- Ronnie Shalev, a former emergency room physician, now invests in mortgages.
- Comparisons allow a group of investors to come together and fund large projects.
- Using this wealth building strategy, I was able to land a low paying job and have more free time.
As I took off my respirator mask, white coat, and weathered stethoscope and walked out of the hospital, I felt as if a weight had been lifted off my chest. I became a financially retired doctor.
Since I was a little girl, I have dreamed of becoming a doctor. I wanted to help patients in their darkest moments and be a pillar of strength and knowledge for them. My vision for me was to have a job that is highly valued and provides great financial stability.
After years of hard study in college, medical school and residency, this dream has finally come true.
At first I had the pleasure of helping people with any injuries, and I was really good at it
It was a tough job, both physically and emotionally, but I handled it well.
But over time, seeing such horrific things became very stressful and affected your emotional health.
When you’re an emergency room doctor, you’re part of the worst day of all. I would hear the most horrific stories and witness fear, pain and suffering on a daily basis. Every shift drained me. Moreover, I was constantly worrying and asking myself, Did you make the right decision? Is there anything else I can do?
My career wasn’t flexible enough to take long breaks or vacations, so I had to try to clear my mind and recover between shifts.
Nearly a decade into my medical career, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to keep this stressful job, both physically and mentally, forever.
I realized that my life had taken a strange turn: I was a high-income doctor working at my dream job, only to have had no energy, freedom, or time to enjoy the life I had built with all the money I had earned. I was earning $350,000 a year, and any other non-medical job would be a huge cut in my salary. What would I do?
That was when I noticed that my husband, a businessman who owns two CrossFit gyms, has the freedom and flexibility to get away from his business while they run themselves. I began to wonder, How do I get this kind of life to be so resilient? How can I learn to invest my money so that I have wealth while I sleep?
Mailbox money—otherwise known as passive income—will allow me to cut back on my shifts in the emergency room and enjoy a more balanced life without sacrificing a significant loss of income.
In 2015 I started to explore the real estate investment world
I’ve heard about real estate sharing – where investors pool their money to buy or build real estate – from friend to friend. It is difficult for ordinary people to buy large commercial properties on their own, but syndication loans allow a group of financial investors to invest together and finance large real estate projects.
There are two types of investors in these deals: passive investors (limited partners) and active investors (general partners). Limited partners provide capital, have limited liability, do not sign loans, and collect checks. The general partners find the deal, acquire it, perform financial analyzes, draw up a business plan, obtain the loan, sign the loan, find investors, implement the business plan, establish investor relations and eventually sell the property.
All partners share in the profits. A limited partner can have a portfolio with very little work, but a general partner portfolio is a full-time job. This is the beauty of these unions: you can decide if you want to be passive or if you want to be active.
One of my husband’s friends owned a small plot of multiple 7-Elevens, and was receiving checks in the mail that the primary tenant, 7-Eleven, was paying. We heard this and asked him to join the next deal.
The first syndicated loan we invested, which we put in $25,000, was a three-grid lease for one tenant: Auto Zone
A three-grid lease is a lease – usually on a national chain – in which the tenant pays everything: utilities, taxes, etc. As passive investors, we receive cash dividends every three months.
I finally found a way to generate recurring income without having to do anything but let my money do the work for me.
Over the next five years, I saved as much as I could and reinvested my savings in more group loans rather than putting money into a savings account. We also refinanced our house and took money out of it so we could invest more. Each syndicate, on average, is an investment between $50,000 and $100,000.
I even went to train and study how to become a niqab. I have also done a paid mentorship with one of the leading experts in the field. After passively investing in multiple deals, constantly reinvesting my returns, and taking advantage of the tax benefits – consumption from each drug along with studying cost separation and reward amortization – I was able to earn enough passive income to leave clinical medicine with confidence.
Financial freedom is where your passive income exceeds your expenses. I haven’t gotten there yet, but I’m well on my way.
My frequent passive income opened the door for me to consider other non-medical jobs with lower salaries, I quit my stressful emergency room job and moved into a less demanding role with traditional working hours at a medical device company that paid $230,000 in December 2020.
This wealth-building strategy is not a “get-rich-quick” plan.
It’s the long game that capitalizes on the pillars of real estate investing: cash flow, appreciation, amortization, reinvest your money, and most importantly, take action. This simple strategy, implemented consistently over time, can create enough passive income to give you freedom and flexibility in designing your life. I was able to decide how much work I wanted, what company I wanted to work for, and whether I wanted to work at all.
In 2021 I became an active investor. I am now a general partner in 1,072 condominiums.
My plan is to help as many exhausted doctors and professionals as possible. I like to take important medical trips, travel, and live life on my terms. Ultimately, I want to make a fortune for generations so that my children and their families can be taken care of.
