Sho Matsuo Post, 38, has built a $2 million real estate portfolio, according to documents seen by CNBC Make It.
Courtesy of Sho Matsu Post
The idea of financial independence may mean different things to different people, but one common way to define it is having enough money that you no longer need to rely on a job, a paycheck, or another person to support your lifestyle.
Although the path to financial independence may seem difficult, there is a tried and true method for success: living within your means and investing what you save.
And that’s exactly what Sho Matsuo Post did to achieve the freedom he enjoys today. For about seven years, the 38-year-old has consistently invested more than 50% of his and his wife’s income into real estate.
Now, Matsuo Post owns a $2 million real estate portfolio consisting of six rental properties in the United States and three in Japan, according to documents seen by CNBC Make It.
“I’m very fortunate to be able to say this, but I don’t have to work for money,” Matso Post told CNBC Make It. “I enjoy making money, but I can focus on what I want to do… It’s the complete opposite.”
Today, Matsuo Post lives in Japan with his wife and two children. In addition to managing his investments, he also creates online educational content on real estate investing and runs his own consulting company, Post FI, which helps foreigners buy property in Japan.
The beginning of the real estate investment journey
Matso Post’s journey to financial independence wasn’t easy. He changed career paths several times, working in industries like journalism, retail, and technology before entering real estate.
Born and raised in Japan, he moved to the United States at the age of 15 and ended up staying there for about eight years to study and start his career. After his stint in the United States, Matsuo Post also worked in Hong Kong for several years before settling in Japan with his wife Christina seven years ago.
After getting married in 2017, Matso Post and his wife decided to merge their finances. When they first started investing, they focused primarily on index funds and ETFs, but eventually decided they wanted to be more active in their investments rather than waiting for stock market returns.
“We found a property and kept talking about it, and then we decided we could live on one income,” said Matso Post. They chose to live off Christina’s teaching income and saved Shaw’s entire salary to buy their first property.
“We were very fortunate to be able to do that, as our jobs were relatively high-paying at the time, and we were saving a lot of money,” said Matso Post, adding that the couple eventually saved more than $250,000 before investing in their first property.
In 2018, Matso Post and his wife bought their first property — a duplex in Minnesota — for a total of $216,500, according to documents reviewed by CNBC Make It. Just a year later, they bought three more rental properties in Minnesota and New York.
Leaving the corporate world
In September 2022, Matsuo Post was laid off after his company closed the business division he worked in. But after assessing his financial situation, he realized that it was no longer necessary to find another office job.
“So after I got laid off from the startup, I had a choice between going back to the corporate world or starting my own business,” said Matsuo Post. Ultimately, he decided he wanted to spend more time with his family, so he chose to leave the corporate world for good.
Shortly after being laid off, Matsuo Post started his YouTube channel, which has garnered over 100,000 subscribers, and in 2023, he started his real estate consulting company Post FI, or Post “Financial Independence.”
“I would never go back,” said Matso Post. “Becoming financially independent is so important, but retiring and never having to work — I realized that wasn’t something I wanted. I wanted an engaging job that I didn’t have to retire from.”
“If it generates money, that's great, and if it doesn't, that's fine too, because you have other forms of income coming in to support your lifestyle,” he said.
3 Tips to Achieve Financial Independence
When asked about the guidelines he used to achieve financial independence, Post said:
Invest in yourself first. Read books, attend seminars, and learn from others who have already achieved similar goals to yours. Increase your earning potential. Saving won’t make you rich, but it allows you to have money, which helps you take more risks with higher payoffs. Be frugal. Save more than 50% of your income.
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