🐹 Stepping off the Hamster Wheel, Part 2

After my thread on re-thinking success I got a bunch of DM’s asking what I'd do differently next time.

Here’s a simple 3-step framework that I'd recommend to the younger me for building true wealth, which I define as... 👇
... 1) having predictable income to support a great lifestyle *plus* 2) control over your time.

✅ STEP 1: “The plan is nothing, planning is everything.” – Dwight Eisenhower
Your goal is financial nirvana, where the things you own generate income that is greater than your living expenses. This gives you financial certainty control over your time.
For decades we’ve been taught that the only way to achieve this is to save until you hit a big 7 figure number and then, at age 65 or older, you’re free to live the good life.

We need a reset on that.
The current paradigm is built on savings when it should be built on *income streams*, which can be built much faster through smart use of leverage.

Now that we know the destination, now we need a plan to get there...
I’m not big on detailed plans because they quickly become outdated. But the *process of planning* is everything because it forces deep thinking and hard choices. Having a clear goal and roadmap makes it possible to measure progress and course-correct along the way.
Right off the bat we know that you won’t spend your whole career in a corporate job so your current job is just a means to an end. Just recognizing that can feel liberating, like you’re already gaining some control. 🧘‍♀️
I highly recommend finding a mentor - someone who already has the life you want - to help you create your roadmap. Financial planning is an important part of this so if that’s not your strong suit then you’ll need help.
Don’t be afraid to ask for help, even if it’s a stranger. You might be surprised how willing, even eager, successful people are to help others.
Finally, at risk of getting too 🦄 woo-woo, you should surround yourself with positive, encouraging people who, like you, want to grow. This means removing toxic people from your life. It might even mean relocating to a City on the Rise (see link at the end of this thread).
Think of it like a garden and you’re a seed. You want to be planted in fertile soil without weeds to steal your nutrients. This is something I wish I had been more mindful of earlier in life.
✅ STEP 2: “Waiting is the hardest part” - Tom Petty

A journey of 1000 miles begins with a single step. I’m a fan of baby steps & consistency - we tend to overestimate what we can do in a month but underestimate what we can do in a year.
Your goal is to eventually stop trading your time for money by being an *owner* of income-producing assets. However, it takes money to make money so you’ll need to use your job (or gig work) to save money for your side hustle.
I recommend a 3 year savings period (maybe longer if you need to get out of debt first). There are many resources out there for cutting expenses and saving money so I won’t go into that. Get hardcore and try to save 20%+ of your take-home income. You’re looking to save $40-100k+.
Saving is hard because it takes patience and sacrifice. But progress is measurable and incredibly satisfying - inching toward your goal will feel better than driving a fancy car or wearing expensive clothes.
STEP 3: “I don’t gotta dance, I make money moves.” - Cardi B

Now that you’ve done the hard part you’re ready to make money moves! Almost everyone who has achieved financial freedom has done it through *levered investments*.
The most common levered investment is a house. I wrote a long thread about this (link below) so I won’t go into details. Most experts agree that the 3 best levered investments to start with are:
1. Buy a house or condo w/ a mortgage - It could be the home you live in or, even better, one that you can rent to generate income.
2. Buy a 4-plex w/ an FHA loan - Live in one unit and rent the rest. Many smart people think this is the *fastest & most certain path to wealth*.
3. Buy an existing small business with an SBA loan - Done right, you can buy a business with strong cash flow with very little money down. This is much trickier than buying real estate so proceed with extreme caution.
These are the best levered investments because you can access cheap loans and *the system is set up to help you succeed* with less risk than other types of investments.

This brings me to 2 super-important points:
1. Educate yourself! Whatever your game plan, you need to become an expert. Your education *is* your side hustle while you’re saving money. Twitter is a great starting point - you can learn from the best and people share details of their own deals.
2. Be honest with yourself. This journey isn’t for everyone. It involves a ton of work, some risk, and plenty of highs and lows. TBH most people don’t want that responsibility and are better off following a standard career path. Search your soul and decide if this is for you.
My DMs are open if you have questions. I'm especially interested in helping POCs and single moms get ahead!

