How To Build Wealth in Multifamily And Senior Housing with Rod Khleif

🎙️ 𝗪𝗲𝗹𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗵𝘆𝘀𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗻𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗣𝗼𝗱𝗰𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗵𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗗𝗿. 𝗔𝗹𝗲𝘅 𝗦𝗰𝗵𝗹𝗼𝗲.

💡 What if the biggest thing standing between you and financial freedom isn’t a lack of opportunity… but a lack of clarity, commitment, and the mindset to act before you feel “ready”?

In today’s episode, I’m joined by Rod Khleif—multifamily investor, bestselling author, host of the Lifetime Cashflow Podcast, and founder of the Tiny Hands Foundation. Rod shares his incredible journey from immigrant beginnings and financial hardship… to massive real estate success… to losing $50 million in the 2008 crash… and rebuilding it all.

This conversation is a masterclass in mindset, resilience, and freedom.

We talk about the real reason Rod recovered (and why the same principles apply to physicians building a side hustle), what he sees coming in multifamily and senior housing, and why now may be one of the greatest windows of opportunity in real estate for people willing to learn and act.

If you’re building wealth through real estate and entrepreneurship, this episode is a reminder: the strategy matters—but mindset, focus, and execution are what change your life.

🔥 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂’𝗹𝗹 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻:
 ✔️ Rod’s story: from Dutch immigrant + humble beginnings to real estate success and rebuilding after losing $50M
✔️ Why Rod says 80–90% of success is mindset/psychology (and only 10–20% is the tactical real estate piece)
✔️ The brutal lessons from 2008: 800 houses, poor logistics, tenant demographics, and why low leverage alone doesn’t save you
✔️ The senior housing thesis: “silver tsunami,” shortage of beds, and why Rod is aggressively moving into the space
✔️ Why finding the right operator / property management team is everything (in both multifamily and senior housing)
✔️ The recovery framework Rod used after losing everything: reconnect to goals → make a real decision → take the first step
✔️ Rod’s perspective on gratitude, visualization, fulfillment, and giving back as drivers of long-term success
✔️ Why physicians should start building an “exit ramp” now—not later (especially in an AI-disrupted world)

🔥 𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝗧𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗮𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀:
 ✅ Real estate tactics matter—but mindset and decision-making are the real leverage.
✅ You don’t need perfect certainty to start. Take the first step and let the next one reveal itself.
✅ If you’re a physician, your analytical mind can be a strength—but it can also delay action if you demand perfect clarity.
✅ The people around you matter more than you think. Choose your peer group intentionally.
✅ Opportunity often shows up in chaos (Rod sees it in multifamily distress and senior housing demand).
✅ Achievement without purpose can still leave you empty—fulfillment comes from growth + contribution.
✅ If you want freedom (financial, time, mental, and giving freedom), start building it now. Don’t wait for pain to force the change.
✅ Rod’s closing challenge is simple and powerful: don’t live with regrets.

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Transcript

Rod Khleif:  You wanna listen to this? Okay? 'cause it's the same things that you would do to start this side hustle and run with it. And it's the same thing I did to get started to recover. So the first thing I did was I reassociate with my goals 'cause I had to create that hunger, that burning desire. And then the next piece is, you gotta make a decision. Okay.

Dr. Alex Schloe Welcome to the Physicians and Properties Podcast, the show where we teach you how investing in real estate can give you the freedom to practice medicine and live life how you want. Doctor, doctor, doctor, doctor, doctor. Now here's your host, Dr. Alex Schloe. 

 Hello everyone. Welcome back to another episode of the Physicians and Properties podcast. As always, I'm your host, Dr. Alex Chalo, and today I'm joined by Rod Khleif. He is a legend in the space, a multifamily investor, bestselling author, host of the Lifetime Cashflow Podcast, which. Uh, we were just talking about beforehand is now the largest real estate podcast in the world, which is amazing.

Rod also leads one of the largest coaching communities with students who collectively own over 260,000 units. He founded the Tiny Hands Foundation, which has helped feed over 160,000 children. Uh, rod, I hope this intro did some, a little semblance of, of a good introduction for you because, uh, what you've done has been legendary and I'm so excited to have you on the show.

Rod Khleif: Well, I'm a legend in my own mind for sure. But, uh, yeah, no, I appreciate it. Uh, doc, I, I'm looking forward to this and, uh, um, yeah, I appreciate you having me on. Let's have some fun.

Dr. Alex Schloe: Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. Well, being a legend in your own mind, that's, uh, that's probably one of the most important things and excited to talk more about mindset with you here soon. But let's go ahead, you know, for folks who are meeting you for the first time, what's kind of the, the short version of your story and how you got into real

Rod Khleif: Sure, sure, sure. So I'm a Dutch immigrant, you know, think wooden shoes and windmills and immigrated when I was six years old with my brother Albert, my mother's Vanta. And we ended up in Denver, Colorado and we didn't have much growing up. In fact, uh, we shopped at an expired food store, believe it or not, they had that back then and drank powdered milk with our cereal in the morning.

