When it comes to building lasting wealth, many entrepreneurs believe the solution lies purely in mathematical prowess or uncovering the perfect investment strategy. However, according to Mark Murphy, CEO of Northeast Sequoia Private Client Group and a renowned financial advisor, the most significant hurdles to wealth creation are less about income and more about emotional decision-making and the mindset behind each financial move.
On the “Raising Private Money” podcast with Jay Conner, Mark offers a comprehensive look into why most entrepreneurs struggle to create multi-generational wealth. Surprisingly, it isn’t an income problem—it’s a problem rooted in how decisions are made and how money is managed. Entrepreneurs and investors often earn substantial incomes, but many fail to keep, protect, and grow that wealth into a lasting legacy.
A critical concept Mark emphasizes is “emotional fitness.” This refers to the ability to make rational, well-considered financial decisions rather than impulsive or emotionally driven ones. Emotional fitness extends beyond personal spending habits to deeply influence investing and wealth-building choices. Mark believes that while most financial advisors focus solely on numbers, ignoring the emotional side of money leads to mistakes that sabotage long-term growth.
Emotions can cloud judgment, causing people to justify risky investments or impulsive purchases as sound decisions. Cultivating emotional fitness requires conscious effort—evaluating investments based on logic and reliable criteria rather than chasing the thrill or fearing loss. For those raising capital or seeking investors, this mindset is crucial because it signals trustworthiness and professionalism. Responsible capital raisers not only protect investor funds but also align their own investment alongside their clients, building trust and mutual commitment.
Mark distinguishes between two main investment categories: ‘paychecks’ and ‘playchecks.’ Paychecks are assets designed to generate reliable income flows, such as rental properties or dividend-paying investments. These vehicles form the backbone of multi-generational wealth and financial independence. Playchecks, on the other hand, are assets or funds meant for riskier ventures, spending, or charitable giving—essentially capital free from the obligation of supporting family or lifestyle needs. By balancing both types, individuals can enjoy financial freedom while pursuing growth opportunities.
At the core of Mark Murphy’s advice is the principle that people should carefully evaluate both investment partners and opportunities. Investors are not just putting money into projects; they are investing in people. Those raising money should demonstrate skin in the game, showcase a strong track record, and communicate how they protect and prioritize investor capital. When a sponsor personally invests significant funds into a deal alongside outside investors, it cultivates confidence and credibility.
Mark Murphy also stresses the importance of understanding investment risks. For experienced and high-net-worth investors, it’s important to consider questions like: “Can I afford to lose this investment without negatively impacting my lifestyle?” and “If a deal takes longer than expected, am I comfortable with the increased timeline?” The most successful investors approach every opportunity with these hard questions to safeguard their overall wealth and keep their long-term goals intact.
Building relationships that last through multiple deals is not simply a matter of offering high returns. It’s about delivering consistently, maintaining open lines of communication, and sometimes even having the discipline to return capital instead of funneling it into subpar investments. Savvy capital raisers avoid the trap of chasing deals for the sake of deploying funds; instead, they patiently wait for superior opportunities and act with integrity.
For those beginning their journey in private capital or syndications, Mark recommends collaboration and apprenticeship—partner with seasoned operators to gain experience until you develop the expertise to lead your own projects confidently. The right partnerships build reputation, instill best practices, and open doors to more significant opportunities.
Ultimately, cultivating wealth that endures starts with the right mindset. It’s a blend of emotional fitness, strategic thinking, careful due diligence, and ethical stewardship of resources. Those who master these foundational principles, much like the clients Mark advises, are positioned not just for personal prosperity but for a legacy that benefits generations to come.
10 Discussion Questions from this Episode:
- Mark Murphy introduces the concept of “emotional fitness” in wealth-building. How do emotions influence investment decisions, and what strategies might help investors make more rational choices?
- According to Jay Conner and Mark Murphy, many entrepreneurs don’t struggle with making money, but with keeping and protecting it. What habits or practices can help entrepreneurs turn income into lasting wealth?
- Mark Murphy discusses the importance of investing in oneself. How does self-investment pay off for entrepreneurs, especially those raising capital?
- The distinction between “paychecks” and “playchecks” was introduced in this episode. What do these terms mean, and why is it important to have both types of assets for financial freedom?
