\n<\/p>\n
In the early retirement<\/strong><\/a> movement, becoming a millionaire <\/strong>is a crucial part of the financial path. While everyone has different spending habits, the first million will allow you to start pivoting so you can make choices for your enjoyment, not just for the sake of money. But when is it too late to start making these moves?<\/strong> Is there a certain point where early retirement, or retirement at all, is off the table? If you think so, listen to today\u2019s episode with Courtney Robinson<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Courtney was raised frugal<\/strong>, and unlike most, she never strayed off that path. Buying old cars, eating at home, and seeing matinee movies were the norm for her, but this began to get harder and harder as her family grew. Courtney was raising four children on her own, making only $15,000 per year<\/strong>, with multiple debts to pay off. But now, only ten years later, she\u2019s a millionaire<\/strong> with equity, retirement investments, a large cash reserve, and multiple rental properties.<\/p>\n How did she make the switch in the \u201clate period\u201d of her life<\/strong>? Courtney goes over the details that led her and her husband out of <\/strong>bankruptcy<\/strong><\/a>, into investing<\/strong>, and eventually to millionaire status. By no means was this an easy or quick journey, but Courtney serves as living proof that even if you\u2019re in your forties or fifties, you still have plenty of time to build a strong <\/strong>financial foundation<\/strong><\/a>, and maybe retire early!<\/p>\n Mindy: Courtney: Mindy: Courtney: Mindy: Courtney: Scott: Courtney: Scott: Courtney: Scott: Courtney: Mindy: Scott: Courtney: Scott: Courtney: Scott: Courtney: Scott: Courtney: Scott: Courtney: Scott: Courtney: Scott: Courtney: Scott: Courtney: Scott: Courtney: Scott: Courtney: Scott: Courtney: Scott: Courtney: Scott: Courtney: Mindy: Courtney: Mindy: Courtney: Scott: Courtney: Mindy: Courtney: Mindy: Scott: Courtney: Mindy: Courtney: Scott: Courtney: Scott: Mindy: Scott: Courtney: Scott: Courtney: Scott: Courtney: Scott: Courtney: Mindy: Courtney: Scott: Courtney: Mindy: Courtney: Scott: Courtney: Scott: Mindy: Courtney: Mindy: Scott: Courtney: Mindy: Courtney: Scott: Courtney: Scott: Courtney: Scott: Courtney: Mindy: Audio: Mindy: Courtney: Mindy: Courtney: Mindy: Courtney: Mindy: Courtney: Mindy: Courtney: Mindy: Courtney: Mindy: Courtney: Mindy: Courtney: Mindy: Courtney: Mindy: Courtney: Mindy: Courtney: Mindy: Courtney: Mindy: Courtney: Mindy: Courtney: Mindy: Courtney: Mindy: \u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Help us reach new listeners on iTunes<\/a>\u00a0by leaving us a rating and review! It takes just 30 seconds.\u00a0Thanks! We really appreciate it!<\/p>\n Interested in learning more about today\u2019s sponsors or becoming a BiggerPockets partner yourself? Check out our\u00a0<\/i>sponsor page<\/a><\/i>!<\/i><\/p>\n Note By BiggerPockets:<\/b> These are opinions written by the author and do not necessarily represent the opinions of BiggerPockets.<\/p>\n
Welcome to the BiggerPockets Money Podcast show number 333, where we interview Courtney Robinson and talk about her late start journey.<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t have any kind of financial insecurity like I used to have. In that way, it\u2019s so much better. I mean, in all ways it\u2019s better. But I do want to say to people, there\u2019s a lot of joy in the journey. I think people are so afraid of change because it\u2019s scary and they are afraid that it\u2019s going to be hard, or they can\u2019t do it, or they\u2019re attached to their ideas about it. But we have a saying in our family, which is, \u201cI would rather be rich than look rich.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hello, hello, hello. My name is Mindy Jensen, and with me as always is my mysteriously absent for this intro, but here for the interview co-host Scott Trench. Scott and I are here to make financial independence less scary, less just for somebody else, to introduce you to every money story because we truly believe financial freedom is attainable for everyone no matter when or where you are starting. Whether you want to retire early and travel the world, go on to make big time investments in assets like real estate, or start your own business, we\u2019ll help you reach your financial goals and get money out of the way so you can launch yourself towards your dreams.
Today, we\u2019re talking with Courtney Robinson, a listener who got a late start on her financial independence journey, hit every roadblock you could think of along the way and still managed to reach financial independence less than 10 years later. Courtney Robinson, welcome to the BiggerPockets Money Podcast. I\u2019m so excited to talk to you. You\u2019re a member of our Facebook group. You posted this amazing story a few months ago about how you and your hus\u2026 Well, I don\u2019t want to give away the whole ending, but Courtney is doing a really great job after starting late and starting from not a position of amazing financial security. Courtney, welcome to the show.<\/p>\n
Thank you so much. I\u2019m so happy to be here. I\u2019m a huge fan.<\/p>\n
Well, we\u2019re huge fans of you. You\u2019ve got an excellent story. Let\u2019s jump right into it. Where does your journey with money begin?<\/p>\n
I think that it\u2019s all relative to go back in time and the fact that I was raised by my grandparents who went through the depression. Growing up, we lived in a nice neighborhood. We had a nice Brady Bunch house, but we never\u2026 That saying that more is caught than taught, that was definitely my experience growing up because we had cars that my grandparents only replaced their cars once in the 22 years that I had them in my life. Our house was well kept, but never updated. It was a time capsule for sure. They just were very frugal. But on the other hand, while they were very old fashioned and had gone through the depression, they were very smart about a lot of things.
