From a very foundational point of view, I think the turning point was deciding to get my MBA at Wharton (back in my 20s). That tripled my salary and opened vast opportunities to me – after that experience, there really was no going back.
When you have an Ivy League degree, people view you (fairly or unfairly) in a very specific way – and that tends to increase the money coming your way.
In terms of side hustles, I can’t knock them since real estate started out as a side hustle and now it’s my primary source of income. But I do think people pursue them at the expense of focusing on their primary job.
Most wealthy people, including entrepreneurs, started out as successful “W2-ers” and leveraged the learnings, connections and money earned there to start successful businesses. Some of the wealthiest (Tim Cook, Jamie Dimon, many others) have never strayed from their primary jobs.
So, I just can’t support any decision that involves abandoning a primary career at a young age (say, under 40) to pursue what is often illusory gains from blogging, affiliate sales, flipping etc. Stay focused and you will win in the long run!
More recently, a big final piece in my journey to FI involved selling my primary residence, and using the proceeds to invest in vacation rental properties. That has sort of become my ‘retirement’ gig.
Very interesting to see that there’s another path towards financial freedom. One that doesn’t focus too much on budgets and analyzing your net worth every month. Congrats on the job well done Contrarian Saver.
Many thanks for the comments and for reading my story. I do think that there can be an overfocus on measuring net worth – as the markets rise (at least here in the US), there can be Pavlovian cycle of constantly checking to get that “high” from market gains. And the house of cards falls when the market declines.
That’s why I think it’s important to supplement your net worth build through your 9-5, developing passive income streams, and active investing (e.g., building a business). These continue to grow even in bear markets!
I enjoyed reading this.
You took a very different path in life to me (I’m a single parent with 4 kids!) so it was interesting to see the decisions you took.
🙂
I imagine the path must be far more challenging in your circumstances – but I have read about many who have achieved FI even as a single parent. I have great admiration for what you’re doing.
So keep at it and good luck!
It’s a great point to look at the assets you have if you are starting later in life. Selling your primary residence and use the money to invest in other things could be a great option for many people.
Thanks so much for sharing. Like the approach of seeing your wealth grow each year 🙂
It worked really well for me and I would anyone to consider it – but especially those who have earned a relatively high salary but haven’t managed to save that much in the traditional sense. There could be hidden assets that you can leverage for FI!
Thanks for the comment!
There seems to be a real trend in selling down the primary residence as a way of starting a rental property portfolio.
Worth considering in my opinion.
Thanks for sharing.
Thank you – and I don’t even miss my primary residence! I especially don’t miss working 70 hours/week to keep it going!
I enjoyed reading your story– so many different paths to FI. As I get older, I value protecting my health as the most important investment I can make.
Thanks for sharing your insight.
Well, prevention is the best medicine. If I were to make one investment in my health, it would easily be spending extra to make sure I am putting real and nutritious food in my body. So many health issues can be prevented or avoided by paying attention to what we put in our bodies.
Thank you for the comment!