Hello all!
I am brand new to this site and forum, brought here by the BiggerPockets podcast and a curiosity in REI.
My scenario is a little different. I have been in the Amazon world for about 5 years, and I am considering a change in building wealth. I wound up taking a loss for 2023 due to a unprofitable part of my Amazon business, and I feel like I am at a crossroads going forward.
Currently, I have 400K equity in my home, and 100K in personal/business debt (and that's no one's fault but mine). Obviously we're not liquid at the moment. We are looking at selling our home, taking some equity to pay off the debt, and effectively start over. We would likely move into a rental. I briefly looked into a heloc, but it wouldn't be enough to kill off the debt. We also would have to initially live off of some of the proceeds from the house after the sale.
Our Amazon business is in online arbitrage, part of which is a not-profitable lead list business. I know I could pivot the FBA side into wholesale (this is the current plan), and it will still have the challenges of any Amazon business -- you're at Amazon's mercy (e.g. my account was locked for a few weeks by them during Q4 last year).
I wanted to take a look at REI, loaded up a podcast, and here I am trying to see if this is worth trying to incorporate into my life.
I am 59, and my household includes my wife and two adult children. At this age, I am not trying to become fabulously wealthy; my wife and I now value experiences far more than the material things.
With that information, what direction would you go? I don't see a need to necessarily stop my Amazon journey, but I would prefer to get into something a little more long term and stable.
Thanks,
- Dan
