I bought my first real estate investment (not house, I’d bought that years before) when I was 25.  And since then I’ve always accumulated real estate properties.  In the late 1990’s and early 2000’s, when I had clients making money hand over fist in the dot com explosion, I talked about investing in real estate.

There were a million reasons not to - most of them had to do with tenants.  Stock investing was so much easier.  All you had to do was tell your broker or go online (for the more adventuresome).

Then the dot bomb happened and real estate was the new thing.  It got so that people bought real estate without having a clue whether it was good or bad investments.  I remember a couple who were both Drs coming into my CPA firm.  They were excited because they had bought their first real estate investment.  The problem, though, was that they couldn’t figure out how to calculate the cash on cash return.  I looked at the numbers and saw the problem right away.  There was NO return - they lost money.  Here’s the thing .  They were both very educated, intelligent people and they had no idea whether they were making money or not.

That was the first warning sign for me that there was trouble ahead.  That was 2000.  The real estate boom hadn’t even happened yet, but you could read the handwriting on the wall.  Another bust was coming.

Now, everyone is asking what the next best thing will be.  I think it’s the Internet business.  And this time I feel that I am early to party.  I have time to test just how someone with no tech skills or programming ability (me) can get sites up and going to create massive income in just 2 two short years.  I’m not a 20 something who grew up with this technology.  If i can do it, there’s hope for all the Boomers out there.

I know this feeling I get - a mixture of uncertainty and excitement.  I’ve felt this before.  It happened when I started investing in real estate.  My husband and I made millions in that real estate boom and we got out in time.  That’s because we had the experience BEFORE it started.

And that’s why I want an Internet Empire now.  The next boom is coming and this time it’s virtual.  I want my experience before it gets here.  This time, though, it’s not millions I plan to make - it’ll be tens of millions and a legacy for my son.