Getting to know about the Early Retirement Club – My story
One of the unforgettable dates in my life was the day I came across Mitchell Weijerman’s Early Retirement Club. The memories are still quite fresh in my head. How I was scammed by an ‘investment broker,’ my battle with depression, the healing, my first call with Mitchell, and the progress I have made so far. How I went from being despondent and confused about how to build back myself after a loss to having an investment portfolio that is doing pretty well.
My story is that of an immigrant who moved to Europe in search of greener pastures. I left my home country several years ago to pursue a better life in Europe. I got into Europe with the dream of becoming a sous chef and running one of the top restaurants in my host country. I was managing a food truck family business. I was doing fine, but I know deep inside I wanted more, hence my decision to move to Europe and explore better opportunities. I sold my food truck business to a friend, then used the money to pay for my travel documents and flight. I landed in Europe, and luckily for me, my host country is known for its famous haute cuisines and high-end restaurants.
I settled in with a family friend, and not too long after; I got a job in a local restaurant. I was working as a kitchen assistant, where I earned about a thousand Euros per month before taxes. As the years rolled by, I was able to afford the rent for my own apartment. I also registered for a culinary course, and things were beginning to take shape. I knew my salary wasn’t big enough to fund my dream of owning a restaurant, so I started researching various long-term investment opportunities.
Long story short, I met a man at the restaurant where I worked. He claimed to be an investment broker who advises people on investment opportunities as well as helps them manage their investments. Bear in mind that I was naïve and desperate. I believed him after he showed me a couple of testimonials and pieces of evidence (which I would later discover were doctored). Whenever he came around the restaurant, I would ask him questions. He started educating me on the right type of investment suitable for my earnings.
To test the waters, I invested a little money, from which I got some returns. He convinced me to put in more money. In his words, ‘The bigger the investments, the better the returns .’So I agreed to invest all the money I was saving at that time into the various assets he advised. That was about 20 thousand Euros at that time. The day I wired the money into his account was the last time I had any interaction with him. His phone lines suddenly became unavailable.
He stopped coming over to the restaurant. I even went to look for him at the address on his business card, but no one there knew who he was. I was shattered and broken. I was depressed for months. Even worse, I lost my job because I stopped going to work. Things went south so fast.
Thanks to the support of a family friend whom I stayed with when I newly came to Europe. His support helped me a great deal as I tried to recover from my ordeal. He encouraged me to go for counseling. He also motivated me not to give up on my dreams. That was how I was able to get back on my feet. I started looking for a new job. I was ready to start rebuilding my life.
Months went by before I was able to get an opening in another restaurant. My work experience at my former job distinguished me at the interview. However, my age was a source of concern for my employer. After much talk, I was employed. Although the pay wasn’t as good as my last job, it was better than being unemployed. I vowed not to mess up this second chance that life has given to me. I detested any talk about investments. I regarded anyone talking about investments online as a scam.
Getting to know Mitchell Weijerman; the Founder of the Early Retirement Club
A few years into my new job, my boss called me one day into his office. He was the one that introduced me to the Early Retirement Club – We once casually talked about retirement. He advised me to visit the club’s website and give him feedback the next day. I visited the Early Retirement Club’s website.
The first time I saw Mitchell was on the ERC’s website. I watched the embedded video on the site. It’s a free training where Mitchell was talking about finance. In his presentation, Mitchell said something that really got me thinking. This particular statement really struck a chord in my mind. Allow me to paraphrase him. He said something along the lines of ‘If you stopped working today, how long can your savings fund your lifestyle.’
That statement was just the spark I needed. I started reassessing what my plans are when I can’t work again. The statement spurred me to start reconsidering the possibility of achieving my dream of owning a restaurant. After watching the video, I went on Google to find out who he was.
Here are a couple of other things I learned about Mitchell:
- He didn’t start out as a serial investor/millionaire
- He retired before he turned 30 years
- He started the Early Retirement Club community to help people gain financial freedom
- He knows what it means to be confused and broke
- He used to be a 9-5ver
- He started four businesses. All of which failed.
- He once studied at Harvard.
I knew all of those things about him because my Google search led me to his social media accounts. His LinkedIn and Instagram stood out for me. I browsed through his LinkedIn posts with so much curiosity. I read his story of how he struggled in his job until he decided to leave and do something else.
The journey so far as a member of the Early Retirement Club
Before I share my progress with you, allow me to tell you why I joined the Early Retirement Club.
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Nobody was trying to sell me a course
I have been around for a while. I know how financial advisors and experts position themselves with perfect stories and content in a bid to sell you something. Their ultimate goal is to get as many sign-ups as possible. They really don’t care about the success of their students. In the Early retirement club, nobody was trying to sell me a course. Mitchell and the community managers were interested in us growing in our financial knowledge and ultimately, being financially independent.
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The program is beginner-friendly
Take it from someone who knew nothing about how investments work. My then investment advisor tried to teach me, but I wasn’t patient enough to learn. Perhaps that’s why I couldn’t see through his scheme. It’s been barely four months since I joined the Early Retirement Club. I can tell you for a fact that my knowledge about investment has significantly grown. The program is designed in such a way that you only need to know how to read to excel at it.
