March 16, 2026

Physical vs Digital Assets: What Actually Holds Value? | with Maurice Shabazz

Physical vs Digital Assets: What Actually Holds Value? | with Maurice Shabazz
Apple Podcasts podcast player iconSpotify podcast player iconRSS Feed podcast player icon
Apple Podcasts podcast player iconSpotify podcast player iconRSS Feed podcast player icon
Season 1

Darrin and Maurice Shabazz debate the pros and cons of physical and digital assets. From real estate and tangible investments to cryptocurrency and digital businesses, the two financial experts break down how each asset type generates value and why diversification may be the smartest strategy for building wealth


WEBVTT

00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.240
And listeners, I want you to think about this.

00:00:03.120 --> 00:00:06.160
Think of all the most expensive things, period.

00:00:07.120 --> 00:00:08.400
They're all physical.

00:00:09.759 --> 00:00:12.400
Think of all the luxury things in life you want.

00:00:12.720 --> 00:00:14.320
They're probably all physical.

00:00:14.800 --> 00:00:22.160
No one's over here going, I want this digital only thing that costs a quarter million dollars.

00:00:22.480 --> 00:00:28.239
I want this digital only thing that costs a million dollars, five million dollars, ten million dollars.

00:00:28.480 --> 00:00:34.479
The people who are thinking that, they're already super wealthy, super rich.

00:00:34.880 --> 00:00:41.679
But the everyday person, the person who I would say who's making less than a few million a year, all they want is physical.

00:00:41.840 --> 00:00:46.479
Or if it's a service, it's gonna be a service that is gonna lead to something that's physical.

00:01:16.239 --> 00:01:17.040
Yes, everybody.

00:01:17.200 --> 00:01:22.400
This is Darren Harry, your gracious host of financial state of minds, and I'm joined by co-host Marie Shabazz.

00:01:22.560 --> 00:01:36.959
And this is Financial State of Minds, just to remind you if you didn't hear me the first time, and this is the show where I help you get to that bag, manage that bag, and grow that bag as best as possible as we discuss financial literacy, business literacy, and anything, everything to do with the almighty power of the dollar.

00:01:37.120 --> 00:01:48.319
And you are now tuned in, tapped into KGPC 96.9 FM streaming right now on KGPC969.org and available on all streaming platforms of choice.

00:01:49.120 --> 00:01:52.879
So as we're moving on to episode 83, we have a co-host over here.

00:01:52.959 --> 00:01:54.159
Shabazz came up with the topic today.

00:01:54.239 --> 00:01:57.760
So Shabazz, he's kind of gonna lead the episode because I'm tired.

00:01:57.840 --> 00:02:01.599
This asset reflex is kicking my butt when I'm here doing my thing.

00:02:01.760 --> 00:02:04.159
And thank God my voice is not that jacked up.

00:02:04.239 --> 00:02:06.480
So Shabazz, what are we talking about today?

00:02:06.799 --> 00:02:11.199
All right, we're gonna talk about physical real estate.

00:02:11.520 --> 00:02:17.280
Is physical real estate still king when it comes to building wealth versus digital real estate?

00:02:17.520 --> 00:02:20.560
Yeah, so you told me that topic literally an hour ago.

00:02:20.800 --> 00:02:22.400
Yes, listen, it was about an hour ago.

00:02:22.479 --> 00:02:24.319
So when I heard about the topic, I like it.

00:02:24.400 --> 00:02:26.319
How'd you come up with it, by the way?

00:02:26.879 --> 00:02:29.840
Um be honest with you, ChatGPT.

00:02:30.240 --> 00:02:31.680
I had a feeling it's good.

00:02:31.759 --> 00:02:33.919
Hey, I use Chat GPT all the time.

00:02:34.000 --> 00:02:41.919
So speaking of digital real estate, so I've been using Notebook LM, which is a Google product.

00:02:42.560 --> 00:02:47.439
And when I have my thoughts and ideas and stuff like that, I just jot them down on a notebook LM.

00:02:47.520 --> 00:02:57.599
And side by side, AI will brainstorm on them thoughts and kind of expand on the thoughts and ideas that I basically input in there.

00:02:58.080 --> 00:03:00.240
Yeah, we were talking about that offline before.

00:03:00.319 --> 00:03:06.000
So is that available across personal and work Googles or just one or the other sides?

00:03:06.319 --> 00:03:19.039
A Gmail account, you just have to go to Google Workspace Labs, and basically you have to just basically agree to the terms and stuff like their privacy and all this other stuff.

00:03:19.199 --> 00:03:37.840
And once you do that, when you go to Google Sheets or you go to Google a notebook LM or PowerPoint or anything, or even a Google Docs, you'll see that AI is enabled on there to help you if you need it to help you write, or if you need it to help you create a spreadsheet or whatever it is, basically.

00:03:38.000 --> 00:03:40.240
You have AI to assist you with that.

00:03:40.479 --> 00:03:41.439
Got you, got you.

00:03:41.520 --> 00:03:42.560
Okay, that's dope.

00:03:42.719 --> 00:03:50.240
So um when you kind of let me know that was a topic, I was instantly thinking, okay, basically, physical versus digital.

00:03:50.400 --> 00:03:57.360
The age-old, probably when we people have been talking about this at least the last my entire lifetime, 30, 35 plus years.

00:03:57.680 --> 00:03:58.879
Digital versus physical.

00:03:58.960 --> 00:03:59.840
Where is it at right now?

00:04:00.000 --> 00:04:02.240
Well, look, you came up with the topic, so let's start with you.

00:04:02.319 --> 00:04:03.759
What's your initial take on this?

00:04:04.000 --> 00:04:10.719
Well, physical real estate has always been the cornerstone of the American dream.

00:04:11.039 --> 00:04:25.199
You know, if you ever, I don't know so much about the new generation, but in my generation and generations before, it was like you get married, you have some kids, and you have a house, and what a picket wife missed.

00:04:25.279 --> 00:04:26.240
That was the American dream.

00:04:26.319 --> 00:04:28.000
That was traditionally what it was.

00:04:28.560 --> 00:04:36.399
And I know my ancestors had believed in that, like my grandmother, my grandfather, the elders, they believed in that heavily.

00:04:36.560 --> 00:04:39.199
That real estate was king when it came to wealth.

00:04:39.279 --> 00:04:45.040
Like if you owned a piece of real estate, you actually were building wealth.

00:04:45.279 --> 00:04:52.160
They weren't too uh educated when it comes to insurance and stock and all these other different investments that you can make.

00:04:52.240 --> 00:04:58.240
But real estate was the one that everybody seemed to gravitate to when it came to building wealth.

00:04:58.480 --> 00:05:06.319
Now, today, as we fast forward to 2026, is it still the cornerstone of wealth?

00:05:06.560 --> 00:05:11.199
And when I ask myself that question, I guess it really depends.

00:05:11.680 --> 00:05:14.879
Because with real estate, it's an up and down market too.

00:05:14.959 --> 00:05:21.519
But for the most part, if you look over the last 10, 20 years, it goes up over time more than anything, right?

00:05:21.839 --> 00:05:23.120
Versus going down.

00:05:23.279 --> 00:05:28.160
I mean, you'll have it'll fluctuate here and there, but over time it's going up, right?

00:05:28.399 --> 00:05:28.639
Yeah.

00:05:28.800 --> 00:05:35.199
So qu before you continue to clarify for the people, when you say real estate, you literally mean real estate, as in property.

00:05:35.360 --> 00:05:35.600
Property.

