3545: Richer In Retirement by Mr. 1500 of 1500 Days on Financial Independence and Retire Early

[00:00:00] Before we start, please check out our new podcast, Good Sleep. Have you ever noticed how a calm mind can really set the stage for a good night's sleep? That's the idea behind our new podcast, Good Sleep. Greg, our host from Optimal Relationships Daily, is here to help ease you into a peaceful night's rest with some positive affirmations. And these affirmations aren't just comforting, they can help ease anxiety and nurture positive thoughts, setting you up for true good sleep.

[00:00:25] So press play on Good Sleep tonight because a good tomorrow starts with a good night's sleep. Just search for Good Sleep in your podcast app and be sure to pick the one from Optimal Living Daily. This is Optimal Living Daily, Richer In Retirement by Mr1500 at 1500days.com. And I'm Justin Malik. This is the show where I usually read to you like an audiobook, but on Sundays I share an episode from another podcast in our network.

[00:00:54] Today's is coming from Optimal Finance Daily. Please do follow or subscribe to that show, it does help keep this one going. Again, that's Optimal Finance Daily. So with that, here's Diana with the post and commentary as we optimize your life. Richer In Retirement by Mr1500 of 1500days.com

[00:01:19] I vividly remember struggling with money at university. My apartment was paid for, but I supported myself otherwise. I had a part-time job at a computer lab that paid $4.25 an hour. From this money, I had to buy food and everything else. My diet suffered the most. I'd buy the cheapest tomato sauce and cook a huge batch of noodles on Sunday evening.

[00:01:45] Then, I'd eat spaghetti all week. Every week. Lunch was peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. All week. Every week. My food drought ended when I started working a real job after graduation. The first thing I bought with my first paycheck was a pound of ground beef. 20 years later. At the time I bought that pound of ground beef 20 years ago, life was a lot different. Debt. Debt.

[00:02:13] I had so much debt that if I was in a Harry Potter book, my name would have been Dumbledette. That was a horrible joke, but I'm tired. Forgive me. Anyway, I was in the hole to the tune of $60,000. 50 grand in student loans and 10 grand in credit cards. I felt buried. Now, my net worth sits at $2.3 million. Life is good. Sloppy Joe

[00:02:40] With that first pound of beef, I made Sloppy Joe's. That was one of my most memorable meals of all time. And I still love Sloppy Joe's to this day. My debt may be gone, but my shitty taste still exists. $37,000 My first job paid me around $37,000 a year. I felt like I was making loads of money. This past weekend, I was at a community college and glanced at a job board for students.

[00:03:07] One part-time student job offered pay of $18 an hour, or about $36,000 a year. Sigh. Fast forward 20 years, and I'm now done with formal work. Despite not having a job, this has been a lucrative month. Trailer Park, also known as Elevated Living Estates to the Politically Ultra Correct. $12,867 Syndication deals, $1,500

[00:03:35] Coworking space, $1,000 Mortgage notes, $500 Private loan, $293 $16,160 Boom! That's a lot of money to make in one month. And I'm not even including blog money. It isn't much. Or wife revenue. It's a bit healthier. Also, the month isn't even over yet. And these income streams will continue to grow. Trailer Park

[00:04:04] We still have Elevated Living Units for sale and four lots to develop. The park won't hit its full money printing potential until late 2020 or 2021. Syndications I just signed up for my biggest syndication deal yet, $100,000. And it will start paying out shortly. The others will continue to increase payments as the syndicators rehab the properties and raise rents. And Coworking space

[00:04:32] We're growing memberships and improving the space. Warning, shameless and idiotic plug ahead. And then there will be new income streams. Mindy and I just bought another home and we'll rent our current one out. I've thought about starting another small business. I have a friend that I may partner with who wants to buy properties for vacation rentals. On and on. What we're doing is building momentum. We're far more interested in making a lot of money long term than generating short term cash flow.

[00:05:02] And no lifestyle inflation over here either. We've spent $3,782 in October. The surplus for the month is over $12,000. Just when I need money the least, we have more of it than ever. Fire is a positive feedback loop. I first learned about positive feedback systems in university when studying the estrogen cycle in human physiology class.

[00:05:28] From Wikipedia, a positive feedback system, positive feedback or exasperating feedback, is a process that occurs in a feedback loop which exasperates the effects of a small disturbance. That is, the effects of a perturbation on a system include an increase in the magnitude of the perturbation. What the hell does that mean? I'll lay it out with a simple example.

[00:05:54] Imagine your thermostat breaks and works the opposite of how it should. Instead of the heat coming on when it gets cold, it comes on when it gets warm. So the hotter it gets, the hotter it gets. Fire helps create a positive feedback loop. Fire gives you the gift of time. Time leads to money, which frees up more time, which makes more money. Here are some examples where my freedom has contributed to my bottom line.

