Building Wealth

As with most people, I am not willing to take the risk and do not have the drive to do something like that. All I can hope for is decent job util I am 70, hopefully have 1 mil plus in asset at that time.

Maybe luck will look down kindly at me and let win the mega lotto, that will make my life much easier.:grin:

 

This. This. This.

 

i love life, take the bad and move forward
try to appreciate all the small things

 

I recommend inheriting 200 million from fred trump.



I hate to say it but having tons of capital allows you to fail. I know this trust fund baby that gets in to all kinds of businesses. None of them work and he finally got one that is semi going. Of course he will tell you he's self made and I noticed all the trust fund babies have a real sore spot about 'not working' and inheriting but frankly that is the best way.

True maybe but just because you are in a small business doesnt mean you will be profitable or that you will become wealthy.

In 2005 I left the real world to start a small business and now 8 years in I am profitable but I make WAAAY less than if I had a normal job.At times I have slow bled my assets and finances and generally when I get a good contract or sales up, the money has to go back into the business So any chance of anything goes back into it. If you make more sales you can always - put more towards marketing, more towards the website, more towards SEO, more towards more employees, expansion, new equipment, etc.

People could argue I did this or that wrong and sure that's part of it but at the end of the day if you own a tire shop or a hair salon.. how much are you REALLY going to make? There's a reason why everytime you go to a convenience store or family owned place it's always the same damn dude there. Why? Because he's the owner and if he wasn't there 24/7 365 he wouldnt even be IN business.

I am not suggesting against a small business I am saying that I would keep that steady eddy paycheck and build the business on side. Once the business is up and going REALLY GOOD then make transition. Even then I would avoid taking on debt or having a bunch of debt in your name. There are plenty of small businesses that are a slave to their creditors.

Also if running a small business remember just because you have a site or a place rented or whatever you still need ramp up period and that can go for years as you build clients/business. This is VERY important. It's called working capital and many business blow their wad getting to opening day and then only have 6 months of capital. You need to have a whole separate budget with the idea of ongoing capital. How much does it cost to run this business for a year or x period with 0 sales. Sure it may not be 0 sales but if you don't have operating cash you are even more likely to fail. That's the great thing about a guy that's gifted money like trump. Blow 199 million on whatever and you still have a million for ongoing.

You hear success stories but most of the time those are the exceptions. You might make it 5 years down the road and be making the equivalent of 10 bucks an hour working 24/7 365. That's certainly not building wealth.. that's getting by.

I'm at the part where it has been fun and all but I am definitely thinking about that steady eddy paycheck again. Working for the man sucks but perhaps instead of loading it all back into the business I could start to go on vacations and some of the fun stuff I used to do. Sorry to rant but just be careful. Sure there are folks that have made good money on small business but it is not easy and lots of luck and timing as well.

or as they say 'better to be lucky than good'

 

See how hard it is to start a business? One way to create wealth fast is by taking confusing, stressful processes like this one and simplifying them. Eliminate barriers. Eliminate stress. Then package that as a product. The thing is, it's probably already been done. So find the middle-man that makes this process accessible in an easy way (and pay their price) or innovate the process yourself and sell it.

 

I doubt most entrepreneurs know about that stuff. They manage it as it comes, in small bites. IT though, that's different, in IT, especially consulting they do know the game.

 

Hey Xero,

It just seems like you have unrealistic expectations. You're 40 years old, which means you've been working for around 15 years. You're probably doing okay for yourself but nowhere near wealthy. Now suddenly you're going to flip the switch and within 10 years you're going to not only be rich, but rich enough that you'll drop the business you started up to get rich and use that money to just passively invest from the profits.
As IBTL said, just having your own business doesn't guarantee success. And even if successful, doesn't guarantee million dollar success. You could have a very successful business that just provides you $75k a year.
And an MBA is great if you already have it, but still doesn't guarantee that you will be able to run a small business successfully. But now you have to go get it while working full-time, so that will take you 3 years. That leaves you 7 years to suddenly do something you haven't done the previous 18 years.

 

Yes, smart investments are important. Without a lot of capital to invest, though, then you have to rely on time and compound interest.
And starting a business also requires capital. As MB gave in detail, you'll need capital to start up, to market yourself, to get yourself through periods of no customers, slow paying customers, etc. And if you don't have financial capital then you better have real good intellectual capital and find a partner/bank who values that capital enough to provide the real thing.... caysh.

 

Hey, I play the lotto once ($1) a paycheck. You can always dream right?

 

The easiest way to get there is to live well below your means.

For me, that would mean selling my house, paying off the current mortgage, and pocketing the difference. Buy a small house, with the mortgage payment about 1/2 what it is now, and pocket the monthly savings. After several years, that could be a lot of money. And thats not starting a business, or investing in real estate.

Its a lot more doable than people realize.

 

I think this is a good plan.

Separately I would take whatever your paycheck is and divert a percentage into an account you don't touch.

