We Want More For Our Kiddos!

I talk about building wealth through real estate all the time.  Maybe at nauseum. But there’s a reason.  Because I see its power and opportunity to change lives.  I grew up on food stamps, our family lived paycheck to paycheck, and didn’t own again after my mom and dad got divorced at my age 6.  I love my mother and I know she did the best she could for my brother and I.

As a single mom, a woman in sales in the 70’s and 80’s, life was challenging, and saving money was not viable.  I grew up loved, so this is not me looking for pity.  Life was hard, it was full of experiences and lessons.  But saving, investing, owning were not concepts I learned until much later.

At age 40 I met a man who changed the trajectory of my life.  I’ve told his story before so won’t make today’s rant about him.. but he’s important… because there is a before Don Kramer and an after Don Kramer.. let’s call it BD and AD 😉

BD, my idea of saving is what corporate taught me… put as much as your company matches in your 401k.  That’s it.  So in 2000, when the dot.com bubble burst, my 401k portfolio was cut in half.  Peter and I had just gotten married 4 years before and we were pregnant with our third kiddo.  Luckily we had bought our first house, so when we sold it a year later in 2001 and moved to Colorado, the $100,000 we had in equity was the majority of the money we had.  We put that money into the home we bought in Evergreen and kept living a good life.  Peter was working a corporate job putting away 10% in his 401k, getting the company match and I just started a part time job working for a friend.. in the mortgage business.

2010 marked the change… AD. Don Kramer came into my life when Peter was still working the corporate job getting a company match and I had just switched over from ops to originating.  We bought our first investment that year, then we bought our next.

My mom would always tell my brother and I, she was making this generation better than the last.  If I think for a minute that my life growing up was tough, hers was unimaginable.  We all do that as parents, don’t we?  We want more for our kids than what we had.

Time to Teach

So Monday marks another day I will celebrate when I look back.  Monday is the day Gabby closes on her first home.  She’s 20 years old and my baby.  Jeremy Kane found her a $525,000 five bedroom home blocks away from Denver University.. he found a unicorn.

We bought Caleb a home in 2018 for just over $400,000 two blocks from Regis University with the help of Mike Hills.  It is worth $650,000 today.  We bought Elijah a home in 2020 for just over $400,000 in Lakewood, down 6th from the School of Mines with the help of Sarah Gallegos.   It is worth $525,000 today.  My boys got into a debate this week on the equity that was growing in their homes and both of them were wrong.  So…I did what all parents do..  I called a family meeting.  Today at 11am, I am pulling out pencil and paper and explaining the power of real estate and how they get from where they are to where they want to go.   Wait, I talk about investing in real estate ALL the time… how do they not know? These amazing kiddos are my world, they mean everything to me. But I have not taken the time to make sure they fully understand what Peter and I are doing for them.

So today marks the day.. when I start writing a Building an Investment Empire for kiddos.  Your kiddos and mine.  Time is their biggest asset.  I started when I was 40 years old.  They are starting at age 20.  That is a game changer.  How do we all help change the lives of our kids for generations to come.

On January 20th my team is going to announce our newest venture … TRU Education at The Next Big Thing Event.  The Rueth Team… TRU.  We need to continue sharing the power of real estate so it’s easy to understand … even for a 20 year old.

Do you have clients who need to understand their options?  The Rueth Team has your back and their solution!  With rising rates and appreciation, time is their friend!

[author] [author_image timthumb=’on’]https://www.theruethteam.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/testimonial_image.jpg[/author_image] [author_info]Nicole Rueth has been passionately advising clients on their wealth building and home financing strategies for over 17 years. Her path has been non-conventional and it is a benefit to her clients.  www.TheRuethTeam.Com.[/author_info] [/author]