Here’s WHY We decided to start investing in Real Estate

 It’s Not Rocket Science” Podcast Episode with Dr. Ann Tsung

We are thrilled to have been interviewed by our friend Dr. Ann Tsung on her podcast!  Dr. Tsung who is a NASA flight surgeon (i.e.:  the doctor for the astronauts)  Emergency Medicine physician and health and wellness coach has an amazing podcast and channel in which she talks about health, optimization, and wellbeing.  There we told our story of why we began investing in real estate and started our company.   Watch the podcast episode here. 

Podcast episode page here. 

You can also listen to the episodes via:

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/si/podcast/21-why-traditional-investing-wont-get-you-wealthy-fast/id1581629052?i=1000581848090

Main take-home points on our WHY: 

A lot of people on their death beds wish they spent more time with family and friends and not spent their time working more.   I pursued a highly specialized career in academics, with limited good paying positions, to work with specific mentors in my field and to mentor dozens of trainees over the years.  In order to do so, I had to uproot my family away from our families and our lives back home in Canada.   

So if we are lucky, we get to go home two to three times a year.  For me those trips home entail only a few days at a time, which are usually go by very fast.  And usually upon return, there are a pile of messages, prescription refills, or patients trying to get in to see me despite my schedule being booked out weeks (sometimes months) in advance.  

Don’t get me wrong… I love connecting with and serving my patients, addressing issues with whom they have sought help for from many others’ unsuccessfully.  I also love mentoring my residents, helping them launch their careers, and more recently teach them about financial literacy and wealth building.   And I love the people I work with, my teammates and I have been blessed with amazing and accomplished mentors.  Where we live and where we work has been an absolute blessing for us. 

But there are trade offs.  Last weekend was when our families celebrated Thanksgiving in Canada.  We weren’t there.  In recent years, family members have had health issues that could have benefited from us being there for extended periods of time to provide support.  We couldn’t.  Our jobs, practices and obligations only allow us a specific amount of time away. 

In our interview, Winnie said something profound as it relates to achieving life and career goals.   

Your dreams in life may not necessarily be your destiny.   

Winnie Napeñas

We work so hard and think we know what we want in life, only to find that when we achieve our goals and our careers, it may not necessarily be fulfilling enough. 

When we moved back to Charlotte away from our family in Canada, we felt that it was so important that the kids spent time every year with their cousins and their grandparents.   During the pandemic, we weren’t able to do that with border restrictions, lockdowns, and such.  Those last couple of years has been very difficult with our family being in Canada and family members going through changes in their health.  When you are living geographically somewhere else and you only have limited days off from your job and obligations, you can only be away so much. 

We really had to find a way that we can free up more time and have more resources so that our kids can create those memories, and we can be there to support our family in times of need. 

So we realized that we could not just rely on one source of income. We needed to find other ways to generate income where we could create that freedom, that flexibility, the time to travel, and to be with FAMILY.  

“Figure out your why and learn how you can take back your time by building wealth and earning passive income.  Don’t be stuck on the hamster wheel of your chosen career.  Whether it is investing in real estate, starting a side hustle or finding other investments, get educated, get connected with and mentored by others’ doing it and then GET STARTED.“

JOEL NAPENAS