How To Retire In 15 Months
I don’t know about you, but I have no desire to “work” until I’m 65 years old like many people are required to do. In fact, thanks to my internet ventures, I am technically retired right now.
In other words, I don’t have to work another day in my life if I don’t want to. The reason I’m in this situation is because of our success in buying and selling websites.
When you sell a website for 6 or 7 figures, you can take that lump sum payment and invest it in various investment options such as stocks, real estate, etc. If you sell your website for a $1,000,000 and you take that million and invest it, you can literally live off the earnings/interest of that investment.
The stock market historically returns an average of 8% per year, so on a million bucks, that’s about $80,000 per year, every year for the rest of your life. The nice part about it is YOU DON’T HAVE TO WORK to earn that money! Your money does all the working, so you can retire and do whatever you want.
Isn’t that everyone’s goal in life?
We work so hard for 30-35 years at a job we hate, making less money than we deserve, just so ONE DAY we’ll be able to finally retire and “enjoy life”…
Why wait until you’re old and gray to retire? You can literally be retired 15 months from TODAY if you want to put in the effort to make it happen.
2010 UPDATE: Video has been removed given the recent update of the BASW site.
Enjoyed the video. Sounds reasonable. I don’t know much about membership sites but I’d love to learn more – like what type of membership sites are successful and whether it’s something I personally could even do. I’m not in your buying and selling class, unfortunately, but I’m trying to glean what I can from your blog. Keep it coming…
Thanks
i think this is great Max. I’ve really been lookin into sellin websites now
There are hundreds of membership site ideas. The example in the video was for a cheap, $20 per month membership site. The more competitive the site topic, the more you can charge. I’ve seen some internet marketing membership sites that charge $300/month.
Here are some examples out there (although I have no idea how successful they are)
It is a pretty straight forward video obviously this is to help boost your sells for your upcoming course. The thing I think we all want to know is how do you choose the prouct you want to sell and if I am no expert at diet, fitness and business but im great at computers obviously that is a killed niche. So what do we do from there try to find a niche that is not over saturated and gain knowledge on it? So does that add 2 more months or more to my retirement plan? I think the video was great happy with the direction the blog is going.
Don’t forget to factor inflation into your calculations. $80,000/yr for 30 years sounds good, but $80,000 won’t buy anywhere near the same amount in 30 years as it does now. You’d need $149,404.72 today to buy what $80,000 would have bought you just 20 years ago — an 87% increase.
Shane – The $80k/year is just the interest alone, without ever touching the original one million. You could always dip into the million when your 70 years old I guess if you needed to :- )
Chances are, 30 years from now you aren’t going to need a 6 figure income just to enjoy life. Once your home is paid for, the kids are moved out, loans are paid off, why would you need more than $80k/year, even after the inflation adjusted value?
I have a question about that example you used. Where you get 304 members every month, while losing 20% of the total members every month, and you make $20 per member every month.
According to those numbers, in 3 years time, the member count will level out to about 1,519. That means even if you lose 20% of those members, the next month you will get enough to bring it right back to 1,519. That is a monthly income of over $30K.
After 3 years time, the total revenue will be $972,839.50. If you can make the amount you will be selling it for in just 21 more months, then why sell it at all?
After 6 years, you will reach 1,520 members and $30,400 per month and a total of $2,067,200.
I guess I just don’t see the reason why one would want to sell that kind of site other than not having to maintain it and not having to keep getting 304 members each month….?
Nice video, btw.
Arun – If all things remained steady, then yes you could keep the website and earn the $30k/month from it. But this is the internet, and NOTHING remains steady!
The main reason to sell a site, especially when it is peaking in value, is to cash out and have the money SAFELY in the bank. Money now is ALWAYS better than future potential money.
What happens if you get 10 new competitors after 17 months of running the site and you are only able to get 50 new members per month to the site? What happens if Google changes an algorithm and you lose all your free SEO traffic? What happens if there is another Google “slap” and you are no longer able to generate PPC traffic at a profitable price?
If you cash out by selling your business, it doesn’t matter what happens in the future. You have 2-4 years worth of profits in the bank and don’t have to deal with any of that stuff.
Another reason to sell if taxes. If you run a business, that income is taxes as regular earned income. If you sell a website, the profit from selling it are taxed as capital gains (about 15% vs 35% for earned income – if you meet certain criteria that is).
I realize it may not make sense to some people to sell. That’s why I put together my buying and selling training class where I go over all this stuff in extreme detail. It can be a little confusing if you’re not sure how it all works…
That’s a very well thought out and put together video Max.
I agree $80,000 will be enough to live off of even in 30 years with your house and everything paid off. You would probably even want to do the same thing to generate another million or so to double that $80,000.
~Terry
@Max, what software do you recommend to manage a membership website?
Membergate, aweber, any other?
