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Real Estate Investing, Career Pivots, and Wealth Building with Donny Mangos · Marci talks money (and life)

• Marci Grossman (00:05) Welcome to Marci Talks Money and Life. I am Money Marci and I love that I get to meet so many people who have had interesting journeys in their relationships with money. Donnie Mangos is a renaissance man. A business graduate, he started out building and designing business systems, moved into IT consulting for banks and insurance companies, and transitioned to real estate. He's now written two books, 'Replace Your Salary with Real Estate' and 'Get Wealthed Up' in support of his work in financial consulting and real estate investing. Welcome Donnie, I'm so happy to have you here. Donny Mangos (00:39) Hey Marci, great to be here, thank you. Marci Grossman (00:41) So I like to start with how you got here. So what financial lessons did you learn growing up or not learn that set you on this interesting path? Donny Mangos (00:52) Love it. Absolutely. So I am a son of an immigrant. So my parents came from Europe, with really nothing in their pockets. They owed money, in fact, and they just had to go through the lifestyle of assimilating in Canada, finding jobs, figuring out ways to build a family. So that mentality really struck through, because that's what I witnessed growing up, was just hard work, saving, and that's how you build. I followed that for a number of years. That was basically my true north. That's how I figured I was going make money and provide for my family and do the things that I want to do in my life. So that was my first experience into learning to afford life, how to make it work for you. But a lot's changed since then for me. I think a lot has changed for the world, never mind just me. That system doesn't really work so much the way that it does. It really hasn't changed. The numbers have changed around it. And so it's not as possible to be my dad and my mom today in this climate, in this environment, and go ahead and make a family and go ahead and pay for life and thrive. So I've had to evolve. I've had to evolve and understand what's going on. How do we make this work? you here I am 25, 30, God, how old am I? Whatever. A number of years, a few decades old. And I'm like, you know what? I finally, I think, have the most part figured it out, like figured out. And so now my kids and the lessons I teach them are different to what they see is very different. And I hope we'll get into that in our discussion today. Marci Grossman (02:15) Okay. Now you went to, where did you go to school to get your business degree? Donny Mangos (02:21) Yeah, so at the time it was called Ryerson. So I was a transfer. I went to University of Western Ontario in London and then made a shift over back to Toronto where it was just it was easier to afford. It really what came down to. And we I went to school in Ryerson, got a business degree. And from that, I was recruited out of there somehow some way as a business grad to work in IT with a bunch of computer science wizards. of which I was not one of but I was grouped in I must have snuck in or something I don't know how that happened and it was a great paying job so I was wooed by the money and then I worked in IT that's kind of how it happened until I realized very quickly a couple years in I really don't like this. I really don't like the high cubicle walls. I'm by myself all day I really it just you're really trading time Marci Grossman (02:48) you Donny Mangos (03:12) for paycheck and that's not who I wanted to be. So the business degree part of it, being business focused and watching my dad work and working in his restaurant when I was in fifth and sixth grade onwards, it just, it didn't fit. It was going against the grain for me. And so I just needed to like chase passions and chase entrepreneurship more than chasing an hourly wage. And that's when I shifted my focus into real estate. I just wanted to chase what I was happy about, what I enjoyed, because when you do what you love, you never work a day in your life, we've all heard that expression. And I just said, I'm gonna do this, I don't know how it's gonna work out, but I think it will, because if I like it enough, if I love it enough, I'll care about it more, I will perform better, I will transfer my love for it to others, and it'll all sort of work in harmony. And it did, Marci it very much did. So I understood how to run a business. from education, I understood how to do what fills the soul and I went that direction and then that changed everything for me. I didn't look for a career change beyond that. This is my forever thing. You know when you meet somebody and you say, you remember Joe? Joe, Joe, who's Joe? Joe, Joe the Plumber. yeah, I know Joe the Plumber. Like it kind of works that way. I was gonna be Donnie the Realtor. I recognized. People were gonna say, whose father is that? Who's that guy, that girl's father? Oh, that's Donnie the realtor. That's who I figured I was becoming. And it worked, because it gave me everything good in life. Until I started realizing that I was no longer as infatuated with it as I was. I pivoted in the business to go towards more the investment side of real estate, wealth building side of real estate. And for better or worse, it... pushed me into another direction where wealth became the focus, not necessarily real estate. And that evolved into who I am now, which is Donnie the wealth strategist guy. There you go. Marci Grossman (05:03) So then you you've written these books and you talk about a money mansion. Now, I tried to look it up. think I found a movie and a video game, but... Donny Mangos (05:12) Okay, you found more than I did then, Marci. I thought I was making it up, quite honestly. Marci Grossman (05:17) Well, I think they were something totally different than what you meant. And I love when people come up with phrases. So tell me about a money mansion. Donny Mangos (05:24) Right. Okay. So It's a book that's called Wealthed Up. 