Wealth Independence Podcast

Dustin Bailey & Adam Penn
  • 5.0 (5)
  • Investing
  • Updated Weekly

The Wealth Independence Podcast guides high-income tech professionals through proven strategies for building passive income and achieving true financial independence. Hosts Dustin Bailey and Adam Penn share battle-tested frameworks, real-world case studies, and hard-won lessons from their years of experience in private markets and alternative investments. Each week, they break down complex investment concepts, analyze current market trends, and interview successful investors and industry experts. Through a freedom-first approach that emphasizes passive income, smart diversification, and thorough due diligence, learn how to shorten your learning curve and avoid common pitfalls on their path to financial independence. Whether you're looking to understand private placements, real estate fundamentals, or alternative investment opportunities, Wealth Independence delivers actionable insights that help busy professionals make informed investment decisions. Submit feedback or questions (copy & paste into your address bar): https://www.wealthindependencepod.com/contact Interested in being a guest on the show? Reach out to us at guests@wealthindependencepod.com with a brief intro and any relevant topics you'd like to discuss.

  1. v2.26 - Investing in Private Equity for Individual Investors (ft. Sequoya Borgman)

    2d ago

    v2.26 - Investing in Private Equity for Individual Investors (ft. Sequoya Borgman)

    For most individual investors, “private equity” is usually associated with “inaccessible” – something reserved for the Elon Musks and Blackstones of the world. Buying and running established companies has been an institutional game with large minimums and no obvious way in. Sequoya Borgman spent nearly two decades in public accounting before leaving a partner’s seat to buy businesses himself. A decade and 20-plus acquisitions later, he joins Dustin and Adam to walk through how private equity in the lower-middle-market space actually works: buying founder-led companies from owners who need a succession plan, layering bank debt, seller notes, and equity, then paying that debt down with the company’s own cash flow. The tried-and-true leveraged buyout (LBO) model. They get into where this sits on the investment risk scale, why he’ll walk from a deal everyone else loves, and how accredited investors can now reach a space that used to require a Goldman Sachs-sized check. Episode Release Notes & Resources: Pass the Hat: https://www.passthehat.comBorgman Capital: https://www.borgmancapital.com/Connect with Sequoya on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sequoya-borgman-8a6057a Watch episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1aSMxSRdMM See all Wealth Independence episodes at https://www.wealthindependencepod.com Connect with Dustin: Big Spring CapitalLinkedIn (/in/TheDustinBailey)Twitter/X (@TheDustinBailey)Connect with Adam: Bidwell CapitalLinkedIn (/in/AdamJPenn) This show is for informational purposes only and is not financial, investment, legal, or tax advice, and does not constitute an offer to buy or sell securities. All investments carry risk, and investors should always conduct thorough due diligence and consult with qualified professionals before investing.

    36 min
  2. v2.25 - Be the Bank, Not the Landlord (ft. Scott Carson)

    Jun 26

    v2.25 - Be the Bank, Not the Landlord (ft. Scott Carson)

    Most real estate investing means owning the building – and taking on the tenants, toilets, and trash that come with it. But there’s another way to invest in real estate: owning the debt instead of the property, and collecting the payments as the lender. “The Note Guy” Scott Carson has spent nearly two decades doing exactly that, buying and selling mortgage debt on residential and commercial property. He joins Dustin and Adam to break down his process: buying a delinquent mortgage from a bank at a discount, why picking up a note at half its face value can double your effective yield, and why he aims to “rehab the borrower” not the property. They cover a note’s exit strategies (reselling a reperforming loan, foreclosure, cash-for-keys), Scott’s rule never to buy a note on a property he wouldn’t want to own outright, the surprising tax benefits, and using a self-directed IRA to buy notes. Episode Release Notes & Resources: We Close Notes: https://weclosenotes.comScott’s free note investing training - Note Weekend: https://noteweekend.com Watch episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6DGhk2WJNQ See all Wealth Independence episodes at https://www.wealthindependencepod.com Connect with Dustin: Big Spring CapitalLinkedIn (/in/TheDustinBailey)Twitter/X (@TheDustinBailey)Connect with Adam: Bidwell CapitalLinkedIn (/in/AdamJPenn) This show is for informational purposes only and is not financial, investment, legal, or tax advice, and does not constitute an offer to buy or sell securities. All investments carry risk, and investors should always conduct thorough due diligence and consult with qualified professionals before investing.

