In our 60th episode, Jason talks about choosing gratefulness over entitlement, while sharing some wisdom from great authors such as Earl Nightingale, Denis Waitley, and Og Mandino.
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Jason Hartman: Good day and welcome to another edition of Creating Wealth. I’m Jason Hartman and this is show No. 60, and today, I want to do something a little different. I’m trying to make it so that every ten shows we veer off our usual topic and do something a little different, hopefully very interesting for you. We did this on our 50th show where we talked about character or the character ethic versus the personality ethic. And today, I’d like to, instead of talking about our usual topics of wealth creation, financing, tax reduction techniques, and the like, where we’re interviewing guests on various subjects and experts on various things, I’d like to talk a little bit about our own psychology as investors.
And let’s talk about gratitude and let’s talk about entitlement. In order to discuss this topic, we will need to examine some governmental and social issues. First, some definitions. First one from dictionary.com, definition of entitlement: the state of being entitled; the right to guarantee benefits under a government program, such as Social Security or unemployment compensation.
And then from Wikipedia, I like the beginning of their definition for gratitude. Gratitude: appreciation or thankfulness; is a positive emotion or attitude in acknowledgement of a benefit that one has received or will receive.
For what should we be grateful? To what are we entitled? The founding fathers of the good, old U.S.A. had some great ideas on this. According to the Declaration of Independence, it says that we are endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable rights. Among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. By the way, that’s the pursuit of happiness, not the guarantee of happiness.
In the Constitution, it says that we the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, ensure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare – boy, that one’s been kind of blown out of proportion, hasn’t it – and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this constitution for the United States of America.
You know these are tough times nowadays, aren’t they? When you look around, it seems like there’s a lot of negative news out there and by the way, this is one of those times when you hear all this negative news that fortunes are created for many who see the opportunity in it. But that’s on the investing side and I really want to veer off the investing topic today and stay on the psychology part because I think that’s really important to us.
Remember that old TV show, The Waltons? I sure do. When I was a kid, I used to watch that show. That was where they said, “Goodnight, John Boy,” and it was basically a lot of stories about the hard times during the Great Depression in the United States in the ’30s. I would highly recommend so that you can gain some perspective – I have done this and I gained some perspective from it – that you go on YouTube.com and type in the Great Depression and look at some of the old films from that era and some of the commentary on that time in American history. It’s really quite enlightening when you really see comparison, and by comparison, things are pretty darn fantastic nowadays, even in the midst of these current economic woes.
Remember, opportunities to make fortunes will be created during these times. And besides, what’s wrong with a little hardship from time to time anyway? It helps us keep perspective. It makes us stronger, better human beings. After all, gems are polished by friction. Steel is hardened by fire. A little hardship can be character building. Let’s embrace it. As long as we feel entitled to anything that we did not get, we will feel cheated, shorted, or victimized, and when we feel this way, we are powerless.
It’s like carrying a heavy load around with us through life that will slow us down, that will burden us, so we’ve got to make sure that we eliminate thoughts in our own psyche, in our own head, of entitlement and that we fill our mind with thoughts of gratitude because believe me, we have a lot to be grateful for.
You cannot feel joy in life without feeling gratitude and you cannot feel grateful so long as you feel entitled. And by extension, cheated or shorted in some way. That’s basically what the extension of the entitlement attitude is. Ultimately, nobody else is responsible for our life, but us. Nobody else is accountable for our actions, but us. It’s all about the person in the mirror.
I read a book several years ago entitled, Tough Times Never Last, but Tough People Do by Robert Schuler. I’d recommend it. It’s pretty good. We in the Western world, we’ve had it pretty good for the last several decades and it’s kind of time that we keep perspective and toughen up a bit and apply ourselves to maintaining our standard of living, which is really the envy of two-thirds of the world’s population.
Now, I understand as I talk on this show that we have listeners from all around the world. The vast majority of them are in the United States and we can tell where you’re listening from when we look on the tracking software for the show. And we need to come to terms with the facts, though, as to what our government’s role is in our life. We need to view government in a mature way rather than an adolescent way. It would be like when we’re adolescents, we sort of want everything without earning things, and that’s normal. We want all the freedoms of being an adult without paying the price of being an adult. Certainly, being an adult offers some nice advantages and some nice freedoms, but it also carries with it a lot of responsibility, doesn’t it?
