Why You Should Meditate As an Investor and How to Get Started

Often, you come across references focusing on meditation for real estate investing. Even Steve Jobs, the late co-founder and CEO of Apple attributed much of his career success to meditation that boosted his perception and intuition in creativity. The following quote helps us understand the importance of meditating:
“After reading a bad headline, meditating investors are more likely to respond rather than react."

Why an Investor Needs To Meditate

Meditation is not bound by religious or philosophical nature. You do not have to change your lifestyle or believe in religion to practice meditation. Whatever job or lifestyle you are pursuing, incorporate meditation for your overall health benefits and material gains. Meditation is an attempt to communicate with the true self. It works for everyone regardless of their belief or motivation.

As a real estate investor, you should meditate because it can change your...

My Real Estate Investing Success Story

I started as a TOW gunner in the Marines during Desert Storm. I came home to divorce and ended up a homeless single dad. The military was downsizing after the first gulf war, so re-enlisting wasn't an option. I tried a few different jobs after getting out and finally became a truck driver once I got my CDL.

 I remarried and had two more kids--then divorced again. I am good at keeping custody, but not so good at keeping a wife. I inherited $89,000 of bad debt from this marriage that I did not know existed. It took me six years to get out from under that. 

After that, I became a police officer but was let go during the 2008 financial crisis. A lot of police departments were laying people off at that time since municipalities get their funding for officers from city revenues. 

In 2009, I was tired of losing jobs because of circumstances out of my control. I owned a house I had purchased with my VA loan and then refinanced during the...

How to use your Veteran Benefits to Help Achieve Financial Independence

Can you, as a veteran, hack military benefits to financial freedom?  Yes.  The average American household spends $5,000/month.  Let’s imagine that this represents you.  If you succeed in stacking your benefits as monthly passive income to outweigh $5K/month, then you win in hacking your way to financial freedom.

You can win freedom by increasing money flowing in or reducing the money flowing out.  I prefer to focus on income, to think offensively, vs. the defensive approach of aggressive saving and living frugally.  Your expenses can shrink to the floor, but your income has no ceiling.  And as we say in the military, the defense sets up the offense.  The offense remains decisive.

As a veteran, there exist at least four significant sources of passive income that you should hack:  retirement, VADC, SSDI, and VR&E.  You also have at least two...

What is a Generational Wealth Plan?

When you ask most people why they work so hard to increase their net worth and gain financial independence, they almost always answer something to the effect of- "I want the freedom to spend time with my family" or "I don't want my kids to struggle as I did". Family is a powerful motivator, yet many people do not have a comprehensive plan for ensuring that their wealth passes to their heirs or that their beneficiaries have the financial education to increase their wealth further after you die.  

There is irony in the fact that to create generational wealth, you need to act and plan as if you already HAVE generational wealth. Rich people do not leave their family's inheritance or financial education to chance, and neither should you. The great news is that, as a member of the military, you have access to fantastic resources that can help turbocharge your children's future. 

To create our plan, we started with a broad...

What is a Turnkey Property?

There’s been a lot of discussion about turnkey properties on the ADPI FB page, so let’s talk about turnkey properties! There are so many options with real estate investing that sometimes it can get overwhelming to choose. But, if you’re looking for a low-key, mostly hands-off way to invest, turnkey property investing may be for you.

Turnkey properties became popular after the real estate market crash of 2008. According to Investopedia.com, a turnkey property is often “a property purchased from a company that specializes in the restoration of older properties.” These companies usually offer property management services as well – which can shorten the amount of time required to manage a rental.

A hands-off, ready-to-rent investment property that cash flows sounds great, right? Sign me up! But wait—even though it’s easy to get caught up in the supposed ease of turnkey properties, we still need to do our due...

Forming a business can involve many complex considerations. The entity structure will impact how owners get paid, how they are taxed, and which set of regulations to follow. State and local laws will also affect the process by determining which licenses, permits, and registrations are required. If you’re interested in forming a business entity, here are the basic steps to follow.

How to Form a Business Entity: 6 Steps to Get Started

1. Select a Name
2. Pick a Legal Structure
3. Select a Location
4. File Necessary Paperwork
5. Set Up Financing and Taxes
6. Hire Employees

What Kinds of Entities Can You Form?

When starting a business, there are many types of business entities you can choose to form. They vary based on key considerations, such how many owners there are in the company, what liability protection is needed, and the impact of taxation. Other factors include possible investors, state and local laws, and business activity. The entity options range from single-owner companies, such as...

How to Evaluate your Business & Career Goals

Have you ever asked yourself if you are doing what you really want with your life during your working hours? After all, we spend a good chunk of our lives earning a living, but apparently, many of us do not do a very good job. Many Americans are working longer in their lives but, according to a report by the Stanford Center on Longevity, they still don’t have the money needed for retirement. Sadly, the report states that “to address retirement savings shortfalls, American workers will need to adopt some combination of working longer, saving more, spending less, and making every dollar count by adopting efficient investment and retirement income strategies.”

What Goals Should You Focus On?

As reported by CNBC, “70 is the new 65,” because many people don’t save enough to fully retire by 65 to maintain their current standard of living, and one of the best strategies to withdraw...

How can Whole Life Insurance help me?

 The COVID-19 pandemic has caused volatility to come roaring back into the financial world. More than 20 million jobs have been lost, the economy is in a recession, and markets have been fluctuating wildly. With financial security foremost in many people’s minds, it seems like an ideal opportunity to highlight three benefits of cash value whole life insurance that are even more valuable in times like these.

Whole Life Insurance Provides Guaranteed Cash Value Growth

As Markian mentioned in this recent video, the magic of compounding returns is significantly less magical if you experience down years. During a recession, most asset classes will be dropping in value. Holding a portion of your wealth in products with guaranteed returns is an excellent method to help weather market downturns. This is the reason ADPI Insurance recommends traditional whole life insurance, which provides guaranteed cash value growth. On top of...

5 Key Steps to Conduct Proper Due Diligence in Real Estate Investing

Property investors and future homeowners have some things in common--mainly that they both shouldn't rush important decisions. The worst thing you can do when you’re shopping for a property is to convince yourself that you’ve found the home of your dreams without exploring other options in the market--or without doing your due diligence. There’s no telling what kind of problems might be hiding for unsuspecting or inexperienced buyers, and once these problems emerge, they can make your life, well, difficult--to put it mildly.

Still, real estate is one of the best investments you can make, but you need to know how to conduct thorough research and examine all options to find a property with the highest ROI potential according to your long-term goals. With that in mind, here are the five key tips you need to follow to conduct proper due diligence when shopping for...

What is Multifamily Syndication?

If you’ve ever considered how real estate investors can purchase huge multifamily deals, this topic is for you. Though there are people who can afford to buy a $3 million apartment complex, it’s not feasible for most investors. Multifamily syndication can help even the most beginner investor accomplish their goal of owning multifamily properties.

Put simply, multifamily syndication is a group investment. It allows sponsors to invest in properties that they otherwise would not be able to afford. The sponsor is responsible for researching and evaluating the property and raising the funds to purchase the property. Finding multiple investors to help fund a deal is essential in multifamily syndication. These syndicators share the risks and returns on the multifamily investment. (You can check out our podcast on syndication here)

The roles in multifamily syndication are important ones--General Partners (GPs) structure and manage the deal. This...