Mindy: Welcome to the BiggerPockets Money podcast, Finance Friday edition, where we interview Joe Cry and talk about profitable side hustles and creating a path to retire early. Hello, hello, hello. My name is Mindy Jensen and with me today is my CFP co-host, Kyle Mast.
Scott: Good to be here, Mindy. I’m looking forward to the conversation.
Mindy: Kyle and I are here to make financial independence less scary, less just for somebody else. To introduce you to every money story because we truly believe financial freedom is attainable for everyone, no matter when or where you are starting.
Scott: Whether you want to retire early, travel the world, go on to make big time investments in assets like real estate, start your own personal training business, be a police officer, we’ll help you reach your financial goals, get the money out of the way so you can launch yourself towards your dreams.
Mindy: All right, Kyle, I am so excited to talk to Joe today. He has what we call uh really good problems because he is trying to decide between not just one great choice, not two great choices, but three pretty amazing choices that he has to figure out which one he wants to focus his time on. Um, I had a great time talking to him. What did you think?
Scott: Yeah, I think he’s got a lot of potential. You know, this guy is young and he has really set himself up well in a lot of different ways and like you said, he his biggest problem is trying to focus on where he needs to send his energy and that’s that’s about it. Uh, we jumped into there’s a little bit where we talk about the numbers, but other than that, it’s mostly him trying to decide where to direct where he needs to go.
Mindy: Yes. Uh, I really think that he has a lot of potential and I am excited to see which option he chooses. Now, I have to tell you what my attorney makes me say. The contents of this podcast are informational in nature and are not legal or tax advice, and neither Kyle nor I, nor Bigger Pockets is engaged in the provision of legal tax or any other advice. That’s right. I said neither Kyle nor I. You should seek your own advice from professional advisors including lawyers and accountants regarding the legal tax and financial implications of any financial decision you contemplate. And yes, I introduced him as my CFP co-host, but Kyle, please tell everybody how you are not their CFP.
Scott: That’s correct. I am a CFP. I do or have done this professionally for a living, but I am not your CFP and I am not our guest CFP. I don’t know your situation in detail or our guest situation in detail, but hopefully we’re just offering some good ideas that people can can run with in this show, not specific ones or specific advice.
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Mindy: Today’s guest is the police officer with high earning potential and side hustle as a personal trainer. Personal finance wasn’t a concern for him until roughly two years ago, and now he’s looking to set himself up to retire at age 44. Today, we’re going to talk about car payments, side businesses and real estate investing while pursuing financial independence. Joe, welcome to the Bigger Pockets Money podcast.
Guest: Hi, Mindy. How are you? I am super pumped to be on here today. Um, I’ve been listening to the Bigger Pockets Money podcast for some time now, almost over, I’d say two years, so uh super pumped to actually have the opportunity to get on here today.
Mindy: I’m super pumped to have you. We’re going to pump you up. Do you remember that one? You’re too young.
Scott: Kyle, do you remember that one?
Mindy: A little bit. A little.
Guest: Come on, guys.
Mindy: Who else who else was around in the 90s? Nobody, nobody? Guest: Yeah, I was about to say definitely past my time. I don’t even think I was born yet.
Mindy: You probably weren’t because you are right now 25. That’s okay though. It’s a great-ish Saturday night live skit from when they uh really weren’t all that funny. So, okay, enough about that. Let’s go back to you and let’s look at your money story, your money finances. Let’s look at your breakdown. We’ve got a salary of 4346 per month. That is broken down into 2045 gross from your side income and 4,600 gross from your police department income. Your expenses, which I will get into. We’ve got a truck payment of $448, phone bill $90, rent $800, groceries $300, monthly car wash expense, $25. You know, it rains, right? That’s a free car wash. But it’s only 25 bucks a month, but still, like I can’t remember the last time I wash my car. Uh, dining food beverages, $384. Honestly, that’s not bad for somebody who’s into fitness. I’m sure you have to eat a lot of protein. 384 a month. I think that’s doing pretty good. Gas, $245 a month, Amazon Prime. I love that you have that in your list just to keep track of the fact that that is an expense. 1628. Uh, entertainment, $160 a month, car insurance, $1,100 by annually, so that’s 2,200 a year. Um, I thought that sounded a little bit high, but then uh, our producer reassured us that nope, that’s pretty much in line with what she pays too.
Guest: Especially in New York State, especially in New York State. It’s definitely a little bit higher.
