Cosmos

Welcome back to the show, my fellow extraordinary Americans. Today, we are honored to have Martin Saenz as our guest. Martin is not just a professional fund manager, industry speaker, real estate investment coach, and best-selling author; he is a seasoned entrepreneur and real estate note investor with over 20 years of experience. 

His unique approach to growing asset value, income, and knowledge sets Martin apart for his company legacy and his investors, borrowers, proteges, and readers. His strategies and experiences make him a trusted source of entrepreneurship and real estate investment wisdom. 

Martin’s passion lies in empowering people to create passive income and learn safe investing. His deep understanding of personal finance, budgeting, financial literacy, and strategy creation is evident in his work. 

His unwavering commitment to helping others truly sets Martin apart, as demonstrated by his work and presence on this show. His generosity in sharing the strategies that have helped him build a legacy for his family, his entrepreneurial journey, and the invaluable lessons he has learned is truly inspiring. 

Martin

Yes, yes, Cosmos. I’m here. Thanks for having me on. I appreciate the nice intro there.

Cosmos

Martin, we are truly grateful for your time and the wealth of knowledge you are about to share with us and our audience. Your journey as an entrepreneur and investor is truly inspiring, and we are eager to learn more about your background and how you got started.

Martin

Sure. So, I think it started in 2003 when I met my wife. We were on the same page, working in corporate America, and we knew that wasn’t our path in life. 

We had a lot of discussions about financial freedom, so we picked up some of Robert Kiyosaki’s books: Rich Dad, Poor Dad, and Cash Flow Quad. And we went on this kind of educational journey, if you will, to find out how we needed to create a road map for ourselves to achieve financial freedom. We first learned that we needed cash flow before becoming a professional investor in trade assets that produce predictable passive income. 

We launched a company in 2005 that sold goods and services to the federal government. That was the start of our entrepreneurial journey: selling a product we’d never sold. We did not know anything about a client we hadn’t, so it was like three years of being lost in the woods trying to figure that maze out, but everything was off and running once we did.

Cosmos

Well, Martin, it’s interesting that you mentioned Robert Cusack’s books, especially the book Cash Flow Quadrant, because, you know, there are full quadrants over there. You have employees and are self-employed. You also have entrepreneurs and investors, and the gist of it is that you can only become financially free through entrepreneurship. Are you buying a This and investing? 

So, my question to you would be, for the audience’s sake, how would you be employed? From your perspective, what is the process of transitioning from doing a job to getting to that quadrant?

Martin

I’d say it all starts with education and time management. So, just setting the schedule for yourself to force your hand to educate yourself with the right, with the right network, with the right authors, with the right podcast like yours, that really just speaks to the mindset, and it’s interesting in Kiyosaki’s book. In one of his books, he talks about the B, and before you do, you need to focus on being, you know, that type of person that you want to become before you start doing a bunch of activities. I think it speaks to the individual’s spirit and mindset.

So, it’s like, well, you want to lose weight. You know, you have to go to the gym. Well, you go to, you know, do you go to the gym once a month or once a year or not? You go on a regular schedule throughout the week, and often, it’s not just about building a schedule, but it’s also about cutting other things out of your life that are distractions or counterproductive to where it is. You’re good.

And so, in my opinion, the entrepreneurial journey begins there very much.

Cosmos

So, Martin, let’s say when the person decides to transition from the 1/4 of the employee quarter to this business quarter. The person goes about successfully running a business from your point of view. What steps must he take to ensure that his business succeeds beyond the two-year or five-year mark that most people say is necessary for a successful business?

Martin

Sure. So, once you start, you know, surrounding yourself with various networks of other business owners, either joining the Chamber of Commerce or, you know, BNI Group or, you know, a Facebook group that deals with entrepreneurship and then you just start immersing yourself, then you start—exploring ways.

If you’re an employee, you start exploring ways by which you can exhibit your entrepreneurial bone, and I believe that the term is side hustle, and start figuring out what you want to do from a side hustle perspective to get yourself off the ground. You want to just begin with the end in mind. You know, Steven Covey talks about just if whatever it is, you start and the form of a business, make sure it’s going to be scalable, and you kind of have a vision in terms of how that will look at the end of it after it is scaled to the pump degree if you will.

Cosmos

So, Martin, one of the big debates in the business and investing community is whether to follow one course until success. If you’re first starting, some people say you should keep your eggs in multiple baskets to ensure your money creates dividends. 

So, from your perspective, with all your experience in investing and business. So what? How should a person go about following one course until successful? Or should they put their eggs in multiple baskets?

