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.
This interview took place in December.
My questions are in bold italics and their 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 a 41 year old male as of July 2023.
I do not have a spouse and have never been married.
I have been in an open relationship of sorts for about 8 years, and we consider each other “significant others”, but she lives about 250 miles away, and we see each other a few times a month.
Our finances are not mixed in any way whatsoever, but I do work on her taxes and give financial advice when asked.
Do you have kids/family (if so, how old are they)?
I do not have any kids.
At a very young age I decided I didn’t want to be an old dad, and if I didn’t have any kids by the age of 35, I would skip it all together. I tend to be a man of my word, so I got snipped.
I was hoping a less dramatic option would be available, and even signed up to be a guinea pig for a new procedure called “Vasagel”, unfortunately they have not made it to human trials yet.
I do have an 8-year-old Doberman.
What area of the country do you live in (and urban or rural)?
I currently live in a small beach town on the east coast, relatively rural.
When people ask me to describe it, I say….”It’s kind of like Amity Island from Jaws, with less Mafia influence.”
I wouldn’t consider my area a high cost of living zone (HCOL), but I personally live on an island, on the “2nd row” of a beach community, and that comes with its own increased costs — think high insurance, more expensive utilities, and everything rusts and needs to be replaced.
What is your current net worth?
Just over $2 million.
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?
The following is a good break down. My 401ks (TSP) are a mix of Traditional and Roth. My SEP IRA is traditional.
My short-term loan equity is via Groundfloor. Essentially small-time contractors crowdfund loans, that they use to flip houses in various markets. I would not recommend it.
I do not consider my car to be an asset, but it’s a modest vehicle purchased for $16,000 used. I paid for it in cash, and there is no debt associated with it. It’s practical, low maintenance, and I have put 110k miles on it in 4 years.
My commercial loan equity represents money that I’ve lent a local business on multiple 10-year notes, more on that later.
My “angel investment” is via StartEngine, a crowdfunding website of sorts, I went into it with a friend, it will likely be lost money …let’s hope not.
EARN
What is your job?
I am a physician in the Military.
I graduated from medical school about 15 years ago and have spent time as a general practitioner, as a resident, and now as an attending for 5 years.
What is your annual income?
With all the various pays/benefits/tax-free allowances that military physicians are entitled to, it’s probably around $225,000 a year in pay/tax benefits.
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?
I have had lots of jobs over the years. Like most people who complete these interviews I started with odd jobs in the neighborhood, cutting grass for $10 a yard. I did several summers picking produce in NC as well.
My first W2 paycheck was as a dishwasher for 5.15/hr, then I took jobs as a cook, then as an executive chef, as a custom PC builder, and finally I managed a Radio Shack. Those jobs were all before college.
I had the pleasure of attending college, then med-school in the same New England City, and I was able to hold about 5 jobs that I kept for 4-5 years at the same time. Depending on the time of the year I worked between 50-120 hours a week (undergrad), and 20 hours a week during the 1st year of medical school.
In my peak year I made about 120k while attending school, through various per hour jobs, salaries, and gig work. Now this sounds like great money to start investing with, but quite frankly all of it went to tuition and college expenses. However, I did graduate undergrad completely debt free — not even credit card debt.
I joined the military via the Health Professions Scholarship Program, and they paid for Medical School and provided a small stipend and guaranteed future employment.
Since graduating medical school, I have had one primary employer, the military, and as similar interviewees have pointed out, it’s a structured pay scale (with the big benefit being no medical school loans.)
Over time you qualify for additional bonuses, retention bonuses, “doctor bonuses”, overseas bonuses, and then get incremental raises with time in service, promotion raises, and annual increases when they are approved by Congress for all service members to cover for inflation.
I would say I started at $120,000 a year which has increased to $225,000. I would guess that when I retire in a few years it will be closer to $240,000.
I have seen ESI authors mention the deployment bonuses, which are nice, as well as the tax-free money while in a war-zone, but the aftereffects of being deployed can be devastating. I didn’t leave unscathed, but I’ve treated people who suffered way more than me. Point is, I’d rather pay taxes than have nightmares.
