Paying Taxes is NOT Patriotic - Karlton Dennis

Episode 87 · Nov 13, 2025 · 59 min · with Karlton Dennis

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About this episode

In this explosive interview, tax strategist Karlton Dennis completely challenges the status quo by stating that paying taxes is NOT patriotic. He breaks down exactly how he made millions last year and legally kept the majority of it by using the government's own tax code. What You'll Learn: The historical truth about taxes in the US How a W-2 employee or a side-hustle entrepreneur can pay $0 in income tax The secret sauce: Leveraged Investments and the power of Depreciation The Short-Term Rental Tax Loophole that lets doctors, lawyers, and engineers offset active income The most patriotic thing a couple can do: Real Estate Professional Status The ultimate family hack: putting your children on payroll Stop paying the "Lazy Tax" and start building true generational wealth. #KassidyWarren https://www.instagram.com/kassidy.warren https://www.linkedin.com/in/kassidywarren #KarltonDennis https://www.instagram.com/karltondennis https://www.youtube.com/@karltondennis Watch #ForYourOwnGood on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@KassidyWarren

Key moments

0:00:50 “An average person making $100,000 a year, can they pay $0 in taxes?”
0:05:08 “that is just basic rules number one.”
0:17:38 “What's the biggest tax hack that every couple can do?”
0:22:41 “most importantly, the underlying message is that if you do what the government wants you to...”
0:27:36 “That same $100,000 may only buy me a half a million dollar property and result in...”
0:31:46 “I was selling personal training for $200 a month and it was very hard to”
0:32:36 “Maybe only made about $1,000 a week.”
0:41:47 “You see people ask for it.”

Read the full transcript

Auto-generated from the episode captions; may contain small errors.

0:00:00So, you made over $11 million last year.

0:00:02And did you pay $0 in taxes?

0:00:03>> I paid $0.

0:00:04>> How is that legal?

0:00:05>> Government is essentially paying me to

0:00:08invest in rental real estate. That is my

0:00:11tax incentive. This is what people need

0:00:12to understand. Paying taxes is not

0:00:13patriotic. Stop paying the lazy tax. I

0:00:16don't want my dollar to just give me a

0:00:17dollar back in a write-off. I want my

0:00:19dollar to give me $2 back in a ride off.

0:00:21>> One of the biggest things I see with

0:00:22people, they don't even know how to ask

0:00:24for something. This is the most

0:00:26dangerous place to be in Cassidy is

0:00:28where you think you can see things. I

0:00:30can see about 5 miles down the road

0:00:33based off of my own understanding. But

0:00:35then you have people that have done more

0:00:37than you that can easily see 25 m down

0:00:40the road. I want to be a small fish in a

0:00:42big pond and I want to constantly be

0:00:44looking to grow.

0:00:45>> What's the biggest tax hack that every

0:00:46couple can do? What would it take to

0:00:48qualify your children to be on your

0:00:50business payroll? What is good debt?

0:00:52What is bad debt? An average person

0:00:54making $100,000 a year, can they pay $0

0:00:56in taxes?

0:00:57>> They may not want to hear the things

0:00:59that I'm going to tell them in order to

0:01:00pay zero dollars in taxes first. You

0:01:02have to separate yourself. My biggest

0:01:04statement is coming right out the bat

0:01:06and saying paying taxes is not

0:01:08patriotic. And anybody believes that

0:01:09paying taxes is patriotic is literally

0:01:11uneducated and the system is literally

0:01:13working for perfectly fine for people

0:01:15that are educated and people that are

0:01:16uneducated.

0:01:17>> So why is paying taxes not patriotic?

0:01:20It's not patriotic because taxes did not

0:01:22run our country. We didn't have taxes

0:01:24until about 117 years ago. Do the math

0:01:27on that. I mean, your great-g

0:01:28grandandmother like got to experience

0:01:31what it was like possibly to not have

0:01:32taxes. That being said, our United

0:01:35States government ran off what's called

0:01:36excise taxes. We collected taxes on

0:01:39tobacco and alcohol, and that's how the

0:01:41country ran, and we operated very well

0:01:43until we had a civil war. And that's

0:01:45when we started to say, let's sign a law

0:01:48that allows for us to take money out of

0:01:50people's paychecks in order to satisfy

0:01:52the war. But then that became permanent

0:01:54law. And over the years, it's just

0:01:56gotten worse and worse and worse. And

0:01:58when you throw in quantitative easing

0:02:00and the printing of money, we are left

0:02:02to front the bill for the government. So

0:02:04no, it's not patriotic to pay taxes.

0:02:06It's more patriotic to use the

0:02:08government system to avoid paying taxes

0:02:10because they put us here. And so you

0:02:12made over $11 million last year. And did

0:02:15you pay $0 in taxes?

0:02:16>> I paid $92,000 in federal taxes. I paid

0:02:19$0 in California state taxes.

0:02:21>> So how is that legal? And how does an

0:02:24average person be able to access the

0:02:26same amount of tax savings as you?

0:02:28>> What I do is I focus a lot of my time in

0:02:32looking for tax incentives. The tax

0:02:35incentives that operate within the tax

0:02:36code require you to spend money. So when

0:02:39people think that I don't pay any taxes,

0:02:41what they don't realize is I'm spending

0:02:43so much money in order to avoid taxes

0:02:47because I'm making investments that the

0:02:48government wants me to make, which

0:02:49simultaneously gives me massive amounts

0:02:52of paper loss, massive amounts of

0:02:53depreciation or tax credits. That puts

0:02:55me into the lowest of tax brackets. I

0:02:58mean, my tax bracket was essentially 1%

0:03:00last year, which is pretty awesome. But

0:03:02not too many people can say that because

0:03:04not too many people are making as many

0:03:05maneuvers as I'm making in one year. Can

0:03:07the average person make the same amount

0:03:09of maneuvers? Like if an average person

0:03:11making $100,000 a year, can they pay

0:03:13zero dollars in taxes?

0:03:14>> Yeah, they could pay zero dollars in

0:03:16taxes, but they may not want to hear the

0:03:18things that I'm going to tell them in

0:03:19order to pay zero in taxes. If you're

0:03:21only making hundred grand a year, you're

0:03:23probably paying maybe 15 25,000 on the

0:03:27high end in total taxes. So, wiping out

0:03:29$100,000 is as simple as giving money

0:03:32away to charity, putting a good

0:03:34substantial amount of money into a 401k,

0:03:36and probably investing in a traditional

0:03:38IRA. Just with those simple three

0:03:41maneuvers, you could probably wipe out

0:03:43uh 15 to $25,000 tax bill on 100k of

0:03:46income. But is that the smartest thing

0:03:47for somebody doing a 100k a year to

0:03:50spend their money on giving some of it

0:03:52uh you know, in charity? Of course,

0:03:53charity is important. Locking up so much

0:03:55money into a retirement account until

0:03:56they're 59 and a half. Yeah, I I don't

0:03:58think those are the right things. I

0:04:00would rather somebody who's making a

0:04:01hundred to $200,000 a year just focus on

0:04:04a high income skill and getting that

0:04:05themselves into a place where they're

0:04:06making three, four, $500,000 a year or

0:04:09more where they really have a tax

0:04:11problem.

0:04:11>> Let's say I decide to go be an

0:04:13entrepreneur, right? I'm an employee,

0:04:14but I'm going to start a side hustle.

0:04:16What's like my first step

0:04:18>> to structuring and avoiding or legally

0:04:21avoiding paying taxes? Yes. And let's

0:04:23say I I plan on making a million dollars

0:04:25a year. I'm at 50K right now, but I plan

0:04:27on making a million dollars a year. What

0:04:28is my path as a as a new entrepreneur?

0:04:30>> First, you have to separate yourself

0:04:32from the business. Now, that you're a

0:04:33new entrepreneur, know that you operate

0:04:35with a social security number, but your

0:04:36business operates with an EIN number the

0:04:38moment you decide to set up an LLC. So,

0:04:40you're going to take that EIN number, go

0:04:42to your bank, open up a business bank

0:04:43account, and make sure that you start

0:04:44doing bookkeeping and accounting for

0:04:47anything that you spend your money on.

0:04:48But before you start spending money on

0:04:50things, you first need to know what can

0:04:51I write off. The government doesn't give

0:04:53you a list of all these different things

0:04:54that you can write off, but they'll tell

0:04:56you under code section 162A, if the

0:04:58expense is ordinary to your business,

0:05:00necessary to your business, and

0:05:02reasonable to your business in the

0:05:04pursuit of income under IRS regulations,

0:05:06it could be a business deduction. So, a

0:05:08lot of people reach for their cell phone

0:05:10or cars, and they aren't able to write

0:05:12these things off if they're just

0:05:13employees. But when you're a business

0:05:14owner, you need a cell phone, you might

0:05:16need a car, you might need a website and

0:05:17a laptop. And you can convert everyday

0:05:19personal expenses that the natural human

0:05:21being has into business expenses because

0:05:24you decided to start a side hustle. So

0:05:26that is just basic rules number one.

0:05:28Let's go ahead and open up the bank

0:05:29account and make sure that we're

0:05:30treating that business separate than

0:05:32ourselves. And then let's make sure that

0:05:33we know what are the expenses that would

0:05:35be considered personal that I now can

0:05:37allocate over to business that are

0:05:38justifiably needed to run a business.

0:05:40Yeah, it was one of the first things I

0:05:41did when I uh started doing like some

0:05:43consulting work, service work. I started

0:05:45an LLC, started an escorp, collected

0:05:48escort, and then ran essentially a lot

0:05:50of my normal expenses that I now use for

0:05:52business under that escort and lost

0:05:54money for a little bit because my

0:05:56expenses outweighed my income in the

0:05:57beginning. Yeah. And I still have that

0:05:59LLC today. And I use that to run all of

0:06:02my service income, all of my like stuff

0:06:05that just comes in essentially uh to to

0:06:08run it through there. And I still have a

0:06:09lot of those same expenses running

0:06:11through there. And that has helped me

0:06:12actually get qualified for real estate.

