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Feeling overwhelmed by your family's daily grind and looking for a way out? Welcome to "Dig the Well," the podcast that empowers you to build the life you deserve. Your hosts Vikki and John are top earners at Neora. Vikki is a # 1 best-selling author and John is a retired Los Angeles Police Officer. Together they’ve navigated family challenges, raised successful kids, and achieved financial freedom.
In each episode of "Dig the Well," they dive deep into the strategies and mindsets that can help you break free from the constraints of the traditional 9-5 lifestyle. They understand the unique challenges faced by stay-at-home moms and families who are juggling multiple responsibilities and struggling to find balance. Their mission is to provide you with the tools and inspiration you need to create additional income, gain more family time, and ultimately, transform your life.
Throughout their journey, they’ve had the privilege of working with renowned figures like Jack Canfield and Jeff Olson, whose wisdom and insights have greatly influenced their path to success. They’ve also celebrated significant milestones, such as raising two valedictorian children and supporting their son, an Olympic weightlifter on Team USA. These experiences have equipped them with valuable knowledge and practical tips that they’re eager to share with you.
"Dig the Well" is more than just a podcast; it's a community of like-minded individuals who are committed to personal growth and financial independence. Whether you're worried about your family's financial security, longing for more quality time with your spouse, or simply seeking a way to reignite your passions, this podcast offers actionable insights and real-life stories that can help you achieve your goals.
Our mission is to inspire you with the belief that if we can do it, so can you. We want you to feel empowered, educated, and ready to take control of your future. By tuning in to "Dig the Well," you'll gain the confidence and knowledge needed to break free from the daily grind and create a life full of possibilities.
So, if you're ready to transform your family's future and discover the greatness within you, join us on this journey. Subscribe to "Dig the Well" and start building the life you deserve today!
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John:Ever wondered how you could turn your side hustle into a full time gig and spend more time together?
Vikki:Hi. I'm Vicky, a number one best selling author.
John:And I'm John, a retired Los Angeles police officer. Welcome to Dig the Well, where we help couples navigate the world of business.
Vikki:We've been married for 30 5 years, and because we built a successful side business, John retired 9 years earlier than he originally planned from the Los Angeles Police Department after 25 years on the job. Now we spend more time together, and we want to help couples like you do the same.
John:Join us as we help you overcome common obstacles, and we show you how to make extra income without sacrificing family time.
Vikki:Ready to dig deep and build your well? Let's get started.
John:Ready?
Vikki:Ready. Well, on this episode, we're excited because it's one of the things we'd love to do the most, and I think that's a lot of you out there, and that is to travel.
John:Yay. Yeah.
Vikki:We live to travel, I think. And so but and that's for us, that's been the case since we first got married. We talked about traveling, and we knew we wanted to and had our regular our traditional business, not regular, traditional business, a brick and mortar shop, Prestige Motor Accessories. You may have heard us talk about that. And, we couldn't travel.
Vikki:Remember that? Yeah. We could not travel because we didn't totally trust our employees to run the shop the way we would run it. So we really didn't for the and we had little, little kids. But then when you were hired on at the Los Angeles Police Department, we did travel a little.
Vikki:And by little, I mean, there were just only so many vacation days that John had. And my parents were travelers. I know your, your dad John's dad had always told his mom that, honey, when I retire, we are going to travel the United States. Right? Yeah.
Vikki:What was the story with that?
John:Yeah. My dad really liked going to national parks. You know, he was years ago, before he had kids, he was an avid hunter, did a lot of fishing. And so we did a lot of vacations when I was a little kid. We had a 5th wheel trailer, and, we would just go out into the Rocky Mountains up and use up in Colorado.
John:And we would just spend 4 or 5 weeks camping and fishing and just just doing a a fun family thing and just just kinda living off the land, so to speak. I guess, as much as you can in a 5th wheel trailer that had pretty much everything in it. So we weren't really living off the land, but we felt like it. Yeah. But, I think that's what he really wanted to do is just travel, whether it was with the 5th or or getting a motor home, either way, that was in an RV.