Mindy: So we’ve got a total of 2682 going out on 4300 coming in. I think that’s a nice Delta. Now, here’s where we have online business expenses that are separated out on my document. I want to make sure they’re separated out in your two different bank accounts. If you don’t have them, you should. Uh, we’ve got a VA service for $600 a month, True coach client training app, $59 a month, uh Loom recording $10 a month, Amazon expenses, personal supplements, $79 a month. I want to know if those personal supplements are for you, are those really a business expense? That is something for your CPA to talk to you about. Um but just make sure that you are separating out business with business and personal with personal. Um we’ve got a couple of other things. your LA Fitness membership, I think would absolutely qualify as a business expense, meal plan app, probably a business expense and then uh captions pro. So a total of $800 for business expenses. That seems good except for that $600 VA service that we’re going to definitely talk about. Investments total $41,000. at age 25, I think that’s awesome. I think there’s a lot of uh 25 year olds who don’t have anything in the investment department. We have a pension, we have a high yield savings account, we have a post tax brokerage account, a Roth IRA and a 457 deferred comp plan. Oh, Kyle, make a note. There’s a 457 plan here that’s available. I love the 457 plan. I don’t have any access to it, so I’m jealous. Uh, all right, debt, credit card, zero, hurray. And car loan, $21,216. I’m not going to give you a hurray for that, although it is only 2.99%. It is still a car loan and a year on payment number five of 60.
Guest: Yep, just bought it unfortunately.
Scott: Yeah. In my defense, I’ll I’ll get to why I get to why I did what I did, but uh, I’ll save that for a little later.
Guest: Kyle didn’t you say he’s been listening to the show for two years?
Scott: He did.
Mindy: Yeah.
Guest: He did and then he still just bought a car.
Mindy: Okay.
Scott: Well, I’m I’m excited to hear about, we’ll we’ll hear about it.
Mindy: Okay, your goal is to retire at age 44 with a 50% pension and income from other investments. I think your investment uh mix is great. You’re you’re not just focusing on personal on retirement, you’re not just focusing on pre tax, you’ve got a nice mix around there. So um and I mean at $41,000 at age 25. There’s few 25 year olds that have like multiple hundreds of thousands of dollars. So I think you’re doing great on that front. Let’s look at your money story. How’d you get here?
Guest: All right. Well uh, so first and foremost, I grew up in a, you know, middle class family. Uh my my parents, they grinded their whole life. Uh, my dad was a mortgage broker for I’d probably say over 25 years. Uh, my mom was a teacher. She just retired uh last year. So super super happy for her to uh enjoy retirement. But I grew up in a middle class family. Um, they gave me everything that I needed and more. uh super, super grateful for that. Um however, just like I listened to on this podcast a lot, um, you know, there’s there’s certain things that I didn’t learn when I grew up um as far as focusing on finances, you know, I wish I focused on them a little bit earlier than than I than I started to. Um I I do wish that, you know, I I I started working when I was 16, 17 years old. um however, I never really saved, you know, I anything anything I made, I spent. Um, I had a good time in college to say the least. Uh, and then, you know, as as I grew up a little bit older, I started my fitness business at the age of 22, had an in person business uh first and then COVID hit, forced me to close my doors and then I moved everything online. Uh kind of a blessing in disguise because, you know, I I did start crushing the online space. I had over 60 clients at one point um, paying me over 350 a month so I was crushing it for a while. I will just be btly honest with you, I traveled everywhere. I went to Hawaii, I went to I I I lived it up and now when I looked back at it and that’s only two, three years ago, I kind of wish that I would have lived just a little bit more frugal and I probably would be in a way better financial position than I currently am. Um however, you know, that’s why I’m here and, you know, just to learn from my mistakes and just continue moving forward.
Mindy: Okay, great. Yeah, and you know, you you discovered this at 25. You didn’t discover this at 55 or, you know, much later. So, don’t beat yourself up too much. But yes, I think you have a really good point. If I would have just lived a little more frugally, I would be in a different position. We’re not here to beat you up about past.
Scott: One of the best things you can do when you’re young is actually take a little bit more financial risk early on. Even if you mess up to learn those lessons early is a big deal. um and sometimes those early financial risks turn into something big. That’s something that uh being too conservative, too early in your life when you can recover, uh, can kind of hurt you in the long run. So yeah, don’t beat yourself up. Those lessons will serve you well in the long run.
Guest: Absolutely. Yeah, I mean, you know, there there was a point in time where you know, I was listen, I I was 23 making, you know, nearly almost 30 grand a month and there was a time where I was like, this is more money than I could ever even imagine and if I just had a little and this was before I actually got into the bigger pockets money community, this was before I even knew what fire was, you know. Um and I knew I I do wish, you know, I mean, obviously I’m not here to beat myself up the whole episode, but there is just a little bit of a part of me where if I just saved even a little bit more or, you know, fueled investments a little bit earlier, um with all the money that was coming in, uh I definitely probably would be in a little bit of a different position currently. However, um I do know what it takes now to build a business. I do know um, you know, how to get there. It’s just a matter of trying to properly manage my time um while still having a social life because now I’m working full time as a police officer. So it’s a little bit of a different it’s it’s not like I have an insane amount of free time that I did um, you know, just being an entrepreneur, if that makes sense.