It’s the same way when we’ve talked in prior shows about investing. One of our cardinal rules in the Ten Commandments of Successful Investing – go back and listen to that show – is what? Commandment No. 3, it’s one of my favorites. Thou shalt maintain control. Maintaining control carries with it a lot of benefits. We make a lot more money on our investments. We don’t get ripped off when we maintain control or at least we’re not as likely to.
But it carries with it some responsibility, so we need to face the facts. We need to understand that everything in life has a price and when it comes to government, particularly as we talk about the United States, the United States is still the largest economy in the world. Probably won’t be for too long. China is certainly coming up quick and India’s as well and Brazil is also coming up very quickly. But for now, it still is, okay?
And let’s just talk about it in the context of the United States because really, this applies to any country on Earth. So there are only a few ways that any government, and particularly in this case, the American government, can afford to pay for things, to pay for certain entitlements. The American government has made a lot of promises to people, promises which it cannot afford to keep. We just need to face the facts and that’s one of the things we do here on the Creating Wealth show. We talk about how to create our own destiny, how to manage our own financial future, and not to depend on and not to feel entitled to any promises, which have been made, which I say will not be kept. We’ve just got to face the facts.
So there are only a few ways the American government can afford to keep these promises. No. 1, and this would be the best one, but I don’t really see it happening unfortunately, a massive increase in American productivity, an increase in the companies’ gross domestic product, GDP. I don’t think we’ll likely see any huge advances along this line in the near future.
The best hope we have are major technological advances in all areas of life, but the problem is America certainly has no monopoly on these technological advances. A lot of them are certainly created here. This is a very bright country with very bright, innovative people and certainly, the free market is very, very hospitable to creating innovation. It’s a good thing. But the kind of advances and the kind of innovation we would need to see to pay for the over-promises, the ridiculous promises that the government has made, I just don’t think they’re going to happen.
No. 2, massive increase in taxes. We’re seeing this. We are in a presidential election year now. Probably both candidates, with all the ridiculous promises they’re making to try and buy votes, will have to increase taxes. Certainly, the left side of the aisle would increase taxes more than the right side of the aisle, but both of them really are making a lot of promises, frankly, which the government cannot afford to keep.
Now, a mature person sees through this. They see through these campaign promises and they realize that, look, the government is broke. The government in the state of California is totally broke. A lot of municipalities around the country are broke. A lot of states are broke. The federal government is totally broke. How ridiculous is it for us, as mature adults, to expect more handouts, to expect more things given to us by government when the government can’t afford to do this? Certainly, if No. 1 happens and there’s a massive productivity increase and the trade imbalance shifts in the favor of the United States, yeah, okay. We’ve got very good news there. I don’t see it happening unfortunately. I wish it would, but it’s unlikely.
So raise taxes, massive increase in taxes. Certainly, there are good reasons for limited taxation, which are for the collective good, roads, national defense, police and fire protection, etc. There are certainly good reasons for reasonable and limited taxation by any government because this is good for all of us. But the problem is that this has been expanded in so many ridiculous areas. I mean think about it. Think about what a tax really is. Basically, it’s like saying another person should pay for something we want, but did not earn.
So one of the big debates raging now today is healthcare, all right? And I agree the healthcare system in the United States is broken. But it’s broken around most of the world, frankly, and it doesn’t work in its present form. But think about what people are saying. They’re saying the government should give me something. The government can’t afford to give you anything. I mean it would be great if it could, but it simply cannot afford to.
So think about it. Saying the government should pay for something we want, but did not earn and do not want to pay for ourselves, it’s really a modern day form of slavery. Enslave another person with the threat of prison to pay for something I want. Now, isn’t that a little ridiculous? It has been proven time and time again throughout history and all around the world in so many different places that increasing taxes simply creates more inflation and a devaluation of our purchasing power. Increasing taxes suppresses economic activity and leads to a brain drain where people and companies shop for more friendly, more tax-friendly areas, in which to live and in which to operate and in which to do business.
Have you ever read a book called Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand? It’s a very famous book and I’d really suggest you read it. It’s a novel. It’s a long novel and a very interesting story about a Russian immigrant to America and how she appreciated the American free enterprise system. Abraham Lincoln said, “You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong. You cannot help the wage earner by pulling down the wage payer. You cannot further the brotherhood of man by encouraging class hatred. You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich. You cannot build character and courage by taking away a person’s initiative and independence. You cannot help people by doing for them what they could and should do for themselves.” Abraham Lincoln.
