Nashville
So, I'm 35, and still single. A lot of my friends and peers are married and have kids and what not.
You know, it's not the worst thing being single at 35. I mean... I'm pretty free to do my own thing.
Like, supposing I really wanted to... I could just legitimately sell everything I own and find a new home for my cats and turtle, and just go backpack Europe.
There's really nothing to stop me.
I don't have kids. I'm single.
I guess even if I backpacked, I could take the cats and turtle with me. Have a little stowaway carrying cargo container for them.
I mean, yes, in the long run, I plan to end up somewhere new...
Right now what's stopping me is that I'm building my indie salary. I just don't want to have to worry about a paycheck in the future. An indie salary means I can move ANYWHERE I want, and I don't have to worry about how I'm going to afford life.
Life pays for itself.
Anyway... I mean, sure, one can always interview and find jobs... But I know SO many friends who moved somewhere new, and they couldn't find work. Portland, for example. I know a good 5 people who ALL moved to Portland Oregon... And they went several months with no job.
No health insurance.
No pay check.
Savings dwindling.
To me? That's just not a smart way to do it.
My mom would never of approved.
My grandparents wouldn't have either.
That's how I look at life... Would those you looked up to have approved?
My mom was very big on the idea that you don't leap before you look.
You need to be responsible.
Find a job, and a living space first... Then move.
People who just move, without a care in the world... It's irresponsible. I mean, sure it works out for some people! But for others... They end up depleting their savings... possibly almost on the street.
No health insurance, no job... Running out of food in the fridge.
Nope. Not for me. No thanks.
Anyway, so right now I'm still building my insurance policy. I'm making sure that I have a steady flow of money that is more than what life costs me.
That's my goal.
I like to look FAR ahead before any leaps.
Anyway, so one of my potential leaps, might include Nashville.
I keep meeting people who are from there, or have visited there, I even have a friend who lives there now.
They say it's just a totally different vibe. Artsy, laid back, interesting...
I mean, yes, I'm not the biggest country music fan, so that's a problem... But, aside from that...
It seems like a cool place.
Austin Texas seems pretty cool too.
I don't know yet, honestly... I just know that right now I'm in the look phase, and not the leap phase.
I'm just working on detaching my physical and logical layers and making it easier for me to be anywhere in the world instead of fixed.
Basically most people are fixed to their living space and their working space.
It's a lot like a computer operating system and the hardware.
Most people have a physical computer, and it has an OS on it... Like windows, more Mac.
But there's also virtual OSes... The idea that things can be portable. That the logical layer, or the software, isn't fixed to any one piece of hardware.
Docker basically has this solved, by creating something called containers.
Containers can basically run on any hardware, and it's the same everywhere.
That's how I want my life. I want to be not fixed to any physical space or place.
Two things are need to achieve that...
First, an income that is self sustainable and self generate-able.
That's what owning shares in companies does.
Today, I got 3 dividends that totaled about 30 dollars in cash income.
I'll have to pay taxes on that income net year, but it's fine.
The point is, that money came in, and it now can be used.
It's geographically independent. That means, I could live in any state, or any country... and I would still make that money.
Just need to keep boosting the amount.
Or, heck, even do nothing and let the companies boost it for me.
Second thing is, I need physical space mobility.
There's a few ways to do this, one way I plan to do this is... Just like how there's a LOT of McDonalds all around the world.
So, right now I own a house. My next plan is to buy another house.
Then I'll rent that house out.
That will now add to my income stream.
I'll then use that to buy a 3rd house. Rent that out. Buy a 4th... a 5th... 6th... 7th... 10th... 20th...
Now, it's a LOT of work renting out houses.
So, I'm willing to sacrifice money made to let a company handle it for me.
But why?
So, my plan with owning lots of houses or condos around the country, and eventually around the world, is that...
I can move anywhere I want.
I wait for a lease to terminate, and don't sign a new one. Then, I'll go live there.
Then I'll live there until I am notified that a lease hasn't been renewed at another property I own...
Annnnd I move there.
Basically anywhere that my property is currently un rented... I'll move there.
But what I might also do is just buy property in places I want to live, and then when I do move somewhere new... I rent it out.
Those rental income streams along with the stock dividends just follow me. That money just keeps coming back to me...
And I don't have to physically be in an area of the world. I don't have to make sure I have a job first before I move to that area.
I just find a house or condo I like, buy it, and live in it... Do whatever strikes my fancy, and when I move to a new area...
That old area now becomes a new income stream.
It will be easier to explain when I actually start doing it.
I mean, I already am doing it. I'm getting income now from my stock holdings. That just keeps coming.
It will make more sense as it starts to happen and I start to scale it up.
I think my plan is to hold one dividend paying stock for every physical property I own.
Buy another condo or house, buy another stock.
Get bored with that city or location...
Buy another house or condo, buy another dividend paying stock.
Etc. etc.
A lot of people basically have told me it's a stupid idea...
Most of those people are married or in relationships. They're starting plant roots.
I have no roots to plant.
I guess that's what happens when you are single.
You just kind of go with the wind.
My thing is, yes, this will take a while to get going, but once it gets going, there will be no stoping it.
And then as I age more and more... Instead of it being my focus to find work and worry about a paycheck...
I can just relax, and know that everything is paying for itself and that as time goes buy, the income coming in actually allows me to buy even more, which in turn produces even more income and further diversifies my holdings...
So should 1 or 2 or 5 or 10 of those investments or properties stop producing income... I don't care... Because I just keep diversifying more and more in this positive income feedback loop.
Live small, and live under my means...
And let the income keep building...
My main goal in the future is to know that I won't have to go to bed worried about paying bills or money, or where I'm going to live next...
I just get stressed with all that.
I just want to be able to go to bed in a big comfy bed, with comfy PJs, in clean sheets and a big quilt...
And know that I have so much money coming in from so many different sources that when I wake up the next morning...
My mind will be so rested that I can sit out on the back deck with my morning coffee and breath a big sigh of relief as I log into my investments and see that I have so much cashflow that I can book a flight that day to Nashville on a whim...
And stay the night at one of my condos. And go out and get a beer.
And then come back home...
And know that I didn't even touch the money coming in. Didn't even come close.
And that the next day, there will be even more.
And the day after... Even more.
So I'll never have to worry ever again about where my next anything will come from... Next meal, next pay check... Just pure relaxation...
