Did u retain life balance while building wealth?

[jane1111]

Just wondering how many gave huge focus to build wealth and for how many years while giving less or little to family social leisure to do thT or how many kept balance in life while building wealth .

Someone has a caption to the effect of
family friends and church
all the things u must ignore to build wealth .

How true did u find that I am interested to hear .

I want to focus on building wealth and hav others trying to slow me down and I am not interested I know what I need to putmiles focus at present and am motivated for this but curious how others found it

Thanks jane.

 

[csc2]

Family always first no matter what...money comes a very poor second.

Having said that working two or three jobs when I was younger before we had kids was a god send with making additional payments...........Bit difficult to do when you have kids and juggle quality time at home....

How I gained a few bucks over the years and kept reasonably sane:

- Never ever purchased a brand new car, always sniffed out a bargain.

- If I liked something (boat, tv, stereo etc and didnt have the cash i never purchased...and often if I did have the cash spare instead of buying say a TV I used that value of the TV to pay off loans....

Never hurts to go without, short term pain causes long term gain as the saying goes....

Too many temptations now days for younger people with electronics...easier in the 70's......

Some people live their whole lives racking up debt with continual loans upon loans.............that for me is not the sane way to go....theres always an element of going bust....the risk is always higher in my opinion.

Borrowing more over the years I could have way more property but I most lightly would not own anything outright even now..

For me just owning say a max of three properties is well enough to manage........

Ive been a great believer to test yoursel;f, pay off your initial debt outright as quick as you can.....then reap the rewards and move forward.....

 

[marg4000]

Likewise, family and kids always came first, followed closely by friends.

Yes, we would be far more wealthy if we had made the accumulation of wealty (and IPs) a priority, but we believed it to be only part of our life and not the main focus. We took time out for family holidays and educated 3 kids to post-graduate qualifications, and we are now helping out family members who are in need.

As it is, financially we have enough for a comfortable retirement whenever we choose, which is sufficient for us. Emotionally we have wealth beyond our wildest dreams in strong family bonds - and an ever-increasing number of grandchildren....
Marg

 

[Dazz]

Sacrificed the lot, and for a very long time to achieve the monetary goals.

It was a hard, long, mighty painful lonely road.

Looking back, should of gone harder.

Well worth it. Family and friends, plenty of time for that nonsense in coming decades.

Lonely old man counting his coins....couldn't think of anything more pleasurable.

When you're shooting for the stars, playing good hubby, good father, good son, good friend...pffft, who's got time for that rubbish. Get in there and work harder ya ********.

 

[our obsession]

Always been one to do; 'that what I love', and 'love what I do'...as well as many other things, I thoroughly enjoy the game of achieving my financial independence.

 

[Casserole Dish]

Er I think Dazz said it well in 'Dazz speak'. And Marg, ofcourse, correct and concise as always.

When you have kids EVERYTHING changes. Life becomes all about them. We (hubby and I) have only started twisting our puny brains around investing, money, etc so our kids will have more help then we ever got. Sadly, due to my hubby's career choice (and my choices) we are still playing 'catch up' and don't have great wollops of equity etc. So I guess our kids have given us, our 'focus' to create some wealth.

I'm not good at the delayed gratification side of things. My parents were very strict about saving etc and now I tend to think 'I'm an adult now and I work hard for this money, I want what I want'. I must admit I'm not into fashion, footwear, TV's, cars etc. (I do, however, like antiques and books)

We'll be off to Hamilton Island again this year, and New Zealand next year. With friends on the first trip and to visit my side of the family in the second.

Investing and planning etc have their place but life is so full of good stuff, don't deprive yourself or your loved ones.

 

[our obsession]

This was shared with me a while ago, you might enjoy:

http://www.ted.com/talks/chip_conley_measuring_what_makes_life_worthwhile.html

Chip Conley: Measuring what makes life worthwhile

When the dotcom bubble burst, hotelier Chip Conley went in search of a business model based on happiness. In an old friendship with an employee and in the wisdom of a Buddhist king, he learned that success comes from what you count.

Bit about Chip:

In 1987, at the age of 26 and seeking a little "joy of life," Chip Conley founded Joie de Vivre Hospitality by transforming a small motel in San Francisco’s seedy Tenderloin district into the now-legendary Phoenix.

Today, Joie de Vivre operates nearly 40 unique hotels across California, each built on an innovative design formula that inspires guests to experience an "identity refreshment" during their visits.

During the dotcom bust in 2001, Conley found himself in the self-help section of the bookstore, where he became reacquainted with one of the most famous theories of human behavior -- Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, which separates human desires into five ascending levels, from base needs such as eating to the highest goal of self-actualization, characterized by the full realization and achievement of one’s potential. Influenced by Maslow's pyramid, Conley revamped his business model to focus on the intangible, higher needs of his company's three main constituencies -- employees, customers and investors. He credits this shift for helping Joie de Vivre triple its annual revenues between 2001 and 2008.

