May 12th 2024.
Perry's family was gathered in the living room when his youngest daughter, who was now 25, spoke up and said, "Me and Mam have been talking. We need a new roof on this house." There was a tense silence as they all looked at Perry, waiting for his response. "Ok..." he finally replied, but then he realized what they were really asking. "I'm not paying for it," he said firmly.
His wife and daughter were outraged. "What do you mean you're not paying for it?!" they exclaimed. "You own three houses and you work 80 hours a week – you must have the money!" But Perry had a different plan for his money. "I do have the money," he admitted, "but I'm saving it to buy another house."
This caused an uproar in the family, with tears, shouting, and slammed doors. Perry knew he wouldn't change his mind, but he also realized that he had made a big mistake by not telling his family about his goal. A goal that would change all of their lives.
Perry had set a goal for himself to become truly wealthy by the age of 67, all while working a minimum wage job. He had set this goal five years ago at the age of 57, and he was determined to make it happen. However, he hadn't always been good with money.
He left school at 16 and spent 12 years in the Royal Navy as a hydrographic surveyor. He married his wife in 1987 and left the Navy in 1989. From then on, he struggled to find a job that he truly enjoyed and was mainly self-employed. He tried his hand at various jobs such as pensions advisor, mortgage advisor, and wealth advisor, but he failed at all of them because his heart just wasn't in it. He also worked in sales, including as a sales director, but he wasn't satisfied with those jobs either.
But it wasn't only high-profile jobs for Perry. He also worked in bars and restaurants, was a car park attendant, and sold clothes at a market stall. He always dreamed of being wealthy, but he thought it would happen suddenly, like a contestant on X Factor being discovered while singing in a restaurant. Little did he know that wealth is a process, a series of small steps that compound over time.
Instead of saving his money, Perry spent it on things he thought would make him look rich, like a BMW and designer clothes, trying to impress others. But he wasn't getting any wealthier. As he got older, it became normal for him to have no money left before payday, but he didn't worry about it because he thought that was just how life was.
One day, about five years ago, he found £10 in a Sainsbury's car park. He called his wife and suggested they go out for drinks in a nice part of town. But when they got there, they realized they didn't have enough money for the expensive drinks. "I've messed this up," Perry said sadly. His wife suggested they walk around the bar and look for money on the floor, and they actually found some. They laughed about it, but it was a ridiculous situation – they had no money and were spending what little they had, joking about being skint.
At the age of 57, Perry was working for minimum wage at a bar near his home. He had no savings and £10,000 in credit card debt. It was then that he realized he was only 10 years away from pension age. "Bloody hell, that went quickly," he thought. And in that moment, he knew he had to make some changes if he wanted to achieve his goal of wealth.
First, he had to define what wealth meant to him. He decided that he would feel truly wealthy if he could sip margaritas with his wife on a yacht in the Mediterranean, knowing he had enough money to support that lifestyle until he died. He settled on £300,000 as his goal and that decision changed his life.
He knew he needed to earn more money, so he started working as a cab driver from 7:00am to 4:00pm, and then at the bar from 5:30pm to 12:30am. It was exhausting, and he would often come home and sleep on the couch for half an hour before starting another shift. But after three months, he realized he couldn't keep up that pace and quit the bar job to focus on driving the cab for 80 hours a week.
He only took four days off in two years, but at the end of that time, he had saved £20,000. He used that money to buy his first house in September 2020 for £63,000 and started renting it out, bringing in an extra £400 a month. This, combined with his income from driving the cab, allowed him to buy a second house in January 2021. His best friend was so impressed with Perry's story that he wanted to buy a house with him, so they bought a third property together.
In the third year of his project, Perry realized he could make much more than £300,000 and his family would benefit from it. So, the morning after the argument about the new roof, he explained to his wife and daughter why he was working so hard and saving so much. He also apologized for not being able to take them on holiday, as he had promised.
His wife responded by telling him to keep doing what he was doing and not to worry about the holiday. She also reminded him that she had paid £5,000 to replace the roof, something she occasionally reminds him about. Perry plans to follow his wife's advice because he wants his family to benefit from his hard work.
He recently refinanced his first house for £90,000 and used that money to buy his fourth property in October of last year. He should be able to buy his fifth property in July and if he keeps going, he will reach his goal of £1,000,000 in 10 years. He has also reduced his cab driving hours to about 60 per week and is now making around £2,000 a month from his properties. He also receives a Navy pension of £400 a month and saves an additional £1,000 a month from his cab driving job.
Perry plans to continue refinancing his properties every two years to continue growing his wealth. He admits that the journey towards his goal has been tough and exhausting, but he won't give up because he has a purpose and a reason to get up in the morning. He encourages others to set a goal and make a plan to achieve it. And he also wants people to know that it's not how you earn your money that matters, it's what you do with it that counts. He wishes he had started sooner, but he's glad he's on the right track now.
To learn more about Perry and his journey towards financial independence, you can follow him on YouTube. He hopes his story will inspire others to take control of their finances and work towards their own goals. As told to Izzie Price.
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