Okay, so there’s No. 1 and 2. You either increase productivity or increase taxes. No. 3 – these are the options the government faces as I see them – default on the loans, the promises, and obligations that the government has made. So money that the government has borrowed from countries around the world, certainly, that debt could be defaulted on. We could default on promises. The government could just say, hey, look. We promised you Social Security, we promised you this, we promised you that. Guess what? We can’t pay it. This would cause a major loss of faith in America, in its credibility around the world, and a major loss of faith in its currency, the almighty or formerly almighty dollar. So I don’t think this is going to happen.
No. 4 and this is most likely, in my opinion, what will occur, and when we talk about No. 4, the most likely result of our future in America and in many, many countries around the world, it’s the same scenario, we will likely see an increase in another form of taxation. The insidious hidden tax, as many call it, that ugly liar and thief, called inflation. Think of it this way: when the government devalues the dollar to pay for all the goodies we want, the goodies for which the government cannot possibly afford, the only way to pay will be to create or print – creating of money really is done in many more ways than the printing press, but that’s sort of the nostalgic way to say it – to create or print more dollars.
This will destroy the value of the dollars you possess today, so if you have a savings account, if you have equity in your home, equity in a rental property, if you have mutual funds, stocks, or bonds especially – bonds will be terribly hurt by this, probably more so than many other investments; I’m not a fan of bonds as you can probably tell – it will destroy the value of those investments. And guess who will hurt the most? Older people in most cases.
So think of it this way. By taking the money right now that you want, that we want, by asking for the government to pay for things we want, it is like taking the money right out of the hands of our parents or grandparents. Hey, I mean isn’t the social contract supposed to work the other way? Our parents take care of us when we’re kids and provide for us and make sacrifices for us, and then when we’re older, we return the favor by working and paying into the system of Social Security, for example, or supporting them when they can’t earn money. We have our highest earning years when they’re older. In many countries around the world, people really take care of their parents. They let them move in. I tell you, if my mother moved in with me, I think I’d go crazy.
But this really is the social contract, okay? We pay for it through the governmental system, through Social Security. Isn’t that what Social Security was for? Well, the government will probably pay for Social Security for many, many years to come. The only real question is here what will be the real value and the real purchasing power of those Social Security benefits, of those Medicare benefits, or whatever you call it in whatever country you’re listening from?
I say what will happen is the government will keep these promises in name, in nominal terms. Nominal means in name only. So if the government says you deserve a Social Security payment of $1,000.00 per month just for round numbers’ sake, and if you were to qualify for that $1,000.00 a month today, in 2008, $1,000.00 is worth a $1,000.00 today. It’s certainly not worth what $1,000.00 was ten or 20 years ago by any means, but it’s $1,000.00 in nominal dollars.
But if you’re retiring in ten years and you become eligible in 2018 for those benefits, the question is what purchasing power will those nominal $1,000.00 have in 2018? I say a heck of a lot less.
So this is the most likely result of entitlement, where we will face massive, massive inflation. I see a lot of inflation in our future. By the way, if you disagree with me, if you have other thoughts on this, I would love to hear from you on this. Just go to www.jasonhartman.com and click on the Ask Jason link and put in your thoughts, and I’ll talk about them and respond to them on a future podcast. We’d love to hear from you.
Now, in terms of gratitude, here are some action items because feeling grateful about our lives is critically important to take the weight of entitlement off our shoulders. In order to succeed as successful investors and successful people, in order to experience the best, most productive life we can, we’ve got to eliminate as much as possible our feelings of entitlement and focus on and develop and nurture feelings of gratitude within our minds.
No. 1, Gratitude Action Items: Understand that the most important person that you will ever talk to is yourself and you better be careful what you say. It is important when you talk to yourself that you monitor your self-talk and make sure it is constructive, life affirming, and goal achieving.
No. 2, give some thought to and be grateful for the vast number of people serving you in your daily life. Each of us have the modern equivalent to over 200 servants, and this was a study done back in the ’70s that I’m taking this from, by the way, these 200 servants serving us constantly in the form of running water, automatic this, automatic that. And this was a study done about 40 years ago, okay? The number today would be far higher based on all of the gadgets and conveniences we enjoy on a regular basis.
