What Financial Planners Do That They Won’t Talk About
September 19, 2026
If you're a new subscriber Welcome! What you are reading today is a revisit to a previous article. This is week 4 of my 8 week break from writing so I can complete a new project I'm working on and hopefully give my brain a break so this newsletter doesn't become too stale. The following is an article from February 3, 2024. I have updated where necessary in italics to be sure it's still relevant today. Enjoy!
Have you ever noticed that financial planners seem to steer you away from cash flow producing investments like real estate for example, when setting up your retirement plan? They always seem to steer you toward savings type investments so you can try to accumulate your way to wealth and retirement. It almost seems like they want you to retire in poverty.
The Financial Planner’s Secret
Want to know a big secret that financial planners don’t tell you about? They invest in real estate. Why? Because it produces cash flow, it builds massive equity, and it saves thousands of dollars in taxes.
But why don’t they advise you to invest in real estate? Because they can’t get paid for that advice. They earn fees and commissions on the products(401Ks, IRAs, Mutual Funds, etc.) they sell you. They cannot earn commissions on real estate unless they are a licensed real estate broker. And it would take longer periods of time and a lot more work to close a real estate deal than it would to sell you stocks.
To be clear, I’m not talking about REITs or syndication deals or any managed funds that own real estate. I’m talking about direct ownership of individual properties.
First Hand Experience
I know all this because as a commercial real estate broker some of my real estate investor clients are financial planners. Individually they invest millions of dollars in real estate themselves and tell you to put your money in some managed fund and let someone else control your money and take fees whenever they can.
It's Not Their Fault
That’s how the financial planning business is set up. It’s not their fault. They are not being malicious. They usually work for a company or are in a franchise situation and are only allowed to recommend something that somehow pays them a fee.
Do As I Say, Not As I Do
They then take those fees and commissions that you paid them and they invest it in real estate. They will retire with a 6 or 7 figure income and you will retire with a 6 figure or less savings account that will disappear in a few years.
It looks like a “Do as I say, not as I do” scenario. When has that ever worked?
It doesn’t have to be that way. You can invest in real estate just like they do. Start on whatever scale you are able to do. Don’t have any money? There are creative financing deals out there and there will be an increasing number of them over the next couple of years.
Partners
You can always partner with someone to buy a property. I have done that and it worked out great. I was able to buy properties with less money and exited them when the time came with large profits. Just be sure to have a written partnership agreement and agree in advance on your exit plan and requirements.
The No Money Down Deal
Are there deals you can get into with no money? Yes and no. Technically, yes. You can buy a property with none of your money used in the purchase price. But there are always expenses in the deal that the “no money down gurus” don’t tell you about.
For example, surveys on a commercial property can be significant- a minimum of $1,500. Environmental studies usually start at around $3,500. Your lender will require you to pay for a commercial appraisal. That's another $3,500+ expense. For these 3 items count on $8,500 to $12,000+. More if it’s a large property.
But if you only had to come up with $12,000 to get into a $400,000 property would you really whine about it? There will be sellers willing to seller finance all or part of the sale price for various reasons.
Going into a property with 100% of the deal financed (no money down) is enticing but not always smart. Being over leveraged on a property could put you into a negative cash flow situation.
Do it if it makes sense and leaves you with a profit but BE CAREFUL!
Don’t Wanters
If you learn to recognize the signs you’ll find someone who owns a property that really doesn’t want it. I call those people Don’t Wanters. For whatever reason the Don't Wanters are looking for a way to get rid of their property. They might have inherited it and don’t know what to do with it. Or they got too old or in bad health and can’t keep up with being a landlord anymore.
Sometimes people get in over their heads. They buy a property thinking they want to be an investor and owning real estate is going to give them passive income. It does not. That myth needs to be dealt with before you start investing. There is no passive income when you own properties. You can get close but there is never complete passive income.
Retirees
My favorite scenario is when owners want to retire and sell their properties. There are a couple of reasons why they might be willing to seller finance the deal. They could be worried about the taxes they will have to pay if they do a conventional sale. By seller financing they spread their taxes out over the term of the loan. And they get to continue to earn income on the property.
That’s the second reason the seller would carry the note for you. They want to rid themselves of the responsibility of the property but they don’t want to give up the income. Seller financing would give them the ability to continue earning a monthly recurring income.
Do you want to get started investing in real estate and building cash flow and wealth? Three things you need to get started:
The 3 Pillars Of Real Estate Investing
1. Building Relationships. Real estate is a relationship business! That goes for investors, agents, brokers, lenders, and sellers. Anyone involved in the real estate business needs to build relationships with each other and with others in your community. That’s how the deals happen. Without those relationships it doesn’t work.
2. Mindset. To be an investor you need to shift your mindset from an employee mindset to an Investor Mindset. An employee will be fearful of debt and fearful of getting out of their comfort zone. Most will think “I can’t afford to buy real estate.” Those with an investor mindset will think “How can I find a way to pay for this?” And then they do it!
3. Making Decisions. A real estate investor MUST be able to make decisions. Those who over analyze everything and find every excuse to not do something will never buy a property. I have some experienced investor clients who still have trouble with making decisions. They wait and analyze and wait and analyze and then someone else gets the deal. Don’t be that person.
One more update to this article. There are an estimated 3 million businesses for sale today. It is also estimated that 80% to 90% of those businesses will never sell. Those few who are buying these businesses have the opportunity to profit from them in many ways. If your investing nature does not include real estate consider buying businesses. That is a cash flow investment and there are many ways to structure deals to make amazing profits. This is another investment area that financial advisors will not present to you.
Thanks to all our readers and welcome to the new subscribers! I hope you enjoy the newsletter!
Click Here to read previous articles