You already know the value of having a mentor, so I won’t get into that. Your first mentor was probably your mother or father, as was mine. That caring person set you on the course you are on today. As I moved ahead in my career I had some great bosses and associates that really helped steer me right. But now, the older I get, the harder it is to find a mentor. As I’ve aged there are fewer older people I know that are on the road ahead of me and younger associates hesitate to advise me, even when they are a lot smarter than me. These smart young folks erroneously assume I already know it all. How silly is that!?
A few years ago, I stumbled upon some great mentors from an unlikely source, the Tim Ferriss books and podcasts. Back when I was learning to do real estate investing, I read Tim’s book “The Four-Hour Work Week”. As an engineer, the book resonated with me in presenting a systems-based process for setting up and operating a business efficiently. I liked Tim’s style, so I read his other great books:
Reading “Tools of Titans” and “Tribe of Mentors” opened my eyes to the lives of some of the most successful people in the world. Especially enlightening is the way Tim would deep dive into their daily personal routines –- things they did to control stress, stay healthy, and be productive –- while running some very successful projects. I got an awareness of how these high-profile folks were not much different than us “ordinary” folks. Their main difference is their skill set, but their daily life is not much different than anyone else.
I have continued to find more excellent mentors in Tim’s podcasts. I have listened to a lot of podcasts and Tim’s stands out due to his exceptional interviewing skills and the wide variety of folks he has on. No matter what field you’re pursuing, you are bound to find someone Tim has interviewed that is a leader in that field.
I’ve applied a lot of the gleaned advice in my own life. If you’re interested, you can find a lot of it here Simple Stuff That Changed my life.
Tim also writes a good blog. Go look for yourself: https://tim.blog/ and pull down the pod cast “The Tim Ferris Show” from your favorite podcast site. Learn more about Tim Ferris here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Ferriss. I encourage you to give Mr. Ferriss a try if you’re having trouble finding good folks to bounce your questions and ideas off of.
I have faced this fact long ago and my friends remind me all the time, that I am a “wise-ass know-it-all”. One of my many bad habits is giving folks way too much unsolicited advice. It’s hard to stop. When I see someone going through something I’ve already been through, I just want to help. I am slowly learning in my old age that it just never works. I can’t change anybody. They can only change themselves. I am getting better at it and that is one purpose of this blog. So, continue reading only if you think you’re ready to move ahead.
Morning routine
A standard morning routine, of various forms, is used by a great many successful people. I have read lots of biographies and implementing a morning routine is fairly consistent. While most prevalent in early birds like me, the night owls have their versions that work well for them. For the busy mom or professional going to work at a set time each day or when the rest of the family gets up, this morning routine is the one time they have for themselves. This is time to work on yourself in whatever way you feel. Here’s a summary of my morning routine to get you thinking:
Stretching – It’s the first thing I do after getting out of bed. Well, not quite – usually need to pee first 😉 I started doing light stretching and some yoga before I learned this is a routine with most athletes and folks looking to stay fit or just to get moving in the morning. I knew I needed to do something when going down the stairs in the morning started to get harder. I was making “old man noises” and I was only 58. A little leg stretching first thing did the trick and that soon evolved into a short routine focusing on legs, hips, and back. Now be warned you are not going to feel like doing this upon waking because your body and mind are still in “sleep mode”. That lizard brain is saying, “Can’t we just start this morning a little slower?” But let that lately evolved frontal lobe take command and put the body in “wake mode”. You will have to trust me on this but you’ll see for yourself, a little exercise that time of day is the equivalent of a cup of coffee. Try it, you’ll see. Five minutes is enough, but ten is better.
Meditation – After stretching I dress and head downstairs, feed the cat, then sit and meditate for about 10 minutes. Learning to focus your attention on what’s happening without judgment improves all aspects of life. Great way to start the day.
Breakfast – I put high grade protein and “slow” carbs in by belly within minutes of getting out of bed each morning. Learned this from reading about some great athletes. Doing so levels out your blood sugar for the rest of the day, eliminating cravings and bingeing. Three egg omelet with Spinach, onion, bell pepper, mushroom, and pea sprouts is my main breakfast. By “slow” carbs I mean carbohydrates that are low on the glycemic index scale. Fast carbs should always be avoided unless you’re about to run a marathon or something.
