My previous marketing agency executive experience helped me in spearheading my professional and investing career.
A major key in growing my net worth was consistently earning six figures each year. This money helped me fund a 401K, Roth, save for rental down payments, pay off my student debt, and buy a SUV.
The SUV (named him Max after my favorite F1 driver) is not a true asset but it was a wonderful life style purchase as I’ve done loads of traveling and snowboarding with Max. I grew up playing the best blue collar spot – soccer. It was cheap for my family to fund since all the money I made working went toward video games or girls. As a kid I had no understanding of investing or personal finance principles thus girls and games enjoyed all my resources. Now that I’m a grown man I’ve graduated from blue collar sports to snow sports. Don’t get me wrong, I still play and love soccer but the adventures I enjoy while snowboarding bring me so much joy and fulfillment – I’ve seen the light!
I understand to achieve my purpose – financial freedom through my rental business – it comes down to a simple model: Continue working my full time job, keep my savings rate as high as possible (70% plus), BRRRR all future properties, max out the 401K/Roth each year.
IMO right now is the best time in my life to be super frugal and invest aggressively. I have no dependents other than a fur baby. If I decide I want my own family in the future the smart financial choses I’ve made over the years will position my wealth in a way that will provide an awesome life for my family.
There are some FIRE folks who never really enjoy life because they are so focused on not spending money. This philosophy may have it’s place at the very beginning of your financial journey to get your money game right, but I do believe this type of thinking long term is harmful to a well lived life. I’d hate to build an impressive portfolio but never went out to eat or had any fun.
As it stands, the cash flow from my rental portfolio covers my housing expense which is awesome! I intend to leverage this success into all future endeavors. For example, if I want to spend a winter living in the mountains enjoying 100+ ski days, I’ll construct my rental portfolio to provide enough passive income in the form of cash flow to cover the cabin’s rent. I want every expense in my life to be covered with my rental portfolio’s cash flow.