Post: #51

Great post IKE.

Post: #52

(05-05-2014 08:53 PM)worldwidetraveler Wrote:  A better example would be when I was in college I ended up with an art degree. I was heavily into art all my life and an art degree was something that came easy to me. The only problem was the pay sucked. Instead of just accepting terrible pay, I ended up staying for an extra year and getting a IT degree because the field was hot.

[...]

I didn't come from a top 5 school but I made the right decisions, worked hard and got paid a lot of money because of it. There was no luck involved. Oh yea, that first job got me out of the US for the first time and I partied my ass off while working.

Not to minimize your good choices and efforts, but yes, there was luck involved.
You were lucky to have been born with the capability to comprehend maths, algorithms, programming, all that stuff. You had this luxury and you are an exception. Most people with an arts degree suck at maths and they can't help it.

Post: #53

(06-08-2014 04:47 PM)Spede Wrote:  

(05-05-2014 08:53 PM)worldwidetraveler Wrote:  A better example would be when I was in college I ended up with an art degree. I was heavily into art all my life and an art degree was something that came easy to me. The only problem was the pay sucked. Instead of just accepting terrible pay, I ended up staying for an extra year and getting a IT degree because the field was hot.

[...]

I didn't come from a top 5 school but I made the right decisions, worked hard and got paid a lot of money because of it. There was no luck involved. Oh yea, that first job got me out of the US for the first time and I partied my ass off while working.

Not to minimize your good choices and efforts, but yes, there was luck involved.
You were lucky to have been born with the capability to comprehend maths, algorithms, programming, all that stuff. You had this luxury and you are an exception. Most people with an arts degree suck at maths and they can't help it.

While I am not bad at math, I am not gifted which is one of the reasons I chose an IT degree and not a Computer Science degree.

An IT degree isn't math intensive and was within our Business School.

Again, that was a choice I made and no luck involved.

Everyone should be playing up to their strengths. To say it is luck to do that is a terrible argument. Don't get caught up in my specifics. Everyone. and I firmly believe this, has natural born strengths that can be used to make a lot of money. Unfortunately most will take the easy way out and not develop those.

Post: #54

(06-08-2014 05:00 PM)worldwidetraveler Wrote:  While I am not bad at math, I am not gifted which is one of the reasons I chose an IT degree and not a Computer Science degree.

An IT degree isn't math intensive and was within our Business School.

Again, that was a choice I made and no luck involved.

Everyone should be playing up to their strengths. To say it is luck to do that is a terrible argument. Don't get caught up in my specifics. Everyone. and I firmly believe this, has natural born strengths that can be used to make a lot of money. Unfortunately most will take the easy way out and not develop those.

My point was that you can handle maths, and the reason for it is both genes and education. You can't control which genes you receive. Thus, luck is involved.
Even more so given that within our societies, STEM degrees and professions are much in favour whilst other are derided (haven't you witnessed how arts degrees are systematically denigrated on this forum?).

That being said, again, I do not discount the efforts you've made and which have allowed you to make it thus far.
I also agree that one should play on his natural strengths as much as possible - though as outlined earlier, those will bring different outcomes depending on which areas/skills are in demand, and how good one can become.

Post: #55

(06-08-2014 05:41 PM)Spede Wrote:  My point was that you can handle maths, and the reason for it is both genes and education. You can't control which genes you receive. Thus, luck is involved.
Even more so given that within our societies, STEM degrees and professions are much in favour whilst other are derided (haven't you witnessed how arts degrees are systematically denigrated on this forum?).

That being said, again, I do not discount the efforts you've made and which have allowed you to make it thus far.
I also agree that one should play on his natural strengths as much as possible - though as outlined earlier, those will bring different outcomes depending on which areas/skills are in demand, and how good one can become.

That is an excuse, plain and simple.

