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This week on The Millionaire Choice Podcast, Tony talks with Ivan Anz, founder of PhianthroInvestors and Equity & Help. Tony and Ivan discuss entrepreneurship and living in financial freedom.
At age 7, Ivan was told by his mother that his parents would not buy gas for his new go-kart. Having always been an entrepreneur at heart, Ivan quickly conceived a plan to make money and get gas for his go-kart. Following this, at age 14, he hired a 34-year-old CEO for his company.
About Ivan Anz
Continuing his quest to gain experience in many different industries which all enhanced his business training and capabilities, Ivan had 4 different companies in Argentina by 25. At the time, he was growing the cash of the business just to invest it outside of the business. So, he set the profits of the business into a percentage to invest. Soon, he was not impressed with the investing community because they were sitting behind computers. After losing roughly 80% of his finances in the speculative market, Ivan decided things needed to change.
Now, Ivan Anz is an Inc. 500 Magazine, international serial entrepreneur. His companies operated in 14 countries. He is the founder of CAPITANZ Family office; and creator of the PhilanthroInvestors Phenomena. Today, his businesses and projects create many high-impact aid opportunities to society.
Learn more about Ivan Anz, https://philanthroinvestors.com/
Take advantage of Complimentary Life and Money Mentor Session with Tony or Download FREE eBooks.
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Show Transcript
Tony (00:00):
Hello and welcome back to the Millionaire Choice Show! Today, we're gonna have a lot of fun with the gentleman I just met. His name is Ivan Anz. He's got a real interesting history of pedigree here. He's a Croatian gentleman, born in Argentina, living in Puerto Rico right now, age 37. He's gonna be talking to us about his life, but he's got an interesting spin. He's got a company, called PhilanthroInvestors, where he tries to marry investment dollars from different investors to philanthropic opportunities. The way he puts that is, "connecting investors with humanitarian causes." So, if you're interested in connecting your money to things that actually make a difference on the planet and make a difference in people's lives; stay tuned. You're gonna enjoy hearing from Ivan. Ivan, welcome to the show.
Ivan Anz (00:50):
Thank you, Tony. It's my pleasure, sir!
Tony (00:52):
So, I really enjoyed getting to you in the pre-show, Ivan. I'm eager to learn more about PhilanthroInvestors. A thing that I've come up with in the last 2-3 years; the way I think about money and wealth has evolved a little bit. As a 25 year old, first generation wealth builder and thinker, I really had the concept of, "Hey, I need to have more money so that I can live a different type of life; or a better life." And, I did the good things that the church guys do; you tithe and give to your church; if that's your thing. I did that. Helped out with different causes along the way, but I can't ever really say that I had a purpose behind my wealth.
Tony (01:33):
I think I was too young to think that way. To think, "Hey, I need to build wealth to really transform the planet." And, in the last three or four years; as I've been evolving myself; I've really been thinking that a lot more. The money I build for the future from this day forward needs to have a purpose. I have a purpose behind why I make money, a purpose behind all of the wealth that I'm creating. So, my money and my concept on money has taken on a new way of thinking. I don't think I could have thought that way as a first generation wealth builder from 25 to 45. I think you have to hit a certain- your mind has to transform in certain ways before you can start thinking that way. But, I'm excited to hear what you've gotta say, because that's what your whole life is wrapped up in that now.
Ivan Anz (02:24):
Yes, exactly. My whole life is around PhilanthroInvestors, and it all started in my entrepreneurship career, and it started when I was just seven years old. And, what I was doing is that; I had my go-kart, and I will just always figure out how to create- resources that I have around- how to make them into a business. And, it is just my entrepreneurial, I was born like an entrepreneur. So, when I was seven years old, I had this go-kart, and I my mom says to me, "Ivan, you want to use it? Your dad give you this as a gift cause you asked, but we're not going to give you cash for the gas. So, that was the first thing that they did very well to me. They put the necessity in me to figure it out and put your my mind to work on how to get 10 or 20 bucks to be able to put gas in my go-kart.