I have also had a two-year stint moonlighting. I was able to do it remotely, and while it lasted, I was able to clear an additional $150,000 a year.
What tips do you have for others who want to grow their career-related income?
This is very dependent on your field. I have chosen the security (golden handcuffs) of a military retirement and benefits; however, all my friends have shown me, and the research has agreed, switching employers every 2-3 years is the best way to increase your pay.
In medicine I would argue that geo-arbitrage is the best way to increase your pay. In my field, being willing to live in the middle of no-where Arkansas pays almost 200% more than the same exact job in a HCOL area. So, you get twice as much money, and your expenses are a fraction of what they were on the coast.
What’s your work-life balance look like?
Great. I picked a particular field of Medicine that doesn’t usually have emergencies after hours and we are actually trained to stop working at a certain time of the day, for patient safety.
So, I work about 40-60 hours a week in person, and currently on call every other week.
The call schedule limits travel, but it’s not very rigorous, and mostly involves making medical decisions over the phone and coordinating care remotely.
My hobbies based on time spent are:
- Exercise
- Hanging out with the dog
- Competitive online gaming, League of Legends mostly
- Hanging out with friends and family, going to breweries
- Disc Golf
- Reading for pleasure
- Travel
- Music/DJing
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?
- Rental Property – California: Originally purchased in 2010 for about $400,000 for personal use. This has a 30-year mortgage, that has been refinanced a few times, but has approximately 350K in debt at 2.5% associated with it and is valued at 1.1M (Zillow). It has been a rental property for 5 years and rents for $3,600 a month, which after the mortgage, management fees, insurance, and taxes, leaves about $1400 a month in profit.
- Moonlighting – Remote: I have previously done remote work as a physician, which paid about $200 an hour, and was an excellent source of income. At the time, I made more money “moonlighting” than I did from my primary job, however this work dried up after about 18 months, mostly due to COVID at the time. I would pick it up again if I found such great terms, and it was remote to boot.
- Dividend Income: I know that I would be better invested in an index fund, but I do like the idea of passive income that dividends provide, even at my age. I currently make ~ $25,000 a year via several REITs and dividend ETFs. Some of these pay monthly, some quarterly. All of it is reinvested via DRIP. I make quarterly tax payments on these dividends. Because of the DRIP and additional investments, the annual dividend increases dramatically every year, and per my projections will likely hit $78,000 a year by the time I retire in 5 years.
- Stocks – “Day Trading”: I currently arbitrage several stocks, playing the regular sine wave price points that these traditional stocks make. I play the upside, buy low, sell high, then repeat with the same stocks. Then I also play the reverse with shorting several similar positions. I have been doing this for a long time with low amounts of money and have made 30-80k a year over the last 3 years. I typically split the proceeds 4 ways to: pay down debt (mortgages right now), reinvest some in traditional index funds, increase the amount of money I arbitrage, and pay quarterly taxes.
- Brewery – Investor/Manager: I am currently an investor in a local brewery. There are three investors equally splitting ownership, and one of us has a passion for beer and will be the brewer. In theory I am bringing financial expertise and management talent to the table. We have been in the process for 2.5 years and will hopefully open before the end of the calendar year. Thus far, it’s been a financial cost, but maybe if I ever write an ESI update, I can talk about its success or failure. This represents my Commercial Loan Equity. I have lent the LLC money, at various competitive interest rates via several 10-year loans. When the money is paid back, taxes are not due on the principal, but I will personally owe taxes on any interest that is paid back to me. Of course, this business could be a total failure and the loan equity, will be a loss. Time will tell.
SAVE
What is your annual spending?
$120,000 ish.
Last year had a lot of anomalies, this year I’m on track for $105,000-110,000.
What are the main categories (expenses) this spending breaks into?
All this data comes from MINT, which I find to be an excellent tool.
I used to use Personal Capital, but MINT is so much more reliable.
I also use an Excel file I update monthly, but I track credit card payments there, not category breakdowns.
The following represents the data from 2022:
Of note, some expenses fluctuate. For instance, although travel has $9600 listed, I often pay for entire trips, and get refunded back for flights, and shared Airbnb’s by other travel buddies. I just collect the credit card miles. It’s more likely $5000 a year currently.