00:05:35.759 --> 00:05:37.600
Are you talking about okay, just just property?

00:05:37.680 --> 00:05:37.759
Okay.

00:05:38.000 --> 00:05:38.800
Yeah, physical real estate.

00:05:39.040 --> 00:05:40.639
Okay, physic, okay, physical property.

00:05:40.800 --> 00:05:41.040
Okay.

00:05:41.360 --> 00:05:44.879
Yeah, so yeah, and if you look at it, it actually goes up over time.

00:05:44.959 --> 00:05:52.800
And as you continue to make your mortgage payments and stuff like that, your equity goes up and you could pull out of it.

00:05:52.879 --> 00:05:57.920
It's almost like it's almost like a line of credit that fluctuates.

00:05:58.560 --> 00:05:59.839
If you look at it that way.

00:06:00.079 --> 00:06:00.319
Yeah.

00:06:00.399 --> 00:06:01.360
I mean HELOC.

00:06:01.920 --> 00:06:02.160
Exactly.

00:06:02.319 --> 00:06:04.560
Yeah, ELOC, home equality line of credit.

00:06:04.639 --> 00:06:14.959
So then some people who are a lot more savvy when it comes to real estate, they have learned how to manage debt and leverage debt.

00:06:15.120 --> 00:06:27.920
Some people don't get to that point where they learn how to do that, but if you know how to leverage debt, then basically you could pretty much live tax-free for the most part if you learn how to leverage debt good enough.

00:06:28.160 --> 00:06:30.639
So real estate is more of a good debt.

00:06:30.800 --> 00:06:38.800
When you look at different kinds of debts that you can have, they say real estate debt is better than any kind of debt, from what I've understood and what I've studied.

00:06:39.120 --> 00:06:47.920
Because everything else, pretty much the physical, and that's probably why China owns so much of the real estate in the United States.

00:06:48.160 --> 00:06:53.120
Because the land, and you're not even just the property, the land is also worth something, right?

00:06:53.600 --> 00:06:56.959
So without the physical property, I mean, land is worth something, right?

00:06:57.120 --> 00:06:57.360
Yeah.

00:06:57.600 --> 00:07:00.399
So right now it's turning into a renter's nation.

00:07:00.560 --> 00:07:07.040
I remember it was so backwards when I first got into real estate 20 years ago.

00:07:07.199 --> 00:07:15.920
Because back then in California, other places probably different, but in California, if you actually owned a house and you rented it out, it didn't even cover the mortgage.

00:07:16.079 --> 00:07:18.639
Like the amount of rent that you were getting did not cover the mortgage.

00:07:18.800 --> 00:07:22.800
You had to depend some extra money whether to actually make up the mortgage.

00:07:23.120 --> 00:07:30.639
Now, where rent is at, it covers the mortgage, and you could actually put some in your pocket.

00:07:30.959 --> 00:07:35.439
So it's definitely flipped, and it's becoming a renter's nation.

00:07:35.519 --> 00:07:41.199
So it's like you actually want to get in on real estate and not get shut out of it.

00:07:41.360 --> 00:07:46.079
I'm not gonna go too far and I'm uh into the digital part.

00:07:46.160 --> 00:07:47.759
I'll let you go ahead and take over for that.

00:07:47.839 --> 00:07:50.560
But yeah, I just wanted to touch on the physical real estate.

00:07:50.879 --> 00:07:57.120
Yeah, so when you say is real estate the cornerstone of investing at this point, or has it moved on to digital?

00:07:57.279 --> 00:07:59.600
I'm gonna answer that in many, many different ways.

00:07:59.839 --> 00:08:02.079
So historically, yeah.

00:08:02.319 --> 00:08:09.120
Historically, it was real estate or it was physicalness that was the cornerstone of investing.

00:08:09.279 --> 00:08:20.720
Uh for those who don't know, real estate became affordable for the average American around the 70s, I believe, is when the modern 30-year mortgage came out to be, essentially, is when it came out.

00:08:20.800 --> 00:08:23.199
So it's actually not super duper old concept.

00:08:23.360 --> 00:08:26.240
But around the 70s is when the 30-year mortgage came out.

00:08:26.399 --> 00:08:29.199
And that is where um, sorry, not the 70s, the 50s.

00:08:29.279 --> 00:08:31.600
I think it's the 50s after World War II.

00:08:32.240 --> 00:08:39.039
Because basically all the veterans are coming back, women were in the workforce, so the expansion stuff happened.

00:08:39.200 --> 00:08:42.480
I believe if I got my history correct, it was around the 50s.

00:08:42.559 --> 00:08:50.799
That's when the 30-year mortgage came out, and it was pretty much one individual's salary could buy a family home.

00:08:51.519 --> 00:08:58.000
And that was pretty much the case all the way up until about 2008, and then a little housing crisis happened.

00:08:58.159 --> 00:09:04.240
But even after the crisis, that only lasted where it became a little bit more difficult.

00:09:04.399 --> 00:09:11.360
It was really only from 08, a little bit of 07, but mostly 08, all the way to about a 2011, 2012.

00:09:11.519 --> 00:09:25.600
And then we had another 13-year run basically until the pandemic, and even through the pandemic, if you could, the interest rates made it so that it was easy to get in and invest into housing, whether it's your primary residence or if it's investing.

00:09:25.840 --> 00:09:28.240
So that's a little background history of it.

00:09:28.320 --> 00:09:46.720
And that's why it was the cornerstone because um the interest rates and the pricing of the house were at places where most people, if they just worked a job, whether it was one individual back before I was alive and it became dual income, as long as you had a job that's decently paying, you can qualify to own a home.

00:09:46.960 --> 00:09:54.159
And then after one generation, that home gets passed down to the children, and then that's how you start generational wealth.

00:09:54.320 --> 00:09:55.120
Easy peasy.

00:09:55.279 --> 00:09:56.480
So that's how it worked back then.

00:09:56.639 --> 00:10:00.240
But if I were to do it today, would I choose that today?

00:10:00.639 --> 00:10:02.000
Um, no.

00:10:03.120 --> 00:10:04.639
No, no, no, no, no.

00:10:04.720 --> 00:10:05.759
Definitely not for investing.

00:10:05.919 --> 00:10:08.399
Of course, if I want to live in a house, that's totally different.

00:10:08.559 --> 00:10:09.679
We're not talking about that.

00:10:09.840 --> 00:10:18.960
But as far as investing, I would not, I'll frame it like this: if I had a million dollars when I live in California, I am not buying property right away with a million dollars.

00:10:19.600 --> 00:10:20.639
I'm not doing that.

00:10:20.799 --> 00:10:27.039
I would put it in the stock market, and then at some point I would borrow against the stocks and then buy the real estate.

00:10:27.120 --> 00:10:28.799
But I would put it in the stock market.

00:10:29.200 --> 00:10:39.279
If numbers always are debatable depending on your sourcing, but the numbers I look at, stock market has actually done better over real estate in the last 20 years.

00:10:40.159 --> 00:10:42.559
So stock market done better.

00:10:42.720 --> 00:10:49.360
If you own a business that is primarily a service or a digital service, you are making more money.

00:10:49.519 --> 00:10:52.480
I actually looked it up before we started.

00:10:53.200 --> 00:10:58.240
Top 10 companies or industries that have the highest profits right now.

00:10:58.480 --> 00:11:10.159
We know it's Amazon, it's Google, it's Meta, Nvidia, Apple, of course, you know, Coca-Cola, and then we're gonna get into the utility, so your oil.

00:11:10.320 --> 00:11:14.240
Those are all your um your top ten companies right now.