    38 min
  3. v2.24 - No Investor Left Behind: Commercial Real Estate Debt

    Jun 19

    v2.24 - No Investor Left Behind: Commercial Real Estate Debt

    The loan on your house is simple: take out a 30-year mortgage, make your payments, own the house at the end. But commercial real estate debt is a different animal, with widely-varying structures that don’t exist in the residential world – and unique terms that directly affect the risk and returns of any deal that carries them. Dustin and Adam break down how it actually works with real-world examples: five-year loans written on 20- or 30-year amortization schedules, the balloon payment that comes due at the end, interest-only periods, and rates that can be fixed, floating, or reset to a benchmark like the five-year Treasury plus a spread. They also get into the terms that quietly move returns: prepayment penalties, extension options, and why the length of the loan should match the business plan. A longer fixed loan isn't automatically the safer one. For a passive investor, knowing how a deal’s debt is structured (and whether the sponsor has a real plan for paying it off) is a basic piece of diligence – not a technicality. Watch episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_QVahWdc1Jg See all Wealth Independence episodes at https://www.wealthindependencepod.com Connect with Dustin: Big Spring CapitalLinkedIn (/in/TheDustinBailey)Twitter/X (@TheDustinBailey)Connect with Adam: Bidwell CapitalLinkedIn (/in/AdamJPenn) This show is for informational purposes only and is not financial, investment, legal, or tax advice, and does not constitute an offer to buy or sell securities. All investments carry risk, and investors should always conduct thorough due diligence and consult with qualified professionals before investing.

    21 min
  4. v2.23 - The Manufactured-Home Niche Hiding in Plain Sight (ft. Brent Bowers)

    Jun 12

    v2.23 - The Manufactured-Home Niche Hiding in Plain Sight (ft. Brent Bowers)

    Most real estate investors chase houses, apartments, or self storage. But Brent Bowers built his business on something almost nobody talks about: buying cheap vacant land and selling it at a profit…often with a brand-new manufactured home placed on it first. A former US Army officer, Brent walks Dustin and Adam through how it all works. He buys land well below market value, then resells it…becoming the bank himself and collecting monthly payments. More recently, he adds a new manufactured home to the land before selling – a version of the deal that can net anywhere from $45K to nearly $100K. Dustin and Adam dig into why this niche stays overlooked, how a 24-year-old closed seven deals in his first nine months of land investing, and why rising home prices are pushing more buyers toward new manufactured homes on their own land. It’s a look at a corner of real estate most investors have never considered, and the simple math behind it. Episode Release Notes & Resources: The Land Sharks: https://www.thelandsharks.comSubscribe to Brent’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@brentlbowersFollow Brent on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brentlbowersConnect with Brent on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brent1 Watch episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXf5mLR5U2o See all Wealth Independence episodes at https://www.wealthindependencepod.com Connect with Dustin: Big Spring CapitalLinkedIn (/in/TheDustinBailey)Twitter/X (@TheDustinBailey)Connect with Adam: Bidwell CapitalLinkedIn (/in/AdamJPenn) This show is for informational purposes only and is not financial, investment, legal, or tax advice, and does not constitute an offer to buy or sell securities. All investments carry risk, and investors should always conduct thorough due diligence and consult with qualified professionals before investing.

