What to do with a windfall?

We received a windfall with the sale of our construction business in 2014.  We started to think of all the stuff we needed.  We "needed" a new car, redo our bathroom, redo the carpet in our house, redo the deck, redo the driveway, finish the basement, and so on and so forth.  After doing the math, we would have been left with about $25K for 3 years of sacrificing life to chase the dream of starting a business.  And you know what would have happened to the last $25K had we went this route, right?  Yup, it would have been frittered away too.  We came to the quick conclusion that trading 3 years of life for some material things was just plain stupid. 

We decided to buy a couple of rental properties (mini and maxi storage buildings) to preserve our principal at the very minimum.  We didn't know what we were doing other than not spending our capital and maybe making a few bucks every month to grow our next egg.  At the time, our thoughts revolved around paying off the mortgages in 10 years and being able to retire (whatever that means). 

Then I started researching how to become a millionaire and came across Robert Kiyosaki and the "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" series of investment/self-help books.  It started with a YouTube video of Robert or Oprah.  His philosophy on rich people spending their money on assets rather than liabilities was earth shattering for me.  I read everything in the Rich Dad, Poor Dad series and then decided to go after more properties.  This time with an emphasis on cash flow.  I also started listening to Bigger Pockets Podcast and Jason Hartman's Podcasts and I went down the rabbit hole. 

After that I was on the hunt for anything worth buying.  I found a 2000 SF retail property on a busy corner in Green Bay by Lambeau Field and rehabbed that with the help of a cousin.  We did a great job but got a lousy tenant.  Upon evicting the tenant and putting the building up for rent, we got an offer to sell from our neighbor.  We settled on a price that was good for both of us and we were able to sell with a nice profit.  It was a buy and hold property but realized it was a handful owning a property so far away.  Frankly, that was my fault for not turning it over to a property manager, but live and learn. 

About a year after we bought the GB property, we tried buying a self-storage in Houlton, WI which we got outbid for.  The silver lining was that we ended up buying the vacant property next door.  We tried a few things before landing on developing the property into large storage units that were big enough to accommodate businesses and the big stuff they have.  So with cash-flow in mind, we refinanced the first two properties to take out equity to develop the new property.  This was all done while holding down a day job. 

And on and on.  The interesting thing about all of this is that if we spent that money in year one, our life wouldn't be any different than prior to starting and selling our business.  But because we bought an asset rather than liabilities, our life has been changed.  We aren't exactly Paris Hilton, sipping champagne and hanging out on Yachts in the Mediterranean Sea, but we've gotten to the point where we might not need another regular job again.  That's the ultimate freedom. 

So next time you get a windfall, don't buy stuff, invest in your freedom.  It'll come sooner than you think.