What was YOUR upbringing like?

....and maybe impulse control, deferred gratification issues etc..

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self_control

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deferred_gratification

.....but be prepared to take the calculated risk? Desire to learn stuff. (And apply- the doing), ability to bounce; (back from any setback), a bit of a goal for financial independence..:)

Mindset, mindset...mindset...open minds?

At 7 years old I had the job of watering the school lawns over the school holidays, I was getting 2 dollars, it soon dawned on me I was worth far more than that, (big old lawns you know) and negotiated $5.00...all I wanted to do (at that age) was bank it. I had no idea what I was going to do ultimately, (big picture) but I knew I wanted to bank every cent I could.

I have never had any troubles saving, it hasn't always gone into investing, but I have had no trouble saving, and that has come direct from my brain, my environment has had absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with encouraging that. Why me and not others?

Why? How?
 
Interesting - I have also been a good saver all my life. At age 16 I had a part time job in a butchery, and for 8 months banked every cent of every pay, so I could pay cash for my first car before my 17th birthday. I achieved it with several months to spare.

When I got married I got my wife to pay all our bills, as she is more of a spender. In 3 years with both of us on below average incomes, living very simply, I saved $56k, which formed the deposit for our first home (which we built, and still live in).

Perhaps the desire to save forms part of the basis for investing for some of us?
 
McBrain said:
Josko,

Is this a book? Sounds interesting, do you have any more info?
Click to expand...

it is:

Donald Trump: Think Big and Kick ***

Donalds pretty ruthless, I wouldn't want to be in competition with him but I found it really interesting.


Another good one is;
Why We Want You To Be Rich - By Donald Trump and Robert Kiyosaki -
this is really interesting too as Donald predicted the big fall in the US Economy.

Happy reading.:)
 
josko said:
it is:

Donald Trump: Think Big and Kick ***

Donalds pretty ruthless, I wouldn't want to be in competition with him but I found it really interesting.


Another good one is;
Why We Want You To Be Rich - By Donald Trump and Robert Kiyosaki -
this is really interesting too as Donald predicted the big fall in the US Economy.

Happy reading.:)
Click to expand...

Hey, I can't write the word that means donkey! I'm sure it was there last night. Try again. A donkey is an ***!
 
josko said:
Verbatum from the big Don's "Think Big and Kiss ***"

"I have noticed that all these successful people have traits that set them apart from the pack: their attitudes, actions, persistence, and passion, plus a whole slew of other qualities that seperate the winners from the losers. To be successful you have to seperate yourself from 98% of the world."

. . . . . .

"Most people are not cut out for this. You have to deal with a tremendous amount of pressure. You have to think large and be creative to solve big problems that scare the crap out of most people. . . . .Nobody is going to hold your hand or help you along. You are on your own. You have to be able to bend but never break."

Interesting. . . .:cool:
Click to expand...

Very very well said Josko. I wholeheartedly agree. Thank You! :D
 
Fantastic thread! I think this will be very cathartic for me…

Both my Mum and Dad grew up on the land growing wheat and sorghum. I have been enjoying topcropper’s “TC’s farm thread” immensely and I have spoken to Dad about what I have read / seen in this thread. My folks installed in me the values of hard work and honesty, and getting a good job for life and staying there. Well the last value didn’t stay with me… They always saved well and bought with their money, except for the PPOR. Very conservative pair, great book keeper and budgeting by Mum.

I had an Uncle who was self employed and would have IP’s and seemed to be doing well. My parents loved him and are still very close, but they were resentful that Dad would pay so much tax, and Uncle John could pay so little. This left an indelible mark on me, that I would work for myself one day…

Dad always regretted not having a trade, so he encouraged his 2 boys to get one. I was pretty keen on Electrical Engineering and computers, but hey getting paid out of school sounded good. So an apprentice electrician I became, whilst studying Elec Eng at night and then externally. Folks were happy, working for a electricity utility, job for life. Left there after 9.5 years, 6 months off gaining long service, to follow my passion in computer consulting, then a year later into my own business. The folks had kittens!

