Wealth and the getting thereof

[telomerase]

Thanks to all!

>(Flory) telomerase- If you actually told us what field you specialize in, people could give you some sort of guidance.

I'm a research assistant in a telomere lab and writer (yes, I get paid for being annoying, that's why I practice so much). CZ-75 probably has covered the subject with the words "private industry"... the difficulty being that private industry can already hire Ph.D.s for 30K a year, and thus has little perceived need for jack of all trades with a BS.

>Plus, in the original post, you asked the secret to our wealth, not to guide you to build yours.

And the stories were very inspiring; I do thank everyone for their contributions.

>So there is no need to cut on everyone's posts individually.

If I were a wealthy person with a Mercedes, Mr. Flory, I don't think my feelings would be hurt by the posts of starving wretches. (Of course you're still right about the need...)

>I come from a family that is faaaar from wealthly.

I doubt that, I imagine that your family is quite wealthy where it counts (values, stability, etc.) Wealth is mostly software, not hardware.

>The money is just flying around, catch it.

Ummm... OK. I theoretically agree with that statement, but empirically I've had a hard time demonstrating it. -hTERT

 

[fish2xs]

telomerase wrote:

>Fish2xs:
>>I could easily buy a new $50K Mercedes, but I drive a 97 Saturn that
>>was a hand-me-down after my dad passed away. My cost? $0
>
>Actually, Fish, Daniel Flory has the right idea. "Saving" money by buying a
>less safe car is false economy; I won't be able to spend all the money I
>"saved" if anyone ever hits my flimsy Geo. And neither will you. -hTERT
>

Well, respectfully, I'm going to disagree with your 'false economy' statement.
In my opinion, money is money - no matter how you slice it.

I'm going to be 39 this fall and have spent the past 20 years working and
driving in the greater Boston area. For those of you who have never been here,
Boston is the home of the worst drivers this side of Bangkok. Do I get a little
nervous on the road? Yes. But I drive defensively and I'm still alive. I will
drive the Saturn into the ground, just like I did with the Oldsmobile and with
the Jetta - each of which averaged 170K miles and 9 years before I sent them out
to pasture.

This year I bought my wife a 'new' Chevy Blazer. It was a 2001 w/ 36K miles on
it. The couple I bought it from needed to sell because they were moving to a
bigger house and were buying a new SUV they "needed" (his 'old' house was beautiful).
I talked him down to $16K because the transferable factory warranty for the power
train expired at 36K miles.

Two years prior, they paid over $32K for the Blazer. It was spotless and loaded.
I paid cash - no loan. The seller is nuts. I have a good idea what he makes and
it's less than me. I'll never buy a new car.

TMND described how the vast majority of millionaires are either independent
business owners, or people who self impose a relative poverty by saving and
investing. They also live in the same home for 25+ years.

Wealth is a lifestyle of relative frugality. Your financial situation is a
football team. The income is your offense, your expenses are your defense. Without
both being as strong as possible, your team will not win.

When I was about 25, I made the hard choice and started saving - hard. 16% of
my salary in my 401K and another 10% in company stock, which I used to diversify
into other securities (ie. nest egg). It emasculated my take-home pay. My friends
went skiing in CO, UT, etc while I stayed home. They bought new cars, I changed
my own oil. When the tech boom hit (99), I bought a house for $350K that's been
recently appraised for $.5M - and my mortgage is liveable because I put down
a big chunk. My friends could not have done this. Nor do they have a disposable
income for frivolous stuff like boats or guns. I do.

My dad is my hero and role model. He died in 1999 at 74 years. He never made more
than $25K a year. He died with an estate worth just over $1M. I still drive his
Saturn.

Best of luck to you telomerase. Finding your own path is not easy.

 

[Kentucky Rifle]

Telo...

Yeah, I've got a flinch. After the surgeon finished with me, both my hands trembled~~just slightly. I can see it through a scope. Thus, I'm no good at sniping or competing any longer.

