Here’s our latest interview with a millionaire as we seek to learn from those who have grown their wealth to high heights.
If you’d like to be considered for an interview, drop me a note and we can chat about specifics.
My questions are in bold italics and his responses follow in black.
Let’s get started…
OVERVIEW
How old are you (and spouse if applicable, plus how long you’ve been married)?
I am 45, my wife is 44 years young.
We married in 2000 and believe in marriage for life, a road to financial wealth.
Do you have kids/family (if so, how old are they)?
We have one of each, early teens.
In addition to conversations, I email them articles about money and finance.
What area of the country do you live in (and urban or rural)?
Southeast, in a LCOL suburbia of about 110K residents.
Median Zillow home values $165K, median home size 1500 sq ft. Median household income $41K.
What is your current net worth?
$9M plus the value of our business, which I am no expert in determining valuation.
It is currently generating $2-2.3M/year with roughly 45% overhead and long-term annualized growth rate around 15%.
I’ve been told it can be worth anywhere from $2-$7.5M.
What are the main assets that make up your net worth (stocks, real estate, business, home, retirement accounts, etc.) and any debt that offsets part of these?
- Tax-Deferred Retirement Accounts: $1.8M
- Non-Retirement investment Accounts: $200K (limiting due to current lofty stock market valuations)
- CD’s/Savings/Checking/Emergency: $1.8M
- Primary Residence 7,500 sq ft: $1.6M ($2M-$400K mortgage at 2.5% 5-yr arm).
- Commercial Office Buildings 20,000 sq ft: $3M ($4.5M-$1.5M commercial mortgage at 3.5% 10-yr fixed).
- Automobiles (4): $100K ($220K-$120K auto loans at 2% 6-yr fixed)
- Jewelry/Fine Art/Collectibles/Furniture $500K
- Business $2M-$7.5M valuation
- Family HSA: $7K
- Timeshare: $20K
EARN
What is your job?
I am a family physician and she is a pharmacist.
Given our business ownership, we are also CEO, CFO, purchasing, HR, etc.!
What is your annual income?
$1.2M includes our incomes and business profit (S-corp), commercial real estate profit, interest income.
Does not include deferred investment or unrealized real estate appreciation.
She currently works with me as the office administrator, so this is our combined income.
Tell us about your income performance over time. What was the starting salary of your first job, how did it grow from there (and what you did to make it grow), and where are you now?
My first job in high school was a summer job starting at $5.25/hr in a bank mail room.
My wife helped at her parent’s convenience store as a teenager for similar pay.
Fast forward to 20 years ago, my residency income was $40K/year x 3 years, then jumped to $135K/year (plus bonus thresholds) as a practicing physician in a multi-specialty group.
My wife started her career around the same time as a pharmaceutical research consultant around $180K/yr after a 1 year fellowship income of $30K/year.
So we started our careers post training at around $350K/year 17 years ago and it has generally grown consistently year over year to the current $1.2M/year.
I left the group practice after 6 years and have owned my own practice for 11 years now.
At the current trajectory and if we keep growing the business, our income should be around $4M/yr around age 65.
What tips do you have for others who want to grow their career-related income?
The best way we found is business ownership, which gives you essentially unlimited earnings potential.
As an employee, you can only work so many hours a day to generate income, much of which benefits your employer.
As a business owner, (semi-)passive income from employee services gives you that potential.
Another way to help sustain growth in income is networking. We network with local hospitals and healthcare related businesses.
Internet marketing is a growing part of our customer accrual so it is receiving more attention.
We are providing more comprehensive services that improve convenience and cost for patients such as in-house imaging, pharmacy, lab draws, etc.
One has to adjust with the changes in their industry due to technology, disruptions, etc. – such changes are only starting to impact healthcare delivery models. Being able to adjust quickly keeps you ahead of your competition.
Implement new revenue streams one at a time, so it’s done optimally and you are not overwhelmed.
The most important thing is love what you do for your customers and the income will come as a result – people know where your heart is.
What’s your work-life balance look like?
We have other providers so I have recently cut back my work week to 3 1/2 days where I have to be present seeing patients.
I do administrative work other days, but that gives me a lot of flexibility.
I anticipate even more freedom as we hire more providers and grow our administrative team to shift to more passive income, although I love what I do and not sure if I can ever give it up fully.
We’re taking two local and two international vacations this year. I use hospital-based doctors so I am free on weekends, nights, holidays, etc. Weekends are generally for the kids.
When starting our careers, we worked very long hours, up to 18/day. Then the kids came along and thus the steady transition.
To everything there is a season. There was a season for very hard work which I definitely recommend to build character and a future, and as one gets older there is a season for other endeavors.
Do you have any sources of income besides your career? If so, can you list them, give us a feel for how much you earn with each, and offer some insight into how you developed them?
Our commercial real estate properties generate $300K/year in leases, of which $100K is profit currently due to mortgage and expenses.
Our investment accounts, residence, commercial real estate are appreciating at about $700K/year.
Interest income and CD’s is about $45K/year.
SAVE
What is your annual spending?
Excluding business/commercial real estate expenses, roughly $170K.
Including them, roughly $1.5 M (paid out of approx. $2.5M business revenues/commercial leases/interest income).
What are the main categories (expenses) this spending breaks into?
Regarding personal (family of 4):
- Mortgage $20K
- Auto Loans $35K
- Property Taxes $13K
- Private school education for two $15K
- Vacations $15K
- Homeowners/auto insurance $11K
- Home/auto repairs $15K
- Food/clothing/utilities $25K
- Entertainment $12K
- Other miscellaneous $10K
Regarding Business:
- Payroll $400K
- Payroll Taxes $135K
- Rent (Business to real estate holding company) $100K
- Independent Contractors $200K
- Professional Fees $100K
- Other supplies/insurance/utilities/telephone, etc. $70K
Regarding Commercial Real Estate:
- Mortgage $200K
- Property taxes $50K
- Insurance $30K
- Sales Tax (rent) $18K
- Other utilities/supplies, etc $25K
Do you have a budget? If so, how do you implement it?
No. Our personal spending is far below our income.
What percentage of your gross income do you save and how has that changed over time?
Given the growth in income and the controls on spending, our savings as a percentage of income has grown over time.
Basically, out of the $1.2M household income we spend about $170K, pay about $360K in income taxes, contribute $108K/yr to IRA and $7K to HSA, and tithe about 10% of after tax income.
That leaves about $500K left for non-retirement savings/investing and debt reduction.
What is your favorite thing to spend money on/your secret splurge?
I like to splurge on time with my wife and kids, which generally costs very little on a relative basis (sporting events, movies, dinners, parks, family gatherings, car shows, video gaming, weekend trips, etc.).
