First off, why am I blogging? Because I lhave thoughts I’d like to write down and keep track of. My thinkings if you will. I read a lot. I process a lot of information, and over the past 15 years of learning about investing and business almost obsessively, I’ve formed some rather strong opinions and learned some valuable skills that have served me well. Some of which are none to popular. So, this blog will act as kind of a financial journal, a collection of what I’m personally doing, what I’ve learned, the mistakes I’ve made and all that fun shit in between. From time to time I will share actual numbers of my finances, to offer a blend of self deprecation and realness. I personally enjoy actual figures in the blogs I follow. From this, I hope someone can learn something, and maybe I can learn some stuff too. As I learn new things, some of which will be incredibly nerdy, I will try to blog about it for future reference and or for your reading pleasure.

You may be wondering what qualifies me to write publicly about business, personal finance and investing. Full disclosure, I’m not qualified at all. I live a worthless existence spent reading the newspaper, books on investing, biographies and from time to time an annual report I find interesting. But I have somehow through strokes of luck, discipline and grit amassed well over a seven figure net worth, even excluding my primary residence which is paid off. This net worth is 55 times my annual spending, since I’ve done a solid job on the debt side of my balance sheet. Presently, this fully qualifies me for early retirement and then some. When I reflect on this success, I’ve come to realize that there are some habits, knowledge and skills that are both useful and replicable. So why the hell not share. I also have plenty of screw ups you can learn from too. Why should you have to make the same mistakes I did? So there you have it. I’m an unqualified business nerd who reads the newspaper. I would consult a professional before taking anything I talk about on this blog seriously.

One last point on the name of this blog. Build The Gap? What does that mean? Well, the gap equals the difference between income and expenses. Better known as free cash flow. That gap is where the magic happens. It is where your focus should be. Whether you are analyzing an investment or evaluating your personal finances, knowing that gap is incredibly important. Dare I say it, the most important. It is how my net worth was built. I have spent the better part or my adult life slowly building that gap. My main job as I see it is taking the free cash flow accumulated and reinvesting it into assets that then produce more cash flow.