Ray Vance

Fee hater | Recovering stock picker

[Ray Vance @RayVanceInvest]

You owe $18,000 on an Amex credit card charging 26.99% APR.

If you pay $500 a month, you will stay in debt for 62 months and pay $13,150 in pure interest to the bank.

Look at the transfer math instead:

1. Open a US Bank Platinum card offering 0% intro APR for 21 months on balance transfers.
2. Pay the 4% transfer fee upfront. That costs $720.
3. Move the entire $18,000 balance off the high-interest Amex account.
4. Divide the new $18,720 balance by 21 months.

You pay $891 a month. Your debt hits absolute zero before the bank ever charges you another dollar of interest.

You keep $12,430 in your pocket. The bank gets the $720 fee and nothing else.

Stop treating credit card interest like an unavoidable monthly bill. Treat it like a math problem and delete it.

[Ray Vance @RayVanceInvest]

An e-commerce founder in Austin cleared $450,000 last year and bragged to his mastermind group about paying zero income tax.

He formed a single-member LLC in Wyoming, but he ran his grocery bills, his personal rent, his family vacations, and his software subscriptions through the exact same business checking account.

The IRS selected his return for a field audit in August.

The examiner asked for a clear general ledger separating ordinary business expenses from personal living costs. He handed over a messy bank statement with 1,200 commingled transactions.

Under IRC Section 274, the auditor disallowed his entire list of business deductions. The $180,000 in software, travel, and vehicle write-offs vanished overnight.

The IRS recalculated his taxable income back to $450,000. They hit him with a $132,000 tax bill, a 20% negligence penalty, and statutory interest.

He owed $168,000 payable in 30 days. His business bank accounts were frozen by November.

An LLC is not a magic shield. It is a corporate veil.

If you pay for your groceries with a business debit card, you dissolve the veil yourself. The government will take every dollar back.

[Ray Vance @RayVanceInvest]

@JakeLatimer26 exactly. the irs doesn’t care about the fourteen days until you try to charge five grand a night for a studio apartment. documentation is everything.

[Ray Vance @RayVanceInvest]

Your CPA is actively costing you $14,000 this year because he is terrified of a tax rule written for billionaire golf tournaments.

The IRS calls it Section 280A(g). Operators call it the Augusta Rule.

You can legally rent your personal home to your own business for 14 days a year. The business deducts it as a corporate expense. You receive the cash completely tax-free.

If comparable Airbnbs in your zip code cost $1,000 a night, your LLC writes a $1,000 check to you for hosting a board meeting or a client dinner.

Do that 14 times. Your corporate taxable income drops by $14,000. Your personal bank account goes up by $14,000.

You report zero dollars of that rental income on your 1040.

Middle-class accountants will tell you this is an audit trigger. Elite CPAs make it a mandatory annual requirement.

Draft the meeting minutes. Screenshot the Airbnb price comps. Move the money.

[Ray Vance @RayVanceInvest]

A 29-year-old bartender in Miami pulled $120,000 in cash out of thin air, bought a local laundromat, and his credit score never dropped a single point.

The entire US banking system relies on you not knowing the difference between a Social Security Number and an Employer Identification Number.

When you max out a personal credit card, Experian tanks your score. When you max out a business credit card, Experian doesn't even know it exists.

He filed a $100 LLC. He used his 720 personal credit score to open four 0% APR business cards across Chase, Amex, and US Bank.

He took the $120,000 in approved limits, liquidated it to cash through a commercial payment processor, and bought a business that runs on coin-operated machines.

The laundromat's monthly cash flow pays off the 0% debt. The bank takes all the capital risk. His personal credit report stays pristine.

Stop saving after-tax pennies from a W-2 job. Use the bank's money to buy cash flow.

[Ray Vance @RayVanceInvest]

Stop begging commercial banks for a loan.

The federal government is sitting on $2.3 billion in open business grants right now. You never have to pay a single dollar back.

A tech founder in Austin spent six months pitching venture capitalists to raise $275,000 and gave up 15% of his company.

His competitor went to Grants gov, filed a 30-page PDF with the Small Business Administration, and got the exact same $275,000 for free.

He gave up zero equity. He pays zero interest.

The federal government has $2.3 billion in non-dilutive business grants sitting in open databases right now.

Founders skip them because the applications require 40-page proposals, strict budgets, and impact statements. The friction is intentional. The government uses paperwork to filter out the lazy, leaving approval rates near 25% for the operators who actually submit.

Look at the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant program. Phase 1 issues $275,000 checks to tech startups. One in four applicants gets a quarter-million dollars in free capital.

If your business operates in a town with under 50,000 people, the USDA Rural Business Development program issues grants up to $500,000.

