Prior to having kids I was a keen traveller and one time when I was on a trip to Vietnam I ‘happened’ to sit next to a very interesting man, on a bus. His name was Kevin and was a very successful property investor.
At the time he was the UKs largest independent property investor who in his 15 years of investing had acquired over 800 properties with $5m profit from his rent each year.
To say I was excited was putting it lightly…
We got chatting, and during my time with Kevin I was reminded not only to ‘think bigger’ but to ‘behave bigger’. Millionaires become successful because they are their own motivation, AND they take the steps needed to be successful.
During my first consultation with new clients, I always ask them what they want to achieve AND what they are prepared to do for it.
There needs to be alignment to the goals and an action plan of steps needed to take, to achieve those goals.
Then we must execute.
We must have the will and determination to change what we ordinarily do to receive extraordinary results in our future.
Wealth doesn’t ‘just’ miraculously happen.
What Does Your Retirement Look Like?
I’d like you to think about that day… the day you retire. Where are you? What are you wearing? Who are you with? What can you smell? How do you FEEL? Are you proud of yourself? Have you taught your kids how to have a better life?
One of the things that really had an impact on me while chatting to Kevin was how free his life was…
– Kevin travels whenever and wherever he wants, and he said this has now become a bigger goal so will be taking more time out to do this as he loves it.
– Kevin was able to financially help his son set up a portfolio (after teaching him some Rich Dad Poor Dad principles where his son started his own business and put in half of the money to purchase his first property with his Dad).
– Kevin lives in two homes – one in Wales which is where he’s from and another in some exotic Spanish location where his Dad also lives. One of his Dad’s goals was to wake up each morning to pick and eat a fresh grapefruit from his garden so Kevin brought a house with an orchard and now every day his Dad gets to live his dream. His Dad is aged 77yrs old and is now a full-time property investor, owning over 20 properties.
– Kevin brought an Aston Martin DB9 with cash.
– Kevin is a personal advisor to the Government for entrepreneurship, helping others learn the skills to start their own business. He has created time in his life to do this as he believes its important.
How Did Kevin Get Started?
At the beginning of his journey Kevin decided to bang on Richard Branson’s door of his home and was amazingly granted an interview where Richard advised Kevin to read Robert Kiyosaki’s book, Rich Dad Poor Dad.
He then acquired a scholarship with Richar and went on to study the attitudes and personalities of high achievers.
He now speaks on behalf of Robert Kiyosaki at Wealth Building conferences all around the world and if you haven’t read the book, do so. I rate it as one of the best wealth creation books available and grateful someone recommended it to me when I was 20 years old.
It was the book which changed my mindset about what was possible in my life.
Kevin’s 3 ingredients for success:
- ROTI: Return On Time Invested… ensure the time you put in to your investment returns a high amount
- Must have passive income
- Must have happiness in his life
He looks at what works and then does more of that and what isn’t working, he changes.
3 Successful Property Strategies:
- No $ down deals (borrow all the funds you need from the bank)
- Use a mentor
- Positive cash flow
When I asked him what was one of the greatest things about being in his position he said “I can help other people with my time and my money. Last year I was able to gift US$750k to help grant wishes to numerous children with life threatening illnesses.”
Kevin is an ambassador for Make-A-Wish Foundation and also featured on the Secret Millionaire in the UK. He is also very giving with his time and I feel honored that he willingly shared his expertise, chatting through ideas, strategies and helping me get clear on some future goals.
He went on to say “I worked hard in the beginning setting up my portfolio but now, every day I’m getting wealthier and wealthier without having too much to do. Opportunities are never lost. Someone else will take it, if you don’t.”
When I asked him his WHY (why he wanted to be wealthy) he told me two things:
- Help my kids
- Help other children
Kevin is dyslexic and wasn’t diagnosed until he was 19 yrs old but he said this didn’t matter as he could still learn. He just needed to plug in to the system and learn the process, similar to how our clients work inside the Wealthology model.
Kevin’s school teacher asked him what he wanted to be when he grew up and Kevin replied that he wanted to be a millionaire and both his teacher, and his dad told him not to be stupid. Sadly Kevin fell out with his dad for many, many years and at one point ended up homeless.
Two years ago, he tracked down that schoolteacher and thanked him for driving him to be successful. The teacher responded, ‘you got lucky’.
There’s no luck about it. I’m sure of that.
Go, be like Kevin! Chase your dreams, live the life you truly desire.