the deferred sales trust is we just helped a client who exited at $50,000 a Bitcoin went up to 50 million. And so she had a large gain. On 1031, you cannot do that. But you can deferred sales trust that. So a 5 million, of that 50 was moved to the trust, I wish tax deferred, she’s able to start a business or her dreams, retired from her W2 big tech job, and now have freedom to do what she wants.

[00:07:13] Brett Swarts: And part of that was because of the tax she was able to defer, which is over a million and a half dollars. And so that’s the main thing. It works for all assets, we did a primary home sale in Palo Alto, 4.3 million. The dentist sale just in New Jersey, just last week, for 1.4 million, they worked for 30 years, they have no basis. They’re about to pay $600,000 at this $1.4 million business sale. But I said having good all the way to charity or not having a 1031, they did a deferred sales trust. Now they’re working with a financial advisor. It’s just a partner of ours, and they’re investing the money to make sense of it. So those are some of the reasons why you would consider the deferred sales trust versus a 1031.

[00:07:47] Bob Wheeler: And I love Brett that, people are coming to you and asking questions. Here’s the important thing. You got to ask the questions before you do the transaction. I just had a client in my office sold a $3 million property and they said, hey, we want to do a 1031 escrow closes in five days. That ship has sort of sailed, and talking about 1030 ones are talking about tax strategies, after the fact are just not as effective as actually figuring out the solutions ahead of time.

[00:08:18] Brett Swarts: Correct. Yeah, I mean, you got it, you got to make sure you’re planning the exit plan before you’re exiting the asset, right. So we always say, underwrite the exit plan first, before you have someone underwrite your property or asset that you’re going to be selling and selling. So there are two separate things and it’s like a Rubik’s Cube, right. I mean, you have all the different colors on different sides. And different people have different challenges are different things. And the goal is to hire the, who don’t be the how go a trusted professionals who can help make the colors of all part of your [inaudible 00:08:43] complicated, as congruent as possible.

[00:08:46] Brett Swarts: And part of that is doing it prior to, so the deferred sales trust does need to be set up prior to unless it’s in a 1031 exchange, we could save a failed 1031 exchange. So that’s a nice bonus here, without having to identify the DST, without pastor 45 days, and you don’t make sure you’re working with a Qualified Intermediary that will cooperate just so you know. But yeah, we do those a lot. But if it’s a business sale, or crypto currency or public or private stock or artwork collectibles, we need to have it in the contract prior to the even the buyer removing all contingencies.

[00:09:18] Brett Swarts: Okay, there’s a thing called constructive receipt, which basically means if you’ve gone too far down a deal, and you’re going to basically received the funds here shortly, nothing’s really holding you back from receiving except for closing, then it’s taxable. But if we can set up the trust prior to, we can get everything lined up properly. And that’s also important because you want to make sure you have a plan for your money because if you don’t have a plan for your money, someone else does, right, to the government definitely he doesn’t have a great plan for it.

[00:09:43] Brett Swarts: They’re going to spend it pretty quickly. And so we just want, we that’s part of why we work with financial advisors, CPAs tax attorneys, my role as a trustee Capital Gains Tax solutions to make sure that this all goes as smooth as possible. We have a great plan in place.

[00:09:57] Bob Wheeler: Now speaking of plans, you are in invested in all kinds of real estate. You’ve got multifamily, you’ve got commercial, you’ve got senior housing. Why is that important? You know, I’m thinking, did that happen in 2008 that you had a shift? Did you decide to diversify into different types of real estate when you were younger?

[00:10:17] Bob Wheeler: You know, if somebody told me five years ago about commercial, I would have said, there’s no way that commercial buildings would ever be sitting empty. And yet today, commercial may not for some people be the best investment just because of world events. How did you decide on your plan, and what motivated that?

[00:10:35] Brett Swarts: Great question. So first of all, I was fortunate enough to not have as much money prior to 2008, I was just in college, just graduating, just getting my life started. And so I had a lot of friends that graduated a couple years prior to me, and they got caught with that big mortgage and that big debt and had to foreclose on their house, right. And all of those things. So it was kind of just to me a blessing that it took us a little while to get going in the business.