Mindy: What were you doing that you were making $30,000 a month?
Guest: So, I still have it, um, but I had to close my doors for the online coaching business. So, all right, let me back this up a little bit just so you guys understand a little bit more of history. So, um in September or sorry, October of 2021, uh that’s when I got into the police academy. Um, giving probably I’d say maybe two months into the police academy, my girlfriend actually got diagnosed with uh Hodgkin’s lymphoma cancer. Um and that obviously rocked my world. Obviously, you know, it was it was a very hard time while being in the academy and getting treated like a two year old. So I had, you know, the business to a point where I was trying to sustain having the business while being in the academy. Uh and it was just too much pressure for me to try to continue the business and then also having uh, you know, trying to take care of her outside of any time that I had outside of the academy. Um so that’s kind of why I’m starting from scratch because I really did fold my online business completely for almost nearly two years and now I’m really starting to pick it back up. So it’s a little bit of like backstory as to why I couldn’t sustain it to where it was. But as far as like the business model goes, um, you know, it’s just an online coaching business where uh, you know, I have a Facebook community similar to, you know, Money uh similar to the group that you guys have and I had around uh, what I have around 60 clients in there um with, you know, training guides where you know, I had them, you know, on a meal plan, I had to uh, I had them on a customized training program. Um, and really just I had a lot of accountability. So, uh, you know, I would I would do weekly check ins and that’s what that loom recording software is for. I would send them a check in form every week. I’d get back to them with a video check in going over their, you know, week to see how they did, if they needed any update to macros, meal plan, uh training plan, etcetera. So it’s a little bit just it was a more of a customized feel. Um, and I never would have even imagined to think to charge what I did uh, if I didn’t hire a business coach. Uh, so I did hire a business coach and I know you’re not too crazy about those if I remember, right? Um, but I did hire a business coach and it did help me a lot. It helped me progress into, you know, I know my value, I know what I can give people and that’s why I started to charge what I did and um, you know, it just got to where it was.
Mindy: I don’t mind a business coach if they’re providing value. There’s a lot of people out there that are like, I’ll be your business coach. Well, what are you going to teach me? I would be a terrible business coach, but I could charge you $10,000 a month to tell you, do it. I mean, that’s not helpful. That that’s that’s the kind of business coach I don’t want you to hire, but this one clearly worked and that’s that’s great. Um, so what is stopping you from going back to those, did you say there were 60 people? What, what is stopping you from going back to those 60 people and trying to reconnect with them?
Guest: Uh, nothing really. Um, I you know, I like I said, I just started this uh business back up around, I’d say three months ago because the first month I didn’t really have a VA um, as far as, I know we’re going to talk about that in a little bit, but I didn’t really have a VA now I’m hiring one again. Um, there’s nothing stopping me. I just haven’t really went back to a lot of those leads or those past clients. Um, so there’s still a broad uh amount of exposure for me to grow and get back to that point. Um, it’s just I know for a fact going to take time, number one, and number two, um with now being a having a full-time job with the stress of being a police officer. Um I have to kind of weigh on my options. It’s like, do I really want to get back to the point of, you know, making that money? Is it that important? Yeah, I would love to increase the income, but at what expense? I mean, I was working nonstop all day. Even though it was an online thing. it’s just constant, you know, clients reaching out to me all day, every day. and to be fairly honest with you guys, I just simply don’t have that time. If I’m on, you know, a domestic call or whatever it may be, people are reaching out to me on my phone, I can’t I can’t exactly answer. So hopefully that that makes sense.
Scott: Yeah. Um, I this is super good information. I’d like to kind of back us up just a little bit and, and I want to jump forward in time to, you know, your goal that you gave us is to retire at 44 with a 50% pension. we can kind of talk about what that might mean. Um, but when you, you know, the way you’re talking about this fitness business and then you have a full a full time job as a police officer. you know, when you’re so let’s say you hit fire at 44. Are you a police officer or are you a fitness coach or are you both or like what what’s the ideal life look at that point? Because you’ve got some good things going on here. you know, you had a really good business that was built here. you maybe went, you know, too far, too fast in it but a lot of good businesses that built that way, that’s what happens and you kind of have an opportunity to rebuild it the way you want to, but now you also have this good career with potentially a good pension. I don’t know what the pensions look like for sure in in New York State. Um, in any state, they’re not what they used to be. Um, so, you know, what what’s your why 44 and what does life look like at 44? And that might help us kind of dive into more of the direction that you should be going now.
