I’m facing a fork in the road. I used to say, “My book #2 is not going to be published until and unless I will have met my goal.” And I’ve stuck with it – so far.
My stubborn self still hopes that I can stay the course. The other part of me, however, is starting to question whether such stubbornness is warranted – for two reasons. First, the last time I stuck to my original goal, it resulted in a financial disaster, for which we are still paying to this day. Second, I’m not getting any younger and may run out of time before reaching the financial destination. Under this scenario, it’s a waste to not share with others the mistakes I have made.
When I left the corporate world in late 2004, my original five-year plan seemed quite achievable. By December 2009, the goal had the appearance of having been met. We had accumulated a total of 26 rental properties.
Even at a $125.00/month net positive revenue per property, which is an extremely conservative amount, that would have generated $3,250/month passive income – enough to replace my combined net income from pension and Social Security. That was my humble but BIG WHY – i.e., not having to be dependent on the existing income sources – my former employer as well as the government – both of which were already underfunded as I had embarked on this journey.
“Passive income” was, and still is, key in that I would not have to worry about having to be working for someone else to generate income to meet my cash-flow needs in my old age. I never doubted – even for a moment – that working hard for as long as I could to set up the system to generate passive income would help me be kind to my older self.
Shortly after the dot-com crash of 2000, like many others around the world, I read Robert Kiyosaki’s “Rich Dad Poor Dad.” The book began opening my eyes to the parallel but little-known universe of money, which was different from the one in which I grew up. The old-school norms’ emphasis was to go to school, get an MBA degree, work hard, provide for your family, and save for retirement. I did all of that. And I did quite well in that environment, actually, until the crash happened, and shook me to the core.
“Rich Dad Poor Dad” was a godsend, except there was one gaping hole. It was all about a 30,000-feet-above-the-ground view of the other financial universe. In other words, it talked about “what” I needed to know about money but not about “how” to deal with it. More specifically, after I finished reading it, I remained clueless about how to invest in real estate. I was left with no choice but to go on a hunt to find out who could teach me “the how.”
Soon I found a company out of Cape Coral, Florida that was teaching real estate. It eventually became known as the Wealth Intelligence Academy. Starting out with zero knowledge, I went on a steep learning curve. There was so much to learn. The sheer volume of what I needed to understand was both overwhelming and hugely expensive. I decided, however, that it was better to spend what was left of my savings on learning how to invest than to keep on living in fear of another crash in the market. Today, despite everything else, such as not yet having met my goal, I have no regrets about the direction I chose to take.
Incidentally, years later, WIA was sold to Rich Dad Education. Because we had already bought most, if not all, training programs from WIA, we did not sign on with RDE – although I read just about every book that Robert and Kim Kiyosaki had published. I love their books because I learn so much about the other financial universe. Additionally, each week, David and I faithfully listen to and learn from their richdad.com/radio podcast.
Looking back, beyond the core concepts that every student needed to understand, I wish WIA had separate tracks from which to choose, based upon a student’s specific situation and needs – for the sole purpose of getting the student to become financially independent as quickly as possible. For instance, for a student with financial means to invest in a passive-income property right out of the gate, the focus should have been on making sure that the student learns how to start generating solid, passive cash flow with one small property. Every investor makes mistakes. It is prudent, therefore, to make as many mistakes as you can with a small investment. Make sense? Do this for one year successfully; then add a few more each year – and continue learning from additional mistakes – until your financial goal is met.
Had such a strategy been implemented systematically from the very start, all the meandering routes I had taken to be where I am today could have been avoided. I do not object to meandering in and of itself because I was gaining experience along the way. What I do object to is that, after a decade and a half at this game, I have yet to achieve the humble passive-income goal that should have been met a decade ago. This was due to the huge mistake I made by having been focused on the wrong metrics.
No matter what the circumstances, however, the responsibility of where I am at today falls squarely upon my shoulders. So, I keep on working at it day in and day out.
Perhaps I was meant to meander in the world of real estate investing – so that I could write a book that is useful enough for those who are interested in learning from the many mistakes I have made along the way. Come to think of it, I wish I had someone like me to learn from when I was starting out.
Happy investing!
