Emma Pattee became a millionaire at age 26. But she hates it when I describe her like that.
Here are other ways that Emma would prefer to be known: She’s thoughtful. She’s hilarious. She’s kind.
Emma is the child of hippies. She grew up in a tent in Oregon, at least for a portion of her childhood. She has a BFA in writing from Emerson College.
She bought her first house at age 21. At the time, Emma was juggling a demanding full-time job with her ambitions of becoming a writer. This balancing act felt too tough. She felt motivated to quit her job as quickly as possible, so that she could devote her time to writing.
She moved in with her boyfriend’s parents, saved 70 percent of her income, and contemplated what to do next.
She decided to “buy a small house in a not-so-nice neighborhood, and live for free by renting out enough rooms to cover my mortgage and make a little money on the side.”
But then she developed an addiction to real estate.
She kept buying houses and converting them into rental properties. She DIY’ed some projects and hired contractors for other projects. She improved the homes and raised the rents. She reinvested the cash flow into buying more houses. She borrowed against the equity and bought even more houses.
And that’s how Emma, by age 26, became a millionaire.
Her seven-figure net worth — and more importantly, the cash flow that accompanied it — allowed Emma to reach financial independence. She could stop trading her time for a paycheck.
Emma quit her job at age 26 and dove into the world of self-employment, starting a lucrative one-woman enterprise as a professional ghostwriter. She writes books and articles, for which her clients receive authorship credit. In exchange for this effort, Emma makes a substantial amount of money.
So who is Emma Pattee? She’s a financially independent millionaire real estate investor who started a lucrative self-employment business as a writer. (Sound familiar?)
Among the many words in that sentence, the most important word, to Emma, is the word “writer.” That’s why she started down this path. She wasn’t trying to become wealthy. She wanted to become a self-funded artist. She wanted, simply, to write.
Emma is a close friend. She was my guest of honor, my Plus One, when I delivered my keynote speech at the World Domination Summit last month. She’s my travel buddy and real estate investing companion; we visited Alabama last year to check out potential investments in Birmingham and Montgomery. She and I have talked about meeting occasionally for writing retreats.
In today’s episode, Emma and I sit down at her dining room table, plug in a microphone, and hit “record.” In the 30-minute conversation that follows, we talk about how and why we reached financial independence — and what comes next.
Enjoy.
Resources Mentioned:
- Take Radical Responsibility for Your Life, interview with Emma Pattee
- Four Unhealthy Attitudes Toward Money, interview with Dr. Brad Klontz
- EmmaPattee.com
- Article on Emma’s website: Starving Artists Should Buy Houses
- Emma on Twitter: @emmalincolnblog
- Charity: water donations
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Joseph
Another banger from AA! If you’re not careful your podcast might just become my new favorite. (Look out Joe Saul-Sehy) I how you mentioned at the end of this one how you set you bar low for what makes you happy. As a full-time RVer I couldn’t agree more. We do live in a fancy 5th wheel, but the idea that we can do whatever we want without major struggle, right now, gives us extreme confidence in our day-to-day. What you said regarding how you achieve things to prove that you are successful really resonated with me and allowed me to think about my own motivation for reaching FI. It’s not that all I want to do is say “look at me and how awesome I am for being able to quit my day job at 33!” but it definitely plays a role in why I live the way I do. Thank you for helping me see that. I’m still going to continue to crush life, but at least I have a better understanding of one of my driving forces. Keep up the great work with the podcast!
Laura
Hey Paula,
Thanks for this show, and your podcast in general. This episode was super validating as someone who’s exploring and just beginning to work towards financial independence a little bit later (mid-30’s). I’ve taken a different route than prioritizing my finances throughout my adult life, and instead have sought work, relationships, and experiences that have been deeply meaningful. Like you, I’ve learned how to live happily on limited resources, which is certainly helpful as I’m working towards building my finances now. I’ve traveled lots, lived in different places, studied things I’ve loved, built strong communities, and done work (within non-profits) that I’ve been passionate about. My partner and I have a five year old, and our priorities have shifted as we think about financial security in the future, and simply wanting more of the flexibility we both had before having a kid, but is harder with the additional expenses that come with raising children. Even though we don’t make tons of money, we’ve made it a priority to continue doing the things we love with a kid, like backpacking and traveling internationally, which has been such a gift for all of us. Anyways, this episode just made me think about how there are lots of paths to building a good life. And while working towards more financial independence is increasingly a priority for me at this point, I also finished this podcast feeling thankful for the decisions I’ve made along the way. Thanks for bringing your unique perspective and conversations to the FI community, that are rare to find anywhere else.
Rick
Your skill with words articulate many of of my values learned over a lifetime but have difficulty expressing. I certainly did not have your wisdom at your age. You only get so much time in a lifetime and you have packed a lot of adventures and experience into yours so far.
I define rich (FI) as when you have “enough”and little extra to help others in need. If your needs are few and you are skilled at getting them met efficiently you can be rich most of your life. (Two lower steps on the need hierarchy)
The thing I like about FI is you get your time back. From kindergarten to when I retired early, someone else outside my family owned a third of my day. Sleep took another third and transitioning between the two took a portion of the last third.
Rick
When you mention your charity water effort please give updates on money raised and needed. I tried to find the info on your website. It’s might be there but after a five minute effort I gave up.
Erin @ Team Afford Anything
Hi Rick – sorry about that! This is the link: https://my.charitywater.org/paulapant/affordanything
kloppityplopmaster
It’s reassuring to hear that anxiety about the future is an indicator of future success. I fret constantly about what’s coming up. Financial ruin always looms these days. I really want to turn it around, I feel in my bones that I am meant to.
Joseph Hogue
Great story about finding those meaningful things and not letting money keep your from doing what’s important. I agree with that idea of changing context when you reach financial independence but I think letting money be an excuse leads to a lot of the regrets we have later in life. Great episode.
Karen Selig
Great podcast! This really resonated with me. It’s really true how a state of emotional distress such as fear and anxiety can motivate financial success! I love Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and have a color pyramid hanging in my office. It’s wonderful that you realize success in a well-balanced life is not just financial. However, the psychological security of a financial safety net does support all of those equally important needs.
Jennifer Disla
Thanks for such honesty!
I really enjoyed this episode and podcast in general.
I am no where near FI or FIRE. — Though, the lessons about life and balance are a game changer. Right now, I am working on getting out of debt and learning to spend money on things I value. I am also learning more and more about my legacy and purpose in life. Your message is spot on — Time, Energy, Money… are all limited resources — how we manage it is our truest expression. Keep up your truest expression— Best!
Julieisprobablyalreadytaken
Listening to this episode and I can see so many parallels between the motivations Paula and Emma describe fueling their quest for FI and the motivations that drive a person to an eating disorder. Discomfort with the future, external validation, needing security and control- I’ve heard/seen these feelings pushing someone into disordered eating behaviors. I think it’s really interesting how often guests use a weight loss metaphor (for example, stayin on a diet= staying on a budget) when describing budgeting. I really loved this episode, thank you for sharing.