business: Please critique my 5-year plan
 

hello GFY'ers, pulled another all-nighter gettin this web $$ and wanted some of you older wiser folks to give me your thoughts on my 5-year plan. im 21 years old, not attending college YET, full time webmaster, have $150,000 saved, make about $3000 a month now give or take. i currently own a condo (retirement town in florida) that i rent out to a tenant and i live with my father.

5 year plan:
- I am moving out of home and into an apartment im renting this Sunday. rent is cheap and all is included and will have a roommate.
- Buy another condo in same building as one i currently own to rent out to a tenant with $50,000 from my savings
- go to college (i dont want to but prlly should right?), continue webmastering but to a lesser extent since i'll be in college
- finish college by age 25 or 26
- check the market to see if i could sell one of my two condos for good profit
- buy my own house

end 5 yr plan
next 5 years begins with working on my house to fancy it up and re-establish my web business after having less time for it due to college

and no im not some spoiled rich kid i made all this money myself and pay most of my dad's bills lol. is this a good 5 year plan do you think? my goal is lifetime wealth. what tweaks would you make?

What if you get hit by a bus tomorrow? Sell everything and spend it all on drugs and hookers :2 cents:

will take that into consideration

:winkwink:

you better start investing or working harder. $3000/month won't get you too far. :2 cents:

yeah i know thats why im tryin to figure out the best 5yr plan and make my 150k i have stretch

I do not see enough thoughts on retirement plans and your at the prime age to start, especially if you want to retire young if you want to. Plus your almost throwing away money by not investing into your retirement funds. So where are your contributions to your SEP IRA? You could do some catch up contributions btw.

Will your roommate situation cover most or all of your own rent so your still living free or almost free?

Is your 150k liquid? If so why?

What kind of rent do you get for your rental? Vacancy rate? Month to month or lease? How is property tax, any maintinance fee's? Give rental details.

Why college and not just a trade school into a blooming field like green technology or even just some computer certification? What would you take in school to fall back on?

Why plan on selling any unit in 5 years? Odds are the market would just starting to turn around but good chance they would not. Plus why sell real estate? You can use additional houses like piggy banks if your careful about it. Plus you would not have built up that much equity unless you put a shitload down. Oh is your first one paid off?
Anyways I would never sell them unless you have to. If needed just borrow against them and keep them rented out. They are assets.

Do not just fancy up your house either. Understand appraising first. Just do upgrades that will get you most or a good chunk of your money back in value added to your house. Stay away from the ones that do not provide value, unless you have too.

Also would keep your vehicle super cheap.

I could really go on and on but your info is not only lacking, you are on what seems like the right path but really isnt.

retirement - ur right, i was looking at retirement funds a while ago, forgot to write that into my plan. will definitely want to start those.

58k of the 150k is liquid, the rest is in GIC's. they are up in December and im looking for something else to put it in though.

will not be living free, will be living for $550/month approx at that apartment im moving into on sunday with all of the bills included (internet phone etc).

rent that i get for my condo is $100 above my mortgage/condo fees combined, which will cover my property taxes each year. tenants sign a year lease. current tenant just signed her new years' lease last week. vacant for 2 months when i first bought it, rented for the last 12 months.

i am about to pay off my vehicle.

i have no idea what to take in college/trade school/university, i just know i need something to fall back on. green technology is a great idea.

Your plan either way needs to be much more flushed out. Most plans are several pages of text and charts. Mine would scare the skeleton out of someone. I also update it at least monthly.

Your current living expenses should always be brought down. You are increasing yours and I do not see a valid reason why for example.

You did not mention a rent amount, so other factors could not be added in. Then nice your car is almost paid off but what is it? What is the current payment?

:helpme:helpme:helpme:helpme:helpme

car is a 2006 Jeep Grand Cherokee current payment $400, only a couple more months left

reason for moving out of home/increasing living expenses mental health. 1 more month with dad and i will go insane.

So once your jeep gets paid off, your actual living expenses only go up 150 not 550?

We could just talk private sometime if you like.

Oh, assuming you have a clean driving record I have a question. I know your getting jacked rates wise cause of where you live and by law you must have insurance (PS you do have insurance on property right?).
On your auto insurance, can I guess that you have a 500 dollar deductable?

yeah insurance is all straight, 500 deductable. also i pay 400/month to my dad living at home right now.

I like your attitude...when I was at college, I used to make up to 3-4k per month the last year and didn't save shit. I spent everything on fun...kept just a little and used it as a down-payment for a new car after I was done with school. I'm 30 now and still can't save money as I should, at least I have a big house now, if I didn't get that, all my money would be gone.

im gonna throw my dad into moving traffic if i live here one more week

When the offices open up for your insurance. Call them and find out the difference if you changed your deductible from 500 to either 1000 or 1500.
Honestly very few wrecks cause less than 2 grand in damages unless it is a door ding or other non moving accident, oh and of course chipped or broken windows. Either way a 500 deductible is just silly to have. You will always be out of pocket for any broken windows or door dents anyways. Then like I said most wrecks cause much more in damage. Hell I do not even think I would report a 500 accident or one under 1k to my insurance company if the car was worth it. I would just eat it and pay myself.

Anyways call and see what the rate difference is.
While on the phone, make sure your not over or under insured versus your assets.

PS - you got your death shit in place yet? Have a living will and advanced directives in place?

nah no living well or nothing haha i definitely want to start up my ira soon though thats next on my list

Look into buying a duplex that you can live in and rent out the other half. Why pay rent to someone else when you can buy and pay yourself while being on site to monitor the renters.

Buyer's market out there still, take advantage of it.

yeah i've had a lot of people recommend that to me, having trouble finding a duplex in my price range though in my location

The rental sounds good. $100 net cash flow is not huge but at least it is something. Why not try and get a few more? Buy a few foreclosures. College is a must? I am huge on college but will it pay off for you now? I guess if you were my kid i would say go. The parties, girls etc are worth the cost and you get that degree thrown in.

My experience with rental in resort towns is that they suck. The rent is so low as so many are empty in the off season. I own a condo in FL in a pretty nice area and the other people rent them for the cost of the expenses.