Action Step No. 3 to develop gratitude, look around and take stock of your life. If you are listening to this, you are likely healthy. You likely live in a comfortable, heated, and air conditioned home, with hot and cold running water, with multiple bathrooms. You likely eat three or more meals each day. You likely have a car or two that are probably newer cars or two newer cars. You likely have a big screen TV or two or maybe three. You likely have a closet full of reasonably nice brand-name clothes. You likely have several friends. You likely enjoy travel and entertainment on a regular basis. You probably live in a free country where you can practice the religion of your choice or practice no religion at all. You are probably free to criticize your government without fear of prosecution, etc, etc, etc.
So all things considered, you’ve probably got it pretty good. Could life be better? Of course, life could be better. Constructive discontent is fine. Constructive discontent creates progress. But we’ve got to make sure that we are not too content where we become apathetic and lazy, but we’re not too discontent where we’re unappreciative and ungrateful for the things we have in our life.
Step No. 4: Don’t expect that anything worthwhile will be easy, fast, or free. I know a lot of overnight successes who have been working at it for 20 years or more. A lot of overnight successes. They’ve just been working at it for 20 years overnight. As Earl Nightingale said, meaningful and richly rewarding journeys take time. They take careful planning, commitment, and perseverance. We must earn our stripes through the daily passage of time and experience so that each successive step we make can be accepted and applauded by those who have come to know us.
And also, Nightingale, in another part of his great content – I’m a big fan of Earl Nightingale. Look him up on the internet. He has great material. Nightingale also said, “If you think you can succeed in a large way and play it safe at the same time, you are sadly mistaken. Success involves risk. Risk and success are at opposite ends of the same balancing beam. You cannot have one without the corresponding weight of the other. Risk ups the ante, raises the greens fee, and limits the membership, but it makes playing more fun and you seldom have to wait in line anymore.” Great quotes by Earl Nightingale.
Step No. 5: Pay it forward. Did you see that movie? Great movie. Check it out, Pay it Forward. Pay it forward. Do something today for somebody else and do something for somebody else every single day. Giving instills faith in the universal law of cause and effect that will set goodwill in motion so that good things happen to you. When you give, it shows that you have faith in the ongoing order of things. Don’t be the person sitting in front of the empty fireplace and saying, hey, give me some heat and then I’ll put in the wood.
Work harder. Put in the wood first. Dig deeper within yourself and be the best person you can be. You’ll be surprised at how capable you are and how good you can become when you really push yourself. Don’t be the person with permanent potential. Exploit your greatness and as the Army says, be all you can be. Learn to enjoy the journey and delay gratification for a future goal that is bigger than what you have today.
Dennis Waitley, another favorite of mine, motivational speaker and author – check him out on the internet as well – talked about one of his books, The Seeds of Greatness, about another book by Aaron Stern, entitled Me, the Narcissistic American, where Stern says to attain emotional maturity, each of us must learn to develop two critical capacities: No. 1, the ability to live with uncertainty, and No. 2, the ability to delay immediate gratification in favor of long-range goals.
Step No. 6: Gain and maintain perspective. It’s like the old saying, once upon a time, I had the blues because I had no shoes, until upon the street, I saw a man who had no feet. That’s a great matter of perspective, isn’t it? You know I remember I lived in an area of Irvine, California, a few years back, and I remember that they opened up a new shopping center by my house and you could walk to it.
So I walked down to this new center and they opened up a big, new supermarket. It was an Albertson’s Supermarket, I believe. And I remember walking in to this brand new Albertson’s Supermarket and it just hit me. I was by myself and I walked in and I couldn’t believe, looking around that store, all of the thousands, tens and tens of thousands of products on the shelves. You want shampoo for your hair. They had every brand and every color of shampoo. You want food, fruit, vegetables, meat, whatever you want, cereal, anything. So many choices. And virtually every person could afford to buy pretty much anything in that store if they wanted to.
And then it flashed back to me. I’m an avid traveler. You may know this from my talks on other shows. I’ve now been to 52 countries around the world and I tell you, there’s nothing like traveling to maintain your perspective. You want to see how other people live around the world, go to Cuba where the average person makes about $10.00 a month. Go to Eastern Europe. Go to Western Europe. Heck, Western Europe, in modern countries in Western Europe, you go to France, you go to Germany, I mean in terms of material wealth, they have nothing compared to most Americans. The average American lives so much better than the average person around the world. Be grateful for that. We have got it pretty darn good in the Western world, especially in the United States.
