The Best Investment Idea

[Seth Mosley]

As I was thinking about my New Years Resolutions this year, to buy more properties, to maximize the returns on my existing investments, etc etc..one idea rose to the top, as probably the best investment idea I could ever have, that will yield the most lasting and substantial returns out of any.

And that is...

Family.

Sure, I want to be successful in business and in REI, but not at the expense of me being not present for my family. Me and my wife just had our first baby about 4 months ago, and if I learned anything from growing up, not in a super wealthy home, but a comfortable one, it was that I would have always rather had more quality "dad-time" than money, or toys, a nice house, or whatever else. There is definetely a vast difference between being there in person, and being present. Just because you're there, doesn't mean you're invested.

It's hard, finding balance between work and family, I admit. And I'm not great at it, especially in this field where the hours are not exactly normal. :) But I'm learning.

And my resolution is to be better at it this year than I was last year. I want my investment to be in quality time with my wife and daughter. The returns will far outweigh the investment...

Hope you will join me!

[J Scott]

I was just reading a post asking what "Vote"s are for...

And the answer is that they're for posts like this.  

In my opinion, we can spend all day, every day thinking about (and doing) real estate investing, but if we don't think about the bigger picture (whatever that is for each of us), why bother?  Looks to me that you've found your bigger picture...and you provided a great reminder that everyone should always be thinking about THEIR bigger picture. 

And btw, I happen to agree with your bigger picture...my wife and I left our 100 hour/week corporate jobs 7 years ago when we decided to get married and start a family.  That's how we fell into real estate.  I loved my corporate work, and still sometimes miss it...but the trade-off was worth it...

Oh, and I've been working on the work/life balance thing for 5 years now (since we had our first child)...it's not easy -- especially if you enjoy working and/or don't have the luxury of setting your own hours just yet -- but your kids are pretty good at letting you know when you are and aren't getting your priorities straight and helping you keep them straight...  :-)