New to REI and B.P. from Olympia, Washington.

[Derrick Nygaard]

Hello everyone, Im Derrick Nygaard, a blue collar guy on his path to financial enlightenment. Im new to the world of REI and investing in general. I work a factory job and raise a family on a modest income. As a person who was always taught you get a job work hard and you get what you get and make it work, I have spent the last 20 years doing manufacturing and construction. In turn I've abused my body to the point that as a relatively intelligent person I've begun to ask myself, am I really doing things the right way? Can I sustain this sort of physical abuse for another 30 years and actually expect to squeeze out any sort of quality of life for the "retirement" I probably wont get to enjoy?

     A couple of years ago a friend gave me a copy of this book, Rich Dad Poor Dad. I thumbed through it and quickly determined that this simple Simon leaflet of a book couldn't actually offer any insight to my life that could truly be meaningful. So I threw it on the shelf behind the books that I loved to read and were meaningful (you know, Thoreau, Steinbeck, Hemingway...etc.) Boy was I wrong. By the time I got around to reading this book, once my "profesional" life became so unsatisfying, it spun me like a top. I realized that I had been taught all the right things about being a successful worker, but nothing about being successful in life. I was not taught anything about finances, money or getting ahead. Just how to get by.

    Fast forward to now. I've spent the last year of my life changing my reading material, and my mind. I've read books on personal finance, investing in stocks, personal growth and success. But the material that has moved me the most has been on Real Estate Investing. It really speaks to me, motivates me and gets me excited. Its something I understand and enjoy, and as Peter Lynch says, “Know what you own, and know why you own it”.

    So, on to the meat and potatoes of why I'm here. I want to use BP as a platform to network and learn. I'm ready to make this leap and take action on my goals. I want to surround myself with like minded successful people and make the good life I have started even greater.

     Currently I own a Single family home which I built. It has been my primary residence for the last 7 years. With the current market and the sweat equity I put in my home I am in a great position to start my investing journey with very little savings. With that in mind, I am in the process of what minor rehab my home requires to get to "rent ready", and then move on to purchasing a small multi-family residence to live in to free up capital for further investments. 

     Well, thats the long and skinny of what I have going (long winded as this post may be) for the time being.  All this aside, I would just like to say hello, and thank you to all of the contributors of this site. The abundance of free information and networking capabilities of this community are probably undervalued by most of the people who sign up. I hope that I can prove to be a contributing member, student, mentor within this community over time.