In addition, shopping, really includes any money spent online, mostly Amazon, that would be better spread between all the other categories, but who has time for that. I bet at least 2k from Amazon would better be categorized as home improvement/maintenance.
I also didn’t list quarterly taxes here because I see that as a privilege, not an expense. If I am privileged to make X number of extra dollars this quarter, I pay the taxes on it, if not, I don’t.
Do you have a budget? If so, how do you implement it?
Not at all.
As I mentioned above, I do input data monthly into an Excel file, which I mostly use to monitor historical trends, and if saw something really out of wack, I might act on it, but I have never maintained a budget.
What percentage of your gross income do you save and how has that changed over time?
20-25%.
First, I maximize my 401k (TSP). I couldn’t afford to do that when I graduated medical school, because my income wasn’t high enough, and then I couldn’t afford to do it after I bought a new home and began to incur all initial expenses associated with that, but shortly thereafter I began to adjust by withholding amount to max it out over the course of the year. That’s the first 10%. The remainder is based on a method I developed.
Essentially, I keep 3 months’ worth of expenses in my checking account ($X dollars). Every month, after I have finished updating my “Networth” Excel file, I take every dollar over $X, and push it toward debt, or my post tax investment accounts. Usually, 50/50.
Savings is relatively easy for me because my expenses/tastes are so cheap. I still drink more Nattie\Miller Light than I care to admit.
What’s your best tip for saving (accumulating) money?
Pay yourself first. Then pay your bills. Then pay yourself some more.
See above. Do not get lost trying to keep up with the Jones.
Maintain whatever you need to do to stay happy and fit, and then put away the rest into your future.
Avoid FOMO on investments. Live stealth wealth.
See my expenses above, if I had to guess, in my “shopping number”, I only spend like $200 spent on clothing. Mostly new socks to replace the ones that are falling apart. My local friends once voted me as “The friend who has money, but always acts like he’s broke”. I took it as a huge compliment.
Don’t have kids, huge money saver. Talking to my contemporaries, it seems to be a huge expense.
What’s your best tip for spending less money?
Get cheaper hobbies and fight lifestyle creep with tooth and nail.
If you can’t buy the car cash, you probably shouldn’t be buying the car.
Date/marry someone at, near, or above your income/education levels. I have lots of friends who complain about how much their GFs/Fiancés/Wives cost them. I have dated women who are broke and in debt, and many who make more money than me, and everything in between. Dating someone who is at least as successful as myself has been better. Besides having similar interests and values, I also don’t worry about picking up the bill all the time, she is also equally independent and pays all her own bills.
I bought my current house as a potential future rental property, but right now it’s a huge expense. What does a single man with a dog need, 4 bedrooms for??? I don’t. My point is, don’t overbuy housing….or better yet, just rent.
What is your favorite thing to spend money on/your secret splurge?
This is funny. I literally just asked my significant other this question the other day, about myself. What did she think my splurge was?
If you asked me, I would say gadgets, but I’m wrong. She nailed it, my favorite thing to blow money on is home improvement — build a fence, upgrade a pullup bar, install new storm windows, install in-wall surround sound speakers, buy imported inground popup sprinklers from Germany.
It’s a shame too, because Instagram knows DIY is my passion and spends most of their ads trying to sell me the next great idea for a project. So probably the best way for me to avoid spending money is to stay off Pinterest.
INVEST
What is your investment philosophy/plan?
Maximize 401k and keep it in low cost index funds.
Maximize dividend paying investments.
Keep putting money in the market.
What has been your best investment?
Joining the military has likely been my best investment and will allow me to retire early. It started me out debt free with a salary that was higher than normal interns.
It completely randomly put me in a HCOL area at the start of my career, right after the 2008 real estate market crashed which set me for a huge real estate win, see below.
It will provide me with a pension and healthcare for life…in theory.
Without the above three, there is no way I could retire and never work again at age 46, but so far, so good.
Now the military is not for everyone, and I would likely recommend not doing it if you are going into medicine, but the landscape changes every few years, and my opinion is specialty dependent. Also the military pension plan has changed, luckily I’m grandfathered into the old one.
