"Exit right to exit once, build passive income before you need it, so retirement is a choice, not a risk."

Rise Capital Investments

Here's the easy step to ruining your retirement, whether you retire at 45 or 65. It's a great example of winning by doing this one thing completely the opposite of most people.

📌 Quit your job before you've replaced your income.

That’s how most people do it: they retire to a business or freelance before they've replaced their income, which creates a "ticking time clock" of success or they'll have to go back to work.

Plus, retiring to a business isn't retiring...having the option to never work again is retiring.

Entrepreneurship Isn't the First Step to Retirement

Hoping if you quit your job that your business will eventually replace your income could create competing priorities. If you have at least your basic expenses covered from other income sources, then the business and the clients become the top priority, not you getting paid.

Going "Back to Work" Isn't As Easy As It Used To Be

The cliché goes, "What's the worst that can happen? If it doesn't work out, I'll just get another job."

Except it’s not that simple. To be honest, we said the same thing before leaving corporate, and it wasn't true. Here's why:

Employment gaps raise red flags. If my husband wanted to re-enter his field in IT it would require renewing certifications and additional training because his previous job didn't require some important mainstream IT skills. In a word, even at that job he got rusty, overly niched. If you’ve been out too long, you may be viewed as outdated, requiring a salary cut or entry-level position just to get back in.

That then creates the "you’re overqualified" excuse. If you try to return at the same level you left, employers may assume you’ll quit the moment something better comes along. If you apply for a lower-level job, they’ll wonder why you’re even there. Over the past two years, I've tried to pick up a few interesting jobs as temporary projects here and there because I wanted to have the group in my network, because it was in a skill I wanted to improve at, I wanted some easy cash to throw at an investment, or several other reasons, and each time even for a temp position with no permanent placement option have been told I'm overqualified.

Age discrimination is another reality. Whether hiring managers admit it or not, looking older can make it harder to land interviews, especially in fast-moving industries where being in your prime is equated with adaptability.

And let’s not forget "lifestyle inflation." Once you’ve had the freedom to manage your own time whether retired or as an entrepreneur, the idea of commuting, taking orders, and sitting through meetings about meetings feels unbearable. A paycheck is nice, but will it worth giving up what you built and have gotten used to?

A Failed Experiment

After we left corporate and returned from our 3-month backpacking hike across Arizona, my young adult kids were trying to get jobs. We as the amazing parents we are were frustrated with their lack of employment progress and decided to show them how easy it was to get a job by trying ourselves (I know, bad parenting 101.) Wow, we discovered we were outdated relics and so wrong about the modern job market!

At first we both just applied to things we were extremely qualified for, but eventually after hearing nothing but crickets branched out just to get more applications in. We were dismayed to apply for hundreds of jobs with zero response, interview requests that then ghosted us, interviews to hear we were overqualified, had outdated certifications, or maybe had too much gray hair? It was a horror show.

It was a useful exercise to develop some more empathy with our job-seeking Gen-Z kids, to see firsthand the struggles of the current hiring processes. It also taught us that we are indeed not able to tell ourselves the lie of "I'll just go get another job." Thankfully, it was just an exercise where we didn't need a job after a failed retirement attempt, or we'd be in real trouble!

We had also thought after retiring we could occasionally do interesting temp or seasonal work for extra cash to grow our portfolio, learn new skills, give back, keep our skills sharp, stay engaged and busy, but we had a wake up call that maybe we've become gasp unemployable.

Take it from us: exit right to exit once.

Building Passive Income: A Phased Exit to Financial Freedom

That job search experiment made us even more grateful that we adopted a hybrid approach to leaving our stable income. Here's how we did it, and why we set it up this way:

Instead of taking a leap, we built a structured exit. Obviously, when I first started my real estate business after moving to Utah closing down my photography business in Texas, my husband kept his W-2. This allowed me to test different strategies and focus on growth by reinvesting all profits back into the business to acquire more properties, all while his paycheck kept the lights on. After several years of building our net worth through equity, I was then able to focus more on cash flow than growth and diverted profits into lower risk, more stable cash flow investments. We planned ahead for his exit and only made the final move when we knew we could afford it...just barely.

