When you buy real estate, what’s your goal?

We want to live in a fabulous place, while getting rich on asset appreciation.

It sounds great but the choice of moving into an affluent community increases expectations, and cost of living.

“So what?”, you say.

The hidden cost can be time for our kids and marriage.

In the Great Recession, I changed course…

We aim to create a portfolio of assets enabling us to live for free in an effective public school system that’s close to nature.

In your teens, you will start to make investment decisions… how much to work, spend, save, donate and borrow. You have 50 years to create your portfolio!

Live for free:

1. In high-school: with your parents
2. As a young adult: a place where your roommates subsidize your cost of living
3. Next: a house with many bedrooms — the first place I owned had the capacity to support me via roommates
4. As soon as I “could afford it” — I made a mistake with a large, expensive to own, flash property!
5. …but I found myself unexpectedly unemployed and we couldn’t afford it
6. Eventually, we wised-up, downsized our home, and bought rental properties that covered our mortgage and healthcare.

When my wife is 65, the mortgage will be paid off, the kids will be educated and her retirement self-funded by the residual real estate portfolio.

How much of our cost of living can be permanently covered, or hedged, by this decision?

Most people aspire towards material goods, appearances and spending.

I urge you to patiently buy time, personal freedom and shared experiences.

Most of effective investing is learning, saving and waiting.