Guest: Yeah, it totally get it. So, um, the reason why I’m saying 44 is I can only retire um in 20 years. that’s that 20 year police mark. Um, and you know, I got on at 24. That’s my goal is to retire as early as I possibly can to get out of law enforcement. As much as I love the job, I mean, it’s a great job. I’m not in the city by any means. so it’s not NYPD or anything like that. Um, it’s actually a really good job. I love it, I have a great time out there. um meeting a lot of good people. However, with that being said, my end goal, okay, is to retire at 44 with the sole sole purpose of, you know, raising a family, enjoying my time with my kids when I do have kids. Um and, you know, I I do think will training be there? I think training and, you know, health and fitness is just a part of me that will never go away. Um do I think I’m going to be doing personal training to the magnitude at 44? Maybe, maybe not. I don’t really have a plan in action of if I want to sustain a fitness business that long. um but at the end of the day, I just really want to kind of transition out of law enforcement as early as I possibly can at in 20 years. um so I’m able to enjoy time with friends and family and pursue any other things that I want to pursue in life if that makes sense.
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Guest: Now, you can’t do part-time as as a police officer, so I misunderstood that, but I can 100% do, you know, part-time work anywhere else. um, right? So whatever that is. Now, the the thing that I kind of see myself doing um is real estate, okay? Uh, that that’s kind of why, you know, I want really want to kind of pick your brains about that today because that is something that’s I’m really getting interested in as far as bigger pockets community. I’m sure you get a lot of people that come on here and say that they’re interested in real estate. Um I’m brand new to this. However, in 20 years from now, um I want to be able to have a portfolio to where that could kind of be like my, my part-time job if if that makes sense.
Mindy: So, I am going to give you a little bit of advice uh because that’s what I do. Read the and a homework assignment. Read up on the landlord tenant laws in the state of New Jersey because New Jersey is typically less expensive than New York State, but they have some pretty strict laws such as, and I’m not investing in New Jersey because I read this once and I was like, whoo, no. Um, you can’t not renew a lease. So, let’s say Joe, you rent to Kyle and he just throws rage parties all the time and you don’t want to renew his lease. but he hasn’t, uh, he pays his rent on time and he’s, you know, in general not violating the lease. He’s just really annoying everybody around him. You can’t tell him, sorry, Kyle, I’m not going to renew your lease. You have to continue renting to him for as long as he wants to rent or until he breaks the lease. Now, again, I I’m not living there or investing there. I’m going to invite you to do some homework on this and make sure that the landlord tenant laws in the state of New Jersey are something that you wish to operate within. Being a cop, you kind of have to follow the laws. Uh, they frown on that, I’ve heard. Um however, your neighboring state, Pennsylvania has better laws that are more landlord friendly. So, I would invite you to also do homework on those laws before you buy rental properties and, uh, make sure you’re investing in a state that actually has your best interest in mind.
Scott: When do you think that I should be or I could be ready to get into the real estate game? Um I know, you know, from a financial standpoint, you know, you could kind of I I don’t I just don’t want to make the wrong decision too early. Um, so, you know, being only 25 with my current situation with my rent right now and what I have, it’s great. Um, so do I kind of ride that out for a little bit um and just fuel retirement accounts, save at the rate that I’m saving and then get into real estate at a future date. That’s kind of my my question.
