So I am a 29 year old male, originally from the Midwest. I've stayed single because everyone I meet is, I don't know how else to say it: "normal", and they've always tried to get me to become "normal" with them. I have too much I want to accomplish in my short time on this planet to make sacrifices for someone I realistically won't be with for life, anyway.
This is a great problem to have, and I am not trying to sound like I'm complaining, but I am experiencing option overload.
My income is from several sources:
Rental properties: varies widely month to month, but typically averages $5-6k profit per month
Internet biz #1: seems to average another $5000 per month. I consider it icing on the cake and not something to rely on long term, even though it has been going steady for 2 years with a couple hiccups. It's a unique situation and is not scalable.
Internet biz #2: this will hopefully net me a few thousand extra per month and is scalable to some degree. I just launched it so I am in the hole at the moment.
I went balls to the wall with the rental properties and last December until this month consisted of me paying down high interest, loan shark type loans for some extremely profitable properties I couldn't have acquired without them. In six months I paid off about $50,000 so now all I have are my low interest conventional mortgages. Now it is time to build reserves so I can start financing more properties. I plan to stick about $30k at least in the VT etf in a brokerage account by the end of the year so I look good to lenders for 2016. I feel poor because I have been living on 1-1.5k per month getting the debt paid off. I started Internet biz #2 at the same time, which required an initial investment, and at one point I was rationing water so I wouldn't run out before my next rent check came in. I will not move this aggressively in the future and have learned my lesson.
It could be due to the frantic debt paydown of the last few months, but I do not feel fulfilled.
I traveled all over the US for the past year ( I sold my house and live in a Volkswagen Rialta small RV) because I had never been out of my cold Midwest city. It was a great experience, but it really showed me that as a guy who wants to be where the action is, I am limited to probably a dozen cities. I really can't deal with 7 months of horrible Midwest type weather anymore for the rest of my life, so that narrows it down further. And on top of it, the climate can't be too extreme because of the RV. For instance, I was in Tampa for a bit and it was absolutely unbearable with the heat, humidity, and mosquitoes. I do have AC, but it requires the obnoxiously loud generator or a plugin to work. I also have heat, but super frequent propane refills would get annoying. So this experience made me realize that beyond a few cities and of course all the gorgeous national parks (which are fun for visiting), I am really uninterested in 99% of this country.
I have considered moving internationally as I have friends having a ball in aces like Bangkok and Chiang Mai, but I would really like to see if I can crack it in the US before I do a round the world trip. I have satisfied my travel bug for the one being and would like to hunker down and work on something for a bit.
My top contenders were Phoenix (Scottsdale) and Denver/Boulder, CO, but the heat/cold was stopping me...then I had an epiphany and drove to LA. I have been here a month and the consistently mild weather is really a godsend with the RV. I enjoy how I am getting the best of everything...the food is outstanding for instance, and there is no better place in the country for mixed martial arts instruction, which is a hobby of mine. I never had time to commit fully to it before, but I have been doing it for 4-6 hours per day for a month and I enjoy it more than anything.
However, the prospect of living here long term is daunting. Currently I park my RV on the street wherever. This is totally legal here. I have had two incidents with police who just came by to see if everything was OK. They're VERY relaxed compared to my hometown. This option does not seem that attractive for a decade down the road. I love the RV life and I have adapted well. I cannot think of any logical reason to stop. The unlimited mobility and freedom are incredible. BUT, I would prefer, if I am living in a city long term, to have a little grassy spot or even driveway to park it at night for peace and quiet. I've thought about buying a plot of land and growing my own food, basically having a place to come home to in between trips. This seems to be impossible in LA, since it is a massive urban sprawl and is completely developed. I could "normalize" and give up all my freedom for an apartment, but this would cost me at MINIMUM an extra $1500 per month and would be very inconvenient. It seems illogical and stupid.
I'm also pretty lonely out here. I have some good friend prospects from martial arts that may turn into something, but other than that I know no one. I don't drink for health reasons (kills testosterone) so I'm not just going to drink alone at some bar and holler at random people. I don't have a job so I can't meet people that way. Online dating out here is a complete wasteland. I have met a few women but they are usually around my age and want to settle down and have kids. For this reason I try to target the early twenties crowd, since they seem less judgmental of my alternative lifestyle and don't have baby fever. I should probably give it more than a month, but I feel pretty alone as a minimalist, mustachian, financially independent but not flashy, non-drinking guy with no social network. I'm also an atheist, which caused enormous problems in my Bible Belt hometown...I can't say if it will out here or not yet. The weird thing is I'm kind of conservative despite the atheist ultra-liberal stereotype, so I am really a man without a country.
