Ever since I first started working (legally) at the age of 15 years old, my goal was to retire by the time I reached 40 years old. My thought process at the time was to work as much as I could during my younger years, while I still had lots of time, energy and could operate on little to no sleep when necessary. Fortunately for me, I worked mostly in restaurants and night clubs where it was easy to pick up double shifts thereby making it even easier to pick up work whenever I wished to. The money wasn’t great, but I learned how to budget (living mostly off canned tuna and rice) and how to save (mostly by covering shifts for my co-worker who also happened to be my landlord at the time and would knock off rent money each time I covered a shift for him – And I covered A LOT of shifts for him). As a result, after 3 years of budgeting and saving, I was able to purchase my first home at the age of 18 years old.
Once I purchased my first home, my goal was to pay off my existing mortgage as quickly as possible. Even though some “Experts” will argue against this strategy, I’ve always been of the belief that your primary residence should be mortgage free and then any additional properties you purchase you can put mortgages on them and just have your tenants make your mortgage payments for you. This ofcourse can also be an excellent revenue stream when it comes to collecting passive income (especially once all of your additional properties have been paid off completely as well).
Eventually over time, I did pay off my first home completely. I no longer had any mortgage payments to worry about. I could now turn my focus towards investing. Perhaps in more real estate. Perhaps in the Stock Market. Or perhaps in both. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to invest in however I did know that leaving any funds in a savings account would only cost me money, not make me money.
Investing In Myself
So after contemplating for months as to which sector I wanted to start investing in, I finally came to the conclusion that I didn’t want to invest in either Real Estate or the Stock Market. Instead, I decided to invest in myself by starting my own Personal Training Company. I enrolled myself in the best Personal Training Courses I could find. I sought out the assistance of some of the most highly qualified and respected instructors in the Fitness Industry to help me prepare for my exams. And I trained numerous people for FREE so that I could practice upon mastering my craft to the best of my ability. Needless to say, the best courses are incredibly expensive. The most sought out instructors aren’t cheap. And giving away free sessions does not generate income. Therefore when I finally received my Personal Training license and was ready to start training people, I had less than $100 to my name ($75 less than what I needed to cover my maintenance fees for my first home at the time).
Being a Broke Ass Bitch
There have been a handful of times in my life where I really was living the life of a broke ass bitch. But to be completely honest, those were some of the best times of my life. Suffice to say, I love a challenge, I enjoy the struggle, and I thrive off chaos. Sure it’s nice to not have to worry about where my next rent or mortgage payment is going to come from. However at the same time, a little bit of uncertainty does keep life interesting.
Like many of you, COVID-19 took a lot out of me both mentally, physically and emotionally. As a Small Business, I honestly wasn’t sure if we would survive this Global Pandemic. And now as we all face new uncertainties in the world such as the War in the Ukraine, Inflation, Rising Interest Rates, Skyrocketing Gas Prices and a potential Recession on the horizon, there is more uncertainty in the world now than ever before.
So What Do We Do?
Well, for me for personally, I look for opportunities during times likes these. Yes, the Stock Market is down. But it’s a great time to buy more stocks at a much cheaper price! And yes, Interest Rates have gone up. But as a result, the Real Estate Market has softened and has made it more realistic for first time home buyers to potentially buy their first actual home!
It’s easy to always look at the glass as half empty, but when you start to look at it as half full, potential opportunities begin to arise and can seem endless. As I said time and time again throughout COVID-19, those that are unwilling to adapt and reinvent themselves will remain left behind in the past. Therefore regardless if it’s a Global Pandemic, World War, Recession or Severe Illness, I believe we all need to find ways to adapt and change accordingly. And this all starts with where we decide to invest our time.
As for my initial goal of retiring at 40 years old?
I won’t be able to afford to retire just yet as I will be too busy continuing to invest in myself.
“Invest in yourself to the point that it makes someone else want to invest in you.”
Tony Gaskins
Yours in Good Health,
Nick Cosgrove
Forever Fit Performance