The Amber Grant writes a $10,000 check every single month to a woman-owned business based on a one-page application.

Here is the exact sequence to bridge the gap while Washington processes your paperwork:

1. Hire a professional grant writer for $3,000. They hold a 40% to 60% success rate on federal applications.
2. The grant approval cycle takes 60 to 180 days. Do not wait for the check to start building.
3. Take your 720 FICO score and open $150,000 in 0% APR business credit cards across Chase, Amex, and US Bank.
4. Run your payroll, inventory, and marketing on the bank's 0% money for the next six months.
5. When the federal grant clears, use the free government capital to pay the credit cards down to zero.

You just funded a half-million dollar runway without paying a cent in interest or giving up a single board seat.

[Ray Vance @RayVanceInvest]

@darkcrypto_off @PayPal @facebook @axelspringer twenty out of twenty young german billionaires just picked the right parents. the ultimate low-risk business model.

[Ray Vance @RayVanceInvest]

@KupresTilz16899 having bill gates senior walk into a room and tell someone to back off is the ultimate cheat code. street rules, seattle edition.

[Ray Vance @RayVanceInvest]

A W-2 developer in Seattle makes $150,000 a year and wires $32,000 to the IRS.

His neighbor writes the exact same code through a single-member LLC and grosses the same $150,000. He pays $14,000 in federal tax.

Same street. Same income. The LLC owner keeps an extra $18,000 in his checking account.

The gap sits in how the Internal Revenue Code sequences expenses.

A W-2 employee gets taxed on line one. He pays for his MacBook Pro, his cell phone, his fiber internet, and his car with dollars that already took a 24% hit.

An LLC operator spends first and pays taxes on the leftovers.

Look at the neighbor's 2025 Schedule C deductions on $150,000 in gross revenue:

- Solo 401(k) maximum employer and employee contribution: -$40,000
- Business vehicle mileage (12,000 miles at 67 cents): -$8,040
- Dedicated home office space (Form 8829): -$3,500
- Health insurance premiums (Form 1040 Schedule 1): -$7,200
- Software, hosting, hardware, and cell service: -$6,500
- Section 199A Qualified Business Income (QBI) 20% deduction: -$16,950

His taxable income dropped from $150,000 to $67,810.

He didn't take a pay cut. He just shifted his daily life expenses onto a corporate balance sheet before the government calculated his liability.

You don't need a team of employees to build the second column.

1. File a single-member LLC on your state's portal and pull a free EIN from IRSgov.
2. Open a separate business checking account at Chase or US Bank to maintain the corporate veil.
3. Route every 1099 consulting wire into that account and pay every software, travel, and hardware expense out of it.
4. Open a Solo 401(k) at Fidelity before December 31 to shelter up to $69,000 a year from the top brackets.

The W-2 system is designed to fund the government automatically. The 1099 system is designed to let you fund yourself first.

[Ray Vance @RayVanceInvest]

An independent contractor in Austin brought home $180,000 last year and paid $47,000 in income tax to the IRS.

His neighbor earned the exact same $180,000 running a mobile detailing LLC. He paid $8,400 in federal tax.

Same neighborhood. Same annual revenue. $38,600 stays in the neighbor's corporate checking account.

The gap sits in how the tax code views a 1099 individual versus an operational company entity.

An independent contractor gets taxed on every dollar before writing off legitimate lifestyle tools. Then he pays for his truck, his equipment, his insurance, and his home office out of pocket with money that has already taken a tax hit.

An LLC operator routes expenses through the business before the government calculates the liability.

Look at the neighbor's 2025 Schedule C deductions on $180,000 gross profit:

- Custom Ford Transit Cargo Van (GVWR over 6,000 lbs, Section 179 + bonus depreciation): -$68,000
- Dedicated home office space (Form 8829 square footage calculation): -$5,400
- Commercial fleet insurance, fuel, and supplies (80% business split): -$11,200
- Solo 401(k) maximum allowable employer and employee contribution: -$38,000
- Section 199A Qualified Business Income (QBI) deduction: -$11,500

His taxable income dropped from $180,000 to $45,900.

And he didn't drain his savings when he bought the Transit van on December 28. He put the $22,000 down payment and interior shelving onto a Chase Ink Business Cash card at 0% APR for 12 months.

Under IRS Revenue Ruling 78-38, an expense charged to a corporate card is 100% deductible the day the transaction clears, even if the balance is paid off months later.

So he claimed the full $68,000 vehicle write-off on his spring return while paying $0 in finance charges. The resulting tax refund hit his business checking account months before the 0% promotion expired.

You don't need a massive enterprise to build the second column.

