The Surgical Investor: Prescribing Lifestyle Freedom through Real Estate with Vasu Kakarlapudi

0:02Who's ready to rock today, Fire Nation. JLD here and welcome to Entrepreneurs on fire. The only daily show interviewing the world's top entrepreneurs seven days a week. Today, we'll be breaking down the surgical investor prescribing lifestyle freedom through real estate. To drop these vibe bombs, I brought Vasu into EO Fire Studios. Vasu helps physicians achieve holistic wellness and financial freedom, investing alongside them through APTA. With surgical precision and 20 plus years of real estate success, he leads by example beyond medicine. And today, Fire Nation, we'll talk about why high income professionals are actually financially stuck, or at least many of them.

0:38the biggest mistakes doctors make when jumping into real estate, the surgical wheel of wealth, and oh, so much more. And a big thank you for sponsoring today's episode goes to Vasu and our sponsors. Are you ready for the ultimate all-in-one platform for entrepreneurs, marketers, coaches, and agencies? Build funnels, automate follow-ups, manage clients, and even white-label your own software. Say hello to our featured partner, High Level, and visit highlevelfire.com to start your free trial today. Vasu, say what's up to Fire Nation and share something that you believe about becoming successful that most people disagree with.

1:20Great question, JLD. I believe that true wealth isn't about what's in your bank account. It's about what's on your calendar. I actually used to think that wealth was all about net worth And I was recently reminded about why that isn't the case. So I was in Omaha recently with tens of thousands of others attending what will likely be Warren Buffett's last final shareholder meeting because he's stepping down as chairman of Berkshire Hathaway. And then he said something that really hit me hard. He said, the quality of your life is measured by how often you get to do the things that you love. And I really sat there just letting it sink in.

1:59And so most of the crowd there was chasing spreadsheets and dividends and looking about how they can make multiples on their equity and IRRs. But Buffett really wasn't talking about money. He was talking about time. And that moment kind of reframed everything for me because true wealth isn't really about what's in your portfolio. It's about what's in your priorities. It's not just your net worth. It's your time freedom. And here's the kicker. You can actually measure this. So researchers at Stanford have developed a framework called the Odyssey Plan. and it maps out three possible lives five years out.

2:32One, kind of keep things going as you are. Two, taking a bold leap. And then three, living as if money and judgment really didn't matter. And so that third one, that's I think really where the magic happens. And when I walk people through it, it's just not about, not just about dreaming KLD, it's about data. You start tracking how much of your life is spent doing the things that you love. And that's when it really hit me that success isn't a number. It's actually a percentage. It's a percentage of the week that you spend living the life that you choose, even if you didn't have to. We were talking earlier about you spending time in Puerto Rico with your family and visiting Maine.

3:11And it's just like, you know, how often, how much, what percentage of the week do you actually get to enjoy and do exactly the way that you want? So that's what I call the freedom score. And certainly that's the kind of wealth that I'm chasing. What a powerful way to start the episode Fire Nation. I mean, if that quote from Buffett didn't send chills through your spine and maybe maybe sit back and do a little reevaluation of how you're spending your days, because I do love that quote, how you spend your days, it's how you spend your life. So I mean, it's very important to be intentional about how you're spending your days and not just living for some obscure, clouded future that may or may not come to fruition.

3:47And here you have Warren Buffett, you know, arguably one of the most financial, successful financial geniuses of our lifetime. And, you know, he's in his mid-90s. He knows he doesn't have a ton of time left on this planet. And he's talking about, like, how did I spend my time? And, you know, he's somebody who always loved what he did, as far as I could tell from the books that I've read and the interviews that I've heard. So I think that he would probably score pretty high on that. And today, Fire Nation, we're talking about the surgical investor, prescribing lifestyle freedom through real estate.

4:17And Vasu, I think this would surprise a lot of people because so many high-income professionals, they're actually financially stuck. Can you share an example of this and what actually woke you up to do something different? Yeah, I can only really describe this as an existential crisis moment. I remember early on in my career, it was a Friday evening. And after a long, intense week in the operating room and in the clinic, and one of my closest friends was having this surprise birthday party that we've been planning it for months. And then Murphy's lot, 459, just as I'm about to head out, pager goes off.

