This summer marks 40 years that I’ve been in the rat race. How much I wish that when I was 18, I realized how desperate I would later be to exit that race. I bought my first residence when I was 26. If I knew then what I know now, I would have bought rental real estate and then retired ten years ago. Instead, I must continue the rat race for several more years.
Were I 26 again today, I would follow my thoughts outlined AT THIS LINK. After 15 to 20 years, I could have 10 rental properties generating $40,000/year in cash flow after tax. That’s comparable to a $60,000/year job before tax, but without the rat race, requiring only a few hours of effort per month. I could easily retire at age 46. Was my dad still working at that age? Yes, he was. He was working until the day he died.
Even better, after another 10+ years, that cash flow would begin rising as the 30-year mortgages on those houses started being paid off in full. The cash flow would reach roughly $80,000/year, after tax, in today’s dollars. By the time I reached traditional retirement age, that’s what I’d be earning simply from my real estate holdings. That doesn’t include any savings from my rat race day job, and it doesn’t include any Social Security from the government. Furthermore, I could leave that income to my heirs when I die. Imagine a young person starting off in life with that kind of income. It’s “generational wealth”, all kicked off had I known then what I know now.
But how would this actually work? …
