Your Primary Investment

First published January 1981

I hope you all had a very merry Christmas and a very pleasant holiday. I mentioned something in my last newsletter that I feel is important enough to discuss further and I hope it gives you some wonderful ideas for your New Year’s resolutions.

Most people at this point in time are very confused about the economy. Among those worried about the economy are people who own gold, property owners, stockholders, investors in the commodity market, bankers, housewives, doctors, and innumerable others who have all seen major money mis-management in this country. They wonder what the future will bring, what actions the new president will take, and in general, what to believe about the economy. I have always put emphasis on a person’s “beingness”, his abilities, and on having a good “valuable final product.” Your ability to produce a good product will carry you through any economic situation, more than all the gold and real estate you can buy, although those are also excellent investments. Your primary investment should always be yourself as you are far senior to anything in the “material universe.” Realize than an investment in yourself enables you to better control all those other investments that you want to do well with. I ran into a friend the other day who said something like, “Richard, I just don’t know what I’m going to do about my cash flow! I can do well with my investments, but I have a terrible time with my monthly income!” My answer must have sounded oversimplified to him when I said “Go out and make more money!” which is the most basic answer to cash flow problems. “The income potential of any usual group is established by the demand for income, not by any other important factor.” “In financial supervision on an International basis, this is the only factor one works with.” “While it is reasonable to suppose that income will occur for other reasons and can be achieved in other ways, the actual fact is that only demand by the group produces any income at all.”

Find a clear cut valuable, final product and produce it, and find the clear cut positive beingness that goes along with that product and be that beingness. You will then have more money than you know what to do with. If you need help or think you could do better with this, come to our next personal achievement workshop. In the area of economics, again, invest in yourself by getting educated as the first and most important action. Currently our economic condition is determined by the politicians, so learn the politics of economics. You need training and education for anything that you want to accomplish, make more money at, or accumulate more of etc. So get yourself trained. And now back to those New Year’s resolutions I mentioned! Sit down and work out the financial areas (and any others) that you feel you need the most help with, and make a resolution to make an investment in yourself, specifically to handle those areas, whether it be better tax handling, financial planning, real estate investments or money and economics in general. And then carry them through!

I have noticed that where a person has trouble with cash flow or income, etc. he is not sufficiently aware of what his product is or has not sufficiently assumed the “beingness” that goes with that product. Whatever your beingness – doctor, bricklayer, waitress, consultant, and whatever your product, they can be embellished and enhanced to a point where you produce a more desirable product and you make more money! Hazy ideas of your product or you beingness won’t do, like “Well, I am a salesman of sorts…” or “Well, I’m trying to get started in ___________, but if it doesn’t work out, I will try _______________.”

Some of my expectations for 1981 are that the interest rates will peak pretty soon between 21 and 25%. Sometime in the first quarter of 1981, they could fall as low as 11 or 12%. By the way, I never stop investing in real estate because interest rates are rising. I lost too much money when I did that! I just continue to find the good deals, which are often easier to find in times of high interest rates. If the rates later go down drastically, so what? Then you refinance your property at the lower rate. I’m also expecting a nice upward trend in hard money (gold, silver, diamonds) starting in the first quarter of 1981. You can call my office for an update of these prices anytime. And now is a good time for buying.

On the other hand you can have the best product available and in high demand but people see you as how you think you are, you put it out there as a mock up and everyone sees you that way. So change the way you think you are, mock up the better you so that people see that better you and want to be part of your life and happy New Years and a lot of success for you this years.

With much admiration


Richard G. Stewart
R.G. Stewart

Necessity Levels: How Much Wealth Can You Have?

by Richard Stewart
Originally published September 1982

I want to tell you about four brothers that lived in a forest just outside an immense cave which tunneled through a vast mountain range. At the other end of the cave was an idyllic paradise where gold coins grew on all the trees.

Rumor had it that inside the cave were all manner of poisonous snakes and spiders, narrow ledges which dropped off into bottomless crevasses, pools of molten rock, and the skeletons of those who had failed to successfully make it to the other side of the tunnel.

The first brother had long ago tried to make it through the cave and had failed. He had fallen against a rock which had rendered him unconscious. Upon regaining consciousness, he had returned to his family and friends and had told them that he had realized that life in the forest had always been rather comfortable and that it would be best if he remained there for the rest of his life.

The second brother was a man of great courage with an equally great desire to improve his lot in life. Despite the rumors he had heard about the cave, he nevertheless entered it one day and set out to reach the land of endless wealth. Early on he suffered from snake and spider bites which were very painful, but proved not to be fatal. Later on he fell off a ledge, but fortunately the crevasse was only three feet in depth and, despite a sprained ankle, he was able to continue on his journey. Only hours before reaching the end of the cave, he fell into a steaming pool, only to find – much to his relief – that it was not molten rock but a hot water spring. He pulled himself out and at last, arrived at the land of paradise.