[00:11:00] Brett Swarts: And then when we did have the opportunity, (a) we bought our first house, right, and then we renovated that and then we move that into another and took some of the capital there, we invested in some property, (b) as I would do deals as a broker, we had also delayed gratification, and that we would roll sometimes the fees into the property and become a small sliver in a big property, right. And then (c), as I did deals with clients as well, I’d say, oh my gosh, they’re doing it right. They’re not doing as well.

[00:11:26] Brett Swarts: Let me go partner with those that do like the same thing with hiring and who not being the how on investment strategies, tax strategies, and different things like that. We try to find the best track record and experts in that expertise or property. So we said a $7.3 million property in Elk Grove, California, I represented the buyer, client of mine, senior housing memory care, independent living, right, that’s what they do. And I was so just impressed by them, their team, their culture, their performance, their track record, their organization that I said, I raised my hand, I said, Hey, can myself and my dad invest in with you, right.

[00:12:01] Brett Swarts: And we did. And so it’s more so making sure that you believe in the sponsor, and you believe in the property. As that happens, it’s not so much that I was looking for medical office. But, oh my gosh, the opportunity came up at a good time in the marketplace. Next to a hospital, we thought we could get Kaiser to potentially lease out some of the medical office space and the walkability of the property and the asset. This is downtown Sacramento, East Sacramento.

[00:12:26] Brett Swarts: And so it happened to be medical office. And then the sponsor happened to be my mentor and cousin, one of my best friend that worked out. So it’s these little small pieces slowly, that happens to be diversified. And it’s being open to deals and not just feeling like you have to just stick to one thing, if that makes sense.

[00:12:43] Bob Wheeler: Absolutely. Well, I really my take away was being open. If Opportunity Knocks, be ready to act, it doesn’t mean you have to be like I’ve got to act today. But if something comes up that presents itself. The other thing that you just mentioned, was delayed gratification, and you talked about investing with your dad.

[00:13:00] Bob Wheeler: So my question is, is that something that your parents helped nurture? Was that something you discovered on your own, because many people don’t experience delayed gratification, they feel like they’re gonna miss out. And so they’re not looking at long term or in the future. So I’m just curious about that mindset where that came from?

[00:13:21] Brett Swarts: I think that’d be a mix of kind of three things. So it’d be my parents, you know, and their example of hard work, of living wisely with their money, of being more entrepreneurial, of kind of controlling your own destiny, along with sports I learned at a young age, in football, basketball, baseball, and then had the opportunity to play on scholarship, the basketball and in college. And I fell in love with discipline and working as a team and just that putting yourself I’m never football, you come hell weeks, right.

[00:13:52] Brett Swarts: Were you putting yourself at a very high temperatures of 105 degrees here in Sacramento, and it’s all the intensity of all that. You start to build character, maybe a different way. And that really helped me, and then the last one would be by faith, you know, so just growing in my character beyond myself and not relying on myself, but trusting in Jesus and God gave me the power to do things the right way versus just the way that maybe I want to do them right. So those would be the three things that I contribute to that.

[00:14:19] Bob Wheeler: It’s so important, from my perspective, that being intentional and actually having a plan that you can execute or implement, rather than just, hey, let’s throw it out into the wind and see what happens. And so what I’m hearing is some real intentionality is some great modeling, and really like being intentional, and not just, hey, let’s see what happens.

[00:14:42] Bob Wheeler: Have you had any situations where you look back and say, a financial regret. I mean, you were fortunate that the 208 happened while you didn’t have a lot of money, but have there been a couple of those situations or a situation where I sort of missed the boat on that or things got a little bit a different outcome than I expected?

[00:15:00] Brett Swarts: Not really honestly. I mean, most of the stuff that we’ve invested in has done well, and there hasn’t been anything that’s really not least performed to some level of success, fortunately, right. And that’s, again, I part of that is the sponsors, part of us diversify and part of that not going all in by myself, right. I mean, we run the two podcasts to businesses, I got five kids, and we’re focused like a laser on the deferred sales trust, and we’re doing a Capital Gains Tax solution.

