The Practical Wealth Show

Curtis May
  • 5.0 (46)
  • Investing
  • Updated Weekly

The Practical Wealth Podcast is for people who want to take control of their finances today. Curtis May is part of the Prosperity Economics movement and is dedicated to breaking down each client's unique financial situation so they can rebuild it to fit their ideal lifestyle.

  1. 5d ago

    The Smarter Way to Pay for College Without Draining Your Future

    In this episode of The Practical Wealth Show, Curtis May sits down with Brian S. Eyster, founder of The G.R.A.D. Process, to discuss how families can pay for college without sacrificing retirement, cash flow, or long-term financial security. College is one of the biggest financial decisions a family will ever face, yet most parents are given incomplete advice. Many are told to simply open a 529 plan, fill out the FAFSA, and hope things work out. Brian explains why that approach can leave families exposed, especially when they do not understand cash flow, FAFSA rules, CSS Profile requirements, tax positioning, merit aid, and the timing of financial aid calculations. Curtis and Brian discuss why college planning should start much earlier than senior year of high school, why cash flow management comes before college savings, how the Student Aid Index affects financial aid, and why parents need to understand the difference between need-based aid and merit-based aid. They also challenge the traditional advice around 529 plans and explain why college funding should be treated as part of a larger financial plan — not as an isolated savings goal. This conversation is especially valuable for parents with children in middle school, high school, or college, as well as advisors who want to better understand how college funding connects to retirement, cash flow, taxes, and long-term wealth building. Key topics include: Why college planning should not start senior year The difference between FAFSA and CSS Profile How the Student Aid Index impacts financial aid Why cash flow management matters before college planning The risks of relying only on 529 plans How test scores can impact scholarship opportunities Why asset positioning matters How parents can avoid sacrificing retirement to pay for college The problem with Parent PLUS loans Why college funding must be part of a coordinated financial strategy The big takeaway: college planning is not just about paying tuition. It is about protecting the family's entire financial future.

  2. Jul 9

    Your Network Is Your Net Worth: How Relationships Create Opportunity with Guy Dunn

    Your Network Is Your Net Worth: How Relationships Create Opportunity with Guy Dunn What if your greatest asset isn't your money, your business, or your investments? What if it's your relationships? In this episode of The Practical Wealth Show, Curtis May sits down with entrepreneur, speaker, networking expert, and author Guy Dunn to discuss why networking remains one of the most valuable wealth-building skills in business. Guy shares lessons from more than three decades as an entrepreneur and explains how strategic relationships helped him build multiple businesses across industries. He also discusses his newly updated book, Networking for Business 2025: Contacts + Opportunity = Success. Topics Discussed: • Why networking is still the highest ROI marketing strategy • The difference between collecting contacts and building relationships • How to become a valuable resource in your network • Why follow-up is where most people fail • Strategic alliances versus cold prospecting • How entrepreneurs can create opportunities through relationships • Why young people should learn networking before entering the workforce • The connection between social capital and financial capital   Resources: Guy Dunn https://ideaguybrands.com/ Networking for Business 2025: Contacts + Opportunity = Success https://ideaguybrands.com/ Book a Financial Freedom Session with Curtis May https://practicalwealth.net/FreedomSession   Connect with Curtis: Website: https://practicalwealth.net Podcast: The Practical Wealth Show LinkedIn: Curtis May Instagram:@practicalwealthadvisor

  3. Jul 2

    Why Revenue Alone Will Not Make You Wealthy

    A business can have revenue, clients, employees, and status and still be financially unhealthy. In this episode of The Practical Wealth Show, Curtis May sits down with Rachid M. J. Barry, Founder and CEO of RMJ Consultant, for a powerful conversation on why revenue is not wealth. Many business owners and high-income earners look successful on paper but are quietly losing money through poor tax planning, messy books, weak entity structure, bad debt, over-withholding, and a lack of financial coordination. Curtis and Rachid discuss why business owners need more than a once-a-year tax preparer. They need a coordinated team that understands taxes, cash flow, bookkeeping, protection, liquidity, and long-term wealth strategy. Rachid brings his expertise in tax planning, tax resolution, accounting, bookkeeping, CFO services, and business strategy. Curtis brings his focus on cash flow control, liquidity, protection, debt-to-capital strategy, and the Money 4 Life Operating System. Together, they unpack how entrepreneurs can stop asking, "Where did my money go?" and start telling their money where to go. Key Topics Covered Why revenue is not the same thing as wealth The difference between tax preparation and tax planning Why talking to your accountant only during tax season is too late How messy bookkeeping creates poor business decisions Why taxes may be one of the largest wealth transfers in a business owner's life The importance of quarterly financial review Legal tax avoidance versus illegal tax evasion Why W-2 high earners may still need tax strategy Common "silent leaks" in small businesses Entity structure, S Corps, C Corps, and business tax planning Low-hanging tax strategies such as accountable plans, hiring children, business travel, and the Augusta Rule Why your financial life should be treated as one ecosystem How tax strategy and cash flow strategy work together Why business owners need advisors who communicate with each other Best Quote Themes From the Episode "Revenue is not wealth." "Tax preparation records history. Tax planning looks through the windshield." "If you only talk to your accountant during tax season, there is not much planning left to do." "Your financial life is not a collection of separate problems. It is one ecosystem." "Business is a team sport." "The goal is not just to make more money. The goal is to keep, control, and multiply what you earn." "Once money leaves your hands unnecessarily, it stops working for you." Learn more about Curtis May and Practical Wealth: LINK Learn more about Rachid Barry and RMJ Consultant: LINK

