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Investing in Yourself (Some Assembly Required)

Jimmy Mengel by Jimmy Mengel
March 15, 2023
in Analysis
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Investing in Yourself (Some Assembly Required)

“No man e’er was glorious, who was not laborious.” — Benjamin Franklin; Poor Richard’s Almanack, 1734

“The cure for anything is salt water – sweat, tears, or the sea.” — Isak Dinesen

“I am positive that one of the great curatives of our evils, our maladies, social, moral, and intellectual, would be a return to the soil, a rehabilitation of the work of the fields.” — Charles Wagner

“Chop your own wood and it will warm you twice.” — Old New England saying

Years ago, I experienced a different kind of vacation. I typically like to travel to a beach, a mountain, or an adventure through an exotic foreign country that looks alien to my own.

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This particular vacation was quite a departure…

I took off of work to spend five days toiling in hard labor in 100-plus-degree heat.

It had been a while since I spent more than a long weekend in the hot sun, tending the fields, chopping trees, clearing brush, and hauling heavy objects. I’m always down for a day or two of yard work on my own sizable lawn. But this experience was far more grueling, yet far more rewarding.

My friends and I had bought a plot of land through a tax lien. The property itself is 25 acres of beautiful forest — hidden away, miles from the nearest neighbors. It has a pond, trails snaking through the woods, and a large clearing that we had planned to put a couple of cabins on.

In theory, it sounds like a bucolic paradise. However, are a few things I haven't told you…

One was that the land we purchased was so affordable because it was essentially a glorified landfill. The previous owner had allowed his once beautiful property to become a dumping ground for tires, rusted-out trailers, stained mattresses, and straight-up garbage. It wasn't a surprise that he had not paid his taxes in years.

Here’s a picture of the land when we bought it:

After we spent cleaning up the tax lien property
After we spent days cleaning up.

“Horror show” comes to mind. The day we showed up after securing the deed, we arrived at the house you can see in the picture above. It was literally on fire; smoke and flames when we arrived. We never got any clarity on who started it, but it's pretty clear that the previous owner wasn't too happy about our purchase. In short, a not-so-great start to this whimsical journey.

You can imagine my wife’s reaction when she saw pictures of our new “vacation hideaway.” Suffice it to say, she wasn’t quite as enthusiastic as my friends and I. But I convinced her that, with the right amount of elbow grease, we could return the property to its natural beauty and land ourselves an impressive compound for a tiny sliver of what it was worth. 

I’d be lying if I told you it was an easy cleanup. We knew we had work to do but weren’t quite prepared for the Sisyphean task of cleaning up a disaster area like this.

Our first order of business was to rent a Bobcat Skid Steer to lift heaven and earth (and rusted appliances, tires, and other debris):

jimmy mengel operating a bobcat
Your humble editor pretending to be macho.

Our second order was to have two four-ton dumpsters delivered:

loading a container with debris
I'll spare you the seedier details of the danger and despair of loading these dumpsters.

We filled them both to capacity. That’s 16,000 lb. of trash, which, if you are keeping track at home, is heavier than the EchoStar XXI communications satellite sent into space that year.

Our group also had the ignoble task of clearing out several sheds and trailers with decades’ worth of ephemera, including bedpans, rancid clothing, old cassettes, and several tubs of what I’ll call “goop” that might or might not have been medical or biological waste.

It was disgusting. It was odorous. It was heavy and wet. We also were stung by hornets, preyed on by ticks, and threatened by snakes. Several men almost passed out from heat exhaustion, others had their skin burned by the sun’s rays, and one man about killed himself from trying to load a rusted oven into the dumpster with the Bobcat.

But in the end, it was all worth it.

It was thrilling to see the place after we were done:

the property in its finished state

The takeaway here is that the work you do yourself, the time you put into your own investments, and the pride you receive from challenging yourself are all worth it.

Of course, we could have shelled out tens of thousands of dollars to hire a crew for this backbreaking labor. But we decided to do it ourselves — not only to save money but also to prove to ourselves that we were worthy of such a project.

All those years ago, we had called our endeavor “suffer camp” because of the grueling labor. But they were some of the best days of my life. Now I'll have the spoils to show for the toils.

At the time, our families all thought we were a bit crazy. “What in the hell are you going to do with an empty property in the middle of nowhere?” they laughed. 

We’re going to sell it for a boatload more than we spent on it. The property is listed for close to $200,000 after buying it on a tax lien of $4,000. While we put in the blood, sweat, and extra cash needed to get it up to speed, it is still an astronomical return.

