career/life advice

[natmarie73]

There is also ofcrouse an impending need (or at least my girlfriends need ) to get married, buy a place, live together etc etc which will significantly impact my career goals as mentioned above

What would you do if you were in my shoes?

Hmmmm, well I would definately be thinking twice about getting married to someone who doesn't share or support my investment goals or want to work as a team towards achieving them

 

[Lamingtons]

Speaking of luxury cars Delta, i drove past Kew/Hawthorn on Power st. And I saw someone get into her Maserati or something. It was so tres exotic I didn't even know what it was. And I thought of you for some reason!

 

[DJBarnstar]

I got in early and got some good equity in the housing market when I was younger and worked my **** off both in the corporate world and stuffing around trying to start entrepreneurial companies and so on.

But I realised that I would basically have to invent something like facebook to end up earning more than what I can in my profession in the corporate world (200k package).

So now kind of like Delta, I enjoy running my side/hobby business for kicks because I love it and it earns me some token extra peanuts, but I have been realistic and stuck with the day job career because I can't think of a smarter/easier way to secure that kind of cash flow doing anything else. So I've learnt to make the most of it, put a tie on, wake up early and try to do a good job and enjoy it as much as I can. Because when I tried the entrepreneurial lifestyle, it was fking hard!!! I can see the benefits of just rocking up 9-5 and giving them my bank details to plonk the 200k package into. My job stresses me from time to time, but its not that bad. I can think of much tougher ways to make a buck. I'm selling brain cycles and I'm selling time, but its not that bad.

So now financially I've kind of become stupid and in limbo where I'm just living in my PPoR which has all the equity in it and I just lease a **** hot car using my job's income and I'm enjoying life.

Kind of financially stupid I know, I'm only paying the very minimum off the PPoR mortgage and a significant portion of my day job income just goes to the car lease. I can still comfortably survive on the leftovers no worries, but I'm not packing away extra savings or reducing debt very quickly.

I kind of know its stupid and I'm essentially just treading water, but on the other hand, I love my car, have a pretty good lifestyle and aren't too stressed. I don't know what else to do because I think all those days of houses just doubling automatically are well and truly over so its just all about cash flow and earning money now.

So I'm just kinda earning, driving my flash car and living life.

I do constantly wonder though, I'm not sure that I could sustain such a job when I'm like 50+ or something. So I feel like I don't have that much planning in place for the future. I do have a chunky income insurance policy in place though which is one good thing if I ever became sick(er) or injured etc. And my super will be huge if I just continue on the current path and retire at age 65. Life would be kind of boring just doing that though I reckon...!

Details of said car please. I like fast cars....:

 

[investor2009]

Hey man!

Your job pays well! If I were you, I'd get to building that portfolio quick smart and retire within 2-5 years. Then no more work. Use your pain as a positive to make your goals a reality, thats what I do. Or, go get a better job or something, only you know what you want to do.

 

[Deltaberry]

Could be a Maserati in debt

 

[MIW]

Could be a Maserati in debt

Yes, not many people think about that......(when they see those cars...)

 

[recruit2]

I thought Delta is investing part of the money earned whereas you mention that you sort of live from day to day.....

You've said it three times, so I hope being on this forum will trigger something in you to change your attitude and to do something about it.

Are you sure you can sustain such a living, unexpected things happen as Delta pointed out..... (I know most of us things won't happen to us.....)
I hope you have trauma insurance too, income protection does not cover all possibilities........)

This is an assumption only not a plan though. You amase me with your laid back attitude though... What if I told you that by investing, and say in about 20 years time, you could replace your income with passive investment income instead.....(you would not have to work to generate income)
What if I told you that I didn't earn the money you earn and receive more than your current income from passive investments.
I suppose at the end it all comes to our wishes and wants and the attitude that life will be the same and constant if we wish to believe it....

Some very good points in here MIW... thanks.

I would like to invest "part" of my income like Delta does. I agree that I should be doing this and am actively trying to come up with a plan.

