Redefining Retirement

Retirement...Redefined

If You Could Retire Today…Would You?

Tune in to a little sports on the weekend, maybe one of the golf majors, and you’ll quickly be inundated with commercials showing you glamorous couples in love and enjoying their golden years.  Ahh retirement.  Promises of travel, relaxation, hobbies and all the ways you’ll love spending that nest egg down the road.  Well, maybe way down the road.  Plenty of time to get there, right?  The 401k is doing ok.  At least it was the last time you checked.

Maybe later next week you can set aside some time to review your investments and see what retirement looks like.  It’s certainly not urgent.  After all, retirement is decades down the road, so why think about it right now? 

What we need to think about is getting that weekly report in tonight, or pulling together that information for the CPA, or hanging that new light fixture the wife wants installed.  Or if there’s any time, maybe we think about mowing the yard.  But…there probably won’t be any extra time.

Sound familiar?

Retirement is a daunting concept. It’s that massive stage of life looming out there. We don’t know where we’ll be or what we’ll be doing when we reach retirement, but we sure get shown lots of pictures of happy people playing golf and lounging by the beach and driving along the coast. So, maybe that’s what retirement is all about.

Maybe you feel a little guilt for not doing more to plan for retirement, yet it’s so far in the future, and such an overwhelming task, that it’s always something to put off till tomorrow, or the weekend, or next month. One of these days, you’ll have it all figured out, you’re sure of it. Maybe once you hit middle age, or once you at least pay off your kids’ college tuitions.

But stop right there. Nothing deserves the right to make you feel guilty about your life, not even your retirement.

So instead, let’s flip this whole thing on its head. Let’s reframe the entire concept of retirement.

Retirement 1.0

Traditionally, retirement has been a stage of life that comes near the end, once your kids are grown and out of the house, and once you’re too old to keep working. By that time, you’ll have poured over forty years of your life into a career. Your paychecks will likely have paid for your home, cars, some nice vacations and good educations for the kiddos.

Along the way, you’ve saved, let’s say, ten percent of your income every year, to put toward retirement planning.

By the time you reach retirement, you’re supposed to have saved enough to stop working and live off your savings for the rest of your life.  How long will that be exactly?

What If You Run out of Money?

What happens if you inherited the longevity gene from your great aunt Mary, and you live to be over one hundred years old? That’s potentially another thirty-five years after retirement!

Even if you have enough to last through the end, that amount will likely be much smaller than the amount you started with when you entered retirement, because you’ll be spending your savings during that time. There will be very little, if any, additional income coming in during your retirement.

Rather than accumulate more money, the typical goal of retirement is simply to enjoy your life, while not running out of money.

But this is, in fact, one of the most common fears about retirement. People worry that they’ll run out of money before they run out of life.  They’ll have to spend even more time working and earning and missing out on those rounds of golf with buddies.

And this fear makes total sense, when you think about retirement in the frame of this traditional model.

Rethinking Retirement 1.0

Let’s examine this from another angle. You know that cautionary tale about the squirrel who stores up acorns for winter? While his friends play all day, the squirrel works hard all spring, summer, and fall to store up enough acorns to last through the winter.

When winter comes, the squirrel can relax and enjoy the acorns he’s worked so hard to store up, while his friends, who didn’t think ahead, go hungry.

This is essentially the model of retirement we’ve all been taught. Save first, then spend.

But what if winter lasts longer than the squirrel had anticipated? Then the squirrel has to go back out to scrounge for food, even in the dead of winter.

What if, instead of spending all that time gathering acorns himself, the squirrel had devised ways for the acorns to accumulate automatically? (Don’t get caught up on the practicality of this hypothetical situation, just humor me for a minute.) Then, he could play with his friends during the best seasons of the year, have enough to last all winter, and potentially end the winter with more than he started.

This is the model of retirement I’d like to explore. Let’s call it Retirement 2.0.

Retirement 2.0
For a moment, let’s set aside the traditional model of retirement we’ve all been taught and reimagine retirement as it should be.

What if . . . we didn’t have to wait until the end of our lives for retirement?

What if . . . retirement could be something we could enjoy right now?

