Atfcu: Fill & Download for Free

I paid off by borrowing more money and through investments, with a minimal time investment. That allowed me to live off investments with no high interest debt and grow out of debt into a significant positive net worth. I also got paid for things I needed to do anyways. Paying off medical school is very easy if you simply believe you can do it, creatively position yourself, and take the actions necessary.If I didn’t borrow and just did it “the hard way”, not the smart way, I would still be chipping off massive debt.Here’s my story.I first heard about Bitcoin way back from a great friend several years ago. We met at a party in Austin and he was from Silicon Valley, just exited his first website building startup LeafMedium at 4 million dollars after a seed investment but decided that Austin was the place after having enough of the high cost of living and seeing his tax bill. I had done a lot of software contracting work before, so we had a lot of stuff to talk about and tons of common interests. Our dates also had a lot of common interests, so we started going on double dates.I was actually very skeptical at first, since cryptocurrency had a lot of bad news at the time, including the infamous drug marketplace. But I’m a very open-minded person, I don’t judge until I actually do the research first.He explained how cryptocurrency worked, I read it up, looked at the code, and realized this was really the real deal. It’s not just criminal usage, but legit uses. Consider criminals used cars to outrun police on horses when they were first invented, that doesn’t make cars bad! Bitcoin is transparent and has open source code, so you can see for yourself.We got a few miners set up at my dormitory that included free electricity. The math for mining added up at the time and I was able to hedge against the volatility pricing which pretty much guaranteed returns barring a massive disaster like a fire or Act of God. I also used price arbitrage investment strategies with near zero fees. We also ended up starting an exchange Cryptoexchange Inc, that charged commission per trade until the SEC sent us a cease and desist order due to newly changed laws. (Note: much more competitive now since it’s a lot more mainstream)Out of another stroke of luck, I also took up enough money to buy a home I bought based on a owner finance rate of 4% at a fair price. Seller was a developer that wanted to unload his single family inventory to focus on his main multifamily portfolio and oil prices were near the bottom at the time. It was a buyer market. It was in a neighborhood with no HOA and no municipal taxes. I did a lot of research since there was flood and hurricane risks, turns out the developer was very smart about natural disaster risks and was selling me a really good property for the price. His story checked out.Rented it out and convinced A-grade tenants to manage it for me using an automated system to track approved contractors and get rent in autopay (no paper checks!). I was happy I did my homework on natural disasters, because Hurricane Harvey had no effect on my purchase. Home price appreciation is still growing quickly in this part of America (it’s actually better to sit in a home than go get a minimum wage job), mainly indirectly due to oil prices which directly affects employers in this area. It also tends to be countercyclical to the economy. I locked in price appreciation with a lease-option/wrap financing deal.I also took up used cars at a government auction/private party and took out loans at 1.7% with the credit union ATFCU. Rented the cars out on Turo and it broke even in 3–6 months or so per car. (Not all of them are exactly 3 months - but it was possible with the ones that cost about $2k, 2004–2006) All I had to do is take pictures for insurance and hand keys, nothing else besides booking mobile mechanics and buying used parts on eBay from the junkyards occasionally. I also did direct lending since Dodd-Frank has made a lot of people unable to access credit. Now all the big banks are trying to get in direct lending, including Goldman Sachs’s Marcus division.However, I wouldn’t say you should necessarily follow my strategy. It’s not easy to replicate and I caution that investments have risk. Risk management is not easy. Rates are also going up as the Fed hikes up, not as easy to “borrow your way out of debt” by increasing productivity anymore, compared to zero rates. That being said, in Texas there are 4% fixed interest loans that you can tap into for “living expenses” that can legally apply to: mortgage and car. Even the Federal government allows you to borrow up to $250,000 for medical school.Here’s some things I’ve done that are definitely applicable for any prospective medical students:I try to save as much as possible, and went to the most affordable medical school in the nation. The average graduate debt in my medical school is $80,000, far lower than the national average, with my school offering $17k tuition and about $400/mo rent including utilities. The cost of living is very low and state income taxes are zero.I’m quite frugal, and I make sure to save as much as possible without impairing my spare time to pursue interests. I even drive people on the way using Uber (you can set your destination on the app) to make sure I don’t spend on gas, maintenance, repairs as a personal expense and I join all the groups to get free food while networking (at the end, there’s always good healthy food left and I ask the host if I can take the rest). You’ll be surprised at the quality of free medical school food. Especially Texas-sized portions.You can be paid for pretty much anything you do. My exercise was partly done by bicycle delivery besides gym time through several delivery apps about 30 minutes a day. If you’re lucky, you might score free food if the person doesn’t answer the door or phone call according to policy. It’s not hard to get paid for exercise! If you need to study, get paid for tutoring. If you need to put research on your CV, find a NIH grant for medical students. I was able to get $2000/month for NIAID stipend easy with an hour of researching grants and asking around the department from networking through free food.When you can characterize most of your living expenses (legally) to business expenses such as ridesharing and rentals, it reduces your taxes and increases your income simultaneously with little effort. You can also qualify for free health insurance (required in medical school) via Obamacare as a student, as well as use part of your home for home office. I only study or do personal stuff outside of home office, so it’s not against the rules. When my home was rented out, I only slept in a small corner. No other personal use.I NEVER try to manually clip coupons or anything like that, it’s a huge waste of time. You’re making less than minimum wage doing that. You have to make a cutoff. Say no to low wages because a smart person that can get into medical school deserves a lot better per hour.I personally only take anything that: interests me regardless of pay or pays more than $100–150/hr. Sometimes both happen to coincide, such as consulting for $350/hr.Before anyone says they can’t even find anything reasonable for over $50/hr except questionable jobs (like “entertainer”), you should look closer. Even something as simple as fixing iPhone screens with used OEM screens overseas will net you $100 per fix which usually takes about 10 minutes with a set of tools that costs $5. It’s not hard to follow a free YouTube video. Build an efficient sales funnel with pre-made marketing software and that’s easily more than $100/hr. Upstart costs are very low. Marketing, management, writing, and consulting skills are always useful in any industry including medicine, so you’re not wasting your time, even if you somehow mess it up. The only thing stopping you is belief alone. I rarely take more than 2–3 hours a week to “work” (there was one exception), so lack of time is not an issue.It’s pretty simple:Drastically increase productivity through smart means to outpace debt. Avoid time sinks. Increase leverage.Avoid high interest debt. You shouldn’t be investing in stocks if you have credit card debt.Live frugally through smarter means. Characterize big life expenses into business expenses if possible because of SE tax. I’ve already outlined some things anyone can do if they’re willing to take some very low amount of upfront time to research. Not hard.