As I write this, the USA has won the most medals at the Paris 2024 Olympics, ranking them number one overall. Some of the most exciting events included track and field, swimming, gymnastics and basketball.
And as of today, Monday 8/12/2024, the Olympic flag has arrived in Los Angeles ahead of LA 2028. That’s right. The next Olympics will be played on US soil.
I’m not going to talk your head off so let’s get right down to it. Sourced from a variety of sources from a quick Google search. Here are the US athletes with the most medal wins and highest net worth’s. You know, just in case you were wondering.
Credit: AP
And although he is not a USA athlete, I had to give honorable mention to Carlos Yulo. He became the Phillipines first male gold medalist and was gifted a 3-bedroom condo worth over $500,000 and prize money of approximately $346,000 plus free food for life!
BREAKING: 2x NBA Champion Kevin Durant has invested in Paris Saint-Germain through his Boardroom Sports Holdings, LLC via Arctos Partners, the strategic minority investor in the club.
KD is dropping buckets and minting money at a breakneck pace. As part of team USA, Durant won gold medals in 2012, 2016 and 2020. And after his last win on 8/10/24 this year, he has become the most successful athlete ever in an Olympic team sport.
A few months ago, Stephen Curry found out he would be playing on the global stage.
Steph Curry also known as Chef Curry has become an Olympic Gold Medalist. The NBA All-Star first signed with Under Armour in 2013 in a deal worth about $4 million per year. Then he re-upped and got an even bigger contract, this time with an equity stake in the company. He helped the men’s basketball team bring home the gold in an electrifying finish in the last quarter.
Off the court, he is a shrewd businessman, who has his hands in multiple million-dollar endorsement deals with Nike, McDonald’s and Pepsi. he is said to earn $55 million yearly just from endorsements. It’s good to be King.
As I write this, Deadpool & Wolverine just hit theaters mere days ago on July 26, 2024. It destroyed the weekend box office and broke records with an eye-popping $441 million-dollar opening weekend. That is just massive!
Not too surprising though for a movie that had the backing of one of the biggest movie and production companies in the world, Disney Studios and Marvel Productions. It was reported that Disney dropped $200 million as the budget and another $100 million for marketing.
The movie even went as far as to market to the first 100 ticket holders to receive the movie poster pendant as a way to sell tickets.
Genius in my POV!
What I am here to talk to you about today is what I learned from both actors, not in front of the camera, but what they do on their off time. Namely, investing.
Long before Ryan Reynolds went from party pimp in 2002’s Van Wilder to merc with a mouth in 2016’s Deadpool, he started putting his money to work investing in startups and these companies can be disruptive. The biggest by far was in Mint Mobile.
It was reported that T-Mobile struck a deal with Mint Mobile to purchase it for $1.35 Billion in 2023.
Reynolds, as a 25% owner, his stake would net him $300 Million. That’s probably more money than he’s made from his entire acting career! And his catalogue is pretty huge as he’s been starring in television and film for 30 years.
Publicly traded U.S. telco T-Mobile announced the deal today to acquire Mint’s privately held parent, Ka’ena Corporation, which also houses the Ultra Mobile and Plum brands https://t.co/4jsvBVdGCnpic.twitter.com/Qy2n7hxsXl
His involvement as a celebrity spokesmen caused a huge spike in customer interest and gained the company 12x the customers it had prior. That is more traction and eyeballs gained on them than they got with a $5 Million dollar Super Bowl ad.
He put Mint Mobile on the map and gave them access to a bigger audience just through his 45+ million followers on social media platforms alone.
And Hugh Jackman is no slouch either. Over his decades long career, he had made large paychecks in film, most notably as his Marvel character, Wolverine. He reportedly went from making $500,000 to over $20 Million playing the X-men fan favorite.
However, he did not just let that money sit in the bank. He invested a gobsmacking amount in real estate. Celebrities can actually make more money from endorsements than sheer talent alone. According to publications like the New York Times and New York Post, he is speculated to own approximately $50 Million in real estate in America and Australia.
Although talent has gotten them where they are, their investments keeping working for them long after the camera stops rolling.
Investments don’t need to take a 15-minute smoke break, drink water, go on vacations or sleep. They are working around the clock. Making you money while you sleep.
Learning that is when I put a ton of my focus into investing. I have looked into both entrepreneurial pursuits and being an avid investor. The truth is being an entrepreneur can make you rich, but investing is how you stay rich.
