Everyone wants more money. But how much more would you actually need to change your life?

Here's your pat on the back for a good job.

The only thing that irritated me about your post is the wife not wanting to travel cause of dogs. I absolutely loved my dog, but it never hindered me from traveling. Hell, with all the money you say you have, board those pups in a high dollar place where they can stay in the same room and be pampered all day. Then go travel worry free.

Uh, start investing as a hobby??
Learn you some covered calls, cash secured puts wheeling strategies?

Fall in love with reel mowing?

This is what I would do except we would also travel abroad a lot. Your family needs some culture. Plan a trip. They can sideline any extra curriculars with 8-12 months to plan.

Several years ago I posted a thread about life changing income that hit my life and I needed advice. I was attacked by many people saying I was headed for divorce, I'm going to ruin my family's future, etc...etc.

Well here we are years later and our income is 10X the amount of the initial life changing money I originally posted with, our net worth is close to 8 figures, and I'm still married with a recent arrival of a baby

My concerns at the time of life changing money was how were we supposed to handle it while pursuing additional income producing investments to diversify our money?

Our decision was to continue to do what we did best and just focus on growing our business. There is not an investment out there that would have given us a greater return on our money. Do what you do best, but invest in something conservative and create a nest egg with that, and take a chance here and there. If things dried up with your business, you have a nest egg to then start something else. If your business gave you the life changing income, focus on growing that above all things, instead of dipping your toes into something you are not familiar or fluent with. Do what you do best!

I dollar cost average invest monthly into securities. Its a chunk of change equal to a middle class annual household salary. Every once in a while I'll get frisky and throw extra $ at individual up and coming stocks.

Things we learned along the way:

Our time is very valuable.

You get what you pay for.

High risk = high reward if successful

People will not understand your situation and decision making, and will make comments or try to affect your decision making, especially the people who live a scarcity lifestyle. If we listed to them we would not be close to where we are now.

Your close friend circle will get smaller and smaller. Your business/acquaintance circle will grow larger. You just have to go with it and play the game.

Do things to lessen stress so you can focus on your business. Outsource everything...landscaping, home repairs, food/grocery delivery, car details, etc...etc. Focus on what you do best. I learned that piddlyfricking on stuff because it was a hobby or would save me money doing it myself would have costed us way more due to opportunity costs.

Take vacations and splurge. Reward yourself. We killed it last year and are on pace to shatter last year. We work our arse off. We only take first class vacations. It is a reward for our labor and a motivator to continue to grow. Being around successful people inspires you to do more.

Invest in education. You will want to build generational wealth. You want to break the cycle. Education will help with that. Open a 529 or a brokerage account for your kids. I am about two years from fully funding undergrad and grad school for all of my children and none of them are in HS yet. I also have K12 private school funding.

Invest in things that will give you peace of mind. Paying off your house early may draw criticism, but if your business gets hit with an economic crash, not only will your business suffer but so will your stocks. Having a paid off house hedges against that.

Have a chunk of cash (whatever makes you comfortable) in a money market account. Look at it as dead money and act like you don't even have it.

Invest in wellness. Gym membership, medical procedures, clothing, etc, Make your health a priority.

When investing in securities, hire an institution/advisor. Your time is valuable and it makes transactions and planning streamlined and easy. The fees are worth it. Your time is valuable. They will then be able to open doors with life insurance, wills, estate planning, etc. Yes you need life insurance asap if you don't have it.

I looked into property rentals, but stalled because of the mindset of focusing on the business first. Well we found an opportunity that required us to spend 5X the amount of monthly cash flow for three months straight. Luckily we had cash savings in the business and were able to do it. The result was a huge success and our best three months ever. That opportunity would have been null and void if I used that cash to buy rentals.

When times are good, establish a business line of credit. You never know when you will need it. Hopefully never, but it is there.

Be careful with your lifestyle change. Once you do it you won't want to go back. We are about at the point where we want to stop growing our lifestyle and now focus on maintaining the lifestyle we have achieved.

This is just a start and a view from someone who was in your situation.

however always remember.

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Put more money away for college, weddings, retirement, and the future.

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This obviously.

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Buy back time through services- house cleaning, lawn and home maintenance, meal preparation, etc. • Spend more money on better food and healthier meals without necessarily hiring a private chef.

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Not for everyone but I consider services as a trade off. Is my time worth more than the cost? At some point, yes it is. And healthy food will on average help give you more time on this Earth.

Start there. Use your money to set you and family up for the future. You can’t guarantee long term success of your business. Once you secure enough money if it’s too much of a drag, look into selling it. If it’s making as much as you say and values at like 10x earnings, you could just sell it and retire or do something that makes you happier

Also get rid of the dogs preventing travel

with an extra 200k/year you will find me somewhere in the Caribbean chilling with wifey and the pups. Flights are cheap enough for a trip back home to see the family every few weeks

If you’re under say 40 and suddenly make an “extra” 100k to 200k a year, and you’re content with the life you live now, you can set your family up for generations if you keep yourself from upping your lifestyle.

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learn to trade or sports gamble

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Update: don't do this

The statistics on both being profitable long term are TERRIBLE

A higher income of 100-200k would be great but not life changing.

However, a doubling of my net worth would change my pace of work.

It’s never enough because I just keep spending it

I’d like a new crew cab SXS and maybe a Turbo S 911. If I had any extra 100k a year in income I’d just buy both those things tomorrow instead of waiting.