Elmer was my adopted dad when I first got started investing in real estate. He had spent 31 years in the Marine Corp and retired as a Colonel. His career had been as a pilot and the first portion of that was spent as a fighter pilot. He had been in flight training in 1938, the year I was born. The latter part of his career was spent flying military cargo planes and eventually doing administrative jobs as a senior officer in the Marines. What a blessing it was for me to have Elmer as a discipline coach, He didn’t reach that point being a jerk with no discipline. He had class!  He had discipline! He had leadership abilities. He had very valuable experience.  All of that could be my reward for being a true friend. He would teach me provided I wanted to learn but he wouldn’t waste his time if I could not at least jot down my spending plan.

Thus my habit of spending New Year’s Day going over all of my financial affairs was developed. I had to have all of the mortgage balances for outgoing payments and incoming payments. The interest would be deductible on the outgoing payments and I needed to get that information ready for the tax preparer. The interest would be taxable on the incoming payments and I needed to send that person a Thank You card (yes, always say thank you when someone makes your wallet thicker) and a statement for his taxes before January 20. Elmer always said the best way to get your money is in the mail. Now we might say the best way is direct deposit. Make it convenient for people to pay you.  We don’t need an ivory tower office. We need a bank account that acts as a collection point.  We don’t want to pay office rent! We want to run a skinny operation. Remember that it is better to stop an outgo than it is to start an income. It is better by about 25% which is about the average for taxes and cost.  Read More→