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The Perfect Time to Start Doesn’t Exist — Here’s What Successful Investors Do Instead

Money Ripples Podcast

Release Date: 12/10/2025

What I Look for Before Trusting a Financial Influencer show art What I Look for Before Trusting a Financial Influencer

Money Ripples Podcast

Start making passive income here:   Have you ever noticed how financial influencers, or “finfluencers,” seem to be everywhere on social media right now? Scroll Instagram, TikTok, or YouTube and you’ll see people yelling about debt, promising overnight wealth, or claiming they’ve cracked the financial code. The real question is this: how do you know who to trust? In this episode, I pull back the curtain and walk you through exactly how I personally evaluate financial influencers. I’m not here to tell you who to follow or unfollow. Instead, I want to show you how to think...

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Is Self Storage the Trending Investment in 2026: with Alex Pardo show art Is Self Storage the Trending Investment in 2026: with Alex Pardo

Money Ripples Podcast

Start making passive income here:   Is self-storage investing the place we should be going as we head into 2026? That’s exactly what I’m digging into in this episode with returning guest Alex Pardo. Alex isn’t just a storage operator, he’s done nearly a thousand single-family transactions, built a real estate wholesaling business, and then made a bold pivot in 2020 into self-storage. And if you’ve felt like real estate has been rough the last few years, you’re not alone. I wanted this conversation because I’ve been watching the storage space closely, and I’m asking the...

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What Are Trump Accounts (And Should You Set One Up for Your Kids) show art What Are Trump Accounts (And Should You Set One Up for Your Kids)

Money Ripples Podcast

Start making passive income here:   What are these new Trump accounts, and are they actually a smart move for your kids’ financial future? That’s the question I’m answering in today’s episode, because while these accounts are being marketed as an incredible opportunity, there are some serious downsides you need to understand before you jump in. The Trump account was introduced as part of the so-called “big, beautiful bill” passed in the summer of 2025. It’s being promoted as a way to give kids a financial head start, almost like a hybrid between a 529 college savings plan...

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I'm Reconsidering the AI Stock Bubble - Is a 2026 Boom Coming? show art I'm Reconsidering the AI Stock Bubble - Is a 2026 Boom Coming?

Money Ripples Podcast

Start making passive income here:   Are my 2026 market predictions wrong?  Is there still an AI-driven stock market boom ahead of us, or are we getting dangerously close to another major correction? In this episode, I challenge my own assumptions and break down why some of Wall Street’s biggest institutions believe the bull market is far from over and why I’m still not convinced. I walk you through recent analyst predictions from major financial firms like Goldman Sachs, UBS, and other institutional strategists who argue that the stock market isn’t in a bubble. Their...

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Will AI Replace Your Job? How to Protect Your Career by Operating in Your Genius show art Will AI Replace Your Job? How to Protect Your Career by Operating in Your Genius

Money Ripples Podcast

Start making passive income here:   Is AI really the beginning of the end for jobs or is this one of the biggest opportunities we’ve ever seen? That’s exactly what I dive into in this episode with my longtime friend and former college roommate, Aaron Matthews, a fractional CTO/COO with over 21 years of leadership experience across healthcare, insurance, and technology. Everywhere you look, the headlines are screaming that AI is taking jobs. Engineers are being laid off. Middle managers are disappearing. Entire roles are being redefined. But the real question isn’t whether AI is...

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Do Trump’s Credit Card Caps and Housing Crackdowns Actually Hurt Americans show art Do Trump’s Credit Card Caps and Housing Crackdowns Actually Hurt Americans

Money Ripples Podcast

Start making passive income here:   President Donald Trump is making big promises as he approaches his one-year mark: banning institutions from buying real estate, capping credit card interest rates, and even talking about firing Jerome Powell. If you’ve been hearing these headlines and wondering, “Is this actually good for the economy, or are we about to make things worse?” this episode is my straight-shooting breakdown of what happens next and why these ideas won’t do what people think they’ll do. Let me be clear: this isn’t a pro-Trump or anti-Trump rant. I’m not...

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The Teen Who Made $250K Before Graduation And How Your Kid Can Learn the Same Skills show art The Teen Who Made $250K Before Graduation And How Your Kid Can Learn the Same Skills

Money Ripples Podcast

Your future doesn’t start after school, it starts now. 7F Teenage Tycoon teaches teens how money works, how businesses are built, and how real wealth is created. Tap the link and become a Teenage Tycoon today -   Start making passive income here:  We talk a lot about building wealth, passive income, and freedom but the real question, especially as parents, is how do we teach our kids to do the same? In this episode, I sit down with Bill Allen, founder of Seven Figure Flipping, to talk about raising financially confident kids who understand money, business, and opportunity. Bill...