I can probably splurge on a lot of things, but at this point in my life it’s very liberating to want nothing, I just buy things for the family.
INVEST
What is your investment philosophy/plan?
Heavy diversification hence the stock market, business, real estate, education, home ownership, CD/savings mix of investments.
If one investment goes south, we will still be okay. I am concerned when I see people put 50-90% of their NW into the stock market.
I am a market timer, and have recently generally been shifting out of stocks/mutual funds and will shift back heavily after the next major correction – the bigger the drop the better the entry.
Not many agree with market timing though, but I always prefer to have gunpowder to buy as low as I can. They say I miss out on gains if the market continues going up. Sometimes I do, but in the meantime I use the excess revenue to reinvest in our business or real estate, pay down debts or park it in fixed, no risk CD’s. I’m also a fan of dollar cost averaging after a major correction (40+%) to catch market lows, but not in lofty markets.
When I do invest in the markets, I prefer aggressive sector funds in strong sectors to index funds. Currently I like healthcare, technology, biotechnology, consumer cyclicals, and expect good recovery in semiconductors and China going forward. My sector preferences are dynamic based on changing business conditions, political environment, maturity of bull cycles, etc.
What has been your best investment?
Our education has been the best investment for both my wife and me.
I believe that current and future investments in my kids’ education will also prove very fruitful.
There are definitely other roads to wealth building, but it helps to be in careers with a lot of obstacles to entry (ie. education/tuition/training/maintenance of certification requirements), as this supports higher income fields.
What has been your worst investment?
I lost about $200K on a leveraged ETF.
I didn’t do enough homework first. I learned that buying an investment even after it has already dramatically depreciated is not a guarantee, it can continue to dramatically depreciate.
Now, rather than bottom fishing I look for strong fundamentals combined with a strong track record.
What’s been your overall return?
Regarding market returns, 12-15% annually due to aggressive investments.
Similar returns on my business and 8-10% on real estate investments.
Safe funds (CD’s/savings) earning 2-4% at today’s rates.
How often do you monitor/review your portfolio?
Several times a day. Adjust holdings during corrections, like 2/2018 and 10/2018 corrections are most recent examples.
NET WORTH
How did you accumulate your net worth?
ESI of course!
I believe our income puts in the top 0.1% of Americans. We continue growing our income through innovation. We do a lot of saving but I wouldn’t say we deprive ourselves (Ferrari, BMW’s, big home, private school, travels).
About 50% of pretax income (70% after tax) is saved in savings/CD accounts, contributed to retirement/taxable accounts, and goes into real asset equity.
Most of our NW is invested in something and growing, mostly in the 8-15%/year range.
Both sets of parents still living, but we anticipate inheritance from each side.
What would you say is your greatest strength in the ESI wealth-building model (Earn, Save or Invest) and why would you say it’s tops?
I find them all critical so I really struggled with this question.
When I first saw this question, I thought I was least likely to answer Invest. However, when I consider my investments I consider not just tangible returns but also intangibles as well.
Investment in education was already discussed. Without the investment in our education, we would not have the earnings or savings strength we do, so I credit a lot to this specific investment.
Long-term compounding effect from our market, business and real estate investments doesn’t hurt either.
What road bumps did you face along the way to becoming a millionaire and how did you handle them?
Like many professionals with advanced degrees, a late start on earnings and retirement savings as well as more significant educational debt slow the wealth building process.
Preparation and perseverance help get you through these road bumps.
In the late 1990’s I was day trading the markets and paid off my entire medical school debt with the profits.
There’s almost always a way around road bumps. Although we started investing later in life, we had the income to optimize retirement investments every year to catch up and even get ahead.
What are you currently doing to maintain/grow your net worth?
I love the story of the tortoise and the hare. If you continue to grow earnings methodically, continue to increase savings as a percentage of earnings since it’s easier with higher earnings, and remain diversified and unwavering in your investments, you will come out far ahead of those always chasing get rich schemes.
Never invest with a friend or telemarketer.
Ignore society’s focus on stuff, it ultimately just breaks down, gets stolen, rusts or fails, requires maintenance, stresses your finances and possibly your marriage, teaches your kids the wrong lessons by example, and the gratification you get from the purchase is generally short lived.
More often than not you will regret large purchases or investment decisions made spontaneously (without time for careful consideration) or with high emotion.
Avoiding these pitfalls will grow your net worth as the tortoise does not get emotional, but the hare is all over the place.
Do you have a target net worth you are trying to attain?
No. We can probably retire tomorrow and be fine.
However, we love what we do, so continuing on this trajectory will likely put us at $20-25M at full retirement age.
I suspect it will even continue to grow into our sunset.
How old were you when you made your first million and have you had any significant behavior shifts since then?
We were roughly 31/32 years old when we accumulated our first million. That’s about when we built the big house and purchased the fancy cars.
Ever since then my behavioral shift has been toward less stuff, more simplicity (at least in our personal lives) and more passive vs. active income.
What money mistakes have you made along the way that others can learn from?
I would live in a smaller house not for financial reasons, but because of the time and hassles of so many furnishings, repairs and maintenance requirements. Wife likes the big house so I’m stuck!
Fancy cars also questionable, wouldn’t mind an old beater so I don’t have to worry about door dents and scratches.
Avoid excessive subscription services (upgraded cable, music, magazines, etc.).
Keep life as simple as you can because it’s going to throw a lot of complexity at you anyway so why contribute?
What advice do you have for ESI Money readers on how to become wealthy?
- Mind your marriage and family.
- Maintain your health, both physical and emotional. Health = wealth.
- Remain steadfast to a higher code of conduct whether you learned it through your faith, your family, the military and build on it.
- Work as hard as you can (especially when you’re young) even if you don’t feel appreciated. Someone will notice.
- Read and learn without ceasing your entire life. The internet is a treasure trove of information. No need to pay a financial adviser – with enough self-education you can know much more than they do.
- Do not follow the crowd but develop your own informed conclusions and decisions. When the crowd’s in panic, buy quality stocks/funds. When the crowd’s unrealistically euphoric, take a step back and take profits.
- Choose your friends wisely and welcome constructive criticism.
- Do not let your stubbornness or political bias prevent you from learning what to do (and what not to do) from somebody else.
- Avoid falling into the trap of criticizing someone who is more accomplished than you. They found a way to make it and at some point they were where you are. They likely did not receive “special treatment”.
- Let the little things go. Do not burn bridges. Do not hold grudges. If you do this with others you will do it with your loved ones, and one day your kids will become their parents.
- Know your strengths and weaknesses. Know what you do not know and ask someone with expertise for help.
