Adulting Is Easy: Making Personal Finance & Real Estate Easy

Lauren and Dave start by discussing some mistakes he made early on in his investing career. It started out OK. He was into the book The Wealthy Barber. He actually started investing religiously at 19 years old! Once he got out of college, he started raiding that investment account. So, that was the first big mistake. The second one was marrying the right person who encouraged Dave to draw down his retirement accounts for present wants. Then, the two discuss how to potentially not marry the wrong person. After that, they finally get into the meat and potatoes: dividend investing. Dave lays out the dividend investing strategy and some examples numbers. He explains what DRIP means. Lauren asks what Dave has in his portfolio: approx. 24 stocks (and a couple ETFs). Next, Lauren and Dave discuss his goals and retirement plans, given he’s 50 years old and has had to start over multiple times. His attitude is really good. Dave wraps up with some encouraging words that will motivate you to get started.

If you liked this episode, you’ll also like episode 115 with Dream Dividend or episode 64 with Dividend Hero (Ross).

About Dividend Dave:

After 30 years of making all the investing mistakes possible Dave is finally on a path to financial freedom. He is primarily focused on the dividend investing strategy but also trying to increase his streams of income thru monetization of The Passive Income Podcast. Since recently turning 50 he knows there are only a few good years left to get his financial house in order.

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https://www.youtube.com/user/dlove5000

This week, Lauren interviews the Budgetdog himself, Brennan Schlagbaum. Brennan talks about parenthood and gets into what it’s like to parent a special needs child. Brennan and his wife Erin have an almost-2-year-old with Dravet syndrome. One theme woven throughout is the importance of having time, money, and health at the same time. Then, the two focus on the topic at hand: investing for your kids. The Schlagbaums started investing for their first child, Logan Lee, before she was even born. They’re currently utilizing a brokerage, 529, and Roth IRA for their kid (she does baby modeling). Guess what? They have a second baby on the way in September! They’ve started investing for her now too. Brennan also tells Lauren about ABLE accounts. Then, they jump into the WHY behind investing for your kids, and balancing helping your kids versus making them entitled. Brennan says, “Create trust fund babies in a good way.” They briefly touched on UTMA & UGMAs. Don’t forget, though, to take care of yourself and your retirement before investing for your kids. Brennan leaves us off with one more thing you can use to invest for your kids: real estate.

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https://www.linkedin.com/in/brennan-schlagbaum-cpa-1b2b7338/

According to Chris (and probably all STR hosts really), your cleaner is your most important team member. With a low performing cleaner, you’ll have a low performing property. Chris outlines 5 ways to find cleaners: 1) messaging other hosts on Airbnb, 2) searching online and reading through websites, 3) drive around at check out time and talk to cleaners, 4) local investor groups, like on social media, and 5) apps, like Turno. Both Lauren and Chris recommend having the same cleaner or small group of cleaners so they’re familiar with your properties and it isn’t different people in and out of there every day. Chris offered more advice. Don’t be afraid to ask for references. Interview multiple cleaners. Give them positive feedback. Pay them well. How to price your cleans? You can use the “enemy method,” online data sources, or getting quotes from cleaning companies. Lauren points out that short-term rental cleans are very different from typical cleans. The cleaners should think differently too. But make sure they know what their responsibilities are up front. Checklists help with this. Chris is open about some rubs he’s had with cleaners: propane tanks, missing TV, cornhole sets being misplaced, etc. Chris’s final thoughts: use data and educate yourself before you jump in.

Sponsored by: ⁠https://touchstay.com/

About Chris Klingemann:

Chris became very curious about real estate and hospitality many

Connect with Chris:

https://twitter.com/ChrisK_STRs

Eric started his first business at 19 years old. He tried a bunch of different jobs before that, like factory work and landscaping, so he knew what he wanted out of a job. Turns out, freedom really is the best part of being an entrepreneur. You can start working at 5:30 am, or even start the day off with a walk! Eric takes issue with the quick entrepreneurship tips he sees online. Does $10k per month really mean success? Business owners need to have goals that make sense for them. Entrepreneurs should pick their head up from the grind and think at a high level and reflect. It’s hard work to keep from becoming complacent. For Eric, having his own business is all about being fulfilled, not growing for the sake of growth or trying to make the most money possible. An underrated tip is to understand the business financials, especially your margins. Perhaps the best part of the whole interview comes when Eric speaks directly to early entrepreneurs. Interestingly, he suggests learning about investing OUTSIDE of your business too. He also recommends having a line of credit as soon as possible for peace of mind. Learning how to use debt is important. Finally, and this is perhaps the most obvious one, is to show up every day. Be consistent. Don’t forget that your path through life isn’t linear.

