About Us
Here's
Our
Story
Here's Our Story
We weren’t born into money and didn’t have financially savvy parents.
Tim grew up in poverty on a farm in Nowheresville, Colorado where his parents took their fears and anger out on him. At age 11 he ended up in foster care, but was only there a few years before his grandparents took him in.
They were much more loving, but Tim often rebelled because of differing views and expectations around religion and involvement in their large extended family.
Having a strong sense of self and a will of titanium Tim was determined to escape and define his own life. Right out of high school, he took on debt to move across the country to go to college.
Backpacking the Bonds in the White Mountains
"You've Got To Live Your Own Life."
Making a snow angel
Carmela has always been a wild child, but with a self-employed work-o-holic dad, numbed out mom, and 2 younger brothers, she had to become responsible for herself and family at a young age.
Her dad constantly works to keep up with his spending habits and likes instant gratification. He’d rather spend more to have something now than wait hours, let alone a day or two. Image and status are very important to him.
Carmela’s mom by contrast doesn’t need much, but has got accustomed to relying on her husband to pay for living expenses. Her money went into retirement savings, because she’s very fearful about the world. She’s trying to live off social security disability until her money’s worth more.
Then we became office slaves and had to escape!
Every time Carmela deviated from her fathers expectations, he aggressively forced her into compliance. She never wanted to go to college, but didn’t see a better way to gain her own money and freedom.
Despite landing a “great” federal job after graduation, she was miserable right from the start. Her job came with more rules, schedules, and punishment for questioning things, which made her feel trapped again.
So she was determined to figure out how to make money doing something else that didn’t suck before she left the government. But everything she tried didn’t work or was just another form of slavery.
Working on home improvement projects
"I Just Want The Freedom To Do What I Want When I Want."
Maui bamboo forest
Tim didn’t like the rules and bureaucracy in the work force either. He left the state government to became a toll collector, but eventually got sick because of the exposure to exhaust fumes.
During which time he met Carmela, who got him a job with her dad that gave him the space to heal and get his debt paid off. We discovered our mutual love of adventure, and went on some awesome trips. Each time, it got harder and harder to come back.
With a shared goal of living life on our own terms, we collaborated to achieve financial freedom. Carmela gave Tim money to see what he could do with the stock market while she explored other things.
Eventually we figured out that passive income is the key to freedom.
Tim made money. Then things stopped working and we lost money. But he was determined and just knew that freedom lied in the stock market. It was a natural fit for his love of data and ability to recognize patterns.
He was aware of dividend stocks but poo pooed it off because of the small payouts. It wasn’t until one book changed the perspective to income investing and stocks that pay higher yields.
Right about the same time, Carmela realized that passive income was the key. All the business ventures she pursued required tons of effort, upkeep, and customer service. That’s why nothing worked or felt wrong.
Hiking from sea to summit in Haleakala National Park
"Where There's A Will, There's A Way."
Maui tide pools
With the new investing strategy working quite well, we decided to start phasing out the things that drained us and moving into the new life we wanted to be living.
We bought a van, started building it out, began liquidating our stuff, and put as much money as we could into our investing account.
Then Carmela was able to address her burnout from so much hustling and working 2 jobs. She quit her high-paying government job to work for her dad because it gave her more flexibility. That allowed us to take a much needed 4-month van trip to unplug and recharge.
Learn from our mistakes, speed up your success.
We’re still working on liquidating our stuff, which mainly consists of renovating our condo. When we sell, we’re dumping the ~$100,000 in equity into our portfolio. Once we do, we’ll officially be nomadic van lifers.
Our core investing strategy is still working years later and as time passes, we keep evolving and improving it. We started with $74,500 and it’s grown a lot, but the income that money generates is all that matters.
We’ve made mistakes and lost a ton of money figuring out how to get here. We don’t want you to have to suffer like we did. That’s why we’re putting our strategy out there to teach anyone who wants to learn.
Renovating our condo
Ready to liberate your life?
Without day trading, managing real estate, starting a business, or becoming an influencer.