00:11:14.559 --> 00:11:18.799
Some of them only f sell physical, but most of them at this point, they sell both.

00:11:18.960 --> 00:11:22.080
They sell physical and they sell digital products.

00:11:22.399 --> 00:11:27.519
But if you do even more research and learn that the bulk of the money is coming from digital.

00:11:27.840 --> 00:11:30.480
So I would go with digital now.

00:11:30.639 --> 00:11:38.240
One way I would answer the topic is if I were to start a business now, or if I were to start today in 2026, absolutely digital.

00:11:38.559 --> 00:11:39.840
I'm going digital 100%.

00:11:40.159 --> 00:11:44.159
You're gonna make more money that way with less initial investment.

00:11:44.320 --> 00:11:45.440
It's gonna be digital.

00:11:46.000 --> 00:11:56.639
Now, to your point about real estate being the cornerstone, that is still absolutely the case for you said it earlier, if you don't want to pay taxes.

00:11:57.519 --> 00:11:59.679
If you don't want to pay taxes, you do two things.

00:11:59.919 --> 00:12:02.559
Get yourself some real estate or get yourself a nonprofit.

00:12:03.279 --> 00:12:05.200
If you don't want to pay taxes, you do two things.

00:12:05.360 --> 00:12:08.639
Get yourself some real estate or get yourself a nonprofit.

00:12:08.960 --> 00:12:13.679
Preferably a nonprofit that is breaking border, i.e., real estate again.

00:12:14.080 --> 00:12:21.440
To my understanding, you have more tax advantages owning real estate than anything else.

00:12:21.600 --> 00:12:23.039
Like nothing else.

00:12:23.200 --> 00:12:27.759
Not a business, not having kids, not anything.

00:12:28.240 --> 00:12:28.960
Anything.

00:12:29.360 --> 00:12:30.240
It's real estate.

00:12:30.399 --> 00:12:33.279
Real estate will give you the most tax advantages.

00:12:34.000 --> 00:12:39.120
That's why if we look at rich people, it doesn't matter the level of wealth.

00:12:39.360 --> 00:12:46.320
They can have$10 million net worth,$50 million net worth, quarter million dollar net worth, billionaire, trillionaire, whatever.

00:12:46.879 --> 00:12:54.399
Whether they're companies or individuals, but especially if they're individuals, if you notice, they all have real estate.

00:12:54.720 --> 00:13:04.399
Real estate could look like the business, a physical brick and mortar, or real estate could be, like you said earlier, just straight up property, houses, apartments, whatever.

00:13:04.639 --> 00:13:16.799
Rich people have real estate because it's a great way to reduce your income because you can write off basically everything, and that's how you get around legally, you get around a lot of these taxes.

00:13:17.120 --> 00:13:27.840
So, me, because I have experience in both, I was a landlord for 10 years, and now I own a crap ton of investments in the stock market, they both have their pros and cons.

00:13:28.159 --> 00:13:30.159
Ultimately, you should have both.

00:13:30.480 --> 00:13:39.759
But the way I would definitely say it is if we're starting today in 2026 and I'm just an everyday person, I'm going digital right now.

00:13:40.000 --> 00:13:50.639
Lesser to invest, lesser startup costs, higher profit margins, and then eventually after I do well in that, then I'm gonna go buy some property because I don't care what people say.

00:13:50.799 --> 00:13:57.519
Yeah, crypto is taking a hit right now, but overall still up a ridiculous amount over the last 10, 15 years.

00:13:57.759 --> 00:14:03.360
But gold and silver and houses, they're always gonna be valuable.

00:14:03.519 --> 00:14:12.960
They may not be having the sexy 500% ROIs over the last 10 years or gold doing 60% last year.

00:14:13.039 --> 00:14:17.039
It may not be sexy and crazy like that, but are you gonna be okay?

00:14:17.200 --> 00:14:20.159
You're gonna be comfortable if you own a house or two and you rent that out.

00:14:20.320 --> 00:14:21.679
Yeah, absolutely.

00:14:21.840 --> 00:14:23.519
Even if it's just breaking even.

00:14:23.600 --> 00:14:27.440
I actually know somebody where they rent out their property, it breaks even.

00:14:27.679 --> 00:14:30.399
But it helps them out on the taxes, like I said earlier.

00:14:30.639 --> 00:14:32.320
So it's a great debate.

00:14:32.480 --> 00:14:34.240
You can't go wrong with either.

00:14:34.480 --> 00:14:46.080
But like I said again, if you if I'm starting in 2026, I'm building a digital business, selling digital service and products, um, and eventually making my way to real estate.

00:14:46.159 --> 00:14:50.639
But yeah, if you look at the list, top 10 companies, not one of them.

00:14:51.600 --> 00:14:54.960
McDonald's actually wasn't in the top 10 highest profiting companies when I looked it up.

00:14:55.039 --> 00:14:56.000
I was actually surprised.

00:14:56.240 --> 00:14:57.600
McDonald's was not there.

00:14:57.919 --> 00:14:59.679
McDonald's is a real estate company.

00:15:00.399 --> 00:15:01.279
It's a real estate company.

00:15:01.679 --> 00:15:02.559
Well, it's interesting.

00:15:02.720 --> 00:15:11.440
So if you look it up, it's categorized as fast food restaurant industry, but we know their business model is basically real estate.

00:15:11.679 --> 00:15:16.000
But that's my initial take is you can't go wrong with real estate.

00:15:16.159 --> 00:15:19.200
It has a historical precedence to this and it's not going away.

00:15:19.279 --> 00:15:20.799
I don't care what people say.

00:15:21.279 --> 00:15:29.840
And to your point, and I'll finish it up, there's a reason why, following up on our last episode, everybody's becoming a renter.

00:15:30.320 --> 00:15:38.559
And if you own property, unless you're just literally underwater, unless you have literally negative equity, you're winning right now.

00:15:38.799 --> 00:15:42.159
It doesn't matter if you're in California or it doesn't matter if you're in Montana.

00:15:42.320 --> 00:15:45.039
You're winning right now if you own some property right now.

00:15:45.200 --> 00:15:46.960
So you can't go wrong with either.

00:15:47.120 --> 00:15:48.960
You can't go wrong with either right now.

00:15:49.360 --> 00:15:50.159
I agree.

00:15:50.320 --> 00:15:51.279
I totally agree.

00:15:51.440 --> 00:15:54.240
There were some good points that you had when it comes to the taxes.

00:15:54.320 --> 00:15:56.000
I think that I mean, don't get me wrong.

00:15:56.320 --> 00:16:01.279
Digital real estate is highly profitable.

00:16:01.600 --> 00:16:03.360
It's highly profitable.

00:16:04.399 --> 00:16:07.519
It has nowhere near the same tax rates as real estate.

00:16:08.159 --> 00:16:08.879
Nowhere near.

00:16:09.120 --> 00:16:11.600
So I guess that's a downside to it.

00:16:11.919 --> 00:16:16.799
Can I make more with digital real estate than I would with real estate?

00:16:18.240 --> 00:16:20.399
Probably the speed of it would be faster.

00:16:20.559 --> 00:16:21.679
I would definitely say that.

00:16:21.840 --> 00:16:25.840
The speed of funds would definitely be faster with digital real estate.

00:16:26.080 --> 00:16:34.320
However, it's kind of crazy because I don't know exactly where because I see people that have digital real estate in the metaverse.

00:16:34.559 --> 00:16:48.639
And it's like this whole cyber world where if you actually like if anybody actually has experienced the metaverse and actually, let's say you you could be playing a game on the metaverse, right?