That freedom from the day-to-day allowed us to rethink what we wanted from both our personal and professional lives. We had a desire to help other families achieve financial freedom and work on their own terms. That led us to start a new business for growth focused solely on raising capital without worrying about paying our bills, taking care of our family finances first created space for us to help other families do the same.

Now, our passive investments are like the steady paycheck enough to "keep the lights on," and our business is a vehicle to eventual financial growth and fulfillment helping others. There's no time clock ticking on the success of the business so we can have very long-term thinking and build it with a strong foundation of good intentions at the right speed.

That partnership for a staged exit had one of us with a steady paycheck and the other with a more risky but higher potential income earner. This works well for couples, but the same concept applies to singles: keep a steady job and run the business as a side hustle if you need more money to grow. Or if you have more assets, keep a steady job and funnel excess income into passive investments.

Eventually in full retirement, managing an investment portfolio is your full-time job. We all need passive income to ever cut back on or cut out working for money. The question is whether you structure the transition in a way that works, or rush in and regret it.

Phase 1: Build the Foundation While You’re Still Earning

At first, income comes from work—whether that’s a job, freelancing, or a business. This is when you set up investments that will eventually replace your paycheck.

✅ Earned Income: One or both partners work full-time and/or a side hustle to create more investable dollars.

✅ Investing Focus: Start with what you already know, publicly traded equities in tax-advantaged accounts in public markets (401(k), IRA, HSA), then add dividend equities and branch into private market investing such as real estate equity and private loans.

✅ Growth Strategy: Reinvest all returns to compound growth rather than withdrawing income. The power here is the compounding returns, not taking on too much risk with too much private equity. It's important to keep the overall portfolio balanced for lower risk by adding some stable cash flow plays even at this early point. A loss on a growth investment can damage a portfolio enough that it won't even outperform the boring stuff you scoffed at not paying enough.

📌 My very first real estate investment other than a personal home was a private loan funded by relocating and selling our family home while renting in our new state. I earned 10% for a $330,000 loan with no origination points, and later learned I could do much better than that! The cash was held for 12-14 months (we took some out at intervals to make a down payment on our new home and buy our first rental properties, a house in Louisville KY and a duplex in Provo UT.) I held back a little money for my education and spent that year learning by attending networking events, being mentored by my borrower and my own hard money lender to renovate the duplex, taking a few classes, and putting my first apartment complex in Pocatello ID under contract.

Phase 2: Scale Passive Income & Shift Work Priorities

Once investments start generating real cash flow, the transition begins. Some people drop to part-time work, others leave their job to manage investments full-time, while some partners trade roles—one keeps a W-2 while the other steps back.

While we focused on growth at first and cash-flow now, we never had all of our investing in one or the other. Every portfolio can benefit from a mixed approach as part of risk management, the question is the balance between the two strategies.

✅ Earned Income: One partner might leave full-time work or reduce hours to manage the portfolio or start a business while the other keeps a steady income. Sole providers need to consider taking on both roles.

✅ Investing Focus: Shift from high growth toward higher-cash-flowing assets—real estate, dividends, syndications with distributions, and private loans that generate predictable returns.

✅ Cash Flow Strategy: Start covering some bills with investment income—this is a test run for full retirement.

This is the point most high-income investors quit, with just enough to last in retirement at 65. But keep pushing, there's more around the corner!

📌 My portion of the down payment on the Idaho apartment complex was $33,000, exactly what my private loan earned me during that year. We raised the rest of the capital from partners and investors and purchased 50 units for $2.3M that is now 51 units worth $5M. We don't see much if any cash flow from that project, our investors get paid first, so it was part of my growth strategy. As we built our net worth through these commercial transactions, we hit our "FIRE" number to retire and shifted focus to cash flow investing.

This is the point where you get a taste of financial freedom. But before cutting off W-2 income completely, it’s important to test the waters and see if you have enough cash to pay bills and enjoy life!

Phase 3: Test Full Retirement Before You Quit

Before pulling the plug on your job, live off investment income for at least a year. If your cash flow covers 80-100% of expenses without dipping into savings or selling properties thereby killing the golden goose, you’re ready.

✅ Earned Income: One or both partners may still have income, but it's optional for personal satisfaction or income for growing the portfolio.

✅ Investing Focus: Move to lower-risk, stable income strategies like private lending at 10-12% returns, a few rental properties that don't become a new part-time job, and enough private equity such as co-owning commercial buildings for depreciation to offset income taxes where applicable.

