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31yr old, Nearing $1MM, just getting started on the Journey

A detailed account of a Fastlane process...

Camaro68

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I just recently stumbled upon this forum, and the book. Tremendously motivating. I’ve read several threads and my favorite are the personal stories describing the process. I don’t really care if you are selling scrub daddys, watches or lampshades, it’s the story of the process, the good, the bad, success and failure, the nitty gritty that I love. So interesting to hear what people go through and the drive that they have.

I’ll outline where I’m at now, how I got there and where I want to go. I’ve started the thread to share/motivate others in a way hopefully that I have, as well as to document the start of the journey from here on out with the new knowledge and understanding of working SMARTER, not necessarily HARDER. (I’ll get into that in more detail later).

I can attribute everything I have in my life to one single word…TENACITY, never giving up, never allowing the thought to enter my mind. Not accepting NO for an answer. I don’t want to hear excuses of why something cant be done, I want to come up with options and possible solutions to try. This mindset has made all the difference thus far.

I grew up the only child of a single mother. She was a very hard worker carrying three jobs throughout my entire life. She had a college degree in a terrible field (Interior Design) but never used the degree. Instead she worked three part-time jobs as a lunch lady at the local high school, a school bus driver, and a librarian at the local public library. She would work 12-14hrs a day for most of the time minimum wage. She is essentially financially illiterate. Typical Slowlane mentality I remember as a child hearing her arguing with credit card companies on the phone and crying about not having money. She meant well but spent beyond our means (didn’t take much). Growing up I remember my best friend, whose parents were very well off from managing (not owning) real estate, mainly apartments, would go school shopping and buy a new $100 pair of sneakers, that used to blow my mind, they also took family trips every year to Hawaii, while I stayed at home and rode my bike down to the river to fish.

Now stay with me here, this isn’t a pity party, it all comes together.
 
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Camaro68

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Moms advice was simple, learn a trade. College is expensive (she struggled to make minimum payments on her student loans, tough on minimum wage for a frugal person, let alone her who had trouble controlling spending) and not worth the money, after all, she never used her degree and was forced to pay for it plus interest for the better part of her life.

Try to learn a trade, she would say, so that’s what I did. When I graduated high school I went to work for a union local in a large metropolitan area about an hour from home. I would commute in the morning, leaving the house at 5am to get there by 6 and start work as a concrete laborer. Terrible work, for anyone who has ever “puddled” concrete all day, you are hunched over so long that when you stand up straight it hurts your back, additionally I would get concrete burns on my shins from the chemicals in the mix that would go above your boots and soak your jeans, wearing the skin raw.

Crazy cold in the Minnesota winters and super hot and humid in the summers. I felt like Charlton Heston as a slave working for the Egyptians in Ben Hur haha. BUT, that was what I thought I needed to do to be “Successful”. I was making $23/hr probably over double what my mom was at the time and I thought I had struck it rich!

I was living at home and covering my own food and expenses 100% including giving my mom rent at the “family discount” of $200/mo. I also gave her a couple personal loans at the time of $1000. She didn’t pay them back, just increased the monthly rent to offset the loan haha. I wanted out of the house and was making “real money” now, we had ALWAYS lived in subsidized housing/apartments (surrounded by other single moms with multiple kids, drugs etc) and I wanted my own place.

So I took the savings I had and somehow got a loan and bought my first house at 20. It was pretty nice, 4 bedroom, 2 bath split level on the top of a cul-d-sac, brand new construction. I remember feeling bad when my mom would come to visit because I knew she had never had a place of her own and probably never would. I had one hand-me-down couch that I got from the side of the road and I bought a 32” bubble screen tv to watch my VHS tapes on. I slept on the couch, the rest of the house was empty…not much but when you’re 20 I thought I had the world by the balls.

Anyway, eventually after a year and a half I got tired of the constant blisters, weather, aches and pains and the other guys I worked with. We literally had guys out on work release in our crew, and some guys would do drugs in their car on lunch break, they were a rough bunch. I could literally write a book about the different characters. (Eddie too many = 8 DUI’s and had served jail time, Tattoo Billy= full sleeves including Al Capone and present day “gangsters” he was a 100lb white guy, a guy affectionately called “Struggler” a guy from down South who’s claim to fame was meeting his wife at a family reunion, the guy must have signed his checks with an X, and Indian Joe, a 300lb guy that was always angry and whose normal volume was just above drill sergeant.

I had to get out. I had banked the majority of my earnings for the, almost, two years. Going into winter jobs got slow, so when I had a chance to take a lay off I jumped on it. Get paid to sit at home and relax, no more warming your fingers on the exhaust port of the generator on the job site? Sounded great!

I collected unemployment and had a friend who was taking a class at the local tech college for EMT-Basic. He was telling me about it and I thought it sounded cool, so I enrolled. I completed the class easily and enjoyed it, and this opened my eyes to working a little more with my head, than my back. The following spring I enrolled in the Firefighting/Paramedic program at the college. I remember being hesitant to tell her that I was going to school. Imagine that, you don’t want to tell your mother you are taking classes because you think she will try to talk you out of it or tell you it’s a waste….

I finished the FireMedic program and took a job with a local EMS agency. The job was decent, a good company, but the hours sucked and the pay was way worse than I was making doing concrete. I also bought cars and trucks in the rural area I was from and sold them in the larger city and would make around $500 a pop, that actually paid for quite a bit of my living expenses and school. Arbitrage anyone?

