Real Estate's Financial Planner | 25 Years Demystifying Retirement for Investors

You can retire sooner than you think.

But you need a few things.

-> A plan to reduce taxes (so you can keep more income)
-> A strategy to give you more time (so you can enjoy life more)
-> A roadmap to maximize your investments (so you can build generational wealth)

After decades advising executives, founders, and real estate professionals, I discovered the real issue isn’t a lack of strategy, it’s a lack of alignment.

That’s why I created the Wealth Edge Blueprint™, a complete, integrated system that helps high earners eliminate wealth leakage, build true financial infrastructure, and lead their wealth the same way they lead their business.

I help high-income entrepreneurs build wealth that actually feels like success.

1)By aligning your tax strategy, investment plan, and business structure into one cohesive system.
2)Eliminate hidden wealth leakage, bring clarity to your finances.
3)Help you create the kind of legacy you can feel now,not just later.

If your income is up but your financial life still feels scattered, this is the shift you've been looking for.

Ready to learn how?
Send me a DM now.

Please schedule a meeting with me here: https://calendly.com/hmeyer_highline/financial-freedom-call

Twitter: @HMoneyTalks1
IG: @hughmeyerofficial and @money_talks_now







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Disclaimer: all items listed in the "Skills & Endorsements" section of this webpage are unsolicited and intended to apply to this individual's profile alone, not that of Charlesworth & Rugg, Inc. DBA Highling Wealth Partners. These "Skills & Endorsements" are in no way indicative of current or future performance or of investment selection.

Hugh Meyer, MBA

Gib Irons

Helping Accredited Investors Passively Invest in Real Estate | Founder @ Irons Equity | Father & husband (and surfer & fisherman, but my wife told me to write that last.)

In 2007, I started my law firm in Greenville, NC.

In 2019, I had a breakthrough.

Being an attorney is taxing.

It's stressful. It's intense. It's a ton of work.

It's all of that — and it's non-stop.

(If you're an attorney, you're nodding your head right now.)

A lot of attorneys work until they die. Not because they want to — but because they don't have an exit plan. 

My breakthrough came when I met a real estate investor during the Big Rock Blue Marlin fishing tournament in 2019.

He started telling me all about his strategy.

- How he invests in real estate.
- How it's saved him 6 figures in taxes. 
- How he built 6 figures in passive cash flow.

I walked off that boat committed to real estate investing.

14 months later, I owned 14 properties.

Today, my mission is simple:

I want to help other high-earners (not just attorneys) experience the same benefits I've seen from real estate investing.

Yes, not paying as much in taxes is incredible.
Yes, the portfolio diversification is great.
Yes, the return potential is wonderful.

But you know the best thing?

Real estate gives you and your family more options for your lives.

And what could be better than that?

Visit ironsequity.com or send me a DM to learn more.

Chief Executive Officer

Gib Irons is an attorney, entrepreneur and real estate investor.  He is the founder and CEO at Irons Equity and oversees operations, acquisitions, investor relations and asset management.  Gib is a resident of Greenville, North Carolina.

Gib owns 14 single family condominiums, a commercial building, and a short-term rental (STR) property in Sevierville, Tennessee near Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg named “Smoky Mountain Masterpiece.” 

Gib is a passive investor in a 660-unit portfolio in Arlington, Texas, a 344-unit apartment building in Dallas, Texas, and a 295-unit property in Fayetteville, Arkansas. 

In addition to Gib’s real estate investing experience, Gib is the owner and managing partner of Irons & Irons, PA, a multi-million dollar law firm based in North Carolina and established in 2007.

Gib and his wife, Kate have 3 children, Anna-Gibson (9), Miles (7) and Malene (4).  Gib is an avid surfer and fisherman and loves offshore fishing for tuna, dolphin and wahoo.

My law practice has 3 offices now. 

People ask: "Why expand? Isn't one office stressful enough?"

I thought that would be case but here's the truth:

Expanding was easier than I thought it would be.

Not because the logistics were simple. But because the systems were already in place.

When we opened office #2, I wasn't starting from scratch. We had:
→ Processes that worked
→ A team that knew how to execute
→ Marketing systems that drove leads
→ A reputation that followed us into new markets

Opening office #3 was even easier. Copy. Paste. Adjust for the local market.