00:16:48.720 --> 00:16:58.399
And you could be riding down the street, and you could be on a highway, and then you see on the top of the hill or the top of the mountain, they have a billboard.

00:16:58.799 --> 00:17:03.679
And let's say you have a store in the metaverse.

00:17:03.759 --> 00:17:09.279
Let's say you have a clothing store, and you say, a lot of people play that game.

00:17:10.400 --> 00:17:16.960
I want to see how much it would cost, how much would they charge me to have my clothing line on that billboard?

00:17:17.039 --> 00:17:28.319
Since so many people play the game, they're gonna see that, and then they will go to my store because basically they have it in the metaverse where you could walk into a store and actually have a shopping experience in the metaverse.

00:17:28.640 --> 00:17:34.960
And you could buy that shirt or that hoodie or those shoes, and basically you can actually have the physical product.

00:17:35.039 --> 00:17:41.359
You buy it and you have a shit, but it's like having a shopping experience and in the cyber world, right?

00:17:41.680 --> 00:17:41.759
Right.

00:17:42.079 --> 00:17:45.759
So digital real estate is gonna get crazy over the years.

00:17:46.480 --> 00:17:59.200
So it's I I don't like I said, I don't know exactly what way I've seen people say they sold some they sold some property in the metaverse, and it was like for, man, thousands and thousands of dollars.

00:17:59.359 --> 00:18:05.519
So I'm just like, well, if that's the case, I know it doesn't come with the tax breaks, it's physical real estate.

00:18:05.759 --> 00:18:07.039
It's getting a little crazy.

00:18:07.359 --> 00:18:20.160
Yeah, I remember having these conversations initially a few years ago, and all like you said earlier, you there's gonna be the metaverse, and you, you know, people are gonna have digital avatars of themselves, and it's gonna be that, it's gonna be that mix-in.

00:18:20.400 --> 00:18:35.920
It's gonna be like you said earlier, you're gonna be able to walk around the metaverse, and you might literally see a meta version of McDonald's that's actually being ran by actual McDonald's or uh Joe Smo's barbecue place is there, and it's actually being ran by Joe Smo.

00:18:36.160 --> 00:18:42.799
And Joe Smo has to, and McDonald's has to pay for that real estate with digital currency, I'm not crypto or something like that.

00:18:43.039 --> 00:18:50.400
So I remember having these conversations on Clubhouse when I was on it actively back in 2021, for those who remember Clubhouse.

00:18:50.640 --> 00:18:52.640
Um, but it's still around, isn't it?

00:18:52.799 --> 00:18:53.519
Yeah, it's still around.

00:18:53.599 --> 00:19:03.279
It's just not, you know, it exploded in 2020, 2021, and then you know, it never had the same uh fall-in or membership, but it's still doing its thing, not knocking it.

00:19:03.599 --> 00:19:12.880
But my take is this could be the future, but definitely I don't believe it's gonna happen in any of our lifetimes.

00:19:13.680 --> 00:19:23.759
One thing I always tell people is that people don't like change, especially, and people don't like change, number one, they don't like change.

00:19:24.000 --> 00:19:27.200
Number two, and I'm gonna get into this a little bit later.

00:19:27.759 --> 00:19:29.440
People like physicalness.

00:19:31.039 --> 00:19:39.119
People inherently value things that are physical and are tangible more than things that are not.

00:19:39.279 --> 00:19:45.759
All these companies, I said it earlier, well, Darren, you said the top ten companies are basically all selling digital products or services.

00:19:45.839 --> 00:19:46.799
You're right, they are.

00:19:46.960 --> 00:19:49.119
There's more money to be made there.

00:19:49.440 --> 00:19:52.319
But, listeners, I want you to think about this.

00:19:53.119 --> 00:19:56.240
Think of all the most expensive things, period.

00:19:57.119 --> 00:19:58.480
They're all physical.

00:19:59.759 --> 00:20:02.480
Think of all the luxury things in life you want.

00:20:02.720 --> 00:20:04.240
They're probably all physical.

00:20:04.880 --> 00:20:12.079
No one's over here going, I want this digital only thing that costs a quarter million dollars.

00:20:12.480 --> 00:20:18.000
I want this digital only thing that costs a million dollars, five million dollars, ten million dollars.

00:20:18.559 --> 00:20:24.720
The people who want are thinking that, they're already super wealthy, super rich.

00:20:25.279 --> 00:20:32.640
But the everyday person, the person who I would say who's making less than a few million a year, all they want is physical.

00:20:33.279 --> 00:20:34.400
They want physical.

00:20:34.720 --> 00:20:41.680
Or if it's something or if it's a service, it's gonna be a service that is gonna lead to something that's physical.

00:20:42.559 --> 00:20:45.119
So going back to the American dream, you're right.

00:20:45.279 --> 00:20:50.000
There was one thing you missed other than the uh the wife kids and the white picket fence.

00:20:50.079 --> 00:20:52.400
You want to send your kids to college, right?

00:20:52.640 --> 00:20:56.400
You want to make sure that your kids have a legacy that's left behind.

00:20:56.640 --> 00:21:00.720
When we think about stuff like that, we're thinking physical.

00:21:01.279 --> 00:21:09.519
So it's inherently, we as humans, at least right now, we are valuing physical.

00:21:10.000 --> 00:21:10.960
And that's how I am.

00:21:11.119 --> 00:21:12.240
I just value physical.

00:21:12.400 --> 00:21:22.559
So even though, to your point earlier, there's digital companies, there's all these companies again selling digital products, whether it's entertainment, whether it's streaming, whatever, we all want real estate, right?

00:21:22.640 --> 00:21:25.599
It would just be cool for people to just have real estate.

00:21:26.000 --> 00:21:39.680
When we're all thinking, oh, we have 10, 20 millionaires, and we're all having these fun conversations, we're thinking we're gonna buy houses, we're thinking we're gonna buy the fanciest, most luxury cars, we're getting boats, we're getting jewelry, we want physical items.

00:21:40.079 --> 00:21:41.359
We want physical items.

00:21:41.440 --> 00:21:42.400
That's just what we want.

00:21:42.559 --> 00:21:44.400
So it's inherently more valuable.

00:21:44.480 --> 00:21:46.319
That's just how people see it.

00:21:46.640 --> 00:21:52.240
Now, what's curious, and you kind of said it at the top, you don't know about these newer generations.

00:21:52.400 --> 00:21:57.759
Well, I'm the generation right after you, and I really look at the Gen Z and especially Gen Alpha.

00:21:58.000 --> 00:21:59.680
What we're seeing is that specific.

00:22:00.079 --> 00:22:04.799
Specifically with Ken Alpha, they don't want to own property.

00:22:06.480 --> 00:22:07.920
They want to own property.

00:22:08.160 --> 00:22:11.920
Gen Z wants to, but they kind of gave up.

00:22:12.079 --> 00:22:13.440
Kind of like how millennials are.

00:22:13.519 --> 00:22:24.240
Millennials are at a point where we're really, really want to, but we're starting to give up because it's just we're in our mid-30s, we're in our 40s, and a lot of us don't have houses.

00:22:24.400 --> 00:22:26.000
And I don't know a single millennial.

00:22:26.079 --> 00:22:28.559
I can't think of a single millennial who owns a house and they're single.

00:22:28.640 --> 00:22:29.279
They're by themselves.

00:22:29.359 --> 00:22:31.839
All the millennials I know who own property, couples.

00:22:32.079 --> 00:22:32.960
Or they sold it.

