All Forum Posts by: Scott Trench

Here's the link for further clarification:

http://www.biggerpockets.com/profile/stats

@Benjamin Allen

I think that you may be overthinking it on the food budget. I don't and never have cared much about whether I spend $50 in a week on groceries, or $75. It's semantics. Sometimes, grocery stores have sales and it makes sense to buy something delicious. 

The point is, if you are purchasing groceries and food with thought given first to what you need, and what is healthy, and not splurging on ridiculous items, you are doing just fine. Budgeting at that point becomes a pain.

Buy good, simple healthy food from the grocery store, and buy things that you'll enjoy. It makes it much easier when you think wow - my dinner of chicken, veggies, rice, and beans cost about $3 on average, compared to the dinner out which goes for $15-$20 at minimum. Who cares then, if your dinner cost $4.50 instead of $3?

Don't overthink the grocery budget too much - you've already made the big win by shopping and cooking yourself.

@Dmitriy Fomichenko

Thanks for the inputs. I've added your company and made a small tweak to the list title. The Graveyard is exactly why I'm posing this question and trying to create resources for investors so that they don't end up in a position where their trust will be compromised.

@Mark Nolan

Interviewing the staff at each firm is not a great option for me as it will require many many hours of work, and I feel that if untrustworthy folks are able to get money out of savvy investors, they are able to trick me as well. I only really trust independent third parties. I'm looking for the Better Business Bureau, length of time in business, and online presence in respectable publications. It's a shame that sites seem not to link to those things 100% of the time in an easy manner for potential clients.

@Carl Fischer

Thanks for this - I agree that this process is extremely important. There are too many stories out there of folks committing fraud and stealing investor's hard earned money.

Hi @Benjamin Allen

I was in this position last year, and I think that budgeting is a good start, but perhaps an even better place to look are in your main life expenses like housing (which you are doing a great job on by house-hacking), transportation, and food. I actually wrote an article on what I did in your position last year:

"How I saved $20,000 in 2014 and used it to invest in Lifestyle Design"

Depending on what you'd like to be called, I'd suggest putting in "Part-Time or "Full-Time" Investor. Just check whatever you want to be called.

I'm having a bit of trouble. See, we at BiggerPockets put together a list of Self-Directed IRA Custodians and some resources on the topic here:

http://www.biggerpockets.com/rei/self-directed-ira-real-estate/

But that is just a list of companies. How can I as a potential client know that these companies are legitimate? I'd expect firms to post social proof, testimonials, third party validation (like a Better Business Bureau Accreditation) or SOMETHING that would let me know that they are legitimate. But I am finding it extremely difficult to vet them on an individual basis for legitimacy and scale!

I'd like to collect some resources on this topic, and write up a guide on how to vet Self-Directed IRA custodians. I'll publish this guide on our blog and in the resource linked above. I will be sure to quote any excellent contributions!

It would just be great for folks to feel comfortably secure with a company before putting their retirement savings from their 401(k), Roth IRA, or other retirement accounts in the hands of someone else.

The reason this is applicable to real estate investors is that there are a number of different ways that retirement funds from a 401k can be deployed in real estate, but doing so requires diligent paperwork, a complex set of rules, and keeping the IRS up to date on all of your activities. These Self-Directed IRA providers help manage all of that, so it's important to have the ability to pick a good one.

You'll want to go to your dashboard (www.biggerpockets.com/dashboard)

Then go to "Is the information we have about you still correct"

Uncheck "Wholesaler"

Thanks!

@Alex Applebee

Thank you for sharing this. I and the other folks here at BP think that this is fantastic. So fantastic in fact, that we'd like to add you to our list of case studies. 

http://www.biggerpockets.com/case-studies#

Please let me know if this is something you'd be interested in writing up for us! We'd love to show off your success to all the new members looking for inspiration!

-Scott

@Ronald Perich

This was great thank you! I have the two part goal of building passive cash flow and maximizing my net worth. Why do I want to maximize my net worth? Because I want to become an accredited investor as rapidly as possible, and the more money I have, even if it is locked in retirement funds, the more exposure to opportunity I have. This is especially true since I plan to make use of Self-Directed plans as I grow as a more sophisticated investor.

That said, I believe that there is far more opportunity to invest in REI and drive outstanding returns that I can through my standard 401(k) plans. Like you said, the 401(k) only benefits one over the long term if they have a match and are looking for a low effort result.

I will continue to maximize my tax deferred retirement savings to build net worth, but also seek to harness my REI knowledge and apply those funds creatively towards REI.

@Glenn De Noble

Well one of our goals here is to get people to sign up for the site so that we can help them succeed as real estate investors. We are doing everything we can to encourage people to sign up (yes - including being a slight nuisance with a blue bar).

If you'd like it to go away - the only way is to sign up or sign in. Let me know if you have trouble signing in!

-Scott