Martin

Yes. So, I think in the beginning, you just want to have a focus. With that, you will focus on growing your big business, which is your asset and will produce the goose eggs for you. So, it would be best to learn everything about that business, product, or service. 

Even if you’re in the business, like, let’s say you’re an HVAC technician, well, you want to learn, you know, as much as you can, not just about the process of doing HVAC tech work. Still, you want to learn about the administrative, accounting, regulatory, and vendor sides, expand your knowledge base, and start. Build a map for yourself, whether it’s a business plan or a goal and objective. Start doing side gigs in your chosen area and stay focused until it starts bearing fruit. Once it bears fruit, you can expand into other investment classes or asset types to produce additional income.

Cosmos

I mean, yeah, you’re pretty right, Martin. That’s what many people like in the beginning when starting the business; they must follow what goes on until they are successful. And then, with the money that they make. They should put it into different investment streams, or at least that’s what a lot told me of people. But Martin, the next question is: How would you create consistent and predictable monthly passive income streams once you have the money to invest?

Martin

So, once you have the money, it’s really about having an investment thesis, so this will be a road map for yourself regarding how you will invest. A sourcing perspective. How are you going to source the assets, how are you going to perform due diligence on those assets, and how are you going to manage those assets to peak performance? And so all this isn’t just luck; it’s not just, well, let me just dabble and see where things go.

It’s a full immersion into building this investment thesis for yourself. So, it serves as a guide for you to just like bumper rails when you go bowling, and you know when you’re learning how to bowl, you put the bumper guards on. I think that’s what they’re called. I don’t bowl, but. But it keeps the bowling ball in the center where it needs to go. So, it hits the pins as it needs to hit.

So, unless you have a road map, you will be all over the place.

Cosmos

So, Martin, if somebody wants to get deeper into investments, how would they get started with investment funds?

Martin

I would have a risk mitigation plan, so you have your investment thesis that tells you, hey, this is my mission. This is my vision for how I want to invest. This is my commitment to deploy capital. This is my asset allocation. This is how I’m going to source. This is how I’m going to do due diligence with some. The checklist process is how I will manage and exit out of assets. OK, so you have. Next, you want to understand how to mitigate risk when investing.

You want to learn about different factors, such as operator risk. There are various operators and investment opportunities. How do you vet the leadership? How do you vet the actual people who are going to be? Ensuring that they’re providing a return for their opportunity. You also want a game plan for mitigating risk around the asset class. 

So, if you’re going to invest in office commercial real estate right now, there are many vacancies in certain cities because of all the remote work still happening, and people aren’t fully back in the office. 

So, you may want to understand the macro picture of things and the micro picture in terms of what’s going on in your marketplace. For example, where I’m in Sarasota, FL, there’s a shortage of office space. Because there was just not enough built over time, so they would prefer building, you know, multi $1,000,000 condo units for residences over office buildings. So just because of the shortage of office building space, we’re doing OK in Sarasota, but take New York City, which has 40 to 50%. 

There is an office vacancy in New York City, so you want to understand the asset class and its risks. Then, you want to look at the rate of return risk. So, in other words, given the amount of risk involved in the asset, is the return justified? And does that rate of return meet your aspirations in terms of investment goals you have set for yourself?

Cosmos

I see. Yeah. Martin. So many people overthink when it comes to investments, like where do I invest in precious metals? Is it a good idea to invest in real estate? Is it a good idea, or should I invest in stocks? 

So where can people go? How should they go? About getting a P, should they go about getting a financial education? It comes to investing in the right asset classes because, you know, many people say invest in stocks or real estate. Still, there are different people; some even say to invest in crypto. So, what’s your opinion on all this?

Martin

Yeah. So, you begin with a living financial statement, and I’d be happy to share a link to ours that you know I’ve been using personally. I created one about 15 years ago; I’ve been using it every month. A living financial statement is something you update regularly, whether monthly or weekly. Your income, expenses, assets, and liabilities are significant because it’s not just a historical data point; it’s us. I. I modified it where I break out active income and passive income. I look at expenses as it relates to acquiring assets that produce income and then generic living expenses. I look at and break out different asset classes based on the ones that produce monthly passive income. Then, there are ones that have more store value and appreciation. In addition to that, I also have a whole host of goals. I have goals for each of those four sectors of the statements. 

And so, if you take that realistic picture, a self-diagnosis picture of where you’re at today, you can start looking at what type of assets you need to meet your goals. 

