The Financial Independence Show

In today's episode, Cody and Justin are joined by  Rob and Melissa from Flea Market Flipper. You can just hear the passion jumping out of their voices and it's easy to see why when they show how they make $100k+ working only 25-30 hours a week flipping items. Throw away assumptions like long hours spent shipping or fixing junk just to make $5. This is a truly impressive system they've built. They also love educating and are offering all the FI Show listeners a free guide to selling on eBay! So go take a listen, leave that 5-star review and give us some feedback! Episode Summary Rob is the laid back one of the group and Melissa is the one who is the more money focused one From the start of their relationship they always used flips to earn money In the beginning, they would just use it for vacations and cars but not employment Rob saw his parents flipping items and just fell in their tracks When Rob sees an item he can just quickly research the item on eBay and also give you a ready to use post so you don’t have to do much effort at all After their third child was born four years ago they turned this to a full-time job They don’t see any advantages they have to anyone recreating their exact same business They’ve even started coaching people around the country The style of flipping they do and coach is revolved around doing a smaller amount of flip with much larger returns instead of focusing on quantity Commercial equipment is often something that can be had really cheap but sold at a big premium When you check out their blog and reports you’ll see that they’ll sell and ship anything The only thing they typically won’t mess with is anything following much below $100 profit They source most of their items locally through things like Offer up, craigslist, or Facebook marketplace but sell almost exclusively on eBay Sometimes they’ll do some touch-ups or small fixes but for the most part, they don’t do any work to the items which are different than when you’d flip a house Rob started flipping out of a convertible mustang but over time he upgraded to storage units, a truck, trailer, etc.  He stresses that you should just stick to what you have until you start making money off the flips On only 108 sells on eBay they made over $80k for the year which means they don’t have to spend a ton of time shipping items Then we get into talking about a flip challenge they have going on We’ve all heard of crazy stories/rumors of someone turning a rubber band into a car but this is real and is well documented This challenge has them taking an item and turn it into a rental house within a year and they’re on track! It all started with a free chair from the trash They stress that they try to teach what they can on taxes for these types of sales but note that they differ state to state so check your local laws They do note that in this business you can see irregular income but they combat this by keeping recurring cost low because they pay for everything in full upfront They’re currently not focusing on stock market investing because they’re really comfortable with real estate and already have two rental properties and are hoping for 10 over the next 7-10 years They’re so excited about sharing their skills with everyone through the flipper university and also some free exclusive content for FI Show listeners!   Key Takeaways Money is Everywhere: Just another reason why quitting a job doesn't mean you can't make money somewhere, somehow if you need to Imitate then Improve: Rob and Melissa didn't create a new industry. Selling used stuff is as old as they come but they're doing it better than just about anyone and have built an impressive and repeatable process Family First: It's so awesome seeing Rob and Melissa get their kids involved in the flipping and to see how this style of work allows for so much quality time with their kids instead of locke...

In today’s episode, Cody and Justin are joined by a third co-host! J from FIRE Drill Podcast / Millennial Boss. The three discuss their experiences with side hustling and also talk about the new Side Hustle Courses that Cody and Julie (J) are launching. There are also testimonials from several side hustlers who just recently took the course and are starting to earn real money online. Whether you want to become a digital nomad, build an online empire, or just earn some additional income outside of your day job, we've got you covered. Join us in this episode and learn why side hustling is right for everyone! What Are These Side Hustle Courses All About? Well, there are three separate tracks: Blogging For Profit - Everything you need to know about how to start a profitable blog from Day 1. The course covers website setup, content creation, monetization, outsourcing, and everything in between. Etsy Printables - Learn how to open your Etsy shop, create your first listing, optimize your digital products, and market them like a pro in this course. We walk you through everything you need to know step by step. Freelance Toolkit - Do you want to earn money on your own time in a matter of weeks? Whether you have no existing skills or a few talents, we show you exactly how you can make money freelancing and get paid the most for your time. Between the three courses, we spent thousands of hours building out the lessons which include 250+ videos, text lectures, worksheets, templates and more! Here are some of the highlights: Info-packed modules with text and video lectures Bonus lessons, free templates, and interviews with industry experts Weekly assignments and printable lesson plans to keep you on track Free month in the VIP Facebook group for accountability & community Advanced modules to take your side hustle to the next level Key Takeaways Side Hustling is mutually beneficial: When many people think of "making money online", they envision some scammy internet marketing scheme. However, there are tons of ways you can earn money online where you deliver value to your customer/client and get paid for it. Not everyone is a natural: You don't have to a Type-A rockstar or creative genius to start a side hustle. Anyone can acquire the skills to make a little bit of income outside of the traditional day job. Added layer of financial security: Every incremental dollar that you earn with your side hustle brings you one step closer to financial freedom. Even a few hundred dollars a month can go a long way over time. Call to Action Determine what side hustle might be right for you and take action. If you need additional inspiration, check out the Gold City Ventures Side Hustle Courses! Featured Guests Julie - Co-Founder of the Gold City Venture Side Hustle Courses, Etsy Printables Expert, Host of the FIRE Drill Podcast, and blogger at Millennial Boss. James Lowery - Co-Founder of Rethink the Rat Race and real estate investor. Nicole - Owner of The Printable Fairy Etsy Shop. Nick Monfreda - Aspiring freelancer and golf enthusiast. Jessie Bui - Owner of Jessie Bui Fitness: Instagram, Facebook, Email. Join the Community We’d love to hear your comments and questions about this week’s episode. Here are some of the best ways to stay in touch and get involved in The FI Show community! Sign up for our exclusive newsletter Join our Facebook Group Leave us a voicemail Send an email to contact [at] TheFIshow [dot] com If you like what you hear, please leave a rating/review! The FI show on iTunes The FI show on Android   Learn More About Your Hosts: Fly to FI (Cody’s Blog) Saving-Sherpa (Justin’s blog)

In today's episode, Cody and Justin are joined by  James and Emily from Rethink the Rat Race who have one of the quickest journeys to financial independence you'll ever find. Living in Huntsville, Alabama they find themselves in one of the best real estate markets in the country for rental properties. They took that opportunity and ran with it. In 2017 they bought their first rental property and two years later they hit their 11th property and are now ready to retire this summer! Cody and Justin are both great friends with this duo and this is definitely a can't-miss episode. So go take a listen, leave that 5-star review and give us some feedback! Episode Summary James and Emily both had frugal backgrounds with James especially being on the really low end of the income spectrum They met at a local community college and James got his college mostly paid for through financial aid James ended up changing his major 4 times before eventually acquiring an associates degree Emily wasn’t eligible for financial aid due to her Dad’s income but her parents did pay for her first two years She ended up being able to pay off the final two years herself so they both graduated debt free Emily would take a job starting at $60k and James was at $35k per year in Huntsville, Alabama Even though they were in an affordable area with $95k of incomes, they weren’t saving a dime They said they were happy with there life but weren’t spending money intentionally but looking back they can see that they’re so much happier with their life now James was at work one day and someone said they came across a website that had changed their lives which turned out to be Mr. Money Mustache James immediately went all in and came home adjusting water heaters and laying down all these things they were going to cut from their lives...probably too aggressively he’ll admit This was 2016 when they discovered this idea of financial independence They estimate they cut their expenses down to $35k the next year after discovering the topic and have since cut it to closer to $12k Emily discusses how changing lifestyles can affect friend groups and social connections After cutting their expenses down as low as they could they looked to accelerate their path even more through real estate investing We go over their processes in finding properties and getting them ready to rent You’ll get a taste of James fantastic knack for negotiating They bought their first property in Summer of 2017 and have since hit 11 properties Most of these units were had for under $50k and all of them bring in over 1% of the cost back via rent Example: $50k house that brings in $500 is bringing in 1% every month All of the homes were bought using traditional mortgages Now they have enough money cash flowing every month to cover over 2x their expenses This has accelerated their path so fast that they’re now looking to retire in September That’s a 2-year path to financial independence! On top of real estate, they’re also maxing out one 401k and both IRAs Emily’s family owns a home in Cyprus that they plan on moving into this summer and doing some remodeling. Emily already has her EU citizenship and James is applying They’re not 100% sure what long term future looks like but they’ll probably pick up some side hustles in Cyprus to stay busy and travel all over Europe   Key Takeaways Everyone has advantages: Some people might not realize living in Huntsville, Alabama is a huge advantage for financial independence but James and Emily realized this advantage and maximized it Leverage is crazy powerful: James and Emily aren't these crazy high-income earners but they now own 11 rental units in 2 years. That's all possible thanks to the leverage you get through mortgages Not Knowing is Ok: James and Emily don't have the rest of their lives mapped out. But what 28 year old does?