'Get Wealthed Up' by me Donnie Mangos. And what I I talk about a strategy in this book, which I believe is foundational to a proper wealth plan for everyone. This is what we should all aspire to. I'm trying to relate it back to what I know what I've been used to explaining, which is real estate. And the strategy, the concept that I talk about in 'Get Wealthed Up' is called a money mansion. And it has nothing to do with real estate, but I speak about it as if it does, because it has similar characteristics. Cash flow is an important thing for me. How do you afford life on a day to day? Appreciation, growth, like real estate offers. A money mansion kind of offers the same thing. So I had to package something conceptually in my own mind to say, how can I concisely deliver a message so I can make it accessible to people, they can actually absorb it and through that long strategy that I that I've been working on Is now called a money mansion just so I can concisely say have you have you got one? Do you want to do want to start yours? Build a money mansion Marci Grossman (06:24) Okay, so What is the Money Mansion itself, other than how you're terming it? Donny Mangos (06:27) Alright, Fair. so it's a strategy first and foremost. And the strategy is based on you have to create a linear set of steps that you work towards, you acquire products along the way to ultimately achieve certain outcomes. So here we go. So you know how you earn money. Marci, you've got a job and you earn money. Perfect. Before you even see what you earn though, gotta do step one is pay income taxes. Before it even makes its way over to you, you're losing part of that, right? That's painful. That actually really hurts me, but that happens. Then you have this, so you have a smaller number left. From that, you gotta pay for life. So you probably own your home, you got cars, insurance, kids, dogs, whatever, you name it, vacations, it's all in there. And then you're left with this little amount of money, and we call that savings. And from savings, we're to do this thing called invest. That's kind of how we, that is the strategy, know, ball down. All right, so you take a small number and you go and you have to try and put it towards an asset that you think will go up in value, will increase in value. So if you're lucky and it does, the number grows. But you're trying to build this really small number into a really big number. It's a very difficult task. Even if the rate of return is 15, 20%. you're still starting with a small number. The volume is so tiny. It's hard to achieve that. And the kicker is that small number that you go, that you put towards an asset to try and increase its value, as it grows from what you started with to what it's going to be, whatever it grows by, that becomes taxable again. And you go through the same process all over again of paying income tax on what you just made. Though the government didn't participate in your decision, took no risk if you failed in it. They're going to they're going to share in the wins every time you make an investment. Okay, so that bothers me. And I don't think many people are aware that this is what we're all doing We're introducing the government as a partner every time we choose to invest and Marci, I'm not sure if you've talked about this before on your podcast, but so inflation. Inflation is the price that we look at it as a price of things increasing. It's really it's really not that it's really the value of all of our current dollars decreasing So inflation anyways gonna move the number up So whatever that whatever that asset was that I bought with that small amount I put it towards that asset and if inflation is a big reason why that number goes up There's no actual increase in value. Just an increase in the price of whatever I bought because of inflation But that's taxable too. The government doesn't care that inflation is the reason why it went up. The government monetary policy says I'm going to increase the price of things. Fantastic. Well, that increase in price is taxable. So we live in that world. So I look at this and say, why do I have to do this? Why can't I just change? I don't want to put my money towards this scenario. What else can I do given the fact that I understand what's happening out there? How do I figure this out? I said, okay, let's start with the end and said, what do I really, really want? What I really want is I want to avoid paying taxes on my asset increase. First and foremost, that's important to me. I want to stop paying excessive taxation. I want my money to go up in value. I don't want to hope that it's going to go up in an asset, like which is a lot of us are doing when you put money into Bitcoin, into... the