'cause it was cheaper than real milk. And trust me, it sounds better than it is. And I wore hand me down clothes and the Goodwill and the Salvation Army all the way through junior high school till when I, when I was 14, I lied about my age 'cause I was 12. Said I was 15 so I could get a job at Burger King Flipping Burger so I could buy my own clothes. You know, and maybe some of you doctors listening had it harder than I did when you first got started. I know what, what, what hell you go through with residency and everything else. But, uh, but I knew I wanted more and you know, my mom had an incredible work ethic, so she babysat kids so we'd have enough money to eat with her babysitting money.

She invested in real estate. Well, her first real estate acquisition was a house right across the street from us. When I was 14, she paid 20,000, I'm sorry, $30,000 for it. She bought it from a family named the jewels. And then when I was 17, so three years later she told me she'd made $20,000 in her sleep.

I'm like, what? You made 20 grand, you didn't do anything. Now this was when 20 grand was a lot of money, mind you. And uh, this is 1977, and I said, screw college, I'm getting into real estate. So I got into real estate, uh, became a broker actually, so I could have had my own office, which I was smart enough not to do, but I worked for a guy. Who, um, taught me about mindset and psychology. But my, my first year I made about eight grand. My second year, maybe 10 grand, but my third year I made over a hundred thousand dollars. As a result of this guy I was working for, you know, taught me really. 'cause 80 to 90% of your success in anything is your mindset and psychology.

Only 10 to 20% is the real estate stuff we talk about on our shows. But, uh, you know, fast forward to today, I've owned over 2000 houses that I've rented long term. Um, I own thousands of apartments now. 2000 and I'm into senior housing as we discussed, which I know you're into. Alex, I, you know, in 2006, my net worth went up $17 million while I slept. And you might say, wow. And I said, wow. And I got ahead so big I could barely fit it through a door. I thought I was a real estate God. And you know, when that happens, God of the universe will give you a nice little reckoning, a little SmackDown. Well, that was 2008 nine. I conservatively lost about 50 million in 2008 and nine.

And so. What I'm known for talking about on my show and at my events and things like that, is really the mindset took, it took to have 50 million to lose in the first place. And maybe more importantly, the mindset it took to recover from that. And so, um, you know, if you come to one of my boot camps for example, the first thing we do is goal setting on steroids.

'cause how do you get anything if you don't know what it is? You need to know what it is you want. You've gotta create enough of a burning desired hunger to push through fear or push through limiting beliefs or, you know, maybe you're comfortable. And we both know the. The comfort zone's a nice, warm place and nothing freaking grows there.

Right. So, you know, that's why we start with goals. But anyway, we can expand on that later if you like.

Dr. Alex Schloe: Yeah, I would, I would love to. I I just recently got back from a investing retreat. We talked a lot about mindset and, and, and I'd love to talk more about that with you, but, uh, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the, the $50 million elephant in the room. Uh, what was. What was that like for you, that 2008 crash?

I know, I know you were

Rod Khleif: Well, it sucked. I mean, let, let me just say that it, you know,

it sucked. I thought I was set for life, you know? Uh, I had 800 houses and I had several apartment complexes, and it was the houses that pulled me down, and I'll explain why. Um, so, uh, I, I, I had these 800 houses up and down the Gulf Coast of Florida from north of Tampa, all the way to just north of Naples and everywhere in between.

So logistically it was a mistake. That was one piece. Second piece is, uh, Florida has no state income tax, so the, so the property taxes are higher proportionately. And I had properties in wind and flood zones. Which had wind and flood insurance. So that's higher with all this stuff impacts cash flow. But the big thing was, um, these were C class houses.

Okay. You know, there's A, B, C, and D a's the brand new stuff. D'S the hood, stay out of the hood. I did plenty of hood stuff in Denver. Stay out of the hood. Ask me how I know. But, uh. But these were C class, so they're older properties, tougher demographic, you know, the, the tenants are tougher on them. And, um, so lots of maintenance.

And, um, if I had a maintenance issue at one of my apartment complexes, we're able to stockpile parts. We've got a, a parts room with appliance parts, plumbing parts, electrical parts, door locks, window locks, you name it, everything. So a maintenance guy can get in and out in an hour. Well, if I had to send a maintenance guy to one of my houses, that's an hour away. They have to go see what's wrong. Every house is different so they can't stockpile the parts and then they have to go find a Home Depot or Lowe's where we have an account, which could be another hour. And I don't know about you Doc, but when Rod goes to fix something, he ends up going to Home Depot more than once 'cause he forgot something.

And you know, it's, it's not unsimilar with maintenance guys. And so what took an hour at one of my apartment complexes to all day at one of my 800 houses and. You know it. And, and so they never really cash flowed well, and I was only at a 30% loan to value. Okay. And I still crashed and burned. That's, and people are like, oh, you were over leveraged.

No, I owed 30 cents on the dollar. Uh, but, you know, the, the, the, the, the Coda Gras as it were, the final straw was I didn't pay attention to tenant demographics back then. If they had a good job and they had good credit and they paid a deposit, I let 'em move in. Well. What I discovered after the fact was I had a bunch of contractors, plumbers, electricians, drywallers, painters, roofers, you name it.

And that work fell off a cliff. They didn't have work, so they couldn't pay the rent. And so now you wanna hear something crazy. Um, by the end of 2009, early 2010, my portfolio, which I had tried to sell in bulk, was worth less than what I owed. That's how much it dropped. Yeah, it was, it

was a crazy time. And, uh, so anyway, but we're seeing a meltdown in multifamily right now too, you know, and that's what I teach.

