P
hysician couple Letizia Alto and Kenji Asakura founded Semi-Retired MD, a platform that teaches doctors how to achieve financial freedom through real estate investing.
Letizia Alto and Kenji Asakura started buying investment properties together in 2015. They worked 80-hour weeks as hospitalists and wanted to buy back time for themselves. After scaling up to over 100 units, they achieved financial freedom and now teach others how to do the same.
At the height of their medical careers, Alto and Asakura had to schedule time on their calendars just to see each other. They were both working more than full-time and logging 80-hour weeks. When they took a step back and considered what they wanted for their future, they realized that the grueling workweeks didn't fit in.
Asakura asked Alto, "What do you really want for your life? Presume there are no limits. What would you want to do?" Alto's answer was specific: she wanted to spend months out of the year in Italy, producing olive oil and hosting friends. This thought experiment shifted their mindset and led them to consider alternative sources of income.
While traveling in a camper van through New Zealand on their honeymoon, they read "Rich Dad Poor Dad" and resonated with its core themes. They realized that they were employees trading time for money and would never be able to achieve their desired lifestyle unless they had another source of income outside of medicine.
The couple decided to start investing in real estate when they returned home to Seattle. Asakura already had experience in real estate, having grown up with his parents' investments and starting his own portfolio after medical school. He learned from his early mistakes and developed a plan for success.
Alto and Asakura started by buying two duplexes outside Seattle, filled the units with tenants, and generated rental income. They continued to buy small, undervalued multi-family properties, used tax strategies to shield their income from taxes, and rolled their rental income into more properties. By 2017, they were bringing in over six figures of rental cash flow.
Today, Alto and Asakura own over 150 personal units and over 400 syndicated doors. They reside in Puerto Rico but travel about six months a year. Their goal was never to chase big cash flow goals but to buy themselves time-freedom and continue contributing to the world with purpose.
