Millionaire Librarian

I have had a few updates since my last post.

Today is the first day of a new job for me. It is a very part-time remote librarian of record position, which means I will be there to help students find resources and assist with accreditation. My wife is also doing something similar, and combined we will be working about 25 hours per week, which seems about right.

With this change, we are now 100% stocks once again, as our jobs cover our expenses and we want our portfolios to grow as much as possible. To paraphrase JL Collins, our incomes are once again serving as a ballast, providing stability to our financial lives. One way of thinking about this is that each $1k earned a month replaces $300k in bonds if they return 4%. This is a lot of power in a little income, especially if you are on the leaner side of FIRE.

We are also trying to purchase another rental property, and probably a few more over the next few years. Our current rental property performs very well but requires some work. It is also a type of work I enjoy doing, and over the years I have had a half dozen roommates while househacking and have successfully rented out our current house remotely for about 2 years. One reason I like real estate is that it provides a monthly check to your bank account, and spending that feels easier than selling shares to do the same thing. This is one reason I prefer real estate that has cash flow rather than focusing primarily on appreciation, like some real estate investors do. I want my real estate to mostly pay for itself, including maintenance, loans, insurance, and taxes.

I’ve been reading “Coach” Chad Carson’s book, The Small and Mighty Real Estate Investor. He also makes informational videos on YouTube, which I have been watching for a while. There are also a few other real estate investors I have been watching for some time that he introduced me to. Though definitely more involved than index funds, I enjoy making contracts, managing tenants, managing contractors, and purchasing single family home real estate.

Rich Carey who owned a 25 house real estate empire in Montgomery, Alabama while stationed overseas in Europe has always been a favorite of mine. He emphasizes having good people you can trust and good systems to succeed from afar. Definitely our reliable and fair handyman has been instrumental in the entire process from repairing items, to identifying potential problems, providing an eye on the property, and giving his opinion on potential new purchases.

I believe it was JL Collins who said he preferred different wording for the acronym FIRE. Instead of Financial Independence, Retire Early, he preferred Financial Independence, Recreational Employment. This updated wording better reflects treating work like a hobby, and how once you have financial independence, work flows in and out of your life based on your wants instead of you needing it to survive financially.