If I wanted to, I could just sleep by a pool all day.
Know that my investments and rental properties are taking care of themselves.
Ahhhhhh.
That's my longterm plan.
That's my Nashville plan.
State your bizzzzness
So, I got a weird call today from this dude named Roger... Now, he either said... Le Fose... Or The Post.
He wants me to call him back.
Generally... I'm not much of a phone talker.
I like written communication.
When things are in writing, lawyers can review them later on down the road.
It's better that way.
Life would just be better if we all had lawyers that reviewed everything we typed.
Cost prohibitive though.
Anyway... My thing is, if you're going to call someone, leave a voicemail... So, he did that. A lot of people won't even leave voicemails! It's crazy. Leave a voicemail. Now, for the voicemail... First you want to give your contact info... So, your name, and return number.
The next thing you want to do is a quick statement of your intent... His message just said... Call me back! I'm probably not going to call him back.
Here's the thing. It's a crazy world we live in these days. To me? Everyone I meet, heck, even people I've known my whole life, are a threat to me, until deemed otherwise.
Trust no one.
I don't trust even my own family. Who knows what anyone's intent is.
I consider you armed, dangerous, and malicious... Until you prove beyond a doubt that you aren't.
And even then... I still probably consider you to have only your personal interests in mind, and I consider you a threat.
Trust no one.
I don't even trust my own cats. They're always chewing on stuff, and pooping and puking places. Running a muck.
So, if I have something important, I don't leave it in the open, it could end up covered in teeth marks and cat hair and hairball puke all over it.
Anyway, so when people call people, they should always state their intent over the phone. Are you calling me to try and scam me? Are you calling me for a sound bite to then manipulate and make it seem like I said something I didn't?
Or are you a decent person, with good intentions?
You need to state exactly what your business is and why you're calling. You're better off writing an email, or texting.
I'll review it, and get back to you when I feel comfortable.
I don't like when people put time limits or pressure on things. That's a red flag for me.
I basically just look at everything people do as possible red flags.
You never know. People are crazy. Consider them all thieves, hackers, armed and dangerous, or just plain old mean....
Until proven otherwise.
Or, worst of all, they could be sales people. Sales people are the worst.
You pretend to be a genuine friend... And then you're like... SOOOOOOO my friend... Would you like to switch your energy provider to this new wind company???
*Click*
Hello? Sir, are you still there?
*Telephone off the hook sound*
I thought we were friends.
Red Carpet
So, last night I went to Science After Hours... Hollywood theme.
It was a ton of fun! I got to speak with a couple of people who do things here in Philly related to the industry.
My thing is, I would LOVE to change jobs and work in Hollywood. Like, make movies, and TV shows.
But, there are bills to pay.
Unless you're REALLY good. It's impossible to get into. I mean, most things are like that, that's what interviewing is... Unless you're REALLY good... It's hard to get anywhere in life.
Well... Almost anywhere.
My investing thing is working out well. It's just slowly/moderately continuing in the direction that I want.
And once it gets where I want it to be, I'll just use that income pay to replace my current pay and just basically go after the things I really want to do in life.
No one likes it. My boss hates that I have side money, all of my friends hate it. Haters gonna hate I guess.
The thing is, I own shares, and I'll just keep owning more, and more. The only thing I can suggest to anyone is buying shares in publicly traded companies that pay solid dividends and increase their dividends on an annual basis. And then use that dividend to buy more shares in new companies, not the same company. Reinvest, but in a new company, not the same one.
I'll keep tossing out physical belongings, I'll keep getting rid of stuff in my life that I don't need that costs me money, and keep buying into things that produce income.
Eventually I want stakes in businesses, and rental income... Build my own studio... Etc. etc.
Just keep at it.
I'm already making double this year what I was making last year in income from investments. And the thing about investment income is, I don't have to do anything, it just keeps coming.
Today, I got 9 bucks from the UPS shares I own.
I don't work for UPS. I don't drive a truck around. I don't deliver packages. I don't do IT support for UPS... I don't make any decisions, get up and clock in, or clock out... I don't do squat for UPS. I don't handle payroll, or benefits administration. I don't sit in meetings...
Nada. Nothing.
But today, I got 9 bucks. And 3 months from now... I'll get another 9 bucks. 3 months ago I got 9 bucks.
Tomorrow I get a dividend from Simon Property Group.
They own things. I own shares. I get part of the rental income that they get for owning things and charging people rent.
It's marvelous.
I'll get like 20 bucks tomorrow. I didn't do squat.
Guess what I did at work today? SOOOOOOOO much stuff... So the dollar to doing stuff ratio is much higher at my day job.
Now, here's the thing, any one of these companies can go bust.
Companies go out of business all the time.
And that's why, when I buy shares in a company, with the exception of Realty Income Corp.... I don't buy or sell anymore.
Well, that's not exactly true. If one of my investments goes over 100 percent in price appreciation, I sometimes sell half my shares.
Now I'm playing with house money. I originally put 1500 in, the value appreciated to 3000, I sell half... My investment is back to 1500, and I now have 1500 in cash.
That 1500 goes into a new investment.
I now have 2 stocks.
Let's say stock one goes bankrupt.
Because of this leapfrog esk thing with money, I'm still in the game.
It's an investing basic. Diversify your winners. If it keeps going up further, great... I still get more investment unrealized gain.
If it falls... I collect the dividend out, and diversify with that.
But now I have 2 dividend paying stocks.
And on top of that, they keep increasing the dividend. Not all, but most do this... Again, diversify because maybe some will cut or lower their dividend, or scrap it all together... The more you own, the less you even notice that one of the stocks cut it's dividend.
UPS used to pay me only 8 dollars in dividend income. Guess how much work I did to get a dividend hike that is more this year than last year?
Squat.
See most people don't know what they would do with their lives if they didn't work. Most people don't really have like set dreams.
From the day I was born, all I can remember is wanting to do music... Wanting to make things... To create things...
And my entire life I've just had things in my way...
Right now, it's a day job, and cats, and house duties...
etc. etc.
Cutting up a white carpet that is falling apart.
But on the way to the red carpet, you have to figure out a way out of the labrynth of crap in your way to get to the red carpet.
That's what investments and dividends are today.
Most people say.... "money can't make you happy".
If I had sustainable income enough to replace my current 9-5 salary, I could make music all day. Which is my dream. And what I really want to do, and would make me happy.
In this case... Money = happiness.