Scott: That’s a tough question. Um, I always if I go back to my own journey, I always think I wish I would have started earlier and if you’ll talk to just about anybody, they’ll tell you the same thing. That doesn’t mean that you should jump in this year, but every year that you wait is a year that you can’t house hack or buy a house, live in it for a year, buy another one, live in it for a year, buy another one, live in it for a year. Um but again, you know, in your situation, if you do the research that Minnie’s talking about and you decide you don’t want to invest in your home state, which can be a viable uh route. I I’m in Oregon and I don’t invest in Oregon. Um and that’s just because it’s very heavy tenant. uh it’s it’s not as fair. I I invest in fair states where what Minnie’s talking about. Um I think the tenants have very, they definitely have rights and there are bad landlords out there, but it needs to be a fair system for both sides. So if that’s where you come out and you decide to start the real estate journey of investing, um that way, like buying something out of state, then that means you need to have a little bit more of a war chest. You need to have a little bit more in savings for a bigger down payment because it’s an investment property first off, you’re not moving into it with a low down payment as a house hack or just living there and then turning it after a year into a rental and continuing that route. Um so that that might change your strategy a little bit and that’s not a bad strategy at all to to build up a solid savings account for a down payment and then expenses to when the first tenant moves out in three months and they trash the place and you got to put three grand into it to get the next tenant in as soon as possible. Not saying that’s ever happened to me ever. Um but you just have to be ready for those unexpected things. So I think that that would be, you could go either way. The other thing I wanted to jump back to is you were we were talking about this this pension. You know, you’re you’re working 20 years for the police department and I want to make sure that we’re not making any assumptions. You know, you want to leave your options open as much as possible. Like, you want to make sure you don’t assume that working 20 years at the police department is the best route for you. Um, it could be and 20 years isn’t that long, but you might get to year 10 and be like, it’s long, you know, there’s 10 more years. Um, so I don’t know what the 50% pension means. Can you explain that a little bit more and then I would also caution you to make sure as the time goes on that you’re always going to all those pension meetings that they have that you’re paying attention to legislation, anything that they’re changing in the pension system is going to affect you heavily and from me personally, I don’t like having that much out of my control. You know, that’s it’s it can be a really awesome thing, but if you can bring some more things into your control including the real estate investing and some of your other investment accounts too, but you just got to keep an eye on that and thankfully, you’re in an industry that the pensions are protected more heavily probably than a lot of other public services. Yeah, but not as much still. You know, there’s there’s tax dollars that want to be pulled for other places. It’s just the way the world works. But yeah, so the 50% pension, what what does that mean? Is that mean because you’re taking it early, it’s lower because you’re not waiting as long or what is that?
Guest: Correct. Um, so essentially just a little like it it basically how it works in New York um with the PF PFRS system, which is police and fire retirement system. Um the way that the pensions work is it goes off it used to be off your three uh I think it’s your last final three uh years together, your final average salary, but now it’s your five, your last five years final average salary. Um, and basically what it goes off of is 50% off of that. Um and we get capped at overtime. So we’re only allowed to put in 17% of overtime um per year toward that final average salary if that makes sense. So, let’s say um which in the broad spectrum of things, I’ll probably end up being around anywhere from 215 to 230 grand um by the time I retire average salary. Um from year 16 to year 20. uh that’s just with all of our special pay included, um, you know, everything. So we do have a very good contract as far as police goes um because a lot of people you may think like that’s absolutely insane, but we just do have a very good contract, which is the reason, one of the reasons why I chose to uh go with this department. Um so, with that being said, let’s say I have a $215,000 average salary uh last five years, I make 50% of that for life. No state income tax. Um we do get federally taxed, but everything else we don’t we don’t get taxed. Um but we do uh also uh I think now it’s starting to change to where we’re going to have to pay into our uh health benefits still. Um the people that are retiring now in the tier two because I’m tier six, Um tier two doesn’t have to pay. Uh so and they also don’t get a cap on overtime. So some people, you know, one of my dad’s friends just retired with the pension of like 190 grand a year. um we’re not going to get that, which is crazy because of the inflation, it’s going to get more expensive obviously and then we’re getting, you know, the crap end of the stick to say the least. But at least we’re still able to um have somewhat of quote unquote security. I have that mindset same as you Kyle where I this is why I’m here today, right? Like, you know, I definitely, it’s great to have a pension. It’s great to have that at the 20 year mark. But if I can get to a point in say 12, 13 years where I’m like, wow, I’m crushing it in real estate. I have my retirement accounts fueled, my uh fiance is, well, my future fiance is going to be um, you know, a physician assistant, so she’ll be making good money and I just want to make sure that I don’t just think about that pension at the end goal if that makes sense.
Scott: Does you know if it hasn’t inflation adjustment, the pension?
Mindy: each year?
Scott: I don’t know for a fact.
Guest: That’d be something to check on. That’s something that uh they’ve started to take away from some of the the pensions uh and that will really eat
Scott: I don’t know for a fact, but what but what I can say though is, you know, our base salary now, um, which I believe I sent you guys, I’m not sure if you have it, but our base salary at a year 11 and a half. so it takes a while to get to that top pay. Um, but right now, the base salary is $161,693. Um, and that’s just base salary. That’s not another like 50 grand on top of it that we’re getting from all of our rotational pay, our vacation pay, our sick pay. Um however, that contract is up in 24, 2024, uh so next year and our PBA is trying to get higher pay because the city just got a good contract. So now they’re hedging that for our county. Um I don’t know where the pay is going to be at, but I know that they try to do their absolute best um to try and hedge inflation by increasing salary a little bit each contract.
Mindy: Okay, so your 50% pension will be approximately $9,000 a month. and a few moments ago, you said that you were making $30,000 a month with personal training. So, I don’t know that many real estate investors who make $30,000 a month. What was your time commitment just to the personal training to make that 30 a month?
