Tag Archives: FinCon

Blogger Book Reviews, Financial Freedom, Financial Independence, Investing, Saving, Wealth

The Simple Path to Wealth Book Review

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There is brilliance in simplicity. – Bruce Lee

Recently, I began reading the book The Simple Path to Wealth by JL Collins.

The book originated with letters to his daughter about financing.

On my path towards financial freedom, I have decided to read the books of other Personal Financial Bloggers.   

The book du jour: The Simple Path to Wealth.

Do you believe in coincidence?

I don’t believe in coincidence. I think that all things work together for good. – Kathie Lee Gifford

“I do not believe in meaningless coincidences. I believe every coincidence is a message, a clue about a particular facet of our lives that requires our attention.” – Deepak Chopra

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Well, it just so happened that the last finance blogger I interviewed for this website was Dave of Accidental FIRE called: Accidentally Wealthy on Purpose.

In that interview, he informed me that his favorite personal finance book was The Simple Path by JL Collins.

I mean what are the odds that I would be reading that EXACT BOOK at that EXACT MOMENT. 😲 Pretty slim that is for sure.

I too thought the book was pretty good and gives some sound financial advice.

I even tweeted out that advice directly from the book. And to my surprise JL Collins gave me a like. I appreciated that! 😉

After, doing that interview and sending the tweet and the getting a like form the author, I decided that I must do a book review on this book. Why? I feel that if you see something three times (3x), then it must be for a reason. They say things happen in three’s. So I went with it!  

Let’s get to it!

Drum roll please.

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THEEEEEEE SIMPLE PATH TO WEALTH!!!!

The Simple Path to Wealth: Your Road Map to Financial Independence and a Rich, Free Life

WHO IS JL COLLINS?

He has been an investor since 1975. In 2011, he wrote a series of letters to his daughter about money and investing; which morphed into jlcollinsnh.com and led to this book.

Welcome inside the mind of the man who started the infamous Stock Series on his blog.

The foreword of his book was by Mr. Money Mustache.

Serious praise for the book:

“Let’s face it: Most investment books are boring. Dull. Uninspired. This book brings managing your money to life.” – Paula Pant, Afford Anything

“The media claim stock investing is no better than gambling. Collins cuts through the crap. He demonstrates a simple level-headed way to wealth that will lead you to a richer life.” – J.D. Roth, Founder Money Boss and Get Rich Slowly

I have to agree wholeheartedly with J.D. Roth’s assessment. I also got to meet him at FinCon. Nice guy 😉

See my post on FinCon

FinCon 18: The Recap From Your Friendly Neighborhood Greenbacks Magnet Part I and Part II

After reading the book, it was really eye-opening. One of the simplest approaches to investing and building wealth that I have ever read and I read A LOT!

My library card is on fire!!!   😂

Now let me tell you why I feel that way about the book.

DEBT IS A BURDEN

There is no free lunch. tweet

There is no such thing as E-Z financing. Credit cards come with enormous interest rates. If you look on credit card statements today, it will give you two numbers.

One is how long it will take to pay off your balance paying the minimum amount.

The other is how long it will take before your balance is paid in full after three years.

Knowing that you can be paying off that sweater from last year until your kids are ready to graduate from college should scare most straight to the path of cash only!

Debt causes too many constraints and limits personal and financial freedom.

Paying a $10 minimum on a $300 balance is a sure fire way to the poor house.

If you owe more than 5% interest on any debt, then get rid of it ASAP. And forget all these consolidation loans and balance transfers. That’s like robbing Peter to pay Paul. Just work on steadily paying off the one with the most interest and then continue until all the debt is gone.

Then make being debt free last forever.

WHY YOU NEED F-U MONEY

We all need it.

You know why? Because sh*t happens, that’s why.

What happens if you chip a tooth, get hit by an uninsured motorist, and the basement floods all in the same week?

You have to pay to handle of these situations. If nothing else, an insurance deductible; which can run into the thousands as house flooding can be a deductible as high as $5,000!

I previously wrote on F you money in a blog post called How Do You Play With FIRE?

Here is part of that post here for your convenience.

My blog post from the Mark Cuban on F-U Money blog post

LEVELS OF WEALTH

Only you can decide how much money is enough. However, if we go by Rockefeller, enough is always a little more. Basically, how much money is enough?

For purposes of simplicity, we will use the examples of enough money given by billionaire Mark Cuban.

Mark Cuban on enough money:

“‘Enough’ is what it takes to not worry about the bills.”

“‘A lot’ is enough that you never have to worry about working again.”

“‘F you’ money means you can rent a jet to go wherever you want, whenever you want, and no party is out of reach.”

“‘F everyone’ money means you can have your favorite band in your backyard, not care how much it costs, and lend them your jet to get there.”

We’re not talking about rich; talking about wealthy. Chris Rock once said, “Shaquille O’Neal is rich. The guy who pays his salary is wealthy.”

He also said comfort is the poison. Too much of it can slow down your progress on the road to wealth. All I mean is to stay hungry. I’m just saying there are different levels of wealth.

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So trust me when I say you need F-U Money.

MAGIC BEANS ARE INDEX FUNDS

Coco Chanel — ‘Simplicity is the keynote of all true elegance.’

Jack Bogle founded the Vanguard Group in 1974.

Mr. Bogle created the first S & P 500 index fund. Due to its immensely low fees because the investors own Vanguard and not some company or board of directors that want to please shareholders, this book advises an investment in the VTSAX at Vanguard.

JL Collins advice: Invest in index funds with Vanguard and keep what is yours.

I concur.

I need all my coins. I want ALL of my MONEY! I aim to keep as much of it as possible. I’m almost as bad as Scrooge McDuck. Almost.

