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Michelle McClean is our guest this Wek on Winning with Winans · Winning With Winans!

• speaker-0: Well I guess is another time for an episode of Winning with Winens. Let's go. And welcome to Winning with One is Las Vegas News and Coolest Financial Show. I am your host, Ken Wynans. And for those of you who still do not know me, I know it sounds stupid. I always have to bring it up. But hey, it's a new podcast. But anyway, I've been a nationwide commentator on radio and Forbes and TV for the last twenty five years. But most important, and why you're listening to this, is that I do walk the talk each and every week. I manage money for a living. ⁓ I'm Basically since 1992 when I founded my own firm. And today, Wine is Investments is the only Morningstar top-ranked money management firm based in our great city of Las Vegas. And the last time I checked, I think we're number one in the state too. But anyway, over the next hey, what can I say? I'm a very competitive person. Hey, but over the next hour, we're going to be covering a lot of current events that could affect your investments. And as usual, we have a special guest. Now, I am a news junkie. But I mean real news, facts, not just op-ed pieces in the paper. And I go through nine different financial sources each and every week, including government ⁓ statistics, to find what I think is important that people need to know in order to be successful in the markets. Hey, ⁓ one other quick thing I think it's important to bring up. We are in a major bull market. Things are flying high. This is when typically people stop paying attention to the news. This is exactly the point in time when you should be looking at. the big picture. Okay. So we're going to look at stocks, bonds, real estate, commodities, even cryptocurrencies. So winning with wine is truly a different type of show. We don't cover day-to-day, dot to dot. We try to cover the whole big landscape. And that's when they say you have an investment strategy. That's what it should be. So listen, let's talk about the big headlines from this last week. There's a lot of news ⁓ you can call it a mixed week because there were certainly some things that caught everybody by surprise. You know, I call them financial boomerangs. And the the first one that hit was this situation with the Japanese currency, better known as the yen. It is a crisis. The Japanese yen fell against the dollar to the lowest point since 1986. We've had currency crises that have happened before. there, I mean, I would distinctly remember back in 1997, there was a huge crisis with the Russian ruble. There have been, you know, Mexican peso had a big problem back in the 80s. It doesn't itself set up ⁓ a problem nationwide. But it the problem is, many people have been asking, what made it happen? Well, it was tied to interest rates with the U.S. But most important than that, there are a lot of people who are literally playing a type of arbitrage called a carry trade. I'm not going to get too geeky here, but this is just an example of. That if something's too good, watch out. People have been using this way of borrowing money cheaply to reinvest it at a higher rate for a long time and never thought it would stop. Well, ⁓ economics has a way of resetting itself. But the reason that I would even remotely bring this up is my top story, is that Jap ⁓ Japan is a huge buyer of US treasuries. And now with the differentiation in the currencies, It's now made it that the Japanese can't buy as many of those treasuries as they once did their central bank. So anyway, we need to be ⁓ very aware of that. ⁓ I brought it up many, many times, the situations are happening in in the municipal bond world and also in the private credit world, better known private bonds. ⁓ some canary in the coal mines. I'm gonna best way I can put it. ⁓ LA Unified School District just warned the possible insolvency of. By November of 2027. Now I want you to think about what I just said. One of the biggest school districts in the country that has lent a lot of money out where people have bought municipal bonds. And I have brought up on the show before, I have real concerns about the city and county of Los Angeles. Now we're finding out their school district. ⁓ we have the Olympics coming up. That's going to be a very expensive price tag. ⁓ I am very concerned about this. I think anybody who owns municipal bonds needs to take this as a cue to pay very close attention, talk to your advisors, and see how what your exposure looks like. The other thing that we have to be aware of is that there again, we are having this thing about rating agencies. ⁓ Back in 2008, 2009, ⁓ this was bank bonds that were being rated by firms like Moody's and Fitch and Standard and Poor's. And I distinctly remember there was a firm you might have all remember called Lehman Brothers, and I still have the bond guide. Back then we did paper bond guides. It was double A plus rated two months before bankruptcy. So somebody was asleep of the switch. We thought we had fixed these problems with ratings, but you all have to remember it is a pay-to-play type situation. Companies, ⁓ municipalities have to pay for these ratings to be rated. But anyway, we have a new situation. $40 billion of bonds in the private market rated by a firm called Egan Jones. You know, we'll see how this plays out. But I I mean, I w I wish I was wrong about history repeating itself in the financial