I had really, really enjoyed school so while I was working in EMS I enrolled in the local University in a Pre-Law program. Why not right? Lawyers make a bunch of money, go big? Now, how do I juggle having to pay the mortgage and go to school? I figured my friends parents managed apartments right? How hard can it be? I had always worked for them doing odd jobs that were always available and my buddy never wanted to do. So I went to their house and grabbed a couple of rental applications and paperwork. I used a copy machine at the local library to place my “company” name over the top of theirs to look legit.

Disclaimer: Looking back, this was not the correct way to do things, but keep in mind I was 20-21, had no clue how to do things “right”, probably didn’t care, and figured I had nothing to lose.
 

Camaro68

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So I rented the house out! I was actually cash flow positive to the tune of a couple hundo a month. I didn’t even know what that term meant, just that I got the house paid for and the extra covered my student rental bedroom with some buddies. Cant beat that right?

So there I am, in college, working in EMS still balancing it all at once. Collecting rent, telling the renters ( a family of four, parents were professionals) that my parents owned the property and I just did stuff for them and collected rent. They must have known but my theory was “fake it till ya make it”.

I wanted to get done ASAP with school and start the next chapter, the university didn’t charge you extra tuition for anything over 15 credits, so I took 18-21 (BONUS!) and even had to get special approval from he Dean to be able to register for that many. I had an average just below 4.0 so he went with it and I finished up pretty quick. I loved it, I had a great internship with the local DA and Judge as well as the Sheriffs Dept. I was also a professors TA for a couple of classes (teaching/grading some pretty cute freshmen girls papers might I add, but that’s a whole nother story).

I graduated and didn’t know what to do. I had read several books about being a lawyer and it sounded terrible. To add to that, Law school was damn expensive and IMO the market was saturated with law degrees. I couldn’t swallow the idea of spending over $100k on school and then get out and earn what I had been making doing concrete, starting out. I passed.

Now at this time the economy was kinda in the tank. Rather then strike out into the world, I decided to go back to grad school at close to the house I owned for Industrial Safety. It delayed my loans and I figured it all went together. EMS, Law, Safety, construction, I pulled on things from all life experiences. That’s what I did. The renters lease was up and I moved back in. I had three roommates from school living with me paying rent. I was cash flow positive to the tune of $600/mo. It was insane, making easy money and having a blast with friends.

Nearing the end of the program I had a professor pass me a posting for a company that was looking for interns, the company was in the oil and gas industry. He told me that with my experience I should probably apply because they were looking for someone with my experience. So I applied and they offered. I’m gonna summarize this process because it would be a long story, basically I had another offer from another company already that paid better in the short term hourly but I knew the O&G industry was a great field and where I wanted to be. Anyway there were literally about 15 things that fell into place perfectly for me to land the internship that later turned into the job I still have today.

I started working for the company after the internship. The pay was more than I probably ever thought I’d make. I was 24 and making over $150k/yr. The first year I saved quite a bit and directed the majority of it to paying off my student loans, I left school with just shy of $50k in loans from the tech school, the university under grad and grad school. Wiped them out in the first year. The second year I didn’t have anything to save for, and I was still driving my 1996 Ford Escort wagon. I lived with a buddy who bought a house about 20min from my work renting a bedroom from him for $350/mo. Needless to say, there was quite a bit of cash to figure out what to do with. I started wondering about investing. The product of a mother who was a librarian, my natural inclination was to look for books on the subject.

I went to Goodwill. Tues-Sun at the goodwill about 15min from house, they would price books of a certain color (one week blue, next week green etc) 10 books for……$1.99!! That’s 10 CENTS a book! I would buy every book they had on investing, business, marketing, anything to do with money, even old college finance and accounting textbooks. I couldn’t get enough. In one of those piles what “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” That book blew my mind. I had never looked at things as assets and liabilities, and transferring your income from a W-2 to passive. I was blown away, this only solidified my resolve to learn more.

Anxious to get started putting money to good use I was looking through local real estate on the internet one night and stumbled upon 4acres with a 40x80 pole shed and an old barn on it just outside of town, I called my buddy the realtor the next day and told him I wanted to take a look. 3 days later I owned it. I didn’t know what I was going to do with it, but I bought it. 32k cash. (Wouldn’t have made that move today, but it worked out, read on) My mind raced with possibilities! Storage sheds! Build a house myself, contract out what I didn’t want to do, rent out the shed, start an automotive co-op with tools and a monthly fee like a gym membership, hold wedding receptions, I had a ton of ideas, none of which were very realistic and I had no idea what I was doing haha.

While I was figuring it out, I had some friends with boats and collector cars that needed a place to put them for the winter, so I rented them space for $100/mo a piece. The following spring as a buddy was pulling his boat out, the neighbor approached him (thinking it was the owner) and asked him if he wanted to sell. He told him that I owned it but that maybe I would sell.

Long story short, I ended up selling to the guy on land contract. I negotiated the price by playing the other neighbor to the North off the neighbor to the South to instigate somewhat of a bidding war, I also made a layout with google earth and photoshop showing “proposed” mini storage buildings on the four acres that was my “plan” moving forward, and who wants the beautiful four acres next to their house with original barn turned into ugly mini storage?? I told him what I wanted and said that was the best I could do, otherwise I would proceed with the original investment plan. He agreed and we had a lawyer write everything up.

