All Forum Posts by: Corey Conklin

If the wood perimeter is higher than the concrete floor (which I think it is per your explanation) you could always try to sand down the wood that is on the perimeter to try and get it flush with the concrete. Once you get it flush you can lay your floor on top of it. 

Quote from @JD Martin:

Quote from @Joe S.:

Quote from @Carlos Ptriawan:

Quote from @Sharon Mittelman:

Quote from @Corey Conklin:

Quote from @Sharon Mittelman:

@Corey Conklin Not sure how old are your kids. when I  started educating my kids they were young.

One of the things I did with them was open a special saving account (local Credit union) that gave  them 6% on the 1st $500. that meant over $2 every month in interest.

When they asked for a new toy - I told them :"you have money in the bank, you can use it but if you do you will het less interest. So do you really want the toy or do you prefer more money from the bank", most of the time they said :"I'll take more money" :)

 @Sharon Mittelman That is a great idea. Help your kids understand that money is a tool to enjoy life and the power of compounding interest!

My child is still young and expecting our 2nd soon. We aren't done having children so it's been a topic that my wife and I have been discussing a lot lately. We not only want our children to work hard and understand how money works, we want them to not attach themselves to material items. Your new toy example does a good job at teaching these principles.

@Corey Conklin  It is time to start them on the 401K plan !

With just $1K /year from age of 1 to 65 at 12% They will have almost $12,000,000 tax free money.

If you wait till they are 18 , the same $1K/year at 12% is less than $2,000,000. You just lost your kid $10,000,000 .

Just something to think about.

 And also 529 college tuition plan. Start from very early.


I was very happy this week as i just paid my son the last chunk of his tuition fee using 529 and real estate money , basically zero cost education lol…. All these investments after all the years are worthed as kid would finish their university with zero debts zero student loan , and he got 6 digit income even before he graduated.

invest in 401k/529/Ira/real estate is all worthed…

What if my kids don’t wanna go to college. Lol. 

Good point! It also winds back to another point: having kids is almost certainly one of the worst financial investments anyone can make. If we're going to talk about things from a pure dollar and sense point of view, there's fewer black holes for money than kids unless you have a farm and can take advantage of free labor once they are of age. Otherwise, you have added a number of individuals to your household who are unable (physically/legally/emotionally/etc) to pay for their own keep.

So if one *really* wants to maximize investment potential, having kids should be pretty far down on the list. Now let's see the comments fly! 😅

 I see where you are coming from when you say kids are a terrible financial decision. They aren't cheap and they take up a lot of your time. They test your relationship with your spouse, take away your freedom (and sleep), and will drive you crazy at times!

But having a child will open your eyes to a whole new way of life that is unexpected. Watching a child grow is one of the most amazing things I've experienced in my life. 

If you choose to not have children (which is 100% your choice) for financial gain, you will lose out on one of the greatest experiences in life.

Quote from @Joe S.:

Quote from @Carlos Ptriawan:

Quote from @Sharon Mittelman:

Quote from @Corey Conklin:

Quote from @Sharon Mittelman:

@Corey Conklin Not sure how old are your kids. when I  started educating my kids they were young.

One of the things I did with them was open a special saving account (local Credit union) that gave  them 6% on the 1st $500. that meant over $2 every month in interest.

When they asked for a new toy - I told them :"you have money in the bank, you can use it but if you do you will het less interest. So do you really want the toy or do you prefer more money from the bank", most of the time they said :"I'll take more money" :)

 @Sharon Mittelman That is a great idea. Help your kids understand that money is a tool to enjoy life and the power of compounding interest!

My child is still young and expecting our 2nd soon. We aren't done having children so it's been a topic that my wife and I have been discussing a lot lately. We not only want our children to work hard and understand how money works, we want them to not attach themselves to material items. Your new toy example does a good job at teaching these principles.

@Corey Conklin  It is time to start them on the 401K plan !

With just $1K /year from age of 1 to 65 at 12% They will have almost $12,000,000 tax free money.

If you wait till they are 18 , the same $1K/year at 12% is less than $2,000,000. You just lost your kid $10,000,000 .

Just something to think about.

 And also 529 college tuition plan. Start from very early.


I was very happy this week as i just paid my son the last chunk of his tuition fee using 529 and real estate money , basically zero cost education lol…. All these investments after all the years are worthed as kid would finish their university with zero debts zero student loan , and he got 6 digit income even before he graduated.

invest in 401k/529/Ira/real estate is all worthed…

What if my kids don’t wanna go to college. Lol. 

