An Interview with Jason Hartman

Be wise. Be prudent. Be bold. Be wary. Be clever and determined and focused on your end goal. Don’t be swayed by the crowd; rather be loyal to your well-thought-out discipline.

As a part of my series about The 5 Essentials of Smart Investing, I had the pleasure of interviewing Nancy Tengler.

Nancy Tengler’s career as a portfolio manager spans 40 years; she is currently the CEO and Chief Investment Officer of Laffer Tengler Investments. Nancy is a passionate advocate for women’s financial literacy and she leads the firm’s Women & Wealth initiative. Nancy is a sought-after TV and print financial commentator on local and national media outlets, and the author of the book The Women’s Guide to Successful Investing: Achieving Financial Security and Realizing Your Goals, out September 29, 2023.

Thank you for doing this with us! Our readers would like to learn a bit more about you. Can you tell us the “backstory” about what brought you to the finance industry?

I was born into a lower-middle-income family. My father left when I was 12. My mother received one child support payment from him, got a job, and then a second job. Consequently, money (or the lack of) was very important in our home. I pet sat, cleaned the houses of school friends (awkward), and then got a job at two department stores and waitressed on the weekend. And I was an epic saver.

Eventually, I learned about investing and have never looked back. After college, I chose between being a fighter pilot (I took all the tests, secured a recommendation, and then saw Private Benjamin. Hell no!) and the investment business. I loved the daily metrics and the life of learning investing provides. In my four decades in the investment management business, I have never met a wealthy person who got there by saving. They achieved wealth by saving to invest.

Can you share with our readers the most interesting or amusing story that occurred to you in your career so far? Can you share the lesson or takeaway you took out of that story?

I was 25 flying from NY to SFO. I was upgraded to first class. I was wearing an Albert Nipon blue dress with white inset and cuffs. I had no luggage because I had red-eyed in the night before. I found my seat and was getting a pillow out of the overhead when my soon-to-be seatmate asked me to get him a pillow. Kind of rude I thought, but I complied. Then the man across the aisle asked for a pillow. The man in front of him asked if I could put his briefcase up in the overhead. I finally got it. They thought I was a flight attendant! So I asked if everyone was OK and then took my seat on the aisle. You could have bowled them all over with a feather. I learned that in the investment business being underestimated as a young woman was a gift. I had just closed a $100K fee deal. My take was $25K. Our competitors had underestimated us. Never take offense. Get the job done. Be respectful and kind…then WIN!

Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?

I am working on a book for women left behind by death or divorce or who never got married in the first place. There are so many potential pitfalls they face on top of grief (for those who lost a spouse) and a general tendency exhibited by women to — for the most part — excuse themselves from the investment conversation. The research shows that the trends have not improved. Baby Boomer women participate in the process slightly more than Millennials. That is discouraging since women will control the majority of the world’s assets — trillions of dollars — in the coming years. I meet women all the time who are now responsible for the family wealth and they have no relationship with their advisor, no trust. 2/3s of women fire their advisor after inheriting (if you will) the relationship. That is disruptive and expensive. I want them to get involved in the process well before the life-changing crisis. The book interviews women who made good decisions and bad to serve as a virtual support group for all single women.

We just launched our very own actively managed ETF: TGLR. I want investors large and small to benefit from our expertise. It is NEVER too late to invest. One of my favorite stories is of a woman who didn’t begin investing until she retired on a fixed income (in the book) and died with millions of dollars.

Ok. Thanks for all that. Let’s now jump to the main core of our interview. According to this report, nearly a quarter of Americans can’t pass a basic test of financial literacy. In your opinion or experience, what is the cause of these unfortunate numbers?

We don’t teach economics in schools — it’s that simple. In Arizona, it is now a criterion for graduation but most schools avoid the topic. I taught basic finance at the college level and was appalled at the lack of knowledge and awareness as to why this subject is important. And, worse, families are not teaching basic financial principles to their children. We used to sit around the table in my home and discuss these ideas. Every trip to the store was a lesson in economics and investing. We also taught our kids how to manage their income (no matter how small) and to give back.

If you had the power to make a change, what 3 things would you recommend to improve these numbers?

I served on the board of the Arizona Council of Economic Education. There are chapters in almost every state. In that role, I spoke to grade school and high school students about investing. I also spoke to Title 1 schools (those were the most rewarding) And to teachers on how to teach the stock market game. These young people do excellent research, build portfolios, and compete nationally. We are underestimating and under-educating our youth. The stock market game should be taught and practiced in every school.

