Can you imagine waiting until age 66 (according to current social security protocols) to retire? Currently, I am 41 years old, so that would be another 25 years of grinding in the workforce.
Do you know what I say to that scenario? No freakin’ way!! I am not spending another 25 years going to work, missing my wife, and taking orders from someone else.
Regrets. Do you know when I miss my freedom the most—on bright, sunny days. When I served in Arizona, my love of the sun began.
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Yuma, Arizona, is the sunniest place in America, at around 333 days of sun a year. It’s a fantastic place to live, especially in March and October. Those months are cool, bright, and relaxing.
In those years, I became accustomed to the sun (2008-2012). Since then, my new locations have been less sunny. The other places were South Carolina, mainland Japan, Pensacola, and Okinawa.
Now, those sunny days are much rarer; I appreciate them so much more. On a bright, cloudless, sunny day in Florida, we should not be going to work. It should be a crime.
If you look at the first book’s cover, you can see the sun behind prison bars. That’s how I feel when I get in my car to drive to work on a day that we should be at the beach with family.
The new plan. Nope, I will not spend my 50s and 60s freakin’ driving to work on sunny days. I have a new method that goes off the beaten path.
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My new plan is to use passive income to buy my freedom early. The latest I am working in the workforce is until age 48. At age 48, I would reach 30 years in the United States Marine Corps.
However, if my dividends and books take off earlier, I may decide to retire even sooner than 48. I just can’t imagine a life where I continue to miss these amazing beach days, especially since Pensacola has beautiful, white-sand beaches.
Change of plans. How did I change my plans to retire at age 48 (my wife would be 45)? My wife and I started planning to retire in Turkey roughly three years ago. We knew my military retirement wouldn’t be enough to travel stateside more than once a year.
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Having two boys in the States would require multiple trips a year from Turkey. So we started researching ways to earn an income while not working—which seemed impossible at the time.
We stumbled upon the words “Passive Income,” and the rest is history. Passive income isn’t a non-descript term—it’s a lifestyle. You don’t just invest in dividends and create content for royalties.
The Passive Income Lifestyle. Passive income encompasses everything you do daily. You cancel Hulu or Netflix to invest that extra cash into closed-end funds.
The reason you wake up in the middle of the night to write your short novel is to create royalties for retirement. You get a roommate to save for a down payment on a rental property.
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When you truly begin to focus on retirement, your entire lifestyle will change. Your friends don’t like your shift in priorities because they know you will be successful. Expect to lose friends and even family.
It’s an exciting life. You may think “the grind years” will be boring and uneventful; however, it’s the opposite. The grind years are the 5-10 years it takes to get ahead.
My wife and I are on grind year number three because we started our journey in June 2019. During our grind, we have had two years apart from each other (I’m in Japan), roommates, rental properties, started a blog and book business and began investing for dividends.
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Every day during the grind years is exciting because we move forward towards our dream. When we collect rents, we deposit them directly into our income portfolios. We see our book sales increasing year over year.
There is nothing more exciting than becoming debt-free as a family unit. It is surreal when you go from -$77,000 in debt to +$220,000 in less than three years.
Before June 2019, we wouldn’t have dreamed of retiring directly after my Marine Corps career. Now, I can retire any time I want and be good. However, the longer I stick around, the better our retirement plans come together.
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How do you make the change? The change happens quickly. I began by reading about dividend growth investing. When I received my first $0.25 dividend in August 2019, I realized the power of passive income. I converted my life to buying assets that pay me money.
Then, I began to read books like “Rich Dad Poor Dad,” “The Cashflow Quadrant,” and “Rich Dad’s Guide to Investing.” I learned words like an infinite return and cash-on-cash return.
The most important part of the change is your mindset. Most people have a fixed mindset, as explained in the book “Mindset.” A fixed mindset prevents you from changing, evolving, and growing.
A fixed mindset will tell you “no” before attempting to solve the problem. If you want to invest $300/month, a fixed mindset will keep you from becoming a content creator.
RE Lifestyles 1: Rentals vs. REITs
A growth mindset wants you to create content, start investing, and start a business. A growth mindset knows that you may fail, but you learn with each attempt. Eventually, you will have a life-changing breakthrough.
If you are having trouble getting out of a rut, I implore you to start reading. Become a lifelong learner by finding your issues and repairing them.
School taught us that there is only one answer to the question and the teacher had that answer. However, life doesn’t play out this way. There are many ways to achieve $300/month in passive income—that’s why I am always writing about various passive income ideas.
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How long do you want to work? If you love your job or working with friends, you can continue on that path. But that doesn’t mean you can’t earn passive income on the side.
Why not build an additional income stream that you can use to fund vacations, pay for college, or assist adult children? Why limit yourself to one income stream that someone else controls?
The magic of passive income. It’s difficult to describe the feeling of receiving rents, dividends, royalties, and interest in the same month. It’s like living in a dream-like world that exists above the stress and turmoil of ordinary life.
Have you ever had an amazing family day at the beach? It’s sunny outside, and you enjoy a nice cool beverage while the kids experience pure happiness and joy. When you think of an incredible life, these are the days you remember.
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However, as soon as you get in the car and head back home, the stress of the world hits you. You have bills, appointments, work tomorrow, etc. You wish you could just stay on the beach.
With passive income, your life remains on the beach. Sure annoying things always come up (for example, I owe $1,100 in taxes this month), but they aren’t stressful. I simply use my cash flow or emergency fund to pay what I require—no stress needed.
When you get above $300/month in passive income, you can see a considerable change in your lifestyle. You can use that $300 to go to restaurants, buy clothes, or take a vacation (staycation). You owe it to yourself to obtain this feeling.
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Conclusion. Do you want to experience life to its fullest? I do. To get the best results for tomorrow, I have to live below my means today. I have to read, write, and engage my audience.
Nobody is coming to save you—it’s all on you. Can you take the necessary first steps to invest $100 in the stock market? How about setting up a room rental or buying a vending machine?
I am living my dream life, and every day I get to wake up and write is a dream come true. My wife and I will soon ride off into the horizon—freeing the sun from its prison. Where will you be at age 50 or 60?
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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. All Right Reserved Military Family Investing
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