What if . . . we could be retired AND still continue working, but do what we love, not merely what we have to do?

What if . . . retirement wasn’t merely a stage of life but rather, a state of mind?

Now, this seems like a model of retirement that’s worth spending time on. This seems like a retirement that’s exciting, rather than daunting. This is a model of retirement I could get behind and enjoy spending time creating…instead that weekly report.

In order for this model of retirement to work, you have to imagine that you could find a way to generate income without you having to do anything (i.e., passive income).  You find ways to put your money to work – working for you and your family.

This additional income would cover your living expenses, or perhaps even more, making it possible for you to quit your job and start a new adventure, or continue working your job, but with the mindset that you get to do it, rather than have to do it.

Retirement 2.0 is not a stage of life that comes at the end, a last hurrah. Rather, it’s an ongoing part of your life. Retirement 2.0 allows you to replace your active income (from working your job) with passive income (that you make even while you sleep), so that you get to live the life you’ve always wanted, while your kids are still young, while you’ve still got your health, and while you can really enjoy the essence of life.

And not only that, Retirement 2.0 allows you to create a cash-flowing engine for ongoing income and wealth accumulation, so that, regardless of what you do, you’re generating income for your family. That way, at the tail end of your life, you’re continuing to generate more income, rather than worrying about spending it all.

But, of course, Retirement 2.0 is not easy to achieve. It requires work, ingenuity, and courage. It requires you to think outside the box, to hustle, and to dare to create your own path.

Retirement 2.0 is certainly not for everyone.

But if you’re ready to take life by the horns and to make retirement an active part of your life, read on, to learn about how to make Retirement 2.0 a reality.

Achieving Retirement 2.0

Retirement 2.0 requires you to think outside the box, challenge the conventional wisdom you’ve been brought up with, and try new things in an effort to achieve financial freedom.

Start by working backwards from the amount of money you need to live each month.

This is your freedom number.

Your mission now is to discover ways to generate this amount of money passively each month. The keyword here is passive. You’re not looking for another job to replace your current one. That’s called a career change, not retirement.

What you’re looking for are ways to generate income while you sleep.

If you haven’t done this before, it can seem like a completely foreign concept. Generate income while I sleep? That sounds like something right out of a late-night infomercial.

But believe me, once you get the hang of it, it’ll open up a world of possibilities you never even knew existed.

There are countless ways to generate passive income. Some people write books, some people create online courses and businesses, …and some people invest in real estate.

It is, of course, the last of those that has brought us to where we are, and Deaton Equity Partners to where it is – helping others create Passive Income. For life!

Through investing in real estate, we generate income while we play!

Regardless of what we do that month – working overtime or hiking in the Rockies – that distribution check comes in regularly, like clockwork.  My fish keep piling up, and I don’t even need my fishing pole anymore.

Each piece of real estate I’ve invested in generates income on my behalf and contributes to my freedom number.

As long as I hold the real estate, it continues to generate income.  It’s money coming in each month, rather than money going out, which makes it possible for retirement to be part of my life now, rather than down the road.

To Retirement, and Beyond!

As I mentioned, there are many, many ways to generate passive income. It can be difficult to take that initial leap, to think outside the box, and to get started.

But once you do, that little passive income snowball will keep getting bigger and bigger, and soon, you’ll spend all your time on your retirement, and no time at all weekly reports.

If you’re interested in leveraging passive real estate investments on your journey to your Retirement 2.0, a great place to start is by joining the Deaton Equity Partners Passive Investor’s Group.  We provide additional resources and investment opportunities to accelerate your retirement and get you living your best life now.

Here’s to retirement!

Which Investor Type Are You

The Beginner’s Guide to Investing In Real Estate Part 2

Which Types Are Best for You?

There are TONS of ways in which to get started investing in real estate. Everything from crowdfunding sites to residential real estate fix and flips to commercial storage units and office buildings are at your fingertips if you know where to look.

This is also why, as a beginner in the whole wide world of real estate investing, you might feel overwhelmed. However, with a little guidance, you’ll be able to narrow down which types of investments suit your lifestyle, financial goals, and personality best.