world. You would think we would have learned from past mistakes. Clearly, we don't. These things keep happening over and over again. But again, when you hear about your advisors talking about going into alternatives or going into things. And the rates seem a little too high, you know, compared to what else you're getting in there. You know, if it if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. So I'm I just think this private equity and private bond thing, ⁓ there's gonna be a lot of fallout from this over the next couple of years. We'll see how it plays out. Now, by all means, there are some very good players out there in the private world who do things right. But unless you are truly an advanced investor, I don't think people should be in this. area at all. ⁓ I I especially feel this way about 401k money going into the private world. I'm not in favor of it at all. Unless somebody's an expert, you shouldn't play the game. Hey the other thing, you know, that we need to be aware of, ⁓ I was a little shocked to read this actually. Like many of you in the audience, I have given school money to my schools, my church. I I mean we all do. ⁓ But there was a report out that 200 private colleges Are actually borrowing from their restricted endowment accounts to pay their bills. I have a problem with this. ⁓ you know, I think that look, we know that there's a big shift right now in advanced education. ⁓ whether it's public or private schools, there's a lot going on. But I have always wondered about the never-ending ⁓ pay increases that a lot of people in the higher levels of education get, whether they're teachers or administrators. And so my problem with this is, look, if you need to get together with your trustees to borrow money from an endowment, that's fine. But you do that after you've cut expenses for the rest of the school. You don't do it and keep everybody's payroll in the same level. So we should be somewhat concerned about this. And any any of you that give money to your universities, you need to ask some tough questions. But there's another thing that most people haven't connected the dots on. Now, many of you out there have been told by your advisors to set up an investment vehicle called a CRT, or better known as a charitable remainder trust. This is a way of giving money that is a tax write-off. ⁓ they're very convenient and easy to set up. I mean, many, many people do it. The problem is, and many of you haven't thought about this, you probably have named your alma maters as somebody to be beneficial of that when you pass on. Again, here's an example. You are taking your hard-earned money that you gave to charity that is you're sending to what you think are good causes. But with this thing that's happening with the endowments, again, a canary in the coal nine, I would just be very careful. You should look and see ⁓ on your insurance policies, on your charitable trust structures, who are you giving money to? All right, enough of the bad news. Let's go to the good news. You know what? In spite of all this stuff that's been happening in the world. Guess what came out? The Association of Supply Management Manufacturing Index just hit the highest level since 2022. That means we're growing as a manufacturing country. There have been record profits in the energy sector. And I know there's been all this talk about, ⁓ we need to tax energy companies more and all that. But guess what? Guess where they're sticking their money, folks? They're building pipelines. Report came out: Philip 66 plans to build a pipeline. From Texas through Arizona to California, and I'll bet somehow Nevada will get in on this deal too. Anyway, this is a big deal. We're fixing, as we all know, the energy shocks that have hit this country, but we're also looking at global pipelines. Imagine a world where in the Middle East, the Strait of Hormuz is never talked about again. Because I'll tell you what's happening. All those other Arab countries are fed up with it as well. They're building pipelines that are heading away from the ⁓ you know Persian Gulf and they're going to be in a safe way to put to transport oil. This is all good news. This just goes to show that, you know, what companies are figuring out ways to make the whole situation better and that they're making investments. While we're on that, let's talk about Techland for a moment. Amazon just just briefly this last week reached a market value of three trillion dollars. You know what? Yeah, I didn't hear anybody complaining about Jeff Bezos getting richer, but guess what tech is doing? Overall, they're committing 2.7 trillion to long term commitments to build out digital infrastructure and all these other crazy things that we need. So again, be very cautious about always complaining about companies making too much money because they do reinvest. And if you make it too hard on them, they won't invest. Okay. Funny story. We all know the story about people leaving blue states to go to red states, they're changing their residency. I myself have had to do this. But now we're finding that the blue states are chasing after wealthy people or when they've passed away because they're claiming that with multiple houses, that if you happen to have two houses, even though you might live in a different state, those other states are still claiming that you're resident. So I guess there was a big story between Florida and And Connecticut on this issue. And I guess the estate went