John:And I think he really that was his thing. And my mom loved it too. And when he retired, he would always say that we're gonna travel and go everywhere in the United States and see all that. And
Vikki:But he didn't get that opportunity. Yeah.
John:Yeah. Yeah. He had a and at a young age, he ended up with, cancer, and so we lost him.
Vikki:Yeah. And he was 52 when he passed away. And, you know, we hadn't really thought about that till last 5, 10 years or so. We were chatting with our kids. Like, why do we love to travel so much?
Vikki:Why are we you know, it seems like more than most people. And we think back to that time, that really shaped us as a couple. Yeah. We were just dating when his dad died. He didn't get to come to the wedding.
John:No. No.
Vikki:But he had met me, so I was happy that I think he liked me for his son, and I'm gonna start to get more clout. But it really shaped us that we were gonna travel, and we were not gonna wait till we retired because you know what? Tomorrow is not promised, you know, the old adage, and it's really not. Right? So so yeah.
Vikki:Then then you went off to LAPD after we closed our business and had to whenever, like, we wanted to go somewhere, like, if our parents said or other friends, hey. Let's go to Mexico or let's go, I don't know, Europe. John had to put in for days off, and I bet there's a lot of you out there like that that are in that boat. How was it?
John:Really the fact that I didn't have enough time. It just I couldn't take it. They wouldn't let me take it. And I used to what did I always say, grandma? I said the city owns me, and it's kinda that way.
John:And so, what what we used to get is about 4 weeks vacation time every year. And then once you have 10 years on, they give you another 2 weeks. So the the 4 week is called your long vacation, and then the short vacation is the 2 weeks, but you can only prioritize 1 or the other. So you had to choose which one you're gonna get priority on, and it's based on seniority. So until you have a lot of time on or a decent amount of time on the job, you're just stuck with the leftovers.
John:You know, you're stuck with these weird months that you can take your vacation days. And so, like I said, I've always had plenty of time. And then if you don't take them all in 1 year, you can carry over into the next year. So you can end up with, you know, gosh, what what, 10 weeks easy of vacation. But the trick is getting approvals, getting okayed to use it.
John:And that was always the tough part. And of course, a lot of times on our we would take trips, but it wouldn't be for 5 or 6 weeks long. So I or 4 weeks if I was gonna take my long vacation, it it would just be for a week, you know, or a quick holiday trip here or there, and then I'd have to ask and beg for for the the time off.
Vikki:Yeah. And when you early on, you didn't have seniority at all Yeah. And didn't always get your your time slots that you wanted.
John:Oh, rarely. Yeah. Because I'd always you you pick you'd have to prioritize it. So you take this is the 1st month that I want, and if that doesn't work, then this is 2nd and 3rd and 4th and 5th all the way through. And, it was it was tough.
John:And it wasn't that the supervisors were being, you know, being jerks or a holes about it and not wanting to give us the time. It just that, you know, we were shorthanded. We've always been shorthanded in the city of Los Angeles. We just don't have enough people to do that job. And so they just didn't have the the the the ability to say, yeah.
John:Go ahead and take that time off. We don't need you. It's like, no. We can't. Everybody's gotta work.
Vikki:Yeah. It's a shame. So so, yeah, we would we would we would make do. And then how about also, like, I remember John would text me and say, Vic, I need vacation days. Like, I have to turn them in by midnight tonight or whatever.
Vikki:And I'd be, thanks for all the warning, and you didn't get any warning.
John:And, again, you know, it's the supervisors are handing us these, requests. The the it wasn't like they sat on them for months and then just handed them to him and told told us. And this is how it usually went. At roll call, they would say they'd pass them out to everybody. Here, fill these out by the end of the night.
John:By the end of the night, we need these turned in. And so we had to figure out when we were gonna request our vacation for the next year, and I'd have to call Vic. Vicky, hey. Do we have anything planned? Whatever our what when is it?
