Can You Really Fire Your Boss in 90 Days or Less?

Before I answer the question, “Can you really fire your boss in 90 days or less?” I need *you* to answer a question for me:

QUESTION: Do you work in a high stress job you don’t enjoy… or for a boss you don’t respect… do you often pray for a snow day, a sick day, Friday or any day but Monday?

At one time or another we’ve all stayed in toxic jobs. Are we masochists? No.

The reason we squander our gifts, and sometimes even our health, comes down to one word: MONEY.

Obviously we all need money. Yet our attitudes about money — where it comes from and what to do with it vary tremendously. Working for a salary is one way.

But even if you make a very good salary, it’s not the path to wealth and it’s certainly not your ticket to freedom.

Demystifying Financial Freedom

In his best-selling book Rich Dad, Poor Dad: What the Rich Teach Their Kids About Money That the Poor and Middle Class Do Not!, Robert Kiyosaki says there are two different approaches to money.

He uses the metaphor of his two dads to explain the differences — one of which will allow you to fire your boss in 90 days or less… the other pretty much ensures a life time sentence in job jail.

Poor Dad

• Whenever you work for a salary you are unwittingly demonstrating the money mentality of a “poor dad.”
• The poor dad is preoccupied with things like job security, Social Security, vacation and sick leaves, company insurance and salary raises and promotions.
• The thinking here is that you need to work hard to have enough money to pay the bills.

In other words, if you approach money from the mentality of the poor dad, you will never fire your boss, because you need him or her for security. You will also never be free.

Rich Dad

• Rich dads do not approach money from the perspective of security. Rather they approach money from the mindset of “opportunity.”
• The goal of the rich dad is not to pay the bills but to be financially self-sufficient.
• If you really want to achieve true wealth, Kiyosaki says you must strive for ways to become your own boss and nurture your own businesses or in his words, you need to “mind your own business” and not your employers.
• The Rich Dad’s approach is not to “make” money. It’s to make one’s money work for him.
• One of the best ways to make your money work for you is to accumulate assets in the form of real estate. In Kiyosaki’s case that meant starting small, gradually trading his properties for bigger ones and then delaying paying taxes on capital gains by using the tax code to his advantage.

If that sounds either intimidating, or given your current financial situation “impossible,” hang with me.

Move Over Donald Trump

This notion of there being a Rich Dad approach to money came alive to me two years ago when I ponied up $18,000 to be in one of Yanik Silver’s Mastermind groups. It was a lot of money.

But, I also knew from my previous experience being in a Mastermind group with Jeff Walker that being in the company of successful entrepreneurs really ups your game… mentally and financially.

It was hard not to notice that a quarter of the members in Yanik’s Mastermind — and the most financially successful ones — were all in the real estate investment business. I was inspired.

Trust me, I am no real estate mogul. But after happily pouring over real estate listings for years I finally took the plunge last December and got my first investment property.

The house had sat vacant for two years. The pipes burst (along with one toilet). It had hideous gold shag carpet. The kitchen ceiling had caved in. The vinyl siding was chipped. There was a bizarre “walk through” closet where a wall was smashed. The place was a mess.

BEFORE

But where others saw disaster, I saw opportunity.

A five bedroom, three bath house with a fenced in yard in a decent neighborhood. I watched the price drop three times in six months before it went to $99,000.

I figured most people would come in low. So I offered $101,000… and I got it!

It took two months, a lot of sweat equity, and about $35,000, but today it looks great! I had all the carpets taken out and refinished the floors. I created a laundry room. I landscaped. And, you can’t tell from this photo, but I stripped the mahogany banister.

Not only did I love the design aspect of picking out paint colors and fixtures, but I discovered I’m a pretty good general contractor! (Tip: Always get three estimates for everything and, whenever possible, pay based on time and materials vs. hard estimates).

If I don’t rent it to photography students at the nearby Hallmark Institute next year, I may try my hand at furnishing the place and creating a short-term stay “hotel” type rental. I love thinking creatively about how to monetize the place!