Talking about unexpected things, at age 31 and in what I thought was perfect health, I randomly went blind for a month last year, almost died and was diagnosed with a rare disease and am now in medication for the rest of my life. Yes unexpected things do happen! This also made me a bit more laid back, funny that! I have *almost* fully recovered health wise, but the treatment is ongoing.

It's all really a compromise, sacrifice, one for the other isn't it. Say I bust an **** (even more) over the next 20 years and spend all my time working for a high salary and then invest most of it. Well after those 20 years I'd probably look like a bag of **** and not have enjoyed my life as much as I do now. Chances are I could go blind again anyway, or something unexpected might happen. I've seen guys retire at age 60 and then die the next month. All that work for nothing!!! Life is precious. So why not just work hard at one thing and live the life as you go along. Earn it, spend it, live it. But sure, make a few intelligent investments along the way.

I love the saying that Delta's father said "It's ok to spend money, as long as you know how to earn it.". I am pretty much in that boat. For my personal situation, I find it far easier to earn from my job than I do from investments or from anything else. Plus its not a FIFO/mining type job where my lifestyle sucks. I live in a good city with good lifestyle and every weekend off etc. I could probably handle that for the longer term to be honest without really burning out too much.

If you told me that you earn more than my current income from passive investments I would say "congratulations, that's awesome!!!". Honestly, that is awesome so well done there and I'm jealous. But I'd also say, you probably amassed your fortune in the property glory days when houses just doubled all the time like just about every other success story on these forums and also in the API magazine like "John Smith built his portfolio when he bought his first property in Perth in 2001 and blah blah blah the rest if history". Could you repeat those very same results from here on? Maybe, maybe not.

 

[recruit2]

id love to have a little side business generating me some extra pocket money but i just cant think of any decent idea that i could do
and then one that could expand if i ever wanted to become self employed

Its pretty tough in business. I built what I thought was a super intelligent business platform that would really thrive. I was amazed at how much of a slog it was. I've seen my business model proven elsewhere and was completely convinced. Well I don't know, but hmm, be prepared to WORK for years just to even make a little bit before something takes hold.

 

[recruit2]

My father always said and still says, it's ok to spend money as long as you know how to make money.

What amuses me are people who take on massive debts to buy a luxury car. If you can't afford it, don't buy it.

I agree. My car only cost me $50k and its on a novated lease. So compared to my salary, its not that much really and I can comfortably afford it. But its the most expensive car I've ever owned and I still constantly think "shesh that's a lot of money for a car". But I love it. The guy I bought it off paid $76k brand new for it though and I got it just 10 months old.

After I went blind and almost died something in my attitude changed! I don't smoke, gamble or blow money on anything else, its basically my main passion/enjoyment thing.

 

[recruit2]

Hmm most people think that way and say that when they are 50 and still employed...

Yep totally.

I took 2 years off my full time employment just to "build" my side/dream business and even after that it still makes peanuts and I'm back in a job. Business is tough! It's worth more as an asset that I'm hoping to sell off one day rather than for actual cash flow.

 

[recruit2]

MIW, I'm not suggesting that people go off and buy flash cars, but rather that there's an attitude here on Somersoft of extreme delayed gratification.

I don't see it as being a sensible purchase, because the depreciation on luxury vehicles is eye-watering, and I agree that finance isn't clever. For the record I've never actually owned a car, though I currently have a motorbike, which I paid for in full with cash.

I think that it's a matter of balance.

Spot on Graemsay.

Like I've said before, many somersofters just want to die with $5m in the bank while they've driven a 1981 Mitsubishi Sigma all their life. Stuff living that life!!! I'm 32 driving around in a nice car and living in a lovely house in a good suburb, but hey I'm working for it. If I keep turning up to my job which isn't too bad, then I can continue this forever. I don't see the point of getting rich on paper but living a poor lifestyle Seems silly actually.

If I can sustain this lifestyle but make some sensible investments at the same time, then I think that's a win win. But I'm not going to go back to living like a tight **** and be more stressed just to get rich on paper.