Guest: That’s the thing. Um, you know, being only 22, 23, I didn’t really have like a uh business mindset of, okay, this is how many hours I’m working a week. I kind of just went after it um and I will be blatantly honest with you guys. Uh, you know, obviously this isn’t a quote unquote relationship podcast, but, you know, it it it hurt it hurt my relationship to a certain extent. I was probably working 90 to 100 hours a week plus if not more. um just constantly on my phone, answering people constantly. Um, so when I say 30, it’s not like I take it with a grain of salt. Like, of course, I knew I was doing very well for my age, extremely well, but I knew that I was kind of like a small shark in a in a big tank there because there was there was people that were my age, 24, 25 making five times the amount I was.
Scott: so, you know, it’s, it’s doable. So it’s like however, that it consumed me, you know, it was like all the time constantly being on these people. So I do think if I go down this route again, and I get back to the point where I am where I was, I really, like you said, I would have to take a look at, okay, well, how much expenses can I afford, um, and, you know, what people can I hire and the team that I can build, um, around me because there’s just no way that I could do it myself with a full-time job if that makes sense.
Mindy: Right, but $30,000 a month hires a lot of people.
Guest: Correct.
Mindy: And still leaves room for profit. Like one person can check in every morning. Uh, Michelle, your job is to email every one of these people or tax them every single morning, how are you doing? Here’s the, you know, the seven things that I want you to say to them in a rotating basis. Boom. Now you don’t have to check in with them in the morning. And if they’ve got a specific question, they can, you know, she can reach out to you, but now you’re responding to three questions instead of 300 questions or, you know, you would, of course know your business more than I would. But look at what worked, what didn’t. If you still have contact information for these people, offer them a free month or a free six months or like whatever works to really pick their brain and see what they found value in and what they didn’t and what they would come back for versus what they wouldn’t. I mean, 30,000 dollars a month. That’s a huge carrot that, that, uh, I think would be worth exploring.
Scott: Like there’s some potential here that you could do some pretty cool things. And I think you’ve made some mistakes as far as over working, but everybody does that and you’ve done it early. Um, you could read some books and solve that really quick. Like some of the things that Mindy talked about, just delegation. these are these are not rocket science things. You just they’re in a thousand books. You pick one good author, um, you know, like Michael Hyatt is someone who does a coaching program, but he’s written a whole bunch of books, you know, you pick a read five of his books and you change how you would run a business. Um, you know, there’s, there’s some things here that I think you you rather than trying to figure out, how do we cut expenses or how do I save a little bit more, you’ve got some big potential where you could make $30,000 a year even on the side of your police job. I actually think you could do that within the next year or two if you delegate well. I think that’s something that you could, you could have it both ways. And you were talking earlier about your potential goal of having time for family and things like that. That’s a really, if you can build those two options at the same time in a sustainable way, with intentionality to where you’re not getting burnt out under both of them and it’s, it would take some work. You’d have to revisit, do some planning, review the business, make sure you’re not getting too stretched out. Um, but you know, in 10 years, you could, you might have a big decision to make to like definitely jump away. you can even faster than that too. Jump away from the police department or even maybe sell the personal training business depending on what you made it to. But that opens up some options. I just I I’m trying to think of 44 year old Joe and what 23, 24 year old Joe was doing and man, what he could do in the next 20 years and you know, just just think about that. I I want to make sure you’re not thinking too small. I I I sense in here that you could think pretty big and do some pretty cool stuff. Um so yeah, don’t get too the numbers are important, but don’t get too stuck in the little numbers when there are these big opportunities and you’re young and you’ve got some some good ambition that you could run with.
Guest: Absolutely. Yeah, you know, and I truly appreciate that. Um, and it’s funny because uh, you know, after joining the police army there was like a and I’m, I’m not exactly thinking like this anymore, but there was a certain period of time where I was like, all right, I’m set, you know, I have this job, now I have a steady income and this and then I’m like, what am I doing? Like I I do know that I have room for growth. Um, and like you said, you know, if I could get out before the 20 year mark and it makes sense logically, then then then I would definitely do that and ultimately, that is that that would be a great goal um to get myself back on that entrepreneurial perspective or mindset as far as taking risks and, you know, growing growing income. But um, in the, and it’s and I know you said something about uh, you know, we haven’t really talked too much about increasing the savings rate and being more frugal. And it’s funny you say that because literally probably about two hours before this podcast, um I’m thinking to myself, I’m like, I I know I could cut expenses, I know I can, but I also know that I could just grow my income more. Um I know that that’s like more of a goal of mine um instead of just staying in a job and just trying to nickel and dime and save and save. Well, I can just grow my income a little bit more and then I won’t have to think like that. Um if that makes sense.
