Real Estate Investing Pro David Greene: These Are the 3 Pillars You Need To Build Wealth
David Greene is a real estate investor and host of BiggerPockets’ “The Real Estate Podcast”. He has bought, renovated and managed more than 50 single-family rental properties. He owns multifamily apartment complexes, short-term rentals, mortgage notes and triple net properties.
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Recognized as one of GOBankingRates’ Top Money Experts, here, Greene provides insight on building wealth and fighting inflation using his three-pillar approach.
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What’s the one piece of money advice you wish everyone would follow and why?
Track your money and where it’s going. Every dollar should have a job. Money earned without a plan for how it will be used will inevitably be wasted. You can make this simple by creating a budget. Knowing how much of your money is allotted towards housing, gas, car payments, food and entertainment will keep you aware of where your money is going. This is the first step towards ensuring it’s going towards the plan you have for how you want your life to look.
What’s the most important thing to do to build wealth?
Take a three-pillar approach. Focus on saving money through budging, making money through starting a business or getting promoted, and investing money through financial education. You need all three pillars to build wealth, one or two aren’t enough.
What’s your best tip for fighting the impacts of inflation?
Invest your money in appreciating assets like real estate. Most things take your money, very few will give it back. Even fewer will give it back at a rate higher than inflation.
What’s the biggest mistake people make when it comes to money and what should they do instead?
People look at money the wrong way. They see it as a means of gratifying their immediate desires. Our immediate desires, like wanting to look good in front of other people, are rarely in our best interest. Instead, it’s better to look at money as a means of energy storage. The eight hours you worked in the warehouse were an expenditure of your energy, and the $200 you earned doing it is where you store that energy. When you use that money to buy a pair of shoes, you’re storing the energy in the shoes, where it will be significantly decreased. Store as much of your energy in places that go up in value, like investments, not down, like consumer purchases.
Jaime Catmull contributed to the reporting for this article.
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