4:52Ding, ding, ding, ding. And I'm like, what's this all about? So emergency case before the call weekend that I wasn't even on call, but it happened during my time clock. So I had to go scrub in. I'm in the operating room all night. I missed this entire party. So I finally get home. My wife tells me how the night went and how everybody was asking, well, where's Vasu? Where's Vasu? And in that moment, it really hit me. I didn't really actually own my time. I didn't really own my life. Now, here I was, a surgeon with a great income, but I was a slave to the schedule, to the pager and to the system.

5:28And in the back of my mind, I could hear my financial advisor's voice telling me, just keep doing this for 20 more years and then you'll have freedom. 20 more years. That was my line in the sand, JLD. I realized my practice was controlling me and not the other way around. And so I knew there had to be a better way. And so when you're stuck, you always have to just start asking better questions. And so that's what I did. I started asking better questions. How do I reclaim my time? And how do I do that with the least amount of risk possible? And that's really how I discovered real estate. Not as a kind of a get-rich-quick scheme because that's just not my personality.

6:10Not as a side hustle. I didn't want to be, you know, diverting my focus. but more as a freedom strategy, a way to kind of buy back my time intentionally, methodically, so I could stop working from obligation and start living with purpose. And so that really got me unstuck. Now that's powerful. And I can say I actually had my moments that is very similar to yours, but mine happened at 26 years old. I was an officer in the US Army. You know, I had been so for four years at that point. And I just remember talking about getting out because my four year time was up. My commitment was over, but you know, a lot of my fellow officers were re-upping for another four, eight, 12 years.

6:50And everybody was just saying, John, just 16 more years. And then you'll be at 20, you'll be at 20 years in the military. And then you're going to get half pay for the rest of your life. You know? And I was like, like 16 years, you're saying it like that's a drop in the bucket. That's a lifetime literally. And that to me was kind of my line of the sand. I'm like, man, I'm just going to take this big leap. And by the way, that big leap did not turn into immediate success. I actually had six years of struggle after I got out. I mean, struggle, like trying different things and failing before I finally got to where I got to at 32 years old, which was launching this podcast 13 years ago now.

7:26But at the time, like, you know, I was just like 16 years. Like people are just talking about that. Like it's nothing. That's such a significant chunk of my life. I'm not just going to, you know, do something just to do it just for half pay for the rest of my life 20 years from now. So it's a powerful way to look at life, Fire Nation, because it does go by fast. And you believe that adding real estate to traditional portfolios can actually be a smart addition for time-starred professionals. Tell us more about that. Yeah. You know, as Ray Dalio says, diversification is the only really free lunch in investing.

8:01And whether you realize it or not, you're already an investor. because investing really at its core is just really about how you allocate resources. And we do that as business owners all the time is strategic allocation of our resources. And so we're putting in the time and the energy and the attention into our work, and that generates some income. But then what do you do with that? What do you do with that income? And that's the part that most people overlook. See, I think most of us were taught to save and maybe toss it into the stock market, But for a lot of time-starved entrepreneurs, such as your audience, that just isn't cutting it.

8:38And that's exactly where real estate can have a real powerful role. Essentially, it gives you another lane outside of just stocks and bonds. It builds equity. It produces income. And the tax advantages are just a real game changer. And let's not forget, they're not making any more land, as they say, right? And so there's a reason why so many people on the Forbes 400 either built their wealth through real estate or using it to help preserve and grow that wealth. And then when it comes to taxes, real estate isn't a loophole. It's really part of the IRS playbook. Seriously, JLD, if you kind of read between the lines, the IRS is basically saying, hey, if you invest in housing and buildings that improve communities, we'll reward you.