For people who have no passionate dreams and goals in life... Yes, money is useless.
Without a dream... Money is useless.
Anyway, so, my dream is the red carpet.
Throw away all these white carpets in my life that are holding me back, and get into red carpet.
A lot of life is risky, but there are things you can do to hedge against that risk. A lot of people will try to control your life, and make you do stuff you don't want to do.
When you work FOR someone to make money, you are at their will, they control you.... Because you basically are begging for every dollar that gets paid to you...
When you are the owner?
You're the owner. Right now I own shares in stock. The risk with that, is that one company could go belly up...
So?
As I make more income, or as those shares appreciate in value, I sell off winners to diversify into new investments... And as the income comes in, I take half that income and set it aside and reinvest it into new things.
It's creating, like, a book or a song, or a movie... You make money from a book, or a movie, or a song....
And use that money to make new songs, new books, new movies.
Same with rental property. When I go to buy my first rental property and start receiving income... Some will go for taxes, and maintenance, and such...
The income coming in?
Goes to buy the next property.
Or maybe more shares in stocks.
Or write music, and books, and make movies.
The money coming in from any of those, goes again, into more... Diversified things.
Incorporate a diversified holding company like Richard Branson....
Create new products, new departments...
You're the owner. So you can do what you want.
Meanwhile, all my peers be like: "So, I'm saving for my next vacation."
And I'll be like... "I own vacation property all over the world, I rent it out when I'm not there, I use the income to pay for my vacation... Saving? What's that? I travel on my own companies dime because I travel for business and write it off as a tax expense. My holdings pay for me to travel. I don't need to save to travel."
That's my plan anyway.
Who knows, there may be something else that gets in the way to stop it. The key though is figuring out better ways to get better tools to make things more efficient and get where you want to get. But owning is a big key. When you own, you sit on the other side of the table. You make decisions. You collect rent checks.
Right now I own shares and collect dividend checks that go towards buying and owning even more shares in even more companies.
Then use that to make music...
Use money from music making to buy more shares...
More share income goes to buy more music equipment...
Write books with that money...
Use all income coming in to put into new income generating investments...
THEN hit up the red carpet.
Why work REALLY hard and beg for someone else in charge at an organization to decide you are good enough and open the gate to let you in, or give you the time of day, or prove that you're worthy by their standards... just to walk down their red carpet?
When you can do squat and just slowly buy up the joint. And walk down a red carpet that you now own.
White Carpet
I have this white carpet in my room. It's the next thing to go.
Basically, I throw out one thing a week. Last week was an old space heater that kicked.
Next week, or, more likely, the next two weeks, will be this carpet.
The thing is, my cats have wrecked it. Lots of scratching it up, and of course, hairballs... Gross.
So... I'm just tossing it. I went to lift it up, but, it's basically kind of disintegrating under. I think? Or, I don't know what's happening with it.
Anyway, my idea to just roll it up and throw it out in one fell swoop isn't working. So, instead, I'm cutting it into small pieces and throwing the pieces away.
Maybe it's symbolic somehow. The rug actually original came from my grandparents second house in Cambria California.
That was their vacation house.
A lot of the stuff from that house sale came back here and was in storage. When I moved out to my apartment, my mom used that rug to go in my room which became a guest room. When I moved back home, I just left it there.
It's weird throwing it out piece by piece. I mean, it's a double or triple edge sword.
Now, don't get me wrong, I'm definitely grateful for all that I have. But part of it is... The Cambria house sold for a million dollars just that house. And that money was/is still seemingly MIA... Of course my grandparents main house in Montecito Cali sold for 4 million...
Which is also something that upsets me too, because it was sold in 2007/8 at the height of the housing bubble. It should have sold for 6 or 8... It was worth 10 the last time I looked it up.
I don't know, every day that I wake up and walk into work, I'm just angry really that things turned out how they did.
Sure, I do music, and all that, but with only a little bit of time in the day. My life just could have been so different.
Oh well. So part of it is, basically, we got some random furniture sent our way, while the proceeds from the house went... Where exactly? My guess is, it went to fly a lot of people to France several times.
Anyway... The other edge is that it's another piece of letting go of my mom and her parents.
The carpet under seems to be turning to dust. In a way, it's like... Without me keeping their memory alive.... All they were turned to dust too.
I don't know. And piece by piece I cut away, and then vacuum up the mess.
Eventually, it's gone.
Well, anyway, so once the carpet is gone, I'll go to the next thing that I want to get rid of. When I get to the last item...
I'll probably then start the process of listing the house.
My goal is still to downsize my physical footprint in this world, and continue to upsize my investment footprint. I'd like to live more modest as far as my personal living space and belongings go. But I want to continue to boost ownership in things. Shares of stock is what I'm doing at the moment.... But I definitely think I want to buy businesses, and be a passive owner/investor on businesses, and real estate as well, rental property.
I don't really know to what extent I want to be personally involved in operations of these things. I just know I want to be more like one of those activist investor types, or a Warren Buffet type. Where I just buy into things, check to make sure that good people are in charge, and then let them have a significant amount of autonomy to run things how they choose.
That's basically how shareholding works. I mean, I'm not out there telling 3M how to run their business. I just hold a handful of shares, and collect the dividend. The price at which I bought them is less than the value they are at now should I sell them tomorrow. That means, the people working at 3M are working in my favor. So, I really have no need to walk into their corporate headquarters and tell them how to run their business.
Keep up the good work would be my only input.
I guess it's weird, because a lot of people really want the opposite. They want lots of personal stuff. Big house, fast car, lots of expensive things in the house.
I mean, I'm not opposed to that, but the thing is, a lot of people do it in a way that isn't, sustainable.
Like, they work a job, that brings in income... And if they had some kind of event occur that made it so they couldn't work... The income would be cut off, and so would the ability to pay for the nice stuff.
Mortgage, car payment, credit card debt for all the things in the house bought.
My grandparents never did it like this... They had more money in the bank than they had physical items. Their houses were paid for in cash, their cars were paid for in full on the day they picked them up. Credit cards paid in full every month.
So, sure, I can't buy an 8 million dollar house in cash... But I can make sure that I live so that I have more money in the bank than I have physical items. And the advantage of this is... I can use the excess money coming in to reinvest into new things.
Anyway, that's my plan. Continue to slowly get rid of old things that are falling apart, like this carpet, even if piece by piece... and then only buy things I can pay for with cash on hand.