✅ Cash Flow Strategy: Withdraw passive income for living expenses while keeping reserves. Reinvest 80-90% of proceeds to keep the compounding going while still having enough to live on.

At this point, you’re work-optional. You don’t have to take risks. You can choose stable, predictable investments that require little active management.

📌 When my husband was laid off from his IT job for the last time in 2022, exactly 5 years to the day he was laid off in 2017, we had already decided it was time to leave. A few months before the layoff, the situation had become extremely unfulfilling and stressful, so he spent some time with recruiters interviewing for several new positions. Nothing panned out, so he planned a quitting date after a weekend retreat planning a new business launching a private lending fund with new business partners Christopher Borden, 🎼Harmonie Borden🌺, and ZASHA SMITH, P.E. to raise capital for the same private loans we were transitioning to fund our own planned early retirement. When his job ended just a few days after the retreat, we were all smiles he hadn't found another job. We knew if he had, we would have been too chicken to actually quit!

We spent a few months getting ready to backpack across Arizona as a family for three months and soul search. While we were away, our new partners got the legal structure up and running for our fund launch after we finished the most epic adventure of our lives where our daughter set a record for the youngest ever finisher of the 800-mile Arizona Trail!

All the while we had a year's worth of income saved in a life insurance policy, he had a great severance package, we had rental properties paying our bills, and an expanded capital raising business planned for future income. He was also applying for new jobs on his phone from the tops of mountains both to satisfy unemployment requirements and staying fresh on what other opportunities might come our way. Nothing did; I don't think he had even one interview request on trail, and very few during our job hunt experiment following the trail. After we finished hiking, we had a taste of freedom and were eager to get started helping other families plan their own adventures.

Phase 4: Full Retirement (Managing Investments as the “Job”)

Once both partners are financially free, your investments become your new job—not in the “working” sense, but in the sense that your financial future depends on how well you manage your portfolio.

✅ Earned Income: None, or entirely optional.

✅ Investing Focus: Low-risk, cash-flowing assets—private loans, rental income, syndications.

✅ Cash Flow Strategy: Withdraw only what’s needed, reinvesting excess.

This is where all the effort pays off. You’re no longer reliant on a paycheck, and your investments sustain your lifestyle.

📌 This is where you get to plan family adventures! For our family that means volunteering together weekly in several non-profit organizations, mentoring, hiking, camping, slow traveling, vacations, learning together, and taking on interesting projects such as producing our podcast, helping our kids build their businesses or job skills, even taking on occasional temporary work like helping other small business owners or teaching piano lessons to neighbor kids! We can now balance our time and income by pushing every extra dollar into investments, or enjoying every minute not spent at a job.

Why Private Lending is a Key Part of the Plan

Real estate provides tax advantages, but managing properties isn’t for everyone. We keep enough properties just to get the depreciation for income tax breaks, enjoy a little appreciation, and the rest of our income centers around cash flow investments. Private lending fills the gap by offering:

✅ 10-12% fixed returns—predictable monthly income, 10% for those who put in under $200k and 12% for those at $200k up to $2.8M. As a managing team, we collectively have over $1M invested in our own fund and enjoy 12% alongside our investors.

✅ Passive investing—zero tenant headaches. Rise Capital Investments originates and services all loans on your behalf so you can focus on your unique active income from a job or business, or retire once you have enough cash flow.

✅ Lower volatility—secured against real estate with fixed industry-standard interest rates.

For us, private lending became the steady, predictable income stream that allowed us to transition fully into retirement without worrying about market fluctuations. We personally as a family have a goal to have $2M invested in cash flowing private loans for the bulk of our annual income, with other streams of growth and income from a diversified portfolio focusing on appreciation and tax mitigation.

What’s Your Retirement Timeline?

Every investor’s journey looks different. Some partners retire years apart. Some keep side income coming in indefinitely from a business or contract work. Some go all-in at once.

💡 No matter how you structure it, the key is building passive income and living on it BEFORE you need it.

If you’re an accredited investor looking to start replacing your paycheck with passive, reliable cash flow, we can help.

🔹 Earn 10-12% passive returns backed by real estate. Join our accredited investor portal today.