As someone who puts their finances out into the world for others to see, there is one massive piece of feedback I always get. I’m just lucky and my tips don’t apply to anyone else. Well, I have a pretty strong belief that you need to make your own luck.
Sure, some people start off a little better in life than others, but if you aren’t putting yourself into a good position to take advantage of opportunities that pop up, you can’t be lucky no matter how much luck smacks you in the face.So today let’s figure out how to create your own luck.
If you’re new to my site, you’ll know that I’m all about saving and investing. But my real secret sauce was real estate, and I started all of that ten years ago. Do I think I’m some smarty-pants who had some trade secrets and made the best financial moves? Not at all.
I just did some research, put myself out there, and took a chance. Lucky for me, it worked out well. Let me share how it all started and how I make my own luck.
By most people’s standards, buying a rental when I didn’t own my house was a risky move. (Okay, they used the word dumb.) But there were some SUPER depressed housing prices in states I’ve never even visited and my down payment could buy a rental house outright. No mortgage.
Now, ten years later, I bought seven houses, and collectively they’re worth $1.8M with $400,000 of mortgage debt. That is about double the net worth I would have had if I had just kept my head down and never made my first move.
I put myself in a situation where, if housing prices rose, I would do well. If housing prices went poorly, I would be ok with just my rental income.That’s how you make your own luck.You keep taking risks that won’t crush you if they flop.