I, well, I teach all the asset classes now. I teach senior housing and student housing and self storage and industrial flex. But, but in the multifamily, which is where I started, uh, we're seeing a, we're seeing a meltdown. You know, there's a, the huge wall of debt. You know, a lot of these operators got adjustable rate debt. And they're, they're dying and, and, and expenses have gone through the roof. You know, uh, are typically I teach a 50% expense ratio. Meaning, meaning total income on the property, LA less property related expenses without the debt should be 50% or less. Well now I teach 60%. Okay? That's how much expenses have gone up, which is significant. Um, and so. And of course the interest rates have killed people as well. A lot of people got this, got bridge debt with adjustable rate interest. I'll give you an example of, of a, I mean, the, my point is there's incredible opportunity upon us right now. I've got a

200 unit asset in, uh, San Antonio. We call 'em assets an apartment complex, and right next door is a 300 plus unit that's sold in 20. 1, 21 or 22, but I don't quote me on this. 21 or 22. Sold for $43 million. Okay. Bank now owns it. It's down to 28

and it's right next door to ours. Same vintage, everything. I'm not even interested unless it gets to 24. 43 to 24, okay. That's what's happening out there right now, so there's incredible opportunity coming and you know, if you're listening, doc, and you're interested, I'm speaking to you individually, each one of you. You know, you know, you need to do something more. I've, by the way, I've got a bunch of surgeons and dentists and doctors in my coaching program, my Warrior program, and I'll brag for a second. We, they, uh, you said 260,000, it's actually closer to 300,000. We're fairly

certain

Dr. Alex Schloe: wow. Amazing.

Rod Khleif: Under my tutelage.

I'm very proud of that. So I'm bragging a little here, but, but the point is. There's incredible opportunity right now. So is there ever a time to learn this and get into it? That's just in multifamily, you know, we talk about senior housing as well, doc, I know you're in that. There's 10,000 people a day turning 65 in this country.

I'm one of them. I turned 66 a couple of weeks ago and, uh, you know, and, and there's a huge shortage of beds, was an opportunity, um, to buy these existing facilities. It costs a lot to build a new facility. It's like 200 to two 50 a bed. And, and you can buy existing facilities for under a hundred. The, the returns are great. You know, I, I closed on my first one a couple of months ago, um, in Pittsburgh, which is a market I normally wouldn't have got into. But the demographics are great for this particular business and, uh, we're, we're, we're on track to buy 10 in the next 18 months. We're all over it. I put a whole team together, so I'm very excited about senior housing as well.

Anyway, I'll stop rambling. I'll get off my soapbox for a minute here.

Dr. Alex Schloe: No. So good. Uh, I, I appreciate it. Yeah, no, I agree. I think there's tons of opportunity in multi-family space, as you mentioned, uh, senior housing as well. Of course. I mean, yeah, there's a massive sort shortage of beds anywhere from 645,000 to a million depending on where you're looking.

Uh, there's trillions of dollars with a T that needs to be poured into new development if we're gonna come anywhere close to,

uh, meeting the

Rod Khleif: We have to exceed, we have to exceed the past building

Dr. Alex Schloe: Right.

Rod Khleif: To, to try to, to match this and,

and I think we're, we're heading into a crisis actually, but it's an incredible

opportunity for people that get into the business. Now, let me

ask you a question. Are you the operator as well, or you just doing the real estate piece?

Dr. Alex Schloe: Yeah, so it was kind of, kind of both. So we, we got started in residential assisted living, uh, leased to operator, uh, some homes in Phoenix. So we bought five. Then we partnered with an operator in Wisconsin. We bought three more.

Rod Khleif: Did you say

Dr. Alex Schloe: now we're working

Rod Khleif: you doing, are you doing residential? Like the Jean Garino model.

Dr. Alex Schloe: We started doing residential. Yep. So we, we largely do residential, which I think residential has its unique advantage of, one of the ways we're gonna be able to solve the housing crisis is adoption of more residential assisted living.

'cause we have single family homes. Right.

Uh, and so I think that that is a way to do it. We also are in the larger, uh, space as well. So we're working on some larger development projects right now. And, um, getting ready to

Rod Khleif: Actually building. Okay.

Dr. Alex Schloe: We're, we're doing some builds. Yep. And then we're, uh, getting ready to, to take down 117 units in Dallas, um, partnered with an operator.

So we, we largely partner with operators and then, uh, go where the good operators are. That's the hardest part, I think, is to find the

Rod Khleif: It's to find a good operator. It's the same thing in, in multifamily, but find a good property management company. Hell, I'm suing one right now. Oh my

Dr. Alex Schloe: Oh, no.

Rod Khleif: beds so bad. Oh, it was terrible. But, but, uh, but oh, that's, that's, that's cool. So you're doing the

houses. Yeah. I, I mean, I really explored that.

I was friends with Jean before he passed

and, uh,

Dr. Alex Schloe: Yeah.

Unfortunate

Rod Khleif: Yeah. Yeah.

it was COVID actually, believe it or not. It was terrible. But, uh, I think his daughter is following in his footsteps. But, um, but yeah, no, I, I was very interested in that model. Went to his course and everything and, and, and, and was, but, um. I, I, uh, I, I, I threatened to do senior housing back in 2007.

Okay.

