What drew me to real estate investing in my 20s was the prospect of financial independence: having enough passive income from investments to cover my living expenses.
I didn’t want to work for 40 to 50 years before retiring, like the average working stiff does. I wanted to reach financial independence by age 30.
Spoiler alert: That didn’t happen. At 43, I still work—but my work looks plenty different today than it did 20 years ago.
You can reach a form of financial freedom within a few years. But it requires you to both think and act differently than you do today.
If you want a life less ordinary, try this extraordinary plan to reach financial freedom within five years.
Redefine Financial Freedom
First: If you have to actually cover every dollar you spend with passive income from investments (true financial independence), you’ll have a hard time getting there in five years. Fortunately, you don’t need to do that.
I’ve interviewed dozens of people who reached financial independence and retired young with real estate. The “dirty little secret” of the FIRE movement is that everyone goes back to work.
Why? Because there’s only so long you can watch TV on the couch or sip piña coladas on the beach. If you’re reading this, you’re not a beach bum. You’re driven enough to dream of financial independence and invest aggressively to get there.
Accept it: After the initial high of traveling the world for a few months, you’ll settle back down and ask, “What’s next?”
Dream Work Still Pays Active Income
Inevitably, you’ll go back to work. But that doesn’t mean you’ll go back to your high-stress job. You’ll do it on your own terms, doing your dream work.
That could mean starting a business, working for a nonprofit, or doing creative work. But whatever your dream work looks like, you will earn some active income doing it.
The question then becomes, “How much does my dream work pay, and…