Well, here we are, at the end of Covid Year 2. Ugh.
2021 wasn’t the train wreck that 2020 was, but it wasn’t a picnic either.
But on this final post for the year, I did want to take time for a couple things.
First, I want to wish you the happiest of New Years! I hope 2022 is as amazing for you as the past couple years have been challenging for most of the world.
Second, for your reading pleasure, I wanted to share what I feel were my best posts of 2021. After all, you may have missed some of them and it would be a shame if the year passed and you didn’t get a second chance at them. 🙂
So with that said, here are what I would consider my top ten posts of the year in no particular order…
- Countdown to Retirement — This is a story initially shared in the Millionaire Money Mentors forums and then reprinted here (in several parts) with the author’s permission. One of my goals at ESI Money is to take the mystery out of retirement (which is why I do retirement interviews, post summaries of so many retirement books, etc.) and this piece does an excellent job of doing that. Plus it’s just a fascinating read to see the twists and turns as the author gets closer and closer to retirement day.
- Retirement Update: 5 Years — Speaking of retirement, I hit a major retirement milestone myself this year, so I have to include that update post in this list. I am still in LOVE with retirement and life with my only regret being I should have done it 5-10 years earlier!!! Hopefully someone reading this can learn from my mistake. I have a lot of exciting plans still on the horizon, with the biggest one being our stay in Florida for 2.5 months this winter. Stay tuned to see how it turns out!
- Five Learnings from Five Years in Retirement — I have learned some things over the past five years and wanted to share those with everyone. Again, this is part of the process in demystifying retirement as well as helping prepare future retirees for having the best retirement possible.
- Why and How I Sold Most of My Rental Properties — This post and its follow up, Why and How I Sold My Last Rental Property, details just what it says — all the specifics behind the sales of my rental units in Michigan. I was a direct real estate investor for nine years and it was one of the best financial moves I’ve ever made (the only ones I can think of that were better were marrying my wife, choosing and managing my career, and investing in index funds), but it was time to move on (for many reasons). Read this post if you want all the gory details.
- My Real Estate Syndication Investing Journey — Part of the money I made from selling my properties has been invested in a variety of real estate syndications. As of this writing, I have invested in 12 deals totaling $1,025,000 in eight markets in five types of real estate. These investments (which include my private real estate loans) will generate $85k in income per year plus give me an opportunity for upside when these sell. And my time commitment to them is ZERO. Plus I still have $500k in the bank. If you want to know more about this type of investing, see How to Get Started Investing in Real Estate Syndications.
- What Comes after ESI? The ISE Phase of FIRE — This was also a post that started in the Millionaire Money Mentors forums and then got reposted here. This site is about earning, saving, and investing to grow your net worth and make you financially independent, but what happens once you get there? The answer: you need to invest, spend, and enjoy your life. I’m still investing and enjoying life, but I’m having trouble ramping up the spending. LOL.
- My Dividend Stock Results after One Year — When Covid hit and the market tanked in March 2020, I invested in several dividend stocks. I had wanted to buy some for several years but prices just seemed too high. Well, a worldwide pandemic took care of that — at least for long enough for me to buy $200k of them. This post was an update on how those stocks have done (answer — they have done very well). If you’re interested in dividend investing yourself, check out Seven Steps to Creating Passive Income through Dividend Investing for details.
- The Relative Importance of E, S, and I — This is one of my personal favorite posts of all time. We know earning, saving, and investing are keys to growing wealth, but which one is most important? And how much more important is it? You’ll have to read the post to find out. Haha!
- Huge List of Awesome Retirement Activities — The more I live and read about retirement the more it becomes clear that you need to fill your time in retirement with activities you find fun, interesting, challenging, and so on. If you do, you will have a great retirement. If you don’t, you’ll probably fail at retirement (or at least find it to be not great). And the best time to begin these activities is while you’re working. So I created a list of several hundred ideas to get you started. Certainly there’s something here for everyone!
- Millionaire Interviews — Ok, this isn’t an article, but a series! We started the year with Millionaire Interview 217 and ended with Millionaire 292. That’s a lot of millionaire interviews! I had so many because the launch of the Millionaire Money Mentors seemed to bring millionaires out of the woodwork. Ha! We had so many that almost all of April, May, June, and July were millionaire interviews. There were so many great ones with very interesting stories. But three of them stood out as record holders among all I’ve ever done (and they were all recent). Millionaire Interview 283 was the longest interview ever — so long I had to break it into two parts, each of which was a long interview by itself. It held the record until Millionaire Interview 289 came along and was longer (also two parts)! Millionaire Interview 288 featured our highest net worth interviewee to date. Anyone out there have $50 million and want to break that record? Haha!
Those are my favorites for the year — what are yours? Are there any I missed that you especially liked?
Happy New Year!!!
VMax says
Thank You for this blog. Your writing keeps me on track. Happy Holidays 🙂
ESI says
Thanks! Hope 2022 is great for you!
Bernd Doss says
The information that you provide is, without a doubt, one of the best sources for anyone’s time and it is, in my opinion the only source that individuals who are seeking financial information should start with. Good fortune and health be bestowed upon you and yours, and upon our Country. Wishing all, Happy New Year.
ESI says
Thanks! I appreciate that!
Happy New Year!
gregg says
What a great site this has been for years! Much appreciated. Have a “better” New Year!
ESI says
Thanks! You too!
steveark says
Grateful for what you do, here and on the forum. Its been a fun place to network with some incredibly bright and focused minds. Happy new year and hoping 2022 is a wonderful year for you and your family!
ESI says
It’s been great reading your wisdom in the forums.
Hope you have an amazing 2022!
Frank S says
Thanks, those are certainly some of the best; you do put together interesting and informative investment/retirement reading and it is appreciated. The mix of different approaches and recognizing there is no ‘one right way’ but principles need to be sound for long-term success rings through.
Your next analysis should be ‘where to winter in FL’ that offers great pickleball opportunities as there are many choices in FL.
Thanks and all the best as we start 2022,
Frank
MI#43 says
Hope you are safe out there with all the fires along with Carl, Mindy, and MMM.
ESI says
Thanks. The fires are far away from Colorado Springs.
Concojones says
Happy new year, ‘FMF’ 🙂