S &P, whatever, you're hoping. I mean, it's likely it's going to increase, but we don't actually know. It's a hope strategy. I don't want to hope anymore. I want access to my money whenever I want it. I don't want have to sell all my assets whenever I'm in a pinch. I don't want to have to do that. I started looking at things like this, saying, what do I want from my outcome? I want it to be creditor-proof. Not that I do anything wrong. I just don't want, like we live in a world where people can just... introduce lawsuits whenever they want, tie up your money. I don't want my money to be tied up for any reason along those lines. And I want, like I'm a family man, I've got two daughters who I adore, a wife. I want to make sure that whatever I do, they can see the benefits of that at some point if something happens to me. I said, this is what I want. I want this bundle. I want to create this outcome. And I realized that you can actually create this bundle. You can do this and you can make it. somebody else's obligation to deliver all that stuff. I can, I can make it someone else's obligation and not just anybody, not, the loan shark down the road, but actual major financial institutions in Canada and the U S we're very fortunate that these people, they're willing to do this. And it ultimately turned out to be an insurance solution. So you're doing this through insurance, with insurance contracts. You don't have to reinvent anything. You don't have to go and hire lawyers or a legal team to find these partners and draft all these documents. No, it's through Through their contracts you can you can design them and manipulate them such that you achieve the goals that you want to give us that bundle that outcome that we're looking for and give them what they want as well. So the money mansion is that it's understanding where you're at right now. Understanding what you want your outcome to look like and then creating the steps to get you to that predetermined, almost all guaranteed outcome. Marci Grossman (11:15) So wait, are you telling me you're an insurance guy too or you just use insurance as a tool? Donny Mangos (11:19) Insurance is a tool to me. It's primarily like for my first thing is an asset class I know that it gives insurance and I need that of course, but I've never sold insurance policy like like that to sell insurance. I'm not interested. I'm more interested in how do I create the outcome that I want financially from while I'm alive? More than taking care of my dependents. Marci Grossman (11:40) So you're a business graduate who worked in IT, became a real estate agent and now is an author. And I believe you said you're a podcaster now too, which is podcasting about the wealth building, I assume. Okay, so that's not just your book, that's also your podcast, your brand. That's, when you talk about Donny Mangos (11:48) Yes. Yes. Yeah, it's called Wealth Dup. Marci Grossman (12:02) real estate. You're still using real estate, not just insurance at this point, right? Donny Mangos (12:06) So yes, but the last few years Marci, Toronto has been very, so my micro market, the Toronto has been very lucrative for a couple of decades. know, the rising tide raises all boats and everybody was making money hand over fist. But then when the tide goes down, there's a lot of people that are hurting and I foresaw the end of the party. And I just didn't feel good. Real estate is illiquid right now. So some of the properties that we own, they're illiquid. You have to sell or refinance and both of them are difficult. And when you want access to money, there's just limited options in that space. I do think real estate is an amazing investment. I absolutely do. Long term. But you have to be able to ride out those market cycles. And the market cycles are what made me really question whether I want to start with real estate. I want to start with money mansion and then go back into real sequence to me is important. One provides excellent liquidity which I realized I highly value and then I can use some of that liquidity to acquire more real estate. So real estate I think it's a great asset. You know, it's appreciating on the whole and if you're in a jurisdiction where it makes sense to be a real estate property owner as a landlord, fantastic. If you are not, you may want to rethink real estate in your portfolio, at least locally. So I just needed ways to continue to see a path forward growth, security, liquidity, and real estate wasn't doing that. And that's what made me really question where are we going with this? How am I going to figure out the next 20 years of my life so that I can have an amazing 20 years and beyond rather than just getting by waiting on liquidity and cycles. Marci Grossman (13:45) That makes sense, Donnie. I guess I'm trying to put you in a box, which probably doesn't make sense because there is nothing about you that belongs in a box. But to try and understand for myself and for listeners, are you a coach? Are you an investment advisor? Donny Mangos (13:57) Thank you. Marci Grossman (14:06) Where exactly would you fit in when someone is saying, I want to get my financial house in order. I want to look at doing the things that I'm building. Donny Mangos (14:17) there's a few different levels to that. So one, Donnie, who wrote the book 'Get Wealthed Up', I talk about a singular strategy in that. So I