Ivan Anz (03:28):
So, I said, "oh, I will do something." I had the gardener, the guy that cut the grass in my home. And I said, "Hey, you see that lot?" This empty lot was owned by the government or whatever, it's by the city, "Just go and build a track for me. With your grass cutter, go build a track for me." So, he goes to cut grass and he builds a track. Then I put the go car there, and I started inviting my neighbors, and I started charging them money to do rounds on my go-kart. But I realized, "oh, but I need the gas!" So, I say, "well, I go to the store when they sell candy."
Ivan Anz (04:17):
And, I ask the candy store guy; I say, "Hey, my mom, she comes to buy things here. Well, I need the box of candy, but this box of candy, I don't have the money to pay you. So, you will need to sell it to me for 10 cents a candy that he told me was going to eat." So, I take it as loan for the box of candy. And then, I go and sell to the neighbors for 20 cents and I doubled my money. WWith that, I go and I get the gas. Now I have the gas, and I start charging $2-3 for a track run to my neighbors using my go-kart. So, that was my first business.
Tony (04:53):
At seven years old?
Ivan Anz (04:56):
Yes!
Tony (04:56):
That's fantastic, man. I love that. Now, your parents weren't business people, were they?
Ivan Anz (05:02):
Yes. My parents were small business people. My parents had a small used car dealership with three or four cars when I was a kid. And that was their small business.
Tony (05:17):
So, you had seen your parents; some of their principles or business principles at home. So, they're probably talking about income and cash flows, sales and marketing- "business is good this month; business is bad this month." So, you had a little bit of that vernacular kind of ingrained at you since you started to understand language?
Ivan Anz (05:40):
Exactly. That's totally correct.
Tony (05:43):
Now, when you hit seven, your mind was reprogrammed to go, "Hey, I need gas. I need to solve this problem." Like, "I have a problem; I need money for gas. How am I gonna solve that problem?" So, you found a product and you became a distributor for a product; a reseller. That's the chain that you did. You weren't even the wholeseller; you were the reseller. So, you were like the third man in the chain, but you were able to provide something. That's very, very cool. Very interesting. And then, turning it into gas. Now, you said you were charging $2-3, and so you're 37 now; that's 30 years ago. $2-3 ride is a lot. I mean, how many laps did you give them around the track?
Ivan Anz (06:30):
I cannot compare the exact amount because it was Argentinian money. It was 30 years ago. I just have an idea in my mind that was like $2-3 of today; maybe it was like 30 cents. I dunno. But, I remember that I was making money, and I was able to put gas in my go-kart. That's basically it.
Tony (06:58):
Well, you got to drive, and they got to drive. Now, did you let 'em drive your go car or were you the driver and they were the rider?
Ivan Anz (07:05):
No, no, no. It was only one seat. So, they were the drivers. They were leasing the go-kart from me.
Tony (07:12):
Leasing it from you; You can charge a little bit more for leasing than you can for side-riding. Now, did you ever have any breakdowns? I've seen my daughter drive a go-kart, and we've got video of her crashing one at a track; very violently; into a stand. I'll never forget that. But, did you have any problems where you had to repair your hardware?
Ivan Anz (07:38):
No. It was totally fine.
Tony (07:39):
No abuse?
Ivan Anz (07:41):
No abuse.
Tony (07:41):
No product abuse by the consumer.
Ivan Anz (07:44):
Exactly, exactly.
Tony (07:46):
That's interesting. You went from seven year old, so small business guys evolve. Where did you go from being a seven year old; a candy reseller and go-kart provider. Where did you go from there?
Ivan Anz (08:01):
Well, at the age of 14, my dad had a Jeep. It was a 4x4, and he would be training me how to drive on the street in places where there's nobody in the street, so that I can practice and so on. But then he says, "Ivan, you cannot drive in the street because it's illegal until you are 16 with authorization. So, I say, "well, I cannot drive in the streets, but I can drive in the mountain." So, I created a business around training people how to drive four 4x4 SUVs in the mountains on the weekends.
Tony (08:53):
At 14? Do you remember roughly with that payed? That's only 20 years ago.
