From Pharmacy To Rentals: His SECRET to Buying His First Property! | Real Estate Skills Review

From Pharmacy to Passive Income: How Matt Closed His First Rental Property Fast!

In this exclusive Real Estate Skills student interview, Matt — a full-time pharmacist from Milwaukee — shares how he bought his first buy-and-hold rental property in under 90 days!

Whether you're new to real estate or exploring rental property investing, this video is packed with insights, strategy, and inspiration.

If you want to learn EXACTLY how to start wholesaling real estate in Wisconsin visit: How To Wholesale Real Estate In Wisconsin: Step-By-Step (2025)

*For in-depth training on real estate investing, Real Estate Skills offers extensive courses to get you ready to make your first investment! Attend our FREE Training and gain insider knowledge, expert strategies, and essential skills to make the most of every real estate opportunity that comes your way!

--- VIDEO TRANSCRIPTION ---

Peter Soros (00:00):
Hey everybody. Peter Soros here with RealEstateSkills.com. Today I've got another great student interview for you with Matt from the Wisconsin area. He just bought his first buy and hold property after being in the program for only a few months. I can't wait for you to hear his story, so let's dive right into it. All right, well, welcome Matt. How are you doing today?

Matt (00:20):
I'm doing good today, Peter. How are you?

Peter Soros (00:21):
I'm doing great. So fantastic to have you here. Share your story with us. So first off, we always like to know a little bit about you. So where did you come from before getting into Real Estate? What were you doing?

Matt (00:34):
Well, right now I, I'm a pharmacist, so I've still working full-time as a pharmacist. I live in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. I've always had an itch to get into Real Estate, so came across Real Estate Skills and it's been awesome ever since joined the program. So, yeah.

Peter Soros (00:52):
Awesome, awesome. What made you choose us over any of the other programs out there?

Matt (00:56):
One of the big things I wanted to learn about Real Estate was to learn how to have all the possible exit strategies available. So that was a big thing for me, learning how to wholesale possibly fix and flip and also buy and hold and also just having all the support with the mentorship calls and the school community was definitely kind of what drew me into the program.

Peter Soros (01:20):
Gotcha. What was it about Real Estate in general that always made you had an itch? What was it about Real Estate that really kind of pulled you into it and made it sounds like you, you're happy with your career? What was it that like, ah, you got an itch still you had to scratch with Real Estate? What was that all about?

Matt (01:38):
I think the thing with Real Estate for me was always had an entrepreneurial mindset and being in pharmacy, it was kind of more of a not entrepreneurial, so it allowed me to take the reins and it's something that I could take more control over what my investments in my financial future. So that was one big thing for me.

Peter Soros (02:06):
Gotcha. Got you. Got a good, stable career, takes care of most things, but doesn't probably allow for those freedoms and maybe Real Estate gives you some creativity. That was one thing I realized. It's actually a much more creative than I thought at first. So did you find the same thing you can get really creative with Real Estate after doing your first deal?

Matt (02:26):
Absolutely. Yeah. And one thing I always hear from you in the calls, there's a science to it and then there's an art to it. So most definitely it's not, I'm definitely learning a lot in these first couple months, but there's definitely an art to it. It's something that you take pride in it too. It's not just, you don't just buy a property and forget about it, but you really take pride in making it a nice place to live and a nice place for somebody. So that's been a good thing so far.

Peter Soros (02:56):
Yeah, I'm really glad that you mentioned that. I do bring it up a lot because I think it has to be said, it's something that's overlooked a lot. Sometimes people are just coming in thinking that they can just have a formula and everything will just go as planned as the formula. That's just not how it works. There's more to it. And as you also said too, you, you're actually creating housing for someone. That's huge. That's way more than a formula right there, but I'm glad you see it that way too. It just goes to show that you're probably going to be one of the best landlords out there and I'm sure your tenants will love you.

Matt (03:31):
Yeah. Actually going off of that, even in the first couple months as being a landlord, the tenants have told me several times already, it's like, oh, they're like, oh wow, this is way the previous landlord barely did anything or barely even. We barely even heard from them. So that's been reassuring to hear that from them as well.

