$25,000 Farm Fund Complete – Liquidity For the Win

Earlier this year I wrote about buying a Saskatchewan property at an auction 🙂 But I had to raise $25,000 by the completion date, or I lose my deposit forever! 🙁 The seller has since pushed back the original completion date to October (lucky me) but regardless of the extension I’ve successfully secured the rest of my downpayment now 🙂

But what knocked my toque off is that I’ve managed to exceed what I actually need and somehow doubled the size of my property fund to $50,000 😯 And it’s all thanks to liquidity.

“Always aim for the Moon, even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars.”

― W. Clement Stone

I have definitely landed among the stars 😀 A few months ago I had no cash savings, and no rainy day fund. Today, I can literally buy a brand new BMW 3 series or an Audi A5 in cash!!! 13_08_audiconvertible


But my priority for now is the farm. I can always use the income generated from the farm to buy myself a sweet ride some other day 😀 At first I wasn’t sure if I could come up with the rest of the down payment in time. But like I’ve stated on this blog many times in the past, wealth is more about what we do with our money than how much income we make or save. So I took my own advice and pulled through in the end 😀 Here’s a breakdown of the $50K.

  • $10,000 – Sold Stocks. In the beginning I was concerned I might not find the $25,000 in time so I sold some stocks in May.
  • $3,000 – Swing Trade. Turned $2K into just over $3K in a few short months. Sold earlier this week to get the money back.
  • $5,000 – Credit Card. I took advantage of a low interest rate credit card balance transfer program.
  • $21,000 – HELOC. Applied for, & was granted approval for a home equity line of credit to borrow money against my condo.
  • $6,000 – Savings. Cash I saved since April from my income after expenses.
  • $5,000 – Margin. The recent rally in the stock market means I can borrow more money without risking a margin call.13_08_marginacct

With Central Banks around the world printing money, I want to re-balance my asset allocation to contain less equities/fixed income, and more hard assets. By using my current investments as collateral to further invest and diversify my asset column, I can still benefit from any future gains to my existing portfolio while also taking advantage of new opportunities. Hurray! (^_^)

$50,000 – Total Available Capital ready to deploy!!!

As we can see, it’s due to the financial decisions I’ve made with my savings in the past that permits me to be as “Liquid” as I am today 😆 (Yes, pun totally intended.) The cash savings only make up a small portion of this fund, so we don’t need to a lot of cash in order to raise a large sum of capital relatively quickly.

Oh, big whoop” some readers might retort sarcastically.”You just restructured your balance sheet. But it’s not like you’re $50,000 richer.

Yes, that’s correct 🙂 But here’s a secret to making money: We don’t actually need to have money in order to profit from an investment. We just need liquidity 🙂 In my case for example, with access to this capital I now have the means to own the farm worth $172,500. The rental income will more-or-less cover the mortgage cost, so if the farm itself appreciates in value by just a modest 2% annually, then that’s several thousand dollars added to my net worth every year going forward. Which is money I would not otherwise make 😀 By thinking outside the box like this we can make easy money by creating the illusion that we have cash to invest, without actually having any cash to begin with, lol. Mind = blown right? (゜o゜) I believe people on Wall. St call it “financial engineering” 😀

In summary:

  • Don’t equate what you can save to what you can spend. If I had tried to buy all my investments through cash and savings alone I would probably be in my thirties before accumulating the same net worth as I have today. The reason is quite simple: If time is money, then wasted time is wasted money. If we think we HAVE to save $50,000 first to afford a down payment on a home (like many people think,) then by the time we save that much money the down payment would need to be more than $50,000 because the price of the home would have probably gone up. So get into investments and own assets as early as possible! Even if the real value of the property stays the same, it would still cost more in the future because of inflation.
  • Cash isn’t King, liquidity is more important than cash flow.
  • Being fully invested can maximize our returns. And if we have enough assets to shuffle around, then we don’t need an emergency fund.
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JR
JR
08/22/2013 4:32 pm

Holy carp!

Why not a more diversified approach? I know everyones talking that hard assets are what to be into because of the future inflation that is about to come…. but what if it doesn’t come?

Cassie
Cassie
08/22/2013 4:47 pm

I’ll echo JR’s comment: Holy crap!

Congratulations on completing your farm fund. I remember when you first posted on the subject and I was nervous on your behalf. Your cash finding abilities far exceeded my expectations!

Marissa @ Thirty Six Months
08/23/2013 1:28 am

Congratulations! You did a great job!

Marissa @ FinanceTriggers
Marissa @ FinanceTriggers
08/23/2013 1:36 am

I’m glad to know you went the extra mile. Well done!

Free Money Minute (@FreeMoneyMinute)
Free Money Minute (@FreeMoneyMinute)
08/23/2013 2:59 am

Doesn’t cash = liquidity? That would still make cash king? I guess you can separate out cash on hand vs cash flow (money coming in on a regular basis). But cash on hand is definitely still king, correct? Congratulations by the way on your accomplishment!

Pauline
08/23/2013 4:24 am

Farm instead of BMW, you sound like a teenager telling people he is eating greens instead of burgers lol.

Rita P
Rita P
08/23/2013 4:27 am

Congrats and well said that wealth is more about what we do with our money. You really have a good vision on liquidity and definitely you have now landed on stars

RetireInNiagara
08/23/2013 9:40 am

Congrats on raising the cash Liquid !!!

P.S. You can drive my Silver Audi convertible anytime your in the area 🙂 lol

theoutliermodel
theoutliermodel
08/24/2013 8:09 am

You certainly don’t have any issues taking on debt! I like watching you work with your assets, margins and now HELOC, but I probably wouldn’t be as comfortable taking on the debt level you’re comfortable with. But, you do have a lot of farmer’s rent income coming in at least!

ND Chic
ND Chic
08/25/2013 2:58 pm

I like how you’re not afraid to take on debt to make more money. So many PF bloggers get so caught up in debt reduction that they fail to see the big picture. Props to you for making it happen.

Phil
08/26/2013 5:07 am

I had no doubt from the outset that you would not have reached your goal. It amazes me that so many others are by what you accomplish. If you have a sound plan (which you always seem to) and execute it (most don’t as fear creeps in, but you always do), you can almost (some things are not in your control, so on occasion things might not work out, even if everything is planned and thought out) always reach your goal. Bonus is that you have learned this at a young age. The key for you is to not let greed creep in. Greed MUST be kept in check and should be your final question before executing a plan – Am I being too greedy? Your swing trade history I think, has taught you that even with what you might have thought was a sound investment, might not be, so you do not bet the FARM on what you think might be a sure thing ( and yes, pun intended!) – Cheers.