Smart Investing Strategies for 2025

So let’s be clear about what it takes to achieve personal success in your finances and investments:

Tactics without a framework are just noise.

You might win here or there, but without a plan, you’re playing roulette with your future. The first question you need to ask is:

What kind of life do you want to build? And how can your capital support that vision, not just in returns, but in measurable freedom?

Let’s Start with the One Asset You Control Completely: Yourself

You are your first and most important asset.

Sure, academic degrees and licenses matter. But the greatest leverage I’ve gained came from investing in coaching, mentorship, and peer groups that challenged my thinking and raised my standards.

These weren’t just educational experiences—they were transformative.

Alignment is key. It’s not just about learning from someone successful. I look for mentors who share my values and have walked a path I respect. That’s where real growth happens.

Capital Is Best Deployed Where You Have Proximity

Proximity to your investment reduces risk and increases control. It’s why starting with your own business makes so much sense.

When I was a kid, I ran a lawn mowing service and a newspaper route. I controlled my tools, my schedule, and my pricing. I was close to the source of income.

That closeness never lost its value. As I built a dental practice and later a real estate portfolio, I kept my hands on the wheel. That involvement yielded strong, sustainable returns, sometimes in the 20–30% range when factoring in all the benefits.

Today, I’ve transitioned to a more passive role—but only after years of disciplined, hands-on building in my own businesses.

The Exit Isn't the End—It's the Shift to Stewardship

When I left my clinical practice to care for my daughter during her illness, I didn’t do it on a whim. I had prepared. I’d built capital outside the practice, through real estate and alternative investments.

I had a Plan B and it gave me options when life threw a curveball.

That’s the true goal of investing: creating enough freedom that your next chapter isn’t dictated by necessity, but by choice.

The Illusion of Market Control

Let’s be honest: traditional market investments don’t give you much control. Stocks, mutual funds, annuities—they have their place, but you’re just riding the market. When it goes up, great. When it goes down, you’re along for the slide.

Contrast that with tangible investments—businesses, real estate, private lending—where you can understand the mechanics and make informed decisions. Control equals confidence.

Wealth Isn’t a Number—It’s Income and Optionality

This is where most people get it wrong. They chase some arbitrary number: “I need $10 million to retire.”

Do you?

What matters is: How much dependable income can your assets produce? What’s the quality and quantity of that income? Can it support your lifestyle, your goals, your legacy?

Wealth is not about accumulation—it’s about utility. Your equity isn’t valuable because of what a website or advisor says—it’s valuable if it funds your freedom.

Navigating a New Market Season

We’re no longer in the post-2008 expansion. Interest rates are higher, and leverage is riskier. Anyone promising yesterday’s returns today is likely assuming far more risk than they let on.

This is the time for discipline and discernment. It’s okay to de-risk, to move down the risk curve and wait for better opportunities. Patience today buys flexibility tomorrow.

Don’t chase. Position. Be ready for the opportunities.

Investing Forward: Are You Building Freedom or Just Chasing Yield?

There’s a time to build aggressively, a time to optimize, and a time to steward wisely. The further you go on this journey, the more important it becomes to ask:

• – Do I understand where my money is going?
• – Do I trust the people operating the investments?
• – Is this investment moving me closer to freedom—or just promising bigger – returns?

At Freedom Founders, we call it stewardship capital. You don’t just deploy it—you shepherd it. 

Because ultimately, the goal is not the number in your account—it’s the life your capital can unlock.

The key isn’t more tactics. It’s a better plan. And it starts with how and where you see yourself, your time, and your freedom.

Once you know where you’re going, the question becomes: How can I get there? And, how can I get there faster?

That’s where the tactics and strategies come in to build a plan. Once you know where you’re going with certainty.

If you want to nail down with certainty where you’re going, with a proven plan, and proven strategies to get there… I am hosting a virtual Masterclass starting next week. I'd love to have you join me.

Learn more here: Freedomfounders.com/Masterclass