Realty411 Magazine Featuring Scott Meyers | Page 61
Dan Kryzanowski
Executive Vice President
Rocket Dollar
In terms of real estate and
investments, the primary residence
was the only “alternative” asset for
the supermajority. This held true
for the singleearner family or
highflying businessman that made
sixfigures in the early 80s. That
said, the immigrant sense of
adventure shined with the true
immigrants (i.e. firstgeneration
Americans) born in the early
1900s. My great aunts and uncles
strongly valued family gatherings,
so purchased land and built houses
outside of town.
My entrepreneurial spirit
flickered early, though primarily in
the “nonprofit” sense, to provide
opportunities for my peers. I co
founded and stood up programming
for a youth leadership group under
Hugh O’Brian Youth Leadership
(HOBY), and served as matchmaker
years before LinkedIn and Facebook.
Overall, life was wonderful as a
child and teenager in NEPA in the
20th century.
Early Career
Sometimes it pays to be lucky,
being in the right place at the right
time with the right people. I spent
college and my twenties studying
and living in three countries
(traveling to another 20), ten US
states, and locations such as
Martha’s Vineyard in the summer
of 1998 to Austin, TX prior to the
current (infinite?) population
boom. I also picked up degrees at
Wharton and Thunderbird and
benefited immensely from a
decade at Merrill Lynch and GE
Capital.
Life was good and I quietly
built up a sizable 401(k) and
healthy Roth IRA. Stocks trended
upward, public REITs paid double
digit dividends and I could receive
a whopping 6% on a riskfree
Certificate of Deposit (CD)! I felt
very “diversified” and sophisticated
within the comforts on the Fidelity
online portal.
Turning Point
While 9/11 was an obvious shock
(I worked at 4 World Financial
Center) and wake up call to
potential horrors, daytoday
living (and investing) in the mid
2000s was quite comfortable.
That, of course, all changed in
September 2008. The curtain fell
on the Wizard of Oz, and what
was behind the curtain was not
pretty (i.e. “trusted” institutions).
Backing up a little bit, it should
be noted that I rarely go against
my gut feeling, and when I do it
tends to put my entrepreneurial
and investing endeavors on hold.
Instead of remaining in Austin in
mid2008 to be at the forefront of
the first true “organic” tequila, we
ended up back in the northeast,
paying $2,000 monthly for a
condo with a view of a wall in
Stamford, CT (when I literally
could have bought a house in east
Austin for $40K). Fast forward
three winters, the reintroduction of
state income tax, and dozens of
pints for friends laid offer during
the financial crisis it was time to
return “home” to Texas.
"Sometimes it pays
to be lucky, being in
the right place
at the right time
with the right people."
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