2407: Wealth, Markets, and Geopolitics: Navigating the End of Average with Michael Zuber

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Hey Jason, it's Sarah. Today I got a quote for a garage door repair. The property manager said I needed a new motor and quoted me $672. So of course I asked for a couple additional quotes. And that technician found that a sensor was disconnected and my $672 repair went down to $0. So don't take the first quote that you get. Always get a second opinion.

Welcome to the Creating Wealth Show with Jason Hartman. You're about to learn a new slant on investing, some exciting techniques and fresh new approaches to the world's most historically proven asset class that will enable you to create more wealth and freedom than you ever thought possible. Jason is a genuine self-made multimillionaire who's actually been there and done it. He's a successful investor, lender, developer, and entrepreneur who's owned properties in 11 states, had hundreds of tenants, and been involved in thousands of real estate transactions. This program will help you follow in Jason's footsteps on the road to your Financial Independence Day. You really can do it! And now here's your host, Jason Hartman, with the complete solution for real estate investors.

All righty, folks, we're back with Mr. Jason Hartman. We're going to ask him a key question that I now have changed my opinion on. We'll also talk about rates and a specific confession Jason has to make. And we will close with something super duper special. So stay tuned for that. Jason, before I drop this bomb on you, I just want to say hello. How you doing?

Good. How you doing, Michael? Good to see you.

I'm doing well, man. Well, I have to tell you, I have recently changed my opinion about something. For the longest time, I have said and frankly believed that the average person could get wealthy today. And I got to tell you, with everything going on in the world, I don't think the average person can get wealthy anymore. I was curious what you thought. Maybe you could talk me around that. Do you think the average person could get wealthy?

Well, You know, I think you kind of alluded to it before we went on the air today, and that is don't be average because you're probably right that the average person can't get wealthy. It's just average people are pretty lame. Just go outside. Everybody's dressed in fucking pajamas. Okay. They're massively out of shape. I mean, they're, they don't care about their health or fitness. At all, you know, this is average, right? It's awful. I do agree that there are forces that are making things more challenging than maybe they used to be, but there are also big forces that are big opportunities that are making things a lot better. You know, it's a, it's a mix.

So yeah, it feels really bad for me to admit this because for the longest time I've been creating content now on YouTube for 8 years. I have 18,000+ videos and I have always believed that the average person could get wealthy. I bet you I've said that 1,000 times. Full admission. This came to me watching a Grant Cardone short, I think. I think it was a short talking about the average American. And I'm like, God damn it, he's right. The average American can't get wealthy.

And the other thing is the average American is just going to make Grant wealthy, not themselves.

Yeah. The average American, I mean, when you think about them, they have very little financial discipline, which is the key to financial freedom. They frankly have very little discipline, period. To your point, they're out of shape. They have bad relationships. They're addicted to alcohol or porn or drugs or whatever.

And I just finished watching TV or food, you know, like, yeah, exactly.

So again, I think, I think at this point, as much as it hurts me to say, I do not think the average American can get wealthy. But to your point, stop being average.

Yeah.

You know, I think Chris Williamson says this on his podcast with Alex Hormozi. It has never been easier. To be in the top 10%, let alone the top 1% in anything. All you got to do is focus on it.

You know, the rule of 100. One thing you can say, I mean, in the '80s, the last decade, I always say that 1990 was the peak of civilization. Okay. Like, that's a pretty funny statement, right? But in the '80s, I think that was the last decade when it was cool to be a winner. Okay. After that, the music really shifted. The rise of rap, hip-hop, and Seattle grunge music made it cool to be a loser, okay? And everyone was dressing like a slob or an urban gangbanger. You know, it was just cool to be a loser. Like, in the '80s, it was really cool to be a winner, right? Each decade has kind of a flavor, you know. You must admit that. And listen, argue with me. I'd love to hear some opposing opinions. Comment below and tell me what you think. I'm really curious. But every time I've proposed that that idea, people have chimed in and, you know, said that's interesting. Yeah, yeah.