You go into these stores. I remember when I was in the Ukraine last October and I ran out of toothpaste, so I had met a new Ukrainian friend and we were having coffee together and I told her I needed some toothpaste. And so she walked me over to the store and there’s no selection. The toothpaste is more expensive there. Yeah, it’s the same global brands probably made by Proctor and Gamble, but you wait in line. People buy one little tube at a time. In the U.S., we go to Costco and we get a six-month supply for one-third the price that they get one little tube for. We have so much choice, so much selection in terms of material wealth.
I know we don’t have everything. And I’m not talking about happiness. I’m not talking about any of these other things. We’re just talking about material wealth here. We have it pretty darn good. Get perspective. Dennis Waitley, his book, The Seeds of Greatness, which was a big impact in my life, this book was written back in – let me just find the copyright date here – 1983. On page 186, he tells an interesting story. He talks about one of the seeds of greatness being the seed of adaptability and he says here – and you know this is back in the ’80s this was written – he says, “These are troubled times. Many people bide their time and hope that the future will favor them with a brighter outlook. Others would gladly turn back the hands of time to the good old days, when a haircut cost two bits, when the air was clean, when life was uncomplicated and enjoyable.
“Today, if you pick up a newspaper and turn to the editorial page, you might read something like this: ‘The world is too big for us, too much going on, too many crimes, too much violence and excitement. Try as you will, you get behind in the race, in spite of yourself. It’s an incessant strain to keep pace and still you lose ground. Science empties its discoveries on you so fast that you stagger beneath them in hopeless bewilderment. In the political world, news is seen so rapidly that you’re out of breath trying to keep pace with who’s in and who’s out. Everything is high pressure. Human nature can’t endure much more.'”
Well, this newspaper editorial reads like it could have been written last week or last night, but it actually appeared more than 150 years ago, on June 16, 1833, in the Atlantic Journal. That was back in the good ole days. What does that mean to you and me? What can we learn from this?
I believe that in this simple, tattered editorial, a century and a half old, it teaches us one of life’s most important secrets to success; that the good ole days are here and now. I read a great book by Richard Nixon, past President of the United States. It was written several years ago, called In the Arena, and Nixon, in that book, toward the end of it, he talks about how certainly more than probably any other politician, he has seen the highs and the lows. And Nixon really has had an amazing resilience throughout his life. Of course, he’s passed away several years ago, I believe in ’94.
But in this book, he talks about the ups and downs he experienced throughout his life and in the end of it, Nixon talks about when he first visited the Grand Canyon, one of the seven natural wonders of the world, and he thought that nothing could be more spectacular than the view from the rim of the Grand Canyon, looking down into this incredible sight that nature had created, until he hiked miles down into the Grand Canyon and looked up.
He said until he looked up, he never really, truly appreciated the majesty of this great wonder of the world. And in this book, he quotes the poet, Sophocles, who 2,000 years ago wrote, “One must wait until evening to see how splendid the day has been.”
Well, those are some tips for developing more gratitude in our life. The thing we need to understand is that what we do is incredibly valuable and maybe it needs to be viewed as a mission rather than a career. Your work can offer endless fulfillment. It can offer self-expression and a real joy. I mean work is fun. There’s nothing wrong with a little hardship. There’s nothing wrong with working harder. We have got some tough years coming up, in my opinion, in the economy. So what we do is we don’t give up. We put our nose to the grindstone. We work harder.
Remember that old poem that said, “I slept and dreamt that life was joy. I woke and saw that life was duty. I acted and behold, duty was joy.” Remember when I shared with you The Seeds of Success on a prior show? Well, let me just share with you a couple of excerpts from that wonderful, wonderful poem written by Og Mandino and I’m just going to sort of jump around here and share with you a couple of things from it.
He says, “I will embrace today’s difficult tasks, take off my coat, and make dust in the world. I will remember that the busier I am, the less harm I’m apt to suffer, the tastier will be my food, the sweeter my sleep, and the better satisfied I will be with my place in the world. I will treat today as a priceless violin. One may draw harmony from it and another discord, yet no one will blame the instrument. Life is the same and if I play it correctly, it will give forth beauty. But if I play ignorantly, it will produce ugliness.