[00:15:28] Brett Swarts: So part of that is not I guess, the here’s one thing I did, I think did well was I didn’t try to be a multifamily syndicator operator, as well as run Capital Gains Tax solutions all at once, like, these are two separate businesses, not that you can’t do that. But I said you, I’m gonna burn the ships and just focus like a laser on one thing, and become the best at that, and then partner with others who are doing those things at a high level, versus just doing it by myself. So I don’t necessarily tribute to me, like just making great decisions on investments, because that’s not what I’m saying.

[00:15:56] Brett Swarts: It’s more so not throwing all my money at one thing, right, or one property. So fortunately, it’s been pretty good. I mean, of course, you could say I wish I would have bought a theorem or Bitcoin at a lower price, right. I would have bought more real estate. And when 2009, 2011 you look at those things, like Yeah, I had I done a little like it up a bottle a little bit more. But overall, you know, it’s been a pretty good run so far.

[00:16:20] Bob Wheeler: And how do you figure out which partners you’re going to trust? Like, are there any signs for you, when you’re looking for professional, whether it’s a CPA, whether it’s an investment partner? What are the things that you look for, that might be an indicator that this is going to go well, or is there something that you see and you say, it’s no deal?

[00:16:39] Brett Swarts: A good question. First of all, I have observed and I wait on patient. So, you know, even for my clients, I’m not recommending or putting them in front of people that I don’t either (a) know, like, and trust, and or (b) have already personally invested with alongside of, or have clients that instantly have millions of dollars with these other big groups. And so those are, that’s kind of an initial foundation, then the next one of us being integrity, right. , as a thing called a book called the “Ideal Team Player”, and it’s by Patrick Lencioni.

[00:17:11] Brett Swarts: And he talks about three concepts humble, hungry, and smart. Are they humble and open to being wrong? Are they humble and be open to criticism, or do they know their strengths? And they also focus on it? Are they hungry? Like are they, they’re really passionate about what they do and why they’re doing it, who they’re serving? Right. And they working harder, perhaps, than anybody else in the space?

[00:17:31] Brett Swarts: And then three, are they smart, and it’s not especially the IQ, it’s the EQ and able to connect well with others. So I usually just, I’m pretty patient, I kind of observe I try to be the tortoise versus the hare. And as I get to know, somebody, as I see their actual deals, I see their track record as either closings, I see the results that I’m more likely to say yeah, like to jump in with you. So it’s a mix between watching, observing and seeing a track record.

[00:17:55] Bob Wheeler: That’s great advice. I sometimes am so slow, that I missed the deals. Because I agonize and agonize, I probably sometimes overthink. And fortunately, I’ve had a good couple of partners that just sort of pushed me at the right time into a couple of decisions of investments. Whereas if I left my own devices, I probably would have missed the deadline, I would have just been late to the party. Now I have a question. You’ve got five kids. Do they get everything they want?

[00:18:24] Brett Swarts: No chance. Yeah, now, that’s so we run a pretty tight ship. And we were public school kids growing up, now we homeschool our kids. So we’re very intentional about their education, and their journey, and their faith journey and their athletic journey, educational journey, all that mix together. So that’s the beauty of having a Rockstar mom and a very dedicated dad, and working as a team to make sure that they’re not getting everything they want. But they’re hopefully getting what they need.

[00:18:50] Bob Wheeler: Oh, absolutely. Two different things, and probably what they need is more important than what they want. How do you talk with your kids about money? I’m curious, because more and more, you know, sometimes I’ll hear, wow, gosh, intentional parenting is so hard. It’s a lot of work, it is. But again, delayed gratification, you get to see your children grow and flourish, knowing that you’re actually putting in the time now to really give them the tools. How do you talk with your kids about money?

[00:19:18] Brett Swarts: You know, it’s talking, but it’s more so leading by example, right. We have the, we’re very fortunate to be able to do what we do and how we do it. And they’re there with us the majority of the time. And so, you know, my brother and I, we’d grow up with my parents are divorced at young age, but we’d spend time with my dad at the job site and we’d wake up at 6am and be on the job site by about 6:37.

[00:19:41] Brett Swarts: And we’d worked all the way until about 5, and we got to see the project from start to finish over the weeks and weeks and months and months of development of a project and in absorb that type of entrepreneurial you know, have your own business, grow your wealth, cash flow, you know, rentals and so on. We speak to them about those types of concepts of, hey, what if you could trade trading time for dollars? What if dollars could give you time?