I got my, I got my administrator's license here, here in Florida, actually did the course, uh, could have ran my own facility. I got the domain name affordable senior housing.com, which, which as a knucklehead I let go, but, uh.

Dr. Alex Schloe: Oh no.

Rod Khleif: Uh, yeah, and, and, you know, I put a whole team together. And then of course, my world collapsed in oh eight, so, uh, you know, I had to, I had to shift gears, but, uh,

but you know, I have, I have an affinity for the elderly.

I think you need to love the elderly if you're gonna get into this business. And,

Dr. Alex Schloe: a hundred percent.

Rod Khleif: I do. Just like, I love kids. So. Um, yeah, but it's, it's an exciting, it's an exciting business. I mean the, the, you know, the, the, the tidal wave, they, they call it the silver tsunami is coming and, and

you know, I got crushed by that wave in oh eight.

I'm surfing this one, okay?

Dr. Alex Schloe: There you go. I love that Rod. Yeah, you're exactly right. The silver tsunami's coming, but whether we want to or not, and it, it opens a lot of opportunity, not only for, for housing seniors, but also there's so many mom and pop operators in the space who now are looking to retire as that baby boomer generation ages.

So it offers a fantastic opportunity to get into some of these deals. As you mentioned, kind of some value add assisted living facilities is a really great play as

Rod Khleif: Question. Question. What are you paying per bed for your development?

Dr. Alex Schloe: Well, it depends. We don't have the final numbers yet on these, late, on the latest ones, but you're about 200,000 Yeah. Per bed. So you're, you're right. You know, um, the, this is gonna be more luxury boutique and

Rod Khleif: Right. Oh, sure. Oh, sure. No, you'll kill it. You'll kill it. Even, even at that, at those numbers. But there's like a, there's a limited. Kind of opportunity right now, I

think for the existing facilities.

Um, and, and to get them, you know, and, and the numbers are fa I mean, they're, the, the returns are fantastic. I mean,

Dr. Alex Schloe; Yeah, it's amazing.

Rod Khleif: 10 to 15% cash on cash upwards of 25 IRR, which is just extraordinary.

So you're not finding that in multifamily, really any other asset class right now. So,

very exciting. And, and we, and we partnered with a really good operator. You know, I, these, these, these, um. I've run some fairly decent sized companies that I built a hundred employees and, you know, culture's a big deal and you know, these, these employees at these senior housing facilities, they don't get paid super well.

And so you, I I, you know, I ask questions like how they educate it's continual education process, how they validate and empower the employees, how they praise them, how they, you know, um, you know, the culture they create is super important. Um, when you're dealing. You know, with a high turnover, uh, type business like that.

And I loved all the answers I got. We'll see the jury's still at, I'm going to the NIC conference in Nashville here, and I don't know when it's coming up in the next month or two, uh, which is the big event for senior housing. And, uh, just to, to interview some other operators, just to, you know, get a feel for what else is out there.

So, yeah.

Dr. Alex Schloe: Yeah, absolutely. Well, I might see you there. I'm trying to figure out logistically if I can get out there or one of my partners, but, uh, but yeah, it, no, I agree. It's, I think, the best opportunity in real estate, you know, now and, and for decades to come, given the runway. Of this over tsunami and the baby boomers aging.

Uh, let's go back real quick, rod, if you don't mind. So you mentioned the, the losing the 50 million in the 2008 crash. Right? Which I can not imagine how that impacted you, but how did you have the mindset to, to grow, to recover, to realize like, hey, I need to stay in this business.

Rod Khleif: No, I'm, I'm really glad you asked because it's the same mindset. If you're listening and you know, and, and maybe you're in the medical field and, and it's okay. You're comfortable, but you're really not where you wanna be financially. I mean, again, I've got orthopedic surgeons in my training program, dentists, doctors, and you, if you're in that place, um. You wanna listen to this? Okay? 'cause it's the same things that you would do to start this side hustle and run with it. And it's the same thing I did to get started to recover. So the first thing I did was I reassociate with my goals after I crawled underneath, uh, out from underneath the rock I was finding under for a couple months.

I reassociate with my goals 'cause I had to create that hunger, that burning desire. And then the next piece is, you gotta make a decision. Okay. And I made a decision, okay, enough's enough. Get up you big. Woo. And I, I went and built a big company, uh, litigation support company that I sold a few years ago that was one of the companies that had a hundred employees. But you gotta make that decision, and I don't mean dip your toe in the water. I mean, I, I mean like, like you're in, you're not one foot in, one foot out. You're a hundred percent committed. You make that decision. In fact, in fact, a great analogy for a decision, the Latin root means, uh, for the word decision means to cut off.

So if you're gonna attack the island. You burn your ships 'cause you're taking their damn ships home. That's a decision. It's done. Okay? You're in and that's what you have to do. So after you create that burning desire, hunger from doing your goals, you, you make that decision. By the way, even if you're not interested in. Attending one of my events or something. I have a goal setting workshop that I did. It's in my link, tree rods links.com. It's at the bottom and, and, and it's got a guide you can download. I'm not gonna try to sell you anything. It's about an hour. You know, people spend more time playing a free, planning a birthday party than they do designing their lives, doing your goals is designing your life.