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Because it’s a community
The relevance of a community to learning cannot be overemphasized. Collective learning is by far more effective than learning alone. The ERC community fosters accountability and relationships between community members. One of the first few responsibilities we got as newbies was to form an accountability partner with a team member. This helped me stay consistent with taking my lessons and doing my assignments.
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I was able to trust Mitchell Weijerman
If you were also in my shoes, having been scammed of your money, then you’d also be extra careful around investment advisors. The funny thing is that Mitchell Weijerman doesn’t brand himself as an expert that knows it all. He had always established that the things he was teaching were templates that worked for him.
Another thing that convinced me that Mitchell isn’t a scam are the conversations that occur in his comments section. If he had defrauded people, I would have found out on his social media. But nothing like that was in his comments. Conversely, he was praised for his financial intelligence and his perspective on finances.
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I needed a solution
Rebuilding my life requires that I have a working system that can help me make money after I retire. I believe investing could do that for me. Coming across the Early Retirement Club was just the solution I needed.
My progress so far
I joined the Early Retirement Club some four months ago. I was added to the group after I had a call with Mitchell Weijerman. In the call, I explained my ordeal and financial goals to Mitchell. He empathized with me and assured me of his help in order to achieve my financial goals.
I am almost done with the program lessons. Anytime from now, Mitchell and I will be working together to craft investment plans and strategies that guarantee returns. In the last four months, I have had to read materials, carry out research, do assignments, form an accountability partner, and many more.
Explaining the ERC course modules
The Early Retirement Club program has three modules;
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The first module is called rewiring your brain
This module aims to correct flawed perspectives and notions that students have held about money. Everyone has a perception of money that is deep-seated in their mind. These perceptions were formed as a result of how we have related to money over the years. If these perceptions are wrong, it will affect how they behave when money is involved. This module was particularly helpful to me. It was an eye-opener.
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The second module digs deeper into investments
In this module, members are taught how they can create a holistic investment plan that works. The Early Retirement Club exposes members to the different investment portfolios they can explore. Some of these include Real estate flipping, P2P lending, crypto mining, staking, watches, stocks, ETFs, cryptocurrencies, etc.
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The third module is where members get to create their personal investment plans
The community managers, alongside Mitchell guides members as they create an investment strategy that they will commit to in a given period of time.
Reviews and feedback from other members of the Early Retirement Club
In this section, I will be sharing what other members of the club have to say about the ERC. For some, I will summarize their experiences. These are originally testimonial videos, but I will put them into text so you can read them here. I hope their stories and feedback help you in your decision to give ERC a chance.
Thimo
Thimo was looking for a program that would teach him how to invest his excess monies and manage his current investments. After joining the ERC, he has this to say “My experience thus far is that Mitchell offers a no-nonsense approach.” I definitely recommend this club to anyone, a starter or experienced investor. “I consider myself lucky to be a part of it.”
Leroy
Leroy was drawn to the ERC because he had a dream of retiring early. In his testimonial video, he said his experience so far has been positive. ‘Everything is explained very clearly,’ he added. “Right now, I will definitely recommend to anyone who has money left in the month, so they can grow a passive income with the money they have left.”
Dirk
Dirk loves the ERC course particularly because it is relatable. He loved that Mitchell told his story of how he became financially free. He said, “It’s basically a complete course on investing, which you can do with a little bit of money or a lot of money. “If you want to buy a course or coaching, this is the one to go for because I bought a lot of courses last year about investing, this is definitely the best one.” “I am super happy with it, and if you are on the line to join, then I am 100% sure you won’t regret it”.
Damian
Damian was one of the first set of ERC members when it began officially. Damian has been active in the crypto space for a long time. He knows how the crypto market works. He has been involved in a lot of financial/investment communities. He joined the ERC because of the community model it operates. Since joining, Damian has been able to build an investment portfolio worth $25k.
Alexandra
Alexandra revealed that she had zero knowledge of investment before joining the ERC. Two months later, Alexandra had this to say. ‘I feel a lot smarter’ and ‘My goals and vision got a lot clearer’. “I will recommend the Early Retirement Club to everyone who wants to invest in their future. I am very happy I have made that choice. All the information we get is very clear and very useful. And it’s also nice to be a part of a community with like-minded people”
Leo
Leo joined the ERC because he wanted to know more about passive income and investing. Leo is quite experienced in financial education communities. He has bought several courses in the past. However, He has this to say ‘Mitchell’s content is amazing. It’s super concise, and it’s super easy to get started with, especially for anyone who is looking to get into the passive income and investment game’.
Mitchell has done a fantastic job in outlining the steps in the video course and also in the Pdfs”. “If anyone is considering Mitchell’s course, I highly recommend it. Having been part of tons of online masterminds, this is by far one of the best ones out there. If you are on the fence, definitely give it a go.”
Visit the Early Retirement Club website.