In our last article, The Beginner’s Guide to Investing in Real Estate: How to Get Started, we walked through gaining a macro-view of your current life situation, determining your why, deciding how hands-on you desire to be, assessing your risk tolerance, and even learning how much money you’re ready to invest.

Ultimately, it’s likely that, after slogging through those six soul-searching steps, you fall into one of the groups below.

You Likely Fall Into 1

of These Categories

 

  • The Lots of Money / Little Time / Hands-off Investor
  • The Little Money / Little Time / Hands-off Investor
  • The Little Money / Plenty of Time / Hands-on Investor
  • The Lots of Money / Plenty of Time / Hands-on Investor

Ready to learn which investments fit each type of investor?

Let’s go!

The Lots of Money / Little Time / Hands-off Investor

 

If you’re someone who fits predominantly into this category, it’s likely you’ve been saving a while or investing in the stock market since the day you received your first paycheck. It’s also possible that the tax breaks, passive income, and potential positive impact your real estate investments can make on a community are attracting your attention.

However, you’re a very busy individual – maybe with a family or in the prime of your career or both! You haven’t got the time to research neighborhoods and markets or tour properties, much less to actively renovate or manage a property.

–> Recommendation: Become a Passive Investor

For investors with the money to invest but not enough time on their hands to manage the property and get the maximum returns, passive real estate investments are the ticket. You can invest passively through turnkey rental properties or commercial real estate syndications.

Turnkey Rental Properties

Turnkey rental properties are smaller scale and as simple as they sound. You purchase a to-be rental property, ready to go, with minimal involvement or work needed. It’s even possible to hire a small scale property manager and you can enjoy some cash flow, albeit usually small, very quickly.

Commercial Real Estate Syndications

Another opportunity lies in group investments where money is pooled together to buy a large piece of commercial real estate property – a.k.a. a syndication.

Syndicators do all heavy lifting from the research and analyzing markets to meeting brokers, hiring contractors, overseeing the business plan, communications and much more. They find commercial real estate properties they think would be an awesome investment and then orchestrate the deal, the renovations, operations of the property, and usually a few years down the road, the sale of the property.

This is where investors like you come in. You rely on the syndicators’ time, expertise, and partnership team. Meanwhile, your money is invested, and every quarter you receive a distribution check – your portion of the returns earned on the asset. Plus, when the property sells after the hold period, you receive a part of the sale’s profits.

Overview of These Types of Real Estate Investments

What you put in
Investment dollars

What you leverage
Other people’s time and expertise

What you get
Ongoing passive income, confidence knowing your money is being put to good use by an experienced team, tremendous tax advantages and an equity stake in real estate.

The Little Money / Little Time / Hands-off Investor

In contrast, if you don’t have a large pool of money or time to spend investing in real estate (yet!), but are attracted to real estate as a way to build such wealth, there are options for you too!

One of the best ways to get started investing in real estate with little capital is using crowdfunding sites.  Another clever way is to find some friends or family and pool your money into a larger sum in an LLC created to invest in a property.

–> Recommendation: Invest through a real estate crowdfunding site


Just as Kickstarter funds new products, there are real estate crowdfunding sites where people can pitch in low amounts of capital toward commercial real estate projects. The difference? Crowdfunded commercial real estate pays cash dividends instead of t-shirts and sneak peeks of the product’s prototype.

Real estate crowdfunding sites are open to public use, typically have low initial investment requirements, and are available to both accredited and non-accredited investors.

Overview of These Types of Real Estate Investments

What you put in
Your money (in small amounts)

What you leverage
Crowdfunding platforms, experienced deal sponsors, strength in numbers (i.e., lots of people all putting in small amounts of money)

What you get
A variety of choices on crowdfunding platforms and real estate projects, ability to invest with very little capital, various project types and project lengths to suit your investment goals

 

The Little Money / Lots of Time / Hands-on Investor

So, you’re interested in real estate, but cash isn’t exactly “flowing” in your life right now. That’s okay, because if you’re willing to roll up your sleeves, there are still ways you can make your first investment in real estate.

You still have something of value to bring to the table – sweat equity. This means you’re willing to spend the time and effort to find properties, devour the paperwork, rehab the property (maybe personally), and make your passion for real estate become create cash.

