Episode #03: Redefining Debt & Using It To Your Advantage

Welcome to First Milli’s Next-Gen Wealth Podcast where we explore how people are growing their wealth all around the world. In this episode we invited a former Options Trader from Chicago, Claude Alexander Bennett.

Bennett comes from a Politics Philosophy and Economics (PPE) from the University of Pennsylvania background and has taken his behavioral psychology knowledge and applied it during his time as an Options Trader at Chicago for over 5 years.

Episode Insights:

• As an options trader Bennett has learned the power of leverages and derivatives (products that derive value from other products).
• Bennett was able to create $4.7 million of value for his firm.
• We should think about debt as a leveraging opportunity, it’s a financial instrument to extend leverage.

“I see people speaking about debt like it’s a crutch or shackle that’s meant to impoverish us or keep us in a cycle of destitution…We have less job security. I understand where it’s coming from. Debt has been used against us. We weren’t educated about compounding interest. Or how credit scores work.

“Debt in a similar way to all financial instruments is an opportunity. It’s a way to extend your leverage. It’s a way to multiple capital that any entity can use. There are certain things you should put on a credit card.