I figured even if any business I ever starts fails, I would still have my investments.
I chose to work on having $1 Million in investable assets so that if I ever choose to walk away from work one day, then I would have the option to.
That’s why I started investing in Google, Apple and more recently AI stocks.
I am closing in on $400,000 in investments. At this rate, the earning are becoming quite considerable and I could hit my target of $1M in less than a decade. If I can get a 10% return on that, I could cross into the multi-millionaire territory in an additional 7 years.
Having $2 Million in investable assets is no small feat.
Since, it’s reported that only 9% of Americans achieve a $1 Million Dollar stock portfolio. You know how many make it to $2-3 Million or more…around 3%.
You would be in the small minority of Americans with a million in investable assets.
One of the tips and tricks I used to build my stock portfolio was to trim 10% of the top of all major purchases and invest the difference in the stock market.
If you budget $3,000 for a European trip, take $300 off the top and invest that in Google or the VTSAX.
Need a new washing machine.
Instead of spending $1,000, trim $100 off the budget and redirect that to your Roth IRA.
Considering that only around 26% of households have saved $100,000 for retirement, means you can definitely aim for this goal and likely reach it. That’s one in four households. Great odds.
However, once you get to $500,000 in retirement savings, this number of households goes down to 9%. You are now in a small minority. Going from a rather large majority of 26% to 9% is the difference of $400,000.
There are now more folks than ever that owe that in mortgages than they have saved for retirement.
I aim to be different. I want the elusive brass ring…to be a millionaire.
I won’t stop until I become part of the double comma club.
It’s a sorority that I have been pledging to become a member of for years.
I figure with enough time, grit and determination I could become that card carrying member. It is an elite club. The barrier to entry remains strict, but not impossible.
You have better odds of getting into this club than you do of being accepted into Harvard with its super low 3.2% acceptance rate.
You can do.
It’s like rapper and actor Master P said; “product outweighs talent.”
When it comes to monetizing your talents, having a product is key 🔑 You can watch the full Assets Over Liabilities interview feat. Master P on Revolt TV’s YouTube Channel. #masterp#talentisoverrated#businesstips
They say every journey begins with a single step. Well this one also began with just $1. Actually $5 whole dollars!
It’s like one of my favorite comedians said (Martin Lawrence for those folks wondering), “I got a dollar and a dream to make myself some cream.”
The first thing I needed was a J-O-B! After, I found one with a good match, I picked the ultimate goal of a one million dollar net worth.
However, its a marathon and not a sprint. I’m doing the long-play of investing my money over time. Money not quickly acquired tends not to be easily lost.
I’m going to take you from my early days growing up with my siblings in a two-bedroom apartment to buying a condo with the Roth IRA!
I started off as a telephone operator and waitress making $2.38 plus tips as a teen to getting a job at one of the most prestigious and richest universities in the world.
I’ve gone from wearing holes in my shoes to staying at the Ritz Carlton and shopping at Prada (however, I did not but that $1,000 cashmere scarf!).
I went from reading about blogs, to writing my own and riding shotgun to dinner with none other than JD Roth of Get Rich Slowly. Sound interesting. Do you want to know more? You just have to keep on reading or listening to my videos on Tiktok to find out.
My earliest memories with money was watching my father go to the local liquor store to cash his paycheck. He would always give me a few dollars to buy some snacks.
I thought money is wonderful. It allows you to buy things.
That was my first taste of sweet, sweet freedom. The freedom to buy the things you want. I learned how to save to buy the things I wanted, but I needed to learn how to earn money.
“One minute of patience, ten years of peace.” – Greek Proverb
“Patience and perseverance have a magical effect before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish.” —John Quincy
It was a hot summer day. Same as any other. I was busy working as usual.
I have been working so hard since I was like 5 years old. That was the age that I decided I was going to be rich.
I used to go outside and play on the playground every day. Those were some of the most important days of my life. I learned so much on the playground. The virtue in helping others, sharing, caring, making friends, solving conflicts and exercise.
Nothing came easy. You had to earn every inch when playing sports with other kids whether it was jumping rope or running. You played to win.
I was always pretty good at academics so I put a lot of my energy into that. I figured that could be my path to riches. It turns out I was right.