Conley has written three books, including his most recent, PEAK: How Great Companies Get Their Mojo from Maslow, and is at work on two new ones, Emotional Equations and PEAK Leadership. He consults widely on transformative enterprises, corporate social responsibility and creative business development. He traveled to Bhutan last year to study its Gross National Happiness index, the country's unique method of measuring success and its citizens' quality of life.

"Chip Conley is that rare breed of CEO who possesses both a brilliant business mind and a very big heart. He’s a true role model for anyone who wants to lead."

(Gavin Newsom, Mayor of San Francisco)

...

 

[wobbycarly]

Just wondering how many gave huge focus to build wealth and for how many years while giving less or little to family social leisure to do thT or how many kept balance in life while building wealth .

Someone has a caption to the effect of
family friends and church
all the things u must ignore to build wealth .

How true did u find that I am interested to hear .

I want to focus on building wealth and hav others trying to slow me down and I am not interested I know what I need to put mire ficus on at present and am motivated for this but curious how others found it

Thanks jane.

I don't want to speak on behalf of the member whose auto-signature that is, but my interpretation of that slogan was that you want to ignore the advice that comes from those sources. I'm lucky(?) that I have a number of investment-like-minded friends, family and colleagues that I don't get told all the reasons NOT to invest!

The "average Joe" would be petrified by taking on debt, for example, and will find every reason NOT to invest, rather than looking at the positives of WHY one SHOULD invest.

And for the record, yes, we've got a good balance. There were things, eg Erupoean trip, that we did before kids, the amount we spent could have been a deposit on a house (or two!)

 

[HiEquity]

I'm happy with our balance as we went through. But I'm not happy with how conservative we were. There were times there when we had spare borrowing capacity and didn't use it to "play it safe". But then we also had very little idea of what we were doing. Bought the wrong types of property too but there you go - we didn't have much guidance.

BTW I've just finished reading "Affluenza" by Clive Hamilton et al. It's a great read for this type of subject. Helps to clarify that going without cr@p like ipods / plasmas etc is no deprivation at all - just a demonstration of being independently minded and not being controlled by the many marketers in our society and their corporate masters. Which is funny because those marketers sell their wares using the idea that buying their "stuff" will be the ultimate expression of your individuality and get you closer to your "ideal self". Pretty sad really. Fortunately I get little happiness from "stuff", although I'm still thinking about that motorbike!

Focus on the things that actually make you happy and you will most likely find they aren't very expensive at all. At least that's what we found... not spending much on toys and holidays and not feeling "deprived" can easily coexist - especially in the land of Oz where just a barbie on the beach can be such an enjoyable way to spend some time...

 

[Ridin-High]

Just wondering how many gave huge focus to build wealth and for how many years while giving less or little to family social leisure to do thT or how many kept balance in life while building wealth .

Someone has a caption to the effect of
family friends and church
all the things u must ignore to build wealth .

Thanks jane.

I believe you are referring to my sig.

It's a quote from Mr Burns from the simpsons, he gets invited to speak in Lisa's class about being successful in business and that's his opening line.

He also adds "you don't want to be on your way to the maternity ward when opportunity knocks"

I believe the meaning of it to be to ignore all those things because they don't make money or get in the way of a opportunity.

One of my ex bosses was insanly good @ business, but had a **** personality

 

[Shaneelastic]

Hi,
I believe its all about balance. Theres plenty of people on hear is all they do is invest invest invest...Nothing wrong with this but it gets to a point that we must ask what are they investing for?? Many will say to retire on enough money by the age of 30, 40, 50, 60. Thats all well and good, but then what do you do?? Have a family at age 30?? ok thats good but then your costs are going to sky rocket. Retire at age 40, ok thats good, but then what?? what do you do with you day?? Theres only so any holidays and gold courses that can be played
Also, many people will say im investing now so that in 15 years i can enjoy holidays etc etc, okay, what if you dont make it, what if you become disabled, what if you become sick, what if your kids are sick and you cant do all those great things in 15 years time. Surley life is about living and not investing.

 

[aussierogue]

You can have it all if

- you organise yourself properly
- you make good decisions
- you have set realistic goals (money, health, spiritual)
- work on mainting perspective
- have some luck

Cheers
Aussierogue

 

[BayView]

Just wondering how many gave huge focus to build wealth and for how many years while giving less or little to family social leisure to do thT or how many kept balance in life while building wealth .

Someone has a caption to the effect of
family friends and church
all the things u must ignore to build wealth .

How true did u find that I am interested to hear .

I want to focus on building wealth and hav others trying to slow me down and I am not interested I know what I need to putmiles focus at present and am motivated for this but curious how others found it

Thanks jane.

This is an excellent question.