I actually really lucked out here. As other posters have commented, buying land that is vacant (unless unique circumstances) meant that I was in the whole from day one, no income, and the slight stuff I did get from the buddies basically covered the property tax…I owned the land outright but it wasn’t using leverage and I would have done it totally different today. I bought the property for $32k I held it for about a year and a half and then sold it for $40K, the terms were/are $4k cash down, I’ll finance him for 5 years @8%. Again, not great returns when considering taxes etc. but it’s essentially risk free for me. He’ll actually have it paid off within 4 years as he is making pretty aggressive payments.

So I have my primary original house, the 4 acres now “sold” on land contract, and I’m still wondering what to do with extra cash. I start to read about PENNY STOCKS. Oh man! How amazing, look this Sykes guy has made numerous millionaires and he was on some legit shows doing interviews so it has to be real right? Well I’m a natural skeptic and can usually spot this stuff a mile away but it intrigued me so I did a bunch of internet searches. No need to tell you guys what I found out…

Anyway I did have interest in some penny stocks, exciting and a chance to hit. So, having no idea about how to properly allocate capital to ensure the highest likelihood of a satisfactory return with the least amount of risk, I bought 2 penny stocks, I think I put $300 a piece into them and quickly watched them drop to about $50 worth. It felt like I was kicked in the stomach. I couldn’t stand to watch the carnage. I was out and decided maybe the market wasn’t for me. Maybe mom was right? The market IS rigged! THE MARKET (as if it’s a living breathing monster that looks like the monopoly man and satan morphed together) wanted to TAKE MY MONEY!! How horrible the thought.

I shifted back to what I thought I knew. Real Estate. Now this one was my best score yet. It was 2012 and there I was again on the couch one summer night at about 11pm surfing the local agents page and saw this cute little cottage on a lake about 1 mile north of my house.

I called he same realtor buddy and told him I wanted to look. We went and it needed some work (perfect!) I figured a number I thought was fair and he said he would put the offer in for me. I lowballed them, I put the offer in $20k less than asking price. The story was that the owner had came down with cancer and passed away, he left the property to his children who lived about 6 hours away and didn’t want to pay property taxes on it and were looking to move it. My realtor buddy called their agent and said we wanted to put in an offer. The agent said, Oh! Well I was just going to drop the price what is your offer?

Thinking fast on his feet (a natural born smoozer) he lowballed them even more at $30k less than asking price and she said, well I think if you did, they would take it. He wrote it up and dropped it off and called me. He played me so hard, well…I dunno if they’ll go for it he said (already knowing the deal was done) then he said..what if I told you I could guarantee they will take $30k less..I told him I would take him to the nicest restaurant the next city over. He said I’ll be to your house in 20 min, get your pen out, they will do $30k less than asking! Man I was ecstatic! That was the best $300 I ever spent haha.

So here I am with the new place on the lake. I rent out the original house that I bought with my first job again and am cash flow positive $250/mo to another family. I move all the roommates I had at that house, to the new place on the lake. “We’re lake people now” was the joke.
 

Camaro68

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I’ll paraphrase the next year or so. The tenants at the original house loved it so much they wanted to buy it. I sold it to them at full fair market value (I actually think I was a little high) plus I saved quite a bit by not having to pay realtor commissions, they secured their own financing and we had a title company write it up. So I had a cool $100k from that deal. The new place on the lake was actually cheaper because I had locked in at 3.75% rather than 4.5% on the other place, I was cash flowing even more on the new place, and we were on the water. Not bad. So I’m continuing to work, roommates hold the fort down while I’m gone, and even more cash to deploy.

Throughout all this I’m reading, on nights I’d be at work I’d be reading, sometimes 1-2 books a night. All of a sudden I’m blown away again by the concept of DCF and valuation. I start to look at things as investments and compare them to a risk free return. I talk to everyone I can about everything finance related and everyone looks at me like I’m crazy. It still blows me away that guys I work with can name the 3rd string defensive tackle that played 3 games for the Steelers back in 1996 and would recognize him on the street and tell you what college he went to, but if you try to discuss with them something as simple as the way an amortization table works with regard to rate and term, their eyes glaze over and they have no clue. I love football but at the end of the day, that guy is making millions and I’d rather direct my focus and energy into learning or memorizing things that will benefit ME.


Back to the story…so I once again decide to try the markets. I read about target date funds, dividend investing, and everything I can get my hands on about Warren Buffett, literally. I make some good investments and a couple kinda bad ones. Luckily the big investments were good and the bad ones as a percentage were pretty small although their currently paper losses. This again opens a huge new world to me. A funny side note, remember when I talked about being sick at the $2-300 losses in the penny stocks, an average day for my accounts in the market is $10-15k swings, if I look at the YTD numbers its common to see $100k between highs and lows. (I know there are guys here that make that in a month, just illustrating how my own perception has changed)

I could again, write an entire book about this alone (I know its getting long already) Anyway, fast forward to today. Through this roller-coaster and continually trying to move forward, I still have the place on the lake. It’s rented out and cash flow positive. Job is going good, over the last 6 years I’ve averaged about $160k/yr plus the approx. $13k gross rents and around $10k dividend income and misc interest I get paid from the land contract. I max a 401k, IRA, HAS and fund a taxable account. The totals invested each year are approx. $83k. I track all income and investments with Excel spreadsheets. I love Excel. If I had to be stuck on an island with a computer that had one capability…it would be Excel. Ok a little drastic, but I seriously love setting up spreadsheets. (Yes I’ve had tons of GF’s, kinda a closet numbers nerd though)

So you’ve read where I’ve been, how I got here, where I am now…but what about where I am going.

