Why I’m Not Leaving California | Responding To Comments

What's up you guys, it's Graham here. So the other day I posted in the YouTube community tab, but only a few people even know it exists. In there, I asked you to post the most interesting questions that you wanted me to answer.

Now, initially, I was planning to post this video on my second channel, The Graham Steffen Show. But after spending my entire morning reading through over 1,200 of your comments, I realized this is way too good of a video not to post here for everyone to see. So without further ado, these are the most asked questions you have for me, without anything being held back.

For anyone who wants all the timestamps for the questions that I go over, all of that is gonna be down below in the description. So you could skip around this video exactly as you want.

With that said, we're gonna be starting off with a question by Devin. He asks, "If you only had $1000 to your name, what are some of the steps you would take to gain the wealth you have today?"

Well, to be honest, I didn't have much more than that when I started out. In high school, I was working part-time at a marine aquarium wholesaler, and over time I was able to save up a few thousand dollars. Then when I turned 18 years old, I used some of that money to go and get my real estate license. I think in total I spent about five hundred dollars applying for my real estate license, and then another thousand dollars paying for business cards, errors and omissions insurance, and joining the local Realtors Association.

So really, in a way, it was that small investment that led me to make over three million dollars in gross commissions as a real estate agent throughout my entire career. Then on top of that, by living frugally and investing everything I could, I was able to kickstart my entire financial future really early on. So if I were to start all over again from the very beginning, I really wouldn't change a thing, and I would go the exact same route.

I just think it's important to recognize that if you have a thousand dollars to your name right now and you want to be wealthy, your best shot is putting that money towards a business or a career that pays you based off your results, not off your time. This allows your income to grow exponentially more than almost anywhere else, and that would be the first step that I would take in order to recreate what I built today.

Next, Financial Charles asks, "How often do you sit back and relax and just enjoy your existence?" Well admittedly, not enough, and this is something I absolutely recognize and I'm working on. It just seems like a lot of the time my mind is in a constant state of overdrive, and I'm constantly thinking of new ideas and new concepts and just ways that I can improve everything around me.

Maybe it's just the way my mind is wired, but if I sit idle for too long without doing something, I just get antsy and I want to get up and be productive. This doesn't make it very difficult for me to just sit back and settle and like ease into something and zone out for a little bit, but I'm working to improve this, and I realize I should not always be in overdrive work mode 24/7 without stopping. So again, definitely, this is an area that I acknowledge, and I'm definitely getting better at.

Next, Rodney Prac asks, "What are your insecurities, and did your wealth change them?" This is probably way more personal than I ever intended on going with this, but let's do it. I used to be self-conscious about my height. I mean, it's no surprise I’m not the tallest guy out there, and when I was younger, it definitely bothered me. It took a lot of self-reflection and acceptance for me to realize that someone's height makes absolutely no difference whatsoever, and hanging on to this belief that my height mattered was really just holding me back.

Now I could confidently say that I'm not bothered by it whatsoever, and if anything, now it works in my favor because I'm afraid of heights. And also, now that we're going down the path of insecurities, I've also been self-conscious about my hair. Male pattern baldness runs in my family, and as much as I look up to people like Dave Ramsey, Joe Rogan, Dr. Phil, and Kevin O'Leary, who all rocked the shaved head look, I would rather keep my head of hair as long as I can. But if one day I end up looking like Dave Ramsey, just don't be surprised.

As far as whether or not wealth changes your insecurities, I'll be the first to tell you no, it does not. You know the saying, "Wherever you go, there you are"? Well, the same applies to your insecurities. If you're insecure without having money, you're gonna be just as insecure with money. Money is not gonna mask how you feel about yourself; it's not a quick fix. You're really gonna need to work on how you feel about yourself as a person if you want to become more confident.

Next, we have a question by Matt Mulvihill: "Can you get my channel a shout-out?" Sure, why not? Shout-out to Matt Mulvihill!

So next we got RG: "Will you ever stop posting YouTube videos?" That is a really good question, and as of now, I have no intention of stopping. I've really enjoyed the creative expression that YouTube has allowed me to do. I'm sure one day I'll probably scale back on videos and maybe focus on other endeavors, or there might be a point where I feel comfortable taking a break for a few weeks or a few months to go and do something else or travel or whatever comes to mind.