Peter Soros (03:50):
Yeah, you don't have to be a jerk to be in landlord. Obviously there's that stigma out there, but there's plenty of good landlords. A lot of it's just a business. You've got to stick to business, but there's the human element to it again, so we always have to keep that in mind. But that brings me starting to get into the questions now is why rental properties, you had the option of wholesaling or fix and flipping, but you went right into rental properties. Tell us a little bit why you chose to just dive into rental properties right away.

Matt (04:23):
I mean, kind of thinking with my career being full-time, pretty high workload, I kind of thought that's something that I'd be able to manage on my own and my time outside of work. And I guess in my mind, Real Estate has always been just more of a buy and holding, which is kind of, I'm starting to learn more in Real Estate skills about how to wholesale and flip, and I would love to get into that at some point. But I guess my picture of Real Estate has always been a buy and hold situation. So I think it's more of just what I've always kind of had in my mind.

Peter Soros (05:09):
That makes perfect sense. I mean, there's always trade-offs along that evolution of a Real Estate investor. You got wholesaling is very time dependent. That's when it gives you an option to get into investing with zero, basically. You don't have to have any money into it, you just got to really do the grunt work. It takes a lot of time. You got to really kind of soldier through it, but at the same time, when you start getting deals, you could just wholesale them off. So by you having that extra tool in your pocket, you might just be like, Hey, you know what? I don't want to fix or flip this one. I don't even want to hold this one. I'll just make a couple maybe 10 grand and just give it to someone else who it's a better fit for them. So it's perfect having all those exit strategies, fix and flip takes more time, higher risk, bigger rewards. But for your situation, buy and hold honestly makes the most sense. If you can qualify to buy these properties and just have the cashflow, and it's really like how much time does it really take from your day or weekly? Probably very little, I'm assuming. Right?

Matt (06:16):
Right. Yeah, I would say it's not even on a daily basis, probably an hour or two a week of managing. Yeah, and also going off of that as well in wholesaling, that's not something that you can just kind do on the side kind of in your free time. I'm definitely learning that as well. So if you want to be successful, that's definitely not a full-time gig, but it takes a lot of work and a lot of mental capacity as well.

Peter Soros (06:47):
You definitely have to be committed to making wholesale deals work. If it's on market, you've really got to do the grunt style soldier through it. If you're doing it off market wholesaling, you've got to be spending lots of money usually every month to just get those leads. But yeah, it's very, very true. The time required usually is going to take longer if that's where you're starting. But at this point, let's just say you start getting leads across your desk, you can just wholesale them. It really won't take too much time if you have a pool of buyers you can just bring them to. So the good thing is you don't have to go do that. You can just keep acquiring properties and wholesale here and there as you wish. But yeah, we're all really excited for you. Kind of leads me to my next question was how soon into joining the program did you actually pick up this property?

Matt (07:36):
I think it was within about three months, I believe. I think I signed up in March, early March, and then we ended up closing, I think it was towards the end of May, almost early June. So it was pretty quickly after there. Yeah, I think one of the biggest things that Real Estate skills did for me, it kind of just gave me just more confidence in what I was doing. So I think that was probably one of my biggest barriers was just being able to make that first one happened and having the background and the people supporting you was kind of what pushed me to really finally make it happen. So yeah.

Peter Soros (08:18):
Yeah, we're definitely here to support you. So how did we help? Exactly. I remember seeing the posts like, Hey, we're looking at this, we're doing inspections. And then tell me a little bit about that just so everyone else is aware too. What was the support on our side that really helped you push forward through this? Because I'm sure someone, you didn't have a Real Estate background at all, right?

Matt (08:44):
Oh no, not at all.

Peter Soros (08:45):
No. So I'm sure there's always a lot of questions, am I doing the right thing? A lot of people will learn by trial and error and you can make a lot of errors, so it's always smarter to get a coach. So what kind of things do you think we ended up helping with that really helped you avoid major errors? Were there specific things? I think there was something I remember Ryan recommending you should go get this done or talk to this person so this way you can figure this out. It's kind of vague right now, but I think there was something like that along the lines that happened.

Matt (09:19):
Yeah, well, I mean from the get-go, using the deal calculator for the buy and hold was kind of what made me more confident in the numbers. And then during the closing process, I think when we had the inspection done, there was a couple of things that when I saw that first it kind of made me think, oh, maybe some of these things are something that I should stay away from. But then I think actually there was some minor asbestos in the basement and one of the heating ducts, and they kind of just reassured me that it's pretty standard on the older houses built in the fifties. So it was just kind of stuff like that. And with the school program community, it was like I had my questions about the inspection and you and Ryan were right away jumped on it saying, oh, just reassured that this is something that you can definitely keep moving forward with.