Fast forward 12 years, they now are comfortable with what I do. Profitable business, I have a third ownership, 40 staff, exit plan developed and currently working to that end. Mum stressing again, what would you do?

I have spent so much focus on the business and the end return, that I have realised that I need to develop a additional strategy should it not all pan out as planned. So lots of books, discovered the B&H resi strategy, and thought this is for us. Found this forum and could not stop reading and felt underqualified to post on anything of significance.

When we were about to purchase our first 2 IP’s, I became very interested in commercial, (being on the other side of the lease) and have deep dived again, reading, learning and modelling.

Fantastic posts about this area, and I hope to speak to one of the SS forumites when he hits Brisbane in a couple of weeks. You still on for a catch up Dazzling?
 
our obsession said:
....and maybe impulse control, deferred gratification issues etc..

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self_control

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deferred_gratification

.....but be prepared to take the calculated risk? Desire to learn stuff. (And apply- the doing), ability to bounce; (back from any setback), a bit of a goal for financial independence..:)

Mindset, mindset...mindset...open minds?

At 7 years old I had the job of watering the school lawns over the school holidays, I was getting 2 dollars, it soon dawned on me I was worth far more than that, (big old lawns you know) and negotiated $5.00...all I wanted to do (at that age) was bank it. I had no idea what I was going to do ultimately, (big picture) but I knew I wanted to bank every cent I could.

I have never had any troubles saving, it hasn't always gone into investing, but I have had no trouble saving, and that has come direct from my brain, my environment has had absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with encouraging that. Why me and not others?

Why? How?
Click to expand...

That's very interesting Obsession, you have reminded me:

When I was about 6 I started looking everywhere on the ground for money. My parents would drag us around Flemington Markets nearly every Sunday and I found it was a fantastic place to not only find coins on the ground but notes as well. No 1c coin was too small, I would save it and like you bank it. I too had no idea what I was going to do with it. I did it until I was a teenager and sort of grew out of it or forgot about it.

So you are not the only one! :D

PS: Just remembered again, At about 10 I got a job putting hairclips onto those cards you see hanging up in Chemists for $2.50 hour. Less leg work!
 
Nice post Horizon. Good onya. I also find it cathartic writing about my history....sort of squares it away in your mind. Nothing like knowing where you have come from to get your bearings before venturing forth.

Yep - fly out to Brissy this time next week.
 
I grew up in a lower income suburb - my dad worked as a metalworker and mum never worked because she didn't drive and decided it was too hard raising 3 kids to work outside the home.

The house was paid off asap and there was never ever any talk about investing or about property whatsoever. My parents were not particularly short of money but we were not in the least bit wealthy and we had only holidays as luxuries and were never enrolled in any sports or any extra lessons of any sort. The house we grew up in was an ex-housing commission house that mum and dad bought and dad renovated it with his own hands.The only advice they ever gave me was to save as much money as possible and put it in a bank. That is my entire investment education from my parents.

We went to catholic primary and state high schools. I went to work at the age of 18 in a law firm as a clerk and it was there that I started mixing with smart, wealthy people - over the years I had the good luck of working in a law firm that starting investing in commercial property and it all started from there. I started off as a legal firm receptionist and became an asset manager of commercial property without going to university at all.

I was always intelligent and observant and I began secretly reading the same books that the CEO of the company circled in his newspaper and asked my best friend to buy for him from the bookshop.

I understood the power of property and luckily I married a man that is not a spendthrift and also loves the power of property - like me. He has the maths brain and spreadsheeting ability, I have the ability and patience to research for the best properties - and I have the knowledge of where to buy property that I have gleaned from my career in property management.

When you put our brains together we have managed to buy our home in an area that has seen amazing capital growth in only 2 yrs and we own one investment property that has also gotten great capital growth. With lots of equity and 2 kids under our belt - we now are concentrating on becoming property tycoons as we buy up as many properties as we can. While I have looked after the kids at home, I have spent many many hours reading about property investing and have now discovered the best formula for doing so.

