When you start to change the way you look at money, the money you look at starts to change.
Why Financially Free Teacher?
Have you ever heard the idea that because you went into the field of Education you will be comfortable, but you will never be rich?
Don't believe it!
Remember you have stable employment, stable income, and time for side hustles.
There is no reason you shouldn't be financially free . There is no reason you shouldn't be financially stable and able to live life on your terms.
The time for a website like this is yesterday!
Our profession is literally overworked, underpaid, and at times under appreciated. We must now personally empower ourselves by taking control of our financial futures and not relying on our governments. Pensions and promises are under attack, political reforms are jeopardizing our futures and we must take the power back into our own hands.
It is our responsibility to take control of our own destiny and financial future the very first day we begin our educational adventure.
"If you were born poor, it's not your mistake. But if you die poor, it's your mistake."
- Bill Gates
I wish there was a teacher-geared financial website like this a long time ago to help empower me sooner.
Something that would help guide me in the right direction from day 1. A place that I could go to learn about what I should be doing to get on the right path from the very start of my career.
Let FFT be part of that path for you
I respect and praise those in this profession that do it the right way. Who immerse themselves into providing their students with the absolute best overall educational experience regardless of what pay step they are on.
I take pride in being one of those educators and I want to share what I have learned with nothing really to gain other than the satisfaction of knowing I helped a colleague. I almost feel it's my responsibility to share and pass the torch to younger generations as an educator.
"Teaching is the act of sharing the knowledge that we have been given by others with hope that someday in some way, it again will be passed on."
-Kathy Jeffords
There is no greater feeling as a teacher when you know you helped better someone's life.
The goal of FFT is to help educators outside of the classroom with their own life so they can focus more on helping those inside the classroom with their lives.
Check out FFT Lessons (Teacher-tested), FFT favorites, and my "I'm Free Blog"
The time for Your Financial Freedom is Now!
Don't believe it!
Remember you have stable employment, stable income, and time for side hustles.
There is no reason you shouldn't be financially free . There is no reason you shouldn't be financially stable and able to live life on your terms.
The time for a website like this is yesterday!
Our profession is literally overworked, underpaid, and at times under appreciated. We must now personally empower ourselves by taking control of our financial futures and not relying on our governments. Pensions and promises are under attack, political reforms are jeopardizing our futures and we must take the power back into our own hands.
It is our responsibility to take control of our own destiny and financial future the very first day we begin our educational adventure.
"If you were born poor, it's not your mistake. But if you die poor, it's your mistake."
- Bill Gates
I wish there was a teacher-geared financial website like this a long time ago to help empower me sooner.
Something that would help guide me in the right direction from day 1. A place that I could go to learn about what I should be doing to get on the right path from the very start of my career.
Let FFT be part of that path for you
I respect and praise those in this profession that do it the right way. Who immerse themselves into providing their students with the absolute best overall educational experience regardless of what pay step they are on.
I take pride in being one of those educators and I want to share what I have learned with nothing really to gain other than the satisfaction of knowing I helped a colleague. I almost feel it's my responsibility to share and pass the torch to younger generations as an educator.
"Teaching is the act of sharing the knowledge that we have been given by others with hope that someday in some way, it again will be passed on."
-Kathy Jeffords
There is no greater feeling as a teacher when you know you helped better someone's life.
The goal of FFT is to help educators outside of the classroom with their own life so they can focus more on helping those inside the classroom with their lives.
Check out FFT Lessons (Teacher-tested), FFT favorites, and my "I'm Free Blog"
The time for Your Financial Freedom is Now!
A Teacher's Journey to Financial Freedom
Where it all started
2005 was the year when I landed my first job, bought my first house, and started things in motion. I didn't know much about retirement, investing, or anything finance for that matter. I did however, love the board game Monopoly. I entered my path to financial freedom through real estate. I was always lucky with my rolls, smart with my purchases (I always bought the railroads), and had a strong strategies so I figured it would translate into real world monopoly success.
Oh the power in being young and naive!
Oh the power in being young and naive!