I guess, my view on things is that you should live like a tip of an iceberg.
When someone gets a first glance of you, they should only see the tip of the iceberg. Your clothes, car, house, watch, whatever... That should be the tip of the iceberg of your wealth.
The rest, under the water, would be your investments.
A lot of people I know, actually, live the reverse... Tip of the iceberg is their checking account. they have no savings, no investments, no retirement... And the part underwater? Is... Debt, and the things they own are actually owned by banks, and credit card companies. And they just keep things barely going by making these monthly rent payments.
Well anyway, those are my thoughts for the night...
I think what I meant to say with all of that is, nothing is impossible if you handle it piece by piece. Maybe you set out to take on the entire task in one fell swoop, and you find that you have to handle it one little piece at a time.
Not The Last Mow (Sort Of)
Oh, so today was Thanksgiving... Went to a family friend's place of my mom over in NJ. They have a house on a lake, near Hammonton, near the forests and blueberry farms. It's a nice place... It was a nice time. The lake was very scenic. We had food, and hung out and conversed about things, such is why NYC pizza is so good (apparently it's the water).
Anyway, so, yeah... Of course I was legit the only single person there, but that's how things always go for me.
Well, at any rate, so during dinner we were all talking about various things (besides NYC pizza) and one of the things we discussed was lawn care... At least I could chat about that... SO, a lot of us are now homeowners... and we were talking about lawn mowers... And I was telling my leaf clearing experience.
Apparently I'm the last person to figure this out, but hey, better to have figured it out eventually than not at all!
Well, so, basically, I explained how I am doing leaf clean up this year. Now, in previous years, I've gotten out there with a rake and bagged them in these paper bags... OR, I've just let them blow into the neighbors yards.
But, I don't want to be that neighbor... Although, to be fair, the trees that are making the leaves aren't even on my property. But they fall off the trees and land on my property and get blown over...
So, it's fine.
Let me back up real quick. Before I bought all this new fancy pants yard machinery, I was using the little manual mower... One of the downsides to a human powered manual mower is that it won't mulch.
When I bought my new mower, I set it to mulch right away. The grass always comes up looking better in my opinion when you mulch it.
Everyone always has all these opinions about mowing. I don't think any one of the options fits all the time. Like most mowers, my mower has the 3 in 1 feature. So, I have mulch, for regular mowing. Sideshoot is when the grass gets too overgrown for the mulching, like, if it's rained a TON and the grass grew really fast... For example in the spring. Although, it probably could still be mulched with this mower. The thing about this mower is that it's electric, you know, like the electric slide.
It's electric!
And now you're singing the electric slide song.
Because of that, I don't have to worry about running out of gas. I remember when I was a teen and would mow the lawn, if the lawn was super thick, the gas would run out sooner because the mower would have to work harder.
Or maybe that's just how I remember it... But with this thing, and having 5 batteries now to cycle through, I can pretty much mow indefinitely, even if the strain on the mower is higher. I just keep 4 batteries on the chargers and pull the next one in line when this battery runs out of juice.
Okay, so, the final option is bagging... In my opinion the bagging is mostly used for yard cleanup.
At least, that's what I recently figured out.
Here's what happens when you bag... It basically turns the mower into an outdoor vacuum cleaner.
So, like, not just leaves, but other debris on the lawn can be sucked up by the mower. So, I was saying at dinner, how yesterday I cleaned up debris around the yard using my leaf blower and mower.
What I did was, I put the bag on the back, set the mower to the highest setting, then used the leaf blower to round up leaves and sticks and twigs and such. I used the blower to push them into the center of the yard in a line. Then I used the mower to go alone the line and suck it all up into the mower bag. I detached the mower bag and emptied the contents of the bag into a brown yard cleanup bag that I purchased at the store.
It's SOOOO much faster than raking. And, when you mow over top of it, it just sucks it right into the mower and into the bag.
It's amazing.
So, while it wasn't technically a mow, it was kind of sort of like mowing. So, I guess the mow I did last weekend wasn't the last. And since the leaves are still falling, and I still have a few more spots to clean up, I'll probably still be mowing right up until it snows. And then, I'll just go right to snowblowing...
And then when that stops, there's usually about a month or so before the grass kind of starts to grow again.
It's weird though because last spring I was just like, dreading the warm temps and the grass to start growing.
Now I'm just like... TAKE THAT GRASS! I actually enjoy mowing with this thing. It's just so cool I guess.
I think eventually the novelty will wear off... But maybe not!
It's different too because I never much liked using gas lawn equipment. I hated mowing with a gas mower. It's loud and smelly. That's why I was trying to use the manual push mower. But that started to hurt my back. Which is pretty much the reason why I gave up on that and finally got this electric stuff.
I'm glad I did finally make this purchase. It's totally worth the money.
But, yeah, I actually really enjoy using the electric yard equipment. It just works so well, and it's fun to use. It starts right up, and you just pop the battery in. You don't have to run to the gas station to get more gas when you run out. I would always spill the gas too when putting it in the mower and then it would smell terrible.
I think the best part of it though, is that, it feels like I'm more on level with my peers, or society in general. There was one point over the summer where I almost felt like I was just failing at life in general because I was mowing grass all the time and could barely keep up with it.
Psychologically it felt like... Life was overwhelming me. I was sore and my back hurt and areas I had JUST mowed were already starting to grow after a day or two...
And my to-do list just kept getting longer and longer.
Once I bought this equipment, I felt like... back in charge. Maybe that's why I like it so much.
It makes me feel good. And who doesn't like things that make you feel good. I hate the feeling of being overwhelmed.
With the right tool, life becomes a breeze I guess. I love figuring stuff out. I love being able to find better ways to do things.
I mean, okay yes, I kind of already knew all this, it's basic homeownership 101... My thing was, I just hate gas equipment... So, finding this cordless electric alternative...
Basically, I could run with the big dogs again... And be on par with my peers... But I could do it in my own way. Best of both worlds.
It's quirky I suppose, but I just have my own little way that I like doing things.
Well, so now that the mowing and yard cleanup thing has been sorted out, I can start working on other items on my to-do list instead of spending tons of time mowing, or leaf raking.
Oh, annnnnnd, my yard is looking pretty darn good too if you ask me!
So there you have it. I can hold my own when it comes to homeowner yard work talk at the Thanksgiving dinner table.