1. Register an LLC on your state's Secretary of State filing portal and pull a free EIN from IRSgov.
2. Open a dedicated business checking account to maintain corporate veil separation.
3. Track every business mile digitally and run every software, tool, and travel cost through the company card.
4. Open a Solo 401(k) account before December 31 to shelter a massive chunk of your annual earnings from the highest tax brackets.

The contractor works hard through April just to fund Washington. The operator starts keeping his revenue on day one.

[Ray Vance @RayVanceInvest]

A W-2 accountant in Chicago spent $140,000 on a commercial self-serve car wash last year and paid zero dollars in income tax.

The previous owner was 68 years old, took cash in buckets, and hadn't raised the base cycle price since 2014.

The buyer didn't rewrite software or manage remote teams. He installed four credit card tap terminals and raised the wash price by $1.50.

Here is the exact math from the closing statement:

- Purchase price (land, structure, and 4 bays): $380,000
- SBA 7(a) bank loan (80%): $304,000
- Seller financing on standby (10%): $38,000
- Buyer cash down payment (10%): $38,000

Monthly operating cash flow:

- Gross monthly wash revenue: $17,400
- City water, power, and sewer: -$1,800
- Soap, wax, and pump maintenance: -$750
- Commercial insurance and property tax: -$650
- Bank note + seller note monthly service: -$2,900
- Net free cash flow to owner: **$11,300/month**

He made his $38,000 down payment back in 101 days.

And here is why his tax bill was $0:

Under **IRS Section 168(k)**, a commercial car wash is classified as specialized equipment and land improvements, not standard real estate.

His CPA ran a **Cost Segregation Study** that broke the $380,000 purchase into 5-year and 15-year property classes.

That created a first-year bonus depreciation write-off of **$192,000**.

His car wash generated $135,600 in net cash flow, and his Schedule C taxable income dropped straight to **$0**.

How to find these off-market deals:

1. Skip public commercial boards. They are overpriced leftovers.
2. Pull county property tax rolls for every self-serve wash built between 1985 and 2005 in secondary suburbs.
3. Look for LLCs owned by individuals over age 65 who own a single location.
4. Offer 3x to 3.5x verified net operating income with the seller carrying 10% on a 5-year note.

Franchisees buy a $350,000 corporate job where headquarters takes a 15% royalty off the top.

Owners buy concrete, pumps, and credit card readers that print cash while they sleep.

[Ray Vance @RayVanceInvest]

As a young man, he set two goals: make $100,000 and live to 100.

John D. Rockefeller was hailed as the world's first billionaire in 1916. In old age, he became famous for handing out dimes.

He blew past the first one. Standard Oil made him the richest man in America.

In 1911, the Supreme Court ruled Standard Oil had broken antitrust law and split it into 34 companies. His fortune didn't shrink. It shot up to nearly $1 billion.

By 1916, newspaper headlines announced he was the world's first billionaire.

His reputation was another matter. In 1914, after the deadly Ludlow coal strike in Colorado, his son hired publicist Ivy Lee to repair the family image.

According to one biographer, Lee cultivated the picture of a kind old man giving away dimes. Rockefeller carried a pocket full of them and handed them to people he met, especially children. One estimate puts the total at about $35,000.

The dimes were the small part. Between 1855 and 1934, he gave away nearly $531 million, founding the University of Chicago and the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research.

He died on May 23, 1937, weeks before turning 98. Forbes calculated his assets that year at about 1.5% of the entire US economy.

Visitors still leave dimes on his grave in Cleveland.

[Ray Vance @RayVanceInvest]

@JakeLatimer26 self employment tax hits hard on line one. that is why people take the eighty grand w two salary and pull the rest as draw.

[Ray Vance @RayVanceInvest]

A W-2 engineer in Austin made $220,000 last year and wired $64,000 straight to the IRS.

His neighbor made the exact same $220,000 running a two-man HVAC company. He paid $11,200 in federal tax.

Same street. Same income. $52,800 stays in the neighbor's checking account.

The difference sits in how the IRS treats a Social Security Number versus an EIN.

A W-2 employee gets taxed on line 1 before the paycheck ever clears. Then he buys his truck, his diesel, his laptop, his cell phone plan, and his internet with whatever cash survived the withholding.

An LLC owner spends first and gets taxed on the leftovers.

Look at the neighbor's 2025 Schedule C write-offs on $220,000 gross profit:

- 2024 Ford F-250 Lariat (6,800 lbs GVWR, Section 179 + 100% bonus depreciation): -$78,000
- Home office (340 sq ft garage bay + office under Form 8829): -$6,200
- Fuel, insurance, and tires (85% business use log): -$9,400
- Solo 401(k) employee + employer contribution: -$46,000
- Section 199A Qualified Business Income (QBI) 20% deduction: -$16,080

His taxable income dropped from $220,000 to $64,320.