[00:06:24] Number one, new house. It took a couple of years of diligent work, but Mindy and I just scored a spectacular deal on a home. We expect to make at least $150,000 in tax-free gains when we sell it. Number two, DIY fun. This new home has a pool that needs repair and a furnace that needs to be replaced. The quotes that I received for the work were $20,000 and $6,000 respectively.

[00:06:51] One of the guys who gave me a pool estimate flat out told me that the job would be $5,000 if I lived in Florida, where there are more pools and less competition for labor. I did a load of research and calculated that I could do the pool repairs for about $2,000 and replace the furnace for under $2,000. I've never done either job, but I'm confident that I can complete both and not drown or blow myself up. And number three, entrepreneurial adventures.

[00:07:26] Not working frees me up to do what I love. It just so happens that some of the things I love to do, like building things and farting around with real estate, have the side effect of making more money. This is why I don't worry about the 4% rule, safe withdrawal rates or running out of money. My income as a software developer was healthy, but I see a time when money from all of my fiery activities surpasses it.

[00:07:52] Of course, this won't work if you plan to sit on the couch in pajamas and eat Cheetos. However, if that's your plan, you should just stay at your job anyway. But if you've saved enough to retire early, you're probably a driven person who would feel miserable living a life of leisure. The greatest luxury. The greatest luxury in life is time. It's hard to truly appreciate it until you have it or have lost it. The confines of a busy life constrict our time.

[00:08:22] And when we don't have time, we don't have mental bandwidth. When we don't have mental bandwidth, we don't come up with ideas or create. Time to sit around or walk and just think is highly underrated. I've never considered myself to be a creative type of person. But now that I have the time, the huge list of things I want to do grows longer every day. Because of financial independence, I believe that I'll end up richer by measure of bank account.

[00:08:51] However, I'm already richer in personal development and experiences, which is far more important. Life is good. You just listened to the post titled, Richer in Retirement, by Mr. 1500 of 1500days.com. You know what I love about optimizing my day? Finding snacks that work as hard as I do. And that's why I love Wonderful Pistachios. It's become my go-to snack lately.

[00:09:21] Wonderful Pistachios is one of the highest protein nuts. Each one ounce serving has six grams of protein, giving you over 10% of your daily value. I love that Wonderful Pistachios is a complete protein, providing all nine essential amino acids. That satisfying crack of opening each shell is like a snack meditation for me. If you're always on the move, their no-shells options are perfect on the go. I'm really loving Wonderful Pistachios no-shells unsalted. It holds the salt, but not the flavor,

[00:09:51] in a snack that packs a protein punch. Pistachios are known for their protein power, fiber, and better-for-you unsaturated fats for a combination that may help keep you feeling fuller longer. Whether you're running between meetings or optimizing your day, get snackin' and get crackin' with Wonderful Pistachios. Visit WonderfulPistachios.com to learn more. This is a pretty timely article for me. While I'm not yet financially independent and retired,

[00:10:19] I'm financially secure enough where I'm not desperate for a full-time job right now. And because my expenses are so low, they are easily met, and I'm able to enjoy an incredible abundance of time for creative and entrepreneurial pursuits. But I made a really hard decision this week. I turned down a job offer with a salary of $150,000. It sounds completely insane to say that out loud. It was a really good job,

[00:10:49] with great benefits, a company I believe in that's doing good in the world, and I'm highly qualified for it. But the demand on my time would be costly. It may have affected my ability to host this podcast, which is something that I love, or stretch me too thin on other projects like the Economy Conference, which is an event I produce. The reality is, since I left my corporate job this past January, I've had a $100,000 decrease in my income,

[00:11:18] and it had absolutely no effect on my quality of life. That's freedom to me. That tells me that I'm doing something right and prioritizing the precious resource of time over the opportunity to make more money that, frankly, I don't really need that bad. This article reminded me that not being tied down with a full-time job will allow me the time and energy to explore income streams

[00:11:45] that are perhaps less demanding and more fulfilling. It's a scary choice that I made this week, because there's still a lot of uncertainty on where my future income will come from. But I'm really trying to embrace that uncertainty with a level of trust in myself and recognizing that I can't possibly anticipate today the opportunities that will present themselves tomorrow. There will always be more job opportunities in the future, but I think one day I'll look back

[00:12:14] on this incredible time of exploration and be glad that I bet on myself. And that's a wrap for another show. Have a great rest of your day, and I'll be back tomorrow where your optimal life awaits. Thanks. .