What drives you to aim to attain super wealth?
Real Estate Professional · Las Vegas, NV · Member since 2013 · 225 posts · 74 votes
What drives you to aim to attain super wealth?
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Investor · Greenville, SC · Member since 2016 · 5k+ posts · 13k+ votes
1yVery few people have reached financial independence...and others that have reached it that keep working do it for personal satisfaction.
Incidentally, most of us consider real estate, done properly, to be lower risk than the stock market, which is why we invest in it.
23 Replies
- 1yJonathan GreeneBusiness MemberReal Estate Consultant · Madison, NJ · Member since 2016 · 6k+ posts · 7k+ votes
This post makes no sense. I don't think the windfall is as big as you say, or why would you care about large downpayments on income-producing assets that would appreciate over time? How old are you that you want semi-retire? I think you need a lot more money than you think to live out the rest of your life if your plan is to just work part-time and have low-stress.
- Real Estate Professional · Las Vegas, NV · Member since 2013 · 225 posts · 74 votes1y
My question is, why not stop at say $2M. Why are people going for $10M or more, which is at the point you'll have trouble spending it all.
- 1yJonathan GreeneBusiness MemberReal Estate Consultant · Madison, NJ · Member since 2016 · 6k+ posts · 7k+ votes
Quote from @Alex Silang:
My question is, why not stop at say $2M. Why are people going for $10M or more, which is at the point you'll have trouble spending it all.
2m isn't enough to retire on, depending on how old you are. For people with kids, they want to leave a legacy to make life easier for the next generations since none of us know what the world will look like in fifty years. Like 90 percent of lottery winners are broke in less than five years because of thinking like this.
- 1yJay HinrichsBusiness MemberReal Estate Consultant · Summerlin, NV · Member since 2014 · 45k+ posts · 66k+ votes
Quote from @Jonathan Greene:
Quote from @Alex Silang:
My question is, why not stop at say $2M. Why are people going for $10M or more, which is at the point you'll have trouble spending it all.
2m isn't enough to retire on, depending on how old you are. For people with kids, they want to leave a legacy to make life easier for the next generations since none of us know what the world will look like in fifty years. Like 90 percent of lottery winners are broke in less than five years because of thinking like this.
Everyone has a number and this number can be directly related to were you live I find.
And what your prior occupation was/is do you have monthly retirement pay from a W 2.
Or are you self employed your whole life and the only one that is going to help you in retirement is yourself.. ??? SSI for but very high earners is not going to really cut it for most folks. But one thing I see is when your ready to hang it up one better have ZERO debt .
I once asked a bizz partner of mine when he thought he could stop his day job.. And his number was 70k a month.. He was a CEO of a fortune 500 company so a high earner with a ton of perks.
Others when I first got on BP years ago would say if they could just get to 5k a month in NET cash flow they could retire.. Today if you ask the same questions that number tends to be 10k a month of NET cash flow from their RE and they can retire. So why do folks keep going ?? you have to also classify what do they do for a living those of us that are Real Estate Professionals and taxed as such to most its a lifestyle I know it is for me. Its not work its simply how I live my life and I just happen to make money doing it.. My wife though she has a number Me nope as I have no plans to ever quit doing what I do and have done for 50 years. Dont get me wrong I like to have nice experiences you know stop and smell the roses I am not a money hoarder per se I will take trips that many would deem extravagant and or the big one on BP is CARS so many like to talk about the 10 year old 300k mile car they still drive.. myself I buy a new car once it needs new tires :).
That all said to me its zero debt on anything other than a larger projects but for rental houses and smaller investments its zero debt.. And keep what cash we do have working in the form of interest income on loans. I do need to diversify though and get into the market at some point but I dont understand it like I do RE.
One of the drivers for me personally before the GFC which caused me to start all over. I had a deposit on a Cirrus Jet and that was driving me to attain more income as owning a Jet is a 200k minimum a year expense. But the Jet production got delayed with the GFC and we got knocked on our A$$ and as mentioned had to start all over. This run though focusing on zero debt instead of drinking the refi to you die cool aid I believed prior to 08 .. we can now sleep well at night compared to those days.