just kind of describe to you how that, like why someone would be interested in that. And I help facilitate, I help design, I help understand what's important. Really curate what the outcome will be based on who you are. Because as much as I wish for it to be as simple as plug it into AI, spit it out, get an outcome and then just create that. It isn't that, it really isn't. So we have to understand, there's a process to application, not everyone qualifies, so just gotta make sure we're doing that. So on the one side, very simply, when people call me and say, I'd to build a money mansion, I help them build a money mansion. In that case, I am the insurance advisor who helps them acquire that. Okay, so I facilitate that. The other side is, That's one part of it. If you're gonna go bigger picture, I've got assets across the board. I've been going to different countries. I've got like, you have this mega, this mega millionaire and who are they? What are they looking for? Well, I fit into a different role with a team that I work with. I'm an insurance guy, so I can speak to that part of their portfolio. I can speak to real estate side of the portfolio. But we have this whole consultancy. It's not a financial advisor that really only sells you products offered by their brokerage or who they represent. This is a step back and do everything in our office. Do you need a trust? Who's building it for you? What's your long-term strategy? Where should you set up your business? Like was a whole consultancy side of things of which I'm one part of. So financial planners, if you need that, if you needed an investment advisor, we have those guys on our team as well. I fit into a role. nicely on that team as an insurance and site fund asset manager. Marci Grossman (15:58) Okay, but you're not the guy who sells them the insurance. You help them talk to the insurance agents and figure out what are the right insurance investments for them. Donny Mangos (16:06) On the insurance side, I'm part of that team. So I would have the discussions. I lead the team at Legacy Insure. I lead the team for the insurance advisors. And I'm one of them as well. So it could be any of us. Marci Grossman (16:16) Okay. it's fascinating because I have never, I mean I deal with an insurance guy or I deal with a stockbroker or I deal with, you know, as a CPA I kind of create my own team as I go for me or I work with if a client comes in and they've got xyz I work with whoever their people are. If they're looking for new people I can make some suggestions of various places they might look but I am not connected to a team in the way that you are. So that's an interesting... Right. Donny Mangos (16:47) Some people just want that one thing. So if they're looking for, know, file my taxes for me. Okay, maybe, like that's something very simple and you don't really want to involve other partners in this. But to use that example, it's the things you do leading up to file my taxes that could really alter what that file my taxes stuff looks like, right? It's the planning in advance and all of that that really affects it. Handing your receipts and asking your CPA or asking your accountant to Marci Grossman (17:08) Right. Donny Mangos (17:14) Save me a few bucks. I don't know how that works. What are you hoping to do? You're too far in to really plan for strategic deductions or strategy. That all happens on our side when we get to that level where it's really looking at you as a whole holistically. How do we figure this out? That's what we do. So some people want that. Some people want, just help me figure out my entire life. Give it all to me. That's amazing. Not everybody wants that. Some people just want, know what, I'm okay. I manage my ETFs in my no-fee accounts with my brokerage. No problem, I wanna do this. I figured out my will. I know what I'm gonna do. I just need, I've heard of this concept and I want to put this into action. So can you help me get that? there's, it's, the client decides what they want. So I operate on two different levels. Marci Grossman (17:59) Absolutely. Did you ever expect you would end up doing what you're doing? Donny Mangos (18:04) Absolutely not. You know what? I never thought about that. Absolutely not. No. Marci Grossman (18:10) Well, for a business degree. I mean, did you have some idea? Okay, I'm going to study business because I'm going to... Was it a general business degree or were you under... okay. Donny Mangos (18:19) Yes, it was a business degree with what the major was in business information systems. Now keep in mind, the Internet's kind of new. Like that's where I'm dating myself here. This is where we were. So was tech, kinda, but not really just how to understand how to use software was kind of what it came down to and a minor in economics. And I just I'm a student always. I just want to learn more more and more and more. So I'm not sure that my degree did very much beyond get me that first job. Quite honestly, I think the school of life has contributed far more than the degree that I earned. And I think that's probably a statement I could make even more relevant today to a lot of these kids. It's school of life is really important and the pace of what's happening out here is really quick that I don't know. if everybody is getting the benefit out of post-secondary education, higher learning, I'm not sure that it's still