Once upon a time...

[Player]

The road less travelled

Thanks for sharing Mr Equity.

The journey you so eloquently describe is down a road that some of our cohort here would know.

It is..........the road less travelled.

All the best with the ongoing journey. IMO (and especially to those new to this game we play) it is vital we stay firm and steadfast to our chosen goal and strategy, regardless of the nay-sayers we may see at the side of the road or those trying to make us take a detour to join their tribe. The masses will feel a little threatened by your ongoing success.

They may even tell you that it's lonely at the top.......how would they know, they've never been there?

Looking forward to further chapters of success

 

[Piston Broke]

Expenses are like empty space/rooms.
No matter how much you have or extra, cashflow (or oxygen) uses it all up.
So many times I heard people on high earnings say "when I get a rise I will..."
But the rises end up paying for the previous extras.
Just like the junk accumulates more when you know your gonna get an extra room.

 

[HiEquity]

The investor brain in me is thinking "now imagine what they could do if they spent $1 mill on a very nice house in another suburb, and invested the rest in some property with a decent cashflow and depreciation, or maybe some shares."

Expenses are like empty space/rooms.

Thanks guys. Funny you should mention this. At the moment this couple are getting strong suggestions from both sides of the family to build themselves a significantly larger and "more suitable" house for a growing family in this area. Even their neighbour is suggesting it, despite the fact such a house would be very likely to block their own ocean views. He even suggested ways by which you can get raising the pad past the council! They are very nice, genuine old folk who - I think they feel sorry for this young family in their small 130sqm house surrounded by mansions.

As you mentioned BV such an exercise wouldn't see my change from $1m. They just can't get past the income and growth they would get from investing and leveraging that cash instead. Also, while their kids are young a small house helps create a close family and they love the location. One day their kids may get too big for everyone to fit but they're going to delay that as long as they can. And leverage up in the meantime!

We shall see what results...

 

[twobobsworth]

I have a question for the couple in the story.

What is the end game?

When do you call stumps?

 

[HiEquity]

I have a question for the couple in the story.

What is the end game?

When do you call stumps?

They really wouldn't have the foggiest idea. I doubt they will ever stop investing in some form. On when to quit work, at a guess maybe when post tax income exceeds expenses by roughly his current salary at least to provide some SANF. That would be approx 3x what they would be likely to spend in a year as a family, with the remaining margin to be used for safety and further investing / lifestyle choices.

They are told they will know when to throw in the job and pursue their dreams when the time comes. I guess the time hasn't come yet. Living off rents to that degree is not an option for them right now and that is where they want to get to as a minimum as a replacement for their current salary. Anything else would just be a bonus...

 

[AndrewT]

Great story! It's good to take time out and read what others have done in the past. It makes me excited about what my investing future might hold!

May I ask what age this couple is now?

 

[oracle]

Great story HiEquity! Truely inspiring. Wish the couple in the story all the success with their future endeavours with investing.

Thank you...what I really appreciated from this story was the timing...I could see that your slow start very quickly grew momentum and this came out very clearly in this story....kind of inspiring. The question is, can this sort of story be replicated Post 2009???

Eg. "Well, back in 2009 in fact,....."

HandyAndy, if your question relates to whether wealth creation can be replicated following the exact steps outlined in the story. I don't know. But what I can assure you is the principles of wealth creation hasn't changed from centuries and I doubt it will ever get changed. You can study them in "Richest Man in Babylon". Anyone who follows the wealth creation principles outlined is guaranteed to succeed. The level of success will depend on how well you follow the steps outlined.

I can also assure you there will be many success stories 10-15 years time from now starting with "Well, back in 2009 in fact..."

Just my 2 cents.

Cheers,
Oracle.

 

[HiEquity]

Great story! It's good to take time out and read what others have done in the past. It makes me excited about what my investing future might hold!

May I ask what age this couple is now?

Early to mid thirties... as in she is closer to early and he is closer to mid!

I can also assure you there will be many success stories 10-15 years time from now starting with "Well, back in 2009 in fact..."

