Wealth is obtainable?!?!?!?!

[Hoosier4life2005]

So... me and my friends were just hanging out in my room a few days ago.  We were talking about our jobs and money and such.  (None of them save anything)

One of my friends happened to look under my bed and find the book  "The Richest Man in Babylon." .  He asks what its about and I simply tell him its a really good short book that he should read.

I dont know if any of you have read this book.. but basically it just teaches you to be good with money and save a little.


Anyway, he does read the book.. and a few days later he acts like he read some big secretive "ANYBODY can get rich if you want too" bible. 

"Dude... If I save like 10% of my money, or even MORE, and invest it in something, overtime... ill be wealthy, and ANYBODY can do it. I used to think it was hard to become rich, but now I see that anybody, even somebody who works at a fast food restraunt can eventually become rich."  - says a friend of mine. 

Now all my friends are passing around this book as if its a bible.  lolz.

THe point of this post is this.... THIS IS SCARY.  Americans, and especially the American youth (my age) are so blind about finances.....  I think this simply speaks volumes about the education system in America also.  A simple 100 page book might have just done more for my freind than any other book has.

The concept of having MONEY WORK for YOURSELF never went through their HEADS!!!!

I think its sad, you have mass quantities of people going through life thinking they have NO CHANCE at making alot of money, because its unattainable. If you arent born rich..... how do you become rich?!?  You have to be a genious or something (everybody thinks).
 They think graduating college is the final destination, when in reality, its just the beginning of your "what should be" investing life.

SO MANY Americans are SO BLIND, its ridiculous.  If I CAN ACHIEVE WEALTH, ANYBODY CAN!!!  Im from a lower-mid/middle income family with NOTHING given to me except for a free place to live and food(and I appreciate it).

[furnishedowner]

Nice post, Josh.

You are way beyond most other 20-year-olds. Maybe YOU should be the one to teach other young people...?  Become the Dave Ramsey of your generation?  Hey, why not?

Furnishedowner

[fdjake]

Josh,

That book did exactly what it should do for your friends and YOU.

Want to known the difference between someone with SELF MADE MONEY and the rest of the IDIOTS in this country????

The people with MONEY did EXACTLY what that little book outlines....They SACRIFICED for a period of time, INVESTED that money....

And HERE'S the DEAL BREAKER for 95% of people...

THEN THEY LOST THAT MONEY!!!!!!!!!!!!

Why is that good????

Because it separates the STROKERS from the FUTURE MILLIONAIRES....

The STROKERS throw in the towel and NEVER invest again....The future MILIONAIRES go back to the beginning and START OVER.

In the book the main character LOSES his entire savings because he THOUGHT this would be EASY...He rushes to invest, fails to understand the investment, and gets wiped out because it ISN'T EASY.

Your friends are THERE....RIGHT NOW....They think it's EASY!!!!

WATCH what happens when after SAVING for a full year.....They LOSE IT ALL or a big chunk of it...Their REACTION to that loss will dictate their FUTURE.

YOU....HOOSIER....Need to be aware of this too....You're still in the SAVING MODE (and doing a GREAT JOB of it!!!!) SAVING is SAFE....It's EASY....The NEXT STEP is where the REAL WORLD WAITS.

When you and your friends get there it's a new chapter.....RE- READ the book!!!!

Hoosier......YOU my friend are a future MILLIONAIRE.....I guarantee it!!!!  You are LIGHT YEARS ahead of your competition.....AND more importantly....You won't give up if you hit a snag along the path....THAT is your real advantage!!!

[Hoosier4life2005]

Jake, you really should write a book man.. im tellin yuh' your posts are inspirational and fun to read.  Thanks, never stop posting. . 

[fdjake]

Hoosier,

You impress the sh*t out of me.

I mentioned that book to you a least a few YEARS ago and you not only BOUGHT IT....You READ IT .......and SAVED IT!!!!

You are doing.....RIGHT NOW...What the main character in Richest Man DIDN'T DO....

R E S E A R C H

One other point you NAILED.....

EDUCATION.....or the LACK OF IT.

You are more savvy financially, than 90% of the people I deal with on a daily basis.

Susie Orman is doing a show now (to sell her new book to morons) where she is attempting to EDUCATE people who have MASTERS DEGREES and DOCTORATES on the utter DISASTERS they have created for themselves financially.

It is literally the funniest show on TV.....It's not SUPPOSE to be funny...It's heart breaking in reality.....But I laugh my @ss off watching these nit wits talk about their financial situations.

