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John from ESI Money set a retirement number of $4 million dollars and walked away from his career at age 52. He achieved executive status and was a President of a company by the time he walked away. We talk to John about real estate, career, life advice for his kids, and what he would do differently if he could go back in time. We also give nods to Dave Ramsey and John’s beginnings in money and finance. Last but not least, we have an in depth discussion about diversity on Rockstar Finance, based on an iTunes review Gwen & J got on the podcast recently.
You’ll love John’s story and the wisdom he shares with us.
We also chat about…
- Dave Ramsey
- Being financially independent in his early 40’s
- Tradeoffs of career success versus early retirement
- Helping your children find their own path
- Optimizing for money or pursuing your passion
- Real estate as a small chunk of his net worth but high-performing assets
- Diversity on Rockstar Finance
Enjoy this chat with John from ESI Money, and please subscribe to us in iTunes if you enjoyed it!
Show notes and links from today’s episode
- ESI Money – John’s blog
- Millionaire Series – major inspiration here
- Why Woo Girls are Beating You At Life– J’s post about becoming friendlier at work
- Rockstar Finance – curation of awesome personal finance articles & content
Key takeaways from our chat with John from ESI Money
1 – Dave Ramsey is overall net positive
Everyone agrees that Dave’s teachings are positive (except maybe his stance on credit cards, his recommendation of high fee investments, and his office policies towards women).
He has helped many people get out of debt which is where the place where the majority of Americans spend most of their lives.
Financial independence is a natural fit for those who went through Dave Ramsey and are now looking for what’s next.
John and his wife started their money journey in a Dave Ramsey style of finance and then later as they understood more about financial independence, started to morph their philosophy.
They walked away in their early fifties as multi-millionaires who never have to work again.
In fact, they are now trying to determine what to do with the excess they do have because they are living a low-key lifestyle in Colorado Springs.
2 – Kids need to find their own path
John has sat down with both of his kids and given them career advice and answered their questions about money.
Even though he has achieved financial independence and retired with at least $3M in assets, he cannot advise his kids to follow his exact path.
His kids have their own career ambitions and it’s okay if they are not high-paying.
John recommends having honest conversations with your kids about what their lifestyle might be like in different career paths and helping them come up with plans.
His kids ultimately make the decision and he supports them 100% in whatever they choose.
3 – Proactively manage your career to reach financial independence sooner
John achieved executive-level status in his career and received an average of 8% raises each year. He still think she could have pushed harder earlier.
This is what he would recommend to anyone early in their career:
- Sit down with your boss on Day 1 and ask what does a good performance look like.
- Spend more time networking, and caring about how you interact with your coworkers.
- Being likeable is more important than performing in a job sometimes.
For Gwen, being likable comes naturally and she’s really good at showing appreciation to people at work (such as giving a gift of kombucha to a colleague, because it was their favorite).
For J and John, they needed to be more proactive about making those connections, such as inviting people to lunch or coffee, and it has paid off.
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