00:22:33.200 --> 00:22:33.920
Or they sold it.

00:22:34.079 --> 00:22:34.400
Right.

00:22:34.640 --> 00:22:36.160
Because they had to usually.

00:22:36.400 --> 00:22:37.599
Or they didn't want to deal with it.

00:22:37.759 --> 00:22:39.839
But yeah, Gen Z starting to give up.

00:22:39.920 --> 00:22:41.680
And Alpha, they just they have no interest.

00:22:42.079 --> 00:22:42.960
They have no interest.

00:22:43.200 --> 00:22:45.359
So you have kids should bass just like I do.

00:22:45.519 --> 00:22:50.640
What have you noticed from the younger generations when it comes to what they want between digital and physical?

00:22:50.799 --> 00:22:52.319
Have you noticed a shift?

00:22:53.599 --> 00:22:55.279
I mean, it's definitely a shift.

00:22:55.440 --> 00:22:57.759
They want physical things, for sure.

00:22:58.000 --> 00:23:01.759
Like you said, they definitely want physical products, right?

00:23:02.400 --> 00:23:06.880
However, digital has become a big part of that.

00:23:07.119 --> 00:23:12.720
And the amount of funds that they spend on these things and all these different subscription models.

00:23:12.880 --> 00:23:17.119
I looked on my son's phone and I looked at his subscriptions on his iPhone.

00:23:17.359 --> 00:23:20.960
And it was, I'm like, man, you got more subscriptions than me.

00:23:21.359 --> 00:23:28.559
And so it's become to where it's part of a lifestyle now.

00:23:28.720 --> 00:23:33.759
I think the lifestyle for the younger generation is not to own a house.

00:23:33.920 --> 00:23:36.160
There, I I don't even think that's the mindset.

00:23:36.240 --> 00:23:40.000
Like, hey, I want to own a house or I want to own property.

00:23:40.240 --> 00:23:51.920
It's more like, hey, I just want to live in a nice apartment and I just want to play my video games, pit on my Oculus, and just zone out in the cyber world.

00:23:52.079 --> 00:23:54.880
And it seems that's kind of the energy, you know.

00:23:54.960 --> 00:23:57.920
It's like, hey, I want to be on my YouTube channel.

00:23:58.000 --> 00:24:00.240
And it's a lot of it is digital.

00:24:00.559 --> 00:24:08.319
Social media, you look at all these different things, and social media is moving so much towards digital.

00:24:08.960 --> 00:24:19.359
The only platform that's not really just on this whole digital wave that I could say right now, but I'm pretty sure they're moving towards it, is TikTok.

00:24:19.599 --> 00:24:32.480
TikTok has focused so much on selling physical products to where they're saying that TikTok shop is giving Amazon a run for their money right now.

00:24:33.200 --> 00:24:37.359
Because there's so many people are selling so many products through TikTok shop.

00:24:37.440 --> 00:24:40.559
Not Facebook, not any other platform, TikTok Shop.

00:24:40.720 --> 00:24:40.960
Yeah.

00:24:41.200 --> 00:24:41.519
Yeah.

00:24:41.599 --> 00:24:50.400
So when I look at that, I'm just like, wow, they really have changed the game on how people buy products.

00:24:51.039 --> 00:24:52.720
Like, and it's crazy.

00:24:52.960 --> 00:24:54.240
I gotta give it to TikTok.

00:24:54.400 --> 00:24:56.160
Now I gotta give them some credit.

00:24:56.799 --> 00:25:00.079
They have changed the game on a lot of things.

00:25:00.319 --> 00:25:07.279
They made Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube and all these other platforms change their whole algorithm.

00:25:07.759 --> 00:25:08.000
Right?

00:25:08.160 --> 00:25:16.319
When TikTok came around, it was like, yeah, people would go on Facebook and Instagram, and we will watch reels and stuff like that.

00:25:16.640 --> 00:25:22.160
But TikTok had mastered people just binge watching.

00:25:22.559 --> 00:25:23.759
Yeah, the short form.

00:25:24.000 --> 00:25:25.279
Yeah, short form videos.

00:25:25.519 --> 00:25:29.039
And Facebook, and they were like, we got to get rid of this platform.

00:25:29.839 --> 00:25:41.440
It's it's taking people away from our platform, and then you could grow a TikTok account way faster, light years faster than you could a Facebook page or an Instagram account.

00:25:41.680 --> 00:25:48.079
It was just you look up on TikTok, people will have hundreds and thousands of followers, even millions.

00:25:48.160 --> 00:25:48.480
Yeah.

00:25:48.720 --> 00:25:51.839
And people say it just moves faster.

00:25:52.079 --> 00:25:53.599
And speed is a thing.

00:25:53.759 --> 00:25:54.559
You know what I'm saying?

00:25:54.640 --> 00:25:58.079
It's definitely speed is a huge factor.

00:25:58.240 --> 00:26:02.319
The time factor is so prevalent when it comes to these things.

00:26:02.559 --> 00:26:04.880
People take speed over anything.

00:26:05.039 --> 00:26:08.319
Anything that's faster, people are going to go to it.

00:26:08.559 --> 00:26:09.200
Absolutely.

00:26:09.440 --> 00:26:10.000
Absolutely.

00:26:10.160 --> 00:26:17.440
And just a reminder listeners, you're listening to Darren Harvey, Maurice Shabazz over here at Financial State of Minds on KGBC 96.9 FM.

00:26:17.599 --> 00:26:25.359
I hear what you're saying, definitely going back to Gen Alpha, Gen Z, but particularly Alpha not wanting physical things anymore.

00:26:25.519 --> 00:26:33.839
When I noticed, and unfortunately I have to give my generation all the credit, millennials, we started this trim trend of valuing experiences.

00:26:34.559 --> 00:26:53.119
So I have a friend who he works at Google, he makes good money, and he is my age, he's actually a year older than me, and he doesn't own anything, even though he absolutely has the income and the finances to own because he just wants to travel.

00:26:53.279 --> 00:26:54.000
That's all he does.

00:26:54.160 --> 00:26:56.880
He literally, he literally travels monthly.

00:26:58.079 --> 00:27:01.519
Between work and personal pleasure, it's monthly.

00:27:01.680 --> 00:27:04.480
And he's in a different country or state monthly.

00:27:05.119 --> 00:27:10.240
And what I'm seeing is that's what the younger generations are really adopting.

00:27:10.400 --> 00:27:15.440
They're valuing the experiences over the physical property or products.

00:27:16.319 --> 00:27:23.440
And um, they're really valuing social media and just I guess you can say basically social clout.

00:27:23.759 --> 00:27:24.880
They want to be popular.

00:27:25.119 --> 00:27:26.400
Like they want to be popular.

00:27:26.640 --> 00:27:31.759
Now the scale may be different for every Gen Z or Alpha person, but they want to be popular.

00:27:31.839 --> 00:27:33.839
They want to be seen, they want to be heard.

00:27:34.000 --> 00:27:35.519
That's important to them.

00:27:36.319 --> 00:27:47.039
Whether it's them being a streamer, whether it's them being a content creator on YouTube or whatever, that's just the lanes they they're that they're looking at right now.

00:27:47.920 --> 00:27:53.359
But I do think there is some, again, disadvantages to digital only.

00:27:53.519 --> 00:28:02.400
Yes, it's I always tell people when I'm consulting business-wise, if you're gonna open up a business, please make it a digital business that sells digital products.

00:28:02.799 --> 00:28:09.759
Or because it's lower startup, higher profit margins, because you can sell one thing endlessly.