back and sued the state of Connecticut over this for over $13 million. Folks, if you're thinking about relocating, just be aware. You know, your accountants are probably going to tell you the same thing. You probably will have to consider selling that house. You can always buy something back later, but they're going to be looking for you all the time. These states are hungry for money. So just again, you have to be aware of that. It but anyway, this was a pretty funny story. You read it and you can't believe what's going on. Okay, listen, ⁓ I'm gonna finish on this last note. Earnings season has officially ended. Can I use one word to describe it? Outstanding. Companies posted these great numbers. Now we can say not everybody did well, but a lot of people did very, very well. Companies did outstanding. That's why stocks are up. ⁓ you know what? In spite of the tariffs, in spite of the war, in spite of all these bad headlines, guess what? ⁓ the US stock market is doing very well. So are bonds. So anyway, we have much to be cheering about. Listen, we're going to take a quick break and then we'll be right back with our guest. I'm Ken Wy Ken Winins with Winning with Winins. See you soon. And welcome back to Winning with Wine is Las Vegas Newest and Coolest Financial Show. Now we're an international tourist show. My gosh, we're catching it all. Hey, one of my absolutely favorite, bestest people in the world, Michelle McLean, welcome. And I'm gonna read your bio in a second, but let me just tell you, she and I both have the fondness for cowboy hats. So she loves them. Here we go. Throw it on, yeah. There we go. So we were just back. In Nashville a couple weeks ago with a group that she and I are both members of called the International Association of Top Professionals. And poor Michelle had to be outside in the heat and humidity doing interviews and did it gracefully. But guys, let me tell about Michelle. Now, you know what? Here's a very modest person who, by the way, former Miss Universe, yes, that's right, Miss Universe 1992. She is from Africa, from Numidia, Nambidia. And okay, I always screw this up, Michelle. Pronounce it. speaker-1: Namibia, but you're doing fantastic. speaker-0: That's right. All right, very cool. But anyway, and then of course Michelle's married to a great guy, Gary Bailey, who's a former footballer as they call it in England and South Africa, better known as soccer. And anyway, just ⁓ just what can I say about these guys, two dear friends. Michelle, how you are from you're in Florida today, right? speaker-1: Yes, yeah. I'm here in Port Laurerdale. speaker-0: Fort Lauderdale. You're in Fort Lauderdale, and I'm sure you guys are having some nice weather. So look, let's talk about you. I and by the way, I have to just also say this real quick. She bravely came on one of the first podcasts of Winning with Wineens when we were doing it in my office on my computer at you know was crazy, but thanks for being a good sport. So now we've got the studio. Now we're doing it right. So she was one of the first. She's a pioneer. But Michelle, let's talk about you and and then we'll jump into IOTP. You know, so I love the fact that here, you know, you were 19 years old. When Miss Universe, your first thing you did was set up a foundation because you care about children. And again, I always measure people's character by what they do after they've reached fame. And God bless you, dear, you did it. So let's talk about your passion with kids. speaker-1: Well, firstly, Ken, it's lovely to chat to you, whether it's ⁓ over a glass of wine or out in Texas ⁓ or whether it's in Nevada, but ⁓ and and recently, right, in Nashville. So, so the trajectory of my life was very interesting. So a model at 13, I got to enter Miss Namibia representing ⁓ Namibia in the Miss Universe pageant. Then when I won, I thought, well, what is my legacy gonna be? So I sold I auctioned the car off that I won as Miss Namibia. And I started my foundation. And for 34 years now, we've been doing initiating and running projects like the likes of Angelina, Julie, and Brad Pitt when they had their baby in Namibia. So we've been doing many projects in education and uplifting destitute communities, underserved communities throughout Namibia. But I think my passion really started when I was a child. I was always part of organizations with my parents. helping ⁓ you know with with ⁓ fundraising so that's always been my passion but I think you know coming now to terms with the present day world there is such a demand and such you know we built schools I've got the Michelle McLean primary school for 1420 kids in Namibia and took in the capital. We still initiate many projects in different you know schemes whether it's blankets and and clothes to kids or whether it's glasses for children that need to see ⁓ eye operations ⁓ it goes on and on. And financial skills programs is what I'm really focused on right now. ⁓ finding we've got a program called ⁓ Delicious Education, and it's for kids to get involved finance and life skills by cutting bread into different portions so that they learn, you know. So it it really is about ⁓ I think continuing the legacy of what I always believed and always passionate about, but I've had so much help. from everyone around me and ⁓ you know, all my support in the government and the business sector. But most importantly is to find that the children are the future leaders of tomorrow and that they're well edu educated