

Hey everybody! Welcome to Q2 2023. I hope you completed your taxes as a result of the submitting deadline is only a week away. We aren’t completed but, however I’m not too fearful. I’m going to file an extension as a result of I’m ready for a number of K1 varieties anyway. Hopefully, these late K1s gained’t change our taxes that a lot.
Q1 2023 was an okay quarter for us. The inventory market ended the quarter with a pleasant rally and our internet price improved a bit. Nevertheless, we nonetheless have a protracted method to go. Our all-time excessive was in January 2022.
Money movement was slightly tough too. Passive earnings was slightly decrease than anticipated and we spent extra money than common. In consequence, our FI ratio doesn’t look good to this point. I’m fairly positive it’ll get well, although. We don’t have any massive plans for the remainder of 2023, however you by no means know. Issues all the time come up. Right here is my quarterly passive earnings spreadsheet.
*FI ratio = passive earnings / expense

Passive Earnings is The Key
Passive earnings is without doubt one of the keys to a profitable early retirement. As soon as your passive earnings surpasses your value of dwelling, you’ve achieved monetary independence. Cash gained’t be a difficulty anymore and you are able to do no matter you need. I retired earlier than our passive earnings bought there, however I had an alternate supply of earnings – running a blog. Fortunately, early retirement labored out very effectively for me over the past 10 years. Our family earnings was good so we stored investing. That enabled our internet price to triple over this era and now we’re fairly snug financially. Nevertheless, we’re nonetheless working to surpass 100% FI ratio persistently.
At the moment, we assist our modest way of life with the mixture of those earnings streams:
- Mrs. RB40 works full-time. She took a sabbatical final yr, however determined to return to work. Now, she plans to retire when our son finishes highschool.
- I weblog for 10-15 hours per week.
- Passive Earnings – We generate passive earnings from the inventory market, actual property crowdfunding, rental properties, and different investments.
FI Ratio
*FI ratio = passive earnings / expense
The FI ratio is a straightforward method to measure progress towards monetary freedom. Personally, I feel 100% FI ratio is overkill as a result of nearly no one stops working fully after early retirement. You’ll most likely be okay with 80%, nevertheless it’s higher to err on the aspect of warning.
In Q1 2023, our FI ratio was 90%. That’s decrease than common. My goal is round 120%. I’m fairly positive it can enhance because the yr goes on.

I’ll shortly go over every class right here so you may get an total image.
- Actual property crowdfunding – Not a lot exercise with actual property crowdfunding to this point in 2023. The earnings seems to be good. As of late I choose to take a position with CrowdStreet. You’ll be able to learn extra particulars under.
- Dividend shares – Just lately, I’m investing in additional progress shares. This can cut back our dividend earnings. I nonetheless like dividends, however I’ll concentrate on total progress till Mrs. RB40 retires. For now, extra earnings = extra taxes.
- Rental properties – At the moment, we now have 2 rental models. My objective is to consolidate all the way down to only one unit, the duplex we stay in. We’ll promote the rental rental when our tenant strikes out. Then, I’ll reinvest the cash into actual property crowdfunding.
- Curiosity – That is simply the curiosity from our financial institution accounts and treasury bonds. I verify the treasury bond account on the finish of the yr to see how a lot curiosity we get.
- Tax-advantaged accounts – Lastly, I rely the earnings from our retirement accounts as part of our passive earnings. As soon as Mrs. RB40 retires, we will entry these accounts through the Roth conversion – constructing a Roth IRA ladder.
Extra particulars on every stream of passive earnings.
Actual Property Crowdfunding Earnings: $2,631
I began investing in actual property crowdfunding in 2017. My expertise has been largely optimistic. I feel this can be a nice method to put money into actual property. At this level in life, I don’t need to be a hands-on landlord anymore as a result of working with tenants will be hectic. Restore and upkeep additionally take loads of effort and time. Actual property crowdfunding is much more passive and the sponsors have the benefit of scale.
This yr, I’m investing with CrowdStreet. They’re the main firm in actual property crowdfunding they usually have many business initiatives to select from. CrowdStreet is nice as a result of you’ll be able to diversify geographically. I’m not optimistic concerning the Portland actual property market so I choose to take a position elsewhere within the U.S.
Right here is the spreadsheet of my RE crowdfunding investments. Additionally, some fast pointers from my expertise.
- Don’t put money into ground-up initiatives. You by no means know what is going to occur with the development.
- Don’t put money into an workplace constructing, healthcare, or retails. Some will work out and a few gained’t.
- Any further, I’ll solely put money into condominium renovations. The earnings is sweet and the prospect of shedding cash is decrease. The sponsor can all the time promote the condominium to generate some funds.

