Tag: Financial Independence
The Magic of Dividend Growth Investing 2
We all want to be able to afford retirement someday. They teach us to invest in our 401Ks; maybe at age 70, we can escape the rat race. But what if we could get away sooner? What if we could retire with a $1 million portfolio that also paid us $40,000 to $50,000 per year—without…
Become Debt-Free and Stress-Free
We all live with varying levels of stress. Most of it comes from financial hardship or being in debt. Being in debt is not fun at all. You constantly worry about an emergency that can shatter the life you worked hard to build. But, it is possible to get out of debt. I did it,…
Stock & Bond Investing in Your 70s
Our 70s are all about paying it forward. Hopefully, we did well with our finances and can give to the next generations. We want to ensure our children and grandchildren can navigate life with more resources than we had available. We must lead by example if we want them to have the millionaire mindset. Welcome…
Getting Started with High-Yield Savings Accounts: Overcoming Your Banking Fears
To investors, a high-yield savings account (HYSA) is the minimum location where they will store their money. However, the average person needs to be made aware of HYSAs. My goal today is to get middle-class citizens the knowledge and confidence to transfer their first $100 into an HYSA. HYSAs are your first step into collecting…
House Hacking to Defeat Credit Card Debt
Being in credit card debt is one of the worst situations in the world. There is nothing fun about the incredible power of compounding working against you. We must employ extreme measures to get ourselves out of dangerous credit card debt. We will struggle if we are trying to “work more hours” to clear our…
Balanced Books: Living By a Harcore Budget is Empowering
When you level up your budgeting game, you will instantly see the results in your confidence and bank accounts. Most people do not live on a budget at all. They simply funnel their money into their direct deposit account and try to have one dollar left at the end of the month. If you take…
Stock & Bond Investing in Your 60s
For most people, their 60s is when they begin to feel wealthy. They can cash out their 401Ks and Roth IRAs while receiving social security. If they are fortunate, they also receive a federal, state, or local government pension. However, just because they have cash flow doesn’t mean they should stop investing. Welcome back to…
Struggle-Mania 2: Is Your Mindset Keeping You Down?
I’ve met thousands of hardworking people in the military over my last 24 years. However, a select few will ever truly get ahead in life. To clarify, “getting ahead” means they will not worry about money. Our ability to handle cashflow keeps a constant stress on most of us. Yes, we will always need to…
The Most Challenging Part of Passive Income: Enjoying it
They teach you to work. They teach you to struggle. However, they don’t teach you to enjoy life. Once you get your relationships and finances on track, your worldview changes. The average person believes that you go to work and spend your paycheck. Because work makes you sad, you spend even more than you need—shopping…
The 30-Day $1,000 Emergency Fund Challenge
I remember not having a $1,000 emergency fund to my name. Those were not fun times, especially as a person with a family. However, over the years, I started to get my act together. I began to budget my money and consume less; now, I have $300,000 in liquid assets. Start with $1,000 first. The…
New Car Payments vs. Income Investing
Do you own a paid-off car? Congratulations, you are on your way toward financial freedom. Or are you? Chances are you are considering buying a new car because they look so dang sexy right now. You may as well get a brand-new vehicle with safety features and better gas mileage, right? That new car smell.…
Living in 1,000 Square Feet as a Family of Four
When did we become so selfish here in America? We want our small families to live in a 3,000-square-foot home on three acres. Unfortunately, we need to be alone, and this is destroying our finances. Living in these monstrous homes as a single family simply costs too much money. The need to be individuals. Families…
Becoming an Entrepreneur #7: Generating Leads
A business needs an audience of paying customers. Therefore, your job as an entrepreneur is to find new people to enter your sales funnel consistently. Welcome back to the Becoming an Entrepreneur series (Part #1, Part #2, Part #3, Part #4, Part #5, Part #6), where we turn strangers into paying customers. What is a…
The 401K Lie: Saving 10% is a Fool’s Errand
Have you ever been flush with cash? Have you ever received random amounts of money that you truly do not need (or want) to spend? Well, this is my life every day as an income investor. I invest for dividends that help me fund my lifestyle today (in my 40s) and tomorrow (in my 70s).…
5 Takeaways from “Living on Almost Nothing”
“Living on Almost Nothing” by Amber Storck is a book about living “beyond” what you would consider frugal. However, her advice is necessary in today’s economy and world climate. The author starts by giving us her work history and how she bought a home in Arizona in cash. Next, she details how she saves money…
Think of Preferred Shares as Gift Cards: Buy Your Income at a Discount
What if you could buy $25 gift cards for $20 and still redeem them at $25? Would you take this deal immediately? Why would this deal intrigue you? Because you would essentially be buying money ($5) for free? This concept is the idea behind buying preferred shares on the stock market. The more you research…
Renting Rooms to Family Members
Do you own a big single-family home with only a single family living inside? Well, congratulations, that’s a fantastic feat. The follow-up question is, how is your financial situation looking? Chances are, it is not looking too good. The bait and switch. Who told Americans we all deserve to live in 2,000-square-foot, 4-bedroom, 3-bathroom homes?…
How to Create, Buy, And Build Assets: Start the Journey to Set Yourself Free
My favorite author Robert Kiyosaki says it best, “An asset puts money in your pocket, and a liability takes money from you.” Understanding this simple truth has allowed me to become debt free and financially independent over the last four years. I simply focus my efforts on obtaining assets and not accumulating liabilities. Collecting assets…
Why You Need Passive Income!
I woke up yesterday to find some emails containing passive income in my Gmail inbox. I received $97 from Fundrise, $22 from Direct2Digital (books), and $60 in dividends. There is nothing like receiving money you don’t need. To earn passive income, you do the work once (invest or write) and continually reap the rewards. Why…
5 Takeaways from “Scale”
“Scale: A Successful Agent’s Guide to Leveling Up a Real Estate Business” by David Greene is book three in the Top-Producing Real Estate Agent Series. Luckily, I have finished all three books in the series (Sold, Skill). At its heart, Scale is a leadership manual. You can use this book for any profession where you…
