Exit Strategy/What's your "number"?

[Bryan Danger]

I spend a bit of time reading and contributing to different forums...  
Real Estate, FIRE/Early Retirement, Sailing, Overlanding - and every time I come here to BP I'm left wondering why the discussions/goals I see on all those other forums don't seem to show up here.

In most cases on other forums people are 100% focused on buying their freedom and how quickly they can get there.  
For some people it's RE, for some it's the market, for some its various side hustles (for most, it's a combination of all of the above), but in almost all cases the early questions and focus is always on the end goal - FREEDOM, and how soon they can reach it.

When the method is focused on the market, those investors can almost always tell you "the number" that is their goal or end point.  That number where the math works out and they feel comfortable that they can live off their nest egg or dividends for the remainder of their days without working again. 

But here I feel like the conversations all seem to center around growth and striving for massive portfolios and making millions... so I'm just curious what everyone's end goal is in this "game" - and IF you already have a portfolio that covers your living expenses and would allow you to live a good lifestyle without ever buying another property... what is driving you to keep expanding the portfolio and working what is now another "job"??

I'll kick things off - 
For us, we initially got involved in RE investing because we were fully in love with the idea of passive income and a monthly check rather than having to wait/work jobs we hated until some unknown date far into the future.

Fast forward a couple of years and we realized that lifestyle changes and downsizing/living more simply meant that even our small/modest portfolio could already cover our living expenses and allow us to live without jobs (if we played our cards correctly).  
I'm certain we could have stuck around, kept our incomes/paychecks (to be more easily financeable) and continue growing the portfolio to a more impressive stature; but the goal was always freedom, and we quit our jobs and walked aware as soon as we thought we could survive on the passive income.

Now almost 10years later, our properties have continued gaining in value while our tenants continue paying off our loans for us and we continue traveling and living abroad full-time living our best lives (quite literally) and if I look back, honestly... I only wonder why we didn't trust the process and leave even sooner.  

Whats your number/end goal???

[Joe Splitrock]

@Bryan Danger I have seen many discussion threads here on the BP forums that talk about freedom number and goals. It could be that one was not trending when you have been checking in here. I also find some accomplished real estate investors are driven by more than freedom. People who get into business and real estate investing have a drive to accomplish goals and succeed. For many people it is the journey and sense of accomplishment that drives them. People who are passionate about real estate don't consider it a job. In fact when you scale it becomes even easier to outsource the parts of the business you don't like. Some of these people keep building the business, even though they don't "need" the extra income. 

Your question is assuming everyone wants to exit the business. You are assuming your idea of freedom or the "good life" is the same as everyone else. Not everyone wants to travel the world. Some people want time with their family or raising children. Some have a passion for animals and would rather run a rescue mission. Some people love their work and would rather spend 60 hours a week in the office, achieving high levels of success in their profession. Some would rather go surfing every day. Some are trying to build generational wealth. At 87 years old Warren Buffet still works 8 hours a day. He has a passion for his business. He leads a frugal life style and could probably live on less money than you or I. He is a philanthropist that has pledged to give away all his wealth to help those less fortunate. You may be traveling the world, but he is changing the world. Everyone has their own passion and finds meaning in different places. 

I have said before that financial freedom is simply the intersection of income and life style. A homeless man sleeping on a park bench is financially free. Freedom doesn't require retirement or frugality. These are two misconceptions I find in the FIRE community.