“I will work convinced that nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm. To do anything today that is truly worth doing, I must not stand back shivering and thinking of the cold and danger, but jump in with gusto and scramble through as well as I can. I will face the world with goals set for this day, but they will be attainable ones. Not the vague, impossible variety declared by those that make a career of failure. I realize that you always try me with a little first to see what I would do with a lot.
“I will keep a smile on my face and in my heart, even when it hurts today. I know that the world is a looking glass and gives back to me the reflection of my own soul. Now I understand the secret of correcting the attitude of others and that is to correct my own. I will work this day with all my strength, content in the knowledge that life does not consist of wallowing in the past or peering anxiously at the future. It is appalling to contemplate the great number of painful steps by which one arrives at a truth so old, so obvious, and so frequently expressed. Whatever it offers, little or much, my life is now.
“I will pause whenever I am feeling sorry for myself today and remember that this is the only day I have and I must play it to the fullest. What my part may signify in the great whole, I may not recognize, but I am here to play it and now is the time. I will count this day a separate life. I will remember that those who have fewest regrets are those who take each moment as it comes for all that it is worth.”
You know those words are so great and so inspiring. Look up Og Mandino on the internet. Read his books. Read his work. It’s really, really fantastic.
So my final thought on this is of course, we need to maintain an attitude of gratitude, rather than an attitude of entitlement. It affects every area of our life and we must constantly monitor ourselves to make sure that we stay focused on the positive and not the negative, on the things that will affirm and move our life forward, rather than the things that will create more lack in our life. I’d like to just close with a great little poem by Dennis Waitley. Again, Dennis Waitley is just one of my favorites, most definitely. And it really shows how we need to set the example, how we need to take action, when it comes to every part of our life because words are one thing, but deeds are quite another, aren’t they? And this is called, I’d Rather Watch a Winner, by Dennis Waitley.
“I’d rather watch a winner than hear one any day. I’d rather have one walk with me than merely show the way. The eye’s a better pupil and more willing than the ear. I find council is confusing, but examples are always clear. And the best of all the coaches are the ones to live their deeds, for to see the good in action is what everybody needs. I can soon learn how to do it, if you’ll let me see it done. I can watch your hands in action, but your tongue too fast may run.
And the lectures you deliver may be very wise and true, but I’d rather get my lessons by observing what you do. For I may misunderstand you and the high advice you give, but there’s no misunderstanding how you act and how you live. I’d rather watch a winner than hear one any day.”
Thank you for listening.
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I’m here with Nancy and wanted to talk to you about two of our fantastic markets. One is our tried and true market that we’ll talk about in a moment that is strengthening and has gotten better. And one is a newer market. Nancy, welcome.
Nancy: Thank you.
Jason Hartman: Tell us about Gulfport/Biloxi area and Long Beach area. That’s Long Beach, Mississippi, not California. We were there a few weeks ago. What’s the scoop?
Nancy: Yeah, we had a great trip. Jason always talks about out of a disaster comes an opportunity and I really believe that’s what’s happening in Biloxi. The economy there via the casinos and the major boom on the ocean, they are now allowed to build on land. Biloxi is now the third largest gaming revenue area in the country, behind Atlantic City and Las Vegas.
Jason Hartman: So what you’re saying is that before, the casinos had to be built on barges.
Nancy: That’s right.
Jason Hartman: And when Katrina came along and wiped them out, the city said, hey, let’s let them build on land. Let’s change the law. And that made the casinos so much more substantial. They’re huge now. They’re like 50 – 60 percent the size of a big glamorous Vegas casino.
Nancy: Right and there are 11 casinos currently up and running and they’re employing about 17,000 people. That’s about 2,000 more than all the casinos that were open pre-Katrina.
Jason Hartman: Tell us some of the big corporate names in the gaming business who are in Biloxi. I mean it’s amazing.
Nancy: Yeah, Harrah’s is there right now with the Grand Casino in Biloxi and they’re also building a $700 million resort with Jimmy Buffet, the new Margaritaville Casino that will be open in 2010. MGM Mirage is there with the Beau Rivage, which is the sister casino to the Bellagio in Las Vegas.
Jason Hartman: These are all big corporate names and those casinos, we were there on that trip, and they are unbelievable how swanky and glamorous they are.
Nancy: The Hard Rock is there. Interesting tidbit about the Hard Rock: it was there before Katrina. The whole casino got destroyed. The guitar remained standing. It was the only thing on the beach that remained standing.