Peter Soros (10:27):
Perfect, perfect. So, it did need a little bit of repairs about how much repair work did this property actually need?

Matt (10:36):
The big thing was it needed some updated electrical, so I think it had a 60 amp old system in it. So that was one thing on the inspection that they pointed out. So I was able to, I think originally we offered a little bit less than asking and they countered and then we accepted that offer, but then we were able to use that inspection report knowing we had to make some major repairs on electrical to get lower back down to where our original offer was.

Peter Soros (11:10):
Got, it. Okay.

Matt (11:11):
And you and Ryan also helped with that, how to navigate that progress. I think too, one of the biggest things that I've learned within that progress is just how to navigate working with agents, working with title company, just how to speak the language per se. And I think that's one big thing that I've learned from you guys so far. So that's been very helpful.

Peter Soros (11:39):
Yeah. Yeah, no, that's great to hear. Helps you just, it's basically a new language you're learning and we're just helping you speak that language a lot faster this way. So did you find this deal on market or was it an off market lead you got?

Matt (11:55):
It was on market actually. I was actually doing a discovery call on a different property and the listing agent happened to be just an investor friendly agent and then he's like, oh, I'll start sending you some other deals. And just one came across, it looked like I would like, and I went and checked it out and it went from there. So it was from doing a discovery call on a different property.

Peter Soros (12:22):
Nice, nice. So how does it feel now being a rental owner with a property? How does that feel now?

Matt (12:31):
Yeah, no, it feels awesome. It's definitely one thing that I've been wanting to do for a long time. And also too with trying to get into wholesaling and flipping, it also helps me a little bit, not mentally, but kind of just knowing that I'm truly have an investment property. So just gives me more confidence and know what we're doing.

Peter Soros (12:57):
You are a legit landlord now.

Matt (12:59):
Yeah. Yeah. So that's been awesome. But it's definitely, it's been a lot to learn and it's not going to say it hasn't been stressful so far, but it's been good. Yeah.

Peter Soros (13:10):
Awesome. What has been the response been like from the family and your close friends hearing that you just bought your first rental property? What was that like when they heard the news?

Matt (13:21):
Oh yeah. My family has been super supportive. My wife has been kind of pushing me to, I would say prior to this, I used to always talk about Real Estate and it was kind of like, oh yeah, that sounds kind of cool. But now that it actually happened, I think she's definitely, she wants to do more, get more deals and more property. So I think she definitely caught the bug too. So it's been good. And yeah, there's no Real Estate background in my family at all and with my parents or anything. But when I talk to them about it, they're super interested in now they want to know more about it and they want to come help me out with the property, all that stuff. So it's been good on that front.

Peter Soros (14:06):
Yeah, it's definitely one of those things, but when people hear about it, everybody's interested. It's one of those topics that everyone is happy to talk about and interested and Oh, I want to do that too. And they want to get in it somehow. And the beautiful thing is that you're building a business where eventually there could be a place for each one of them or you could teach them what you learned. So that's a beautiful thing about it. So now the question is, okay, you got this first property, so how did you actually buy this property? You used hard money, did you use a conventional loan? Tell me a little bit about how you actually acquired this property.

Matt (14:44):
Yeah, we used a conventional loan. It was just kind of a combination of just some cash savings that I had, and I ended up taking a little bit of savings out of, it's like a 401k that I had a Roth IRA.

(14:57):
So, it was kind of a little bit of pulling together some money from just savings and some money in the stock market. And that's also kind of another reason why I wanted to go down this route because a lot of my investment, all of my investments so far have been in the stock market, so I kind of wanted to..

Peter Soros (15:17):
Have something more tangible. Right?

Matt (15:18):
Exactly. Yeah. Something that I have more control over.

Peter Soros (15:22):
Yeah, absolutely.

Matt (15:23):
That was one thing with the stock market, it's, I wouldn't say it's boring, but it's..

Peter Soros (15:28):
Pretty hands off. I mean, you can be very, very active looking at charts all day, but looking at properties is a lot more exciting, I would say. And interesting. But how was the escrow and the closing process, was that as difficult as you thought it was going to be? Was it easier than you thought it was going to be? Tell me about your experience with that.

