R500 000 / month
after tax, machine running itself. That number is really a capital number — passive income is what wealth pays out, not how it's built:
REITs · 9.2%
R114M
zero work, zero leverage
Student lets
±R45M
leveraged, tenants amortise
Milestone: R100k/m
R20M / R9M
REITs vs property route
The lane (decided 16 Aug): construction & property. The job teaches how buildings get costed, scheduled and delivered — the exact skill of owning student accommodation later. One lane, every rung feeds the next: course → planner job → bankable → rooms → buildings. Trading rides alongside as the accelerator, never the lane.
Upgraded 17 Aug — succession is Dad's stated plan, from his own mouth: the company comes to me one way or another. That names the vehicle for the R500k/m: not the planner salary (that's R30–90k/m market rate) — owner economics. A construction firm's profit at 8–12% net margin is where the number lives. The planner seat is the classroom: the schedule is the one document every cost, trade and promise flows through, so it's where I learn the machine I'll run. Salary funds the ladder below; the company is the crown asset on top.
The two roads to the number
Road A — with trading
- Planner job = income + bankability
- FVG LAW log → 20+ real trades
- Prop firm eval → funded account
- Scale funded capital → own capital
- Capital → student lets + REITs
Road B — without trading
- Planner job = income + bankability
- Save hard → rent-to-rent (±R60k start)
- First bond → student let #1
- Repeat → ±10 doors
- Managing agent at 8–10% → passive
Both roads start with the same rung: the course. That's why it's the only thing marked NOW.
Now · this week
NOW
MS Project — course #2, the live assignment
→ PMI DONE ×2: Basics passed 20 Aug (2 days early), EL015 Construction Scope & Change Order passed 27 Aug — certificate issued same day. MS Project is what Dad named next. Registered at School of IT 24 Aug, licence ordered by Dad 21 Aug. The only gap is the Drive course pack, shared 25 Aug, still unopened. Comms (EL156) bought 25 Aug, starts when he says.
PMI ×2 COMPLETE · DAD'S GATE = ANY QUALIFICATION (confirmed 27 AUG) · NEXT: MS PROJECT
NOW
FVG LAW — log every trade
→ Each signal taken: instrument · entry type · marks (◆»✦⌖) · result. 20 rows unlocks the prop-firm step. The log is the bottleneck, not the indicator.
STARTED 14 AUG · 4–0 DAY ONE · APP: TRADINGVIEW + MT5
Next · after the course
NEXT
CAPM exam
→ Book straight after the course — its 23 hours ARE the entry requirement. ±R4,000. "CAPM®" goes on the CV.
NEXT
MS Project course
→ Dad sent MS links, so MS it is. Fastest+cheapest: School of IT online from R8,900 · Classic R10,500 (Midrand venue 17–19 Nov). Full comparison lives in
PLANNER.
NEXT
Activate the job
→ CV + Pnet updated with CAPM + MS Project, then Dad's company or his recommendation. Entry: project administrator / coordinator, ±R16–20k/m, planner track.
THE JOB = INCOME + WHAT MAKES THE BANK SAY YES
Later · each unlocks on a condition
LATER
Prop firm evaluation
→ Unlocks at 20+ logged FVG trades with positive expectancy. Check SA payout terms on the firm's own site before paying — some allow signup, block payout.
LATER
Rent-to-rent — first rooms
→ Unlocks with job income. Lease a house near UJ (93,000-bed gap at one university), landlord's written sublet consent, let per room. ±R60k to start, ±R3k/m clear per house. Private-paying students first, not NSFAS.
LATER
Student let #1 — with a bond
→ Unlocks with payslips. R1M house as 6 rooms ≈ R21k/m gross vs R10k bond — cash-positive, tenants pay the asset off. Check municipal zoning before buying.
LATER
REIT auto-invest
→ Unlocks with first salary. Any amount, monthly, 9.2% sector average — the truly passive lane while the property engine builds.
LATER
UJ — HCBM15, Jan 2027
→ Opens ±5 Jan 2027, free application, capacity is the clock. Reminder set to fire every session from 2 Jan. Runs parallel to the job — not instead of it.
Parked · alive, not this month
PARKED
Marketplace templates · Pnet freelance · DIAL
Verified routes, profiles live. They resume if the main lane stalls — not before.
Closed · do not reopen
- AI-training platforms (Outlier, Mercor, Appen…) — all ban AI assistance. Structural, not fixable.
- Prolific — SA not eligible.
- Andela — 4yr experience wall, bans AI in assessment.
- Selling websites / outreach services — the lane runs on outreach, and outreach is the thing being escaped.
- DUT Higher Certificate (now) — their page: minimum age 23 + 3 years experience. Reopens later by itself.
- Single-let flat as income — prime 10.5% vs 4–6% net yield = negative cash flow. It's a wealth play for later, not an income play now.