The cost of college has skyrocketed and the value of a college degree is going down every year. At this rate a college degree would be a terrible decision for my children (16 years from college age). Unless something gets turned around I'll probably be hesitant in forcing a college degree on my children.

Quote from @Sharon Mittelman:

@Corey Conklin Not sure how old are your kids. when I  started educating my kids they were young.

One of the things I did with them was open a special saving account (local Credit union) that gave  them 6% on the 1st $500. that meant over $2 every month in interest.

When they asked for a new toy - I told them :"you have money in the bank, you can use it but if you do you will het less interest. So do you really want the toy or do you prefer more money from the bank", most of the time they said :"I'll take more money" :)

 @Sharon Mittelman That is a great idea. Help your kids understand that money is a tool to enjoy life and the power of compounding interest!

My child is still young and expecting our 2nd soon. We aren't done having children so it's been a topic that my wife and I have been discussing a lot lately. We not only want our children to work hard and understand how money works, we want them to not attach themselves to material items. Your new toy example does a good job at teaching these principles.

Quote from @Jim K.:

@Account Closed

Why does everyone always think I'm dead broke because I own a garage full of tools?

@Jim K. Right!?! I love my tools and love getting to use tools (and buy new ones) as much as the rest of the business. 

Just because I know how to build furniture, fix plumbing, paint, lay floor, etc. doesn't mean I don't know how to underwrite, read P&L statements, manage processes and systems, etc.

Quote from @Ned J.:

Marcus already stole my quote..... provide your kids enough $$ to do something but not enough to do nothing....

Shaq also has the right attitude with his kids.... he has multiple statements about his wealth and his kids... basically he says " WE arent rich..... I"M rich.... you aint got jack".... you will make your own way in life. I'll be there to help guide you.... you want my $$? Then come up with a business proposal and I'll review it just like any other investment I would make. 

 @Ned J. That quote is very similar to one I'm familiar with "give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. teach a man to fish, he'll eat for a lifetime" 

My job as a father is to teach my kids to fish and watch them go catch their own. Hopefully I live long enough to watch them catch bigger fish than I ever could.

Quote from @Marcus R.:

Great thoughts.  This is a new topic I'm learning and still have much to learn.  

A qoute I read that I really liked is "leave your kids with enough so they can do anything, but not so much they do nothing".  So far that is going to be my approach.  This could change though depending on my childen's lives (special needs, major accident/setback, etc...)

I agree that the the knowledge is way more important that the wealth.  The data supports this as well as I think most wealth doesn't make it past one generation.  I would love to do it well enough that the students become the teacher and I'm able to invest in their endeavors!

A good place that helped me get started was Dave Ramsey's legacy journey book.  He did help me get started on my personal finance education and I think like most on this site we've tweaked our position as our education grew but it was a great place to get started so I recommend it.  Lots of good points on why just giving your wealth to charity is a bad idea, never occurred to me before.

 @Marcus R. I've never read that book so I'll have to put it on the list. I'm still working to come up with the best solution on what to do with assets/wealth when I pass. I'm not a huge fan of blindly giving it to charity like you mentioned.

I've got a few plans but they are far from normal so I'm still working through all of the details. Still a lot to figure out!

@Sam Ganden I would buy the house. It's turnkey and is in a good location that historically rents well. That's a good way to get your start into RE investing. 

Quote from @Jim K.:

Quote from @Corey Conklin:

@Jose Vazquez They will never admit to how hard it is to get that portfolio. If they told you that they had to bust the butts and work 80 hour weeks, who would buy their $1500 seminar? They have to sell how easy it is to do. This then gets people to buy their seminar and creates easy money for themselves. Full circle, just like you mentioned.

I like your shovel example. Find a way to actually provide value to people and you will do just fine. Unfortunately people need to understand that to provide value, you need to work!

Not in a million years will they tell you about the blood you're gonna sling. It's all work ON your business, not IN your business. But in the end, Corey, if I had to do it all over again, I would. It really does beat living paycheck-to-paycheck.

@Jim K. Not only would I do it all over again I would have started sooner! Unfortunately I'm still in the grind of a 9-5, acquiring/managing real estate, and being a family man. It is a lot to juggle but it's definitely worth it.

There is no better feeling than working your tail off and seeing the results of your hard work especially when you reap all of the reward and not some company CEO. 

@Jose Vazquez They will never admit to how hard it is to get that portfolio. If they told you that they had to bust the butts and work 80 hour weeks, who would buy their $1500 seminar? They have to sell how easy it is to do. This then gets people to buy their seminar and creates easy money for themselves. Full circle, just like you mentioned.

I like your shovel example. Find a way to actually provide value to people and you will do just fine. Unfortunately people need to understand that to provide value, you need to work!