So, let’s say you have an abundance of monthly passive income and are beyond good. And so you might say, well, I have the income, so I’m satisfied there, but I want more. I want to go with the doomsday scenario if, like, you know, the world can. Down. And I’m going to need gold coins and silver coins to survive. Or Bitcoin, you know, and then you start saying. Well, let me focus on this asset class. But if you’re like most people and most people don’t have enough income, then your focus needs to be first and foremost on learning about and acquiring. Assets that produce monthly passive income consistently and predictably.

Cosmos

So, Martin, to follow up on this, what would be your general advice on finding those monthly passive income streams?

Martin

So, this goes back to education and self-awareness. Understanding your areas of expertise and passion is key. Then, start learning, network with peers, and learn about their actions. It would be best to watch out for the whitest noise when investing in assets that produce monthly passive income.

As soon as you start putting yourself out there and asking your friends, family, and Facebook groups what you should do from an investment standpoint, and you know what you should do, you’ll get everyone’s subjective views. But if you narrow it down and say, look, I’m passionate about baked goods. And I need to grow passive income.

 So, what, you know, does anyone invest in this sector that produces passive income for themselves? If so, let me know. You know? You’d be surprised by what you can learn online through research through various community groups about different niches that produce passive income.

Cosmos

Yeah, Martin. This is what you’re saying, which is so important. And I want the audience to know that investing and creating passive incomes are the key to attaining financial freedom. And when you’re financially free, you can live out your freedom, Martin. One question I had was, during your career, what are some of the greatest lessons you learned during all your time in real estate investing, investment funds, and just doing business in general?

Martin

So, a few years ago, I wrote Cash Flow Dojo in one of the books. I wrote about a 4C investment philosophy, so I think it took years and years to create a concrete one. That’s well documented. And so, I kind of wish I would have done that sooner. I think I would say that whatever you do, you need to map it out, but don’t make it so rigid like you’re, you know, going to tie yourselves hand tie yourself and not have flexibility.

 You need to have a financial statement to know where you are. Day, and then you need to set goals in that financial statement so that it’s a road map. So, you need to know how to drive to where you’re getting. I’m in Sarasota and want to visit you in Panhandle, Florida. The goal is to get to the Panhandle, where I’m at today, Sarasota. 

So, I need to build that road map to get there. To safeguard against failure points, points of failure, and other ways to get tripped up, you need to have a risk mitigation plan and get that plan through continuous education. I am learning about different asset classes and opportunities.

Cosmos

No, I couldn’t agree more regarding the risk mitigation plan. So, a lot of times in business, there are a lot of risks. Still, there’s a mindset concept where they talk about calculated risk because there are two extremes: some people have paralysis by overanalyses, and then they don’t need to do the business. And then some people like them. They’re so bold they take massive risks and risk losing a lot of most of the time. The middle point is taking a calculated risk and developing a risk mitigation strategy you were talking about.

Martin

Yeah, I think many people would like it if you said to yourself, well, I need more passive income. And I so happen to have inherited money from Aunt Susie. And so, I want to put it to work to grow my income because everything’s so much more expensive. Well, what? Many people do, and they’ll go to Google and say the highest-yielding income fund I can invest in. And they start with the rate of return. 

And So what happens when you do that is you’re not properly vetting the operator of that fund to know about their leadership, past performance, and transparency. Whether they have a criminal history. I mean, there’s a whole host of things you haven’t looked at or considered. And then you may not be paying enough attention to the asset class that they’re invested in, so they could be great people and be well intended intentioned, but they may not have a penny of their own money in the game and may be investing in assets that they. I think they know what they’re doing but don’t grasp it, so the rate of return should be the last thing you look at after you fully vetted the asset and who’s managing it.

Cosmos

So, Martin, during your entire career, what were some great challenges you had to face mindset-wise while running your business and investing, and how did you overcome those?

Martin

Yeah. So, I think the biggest challenges have been internally, like growing. You know, in the beginning, you’re thinking, well, I’m going to hire the most skilled individuals, and I want to, you know, I want to build metrics to KPIs and etcetera because I want to drive performance. I want to be a performance-driven organization, so that’s all fine. You could get a lot of UM bad apples that come your way because of it. You get what you focus on, whatever it is in life, and if you just focus on performance, then you’ll miss out on culture. You will miss cohesion, energy, collaboration, and other important things. 

At this point, we hire to culture first, so we look to see if they’re culturally fit. If they’re culturally fit, then we look at their technical skills. If the technical skills aren’t fully there, but they’d be a great culture fit, and they show themselves to be hardworking, have integrity, and have some of the other core attributes, then we will train them up gladly.

So, we take that approach; right now, we don’t; everyone on our team is high-energy and positive. Coming to work is enjoyable because it just takes one person to ruin the company’s culture.