There she stood. An early nineteen hundred former toll house across from a golf course a few towns over from my where I currently rented a room in a house for $360 a month including utilities. That living opportunity, a stable teaching job, and summer hustle is how I was able to purchase and afford a house at the age of 22.
The property sat on a 40x310 lot and the backyard made it all the way back to the neighboring street. I would joke that it was a house sitting on a bowling alley. There was open land, potential for sub-division, and a huge shed that I thought I could turn into a guesthouse. I also figured since it was an old toll house it was destined to be covered with valuable coins that I could sell for a fortune later on. I always was and still am a lucky guy so why not!
I bought the house, entered the real estate game and began putting little upgrades on it with the help of family and friends as my future wife, her friend, and my friend (who spilt paint on his brand new carpet and covered it up with his bed) lived there and paid rent. I went to garage sales to find house fixtures, and other house stuff that would increase the value of my investment. My wife’s Mother is the queen of garage sales so she stumbled across the hardest project of my life (besides my two children) and found 3000 crescent moon pavers. They were in her town which was an hour away so they needed to be loaded in a rented U-Haul, loaded one by one with the help of family and friends (free food and beer is a great motivator) transported, unloaded, and laid.
Weeks later the final paver was far from perfectly placed, but the project was complete. Little did I know, years later these pavers would be picked up one by one and transported to my next house and eventually sold. I have nightmares of these moon crescent pavers still to this day even though they made me more than 10x on my initial investment.
A few years later, as my girlfriend and friends trickled out of this beaut, I turned it into a rental property. I used rent money earned to pay down principal on my 6.5% mortgage and used the extra money to buy books on investing, retirement, and real estate (at garage sales of course). I saved money from my job in education and summer hustles on LBI to buy another house, but this time my first home. During my downtime, I studied and went to real estate school to become a realtor on the side while learning the inner workings of real estate from a teaching colleague who took me under her wing (Thank you Mary). I was able to build strong financial momentum with vision, by taking chances, and with the help and support of family and friends.
What could stop me now?
What could stop me now?
After an amazing Thanksgiving meal at my Mom's house, I received a frantic phone call from my tenant. She said, "the house is all gone!" I remember feeling so out of control and so far away and disconnected even though I was only an hour away. The first question I asked was if anyone was injured or hurt. Thankfully they were out for Thanksgiving as well and were on their way back when they pulled up to what you see above. I couldn't and still can't fathom what they must have felt seeing their belongings, memories, and life burning up in flames. As she kept me on the phone, I could hear the ordeal playing out in the background.
Sirens, the sound of firemen talking, splashing, and crying was the soundtrack of Thanksgiving that year. How ironic I thought, that on this day so much could be lost. On a day of thanks, we were feeling a day of sadness and loss. Her belongings, security, and home were all gone. The firefighters and local EMT had to put out a fire instead of bundle up next to one with their families and friends. My time, hard work, and energy were going up in flames more and more with every minute that fire kept burning. My financial future was also in serious jeopardy.
Sirens, the sound of firemen talking, splashing, and crying was the soundtrack of Thanksgiving that year. How ironic I thought, that on this day so much could be lost. On a day of thanks, we were feeling a day of sadness and loss. Her belongings, security, and home were all gone. The firefighters and local EMT had to put out a fire instead of bundle up next to one with their families and friends. My time, hard work, and energy were going up in flames more and more with every minute that fire kept burning. My financial future was also in serious jeopardy.
When the smoke cleared (literally), I remember the next day driving back home to see the damage. Before I could even pull up to the property, I immediately began to smell the scent of wet, burnt wood. As I walked the property, stepping and crunching on random bones of the home, I meet with the fire chief to learn more about the cause and what the next steps were in this process. He told me that the cause of the fire was narrowed down to the furnace and a piece of laundry in a nearby basket must have caught fire and caused the explosion that spread the fire. I remember him vividly saying that it was directly under one of the bedrooms and if anyone was inside at the time they would have been dead upon the blast. This became real at that moment!