John:I need to turn this thing in tonight. Otherwise, I'm not even gonna get any chance at at a choice. So I think the the city as someone in the city decided to, hey. Let them know we need these today. And our poor supervisors then had to pass that good news on to us.
Vikki:And I've talked to so many police wives same thing in other departments. Yeah. So I don't know what's up with that, but that's another reason you wanna dig the well before you need the water is have a side gig that, you can get going, and then we were able to retire you early from the Los Angeles Police Department, you know, 9 years years and planned. And, guys, that changed so much for us because I was even at the point. We had our side gig.
Vikki:I make it we're making great money with it, and there were times I needed to travel. We were launching other countries, and so I'd asked John, hey. Can you go? And most of the time, it was like, no. I used up all all my vacation time.
John:So It wasn't that. I had the time. It was just I couldn't go because I couldn't go. I wasn't given permission to go.
Vikki:Yeah. I remember one time you told me I've used used it all. It was probably a big travel year.
John:Super big travel. Because normally I had
Vikki:Near the end. It came
John:down towards the end of the year where it was like either have to use them or lose them. And then I would have to take them piecemeal on, like, I get the 3rd Wednesday off, and then I'll get, like, another Tuesday off the next week and Yeah. Just to be able to burn up my time so I wouldn't lose it. But it was, trying to string 3 or 4 of those days together, negative.
Vikki:That was that was a bummer because I remember asking you that. Can't they let you put them together? And that was the next but the the beauty was we got you out of there. Yeah. And now we're traveling, having a ton of fun.
Vikki:So we're gonna talk about how, you know, how travel can be so much fun, to help build your business in so many different ways. So let's jump into, you know, one of the first, things about that truly about having a side gig type business, is you can build it from anywhere. Right? You don't have a location or an online business, I guess, I should say. You don't have a location that you physically have to be at all the time.
Vikki:Even if you have a somebody work in your office, they could run it without you. So that's the beautiful thing about those types. And, and you could do it from anywhere. You could be in Europe. I know we're going to Hawaii soon.
Vikki:We're gonna be able to still run our business while we're in Hawaii, but weaving it in whenever we feel like it, and it's still gonna run successfully. So that's the beautiful thing.
John:Yeah. The only I think the only tough part about some some of our travel is, the time zone because we've been in Japan and then trying to trying to be on meetings, and we're having to set an alarm clock to wake us at 3 o'clock in the morning so that we can be part of that meeting. Right. You know, that's a that's a bad that's a tough problem to
Vikki:have, isn't it? Right. I know. And thank goodness for tools like Zoom. You know you know you have Zoom that you can rely on to still, you know, in the middle of the night, get up, yes, in Japan, and get on the Zoom with somebody, but thank goodness you've got that.
Vikki:And there's so many other tools out there, you you know, when you're running your business
John:from anywhere. I remember that trip. One of the trips to Japan, we made several in 1 year. It was when our business was launching out there, and we went there with another, another couple, and they were also part of our business. And we were staying at this remember, it was out in the country
Vikki:Yeah.
John:And it was freezing cold. And we were in little each of us were in, like, a little different bungalow, and all of our alarms go off at probably, like, 3:30 in the morning or 3 o'clock in the morning so we could all meet in one of the bungalows to be on this meeting.
Vikki:Yeah. And remember
John:actually. Tried running across the the grounds, trying to get to where the where the other bungalow was, and it just felt like we were running on it felt like it was frozen which it might have been.
Vikki:Yeah. I know. It was cold.
John:And then we're trying to warm up in there, and it's like, okay. Now we can go ahead and have our meeting.
Vikki:Yeah. Exactly.
John:And then we were wide awake after it was done.
Vikki:Yeah. Yeah. So and and another thing about traveling while you have your side gig is it's not about the hustle and go go go all the time. It's about the joy of what your business is doing for your life. Right?
Vikki:And, I feel like it rejuvenates you and, you know, gets you away from the daily grind even if you work at home. You know, it still can be a grind. Let's all admit it. It can be. But going traveling somewhere to another country And, honestly, if you can network, and I know you we're you're gonna talk about John's gonna talk about that a lot.
