What’s going on guys Its Jordan de Jong here and today I want to talk about your Why, I believe this is solely the most important questions to ask yourself at any stage of your investing journey, the simple answer, of course, is wealth creation and financial independents, but what would you do with yourself when you get to that point? It’s hard to foresee, especially when your starting out and have just come to the realization that you could potentially retire early, or not have to worry about finance in your later years, but trust me there comes a point in everyone’s life where they realize what is really important, no one on their death bed ever said they wish they had worked harder during their life. In this era of instant gratification with after pay, Instagram posts and a generational wealth divide it’s so easy for us to benchmark our financial position against an unrealistic reality, causing us to sprint in the wheel of the rat race, working harder and harder to pay for consumable goods that are exactly that, consumables, once they are consumed they are near worthless. If you listen to a lot of successful people the biggest commonality they now say is that money is not the answer, it doesn’t fulfill you and no matter how much you earn you can always find a way to spend it if you think about Jeff Bezos, Warren Buffet and Bill Gates they could have all retired ages ago, be sitting on a beach in Hawaii for the rest of their lives, but that’s not fulfilling to them, they have found there why and through that a purpose for their life. Understanding you're why is frequently talked about in the property space and should always be the first thing any advisor asks you whether it be a buyers agent, accountant, mortgage broker, etc they should always ask you what your goals are and why they are your goals, if they don’t, in my opinion, I would find a new one, so let's delve into why this question is so important. I’m only 27 and I can literally see my whole life passing by, faster and faster every single year, I’ve been fortunate enough to work very hard in my younger years, purchased a couple of investment properties and a am well on the path of being retirement ready, however, I don’t want to get to the age of 55 (which I’m halfway there already) going down this same path and realize that my prime years are now behind me. All I have is the ability right now to sit back and analyze what I want for my life moving forward, and regardless of where you sit in your current financial position I plead you do the same, stop living for that job promotion, pulling 80 hour weeks just for an extra 20 grand a year, which is really only 5 grand after-tax, super and lifestyle creep. So, what would you do if you got paid exactly what you get paid now for free? You might say go on a holiday or play video games all day, but trust me I’ve done that and there is only so many games that you can finish, so many destinations you can travel to and you can always find ways to spend more and more money, so what would you really do? What would you really spend the rest of your life doing every single day? I probably haven’t conveyed my point as clearly as I would like, but I want to share with you my absolute favorite story that might help put things into perspective it’s called The Parable of the Mexican Fisherman and the Banker and it goes like this: An American investment banker was taking a much-needed vacation in a small coastal Mexican village when a small boat with just one fisherman docked. The boat had several large, fresh fish in it. The investment banker was impressed by the quality of the fish and asked the Mexican how long it took to catch them. The Mexican replied, “Only a little while.” The banker then asked why he didn't stay out longer and catch more fish? The Mexican fisherman replied he had enough to support his family's immediate needs. The American then asked, “But what do you do with the rest of your time?” The Mexican fisherman replied, “I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take siesta with my wife, stroll into the village each evening where I sip wine and play guitar with my amigos: I have a full and busy life, señor.” The investment banker scoffed, “I am an Ivy League MBA, and I could help you. You could spend more time fishing and with the proceeds buy a bigger boat, and with the proceeds from the bigger boat, you could buy several boats until eventually, you would have a whole fleet of fishing boats. Instead of selling your catch to the middleman you could sell directly to the processor, eventually opening your own cannery. You could control the product, processing, and distribution.” Then he added, “Of course, you would need to leave this small coastal fishing village and move to Mexico City where you would run your growing enterprise.” The Mexican fisherman asked, “But señor, how long will this all take?” To which the American replied, “15-20 years.” “But what then?” asked the Mexican. The American laughed and said, “That's the best part. When the time is right you would announce an IPO and sell your company stock to the public and become very rich. You could make millions.” “Millions, señor? Then what?” To which the investment banker replied, “Then you would retire. You could move to a small coastal fishing village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take siesta with your wife, stroll to the village in the evenings where you could sip wine and play your guitar with your amigos.” I just love this story, as it’s a pure depiction of the old saying, it’s not about the destination, it’s the journey, you have to enjoy your journey, do what you love doing every single day, and find a way to get paid for doing what you love. It’s no use saying one day I’ll be able to do X if I just keep doing Y but you absolutely hate doing Y, that’s not a fulfilling and enjoyable life, and this is why it is so essential to understand your goals and you're why before you even set out on your investing journey. If you want financial independents because you really don’t like your current job, in my opinion, your setting yourself the wrong goal, why would you want to work the next 40 years, live as frugally as you possibly can over that time (which means your not enjoying life as much) but, to save as much as possible to buy investments that will support you in your retirement where your now 60 years old and the best years of your life have been traded for a salary. I’m not saying you shouldn’t invest, I’m just saying you should enjoy your life while spending less than you earn and investing the difference, it’s not about how much you make, some people earning 500k+ a year don’t even know where their money goes because of excessive lifestyle creep, it’s all about what you do with what you earn. All we have ever been brought up to embrace is trading our time for money, then trading our money for consumables and experiences, and repeating the process with highs and lows throughout the journey, and yes I fully understand that this is how the economy keeps spinning, but have you ever heard the term the rich get richer? And it’s entirely true because they understand how to create wealth. They understand where to draw the line in the sand with over-consuming and realize where their time is better spent, so instead of trading your time for money trade you time for what you want to do and find a way to earn money from that, and investing can be a side tool to help you along the journey, rather than the only path. If you want a brand new car every year, the latest gadgets and extravagant holidays, then by all means, get out there and work as hard as you possibly can for them, that is your why, that is what you enjoy so go and get it! Just do it for you and your family, don’t do it for the social status because that disappears overnight once you stop posting the lavish photos. If you want to travel the world and explore everything the world has to offer, then find a way to do that and get paid for it, thousands of people have done it before you, it’s not impossible, you might just not be earning 6-figures while your abroad. Another common one I hear a lot talking to other investors on my podcast Smashed Avo Property is that they want to leave a legacy behind for their kids, which is so important and your giving the best possible financial future you can for them but is that what they really want? Is your work-life taking up that much time that you don’t actually spend time with your kids now, maybe instead of being gifted a million dollars when you pass, they would much rather cherish fond memories they had with you in that time instead of been given money, so maybe ask them, what would they prefer? And if they said the money, I would probably give it all away to the charity myself anyway. We only have one life, its goes too quickly to be stressed out in a job we don’t enjoy because we feel trapped, you really don’t need 10 million in property to claim the successful property investor badge, no one really cares after more than 2 minutes that your financially successful, so don’t worry about them and do it for yourself. My biggest gripe with the whole property investor status is we compare each other by how many properties we own, demonstrated in the graph here, but I could go and buy 6 $50,000 properties tomorrow and be in the top 2%, but I would now own 6 terrible assets and it would hinder my financial future, so don’t compare yourself to others, only to how close you are to your goals. If you haven’t noticed I haven’t asked for a like or to subscribe throughout this blog because I want you to embrace your why, what is your end goal, what do you really want in life, how much is enough? But if you did enjoy this content and it did challenge you in some way then make sure you smash that like button. I what is your why? What are your goals for investing. As always, seek your own professional financial, legal, taxation & property investing advice for your current situation, these blogs are just my opinion and general in nature and should never be considered personal advice. Until next time, happy house hunting.

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