You could probably live off 50% of what you are earning now, while STILL doing a side business. It's just a matter of taking all your expenses and going down the list. Here is a tool to perhaps start:

http://www.clearpointcreditcounselingsolutions.org/build-a-budget-calculator/

It's funny when I made more I managed to spend up to that amount. Now I am making way less and I am still managing. So what I am saying is a lot of the savings and building wealth could be accomplished as much by lifestyle change as anything else.

I'm not trying to discourage a small business. All I am saying is that it is not a key to building wealth per se. In fact it might actually cause wealth to go down. I am all for it but it should be a piece of the plan not necessarily THE plan.

Also there is a certain charm in getting that steady eddy pay. People discredit that aspect but it is HUGE.

No one has all the answers and those books being recommended seem good. I wouldnt trust the stock market too much. Just my opinion but I have a friend that was 45k positive and blew it on stock market and is now 45k negative.

 

pretty much this. 100% agree. This is probably 80% of the battle

 

Sounds like he was gambling and not investing. If you don't know what you're doing, just put the money into an index fund. I've never seen one go from 45k positive to 45k negative before.

 

I'm working on a start up company with 4 other persons. In the process, I've learned a lot about high finances and what it takes for a company to get funded (we've made it up to a third pitch to a VC firm and are waiting for the firm partners to respond.).

I use to think all it takes is just take some loud mouth douche talker with a lot of money to become CEO of a company, but now I know otherwise. In the early funding stages, the CEO is largely a salesperson who can decide what he wants to sell... but it takes a breed of humans that 99% of us aren't, including myself (Absolutely not just some pretty face that's arguing for a free meal at a fast food restaurant. Knowing what I know now, I always laugh to myself at a response to a thread by a certain insecure poster).

When asking for million dollars in start-up capitol, you need a CEO who knows how to use words that exudes emotions and clarity on the fly without sounding pretentious. He/she must have an answer for every question or appears as if he does, and in a manor that's believable. Most importantly, if the potential funders get even get the slightest sense of dishonestly, they'll back out, so you have to be able to downplay negatives skillfully. Sure you have hear of the cars salesman types that are running major companies, but the huge majority of CEO's are honest with a pedigree of vast experience.

My point is that even though Trump might have inherit millions to play with, his upbringing (be it school or his father) afforded him the pedigree to become one of the vast minority that's able to be a CEO. I've developed a lot of respect for CEOs of large companies and the type of personality it takes to become one. The majority of the fast talking, alpha male, air sucking from a room types that think they are, are most likely not. It takes much more than that (you need to somehow stick a Ronald Reagan personalty in that mix).

I'm rambling... Anyways, we're 90% finished developing and currently in private beta testing. We're asking for 5 million in funding from VC's (passing up seed funding). That's my path to wealth, wish us luck eh?

 

True. He was gambling at the end. At the beginning it was a chip here and a chip there.

Overall I have 0 faith in stock market. I am sure there are guys that will tell me it's dumb to think that way.. and probably it is., but those same guys are the ones that were lining their pockets while my 401k from last job went down and down and down. 2009 was a real **** in terms of stock market and I lost a buttload from seemingly 'safe' funds. Overall my opinion is the stock market is a crock of shi**t and I hate it more than the utah jazz. In fact I think it's gambling.

I have no faith in some 26 year old hotshot in wall street that could give a rats ass about my mutual fund or anything other than him stealing my money. Yes I am cynical and bitter. Yes I am probably wrong but after what happened to my 401k I am super pissed. and no I didnt lose 45k overnight but I got jobbed hardcore. 'Theft' is the only word I can think of

 

Yeah and the donald started out 200 million ahead of you and me. It's not his fault but you have 200 million ways to fail. Give me a break that starting out with 200 million doesnt hurt. That's the classic starting life on 3rd base. Good for him but please stop with the deity aspect. he is a joke that would be working at mcdonalds by now if not for ole freddy. We would only be so lucky. Sure talking through things is great and all but if you have capital that trumps (pun intended) everything else.

As I mentioned I have a trust fund friend that has done every business under the sun and failed at all. Guess what? He STILL has enough capital to go out and start another 2 or 3 tomorrow. He is 'successful' by accident since one of them is finally kind of going. Like I said better to be lucky than good

Good luck. Can I have a job? I will rep you and praise you here and am a faster talker. a yes man. Whatever you want.

There are 2 VERY insecure posters here. One of them is insecure about the country they are from, and their lack of style/ looks. The other is insecure about the state they are from, their lack of pedigree and overall lack of wealth by comparison to the uber rich. That's a whole 'nother' story

 

I assume you cashed out of your 401k at the downturn and didn't ride the return back past your original dollar amount? I know a lot of people that did that. I kept my money where it was and now I'm more than whole.

 

my goal is 100k a year and a wife who makes 45+. That's enough to be happy and comfortable. Don't need lambo's and mansions and spoiled brat kids.