0:06:14It's helped me a lot having a separate

0:06:15entity that is essentially my personal

0:06:17brand. Yes. Now, so is that something

0:06:20that you recommend people do is like if

0:06:22you're going to start a personal brand

0:06:23or sidehustle like is that the first

0:06:25step start an LLC or or like escorp or

0:06:28when do they need to start thinking

0:06:29about that?

0:06:29>> I think first proof of concept, right? I

0:06:31think we always sometimes get excited,

0:06:32so we'll run off run off to the first

0:06:34website that we see to go set up an LLC.

0:06:36And maybe setting up the LLC will give

0:06:38you that motivation to actually grow

0:06:39your business. But for many people, I

0:06:41can see that being a barrier for them

0:06:43actually getting started. They put all

0:06:45of these obstacles in the way. Well, I

0:06:46got to set up my LLC. Oh, I got to speak

0:06:48to a CPA. Oh, I got to get an attorney.

0:06:49I got to file a trademark. Bro, you got

0:06:51to make income. Go start running the

0:06:53business. Go prove a concept first. We

0:06:56could figure out the LLC certainly

0:06:57later. Yes, it's important to have the

0:06:59LLC to separate your liability to make

0:07:01sure you're tracking things right, but

0:07:02it's equally as important to prove a

0:07:04concept that you can truly run a

0:07:05business and make business profit

0:07:06outside of your nineto-5.

0:07:08>> That's right. It's not just about

0:07:09writing things off. It's like go make

0:07:10money.

0:07:10>> Yeah, absolutely.

0:07:11>> Go make money. Okay. So, you didn't use

0:07:14just write-offs to pay zero taxes,

0:07:16though, right? And so help help the

0:07:18audience understand the difference

0:07:19between like a write off and using

0:07:21different sections of the code

0:07:24>> where you're getting a like an outsized

0:07:27benefit.

0:07:28>> Yes.

0:07:28>> Yeah. So the depreciation cost

0:07:31segregation, right? Like how can you

0:07:33find ways to get an outsized benefit

0:07:35rather than just like buying stuff just

0:07:37to write it off?

0:07:38>> So I take leveraged investments in order

0:07:40to create massive write-offs. This is

0:07:42what people need to understand. I don't

0:07:44want my dollar to just give me a dollar

0:07:45back in a write-off. I want my dollar to

0:07:47give me $2 back in a write off. So, how

0:07:49can I do that? I'm going to take out

0:07:51leverage. Most business owners when they

0:07:53want to reduce their tax bill, well,

0:07:55they might just spend down the money

0:07:56inside of their business on stuff. I

0:07:58don't view spending your money on stuff

0:08:00as a tax strategy. We see business

0:08:02owners at the end of the year all the

0:08:03time just dumping money into ads. Sure,

0:08:05that could be profitable for you, but

0:08:06are you just spending money? Do you know

0:08:08if you're wasting money on those ads?

0:08:09Right? That being said, what if I were

0:08:11to reinvest some of my business profits

0:08:13outside of my existing business into an

0:08:16investment like rental real estate?

0:08:18Well, the government says, Carlton, if

0:08:19you invest in rental real estate and you

0:08:21are the person that is running that

0:08:23business, you get tax write-offs. And

0:08:25the write- off that we get to receive in

0:08:26real estate is depreciation, which is

0:08:28the purchase price of the entire

0:08:30building. So, if I take out a 20 if I

0:08:32put down 20% and take out an 80% loan,

0:08:35I'm able to write off the entire

0:08:37purchase price of that building, even

0:08:39though I leveraged 80% to get that

0:08:41asset. On a million-doll property,

0:08:42Cassidy, I'm looking at somewhere

0:08:44between a4 million and a $350,000

0:08:47deduction with a rental property that

0:08:50has good building value. If I come in at

0:08:53$200,000 down and I'm getting $300,000

0:08:55back in a year 1 write off, the

0:08:58government is essentially paying me to

0:09:00invest in rental real estate. That is my

0:09:03tax incentive. Now, it's just a matter

0:09:05of making sure, can I actually use that

0:09:07$300,000 that I got from that rental

0:09:09property to offset my other active W2 or

0:09:12my other active self-employed income

0:09:14that I have? And that's the secret sauce

0:09:16that we talk about. So Carlton just gave

0:09:18everybody essentially the key that

0:09:21unlocks true wealth I believe in this

0:09:23country, right? Obviously building a

0:09:25business and and going and growing your

0:09:26income. And then the second part of that

0:09:28is how do you reduce your taxes down to

0:09:30zero. And what Carl just described is

0:09:32exactly how you do that. So let's break

0:09:33it down just a little bit more because

0:09:35you said leverage assets uh to get, you

0:09:38know, you put $1 in, you get two or or

0:09:40$5 essentially out um on your on your

0:09:42leveraged investment. So, what is

0:09:44depreciation and why does it matter to

0:09:47everybody? I don't want to get too

0:09:48technical for everybody, but this is a

0:09:50really, really important topic for the

0:09:52average everyday American to understand

0:09:54the difference between a a regular write

0:09:56off.

0:09:57>> Yes.

0:09:57>> And depreciation and a paper loss on

0:10:00your tax return.

0:10:01>> Yes. So, depreciation by IRS definition

0:10:03is the recovery cost over time for a set

0:10:07asset. All different types of asset has

0:10:10what's called useful life to the IRS. If

0:10:13you buy a residential property, the IRS

0:10:16says that the wear and tear of that

0:10:18property is going to take 27 and a2

0:10:21years for you to fully recover the

0:10:23entire cost of that building. If it's a

0:10:25commercial building, the wear and tear

0:10:27and the wear down is only going to take

0:10:29about 39 years, which is a little bit

0:10:31longer than residential. So,

0:10:33depreciation is the ability for you to

0:10:35recover based on the wear and tear of a

0:10:38property. With laptops, for example, the

0:10:41IRS says, "Well, after 5 years, a laptop

0:10:43has been worn down, and you should be

0:10:45replacing a laptop every 5 years." So,

0:10:48for a business owner who buys a laptop

0:10:50inside of their business without using

0:10:51any tax strategy, would have to

0:10:53depreciate a piece of equipment like a

0:10:55laptop over the course of 5 years. But

0:10:58the government creates incentives for

0:10:59business owners such as code section 179

0:11:02which allows for you to write off a

0:11:03piece of qualifying equipment that has

0:11:06useful life of less than 20 years as a

0:11:09year 1 write off. So that Apple laptop,

0:11:11we can take the full purchase price of

0:11:13it whether or not you financed it. Now

0:11:15let's bring this over into rental real

0:11:16estate here. For example, if we have a

0:11:18property that depreciates over the

0:11:20course of 27 and 1/2 years, well, how do

0:11:22we get so much of this write off

0:11:24upfront? Well, we have to break the

0:11:26property down. And this is called a cost

0:11:28segregation study. Your property has

0:11:30what's called um tangible property. Um

0:11:33you have structural components and

0:11:35nonstructural components. Structural

0:11:37components are the loadbearing walls,

0:11:39the wood, the concrete, and the steel

0:11:41that actually makes up the property. The

0:11:43nonstructural components are considered

0:11:44the appliances, the flooring, and the

0:11:46shrubbery. All nonstructural components

0:11:49is what the IRS will allow for you to

0:11:50write off in as quickly as one year.

0:11:52Because anything that's considered

0:11:54non-structural has a useful life of

0:11:56either five years or 15 years. So when a

0:11:59tax professional like me gets hired to

0:12:01do a strategy like the cost segregation

0:12:04study, we're getting the cost of all

0:12:06this nonstructural components like all

0:12:09of the appliances and the fencing and

0:12:12we're segregating it from all the

0:12:13structural components, the loadbearing

0:12:15walls, the elevators, the foundation of

0:12:17the property. And we're going to write

0:12:18all of it off in year one. That can be

0:12:21anywhere from 20% of the building's

0:12:23value upwards sometimes to 35% of the

0:12:26building's value. And that is what we

0:12:28call a paper loss deduction from

0:12:29depreciation.

0:12:30>> Yes. And so the paper loss essentially

0:12:32is saying, well, I put a down payment on

0:12:35this property, right? I put 20% down on

0:12:38this investment property. It's a

0:12:39million- dollar property, so I put 200

0:12:41grand down, but I get to write off

0:12:43essentially the entire million dollars.

0:12:45Now whether that's in year 1 or year two

0:12:47or year three and what that ends up

0:12:49meaning is I spent less than I actually

0:12:52get to write off on my tax returns.

0:12:54>> Correct.

0:12:54>> Right. And that's what the leveraged

0:12:56portion means. Right. So if you go buy

0:12:58the laptop usually you're not financing

0:13:00a laptop. Right. You're not financing a

0:13:02laptop but usually. And so so you get to

0:13:04spend less and take the full deduction.

0:13:06>> Yes.

0:13:07>> Okay. So now and the cost segregation

0:13:10allows you to do that. Right. That was

0:13:11probably the most like in-depth,

0:13:12detailed, clear explanation of a of a

0:13:14cost segregation study I've ever had.

0:13:16And so now, what does that mean for a

0:13:18regular W2 employee? The engineer, the

0:13:22doctor, the lawyer, the mechanic, the

0:13:24plumber, the everyday American is like,

0:13:26okay, what does that all what does that

0:13:28all mean to me?