Vikki:If you can network, meet new people that somehow furthers your business along is huge. That's huge. So I know when we're we have a side gig where we can help franchise people into their own business. And so when we meet people, like, I know it's gonna happen because it always does, we'll be in Hawaii, And John is so good at talking to people about business in general. Right?
Vikki:Do you wanna share about that? We'll probably find people that wanna start their own business in Hawaii too.
John:Yeah. For me, it's easy because I just talk to people and, just in just talking to them and you find out that people want to do something else. They want something more. And almost everyone is open to doing some sort of a side hustle. I don't think it was like that maybe 10 years ago.
John:I think a lot has changed, especially since going through, you know, the the nonsense that we went through with the pandemic and whatnot. I think a lot of people have realized, hey, I'd rather work from home anyhow. I really don't wanna have to commute to work every day. And, and even if they do have that job that they're commuting, they just want something extra. They want something more and maybe a little bit of insurance too, because I think a lot of people found that they were either out of work or really close to being out of work.
John:And then what else did they have to fall back on? So, it's just it's just interesting to me to talk to so many different people who kind of are like minded in that and that they want to do something. They want to have something else and that we have something that can that can really help them. And, then that's basically all we do. Just talk to them.
John:And then, like you said, I know for sure we're gonna meet people when we go to Hawaii, whether they're people Hawaiians or whether they're people visiting, that that are gonna be interested in in knowing about how to do something else. And even if it's not what we're doing, it's just do something else. Have have another stream of income for your family, have some insurance, have something you can fall back on, have a plan b, dig your well before you need the water. It's all those same same car it's all the same concept.
Vikki:Yeah. And like you've talked about on the that other episode that millionaires on average have 7?
John:Well, no. It was a study that did they did where they were looking at what do, people who make a $1,000,000 or more, which is per year annually. Right? That's a lot of income. And there are a number of people that do that.
John:It seems crazy, but it it's not that crazy. Then they were looking at what is it that these people have in common? What are some of the common denominators? And one of the areas that they found was having multiple streams of significant income. So we're not talking about, well, you have your interest earning checking account that you're making $8.13 a month on.
John:Right? That that while that is a form of income, it's not a significant form of income. And what they found was that I think it was the least number of significant streams of income out of that group was 7. Most of them had many, many more than that. So I had to look at it and think, well, how many do we have?
John:And I started counting to see where we sat and do we have and I've we we could use more. I think most everyone well, let's face it. We all could use more income. Right? But I do think that there's a lot of us that are not even close to having that 7.
John:And I think that may be the bar. Right? That should be the minimum? Yeah. I think everyone should should work toward finding, 7 significant, streams of income for their household.
Vikki:Yeah. Definitely. Definitely. So meeting people out and about while you're traveling is perfect. And, you know, when you network too and you meet and learn about them, I love to refer people in business all day every day, and I think it's because we've, always had a business.
Vikki:And, that's fun too. Could you find out what they do when you travel and, you know, reconnect and and share and, refer them to other people that you know? So it it helps the people that you're meeting as well. You know, I wanted to give a good tip on what you should bring when you're traveling. You know, back in the day, business cards were the thing.
Vikki:You know, you didn't go anywhere without a business card. And a lot of networking groups still like that. You know, there's still that traditional pass my card. You you know, you each get each other's card. I'm part of a woman's networking group that we typically share those types of things.
Vikki:But I like what you do with your phone, and I think definitely probably Gen z on here. Millennials too are doing what John does. So would you share about your phone?
John:Yeah. If I'm talking to someone and it gets that far it gets to that point where they're interested in more information about, like, starting their business, or at least they want more information about what Vic and I are doing. And, what they'll do is a lot of times they'll ask, hey. Do you have a business card? And what I generally just tell them and because I don't really honestly, I don't wanna carry a whole stack of business cards in my pocket.
