Tag: Financial Independence
Passive Income Road Trip #4: Cryptocurrencies
I arrived today in the dusty city of Las Cruces, New Mexico. I have fond memories of this place from when my wife and I made this road trip in 2012. I remember a lush, green desert landscape; that memory is not what I saw today. The city looks like it did not survive the…
Passive Income Road Trip #3: Dividends
I woke up today in Fort Stockton, Texas, somewhere in the middle of this enormous state. It is hot as all heck here, and I wasn’t used to the heat. No matter how hot (or cold), passive income continues to flow into my accounts. Probably the most sought-after form of passive income is dividends. Welcome…
Passive Income Road Trip #2: Retirement Planning
I woke up today in San Antonio, Texas. I decided to split Texas into three days and two nights of driving. If you didn’t know, Texas is a massive piece of Earth. My friend called me and said I should have driven the 900 miles of Texas in one day. To that, I replied that…
Passive Income Road Trip #1: Financial Mindset
Well, I find myself on another cross-country road trip across America. This time from Pensacola, Florida, to San Diego, California. I am taking a seven-day slow drive to ensure I do my best to arrive safely. This is the fifth time I am making this trip, and I believe I am older and wiser each…
The Emotional Roller Coaster of Debt
I thought I had it all figured out ten years ago. I had 13 years in the Marine Corps under my belt, and I was looking towards the rank of Master Sergeant (E-8). I looked at the pay chart for E-9s over 20 years of service, and the money looked great. If I could reach…
Start a Sports League Towards Passive Income
Do you love sports? Does your area lack a sports league? Are politics getting in the way of your children having fun? Well, start your own league. Yes, you can do it. People, I woke up one day and said I wanted to be a writer. This month, I sold 50 books on Amazon without…
5 Takeaways from “Business for Authors”
“Business for Authors” is another wonderful book by my favorite author, Joana Penn. Inside the book, she details her journey as an author-entrepreneur. I, too, am striving to be an author-entrepreneur, so this book immediately took hold. Many authors do not want to deal with the business side of publishing and releasing books. This may…
The Magic of a Sales Funnel
You just started a food truck business, so how do you get people to buy your product? Welcome to the magical worlds of sales funnels. Every business has a sales funnel to convert a “stranger” into a “customer.” They then want that customer to become a repeat buyer and spread the news via word-of-mouth advertising. …
Income Investing vs. Index Funds
With the swift downturn of the stock market in early 2022, things changed for near-retirees. They watched as their 401Ks and index funds quickly lost 30-40% of their value. Index funds track the markets, for good or bad. They typically give some of the best long-term returns outside mega companies like Amazon (AMZN) and Google…
Start a Tutoring Business towards Passive Income
The education system sucks! Why beat around the bush—let’s call a spade a spade. However, there is no one to blame for the results of the public system. Rarely can you adopt a system to train people en masse. Every one of us learns a different way, and we need more focus on how to…
Advertising vs. Content Marketing
Let’s start today with an example where you want to build a consistent income from your community. You begin by hosting a community baking contest and celebration once a month. As time passes, you add additional items of interest like face painting, bounce houses, and live music. You begin selling baked goods, ice cream, and…
Should You Trade on Margin?
No. Why put yourself, your family, and your portfolio at risk? Margin can amplify gains, but it tends to magnify losses. Today, let’s discuss the disadvantages of margin, safer ways to trade, and ways to invest by taking loans against your assets. What is margin trading? Margin is a loan against your assets. Depending on…
Debt Snowball vs. Debt Avalanche
Over the last two years, I have consistently talked about paying off debt. Living a debt-free life is perhaps the greatest gift to your financial well-being. I wrote an entire series about Staying Debt-Free at Any Age (20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s), and you can download all the books for free on my website.…
The Sharing Economy vs. Inflation
How are we supposed to survive during inflationary times? The price of everything is going up, and our paychecks aren’t rising with these costs. What do we do? Fret not; the world has solved this problem already. That is if you are willing to share. If we can overcome our brainwashing and individualism, we can…
Inflation Ate My Paycheck 107: Cellphone Upgrade vs. Dividends
I’ve had the same cellphone for five years, and I will probably attempt to keep it one more year. Why? It still works fine. I bought my Samsung Galaxy S8+ in July 2017 when my family and I left mainland Japan. I kept it through my tour in Pensacola, FL, and then for two years…
5 Takeaways from “Find Your People”
“Find Your People” by Jennie Allen is a celebration of life, love, and friendship. The book explores why we feel so alone in this modern time. With cell phones and social media, we should feel closer to one another, right? The problem is that we all chase individualism. This love of being alone, living alone,…
Home Cash: House Hacking vs Online Business
Do you need more cash flowing through your household? Cash flow is the heart of any relationship and home; therefore, we must make growing our income a top priority? We have many options to increase our income, but we also want to keep our time. Time is the most valuable resource on Earth, so delivering…
Dividend Investing in Your 30s
I’m not going to lie; dividend investing will be tough in your 30s. Your 30s are the most expensive times in your life. Not only are you trying to get your (financial) act together, but add a family on top of everything. Therefore, the best way to invest during this time is to keep your…
America is Expensive: So What Are You Going to do About It?
I spent the last two years away from my family, working in Okinawa, Japan. Finally, I am back home where I belong, but things have changed. I left in August 2020, and today the landscape in America is much different. For one, America is much more expensive. Due to inflation and perhaps a pending recession,…
Blogging vs YouTube #4: For Large Income Streams
Welcome back to the Blogging vs. YouTube series (#1, #2, #3). I want to jump right in with a comparison between a big-time YouTuber and a big-time blog. YouTube. Perhaps the biggest technology YouTuber is Marques Brownlee. I watch him for anything Apple, Samsung, and technology related. He has 15.8 million subscribers as of this…