Ivan Anz (09:01):
Yes. So, that was the year 1998; I was charging them $500 for the weekend.
Tony (09:19):
And, you would train them; that was a driver's ed kinda thing. You're basically giving them offroad tours as well.
Ivan Anz (09:27):
Yes, off road tours with food with all of that. Food included in a very unique place. And I understood; somehow from a very young age; that the creator of a business, or the visionary of a business, or the founder business is not the executor of that business of the day to day operations for that business. It's not the CEO; the founder and the CEO are two different positions, and the company grows much better when you divide those two positions. So, at the age of 14, I hired my first CEO.
Tony (10:00):
Your first CEO, or your first COO?
Ivan Anz (10:03):
CEO.
Tony (10:04):
Okay. So, and you're saying you handed the reins off to the CEO. Now, some people would say that in the states; it would be more of a COO that's running the actual business. The CEO gets to be the visionary and it's basic compartmentalization. Most of us, even as professionals only have one, two, or three things that we're exceptionally good at. Then we've got a few things that we're mediocre at. And then, a couple things that we're terrible at. Unfortunately, I think a lot of us get stuck in jobs that require us to function in the things that we're terrible at or mediocre at. That's why you've got 70% or more people that are miserable in their jobs. It's because they're functioning in the things that they're mediocre at, or maybe not that good at. They're not really in the things that they're specialized in or designed to do. It's tough to find that. It's tough to find jobs like that; where you get to specialize in what you're really good at. But, it sounds like you're in that place now.
Ivan Anz (11:05):
That's that's exactly what I am right now. Yes. As the visionary of my company.
Tony (11:12):
Ok, so before we switch gears, if you're off-roading in a jeep with some people that dunno how to off road; you gotta have some crazy stories. So, what's something crazy that happened to you up in the mountains of Argentina?
Ivan Anz (11:29):
Well, the most crazy story is this; five or six cars from the police came to the door, they sign up. They signed up because the police of the city wanted to learn how to catch criminals on the mountains when they escape. So, I am a 14 year old guy with a 34 year old CEO, who is organizing all my visions and so on, and then I am training the policemen how to drive the trucks. They know that I cannot drive in the street, but because I'm training and I become friends with them and so on. We go from places to places from one month and to another month, and we need to go through the streets; like in the middle of road; and they say, "Ivan, you're totally fine."
Tony (12:34):
You've already got the cops under your control at 14. I love it. You don't even have to bribe them or anything. It's a good case of if you serve people well, you can get benefits,
Ivan Anz (12:49):
Exactly.
Tony (12:50):
That's hilarious. That's hilarious. So, did you get a get outta jail free card from that adventure?
Ivan Anz (12:55):
If I got the-? No, no, no, no, no, no, no jail, no.
Tony (12:58):
I'm saying "get outta jail." That's a monopoly term. If you played, you get a card says "get out of jail free."
Ivan Anz (13:04):
Oh, exactly.
Tony (13:04):
So, now you're 14, you got this business; when did you start up PhilanthroInvestors, or was there something in between your Argentinian escapades in the mountains to Philanthro- what was filling in the gaps for you there?
Ivan Anz (13:22):
PhilanthroInvestors started in 2009, so we're talking about 15 years ago, which means I was 24. So, in that 10 years, I continued helping my dad with his car dealership and so on. And then, I went to the university. I studied business management, business administration at university in Argentina. And then, I start- I just somehow loved to travel. So, I wanted to share my knowledge of entrepreneurship with young people. So, I got connected with some companies that allow me to go and speak to the young franchisees or young distributors. And so, I started traveling in Latin America and going to all countries in Latin America and speaking to young entrepreneurs; marketing, sales, entrepreneurship, and so on. At age 22, I met my actual wife, Bella, who is a fiction writer. She is about to launch her books. And she's a professional Japanese, Italian, Argentinian, Spanish, and French chef.
Tony (14:43):
Wow. So, you get to eat well at home?