The last time I visited, my lifelong friend (and fellow land investor) greeted me upon my arrival at our wholly renovated compound.

“Who’s laughing now!” he cackled as we gave each other high-fives. 

We take the same do-it-yourself process here at The Profit Sector with our finances and investing advice.

If you put in the time and effort, you can save yourself tens of thousands of dollars (sometimes hundreds) in financial fees over your lifetime. Plus, you get the satisfaction of doing it yourself. I don’t hear many people bragging about how their money managers beat the market by a percentage point or two.

But when you take the time to identify a great stock, buy it yourself, and reap the rewards later. It not only not only more advantageous, it just feels better.

And I guarantee, it’s much easier than having your own annual “suffer camp.”

You can easily double your investments with a few simple moves:

  • Reinvesting your dividends…
  • Creating an Antifragile portfolio…
  • Buying land without technically owning it…
  • Or investing in a company that has to pay you no matter what happens…

These are easy ways for DIY investors to profit from their self-reliance. It only requires the will to manage yourself and make wise decisions but doesn’t require the blood, sweat, and tears of manual labor and unpredictable investments. If you’re asking me, you can do both. 

So go forth, make your own fortune. Put in the work to make yourself wealthy and comfortable. You’ll be happy you did. And there’s no better bet than the one you make on yourself.  

Godspeed,

sig-jimmy

Jimmy Mengel
The Profit Sector

Follow me on Twitter @mengeled

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Jimmy Mengel

Jimmy Mengel

I’ve had a long road as an investor, researcher, and writer of all things investing.  I began investing when I was 8 years old: I started with a small collection of baseball cards and quickly learned the art of buying low and selling high.  By the time I was 12, through forward-thinking investment in rookie cards for players that turned into superstars and countless trades with my buddies, I had amassed a treasure of cards that were worth thousands of dollars then – and tens of thousands today. I learned several things about investing through my card collection: buy value, avoid hype and know your timeline.  My dad, a financial analyst then, even invited me to present my strategies to his office colleagues. It was then that I began turning those lessons into my own stock market portfolio.  The companies I bought back then, like Disney, General Electric, and Coca-Cola, allowed me to build up enough wealth to buy my first car. I discovered the power of dividends, the magic of compound interest, and the sanctity of safety. The lessons I learned then still stick with me today. I wanted to continue sharing my story with others, so I began working my way into financial journalism, which I’ve done for over a decade. I’ve had the privilege of helping hundreds of thousands of readers achieve financial independence. I've brought my readers closed annual portfolios of 79%, 70%, 76%, and a historic 382% over the last four years alone. Several of the stocks I uncovered ended up becoming life-changing quadruple-digit gains. In the process, I’ve traveled the globe from Africa to Colombia to Transylvania, meeting with CEOs, CFOs, and CTOs in different market sectors. I’ve also toured with presidential candidates, grilled influential congressmen, and interviewed pop-culture business icons. I’ve been a keynote speaker at some of the largest investment conferences in the U.S. I go the distance and put my boots on the ground so you’ll have all the tools you need to succeed in any market. I couldn’t be more excited to bring the same research, enthusiasm, and results to The Profit Sector, where I’ll break down the market for you weekly. Read my bio and access my full free archive here. 

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Protected by copyright laws of the United States and international treaties. This website may only be used pursuant to the Terms and Conditions and any reproduction, copying, or redistribution (electronic or otherwise, including on the World Wide Web), in whole or in part, is strictly prohibited without the express written permission of The Profit Sector, LLC. 415 1st Ave N #19868, Seattle, WA 98109

© 2022 The Profit Sector, LLC. All rights reserved. Our website provides stock market research, commentary, and analysis. Information is provided “as is” and solely for information purposes, not for trading purposes or advice.

Nothing on this website should be considered personalized financial advice. Any investments recommended herein should be made only after consulting with your personal investment advisor and only after performing your own research and due diligence, including reviewing the prospectus or financial statements of the issuer of any security. The Profit Sector, its managers, its employees, affiliates and assigns (collectively "The Company") do not make any guarantee or warranty about the advice provided on this website or what is otherwise advertised above. The Company is not registered or licensed by any governing body in any jurisdiction to give investing advice or provide investment recommendation. The Company is not affiliated with, nor does it receive compensation from, any specific security. To the maximum extent permitted by law, the Company disclaims any and all liability in the event any information, commentary, analysis, opinions, advice and/or recommendations provided herein prove to be inaccurate, incomplete or unreliable, or result in any investment or other losses.

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