Why I'm ALWAYS broke by the end of the year…$300,000 gone

Without even realizing it, I somehow nearly end up totally “broke” by the end of each year. It just happens. After it happening again this year, I realized I was subconsciously investing EVERYTHING I had left over by the end of the year and starting the new year off close to $0. This keeps me extremely motivated to continue working hard, AND keeps my money invested and continuing to grow. Enjoy!

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It started in 2011 when I began buying real estate. I dumped pretty much every penny I had saved up into buying rental properties and renovating them to rent out. At the end of 2011, I had maybe $1000 to my name by the time I was done. I was literally counting on the rent from one of the places to be able to pay for the expenses I had coming up…I also knew I had to work hard as a Real Estate agent to bump the savings up.

Same happened in 2012. I continued buying rental properties - I even sold my Lotus Elise, which was my dream car at the time, to buy a triplex in San Bernardino. And just like the year prior, I was broke by the end of the year after renovations and other random expenses.

Without this being a conscious decision, almost every year since then I’ve been broke by December 31st. I don’t even think this was something I intentionally set out to do, it just happened. Some years I’d max out retirement accounts, I’d buy another house, something would be renovated, I’d invest it in my real estate business with things that would bring me more future business.

But here’s how I view it. Money by itself is useless unless it’s invested and making you even more money. If you have $100,000 sitting in account, what is that good for? Unless you spend it on something useful, it just sits there. Sure, it’s peace of mind in case of an emergency, I think it’s important to still be smart about it and take the risks you are comfortable with, but beyond a certain point, money sitting is money losing interest to inflation. It’s a massive opportunity cost with money that could be earning you more money, but isn’t. So I make sure I invest AS MUCH AS I CAN every single year. I like to invest every last dollar I have left over, every single year. I want it all invested and stashed away. My goal in doing this is just to increase my passive income and grow my net worth. By doing this, and being left with almost nothing at the end of the year, it is the best motivation you’ll ever have.

When you have absolutely no other way out other than to make it work, you make it work.

It’s very important I mention not to be too risky here - there’s a fine balance between the risks your willing to take and what makes the most sense for your situation. For me, I can afford more risk because I have a lot to fall back on…I can afford and feel comfortable with more risk than the person who’s one paycheck away from being evicted and on the streets. That’s the difference. Be smart about it and know yourself and what your situation is. Don’t just invest it all if it means you can lose everything.

Suggested reading:

The Millionaire Real Estate Agent

Your money or your life

The Millionaire Real Estate Investor

How to Win Friends and Influence People

Think and grow rich

Awaken the giant within

The Book on Rental Property Investing