Consent List
Okay, so I had an idea.
It's called "The Consent List".
Here's how it works...
When we're born, and we enter this world, we start this thing called life. Now, as we get older, eventually we become of legal age to give consent to people for things.
That basically boils down to... People who we want to do things to us, and people we don't.
It's a bit like a bouncer at a club. Either you're on the list and you are allowed in... Or you are NOT on the list...
So, this is The Consent List.
Basically as I meet people in life, there are one of two people when it comes to romance... Person A is...
I'm not intersted. SO, you're not on the list.
Person B is... I'm interested... SO... You're on the list!
Now, what happens is, people start making lists. Anywhere you go and anyone you meet, you can choose to do nothing, AKA not add them to the list... OR you can put them on the list.
At any point, you can also take them off.
So, let's say I go out to a club... And the bouncer lets me in. Or a bar.
And at that bar, or club, I meet 50 people that night. But there's one, or two ladies, who take my fancy.
Great. I add them to my list.
Now they know that they have my consent.
HOWEVER, let's say both of them decided that at that bar that night, they didn't take their fancy to me. So, I'm not on their list.
That means, I dig them, and they don't dig me. But let's say they added 1 other guy each that was out that night... That guy now has THEIR consent.
See how this works?
Now, you can also choose to get an alert when someone adds you as an OKAY to their consent list. Then you can decide to consent back.
When you get two mutual consents... That's when you can now enter into something romantic.
BUT as long as there is only one consent per side, or none... Neither side can be romantic towards one another.
It would just be an app and people just make a profile. And you just start building your list of people you consent to, and people you don't.
When you meet someone out on the town, you can add them, not not add them... But unless both people add one another.... there isn't consent.
Obviously this is for single people only... because if you're already married or in a relationship, you are already consenting to that one and only person that you decided to be with.
Also obviously the app goes away once you're in a relationship because you've already consented to the mutual person that you decided to be with.
SO this is only an app for single people who are looking to date and connect with other people. It's not an online dating app as in you can't browse for matches... This is just for in person encounters or people you might meet in real life.
Two coworkers working together and one of the likes the other one and they are both single?
Add them to your consent list. If they look it up and see it, they know. If they don't... Oh well.
But basically you just build a list that people can look at. If their name is on the list, should they not have the app, the person can choose to download the app and then consent back.
Like so for example, if I were to make my own list right now?
I would write on the app the people who I give consent to...
I'm not ACTUALLY going to write it here, but, there are definitely 3 women I know, who I would totally consent to at the moment.
Should they be interested back.
Obviously I don't KNOW if they are or are not because... there isn't an app.
But if there were an app, it would be interesting to know who was out there giving consent. Maybe it's none... That's probably most likely the case...
But, I mean, who knows... Maybe there's someone out there and she likes me and hasn't said a word, and I have no idea that she does like me...
And maybe I like her back, but I wouldn't say a word either...
But, I mean, we could both like one another, but we don't say anything because we don't know if the other person is or is not interested back, but we don't want to go blurt it out because what if they aren't interested back?
Then it's awkward.
Anyways, that's my idea.
5ksingles.com
www.5ksingles.com doesn't exist... Yet. But I'm considering some how creating it.
You know, I've never known how any of these founders actually go from idea, to concept, to reality... It's always boggled my mind.
The one thing I do know, is that none of them ever do it alone, they pitch an idea to other people, and get help... The other people go... YAY! Let's make it!!!
When I pitch ideas... People just stare at me blankly... Meh... Eh... I'm not interested.
Oh well.
That's why I give all my ideas away. That's why I've never formed a band and do it all myself.
Probably why I'm single too.. Can't seem to capture anyone's interest.
Oh well.
Anyway, I'll just pitch the idea to enough people, and maybe someone will have some kind of interest in making... If not... I'm posting it here, and maybe some venture capitalist entrepreneur from San Francisco will find this post by accidentally Googling something and they will make it.
Anyways, so it's a 5K singles running platform.
Sign up, get fit, and find love at the same time.
Basically you sign up, and then you check box the runs that interest you that are near you, then when you get to the race, you are joined by other 5K Singles runners.
And you all run together. Then after the race, you grab a beer and some food.
Race together, hang out... Make new friends and run 5Ks. Get fit, find love.
Now, just to find some other people who are interested in making it a thing.
It could be a site where they have groups in every city. Like, basically you check off the races that you are interested in, and it shows you how many other singles runners will also be there. Then you can join up, and mix and mingle.
I think it could be a pretty good site. Well, there's the idea... Maybe I'll make it, maybe I won't... Or maybe someone else will make it.
5K Singles.
Last Mow
I think, I just did the last mowing of my lawn for the season. We'll see. There might have to be one more, but I doubt it. Usually the last mow is around Thanksgiving. I also did some weedwacking and what not. I think took the battery I was using from the leaf blower and put it in the snowblower just to kind of "fire it up".
I'm SOOOOOO excited to use that thing. It's weird. I really shouldn't be excited I suppose. But I am.
I mean, most people hate snow and cold. I guess I kind of like it. That's not to say I want to live in snowy areas my whole rest of my life, but... I'm game for at least this winter.
I feel like ideally, I'd like to have a small townhouse or condo in a warm area that I can just have a real estate company manage and rent out for me, and I block out winter dates to go stay there, then the rest of the year, it gets Air BNBed on my behalf and I just use that income for other things.
I want to own property that I don't manage, but I can use during specific times of the year. So, one condo maybe by the beach down in a warm climate somewhere, another condo by a mountain ski resort.
I spend maybe a week or two a year at each one, and the rest of the time it gets rented out by a real estate company on my behalf.
A little bit of beach, a little bit of skiing.
That's going to be in the near future. I might also start taking cruises.
I know, you're like... WHER ON EARTH ARE YOU GOING TO GET ALL THIS MONEY?
3 words... Realty Income Corp is going to pay for it. Or, rather, the income coming off the shares I own in that company.
Today, before I went outside to do a little lawn work, I made my first trade of my new trading plan.
I'm pretty much using that as a base income, to then start secondary incomes and then tertiary incomes... And so on and so on.
Money from money from money...
I guess my thing with investing is, I want to own. I want to own physical property.
Some people I know are all hyped up on Bit Coin investments... If you ask me? I'm just not sold. I know, it's probably a missed opportunity... But, to me? I just don't like the aspect where you physically don't have something in your hand.