- When advising high-net-worth clients, Mark Murphy emphasizes trust in people over the details of a particular project. What qualities make a person or team trustworthy to potential investors?
- How do elite capital allocators and investors differ from the average investor in their approach to risk, deal evaluation, and preservation of capital?
- Mark Murphy mentions the need for those raising capital to have “skin in the game.” Why is it important for project sponsors to invest their own capital alongside their investors?
- Building generational wealth is a core theme in this conversation. What practical steps can someone raising private money take today to create long-term, multi-generational relationships with their investors?
- Both Jay Conner and Mark Murphy talk about happiness and fulfillment rather than just financial success. How should one balance the pursuit of wealth with a meaningful and joyful life?
- Mark Murphy outlines several non-negotiables for financial integrity, such as liquidity, tax minimization, and proper insurance. Which of these do you consider most overlooked or misunderstood by real estate investors, and why?
Fun facts that were revealed in the episode:
- Mark Murphy emphasizes the importance of emotional fitness and believes that investing decisions should be driven by rational thought rather than emotions—a principle he applies to both his clients’ wealth strategies and his own investment approach.
- When advising clients, Mark Murphy distinguishes between “paychecks” (reliable streams of income) and “playchecks” (funds that can be spent or given away without affecting family income), presenting a unique framework for building and preserving multigenerational wealth.
- Mark Murphy has a creative technique where he regularly lists what he would do in retirement and compares it to things he doesn’t like about his current work, aiming to shape his day-to-day activities so he’s always doing what he loves—making retirement unnecessary.
Timestamps:
00:01 Rational Decisions Over Emotional Choices
05:40 Investing in People, Not Projects
07:35 Investor Alignment and Accountability
10:25 Safe, Sustainable Investment Strategies
14:14 Partnering for Real Estate Success
17:28 Passion, Purpose, and Happiness
21:32 Serial Entrepreneurs Never Retire
24:12 Optimizing Wealth and Tax Strategy
26:44 Connect with Mark Murphy
https://www.NorthEastPrivate.com
27:16 Building Generational Wealth Principles
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Paychecks vs. Playchecks: Structuring Wealth for Financial Freedom with Mark Murphy
Jay Conner [00:00:01]:
Most entrepreneurs do not have an income problem. Actually, they have a decision problem. They make money, but they don’t keep it. They don’t protect it or turn it into something that really lasts, even perhaps to a legacy. So here’s the real question. How do you build wealth that works in every market, not just when things are easy? Well, welcome to Raising Private Money. I’m your host, Jay Conner. And today you’re going to hear from someone who doesn’t just talk theory, he actually engineers outcomes.
Jay Conner [00:00:36]:
My guest is Mark Murphy. He’s the CEO of Northeast Sequoia Private Client Group, and that’s where he helps entrepreneurs. He helps business owners and high-performing professionals build multi-generational wealth without relying on guesswork or hope. Now, Mark is known for combining financial engineering with something most advisors ignore, emotional fitness. Because money decisions are rarely logical. They’re most always emotional. And Mark’s been ranked by Forbes as one of the top financial security professionals in the country. He is the number one best-selling author and hosts the top-ranked podcast titled the Hero of the Hour.
Jay Conner [00:01:22]:
Today, here on the show, we’re breaking down how smart investors think about capital, think about risk, and wealth that actually lasts. Right after this, you’re going to meet my guest.
Narrator [00:01:34]:
If you’re a real estate investor and are wondering how to raise and leverage private money to make more profit on every deal, then you’re in the right place to raise private money. We’ll speak with new and seasoned investors to dissect their deals and extract the best tips and strategies to help you get the money. Because the money comes first. Now here’s your host, Jay Conner.
Jay Conner [00:02:02]:
Mark, welcome to the show.
Mark Murphy [00:02:04]:
Thanks so much, Jay. I’m so happy to be here live on Facebook.
Jay Conner [00:02:08]:
Well, I’m excited to have you. You’re going to be here on the podcast, Raising Private Money, and live on Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, and all of our different audiences. So I’m excited to have you on Mark. Let’s go ahead and dive in. Most entrepreneurs think that raising capital is about numbers. Now you talk, Mark, a lot about this phrase that you call emotional fitness. Here’s the question: What is emotional fitness? And how does emotional decision-making actually impact someone’s ability to attract and keep private money or investment capital?