Read my book and get a copy for all the women in your life. Interestingly many of the reviews on Amazon are written by men. The advice is sound and accessible and not necessarily gender specific. Just written from a woman’s point of view. Heck, get a copy for all the men in your life, too.

That’s only two but if my book were made into a movie I would want Sandra Bullock or Meryl Streep to play me and make investing cool.

Ok, thank you! Now to the main question of our interview: You are a “finance insider”. If you had to advise your adult child about 5 nonintuitive essentials for smart investing, what would you say? Can you please give a story or an example for each?

My book is filled with these examples. The biggest mistake most investors make is they don’t take enough risk. Especially older investors. But here are five critical lessons from the book:

Five Critical Lessons and Warnings: Don’t Touch a Hot Stove, Don’t Talk to Strangers and Other Lessons for the Ages

As with most things in life you will quickly acquire your own investing experiences, both good and bad. And you will likely develop your own lessons and warnings; perhaps a list of “dos and don’ts,” or “never agains,” or even “next time I’ll try.” That is as it should be. But, for now start with the lessons and warnings in this chapter. Modify them as you see fit, add your own, and remain firm in your determination to avoid as many investing pitfalls as possible. It is much wiser to exercise caution in your investments, to get on base with singles and doubles rather than to swing for the fences. Smart women take informed risk. Doing so increases the odds we will keep out of trouble, avoid big losses, and protect our hard-earned and carefully saved money. Our Intelligent Investing Rules will keep us focused. These warnings will keep us out of the weeds.

If you are depending on the dividend for income and valuation information, make sure it’s not too hot nor too cold, but just right.

It is first and foremost important that we understand the power of the dividend as a component of total return. As is often the case, we need to be wary of too much of a good thing. Since yield is good could a really high yield be even better? Not necessarily, as the research has shown. If life has taught me anything, moderation is certainly at the top of the list. Years ago, my dermatologist prescribed Retin-A for my skin. I figured if a morning dose was good, a morning and evening dose would be twice as good. Wrong. Two weeks and a cortisone shot later, the scaly red bumps — my skin’s reaction to the Retin-A overdose — finally disappeared. Painful lesson learned. The same is true of dividends. Too much of a good thing can sometimes be a signal of pending disaster.

There was a time not all that long ago when dividends didn’t rise with the surety of a helium balloon on the end of a loose string. Because earnings were lethargic, dividend payments stagnated as well. That is as it should be. But when earnings are lethargic and the dividend continues to rise, we need to become suspicious; the dividend should not increase faster than sustainable earnings levels for an extended period of time. We should also become suspicious when a dividend payout has reached a level that is no longer supported by earnings. We measure this by calculating the payout ratio. The payout ratio is simply the annual dividend payment divided by the annual earnings. Each company will determine the proper ratio based on their business and future earnings prospects. But when a company’s payout ratio approaches or exceeds 100 percent of earnings we can be sure there is risk of a dividend cut. High payout ratios can mean dividend risk and when the dividend is at risk, we lose our rudder and a good portion of our total return. Bank stocks in 2009 were forced to cut dividends; auto companies and airlines are notorious cutters because of their cyclical earnings. Many companies during the COVID economic shutdown eliminated dividends; companies like Walt Disney Co., Southwest Airlines, and The Boeing Co. Be wary. A high relative yield is a positive — think Heartland’s quintile 4 — but a very high yield can carry risk, which is one of the reasons why the stocks in Heartland’s fifth quintile underperformed.

In recent years as company management teams have improved their balance sheets and increased free cash flow (by living within their means), the opportunity to provide a return to their shareholders via the dividend has increased. As of the end of 2022 more than 400 of the companies in the S&P 500 pay a dividend which is roughly in line with the number in 2013. But, importantly, in 2022 S&P 500 companies paid out record dividends of $565 billion to shareholders, an increase of 10% over the previous year. That compares to a payout of $339 billion in 2013 when I wrote the first edition. A real-life case study of dividend growth.

The combined payout ratio of the companies in the S&P was 31%. (When I entered the business in the early 1980s the payout ratio routinely came in around 50%.) Robert D. Arnott and Clifford S. Asness published a research paper entitled. “Surprise! Higher Dividends= Higher Earnings Growth.” Though the results were published in 2003, the conclusions are still relevant. The author’s found “evidence strongly suggests that expected future earnings growth is faster when current payout ratios are high and slowest when payout ratios are low.”44 Historically investors assumed low payout ratios forecasted strong future earnings growth as management reinvested earnings into growth initiatives. But, in fact, what Arnott and Asness have concluded (supported by the data) is that within a reasonable payout ratio range of, say, 25–30 percent, these higher levels are forecasting stronger future earnings growth. Further confirmation of the power of dividends as a valuation tool. Because of its importance to value investors, we want to make sure that when we buy a stock for the dividend income and valuation information that the dividend is safe and reliable — not too high, not too low — and we do this by considering the sustainability of the dividend when compared to earnings via the payout ratio.