9:22So instead of viewing the tax code as a list of restrictions, which oftentimes we do, if you try seeing it as a guide to what the government actually wants us to do, and for busy professionals who don't have time to day trade or micromanage their portfolio, real estate can offer something really rare, a leveraged tax-efficient income that builds over time. So yes, if you're making good money, but feel like you're stuck in that earn and spend cycle, real estate just might be your next smartest move. Well, Fire Nation, we have a lot to talk about. Specifically, the biggest mistake that doctors make when jumping into real estate when we get back from thanking our sponsors.

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13:45It's because they skip the fundamentals. And so I've seen this, you know, after watching this play out time and time again, I've kind of boiled it down into three big mistakes that doctors and other high-income professionals make. Mistake number one, they don't have the skills. I mean, you wouldn't walk into the operating room without training, right? Of course not. But for some reason, when it comes to real estate, a lot of professionals think they can just wing it. You don't need to know everything, but you do need to understand the basics. You need to understand how deals are structured, what some of the common terms mean, how risk is evaluated.

14:21And so the good news is that there's a ton of resources out there now that, quite frankly, weren't as prolific as when I first started. But certainly today, there's a lot more podcasts, there's more books, there's more short courses. You just need to invest a little bit of time to learn the language. So the second mistake is lack of confidence. So even after learning, fear shows up. It's new. It's something outside your comfort zone, maybe something you haven't done before. But here's the truth. success really doesn't come from being fearless. It actually comes from acting in spite of fear. And that I think is the first step.

14:59It's always the hardest. But that first step, once you get past that, you start building confidence. And confidence is built through more and more doing and taking action. So mistake number three, trusting the wrong people. And this one's a real biggie because real estate's exploded over the last few years. And a lot of people have jumped into real estate and a lot of other people have even started raising capital without real experience and they might you know talk the talk but have they been through a downturn have they weathered the storms whether you're investing passively or putting you know a deal together yourself you'll want to work with people who have a real track record across multiple market cycles and so to recap i think the three biggest mistakes, JLD, that I see are not learning the basics, letting fear stop you, and trusting the wrong people.

15:53The good news is you can avoid all three with a little bit of education, some courage, and being very intentional about who you work with. Because at the end of the day, real estate is a real powerful tool. But just like anything else in medicine or in business, it only works if you respect the craft. Now, Vasu, you've created something called the surgical wheel of wealth. What is that? The surgical wheel of wealth, JLD, it's not just a framework. It's essentially kind of a mindset shift. So most of us think growing up that wealth is all about money. But for surgeons and really any other high-performance entrepreneurs, it's just one slice of the pie.

16:34The surgical wheel of wealth is about precision. We call it surgical because it's designed with intention, just like the work we do in the operating room, but it applies way beyond medicine. It starts with you, you know, your own time, your energy, and your health. Because at the end of the day, what good is money if you have no time to enjoy it or the health to sustain it? So the wheel includes lifestyle optimization. Yes, really essentially how you spend your days. but also stress reduction, physical health, spiritual alignment, philanthropy and giving back, legacy planning because it's more than just about making money but it's about making money work for you and so while also designed to you know design a life that you don't need to escape from.

17:26So there's a tactical side of it too like efficient tax planning, state strategies and creating generational wealth. But at the heart of it, it's really legacy and impact. Not just how much you've accumulated, but how well you've lived, who you've uplifted along the way. We all end up in the same place eventually, but what you leave behind, how you're loved, how you're led, how you've given, that's what's really what lives on. And that's the kind of the real wealth that we're building with the surgical wheel of wealth. Now, there's a lot of people listening right now, Vasu, and they're like, this is really interesting.

18:01And I'm jiving with a lot of this. And I want to learn more. So I would like to talk about first steps. Like what are the first steps that any busy professional could take, should take today to begin investing with clarity, with confidence? Yeah, I think the real first step is about making the decision that you're actually ready to learn, right? Just setting the intention that I want to understand how to invest in real estate is super, super powerful. Because without that, nothing else really matters. Next is, I think it's really about shifting your identity. You don't have to quit your day job or be a landlord, but you have to start seeing yourself as a real estate investor.