All I can say is that the power of knowledge is crucial to doing this and I will pass everything I know off to my 2 beautiful offspring and noone else. The reason is is that I think friends that are not privy to the knowledge start to get a bit jealous of your success. I will never forget a "friends" comment to my husband a few years ago when he was giving out little sportscars as a gift for attending his sons birthday. He said to my husband - here's a Porsche for you Brad - something you'll never own. I fumed under my breath and thought - how the heck do you think you know how we are going financially. We were no doubt in a better position than he - but because of our frugal natures choose not to show it with flash clothes, cars or accessories (read the Millionaire Mind and see why most millionaires are the same). That comment comes back to me from time to time and motivates me to invest in property and become very wealthy.

I do not wish to share my information and knowledge with friends because they have had the same opportunity as me to go the library and find a book to read and I do not wish to make it easy for them and spell it all out without doing all the initial work. They can go do the research themselves and wonder how the hell we are doing it.

The moral of the story is that you can still become a property tycoon without a university education and with parents that know nothing about investing and property - just read the right books and work in the right industry and absorb info like a sponge.
 
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Mum was a cleaner, Dad was a cook. Both immigrated from Europe. He was also an abusive alcoholic and not a nice man at all. We never had a car (only kid I knew whose parents didn't drive) and we lived in a working class suburb in Perth. We were quite poor, Dad was drunk every night, always verbally abusive and occasionally physically abusive.

However, Mum gave me the love of 2 parents so I still felt loved and secure most of the time. She was also an excellent saver and bargain hunter which I either learnt or inherited. Whilst Mum was a good saver, she wasn't into getting debt to work for you. For her, all debt was bad and she'd question my affordability of every loan I got - even until recently. I think she finally trusts my financial decisions now (at last - I'm 37!)

Fortunately, I did well at school (though being smart at the schools I went to made you a "loser") and got into Uni.

When I finished Uni in 1992 and went North as a graduate I'd already saved $14k from my part time jobs and bought a duplex for $70k which I paid off as quickly as I could (1996 I think) and bought 2 more places in the next 3 years.

I now have 6 IPs at an LVR of less than 50%. Whilst equity isn't an issue, banks say my serviceability is an issue for further loans so its time for low doc, though I remain somewhat conservative and risk averse.

I also fully own my PPOR and even hold the title to it (as I said, I really should get my equity working for me better!) which is a heavily overcapitalised house in an average suburb. But since its in front of my Mom's house (and basically on the front yard that I played on as a kid) and my dear wife is happy to live in my Mum's front yard - she got whatever she wanted in the house! And my mum gets to see her grandkids every day and we all look after her in her twilight years!

So I'm financially secure, have a fantastic family (wife and 3 kids) and when my friends tell me I'm one of the most self actualised people they know I can only agree with them. I love my life and feel truly fortunate - blessed even....
 
Mum was a cleaner, Dad was a cook. Both immigrated from Europe. He was also an abusive alcoholic and not a nice man at all. We never had a car (only kid I knew whose parents didn't drive) and we lived in a working class suburb in Perth. We were quite poor, Dad was drunk every night, always verbally abusive and occasionally physically abusive.

However, Mum gave me the love of 2 parents so I still felt loved and secure most of the time. She was also an excellent saver and bargain hunter which I either learnt or inherited.

Fortunately, I did well at school (though being smart at the schools I went to made you a "loser") and got into Uni.

When I finished Uni in 1992 and went North as a graduate I'd already saved $14k from my part time jobs and bought a duplex for $70k which I paid off as quickly as I could (1996 I think) and bought 2 more places in the next 3 years.

I now have 6 IPs at an LVR of less than 50%. Whilst equity isn't an issue, banks say my serviceability is an issue for further loans so its time for low doc, though I remain somewhat conservative and risk averse.

