Is full-time investing realistic?

[sbe]

Rule of life # 1
Expenses will alsways rise to meet income.

It is harder to 'retire' from a high income job, because you're used to high income lifestyle / availability / debt servicing - whatever.

It helps at the start, but is a hinderence later......

We always think - if I can just get another $x,000 pa, I'll be OK. Invariably, expenses rise and consume it....

Just something for thought.

 

[Sim]

Similar to my own "Law of Expansion of Lifestyle"... which says something like

"(for the majority of population) lifestyle will expand to consume 110% of available income"

Having a job does not necessarily preclude one from becoming financially independent - nor does having a high income predetermine that you will have high expenses and never get anywhere financially - we are talking generalities.

The Millionaire Next Door and the Millionaire Mind cover this subject extensively.

There are certain career paths which, when managed with a sense of perspective, can greatly help you towards your financial goals, while also letting you do something you enjoy.

Personally, I don't see the point of working 50+ hours a week at a job that pays $50Kpa, which you don't really enjoy anyway. If you don't enjoy what you do, then you really need to ask yourself why you are doing it - could there be a better way ?

 

[LucasK]

Thanks for the advice people.

Right now, I'm pretty much at a crossroads in my life. I'm considering simply transferring to a commerce instead of law course, study for a few years, then finish it off and maybe get some cash from a job to get me started. It would be hard to regulate expenses, but it just might be possible.


I'll be getting those two books you mentioned; I definitely need every resource to figure out what sort of path I'm going to be taking.

What sort of career path would you expect could allow you to get towards financial sucess? Truth be told, I'm not too picky; anything in the commerce field would be satisfactory to me at the moment.



Paul - I've read a few of your posts, and a lot of them deals with starting up with property investing without any high-paying job or cash. What I am concerned about is risk. In your opinion, is it possible for anyone to suceed financially without a university-graduate job, if they are committed? If so, what are the level of risks involved?

 

[Sim]

Originally posted by LucasK
In your opinion, is it possible for anyone to suceed financially without a university-graduate job, if they are committed? If so, what are the level of risks involved?

If you want to speak to someone who did it - find out the story of "The Wife" - do a search, there's plenty of information here on the forum and elsewhere (try the Freestylers site as well). She's not the only one either - there are plenty of other financially successful people here who never went to uni.

The biggest risk you face is lack of choice - with a uni degree you get the choice of getting a nice comfortable job with a lot less risk (although the risks are still there !!). Without one you have to succeed or else.

If you find out her story, you will see that The Wife has never had a "job" in the traditional sense at all - that doesn't mean she didn't work... she just did it differently. To make it on your own you will need to think differently, and change your mindset about what it is you need to do to succeed without a degree.

 

[Peter Parker]

Lucas - why not stick with the Arts degree and major in geography (especially human geography)?

A lot of the stuff you learn (climate, population distribution, demography, urban hierachies, etc) are extremely relevant to property invesment.

Peter

 

[Turtle]

Lucas,

I agree with Sim - having the uni degree may give you greater choice. The degree can be a fall back position if other things don't work out. Also, going to uni can be a very enjoyable time of your life re social activities with friends. IMHO, my advice would be to finish the degree (especially if you have completed part of it already - although if you heart is telling you to move to commerce go for it). You are still young - there is plenty of time to do what you want later. It sounds as if you still even don't know what you want to do. Many people takes years to finally realise what they really want from life. Moreover, more than likely, you will change your mind over the years - many people do. If someone told me 10 years that I would be doing what I am doing now, I would have thought they were crazy. Yet here I am and loving every minute of it.

Turtle

 

[Aceyducey]

Lucas,

Virtually every career path can lead to financial success - or financial ruin.

it's not the path, but the person who walks it.

There are people on this forum earning from 0 to hundreds of thousands a year - this has little relationship to their net worth through property.

A high salary can give you a leg up to start - but you can't start until later in life (have to get to that high salary first) - why wait and miss those years of compounding property rises?

High salaries can also come with lifestyle requirements - either justified by the job or by personal desires for comfort - quite often the higher the income the less disposable cash is available.

Most important is when you start & how hard you push yourself.

Cheers,

Aceyducey

 

[Jas]

Originally posted by Sim
If you want to speak to someone who did it - find out the story of "The Wife" - ...

If you find out her story, you will see that The Wife has never had a "job" in the traditional sense at all - that doesn't mean she didn't work... she just did it differently.

Sim,

I think you're confusing TW with someone else. Her first job was a check-out chick, and at one point, she held three jobs simutansously. So yes, TW had a 'job' in the traditional sense.

Jas

 

[Sim]

Jas, what I wrote didn't really convey what I was trying to say... I really meant that once she discovered what property could do for her financially (at a VERY young age) - she never looked back at a career for the sake of a career.

 

[brains]

There are plenty of rich people out there without a uni degree. A close friend of mine is 35 yo, a millionaire and left high school in year 9.

He made his money with an earthmoving business (which he started - not bought) and worked like crazy.

Hes only recently started leveraging his business profits into property.

Theres thousands of those stories around.

 

[kierank]

Originally posted by brains
There are plenty of rich people out there without a uni degree.

And, depending on your definition of rich and poor, there are plenty of poor people with a uni degree - look at me.

 

[geoffw]

Originally posted by brains
There are plenty of rich people out there without a uni degree. A close friend of mine is 35 yo, a millionaire and left high school in year 9.

He made his money with an earthmoving business (which he started - not bought) and worked like crazy.

Hes only recently started leveraging his business profits into property.

Theres thousands of those stories around.

Rich people without a degree?

A family friend not only is very rich (car worth $450K) but also practically illiterate.

But that hasn't stopped him from getting a motza as a property developer- and we're talking multi storey buildings here.

(well, it was single level building once- but that's another storey).

 

[brains]

Car worth $450k!! My God!! WhaT IS IT? Ferrari? Aston Martin?
Lambo?

 

[Aceyducey]

Car worth $450k!! My God!! WhaT IS IT? Ferrari? Aston Martin?Lambo?

Brains,

It's probably a Queenslander on a truck

Cheers,

Aceyducey