Your Strengths, Interests, and Goals

If the above describes you, take a moment to identify your strengths and passions. Does the thrill of hunting for deals interest you the most? Is the renovation planning and execution process exciting to you? Maybe you’re a numbers nerd and can’t wait to analyze the trends and markets of each neighborhood?

Additionally, what are you in it for? Long term equity or short-term capital?

Here are some of the most common ways you can invest in real estate with little money and lots of time.

–> Recommended Real Estate Investment Strategies

1) Fix and Flips

This is where you buy a run-down piece of property, fix it up, and then sell it for a profit – just like it sounds! Fix it.  Flip it.  If you don’t have cash for a down payment, short-term private loans might be an option. You just need a few months to a year or complete the renovations. Then when the property sells, you pay off your loans and pocket the profits.

2) The BRRRR Strategy

I hate to break it to you, but no, BRRRR doesn’t mean it’s cold in here. BRRRR stands for buy, renovate, rent, refinance, and repeat. It’s a lot like the fix and flip strategy except that you hold onto the asset for a longer term.

If you took out a private loan to cover the down payment, you pay off that loan during the refinance step of the process. If done correctly, the value of the property after renovations/repairs will be significantly higher than the purchase price. This abrupt upward appreciation will allow you to do a cash-out refinance and pay off any loans you took to buy the property.

3) Wholesaling

If you’re a good networker and are able to find “off-market” deals, you may be able to get a property under contract at a low price. Then, while under contract and before the purchase is complete, you wholesale it to another buyer at a higher price. The difference between the two purchase prices goes in your pocket.

4) House Hacking

Depending on your local market, you may be able to get your foot in the proverbial real estate door via house hacking. This is where you buy a property with 2-4 units, you live in one of them, and you rent out the other units. The rental income received from other tenants pays your mortgage. Sweet!

5) Real Estate Crowdfunding Sites

Crowdfunding sites are a great place to start learning about real estate syndications without the pressure of running one (yet!). You can learn to find and compare deals, research sponsor teams’ track records, and learn what to expect in a syndication deal as far as communication and returns for investors.

Overview of These Types of Real Estate Investments

What you put in
Your time

What you leverage
Other people’s money

What you get
Firsthand experience, potential for high returns on very little cash investment

The Lots of Money / Lots of Time / Hands-on Investor

Um, can we be best friends? 😊

You’re in a fantastic position to make your money grow exponentially.

–> Recommendation: Lead commercial real estate syndications


If you’d like to be an active investor, leading your own syndications puts you in the driver’s seat. You get to find the deals, assemble the team, raise the capital, and have a say in the day-to-day operations. The choice is yours to go it alone as the syndication lead or to partner with others and create a syndication business.

–> Recommendation: Become a passive investor in commercial real estate syndications


You also have the option to be a passive investor who’s extremely active in finding and vetting deals for real estate syndicators or private equity firms.

Savvy passive investors know the lingo and have some basics down about deal structures and underwriting. Any investment can look great in a fancy marketing packet, but only savvy investors will know the right questions to ask and be able to reveal details about the deal and the team.

Overview of These Types of Real Estate Investments

What you put in
Your money and your time

What you leverage
The power of others’ expertise, time, and money to help you go bigger, faster

What you get
The freedom to carve your own path and maximize how hard your money is working for you

 

 

Summary

 

This article just threw a ton of information at you, and even though it was separated into categories, an overview might do you some good.

Before reading this, we hope you took some time to identify your investing goals, your current life stage, your risk tolerance, and your investing goals, as outlined in The Beginner’s Guide to Investing In Real Estate: How to Get Started.

