Those who have devoted their lives to the service of others – first responders – have traditionally enjoyed a strong work union and, if not lucrative, at least comfortable pension. These days, we’d hate to be the ones betting on that to continue. Government funding at any level seems perilous at best. With the pool of payees rising and payors dwindling, no one really knows how programs like Social Security or Medicare will be paid for in the coming years. Same goes for local police and fire departments, as well as hospitals.

Your pension could be next to fall under the ax to some extent.

The way to live out your golden years is to take matters into your own hands, a concept you’re probably familiar with on the job. Don’t sit back and let the stock market and your broker drag you all over the place. One of Jason Hartman’s 10 Commandments for Successful Investing is to be a direct investor. Simple in concept, this idea is powerful in execution and could mean the difference between an “okay” retirement and financial freedom.

Direct investing means there is no middleman you rely on to implement your investment strategy. Heroic Investing thinks that having an investment counselor to bounce ideas off is a great idea, but only you should have the power to pull a trigger on a deal. Additionally, you MUST fully understand every part of your portfolio and take an active role in monitoring it. If this sounds like a lot of work, it’s not. As a direct investor, you’ll spend much less time tending to financial matters than you do on the job right now.

And that’s what retirement and a healthy pension is supposed to be about, right?

It used to be that pensions for police, fire, and other emergency service careers were based upon receiving a certain percentage of your highest salary of the last ten years of employment – or some permutation of that. Those were the good old days. New retirees hope to build wealth lies in the whims and vagaries of the stock market, which is where many fund managers plow your future pension, hoping to generate some sort of decent return.

That’s a scary proposition if you ask us. You can’t rely on the stock market for anything except to behave like a hyperactive chimpanzee. Up. Down. Up. Waaay down. Sideways. Diagonal. Backward and forward simultaneously. Are you queasy yet? You should be. This is not a good way to plan for old age.

A better idea to build wealth that will actually be there when you retire is to funnel whatever pension money you are allowed to into a type of investing that actually works. For more than two decades, Heroic Investing has watched people of modest means change their financial future for the better by focusing on income property investments. This is the silent secret to wealth in America. The majority of rich people got that way through real estate, and many didn’t have much to start with. You’ve worked hard. You’ve sacrificed much. Unfortunately, today’s economy is leaving pensions hung out to dry. Take hold of your future and learn how to build wealth that lasts no matter what the stock market is doing.

First responders and emergency workers have a long tradition in America. Unfortunately for them financially, that tradition often includes a devotion to invest in the stock market, sometimes for no better reason than that’s the way the family has always done it. That viewpoint is understandable but not a very good reason – especially when there is another way to invest that works. Really works!

The truth is this; stocks, bonds, mutual funds have virtually no chance of making anyone wealthy except the brokers selling advice that may or may not work, and the Enron/Bernie Madoffs’ of the world who raid the portfolios of the hard-working average investor.

The way for a hero to invest (we’ll call you what you are) is in income producing residential properties. Now don’t freak out and run, thinking this stuff only works if you’re last name is Trump. That couldn’t be further from the truth. Almost every day we help educate people with average salaries on how to locate and close property deals that have the real potential to result in a financially secure retirement. And we don’t just mean sort of secure. We mean VERY secure. We’ll go into more detail about exactly how to do this in the coming days but for now let’s focus on the fact that we’re talking about annual returns of 20% to 30%, sometimes more, instead of the measly 5% to 15% you might get in the stock market.

And real estate investing done the right way is not flinging darts at a wall. It’s a conservative, repeatable, effective method to grow wealth for anyone – even you. Stay tuned in the coming days as Heroic Investing pulls back the curtain and shows you how to change your financial future.

There are two main reasons we believe income property investing is the best path to financial success available for your dollar. First, and perhaps the most telling, is personal experience. We’ve been doing this for more than two decades and it’s worked quite well for us personally. Secondly, history is on the side of the property owner, especially the income property owner. It’s created more wealthy people than any other asset.

For a quick review, an income property is real estate that you own for the purpose of renting it out to a tenant. Ergo, instant cash flow and, if you do it right, income for you. The trick is, of course, doing it right. You can get slaughtered in the real estate market if you don’t know what you’re doing. The good news is we’re going to teach you what you need to know and it won’t be complicated.

There are essentially two kinds of income property, residential and commercial, but we strongly recommend you start your portfolio with single family, residential properties. Why do we recommend investors stay away from commercial properties? In truth, we’re not completely against the notion but you do subject yourself to more economic fluctuations.

There’s a very good reason we say focus on single family residential dwellings – universal need. This one simple truth could make you very wealthy. A universal need goes beyond wants or desires. It’s something we humans must have to survive. Food, water, shelter. These are three of the very basic needs and it will never change. People will always require a roof over their head and a place to lay their heads at night.

Be the person providing the universal need at a fair price and you could write your own ticket to financial success. Heroic investing will teach you how to do that.