My job pays well and allows me to invest a substantial amount but IMO it’s still the Slowlane. If a boss fired me tomorrow it would rock my world. Perhaps not financially, but definitely my 5-10yr plan as that loss of deployable capital might be tough to replace quickly. Although I have some dividend income coming it, I don’t specifically invest for dividends because of tax consequences. This brings us to the next chapter, plan, leg of the journey.

When I was in college I took a part time job with the mom of a girl I went to school with. She owned a group home for high functioning adults who needed help with day to day care as they transition from the medical facility to home. I worked there (basically just slept, it was allowed) overnight and did homework and then left in the morning. It was super easy and only paid $8/hr but I didn’t have to work, just stay there. Fast forward to today. I reconnected with them and her mom wants to retire. This thing throws off serious cash, I’ve met with her to go over the books, the money is guaranteed by the county and there is low risk. This is a Fastlane business. The only risk that I see is employee turnover, can be tough to train/replace but they are cheap. I can do payroll, accounting, books etc. and the business is managed and staffed to take care of day to day stuff. The business side I can run from any WiFi although I would likely stop in a couple days a week because I would enjoy it. I am in the process of pursing this deal. I’ll update things as they progress. I’d like to do this as a transition from my Slowlane job to more freedom and being my own boss.

This has gotten incredibly long, I doubt anybody made it this far, thanks if you did! I’m starting to slow down haha. Feel free to answer any questions about anything and I’d be happy to answer, or give me constructive criticism. Thankful for the forums ability to get my creative juices flowing, I also feel like its nice to “ be around” like minded individuals who have a passion for business and aren’t afraid to go out and try, make mistakes and keep on goin for it. Keep that hunger.
 
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Bigguns50

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First, WELCOME to the Forum ! Second, that was one long a$$ post brother ! Normally, I wouldn't read that long of a post, but it was very interesting.

The trend seems obvious to me.... real estate investing for you. There are several members here who are successful investors. One invests worldwide. One is a builder of new homes. There's a lot of Gold here for you.
 

Nmm540

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I read through your post quick like. Very captivating. Ive worked as an union electrician for the last 6 years so all the talk about working construction hit home for me. Mostly the part about the people knowing about the names of all the football players yet not knowing an amoritization table. I struggle with this everyday amongst friends and fellow workers. I try and talk business and finance with my coworkers but honestly not a single person on a 20 person crew wants to or can. Thanks for the story, my favorite part is the process too
 

mark51669

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Great story - I was surprised at how it captivated my attention the whole way through.
I think you've got a great mindset - love that you're thinking of your next jump in the fast lane. $83k savings a year is no small feat - but you're smart to pursue options that result in less taxable personal income. America is great to live in - as long as you're a company.
 
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Camaro68

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First, WELCOME to the Forum ! Second, that was one long a$$ post brother ! Normally, I wouldn't read that long of a post, but it was very interesting.

The trend seems obvious to me.... real estate investing for you. There are several members here who are successful investors. One invests worldwide. One is a builder of new homes. There's a lot of Gold here for you.

Here's the irony! I don't particularly care for RE as an investment! Haha I think I did lean that way at one time but now not so much. I don't like the commissions at time of sale for starters. If there was a stock or mutual fund that you could buy that required you to pay out 6% when you click sale I don't know how many people would be interested in that.

Also, the majority of the investment property that I see is never priced right, it's always extremely high and they inflate the projected rent, I live in a college town and they advertise that the property has 4 rooms at $350/mo, well everyone that has gone to school there or grew up here knows that the going rate is around $250/mo per room. That extra $100/mo translates into a $40k higher asking price for the property that would otherwise be worth $50k because its half falling apart, has value as an investment for income but otherwise the house is junk. They all are like that.

I think if I was going to get into RE then I would get my own license etc, or would have to be in that business to get more inside deals. I actually did prefer single family homes to student rentals (although my realtor was the opposite). About the only thing I like regarding real estate is the ability to leverage at historically low rates, but now it's much harder to do so than it was years ago. You would need investors or partners to buy properties en masse.

Then if you had, say a couple million to stick into an area, they wouldn't be using me, they would have a team look at the area market etc and that wouldn't be where I am haha, my old college roommate majored in property management and is working with a big outfit in Austin, TX determining calculations for investments in properties, they have some of the Rangers as clients, kinda cool. I would defer to his expertise if RE was something I really wanted to get into. I think RE can really do well, you definitely make your money when you BUY not when you sell, like I did with the place on the lake. Leverage is the name of the game, and IMO I would buy with the view that I'd probably never sell, just use that income once the properties were owned to live off. That's the realtor buddies plan.

I think I would perhaps look to RE as a new venture or new focus if I wasn't thinking of the group home right now. In a way I'm still in the RE game if you think about it going that route. I will own the house/building that is the home, and rather than having a family for a tenant or students, I have people from the county. I don't have to go find them, the county contacts YOU. No hassles with rent, the county is good for it. And if you can get $250-$350 per room in student rentals.....you can get $135-$155 A DAY from the county. Granted the overhead is significantly more because you are providing food and a single person staff 24hrs a day, but that's still pretty significant when you consider that you can double up residents in a room and the house is legally allowed to hold up to 8 residents. That's a pretty good junk of change. Many costs are fixed, utilities, staff wages. It's a great business and I can see scaling it once having the first one running smoothly, start another in the next county or two over.