Ivan Anz (14:48):
Yes, exactly. Exactly. And, we married one year later, so I married at 23. At that point I had expanded well financially. I said, "what do I do with my money now?" And, I start going into the markets. I start going into the investment world, but into the investment speculative investment world. And, I realized that now I was growing like $50,000 into $100,000 into $150,000 into $200,000, but then the next day it crashed. And, it was always speculative. I was feeling empty in my heart; my spirit of play and my positive energy was out somehow. It's because I switched my life from being an entrepreneur and being with my clients and being with my employees and being with my people to be; to delegating all of that to a CEO, and then just dedicating myself to be behind numbers at a computer; watching the numbers in a computer go up and down and up and down and up and down.
Ivan Anz (16:00):
And I say, "well, that cannot be life. What is this that people are doing all day behind the computer watching numbers go up and down on a screen? Come on! Life is more than that. Life is interacting with nature, with friends, with clients, with entrepreneurship, with family, creating futures; not being behind the computer watching numbers go up and down in the screen." So, I started praying and asking God for a solution; for light. I was not able to sleep well. I was kinda feeling depressed. I was losing money; things like that. And, there is a whole article on entrepreneur about it. You can read it; The Frightening Connection Between Mental Health and Financial Sanity and Financial Freedom, or something like that. It was an article by entrepreneur.com. But anyhow, the main thing that I was trying to do was; I was trying to find a way that I'm not only able to invest, but also invest with the purpose; not only having cash-flow or capital growth, but fulfilling cash-flow.
Tony (17:13):
I love the inspiration behind that. We have a brand that we're developing right now called Purpose of Wealth. And, it's because we believe wealth has a purpose; for who you are, it might be a little bit different; but I define it as- wealth has a purpose, which is to enjoy life, help others, and serve God; I'm faith based. So, that's mine, but other people may not be faith based, and that's okay. But, just a real purpose behind your wealth. I think when you can connect the dots between your money and your wealth and then have a purpose behind it- everything starts to take on new meaning. So, you start to- there's a- especially in the Christian community; wealth is a taboo.
Tony (18:03):
There's a few scriptures in the Bible that steer people; I think erroneously; in the concept of money, when I look in the Bible, I see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; the founding fathers of the faith who are all wealthy men. Abraham had so many servants that he was actually able to wage war against cities that he needed to deal with. It's, and There's just so much abundance discussion about wealth in the Bible. And then, there's a couple scriptures that give warnings about wealth, and we should be aware of those; we shouldn't be pursuing money for the sake of pursuit or gain of money, but it really; in my opinion; should be just like a natural byproduct of who we are as people. If you just follow the right principles of handling your money; the right concepts; it's really just a system like any other system.
Tony (18:50):
And, if you learn that; how that system works; you don't really have to pursue money because money pursues you. It materializes and comes together. That's what I found. But, the problem is nobody's teaching everybody this. So, we won't go into that today; on why I think that's the way it is. But, I envision a world where I'm going, "wow, anyone can become a millionaire, why not you?" And so, and I believe that if more good people in the world have wealth and money and abundance; that the world will become a better place. Right now, the problem is; I believe; there's a lot of bad people that have wealth. And, when I talk about wealth, I'm talking about extreme wealth. I'm not talking about meager wealth; I'm at the meager wealth level.
Tony (19:34):
I'm talking about people with extreme wealth. I feel like, my first 50 years were to get to the point where I'm at now. Now I'm just thinking in new and different ways and going, "if I live to be a hundred;" which I hope I do; "I've got a responsibility to build as much wealth as I can." I never thought that way before. I think that way now, because the more wealth that I have, the more of a positive impact I'll be able to make on society. There's no shortage of people that need help. You've got over 147 million orphans in the world today. You've got people starving. You've got people that don't have enough water, especially in the second and third world countries that are just not getting the support they need.
Tony (20:13):
Heck, even in the United States, there's a lot of people going hungry every day; that are not having their needs met. And, that's because not enough good people have money to be able to make the impact that we need to make, or the people that do have all the money don't really care about those problems. Cause, technically there's enough wealth in the world to solve world hunger. The problem is nobody that has the money wants to solve that problem because it's not a profitable problem to solve. If you can't make money solving a problem, then the money doesn't flow to that problem. That's typically what happens.
