#002: Dough Dialogue - Growth vs Income

And Why There Is No “Right” Way To Invest

**The dollar amounts in the financial examples provided have been changed, but percentages and ratios remain accurate for illustrative purposes. All of the information provided is for educational purposes only and not to be taken as financial advice. As always, do your own research and due diligence before making any financial decisions.

---

There is no “right” way to invest.  Anyone who insists otherwise is either selling you something, or self-righteously trying to prosthelytize an investment strategy that worked for them. 

We all have different visions for our life. Different financial needs and desires.  Different feelings towards risk. That’s why my goal is to share tools and life experiences that help you think critically about finance, rather than giving you a 10 step get-rich-quick plan.

So consider this lesson #1, an allegory on GROWTH vs INCOME, and why you are the only one that can make the best financial decisions for YOU.

Several lifetimes ago I used to own a 4-unit investment property in San Diego, CA.  It consisted of two super cute beach bungalows about 5 blocks from the beach. Each building had two units with only one shared wall and a small fenced in backyard perfect for pups and BBQs.  It was purchased with my then-partner just a couple years after the real estate market crashed in 2008 and was in horrific shape when we purchased it.  I mean, these units didn’t even have proper kitchens - just long steel trough sinks, the kind you might find in the back of a greasy diner, charcoal encrusted stoves, and lonely refrigerators intensely buzzing away in the corner.  You get the picture.

We dumped our entire savings into renovations, which was terrifying.  At the time I didn’t understand investing at all.  The only financial lesson I had been taught was to work hard, save, stick that savings into a 401k, then live off that savings when you’re older hoping you don’t die before the money runs out. And here we were blowing that entire savings on a dump.