Once I have the recipe figured out for the home to run smooth, you copy it in the next location. The best experience for the resident, best friendliest staff and best relationship with the social workers and a daily rate slightly lower than the competition while offering the most bang for the buck with treatment/classes etc. The majority of the competition is owned by people that don't have good business sense, IMO they are fat dumb and happy, they have no edge.
 

Camaro68

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I read through your post quick like. Very captivating. Ive worked as an union electrician for the last 6 years so all the talk about working construction hit home for me. Mostly the part about the people knowing about the names of all the football players yet not knowing an amoritization table. I struggle with this everyday amongst friends and fellow workers. I try and talk business and finance with my coworkers but honestly not a single person on a 20 person crew wants to or can. Thanks for the story, my favorite part is the process too

Oh man I feel your pain! There are not many things I have in common with the coworkers, Im known as the "401k" guy, so if anyone has any questions about how it all works, how much they can contribute etc, they ask me. I start to explain it and they lose interest in the first 5 min. They then invariably always defer to, "just tell me what to do", and I never do, not something I want over my head I/when there is a correction, to come back and have someone yelling that they are down 50% on something and pulling their money out and its all my fault. I usually point them to research about Target Date funds just because it diversifies for them, its easier for them to understand, its a single fund and they can just set it and forget it. Plus in all reality for them, the major determining factor in their retirement success is time in the game and how much they sock away. Those are really the only two factors they can control, so in general TDF's are probably a good option for them.

I also work with a couple guys who dabble in stocks but have no idea what they are doing. It's actually comical if it wasn't sad knowing that they are using money and have a family. Sometimes I look at the market and think it's fairly efficient. Usually decent deals are spotted and snatched up, bad investments dropped pretty quick and certainly the institutional investors are a big part of the pie, but then I listen to the guys at work and think, he there are people like that at every company in the world, in the market.

They literally pick names for zero reason whatsoever. No valuation, no projection, no expected or reasonable assumption of return, no basic business sense with regard to competitive advantage of the business, market/industry in which they operate etc. Totally over their head. I try to tell them that there is investing, speculating, and downright gambling. They mistakenly think they are investing when in reality they are downright GAMBLING. It really makes me sick. Also if I were to try to explain things to them it would never work, they would have to learn themselves, some people aren't good with numbers in general, and this is years of reading, hypothesizing and learning with real world money for me, not something I'm gonna be able to explain to some guy in any quick fashion, especially when it's not really his "thing". I'm afraid their on their own.

The majority of guys at my work are lifers here, they think they "made it" and don't even think outside the box, content to shuffle into work in the morning with their igloo cooler and "do their time" as I like to think of it. It was the same when I did concrete. Shuffle in, take some overtime if you can get it, wife spends the whole check, kids don't know them cause they are gone all the time, new big house, new toys (Snowmobile, boat, his/hers new vehicles, cabin, ATV) eventually wife is out with friends and they are drinking and tell her life is short and she deserves better, next thing you know the guy is getting divorced, paying child support and alimony to the wife, guy is now working to pay all that because he got shafted by the courts and slips into the bar one night to unwind, maybe he gets a DUI on the drive home and continues to drink, so that's his life, working daily in the O&G industry, life upside down, entire checks of serious money goes to the wife and he's at a dead end. It's honestly sad. And ask me how I just wrote that paragraph, because I've seen it at least 20X play out that exact way here. Life is great when they get hired and the checks start, and then within usually 5 years, sometimes less, the whole Jenga pile topples.

I don't care about the toys, I realize it's a pretty good opportunity to make this kinda money right outta college and I want to put it to work so I can check out ASAP. I started at 25, earliest retirement date with pension is 58....that's 33 years, full pension at 62, that's 37 years...the thought of 33-37 years here makes me insane.

Nice to know there are some guys in industry that are similar. There is ONE guy here that I work with (not directly or daily but is in the same location) who actually went to law school and his wife is an attorney, we were hired at the same time. He says for the same reasons I do, the money is good but he has a plan as well.
 

Camaro68

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Great story - I was surprised at how it captivated my attention the whole way through.
I think you've got a great mindset - love that you're thinking of your next jump in the fast lane. $83k savings a year is no small feat - but you're smart to pursue options that result in less taxable personal income. America is great to live in - as long as you're a company.

Thanks Mark! I didn't expect this, but writing here is actually very, very therapeutic for me. It feels great to be amongst like minded folks to share ideas and network with. I'm afraid I've felt like I'm in my own little world for the last 5-6 years, making my moves and grinding its actually been lonely in a way because nobody knows what you are doing or thinks they way we do about positioning themselves for something better. I plan to post more about some things that have changed in me personally, my thinking mainly with the help of a ton of reading. It makes me feel great to get it out there even if nobody read it and a place that I can read and track my own journey. A diary almost that others can read or ask questions about if they want. I've read other forums but I don't see any other ones that have such a diverse offering that focuses on everything that I want to know about. I've already learned a ton and read for hours on here expanding my thought process. For instance my definite weak spot is online ecommerce stuff. I would say I have the understanding of a toddler when it comes to marketing, social media, eccomerce, import/export etc. I'm like a sponge on that stuff. I know enough to realize the potential but have to educate myself more on the ways to do it and how to take that knowledge and use it to my advantage. Figure out the recipe.