Expansion doesn't make life easier unless you've already built leverage.

If you're drowning with one office, two offices will kill you.

However, if you've built systems that don't depend on you showing up for every decision, expansion becomes predictable.

Three offices. 5 attorneys. 24 people on payroll.

It sounds like chaos. But it runs smoother than when it was just me and my dad in one office because we've systematized everything that used to require my time.

→ Client intake
→ Case management
→ Billing and collections
→ Marketing and lead generation

The goal was never to scale just for the sake of it.

The goal was to build leverage so that my time wasn't the bottleneck anymore.

Now I can focus on strategy, partnerships, and real estate deals. And the law firm keeps running.

Most people think scale creates more stress.

But scale creates freedom if you build it right.

Are you building systems in your business or are you just working harder?

-

Follow me Gib Irons for more posts on building wealth.

Grant Cardone ran a thought experiment: "What if we'd converted every rent check from the last 12 years into Bitcoin?"

The result? What was $160M in distributions could have become nearly $3B.

Now he's building the actual model.

Here's what Cardone is doing:

Acquiring cash-flowing multifamily properties

Pairing each property with a dedicated Bitcoin allocation (his 366-unit Boca Raton fund includes a $100M BTC position)

Using monthly rental income to systematically accumulate more Bitcoin

Real estate = stability and cash flow

Bitcoin = asymmetric upside, funded automatically

Why this matters:

Bitcoin holders want yield and durability.

Real estate investors want liquidity and upside.

This structure aims to deliver both by turning rent into a Bitcoin accumulation engine.

The real question isn't "Bitcoin vs. real estate" anymore.

It's: "How do you use cash-flowing real estate to systematically acquire scarce assets?"

The playbook is shifting.

What do you think? Comment below.

My dad isn’t on the Forbes list.

He never raised a venture-backed company.
He never chased fame or fortune.

But he built something more important: a legacy.

At 76 years old—when most people are long retired—
he stood before the North Carolina Supreme Court, arguing one of the biggest cases of his entire career.

No fanfare. No spotlight.
Just resilience forged over decades.

He still wakes up early.
Still prepares every line of his case.
Still fights like it’s his very first trial.

Growing up, I watched him show up every day.
→ No excuses.
→ No shortcuts.
→ No self-pity.

And I realized…

Success isn’t status.
It’s showing up when it’s hard.
It’s doing what’s right—even when no one’s watching.

That’s the kind of man I want to be.
That’s the kind of lawyer I strive to become.
And that’s the kind of legacy I want to leave behind.

Who’s your hero?
Drop a comment below. 👇

My law firm has made $10,000,000+ over the years. 

But here's what that actually means:

It signifies I've put in the work.

→ 17+ years practicing law
→ Thousands of hours in court
→ Hundreds of clients represented
→ High-stakes cases in high net worth divorce and personal injury litigation

But here's the part nobody tells you about accolades like this:

They don't make you happy, give you time back, or fix the burnout.

I worked my ass off to build a law firm that earns that kind of recognition. 

Multi-million dollar operation. Three office locations. Five attorneys on the team.

And for years, I thought that was the goal:

- Build the best firm.
- Get recognized.
- Make more money.
- Rinse and repeat.

Then I realized I was building a prison, not a business.

I was working 60-80 hour weeks. Missing my kids' activities. Chained to my calendar.

The recognition felt hollow when I was too exhausted to enjoy it.

That's when real estate changed everything for me.

Because passive income gave me something Law never could: Options.

→ The option to take a Tuesday off
→ The option to coach my daughter's soccer team
→ The option to say no to cases that don't excite me

I'm still proud of my Super Lawyers rating.

It represents the blood, sweat, and tears that went into building my practice.

But the real win is building a life where professional success doesn't come at the cost of everything else.

Recognition is great. Freedom is better.

Would you rather have professional achievements or your time back?

-

If you're interested in investing in real estate to reclaim your time, follow me Gib Irons and reach out to connect.

Being a divorce attorney taught me a $1,000,000 lesson about wealth most people never learn:

I've represented high net worth clients for 17 years.

Doctors.
Executives.
Business owners.
People making $500K-$2M+ per year.

And here's what I see in almost every case:

High income. 
Zero equity. 
No exit plan.