[00:20:07] Brett Swarts: Well, what if you could own real estate and enough real estate that you never have to work ever again and you can give to causes you believe in and you can travel and rewind to? One of my daughters is an artist and she loves to create artistic work, and so and draw and all these different things. And so what if you didn’t ever have to work for something you don’t want to do. And so we try to instill that inspiration of why it’s important to learn about finances and money, as well.

[00:20:34] Brett Swarts: We’ve been doing some Ethereum mining. And I like that because it’s kind of a hobby, but it’s also very practical and tangible. It’s hands on. We build these, we call them rigs, and they’re expensive. And basically what they’re doing is they’re mining crypto currency and in particular Ethereum. And so the kids can see touch and feel and say, and look at the app on dad’s phone that says the cash flow came in this month, and the cash flow that came in this month, and is working 24/7.

[00:20:58] Brett Swarts: It’s a 24/7 reminder of that is cash flow that we’re just spinning our day and happens to be in the corner of the house and the other corner of the house building cash flow and wealth for the family. Now there’s real cost risk involved and they don’t quite understand all of it. Neither do I as far as crypto currency, right. It’s real. And it’s happening and it’s proving cashflow. And so we explain all those things. So yeah, so it’s a mix. And of course you read them books like “The Rich Dad Poor Dad” book, and we read them the rich parent’s smart kid book, and we just try to instill with them the financial stuff that we wish we would have learned at a very young age.

[00:21:33] Bob Wheeler: Absolutely. I think that’s so wonderful that you’re spending that time and teaching them and actually modeling it, which is probably much more impactful than just hearing it.

[00:21:46] Brett Swarts: A 100%. Like anything kids, their attention span is very short. They’re interested what they’re interested in, right, you can try to sit down and teach them something. One of the biggest misconceptions about homeschooling is people think it’s like school from home, or we’re just sitting on the whiteboard, teaching them stuff. And it’s like, complete opposite. Some people might do that, but maybe the old school way, it’s really about immersing them in something that they really love. And then teaching the concepts of education along those sides.

[00:22:09] Brett Swarts: And helping them inspire them and whatever they’re doing. And then of course, you got to get tangible on some stuff as well, very practical. But kids want to learn through observing and growing, being inspired, not by just a whiteboard, or a PowerPoint presentation. Although some people that works for but most kids like my kids are very active, they’re moving fast, their brain and their questions, and they’re where they’re going is 100 miles an hour. And so we’re trying to create environments for them to learn on their own, versus just telling them what to learn.

[00:22:37] Bob Wheeler: You mentioned two things that, of course, always piqued my interest. You talked about travel, and charitable works, giving to causes. Why do you think I’m just gonna make an assumption here, that it is important giving back and doing charitable and giving the causes that are important to you. Why is that important to you? And the same about travel, is that an important component of educating yourself or your kids? How did those two pieces impact your life?

[00:23:04] Brett Swarts: Yeah, so I mean, giving to me is a way to know that and teach yourself and remind yourself that this world is so much bigger than just ourselves, right. And so if we have a chance to give back and make a difference in someone else’s life, through our time, through our talents, through our wealth, they can make an impact for somebody else. And honestly, that’s the most exciting part about life and marriage and kids and other things is being able to use the gifts and talents we’ve been given to be a blessing to others.

[00:23:31] Brett Swarts: I think there’s a success formula or fulfillment formula that I’ve heard and it goes something like this, that unique gift that we’ve been given. We’ve all been given maybe a couple gifts, strength superpowers, I think their God given gifts may be given to us, that’s the first thing. Second thing would be, how do you maximize the potential of that gift? And this is part of also why we homeschool is because we want to hopefully identify the unique gifts, inspire those for our kids, and help them develop the maximum potential of those gifts, and was leaving to the third component, which is and how do we use those gifts to make an impact for others?

[00:24:02] Brett Swarts: And we kind of take that all-encompassing that by there’s a reason that we’re here bigger than ourselves, we believe, right. And it’s God, it’s the mission He’s given us to do with these gifts to be a blessing to others. All of that together equals fulfillment, right. And so if any one point, we’re not using those gifts, we’re not maximizing the potential because we’re not making a bigger impact on other people. We don’t think there’s a higher purpose for this, we’re not just here by accident, then that part of that fulfillment, or the success formula is going to be missing, something’s going to be off. And so giving and developing these gifts, and doing these things is foundational to life to fulfillment to success.

