For the past 9 years my wife and I have been strategically efforting to be financially independent and as of last week, we have reached our goal. Our income from passive income sources including dividends, rental and covered call options is greater than our expenses. I am 31 years old. My wife is 30.

We have no personal debt, a great family and good jobs. (we choose to continue to work)

We plan on enjoying our freedom a little this year ... bump up in house (not at the expense of financial independence though, after all, a house is a liability) and take a great vacation. I have been longing for a Gibson J45 guitar for awhile now and think I will splurge a little.

It was a challenging, sometimes fun, sometimes painful journey filled with high points and sacrifice. I am thankful for the education that the Rich Dad Company provides through its books, programs, games and seminars. If not for their mission, our mission would not have been fulfilled and it certainly wouldn't have happened at the ages of 31 and 30.

I am thankful for my family, my financial freedom and the tools that the Rich Dad Company provided to make it happen.

To the Rich Dad Company - Thank you.

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Tenant complaints and clogged toilets got you down? Build additional passive CF assets

Yes, certainly.

Investing in rental property required the biggest change in context for me personally and thus the biggest investment in education. I was already comfortable with stock investments and my wife and I had a great, basic personal finance plan in place (we eliminated personal debt early on in the process) but it really took time and investment in education to become comfortable with real estate investing.

The specific products I used to do this included: The Cashflow Games 101 and 202, the books - Rich Dad, Poor Dad, Cashflow Quadrant, Prophecy, Increase Your Financial IQ, Real Estate Advantages, the ABCs of Real Estate Investing, Retire Young, Retire Rich, Success Stories and the Conspiracy of the Rich along with the How to Find and Retain Good Tenants audio program.

I had to become comfortable with what I was doing time and again. Each time I would take a progressive step forward I would typically need to go back and re-read and check myself and verify, and then take another step. In this manner I was able to take small steps and solidify the process along the way.

Did I make mistakes? Yes, some small ones ... but nothing disastrous and had I not taken action I would not have learned and I would not be financially independent.

The world is what you make of it and I truly believe the Rich Dad Company provides the tools to make it a great place.

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Tenant complaints and clogged toilets got you down? Build additional passive CF assets

In regards to saving up for your first house deposit ... tried and true basic personal finance always comes into the picture (even Rich Dad advocates not taking on bad, doodad debt and possibly eliminating it.) Thus, I recommend increasing your income by eliminating any immediate bad debt you may lying around - some low hanging fruit.

In addition, if you can work extra in order to save up the down payment then go for it. No, according to Rich Dad you do not want to work for money but consider this like a capital gain. It is necessary to have capital gains first in order to purchase cash flowing assets.

In looking for and finding my first property I will have to say that the old ratio does hold true - 100:10:3:1 - Look at 100 properties, make offers on 10, 3 are accepted and you buy one. (although I would not recommend making 10 offers at one time ... make them one at a time.) I did look at approximately 100 properties and made offers on about 7 ... 2 were accepted (all separate transactions, not at the same time) the first one fell through (the seller backed out) and the second one I closed on.

By the time I bought my property I was 100% comfortable in running the cash flow projections and I knew that I had found a good deal. After looking at 100 properties, and running cash flow projections on a good number of them, you will know a good deal when you see it, in the numbers as well as at the curb.

I bought when I did number one because I have been in stocks for a long time and being a Rich Dad fan, I definitely saw the need to be in real estate. (the stock market will crash again some day, it is just a matter of time.) Additionally, the real estate market has blown up and good deals are available.

I paid down 20% on my first property and I have obtained a cash on cash return of 25%. After depreciation add-back my cash on cash return is closer to 30%.

I am very happy with this deal but there is a learning curve involved with rental as far as dealing with tenants. My goal is to pay down a significant amount of the mortgage over the first year, refinance and pay for property management.

Good luck to you ... keep studying, learning and taking steps.

You are well on your way.

Let me know if I can provide more info.

myhappyassets

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Tenant complaints and clogged toilets got you down? Build additional passive CF assets

Ya ... I was able to get a money market checking account at my local bank ... basically cash that pays a small interest rate.

If you are going to have to keep it there for more than a year you might look at something with more interest ... a CD possibly ...

Good luck again ... keep investing in your knowledge.

Have a good one and read the book below!

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Tenant complaints and clogged toilets got you down? Build additional passive CF assets

Thanks yes, and I think one of main things is that it is not as far off as most people think.

It takes effort, persistence and dedication but it is obtainable and does not necessarily have to take a lifetime.

myhappyassets

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Tenant complaints and clogged toilets got you down? Build additional passive CF assets