*I’m slightly fearful concerning the Chicago workplace constructing renovation. Employees don’t need to return to the workplace. Will the developer have the ability to become profitable on this deal? We’ll have to attend and see. The flats are doing effectively.
Energetic actual property initiatives 2023
- CrowdStreet Washington condominium – It is a undertaking in Puget Sound. They appear to be doing fairly effectively.
- CrowdStreet Chicago workplace constructing – The property is underneath renovation at the moment.
- CrowdStreet Senior housing – It is a fund to put money into senior dwelling services. This undertaking had a capital name earlier this yr. I despatched in $3,000. They appear to be doing okay.
- CrowdStreet NC condominium – It is a undertaking in North Carolina.
- An condominium in Arizona – The borrower refinanced this undertaking and returned 75% of the cash invested. Now, we’ll wait till the undertaking completes and gather the remainder of the verify.
Rental Property Earnings: $853
At the moment, we now have a small duplex and a 1 bed room rental. Nevertheless, we try to consolidate our properties down to simply the duplex. I journey extra now and I can’t be a DIY landlord anymore.
At this level in life, I’d somewhat put money into different areas by way of RE crowdfunding. Being a landlord is a good way to construct wealth, however I must be a extra passive investor sooner or later.
The duplex is round 2,000 sq. ft so it’s actually not that massive. Ultimately, I plan to rework the unfinished basement so we are able to have extra dwelling area. It’ll take us some time to get it completed, although.
*New buyers can begin with this – Methods to Begin Investing in Rental Property.
Dividend Earnings: $3,657
Dividend earnings is my favourite type of passive earnings. Traders personal a small a part of these public firms they usually be just right for you. Just lately, I modified my focus from dividends to complete portfolio progress. Mrs. RB40 plans to maintain working for some time so we don’t want the earnings. It’s higher to delay paying taxes till our earnings is decrease. When Mrs. RB40 retires, I’ll refocus on dividend earnings. For those who’re a brand new investor, here’s a useful put up – Methods to Begin Investing in Dividend Shares.
As for reinvestment, I don’t DRIP. I simply accumulate the dividend and put money into a inventory or actual property crowdfunding. This yr I hoped to generate $14,000 from our dividend portfolio.
For brand new buyers, I extremely advocate Firstrade. Firstrade is a wonderful low cost brokerage that I used for a few years. A lot of their buying and selling charges are $0 now. That’s nice information for younger buyers. I bear in mind paying $80 per commerce after I began investing.
Robinhood can be fairly good for a brand-new investor. You can begin investing with only a small quantity. Even $100 could be a fantastic begin.

Tax-advantaged Earnings: $6,064
New buyers ought to learn these posts first.
The cash in these retirement accounts isn’t simply accessible at the moment (I’m 50), however they nonetheless rely as passive earnings. As soon as we each retire full-time, we’ll construct a Roth IRA ladder to entry our conventional IRAs so we don’t should pay the ten% early withdrawal penalty.

Q1 2023 Passive Earnings Wrap

Up to now, it doesn’t look so good. Nevertheless, passive earnings and bills are each lumpy. I’m fairly positive it can work out by the top of the yr. We normally catch up in December after I get all of the numbers in. It’ll be attention-grabbing to see if actual property crowdfunding will ship this yr. Final yr was a fantastic yr and we bought a giant payout.
Passive earnings has been nice for us. It stored delivering by way of the roughest a part of the pandemic. I’m assured passive earnings will hold rolling sooner or later when Mrs. RB40 and I are each totally retired. Now, let’s hope inflation goes again to 2%. That’s the opposite a part of the equation.
What about you? How is your passive earnings doing in 2023?
Actual property funding ought to do effectively over the subsequent few years. We nonetheless have a housing scarcity within the US and folks have to stay someplace. Try CrowdStreet if you wish to generate passive earnings from business actual property. It’s means simpler than being a landlord. Though, I’m unsure how the rising rate of interest will change issues. It most likely will probably be tougher to exit a undertaking if the speed retains rising. Keep tuned.
Passive earnings is the important thing to early retirement. This yr, Joe is investing in business actual property with CrowdStreet. They’ve many initiatives throughout the USA so verify them out!
Joe additionally extremely recommends Private Capital for DIY buyers. They’ve many helpful instruments that can assist you attain monetary independence.
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