I was born and raised in Belgium, Europe many moons ago and moved to the US for the love of my life about two decades ago. Always made a living as a software engineer working for companies like JNJ, Exxon Mobil, Blue Cross and Blue Shield, Wells Fargo and the Federal Reserve Bank.
Not being a spring chicken anymore, I started to think about a life-after-software-development and my investments aimed at retirement. It dawned on me that there was a constant recurring theme of financial subjects – taxes, time value of money and economics – weaved throughout my life. I worked as a seasonal tax preparer for a well-known US tax employer for several seasons, and I still assist people in our inner circle with finding tax answers. I also educated myself through the same channel on corporate taxes.
Running my own freelance IT enterprise as well as handling the accounting, contractors and taxes of my wife’s company, taught me the ins and outs of US small businesses, albeit still a bit limited. Although my wife’s business was Amazon-proof, it did not survive the Covid rumble.
Having learned the painful lesson of the 2007-2008 financial debacle and learning from Tony Robbins’ “Money, master the game“, I didn’t want to hatch my investment eggs in a 100% Wall Street basket anymore. Whatever path I was going to follow, I needed to stay in control as much as I could.
Of course, the first thing one thinks of is real estate investing. I wasn’t too impressed with residential real estate sector. The cash flow is rather limited and the space is extensively regulated. So I dreamed a little bit bigger and got my eye on commercial real estate. Not regulated at all, but very capital intensive and very hard to do without personal guarantees and most ROI is based on (often excessive) debt leverage. What this means is it will take a bit longer to find the right deal. Living in a rural area as I currently do, comes with less commercial RE opportunities. It requires further travel distances to possible deals (read taking time off). I would never purchase a property without at least a walk-through and checking out the neighborhood. You can always improve a property, but you can’t improve a neighborhood or housing area.
Yes, I’m still looking around in the CRE space, but during my months of deal searching I stumbled on a few interesting statistics, statistics about US small businesses.
I was so taken by it that I had to take a deeper dive. There’s about 26 million businesses in the US, 93% of them are “small businesses“ and 65% of those are owned by the boomer generation. This generation is looking to retire in the next decade or less, which means that a several trillion dollar acquiring/investing opportunity is out there waiting to be picked up. This represents a huge value transition and I want to be part of it by possibly helping those CEO/owners achieve their exit dreams.
And there you have it. That’s my story, the story of a software-engineer-turned-investor. Not just reading books about it, but also taking action.
As Walt Disney once said “The right way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing“.
I’m very committed to this and blocked off time on my calendar six days of the week. This way I can perform in similar ways on a daily basis and create new habits just like “showing up for work every day“. Never was, and never will be, a part-timer.
Remembering Denzel Washington‘s words .. “Without commitment you never start, without consistency you never finish“.
Thanks for visiting my website and reading my story. Let’s talk soon.
(Founder and Chairman) – Business skills – Resume