[00:24:38] Brett Swarts: And so that’s the giving part as well. You know, I believe in the Bible, so we want to give a percentage of our wealth to causes and, and above and beyond that to when opportunities arise. That’s also part of that. The next part as far as traveling, I think travel is great because it opens up again, this idea that it’s not just about us in a small town in Northern California. It’s a big world out there with a lot of needs for a lot of challenges, a lot of inspiration a lot to learn from. And as you immerse yourself in different cultures and different places of the world, and different ideas, they can also inspire you to go make a big difference and get back more on your next part of your journey.

[00:25:14] Bob Wheeler: What do you want your legacy to be?

[00:25:16] Brett Swarts: I think you break that down into kind of a couple different places. So first of all, for my family that that would be my opportunity to change the family tree. So I mentioned that in the beginning, the family growing up, parents married, everything’s going great big money in Silicon Valley, east of the Bay Area houses, corvettes, Harley’s boats, really cool parents got divorced. And I went from like, tons of wealth to being with my mom most of the time, and like no wealth, I mean, like zero.

[00:25:45] Brett Swarts: And so I got to see both sides of the life and worldviews and beliefs and the destruction that can cause when you’re living certain ways. And so that destruction, I wanted to change the family tree for my family, for my dedication to my wife, my kids, and living in a way that forever changes the family. So I think that would be the first thing with my family. As far as business, you know, I want to make a difference in the lives of people who feel trapped either in their wealth and their exceeding of their wealth.

[00:26:14] Brett Swarts: And as a business professional, who wants to help people in a way that’s transformational. That’s bigger than just the traditional ways of doing things, right. I’ve always been pretty entrepreneurial, think outside the box, and challenge the norm. And I want to empower people with that strategy, because I was once in their shoes, barely making it work in the side job, hustle Cheesecake Factory, 70 hour per weeks, basketball tournaments, people tell me go quit Marcus and Millichap, you know, stop working in real estate, it’s going to be so hard. But I believed in that, and then that tool helped me to change the trajectory of my career.

[00:26:47] Brett Swarts: And now I’m on this side of success. But it’s like not with all the heartache. So I want to try to help them speed up that process. But also know that they too can find something that they can connect with, and help other people. The last one would be just do my faith, I want to make sure that at the end of my life, I have no regrets in regards to following Jesus following my Christian beliefs, knowing that I was all in and committed to what I believe God had for my life. And for my family, and for my business.

[00:27:12] Bob Wheeler: I appreciate you sharing that I feel like your legacy has already been set, you’re doing the work. And I think for me, what’s also important is sharing this place where you’ve had the experience of not having it all, or having it all and then not having it so that that’s a place where it can be relatable. I think sometimes people as they get into their new wealth, they have a story that everybody else already had it that nobody can understand what it’s like to struggle, and it sounds like you’ve experienced both worlds, which makes it a lot more relatable.

[00:27:42] Bob Wheeler: Because a lot of this stuff is highbrow stuff when you start talking, you know, deferring capital gains and high net worth. For some people, you know, you even talked about this. But some people, they have all this wealth, but they still have all this fear, or they still don’t know how to do the exit strategy, or they just don’t know. And they’re embarrassed to ask maybe and you come in and provide a service that actually is relational that helps people to actually get maximum value out of their finances and out of hopefully out of their life and their legacy.

[00:28:14] Brett Swarts: Thanks, Bob. Yeah, is exactly what we’re doing every day trying to achieve to try to make better every day for everyone who’s connected with us and the chances we have an opportunity to serve them.

[00:28:22] Bob Wheeler: That’s great. We are at Fast Five, Brett. Fast Five brought to you by Acorns, which is where you can invest spare change, banks smarter, save for retirement and much more. For more information, you can check out the episode show notes. Brett, what financial mistake do you wish you could go back and undo besides crypto currency maybe?