 

[recruit2]

Perhaps I was misunderstood, I didn't think you suggested it I just gave an example that for everyone it's different it's their choice. So I am not condeming if someone wants a flash car. But for our family it's bad debt if it's bought with debt.
So if people want cars, castles, planes, anything they dream off, I am not judging, but I tell our kids that they can have it if it's paid for by an income generating asset, that's all.
And what's wrong with delayed gratification, I actually would be an advocate of that, isn't it up to the individual though?
At first we owned a $6K car, now we have 4, we made our sandwiches for many years to work, now eat out every week, and so on and on an on (I am not boasting here - but I believe there's something for something - give and take).
I think we all deserve the things we want but we must be wise enough to get them when we can afford them.
I don't see how people perceive delayed gratification, but let's say you wish to have the bike you now have, and let's assume you do not have the money for it (or even if you do have the money).
You see I would tell my kids, save up some money (or use the money you have), invest and/or borrow into an asset, delaying the purchase, and when the asset generates income into your pocket, then go and buy it with the income generated, while keeping the asset.
It's not that you really deny yourself everything and live below your means, but rather put off the other wants which may distract you from reaching the things you really want (the end goal - your bike).
I hope this makes sense.....

I love this attitude as well and yes you are very financially smart, but you just have to not take it to the extreme, i.e. when the first asset yields, don't get caught up into just using all the income to just go and buy more assets. I mean that's the way to get rich, but hey you will never get your bike if you just keep on buying assets. So I'm just saying you have to make sure you take a little bit out of the profits to actually buy the bike.

 

[recruit2]

It makes sense MIW, and it's actually an interesting perspective. It certainly gives me something to think about.

There might be a few technical issues in trying to generate sufficient income through assets in what's a low(ish) inflation and yielding world. But that's an investing problem, more than anything else.

I don't have a problem with delayed gratification (I held off buying my bike for a year or two during the recession here, so I had the cash in hand in case of an emergency), and I'm not into conspicuous consumption. What I do object to is the holier-than-thou masochism where any discretionary spending is frowned on, and I think that more of a balanced attitude is healthier.

Of course, I'd agree that Recruit2's car shopping habits aren't exactly prudent, but he's probably enjoying his toys more now than he would in his dotage.

Agree and agree Graemsay...

One of the main reasons why I have kind of taken this path is that I have noticed that we really seem to be in a massively low inflation and low yielding period! I held property assets right through the big booms and wow its like I made hundreds of thousands in equity for just making fairly safe/sensible decisions. The markets just rocketed and I benefited based on timing!!! I can't see that any more whatsoever, so that's why I've switched to Plan B which is, oh well, just enjoy what I do have then. The car is on a novated lease and in theory reduces my tax. The original owner paid $76k brand new, then sold it after 10 months because his business was struggling and I picked it up for $50k and then leased that amount. So really, I ended up with the car of my dreams but did it as sensibly as possible.

What else am I going to do, invest the money into non-yielding, over-inflated Australian property that will just go sideways for the next 5 years??? In some ways I think I am the one using my head here and enjoying life!

 

[recruit2]

Agreed.

I dislike the holier-than-thou attitude too. If you can afford it you should definitely indulge yourself in it be it cars or holidays.

First of all, we only live once. So if you've made it, go out and have some fun. Secondly, people don't rich off the back of living frugally. Frugality only gets you so far - it cuts the time required to make your first bucket of gold.

Yep. I had 2 pairs of grandparents - one rich and one poor.

The poor ones always saved every penny and held back from spending on anything. Ummm they funnily enough always still stayed poor! hahaha. But they were actually the best (most loving) grand parents.

The rich ones worked their arses off and did the earn it / spent it lifestyle and died younger. Damn!

But both pairs taught me different things and I try to take some lessons from both of their approaches.

Like my own version of rich dad poor dad really!

 

[recruit2]

Details of said car please. I like fast cars....:

VW Golf R AWD turbo. I LOVE IT. Bought for 50k but the original owner paid $76k 10 months prior. No accidents, perfect condition, immaculate. 19" black alloys!