In today's episode, Cody and Justin are joined by the insurance guru from Simply Insurance, Sa El. Sa El got started after a tragedy in the family and is now trying to make sure that never has to happen to anyone else. In this episode, we cover every type of personal insurance: Health, Life, Renters, etc You won't want to miss this episode so go take a listen, leave that 5-star review and give us some feedback! Episode Summary His journey went towards insurance because at age 20 his grandmother passed away from ovarian cancer and didn’t have any life insurance He realized how many people didn’t understand insurance at all Actually becoming certified was pretty simple He passed a test after a week of studying Got appointed to an insurance company Health insurance, disability insurance, dental insurance, and life insurance are the types he lists as the most important to focus on He actually calls disability insurance “paycheck” insurance That’s because it’s not just for disabilities, it’s also for simple sickness Most of these don’t kick in until you’re out of work for 60-90 days Dental is so important because so many other illnesses are related to dental health plus poor looking teeth can impact your career For health insurance, he really recommends a high deductible plan Early retirees who are living on low amounts like $30k per year could take advantage of some of those subsidies that low-income individuals use even if you have a high net worth We jump into some overarching topics that are problems with our health insurance system in the United States and things on the horizon to give us more transparency For car insurance, he recommends shopping around for rates every six months and highly recommends USAA and travelers insurance Also, watch out for double paying for things like a credit card that covers roadside assistance and also paying for it through auto insurance Then we switch gears to Life Insurance He’s very adamant that people pursuing financial independence should only consider term and never whole life insurance Whole life is too expensive! Then we talk about a type of life insurance that was new to us called “Return of premium” life insurance It is term life insurance but if you live past the term you get the premiums back! He calls it a savings account with free life insurance If you’re going term, he recommends getting a 30-year term and shoots for 20 times your income for a coverage amount So if you earn $50k, get $1M Also, look out for online products that don’t require an exam such as Bestow No exam doesn’t mean "no checking" so don’t lie on your forms! Then we cover an interesting topic of paying for your parent’s life insurance and becoming the Owner/Payer/Beneficiary of the policy Then we jump into renter’s insurance and the importance of reading all of your insurance fine print DON’T CALL THEM UNTIL YOU DO READ EVERYTHING Don’t forget, life insurance isn’t for you! Key Takeaways We all have something to learn: In this episode, we heard of so many new uses and types of insurance Life insurance isn't for you: Don't get confused about the purpose of life insurance and don't mix it with an investment Be the expert: If you want to make certain that you're getting the most out of your insurance and not left stuck with a bill, do the research and understand the ins and outs of your policy Call to Action Go read that boring fine print on your insurance products so you know exactly what your coverage is for! Join the Community We’d love to hear your comments and questions about this week’s episode. Here are some of the best ways to stay in touch and get involved in The FI Show community! Sign up for our exclusive newsletter Join our Facebook Group Leave us a voicemail Send an email to contact [at] TheFIshow [dot] com

In today's episode, Cody and Justin are joined by Justin's old FinCon roomie, Travis from Student Loan Planner. Travis tried his hand with Ph.D. education...hated it Then he tried selling bonds at investing giant Vanguard...yep hated that too So he got serious about his money and saved up a low six-figure cushion to travel the world. So how does a nomad create a business that has now consulted on over $500M in student loan debt? Well to win his wife's hand in marriage obviously. You won't want to miss this episode so go take a listen, leave that 5-star review and give us some feedback! Episode Summary His first investment was as a kid by investing in coal through the help of his granddad That investment ended up actually almost doubling which his granddad worried was actually a bad beginner lesson Travis’ granddad was a big role model and great depression survivor who instilled a lot of frugality in him When he was 18 he stacked so many scholarships that he ends up getting paid to go to college and banked about $7k after all expenses He ended up with about $40k positive net worth upon graduation Then he thought he would go and become a Ph.D. economist but quickly realized that wasn’t for him So then he ends up working at Vanguard trading bonds,  but he also didn’t feel happy in the corporate world Then he discovers Mr. Money Mustache and focused on having a 60% savings rate and saved up low 6-figure mark Somehow we also got a one-eyed rapper reference in here… Travis took  fall out money and a need for escape then books a flight to Iceland for $99 and ends up spending a year on the road across 40 countries During this same time, he met his would-be wife who had a traditional job and a large chunk of student debt When he asked her dad for permission to marry her, he declined Travis because he didn’t have a job even though he had a positive net worth Travis thought he’d take on this topic of student debt and focus on consulting with people who