- Do not let any addictions control your life and do not worship the false god of money. It’s just a tool.
- For those who are younger, make sure the possessions you want are truly what you want and realize your wants and needs will most certainly change over time. This helps to minimize costly mistakes.
- Be yourself and not what society wants you to be. Self-confidence invites focus which in turn invites wealth.
FUTURE
What are your plans for the future regarding lifestyle?
Optimizing one’s net worth allows for flexibility.
Not a big fan of RE (retire early), perhaps because I work for myself, love what I do, and am responsible for the health and wellness of others.
However the future and type of future is not promised, so if something forces a change (ie. unforeseen health condition) I know I have the flexibility to change direction including early retirement or modified work hours.
What are your retirement plans?
Financially no major changes other than lowering expenses which will come naturally as kids become independent and assets are sold off.
The commercial real estate should provide a continued stream of more passive income in retirement, or I can strategically sell for a lump sum if I want to simplify further.
Regarding activities, I would like more travel home and abroad, more time for leisure reading and appreciation of fine art/music/cultures, to help my kids (and one day grandchildren), deeper relationships with extended family, and efforts to help the disadvantaged. More time to just ponder life’s meaning and purpose.
Are there any issues in retirement that concern you? If so, how are you planning to address them?
They say to enjoy your youth before your health starts fading, so I look forward to more time for jogging/cycling, gym membership, physical challenges such as rock climbing, water sports and so on.
I’m mostly concerned with the well-being of my children, so I would like to live close or regularly commute to help with life’s challenges.
MISCELLANEOUS
How did you learn about finances and at what age did it ‘click’? Was it from family, books, forced to learn as wealth grew, etc.?
My parents are both accountants.
I was drawn to Wall Street when living in NYC.
I’ve always been very good at math.
Mostly, I taught myself online.
I always derived more satisfaction from saving than from spending, so personality traits helped me.
Who inspired you to excel in life? Who are your heroes?
My parents were my inspiration.
They immigrated to the USA with no money in the 1970’s (I was 5) and started with a paycheck of about $200/week each.
They left a third world country as ethnic minorities to give my brother and me a better life.
That is going to inspire anyone to excel in the land of opportunity. None of us ever took any public assistance.
I only have one hero that changed everything some 2000 years ago, but I won’t get too much into religion here.
Do you give to charity? Why or why not? If you do, what percent of time/money do you give?
We tithe about 10% of after tax income and I donate 1 day a month of free medical services to a charity clinic.
We discount due to financial need at the office. Great for the soul.
Do you plan to leave an inheritance for your heirs (how do you plan to distribute your wealth at your death)? What are your reasons behind this plan?
Yes, to my children. Simple reason is I won’t need to spend much of it.
I also would like to donate a lump sum to the church at the end of our career, possibly a year’s income.
Excellent! You are very smart and hit many important topics. Love your hero too! Wish I could be your neighbor. Take care.
MI 119, congratulations on all of your success especially at such a young age. Forgive me for the unsolicited advice, but you are in a powerful position to make a great difference in a lot of lives, and from your interview it sounds like the stars may have aligned. Let me explain:
I found the following statements (paraphrased) in your interview:
– you save/invest around $500k per year presently and already have a very high net worth
– you expect your income to continue to grow at a high rate of compounding
– you aren’t interested in retiring early (though maybe scaling back to have more flexibility for other pursuits)
– you tithe 10% and love Jesus
– you may want to give a large lump sum to your church upon retirement
– you want to serve the disadvantaged
– you have two children at a very important stage of their development (early teens)
I would highly encourage you to marry all of these things together and find a great faith-based charity to get involved with in a big way. Give money, go on trips, meet the people you are helping, and involve your children. The benefits of this will outlive you and last for eternity. And not just for those you help, but for your children, your friends and family, and yourself. The most important thing – don’t feel like you have to wait until you’re done working/earning to start giving [more]. God bless!
How does your income breakdown? I’m asking because your income taxes seem low – $360k on $1.2m, or an effective rate of 30% between state and federal? I think our effective rate is higher on a lower income. Is it because it in the way you’ve structured things with your business and real estate that offsets some of the income taxes?
I love the entrepreneurial mind set, awesome to see it pay off. I also loved the advice “Do not let your stubbornness or political bias prevent you from learning what to do (and what not to do) from somebody else.”
MI 119: I’m curious about your timeshare ownership. Why a timeshare vs just using VROB, AirBnB, Hotel, etc?
Thank you for sharing your thoughts! Inspiring read!
Thank You!
I will take issue, however, with the very smart comment – and it’s not a modesty thing. I would guess I am of average or possibly slightly above average IQ but I would also say I am very methodical. Very smart implies my accomplishments can only be mimicked by those who are a small “smarter” slice of the pie of the population. I attribute a great deal of our accomplishment to family, friends, luck, online research and, most importantly (you may have guessed it) a higher power. None of that requires extra smarts. Takeaway here is anyone can accomplish this and more, with that kind of support and good planning.
I’m funny about heroes. If I had to pick heroes, they would not be billionaires, movie stars, athlete’s, politicians, and the like. Most will ultimately disappoint. I respect a celibate monk or nun that gave up their lives in quest of a front row seat in eternal salvation far more than myself or anyone else whose accomplishments are mainly a conquest of wealth and power. I guess this keeps me grounded.
We are very close with multiple neighbors, even vacationing together. Be neighborly!
Jonathan,
Currently our tithe includes charitable giving to several churches, we support (monthly) several children in the third world (our kids are involved in this), we support a pro-life movement spearheaded by Kirk Cameron, we support a Christian television channel with a monthly donation, we support ABWE (Association of Baptists for World Evangelism) also with monthly donation.
As already noted, I volunteer as both a physician and a board member for a free medical clinic based out of a church. In the office we write off a lot of co-pays and deductibles for financial hardship.
We have also taught the kids to do something good for at least one person on a daily basis, such as giving up a public seat or assisting with ambulation, etc. and this is best taught by example.
On a daily basis to those patients who are open to it, I give feedback on how to achieve spiritual and mental well being that can result in significantly improved physical health to patients of all faiths. This is especially central for those with a new diagnosis of cancer, stroke, Alzheimer’s and related progressive ailments.
My daughter is going on a missionary trip to the Dominican Republic next month. We have routinely donated medical supplies to friends and family that have gone on missionary trips in the past, usually at least annually.
So we are pretty active, and hope as you suggested to be even more vested in time and money sooner rather than later.
I know a prominent local cardiologist that worked for an extra year and donated all the proceeds to our church. That’s where I got that idea as well.
Oh that more of our millionaires had your humility, values, and faith. This was an incredibly refreshing read.
Reader,
We do not have any state income tax.