I've never been afraid of hard work, and have always been willing to sacrifice to get what I want once I set my mind to it. For instance when I first started and mentioned that I wanted to pay off my student loans and all debt the first year, I spend about 5 months sleeping in my truck because I saved the money from rent to pay down debt, that's how bad I wanted it. I didnt care about discomfort, I saw a way to do it and I was willing to do whatever it took to get what I want. As I've read more, educated myself, grown in understanding and developed a better business mind my focus has shifted drastically from working HARDER, to working SMARTER. Slowlane is fine for working harder, you can always get a part-time job and work nights, my mom was a champ at this (and probably an influence to me to think that way) but why work harder when you can work SMARTER. Fastlane is working SMARTER, better output for less input, that's the name of the game. Buffett didn't make billions because he was digging ditches 23hrs a day for 30 years, he made money because he worked smarter and leveraged other people money. All the greats do this, but it requires you to think on a totally different level than the average person, because that's all they know, they don't even know its possible. Now I always look for a way to leverage and use other people to do menial tasks that frees me up to think/make moves on the next level. This has been the biggest change for me. I sometimes also look where I am and how I think now and wonder where I would be if I had a father or a mentor that started me out thinking like this when I was still a teenager and where I would be today. I don't have kids (random GF's here and there) but I ever had a son, he would start out probably 10-15 years ahead of me in understanding by the time he got to college. There is no timeline, we all know the stories of Colonel Sanders and others who made it "late" in the game, its a perpetual growth story, bettering yourself slow but sure and learning as you go. I love that.
 
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Camaro68

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I wanted to comment/post another thing I was thinking about. I read @biophase thread about how his mindset and view of money changed once he wa "free" of the ratrace. I have had a similar experience. When I was young it was the $100 sneakers, we never had a vehicle under 20yrs old that wasn't rusted out and anybody who lived in a house instead of subsidized apartments were considered "rich" haha.

In college the $5-600 positive cash flow from roommates made me think I was ballin. That combined with working full-time in EMS while in college and the maybe once a month purchase of a cheap car that I then flipped for $500-$1000 profit quickly made me think I was on top of the world. I didn't know exactly where I was going but I knew I wanted it and was willing to hustle to get it even if it meant going without sleep etc. The idea of a huge house, tons of toys/cars etc appealed to me greatly. I wanted the hot car and the industrial loft in the big city.

Now that I am dealing with significantly larger sums of money it's all changed. The flaunting of money seems so immature to me. I'm not commenting on anybody else, whatever it takes to motivate someone, I don't compare myself to others and never look down on anyone for any reason. For myself though, when you see the NFL players or other sports stars, the music stars or movie celebrities and they blow money, run through it with several Lambos, yachts etc. or end up broke 5 years into retirement it turns my stomach. Anybody can blow money, that's takes no skill or effort at all, but someone who can intelligently deploy capital and grow their holdings, innovate and provide value impresses me. I don't care if you are working with hundreds or hundreds of thousands. The mindset makes a difference, and it's all relative anyway right? Dan Blitzen probably buys a Lambo like I would by a beater car, $150M or whatever will do that, probably a drop in the bucket for him and makes no real difference anyway in his bottom line.

I used to get excited about making $500 in a week on a car I flipped in college. Now for any deal to interest me it's gotta be $5-10K for something fast and if I was going to do something in RE on a house and might have to hold for a year or two, I don't even consider it unless I project that I could put $50k after everything in my account. Totally different mindset. Blitzen probably wouldn't bend over to pick up $50k.

Also like Biophase, I don't care about the toys like I said. I want the freedom. To be honest I want to have the passive income to do what I want and focus on the things that money cant buy. Time, a thing on my bucket list is to build a log cabin myself. I need something more and fulfilling. If you are Blitzen you can certainly buy and cabin you want, anywhere you want, anytime you want, but no matter how much money you have you'll never feel the satisfaction and know what its like to scribe and set each log and create something beautiful that will stand for a hundred years. That's valuable to me and I would consider that successful, dictating your day and answering to nobody. Sure I could have that now, quit a job and live a simple life. The guys living on the street have that freedom now do they not? But I want it with a comfortable standard of living, nothing flashy or extravagant, but comfortable. That's different for everyone but my goals are fairly realistic. Doesn't take much to make me happy.
 

Camaro68

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One other quick thing, I think my posts get long because I type very fast and it doesn't take much to put a thought down, the fingers start flying and its just like talking.

I grew up in a small town and quickly reaslized that there was no oppuntity to make any decent money there, if I wanted to make money I had to go where it was more readily available, the closest large metro area about an hour away. I live and work there now. I go back "home" maybe once a month to pick up rent checks and run some errands. The hardest thing about bettering yourself and being successful, changing your mindset is seeing those friends or people you care about stay stagnant and eventually give up, they have accepted their fate as average and don't even know what they are missing out on. The old high school buddies are all overweight now, married with multiple kids and working in construction or a factory back home content to bring in their MAYBE 45-50kyr if they are doing "well". Each week is capped off by the "excitement" of heading over to the favorite watering hole and having drinks Fri and Sat night with other buddies in the same situation, commiserating about life and reliving the "glory days" of middle 2000's State high school football championships. I literally hear "Glory Days" the song playing in my head when I walk in. The same folks on the same barstools every year, year after year, the faces get older but the people don't change. It's madness!!!

When we chat, we have nothing in common anymore, nothing to talk about and the conversation shifts back to memories of the past and day to day stuff of no importance including the weather. Unfortunately it also includes local town gossip, a waste of time and I cant stand it.