Ivan Anz (20:50):
That's correct.
Tony (20:50):
But anyway, talk to us about some of your investment strategies inside of PhilanthroInvestors, and maybe highlight a few of the investments that you've seen good returns out of.
Ivan Anz (21:01):
Well, inside PhilanthroInvestors- and, how this came about is that; when I am looking for that answer, I was, one day in the shower-
Tony (21:12):
We have our best ideas in the shower, don't we?
Ivan Anz (21:16):
Yes. And, I receive this inspiration, this Godly inspiration, I call it. And he, he says to me, PhilanthroInvestors, and I say, "what is that? What are you trying to tell me?"
Ivan Anz (21:34):
"In 20-30 years from now, the world will be more conscious about what they do with their money."
Tony (21:44):
That's good.
Ivan Anz (21:45):
Yes. The money will not be thrown away at the gambling industry like is happening right now. Half a trillion dollars goes to the gambling industry every single year. The world will not be doing that. Humanity will change. They will shift into being more conscious about where they're directing the money, because listen, we need to fix this planet and understand how to manage the planet correctly without damaging it before Elon takes us to Mars.
Tony (22:23):
Before Elon takes us to Mars. That's his mission right now. I love Elon Musk. He's got maybe a few things I don't agree with, but you gotta respect the man for his vision and inspiration.
Ivan Anz (22:39):
Yes, yes, yes. So, that's how it came about; the whole idea. So, I started helping families living in their own home in Argentina in 2009. And, I became the first house in PhilanthroInvestors, helping families live in their own home with very little money. Like, $250-300 a month for them to buy the lot. And then, from there my wife says, "Ivan, this idea should work really well in the U.S. because whatever happens in the U.S. the world will copy."
Tony (23:19):
Both good and bad, unfortunately.
Ivan Anz (23:21):
Yes. So, we started researching in the U.S. and I say, "Bella, listen, I think you're not right on this because the U.S. is the country of the American Dream. Everybody owns a home, like, come on. So, I was thinking like that as an Argentinian. But, I came to the U.S. and I start researching, and she was right. I discovered that 51% of Americans do not qualify for a traditional mortgage. And also, I discovered that 36% of Americans are tenants; households are tenants. And, that puts the U.S. in the position #43 of the ranking of countries with highest home ownership rates.
Tony (24:15):
Wow. I didn't know that, #43. Listen to that, Future Millionaires. This is something you gotta help with. I'm doing this show trying to equip you guys to build wealth so that you can look at problems like these and have an impact on them. I'm not doing this for my health. I'm not doing this to make a ton of money; although, that would be nice. I'm doing this to be able to have an impact on society, and to do that; we need to multiply my efforts. So, I'm just one guy. I can't change the world by myself, but I love connecting with people like Ivan and you listeners out there that you can actually have an impact. This is about retraining your mind on how to have an impact with your wealth. You have a responsibility- at least, I believe I have a responsibility to build wealth, so that we can have an impact. And, I love what you said there. Say it again, Ivan.
Ivan Anz (25:02):
So, 51% of Americans do not qualify for a traditional mortgage. 36% of Americans; household units; are tenants. That positions the U.S. in the position #43 of the ranking for highest countries with home ownership rates. And, because the U.S. has 64% of home ownership rates in the whole household units versus Romania that is the #1 in the world with 97% of home ownership.
Tony (25:45):
Wow. Now, let me ask you a question; this is just me learning a little bit here. Romania; when I think about home ownership- I'm gonna go roll back to clock like 100-150 years. When a young couple would get married in a community like 100-200 years ago, the community would come together and build a home for the new married couple, or the family would come together. Even with my mom and dad; they bought a very small home, but I remember at age 6 we expanded our house because my sister was coming along and we needed more space. So, my uncles came over with my dad and helped build about 400 square feet of additional home space on the back of my parents' home.
