Why Owning Your Time Is the Ultimate Power Move with Zach Richards

[00:00:00] Hector: What's going on? I hope this episode finds you well, and as always, I hope this episode leaves you better than when it found you. Today's episode was Zach Richards, and he is a real estate investor. Well, he is a real estate investor, but it's different than what you might expect, and we get into that on the show.

[00:00:47] Hector: And really what today's conversation is, there's a great dialogue about providership and the importance. Of being a provider, why and how, and all the sorts of things. And , it's something that's especially poignant for me because I know that this is an area of, of masculinity. This was part of, being a man that I, I didn't see.

[00:01:10] Hector: And so hopefully this conversation can wake up someone soon enough. So. Anyways, y'all, enough of me. Let's get into today's episode with Zach.

[00:01:21] Hector: Masculinity podcast. Thank being my,

[00:01:26] Zach: Thanks for having me. I'm really excited about this.

[00:01:29] Hector: take us into your world.

[00:01:32] Hector: Your household is full, right? You know, you got a couple of dogs, you're married, , you know, you have your own sort of business that running. But take us into your world and what, sort of challenges or, , obstacles are you still sort of facing as a.

[00:01:47] Zach: Sure. Yeah. So I'll just give a little bit of background about myself and, , we'll go from there. So my originally. O background was in software development as a software engineer for about 10 years, and then back in 2020 I, you know, kind of got bored of that. It was obviously during the pandemic.

[00:02:05] Zach: Everybody's working from home, and I just wanted more, you know, so I'd always been interested in business and real estate. So in 2020 I started what is called, , private lending, which just to give a brief background, I don't want to go into. Too much detail But you know, if you've ever seen on the side of the highway, those we buy houses, cash signs, well, those people do buy houses cash.

[00:02:29] Zach: They just don't use their own cash. They usually borrow what's called private money. So it's people that lend money to real estate investors and started doing that with some of my own money. And then from there it grew to friends and family. And now we have investors whose money we lend out for them and they get.

[00:02:48] Zach: A passive return on, their money, and it's backed by real estate. So I started doing that more formally over the last few years. And, , then it's really turned into a business. I never thought it was gonna get that big when it started, and, , it's pretty exciting. So that's like the business side of my world.

[00:03:04] Zach: And, , personally, I live in the mountains of New Hampshire with my wife. We live on about 40 acres of land. We just built a house last year moved into that. And, , we've got our two dogs. we have no kids now, but we've got our hands full with everything that, , we're working on.

[00:03:20] Hector: 40 acres. Sounds like it could keep you busy, for sure.

[00:03:23] Zach: Yes.

[00:03:25] Hector: Yeah. Take me back into that. You you said it was 2020, was that decision easy? cause that's a total pivot.

[00:03:32] Hector: It's like, job, maybe security standard, right? Kind of, let's call it the typical route. Go get a great job, pays you really well, you know, all these sort of benefits. And then to kind of 180 and go out this. different. Nontraditional was.

[00:03:55] Zach: That's a really good question, and I think the answer to that is yes, but. Only because now thinking back on it over the last five years is it really was just a bunch of small decisions that I made in a row. Like it was a big pivot. Definitely. But, you know, thinking back on it, the first step was, , the.

[00:04:16] Zach: House behind us actually, , got sold to a, a real estate investor and I was just poking around on like the records and seeing what happened to the house. And I saw that somebody lent the person a hundred thousand dollars to do the flip. And I thought, oh, that's interesting. I wonder what. This like Lending World is all about.

[00:04:33] Zach: So I started doing some reading. Right? Okay. That's pretty easy to do. And then I found a podcast. Listen to that. Okay. Listening to a a podcast is pretty easy. And then I thought, okay, this is interesting. And I found an attorney locally that, represents lenders that do this. And then, you know, sitting down with him for an hour was easy.

[00:04:51] Zach: And then so it was just a bunch of like steps that. At the time was definitely, , you know, kind of scary getting into a totally different world, especially a world of, you know, you're giving somebody money that you worked hard for and you're basically hoping you get it back. I mean, of course there's documents and all that stuff that we put into place, but conceptually that's what you're doing.

[00:05:10] Zach: So it definitely took some, time and some mental, , I know thinking about it to realize that this is what I wanted to do. Once I started doing it and I had people coming to me who wanted to put money out and I had people coming to me that wanted to borrow, it kind of just got to a point where it was easier to keep going than it was to stop.