Scott: Totally. And and that’s what Scott Trench, you know, he’s on here usually, he talks often about, um one of the best ways to build wealth is a business. It’s one of the best ways to build it. And it’s not about building wealth so you just have a whole bunch of money. Well, I guess for some people it is maybe, but you know, it’s that security and not many people want are are as capable or even have the desire to build a business. It’s just not a part of who they are and there’s nothing wrong with that. But then there’s some people that it kind of comes naturally and it’s kind of fun and it’s enjoyable and I feel like that’s kind of you and, you know, I wouldn’t throw that away. It doesn’t mean you have to go that route, you know, you can you can go different routes, but I mean, that’s there’s some potential there and uh not everyone has it. And and you never know life will throw things your way, which you’ve already found out uh with your girlfriend, you know, you don’t know what five years from now life will look like. you might need to be done with your current job or you might need to be done with personal training. Maybe there’s an injury or something. you have no idea and that’s the cool thing about the fire movement is that it’s not necessarily about the retire early. It’s making the decisions now to be able to pivot if you need to. And that’s huge because life hits you and if you’re ready to pivot, it’s awesome because that stress of the money piece is not there. You can then go to something else. There’s already enough stress because of this life thing that happens to you, but at least money isn’t a part of it. So the more things you can do now to build towards that, the better it’ll be.
Guest: Absolutely.
Mindy: And it’s not an either or. It is, you know, you can you can do a little bit here and then move it, you know, make some money in personal training and then, I mean, $30,000 a month is the number that I’m stuck on because you threw that out there so casually. Oh, I just make $30,000 a month. It’s no big deal.
Guest: And the reason is is because I was literally, I did a mastermind with that business coach. I was like a a small shark in the mastermind. I mean, there was people from a couple trainers from Canada, a couple trainers from California that were making I mean, over 150 grand a month in coaching. So, um it’s, you know, it’s it’s doable.
Mindy: So, unsuccessful personal trainer makes $30,000 a month. So, at, that tells me that there’s room to improve and expand and grow this business.
Scott: Yeah. I I agree 100%. I think a lot of times you’ll hear people say I want to start this business, I have this idea, I want to do this. And it’s like, oh, that’s cool. Don’t, don’t quit your job, you know, like stay at your job, you haven’t proven anything. The difference in your situation is you’ve already done it and that makes a big difference. Like if you ever watch Shark Tank, one of the things they they do is like, oh, this is a cool idea. How much have you sold? you know, like have you done anything yet? Ideas are great, but until you implement them, it doesn’t mean very much.
Guest: and having a business that generates $100,000 a month in a $500,000 a house market means that you can buy a new house for cash every five months.
Mindy: Your police job while necessary and important isn’t generating that kind of cash and won’t ever.
Guest: Yeah. Yeah, well, exactly. Um you know, it’s it’s crazy because like having this conversation, I had the same conversation with my actual business coach uh two years now he’s, he’s crushing it. I haven’t talked to him in a while, but um when I was making that that that type of money. Um he kept telling me like, why are you going, why are you going to go do the police? Like, like why? you know, why isn’t important to you? And uh, you know, my my my main answer was I always wanted to be a police officer, which is 100% true. Um and there’s there’s a value to that. And then another, you know, thing in my head that I didn’t really tell him was the security aspect, right? Of having that that security, having that, you know, pension down the line, having those benefits, um not having to pay out of pocket for for these big expense benefits like health insurance and stuff like that. Um so there’s there’s pros and cons to it, but I do know that the big con uh is the fact that, you know, I wish um I had the knowledge that I do now as far as, you know, changing careers and going to the police as much as I love it. I do know that it’s maybe hindering my aspect uh or maybe hindering my growth as far as in other areas. And like Kyle said and like you said, Mindy, I, I, I could definitely do them all at once. I just have to figure out how to allocate that.
Mindy: Yeah. I think sitting down and really taking your time, you know, we’re not going to be able to do this in one hour, but sitting down and taking time to figure out what you can offer and what amount of your time it takes and what can be delegated out, uh I think you’ll find some clear avenues to easy wins and some other opportunities that may require partnerships. There are other 22 year old personal trainers out there who would love the opportunity to partner with Joe and be out there on your team and doing this because they don’t have the skills to start their own business or the bravery to start their own business. It’s scary to start it.
Scott: Totally agree.
Mindy: Awesome. Well, Joe, what is the name of this personal training business that you have?
Guest: It’s just my name. So JG Fitness. JG fitness. But uh, you can find me on Instagram at Joe Granary fit. uh if you can spell my last name, it’s G a n i e r i.