and just in given the right opportunities to move forward. speaker-0: You know, but you know it's funny, you talk about finance. I always say it's the universal language. You go to any country in the world, all these different background and languages, the what do kids like? They want to learn how to make money. They want to have things they can spend on, whether it's video games or am I just being ⁓ buying a sandwich. It is always the same thing. And I love that you're working on that. Yeah, I mean it's the truth. I always get asked by these young kids, hey, ⁓ tell me how to make money in stocks or hey, how do I make money in crypto? It's the same stuff. But you know, Michelle. Well, go ahead. speaker-1: No, no, exactly. I mean, we grow up in school and we learn the curriculum, right? We learn maths, the basic maths and stuff like that. But we don't learn life skills and how to manage our money. What happens when we make money, how we budget. And for me, we need to start in middle school. We need to start with kids. Totally. Giving a bit of a fun angle to it, but they need to learn the basics of life because money, as you said, will always be an important pivotal part of your life for success, for happiness, for all of that. So we need to make it fun at a young age, but we also need to be very fastidious that we integrate this into our normal education system. speaker-0: Totally agree. And I would also add to that too, and I and I know we've talked about this many times and you and I just, like I said, have a good glass of wine and talk about it. You know, it ⁓ actually one of the the staff and the team members on Winning with Wine ins is saying, Ken, you need to do a series of podcasts for young people. Well, the first thing, you know, and I would teach it to anybody in the world, first off, using credit cards. You know, to tell young people, look, if you use that credit card for whatever reason, when you go to pay off the debt. You're paying the debt off with after tax dollars. So if you add up the interest plus the taxes, you're you're that was a very expensive loan. And you should think twice. And also just think before you spend. You know, impulse by speaker-1: The budgeting, teaching people how to budget with what they have, yeah, and not overextend themselves because that leads into dire situations in your life. So speaker-0: Terrible. Terrible. Now let's talk about now. You travel a lot. What how is how are things right now in Africa? I mean, how are they? I mean, here we are, the post COVID world. Now we have the new wars going on. ⁓ is Africa like where is certainly with where you go, are is the economy okay? Are people traveling? Are they going on safaris? Do you see a lot of tourism right now? speaker-1: Absolutely. Well, as the North American business officer for Gondwana Collections Namibia, so I sell safaris. That's why I always have my trusted little furry friend. It's actually for my grandchildren, but I love it for my podcast. we we are the safest country in Africa, Namibia. It's just northwest of South Africa. We share ⁓ minerals, diamonds. That kind of export from Namibia. And we've just come in to the one of the biggest oil reserves in the whole of the African continent. And that'll come on board in about 10 years. But right now, Shell, you know, Exxon, Total, they all in Namibia. So we have an opportunity to grow not only our population and our employment, which is very, very low in our part of the world. So Many opportunities have not been given to people in Africa. Many companies come in, they take the resources and the minerals, and they leave and they sell them overseas, and our government gets the benefit from it. So that's been my whole thrust my whole life. My passion is to make sure that the children are really given an opportunity through the government and through all our opportunities for in in International investment. I mean, that's really what I've been working on for many, many years now. I represent my government for ⁓ in tourism, tourism and investment and bringing new and you know investment to Namibia. But also we spoke about it. Las Vegas, Nevada is so similar to ⁓ Namibia, where we have this desert landscape, but we are just so rich in resources that we need to have the right structure. And the right environment to be able to make money for the country. ⁓ and that the people also benefit. So it's not only about promo Namibia is safe, it's beautiful, we have the best roads in Africa. I mean, I sell my safaris to Americans, they love it. You can see I love wearing my American hat. They always call me the Namibian cowgirl. and and I mean, that's just the love of my life, being able to be passionate about safaris, travel back to my country, ⁓ helping people financially. ⁓ uplift themselves to a st a a a stage in their life when even if they very poverty stricken, that they can get to a better place in their life. speaker-0: You know, God bless you for that. You're giving back, and that's what matters. Michelle, you and I, you know, now about a year ago, you and ⁓ a contingent were in Vegas actually looking at tourism here. And I think first off, it's an honor to come halfway around the world and you drop in Las Vegas. Would you say so when you go to Africa and you mention Las Vegas, I mean, everybody knows what it is, right? I mean, you don't have to explain there's a city in America. I mean, people know the term Las Vegas. Am I correct in saying that? speaker-1: Right, right, right. Absolutely. But then people think of Las Vegas as a place where people lose money, get debauched, or debaucheries all around. But it doesn't have that stigma in terms of business. ⁓ it's you know, that entertainment side is very different. It's like LA, it's like New York, it all has its stigma around the world. But ⁓ when it comes to business, and I think Las Vegas, ⁓ you'd certainly open my eyes to the opportunities there. ⁓ and so it it would be wonderful to see that relationship between Africa and certainly ⁓ Las Vegas and you know Nevada, to learn from each other. Like what are the the the learning opportunities there? How do we better our environment? Because you guys are doing so well. ⁓ and we should learn from that. speaker-0: Yeah. Well, and you know, we're gonna take a by the way, we're gonna take a very quick break, but I want to come back on that, on how we have learned, again, in a desert environment, how we have learned to thrive and just do it right. So Michelle, we will be right back with Winnie Windowin's for a quick break. And welcome back to Winning with One is Las Vegas News and Coolest Financial Show. And yes, you see two people with cowboy hats on. You know, I have to just say, Michelle, I'll have to tell you quick story. I was at this new club last night in Vegas. Fantastic, high-end club. There were two guys there with cowboy hats, and a whole bunch of guys there with baseball caps on. I don't know what it is. Is it is it that way in Africa? Everybody the guys wear baseball caps. I mean, I wear them too when I'm in a sporting event, but I don't wear them to a club. Is that way in that Africa too? speaker-1: I don't know, Ken, I don't go to clubs anymore, so speaker-0: Well no, this is like a this is an adult club. I mean it meaning it's ⁓ high end, everybody's dressed well. I don't know, I just don't get this ball cap thing at a at a nice place with a sport coat. I don't get it. Anyway. That's speaker-1: Well you're also living in a part of the world where cowboy hats are just revered and you should be wearing one and but I mean I just do it for bad hair days and every actually people do wear c ⁓ like cowboy hats, but we have our own kind of style. But yeah, definitely the sun is relentless. ⁓ you can't go outside. So a baseball cap's not gonna help you with the the sun on your neck and so no. This is ⁓ quite a sought after thing in the video. speaker-0: The hat you're wearing, is that a African cowboy hat or an American cowboy hat? speaker-1: No. ⁓ my son lives in Texas, Austin, Texas, and I got it from one of the tops there. One is my outfit and my boots. speaker-0: All right, there we go. There you ⁓ yeah, yeah, no, I know I know. I saw it in Ashville, you and you look great in ⁓ You know, that's the other thing too. There's a difference between Texas cowboy hats and what I call Western cowboy hats. You can spot it. It's i it's actually pretty interesting. And then ⁓ it is pretty funny, of course, you and I were in Nashville. I saw a couple of guys there with some Confederate flags, so you definitely knew what part of the world you were in. So that's pretty funny. I just still out still out there, you know. But hey, listen. speaker-1: Let's let's talk about your hat, because your hat is a a collector's item. speaker-0: Yeah, this is well, this is the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary Stetson that I would now I only wear this for special guests and also indoor. You know, you wouldn't wear this to ride a horse. This is a dress cowboy hat. I have other hats when I go horse riding, you know. But no, I love it. It's it they're just fun and everybody knows what they are. All right, now listen, we can talk for about this. Let's talk about the other group that you and I are involved with, which is the National Association of Top Professionals. Now you're actually there. Spokesman now, right? You're you're you're it. speaker-1: ⁓ wow, that's sweet. we are a collaboration of wonderful professionals from around the world for IOTP, International Association of Top Professionals. I happen to do TIP Radio Podcast, the international show that really gets into, like you do, gets into the nitty-gritty of and all the wonderful impact that all of our honorees are actually doing, our members are doing in the communities around the world. So It's a huge honor for me to do that. I love Stephanie. I love the IOTP family. ⁓ and it's been years now that I've been a part of it. I MC It Functions, but it's really ⁓ it is just given me an idea how many people in the world, like you and I, are prepared to do good things, make a positive impact on the planet, on humanity, and that people can actually stand together. And you said it so perfectly when we were in Nashville. That ⁓ we get together, we have a good time, but we're there for a common reason, a common cause. ⁓ and I think very few organizations are like that these days. They just like to be I mean, with IoTP, we get put on a billboard in Nasdaq in New York, we ⁓ in Las Vegas on Planet Hollywood billboard, in l in Nashville. So one would seem to think that it might just be a prestige thing. ⁓ to showcase ourselves in business, but we're actually there as a community, as a family, which is just wonderful. I just love it. speaker-0: I agree. And and you know Stephanie, as we both know, and for any of you are who are watching this, please go check out the website, IAOTP.com. Read about Stephanie and her