Comic book collectibles are a volatile investment strategy. Acquiring comics to collect for retirement planning is not something to be done on a whim. You need to know what you are doing. Comic book collectibles don’t gain or maintain their value like traditional financial investments. Collectibles aren’t tracked on financial indexes. However, some comic books […]
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“Millennial” is a seemingly dubious title, with the media blaming this age group as ruining just about everything from the wedding to the paper napkin industry–but we’re pretty stoked to find Mi…
Hey everyone! I have a success story to share. My primary care physician is retiring early next year! Wow, another reader escaping the rat race. That’s awesome. In 2012, I retired from my engineering career and had to find a new doctor closer to home. Amazingly, Dr. C recognized me from Retire by 40 when I walked in. FIRE was in its heyday back then. We talked a bit about early retirement, but quickly pivoted to healthcare. Dr. C has been a great primary care physician, but the healthcare system has made life more difficult for family doctors over the last few years.
Primary care physicians are overloaded with patients and their compensation is lower than specialists. They are also overburdened with paperwork and red tape. As a result, medical students are reluctant to become a family doctor. They have a ton of loans to pay off so it is better to specialize. That’s too bad because I like having a primary care physician. Dr. C is familiar with my healthcare history and kept me healthy for many years. Hopefully, I can find a good PCP next year. I heard it’s harder than ever to find a new doctor. The United States is facing a significant shortfall of primary care physicians.
Anyway, I want to give Dr. C some tips for a happy and successful early retirement. Dr. C is frugal, childless, and has a working spouse. We can safely assume Dr. C is well prepared financially. I think the bigger issue will be the transition to retirement. Retiring can be jarring at any age.
Stay busy
My best tip for Dr. C is to stay busy after retiring early. Most people think they’ll enjoy a relaxing retirement, but that is a fallacy. Sure, it’s fun to binge-watch Netflix and play video games all day on the weekend. However, you’ll be bored out of your mind if you do it every day. Most of us will feel useless and unfulfilled if we don’t do anything productive. This is especially true for early retirees. We are still young and we want to be useful.
It’s good to relax and unwind for a few months after a stressful career. However, early retirees need to plan for the future as well. You need to pick up some passion projects when you have more unstructured time. Staying busy is essential to a happy retirement. Here is what I did over the last 12 years.
SAHD, Blogging, and Side hustles
When I retired in 2012, I was very busy with my son. He was just 18 months old and required a ton of supervision. Being a stay-at-home dad to a little kid was exhausting, but I enjoyed it for the most part. RB40Jr and I had a lot of fun exploring Portland. (It was much nicer back then.) I kept up with blogging, but it was on the back burner until RB40Jr started school.
Once he started school, I had more time to myself and focused on blogging. It kept me busy and inspired many readers. I enjoyed sharing my journey. It is possible to retire early if you’re frugal and invest consistently.
I also took on some side hustles whenever I had extra time. I charged scooters and delivered food off and on for years. These side hustles kept me busy and reduced withdrawal. Working part-time after retirement can be very helpful. It keeps you from being bored and even a little income helps a lot. Although, I’ve been getting more picky lately. These days, I don’t leave the house for less than $30/hour.
Slowly approaching full retirement
All these activities kept me busy since I retired from my engineering career. However, they are all slowly wrapping up in their own ways.
RB40Jr is a teenager now and he doesn’t need me as much. I spend a lot of time taking him to various activities. But he is becoming more independent every day. Next year, he’ll be in high school and he can bike there. In less than 5 years, he’ll go off to college and my time as a SAHD will be over.
Blogging is my passion project, but it has slowed down tremendously over the last few years. Also, I’m less passionate about FIRE these days. We made it and we don’t stress about money anymore. I’m less careful about being frugal and earning extra income. We are older now and we want to enjoy life more. FIRE isn’t the primary consideration now. I think readers enjoy reading about the struggles more.