My grandfather had purchased land. I live in a national park or outside of a national park. My grandfather had\u2026 Yes. My grandfather had purchased land when they built a lake on the lake. That was a really good investment that would later help me. He also purchased some private stock options in the company that he worked for. I guess there\u2019s a private stock market. You guys probably know more about that than me, but he also purchased some stock options. I would grow up with these very frugal grandparents, went out on my own at 17. I worked back and forth between Houston and Arkansas as a very young adult. I was a modeled young in my life.
I had these really frugal habits that helped me, and I was very independent and entrepreneurial, but I would get married young to someone who had a lot of problems. We divorced, and then I got remarried at the age of 20 and had three babies. Within a very four year period, during that time, my grandparents passed away within five weeks of each other. They left me a small inheritance of about I want to say it was maybe $70,000. And with that money, I was able to purchase the lake house from my mother. At the time, it wasn\u2019t worth a lot like it is now. I was able to take that money and stay home and raise my children.
I was also in college at the time and was in college until I was 29, going at night, working part-time and taking care of my three little boys. Fast forward, later in my thirties, I would adopt a little girl that was nine years old. And fast forward a little more than that, and at 40, my ex-husband and I got a divorce. I found myself with four teenagers. One, My youngest son, who\u2019s 25 today, has autism. Here I am divorced, single mom. I\u2019d been working part-time. I had become a yoga teacher at 30 and become a yoga therapist. I owned a school, a vocational school, and I used that money from that vocational school to build up and put myself in a position to be able to support myself.
But at that time, I was only making about $15,000. Right after that is when I met my current husband, which we dated for six years. Do you want me to go on or do you want me to stop there?<\/p>\n
At the moment, around the time of the divorce, what was your financial position like? You have $50,000 in income per year from it sounds like yoga and the related activities with your school you owned. Any other assets or how are we doing on debts?<\/p>\n
15,000, not 50. I don\u2019t know if you said 50 or 15. I had 15. I was making about 15. I had helped my ex-husband get through college with my inheritance. The debts we had, we had a house. I want to say it was probably we had about 170 mortgaged on the house. We had some Visa loans for some windows we had put in this old house that was built in 1930. We had my car loan and we had his school loans. When we divorced, I inherited part of that Visa credit card for the windows. I had my car loan and I had the house. I ended up buying the house from him. The divorce took about a year and a half. Over that time, I increased my income by, honestly, I went to work more.
I went to my bosses where I was teaching classes and asked if they had a job literally the day after we split up, and they did. They gave me a job as the director over all the fitness. I went to work just trying to earn more money. I don\u2019t really know how I survived that first year, to be honest, but my position was that my net worth was probably about $20,000 at the end of the day and very little income. I didn\u2019t receive any child support or support for about a year that first year. It was tough. It was really tough.<\/p>\n
You have four kids that you\u2019re taking care of at this point in time?<\/p>\n
Yes. My kids were 14, 15, 16, and 18.<\/p>\n
Wow!<\/p>\n
Yes.<\/p>\n
Those are the easy years.<\/p>\n
Could you give us any idea of how you were able to budget on that or managed through that in that particular year?<\/p>\n
I remember calling my creditors and talking to them about the situation and working it out. I want to say that\u2026 I had a yoga school and I had had $14,000 put in the savings account for that yoga school. Now, I\u2019m going to be honest, my ex-husband was not very good with money. I wasn\u2019t lying about the money, but I would say that it was for the school. But I lived off of that money that first year in addition to the little bit of money I had coming in. There was about $14,000 in savings with the yoga school, I say savings in air quotes, and then there was the money I was earning, and then I started getting a little bit extra.
But we literally lived on scrambled eggs and peanut butter and jelly. There was no extra anything. I put my kids on free lunch at school and free breakfast. I think my ex-husband was having to pay half the house payment. It was such a blur because I started working so much and that held us over for a little bit.<\/p>\n
Awesome. Sorry to interrupt there. I just wanted to get a snapshot. Please continue with the story.<\/p>\n
I ended up\u2026 Because I owned a yoga school. I had had it for two years, and it was pretty successful. I never meant for it to take off like It did. I was always happy just kind of making the grocery budget. But at this point, I needed to make a go of it. I\u2019m working at the YMCA making about $600 a month. I am teaching yoga school. I decide I\u2019ll go teach yoga workshops. I start traveling around every other weekend while the kids are with their dad or the oldest one could take care of himself. During the week, I start working, teaching more classes every day. On the weekends, I\u2019m teaching yoga school, or I\u2019m teaching yoga workshops. I would make anywhere from a thousand to $3,000 a weekend doing that.
But for the next nine years, I would work literally 28 days a month, but I was still able to be home when the kids got home from school. I was able to have some flexibility. Because when you teach classes, you\u2019re either going to teach a morning class or an evening class. I had some flexibility to be there for the children when they needed me. I had a little bit of help with my parents, not financially, but they would help me watch the children if need be and everything. After I got divorced, I met my now\u2026 He was my boyfriend for the first I would say six. We\u2019ve been together 10 and a half years. I do want to expand on Jim a little bit. My youngest son has autism level two, which means some support.
