J. Money Inspired Millionaire To-Do List

It's finally time to get this on paper for the first time ever! Of course I have various spreadsheets and apps talking about my expenses, assets, and my goals for increasing one while minimizing the other(honestly could go either way), but putting out a list to the universe of what needs done to break the ceiling on a 7 figure net worth is totally different. 

Obviously this awesome idea comes from J. Money over at Budgets are $exy and his Millionaire Club. We're all wannabes just out here getting it done. From the looks of it though, several have crossed that threshold and I'm looking to follow closely behind!

In order for me, Ryan, to become a Millionaire, I pledge to do the following (each year):

• Start contributing to my 401k - My company currently does an automatic match of 3% so I don't have to contribute any minimums. I'm not currently contributing due to limited funds and my drive to purchase real estate at a young age. I'm slowly realizing putting all of my eggs into the real estate basket isn't how to become a well rounded millionaire, that's diversification and always has been.

• Start contributing to dividend producing stocks - Just as before I need to get a hand into the market. Researching passive income options one of the best I've found for sustained, long term, hands off investing is dividends. It also goes towards accomplishing this goal of becoming a millionaire so it's a big win-win!

• Continue Investing in Real Estate - This will continue to be a large part of my portfolio, I'll just be contributing a smaller portion to this and letting the passive income produced by the current properties fund future purchases.

• Continue cutting everyday expenses - It seems like with starting a new family comes a whole list of it's own new expenses. We're down to a single income for the time being so I'm currently shouldering two car payments, phone bills, and mortgage payment off a single income. We're currently investigating ways to get cheaper cell phones, speed up auto loan repayment, and plenty of other options to save a few extra dollars. 

•  Continue boosting my income to allow for future investments - As stated before, we're currently from a single income so I've been getting creative about options to bring in a little extra money. My wife has started couponing recently and that covers a lot of her one off purchases so that helps a lot! I do freelance computer repair and website design in my free time which I plan on turning into a full time business once my passive income picks up a little. 
  Another big leg of this journey is focusing on professional certifications for my career and negotiating raises. As much as this might be counter-intuitive to being an entrepreneur and financial freedom, it's no secret that over 95% of Americans focus on a salary as their primary income. Without improving that stance my chance on yearly earning increases diminishes significantly.

If I'm being honest with myself my goal is not to reach a million dollar net worth but what's the point of Finance Independence if you cant tell people you're rocking some awesome coin. Going the real estate route solely my projections put me at having enough money to fire my job without stressing at about $400k Net Worth. 

Obviously this is due to the timeframe in which I'm trying to achieve this goal, within 15 years by the age of 40, and the fact that real estate is purchased in large part by using leverage. As I approach that goal I'll begin to reevaluate my stance on debt and most likely begin aggressively paying down mortgages. At that point my net worth will begin accelerating at an exponential rate and I'll be able to retire extremely comfortably and securely right around the cusp of $1M in the "bank". 

With the $400k net worth from above I project having at least 1.2M in real estate assets, but on the flipside I'll be running with anywhere from $700k - $900k in debt and I'm not exactly sure how I'll feel looking at that number every week. Either way we're well on our way to some significant numbers! I look forward to coming back to this page and updating as my journey goes, especially with beginning to invest in some more stable long term stocks.