Lastly, I’m starting to get lazy with side gigs. These app-based side hustles pay well in the beginning, but the pay drops after they become established. It’s getting harder to make good money from Uber, DoorDash, and other app-based gigs. They have to be profitable so they squeeze the gig workers. These days, I only take catering orders. That pays anywhere from $20 to $50 per delivery, but you usually get only one order per day at lunch. That’s fine because an hour per day is enough work for me. However, I have been getting fewer orders lately. I turned down anything less than $30 and the algorithm probably put me on a of black list. Last week, I only delivered 1 order and made $40. I don’t mind working less.
Staying busy after retirement
So what will I do after all these activities are wrapped up? Will I finally relax and chill out by the pool? No way! I know staying busy keeps me happy. Besides, we don’t have a pool.
This quarter, I’m making pottery and playing ukulele at the local community center. Both of these activities are a lot of fun. They keep me busy and out of trouble. I’d love to set up a ceramic studio someday. Unfortunately, our home doesn’t have space. That will have to wait.
I’m also getting interested in bonsai. I made a few bonsai pots in my ceramic class and I’ll start some seedlings next spring. Life is full of possibilities. You just have to try new activities and see if you enjoy them. You’ll have a happier retirement if you have plenty of things to do.
That’s my advice to Dr. C. Relax for a few months, then look around for some new activities to try. You need to grow and learn new skills to have a fulfilling retirement. I’ll bring a catalog of the classes at the community center the next time I see Dr. C. There are so many activities to try. They even have a weaving class and metal shop for goodness sake. Volunteering is a good option too.
Do you have any advice for Dr. C? What do you think is the key to a happy retirement?
The post The Key to A Happy Early Retirement appeared first on Retire by 40.
It’s now the eleventh. This is quite possibly the latest I’ve ever posted my monthly Book Reading List.
Sadly, I only managed to read my son one book. He’s six now, and literate, so he can read to himself.
I did read eleven books to my four-year-old daughter.
Oh, and I read two books for myself.
Books I Read to My Children
The Book I Read to My Son
The only book I read to my son was Once Upon a Cool Motorcycle Dude.
He’s read plenty of books to himself, though.
Books I Read to My Daughter
And the eleven books I read to my daughter are:
- A Very Big Problem
- Fall Mixed Up
- I Ain’t Gonna Paint No More!
- I Love My Daddy Because…
- My First Book of Superpowers
- My Magical Friends Baby Phoenix Makes Friends
- My Magical Friends Fairy Rescue
- Splat the Cat and the Hotshot
- Splat the Cat and the Pumpkin-Picking Plan
- The Good Egg and the Talent Show
- The Last Leaf
The Books I Read for Me
I continued with the Foundation series with Foundation’s Edge. One more to go.
In recent months, Syfe made two announcements that piqued my interest as an investor who has been actively using their products and services for the past few years. In 2019, Syfe raised S$5.2 million, one of the largest seed rounds in Southeast Asia. This was followed by Series A Funding Round (US$18.6 million) in 2020 and Series […]
The post Syfe (Singapore) Is Profitable, Launches Early Employee Share Buyback appeared first on Turtle Investor.
Any business can become a six-figure business.
You’ll make tons of money if you do it right, no matter what business you start.
This might sound like a cliché, but if you can, just take a look at the “balance sheets” of some local businesses around you. Now, let’s make a bet.
An above-average bakery, plumbing business, or window cleaning service in your town is easily doing well above six figures.
And if we look at the top in any niche—whether it’s a restaurant, bakery, or roof repair—they’re all making over a million a year.
Am I right?
If I’m wrong, send me a message, and I’ll buy you a coffee!
Before we move on to other more serious business ideas, I would like to show you some GPT sites you can use to make money online in your spare time.
Freecash: Freecash is a new survey site where you can collect points by taking surveys, watching videos, and similar.
Survey Junkie: Survey Junkie is my go-to place to make money online in my spare time. All you have to do is answer surveys to earn cash and gift cards.
Swagbucks: Swagbucks is another massively popular rewards platform. Make money doing surveys, watching videos, and more.
InboxDollars: InboxDollars is a sister site of Swagbucks and lets you earn by uploading receipts, completing shopping offers and watching videos. It also has cash surveys, games, and a $5 sign-up bonus for new members.
Branded Surveys: Branded Surveys is an app like Survey Junkie. Share your opinion to get free gift cards and PayPal money! Share your opinion to get free gift cards and PayPal money!