I just am a sucker for REITS. I like physical things.
I'm the same with people.... That's why I'm LOVING running club. I love being with people. Drinking beer, conversations, a nice workout beforehand... Get the endorphins flowing.
We live in a world where no one wants to interact in person anymore... And I kind of hate it. I like to be around people.
Anyway, so... What I like about my life at the moment is that I'm pointing things in the direction I want them to go in.
I want cashflow, I want hard assets as investments. I want more free time to be able to make music, and write...
Right now, I'm single, I have no kids... I have 3 cats, but two are elderly and probably won't be around in a couple more years. I have a direction that I want to go in where I want to be able to travel more, I want to have less obligations and responsibilities...
I want to be able to have income coming in to pay for my travels... And I want to be able to use all of that to build more and more income.
Like, if I buy condos, I can rent out those condos and use the income from that to travel to the condo during times when it's not being rented out.
Most of my peers instead save money, travel, wipe out savings, save again.
But that means you have to work hard to save up that money.
If you own the travel destination and pull income from it... Your travels pay you to travel.
It's a smarter way to travel.
Why pay to travel when you can get paid FOR it?
So, for example, I want to travel somewhere, I'll travel there, scout out a condo, buy it, use the condo to stay there... Then turn the condo into income and try somewhere new.
All places eventually get boring... The novelty wears off. Instead, turn it into income.
In 5 years time on my 40th birthday... I'm hoping to just be traveling the world looking for new condos to purchase and rent out.
I'll get paid to travel and own property.
The rent coming off those properties will just add to my income stream.
It becomes a self feedback cycle that can't be stopped. The more I own, the more I have coming in.
Just let real estate companies handle it for me.
Just like I'm letting Realty Income Corp handle things for me and then I collect my income from them. Use that income to feed new investments.
Since probably one day I won't be the one clearing off the snow... I'm excited to do it, even if it's just one last winter... Or, maybe next winter too...
Because then from there on out, I'll just kind of have enough income coming in that I won't be bothered doing my own lawn care or snow removal, unless I REALLY want to.
I like doing it right now because I got these new cool tools, which were all paid for by my investment income coming in... So it's extra exciting because the plan is basically working.
My yard work tools that I used to tidy up my lawn today, were all bought for me. I didn't use anything but dividend and income money to pay for them.
As that income stream goes up and up, I'll just buy bigger and badder things.
The yard work tools, at least to me, were a kind of investment because it gave me back free time. Before I bought these items I was spending a lot of time keeping up with just mowing the grass. Now, I mow, I take care of the weeds... I leaf blow, and I'll snow blow... All in a fraction of the time it took me to do before...
Work smarter, not harder is what one of the summer camp counselors always said to me when I was a counselor there...
I remember Miss Daylight saying something at some point about how you always want to try to make more money while doing less...
I think it was on the podcast thing that she had me listen to.
Reinvesting income back into something new that creates more income, or saves more time.... Can achieve this.
I feel like there are two types of adults, from what I've noticed...
Type one, is that person who you look at them and they are always struggling... They are running around doing a million things, always stressed... Barely afford bills.
They work a main job, a part time weekend job, and another evening job...
Then there's the second kind of person... They have a house with a pool. They have condos, take vacations... seemly live a life of luxury, but... They barely work!
I know both these types of people.
The only difference between these people? The first person has no idea how investments work, and the second person has a close relationship with their broker.
Basically investments really are one thing, and one thing only... You own the right to benefit corporate profits.
Okay, there's more to it than that... But that's really the basic premise.
Like, Realty Income Corp has 150 employees that work for it.
They get up, get dressed, make coffee, and go into work 5 days a week.
Then there's the shareholders.
We don't work. We just hold shares. And every month on the 15th of the month, we get an income check.
Workers... And owners.
Maybe you like working, I mean heck, I don't mind it... I'd just rather work on book and music than a regular shirt and tie gig... Which is why I'm going to eventually transition to that... Obviously it would be ideal to just make money from books and music, but I'll admit it, I'm not all that great at it... And you have to be REALLY good to make a living from it.
So... I'll just make a living off income and ownership of property and then write books and music anyway.
Really, it's what you want to be a worker and an owner of...
For me? I want to be a worker of snowblowing... I'm actually excited about it... At least for this winter.
I want to be an owner of income generating investments.
And that's the key... To be able to do what you want, the way you want it, and be able to make it happen.
To be able to change it when you decide you want to change it... And not have a lot of friction behind it.
To be able to figure out where you want to be a worker, and where you want to be an owner.
Work smarter, not harder... and earn more doing less.
The key, I think, is to not only figure out what you want to do, but to then have the resources to make it all happen.
That's what I'm in the midst of doing... I'm in the middle of building up an independent income from ownership and then using that income to change my lifestyle to become how I'd like to live...
And I learned from the best. After all, my grandfather didn't work to be able to travel... he worked, and traveled with the work paying for his travel. He had international business contracts with his fabric finishing company, and then when he eventually sold it... He put the proceeds from the company sale into common stocks and use the income from the dividends to live a life where him and my grandmom could travel when and where they wanted...
He didn't save up for his next travel destination... He just let the income from the investments roll in and relaxed with a good book while that money flowed and then when he felt like it, he traveled where he pleased.
There's nothing wrong with being an owner, or a worker...
It's entirely up to what makes you happy.
Personally? I want to be an owner when it comes to paying bills... I want to be a worker when it comes to the things that I enjoy doing and what makes me happy.
Most people are workers for paying bills... and the little that's left over, they escape their life that they don't like very much by travel.
I don't want to do that, I want to travel as a destination, not as an escape.
It's an interring concept... Maybe I'll write a book one day... A lifestyle book, self help.... Something like...
"Why Work To Own, When You Can Own Your Work?"
Not too bad of a book title for being made up on the spot!
Righting The Ship
So, it's weird. I mean, most people who are trying to accomplish something, are... In so many words, coming from the bottom and making it to the top.
My view, I suppose, is that I'm trying to right the ship. I'm trying to get back to where things "should be".
I mean, okay, lets assume certain people had never done things they did.... And there's a LOT of variables here.
I mean, I don't know, if my grandmom had outlived my grandfather.... That would have changed a lot.
I mean, okay if that had happened, there would be no trust right now. If my grandfather and my grandmom's years that they passed were reversed...
Things would be SOOO different.
