This is the first in several posts exploring our key values of Investing for Lifestyle, Wealth & Legacy.
Lifestyle: What does it mean to you?
To me it means taking control, being able to work hard when i want to or play hard when i want to. To balance the importance of family life and time together with the necessity to earn a living and provide. I'll be honest i grew up expecting to have to work long hours in an office somewhere, dictated to by someone else timescales, demands & geographical restrictions. I thought that was just how it was going to be. I studied computer science at University, not enjoying the course at all (those who know me from my uni days still joke about my lack of interest, and ability, in computers) but justifying it was ok, because in between I got to do what i truly loved and windsurf the beaches of the Gower Peninsular, in South Wales. With this thought that life had to be this way, a compromise - giving up the majority of my time on something i didn't really enjoy to be able to grab moments of the really fun times in between.
I put off this real world dread after uni, by opting to spend a winter snowboarding in the French Alps while working in a bar for a minuscule wage, food, board but most importantly a lift pass. Now this was life, doing what i loved all day everyday - not a care in the world. One winter season, partly due to making some life long friends turned into 8 years of Snowboarding, Windsurfing & Surfing around the world. Loving life, partying and making some of the best friends in the world. But knowing one day it would come to an end and i'd return to this corporate office nightmare that had been haunting me - because if i wanted a family then i had to right? thats the way it was. But it changed back in the UK, when i was chatting to a successful property investor at a networking event and he asked me 2 questions that hit home. What were they? 1) How much money would you need coming in each month to not have to go into work in your job?
2) If you had to stop work tomorrow (earn - trade time for money) how long could you survive financially?
Now this sparked something inside of me. At the time I worked out £2500 a month would more than cover all my living expenses, mortgage, food, petrol, general life etc (no kids at that time). and in answer to question 2, well if i wasn't working lets just say i'd be looking for a job the next day. Now this investor pointed me in a direction, and i set out along a path of self development to learn all i could about property? If i could buy cash flowing properties generating X a month, how many would i need to hit that goal? Could i really do that? Was it possible? I quickly realised that while property investing could generate a monthly income (replace the job) that it also answered the second question - if there is money coming in every month, and it more than covers my general living expenses then financially we are pretty secure and can last indefinitely. A good place to be if a family was on the cards in the near future.
So i set to work. 24 months later - i got to choose to no longer trade my time for money. I got to choose how i spent, or rather invested, my time from that point forward. I was free so to speak. To take back that control I talked about at the start of this post.
Our lifestyle, now means the family and kids are our main focus. Now while you could say family is everyones main priority, and of course it is - we are both at home the majority of the time with the kids, both around for breakfast and the school run, both around when they come home after school, both present for school plays, concerts, footy practice, air-cadets, martial arts etc. So much so, Ruben who's 12 is now genuinely shocked and disappointed on the odd occasion we both cant be present for something. We've taken them skiing from a young age, spent several weeks away at a time over the summer breaks, because we have the freedom and residual income from property to do so. Time is the one thing that once it's spent you never get back, it's so important.
Now this post it not intended to impress you, and I hope you havn't taken any offence from it. But more to impress upon you that the choice and freedom we have now as a family did not just land in our lap. It is the result of several decisions we made a few years back, the goals we set ourself and worked continuously towards, the sacrifices made, knowledge we've acquired, applied and the actions we have taken to get us to this point.
So back to what lifestyle means to you ? * What would you like more of ?
* What would you like to do less of ? * Who would you like to spend more time with ?
* Who would you like to spend less time with ? * Where do you like to be ?
* And not be?
* Are you doing what you enjoy?
* Is day to day life how you imagined or hoped it would be? Property is one of the best vehicles for generating a monthly recurring income, and i believe can give you what ever lifestyle you want or desire. But if you never dig deep, ask yourself those tough questions and work out what you want, chances are you'll never start working towards it.
This Freedom of Choice and Time is key for me and Dawn, While earning a living is important to be able to do stuff, spending time with loved ones trumps it.
But why compromise, you could have both.