I've provided a few links below to help get you started.

[Final Note: This thread is a mashup of my own thinking with ideas from many smart people on Twitter.]

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
 

Keep Current with Kevin Dahlstrom

Kevin Dahlstrom Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @Camp4

5 Jan
🤔 Thread: More of the wrong thing is less
(or, how I stepped off the hamster wheel)

I’m going to share a personal story with hope that it inspires at least one person to re-examine their definition of success 👇
Through hard work and an unfair share of luck, I’ve done some cool “bucket list” things in my career:

✅Raised VC from the worlds’ top firms
✅Helped build 100’s of millions in revenue from nothing
✅Rang the bell at the NYSE
✅Met & did deals with billionaires & business icons
These are things I dreamed about when I was young and I treasure some of the memories. But when they finally happened I felt surprisingly unfulfilled. I was scoring lots of points but didn’t feel like I was winning.
Read 18 tweets
22 Dec 20
🤔 “There is no secret to success - there are only strategies.” @drgurner

In my recent thread on home ownership I mentioned the importance of living in a “City on the Rise”. I believe it’s a critical first step toward prosperity for people of all ages.

Here's why 👇
I’ll start with a simple analogy. If you’ve ever been a runner or cyclist then you know that headwinds are the bane of your existence. Even a light headwind makes everything feel so much harder. It’s physically exhausting and mentally demoralizing.
But with a tailwind at your back, everything changes. Progress feels effortless. Your spirits are lifted. You feel like an Olympian!

Locating in a City on the Rise (COTR) is like choosing to live with a tailwind behind you. Everything is easier & there’s a compounding effect.
Read 17 tweets
20 Dec 20
📸Sunday Startup Snapshot: @NinesRadiology

I often refer to myself half-jokingly as a Master of the Obvious. I say *half* jokingly because I do believe there’s value in curation, the ability to separate the wheat from the chaff.
Time will tell if I have that skill in angel investing, but I occasionally stumble into a startup whose idea is obviously the way of the future (whether the company can execute is another matter). Nines is such a company 👇
Nines does cloud-based radiology. It may not sound sexy but it’s a complete no-brainer business. The number of medical scans being captured is growing much faster than the number of working radiologists, so technology is the *only* way to close the gap.
Read 8 tweets
17 Dec 20
🎤 “Men lie women lie, numbers don't.” – Jay-Z

Home ownership may be the single most misunderstood topic in personal finance.

👉Fact: Owning your home is the single best investment you can make. Nothing else comes close. Let’s follow J’s advice and look at the numbers.👇
I’ve seen many articles and posts suggesting that renting is better than owning, that an index fund or 401k is a better investment, or even that mortgages are a “toxic product”. All dead wrong.

By the numbers, home ownership is the single largest source of wealth in America...
Americans have nearly $20 trillion in home equity and for millions of Americans the home is the sole source of wealth, because – often without knowing it - they made a smart levered investment and sat on it for a long time instead of paying someone else's mortgage (a.k.a. rent).
Read 25 tweets
16 Oct 20
👉Thread: Why I’m obsessed with disrupting banking.

Starting from the top...

1/ Banking is a government sanctioned oligopoly. Just 4 banks represent *half* of the US banking market, holding about $8 trillion in assets. A huge regulatory moat limits competition.
2/ As a result banking is obscenely profitable. Most banks - and especially the big 4 - have bloated cost structures yet consistently deliver 20-25% net margins.
3/ High margins & regulatory moats breed complacency. Your grandfather’s banking experience in 1960 wasn’t fundamentally different from yours today, except you’ve got an app. The underlying products and fee structures are mostly the same.
Read 20 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Too expensive? Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal Become our Patreon

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us on Twitter!