Matt (15:50):
Yeah, that was pretty smooth. I think it took a little bit longer than I expected. Not in a bad way, but you would think of just they accept the offer and then you go and sign up. But it definitely took some time for just all that stuff to go through. But as far as just in general, it was a pretty smooth process.

Peter Soros (16:15):
Okay. And I think you already mentioned before you're managing this, correct. You don't have a property management company taking care of this, correct?

Matt (16:24):
Correct. Yep. Yeah, so that's been going well so far.

Peter Soros (16:30):
Gotcha. You already have a tenant in place it sounds like. Did you have to go find this tenant? Were they already in there? What was the story with getting the tenant in there?

Matt (16:38):
Yeah, were actually already, there was already a tenant in place. They have actually lived in the property for almost 14 or 15 years, so they've been there for a while. And that was one of the seller. They wanted someone that was willing to keep the tenant in place. So I kind of took that as a reliable, good tenant that, so that was something, yeah, they've been there for a while.

Peter Soros (17:10):
Gave you a little bit more peace of mind that someone's already paying, so that's a good sign. Okay.

Matt (17:15):
And I think that too was one of my biggest fears is getting into my first deal as if there was no one to pay the rent. So I think going forward possibly I wouldn't only buy one that's already turn key, but just being into my first one, I just..

Peter Soros (17:35):
Made it simple.

Matt (17:36):
I feel like I would've not panicked, but it'd say my first deal and then all of a sudden there's no one to rent it out. So I think that kind of helped a little bit as well.

Peter Soros (17:44):
Yeah, no, that's great. I mean, it made it simple and it sounded they were pretty accommodating that you were going to be making a few little repairs, upgrading things, making it a better living condition for them. So they saw it as a positive, worked out for everyone, so that's great when it's all just a win-win all around. So that's great. So what are the gross rents per month? How long is the lease for this at tenant? So tell us a little bit more about the numbers, the nitty gritty about the numbers.

Matt (18:15):
Yeah, the gross rent is 1100 per month and the lease goes through the end of 2025.

Peter Soros (18:24):
And then your mortgage payment, what are your expenses and payments, and then what are you actually profiting at the end of this monthly at the moment?

Matt (18:33):
Yeah, so the PITI, the mortgage taxes, insurance comes out to eight 40 and then, so still trying to iron out the actual repair numbers and what is considered into what category, I guess, I dunno if that's the right way to say that, but I've had to make some repairs so far. But how to calculate the monthly cashflow because it's obviously on paper it's with just the mortgage and the taxes. It'd be around 250, but it'll come out to less than that obviously.

Peter Soros (19:17):
Once month to month goes, you start to get a better idea if there's fluctuations in any pricing and then you'll get property taxes and all this stuff. It'll all kind of come together, but in the end, it sounds like it's been a good investment. It's cash flowing already, that's already great. And does it look like it's in a neighborhood that has the potential for a lot of appreciation or even if it's minimal, that's fine, as long as it's cash flowing. Was the goal really just for cash flowing or was it really to try to get into a neighborhood that maybe can appreciate a whole lot more? What were you looking for specifically there?

Matt (19:57):
Yeah, I was kind of more leaning towards just making sure something that would cashflow, but it's definitely in an area that it's obviously a lower price point, but it's still in an area in Milwaukee that just from being in investor groups and just knowing people in the area, I know it's an area that the rentals there are, they will hopefully appreciate as well. And it definitely helps being in the market that I live in so that it was helpful to know the area as well. So I mean, it's not a class or neighborhood, but it's definitely not, I think there should be some solid depreciation as well, hopefully. Yeah.

Peter Soros (20:48):
Is the plan to just hold this as long as possible, are you thinking maybe seven, 10 years maybe sell if prices go up? Or are you thinking this is just going to sit in the portfolio, maybe hand it down to the kids or family at some point? What's kind of the goal at the moment? It could change, obviously, but what's the plan right now?

Matt (21:08):
I think the plan right now is to hold it as long as I can try to put as much money back into it as I can to pay off a loan as soon as possible. So I would like to hold it as long as I possibly can. And another thing too, I think that's one of the biggest things that drew me into buy holds as well, is if you have enough money to make the down payment, then you just have someone else pay off your loan. And to me, that's a perfect deal to me. So I guess I'm trying to do that as much as I can now, but yeah.

