Cash Flow Your Way to Early Retirement!

This is the Boise-based engineer and aspiring retiree’s perspective. It includes the "golden nuggets" Shane Trapp picked up along the way, and went on to share with Avid Investors in his presentation, "Cash Flow- A Case Study." 

Below are Shane's highlights from Avid Investors - an Idaho Real Estate Investor Club:

• Deals are harder to find than Dollars. If you find a good deal, you can find the dollars to back it.
• Do what it takes to make the deal.
• Timing is everything. Fail fast and take action based on learning events.
• Work with professionals.
• Adding leveraged real estate investments dramatically improves equity in an up-trending market.
• Investments trend from small to large through time, impacting credit needs and affects.
• Cash flow may start slow, but it has the power to increase fast through optimizing properties, increasing rents or an inclining market (reinvesting wealth). 

Pre-retirement

• Notice opportunity costs  – view that shiny new truck as an obstacle to your next purchase.
• Re-invest profits back into real estate to build cash flow and equity.
• Work your way into larger properties and the commercial loan process.
• Use real estate deductions to reduce all those taxes you’re paying through your job ($10,000 in real estate deductions reduces your tax liability $2,500 at a 25% tax rate).
• Set your retirement goal and plot it out - $50K/year net cash flow reinvested will facilitate faster accumulation while working, and financial security after retirement.
• Hold on until you’ve reached your cash flow goals - lower stress about life and work will make it easier to hold out a little longer.
• There’s job security in real estate….there’s always going to be a leaking toilet somewhere!

Shared with permission from Shane Trapp - Avid Investor (founding member), engineer, and multi-family investor in Boise, Idaho. He's also my partner. Contact me for more information on AVID Investor's Club meet ups. StacyA McBain Swope Investment Properties.