[00:28:42] Brett Swarts: Yeah, now buying it earlier, right. So I mean, we did the Dave Ramsey plan, right. We did that for 26 months, we paid off all of our debt like $16,000 and established that when we first got married, so glad we did that. It’s not so much a mistake as it I wish I just bought more real estate or bought more crypto, right. Bob, when I just find a way to buy more partner with more people, right. I think in the beginning, I tried to do it on my own and then figured out that I can do with partners and just get started early on that investment purchase of real estate or crypto currency.

[00:29:11] Bob Wheeler: Do you think money more often solves problems or causes problems?

[00:29:15] Brett Swarts: You know, money I think definitely reveals some of the character flaws that we have or some of the habits that we should update or change or modify. So in the right hands with the right people, the right time at the right amount of freedom and flexibility can change the world, right. I think it’s entrepreneurs and folks that have money with our families and our wealth, we have an opportunity to give to the causes we believe in most that makes sense for each individual family, and that is the power of money.

[00:29:45] Brett Swarts: But if it’s in those who maybe haven’t earned it or aren’t held accountable to it, and or who take it for granted, and are aren’t being good stewards with it, then it could be a huge [inaudible 00:29:56] problem. So yeah, so I guess the answer is both just depends on the integrity of the person.

[00:30:00] Bob Wheeler: Yeah, absolutely. Of everything you’ve done in your life, what’s the one thing that you’re the most proud of that you’ve done for yourself?

[00:30:07] Brett Swarts: Man, I just gotta say, choosing or being blessed with the love of my life, Melanie, and then subsequently the five children we’ve had. So I mean, they’re my pride and joy. The reason I’m working so hard, and so I’d say, my wife, my children.

[00:30:24] Bob Wheeler: Yeah, that’s great. Can you describe your relationship with money in three words?

[00:30:29] Brett Swarts: My relationship with money, committed, focused, and generous.

[00:30:35] Bob Wheeler: Love it, love it. Many people feel that money is stressful. When was the last time you felt excited about your finances? I’m gonna say probably all the time.

[00:30:45] Brett Swarts: You know, it was five kids, I’d say it’s ever changing, right. Like people go, how do you have five kids? I’m like, I don’t know. I’ll tell you when they’re all 18 and still alive and going well, right. Like, it’s like, they’re expensive, right. I mean, what was it? Their ICUs their income consuming units, right? And so our youngest sister oldest is 11, and we’re doing jujitsu. We’re doing soccer. You know, we’ve got extracurricular activities. We’ve got three, four travel. I mean, flying on planes, they’re really expensive, going Disneyworld.

[00:31:13] Brett Swarts: I mean, there’s certain things you’re just like, hey, these kids are expensive. So it’s stressful just to keep the budget in line and organized because it’s ever moving. Like, it’s so simple. When you know, I had a W2 job in the back that’s like, I make ‘X’ they take out tax, I live on ‘Y’ I’m single, like easy, like, boom, I can give this much I did it. And then you be an entrepreneur, your incomes growing and things are going in incomes coming from investments, and then you have kids that are growing.

[00:31:37] Brett Swarts: So it’s just like this a Rubik’s Cube again right, where you’re trying to get this whole thing all organized. And so I just say that, that’s that can be stressful. I’m very detailed, and I’m very structure oriented. And when there’s all these moving parts, sometimes it’s hard to get that structure back under balance. So that is stressful. So I’d just say I mean, we’re not clear on our budget when my wife and I’m not clear on our budget that’s stressful.

[00:31:59] Bob Wheeler: Yeah, absolutely. And budgets are important, at least from my perspective. We’re at the M&M portion of the show the money and motivation. Is there a financial tip, or a piece of wealth, wisdom, you could share with the listeners, you know, you talked about budgeting and stuff, what’s something that you find is really useful?

[00:32:17] Brett Swarts: Yeah, it’s a quote by [inaudible 00:32:18] states “Learn to work harder on yourself than you do on your job, to work on your job, you’ll make a living, record on yourself, you’ll make a fortune”. And the idea is not just about money, although that’s really cool. Because you can earn a lot so you can support your family and give to the causes you believe in and have financial freedom and all those really neat things.

[00:32:45] Brett Swarts: The idea is to become more of who we were created to be, and to grow in those qualities of our character, and our integrity, and our leadership, and our health, and our finances, and our wealth, and all the other things that are faith that are so important in life. And when we become more than we have an opportunity to earn and give more and that’s so that’s the idea. So instead of focusing on the outcome of what you want, focus on external focus on the internal of who you want to become, and work harder on that, then you do anything else.