[00:05:31] Zach: And so then I kind of said, okay, I guess I'm in this now.

[00:05:35] Hector: Yeah, one of the things that I've been studying mostly for like my own sort of transformation or my own, you know, evolution, but I obviously, I think it applies to everybody, is this shifting in identity The things that I've done or that I've kind of like, right? For, myself, like my, physique and my fitness, I've, lost a lot of, , body fat.

[00:05:54] Hector: I've, you know, put on a lot of muscles, started training martial arts, like all these things happened, and I was able to stay consistent with them because I, saw myself in a different way. And I'm, curious if that, identity shift happened kind of below the radar and you sort of just looked up and were kind of in it.

[00:06:09] Hector: Or if there were moments of like, moments of indecision maybe of like whether or not you're able to do this or can you, put it all together or is it gonna work? Like, did that sort of stuff kind of bubble up in that transition?

[00:06:21] Zach: It did and I, it was actually funny you say this. I was talking about this with somebody last week and saying that, yeah, at the time you don't really notice yourself. Changing, but then when you look back, you really see the difference. And I mean, I was, like I said at the beginning, a, a software engineer.

[00:06:36] Zach: I worked from home, I worked with the same 10 people every single day. And I was more stereotypically. Introverted. And five years ago, the thought of going on a podcast, for example, would been something that never even crossed my mind, that something I would, you know, have done or been or enjoy doing.

[00:06:52] Zach: And so I've noticed that like over time, that's definitely changed. Like owning your own business, you're obviously doing sales, right? That's how you get clients and that's how it works. And, and I mean, sales not like. What you think of like a car salesman, I just mean you're, selling yourself.

[00:07:06] Zach: You're selling what you're doing and that involves going out and talking to people and going to network events and meeting people. And that's definitely a change that I've noticed that, okay, if I'm really gonna do this, I need to be. Comfortable talking to people and putting myself out there. And it definitely was hard at first, but I've noticed that change very slowly over time.

[00:07:28] Zach: And then, each day you don't notice a difference. But then, you know, when you think back on it, you say, wow, I definitely have, you know, changed, you know, my identity and becoming the type of person that you know is able to start their own business. And I've definitely felt that.

[00:07:43] Zach: and it took a long time. It took me a long time to get comfortable with it. And then I can't even think of a single point where it flipped in my head. It was just something like, all right, I have to do this. Like I used to go to local networking events and like barely talk to anybody. And then obviously you leave and you don't feel like you got much out of it.

[00:08:00] Zach: So next time it's like, all right, let me just go and talk to five people. You know, something like that. You kind of, sometimes you gamify it to yourself to make it. , easier to do and then, yeah, I, I've noticed that habits have been huge for.

[00:08:13] Hector: Yeah, generally, you know, I feel like very competent and that willingness to, be incompetent, right, to kind of go through that phase of like being a beginner or being a new person or a new newbie at something, a new right from

[00:08:30] Hector: something a.

[00:08:34] Hector: As they sort of age, right? They, so they kind of get stuck in their ways, or I've been doing this or I'm this type person and the, ability to sort of try on a new identity, you know, it's kinda like that old dog new tricks thing. I think it, can be more challenging as we sort of progress in life.

[00:08:49] Zach: Yeah, I think you're absolutely right and I've been, especially now doing this, I've been around a lot of business owners and one thing that I've really noticed is even business owners that are in their sixties and that have been doing this for a long time is they're very, I. Humble and they're willing to admit they don't know something.

[00:09:06] Zach: And you know, if you run your own business, you're not somebody that's doing everything. You have to know you know, who to go to for help. Like, for example, for me and my business, I work with a lot of attorneys and various other, like, title companies, things like that. And you don't have to have all the answers, but you have to be willing to ask questions.

[00:09:25] Zach: Learn something new or, anything like that. I feel like that's where you kind of run into trouble, and so I, I totally agree.

[00:09:31] Hector: Did you always feel like you could move money around and be someone who can, you All of a sudden be in control of money and utilize money as opposed to what I think so many people.

[00:09:43] Hector: And you know, what I was kind of born into is this, like they're slave to the money, right? they use it for their expenses and their kind of minimal. But once you realize that it can be a tool and it can be this avenue for, you know, other things, , it seems you always.