KR

 

[Soap]

telomerase- I smell some class warfare. And for the record, my wealth was anything but handed to me. The values I've learned have helped me along the way, but 90% is plain old hard work and discipline. Where exactly does your money problem lie? Debt? Low income? Credit card debt? Lost money on your investments?

 

[zahc]

I'm 18. I'm going to college this fall undecided. Please guide me, seriously.

This thread reminds me of a few people my age who drive fancy cars and wear $200 sunglasses and $60 shirts. They got theirs from the very prosperous drug trade. It is interesting to reflect on this on the the way to work at 6 in the morning in my truck with 171,000 miles at the start of a 15 hour day. Or while handling thousands of dollars of cash in a day and realizing after taxes I'll be taking home about 50.

 

[fish2xs]

I just noticed this....

Sorry for the double post, but I just noticed this:

>Actually, Fish, Daniel Flory has the right idea. "Saving" money by buying a
>less safe car is false economy; I won't be able to spend all the money I
>"saved" if anyone ever hits my flimsy Geo. And neither will you. -hTERT

The goal here is not to spend all the money you saved. The goal is to
have enough money to live on without worrying (well that's my goal anyway).
If I die with $1M+ in the bank, that's OK by me - because that means I'll
have lived my life not worrying about my next paycheck.

...and yes, my next used vehicle purchase will probably be bigger than
a Saturn - but for now, I will take the opportunity I am presented with.

-Phil

 

[Soap]

fish- Great advice. Your success story is gonna bring a tear to me eye! Congrats on doing so well and having the heart to get there. Your statement here reflects in a nutshell how to be wealthy over the long term:

my next used vehicle purchase will probably be bigger than
a Saturn - but for now, I will take the opportunity I am presented with.

 

[pax]

Moderator tiptoes through, eyeballing the thread. Is this still gun-related? ... hmmmm......

pax

Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen nineteen and six, result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds ought and six, result misery. -- "Mr. Micawber" in David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens

 

[JohnBT]

"This thread reminds me of a few people my age who drive fancy cars and wear $200 sunglasses and $60 shirts. They got theirs from the very prosperous drug trade."

Three comments:

A) They won't get to wear the fancy duds in jail.

B) But they can be buried in them.

C) I've seen enough of them here at work...paraplegia, quadriplegia, traumatic brain injury...all from gunshot wounds.

John

 

[fish2xs]

to Zahc

yikes, I am going to get nothing done this morning

yo Zahc: You are in better shape than you think. First, (hopefully) you are
not selling drugs and living their lifestyle. Shun this and the floozey broads
it attracts at all costs!

Second, you have the most valuable asset imagineable - time.

Third, you are in better shape than you think, because you care and are thinking
about this now. You are better off than your short-visioned compatriots who
are trying to find easy street, and living solely for the moment.

I cannot guide you on what major to take or what business to get into. I will
suggest that whatever you take, include some business classes so that you can
speak the language. You must pursue the trade which interests you and become
the best you can be at it.

The best advice I can give you is two fold. First, dont stop caring. Second,
your education does not end when you graduate... read read and read some more.
Find people who are successful and talk to them. Figure out what they did, see
if it makes sense and do it.

Don't get sucked in by expensive cars, trophy wives and big vacations. It is
not true wealth. The only place where success comes before work is in the
dictionary.

 

[fish2xs]

>> Moderator tiptoes through, eyeballing the thread. Is this still gun-related? ... hmmmm......


and buy quality used guns whenever possible.....

 

[Kentucky Rifle]

Pax...

I'll make it more gun related! I'll go over to the closest gun shop and purchase a Ti Beretta Tomcat today! I've been wanting one of those gray babies for a long time. They've also got quite a selection of AK-47's. HUMmmm.
That black one with the all black furniture which is built "completely" in the USA.
What was that brand?

