Rate my live BR plan

[redfisher]

I don't really think this is a good plan. You're looking at playing 20-40 average 7 months a year. At your rate of $60 an hour that's 50,400/year if you play 30 hours a week in good games. Good luck with that in Tunica.

The other downside is that your income is basicly stuck at 50K. Poker limits don't increase 3% a year to pace inflation. IMO, you're much better off getting a decent job with benefits and playing on the weekend. Your nut is always covered. You can get a better than $600/mo place to live. You can get sick and not end up homeless.

If you have to play professionally, go to Costa Rico and play online. Do your tours of Stateside casinos as required.

[pig4bill]

LOL, great advice, move to Costa Rica.

OP, good luck with your plan. I'm jealous.

[badhandoop]

50K is actually really good, considering I'm going to do some kind of enjoyable part-time work during my off summer months.

[KipBond]

[ QUOTE ]
50K is actually really good, considering I'm going to do some kind of enjoyable part-time work during my off summer months.

[/ QUOTE ]

50K - taxes - mortgage/rent - utilities - bills(debt/expenses) - car(payment/gas/repairs) - insurance(car/health/home/renter's) - food - clothes - living supplies - entertainment - savings - bankroll support/increases = ??

[badhandoop]

I am a very frugal person. I make 45K+ pretax but spend roughly 15Kish per year on everything. Keep in mind cost of living where I am. Rent+utilities for the whole year is about 9k.

[KurtSF]

OP, I like you plan for the following reasons:

* documented track record of success
* sufficient bankroll to reduce RoR to a manageable level
* very low "nut" due to your frugality
* nest egg that won't go on the table and employable skills for an exit strategy should things not go your way

I have two concerns/recommendations:

(1) The fact that you live on 15k per year makes me think you have not factored health insurance into the equation. I would highly recommend you get heath insurance, as one hospital visit could jeopardize your entire plan.

(2) The "summer" job three months a year, while looking good at first blush as bringing in extra money without risk, could actually be a bad thing. It could, especially if you have a bad run for a few months, put at risk you ability to file as a professional gambler, thus ruining what you're able to deduct and hugely increasing your tax liability. Please see a tax professional (CPA) before you dive in.

Those are my thoughts. Sounds pretty nice, and good luck.

[crashjr]

I'd advise establishing residence in a state with no state income tax. I also agree with KurtSF re health insurance.

[redfisher]

50k may be good for you now. Will you be able to grow your income over time to keep up with inflation and additional life expenses? If you're living on 9K/year, I assume you're single with no kids. Are you going to be able to support that lifestyle with poker? To increase salary in your IT job, all you have to do is be in the top 50-80% of IT workers. To increase your poker income, you have to be in the top 10%. When you decide to go pro, you need to think about 10-15 years down the road.

[KipBond]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
50K is actually really good, considering I'm going to do some kind of enjoyable part-time work during my off summer months.

[/ QUOTE ]

50K - taxes - mortgage/rent - utilities - bills(debt/expenses) - car(payment/gas/repairs) - insurance(car/health/home/renter's) - food - clothes - living supplies - entertainment - savings - bankroll support/increases = ??

[/ QUOTE ]

I'll estimate:

$50,000
-15,000 (tax)
- 7,500 (rent)
- 2,500 (utilities)
- 2,000 (debt/expenses: cell phone, cable, internet, credit card, etc.)
- 3,000 (car)
- 4,000 (insurance:car,health,home/renter's)
- 1,500 (food+clothes)
- 1,000 (living supplies + entertainment)
===========
$13,500

This doesn't include any traveling expenses, very little entertainment, minimal eating out, no gifts/donations, no savings, no unforeseen expenses, no income growth (bankroll additions, investments).

So, looks like you can barely pull this off, but with a lot of risk if you plan on having a more expensive lifestyle in the future.

[badhandoop]

I plan to move up as my BR and skill increases.

I am vehemently against marriage. It seems like the worst move I could ever make in terms of financial and personal liability. I value my freedom too much. If I have children, it will be much, much later (20+ years).

I hate IT work. The only way I would consider continuing work in this field is a 200K+ salary, simply to accelerate my retirement. I only need around 800K for my proper semi-retirement.

The reason my retirement is so cheap is that I plan to reside in Thailand 8-9 months out of the year. All you have to do is read the Thailand thread in OOT to get a picture of the cost of living there.

With minimal risk investment of 800K and very light part-time work, I would easily be able to live well in Thailand while still growing my net worth.