But if your a W 2 and real estate is how you are planning on retiring by investing that is a completely different lifestyle and motivation and game plan. When your in Transactional Real Estate like we have been and its been quite good since the GFC cash flow at 200.00 a door has no interest for us.. Not when I can build a home and 9 months later sell it and make 100k even after tax thats 60k and basically a double your COC so rentals at small deltas just dont really do it for us except tax breaks but I dont like to let the tax dog wag the tail. - Investor · Greenville, SC · Member since 2016 · 5k+ posts · 13k+ votes1y
Very few people have reached financial independence...and others that have reached it that keep working do it for personal satisfaction.
Incidentally, most of us consider real estate, done properly, to be lower risk than the stock market, which is why we invest in it.
- 1yNicholas L.Pro MemberFlipper/Rehabber · Pittsburgh · Member since 2018 · 6k+ posts · 5k+ votes
thanks as always for sharing your experiences. just curious (and maybe you don't even see things this way!) but if you have a view on active vs. passive income.
my goal is to have income from multiple sources, ideally part time work that i enjoy is a component. my RE income from my rentals is semi-passive of course... so less active than W2 but more active than dividends or social security.
- 1yJay HinrichsBusiness MemberReal Estate Consultant · Summerlin, NV · Member since 2014 · 45k+ posts · 66k+ votesI just dont really see owning rentals as passive to me its active if your going to stay right on top of them and have them perform like you want them to ( this is specfic to owning C class low B class sFRs Not those who might own 100 unit apartments with professional management those are passive as long as they are working good. . At least when your talking about SFR and renting to lifelong renters in America.. For me personally I am not handy when it comes to repairs and such. And I am a terrible landlord per se.. IE I dont like it.. LOL. So my perspective is probably not mainstream or what the other SFR landlords on BP think of it. but everything takes work.. Like loaning money on a House in Wampum and ending up owning it and now having to deal with low income tenant in that area . Although I see many mom and pop landlords who thats all they do is run there 10 20 30 rentals and they are happy .. Generally what I see is Hubby is handyman and Wife does books and leasing.. And if they are in low value markets maybe they have zero debt.. And now live the life they enjoy as they enjoy that part of the business.. Myself have gotten my real estate license at 18 and my Brokers at 20 and making commissions all these years .. Its hard for me to equate the effort and financial risk in fully leveraged rentals. When I can do a deal and make 10k on 2 hours of work :) Or our building business which we have been blessed with. And as you go through a career you learn what you like and are good at and what you dont like and are no good at.. Prior to the GFC I had a pretty robust HML company with 20 plus employees doing 60 HML a month through out the mid west Rust belt and deep south by 2010 It was over like 95% of all HML we all got our butts handed to us.. And I was just like todays bigger shops I had multiple LOC in the millions that we used to lend to others.. And when those all got called and we had to mark to market it was beyond our capacity to just pay everything off we had to fire sale and lose millions.
Quote from @Nicholas L.:
thanks as always for sharing your experiences. just curious (and maybe you don't even see things this way!) but if you have a view on active vs. passive income.
my goal is to have income from multiple sources, ideally part time work that i enjoy is a component. my RE income from my rentals is semi-passive of course... so less active than W2 but more active than dividends or social security.
So today as I stated when i started over.. WE are all cash other than I have some smaller unsecured LOC's that I rarely use they total less than a million.. But I will only tag them if its a very quick hit with little to no risk. I keep them because they are so hard to get and I dont want to retire them. Although we do have deals on the lending side that dont work but we are not forced into a position to take big loss's like we were when the banks were calling our loans.. this will happen in the DSCR world as all these folks are using same type of debt IE debt that can be called based on the terms of the debt or like you have seen with the syndicators that are talked about on BP max leverage bad debt things dont go right And you have cap calls or projects totally lost. But 3 years ago try to raise money and give returns on paying 100% cash, investors would not do it because the IRR s were not competitive to the max debt operators but we see the outcome.. So for me no debt but IRR is less because we dont have leverage but you have far less risk.. - 1yHenry ClarkPro MemberDeveloper · Member since 2020 · 4k+ posts · 4k+ votes
OP your post has a lot of squirrel squirrel in it. Shiny toy syndrome.
