This is why we are doomed to poverty. Great investment ideas which are complete BS . . .

[i]Photo above - As seen on the TV show "Shark Tank". A product which actually made it to production. Now available at Amazon and wherever fine merchandise is sold . . .[/i]

Do you watch TV investment shows to boot your income? How’s that been working out for you? Home Flippers mostly got wiped out by the last mortgage crisis. A few were starting to creep back into the market, then the Fed tripled mortgage rates last year.

If you watch Jim Cramer, your conclusion is probably spot on. He’s amusing, but he’s also a jerk. Cramer's ideas will certainly produce profits if the market is headed to the moon. Anybody can pirouette and shout “buy buy buy” when the market keeps going up. But what if it doesn't?

Let’s pivot to “Shark Tank”, my least favorite get rich show. If you haven’t seen it, “Shark Tank” it's sort of a cross between Soupy Sales’ “Gong Show” and the “Worlds Dumbest Inventions” show hosted by Tonya Harding and Danny Bonaduce. Okay, you HAVE seen that one, right?

The link below is to Shark Tank star Draymond John and his 3 greatest get rich ideas. In case you’re not good with inventions, can't rap, and can't sink enough 3 pointers to play professional basketball.

Draymond’s first idea – Write a book. Draymond says this is a surefire way to create passive income. He personally has written has 7 books (warning - ghost writers may have been involved when TV personalities write books). What Draymond fails to tell everyone is that there are 4 million books published each year. 11,000 a day. If you still want to give this a shot, perhaps delegate it to ChatGPT. More than 50% of books are written in whole or in part by AI. “ChatGPT, write a 125,000-word novel about the harem escapades of Biblical King Solomon, and his 1,000 wives. Put a sexy blonde with a lot of cleavage on the cover, and a shirtless sheikh standing at the entrance to a desert tent. And he should have to fight zombies in the final chapter".

Okay, on to Draymond’s idea number 2 – Invest in Real Estate. Yes, he really said that. Buy properties and rent them to someone who can’t afford to buy. And hope the renters can make their monthly payments. If they don’t, then you immediately have a problem making your own mortgage and real estate tax payments. Also, you need to put 10-20% down to get a mortgage. If you don't, charge ahead anyway: banks have a special fast track review for mortgage applications by people who want a zero downpayment loan and have no property management experience. You’ll hear back within 24 hours, guaranteed.

Can you predict Draymond’s 3rd brainstorm? “Buy stocks”. Hey, I wouldn’t be making this into a top post if his ideas weren't both hilarious and unoriginal. But Draymond adds his own twist: “ . . . avoid stocks with high growth potential and buy ones that pay dividends . . . your stock may not appreciate as much per share, but you’ll get cash sent to you every quarter.” Yeah, or you could put that money in a federally insured bank CD (around 4 or 5% yield) and get the same result, without the risk.

Sorry, Draymond John, your ideas don't work for me. But they resonate with some folks, for sure. Last month I had an Uber driver give me stock tips, and another tell me that Ubering was a good way to scout locations for vacant and distressed houses for sale. The next one is sure to tell me about her unfinished novel.

I’m just sayin’ . . .

‘Shark Tank’ Star Daymond John’s Top 3 Passive Income Ideas