Smart Things You Can Do With Your Money

0:28Gary Vee, I just got its money my first time. putting out information because like I said on stage, my public life is really made for the 15-year-old me, I've come to realize, you know? And so like it's really cool that all these kids coming up or not even the kids, it's cool right now that a 53-year-old who's going through a transition in her, his life is listening to this podcast for free while she's working out or driving to work and people are spitting real knowledge. you guys me like and the other 150 ,000 people there's a lot of shit there's a lot of people like looking to do short-term stuff but anyway I'm an entrepreneur who you know believes that nice guys finish first I talked about flipping and eBay and garage selling yeah I do like that walk us through the concept of that for our listeners that's a good one because it's weird I'm I've been a little bit on a roll on this and when I say on a roll I've probably had 10 to 15 people in the street or the airport or at Comic Con New York where I was for an hour before I flew out here referenced the garage sale thing.

1:31It comes up a lot but just it's hot right now the last three, four days. Anyway for everyone who's listening in 2017 I just kind of like had this moment where I was like you know what like I've talked all about like oh invest in the next Twitter next Facebook. One thing I do well and one thing I recommend everybody who's listening that does content you need to read your DMs. that's where you get the insights. That's where you know where people's real feelings are. And I was getting a lot of like, and I was starting to get bigger at the time and I was getting a lot of like, yo bro, I fuck with you, but like fuck you.

2:02Like who's got 25 bands to fucking put into a startup? I got$93 in my Wells Fargo. And I got enough of that that I was like, okay bet, like I get it. Let me, I kind of like, you know, I was like, what did I do? You know, because my dad paid me five bucks an hour and I wanted money. I was like, Fuck, I was doing garage sales. So I just started talking about it. And then I did the 2017 Flip Challenge. You can go Google it right now. 2017 Flip Challenge, Gary VEE. And you'll find the premise, which is if you have debt or if you have less than$10 ,000 in your bank account, which a lot of people do.

2:42I think people that are fortunate kind of lose touch. Then buying and selling stuff that you buy at flea markets, garage sales, thrift stores, storage lockers, Facebook marketplace, Craigslist is real money. Like it's real. And what I like about it is people, a lot of people who don't know how to make money any other way really love it. Now that it's been out there for like six years, the amount of people who are like, yo, I've never known how to make money my whole life. I always worked at this or that. Like everybody kind of knows something. So you go to a garage sale, I know what toys are worth and video games just because I've studied it for so long.

3:22But vintage clothes, records. Here's the reality. 90 % of the stuff at a garage sale that is being sold for$1 or$2 is$10 on eBay. And then you get crazy hits. So I would go to Instagram right now or TikTok and put hashtag garage sale flip or yard sale flip. You'd be stunned. Get educated. We're not going to get to it here. but on the make money side especially for all the people listening who've got 87 bucks that 87 bucks can really be 10k and the problem is with the way the world all the free information's good but on the flip side all the kids that are listening right now that have 87 bucks they think they need to make a million and I'm like listen make 10 ,000 before you make a million and when you get to 10 ,000 figure out how to get 100 ,000 and then you can get to a million and getting from 87 you're 30 and you've never had any money to a million, it's not gonna happen.

4:16You're gonna chase fads, you're gonna chase bullshit, scams. And so, you know, I'm really about that flip. I mean, I did it the other day. I literally, because I still film something called Trash Talk on, you know, I've done 10 or 11 episodes where I just go do it and it's just there. It's there and I'm really excited about it. I think most people should be able to make$500 in profit. And like, look, if you're listening right now, and here's the other thing, it's fun for certain people. The game is fun. especially if you have a partner. Like, it's a great father-daughter, father-son, me and AJ are real tight.

4:50We're 11 years apart. I think both of us would say, besides Jets football, that garage selling, and maybe even garage selling more because during Jets football, we're just being maniacs and focusing. But when you wake up at 6.30 and you go to Burger King, get a coffee, and then you drive 25 minutes to the town-wide sale. By the way, if you want to find, if you want to really crush garage sales, Google town-wide garage sale because you don't want to spend all morning going to four. A lot of towns around the country will do a town-wide garage and you can hit 100 in four hours. So that's a little hack.

5:23Anyway, you know, but you have to drive 40 minutes to get to the town that's doing it. So, you know, for me and AJ, when he was 13, 14, 15, 16, and I was 24, 25, 26, those were real moments when we were driving from 7 to 8 a.m. where he's talking about, like, liking girls and, like, school and, like, life and, like, I'm talking about building dad's business and like it really bonded us and so for a lot of people I've gotten emails of like them and their best friend became closer because you're grinding and what's funny is for a lot of people that don't have money you know this they also are commonly very cliche the person that wakes up at 11 a.m.

