Episode 34: How the Top 1% Actually Build Legacy Wealth

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In this episode of Wealth Strategy Secrets of the Ultra-Wealthy, Dave Wolcott joins Brett Swarts on the Build With The Billions podcast to unpack the mindset and strategies behind true legacy wealth. Dave shares his personal journey—from growing up in a middle-class household and serving as a Marine Corps captain to becoming a father of triplets overnight, a moment that forced him to rethink everything he had been taught about money. When traditional advice like maxing out a 401(k) fell short, Dave embarked on a decades-long mission to study how the top 1% and 0.01% actually build and protect wealth.

Together, Dave and Brett explore why alternative investments like private equity, real estate, and energy are primary strategies for the ultra-wealthy—not “alternatives.” Dave explains how this realization led to the creation of The Holistic Wealth Strategy, a framework designed to help entrepreneurs move beyond Wall Street’s limitations, scale intelligently, and build wealth with purpose. This episode challenges conventional thinking and offers a clearer blueprint for those seeking long-term freedom, impact, and generational legacy.

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How’s it going, everyone? And welcome to a special solo series of Wealth Strategy Secrets of the Ultra-Wealthy. I’m your host, Dave Wolcott. We get a lot of the same questions from our investors about infinite banking, tax efficiency, asset protection, strategy stacking, and how to actually build wealth outside of Wall Street. And we get it, we know you’re busy, so in this series, I’m breaking down complex wealth strategy topics into short, tactical episodes that you can actually use to build legacy wealth. Whether you’re just starting your journey or fine-tuning your portfolio, these episodes are designed to give you high-impact insights in just a few minutes. So let’s dive in.

Before we jump into this episode, I want to invite you to join our community to help you become a better steward, scale to billions, and ultimately give more or all of it away. All I want you to do is to click the subscribe button right now. I love your support. It’s incredible to see your comments, and we’re just getting started. I can’t wait to go on this journey with you. Thank you so much for subscribing. It means the world to me.

Welcome to the Build With The Billions podcast, where we guide successful entrepreneurs and investors on their journey from millions to billions. And we believe the key to scaling and compounding your wealth, faith, and life starts every single day with the mindset and practice of stewardship over ownership and applying billionaire biblical principles. And our ultimate goal is to help you scale and compound your wealth and life so you can give more or all of it away.

My name is Brett Swartz I be the host today In each and every episode we joined by some of the world best entrepreneurs millionaires and billionaires So they share their ideas and deal stories and inspiration So together we can make complex tax deferral strategies simple and passive income plans achievable, as well as really just find ways to grow as leaders.

And in fact, our guest today, we’re going to be talking about the holistic holistic wealth strategy, and he helps entrepreneurs 10X their wealth. He’s a wealth strategist, entrepreneur, former Marine captain, author, podcast host, and so much more. Please welcome to the show with me, Dave Wolcott. Dave, how are you doing?

Doing awesome, Brett. Always grateful to connect with you and look forward to connecting with your audience as well.

Absolutely. If our listeners get to know you for the first time, would you give us just a little bit more about your story and your current focus?

Sure. So I was raised in a middle class family in Connecticut, probably like a lot of folks out there. And I was told that the recipe for success was go to school, get good grades, you get a job and life would work out. Right. So I kind of followed down that traditional path and went to college, did the ROTC program and had an opportunity to serve my country in the Marine Corps and learn some amazing things there that I don’t think they really teach you anywhere else in the world, such as leadership. teamwork and integrity.

Shortly thereafter, I transitioned into the tech industry. And at the same time, my wife and I started raising a family. We had an 18-month-old toddler. And then on October 24 2000 we literally had triplets and quadrupled the size of our family overnight And I can tell you Brett the first thing that was going through my mind after holding three babies in my arms was you know I have just got to provide for financial security for my family That paternal instinct just really took over.

And so I went to see my financial planner. and he told me the same thing that they kept telling me over and over again, which was, hey, max out your 401k. There’s these things called 529 plans. You can get some state tax savings for your kids. You’re going to be fine. And I knew right then that I wasn’t going to build wealth as a retail investor in the stock market.

So this launched me on this obsessive journey to figure out how the top 1%, the top 0.01% were really building wealth. And I started investing in alternative assets, everything from oil and gas to retail, to raw land, office buildings, single family, multifamily, storage, you name it.

And 20 years later, I really wrote my book, The Holistic Wealth Strategy and Created Pantheon, to really help other people figure out how does this world work, right? We had all read Kiyosaki, we were inspired, but what is the blueprint for actually achieving true legacy wealth and living that life that you’ve always wanted?

Absolutely. And by the way, you can learn more about this, but Dave, we’ll call it going to patheoninvestments invest patheoninvest that P invest I love it Dave I love the you know I call it the realization of alternative versus primary investments.

I think for the longest time, you know, unfortunately, you can understand Wall Street has their ways of doing things. And they have their they have financial advisors that are trained to say that the primary way to invest is through traditional 401ks, IRAs, stocks, bonds, mutual funds, you know, diversified portfolio of liquid investments. Right. And then the alternatives are the real estate or the private equity or the other ones.

But if you actually study the last 35 years, you know, I think it’s like 14.5 percent on average compounding return if you had put it in private equity versus about 9.3 for the stock market. And so you look at those two things, that’s 50% more.

or join our mastermind group where we go deep into building true generational wealth. I’ll see you on the next episode.