A good source of a variety of successful folks’ morning routines can be found in Tim Ferriss’s book Tools for Titans.
Meditation
I learned Transcendental Meditation in 1973. While it took years to really start understanding what meditation does, I did see the benefits and kept it up, off and on, through the years. Within the last few years, with the help of some great books and podcasts, I have a much better understanding of how it works. I am not going to explain the practice here as professionals like Sam Harris and Jack Kornfield do a way better job, but will share the benefits I have seen. By learning to recognize your own thoughts as just stuff your brain throws out in response to stimuli, you will learn to control your thinking and behavior. This results in major improvements in dealing with people, being more grateful for what you have and less cravings for what you don’t have, anger management, better learning skills, and better conversations. It’s also just plain easy and feels good.
Reading
Bottom line, reading will keep your brain alive better than anything else I know. Many studies using MRI’s and such have shown that reading lights up more areas of the brain than most other things. I know it works for me and keeps me curious. When I meet someone new and we talk long enough, I will usually ask them what books they’ve read lately. I am tired of getting the answer, “I am just not a reader” like it’s some genetic trait. Reading is a habit you must develop and anyone can do it. If you want to know what is really going on in the world, it’s all in books. Not the news, documentaries, podcasts, or (chuckle) social media. Get a good book and read a little every day, even for 10 minutes. According to Tony Robbins only 10% of the world reads whole books and only 10% of them read non-fiction. Folks that read books are in the top 10% of the educated people in the world. Think about that.
Better nutrition
There’s so much great information on this out there, I’m not even going to try. Just get off the processed crap and eat great food.
Running
Running, mountain or road biking, or any other aerobic exercise a few times a week. The benefits to the cardiovascular system are well known, but one of the overlooked benefits is the increased blood flow to the brain. Ever see an old guy that looks like he doesn’t even know where he is? Yeah, that’s you in a few years if you let the slower metabolism have its way. Get some “extra” blood up to that brain every week.
Strength training
Pays back great dividends in slowing muscle lose and increasing metabolism. The older you are the more important this is. Get a weekly routine. If, like me, you don’t like gym memberships, it takes very little equipment to have a great routine at home. Along with lifting heavy stuff, incorporate flexibility and balance exercises. Yoga is great for this.
Treating personal finance like a business
Struggling through life, pay check to pay check, is not a good plan. It does not have to be that way. Learning to manage your personal finances more like a business is a much better way. Our economy is designed to promote commercialism and this is the trap. Improving personal finances is as simple as controlling expenses and saving for the future. The main hurtle to this is the change in mindset that is required. For example, what are you thinking about the day before payday – “I’ll have the money to go out to eat”, “I can buy that new dress or sports coat I’ve wanted”, or “This paycheck will give me enough down payment for a new car loan”. Or are your thoughts more like – “I get to pay down that credit card a little more”, “I’ll have a little bit to add to retirement savings”, or “I’ll have a little bit to add to saving for a down payment on an investment property or business startup”. A change in your mindset is the way out of the commercialism trap.
Ditch the “paycheck to paycheck” mentality and start thinking in terms of assets and liabilities. In any economy cash is king so even a little savings can pay off big in the near future. Ben Franklin said mankind’s best invention was compound interest. Use your savings to buy investment real estate, start a small business, or open a brokerage account. There are just too many books out there on the subject for me to go any further with this. But, if everyone took advantage of this bit of knowledge, a whole lot of society’s problems would just go away. Some books that have helped me are here.
Learning
Stop learning and your brain starts dying. ‘Nough said!
Science
Science is the systematic study of the natural world through observation, experimentation, and the testing of hypotheses to discover and explain how things work. Even if you’re not interested in how the world works, I think it’s a good idea to know how others figure it out. Here’s some of my favorite subjects:
Biology – I like learning how animals and plants work. I do not have any background knowledge for a good learning base, but fortunately there are many books and documentaries on a layman’s level.
Marine biology – I love scuba diving. While you will have to sit in the woods for a while until a couple birds or squirrels come out, life is all around you as soon as you enter the ocean. I love watching fish behavior and looking for the crabs and other little critters.
