Is the American Dream Dead? (With Freddie Smith)

24:41Then you're dealing with your student loans and you're dealing with daycare. So you could have three neighbors living right next to each other. One has a house paid off. So property taxes, homeowners insurance, let's just say a six, 700 bucks, no college, no daycare. So their big three is 700 bucks a month. The Gen X or living next door could have bought a little later, maybe even how you talked about buying in 2014, around like 220, I think was around the median household income. You got yours for a little cheaper, you were saying. But now your house has probably doubled and so did many other people.

25:14But you have a low interest rate. Your loan is small compared to the millennial who's buying the 450 house today right next door. So you can have three people living right next door with totally different payments, 600, 1500, and 3200, same exact house. And then you add in college and daycare, this millennial couple needs$75 ,000 just for the big three where the boomer couple in the same neighborhood right next door needs 20 ,000 to live. So that's the middle class being divided to me is that when we grew up as millennials, there was kind of like this socioeconomic feel where you would go to your friend's house and when the dad was a plumber, the whole neighborhood was like a plumber, a firefighter, a nurse, a doctor.

25:56And then you had, or not a doctor, but a nurse, but then you had like the richer neighborhoods and people like now the whole middle class, because the middle class no longer really exists. It's like upper middle class. Like you have to be upper middle class to be middle class. And I think that's the big area, which I love when you break these down, because I think that's the big area for most people is a lot of folks right now are struggling with these high these high housing costs. And a lot of times they're looking at either, you know, they're paying rent right now and they're they have no control over that in terms of what is happening and when the rent increases and those types of things.

26:25But in addition, the one big one, and this is almost a silent one that you that I love that you emphasize is daycare. So like daycare is one of those things where it can, if you have one or two kids in daycare, it can cost you thousands of dollars every single month. I mean, it'll cost more than your mortgage or your rent will if you have multiple kids in daycare. And I think that is one where you start to add in some of these other things. In addition to, we have tons of listeners who have student loans who are going through this process of trying to figure out what to do with those student loans.

26:51The rules change every single year and they're just trying to figure out, hey, how do I get these things paid off? That's the big thing I want to do. And they're getting hit in all directions. and it is one of the biggest struggles that we see across the board. So I love that you break those down because I think, you know, between these different areas, in addition, if somebody makes a mistake or they, you know, they buy a brand new car, for example, now they have a car payment and then all this stuff just starts to really unravel very, very quickly. It's no wonder that a lot of folks in the millennial generation cannot build wealth.

27:18And I think that's the big key here that I think a lot of us need to kind of look at and break down. And when it comes to wages, you know, they have not kept up with the pace and the cost of living over the course, you know, of the last couple of years. When does that gap become impossible to close? Is there a point in time where you think that does become impossible? Or is there a way that we can kind of come back from this? And is it the age of AI and the infrastructure that we're building out right now? So I think right now we're just we're going through a. What would you want to call it? I'd say like a decline in living standards.

27:50I think people like human beings are very good at adapting and sometimes that we can be taken advantage of. And that's what I kind of think we're feeling right now where people are just like, yeah, you know,$20 an hour isn't that much anymore, but just live with two roommates. And it's just like, OK, you know, I have some cool roommates. That's fine. And it's it's like, well, what about like Thanksgiving in our apartments? 900 square feet. How are we going to have people over? Like my parents used to have people over in the dog in the backyard and the kids playing. And it's like, well, just, just, just don't, you know, just give up.

28:19Like people are starting to just lose. So right now I think we're going through this phase where we're just losing quality of life. And I think the next step before there would ever be like a revolution is I think people are going to start to migrate. That would be some of the advice I'd have for certain individuals. If you can't live in a city, think about going somewhere for two, three years. Like I was even looking at places where my cousin lives in Pennsylvania. There's like a three bedroom house. That's not bad for$1 ,200 to rent. And I'm like, imagine getting like-minded people and say, let's just go to PA for two years, live in this place with all three of us so that when we're roommates and making the sacrifice, living in the snow, we're packed, we're getting rid of our debt.