Don’t talk to strangers; taking stock tips from people whose investing prowess is unknown to you is like gambling.

My high school US government teacher had a policy that students could take every test three times and keep the highest score. His experience showed that rarely, if ever, did a student do better on the second or third try. And he told us that. Still almost every student tried their hand at taking the test three times, including me. When I did manage to eke out a good grade after the third effort it was sheer luck that propelled me. The same is true for investing. If, by chance, you buy a stock in which you have no knowledge or have not done the research and you succeed you will have learned nothing of value and may wrongly conclude you can repeat the serendipitous success. Buying a stock without knowing anything about the underlying company usually doesn’t turn out very well. I know because I had to learn this lesson the hard way.

Many years ago, on a flight from San Francisco to Houston, I met the charming CEO and CFO of a telecommunications company called SmartTalk. They had been touring the country touting their public offering of shares and were on their way home. By this point they had their pitch down pat. And I took the bait. Though they were perfect strangers to me, I didn’t bother to do the research on their company and bought 100 shares each for my children’s education accounts based solely on our airborne conversation. In less than two years, I watched the shares go from around $20 to zero: $4,000 of my hard-earned savings down the drain.

But I didn’t learn from that experience. Somehow it always takes more than once for me. A year later, a Swiss banker acquaintance fell over himself telling me about the latest biotech start-up stock he had purchased. Their drug was a “sure thing” and he had “made a great deal of money on stocks like this one.” Again, I didn’t bother to do the research and bought 500 shares on his enthusiastic recommendation. I was young and busy raising two kids, running a business and looking for a shortcut, so I rolled the dice and lost every penny. Five thousand dollars later I swore off others’ great ideas forever.

Which is too bad because around ten years later in 2002, a prominent and highly successful money manager whose outstanding small-cap performance I was very well acquainted with, suggested — as a favor — I might want to take a look at Wynn Resorts (WYNN). He was impressed with the company’s long-term growth potential and was buying the stock himself. But what did I know of gambling outfits? Or the hotel business for that matter? Since his suggestion through 2013 and the writing of the first edition WYNN was up a cumulative 2,118 percent versus the S&P’s 154%. If ever I was going to listen to a stock suggestion it should have been that one. I knew the performance and quality of the manager’s work and could easily have supplemented his research with my own. But I didn’t. I was under the influence of a too small sampling size based on my previous two failures. Still, despite the success of WYN, to this day I won’t buy a stock whose underlying business I don’t know or understand. I will, however, put it on a watch list and do my own homework if the source of the idea is credible.

At least I finally learned the lesson.

Absolutely do not, ever, chase stocks you think you should have bought and didn’t.

I have been tempted to chase runaway stock prices as much as the next woman. WYNN is the perfect example. For years I looked at the stock regularly wondering if now was a good entry point, bemoaning the fact that I “missed it.” But there will be plenty of opportunities in other stocks or, perhaps, once again in WYNN. Key to achieving solid long-term performance is staying the course — whichever course selected — and to carry on. Trying to time a particular stock or the market is a fool’s game for any investor but especially for busy women.

As an illustration let’s consider some return data points for the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) in 1987. On October 19 — Black Monday — the DJIA dropped 22.6 percent in one day. Had I panicked and sold I would have missed two of the top twenty largest one-day gains (at that time) in the Dow since 1950. On the very next day, October 20, the index rose 5.9 percent and the following day, October 21, it rose another 10.2 percent. By selling I would have missed the partial bounce back and would have likely not reinvested to enjoy the next decade of stellar returns. Don’t get me wrong. Black Monday was frightening. I was investing for clients in 1987 and I can still remember the panic as we all huddled around the trader’s screen (back then we only had one “Quotron” that provided stock prices on the entire investment floor) and watched the DJIA plummet 508 points to 1, 738.74. (It is instructive to note that the DJIA closed out 2022 at 33,147.25.) None of us knew what the following day would bring but we knew that over the long-term we were still interested in owning stocks. As Warren Buffett advises, “If you aren’t willing to own a stock for 10 years, don’t even think about owning it for 10 minutes.” Being good value investors, we stayed the course, added some to our holdings at lower prices and went on to enjoy one of the strongest bull market periods in history. Thankfully we didn’t have to chase stocks or the market because we stayed in, we held on.

