Courage to be Wealthy

Over the years, several "financial professionals" have cited courage as one of the most often overlooked trait of the super wealthy. Do I have the courage to be wealthy? is a question I ask myself when planning the financial future of my own family. Surprisingly, the answer isn't always yes.

I have purposefully ran, screaming in the opposite direction of the law firm track and have instead embraced the oft disparaged "mommy track" of public interest and telecommuting, which provides me with the flexibility I want to be both an interested and an interesting parent; my life is not yet as enviable as my real-life heroine, Anna.

Madhubby has a similar low-powered, "daddy track" job, so we've been left to suss out other methods for creating wealth. Enter: Real Estate investing. The blogosphere has a lot to say about REI. Most of the advice comes courtesy of the infomercial ilk. No, thank you. I prefer to get my information from people who are interested in freely sharing information without soliciting a fee for doing so. Shaun and Kenric have both managed to keep their heads above water while Meredith gets my praise and respect for managing to buy and sell three homes for a profit all while living only on a teacher's salary.

One of our close couple friends netted nearly two million dollars by simply buying a few properties and holding them for a decade. Two years ago, at age 37, they sold all but their vacation home and built their dream home on a wooded five acre lot with a private lake.

We are no strangers to the REI game ourselves, but we are a wee bit cowardly. When our tenants bought their own home shortly after leasing our first home, we opted to sell instead of search for new tenants. We lost some money on that deal but we haven't lost hope.

Currently, our real estate market is experiencing its traditional 10 year low period, which makes this an excellent time to buy. Our plan is to buy our third home by next August and makes our current home into a positive cash flow rental. So, do we have the courage to be wealthy? I think so. Do you?