I also admit that the working class, re-use/environmentalist, “love a good deal” part of me is far more energized at finding and fixing up a fabulous $10 bureau at a tag sale (or better yet plucking “free” stuff homeowners leave on the side of the road!) than going to Ikea and buying everything new.

AFTER

For now, the house is rented it to a wonderful family who’d been burned out of their home two days after Christmas. The couple, the mother-in-law, and three kids are thrilled because the kids can stay in the same school system while their home is being rebuilt.

Positive cash flow is $600 a month. Come January, I expect that to be $800.

Honestly, there are a lot easier ways I could make $600-$800 a month. But when you consider this is on top of other people paying off the mortgage for me… it’s a great retirement vehicle and one that feels a whole lot more stable right now than the stock market.

You Don’t Have to Be “Rich” or Savvy to Invest in Real Estate

With the exception of my friend Ange (who was my inspiration for jumping into real estate), everyone else I know who are savvy about real estate investing are men.

Not surprisingly, they’re also all quite wealthy. Every one of them have second homes in very cool places and take a lot of time off for vacations.

I’m tired of seeing women especially struggling to make money. Actually, let me rephrase that. I’m tired of seeing bright women shy away from making money out of fear.

I get the fear part. I come from a very long line of “play it safe in your job” people. No one in my family was exactly “encouraging” about me buying this house.

But again, where they saw danger, I saw opportunity.

And if you want to change course to be your own boss, then you have to start stretching yourself to think like an entrepreneur. And entrepreneurs (like rich dads) are all about seeing and seizing opportunity.

It doesn’t take guts to invest in real estate. What it take is information. For example, you may be thinking, “I don’t have a down payment for a house!” Maybe not. But you may have money sitting in a 401k. And did you know that you can use that money to invest in real estate just as you would in a mutual fund?

The more you know the less scary anything is – and that includes investing in real estate.

That’s why I asked my friend and former Mastermind buddy Terry Wygal to lead a Webinar to educate you on what it takes to get into real estate investing and how to start earning money fast. Terry would know.

Me with my Mastermind buddies in 2008.
That’s the always smiling Terry in the blue shirt to my left.

In April 2000 Terry took a bold leap of faith and quit his high-paying, high-stress corporate job to become a full-time real estate investor.

Since then he has bought and sold over 150 houses, establishing himself as an expert in the real estate field and earning him a solid reputation in the real estate investment community.

He’s also helped free a whole lot of people from job jail. Or as Terry likes to say, “Fire your boss in 90 days or less!”

I’m a big fan of learning my example. So, in addition to walking you through the various systems he uses to make money in real estate, I’ve asked Terry to tell you about the single mother of three who he showed how to not only fire her boss in less than three months but come close to earning six-figures in less than 4 months of investing in real estate.

Hey if she can do it, so can you!

“But I Don’t Have Enough Money”

When you’re working for a salary, it’s easy to let opportunity pass you by with the excuse, “But I can’t afford it.” Maybe you can and maybe you can’t.

However, I was really struck by the part in Kiyosaki’s book when he talks about being younger and complaining to his rich dad that he could hardly afford to buy anything on his then salary. Instead of dwelling on how low his wages were, his rich dad tells him that he should ask, “How can I make more money?”

Asking yourself “How can I make more money,” he says, stimulates the brain to take action. When someone says, “I can’t afford it,” his or her brain stops working. It therefore kills initiative and promotes passivity.

I couldn’t “afford” to invest $18,000 in Yanik’s Mastermind — or for that matter the $27,000 (gulp) I recently invested to be in another Mastermind. But I’ve learned that investing in your education, is really investing in a better financial future.

So, instead of saying, “I can’t afford to invest in real estate” ask instead, “What can I do to afford to invest in real estate.” Then listen and learn to see how even you just may be able to fire your boss in 90 days or less!

Join Terry Wygal and I on Monday, July 19th at 8:30pm Eastern for

How to Fire Your Boss in 90 Days or Less:
Demystifying Real Estate Investing with
Real Estate Expert Terry Wygal

We only have 500 lines for the Webinar and I fully expect these to fill.