29:02We're packing our savings account to then go back to Tampa or go back to wherever with money to get our job and to get going. But I think people are going to have to make those sacrifices in their quality of life. And I think that's where we're going to be. Is that what you were asking me about? Where do you see it as when people can't afford stuff? Is that where we were going with that? Exactly. And I think that's kind of where I think people just have to make sacrifices that right now, unless something changes, they have to make sacrifices that, you know, most people are not willing to make in order to kind of achieve parts of this American dream that we are trying to all get to.

29:34I think that's the big thing that a lot of people think through. They are, but okay. So yeah, here's where I was going with that. Is that the frustrating part, however, is that you shouldn't have to do it. Right. I think that's my other argument with, you know, somebody like, I keep using Tampa because you're right here, but if you grew up generationally in Tampa and you've got your parents, your grandparents, your best friends, your girlfriend, your husband, your whatever, I kind of don't even like the advice that I gave, but I like to try to come up with some solutions, but people know that.

30:04What a shitty thing to think, leave everyone you've known and go to Ohio and live in a town where you know no one so you can rent for 900 bucks. Right. Like, why is that the advice? Like, I try to push back. I'm like, but they went to college. They have a degree. They're they're making sixty two thousand. They're not a bum. Why should that person have to go move away from their friends and family? So, again, like, that's what makes me think like, what the hell happened? And that's why I'm pointing out all the holes that led to this. But yeah, I think we're going to deal with the lower quality of life for a little while.

30:42And if AI doesn't come in and mass produce things that are super cheap or something, then I think you're going to get people who are perturbed. And we don't want to get there. Like, no one wants to deal with a revolution or civil unrest. But I don't think the people in charge, I think they think they can just continue to get away with it, but eventually people are going to snap when they have nothing left to lose. Right now, people are making just enough to feed their kids and pay their bills so they can't jeopardize striking or doing anything like that. But once people are below their means where they can't survive, you're going to see people go to the streets.

31:18And it's like how sad to have to get there when all you have to do is make some policy tweaks and put people first instead of the shareholders and just make things better. Because again, as I went through all these numbers, I'm not one of the people that say that billionaires shouldn't exist or that I hate capitalism. Billionaires can exist. I like capitalism. But when you run the numbers, over 50 years, the top 1 % kept 20 % too much money. That is the only difference of why we don't have a thriving middle class today. They just kept 20 % too much. and so why can't we tweak that and try to make a change moving forward rather than wealth confiscation and again i go back to my tax thing that's what i think is the most realistic but yeah that's where we're at i think people are going to do fine for a while but as soon as people can't afford anything and they're already working two jobs then you're going to see some civil unrest and that's just going to be unfortunate so if someone is getting to the point in time now where that maybe maybe they're making a little more they found a way to kind of you know, build up a little bit of wealth.

32:20They have some cash savings on hand. They're thinking through, hey, I want to do some stuff to combat against maybe some of this stuff that is happening. I want to make sure that I'm growing my income. I'm growing my money over time. And they're starting to think about buying a house. I know you have some background in real estate. And I think this is, you know, a topic that I know you talk about a lot. Is buying a house in 2026, is that a good investment? Again, depends on your trajectory of life. I would say the simplest answer to if someone should buy is if you can answer these two questions.

32:51Number one, can you comfortably afford the monthly payment that you actually did the math on, not just what Zillow or a prequal shows you? Like, what does it really cost? Did you factor in security? Did you factor in pest control? Did you factor in the maintenance? Did you factor in X, Y, and Z? Okay, $3 ,000 a month, you can afford that comfortably, not qualify, afford. Yes. And are you willing to keep this house for seven to 10 years? I think those are the two most important questions in 2026, because with the closing costs, with the cost of living, if you move to Nashville and you're like, I'm going to buy a house and you don't even know if you like Nashville and you try to turn around and sell that in three years, you're probably going to lose money.

