I’m conscious that 2020 has been a difficult year for many. Some have lost family members, lost jobs, been unable to attend important life events, or struggled with reduced social interaction.

My family, like most of yours, has experienced a number of challenges. 

We lost my niece, Zélie, early in the year minutes after she took her first breath. Trips to Belgium and France had to be canceled and that was just what we had planned before June! Family members had to cancel visits to England. And the lack of physical social interaction has been a significant challenge for us. If you know us, you know that we love to host, entertain, and invite others to our table. So much so that my wife shares that joy with others at The Daily Hostess. 

However, despite the challenges that 2020 delivered, I thought it was important to pause and take the opportunity to be grateful. We have a lot of experiences and accomplishments that we were able to achieve and should celebrate in this crazy year. It’s been a year to remember! 

Lennon Wall ~ Prague ~ Czech Republic

Travel

While we watched many of our European travel plans for the year get scratched from the calendar, we did squeeze in a couple of trips this year. Although quite cold, we enjoyed a few days in Prague just after the new year. We didn’t travel again as a family until late summer when we spent a few days enjoying the beaches on England’s south coast and a beach day in Wales as well. 

One of the highlights might have been the week we spent in Scotland. We stayed in Inverness and explored the Highlands. After months in the house, it was a welcome trip for many reasons. Our friends researched and planned the itinerary, so we had it easy and just made reservations everywhere! The kids enjoyed traveling with another family and being able to enjoy the experience with their friends. 

Due to the international travel restrictions, we did take the opportunity to seek out many of the local sites as we were allowed to include Stonehenge, numerous castles, and hikes through the Cotswolds.

Private Lending

Twelve months ago, I had never done any private lending before. During a late January work trip to Denver, I met Stuart Grazier for coffee. My wife had introduced me to him while we lived in Colorado as they worked in the same building. He is the co-founder of a mastermind I am in, co-founder of Storehouse 3:10 Ventures, and has become a good friend. As you’ll see in this and future articles, Stuart and his partner David Gutierrez are great people who lead a team with which I trust and enjoy partnering with.

During our conversation, we discussed different options for cash from the sale of our Colorado home the previous year. I had the cash sitting in a high yield savings account and was looking for better ways to employ it. By the end of February, I had executed my first transaction as a private lender. As the year comes to an end, I have provided private lending on seven different projects to include Storehouse 3:10 Ventures and other partners.

I have found longer-term investments for most of that cash now and have transitioned to doing most private lending to my Self-Directed Individual Retirement Account (SDIRA). I’ll share more on this later, but if you’re not familiar with an SDIRA, you can get a good overview of it in this article and video by David Pere at From Military To Millionaire.

Two Multifamily Property Syndication ~ Mobile, Alabama

Limited Partner in Mobile Home Park, Apartment, and other Commercial Syndications

Speaking of longer-term investments for that cash, here are a few of them. Prior to 2020, a majority of my real estate investments were single-family houses. I say a majority because my investments do include a small farm and a couple of small multi-use properties as well.

However, this year I took another big step in my investment journey and invested as a limited partner in a real estate syndication. I did this not once, not twice, but three times this year! Those syndications include a mobile home park in Colorado, two multifamily complexes in Alabama, and another unique commercial property in Colorado. Being a limited partner in a syndication has many benefits, but does require due diligence on the general partner team prior to making the investment.

I’ll share more on syndications and my experience in these ones in a future article. Until then you can find out a little more about a syndication and get a glimpse into the team for the mobile home park syndication in this article by my friend, Doug Spence, at Honor and Equity.

Invested in Mastermind Groups

Some of you may be aware that in October 2019, I joined the War Room Mastermind founded by Stuart Grazier and David Pere. It is a real estate mastermind for active-duty military and veterans.

It was a pivotal decision and one that propelled my actions in 2020. Surrounding myself with individuals who teach, support, and challenge each other has been critical in many aspects of my life this year and on many occasions was a beacon of hope. If it tells you anything about the relationships that have developed, with only one exception, every investment that I made with a new partner this year was with someone I met in the mastermind. 

I found so much value from the first twelve months in the War Room that in October 2020, I decided to add a second mastermind. I joined 7 Figure Flipping owned by another veteran, Bill Allen. 7FF focuses on helping others build thriving, consistent, profitable businesses flipping and wholesaling houses.

It is a big investment and even I admit that it was an interesting decision since at the time I joined neither flipping nor wholesaling were my main focus. However, as my transition out of the military draws closer, I wanted to learn to create systems required to optimize a business and knew this mastermind had a quality leader and team that would provide the resources to do that and more.

Launched an E-commerce Store

I launched an e-commerce store with a partner this fall. This was one of my first ventures outside of the numerous real estate strategies to create a new income stream. We are still growing the store, but sales are increasing and we are headed in the direction to be net positive in the near future! If you ever decide to do anything in e-commerce, ensure that you are talking to others that have done something similar as you are trying to do. There can be a lot more to it than is visible on the surface.

Launched A Long Legacy

For years I have told my wife that I wanted to share my financial education and real estate experiences to help others. Before this year, that happened only through periodic one-off conversations. This year, with support from my wife and encouragement from my tribe, I launched A Long Legacy. My vision is to provide resources and opportunities for others to achieve financial freedom to design the life they desire, have an impact, and leave a legacy. If you haven’t been there, I’d encourage you to drop by and let me know how I can better serve you!

Renewed Focus on Showing Up for Myself, My Wife, and My Children

In addition to the travel previously mentioned, this year afforded me the opportunity to focus on being more available and involved with my family than I can ever remember. I have made my family breakfast in the morning. I have dropped my kids off and picked them up from school. I took the kids on a walk, played in the garden, or quietly read them a book so that my wife had space and time she needed to launch her podcast Conversations With The Hostess. This may not seem like an accomplishment to everyone. It’s expected, right? Well, I’m going to celebrate the transition. Because while I’ve always claimed that my family was a priority, my calendar didn’t always reflect that! 

I worked on building better habits like drinking more water, exercising more frequently, reading the Bible and meditating for a few minutes each morning, and writing my goals down daily. I missed some days, but overall I believe creating these habits has helped me improve as a person, a husband, and a father. 

And finally, we welcomed a new niece, Lena, into the world two days before Christmas. The same parents who grieved as they buried their daughter early this year and trusted in the Lord were blessed with a new life. 

This year has challenged all of us in different ways and to different degrees. Regardless of exactly how your 2020 looked for you, I encourage you to take some time to reflect on it. No matter how large or small, what do you have to be grateful for? No matter how large or small, what did you accomplish that you are proud of or want to celebrate? 

There are changes I welcome as we flip the calendar to 2021, but in many ways, 2020 is A YEAR TO REMEMBER!