[00:09:59] Zach: It definitely was something that I had to learn. Like I didn't grow up with money. mean, we were middle class. My, mom is a nurse, my dad's a firefighter, so we were fine, but we never, like, you know, we went on some vacations a year, but we were never rich at all. And, my parents always talked about money, but it was more of.

[00:10:23] Zach: do as I say and not as I do. Like they talked about investing and things like that, but it wasn't something they really did. So I didn't really get into money as a concept, so to speak, until college when, , I was, you know, got interested in investing and that kind of stuff. And then it really was a new world to get to.

[00:10:43] Zach: And I think that in this country, the attitude around money is completely backwards. Like money is something that people avoid talking about. And what I've noticed among a lot of business owners is I talk about money a lot, and it's not at all like talking about how much money people have. That's not something that people talk about, but more of as a tool.

[00:11:04] Zach: Like, oh, these are the types of things I'm investing in. These are the types of deals I'm doing, whatever. And people are just much more willing to have that conversation and.

[00:11:12] Zach: It's a lot easier to learn about. 'cause money is a concept and it's a complicated concept just like anything else. And it's so backwards to me that it's something that, culturally there certain people don't wanna talk about. And then people are surprised when they don't fully understand like all the different aspects of like their personal finances and everything like that.

[00:11:35] Zach: And I think it's just, it's not a good thing that, that's a attitude that a lot people have.

[00:11:41] Hector: Now the listeners are getting the bingo card. Here it goes. I grew up Catholic, as all the listeners know, 'cause I've mentioned hundreds of times there and, one of. , Maxim, if you will, is that money is the root of all evil and something that's sort of, the subconscious of that.

[00:11:58] Hector: group think is that rich people are evil and that there's some weird thing there. And so I was listening to , an audio book today that was sort of about the, it's not the psychology of money, although that is a great book and a great audio book. It was something in that veil and it was talking about, you know, our money stories.

[00:12:14] Hector: And I realized that that's sort of the thing that I had been running around with. That having lots of money makes you a bad person, right? the rich are bad. and I sat there and thinking, I'm like, I believe this and don't believe it at the same time. Or that I have this sort of belief that this programming that's running, .

[00:12:32] Hector: It's frankly not something that I want to have, and I think that there's so many guys out there that whether it's that sort of programming or a scarcity mindset or I'm not good enough, or I can't sell or whatever it is, there's these sort of subconscious programmings that are preventing us from experiencing the prosperity that I think we all sort of want serve.

[00:12:51] Zach: Sure. Yeah. And I think that money is just a tool, and I think it exaggerates what type of person you are. I think if you're a good person and. you come into a lot of money, whether you earn it or inherit it or whatever, I think you'll be more of a good person. If you're a bad person and you come into a lot of money, then you'll be more of a bad person.

[00:13:10] Zach: So I think money is just a magnifier. And so I think that everybody's heard that, money is the root of all evil, but isn't the actual quote, the love of money is the root of all evil. Is that right? I'm pretty sure, I, that's the real truth, is like when people. Become obsessed with money to that point that it certainly goes too far, but, you know, money can definitely be used to help people.

[00:13:33] Zach: Right. And, it's just what your attitude is.

[00:13:35] Hector: Yeah, it's definitely sort of an attitude and a mindset and it's interesting that you talk about this, talking about, , money taboo. Like it seems like the things that are.

[00:13:46] Hector: Beneficial for us to talk about. And the things that are beneficial for us to, have conversations and dialogue about are the exact things that are, taboo. And if guys aren't willing to sort of buck out of those norms or standards, I feel like it keeps them stuck in wherever they're at and doesn't allow that mobility that you've, so greatly, , exemplified if you'll.

[00:14:09] Zach: I think you're right and I think that, you know, one of the things you talk about a lot in your podcast is like, you know, being a man and like, think one of the things that's important as a man, of course is taking care of your family, and that means that. You you've gotta earn, you've gotta save.

[00:14:23] Zach: And God forbid What are you gonna do if something happens to you and you leave Nothing, you know, behind, like for your family to, be okay? And I think that that's part of the issue that, you know, people don't talk about it. And I know a lot of. Blue collar people that have been working very hard for a very long time and they're close to retirement and they don't have much savings or whatever, and it's just, it's sad really.

