Dan is a high school teacher from Denver, Colorado who has been doing real estate investing for 5 years. He is an advocate of the FIRE (Financial Independence Retire Early) Movement and is passionate about teaching young people ways to reach financial independence early. Today, we get to know more about the teacher that’s been helping teenagers and young adults reach for the life they want to live.
Dan got into real estate by accident. He had a 2-bedroom townhouse and a friend was looking for a place to stay, so he rented out to his friend. He later moved out from that townhouse and rented out the entire unit for 7-8 years before he sold it.
The FIRE (Financial Independence Retire Early) Movement is about teaching people how they can reach financial independence. Most people do this by investing in either real estate or low-cost index funds.
There are 3 things needed to achieve early retirement. One is to increase your savings rate. Another is to increase your income. And the last one is to invest in a smart way.
Frugality is important. People are advised to only spend on things they value. Dan teaches juniors and seniors in high school that they could do house hacking in college by buying a house and renting out the other rooms to their friends.
Since financing is needed either through an FHA loan or a conventional loan, Dan advises his students to have a 2-year plan in place to get a job to show they have an income stream. Then they have to save up for the down payment plus $10,000 more for expenses, and they need to keep learning.
Most young people don’t believe that they can reach financial independence at a young age. They are trained not to think about money until they are older. Plus, it is difficult to find a mentor who will guide them.
On the other side, those in their 30s to 40s already follow a set lifestyle. They might be spending on subscriptions, mortgages, car loans, etc. So they need to take a good look at what they’re spending on and reduce their expenses.
For those with consumer or credit card debt, it’s important to pay off as much as they can. One way would be to live in a less expensive situation. Or they could sell off their brand new car and replace it with a more affordable, second-hand one.
Getting a side hustle and part-time job could also help in increasing their income so that they could knock off more of their debts. For those doing side hustles, Dan advises making sure they’re W2 jobs so that they can be counted towards their debt-to-income (DTI) ratio.
While Dan’s wife is on her way to leaving her teaching job to work full-time in real estate, Dan still loves his job and doesn’t plan to leave it anytime soon. He and his wife want to get around 5-10 more properties before they will stop purchasing real estate.
Real estate is about building wealth. In 5-10 years, both he and his wife could be done with full-time work. Most people with corporate jobs don’t realize that they’re basically trading their time for money and end up working 60-80 hour weeks.
Dan wants to teach young people that there are different options for them. He recommends them to read the books Rich Dad, Poor Dad, and The Richest Man in Babylon.
Dan acts as a facilitator for his mastermind group. The members decided to cap their membership at 20. But since Dan has a waitlist of other teens wishing to join, he plans to set up another group.
The group is special as it gives them a community of other teens like them, and they can get support and advice.
Dan is currently writing a financial independence book for 14-22-year-olds, which will include real investing strategies and a workbook with a checklist for readers to follow. His goal is to put it out within the year.
He also will continue providing content through social media and his blog site, which will feature articles young people can read to learn more about financial independence.
For those 25 years or younger, don’t believe that investing in real estate and retiring early is impossible.
Keep reading, keep learning, and you can find a way to make it happen.
Clint Coons is one of the founders of Anderson Business Advisors, a firm that specializes in creating asset protection entities…
Justin is a real estate investor who has done almost 2000 deals across the nation and in this episode, he’ll…
David is a real estate investor and a real estate coach. He has been investing in properties for almost 20…
Andrew, a real estate investment developer, is the owner of IronGall Investments, an Austin, Texas-based real estate development company. They…
Chris is the President and CEO of Smart Growth Inc., a California-based real estate and development firm. They are focused…
Rafael is a real estate coach and an organizational psychologist based in Miracle Valley, Arizona. He owns several real estate…