Cashyy: Cashyy is an Android gaming rewards app that lets you earn PayPal money and a variety of gift cards for downloading and playing new mobile games. You’re getting paid to download mobile games and to play them. The more games you download and the longer you play, the more you earn.
Solitaire Cash: Solitaire Cash is an iOS and Samsung game that lets you play Solitaire for money. The app lets you compete in cash tournaments against other players of similar skill levels. Tournament games cost money to enter and pay anywhere from $1 to $55+.
1. Consulting Services
If you’re really knowledgeable in a certain area, like finance, management, or tech, you could start a consulting business. Companies are always looking for experts who can help them do better, like making their operations smoother or solving tough problems.
As a consultant, you could charge a good amount for your advice, especially if you’ve got a solid background and can show that your tips really work.
2. Becoming A YouTuber
Watching big YouTubers like Mr.Beast really shows how powerful YouTube can be. It’s a business that actually can make you over $100k.
If you start a YouTube channel, you’d make vlogs or videos about stuff you’re into or good at. Say you love gaming. You could share your gameplay videos and let people see how awesome you are at it.
Or, if you’re great at something like playing a guitar, you could make videos teaching others how to play.
Usually, YouTubers make something like $0.25 to $4 for every 1000 views on their videos. How much they earn also depends on things like geography of your audience, how much they interact, and so on…
Sure, getting your YouTube channel off the ground can be tough at first. But once you start getting more followers, it can really pay off.
3. Blogging
You’re reading Six Figure Blog, where we understand that blogs today are what print used to be.
As a blogger, your goal is to create interesting stuff for people to read and get them to visit your site. If you want to start a blog, think about what you want to focus on. Sticking to one topic initially helps manage your content quality, making it easier to attract dedicated readers and establish a reliable income stream.
Blogging is a bit like YouTube in how you make money. The more people who visit your site, the more views you get. And the more views you have, the more your earnings start to grow. Once you hit a decent number of pageviews, you’ll see your income really start to take off.
Please note that blogging isn’t a quick or easy path to making money. It takes a lot of time and effort to build up to any significant earnings.
4. Vending Machines
To hit around $100k a year, you’d probably need about five machines. But here’s the thing: finding a great spot to put them is the toughest part. Maintenance isn’t as tricky as you might think, but you do have to watch out for vandalism.
People usually go for junk food and familiar brands, so if you stock your machines with these, you’re on the right track.
If you manage to place your machines in decent spots (not even the best, just good ones), you could see them grossing about $300 and netting around $240 each. So, if you’ve invested in a $2,000 machine, you’re looking at breaking even in about 8-9 months.
Keep in mind, though, that sales can dip in the winter. People don’t hang out as much when it’s cold, so expect maybe half the usual income in those months, or even less if it’s a snowy area. I don’t have snow where I am, but it’s still slower.
As for machines in so-so locations, they might gross about $100 and net $70. It’s all about the location and what you’re selling.
Don’t miss: Starting a Vending Machine Business for Passive Income
Check out: 15 Best Franchises to Own for Passive Income
5. Dropshipping
I tried this myself—I spent $1,500 and made just $25. Like I said earlier, you’ll make money if you’re good at what you do.
I just don’t know how to work with Facebook ads, so my campaigns cost me a fortune, and the returns were practically zero.
Dropshipping is about helping businesses reach new customers on different platforms.
You act as a middleman. When someone buys a product from your online store, you order it from the supplier and use the customer’s shipping details. This way, the supplier handles the shipping, not you.
With dropshipping, you run an online store without the hassle of stocking up on products. You earn by connecting businesses with new customers, benefiting everyone involved
6. Freelance Writing
Freelance writing can be more profitable than you might think. For example, Tom Blake from This Online World earned $100,000 by writing for others.
The trick is, you’re not just charging for the writing. What you’re really getting paid for is all the knowledge and expertise you’ve built up over the years about your subject matter. That’s where the real value lies.
7. Sell Courses Online
If you’re selling a course online for $500, you only need 20 customers each month to make $10,000. Just like with freelance writing, you need deep knowledge or expertise that you can sell.