Art degrees are denigrated on here because people take out on-godly amounts of loans in order to pay for something that most people can't turn into jobs when they leave college. That doesn't mean they are worthless, that just means people who bitch about getting an art degree and no jobs are idiots for not planning better. More than likely most of those kids didn't even look at what was available out there.

You are making the assumption that people in art are only good at art. Hardly the case and things are not as black and white when it comes to our natural abilities and strengths. People learn valuable skills all the time through persistence and consistency. I have learned skills that did not come naturally to me and many others are doing the same thing every day.

You want to know what skill makes me the most money? It isn't IT or computers but marketing.

I learned marketing on my own. I may sell software programs but the money comes from marketing not programming.

With my marketing skills, I could make a ton of money using my art skills. In fact, I have used my art skills in my business many times.

Look, you can make excuses but I prefer having more control over my life and relying on luck isn't about control. I'm lucky to be breathing but I don't owe my success to breathing.

Post: #56

(06-08-2014 05:47 PM)worldwidetraveler Wrote:  That is an excuse, plain and simple.
[...]

Well, we'll stay in disagreement then. Wishing you the best with your acquired skills.

Post: #57

Life is mostly luck, this is the truth. Doesn't mean hard work isn't necessary.

Post: #58

(06-09-2014 12:24 PM)Samseau Wrote:  Life is mostly luck, this is the truth. Doesn't mean hard work isn't necessary.

But you can get luckier by proper preparation and putting yourself in positions where there are more opportunities for luck.

Post: #59

(06-09-2014 12:24 PM)Samseau Wrote:  Life is mostly luck, this is the truth. Doesn't mean hard work isn't necessary.

In terms of being healthy, born into a rich society and such, yeah, there is luck there.

Let's take being healthy, I was born healthy but that doesn't mean I will stay healthy. I can get fat and come down with diabetes. That isn't about luck but about the choices I make. Unlike getting something like, say, cancer.

I still think you guys are trivializing the decisions we make and the experience we gain.

There are plenty of people that will come up with all kinds of excuses as to why they don't have money, why they can't get women and a whole plethora of problems their brains can come up with.

I am sure plenty of people believe life is all about luck. That dismisses any responsibility on their part.

If you were born in a rich society, like the US, there is little to no excuse as to why you can't do well.

I would hope most guys, on this forum, understand the difference.

Post: #60

(06-09-2014 12:54 PM)strengthstudent Wrote:  

(06-09-2014 12:24 PM)Samseau Wrote:  Life is mostly luck, this is the truth. Doesn't mean hard work isn't necessary.

But you can get luckier by proper preparation and putting yourself in positions where there are more opportunities for luck.

Being prepared for opportunities isn't luck. Most people think it is luck, but it normally comes down to the hard work you put in to be able to SEE the opportunity and capitalize on it. That is typically attained through experience. The people claiming it was lucky normally don't see all the time, effort and sacrifices people make in order to be able to get lucky.

Post: #61

I am almost 40.

I have been wanting to contribute something to this thread..

I wasn't sure what to write..???

I have not taken a "traditional" path..

I spent my 20's trying to become a professional athlete. I failed but it was worth it to me.

I spent my early 30s becoming a college professor. It was a good job but I quit because I wanted more freedom.

For the last few years, I have been primarily focused on teaching myself how to bang college girls. It has been a amazing journey of self-discovery, self-improvement, confidence building, fear elimination, paradigm shifting, and wild fun.

I'm not exactly sure what I will do next..

I'm going to try to become a social skills coach and if that doesn't work I will most likely return to the sports world.

My main point is this..

After 39 years,

The things that bring me the most happiness are financial security and freedom.

I am not a rich man, in fact, I am poor compared to most men on this board, but, the small apartment that I live in is mine. I bought it with cash. I saved all my money from the years I worked as a college professor and in 2009 when the real estate market crashed, I was ready to buy.

I don't pay rent to anybody! I love that.

I only owe a small amount to the bank so my mortgage is very small. Soon, I will have it paid off entirely and I will have no mortgage payment.

