Rental Property Investor · Walla Walla, WA · Member since 2016 · 480 posts · 346 votes
I am a relatively new but very active newbie to REI. I have purchased my first investment property which I am in the process of flipping right now. I listen to BP Podcast in my car on my commute to and from my 1.5 hour one-way commute to my W2 JOB. I have listen to several back to back Podcast that have mentioned or referenced their Freedom Number. It makes me wonder how and what everyone's Freedom number is and if you don't know maybe we all can learn through this post and many like it how we might be able to get to ours. Thanks as always BP Nation, I cannot thank you enough for the knowledge and insight you have bestowed upon me up and to this point. Here is to wishing everyone a successful 2017 in your REI ventures?
Rental Property Investor · Milltown, NJ · Member since 2014 · 131 posts · 130 votes
9y
My freedom number was 80,000 a year in cash flow. I am currently at 79,200 and I just put an offer on a house that was accepted. So I actually gave my two weeks notice two days ago from my day job and will be a full time investor. I know everyone is different but to me the number didn't make as much of a difference to me as the why. My why was spending more time with my wife and two kids who are 6 and 4 years old.
Rental Property Investor · Walla Walla, WA · Member since 2016 · 480 posts · 346 votes
9y
@Rich Vogel, certainly my pleasure you earned the praise through your hard work, dedication and grind! Best of luck to you brother, enjoy your new FREEDOM!
Investor · Saint Louis, MO · Member since 2016 · 970 posts · 1k+ votes
9y
lets see...when I first started investing 1.5 years ago I wanted to simply replace my income at 75k/year from rental cashflow.
well I beat that number in 9 months, so naturally I set my goals higher.
next goal or 250k annual: buy as many properties and self manage as many as possible before Im so overloaded I have to take a part time position 2nd goal or 350k annual: continue buying and managing until I have to quit job to go full time REI 3rd goal or 750k annual: continue to invest until I have to hire 2-3 full time people
as far fetched as it sounds (reach high right?), I really want to make 110k+/month. this comes with pretty cars, private jet charters, etc... hehe..
Rental Property Investor · Walla Walla, WA · Member since 2016 · 480 posts · 346 votes
9y
@David Zheng, I have spent a GR8 deal of time on BP and am extremely familiar with your story and your excelerated success. You most certainly are one of those types of REI that appear to be the exception not the rule. And by that I mean, you have hustled hard and fast to get to where you are at. For that a BIG Congrats is due. I love your aggressive nature and your break neck pace at which you have accomplished your goals! I have no doubt that you will hit your next, 2nd, 3rd goal in stride. That is what is so GR8 about FREEDOM ( it is so individually personalized, $, fast cars, quit your JOB, or more time with the Family!) I love to see the passion that everyone brings to the table and puts their own individual spin on it. Congrats on all your success up and to this point and thanks for sharing your # and goals with us all!
Rental Property Investor · Seattle, WA · Member since 2014 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
9y
My freedom number is really low because I don't need much to live. I don't drive Lambo's and eat Fillet Mignon every day, popping bubbly to shower in before putting on my Rolex.
With 1K a month in a house hack situation or $1,500 in a paid off house, I'd be fine. And that's Seattle numbers. 2K would be much more comfortable/glamorous. I had a paid off house but sold it to buy more leveraged investments, plus the house was getting old. It was a business decision. That and I didn't want to retire here anymore...
At a 155K+ per year salary, you can imagine it will be hard to replace that income in a short period of time even with real estate, if all I'm banking on is cash flow.
I technically make 260K a year from my rentals, but only 30K is cash flow. Another 30K is principle pay down, and 200K is appreciation. But that's not going to last forever, hence my transition into MF soon. Still, I've turned my investments into an increased net worth far above what my salary could and I did it tax free. I could call it good now...
I'm debating whether I'm better off having less cash flow and more appreciation (tax advantaged via 1031, refinance, etc.) and just living off the cash flow I have now which is still more than I need, or getting that six figure cash flow with much less tax advantaged appreciation...
I actually posted a thread about retiring earlier than planned, that kind of ties into this topic, so if anyone who is having the same thoughts or has had experience in this wants to chime in there...
Hampton, VA · Member since 2015 · 19 posts · 14 votes
9y
I want to be able to leave my job at 30 years old, just turned 26, and own 30 units producing at least 90k in cash flow. I'm currently at 3 houses (4 units) and in the process of purchasing a quadplex. At that point, I believe I'll be able to leave my job, and still produce enough income to continue to invest on more properties, live comfortably, and be able to take time off and vacation.
I'm fortunate that my current job puts me in the medium six figure range, but I work a lot of hours and spend a lot of time away from home. So, ultimately my goal is to be able to slow down, retire to some beach, and enjoy life and family.