Cosmos

Yeah, it is true. You need to have a balance of not just performance but culture as well because culture determines many factors. So, in your perspective throughout your career, what do you think were some of your greatest accomplishments, and what was the mindset that led you to attain those accomplishments?

Martin

So, my greatest accomplishments are the discipline that’s been formed, discipline, and balance being balanced. So, in other words, I am disciplined in my financial plan. And not the results, not the money. Part of it is just that I have the discipline; also, it is not to let the highs get too highs high, or the lows get too low, and I used to do that kind of young person characteristic: you get excited when you get a big win. You get, you know, down when something really bad happens, like trying to make payroll, and you don’t have the money. And so, you just like to be even keel and balanced and live more harmoniously. I’d say those two accomplishments.

Cosmos

Ma’am. I sense that you’re more of a workaholic. You know, you can put in the hard work, and you’re very successful. So. But I know what you’re saying: balance is important in life. And I feel like a lot of people have met a lot of entrepreneurs and businesspeople. Have met their success. They seem to have like they have. They put too much effort into one part of life, like in their work. They don’t create the balance in the other areas, you know.

Martin

Yeah, that’s where, UM, you know, children help. I have four children. And so yeah, they help. I don’t work as many hours as I nearly as many hours as I used to. So, umm, you know, like, I’ll probably go home. We have an investor call tonight, but I’ll go home—usually about four 4:00. 

So I’m not. I’m not doing what I used to; the children help balance that. Some entrepreneurs still plow through and miss much of their children’s childhood. For years and so, some folks have regretted that. I don’t want to. To have that for myself.

Cosmos

I think, yeah. Like, you’re right. Balance is ultimately the most important thing. And as entrepreneurs and businesspeople, we have to understand that, you know, because we only have, like, I think there’s a saying that most people in their old age, like when they’re about to die. The biggest regret is they didn’t spend more time with their family and close friends.

Martin

Yeah. And I don’t know that I spent much time building friendships. I’ve been like, you know, I’ve been 20 years of building a business. It’s like I got my family, and then I have, you know, people I work with, associates, and things like that. But I’m enjoying where I’m at in life. I think that we have a great team. I’ve learned to hire people to do things I used to do myself. So that’s one thing you have to let go.

 A lot of entrepreneurs are in control. When they want to do it all themselves, they’ll do it to the best of their ability. But you have to let go and train people. You have to be a personal trainer of your team.

Cosmos

Now, for sure, Martin and Martin, on a different note, I want to ask, you know, on a national scale, we have a national debt, right? Also, we’ve had inflation throughout 2022 and the years before that. So, from the perspective of the average American, how would we go about understanding inflation and debt? What would be your perspective on what to do in this regard?

Martin

So many people get caught up in political and economic macro news, and it’s good to be aware of the national debt. Are you aware that the CPI is a true measure of inflation? We all know it’s not. Are the unemployment numbers really good? Not really. And so you could sit there and kind of spin. Their wheels that way, but the only way out is if you’re someone who’s not where you know you need to be. I think the only way out is to make a living financial statement. Build an investment thesis. Work on creating and acquiring assets that produce monthly passive income and then use that income. Buy good store-value assets like Bitcoin, gold, and other precious metals.

Cosmos

So, Martin, from your perspective, how important is financial literacy when attaining financial? Freedom. So, from your perspective, how important is education? Which area should people be educating themselves? Because, you know, there’s the traditional education where people go to college, and all they do is a rack of debt. 

So, from your perspective, what is the right form of education and literacy?

Martin

The right form has two parts, so knowing where you are currently is important. So that’s the financial statement, and you need to have it. Most people dread making the financial statement. If you get a mortgage on a home, you have to do it. You know, you might kick, and you may kick and drag because you know it’s just a lot of work putting all that, pulling all that data together. But having that awareness helps kind of plant. Where you are, you can visualize where you want to go. It is so critically important to develop the B part of the equation, and none of that is significant unless you do unless you take action and commit to that. That could be where your investment thesis comes into play, where you’re committing to deploying a certain amount of capital or creating and deploying a certain amount of capital periodically. Into these asset classes. 

And you’re holding your feet to the fire. I think that so many people need accountability partners as well. It would be best if you had people around you who are for you and with you on this journey in a positive way. I think so many people, you know, could benefit from keeping bad people out of their lives or people that are negative. And just kind of focusing on bringing in people that are for you that are going to uplift you, and if you kind of do all that, then you’re going to build the right community, you’re going to build the right mindset, and then you’re going to have plenty of action to deploy to make. Make your dreams a reality.

Cosmos

Martin, I find it interesting that you talk about community, and I couldn’t agree more. You seem to be the people you hang out with the most. 