33:34So I always tell people, can you afford it? And are you going to keep the house for at least seven to 10 years to give it time to appreciate. Doesn't mean you have to live in it. You could rent it out and upgrade if you make more money, but just don't buy a house and have to dump it in three years because you're going to lose your ass in 2026. So that would be my advice. When it comes to, is it a good investment? It just depends on the question because is it a good investment? Meaning will the money you put into your house today outperform the stock market in 30 years? Probably not. Is it a good investment because it'll be a forced savings account?

34:08You're going to build equity and just feel like you're making progress and building memories? Yes, if you look at the investment that way. But I've ran the numbers because you know how people always say, oh, you got to rent. Some of the gurus are like, rent, you're throwing money away on a house. If you really run the numbers, they're not wrong. If you are a disciplined investor and you will not waiver for 30 years, the person who buys a house today versus the person who invests, the person who invests will have more. But how do you know for 30 years that you're always going to be renting lower than you should, that you're actually going to put every penny into it?

34:46Because the first thing to go, if things get tough, is your investment. If you're trying to invest like two, three thousand a month or something crazy and something happens. So that's the risk. So to sum this all up in 2026, if you've got the down payment, if you're educated, if it's not going to make you house poor, and if you're still going to be able to reach your investment goals, meaning you're not going to sacrifice your investments just to have a house. If you can do it all and you can afford it and you're going to keep it, it's still tried and true. But to go into it blind or to think it's going to make you rich by getting a primary home, that's where you have to really run the numbers.

35:22But it would be just an individual nuanced question to each person. If I knew their trajectory, what their goals were, I could probably tell them this is probably the route to go. But just as a general statement, I still think homeownership works, but it's just much more of a serious decision now. And you have to be really educated on all the steps. And you are speaking my language on that because the number one thing we tell people to do is run total cost of ownership before they even consider buying a house. And it's amazing how many people don't run the numbers on the biggest purchase of their entire life.

35:53I think it's one of those things that can absolutely put you, you could become house poor very quickly if you don't run the numbers on your housing and understand total cost of ownership and every cost associated with that house before you buy it. For those out there who are saying to themselves, I'm not even close to being able to afford a house yet. I've run total cost of ownership before. I've looked at this in a number of different ways. Is renting a viable option long-term? Do you think that is something that someone can do throughout their entire life and be A-OK? I mean, I guess that's the question.

36:22How can we predict what the rent prices will be in 30 years? I think if you were just to look at the past 30 years and you look at it now, it can be a little scary because could the average rent be five or$6 ,000 when you're ready to retire? Um, sounds ridiculous. But I think if you asked a boomer in the eighties when they were paying$200 and you said, you know, people are gonna be spending two grand, uh, 40 years from now on rent, they'd be like, no way. So could it really be maybe five or 6 ,000? Um, that's, that's the, that's the toss up, But if you're going to rent, make it count. Really make sure you're taking your leftover money and investing it or investing in yourself to create more income.

37:02But it's just sad that housing now has to be like a financial decision and an investment decision. Instead of just like shelter, I'm going to pay for shelter. You now have to think about how much you're going to spend, what you're going to sacrifice, what you're investing. But yeah, that's the one thing we can't really predict is what the rent prices will be. So that's why I think people gravitate towards the house because eventually it's paid off and it'll be a lower burden for retirement. But if you can, I don't think it's the end of the world because rent's cheaper in a lot of places right now.

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42:06A lot of folks say the housing issue has to do with a supply shortage. Do you think that building more housing would help solve some of this problem? Because we have a lot of boomers who are kind of sitting on houses and they're kind of sitting in this spot where they're not willing to sell their house for certain prices. So do you think if we build more housing, we could solve some of the housing problems? I think yes and no. I think the real estate market in general is turning very localized. The more research that I'm doing, I think some places there's prices that are declining a little. I think some places are still getting multiple offers.