See my post on Money Lessons I Learned From Scrooge McDuck

Remember that episode of Ducktales when Fenton Crackshell was counting all of Scrooge’s money that he dumped into the lake in “Liquid Assets Part 1.”  That’s me! 🤣

Ducktales - Liquid2

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Ducktales - Liquid9

This total stock market fund holds the entire U.S. stock market fund; which includes about 3,700 stocks.  As most of these companies are worldwide and involved in international markets, you only need this one fund. Simple right? 😉

And it is comprised of 80% of all the top funds in the S & P 500, so no need to diversify as you already have it here.

If that did not convince you, the maybe the best stock-picker of all time can: Warren Buffet.

He owns the company Berkshire Hathaway (stock symbols; BRK.A and BRK.B)

See my posts

Forget Simon, Do What Buffet Says

How I Used The Buffet 25 Strategy to Walk The Talk

Money And Chocolate

Don’t Take Money Too Personal

Patience Is The Key To Wealth

3 Rich Habits Of Millionaires

Do You Want A Million Dollars? Ask For It!

In the 2013 Berkshire Hathaway annual shareholder letter, Buffet advised the following:

“What I advise here is essentially identical to certain instructions I’ve laid out in my will. One bequest provides that cash will be delivered to a trustee for my wife’s benefit. My advice to the trustee could not be more simple: Put 10% of the cash in short-term government bonds and 90% in a very low-cost S&P 500 index fund. (I suggest Vanguard’s.)”

I am a Vanguard and Berkshire Hathaway investor and I approve this message. 😉

Have you recently wrote a book? Are you looking for a review? Do you want to be Greenback’d? Tweet me. I’ll be here @mjp2520

Blogger Book Reviews, Book Reviews

How to get Bigger Pockets: A Review of How to Invest in Real Estate

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How to Invest in Real Estate: The Ultimate Beginner's Guide to Getting Started by [Turner, Brandon, Dorkin, Joshua]

Money is only a tool. It will take you wherever you wish, but it will not replace you as the driver. -Ayn Rand

Many of you out there I am sure have heard of Bigger Pockets. It is the place to be for anyone interested in Real Estate (RE). Basically, they are the Facebook of Real Estate.

Bigger Pockets (BP) is the real estate social network. You can find out all types of things such as how to finance rental properties, find property management companies, and how to invest in real estate.

While on my journey to learn ALL THINGS MONEY, I came across an interesting post called House Hacking.

For readers of my blog, you know I am a fan of Millennial Money (MM). Grant Sabatier is the money genius behind that site and because I was a fan of his is how I came to learn about Bigger Pockets. I learned so much from Grant that I wrote a blog post about how he inspired me to save more money.

See my post How Millennial Money inspired me to save $13,333.06 a year

It was on his website that I read about House Hacking, which is when you live in one of the multiple units of your investment property as your primary residence, and have renters from the other units pay your mortgage and expenses.

Like I stated on my last post, one of the biggest expenses in any budget is housing. The trifecta of expenses is housing, food, and transportation. If you can cut your expenses in this area, you are g2g (Good to Go). 😉

It just so happened that he did an interview with Scott Trench from Bigger Pockets. I am not the best when it comes to listening to podcasts, as I prefer to read books! However, the podcast is transcribed so I read through that. Great idea there Grant. The transcription was so good that I listened to the podcast and just like that a fan of BP was born.

Here is the link to that post HOUSE HACKING USING OTHER PEOPLE’S MONEY

That is what made me decide to pick up the book How to Invest in Real Estate from Bigger Pockets authored by Josh Dorkin and Brandon Turner.

I just so happened to post a tweet and saw FINCON ask what books am I reading? So I answered and tagged the authors of the book. To my surprise, Josh Dorkin replied to my tweet and said thank you for reading and asked if I would post a review on Amazon.

https://twitter.com/jrdorkin/status/1102676122624356352

Since he was polite in asking for this small request, I not only did the Amazon review (still pending as of this writing), but I also decided to review the book on my site. They say ask and you shall receive. So, I gave him a 2-for-1 and posted a review and did this blog post. One tweet did all of that.

So, without further ado…

How to Invest in Real Estate: The Ultimate Beginner’s Guide to Getting Started

THE #1 QUESTION

The reason Brandon and Josh wrote this book was to help people. One of the most asked questions they get is, “How Do I Get Started in Real Estate Investing?”

Well, guess what? They say ask and you shall receive, right? Then Brandon and Josh answered.

They wrote this guide to help people along their way. Although, the Bigger Pockets forum and blog is filled with tons of information, it can be overwhelming. Where do you begin?

This book packs many of the interviews they do on the podcast and brings it together in one place as a reference guide.

WHAT WILL YOU LEARN

The guide contains eight chapters but my three favorites are: Chapters 1, 4, and 7.

The book will show you the following:

  • How to get started in Real Estate?
  • How to invest with no money, bad credit, and with a full-time job?
  • Why you should save cash reserves?
  • What is an LLC? Do you even need one?
  • Real Estate Niches (as the riches are in niches) 😉
  • 12 Ways to Finance your Real Estate Deals
  • Real Estate Exit Strategies

I think the reason people choose to invest in RE is not only to get rich (obviously), but to have more financial control over their lives.

In addition, real estate is tangible. Unlike stocks, bonds, and CD’s you can drive by and visit with your investment. Have a cup of coffee in it. Heck, you can even live in it!

THE REAL WORLD OF INVESTING

Remember the television show “The Real World” on MTV. Well, that was a lot of fiction and made up drama for ratings. This book provided insight directly from RE investors with real world experience.