  4. Jun 25

    Protect It Before You Lose It: Trusts, LLCs, Lawsuits, Divorce, and the Asset Protection Moves Business Owners Miss

    Most people focus on making money, investing money, and reducing taxes. But very few stop to ask a more dangerous question: Can someone take this from me? In this episode of The Practical Wealth Show, Curtis May sits down with Mark Pierce, a trust and LLC attorney with more than 42 years of experience in asset protection, complex tax planning, and estate preservation strategies. Mark is the founding attorney of Wyoming Trust Attorney and works with families, business owners, professionals, and high-net-worth individuals to help structure wealth so it is better protected from creditors, lawsuits, divorce, and other threats. What makes Mark's perspective unique is that he has seen asset protection from both sides. Earlier in his career, he served as a bankruptcy trustee, where his job was to attack weak structures and recover assets for creditors. Today, he uses that experience to help clients build protection designed to hold up under pressure. In this conversation, Curtis and Mark discuss: Why making money is only half the job The difference between a revocable living trust and an asset protection trust Why LLCs alone may not be enough How insurance, trusts, and legal structures work together Why timing matters in asset protection What "too late" really means when a lawsuit or creditor issue appears Why business owners, doctors, dentists, and real estate investors need to think differently about risk How family wealth can be exposed through divorce, poor planning, or lack of structure Why Wyoming is often used for domestic asset protection planning Why your wealth protection team should include more than one advisor This episode is not legal advice. It is a practical conversation designed to help business owners and families ask better questions before life, lawsuits, creditors, divorce, or business risk put their wealth under pressure. Guest: Mark Pierce Wyoming Trust Attorney Website: WyomingTrustAttorney.com Complimentary consultation link: https://wyomingtrustattorney.com/ Host: Curtis May Practical Wealth Solutions Website: PracticalWealth.net

  5. Jun 18

    Why Most High-Income Families Stay Broke: The Cash Flow Problem Nobody Talks About

    Most people believe wealth comes from earning more money. Brock Fortner believes wealth comes from something entirely different: free cash flow. In this episode of The Practical Wealth Show, Curtis May and Brock Fortner dive deep into the hidden reason many six-figure earners still feel financially stressed despite making great incomes. You'll discover: • Why income alone does not create wealth • The difference between being wealthy and simply having a high income • Why most budgets fail • How lifestyle creep quietly destroys financial progress • The importance of separating income from spending • How real estate investors think differently about cash flow • Why cash flow is the fuel behind Infinite Banking and long-term wealth creation • The framework Brock uses to help families gain control of their money and build financial freedom If you've ever asked yourself, "Where did my money go?" this episode is for you. Resources Mentioned: Financial Readiness Assessment: ASSESSMENT LINK Schedule a Cash Flow Strategy Call: CURRENCE LINK Learn More: https://www.practicalwealth.net/

  6. Jun 11

    The 4 Stages of Whole Life Insurance: From Saver to Infinite Banker

    Most people misunderstand whole life insurance because they look at it as a product instead of a system. In this Practical Wealth Study Group, Curtis May breaks down the Four Stages of Whole Life Insurance, also known inside the Money4Life Blueprint as the Private Reserve Strategy. This is not about chasing rates of return. This is about control, liquidity, certainty, and building a personal economy where your money keeps working inside your system instead of constantly leaving to banks, lenders, credit cards, and financial institutions. Curtis walks through the Money4Life Framework: Earn it. Bank it. Borrow it. Spend it. Repay it. Repeat. You'll learn how whole life insurance can function as a foundational asset, why premium should be viewed as a capital flow instead of an expense, and how families and business owners can begin using their policies to recapture debt, build liquidity, and eventually finance opportunities. This conversation covers: Why whole life insurance is not an investment account The economic value of certainty The crisis of financial control Why liquidity matters more than rate of return How to calculate your burn rate Why you must capitalize before you invest The difference between being a saver, wealth builder, business banker, and infinite banker How to stop giving interest away to strangers Why banking is a process of becoming, not a product you buy The goal is not just to own a policy. The goal is to become the banker. Visit PracticalWealth.net to take the Financial Freedom Assessment and learn more about the Money4Life Blueprint. 00:00 – Welcome to Practical Wealth Study Group 00:19 – The Four Stages of Whole Life and IBC 01:00 – Whole Life Is Not an Investment Account 01:45 – The Economic Value of Certainty 02:30 – Whole Life as a Foundational Asset 03:10 – The Money4Life Framework: Earn It, Bank It, Borrow It 04:20 – Why Banking Means Control of Capital 05:30 – The Crisis of Control 06:15 – Stop Giving Away the Banking Function  07:00 – The Maturity Matrix: Where Do You Stand? 08:00 – Stage 1: The Saver 09:20 – You Can't Invest Until You Capitalize 10:30 – Contract Wealth vs. Statement Wealth  11:45 – Stage 2: The Wealth Builder 12:45 – Premium Is Not an Expense 13:45 – Freedom From Debt to Others 14:40 – Your Burn Rate and Liquidity Number 15:50 – Debt-to-Capital: Bringing Debt In-House 17:00 – The Difference Between Chaos and Opportunity  18:00 – Stage 3: The Business Banker 19:00 – Money as Inventory  20:00 – Financing Opportunities Through Your System  21:00 – Stage 4: The Infinite Banker 22:00 – Closing the Financial Loop  23:00 – Banking Is Not a Product 23:30 – Immediate Action Plan

