Gary Wilber

Co-owner Oakwood Sod Farm, Delmar MD
Grower of cold tolerant bermudagrasses Patriot and Latitude 36, bentgrass, zoysia, and tall fescue sod.

[Gary Wilber @sodguygary]

@wright_iv And I hate deer, and I hate geese

[Gary Wilber @sodguygary]

@wright_iv I hate spiders.

[Gary Wilber @sodguygary]

@ArkansasTurf I hope that’s in a good way.

[Gary Wilber @sodguygary]

Goal. Action. Success. Half-Marathon. 2.26

[Gary Wilber @sodguygary]

Pretty good color for a bermudagrass yard in Maryland on Thanksgiving.

[Gary Wilber @sodguygary]

@wright_iv Was that Delmar? How did they get it down?

[Gary Wilber @sodguygary]

@wright_iv Nice!

[Andrew Lokenauth @FluentInFinance]

Never let a job steal your life — Here are 20 tips on retiring earlier and building more wealth (with a high rate of return):

1) According to many, being “rich” looks like:

• Mansions
• Sports cars
• Designer clothes
• Luxury vacations

But, true wealth really is:

• Health
• Time freedom
• Location freedom
• Financial freedom

Money is a tool, so use your income to buy assets.

2) The financial freedom roadmap:

• Avoid lifestyle creep
• Create a budget to cut expenses
• Max out your Roth IRA & 401k match
• Pay off high-interest consumer debt
• Establish a 3-6 month emergency fund
• Increase your income with investments, side hustles, or side business

3) Consider opportunity cost when making large purchases. If you make $20/ hour:

• A night out isn't $300, it's 15 hours of your time (or 2 days of work)

• A car isn't $50,000, it's 2,500 hours of your time (or 357 days of work)

Time is your most valuable asset, use it wisely

4) Your network will determine your net worth, so surround yourself with mindsets to help you grow, not hold you back.

Surround yourself with those who lift you higher and let go of those who don’t.

Create a network that discusses opportunities to make money, not only spend it.

5) Schools won't teach you this, but you'll be working for money your whole life unless you start making money work for you.

Every dollar is an employee & needs to be given a job.

Use your salary to invest in passive income so that passive income replaces your salary.

6) If want to build wealth, you must learn as much as you can about:

• Taxes
• Investing
• Real Estate
• Personal Finance
• The Stock Market
• Financial Planning

Money may not buy happiness, but money will eliminate the stress & anxiety that not having money creates.

7) Who you choose to marry will be one of the biggest financial decisions of your life.

A mistake can cost thousands, including time, peace, and legal fees.

The right decision will help you reach your highest potential and live a happy and fulfilling life.

8) It doesn't matter if you've invested $100 or $1,000 or $10,000,

What's important is that you're doing something to improve your future and build generational wealth.

Investing for 20 years may seem hard, but being old and broke will be a lot harder.

Choose your "hard".

9) If you don't know where to start investing, buy an Index Fund that tracks the S&P 500.

You can have over $1.3 million when you are 60 if you invest $100 a week ($400 a month) into an S&P 500 index fund at 25, which historically earns about 11% ear year, on average.

10) You can't “save” your way to wealth, you must invest.

Each day your money sits in a bank, you're losing money due to inflation. You must invest in assets to protect your cash.

The richest 10% of Americans own 90% of all stocks, and the bottom 90% only own 10% of all stocks.

11) Health is wealth

Many costly medical problems are caused by poor sleep, lack of exercise, or bad nutrition.

Medical bills can be very expensive and can add up over time.

Take care of your health now to avoid high expenses in the future.

12) Everything in life is negotiable:

Negotiating is a very skill when it comes to building wealth.

Whether you're negotiating a raise for work, the price of a car or home, or the interest rate on a loan, learning to negotiate will help you save money and increase your wealth.

13) Teach your child about money:

Warren Buffet has a children’s cartoon with 26 episodes where he teaches:
• Wealth
• Money
• Investing
• Business
• Personal Finance

4 Board Games to teach kids about money:
• Payday
• Monopoly
• Cashflow 101
• The Game of Life

14) Hire your kids tax-free:

If you own a business & have kids under 18, you can pay them $13,850 tax-free & deduct it from your taxable income.

Your child will owe $0 in taxes & you legally avoided tax on $13,850.

They can invest $6,500 of that in a tax-free ROTH IRA.

15) Make your child a millionaire by 25:

• Invest $150/week in an S&P 500 index fund when they are born & nothing more

• By the age of 25 this should grow to over $1 million due to compound interest

*based on an 11% return after the S&P 500's historical average over 96 years

16) Maximize your employer 401k matches so "free money" can compound:

a 401k match is free money from your employer, which grows tax-free until you withdraw it.

This will result in a substantial amount of money over time due to the power of compound interest.

17) Maximize your Roth IRA contributions for retirement:

A Roth IRA can make you a tax-free millionaire, it's the ultimate tax loophole.

Investing $100 a week into your Roth IRA with an S&P 500 Index Fund will change your life

Aim to contribute the maximum, $6,500 per year

18) A car is a depreciating asset (a new car loses ~20% of its value the minute it's driven off the lot)

Don't overspend on an expensive car, just to drive it to a job you hate.

If your car payment is higher than your credit score, you don't need it.

19) Recognize lifestyle creep

Making more money won't fix poor spending habits.

Just because you start making more money, doesn’t mean you should spend more.

Increasing your lifestyle expenses without increasing your income will cause your expenses to build up in the long run.

20) Not negotiating your salary will cost you thousands over the course of your career.

Most employers have flexibility when it comes to salary.

If you don't negotiate your salary, you are leaving money on the table that you could have had if you had just asked.

[Gary Wilber @sodguygary]

Beautiful spring day! Pickleball in the afternoon, first game of bocce in the afternoon.

[James D. McCurdy @MSTurfgrass]

@willlber knocking it out of the park at @MSTurfAssoc Roadshow… talking about new herbicides and development trends. @MSUTurfSchool

[Gary Wilber @sodguygary]

My new job. #ILikeCorn

[James D. McCurdy @MSTurfgrass]

@willlber is a natural.

[Oakwood Sod Farm @OakwoodSodFarm]

Today, Oakwood Sod Farm closed after 37 years in the turfgrass sod business. We would like to thank everyone who has supported us over the years. Our equipment will be sold on November 5th, at an auction conducted by Pete Richardson Auction Sales at our farm in Delmar, MD.

[Graduate Student Association - MSU @msstate_gsa]

Our Secretary is Amy Wilber! Amy is a former department representative for the Plant and Soil Sciences department and has been such an asset as our new Secretary.

[Oakwood Sod Farm @OakwoodSodFarm]

Trying something different this year. #BeeFriendly

[Gary Wilber @sodguygary]

@SodWhisperer @OakwoodSodFarm We will.

[Oakwood Sod Farm @OakwoodSodFarm]

We have decided to close Oakwood Sod Farm. The last day for sales will be August 31st, depending on staff and inventory. Thank you to everyone that helped us to be successful for the last 37 years.

[Gary Wilber @sodguygary]

@wright_iv I think so. I don’t think I have had to go to back to those pivots for that problem.

[Gary Wilber @sodguygary]

@RemsbergInc Can you teach a color blind guy to take good color pictures?