Earning my first $20,000… and what to do now

[economistParticipant 225]

Hey there brothers. I’m mostly a lurker here and only really post in this forum, but I wanted to make kind of a celebratory topic. A lot of you guys are a lot older than me (and REALLY successful… Roydal and Stealthy MGTOW come to mind!) But i feel like i’ve hit a major milestone in my life: I finally have enough money for the down payment on a piece of property. My four years of hard work are paying off, and it feels oh so sweet. I just turned 22 about a week ago, so this was a great late birthday present.

However, now I feel like I’m looking at a great plateau. I can buy my rental property, fix it up in my spare time, and rent it out. I will get probably $1200 a month of passive income out of it. But it seems like such a great stretch between here and riches. The distance between my first twenty thousand and my first million seems so insurmountable. Any older guys have any advice on how to hunker down through the long stretch? I work ~70 hours a week and I’m not afraid to put my back in to it, but I just can’t seem to convince myself that I’ll ever be able to save my way out of lower middle class.

[Mr. SpockParticipant 10933]

Congratulations on your achievement. Remember the words “compounding interest”. The money that you earn in investing in your real-estate should be put back into buying more rental properties or other investments. Imagine how much wealth you’d accumulate if you had 2 rental properties or even 3. If you had 3 rental units taking in the $1200 a month you posted you can see how much quicker your savings would grow. The goal is attainable but not something that you can do in a short period of time. Think long term. If you continued to invest the profits you made from your initial rental into buying other rentals or investing in the stock market, by the time you were 50 you’d have some serious coin in your coffers and quite a bit coming in as well. It isn’t necessarily easy but it can be done. You are 22 and you have a very important ally on your side, TIME. Good luck with your venture.

Feminism isn't about equality with men, it's about leverage over men.

[ivrrimumParticipant 41]

Congratulations!
My acomplisisment will forfill soon too.

I am searching for investor for my new project( There are a lot of interested parties ), will quit my job and go full time on my bussiness! 🙂

Good luck and dont forget to have fun.

Cheers!

[dawson1Participant 163]

Mr spock is spot on. Rental property is a long term investment. Just like he says….invest at a young age in some high risk but diversify into several investments. Of course there is potential to lose some but you’re young. If you live in the states , take advantage of IRAs too.

[MadmanParticipant 772]

[RoyDalParticipant]

@economist,

Get rich slowly. One property at a time. Never overextend yourself. Always keep growing. Congratulations for getting as far along as you have, keep your momentum: You are in this for the long haul and this is your thirty-year plan.

Society asks MGTOWs: Why are you not making more tax-slaves?

[KeymasterKeymaster]

Never listen to anyone else tell you what to do with your money.
Never listen to anyone else tell you what to do with your money.
Never listen to anyone else tell you what to do with your money.

22 and you have G. Not a bad start on life. They say the first $ 100K is the hardest to save – or the first million. It doesn’t matter what you earn. What matters is what’s jingling in your pocket at the end of the year.

economist wrote:

But it seems like such a great stretch between here and riches.

It’s good your looking at ways to generate passive income, but instead of defeating yourself on how to turn it into riches, perhaps just think of how to turn it into $ 25K… then $ 50K. Then $ 100 K. …….

A man isn’t “rich” when he has money.
A man is rich when he has CHOICES.

The poorest people are not “poor” because they don’t have money.
They are poor because they don’t have choices.

Consider creating as many choices for yourself as you can. Signing a mortgage now will limit your choices………. and if a man is not careful, the FIRST thing he will do is look for ways to enslave himself. This is how he guarantees what he will do tomorrow. In his mind, he knows what tomorrow will be like already. Because he’s a slave.

Maybe – for the time being – (you’re only 22!!) you can think about opening as many doors for yourself as you can. And walk through all of them.

If you keep doing what you've always done... you're gonna keep getting what you always got.

[RoyDalParticipant]

Keymaster wrote:

A man isn’t “rich” when he has money.
A man is rich when he has CHOICES.

Yep.

Society asks MGTOWs: Why are you not making more tax-slaves?

[KeymasterKeymaster]

RoyDal wrote:

Yep.

I realized this when a guy I worked with was 32 and he made a s~~~ ton of money. It was as if this was his only thing in the world – money. But he didn’t have any VALUE(S). He is one of the most socially and morally bankrupt people I ever met. “Rich” yes…. but the POOREST guy I ever met.

If you keep doing what you've always done... you're gonna keep getting what you always got.

[FrankOneParticipant 1442]

Congratulations on saving all that money! A lot of young men your age have DEBT at 22 — big debt! Most people your age don’t save much of anything!

My advice would be to look at all your expenses and cut them wherever possible to save as much as possible. Live with roomates. Share the cable TV and internet. Consider doing without a smartphone (I only have one because my employer pays for it — just like I drive a modest car that is 6 yrs old). But it’s also good to splurge on the things you really love every so often too, whether fine wine, professional sports, etc. Read ‘The Millionaire Mind’ if you can. If you rent your current residence now, you may want to consider moving into a fix-er-‘upper and living there while you renovate it — avoids the rent payments to somebody else — or get a double and live in half of it, or live in a basement with a separate entry & rent the upstairs of a newly purchased property — lots of possibilities — only you know what’s best. Consider learning a trade if that isn’t what you are already engaged in — pipefitter, welder, electrician. Learning construction trades would mesh well with fixing up rental properties if that’s your passion.

Good Luck!

[NioZenParticipant 856]

The markets are for trading, not investing (despite much bulls~~~ to the contrary).

Hold cash on hand and wait for a bargain. Housing crash coming in 5, 4, 3………….

Just my $0.02

We only dream this bondage. Wake up and let it go. - Vivekananda

[Jon the Ex-SquidParticipant 298]

Investment at this point might be difficult to gauge. The FED is going to increase the interest rates this year (at some point) and there’s likely to be a bubble pop in the near future. Couple this with low oil costs (which will, in theory, drive down consumer good costs) and a Chinese economic slowdown and we could be in for a bumpy ride.

Real estate is great but I think you have to buy at the right time and in the right location. When I bought my first place, I lived in it and worked hard to pay the mortgage down. I bought small ($150,000 – 3 bed, 1 bath, 900 sq feet), added a second bathroom, and increased the equity. I bought cheap so even when the housing market crashed, I was nowhere near underwater. It was better than an apartment and the monthly costs were less (mortgage + taxes + insurance). I considered renting it out when I bought my current home but wasn’t comfortable managing a property in another state (moved from CT to NJ) so I sold it, rolled the profit into this house, and now have no mortgage. Now my 8-year budget has me buying acreage in the mountains of PA in a few years, installing the septic/well a year after that, then construction of my dream home (where I’ll retire) in 2023. I’m not trying to get rich through real estate though. I’m trying to own my own property and set myself up to only need enough money to cover property taxes/insurance when I’m ready to retire.

I write this just to show my way of thinking about real estate, as opposed to buy – rent it out – buy another – rent it out – repeat. That’s a valid approach and Stealthy has some great advice about rental properties so check out his posts.

If I were in your position, I’d hold onto the money and just keep working hard. See what happens in a few months. Better to have options, as Keymaster said, than be stuck in a bad spot.

The most important thing is: You did it! You hit $20K. Now work towards $30K and keep an eye on the economy.

Congrats and best of luck!

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