One of my favorite stories actually came from Chad Carson of the Coach Carson blog site. Chad decided the go big or go home route to RE was the best route for him. His niche was house flipping.

See my post on Finance Lessons from Flipping Vegas

He tested this hypothesis and decided to change courses. Instead of trying to flip 50 properties, he then decided to do less for the sake of his sanity. This method worked.

This taught me that flipping is NOTHING like the television shows portray. We are getting the Campbell Soup version (condensed). I need the 💯 real.

You must find out what works for you. Although, you can learn from the mistakes of others, usually trial and error will show you the way. Fail fast, early, and hard. Then you can start to profit from your knowledge and experience.

The book is filled with tons of stories. I just shared one.

If you want to learn more about Real Estate, then hop on over to Bigger Pockets. You can also look up some real estate blogs and books. Just like I did with this one.

Have you recently wrote a book? Are you looking for a review? Do you want to be Greenback’d? Tweet me. I’ll be here @mjp2520

Blogger Interviews, Financial Freedom

A Blogger’s Tale: An Interview with Bitches Get Riches

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It’s almost Halloween! So, I will start this post like the Crypt-Keeper would on the show Tales from the Crypt on the heels of this upcoming All Hallows Eve.

Hello Boils and Ghouls! Tonight’s tale is one of money, sophistication, and women.

Topic du jour: Women who talk money. Who are the ladies behind the riches?

Before I get into the interview, I just want to start by saying this:

Thanks for coming out tonight. You could’ve been anywhere in the world. But you’re here with me, I appreciate that. – Jay Z

So, like Nas says, “Yo sit back, relax, sip your cog-ni-ac” and I hope you enjoy this blog post!

INTRODUCTIONS ARE IN ORDER

Much like Chaucer did, in A Knight’s Tale, I want to make an introduction.

Welcome Ladies and Gents!

And everybody else here NOT sitting on a financial cushion:

Today, you find yourself equals.

For you will all equally receive the same knowledge.

I have privilege, nay pleasure, of introducing you to bloggers, like no others,

Bloggers that can trace their lineage back to 2015.

I first met them at a dinner table near Orlando, Florida,

Waiting for our drinks,

Hoping that our meals would be arriving soon,

As the chips and salsa, were not enough to satisfy our hunger.

Next, Kitty amazed me still further

With her sign language skills and by telling jokes for an hour

Helping us forget we were ravenous

And to not walk across the street to the Shake Shack.

Three hours later, both ladies entertained us with stories

So, that we did not spend dinner in uncomfortable silence.

And so, without further gilding the lily,

And with no more ado,

I give you the Seekers of Financial Independence,

The Protectors of ending uncomfortable silence,

The Enforcers of Getting Rich,

The Ones —

The Only –

Bitches Get Riches!!!

MEET THE BI*CHES

GBM Miriam: It was an absolute pleasure meeting you ladies at FINCON 18 this year! Congrats, on winning the PLUTUS Award for funniest financial blog for Bitches Get Riches. Thank you for stopping by Greenbacks Magnet.

This blog is to help folks learn all things money.

I asked Kitty and Piggy to share their knowledge by answering a few questions and they so kindly said yes.

And thankfully so, I need all the help I can get because I don’t want to have to live in the forest, eat off the land, and use roots as medicine due to lack of money and financial literacy.

After the Dow dropped 800 points, I was strongly considering it, but then, like my sister, I thought if only I didn’t need tampons and to watch Supernatural…

So, here they are dropping gems right here for all to see. In the illustrious words of Sailor Moon, “And that means you!”

Fast Fact: The hand signs that Sailor Moon makes while she says her famous line, “In the name of the moon, I will punish you” means “I love you” in sign language.

Let’s get right into the interview.

BI*CHES START A BLOG

  1. What prompted you ladies to start a blog about money? 

BGR Kitty: We were the first among our group of friends to hit the classic major life milestones–marriage, buying a home, selling our souls in big girl corporate jobs. Our parents and grandparents, bless them, they meant well, but their advice was from another century. So we were always texting each other for advice. We needed help from a peer who’d been there recently. Eventually we realized there was a wealth of valuable information just sitting in our text convos, and we thought, “Hey, why not publish it?”

BGR Piggy: What Kitty said. 

  1. What are your favorite finance books? How come? 

BGR Kitty: Piggy is The Good Child and will give you real answers. But I’ll tell you that I get more out of reading advice that I don’t agree with. Bad advice fires me up. For that reason I have to say The Four Hour Workweek is my current favorite. I haaaaaaaate that book. Myopic, exploitative, and smug. Just thinking about it gets me excited!

BGR Piggy: Oh yeah this is definitely my area of expertise. I am currently reading Brynne Conroy’s “The Feminist Financial Handbook” and loving it. Like, when’s the last time you read a book on money that started with a definition of intersectional feminism? I also can’t recommend enough the classic “Your Money Or Your Life” by Vicki Robin, which is an essential read for anyone pursuing financial independence or just a better life. Then for beginners, I really enjoyed “The Financial Diet” by the brilliant Chelsea Fagan. Last but not least, I am counting down the days until Tanja Hester’s “Work Optional” is released!

  1. What are you reading right now? What’s on your night stand? 

BGR Kitty: I’m currently rereading Y the Last Man. It’s one of my absolute favorite graphic novels. It’s the story of what happens to the world when everyone with a Y chromosome dies suddenly, with the exception of one guy and his pet monkey. A fantastic piece of sci-fi that’s I mean, I love any story with roving bands of crazed misandrists. I also just started White Trash: The 400-Year Untold History of Class in America.