And he kept his cash in his account when he bought the F-250 on December 22. He put $28,000 of the down payment and commercial bed upfitting onto a Chase Ink Business Unlimited card at 0% APR for 12 months.

Under IRS Revenue Ruling 78-38, an expense charged to a credit card is 100% deductible the day you swipe the card, even if you pay Chase back next November.

So he claimed the full $78,000 vehicle deduction on his April return while carrying $0 in interest cost. The $18,700 tax savings landed in his Chase business checking account seven months before the 0% promo window expired.

You don't need to quit your W-2 job to open the second column.

1. File an LLC on your state's Secretary of State portal for $100 and grab a free EIN on IRSgov.
2. Build a real side operation with a separate business checking account: consulting, equipment rental, local contracting, or digital media.
3. Track every mile on your phone with MileIQ and route every software, hardware, and travel receipt through the business card.
4. Open a Solo 401(k) at Fidelity before December 31 so your side LLC can shelter up to $69,000 a year from your top tax bracket.

The W-2 guy works January through April just to pay Washington. The guy with an EIN starts keeping his money on January 2.

[Ray Vance @RayVanceInvest]

@kryneeex he built a resort prison and kicked down the drywall. greed makes people sloppy.

[Ray Vance @RayVanceInvest]

@LeoCyberly taking the 7m and sleeping like a baby every single night

[Ray Vance @RayVanceInvest]

In 1968 the Pentagon fired one of its best codebreakers for publicly opposing the Vietnam War.

His name was Jim Simons. He went back to math and became one of the best geometers in the world.

At 40 he quit academia to trade currencies. Colleagues thought he was wasting his talent.

He didn't hire traders. He hired astronomers, physicists and speech recognition engineers from IBM.

His Medallion Fund launched in 1988. Over the next 30 years it averaged about 66% a year before fees.

No one on Wall Street has a record close to it.

He spent his career looking for patterns other people called noise. The market paid him BILLIONS for finding them.

[Ray Vance @RayVanceInvest]

She forgot an old account for 20 years and found $18,000,000.

THE GREATEST INVESTMENT STRATEGY EVER CREATED IS FORGETTING YOU HAVE AN ACCOUNT.

Here is what happens when lifestyle distractions perform better than active stock picking:

- Involuntary hold period: 20 years of zero emotional trades, stock splits, and compounding allowed a dead equity position to grow untouched
- Single-asset risk: The entire $18m portfolio sits inside a single ticker, exposing her net worth to severe single-stock volatility
- Tax hit math: Paying a 20% capital gains tax to lock in $14m diversified assets beats holding an unhedged $18m asset that can drop 80%

The portfolio loop:
Ignore positions -> long term splits -> single stock concentration -> pay capital gains -> lock in safety

Holding through 20 years of market noise is trivial when you literally forget the password.

Stop trading every daily candle when inaction outperforms 99% of active discretionary traders.

[Ray Vance @RayVanceInvest]

“Move, or you die.” The doctors gave Arnold Schwarzenegger one order after emergency open heart surgery.

Not a metaphor. Walking was the single thing standing between him and pneumonia, which is what actually kills most people after that surgery. Not the heart. The stillness afterward. Lie there, let the lungs go quiet, and the thing that finishes you is the resting, not the operation.

So he did what he has always done. He set tiny goals. Day one, walk around the bed. Then make it to the door. Then out of the room, down to the nurses station and back. Two days in, he was doing hundreds of yards up and down the hallways, dragging the IV pole with him. His friends and family would not let him skip a single lap, even when he wanted to. He checked out in six days instead of the seven they planned for.

The whole thing is just life with the volume turned up. Nobody is standing over you with a chart, but the rule does not change. Sit still and you rot in place. The project you stopped touching, the body you stopped moving, the relationship you went quiet in. None of it dies in a dramatic moment. It dies from the stillness, one skipped lap at a time.

Motion is not the reward for getting better. It is the thing that makes you better. You do not wait until you feel strong to move. You move, and the strength shows up a few laps later.

Pick the smallest version of the lap and do it today. Around the bed counts.

[Ray Vance @RayVanceInvest]

Mark Cuban bought the Dallas Mavericks in 2000 for $285 million. at the time, they were one of the worst teams in franchise history.

the NBA assumed he was in the basketball business. Cuban saw it differently. he thought he was in the experience business.

think about the last game you went to. you don’t remember the final score or the dunks. you remember who you were with and why you went. a first date. your dad. the guy two rows down throwing up on a stranger.

so Cuban told his staff that what happens in the arena matters as much as what happens on the court.

that’s the lesson for any business. you’re rarely selling what you think you’re selling.