owned several hundred thousand dollars Since that time his consulting business has boomed and they’ve consulted on over $500M in student loans He feels like if you really hate your job then get to that $50k mark if your young with no kids and just take the leap of doing something else and try to start a business knowing you have a cushion to fall on Travis states that the two sectors of student debt that’s exploding are the people who owe over $200k and senior citizens The number of people with these huge debts is doubling about every 3 years Then we dig into the different student loan forgiveness programs such as the ones available to those who are government employees vs public sector employees For some people, it makes a lot of sense to avoid paying off student loans quickly because they’ll be forgiven We then jump into the problems with government-backed student loans and tuition rates that are being driven by the greed of many colleges For instance, the pharmacy acceptance rate has gone up from ~35% to ~83% over the last 15 years which is driving down pay and allowing colleges to keep charging whatever they want We also cover protections against being stuck with student debt if you become disabled or protection for your family if you die so they’re not stuck with it Travis then gives us the rundown on re-financing which he said a good deal would be to save an additional 2% While his business focuses almost exclusively on paying down debt, they also will sometimes take on some pre-debt counseling to avoid being bogged down in the first place but even then it’s generally just Grad school. Travis rounds us out with his final tips and a great story of being study not being able to get through customs in Jordan and other interesting situations he found himself while traveling Key Takeaways Don't Settle: Travis wasn't happy but he kept switching it up and planning for ways out.

In today's episode, Cody and Justin are joined by the prolific Jim Dahle from the White Coat Investor. Jim came full circle from a middle-class Alaskan upbringing all the way to a successful physician with a blog that makes over $1M per year! So how did he get there... Well, that's what the episode is for so go take a listen, leave that 5-star review and give us some feedback! Episode Summary He feels like he made all the same mistakes you’ve heard everyone makes but he did so with small amounts of money and he did so early After years of feeling like he was getting ripped off, he started reading through finance books at a used book store and was hooked Then he started getting heavily involved with online forums He also realized no one was doing this kind of education for doctors so he started White coat investor in 2011 He was a resident at age 29 and making around $37k per year His first investment ever was $500 into options at age 10 that he got from a fund provided to Alaskan residents and lost every bit His mom didn’t go to college but his dad was an engineer They felt like they were middle-class where they didn’t go hungry or anything but after age 18 he was on his own When he started college he took out a $5k loan for his freshman year but he used that for housing and got scholarships for tuition and would work the rest of the time for expenses He got married at the end of his undergraduate degree but realized he wasn’t going to really be able to provide at the rate he was at His wife’s family had a heavy military background so he decided to join the military to pay for his graduate degree in return for four years of active duty but he was able to enter active duty as a captain. He would make Major just before getting out His four-year obligation started at age 31 and would end at age 35 While he was on most of the same base pay as other officers he actually made more through incentives which totaled over $36k more per year! If he would have stayed longer, he could have even had more bonuses but it still wasn’t near what he’d make on the outside Now back to his forum legacy...He had a prolific amount of posts (10k+) over the course of 7 years with a special focus on physicians and military His blog, starting in 2011, was actually at almost the exact same time as Mr. Money Mustache The goal that started the blog was to make money and to help people get a fair shake on Wall Street To stand up his blog he just taught himself how to build the website from the ground up Then we transition into the mindset of high income earners such as Doctors He goes through a few reasons why you find broke physicians They’re often financially illiterate They go from no money to too much money overnight Expectations from coworkers, patients, and family that they should live rich Huge student loan sums ($400k+) No real work until ~31 years old He gives us some rules of thumb to help avoid some of these pitfalls The first is trying to stay under 1x for college debt 1 times your eventual income. Ex: Eventual income $250k = up to $250k loans are doable but strive for lower obviously The second is understanding what your potential payments will be based on specialty because the pay can be very different but the school is often the same With that being said, don’t burn yourself out because then you probably shortened your career length Then we get deep off into taxes The first step is just flat out understanding your taxes. You can do this by getting more involved in doing your taxes instead of just offloading it each year. He calls out how most of these high-income earners aren’t familiar with some retirement accounts such as profit-sharing plans, individual 401ks, defined benefit plan, health savings accounts, and back door Roth IRAs For Health Savings Accounts employers actually help you out with the contributions...

