Start with yourself - Posted by Buck_GA
Posted by Buck_GA on August 06, 2002 at 07:49:08:
Elena,
You have received some excellent advice. Without taking from that advise, I would like to add something for you to also think about.
The first place you should probably look is at YOU. What do you want from REI? What do you NEED from REI to get what you WANT from REI?
What is your current situation?:
Are you employed?
How much cash reserve do you have?
How much credit?
How much are you earning?
How much are you receiving in benefits? – (health insurance from work,etc.)
Where do you want to be in 5-8 years?:
Do you want to replace your job income and benefits?
Do you plan to have a baby?
Do you sant to send baby to college?
How much time do you want to spend working real estate?
What steps do I need to get me there?:
How much Ready Reserve Cash do I need to accumulate?
How much time do I want to spend building it?
How much time do I want to take building up cash flow?
How much time do I have to spend on doing this?
These are just off-the-top-of-my-head questions. You will have to figure out what questions you need to ask yourself. Layout your plans for the future and list the timeframes you expect for each. Think about life’s little surprises and how they might effect things. (Two of my three little ones were surprises).
Now start comparing strategies against your list.
Does this strategy build cash reserve?
Does it build cash flow?
How much will it interfere with or help with my plans for baby?
Plans for work?
Available time I have to work it?
Money I have available?
Does the course fit my needs and my budget?
Now, which course is best for you to start with based on your resourses, your immediate needs and your future needs.
How long will you need to use it before adding a strategy or replacing it altogether?
You may wind up with a similar strategy to what I have:
- Build cash reserve
- Build cash flow
- Build long-term growth
Because of my resourses and education, I start with hybrid mix of strategies to build cash reserve and to start generating cash flow. Once my cash reserve is met, I will use my budget to begin buying additional investment courses. Also, after i have the cash reserve in place I will focus more of my investing towards generating monthly cash flow. As that reaches my goal, I move my focus to longer term investment gains. Eventually I will retire.
Hopefully, that will give you some guidelines by which YOU must judge the strategy(ies) you choose, what order you choose them and which course for which strategy to buy at what time.
Good luck
Buck