42:35And I don't know, it almost just sounds like a political statement. It just sounds good. We need to build more housing. And I'm like, but what housing are you building? We know in Tampa and Orlando, what are you really building? It's just four walls and a roof. Like my wife and I bought a new, a new construction. It's crazy. Like, it's just so, it's just, they just put bricks around it and a roof on it. Like, luckily I know how to do some of the work inside. So I spruced it up myself, but like they're not really building anything like remarkable anymore. You know, it seems more of like a profit driven machine and will they do tiny homes?

43:10Will millennials and Gen Z's purchase tiny homes when they can rent something nicer, uh, for cheaper? I don't know. What's your, what's your take on that? Do you feel that the housing would, that the supply would help? Again, theory, sure. In theory, sure, because obviously supply and demand, you know, regularly, if we look at, there's a very high demand for people who want to buy houses. And if we can find more affordable housing that gets built, obviously there's going to be more people that are able to buy a house. Like for, I'll give you an example. So like I have a friend who has been waiting to buy a house and trying to increase income over time.

43:43And there have been some new developments that have been opening up in the Tampa area, for example. So he's actually been able to find some of these new developments or some of the best prices out there. And a lot of times they may not be the highest quality in some of these areas, but some of the builders building and he could buy a five bedroom house for about$380 ,000. Well, that I think is one of those areas where there are more millennials that could afford something like that in some of these different housing situations. But what is the quality of the build? What is the quality of the house?

44:11How long can you live in that house. Those types of things are still questions that I guess need to be answered. I live in a, I built a house as well. And I think it's one where I'm so happy with that decision. I did that in 2020 during the middle of COVID. I'm so happy with that decision, but it was the right time to do it. Nowadays, since 2020, it's been a big shift and a big difference for a lot of folks. And so as we start to see the expansion of potentially more housing, because a lot of millennials can't afford the price of houses that are already in existence, I think that could be something where some folks could look, especially if they are developing in new areas.

44:42There's a lot of new areas, at least where I am, you know, outside of the city that are starting to expand and expand rapidly where they are, you know, building these amazing communities and infrastructure. And I think that's a cool way to do it. But if people are just throwing up housing just to just to throw it up, hoping people will come, I think that's the negative way to do it. It's almost like building up these communities that people actually want to live in so they can live like we're talking about the American dream and maybe make it a little more appetizing too for the new generation.

45:09I don't, you know, not, not so much like more communal in some way, like some of these cookie cutter neighborhoods, which I love, I'm very blessed to have great neighbors. It's so new and clean and awesome, but it's also just very, you know, I call it like an apartment home. Like it's an upgrade from the apartment, but it's just basically like just a house that's 10 feet from the other house. And you know, would it attract to more millennials if they took the time to put in like a communal garden or put in, you know, more not artificial turf for their dogs, but like a dog park and make the living in this particular neighborhood, even if the houses don't have that much gingerbread or it's a little cookie cutter.

45:47What if the experience in the community was set up to bring more community? Maybe that would be more attractive if they could invest a little money to do that, to get people to buy. But I think it has to be more unique. And then also the trouble that we're having is that the boomers and all the Gen Xers too, a lot of their wealth is tied up in housing. And the last thing they want to do is allow new developments to come in. And I understand, you know, they don't want their house to drop 200K. But if you were to flood the market and get the money to flood the market with housing, you're going to be battling the homeowners who were like, I don't want my house to go down 200K.

46:25So I think it's going to be this tug and pull where the boomers are going to eventually in 20 years, 15 years, it's going to be like a crazy two decades, but they're going to eventually get rid of these bigger houses or these older houses. And I think either the millennials will take it over and live in them, or we will accept less money. But right now, I think that's the battle because who's going to vote to go, yeah, yeah, let's bring in 1200 new homes and ruin the housing value. I think even Trump mentioned that in a press conference like a month ago, where he was like, people's wealth is in their homes.