In today's episode, Cody and Justin are joined by Marc from Vital Dollar. Marc's story is so impressive with being able to walk away from his job after just 18 months of blogging. Even more impressive is the fact that he's shown the ability to repeatedly create, grow, and sell his blogs which have amassed over $1 Million in total revenue. So listen up and learn how to grow and monetize your digital efforts and hear what it's like to sell a website for over $500k! After you listen be sure to let us know what you think. Episode Summary He was raised by fairly low-income parents but was always raised to take care of what he had He went to college for business and bible After college, he wasn’t making much income but started tracking every single purchase and focusing on a plan for retirement In his late 20's he started swapping his focus from just saving to also increasing his income In 2007, at age 28, he started doing some web design work and a blog for web design His only formal education was an HTML class but just kept teaching himself He didn’t really love client work and focused more on his blog It took 6 months for the web design blog to make any money Once he reached a certain traffic count he added ads for a profit After 18 months, he had enough income to quit his day job In 2012 he started a photography based blog and sold the web design blog for $500k We discussed how these six-figure website sales go down He generally doesn’t bring on employees except for some freelance writers and graphics from time to time It’s not all sunshine and rainbows. We discuss the difficulties of keeping up with things like memberships and invoicing when tech changes get pushed from dependencies like Paypal For those first two big website sales, he put in the contract that he’d stick around for 30 days to help transition the site to the new owner He normally keeps one high revenue site while also running two others that can hopefully become money makers and sell the main one as the small ones grow We then dive into how to select a subject matter for a blog and then how to monetize it He also discusses how it might be good to start with a service but since it doesn’t scale it’s probably good to look towards a digital course or something One method he used to earn money early on was to get his product/service into someone else’s email list who already had some established traffic For investing he keeps most of it in index funds and target funds while also lowering liabilities like his mortgage Even though he works for himself building websites it still feels like work for him and he looks forward to retiring in 10-15 years with his wife and two kids Marc’s current spending is about $60k for the family We asked why he doesn’t just start traveling now since his job is location agnostic but he points out the pains of traveling with kids and spotty internet He is prepared for when retirement hits though with a big spreadsheet of locations he’s looking to visit including all 59 national parks Marc’s parting advice is just understanding that it’s going to take time to grow your business but you have to be consistent and be patient Key Takeaways Patience: Once you've heard so many experts say something...it's worth taking note. Marc is yet another advocate for being honest with yourself on growth and being consistent with your efforts. Passions to Paydays: We loved how Marc started his online enterprises with a foundation in something he probably would have written about for free. Passions make that first takeaway of patience so much easier. Instagram Life Isn't Everything: Marc could absolutely hit the road today. He doesn't need to wait until retirement to work remotely, but he also understands the reality of his family dynamics. It's ok to not be a nomad. Find what works for you. Call to Action

In today's episode, Cody and Justin are joined by Cody's very own mom Ruth Berman! We wanted to do something special for Mother's Day this year and we think this interview hits the mark regardless of the holiday. We cover her origins and the unique jobs she and her own parents had. Then, we spend a good bit of time discussing how to raise children in a matter that makes them both savvy and comfortable with money. We think there's a ton of great nuggets in there for parents. Finally, we discuss some of the ways she's diversifying her income streams and maximizing every dollar. Ruth doesn't see retirement coming anytime soon but she's making some fantastic money moves. If that doesn't sell you then stick around to possibly catch some dirt on Cody! After you listen be sure to let us know what you think. Episode Summary Raised by parents who were older (41 / 57) when they had her They went through the great depression which really impacted the families relationship with money Her parents taught her about savings and opened up all the kids' savings accounts Her mom stayed at home and her dad was a Christmas tree farmer Since money only came in one little part of the year, they had to be good at budgeting Ruth was always incredibly frugal because of this Her first real job was manual printing