And you give me an hour and I'll, I'll motivate the hell out of you. I'm just telling you right now, have your spouse do it. Have your kids, if they're over 10 years old, do it. So again, go to Rod's, links and, and, and do the goal setting, uh, regardless of whether you wanna work together down the road or not.

'cause it'll really help. But anyway, then you make that decision, then you gotta take that first step. You know, like Dr. Martin Luther King said, you take that first step in faith, the next step will be revealed. And I know as a doctor, you're very analytical and, and I'm will tell you, analytical people are some of the most successful students that I have. Um, because this business is primarily empirical, it's primarily numbers. You get the numbers right and you ask all the right questions. It's pretty hard to make a big mistake. But as an analytical, you know how you have to check off every single box before you make a move? And I love you, but but you, you can't do that here, you know?

And, and so I would give you the analogy. You know, you can drive all the way across the United States at night with your headlight only seen 50 feet in front of you. You know, you can make it. Other people have made it before you, you may have some, some setbacks, but you know, it can be done. It's the same way with this business or candidly, any business. And, but this life's not a dress rehearsal. Don't have any regrets. You know, maybe you fear failure. I call my failure seminars. That was a $50 million seminar. It was an expensive freaking seminar. But, but you know, it's only a failure if you don't get back up or you don't get the lesson. And, um, there was this nurse in Australia, uh, maybe you've heard of her, uh, doc, uh, uh, a hospice nurse named Bronny Ware. And she wrote a book of, well, she asked her patients that were dying a question, do you have any regrets? And she wrote a book about it. It's like a national bestseller or something like The Five Regrets of Dying. The number one regret was not living the life I could have lived living with someone, someone else's life.

Not doing what I know I'm capable of. I can't think of anything. Fear that. Don't fear failure, you know? And back to fear for a second, you know? Successful people have fear. They just push through in spite of it, because action mitigates fear, you know, and, and, and limiting beliefs as well. A lot of us have limiting beliefs.

You know, when I, when I immigrated this country, I didn't speak English. I was six. I got thrown into school, found out what bullies were for the first time, got my butt kicked a couple times. Then, uh, then my mom thought it'd be proud Dutch woman that she has thought it'd be a great idea to send me to school in wooden shoes and those leather shorts, the Germans wear for October Fest, which was like freaking crack cocaine for the bullies.

So I got my ass kicked again, you know, and bullies would chase me home and she'd chase 'em off with a fly swat. And so next day ass beaten. And I came up with this belief system that I wasn't good enough. You know, I used to ask myself, how can I show them I'm good enough? Um, and, and a lot of people have these limiting beliefs, you know, I'm not good enough.

I'm not strong enough, I'm not courageous enough, you know. Uh, another one was my mind was, I'm not analytical enough. And, and, and there's a reason the acronym for our belief systems is BS because 99% of them are bs. Right? But we believe they're real. And so, you know, if you're consciously aware of one of these limiting beliefs. I would tell you to drag it out into the daylight, look at it with your adult rational mind, recognize that it's BS and it will dissipate and go away. And you know, I used to be afraid to raise my hand literally in front of like 10 people in a classroom. And now I speak in front of thousands of people a year, typically in my flip flops.

Okay. So you can push through any of this stuff if you have it. Um, I could keep going. I got a few more if you want me to keep going. I don't wanna monopolize the conversation here, but

Dr. Alex Schloe: No, that's, that's why you're here for it. Uh, I, I really appreciate it. No, I agree. I wanna foot sto the importance of, of goal setting, of mindset, of vision because, uh, you know, it's just something that, that isn't taken as seriously as it should be. And I, I'm guilty of that. I remember I just got back from this, uh, this event called, uh, 18 Alpha.

Now how High Alpha. Builders conference. It's a retreat that we've done for the last five years in Colorado at a ski resort. And, um, it's been amazing to see the, the, the growth amongst the folks who have been attending. And then the, the core group of folks is the same. The first year we were in Breckenridge, we were drinking like crazy.

We were partying, skiing a bunch and talking about tactfully, how can we make as much money as humanly possible? Right. And I remember someone came to talk about mindset and I'm like. In my mind, I'm like, I don't care. I just wanna know how I can create some cash flow, uh, mindset's stupid. Now, every discussion we have is around mindset.

We spent two days coming up with a vision, with our vision and execution and stress testing that, and reverse engineering everything that goes along with that, right? And now, I, uh, completely agree with you. If, if you don't know where the car is headed, how are you gonna drive the car? How are you gonna get to your

Rod Khleif: Let, lemme put a pin in. So

Dr. Alex Schloe: to have that

Rod Khleif: lemme put a pin in something you just said. It's the, you know, the power of your peer group. Okay. That's a, that's a critical piece of this because who you hang out with is who you become. And

I will tell you, you show me your three best friends and I'll show you who you are in your relationships and your health.

Your happiness. Definitely your finances. Okay? So the problem is a lot of people. Uh, default to people they work with or went to school with and they may have their own limiting beliefs and fears that hold you back. Fear of losing you, fear of feeling less than if you succeed. And sometimes it's family.