Rental Property Investor · Walla Walla, WA · Member since 2016 · 480 posts · 346 votes
9y
@Jack B., I myself am much like you. I live a pretty simple life sytle and don't live beyond my means. I make a decent living at my W2 JOB ( which I still do enjoy, for now, 😄) and allows me the luxury of spending time and money to build my REI business. I went and read your post that you referenced ( good detailed thought out read! Thanks for posting it) and the GR8 thing about your question much like the one I have asked in this forum post is that we all have to some degree our why, our how, our # and the ultimate reason we do what we do but it is also a reaffirmation to hear others perspective which in-turn will either reaffirm or help us recalibrate our thoughts on the matter. You are absolutely right, life is short and we don't know how long we will be here. So I say, live it to its fullest potential EVERY day and if you aren't doing what you want or think you should be doing then take action and go get it. Sounds as though you have done well for yourself and have put in the work and effort to make a FREEDOM decision for that I encourage you to take full advantage of what ever you decide to do. Thanks for stopping in to share your story with us! Best of luck in your future!
Investor · Mount Tremper, NY · Member since 2016 · 2 posts · 15 votes
9y
Like a lot of other folks on BP, I started investing in RE to replace "job" income. I was already a business owner, but I wanted more freedom to spend time with my family and on passion projects (like my blog, http://www.declaringfreedom.com), traveling, triathlons, music, etc. ... so, about 6 years ago, I started planning with my wife for an exit from my business and "rewirement" to a less-stressful life. We saved like mad, began buying rental property, and 3 years ago I sold my business, and officially retired about a year ago now. We generate about $125k/yr in passive income from our 4 multi-family properties in NY, and are just about to sell our expensive house in Westchester County (highest RE taxes in the US, or close!) to move to our country house near Woodstock, which will further increase our passive income and reduce expenses. We're looking to buy another 2 or 3 properties to get our passive income up to about $250k/year, but we are generating that off of only about 25% of our total assets, and we have zero debt (none whatsoever), so we feel very secure and able to live the life we want, help our kids, help others, and do good work in the world with the time we have left (we're 56). So, as you've heard here, figure out what's important to you first, and as you plan, the numbers will become clear. Then it's a matter of painstaking execution and not giving up until you've achieved your goal. Good luck!
My goal was to have income post retirement of 70% of my pre retirement income. That would require a 1.5M investment fund generating conservative returns. I surpassed that number long ago and am simply passing time till I liquidate.
The mistake many real estate investors make is basing their goals on generated monthly income from their properties. The true goal, since no one usually works till they die, should be to generate sufficient wealth to liquidate and invest in a passive income stream. Retirement should be every persons goal.
Strange that once you start making money it is difficult to stop. You get to the point of simply making money for the sake of making money.
bristol, VA · Member since 2017 · 7 posts · 3 votes
9y
Being a newby that hasn't started investing and just started talking and taking savings seriously I am curious what a goal for a year to year basis would be? I would love to be able to work for only myself by the time I am 30, I'm about to turn 23. I think having yearly and monthly goals helps everyone stay focused and on track with long term plans. For me to feel comfortable to finally quit my job I think a safe answers would be around 50k.
@Jack B., I myself am much like you. I live a pretty simple life sytle and don't live beyond my means. I make a decent living at my W2 JOB ( which I still do enjoy, for now, 😄) and allows me the luxury of spending time and money to build my REI business. I went and read your post that you referenced ( good detailed thought out read! Thanks for posting it) and the GR8 thing about your question much like the one I have asked in this forum post is that we all have to some degree our why, our how, our # and the ultimate reason we do what we do but it is also a reaffirmation to hear others perspective which in-turn will either reaffirm or help us recalibrate our thoughts on the matter. You are absolutely right, life is short and we don't know how long we will be here. So I say, live it to its fullest potential EVERY day and if you aren't doing what you want or think you should be doing then take action and go get it. Sounds as though you have done well for yourself and have put in the work and effort to make a FREEDOM decision for that I encourage you to take full advantage of what ever you decide to do. Thanks for stopping in to share your story with us! Best of luck in your future!
Thanks. I guess the good thing regardless of what I do is that I don't have to worry about money to buy a car when my current one needs replacing, money to eat, or a roof over my head. I could outsource the management and go live in overseas or in rural America where a house is less than a VCR. I remember the days in my 20's when I couldn't afford a car, or to move out of my apartment, let alone to stop working and just go fishing every day.
As Gordon Gekko said, lunch is for wimps. I feel that retirement is for wimps (haha jk). As Tim Ferris said, knowing what to do with your free time will actually become a major problem if you're used to being busy.
I want to own and manage a portfolio of CRE and Notes with total assets of at least $20MM by 2035.
That being said, if you can acquire and control $20MM in properties, then you can do $100MM so why stop there?
I don't see this as a way to quit an awesome corporate gig. But when my portfolio gets so large that I need to quit, then I'll have a thought.