Vikki:Well, especially when you're traveling Yeah. At a bar, you know, sightseeing.
John:So it's kind of selfish that I don't wanna do it, so I don't. But I just tell them that's kinda old school. I I I would just rather I just go to my phone and I just push one button. It's just basically I have a little shortcut to add a contact. And so I'll just take that and just hand them my phone.
John:And most people know what to do with that. Right? They're not gonna look at you, like, you know, like, you you've got, like, a horn growing out of your forehead. Like, what what is this for? They immediately just start putting their name in and their phone number.
John:I said, you can leave either your cell or an email or however you want me to send you the information. I don't really care. Just put it in there. And then I tell them, don't hit the save button because if they hit save, it just gets loaded in all my contacts. And then I just tell them, just put your information in.
John:When they do, I take a screenshot of it. So then it goes into my screenshots, then I hit the save. So then I know it's in there. And then what I do is at the end of the day, I go back through my screenshots and I can see the people that I've talked to that I know I need to to follow-up with and get them the information that they're waiting for. Right.
John:It's no point in just making it's not like a date. Right? We go on our 1st date, and I don't call you back for 3 or 4 days. This isn't like that. So I'll just go ahead and get right back to them and just give them whatever information they need.
John:But I can do that because it's an easy follow-up. It's an easy reminder. I just go through my screenshots.
Vikki:Yeah. Yeah. Definitely. And that that tip about screenshotting the contact before you close the phone is money because that's what I've I've picked up on that. Yeah.
John:It saved me a ton of times because I'll look back and I'll go, oh my gosh. I forgot about this.
Vikki:Exactly.
John:I need to get this guy. He was asking specifically about something. I it it was early in the day when we were talking, and by the end of the evening, I had already forgotten.
Vikki:Yeah. So that's a big tip too. When you get home from the trip, go through your photos and, of course, enjoy, you know, see your trip on there, but that's gonna remind you to put those contacts that you've screenshotted into however you track your prospects, your leads, and follow-up with them. So it's a good reminder to always do that. Yeah.
Vikki:Turning travel into business content is another, great reason to travel. I know, you know, if we just wanna talk about, you know, social media, for example, I know all the time I'm asking John, here, can you feel me over here? Can you feel me standing by there? And it really is because I wanna showcase that we can travel while still running our business. And who doesn't love to see interesting parts of the world when they're watching a reel or they're watch looking at a post and they think, oh, where are they next?
Vikki:Right? So, definitely, it's giving you content to share with people for sure, plus your own enjoyment. Yeah. I know we do it for our own enjoyment, but that definitely helps the business too.
John:Yeah. In fact, where we're going in a couple of weeks when we go to Hawaii, that hotel that we're staying in, we chose specifically for, for your social media. Yeah. Pictures and whatnot. Yeah.
Vikki:It's Instagram worthy. Yeah.
John:It's got it's it has a really cool bar out by the pool. And then the pool itself is an infinity pool that overlooks the ocean. So that has great it faces to the west. So it has some great sunsets. And then it has a beach entry pool.
John:That same pool on the other end is a beach entry. And they have a bunch of lounge chairs all lined up in about 4 inches of water. So it's a really and it's a fairly new hotel. It's only been there for they built it a few years ago.
Vikki:Yeah. Yeah. We I can't wait. It's gonna be so much fun. And we've got a couple trips to Texas coming up.
Vikki:That's always fun. Yeah. And then we're trying to plan a family vacation, so lots and lots of travel is in the works for us. But we do always try to weave it weave some business in, and let me tell you why. Because there are legitimate tax write offs for traveling if you're building your business.
Vikki:You do have to build your business, and I know you're always quick to make that comment, you know, that and it's so appropriate that you need to be doing business if you're gonna write any portion of your travel off. So definitely see your tax professional about this. But
John:Yeah. We're not giving you tax advice, but Right. Just know that if you're if it's a legitimate business and it's a legitimate business expense, then, for us, the advice we've been given from our our tax preparer and our our, accountant is that absolutely that's a deduction, and it and it makes sense. But if we're going on a if we're going ziplining, we're not writing off the zipline trip.