I can say that we sacrificed a good deal of social life and quality of life because of our earlier years of our investing - very few, and very cheap holidays, no consumer spending and very little of it when we had to, always looking for a cheaper way to consumer spend etc.

Why? because we were average earning income people and we kept buying and buying and using equity to do it.

Basically; 100% lends and too much neg cashflow in the earlier years.

I never advocate doing that now and definitely not with a neg cashflow due to what we went through, but sometimes you need to feel pain to experience a longer term gain.

Looking back, I would always recommend selecting on very good cashflows first, and cao growth second. You can't guarantee cap growth - no matter what area you look in, but it ani't no fun having no cashflow AND no cap growth. You can at least guarantee cashflow if you select based on it.

We have seen spectacular growth in cheaper properties, and in not-so-good areas according to the popular opinion.

 

[Tuppence]

I don't have anything much constructive to add to this as such. But I did want to say thanks to the OP for the question. As people who are starting out on this journey ourselves (one IP down, a second in the wind for later this year), these are exactly the sorts of issues we've been thrashing out too.
Our first place cost us slightly more than $100 a week after tax last year. We can manage that, but I wouldn't like it to go on for too long. Our second is likely to be regional to help with the cashflow side of things.
Thanks also to those who have put in their 2c worth. It's all illuminating.

 

[steveadl]

I don't want to speak on behalf of the member whose auto-signature that is, but my interpretation of that slogan was that you want to ignore the advice that comes from those sources. I'm lucky(?) that I have a number of investment-like-minded friends, family and colleagues that I don't get told all the reasons NOT to invest!

Can't remember who the member with the quote is either, but I wouldn't take it too seriously, I'd guess he put it there because it's funny and a reference to business/investment which this forum is about. It's a quote from Mr. Burns on The Simpsons:

Family, religion, friends.. these are the three demons you must slay if you wish to succeed in business.

Edit: Oops, just noticed RH replied to the thread already.

 

[steveadl]

One of my ex bosses was insanly good @ business, but had a **** personality

Is that you Jane?

 

[sash]

This is probably going to upset a few people..or get....get some cynical responses .but here goes....

I personally think building wealth is a journey. When I started I wanted money for all the nice things - car, house, holidays, etc. As I acquired more wealth, attended seminars, and socialised with some people with people up to $15m net wealth. I found that wealth or money while it did make you more confident about your future but it did not build relationships or friends. I found that when I talked about things some people wanted me to assist them to build wealth. I have done this with a few people and now am seeing some of the results. This is what gives me a buzz.

Whilst I work in a job...property investing is my hobby so it is somethings I do it for fun! Once you do something you love you find that it grows on you.....and in the past 5 years it has assisted me adding over $1.5m in equity to my porfolio....and now I am comfortable with being able to make $1m in equity every 2-4 years. This is not something I would have contemplated when I started 10 years ago.

It is funny when I mention this to people....they usually are quite negative and say things like you have a good income, have no committments, etc., etc. When infact some of these people are earning $250-$300K and have nothing to show for it.

My advice is working on your mindset as it is far more important to building sustainable wealth and your sanity when you have it!

 

[Casserole Dish]

That's a good post, Sash. Yes, I am hooked with property investing also. I have a few hobbies (like everyone I guess) and the property side of things is one of them. I love searching the net etc. and even my kids point out new "For Sale" signs as they know I am interested.

That does put a new angle on things and it does make it all part of the journey of life (for us anyhow).

Just wish we had some equity to spend instead of just 'window shopping' all the time.

 

[Francine]

someone was discussing happiness on tv today. they said that if someone is below a comfortable income then more money is what makes them happy so working on financial success is priority

but if they have past a comfortable income then they need more balanced relationship and health to feel happy.

i also read recently possibly saturdays herald sun that people in their 40s are most unhappiest as they feel the pressure of needing to have enough for retirement while in the 50s people may ahve achieved that and feel happier having a more balanced life.

in some ways its no use putting so much into finances and being emotionally bankrupt with no relationships
and on the other hand i dont know if others are really there for you when you need finances so we have to as priority take care of ourselves to be secure , but keep our health and some level of being sociable and family minded which can vary greatly what one person things is enough for them to be happy while building wealth.

mazlovs heighrachy would say that till we feel financially secure we dont have as much interest in higher things like philosophy, religion and family, though of course everyone finds there own way through this.

 

[jaycee]

I believe you are referring to my sig.

It's a quote from Mr Burns from the simpsons, he gets invited to speak in Lisa's class about being successful in business and that's his opening line.

He also adds "you don't want to be on your way to the maternity ward when opportunity knocks"

I believe the meaning of it to be to ignore all those things because they don't make money or get in the way of a opportunity.

One of my ex bosses was insanly good @ business, but had a **** personality

So are you suggesting you actually agree with it ?