It is a scam to have to spend a human life working just to survive. Our #1 goal should be to free up our time by having our living expenses taken care of, as passively as possible. Just start there....most people start at "I want to make so much money and never have to work again" which is usually a BIG goal and can feel daunting. Take a step back and accomplish the financial security that is found when your home, food, car and basic living expenses are taken care of by a safe investment(s). Once that is done, then give yourself the freedom to pursue more risky goals of insane abundance because now you've got the time to do so without being distracted by survival. For me, this looks like having two rental properties paid off as the rents from those will cover my basic living needs. I'm $363,527.45 away from my goal. Who else has a specific goal they're working toward that will improve their life in a significant way?

We all see the world DIFFERENTLY, and most of the time that's okay. Unfortunately, there are a few times throughout a human life that we all encounter people that see the world so differently, that we can't peacefully interact with them. While it is very hard, I have personally found the only solution to be walking away from that relationship in as peaceful of a way as possible. Most people don't intend to hurt other people, but some certainly get blinded by their own egos and warped perceptions to the point that no matter how much you try to speak truth or come to a peaceful resolution, they'll always refer back to their jaded story because it validates the ego/identity they are subconsciously trying to hold onto. Its the adult version of hide and seek. Some hide from truth and some seek truth. The hiders hide from the truth, their own insecurities as well as reality, and in turn try to mold reality with their words and actions to try and get others to see them the way that they want to be seen. The funny party is its a huge waste of energy because this discounts people's ability to formulate their own perceptions of life based on the experience they are seeing rather than what the manipulator is telling them. This is why the truth always reveals itself despite the façade one may try to impose on others. I am going through one of these situations myself currently, and the only time I feel peace is when I accept that the other person is simply doing the best with what they know, but is blinded by their sense of false identity that they SO badly wants to cling onto, even though its covering up reality and destroying our friendship. Guess this is life's way of saying its time for our paths to separate, and that's okay.

One quest I like to ponder when thinking about the bigger picture is: What will the masses adapt to? People will ALWAYS adapt. We don't have any other choice. Adapt or die. Get used to something or resist it forever. I had a past real estate client looking at homes previously and she wanted to keep their max budget to $2,000/month on a house payment. Even with having $200k equity in their current home to roll into a new home, purchasing a new home in the price range they wanted would cost them closer to $3,000/month. We shopped for a month and then they decided to cancel their plans altogether because they couldn't accept the fact that a new home would cost them $3k/month when their current home payment was $1,400/month.... Well, after 2 months of canceling their plans to move she reached out again, and they're now ready to spend $3k/month for a mortgage on a home that gives them what they want for their growing family. What changed? Their mindset adapted to reality. What they once resisted, they now accept and are willing to continue taking action with how reality is, rather than what it used to be. Adaptation will always win.

Most people just have bank account #1. Its the account that their day job income goes into....the account that pays for Chipotle...the account that pays for their mortgage, car(s), travel, savings, investments etc.....and if you make enough active income this works just fine. But, imagine if you had a second bank account....an account that gets filled every month with extra income on top of what you make at your job. And imagine if this amount was enough to pay for the expenses I mentioned above. What would happen to the income going into bank account #1? Well, that's what you'd get to decide, and that's what I'm here to teach. Bank acct #1 gets funded by your day job. Bank acct #2 gets funded by your real estate cash flow. One of my property tenants use to pay me rent 6 months in advance. I would receive a check for $16,200 up front to cover 6 months rent ahead of time. And $8,520 of that was free and clear profit after I'd pay that mortgage each month for 6 months. Not a crazy amount...but it was just about enough to cover my "miscellaneous expenses" for 6 months, before he would pay me again. I'd go out to eat? I'd spend from that account. I booked a vacation? Came from that account. I bought a friend a gift? That account. It's one of the best feelings I've had in a financial sense because it felt like free money. Obviously, I earned it from finding that deal, having the means to buy it and hold it for years. But having a second bank account that funds your life before having to touch bank acct #1 is one of my favorite hacks, and the main motivator for me wanting to have bank acct #2 have $10k/month free and clear in it. An account that rolls over and just continues to grow if you don't spend it all. $10k turns into $17k. $17k turns into $25k. $25k turns into $33k....and so on...then you decide what you want to deploy that larger chunk on. New property down payment...dream car down payment....$40k watch.... Pay off your parent's mortgage....you're in control.

When you live in a home as your primary residence for 2 of the last 5 years there is a hack available to you which is this: You can sell that property and not pay capital gains tax up to : $250k as an individual and $500k as a couple. I am currently debating whether or not I do this. I lived in my previous home for 3 years, and there's about $200k of equity sitting inside of it. That tenant keeps calling with multiple repair requests and issues that keep coming up. I'm kinda over it. I have another property that is a small warehouse that I owe $180k on, and since its a commercial note it will need to be refinanced or paid off by November 2026. Home numbers: Mortgage: $2,588/month Rent: $3,300/month Tenant pays all utilities Cash Flow: $712/month Warehouse numbers: Mortgage: $1,280/month Rent: $2,500/month Tenant pays all utilities Cash Flow: $1,220/month If I sold the home and paid off the warehouse, I would delete both mortgage payments (free up some obligation from my life) and would transfer the cash flow from the home to the warehouse. This would increase my cash flow by $1,220/month since thats the amount I'm currently paying on the mortgage of the warehouse. $712 to $1,220/month increase with two less mortgages to ensure are paid each month is certainly a win. The potential "negative" is one less property to appreciate in the market over the years, BUT future appreciation is never guaranteed. I do believe the Fed has no choice but to keep printing money so inflation will continue which ensures asset values keep getting pushed, but I don't want to bet my entire investing strategy on that.....AND this dang home will likely keep having issues as it is almost 30 years old, so that will eat into overall appreciation numbers for each repair I have to take care of. The warehouse is a cement box....with minimal items to repair. Last note, and why I am going back and forth on what to do: I also still need to do the tax hack I teach in this group (a cost segregation study) on the home, to minimize my 2024 tax bill. If I did this and sold the home, I would have to pay back a recapture tax. Screw taxes lol.