Next would be my personal home, that I turned into a rental property. That has gained 700k in equity since I purchased it and I have collected well over 150k in rent, and it’s in a market that currently expects a 5% rent increase annually.
My day trading arbitrage has technically made around 2400%, but that takes a lot of effort and there is no guarantee it lasts forever. However, as I type this, I just closed a position and made 5% in a week.
What has been your worst investment?
Crypto.
I invested 18k when it was at a high probably in 2017, and I didn’t keep it in bitcoin, but moved mostly to Ethereum, or similar ALT coin investments, and it mostly bottomed out. I think it is currently valued at 4k.
This occurred because one of my group chats, which is dedicated to finance, led to me developing FOMO and I jumped in at the wrong time.
What’s been your overall return?
This is an estimate, based on a start date of 2011 (when I started my excel file), a guess on average external deposits into those accounts, and withdrawals made to pay bills, taxes, and fund my business, but it’s been approximately 15.5%.
How often do you monitor/review your portfolio?
Every business day.
Day trading arbitrages require regular check in, but sometimes I just set time alerts and check in a little less often.
NET WORTH
How did you accumulate your net worth?
Without the high paying job, I could never have had any money to invest, so I should start there.
When I carried 5 jobs in college, none of them paid extremely well, but they kept me out of debt as an adult, which freed more money to invest.
Obviously my first home, turned rental property was my best investment, with close to 900k in revenue and equity before costs, but my stock purchases and REIT investments have also been excellent over the years.
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?
Earning.
Without the doctor income, I could have never done the other two.
My expenses are relatively low compared to most interviewees, and my “modest income” is more than enough to cover me, provide for saving, and investing.
What road bumps did you face along the way to becoming a millionaire and how did you handle them?
Education.
Eight years of post high school education and 4 years of residency is a really long time, and I think I could have gone a lot of different routes that would have given me a quicker financial start, and that 8 years of compound interest may have ultimately paid off, had I skipped medicine.
FOMO investments like crypto were also a funny learning opportunity.
What are you currently doing to maintain/grow your net worth?
- I continue to maximize my 401k.
- Put extra money into my taxable accounts, mostly for the purchase of index funds and dividend stocks.
- Collect rent.
- Day trade.
- Starting a business.
Do you have a target net worth you are trying to attain?
I always preach a number concept to friends as a thinking exercise…. “How much money would you need to receive “magically” every year, in order to never work again?”
Now this basically refers to FATFIRE, but that didn’t exist 20 years ago. For me I believed it was a salary I foresaw myself making as a doctor in the future, around 225K. I believed that this salary would cover the costs of a family of four.
Coincidentally, even though I came up with these numbers 20 years ago, I still think 225K is enough for a family of four. Not everywhere in the US, but in most places, you could raise a family of four with 225K, especially if your kids went to public school. So, I figured to get to this number I would need around 5 million in net worth, or even less with a pension. That was my target net worth.
Now fast forward, and I obviously didn’t have any kids, and I’m not married, and currently my after-tax expenses are 120k a year. So going by the 4% rule I would need around $3M to cover that lifestyle (give or take income taxes). Of course, that doesn’t include healthcare costs or account much for inflation.
However, in 5 years when I retire and qualify for a pension, that pension will currently pay 78k a year, but this will likely rise before then, thanks to annual inflation adjustment. If I had to guess, before I retire the value of that pension will hit 85k a year and will continue to increase with inflation over time. It will also cover most of my medical costs until Medicare takes over, with a current premium of $400/year via Tricare.
Then, the rental property, which currently brings in 43k a year, will likely increase to 48k a year by then.
Then if my dividend holdings continue to increase via DRIP and further investments, they should be averaging at least 60-75k a year.
I am sure I will continue to day trade mostly for fun, but to be safe, if I rolled the assets I currently utilize into dividend stocks, let’s assume I do, that would bring in another 20k a year.
So, without changing anything my current investments/pension should provide a stable income of 213-228k a year (without selling any assets.)
Eventually maybe Social Security kicks in, if it doesn’t…that’s fine.
Now if this brewery business is successful, then the sky’s the limit.