Agreed. This couple wouldn't still be investing if they didn't believe that.

 

[HiEquity]

OK so I thought it is about time I updated this thread.

Since the last post in this story, this couple had a third baby and bought a medical centre. The thread on the medical centre is elsewhere so I won't bother with the details of that. Everything has gone swimmingly to date with that property but it is still too early to pass judgement on whether it was really a good idea or not.

The much, much bigger issue has been that in November last year the good lady of the family was diagnosed with cancer - more specifically a form of Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma. Naturally this news knocked the absolute stuffing out of pretty much everybody involved and has meant anything else in their lives is sitting in a very small milk crate way down the back of the B-double.

She is now approx halfway through her chemo and it's still too early to tell much in terms of the eventual outcome. The focus has just been on taking things a day at a time. It didn't help that after starting the treatment recommended by one experienced consultant, our second opinion (from an equally experienced consultant) was that he would treat it completely differently. So - many hours have been spent researching the response of a particular sub-type of Lymphoma to a variety of treatments, by someone who is an engineer and not a doctor. Joy! Anyway, the message from that lesson is to always get a second opinion...

So he has been away from work for the last three months looking after their three young children while she has been in and out of hospital for treatment, blood tests, etc etc etc. He is likely to be away from work for the next three months at least for the same reasons. This could turn into years if the treatment isn't completely successful or worse. He is only really able to do this because:

- They have conservative buffers in place; and
- Their cash flow from their portfolio currently exceeds their normal living expenses.

If they had gone with a strategy of negative gearing for their last few investments these two planks would not have been in place and financial concerns would have been a very unwelcome additional stress to what is already the most stressful experience ever faced by this couple.

So the message I want to convey here is how important it is to both invest for the future and invest wisely to provide a decent alternative source of real income because you never know when or why you may no longer have that well paying job to cover all your mistakes.

Wishing everyone the very best of health...

 

[Rooster]

I've loved every chapter of this post so far HE.

All I hope is that you and your family get to post many more together.

All the best

Rooster

 

[FormerLurker]

Hope all goes well mate.

 

[Shaneelastic]

sorry to hear about this hope all goes well..

income protection insurance + trauma insurance would underpin families if they were also in this situation

 

[INVSTOR]

So sorry to hear! I noticed you weren't around much lately and had thoughts that all was extremely well so it was a bit of a shock to read that. I wish your wife good health and hope she can overcome this. Please keep us updated.

 

[redwing]

Thanks for the update and lessons within High Equity

Wishing the Family all the best!

 

[oracle]

Wishing you and family well during this extremely difficult period.

Cheers,
Oracle.

 

[Aaron Sice]

so, ive only just seen this thread.

1) i need to pay more attention.
2) awesome streak of success and inspiration.
3) i sincerely wish you and your wife hope, light and strength.

cheers.

 

[Alex P Keaton]

Hope your wife will be ok! Thats horrible

 

[BMan]

sounded like a fairytale at the start.
hopefully the ending is they all live happily ever after.
sorry to hear about that wishing the wife and family all the best

 

[pennyk]

HE, so sorry to hear about your wife...... its a difficult journey, but I hope you and your family are finding good things in this awful time.

You might remember that I was diagnosed with lung cancer around 18 mths ago.
http://somersoft.com/forums/showthread.php?t=63614&highlight=curve+ball

Its certainly changed my life... in both good and bad ways. I have tried to take the approach of one day at a time. Every day is a good day and I try to make the most of it.

If you ever want some support or advice, please feel free to PM me. I'm a little cautious about discussing in too much detail on the main forums, because there has been one person on the board who has been extremely unhelpful in their approach to cancer and twds me... they were banned, but I think they have returned in a new persona.

I hope you have lots of supportive people around you, and I'm sure you'll also find support on Somersoft...

 

[Piston Broke]

- They have conservative buffers in place; and
- Their cash flow from their portfolio currently exceeds their normal living expenses.

Words of the wise.
I wish you all the best.