  7. Jun 4

    The Money 4 Life Operating System

    Most people don't have an income problem — they have a money flow problem. In this episode of The Practical Wealth Show, Curtis May breaks down the Money 4 Life Operating System: a simple framework for creating more control, liquidity, cash flow, and freedom. The framework is: Earn it → Bank it → Borrow it → Spend it → Repay it → Own it → Repeat This is not just another budgeting conversation. Curtis explains why money disappears through bills, taxes, debt, lifestyle, and poor financial structure — and why the real question families and business owners should be asking is: Where did my money go? Curtis also explains how the Money 4 Life Operating System connects to cash flow control, private reserves, becoming your own banker, wealth transfers, and building true financial independence through ownership and systems. At Practical Wealth, we help families and business owners find money they are losing unknowingly and unnecessarily, then redirect that money toward cash flow, protection, liquidity, private reserves, and legacy. Visit: PracticalWealth.net Take the Financial Freedom Assessment or schedule a strategy session.   *]:pointer-events-auto R6Vx5W_threadScrollVars scroll-mb-[calc(var(--scroll-root-safe-area-inset-bottom,0px)+var(--thread-response-height))] scroll-mt-[calc(var(--header-height)+min(200px,max(70px,20svh)))]" dir="auto" data-turn-id= "request-WEB:16ce4f0c-a881-4a85-94bf-70f6cb57b540-2" data-turn-id-container= "request-WEB:16ce4f0c-a881-4a85-94bf-70f6cb57b540-2" data-testid= "conversation-turn-6" data-scroll-anchor="false" data-turn= "assistant"> #Money4Life #PracticalWealth #CashFlowControl #InfiniteBanking #PrivateReserve #WealthTransfers #FinancialFreedom #BecomeYourOwnBanker #CurtisMay #PrincipleBasedPlanning

  8. May 28

    Trump Accounts Good Idea But Not a Complete Financial Plan

    Are Trump Accounts a good idea — or just another financial product being sold as a plan? In this episode, Curtis May breaks down Trump Accounts from a Practical Wealth and principle-based planning perspective. These accounts may help children begin saving and investing, and eligible children may receive a one-time $1,000 government contribution. But Curtis explains why one account does not replace cash flow control, liquidity, protection, and a real family financial system. The real question is not, "Should I open a Trump Account?" The better question is: Do I have a financial system that gives my family control? At Practical Wealth, we help families and business owners find money they are losing unknowingly and unnecessarily, then redirect that money toward cash flow, protection, liquidity, private reserve building, and legacy. Visit: PracticalWealth.net Book a Financial Freedom Session or strategy call to start building a financial system that gives you more control. 00:00 — Introduction: Why Curtis is talking about Trump Accounts 00:35 — Initial reaction: The government does not create wealth 01:10 — Trump Accounts: Good idea, but not a complete financial plan 01:45 — What Trump Accounts are and who may qualify 02:45 — Why an account is not the same as a strategy 03:35 — Statement wealth vs. real financial control 04:30 — The missing conversation: cash flow 05:20 — Where Trump Accounts may fit in a family plan 06:10 — Questions families should ask first 07:00 — Positive monthly cash flow and emergency liquidity 07:50 — Proper life insurance protection 08:30 — Wealth transfers: Where your money is leaking 09:45 — Mortgage, taxes, retirement plans, insurance, college, and major purchases 11:00 — Why you finance everything you buy 12:00 — Find the money you are losing unknowingly and unnecessarily 12:45 — Building a private reserve and becoming your own banker 13:45 — The goal is not more accounts — it is more control 14:30 — Final takeaway: Trump Accounts can help, but they do not replace a financial system 15:15 — Practical Wealth call to action

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About

The Practical Wealth Podcast is for people who want to take control of their finances today. Curtis May is part of the Prosperity Economics movement and is dedicated to breaking down each client's unique financial situation so they can rebuild it to fit their ideal lifestyle.

Information

  • Creator
    Curtis May
  • Years Active
    2017 - 2026
  • Episodes
    390
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2020, Curtis May
  • Show Website
    The Practical Wealth Show

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