Due to the value of our residence and commercial real estate, there are significant federal tax breaks related to property taxes, interest payments on loans, and depreciation. Some of this has recently been limited on the residential side with the new tax laws, but not on the commercial side.
The IRA contributions ($108K for 2018) defers taxes on that amount and the HSA contribution is tax free on the front and back end if the funds are ultimately used for healthcare purposes – a great way to fund Medicare deductibles and co-payments in retirement.
Our tithe is tax deductible as well.
Don’t discount the little things. Our daughter has recently become eligible to work part time at our office and all income that goes to her from the corporation is essentially federally taxed at 0% given it’s a modest part time income, and is counted as an expense for the corporation. Our son will be eligible as well in 2 years. This also allows us to match a Roth IRA contribution for them (without triggering a gift tax) which will give them a tax advantage upon withdrawal in their own retirement.
Thank You MDGCPA!
First of all you can’t learn anything if you stubbornly insist you know it all, as many physicians seem to do! I’ve been around the block many times with these guys.
If you’re willing to learn to avoid other people’s mistakes, why don’t you learn from anybody and everybody. The trick is to listen even to those with whom you do no agree with fundamentally because they can have good ideas and can have made mistakes to avoid, just as much as those you do agree with.
If you shout back or ignore them you haven’t learned anything and it’s your loss, not theirs.
Phillip,
At the time I purchased the timeshare, VRBO and AirBNB were not really around, so the only option that seemed available was either a tight hotel room or a very costly suite.
In anticipation of my kids bickering, the primary timeshare location sold me on the two suites connected by a door so the kids can have at it in the other suite until they eventually learned it may be better to just get along, while my wife and I got some peace on very limited vacation time.
Timeshare suites were not a good financial decision, just sometimes a good practical decision. These days, as you noted you can rent a VRBO house and get the kids in separate rooms and a full size kitchen – so that may be the wiser financial decision without long term commitment.
Thank you Feisty FIRE You all inspire me!
Love the read. I too was excited to read about someone with such “wealth” and yet seems so balanced. As I get older I only wish I had more so I could do more for others… my needs seem to modest these days… although like you- a splurge with cars here and there and other things come up from time to time. So great that you give back so much… probably much more than you make in many ways….
117, I read your entire interview and it seems in many ways we are very similar in our instinct with money management, our views on life’s balance, and our desire to do something more for others in conjunction with our hope for our financial security.
It appears I had more family support than you growing up, so I say your accomplishments deserve far more applause than mine! You are genuinely very caring for those around you.
You certainly are doing well financially – I’d recommend you be cautions in this lofty market with that cash reserve. While you wait to decide how best to invest it – a couple of safe options. CIT bank is offering a 2.45% APR on savings. 12 month CD rates are around 2.8% (I like Sallie Mae), I have an 18 month CD at 3.2% but that’s a local credit union. My gut feeling is that at some point in the reasonably near future the markets will likely be at a big sale to today’s levels, so I am waiting for that to introduce new market investments. I’m also keeping an eye out for distressed real estate if you want to get in at some point. No need to rush.
You don’t have to have more money to do more for others. Use all your talents to give comfort to others, and your efforts will be viewed by the One that counts as doing more than the billionaire giving it away because he doesn’t need it. Time is a more valuable asset than money. So take the time to do something small for someone every day, volunteer at a place of worship or county assistance facility, mentor a youngster as your uncle did for you or assist an elderly neighbor, provide words of blessing on a restaurant receipt with a small extra tip are things I try to do as well. I’m sure your software makes people’s lives easier as well.
Take care.
Too kind. Thanks for the tips! I currently have a large portion of my cash in a high yield account as you suggest. I am considering a CD ladder as well… but like you- I’m sort of waiting for a correction and then I’ll likely go more into the market. I’m intrigued with the idea of doing something in real estate but not sure if it’s right for me.
I have started to make a transition to mostly index funds for many of my other investments. Ironically, my meeting with my FP didn’t go very well last week and I will no longer be using her. She did’t like that I wouldn’t put all my assets with her (and other things I’m sure). That just isn’t my style. It was a very awkward meeting but I’m happy to take things in my hands.
With helping others- again, great ideas and great points. ESI himself already has convinced me to do more charity and it feels good. Also I really love being able to leave a nice tip for a waiter or someone that is really doing a great job. The the idea of doing something small for someone everyday is something I’ll strive towards!
Oh and I’ll probably splurge and get a new Porsche 718… yep… we all have needs. lol
Enjoyed your many perspectives and the interview. Also liked the advice section which I think is very true. As I’ve gotten older, I realize how important these truths really are. Agree with having/ buying too much “stuff” too. I’m not really wealthy, but I have managed to buy plenty of stuff over the years and quite a bit of it is under-used or not used at all and over time is hardly worth anything. Plus it then takes up a lot of your time to sort it, try to sell it etc. At almost 50, I definitely now look more towards making my life more simplified so I have the time and energy to enjoy the important things.
Arrgo, thank you and I hope the interview offers something for everyone, as the feedback also gives me food for thought.
We are at similar points in our lives, both in age and with our perspective on “stuff”. At this point, when I am considering buying something I look at it, listen to that voice in my head that says “really?” and just put it back on the shelf. No idea what I’m going to do with all the stuff that sits in the house unused…maybe a bonfire!
Wow, was that ever inspirational. Thank you for sharing your story.
Thanks that means a lot. I was initially very hesitant to consider sharing for fear of backlash over the high income and net worth, but that hasn’t come to fruition.
I hope the inspiration is about where the heart is and not where the assets are! But I understand financial security is the goal, so hopefully some of my thoughts on finances and life balance actually find ways to help people make life a little better.
Thanks for sharing as really enjoyed, some great advice for folks, and neat to see the diversification as well
Thank you and congratulations on your success as well!
I read your entire interview and all the comments. It’s inspiring me to look into a charitable trust. I plan to reference your interview in more depth analysis in the future for my education.
Love the sharing of ideas and perspectives.
Hi MI 119,
Your story is really amazing and very inspirational. I’m at a NW of about $5M, the same age as you but far less income coming in, I also work as an administrator in health care and have been a US expat the last 13 years. One daughter at age 5 and a son on the way.
I’m looking to move all my efforts to a healthcare related personal venture but this one is going to be a long road ahead with low income for quite some time. Still it is a personal passion of mine so I’ll happily spend a few years giving it a go.
Enjoy your life and may you continue to do greater things.
Mike H (millionaire 30)
Mike, great father/son MI-30 with a lot of great information. Hope your dad is doing well. Congratulations on the blessings of a second child. My very first piece of advice in this interview was “mind your marriage and family” – isn’t this so important above and beyond any financial endeavor? Too many doctors don’t do this and their personal lives fall apart. You all seem to be very close generationally, not to be taken for granted as that is not always the case. I am very close with a very large extended family and reap those blessings as well.