So, from your perspective on a national scale, do you think that the culture and community have to be more people should hang out with people that are more entrepreneurial in general because that’s going to lead to more productivity, and we have to get on more? Producing side rather than a consumer rather than be consumers instead.

Martin

Yeah, I think you know, in terms of the community, just like you’re, you’re being very selective about who you will surround yourself with. It would be best if you did the same with the communities. You’re going to be a part of it. 

So, you know you can have communities in a certain industry sector you’re passionate about, and you want to grow it then. But there are also faith-based business groups that are more about, you know, just more than that, which will tie in or tie in religion. And a train of thought, along with entrepreneurship. So that might be more of an angle.

So, you just want to learn about all the different ways that you can participate in all the different groups and ways you can participate with those groups, and be highly selective about the ones you join. So then that way you know that they’re the right ones. And you’re able to commit fully.

Cosmos

No, that’s true. Amar, like it, we all have to be very selective about who we hang out with and what groups we hang out with because it’ll feed into our minds, which ultimately creates our destiny. Right. And so, Martin, I know a, on a different note, I know you wrote this book, The Cash Flow Dojo. Could you tell me in the audience? A little bit more about it than the premise of how you started writing it.

Martin

Yeah. Cash Flow, Dojo was my fifth book, and I have written several before on mortgage note investing. I’ve been a real estate investor since 2009, a mortgage note investor since 2013, and an investor in energy assets for the past few years. 

So, cash flow Dojo came from a place that speaks to the individual looking to build multiple income streams for themselves and is trying to determine how to get out of the starting gate, although they’ve already made strides and are looking just to hone their skills. 

But it just gives a lot. There are a lot of tricks of the trade on things people can do to earn passive income that they may not be thinking about. 

So, it’s not always a money thing. It’s not always like I need 100,000 so that I can invest into, you know, this asset that’s going to produce this return monthly. Sometimes, it’s something you’ll create, like training. Force on you to me. Or you’re going to write a book that’s going to sell on Amazon or, you know, you’re going to help, you know, train people with live courses webinar, you’re going to train people that want to learn, you know, go back to HVAC technician work or plumbing or electrical or whatever and your tech. And you know, by day. 

And then you’re producing videos on how people want to learn how to do it themselves. You know, you’re doing videos at night for them and income. So, there are many ways to earn additional income streams. And that’s what the book is all about.

Cosmos

I mean, Martin, I would recommend that anybody listening to this book look at this book because we need to know everything we can about earning passive income streams, rights, and margins. Can you tell me the audience a little bit more about your company’s legacy and more of what it does?

Martin

Sure. So, Bequest Funds, which you can check out at bbqfunds.com, is a company set up as a legacy play for individuals looking to build multiple income streams for themselves and pass them down generationally. 

So, we launched in 2020 and started taking on investor dollars after building a sizable portfolio of mortgages and real estate—you know, for the prior 11 years. 

And so we wanted to go co-invest along with investors. They wanted to go on a journey. The fund is set up for credit investors, and we have two different options, two different fund options, but it pays anywhere between 8% and 11% annual preferred return. And it makes payments every month. So we have people who invest with their self-directed IRA with nonqualified funds, just cash in the bank. But it’s just someone who’s looking for a stable monthly income and growing that fruit tree for themselves, whether they need the money now or they’re going to let it compound for later use.

Cosmos

So, Martin, how can my audience learn more about you, your work, and everything you do and connect with you?

Martin

Yeah, you can look up my name on Amazon. Check out the books. You can go to bbqfunds.com to see if the income funds suit you. But what I would suggest is just, you know, being true to what our discussion is here today. The idea is just to ensure you have your game plan, investment thesis, philosophy, and strategy on how you will invest and know where you’ll take the rocket ship. As long as you have a living financial statement, let those tools. They start to lead you where you need to go, and if we’re one of the considerations, they would kind of plug into it.

So, you know what? What? What? You know you need it, and then you know, we’re grateful for that. But you know, if not, yeah. I hope that you know you can make it wherever you need to. It is in your journey.

Cosmos

Martin, I’m certainly grateful that you have taken the time to share your wisdom and give us a glimpse of the game plan and the strategies for success when investing in a business. This is important, right? It is financial education and financial literacy. It is one of the main keys that will make a difference, especially in today’s world, and I hope you’ll take the time to come back to this podcast later.

Martin

Yes, thank you, Cosmos.

Cosmos

Yeah. And I want to conclude this episode by letting my fellow extraordinary Americans know that, hey, look, there’s an extraordinary within each one of us. We must awaken it and unleash it until next time. Bye for now.