Mindy: Awesome and we will link to that in our show notes today. Joe, this was a super fun talk because you have a hard choice which one of these fabulous options do I choose? which one of all of these fabulous options? I don’t see a bad option for you. I see three really great choices. Real estate, uh police department and fitness training plus like whatever things come out of that after I mean, you’re only 25, look at, look at you got three great options at age 25. I can’t wait to see what you do when you’re 30.
Guest: Appreciate it. Thank you guys. Thank you for the opportunity. I really, really appreciate it.
Mindy: Yeah, thank you for your time today, Joe, and we’ll talk to you soon. All right, Kyle, that was Joe and his uh fabulous set of problems. What did you think of the show?
Scott: Oh man, I’m excited for the guy. I mean, he just has a lot going for him. It was great to talk to him and I just think he, he has such good problems. you know, he he built this business, kind of overdid it, got in over his head from a business standpoint, but learned a lot of good lessons. He’s gone through a Police Academy, he’s at a police department. He just has a lot going for him and I’m excited to where to see where he’s going to be in five or seven years from now, honestly.
Mindy: Yeah, I am too. I think that having so many different great options is, it’s great for him. It’s makes our job a little bit more difficult. Uh, w, which one would I choose of these fabulous decisions. Uh, sometimes it’s really easy. Wow, I wouldn’t do that at all. I’d do the other thing. It’s so easy to make this decision because you’re choosing between an awesome option or an okay option and a terrible option, but he’s got three really great ones. So, um, I think I would lean to, I not almost, I would, I absolutely would lean towards the personal training part because just the money, I mean, you could, you could do that, you could set yourself up for life by just saving everything that comes in and then go focus on something else.
Scott: 100%. I I lean heavy towards the business thing too, but for the money for sure, but I prioritize flexibility in my life just about above anything else when it comes to professional stuff. And if you build your own business, that’s one of the best ways you can ensure that you’re flexibility, your flexibility is at a level that you want it to be at. you work as many hours as you want when you want, as long as you want during a certain season of your life, less during a different season of your life. This affords you that. When you’re working for somebody else, not so much. So that’s that’s the reason I would direct him in that. He’s young, you know, you can build a business to be ready and built and look what you want it to look like when you have kids, when you have a family or other responsibilities. uh it’s just a great option.
Mindy: You know, flexibility is a wonderful F word. I’m glad you brought it up and the, if we’re talking about inflexible jobs, I think the police officer is about as inflexible as you get because you are not nobody schedules a domestic disturbance. Oh, are you guys not available right now? I’ll call back. They, you know, accidents happen when they happen. You can’t get in a car accident and be like, oh, never mind, I’ll stop bleeding and I’ll just have you come back later. That’s literally the least flexible job there is. So, um not that I am encouraging him to leave the police department. He just graduated from the police Academy, but, you know, things to think about for sure.
Scott: Yeah. It’s a great launching point. It’s a great business, you know, he’s got a, got a full-time job where he can launch from and while he’s trying to build something else if that’s what he wants to do.
Mindy: Yeah, definitely stable. There is no shortage of need. He will always have hours and overtime too.
Scott: All right, Kyle, should we get out of here?
Guest: Let’s do it.
Mindy: That wraps up this episode of the Bigger Pockets Money podcast. He is Kyle Mast filling in for the missing Scott Trench, vacationing Scott Trench. I don’t even know where he is. And I am Mindy Jensen saying, chop, chop lollipop. If you enjoyed today’s episode, please give us a five star review on Spotify or Apple. And if you’re looking for even more money content, feel free to visit our youtube channel at youtube.com/biggerpocketsmoney. Bigger Pockets money was created by Mindy Jensen and Scott Trench, produced by Calen Bennett, editing by Exodus Media, copywriting by Nate Wine, Lastly, a big thank you to the Bigger Pockets team for making this show possible. When you’re ready to start your business, Northwest registered agent helps you do more than just file paperwork. You get all the tools to build a real business identity from day one. A business address, website, phone number, operating agreement, free guides and more at no extra cost. Northwest registered agent has been helping small business owners and entrepreneurs launch and grow businesses for nearly 30 years. They are the largest registered agent and LLC service in the US with over 1500 corporate guides. These are real people who know your local laws and can help you and your business every step of the way. With Northwest, your business is set up to stand on its own from day one. That means your home address, personal email and phone number stay private. Don’t pay hundreds or thousands of dollars for what you can get from Northwest for free. Visit northwestregisteredagent.com/moneyfree and start using free resources to build something amazing. Get more with Northwest registered agent at northwestregisteredagent.com/moneyfree.