I've never thought about music.

The music changes everything, right? The music is hugely impactful, and the music really shifted in the early '90s.

Well, as somebody who would be listening to NWA and Eazy-E and LL Cool J and all of those people, somebody who had a car with a $5,000, you know, bass stereo system, I'm not sure I'm willing to admit that that music created losers.

Well, I mean, just listen to the lyrics.

Okay, so, okay, all right. So it certainly brought a different feel, uh, to the world, for no doubt. Um, certainly was anti-police, uh, you know, F the police, all of that. You know, I've never thought about this, right? This, this all happens in real time, you know, rap music, grunge music, you know, hair bands.

Yeah, music is so impactful. I mean, it's just so powerful, you know. I, I always say the three most important art forms are number one, architecture, Because I think architecture— yeah, we live in it, right? It just inspires us to look at it or not, like, you know, or it depresses us to look at it. Depends. Okay. Music is number 2, although music is super powerful, right? But I think architecture actually beats it. And number 3, I think, is fashion. Why do I say fashion? That's an interesting one, right? Because fashion causes people to be attracted to each other or not attracted to each other and causes baby booms or baby busts. And right now we're in a baby bust. And look at the fashion. It's pathetic. All right, all right, all right, folks, what do you think of that literature or, you know, paintings or sculpture, right? I picked those three as my top, but, you know, comment below.

And yeah, let us know below. Architecture, music, and fashion— those are— those the key? And again, just so we're clear, don't throw hate at me. This is a Jason Hartman, uh, opinion. Yeah, throw it at him. Throw all the hate at him. Uh, but let's get back to the topic at hand because again, I think it's important, like, if you're watching my channel, again, it's not edited, it's no sizzle reel, none of that stuff. You're here for a reason. You know, if you watch more than one video of mine a week, you're not average, right? You're watching a guy think in real time, get on other millionaires because we care about you, and you're not average. So let me just say that if you're watching more than one video of mine a week, you're already not average. Also, I believe getting wealthy has never been easier, but also it takes not being average, right? There's, there's nobody that's gonna make a season or a decade of sacrifice That's average. Like the whole marshmallow test to kids, right? Give a kid a marshmallow, wait 5 minutes, and he doesn't eat it, give him 2. Average Americans eating that marshmallow before you're out the door.

Then, you know, that's so interesting you say that because I've always said on my show that one of the most important keys to success in investing, or really anything, is the ability to delay gratification.

Amen.

That's a sign of maturity, the ability to delay gratification. What you're talking about is a famous experiment that was done with children, right? Children don't have the ability to delay gratification very well at all. You give them a marshmallow, they don't care if you give them two later, they'll just whine about it, right? If they've got one in front of them now, they're going to eat the one.

So yeah, yeah, yeah, there you go. So again, folks, I think at the end of the day, getting wealthy, create disposable income, become elite, do it for a decade, seasons, first 5 years suck, all of those things. If you're on this journey, I want to say one thing to you right now. That's congratulations. You are not average. Keep going. You can do it. Uh, lots of people have done it before you, and lots of people will do it after. Just keep going.

And the best way for you to become wealthy is definitely income property. I mean, income property for the average person, right, is something that anybody can do. Okay, you know, look at where I started, where most people started, right? I was in the very lower middle class, I would say, or the upper poverty class, you know, one or the other. I mean, we weren't starving, but it's it certainly wasn't fun. You know, I didn't have any contacts. I didn't know anybody. I, I didn't have any resources, family resources, capital. I didn't have any monies for sure. And, you know, just over time, just kept investing, kept working, and it worked out. And it can work out for you too, but you've got to be willing to delay gratification and make sure you put the right things in your brain. You know, at age 17, I discovered Earl Nightingale, Jim Rohn, Dennis Waitley, Zig Ziglar, and I just kept listening to their audio cassette tapes over and over and over again to just push this good thinking into my head. Okay. I love it. I didn't know anybody that thought that way. And that was all those—

and all of those speakers, folks, Google search them. YouTube. Their speeches are still out there. They're all very, very great.