0:13:28>> Okay, what it means to you is you now

0:13:30have something that's viewed as not only

0:13:32an investment in the eyes of the IRS

0:13:34because real estate is a very hard true

0:13:36asset, but you also have a business in

0:13:38the eyes of the IRS. And if you're able

0:13:40to show the IRS that you're running an

0:13:42active business in real estate, meaning

0:13:45you put in a certain amount of hours of

0:13:47material participation management over

0:13:49your property's day-to-day operations,

0:13:51you can use that depreciation that was

0:13:53given to you with the cost segregation

0:13:55study to offset W2 income. So, if I'm a

0:13:58W2 taxpayer, how do I get to qualify to

0:14:01use real estate then to offset my W2

0:14:03income? The IRS created these rules and

0:14:05the rules are passive activity loss

0:14:08rules. If you're somebody that can show

0:14:10the government that you're spending 750

0:14:13hours in the entire year managing your

0:14:16investment property and you're able to

0:14:18show the government you're spending more

0:14:20time in real estate than your W2 or your

0:14:231099 job, which by the way is very hard

0:14:24for most taxpayers to do, now you're

0:14:26able to use the rental losses as active

0:14:29depreciation losses against active forms

0:14:31of income. This is where I personally

0:14:34find it very hard for someone who's

0:14:36single because if you're you're a single

0:14:38physician, you're going to have to show

0:14:40the IRS you're spending more time in

0:14:41real estate than you being a doctor, you

0:14:43being a lawyer, you being a dentist. But

0:14:46what if you had a spouse? Maybe your

0:14:48spouse could possibly not be working or

0:14:50taking care of the kids. This is where

0:14:52we see a lot of real estate

0:14:53professionals thrive is if they have a

0:14:55spouse that can qualify as a real estate

0:14:56professional, unless the spouse was

0:14:58already in real estate as a real estate

0:15:00agent or a broker. Now, I got pretty

0:15:03bored in 2020 like many people did and I

0:15:06went back to the tax code and I started

0:15:07to question how did the IRS view Airbnb

0:15:10and VRBO's because when you think about

0:15:11it this whole tax code around passive

0:15:14activity loss rules and being able to

0:15:15use depreciation, it was written back in

0:15:171986 as a part of the re tax reform act.

0:15:19But Airbnb and VBO didn't come out until

0:15:222011 and 2013. So, I wanted to know how

0:15:25does the IRS view an Airbnb business or

0:15:28a VBO business? And there was nothing in

0:15:30the tax code that explicitly said Airbnb

0:15:32or VBO. But what it did say was if you

0:15:35run a transient business, a transient

0:15:38business in the eyes of the IRS is a

0:15:41business that is being rented to

0:15:42customers on 7 days or less. So that was

0:15:46like a hotel or a motel-like business.

0:15:48You have an active business in the eyes

0:15:50of the IRS without having to spend 750

0:15:53hours. You just need to spend 100 hours

0:15:57of material participation and make sure

0:15:59that you're managing that Airbnb or

0:16:01short-term rental more than any other

0:16:02person. Fast forward to 2020. As I'm

0:16:06reading this, I'm thinking, well, this

0:16:08would be great to share with all these

0:16:09W2 taxpayers that couldn't qualify as a

0:16:11real estate professional. So, I'm going

0:16:13to go ahead and start my YouTube channel

0:16:14now and start sharing with people tax

0:16:16strategies, but I'm going to have a

0:16:18focus on real estate because I know that

0:16:20I can help not only self-employed

0:16:22individuals, but also the W2 that's

0:16:23working full-time to invest in real

0:16:25estate as a means to offset their taxes.

0:16:26>> That's right. All right. So, you

0:16:28mentioned something there, real estate

0:16:29professional status. Yes. And because I

0:16:31want to connect all the dots here for

0:16:32everybody because this is what I'm

0:16:33getting to again is like this is how the

0:16:35everyday American, the average American

0:16:38like creates generational wealth in

0:16:40their life without having to go become

0:16:41an entrepreneur, right? Not everybody

0:16:43wants to be an entrepreneur. Not

0:16:44everybody wants to be a YouTuber or a

0:16:46content creator or whatever, but they

0:16:48know they're supposed to buy real

0:16:49estate, but they have the regular job

0:16:51and so they don't get it. They don't

0:16:52usually get it. Yes. And they talk to a

0:16:54CPA, not Carlton Dennis, that says,

0:16:56"Nope, you're not allowed to offset your

0:16:58active income. Nope, you can't buy a

0:16:59property. Nope. All the IRS does not

0:17:01allow it. Right. But what you just said

0:17:03is the short-term rental loophole,

0:17:05right? Is if you go buy an Airbnb and

0:17:08you're an engineer, a doctor, a lawyer,

0:17:10essentially you can pay $0 in taxes.

0:17:13>> Yep.

0:17:13>> Yeah,

0:17:13>> that's 100% correct.

0:17:15>> Simple as that.

0:17:15>> Under code section 469, uh, CAP C7. You

0:17:19can go look it up in the code. Those are

0:17:20the passive activity loss rules. If you

0:17:22are an active participant over a

0:17:23short-term rental that's rented on a

0:17:25transient basis, meaning your customers

0:17:27are staying 7 days or less, and you

0:17:28spend 100 hours materially

0:17:30participating, you can perform costs,

0:17:32you can create paper losses, and you can

0:17:33never pay taxes if you don't want to,

0:17:35just like I do.

0:17:36>> That's right. And that's for the

0:17:37everyday American.

0:17:38>> Yes.

0:17:38>> All right. So, now I tell this is what I

0:17:41tell people about uh real estate

0:17:42professional status. The greatest hack

0:17:45that every couple can do is to have one

0:17:49spouse be a real estate professional.

0:17:52What's the biggest tax hack that every

0:17:55couple can do? What we're seeing is

0:17:58clients are qualifying their spouses as

0:18:00real estate professionals because when

0:18:03you do the math on it, most W2 taxpayers

0:18:05that are making a combined household

0:18:07income of around half a million and

0:18:09let's just say it's pretty split, it

0:18:12almost makes more sense for one of the

0:18:14spouses to focus on just managing the

0:18:16real estate portfolio and allowing one

0:18:18of the spouses to go run up the score.

0:18:20The reason why this is important is

0:18:22because your earning potential is being

0:18:25capped by how much taxes that you're

0:18:27paying. So rather than focusing on being

0:18:29able to invest, you're just making a

0:18:31little bit more money every year and

0:18:32then paying a lot more taxes every

0:18:34single year. Whereas, if you take your

0:18:36one person off the playing field,

0:18:38designate that one spouse to be the real

0:18:40estate professional, you're building

0:18:42wealth in real estate, allowing for

0:18:44someone else to pay down your mortgage

0:18:46while simultaneously giving yourself

0:18:48these real estate losses that you

0:18:50arbitrageed from someone else paying

0:18:52down your debt. Now, when you go to file

0:18:54your return, your husband or you are

0:18:56receiving this huge refund back, and now

0:18:59you guys are in a place where you have

0:19:00this extra money that you can go and

0:19:02reinvest into another rental. This is

0:19:03what we're seeing a lot of our clients

0:19:05doing. I would say a majority of them

0:19:06are having their wives run the real

0:19:09estate portfolio because wives tend to

0:19:10be more hands-on with the children so

0:19:12they can balance being parents, which is

0:19:14the most important job, and also being a

0:19:16real estate professional for the family.

0:19:17>> I think this is one of the most

0:19:18patriotic and familyoriented things that

0:19:20you can do. I think having one spouse,

0:19:22whether it's the husband, the wife, the

0:19:24husband, husband, wife, wife, like

0:19:25whoever it is, whoever is the highest

0:19:27income earnner, the doctor, the lawyer,

0:19:29the engineer, whoever is making the most

0:19:31amount of money, they keep working their

0:19:33job, right? They that is the highest

0:19:35leverage activity that they can do,

0:19:36right? Is go make the most amount of

0:19:38income, active income.

0:19:39>> And then the other spouse, especially if

0:19:42they have kids, they get to now quit

0:19:44their job. They don't have the 40, 60

0:19:46hours, whatever they were working before

0:19:47for minimum wage or even 50, 60, even

0:19:50100k a year. If you quit your job, you

0:19:53get to stay at home with the kids, you

0:19:55become a realtor, a broker, like a

0:19:58property manager, anything in the real

0:20:00estate business.

0:20:02>> Yes.

0:20:03>> And with with one property, you can

0:20:06offset all of the taxes of the other of

0:20:08the other individual.

0:20:09>> Yeah. You have the ability to. And the

0:20:11beautiful part is is you're a business

0:20:12owner, too, right? You're not just a

0:20:15manager over the real estate. You're

0:20:16running a real estate management

0:20:17company. We can have the LLC that holds

0:20:19the investment property, but why not

0:20:21have an LLC that manages that LLC that's

0:20:23holding the investment property? So now

0:20:25the spouse gets paid for managing over

0:20:27the real estate, giving the spouse the

0:20:28ability to take deductions that the

0:20:29spouse would have never been able to

0:20:31take as well. It truly turns the

0:20:33family's lifestyle into a tax writeoff.

0:20:36Now, when the family wants to go on a

0:20:37family vacation, they're not going on a

0:20:39family vacation. They're going to go

0:20:40view an investment property somewhere,

0:20:42sit down, learn more about real estate,

0:20:43and bring their kids with them because

0:20:45that's how families should operate as

0:20:47they're building wealth and taking

0:20:48vacations.

0:20:49>> Okay. Family family oriented. Let's talk

0:20:52about putting children on payroll.

0:20:55>> Yes.

0:20:55>> Well, when, how, why is it a benefit?

0:20:58What what would it take to qualify your

0:21:00children to be on your business payroll?

0:21:02>> Yeah. So, to qualify children to be on

0:21:03payroll, they have to be doing bonafide

0:21:05work. Most children that we see go on

0:21:06payroll are typically child models early

0:21:08on. on. And so if they're like 3, four

0:21:10years old, the most they're going to be

0:21:11able to do for a business is probably be

0:21:13a child model. And no, they're not going

0:21:14to make $15,000 a year. They're going to

0:21:16make something more reasonable to their

0:21:18age. But as your children start to grow

0:21:20up, they can play the janitor for your

0:21:22business or play the social media uh

0:21:24manager, social media marketer for your

0:21:26business, helping you post on Instagram,

0:21:28helping you post on Facebook, might even

0:21:30respond to some emails and pick up some

0:21:32trash inside of the family office. These

0:21:34are tasks although they may seem small

0:21:37actually aids the family. Why? Because

0:21:39you can shift income from your S

0:21:41corporation into a family management

0:21:43company LLC and you can pay your

0:21:46children from that family management

0:21:47company a bonafide salary giving you the

0:21:50business owner the tax deduction without

0:21:52you having to pay payroll taxes for your

0:21:54kids and possibly in some states not

0:21:56have to file a payroll tax return or

0:21:58file any tax return in that matter. But

0:22:01what the smart thing to do is to open up

0:22:03the Roth IRA, custodial Roth IRA for

0:22:05each one of those ch kids and stuff

0:22:07$7,000 in. Now, with the money that

0:22:09neither you and I pay taxes on, we get

0:22:11to go ahead and designate some of that

0:22:13money to be taxfree for our kids,

0:22:14growing for a lifetime, and leave the

0:22:16rest to be available for when we need to

0:22:18pay for their tuition.