[00:33:10] Brett Swarts: And so I wish I would have known that concept in high school, and they just talked about getting kids get the a’s and the b’s pass the LSAT, today, you know, get the team captain, be the starter on the team, all those things are the things that the world is going to tell you, then you go to college, get the degree and then you go to work and get that promotion, and then you get you know, close the commission deal, and then make this amount of money.

[00:33:29] Brett Swarts: Those are all external, those external things are just temporary. But what’s lasting is the eternal qualities of your character and the decisions we make. And so that would be the thing I would say about money and money is going to be attracted to those who are solving problems and using their gifts at the highest level, and that’s the key. So you don’t start with trying to get, he start with trying to become

[00:33:49] Bob Wheeler: That is very well said. You know, like what I really appreciated about this conversation is, and I maybe I had a little bias going into this, but our perception is that it’s really not about how do we make lots of lots of money. It’s really about how do we live in our abundance intentionally, like I really hear this piece about intentionality, delayed gratification, being the tortoise versus the hare, taking it at the pace, that’s right.

[00:34:16] Bob Wheeler: And being able to connect with your faith, being able to connect with paying it forward, giving to others and this piece about building internally, it just feels so important. Because a lot of that external stuff is just temporary. It feels like our whole world depends on making some of these marks. And at the end of the day, our legacy is our integrity. It’s what we leave behind for who we are not for what we’ve accomplished in terms of finances.

[00:34:45] Brett Swarts: Yeah, you got it, but it’s also great to make a lot of money to bless others too, right. It’s a good scorecard, right.

[00:34:50] Bob Wheeler: Absolutely, absolutely.

[00:34:52] Brett Swarts: It’s both right, so…

[00:34:54] Bob Wheeler: Absolutely. There’s nothing wrong with making lots of money. I just love that the dial is shifted more on being of service and abundance, and having that financial freedom, versus I got to make more money than everybody else and try and take everybody out. And I’m not hearing that at all. I’m hearing about team building and teams. And for me, that’s just an inspiring model for people to.

[00:35:17] Brett Swarts: Thanks Bob.

[00:35:18] Bob Wheeler: Yeah, appreciate it. Where can people find you on social media on the Internet online?

[00:35:22] Brett Swarts: Go to capitalgainstaxsolutions.com, you can also search YouTube and our Facebook, as well as Instagram and also LinkedIn. And of course, our website, YouTube, yeah, those are all the ones capitalgainstaxsolutions.com. And if you’re a business professional, and you’re looking to level up, you can go to experttaxsecrets.com as well.

[00:35:41] Brett Swarts: And then also mentioned to be coming out with a brand new book, and it’s called “Building a Tax Deferred Exit Strategy”, the proven playbook for unlocking your ideal wealth plan when selling assets of any kind for yourself or your clients. And we have some cool people in here, like Kevin Harrington from Shark Tank, he’s chapter one, which is awesome. He agreed to be in the book, and a number of other really smart people in multifamily investing, financial advising, as well as I have a chapter two in there as well about the deferred sales trust.

[00:36:10] Bob Wheeler: Well, awesome. We’ll be share and put that up on the website and in the show notes. And you also have a podcast, if you could just say that podcast name again that’d be great.

[00:36:18] Brett Swarts: Capital Gains Tax. Listen to the podcast, if you can search that on iTunes, yep.

[00:36:23] Bob Wheeler: Awesome. Awesome. Well, I so appreciate having this conversation. Thanks for joining us. Thanks for sharing, and I wish you well.

[00:36:30] Brett Swarts: Thank you, Bob. Pleasure to be here.

[00:36:32] Bob Wheeler: Pleasure.

[00:36:39] CLOSING: We hope you enjoyed this episode. Did you learn something new about your relationship to money today? Maybe you have a friend who has some financial blocks or beliefs that are holding them back. Please share this podcast so they too can get off the roller coaster ride of financial fears and journey towards financial freedom. To learn how to have a healthy relationship with money, visit themoneynerve.com, that’s nerve not nerd. We’ll be back next week with another perspective on ‘money and the emotions that bind us’.