Yeah.

Yeah. Well, Jason, you mentioned off air that you have a confession to make about rates, and I actually have no idea what this is going to be. So what's this confession you speak of?

Well, look, I'm not wrong often on my predictions, but I think I might be wrong about this one. Before I ran, we were moving into a loose money era. We were moving into lower rates, cheaper money, and it's not looking that way. It's looking like this is going to be a while. I mean, I'll be right eventually, but it might take longer than I thought because it's not looking good for rate cuts right now, folks. I mean, with the pressures of the energy markets, and energy is baked baked into the cost of everything. And when energy gets more expensive, everything gets more expensive. Literally everything has energy as a component, as an input, and energy costs are going up.

So yeah, I actually had to eat—

I think it's going to be a while for a rate cut.

Yeah, I had to eat some crow on that as well, uh, because I called for 4 rate cuts in January when my— when I made my 2026 prediction. And not only have 4 rate cuts gone out the window, I now fear they might be forced into a rate hike in 2026.

Oh, dreadful. Yeah, you know, the Fed, the Fed is making us delay gratification as real estate investors.

Yes, they are.

Where is my rate cut? God, where is my rate cut?

You know, let me, let me ask you this. I've never asked anybody this yet. Do you think we see a 30-year mortgage back with a 7 handle this year?

Oh God forbid, I hope not.

But that's not an answer.

I don't, I don't know. I just don't know. Look, I mean, if, if the strait is open and running again, the Strait of Hormuz, I think that will go a long way. But remember, there's damage to the LNG facility in Qatar, and that's— this stuff takes a long time to repair that damage.

We're talking, we're talking years, not days.

Yeah, but it doesn't mean that it'll be years before inflation, the inflationary pressure subsides. No, you know, so I mean, we've got a lot of deflationary pressures from technology in the market in general, but this new technology we're all working with, AI namely, is very energy intensive.

So yeah, I, you know, I would tell you, if you asked me on January 1st of 2026 the odds of a 7 handle anytime this year, I would have said zero. Yeah, because I was, I was with you, like, we're going lower. In fact, I would have said 5.5% is more likely than 7%.

And 5.5% will be a revolution for the real estate industry. Michael, the chart of mine that you like so much is showing the mortgage sensitivity. I mean, I don't have it handy right now, but if we get to 5.5% on 30-year mortgages, the market is just going to fly beyond comprehension. It's going to be incredible.

Yeah, I couldn't agree more. Yeah, but at this point, the odds of having a 7-handle sometime this year, you know, it's not zero. I mean, obviously the straight opens, it doesn't happen, but there are lots of things that can go wrong between now and then that takes us to a 7-handle.

You know, the likelihood though is that before the midterms, we are going to see the money printer turn on. Okay, that's kind of what they always do. That's always the playbook. And, you know, Trump, Trump wants those midterms to go well. Right now it's not looking Not looking good for the Trump clan. But I do think this Iran thing, I mean, think of it, we're taking out an enemy that has chanted death to America for 47 years. Yeah, I want you to liken this to Reagan bankrupting the Soviet Union. Okay, and that was expensive.

That was decades.

It took a long time. It was very expensive. And historically, it could definitely be viewed as a good investment. And I think this thing with Iran, although painful, certainly war is ugly. War is hell, as the saying goes. People die, people become, get injured. It's awful, right? But it is an investment in preventing a much bigger problem later, which certainly could have been a nuclear war or a nuclear holocaust from Iran with a suitcase nuke or whatever delivery system, right? And you know, that was coming. I mean, exactly when, nobody knows. But it's certainly coming. Okay. I mean, yeah, and we've, we've prevented that and that's a good investment.

Yeah. Well, again, I, I, it's going to get— I fear this is going to get worse before it gets better. You know, if you want to look out long enough, you could say, sure, it's a good investment. But when you're in the muck and the mire, certainly it doesn't feel good. It's going to get expensive. Uh, there will be certainly tragically loss of lives. You know, I've actually been accused of being a little doomerish the last week or so because I do not have a positive view of this conflict. I think it's going to get messy.