Lauren and Paul talked about what it was like to work at Airbnb when the startup environment had so much money flowing through it. They touched on the short-term effects of Covid, as well as the longer-term ones. It seems like there’s more curiosity from the general public. Of course, they had to touch on the “Airbnbust” idea. Some areas are certainly becoming oversaturated. Paul gives great advice on underwriting your deals: think of the bear case and the bull case. In the last few years, it’s easy to wonder if people underwrote based on bull cases. Lauren and Paul discussed about tiers of homes: large/luxury homes, “comfort plus,” and “economy.” Paul believes that “comfort plus” place is where you want to be. Some economy-type travelers may treat themselves to a nicer stay. The usual luxury travelers may go to “comfort plus” when tightening belts. Overall, Paul recommends diversification to meet the demand where it is. Whether you’re in short- or long-term rentals, look at the annual returns. While none of us can predict the future, Paul believes their will be a culling of short-term rentals over the next few years, but that’s healthy. Paul and his company Summer overall are bullish on this industry and are excited to see what the future holds.

Sponsored by: https://gosummer.com/

If you liked this episode, you may also like episode 98, about a host turning an actual bank into a short-term rental.

About Paul Kromidas:

Paul is Co-Founder & CEO of Summer, pioneering a new approach to unlocking second and vacation home ownership. He is an accomplished operator and leader, with over 10 years of experience growing and scaling teams across technology, real estate, finance, and strategy at Airbnb, Deloitte, Alfred, and Moody’s. Prior to founding Summer, Paul was a Product and Strategy leader at Airbnb, where he led the integration of Luxury Retreats and the creation of the Airbnb Luxe product.

Connect with Summer:

www.gosummer.com

https://twitter.com/startsummering

https://www.instagram.com/startsummering/

https://www.linkedin.com/company/summer-inc/

Justin received a settlement at 24 years old from his grandmother’s death from mesothelioma. He had just started dating his now wife (Haley) at the time. Not only did they spend all of it, but they also ended up in debt (although they did put a down payment on a house). Vacations, an engagement ring, a time share, but where did the rest go? They don’t really know. This situation was not sustainable, and they realized it when they bought pumpkin muffins while Haley was 8 months pregnant. Justin did some soul searching on the way to work, then they got on the right financial path. It took about 3 years to go downhill and about a year and a half to get back on track. Justin is very open about their struggles on their journey, and how they felt at the time, including the shame and guilt. One thing that helped was positive affirmations: I deserve to have wealth, etc. Until we know better, how can we do better? Justin goes into some tactical details of how they got rid of the debt: cashing out their Roth contributions (not really recommended but something they did), downgraded both of their cars, threw stimulus checks at it, sold items they weren’t using, he got a second job as a bartender, and trimmed their budget. Finally, Justin shares some examples from his and Haley’s financial coaching business.

If you liked this episode, you’ll also like 118: Friends, FOMO, and Finances.

About Justin Brown-Woods:

Justin and his wife Haley are a millennial couple that began their debt-free journey in the Fall of 2019. After blowing through a $600,000 lawsuit payout and racking up over $220,000 worth of debt in three and a half years, they got serious about changing the narrative they had created for their lives. Within 18 months, they had paid off over $130,000 of debt and restarted their wealth journey.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/PriceAvocado

IG: https://www.instagram.com/Priceofavocadotoast/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@priceofavocadotoast

Lauren interviewed the Wealth Building Waiter this week, Adam. He’s a 23-year-old who started in the restaurant business in 2020 and has worked his way up. Adam worked 6 days a week for years as a server and just recently transitioned to 3 night per week to spend more time on real estate: being a Director of a Housing program, managing and rehabbing properties, being on the board of his HOA, and being a real estate agent. Adam breaks down the mechanics of his partnership deals. How does he find deals? Cold calling. The two emphasize personal branding and networking, which has served Adam well as he meets people at the restaurant. Again, we learn that who you surround yourself with matters. Interestingly, it seems like all you need to do to succeed is show up and work hard. Then stack your progress as you learn, grow, and develop. It sucks getting started. It sucks not knowing what to do.

*Apologies from Lauren for her voice. She was a little sick.*

If you liked this episode, you may also like episode 111 where I interviewed the author of the book Tipped.