47:01I don't want to do anything to hurt their value. And I'm like, I mean, I get it. But how are you going to make housing affordable while also keeping the housing currently priced at what it is unless they're tinier homes? Or you start, like you said, building further out where it's a little inconvenient. So it's cheaper at first until they start building around it. But this is the speculation. I mean, I could talk for hours on all the speculation of housing because it's just interesting as hell in all different areas. But I don't know. I still don't know if, to go back to your original question, I really don't know if supply would make that big of a difference if they would ever actually do it in a meaningful way.

47:40I guess that's the thing. Will they build some houses? Sure. Would they flood a market, that's what we'd have to wait and see. And I agree with you. I think that's the biggest thing is, is these have to be built in a way that, and that, that it is a community. Like the one that I live in, we have everything from, we have four dog parks, we have three pools, we have all these different like football fields and soccer fields for kids to play. All the community events are like all there. We have all this really cool stuff in this community, like parks all over the place. And so they developed it in a way where like, we even have like a local place where people can go and eat and hang out and there's bars there and all that kind of stuff.

48:13And it's really, really cool the way they did this. And that's what I think you have to do if you're going to build these a little bit farther out, make it a place where people want to go, make it a place where people want to spend time and kind of be together. We just hang out with our neighbors outside all the time. And it's, it's, it's very cool to kind of see that community come together. That's how you can do it the right way. And I think the problem is a lot of, a lot of these builders will just start to slap homes in locations that don't have any amenities or anything extra that people are actually going to want to do.

48:37And they're going to regret, they're going to regret that decision, you know, because they're going farther out just for a cheaper price. Yeah. And there's no, dude, there was even my, my, um, my brother-in-law and sister-in-law live in a, um, they live in Winter Garden. I don't know if you're familiar with the Orlando area, but they live in Winter Garden and their community built a school and a grocery store in the community and has all the stuff you just mentioned. And everyone drives golf carts around to drop their kids off. That's how we all have this thing. So it's like, oh, you have, they made all these friends trick or treating.

49:05We go there every year. It's sick. I'm like, this is amazing. But I go, oh, that's so appetizing to move there because you're getting more than just this. Because that was my point. If you're going to spend$400 on a house, how cool if it's in a community so you're getting lifestyle with that high price. Just to get a box in the woods for$400, it's like you got to have community with it to make it worth the millennials who can afford it, you know? Exactly. Exactly. So I think that's the big key. And we'll kind of see what happens here. I know a lot of people are kind of, they're battling back and forth and debating would housing expansion be something that would help.

49:39And well, it's left to be seen, which I think will be very interesting. The other thing that a lot of people rely on, and a lot of baby boomers right now are relying on this because they've built up almost too much wealth in some of the houses for some of them out there, is Social Security. And you talk about Social Security in some of your videos and kind of the conversation to have. And they have been saying that Social Security is going to go away for decades and decades now. But what do you think about people and how they think through Social Security? What do you think is going to happen?

50:06Do you have any ideas around that? And can people rely on it? I'm more so in the camp of like, hey, focus on the things you can control. Make sure you try to invest in your retirement accounts and try to do some of these things. But what do you think about Social Security going forward? Is that something that's going to be around? I think it was a noble idea at the very beginning, just like many programs that we have in America. I think it was led with a big heart. And I think at first people go, this is going to be great. because Social Security started off with just 1 % for the employee and 1 % for the employer.

50:33And it's like, okay, well, we can help people retire with dignity. Not a big deal. Then they added in Medicare, also important. But now we're up to 15.3 % for payroll. And for anyone who might not know, because it took me years to understand all this, but payroll tax is 15.3%. The FICA that you see on your paycheck is half of the payroll tax. And then your employer is paying the other half. So there's 15.3 % going towards Social Security and Medicare. Well, we have so many boomers. Boomers have 70 million of them alive and well. They're damn near the biggest generation. Millennials, there's about 70 million of us too, but they're all about to retire.