He is independent. He lives on his own, but I manage his money and we supplement his income and everything. I heard about this guy who had this dojo, he was a ninth degree black belt, that had all these kids with disabilities. My son was being bullied. I take my son to this dojo and my husband now meets me. He tells me now he says to himself, \u201cI\u2019m either going to lose a student or gain a wife.\u201d As soon as he realizes I\u2019m single, he asked me out and I\u2019m thinking, \u201cThis seems like a really stupid plan. He\u2019s my son\u2019s teacher,\u201d but we kind of kept it under wraps.
We started dating and I find out that he\u2019s in law enforcement part-time at the time. He owns this dojo, and he is doing construction on the side. We fall in love, and I find out that he is in bankruptcy and he has tax liens. I\u2019m like, oh no, this is not going to work. We don\u2019t break up or anything like that.<\/p>\n
Just to get a quick thing, what time period are we in right now? What year is it?<\/p>\n
I\u2019m 51 now. We\u2019re at the point I got divorced at 40. 41 when I meet him.<\/p>\n
This is 2012?<\/p>\n
2012, yes. We met in late 2011 and started dating. I tell him like, \u201cI will not get back in a situation financially like I was in before. I would rather live in a ditch than be married to someone who\u2019s bad with money.\u201d He goes to a Dave Ramsey class with me. I have been to two in my life. I actually want to mention that I started reading Larry Burkett, who is Dave Ramsey\u2019s predecessor. He doesn\u2019t often get much credit, but I started reading Larry Burkett 20 years before Dave Ramsey came around. I tell my now boyfriend at the time, \u201cYou\u2019re going to go through this class with me and you\u2019re going to get your financial stuff together, or I\u2019m not getting married.\u201d
It takes a while. It takes about four or five years he gets all of that ready. I mean, all that figured out. I started to help him with the dojo, and I realized it\u2019s not really making any profit. This tenderhearted tough guy is letting too many people come to school that can\u2019t afford to pay for it. The business is suffering because he\u2019s not making people pay their tuition. Eventually we closed the dojo and I\u2019m telling him, \u201cThis construction business you have is really something. This could be really good.\u201d So I help him. I\u2019m really good in the office and he is a hard worker. My husband is a cop, a Marine. He a former bareback Bronco rider and a ninth degree black belt.
When I tell you work workaholic, you get the picture. I am the opposite of all of that. He gets his financial stuff together. Around 2014, he gets the bankruptcy cleaned up, the tax liens. We get the business going on the roofing business, which is our main business now. We\u2019re not married. We haven\u2019t yet moved in together. 2015, all the kids have graduated. They get out of the house, except for the baby. We move in together.<\/p>\n
Can I ask one question before we get into that? What was your financial position like at that point when you met?<\/p>\n
I worked myself up to paying my car off. I paid the Visa bill off. I paid my lawyer off for the divorce, which cost a fortune. I shouldn\u2019t have. I buy the house.<\/p>\n
In a year and a half?<\/p>\n
In four years. In four years, I go from making 15,000 to $57,000 by working all the time, just working all the time and living\u2026<\/p>\n
Where are you living during this period again?<\/p>\n
I owned a house in town. Now we live out on a ranch.<\/p>\n
And which state is that?<\/p>\n
Arkansas.<\/p>\n
Arkansas. Okay, great.<\/p>\n
Very low cost of living. That\u2019s very important to this story is Arkansas is one of the cheapest places to live. I was able to live on about $33,000 a year while making 57. I was saving the rest of it. I built up about a $25,000 emergency fund during that time. By the time he moved in, I would say we were making about 70 to 80,000 and we were living on about 33,000.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m sorry to keep interrupting here. I just want to get the whole snapshot here. Could you go through those debts one more time that you paid off? You had the car loan. How much were all those debts that you paid off in those four years?<\/p>\n
I owed 11,000 on the car loan. I want to say I had about 7,000 on the credit card. The house payment, I refinanced it. Ran me about 1,100 a month. I would later sell it and make a profit, and I\u2019ll get to that. And then I had\u2026 I\u2019m trying to think. I ended up getting another vehicle that I had a small car loan on because I was traveling. But it took me about four years to get out of debt, save a big emergency fund. It\u2019s hard for me to remember the exact amounts because I also ended up paying my attorney about $10,000 and I paid my ex-husband $5,000 for the house.<\/p>\n
Overnight success in building a financial foundation in four years of just grind here with four kids in the house. Coming and going, it sounds like, as some of the kids sounds like they were getting\u2026 About time to move out or getting into early adulthood during that period as well.<\/p>\n
Yes. Three of them went off\u2026 I say three, because I\u2019m including my stepdaughter now. Three of them went off to college. My son with a disability, of course, stayed with me until a few years ago. I had a do you say failure to launch? I had a late to launch one as well, who didn\u2019t leave until 23. Yes, I still had kids at home, but they were going to college from home. One of them was. Some of them were living at home, going to college. And while I didn\u2019t make them pay rent, I did make them pay for their cell phones. I made them pay their car insurance.