Birds – I’ve loved hiking in the woods all my life, but I never really saw the woods until I started bird watching. Now it’s like a city with all the creatures going about their lives. Bird watching is something you can do everywhere you go. Nature is everywhere, even in the cities.
A really good source of current science news is Science Friday broadcast on NPR and a podcast. My favorite books are here.
Projects
Always have some projects going on. Life isn’t much more than a continuous stream of problems. Throwing a few self-improvement, property improvement, business building, explorations, or craft projects in the mix will make you feel like you’re accomplishing something.
Philosophy
What is life? What is God? Some folks are happy to accept what others tell them it’s all about, but I never was. With all the scientific advancement we have today still no one knows what consciousness is. Thinking about these things helps me figure out the best way to live an honorable peaceful life. I have taken some pretty heavy philosophy courses and studied all the major concepts. I think some of these old guys simply thought way too deep about this stuff. I think the basic premise behind most of it is much simpler. Here’s a couple simple easy reads:
Everybody washes their hands when they come in the house after being out in public.
When my wife (now ex) first started teaching at culinary school, we both starting catching everything. She, being in a closed room with all those snotty-nosed kids all day, was bringing home all varieties of the common cold and flu. She came up with the idea, so we made it a rule. When you first come home from being out in public, the first thing you do is wash your hands. This simple act had dramatic results and I still practice it today. Believe me, it works!
The wise-ass know-it-all strikes again!
If you actually read this whole post you will understand why I am not too popular a parties. You’re probably thinking, “This guy really had some low self-worth issues growing up.” and you’d be right. But my childhood issues set me on a life time quest for self improvement that has really paid off for me. I started life with very low expectations, but have exceeded them four-fold. So, if you’re at a party talking shit and some guy starts preaching to you how to fix your life, you deserve it! Go ahead and walk away, but I’ve still got this blog!
The blog serves as a personal journal, sharing insights from the author’s life experiences in finance, health, nature, exercise, history, science, and philosophy. It emphasizes the importance of mindset changes for financial management, maintaining health proactively, appreciating nature, regular exercise, learning from history, and understanding philosophical concepts for personal growth and improved living.
Stand by for some good posts coming up in the new year!
Welcome to my blog. I expect this will be more like a personal journal, but I also want to give some insights I’ve gleaned from my travel experiences and studies. Personally, I’ve taken way too many years to learn some simple things that make life and the world a lot better. I hope to share what I’ve learned to younger people (and maybe some of my fellow old farts) so they will not have to do as much catch up as I have.
I will focus on some basic areas that make the most improvements to a good life:
Financial – Struggling through life, pay check to pay check, is not a good plan. It does not have to be that way. Learning to manage your personal finances more like a business is a much better way. Our economy is designed to promote commercialism and this is the trap. Improving personal finances is as simple as controlling expenses and saving for the future. The main hurtle to this is the change in mindset that is required. For example, what are you thinking about the day before payday – “I’ll have the money to go out to eat”, “I can buy that new dress or sports coat I’ve wanted”, or “This paycheck will give me enough down payment for a new car loan”. Or are your thoughts more like – “I get to pay down that credit card a little more”, “I’ll have a little bit to add to retirement savings”, or “I’ll have a little bit to add to saving for a down payment on an investment property”. A change in your mindset is the way out of the commercialism trap.
Health – A lot of folks, my younger self included, think their doctor is all they need to stay healthy. Go through life until you feel bad, then go to the doctor and they fix you. That’s actually a downward spiral. Look around at the older folks you know. How many of them are sitting around watching TV with too many aches and pains to get out much any more? Truth is, our main stream doctors are only trained to “fix” people. They are not trained to keep you healthy, much less improve your health. I’ve finally learned there is a whole other type of doctor out there that is totally focused on improving health, strength, and endurance. They are the sports medicine doctors. I know, if you’re like me, you can’t afford your own personal sports doctor. But fortunately, these guys write books, have web sites, and podcasts. These guys share their knowledge for all of us to benefit from. I’ll be sharing the best of these I’ve found in future blogs.
Nature – Want to feel like you’re rich even if you’re broke? Go outside and learn the different trees and birds. Breath the air. Go for a snorkel and learn about the fish. Plant some new plants in your yard. Go for a walk in your local park. It’s all free or cheap and does wonders for the attitude.