Table 11.1 is instructive for women new to investing. When we look at the market returns over the long-term and in context, we increase our sampling size and the odds that when stocks go south, we will retain our conviction to remain invested. In our 24×7 news-cycle-world, negative news becomes magnified but if we maintain perspective (and historical returns provide perspective) we can increase our confidence that stocks will once more return to favor. Although today’s investors focus on the most recent bear markets — 2022, the brief COVID bear market in 2020, or 2008–2009, note the three year drag from 2000 to 2002. While the decline wasn’t as drastic as 2008, the repeated negative performance year in and year out for three years took its toll on an earlier generation of investors. Again, standing firm was the right thing to do. Look at what you would have subsequently missed if you bailed out during the 2000–2002 period. Or any of the bear market periods for that matter.

Using market weakness to add to holdings is a sound strategy. Simply buying and holding over the 36-year period which includes periods like Black Monday and 2000–2002 (the popping of the technology and internet bubble), 2008–2009 (the Great Financial Crisis), 2020 (the COVID economic shut-down) and 2022 (the self-inflicted inflation and rate hike crisis) has resulted in significant appreciation — 11.0 percent per year annualized for 36 years. Applying the rule of 72, my investment has doubled every six and a half years. If Jane Austen is right and “money is the best recipe for happiness,” then investing in high-quality companies for the long-term, undeterred by market weakness, is a key ingredient.

But what if I wasn’t investing in 1987? How about an event nearer and dearer to my heart, like 2008? Many investors are still spooked by the market decline of 2008. The memory some fifteen years later is still all too vivid of a 401(k) cut almost in half by the devastating declines. But let’s, for the sake of argument, assume that an investor “gave up” and sold out on November 19, 2008, a day on which the DJIA experienced a drop of more than 5% (and which happened to mark the bottom in the stock market decline). What investors like to call capitulation. Using the Dow as a proxy for her account, by liquidating her holdings on that day, she locked in a loss of 38.2 percent. That means for every dollar she had invested on January 1, 2008, she had only 61.8 cents remaining in her account. But her, perhaps, panicked selling caused even more damage to her investment account. from November 20 through the end of 2008, the Dow returned 10.1 percent, which was significant though certainly less than the 38.2 percent realized when our investor sold out on November 19th. But let’s assume she read this book and realized her mistake and got back into the market on January 1, 2009. She would have gained 22.7 percent over the subsequent 12 months and now would have 75.8 cents of each dollar she invested on January 1, 2008. A lost but a substantially smaller one than if she had not returned to the market. Now suppose her best friend had already read this book and never sold her stock holdings on November 19, 2008. She remained in the market the entire time and by the end of 2009 she had recouped a good portion of her losses and now had 83.5 cents for every dollar invested on January 1, 2008, significantly more than her friend. We should also note that since the end of 2009 that 83.5 cents grew to $1.47 through the end of 2013 and has more than doubled since then. Significantly better than the first woman who bailed out at the market bottom realizing 61.8 cents on every dollar she invested.

Chasing stocks up or down is a flawed strategy that can cost real money. Money you’ve worked hard to acquire. Stay the course, your course. That is how we grow our wealth.

Stick with your discipline — remember that Wall Street is terrible at turning points.

Maintaining discipline is no doubt tough for all of us. But not as difficult, I think, as it is for Wall Street. During the early 1990s value stock investors were struggling to provide protection in a declining market. Where they would normally do better than the indices, value stocks were performing just as poorly. Or worse. In hindsight, almost precisely when value stocks were poised to produce years of outperformance, one of the major business news magazines published a cover story declaring the end to value investing. The big capitulation. The last pile-on. And that is how a market bottom is achieved, when almost everyone has given up and there is no one left to disappoint. When there are no bulls to be found and we are told over and over again why things are different this time. It is then we would be wise to remember what General George S. Patton, Jr. said: “If everybody is thinking alike, then somebody isn’t thinking.” And the way to make money in the market is not by thinking like everyone else. We make money by thinking like long-term investors.

