They say that working in the workforce is what gives our lives meaning and purpose. When we retire, our lives tend to fade away, and we lose ourselves. I am currently 40 years old, and I could retire right now, and my life would gain ten times more meaning and purpose.
Why am I so much different than the rest? I started a business that I truly enjoy and can’t wait to retire and spend my time with my family and building my business. Oh, did I mention that my business will make me rich as well? We can have it all—if we learn how to balance the moving pieces.
I will first discuss the business I started and why I decided to build this type of company. Then I will direct the questions to you and what you are looking to do for the rest of your life. Okay, now let’s jump into my decision-making process for my business.
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First, let’s look at my overall retirement landscape. I have four pillars of my retirement 4-50 plan: retirement income, business income, investment income, and rental income. When looking at my specific future, I already had the following going for me:
Retirement Income. I will have a sizable military retirement coming in every month. I currently have 22 years of active duty and will be continuing to add more income to my retirement check as I serve. I am also contributing a few dollars a month to my 401K style plan.
Investment Income. Investment income includes dividends from dividend-paying stocks and interests from bonds. I currently have a portfolio of over $150,000, which pays over $500/month. As we keep adding, our investment portfolio will keep paying us more cash. Our next goal is to get the portfolio to $1 million, which would pay us $40,000/year of passive income.
Rental Income. I (along with my wife) own three houses that produce a good amount of passive income. We will continue to add more rental income that makes sense in our passive lifestyle.
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As you can see, my wife and I already had a sizable passive income portfolio before we decided to start a business. Then why start a business at all? There are a few reasons:
Diversification. Our military retirement is an all-weather system that is a rock-solid foundation for building a retirement plan. Investments can go up and down with the wind. The real estate market can have boom/bust cycles as well. Having another stream of income, not tied to real estate or the stock market, can help even our income out.
Challenge. Becoming an entrepreneur has been the most interesting, engaging shift of mindset I have ever encountered. To go from the utterly linear progression system of the military to the decentralized world of business is eye-opening.
Multiple streams of income. Inside your business, there can be multiple streams of income that you completely control. You are the CEO of your income.
Robert Kiyosaki told me to. My favorite author, Robert Kiyosaki, known for “Rich Dad, Poor Dad,” asked an earth-shattering question; how do you obtain an asset without purchasing it? The answer: you create it. Robert Kiyosaki taught me that you could develop assets from thin air. You can print your own money, and ever since I read those words, I have been obsessed over the idea of creating assets.
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So that was the backdrop of why I looked into starting a business, but now I had to decide what I wanted to create. There are so many businesses out there that it can seem a little overwhelming at first. However, all you need to do is focus on what is important to you, and the rest will follow.
Time. An essential part of my retirement business is time, my time to be specific. I have spent the last 22 years on someone else’s time. When I retire, I want to be entirely in charge of my schedule. So I knew that opening a customer-facing business, like a restaurant or coffee shop, was out of the cards. I wanted to start something where my time and money were completely in my control.
Audience. After reading “Superfans,” I knew that every business requires some form of audience. The book explains that you do not have to become a mainstream, mass-market media influencer to have an excellent successful business. You only need to reach the smallest viable audience (as Seth Gordin calls it in “The Practice”). In “Superfans,” Pat Flynn says that 1,000 loyal fans will be enough to carry your business.
Passivity. I am a huge fan of passive income. The idea of making money in my sleep allows me to sleep even better at night. I wanted to create something where I do all the work upfront, and then the product became an asset. This asset would enter the world and make money for me night and day.
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After thinking about these three concepts, I decided to become an author. I already had a young blog; I may as well take the full dive into writing and publishing books. And it has been a fantastic journey.
Becoming an author has opened my eyes to the world of entrepreneurship. If I don’t want to write, I don’t have to. Nobody controls anything that I do or don’t do. Yet, I always feel the urge to write more and more. I always want to publish books in my free time. Every article is another asset that I can use in my bigger narrative.
I don’t just write; I also create cover designs, write advertising, and produce artwork for my articles. My eye for design and advertising improves every day. However, these aren’t just random gains; I had to read books to identify good practices. I read “The Non-Designer’s Design Book” for best practices in design and “Ca$hvetising” for best practices in advertising.
Right now, I strictly focus on building my body of work. I have published many books over the last five months, but none is more significant than my 641-page massive book “Don’t Gamble With Retirement 1+2.” Each chapter has its own unique, custom artwork designed by me. I am incredibly proud of this book. But I hope to have at least 4-5 more of these books out before I start looking into creating multiple income streams.
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I may be reading and writing for another 3-4 years before I begin to maximize my other income streams. That is okay for me. You see, I am only one person, and there is only so much that I can do by myself. I currently have no desire to grow my business and accept additional stress. I love the way my business flows in its current state.
My typical day goes like this. I wake up around 2 am, and write an article. Read “Become Insanely Productive during the Magic Hours” for more on my schedule. Then I exercise and prepare for work. After my eight-hour workday, I come home, edit my article, create my artwork, publish my writing, and check on Facebook Group.
If I have enough material or a new idea, I create and publish a book. On the weekends, my days are primarily the same, except for one major difference—no eight hours of work. Indeed, not having to go to work allows my creative juices to flow without interruption.
Again, after reading “Superfans,” I am not trying to become the most prominent, most famous, household name author. I just want to get to the point where I am bringing in $1,000/month passive income from books I have already published. This income would help diversify my income away from the stock market, cryptocurrencies, and real estate. I am incredibly content with what I do and how I do it—no need to rush my business along.
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However, when it is time to create multiple income streams from my writing, I have the blueprints. I read two books, “Creating Income Streams” and “How to Make a Living as Writer,” which will help me expand my income universe.
You see, when you start your business, you don’t have to struggle. Everything you need to know about business is already published and available; you just have to read. I have learned more in the last nine months (and 46 books) than I thought possible. Reading has already made my wife and me rich; now, we just keep doing what we are doing.
You see, my top articles are consistently my five takeaways from the books I read. You can find a collection of them inside the articles “20 Books that will Make You Rich” and “20 (more) Books that will Make You Rich.” So I read a book, write my five takeaways, get paid from them, learn more, and repeat until rich. I love this business cycle.
Scarcity vs Abundance
As I said earlier, I wanted to discuss my thought process about my business first, and now it is time to focus on you. In the article “Are you retiring TO something, or retiring FROM something?” I discussed the idea of your retirement and how to find happiness—relationships are a significant factor; however, staying active is another.
What is your number reason for starting a business that will last you into retirement? How do you feel about your time? Do you want to travel the world and work from your laptop? Or would you like to start a coffee shop and converse with your repeat customers daily?
The world of business is diverse and full of wonder; you, however, will just need to learn how to see this fantastic world. Envisioning streams of income, building audiences, and growing a business are not natural. All I ask is that you become an entrepreneur before you start a business. (I am going to write an article aptly titled after this.)
From -$77,000 to +$150,000 in 22 Months
Inside this book, you will find great starting points for beginning your journey into business. You will find chapters about business mindset, business planning, business ideas, royalties, automation, content creation, and a summary of all the books that helped me create my business.
From here, you will need to dig deeper and find your niche, build your audience and brand, and provide value to your customers. If you can do this, you will become a great entrepreneur, and the money will follow. Money follows value, not vice versa.
Welcome to the rest of your life. Starting a business, small or large, before heading into retirement will be a fantastic journey. Have fun and good luck!
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Disclosure: I am not a financial advisor or money manager, and any knowledge is given as guidance and not direct actionable investment advice. I am an Amazon Affiliate. Please research any investment vehicles that are being considered. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it. I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.
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