00:28:09.920 --> 00:28:12.480
That's the beauty about owning a digital business.

00:28:13.119 --> 00:28:20.720
But alluding to what I said earlier, the number one things everything wanted in life, if it was not an issue, it's all physical.

00:28:21.440 --> 00:28:22.799
It's all physical.

00:28:23.119 --> 00:28:35.279
So I am kind of worried that the younger generations is not valuing that because ultimately it doesn't matter what 80, 90% of the population thinks.

00:28:35.440 --> 00:28:41.599
It really matters what the top 10 or really the top 1% think because they dictate everything else.

00:28:41.839 --> 00:28:55.839
So my thing is this these younger generations and even millennials like me, we may have a certain preference, we have a certain thing, and that's cool, but value is not only dictated by the everyday person, but it's really set by the 1%.

00:28:56.640 --> 00:29:00.000
The 1% is Lamborghini or Ferrari.

00:29:00.079 --> 00:29:06.079
I just seen Ferraris, the company Ferrari, they beat profit and they beat revenue.

00:29:07.359 --> 00:29:17.839
Even though everybody's struggling and everything, and that's one thing that I learned is the super rich and the super luxury, they still buy it regardless of recession.

00:29:18.079 --> 00:29:22.079
Regardless of how the 99% are doing, they're still buying that.

00:29:22.160 --> 00:29:25.359
And if you notice what they're buying, again, it's physical.

00:29:25.519 --> 00:29:29.039
That's why you see all these super rich people buying art, physical art.

00:29:29.200 --> 00:29:36.240
Yeah, we had the little NFT boom, stuff like that, and that's it's still doing its thing, but it that bubble definitely burst it.

00:29:37.279 --> 00:29:42.720
But when rich people are trying to spend their money, they're trying to spend their money on physical things.

00:29:42.799 --> 00:29:44.000
It's not digital.

00:29:44.160 --> 00:29:45.279
It is not digital.

00:29:45.440 --> 00:29:52.799
So it ultimately, like, if I had to pick one, and just far as preference, personal preference, it would be physical.

00:29:53.039 --> 00:29:59.839
But if I'm advising people on what to do right now, everyday person, I would advise them to go the digital route.

00:30:00.000 --> 00:30:01.200
That's where the growth is.

00:30:01.359 --> 00:30:03.119
That is definitely where the growth is digital.

00:30:03.359 --> 00:30:05.759
It's it's not so much physical, it is digital.

00:30:05.920 --> 00:30:11.039
But you have any more takes around digital versus physical or digital versus real estate at this point?

00:30:11.440 --> 00:30:12.799
Yeah, yeah, I do.

00:30:12.960 --> 00:30:30.559
I just I sit back and when I think about it, I think one of the things is that people, and even especially the younger generation, older generation too, I believe one thing that they overlook when it comes to the digital side is that you have less control.

00:30:31.279 --> 00:30:31.599
Yeah.

00:30:31.839 --> 00:30:32.400
So true.

00:30:32.720 --> 00:30:40.720
If anything was ever to happen, and let's say the internet just went out, it's gonna be people that ain't gonna know what to do with themselves.

00:30:41.440 --> 00:30:42.000
Right?

00:30:42.319 --> 00:30:49.839
Because they have wrapped their whole world in this whole around this whole digital cyber world.

00:30:50.160 --> 00:30:55.119
And that's the scary part that I don't think people even think about that.

00:30:55.359 --> 00:31:05.839
Like, if I'm so invested into this digital world and I have very little physical, if something was to happen, you're hit.

00:31:06.079 --> 00:31:11.599
You got people who can't even, they're solely reliant on technology.

00:31:12.000 --> 00:31:16.319
Like, some people don't even know their mother's phone number by heart, right?

00:31:16.640 --> 00:31:21.440
They make it to where not even only that, it's your digital footprint is everywhere.

00:31:21.599 --> 00:31:26.000
Like you ping your thumbprint in the phone, you pick your face in the phone, you got your eyes in there.

00:31:26.160 --> 00:31:33.279
And now you can't even do anything unless you actually have your digital footprint to verify it's you, right?

00:31:33.440 --> 00:31:44.000
So when we look at all these things, it's quite scary because if anything was ever to happen, and I look at when TikTok was down for a couple days, people were freaking out.

00:31:44.559 --> 00:31:46.640
People were going crazy, like what's going on?

00:31:46.799 --> 00:31:50.640
It reminded me that people were so reliant on this.

00:31:50.720 --> 00:31:51.680
Like, this is their life.

00:31:51.839 --> 00:31:55.759
If they couldn't get on TikTok that day, I don't know what I'm gonna do with myself.

00:31:57.039 --> 00:32:18.079
And I just really think the things that are tangible, the things that you can physically touch, the things that you can physically see and grab and have that physical thing or whatever it is, there's nothing that can replace that that's digital.

00:32:18.240 --> 00:32:18.960
That's the thing.

00:32:19.200 --> 00:32:22.000
Digital could be here today, gone tomorrow.

00:32:22.240 --> 00:32:28.480
What's digital now might be cool today, but then it's something that's better that's gonna be digital that's gonna come out tomorrow.

00:32:28.640 --> 00:32:28.880
Right.

00:32:29.039 --> 00:32:50.319
And I just think that whereas even down to the spending is so critical because now as we move further into this digital world now, and if you ask me personally, do you would you prefer digital currency or would you pull prefer physical currency?

00:32:50.400 --> 00:32:53.119
I probably nine times out of ten will tell you physically.

00:32:53.279 --> 00:33:00.480
Because physical currency, and the reason why is because I don't want everything that I spend my dollar on to be traced.

00:33:00.640 --> 00:33:02.799
I don't want everything that I spend to be traced.

00:33:02.880 --> 00:33:08.240
I I don't I may not want everybody to know what kind of deordering I use.

00:33:08.400 --> 00:33:11.200
I may not want everybody to know what kind of soap I'm using.

00:33:11.279 --> 00:33:16.720
And it's just the idea is like if they have all this data, now they can control it.

00:33:16.880 --> 00:33:23.920
Now they can put stuff in it, they can do things to it and stuff like that, and see how people react to this and see how people react to that.

00:33:24.079 --> 00:33:24.160
Right.

00:33:24.400 --> 00:33:28.559
And it's just so much information and it's so much control.

00:33:29.039 --> 00:33:37.359
And I just think that people don't think about that downside to it to where you really don't have, you're losing a huge amount of privacy.

00:33:37.680 --> 00:33:49.440
Yeah, and we talked about this in our previous episode, the one right before this, but to expand upon it, when you have the convenience of digital, let's take a your movie or or TV show that you like.

00:33:49.680 --> 00:33:50.799
Yeah, the convenience, great.

00:33:50.880 --> 00:33:58.240
You just log on to Netflix, click a button, internet's so fast now, the show loads within a second or two, bam, you're watching it.

00:33:59.839 --> 00:34:02.799
Convenience of that can't be beat at this point.

00:34:03.440 --> 00:34:06.319
However, the trade-off is you don't own that show.

00:34:06.400 --> 00:34:07.920
You don't own a copy of that show.

00:34:08.320 --> 00:34:10.400
You don't own a copy of that show.

00:34:10.960 --> 00:34:18.639
So if Netflix lose the license and they take it off, and that show decides, let's just say the show is Sons of Anarchy, whatever.

00:34:19.039 --> 00:34:26.079
Say it was on Netflix, Netflix doesn't want to pay the renewal on the license and now goes to HBO Max.

