How do you know when an investment is worth pursuing, or when to walk away? In this Ask Loral conversation, Diane asks what makes a good investment, and Loral explains why investment due diligence starts with understanding the numbers.
From real estate and oil and gas to other alternative investments, Loral shares how investment due diligence involves evaluating cash flow, appreciation, tax benefits, and the management team. She also discusses how personal investment rules change over time and why financial decisions should support your long-term goals.
Ultimately, investment due diligence is about more than potential profits. It's about knowing the numbers, trusting the people involved, and making investments that align with your financial and legacy goals.
Loral's Takeaways:
- Investment Principles and Asset Classes (00:03)
- Tax Strategy and Depreciation (01:29)
- Evaluating Investment Viability (02:29)
- Legacy Planning and Estate Structure (03:41)
Meet Loral Langemeier:
Loral Langemeier is a money expert, sought-after speaker, entrepreneurial thought leader, and best-selling author of five books.
Her goal: to change the conversations people have about money worldwide and empower people to become millionaires.
The CEO and Founder of Live Out Loud, Inc. – a multinational organization — Loral relentlessly and candidly shares her best advice without hesitation or apology. What sets her apart from other wealth experts is her innate ability to recognize and acknowledge the skills & talents of people, inspiring them to generate wealth.
She has created, nurtured, and perfected a 3-5 year strategy to make millions for the “Average Jill and Joe.” To date, she and her team have served thousands of individuals worldwide and created hundreds of millionaires through wealth-building education keynotes, workshops, products, events, programs, and coaching services.
Loral is truly dedicated to helping men and women, from all walks of life, to become millionaires AND be able to enjoy time with their families.
She is living proof that anyone can have the life of their dreams through hard work, persistence, and getting things done in the face of opposition. As a single mother of two children, she is redefining the possibility for women to have it all and raise their children in an entrepreneurial and financially literate environment.
Links and Resources:
Ask Loral App: https://apple.co/3eIgGcX
Loral on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/askloral/
Loral on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/lorallive/videos
Loral on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lorallangemeier/
Money Rules: https://integratedwealthsystems.com/money-rules/
Millionaire Maker Store: https://millionairemakerstore.com/
Real Money Talks Podcast: https://integratedwealthsystems.com/podcast/
Integrated Wealth Systems: https://integratedwealthsystems.com/
Affiliate Sign-Up: https://integratedwealthsystems.com/affiliates
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So, Diane, you where do you live in Georgia?
Unknown:I'm in Acworth.
Loral Langemeier:Okay, and you've been working with Laura.
Loral Langemeier:Your question is, what makes you decide not to invest in an
Loral Langemeier:opportunity when the numbers don't work? And what do I look
Loral Langemeier:for in investment? The numbers working. Those are simple
Loral Langemeier:answers. So, in the wealth cycle investing, which is where you
Loral Langemeier:need to be reading, right? Of all the books, this one, there's
Loral Langemeier:a whole chapter on money rules and due diligence. So, you know,
Loral Langemeier:as you think about investing, there's so many asset classes
Loral Langemeier:you can invest in. You can invest in real estate if you're
Loral Langemeier:accredited, gas and oil, which I don't know if you are. I'd have
Loral Langemeier:to look at whether you have.
Unknown:Yes, I am
Loral Langemeier:accredited. So you could buy gas and oil. You
Loral Langemeier:could do a water, RV, parks, so storage. I mean, just in real
Loral Langemeier:estate alone, there's multiple categories. So just in
Loral Langemeier:principle, I am more of what's called an alternative investor,
Loral Langemeier:and most of my work, if you've read it or been listening is
Loral Langemeier:alternative meaning I'm going to buy like you know Landman the
Loral Langemeier:Permian Basin I'm going to buy one of those wells because the
Loral Langemeier:tax benefits are so much better than say the Chevron stock I own
Loral Langemeier:because I still have Chevron stock from when I worked there
Loral Langemeier:100,000 years ago a different lifetime I can't even believe I
Loral Langemeier:was employee so I like real estate not a REIT right a REIT's
Loral Langemeier:the stock market so there's some people who just the ease in not
Loral Langemeier:managing, if they put their money in the stock market. The
Loral Langemeier:problem that I have with that is that's where you get capital
Loral Langemeier:gains. So it just creates another income problem, another
Loral Langemeier:tax problem. I'd rather buy assets, and it's actually one of
Loral Langemeier:my top principles. I want assets that have a big depreciation
Loral Langemeier:schedule, right, where I can actually use it to reduce my tax
Loral Langemeier:burden on the businesses. So on my business income, I end up
Loral Langemeier:with having to pay some tax, and then I use investing, right? And
Loral Langemeier:clearly, I'm using all the deductions. So I use my
Loral Langemeier:investing strategy. Like my my daughter's a pilot, so in 2028
Loral Langemeier:probably we'll get a plane. That's a that is 100% deductible
Loral Langemeier:for five years, and that will wipe my taxes for a long time.
