All Forum Posts by: Mark Rosario

First let me say thank you for the constructive responses that mean well.  As far as some of the "troll" responses, I'm not one to be baited into that.  What seems to be overlooked or misunderstood is the $600 is SURPLUS means all of my expenses are covered by the rent money and the $600 is extra money.  You might be able to think of it as interest or dividend money every month.  It's not like I'm looking to survive on $600.  I'm surviving on $1800 and only need about $1200 and since the house is paid off, I have no housing payment and essentially live for free.  I had a tenant that left his room in shambles and I fixed it myself in about 12 hours total of my spare time and for less than $350 (carpet was free on Craigslist.  Stepped on once.)  This kind of repair stuff is expensive if you pay someone to do it but really cheap if you do it yourself.  I did post a few pics.

Someone asked why do I wake up in the morning... The answer pretty much is to watch TV and Youtube. 

The best solution for me right now seems to be work part time or just work summers and pray to god this upcoming recession everyone is predicting doesn't affect housing/rentals.

Figured I'd post a follow up. I have approved time from work to give retirement a try so I do have the option to return to work. I've been at "Pre retirement" for about 3 weeks and the biggest problem I've run into is sticking to the budget. The numbers while tight do work but it's been hard sticking to them. Me being a "wealthy" American in a 3rd world country I always find myself having to buy home supplies (shampoo etc) and eating out for 3 or 4 people at a time. It's still dirt cheap but the tight budget doesn't allow for it. It's Mexico BTW so there's always family members and extended family members around. When we all go out to eat and the bill is an equivalent of $18us, how can I not pick it up ? When it's every day or every other day it really starts to add up. My budget was $600/mo and 3 weeks in I've already spent $550 and that does NOT include rent ($150). When I sat and looked at my spending, it looked like I could make retirement work with just another $300 every month.

So that's the million dollar question now. With the time span of an entire month, how can I earn $300 abroad? It's Mexico, so I can't work and even if I could I'm told to teach English every day pays less than $100 a week. That wouldn't be retirement.

So I went to my go to for extra cash... the stock market. It's not a complete disaster as I'm down some $1,000 in day trading and swing trading SPY over the last few weeks. While that isn't really much of a loss for day trading, it doesn't look to be working out.

The final solution is to just work summers which then gives me $1100 to spend a month.

What to do.....

I own a 3 bdr $250k single family residential in a good area of Las Vegas.  I did consider buying property in other states where real estate is cheaper but never really formulated a real plan.  I work so hard and so often at my job that there isn't much time to think.  What's the suggestion?

So a lot of people have said no but no one has as elaborated as to why?

The problem with that is that home prices have risen since I bought my home and I can't afford a second house.  

My total expenses including HOA, Prop taxes, Home insurance, Car insurance, Gas, food, eating out.. EVERYTHING come out to $1100/month. THIS INCLUDES Car Registration, internet, EVERYTHING.  

This leaves me with a cash surplus of $600 every month. I also have $50k saved up in the bank along with another $34k or so in an IRA.  The $600 surplus isn't exactly $60k but I'm a simple man that can stretch a dollar.   For example,

I do currently have a vacancy as one of the rooms was destroyed by the last tenant down to the subfloor but I'm getting it fixed on my own in my spare time for less than 1 month's surplus.  I got new carpet free (stepped on once) on craigslist and subfloor at the home depot 4 foot by 8 foot costs $20.  Had I hired someone to fix the floor and install the carpet I can see how it could cost $2,000 or more but I should be out the door at $250 or less.  I did ask this tenant for $250 and he paid it even after he left to another state.

Someone said I might start spending more money as I'll have free time but actually I've been thinking on how I can save more money.  One option was to give up the car and to go green meaning ride a bicycle every where.  This would take my monthly cash surplus to $800.

I do believe I can retire but I have to ask if I can retire just to get a little insight.  I don't know for sure because nobody knows the future.  Assuming no major economic crisis I believe I'll be OK or if I have a surprise expense, I can always work summers or part time as another user suggested.

Glad I could amuse some of you on here and be a form of entertainment.  I hear the argument that maybe I'll start splurging money out of boredom which I guess I'll have to be aware of.  As far as the no girlfriend, that's how I like it.  I don't watch porn either.  That whole ship has long sailed away.

I did in fact consider inflation.  As inflation rises over the years, so does rent.

My passion is watching tv/movies/youtube!  No B.S.  Thats it!

We are all taught from an early age to go out there and get money, to make as much money as possible and that once we are at that very high level of lots of money ONLY THEN can we really be happy.  What ends up happening is you work work work your life away always trying to get more and more but the happiness part that is supposed to come with the money never arrives.  I did used to have a lot of money so I can tell you first hand that is not the case.  money does NOT equal happiness.  Happiness for me equals not having to work.

I did decide to resign in the next month or so.

After a little more homework I've found the answer to be Yes!   This is assuming I can maintain break even or a surplus every month.  If for some reason I can't rent the rooms or if my expenses grow more than the 1700, than no...

thx for the replies.  I've taken years off from work here and there to relax and money always ran out and I had to return to work.  This is because I had no rooms rented, a mortgage to pay, and little to nothing coming in.  This is the first time I will quit and have a solid surplus every month.  I think it will work out.

I go to the gym 4 days a week atleast when I'm not working.. cardio and weight lifting.  I would think I was ok healthwise.  If anything were to make me eventually fall ill, it's continuing to work as hard and as often as I am now...

My passion is watching tv, movies, and youtube all day while fixing/building electronics.  

My situation is pretty simple.

I'm currently 39 years old. I'm single with no kids or girlfriend. I've been busting my butt over the past several years and now have my home paid off. I have 3 bedrooms rented out and collect $1700 a month. My total expenses including HOA, Prop taxes, Home insurance, Car insurance, Gas, food, eating out.. EVERYTHING come out to $1100/month. This leaves me with a cash surplus of $600 every month. I also have $50k saved up in the bank along with another $34k or so in an IRA. A lot of the people close to me say I should keep working to save even more money to build a better retirement but I'm a man that likes less. A perfect day for me is waking up, watching TV on the couch all day and going back to sleep? As far as health, I'm healthy enough and plan to seek health care in a country where it is cheap when the time comes or even getting citizenship in another country and getting health care completely free? Can I retire? It seems pretty straight forward but since I work so much, there's hardly any time to even think. Thanks in advance.