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She Escaped Soviet Hardship, Lost $100K… and Still Built the American Dream show art She Escaped Soviet Hardship, Lost $100K… and Still Built the American Dream

Money Ripples Podcast

Start making passive income here:   All of us have hard times. The real question is: how do you bounce back when the setback hits you financially, emotionally, and personally all at once? In today's episode, I sit down with Tatiana Zagarovsky, whose story is the kind that makes you rethink what you’re capable of when life punches you in the face. Tatiana immigrated to the United States after growing up in the Soviet Union, where entrepreneurship was treated like a crime and “capitalists” were painted as villains. She later immigrated again through Israel, built a successful career...

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After Losing My Dad… This Is the Money Wisdom I Can’t Stop Thinking About show art After Losing My Dad… This Is the Money Wisdom I Can’t Stop Thinking About

Money Ripples Podcast

Start making passive income here:   So many of you have heard the story of my father before, whether it was here on the Money Ripples podcast or inside my book, The Work Optional Blueprint.  But after my dad passed away just a few weeks ago, there’s one piece of advice he gave me about money that hasn’t stopped echoing in my head. And today, I felt compelled to share it with you. My father was the definition of a penny-pinching saver. Raised after the Great Depression, he believed deeply in saving everything possible. He bought things on sale, avoided debt at all costs, and...

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The Most Hands-Off Turnkey Strategy Yet And What Bonds Have to Do With It show art The Most Hands-Off Turnkey Strategy Yet And What Bonds Have to Do With It

Money Ripples Podcast

Start making passive income here:   You hear us talk about real estate all the time on this show but what most people don’t realize is that the bond market may be one of the biggest hidden forces influencing real estate returns right now. In today's podcast episode, I sit down with Jeremy Watson, CEO of Bedrock Investment Property, a longtime investor and entrepreneur who has been investing since 2006, has helped buy and sell 5,000+ properties, and has completed four business exits. Jeremy also spent a decade in the financial advice world, reviewing hundreds of millions of dollars’...

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Start making passive income here: https://bit.ly/4otFJ3X 

If you’re waiting for the economy, the market, or your confidence to all line up perfectly before you invest, you’re going to be waiting forever.

In this episode, I break down exactly how overcoming fear of investing really works, and why the people who win financially are the ones who move before they feel fully ready without gambling everything.

I start by talking about a pattern I’ve been seeing everywhere: people are frozen. They’re standing in a shaky boat, gripping the sides, hoping the waves calm down instead of simply stepping onto the dock, reassessing, and getting into a better boat. That same fear of doing anything different shows up in marriages, health, careers, and especially investing. If you do nothing and hope it all works out, it almost never does.

I share one of my favorite quotes from Will Rogers: “Even if you’re on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there.” Then I dive into what I’ve learned from coach Bill Belichick in his book The Art of Winning. He makes a powerful point: you’re not born confident, and you can’t just talk yourself into confidence with affirmations and visualization. Real confidence is built through repetition and practice. He used that approach with the New England Patriots, leaning into what they repeatedly practiced the passing game with Tom Brady rather than overthinking and trying to be “tricky” when it mattered most.

I connect that directly to money and investing. I tell my own story of going from a shy, introverted kid who hated speaking in front of even two people, to someone who now presents, records this podcast, and gets feedback from people like Shannon, who told me she was completely drawn into my story. That transformation didn’t come from magically waking up confident it came from doing it again and again.

Then I share a real conversation I had with a guy who had just been laid off. He had time, he had money freed up from his 401(k), he had a slow season in his new business coming up which made it one of the best times for him to make a strategic move. And yet he was completely paralyzed by uncertainty, waiting for a crystal ball to tell him exactly what to do. That’s what analysis paralysis looks like in real time: wanting guidance, but refusing to act on it.

I compare that mindset to sitting in your driveway waiting for every traffic light between you and your destination to turn green before you’ll even start the car. Life and markets don’t work that way. The lights change while you’re on the road. The waves keep coming whether you’re in a crappy boat or a better one. The investors who win don’t ignore risk they take thoughtful, guided action with imperfect information.

I also talk about how even someone like Warren Buffett doesn’t sit on the sidelines doing nothing. He’s cautious, he keeps cash ready, he’s picky, but he still invests. He doesn’t live on “hopium” and neither should you. The difference between people who create real passive income and those who just dream about it is simple: they take the first step, learn from mistakes, and keep moving.

If you’re tired of spinning in your head, scared of losing money, or waiting for the “perfect time,” this episode is your wake-up call. I’ll show you how successful investors build investing confidence through calculated action, how to avoid letting fear quietly drain your future, and why having the right mentors and community around you changes everything.