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Financial Freedom in 3 Years (Cody’s FI Journey Explained)

Financial Freedom in 3 Years (Cody’s FI Journey Explained)

Update: 2024-12-11
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Someone recently asked me: “How did you reach FI?”


I didn’t have a great answer for them that didn’t take 30+ minutes to explain.


So, I recorded a podcast episode outlining my entire FI Journey – all the numbers, all the income streams, all the expenses, year over year.


Below are the notes I created to guide the episode.


2016



  • Read the 4-Hour Workweek

  • Started my first real business, Arsenal Discs

  • Learned how to build a website, marketing, sales, networking, negotiations, pricing, product design… all the HARD way


2017



  • Discovered FI through Mr. Money Mustache

  • Started listening to podcasts like ChooseFI and Afford Anything

  • Read books like Simple Path to Wealth and Your Money or Your Life

  • Learned about side hustles, taxes, the 4% rule, etc.

  • Despite all this, didn’t really have any money since I was paying for college

  • Locked in job for July 2018, plan was to work 7-10 years to hit FI


2018



  • Went to CampFI in January and FI became “real”

  • Lived in Australia with lots of time on my hands and started side hustling after being unable to find a regular job

  • Blog launched in April 2018 to document my journey

  • Started working as a commercial RE lender in July 2018 once I returned to the U.S.

    • All-in comp was $80-85k

    • Knowing that FI existed was a blessing and a curse



  • Launched podcast in August 2018 (nothing else like it)

  • FinCon 2018 (CampFI on steroids) – met Grant and others

  • By the end of that year, I had tried a dozen new side hustles (blogging, podcasting, freelance writing, building websites, editing podcasts, affiliate marketing, digital products, etc)

  • Income: $44,000, Net worth: $75,000, Stock market: -6.24%


2019



  • Quit my corporate job on January 31, 2019 with $30,000+ saved

  • Side hustles were bringing in $1,200 per month, but my expenses were the same ($450 rent, paid off car, super frugal)

  • Financial Freedom book tour March-May of 2019

  • Teamed up with Julie to launch Gold City Ventures in June 2019

    • So many people asking for 1-on-1, wanted to teach at scale

    • Most of my time after that was spent working on Gold City Ventures

    • Practicing my craft to teach better

    • Managing a community, recording & packaging content, hiring people

    • Originally launched E-Printables, a blogging course, and a freelancing course

    • LOTs of learning lessons from this business



  • Income: $96,000, Net worth: $179,000, Stock market: 28.88%


2020



  • Went all-in on digital products (dropped blogging and freelancing from GCV)

    • Etsy shop, Shopify store, templates, etc.



  • Continued to live extremely frugally (spending less than $25,000/year)

  • Bought 3-unit house hack in September 2020

    • $235,000, we lived in the basement, rent $2,200, expenses $1,700



  • Bought duplex in November 2020

    • $170,000, rent $2,250, expenses $1,350



  • Bought 3-unit house hack in December 2020

    • $315,000, we moved to 1BR/1BA, rent $2,600, expenses $2,100

    • First house hack jumped to $3,000 in rent once we moved out



  • Income: $198,000, Net worth: $392,000, Stock market: 16.26%


2021



  • Started freelancing for Motley Fool (who acquired MillennialMoney.com)

    • Extra $10K/month, SEO, “thinking big”, awesome team



  • Bought triplex in May 2021

    • $245,000, rent $2,900, expenses $1,900



  • ~$200,000 in down payments came from digital product income

  • Gold City Ventures continues to grow rapidly

  • Income: $403,000, Net worth: $1,035,000, Stock market: 26.89%

  • Financial Freedom! 

    • Had RE making $3,000+ in cash flow, $500,000+ invested in the stock market

    • In addition to the semi-passive $20,000+ per month I was earning with digital products




Since I reached financial independence, I have continued to work on my main business, Gold City Ventures and invest 90%+ of my income into index funds and real estate.


Links from the Episode



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Financial Freedom in 3 Years (Cody’s FI Journey Explained)

Financial Freedom in 3 Years (Cody’s FI Journey Explained)

Cody Berman and Justin Taylor