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#41
05-03-2006, 04:46 PM
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Re: how hard is it to become wealthy?
[ QUOTE ]
just read the responses and see many are getting rich and wealthy backwards [/ QUOTE ] Shaq is RICH... but the white man who signs his paychecks is WEALTHY. Oprah is rich, but Bill Gates is wealthy. If Bill Gates suddenly woke up with Oprah's money, he'd slit his throat. /Rock 
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#42
05-03-2006, 04:47 PM
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Re: how hard is it to become wealthy?
I like the replies so far. Mostly because it makes me think that as long as I don't have kids I won't have to work forever. I just got my first real job out of college and have been planning for retirement and it seemed a little too easy.
I understand that 150k/year is very relative to where you live, but I didn't really specify that in my post. I live in western canada and the cost of living here is fairly low. The oil boom has caused some inflation, but I would say that 150k/year is a ticket to early retirement if you want it. A nice house is available for 300k, and there are few million+ properties. Regardless of where I live though, it sounds like my intellect will allow me to move up a Fussell tier. I've noticed that it seems like a lot of posters here are well off. (More than average at least.) Obviously there's some selection bias, but it just made me think that money isn't that hard to come by if you're motivated to get it.
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#43
05-03-2006, 04:50 PM
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Re: how hard is it to become wealthy?
[ QUOTE ]
How is $150,000 a year not wealthy for a single person? Say you take home $90,000 after taxes. In NY or SF, drop $2000 a month on rent, [/ QUOTE ] It's difficult (though not impossible) to find a place in SF or NY for $2k/month (at least for a family. A lot easier for a single person).
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#45
05-03-2006, 04:52 PM
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Re: how hard is it to become wealthy?
duk,
OK. Here's how, in NYC. $3000/month on apartment, 1br doorman building in decent neighborhood. That's not even a super-nice one. $50/night on drinks/covers/taxis (not every night, but since weeekend nights can easily be a few hundreds, $350 for the week is not much). $10/day on lunch. $5/day on breakfast/coffees. $30/day on dinner weekdays, $100/day on Fri/Sat. That's $800/week on crap like that, another $3000. Boom, there's $72k right there. Another $300/month on utilities and cable and crap. Another $4000. $76k. Go on a couple of ski trips, $2500 each, and maybe one summer trip, $4k. That's $9k. $85k. Oh, a few pairs of shoes ($200/per), gym membership ($100/mo), a couple pairs of suits ($1000/per), a few new shirts and pants and stuff, another $5k. $90k. There's the takehome money spent already. Now, I wanna go to some movies, go to some shows, maybe go visit the family a couple of times, occassionally buy a new TV or something, buy the girlfriend some jewelry, pay for some dates, but some more new clothes, etc. All of a sudden, there's $30k in annual credit card debt to add. Oh, I forgot, maybe I want a car, so that's $600/month payment + $300/month garage + $100/month gas. Make that $40-50k in annual debt I'm accruing, even though I'm making $150k. This is VERY easy to do.
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#47
05-03-2006, 04:54 PM
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Re: how hard is it to become wealthy?
[ QUOTE ]
Edit: Just re-read OP. I think it is much tougher to get there by 40 unless you are really focused on some entrepreneurial type stuff, whether that be starting your own company or really aggressively getting into things like real estate on the side. [/ QUOTE ] You're right. I did some math. I could need another 10 years of compound interest. However I think I could semi-retire at that age as long as I didn't dip into my investments. I'm planning on entrepreneurship because I find engineering a real drag, but I've considered toughing it out because of the importance of saving early.
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#48
05-03-2006, 04:54 PM
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Re: how hard is it to become wealthy?
"D",
You just explained the last 3 years of my life, except w/o the whole six figure salary thing. Best, M
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#49
05-03-2006, 04:54 PM
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Re: how hard is it to become wealthy?
Al,
Yeah, I was specifically speaking wrt "well-off" as opposed to "wealthy." When wealthy, you don't sweat dropping 20k in Vegas or taking a spontaneous trip to Italy or when something happens to your car and it's an unexpected 5k expense or for that matter, you decide you just want a new car.
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#50
05-03-2006, 04:55 PM
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Re: how hard is it to become wealthy?
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ] How is $150,000 a year not wealthy for a single person? Say you take home $90,000 after taxes. In NY or SF, drop $2000 a month on rent, [/ QUOTE ] It's difficult (though not impossible) to find a place in SF or NY for $2k/month (at least for a family. A lot easier for a single person). [/ QUOTE ] Its difficuilt im sure if you want to look like you make 150K a year. What i still don't understand is that if someone making 150K a year can barely have any pocket money every month, then how do all the janitors, denny's waitresses and cab drivers, do it?
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