Success Story: Retiring at 40 Years of Age

By Nischal Ram

December 2015 was a very memorable month for me and my family. After months of contemplation and planning, I retired from my job of more than eight years. Christmas Eve was my very last day on the job as an “employee”.

Truth be told, I have no idea what I want to do post-retirement. Actually, I am quite confused because there are so many options. Should I go on a cruise journey? Or should I start a part-time job? However, a few of my friends who retired recently were not so indecisive. While some consulted people like north star advisors regarding shifting to assisted living centers, others took up the task of farming or gardening. Its seems I am the most indecisive one. But I might have to now give it a thought.

That said, enough of retirement talk, let me speak a bit about my job too. In all honesty, the last day of my job was a good day. The readers may wonder why I am praising my job so much. My job made me feel needed and loved in the workplace, which gave me a sense of belonging, boosting my morale at work. Additionally, my workplace never missed an opportunity to express its gratitude to me. During the festivities, we received a token of appreciation; sometimes it was a digital gift voucher (possibly given with the assistance of Gift Card Software), and sometimes it was a bonus. So, yes, it would not be wrong to say that the work environment was good.

Anyway, coming back to the topic, when we started investing in real estate seven years ago, my goal was to claim back my life from doing two jobs, working seven days a week, and retire way before the Canadian retirement age. When seeking advice about retirement in the American market walkercpg.com/retirement-planning/ could be of use to an individual on how to plan for your individual retirement income. Here in Canada freedom at 45 was my ultimate goal to allow me to spend more time with my family. I also wanted to get more involved in the lives of my soul partner Zaveena and boys, Neaville and Jayden. At the end of the day, that is what matters most and I was so glad to realize that a few years ago through the teachings of Dr. Wayne Dyer. Because of this, we don’t have to worry about the rising costs of living that many will have to face as they get ready for retirement.

Fast forward seven years later, despite making several mistakes that cost us hundreds of thousands of dollars, learning from those mistakes and using those as stepping stones enabled me to leave my job and pursue my passion in real estate investing at only 40 years of age.

I am extremely grateful and very lucky to be surrounded by so many inspiring people who gave me the confidence and support to alter my plans and retire five years earlier. This huge transition in life and getting out of the rat race would not have been possible without our investments in real estate. I don?t see any other investment that could support an early retirement.

My biggest regret in real estate investing was in 2007 when I attended my very first ACRE in Vancouver. I did not join REIN that weekend because to me back then, the monthly membership felt a little bit too expensive. Darn it! I was still a rookie and couldn?t put value to the tremendous knowledge pool I could have tapped into.

After venturing out on my own for four years, doing trial and error and not having much success, I decided to join REIN in January of 2012. That was the best decision I made as far as real estate investing goes. The teachings at REIN inspired me to take much needed action to tweak my business and management systems to improve the cash flow which eventually replaced my income from my full time job.

My biggest lesson in life, when I started to venture out in real estate investing while still being an employee in 2007, came courtesy of this powerful quote by Jim Rohn: ?If you work hard on your job, you can make a living. If you work hard on yourself, you can make a fortune.?

This has been a life changing quote for me. I internalized this quote and have been living by this philosophy for the past eight years. I am always looking for every opportunity to learn. Real estate is just like any other business. The success depends on the energy the person brings with an absolute mindset. I encouraged my entire family to work on themselves first to attain that mindset. We just can?t make someone change. We can facilitate that and I slowly started taking my entire family to personal improvement seminars even though Neaville and Jayden were 7 and 11 years old. I guess they didn?t have much of a choice back then. Our families thought we were losing our minds taking our boys to personal improvement seminars and doing fire walks.

The teachings of Tony Robbins and his program ? Unleash the Power Within – was one of the many we attended. For the past three years, we have been volunteering as a family for Tony Robbins at his events throughout the USA. Life is just a great learning experience for us.

This strategy helped me immensely in our real estate business because we are in it as a family. We brainstorm ideas at home as a family. Our son Neaville is 13 and became a REIN member when he was 12. This investment becomes so much fun when your entire family is involved in the business.

My purchasing criteria also changed after joining REIN – I started investing in larger multi-family buildings. That improved my cash flow tremendously and my clientele profile changed as well. There were fewer vacancies and the clients stayed longer in larger multi-family buildings.

I more than doubled my units after joining REIN using their proven systems. At the time of this posting, we proudly own 130 units. We are currently working on a 35 unit multi-family building that is scheduled to close in January of 2016. This acquisition will push our real estate portfolio to 165 units.

My association with REIN has been instrumental in providing me the tools and confidence to go and live my Belize. That is the power of REIN. This would not have been possible without , Russell Westcott, Patrick Francey, Melanie Reuter, Richard Dolan and the rest of the support team at the REIN BC office. This group of results proven professionals always ensures you are on top of your game. There is still so much to learn in this business.

The Mastermind Group we formed with four other real estate investors two years ago also keeps me accountable and committed to my goals. Of course, there?s my soul partner Zaveena and boys Neaville and Jayden who continuously supported me in all my endeavors.

2016 will be a brand new beginning for this immigrant from Fiji who migrated to this beautiful country with only pocket change 15 years ago.

The best is yet to come!!!