press work in someone's basement She started college for music and then swapped to nutrition and massage therapy Her parents paid for college but she did pay them back $10k As a follow on to college she had jobs as an exercise therapist and health screener She had Cody at age 30 while her job as a massage therapist Ruth discovered investing a few years prior where you would just pick out stocks and fill out a form and mail that check-in... what? Then we transition into how to raise financially responsible kids. Her first tip is to simply lead by example. Cody and his brother knew when they went to the store that they were headed to the clearance section. She also tried to put incentives on learning in order to learn things like screen time. Ruth also came up with all kinds of creative games to promote exercise and learning even if it's just for a few pennies..kids will still do it! She says she has some mixed feelings on allowances if they're not gained through doing some kind of chore Cody also talks about how his dad would match anything he was willing to save.. don't we wish our 401k was like that? Ruth is now finding all these amazing health surveys like wearing an Apple watch and sleep studies which pay $2k & $7k respectively These kind of random income streams are one reason she has no fears that Cody will be just fine despite quitting his job She is also keeping her big costs low by renting out part of her house and running that house on solar power Then we start discussing how to handle your kids' college tuition bills Cody and his brother decided on their own to skip going to a private school and hit the state school instead which was a huge sigh of relief Ruth then opens up about going through her divorce and the personal transformation following it She didn't know how anything worked or how any of the bills were paid prior to the divorce But she just kept trying new things and learning and has become more and more independent Justin tries to pull some dirt out on Cody from Ruth but Easter egg thievery was about the best we could do...but Cody may have warned her ha Looking back she wishes she would have saved more earlier, built a smaller house, and went into medical research Ruth thinks she'll keep working for the foreseeable future but hopes to back off the 40 hour weeks after age 60 and increase the side hustles Key Takeaways Try, Fail, Repeat: Ruth found herself with a lot of new responsibilities after the divorce. She could have tried to throw money at them but instead, she tried to do them herself.

In today's episode, Cody and Justin are joined by Bobby Hoyt from Millennial Money Man.  Bobby started off as a music teacher but today is changing lives with his wildly popular Facebook Ads course that the FI Show guys have seen change lives first hand. In that course, Bobby teaches people how to contract yourself out to businesses and run their Facebook marketing. We're talking $1k+ per month of income with Bobby's first job himself bringing in $3k per month. Somewhere in between teaching band and teaching ads, he realized he had to be his own boss. Now go take a listen to Bobby's story and see how he pulled off such an amazing transition. Episode Summary Bobby didn't talk about money at all with his parents growing up His dad was an engineer and his mom was a secretary He said he didn't care about money and all and ended up choosing to be a music major in college He graduated with $40k in student debt His big goal after college was to buy a new Camaro A family friend of his who owned a pool installation business started mentoring him one day on debt payoff and general finance and because the friend was wealthy, Bobby really took it to heart When he first started teaching music he really loved it By year 3 of teaching, he knew he wanted to work for himself that teaching began to be a drag on him He toyed with the idea of also starting a pool business but instead started putting a lot of effort into his blog His main focus with the blog was focusing on living below your means and student loan debt He was doing some extreme house hacking by renting a room from his in-laws He realized he had about $50k saved up, which was about three years of expenses, and that's when he took the leap of full-time blogging His first six months were pretty scary with not earning hardly any money Their jeweler came across his blog and mentioned he needed someone to help him with his marketing and hired Bobby at $3k per month He got discovered by CNBC which really pushed his blog He had installed the Facebook pixel days before that story went live and that allowed him to make lookalike  audiences Those audiences really helped him market to the right people and started making a couple of grand per month off the blog He's always tried to really focus on a personal connection with his audience vs simply numbers He admits he waited far too long to hire on help because he was getting really overwhelmed Bobby admits he actually let his mental and physical health take a downturn with the overload Now that his business has taken off so successfully he has plenty of money so