Peter Soros (21:44):
Yeah. So is the plan just to keep acquiring more rentals and just to build a portfolio? I mean, it sounds like you're pretty content with your job. Some people are doing this, they want to replace their income and then just live off the income from a rental portfolio. What's the plan for you? Is it to just like, Hey, I'm happy with my career plan to do this for a long time, but to just add these investments and then have something to pass down? Is that more kind of what's your plan is or again, things can change, you might decide to change your mind like, Hey, I'm making tons of money, I don't even need to work. What is the dream goal? Just big, big, big picture? What would it be if it could be?

Matt (22:33):
I guess my big picture dream would be to really get a wholesale operation going and then just being able to use that money to acquire more properties. So I mean, I guess that's my overall goal right now is to just get some wholesale deals and then use those profits for the down payment on some buy and holds. So I guess I think that would be big picture. What I would love to do.

Peter Soros (23:04):
Yeah, it might be a good idea to then reinvest some of the money into some kind of lead generation with a website, maybe pay per click, maybe instead of getting employees, or you could get VAs something that does the work for you while you're doing your regular work. And then as the leads come in, you can decide wholesale, hold it, fix and flip it, and you can be doing both at the same time. So then you can just keep acquiring and stacking and stacking that way. So definitely that's what investors do, let money work for them so you don't work for money, you get your time back this, so you're definitely on the right path. So it's just a matter of which way, how far you take that path because then it can splinter off into so many different things. So that's one of the reasons why I like to ask is where's the plan now? And what if you could just dream real big, where would you go? So always like to hear that. Do you have plans on acquiring a new one anytime soon? Are you closing in on anything right now or just kind of getting comfortable with this one for now? How's it going with that?

Matt (24:19):
I think for right now, just getting comfortable with this one, I think I want to kind of nail down more of my processes for just managing the property as well. I kind want to make it more efficient and more streamlined and just something that I'm able to really a true business, not just winging it, but I'm not doing that now, but I kind of want to get those processes more streamlined down and then I really want to get my first wholesale deal. So I think that's my next goal is to get that done. So I also think one thing too, with all the options in Real Estate, it's kind of easy to get pulled in all these different directions as well. So I feel like once I got that property, had that property in the works, my focus went from primarily on that instead of, so I would love to get my first wholesale deal as well. So that's my next goal.

Peter Soros (25:21):
Yeah, nothing wrong with that. Again, at the same time too, always keep in mind if it works, don't fix it. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. But yeah, there's nothing wrong with learning that because that's just going to be another tool set that you can utilize and you never know if something comes across your desk and you can always bring it to the community to have us help you decide maybe this is a better wholesale if you can find a buyer for it. Again, we always say start with a buyer in mind and work backwards. So if that's your goal right now is then find some cash buyers you could bring some deals to, and if you can bring them even to other buy and hold investors, you can actually typically make bigger wholesale fees because they can typically pay more because they're going to be offering at a higher price. They usually less repairs, things like that. So who knows, maybe you make connections with other buy and hold investors and you can be wholesaling to them directly and you might be able to pull it off that way instead. So there's lots of different avenues to make it happen.

Matt (26:32):
Yeah, I think that's one thing that I've, since starting the course, I definitely am learning that the market that I'm in is definitely more of a buy and hold market versus a flip market. So I think that's kind helped me change just my thought process as far as how should I look at this deal and if I were to wholesale it, how those numbers would work.

Peter Soros (26:52):
Yeah, definitely sounds like then you should be focusing on either fixing and holding yourself or wholesaling to other fix and holders, and that's great that you can actually narrow it down. Sometimes having too many options makes things more complicated. So do you plan to stick to that same area of Milwaukee or are you thinking of maybe branching out to other territories or other states? What are you planning on at the moment? Just sticking local.

Matt (27:26):
I think for right now, sticking local, I definitely being able to drive by the property and just see what's going on. I just like that for some reason.

Peter Soros (27:36):
It's a good feeling, right?

Matt (27:37):
Yeah. So I think for right now at least, but maybe sometime down the road, branch out more into different markets, but I think for right now, just sticking with the market in the backyard here.

Peter Soros (27:49):
Again, if it's not broken, don't fix it. If there's plenty of business to be done there, just do what you can to do more and more business there. That's what we always recommend.

