Meet a Couple Who Bought 19 Properties in 4 Years, Retired at 40 and Built a Net Worth of $1.5 Million

Main Content

Home » Meet a Couple Who Bought 19 Properties in 4 Years, Retired at 40 and Built a Net Worth of $1.5 Million

Blog

Meet a Couple Who Bought 19 Properties in 4 Years, Retired at 40 and Built a Net Worth of $1.5 Million

Debbie Emick remembers the moment that changed her outlook on money forever.
In 2014, shortly after she and her husband, Chris, had welcomed their second daughter into the world, Debbie received bad news: Symptoms of a chronic illness discovered in 2012 were worsening. Nevertheless, she was determined to hold on her career as an elementary school teacher and continue to earn income to help support her young family.
That is until one day when a colleague asked if Debbie would be attending a professional development opportunity over the weekend. Debbie hesitated.
If it was a money thing, Debbie’s colleague assured her, don’t worry — there would be a stipend.
“I remember this little thing clicking,” Debbie says. “And I think I said out loud to her that I don’t need more money. I need more time.”

The couple, who live in Rocky Ford, Colorado, pared down their spending, upped their savings and began investing aggressively in real estate. By 2019, they were earning enough from their properties that Chris was able to leave his job as a network engineer, too. In the four years from 2016 to 2019, the pair acquired 19 rental units. When they retired in 2019, each at age 40, annual rental income from their properties totaled $45,000. These days, between a mix of investments, savings and real estate holdings, Debbie and Chris, now 43, boast a net worth of about $1.5 million.

Despite quitting their day jobs, the Emicks are still plenty busy. Together, they manage their investment properties, which today provide an income — net of taxes, insurance and other expenses — of $4,000 to $6,000 per month.
Debbie spends one month per year selling a specialized type of drought insurance for ranchers, which brings in roughly $23,000 in commissions annually.
For the Emicks, retiring isn’t so much about not working as much as it is about flipping the traditional work-life balance on its head.