Life by Design

Jessilyn and Brian Persson

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Life by Design is a podcast that shares the experiences and tools to help couples align their wealth goals and reclaim their time, enabling them to experience freedom, abundance, and a life by design.RSSVERIFY

JAN 7

Taxes Advantages of Real Estate

Summary In this episode of the Life by Design Podcast, Jessilyn and Brian Persson discuss the tax advantages associated with real estate investing. They emphasize the importance of understanding how to leverage personal residences, the concept of return of capital, and the significance of maintaining good bookkeeping to maximize deductions. The conversation highlights the need for consulting tax professionals to navigate the complexities of tax laws and strategies effectively. Chapters 00:00 Understanding Tax Advantages in Real Estate Investing 07:04 Leveraging Personal Residence for Investment 09:50 Return of Capital and Tax Strategies 12:36 Maximizing Deductions and Bookkeeping for Rental Properties Contact Jessilyn and Brian Persson | Weekend Wealth Investments: Website: weekendwealth.caInstagram: weekend.wealthFacebook: Weekend Wealth InvestmentsLinkedin: Weekend Wealth Investments Transcript Jessilyn Persson (00:00) Welcome to the Life by Design Podcast, where Jessilyn and Brian Persson, struggling to align your financial goals or confidently invest in real estate as a couple, Brian Persson (00:18) That's why we created this podcast and the Riches Relationships and Real Estate program to help you build wealth and strengthen your relationship. Visit weekendwealth.ca to take our quiz and discover your real estate investor type. Let's create the life you deserve together. Jessilyn Persson (00:36) In today's episode, we're discussing a few of the tax advantages you can access when it comes to real estate investing. For us, taxes are our number one household expense above our mortgage or any other category of expenses. In Canada, we would assert it is the same for everyone. So if you can reduce that expense via real estate and create an investment at the same time, you should definitely do so. First, a quick disclaimer. This episode is for informational purposes only and should not be considered tax advice. The insights shared are based on our personal experiences and may not suit everyone's situation. We strongly encourage you to consult a qualified tax professional before making any financial decisions. So the first one we wanna chat about is your personal resident mortgage because most people are homeowners and they have a mortgage and their goal is to pay it down and be mortgage free. But as we've discussed in other episodes, There are things you can do with that mortgage that will create an asset and passive income for you instead of just sitting on something that is considered a liability. Brian Persson (01:46) Yeah. And it's considered a liability because you're paying for it with after tax dollars. your renters are not paying for it. No one else is paying for that mortgage for you. So how do you turn your personal residence, your mortgage on your personal residence from a liability to an asset? Well, in Canada, the tax law allows you to borrow money and put it into an investment which has the likelihood of creating cashflow. And when you borrow that money, you can write off the interest of what you've borrowed. So if you borrow money from your personal residence, i.e. your mortgage, then you can write off the interest of that mortgage when you invest it. So for us, we chose one of the simpler strategies just to keep our life simple. And that is we, every once in a while, when the mortgage gets paid down enough, we will borrow a lump sum of money from our mortgage and we will put it into an investment.

