Every day in retirement is a gift—an amazing blessing from the heavens. However, these wonderful moments weren’t just given to my wife and I; we created them.
You have to create the life of your dreams. At the intersection of knowledge and effort comes luck. To find your life, you must put yourself out there.
Pushing myself to my limits. I left for the Marine Corps at age 18 in 1999. I had $10 in my pocket. I was scared out of my mind.
Make Your Primary Residence Your Retirement Plan
People know the Marine Corps as a bunch of rough and tough shock troopers who constantly push themselves past their limits. Yes, this is an accurate assessment.
Over the next 24 years, I pushed myself (and my family) to the limits. I went worldwide, performing Air Traffic Control missions across the globe.
I climbed the ladder from E-1 (Private) to E-9 (Master Gunnery Sergeant). I had the time of my life, but eventually, it was too much of a strain on myself and my family.
Learning to do more. Once I reached E-9, that was how far my promotions could take me. I was 38 years old, and I had a mid-life crisis.
Overcoming Depression Through Progression
You see, I had worked my entire career and adult working years toward becoming a Master Gunnery Sergeant.
Now, there was no way to progress upward—what was next for MGySgt King? As luck would have it, my wife and I had started taking control of our financial destiny.
In 2019, I learned the words “Passive Income,” which forever changed my outlook on life. It was time to dive into the world of finances.
Pushing myself past my limits. My first foray into this new world was investing in dividends. Nobody in my family had invested in the stock market, so I had to teach myself.
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I’ll admit that it was sort of scary and unsettling. However, the more I read, the more comfortable I became with earning dividends.
I remember receiving my first dividend in August 2019 from Papa John’s (PAPA) for $0.25. It was my first taste of passive income.
After a year of paying off debt and learning to invest for dividends, I was brimming with excitement. I needed to share this with the world, so I started a blog in June 2020.
Owning real estate. Along my military journey, my wife and I accumulated three properties. My parents did not own a home, so I felt it vital to have some security for our children.
Retirement Planning with Index Funds
Owning rental properties is not for the faint of heart. It can be taxing on your mindset to be at the whim of tenants—especially ones that do not care about you, your property, or your money.
However, if you push past your comfort zone, you’ll see the light at the end of the tunnel. The greatest challenge our kids will face is securing housing.
My wife and I have solved this problem for our kids, making the whole rental ordeal worth the price we paid.
Writing my own story. Starting a blog isn’t a big deal because nobody will find it within the first year or so.
To Become Rich, You’ll Need Leverage
In January 2022, I released my first financial book on Amazon. I had to push past my fear of ridicule and rejection to reach this point.
Books like “Rich Dad’s Guide to Investing,” “On Writing Well, ”and “The Practice” helped me understand how important it is to release my work while earning passive income from royalties.
Today, I have 970 books on Amazon, and I keep writing more. It’s simply amazing what you can accomplish on your own terms—no boss required.
The options to do better. As I stepped into retirement, I wanted to have a little more passive income.
Take the Difficult Path: Reach Happiness through Tough Decisions
I studied options trading for over two years; however, I had never invested too much effort in learning. Now was as good of a time as any.
Trading options can be terrifying as sometimes trades have unlimited risk. However, I trade more safely by not using leverage or margin (loans).
Trading options has given my wife and me the additional financial freedom to explore new venues and scenarios in our lives.
Putting it all together. Our Happy Cash Flow Retirement uses military pension income, rental income, dividends, book royalties, and options trading to give us a time-oriented lifestyle.
Bond Investing in Your 50s
It took 24 years of service and four years of investing to get us in a position to have so much freedom and opportunities.
The moral of the story is that you can also achieve greatness in your life. What is your dream retirement?
Pushing toward your retirement. If you don’t have a dream for retirement, achieving it will be tough.
You must start making decisions today that guide you toward your desired end state. For example, let’s say you want to own a yacht and travel the open seas.
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That means you can start down-sizing and saving money on your housing costs today. How much does your yacht cost?
How will you earn income while on the open water? Dividends could be the answer, but how much income do you need to thrive?
If you ask the right questions, you can find the appropriate answers. Life is about navigating your destination using the available tools and resources.
Unfortunately, the “information” we seek hides behind terms like “employment,” “work,” and “boss.”
Why Are You NOT in the Workforce?
Conclusion. They taught us the only way to make money is through a 9-5 job. It’s hard to imagine retirement when you are grinding every day.
I challenge you to take a few days away from work (perhaps a weekend) and envision your dream retirement.
You should write it down somewhere. The book “Think & Grow Rich” will give you the necessary insight on building your mental state to achieve your dreams.
Once you write and draw your dream, you must get together with your spouse and loved ones to see what they envision.
The Perfect Life: Homesteading & Dividends
Once you have a collective dream, it’s time to put a price tag on it. Do this by assigning a monthly amount of passive income you need.
Estimate your monthly expenses (say $5,000) and double that to find your monthly passive income requirements ($10,000).
Multiply your monthly requirement by 12 months ($120,000) and dividend by your desired dividend yield (say 9%), and you have a solid start ($1.3 million).
It sounds like a lot, but you can achieve this by living below your means and earning compound interest through investing. Retirement is exciting when you get aggressive! 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. All Right Reserved Military Family Investing
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