My much anticipated new book “Along for the Ride. Getting your money working for you through real estate and stock" is now available on Amazon.ca (http://bit.ly/Owen_Bigland) and Amazon.com (http://bit.ly/OwenBigland_us) in both paperback and digital (Kindle)
Below is the official press release
Press Release - “Along for the Ride”
“Outraged by Vancouver’s “Lazy” Real Estate Millionaires? Think Again, Says Owen Bigland”
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VANCOUVER, BC. - March 20, 2017 - In recent years, Vancouver has seen the rise of a new controversial group. These are the so-called “lazy” millionaires. People who have made their millions just by owning property during Vancouver’s real estate boom.
Having earned their fortunes with seemingly no work, these millionaires have provoked outrage. From scathing editorials to calls for legislation, much of the public seems angered by the apparent unfairness of the situation.
Yet is it really so unfair?
Not according to respected Vancouver realtor Owen Bigland. In Bigland’s view, such millionaires are not to be condemned nor viewed as “lazy”. Instead, he believes they should be seen as proof of the rewards for long-term investing.
Bigland expresses this view in a new book entitled, Along for the Ride. With its release, the book seems certain to provoke controversy.
Controversy is likely, in part, because of the book’s view on “lazy” real estate millionaires. Rather than condemn, Bigland defends these millionaires. He calls their success justified after holding property during earlier downturns. Where was the outrage, he asks, when the markets were uncertain and these individuals chose not to sell their properties? Where too, is the outrage over early investors in Pepsi and other now-lucrative stocks? People who made fortunes off those stocks simply by holding them into the present? Such “visionary” stock investors are no different than Vancouver’s “lazy” real estate millionaires. For these two groups to be treated differently is a blatant double standard, according to Bigland.
His book also seems likely to provoke controversy over its portrayal of many so-called “experts” in real estate and personal finance.
Unlike the “experts” (purposely in quotes), Bigland has achieved real, tangible success over two-plus decades. He’s also still “in the trenches” today, practicing the same strategies advocated in Along for the Ride. So he’s a true expert and can speak with authority on what it takes to reach actual financial independence. In doing that, Bigland’s not afraid to shatter both the myths and the egos of those who create them.
His views may not make Along for the Ride popular among those with “get rich quick” schemes. Yet the book is certain to delight anyone in need of honest, actionable advice on becoming financially independent.
For these readers, Bigland offers a simple, straightforward blueprint based on real estate and stock investing. On the real estate side, he advocates a strategy involving owning your principal residence and steadily acquiring rental properties. And, on the stock investing side, his approach focuses on dividend growth, and index investing via low-cost ETFs.
These two overall methods (real estate and stock investing) are used to create a reliable stream of passive income. Or, as both the book and Warren Buffet call it, “a snowball”.
Still, as with a snowball, a stream of passive income doesn’t just happen. At least not for the kind of snowballs or income streams large enough to matter. Instead, both require time and discipline to build. This is perhaps the central theme of Along for the Ride. The idea that achieving true financial independence, as Bigland has done, is a gradual journey. One that anyone can embark on regardless of their background and position in life. And a journey to continue on regardless of what others may say.