You don’t have enough. Since you haven’t run the numbers.
Most really successful people keep pushing forward because they are either competitive/driven. There is no “number” just more.Or they were “Hungry” at some point and never want to be Hungry again. They want to keep Life or the world at bay.
No Chilling in their plans or pulling up on the gas. Although they have to learn to enjoy success.
You need to calculate your number. Change the numbers. If you want to retire or work for less pay set your financial plans up.1. Short term. How much cash do you need per year? If you were making $80,000 per year you probably need that per year. For about 5 years or $400,000.
2. This has to cover your debt payments also.3. REI is a combination of cashflow and appreciation. Your cashflow to achieve $80,000 per year takes a lot of rental units. Say before taxes $200 per unit per month. That's $2,400 per year per unit. About 35 units. A lot of down payments and support costs. Your not going to have 35 units in year one.
4. Diversification- would say stock market for financial needs 15 years out. Not short or mid term needs. Plus you have to cover inflation. If you're making $80,000 per year. Say 10% return. Inflation 4%. You're going to need about $500,000 invested today to cover say 30 years of retirement in the future. This could also come from your REI appreciation.
5. The above doesn’t allow any Life events occurring that you don’t already have covered financially.The above is your same lifestyle today. Same type of cars, vacations, toys, kids in college, etc. Not an improvement.
Run the numbers.
- Walpole, NH · Member since 2018 · 66 posts · 34 votes1y
I can definitely relate to this. I'm in the same boat. In a few years, after i've raised rents and finished fixing up my properties, i'll be making $70k from my rentals. I'll also be making money from stocks and paying down my houses. I don't necessarily feel like i have to be doing anything more. I don't want to work all my life, and have nothing to show for it other than dying with a bigger bank account than most people.
Having a modest level of financial independence provides, perhaps, the least amount of clarity compared to either having non at all or being super wealthy.
- 1yDan H.Pro MemberInvestor · Poway, CA · Member since 2015 · 7k+ posts · 8k+ votes
Quote from @Alex Silang:
So I had a windfall and can sort of "semi retire" with a part time low stress job.
Part of me is considering buying more real estate though. I like the idea of being involved with and affecting the world.
But the other part of me is pointing out that I would have to come up with large downpayments for properties that would be break even or even lose money. Risky too compared to just holding stocks or bonds.
I'm not even worth that much money so I have to ask the more experienced and successful investors on this forum: what keeps you going? why more?
can anyone relate to me being tempted to chill out and do nothing?
I enjoy RE and one of the scorecards, likely the most relevant, is wealth created. However i value time to enjoy other things. This implies that my investment decisions weigh return, passivity, and expected enjoyment.
I am financially free (8 digit net worth snd expect to achieve 9 before i die) but never see myself stopping the pursuit of more wealth. It is not as much for my heirs as i enjoy creating wealth. My 22 year plan old son has a great start, he likely does not need me to leave him more than opportunity.
In 2022 and 2023 i gave away more than half my income. I count what i give away as part of that wealth scorecard. It gets tough using wealth given away in the scoring because giving it away ends achieving any additional return on that wealth. Maybe money given away is its own separate scorecard that relies heavily on the wealth generated scorecard.
So i continue because i enjoy it.
Have a happy holidays and a great 2025.
- Investor · Las Vegas, NV · Member since 2013 · 8k+ posts · 10k+ votes1y
Quick thoughts:
The man often called the richest in the world, works waaaay more hours and waaaay harder than you or I or almost anyone else in the world. Why? It’s obviously not money. Maybe it’s making the world a better place, maybe he feels responsible for all the employees who have jobs that make their dreams and hopes come true? It just isn’t money.
.