51:13And Social Security is not what I thought, where all the money that's being taken out of your paycheck is going into a fund. Like imagine the boomer fund that the government has at a bank account and all the boomers who paid into it are just getting their check. It doesn't work that way. It's a pay-as-you-go system. So our FICA is being taken to fund 80 % of the boomers and silent generations social security checks. So without us working, they would run out of money. But we're not putting it in for our own. We have to rely on our kids and grandkids to keep working so we can get our social security.

51:45So that's kind of like the shaky part because it's turned into something else. But here's when we're going to figure out about social security because there is a reserve that is paying out 20%. So the workers pay 80%. There's a reserve paying 20%. The reserve is set to run out in 2034. So in 2034, the boomers and the silent generation will either have to take a 20 % pay cut or they'll have to raise taxes or borrow that money to fund that 20%. So I think that's going to be the first contention where we're going to have a big discussion about social security. But again, with AI, I think it's going to be much simpler in the future that everything turns into some sort of basic income just to clean all this up.

52:31Like the idea that you've got so many segmentations of welfare and social security and all this stuff, it's like they could just simplify all this to a basic income and get rid of all of it. And it's just one check that you can give to people if AI gets that productive. I feel like that might be more of what our generation will get is some sort of universal basic income more than a social security check. I just I just can't see a world where I just I just I can't see it after 30, 40. But I don't think I think people get nervous. They think, oh, does that mean I'm paying in and not going to get anything?

53:04No, but I don't think it's going to be exactly what we've been seeing for 50 years. There's just too many flaws. So I think something will change. But I don't think we won't get money. You know, they're not going to leave us hanging out to dry. Right. But it's going to change. But it's definitely going to be a shift. And I think most people just need to make sure that as long as you're focusing on what you can control, which is your own retirement, that's going to be the big key. And then Social Security can be that benefit on top that can help bridge the gap between what else is left, I think, is the big, important thing.

53:31Because even thinking through this, as you were talking, I was thinking through, well, even the millennial generation, they're having less children than the baby boomer generation did. That means less workers are coming into the workforce to help pay for Social Security. It becomes this cycle that becomes one of those things that probably is going to be more and more a problem. It's not sustainable. Yeah. I think if I remember correctly, I want to say there were 12. I think it was like in the 50s, maybe there were 12 workers for every one beneficiary. Now, I think there's two workers for every one beneficiary.

54:05You know what I mean? So it's like, so less AI or massive immigration is going to create that, you know, that workforce. But again, why Social Security is under attack, like all of these things just make sense. You already have so many millennials who don't have enough money at the end of the month to take responsibility for their own retirement. And yet they're seeing 7.65 % being taken for the future that they don't even know what it's going to look like. And it's like, if we could just have that extra 7.65 % now to invest ourselves or pay our bills, but then people are saying, well, what happens if everyone's broke in 30 years with no retirement?

54:43And it's like, people are struggling now, guys. Like, we got to make decisions to help people now, and we'll figure it out in the future. But yeah, if you have the funds, I would 100 % invest more because Social Security, I don't think is going to cover much, especially if you don't own a home. Can you imagine? Absolutely. And I think that's the big key is most people need to focus on their own retirement. I'm going to ask you one other question before we get into the rapid fire here. So what are some of the top things that maybe millennials that are listening right now or Gen Z listeners can do right now to get ahead in an economy despite the system kind of working against them right now?

55:20Are there anything that you have found across the board maybe from some of your followers or listeners that have kind of been helpful for them? at this stage, just to be super blunt. And I, I, this, this sounds like, like boomer advice, um, because it doesn't solve the problem for all Americans. But if there's somebody who's ambitious, who, who's like, I can't be in the rat race. I got to figure this out. The best thing you can do right now is focus on a skillset that can make you more money. I don't think you can save your way to success anymore. Have an emergency fund, invest, but your income growing your income is going to be air quotes easier than trying to downgrade your lifestyle and cut out coffee and go live in a tent somewhere and save that extra 800 but it's like go make the extra 800 it's going to be simpler than trying to continue to cut because life is just so expensive but um that will work for many but again it's not practical for all americans and i think that's the number one lever that you can pull is that income lever it's the number one thing to focus your time and energy on.

