Planting Your Financial Garden | John Soforic

Today’s episode features John Soforic, author of The Wealthy Gardener.

John gives his passionate story of how he went from $200k in debt to over $200k in passive income.

The lessons he learned led to a book he wrote for his son titled The Wealthy Gardner.

The story starts with a stroll through the graveyard but certainly has a happy ending.

Listen, learn, and let us know what you think about this awesome episode.

Episode Summary

John’s Background

• John takes a walk when he was 30
• He just goes walking in his town
• Then he walks into a graveyard and sat there for a half-day
• John was just contemplating life
• He had two kids, long hours, and $200k in student debt
• Then he read a book called “How to Think and Grow Rich”
• Then he set a goal to have $240k in passive income before the age of 50
• Fast forward and John retired at age 49
• He would then go on to write The Wealthy Gardner as a way to communicate the lessons he learned to his son

Building His Passive Income

• Step one was leveraging all 112 waking hours and not just 40
• He was working 40 hours in his clinic and 30 hours outside
• Then he started educating himself on real estate
• John also hired teams to help him
• That allowed him to have 500 hours of work a week to his goals
• This included buying 8 duplexes at once
• It was an incredible deal where he got them at half price
• He was able to do this because he offered to buy them all
• The sellers were part of an estate and looking for quick cash

The Wealthy Gardener Book

• John wrote the book in hopes that his 19 yr old son would be influenced by it
• He convinced him to be his editor to make some money
• During the process, John asked him to argue points with him
• Today his son is 25 and saving over 50% of his income so it seems to have worked
• He also fought to keep spirituality into the book to keep it true to him
• John originally self-published and book that has now been translated into three languages

 

Key Takeaways

1. Leverage: John created so much leverage through teams and real estate which allowed him to unlock his earning potential
2. Stay True to You: I loved how John is open about his beliefs and how he didn’t let the prospect of money change them

Call to Action

Investigate passive income streams. Don’t get stuck thinking only on huge goals — just start small and start soon.

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John’s Information

• Website: WealthyGardener.com
• Book: The Wealthy Gardener

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