How to Achieve Financial Independence

American Thinker ^

[DIRTYSECRET]

Without financial independence, people often feel trapped -- working jobs they don’t enjoy, delaying major decisions, or living with constant stress about money. Achieving financial independence provides peace of mind and freedom of choice.

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TOPICS: Chit/Chat
KEYWORDS:

[DIRTYSECRET]

Nothing in this article we don't already know. The problem is like leading a horse to water hoping it will drink. The people who don't follow these financial concepts soon make their lack of planing a problem for those of us that do. SSI made the horse drink the water and now that the water is drying up its future will be dumped on us not them. The fight is over who bears the burden.

[DIRTYSECRET]

The weak part of this article is advocating rental property. I never wanted to deal with tenants who may have problems making ends meet. Those are more likely to be amongst those who don’t plan. My money went into Vanguard. Only one representative to deal with rather than a cross section of lesser individuals.

My brother in law has a late-paying tenant who gets daily deliveries from Amazon. Go figure.

[TexasGator]

“The weak part of this article is advocating rental property. “

The strong part of this article is advocating rental property.

[TexasGator]

“Nothing in this article we don’t already know. “

Then why the post?

[SaxxonWoods]

Short form:

Everyone knows what to do. Few do it.

[fireman15]

In our area rental property is one of the riskier investments that one can get involved with. The laws here are all steeply slanted in the deadbeat’s favor. When you end up with one who decides or never intended to pay their rent in a timely manner... they can cause incredible damage to your property before spending the thousands of dollars it takes to get them out.

The easiest way in our area to become financially independent is to become a Democrat politician and get in on the grift.

[Alberta's Child]

Rental property has enormous risks — especially if you aren’t able to be an on-site “property manager” yourself.

Perhaps the BIGGEST risk is if you own rental properties in areas where tenants outnumber homeowners.

[bigbob]

I’d much rather see a person work for a soul-sucking Fortune 500 corporation that has a 401K plan with company match that they can max out than be a landlord for even one day.

[DIRTYSECRET]

**“The weak part of this article is advocating rental property. “
The strong part of this article is advocating rental property.**

**“Nothing in this article we don’t already know. “
Then why the post?**

U R funny. I like you.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

“ they can cause incredible damage to your property before spending the thousands of dollars it takes to get them out.”

Happened to us the one and only time we owned rental property. Once was enough for a lifetime. Not only did he not pay, he stole all sorts of permanent fixtures, quit paying his water bill and the water got shut off, but he continued using the toilet (!), walls smashed, knee deep in garbage and porn magazines.

I had our police captain neighbor run his hot sheet and it came back as expected…as long as your arm.

We were in an investment t group and the guy we put in charge of getting a tenant did not do any background checking.

Trying to evict in Scotts Valley, CA is actually a worse ordeal than dealing with such a “tenant.”

What a lesson.

[Alberta's Child]

Interestingly, I’ve come to the conclusion that maxing out your 401(k) contributions is not always a good idea. For workers who are smart and ambitious, I’d say it makes sense to contribute the minimum amount needed to get the maximum company match. Beyond that, it might make sense to cap your retirement contributions at 6% to 8% of your salary.

The key here is to take a solid 15% of your take-home pay and save/invest it OUTSIDE your 401(k) plan. Even though these are taxable investments, they give you a heck of a lot more flexibility and can be tapped if needed for things that are necessities or even just productive ventures (a side hustle, for example).

[eyeamok]

I am one that never had a 401K or any other type of retirement account. I owned my own small service based business with my Father who started it in 1971. I worked very hard for 40 years and ended up with 3 paid for houses, sold my business to my number one guy and have a nice cushy $100K plus per year retirement. I am going to sell one house this year and ..... whatever I want. I never like the idea of being a landlord, so I just keep them empty sort of, we go to all of them routinely.

[Starboard]

“The key here is to take a solid 15% of your take-home pay and save/invest it OUTSIDE your 401(k) plan. Even though these are taxable investments, they give you a heck of a lot more flexibility and can be tapped if needed”

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Agree with investing outside your 401(k). One other benefit of doing that is the money saved is not subject to mandatory withdrawals after a certain age (i.e., required minimum distributions).

[DIRTYSECRET]

Thanks but I was able to apply 16% to my IRA. Company matched the first 6%. The extra 10% I signed up for was b4 taxes so it was simpler-couldn’t go wrong. The diversification has to do with owning one home. That’s it.

Rich people need poor people. The S & P 500 needs employable folk who need the work and manage them. You can’t manage deadbeats like they can. To think that a home owner needs a tenant is asking too much in the gamble. Companies can fail just like the economy but risks can be managed with those bonds and treasury bills-don’t forget the house.

[SaxxonWoods]

A guy who bought a 4 unit from me 5 years ago that came with extra land and water/sewer taps just called for some information because he’s going to add 8 more units. Some people are doing fine with rentals. Location, location, location still matters.

Investing in raw land still works very well if you don’t need income from it and have patience, the hallmark of all investing.

[ealgeone]

Years ago when I was studying for some professional designations one of the classes was Wealth Accumulation Planning.

One of the primary strategies was acquiring rental properties.

[PAR35]

I agree - rental property is more of a hassle than I want to put up with (bad tenants, maintenance even at slumlord levels, accounting and taxes). Most of my money went into equities. I’ve talked to older folks who tell me that they are bringing in more with their RMDs + SS than they ever made working. Still working, but probably can’t afford to when I have to start taking RMDs.

[eclecticEel]

Why is rental property investing the first item on the list, that requires having something to invest in the first place?

[Organic Panic]

I can tell one how to lose money.

Start a business. Then do real good and hire employees, buy some machinery and software. Then have the government shut down the industry for the sake of a Chinese virus. Then, try to keep the doors open and be required to pay employees still, as required by state law, and pay the rent on the lease. Then stick through it after all the employees are let go and the customers out of business. Restructure to stay above water through a degenerate child sniffing democrat administration who did everything in his power to destroy small manufacturing businesses.

[Alberta's Child]

As one real estate professional told me years ago … “If you think real estate is a great investment, buy into a REIT.”