[00:14:48] Hector: Yeah, and that's another one of those programmings that I'm like, wow, how the fuck did that get in there? And that's this like 50 50 mentality of like, you know, guys pay. 50 and you know, half and half. And I don't know where I sort of picked that up, but I remember sort of coming into my, failed marriage, , thinking like, oh, that's the way it's supposed to be in 20 something.

[00:15:09] Hector: Right? And being like, well, she, should be. Contributing or whatever it is. And now as I'm sitting on the back end of all this,

[00:15:22] Hector: , my ex-wife was a very girl boss, independent woman's and she's great at what she does and, and, you know, very talented professional. And so I said, okay, that's, where we're at. You know, it's 50 50. That's, what everybody, you know, says we should be doing.

[00:15:37] Hector: And only to look up and realize how flaw that mindset and that thinking was because. Doing exactly what you were saying and providing for Right. Thinking like, oh, that's not my role. I hopefully I can save some guys if they are so backwards to be, have that belief that I had that, even if their partner wants to be 50 50, I don't know, like we're not here to talk about traditional sort of marriages or whatever, but like somebody, the one who is, has the masculine energy should be providing for the family? and we can talk about all the other reasons, but there, it just seems like that's forgotten in the culture that we, found ourselves in.

[00:16:16] Zach: .

[00:16:16] Zach: Yeah. And I, I think you're right. Like with my wife, like I'm the one that works and she stays home and we had a conversation about this, when I was gonna start this business and I said, look, I'm gonna have to work really hard for. Long time to do this, and I still am gonna have to keep my day job for a while.

[00:16:38] Zach: And the only way this is gonna work is you know, if you're willing to help, like with the stuff around the house. And I'm, I don't mean this like I told her this. No. We had a conversation and she was, she was working for a real estate company at the time doing. stay home, take care of you, take care of the dogs, take care of the house, all this stuff. That's what I enjoy doing, is taking care of my family. And I said, okay, well I enjoy doing this and going out working and starting this business. And it was, the easiest deal we made and it was an explicit deal that we agreed to and I. bringing this up for yourself and you're, I'm not the one telling you to do this. And she said, no, this is what I want to do. And I said, okay, well this is what I want do. And it just worked out that way, and it's been great.

[00:17:30] Hector: I heard somewhere that that's kind of the root of providing, right? Is it comes from provision. And that the,, you know, pro and vision, right? The ability to see forward, the ability to see, you know, sort of into the future and to your point, be ready and be prepared and.

[00:17:47] Hector: I don't know why, but just in my, you know, sort of nineties millennial upbringing, like that wasn't part of what being a man was. And I'm like, how did, how did we miss this? how did I miss this? key part of what allows a woman to, be feminine, to be, Safe in that sort of environment.

[00:18:08] Hector: And I'm just, I'm just hoping that guys aren't missing this, this huge thing because for me it's something that came way too late.

[00:18:15] Zach: Yeah, I think you're right. And I think that's definitely something I've had in mind is, you know, doing this, sometimes you have great months and then some nights you, or some months you don't, and then you're like, okay, now I've gotta, at first I was, I still am like. Careful what I say to her because like, if she's home and, you know, not working, I don't want her to like, feel powerless about like, you know, what's going on.

[00:18:38] Zach: And, but then at the same time, like, you know, I definitely wanna, tell my wife what's going on. Right? So it's just been an interesting, like, dynamic to have and to have that feeling. And definitely like there's a lot of stress involved when you're the one that's providing for your family for sure.

[00:18:54] Hector: I'd just love to hear a little bit more about how you navigated that. decision that, hey, just to oversimplify things, you are gonna be the provider, she's gonna be , the nurture, right. The care, like, Are there any things that you've learned now that those are the roles, is there anything else that, creates harmony, for each of you, despite the fact that, you know, you maybe each of you are, in your lanes, and I don't know if helpless is maybe a good word, but like you're sort of giving up ownership to that other part.

[00:19:22] Hector: Like how has that dance gone or, or how have you guys made that work?

[00:19:26] Zach: Yeah, it's a great. Great question and it's definitely something we've both had to try at like every relationship is work and you know, if you just coast, then that's when problems happen. and it's maybe a simple example, but I think it illustrates the point of, like, for example, when she's the one that cooks, most of the time, I do cook when I can 'cause I enjoy it, but she does all the dishes and stuff, for example.