It honestly makes me feel bad, I wish we were all striving to win together but you cant always take them with you. Once you graduate and are out from under your parents everyone is on their own. Doesn't matter that your parents had money, a nice place, successful and took vacations if you are 30 and living in a trailer, working in a factory and the highlight of your life is slamming drinks at the local hole in the wall. I cant tell them that I've been all over Europe multiple times or are working on deals because they think the deals sounds risky or don't know how to get money to use, and why would anybody want to travel anywhere not on a cruise ship or to a beach in Florida or Cancun, better yet why would anybody want to leave and experience other cultures or ways of life?? What's wrong with home, you know everybody there! GAG I'm usually there for a day or spend the night and I can never wait to get back to the city. You can feel the mediocrity in the air, you can cut it with a knife and it's stifling. I hate the mindset there and it will never change, if anything going back once a month is the ultimate motivation to continue to hustle so I never HAVE to go back.

I also interestingly never let on that I have what I do. In a way it would make me a target and I wouldn't fit in anymore. You have to portray an auroa of mediocrity so they don't think you are some big shot. The mentality becomes a self fulfilling prophecy for them. I'm a townie, I'm simple, my life sucks, but so does everybody else so we're all in it together and I fit in....what a life huh?!?

I'm sure there are others here in similar situations and think the same way when they go back home or hang out with childhood friends. You grow and progress, better yourself and you just watch them continue the downward spiral, stuck.
 

MJ DeMarco

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Wow, quite the story. And yea, I read it all.

Thank you for sharing, lots of little nuggets of life wisdom, especially noticing this...

The mentality becomes a self fulfilling prophecy for them. I'm a townie, I'm simple, my life sucks, but so does everybody else so we're all in it together and I fit in....what a life huh?!?

You'll learn pretty fast that most people have resigned from life, like pieces of driftwood floating down a river. Having a mutually beneficial relationship is often difficult; 1 party wants to talk about the NFL draft, you want to talk about all the great things you're doing, and will be doing.

Anyhow, welcome to the forum, congrats on the journey you've taken, and welcome to our little corner of the interwebs.
 
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MetalGear

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Wow, quite the story. And yea, I read it all.

Thank you for sharing, lots of little nuggets of life wisdom, especially noticing this...



You'll learn pretty fast that most people have resigned from life, like pieces of driftwood floating down a river. Having a mutually beneficial relationship is often difficult; 1 party wants to talk about the NFL draft, you want to talk about all the great things you're doing, and will be doing.

Anyhow, welcome to the forum, congrats on the journey you've taken, and welcome to our little corner of the interwebs.

The big benefit of this forum is having that social support group so that you don't feel alone in this hustle. Most of my friends and relatives have resigned and are just drifting into their destination...The moment I talk about living a different life, they look at me like I'm crazy.
 

ExaltedLife

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10 books for……$1.99!! That’s 10 CENTS a book! I would buy every book they had on investing, business, marketing, anything to do with money, even old college finance and accounting textbooks.

Should have bought a math textbook! LOL ;)

Great post btw
 

Camaro68

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Wow, quite the story. And yea, I read it all.

Thank you for sharing, lots of little nuggets of life wisdom, especially noticing this...



You'll learn pretty fast that most people have resigned from life, like pieces of driftwood floating down a river. Having a mutually beneficial relationship is often difficult; 1 party wants to talk about the NFL draft, you want to talk about all the great things you're doing, and will be doing.

Anyhow, welcome to the forum, congrats on the journey you've taken, and welcome to our little corner of the interwebs.

Thanks MJ, this is 100% true! You are the company you keep....like I said it's refreshing to have a place to read/discuss/network with like-minded individuals. It's really a breath of fresh air. I like the quote, "I’d rather be a hungry lion in the wild, than a well fed lion in a cage.”

We're all at different stages in life, different starting points, but if you are broke and starving living on the street in India, or working in a factory here in the states it doesn't matter. What matters is the realization that there is better out there, and the relentless pursuit of something better. The ability to realize that you CAN change your situation and the willingness to do whatever that takes.

There is power in knowledge and it costs nothing to read and learn, but you have to want to do it and focus all effort and energy into something that will make needed changes and better whatever you are unhappy about. Take responsibility for your life, there are no victims, the mentality makes the difference. Accept what happens as out of your control and roll over, or acknowledge it, learn from it and come back swinging.

Interestingly I don't know where this difference in me started. I guess ever since I was a kid I wanted better and didn't accept mediocrity. Is it nature or nurture? I believe that your environment can have an impact on your development but it doesn't have to STAY THAT WAY. I think totally different than any of my friends or family, I was not nurtured to think this way as everyone in my family has or is exactly as your described above, they have resigned to their lot in life. Perhaps that's easy to do after several setbacks in life, but you separate the winners from the resigners by tenacity and that relentless pursuit of better, if it takes two times or two hundred, keep getting up, keep coming back. Beat setbacks by sheer volume of effort and statistics. If you have that attitude of refusing to accept what you don't want its impossible to fail because you're never finished.

All one can do with family and friends is pont them in the right direction if they ask, set an example by your own actions. The rest is up to them....
 
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Camaro68

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The big benefit of this forum is having that social support group so that you don't feel alone in this hustle. Most of my friends and relatives have resigned and are just drifting into their destination...The moment I talk about living a different life, they look at me like I'm crazy.

