Anonymous wrote:We've had a few investments yield "easy money," and luck played a big part. One was a real estate flip intended to be a long-term hold, but the market changed in our favor. A few others were in VC. We've done okay in public equities, but the growth has been slow and steady. To be lucky, you need some capital, and it helps to have a net worth that brings you opportunities.

Anonymous wrote:Figure out what job that you want and pays well, and find out what you need to do it. I.e., go to law school if you want to be a lawyer. Med school if you want to be a doctor, etc.

Anonymous wrote:Figure out what job that you want and pays well, and find out what you need to do it. I.e., go to law school if you want to be a lawyer. Med school if you want to be a doctor, etc.

Anonymous wrote:DH and I are 43 and 41. We contributed $57K to our two 401ks last year (including employer match). Sounds pretty okay, right? But that is nothing compared to the compounding growth we achieved. Our overall retirement portfolio increased by $1.7M between January 2023 and December 2023 and only $57,000 of that was contributions – the remaining $1,652,000 was all growth.

We make more money in the stock market in a single week than we earn from our jobs over the course of an entire month.

It’s all about making sacrifices early in life, people. We chose to buy used cars in cash (no loans), clean our own home, mow our own yard, and live well within our means while others were living extravagantly on borrowed dollars. Do this for the first 10-20 years after graduating and the next 50-60 years are as easy as pie. Or…blow it all up front and spend the latter half of your life clipping coupons, shopping at Costco, begging for senior discounts, and driving to Rehoboth Beach for vacations instead of flying first class to Bora Bora or Seychelles. Pathetic.

Anonymous wrote:DH and I are 43 and 41. We contributed $57K to our two 401ks last year (including employer match). Sounds pretty okay, right? But that is nothing compared to the compounding growth we achieved. Our overall retirement portfolio increased by $1.7M between January 2023 and December 2023 and only $57,000 of that was contributions – the remaining $1,652,000 was all growth.

We make more money in the stock market in a single week than we earn from our jobs over the course of an entire month.

It’s all about making sacrifices early in life, people. We chose to buy used cars in cash (no loans), clean our own home, mow our own yard, and live well within our means while others were living extravagantly on borrowed dollars. Do this for the first 10-20 years after graduating and the next 50-60 years are as easy as pie. Or…blow it all up front and spend the latter half of your life clipping coupons, shopping at Costco, begging for senior discounts, and driving to Rehoboth Beach for vacations instead of flying first class to Bora Bora or Seychelles. Pathetic.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DH and I are 43 and 41. We contributed $57K to our two 401ks last year (including employer match). Sounds pretty okay, right? But that is nothing compared to the compounding growth we achieved. Our overall retirement portfolio increased by $1.7M between January 2023 and December 2023 and only $57,000 of that was contributions – the remaining $1,652,000 was all growth.

We make more money in the stock market in a single week than we earn from our jobs over the course of an entire month.

It’s all about making sacrifices early in life, people. We chose to buy used cars in cash (no loans), clean our own home, mow our own yard, and live well within our means while others were living extravagantly on borrowed dollars. Do this for the first 10-20 years after graduating and the next 50-60 years are as easy as pie. Or…blow it all up front and spend the latter half of your life clipping coupons, shopping at Costco, begging for senior discounts, and driving to Rehoboth Beach for vacations instead of flying first class to Bora Bora or Seychelles. Pathetic.

What the hell, we lived like you and saved and saved and don't have anything like that. What was your incomes?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I made a lot of money starting pretty early on. The key was that I was willing to take a risk and start a business. Most people are afraid to take a calculated risk. … And because I can put down $2M, lending me $6M is easy. My expected return on the $2M. It will be about $320k per year cash flow plus principal pay down. 16% cash on cash and over 20% overall rate of return.

You might be right, and you might not. The above says that it’s easy to borrow $6M when you put $2M down, and that you expect to clear $1.6M annually after operating expenses and need $1.3M to cover the loan payment. So if you have higher operating expenses or a major capital expense or one of your tenants goes under and you have an empty location for a year, well, the loss is yours to bear. Having only a $300K annual cushion on an $8M facility isn’t that much. Yes, it’s a “calculated risk” but what this means is there’s a chance you lose big money. Yes you’re rich now. Survivor bias means maybe you’re brilliant, or maybe you just have been lucky.