No one is prepared (at least I wasn't) for this to happen. It definitely wasn't in any of my books and I had to learn fast. I searched the internet, called a trusted contractor that I knew to absorb his words and advice, and also reached out to my insurance company and mortgage company to make sure we were all on the same page. While the insurance company, the town municipality, and the mortgage company all sorted what they had to on their end, I worked every viable second to get prepared and learn what I had to do and what my options were. I knew that things would be moving along and I had to move with them. It was a scary and unsettling time of my life, however I learned a lot from that experience.
To make a long story short, everything turned out just fine. My tenant found a new home, the insurance money paid off the mortgage, and I ended up selling the property as-is while making a nice profit. The moments before, during, and after the fire really molded my mindset on finance and freedom. It also taught me first hand that life happens and sometimes the only thing we can do is control how we face what life brings. We must however, be prepared, protected, and have a positive outlook in order to succeed.
To make a long story short, everything turned out just fine. My tenant found a new home, the insurance money paid off the mortgage, and I ended up selling the property as-is while making a nice profit. The moments before, during, and after the fire really molded my mindset on finance and freedom. It also taught me first hand that life happens and sometimes the only thing we can do is control how we face what life brings. We must however, be prepared, protected, and have a positive outlook in order to succeed.
In a way, that house represented who I was when it came to the world of finance and money. Through hard work, dedication, and vision I was able to learn and appreciate the value of money and that financial freedom isn't free.
I wanted to create this website to share my story, share the ideas and approaches that have worked for me, and to help them actually believe and see that becoming financially free as a teacher is inevitable with hard work, persistence, and a solid gameplan!
I wanted to create this website to share my story, share the ideas and approaches that have worked for me, and to help them actually believe and see that becoming financially free as a teacher is inevitable with hard work, persistence, and a solid gameplan!
Over the years we looked at our money differently by...
Changing our relationship with money
Maximizing our earning power
Eliminating debt
Saving, investing, protecting our money
Planning and tracking how we earn, save, and spend
Learning from mistakes
Embracing our financial journey
Maximizing our earning power
Eliminating debt
Saving, investing, protecting our money
Planning and tracking how we earn, save, and spend
Learning from mistakes
Embracing our financial journey
We have also followed these financial pillars on our path...
1. Pay yourself and your future self first
2. Protect your health and your wealth
3. Make your money your servant and not your master by working for you
4. Live well below your means
5. Focus on what you can control when it comes to money
6. Have a plan to track your wealth
7. Financial freedom isn't free and it takes hard work, sacrifice, and discipline
Welcome to the Financially Free Teacher Class!
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Take a seat, stand, or just lounge and feel free to browse and learn. I have created a down to earth, easy to follow financial game plan with topics that are sure to make your life easier. Each class period is designed to guide your thoughts and simplify the world of teaching and financial freedom that often times can feel extremely overwhelming.
Welcome to any or all the class periods. I even will give you a recess, lunch, and a chance for some extra credit! I am excited to be part of helping you start, maintain, and thrive on a path of financial freedom! |
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Financially Free Teacher Pledge
My goal with Financially Free Teacher is for it to be built on a platform of integrity, trust, and transparency. I am a man of value and I pledge to be honest, ethical, and morally-responsible when it comes to the content and information I create and post. I look forward to creating and building Financially Free Teacher into a must-stop website for all educators!
About Us
Financially Free Teacher was created to provide teachers with quality information, resources, and encouragement to empower them financially!
Disclaimer-
I am not a financial advisors and I highly recommend you consult with a financial professional before making any financial decisions.
The content and information on Financiallyfreeteacher.com are for informational and educational purposes only. They shouldn't be taken as professional financial advice so please consult a licensed financial advisor or tax professional.
Financially Free Teacher might make monetary compensation, products, or services from affiliate relationships and from things I personally use or believe in.
I am not a financial advisors and I highly recommend you consult with a financial professional before making any financial decisions.
The content and information on Financiallyfreeteacher.com are for informational and educational purposes only. They shouldn't be taken as professional financial advice so please consult a licensed financial advisor or tax professional.
Financially Free Teacher might make monetary compensation, products, or services from affiliate relationships and from things I personally use or believe in.