My story, with 1/1000th his wealth (or less.) builds on Jay’s idea of zero debt (I only have a dozen homes worth mid to high 7 figures, but I owe zero.), along with his idea of where you come from and your life experience determines what you need to feel like you couldn’t spend all your money without wasting it. As a w-2 employee I never made more than $60k. My wife was a nurse who topped out after 30+ years around $80k. So call it $12k/mo combined was our best year ever. So when we hit $25k/mo it was stupid to keep working. But…When real estate literally takes less than 2 hours a month for me. If someone told me “you have enough” how would I quit doing it?For me it was all about freedom. I couldn’t get fired. I couldn’t “lose” my job. I could fly home to take care of my parents with zero notice and stay for a month, or two. If I liked to travel I’d be writing this from one of those year long around the world cruises. But I don’t. “Find your why.” Always sounded stupid to me. But maybe it’s the same as “find your goal line.” What do you consider success. Time with family, giving to a preferred charity, or just having nobody buying your time.
- Investor · VA · Member since 2015 · 21k+ posts · 19k+ votes1y
Quote from @Alex Silang:
My question is, why not stop at say $2M. Why are people going for $10M or more, which is at the point you'll have trouble spending it all.
I do not target a number I target a lifestyle. What do I need to do to be able to do X. If two people had the same aspirations and one was 50 and one was 30 years old, that number would be different between the two.
My goal is not a number, but to be able to do what I want and what i love to do. Whether that number is $1M, $5M or $10M, I am not doing it to say I am worth X, I am very low key when it comes to net worth and want to do what I want.
Some people are like this and some have a target number, but I think what you are reiterating is if you say $10M and you get there are you happy or is it now $15M or $20M. I know a lot of people who spend life chasing a number.
7e investments53 Reviews - Real Estate Broker · Cody, WY · Member since 2010 · 28k+ posts · 41k+ votes1y
It's such a broad question that it's hard to answer.
My original intent was financial freedom for my family. If something happened to me, I wanted my wife and kids cared for. Once I reached that, I worked towards a new goal of financial independence for all of us, in case I decided to stop working. After I reached that goal, I set a new goal of 3x the required income for financial independence with the intent of giving 2/3 of it to charity.
I don't believe in leaving a massive legacy for my children. I plan to leave them enough that they can afford to buy a house or start a nest egg, but I am not leaving large sums to them. I believe people are made stronger when they experience difficulty and have to make their own pat. I'm not going to create a weak generation.
The DIY Landlord Book4.7248 Reviews - Investor · Milwaukee - Mequon, WI · Member since 2010 · 5k+ posts · 7k+ votes1y
We all need a purpose in life. That sounds cheesy until you talk to people who have lost their purpose. It's a big problem with unemplyed people, they get depressed. Why do you get up in the morning, what are your goals for today and what have you accomplished last year? Most of us enjoy progress, we like to move the needle.
I technically retired in 2015 from my W2 job on rental income. The first few weeks were great, but at some point, you realize that all of your friends are working and you can only watch that much daytime TV. I have spent 20 years climbing the ladder working for global corporations and that tends to always keep you challenged. I found out what it means to not have a purpose.
I liked real estate so I got licensed, worked on a bunch of different RE strategies, started developing and managed to get myself stretched thin very quickly again, I basically made the pendulum swing way too far and had to consolidate again to find my path. Today we basically run two businesses, one in REI and one is a brokerage team. I work a lot, probably more than the average W2, but we also travel a lot, at least 6 trips every year.
So that's what's driving me, numbers on a screen are nice, but they are not fulfilling on a personal level. Someone once said, you are either growing or you are dying.
- Investor · Fort Washington, MD · Member since 2014 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes1y
For me, it's a few things. RE is an insane passion for me. In the past I observed older people who were in and I loved how they rollled. A guy named Ken on my job would eat lunch with me and tell me everything he knew. I sucked up every ounce. He was an older dude with nice cars, dressed well and would travel. It seemed a natural fit for me since I always wanted to be a businessman but still had a 9 to 5. When I got in myself it was rough. There was no Bigger Pockets and not many areas a person could learn. There were also many scammers and had no idea where to go aside from a few reliable sources. Still, everyone I knew was out twisting on their own without any real networks. As time went on and I learned, it just became more of a passion. I love and breathe it. In addition, in the African American Community, this is like the first or second generation where people can pass down anything. We were so busy surviving, legacy building, financial planning or investing never came up for consideration (for most). Now that I see how things work and have the ability to do it, I want to pass down a legacy and set my kids up a few hurdles ahead like many other communities. In addition to everything else, I think it's just a cool azz wealth building approach. I do stocks and all but real estate mogul stuff fits me better. Not the best example on a personal level but in the day I wanted to have business stuff similar to Puffy Combs. Obviously, that never panned out so I have second best.
