The Audacity of Semi-Attractive Women, Personal Finance Matters, Why God Ain't Dead with Brad Dantonio

I cover a range of topics on this solo episode—starting with a story from last weekend in the Costco parking lot. Sh*t got real—a bold, semi-attractive woman, exited her vehicle to bang on my car and curse me out.

I’ll also share insights on my recent investments.

I’ll also share captivating reads and books that are hard to put down.

Additionally, I’ll explore reasons why our family goes to church on Sunday.

My reason for hanging out on Instagram more these days is something I also discuss.

This episode was fun to record. Hope you enjoy listening!

Topics discussed:

Upside of high interest rates—getting a return on fixed income (we haven’t experienced in a long time)
According to the California Assoc of Realtors—only 16% of people can afford the median priced home there, which is over $800k
1 in 40 IRAs has $1 million in it
Number of 401k balances that have $1 million increased 25% over the past year
The typical 401k millionaire, according to Fidelity, saves 17.2% of their income
Avg age of someone who has $1 million in their 401k is 59yo
If you save $600/mo. over 25 yrs (which is less than the average car payment today)—make 7% on your money—you’ll have $1 million
Being a millionaire isn’t what it used to be
Setting a goal to become a millionaire is still a worthy pursuit; it has a nice ring to it; it’s an aspirational goal
When I was in real estate full-time leading up to the Recession that started in December 2007
2008-2009. Back when people got mortgages who had no business buying a home.
Telling people whose mortgage payment would be >40% of their income: “I wouldn’t buy this house if I were you”
You weren’t going to hold people back from buying a home
They were convinced RE always appreciates
Buying a home was 100% of the time preferable to renting (buyers believed in early 2000s)
Biggest contributor to “not feeling rich” is lifestyle creep, which most people blamed on social media
How much it costs to live in Houston vs. Denver
How much it costs to live in Houston vs. Dallas
Texans have on avg car loan debt of almost $8k (national avg is almost $6k)
Outstanding student loan debt is the lowest its been in the last 10 yrs
When you’re a Realtor or work in a personal coaching/consulting capacity—you see a lot of people’s personal finances
Self-storage business: increase of 16% over the last year
OnlyFans has 238 million users
OnlyFans generated a profit of $525 million
Its number of creators increased 47% in 2022
Men are using OnlyFans in lieu of a partner
The decline of religion & Christianity, thanks to Copernicus.
Further decline in religion 300 years later when Darwin deemed us just another animal
“God is Dead”
Religion & God indispensable for hundreds of centuries,
Religion aided those who lived in despair, without hope, who were also poverty-stricken
Poverty is the default for humanity
Hundreds of millions of people lifted out of poverty in my lifetime
prosperity is a new thing—the history of the world is poverty
In the year 1900, more than 40% of Eastern & Western Europe lived in Extreme Poverty
For Latin America & the Carribean, >74% of people living in Extreme poverty
Sub-Saharan Africa > 91%
Today, under 2% of Eastern Europe lives in extreme poverty
Less than 1% of W Europe lives in extreme poverty
Less than 7% of Latin America & the Carribean live in extreme poverty
Less than 37% of sub-Saharan Africa live in extreme poverty
Poverty is the “default” throughout human history
Why did ‘the poor’ not kill ‘the rich?’
Religion referred to as the “opium of the masses”
Moses came down from Mount Sinai in Egypt
When the Ten Commandments were inscribed with “the finger of God”—that changes things
Darwin basically discovered we’re “a speck of dirt in an infinite Sahara of other dirt”
Who / what is going to replace God? Nobody’s been able to answer that question
Ever since, we’ve had Mao, Stalin, Lenin, Hitler, Pol Pot
They tried to implement their idea of utopia on earth
“-isms” that resulted in the bloodiest century in the history of the world
Why millions had to die before the lesson was learned that this shit (“-isms”) don’t work
“isms” creeping in thanks to ignorance of history; ignorance of human nature
Raised Catholic; attending Baptist churches
Benefits of being raised with God in my life
My belief in God benefited others
Scott Adams’ book: God’s Debris
There are many different routes to God
“Do I need God? Can’t I be a good person without God?”
Going from bottom-quartile in self-reported happiness, to top-quartile in self-reported happiness
Things I learned listening to Joe Rogan (#1 podcaster in the world)
Rogan used to snicker and laugh at those who believed in God
Rogan doesn’t laugh anymore—he’s become curious; he asks questions
JRE episode with guest Hulk Hogan