Mark Murphy [00:02:46]:
Well, I think the number one job to me of what I do for a living, Jay, is you have to help people make not emotional decisions, but rational decisions. I think ultimately that’s why they put all those impulse items at the front of the cash register in those stores, and you buy stuff while you’re waiting Online to get to the cash register. And you buy that stuff, and you get it home and say, Well, why do I need it? And I think that the idea is that investing, and particularly real estate investing, can’t be emotional. It has to be. You have to be making thoughtful decisions. Because emotional decisions oftentimes are the wrong, wrong ones.
Jay Conner [00:03:23]:
I agree. Most people make decisions based on emotions, and then they try to justify it by logic, right?
Mark Murphy [00:03:31]:
Absolutely. One of the things is whether you’re raising. When you’re in anr audience with people who are either raising money or there are people that out there are just looking to deploy money in the real estate market, you know, I think ultimately the way to create multi generational wealth, and I’ll speak to the first audience, first, the people that are raising money on this, on this business. I’ve always said if you have $1 and only $1 to invest, the best place for entrepreneurs to invest that money is when they invest in themselves. So if your business is the real estate syndication business or something in that, you know, let’s call it the neighborhood, I would put all of my money there, not only in terms of my return on time, but my return on money in terms of investing in marketing or other things to get in front of people that are investors. And for the folks that are looking to deploy capital, I think there are really only two investment classes. Now, somebody who manages billions of dollars as I do knows there are dozens and dozens of classes. But we think for our purpose, there’s only really two.
Mark Murphy [00:04:35]:
And we call those paychecks and either free capital or playchecks. I think one of the ways to create real wealth, and in most cases, multi-generational wealth, is to be able to have a series of assets that give you a guaranteed or highly reliable stream of income to replace your income at your job or your business. And I’ll call those paychecks. But then I think you want another series of assets where you can spend it, you can save it, you can give it away, but the important thing is that it will not be responsible for producing income for your family. So if you have both paychecks and playchecks, that’s financial freedom.
Jay Conner [00:05:10]:
You know, I’ve had over 800 guests on raising private money. I’ve never had anybody actually identify those different types of paychecks. I love it. You advise high-net-worth individuals as part of what you do. And my question is, how is it that you advise them, and what is it they’re really looking for before they say yes to an investment? Beyond returns and spreadsheets.
Mark Murphy [00:05:40]:
I think generally in general, you start by not investing in the project. You’re investing in people and people that you trust. And I think particularly in real estate, you have to be cautious because it’s not a risk-free investment. If you want risk-free investments, you should buy treasury bills or CDs that are $250,000 or cash value life insurance or something that is a very, very, you know, you know, a very stable kind of asset. I think in real estate, you have to really understand what you’re investing in. You know, do you have, you know, and I think that, you know, it starts with are you in first position on the loan? Is it a mezzanine debt deal where you’re at the highest risk? You know, is it just a debt deal? Is it an equity deal? And I think part of it is that folks have to have people that they can trust. If they’re not savvy investors, of course, they have to be; I’m sure they have to be accredited investors. But assuming they’re not savvy real estate investors, I think they really need someone who can take them through not only who the people are, but what they’re trying to do with this project.
Mark Murphy [00:06:41]:
Because, you know, I’ve seen, as you probably have, Jay, I’ve seen some real estate deals that were, you know, very, very, very solid, relatively low-risk kinds of opportunities. And then I’ve seen some things that were very, very, very risky, like trying to find the needle in a haystack. And even with having said that, you also have the risk that when the market goes upside down, the market goes upside down. You know, leverage is only good on the upside, Jay, as we all know.
Jay Conner [00:07:08]:
So let me ask you this question, Mark. Let’s, let’s speak to the people who are looking to raise capital for their real estate dealer deals. How should someone like that, who’s looking to raise private money, think about protecting their investors or private lenders’ capital first? And what is that? How is it that that mindset unlocks more funding long term?
Mark Murphy [00:07:35]:
I mean, I think, I think, I mean, I think that anybody who takes money from people has to treat that money like it’s their own. You know, one of the things I like is, I like when, I like when those people that are raising capital are also putting their own capital side by side with their investors. You know, so the idea to me is that, you know, Jay, if you said to me, you know, I’d like you to put half a million dollars in my Next deal. And I knew you had a million dollars of your own capital in the deal. That’d be one thing that would make me feel good about it. The second thing is, I’d like to understand, and really get a good understanding of your track record. I’d like to understand how you’re, you know, what, what the project is, how much leverage you’re using in this deal. What, what is the investment? What’s the strategy as part, as part of that?