56:23And it's the one area that can really just make that dramatic impact. Every single time that you try to cut back, you can only cut back so much, but you can increase your income exponentially. And I think that's really, really important for most people to note. Awesome. So I'm going to jump into just a couple of other rapid fire questions that we ask a lot of our guests. So the first one is what part of your work or life makes you come alive? I would say interacting with others, collaborating is even doing this, like is so fun to me. Just chatting it up. Yeah, I would say collaborations, working with a group of people and community and being around others and building something together.

56:59What is your biggest fear around money? Not having enough of it to pursue an idea or opportunity that I know would be good for my soul and my life and having to pass on that opportunity because I didn't have the funds available that happened a few times in my life. I love that one. That's a great one. And I think it's one where a lot of we've seen this where a lot of folks who can't take it. I remember this when I was younger to people who can't take advantage of opportunities. A lot of times it's because they don't have cash on hand to be able to do it. And I think that's a that's a big one. How do you plan to level up your finances this year?

57:32The advice I gave a little earlier, 100 percent focused on continuing to build skill set, continuing to collaborate, continuing to earn more income to open up more doors for me to expand and chase those opportunities and ideas. So I would say I'm at the level in my life or my stage right now where elevating my income is my most important step. What is the best money advice you've ever received? For the subset of people who are business owners, salespeople, and creatives, I think investing in yourself first. I think for everybody. But investing in yourself has got to be the greatest money advice.

58:13because again, it goes back to being able to build income or being able to have that network. The opportunity is endless when it comes to investing and becoming the best version of yourself. So I would say that's the greatest starting point for everyone is put it all back into yourself till you can create something. The last one is my favorite one. And it is, what does wealth mean to you? Kind of a theme here. I kind of like this. I've figured out a lot about myself just in these questions. Wealth to me is having the freedom and the financial capability to explore opportunities and ideas that set my soul on fire.

58:48I love that. That's a fantastic answer. Well, Freddie, thank you so much for coming on the show. Can you tell people more about your book when it comes out and more about you, your social channels, everything else that you have going on? Yeah. Well, first of all, thank you for having me on. I'm a huge fan of your work. I love fellow creators that are all in the same space. I think we're all doing something very unique and us collaborating, I think is awesome. And yeah, for the past three years, I've just been kind of figuring out all this stuff and trying to hold politicians accountable. And I've been making videos on TikTok and YouTube and Instagram and Facebook and just building a really great community, trying to give a voice to everybody who's struggling right now.

59:27And it ended up landing me a book deal a couple of years ago. I actually got a copy here. It's called Generation Fucked, How Millennials and Gen Zs Were Robbed of the American Dream and How We Can Fix Our Futures. Basically, a preview was the conversation that we just had today. A lot of that about Social Security and the Federal Reserve and the wealth divide and the national debt and the boomer generation, the Gen X and millennials and the livable wage. And so everything is broken down in the book of how we basically got led to this point in our American history here of why is the middle class struggling and what we can do about it.

1:00:01And even my tax plan, I threw in there because it's what I'm most excited about right now. So just some ideas just to get people's minds to think and what they can do to move forward in this crazy world that we're in And uh, that's where i'm at right now So i'm just continuing to grow my podcast my socials my book It's kind of all going together And just continuing to meet awesome people like andrew here where we can collab and shoot the shit and help people out Awesome. Well, thank you so much freddie We will link all those up down below in the show notes as well We'll link the book and everything else so that people can pre-order it and uh, really excited Thank you so much for writing it and kind of spreading this message.

1:00:33I think it's a really, really powerful thing. So thank you again for being here, Freddie. We truly appreciate it. All right. Thank you.