0:22:19>> Okay. Is there any limit to the amount

0:22:20of work or hours I can I can give my

0:22:22kids to go to go work?

0:22:25>> No, I mean, it's it's got to be

0:22:26reasonable within, you know, working

0:22:27guidelines applicable to the state. You

0:22:29have to follow all the state mandate

0:22:31laws that you would follow if you were

0:22:32hiring um a regular employee.

0:22:34>> Dang. Yeah.

0:22:35>> No, I'm just kidding. I'm sure you've

0:22:37read Rich Dad Poor Dad.

0:22:39>> Oh, absolutely.

0:22:39>> Right.

0:22:40>> Staple.

0:22:41>> Staple. That's when I first learned

0:22:42asset liability. Right. After I read

0:22:44that book, I was like, I'm never going

0:22:45to buy liability ever again, which is is

0:22:48not really true, right? Like, you know,

0:22:49you can't live that way.

0:22:50>> That book simplified for me how people

0:22:52view money, how poor people view money,

0:22:54how middle class view money, and how

0:22:56rich people view money. Poor people view

0:22:58money as a means for them to just simply

0:23:00pay their bills. The middle class view

0:23:02money as a means for them to pay their

0:23:04bills on time and have good credit so

0:23:06they can buy things they can't afford

0:23:08and liabilities. And the rich use money

0:23:11to make more money. It was very clearly

0:23:13outlined in that book. But most

0:23:14importantly, the underlying message is

0:23:16that if you do what the government wants

0:23:17you to do, you could literally pay 0% in

0:23:19income taxes, live off cash flow. That's

0:23:20also the underlying message that he was

0:23:22trying to give in that book. And by me

0:23:24putting out content is truly to try to

0:23:27help extend Robert Kiyosaki's legacy,

0:23:29but in my own way, knowing that I'm a

0:23:31tax professional and he's not.

0:23:32>> Yeah. But he really hammered it home.

0:23:34Asset liability. And then it, you know,

0:23:36it's an allegory of like the mentality

0:23:38of of the poor versus the rich. And I

0:23:40grew up I grew up middle class, go to

0:23:42school, get a degree, like save save,

0:23:44401k, the mortgage was paid off early.

0:23:47>> Yes,

0:23:47>> debt is bad. Debt is bad. But you see

0:23:51Kiyosaki all the time saying, "I've got,

0:23:53you know, I think he's got one billion

0:23:54in debt right now or something, right?"

0:23:55So, what is good debt? What is bad debt?

0:23:59>> Yeah. Uh, good debt is debt that makes

0:24:02you more money. Uh, bad debt is debt

0:24:05that takes away from you being able to

0:24:06build. Bad debt is debt that comes in

0:24:08the form of large interest fees such as

0:24:11credit card debt. And the reason why

0:24:14people are afraid to get into debt is

0:24:16because they've been told that debt can

0:24:17be bad. They've never been told that

0:24:19debt can be used as a tool to help you

0:24:20build more money. So, you'll see

0:24:22business owners taking out lines of

0:24:23credit, business loans to continue to

0:24:25grow their business. Or better yet,

0:24:27you'll see people borrowing from their

0:24:29own properties, uh, HELOCs, home equity

0:24:31line of credits or cash out refinances

0:24:33to invest in more real estate. Why are

0:24:35they doing this? Because they want to

0:24:37give their their dollars more than one

0:24:39job. And by being able to take out

0:24:40leverage, they can use tax-free income

0:24:43sometimes if they're taking out loans

0:24:45from themselves personally to be able to

0:24:46give their dollars more than one job.

0:24:48It's cool to be able to say, "Yeah, I

0:24:50don't have any debt." But it's also

0:24:52equally as awesome to be able to say,

0:24:53"Dude, I have a massive amount of debt

0:24:55and I strategically did this on purpose.

0:24:58Look at how much cash flow is coming in

0:25:00that I've been able to arbitrage off of

0:25:02the debt that I've been able to

0:25:03receive." So, it is truly a game. Those

0:25:06that are are trying to build wealth fast

0:25:08are going to look for the different

0:25:09avenues to build wealth fast. How can I

0:25:11partner with somebody express an idea so

0:25:14I can go and build my money quicker

0:25:16versus just saying, "Oh, I don't want to

0:25:17take on any partners. I'd rather be

0:25:19debtree." This is a slower path. Could

0:25:22be guaranteed sometimes. It just very

0:25:24slow path. And you know, you're going to

0:25:25have to weather inflation and and some

0:25:27hard times. This is a fast track towards

0:25:30building wealth. And I'm always on the

0:25:31fast track for sure because time value

0:25:33of money tells me it's more important

0:25:34for me to make more money right now so I

0:25:36can spend it with my loved ones knowing

0:25:37that I don't know where the tax code is

0:25:39going to be. Uh where interest rates are

0:25:40going to be or where a COVID 2028 is

0:25:42going to be. I'm focused on right now.

0:25:44>> That's right. I just did an episode on

0:25:45ownership and that ownership is

0:25:46patriotic and ownership is control over

0:25:49your destiny and ownership is control

0:25:50over your future. And if you wait to

0:25:53save up all cash for a house or whatever

0:25:56you're trying to buy, it's it's never

0:25:57going to happen. number one, and you're

0:25:58still under control of your of your job,

0:26:01your employer, or whatever is dictating

0:26:03your reality. Right. So, if you're if

0:26:05you're too scared to go get debt on a

0:26:07property, you're never going to be able

0:26:09to take ownership for your own for your

0:26:10own life. Yep.

0:26:11>> Right. And and so, how much is real

0:26:13estate a component of tax strategies for

0:26:16you and for your clients?

0:26:17>> I would say real estate is like a big

0:26:19component for for my clients. It's

0:26:21become less of a component for me

0:26:23because I've been able to start

0:26:24diversifying over time. I think it's

0:26:26important to go deep first before you go

0:26:28wide. So, I went all in on real estate

0:26:29as my main strategy. And then now that

0:26:31I've amassed quite a bit of real estate

0:26:33and I have tons of debt, now I'm like,

0:26:35"Okay, I want to diversify a little

0:26:37bit." Now, I'm starting to get into oil

0:26:38and gas wells. Why? Because I can get

0:26:41almost the same amount of depreciation

0:26:42that I'm getting from rental real estate

0:26:44by investing in an oil and gas well, but

0:26:46now I'm not taking on debt to invest in

0:26:47an oil and gas well, right? I don't have

0:26:49a mortgage loan to have to worry about

0:26:51paying back even though I'm investing

0:26:53money into a depreciating asset. Um, and

0:26:56then also I've been putting money into a

0:26:57movie film projects underneath IRC 181.

0:27:00Uh, you can invest money into the

0:27:02production of a movie film and receive

0:27:04tax deductions for it. Some of these

0:27:06movie producers that are producing these

0:27:07movie films that qualify for these 181

0:27:10tax credits for taxpayers, they will go

0:27:13ahead and sell or finance the entire

0:27:15production cost of the movie to

0:27:17investors. This allows for investors to

0:27:19get a multiple on their investment,

0:27:22similar to how you're able to leverage

0:27:24uh an investment property for

0:27:25depreciation or a vehicle and claim so

0:27:28much of a write- off. So, for every $1

0:27:30that goes into a movie film, uh my

0:27:32investors are taking on $3 of recourse

0:27:35debt, but they're able to write off

0:27:36their investment. So, they're $4 uh tax

0:27:39write-off off of that $1 invested.

0:27:41>> So, why do this movie write off versus

0:27:43like a real estate write off? because of

0:27:46the leverage, right? If I'm able to get

0:27:48a four to one on my money, if I put a

0:27:50$100,000 into a movie film project, I

0:27:54might get a $400,000 deduction year one.

0:27:57That same $100,000 may only buy me a

0:27:59half a million dollar property and

0:28:01result in only maybe $80,000 worth of

0:28:04depreciation where I'm getting a

0:28:05$400,000 write-off. If you multiply that

0:28:07400,000 times my 37% tax bracket as

0:28:10opposed to that $80,000 deduction times

0:28:12my 37% tax bracket, I'm equally

0:28:15benefiting more by doing that movie film

0:28:17investment. The issue is is I'm

0:28:19investing money into a movie film. More

0:28:21speculative. Is the movie going to do

0:28:22well? Is it not going to do well? It's

0:28:24not a hard asset like real estate where

0:28:26I can go touch it physically. It is an

0:28:28asset, but it's different, right? And so

0:28:30I'm super illquid in this asset class.

0:28:33has the ability to cash flow, has the

0:28:34ability to make money, but not every

0:28:36movie makes money. So, I like to layer

0:28:39tax strategies. I have my tried andrue,

0:28:41my real estate, my oil and gas, my solar

0:28:44tried and true, but then I have some of

0:28:45these alternative investments as well

0:28:47that combine with what I'm doing that

0:28:49can really boost my tax savings for me.

0:28:51>> Should people just be investing for the

0:28:53tax savings?

0:28:53>> No, absolutely not. You can go broke

0:28:55investing for tax savings. I've seen it

0:28:56happen where people are focused so much

0:28:58on trying to pay nothing in taxes that

0:29:01they have zero income and they're

0:29:03illquid. You have to balance liquidity

0:29:06and tax savings. And sometimes I'll tell

0:29:08you it may not make sense for you to

0:29:09even focus on tax strategy because

0:29:11you're so illquid at the time. So we

0:29:13have to really assess are you going to

0:29:15have years in which you're going to make

0:29:16high income, years in which you might

0:29:17make lower income because that can

0:29:19dictate how we choose to buy assets.

0:29:21Maybe we buy assets in year in which you

0:29:23have high income and we take some years

0:29:24off and we just pay the lower tax rates

0:29:26in years in which you have lower income

0:29:28versus trying to always get to zero.