I bought them each a clunker, like a $2,000 car, but they were responsible for repairs and costs that went along with that. While they had a roof over their head and I paid for their clothes and their food, I did make them work and be responsible, because I had to. Around 2015, my now husband, we don\u2019t get married. He moves in. We get the roofing business going. The yoga school is going. I write a book, and then another one.<\/p>\n
What are your books on?<\/p>\n
Yoga therapy.<\/p>\n
We\u2019ll have to link to those in the show notes here.<\/p>\n
Yes, thank you so much. I appreciate that. From about 2015 to 2016, we get the roofing business really going, and we\u2019re debt free, except for the house. I have this one vehicle that I\u2019m using to travel around and teach. It isn\u2019t my personal expense, but the business was covering it at the time. We found this land that we\u2019re on now. We have 40 acres. Mindy, I don\u2019t know, Scott, if you remember the show Green Acres, but it\u2019s Green Acres. I mean, I hear the song in my head.<\/p>\n
Green Acres is the place to be.<\/p>\n
Oh my gosh, it\u2019s terrible.<\/p>\n
Farm living is the life for me. Scott is not old enough to remember.<\/p>\n
No. It was a show about a guy who wants the country life and a city girl and they get married. It\u2019s hilarious. We buy this ranch. It\u2019s 40 acres. It\u2019s grown up. It has an old trailer on it, an old house, a barn, all these out buildings and about 40 horses just roaming around. I want to preface this. There was a local bank that took pity on me when I was going through my divorce. Getting a loan, making $15,000 a year and having debt was almost impossible. I went to four different banks, no one would give me a loan. There was the president of a bank who knew my situation with my ex-husband. And for some reason, that man took pity on me. I had a great credit score, and he gave me a loan.
I mean, I still can\u2019t understand how that happened, but it was a local banker. I was able to buy my house from my ex-husband. Because I had paid that loan on time, never been late, paid a little bit extra, when it came time to buy this land, he gave me a bridge loan. Now, my husband now could not be on the loan because he had bankruptcy, so it was me owning the house. It was me buying this land. I think a lot of people see my husband and I, because we\u2019re 12 and a half years apart, maybe they think he was my sugar daddy or something, but it wasn\u2019t that way at all. We buy this land. We only borrowed 218,000 because we were going to remodel the old farmhouse that was on the property.
We purchased it for 120. My gym had saved $48,000 in two years to put down on this land. We put down 24. We used the other 24 to clear it and clean it up, which we promptly realized we cannot save the house. It\u2019s falling and decaying. We have to build and we decide not to borrow any more money. Part of our story\u2026 I hear it a lot with the fix and flips, I believe that\u2019s what you call it, is elbow grease. I mean, to the extreme. We did so much of this work ourself. We built this house ourself, except my husband did all the woodwork, the roofing, the insulation, the staining, the painting. We hired HVAC plumbing. And as things would come along, we would pay for them as we worked.
We were paying as we worked. We got in the house for 218,000 in 2018 and we got married. I still had my house in town. I could not sell it. It wasn\u2019t selling. This was back in 2017-2018. It makes me sick now because it\u2019s worth about 100,000 more than what I sold it for. I sell it and I made about $36,000 profit on it. I was able to pay off that one little car loan that I had. We\u2019re completely debt free, except for the mortgage.<\/p>\n
When you say we\u2019re completely debt free\u2026 I\u2019m sorry to again interrupt, I just want to make sure that folks get the whole story here with these things. You mentioned that during this period before you got married, your husband paid off or cleaned up his financial situation. Would you mind giving us the highlights of that as well, and then returning back to this situation following selling the house?<\/p>\n
Yes. My husband and I, neither one ever experienced\u2026 I probably grew up\u2026 He grew up very poor. His dad was a church builder. My husband lived in what was the equivalent of deer camp. I don\u2019t know if you know what deer camp is, but it\u2019s not very nice. He lived in an old house he rented for $500 a month. He did not have a lot of bills because he had gone through bankruptcy. He got the tax liens. I don\u2019t know that they were liens. He owed a tax bill and he got it reduced down and paid it off. He went through that Dave Ramsey course.
But if you ask Jim, and I\u2019m kind of glad he isn\u2019t here because you never know what will come out of his mouth, but if you ask him what was the biggest thing is I had him sit down and write what his income was and write what he paid every month. He said realizing needs before wants was the biggest impact. Just needs before wants. He\u2019s an old cowboy. He was the type that if his daughter wanted a $400 prom dress, he got her a $400 prom dress, even if that $400 was to go to the electric bill. He didn\u2019t have any financial education. It was all about making his daughter happy. I mean, and not just her.