I also fully own my PPOR and even hold the title to it (as I said, I really should get my equity working for me better!) which is a heavily overcapitalised house in an average suburb. But since its in front of my Mom's house (and basically on the front yard that I played on as a kid) and my dear wife is happy to live in my Mum's front yard - she got whatever she wanted in the house! And my mum gets to see her grandkids every day and we all look after her in her twilight years!

So I'm financially secure, have a fantastic family (wife and 3 kids) and when my friends tell me I'm one of the most self actualised people they know I can only agree with them. I love my life and feel truly fortunate - blessed even....
 
Hi markxr6t. You have done really well to have so much and to be so "normal" after having a father like that. I notice you say you live in your mother's front yard. I am curious about what happened to your dad? Is he still around?

Did you buy a bit of your mum's yard and build? I couldn't live within the same yard as my mother-in-law. I think your wife needs a medal :D
 
I'm an Army brat...

Dad was a soldier. Mum was a soldiers wife. Dad's retired now and he still is up before dawn and as active as when he was a 20 year old. Mum's still works and is always busy and will be until the day she leaves this planet.

I was born in 1970 while dad was overseas in the South Vietnam fracas. Life for me was living in one military camp for a while and then moving to another. Every two years Dad was posted and we would all pack up and move onwards. Lived in lots of places.

Investing didn't get talked about much at the dinner table or anywhere else. I didn't know until I was in my early twenties, but mum had been into grazing rights and dairy leases with the old farm/homestead from her parents place. Mum and Dad invested in their kids. I learnt about lots of things from mum and dad - honesty, integrity, how people should be treated - The kind of things I'm trying to teach my 7-year old daughter but forget as an adult.

Mum and Dad encourage me with the investing. It must be a good thing as he hasn't crashed and burned. It's funny when they meet old friends from their prior life in the army. I hear them chatting: 'Aaron and his latest IP development.' Thirty years ago it the very similar : 'Aaron got this first aid certificate and an athletics medal at school.':)

I knew about investing and wish I had started earlier. I have a few res IP's and looking for commercial now. Starting a business. Love investing. Love the money. Love the choices. Love the forum.

Aaron
 
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wylie said:
Hi markxr6t. You have done really well to have so much and to be so "normal" after having a father like that. I notice you say you live in your mother's front yard. I am curious about what happened to your dad? Is he still around?

Did you buy a bit of your mum's yard and build? I couldn't live within the same yard as my mother-in-law. I think your wife needs a medal :D
Click to expand...

Hi Wylie

Thanks for your interest.

Dad passed away in 2002 of Alzheimers (alcohol induced dementia) though he was sick for a long time before this. This caused Mum great frustration and resentment because she quit work to look after him after he was so nasty to her for 25 years+. Its fair to say that although Mum is 73 right now, she's living the best years of her life. I'm pleased to be contributing to that.

As far as the block goes, Mum "gave" it to us, but we obviously paid the development costs and I pay her the equivalent to her pension for the 5 years that she loses it under Centrelink's "gifting" rules. All up, we got the block at about a $50k discount and the trade off is that we live there til Mum is no more! Its a shackle, but a positive one.

And yes my wife does deserve a medal - not only is she tolerant (Mum tries not to be interfering but can't help herself sometimes), but also one of the most genuinely good people I've ever met.
 
My dad was a poor immigrant who came here in the 60s hoping to make his fortune. He worked odd jobs in south australia and later up in the north west pilbara during the mining boom of the 60s/70s before starting his own business in which he worked very hard. I was born, the business took off and he became very wealthy.

He always drilled into me that it was folly to work for anyone other than yourself and that owning a business was the way to go which I fully appreciate. While he was a great businessman he was a lousy investor. He didn't drink or smoke or gamble but he was obsessed with punting on the stock market. He had millions stashed away and instead of investing it wisely he chose to punt it for thrills instead and lost out big time. He even punted the currency markets which is an even greater folly. He was a shrewd individual yet he lacked intelligence in the traditional sense of the world. He would listen to stockbrokers bad advice and when he blew out an account, he would just try his luck with another one. It was always somebody elses fault as far as he was concerned and his luck was due to change at any moment. He had learnt in business to perservere but perservering when you have no edge is a waste of time. Due to his immense self-belief, some would say even insolence, he believed that he had what it took to beat the markets and if he perservered for long enough, his time in the sun would come.