fantastic team, and you know, and she brings her family involved in it too, which is so wonderful. But I would also add this too, Michelle, you know, that there's a lot of people that are in fields. I mean, you and I happen to be in industries where they're high profile. I mean, you know, we don't have problems getting invited for newspaper interviews. social media interviews and whatever. But you and I agree, there's some people in these amazing fields that they they sit in an office and yet they're they're some of the best in the world at what they do. And it's fun to actually get to meet a lot of these folks. Even though I do think it's pretty funny that ⁓ you know, when you start finding out what people like to do, and I would also say too, with our group, you well you love to see people kind of push their boundaries. Some of them have never worn a tuxedo before. They've never been in a gown before. They've never had to get on a stage and, you know, and be in front of cameras. Is that so it's fun to watch people blossom and to actually get to enjoy the I love it. speaker-1: What I what I've seen is people step out of their shells, you know, someone is an author or a scientist, and they're hiding behind their wonderful achievements and they they don't like to get out in public. But when they do, they flourish because we are there holding their hands, we love each other, we have fun and that's what r really it's about. And also for me to do the tip radio podcast, it's about really ⁓ showcasing. Who these individuals are in depth, ⁓ like what you do on your show, which is ⁓ fantastic. And I'm very honored. Thanks for having me. speaker-0: course. Well you're not you won't be the last time you're on too. And I at some point I want to get your hubby on. We got to get Gary on. I've I got a lot of things to ask Gary and Gary's gonna go, ⁓ no, Ken, I can only imagine what he's gonna ask me. But now Michelle, you've no and seriously, I mean your your resume is so darned impressive. I mean like I said you've gone around the world, you've done all these amazing things. Let's talk ⁓ you know I want to just spend a little bit of time talking about contest in general. Now we just talked about how wonderful it is for these professional contests. The where we are in the world now with quote unquote what we used to call beauty contest, are they as prevalent today? I mean, I don't quite hear as much about the mish universe pageant and these things. Are they still out there? I mean, they are they still carrying the same weight? speaker-1: Yeah, they actually are. you know, although social media has kind of driven a lot of attention towards, you know, everyone can be a star these days. You can be on Instagram. So social media has created quite competition for ⁓ pageants. In previous days and in eras in my era in the 90s, 92, when I won Miss Universe, there were very few television networks that would cover. ⁓ big events like the Olympic Games and Miss Universe pageant. And Miss Universe Pageant was actually almost on par with the Olympic Games. A billion people used to watch Miss Universe. I'm actually going to be judging the Miss USA pageant here in Miami in two weeks' time. Really? It still has that draws these most professional, beautiful women that ⁓ you know, that are in their own right are doing amazing things. speaker-0: Really? speaker-1: On this planet, whether it's philanthropy, business. I think it's just an opportunity for young women and any woman to be able to go on stage, have fun, showcase their beauty, their intelligence. ⁓ I always say, as a mentor for pageants for the last 34 years, it's not about this young lady coming on stage and getting the best dress or winning the crown, the title, like it was for me, it was about. the impact I can make in the world. And having that platform, having that stage and the the voice to be able to do that is profound and has done profound things in my life and certainly for other women. So yes, I think it does still have a place. speaker-0: And you know, I I know that there's been so many controversies right now, whether it's the WMBA or or pageants, you know, we do there's a lot of issues about gender identity issues and social issues and all this stuff coming on. And at the end of the day, I still think it goes back to the the you know, the nature of what these things are supposed to be about, which is the purity of of you know of what you know, somebody having to present themselves in the best light possible. You know, one thing you taught me, and I think a lot of people miss the mark on this. That these contests, it's you you cannot just get in on them on physical appearance by itself. You won't make it. You've got to have, you know, ⁓ you have to show yourself to be intelligent, have a a you know, a good stage presence. And then on top of it, and also and also be comfortable with your beauty. I mean, I find so many times that a lot of women are actually they they're nervous because there's so many eyes looking at them or attractive men. Well they they actually get they're shy. It's actually kind of funny how shy they can get. It's really kind of interesting. speaker-1: Interesting that ⁓ thing about pageants and what it taught me was because I was a model before I got into the pageant industry and I was just like, Well, ⁓ I make money out of having a good physique, ⁓ being able to ⁓ do ⁓ campaigns, things like that. So I used to make money out of it. And supermodels