0:29:30>> Where did you start learning this stuff,

0:29:31Carlton?

0:29:32>> My mom. My mom taught me. I uh grew up

0:29:35here in uh Orange County and my mother

0:29:38moved out of Compton, California, Los

0:29:41Angeles with my dad and they told

0:29:43themselves they were never going to go

0:29:44backwards. and my mom became an

0:29:46entrepreneur and my dad worked for the

0:29:47city of LA and my mom decided to uh

0:29:50start her own practice and hired her

0:29:52first uh associate and that associate

0:29:54led to four, five, six, she built an

0:29:57entire team. Um but by the time that I

0:29:59started understanding how my mom was

0:30:00making money, I was about ready to go

0:30:02off to college to try to become a

0:30:03football expert. So I wasn't really

0:30:04interested in taxes. It wasn't until I

0:30:06graduated college, didn't go to the NFL,

0:30:09started at my own side hustle for

0:30:11personal training, got a letter in the

0:30:12mail from Uncle Sam that told me, "Hey,

0:30:14uh, you owe us money." Um, I looked at

0:30:16my bank account and I'm like, "Hold on a

0:30:18second. They say I owe them more than

0:30:20what's in there. Now, I should call

0:30:23somebody." Who should I call? America's

0:30:25Tax Lady. My mother, Miss Carla Dennis.

0:30:27And at the time, my mother's firm was

0:30:28maybe about 15 to 20 professionals deep.

0:30:32and I sold her on the idea of wanting to

0:30:34start a sales division. I was already

0:30:36working for a sales company. I was

0:30:37already getting sales background. I

0:30:39boughten a couple Grant Cardone books.

0:30:40So now I felt like I can go and sell in

0:30:42her company. And when I joined her

0:30:44company, I'll be honest with you, it was

0:30:45a rocky start. I didn't understand

0:30:46anything about taxes. I was super green.

0:30:48Even though I lived in a tax house, but

0:30:51I got to hear from customers and what

0:30:52their issues were, how they felt like

0:30:54their CPAs were just giving them the

0:30:56same runaround, how they had to turn

0:30:57into Google, Wikipedia to figure out how

0:30:59to how to mitigate their taxes. and my

0:31:01mother sold tax planning services, which

0:31:04is completely different than a normal

0:31:06CPA firm. Most CPA firms just focus on

0:31:08tax prep and bookkeeping, but she

0:31:10focused on tax strategy. That requires

0:31:12you to know how to communicate advanced

0:31:14techniques to people. So, what I did was

0:31:16I put a black voice recorder in her

0:31:19office one day and it recorded eight

0:31:21hours of content. I had it it sent over

0:31:23to rev.com and the next day I had an

0:31:26entire script of eight hours of my mom

0:31:28communicating tax strategy. And I

0:31:30studied that and that's how I became um

0:31:32able to sell. Wasn't until I got, you

0:31:34know, embarrassed on the phone one time

0:31:36with somebody that I decided, you know

0:31:38what, just because I can sell doesn't

0:31:40mean I have the license. It doesn't mean

0:31:41I have the skill set to be able to

0:31:42actually help somebody. And that was

0:31:44when I decided to go and get my tax

0:31:46license.

0:31:46>> Okay. So, you put a recorder in your

0:31:48mom's office. Did she know that you were

0:31:50recording?

0:31:50>> Oh, yeah. Absolutely. I had to disclose

0:31:52that information to her. I honestly had

0:31:53no other choice. I was already working

0:31:54in her company for a month and I was on

0:31:56commission base. And when you make your

0:31:58own commission or when you make your own

0:32:00uh job description before you join your

0:32:02mom's company and you say you want to

0:32:03make commission only, you better go make

0:32:05some commission. I went four weeks

0:32:07without making anything. So I had no

0:32:10other choice but to literally sit in her

0:32:11office and learn from her. But when I

0:32:13started sitting in her office, these

0:32:15conversations got long. They got dragged

0:32:16on. So I said, "Okay, I'm going to put a

0:32:18recorder in here so I can try to

0:32:20understand this stuff later." And that's

0:32:21when I got it sent to rev.com and was

0:32:23able to decipher that information and

0:32:25build my own script to start selling for

0:32:27her.

0:32:27>> Did you ever go back to being a personal

0:32:28trainer?

0:32:29>> I kept my personal training going up

0:32:30until I closed my first tax planning

0:32:32deal. I was selling personal training

0:32:34for $200 a month and it was very hard to

0:32:36get clients because social media was

0:32:38super new. A lot of people weren't

0:32:39really on Instagram like that. You

0:32:40didn't have IG reels yet. There was no

0:32:42Tik Tok yet when I graduated college.

0:32:44So, it was super new. So, what I ended

0:32:46up doing was I would study tax planning

0:32:49and then work on my side hustle in the

0:32:51afternoons and build out uh uh training

0:32:54programs, but I only sold maybe three to

0:32:55four training programs a week. Maybe

0:32:57only made about $1,000 a week. When I

0:32:59sold my first tax plan, it was $20,000.

0:33:03Instantly, within 30 minutes, I had a

0:33:05$2,000 commission check provided to me

0:33:08right then and there. I knew right then

0:33:10and there that if I could master how to

0:33:12sell $20,000 tax plans in a 30-minute

0:33:14window, I was going to run up the score.

0:33:16And that's exactly what I did. I ran up

0:33:18the score and honestly created another

0:33:21issue. Now my mom had another problem.

0:33:23Carlton has figured out this sales

0:33:24thing. I have to go figure out how to

0:33:26hire all these tax pros and figure out

0:33:27how to fulfill on all this work. And

0:33:29that's when her company started to grow.

0:33:30And that's when I realized I had a power

0:33:32in being able to help people with tax

0:33:34strategy, too. Did you know you were

0:33:36like becoming an entrepreneur or a

0:33:38business owner or were you just

0:33:40thinking, "Oh, I'm solving this problem

0:33:42of I got this big tax bill. I got to go

0:33:43I got to go pay it."

0:33:44>> No, I just knew that I was always meant

0:33:47to have my own thing. And I think that's

0:33:48part of the reason why I went into

0:33:49personal training. Like I knew I was

0:33:51always meant to have my own thing, but I

0:33:52also viewed myself as someone that was

0:33:55going to study my way into becoming a

0:33:57doctor or physician cuz I majored in

0:33:59kinesiology and minored in nutrition.

0:34:01And so a part of me was like, well, if

0:34:03this whole football thing doesn't work

0:34:04out, maybe I'll become a physical

0:34:05therapist or a personal a personal

0:34:07trainer for NFL athletes. But when

0:34:09reality sets in and you need to have

0:34:11like five years of experience to do this

0:34:13or 10 years of experience to even apply

0:34:15for this job, I'm like, "Okay, well, let

0:34:17me just go get a job somewhere and then

0:34:19start a side hustle like many people

0:34:21do." And that side hustle showed me how

0:34:24hard entrepreneurship is, how difficult

0:34:27it is to grow something when you don't

0:34:29when you don't have someone mentoring

0:34:31you. And so me joining my mom's company

0:34:33was me able to see a business owner who

0:34:36had been a business owner for over 25

0:34:38years, systems, process, operations,

0:34:41management meetings, a sales team, a

0:34:43marketing team, an HR department, how to

0:34:45communicate with staff, why you need to

0:34:46be punctual. It really showed me how to

0:34:49be a business owner. So when I started

0:34:52building up my own personal brand on

0:34:54social media, putting out tax cont

0:34:56content and eventually started my

0:34:58YouTube channel, I kind of had a good

0:35:00footing on what to do next in order to

0:35:02build a business around the newfound

0:35:04income that I was starting to receive.

0:35:05>> And so what do you say to people that

0:35:06maybe don't have a mom that's a 25-y

0:35:09year entrepreneur? Yeah.

0:35:10>> Cuz do you credit like you know there's

0:35:13the Bill Gates effect. Bill Gates was

0:35:15like a block away from the world's

0:35:17largest supercomputer and he had access

0:35:19to it, right? Like would we have had

0:35:21Microsoft without that? I don't know.

0:35:22Would we have Carlton Dennis without his

0:35:25mom? Or would there be a different

0:35:26version of you that's still an

0:35:27entrepreneur, still making 11 million a

0:35:29year, still, you know, helping people

0:35:30with tax or what would it look like?

0:35:32>> I don't know. I think for sure still an

0:35:34entrepreneur probably not in taxes. If

0:35:36it wasn't for my mom, I definitely

0:35:37wouldn't have fallen back on taxes. It's

0:35:40so funny. My mom always told me, she

0:35:42always said, "This tax business is going

0:35:45to be yours someday. you'll you're gonna

0:35:47go off and do something, Carlton, and

0:35:48it's going to be extraordinary and

0:35:49you're gonna find a way back to this

0:35:51company.

0:35:51>> And I I never wanted to believe her

0:35:53because I never wanted to do taxes. I

0:35:54was like, dude, taxes is so boring. This

0:35:56is like something people just have to do

0:35:57for the government. Like, is my mom a

0:35:59government worker? Is she her own? Like

0:36:01I I had no concept of what a tax

0:36:03professional actually really was doing.

0:36:04I thought they were government workers.

0:36:06And sure enough, you know, I fell into

0:36:09this thing. And what it really comes

0:36:11down to is just this unwavering

0:36:14passion to just want to help people,

0:36:15man. Whether it's me giving you a

0:36:18workout program and you feeling

0:36:19something about that, or me helping you

0:36:21save $100,000 on your taxes and you

0:36:23feeling something about that, that

0:36:24feeling, that dopamine high that I get,

0:36:26seeing somebody go through that

0:36:28transformation was what I was craving.

0:36:29It didn't have to be personal training,

0:36:31but it did have to happen in my life.

0:36:33And I'm grateful that it happened with

0:36:35taxes because me being able to save

0:36:37somebody money in my mind gives them

0:36:40infinitely more opportunities than just

0:36:42being able to help them, you know, get a

0:36:43six-pack or, you know, look good for one

0:36:46summer vacation. It gives them

0:36:47infinitely more opportunities to create

0:36:49more memories with their family, uh, to

0:36:51keep someone on this earth longer that

0:36:53wasn't meant to be on this earth as long

0:36:55because they got the resources from the

0:36:57efforts that we were able to put in from

0:36:59you doing tax strategy, right? That to

0:37:02me is like the best feeling in the

0:37:03world.

