Wealth Formula by Buck Joffrey

Latest Episodes:

499: Scott Bessent’s 3-Part Playbook for America Mar 23, 2025

Show notes

As I reflect on the difference between Trump’s first administration and his current one, I notice a marked shift. When Trump first took office, his message and objectives weren’t clear to me. Beyond the promise of building a wall, I struggled to understand his vision.

This time around, it’s vastly different. His message is laser-focused, and I’ve been particularly intrigued by the administration’s economic approach. Many of his advisors and cabinet members come from the private sector, bringing a deep understanding of markets and business that’s unprecedented in American government.

One of the most notable figures often in the news is Elon Musk. There are mixed feelings about him now, with some people even vandalizing Teslas—a stark contrast to how he was viewed just a few years ago as an icon among liberals. Personally, I admire Elon for his vision and commitment to changing the world through Tesla and SpaceX. He doesn’t need to be involved in these endeavors, but his passion for making a difference is evident. I believe his efforts to impact America’s economy align with his broader mission. What better way to change the world than by strengthening the economy of the greatest nation on earth?

However, Elon isn’t the only notable figure Trump has brought on board. There’s an impressive roster of individuals, including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who might be the mastermind behind Trump’s overarching financial plan for America. I’ve been following Bessent closely, reading his statements and listening to his insights. When I tune in to what he has to say, the confusing aspects of the current economy become much clearer.

On this week’s episode of the Wealth Formula Podcast, I’ll share what I’ve discovered and what I think it means.

498: What Renewable Energy Looks Like without the Politics Mar 16, 2025

Show notes

Renewable energy is often discussed in political terms, but here’s a straightforward look at the financial side.

In the last decade, solar energy costs have fallen dramatically—by nearly 90% since 2010.

In top markets, solar panel costs dropped from about 29 cents per kilowatt-hour to under 3 cents. By contrast, new coal and gas plants still cost between 5 and 17 cents per kilowatt-hour, and these figures don’t include the unpredictable nature of fuel prices.

According to firms like Lazard, solar and wind power now average around 2 cents per kilowatt-hour, while operating existing coal plants typically costs 4 to 8 cents. This clear cost advantage is encouraging a shift away from fossil fuels.

Globally, the change is evident. Countries like China, Europe, the United States, and India are ramping up their renewable investments, with almost every new power plant built today relying on solar or wind.

Nuclear power is also seeing increased investment as a reliable, low-carbon option. As we have discussed on previous shows, that is my primary reason for being so bullish on uranium stocks.

The bottom line is that even if you’re not interested in the conservationists’ approach to energy, renewables are replacing fossil fuels rapidly.

This week’s guest on Wealth Formula Podcast will help you capitalize on that.

497: Starting from Scratch as a New High Paid Professional Mar 09, 2025

Show notes

It’s been some time since we did an Ask Buck show, and I realized last week that I have some unanswered questions in the inbox.

The first question I read ended up being kind of a broad one, but it made me really think about how it all started for me.

I started this podcast over a decade ago after realizing that there were not a lot of good resources for high-paid professionals to learn about personal finance.

Of course, there were the Suze Ormans of the world, but what I wanted to do was to share what I had learned in my attempts to mimic the wealthy when I first came out of surgical residency training.

There were many painful lessons along the way on my own journey. But I did manage to put it all together better than most.

With that, I feel comfortable providing perspective on how I would do it if I were starting over again today. That’s exactly the question I got from one of our listeners and the one question I will address on this week’s Wealth Formula Podcast.

496: The Gold Bug Who Got Infected by Bitcoin Mar 02, 2025

Show notes

I really hope you listened to last week’s episode of Wealth Formula Podcast. If you did, it may have convinced you to get some exposure to bitcoin in your portfolio.

And if you did that last week, all I have to say is…WELCOME TO CRYPTO!

As of this writing, bitcoin is trading at approximately $84,000, a decline of over 20% from its recent high of nearly $107,000.

If you’re not used to this kind of volatility, get used to it. And, I might also make the suggestion that you embrace it! Why?

Well, lets take a brief look at some bitcoin history:

2013 Cycle: This is ancient history of course. But Bitcoin reached around $260 in early 2013 before falling to nearly $70 by mid-year—a decline of about 73%. Over the next seven months, the price recovered to approximately $1,200 by November 2013.
2017 Record-Breaking Year: I had the pleasure of being part of this one having entered the bitcoin world in 2016 myself. Bitcoin started 2017 at roughly $1,000. Early in the year, it experienced a correction, falling approximately 34% to around $660. However, by December 2017, Bitcoin had risen to nearly $20,000—an increase of nearly 20 times within one year.
2020 Cycle with Institutional Interest: Prior to the May 2020 halving, Bitcoin traded at about $10,000 before a 20% retracement brought it to around $8,000. The recovery following this dip was notable to say the least, with the price reaching roughly $64,000 by April 2021.