Investor · Riverside, CA · Member since 2014 · 239 posts · 177 votes
9y
$10k per month. I am no where near that right now, but I figure if I start with a number and implant it into my head, I will achieve it. Make it feasible when you truly believe in your goal.
@Christopher Blanco, I hear you on not having a number yet. I too am in the process of trying to get my mind wrapped around what that # looks like. It sounds as though you definitely are on the right track to getting there though, I love your aggressive goal setting as it applies to getting to your #! Especially as it applies to unloading that ever burdensome DEBT, if only we all could just recognize how crippling DEBT could be to our over all quality of life and its ability to cripple our advancement to our particular FREEDOM #. Keep the course Christopher sounds as if you will know exactly what that # will be in no time, take good care of yourself but mostly of those 6 precious kiddos of yours! 😃 Best of luck to you I have no doubt you will do GR8 things!
Just a note to all as I see a lot of high freedom numbers. The less expenses you have the lower your freedom number has to be and the faster you will get there.
Common sense but you'd be surprised how many people overlook this...
Rental Property Investor · Chappaqua, NY · Member since 2015 · 1k+ posts · 947 votes
9y
Tony Wooldridge Great post!
10 years ago my wife and set the goal of 3m net worth and we would both quit and live off the passive income. We're pretty close to that now.
With three kids and living in westchester county(high taxes) we decided that was 3m was too low to quit work and to stay here, so back to the goal board.
last year I was doing 5400 a month in gross rental income. I wrote down in December of 2015 I'd like to do 10k a month net. Got there May 1 this year.
This year I wrote down I'd like to do 22,500 net monthly by 12/17, looks good at the time I started reading it I was a little doubtful. No more doubts. Just working to make sure it happens now.
We set a new goal of 25m by 3/17/2021.
I have 7 units now. I'm selling three and will soon close a deal to buy 30.
I read my goals in the morning and evening as grant cardone laid out.
I like to help others and that's my why.
Bingo. That is why I don't have a number yet. I am removing items from my life that cost me money, by doing that FIRST, my freedom number becomes a LOT more attainable.
Bingo. That is why I don't have a number yet. I am removing items from my life that cost me money, by doing that FIRST, my freedom number becomes a LOT more attainable.
Check out the Mr. Money Mustache blog and such. Although I found the intellect of the people in the forums there to be lacking, MMM has some good concepts to help you start on this.
The mistake many real estate investors make is basing their goals on generated monthly income from their properties. The true goal, since no one usually works till they die, should be to generate sufficient wealth to liquidate and invest in a passive income stream. Retirement should be every persons goal.
That is an interesting point. In light of that point, my first freedom number is to get to $ X per month of cashflow from rentals/ flips to step away from the W2 job, which would allow the time to focus and grow at a faster rate. The 2nd goal would then be to grow that portfolio to $Y of total liquid assets that could then be applied to a passive fund withdrawing by the 4% rule. There may be a compromise point before the totally passive fund, where the business is passive enough to consider being mostly retired, but returns higher than an index fund. To be evaluated.
Real Estate Consultant · Cleveland, OH · Member since 2016 · 511 posts · 345 votes
9y
@Jack B. MMM is a neat resource and if I was 20 and single I would be doing that in a heartbeat. Unfortunately being 41, married with 6 kids...some of his measures don't quite work. I agree with the concept though. I live in a small home (less that 1200 sq ft if you don't count the basement), have two cars: 2012 Mazda 5 and 2006 corolla, and I am working to remove all debt. We live below our means and plan to stay that way.
Developer · New Brunswick, NJ · Member since 2015 · 1k+ posts · 2k+ votes
9y
I have a very high number in mind because I want the ability to pay all cash for a house in competitive markets each year. Number is probably 4x my W2 salary. Basically, when I have more cash available than property to buy I guess I'll "retire". The real goal is to switch from working on Wall Street (want to be out in 10 years) to having my own full time landlording business and property mgmt business. I'm grinding hard that's for sure.
Columbus, OH · Member since 2015 · 210 posts · 80 votes
9y
I am owner-occupying my duplex now, the other side is paying for my mortgage, then I have other duplexes, so my expenses are minimized. My freedom# doesn't need to be high, I plan to quit my W2 job in three years, and become a full-time RE investor. My "Why" is strong enough to motivate me, I'd love to have more flexibility and free time to spend with my daughter and parents.
San Francisco, CA · Member since 2016 · 193 posts · 98 votes
9y
I personally don't have a number yet, however I want to make double what I make at my w2 job before I will feel financially free. I have a number of 10k in mind for living comfortable but that number will most likely rise. I battle with when enough is enough and it switches to greed. I want to enjoy the finer things in life though without having to think about if I can afford it... Lol I also want to donate money and want to be able to help people in a big way...