BROADCASTS.com

In Episode 67, we welcome Simon Black, founder of the newsletter, Sovereign Man.\nWe start with Simon\u2019s military background, having been an intelligence officer. He spent lots of time overseas, yet became disillusioned after the promises of WMDs failed to prove accurate. From this, he began challenging the status quo.\nUnderpinning everything was an ethos of personal freedom, which is at the core of what Simon\u2019s newsletter, Sovereign Man, is really about.\nMeb asks what global red flags and/or issues Simon is seeing now which might be challenging our personal freedoms. Simon tells us \u201cI see a lot of red flags.\u201d Specifically, he\u2019s seeing a global trend toward socialism. People have a sense that the system is rigged. There\u2019s an intuitive understanding that something is wrong, though people aren\u2019t quite certain what it is, so they blame capitalism. But when people gravitate toward socialism (\u201cI want more free stuff\u201d), we run into the challenge of too many people wanting to jump on the cart, without enough people actually pulling the cart.\nThis leads to an interesting conversation about the effects of socialism in Venezuela, where Simon is located. He mentions how there are vast quantities of soil where the Venezuelans could be growing crops, yet there is starvation. He steers the conversation back to challenges here in the U.S., which leads toward the need for what Simon calls a \u201cPlan B.\u201d In essence, this is a plan intended to protect yourself and your assets from the various risks we face today on many levels \u2013 financial, personal, governmental\u2026\nPart of an effective Plan B ties to diversification. Simon mentions how if all of your assets are in the same banking system, then you\u2019re not diversified. So, Simon suggests at least some money should be kept in banks outside of the U.S. \u2013 after all, there are many global banks that are better capitalized than those here in the U.S. He offers Hong Kong as an example.\nThe conversation drifts toward an example of personal diversification \u2013 getting a second passport. Simon thinks this is the ultimate option, providing tons of opportunities and benefits \u2013 all upside with no downside, for minimal cost.\nNext up is Simon\u2019s suggestion to legally reduce your tax burden. He tells us \u201creducing your taxes\u2026that\u2019s the easiest return on investment you\u2019ll ever make.\u201d Simon tell us a favorite tax-reduction technique upon Meb\u2019s request.\nNext up, the guys discuss having cash outside the U.S. banking system. The conversation references why this is important \u2013 just look at what happened in Cyprus and Greece a few years ago. This leads into a discussion of cryptocurrencies. Simon tells us how so many people putting money into crytos today now have no idea what they\u2019re doing \u2013 do they even understand Bitcoin and Ethereum? Who has actually read the original white paper on Bitcoin?\nThere\u2019s way more in this episode: where Simon is looking now for safe, margin-of-safety-style investments around the globe\u2026 how private equity can help your portfolio\u2026 Simon\u2019s entrepreneurial advice\u2026 what Simon\u2019s readers are most concerned about today\u2026 and of course, Simon\u2019s most memorable trade \u2013 it involved day-trading Compaq (and losing everything).\nHow\u2019d it happen? Find out in Episode 67.\nLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices