Hello, and welcome to another exciting episode of the Indian Community Podcast. I'm your host, Amit Gupta, and I'm thrilled to welcome Vrishin Subramaniam. He's the visionary young founder and lead planner at CapitalWe. Vrishin's brand promise is he makes immigrants Millionaires. Vrishin's journey to financial enlightenment began at the tender age of 17 when he moved to the US confronted with the daunting task of understanding money, equity, compensation, the U. S. tax code, and the pillars of wealth building, he learned through first hand experience the gaps in financial knowledge many immigrants face, including me. His mission with CapitalWe is to bridge this gap. Making financial wisdom accessible and actionable for all. His story is not just inspiring. It's also a roadmap for anyone looking to secure their financial future in a new country. So let's dive in and learn more about Vrishin and how he makes immigrants millionaires. Vrishin, welcome to the Indian community podcast.
vrishin--he-him-_1_03-04-2024_211432:Thank you. Thank you for that introduction, Amit.
Track 1:Great. Vishen let's start from the beginning. So you were born and raised in, in New Delhi in India, and then you came to the US when you were just 17 to attend college at the University of Illinois. So how was your experience in the US? Did you face any peculiar challenges as a young student?
vrishin--he-him-_1_03-04-2024_211432:Everything, right? Not just, you know, the standard challenges that you have when you move away from or to like a new college setting where you're figuring out new academics and new system, making new friends, trying to learn how to cook food, but also, you know, the cultural aspects of like being in a different country, being away from home, not knowing anybody, dealing with like harsh winters, being in the middle of cornfields in Illinois. So the entire gamut all at once,
Track 1:Yeah, I remember when I was a young student and studying in London I did not know how to cook and by the time I went back to India I could pretty much make everything right? So my mother was surprised when she saw That this boy who couldn't boil water is now you know, full fledged chef certified, I could cook up a meal for myself. So that, that is definitely one of the most challenging aspects, especially if you've never. Cooked back home so that I can relate with that. So vision after your stint at the university. I noticed that you got into product management and then I suddenly see that you become an entrepreneur. So what was that all about? What triggered that tremendous shift and that to at such a young age?
vrishin--he-him-_1_03-04-2024_211432:A lot of things you know, looking back in hindsight, I think it's easy to kind of thread the narrative together, you know, each piece kind of fell in place You know, as life happened, I think I've always curious about starting business, or I thought I would do it at some point and definitely had several conversations with other people about starting something, whether that's like a restaurant or like something else, but I've always been scared of rejection and never kind of taken the leap ever that being said what happened was, you know, I graduated didn't have a job, so I ended up taking the first job I had. It was actually software consulting, and then over there, I kind of stayed, learned six months, quickly learned software. It's not for me. an opportunity to pivot into product, so I was doing that for a bit. Really enjoyed it probably was not getting paid enough, in my opinion, so my mind got thinking, you know, like, first job in the Bay Area is not, like, you feel like you're not getting paid enough, especially when you're So see your peers, go to Google's and Apple's and are earning 200, 300, 000 right out of college. So had to get good with money really quick. And then, you know, in addition to learning about the account types that they have over here, you have the question of like, am I going to get my H1B? And, you know, a lot of your decisions hinge on that. you know, As you know, once you get the H1, it's not the end of the road. There is the green card process and all of that. So, I had questions around 401ks, IRAs, all of that stuff. And looking at it from an immigrant lens, I didn't really find a lot of answers. This was back in 2018. so I was like, you know, maybe there, there does exist a market or something like this. so I. Took the qualifying exams and then I kind of just sat on it and then when COVID happened, I had a little bit of time because I was not kind of commuting for work. And I said, you know, let's start this on the side. We'll see how it goes. and here we are years later,
Track 1:So, so CapitalWe is a COVID baby, if I may call it in that sense.
vrishin--he-him-_1_03-04-2024_211432:like, yeah, something like that. Yes. Yeah.
Track 1:Okay, that's interesting.
vrishin--he-him-_1_03-04-2024_211432:of way too much free time on my hands. I think,
Track 1:Which is great. I think that's how you know, long term sustainable businesses are built. You build it with there's a pressing need and then there is there's some passion involved. But that's what Intrigues me a little bit, which is your education was in, in engineering, if I'm correct. Right. And then financial planning is a completely different world altogether. You know, so, how did you decide? Or what led you to think that, okay, I can be a financial planner. So what was that Eureka moment? Or, you know, when did that light bulb go off when you thought, okay, you know what, engineering and product, and let's, yeah let's see you later. Right now I think I can be a financial planner and I can help people become millionaires, like you say. So what was that moment or what made you confident that yes, you can do this.
vrishin--he-him-_1_03-04-2024_211432:That's the funny part. I'm still waiting for that moment to hit.
Track 1:Okay.
vrishin--he-him-_1_03-04-2024_211432:of being an entrepreneur is not kind of knowing 100 percent before you step into the ring, right? A lot of it Figuring it out, knowing that you have confidence in your ability to figure things out as you go. So is really all that I was backing on financially, I felt like, you know, first 10 years, I had saved enough money that even if I went 3 to 5 years without making anything, I would not be behind the curve. And then from a skill standpoint, you know, it's an industry that has been around for ever, you know, it's not something that. Chat GPT, which came about as possibly more revolutionary. but the financial planning industry has been around for 400 plus years. So really it's a, you know, there are people who have existed despite the fact the robo advisors have come, despite the fact that, you know, high tech, low touch tech, like financial FinTech services exist. There is something to be said of another human on the other end who's able to comfort you and provide you The mental peace that you need knowing that your money is safe and is doing the work that you need to do. So established industry, had the financial backing and just wanted fulfill the entrepreneurial edge and Early on, you know, I had conversations with several other planners and somebody actually told me told me this. He was like, you know, you're an outsider the industry, which means inherently you're going to do things slightly differently. And you would think about problems slightly differently. And that's an advantage because you're not entrenched in the system and you're not able to see the flaws because there's somebody who's an outsider. at the end of the day, people don't care. They don't care about like the advice you give. They only want to know what they need to do. So I think I have the ability to figure that out. And so, let's take the leap. And we go
Track 1:if it's funny, you mentioned robo advisors this evening. I was with a friend and I'll mention him so that he has a reason to watch this. His name is Manoj. And we were talking exactly about the this concept of robo advisors, helping people find out where they should be investing and what their portfolio should look like. So it is ironic that You know, and you also mentioned it's a 400 year, at least a 400 year old industry or a profession. So, so Vrishin, what is that gap that you think you're going to be solving? And especially you have this whole immigrant tadka in, in your marketing mix, if I may say, in my marketing naan what Ha Ha ha ha ha ha correct Or that kichdi that we are all cooking, right? So What is that gap that you see and why are you focusing on immigrants? And why do you think it is important for immigrants to be talking to Vrishin?
vrishin--he-him-_1_03-04-2024_211432:Firstly, I think the point you make of immigrants on having money is completely wrong. I think we are as Indians. We are one of the highest earning demographics in the US, right?
Track 1:I said not enough money. Not enough.
vrishin--he-him-_1_03-04-2024_211432:That's a
Track 1:We want money. Huh. That's
vrishin--he-him-_1_03-04-2024_211432:believe financial planning is not the pursuit of It's not maximizing your wealth, but it is about optimizing your life. And that's something that we as Indians don't understand at all. It's the fact that, you know, they think an advisor is only somebody who's managing investments and charging a percentage of that. If you want that, you go to a hedge fund. Like regardless, you're just going to be like throwing money away. Really the core of financial planning is to look at, you know, all aspects of your life that money touches and figuring out, you know, how is your. Is your upside aligned with where you want to be? Is your downside aligned with where you want to be? Is your risk aligned with where you want to be? Are you, is your, like, are you to the right objectives that you want to have? you living the life that you want to live right now? Too many people either like save their, you know, job they hate too much. They save too much, they don't enjoy the present, they're always worried about what will happen. You know, as far as I know, speaking about making immigrant millionaires, there's nobody I know who says I want to become like Ambani. You know, everybody you talk to only says, you know, I want to make sure my kids are taken care of. I want to make sure my family is happy and I want to make sure that I never have to worry about. So the financial planning really is what, like, what is your ideal life if you've never had to worry about money. like, what would you do, where would you live, who would you be what, like, what would you do? And then working backwards into like, okay, to live that version of your life, how much money do you need? Or like how do I, are you aligning your money with that with who you want to become as a person? And that's really what it is about.
Track 1:nice. Vrishin, I noticed you also talk. On the concept of enough in how much is enough is in especially when it comes to financial planning, right? Because when we think of it, and like you said, nobody wants to. Nobody's saying that I want to be the Ambani's right. And throw a big fat wedding or a pre wedding if I may say so right now, India is buzzing with the pre wedding celebrations in Gujarat. But we all want to get to a certain point, but a lot of us struggle with. figuring out how much is enough or how much is that threshold that we should be aiming for. So how do you typically calculate that or help your customers get to that enough?
vrishin--he-him-_1_03-04-2024_211432:Yeah. Think first and foremost, it's looking at. You know what you have today and then figuring out whether it's invested sensibly. I know as Indians, we have quite a bit of narrative around stock markets being risky. And so there is a tendency to favor real estate. And so really looking at, you know, what, like, are we optimizing for real monthly cash flow, or are we optimizing for like lifetime growth of assets? But you know, having said, you know, where you're starting, what you're expecting to earn, one of the big things is, you know, if you wanted to stop working, what would, like, when would that be? Would that be as soon as possible? Or would that be kind of, you don't, you love what you do, and you're like tap dancing to work, so you will work. That, I think, plays a big role in defining what enough is. And really looking at the simple math of it is, you know, 25 to, in the US if you plan to retire in the US is about 25 to 35 times your expenses is enough to kind of create a forever portfolio, is to say like a 4, 3, 3 to 4%. if you withdraw three to 4% of your core portfolio, you should have. Enough money to like live off of indefinitely. But again, important to kind of figure out what you will do once you retire. Because one of the big, one of the big things I get is like, I want to do whatever I want. so that I, like, I never have to, I never want to worry about money that I can do whatever I want, but that whatever you want piece, a lot of people don't figure it out. And they'll soon find that they retire and six months in they're bored they've played golf or they've like. Traveled or done vacations for six months straight and now they don't know what to do, so they end up going back to work or do this. So, finding something to retire to is the other big kind of piece of that. The math on it is not complicated, right? It's really more the, as I said, the psychology piece that as Indians, and I think more so as people are missing.
Track 1:So when you say 25 times of what you need so what does that really mean? So if we were to look at it you know, statistically, let's say somebody needs 10, 000 a month because of all the expenses that they have. They have a mortgage. They have kids going to university and let's say they're spending a little lavishly, right? So let's say their expense is 10, 000 a month. And I'm assuming if you were not to work, then you would need some sort of insurance, like a medical insurance. And so that's also going to build up. So if somebody needs. 10, 000 a month. What is that they need to save up? Is that 25 times of 10, 000 or is that another number altogether?
vrishin--he-him-_1_03-04-2024_211432:It's so it's going to be 120, 000 for your annual spend, And so it's going to be 25 times
Track 1:The 120.
vrishin--he-him-_1_03-04-2024_211432:which is
Track 1:Okay.
vrishin--he-him-_1_03-04-2024_211432:8, 4. 85 million dollars
Track 1:Right. So that's about 5 million is what somebody needs,
vrishin--he-him-_1_03-04-2024_211432:to
Track 1:To retire.
vrishin--he-him-_1_03-04-2024_211432:120, 000 each year
Track 1:Each year.
vrishin--he-him-_1_03-04-2024_211432:Inflation adjusted without having to worry about it.
Track 1:That's cool.
vrishin--he-him-_1_03-04-2024_211432:but, you know, you might find that, you know, a couple of your expenses drop off, Not commuting as much. You don't spend as much on gas. And some other areas go up, you're taking care, better care of your health. So you're paying more for a gym. So. it's something that I think you, you kind of need to ease it to,
Track 1:what vision is saying is if you have 5 million in the bank, you can very well retire today and spend time on your you know, favorite activities. And then, of course, be working for the community. Do things that you love. But of course, as long as you stay within that 10, 000 a month,
vrishin--he-him-_1_03-04-2024_211432:yeah.
Track 1:sort of an expense.
vrishin--he-him-_1_03-04-2024_211432:A quick note there. It's not it's not if it's 5 million cash in the bank because it's going to lose value over time. So it
Track 1:Okay, yeah.
vrishin--he-him-_1_03-04-2024_211432:It's a 5 million portfolio,
Track 1:Right. So you're going to start with five and then speak with Vrishin. Yeah. Speak to Vrishin. He'll tell you where that needs to be parked so that it is sustainable and keeps you alive for the next 25 years. You know, and it might still grow further, right? So, I'm sure Vrishin is going to invest that in, in areas, which is going to make that 5 million even grow further on. So Vrishin, really good points over there. And I think that's also practical. To look at, right, in terms of, okay, so if this is what you need, then this is what you need to if this is what you need to spend, then this is what you need to save. Now a lot of times when people think about financial planning they think of their CPA, right? Or in, in India, we used to call them the charted accountant. Now in, in this country they're the CPAs. I had read one one of your LinkedIn comments wherein you mentioned that a CPA is looking at your money in the rear view mirror, whereas the financial planner is looking forward through the windshield.
vrishin--he-him-_1_03-04-2024_211432:That's
Track 1:Can you elaborate on that? Because Where we come from or you know, we grew up watching our parents speak to the chartered accountants for such advice. And here we are talking about financial planners doing something tremendously different. So what is, what do you mean by this rear view mirror and this forward looking,
vrishin--he-him-_1_03-04-2024_211432:Yeah, absolutely. Happy to explain it. Yeah, I totally stole this analogy from somebody, but it just makes so much sense that I think it's easy for people to grasp. Basically, the idea is, you know, you're talking to your CPA about the previous year when you're engaging with them, right? So everything that, that has, has already happened, you're giving them a record that kind of does not help you in the sense like, yeah, sure. Your CPA can maximize your returns. But what happens is that. What they may be doing is not probably what is best for you to pay the lowest lifetime taxes in your life. That is to say, you know, today you may have a smaller bill, but 10 years from now, 15 years from now, when you are, when you're trying to pull from retirement accounts, you may end up paying more or the same, which ends up canceling itself. Like, it's like paying it's like paying 30 percent on the seed or paying, you know, 20, 30 percent of the harvest kind of situation. So. So, point being that, you know, CPA cannot change anything because it's in the past. They can only optimize for whatever decisions you had made. Whereas a financial planner is looking at your finances through the windshield of your car, because it's a forward looking view. We want to see what obstacles or what opportunities are there like ahead of you and proactively help you navigate the car. So as to either avoid bad decisions or to ensure that we're able to make some more good decisions. Right. That's the way I kind of explain how a financial plan is different.
Track 1:I would say thank you for that because it has got me thinking on 30 percent on the seed or 30 percent on the yield. And I can see what you mean over there. Right. And especially if these are poor decisions in the interest of saving some small change today. Then that can come back and haunt you in the future. So, which is very interesting. I mean, I never really thought about it in that sense. So I think this is a good takeaway for me personally too. Nice. That's interesting. So when you said to your early customers that, Hey, I'm going to help you become millionaires what was that early feedback or reaction? that you got from them. Did you see people being surprised, amused curious? What, how would you define or describe those reactions?
vrishin--he-him-_1_03-04-2024_211432:That's a good question. As I kind of think through it, the first couple of clients were obviously friends and family. I did not make them any such promise, but one of the things was, you know, if we do these things, I'm sure you're like on track to have your finances great order. And. It's only a matter of time before you reach millionaire like status. But again, that is completely up to you if that's what you want. Right. But working with those early clients really helped me understand, you know, what it is that people are looking. And as I said, you know, not everybody's looking to become a millionaire. They want to make sure that family is taken care of. Kids are, kids, education is paid for and they have enough to never worry. Kind of, I would say I learned a lot more that process early on than kind of talking about being a millionaire. Obviously it's a draw for a lot of people. It's an aspirational kind of status.
Track 1:Correct.
vrishin--he-him-_1_03-04-2024_211432:And I think It appeals to a lot of the people who are younger than us. Right. One of my big wants for starting this business was to have, was to provide affordable financial advice to people who may otherwise be left out by the traditional model of, you know, having enough assets and being like a, like working with a wealth manager who typically work with like older people, retirees, things like that. So when
Track 1:Right.
vrishin--he-him-_1_03-04-2024_211432:As a 24-year-old, I didn't find anybody who would be able to. charge me for unbiased financial advice. an immigrant nobody existed at that time, and in some ways I'm looking to kind of fill that space and be open to providing advice to people if you're 20 or if you're, or 15, I would say. It's
Track 1:Yeah, I mean, I'll tell you from my personal experience when I came to this country four years ago. I did not understand. I still don't understand the financial system over here. But when I came here and then, of course, the pandemic you know, struck. So, if you were You Going to the office, things would have probably been different. I could have consulted people but the pandemic struck and I remember filing my first year, you know, the returns that I was filing I just didn't know what I'm doing. And even the second year I did not know what I'm doing. And I did not capitalize on the opportunity to invest in a 401k. I. Eventually, I realized, okay, there's something called as 401k. I was getting those emails. I was trying to read it up, but the language was was not as simple as you would want it to be. So that was lesson that I learned You know, the hard way. And do you do programs for new immigrants who come to the country and just don't know where to start? And especially if you look at somebody in my age bracket, right? When you come to this country, you don't have enough savings to be able to retire. So, first is, do you do offer programs for younger immigrants who have not saved enough and we're just starting off on their journey. And then if yes how do you really help them? How does one work with you? And what kind of results do you think people typically get? Yes.
vrishin--he-him-_1_03-04-2024_211432:you know, I end up being able to help people best only if they're ready to accept. So early on, you know, one of the takeaways was, you know, I want to help anybody who's new college grad and like looking for like needs guidance. I know each and every person who's 20 can benefit from the fact that if I just tell them the key to success, they will take it and they will all become millionaires. Life doesn't work that way. It's very much like eating healthy and going to the gym, right? Like you can give everybody the keys to success, but unless like they're willing and ready to take action. They're not going to. So, I do offer concepts. So I do hourly work because I don't want the scope to become very overwhelming, but I do hourly work and that, that can fit you whether you're a new immigrant, new college grad or new immigrant, say in your age bracket. Yeah, really the outcome that people are looking for will determine how it makes sense to work together. I, yeah, as I said, I found people that are so engrossed with worrying about, you know, the F1 to OPT to STEM to H1B transition that they don't really think about their finances across the years. And that's okay. I've understood that, you know, you can't help everybody. You can only help people that come to you are ready and willing and able, but yeah, people people like you, I would say are. The minority in that, you know, you made such a big move at the age of 40, forties, right? I don't want to assume incorrectly
Track 1:Plus or minus. Plus or minus. Correct.
vrishin--he-him-_1_03-04-2024_211432:thirties. yeah, like there's not very many people who's who are willing, like once you put down roots, had a family to like. You know move to a completely different country. So definitely in the minority, but again, like people that I want to help, right? The main reason being, you know, our money scripts are generated by where we live, where we grow up, right? In India what if they told you, you know, taking a loan is bad, you should never owe people money, stock market is risky, we all know somebody who's like lost money and then kind of You know, inflation is not a concept that they teach you about at all. Even though India has like much higher inflation rate, but yeah, come here. It's quite the opposite, right? Inflation is low. Debt is what runs the country and stock markets have kind of the best track record because they've been around for a hundred plus years. So how do you kind of reconcile ideologies with what the ground reality is? And that's kind of. The adjustment that you as an immigrant need and kind of what I went through first
Track 1:That's cool. Yeah, I mean, to add to the list of complaints of us growing up, a credit card nail in, you don't take credit cards, they're bad for you. Yeah, I mean, if you're irresponsible with credit cards, you, they're definitely going to hurt you a lot. But I do see value in, in using credit You know, appropriately, there is this immense value if you use it properly. You know, again, I think when I was in India, credit systems or credit bureaus where Establishing or let's say maturing. They've been around for some time, but I think they were getting much more mature companies like experience had, you know, set up operations there.
vrishin--he-him-_1_03-04-2024_211432:Mhm.
Track 1:and you realize everything works on credit. So having a good credit history is critical, even to buy a car you, you need some credit in the, forget buying a car even to rent a house these days they will ask you for your credit history. So, understanding finance and investment and your money is definitely a subject that we are all not programmed to be aware of, right? So that's definitely an important topic. So I congratulate you, Vrishin, for you know, taking that bold move and helping young immigrants Become millionaires. If we may say that again. Great. So Vrishin you've spent a lot of time outside of India, but you work with a lot of Indian immigrants and help them with their investment strategies. Does Investment in India also feature in your strategies. Do you recommend NRIs to be investing in India? If yes, then what kind of investment mediums do you typically suggest? We It's a
vrishin--he-him-_1_03-04-2024_211432:very hard question. I'm still kind of working through this with a lot of clients. You know, everybody who is an NRA is so gung ho about the future of India. I mean, you can see it anytime you go back, right? technology is leaps and bounds ahead of where the U. S. Is a U. P. I. You know, having
Track 1:should not tell anybody, right? That India is much more ahead of us in these things.
vrishin--he-him-_1_03-04-2024_211432:It's you know, there's like a regular stand up bit about how, you know, you can get one guy to deliver like one gulab jamun for you at like So the convenience there is par obviously. Because you see the amount of development, you're keen to think that the stock market is going to do really well. Historic studies have actually shown that the stock market returns and the economic development of a country are not, are actually decoupled. They don't rely on one another.
Track 1:Oh,
vrishin--he-him-_1_03-04-2024_211432:no empirical data to suggest that a country that's doing well economically will have a good stock market.
Track 1:that is interesting. Okay.
vrishin--he-him-_1_03-04-2024_211432:So knowing this and knowing the amount of loopholes that you as an NRA have to jump through, whether that's passive foreign investment companies or, you know, if you go back, like just navigating two different tax codes can be very daunting. So really, the question is, are you trying to optimize for returns? if so, have you adjusted for currency depreciation and just administrative hassle? and if not, then, you know, like what, like why are you investing in India? So given the ROH, return on hassle, ROT, return on time, ROI, return on investment,
Track 1:Right.
vrishin--he-him-_1_03-04-2024_211432:does this make sense? And, you know, because there are multiple ways to do this, as you said, you know, that you can do mutual funds in India. You can do property in India. can land in India. You have different challenges with each different investment, managing, monitoring, administering, fixing tax filing. So, so really I get people to think long and hard about this, given this particular piece of data that, you know, stock market and, return, like economy or decoupled, and then figure out whether it makes sense. You know, I personally, I do invest in India, but the way I do it is I invest through a us based ETF because I have just found from a, you know, from a ROH and ROT perspective, that is just the simplest for me. don't get as much returns as what I would have, I probably would have otherwise. But you know, it keeps things clean.
Track 1:That is interesting. Yeah, a lot of us are more familiar with those investment channels, right? So, familiarity also. Kind of makes you lazy and you think, okay, let me just do that or continue to do that, right? So that happens i'm also seeing a lot of immigrant investors becoming angel investors Or let's say small time VCs in India. Are you seeing that trend? Are your customers asking you are there any companies that we can invest in? Do you see that trend also?
vrishin--he-him-_1_03-04-2024_211432:I have not had any clients that, you know, come to me with that yet. You know, I did have somebody I spoke to recently that was like, Oh, I'm going to do like a estate syndicate in India. Right. Where, you know, we'll pull a bunch of money and then we'll like buy something. And then that investment was kind of locked in for 8 to 10 years. And I was like, okay, well, like the rest of your portfolio needs help. Because like you don't have like a base of. before like you're like, you're jumping to grade 10 level without like grade one and grade two. So one of the things was like, you know, make sure you build your basic foundation of foundational portfolio, which is the basic. and the basic kind of exposure before you start doing advanced things just to chase return. It back to why are you investing? How much money are you looking to create? And if you don't have to take unnecessary risk and like, when do you need the money? So if you don't need to create unnecessary risk in order to get to the number that you need to get to, then it may not make sense to do something where You know it's opaque. You don't get to pull your money out whenever you want and illiquid. And you basically just know when, that money will come back or whether it will come back at all. So those are considerations that I get people to think long and hard about. It's very easy to chase the shiny new object, right? We've all
Track 1:Right.
vrishin--he-him-_1_03-04-2024_211432:So that's human nature, but you know, and that's where kind of having a financial planner comes in, who's keeping you honest. Making you stick to the path and really questioning your biases. That's not to say I don't come, I don't come with my own biases. I absolutely do. But it's to kind of bring that impartial view to your situation and your family.
Track 1:Yeah, that is very interesting, Vrishin, because we find ourselves in that zone many a times throughout the year in terms of, okay you've got some spare change and you've got to invest somewhere you, you come up with all these different ideas. And like I said, you're familiar with those mediums, right? So you tend to think of going back and you know, trying those those routes again. So that is that is good to know. And I think recently I also read an article where You are suggesting the entrepreneur route for you know, becoming visa holder in this country. Right. So I think it's called the EB 5 where you could become an investor and then establish a business in the U. S. and also get a visa to come in and live in Live the American dream and establish something that you've always dreamt of. Now, whenever I've spoken to anybody about the EB 5, people have told me, oh, it's too difficult and very complex and it needs a lot of money. I'm sure some of it is true. But what do you think? Is a typical success rate or what are the things that somebody should really have in place to be able to be successful in that space, right? Is an EB 5 another shiny object that people chase after, or do you see success especially for an investor in India? Is EB 5 a myth or a fact?
vrishin--he-him-_1_03-04-2024_211432:So I don't think I recommended it per se, but definitely I think it's something that people should look to, right? You know how the backlog for Indians is right?
Track 1:Correct.
vrishin--he-him-_1_03-04-2024_211432:plus year waiting period on an H 1B. A
Track 1:Right.
vrishin--he-him-_1_03-04-2024_211432:have, you know, their priority dates set and they're just waiting and that can look like a wait of up to 20 years. I'm sure everybody at some point wants to tap out and figure out if it makes sense to just like go back and have, whether they have enough. But really think about if you lose your job, you have 60 days to leave the country. don't know how people ever feel settled in the US, given that at a moment's notice, you can kind of be chucked out of the country and you're forced to sell or liquidate everything. So when I kind of have these conversations with people about like, you know, what is your most important, most burning emergency? A lot of people talk to me about I don't ever want to go back to India. What is it can we do? And so that kind of got me. Down, like reading or let me down the path of the EB 5 there is definitely an industry around it, right, where with all good and bad things, there are people trying to achieve it for aspirational status, and there are a lot of people that are ready to take advantage of it. So, I had a chat with Ishan who runs the nonprofit that is lobbying for EB 5. who does like lobby work for EB5 for Asian investors such as like Indians. Yeah we got talking and really, you do need a lot of money. The simple fact is you need to be able to have like a million dollars. It's not simple, right. But there are definitely Indians who have that kind of money. And so the question is, If this is a priority, are you willing to kind of put that money towards this? Have it be locked up in an investment that's potentially not generating any returns and take the chance just to be able to stay in the country. And the answer for the market seems to be yes. Like there, there's definitely a few people that have pursued this path, to the point now where there seems to be a backlog for. The EB 5 as well, but definitely it's something that believe works if that is something you will do. Again, I'm not like, I'm not endorsing or not saying you should go for the EB 5, but I'm saying think long and hard about where your priorities are, immigration or financial, and then figure out if this makes sense, like backing into this, whether this makes sense for you either as an investment or as a life choice.
Track 1:That is good. I just wanted to ask you this because you would have seen a lot of people go through this grind and some meet success and some don't, right? A lot of people who are not or who are thinking about it want to know whether this is something that does materialize or not, right? Because Well, when you speak to any of the players of that industry, like you said everything is all hunky dory. Everything's going to happen and there's no problems at all. But there are things that happen behind the scenes that people may not be aware of, right? So, which is good. Great. I had one formal question and then we'll move on to some fun questions. Vrishin for An Indian immigrant who is investing in this country or who wants to invest in this country, what are the three must haves that you would recommend? Right? So this is what you would say. You have to do these three things. And then there are, of course, there are other things that people will need to do. But if you're not doing these three, then you're pretty much leaving money on the table. So what? What would those three be nice?
vrishin--he-him-_1_03-04-2024_211432:I would probably give you six, five, five or six, right? so first and foremost, figure out what your goals are. Ultimately, not knowing what we're saving for, how we're doing it is one of the big things I see across all immigrants that come, we're told to work hard. We're told to put our best foot forward and you'll get recognized. That's not the case. So really kind of don't climb that ladder of success only to find that it's leaning against the wrong wall. So set your goals, figure out what you're saving for, what your priority to make sure you invest, start early and invest often. There's no secret, there's no secret investment. If it's you a certain return, most likely it's like not going to last. And there really is no secret magic bullet. There is just timely index funds, day in, day out, and just kind of stay the course for 5, 10, 15 years. It's a slow grind, but it will make you rich. Third, You know, downside protection, make sure that you have insurance coverage, whether it's life insurance, homeowners, car, auto, make sure you have enough, right? The whole point of insurance is not to invest again, separate investments from insurance. Insurance is only downside protection. So you need like term life insurances, homeowners, auto, and just get term life. Don't do anything like whole life or other stuff because it will save you taxes. is merely meant to protect your downside in case something happens to your earning potential.