I was working 8-hour days and studying up to 8 hours a day in college. At one point, just a couple years ago I was reading 25-50 books a year.
I had a hunger for knowledge; especially, personal finance.
Once I learned what compound interest was, I knew I found my road to wealth. I would save and invest money consistently until interest would do the rest for me on my journey to $1 million dollars.
I had been grinding it out so long that sometimes the days blurred and I feel asleep at night from pure exhaustion. Then one day I looked up and realized I had made it to Coast FIRE.
Coast FI refers to saving enough to “coast” to financial independence. This allows participants in this version of FIRE (financial independence, retire early) to take jobs with less stress or pay due to reaching a certain amount of money needed to retire earlier than age 65.
Coast FIRE is a sub-genre of this early retirement movement. This version calls for having enough invested or saved so that without adding another penny of contributions to your retirement portfolio it will still grow to fully support retiring at a traditional retirement age. Your nest egg, simply put, has reached a tipping point so that it will “coast” to the target amount needed for retirement.
People who have successfully achieved their Coast FIRE (like me) still need to work, but they only work to cover current living expenses – not to build up their savings or investments for a future retirement.
The thing about Coasting to FI is that you must first do this before you can get to any of the other versions of complete financial independence; never having to work again – such as Fat FIRE, Lean FIRE, or Barista FIRE. Where compounding does the heavy lifting for you.
FIRE requires you to save up at least 25 times your anticipated annual spending and you have got a 97% or better chance of that money lasting at least thirty years.
Fat FIRE typically means a budget of $100,000 a year, which requires a retirement savings of $2.5 million.
Lean FIRE typically involves being frugal and living in a lower-cost area, or even other countries with a lower cost of living with a budget of $30,000-$50,000 a year, which can require a retirement savings of a minimum $500,000 to $750,000.
Barista FIRE is a hybrid between Fat FIRE And Lean FIRE. Barista FIRE is being able to retire before the conventional age of 60+, but taking on a part-time job for supplemental income and potentially health insurance. You will need to have at least $1 million in retirement accounts.
Coast FIRE requires you to save a certain dollar amount that will allow you to coast to FI such as saving $200,00, which will allow you to coast to $1 million in 15 years with a 10% rate of return.
Coast FIRE formula for determining how large the participant’s nest egg must grow would begin with a regular FIRE number (estimated in the example below at 25 times annual spending of $50,000). In the formula below, note that “Years to grow” is an exponent.
25 x $50,000 / (1 + annual growth rate)Years to grow = Coast FIRE number
Suppose someone estimates they need 30 years to reach their Coast FIRE number and an average annual growth rate over those 30 years of 7%. The calculation would then be:
$1,250,000 / (1 + 0.07)30 years = $164,209
In this example, the Coast FIRE number would be $164,209, which would grow over 30 years (given the above-stated estimates) to the target figure (or regular FIRE number) of $1,250,000.
I like to use the $1,000,000 target for my estimate. The calculation would then be:
$1,000,000 / (1 + 0.07)30 years = $131,367
If you want to retire sooner, then just see what a different target number will do or by shortening the number of years.
For example, $1,000,000 / (1 + 0.07)20 years = $258,419. That means your Coast FIRE number would be $258,419.
Once you reach this dollar amount, you could stop investing in your retirement accounts and reach $1 million in 20 years. The higher the compound interest rate, the quicker you are able to get out of the rat race.
Once I hit $300,000 in cash and investments, I knew that with a 10% rate of return that it could turn into $1 million in 12.5 years.
$1,000,000 / (1 + 0.10)12.5 years = $303,802.
Paying off debt faster and more aggressively plus investing those funds and more could allow folks like me to get to $1 million in less than a decade.
I can now put on my eye mask, kick back and coast to $1 million. If I can do it, then anyone can.
I started with $0 in retirement savings. I started stashing money into my 401(k) and then opened a Roth IRA to start saving even more.
If you want to coast to FI, then let compound interest do the heavy lifting for you, save $100k because the first $100k is the hardest, and allow it to coast you to $1M in 30 years.
This is not a post for the faint of heart. So some of you out there may need to do what you did when the nurse swabbed your arm with alcohol right before she gave you the Covid-19 shot, turn your head away and close your eyes!
It was years ago, but I had to make a call. I had to make an executive decision. Would I like to buy a $250,000 home or become a 401(k) Quarter of a Millionaire.