5:57on a Saturday. Now they're waking up at 6.30 they're getting that discipline they're getting home by 11, 12 it's kind of the same they realize they didn't even you know sometimes they're like I don't want to fuck with my bowling or my golf or hanging on boys or college football like be home by it. And it gets them going and it changes it. And so, yeah, I like Flip Life. I like it a lot because I also, once you get the first hook, one guy, because I'm so into it still. If someone's like, yo, Gary V, you really put me on. Like, Flip Life changed my life. I'm always like, yo, what was your first big one?

6:27I'm like, what was your first big one? They're like, you'll never believe it. I bought fucking 40 bucks for a thousand fucking CDs and sold them all for, some were rare. And this Pink Floyd one was like 80 bucks. And I was like, what the fuck? And that was hooked. And that's like, I'm still about that life. That's so fun. so let's say someone starts making some money and they hit 10 grand and then 20 and then 30 and 40 I got a big one on this I'm wondering if any of your guests have said this I've really thought a lot about this because I do a lot of investing wrong a lot what I mean by that I'm not diversified in real estate enough if you're going by the book I'm not in the stock market enough if you go by the book most of my stock is because I invest in companies that went public and I still have the stock I do a lot of things wrong I invest in very high risk early stage companies.

7:13I love collectibles, which are very volatile, cards, NFTs, art, things like that. I'm self-aware of what I'm trying to accomplish, which is I'm trying to maximize joy, not maximize money making. So you have to know who you are. So for me, I know that yes, I have these lofty goals of buying the Jets, but I feel like I'm gonna do that through operating. VFriends and VaynerX give me that chance. and I get joy, I wouldn't say it's gambling, but it's definitely in between gambling and investing the right way that I like because it makes me happy. And I get joy, Facebook and Twitter, these investments, I mean, it's gonna take me a while to lose enough money to offset how big those wins were.

7:59But then you have to know yourself. For example, here's a weird one, like T-bills. Do you know that most of the fucking people who are listening should just get 5.5, 6 % of their money. That didn't exist three, four years ago. Shit's changed. Money's expensive now. So interest rates are up. So a lot of people who are sitting, I mean all day long, people are like, Gary Vee, I just got into money my first time. I got 200K. What do I do? I'm like, well if you don't know what to do, invest in T-bills and get your five points on your money instead of letting sit in the bank with no risk. If you do know what you're doing, I think certain stocks that kick dividends are interesting.

8:33Like a Pepsi. It's not going away tomorrow. And that's kicking dividends. And then real estate's great. I think if you like it, my dad loved it. That's where almost all his investing went into. Almost none of mine has. I'm bored by it. I understand I bought a building and people are paying rent, but I'm like, I don't know. I don't like it, even though it's great. And by the way, most of the last generation's billionaires came from real estate because all the tax laws were written so positive. Real estate's great if you get off on that. And then there's alternative shit. You know, what I will say, for sure, and this is what my number one belief is, is that it's the cross section of something you like and something you understand.

9:12I hate when people invest in shit they don't understand because someone smart told them. Please, my friends, do not invest in shit you do not understand, which is why I like people buying, though I don't do it, I love people buying stocks of their favorite companies. If you're about Starbucks and you do a little reading and you're like, they seem normal, do you see everything's chill? That's a good investment. Buy some Starbucks shares. Like, you know, the stock market's a good bet. Like, the stock market will work as long as America's around. So that's a very good bet. So I think it's a game of enjoying it and a game of understanding it.

9:50I think that's what people should focus on. Part of my speech, I say, raise your hand if you think Apple will be here in five years. What about Netflix? How about Facebook? Walmart? Okay, raise your hands again if you shop at Walmart. Do you buy Netflix? Do you buy Apple? Do you have Facebook? Okay. If you believe in them that much, you'll spend$1 ,500 on the new iPhone. Why don't you buy$1 ,500 of stock? That's right. Right? Buy$500 of Walmart. You like Walmart? Buy$500. You don't have to go put in your life savings. Go buy a little bit of these things over the course of your life. What people don't understand is how advantageous it is to invest too because they don't know rules.