have always been revered. They're not they're not shamed for making money out of their beauty, but when I got into pageants, I was given a different opportunity and speaker-0: And you know, we we unfortunately had some technical difficulties with Michelle's interview. So listen, if you need to get a hold of Michelle McLean, go ahead and email me at winningwithwinens dot com. And you know, she's just fantastic. If you have any questions about tourism in Africa, or certainly if you have any of your kids want to get up to you know, get involved in the pageant world, please reach out to her. She's really very knowledgeable on the do's and don'ts of these things. So anyway, we're gonna take a quick break. And then we'll come back with my final segment of winning with winens. And welcome back to Winning with One is Las Vegas News and Coolest Financial Show. Hey, I hope you enjoyed that last segment. You know, I enjoy our guest because we cover very different aspects of what's going on in Las Vegas. And as many of you know, I'm extremely, excuse the pun, bullish on our future. And it I wanted to spend this last part of the show to talk about, as we've been talking about so many times, what is going on across this great country. So I'm going to give you a little bit of a history lesson because many of you are thinking this is some weird thing that's never happened before. Okay, our country history has been built on migration. And I'm talking about people who were in the East Coast who headed west. ⁓ they, you know, first ended up in the Midwest, then they kept going west. And basically, our whole country has been formulated on the idea of movement to find better opportunities. We had this happen with the back in the 70s. And with the Rust Belt, a lot of people moved to Texas. So brings up my next story. Why is it not a surprise? In Barron's Financial Weekly, this last week, here it is. And what does it say? The new Wild West sizing up Texas brand hypercapitalism and how it could backfire. But folks, I've talked forever about how Nevada's state fortunes are changing and Arizona's and Utah's. Texas and Florida, migration is not new. It is really not new. Now you can blame a lot of reasons why I think it happens to be very bad government policies in a lot of different states and and states such as ours that run with, you know, citizen government, ⁓ smart about taxes, smart about regulation, tr to, you know, practically fix our problems. Well, we're still in a queue from Texas. So here it is. Texas is booming. What does that really mean for us? Well, I want you to pay attention to this. Okay, as we look at our future, Texas has added more jobs to its rosters than any other state. Now, think about what that means here. Again, you talk there's an old adage in business, copy success. If we begin to copy much of what Texas has already done in the financial service industry, is which I'm really interested in, or as we're finding sports management. Which could very easily come out to this part of the country as we become the sports capital of the world. But in finance alone, okay, now remember, I've been in this industry a very long time. ⁓ Texas blew up in the late 80s, went on during the last oil boom, and no one wanted to go there. I mean, it was ⁓ Texas banks blew up. It was a mess. ⁓ the place was just a mess. Here we are today. No longer a joke, folks. 400,000. Financial industry jobs alone are now in Texas. Texas now leads as the home headquarters to more Fortune 500 companies than any other state. We have literally left California and New York in the dust. JP Morgan, I mean, this is pretty funny. JP Morgan, the bank, the investment firm, has 32,000 employees in Texas and 30,000 in New York. Think about what I'm saying here. When we keep talking about New York City as the financial capital of America, not much longer. It's moving to other places. So ⁓ you know what? It's just something we have to be aware of. I would also bring up other things that many people don't want to hear about, such as when you have that kind of growth in your payrolls and the money flowing into your state, guess what Texas also leads the country in? Clean energy generation. Who would have ever thought that? True. These are all true stories. But I also think that what we're going to see play out, especially with this midterm election, why it is so critical. I'm I'm please send this ⁓ podcast to California and New York and Illinois. Because guess what New York Stock Exchange just did? They just moved the Chicago Stock Exchange to guess where? Texas. I think NASDAQ is probably going to move eventually. I mean, I'm I don't have a, you know. Insider information on that, but they're building a massive complex in Texas. But where these stock exchanges go usually means that you're a financial center. They also did something which, by the way, we've already done Texas has business courts. They basically have it where business matters are settled by a judge, maybe a jury, who's knowledgeable on business matters. Folks, we're doing the same things in Nevada. I truly think Nevada is next in this. That's why. I talk so much about it. That's why when we had our lieutenant governor on this podcast, we talked about it. It's why, you know, UNLV did a white paper research on why this could happen in Nevada. So as we go to the polls during this midterm, watch and see how we elect officials that are basically have a bright future about Nevada and want to see