The point I am making, of course, is that bitcoin has historically experienced significant corrections which have often led to rapid recoveries within defined periods.

It is not insignificant that there are some big buyers out there in 2025. The current dip coincides with increased interest from institutional investors:

Financial Institutions: Banks and financial services firms are increasingly offering Bitcoin-related products.
Corporate Adoption: More companies are adding Bitcoin to their treasuries as a hedge against inflation.
Spot Bitcoin ETFs: The approval and launch of spot Bitcoin ETFs in the U.S. have attracted additional institutional capital.

This increased involvement has shifted the perception of Bitcoin from a speculative asset to one that is integrated into diversified portfolios. Even in 2017, a lot of smart people truly thought that bitcoin would crumble to nothing.

But now we even have government entities exploring bitcoin’s role as a reserve asset. Countries such as El Salvador have adopted Bitcoin as legal tender, and others such as the United States are evaluating its potential as a reserve asset.

Some U.S. states are considering legislation to allocate up to 10% of public funds to digital assets.

The point I’m making here is that bitcoin is not going to zero. In fact, the finite amount of bitcoin along with all the new buyers can mean only one thing over the next few years: bitcoin is going up in value.

What I am trying to say here is that you may seriously want to consider buying the dip. This is, of course, not financial advice. You can speak with your wealth advisor who knows nothing about bitcoin to do that lol!

Oh, and by the way, Solana got slaughtered too. And so you might look into that one as well since its better then ethereum in virtually every way but has a fraction of the current market capitalization.

If you are getting sick of all this crypto talk, I apologize. In fact, this week’s episode of Wealth Formula Podcast was supposed to be about gold and silver. But it turned out even the gold bug I interviewed had gotten infected by bitcoin and the conversation moved in that direction pretty quickly!

495: What You MUST Know about Bitcoin in the Era of Wall Street and Government Adoption! Feb 23, 2025

Show notes

To my credit, I was relatively early in my recognition that Bitcoin was for real and that it wasn’t going to zero. It was 2016, and, up to this point, I had the misfortune of hearing only one narrative about Bitcoin—that of Peter Schiff.

Peter is a very smart guy and quite convincing if you listen to his podcast. At the time, I was an avid listener and my opinion on bitcoin was shaped only by his view.

It wasn’t until I went to an entrepreneurs’ meeting in the Fall of 2016 that I heard the real narrative behind Bitcoin for the first time. Now’s not the time for me to explain it, but for those of you who are interested, I would suggest reading The Bitcoin Standard by Saifedean Ammous.

Inspired by this new perspective, I went home from that meeting and bought Bitcoin for the first time—at about $5K. In fact, with bitcoin fluctuating up and down I managed to acquire a decent “bag” of bitcoin by the time “crypto winter” arrived in 2017.

Fast forward to today, and that bitcoin would be worth eight figures had I held it. But I did not. You see, in 2019, I had some bills to pay, and the Bitcoin price hadn’t moved in a couple of years.

Selling my Bitcoin seemed like the easy solution. After all, I reasoned, I could always buy it back. Well, I never did buy it all back. My family acquired some through kids’ trust over the years, but nowhere near the amount that I initially had.

This decision ended up being one of the most painful financial lessons I’ve learned over the years (and there has been plenty of pain!).

And the lesson is not just about Bitcoin. The lesson is about following your convictions. If you go back to my podcasts on Bitcoin over the past 7-8 years, you can hear it in my voice.

Throughout that time, I made predictions over and over—many of which have come to fruition already and others that we seem to be on the verge of.

So why, given my convictions, don’t I own much Bitcoin? Because I didn’t follow through on those convictions. I thought I could get in right before things started taking off. Rather than accumulating bitcoin along the way, I waited for just the right price—which never seemed to be low enough.

In hindsight, what difference would it have made if I bought at 3K, 5K, or even $20K at this point? If I believed, as I have predicted that bitcoin would hit $250K within the next 3 years, why would that matter?

There’s another reason I didn’t buy Bitcoin: it provided no tax benefit. I put almost everything into real estate and other tax-efficient investments. That’s not a bad strategy in general, but not carving out an allocation for something I believed in so much was just stupid.