How old were you when you made your first million and have you had any significant behavior shifts since then?
I was 37 years old.
I have always liked to invest in original art, mostly paintings, by new and upcoming artists. So, once I hit millionaire status I feel a little more liberal when I buy.
When I hit $2 million recently, I bought 4 smaller pieces from an art gallery in Chicago I follow.
I got a cleaner. She comes every two weeks.
I try not to overthink the small expenses anymore. Sometimes the convenience of having all your photos at your fingertips is worth the payment to APPLE for the cloud.
Sometimes ads are annoying enough to pay for the upgraded HULU/Youtube experience etc.
Small things.
What personal habits and/or traits have you developed that have made you successful at growing your net worth?
Being hard working, being self-motivated, and being task oriented.
Being self-motivated allowed me to see my goals and drive myself academically in my K-12 education.
Being hard working allowed me to carry all the side jobs I took on before my professional career which helped keep me relatively debt free.
Being task oriented allows me to focus on the problem at hand and get joy from getting things done. I love lists, but the best part is scratching things off.
What money mistakes have you made along the way that others can learn from?
1. Skip crypto.
2. This sounds like I’m not practicing what I preach, but don’t try and beat the market. Invest in sound index fund ETFs without any thought involved and start as early as possible.
I’m proud to have paid for College as I went through, but if I had just dropped that income in QQQ or whatever the equivalent was at the time I would have had an easy million sitting in the bank right now with compounding interest.
The first 10 years of day trading was mostly a wash. The last 10 years has been great, but I’m essentially playing with house money now, and don’t feel like I’m risking much anymore. 65% of the gains I make go toward paying off the mortgages, or back into ETFs.
What advice do you have for ESI Money readers on how to become wealthy?
Read.
There are so many more resources online (like ESI) then there were when I was coming up.
Lots of great books already existed, Rich Dad/Poor Dad, Richest Man in Babylon etc., but the internet was not robust.
Get a good mentor.
If you do get married, follow the advice on ESI, make sure they are 100% on the same page as you financially, with similar goals. Also make sure you both agree on kids, whether that is yay or nay.
Go into STEM. If you are young enough to still think about it, go into STEM, particularly the computer engineering side which has so many flexible opportunities.
College is not a requirement, but if you choose to go, make sure you get your education for as cheap as possible, or get someone else to pay for it.
FUTURE
What are your plans for the future regarding lifestyle?
Well if it’s not clear, I plan on retiring in 5 years, on the exact day that I’m eligible.
I may still moonlight, but it won’t be for the money, just to keep my mind sharp and my credentials active.
Likely do some locums work, so some of my colleagues can take a vacation.
Otherwise, I plan to quit medicine, and never take a full time physician job again.
If my business exists, I will continue to function as a CFO and manager as needed, just to keep me engaged.
What are your retirement plans?
Financially I think I have a sound plan, see above. My pension will cover most of my expenses, and the remainder should be well funded without selling off a single asset. I have considered paying off my rental property mortgage if it still exists, which would essentially turn that property into another pension with minimum expense.
I also may sell my primary residence, and move to something cheaper, or convert it into a seasonal rental as well. It’s in a great location on the beach and would command $3,200 a week in the current market during the summer. Over 12 weeks you could pay the entire yearly mortgage and still clear a profit. Then return and live there the other 40 weeks or continue to rent it out all year at lesser rates for increased profit.
Work has kept me busy and always living somewhere I haven’t wanted to live for 15 years. It has also kept me from going to every event in my friends and extended family’s life. So, I intend to combine some of my passions, mainly socializing and DIY.
I have been talking to my friends about this plan for a decade and they are on board. The broad strokes are as follows: Say one of my friends needs a kitchen renovation. I agree to come visit for as long as it takes, he/she covers my room and board, preferably in their house (for socializing) and material costs, and I come knock out that project over the course of 1-4 weeks. I get to see everybody I wish I saw more often, I get to DIY, on someone else’s dime, and they get the fruits of my experience, and labor.
I also plan on traveling more. Fishing more. Mentor more. Might take up teaching at a local high school/college, it’s funny I didn’t mention it above. My undergrad degree is in education, go figure. Might even buy a lake house, for you know, more fishing. Exercise even more than I do now.