- 1yV.G JasonPro MemberInvestor · Member since 2022 · 3k+ posts · 3k+ votesThis 100%.
Quote from @Mike Dymski:
Very few people have reached financial independence...and others that have reached it that keep working do it for personal satisfaction.
Incidentally, most of us consider real estate, done properly, to be lower risk than the stock market, which is why we invest in it.
I could have retired in 2017; got bored in 6 months. And my retirement number isn't 99% of the boards. You need to adjust for inflation--back in 17 that wasn't on folks radars--and health costs.
We do this now because of satisfaction, interest, and everything in between. I would face real depression if I was not working or stimulated by investments, than I would be doing nothing. And I'm not a huge believer of depression.I do this because of vast interest + kids to leave this to & show.
- Rental Property Investor · Somewhere over the Rainbow · Member since 2021 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes1y
Quote from @Alex Silang:
My question is, why not stop at say $2M. Why are people going for $10M or more, which is at the point you'll have trouble spending it all.
Haha I could spend 10m in a couple weeks. Lots of strippers and blow. Couple nice cars. Done
- Member since 2019 · 60 posts · 31 votes1y
Inflation. In my lifetime, I have seen my basic target number go from $200K to $2 million and seems to be moving away faster than ever. If it is just enough today it won't be enough very soon.
- Central, MN · Member since 2015 · 148 posts · 184 votes1y
I'm not even a fish here, let alone a big one so feel free to ignore this. I don't think for almost anyone it is a number... it is a goal/reason/lifestyle/whatever. Sure, I'd love to win the Mega Millions and have millions of resources to make certain decisions, but the reality is I want peace- in knowing obligations aren't something to worry about. I want impact- where I can make a difference for people, community, etc. I want satisfaction- that all the work was worth it and achieved its goal. In America in 2024 and beyond, you will need money to fulfill simple needs, but I don't strive for the money, I strive for what it allows me to do. It allows for a lifestyle of peace, impact and satisfaction. When will I have enough?? I have no idea.
- Real Estate Consultant · Lancaster, CA · Member since 2014 · 423 posts · 223 votes1y
A mentor of mine told me this about money. Once you've made money, and then lost money, it's easy to make money again because you know how. The real question is what are you going to do with it this time?
Making money just to have money can only take you so far. You can only buy so many houses and cars. For me, it's about practicing Cooperative Group Economics: It's not about me maximizing my profit, by rather about me maximizing the benefit to my community. My goal is to support the Black community to become self-sufficient, self-reliant, and self-determinant. Real estate is a cornerstone of my goal, so I have a plan to scale the development of turnkey low-income Section 8 housing in the City of Detroit. - Investor · CA · Member since 2024 · 82 posts · 31 votes1y
Alex, I love this question—it cuts right to the heart of why we do what we do. For me, it’s about more than just money; it’s about creating something bigger than myself. Real estate isn’t just a way to make money—it’s a way to leave an impact, build a legacy, and create opportunities for others.
I get the temptation to chill, but every time I think about slowing down, I remind myself of the future I want to create—for my family, for the people I’ll help through partnerships, and for the communities I’ll impact.
What drives you when you think about getting back into real estate? Is it the challenge, the potential, or something else entirely?
- 1yDrew SygitBusiness MemberProperty Manager · Royal Oak, MI · Member since 2012 · 12k+ posts · 9k+ votes
Can't imagine what I'd do with my time if I totally stopped working!
Here's my definition of success: To be able to do what I want, when I want, with who I want:)
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