Loral Langemeier:Just the real estate I own, and the new big beautiful bill, I've
Loral Langemeier:got losses carried forward for years that I don't pay taxes. So
Loral Langemeier:how people pay taxes is a lot about how they invest, and and
Loral Langemeier:very few people ever talk about it or put that together. So it's
Loral Langemeier:how you make your money and how you invest that's going to
Loral Langemeier:reduce your taxes. So as you can tell, that's a huge part of my
Loral Langemeier:money rule equation. I use a tax strategist implicitly every
Loral Langemeier:month, every week to make sure you know we we come in at those
Loral Langemeier:rates. Other other things, Diane, that that I look at is
Loral Langemeier:just I mean the viability, the cash flow. I mean, do I want
Loral Langemeier:appreciation? Do I need it for cash flow? Because my businesses
Loral Langemeier:do well, I'm usually more of an appreciation depreciation kind
Loral Langemeier:of investor. And it's not say I don't do the market, but I only
Loral Langemeier:do the market through a very specific AI driven software that
Loral Langemeier:takes me in and out, and you know I don't lose when I'm in
Loral Langemeier:the market. Where a lot of times, if you put all your money
Loral Langemeier:with a financial planner, they're never going to get you
Loral Langemeier:out fast enough, and they make their money when they put you
Loral Langemeier:in. They don't make their money trying to manage it later. I
Loral Langemeier:mean, they make a little, but not that that game. And then
Loral Langemeier:probably the other thing I say is I've not to invest if I
Loral Langemeier:completely, completely like don't trust the management team
Loral Langemeier:to do what they say they're going to do. I wouldn't
Loral Langemeier:probably, I would, I wouldn't do due diligence because if they
Loral Langemeier:can't manage, say, a gas and oil, well, they're not a good
Loral Langemeier:operator. They can't manage the the real estate, like because I
Loral Langemeier:don't want to have to do the work. I mean, they're the ones
Loral Langemeier:running the project. So if I don't like the management team,
Loral Langemeier:or don't agree with their principles or values, then I
Loral Langemeier:wouldn't put my money there. What are you looking for? What's
Loral Langemeier:the decision about regarding the big table? What's your
Loral Langemeier:questions? You're going to learn like you. You will part of what
Loral Langemeier:you will be learning is your own money rules, and some people
Loral Langemeier:like to be really active. Like I love to be an active younger.
Loral Langemeier:I'm making choices now. My son's 26. He's a one of our like he's
Loral Langemeier:a tax strategist CPA, and he's like, Mom, like used to be way
Loral Langemeier:more active. And I said, I don't want to run around and get you
Loral Langemeier:know, collect rents. Somebody else can do that. I'll still
Loral Langemeier:invest, but I'm not going to be one on the front.
Unknown:That makes sense.
Loral Langemeier:So your your money rules will change with
Loral Langemeier:like what's going on in your life, what's going on in your
Loral Langemeier:legacy, as your kids, if you have kids, if they emerge and
Loral Langemeier:like they're the beneficiaries, you'll start making decisions
Loral Langemeier:around what they're going to actually keep. Because the worst
Loral Langemeier:thing you could do, and so many people do this, they don't
Loral Langemeier:demand their kids are educated, and they just hand them a trust
Loral Langemeier:fund. My kids will never have that. So, and I buy fun. I've
Loral Langemeier:bought pizzerias, hair salons, you know, the black hole. I've
Loral Langemeier:I've bought all sorts of interesting things.
Unknown:Yeah, I'm trying, still trying to get my husband to
Unknown:agree to. Move our assets into a trust, but I think that's one of
Unknown:our weaknesses.
Loral Langemeier:Well, it shouldn't go straight to trust.
Loral Langemeier:It should go to an entity where you could tax benefits, and then
Loral Langemeier:from the the the companies are held in trust, not the asset. If
Loral Langemeier:you take the asset directly to the trust, you don't get in. You
Loral Langemeier:don't get the tax benefits. So it's a whole structure problem,
Loral Langemeier:and I would tell him if he's not going to do that, he's going to
Loral Langemeier:land in probate, and 30 to 50% of what you own was going to be
Loral Langemeier:to go to the state of Georgia. So yes, we saw
Unknown:that already with my brother's death.
Loral Langemeier:Yep, yep. I'm very
Unknown:familiar about with that.
Loral Langemeier:Yeah. When are you and Laura talking again?
Unknown:In the morning.
Loral Langemeier:Okay. Well, Diane, I have. Thank you. She
Loral Langemeier:has my cell phone. If you have any other questions, I will
Loral Langemeier:leave an audio file and get it back out to you.
Unknown:Thank you.
Loral Langemeier:Thank you. Take care. Bye.
Unknown:Thanks for listening to the Real Money Talks podcast.
Unknown:For some special wealth building gifts only for Laurel's podcast
Unknown:listeners. Visit askloral.com/podcast. Do you
Unknown:have a burning question for Laurel? Visit askloral.com to
Unknown:submit your question, and it just may be covered on a future
Unknown:podcast episode. Until next time.