Matt (28:00):
And I think I saw one of Ryan's recent YouTube videos was actually about Milwaukee specifically, so I liked hearing that, so I was like, maybe it's not a bad spot to be in.

Peter Soros (28:10):
No, not at all. So you're in the right, you got the right backyard to be playing it.

(28:19):
That's perfect. So I always like to ask anyone I interview, what kind of advice would you have to people who are going to watch this video, whether or not they're considering maybe going with Real Estate skills or just Real Estate in general, what were some lessons you've learned and some suggestions like you would give someone who's maybe on the fence about either getting training and coaching or getting into Real Estate and they're just a little afraid to pull the trigger. What would you recommend if you could just tell them what to do and give them some advice?

Matt (28:58):
I guess I would say there's no, you can't really put a price tag on having a good community and someone that's really going to have your back and really help you through your first deals. So I think it's just having the other students even that's been huge as well. Not even just the coaches, but having the other students in the community, they're able to bounce ideas off has been, honestly, I would do that over and over again. I probably would've go back and I think the last couple years where I was just thinking about getting into Real Estate, all that time could have been spent within a class or a community with mentors that are going to really help you push you and get you to where you want to go. So I think I couldn't recommend it more having a good mentor.

Peter Soros (29:50):
Yeah, there's a saying that the cheat code is getting, coaching is getting to help you not make all the mistakes or when you're making mistakes to tell you when you're making a mistake right away, so you don't keep making those mistakes. So that is the cheat code is to get coaches and every high level person has a coach. That's something I think we forget, even the billionaires who have huge corporations still have coaches and mentors that they go to. So that's great advice as always, so appreciate you sharing.

Matt (30:25):
Yeah, and one thing too is, we kind of touched on it earlier, but it was definitely buying a property is it's a big decision financially. So with a family wife, she definitely felt better about it too, knowing that I have mentors and coaches that are kind of in the background that made things go easier that way too.

Peter Soros (30:50):
Yeah, we're nudging you along, go that way, but we're telling you where to go. Go this way. Don't go that way. Nudging you along, you got to do the work yourself, but we're definitely there to tell you that path is not probably going to work this way, will probably work and it's worth, and that can save you not just so many headaches and troubles, but could also save you tons of money too. So that's what a coach is there for. So we're definitely glad to that have you here. We're so stoked for you, everyone here about you picking up your first property. We're really excited to see what you continue to do. And honestly, a lot of times it's a momentum thing. I know after I did my first deal, the very next month I did mine, there was other students, literally the next month after their first deal, they did another deal. So those are more wholesale deals and things like that. But hey, if you keep up the momentum, maybe you'll land that first wholesale deal next month.

Matt (31:51):
Yeah, definitely.

Peter Soros (31:51):
Yeah. So keep up the good work, Matt. Let us know if there's anything else we can do. If anything comes up, as always, you have us and our support and we're all rooting for you, we're all excited for you. So if there's, there's not anything else you want share, then I look forward to doing this with you again pretty soon.

Matt (32:13):
Awesome. Yeah, thanks for having me, Peter.

Peter Soros (32:15):
All right, take care, Matt. Bye bye.

(32:17):
And there you have it. I'm so glad Matt was able to share his story with you. As you can see, most people want to get into Real Estate, but they don't really know where to begin or if they're going to be making the right choice or not. The last thing people want to do is get into Real Estate and make big mistakes and they lose everything. So Matt made the right decision to go get help, to get support, to get coaching, and he said that was the biggest thing that helped him really get this first deal across the line, which was just a few months after joining the program, he's now a landlord. This is something that many people all over the world aspire to, and he was able to do that in just a matter of a few months because he was committed, made the right choice to get the training and support that you really need when you dive into something like this in realestate.

(33:08):
So if you guys are interested in learning more about the Real Estate Skills community, head on over to RealEstateSkills.com, drop us a line and we'll get in touch with you. Until next time, take care.

*Disclosure: Real Estate Skills is not a law firm, and the information contained here does not constitute legal advice. You should consult with an attorney before making any legal conclusions. The information presented here is educational in nature. All investments involve risks, and the past performance of an investment, industry, sector, and/or market does not guarantee future returns or results. Investors are responsible for any investment decision they make. Such decisions should be based on an evaluation of their financial situation, investment objectives, risk tolerance, and liquidity needs.