One place I felt very welcome was Denver/Boulder, especially Boulder. There's something about the hippy ladies I must vibe with, because they were flocking to me in droves. It's almost as sunny as LA. Cost of living is lower, traffic is less insane. There is more outdoorsy stuff to do. Food is OK. There is Grudge Training Center, which produces UFC fighters. I also have a couple good friends there. However, part of the allure of moving to LA was that I could reinvent myself because I knew no one. Is it just me or are Colorado residents extremely over represented on this site? When I told people I lived in an RV, they LOVED it out there. People were down to earth and not as flashy and status obsessed. I am getting mixed vibes in LA. A large percentage of the population considers such a lifestyle to be weird, and I feel like it may cause me to be an outcast. This is a huge city though, so I hesitate to judge. To be honest, I feel kind of like packing up and moving to Colorado, but the one major thing stopping me is the winter. I'm not entirely sure if a Colorado winter is better than a Midwest winter, but I cringe when I look at the average winter temps. I am really one with the cold, gray weather of my past.
I also would like to do something productive with my time and become a rich person for kicks. My businesses run passively, so I can afford to pick up some sort of job as long as it doesn't intrude on my MMA hobby and doesn't make me hate life, like all my past jobs have done. This is the semi-retirement state MMM talks about.
Options I've considered:
1. Coding bootcamp - costs $10k, takes 4 months. This would ideally lead to being able to do contract work so I only work part of the year, or remote work. However I am terrified that it would actually lead to nothing at all, or a new 9-5 office job (surprise, it's 7-7 plus a commute!) I might be able to pay my dues for a year and go remote, but I don't know if this is how it works.
2. Commercial real estate - I love real estate and I plan to be a big commercial property investor in the future. This would be a great way to have access to the best deals and a good network. My income would also be uncapped as it's 100% commission. Some of these companies like CBRE seem more corporate with killer hours, but other like Marcus and Millichap seem to be more like a traditional realtor, where you make your own hours and you're a contractor. I'm probably still working a lot, but at least I can take time off where I need it for my hobbies.
3. Nursing - many of the mma fighters I know are nurses for the schedule of 3 12 hour shifts and the decent pay. The best, cheapest way for me to do this would be to go to a community college for two years to get an ADN. On the surface, being surrounded by college girls for two years doesn't sound bad at all, but I am pretty sure I would burn out from sitting in a chair not making any money while my businesses throw off thousands.
4. Bartender/yoga instructor/some other low paying but relaxed job that allows socialization - obviously this would be a way to boost my social network. However I have never taken a yoga class and have never worked as a bartender or server, and I also don't drink.
5. MMA fighter - sounds insane at first, but I have been doing combat sports off and on my entire life. Many UFC fighters are in their 30s and 40s. It seems to matter less what age you start at...what seems to matter is that you have a 9 year professional window before you start declining. I think I have the potential to do this, but it's going to take 2-5 years of hardcore training to get to the pros. I'm willing to do it because id like to do something "cool" but there is no reason I can't hold down a job at the same time as long as it's an honest 40 hours and not the more typical modern 60+
Why not start another business? Because businesses need capital, and I have none right now. I need to rebuild my reserves. I'm not going to push it again for at least a year. I would rather leverage a little of my time right now, since I have an abundance of it. Traveling the world or hiking every national park sounds fun, but it's very solitary and gets lonely when you have no one to do it with. All my friends/potential girlfriends work crazy hours and are tied to their cities...I got tired of doing everything by myself. No one my age is at these places or doing this stuff, they're all stacking cash. I want a more balanced life than them, but there is really nothing for me to do during work hours.
I applaud anyone who made it through the novel I just wrote and I thank anyone who replies in advance. I know this seems very vague and disjointed, but a year ago I had a (miserable) life plan laid out before me, and now I am free to do anything I want. It's a shock to the system, especially coming from a position of ignorance about practically everywhere and everything (improving due to travels). Maybe some of you have been in a similar situation upon attaining FIRE, even at a later age. I think the main thing with me is, I'm single and I'm hungry for more "success" (but not at the cost of a horrible boss). Whereas, many of the people I've read about on here seem to have accomplished most of what they wanted, or had kids, or are enjoying time with a significant other. I think it's safe to say I can forget about #3, since my situation is exceptionally rare for someone my age, so the only option would be to make so much money that I can tell potential s/o to quit their jobs and I'll support them fully while we travel. Sounds like kind of a bad deal. Most of the girls who are rich enough to not have to work are probably not going to be interested in a guy who lives in an RV. I can't walk around with my net worth stamped to my head, nor would I want to.