Hey guys, my name is Phillippe Jackson. I’m an active duty sailor and my goal in life is to have financial freedom for me and my family by growing my assets and building passive income. I am lucky to be a father to two awesome kids and even luckier to be happily married to my best friend and no, I wasn’t paid to say that. I consider myself a silent nerd, because of my secret obsession with Star Wars and Deep Space Nine. This fact can be supported with my selection of Darth Vader coffee mugs. However, I think everyone has a secret obsession they don’t normally share with the world. None the less, I am going to share with you how I came about starting this blog, but first let me start from the beginning so you can learn about who The Green Sailor is and what drives me.
I was born in Charleston, SC. My father was in the Navy and my mother was basically fresh from the Philippines. My family settled in Charleston when I was three. Needless to say I grew up in a very diverse community. It was basically a mixture of rednecks and Filipinos, which surprisingly shared a lot of similarities. In my experience, there are three main similarities that come to mind between rednecks and Filipinos. One, they both love to drink! Two, both love to sing karaoke! Finally… both suck at it! That’s a free joke for you to put away in your arsenal. Ultimately, the diverseness of my community allowed me to have an open mind at a young age which allowed me to recognize different values and how each can be applied in life. It allows me to realize that there is no set standard of doing things and enables me to be more engaged when trying to listen to different opinions. These values that come from both my Filipino mother and my Southern father has molded me into becoming a loving husband, a caring father, and a hard working sailor.
After I graduated from high school I went to the local technical college at night and started working as a contractor at the local Navy base during the day. Soon after that I believed I was making enough money to support myself and an education and I moved out and into my first apartment. Like most young people striking out on their own, reality set in and the “adulting” started. Yes I know Mr. Spellcheck, that word hurts your brain, but it hurts mine too.
At first, I was more interested in having a social life and less concerned with money or advancing my financial IQ. Downtown Charleston was the perfect place for a young man to kill time and learn some life lessons, which I did. This is where I had my first taste of how money truly affects your lifestyle. I eventually moved back clos
er to home in order to save time and money. At this time in my life I had got my immature ways out of my system. A couple more years went by with no concern for financial literacy. Then, I met my wife, and started our family. I was still a contractor for the navy and we lived out in the country in a family owned home. That’s when the whole health insurance fiasco happened. I call it a fiasco because of the $1200 dollar monthly bill for family care I had to endure. I made too much to get benefits and I made too little to keep up with expenses. Now I was really interested in becoming financially literate and trying to open up my options. I had one specific option in mind.
So the next step in my life was joining the Navy. Shortly before the birth of my son, I had signed my contract with the Navy. I am an Operations Specialist like my father before me. (Congratulations to those who caught the SW reference!) My health care expense went from $1200 to 0, and it felt so great to get away from that expense. I not only joined to remove that expense but to obtain a more stable environment to pursue what I wanted. Ever since joining I have always had it in the back of my mind to become financially free. Now, I am devoting every second I can spare to this goal. Today I am an United States sailor, a loving husband, and a father to two. My goal is to live financially free by investing in assets and building passive income. I’m here to take a stand and build my life the way I see fit. I know it’s possible I see it happen everyday. It’s time I do something about it.