Let's just talk about one more major, major thing that is part of the investment that is happening right now. This is a struggle, of course, but Trump is reordering the world. I mean, the global order is changing, and China was so dependent on Iran, and Trump pulled the rug out from under them in terms of the Belt and Road Initiative. A big part of that is Iran. Of course, cheap oil. China was buying oil from Iran at 20 to 30% below market prices. You cut that off and China's economy, which is already in major trouble, it just collapses. And then you— well, this is 4 or 5 years in their demographic cliff. I mean, China just won't be a force anymore. And Trump—

this is, this is why it's a proxy war. That's— this is something that I've long When I looked at the chessboard, I saw Venezuela and then Iran next. I'm like, this is a, this is a China thing.

Yeah.

You know, sure. You could sell it as uranium and nuclear and all of that stuff. But I think this is about, I think this is actually the long play, the 4D chess move. This is going to force China and US to have a detente and to become more friendly. I don't know what else, you know, frenemies or whatever.

Yeah.

Yeah. So again, it's going to be, it's going to be messy, but again, as somebody who lives in the moment, the next weeks, months, year, you know, higher for longer.

Yeah. Yeah, I agree. It's going to be a struggle.

Where there's struggle, there's opportunity. I keep reminding folks, I always try to close on the positive where I'm actually working on a 42-unit deal right now that would have easily sold for $10 million in '22. My first offer, should it still be available after 30 days, is going to be $6.5 million.

Wow. Wow.

Yeah, I'm a cheapskate.

Certainly opportunity, no question about it. You know, the other thing is, it's part of the delay gratification concept and the marshmallows that we talked about a few minutes ago. But Michael, the other thing is, everybody is looking at the news like day to day. Stop it. Grow up. I mean, you know, this— Rome was not built in a day. I just cannot believe the posts on social media. They're just so stupid. You know, like when we're a week into the war, you know, everybody's freaking out. I mean, folks, calm down, okay? This is gonna take time for this whole thing to work itself through the system. So, you know, it's been, it's been 4 weeks. Like, we're just moving into the 5th week now. I just— this is nothing. This is, this is a speck in the timeline of history. It's just nothing. Okay, so yeah, but we were prom—

we were promised in the early beginnings it would be a 4 to 6 week incursion. To your point, we're in week 5 now. We have talk of thousands of ground troops going in. This certainly feels like it's going to be months, not weeks.

It's not going to be 20 years in Afghanistan, I'll tell you that.

Well, that's an awful bold statement given our history as a country.

Come on.

I mean, this— I mean, you know, hey, it's, uh, we don't need another forever war. To your point, we don't need to waste trillions.

Uh, we're not going to have one. This is going to be much, much better than that.

Yeah, well, you actually have a couple of exciting events coming up. Why don't you kind of touch on those as we close up?

Yeah, sure. Our Empowered Investor Live event is coming up in Orange County, California in mid-May, May 15th through the 17th. Michael Zuber himself is one of our speakers, so come join us for that. Go to empoweredinvestorlive.com. And if you're interested in, uh, Superyacht Mastermind Adventures— that's the name of the company actually, Mastermind Adventures— go go to mastermindyachtadventures.com and check that out. Two events for you coming up. Yeah, there you go.

Thanks, Jason.

You're welcome to join us. Thanks for having me, and happy investing. Thank you so much for listening. Please be sure to subscribe so that you don't miss any episodes. Be sure to check out the show's specific website and our general website, hartmanmedia.com, for appropriate disclaimers and terms of service. Remember that Guest opinions are their own. And if you require specific legal or tax advice, or advice in any other specialized area, please consult an appropriate professional. And we also very much appreciate you reviewing the show. Please go to iTunes or Stitcher Radio or whatever platform you're using and write a review for the show. We would very much appreciate that. And be sure to make it official and subscribe so you do not miss any episodes. We look forward to seeing you on the next episode.