BGR Piggy: I just finished reading “Dietland” by Sarai Walker. It’s a total mindfuck of a book, all about body positivity, subversive feminism, rape culture, and a literal feminist terrorist cell that assassinates rapists and blackmails corporations into eliminating sexist products. If your reaction to that description was “… wut?” then hey, me too!

  1. One thing people may not know about each of you?

BGR Kitty: I don’t get hangovers. (I try not to rub it in the morning after a long night of drinking, but it definitely came up at FinCon.) I also have a genetic mutation that makes my body not process cannabinoids. Finally, I can open ANY jar. Seriously, ANY jar. Given this body of evidence, it’s entirely possible that I am Bruce Willis’s character from Unbreakable.

BGR Piggy: I hate chocolate. Refuse to eat it. When I was a kid my brother and I would divide the Halloween candy between us: he’d get all the chocolate, I’d get all the non-chocolate. He also got all the cavities which I’m sure is unrelated. I also love playing blues covers of pop songs at open mics! Just learned Ariana Grande’s “Dangerous Woman.”

  1. What’s in your wallet? How did you start getting your riches? 

BGR Kitty: I have a net worth of a quarter million. I find that beyond amazing, considering I’m a working artist. Every single lucky break I’ve had in my career has been because someone believed in me and advocated for me. If I were trying to make it in the big city with just my brains and my work ethic, I’d be straight fucked. I’ve had help, lots and lots of help. That’s why I like helping other people! It both feels good and is the only karmically sensible reaction.

BGR Piggy: I love this question, but I feel like Kitty’s question is perfect. Also, the Capital One Venture card is LITERALLY in my wallet. My husband and I paid for a vacation to Portugal for our fifth anniversary using the travel points for that card. It took us about two years of earning the points, which isn’t bad for a free vacation.

BONUS ROUND

Bonus Questions (pick any of the questions from the top or below that you want to answer) 

  1. Any life or money lessons from a favorite movie or TV show you would like to share?

BGR Piggy: According to my favorite movie, The Princess Bride, you should never get involved in a land war in Asia, nor should you go in against a Sicilian when death is on the line.

  1. If you could have dinner with anyone in history, who would it be? Why?

BGR Kitty: Malcolm X, especially towards the very end of his life. He’s a personal hero, and an incredibly complex figure. I’d be so interested to hear his thoughts on the state of America right now. Also, he doesn’t eat pork, and neither do I, so it would be super easy meal planning.

GBM Miriam: On your About Page it states: Who are Kitty and Piggy?

Some people wonder which of us is the Bebop, and which one’s the Rocksteady. But that question is an illusion. We are both Krangs.

So, here is my question.

  1. Why not Bebop and Rocksteady? Why 2 Krangs? Inquiring minds want to know! You said I could ask you anything. Please, no judgment.

BGR Kitty: If we’re going by the 1987 animated series, Bebop and Rocksteady–though lovable–are bunglers of the highest order. We’re strictly bunglers of the second-highest order. Like Krang, we are very goal-oriented. We too have platform dependencies (us, Patreon; him, Shredder). And most of all, we share Krang’s personality: sarcastic and demanding, with an almost admirable abiding pettiness.

  1. If you found a lottery ticket that ends up winning $1 million. What would you do? 

BGR Kitty: I would drive my van to Empire City and stay at Le Hotel with my son in the hopes that I could convince my dead wife’s possessive lesbian ex-servant to chill the fuck out. Hashtag reference! All the kids got it!

The End.

This is where the screen fades to black and the curtain closes. Please ladies take a bow!

Well, we have now come to the end of this interview. That was not only interesting, but also entertaining to say the least. I feel like I just walked out of an amateur comedy night,  open-mic contest!

BGR: Thanks Miriam!!!

GBM Miriam: Thank you Kitty and Piggy for coming aboard!! The next time we see each other the Patreon is on me!

Want more financial and life gems, from the comedy stylings of the dynamo duo of Bitches Get Riches?

Find them on them on their website and connect with them on Twitter at @BitchesGetRich

Entrepreneurship, Financial Freedom, Financial Independence

FINCON 18: The Recap from your friendly neighborhood Greenbacks Magnet (Pt. II)

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Continued from part I

FINCON 18: The Recap from your friendly neighborhood Greenbacks Magnet (Pt. I)

FinCon: Day 2 (Thursday) 9/27

At 8 am, I get up and get ready to head down for breakfast with Gina.

We meet around 9:00 am.

I get an oatmeal which cost all of $3.50 and came with brown sugar and raisins. Please note that just yesterday breakfast cost over $20 bucks!

I’m a PF blogger and am frugal by nature. At times, I’m almost like a Quaker (they are plain-dressed and frugal by virtue).

I knew what I was having for breakfast for the rest of the trip.

Any who, we chatted for a while and along came Liz and Erin from dinner last night. I introduced them to Gina.

And just in case some of you out there were wondering, I met two scholarship winners at FinCon so it is very real and legitimate. They practice what they preach.

Liz said she remembered from dinner the other night that I wanted a picture with her and was kind enough to allow me to take a quick one with her before she darted off to her next workshop. Liz you rock!!!

After breakfast, I went to New Blog Strategies from Two Ancient Bloggers hosted by J.D. Roth (Get Rich Slowly) and Jim Wang (Wallet Hacker) around 1030 am.

Both gentlemen started blogs around 2005 or so and sold them for seven figures.

Here’s what I learned:

Build a blueprint for financial prosperity.

At one point, Jim Wang was putting out 20, 30, or 40 articles a day. Blogs used to be about volume, but now are more about quality. Personalize it. Make a connection. That is what keeps people hooked and coming back. Tell your story.

Pitch to people outside your niche. If you write an article about cars, see if Jalopnik will allow you to guest post it on their site or if advertisers will pay you to advertise their products.