Daniel's right. Buy things that <create> wealth. Those stocks work...(So I don't have to. ) Still have the flinch or tremble or whatever it is. (By the way, I drive a pickup truck. Easier to get in and out of. Yes, it's new.)

KR

 

[Lennyjoe]

Wealthy I am not.

Joining the military is definitely not the way to live a life of wealth and prosperity.

But I cannot complain. Its not about the money why I am still serving today. Those of you in the military and who have been there know why I still serve today.

My wants far exceed my financial capability when it comes to purchasing firearms. But I manage to save up some now and then to purchase a firearm.

Most of my range time is on the weekends.

Speaking of range time, gotta run and get some more ammo for this weekend.

 

[Topgun]

A-mazing....!!

When you guys gonna finally figger out that you ain't NEVER gonna get "rich" with this cesspool government?

MOST favored nation..........CHINA!
Anyone who can read that and not puke doesn't DESERVE to ask about where the riches are.

Ever since Roonie Raygun aced the PATCO union, the workin stiff has just been a STIFF.
And his "trickle down" economics.......ha ha ha ha...Ain't "tricklin" very fast is it?
And BUSHY1 and Clintoon.........New World Order afficionados both. And the present lying loon....BRING EM ON........whoops....no WMD's.....Operation Big Whoops. Can anyone spell "Vietnam?"

"Oh, but Ronnie wiped out the Russkies".....suuuuuure he did. Russia is now an economic POWERHOUSE who will join with whoever wants to wipe us out just as soon as we can't afford to BUY anything and be "useful" to them.

So keep buying at the discount store, because you can't AFFORD anything else (and they sell lots of CHINESE thingies) Otherwise, your only choice is the local merchant who might support YOU someday. ("but it's so cheeeeeeeeap there" he whines)
See how "cheap" some more fired Americans are. (YOU is gonna support em)

Also keep the wife employed because you haven't figured out the "plan" yet and still think that an economic "turnaround" is right around the corner (cuz da gummint tells you so) and you .......NEED.....that flat plasma TV to watch the WONDERFUL stuff on TV.

An, hey Monkeyleg! I used to be self-employed too. Retired now. Self-employed is the absolute WORST bank risk. You ain't got no new job to look for if YOUR income drops or stops. I was a pawnbroker and made LOTS of loans to the self-employed.

A very rotten kettle of fish here, folks. And getting worse with our FULL cooperation.

Sooo.....get out of debt, LOOK at the value of the dollar today....buy gold....and INCOME producing stocks or bonds (yes...BONDS) ONLY (which will SOAR when the stupid boomers finally find out they ain't got no source of income) and make YOURSELF your only nation.

http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/
http://www.wage-slave.org/scorecard.html

 

[telomerase]

>telomerase- I smell some class warfare.

No, I'm an orthodox anarcho-capitalist. Just taking a mental break from the grindstone to figure out whether I'm grinding on the right stone (or even in the right mill).

> And for the record, my wealth was anything but handed to me. The values I've learned have helped me along the way, but 90% is plain old hard work and discipline.

I think being born here rather than in Rwanda probably helped a little. Surely you can admit that trade with the billions of people in the world economy has helped too? (Maybe you shouldn't, though; studies show that successful people have the most inaccurate views of their effectiveness. I could probably handle that aspect of successful thinking, if I worked at it...

>Where exactly does your money problem lie? Debt? Low income? Credit card debt? Lost money on your investments?

Low income, definitely. I've made money on my investments just fine; I even avoided most of the recent crash and am back to where I was before. -HTERT

 

[Mike Irwin]

I'm not married, and I'm not happy about that, but that's another story.

I'm not a millionari, but I am well off, due largely, and paradoxically, to breaking up with the ex wife, who was the money sump of all money sumps.

How I get to take time off is to tell my boss that I'm taking a day off and using my accrued vacation leave.

Affording the firearms is something that's come over time. It's not been easy, and there have been times that I've made some pretty serious sacrifices in order to buy a gun that I really wanted, but at that time really shouldn't have purchased.