You Can Afford Anything ... Just Not Everything. What's It Gonna Be?
Hey! I know you love numbers, so I’ll cut to the chase:
Last year, our rental properties earned $125,618.49 in gross income.
After expenses (including the mortgages), the properties netted $43,211.67.
This is our passive income from real estate in 2017. It’s the cash flow the properties put in our pocket last year.
And this is how we’ve reached financial independence through real estate.
____
[Read more…]
There’s a scene in a classic 1950’s TV show, The Jack Benny Program, in which a mugger points a gun at the title character.
“Your money or your life,” the mugger says.
Jack Benny is silent.
“I said, your money or your life!” the mugger repeats.
“I’m thinking it over!,” Jack replies.
(You can watch it here. The mugger scene starts at 19:55).
The scene is funny because it’s absurd. When we face a choice between our money or our life, of course we’d rather live.
But day-to-day, most of us exchange our precious hours for a paycheck. We prioritize money over our life. And in that regard, the scene is also funny because it’s true.
________
[Read more…]
“My dreams feel impossible. Everything is so far away. Five more years until I pay off the car. Twelve more years until I pay off the house. Do I have to wait until I’m 50+ to enjoy life?”
______
Let’s say you have a goal that’s audacious and unconventional.
You want to create $45,000 per year in passive income. Or you want to live 100 percent debt-free. Or you want to spend a year traveling across Europe, South America and Southeast Asia.
Maybe you’d like to take 6 months off work to garden, exercise, and spend time with your kids. Or to focus full-time on starting a business or becoming an artist.
How soon can you do this?
Sooner than you might think.
[Read more…]
Once upon a time, in southern California in 1994, there lived a man named William Bengen.⠀
His friends called him Bill.
Bill was born in Brooklyn, and he studied aeronautics at MIT. He wrote a big paper on advanced model rocketry. Then he became an executive at a soft drink company. Finally, 17 years later, he retired to sunny southern California.
Well, kinda.
Bill was smart and full of energy. He couldn’t stay retired for long. He decided to get a masters in financial planning. He opened his own firm.
And he started reading papers that … bemused him.
You see, at this time, many financial planners were claiming that since the stock market historically returns 7-9 percent compounding rates on average, retirees could withdraw and spend 7 percent of their portfolio. ⠀
⠀
Bill had a hunch that this was misguided. He decided to prove it.
[Read more…]
A few years ago, my friend J.D. Roth told me a story that’s stuck in my mind ever since. ⠀
⠀
During his 20’s and early 30’s, J.D. was broke and in credit card debt. But in his mid-30’s, he started a business, and within three years, he sold it for a significant sum. He became wealthy almost overnight. ⠀
⠀
That’s where the story begins. ⠀
⠀
After his fortunes turned, he took a look at the rest of his life and realized it was still brimming with problems. He felt unhappy with his current relationship, weight, overall health, poor eating habits, lack of travel and lack of exercise. ⠀
⠀
He was financially abundant, but unhappy with the rest of his life. ⠀
⠀
That’s when J.D. realized that throughout his life, he had used money as an excuse. ⠀
[Read more…]
I live in a two-bedroom condo. It’s furnished with a used couch and used coffee table.
My shoe rack is made from old cardboard boxes glued together.
Almost everything else in my home is from Craigslist, Amazon and Overstock. I consider IKEA to be a splurge.
My favorite hobbies are hiking and camping (free and cheap).
My friend Amanda cuts my hair. (In fairness, she’s a hairstylist.)
I can’t remember the last time I got a manicure or pedicure.
When I travel overseas, I fly with airline miles and visit countries where the exchange rate works in my favor.
The cheapest car I’ve ever purchased cost $400. I drove it for a year and a half, then sold it for $200.
The newest car I’ve ever purchased was 4 years old.
I bought my laptop and phone used (refurbished).
I lived with roommates until I was 31.
And I never need to work a job I dislike again.
This is what financial independence looks like.
[Read more…]
Brandon always wanted to be wealthy. He just didn’t know why.
“I don’t like fancy cars, and big houses just seem inefficient,” he said. “I just wanted to have money to manage.”
But in 2011, Brandon discovered the concept of financial independence.
“That just blew my mind — it was just like, oh, I can buy my freedom, and my freedom is something that I would love to spend my money on,” he said.
[Read more…]
Here’s the funny thing: I hate flying.
⠀
Yet I’ve taken 18 flights in the last 9 months. Including one Wednesday. And my next flight is today.⠀
⠀
To be clear — I’m not afraid of flying. I just don’t enjoy it. It’s noisy. It’s cramped. I can’t sleep. I can’t concentrate. I feel drained and exhausted afterwards. ⠀
⠀
Since I’ve been on the road (um, in the air) so much this year, I realized I needed coping strategies to make long flights tolerable. Here’s how I manage the irritations of flying, and how I keep costs to a minimum:
I live in Las Vegas. This is my home.
Here are a few things that happened today:
Love is stronger than fear. Good is more powerful than evil. Heroes are more numerous than villains.
Please be a hero. Here are three ways you can help:
#1: Support the Las Vegas victims’ fund, which will provide support to the families of the shooting victims.
The Las Vegas Victims’ Fund campaign on GoFundMe raised $1.8 million within less than a day. Many of these donations came in small ($5 – $25) increments from people who gave whatever they could.
#2: The emergency rooms in Las Vegas feel “like we were in a war zone,” one trauma surgeon said. Please send support to local hospital staff who are working tirelessly. Giving $5 or $10 from every person can create a tremendous impact.
#3: Finally, please support any other causes that are calling you. We live in a world in which 1 in 9 people don’t have access to safe, clean drinking water. Around 1 in 3 people don’t have access to sanitation. These facts don’t make headlines. But they matter.
Thank you.
Oh my goodness. I’ve done the unthinkable. I’ve written a blog post, after a many-month absence.
I realize this comes as a shock. If you need a moment to process, take your time.
Okay. Here we go.
So.
I’ve been quiet around here, so first I want to let you know I’m still alive. (Mostly.)
I don’t publish often, because I pressure myself to create articles that are perfect. Since that’s impossible, I stay silent and publish nothing.
To remedy this, I’m now committed to publishing the most imperfect posts you’ll ever read. This one, like everything I write, will be full of jokes that fall flat, terrible grammar, and incomplete sentenc–
(Hehe. #jokesthatfallflat )
Today’s post is a literal status update for the sake of my longtime readers who want to know what’s happening. Here’s the latest in my world of travel, investing and ideas …