Hope that the inspiration you found here helps with your healthcare venture and I hope the venture helps many, many people enjoy better health. Let that be the focus to guide your passion. There is a lot of health care innovation going on these days due to the adoption of technology (finally). Many don’t understand how incredibly complicated healthcare actually is, so it’s understandable that a new healthcare business takes time to nurture into a well oiled machine.
Prayers for prosperity in your new endeavor and may YOU continue to do greater things as well!
This was very encouraging and a fantastic read. Thank you for sharing your inspirational story.
Thanks David. I’m so humbled by all the responses here that have expressed your very sentiment.
Inspiration is critical. Many people have found inspiration in different financial books. I’ll let you in on a secret. I have never read a single financial book. I definitely want to and know I can benefit a lot from them. However, reading entire books is not natural for me and due to limited time, I tend to opt for short articles online for my financial literacy…but there is one Book.
For me, there is inspiration in the Good Book that is the only Book that gives me the power to move mountains, I just learned I can’t do it by myself. So I would say, find your inspiration wherever you think there is true power and authority over the weaknesses that keep us from our potential. I’m not saying it will be the same book, but for my story this is the only read I’ve personally found to overcome all of my failures and insecurities so that I may focus on my purpose and strengths…and perhaps focus on my treasures beyond 100 years. Now that’s a whole new perspective on financial independence! I don’t think therefore I can ever retire from trying to accumulate real treasure – it’s just not the same thing that society defines as wealth with commercials and advertising every time you look up. That’s why for me it’s the man (or woman) of eternal passion over the billionaire any day of the week as I noted in a previous comment.
All the best to you and cheers to real inspiration, personal growth and self-empowerment!
Wonderful interview, thank you for highlighting how you and your wife enjoy your work, giving back and leading by example for your children. We share the immigration story (nearly the same age and in the same decade 🙂 )!
Given your current net worth and future projections (that will likely exceed estate tax exemptions), do you have a strategy on how to pass on your inheritance to your children?
Wishing you continued success! MI81
MI81, yours is a great interview and congratulations on your own success!
I know there are a lot of politics around immigration right now, but I hope many can understand the tremendous appreciation us legal immigrants have for the real opportunities we have in the United States, and our abilities to be extremely productive, innovate, create jobs, pay taxes (and complain about that too), etc. We are real examples. The appreciation for what America is runs thru our blood!
Getting to your question regarding estate planning, admittedly I have not paid too much attention to this until recently. It’s hard because we are still far from having to make the estate transition to our children and laws and thresholds change all the time. Federal gift and estate tax exemptions adjust with inflation. Additionally, we do not know how much inheritance we will receive from either set of parents, and have no reason to ask due to our financial stability. But I have done some research and made some moves.
1- We have an estate planning attorney and a family trust.
2- We have attorneys in the family and I get regular feedback from them.
3- Each child can be gifted up to $15,000/year without triggering gift taxes. To ensure that is used wisely, I am doing some of the gifting in the form of Roth IRA so it grows for them tax free for decades. What a great head start. Our daughter is eligible for a Roth because she works at our office part time, so the corporation pays her income directly of so it does not count as part of our gifting as it is work for the corporation, not a gift from her parents. My son will be eligible to follow suite in 2 years. I believe the Roth match counts as a gift, though, but not the income.
4- One can also provide, when the time comes, gifts to grandchildren as well as part of your legacy planning.
5- Having wealth gives us options. I am considering some gifting to our nieces and nephews. There is no limit to how many people you can gift to. Tried to give something back to our wonderful parents on both sides (they absolutely refuse to accept!).
6- For a married couple, the maximum threshold for an estate without triggering gift taxes is $22.4M in 2019. So if something happened to us today the gift tax would not be of issue.
7- If at some point we exceed the estate tax threshold charitable giving (which we are very much into) can be increased. I mean how much do the kids really need? Currently our annual tithe obviously lowers our estate by that amount (minus associated tax break) and over the decades that adds up and hopefully will reach thousands in need.
8- There are many things we can give our children in our retirement that have no monetary value and are non-taxable. We learned this by example from our parents. Being available for our children in retirement for babysitting, DIY home and auto repairs, taking grandkids to and from school, sports, cooking, washing dishes and laundry, etc. gives our future grown kids more opportunity to focus on work and earn more. We love our kids more than ourselves, and will never stop doing for them.
9- I am still learning more every day regarding estate and legacy planning, and tax law changes may provide future options.
Continued success and blessings to you MI81 as well.
So this is an update that emphasizes the importance of learning business principles beyond one’s comfort level because evolution prevents financial stagnation. I feel I have done pretty well regarding ESI. I recently got back my tax returns from my accountant to sign for tax year 2018. It looks great – but it is forcing me to look a little closer at one of my financial literacy weaknesses – taxes. This looks to me more and more important now in the wealth building process, dare I call it ESIT! I always wondered how the ultra-wealthy pay such a low tax rate, I am BEGINNING to understand with a lot more to learn. Between ages 45-50 I will make tax strategies my first priority, which is also a leg of good estate planning.
In late 2017, we moved from a nearly 3000 sq ft (paid off) office building to a building just over 16000 sq ft, and accumulated 3 other medical tenants to help build equity for us. 2018 was the first full year of tenant leases, which came out to about $310K in lease revenue to our real estate holding company. What spectacular tax breaks and deferments this has turned out to be, with the tax break limits on the residential side (due to the new laws) not in place on the commercial side. We leased the old office 2/2019 so that should bring in an extra $40K in commercial lease income for a total of $350K in lease revenue expected in 2019.
In 2018, we paid about $55K in interest on the commercial mortgage, 51K in commercial property taxes and took a roughly $85K commercial building depreciation against our lease income. What a great deduction/deferment that has helped get us a $50K tax refund for tax year 2018 versus 2017 (paid same estimated taxes) despite a higher income in 2018.That’s 50K (minus tithe) more per year to reinvest in the markets, our business, accelerate debt repayment, etc. In addition the office buildings should appreciate over the next 2-3 decades we hope to hold on to this income producing property, which now houses our growing business to a potential of $8M-$10M/year in our industry as the tenants move out and we take over the spaces.
Our teenage daughter now works part time at our office supporting our nursing, administrative and front office staff, assists with spreadsheets, implementation of new business lines, etc. What a great learning experience for her, but also her salary paid from the corporation is essentially income tax free and reduces our S-corp pass-through income, and as income it does not count as a gift from us. In addition, while I am not eligible for a ROTH IRA due to my income, I can match her income in ROTH contributions for her and that can grow tax free for half a century with her having to pay no taxes on the principle investment and appreciation over the decades, upon liquidation in her retirement. We will follow suite with our son when he is old enough. This is part of our legacy planning for our kids security.