I'm gonna tell you, love your family, but proactively choose your peers. When I was losing everything in oh eight and nine, I was in Tony Robbins Platinum Partnership. This is like over a hundred grand at the time. It's more than that now. And I was around people that were killing it in the crash. They were thriving, you know, I'm not gonna say it was through skill, it was probably, some of it was through luck, but they're like, get up ya, puss. 50 million Schmill. Go make something happen. That's who you need to be around. Not just in your growth period, but definitely when the stuff hits the fan. And so a couple more quick things. One of them is focus. You know, my podcast now has, I dunno, pushing over 30 million downloads, which doesn't sound like a lot, but for a podcast it's pretty good,

especially a niche one like mine. And. I listen to two podcasts. So we're talking about focus for a minute, because where focus goes, energy flows, okay? And the most successful people on the planet have the highest degree of focus. I mean, look at Elon, you know, people like that. Even Bezos, I mean, incredible focus. And, but here's the thing.

Whatever you focus on gets larger, both positive or negative. You know, like I'll get, people call me and say, how do I get outta student loan debt? I'm like, wrong question. How do you make so much money? The debt's irrelevant, is the question you wanna ask. You know, they asked Mother Theresa if she was anti-war. She said, no, I'm pro peace. Right. But I mentioned those two. The, uh, the podcast is because I listen to two podcasts. I listen to Joe Rogan and I listen to Tim Ferris. I try to get both sides of the aisle. I try to stay a little balanced. I'm definitely on one side. But anyway, on the other side is Tim Ferris and he interviews the best of the best in the world.

I mean, like the best athletes like Michael Phelps, N-F-L-N-B-A players. And by the way, I mentioned my, my downloads. 'cause they probably get 30 million a week. Both those guys. Okay. But anyway, so. You know, on Tim Ferriss's show, he interviews the best of the best billionaires like Ray Dalio, uh, actors like Hugh Jackman, ed Norton, Arnold, Jamie, Fox, um, you know, heads of the biggest companies in the world like Zuckerberg. And he deconstructs their success. It's fascinating conversation, but I started to hear a pattern. They almost all meditate. What does meditation enhance? Focus, right? Focus is power. And so, and then the, the, a couple more quick pieces. One is playing to your strengths, you know, um. A lot of people will tell you to build up your weaknesses.

Know your strengths are your greatest assets. You know, in our business there are a lot of different hats you can wear. You know, you compete like, like I was thinking about that orthopedic surgeon when we started talking here. He's raised tens of millions of dollars for deals. He does investor relations.

You can, you can find the deals, you can underwrite the deals. If you're super analytical, you can be the mouthpiece like Rod that builds the relationships with the investors and the brokers and the so on and so forth. You can do the asset management if you've got some project management experience or construction experience.

So lots of hats you can wear, but you wanna play to your strengths. Some of the best partnerships I see are, uh, an outgoing. Extrovert with an analytical introvert, that's a match made in heaven. 'cause you need both pieces. Um, but when you're playing to your strengths, you'll love what you do. And you never work another day in your life.

And, and you know, and you're in the wan, right? Like Jerry McGuire, you're in the zone and you're gonna be passionate when you're playing your strengths. You love what you do. You're passionate. And passion's required to influence people. So again, focus on that when you're working, when you're playing in your strengths and you hire a line or partner for your weaknesses, success is inevitable. And, uh, you know, and the last piece that I'll talk about is, um, well actually two, two last pieces. I wanna talk about the most important foundational emotion we have available to us. And don't, don't tune me out. 'cause you're thinking this is fufu. 'cause this is how I had 50 million to lose. Now I got it back.

So ignore what I'm gonna say at your peril is all I'll tell you. Okay. Gr And, and that is gratitude. Okay. Gratitude is how you manifest everything you want in life. It's the most important foundational emotion we have, but it's how you. Make everything happen for yourself. And you know, it makes us stronger when we face adversity.

It strengthens our immune system. You as doctors should know this. It, it, it makes our heart stronger, lowers our blood pressure. Gratitude does all that. It's incredible. And of course it brings us closer to our spirituality, but it's how you attract everything in your life. It's how you manifest. You know, if you, if I didn't have this crappy.

Um, green screen behind me here. You'd see my recliner behind me and my vision boards on the floor right there. 'cause I'll, most mornings I'll sit in that recliner and I'll just do gratitude for the people that I love in my life. And then I'll do gratitude for the things that I want as if I already have them.

And I've gotten emotional, being grateful for things I don't even have yet. And you're like, oh, good God, he's in fufu land. Well, this is how I had 50 million to lose and how I got it back. So ignore it at your peril. I'll leave you with one thing and that is. You know, you talked about what I did for kids.

Um, you know, when I was 18, this ties into goals. I knew I wanted to live on the beach and I lived in Denver and there's no freaking beach in Denver. But I would visualize the palm trees, the sand, the surf, the sand, and the, the waves, and. 20 years later, I built this, what's now about a $10 million mansion on the beach.

I owned the beach on one side and um, and I had my boats on the backside. It was called a gulf to bay, sliced through an island spectacular place. I mean, I just described this real quick. On the second floor, there was a balcony waterfall that went into the pool. You had to walk through the waterfall. To get to the pool pools and magazines, big spiral staircase up through the middle wine cellar elevator on the second floor.

I had aquariums built around the staircase that cost me almost 200 grand. So this gives you an idea of the house. Two months after I moved in, I'm floating in the pool at night. So this, I'd worked for this for 20 years, two months after I moved in a floating in the pool at night. And I'm looking up at this testament to my ego, which is really what it was.

