Who & what Inspired you?

[RPI]

Warning: Philosophical question coming?

Who?
I was interested to see who inspired people to start investing. I'm not talking about people who educated you or taught you how to invest, I mean who gave you the inspiration, the idea, the want to go and do something. For me it was my mum, having never owned a house (due to my dad not wanting to buy one) mum was asking me from before I was 18 when I was going to buy a house. She thought that having a house was a good foundation for life. I thought that if 1 was good more must be better and went on from there.

What?
Time and freedom to do what I want when I want. Not wealth per se as I don't really care if i never drive a mercedes or a bmw or have nice clothes, a waterfront house would be great though. But it's being able to choose to do what I want when I want, and that takes, money. Money to live, money to travel, etc

look forward to hearing others

Darryl

 

[joe_morgan]

Nice thread Darryl. Partly my dad. It was he who instailled the idea that it was all possible with the right start. And more so now my kids so I can provide a good education and good standard of living. I dont yet have what I want but I'm on the right track after years of sqandering thousands on gos know what. Now I have a goal to achieve financial independance.
Where are you a HPE teacher. That was my fav subject at school.

Joe

 

[ferretter]

Hi

I wonder how many people like myself became inspired by Robert Kiyosaki after reading Rich Dad Poor Dad.

My partner bought the book then didn't get a chance to turn a page - I read it in two nights then gave it back.

From then read Jan's books - wanted an Australian perspective on +ve property investing.

We never wanted to rely on super/pension and found property could be our way to an earlier and better retirement.

Bought our first IP in 1998.
Have a few now.

Best thing we ever did.
Cheers Ferretter

 

[Gee Cee]

A Better Life

I guess having a better life than my parents caused me to start buying property @ 19.

I grew up in a rough are where most of the students or parents did not give a rat's ar-- about education or the future. My father was no investor. Except for lotteries and horse racing systems.

Basically I had some sort of capitalist tendancies bred into me. In high School I was buying other kids bikes. Painting them & re-selling. Then at 16 it was cars. As soon as I saved a couple of grand I bought my first house for $23k. I was earning about $240 pw as a apprentice electrician.

The house doubled in value in 12 mths. That was incredible. I thought I was rick. But instead of selling I re-financed and purchased another house then 4 flats at a mortagee auction. I still drove my old Holden Panel Van and was super tight with my $$.

From then it just became a growing item. I met more people. Bankers, agents, etc. I grew from being timid and unable to negotiate to knowing what I wanted and how to get it. My career kept advancing as well.

Basically i feel from being constantly motivated. In 1995 i gave up full time work to just concentrate on property developments and investments.

Not all of my investment decisions have been great. Some have had losses.

However I have learnt to take losses , LEARN & move forward.

The recent Boom is the 3rd I have been fortunate enough to be part of.

Time moves on but i feel history repeats itself. It is the learning along the way that allows you to hopefully make fewer mistakes as time passes.

So if I could put it in a nutshell I feel that coming from nothing and having to get out and do it yourself is what has driven me forward.

Nowdays it is still the need to succeed that pushes me forward. And the fact that i would be bored to death if I did not have some major thing to achieve.

Gee Cee

Old Fart

 

[geoffw]

For me, it was Peter Spann who made me realise where I had been going wrong, and to see ways of getting out of the prospect of a retirement in poverty.

If he was the inspiration, it was Jan Somers who provided a lot of the details- and the forum which educated me even more than I could possibly have hoped for,

 

[perky29]

For me it was my mother and uncle in 1989 - Uncle had bought in Sydenham at end of 1987 - and his place went from 53k to around 105k in 12 to 18 months (thanks Labour).
So I then purchased with my brother a good yielding shop in Waratah (Newcastle) - I was 21 and he was 19. We paid off the 79k loan in 4 years (living at home helped, although 16.9% interest was not much fun) , then sold it in year 5 for 97k as he needed the money. Not much of a gain , but it was a way of "forced savings".
Got the bug again in 1993 in SE QLD while on honeymoon - bought at slightly inflated prices and then saw price go backwards for MANY years, and was put off by that.
But - started looking again in 1999 - did nothing for 3 years (kids and other things happened...) - and then people started getting laid off at work. I then realised two things:
1/ IT industry is not safe forever like I thought it was.
2/Superannuation is NOT going to give me the life in retirement I would like.

At that point in time (and after a lengthy "discussion" with my wife), decided it was time for action.
Have not looked back since....

 

[RPI]

Joe
Last school was Woodridge High, worked 3 days per week last year and gave up working this year (yipee!).

Darryl

 

[T.P.]

I don`t recall what awoke the desire to educate myself about investing but a Kyosaki seminar opened my eyes greatly. I have since read that there is doubt about the rich dads existence, still his message of getting out of the rat race appealed to me, so I thank him for inspiring me to learn more.
Jan Somers made the maths a bit clearer for me, John Burleys tips on knowing what your money is doing, financial literacy,helped greatly.
This stuff should be taught in high school!!

Regards Terry

 

[bobby]

I was first inspired by Charles J. Given's Books on finance. He passed away in the late eighties but his books although with an American theme can be adapted to OZ. After that I fine tuned my property investments by reading jan somers's books.


Bobby

 

[Hulkster]

A good friend and I, along with our better halves, were lying around in Phuket, drinking too much in late 99 when we came up with a plan for the future. We got into property about 2 years later and have accumulated a decent number since then. He even left his job to do full time property development.

Why? - It was, and is, fun to us. When it's no longer fun we will move onto another money making idea.