They've been making great money for decades.

Working 80-hour weeks. Sacrificing time with their families. Climbing the ladder.

Then one day, their marriage falls apart. And we sit down to divide assets.

And there's... nothing.
→ No rental properties
→ No passive income streams
→ No investments outside their 401(k)
→ Just a big house, expensive cars, and a lifestyle they can't afford to maintain on one income

It's like they willingly slapped on golden handcuffs.

It's why this job breaks my heart sometimes.

Because I'm watching people who did everything "right" realize they have no options.

They can't retire.
They can't scale back.
They can't leave a bad situation because they're trapped by their own lifestyle.

The cases I enjoy most are the ones where there's actually something to divide. Where one or both spouses:

→ Invested in real estate
→ Built businesses with equity
→ Created passive income that doesn't require them to show up every day

Those people have options. They can rebuild. They have leverage.

That's why I'm so passionate about passive investing. Because I've seen what happens when you don't have it.

I've watched brilliant, hardworking people realize too late that income isn't wealth.

Real estate didn't just change my finances. It changed what I tell every high-earning professional I meet:

Build equity, not just income.

Create options while you still have a paycheck.

Because one day, you might need those options more than you ever imagined.

What would happen to your lifestyle if your income stopped tomorrow?

-

P.S - If you're a high-income earner and would like to know how you can invest passively in real estate, DM me 'OPTIONS'.

I used my tax savings to buy a $1.85M property.

Here's how that worked:

In 2021, Kate and I saved $250,000 in taxes using the Real Estate Professional Designation.

That wasn't money we hoped to save. That was actual cash we kept instead of sending to the IRS.

Most people would take that money and feel rich for a minute. Maybe pay down debt, take a vacation, or put it in savings.

I bought an asset.

A short-term rental in Sevierville, Tennessee. Smoky Mountain area. $1.85M purchase price.

Today, that property generates $250K in gross annual revenue. It basically pays for itself and then some.

Years of working in real estate have taught me that tax savings aren't windfalls. They're capital you can redeploy.

When you save $250K on taxes, you have two choices:
→ Spend it and watch it disappear
→ Invest it and watch it compound

I chose option two.

And now that $250K in tax savings is producing $250K per year in revenue. Every single year.

This is how wealth actually builds. Not by making a lot of money, but by:

→ Keeping it
→ Deploying it intelligently
→ Letting it work for you

The Real Estate Professional Designation saved us $250K.

Then our Smoky Mountain property turned that into an income-producing machine.

That's the difference between a tax strategy and a wealth strategy.

What would you do with an extra $250K in tax savings this year?

-

PS - If you'd to learn how you can use this exact strategy to invest in real estate, DM me and lets discuss your goals. 

*This is not tax advice, always consult a tax professional.

I got my law license in March 2006. 

I thought I made it. 6 months later, I realized I was wrong.

Attorney life is taxing. It's stressful, intense, and non-stop.

That's not me being dramatic. That's just the reality of the profession. 

You get:

→ Client emergencies at all hours
→ Trading every hour of your life for money
→ Court deadlines that don't care about your vacation
→ Emotionally draining cases where you carry people's worst moments

I was 26 years old and already exhausted.

And the worst part? 

Everyone told me this was normal.

This is what being a successful attorney looks like. Long hours. High stress. No off switch.

I believed them for years.

It took me until 2019 (13 years later) to realize that "normal" didn't have to be my reality.

A chance conversation about exit plans on a fishing trip opened my eyes.

It was the moment when I understood I was building someone else's version of success, not my own.

My law license opened doors for me.

The skills I learned. The clients I've helped. The firm I built with my dad...I'm grateful for it all.

But if I had stayed on the path everyone expected me to follow, I'd be working until I was 70 with:

No equity
No options.
No passive income No options

Real estate gave me the exit I didn't even know I needed.

It can do the same for you too.

How long did you spend chasing other people's version of success before you realized it wasn't making you happy?

-

If you're ready to get off the hamster wheel through real estate investing, send me a DM, let's chat.

I used to think being a passive investor meant I was lazy.

Just writing checks and hoping someone else made me money.

That didn't feel like building something. It felt like sitting on the sidelines.

Then I invested $1 million into three deals and I realized I was completely wrong.