He was just always kind of living by the seat of his pants. For him, I just think once he realized that needs had to be paid for before wants, he just cleaned it up. I think during that time, I would also like to say he had open heart surgery. He\u2019s very fit. They said he was the fittest patient they\u2019ve ever seen for 64. He\u2019s an athlete. He had to have open heart surgery and five bypasses. And that was a real wake up call as well.<\/p>\n
Five bypasses?<\/p>\n
That very year, nine months after that open heart surgery, he went to Italy and competed in Taekwondo for a world championship and won. I mean, he\u2019s a beast. Anyway, I think also, I mean, not to toot my own horn, but I think he was so worried I wouldn\u2019t marry him and I would leave, that he was willing to make whatever changes had to be made to stay together. He started to see the benefit. He said, taking that money, that 48,000 he had saved and giving 24,000 at closing or giving me 24,000 because I was the one doing, was the hardest thing he ever did. He started really loving that feeling of having money in the bank because he had never had any money in the bank.<\/p>\n
I think we need to go back and focus for a moment on what you told him to do. Go back and write down how much you are making and write down how much you are paying out. It\u2019s one thing to have a general idea in your head, but having those very stark numbers in black and white on a piece of paper staring at you with your income at the top and all of your expenses underneath, and then looking at that and saying, \u201cWow! My income is $1,000, but my expenses are $4,000,\u201d that can be the slap in the face that you need to make the changes. I\u2019m sure he never looked at that before you suggested that. I just make some money and then I pay some money, and that\u2019s just how it goes.
If you don\u2019t have the financial education and the financial background to understand this, it seems so no brainer to people who are listening to us sitting here talking about this, but that\u2019s kind of the first step. Look at your obligations. How much are you paying out every month? And then how much is coming in? If you\u2019re paying out more than you\u2019re coming in, you\u2019re not going to be saving anything. You\u2019re not going to be growing anything. You\u2019re just going to grow your debts, and that\u2019s it. That was really like, yeah, he had a great motivator, to keep Courtney, but he also needed to do the changes himself.
He could have just said, \u201cYou know what? This is just how I am. I\u2019m a good old boy, and that\u2019s just what we do is we just have debts and that\u2019s just how life is.\u201d But he didn\u2019t. He changed his life and changed his financial situation because he wanted to make the change. 10 years before, maybe that wouldn\u2019t have been a thing. Maybe he would\u2019ve been like, \u201cI just don\u2019t want to do this anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n
It all comes from a particularly entertaining version of a money date before you got married. I think it\u2019s fantastic.<\/p>\n
I think he also saw the opportunity. He really wanted a ranch and a farm and all of that. He saw that there was a way to have those things, but you have to save and work for them. Once we saw the black and white\u2026 I think what he was doing was he had this job at the court and it was a W-2 job, and then he had all this side work he was doing and he wasn\u2019t really counting that money. You know what I mean? He was just a sole proprietor and he wasn\u2019t really counting that money. He didn\u2019t know how to turn it into a business. I didn\u2019t go in and just say, \u201cYou\u2019re going to do this.\u201d I said, \u201cWould you like my help? This is what I want out of my life now. I\u2019m 40 years old. This is what I want my life to look like.\u201d
I also had gained my own independence knowing that I could support myself. And that helped a lot, because I got to the point I didn\u2019t feel like I needed anybody. That was a lot healthier position for me to be in for us to go into it being a team, I would say. I forgot to tell you too, that one thing I did do right, because I had been following Larry Burkett and Dave Ramsey and all of those, and I had been very big into the voluntary simplicity movement, I don\u2019t know if you all are familiar with that, that I did\u2026 When my ex-husband got his job, we both worked at the college, the local college. I worked in health and fitness and he\u2019s now the vice president of computing.
One thing I did know to do was we had a 401(k) there and I made sure to get the match. When we divorced, there was about, oh my goodness, $180,000. He never once questioned that that was our 401(k) because we\u2019d been together since we were 20. I did get half of that and I put it in a brokerage firm account. And it never really grew. Needless to say, when I found you all and J. L. Collins, my life changed greatly when I got away from that broker. I just stuck that money there and I never touched it. We come back to 2018. We\u2019ve purchased this house, but we\u2019re still working ourselves to death. I\u2019m still traveling. I\u2019m still owning the yoga school.
I\u2019m exhausted. He\u2019s working as a police officer and court security. We\u2019re running the roofing business. We built an Airbnb on our property with the money that was left over from the sell of my house, so that $30,000, and then we cash flowed the rest of it. We actually built it for our son who\u2019s disabled, but it didn\u2019t work out. He ended up getting\u2026 My son is on a HUD program and they won\u2019t let you rent to your family. I could not rent it to him. A friend of mine rent it to him. I\u2019ve got this cabin on my property and I\u2019m like, \u201cOkay, well, I guess we\u2019re Airbnb now.\u201d We have an Airbnb on our property as well.
Over that four year period, we keep hustling, grinding, hustling, grinding because now you don\u2019t know how to get out of the hustle and grind, right? You\u2019re so used to it. We paid off our house in four years. We were paying an average between maxing out our IRA at $14,000 a year, 7,000 a piece because I\u2019m 51 and he\u2019s 64 now. We paid about $40,000. Was it 40? No $60,000 a year on the house. Our house was paid off this March. I moved everything over to Vanguard. Thank you. We make about 110 to 145 a year. Most of the time it\u2019s around 110, and that\u2019s suggested gross income. We paid off the house. We were maxing out the IRAs. We built up an emergency fund of $60,000.