So far the lion share of our market investments have been in our retirement accounts so taxes on all profits are tax deferred until they are withdrawn in retirement. We plan on growing our non-retirement cash reserves in 3-4% CD’s over the next few years, ultimately earmarked for the markets after the next major correction – at which time we want to mobilize into high quality sector funds for long term hold to be taxed at long term capital gains rates. Same with our relatively new HSA account, which is the only tax free account on the front and back end I know, as long as the funds are ultimately used for health care purposes and the funds are immediately available if needed, in contrast to retirement accounts.
Of course everyone can at a minimum, understand and engage in the practice of charitable giving to reduce their tax bill while supporting a higher cause for humanity.
Hope this isn’t too confusing – it is important. Mind your taxes to help optimize your net worth over the decades, philanthropy, and simultaneously engage in estate/legacy planning! A good accountant and/or tax/estate planning attorney can help navigate this.
Here’s to the God life!
To your point, once you hit a certain level of income and NW, tax management strategies become extremely important. A good portion of my income is as a W-2 wage slave (albeit a well-compensated one) in a high-tax, high-cost part of the country, which makes sheltering income extremely difficult. BUT fortunately wife and I have alternate income via our business interests, which highlights a major realization I wish I had understood much earlier if life. Small business and income/commercial property owners have many excellent ways of minimizing taxes. I now realize how inefficient W-2 income is in that nearly half of it (in the top brackets) goes to the government – literally if it were not for our businesses, it would be one dollar for me, one dollar for Uncle Sam. Comparable business earnings are much more tax efficient. Depreciation expense, r.e. taxes, interest expense, for income/commercial properties is like pure gold from a tax perspective – there are no limits on deductions like on personal income. Unfortunately, I have yet to find an accountant I can rely on for good tax strategy planning, so have had to learn much of it myself. I think the next big thing is investing in r.e. Opportunity Zones. From the looks of it, there will be some insane tax advantages to be had in terms of deferring or even extinguishing capital gains.
Here is something I did not discuss in depth during the interview but warrants more attention – the power of saving. I’m not talking about saving almost everything in the bank and losing my pleasure to frugality. I seize this day just as fervently as I seize tomorrow, as tomorrow is not promised.
What I am talking about is becoming an expert in saving on what I have to buy, and only where it is wise and moral to do so. I happen to spend about $1.5M/year and by extreme savings on the business/real estate end, it affords me my growing 7 figure salary on the personal side year after year. I pay employees better than average because 1- it is moral to do so 2- it also makes for a safe, well run business.
Where then does one save? On things, so many things I have to buy year round. I look at what I buy a lot of but then it translates to my purchasing habits on everything..
On the personal side I love to dress well (after all I am a physician and patients have an expectation). I buy lots of dress shirts, ties, slacks, shoes, suits, etc. Compliments come all day long. So what do I do? I purchase almost exclusively from Kohl’s clearance (generally 50-70% off), only when I find an online 30% off coupon in addition and with free shipping, and $10 in Kohl’s Cash for every $50 spent. In addition I use Ebates for 3-6% cash back. Do the math, everything I buy looks quite expensive, yet I get it at about 80-90% off retail. 80-90% off – I don’t think I ever bought a pair of dress shoes for over $25, including Bostonian. 80-90% in immediate savings, yet we marvel at achieving a 10 or 12% return on investments over the course of an entire year. $50 watches often get more praise than $5K watches from the masses.
On the personal side I also love my cars – but my newest one is the 2008 Toyota with 140K miles (plenty of room to go). Don’t feel bad for me, my other 3 vehicles have 18K, 36K, and 66K miles on them and drive like they came out of the dealership. All 4 vehicle purchased used but with a combined 1700 raging horsepower.A convertible prancing horse with a group of like minded enthusiasts for a day at the track and a night out on the town – what a weekend! Okay so I could have saved more, but why?
Big ticket electronics like televisions, gaming consoles, cell phones are purchased on Black Friday. Furniture on President’s Day. Convertibles in the winter. BOGO at the supermarket with cash back credit cards.
On the business side, I have 6 printer in use at the office. For just my main printer, I buy a toner cartridge every 2 months or so that retails for $450 (multiplied by 6 for a year that’s $2,700 in cartridges for just one of six printers). I buy only OEM new on Ebay, but for $40-$150/cartridge. For a decade I purchased cases of paper for $0 at OfficeMax with 100% rewards program – and I use a heck of a lot of paper, plus 1-3% back in credit card rewards!. Exhaustively bidding for my required products on fire sale pays handsome dividends, but yes it takes work. At least not going to or carrying from the retail stores (hate them, all done online and time is your most valuable asset).
Negotiate fees with business partners, vendors, lenders, payers. Shop insurance policies regularly.
Now multiply all of these savings by efforts on $1.5M annually in expenses minus employee salaries, you can see how the power of disciplined savings can have major impact on take home income, business profitability/growth, and future marketability of the business for sale purposes. That’s why my business has an unusually good 45% overhead. No impulse or emotional buying. No shopping in store to avoid in your face temptations (sorry Costco folks).
Don’t underestimate the importance of strategic savings. It may not be sexy, but at my income and net worth, this is what people do because this is what got us here. You are also being a good steward of your money and this affords to ability to tithe and invest more.
Earnings check. Growing steadily. Business expanding.
Savings check. See above.
Investing check. My best fund is up 34.94% YTD (2.5 months).
Peace and prosperity to all.
Wow! Amazing that you managed to leverage family practice, one of the more underpaid fields in medicine, into such an amazing business. I’d love to hear more details on how you did it.
You are right- employment is foolish.
Hi snowcanyon.
In order to achieve what the average family doctor (and pharmacist) does not, logically I have to 1- see opportunity where the average family doctor does not and/or 2- be willing to make the sacrifices in terms of time, money, risk, etc. that the average family doctor does not. I am by profession a family doctor, but I am defined by so much more.
Also, I have learned a great deal from people far more accomplished than I am. Sometimes I feel they are speaking a foreign language to me or their feedback sounds obvious, until I heavily research a few critically important words they tell me. Therefore, I cannot possibly provide enough details in this interview, but think of the suggestions I put out in MI-119 a headline that needs to be fully researched and implemented intelligently to get the most of it – that’s how I look at other millionaire interviews and how I most benefit from the other successes. Effort provides the insights that the casual reader’s here may miss.