But it's really hard for me to conceptualize any reality in which I'm not involved in YouTube in some capacity or another because this to me really feels like home, and everyone watching is like a bit of my extended family in some weird way or another. So I highly doubt that ever is something I'd want to give up entirely, and I plan to make YouTube videos as long as I possibly can.

Next, we have one by Theater Collins, who writes, "Grin, should I smash the like button for the YouTube algorithm?" Absolutely! And that reminds me, if you've not already smashed the like button for the YouTube algorithm, make sure to do that.

Okay, now we got one by Blop Blop: "How much do you earn from investments?" Most of my money is in real estate. So how much I earn is a combination of rental property cash flow, mortgage equity, and also property appreciation.

So if we go and break this down, once my currently under-construction unit gets rented out, I'll be making about sixty-two hundred dollars a month in net rental cash flow after all of my expenses. Now, in the process, I also paid on my mortgages at a rate of two thousand eight hundred and fifty dollars a month. If I were to guess, I would say that property values have gone up about three percent over last year above inflation, which works out to be another one hundred and twenty thousand dollars.

So if we go and add all of that up, that works out to be two hundred and twenty-eight thousand six hundred dollars a year from my property investments. But keep in mind that about half of that is property appreciation, which you can't really do much with unless I sell it or do a cash-out refinance. So without including that, we'll call it one hundred and eight thousand six hundred dollars a year.

Then on top of that, I've seen about forty thousand dollars worth of stock market appreciation over the last year through a combination of Tesla and index funds. But again, a lot of this value, besides the rental property cash flow, will fluctuate as the markets go up or down. So we'll look back at this video a year from now and see how all of us did.

Next, John Smith asks, "Has being a millionaire increased your overall happiness?" That's a great question, and the answer to this is a little bit of a yes and also a little bit of a no. Money has not directly made me more happy.

I think if I went into this with the expectation that money was gonna solve all of my problems and worries, I would be greatly disappointed. However, money has allowed me to focus on the things that I find internally fulfilling and allowed me to focus on a career that I find very rewarding.

Like, I get to wake up every single morning feeling creatively challenged and feel like I have a voice in this world and feel like I have a purpose and feel like I'm making a difference. I have a whole bunch of people who support everything that I'm doing. So because of that, and because I feel like I'm making a positive difference in everyone's lives, I really feel happy from that.

I also have an amazingly supportive girlfriend and also a very feisty cat, and every morning I wake up is just a blank slate to work from. So really from that perspective, I'm very happy, and I have so much to be thankful for. But I think if you took all the money away, as long as I was able to work on something that I find personally fulfilling and I have the same people in my life as I do now, I would be just as happy.

For me, I think part of my happiness is figuring out who I am, working on building an inner self-confidence, and not being afraid to put myself out there. That has given me way more happiness than money could ever give.

So next, we've got one from S Miniature E: "Do you ever feel that you will run out of ideas soon for videos?" Yes, all the time. This is something I constantly struggle with. It takes a lot of creative thinking to not only find a topic that I find interesting and want to talk about but also preferably something that I have not talked about before on the channel that people actually want to listen to, that isn't too niche, that's also educational, and also a bit catchy, so people will actually want to click on it.

It also does not help that the basics of investing are really simple, and when you get down to it, these strategies don't change over time. So most of my videos on the topics of like how to invest ten thousand dollars will be the exact same today as they will ten years from now.

But the problem here is that very few people ever go back to watch my old videos. They want new videos that are updated with new information with today's date. But then the problem I have is that once people watch too many of my videos, they start complaining that it's too repetitive. Because really, at its core, investing is just about doing the same things consistently over and over and over again, and that's it.

So I try to spice things up as much as I can. I do my best to come up with three different topics every single week without missing a beat. If there's anything else you want to see that I haven't already done, feel free to comment down below, let me know. As usual, I read almost every single one of the comments.