Track 1:Right,
vrishin--he-him-_1_03-04-2024_211432:Last one, draft some kind of estate plan, a will, a trust, domestic trust, something of that sort, because I spoke to somebody who you know, couple who are married husband and wife. Husband was not able to sign off on any of the medical things needed for the wife because they didn't have any kind of paperwork stating that they were married. They got married in India and like,
Track 1:right, right.
vrishin--he-him-_1_03-04-2024_211432:So very heartbreaking, you know, knowing your partner's right there and you can't do anything about it. So have a will, have a trust, have something that outlines that. Like guardianship for your children have something that outlines what happens to you, who makes decisions in case. power of attorneys, right? Who makes decisions in case you are incapacitated? Who has access to all your stuff in case you are incapacitated? Because life not only happens like before, like it's not just the death component. It's also everything before that, that you need. And then lastly just live in the present. That is something that I think more of us can do. It's there's a lot of news. It's easy to kind of get sucked up in the news cycle. It's easy to see what other people are doing. Especially if you live in the Bay Area, there's always somebody who's driving something fancier. a bigger car, has a private plane, so it's easy to kind of get into that. So just kind of live, live in your now and that will make you be a lot happier.
Track 1:That is beautiful. I think your point number four is the one that that is also something that a lot of people keep on their backlog or a to do that, okay, I'll get to it, I'll get it done and then they just don't get to it, right? So that's definitely, is that something that you offer as a service or do you recommend that they reach out to an attorney? Correct.
vrishin--he-him-_1_03-04-2024_211432:with attorneys or I work with like online with prep software, but really the thing is, I will push you to get it done, right? It's, I've spoken to people who will come to me and they're like yeah, estate planning, right? I have been wanting to do that for like a whole year. I did it. Like I said, I'll do it last year. And then before I realized it was Feb of 24, and then they didn't sign on. So it's like, clearly it was not a big enough priority for you to like do, but like, if you do want help in getting that stuff done, that's where the planner comes in. Like it's the accountability piece. It's making sure I'm behind you so that you get stuff done. then really just kind of helping you organize and curate life. I think will is a very important part of that. So I definitely work with people who will help you get it done.
Track 1:is cool. Thank you so much, Vrishin. I'll move on to some quick rapid fire fun questions. Not too many, but just a few. So what's your favorite amongst these two? Chole kulche or tacos?
vrishin--he-him-_1_03-04-2024_211432:Depends on where the tacos are. No, I'm kidding. Chole, Chole Bhature anytime But in moderation,
Track 1:In moderation. I don't know. I mean, if I see them, I forget moderation at that time. Right? So especially if you're in Delhi or you know, in Karolbagh where I come from you know, the old West Delhi Cho is there's no moderation. Once you're there,
vrishin--he-him-_1_03-04-2024_211432:it's recommendations. My wife, I've not taken my wife like eating in Delhi yet.
Track 1:okay,
vrishin--he-him-_1_03-04-2024_211432:so it's on the list.
Track 1:great. If you're ever in Atlanta there is this place called Nathu Sweets. Which is actually a restaurant in Delhi. Yeah. So they opened up in Atlanta. So, you know, you should let me know when you're here and then I'll take you guys around and they've got some really awesome Chole Bhature. So I can tell you, so we drove up 40 minutes just to have that. We did that twice in a month. So
vrishin--he-him-_1_03-04-2024_211432:know, it's good.
Track 1:I know it's good. That's why we went the second time around. So. It is. It is that good. Perfect.
vrishin--he-him-_1_03-04-2024_211432:get them to sponsor this podcast.
Track 1:So I am talking to them to come and talk about,
vrishin--he-him-_1_03-04-2024_211432:Amazing.
Track 1:what they did, or why did they come to Atlanta? I mean, I'm thankful they did, but I'm curious too. So hopefully we'll connect and we'll get them to
vrishin--he-him-_1_03-04-2024_211432:I
Track 1:appear on the show as well. That's cool. Vrishin, I noticed you have dancing as as one of your achievements on your profile. So what was that dance form that you won a prize for?
vrishin--he-him-_1_03-04-2024_211432:No, I didn't win any prize. I'm just, I just put that there to see if people are reading me at time. I'm very much like an enthusiastic wedding dancer. So
Track 1:Okay,
vrishin--he-him-_1_03-04-2024_211432:to be the barati at at any wedding. So my, my wife and I are trying to compete to become, you know, most The most professional wedding attenders that they
Track 1:That's nice. Can we see Vrishin doing the Nagin dance at weddings? Is that what you do?
vrishin--he-him-_1_03-04-2024_211432:That one is set to private status on Facebook.
Track 1:So I remember in New Delhi, especially in the north I've not attended a lot of weddings outside of Delhi, but in Delhi in the Barat, you have to have the Nagin dance. There will be a Nagin, there will be somebody with, you know, those makeshift beans and there will be a Nagin dance for sure.
vrishin--he-him-_1_03-04-2024_211432:It definitely feels like a 2am thing. Like, or 4am I guess.