15 min
2025-12-24

Giving and Investments

Summary In this special holiday edition of Life by Design, the hosts discuss the importance of showing appreciation to tenants, investors, and team members in the real estate industry. They emphasize the value of personalized gifts, effective communication, and the law of reciprocation in building strong relationships. The conversation also highlights the significance of self-care and celebrating achievements, all while maintaining an attitude of gratitude. Chapters 00:00 The Spirit of Giving in Real Estate 01:50 Personalized Gifts for Tenants 05:48 The Importance of Communication 07:10 Gifting to Investors and Building Relationships 09:31 Appreciating Your Team 11:56 Celebrating Yourself and Your Achievements 15:18 The Power of Gratitude and Giving Contact Jessilyn and Brian Persson | Weekend Wealth Investments: Website: weekendwealth.caInstagram: weekend.wealthFacebook: Weekend Wealth InvestmentsLinkedin: Weekend Wealth Investments Transcript: Jessilyn Persson (00:03) Welcome to the special holiday edition of Life by Design, where we embrace the spirit of giving and reflect on the importance of showing your tenants, investors, and team how much you appreciate them. Real estate investing is a very social activity, so it's important to build strong, lasting relationships through gratitude and appreciation. So tune in as we spread some holiday cheer and commit to making a difference in our teams and beyond. Brian Persson (00:29) Yeah, and I mean, this is a real estate podcast. So the very first thing that we're going to talk about is our tenants, because we love our tenants, and we really want to show them how much we appreciate them living in our properties and paying rent on time and keeping care of the property. And the funny thing is that it doesn't take a whole lot to make someone feel really appreciated. Jessilyn Persson (00:53) Yeah, not at all. We've been gifting to our tenants for as long as I remember having tenants. we originally started by giving usually gift baskets with different things in it. And then as we got to know our tenants more, we custom. So we knew like if someone was a tea drinker, we would buy them probably a basket with specialty teas or tea mugs, or if someone really liked making a specific type of drink. we could custom a basket of that, or if they had a little bit of a larger family, maybe it was a bunch of different kind of cookies and popcorn and treats. And then as time has gone on, we've morphed that a little bit and we still do some gift baskets, but we've shifted it a little bit more to gift cards. we like, I think we like the experience. So we'd like to do dinner, theater, movie tickets, restaurants, but then there are some families where they're, like I said, they're a little bigger and maybe they don't have as much. so that we'll get them gift cards for grocery stores or Amazon, trying to make their life easier. Brian Persson (01:53) Yeah, and we, you know, our personal portfolio is small enough that we can keep tabs on our tenants and understand what they have. But for our apartment buildings, I actually put it as a year-round job for our resident managers to watch the tenants and figure out what they need so that they know what we can give them at holiday time. you know, all portfolio sizes, you can make it work and you can discover a little bit of personality about your tenants to give like a very meaningful, like thoughtful gift.

17 min
2025-12-10

Mortgage vs Mortgage Free

Summary In this episode, the hosts challenge the conventional wisdom that paying off a mortgage is the best financial strategy. They share their personal experiences and financial strategies, illustrating how leveraging a mortgage can lead to greater investment opportunities and cash flow. The discussion covers the benefits of refinancing, the importance of understanding good versus bad debt, and the necessity of experience in real estate investment. The hosts encourage listeners to rethink traditional beliefs about mortgages and investments to achieve financial freedom. Chapters 00:00 Rethinking Mortgage Payoff Myths 02:18 Leveraging Personal Residence for Investment 05:49 The Power of Cash Flow and Equity 08:30 Investment Property: Mortgage vs. Mortgage-Free 15:25 Understanding Good Debt vs. Bad Debt 19:26 The Importance of Experience in Real Estate Investment Contact Jessilyn and Brian Persson | Weekend Wealth Investments: Website: weekendwealth.caInstagram: weekend.wealthFacebook: Weekend Wealth InvestmentsLinkedin: Weekend Wealth Investments Transcript: Jessilyn Persson (00:04) In today's episode, we're flipping the script on a popular belief. The notion that paying off your mortgage is inherently better. And we're going to talk about two actual investments in our life that illustrate the difference. This episode was inspired by a notion that we keep seeing over and over again with our clients and friends. The idea of having no mortgage. Most of us were raised with the belief that you should pay off your mortgage as fast as possible. Well, we've learned differently. and the two scenarios that we're going to detail will show the difference, which will allow you to make a more informed decision on your mortgage. So the first one we want to talk about is your personal residential mortgage. Brian Persson (00:46) And yeah, not just everybody else out there, but us as well. We were ⁓ told by our parents that paying off your mortgage is kind of your number one priority in your financial life. But we're going to show a little bit about why that's not entirely true. And we did go down that path when we first started ⁓ with our property. We tried very, very hard to pay it off until we discovered a different way. Jessilyn Persson (01:11) Yeah, we were, and I think we've shared this on multiple podcasts, we were, think, too much shy of being mortgage free before we actually decided to, instead of pay it off, we refinanced, pulled it out and bought property. Brian Persson (01:28) Yes. Yeah. So we want to work through some actual numbers in this podcast. So just so you can really see the financial difference that it creates by using the finances and the leverage that you have available for you in your personal residence versus actually just paying that off and then not using that leverage for any type of investment. So as we just mentioned, we were very, close to paying off our personal mortgage and our mortgage had started at about 350K, but when we refinanced it, we were able to buy up to $2 million worth of property. So we now had $2 million worth of mortgages instead on those investment properties. But the portfolio is now cash flowing at $2,800 a month. which was ⁓ almost or is now almost double our original mortgage payment. So we're actually paying our original mortgage and we are cash flowing and putting money in our pocket because we actually borrowed from our personal