10:19I didn't know them. I didn't know that if you lost an investment, you can write that off against an investment you made money on and play the arbitrage there. So, like, you know, we don't, we were not educated on money well, which is why I'm glad. Yeah, I get it. And so look, ChatGPT and Google and YouTube, learn. The demo that I feel is listening to this right now just moves too fast when they first hit money. Either in buying something, it's okay to reward yourself. Listen, I grew up with only kids that had nothing. I grew up in very lower middle class environments. So I get when you finally do something, you go in to buy a crazy car or watch.

11:01And listen, let's call a spade a spade. 90 % of the time dudes do that to get girls. Like I get the human psychology of it all. I would just say slow down a second because if you've got 200 ,000, if you slow down a second, just slow down. You're more likely to have 2 million because if you go fast, you're back to zero. And we all know that. Every one of us in this motor home know people that got into some money and went to zero, straight zero. or because they were insecure and fucked up, it went up their nose, right? Or it went to Vegas or like, you know, slow it down, everybody. Like, life is long.

11:41Like, of course have fun. Like, when I talk about like, you know this, I've for a long time talked about like, don't buy all this stuff. And a lot, most of the people in these circles are mad at me. I'm not saying don't buy a Lambo. Sure. I'm not, I'm saying. Don't buy four. And even that's fine. Do you know why you're buying it? Yeah. Like if you like have loved cars your whole life, read car magazines, like I go into a car, there's no enjoyment. There's no, like I don't, like all my friends who like I know genuinely like it, like I don't understand like the speed you don't get. I don't like that.

12:14And so for me, that's not right. If that's right for you, then that's amazing. But most people buy logos to flex, to close gaps of insecurity. And so that's what worries me. Because if you're just into a little money and you decide to buy a Rolex, because actually you're insecure and you're not confident and you need that flex to rub elbows with me or to hit on that girl, then you've got other work that you need to do. And that money's not gonna be well spent. It's gonna be a short-term high and then you're gonna be in like a weird place. And so money's a, it's an exposure of your truth. So anyway, back to investing to stay on track.

12:51Shit you understand. I like it. Tarzan, Gary taught you a trick a few weeks ago. and immediately you got like 600 ,000, I don't even know the number, 600 ,000 likes or something crazy. This makes me so happy. This was like two weeks ago and this feels like very gratifying to me. It's like instant validation to giving good strategy. It's not even a trick. He tagged me in the screenshot and he was like, look, 2.6 million views, 18 million views, 12 million views and it was the same week that you told him. You have a lot of valid points and the way my brain's set up, you break stuff down really well and understand it.

13:27you know, and we're algorithm junkies. So we try to figure out where, what hits, what unlocks it, what kicks it. Underpriced attention, the arbitrage, the opportunity. Yes, so you kicked off that, you know, front space, still photo with the text, and then the video that follows, genius. Yeah, it's funny for everybody to give a clarity. Instagram's tougher now, supply and demand. It's not like it was when we were kicking it in 2014, you know, like there's more, and a lot of the demand went to TikTok and YouTube shorts, but the supply's super up. Yesterday, more people posted on Instagram than ever before.

14:02That's crazy. So it gets harder. So you're looking for what I call strategic organic content. Like, what's the organic content move? Meaning, of course there's ads, but what's the respectful, proper, back to like getting buff, right? Like, there's steroids. And there's putting in the work and eating protein and those ratios. And listen, I'm not interested in, I know the snakes just all over the fucking place. You know, like, and yeah, I was pumped that you caught me at a good time because it was a revelation for me only 30 days earlier. Like, we're constantly testing. We have, what I think I do well, that I want more people to do well, is I have the humility for it to bomb.

14:40I don't fear somebody coming to Gary V's page and seeing 80 ,000 views, you got 14, like, you suck. Like, I'm like, okay, you suck too. Like, what are we talking about? I don't know. Right, so we take a lot of creative risks. most people can't get out of posting the same shit over and over because they need the same results, even though it's declining. So we find shit. And the one we found on this one was, instead of just posting the video, which everybody's been doing for a while now, first post an image that kind of previews what the video's going to be as a video. And so it's a two-post carousel, image first, video second.

15:18And I'm so happy you're seeing results. And the reason I'm saying it out loud here is, and you know this about me, Dan, and I'm weird when it comes to someone who hacks. I go from finding it to immediately telling everyone. All my best buds are like, yo, can't you just sit on this for a month? And I'm like, nobody's taking from me. I'm gonna get mine regardless. And I like that people, it feels nice. It feels nice to be admired when you're helping. Going to your last part, charity, it feels nice. Like, you know, when you don't have anything and then you get money, you really like especially in the beginning you're like yo I'm not sure I can give this away like you know like I remember being young and hearing like Bill Gates and all those guys were giving away 99 % I was like yo that shit's crazy now I understand especially with kids you know you don't want to leave you know leaving kids those characters leaving kids billions of dollars it's actually going to make them unhappy so but that's actually my next question but yeah you know before we go into charity the biggest charity is intellectual generosity and I know I'm very good at my craft and I know I'm at the top of the game and I'm proud.