Exercise – Strength training and cardio are not an option. Find some activities you enjoy doing to keep you going. Move it or lose it! It’s well known we lose muscle mass and blood flow as we age. Work those muscles and get the blood flowing to the brain. That, good sleep, and diet are the keys to better quality of life at any age. Don’t neglect flexibility and balance, as these are the first to go as you get older. “I’ve fallen and I can’t get up!” Don’t let that happen. Yoga does it for me, but there’s plenty of other ways.
History – The German philosopher George Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel famously said, “What experience and history teach is this—that people and governments never have learned anything from history, or acted on principles deduced from it.” Politicians depend on this fact, but we don’t have. Learning human history will demystify and filter the fire hose of news we get everyday.
If you want to be less frustrated by the silly actions of society and governments, start reading more history. I acquired an interest in history when I started traveling around the Caribbean. At first glance, the islands appeared to be “third world” to me. I saw a lot of old run down buildings and folks living below standards I am use to. Upon closer look I realized that was not the case at all. These islands are “old world”, their post Columbian societies being formed a couple hundred years before that of the states. That change in perspective sparked my curiosity about how civilization began and changed shape through time. I started studying the explorations of the European’s discover of the “New World”, but then backed up and got interested in man’s first emergence on the planet. You will find some great recommendations in my reading list that will explain a lot about what is going on in your world today.
Science – I am very interested in many facets of biology and physics. While not much of a scientist (my math skills being way out of date!), I just like to try to understand more about the world and the universe. I’m presently learning more about AI. Did you know that AI development has helped us learn more about how our own brains work? There is just so much to learn and so much more yet to be discovered.
Philosophy – Learning some basic philosophical theories is a good way to learn more about yourself, the folks in your life, and society. I lean towards stoicism for personal and business decisions and Zen Buddhism for life perspective.
You might want to read the About Me page before you read this post. The About Me page explains why I choose investing, real estate in particular, to enhance my retirement years. In this post I intend to provide those interested some thoughts on my successes and failures along the way. I firmly believe a basic knowledge in investing is the only way to overcome the obstacles we all face in this economy. As Robert Kiyosaki puts it in his famous book, “Rich Dad Poor Dad”, you need to learn to get out of the “rat race”. Here, I’ll give a glimpse of my journey in hopes it will help a little with your own.
The best thing I did starting out was to learn how others were doing it right. Real Estate Investing (REI) is not hard at all, but even small mistakes can be very costly due to the large sums of money involved. Most books I read and folks I studied under said the same thing, “Use proven methods and it will go smooth”. They were right. I read the books recommended on BiggerPockets.com, did the Rich Dad Poor Dad beginners course, and took a couple other short courses. I learned to analyze deals, proper due diligence procedures, manage rental properties, and tenant screening. So far, only two tenants have screwed me and those were the only two I let rent when they didn’t pass screening. I was a sucker for their sob stories. Make good protocols and stick to them and try not to let emotions make decisions.
Lots of people think owning rental property is hard. They have heard all the landlord horror stories. Keep in mind as you read on that I started all this while working my full time job as a network engineer, with lots of travel and doing scuba training and dive trips on the side. I am the furthest thing from a work-acholic, not exceptionally bright, and really enjoy my leisure time. REI is just not that hard or time consuming, if done right.
I started out by buying condo townhomes listed by HUD. This was in about 2011 when there where a lot of forecloses from the 2008 real estate crash that HUD had renovated. They were a good deal at only 10% down and turn-key ready to rent. I ended up with three of them. At about the same time, I moved from my existing home and rented that out. Once they all started cash-flowing, I bought a trailer on a lot close to Folly Beach. I had to pay all cash because you can’t get a mortgage on a trailer, but well worth it due to the location near the beaches.
After renting that trailer for about two years, I sold it at a profit and held the note creating some steady passive income.
I learned the key to good cash-flow with rentals is to get the max mortgage with the minimum down payment. Let the bank due most of the investing with me getting almost all the profit. Doing this allowed me to start accumulating cash for a bigger purchase.