24 min
2025-11-26

Financial Fortitude

Summary In this episode, Brian and Jessilyn share how real estate investing became the foundation that carried them through job loss, burnout, the pandemic, and multiple major life transitions. They break down how couples can build financial fortitude through emergency reserves, HELOC strategies, insurance, and “what-if” scenario planning. They also discuss designing an investment portfolio that can pivot—covering diversification, liquidity, risk tolerance, market selection, and treating real estate like a true business. Finally, they highlight the importance of communication, shared vision, goal-setting rhythms, and knowing when to bring in outside help to strengthen both the relationship and the wealth plan. Chapters 00:00 – How Real Estate Carried Them Through Crisis07:05 – Building Financial Fortitude & Safety Nets08:08 – Designing a Portfolio That Can Pivot14:51 – Partnerships, Planning & Staying on the Same Page Contact Jessilyn and Brian Persson | Weekend Wealth Investments: Website: weekendwealth.caInstagram: weekend.wealthFacebook: Weekend Wealth InvestmentsLinkedin: Weekend Wealth InvestmentsTranscript Jessilyn Persson (00:03) Real estate investing isn't just about ROI. It's about being ready for life's plot twists. Today we're talking about how couples can design investment plans that stand strong through illness, job loss, kids, relocations, and everything in between. Brian Persson (00:19)s And to start off, we'll start with our own personal story about how real estate supported us through some ups and some downs in our life. It started with ⁓ Jess being burnt out in 2019 and we ended up pivoting our career, our lives and a number of other things. And actually the world ended up pivoting shortly after that as well with the pandemic and real estate was there. throughout all of that to support us. And we ended up going through 2020 and 2021 and somewhat rebuilding ourselves. And we couldn't have done it without real estate behind us because real estate effectively paid the bills throughout 2020 and 2021 and allowed us to really recreate who we are. Jessilyn Persson (01:07) Yeah, I was out of a job come, I think, mid-October 2019 and then you gave your notice, what, three days shy of the world shutting down, which we didn't plan for in terms of the pandemic. We didn't anticipate that. Brian Persson (01:27) Just like, how do you not anticipate a pandemic coming? We didn't really watch the news. That was one thing. Jessilyn Persson (01:36) It's really true. We thought it was a bit of a joke. What people were doing with toilet paper, should be very specific, not the pandemic itself. yeah, and so then you gave your notice and three days later everything shut down and we're like, okay, here we are. And while we were building a business with some of our partners, made it much harder because we were online as opposed to the events that we were supposed to be doing and all the in-person activities. And then of course, when you start any business, you usually make a lot of income off the hop. So or real estate supported us to start building that and figuring out, what does this look like and what does it mean for our family? Brian Persson (02:14) Yeah, and we did a lot of personal development in that time too. So we, we both had the time freedom of no nine to five job anymore. ⁓ and we could build the business and take any extra time left over to build ourselves too. So there were, there was a lot o

