Yep, I'm going with the "Lotto" crowd.

I'm going to stand in the middle of a Golf Course in Nebraska with my Golf Club held high in the air during a Thunder Storm....

yeh - pimp her out

Ya...makes claiming an addiction/abuse "disability" attractive even if you're not using at all. I can't feel too sorry for the insurance company as they simply pass the cost along in higher premiums for everyone else.

Nonsense. Everyone knows there aren't enough guitar players in the world...that totally is the best way to get rich.

Cool, thanks. I can live cheaply, the wife is another story though. Maybe if shes working she'll cut back, too.

Whatever it is, it will involve repetition of service.

The Boomers aren't dying yet. Soon, but not yet...

I used to want to be a mortician as a kid..now I help people protect their assets from death, longevity

BEST answer yet!

Rob a bank? Sell cocaine?

You are mistaking Cause and Effect.

When you have lots of money, you typically don't have time. The converse is painfully true. Truly "rich" people have enough funds to support the lifestyle they enjoy and the time to enjoy it.

Now it's true that there are a fair number of people that become reasonable wealthy for being at the right company/in the right industry at the right time.

There are a large percentage of people that through owning a small, moderately successful business, do better than average because the business (remember, it has to make reasonable profit first) can help subsidize lifestyle/entertainment expenses.

There are folks that like moving numbers around, making deals, figuring out a better way to skin the cat. Some of these folks make an absolute killing on Wall Street - as brokers, dealers, money managers, etc. It's falling out of favor a bit, but over history, bankers tend to rebound and do well. So if you have a head for figures and like playing that game, that's a reasonably good way to make better than average money. On the periphery, there are small bubbles of activity, such as residential mortgage brokers in SoCal a few years back that were making serious coin. Most of them never saw the signs and cashed out, so many/most are BK today.

Usually the people that are the happiest and most successful have followed the simple rule, do something you love and you'll never work a day in your life. While it helps that the "thing you love" can generate a reasonable income, at the end of the day how you judge your own personal success in life is rarely measured by a bank account of a collection of depreciating assets.

YMMV.

BTW...what $N is considered rich?

thanks - you make some good points.

Don't get me wrong, I'm pretty dang happy. Although I would love to play guitar all day long, I realize I am not going to make a good living at it. And I even have an expensive degree in music, because I used to believe I should do what I love the most. Oh well.
Now I balance doing what I need to do (work) with something I can tolerate (math, finance). It's not my favorite thing to do, but its fine.

That said, I want to make the most of my life and see how far I can go. Not in a totally dickish, ego-maniac kind of way though.

I love where I live and I love porsches, just want to learn from someone on here how to make it happen. Sounds like I am on the right track.

Quick estimate:

Owning a home here in socal: $8m
Porsche: $160k
kids education saved up:$200k
Money for annual expenses for life, after tax (assuming no inflation): $150k year.

The present value of all this is ~$12m (assuming I can get a perpetuity @4% to fund my annual expenses for life.)

Definitve Answer
 

Get an orangish spray tan, hang out on the Jersey Shore, drink and screw with complete abandon, and you will actually get rich.....;)http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1326936648.jpg

First, I am not rich, so caveat the following with that.

Rich means different things to different people. For me, having a healthy family, no debt and some means of saving towards a retirement stream of income is rich. Rich is also spending time merrymaking with friends and family. Sometimes this merrymaking costs nothing more than time, good food, good wine and the logs in the fire pit, ie, not a lot.

I will tell you this: Unless you are born with it, wealth is created over what seems an excruciatingly slow period of time. Using the law of 7 (investment doubles over seven years), wealth can be created. Very rarely do people achieve much wealth working for others unless they can capture a piece of their employers revenue stream (ie, commissions on sales, investments, etc).

We too have been living on a single income in CA since our daughter was born 9 years ago. Yes, many of our peer groups with two incomes have more shiny baubles than we do, but we wouldn't sacrifice the investment we make into raising our daughter with skills, ethics, confidence and morals like we do.

I too lust over a 997 GT3. I mean LLLUUUUUSSSTTTT. Someday I will get one, but after I have my aforementioned retirement revenue stream locked up. I recently purchased a supercharged E36 M3 in pristine shape for about 20% of the cost of the 997 GT3's I was looking at. The driving experience is top notch, the car fits me well and it's a joy to drive. Not a P-car, but it suits me for now.

Good luck.

yep, sounds like I need to start my own business.

