HighOnLife
Dryer sheet aficionado
Hello, I have been absent from this forum for many years, so thought I'd re-introduce myself. I'm a single male living in Kansas City. I just turned 44. My expenses are low. I have a mortgage that costs about 24K/year but other than that I don't spend money. I've done everything I want to do personally so don't feel the need to take fancy trips or acquire yet another fancy car. No kids. And KC is still a relatively low cost of living area.
My life over the last 11 years has been spent recovering financially from divorce. I'm now at a point where I consider that goal accomplished. I have a net worth of $2M, $1.6M of which is my investment portfolio, and $400K in my primary residence plus a few assets like sports cars and firearms. I include in my portfolio $880K in US equities and appx $726K of rental real estate equity.
In terms of stocks, I have simplified my portfolio to 85% US TSM and 15% SCV. Just this year I have added a few individual stock picks which are up, but which would not stress me out if they were down.
I carry 50K emergency savings in T-bills, but beyond that I treat the rental equity as fixed income. I manage these rentals myself. Last year, they yielded about $50K of net income. I added one more unit this year which has yet to be rented out. I've calculated that if I update each property and raise rents to present market values, I would take in $113K/year in gross rents, netting around $100K with careful management. This idea appeals to me, even though considering all the work I put into them I might be better to focus on my career and move rental equity into stocks.
I am self-employed, and skill-wise am at the top of my field. My income has averaged around 150K annually over the last fifteen years, often part-time hours, as lead designer/producer. I was primarily contracting for a creative agency in Chicago which self-sabatoged and finally closed down last year. I was the last to go. The demise was so crazy (and management so unprofessional) that I am considering just riding out my real estate portfolio and not looking back. For the first time, this is a real option. I suspect I'd do better to join a different team, and have a couple of leads. Creative Director positions are out there which start at $150K/yr. But for now I am coasting.
So it's a time of transition for me. I'm looking at everything from getting a low-cost MBA and starting my own agency, to staying semi-retired but doing artistic production on the side which would be personally fulfilling and yield only modest income. It has been an intense 11 years and for now the dust is settling.
My life over the last 11 years has been spent recovering financially from divorce. I'm now at a point where I consider that goal accomplished. I have a net worth of $2M, $1.6M of which is my investment portfolio, and $400K in my primary residence plus a few assets like sports cars and firearms. I include in my portfolio $880K in US equities and appx $726K of rental real estate equity.
In terms of stocks, I have simplified my portfolio to 85% US TSM and 15% SCV. Just this year I have added a few individual stock picks which are up, but which would not stress me out if they were down.
I carry 50K emergency savings in T-bills, but beyond that I treat the rental equity as fixed income. I manage these rentals myself. Last year, they yielded about $50K of net income. I added one more unit this year which has yet to be rented out. I've calculated that if I update each property and raise rents to present market values, I would take in $113K/year in gross rents, netting around $100K with careful management. This idea appeals to me, even though considering all the work I put into them I might be better to focus on my career and move rental equity into stocks.
I am self-employed, and skill-wise am at the top of my field. My income has averaged around 150K annually over the last fifteen years, often part-time hours, as lead designer/producer. I was primarily contracting for a creative agency in Chicago which self-sabatoged and finally closed down last year. I was the last to go. The demise was so crazy (and management so unprofessional) that I am considering just riding out my real estate portfolio and not looking back. For the first time, this is a real option. I suspect I'd do better to join a different team, and have a couple of leads. Creative Director positions are out there which start at $150K/yr. But for now I am coasting.
So it's a time of transition for me. I'm looking at everything from getting a low-cost MBA and starting my own agency, to staying semi-retired but doing artistic production on the side which would be personally fulfilling and yield only modest income. It has been an intense 11 years and for now the dust is settling.
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