It was almost like flipping a coin. Do you choose heads or tails?
Heads and be a $250k homeowner.
By the way, home values over 30 years have risen about 4% on average but stocks have been able to return 10% over that same time period.
Now back to the coin toss.
Tails and have $250k, that’s right a quarter of a million bucks, in your 401(k).
I chose not to go with the path of least resistance, which is the American dream of being a homeowner, and to put my money in stocks. Best decision I ever made.
After watching the housing crash or 2008-09, it dawned on me to put some money into businesses that pay you dividends instead of a mortgage that you have to pay. Missing even a single payment on a mortgage and never being able to catch up could put you on the short list to foreclosure. Nobody wants that.
Fast forward 10 years later and Covid-19 is not only derailing retirement savings but also increasing the likelihood that many renters will be evicted.
According to CNBC, 20% of renters in America are behind on rent and owe an astounding $57.3 billion. The average amount owed by each renter is $6,000 and they are a minimum of three months behind.
Once you get that far in arrears, rental companies and landlords are quick to start the eviction process.
Especially, mom and pop landlords that cannot afford the losses. They depend on this income to pay their own bills and fund their retirements. I knew after watching millions of Americans lose their homes to foreclosure in 2009 that I did not want to be in that predicament.
Therefore, I made the conscious decision to keep fixed low housing costs and to put my money into stocks. I put my money into index funds because they consist of thousands of stocks. All those businesses are not going to go bankrupt at the same time so it gives your money some security as opposed to putting all your money in one stock and then you lose everything.
The S&P 500 and other indexes will remove any stock that is not meeting its standards. Therefore, you do not have to do this on your own with stock picking. This also insures that your money stays invested in firms with a good balance sheet as the ones that are not pulling their weight are dropped from the index. Thus, you do not lose all your money as you would being invested with only one stock or placing your bets in speculative investments like cryptocurrency and bitcoin.
I actually know someone who says they invested all their money in bitcoin and lost all of their money! What were they thinking? If you are going to invest in bitcoin, then it with money, you can afford to lose and only invest more than 5% of your savings. That is all the risk that is adequate with bitcoin, in my opinion.
Not enough to money to become a bitcoin millionaire, but also not enough to lose your life savings, your home and all your possession in case you bet the farm on a losing investment.
Let us learn from the recently deceased creator of McAfee software founder who invested $25 million in Lehman Brothers bonds and lost every penny after they collapsed and went bankrupt in 2008.
I decided to just put my money into the VTSAX because it includes the total stock market. Want some Tesla stock? Drop some money in the VTSAX. It will only cost you $107.
Instead of buying stocks one by one, you can just get them all for one price. That way you do not have to pay $685 for one share of Tesla.
Don’t even get me started on the S&P 500. One share in this stock will set you back $4,267.
If you have that kind of money just burning a hole in your pocket, then be my guest and buy some. However, if you want a piece of the whole market then just start buying the VTSAX.
I sleep like a baby knowing that my money just can’t fall to zero because the every stock in the fund will not blow up overnight. Even if businesses tank, the fund will correct this by replacing them with a better stock, and I still keep making my money.
I think of it like this, a home you have to feed but your 401(k) feeds you.
As a homeowner, you cannot realize gains until you sell. Therefore, you must feed the beast until you do!
Considering that most American homeowners only stay in their homes for an average of 9 years, all the money spent on maintenance and repairs is burnt if you are foreclosed on. However, according to Fidelity, many 401(k) millionaires keep their accounts for open for 20-30 years to amass that type of fortune. That means people are holding on to stocks longer than homes!
Therefore, on my path to millionaire status, I decided to go for stocks over real estate. Don’t get me wrong, you can make a fortune in real estate, but you have to maintain the property until you sell. I can make my fortune in index funds simply by breathing and automatic investing.
Seeing and listening to the stress of homeownership versus the ease of index investing I think I made a good choice going with stocks. My low housing costs allow me to invest more. This also allows you to pay off debt faster and travel more. However, it is always your call. This is just my 2 cents.
I mean who wouldn’t want to be a Quarter of a Millionaire. I’ll take that any day of the week over being broke!
And just so you know, if you let that money sit and ride it out in the market, you would have $1,000,000 in 14.5 years with a 10% return. That is without adding another cent.
How many homes that were bought for $250k do you think will be worth one million in the same amount of time? None.
