Part of becoming financially independent is to create a team around you that will help you achieve success. The purpose of these interviews is to help you get to know people who are doing the right things to become financially independent. Our goal is that you will find people that will inspire you to do better. Their stories will vary, but all will have something to say that will help you in your own personal journey.
Today’s interview is with Ben.
Personal
Name: Ben D.
Age: 27
Your home location: Provo
Career/Source of regular income: Business owner and college teacher
What do you do for fun? Play with my kids, play sports, geek out over personal finance
Success Tips
What has led to your success?
I think the biggest thing has been learning as much as I can. I read books, blogs, articles, etc. and try to soak up as much as possible. That’s actually how I started with the concept of FI, by stumbling on a blog. But it’s not just reading, it’s actually applying what I read.
Advice to people trying to achieve success?
Don’t look at it as a sprint, view it as a marathon. It takes time and patience to get to where you want to be. Set goals with measurable actions and track your progress. I have spreadsheets with three years of tracking our money. It’s fun to look back and see how far we’ve gotten the past three years, and it motivates us to keep going.
Read. A lot. The more I read, the more I learn and become successful. Even if you don’t want to read, listen to audiobooks or podcasts. There’s so much information out there.
Don’t do it alone. Get a support system and help each other reach your goals.
How do you measure success?
For me, success is when I accomplish a goal. It may be a small goal like to read one article daily, or a huge goal like buying an investment property. I like to focus on the small daily “wins” and allow those to accumulate to one big accomplishment. It’s the little things that add up.
What are your success habits?
In terms of personal finance, I’ve found my best habit to be to check and keep track of our personal finance on a regular basis. It helps us succeed when we know where our money is going.
Financial Independence/Retirement Plans
What does financial independence (FI) mean to you?
The common definition is when your passive income exceeds your monthly income. To me, that is the ultimate goal because it means I am free to explore life the way I want to. I’m the type of person that gets bored easily with just one thing and it would drive me insane to have the same job day in and day out for 40 years. To be financial independent means I am able to shift gears when I want to try something new without any implications on providing for my family.
Do you have plans for financial independence/retirement?
It’s my goal to be financially independent by 40 years old.
Why do you want to achieve retirement/financial independence?
I’ve never been a fan of having someone or something control my life and my everyday schedule. I love the concept of being free to enjoy life doing things I’m passionate about with the people I want to be with. I’ve never had a full-time “9-to-5” job and it’s my plan to keep it that way and instead use that time to .
If you had to start over, what’s the most important thing you would focus on?
I would have started saving and investing earlier at a younger age. My wife grew up in a thrifty family and already had solid personal finance principles when we married and had a strong savings account and no debt. My single days were full of spending every penny I earned and I didn’t have any savings and had some debt. It wasn’t until about a year into our marriage that we really started going beyond just saving money in the bank. We paid off all my debt and opened retirement accounts and started investing in properties. I really think if we had known what we know now back when were single, we would be much more ahead and could be financially independent much earlier than 40.
I would specifically focus on tracking my spending/knowing where my money was going and opening a retirement account earlier.
What tips do you have for others who want to grow their income?
Learn as much as you can and just do it. If it’s side hustling, investing, getting a raise, sales, whatever, become the best you can be and don’t be afraid to fail. I hate failing, but I love learning from my failures and figuring out how to improve.
Do you have any sources of income besides your career? If so, can you list them?
We own three rental properties and I own a business. We also do independent contractor work for various companies whenever we can.
Do you have a budget? If so, how do you implement it?
I used to have a budget with my wife when we first married. After about 3 years of observing our spending habits, we have been able to fall in a groove and no longer stick to a budget. We still meticulously track every penny we spend.
What is your investment philosophy/plan?
Right now, we’re focusing on retirement accounts and property investing. We max out our ROTH IRAs every year. My wife has a 401(k) at her work that we put 10% of her income in every month. We’ve bought three properties in the last three years and are focusing on a “snowball” with our rental income and we hope to be able to build a solid portfolio of cash flowing properties.
Do you give to charity? Why or why not? If you do, what percent of time/money do you give?
We donate at least 11% of our income. We strongly believe in giving back to the community. We’ve been fortunate to be in the situation we are and to be in a position to give back.