I had a great real estate agent that knows exactly what investors are looking for and that is essential to success. There’s a big difference in buying investment property and a home to live in. My realtor found a great quadraplex for sale that was exactly what I was looking for. The more units in a property the better the cash flow. This property had a lot of differed maintenance and rents where way under market value. Immediately after purchasing, I started catching up on maintenance and building better tenant relations. The management firm hired by the previous owner did little maintenance, so the tenants wouldn’t bother reporting problems. I encouraged them to report problems and fixed them right away. By doing so, they didn’t mind as much when I raised their rent!
The quadraplex started cash-flowing within just a few months. Renovation time! When a tenant moved out, I would renovate that unit bringing it up to the standards of the surrounding community. This community was on the way up allowing for some decent upgrades. On a couple of the renovations I was lucky to have an existing tenant who’s lease was coming due and they wanted to stay, so I would offer them the newly renovated unit to get them out of their existing unit so that could be renovated. This worked very well. Didn’t take long to get all four units renovated and fully up to market value. To illustrate how well this plan works, when I first bought the building rents where at about $600/month and all the tenants hated the landlord. After only two years, rent was up to $1200 and all the tenants loved me. The old method of “slum lord” is not the best plan!
My first multi-family property
At this point in my investing career I have three townhomes, the quadraplex, and a note. Great cash coming in every month and lots of tax advantages. How could it possible get any better? I was about to find out.
Got a call one day from the mortgage broker that arranged the financing for the quadraplex asking me if I wanted to sell. I told him not really, but I’ve learned to hear out all offers. Turns out, the potential buyer is close to the time limit on a 1031 exchange. For readers that don’t know what a 1031 exchange is, it’s a way to defer taxes on the sale of a property by buying another one with the proceeds, but you have a limited amount of time between selling property and buying the next one. At the time, the market value of the quadraplex was about $400k. This guy didn’t want to dicker, so he offered $500k right off the bat. I could not turn that down.
So, bottom line for the quadraplex, in the two and and a half years I owned it, I cleared about $60k NET in rent and over $100k on the sale before taxes. Now with more cash in the bank, it’s on to other investments.
Thought I’d try some flips. Having enough cash now, I bought a single family house for cheap from a wholesaler. If you don’t know, wholesalers are those guys with the bandit signs all over saying, “We buy ugly houses for cash”. It needed major work, but I had a good crew. We did make a little profit on it, but not much because I have a tendency to want to make it right and nice. Our renovation costs where too high. But, it was beautiful and the buyer loved it!
After selling that one I made the funist mistake I’ve ever made. Bought an old Rosenwald School, the Nine Mile Fork School on Wadmalaw Island, SC. This one was built in 1929 and they are fairly rare. Go here to get the history:
After we freed the slaves in the US a lot of folks beleived they should not be educated. What could possibly go wrong? Fortunately, not everyone thought that way.
This is a “before” photo of the Nine Mile Fork School on Wadmalaw Island, SC.
My great team and I made this thing into a work of art. We restored the great room and bedrooms to keep the original woodwork and floors, but gave it luxury baths and kitchen. But again, I over did it. Our budget was $60k and the schedule was 6 months. actual cost was $114k and it took us two and a half years! My team made some money, but I personally took a lose. But no regrets at all as it was a true labor of love. Check out the finished product here:
With the cash I freed up selling the school house, I bought another quadraplex. Doing the same plan with it as the last one and it is working out well. I’ve renovated all four units and getting market rent.
The next project is even more fun. Purchased a seven-unit apartment building on the island of St. Croix in the USVI. It’s a block from the beach and walking distance to a lot of great restaurants, bars, and dive shops. We have it as a mixture of Short Term rentals (STRs) and Long Term Rentals (LTRs).
Bananaquit House at Dorsch Beach, St Croix
This was purchased with a 1031 exchange and a partnership. I sold all the townhouses tax free and used the profits for 50% ownership. I have a partner owning the other 50%.
So far it’s doing okay, but no profit yet. Parts and contractors are expensive on St. Croix and the salt air rots everything. We hope to hang on to it long enough to see some equity build up and some cash-flow from rentals. Now this one is really fun! I love deducting these business trips to the island off my taxes! Great scuba diving here, by the way 🙂
If you would like more info on my processes or anything about real estate investing, please leave a comment. I love talking about this stuff.
The Blog of Tim Schmitz 
Leave a comment