I think it’s more about repetition of quality decisions and minimization of mistakes rather than some secret sauce. This may sound underwhelming, but I now model my life about wanting to be Holy as my primary objective rather than what the majority of people pursue – happiness, financial wealth, self-focus, vacations as a getaway from reality, a grass is greener retirement, easy/simple, etc. Somehow this objective has led to fantastic opportunities falling into my lap that I never expected or worked for – very significant things like 1- Two colleagues gave me their practices after retiring just because they like what I offer 2- My commercial tenants sought me out and signed leases even before I built my office building despite the fact I never intended to be a commercial landlord 3-My wife left a $200K+ corporate income when I opened the practice because she believed in my vision, providing a critical eye on things.
To answer your question further, I exploited something in family practice – the ability and expectation to manage many conditions, including implementing high revenue producing specialty services such as aesthetics, pharmacy, weight loss, in house imaging, allergy testing, circulatory testing, dermatologic procedures, second opinions, motor vehicle accidents and more to come. Most doctors want their comfortable life, these days in an employed setting to avoid having to be CEO, CFO, purchasing, etc. as noted in my interview.
Perhaps most importantly, when I sit with the patient, I provide genuine empathy and interest in their lives. I offer reassurance through their fears and anxieties over a potential diagnosis. I work to heal and preserve the health of the body, but I extend my services to address the ailments of the mind and (if they are receptive, and most are) the Spirit. Praising, empowering and enabling patients to optimize all aspects of their health makes for better living and a better world. It is how our business has grown to several thousand patients and why we have never really spent to advertise. It is how we value patient trust and built goodwill for the business. Same goes for the treatment of employees. It is how my passion to help my fellow man makes me live for today and not for retirement. Grace is indeed, why I prosper and avoid distractions. It is also the example I set for my kids.
One day I want to look back and say “I have fought the good fight” and perhaps have built a treasure in the afterlife that makes any net worth I accomplish in this life but a speck of sand. I have made mistakes and know my shortcomings, just try to get up stronger and wiser when you fall and the falls will become further and fewer in between.
So how did I do it? I tracked a different purpose, married up, honed our talents, produced a better product, appreciated today, pursued wisdom, circumvented falsehoods regarding happiness, implemented cautiously, reinvested after saving aggressively, and the light shines brighter than ever.
M-119, you have definitely got a book in you that needs to come out someday. I can’t quite relate to the holiness angle, that’s not me as I believe religion often causes more harm than good, and I don’t necessarily believe it is linked to prosperity (if that’s what you were implying).
But, my mom was the holiest person I have ever met. She lived her spiritual values as nobody I’ve ever met since. She helped lift up many people and yet she herself had a very difficult and painful life.
From her I learned much, chief among them…. adversity can be overcome with grit and perseverance and education, do no harm, treat others with respect as you would have them treat you, follow your own path, and achieve independence of mind and matter.
I do believe you and her would have had much in common (except unfortunately for the financial part). Her success in life was built upon a fundamental respect and love for the whole of humanity.
Wow! So much to say here. This may be one of the single most important comments you ever see (you may or may never know that). But your comment suggests you won’t understand it at this time, because it is not an understanding of the mind and you seem to rely on this to mold your belief system.
You noted you “believe religion often causes more harm than good”, and you “don’t necessarily believe it is linked to prosperity (if that’s what you were implying).” First, I said nothing about religion. Religion is often defiled by wicked and weak men. I was talking about God, and God is love. I also believe there is a devil that uses men to defile religion and create confusion that leads us to fall into the trap of putting all our efforts into building a fake “prosperity” and happiness over our 100 years on this earth, devoid of taking the time to build treasure beyond compare for all eternity. This is why I am an unwavering soldier of the faith and defend it like a lion.
The $10M, $20M, $30M…$100B I accumulate for retirement – who cares? Look at the billionaires, movie stars and politicians – embroiled in scandal and many don’t believe in Christ as their savior. No shortage of scandals with people like Jeff Bezos, Bernie Madoff, Jussie Smollett, and a defiance of the truth by those like Bill Maher, and those that attack Christianity like no other religion. Why? They want to control what you believe. They tell you religion is bad, they tell you God is non-existent, they tell you to replace God with the golden cow of everything that we buy – both things and experiences – that enrich them, but don’t give you any eternal value.
In our last days on this earth, what will we reflect on? Is it everything we work every day to achieve, is it the comfort of financial wealth now and in retirement, is it of the ability to wake up without an alarm clock, is it of vacations, is it of cars or houses or wine or eating out? I say to you, non of that will matter. Will we have taken the time to live the life of the Bible so that our reflection is a proud one, believing whole heartedly that we built an eternal treasure that makes anything anyone has ever accomplished here but a lump of dirt? I now think about this every single day of my life and act every day to build this treasure just as much as I build my IRA. I have not always been like this, but I was baptized to receive the Spirit and now am working so hard to grow this flame within me from a fragile candle to a massive wildfire that no one can put out. And yes I still prepare for my financial future but I’ve learned enough to do fine, but my thirst for something more has not been quenched. “Not as the world gives do I give to you”.
You noted regarding your mother, she ” lived her spiritual values as nobody I’ve ever met since. She helped lift up many people and yet she herself had a very difficult and painful life.” and “Her success in life was built upon a fundamental respect and love for the whole of humanity.” I know of a Man that lived like that who became the inspiration for billions. You may have been living with a saint so I challenge you to give up everything you think you know and replace your requirement for evidence to mold what you believe to a faith that can fulfill you like nothing you’ve worked on for the past few decades.
Is God, therefore linked to prosperity as you ask? Even those who achieve the petty prosperity of financial wealth. I say absolutely, every breath we all breathe and therefore every moment is a gift from God, every good decision we make is a gift from God (read the Parable of the Talents). Why does God therefore allow extreme financial prosperity to non-believers in this world? He loves everyone and wants everyone to ultimately accept the Truth, as the thief on the cross did in his last minutes. He also knows it is but a speck of sand as compared to the grandeur of eternal treasure. I was given two medical practices, commercial tenants came to me – I did nothing to accomplish this. It just happened. We also receive so much more help from family and friends than we are willing to admit. Why then should I not believe in the Parable of the Birds in the Air? I personally believe that prosperity has everything to do with God. He who has eyes, let him see. For a very long time, patting myself on the back, I did not see. One can truly go from blindness in the dark to sight in the light.
I challenge you to take a few weeks to break from your focus on everything you’ve accomplished and rethink what you should be working towards the rest of your life. It is not enough to be a great person and help others. Walking the narrow road to eternal salvation requires so much more, spend a few weeks seeking this and you will find the freedom, peace, happiness, and prosperity in it’s true definition, that we erroneously think we can accomplish some other way. Why do I do this? Because despite my accomplishments I have not achieved this in any other way.