Mark Murphy [00:08:26]:
And, and, and, and I also want to know, you know, what you’ve done to, to, to guarantee that, that, that I’m going to get my money back. Maybe I don’t make a lot of money if the deal doesn’t go, go sideways, but do I at least get all? Or.
Jay Conner [00:08:42]:
Yes, I’m the same way. I started raising capital for real estate, my own real estate deals, all the way back in 2009. And as you alluded to, I treat that money that I get from my investors as though it is my own money that I’m putting in my deals. I never borrow unsecured money. We give all of our lenders deeds of trust and mortgages on the real estate, so that they’re totally protected. Now you work with entrepreneurs, you work with athletes, you work with hedge fund managers. My question is, what is it that separates the way you advise or the way these elite capital investors evaluate deals, versus, say, maybe the average investor evaluates deals?
Mark Murphy [00:09:39]:
First of all, I think you surrender. It’s who you surround yourself with. Meaning our chief investment officer here. And by the way, we do not. I invest heavily in private equity and real estate deals. I only invest our clients’ money in public deals. We’re not recommending private transactions as a registered investment advisor, but I do think that somebody who probably invests almost every month in real estate myself is. I’m always looking for, you know, I’m always looking for, for myself at this point, a lot of people are looking for flips where they’re looking to make money on their money and send it back, you know, a year or two or three or four later.
Mark Murphy [00:10:25]:
At this point in my life, I’m looking for recurring revenue. And so the idea is I love rental deals, and I love deals where not only will I get a stream of income on my money going back, but getting that money in almost perpetuity is something that’s very, very attractive to me. And so I think it’s also very, very different for each person. I also think that when you put your money at risk in real estate. I think you also have to ask the following questions that we ask our clients all the time is we will ask them the following, we’ll ask them, you know, if you put this money and the deal goes to zero, does that affect your lifestyle? Do you still keep your house? Do you still keep your kids in school? Do your retirement goals change if you lose this money? Can you afford to lose it? If the answer to that is yes, then they can at least go to the next step of evaluation. The other kind of question you also ask them is, They said it’s a five-year deal. Well, if that deal, you know, goes sideways, and it turns into a 10-year deal or a 20-year deal, is that going to be okay as well? And I think that the idea is, I think that there are too many people who are, you know, where they turn to the end, and they’re putting money that is at risk when, re that when and then when they think it’s not at risk. And I think that, you know, ultimately that’s why, that’s why I think the government gave us accredited investors.
Mark Murphy [00:11:48]:
But I think for our clients, it’s really people that they’re investing with money they can afford to lose.
Jay Conner [00:11:54]:
That certainly makes sense. One thing that I read about your core values and your background, and you just got a lot of great stuff going on, and you got a great reputation mark in the marketplace. One thing that you emphasize is building wealth that lasts for generations, generational wealth. With that in mind, how would you advise someone who’s looking to raise capital to structure their relationships today so that their investors or their private lenders stay with them, deal after deal after deal?
Mark Murphy [00:12:32]:
Well, I mean, I don’t think it hurts to have a successful, to have a successful deal, the first deal or two. I mean, I think that people want to be around people who are very, very successful. And I think that one of the things I worry about with people that whoraising money is the ones that are too successful in raising money. I worry that they have capital to deploy, but not enough great projects to deploy. And so one of the things that I do appreciate is investing with people who are not what I’ll call not pigs about it or houses or whatever you want to call it, where they say I’ve got all this money, I’ve got to deploy it, that they’ll either return that money or they’ll keep it in cash and wait for a great deal to come. I always appreciate that, as opposed to I’m Sittsittingall this capital, people are expecting me to put it to work. I got to put it to work now, even if I don’t have great deals. And I think that that’s why you have to know who you’re investing with and trust the people you’re with.
Jay Conner [00:13:30]:
That makes sense. A lot of operators, real estate investors, what I have observed is that they’re looking to raise capital for their real estate deals. They’re chasing the capital. And you’re going to know what I mean by this. They’re chasing the capital instead of first becoming, quote, unquote, investable. And you know what I mean by that. With that, what would you say are the key traits or characteristics that you would see in someone that people who want to invest their money or loan their money would be seeking to loan their money to or invest their money with?