Wall Street analysts are not all that different from a middle-school clique. No one wants to stick out unless it is to tout the latest fashion, but most certainly not to decry it. Traveling in a herd, in the same direction, seems to satisfy the dispositions and egos of many experts but it doesn’t help their clients make money. If you had the time (and I know you don’t — at least not for this assignment) you could watch the way trends are established in the financial media. There really are talking points and they really do move through the public discourse like a human wave at a play-off game. Smooth and relentless. You will hear the pundits (who watch only the pundits) repeat the most popular and palatable theory. As though from lips to God’s ear, as the saying goes. But the herd mentality can only carry a market or stock so far and then beware when the herd turns tail. Because then it is too late to get out.

Take our example of Apple stock in the fall of 2012 when the stock price hit a historical high of just over $700 per share. In chapter 8 we discussed the poor analyst who raised his own price target on Apple when the price powered through his previous price target only to watch it — the very next day — begin an eight-month, approximately 45 percent plunge, where it languished — range bound for months. During that week when Apple stock made its high, 87 percent of Wall Street analysts had a “buy” on the stock. Only 10 percent listed a recommendation of less than “buy.” But even more interesting, Apple was among the top fifteen rated stocks in the S&P 500, which placed it in the top 3 percent in terms of positive rankings by Wall Street analysts.

Remember: “If everybody is thinking alike, then someone isn’t thinking.” I wished I’d said that.

Don’t touch a hot stove but don’t get scared out of stocks either.

I was that kid. The one who touched the hot stove despite the warnings, and I still carry the scar today to prove it. Of course, I gave birth to one of those kids, too, but in her case, it was a hot curling iron. And, yes, she also carries the scar. But neither of us has chosen the drastic decision to swear off the kitchen or styling our hair. We still engage in those activities but when we do, we take precautions. Appropriate, injury-avoiding precautions.

You will get burned in the market. Sooner or later despite your best research efforts and despite following your proven discipline you will lose money on a particular stock during a particular period of time. Just as you will be disappointed by a friend, or a tried-and-true product or the directions on Google Maps or a trusted hair stylist. But somehow when the market turns against us our first instinct is to swear it off forever. That’s probably because we see it as mystical or like gambling or beyond our understanding. Or we think we never belonged there in the first place. When we lack the confidence many of us avoid the activity. But just as you wouldn’t abandon an old friend for a lapse, or a trust stylist for one bad cut neither should you abandon investing during periods of difficulty. Think of investing as a “for better or worse activity” and commit for the long haul. Muriel Siebert once said, “You don’t have guarantees in this world. You’ve got to take chances.” She was mostly right. There are no guarantees in life or investing but buying the stocks of great companies is not “taking chances”; rather it is informed decision-making that comes with risk. Like getting into your car or onto an airplane, or riding your bike, or, sometimes, even going to the hair stylist.

Be wise. Be prudent. Be bold. Be wary. Be clever and determined and focused on your end goal. Don’t be swayed by the crowd; rather be loyal to your well-thought-out discipline.

What are your thoughts about investing in cryptocurrency? Can you explain what you mean?

I don’t know how to value crypto. Same with gold. There are no earnings and no valuation metrics. Therefore, it is speculation and speculation is fine as long as you limit your exposure. Since the 1900s stocks have returned, on average, 8–9% annually. This includes dozens of bear markets and the Great Stock March Crash during the Depression. And every bear market since then. If you consider the rule of 72s, your money will double in nine years if you assume a return of 8%. That should do it just fine.

From the Book:

The crypto conundrum.

I have never owned any cryptocurrency and at the time of writing, I don’t anticipate I will ever own it. This is not because the various crypto offerings are not valid or are not good investments for some but because I cannot figure out how to value the holdings. There are no earnings and no revenues. Like gold (which is a popular investment — I own a minuscule amount) crypto prices are driven by supply and demand. Hence, their inexplicable (at times) volatility.

Bitcoin launched in January of 2009, yet U.S. regulators have sat on their hands until the epic failure of FTX. Now, as regulators are wont to do, they are trying to close the barn door after the horse has already galloped off. In March of 2023, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission issued an investor alert warning stating the risk of loss for “crypto asset investors ‘remains significant.’” Some have argued that Washington does not like the independence of these blockchain currencies and a crackdown has begun. We will see. But crypto is embedded in our economy and investors’ portfolios. It will not be easy to quell the enthusiasm. If price volatility that took Bitcoin from over $60,000 near the end of 2021 to approximately $16,500 to close out 2022 hasn’t driven investors away, we don’t think regulators will quell investor appetite. Bitcoin has already climbed to almost $28,000 near the end of March 2023.