The key lesson here is about being rational and following your convictions. Don’t get greedy and don’t always let the tax wag the dog.

Now, you might be wondering what I think about Bitcoin today at nearly $100K. Well, my stance hasn’t changed. I still believe Bitcoin is going to hit at least $250K within the next 3 years. So, in that regard, it’s still something I would buy if I had the liquidity (as real estate investors often do not).

The story for Bitcoin is getting better and better every day. And I think it’s very important for you to take it seriously if you are not. After all, Wall Street and Governments across the world have adopted it as a truly legitimate asset, and it may very well end up an asset stockpiled by the US treasury in short order.

You may or may not decide to invest in it, but not knowing about it as an investor in this day and age, is ill-advised. To understand why, listen to this week’s episode of Wealth Formula Podcast.

And, I am serious when I say, miss this episode at your own financial peril.

494: Wealth Formula Community Members Share Their Stories Feb 16, 2025

Show notes

Hey everyone,

On this week’s Wealth Formula Podcast, I’m talking with members of our very own community who are using Wealth Accelerator and Wealth Formula Banking as part of their personal financial plans.

They’re going to share their individual journeys – why they chose Wealth Accelerator/WFB, what challenges they faced along the way, and, most importantly, what kind of results they’re seeing.

These are real stories from your peers that you should find helpful. If you’ve been looking for strategies that are both safe and profitable in times of financial volatility, this is an episode you won’t want to miss.

Join me as we explore real-world examples of how sophisticated strategies, grounded in solid mathematics and reliable insurance products, can help you engineer a more secure financial future.

Buck

493: Tax Strategies for High Paid Professionals Feb 09, 2025

Show notes

People have a misconception of what the tax code is. While there are a few pages devoted to telling you when you must pay taxes, the majority of it is about the situations in which you can avoid them.

That’s why it’s important to find a competent tax professional. And that’s not as easy as you might expect. You see, most high-paid professionals get their tax professionals from referrals from other professionals.

And, most high-paid professionals like doctors are very risk-averse when it comes to anything financial. So they tend to go to the “conservative” CPA—the one who never gets audited.

Well, that CPA has the easiest job in the world. He’s got all sorts of high-paid clients who want him not to do his job, which, in my opinion, involves trying to find you deductions.

Now, let me be clear. I’m not suggesting that you try to find someone who is going to break the law for you. You just need someone who is willing to look at the tax code and find out where there are opportunities to save you on taxes.

When you go down that rabbit hole, though, you also need to have your guard up. Some of the strategies used by CPAs can get a little too risky. The last thing you want is to end up paying penalties and end up paying more money than you would have in the first place.

In addition, even if the tax code is used appropriately, it may be the case that the end operator is not going to make the theoretical benefit actually happen.

Let’s take oil and gas for example. The advantages of investing in drilling programs are very clear in the tax code. The problem is finding an opportunity that might actually pay you a return. Of the multiple investments I’ve made in oil and gas, I’ve NEVER made money. In fact, I’ve never even gotten my principal back.

My conclusion over the years has been that the best way to save on taxes is actually good planning. As Tom Wheelwright, author of Tax-Free Wealth, says, if you want to change your tax, you have to change your facts.

Bottom line: there are plenty of ways to save on taxes if you think bigger and plan smarter. You don’t have to do anything crazy or controversial. Just be strategic, understand the rules, and always, always know your risks.

Remember, in the world of taxes, pigs get fat, and hogs get slaughtered. So be aggressive, but be smart about it. Your future wealthy self will thank you.

This week’s podcast is going to give you some good ideas and, in my opinion, some very bad ones!

492: What you Need to Know Today about DeepSeek, Quantum Computers, and Blockchain Feb 02, 2025

Show notes

When I started this podcast a decade ago, I was completely focused on real estate. I had some pretty dogmatic views back then and didn’t really consider other investment options.

That mindset worked for me. I’ve been a real estate investor since 2010, and while the market’s in a tough spot right now, we did enjoy over a decade of a bull market. That’s just how investing goes—ups and downs, and you hope the good times outpace the bad.

Regarding real estate, I believe we’re essentially back in 2010. The markets have taken a beating, and if you can stomach it, this is a prime time to buy. History shows that people who act when things look grim often reap big rewards down the line.

That said, I’m more open to other types of investments these days. As this cycle eventually recovers, I want to share more than just real estate opportunities with you. There’s a whole world of potential out there, and it’s important for both of us to stay informed.

