Summary
These days, inflation is all over the news… and then some. However, inflation doesn’t necessarily have to be a bad thing — especially when you’re in apartment investing. In this 📖 blog, we’re diving deep into how NOT to lose money to inflation. The key? Being smart about it, friends.
So, uh… can we talk about the scary headlines on the news about all things inflation and consumer price indexes? 📈
Because most of us have seen headlines like the below:
“Inflation rising at the fastest rate since 1990.”
“Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey’s dire warning that hyperinflation will hit US ‘soon’”
“Inflation is looking less temporary than originally advertised.”
Are we right?
*virtually raises shaky hand* ✋
Well, here’s the thing 〰️ the media loves to fearmonger, especially around things like the economy. The more headlines that speak about a failing economy and an increased inflation rate, the better — because headlines like that get people to click. And, when people click? Ad dollars, baby. 🤑
So, if you’ve been seeing the headlines and worrying about how inflation might affect your purchasing power, we’ve got you. We’ve heard from tons of people (friends, family, and even our investors) that they’re worried about inflation eating away at their money. A ton of people are worried that inflation might destroy all of their financial progress.
And, more than anything, a lot of people are overwhelmed by the whole thing. After all, most of us didn’t go to college to study economics, right⁉️
We used to feel the same way every single time the term inflation hit the nightly news. And then, a few years ago, we launched our apartment investing journey to do 2 things:
- Build our wealth.
- Beat inflation.
So, today, we’re going to dive into how exactly you can use inflation to generate profit… not suck it away.
You ready? Here’s what you’ll find in this blog post:
- A primer on inflation
- Examples of inflation in your daily life
- How you can leverage debt to your advantage
- Why investing is key to beating inflation
- The alignment between tax benefits and apartment investing
- Your key to getting time back
First up… what’s inflation?
So, you might be wondering what exactly inflation is. We’ve got you. On a high level, inflation is the declining purchasing power of the dollar.
However, it’s deeper than just that definition. See, the government has been printing astronomical amounts of money for years. And, within the last few years (think: Covid pandemic, stimulus unemployment perks), we’ve printed even more. 💸
Essentially, this is creating money out of thin air and pumping it into a system that’s supply and demand. Right now, we have a huge supply of dollars… and that means that things are costing a lot more dollars to make sense.
Currently (and over the last century as a whole), it takes more dollars to buy with LESS dollars. We’ve seen this trend go up and down over the last century, and we’ll likely continue to see it.
Wondering how you see inflation in your daily life?
Let’s take a look at two things that we tend to see a big impact on in our daily lives: gas prices ➕ home prices.
In 2000, one gallon of gasoline in LA ran about $1.32. Today, it runs around $4.57. 😱
In 2000, the median price of a home in LA was around $240,000. Today, that same home might sell for $795,000.
A blend of supply, demand and inflation has caused this ^ and it’s really common to wonder how the heck you’re supposed to beat it. 😨
We can also look at a current example that’s affecting all of us, which is a big-time increase in inflation that’s been caused by pandemic-related supply shortages and big-time consumer demand. This goes for everything from furniture to gas to milk to homes, and there are a few things to understand about it.
How Not to Lose Money to Inflation (+ Actually Profit from it as a Real Estate Investor!)
First, inflation definitely has its downsides. Inflation can erode purchasing power, it can raise the cost of borrowing, and it can also cause hoarding.
(Anyone else remembers Extreme Couponing on TLC? We digress.)
But, inflation has its upsides, too. 🤭
The Federal Reserve itself has leveraged moderate inflation to stimulate economic growth over the years. For instance, lowering interest rates has encouraged borrowing that’s stimulated the economy — and it works.
But, on a personal level, it can also be pretty beneficial. We love these 3 quotes to explain it:
- “Inflation makes the wealthiest people richer and the masses poorer.” J-ames Cook
- “Invest in inflation. It’s the only thing going up.” -Will Rogers
- “We are in a debt-based economy. We need to continue borrowing in order to spur growth.” -Ray Dalio
So, wondering how you can leverage inflation? We’ve got you covered.
No. 1 Leverage debt to your advantage.
Debt is not always a bad thing — and that’s something you HAVE to understand if you want to build big wealth. In fact, leveraging debt (small input, massive output) can help you beat inflation itself.