Mark Murphy [00:14:14]:
I think that if you don’t have the real estate or you don’t have the expertise in the business, you’ve got to partner with somebody, especially in the beginning. And I’ve seen a lot of our clients who are in the money-raising or real estate business. They started outm not saying as apprentices, but we’ve had a group of folks that could raise capital and had access to capital, but they didn’t have the expertise to run the projects. I think what they did is they partnered with one or more different groups and really almost went to school until they got to a place where they felt confident that they would not only put all of their money at work, but all their friends and families and all of their customers’ money at work and do it with confidence. And I think the idea is that it’s almost like the joke always is when every dentist gets into the real estate business, you know, that’s the time to get out. When everybody becomes a real estate developer or a fundraiser of money, I think, you know, that’s a sure sign of the apocalypse.
Jay Conner [00:15:16]:
I couldn’t have said it better. Now let’s zero in on you. Mark your day-to-day activities, your clients. First of all, how would you describe the ideal client that you like to work with?
Mark Murphy [00:15:33]:
I’m general. Well, I put it this way, Jay. I like to do three things every day. I want to help as many people as I can. I want to create as much wealth and abundance in the world as possible. And I just want to have fun working with high-integrity people. So that’s what I want to do every day. So I’m generally working with people who are big thinkers who, to reciprocate, thatwhoreciate our expertise, that are loyal, you know, and I probably go through, you know, a half a dozen other things of the, of our ideal clients, of how we like to work with people.
Mark Murphy [00:16:03]:
But I think the, the idea is, is that, you know, I don’t think I’ve ever worked a day in my life. And so if I can, if I could do the first three things I, the three things I said, that doesn’t seem like work, that sounds like not a day at the office. That’s, that’s a day of joy for me.
Jay Conner [00:16:19]:
Well, you know, Mark, admittedly and candidly and totally trans and totally transparent, I have come to the age of my life where sometimes every once in a while, someone will say, well, Jay, are you thinking about retirement? You know, are you thinking about slowing down? And my answer is, what in the world are you talking about Retirement? I mean, what, what’s the definition of retirement? I mean, what, what do you want me to do? I don’t play golf. You want me to sit at home on the sofa and eat Cheetos? I mean, I can only handle so many hours of Fox News and Fox and Friends, you know, and what you just. And the reason I’m sharing this is because of what you just said. Never worked a day in my life. Well, mine’s a little bit different. I worked in the corporate world until I was 43 years old. I’m 65 now. And when I turned 43 years old, I found myself having the opportunity to be an entrepreneur all the way.
Jay Conner [00:17:28]:
And so since that time, like you, Mark, I don’t, I don’t go to, I do go to work. In fact, as it goes, I’m probably working harder today than I ever have before in my life. But as you said, I don’t think of it as work. They say, well, I mean, this is just what I do. I’ve reached a point in my life where it’s all about serving, having a servant’s heart, and making an impact. And, you know, when, when, when you’re doing what you want to do, it just doesn’t get any happier than that. I’ve been a guest on over 800 podcasts as well. And they’ll ask me, they’ll say, Jay, if you could go back and change anything or, you know, advise that, you know, 21-year-old self, what would it be? My answer is always the same.
Jay Conner [00:18:15]:
If you’re not happy doing what you’re doing, then fix it. Life’s too short. I love that, you know, so you’re, what would you say is your, what sets you apart from other people that do what you do?
Mark Murphy [00:18:32]:
One of the things that I did is when you have a, I’m an NFL registered player financial advisor, and many of our NFL clients have non-guaranteed contracts. The average career lasts three and a half years. Most people in either the corporate or the entrepreneurial world have their careers last 20, 30, 40, or sometimes even 50 years. And I think there’s almost no reason why people who are willing to take our advice can’t create not only multi-generational wealth, but a life by design. And what I mean by life by design is I just watched over the Christmas holidays, It’s a Wonderful Life, one of my favorite movies.
Jay Conner [00:19:06]:
I watch it every year.
Mark Murphy [00:19:08]:
I think everybody would agree that Mr. Potter had multi-generational wealth, but nobody wants to be Mr. Potter. You know, if your wife or spouse hates you, if your kids are miserable, if you’re miserable, if you don’t have your health, who cares how much money you have? And so one of the things, in fact, I’ve got a fourth book coming out next year that I’m just finishing. I’m working with one of the senior writers at Sports Illustrated. Ryan Phillips and I are co-writing it. It’s about creating multi-generational wealth and a life by design. But I’ve put together a financial integrity scorecard of the 10 things that you need to know about to be able to create multi-generational wealth.
Mark Murphy [00:19:45]:
And, I score them. I score those 10 things like one being red, you know, five or six being kind of yellowish, and 10 being green or optimal, almost like a traffic light in trying to continue, because there’s no such thing as perfect. But getting those 10 financial integrity scorecards and items to attend, and I think if you can get those, you know, if you can even get a score of 70 or 75 or 80, you’ve got a heck of a good shot of creating a multigenerational and a life by design.
Jay Conner [00:20:15]:
So what’s the name of the book and when’s it coming out?
Mark Murphy [00:20:18]:
Well, we’re just finishing it right now. We’ve just got the first draft done. We had our, you know, our third book was, you know, number one on Amazon last year, and I think it’s going to come out this year. I’m not sure when it’ll be published. I think I guess that it probably comes out sometime in the third or fourth quarter.
Jay Conner [00:20:34]:
Okay.
Mark Murphy [00:20:35]:
It takes, it takes longer to write a real book than it does. Than it did. I get through all the publishing and all the edits and all the compliance.
Jay Conner [00:20:42]:
Hey, look, you’re not kidding. My national bestseller, Where to Get the Money Now, took me three years. I mean, these companies, these companies that come along and say, oh, you can write your book, you know, in a weekend, or you can hire a ghostwriter to write it. Real books, real books take a long time.
Mark Murphy [00:21:03]:
Yeah. You know, the other thing I find for a guy who writes books for a living, you know what? It’s so interesting. People sometimes have read one of the books I’ve written. Years ago, my first book was on mergers and acquisitions. This last book, the Ultimate Investment, was there. It’s so funny, sometimes when the book comes out,t and people talk to you about what you’re writing with a book, you’re almost caught back for a minute. They take you back. Because that was my thought process four or five years ago, and it’s evolved since then.
Mark Murphy [00:21:32]:
And I’m thinking about something at a whole new level, you know, and the other thing you also, I have to point out is something you had said about where you’re going to retire? You can stop what you’re doing, but you can’t change who you are. So I think, excuse me, I’m going to sneeze, excuse me for guys like us who are serial entrepreneurs, your mind has to be in creation and fascination mod,e or we’re miserable. And so I, you know, I don’t ever see retiring either. I. I just, you know, I may be doing some things differently. I may be. You know, the trick that I’ve always used, Jay, is about every six months or so, I get a piece of paper, and I put a line down the middle and a T at the top.
Mark Murphy [00:22:14]:
And I’ve been doing this for about 25 years. I write on the left side, all the things I’d be doing in retirement, I’m not doing. And on the right side, I write everything I hate about my business, and I try to add something to the left side to get rid of something on the right side. With the. With the theory beingthat if you’re doing all the things you want to do and not doing the things you don’t want to do, who retires from that? Why don’t you retire today? And. And that’s. That’s been my mantra for 25 years.
Jay Conner [00:22:41]:
Yeah. When I’m a guest on podcasts, every once in a while, they’ll ask me to say, Jay, what’s your definition of success? I say, that’s easy. What’s your level of happiness? I mean, success to me has got nothing to do with how much is in your checking account. Because I have got a lot of friends who have had multiple. Millions and millions of dollars in their checking account, and they’re miserable. Miserable. Right.
Mark Murphy [00:23:09]:
Well, it says it is doing what you want to do, when you want to do it, with whom you want to.
Jay Conner [00:23:13]:
Do it for as longas you want to do it.
Mark Murphy [00:23:16]:
Exactly. There’s. I don’t think there’s a perfect answer for any of that, but I think, I think the idea is that, ultimately, you know, it goes back to. And I know your show is primarily about real estate, and I think real estate is one of the most important asset classes out there. You know, I believe that, you know, that clearly. Clearly is. But, but I think ultimately there’s only. You’ve got to break it down even more simply.