Be selective about what programs you work with as they may not be a good fit. Network. It’s important.

Put your best work out front. Like in your About Page. It gets lost over time as you continue to write. Keep it up front.

Study how other people are monetizing their blogs. Take their courses and buy their books. See what they are doing and emulate it or put your own spin on it.

Practice the soft sell. Pitching. Like outside your niche. Offer something to others.

Hire out. Focus on your strengths. Delegate and hire out your weaknesses. Hire people. Build a team.

Build potential and then monetize. Pick partners that match your message. Prioritize big wins.  Think strategically as people can get paid to guest post.

Here are some notes:

  • You could do 500 word posts and be ranked high on SEO in Google 10 years ago. Not today. Now you need 3,000 word posts
  • Quality = excellence vs. Quantity = volume (choose quality)
  • WordPress is good to use for blogs
  • Start with a story
  • Good quality class content
  • Have a mission
  • Social Media was not there in 2008 but here now so use it to get your message out there
  • Be methodical and provide action steps
  • Master one channel (podcast, blog, etc.) before opening another
  • Use a personal approach to connect with people
  • Use Newsletters and email lists
  • Many bloggers don’t make it because they quit. DON’T QUIT
  • Advertisers want your followers
  • Build courses and eBooks
  • Send shorter emails and very focused links
  • Diversify (courses, books, speaking, and consulting)
  • Do guest posts, reach new audience, showcase your best work

By noon, Michael and I met up and had lunch. We talked for a while. Thank you Michael for listening.

Then we went down to the EXPO.

We ran into so many people. I introduced him to all the new people I met and he introduced me to FinCon Founder, PT Money.

I also met J Money (Budgets are Sexy). He was super friendly. And Love the Mohawk!

After we hit up all the booths we wanted and walked away with free swag (I got 4 pens, 6 t-shirts, a journal, a selfie light and a few other items).

I also got a free drink ticket from Bloomly. (ticket number 1 of 5)

The rest of the evening I just went to go decompress. It was an exhausting day. But a great one!

FinCon: Day 3 (Friday) 9/28

I was drained. It took every ounce of strength I could muster to go to the 8 – 850 am workshop: Four Flavors of FIRE. I skipped breakfast as there was no time and rushed to get there.

Panel included Jillian Johnsrud (Montana Money Adventures), Carl Jensen (1500 Days), Physician on FIRE and Mr. Money Mustache. J.D Roth moderated.

Each discussed what they had done to FIRE.

They noticed that peers were spending all their money.

Jillian was on an Army Base and noticed a lot of new cars. She was like nope, not for me. You know how much each rank makes in the military. People walk around with their income on the uniforms.

She said many people working 9-to-5 are burned out and need a nap. Retirement also doesn’t fix your life. You have to decide what you want and reason you are doing what you do.

Have a money formula. Invest and save 25 times your income. That is your freedom number. For example, $40,000 x 25 = $ 1 million. That is the number you will need to retire.

FI (Financial Independence) is the goal and gives you permission to spend.

I asked one question and this would be the only question I asked at entire conference, which was to this panel.

I asked each panelists this: What was the catalyst that made them decide to FIRE?

Responses were:

1500 Days: At 37, I had a really bad day at work. My parents mismanaged money. I had nightmares of having no money, losing my job, and would wake up in a cold sweat. I decided I didn’t want that anymore.

Mr. Money Mustache: I worked a lot of minimum wage jobs (lots). I got a COOP for a $500 a week student engineer job. Thought this is pretty good money. Then surplus money when graduated and working as software engineer. Money started building up.

Then I asked myself this question: Would I do this for free? No.

No sense staying at a job that I don’t need the money for paid work anymore.

Physician on FIRE (POF): I was studying for a board exam. I was in my late 30’s. I would need to do this again in 10 years. I had been spending days at the library. I didn’t want to do this again in another 10 years. I didn’t want to study for another test. I wanted to spend time and do fun stuff with my family.

Montana Money Adventures: Slowly growing passive income with RE properties. Husband had a small military pension. Had to come up with a financial plan as too many responsibilities at home.

We grew our savings and had 3 sources of income: pension, investments, and rentals. 2 out of 3 enough to cover our bills. Didn’t need or want a 50-hour work week job. Did a 1-year experiment on mini retirement. And the rest is history.

After, this I was pretty wiped out.

I had to recharge.

So I did what any person visiting Florida would do. I went to Universal Studios. (I’ll tell you all about that in my next post)

How to navigate Universal Studios theme parks on a Budget and Like a Boss

Some notes:

  • Purpose, passion, and philosophy. Write with meaning.
  • You only need so much money. Once you have enough, you can decide to start giving it away to those in need.
  • Goal is not to think about money, but to do more stuff. Have Freedom to choose.
  • Use a 3% instead of 4% withdrawal rate for retirement.
  • Amass wealth through RE (real estate) and stocks. When market goes down it’s the best time to buy. Stocks are on sale.
  • Make sure spouse is on board with FI.
  • Don’t ask spouse about money. Ask them about what they picture as their ideal life and their dreams such as traveling or other things they want.

PLUTUS Awards were also on Friday night. This is an award ceremony for excellence in blogging. There was also an after party.

Here is a tweet by Paulette Perhach of the winners

FinCon: Day 4 (Saturday) 9/29 The Last Day

The home stretch. Had a quick breakfast and went to see Grant from Millennial Money speak.

He was excellent. He was so passionate and shared his story with the audience.

I met him after the workshop and told him I really liked his speech. He was so humble and down to earth!

