There have been multiple influences on my desire to achieve financial freedom.

I’ve been financially conscious since I was a kid.

My folks did a pretty good job giving my siblings and I a solid financial education.

It started with learning to save our pennies.

Then, we played lots of Monopoly.

Eventually, my Dad bought “Cashflow for Kids”. We spent numerous Sunday afternoons on that game as I grew up.

My Dad’s Business

Yet, the earliest spark was my Dad’s own efforts to start a business. He left his job and decided to be the pioneer that brought a company to Arizona.

He was making phone calls, and buying business cards, and letterhead. He was always at his desk, typing busily away at his laptop. He would run off to meetings and was just immersed in a way that caught my admiration.

At one point, he had a bunch of cardboard from something he had set up in the office. Being the artsy kid I was, I thought one of the cardboard inserts looked like my dad’s laptop. I drew a little screen and keys on it.

Dad helped make the other pieces into a mini cubicle. Whenever he was on the phone, I would pretend that I was typing away at the computer and working in the little office just like he did.

Maybe the business didn’t make it past 2008, but the impression it left on me will never be forgotten.

Learning to see Opportunity:

In addition to playing pretend, my siblings and I were opportunists. We would often go around the neighborhood selling treats, jewelry, and toys to our neighbors.

I knew that if I had something pretty, yummy, or somehow desirable, there was someone who would pay for it.

My personal best was during the winter time in 4th grade. My mom had started buying a bunch of the dollar tree dinner mints. I loved them, so I’d sneak a bunch to school and enjoy them throughout the day.

Every time I had mints on hand, the other kids would ask for some. So, I started sneaking mints to school everyday, and kids would trade their lunch money for them.

My parents asked where I kept getting money from. I’d bring home anywhere between a quarter and a few dollars a day.

“I found it on the ground.” I’d say with a grin. If it was an individual coin, that was usually true. However, I was actually the school mint dealer. 😎

Eventually, the candy business was adopted by other kids at school. I closed shop, and started peddling the goods other kids had brought. Nobody ever suspected a thing, and I profited well from the market I created.

^Leveling Up^

I quickly reached $20 in my piggybank, so my folks decided it was time for a real savings account.

When we got to the bank, I drilled the poor banker with questions. Where was my money going to be stored? How much interest would it earn?

I don’t think my parents knew I had learned what interest was, and the banker sure didn’t know what to do with me.

I also scoffed when I learned that my money wouldn’t even earn a whole 1% each month. This really rattled the banker, and baffled my parents. That day, I learned that the bank wasn’t going to make me wealthy.

Entrepreneurial Spirit

Since I was a young kid, business ownership is something I really wanted to do. I didn’t always know what kind of business, but it has always been on my mind.

One fateful duty day, I was standing Midwatch in the Messenger shack.

I had found a book called, “Rich Dad Poor Dad” by Robert Kiyosaki. This title wasn’t new to me, since I had played Cashflow growing up. However, that book had a captive audience. My fellow watchstanders were not that talkative, so I decided give it a read.

The fire was already lit, but that book fanned the flames. Suddenly real estate, and wealth building was all I could think about. I started reading about it, watching videos, and talking about it nonstop.

I believe in it. Real estate is one of the oldest ways to build wealth. It has made so many millionaires, and even billionaires. I want other people to catch that spark, and to help them build their wealth too.

Be sure not to miss future posts, because I will be striving to make you a more confident investor.