In that amount of time, in 2019, I decided to leave the school, to close my school because I went to work for a doctor. I had been working for him and I went to work full-time for him as his yoga therapist for the clinic. We\u2019ve just been hustling and grinding. I don\u2019t know what to say about that. It\u2019s not really glamorous. It\u2019s like we\u2019re frugal. We hustle and grind. Mindy, I heard you on that show with is it Ramit?<\/p>\n
Yes.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m the one that got all mad when you started crying. I was like, \u201cDon\u2019t pick on Mindy. I know what that\u2019s like. I have so much trouble.\u201d It\u2019s so hard to enjoy spending when you aren\u2019t really used to it. You\u2019re not used to spending all this hard money that you\u2019ve been working for. That\u2019s where we are today. Now, today, do you want me to go through where we are with our finances now?<\/p>\n
That\u2019d be great, yeah, If you could share where at.<\/p>\n
Okay. I had two realtors come out and look at the ranch. We have two newer cabins on the ranch. One\u2019s 1,800 square foot. I would say ranch. I use that term lightly. We have adopted animals. They\u2019re all rescued, except for two. They\u2019re just our pets. It\u2019s not cheap to take care of them. We have 16 right now, so horses, donkeys, cats, and dogs. We have 1,800 square foot cabin and a 420 square foot cabin and 40 acres. It is valued at between 750 to a million, depending on which realtor you speak to. We don\u2019t owe anything on it. I say 750 because I feel like that\u2019s a conservative place.
But we have the problem that I hear you all face, because I listen to every episode, which is most of our net worth is tied up in our home. Our investments, that\u2019s taken a big hit. They\u2019re down. I\u2019m in Vanguard. We\u2019re in VTSAX and an international index fund and an international bond or in a bond fund, index fund. I don\u2019t remember exactly, but those are down quite a lot. They\u2019re about 177 combined. Mine is about 160 and his is about 17 to 20. And then in cash we have\u2026 Oh gosh. I do listen and I implement. I would say that I think that\u2019s the one big thing is I\u2019ve implemented all the things I hear you all talk about on your show.
I keep what, I guess, you would call CapEx funds or emergency funds for all the businesses. The cabin, I\u2019ve never taken any money out of it. Thank you. There\u2019s $4,500 in the cabin bond. The yoga fund, because I\u2019m in a heart clinic, we\u2019ve really taken a hit with COVID and my income is hit and miss with that. There\u2019s $4,500 in what I call the yoga fund, which doesn\u2019t really need to be there, but I have to pay for licensure and stuff like that. $45,000 in our money market. And then right now there\u2019s about $85,000 in our roofing account. We have just switched over putting me on the roofing as an employee.
I know this is more of a money success story, but that\u2019s where we are. We\u2019re trying to get to the point where by next year we\u2019re semi-retired. We\u2019ll keep our roofing business open and the Airbnb, but my job may be phasing out anyway. I don\u2019t know if I\u2019ll keep being a yoga therapist. I\u2019m not sure. That\u2019s where we are. It\u2019s been a lot of grind. I guess my message is always, when I see people in the group, I especially get tickled with the 30 year olds who think they\u2019re getting a light start because I\u2019m like, it\u2019s all right. You\u2019re going to be all right. In 10 years, we went from broke to technically being millionaires, but it\u2019s not been anything other than just doing the steps that you learn on here.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s fantastic.<\/p>\n
That the thing, there\u2019s no magic button. I mean, winning the lottery would be super awesome, but that\u2019s not repeatable and that doesn\u2019t make for a very interesting story. Welcome to the BiggerPockets Money Podcast. Thanks. I won the lottery. Okay, and that\u2019s the end of the show. That\u2019s not fun to listen to and that\u2019s not repeatable. This is repeatable because you recognize what you were doing was not the path to wealth. You changed your actions. You changed your habits. You changed your entire financial life, and then started growing it. It didn\u2019t happen overnight because that\u2019s not how it happens. It happened over 10 years.
But how many people have we talked to, Scott, where it happens over the course of about 10 years starting from zero? You can get to financially free or so close you can taste it in about 10 years. That\u2019s the message I want to send to anybody who\u2019s listening who is thinking that, \u201cOh, I got a late start. Can I even do it?\u201d Yes, you can. In 10 years, you\u2019re going to be 10 years older if you start today or if you don\u2019t start today. In 10 years, you\u2019re still going to be 10 years older. Start today.<\/p>\n
After a 10 year period of self-sacrifice, grinding it out at work, raising your incomes, studying the subject of money in a general sense, building out cash reserves, boring old cash reserves, and then investing consistently in something, you can recreate this type of situation. Yes. That\u2019s the story. That\u2019s why people don\u2019t do this at a large level is because it\u2019s not\u2026 There was no secret to your success here. It was just hard work and consistency over a long, long period of time to get to that. Now, let me ask you this though, is your life better today than it was when you started this journey?<\/p>\n
Yes.<\/p>\n
Has it been getting better?<\/p>\n
Yes. I mean, it\u2019s better. It\u2019s so much better. I don\u2019t have any kind of financial insecurity like I used to have. In that way, it\u2019s so much better. I mean, in all ways it\u2019s better. But I do want to say to people, there\u2019s a lot of joy in the journey. I think people are so afraid of change because it\u2019s scary and they are afraid that it\u2019s going to be hard, or they can\u2019t do it, or they\u2019re attached to their ideas about it. But we have a saying in our family, which is, \u201cI would rather be rich than look rich.\u201d I know this is crazy, but I kind of took pride in my husband driving around. We just got a new truck. Not new. New to us. It\u2019s a 2007, but my husband was driving around a 1999 Ford that we paid $1,000 for. My husband is a dirty farmer all the time.