It was to prove the freaking world. I was good enough that didn't do it. I mean, forget it. Okay. And. And, and I got depressed. I mean, my beautiful family's inside sleeping. I had all the toys, the Maserati and the Mercedes, and the boats and the jet skis and all this stuff. And I'm looking up this thing and I got, and I mean I got really depressed.

I'm like, what the hell? I've just achieved success, like times 10,000. There's a real message here. Okay. Um, so stay with me. And what I realized was there were three things happening. One is you never achieve a big goal without having all the goals lined up behind it. Because like the good book says, without a vision that people perish, you need a vision for the future.

And I didn't know what I was gonna do next. So that was number one. Number two is happiness doesn't come from the goals. You need 'em to get your ass, get off your ass and make things happen, and create that burning desire. But happiness comes from progress and growth, and I didn't know what I was gonna do there next either. They say the happiest days of a boat owner's life, the day they buy the boat and the day they sell the boat. Well, you know, that's the truth. Okay. But, um, but the big thing was I was totally focused on me. Rod, rod, rod, show the world I'm good enough, blah, blah, blah. That's the year I met Tony Robbins, and I've spent 23 years with Tony, but I saw that he fed families for the holidays.

And I'm like, what a concept. Do something for someone else. I'm embarrassed, sad to be 40 to get that memo. So I called my brother in Denver. I said, and I was gonna go visit him for Thanksgiving. I said, bro, let's feed five families. It'll be a blast. So he called his church, found five families who really needed help.

We bought the food and the frozen turkeys and toys for the kids. And the third family changed my life. We go up to this shack and it was a freaking shack. It wasn't even a one bedroom, and there was a Hispanic woman in there with five kids, and she came out, she saw the stuff on the porch. She started crying.

Her kids came out. Two of the old ones started crying. I started crying and I was hooked. And like you mentioned in the last 26 years, now have fed, and there's a message here, so don't tune this out guys. There's a message if you want success, so stay with me in the last 26 years. Yeah, like you said, I've fed around 160,000 children for the holidays.

I've done tens of thousands of backpacks filled with school supplies to local kids that. Don't even have the basic supplies for school. Don't get me started on that. Uh, and, and, and thousands and thousands of teddy bears to local police departments for their officers to keep in their vehicles so that they encounter a child that's been in a traumatic situation.

And the reason I bring that up is we've been taught to achieve, to be happy and, um, like we shouldn't be happy until we've achieved, right? It's kind of an American thing, but it, it's like a big deal, especially for men. I'm gonna tell you, if you give back in any fashion, you're happily achieving. And I know it's a play on words.

Tony Robbins calls it the science of achievement versus the art of fulfillment Achievement's a science. If you wanna learn commercial Rose Day, get your ass to my bootcamp. I'll tell you how you can come for 47 bucks and I don't sell anything there. It's two days A, you can do it in your underwear at home.

It's virtual, but, but. That's a science. I'll give you the blueprint and the map. You just gotta go do it. Okay? That's a science. Achievement's a science. But fulfillment's an art. You gotta figure out what juices you. For me, it's kids and the elderly. Um, maybe for you, it's animals, the environment, whatever it is, give back right now.

Don't say, well, you had money, that's why you gave back. You want the money, give back. That's how you get it. That's how God works. That's how the universe works. So I just wanted to lead people with that, that, uh, piece.

Dr. Alex Schloe: I, I love that Rod. And, and I agree. And, and, and I think that, you know, it's a true testament to just. The, the purpose of, of really just the purpose, right? Like the, the purpose and the fulfillment that comes with giving and giving to others. I is massive. And you had, you know, you had everything by worldly standards with the house, with the jet skis, with the boats, with the, the waterfall and the amazing pool.

You had everything and you were, you were not fulfilled. And I think that we're most fulfilled when we have, uh, the, the purpose, the growth, the,

Rod Khleif: when we

Dr. Alex Schloe: when we're learning. Yep.

And then when we give, right? And, and, and if you don't do those things, you're not gonna, you're not gonna be fulfilled. And, you know, I'm a, I'm a Christian.

I obviously got the cross right behind me. And, uh, you know, I don't think that you are, you know, are, are truly fulfilled until you serve others and,

Rod Khleif: Oh, sorry. Sorry about the profanity. I use it

Dr. Alex Schloe: That's okay. I, you

but,

not perfect. I curse too, but, uh,

Rod Khleif: Okay. Good.

Dr. Alex Schloe: but, but Rod, I think that, uh, you know, correct me if I'm wrong here, I kind of think through freedom, right?

And, and, and I think that, you know, we kind of start on this journey where it's, it's uh, you know, financial freedom to some degree, which then

Rod Khleif: Time freedom,

Dr. Alex Schloe: Which leads to mental freedom. And I think that the end, what we're really looking for is the giving freedom, right? Like, how do I have. So much, uh, money available or relationship capital available, but that I'm then able to give anything.

Right? And I think that that is what folks are really looking for. What are your thoughts there?

Rod Khleif: I co completely agree. You know, it's, it's interesting. I interview very, very wealthy people. I mean, I've, I've interviewed, you know, people with tens of thousands of units, okay. And sometimes I meet one that I can tell is like me, before I had that epiphany. And I feel sad for them because they're really not fulfilled.