From there, it’s likely you fell into one of four categories. Within each group, beginner investors have multiple opportunities to get started on their real estate investment journey. Our suggestions for real estate investment opportunities per investor-type are as follows:

The Lots of Money / Little Time / Hands-off Investor

Consider investing passively in commercial real estate syndications

The Little Money / Little Time / Hands-off Investor

Consider investing small amounts through real estate crowdfunding sites

The Little Money / Lots of Time / Hands-on Investor

Lots of options: Fix and flip, BRRRR method, wholesaling, house hacking, crowdfunding, and more

The Lots of money / Lots of time / Hands-on Investor

Active: Consider leading your own commercial real estate syndication

Passive: Invest through real estate crowdfunding sites or directly through syndicators and private equity firms

 

Conclusion

 

All in all, there are real estate investment opportunities for every type of investor, at every stage of life, with any range of available capital and time freedom. Once you’re able to identify which investor type you are at this time in your life, you can see the opportunities within that category and how they make sense for you.

One common misconception is that you need a decent amount of capital saved up in order to get started investing in real estate. The options presented above, coupled with The Little Money investor type, debunked that myth!

Now, I encourage you, don’t wait a minute longer. Get started toward becoming a real estate investor by taking action on one of the passive or active investment opportunities described above, according to the category in which you best fit.

We look forward to chatting with you in the near future about our syndication opportunities. It’s a fabulous way to create Passive Income…for life!

 

In addition to the ideas just presented, you can amplify your journey with the following resources: 

  • EXPLORE more about the power of passive real estate investments in our section of other blogs and videos.
  • SIGN UP for our newsletter for passive income-related content delivered right to your inbox
  • JOIN our Passive Income Investors Group to gain access to multifamily investment opportunities and more behind the scenes content

How to Get Started in Real Estate Investing

The Beginner’s Guide to Investing In Real Estate

– How to Get Started –

One of the most common questions I get when speaking to others about what I do is: “What’s the best way to get started investing in real estate?”

Let me tell you, there are near countless ways to invest in real estate and thinking about just how to get started can certainly be overwhelming.

After being on our own journey for many years and doing massive amounts of research, study and networking, we decided to put together this quick guide that will help you understand your situation, uncover what you’re looking to achieve and reveal the best way to get started.

In this guide, we’ll explore:

 

  1. Your 50,000 foot View of Where You Are
  2. Your “Why”
  3. Just How Hands-on You Want To Be
  4. Your Risk Tolerance
  5. The Amount You Want To Invest
  6. Which Type of Real Estate Investor You Are

 

Step 1: Get a Bird’s-eye View of

 

Your Current Situation!

 

Prior to investing a sizeable amount of money into real estate, it’s critical to have a clear-eyed view of your situation – what you’ve been through, where you are currently and build an expectation of what is yet to come.

Life stages are significant and impactful factors in our lives.  You could be a young adult, just getting out on your own; a new graduate starting out in the workforce; mid-career with a growing family; or getting ready to retire.

What is your financial situation and what are you seeking from your investments? Perhaps you’re looking for a large, one-time payout, or maybe you’re interested in smaller, ongoing interest income. Do you have any amounts in mind like how much you want to invest, how much you’d like to earn, or what your financial freedom number is?

Getting a 50,000 foot view of your current situation and answering these potentially tough questions about yourself will help you assess the amount of risk you’re willing to face, how aggressive your investment strategy should be, and the timeframe in which you need to see returns.

 

Step 2: Know Your Why!

 

There are potentially thousands of ways you can get involved in real estate investing (house hacking, mobile home parks, syndications, Airbnb’s, corporate housing, just to name a few). In almost every opportunity, you stand to make some money.

Shiny object syndrome is real and can have you frantically leaping from one opportunity to the next, only to discover that this one takes too long, that one is too hands-on, and the one before that was too passive.

This is why it’s so important to drill in to your personal reasons for investing – your WHY. Take some time to really understand your motivations; be clear on what you want to do with the returns you’ll make; ID your personal and financial goals; and identify what you’re looking to get through investing.

Do you want to create passive income so you can quit your job and spend more time with your spouse and kids? Are you interested in becoming a landlord and managing property full time? Are the tax benefits of real estate most attractive to you? What do you really want?

Becoming firm in your reasoning and goals before investing will help you avoid shiny object syndrome and the stress it causes down the road.

 

Step 3: Decide How Hands-on

 

You Want to Be

 

I won’t believe you if you tell me you haven’t seen those HGTV shows where they take a broken-down junker of a house with mold and rotted floors and then, wa-lah!, they turn it into a magazine cover-worthy, gotta-have-it hot property with irresistible curb appeal.