Being passive doesn't mean being uninvolved. It means being selective about where you spend your time.

Here's what I do as a "passive" investor:
→ Deep-dive on operator track records
→ Review underwriting assumptions line by line
→ Ask uncomfortable questions on investor calls
→ Monitor distributions and performance quarterly
→ Build relationships with GPs for future deals

That sounds more strategic than passive to me.

As an investor, I'm not managing tenants at 10pm, dealing with maintenance emergencies, or negotiating with contractors.

I'm doing the high-leverage work like due diligence and capital allocation.

Then I let operators who are better than me handle execution.

Active investing rewards effort while passive investing rewards judgment.

→ Active: I make $X per hour I work
→ Passive: I make money based on the quality of my decisions, regardless of hours worked

When I transitioned from 14 active properties to passive LP positions in 1,200+ units, people thought I was stepping back.

But in reality, I was stepping up.

I went from being a property manager to being a capital allocator.

From trading time for money to making my money work for me.

That's not lazy. That's leverage.

If you'd like to learn more about how you can do this as a high-income earner, follow me Gib Irons for more posts and reach out to connect.

Personal injury work will change how you see risk forever. I've represented people whose lives were destroyed in seconds:

→ A dad driving his kids to school T-boned by someone running a red light
→ A construction worker who fell two stories because equipment failed
→ A woman paralyzed in a car accident caused by a drunk driver

One moment. Their entire life changed.

And here's what I learned representing them:

Most people have no backup plan if they can't work.

They're counting on their job. Their salary. Their ability to show up every day and trade time for money.

Then an accident happens. And suddenly:

→ No income
→ Medical bills piling up
→ Family depending on them
→ No plan for how to survive

The legal system helps. Insurance pays out. Settlements happen. But the financial damage is already done.

This is why I'm so passionate about passive income.

Not because I want to get rich quick. But because I've seen what happens when people lose their ability to earn.

If I got in an accident tomorrow and couldn't practice law for six months, my family would be fine:

→ My real estate distributions will keep flowing
→ Properties will generate rent
→ Investments will produce returns

My income isn't tied to my ability to show up in a courtroom every day.

A lot of high-earning professionals don't have that luxury:

Doctors.
Lawyers.
Business owners.

They make $300K-$500K+ per year but it all depends on them showing up.

One health issue. One accident. One bad day.

And the whole thing collapses.

I've sat across from too many people in that exact situation to ignore the lesson.

Build assets that work for you.
Create income that doesn't require your presence.
Protect yourself before you need protection.

Because life changes fast.

And when it does, you won't have time to build a safety net.

You need to have already built it.

How have you protected your family's financial future?

If you'd like to know how you can achieve this by investing passively in real estate, send me a DM. Happy to answer your questions.

"Why do you invest in medical real estate?" 

Here's the answer in one number: 92%.

During COVID, medical office buildings collected 92-94% of rent.

This was the biggest economic disruption of our lifetime. Retail, traditional office and hospitality were all shut down.

Yet doctors, dentists, imaging centers kept paying up. Why?

Because healthcare is non-optional.

People postpone vacations.
They cut back on dining out.
They cancel gym memberships.

But they don't skip cancer screenings.

They don't postpone dental surger or ignore their chest pain.

Medical services are recession-resistant in a way that almost nothing else is.

Here's what makes medical tenants different:

They invest $300K-$1M into their spaces. This ranges from:

→ Custom plumbing
→ Specialized HVAC
→ Advanced cabinetry
→ Radiation shielding for imaging equipment

Once they're in, they don't leave.

The switching costs are too high. The disruption to their practice is too massive.

So they sign 10-15 year leases with built-in rent escalations and renewal options.

The demographic trend is undeniable:

By 2034, seniors will outnumber children in America for the first time in history.

More seniors = more healthcare demand.

More diagnostics. More specialists. More in-person medical visits.

That demand isn't going away. It's accelerating.

Smart money is already positioning in front of a demographic wave that's already in motion.

Where the fundamentals are stronger, the tenants are stickier, and the downside is protected.

Don't be left behind.

Where are you positioning your capital for the next 10 years?

If you'd like to know more about investing in medical real estate, follow me Gib Irons and reach out to connect.

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Hugh Meyer, MBA

Gib Irons

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