[00:19:46] Zach: But when we go on vacation and I take time off work, if we go somewhere, we rent a house and we just did this last month, like. She doesn't wanna cook for people and make dinner because that's her job and that's what she does every day. And you know, and like, this is a really good point I'm taking time off work. I Had to be more intentional about, it's like, all right, when we go on vacation, yeah, we'll go out to eat. things like that.

[00:20:12] Zach: Or like, we went on a cruise earlier this year and it's like, all right, we will pay the 50 bucks or whatever it is to have the cruise, do all the laundry at the end of the trip so that when we get home we don't have two suitcases full of dirty clothes that now you, have to deal with. And I definitely do laundry once. jobs. And I, I mean that as like sincerely as I can, as like, you know, taking care of a family and everything is a, full-time job. It's a real job. And so just trying to be respectful of the dynamic there has been something that has been really, , helpful.

[00:20:54] Hector: Talk to me about this, platform that you're, at least I see is sort of emerging and, you know, whether it's around financial freedom or real estate investing. what is sort of your ethos and, belief around, Investing in financial freedom and, is there sort of some flags around that you like to plant for yourself?

[00:21:15] Zach: Sure. So I think the key, word in financial freedom is freedom, right? to me it is being financially free. Is you have enough money, or I guess more importantly, you have enough cash flow, so you have enough money coming in each month or each quarter, whatever, however you wanna look at it.

[00:21:34] Zach: Where you are able to do what you want and you own your time, so you wanna go pick up your kids from school at one o'clock, two o'clock, and you don't have to ask your boss for permission or you want to go on vacation. You wanna say to your wife, Hey, let's go to Italy tomorrow, for example. Right. It's an extreme example, but like the ultimate financial freedom in my opinion is, It's definitely very hard to get there, and I'm not totally there yet. That's why, I have a business and everything that I'm building. But I think that's like the ultimate goal. And it's hard because if it, weren't hard, everybody would, be financially free. Right. there's a reason that people work for many years their whole lives or they, work really hard to start a business.

[00:22:20] Zach: You know, that's what, they're trying to build. So to me, it's all about freedom. It's not about how much money you have. I do not care personally about cars. I'm not a Lamborghini person that's not who I am. For me, it's just about, the freedom side of things.

[00:22:36] Hector: And you found a particularly, I don't know if, it is unique or how unique it may be. , It's unique to me just because it's not one of the avenues that I've studied. Do you find that something like you're doing in private lending, like there is, hey, everybody should just pursue this path, or it's like.

[00:22:54] Hector: There are a number of paths that you like, or like if someone was to come to you and say, you know, Hey, I believe everything you said, I need to start, you know, looking down the road and, preparing for that stuff. what path do you sort of prescribe or recommend in those instances?

[00:23:08] Zach: Would I recommend private lending to everybody? depends. So. private lending in, particular, It is not exciting. Like, crypto or whatever. Nothing against any of that kind of stuff at all. I'm just saying that with private lending, you know, what we're doing is we're doing mortgages to real estate investors and we get our interest payments every month, so there's no.

[00:23:28] Zach: Volatility in it. It's not going up and down each day or each minute like the stock market is, for example. And you can look at your stock portfolio and see that it dropped 50% like it did in 2008 when you, did nothing. So. think personally, and that's why I've spent the last five years doing this, is I do think that it's a great avenue for people because you have consistent returns that you get and, just for example, I mean you can, certainly private lend on your own, but well, how we do things with our investors is.

[00:24:01] Zach: Investors, seven to 10% on their money and they don't have to do anything. Literally a couple minutes each month checking their, statements, and I'm not at all saying this to. Avenues for people. Like some people don't want that, boring, you know, they wanna go, you know, chase other riskier things and that's great. There's wrong with that at all. I mean, I settled here because, 'cause I like, the consistency. I like the, fact that we mitigate the downside of risk as much as we can.

[00:24:31] Zach: And I mean, I think it is somewhat of an uncommon thing. I had never heard of it before I started. Into it. And I, I read all the books that were out about it at the time in 2020. And I, literally mean that there were three at the time, and I think there's maybe a couple more now. So, I think it's something that's uncommon or, maybe getting more popular now, but, it all depends on somebody's individual circumstances.