Tony (26:32):
So, we went from about a 1,000 square feet to about 1,400 square feet. That allowed us to expand the family of my sister, myself, and my parents. But, that's the way things used to be done. Today, people don't learn those skills. You don't learn about home maintenance, or construction, or carpentry. My dad was a carpenter, so I picked up some of that from him, but in the old days, that's how it was. So, do you know how Romania achieved being that ninety-one percentile of home ownership?
Ivan Anz (27:04):
Well, how they achieved it; I don't know. But, what I can tell you is; if you allow me to share a screen, I have the ranking on my screen. If you want to see it, I dunno if this is going to be only audio or not, but I can share the whole ranking for you. It's very, very interesting when you see that.
Tony (27:27):
Let's do it. I'll talk over you. But, we we'll probably release this on video at some point in the future. I can't say when.
Ivan Anz (27:35):
Look at this.
Tony (27:39):
So, these are some really interesting countries. You're looking at some Eastern European countries; Romania at 96.1%. Hungary at 91% in 2020. Slovakia at 90%. Lithuania at 90%. So, that sounds to me like it is part of their culture. China at 89%. Russia at 89%. There's a lot of Eastern European countries. Mexico sitting there at 80%, which is even above the United States. Kenya; my wife will be going over to Kenya before long; she's about 75% ready.
Ivan Anz (28:20):
And, here we go:
Tony (28:23):
USA; 65% as of 2019. Australia- And you know what that says to me when I look at these countries? I had a friend when I started working for Dave Ramsey in 2001. He came on board in 2002 and we talked about debt. We talked about debt, and the insidious thing about debt is; you're basically artificially propping up an economy through debt. In the United States, debt came on really strong, but my friend came from the Netherlands, and he had told me at that time that debt wasn't a problem in the Netherlands. So, it was not something he grew up with. He was apart of an immigrant family that came to the states, but when he went back to visit his family in the Netherlands. He came back from a visit and said, "Tony, debt's there. Debt has come into the system in the Netherlands, and people are now taking on consumer debt."
Tony (29:21):
And, when you look at those home ownership rates, I can't help but think that; in the United States, you're taking out loans, which artificially inflates the economy, artificially inflates the price of housing, and makes it more difficult to buy a house, especially like you said; I think, 50% of people in the U.S. are unqualified for traditional home loans. Then you go overseas and you're going- well, Hungary, I don't know for sure, but I'm guessing; does not have the same debt load on that government or that country as what we have in the U.S.. And so, housing might be a little bit more affordable over there, or there's some mechanism that's different about their economy than the U.S. economy. That's what my gut tells me. I'll have to look into that a little bit more.
Ivan Anz (30:06):
Yes, that's for sure. Something on that line, but at that point when I learn all of this, I say, "well, I will create the company around this problem. I will create the corporation that will solve this issue," because another piece of information I found; 50,000 foreclosures every single month in the U.S..
Tony (30:33):
Say that again, say that one more time.
Ivan Anz (30:37):
50,000 foreclosures a month in the U.S..
Tony (30:40):
50,000. Wow.
Ivan Anz (30:44):
Yes. So, I say, "oh my gosh, this is a huge opportunity." Cause this is housing philanthro-investing because there are 50,000- there are the banks that have a problem with all these assets that they don't want to be managing. They are not built to manage real estate, residential properties, and so on. And, on another note, we have all these families that are not living in their home, and they're not living the American Dream. So, I launch equity and help growing your capital while helping families own their home. I raise the company in Florida in the Tampa Bay area. I hired the CEO, which was the first thing I did. Because, I told you what I learned when I was a kid. So, I hired the CEO; in this case it was the same thing. Remember, I was 14 and I hired a CEO of 34.
Tony (31:38):
Yes.
Ivan Anz (31:40):
So, I was 29 and I hired a CEO of 71.
Ivan Anz (31:55):
I really, really admire experience in people. I really appreciate experience. And, I think it's really, really valuable. That's something that young people need to learn is that; when you have someone that has a lot of experience on something; that saves you a lot of travel in the future. So, if you can surround yourself with people with experience, and you can listen to them; it is very valuable for you as a young entrepreneur or young person.