00:34:26.480 --> 00:34:31.119
Well, now you gotta pay for HBO Max if you don't pay for it, and now it's more expensive that way.

00:34:31.519 --> 00:34:48.719
So you lose the control when you gain the convenience, you actually pay more money because let's be real, all these streaming services have hundreds, if not thousands, of TV shows and different forms of media content, but you're not watching what?

00:34:49.119 --> 00:34:57.519
Maybe a tenth of it, maybe, and you're paying a recurring fee instead of just buying all the copies of the shows you want and then you be done.

00:34:57.679 --> 00:34:58.639
You see what I'm saying?

00:34:58.719 --> 00:35:01.440
I'd be willing to bet listeners, feel free to comment.

00:35:02.719 --> 00:35:12.239
Add up all your subscriptions, let's focus on the video streaming services like Netflix, Hulu, Disney Plus, whatever, and the music ones like Spotify, Apple Music.

00:35:12.639 --> 00:35:22.559
I bet you people pay more money a month for the subscriptions than when compared to when it was back in the physical days, they were buying movies.

00:35:23.360 --> 00:35:32.400
I guarantee you, people are paying$200 a month for subscriptions and they weren't buying$200 worth of music and movies in one month.

00:35:32.719 --> 00:35:33.039
Right.

00:35:33.199 --> 00:35:34.400
So it's more expensive.

00:35:34.480 --> 00:35:37.119
So you're losing the control, like you said earlier.

00:35:37.360 --> 00:35:41.039
It's more expensive, and you don't even own it.

00:35:41.199 --> 00:35:42.559
So that goes back to the control.

00:35:42.639 --> 00:35:43.599
You can lose the rights.

00:35:43.760 --> 00:35:45.119
You could pay for it.

00:35:45.360 --> 00:35:50.880
Imagine paying for a show that you like to watch for five years and you can't watch it no more.

00:35:51.119 --> 00:35:52.239
They're not giving your money back.

00:35:52.400 --> 00:36:00.719
Netflix is not like, oh, we're gonna give a dividend because you watch Sunset Anarchy 500 times over the course of the last three years, we're gonna give you a dividend of$100.

00:36:01.119 --> 00:36:02.480
Like, it doesn't work like that.

00:36:02.880 --> 00:36:04.239
You're paying for the access.

00:36:04.400 --> 00:36:05.280
That's all you're doing.

00:36:05.360 --> 00:36:06.559
You're paying for the access.

00:36:06.639 --> 00:36:08.719
You don't even own the copy no more.

00:36:09.599 --> 00:36:11.920
A lot of you said a lot of people are just fine with it.

00:36:12.000 --> 00:36:15.599
They accepted it, they're okay with it, whether they have a choice or not.

00:36:15.760 --> 00:36:18.800
And a lot of people don't even have a choice because that's the most affordable way.

00:36:19.039 --> 00:36:23.199
I just read a little article that HP is getting into renting out laptops.

00:36:23.519 --> 00:36:35.920
And back in the day, when a lot of these companies were renting out stuff, Blockbuster, anything where you can rent out a physical thing, there would be an option to once you've paid a certain amount of payments, you would just own it.

00:36:36.159 --> 00:36:36.480
Yeah.

00:36:36.639 --> 00:36:36.960
Right?

00:36:37.119 --> 00:36:38.880
I think that was the thing with Blockbuster.

00:36:38.960 --> 00:36:44.320
If you never return the cassette tape, you just keep it and they would just charge it to your account.

00:36:44.559 --> 00:36:44.960
Exactly.

00:36:45.119 --> 00:36:45.360
Yeah.

00:36:45.440 --> 00:36:49.039
Well, companies said, Oh no, that means we stop making money.

00:36:49.199 --> 00:36:50.400
No, we don't want to do that.

00:36:50.639 --> 00:36:51.920
You could never own it.

00:36:52.159 --> 00:36:59.039
So HP just said, oh yeah, if you want the not HP, I can't think of it, it's a computer company, but they make gaming laptops.

00:36:59.119 --> 00:37:04.719
And what they said is, you want the most expensive, you want the best of the best when it comes to gaming laptop.

00:37:04.880 --> 00:37:11.440
Well, we know you can't afford it because RAM processes have shot up 300% plus percent, you know, five times 500%.

00:37:12.079 --> 00:37:13.280
Storage is going up.

00:37:13.519 --> 00:37:14.880
So we know you can't afford it.

00:37:15.039 --> 00:37:24.719
So if you want to be able to play the uh Grand Theft Auto 6 when it eventually comes to PC at the top specs possible, you can't buy that$2,000 laptop.

00:37:24.880 --> 00:37:30.480
You can't buy that$3,000 laptop because the RAM piece is now$1,000 itself.

00:37:30.880 --> 00:37:32.480
You're gonna have to rent it from us.

00:37:32.639 --> 00:37:34.480
Oh, you how much you want to pay for a rent?

00:37:34.559 --> 00:37:39.360
Oh, we're only charge you$50, but$50 committed for three years.

00:37:39.679 --> 00:37:43.360
You'd have done paid more than what the laptop is worth, and you don't even own it.

00:37:43.519 --> 00:37:44.000
Exactly.

00:37:44.239 --> 00:37:45.599
And that's what's happening.

00:37:45.760 --> 00:37:50.079
It's that's what's happening, and that's kind of what a lot of people are afraid of.

00:37:50.320 --> 00:37:51.599
So that's one aspect.

00:37:51.760 --> 00:37:53.679
I want to go back and I'm gonna keep going.

00:37:53.920 --> 00:37:55.840
I want to go to the data.

00:37:56.400 --> 00:38:02.639
One thing that I'm afraid of with this digital era is you said it earlier, going back to control and data.

00:38:03.360 --> 00:38:17.119
What's happening is, and this is what I'm fearing, with AI in this digital era, the value of people's skills are actually gonna decrease because AI can do it.

00:38:17.599 --> 00:38:25.039
So everybody's everyone's valuable in one way that everybody shares, and that's your data.

00:38:25.760 --> 00:38:30.559
That's how Google, Facebook, TikTok, all these companies have been making money.

00:38:30.639 --> 00:38:33.599
It's because you agree to share your data.

00:38:33.760 --> 00:38:36.239
You're when you talk to Alexa, that's your data.

00:38:36.400 --> 00:38:38.880
When you talk to Meta AI, that's your data.

00:38:39.039 --> 00:38:41.920
When you're Googling in with Kevin and I, that's your data.

00:38:42.079 --> 00:38:44.400
When you create a key mail, that's your data.

00:38:44.559 --> 00:38:48.159
You're giving your data away left and right, left and right, left and right.

00:38:48.320 --> 00:38:50.880
Well, that was okay because it was really valuable.

00:38:51.039 --> 00:38:55.039
And maybe you had certain skills that could up your value.

00:38:55.280 --> 00:39:04.559
Well, if AI can do the skills that you had that was earning you a 50-60K salary a year in California, your skills are not as valued no more.

00:39:04.639 --> 00:39:07.280
So your only value is gonna be data.

00:39:07.440 --> 00:39:08.719
It's gonna be data.

00:39:09.039 --> 00:39:14.719
So it is worrisome, and it's why, again, physical products is my preferred method.

00:39:14.800 --> 00:39:17.920
Like when you said earlier, 100% I'd rather have physical dollars.

00:39:18.159 --> 00:39:21.679
I'd rather have something that's always backed by something that is physical.

00:39:22.000 --> 00:39:27.199
I own a crap ton of money in stocks, it's backed by physical companies.