0:37:04>> I think what you're getting at is

0:37:06because I struggled with even starting

0:37:07my community around short-term rentals

0:37:09because I was like burned out on real

0:37:10estate because that's the path that I

0:37:11went was like I went all in, right? I

0:37:13went deep. I went deep and I got burned

0:37:15out and I I resisted starting a

0:37:18community around it because I was like,

0:37:19"Oh, everybody already knows. There's

0:37:20other people already doing it. I don't

0:37:22need to do it. Why me?"

0:37:23>> Yeah.

0:37:23>> But this fire was burning inside of me

0:37:25and it really came down to wanting to

0:37:28help people. Yes. And like literally

0:37:30literally everything that we're talking

0:37:31about short-term rental loophole like

0:37:33regular people that are working their

0:37:34job that are [ __ ] just can't stand

0:37:36it. They don't they get two weeks a year

0:37:39with their family. Like are you kidding

0:37:40me? Yeah.

0:37:41>> That's not patriotic.

0:37:42>> No.

0:37:43>> That's not American. I mean it's that's

0:37:45what it is now. Yep.

0:37:46>> But like

0:37:47>> two weeks a year with your family,

0:37:49>> you're capped on your on your salary.

0:37:52You you might get a raise that is less

0:37:55than inflation.

0:37:56>> Yeah. And you can't escape living the

0:37:59same day over and over and over again.

0:38:00And so I'm describing where I was five

0:38:02years ago. And I I don't want to let

0:38:04that happen to anybody else. And all I

0:38:06want people to know is the short-term

0:38:08rental loophole will set you free. Yeah.

0:38:10>> And that's the beginning. That's just

0:38:12the beginning. And then you can go do

0:38:13whatever you want. Like you don't need

0:38:15to be an entrepreneur like Carlton. You

0:38:16don't need to go be a content creator,

0:38:18but you get to go be a mom, a dad, a

0:38:20brother, a son, an uncle, like whatever

0:38:21you want to go be. And that to me is

0:38:23what I see in you as like true purpose

0:38:25behind what you're doing.

0:38:26>> Wow.

0:38:27>> Right. It's Yeah. It's about making

0:38:28money, of course. Yeah.

0:38:29>> But when you learn that making money

0:38:31gives you more resources to go help more

0:38:33people, correct?

0:38:34>> That's when it that's when it changes.

0:38:35>> You're You nailed it on the head and I

0:38:37tell people this all the time. You think

0:38:39the safe thing to do is to just rely on

0:38:41your one salary that you have. It's

0:38:43actually infinitely more risky to do

0:38:45that because you're planning on one

0:38:46person paying you for the rest of your

0:38:48life and then simultaneously you're

0:38:50planning on that person knowing how to

0:38:51beat inflation for you for the rest of

0:38:54your life. To know when it's time for

0:38:55you to cover a medical bill or deal with

0:38:58a life circumstance they need to be able

0:39:00to support you off of that one stream of

0:39:02income. That's a lot of responsibility

0:39:04that you're giving to one person that

0:39:06also has their own family and their own

0:39:08personal interests and they utilize

0:39:10employees to be able to bolster their

0:39:11own wealth. That's how entrepreneurship

0:39:13is, right? So, I think it's infinitely

0:39:15more important for you to have your own

0:39:17thing. Even if your own thing doesn't

0:39:18reap you tons of money, it's just

0:39:20important to have control because we got

0:39:22to see firsthand what CO did to a lot of

0:39:24employees that just got completely

0:39:26decimated or a lot of businesses that

0:39:28just aren't operational anymore

0:39:29entirely.

0:39:30>> And so, for someone that's like the the

0:39:32person that I just described, maybe they

0:39:34do want to be an entrepreneur, but they

0:39:35literally have no idea or they don't get

0:39:37how to make money. What can you tell

0:39:39them about making money to give them

0:39:42some confidence to go start?

0:39:44>> Being being around people who are

0:39:46obsessed with making money or are

0:39:49teaching about ways to make money will

0:39:51rub off on you. And you have to be okay

0:39:53with that because if you don't have a

0:39:55lot of money or you're not making a lot

0:39:57of money, the most important thing for

0:39:58you to do is to go attach yourself to

0:40:00somebody that is passionate about making

0:40:02money or knows how to make money.

0:40:04Because what happens is is we are

0:40:06byproducts of habits that we've

0:40:08established. And a lot of the habits

0:40:10that I established early on were habits

0:40:12of an athlete, somebody that's going to

0:40:14wake up early, go to the gym, work out,

0:40:16but that doesn't lead always to dollars

0:40:18in my bank account. I could be super

0:40:20passionate and super hardworking. I want

0:40:22to go work harder, but that doesn't

0:40:24always mean that I'm going to go make

0:40:25more money. So simply working hard isn't

0:40:27going to make you money. Your

0:40:27environment is going to help dictate how

0:40:29you make money. And if you don't have an

0:40:30environment where you have people that

0:40:31are talking about money, talking about

0:40:33debt, talking about investments, well,

0:40:34how can you shake up your environment?

0:40:36Carlton, I live in, you know, BF Idaho.

0:40:40Okay. Well, how about you get on to a

0:40:41webinar tonight because you have Wi-Fi

0:40:44and you go get into a community of other

0:40:46people that are on coaching calls

0:40:47because those are the people that you

0:40:48need to surround yourself with because

0:40:50your environment doesn't allow for you

0:40:52to be able to go walk outside of your

0:40:53door and just go talk money up the

0:40:55street at the local Starbucks.

0:40:56>> Proximity is power.

0:40:57>> Absolutely. And always be. Proximity is

0:40:59extremely powerful because what it does

0:41:01is you get around the energy and things

0:41:04feel different. The way that money flows

0:41:07and the way that people speak, the way

0:41:08they act, the communication, the

0:41:10everything is totally different in an

0:41:13environment where there's like building

0:41:15and creating and abundance and and

0:41:17helping. Yes.

0:41:18>> Right. And when you're around it, you

0:41:19realize that a lot of people are

0:41:21collaborating. Yep.

0:41:22>> Right. It's not competing. And I think

0:41:24the middle class, especially in

0:41:25corporate, they see it as someone else's

0:41:28as a competition. Oh, they're making

0:41:29more than me or or like I need to

0:41:31they're taking my work from me.

0:41:33>> When when you're out in the real world,

0:41:35especially nowadays with social media

0:41:37and like supporting and there there's

0:41:38just so much money out there,

0:41:40>> like everybody's supporting each other,

0:41:42everybody's collaborating.

0:41:42>> Yes.

0:41:43>> Right. And then you see how money is

0:41:45actually spent. You see how it's made.

0:41:47You see people ask for it.

0:41:48>> Yes.

0:41:49>> Right. Because I I think one of the

0:41:51biggest and and you tell me if I'm

0:41:52wrong, but like one of the biggest

0:41:53things I see with people in the Midwest,

0:41:55never been an entrepreneur, they don't

0:41:57even know how to ask for something.

0:41:59>> It's true.

0:42:00>> Right. Yeah.

0:42:01>> And I and I see people and I have so

0:42:02much love and like I want the best for

0:42:05people, but they have to be ready to be

0:42:06able to do it.

0:42:07>> 100%. And it it comes down to

0:42:10>> leveling up. And when you're leveling

0:42:13up, you have to know that you're going

0:42:14to go into rooms that you feel like

0:42:16you're not supposed to be in. That is

0:42:18what leveling up is supposed to feel

0:42:19like. I went into a room where they're

0:42:21talking about cryptocurrency. I don't

0:42:22know anything about cryptocurrency, but

0:42:24guess what happens when you go into a

0:42:26room where people are talking above you

0:42:28and everyone in there is leveling up.

0:42:30It's exactly what Cassidy just said.

0:42:32Everyone is collaborating. And when you

0:42:33collaborate, you throw down a ladder.

0:42:35They're going to throw down a ladder for

0:42:37you and bring you up to their level. And

0:42:39guess what? You might slip on that

0:42:40ladder, but the time you show up again,

0:42:42you're going to know how to grab that

0:42:43ladder and you're going to be able to

0:42:44climb higher and climb higher and your

0:42:45understanding is going to develop. I I I

0:42:47I still remember when I walked into my

0:42:50very first like cryptocurrency like

0:42:52meetup. I had no idea what a node was

0:42:56and what they were talking about

0:42:58decentralized non. Within two to three

0:43:01more meetings, I was able to explain

0:43:04back to somebody in a community coaching

0:43:06call exactly the differences between

0:43:08Bitcoin and all these other

0:43:09cryptocurrencies and how you can loan

0:43:11against your crypto or node. And

0:43:13although that has nothing to do with tax

0:43:15strategy here today, it's a perfect

0:43:16example of walking into a room where I

0:43:19had no knowledge because I had the

0:43:20desire to simply level up. So I went in

0:43:24with question marks and I walked out

0:43:25with answers.

0:43:26>> How does someone get the desire to level

0:43:28up?

0:43:29>> Not everybody is going to have the

0:43:30desire to level up and you have to be

0:43:31perfectly okay with knowing that there

0:43:33are two different types of people in

0:43:34life. There are types of people who have

0:43:36this fiery passion to just want to be

0:43:38better. Those are the people that I

0:43:40really associate myself with because

0:43:41when I'm around them, it's as easy as

0:43:43talking to them, as talking to my

0:43:45family. Being around them is easy as

0:43:47breathing, drinking water. And then I

0:43:49have this other group of people that

0:43:51I've removed myself away with a while

0:43:53ago. But every time I'm around them, it

0:43:55seems like we're talking about the world

0:43:57is falling apart. We're always

0:43:58depressed. We're focused on the

0:44:00negative. It seems like we're always

0:44:01looking for ways to dig ourselves back

0:44:02into a hole versus ways to dig ourselves

0:44:04out of a hole. And over time, I realize

0:44:06it starts rubbing off on me to the point

0:44:08where my attitudes and my actions start

0:44:10to change. And then now I don't know if

0:44:13I'm doing things that are in the best of

0:44:16my fulfillment within my capabilities

0:44:18because I'm allowing my circumstances to

0:44:20play a factor into how I feel every

0:44:22single day. And it's because of the

0:44:24people who I've associated myself with.

