217: From $20+ Million in Debt to $20+ Million in Wealth, Business and Investment Wisdom from EQRP.co Founder, Damion Lupo

This week’s Misfit Entrepreneur is Damion Lupo. Damion is the founder of multiple businesses, EQRP co, My Gold Adviser, and Financial Underdogs. Damion’s mission and that of his businesses is helping people break financial bondage by empowering them with the tools and training to be financially free in retirement.

And if that is not enough, the guy has published 12 books, is the comeback king after losing $20 million and being negative $5 million – he built it all back and surpassed where he started, and is a multiple degree black belt who created is own martial art called Yokido.

Needless to say, Damion’s experience, mission, and discipline has allowed him to become the leading voice in helping realize how to take control of their financial future and I’m excited for him to share his wisdom with you today. ​

www.EQRP.co

Damion’s path was all over the place. He originally had gone to the Air Force Academy and was going to be a fighter pilot but had issues with his eyes and ended up working in the article circle. After a little while, he went back to school and ended starting a textbook business out of his dorm room that paid for his school – until the school shut him down and would not allow him to run it.

The universe kept giving him feedback to be an entrepreneur and after he left school, he embraced it. As he says, “I’m a bad employee – I got fired from a volunteer position…”

He then started into real estate and learned how to use other people’s money and did it 150 times. He was naïve and just focused and took action amassing millions in property. Things went great until 2008 hit.

Damion got caught up in the 2008 bubble and lost $20+ million. He lost everything and after a few years, he finally admitted defeat and lost the game. He went to work on himself and found that who he truly is, is a teacher, but he needs to be in trenches doing the work too. He shifted his focus to freeing 1 million people from financial bondage. It took him 10 years to go from the crash to surpassing his previous wealth.

Can you elaborate on what truly happened in 2008 and what happened to you so people can learn from it as the market is heated up again?

• Damion leveraged a ton and took on too much debt doing real estate in 7 states.
• When the market got sense and re-priced, he was essentially naked in that the fundamentals were way off, so his investments were worth a lot less over night.
• He was underwater and it collapsed on him.
• He was also remote operating and losing money in that process.
• He got hit from all angles because of his personal guarantees, etc.

What is EQRP?

• It is an Enhanced Qualified Retirement Plan.
• It came from a philosophy of personal responsibility.
• Instead of handing their money over to someone to manage, they can have the ability to control their money.
• EQRP gives people the power to invest and control their investments in a much better way.
• The IRS actually allows people to do much more than buys stocks and bonds in retirement accounts, tax free – and most people don’t know it.
• The tax code is setup for entrepreneurs and business owners to succeed.
• The government wants you to have a good retirement so you are not a burden on them.
• With EQRP, you could literally put almost $250k a year away tax free for a family of 5.

Why is it better to specialize than diversify?

• Narrowing your focus is a key to success.
• Pick your focus and nurture it over time.
• Patience is critical. You have to put in the time.
• Don’t chase irrational expectations and spend time understanding risk.

What type of investments can be done that people don’t know can be done and how do they give you more control?

• The IRS tells you what you cannot do. Outside of that, it is pretty open.
• For example, the IRS says you cannot invest retirement money in something like a classic car, but you can invest in multi-family properties, rentals, flips, gold, silver, AirBnB, private notes, etc.
• These things give you much more control than what Wal Street is selling.

At the 26 min mark, Damion talks about how you can do an EQRP account…

• You can actually have unlimited amounts of retirement accounts – you just have to stay within the monetary limits for them.

What should people know about investing in real estate in these accounts?

• Real estate gives you leverage because you can use a small portion of your retirement account for a down payment on a piece of property and finance the rest.

“Money makes people stupid. And a lot of money makes people super stupid because they think they can solve all of their problems with money and the reality is they just gave up thinking.”

• Your biggest asset to attaining wealth is your ability to learn and think – it’s between your ears.

At the 31 min mark, Damion talks about how is not a good fit for EQRP.

We also talk about personal responsibility and empowerment and not playing the role of a victim.

How did you go out and create your own martial art?

• When you do something long enough, it becomes part of you. It becomes part of your DNA
• Business and martial arts are now one and the same for Damion.
• He notices some big overlap with martial arts, yoga, and reiki, and created a fusion of them into a new martial art he calls Yokido.

What principles from martial arts have a made a big difference for you in business?

• Heading straight into something doesn’t end well.
• You need to get into alignment which requires maneuvering and connecting. Teams will beat an individual. Thinks sports.
• It’s the same in business. You must align your team and bring people with the right values.
• How you do anything is how you do everything – so how people act in their lives is how they will act in business.
• Get your Foundational 15% right and you will do well. ​

What is something you think every entrepreneur should know?

• Everything takes longer and more money than you think.
• You should double everything when you are starting off.
• Having unreasonable expectations and lack of patience is a business killer.

 

Best Quote: Money makes people stupid. And a lot of money makes people super stupid because they think they can solve all of their problems with money and the reality is they just gave up thinking.

 

Damion's Misfit 3:

1. Make sure you balder and greyer people around you. You have to wisdom and true life experience from people that have gone through it to help you.
2. Passion is not enough. You have to figure out what the market wants and solve problems. Have passion for solving a worthy problem.
3. Fall in love with the process vs. the outcome. The process will lead to the pleasing outcome.

 

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