I have two younger brothers. And as their older sister, I cannot help but worry about them and their future. It’s my job as the older sister. And lately, I have been worrying about my brother that is closest to me in age.
You see, he is a talented carpenter. Before that he worked as a chef ” and was amazing. He is also extremely good at rebuilding and repairing cars. Anything that requires patience and attention to detail seems to be something he is exceptionally good at. That is, except when it comes to his finances.
As he is only in his early thirties, he’s happy to keep working for the next 30 years, but I do worry about the fact that he’s only saved a little bit for his retirement. None of us can rely on pensions or government funding to support our retirement anymore so we all should start thinking about our futures today!
As his big sister, I decided to help him out by making a plan. My brother has three cars, and he certainly doesn’t need all three. I convinced him that one of the cars should be sold. The money he makes from the sale can be put into a savings account, and he’ll also be able to start saving about $500 a month.
He can also make extra money by taking on extra jobs. These don’t need to be full time jobs- just little side jobs such as kitchen renovations or building fences. Even if he only works weekends, he can have enough saved to put 10% down on a $200,000 house that he can fix up and rent out.
Since he is a carpenter, he can even buy a house that has been listed as a “handyman’s special”. If he lives there while he’s fixing it up, he can save even more money. After a few years he can rent out the house for about $1,400 a month. Then he should buy and move into a different property.
Fast-forward 25 years – let’s see what he has to show for his investment.
If his repairs add $25,000 in value and the house appreciates by 4% every year, then in 25 years it’ll be worth approximately $576,743. That means that his original investment has almost tripled in 25 years! Imagine- $1,900 a month of someone else’s money going toward his retirement ($576,000 divided by 25 years divided by 12 months)!
“But wait”, you may be thinking, “property doesn’t always increase by 4% per year”. While that might be true, historically the average appreciation of property has been 4% per year. Regardless, after 25 years the mortgage will be paid off by his tenants and the rent he continues to collect can go toward his retirement. Rents and expenses normally increase by 4% each year as well, so in 25 years he could see a positive cashflow from the property of around $2,350 each month.
In 25 years, he will have his own primary residence paid off as well. If he owned nothing else but these two pieces of property, then he will have about $1 million worth of property for his retirement. Doesn’t that seem like a simple way to have other people help you save for your retirement?
When I explained this to my brother, he sold one of his cars! And with the money he earned helping us with our property, he’s already putting together a nice little down payment for a home.