as relevant for these guys as it was for us when the pace of life was a bit slower. Anyways, I digress. No, I didn't imagine I was going to be here. In fact, I remember coming out of university and I don't even know how I applied to work at a company that basically sold insurance and mutual funds and I had the job. I had gone through the licensing requirements to be a dealer, no problem. And at the very last moment I'm like, what am I doing here? Get me out of here. I want no part of this. I just realized that right now, Marci, in speaking with you, that that actually happened. And then I abandoned it and here I am, kind of doing it, 25 years later. Marci Grossman (19:46) You're doing it differently. And I agree with you that the pace of life has changed. I've got a few years on you and when I started practicing accounting, computers were just starting to go into the office. ⁓ There was no email. We had had couriers. Donny Mangos (19:47) Do it differently. Imagine that. Marci Grossman (20:03) that either you had a guy that worked for you or you had courier services that would, if you needed something to the other side of town immediately, either someone from your office went or you would call one of these guys that would pick it up and take it there. We processed tax returns by hand and then there was a place where we filled out forms and sent it out and they'd bring it back the next day. And if we had corrections, we would send it back out. ⁓ Donny Mangos (20:25) Right. Marci Grossman (20:27) It's a totally different world. It moves so much faster and the changes on computers and the changes on access and the changes on information that's available is incredible. We used to be able to get the the CCH books, the reference books, and you knew they were as accurate as they were depending on how current they were. And now I can turn around on the internet and I can get information. Now I have to worry whether it's accurate information. as to who touched it and where it came from, unless I'm using a compiled source that I know this is from the IRS or this is from one of the agencies that puts out real information. And it's scary to see what my kids are going through as young adults and the world changing. And you go to college to learn more about how to learn, maybe to learn more about specific subject areas. but the world is changing so fast. You don't necessarily come out and do, this is what I expected. This is where I'm gonna go. This is have a life plan. My husband and I both went to college for our degrees, our careers. I'm an accountant and I went for accounting. He's a computer programmer. He went for computer programming, but that's not necessarily. what happens and you have to be willing to be aware of that. And we have to give our kids grace that their experience is going to be so different than what ours was. Donny Mangos (21:47) Yeah, agreed. Agreed. You know, on that point, I, so Gary, you know, Gary V is Gary Vaynerchuk. Okay. So he's, he's pretty mega. He showed up, there was a conference in Toronto. He was a keynote. He rolls in and you know, he's all hyper, you know, he's, he's Gary and he's flipping out. He doesn't have much of a speech prepared. Cause why would he kind of thing? And it's like, Hey everybody, where do you want to go? Do you want to go Q and A? Let's do Q and A. Let's go. Let's go. Marci Grossman (21:53) Yeah. Donny Mangos (22:12) He does Q &A with the audience. He gets two rows lined up behind a mic and says, all right, any questions, go for it. So here comes this dad. This guy walks up to the mic and he's got his phone camera out and he's recording his interaction with Gary Vee. And he goes, Gary, so I'm recording this for my daughter. She's going to Columbia University in the fall. You have any words of wisdom you want to share? I'd love to play this for her when I see her later on. He goes, dude, are you serious? Yeah, yeah, I'm serious. I'm gonna do this. Okay, what is she studying there? Marketing. He goes, okay, I'm gonna be honest. He's like, yeah, of course. Don't do it. Don't waste your money. Don't waste your time. Spend your money on lunches with executives. Go on YouTube, watch what's happening. The things you're gonna learn were written by dinosaurs who wrote how to market back when there was catalogs, blah, blah, blah, and he just went off, right? And just for about five minutes, he was spewing this off. like, I... I feel you Gary, I get what you're saying. Go to university, go to college to learn. Learn how to learn. Critical thinking is an important concept. Even more today than it was when we were younger, for sure. Misinformation versus what's actual, that matters. But to go there for a job, unless you're gonna be a lawyer or a doctor where you require licensing like that, I'm having a hard time understanding the true benefit when you realize how much debt is involved here. What is the ROI? Could you have been better off under different path? I just wanna, I'm not saying you would be. I'm saying it's worth considering if you are entering that path. And we as parents, absolutely right, need to be mindful of, it's not as predetermined as it was for us. That this is what you do first, then you do this, then you do that, then you have a family, and et cetera, et cetera. That isn't linear anymore. ⁓ And it has to do with the advancement of Marci Grossman (23:52) Right. Donny Mangos (23:56) Technology and software and all that so It's changed. It's changing. We need to be mindful of that and respectful of our kids Marci Grossman (24:02) It's crazy. So the people that you're dealing with, I assume from the things that you said, they come into you because they have money. They're not coming in because they have debt to get sorted out. You're dealing with higher wealth or people that have wealth to begin with. So you have some experience in people that you're helping them turn it around and build that wealth? Donny Mangos (24:20) Most times, yes. Yeah, So sometimes it's a matter of this needs to happen before we can do this. So remember I was talking about how it's a partnership. It's you're creating a win-win with a partner under contract that a partner will be an insurance company essentially. They need to win too. And if you're not qualified for, well, medically, because ultimately it's a life insurance product, so you use your body, use your life as part of this. But you also got to make sure that, they have to make sure that they feel confident that you can hold up your end of the bargain financially. If you can't demonstrate that you've got a little excess capital to contribute towards the fueling this contract, they may not be interested in partnering with you or with us. So it's oftentimes it's a, here's what we're going to do. Okay, we need to change a few things around. Now this becomes more of the holistic side, but a really scaled down version of it saying we need to prepare to do this. So just like everything in life. Marci Grossman (25:06) Okay. Donny Mangos (25:18) You you got a runway. If you want that, here are the things we need to do to get to the point where we can take off. So let's start putting a plan in place for that. And sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. You can only guide as a leader. You can't execute for them on that side of things. You know, if it's curbing some spending or if it's changing, if it's delaying a trip until after you've funded this thing, which allows you to have access to capital again later on, there's things we can do to have that discussion. But ultimately, it's not your decision on whether or not you're gonna qualify. It's someone else's decision if they're gonna allow you to qualify. So we can attempt and we can have discussion with somebody who ultimately is that partner, is a person that you can speak with to try and communicate who you are and why. Sometimes the answer is no, and that's okay. It's not a no, it's a not right now. So we just gotta get to the right now part and plan for that. Marci Grossman (26:06) Okay. How are you teaching your daughters about money? I don't know. Are they teens maybe? Donny Mangos (26:10) Yep. So I've got one teenager and one tween. The so well, one, my teenager is actually on my payroll. So for some of the properties, I make her go through a lot of the expenses, create them, send out the documents for collection on on utilities, things like that. So she's starting to see how there's actually costs associated with doing it this way. She sees the revenues and expenses and the reports and understands it because she's she's involved with that now. I Marci Grossman (26:13) Okay. Donny Mangos (26:36) I have her listen through my podcasts so that she can correct anything, for example, really as an exercise to get her to listen to it. They have their own money mansions and I've been talking to them about it many times and made them read my book. They're really starting to see how what's happening out there. It's not necessarily the way that they need to conduct their life as well. My oldest, she's closest to understanding for sure. One of my favorite stories is she has a money mansion set up rather than putting money into a savings account, which is what she was doing, earning literally three, four cents a month. She contributes towards her money mansion. The money mansion is it's three years in. It's it's damn near like above water, which is how this works is the first two, three years, sometimes four years. You're not in dollar for dollar. The value of your asset is not dollar for dollar what you contributed. But then it skyrockets and it only ever goes, it's only ever in the green. So she's close to that. And I teach her about not spending her money. Her money goes towards building assets and she borrows money to spend and pays that back because the gain of what she, if she leaves her money alone, the gain is, it's massive over her lifetime. She has so many years to compound and she can just, you know, she can control the payment structure on what she borrows to do this. So this summer, She wanted to get into a volleyball camp. It cost 1500 bucks. She wanted to do it. Perfect. I could have paid for it for her. That would do nobody any good. And she could have paid for it out of savings or like birthday money and things like this that contributed towards that. No, she did what we talk about, which is use her money mansion, that liquidity facility in her money mansion. She's going to borrow money from that, let her money grow, and she's going to pay back in equal installments over 12 months. $129 a month and she's three months back into paying that so she understands Marci Grossman (28:17) So she borrowed it from her own assets. To pay it back. Okay. Okay. Donny Mangos (28:20) Exactly right. Just like you would with a line of credit on your property. Yep. So I'm showing her, I'm teaching her lessons in compounding, teaching her lessons in taxation, teaching her lessons in opportunity cost. Right. These are all part of the part of the plan. So that's that side of things, Marci. But what I really what I'm which is I'm excited about that, as you can tell. But what I'm really excited about is I promote this above all else in life. I'm talking about. Marci Grossman (28:35) Okay. Donny Mangos (28:44) Revenues now just bringing in finding ways to bring in money into your life. How do you do that? You create value That's it. The more value you can create the more competition you're going to see in your life it's just it's a magic formula. The bigger the problem that you can solve the higher the value Someone's going to regard that and the more you're going to the more you're going to naturally attract So go out there find problems find solutions to those problems and tell people about it. That's how you create value and then you won't have to worry about... Your revenue problem is solved at that point. And it's a never-ending saga, it's a never-ending chase. You'll continue to find more and more problems and some won't be exactly what you imagined they would be and maybe they don't believe that it's going to be as big a problem as you do. You just keep going out there and the market's gonna let you know. In life, you will get paid directly in proportion. to the amount of value you create. So they're starting to see that. Marci Grossman (29:37) That's awesome. Do you talk about money at dinner and other parts of it or is it really just the work part? Donny Mangos (29:41) Always. I do. No, all the time. Just about smart ways, taxes, they know my take. So, I mean, I think it's exciting. I hope they do. My little one doesn't really love talking about money, but she's still little. But I've got friends and like people that are in my network and just in my neighborhood who want their kids to be immersed in this as well. How do they set up the money? How do they figure this stuff out as well? Marci Grossman (29:52) Well, she's still kind of young. Donny Mangos (30:05) because if they do this now, they won't have the issues that we have right now. They will never have to go with the ups and downs of the market. They'll never have to worry about waiting for money. They'll never have to worry about what happens if everything is, if they can do this right now, the benefit of time that they have is so great that they will be like, their life is planned out for them at 10, if we can do this for them now. Marci Grossman (30:25) That's awesome because I love talking with people about how they're talking about money with their kids. How are they raising their kids? How are they talking about money with their spouse so that you're having the conversations and you don't have the surprises that come when you don't have those conversations. Donny Mangos (30:41) Yes. Yes. Thank you. I love that. I love it as well. And I think I think we need to do more of that because TikTok and financial literacy that's on there, it's not it's just bling. It's about, you know, splurge, splurge. And everyone's trying to keep up. That's not literacy. Spending is not literacy. Marci Grossman (30:58) Right, and they're also keeping up with people who are lying because we're not all of a sudden earning $10,000 a month on TikTok for working an hour a month. If that was happening, I can't imagine how the economy would respond to that. ⁓ Donny Mangos (31:01) 100 % I see this. Yeah. Right, entirely true. No, that's not creating value, right? I mean, back to that, it's not really creating the value. So they're not really doing, they're not bringing in that much, I'm sorry. Marci Grossman (31:24) Right. Have you got anything you'd like to share before we wrap up, Donnie? Donny Mangos (31:28) I think I'm a big believer proponent of financial literacy. Please everybody just don't even listen to what I'm saying. Research everything on your own. I think it's important that you get a solid understanding of how the tax system works, how inflation is working against us, things like this. Just be aware so you can make better decisions. The person who needs my help the most is often in their 60s and they realize I don't have enough. I can't, I don't know how I'm going to pay for the rest of my life. And I hate being in that conversation for them because I can't help them. They're gone too far for us to really build an asset. If you're in your 30s and your 40s or if you're in your 20s and teens, whatever, you guys have the best opportunity to really put lessons into action and have just a ridiculous effect overall on your life. You can avoid the problem of the person who I'm talking about in their late 60s who's struggling. You can do things today with minimal effort to really change the rest of your life. Marci Grossman (32:24) Thank you Donnie. I appreciate you saying that. I will be sharing Donnie's links in the show notes so if you want to find him you'll know how to do that. Donnie, I have been thrilled to have you here and that was a lot of good information and a great conversation. So everyone thank you for listening. This has been Money Marci on Marci Talks Money and Life and you got this. See ya. Donny Mangos (32:25) Thank you.