Veteran Marine Steve Davis Teaches the Middle Class the Principles of Financial Independence

Many seek financial freedom, but few achieve it. But how does one even define the financial freedom they seek? For Veteran Marine and Total Wealth Academy CEO Steve Davis, financial freedom means having a second stream of income that allows individuals to create a more joyful and balanced life. Traditionally, the ideas that can help you become wealthy and financially independent have been gatekept by the rich, but Total Wealth Academy is here to prove that you can obtain financial freedom and become wealthy — even if you don’t come from wealth.

Davis attended Texas A&M University on a Navy ROTC scholarship with a Marine Corps option. Davis’s mentor, Col. A.I. Thomas, USMC retired, taught him to improvise, adapt, and overcome any obstacle or challenge that came in his way. 

Two years after Davis decided to leave college to run a hamburger business with his friend, they weren’t happy with where they were financially, so they began to pursue careers in corporate America. However, Davis would soon realize that having even a “stable” job in corporate America wasn’t all that it was cracked up to be. He found himself working 60 hours a week for five years, only for his company to cut his pay by $20,000. 

He knew that this wasn’t a sustainable way for him to earn a living and eventually retire happily, so at the age of 27 — with bad credit and no money — he left his job to start investing in real estate. Since then, he has invested in over 4,000 apartment units, and shares his knowledge with others through an investing program.

The training offered by Total Wealth Academy teaches active and passive strategies for investing in such sources as single-family homes, self-storage complexes, apartments, hotels, mobile home parks, commercial buildings, and more. Davis’ program is one that prepares individuals to participate in the most diverse investing platform in the country, leaving you with the best possible opportunities to generate additional streams of income. Members can enjoy access to coaches and consultants who can help them learn the skills they need to become sophisticated investors and achieve financial independence. 

Total Wealth Academy’s live seminars, online classes, and 1-on-1 coaching guides participants through the real estate investing process step-by-step, guiding them on how to build their wealth. Davis believes that the wealthy are often better equipped to teach their children the principles of building wealth and achieving financial security because, in many cases, it is something that they have done firsthand. By comparison, the poor and the middle class are rarely given opportunities to have this experience for themselves or their own children. Having built his own wealth and financial freedom, Davis prides himself on bestowing his knowledge and experience to those who weren’t born into wealth.

Davis prides himself on working with the people who will benefit from this deeper understanding of financial freedom. First responders and active-duty military receive a 50% discount on all services offered by Total Wealth Academy. Additionally, several members of Total Wealth Academy are veterans of the US military, and Davis’s system has allowed them to find financial freedom to enjoy their retirement.

The foundations of Davis’s teaching is rooted in the principle that building a second stream of income is the surest way to become financially independent. “The highest-risk position that you can be in today is to rely solely on a job for your income,” says Davis. “The only people succeeding today have a second stream of income.” Generating this second stream of income through real estate can help you meet — or even exceed — your wants and needs, setting you up with a level of savings that will sustain you through retirement.

Davis also hosts a radio show syndicated on stations throughout the Houston area and available in podcast format. In the show, he discusses some of the guiding principles that define his teaching. His show currently has more than 360 episodes, in which he discusses hundreds of topics that can help members of the middle class to better understand a life of financial literacy and security.

Still, financial literacy does not stop with merely learning these principles. Davis believes that constant growth is required to lead a balanced life. “If you were content with stagnation, you wouldn’t be seeking out this type of guidance in the first place,” Davis says. “You want to continue to achieve so that you can exceed what you want and need, which is what will give you the financial freedom you desire.”