Vikki:No. No. We're not. Yeah. And our daughter just got married in Anguilla.
Vikki:That was so much fun. 4 seasons over there. Shout out to them. That was amazing. But we're not writing that off because it wasn't a business trip.
Vikki:Right? And definitely be careful on international and, again, see your tax consultant, but, you really you know, international's a tough nut to crack write off wise. Right?
John:Yeah. You just have to document a lot. Yeah. Is it a little stricter about documentation? But either way Yeah.
John:For sure, if you think about it too, just just in general, the tax code in the United States was written for business owners, not for w two employees. If you're a w two employee, you have very few things you can actually deduct from your taxes. You're gonna pay federal income tax on most all of it in in the state of California and where we're at, we're gonna pay a lot in state tax also. But if you're a business owner that opens up legitimate deductions. I'm not saying to cheat.
John:I'm not saying to not pay your share because we do for sure. And if there's anything that's questionable when we do our taxes, we don't include it as a business deduction. If we look at it and think, well, that may it may not may or may not look like a a legit business, deduction, then we don't include it. But if it's a legitimate business expense because you're on a business trip or whatever it is you're doing for your business, then absolutely. And, again, talk with your accountant about that and see what you can what you can and cannot include.
John:But it it makes sense because that's how the our tax code was written.
Vikki:Yeah. And a lot of employee minded people don't even understand that at all. So it might be that might be some of you. So I hope that was eye opening for you for sure. Let's see.
Vikki:Mindset shift. Yes. So, you know, I love thinking about travel in a different way, and this is actually one where you should also be thinking about what business you pick. Right? If you're picking a brick and mortar business to run and you don't trust your employees, like we mentioned at the beginning, and sorry, any of our employees that were listening right now might be listening.
Vikki:We trusted you to to a point, but, but if you have a brick and mortar that you can't leave chain to it, you can't leave, that's a shame. But if you have a side business where maybe you you have the systems in place, you have the people in place, and you fully trust them to you trust the business to run itself when you're gone, like, I know ours will. Ours is definitely with a direct sales company, so it has a system. It has, things in place where it's gonna run with or without us. That's the beauty of it so we can travel.
Vikki:So that's kind of the mindset shift when looking for a business, in my opinion. Like, we're so glad we don't have the brick and mortar anymore.
John:Yeah. Absolutely. Yeah. And it wasn't I don't think it was a a fact that wasn't really that we didn't trust our employees because they had keys to the place. They could have gone in anytime they wanted.
John:It was more, I think, the maybe it was almost like a confidence thing that we were worried maybe that we didn't have full confidence that if if an issue arose, that they would handle it the same way that Vicky and I would handle it. Like, they've always said that no one cares as much about your business, than you do. And that's what we're more, I think, worried about. Yeah. As far as trusting them, we trusted them.
John:They were they were they were all really honest, good people that we had working for. So there was when they wouldn't be working for us. But it was just like because there was always something that came up. It seemed like every day it was something. And we just wanted to make sure that things were handled, well enough that and it's almost like if you're not there, it's like, gosh.
John:What happened today? I wonder. I know. It was kinda driving us nuts.
Vikki:Yeah. But if you find a turnkey business that, you know, runs itself, that's that's the smart way.
John:Because we could never true that brick and mortar business, we could never truly get away from it. And even when we did get away, like I said, it wasn't truly getting away. It was we never really fully enjoyed whatever wherever we were or whatever we were doing because we weren't really there. We were always still thinking about that brick and mortar.
Vikki:Yeah. Exactly. Exactly. And I don't know. I I think it might be fun at this point.
Vikki:And if you're watching on YouTube, we're excited that you're watching. Leave a comment on your favorite travel location or where do you wanna go to next, either your favorite spot or where you wanna go to next, but I think we should talk about that. Where do we wanna go to next travel wise?
John:Somewhere where we haven't been. Right?