[00:24:55] Hector: And did you sort of survey the avenues of investing, right? Whether you mentioned, you know, sort of stock market, you mentioned, there's actually you know, real estate investing itself, right? Actually buying a property, which is kind of slightly different, you know, than what you're doing.

[00:25:12] Hector: Was, this always the one that you'd. We're gonna go into, or did you sort of, weigh the pros and cons of some other avenues and finally land on this?

[00:25:20] Zach: Yeah, exactly. I weighed the pros and cons and landed on it because I started. This whole investing journey, buying, I bought a duplex in 2019 and we lived in one of the units. That was when, , my future wife wasn't, my wife at the time moved in together and we rented out where you lived in one of the units.

[00:25:39] Zach: We rented out the other, and that was gonna be the plan, because that's what everybody does when they're real estate investing. Right. I kind of talked about at the beginning about how I found out about private lending, and then one of the things that really made it click for me, I was like, wait a minute. So I'm just like a bank, like how a bank does a loan. We do literally the same exact thing. We get a mortgage, it gets recorded in public records, so if something happens, we can foreclose on the property, we get insurance, all that.

[00:26:08] Zach: Mike, hang on a second. If I have a rental property and I have. A tenant calls me on a weekend about toilet issue or who knows what you know, going back to the financial freedom thing we just talked about, that's not really being financially free. Like yeah, you can hire maintenance people and all that, of course, but it's not the same as what we're doing where we've got insurance on the property and everything, and literally if it burns to the, we will be covered Insurance.

[00:26:35] Zach: In fact, we'll get the check from the insurance company directly. So that kind of clicked for me of like, wow, this is like real estate wise, the most passive thing that I can think of. we collect interest each month and that's, it.

[00:26:51] Hector: Yeah. Is there reasons that someone wouldn't want to pursue this sort of avenue?

[00:26:56] Zach: That's a good question. I, feel like when we talk to people about it, the, biggest hurdle that we find is that people don't know about it. And so when you tell somebody that they can earn seven to 10% on their money, I. Where, I mean, back in 2020, a bank was paying you 0.8% and now they may be paying you three and a half or 4%.

[00:27:16] Zach: So we're still talking about double what a bank would pay. And you tell them how comparatively little risk there is. I think there's definitely people's guard goes up about it and so they, assume that you are lending to. Riskier people or people that have bad credit or these people, if they're willing to pay so much, they must be desperate.

[00:27:38] Zach: And one of the biggest thing I do on, calls with people is explain that that be further from the truth like we are lending. Money to sophisticated real estate investors and they are willing to pay more because of the speed. Like if you've ever bought a house and gone to a bank and seen all the documents they ask for you, and how it takes 30 days or 45 days to get a mortgage.

[00:28:03] Zach: The people that we lend to when they're flipping three, four, or five houses at a time, or they're buying big apartment buildings, they don't wanna deal with that. they have enough. cashflow and things in their time that they don't wanna get bogged down with that kind of stuff.

[00:28:17] Zach: So they're willing to pay more because they know that we've done five deals together and if they text me the information about the property and when they need to close that we can do it. Like we've had people come to us. Come to us on a Thursday and whatever lender they were working with pulled out and they need to, close on Monday or on Tuesday.

[00:28:38] Zach: And we've done that and people are willing to pay more. So I think that the biggest misconception, like, I mentioned, is people think that there's risk and that it's because these are risky borrowers and, it's not true.

[00:28:49] Hector: Yeah. what I've learned through this is that, avenue seems to.

[00:28:54] Hector: Important, for lack of a better term, in the sense that there should be some sort of alignment and that there's sort of a misalignment between the investor and, you know, their avenue through which they're investing. And then long term, those things don't, seem to work out. And so finding something that works for

[00:29:11] Hector: Your risk level. Someone told me recently, I was having a conversation and essentially we were talking about, , Tony Robinson's, you know, essential needs or Maslow's hierarchy, you know, sort of thing. And it basically came out that I was looking for all of my needs out of my business, right? And then it's like, if you need all of your needs from your business, like, and you need novelty, like from your business, like that's kind of.

[00:29:33] Hector: of scary in the, in the sense that like that creates a lot of risk there and maybe you want to diversify, you know, get your novelty in someplace else. , and so I think that's also something for people to consider when they go, oh, that sounds boring, or that, you know, it's not as.