00:39:28.000 --> 00:39:30.559
So people, they need to think about all this.

00:39:30.719 --> 00:39:31.599
It's happening.

00:39:31.760 --> 00:39:35.599
And you know, and and I know this is not the most exciting thing to talk about.

00:39:35.760 --> 00:39:41.039
I'm pretty sure people are talking about how bad money was performance in the Super Bowl is right now.

00:39:41.199 --> 00:39:46.480
But in the meanwhile, bad bunny probably has a crap ton of money invested in real estate right now.

00:39:46.639 --> 00:39:52.800
He has a crap ton of money invested in these tangible things that are making him money.

00:39:53.039 --> 00:40:01.360
He may have got his bag selling a digital service, a la a musician, but I guarantee you the way he's investing is all physical.

00:40:01.599 --> 00:40:02.480
It's all physical.

00:40:02.639 --> 00:40:08.400
So, yeah, it's an interesting world we're going in with AI and everything, digital versus physical.

00:40:08.559 --> 00:40:10.960
That's gonna be the topic for a while now.

00:40:11.599 --> 00:40:13.280
Yeah, I agree.

00:40:13.519 --> 00:40:24.000
One of the things, man, and I was having a conversation with somebody earlier this week about is that with this digital world, you look at a lot of people who make music, right?

00:40:24.480 --> 00:40:33.440
And like you were saying back in the day, you had to physically actually go and buy a tape or a cassette or a DVD, right?

00:40:33.519 --> 00:40:34.480
Or a CD.

00:40:34.800 --> 00:40:39.519
And basically you actually had to buy the single or you bought the album, right?

00:40:40.000 --> 00:40:46.079
And now you have, especially independent artists, right?

00:40:47.039 --> 00:40:54.559
Now if somebody wants to go listen to your song on one of these streaming platforms, they're giving you less than a penny.

00:40:55.840 --> 00:40:56.800
And guess what?

00:40:57.039 --> 00:41:00.719
Some of the older artists are talking about Snoop Dogg being one of them.

00:41:01.039 --> 00:41:03.599
He's talking about taking all his stuff down off the streaming platform.

00:41:03.840 --> 00:41:05.039
Yeah, yeah, I've been hearing about that.

00:41:05.360 --> 00:41:09.039
There's other artists that are well-established artists that are talking about the same thing.

00:41:09.199 --> 00:41:18.079
Like, I'm gonna take my music off of these streaming platforms, and you want to get it, you're gonna have to go here and you're gonna have to pay for it, right?

00:41:18.320 --> 00:41:31.360
But people artists should take a lot of the pages out of the some of the older artists that actually were selling trunks and I mean selling um cassettes out of their trunk and just fit selling physical, the physical albums, right?

00:41:31.920 --> 00:41:44.239
And they do have some platforms that you actually can put your music on, and basically I I've seen some new artists don't like LaRussell for one, he's definitely doing it.

00:41:44.960 --> 00:41:48.480
Yeah, you you come, hey, I'm on this platform.

00:41:48.639 --> 00:41:53.039
You want to you can't go get it from Spotify, you can't get it from Apple Music, you gotta come get it from over here.

00:41:53.280 --> 00:41:58.960
And I think he started out by saying, just give me whatever you want to give me, just listen to it.

00:41:59.039 --> 00:41:59.920
You can give me a dollar.

00:42:00.000 --> 00:42:00.320
Yep.

00:42:00.480 --> 00:42:05.119
But it's more than what you're gonna, it's it's maybe way more than what you would get from Spotify.

00:42:05.519 --> 00:42:07.039
Yeah, even if you're getting a dollar.

00:42:07.199 --> 00:42:07.679
Absolutely.

00:42:07.840 --> 00:42:08.960
And that's the thing, man.

00:42:09.039 --> 00:42:10.800
Some of these things are more damaging.

00:42:10.960 --> 00:42:23.280
Whereas you're sitting up here and you're being creative and you're getting this creative piece of art, and you're just pretty much giving it away for anybody just to come and say, Oh, I like it, I'll check it out.

00:42:23.440 --> 00:42:25.920
And basically, you're getting pennies.

00:42:26.639 --> 00:42:28.159
Literally, pennies, yep.

00:42:28.480 --> 00:42:29.039
Right?

00:42:29.360 --> 00:42:35.039
So I just think that uh people shouldn't get so far and so heavily invested.

00:42:35.119 --> 00:42:35.920
I know it's easy.

00:42:36.000 --> 00:42:40.559
Yeah, you can pitch your stuff on the streaming platform, and basically everybody has access to it.

00:42:40.639 --> 00:42:42.559
I understand the concept, I get it.

00:42:42.880 --> 00:42:50.800
But what happens is that I think a snoop said he had got a billion streams in one month.

00:42:51.039 --> 00:42:54.880
And he said for a billion streams, it only gave him like 40.

00:42:55.679 --> 00:42:56.320
40,000.

00:42:56.639 --> 00:42:57.440
Yeah, 40,000.

00:42:57.519 --> 00:43:06.800
Yeah, you look at people like Michael Jackson, man, like I don't really think any artist is ever gonna sell more physical copies than Michael Jackson.

00:43:07.039 --> 00:43:07.920
Oh no, that yeah, yeah.

00:43:08.079 --> 00:43:08.239
Period.

00:43:08.480 --> 00:43:09.679
He's gonna hold that title forever.

00:43:09.920 --> 00:43:10.159
Right.

00:43:10.320 --> 00:43:15.519
But just think all those people had to physically go buy a copy, you know?

00:43:15.679 --> 00:43:18.159
And that's the thing that we gotta start thinking about.

00:43:18.320 --> 00:43:24.159
I know people who have started digital businesses and they're making a ton of money, and they that works for that model.

00:43:24.239 --> 00:43:24.880
That's great.

00:43:25.039 --> 00:43:29.360
I just think for some models, people need to go back to the old school, you know what I'm saying?

00:43:29.440 --> 00:43:30.719
Because it's more beneficial.

00:43:30.960 --> 00:43:33.119
That's just mainly what I wanted to say about it.

00:43:34.239 --> 00:43:37.440
Everything that's digital ain't good.

00:43:37.840 --> 00:43:38.320
You know?

00:43:38.800 --> 00:43:39.280
Yeah.

00:43:39.519 --> 00:43:39.840
Yeah.

00:43:40.000 --> 00:43:44.079
And um, I hear you, and we can keep talking about this, but time's up.

00:43:44.320 --> 00:43:46.079
So we got to wrap it up.

00:43:46.239 --> 00:43:49.519
Thanks, Maurice, for jumping on the show as always and coming up with the topic.

00:43:49.599 --> 00:43:50.480
This was a good one.

00:43:50.559 --> 00:43:52.000
And yeah, I'm gonna wrap this up.

00:43:52.239 --> 00:43:53.199
We're already over the limit.

00:43:53.360 --> 00:43:54.400
This is Darren Harvey.

00:43:54.480 --> 00:43:59.519
This has been Financial State of Minds on KGPC 96.9, streaming on KGPC.

00:44:00.239 --> 00:44:04.159
969.org available on all streaming platforms of choice.

00:44:04.239 --> 00:44:06.159
This has been financial state of minds.

00:44:06.320 --> 00:44:12.480
But please, kids, and tweets, if you like this show, please follow us on financialstate of minds.com and all social media.

00:44:13.039 --> 00:44:18.239
All say financial state of mind follow FSM underscore org for nonprofits.

00:44:20.320 --> 00:44:23.119
And if you like this episode, watch it on YouTube.