This gives me a lot of freedom. I don't have to come up with a lot of money every month in order to survive.

I was careful to craft my life in this way.

I made freedom my #1 priority.

My advice to younger guys is to cultivate financial security and freedom.

Those are the things that make me happy.

*****

Here is some more health related advice:

/thread-30-pos...#pid751160

Post: #62

(05-05-2014 08:43 PM)bacon Wrote:  @wayout

Your post trivializes the accomplishment of the OP when you claim he was just lucky. He took many steps and decisions to get where he wanted to be. These where decisions that required him to take risks sure but he also made lifestyle sacrifices that put him in an exceptionancial financial position as a young man. He won no lottery. He gave a blueprint for how he did it.

Agreed...even more strange considering Wayout was whining about chicks and mentioned most of his LIFE success was with Fat chicks.

I am not criticizing it was in his past post.

It is harder to start later and you lose out on the law of compounding. If you are successful early it gets to the point the assets work for you and you can go where you want and do what you want.

The guys who play catch up end up as Walmart greeters at age 60 often enough.

Also as you age and keep fit you win in a war of attrition. There is VERY little competition anymore from guys your age and older and even less that are younger due to obesity.

Post: #63

(06-11-2014 01:09 PM)Giovonny Wrote:  My advice to younger guys is to cultivate financial security and freedom.

I'll go with post of the year. I'm closer to 50 than 40 and it only gets more true. Money & time are the two primary constraints on my life and I'm always happier when I have both. I don't necessarily want to be retired, but I don't want to HAVE to work, especially at something I don't like.

Post: #64

i'll 2nd the nomination for post of the year.

threads like these are why i'm on RVF in the first place.

i'm 28, working for a consulting firm, and make just shy of 6 digits after including bonuses working anywhere between 40-80 hrs/wk. i am not at all interested in going the blogging/internet-market/ESL your way to a 2k/month live-on-a-thai-beach lifestyle so highly lauded on these boards. i don't see that as a path to true financial security or wealth.

john galt follows the same patterns of success as many other happy men in their 40s: they worked for companies at first where, as mark cuban puts it, they were essentially paid to learn.

they took calculated risks, like pay cuts or moving to startups, which can only happen if you have something valuable to leverage, like experience or knowledge. at some point, they leverage that experience and knowledge into some kind of equity position, whether its real estate or a stake in a company or some other form of investment.

thanks for sharing your wisdom OP +1

Post: #65

I agree 100% with this: "i am not at all interested in going the blogging/internet-market/ESL your way to a 2k/month live-on-a-thai-beach lifestyle so highly lauded on these boards. i don't see that as a path to true financial security or wealth.
- The whole vagabond lifestyle isn't for everyone. Oh, and go ahead and call me Beta...but I like to eat in nice restaurants and enjoy the company of beautiful women...and really wouldn't think for a second to split the tab. It just isn't my style. The whole "first round is on me" line just doesn't "fit my frame".

Next, I keep seeing references to making your money with compound interest. I use to think this way too. Hell, we are taught to think this is the path to "financial security and wealth". I'm not going to tell you not to save and not to just drip funds into your 401k (if you have one). That may indeed be the "safe bet" (doubt it, but to each their own). It is just my opinion that you have a better shot at "financial security and wealth" by being slavish towards positioning yourself for "an event" vs putting a certain amount in an index fund and trying to count how many years it takes to "reach your number". Save that for the finance professors (who don't have any money anyway).

Besides, seeking a situation that has a potential liquidity event down the road is more exciting, and if you do nail it can result in having "financial security and wealth" at a much earlier age when you can enjoy it.

I won't speak for Gringuito or the OP, but I'd bet they didn't bet their future on socking away money in the S&P500 over X years at a projected Y%.

Speaking for myself, I'd rather put my money behind betting on myself that I can knock the ball out of the park...and use the saving in an index fund approach simply for chips that I want to permanently take off the table...