    34 min
  5. v2.22 - Pensions, Private Credit, and the Quiet CRE Reset

    Jun 5

    v2.22 - Pensions, Private Credit, and the Quiet CRE Reset

    What’s actually backing the money you’re counting on for later? Dustin and Adam take that question through two Wall Street Journal articles: one on what’s quietly accumulated inside pension funds, the other on a shift in how distressed commercial real estate loans are getting resolved. The first article traces how pension funds chasing yield in private markets ended up holding a hidden slice of the tech economy, and what AI might mean for those positions. Dustin and Adam tie it to private credit exposure in software, and why "I don't own tech stocks" no longer means you're not exposed. The second covers the quiet end of "extend and pretend" in commercial real estate: the floating-rate debt that piled up after the 2022 rate hikes, and why the predicted fire sale never hit the courthouse steps. Banks are instead shopping distressed loans privately to operators they already trust. For passive investors, both stories are a reminder that the risk and the opportunity often sit beneath the surface – in what’s quietly backing a pension, or in which distressed deals are trading hands out of public view. Episode Release Notes & Resources: [WSJ] Think Tech Has Taken Over Your Portfolio? You Should See What's in Your Pension - https://www.wsj.com/finance/investing/think-tech-has-taken-over-your-portfolio-you-should-see-whats-in-your-pension-de0ae31a[WSJ] Lenders to Commercial Real Estate Owners: Pay Up Now - https://www.wsj.com/real-estate/commercial/lenders-to-commercial-real-estate-owners-pay-up-now-a4509562 Watch episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2k4BDiFUps0 See all Wealth Independence episodes at https://www.wealthindependencepod.com Connect with Dustin: Big Spring CapitalLinkedIn (/in/TheDustinBailey)Twitter/X (@TheDustinBailey)Connect with Adam: Bidwell CapitalLinkedIn (/in/AdamJPenn) This show is for informational purposes only and is not financial, investment, legal, or tax advice, and does not constitute an offer to buy or sell securities. All investments carry risk, and investors should always conduct thorough due diligence and consult with qualified professionals before investing.

    18 min
  6. v2.21 - Rivers of Cash Flow (ft. Cameron Philgreen)

    May 29

    v2.21 - Rivers of Cash Flow (ft. Cameron Philgreen)

    Cameron Philgreen photographed ~400 weddings before he bought his first rental property. He’s now up to 25 rentals, a specialty coffee shop, and a 50,000 sq. ft. commercial building in Waco, Texas – all of it sparked by one dinky house he bought in 2017. He walks Dustin and Adam through the BRRRR method (Buy, Rehab, Rent, Refinance, Repeat), a house-hack so lean he shared a bathroom with his own Airbnb guests, and the 2022 sale that turned $110K in tax-free gains into For Keeps Coffee…and how that opened the door to bigger commercial deals. They get into the habits behind it all: why you have to be willing to walk away from any deal, why Cameron pays a premium for speed and quality, and how a small but powerful team can keep a real estate investing business from becoming its own full-time job – plus why Cameron would rather build “rivers of cash flow” than have one big lake. Episode Release Notes & Resources: Cameron’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cameron_philgreenCameron’s YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@cameron_philgreenCameron’s mentorship program & BRRRR course: https://linktr.ee/cameron_philgreen Watch episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=foyFsPug-Lw See all Wealth Independence episodes at https://www.wealthindependencepod.com Connect with Dustin: Big Spring CapitalLinkedIn (/in/TheDustinBailey)Twitter/X (@TheDustinBailey)Connect with Adam: Bidwell CapitalLinkedIn (/in/AdamJPenn) This show is for informational purposes only and is not financial, investment, legal, or tax advice, and does not constitute an offer to buy or sell securities. All investments carry risk, and investors should always conduct thorough due diligence and consult with qualified professionals before investing.