The third brother also desired to reach the land of riches. Wary of the rumors he had heard about the dangers of the cave, he spent time speaking to men of wisdom who had been through the cave and had found out every single barrier or danger he might have to deal with. He studied long and hard and, finally, prepared himself fully for his journey. To his surprise and relief, he found his adventure through the cave somewhat uneventful. His layers of clothing protected him well against the snakes and spiders. And the knowledge he had of the cave helped him to avoid the pitfalls his brother had encountered. With only a few minor scrapes he reached the land of promise.

The fourth brother also desired to reach the land of treasure, but was not a man of great courage and found his life in the forest to be adequately comfortable or, at least, bearable. Until one day a tribe of cannibals moved into the forest and chased him into the cave. Afraid to continue further, he coped with the cold, wet habitat for a few days and then returned to the forest once the cannibals had gone away. But, alas, the cannibals returned only days later and again chased him into the cave. And so he spent the rest of his life, advancing towards the land of riches only when chased by cannibals, and returning to the forest when the cannibals were gone.

This parable of the four brothers tells us much about necessity levels and one’s ability to break through a particular level of income or net worth and achieve greater wealth and the wherewithal to realize one’s goals in life. Did you recognize yourself in any of the four brothers? They are personalities or identities which, perhaps, we have all assumed at times, or are assuming now.

Many people have suffered failures, of which they are painfully reminded whenever they reach again for longstanding purposes. Others, few in number, through sheer power it seems, reach beyond their fears and failures and, by carefully gaining the knowledge they need to proceed with certainty, or simply by doing whatever is required to make it go right, achieve the rewards which come with courage and persistence. And some people seem to go through life trapped between the cave and the cannibals. Their necessity levels are dictated by how threatening life is at any given moment. When the bills get high enough or the car breaks down, or the kids get sick they pull enough money to handle the situation. But as soon as life becomes less threatening the fears, confusions, failures, and mental and spiritual anguish of the “cave” soon pushes them away from their own land of promise and back to their “comfortable” lives.

The history of the money game is filled with painful failures. We’ve all suffered them. We’ve all been cheated. And we’ve all cheated others. These are the spiders and snakes and crevasses and steaming pools which lay in our paths to the next higher level of financial activity and, ultimately, to complete financial independence. And the more we have failed or pushed others to fail, the more poisonous become the snakes and spiders, and deeper the crevasses, the hotter the water or molten rock and the more dark and treacherous the tunnels to financial security.

But, oddly enough, as soon as you just grab ahold of your necessity level and responsibility level and just PUSH them up, the path to greater wealth (no matter how wealthy or poor you are now) becomes much less dangerous and each further step becomes easier to take.

It is sometimes surprising how much courage and strength it takes just to get started. We usually don’t perceive it that way though. The realization usually comes in a much more mundane, more forgettable fashion. You’re just daydreaming at the breakfast table and you look back and think, “Gosh, I’ve been at this same level of net worth, this same lifestyle for a long time. I’ve always wanted to have this and that and somehow I just never seem to have them. I just never seem to have enough money – hmmmm. Oh no – late to work – gotta rush…” And so it goes, day after day, year after year.

“It is sometimes surprising how much courage and strength it takes just to get started.”

So, someday you just have to decide to DO something. You have to make this decision and not half-make this decision. If you have decided to really DISAGREE with your current condition, then the next best thing I think you can do is to increase your KNOWLEDGE. As occurred with the third brother, KNOWLEDGE strengthens everybody’s ability to go into the cave of financial activities and emerge a winner. With knowledge you can also obtain the safest and fastest route to financial independence.

What we have to offer you at R.G. Stewart & Co. and the Institute of Financial Independence is an education on the subject of finance, investments and the economy. No matter what your current financial situation is, I guarantee that the courses we have will greatly assist you in rapidly achieving your financial goals.

With much affinity and admiration,


Richard G. Stewart
R.G. Stewart

Richard's GT40 Mark V Speed Maker

GT40 Mark V Speed Maker

Magazine: Road and Track Magazine, Supercars, Special Edition 1991

With the precision of a drill sergeant, the crew chief guided me through the start procedure. “Master switch to hot. Fuel pumps: on. Ignition: on. Fire system: armed.” And, finally, “Crack the throttle and hit the start button.”

But his words took on a haunting tone, as I flashed back 25 years to that glorious day in June, 1966, when three of this car’s ancestors conquered Le Mans. My mind was absorbed with images of long, beautiful power slides and the red glow of brake rotors deep braking at the end of the Mulsanne Straight, with images of team leaders Caroll Shelby and Phil Remington and of drivers Bruce McLaren, Chris Amon, Ken Miles, Denis Hulme, Ronnie Bucknum and Dick Hutcherson.