25 min
2025-11-12

Stress and Burnout

Summary In this conversation, Brian and Jessilyn explore the detrimental effects of hustle culture on health and financial well-being. They discuss the importance of recognizing burnout, the need for intentional rest, and how to design a sustainable wealth plan that aligns with personal values and mental health. The conversation emphasizes the significance of clarity, boundaries, and the ability to delegate tasks to maintain balance in life and work. Contact Jessilyn and Brian Persson | Weekend Wealth Investments: Website: weekendwealth.caInstagram: weekend.wealthFacebook: Weekend Wealth InvestmentsLinkedin: Weekend Wealth Investments Chapters 00:00 The Hidden Cost of Hustle 10:06 Designing a Sustainable Wealth Path 19:46 Reset and Rebuild: Finding Balance Transcript Jessilyn Persson (00:00) Welcome to the Life by Design Podcast, where Jessilyn and Brian Persson struggling to align your financial goals or confidently invest in real estate as a couple. Brian Persson (00:18) That's why we created this podcast and the Riches Relationships and Real Estate program to help you build wealth and strengthen your relationship. Visit weekendwealth.ca to take our quiz and discover your real estate investor type. Let's create the life you deserve together. Jessilyn Persson (00:35) In today's world, it's easy to get caught in the grind, chasing success, meeting deadlines, and pushing harder every day. But what happens when the constant hustle starts costing us our health, happiness, and clarity? In this episode, we're diving into the real connection between stress, burnout, and financial well-being, and how to design a sustainable wealth plan that supports your life instead of draining it. Because true wealth isn't just about the numbers in your bank account. It's about energy, peace and purpose that lasts. So today we want to talk about a few different ideas and share stories of what we've been through because we definitely have experienced some of this throughout our lifetime and ⁓ we realized the cost of what it took to our health and we want to share that with our audience. Brian Persson (01:23) Right. You've experienced burnout. ⁓ I've experienced ⁓ many different symptoms of burnout, maybe not quite burnout in the health way that you experienced it. But we definitely are experienced with ⁓ what sometimes not paying attention to yourself, whether it's emotionally or financially or when it comes to your health can cost you when you're kind of asleep at the wheel and you're not really taking care of yourself. Jessilyn Persson (01:52) Yeah, so the hidden cost of hustle. That's the first one we're going to touch on today. How stress and burnout, it can derail your financial goals and you sometimes don't even realize it til it's too late. Nope. You know, this is big myth, especially here in ⁓ Canada, probably the States and some other countries where the grind culture, you just got to go, go, go, go, go, go, go, you know, put in 10 hours, 12 hours a day and thinking you can do that onward and upwards for decades on end and are not realizing when you're young and full of energy, you can do it, but you don't realize what that's doing for your future body. Brian Persson (02:31) Yeah, we talk a lot about the choose your heart. Yeah. So you can choose your heart as in you can work out today so that you don't have to be going to the doctor every other day when you're older. That's one of those ways that you can choose your he