They've gotta figure it out on their own. Um, but you know, we were everything in this universe. Contributes in some fashion. If it doesn't, it's eliminated. And that's just the way, the way it works. That's the way God works. And I will tell you, um, you know, it's, it, it, whatever you give comes back to you tenfold.

A hundred fold, a thousand fold. You know, you want love, give love, you want happiness, smile at people when you walk by. You want money, give money and give over your time. And that's just the way it works. And, and, and now you don't necessarily do it for that reason. But, but that's the way it works. And, and it's, it's absolutely the case.

Um, so, you know, if you want to call it prayer when, you know, when I manifest in my recliner, you could call it prayer and that's fine. That's probably what it is. And I'm exploring Christ right now. By the way, I, I got a book called The Case for Christ, uh, another

podcaster. Uh, yeah, yeah. I, I, and, and it is, I'm in the middle of it.

but, uh, and for those of you that don't know, it's about an investigative reporter that didn't believe in God. Studied Jesus and really dug deep and now he's huge, you know, a Christian. So,

uh,

Dr. Alex Schloe: Lee Strobel, uh, for folks who are wondering Yeah. Case for Christ. Amazing book. Yeah. Rod. Also check out Wild At Heart by John Elridge. That's a

Rod Khleif: Wild, wild of heart.

Dr. Alex Schloe: Yep. Wild At Heart by John Elridge. I know you're a, uh, you're a father and so that, that one hits a little bit differently when you're, when you're a father, but that's a great one as well.

Um. But, uh, yeah, there, there are. I, I love to hear that. I love that you're, you're exploring that and, uh, I, I think that's incredibly important. So thank you for sharing that. man, time is flying. Uh, well, I wanted to hit a couple questions, uh, Rob, before we wrap things up, but what do you, what do you think is a belief about money that you wish physicians, uh, would adopt earlier?

Rod Khleif: Well, you, you touched on it, freedom. I mean, you know, I mean, you guys work your asses off. I mean, uh, as a, as a physician and you've got big hearts and, and you've got families and you deserve time with those families. I gotta tell you, my greatest regret in life was coming home to my kids. And being so focused on proving the world, I was good enough.

And I mean, I mean, trust me, that caused me to be a huge success financially. But I lost, I lost time with my kids. I would play with them every night, but I wasn't present. And you know, and I know as physicians, you guys work so freaking hard and you care so much and you deserve financial and time freedom and, and very often you can't get it from your field. And so I would tell, and I'm gonna tell you. There's some crazy stuff happening with AI right now regarding surgeries and things like that, and I think some of these jobs might be going away and being outsourced and, and I hate to say it, uh, definitely, you know, I don't know if you've heard Elon Musk's latest interview on Joe Rogan.

He basically said Anybody work in front of computer, basically he's not gonna have work within a couple years. And, and so, you know, if there was ever a time to reinvent yourself it is. Right. Freaking now, you know, there's opportunities to buy businesses. 'cause there's, again, 10,000 people a day turning 65. Uh, it's crazy. And, and so, opportunities there definitely I opportunities to buy real estate. If that's the case, come to my bootcamp. It's, uh, it's at Rod's links as well. Um, and, and, you know, but, but pick, you know, if, if you, if you have any inclination that's possible, AI could, could cause you to have some hiccups with your business.

Don't wait for the fricking shoe to drop. Start that side hustle right now. Get up to speed. 'cause it takes some time. You know, you gotta figure out what role you're gonna play and all that. So. So start, start now and um, and that way you know you've got that security because honestly, the only security you have is between your ears.

So that's

my comment on that.

Dr. Alex Schloe: That's, that's a great answer. Well, rod, if folks wanna reach out to you, they wanna join the bootcamp, they wanna learn

Rod Khleif: It's Rod's links. It's Rod's links. That's the best place. My bootcamp site is there. My podcast site is there. Podcast is really good. I got a ton of free books. Uh, there. Some of 'em best in class. They're all free. Even my bestselling book, I've got a national bestseller called, uh. You can't see it with this damn thing in here Anyway, it's called How to Create Lifetime Cash Flow through Multifamily Properties.

Never even had a critical word about this. I've given away tens of thousands of copies. You can give the physical copy for like six or seven bucks and don't say, ah, you make money on that. No, it'd cost me 30 to send it to you. But, but uh, yeah. So Rod's links is the best place. My goal setting workshop is there.

Do that. Have your spouse do it. Have your kids, if they're over 10 years old, do it. Design their lives. It's very powerful.

Yeah. There

Dr. Alex Schloe: Yeah. I agree. I think that's incredibly important. And, and rod khleif.com as well. You have a lot of great resources there. Uh, man, rod, this was awesome. Thank you so much for your time. Any parting shots before we wrap things up?

Rod Khleif: No, just, just don't have any regrets, my friends. Okay. That's, there's nothing worse. Don't have any regrets. You know, I'm, I'm, I'm embracing life. I'm looking at life through a lifestyle filter. Now I'm doing a lot more traveling. You know, time's going by so freaking fast. So grab life by the, you know what? Yeah.

Dr. Alex Schloe: I love it. That's what freedom looks like. Thanks Rod. I appreciate it. Uh, and with that been Rod Khleif and Dr. Alex Schloe Physicians and Properties Podcast signing off.

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