I also went to the house hacking workshop with Scott Trench and Mindy from Bigger Pockets, Chad Carson (Coach Carson) and Drew.

Scott said to make sure you have cash reserves. For every house he buys, he adds $10,000 in his reserves. Businesses need capital.

You can take out an expensive $1 million plus umbrella insurance policy to protect your assets.

Find people to help you such as real estate agents and create a formula for yourself to purchase new properties and manage them.

I also met Greg (Greg Chats Cash), Khaleef & Sherrian (Faithful with a Few), and so many others.

I learned about how to get booked and paid to speak and met Phylecia Jones from Keeping Up with Mrs. Jones. She also said people need to share what they know. So that is what I am doing here.

I also went to sessions by Chelsea Fagan (The Financial Diet), The Busy Budgeter, and Ellie Kay.

Then went to the close out keynote with Chris Hogan and several other speakers and finally the closing party.

I didn’t get back to my room until after midnight.

FinCon had come to an end.

With 2000 people at FinCon18, it was impossible to meet everyone, but I got as many cards or took as many photos of ID badges as I could.

And with over 100+ workshops it was impossible to go to every single one. Therefore, I would split them up and go to one session for 25 minutes and a second one for the last half.

I also took notes and took pictures of PowerPoint presentation slides that I wanted to review later. Since, I was unable to write down everything.

WHAT I DID WHEN I GOT HOME

  • Organized all the business cards I got while there. At the end of every day, I would put all the business cards I had together and kept them together by date received. That is how I kept track of what I did and who I met when and where to write this post.
  • I put the business cards in a portfolio binder so I can flip through them and look up all the people I met online.
  • Created a FinCon Folder and placed every flyer, advertisement, receipt and ticket I purchased in it to keep it all in one place as place of reference.

Takeaways and Actions

  • Take notes throughout the event
  • Turn your blog into and think of it as a business
  • Blogging is a long game. Don’t quit.
  • Stand out
  • Be unique. Tell a compelling story.
  • Be yourself
  • Create an avatar and write to them.
  • Follow up with and reach out to people you want to work with

Thank you to everyone!!!

FinCon was incredible. I can’t wait until the next one.

I know this was a lot. Thank you for all those who stuck with me.

FinCon18 attendees, if you have any comments or feedback, please let me know. If we didn’t get a chance to meet, just reach out and let me know where can I find you online?

 I hope this post helps any future attendees out there. It has been my absolute pleasure to write this. Hope to see you next year at FinCon19.

 

Financial Freedom

FINCON 18: The Recap from your friendly neighborhood Greenbacks Magnet (Pt. I)

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FinCon 18 ended for me, as I write this post, literally 36 hours ago!

It was so good I couldn’t wait to write this post.

This was my very first FinCon.

I promised Michael, a PF blogger, who runs the website Financially Alert that I would write this post and include a link to the one he wrote for FinCon 2016, as his was so helpful to me!  So, here’s a shout out to you Michael for being so kind.

This post is going to be long, but I promise it will be worth it!

I had to write this post now while I still have the momentum going with everything fresh in my mind.

A strike as the iron is hot mentality if you will.

So here it is.

This should help anyone learn how to navigate FinCon like a Pro.

Happy Reading!

MY VERY FIRST FINCON!

For those who don’t know, FinCon is the ComicCon for money nerds (bloggers, YouTubers, podcasters, and the like).

Basically, we talk about finance and anything that centers around money. Bloggers try to help people navigate through the complexity of personal finance. The Founder (PT Money) brought us all together and it was an absolute blast!!!

FinCon has just wrapped up its 8th conference in Orlando, Florida. It was held at the Rosen Shingle Creek Resort about 13 minutes from the Orlando International Airport.

Next year it will be hosted in my backyard… Washington D.C.!

I actually arrived one day before (on Tuesday) the kick-off of FinCon on Wednesday at noon. And I am so glad I did. Let me tell you all about it.

But first….

I did a little recon before purchasing my ticket to FinCon. This is how I ended up actually deciding to go to FinCon.

I was posting on my blog and tweeting and it was around February I started hearing people being excited about this money conference called FinCon.

Someone even reached out to me on Twitter (another blogger DM’d me: Stephanie from Poorer than You) and asked if I was going.

And please forgive my ignorance to those familiar with the now infamous FinCon, but I had to ask what is FinCon?

So, I started doing some searches online and found tons of information. However, it wasn’t enough. I needed to know more. Therefore, I DM’d someone myself. Another blogger. His name was Drew and he started the blog GuyOnFire.  I asked him about FinCon.

He said it was great! He tries to go every year. He had so much enthusiasm about the conference that it made me want to go.

That’s when I made a decision: I was going to FinCon!

I did some more detective work to see reactions from past attendees and came across the website Financially Alert.

There were photos and other information from other bloggers about FinCon, but I found Financially Alert to be the most detailed. It was not too much or too little information. Like Goldilocks, I found these posts to be just right.

Therefore, upon deciding to go, I was going to put theory to practice and do all the things Michael suggested on his blog posts.