If you’re vying to be the one busting drywall and exploring the crawl spaces, you are perhaps a more hands-on investor. It’s physically tough, yet gratifying work.

If meeting unexpected critters and wearing goggles while sloshing dirty toilet water on your shoes makes you cringe, thankfully, the world of real estate investing has passive, hands-off investment options for you.

This is a pivotal decision in the process, so take your time and really determine just how hands-on you prefer to be when it comes to your real estate investments. Be sure to consider your current situation, your why, the time you have on hand, and your financial goals.

 

Step 4: Assess Your

 

Risk Tolerance

 

All investments – stocks, mutual funds, real estate, and even gold – come with risk. Along these same lines, every bit of risk correlates with the potential reward. The adage is that high-risk investments come with higher potential payouts, and low-risk investments tend to have a lower opportunity for profit.

As an example, a new construction highrise in a transitioning area may be riskier while an existing apartment building with current tenants might present lower risk. Real estate investment components always include physical assets and tenants, along with many other moving parts, and there are often ways to mitigate risk. But, there is always the risk of a total loss.

If the idea of potential losses makes you wince, you should consider beginning with smaller amounts of money so you can learn the ropes and gain confidence. Your returns will come in the form of experience and education at first, and with time, as you grow your capital, the financial returns will come around.

 

 

Step 5: Determine the Amount

 

You Want to Invest

 

Now that you clearly understand your current life situation, financial and time-commitment goals, and the risks you’re willing to take, you can begin to think about just how much money you’re ready to invest.

Hopefully I don’t have to explain why you shouldn’t plop your entire life savings at any investment opportunity (I know someone who did and it didn’t go so well). Nonetheless, I will let you know you should begin with a modest amount you’re comfortable not being able to access for about five years. Your finances should be set up so that all your current living expenses are entirely covered, you have separate savings for emergencies, and that you have additional resources for income and expenses for at least six months into the future.

When you begin to review investment deals, you’ll also want to pay attention to the investment’s exit strategies, just in case you need to get your money out sooner than expected.

 

Step 6: Decide Which Type of

 

Real Estate Investor You Are

 

Finally, here’s where we get to put it all together. At this point, you’ve evaluated where you are, how hands-on you want to be, how risky you want to play, and how much money you’re willing to invest. With this information, you can narrow the types of investments that best fit your lifestyle and goals.

Most likely, you fit into one of these groups:

  • The Lots of Money / Little Time / Hands-off Investor
  • The Little Money / Little Time / Hands-off Investor
  • The Little Money / Plenty of Time / Hands-on Investor
  • The Lots of Money / Plenty of Time / Hands-on Investor

Within each of these groups, you might pursue a narrowed-down handful of opportunities that will allow you to best use the assets at your disposal – your time and your money. For example, hands-on investors with lots of time can invest in Fix and Flips, wholesales, house-hacks, or even leading their own syndication deal. In contrast, hands-off investors without much time are more suited for commercial real estate syndications and crowdfunding investment sites.

 

Conclusion

 

Investing in real estate is as big of an endeavor and as exciting as you thought it was, which means it can also be overwhelming. As you can see, there are many ways to begin investing in real estate. It will be easiest for you to determine your own, personalized approach by clearly answering the questions presented above, step-by-step.

We’ve also pulled together more about the investor group types and the investment opportunities that fit each investor’s category here in The Beginner’s Guide to Investing in Real Estate pt.2

You can begin investing in real estate with just a few hundred or a few thousand dollars, learning along the way, and slowly building up your knowledge about real estate investments and your capital. Don’t be afraid to fail, though, because even the most successful real estate investors have lost money somewhere. They are “successful” now, though, because they kept going.

Here’s to continued learning, doing and creating Passive Income…for life!

In addition to the ideas just presented, you can amplify your journey with the following resources: 

  • EXPLORE more about the power of passive real estate investments in our section of other blogs and videos.
  • SIGN UP for our newsletter for passive income-related content delivered right to your inbox
  • JOIN our Passive Income Investors Group to gain access to multifamily investment opportunities and more behind the scenes content