My grandmom would have sold the houses in cali and moved back here to Philadelphia to be closer to us.
That means the money would have been moved with her. While the original trust would have probably stuck... The changes would have never been made. That means, on my 30th birthday, the trust would have been dissolved and I would have the proceeds outright.
That also means that almost 10 years of court filings would have never happened, that was a million right there in lost money. That also means that money never would have been spent by the previous trustee the way it was...
I also means that not only would the money not have been wasted, it means it would have been invested... Meaning... There would be a LOT more... I mean... A LOT.
I would have never probably worked the job I worked. I would have just gone right to being a musician and acting... I would have spent every day doing that stuff, and I would be FAR better at it than I am now... Written far more songs, and spent time in NYC and LA auditioning.
Anyways, so my thing is... In my view? My world as it is right now, was never supposed to happen.
It's supposed to be different. And additionally, because I should be in a totally different place...
I probably would have found love already.
Who knows, maybe I would have never made it as a musician or actor, but I'm willing to bet I would have met her somewhere along the line trying. And... Life would just be SOOO different because I would have multiple millions in the bank.
I'd be so much more carefree, so much more relaxed...
I'd be a totally different person...
But, here we are...
So my job, is to take what I've got, and steer it in the direction that I want. Take the things I do have and get back to where I'm supposed to be.
That's pretty much my goal.
To continue to invest and try to build back up the original investments that my grandparents owned.
To get to the point where I can work on music and movies and books full time.
To get to where I would have been, if things had never gone the way they did... If my grandmom had outlived my grandfather and moved back here...
Who knows... Yes, there's always the possibility that other bad things could have happened... I guess you never can predict how things would have gone.
It's interesting too because if that would have happened, I probably wouldn't have the novel that I'm writing... I'd probably have a different one maybe...
But, the thing is... If things had gone that way, I don't think I would have met the person who inspired the novel. So, it wouldn't exist.
I don't know, I guess it's just like, why did thing go the way they went?
I don't know... But what I do know is, my goal right now is to continue to right the ship in the direction that I want things to go.
Clear out the junk in my house... Get my investments to the point where they can pay for trips to LA and NYC to go to auditions.... Make more music, finish my book... and get it made into a movie...
Just do all that stuff... And then hopefully when I get back to that path in life where I'm sure that I should have gone... I meet her.
I've known all along though that she isn't in Philly. I've never fallen in love with anyone who's a true native Philly person. Pretty much any of the previous exes of mine that went anywhere significant... All of them were from other places.
So, I'm 100 percent sure, without a doubt, that the one out there I'm supposed to meet... Isn't around here... She's either in NYC or LA, or something like that. She's just in a place that's more "A-game" territory.
Basically if I want to meet her, I need to then elevate myself back to A-Game... I need to get my personal situation back to where things would have been.
Starting from the bottom... not to get to the top... but to get back to the top. I'm righting the ship and trying to put things back to where they would have been if things in my past had gone differently.
It's an interesting thing though, like, if any of us could change something in our past... How would that change the now... And would you do it?
I guess if I knew the outcome lead to something better, to a better life, I would...
Anyways, so, that's where I'm at... I have goals and directions that I want to get things and that's where I'm focused, to try and get myself back to where I could have been if specific things in my past had happened differently.
I guess that's the journey though, right? Life is all about the journey.
I used to be super angry about it... But I guess now-a-days I'm more just like, I look at it as... Well, there's work to be done... Time to get to work!
There are goals to achieve and that's my focus right now.
Surf Formula
So, I've come up with a surf formula. It took a while, but I finally figured out a trading method that works for me... Here's how it goes...
I start with my core cash. Core cash then is actively traded in one stock and one stock only. These are same day or double or sometimes triple day trades... If I'm right on the trade I make money.
If I'm wrong? I hold. My hold could be as long as a year or two... Who knows...
I trade 100 shares exactly and 100 shares only of one stock. I repeat that over and over and over again.
That stock, is Realty Income Corp. It's a REIT. It pays monthly dividends. If I'm right, like I was 2 days ago, I make 20 bucks. I made 20 bucks on a two day trade two days ago... It was literally 30 seconds of my time to make 20 bucks.
And I do it all from my phone.
Tap in... 100 shares bought, price changes over night, tap out... 100 shares sold.
15 seconds to buy, 15 seconds to sell.
I used 5600 dollars in capital and bought 100 shares, let the price go up and sold.
Now, what happens if I'm wrong? I keep my shares. And I take another 100 share lot and buy again at a lower price.
If I'm wrong again... I buy again.
What happens to the shares I hold?
For every 100 shares I hold, on the 15th of every month I get paid 21 dollars in income, and I keep my shares.
So, either I make 20 bucks over night, same day, or over the course of 2 or 3 days, if I'm right... and if I'm wrong, I make 21 bucks a month, month... after month... after month... after month...
If I'm wrong once, I make 21, if I'm wrong twice, I make 42, 3 times, I'm now getting 63 dollars a month.
Let's say I'm wrong 5 times in a row on catching a short term bottom for one of these small technical swing trades...
Now I just sit... and I collect 5 x 21... Or 104 dollars a month. Eventually, one of those 5 trades will go green and I'll sell it... Then I start trading in and out again.
It's a bit like waiting for a parking space to open up in a parking lot... 4 of those 5 spots might be taken, or even 5 of the 5... But all you need is one free spot to open up that gate.
More like a parking garage I guess... If you had a garage with 100 spaces... Eventually, one of those spaces will open up.
But how do I know that Realty Income Corp will keep paying you? And how do you know it will come back?
There's no 100 percent guarantee. Yes, the company could go bust, and it could slash its dividend... GE just did. And look at Sears.
It's a bit like using a shovel to dig... Right now, the shovel is in good condition. It can be used to dig in the sand. Eventually, the shovel will probably break. Then I'll find another stock that pays regular dividends and is relatively stable.
The thing about active trades and holds on Realty Income Corp... Is that they have been in business and paying dividends for quite some time. They are a REIT, which means they pass most of their earnings off as income... they are a triple net leasing company... Basically they don't care if your company goes bust. They just rent space to you. If your company goes out of business... They put a sign in that window that says "space available" and a new tenant moves in.
They are diversified in tenants that they rent to, well anyone really.... And the only way a REIT goes out of business is if they run out of tenants to rent to... Just like if a parking garage has no cars looking for spots... The question in 2017 in business is simply now, not how good of a business you run, but... Can Amazon put your company out of business? They are pretty much THE ONLY competition that anyone cares about at all now.