We’ll pull from the Greek geniuses here, and give some credit to Archimedes, who said “if you give me a lever and a place to stand, I can move the world.”
This goes for your debt, too. ^
See, any time you can borrow money at an interest below inflation (at a low-interest rate), you’re getting money for free.
Enter: apartment investing, AKA income-producing debt! When you can borrow money for free, and buy a cash-flowing asset (like an apartment) that covers the debt payment, you’ve unlocked something pretty dang powerful. ✨
Essentially, you’re using less of your money, increasing your ROI. Leveraging that inflation allows you to grow your money exponentially with a relatively small input. ✌️
No. 2 Say goodbye to cash, and invest in cash-flowing assets.
Keeping cash keeps you prey to inflation. Why you ask? Because when you keep cash, you’re not letting it grow.
Instead, say goodbye to cash 💸 — and say hello to cash flow. Cash flow is the real king 👑 (cash is king is not a true statement), and investing in cash-flowing assets is your key to beating inflation as a whole.
Wondering how to do this? Invest in apartments (a.k.a apartment syndication). It takes way less money than you think and allows you to invest in an asset that continues generating cash… instead of keeping your money under your bed where it does nothing but lose value.
Pro tip 〰️ Always think of your cash and your money in terms of growth, and you’ll start reaching towards inflation-hedging practices like apartment investing.
No. 3 Invest in appreciating assets.
If you’re wondering what we mean by cash-flowing assets, we’re talking about appreciating assets. These are going to be the assets that continue to grow in value over the years (like real estate), rather than sinking down in value (like cars).
See, real estate is an inflation hedge in itself. As the cost of materials and labor go up with inflation, so does the cost of real estate… especially in apartment buildings.
And, when you can invest in real estate and let inflation do its job, you’ve invested in something that’s continually gaining value. You know what that means? That your money is continually gaining value, too.
Boom. ✨
(Plus, don’t even get us started on the other benefits of apartment investing outside of inflation. From rent growth to other income to expense reduction to tax advantages, there’s a TON!)
No. 4 Utilize the tax advantages of apartment investing.
Okay, so we have a twist for you. The real value of tax decreases with rising price levels.
And, because of that, tax bills often go up in times of higher inflation.
Enter: apartment investing, which has huge tax benefits in itself! Since apartment investing means you’re a part-owner of the apartment — not the bank — you get to take advantage of those tax benefits.
For instance, while apartments themselves are appreciating assets, there is also a lot of depreciation taking place that is really helpful to your tax bill. For instance — a rising cost of cement or flooring or kitchen appliances allows you to write off the higher cost as well.
Now, this gets complicated (this is why we love our accountant), and there is a myriad of tax benefits to the whole investment process that goes far beyond depreciating costs — which is really a whole other blog post.
But, it’s simple: tax advantages offset higher tax. AKA, apartment investing offsets higher inflation.
No. 5 Buyback TIME.
If there’s anything the last few years have taught any of us, it’s that you cannot get time back. ⌛️ You can’t. So instead of letting inflation wreak havoc on your savings accounts, let it help you grow your wealth‼️ Let it get you closer to living a life you want to live.
Really, there aren’t a lot of asset classes that profit from inflation like apartment investing does. You’re buying real estate in today’s dollars, locking in lower interest rates, and letting inflation pay off the debt with cheaper dollars.
This gets you to wealth SO much faster than saving dollars and investing in stocks.
And getting to wealth faster means you can spend your years how you want — and there’s nothing more beneficial than that.
Are you ready to beat inflation with smart apartment investing that grows your wealth instead of sinking it into the ground? 🤔
Come join us on the waitlist for The Freedom Club, and we’ll show you how to use our Apartment Syndication System to refine your strategy and grow your cash flow.
GET ME ON THE KITTI FREEDOM CLUB
………..
Rate, Review & Follow!
“I love Cashflow Multipliers.” ◀️ If that sounds like you, please consider >> rating and reviewing our show! This helps us support more people — just like you — move toward the financial futures that they desire. Click here to let us know what you loved most about the episode!
Also, if you haven’t done so already, follow the podcast. We’re sharing the best tips, tricks, and secrets in owning your own time so achieving financial freedom early and permanently becomes easier. Follow now!
Comments +