I have no wisdom to add here. Other than to say crypto should be a very small allocation in your portfolio — like 1–5% because the asset trades based on speculation. Bitcoin’s performance in 2022 (during the bond and stock bear market) reveals the asset was positively correlated to stocks all the way down. It did not serve as a place to hide. The moniker virtual gold did not prove to be accurate.

If crypto appeals to you, consult an expert. And remain disciplined in your purchase. Don’t get caught up in the speculative frenzy that burned many of the meme stock investors discussed above.

What are your thoughts about day trading, using apps like Robinhood? Can you explain what you mean?

In my view, Robinhood has “gamified” investing. And, investing is not a game. I applaud the Millennials who largely entered the market during COVID. This generation came of age during the Great Recession when their parents’ retirement portfolios got trounced and so they “invested” in experiences until COVID. But turning investing into a game is not helpful, and day trading almost always ends in tragedy. Just read about folks who leveraged to buy Meme stocks at the peak. I wrote about this in my column in USA Today a few years ago:

“It was only a few years ago that “the experts” worried you would never embrace investing, particularly millennials who watched their parents struggle through the Great Recession and lose years of savings in their stock portfolios and 401(k)s seemingly overnight.

So welcome! The market will benefit from your unique perspective and engagement.

I have spent my career educating and encouraging lay investors and wholeheartedly agree with the great Peter Lynch, who said, “Everyone has the brainpower to follow the stock market. If you made it through fifth-grade math, you can do it.” The ability to access free research and trade essentially without cost has democratized investing. This is good for everyone. But let us not forget there is a difference between speculation and investing. Both have their place. But speculative bubbles eventually burst. They just do.

So, a note to the Redditors out there: Speculating to stick it to the Hedge Fund Man may come with a hefty price tag. But let me step back for a moment. I came of age in a simpler time, when revolutions were launched via rock ’n’ roll lyrics rather than stock options and an app. The Beatles championed insurrection against The Man in their iconic song “Revolution”: “You say you want a revolution well/ You know we all want to change the world.”

The Founders and the Beatles understood that a revolution could be a necessary evil. But revolutions can also be fraught with peril.”

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful for who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

My mother. She grew up in the depression. Then my dad left when I was 12 and sent one child support check. She got a job and then a second job and never once said a negative thing about my father. Through her actions, she taught me to work hard and never become bitter in disappointment. Best lesson of my life.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

Tom Petty: “ I won’t back down.” Or Winston Churchill: “Never give in. Never. Never. Never.” Same idea.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the greatest amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

I am doing it on a small scale. I want women to raise their investing IQs. To become financially independent. And to share that message with kids who grew up like I did in a family that lived paycheck to paycheck. Investing is accessible to everyone.

Thank you for the interview. We wish you continued success!

About The Interviewer: Jason Hartman is the Founder and CEO of Empowered Investor. Jason has been involved in several thousand real estate transactions and has owned income properties in 11 states and 17 cities. Empowered Investor helps people achieve The American Dream of financial freedom by purchasing income property in prudent markets nationwide. Jason’s Complete Solution for Real Estate Investors™ is a comprehensive system providing real estate investors with education, research, resources and technology to deal with all areas of their income property investment needs. Through Jason’s podcasts, educational events, referrals, mentoring and software to track your investments, investors can easily locate, finance and purchase properties in these exceptional markets with confidence and peace of mind.

Disclosure: Laffer Tengler Investments, Inc. (“Laffer Tengler”) is an investment adviser registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). Registration with the SEC or state securities authority does not imply a certain level of skill or training. More information about Laffer Tengler can be found on the SEC’s Investment Adviser Public Disclosure website at www.adviserinfo.sec.gov. The comments expressed represent the personal views of Laffer Tengler’s investment professionals based on their broad investment knowledge, experience, research, and analysis. The comments are not specific advice tailored to the specific circumstances of a particular individual. The comments are general and for informational purposes only, based on information and conditions prevalent at the time of publication. The comments are as of the date of publication and are subject to change without notice due to changes in the market or economic conditions that may not necessarily come to pass. Forward-looking statements cannot be guaranteed. This is not a recommendation to buy or sell a particular security, nor is this financial advice or an offer to sell any product. Viewers should not consider or place specific reliance on the content presented as comprehensive advice nor as an offer or solicitation to buy or sell securities. Laffer Tengler will not provide notice of any change in its opinions or the information contained in this appearance. Individuals are strongly encouraged to seek professional advice specific to their market, economic, regulatory, political conditions, and obligation change.

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