while not wasting tons of money he also isn't super frugal He also realizes that as an entrepreneur he can't guarantee his future income so when he does want something nicer he buys it in cash so monthly expenses aren't a problem Bobby doesn't really see himself retiring anytime soon and looks to continue growing the business He's now doing courses to help others get into the business of doing Facebook ads for local business so you too can step away from the grind His last remarks are about letting people pass you up and by that he means while you're grinding and saving you'll see those around you spending money and seemingly passing you but you'll slingshot past them soon enough Key Takeaways We need to reach the youth: Bobby made a decision to go follow his passion. Which is fine, but he didn't do so considering all the implications, such as the financial ones. We have to reach out and introduce these topics to the high school age kids to at least make it a consideration. Prep makes bold easy: It seems super bold to walk away from your job to try and be your own internet boss. No doubt it's bold but it's a lot easier when you've prepped and saved three years of living expenses just in case things don't pan out. Learn, refine,

In today's episode, Cody and Justin are joined by Robert from The College Investor.  Robert has been sharpening his money making skills since elementary school and hasn't let up one bit. Robert used his career at Target as the foundation of his financial journey but always looked to expand his income streams through investing and side hustles. At a point, he realized how much bad advice there was out there for young people looking to build wealth, especially around debt pay off and investing so he started his own blog to help out. Now go take a listen to Robert's self-made story and follow along with the show notes below. Episode Summary Robert was making money from day one by selling candy bars on the playground He even helped his dad with his taxes on old school Quicken His dad was in the Navy and then a defense contractor and his mom was a city government employee So his jump into entrepreneurship wasn’t seen as natural by his parents Robert started working at Target at 16 and stayed there while getting his undergrad degree He ended up working at target for 17 years Robert graduated with a political science degree after quitting a computer science program While he had a lengthy standard career, he’s always had side hustles One of his favorites is flipping deals or finding undervalued items at estate sales At 20 he started playing  in the stock market with just a few hundred bucks and had really good returns even though he didn’t really know what he was doing He started his blog in 2009 at age 24 and had some inspiration from Get Rich Slowly He and his wife were able to put a significant down payment a year later on a house because they had been living with their parents until they got married When he finished college he did have $43k in student loans but they paid them off in 3.5 years The house that they bought was a fixer and bought it at a fantastic time with the housing crash so they came out really well on that one Robert credits his ability to handle 17 years at one business was because he had pretty good luck with great managers for most of his career He worked from pushing carts all the way to a store manager going from just over minimum wage to making close to $200k per year Then we shift to things people can do to help themselves get hired from his experience as a manager He points to communication as the number one and problem solving as the number two most critical pieces when interviewing Robert highlights how young people have more communication than any group in history but don’t have as much experience with one on one communication Then we jump into healthcare and how that’s different working for yourself vs working for a company He reminds us that it’s really not that different it just means your premium isn’t being subsidized Then we get into some side tangents to minimalism and organization. His final thoughts are related to making a conscious effort to raise your income instead of only focusing on saving Key Takeaways Bloom where planted: Robert didn't work his way up to some new exciting tech start-up. He started pushing carts at Target. Then, he went and turned that into a lucrative managerial position through hard and smart work over time. He made the most of his situation. Know your path: Robert's story is pretty awesome in regards to increasing his income so much at a company. It's important to keep in mind what your growth potential at a business is. When looking for jobs, don't simply focus on the starting salary. Dig into what your potential for growth is. Live like no one else: One of the biggest life-changing moments Robert has was living at home a little longer. This allowed him to save aggressively, have a down-payment ready for a house at one of the best times in U.S. history, and start his financial journey off on a solid foundation. He could have moved out at 18 and found an overpriced luxury a...