Here is a list of some of the things Michael suggested and discussed on his posts: Why I Love Conferences and How to Milk It for All It’s Worth! And FinCon 16: The Ultimate Recap from One Blogger’s Perspective

 

  • Plan in advance.
  • Sign up for networking Meetings or Meetups.
  • Be Flexible.
  • Network and BE REAL. Be genuine, and friends will flock.
  • Prioritize time interacting with people.
  • Volunteer to help.
  • The first day your voice will probably be raw and hoarse from talking to so many people.
  • As the day’s progress, you’ll find yourself naturally clumping into groups of friends you find common ground with.
  • It’s still a good idea to go out and meet new people every day. You never know who you may collaborate with later on.
  • Furthermore, reach out to others that you want to meet specifically BEFORE you attend. This will increase your chances of meeting them. (By the way, I did this with Michael and that is how I got to meet and hang out with him!)
  • Bring paper and pens.
  • Laptop.
  • Phone and Charger.
  • Bring lots of business cards. (Vistaprint or Moo are good places to get them)
  • Credit card.
  • Water.
  • Get some sleep and be well rested.
  • Take Immediate Action by following up with new contacts within 48 hours. If you don’t, chances are it’s not gonna happen at all.
  • Reach out to those you want to forge a mutually beneficial relationship with. Offer them something first and see where that takes you.
  • Don’t Forget to Have Fun!

Michael also has a Takeaways & Actions at the end of his post FinCon 16: The Ultimate Recap from One Blogger’s Perspective with fantastic advice and information!

I did all of these things and it worked for me!

His posts are what ultimately got me to push purchase ticket on the FinCon website.

After, reading his posts and purchasing my ticket, I decided to do a Yes, Man approach to FinCon. I said yes to everything!

Let me share with you my story.

Pre-FinCon: Day Zero (Tuesday) 9/25

I flew into Orlando from Reagan. Wheels up at 10 am. A quick one-stop layover in Atlanta (ATL). Wheels down at 2:00 pm in FL.

I met my driver right after landing. He was holding a sign with my name on it.

I looked into doing a shuttle, but then thought better of it as I knew I did not want to make any stops and would want to go straight to the hotel.

We pull up at the Rosen Shingle Creek Resort, I hop out the car, tip my driver and proceed to the lobby.

Once there I check-in at the front desk, pay for my room, get my keys, and head straight up.

While walking towards my room, I see a gentleman in a FinCon shirt. So, I looked at him and asked if he was here for FinCon? He said yes. I told him so was I.

He introduced himself as Sean and gave me his card which read: 2 Frugal Dudes.

Sean (Frugal dude #1) then invited me to a meetup later that night. I gave him my card too and said goodbye.

At first, I was not sure if I should go.

But I was doing Yes, Man. So I was like why not.

Sean was even nice enough to tweet me and to tweet out that they were meeting in the lounge at 8 pm for the mastermind meetup.

https://twitter.com/seanmerron/status/1044674916690391046

How could I refuse such as thoughtful guy? I couldn’t. So I went.

I got there around 830 pm and did not leave until close to midnight! It was so much fun.

I met so many people that I would go on to hang out with and talk to for the duration of the conference.

I met Kevin Griffin (Frugal Dude #2), Amanda (Debt Free in Sunny CA), Kelley (Freedom in a Budget), Justine Nelson (Debt Free Millennials), Jamie (Mr. Jamie Griffin), Cal (Mogo Interactive), Eric Rosenburg (FinCon DJ), Rachel (Budgets & Kale), Liz (Less Debt, More Wine) and others including Sarah the budget girl!

Just before midnight I called it a night and went up to my room.

FinCon: Day 1 (Wednesday) 9/26

I got up around 8 am and headed down for my 930 am mentoring session with none other than podcaster Nick Loper of Side Hustle Nation.

Oh yea, FinCon sends you emails leading up to the event. That’s how I found out about the mentoring. They offered and I said: Yes.

We met at the Smooth Java coffee place which also proudly serves Starbucks.

We spoke for about 30 minutes. He answered all of my questions and was a true gentleman and professional.

We discussed the following:

  • #1 rule of podcasting is to have excellent audio quality
  • Audacity audio software is excellent for podcasting
  • Zencaster is an easy way to record interviews with good quality
  • Can use sites that costs as low as $15 monthly for your podcast needs
  • There are audio tutorials that show how to edit on YouTube that are helpful such as Pat Flynn
  • You can submit feed to iTunes and get your message out there
  • Editing podcasts takes a long time and is the hardest part
  • Media host that is good to use is Libsyn
  • Amolto is a good call recorder for Skype
  • Sign up for affiliate programs to monetize site such as Flex Offers and impact.com
  • Be strategic. Look at those that are doing well (Well Kept Wallet, The College Investor, Millennial Money)

By the end of our talk, I knew I was not ready for podcasting as editing is tedious (Brad and Jonathan from ChooseFI said in their workshop it takes Jonathan 8-10 hours to edit each podcast!). Holy cow!

We parted ways and I went to go have some breakfast. On the way down, I ran into Justine from last night who asked if I wanted to grab some breakfast. The answer: Yes.

While at the buffet breakfast which cost $18.50 + tax, we saw just 15 feet away from us, from the Dave Ramsey crew: Rachel Cruze.

After, about 10 minutes Justine was itching to meet her. I had to nudge her to do it. And she did. She even thanked me for pushing her to do it! Hey, glad I could help.

Justine is the person who also pushed me to download the FinCon app. So glad I did. I used this as a resource for the rest of the conference. Very helpful. It lists who is in attendance and where they are speaking.

We parted ways and I went off to check in and get my Fincon ID.

I ran into tons of people from last night and none other than Michael from Financially Alert.

I also got to meet Gia and Brian from The Lazy Man and Money.

I went off to volunteer with NEFE to decorate piggybanks for 3rd graders in local elementary schools. I did this with my new gal pal Rachel (Budgets & Kale).

Then I went to my first workshop.

I ducked into two, but it was in the hallways where the action was happening. You could feel the electricity in the air. I talked so much I got a headache from meeting so many people.

[Workshop] Next Level Affiliate Marketing hosted by Cut Dailey of The Penny Hoarder and Anatomy of a Podcast with Bobbi Rebell (Financial Grown Up) and Steve Stewart of Steve Stewart Podcast Productions.