I mean, he\u2019s usually in dirty Wranglers and an old cowboy hat. He looks like he just got through picking potatoes. But yet I\u2019m like, but he\u2019s got it down. It made me proud that we\u2019ve made these choices. I don\u2019t mind driving a 2013 Honda Accord at all. It doesn\u2019t bother me in the least. I just take a lot of pride in that. There\u2019s a lot of joy in that for me and finding ways to hack things also. I find so much joy in that. Going to a matinee and out to lunch is half the price than going to an evening movie, an expensive dinner, but I get the same value out of it, or using credit card reward points to pay for a vacation that cost me a quarter of what it would cost me if I didn\u2019t know these things. It\u2019s just exciting when you do that.<\/p>\n
Travel awards are very powerful when you own a roofing business, I\u2019m sure.<\/p>\n
Yes.<\/p>\n
Well, let me ask you this, how much does your life cost you today?<\/p>\n
Well, with inflation, it\u2019s definitely been a little bit of a jolt. I was thinking we could retire on about 30,000 a year. And of course, we\u2019re in a very low cost of living area. I was just up in your neck of the woods, because my son actually goes to school in Fort Collins and I come up there quite a bit. It\u2019s a lot more expensive where you live. I mean, definitely hands down. I\u2019ve been listening to Carl and Mindy talk about their budget, and I\u2019ve decided that right now while our life is probably costing us about $42,000 a year currently, where before it was about 36, that I will feel comfortable retiring on about 48 to 50 with a nice emergency fund.
I would like to say to the people who are older like we are, we have a plan too for the inevitable, which is if something happens to one of us, we have a trust. We also know that at some point we may downsize and sell this place and get a smaller place. I think it\u2019s important to\u2026 I\u2019ve seen my mother lose two husbands at young ages, and I think it\u2019s important that people also have a plan for your future. You can live for it today, but you definitely need to have a plan, then that helps you enjoy life more in the present when you know you\u2019ve got those taken care of.<\/p>\n
How much income does the Airbnb generate?<\/p>\n
It\u2019s paid for because we cash flowed it when we built it, but I would say on average about 600 a month is what I came up to, because I knew you had asked me that question. During the pandemic, my son was in Maryland, one of my boys was in Maryland for a while, and he came back here and lived and just worked on the farm in exchange for living there. We opened that in February of 2020, and we all know what happened. It hasn\u2019t been consistent. When I keep it open, it\u2019s very consistent, but around 600 is my profit every month.<\/p>\n
Awesome. What would it be if you kept it open consistently the next six months?<\/p>\n
I think I could double it.<\/p>\n
Okay. You said there are two on the property?<\/p>\n
There\u2019s the house we live in, and then about 400 feet away, there\u2019s a little cabin, a little 420 square foot cabin.<\/p>\n
How much of the house you\u2019re living in Airbnb for?<\/p>\n
Oh gosh, I don\u2019t know. I know that the rent on the house that we live in would be around 2,500 a month here. Rent\u2019s a lot cheaper here than it is where you are. But I don\u2019t know. I never really thought about it because quite frankly, I\u2019m really weird about\u2026 I don\u2019t really want to manage. I don\u2019t love doing Airbnb. It\u2019s not hard, but we\u2019re older. We\u2019re tired. We\u2019ve been hustling for 10 years. When we retire, we want to spend four years traveling. We plan on doing some of that. We\u2019ve been trying to do more of that now because my husband is still healthy at 64 and very fit, but we don\u2019t want to Airbnb forever.<\/p>\n
We\u2019ll have to think through this at a future time, maybe on a Finance Friday to think through how we can get over that retirement hump in the next couple of years as fast as possible here. I think that would be\u2026 Do you think that would be fun?<\/p>\n
I think that would be a fun exercise. Yeah, let me think about this for a little bit and we\u2019ll get her back on and do a Finance Friday as well, because I see a lot of opportunities here.<\/p>\n
Yes. I have lots of questions. Because our roofing business is weather dependent and we had a really bad storm this year, and I know Scott\u2019s going to get here in a sec, but we\u2019ve been really profitable this year. Like crazy profitable. And now I\u2019m freaking out. What do I do? Where do I put this money? Because I\u2019m looking at the market and it\u2019s just like, okay, I know it\u2019s on sale, but it\u2019s still scaring me quite a bit. I\u2019m trying to figure out where to\u2026 All that money that we were putting on the house, where do I put it now?<\/p>\n
My philosophy is with the market going down is you\u2019re not investing for tomorrow. You\u2019re investing for 10 years from now, five years from now. It\u2019s okay that the market\u2019s down a little bit right now because you don\u2019t need this. If you need this money tomorrow, do not put it in the market right now. It\u2019s not the best time to do that, because you don\u2019t know how long it\u2019s going to be squidgy. But you will need money in five years. You will need money in 10 years. That\u2019s the thought to have. But yeah, if there is money that you need in the next five to 10 years. Actually, Scott, what timeframe do we want to call that, two to five years?<\/p>\n
Well, I think, Courtney, when do you want to retire? What\u2019s your goal?<\/p>\n