"Susie.....My husband and I are both Doctors, We bought a "INVESTMENT PROPERTY" in Florida in 2006 with NO MONEY down and a interest only loan and used a home equity line on our home to make the monthly payments when we couldn't sell it.  WHAT SHOULD WE DO???"

Susie tries to politely explain to them that they are screwed....

MY response would have been SLIGHTLY different.......

ARE YOU SH-TTIN ME????

That question can wait.....

Where the hell are you two DOCTORS???

If I ever get hurt there.....I want to know how LONG it will take me to get as far from you 2 geniuses as possible.

[Hoosier4life2005]

LOL.

Jake, I know what your saying for sure.  I work with alot of people i'de consider "smart."  Since im in the medical field, I work with alot of nurses/doctors who honestly, (not to bash myself).. I would say have a higher IQ than me. These are not complete idiots..

However... Ill hear them talk about money and its AMAZES me how people who I wouldnt consider "stupid" act so FING stupid with THEIR MONEY.  Really "smart" people who are 20K in debt... not student debt, just flat out credit card DEBT.  How in THE F can somebody be smart enough to save somebodys life in a emergency situation, but they cant handle their wallet?  Sh()@&* isnt rocket science. 

Maybe im not as dumb as I think, or maybe they aren't as smart as I think, but ill tell you one thing.......  Im going to LOVE buying houses from idiots like these when my time comes. 

[justin0419]

For most people, it's "the more you make, the more you spend" and some of them are spending well more than they make so they can impress the other idiots around who are doing the same thing.  I would LOVE to walk around our neighborhood and be able to see people's net worth who live here.  I'm sure there are plenty of people here who are enslaved to pay off their expensive toys. 
I was talking to a guy at work about a year ago about houses.  He was asking how we were able to do REI.  He was making around $125k/yr and said after paying his 300k+ mortgage, private school for the kids, and a few other bills - that he didn't have anything left.  I told him we bought a cheaper house because we wanted to have extra money to invest because that was important to us. 
I was reading the new issue of Money magazine yesterday.  There was a couple in there (early 40's) who had a combined income around $230k.  They were having a "hard" time paying down some debt and saving.  Really?  No matter where you live in this country, $230k/yr is a good salary.  You're right.  There are plenty of people out there acting stupid with money.

I wish I could go back and make some different decisions when I was younger like you.  I got started investing again when I turned 30, so now I'm making up for lost time. 
You're off to a great start.  Keep it up.  Can't wait to hear about you buying your first place soon!

[fdjake]

Justin,

Great points on living BELOW your income level!!

Another CLASSIC investment book I recommend over and over is.....

"The Millionaire Next Door"

It was written by 2 Ivy League professors who decided to FIND OUT who the REAL Self Made MILLIONAIRES were and HOW they lived.

Here's a portion of what they discovered...

REAL MILLIONAIRES typically NEVER buy NEW CARS!!  They buy 2 year old cars (still under factory warranty) and let the "show offs" take a beating on their new car purchase.  They also maintained their vehicles very well and KEPT them for 5 to 8 years....Of coarse, they pay CASH for these vehicles. NEVER, EVER...FINANCE a DEPRECIATING ASSET!

REAL MILLIONAIRES on average had WATCHES worth about $200!!

REAL MILLIONAIRES owned their own BUSINESSES.

REAL MILLIONAIRES lived in very nice, older, established neighborhoods.  They bought houses that were built with quality materials, had beautiful original architectural details and trim work. These homes retain their high values because of EXCELLENT PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEMS and desirable locations. 

Their NEIGHBORS had NO IDEA these people were MILLIONAIRES.  (REAL MILLIONAIRES don't care about keeping up with the Joneses)  Most millionaires have NO MORTGAGES but they did retain a reasonable HELOC on their home to retain the tax benefits (property tax deductions) and they only used this money if they MADE MONEY USING IT!!!!!

These people played GREAT DEFENSE.....They made good money, but it was what they DID with that money that made them RICH!!! These people had good monthly incomes, but their lifestyles and spending created their high NET WORTH.

Now for thew OTHER end of the spectrum....

DOCTORS and LAWYERS

The good professors found, to their shock....That these two groups, on average had almost ZERO NET WORTH!!!!!!

The Doctors and Lawyers had COUNTRY CLUB MEMBERSHIPS they had to maintain which cost $25K per year and had MINIMUM MONTHLY SPENDING LEVELS which MUST be met to keep you in the "club". 