    41 min
  7. v2.20 - No Investor Left Behind: Real Estate Professional Status (REPS)

    May 22

    v2.20 - No Investor Left Behind: Real Estate Professional Status (REPS)

    Real Estate Professional Status (REPS) is a tax designation that lets qualifying investors deduct real estate losses (primarily from depreciation) against ordinary/active income like a W-2 salary. The benefit is real – but the bar is high, and the IRS pays attention to whether you clear it or not. Dustin and Adam walk through the REPS two-part test: 750+ hours/year of material participation, AND more than half of all “work time” in that work. They cover the common married-filing-jointly setup (one high W-2 spouse, one full-time real estate investor), why multiple-W-2 households face a steeper climb, and the importance of precise time tracking. For most passive investors, depreciation losses on your K-1s can't touch your W-2 income. REPS is a path that unlocks them…if you or a spouse can clear the bar. Episode Release Notes & Resources: [Twitter/X] CPA horror story: https://x.com/natesosa_cpa/status/2000989216743047490[Wealth Independence Podcast] No Investor Left Behind: STR Tax “Loophole”: https://www.wealthindependencepod.com/2432117/episodes/18792088 Watch episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hq8Yex5NatM See all Wealth Independence episodes at https://www.wealthindependencepod.com Connect with Dustin: Big Spring CapitalLinkedIn (/in/TheDustinBailey)Twitter/X (@TheDustinBailey)Connect with Adam: Bidwell CapitalLinkedIn (/in/AdamJPenn) This show is for informational purposes only and is not financial, investment, legal, or tax advice, and does not constitute an offer to buy or sell securities. All investments carry risk, and investors should always conduct thorough due diligence and consult with qualified professionals before investing.

    12 min
  8. v2.19 - Hard Money Loans & Character-Based Lending (ft. Will Harvey)

    May 15

    v2.19 - Hard Money Loans & Character-Based Lending (ft. Will Harvey)

    When individual fix-and-flip investors need a loan to purchase and rehab a property, they usually don't get a bank loan – instead, they go to a private lender for a hard money loan: a short-duration note, secured by a first lien on the property. And while hard money loans are a solid tool for house flippers, they're also a powerful asset class for the investors who fund the notes. Hard money lender Will Harvey, of Harvey Capital, joins Dustin and Adam to walk through what it can look like as a passive investor. The conversation covers how debt-based returns differ from equity-based real estate investing, where hard money sits relative to other forms of private lending, and the risks specific to lending against transitional real estate. A clear look at hard money as an asset class – what it offers an LP, what it doesn't, and where it might fit in a portfolio. Episode Release Notes & Resources: Harvey Capital: https://harvey-capital.comEmail Will: will@harvey-capital.com Watch episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmkGzVru2j8 See all Wealth Independence episodes at https://www.wealthindependencepod.com Connect with Dustin: Big Spring CapitalLinkedIn (/in/TheDustinBailey)Twitter/X (@TheDustinBailey)Connect with Adam: Bidwell CapitalLinkedIn (/in/AdamJPenn) This show is for informational purposes only and is not financial, investment, legal, or tax advice, and does not constitute an offer to buy or sell securities. All investments carry risk, and investors should always conduct thorough due diligence and consult with qualified professionals before investing.

    37 min
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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
5 Ratings

About

The Wealth Independence Podcast guides high-income tech professionals through proven strategies for building passive income and achieving true financial independence. Hosts Dustin Bailey and Adam Penn share battle-tested frameworks, real-world case studies, and hard-won lessons from their years of experience in private markets and alternative investments. Each week, they break down complex investment concepts, analyze current market trends, and interview successful investors and industry experts. Through a freedom-first approach that emphasizes passive income, smart diversification, and thorough due diligence, learn how to shorten your learning curve and avoid common pitfalls on their path to financial independence. Whether you're looking to understand private placements, real estate fundamentals, or alternative investment opportunities, Wealth Independence delivers actionable insights that help busy professionals make informed investment decisions. Submit feedback or questions (copy & paste into your address bar): https://www.wealthindependencepod.com/contact Interested in being a guest on the show? Reach out to us at guests@wealthindependencepod.com with a brief intro and any relevant topics you'd like to discuss.

Information

  • Creator
    Dustin Bailey & Adam Penn
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    82
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Wealth Independence Podcast
  • Show Website
    Wealth Independence Podcast