My goal right now is to save $200,000 in cash in the next four years and have 400,000 in investments. I have contacted Fidelity about a solo 401(k). I also contacted Vanguard. They make it hard. Fidelity seems\u2026<\/p>\n
Go with Fidelity.<\/p>\n
Yeah. I\u2019m looking at putting some of that cash in the Treasury bonds as well.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a four year goal. We want to get to the best position we can in four years, right? That makes things harder, because it\u2019s one thing to say, \u201cOh, just stick it in index funds because in 30 years they\u2019ll probably be higher,\u201d right? Well they may not be higher in four years and that\u2019s going to be the challenge in thinking through how to set up your portfolio. You got to design it so that it\u2019s in finished state, ready to be drawn down in four years, not invested for a long-term maximum value.<\/p>\n
My plan is to have some savings built up to use in that period from the time I\u2019m 55 to the time that I\u2019m 59 and a half or 62. To have cash reserves to use because also got to get my health insurance down. If I\u2019m going to be on the ACA, I\u2019ve definitely got to get my income down.<\/p>\n
Well, this will be a good discussion. Let\u2019s have you back on in a few days here and talk about the what\u2019s next part of the journey and think it through.<\/p>\n
Thank you. It\u2019s been such a joy to talk to you both. I appreciate it.<\/p>\n
Courtney, we really appreciate the story. This is phenomenal. Thank you so much for sharing the struggles and the triumphs that you\u2019ve had over the last couple of decades here. We really appreciate it.<\/p>\n
Thank you so much.<\/p>\n
Courtney, this was a lot of fun. I really love your story because it highlights the rewards for hard work, which is exactly what you and your husband did. Tell him kudos from all of us. He did a great job fixing his finances. You did a great job fixing your finances. But we\u2019re not done yet. Today, we\u2019re going to do the Famous Four. Just me asking because Scott is having technical difficulties.<\/p>\n
Famous Four.<\/p>\n
Courtney, are you ready?<\/p>\n
Yes.<\/p>\n
What is your favorite finance book?<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t know that I have a famous finance book per se, but I love the course Voluntary Simplicity, which is a book, but Voluntary Simplicity. It\u2019s a book and a course, and I was a volunteer facilitator for that for about 14 years.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s interesting. Okay, I\u2019m going to have to check that out. I haven\u2019t heard of that one. What was your biggest money mistake?<\/p>\n
Oh, so many. There\u2019s so many. I\u2019ve thought about this and I actually have two. The first one would just be like I wouldn\u2019t trade\u2026 I don\u2019t look at life in regrets. I look at life as an educational experience. One thing I share with my children is it\u2019s very important the person that you marry. Your financial situation\u2026<\/p>\n
Yes.<\/p>\n
\u2026is who you marry. The second one was buying a car with someone who didn\u2019t have the title in hand. I don\u2019t know that I even need to expand on that because it was so stupid.<\/p>\n
You know what? We can\u2019t go back and change any of these things. I am not here to tell you that you made a big mistake. We move on. We learn from our mistakes. But buying a car in general is one the most frequent biggest money mistakes.<\/p>\n
Yes. Yes.<\/p>\n
Well, let\u2019s switch gears and say, what is your best piece of advice for people who are just starting out?<\/p>\n
To try to stay out of debt. Avoid debt that doesn\u2019t have an asset tied to it. That\u2019d be my number one.<\/p>\n
I like that a lot. In honor of Scott, what is your favorite joke to tell at parties.<\/p>\n
I had to write it down. Ii don\u2019t have a favorite one to tell at parties because I can\u2019t remember any of them, but what sound does a cow make when it runs out of milk?<\/p>\n
Oh, I don\u2019t know.<\/p>\n
None. There is utter silence.<\/p>\n
I have one for you based on yoga. What do you call a bagel that has mastered yoga?<\/p>\n
What?<\/p>\n
A pretzel.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s good.<\/p>\n
And why does everyone love yoga teachers?<\/p>\n
Why?<\/p>\n
Because they bend over backwards for you.<\/p>\n
Oh, that\u2019s sweet. Thank you.<\/p>\n
Okay, Courtney, where can people find out more about you? Give us the names of your yoga books and all the ways to contact you.<\/p>\n
The best way to find out about me is just to Google my name, which is Courtney Robinson, and put the word yoga with it because everything I\u2019ve ever done will come up. Courtney Robinson yoga, Google. My book, I like to promote my publisher because she\u2019s independent, Et Alia Press, but you can go into Amazon. And if you put, again, Courtney Butler-Robinson yoga, you\u2019re going to come up. It\u2019s called The Mud & The Lotus. Both of them are The Mud & The Lotus, different versions. One is actually\u2026 I\u2019ve done three books actually, written two,,= and then I\u2019m a contributor to a textbook on yoga therapy.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s awesome.<\/p>\n
Thank you.<\/p>\n
Courtney Robinson, thank you so much for your time today. This was a delight to talk to you.<\/p>\n
Thank you. I appreciate you so much.<\/p>\n
I appreciate you listening. We will talk to you soon. Wow! What an inspirational story. We are going to have Courtney on again in a few months to go through her numbers for a Finance Friday episode and dive a bit deeper into her numbers and her story. From episode 333 of the BiggerPockets Money Podcast, he was Scott Trench, I am Mindy Jensen and saying see you later, alligator.<\/p>\n