I met tons of people in workshops and in the hallways like Shani from Purse Empowerment, Dave from Accidental FIRE and Paulette from the F-off Fund.

Some notes are:

  • Elevate your ability to monetize your affiliate marketing
  • Sign up for courses to learn how to do marketing, advertising, book writing, etc.
  • Scalability and think about scaling
  • Be persistent. Ask for help.
  • You need a proper microphone for guests
  • Headset with mike or Apple earbuds with little microphone piece will suffice
  • Can have interviewer do interview in a closet (closets offer no background noise)
  • Watch the amount of space on device your using as podcasts take up a lot of space on computer
  • Write quality content that engages people
  • It’s not your age, its what’s on the webpage
  • Think about the content you are creating
  • What is your message

I took breaks here and there. I also went up to my room, closed the curtains, turned off all the lights and took a short rest. It helped a lot. I also did this every afternoon I was there. Trust me you will need it.

I also met Rachel Cruze in the hallway. She was really nice. She said she was glad I walked up and introduced myself and wished my people would do that because she likes meeting people. You heard it here folks straight from Ms. Cruze herself.

Rachel Cruze gave a great keynote and said a budget gives you permission to spend. She also said don’t try to be the hero when it comes to teaching people about personal finance. Be their guide. Let them decide what is best for them.

She also said she had to work for money. She didn’t get an allowance.

In addition, she would go and speak for free when she started out. Did that for a long time before anyone offered her any money to speak.

You have to take what you can get when you are starting out.

Don’t focus on what someone else is doing or have. It’s okay to start small. Important just to start.

Start where you are.

While taking a break I ran into Jamie and Gina from The Frugal Convert.

We introduced ourselves and Gina invited me to breakfast the next morning. My answer: Yes. We exchanged numbers and agreed to meet at the 18 street market at 9 am Thursday.

I missed the First Timer Orientation at 430 pm presented by Nick True from Mapped Out Money (I’m a big fan of his blog btw) because it was standing room only.

There was another Thursday morning. I figured I would just catch the next one. (No such luck as I was busy that day too)

While I went to get some food at the market I decided to talk to a gentleman in line. I was a stranger, but so what we are at a conference. And you know what? He was very informative.

He said make sure you go to the EXPO on Thursday from 1-5 pm. That is where the brands are. You just say this: Hello, how can we work together? (more to come on the EXPO later)

I also took notes throughout the entire event. Starting from day one. I knew I would not remember everything.

I would look at ID’s and write down names of blogs or podcasts I was interested in looking up. I would also listen to groups and people talk.

That is how I learned about Millionaires Unveiled podcasts, the ChooseFI Meetup DC, and local fincon groups.

Even when I spoke to people I took notes. I would go to my room every night and write notes of things I remembered throughout the day like a journal or diary entry and tweet people I met.

I also followed everyone who followed me. I want to keep up with people. And I like to tweet.

That night I was scheduled to go to dinner at 630 pm for a birthday party for Stephanie from Poorer that You. I met up with her and about 10-12 others in the lobby.

Nope. You got me. My Twitter @mjp2520 is there. So, yep that’s me!

I ended up riding shotgun to none other than J.D. Roth of Money Boss and Get Rich Slowly. I couldn’t believe it. I had been reading his stuff for like the last three years. He could not have been more down to earth.

Also riding were Cara (Military Dollar), Erin (Reaching for FI), Ruby (A Journey We Love), and none other than Liz (Chief Mom Officer)! I was a huge fan of her blog.

We talked in the car and I told them what made me get into finance was reading the book The Automatic Millionaire by David Bach.

I remember one of the stories within one of his books where he told a crowd, that women would have to start taking more control of their finances and not rely so heavily on the men in their lives because if men were so great at finances, then why are so many Americans in debt?

A woman got up and told the crowd that he was absolutely right. Her doctor husband had recently passed away and mortgaged everything to the hilt. Even his medical practice.

She only had $25,000 dollars left and the $1 million home they had a mortgage on was so high it was about to be foreclosed.

I was in shock after I read this. I was like how did she not know this?

It was then and there I decided I would always be in control of my money and would learn all I could about finances.

Liz (Chief Mom Officer) said she remembered that story. And what got her into finance was reading the book The Wealthy Barber. She also said The Millionaire Woman Next Door was a good read as well.

At dinner, there ended up being about twenty of us.

I didn’t get to meet everyone because we were on one end of the table and were all so busy chatting that I missed some people on the other end.

I was sitting near JD Roth (Money Boss), Ruby (A Journey We Love), Kitty and Piggy (Bitches Get Riches), Josh (Josh Overmyer), Andrew (ShiftUpwards), Erin (Reaching for FI), Cara (Military Dollar), and Liz (Chief Mom Officer).

I also met Jimmy and Jennifer (Living Life Loving Us), Lisa (The Get and Give), Annie (Champagne & Capital Gains), Emilie (Wise Mind Money), Holly, Kevin, and Jennifer (Good Life. Better).

Money Women Unite. A list of women bloggers. And there are a ton. More than even I knew and I am one.

I sat next to Kitty who told jokes all night. She and her partner Piggy are a riot. They should be on YouTube or a podcast. They are like a comedy show (duo) together.

After dinner, we went back to the hotel around (you guessed it, midnight) and up to our rooms for bed.

What a fun night.

Stephanie (Poorer than You) reached out to me on Twitter, a complete stranger that I was, and invited me to dinner. She was so nice in her invitation that I just couldn’t refuse. My answer: Yes. So glad I went.

To be continued in Part II…

FINCON 18: The Recap from your friendly neighborhood Greenbacks Magnet (Pt. II)