Congrats on the BMW! Sounds awesome.

I agree with you on that you can enjoy your life without money, or the things that matter the most don't cost anything. Still, I like really nice things and I like challenges and figuring things out. I want to figure out how I can earn more moolah.

wow, she's pretty cute in the before picture. Probably was taken years before the "after" pic, too though

and that, my left leaning friends, is what this great country has been founded on. A man with a desire to better his lot in life should not be hobbled by .gov in the pursuit of wealth creation. I will cease before I PARF this thread.

Don said it well...

"Truly "rich" people have enough funds to support the lifestyle they enjoy and the time to enjoy it."

"Rich" to me means when you "retire" you can work if you choose to, not because you have to. I live in the LA area, when I "retire" in about 7-8 years I will be leaving California. They want too much tax for the luxury of living here. I started putting money in a 401K 30 years ago, I look back and wish I'd put more in, but still not bad. Currently, I'm able to put away about 25% of post-tax income into retirement. You have to build it up over decades, not years. Pay your mortgage off before you retire. Between pension(s), IRAs, 401Ks, other cash on hand, SS, my wife and I hope to be very comfortable. I'm doing my world travel now on my employer's $ since they're willing to send me places that I won't be able to afford when I "retire".

Don't like baseball?

Because maybe you could be like, an announcer. Like a color man. Or maybe the manager of the NY Yankees.

sounds good.

I've been in 401ks for about 10 years and had absolutely abyssmal returns.

As much as I like it here, I can understand moving someplace cheaper. I wish I had a garage for my 911, for 1 thing.

There are limits to what you can put away into your 401(k).

One of my business ideas is developing defined benefit plans (pensions) for individual sales. There are no limits as to what you can put away and I bear the investment risk, not you. I just need to pass a couple more actuarial exams to be able to sign off on the annual solvency statements required.

Don't worry overly about travel, Hugh. Once you reach my age, you won't like it much anyway...Travel upsets a body's daily schedule, and when that gets upset, you'll get uncomfortable...

Put it another way...I would interupt the telemarketer's speil that I had won a free trip by saying I didn't want to go there...and I was speaking the truth.

Lol

what is that from?

It certainly has been a dismal decade of investing...

I'm 37 and I don't like traveling. I was kinda imaging I;d like it more in the future when I don't have to worry about coordinating everyone and getting all stressed out.

Would you like traveling if it were by limo, and you got to stay at the 4 Seasons?

Not me...

Work with your government contacts to minimize your competition, while at the same time creating tax credits for your industry.

hell yeah

and if someone would take care of my kids....


I do get to stay in the 4 seasons in Atlanta this coming March! With open bar, too!

yep, that's basically my plan.

Only enrolled actuaries (defined by the IRS) can sign off on these defined benefit plans. The math tests required are a huge barrier to entry. Most people are terrified of math.

Tax deferral is a huge thing.

This could be a great idea. I think a lot of employees are dissatisfied with defined contribution plans. I've thought it was a bad road to go down over a decade ago. The way companies handed off retirement plans to employees was irresponsible. Very little education was done and most employees have horrible choices with high fees. I better stop now before I climb on to one of my soapboxes.

I did earn an excellent return on my gold....I bought it when it was $330/oz back in 2003 or so, right before we invaded Iraq. I KNEW that was a bad idea, and I used to follow gold prices as a kid, so I knew $330/oz was way out of line.

I sold my gold to buy my Porsche 911. I earned a 24% annual return over 8 years. That's pretty good. Oh, and no taxes either because I bought physical gold with cash.

Move to a place where the cost of living is lower, get a job at same salary you currently have (get the job before moving!) and your disposable income will increase. Best way to do it if to get hired by a company with a good relocation package...

I did that, but in the opposite direction...moved to CA from NC. I got a big bump in pay, but rent eats it up. Food is cheaper here though. And I use less heat.

I know where you're coming from. I have never bought a new car in my life but after seeing the new 911 I really want one. After seeing one I thought, crap I am not going to live long enough till the price on a used one comes down enough for me to buy one. Getting old sucks!

Bernie P

Not a limo, but in most oversees places I do get a driver, usually with a nice MB 500 or 600 class. My hotels, are for the most part 4 or 5 Star. Once in a while I get stuck in a Holiday Inn, but not a Holiday Inn Express. SmileWavy

Work, work work, save, don't dispose of your income, save it, don't waste your money on what everyone else has or wants get what you need, save for it..