About Adam:

Adam Zak, the Wealth Building Waiter, is a 23-year-old who got sent home from College in 2020 due to the pandemic. In short, he started packing take-out orders and a year later he was making $2,000 a week as a server. Through relationships built in the restaurant, he was able to partner up to qualify for loans. 3 years later he owns 17 condos, has 100k in the stock market, and has a $650k net worth!

Connect with Adam:

https://twitter.com/InvestorWaiter

Today, Lauren interviewed the team from Nexus. Konstantin started investing 10 years ago. You get more from your money when you invest it vs let it sit in a bank account. He’s become fascinated by the numbers behind investing. When it comes to the culture around investing, many people think investing is inherently complicated. Index funds are not complicated and are a great place for new investors to start. You don’t have to day trade or read earnings calls. Should there be a foundation set before investing in index funds? Yes – some knowledge. Once you start learning, you realize it’s pretty risky not to invest. What else should you do before investing? Simple – you need to know what your short-, mid-, and long-term goals are. Another part of foundation setting, other than knowledge and goal setting, is your emergency fund. Chen-Chen answers how large they should be and if/where it should be invested. Lauren’s is in a High Yield Savings Account (HYSA). Emergency funds should be liquid.

If you liked this episode, you may also like episode 56, simple financial advice with Jrod.

Sponsored by: https://home.nexushq.com/

About Konstantin Weitz:

Konstantin grew up in Germany, and met his wife during a high school exchange in Alaska. He received a PhD in Computer Science at the University of Washington. In his 4 years at Google, he saved enough to reach financial independence and work on one of his passions - changing the culture around investing and financial literacy. Konstantin is now the CEO, Investment Advisor Representative, and Chief Compliance Officer of Nexus. When he’s not changing the culture around investing, he’s spending time with his 4 kids, aged 5, 4, 3, and 10 months. 

About Chen-Chen Hou:

Chen-Chen spent almost 30 years in the San Francisco Bay Area, graduating from UC Berkeley. He spent two years as a management consultant, and then started and sold a restaurant chain aimed specifically at the growing trend of food delivery. Chen-Chen and Konstantin met through their common investor Y Combinator. He joined the Nexus team because he saw the gravity of the problem that Nexus solves, and the beauty in the simplicity of the product. He was fortunate enough to have parents that drilled the value of long-term investing into his brain from an early age. He's also a bar owner in San Francisco.

Landing Page: https://www.nexushq.com

Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/joinnexushq

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ccfromnexus

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ccfromnexus

CJ “walked on” to the NFL when he went undrafted, so Lauren of course had to ask him about that experience. They quickly transition to talking real estate. He house hacked twice to start, once with a duplex and once with a triplex. As a reminder, house hacking is when you buy a property, live in part of it and rent the rest out. He dipped his toe into short-term rentals with the triplex because it was a small studio. With that proof of concept in hand, he started thinking bigger: a 3-bedroom, 2-bathroom lake house a couple of hours away. CJ and his wife loved the idea of having their own lake house, as they had seen many people with second homes growing up. CJ goes into his tech stack as well: PMS, pricing software, etc. The two also talk about the types of guests he gets in the studio vs the lake house. It’s HUGELY important to keep the types of guests in mind. CJ also talks about his experience with pets. Pro tip from Lauren: when you’re setting up your first STR, document everything as if you’re going to have a second. Finally, CJ gives advice on what you can do TODAY to get started in real estate.

If you liked this episode, you’ll also like episode 124: NFL Players Side Hustle too.

Sponsored by: https://touchstay.com/

About CJ:

https://twitter.com/Cjsmith_6

Change of pace this week! Lauren interviewed Clint Murphy to celebrate the 100th episode of his podcast, the Growth Guide. The two discussed success mindsets and a bunch of other topics, since the two know each other very well from doing live Twitter Spaces weekly for an entire year. This episode is being posted on both feeds today. Huge congrats to Clint and the Growth Guide team on hitting this milestone, and thanks for including Adulting Is Easy in marking this milestone!

Lauren asked Clint about finding balance, which he admits

If you like this episode, you may also like episode 37 (the first time Clint was on), which is called Overcoming Financial Setbacks and Owning $9mil in Real Estate.

About Clint: Clint Murphy is the CFO of a real estate development firm and Twitter rock star based in Vancouver. He’s also a writer and lifelong learner. Clint is a multi-millionaire real estate investor who achieved financial independence by age 40. But more importantly than any of those accomplishments, he’s also a devoted husband and father. Clint is passionate about personal, professional, and financial growth.

Connect with Clint:

https://thegrowth.guide/

https://twitter.com/IAmClintMurphy