Earning Freedom with Michael Santos Michael Santos is an advocate, author, speaker, and consultant. Through Earning Freedom, Michael shares strategies that empowered him through struggle and he interviews others who overcame struggle and went on to success.

Conversation with Sam B

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Do you have a solid, actionable plan to build financial stability or prosperity in your future?
That’s a question that relatively few Americans ask themselves. Those who want to do more than ask questions take action. It’s never too early, and it’s never too late to put yourself on the path to prosperity. 
I’m Michael Santos with Alternative Investment Seminars. During this 20-minute video, I’ll teach how my wife Carole and I went from literally ground zero to exceed $5 million in assets within five years. We used leverage to invest in real estate. Now we’re using leverage to own real estate in the beautiful country of Belize, and we’re making it possible for you to do the same! 
Want the story without the video? Then enter your contact information on our website and I’ll send you a free digital copy of my book, Prison to Paradise. 
More on that book title later! 
You see, Carole and I were never on a get-rich-quick scheme. I won’t be talking about such tactics here. This video isn’t for the individual who talks about wanting to become successful, but only looks for wins like lottery tickets. 
We can’t help the person who wants to get rich quick without: 
taking any action, without making a commitment, or without exercising patience. Quick-money schemes may work for some, but we pursued a more deliberate strategy. Through Alternative Investment Seminars, I show: 
The strategy that worked for us, I show how the strategy can work for you, and I offer opportunities for you to buy real estate in Belize with no money down, and no credit check. To achieve prosperity, my wife and I followed an actionable plan, with deliberate steps, over a determined timeframe. If you want to build financial prosperity, get started now. If you don’t, that’s fine too. Many people choose the path of least resistance, hoping that social security or IRA plans or a magic genie will take care of them in retirement. Yet millions of Americans who live with their head in the sand suffer financial stress and turmoil in the years ahead. All too often, they end up with more month than money! 
If you want to change your outcomes, change your plan!
The plan that works for us isn’t complicated. It centers on owning appreciating assets in appreciating markets. It’s about using leverage to accelerate the creation of equity and wealth over time. And trust me, if I could do it, ANYBODY can. 
Again, this message is not for those who want some type of magic pill that will make them rich overnight. I don’t discuss crypto currencies, or complicated instruments with so many moving parts that make the model incomprehensible. 
Carole and I made our money in good old-fashioned real estate. We’re continuing that strategy with real estate investments in the beautiful country of Belize. 
Through this 20-minute video, I’ll show how you can own real estate in Belize—even if you don’t have any money for a down payment, even if you have a low credit score that hinders your ability to borrow money. One thing is certain, it would be impossible for you to have a lower credit score than I had when I began investing in real estate! 
You may want to know how I can offer you an opportunity to own real estate with nothing down. After all, it’s tough to find nothing-down real estate opportunities in the US. On the other hand, the world is a lot bigger than the US. And with our national debt levels rising with each election, the time is right to plant investments outside of the US, where there are no capital gains taxes, and minimal property taxes. 
In this video, I’ll show how you can own appreciating assets by looking beyond the US, in the enchanting paradise of Belize. 
Later in the video, I’ll give you 80 million reasons why owning real estate in Belize makes so much sense. Here’s a hint: Baby Boomers who are preparing for retirement! If you can get ahead of that curve, you will absolutely build prosperity

Questions from Audry Spade
 
So Michael, you were in your early 20’s when you were convicted and sent to prison. I'm curious about your childhood and the influences you had growing up. How did you arrive at the decision to pursue crime?   
What kind of technology do you remember people using back before your arrest in 1987?   
You were arrested for drug trafficking and ultimately sentenced to serve 45 years in prison. Describe that first day of your sentence.   

What did your days in prison consist of years into your sentence, after that initial shock had worn away?  
Describe an average day and the subculture of prison. What was the value system among prisoners? What did you eat? What was expected of you? How did other prisoners regard you? 

You made a decision early in your sentence to live an accomplished life from inside prison. How does that compare to the ways in which other prisoners chose to serve their time?  
Was it difficult to exclude yourself from the prison’s own inner culture, being that it was the only value system available for you to ascribe to?  
How did those around you respond to your decision to reject a lifestyle that none of you could get away from?  
Did their reactions change when they realized your determination was paying off and you were actually succeeding? 

Through the various forms of media that were available to you, such as television, newspapers, and magazines, you were to some degree exposed to the ways in which technology was changing in the outside world. How did you feel when you saw or read about new technology over the years? Did it interest you? Did you just feel “left out?”

How did you end up getting released after 26 years instead of having to serve all 45 years? 

Describe your first day of freedom, particularly with regards to interacting with technology. 

How long did it take for you to become technologically “fluent?” Do you feel alienated by society’s total reliance on technology today, or have you become just as reliant?

Have you retained any old habits from prison? 

How’s liberation treating you so far, four years out? What are you up to these days?   
 

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Luis Rivera succeeded in being released from federal prison, even though a judge sentenced him to serve a life sentence plus 140 years. Learn how his adjustment in prison contributed to his early release and his success.