I know exactly what you mean! They look at your like you're crazy or speaking another language. You actually cant even convey your thoughts/idea/views/goals because they are so far behind on anything other than the latest sports happenings, town gossip or happenings at "the plant" that they cant comprehend anything else. Anything outside of their own little cage is irrelevant. They are conditioned to think this way. Like I said above in another post, I do feel sorry about that, but at the same time then sometimes I wonder...is ignorance bliss? If they are happy with the 9-5 job with "good" benefits and stability who am I to think they are slaves to the rat race and would be better off working to break free? Really its an individual thing and everyone's perspective is different. That has just never been good enough for me. I hear that someone got a new job (for instance) working for a company with great benefits and its a relief for them because it's stable. I immediately think, I wanna be the guy that owns the company that hired them. What is the business, what is the competitive advantage, what market/industry are they in, what are the margins and operating costs, is it attractive?

It's not enough to be content being a cog in the wheel. I want to be the guy who owns the patent on the wheel and gets a royalty, or owns the wheel and makes sure it functions properly and or comes up with new ways the wheel can work to generate revenue for other businesses around the world.
 

Camaro68

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Should have bought a math textbook! LOL ;)

Great post btw

HAHAHAHAAH fair Exalted! When I wrote that it was pretty early in the morning. .20 a book is still dirt cheap, the point is it is basically free education (cheaper than one late fee at a library) and it's sitting there. I stocked an entire bookcase of reference material after reading it all. I also go a younger friend in college that I know hooked on reading anything and everything they can get their hands on and now when he is back we chat and he is headed in the right direction. Its a great feeling to help open someone's eyes to potential and possibility and watch them bloom. All the people I know and he is the only one who ever asked me anything related to goals etc. It all started by him noticing a huge pile of books on a ledge in my bedroom, all business related and why I had them. One little question planted the seed.
 

Camaro68

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I wanted to comment on one other thing I thought of today. This is regarding the aforementioned folks we all know who have resigned to their lot in life, my friends and even family included. This is it for them, they think. They have reached their potential.

When I look at CEO's of several companies, listen to them on conference calls. Many have Ivy league degrees, or a "pedigree" but do you honestly think they are smarter than you? Do you think their is some intrinsic quality that they have that got them to this position. There is no person in this world that I don't think I could match in position. This sounds cocky to some, but it's not. I don't think it's just true for myself, I think that applies to EVERYONE.

Sure some may have a high IQ (Einstein) or perhaps are visionaries (Elon Musk) but I maintain that there is no special sauce that they have that anyone here does not. They think outside the box and are in a position to influence. Given opportunity and more importantly by MAKING opportunity there is no reason that you or I couldn't do the same thing.

Love him or hate him I think Connor McGregor hit it on the head with his quote, “There's no talent here, this is hard work. This is an obsession. Talent does not exist, we are all equal as human beings. You could be anyone if you put in the time. You will reach the top, and that is that. I am not talented, I am obsessed.”

I firmly believe this. If you enter into any venture with this mindset you'll be successful if you truly commit. Some may have a few qualities that start them out a little further ahead than others, but its nothing that cant be overcome by putting in the time and becoming obsessed with your craft, whether that's hitting people, catching footballs or starting a business. This will alienate you from many, but that's because the majority don't realize what it takes are certainly aren't willing to become obsessed with anything challenging. They don't want to put in the work. The majority take the easy route and are overweight and underpaid because its easy, that doesn't take obsession (unless you're obsessed with Twinkies I guess haha).
 
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UPDATE: Continuing to read as much as I can on the forum. There is a steep learning curve for me in the tech world in regard to online marketing, social media and ecommerce, but I love what I'm learning. I organize everything by writing it down and bookmarking sites or threads for easy reference. This site has been invaluable as a concentrated resource.

As for the group home, I contacted the owner again. We initially met several months ago to go over the numbers and discuss plans. It's established that she is looking to sell and I would like to buy. She is nearing retirement and could technically go at any time but is still figuring out when the opportune time for her to pull the plug is with regard to social security etc. I still touch base with her every other month to gauge her progress and ensure her we are still moving in that direction.

Personally, rather than taking the aforementioned funds from this year and investing them in an IMO overpriced market, I have set them aside for liquidity reasons so that I am able to pull the trigger at any time on the business. This will add in the down payment for the house/facility as well as working capital requirements during the transition.

The lady herself is impressive, she's an older German lady, tough as nails. Her aunt lived to 105 and she regularly reminds me that she hasn't been sick in over 10 years, not even a sniffle!. Additionally I think its difficult for her to pull the plug, this business has been her "baby" for the past 20 years. To quell this reservation I have mentioned to her that I would like her to stay on in a limited capacity part-time. This will allow her to still feel involved and make for a smoother transition, while still giving her a sense of purpose and something to do. This isn't a lady that is going to retire and just sleep everyday, she is a hardcore "doer" and always has something going on. As for the social security, I printed out the documents and explained to her how it is calculated, basically for anyone who is unaware, they base your benefit off an average of past working years, with so many years working and paying in already in the books another year is unlikely to make any material difference in her calculated benefit. I think she didn't quite see what I was saying (as it would have totally put to rest any concerns) but it planted the seed for her to really consider if it makes sense to stay or use that as a reason. I also mentioned to her that if she is concerned about the part-time income affecting her taxes/ social security that I would love to discuss "Alternative" means of compensation for her time, for instance lease a vehicle for her sole use under the business or other non-monetary perks, perhaps insurance etc.

I've basically done the best I could to quell concerns she has during this life path change for her to make it as smooth as possible and ensure her that there are no problems that we cant creatively solve together for mutual benefit, this goes a long way.
 

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