Mark Murphy [00:23:42]:
It’s. TThere areonly three things you could do with your money. You could save it, you can pay your bills, or you could spend it like a drunken sailor. And if you don’t, if you don’t save first, no matter how much money you make, there’ll never be any money to save. It’s about, it’s about focus, it’s about discipline. And, the other thing that I think is a pet peeve of mine is that you have to pay yourself first, which is number one. I think number two, though, isthat it’s about liquidity too. Sometimes I’ll even see Jay guys with incredible balance sheets, but they couldn’t write a check for $3.
Mark Murphy [00:24:12]:
It’s all in illiquid assets. And I think that unfortunately, in life therthere areortunities and there are emergencies, and cash becomes king at both of those times. And I think people are still wondering, well, in cash. And then I think people also, they don’t look at a few other things. How do you minimize taxes? You know, how do you create it? Create an alpha tax strategy? You know, so many people are just paying maximum income tax, maximum sales, that maximum tax of all kind, which, you know, I’m not saying you want to do anything that’s not legal, moral and ethical, but there’s a lot of things in the code, particularly around real estate and other items that allow you to legally pay less tax. And then, I think, you know, you on top of that is, you know, it’s also about, you know, global debt restructure. It’s about liability protection. You know, don’t tell me you don’t have any life insurance or disability insurance.
Mark Murphy [00:25:05]:
Or your companies aren’t in separate LLCs. Don’t tell me you don’t have any, you know, medical insurance, or you know, or you’re not insured, your properties properly, etc. Etc. I hate when people discover how little their property and casualty insurance is when there’s an earthquake,r a fire,urricane, or a flood, and that’s the time they discover they don’t have the right insurance. So I think there’s a lot more to it than just I’m going to put my money in this project or I’m going to raise money, and it’s there. There are a lot of things you have to do to really be a professional in this world.
Jay Conner [00:25:38]:
Absolutely. Mark, what would you invite my audience to do?
Mark Murphy [00:25:45]:
Well, first of all, I’d invite them to have their very best life. The idea to me is that at this point in my life, as I said, the first thing I want to do is help as many people as I can. So I would welcome the opportunity to help any one of your listeners who would love to chat. But I think the second thing is, regardless of whether we don’t get a chance, I just want to wish you and your family that 2026 is the best year of your life. Life is a series of S curves, and I hope that this S curve that you’re on currently is the very, very best that life can bring to you and all the people you care about.
Jay Conner [00:26:24]:
What’s the best way for folks to reach out to you? Mark, I know we have accredited investors, high net worth individuals tuning in to the show, and they might like to have a conversation with you about how you might help them build that generational wealth in a much better way than they have been. What’s the best way to contact you?
Mark Murphy [00:26:44]:
Well, I think I’ll give you our corporate phone number. It’s area code 973-422-9140, or you can reach me at Mark Murphy, Mark with a K. Markmurphy@northeast private.com awe, some.
Jay Conner [00:27:00]:
That’ll all be in the show notes. Mark, thank you so much for inviting me to join you here on the show. It’s been, it’s been. Thank you for inviting me to come along, Mark. I really enjoyed being on your show, you know. Thank you so much, Mark. Thank you.
Mark Murphy [00:27:14]:
Thanks, Jay. Appreciate it.
Jay Conner [00:27:16]:
If this episode, my friend, has changed the way you think about money or chanchanged way you think about capital or trust or building multi-generational wealth, then don’t let it stop right here. What my guest Mark Murphy shared today is not theory. You could tell that it’s how serious investors think when they’re building wealth that actually lasts. And it’s the difference between chasing money and actually attracting it. So if you know someone thatwho’ssing private money, wants to raise private money, is looking to deploy some money, or someone that’s about to lose years learning all this stuff the hard way, do them a favor and share this episode with them. And if you want to have more conversations like this, like share, subscribe, you’re watching on YouTube. Click that bell. Be sure to follow me.
Jay Conner [00:28:04]:
Real operators, real strategies, real capital. Make sure you follow Raising Private Money so you never miss another episode. I’m Jay Conner. I’ll see you right here on the next episode of Raising Private Money.
Narrator [00:28:20]:
Are you feeling inspired by the knowledge you gained in this episode? Then head over to www.JayConner.com/MoneyGuide and download your free guide that shares seven reasons why private money will skyrocket your real estate investing business right now. Again, that’s www.JayConner.com/MoneyGuide to get your free guide. We’ll see you next time on Raising Private Money with Jay Conner.