Next we got one by Randy Vasquez, who asks, "Will you relocate outside of LA to save more money?" Yeah, so it's not surprising this is one of the most asked and requested questions I've gotten so far, and a lot of this really began when I posted my video on how much I’m paying taxes on $163,800 per month in income.

Now for those who are not aware, California, where I live, is a very expensive place to reside in because the state income tax is pretty high. It could be as high as 13.3%. For me in 2019, that means I’ll be spending about a hundred and fifty thousand dollars just in state income tax that goes to the state of California just because this is where I live.

So that means if I picked up and moved to a no income tax state like Nevada, Texas, Florida, Washington, Alaska, or Wyoming, I would save a lot of money. Now I'm not gonna lie, it's definitely crossed my mind to want to move to Nevada to save a lot of money on taxes. I think beyond a certain point, it might actually be worth it.

But I also have to consider that I grew up in Los Angeles, and my family lives in Los Angeles, and most of my friends are here, and my girlfriend and her family are here. I also have a very supportive real estate group that I see a few times a week, and I'm not sure if I'm willing to give all of that up just for the sake of saving money.

After all, I do my best work and feel the most creative when I'm happy, and if I pick up and move somewhere else, I think I'm risking isolating myself just for the sake of saving more. You know, that's not to say that Los Angeles is perfect, because it's far from it. I can't stand the traffic; I think the city is in a financial mess.

But I think in its defense you have such a great diverse entrepreneurial sense of community here; the weather is absolutely amazing, and to me it just feels a bit like home. I might look into relocating and getting a second home at some point in the future, maybe in Las Vegas or the Lake Tahoe side of Nevada, but right now as it is today, I'm pretty happy here.

Next, we got one by DSH Whitey: "Why don't you just retire with your expenses at only $2,200 a month and six million in real estate? You can easily do this." Well, to be honest, I just enjoy working. Of course, I do love the idea of like relaxing on a beach somewhere and like getting back into shape a little bit more and doing nothing and just taking it easy and relaxing.

But I know myself, and I would just go stir crazy after too long of doing that, and I would just want to get back to work. Eventually, though, I plan to scale back on my workload a bit and start pursuing more of my hobbies on the side. But I highly doubt I would ever formally retire and just do nothing. I just find it too much fun to work, and I would be doing this regardless of how much money I have.

You know the saying, "Do what you love and you'll never have to work a day in your life"? Well, this certainly applies to what I've been doing.

Next, we got one by James Fitzsimmons, who asks, "Any new income streams or interest in starting up for yourself in the next year?" Yes, actually I’m planning to invest more in real estate, and because Southern California is just getting increasingly difficult to find a good deal that cash flows at a fair price, I'm starting to look and consider buying another property out-of-state.

Nothing is set in stone, of course, I'm just looking. But I'll certainly keep you posted with whatever I decide on. In addition to that, I've also started up a weekly mentorship program, which I guess now is the perfect time to announce that I have a new mentorship program. Link down below in the description!

It's just a small group of people, including myself, and we meet every single week to discuss any questions you have or go over anything you want to work on. I really want it to be as close as I could get to personally mentoring someone without being in the same room with them. So if that sounds good to you, feel free to check it out down below in the description.

And just because I'm afraid of this group getting too big and too overwhelming for me to handle, I'm only gonna take 20 new people at a time. So just a heads up for anyone who does want to join. But besides that, those are the income streams that I'm looking to expand this year. I'm thinking more real estate investing might actually be really promising out of state, and even though I've never done anything like this before, I'm thinking it'll be a really educational endeavor, and I could finally invest beyond where I live.

Next, we got one by Outfield234: "Do you have any regrets or missed opportunities?" You know, I really try my best not to live my life with any regret, and I truly believe in the mindset that everything happens for a reason. But there are a few things I wonder about and where my life would be right now if I ended up taking a different path.

One of them was in high school. I played drums in a rock ska funk band. Now, I wouldn’t say we were groundbreaking by any means, but we played about a dozen gigs throughout the Sunset Strip. We actually got our music played in the background of several TV shows and a few indie movies, and we came in second place in a statewide battle of the bands for high schoolers.