PS Putting APR Stage I ECU upgrade on next week, there goes another $1500 but its going to really pull! No more mods after that...

 

[mrmonopoly]

What else am I going to do, invest the money into non-yielding, over-inflated Australian property that will just go sideways for the next 5 years??? In some ways I think I am the one using my head here and enjoying life!

This is a bit of a sweeping generalisation. You do realise you don't buy the whole of the market?

I appreciate where you're coming from given your unique personal experiences, but it does come across as a little naive and self righteous to dismiss all property investments as low yielding and going sideways for 5 years.

Last but not least, have you ever considered that it is possile to live for now AND invest for the future? Or that some people may actually enjoy property investing? I know I do. I also do it because it provides me with the opportunity both now and in the future to do what I want with my life.

Ultimately differents strokes for different folkes etc but this is a property investing forum.

 

[Deltaberry]

I agree. My car only cost me $50k and its on a novated lease. So compared to my salary, its not that much really and I can comfortably afford it. But its the most expensive car I've ever owned and I still constantly think "shesh that's a lot of money for a car". But I love it. The guy I bought it off paid $76k brand new for it though and I got it just 10 months old.

After I went blind and almost died something in my attitude changed! I don't smoke, gamble or blow money on anything else, its basically my main passion/enjoyment thing.

Ah yea I agree.

Making $$ is great, and I'm all for that.

But if you ever feel you're living a miserable life to do it and have to do it for many years, well you're probably not doing something right.

Like the last poster, I'm all for living life now and investing for the future.

 

[Melbournian]

i'm all for that. 2 years back was doing so much full time job, sidelines was making a heaps and turnover of cash but my health sufferred, starting losing hair, getting sluggish and tired and just so worn out and sometimes i work up thinking i was in a dream (like in the movie inception)

i categorize making money as :-

1. Blood Money ( where the sweat and tears really come up and u really you don't have a life besides work - like renovating ur property, sleeping in a sleeping bag onsite and showering to cold water and rocking up to work the next day)
2. Hard money (time intensive on the idea and implementation)
3. Easier Money ( money that works for you - online business, trades with minimal input and more on strategy and planning as oppose to sheer hard work )
4. Easy Money (maybe a punt on a good tip in shares or CFD etc or tattslotto!!)


well i have done all 4 - and now am more preferring option 3. (work smart not hard)

 

[recruit2]

Yes, not many people think about that......(when they see those cars...)

I do, most of them are just leased up and attached to businesses or bankers day to day cash flow incomes. Nobody ever "owns" it, well maybe 3%

 

[recruit2]

i'm all for that. 2 years back was doing so much full time job, sidelines was making a heaps and turnover of cash but my health sufferred, starting losing hair, getting sluggish and tired and just so worn out and sometimes i work up thinking i was in a dream (like in the movie inception)

i categorize making money as :-

1. Blood Money ( where the sweat and tears really come up and u really you don't have a life besides work - like renovating ur property, sleeping in a sleeping bag onsite and showering to cold water and rocking up to work the next day)
2. Hard money (time intensive on the idea and implementation)
3. Easier Money ( money that works for you - online business, trades with minimal input and more on strategy and planning as oppose to sheer hard work )
4. Easy Money (maybe a punt on a good tip in shares or CFD etc or tattslotto!!)


well i have done all 4 - and now am more preferring option 3. (work smart not hard)

Yeah I agree. I've done 1 and 2 as well and they will kill you (slowly).

My day job is in between 2 and 3. For me its by far the easiest money I can find and its just 9-5 with no super super major stresses. Its relatively easy work in a nice office without getting my hands dirty. I would like to try to convert some of that income into other side assets however in your number 3 category that could work for me over time. But that's a tough one I reckon right now.

Just need to be patient and wait for the next big GFC or slump where shares and/or property can be picked up for next to nothing. I don't think its a good time to buy anything at the moment.