Are there any issues in retirement that concern you? If so, how are you planning to address them?
Obviously, one’s health is always concerning.
On one hand, more free time should equal more exercise and healthier eating, on the other hand, all that free time could just lead to more debaucherous behaviors, spending wayyyy too much time consuming my brewery’s product. I will have to stay on the move and develop lots of hobbies.
Financially I’m not worried. If I finish my career and get a pension, it is easy to live on 85k a year in the US as a single person, especially if your health care is covered.
MISCELLANEOUS
How did you learn about finances and at what age did it “click”?
My parents divorced when I was relatively young (8) and my little brother and I stayed primarily with my dad and paternal grandmother, seeing our mom every other weekend.
I grew up relatively poor in FL, and then by the time I was in high school, my father, a Sheriff’s Deputy, got enough raises to put us in lower middle-class IMO.
This upbringing had its benefits. On one hand, I knew what it meant to be broke. I did my grandmother’s bills every month and watching her live in credit card debt blew my mind, minimal monthly payments, month after month, she was going to die in debt.
Then on the flipside, my mother dated some rich guys post-divorce, and I would spend some weekends in some really high-end situations. Gated communities, yachts, cable TV, that didn’t require adjusting a 12 ft. satellite in the backyard.
Some of them introduced me to the stock market, and there was a Florida Stock Market Game (for kids) that I participated in and got 3rd place in the state. It was a stock simulator over 12 weeks, I believe with fake money and at the time utilizing paper orders you had to mail in. I bet it’s better now, and I recommend this or something similar for all kids.
Anyways, those two factors and watching my extended family living in perpetual debt gave me the drive to do something, anything, to upgrade my life financially.
The other thing that has helped over the last couple of decades, is surrounding yourself with people who are smarter than you. Not necessarily at everything, but smarter with things you need to know about. Especially when it comes to finances. I have a group chat that spends 70% of the time talking about money, and it’s composed of college classmates who have gone on to be successful. Now it’s not all about how to make money, sometimes it’s about expenses…like how expensive childcare currently is.
Who inspired you to excel in life? Who are your heroes?
I was/am very proud of my father for how hard he worked for his family. Sometimes he should have spent more time with his family, but working to provide was his love language
My grandmother tried to teach me to be a good person…she did alright.
Do you have any favorite money books you like/recommend? If so, can you share with us your top three and why you like them?
Automatic Millionaire by David Bach: There are lots of similar books, which essentially preach low-cost ETFs and pay yourself first. Pick your favorite and read it every few years. Actually, probably a great book to give a young kid.
No Impact man, by Colin Beavan: Based on my expenses, I probably have no business saying this book has had an impact on me, but I keep it in mind, and I try to get rid of crap before I buy more.
Die with Zero by Bill Perkins: On the other hand, I can blame this book for any increase in my spending, because as the author says, why are you saving it? You are doing fine.
A specific example would be…I have a college friend whom is always visiting in my area, within 4 hours drive, and I never follow through with trying to catch him when he is in the area. It’s too much money (hotel) and I don’t want to spend the vacation days to see someone for a single day/night etc.
Then on a recent visit, post reading, I said forget it, and blew a $1000 to go hang out with him and his family for essentially a day. It was great, and I’m glad I did it, and will make similar choices in the future. Time is finite, we should spend it with the people we care about when we can.
For pleasure, the Dune Series by Herbert, Alice in Wonderland, and Guns, Germs, and Steel.
Do you give to charity? Why or why not? If you do, what percent of time/money do you give?
Not really.
I have tried. I wanted to give to the youth sports programs that I participated in as a child. However, in the 30 years since I participated, the community support has fallen through, and they don’t currently exist. So, I keep checking in every year, and if they ever come back I will.
I might start a scholarship for my hometown area if I find myself with ridiculous money.
I currently feed my dog, she’s a charity case.
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?
I have spent a lot of time on this question.
Without a spouse or kids the easy inheritance plan isn’t there.