The first place actually ended up getting a record deal, and we got an offer when I was in my senior year of high school to go on tour with another band and open up for them for two months during the summer. The whole trip had to be paid by us completely out of pocket, and my end of that was gonna be $5,000, money of which I did not have. At the same time, that would require me to turn down this entry-level investment firm job that I had lined up as I was finishing up high school.

So after thinking about it, with me not having all the money to go and do this and me not wanting to spend everything that I had saved up so far and then borrow money on top of that, I ended up turning it down, and no one ended up going on tour. The band ended up falling apart afterward.

Being completely serious here, looking back, I really regret not doing that and not going. I was really nervous about the prospect of being a musician and whether or not I would be able to support myself financially by playing the drums, unless of course the band blew up to like mega success levels—like if we could become like a Sublime or like a Red Hot Chili Peppers or like an UpLink 182 or an Incubus or like anything like this where they made it.

But there are so many bands out there, and I felt like did we really have what it takes to do that? And really, as much as I love music and as much as I love playing the drums, I don’t think at that time I was ready for that level of commitment. Now, I wish things could have been different. I see it as like that was my chance; I let it go. But at least on the bright side, here I am making YouTube videos.

But I always wonder to myself in a parallel universe what would have happened if I had said yes to that and we went on tour. I am so curious as to where I would be today, and I constantly think about that. If I have any regret in my life where I wish I could go back and do it differently, I think that would have been the singular moment of my life where I could have really gone in two entirely different directions, and I went right. The other option was left in pursuing music.

Well, like I said, fortunately, I'm very happy where I turned out today, and life goes on, but I'm just curious what would have happened.

Anyway, on a more serious note here, Edward Ray says, "Do you think the penny should be abolished?" And I say absolutely. You know, the penny costs 1.8 cents just to make, so already right off the bat we're losing money by making the penny. It's a complete waste of money, and why they still even produce it is beyond me.

Like we should take a cue from Canada, who decided to go without the penny and just round everything up to the nearest five cents, and I think that's the way to do it. Really, with most payment moving towards digital or being electronic, it just doesn't make sense to manufacture the penny anymore. But anyway, that's just my take on it, and if I ever run for president one day, that is gonna be my first task in office: we're gonna get rid of the penny.

And now, last question for the video: AJRX asks, "What is the fastest way to double $5,000?" Well, since you asked about the fastest way to double your money, it's probably going to Vegas and going to the baccarat table and then betting it on banker.

Otherwise, if you don't want to risk potentially losing all of your money, you could look into flipping items—like going on Craigslist, finding something that you could buy for $5,000 that you can later resell for $7,000, then buying something for $7,000 that you could resell for $10,000, and then continue doing that and then building up your investment.

Or you could potentially use that $5,000 as a down payment on an inexpensive property and pretty quickly double your money if you get a good enough deal—buying it, then fixing it up or renting it out afterward.

And of course, smashing the like button for the YouTube algorithm!

So there you have it, that's my first attempt at doing a QA, and I hope you guys enjoyed it. Seriously, if you liked this video and you like this style and you want me to do more like it, just comment down below. Like I said, I pretty much read all of the comments, even if I don't reply.

This is gonna be a whole bunch of people saying like, "Did you see my comment, Graham? Did you see mine? But are you gonna respond?" I just—I get so many of those. I can't respond to everybody, but trust me, I do read like 99.9% of the comments you guys.

So anyway, if you guys enjoy videos like this, just let me know down below. With that said, you guys, thank you so much for watching. I really appreciate it, as always. If you have not already subscribed, make sure to destroy the subscribe button and notification bell.

Also, feel free to add me on Instagram. I post pretty much daily, so if you want to be a part of it there, feel free to add me there. My second channel, The Graham Steffen Show, I post there every single day I'm not posting here. So if you want to see a brand new video from me every single day, make sure to add yourself to that.

Lastly, if you guys want free stocks, use the link down below in the description, and the free stock trading app WeBull will give you two free stocks if you deposit $100 on the platform, with one of the stocks being valued up to $1,400. So if you want a chance to get a stock valued up to a lot of money, just feel free to use that link down below, deposit $100, and let me know what two free stocks you get.

Thank you so much for watching, and until next time!