[00:29:48] Hector: Exciting as seeing, you know, the, crypto market go up, you know, 30% or whatever it is. and also I might add to that person that, that maybe you don't want you know, your novelty and your excitement to come from your investing that maybe, maybe you might seek that in another area of your life.

[00:30:04] Zach: Yes, exactly, and I think that. Diversification is key there. Like if you wanna take a percentage of your stock portfolio, your, total investment portfolio, I should say, and put it in riskier, things like that, go for it. That's fine. I own some crypto. It's fun to watch it go up and down. I'll admit it, but you know, if it's money that you're relying on for your, you know, your retirement or whatever, there's nothing wrong with having it be boring and paying you, you know, seven to 10% or whatever.

[00:30:32] Zach: It's, and if you just. Let it compound and I don't have the numbers off, the top of my head. I wish I did because they're really compelling. But if you do the math, what happens if you earn 10% on money for 30 years? You would be surprised to end. See how much you end up with.

[00:30:48] Hector: We are recording this on, , May 29th of 2025, and I try and keep these conversations as evergreen and timeless as I can. So if someone is listening to this in 2035 or 2045, I'd imagine that a lot of the challenges might be the same, but I, I do.

[00:31:08] Hector: Economic and political and geo social, whatever, you know, just the world out there seems to be frankly going nuts, going a little crate, you know, it doesn't seem to be getting like, like more calm, And so for you being someone who seems to be.

[00:31:24] Hector: well thought through and, having sort of prepared mindset. Are you doing anything differently or thinking about anything differently given where we're at with, the economies and, politics and everything that seems to be going on in the world.

[00:31:38] Zach: So the answer is not really. We're not really doing anything differently, and it's because of this investing niche that we're in is we in real estate? Like real estate is something tangible and everybody always is gonna need a place to live. And there are always properties that are in disrepair that are hitting the market.

[00:31:57] Zach: And , the nice thing about real estate is it's, doesn't as volatile the. When we do loans, we are always very conservative and one example is we only like to lend. About 65 or 70% of the value of the property. So for example, if a property is worth a million dollars, our loan would be maxed at like six 50 or 700.

[00:32:24] Zach: So we have between 300 and 350,000 there, 30 to 35% of cushion. So if something happens like to bring it to something that's current about economics is like uncertainty around tariffs, right? Tariffs on Canadian lumber are. Renovations to the property, right. Just to make a simple example. You know, we still have a margin there. So we're definitely cognizant about like broader economic trends, but day to day on certain things like that We're not worried about it. And, you know, being the lender on a transaction, we are the ones that are always supposed to be taking the least amount of risk.

[00:33:05] Zach: Like we get down payments from our, borrowers when they purchase a property. So if something happens to the property, we have, you know, equity from day one that we recoup our costs, fees. We, we were very fortunate in where we are, that we don't have to worry about, you know, day-to-day economic stuff as much, and that's another reason that makes it a lot easier to sleep at night doing this kind of thing.

[00:33:30] Hector: Yeah,

[00:33:31] Hector: I've got, , I guess one, two more questions. The first one is, , if people want to find out more about you, get more connected with you, , where's the best place for people to go?

[00:33:41] Zach: for me, the best place is Facebook. , Zach Richards and , our. Website for our investing fund is REI capital guys community.com. And on there there's a contact form if you wanna reach out. , Those are probably the two ways, but Facebook most,

[00:33:59] Hector: Amazing. Yeah. We'll link all that up in the show notes. , My last question for you, Zach, is, in your opinion, what is the definition of modern masculinity?

[00:34:08] Zach: That's a really good question. I think it's a whole bunch of things and I think that it's why people strive, you know, something people strive for. I think you've gotta be, you know, taking care of your, family, like we talked about, taking care of your health, you know, focusing on. personal growth too, of, you know, having something to do.

[00:34:27] Zach: And that's for one of the reasons why I'm, building this business is it's been a lot of fun to put on all these different hats and learn on all these, different things. so I think to try to sum it up, I guess, as much as I can, as I, it's about like balance across all of those things.

[00:34:42] Zach: Your family, your health, your business, everything. And you need all of those. At the same time, and you can't let one of those dominate, , the, because for example, if all you do is focus on work, your suffers.