Jason Hartman: Long live rock and roll.
Nancy: And they are – they have rebuilt the Hard Rock and it’s just amazing inside there.
Jason Hartman: I mean that Hard Rock Casino is gigantic, five, six levels of parking outside. I remember going through that parking garage. It was packed. I mean it’s just huge inside. It’s amazing how much money they have dumped into this area.
Nancy: Right. They have actually inked about $1.3 billion in casino revenues last year. Prior to Katrina, the gaming revenues were about $800 million. So they’ve just almost doubled the revenues in just a couple years. They’re also, because of the casinos and the tourism, they do $100 million in golf each year. There’s 20 golf courses there. This industry is just spurring all kinds of job growth, not just from the casino workers, but also construction workers to build these places. There is a major military installation there with Keesler Air Force Base, the CB naval base, a couple Army and Navy National Guard installations and also the Stennis Space Center, which is NASA’s backup space shuttle installation. So there’s just a ton of activity there that we really think is going to make this one of our booming higher appreciation areas, and we’re very excited about that.
Jason Hartman: And a shortage of housing because we had to look around a lot for that, Nancy. That’s excellent. Tell us real quickly about one of our tried and true markets, the market where I own and the market where many, many of our clients have invested, and it’s actually improving in terms of the rental market being very, very strong. Stronger than before, and this has just been a real dependable market. What’s the name of it? Everybody’s wondering.
Nancy: This is Kansas City, Missouri, and Kansas City is the 13th largest metro in the U.S. The statistics in Kansas City are just excellent. This is a strong, stable rental market. We talk a lot about our rent-to-value ratios and it’s .7 percent being ideal. All of the properties that we have in Kansas City, we get at least a .8 percent RV ratio.
Jason Hartman: On my property, my four-plex in Kansas City, I’m getting about a .82 percent RV ratio, so it’s phenomenal. It’s just a great property.
Nancy: There are some positive cash flow opportunities in Kansas City, which we haven’t seen for a few years. So if you’re looking for a market with some positive cash each month and a .8 rent-to-value ratio, Kansas City is your market.
Jason Hartman: Excellent. Thank you, Nancy.
Hey, I just wanted to announce a couple of quick things for you. If you are able to come to one of our live events, we would love to see you and meet you in person. We’ve had people fly in from all over the U.S. for them. So hopefully you can join us for some of those events.
I wanted to mention to you that we have a new offering, a free CD, a free audio CD, that you will really, really like. We’ve had so many people that have given us really good comments about them, and you can go to our website at www.jasonhartman.com and just fill out a little quick web form and you can either download it or you can have the physical CD mailed to you in the postal mail. But get the free CD, especially if you are a new listener. You need this. And if you are a regular listener and you’ve listened to all the other old shows, you don’t need the CD so much, but it will be a nice review for you either way. But if you’re a new listener, you definitely want to go to www.jasonhartman.com and request the free CD.
Remember that Platinum Properties Investor Network has moved. We are in our beautiful new office in Costa Mesa, California, 555 Anton, Suite 150, in Costa Mesa, California, 92626, and we’re right by world-famous South Coast Plazas. So come in for a visit and a little shopping.
Also, we just uploaded another video podcast and I’d highly recommend that you subscribe to that. There’s some stuff that just lends itself better to video than audio. If you want to see what’s on that, subscribe to it, you can go to www.jasonhartman.com. If you use iTunes or an iPod and you’re an Apple person, then you can go to the iTunes Store, type in Jason Hartman, and two podcasts will come up, the video podcast and the audio podcast. And you’re probably already, if you’re listening, a subscriber to the audio podcast, so make sure you get yourself a free subscription to the video podcast as well.
And this particular one that we just loaded in the video podcast is about Naked Short Sales and what goes on with this short sale and manipulation of the stock market. It’s a very interesting report from Bloomberg News and I think you’ll really learn a lot from that. So be sure to tune in and watch that.
Be sure to see appropriate disclaimers and disclosures on our website at www.jasonhartman.com. Remember that we are not tax or legal advisors.
Anyway, we’ll talk to you next week. Thanks for listening.
This material is the copyrighted creative work of either Jason Hartman, the Hartman Media Company, Platinum Properties Investor Network, Incorporated or the J. Hartman Company, all rights reserved.
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Duration: 48 minutes