28 min
2025-10-29

Generational Wealth and Intentional Financial Parenting

Summary In this episode, we explore the concept of generational wealth and the importance of intentional financial parenting. The discussion emphasizes the need to instill financial values, habits, and mindsets in children from an early age. Key topics include raising wealth-minded kids, understanding the difference between assets and liabilities, the balance between legacy and entitlement, and the significance of personal responsibility in financial matters. The conversation culminates in the importance of designing a family wealth blueprint that fosters multi-generational wealth with intention. Contact Jessilyn and Brian Persson | Weekend Wealth Investments: Website: weekendwealth.caInstagram: weekend.wealthFacebook: Weekend Wealth InvestmentsLinkedin: Weekend Wealth Investments Chapters 00:00Raising Wealth-Minded Kids 09:25Legacy vs. Entitlement 19:17Designing a Family Wealth Blueprint Transcript Jessilyn Persson (00:00) Welcome to the Light by Design Podcast, we're Jessilyn and Brian Persson struggling to align your financial goals or confidently invest in real estate as a couple. Brian Persson (00:18) That's why we created this podcast and the Riches Relationships and Real Estate program to help you build wealth and strengthen your relationship. Visit weekendwealth.ca to take our quiz and discover your real estate investor type. Let's create the life you deserve together. Jessilyn Persson (00:35) Welcome to today's episode where we're diving into a topic that reaches far beyond dollars and cents, generational wealth and intentional financial parenting. This isn't just about passing down assets. It's about passing down mindsets, values, and habits that create empowered, financially capable generations. We'll explore how to raise wealth-minded kids, how to pass on legacy without entitlement, and how to design a family wealth Brooklyn that lasts. Because true wealth isn't just about what you build. It's about what you build into your family. And so today we're going to start with raising well-minded kids and stealing financial values early. Brian Persson (01:21) Yeah, and I think this is probably the most important part about generational wealth because obviously your kids are the next generation and if they don't understand wealth and they don't understand how to manage it, grow it, keep it, then it is going to disappear very, very quickly. Jessilyn Persson (01:39) Yeah, and I know we talk quite openly about money in our house and real estate and investing. So our kids at some level understand all of that. And while we haven't, I think, gone too deeply in some of these things, they definitely know, I believe, the difference between assets, which is our real estate, and we have other investment assets that we haven't talked about, but they definitely know real estate. They know income because they know I work a full-time contract. And that's the money that's the day to day, pay the bills kind of a thing. And then liabilities, which can be a tricky one depending on age appropriateness of our kiddos, right? But I think we have definitely over time explained, you know, like our vehicle, like, cause you know, they come home and they're like, they're like, well, my friends have like three vehicles and they have toys like quads, skadoos, like all boats. And we're like, great, but those are liabilities. not exactly assets that we choose to invest in real estate instead of all

27 min
2025-10-15

What We Would Do Differently

Summary In this episode of the Light by Design Podcast, Jesslyn and Brian Pearson discuss their journey in real estate investing, sharing valuable lessons learned along the way. They emphasize the importance of going bigger sooner, finding mentors, and shifting from a scarcity mindset to an abundance mindset. The couple also highlights the significance of understanding good debt and how it can be leveraged for wealth building. They conclude with key takeaways that encourage listeners to embrace lifelong learning and to not be too hard on themselves for past mistakes. Contact Jessilyn and Brian Persson | Weekend Wealth Investments: Website: weekendwealth.caInstagram: weekend.wealthFacebook: Weekend Wealth InvestmentsLinkedin: Weekend Wealth Investments Chapters 00:00 Introduction to Wealth Building and Relationships 02:58 Lessons Learned: Going Bigger Sooner 06:09 The Importance of Mentorship and Networking 08:55 Shifting Mindsets: From Scarcity to Abundance 12:03 Protecting Your Money: Understanding Good Debt 14:59 The Power of Real Estate Investment 20:57 Key Takeaways and Conclusion Transcript: Jessilyn Persson (00:00) Welcome to the Life by Design Podcast, where Jessilyn and Brian Persson struggling to align your financial goals or confidently invest in real estate as a couple. Brian Persson (00:18) That's why we created this podcast and the Riches Relationships and Real Estate program to help you build wealth and strengthen your relationship. Visit weekendwealth.ca to take our quiz and discover your real estate investor type. Let's create the life you deserve together. Jessilyn Persson (00:35) In episode 48, we talked about how you live what you learn. Knowing what we know now. Today, we're going to talk about what we would have done differently. And so, rolling right in here, the first thing we would have done is we would have gone bigger sooner. So we've shared our stories on different episodes where in 2017, Brian came home from work and said he can't handle any more properties. And that's when... I signed him up to take ⁓ an investment course or work, with Go Alongside ⁓ Real Estate Investment Network to just expand his network and his access to knowledge and what's possible. And that's when he came home and realized he could do a lot more than he realized. Brian Persson (01:25) Yeah. You don't know what you don't know. That's really what it came down to. So when I got into the room full of people who are already doing it and already much, much further down the path that I was and realizing how easy it seemed to them, you go, okay. Like, you know what? Maybe I can do this too. And ⁓ I definitely wouldn't have got there without those people and them sharing their stories and showing me like there's a bigger, better path out there. Jessilyn Persson (01:56) Yeah. And I mean, that's, that was one of the, think the hard lessons we learned in real estate about how we can manage more. But once we got over that hurdle through life since then, there's been times where both you and I have had a lot on our plate, not necessarily at the same time and went just like, I'm like done, stressed to the max, can't do anymore. And then we'll usually sit down and chat together. And I know one more recent ones with me and you chatted to me and you're like, listen, Jess. sometimes it's about perspective. Let's look at the situation and check out your perspective from where you're in this box. And then I'll show you what I see

