The Financial Mistake Even Millionaires Make

THE PRIVATE BOARDROOM

In this episode of The Private Boardroom, host Dr. Carlo Blanco sits down with real estate strategist Ber Mitchell to dissect the psychological and strategic foundations of

Key takeaways

• Ber Mitchell has structured over $3 billion in real estate transactions across Canada, the United States, and Dubai.
• Purchasing a primary residence is identified as a major wealth-building mistake because capital becomes locked instead of generating yield.

Main topics

• Wealth vs. Income Psychology
• Real Estate Investment Strategy

Notable quotes

"Buying primary residence is the biggest mistake everybody can do because that money gets locked up and it's not working for you."

Conclusion

The episode delivers actionable guidance for founders and investors seek

Transcript preview

Speaker 4 (0:00) Don't miss the USL Championship Final on CBS, November 21st at noon Eastern. Will the Pittsburgh Riverhounds retain their crown, or will a new title winner emerge? Don't miss the conclusion to the 2026 season, Saturday, November 21st at noon Eastern on CBS. Speaker 1 (0:31) Welcome, everyone, to another episode of The Private Boardroom, where we go beyond success and explore the conversations that usually happen behind closed doors. I'm your host, Dr. Carlos Blanco. I work with founders, CEOs, investors, and high-performing leaders who understand that building extraordinarily Wealth, extraordinary wealth, starts with building the person behind the business. Today, we have someone who has helped structure billions of dollars in real estate transactions across Canada, the United States, and Dubai. Mr. Bear, Bear, welcome to the private boardroom. Before we talk about wealth, real estate, and billions in transactions, who is Bert Mitchell outside of business? Speaker 1 (1:24) Good question. I'm not sure Speaker 2 (1:25) if I can be outside of business. Business is a big part of my life. But, you know, I do have a family with two beautiful kids that are still small. And then I have a big one from my previous marriage. So very family oriented. And I love my family. Of course, I do. Most of the things that I do is to make sure that my family. is taken care of and that's priority number one so that's my drive behind everything I do. Speaker 1 (1:55) That's great that you share that because many of the clients and people that I serve come with that they are making good money but then you look at their relationships you look at specifically relationships with children or partner and Speaker 1 (2:13) They're totally poor, let's call it that way. And they're going crazy. And if you really want to excel and have your business excel, you need to have that support and you need to have good relationships. So I'm glad that that's happening for you. So thank you for sharing that. Now, let me ask you, when did money stop being the goal and freedom became the goal? Speaker 2 (2:41) You know, to be honest with you, and many would not say it like that because they all want to show off, but money is a very important part of doing what we're all doing, of course. You know, we're building a... wealth not just for ourselves but for generations so generational you know wealth is something that is on the mind and it's never Speaker 2 (3:11) It's never enough when it comes to, you know, frankly speaking, it's never enough. Obviously, you can become more balanced as you're making, you know, great money and business is successful. But there's not such a thing as enough. There's not one person in this world that was successful who said, okay, I made $2 billion, it's enough. Let's stop and just enjoy life. It doesn't happen this way. It's a type of... character that just wants to continue the drive wants to continue getting things done and developing new things and us men i think we you know we start dying when we stop doing, you know? I love Speaker 1 (3:54) that response and I love that you're being totally transparent and telling things as it is. And I love what you bring that it's not only that money continues to be important, but I like the fact that you bring about the balance. And I think that's where you are now looking and seeking for that balance. So that's great for me. And for our listeners as well. So thank you for sharing that. Let me ask you, Bear, what's the biggest lie people believe about becoming wealthy? And perhaps this could be it. Speaker 2 (4:33) It's sure one of those things, but... Speaker 2 (4:37) The biggest lie is that you don't have to do anything to become wealthy. And a lot of the, you know, podcasts and books and a lot of different people preach that, but it's not true. In order for you to become successful, you've got to grind. You've got to wake up in the morning thinking about, you know, what is the next move? Because really... The drive is what makes a person successful. If there's no drive, if there's scarcity, you will never get to where you need to go. So I wake up in the morning, no matter on the failures and successes that happened the day before or the week before, the month before, I move forward according to my plan and I move forward without hesitation at all. that this cannot work or that cannot work. So basically, just going through the walls and every day is a grind. And when you train yourself like that, you become resilient. That means that you can succeed in any situation, whether there's a line of bad things that's happening one after another, one after another, and you're already thinking, how can that be? I'm doing all these things. but everything breaks. You know, when these thoughts go over your head, you're going to lose. So you're going to clear your mind. You need to understand how to clear your mind. No matter how many failures you had in life or in the process, just keep going forward and don't stop. Speaker 4 (6:22) Don't miss the USL Championship Final on CBS, November 21st at noon Eastern. Will the Pittsburgh Riverhounds retain their crown? Or will a new title winner emerge? Don't miss the conclusion to the 2026 season, Saturday, November 21st, at noon Eastern on CBS. And Speaker 2 (6:40) eventually you will get successful. You are giving Speaker 1 (6:44) us a recipe on how to be wealthy. So I receive it and I know my listeners also receive it. Having said that, I want to extrapolate that that you're bringing and then bring it. to an actual strategy. One thing that you've said is done by property, build a strategy. So please explain what that really means. I already know that one of the pieces is that drive that you're bringing. The other part that you're bringing, and I certainly connect, and that's part of the work that I do with my clients, it's working on that mindset. And then bring me what recipe has worked for you. and for the people that you've worked for so that my listeners can access that gold that you have to offer. Speaker 2 (7:33) So a lot of people in North America and other places are all dreaming about having their own property where they can live. So I'm totally against this type of model. Yes, you can if you're super, super wealthy and you build your dream home. But if you really want to build wealth, your generational wealth through real estate, then buying primary residence is the biggest mistake everybody can do because that money gets locked up and it's not working for you. Instead, you know, you invest in a property that has good potential for capital gain and for rental yields. It depends, again, in which part of the world you're working in. But you pretty much buy the