Ug and Ook were friends. It was 8000 BC and life was difficult. They were hunters and every time they got hungry, they had to kill something.
Ug was a very good hunter and provided for his family. His children followed his example. Now hunting was a difficult life. You have to move to follow the game and you hope that you don’t actually become the meal yourself. Ug aged quickly and soon had to be left behind on the hunts. His family hated to leave him, but hunting was all they knew. Ug was now barely surviving and soon realized that his children’s future would probably be no better than his…
Now Ook was also a hunter, but one day he made a life changing discovery. He planted a seed that fell off a plant and that plant grew into food, plus provided more seeds. It took several years, but Ook’s plants matured to the point that they provided food for him and his entire family. Ook was now a full time farmer. He no longer had to hunt as his children had learned from his experience and now worked the farm. Ook and his wife built a little stone hut by the brook and lived a long and comfortable life. Neither Ook, his children or their children ever had to hunt again. They were able to trade their crops for everything they needed. Ook’s small investment had changed his family’s future forever!
Fast forward 10,000 years or so. Ug’s name has evolved into “Doug” and Ook’s into “Luke”
Doug works a job that pays him enough to survive, but not enough to save (or so he thinks). He only has social security to depend on. His children followed his example and can’t afford to help him very much. Doug and his wife eventually retire in a little HUD sponsored apartment. Life is “okay”. Doug often looks back and wishes he had saved even a little bit and invested it. He is saddened by the fact that his children will probably wind up just like him and worried that social security might be broke by the time they need it.
Now Luke began working a job, but knew that he needed to control his own future, so he began to save 10% of his income. He drove used cars and cooked at home – whatever it took to get ahead. Soon Luke’s nest egg had grown to a point that he could invest it. Luke got some good advice and invested in a house that he rented out. After a few years, Luke’s tenant had paid the property off for him. Fast forward 15 years and Luke now owns enough houses that he no longer has to work. His rental income had paid for his children’s college education and his example has inspired them. Luke will never sell his houses, but will leave them to his children. Luke hired a professional property manager so he and his wife could travel a lot, visit with the kids and spend their time doing charity work. Luke even finds time to spend with his old friend Doug and hopes to teach him how to invest in real estate property. Luke’s small investment and discipline has changed his family’s future forever!
Ug or Ook, Doug or Luke, Hunter or Farmer – The choice is yours. Choose wisely!