us grow and diversify and versus those that don't. Now, let me also tell you something that's so funny. That that is almost comical. When you always hear about these water issues that we supposedly have in Nevada, Texas is actually running out of water. I couldn't believe it when I read this article. Places like Corpus Christi, they put in emergency rations. Folks, we're already ahead of the curve against a lot of these other booming states because we've taken water very seriously. That's just one of them. So again, I can't bring up enough to, you know, look at how we're voting in this next election. Look at how the elected officials Look at the ballot measures that are on and compare those to other states that are more anti-business. I I guess what I'm trying to tell you is this: Texas is doing it. I think Nevada is going to be doing it. And we need to get prepared for this. There's smart growth, there's growth that you can prepare for, and then there's stupid growth. And we never ever ever want to forget the mistakes we made before the housing bust of 2007 and 2008. We're smart, tough people. We generally learn from our mistakes. But I'm telling you, I think that the state of Nevada overall, much of it in Las Vegas, but also throw Reno into that. Our future is so unbelievably bright. I mean, I'm just proud to call this place my home. Anyway, we are just about out of time. I just wanted to bring up a couple other quick things ⁓ that I didn't bring up last time. ⁓ this is a good time for you to meet with your advisors. This is, you know, August is a good time because you're not into the fall yet. You have time to make adjustments on your taxes. Please go talk to your advisors. You know, tail into summer, kids are back in school, you're back at work, make an appointment, get together with your accountants. If you have a family attorney and you need to update wills or trusts, we talked about the mess going on with college endowments, you know, earlier. You know, please take the time to do it now. Don't wait. Do it now because hey, markets go up and markets go down. And you know, it's part of the nature of investing. But this is a good time to start looking at your plans, your strategies. And you know what? If you have concerns and your people are not answering your questions, it's time for you to also start asking yourself the question: do you need to find another advisor? So listen, we're just about out of time. I want to thank our sponsors, which you can find on our wide our website, winningwithwiners.com. And if you are interested in being a sponsor or even a guest on future winning with wine and shows, as you already know, we have guests from all walks of life. They could, they're not just financial people, they're politicians, they're they're people in healthcare, people in engineering, they're from all over. If you have an interesting story and you love Nevada as much as I do, we'd love to have you come on the show. by the way, feel free to send me an email if you have any questions. I love getting questions from you folks. They're very insightful and I do. Hey, every now and then people don't agree with me. That's fine. That's what makes America great. ⁓ if you want to share this podcast with friends or family, you know, you can look at them online. We're on all the major social media platforms, and you can certainly watch any point in time. Also, I write for Forbes, as I mentioned earlier. I am trying to write a story every month. You can track my Forbes articles on Ken Wynin's Forbes.com. Just do a Google search, you'll find me. I've written five books. If you're interested in learning more about how history can help you with your investing, go download my latest one called Investment Atlas 3 Creating Wealth Using Historical Trends. Last but not least, I have one favor to ask. After this podcast, will you please listen to the infomercial about my company and our services? Hey, it pays the bills, and I'd like for you to at least listen. I'm very proud of what we've accomplished. We're very different than other people in our industry. And we do practice what we preach. We are top ranked in the world by a third party firm called Morningstar. So anyway, please listen. And if you're interested in what we do, I'd love to hear from you. Anyway, everybody, good luck next week with your investments. This is Ken Winans. You take care. Hi everybody, this is Ken Winins, host of Winning with Wine's, and I want to take a quick minute of your time to talk about the best way to pick an investment advisor. Now it's very easy to think that we're all the same, there's no difference. And in fact, a lot of the in financial planners work for large financial institutions that are really quite limited in what they can produce. Winens Investments is the only Morningstar, five-star ranked manager in all of Las Vegas. And I hate to say, as of here now, we're number one in Nevada. If you're looking for something unique, something different, give us a call. You won't be disappointed. Win with Winens. Boy, that time went fast. I hope you had as much fun as I did during this segment of Winning with Wineins. Make sure and tune in next week for another round of guest and interesting topics. And if you missed this, make sure and check us out on Spotify, YouTube, or go to our website, winningwithwines.com, where there's a lot more information for you to follow. So good luck this next week. Look forward to seeing you then. Take care.