The Blog

Happy New Year! Not only is this the last report of 2022 it is the last monthly report I will ever publish. As I mentioned last month, going forward I will be moving to a quarterly update schedule to make time for other things (potential posts on other topics). I’ve published a report every month for seven years and it feels like it’s time to change it up a bit. I’m making lots of changes in my life: The GYFG family officially moved into our new house in wine country. We are on five acres and the possibilities are endless. After a decade-plus of grinding out long hours, I will now only allocate 40 hours a week for work. This …

It’s beginning to feel a lot like…change! Yes, I can feel myself evolving and preparing for the next chapter of life I wrote about back in 2020. For the last ten years, I’ve been head-down aggressively and obsessively building a financial foundation that would enable my family and me to live life by our design. I’m lucky that I’ve had a partner (Mrs. GYFG) that was willing to dream with me. She has been there to not only support me but work alongside me to manifest our future life together. This took long hours and sacrifice. The “living well below our means” sacrifice was the easy part. But the harder part, the part that can destroy a relationship and a …

It happened! We finally closed the transaction whereby I sold a majority interest in my business. As I reflect back on what has been accomplished over the past 32 months since starting this business I am extremely satisfied with the progress we made in a relatively short period of time. I think the best thing I ever did was start with an exit in mind. From day one I had a five-year plan and tracked everything I knew an eventual buyer would want to see to properly evaluate the business. I thought it would take another two years before we would get here but here we are on the other side of a deal. Starting and growing a business has …

What a month! September was a bit rough as we concluded the peak of our busy season that runs from May through October. Everyone (including myself) is looking forward to the seasonal slowdown that naturally happens this time of year as we head into the holidays. This holiday season is going to be bittersweet; it is the first holiday season that we won’t have my mother-in-law but it’s also our daughter’s first Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas. I was hoping to be able to share that the sale of my business closed in September but due to delays related to legal issues, it was pushed into October. I’m typing this report on the 13th of October and we are down to …

I’m a super planner…but August decided to ignore my plans! The first major surprise was that our daughter decided to show up three weeks early from her September 7th due date, which began a cascade of plans going out the window. I had somehow deluded myself into thinking I could plan everything to perfection…but life had something else in mind.  Although our introduction came earlier than expected, we were excited to meet our little girl, and my wife was ready to be done being pregnant. I had planned to be in the delivery room for the birth of my daughter and cut the umbilical cord like I did for our son, but that was something else that didn’t go according …

I’m going out on a limb this month to include the value of my business in this month’s report, since we are officially 30 days from close as I type these words. If last month was a huge milestone, this month was a quantum leap as our net worth is more than doubling month over month. It all started 79 months ago when I concocted this big hairy audacious goal that even my wife thought was crazy. Not only has it come to fruition, it has happened on an accelerated timeline because the plan never contemplated any x-factors, such as the one facing us now. For the newer readers, the original goal was to build a $10M net worth over …

Financial Independence!!! We officially hit our Financial Independence number this month as defined by the Five Major Milestones of FI that I wrote three years ago. The goal was to achieve a net worth of $3M with the ability to spend $120,000 per the 4% rule. That said, I’m the kind of person that never wants to touch the principal and only live off the income, so although the 4% rule says that we could spend $120,000 a year, there are a couple of things we have to be careful to adjust for. First, not all $3M of our current net worth is as liquid and easily spendable as it would be if it were entirely in stocks. Since I …

May was the first month that has felt “normal” in a long time. I mean…I got to take my son to see his first movie at a theater. The GYFG family is definitely ready for some fun in the sun this summer. Although it’s not yet officially summer as I type, it’s only 23 days away, so we decided we would start the party early. We are gearing up for an epic summer retreat with my business partners (who also are our long-time friends) with our families to celebrate our continued success. Let’s be honest, the retreat gives us an excuse to have a good time on the company dime! We will be hosting 11 adults, five kids between two …