It's basically every company in the world... Against Amazon.
How likely is Amazon to put ALL of the tenants out of business that Realty Income Corp rents to? They could. But, not likely. Some of the tenants are gas stations.... Some are Walgreens... Some are Dollar General stores... Some is office space. Movie theaters...
I imagine that a lot of these companies are forming business plans and models to Amazon proof themselves. Pretty much every company is teaming up now to fight against Amazon.
And at any rate... Amazon themselves don't even own most of the property they use. Offices, even Whole Foods rents... Most companies don't own the property in which they run their business out of. They lease it... Longer term 10 or 20 year lease agreements... And... You guessed it... Pay monthly rent.
As a REIT Realty Income Corp basically builds the 4 walls and the roof... And charges rent. They maintain minimal exterior property maintenance... and pass the rest of the rent money on to the shareholders.
Since their stock is traded on an exchange, the price fluctuates from day to day. It's these price fluctuations that I run technical trades on... 100 shares in... 100 shares out... In... Out... In... Out.
If I'm right on the technical indicator... I surf the stock wave and make money.
If I'm wrong? I become part landlord for commercial property and sit back and collect my rent check on the 15th of every month.
That's part one.
Part two:
This part is the income and surf profits.
We'll call this my second beach shovel.
Now, since I ladder my shares... The idea is that now I have these 100 share trades combined with my holds producing monthly income for me... Either in the form of active trading, OR in the form of rental income...
I take that rental income and active surf trade income... and reinvest it.
But, I don't reinvest it back into Realty Income Corp.
Since, there is always the possibility that Realty Income Corp would be entirely wiped out by Amazon... The only competition that any one in business has to worry about these days...
Basically, the shovel could break on me... I'll be using that money to build a second sand shovel.
The second shovel is a different type of trade, in fact, it's not a trade... It's a buy and hold, forever.
So, the money coming in off Realty Income Corp all gets shoveled into dividend paying stocks. Basically, I'm just going down the list... there are about 800 or so stocks that have been increasing their dividends for longer than 5 consecutive years.
http://www.dividendkingdom.com
I start with the longest dividend increase streak... American States Water... and then work my way down the list. I buy 100 shares in the first one... Then go on to the second one... Buy 100 shares in the second one... Then go to the third.
Every time I shovel enough money off Reality Income Corp to buy 100 shares in another company... I reinvest the cash.
I never touch my original capital. That money just keeps getting dipped in and out and in and out of Realty Income Corp...
Now... Once the money goes into the dividend paying stocks... I buy 100 shares, no more, no less... Of dividend paying companies... THAT dividend income from THOSE diversified holdings...
Is my surf salary.
Obviously, I have to pay taxes first... But after that... That's money I can spend.
Off to vacation in some far away island?
Not so much.
Possibly one day, yes... But right now? I'm using that money to live.
Basically, most months, I spend more money than I make at my day job. It's a non-profit I work for... So... I don't get paid very well.
So, I've been using this extra money to basically cover my living costs that my paycheck doesn't cut.
Most people just get a second job somewhere... Part time in retail, or bar tend... I've got dividends.
It will be interesting to watch it play out... But basically depending on how many companies Amazon puts out of business... I'll just keep that trading/investing model.
Active trade Realty Income Corp... Hold my mistakes and collect rent when the stock price goes down, and cash out on my winnings when the stock price goes up. Then put those profits into an ever expanding diversified portfolio of dividend paying stocks.
Once that portfolio has generated a hearty dividend income paycheck... I'll possibly use some of that money to get into riskier stocks that don't pay a dividend but may be going up in value... This is my third shovel...
Part 3:
Part 3 is to take any of the income that comes off the second layer of dividend stocks, that I don't use... Any unused income coming off the diversified dividend layer, can be either spent as discretionary income... Or reinvested into a third shovel.
So, the sand from Realty Income Corp trades and rent checks is shoveled into dividend stocks... The sand coming off dividend stocks can then be shoveled into bills, or, reinvested into a third layer...
Growth stocks.
So, if you go on a website called Bar Chart... https://www.barchart.com/stocks/highs-lows?timeFrame=alltime
You can find the all-time high stocks.
This third shovel is stocks that are much riskier. Again, the 100 share buy and holds start again.
Any income or profits that come off this sand shovel go to be spent... These profits are luxury profits... These are the ones where you bought Netflix day one and made 40 thousand percent.... You gambled on that new idea.
This is where my international travel income comes from... New music equipment... A hot tub... New car.
Etc. etc.
But let's say I don't want to buy anything or travel?
Is there a 5th shovel? Yes.
The 5th shovel is private equity. This is money where I have a friend who has some hot new idea... Some start up... Or wants to start their own business... It's the most risky type of investment.
It's not very liquid as in you can't sell shares on an exchange... Lawyers need to be involved... You could get screwed out of the entire investment.
This is why it's sand from the 5th shovel.
Because if I have 5 people in a row shoveling sand to the next person down the line... If the last person gets their sand castle washed away by a wave... All I have to do is wait long enough and that sand bucket will eventually fill back up.
If you just go right into giving all your money to some random idea... You get burned.
The idea is adding layers of risk protection and layers of income generation... If any one thing breaks... You're diversified enough to start again.
I suppose the very first shovel could actually be the 9-5 job, or your initial savings or trade capital.
My goal in all of this isn't so much to completely replace my 9-5 salary.... It's more to give me a security blanket.
Companies and organizations go out of business... People get canned... One of the biggest fears that most people have is having their source of income cut.
It's a scary prospect.... Causes stress....
But if you're banking your salary and it's all discretionary income that you spend on leisure... And it can be matched by a diversified source that regenerates on its own...
Stress goes out the window because you no longer really care what happens to that salary. If you get fired... Who cares... All your bills are paid for. You could sleep all day and you still get paid.
That's the idea. To work just because working is something to keep you busy... Not to stay up late at night wondering if you'll be able to afford life in general.
So, that's my surf salary.
Shovel sand... Use the shovels to buy more shovels... Use those shovels to buy more shovels... Use those shovels to buy an exponentially increasing number of shovels.
If a shovel or two breaks, or gets carried out by the tide... Who cares. I've got so many shovels I don't even know what to do with them all.