Rachel Richards: Retired at 27 on Passive Income
At 27, Rachel Richards quit her job and retired. Not retired as in sat on a beach. Retired as in her passive income covered her life, so work became a choice.
I never plug people's products on my podcast, but I was holding her book, Passive Income, Aggressive Retirement, while we recorded this 2020 conversation, because she had infiltrated my world and I wanted my audience to hear exactly how she did it. This is Episode 74 of The Purpose Chasers.
What Passive Income Actually Means
I stopped Rachel early, because I do not like pretending my audience already knows the terms. Her definition:
"Passive income is money that is earned with little to no ongoing work. Now don't get me wrong, it's no get rich quick scheme. These passive income streams, they take either time or money to build."
Stage 1 is the investment, either your time or your money. Stage 2 is when the thing runs mostly without you. Her 2 biggest streams are rental property and book royalties.
"When I quit my job, I was making $10,000 a month in passive income. Now it's more like $15,000 a month."
About half of that comes from the 35 plus rental units she and her husband own in Louisville, Kentucky. The other half comes from her books, including her first $7,000 month in book sales. Anyone can write and self publish an ebook on Amazon for free. It takes time to create, and then it keeps paying.
A Finance Nerd Since Middle School
Rachel was reading finance books by the pool as a kid. She taught herself money through middle school, high school and college, sold Cutco knives to pay for school, and became a financial advisor the year she graduated. Then she spent the next few years in the finance industry quietly asking herself what she was doing there, until she built enough income to leave.
Her warning from the episode is one I repeat to every business owner: being 100% dependent on one income is not safe. Other income streams are what kept her family afloat when things got hard.
The Most Passive Marketing Asset I Know
Here is where Rachel's thinking changed mine. I run a marketing company, and I used to think of marketing as a monthly expense that stops the day you stop paying. That is true of ads. It is not true of a client talking on video about what you did for them. You record it once, in stage 1, and it keeps selling for years in stage 2.
That is the whole premise of the Social Proof System: build the proof once, put it everywhere, and let it work while you are not. Rachel built it with rentals and royalties. I build it with customer stories.
Proof That Keeps Working After It Is Recorded
Sarah Jones had wanted to get her business online for a long time and did not know how to start a landing page. We built two full landing pages and every automation in Go HighLevel, then recorded a walkthrough so she was comfortable running it herself. In her words:
"He did a great job and I'll definitely be using him again."
Justina Reaves is a public speaker, a coach and a top leader in network marketing. When 2020 hit she had to get her business online, but she did not have time to learn funnels, leads and drip campaigns. Her verdict:
"Mark has transformed my vision into reality."
More real stories on the Happy Check client results page.
Keep Listening
Gino Barbaro on 1,100 plus multifamily units and escaping the 90 hour week
Pay yourself first and 3 other money lessons from the solo episodes
Want Marketing That Works While You Sleep?
On The Purpose Chasers I sit down with people who are building something that matters. In my business, The Happy Check, I help coaches, creators and service businesses turn that same kind of real story into video testimonials and content that bring in clients.
If you want to take your marketing to the next level, book an organic marketing audit call with me.
Or start with the free Happy Check book and learn who to ask, when to ask and how to use what they say.
Keep reading: video testimonial marketing, the Testimonial Waterfall framework.
