Money Not Math with Gary Johnston

[Jeff S.]

I just returned from Las Vegas where I took Gary Johnston’s Money Not Math seminar. Having previously taken his Financial Freedom class, I had extremely high expectations and Gary did not disappoint. Where Financial Freedom is a relatively broad overview of personal investing, with a focus on real estate, Money Not Math is three days specifically about cash flows and cash flow investing. I couldn’t recommend either class more highly.

Clyde Wilson, who has actively invested in real estate for over 50 years, is Gary’s sidekick throughout the seminar. He sits at the front of the room with Gary introducing the problems that Gary shows you how to solve. His explanations usually include property photos and discussions of how he finds and negotiates his deals as well the inevitable (and often hysterical) war stories, which Gary does his best to limit. Thus, the class is composed of real world deals either he or the two of them have participated in and you’ll learn how they maximize their returns.

The course builds from simple time value of money calculations to some mind-numbing, though brilliant, investment strategies. These range from simple payment and interest calculations for the uninitiated, to combining owner financing, options, assignments, leveraging, and walking mortgages - all in one deal!! (My head almost exploded on that one.) Substantial time was spent on some very interesting velocity of money calculations as well as a short time on note discounting strategies, though this is not a note class per se. Simple personal finance examples included deciding whether it makes sense to refinance your home or how often to pay your insurance premiums, and why. Uneven cash flows, IRR, and NPV are also covered. A typical problem would include the simplest approach, resulting in a relatively low return, to strategies for juicing it up and maximizing your money. Clyde likes SFR’s, MHP’s, multi-families, lots, and has done some commercial development so there was something there for everyone.

Both Gary and Clyde are extremely low keyed, approachable, honest, and down to Earth. You can tell they love what they do, love sharing, love explaining, and you could fit both their ego’s into a thimble. Other than maybe 5 minutes spent describing his other seminar and a couple of books, there is no sales pressure and no “running to the back of the room†to buy anything. Nor is there any kind of upselling or platinum level inner circle to join.

The one bad thing about Money Not Math is that Gary and Clyde only teach it once a year. If you’re a cash flow investor, or you’re interested in maximizing the return from your real estate deals using cash flow analysis, I can’t recommend this class enough.

Jeff