Tony (32:25):
I love it. And, I love what you're doing there vision wise. Now, when you're building these houses or you're equipping people to get into home ownership in these other countries, what's your methodology around that? Are you guys going into new home construction? Are y'all doing refurbs? How does that mechanism work?
Ivan Anz (32:44):
So, Equity and Help has a specific model, which is; we buy homes from foreclosure; from the bank. And then, we do some basic repair, because the homes need to be made sell-able, and then from there we have a philanthro-investor- all the homes are in the U.S., not in other countries for now- and then we have philanthro-investors in different parts of the world; that is 14 countries of the world.
Ivan Anz (33:26):
They support these families, because they come and they buy the homes, and then they become a philanthro-lender. Which, part of being a lender is part of an investor by definition. So, a philanthro-lender. So, it's very simple because they buy they home at 45% below the after value. And then, they become the CEO of their own portfolio. And as they become the CEO of their own portfolio, they start deciding what homes they will buy. And, they get assigned a PhilanthroInvestors consultant at Equity and Help. What happens next is that we put the homes in the market for around 20% more of what the PhilanthroInvestors paid. Now the family that will come- we will not do credit check. We will only check the employment, the income, how they're paying to their actual landlord, and so on. And then, the philanthro-investor will finance to this family; the home for 20 years; but the family will pay only $500 a month to live in their own home, and the philanthro-investor will be making between 8-12% return profit.
Tony (35:01):
That's wonderful, cuz at 12% you're beating the S&P index fund, and the index funds overall. So, depending on who you talk to; that number's relative, but you're getting a great return on the money. Yet, you're also being able to help people get into home ownership at a reasonable rate, which is; sadly; in today's economy, very difficult to find. In the county that I'm living in right now, I just heard the other day that the average home sale price is, around a million dollars just in the county that I'm in now, it's one of the wealthier counties in the country. I don't remember what number it's, but we've got a lot of people moving in from outta state, from New York, Chicago, but that's wonderful. Now, I have seen- following in line with what you're doing, and I love your concept. So, you're buying houses, rehabbing, buying 'em for 45-50 cents on the dollar, and then marking them up 25%, but then selling them back out. And then, what I love is you're giving support structure to that family. Now, the families that you're working with; are they the families that lost the house originally or are they-?
Ivan Anz (36:10):
Not necessarily.
Tony (36:11):
But, they could be?
Ivan Anz (36:13):
Yes, they could be.
Tony (36:15):
I love that, because I think in my vision of what the future economy holds for me, like, let's say someday, God blesses me and I've got $500 million of cash laying around somewhere; investment capital laying around. I would love to be the guy that is finding the foreclosures before the bank takes them and then working out some kind of deal where the people that are losing the property, get something out of the deal versus nothing out of the deal. I think that's the difficult thing with foreclosure for me; or even bankruptcy; is that, you're basically opening a wound, and pouring salt in the wound. To dig outta that, or recover emotionally and mentally from that hardship is very, very difficult. It's very trying, even to the point; marriage is breaking up and families breaking apart, just because of all the financial stress that the family's going under. So, I would love to develop a model that is kinda like- I guess the best way to say it is a foreclosure rescue, versus, a foreclosure recovery; which is- nothing against your model. I love your model. I think it's a great place, but I would love to see- I'm gonna give you this; I'd love to see you add that into your portfolio as well.
Ivan Anz (37:36):
That's an idea that we have. So, it's definitely an idea that in the back of my mind that I have been having for a long time. Yes.
Tony (37:43):
Well, great. Well, keep me on your whiteboard list of people to call when you get that rolled out. Cause I'd love to be part of that; if nothing else; strategy wise. So, Ivan, man, I really appreciate you sharing that and what PhilanthroInvestors is. I think you've got some great things ahead of you; especially making an impact. How are people gonna find out more about what you're doing; get in touch with you; follow up with you?
Ivan Anz (38:04):
Okay. So, they can go to philanthroinvestors.com, or they can go to pi.today because "pi" is the short for PhilanthroInvestors. So, pi.today, that takes you straight to the PhilanthroInvestors website, and also to the podcast space where we upload all the podcasts that we do; like this one with you now; and that will be there. And then, they can see all about my companies. They can see my books there. I have books that I am launching soon. Awaken Your Philanthro-Investor Within, which is a business fable, and it's just beautiful. And then, I have, Housing Philanthro-Investing, growing your capital will help families own their home. And, anybody that reads that book can go and start doing on their own what I am doing for, 600 plus families, but just do it for two or three families.
Ivan Anz (39:00):
But, anyone that wants the process to be done with you, not done for you because we have the financial investor involved and making key material decisions, because we feel that through financial freedom does not come from passive income through financial freedom comes from engagement around the investment that is delivering you income and being responsible and being know knowledgeable and having control of your environment, not just, passing the responsibility to someone else and then blaming someone else because they lose the money. That's low responsibility and that's low happiness. So, we put the PhilanthroInvestors in the driver's seat as the CEO of their own portfolio. Tony, the reason we do that; and that's the chapter of my book is; financial freedom does not comes from having dollars coming in every month while you're laying down in a beach. Financial freedom comes from cashflow capital growth, knowledge, control, engagement, fulfilling, and much more; fighting for our freedom.
Ivan Anz (40:04):
So, that's that. And then, I want to tell you that Equity and Help is a company that has been in the Inc. 500 three years in a row. So, we made it to the position #83 in the Inc. 500 nationwide. And, we made the #2 of the fastest real estate companies in the entire us and #1 in the Tampa Bay area. And so, that's something- and we've made the #2 in Florida also. So, that's something you should know.
Tony (40:41):
Well, Ivan, thanks for being on the show and sharing. I think you're an inspiration to anybody who wants to take their money and do something positive with it. And especially, providing people with housing for their families and their future is definitely one of the best things that you could do. Thanks for sharing your wealth of knowledge. I've already pulled up the tradingeconomics.com group, which has a list of the housing ownership rates. It's pretty amazing to look at some of those numbers, and see how far the U.S. is behind all these other countries. And, let's just talk about this before we go. Russia's in the news right now. And, a lot of these guys are talking about problems with Russia's economy and how the U.S. is gonna inflict damages. I'm looking at Russia and it looks like they have 88% home ownership rate. Whereas the U.S. is at 65% down here, and Russia's at 88%. So, you're talking about 33 more percentage points, roughly close to 50%; 25-50% higher home ownership rates in Russia than in America. When I look at that, I gotta go, "we're supposed to be the number one economy in the world. China, a very, very close second. What's wrong with this picture?"
Ivan Anz (42:00):
Yes, Tony. Something I think; there are pure capitalists sending messages to people that home ownership is not good, that; "you should rent. You should rent. You should rent. You should rent because I own thousands of properties. So, you should rent. You should rent. You should rent!"
Tony (42:20):
Yes.
Ivan Anz (42:22):
So, that message coming is wrong, and is because that capitalist wants to put all the equity in his pocket. So, philanthro-investing is a balance it's the perfect balance because you grow your capital and you are- if you look at this, the family walks in today day. Number one; with $20,000 of equity; in the day number one if they comply with their agreement. Because the investor bought the home for $55,000. It is a home that is worth $80,000 at value. And then, the family gets in for $65,000. So, they got $15,000-20,000 there for them. That's why this is philanthro-investing and not just philanthropy.
Ivan Anz (43:09):
Both sides are involved. If a philanthro-investor is someone who invest their time and money, or time, or money engaging emotionally to promote human welfare while earning a financial return. But, the most important part is this engaging emotionly, because otherwise you will never have true financial freedom. It will just be money for money.
Tony (43:31):
I love it. Ivan, you have got a great vision, and I look forward to seeing where you go with it. So, thank you so much for being on the show today.
Ivan Anz (43:38):
Thank you, Tony. Have a wonderful day, sir.