My wife is ready to quit her W2 job
My wife is ready to quit her W2 job!!!
My wife has been working for a Fortune 200 financial services company for the last 17 years. She has worked her way up to a management position making six figures. Don't get me wrong the money and benefits are great. But, she is tired of herding cats. She is tired of having to tell grown individuals to come to work. She is tired of telling grown individuals to do the job that they are getting paid for. She is tired of the politics and everyone jockeying for a promotion.
I've been a licensed real estate agent for the last 16 years and have worked with some investors over that time. So she has seen the possibilities that exist from investing in real estate. In the beginning she was okay with working a "regular" job, but as the employees are changing into a more entitled generation and the company trying to get more work out of less employees and resources. She stared looking for a way out.
In comes real estate investing. She started watch HGTV and all the flipping and rehab shows and now is seeing that real estate can provide the stability that she craves and the flexibility and freedom that she is now looking for.
So we have a plan in place that gives us 3 years to come up enough passive income from real estate for her to be able to retire from her job. (Her job allows her to retire after 20 years even though she is not of retirement age). Don't get me wrong I make good money as a licensed agent, but she is not comfortable with the inconsistency and on top of that we were in Arizona during the crash of 2008-2011 and she saw how my income can drop without notice. So she wants more consistent income before she is comfortable with quitting her job.
So over the next three years we are going to be acquiring income producing properties to replace her income. She said she would feel comfortable quitting if we are generating $6,000 - $7,000 per month in rental income. That is a hefty goal, but I've seen it done so that is our target and that's what we are shooting for. We won't be looking for appreciation so much, we will be looking for cash flow first.
So I will be on here learning as much as I can and asking for all the help I can get. As I transition to becoming a real estate investor and not just a real estate agent. So I want to say thank you in advance.
Comments (3)
James, my wife and I are starting on a similar journey, albeit flipped roles and younger. I have a strong income job, not quite 6 figures yet but should be in the next few years and my wife is currently working a recruiting the makes much less. She is just about ready to complete her real estate classes and become a licensed agent. We plan to use her license to help us aquire properties and get tax benefits in the future. We hope to buy our first few investment properties over the next few while we both work and then transition her to working full time as a real estate and agent and managing our properties, similar to you. In the longer term will hope to transition me out of my W2 job as well.
Good luck! I truly think that this one of the best strategies for building a buy and hold business. Good to see others with strategies similar to my wife's and mine.
Jon Tudor, over 8 years ago
this topic has come up some in the forums, with some eager to take the plunge and others more inclined to leverage the W2 to get more loans, Heath benefits, stable income and a safety net just in case.... To each his or her own...and I think job satisfaction may be a key factor as you allude to here.. Two main comments..
One, I like that you may want to start investing now with the high income W2 in hand as I think the bank will be more open to lending on multiple investment properties with the years of past high income and the current high income job ( in the bankers mind, even if the rental flops, you are good for it with the day job). With no day job, maybe not so much...though much will depend on your circumstances...
Two, hgtv probably is borderline false advertising on some programs, as they have full crews, seemingly unlimited budgets, etc...lots of support, and shiny happy people...buy and hold has been fun and worthwhile for me, though I keep the day job. But they'd get horrid ratings following me, and bore the audience: cleaning the unit, painting, making a repair, talking to a tenant, shoveling snow, about the most drama is something thrown up by the weed whacker....
I would read up a lot on landlording and property management.. Just so you don't trade herding cats to herding rats (though I should note I have never had a rat in my over 12 years career, and just one mouse, which ironically the tenants' cat brought in alive, and it was soon a victim to peanut butter placed on the classic old mouse trap)..such is the basic blocking and tackling of landlording...
Best of luck and it will be fun to follow your journey!
Michael Boyer, over 8 years ago
Thank you Michael, yes we don't want to trade herding cats to herding rats. And you are right on with us leveraging the W2 income to get mortgages now. That is our plan. Thank you for your insights and I'll try to keep everyone entertained as we embark on this journey.
James Daniel, over 8 years ago