0:44:26Your environment is so important to how

0:44:29you act and the characteristics that you

0:44:31show up for other people. And so I've

0:44:34spent a lot of time, you know,

0:44:36evaluating who I spend my time with and

0:44:38evaluating that for some of my family

0:44:39members as well when they ask me for

0:44:41ways in which they want to level up.

0:44:42>> And so do you have conversations with

0:44:44these people or do you you cut them out?

0:44:46Like how does that interaction go?

0:44:47Because I think people hear that and

0:44:49they're like, "Oh, Carlton's an [ __ ]

0:44:50He doesn't like people. Oh, what? He

0:44:52made a lot of money. Now he's changed

0:44:54and he doesn't have time for us." Like,

0:44:55how do you deal with that?

0:44:56>> Well, I look at it like this, right? At

0:44:58any given moment,

0:45:00my life could be over.

0:45:05I'm dying every single day.

0:45:09And when you get radically clear with

0:45:12why you're here

0:45:14and what you feel like you're meant to

0:45:17accomplish,

0:45:19it starts changing how you wish to spend

0:45:21your time. You don't hate on people. You

0:45:25don't dislike people. You just choose to

0:45:28spend your time differently. And because

0:45:30you choose to spend your time

0:45:32differently, other people will first

0:45:33start to judge that. They'll say things

0:45:36like, "You don't care anymore. It seems

0:45:39like you're trying to do something

0:45:41that's outside of your operating basis.

0:45:42Why? Why are you trying to do that?" But

0:45:45over time, what will happen is people

0:45:47that were meant to be aligned with your

0:45:50goals will start to enter your life.

0:45:52These may be new people.

0:45:54The people that you wished could have

0:45:57risen with you may not be able to rise

0:45:58with you or they might be able to adopt

0:46:01some of your operating basis that you're

0:46:03starting to have because you're starting

0:46:05to wear off on them. And that's a

0:46:06beautiful thing. It's very beautiful

0:46:08when you can rub off on somebody that

0:46:10you really care about without having to

0:46:12force it, but just by being different

0:46:14yourself.

0:46:15But it's equally as sad sometimes when

0:46:17you realize, well, I I want this for the

0:46:19people around me, but I can't force them

0:46:21to see what I'm seeing either because

0:46:23that's not the way life is set up. Every

0:46:25person needs to see through their own

0:46:26lens. You can't force them to see

0:46:29through yours. So over time, all you can

0:46:32do is live righteously the way you feel

0:46:34like you need to live under God's

0:46:36tutelage.

0:46:37>> Have you always believed in God and and

0:46:39been religious?

0:46:40>> Yes, I have. Absolutely. I I was born

0:46:42Christian. Christian.

0:46:43>> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, cuz I know that's been

0:46:44a big part of your journey or at least I

0:46:46know that you talk about it.

0:46:47>> Yeah, absolutely.

0:46:47>> Yeah,

0:46:48>> I'm glad you brought that up cuz God,

0:46:49faith, family is at the center of my

0:46:51life and arguably are the pillars that I

0:46:53base everything that I do off of. When

0:46:55I'm ever worried about what somebody's

0:46:57going to think about me on something

0:46:58that I feel passionately about, I always

0:47:00ask myself, is this in alignment with

0:47:02God, family, faith, and the last one

0:47:05being uh friendship or fitness? Like, if

0:47:07I'm hitting on those pillars with my

0:47:09content or with my messaging, I know I'm

0:47:11in alignment. And it's typically when

0:47:14I'm not hitting on those pillars that I

0:47:15start to question things. Yeah. So, if

0:47:17you're looking for alignment in in in

0:47:20life, alignment in what you what you

0:47:22need to share with the world, you know,

0:47:24create a basis to operate off of like I

0:47:26did and it worked out really well for

0:47:27me.

0:47:28>> Yeah. I I think that's an interesting

0:47:29point that you just made is that when

0:47:30you start to question yourself is really

0:47:32when you're not operating off of your

0:47:34pillars,

0:47:35>> right? And and then you need to be able

0:47:37to shift your own energy and and what

0:47:38you were describing about lifting others

0:47:41up. It's a couple things. It's being the

0:47:43lighthouse, right? And so, everybody has

0:47:46the opportunity to be a lighthouse.

0:47:48Yeah. Which I think is is what people

0:47:50miss. We all need other lighthouses. We

0:47:51all need other leaders and examples and

0:47:53people, but we can all be a lighthouse.

0:47:55And the lighthouse is the stansion is

0:47:58the thing that leads us is the one that

0:47:59points the way.

0:48:00>> That's right.

0:48:00>> And they're also a thermostat. Right.

0:48:03So, your energy as a thermostat. You can

0:48:05either heat the room or you can cool the

0:48:07room. You can heat the world or you can

0:48:09cool the world, right? Your ability to

0:48:13shift your energy into abundance will

0:48:16then permeate throughout your entire

0:48:18world.

0:48:19>> Yes.

0:48:19>> And so when you decide to become the

0:48:21version of yourself that wants something

0:48:22more for themselves, that's when

0:48:24everything else will actually appear.

0:48:26>> It's pretty magical. It's pretty

0:48:28magical. Like when you finally decide,

0:48:29it's almost instant sometimes, too. When

0:48:31you make the decision to quit the job,

0:48:33guess what? The next job or the thing

0:48:35that you wanted, you get the phone call.

0:48:37It's It's pretty magical the way that it

0:48:39happens.

0:48:39>> It is. It's like the world starts

0:48:40bending in your favor the moment you've

0:48:43you've gotten in alignment and you've

0:48:44you've you've already said what is going

0:48:47to happen whether it has happened or not

0:48:50yet you've already outlined it mentally

0:48:52>> and so how have you dealt with a lot of

0:48:54the challenges in growth because you

0:48:57went it's it's been a short period of

0:48:58time Carlton right like was it 2019 you

0:49:00started your

0:49:01>> yeah 2019

0:49:02>> and then you started YouTube channel

0:49:04>> yep 2020

0:49:05>> and you've basically grown you know to

0:49:0811 I don't know if you're or above that

0:49:10$11 million in revenue from like a

0:49:12$20,000 sale.

0:49:13>> Yeah, we'll probably do close to 20 20

0:49:15million this year.

0:49:16>> Yeah. What the hell, dude? Like,

0:49:18>> yeah,

0:49:18>> that's insane.

0:49:19>> That's like a six-year span that people

0:49:21dream of. And so, who did you have to

0:49:23become from that $20,000 sale to the $20

0:49:27million Carlton sitting here today?

0:49:29>> Yeah. Carlton went from solo YouTuber to

0:49:33I'm a YouTuber with a team of people

0:49:36that help me curate videos to I'm

0:49:38running a course and now all of a sudden

0:49:42all these members inside of my course

0:49:43actually want to work with me directly.

0:49:45So now I need to become a firm owner to

0:49:48I need to know how to build systems and

0:49:51process that can allow for people to

0:49:53grow within my firm. And then now I need

0:49:56to be the type of CEO that knows how to

0:49:58build leaders. And over time it's

0:50:01transitioned from just Carlton to

0:50:04Carlton in a small team to Carlton's the

0:50:06YouTuber to Carlton has a small little

0:50:07practice to Carlton has 55 employees.

0:50:10Now,

0:50:12everything that has happened is a

0:50:14byproduct of just going allin and

0:50:16saying, you know what, I'm willing to

0:50:18figure it out as I go. I know that these

0:50:21things are happening because of the

0:50:23opportunity that was provided to me. Um,

0:50:25from the moment that I decided to say

0:50:27yes to my mom and join her her practice,

0:50:29from when I decided to say yes and go

0:50:31get my tax license and make that

0:50:32sacrifice, when I decided to jump on

0:50:34YouTube when no one was talking about

0:50:36tax information during pandemic and all

0:50:38of this attention and opportunity flowed

0:50:40my way, it was my duty and my obligation

0:50:43to capitalize on it. I could have got

0:50:45comfortable. I could have said, you know

0:50:46what, this YouTube income is great.

0:50:47Let's just stay and focused on YouTube.

0:50:49But I listen to what people were telling

0:50:50me. Carlton, why don't you have a high

0:50:52ticket offer? Why don't you start a

0:50:53practice? Why don't you build something

0:50:55like this that can serve us? You know,

0:50:57your mom has this firm, but why don't

0:50:59you have something that gives us the

0:51:00real estate, gives us all of this. And

0:51:02when you start serving people

0:51:04>> and create, you start solving bigger and

0:51:06bigger problems, you start getting

0:51:08rewarded in bigger and bigger lumpsums.

0:51:11To be completely honest, the only reason

0:51:12why I grew so fast is because I just

0:51:14committed to solving bigger problems

0:51:15faster.

0:51:16>> I didn't get comfortable solving basic

0:51:18problems. I said, "Okay, I already

0:51:19solved these basic problems. Let me go

0:51:20figure out the bigger problems to

0:51:21solve." And then I became obsessed with

0:51:23solving bigger problems, which almost

0:51:25sounds crazy, but now I'm constantly

0:51:27just looking for problems to solve. And

0:51:29these are the things that have turned

0:51:31around and benefited my company and

0:51:33benefited my growth.

0:51:34>> How do you know that something's going

0:51:35to be a big problem to solve? How can

0:51:36you measure is this a big enough problem

0:51:39for me to solve?

0:51:40>> When I don't have all the resources

0:51:42myself to solve it, that's how I know

0:51:43it's a big enough problem for me to

0:51:45solve. when it's outside of my normal

0:51:47skill set. You know, a a problem for me

0:51:51early on was how do I go from half a

0:51:52million to a million dollars? That's

0:51:54well within my skill set because I knew

0:51:56how to get to half a million dollars. I

0:51:57I should know how to just double that,

0:51:58right? Okay. Well, then how do I go from

0:52:00a million dollars to $10 million? Okay,

0:52:02more leads, more more videos, more

0:52:04clients booking calls. Okay, well, how

0:52:06do you go from a $10 million company to

0:52:08a hundred million company? Well, gez,

0:52:11it's not just about selling more people

0:52:13and just hiring more people. It's not.