Do not feel sorry for your mother’s lack of financial wealth. She may have a achieved a seat in the Kingdom far beyond us with all the time she spent pursuing something so much more real than what you and I have spent so much time pursuing. To the contrary, this is the kind of hero I absolutely envy but I take solace in seeing she (and others) show me how to walk the walk that no one seeking any other purpose can.
I do not ask you believe what I believe. I don’t even ask you to believe what I have to say. Some may read this and ignore it, ridicule it, counter it. I just am completely dissatisfied with the explanation that there is nothing more and therefore have not been disappointed in seeking a greater Truth.
Write a book one day? Huh. Perhaps one day. Right now I am very busy reading a Book that answers every important question of my life. Happier and more “prosperous” than I could ever be now that I am making regular contributions to an unusual “bank account”. How to ESI here is where I’m at now.
MI-119, I appreciate your lengthy reply. And I am not entirely closed to your views – it is most helpful to understand where you are coming from. I’ll probably need to reread this a couple times to fully get it.
Make sure to complete your 2018 contribution to you tax deferred/tax exempt 401(k), IRA, HSA, etc. accounts by the IRS deadline of April 15, 2019. We contributed $119K this year (the maximum) to tax deferred/exempt retirement accounts. We are now above $1.9M in these accounts, up over $100K since completing this interview 5 months ago.
Also, we transferred $50K in debt to 2 credit cards at 0% x 12-15 months with no balance transfer fees. We’ll pay them off by the time the intro rate expires. We’ve been doing this for decades and it’s one way of using other people’s money to get wealthier. Always looking for the best card offers.
Some of you guys have noted you’re interested in seeing updates.
Today our tax advantaged retirement accounts (401K, IRA) hit the round value of $2M at ages 45, 46. We hit $1M 11/2014, at ages, 40, 41.
What’s your milestones? Anyone hit $3M, $4M, $5M in retirement accounts?
The younger crowd should hit these milestones at younger ages, as future allowed contribution limits will be higher than in the past and current.
Also planning to go 100% debt free within the next 12 months. Current debts approximately $1.8M. Business, real estate doing well and markets are up. Good times.
Hi MI-119. I wanted to encourage you and thank you for such an honest and poignant post. Reading your interviewing and the replies to comments section was refreshing.
As a young physician (almost 4 years out from residency) I gravitate towards interviews/blogs, etc that highlight those from a similar journey. However, I was encouraged most by your discussion of the Good Book. Thank you for challenging readers to read more here. Personally, I have struggled with the desire to chase after riches, fun how reading/studying Proverbs and Ecclesiastes properly adjusts the needle on one’s internal compass.
Thank you for setting a healthy example as one who you should strive to resemble.
Thanks for the feedback.
Love the career, love what you do for people and the reward will come when you’re not focused on it, financial or otherwise.
One day you will look back on your career and successes and wonder how this happened, “surely I could not have accomplished this alone with all my flaws”. Mountains are moved but not of our own accord. To understand that with humility gets us on His good grace. Sure there will be naysayers, but I am resolute in believing far beyond my career and my life I prepare for a far longer journey. Earn (good deeds), save (the words of the Good Book), invest (build treasure where moths, vermin, and thieves cannot destroy or steal).
Yes I’ve done great financially since this interview. That’s just a side bar. You’re heart is with your treasure, I’m working hard to define what is treasure indeed. Society unfortunately does a good job at clouding that. We’ve all made mistakes, time to rise above when one finds the light of true happiness. No longer interested in a rat race that leads to nowhere, it is not where my need lies.
I think I’ll just sidestep all the incredible detail and heady vapors of holiness and accomplishment to say, it’s still kind of funny down South, or back East. Plenty of relatives in TN and DC, big houses and super nice rides, AC or die (humidity), also Baptist as all get out. I like the potlucks and them (the relatives), for the most part. Not too big on snakes and bugs, or sermons, anywhere, or racial tensions. Just the way it is. Anyway, one of them was an insurance agent, a real go-getter. Sold every member of the family he could some terribly dubious insurance; they all lost thousands upon thousands while he of course profited. Cruel, not too unusual, but what’s funny is the massive self-portrait he put over his mantel. No wife (obviously), but all the trappings of going big and then some, without regret. Our CA and WA relations used to think, wow, they all seem really nice, good family cohesion, could be the religion. Not really; they have more charming accents, that’s all. They are human; finer details get obscured by posturing and flash. No relation to this interview, at all, mind you, just the fancy cars and large home caught my attention, then thinking back. It obviously takes the real deal and a total bull to plow through all those challenges into the multi-millions. It is impressive, but I’m no longer envious of anyone. One life. Everyone on this planet should be free to secure whatever destiny they desire. Out here in the not-so-fresh NW, I’d definitely supersize some things, given the chance. Costs continue to soar, the homeless problem gets worse and worse, crime’s up on the streets, old-world diseases on the move, and now here comes the Coronavirus . . . doesn’t look good. Until then, the end or whatever, I do love the retail strategy, a personal aim of mine, operating at a much lower level. It really doesn’t cost much to look good, eat well, or drive a nice car. To me, the ultimate luxury is NO car, no driving, just my own two legs or a driver, close to an excellent grocer, the post office, then a good clinic or hospital. Lots of good books and free time. Might need a serious man cave, though; the gf can be pretty disruptive (lol). Love her plenty, nevertheless.
Update – New Milestones
Tax advantage retirement accounts hit $2.5M this week with two decades left to full retirement age, 18 months after this interview took place for a gain of $700K of which about $220K were contributions. An investment focus on technology and healthcare helped achieve that.
Also we will have all debts listed in this interview paid off this month. That’s $2M converted to equity in 18 months. No new RE acquisitions, just debt payoff was the story.
Income grew steadily by $100K in 2019 with associated 20% business growth, so I will now have to consider what to do with about $800K in annual free cash flow, after taxes/expenses have been paid. Will the best opportunities come in the form of market re-pricing, distressed real estate, or an opportunity for business expansion? Help! What are you considering in the coming quarters to years?
God’s been good, but COVID’s got to go away to resume the charitable deeds it took away – cancelled missions trips, charity health clinic temporarily closed. Feel a certain loss of purpose until we get back to normalcy. Stay safe everyone!
Hi there,
Great story. And congrats on all your successes. I was wondering if you are open to connecting offline – just want to ask you a few question on career, life, kids, etc. My email is [email protected]
Thank you in advance
Just saw this.
I sent you an email from [email protected]
Tried following up a few times. Let me know please if you are still open to connecting.
Thanks.