Javier
We use Amember.com…
Very interesting and somewhat inspiring video. I still think it sound simpler than it really is. Convincing people to signup can be harder for people just starting out as they don’t have the results to back up their statements. You can sell a course about buying and selling websites because you’ve had success with it and have experience with it.
Along with this point, not everyone is an expert in a specific topic or niche that a membership type site would work in. I myself wonder how you would create content and value if you aren’t knowledgeable enough in any one subject.
Either way, thanks for getting the gears turning Max.
Hi Erik Karey – if you aren’t an expert now, you could just fake it till you make it.
I’ve been thinking alot about this whole “life” in the system lately, and I’ve reached the same conclusion as you – we learn how to work the first 30 years of our lives, and then work the next 30-40 years, until we can finally be free and take it easy. Trouble is, one is to sick, to tired, to old to enjoy the freedom, and before we know it, we are stuck in some institution for the remaining time of our lives, because we are no longer able to control our bladders or even make sure we get enough nurishment. I don’t know about the rest of you, but I don’t want that. It makes me want to travel back in time, to the stone age, before The System was started…
Thanks for the tip by the way, I am going to seriously consider this.
Erik – I’m afraid I can’t agree with the “excuse”. You don’t have to be an expert to start a membership site. Granted it’s a little more difficult than pushing 3 buttons and sitting around for success, but seriously, isn’t is worth busting your @ss for 15 months to make it happen? You can be an expert is virtually any topic within a month.
Read every bit of information about a topic several hours every day for 3 weeks and you’ll know more about that topic than 99% of the people in that market. It doesn’t have to be a training course teaching people how to make money.
It could be anything from a monthly activity workbook for children, a math tutoring membership, a healthy low fat recipe of the month club, a course teaching business owners how to use Quickbooks, membership that offers savings on traveling, how to make your own wine…ANYTHING.
The more difficult the topic, the more you can charge for access. If you’re not an expert, hire someone who is to create the content for you. There are plenty of people more than willing to share their knowledge for $1,000 per month, and if you are making $20k/month, it’s a no brainer.
True Max, you could hire an expert to do all the hard work, but if he figures you out they may just leave and start their own membership site to make the full membership fee that you’re charging.
~Terry
Thanks for the response Max, definitely appreciated. I agree you don’t have to be an expert, but it would make things easier. Either way, the way things are outlined I plan try and see what I can come up with for potential membership site ideas and go on from there. The video lit a fire under me, now I just need to make sure I take the right steps to be successful. Any tips for deciding on the right topic?
Terry – There’s a big difference between being an expert on some random topic vs knowing how to setup, build, promote and manage a membership site. Most topic experts are not internet marketers, so the chances of them setting up their own membership sites are very slim.
No need to hide the fact you are using their content for a membership site. That’s why you are paying them for the content in the first place. If you are an expert on cars, are you going to start your own car building company to compete with Ford?
Erik – just focus on a topic where people are not afraid to spend money (I prefer business to business whenever possible).
I kind of wish I got myself into that class of yours Max. I have so many questions it’s ridiculous. I might have to end up just taking the leap into a project and seeing how I fare….turn it into a learning experience.
Erik, I feel the same way I wish I had got into the class too. So much questions needing answers. Max do you have any word on when the next class will be available (estimation)?
Erik/Jermaine – The next class is scheduled to begin on June 1st, with registrations opening up next week (May 27, 28 & 29).
If you want to get a reminder, just sign up for the notification list on this page and you’ll also get a discount coupon you can use for the class…
Sounds good, I look forward to it
Especially with all the bloggers these days, I can see a lot of early retirees at around the age of 30. It’s amazing just watching all this money being made through the Internet.
-Mike
Yeah Mike, there are a lot of bloggers out there, but I would say most of them won’t be retiring around age 30. A small group may, but the majority won’t even come close to being able to retire.
~Terry
Thanks a lot, I have a great member ship site idea this make me want to get on it. I am already a freelance web designer (doing very well currently after my first 3 months) and this would be a great way to make a flow of income, even at the lower amount of members at $20 a month that is great extra income there is no reason for me know to bust my butt. Thanks for the inspiration!!!!! ideas are nothing without action so i am going to close my browser and get going Thanks again
I’ve thought about trying to start a membership site before and can see the money making potential there. The main stumbling block I think is, as you said Max, to find a popular niche where people are willing to spend money. I’ve not yet come up with an idea that I think people would be willing to pay for, or that I am knowledgeable enough in (that isn’t already saturated). Surprisingly, i’ve never really thought “why don’t I just MAKE myself an expert in a profitable field”, so maybe I should get back onto this idea and see where it goes…
Max, can you give some tips on how could we do the research to get ideas on which niches we could set up a membership site?
Thanks
The link to your video doesn’t work. Was it taken down? I’d love to see it!