16:25I watch people far less capable than me hold everything to themselves. Scarcity mindset. Wanting to pass you or you or me or you in followers and that's their fucking, I don't see it that way. I looked at someone's account today who I was like, whoa. And I was like pumped. I don't know. I don't know how to boo. I know how to boo in football. I hate everybody. But you know what's so funny? Actually, I'll make this point before we get to the last part. Do you know that being a Jets fan, this is real talk actually makes me understand people meaning in real life i have this almost borderline delusion although i know it's fully grounded in practicality optimism i have no envy i have no jealousy i have no anger i have no darkness i really don't it's kind of scary it's a fucking blessing but in football i have all that i'm jealous of patriot fans i'm sad that we didn't get patrick mahomes when we could have drafted him and it's all this resentment it's 40 years of pain, right?

17:22And it lashes out. Like, I'm not, I'm like really scared somebody's gonna film me at a Jets game one day. It's gonna ruin the whole, the whole fucking, the whole nice image is finished. I'm not nice. And the people who are listening, I'm really not. There's like some inside jokes with my friends, like, I once yelled at this 80 year old man, it was really inappropriate. Like, I yell at kids. Like, I'm on tilt. I feel that pain. I feel that anger. Like, Like Taylor Swift was sitting right above me at the Jets Chiefs game. I was mad at that box. I adore Ryan Reynolds. But he was there. I was like, fuck you, Ryan.

18:00But for real though. And he's the fucking best. But for those three hours, I wanted to rip his face off. And it's a pretty face. So I'm like, man, that's how people feel in real life. I treat Jets football, but that's a silly thing. That's football. That's entertainment. That's escapism. people treat shit like that in real life the world is trying to make us more tribal which makes us hate each other more I'm kind of very team human like color, skin, race, gender, religion I struggle with that shit I don't want to hate anybody why? especially when I don't know you and if I know you and you're a bad person I don't hate you I feel bad for you I have compassion I have empathy so anyway I think about that shit so two parts on the charity side One, you mentioned Gary Vee is going to keep building companies.

18:53You've already got like 2 ,500 employees for VaynerMedia and all that stuff. And all these investments. You end up becoming a multi, multi, multi-billionaire. And who knows, maybe even crazier more. What happens for the kids? I don't know. The truth is, I don't know. Meaning, I definitely, as I've started doing estate planning in the last decade, am not where I thought I was going to be 10 years ago. meaning I do feel uncomfortable leaving tons of money to children. I think it's a little scary. Of course. I really do. But then you're, especially from an immigrant, like where I'm from, like it's real family doubt.

19:29So then you get into like, you know, is that, it's a very complex thing. Here's what I would say. A couple things. Real talk, everyone. You earned it. You decide. Don't let me, someone, this whole like judging each other shit. Like for, just tune out everyone. You earned it. You want to burn it? You burn it. You want to give it to dolphins? Give it to dolphins. Not the Miami dolphins. The animals, right? You want to give all of it just to your kid and not a dollar to charity? Mazel tov. To me, I really think that people are, I think we're really bad at judging and I think we need to be accountable.

20:05So to answer you directly, I'm not sure. I definitely have come to realize, especially if I keep on this trajectory, look, my point of view is this. do you know what it's like to get a million dollars? That's insane. Like if I had that like at 18 I would have been like it would have been over. I might have the Jets and the Knicks by now. So if your kids are capable they're not going to need a whole lot plus for a lot of kids it fucks them up. I've met a lot of rich kids now because of my life the last 15 years man I'm not sure who's worse. Like I actually genuinely believe if you can be born with little but have a happy house or born with a lot and have an unhappy house, that's not even a fight.

20:47But I think it's even scarier. I think if you've got a lot and you're in a happy house and you've got a little and you're in a happy house, the little and happy house person won because they've been taught from the get that money doesn't buy happiness. Whereas the rich kid might not know. They might just think, well, we're happy because we got a driver and a private plane. And so the answer is I don't know. The answer is I'm sure it will ebb and flow. The other thing I don't know is when am I going? What's happening in my life? Let me talk about things that people don't talk enough about. Let me give you a scenario while people are listening and judging.