Vikki:Yeah. Exactly. We have, like, 4 or 5 on the list.
John:Yeah. One of the things I really wanna do is I wanna go see the northern lights. Yeah. Just that seems so cool. And I've seen so you know, I've seen it a hundred times in pictures and movies, and Right.
John:I've never actually seen it in person.
Vikki:That'd be cool. In Alaska. Right?
John:Or any Canada, Alaska. Probably Alaska.
Vikki:Finland. Right? Can't you see it from Scandinavia as well? Yeah. So, yeah, we we definitely will.
Vikki:Let's see. What's my next? I I mentioned Malta on another episode. Malta is just fascinating. Didn't you see a Netflix or something about all the cuisine that's made there?
Vikki:It was a crazy
John:Yeah. Amount of different time. Interesting island.
Vikki:Yeah. And how it's changed. Hasn't it been part of a lot of wars and
John:No. Yeah. It was a defensive position Right. During the war.
Vikki:So the history, it's beautiful Yeah. But then it has this rich history. Yeah. What other place?
John:And then there's, like, the Seychelles and the Maldives.
Vikki:That's it. I was gonna say Maldives. So yeah. And Italy. Italy.
John:We've been we've we've been we've
Vikki:been to Italy, but we wanna go But
John:it's such a big country.
Vikki:To the wine to the wine.
John:Northern Italy.
Vikki:Yeah. And, gosh, I could go on Singapore. I hope we're getting your juices flowing on thinking about where you wanna go. Singapore and that hotel that has the pool at the top of the two pillars. Right?
Vikki:Mhmm. So yeah. But, seriously, if you if you're watching this and you're not an entrepreneur yet, really think about it. Think about that side gig. Really look into finding the perfect one for you.
Vikki:We highly recommend it.
John:Yeah. For sure. Because I've said this before, if you're just working a job and you're just basically trading hours for dollars, and that that hamster wheel you're never gonna get off of, eventually, you'll be able to retire, and then you're stuck on a fixed income. If you decide you want to branch out and run your own business, you can still work your job because that's what I did. Right.
John:I didn't, I didn't leave my job early. I stayed on, I still earn a full pension, and I still get, you know, benefits and whatnot, but we dug the well, we started our own business, ran it from home. And now that I've retired early, my pension is not as much as what it could have been, but at least it's something, and I'll receive that for the rest of my life. But in in the meantime, the our business from home more than makes up for what I'm missing out on that on that pension from the job, and I don't have to leave the house. And I have something here.
Vikki:And we're living our dream life. Yeah. I pinch myself.
John:Better life than I would have left if if I was still if I were still on the job. So you have so many benefits afforded to you, and you don't have to quit your job. Now a lot of folks, they really love what they do, and they love their job. And then by all means, you would never want to leave that. But at least have something have another have another plan B, have that other stream of income coming into your home, because I guarantee you, it's gonna relieve a lot of stress.
John:It's gonna make everybody in the household happier. I mean, if you really think about it, if you had an extra 500 to a $1,000 at the end of the month, an extra 500 to a $1,000, would that make a difference for you? And I think for most people, it would. I know for us, for sure it would. Yeah.
John:It did. It did. And that's why we wanted to do it. But if it would make a difference for you, then for sure, you need to really look into some options and see what you can do and and to to get that going.
Vikki:Yeah. So we're we've had fun today. We hope you have too. Leave us a review. Remember to subscribe if you haven't already on whatever platform you're listening to and give us a review.
Vikki:We would so appreciate it, and see you on the next one.
John:Bye bye.
Vikki:Thanks for joining us on Dig the Well.
John:We hope you feel empowered and ready to take on new challenges. Remember,
Vikki:if we can do it, so can you. Keep learning, keep believing, and going after your dreams.
John:And if you enjoyed this episode, share it with someone who needs a little inspiration or maybe a nudge in the right direction.
Vikki:Help us grow this community of go getters. Together, we can achieve greatness and get back to family.
John:Thanks for listening, and let's keep digging the way.