0:52:15It's so many more layers to this. And to

0:52:17be completely honest with you, wouldn't

0:52:19it make more sense for me to just go

0:52:20talk to somebody that's done that

0:52:21before?

0:52:22>> Go put myself in that environment. And

0:52:24so rather than just saying, "Oh, I have

0:52:26all the same skills needed in order to

0:52:29just continue to grow

0:52:31>> that that's that's crazy thinking. It's

0:52:34more important for me to say, why don't

0:52:36I go and find somebody who has already

0:52:39done the thing and then tell me all of

0:52:43the different obstacles that you had on

0:52:44the way to getting to the thing, the 100

0:52:46million. So that way I can just skip

0:52:48over all your problems way faster and

0:52:51get there in the fastest line as humanly

0:52:53possible. That has always been my my uh

0:52:56passion which is finding people who have

0:52:58already done the thing. My mother was

0:53:01already successful in tax and

0:53:02accounting. She was already running a

0:53:04business that was a multi-million dollar

0:53:05business. Okay, cool. I get how you do

0:53:07the thing. Now I know how I can go do my

0:53:09thing. But what if I want to do bigger

0:53:11than my mom's company, right? I want to

0:53:12double the revenue she's doing, triple

0:53:14the revenue she's doing. I need to go

0:53:16find somebody has done something like

0:53:17this and start focusing on that thing.

0:53:19And typically it leads to more problems

0:53:21that I don't have the solutions to.

0:53:23Right now that being AI, I wasn't the

0:53:25biggest wizard on AI uh 6 months ago.

0:53:27Now we have an AI associate that's

0:53:29working inside of our company building

0:53:30out systems for AI. So, I'm constantly

0:53:32looking for things that I might not be

0:53:34the best in and building up systems or

0:53:36finding the right people to solve that

0:53:37problem.

0:53:38>> That's right. I wouldn't be here if I

0:53:39didn't do exactly what you just said,

0:53:40right? I found Dan Martell first. Before

0:53:43he was Dan Martell, but I could see it.

0:53:45I was like, this guy's the real deal.

0:53:46>> Yes.

0:53:46>> And then Rich, our our mutual friend,

0:53:48Rich, and he opened up. The fact that he

0:53:50opened up a community, that's the other

0:53:53thing for people that are like, I don't

0:53:55know how to help people or don't want to

0:53:56help people like I was. I wouldn't be

0:53:59here if it weren't for

0:54:01people deciding to go help others. Yes.

0:54:04>> Right. I wouldn't be doing the thing

0:54:05that I love right now if I if if Dan

0:54:07didn't exist, if Rich didn't exist. If

0:54:09you weren't sitting here like helping

0:54:10people like you need to know that you

0:54:12have the ability to be a lighthouse and

0:54:13help people, but you also need to go

0:54:15find the greats and you need to spend

0:54:16the money.

0:54:17>> Yes.

0:54:17>> Right. Because what you just described

0:54:18was and I don't know who you're talking

0:54:20to to go to go build a $100 million

0:54:22company, but I'm sure it's not cheap to

0:54:24go talk to them.

0:54:25>> No. But it's gonna it's going to save

0:54:26you 10 years, right? Yeah. It's gonna

0:54:28save you 10 years by spending I don't

0:54:30know six, seven figures on on whatever

0:54:32that conversation costs, right?

0:54:33>> Yeah. Absolutely. Yeah.

0:54:34>> It's a six-f figureure conversation. I

0:54:35already paid it. And those are the types

0:54:36of conversations I'm looking to pay for

0:54:38because for me, I'm paying to solve

0:54:40problems faster than other people. If I

0:54:42have the resources to go and make an

0:54:45investment to join a mastermind or a

0:54:47club to get access to people that have

0:54:49solved $100 million problems and I'm a

0:54:5110 or $20 million business, why wouldn't

0:54:54I do that? Why wouldn't I go and drop

0:54:56six or or a couple of six figures into

0:54:58something that can easily help me

0:55:00exponentially grow to 100 million five,

0:55:03seven years faster? It's all about time

0:55:05value of money. And when you get to this

0:55:07point in the game, what I'm doing is I'm

0:55:08paying for information so I can I can

0:55:10make decisions faster and grow faster

0:55:12and know where the mistakes are. You can

0:55:14it's like it's like this. I can see

0:55:17about

0:55:19five miles down the road based off of my

0:55:21own understanding. But then you have

0:55:23people that have been on this earth

0:55:24longer who have done more than you that

0:55:27can easily see 10, 15, 25 miles down the

0:55:31road. So if you're you're capsized and

0:55:33only being able to see five five miles

0:55:35down the road because you've only done a

0:55:36million, you only done $10 million, or

0:55:38better yet, you only done $20 million,

0:55:41you think you know something.

0:55:42>> You think you know because you you

0:55:44started out seeing one mile, now you see

0:55:46two miles, now you see five miles. You

0:55:48think you're a badass cuz you can see

0:55:49five miles down the road. You're looking

0:55:51back at all those people that are barely

0:55:52getting a quarter mile vision and you're

0:55:54like, "Dude, wait till you can see five

0:55:56miles." This is the most dangerous place

0:55:59to be in, Cassidy, is where you think

0:56:02you can see things and you think you

0:56:03know everything. I never want to be the

0:56:05smartest person in the room. And that

0:56:07was something that was taught to me by

0:56:08my mom. Um, because that's how you know

0:56:09that you're a big fish in a very small

0:56:11pond. I want to be a small fish in a big

0:56:14pond. And I want to constantly be

0:56:15looking to grow. and being able to

0:56:17surround myself with people who think

0:56:19bigger than me, remind me of why I got

0:56:21into this business in the first place,

0:56:23why I'm so passionate, but more

0:56:24importantly, they give me the skills

0:56:26that I'm looking for to help me prevent

0:56:28the mistakes that are inevitably going

0:56:29to come as a part of growing. That's why

0:56:31they call it growing pains.

0:56:32>> All right. Well, I don't know where to

0:56:34finish from here because that was that

0:56:36was so good, bro. That was so good. That

0:56:38was so good.

0:56:38>> Got me ripping today. What is the next

0:56:40thing that the people listening should

0:56:42go do, be, have in their life to go

0:56:46create something for themselves and be

0:56:47patriotic?

0:56:48>> Well, stop paying the lazy tax. I call

0:56:50the lazy tax the tax that you pay for

0:56:54inaction. The tax that you pay for

0:56:57failure to go outside of your operating

0:56:59basis to go educate yourself. We view in

0:57:02the tax and accounting space as the CPA

0:57:05is the golden standard for everything

0:57:06tax. person that files my return, saves

0:57:08me money on taxes, handles anything with

0:57:10the IRS. But when you get into the game

0:57:13of trying to really build real

0:57:14sustainable wealth, you realize that

0:57:16there are certain professionals that are

0:57:18really good at just filing your tax

0:57:20return. Matter of fact, that's actually

0:57:21what they went to school to do, just

0:57:22file your tax return. And they're truly

0:57:24tax professionals, just like there are

0:57:25surgeons that specifically only work on

0:57:27specific things. And in the tax strategy

0:57:30realm, you have tax specialists that

0:57:32will spend and dedicate years of their

0:57:34life to figure out ways to help you

0:57:35structure your investments, structure

0:57:37your money, so you don't have to pay

0:57:39taxes at all. So that when you go into a

0:57:41CPA's office, all you're doing is what

0:57:43the CPA is supposed to do, collect your

0:57:45tax returns or your documents and submit

0:57:47a copy of your return. But not every

0:57:50person is going to hire a tax

0:57:52strategist. But where you can start is

0:57:54getting yourself educated on the tax

0:57:56system because at the end of the day,

0:57:58every single person is going to pay

0:58:00taxes as their single lifelong expense.

0:58:03So, if you can start wising up right

0:58:05today and getting yourself educated on

0:58:07some of the incentives that the

0:58:08government has placed in the tax code

0:58:09for you, you can start preparing for

0:58:12when the time is right to be able to

0:58:14jump into those incentives, whether it's

0:58:15now or later, to set you and your family

0:58:17up for success. And that's my goal for

0:58:19everybody.

0:58:19>> That's right. And I think the sooner

0:58:20that you get educated, the sooner you'll

0:58:22actually see that you have opportunities

0:58:23that you didn't even know were available

0:58:25to you. Right? My my whole purpose, my

0:58:27whole goal is to get people out of just

0:58:30living the same day on repeat in their

0:58:33their mundane mundane is not even the

0:58:37right word, but like I want people to

0:58:38live their best lives. And it's crazy to

0:58:41think that not paying taxes is actually

0:58:43one of the best ways that they could go

0:58:45do that. But like you said, not paying

0:58:47taxes is one of the most patriotic like

0:58:50family focused things that you can do.

0:58:52Yes. Get educated. Go talk to Carlton.

0:58:54If not Carlton, go get the best CPA that

0:58:56you can because the sooner that you pay

0:58:58less taxes, the sooner that you'll

0:58:59become free.

0:59:00>> Absolutely.

0:59:00>> So Carlton, where can they get a hold of

0:59:02you? Uh where do you want to send them?

0:59:03>> Yeah, you guys can go to our website uh

0:59:05taxal alchemy.com to get more help on

0:59:06tax strategy. Feel free to visit our

0:59:08YouTube channel at carltondennis. Our

0:59:10YouTube channel puts out a ton of free

0:59:11information. We post videos every single

0:59:13week. And if you're somebody that's

0:59:15ready to take that next step, be sure to

0:59:17DM us a message on Instagram. We'd be

0:59:19more than happy to put together a free

0:59:20tax analysis.

0:59:21>> Carlin, thank you so much, dude. Thanks

0:59:22for having me on. Yeah.

The systems behind these conversations — the deal underwriting, the tax strategy, the operators doing it live — are in Escape Velocity.

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