If you would like to participate in our interview series, check out the questions here, put together your answers in a word or google doc, and shoot them to me at adam@adamchudy.com and we’ll get you in the mix – Thanks, Adam
Michael from Financially Alert
This interview is from Michael at Financially Alert. Financially Alert’s goal is to help others to break free from the stress and anxiety of finances.
What’s your story?
I spent the first half of my working career building and running a computer support company. We did I.T. integration and management for small and medium businesses. After growing the business to ~$2M in annual revenues, we decided to sell it to a larger company. I worked with the new company for a small transition period and then decided to exit the traditional workforce at age 36 take time for myself and my newly growing family.
Taking this non-traditional route (i.e. mini-retirement) has been an incredible blessing. I’ve been able to spend a ton of quality time with my kids (3.5 and 1.5 years old) and wife. A typical day may include skipping to the park, flying paper airplanes, and supervising water color paintings. It’s a whole lot of fun, but I also need something else to stimulate my brain… a challenge, or something else that I can progress forward with.
So, I decided last year that I would like to something more fulfilling for my second phase of my “career”. I decided that I was going to re-ignite the entrepreneurial spirit and begin taking the steps towards becoming a financial coach. After being blessed in my own life, there’s nothing more that I’d rather do than to help others achieve their own financial goals in life.
With this decision firmly in place, I decided to create my own personal finance blog – Financially Alert. This is a personalized space where I can write freely about money, personal development, or anything based on my own perspective. It’s a place for me to get my name out into the market and also a place to share, give, and learn. My goal one day is to create enough traffic to develop a sustainable stream of coaching leads that I can pursue and really try to help as many people as I’m able.
When people ask you what you do, what’s your answer?
I have a few go to answers:
- I’m an entrepreneur in hibernation
- I’m a blogger
- I’m a financial coach
How do you explain your side hustles?
My primary side hustles are real estate investing, growing my blog, and soon to be coaching!
- I love real estate as an investment vehicle because once you purchase a good property, it can pay you indefinitely.
- Growing Financially Alert is the perfect project to work on part time while being a stay-at-home Dad.
- The ultimate goal with financial coaching is to help as many people achieve financial freedom as quickly as possible.
What’s the best and worst financial mistakes you’ve personally made?
Worst financial mistake – buying a rental property I wasn’t able to rent out – ultimately it worked out okay. I had to hold onto a vacation property for a few years, but I was able to get my money back out. I also learned invaluable lessons about due diligence and to not beat myself up (no matter how big the mistake seemed at the time).
Best financial decision – spending $2000 to startup an I.T. support company with some friends. The $2000 (although not completely passive) ended up earning a 69% compounded return over 10 years, or ~$400k (before taxes). With the proper focus, a business can be just as lucrative as a well-placed real estate investment.
What area of your life do you indulge in luxuries? Where do you cut ruthlessly?
I definitely indulge in food quite a bit. I’ll seek out good food anywhere (Hole-in-the-walls to 3-Star Michelin Restaurants). I think the most expensive lunch for my wife and I was just shy of $500 US in Paris… oh yeah, that was just food – we didn’t have any drinks.
I am super frugal when it comes to socks! Most of mine have holes in them from being worn too much… same thing with my belts. ( Adam here – I think this is hilarious. Caitlin makes fun of my incredibly extensive, bright and crazy patterned sock drawer)
We don’t save money just to stare at the comma’s. What goal are you working toward and why?
My biggest goal at this point is all about giving back. I want everyone to be able to experience the happiness and fulfilment I’ve found through financial freedom and thus it is my mission to help as many people as I’m able to achieve financial freedom sooner than later.
I have a goal of hitting $10M dollars in net worth by the time I’m 50. If I’m able to do this, it will mean that I am providing a huge amount of value to others which will feel quite fulfilling.
What opinion or view have you changed your mind about in the past year?
I changed my mind about using the word “never” in my vocabulary.
For example, “I’ll never run a marathon,” was a common statement I used to say. Although it’s not on my top 10 goals to accomplish, it’s at least not on my NEVER list anymore. Why limit yourself with crippling beliefs?
What opinion or belief do you hold that most people don’t?
I am a firm believer that, “life doesn’t happen to you, it happens for you.”
There are many things and events that you cannot control in your life, but you can always control your focus and meaning to them. That power of choice will determine the quality of your life.
Life is short. Live beautifully.
What’s the best $100 you’ve spent this year?
When I pulled my car into the garage last night, I thought I had cleared the garage door like I always had. BANG!! Oops, guess not. The garage door stopped dead in it’s tracks!
After fussing with it for over an hour, I finally decided to call up someone to help. I was pleasantly surprised to find a local expert only 10 mins away and he was able to come by at 11pm. He was able to fix the problem in a few minutes, but stayed an extra 45 mins just tuning up the door. That was outstanding service and the best $150 I’ve spent this year! Yes I know it’s more than $100, but close enough… hehe.
(Adam here – like we talk about your time is just as valuable as your money. Pay for value. Get a trainer if you need one. Pay for a class. Sometimes experts are worth their weight in gold. You don’t pay for the 10 minutes of their time. You pay for the 20 years of their experience that lets them fix your problem in 10 minutes.
What does your morning routine look like?
I haven’t been a morning personal historically, but I know there are a lot of benefits to doing so and would consider it in the future. So, if I were a morning person, this is what I’d do:
Wake up before anyone else and take a solid 45 mins or more to myself
I’d prime myself with:
- Meditation
- Gratitude/Prayer
- Quick Exercise to get the blood flowing
- Writing
What book have you most gifted or recommended?
Easy… Unlimited Power by Anthony Robbins. It changed my life by helping me to achieve, appreciate, and love more than I thought I could. It’s packed with a ton of useful tools, but is very easy to read. Highly recommended.
Any favorite podcasts?
I occasionally enjoy listening to:
Eventual Millionaire (Jaime Tardy) – great podcast for entrepreneurs and/or enthusiasts
This is Your Life (Michael Hyatt) – podcast about leadership, living well, and personal growth
Smart Passive Income Podcast (Pat Flynn) – the old time favorite on building online businesses the right way
To see all our interviews head over to the Guest Interviews Page.
If you would like to participate in our interview series, check out the questions here, put together your answers in a word or google doc, and shoot them to me at adam@adamchudy.com and we’ll get you in the mix – Thanks, Adam
Still here? Help us keep the lights on and get some FREE MONEY! Tradeking is offering $200 sign-up bonus RIGHT NOW if you open an account!
The first step to financial freedom is tracking your net worth. I love Personal Capital, my favorite tool to see all your accounts in place.
You can also support us by using our Amazon link. We get a bit back if you do and it helps keep the lights on.