Track 1:Great. That's nice. Most memorable place you have gone for scuba diving.
vrishin--he-him-_1_03-04-2024_211432:Oof, this one hard. I want to say the first place where I really got my feet wet was the Maldives. So I got very lucky. I got to go. I got to have my introductory scuba course in Maldives. And this was, you know, 10, 15 years ago. So really, before the coral started dying, 100 feet visibility, you know, you could swim around the island. It was just like the entire wall of the island was just covered in like marine life. And it was one of the most like, Fantastic things that I have seen close. Second would be Diani beach in Kenya, Seychelles and third place would be. Ford Lauderdale in the USA.
Track 1:Oh, interesting. And was the water warm in Kenya? Or is it cold water or is it warm?
vrishin--he-him-_1_03-04-2024_211432:It's all equatorial. It's all very warm.
Track 1:Very warm. Correct.
vrishin--he-him-_1_03-04-2024_211432:great conditions because the other thing is like, I've done diving in California as well. California has a lot more cold water. So by default, what happens is in cold water, the life, the marine life tends to not be as colorful.
Track 1:Correct.
vrishin--he-him-_1_03-04-2024_211432:So it's a lot, it's a little more boring, different experience. Yeah, like Fort Lauderdale and Seychelles and, Diani are like phenomenal.
Track 1:And was there enough light for you to be able to appreciate the beauty or do you have to wear lights on your gear?
vrishin--he-him-_1_03-04-2024_211432:No it's about 30 meters down or 30, 30 feet down. So there's a decent amount of light if you, like, even if you go on a cloudy day,
Track 1:Okay.
vrishin--he-him-_1_03-04-2024_211432:To like see. The more, the bigger challenge is visibility is like when silt gets kicked up.
Track 1:Correct.
vrishin--he-him-_1_03-04-2024_211432:is a huge challenge in California, in Monterey Bay, but the, but for Lauderdale, for example, you're just, you're literally in the jet stream current, gut stream current. So the, like, the, like, it's just clear water the entire way. So you just kind of get into the stream and then you don't even have to swim. You just, the stream just takes you. And so you're just hovering over the reefs. And then you just exit once you're out of the orchestra.
Track 1:That's cool. That's cool. Nice. One last question. What is that one fact that most people don't know about you?
vrishin--he-him-_1_03-04-2024_211432:Oh, I wish I could have prepared for that one.
Track 1:Don't say anything. You're going to be sorry about later.
vrishin--he-him-_1_03-04-2024_211432:No I really enjoy learning languages. So for me, I think that is something that I'm always looking to like learn from, which is like, I always like to connect, you know, language, obviously like a means to connect with people and working with, again, Indian diaspora, you know, everybody speaks a different language. So I have this inherent fascination with trying to learn a smattering of Kannada, I mean, I know like smattering of Kannada, smattering of Telugu, smattering of Marathi. A little bit of Bengali just to, you know, make people feel more at ease, but also, you know, it's very fascinating to me how work and they're so similar yet so different. That would probably be the fun fact about it.
Track 1:you, you managed to get out of that question without any controversy. So that's cool.
vrishin--he-him-_1_03-04-2024_211432:recorded?
Track 1:Too late. We're already 56 minutes into this recording. so much. I had a really wonderful conversation with you. I learned a lot and I'm sure everybody who's listening and watching this. Is also learning so much about you and the warmth the personality that you have it is I would say it is enigmatic in one way because there's so much that you've been able to achieve in such little time and I would congratulate you and wish you all the best for all the immigrant millionaires that you're going to be helping out in the next few years. So I'm going to watch out and hopefully we'll connect again, once again to talk about it. And maybe we'll also bring one of your customers in and talk about their experience. And you know, when they become millionaires and multimillionaires, if I may say, right. So that is great. Vrishin, thank you so much for appearing on the Indian community podcast.
vrishin--he-him-_1_03-04-2024_211432:No, thank you so much for having me. It was a pleasure chatting I love what you're doing. So please
Track 1:Thank you. And lastly, I just want to make sure if you're watching this or if you're still on, on this video please don't hold or wait for your trust in establishing that you know, trust for your family go ahead, call up your attorney today and get that settled because I know a lot of people who've kept it in their backlog for ever and ever. And You just don't know when you need it. So that's something that you should do First thing and then of course, go Check up Vrishin. I'm gonna put all his links in this description of the video his linkedin and the link to his website CapitalWe So do reach out to him and set up time. So yes.
vrishin--he-him-_1_03-04-2024_211432:If you, if folks are curious, I do like an ask me anything on Friday on LinkedIn.
Track 1:Oh, yes
vrishin--he-him-_1_03-04-2024_211432:you can come drop your questions in there and I'm happy to answer them.
Track 1:Correct. Yes. And we can, this maybe next Friday when we all meet him on LinkedIn, we'll ask him more fun questions. We are going to get blocked by Vrishin, I guess. Anyways. All right. Thank you once again. Thanks Vrishin.
vrishin--he-him-_1_03-04-2024_211432:Thank