It was wonderful, lying there, nearly fully reclined in the tiny cockpit, thinking of the races, the struggles and the accomplishments of this racing legend. But wanderlust was instantly reduced to wonder-dust with the angry bark of the 8.0-liter V-8 just behind my head exploding to life. Dream time was over. Now it was time for me to go to work.

My job, ah, what a job, was to drive the Safir GT40 Mark V. Though new, this GT40 was built under license to J.W. Automotive, which, during the mid- and late-Sixties’ Ford GT campaign, was the constructor and leading team entrant of the cars. Built on the same tooling, and to the same specifications as the early cars, the Safir Gt40 Mark V is nearly identical to its ancestor, the Ford GT Mark II.

Keep your turbos and your twincams;

give me cubic inches.

The Marks IIs ran with 427-cu-in. Ford engines, and that was the configuration that won Le Mans in 1966.  Safir’s agreement with J.W. Automotive was to produce 50 cars, five of which are big-block models, the rest based on Ford’s small-block 302-cu-in engine. The entire run has been sold out, though production will continue for another year. Our tester came from the Richard Stewart collection of Canyon Country, California. Stewart, a self-made millionaire in his mid-forties, is a car guy’s car guy. He is rich enough to collect, restore, and exhibit some of the world’s most famous Fords, and passionate enough to want to. Stewart currently has the largest single collection of Mark Vs, several of which he plans to keep in his collection, some of which he will sell or trade for exotic racing Fords.

The Stewart Collection has the onsite capability to restore a car from the ground up and the in-shop talent to put the equipment to good use. On the day of my tour, four De Tomaso Mangustas and the famed million dollar Ford Indy Pantera were in different stages of restoration, and the attention to detail appeared to be second to none.

As for the tester, crew chief Bud Roggenbuck had everything in order, his confidence surpassed only by his knowledge. When the Dove Manufacturing all-aluminum big block hanged to life, its 493 cu in. inhaled air like a jet aircraft. The instruments snapped to attention, and Roggenbuck calmly shouted his final instructions. Oil temp, fuel and oil pressure; each would have to be monitored. I depressed the triple-disc clutch and drew the short gear lever over and back into 1st. A blip of the throttle and quick slip of the clutch (multidisc clutches are like light switches: They’re either on or off), and we were under way.

As I slowly moved the Mark V from left to right, building heat in its shaved BFGoodrich tires and getting a feel for stability and steering effort, I couldn’t help but get a sense of confidence in the car. This was no tin-hearted replica. This was a faithfully, carefully, caringly built reproduction of the original. And the like the early cars, it was ready to get to it. Fast, flat and furious.

With each gear change came greater speed at even greater rates. I cautiously drove the car through the Firestone’s Test Center’s Turn 1, a 180-degree corner with a 2-mile radius, but with narrow single lanes. At 145 mph, the turn was a non-event. Down the 1 ½ mile back straight, warming the engine and gaining speed, I entered the second turn at just over 170 mph. Still the Mark V was at ease, I couldn’t help but look out over the front fenders and wonder what people like Dan Gurney or A.J. Foyt saw as they did battle with Ferrari and Porsche in these great cars, but whimsical moments of romance quickly faded with speed. With one more pass through Turn 1, I reached into the throttle and called for more steam. Entering Turn 2 at 185 mph, I continued to be amazed at the absolute calm of the chassis and the total willingness of the engine. To be fair, having Nineties’ tire technology on a Sixties’ platform played a large role in the comfort-to-speed ratio.

As I neared the exit of Turn 2, it was foot to the floor. And still the engine drew me back in the seat. Hard. And now the big numbers started to roll up rapidly as we shot through he traps. At 193 mph it was still gaining. The 600-bhp big-block was just coming on song and the Mark V’s nosecone was still splitting the wind. The tachometer showed 1450 revs in reserve. I suspect my reverence for the car held it back. Clearly, as equipped, the Mark V could break 200 mph. Its Dove engine still pulling and, even more importantly, its chassis still willing. A most impressive showing under cautious guidance.

From the top speed oval we went to the road course where the Mark V proved no less capable. With tail-out corner departures and arrow straight hard breaking, the Mark V was light and responsive. Perhaps more surprising than the poise and balance of the chassis was the flexible power-band of the big-block engine. Low-end off-corner performance was wonderful, yet just moments before, this same engine had large power left in its belly at nearly 200 mph.

This is obviously a very developed package. As with any expensive collector car (current estimates place the value of the small-block Mark Vs in the $500,000 range), fit, finish and construction quality are paramount. At this level, beauty has got to be more than skin deep. Here, too, the Mark V serves its ancestry well; attention to detail and appropriate performance hardware is used throughout. This is a collector car for racing, not just for mirrored and marbled show rooms. A car to be used. A car for making the long drive down memory lane a short trip. 