Lately, I’ve been especially interested in tech. I did my surgical residency in San Francisco and knew plenty of Silicon Valley folks about 15 years ago, but I regret not digging deeper into that scene. Back then, I didn’t have the money to invest, so I never thought to learn more.

Better late than never, right? Now I’m in a position where I can invite really smart people onto this podcast to chat about fascinating topics. Over the next few years, that’s what I plan to do. I want to make an effort to learn about new things with you that might also help us financially.

This week’s podcast is a great example. It was a blast because I learned so much in such a short period of time, and it really sparked my curiosity about opportunities in tech—maybe through angel investing or venture capital.

To do anything like that, you need to get educated. And talking to my guest this week was a right step in that direction.

In less than one hour, I learned why tech investors panicked last week when China’s AI platform, DeapSeek, revealed its superiority and cost-effectiveness compared to leading American AI platforms. I finally understood what the big deal about quantum computing is. And I became further convinced that Ethereum will eventually get wrecked by Solana.

That is a HUGE ROI on time spent!

So, expect more episodes like this. I hope you’re up for it. For now, check out my conversation with Arun Krishnakumar—it’s the most interesting conversation I’ve had in a while!

491: Tom Wheelwright – Tax Changes Coming for 2025! Jan 26, 2025

Show notes

For most people, taxes are nothing more than a necessary evil—a burden to be minimized and avoided at all costs. But that mindset might not be the most productive one to take.

Consider that the tax code might not just be a drain on your resources but a roadmap to creating wealth. The truth is that the tax code is nothing more than a series of incentives. It’s filled with opportunities for those who understand how to use it.

As painful as it may be, think of the government as a business partner offering rewards for certain behaviors. Invest in housing, create jobs, or produce energy, and you’re rewarded. These aren’t loopholes or tricks but deliberate strategies to stimulate economic growth.

But most people miss the opportunity. Why? Because they treat taxes as a once-a-year obligation rather than a year-round strategy. They react instead of plan. And in doing so, they leave money on the table—money that could be used to fuel their financial future.

Every financial decision has tax implications. Whether it’s how you structure your business, where you invest, or how you time your expenses, the choices you make today ripple through your financial future. When you approach taxes strategically, they become more than just a line item on a balance sheet—they become a tool for helping you achieve financial freedom.

That’s what separates those who feel trapped by taxes from those who use them as a springboard for wealth. It’s not about avoiding responsibility; it’s about understanding the rules of the game and playing it well.

In this week’s episode of Wealth Formula Podcast, I explore the latest incentives with someone who knows the game as well as anyone: Tom Wheelwright. He’s a tax and wealth strategist who has helped countless entrepreneurs and investors transform their approach to taxes, unlocking incredible opportunities in the process.

If you’re ready to stop dreading tax season and start leveraging it to your advantage, this is an episode you can’t afford to miss.

490: Investing Tips with David McKnight Jan 19, 2025

Show notes

Let’s talk about a fundamental difference in the way traditional investors think versus those of us who invest in alternative assets.

The traditional investor sees the stock market, bonds, and mutual funds as the safe and stable way to grow wealth over time. And look, stability is not a bad thing. But here’s the problem: how many people do you know who have become truly wealthy by just sticking with traditional investments?

Sure, you can retire comfortably if you’re disciplined, but are you really changing your socioeconomic place in life with a 6% or 7% annual return? Probably not.

Now, alternative asset investors? We play a different game altogether. We know that the big wins in traditional markets are rare.

In alternative investments, we aren’t just chasing stability — we’re chasing some level of asymmetry. Yes, we still face risks and sometimes we find ourselves in cycles like the last couple of years where we may lose, but the potential upside of alternative investing can be disproportionate to what you put in. These are the kinds of opportunities that can accelerate wealth creation far beyond what traditional investments can offer.

Think about it this way: the traditional investor spends their entire career trying to fill up a big cup of water — a portfolio large enough to sip from in retirement. Their hope is that they won’t run out of water before they die. That’s the game plan. Save enough, live conservatively, and pray the cup doesn’t run dry.

But for us as alternative investors — especially cash flow investors — the goal is fundamentally different. We’re not looking to hoard a finite supply of water. We’re building streams. Streams of cash flow that keep running no matter what.

Streams that don’t dry up. Streams that allow us to live our lives without constantly worrying about running out. It’s a completely different mindset. It’s not about rationing — it’s about abundance.

The differences in this type of thinking become pretty clear in this week’s episode of Wealth Formula Podcast. Do me a favor, listen to this show until the very end. I was so baffled by this interview that I asked our own Rod Zabreiwski of Wealth Formula Banking fame to help me understand my confusion!

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