23 min
2025-10-01

How Health and Wealth Intersect

Summary In this episode of the Life by Design Podcast, hosts Jessalyn and Brian Pearson discuss the critical relationship between health and wealth. They emphasize that health is the foundation of wealth, exploring how stress and poor health can lead to financial leakage and missed opportunities. The conversation also highlights the importance of investing in longevity and making conscious choices that support both health and financial well-being. Listeners are encouraged to take actionable steps to protect their energy and align their spending with their long-term health goals. Contact Jessilyn and Brian Persson | Weekend Wealth Investments: Website: weekendwealth.caInstagram: weekend.wealthFacebook: Weekend Wealth InvestmentsLinkedin: Weekend Wealth Investments Chapters 00:00 The Foundation of Wealth: Health Matters 06:57 The Cost of Stress: Financial Leakage 15:35 Investing in Longevity: Health and Wealth Balance Transcript Jessilyn Persson (00:05) Welcome to the Life by Design Podcast where Jessilyn and Brian Persson, struggling to align your financial goals or confidently invest in real estate as a couple, Brian Persson (00:15) That's why we created this podcast and the Riches Relationships and Real Estate Program to help you build wealth and strengthen your relationship. Visit weekendwealth.ca to take our quiz and discover your real estate investor type. Let's create the life you deserve together. Jessilyn Persson (00:32) In this episode we're diving into a truth that often gets overlooked. Your health is the foundation of your wealth. We'll explore how stress quietly eats away at both your bank account and your opportunities. Why longevity is one of the smartest investments you'll ever make and simple steps you can take right now to protect your energy, build confidence and align your wealth with a life you can fully enjoy. The first Takeaway we're going to focus on is your health is the foundation of your wealth. If your body is drained, your earning power, creativity and decision making all suffer. Brian Persson (01:11) That is absolutely true. ⁓ Me and you have both been in that position where we just don't, you just don't want to do anything. You just don't want to, you know, you have no motivation to go anywhere, do anything, work towards any kind of goals because you're physically suffering. And when you're physically suffering and your health is just not the best that it could possibly be, what kind of energy are you going to put towards? any kind of business or any kind of wealth or any kind of future endeavors. Jessilyn Persson (01:44) absolutely a great example is everyone has experienced some kind of an illness whether it be your common cold, flu, COVID, you name it, everyone has experienced it at least once in their life if not once a year, right? And if you think about where you're at in that time, you wanna lay on the couch, you want to get rest, you want... hydrate. A lot of times you don't feel like eating. You're lucky if you're sleeping. So in that state, now that's an extreme state because you're actually physically sick but you definitely aren't working. You're lucky if you got the TV on to kind of just keep you busy between naps. put that aside and you're better. You don't have, you're over your cold, you're over your flu but over time other things start. to take into account. Aging happens, which can shift everything in your body and things

22 min

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Trailer: Life by Design

Life by Design is a podcast that shares the experiences and tools you need to start living the life you desire, free from indecision, anxiety, and compromise. — Contact Jessilyn and Brian Persson | Discover Life By Design: Website: DiscoverLifeByDesign.caInstagram: DiscoverLifeByDesignFacebook: Discover Life By DesignLinkedin: Discover Life By Design

2023-10-24

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1 min

Life by Design is a podcast that shares the experiences and tools to help couples align their wealth goals and reclaim their time, enabling them to experience freedom, abundance, and a life by design.RSSVERIFY

Creator

Jessilyn and Brian Persson
Years Active

2023 - 2026
Episodes

57
Rating

Clean
Copyright

©2026 Projectory
Show Website

Life by Design