I currently have my will giving X amount of money to my brother, sister, father, and significant other but I am not hard and fast on this idea. I also like the idea of setting up a trust or a donor advised fund or two that support youth sports/education or a local dog shelter. Something that can live in perpetuity. Hopefully I have plenty of time to figure this out.
UPDATE
I have taken so long to submit this interview that I have some updates on the contents of the interview. Since I started writing it, my brewery opened.
We had an amazing opening week and totally blew it out of the water. The community had a lot of pent up demand. We opened with 8 of our own beers on tap and almost ran out of two of them. It was amazing.
Since then the sales have cooled, but we maintain a profit margin around 35%, despite moving into the slow season, particularly dry January. That’s never good for any business that relies on alcohol sales.
I continue to run the finances for the business and do all kinds of special projects that this requires which is great for feeding my DIY addiction. Really looking forward to the massive paper losses we will take this year with depreciation, and expect a huge tax refund. Oh to be clear, that because its an LLC Partnership, so all the depreciation losses will pass through to the owners.
In summary it’s a lot of fun, and 3 months into it, I have no regrets. Really looking forward to business picking up with the increase in temperature in the spring.
Sandra says
395. I just love your journey, I have similar experiences and do know where you coming from. I retired and living the lifestyle.
KD says
Thank you for sharing your story!, could you share the dividends paying equities that you have?
Thanks again.
MI 395 says
KD,
Checking IBKR, the heavy hitter for dividends are
O, This one is tough, because the stock price follows commercial real estate which COVID killed, however, they have not missed a monthly dividend payment, nor lowered their dividend in 60 ish years.
WYM
IRM (didn’t buy this for dividend, but its nice)
JEPI
JEPQ
I occasionally also carry energy REITS if I feel like the share price is accurate based on the particular commodity, for instance, as Ukraine/Russia War was warming up, owning Oil REITS was a great movie, but Brent Crude prices have come back down, and the resulting dividends have followed suit.
Tom says
JEPI and JEPQ… interesting how they work, S&P funds + selling call options. Great when the market is headed ever higher!
MI 395 says
Yah, they are obviously not risk free, but the dividend ranges from 7.5-9.5%, however I bought at a much lower price, and at that price the dividend was like 15-20%. But the DRIP reinvestment obviously nullify that.
Financial Fives says
How you manage it all is the first thing I thought about when I read your interview. You’re very disciplined, and a great planner! Deciding not to be an old dad at such a young age, joining the military, and now starting a brewery while still making time for DIY and hobbies. Wow. At least DIY is a good habit to have, there are a lot worse “splurges” out there.
SMB116 says
Love reading about your journey!
You have a well balanced and goal oriented discipline for investing which allows you to invest in various asset categories to generate wealth/income. Love the idea of the brewery as well. I just purchased my first couple of pieces of art as an investment and am curious to know which gallery you follow in Chicago. I also will check out some of your dividend recommendations as now that I retired, looking for ways to generate more income with my investments.
MI 395 says
I favor POP ART, and I follow and sometimes make purchases from these galleries
chicagotruborn.com – I follow on IG and when I see a new show I investigate
artistreplete – I follow on IG and when I see a new show I investigate
Distinction Gallery in Escondido CA – I’m on their mailing list and check out new shows as they occur
All three of these galleries support up and coming artists and have alot of cool things.
Lastly I track artists that I have previosly purchased from, and see what their doing, mostly on IG. I have made purchases just by DM’ing artists I follow and VENMO the money. They ship to me, and bypass the gallery.
I also just try to keep my eye open any time I’m in a new town for galleries or mural that might make me look up the artist.
Do you have any suggestions for art sources SMB116??
Wind says
Nice read. Thanks for sharing your story.
do you mind sharing the brewery info? My hubby is beer lover and we always visit breweries when we travel. 🙂
Thanks!
Emily says
I also want to know! Go back home to New England every summer so will stop by if I can!
MI 395 says
We are actually in the South, ESI CEO might be sending you out the details, but I would rather not post here.
MI 343 says
Thank you for sharing your story! I too believe it’s fool hardy trying to live like the Jones. Most never really as affluent as they appear to be. So many people get lost trying to follow them. Kind of like the blind following the blind and fallling into the ditch.