I have no problem at all with being a 401(k) millionaire. None whatsoever!
“I am going to keep having fun every day I have left, because there is no other way of life. You just have to decide whether you are a Tigger or an Eeyore.” – Randy Pausch
One thing most people know about me is that I like to have fun. I am constantly telling jokes and laughing. Life is too short feel bad. Therefore, I choose to be happy.
I make sure to always stop and smell the roses and live life to the fullest with the time I have on earth.
I also like the silly things that are all around us like fried Twinkies, s’mores, or drinking Pina coladas and getting caught in the rain. I mean come on what’s life without a little whimsy.
I also like things that have themes.
There are two reasons why I like Taco Tuesdays: 1. the free tacos and; 2. how festive the day is.
What is Taco Tuesday? Taco Tuesday is a custom in many US cities of going out to eat tacos or in some cases select Mexican dishes typically served in a tortilla on Tuesday nights. Restaurants will often offer special prices, for example, “$1 fish tacos every Tuesday night”. Places like California Tortilla even have specials for BOGO (buy one, get one).
You just can’t beat free food and saving money. And whenever I save money, I invest money.
I know lots of folks like to build wealth in real estate, but the problem with that is that you have to sell the home in order to get access to the gains. Even though stocks are the same way, I do like the fact that they involve no maintenance, repairs, or cleaning.
Indexing is also the best form of stocks investing, as they are self-cleansing. Meaning that if company goes out of business the stock is removed from the index and automatically replaced with a company with a stronger balance sheet that is not bankrupt.
You could lose your home to foreclosure, but not index funds. They go on to make money long after other companies have perished and even if you lose or have a decrease in your income. Stocks keep working for you 365/24/7.
Capital gains make me happy.
They don’t stop coming in unless you sell your index fund. So as long as you are invested, the money keeps on rolling in.
Thinking back on the quote at the start of this blog post, I have always felt like I am like Tigger from Winnie the Pooh. Even Tigger likes Tuesdays! He is known for saying have a Tiggerific Tuesday and Happy Tuesday rise and shine, put a smile on your face and love in your heart.
Eeyore, on the other hand, will mention things like he was so upset that he forgot to be happy. Let’s not do that.
I always take some time out to be happy and grateful. I believe in helping my fellow man. That’s one of the reasons I started this blog; to help people improve the quality of their fiscal lives. For example, let’s discuss what capital gains are.
Capital gains are the profits from the sale of an asset — shares of stock, a piece of land, a business — and generally are considered taxable income. How much of these gains are taxed depends on how long you held the asset before selling.
In 2020 the capital gains tax rates are either 0%, 15% or 20% for most assets held for more than a year. Capital gains tax rates on most assets held for less than a year correspond to ordinary income tax brackets (10%, 12%, 22%, 24%, 32%, 35% or 37%). Therefore, you have incentive to invest for the long-term.
The government charges less for capital gains than they do on ordinary income. That is why you must invest because inflation erodes the dollar over time. What cost $1.00 10 years ago, now cost $1.30 today.
If you hold on to a stock for over a year, then you can possibly pay just 15% in taxes on the gain after you sell. In contrast, income taxes are much higher on wages.
This lets you know that America rewards capital not labor.
I even heard rapper and entrepreneur Master P talking about this on a podcast. He said that he realized “product outweighs talent.” You got that right.
A business can keep making money long after a basketball player retires and stops earning those million-dollar paychecks. A shoe deal with Nike can pay you more than the physical hard work you put in on the court over years!
My way of building up my portfolio is to invest. I may not have a shoe deal, but I can own stock in Nike.
Therefore, what I do occasionally is do a BOGO somewhere like a Taco Tuesday and then the next day buy some stock. I call that my Capital Gains Wednesdays.
I try to keep at least $10,000 in my brokerage account just so that at any moment or Wednesday, I can buy stock in any company I want within a certain cap. I may give myself a $2,500 cap for the day or even $25. Doesn’t really matter. The point is to keep me motivated toward my goals and to get in the habit of investing.
I can never say I have no money to invest, if I keep money in my brokerage account at all times.
You should put money in there when times are flush. That way when they aren’t, you can still be purchasing stock no matter what.
This is how I stay happy. I plan and create my own happiness myself.
Now you all go out there and have a Tiggerific Tuesday!!!