My parents gave me an excellent childhood. We lived in what was considered to be a mansion for its era, a house bought at a live televised charity auction with swimming pool and spa and other spiffy stuff for its time. Dad had eight cars including porsches and ferraris and lots of motorbikes and other expensive toys. Our house was always filled with the latest gadgets. My dad built his business up to be the best of its kind in the country and at its peak it was netting him hundreds of thousands in profit a year in the 80s. He had a staff of 40 but the pressure began to take its toll and he became very ill which would see him mostly bedridden for most of the 90s.

I learnt a lot of good and bad things from his rise and fall when he was bringing me up. He spoilt me and didn't teach me the value of money. Whenever I faced difficulty and needed money, I would just go to him like a pet expecting a meal. It took me until well into my late teens to break the habit and much longer for some of my siblings.

I also learnt how not to invest from him. While watching him punt the stockmarket unsuccesfully for year after year I noted the constant upward march of the much safer and more consistent property market even though it was less exciting to him. To this day we still argue over the property versus shares debate. In my opinion, property is the main event with the stockmarket being the sideshow but that's another story.
 
I had a very happy upbringing in a small coastal town in NQ. Mum & dad were small business owners though never with any great success until they accidentally fell into a burgening retail business when I was in my early teens. We had a few very good years until they went bankrupt and lost everything including our home, cars, boat etc. At the time I was nearly 17 and to this day I remember the administrators coming into the shop and boxing up stock and equipment and taking it away. Then they came to the house for the cars and boat. I was deeply embarrassed and humiliated at this very public downfall but the real kicker was coming home from school one day shortly afterwards and finding a huge auction sign with "Repossession Sale" plastered all over it and stuck in our front lawn for all the world to see. Funnily enough I really can't remember moving out of our house and into a rental - normally I have a great memory so I must have blocked it out. I was the only kid left at home by then and they were pretty dark days at home with mum and dad although they did their best to hide their own despair. Anyway, they eventually pulled themselves out of the doldrums and got on with life and within a year had managed to buy an old Kingswood and caravan and headed off to do the grey nomad thing. As I'd finished school and was working by then, they relinquished the lease on the rental house and I moved out on my own.

Although embarrassing at the time, it was many years later before I realised what a profound effect all this had on me. Mum & dad never invested in anything so I was completely naive when it came to investing. I thought that was something only rich people did. So I only had one very simple, but obsessive goal - to own my own home. It wasn't until my husband and I achieved this dream that we dared to think beyond this (Incidentally, my husbands parents never owned a home and certainly ever invested). We both became accountants after studying as adult students so I guess it's fair to say that through the years we've found ourselves in contact with many people with an investing mind-set and although no one ever said "this is how you do it" it opened our eyes to the possibilities.

Our goal now is not just to create a comfortable retirement for ourselves but to break the "poverty/hand to mouth cycle" that characterises both our families and set our kids up with secure futures in terms of financial security and the knowledge to grow that wealth further. If we can do that, hopefully not just our kids, but our grandkids and all furture generations will be taken care of.

Flatout
 
L.AAussie said:
"We used to live in a shoe-box, in the middle of the road",

"That's luxury!"

(Four Yorkshiremen sketch - Monty Python)
Click to expand...
Actually, the sketch existed before Monty Python.

I've just watched the sketch from a very bad quality B&W DVD (I guess TV quality recording of the time- 1967) of "At Last the 1948 Show"- with John Cleese, Tim Brooke Taylor, Marty Feldman and Graham Chapman.

There were a few laughs- but at $6 for the six episodes, it was worth it- even just for that sketch, if not the Marty Feldman eyes.
 
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