They had 2 or 3 NEW MERCEDES/BMW/RANGE ROVER payments to make every month, they had a PORSCHE PAYMENT too...Their kids went to expensive PRIVATE SCHOOLS....Both the Doctor and his WIFE had $10,000 ROLEX WATCHES, They lived in a NEW McMansion in a gated neighborhood with ASSOCIATION FEE's and their homes were HIGHLY MORTGAGED and TAXED.

These people had excellent OFFENSIVE games....They made a LOT of money every month...Their PROBLEM was they did the wrong THINGS with the MONEY.  They had HIGH INCOMES but very LOW, or NO NET WORTH.

In my experience.....Most REAL MILLIONAIRES don't want ATTENTION...They run BUSINESSES that thrive. And the LAST THING they want is for everyone to know how GOOD those businesses are.  The LESS attention they attract....The less COMPETITION they have!!!

Great book.....A real eye opener.

[Hoosier4life2005]

Agreed with Jake.  "The Millionaire Next Door" is a book that people must read IMO.

When people think Millionaire, they think glitz and glamor for a lifestyle.  That stuff is nice and great to have (if you can actually afford it), but its bad to idolize people who have that stuff but cant afford it. 

[fdjake]

I'll add a little more...

You can HAVE that stuff and even MORE...You just need to GET IT the smart way.

I've got a garage full of Porsches....Not ONE of them was purchased new...They were all bought from motivated sellers that wanted CASH!!!

You can live in a million dollar home too......Just don't PAY a million dollars for it.

The TOYS will all come.....You just need to be a little patient and buy that stuff when it makes financial sense.  In other words...

When you can STEAL IT!!!!!!!!!

[REIER]

I've got a garage full of Porsches....Not ONE of them was purchased new...They were all bought from motivated sellers that wanted CASH!!!

Did you buy these locally or did you buy them out of state? If you did local, did you put out Ads to get these motivated sellers, such as local papers?

[fdjake]

Some were purchased locally, some from long distance.  I watch and wait for cars that have crappy photos, minor imperfections, or desperate sellers advertising in the wrong places.

I buy my cars the same way I buy REAL ESTATE....I ADVERTISE for these cars.

CASH PAID FOR PORSCHE 911's.....For a quick, hassle free sale call 555-555-5555

The KEY to any ad is letting it ROT.....It must be there EVERYDAY....Your seller might not want to sell TODAY....But 6 months from now.....He might NEED TO!!!   If he can find my ad when he NEEDS IT...I have a very good shot at buying his Porsche!

[Hoosier4life2005]

Jake, dumb question (and I realize this is purely a off the wall question)

Im working and savings obviously, got the ads in the newspaper going... so...



Put yourself in my spot .....  Im 20.

15K saved now...  If I did things right, hit a few snags, but I kept going strong...

What would be a realistic age at which you would want to be a millionaire?  5 years from now?  10 years from now? 

Obviously, you set limits for yourself, and thats it.  So this is a faulty question, but Im just wondering, if you were me, when would you set your goal of becoming a millionaire?

Just curious, Im wondering what number YOU would be aiming for if you were me.  ( I have a age number in my head, im just curious to see how that compared to your thought process)

[fdjake]

That is a legit question but the answer is unknown.

It REALLY depends on YOU.....How much TIME can you devote to this??

How much TIME will it take for you to figure out what ADS get a response??

How aggressive will you be in getting the word out that you BUY HOUSES???

The ads are just the start, you need to INCLUDE others in your deals if you want to find more of them.  Tell those friends of yours if they FIND a DEAL for you, you'll cut them in for THOUSAND$!!!!!

Most of all.....

TALK TO PEOPLE.....TELL THEM YOU BUY HOUSES.....GET THEM EXCITED....and then most IMPORTANT..........

ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS.....PAY THEM FAST when they find you a deal. (after you close on it of coarse)

The more of these CONNECTIONS you make......The QUICKER you become a millionaire!!!

Remind yourself EVERYDAY to simply SPEAK TO STRANGERS.....People LOVE to talk about themselves....ASK a stranger a question then TELL him your story and ALWAYS hand him a card with this goodbye.......

"Remember, that business card I just gave you could be worth a few THOUSAND DOLLARS if you USE IT!"

[REIER]

Some were purchased locally, some from long distance.  I watch and wait for cars that have crappy photos, minor imperfections, or desperate sellers advertising in the wrong places.

I haven't found much locally (probably looking in the wrong places then, like craigslist, ebay.) Any tips on better places to look? Do you maybe mean you are scouring the local papers that have them listed in the wrong sections?

Also, how did you handle the mechanical inspection process for cars long distance? I'm not gonna trust some guy saying his car is the best car since the Delorean from back to the future, unless I can verify it with a trusted mechanic.