Most people’s investing goal is a feeling. “Comfortable.” “Set for life.” “A million dollars.”
You can’t plan for a feeling. You can plan for a number.
The rat race
If you’ve read Rich Dad Poor Dad or played the Cashflow board game, you know the idea. I read the book at 16 and played the game for years.
If you’re trading time for money, you’re in the rat race. The way out is to build up small deals that pay you every month until they cover your expenses. Once they do, you’re out. Then you’re on the Freedom Track, where you can build real wealth and do what you want with your time.
Cash flow first, wealth second. That order, every time.
Why property back home gets it backwards
Most property advice in Australia, the UK and Europe runs the other way. Buy a house that costs you money every month, claim the losses, wait 10 or 20 years and hope it’s grown.
That can be a fine way to grow capital. I’ve got nothing against it. But it doesn’t get you out of the rat race, because it doesn’t pay you. It costs you.
I’m not waiting twenty years for appreciation. I want cash flow today.
Working out your Freedom Number
Your Freedom Number isn’t your net worth. It’s the monthly figure that covers your life, so you never have to work again unless you want to.
- Add up what your household actually spends in a month. Rent or mortgage, food, school, cars, insurance, the lot.
- Convert it to US dollars, because that’s what US houses pay you in.
- Divide it by what one house pays you each month.
On my own houses, that’s about $750 a month in my pocket per house on average, net.
My own numbers, not a promise of yours. Not financial advice.
What the answer looks like
| Freedom Number (US$ a month) | Houses at about $750 net each |
|---|---|
| $5,000 | About 7 |
| $7,500 | 10 |
| $10,000 | About 14 |
| $15,000 | 20 |
When I run this with people, the reaction is nearly always the same. “That’s it?”
Your freedom stops being a fantasy and becomes a count.
One house at a time
Nobody buys 20 houses immediately. You buy one. Then the next one. Then the next.
Each one moves you closer, and each one makes the next easier, because now you’ve got a track record to show a lender.
I’m partway there myself, with 12 houses so far. My goal is to be financially free in five years and financially sovereign in ten. I won’t stop at my number, either. Once you’re off the rat race, you keep building.
A note on lender-funded houses
If you buy with your own cash, each house pays you the full monthly amount from the start.
If a private lender funds it, you’re paying them a fixed return, 12% for 5 years in my case and how I teach my students. Your cash flow on that house is smaller until then. After that, the full payment is yours.
It’s worth building that into your plan so the count is honest.
Why a monthly payment beats a share price
Shares go up and down. Crypto goes up and down. That’s fine for growing money, but it’s hard to live on.
A family’s monthly payment on a house doesn’t move with the market. It arrives every month whether you worked that month or not. That’s what makes it a Freedom Number tool.
Wealth is the life you live
Freedom isn’t a number on a screen. It’s time with your family, travelling, looking after your health, doing the work you actually want to do.
The number just tells you when you’re allowed to stop asking permission.
See how I’m building mine
In the free training I work out my own Freedom Number live, then show you the houses, the closing statements and how the whole thing runs from overseas.
These are results from my own portfolio. They aren’t typical or guaranteed, and your results will depend on your capital, decisions and the market. Real estate carries risk, including loss of money. Nothing here is financial, legal or tax advice.