21:21What if one of my grandchildren has special needs? You know, like, I don't think we do enough of this. Like, do you know real talk why I don't judge anyone? Like, really, like, actually, I just don't know what the fuck's going on in their life. I'm watching everybody walk around the internet and society just throwing nothing but judgment. I wish we, like, you know, people are like, fuck this guy, he throws shade. Shade's easy. Judgment's crazy. Telling people what they should be doing. You know nothing. You know nothing. You should post about this. Do you know that if a person posted about that, do they have death threats?

21:57You should do this with your money. Okay, well, you should do this with, like, I don't understand. So, you know, I think for me, I don't feel, I mean, I have a will, and it's split up at this point to kids and charity but I may change it and like, because things will change and we'll see. But I do, let me say one thing. Charity. Most of my life, so I would say 97 cents on the dollar of everything I've done in my life has been incredibly private because I think that's how I was taught. Like, you know, it's funny, like probably one of the reasons I don't flex a lot is the same reason I don't really make a lot of my charity work public I think there's something in the way that my parents saw the world that became my framework, right?

22:41It's like, you keep quiet in some ways. I think, but I don't judge. You know, let me phrase. I think there was a time a decade ago that I was a little cynical to people that were overly loud about donating. You know, my Jersey Street bullshit radar would go off. But I've come to realize, like, I don't want to be a judger either. Now, if you know, you know. Like, okay, they're using that as a disguise for the bad shit. That happens. But there are just other people that like get real pride in that and more importantly they're motivating others to do it and so yeah I mean I think very public but I don't say amounts I say I show them how they can do trading yeah and honestly even like amounts like you know I think it goes I've started to change my point of view on that this is what's fun about let me say something real quick to the kids which by the way is everyone if a 99 year old grandma is watching you're a kid you get to change your mind right you like that one right I love it right because you've changed your mind on shit I've changed my mind Like, you get to change your mind.

23:37And so, I'm glad, I'm so happy kids have, like, by the way, maybe if I was 14 and listening to this podcast, maybe I wouldn't have had that point of view as a 20 and 30 year old about charity. Right? And maybe I did leave an opportunity to bring awareness to Charity Water and Pencils of Promise and the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation and Reform. Maybe I've left too much attention on the table by maybe having too much pride in the humility in the class that comes along with not flexing it. You know, like, so it's, I mean this to everybody, like, give yourself the grace to change your mind. I want people, the reason I post about toy drives and tipping dinners and homeless backpacks is so people can replicate it.

24:17And thousands and thousands and thousands of people replicate it. And so when you talk about, I even heard about Pencil of Promise because you weren't posting about it, but I just heard about it. And then all of a sudden I became obsessed with it because of that. And that was a fun one for me because I was a bad student and I'm a famously bad student. But I think about friction. in Ghana it's not like America with the education system where we all go and it doesn't work for half of us because we are creative or entrepreneurial when you look at the math that if you build a school in one of those places like what the trajectory of that people here talk about generational wealth there you put a school it's generational wealth they go from living a life of a dollar a day to like fucking Haiti it's a dollar a day people are living on yeah bro we're lost out here worrying about all sorts of dumb shit we grew up thinking it's rude to talk about money.

25:03Obviously here in the podcast, we think it's rude to not talk about money because we need your friends, family, and followers to know about taxes, salary, loans, rent, how to make money, invest money, save money, 401ks, and everything in between. We just need to have these discussions. So talk to your friends, family, and followers about money. Ask questions. Research it. By the way, real quick on that, ChatGPT, everyone. You know, Google changed the world. ChatGPT, you can ask that bot very, very specific questions. hey, I'm a plumber. I make$39 ,000 a year. I get to save$1 ,000 a year. What should I do?

25:40Enter. You would be blown away what AI can do. You can be very specific. You can't do that on Google. Hey, I have$18 ,000 in debt from this credit card company. I'm paying 7.3. Start using AI for your advantage, not something you heard about or demonize or don't understand. Don't understand is unacceptable. Right. I don't get it. Okay, Google it. YouTube it if you're like me and can't read for shit. And listen, like, so, you know, for a lot of people wanting to learn about money, could you imagine having real, could you imagine sitting down with somebody that knew most things? That's awesome. Isn't that a cool way to think about it?

26:17Imagine sitting down with fucking Yoda and getting all the answers. Like, just literally type in shit, be super specific. You'll learn how to start using AI, which may change your trajectory, and you can start answering shit for yourself. you