Good marketing skills are important to build a following. You’ve got to become sort of an influencer, someone who can effectively sell to their followers.
8. Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing is pretty straightforward: you promote a brand’s products and get people to click on product links. When someone buys something through your link, or sometimes just clicks on it, you get paid.
To get started, you’d reach out to a company that sells online. If they agree to work with you, they’ll give you a custom code.
You use this code when you promote their products, so they know the sales came from you. Then, when someone buys using your code, you earn money.
9. Plumbing Company
Here’s a business story from my town that might work in any other city.
There’s a plumbing company here that owns over 40 domain names related to plumbing. They’ve really nailed their online marketing strategy, dominating the first page of Google both through ads and organic search results.
Given their strong online presence, it’s hard to imagine they’re making anything less than seven figures.
10. Sell On Amazon
Some people, like our friend Cory Stout, make millions on Amazon, but most don’t. If we assume your gross margin is 10%, you’ll need to have $100k worth of goods sold at any given time in an Amazon fulfillment center to reach six figures.
If your shipping time to the Amazon warehouse is 15 days, you’d need two months’ worth of inventory, which amounts to $200k. This is a detail that many gurus selling courses on how to succeed on Amazon often leave out.
11. Electrician
Starting a small electrical business can definitely earn you $100k or more per year.
As an electrician running your own business, you have the opportunity to service a wide range of clients, from homeowners needing repairs to businesses requiring complex electrical installations.
12. ATM Machines Business
Similar to vending machines, this business can be quite profitable with relatively low maintenance, though securing prime locations is more challenging. To run a successful ATM business you need spots with high foot traffic.
To get these prime locations, you’ll either need a significant amount of cash to buy existing places or good connections to get new ones. The best locations are usually those with a constant flow of people, such as shopping centers, busy street corners, or warehouses with a lot of workers.
The initial investment can be substantial, but the potential for a steady income stream is there, especially in areas with high demand for cash access.
13. App Development
App development is a field with huge earning potential. You create mobile apps, either for clients or your own product.
Success hinges on user demand and effective monetization. Whether it’s a game, a productivity tool, or a lifestyle app, if your app meets a specific need or captures users’ interests, it can be highly profitable.
14. Real Estate Investment
Investing in real estate involves buying, renovating, and either selling or renting properties.
It requires market knowledge and some upfront capital, but can yield significant returns. Success in real estate often comes from understanding local market trends and managing properties efficiently.
15. IT and Cybersecurity Services
Businesses increasingly rely on technology, making IT and cybersecurity services essential. This field involves ensuring companies’ technological infrastructure is secure and functional.
With the rise in cyber threats, providing robust cybersecurity solutions can lead to substantial earnings. Profits come from both ongoing support contracts and emergency services.
More From Dollar Sanity:
12 Home Service Business Ideas That Work
16 Boring Business Ideas That Make Money You Can Start Today
10 Fun Things to Do That Actually Earn Money
The post 15 Six-Figure Business Ideas You’ll Actually Want to Try appeared first on Dollarsanity.
The stock market outlook remains in an uptrend, after a bullish response to U.S. election results and another rate cut by the FOMC.
There are many scholarships specifically for surviving spouses and children of fallen service members. The qualifications for each scholarship may be a little different, so be sure to check the details. This post is part of my ongoing Military Scholarships series. Check out the rest of the lists to make sure you’re taking advantage of… | Read More…
The post Military Scholarships for Surviving Spouses and Children appeared first on KateHorrell.
Send us a text Join us on Average Joe Finances as our guest Roy Snarr, a successful financial services entrepreneur, shares his compelling life story, detailing his challenging journey from a middle-class background to building a thriving financial services agency specializing in asset protection, life insurance, annuities, and long-term care. Gain insights into his strategies […]
The post Podcast 276. From Struggles to Financial Success with Roy Snarr appeared first on Average Joe Finances.
How much should you budget for Thanksgiving dinner? Find out how much to budget for holiday meals this year and get tips for cutting costs.
The post Options for Hosting a Holiday Dinner for Less appeared first on The Dollar Stretcher.