18:41And that really identifies, that identity rather, fuels the confidence for you to take the next steps. And part of that is just learning the basics. So we've built a ton of free educational resources is at aptinvest.com slash learn. And whether you're a total beginner or looking to sharpen your edge, it's all there. I've also finalizing a book that we've been working on for over three years in the making and it's jam-packed with stories and lessons from my journey. Wins, losses, and everything in between. Because I have an adage that I always think about is, a dumb person doesn't learn from their mistakes.

19:24A smart person, we all learn from our mistakes, but a wise person actually learns from the mistakes of others. And my book is really a way of helping you be that wise person to experience the benefits without as many scars as perhaps somebody like me who's been doing this for 20 plus years has experienced. A lot of professionals, and especially surgeons, when they become financially independent, they actually care for their patients with more empathy, more presence, and more intention. And let's be honest, JLD, we're all going to be patients one day. And so our mission is to help more professionals get to a place where they get to practice instead of having to.

20:08And so that's really the kind of freedom that we're building where there's really just no time like the present. to get started as you've inspired so many of your audience members to do over the years. Well, thank you for that. And I can absolutely agree that I do not want my brain surgeon stressed out about his stock portfolio crashing to zero amid surgery. So I want him to be happy, relaxed, thinking about all the investment properties he owns all over the world and the amazing trips he's going to be taking and how he just wants to save my life at that moment in time and nothing else is stressing him out at that moment.

20:43So Vasu, let's end with this. Give us the one key takeaway out of the entire conversation we had today that you would love for our listeners to walk away with. Give us that call to action again about how we can connect with you, read your book, learn from you, and then we'll say goodbye. The one big thing that you're going to have to understand is that crap happens, right? And you bet, you know, like Mike Tyson always says, everything grows great until you get sucker punched in the mouth, right? And so market shift, risks appear, and sometimes no matter how much due diligence you do, you know, stuff happens.

21:19And so I've certainly had my share of stories like that where things just didn't happen the way that they were expected to do. And so what got us out of it is faith. But faith alone doesn't get you that far. It's really about faith plus action. Showing up, being transparent, doing the right things. You know, we've all built fundamentally strong businesses. We've done our homework and we've leaned on our values. And those same principles can help you become a stronger real estate investor. Because at the end of the day, as CEOs or entrepreneurs, we're resource allocators. and think of the capital that you're producing from your business as another resource that you can leverage to build all the things that you want, to live the life that you want and create a legacy, give back like we talked about earlier.

22:17So I think faith plus action, I think is the parting message that I would like to hopefully share with your audience. And the last thing I want to say is just if your audience wants to learn a little bit more about how they can start on their own path, www.aptainvest.com slash learn. There's a ton of free educational resources, and you can even sign up on the wait list for our upcoming book entitled The Surgical Investor. Faith plus action, Fire Nation, and knowing that you're the average of the five people you spend the most time with, you've been hanging out with VK and JLD today, so keep up that heat.

22:57and for links to everything that we talked about, visit eofire.com. Just type Vasu, V-A-S-U in the search bar and the show notes page will pop right up. Vasu, thank you for sharing your truth, your knowledge, your value with Fire Nation today. For that, we salute you and we'll catch you on the flip side. Hey, Fire Nation, a huge thank you to our sponsors and Vasu for sponsoring today's episode and Fire Nation. Over the last decade, I've interviewed more than 4 ,000 of the world's most successful entrepreneurs and I've created a revolutionary 17-step roadmap to your financial freedom and fulfillment.

23:30I put it all into my first traditionally published book, The Common Path to Uncommon Success, personally endorsed by Seth Godin and Gary Vaynerchuk. The Common Path to Uncommon Success is the step-by-step guidance that you need to achieve the lifestyle of your dreams. Visit UncommonSuccessBook.com. I'll catch you there or on the flip side. Are you ready for the ultimate all-in-one platform for entrepreneurs, marketers, coaches, and agencies, build funnels, automate follow-ups, manage clients, and even white label your own software, say hello to our featured partner, High Level, and visit highlevelfire.com to start your free trial today.