Are you investing any of your money?
More.
More wealth/fluidity, more muscle, more affluence.
Sure, but entirely sure for what just yet, but it needs to be a side business - not primary income. At least, not until it’s sustainable for a while. Not really a paralysis by analysis thing, I’m still looking to grow as a person, father, husband, citizen, and struggling to find like-minded folks. There are resources for this, but they are expensive.
None outside of 401k. Everything is going towards debt first, then investments. Ideally, investing in realty - not stocks.
I usually have used 4 percent for these calculations. I think 5 is pretty safe too.
I don’t think by me, but I live pretty below my means now, and I’m not close to that income.
I agree though. Lots of lottery winners don’t keep their money long. Those that built wealth with good, but not extreme wealth usually keep it, or it grows. They are usually frugal for their level of income (often how the wealth is built).
Interesting in terms of building wealth. So much is regional and luck, as well. As an example:
When I lived in rural PA for a faculty position, I owned a house for about 10 years and made a profit of about $75K over that time when I sold it. This was my first real job (coming off graduate school and a postdoc), and had about $180K in retirement savings. So, at 40, I had a net worth of maybe $450K between my bank account, retirement, and equity in my house.
At 50, having moved back to CA 8 years ago and getting in the market at just the right time, I now have about $1.5M in equity in my house (crazy, but true) about $600K in my retirement, plus higher savings, etc… So at 50 (in 2 months), my net worth is around $2.2M. If a never left PA, it would be much cheaper each year to live, but I never would have the amount of total “wealth” I have now.
Another thing. Living in NorCal, even with a household income of ~$350K, we live middle class. A cool but modest home, reasonable cars but nothing fancy, and nothing too extravagant. If we made this much while in central PA, it would be a different story but ultimately I’d take the tradeoff again without hesitation. Also, because of the value of our home, it affords us a ton of flexibility down the road should we decide to relocate after retirement. Funny that as I contribute to this thread, my life sounds much better than I give it credit for. I’m wearing old gym clothes and working out with old barbells and swigging Surge, just like I would if I made $30K a year.
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Sometimes a little inventory is a good thing. Like “Yeah! Turns out I’m doing pretty good!”.
To the topic- Regular inventory of the good, bad, and somewhere in between can be a useful tool.
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@Andrewgen_Receptors Sounds like your mindset is pretty standard… for an elite athlete. Those guys over-achieve to a ridiculous extent, but the trade-off is, it’s either be a well-adjusted human being, or be an extreme achiever.
I’m not sure you have any choice in this, it’s just who you are as a person.
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I actually think many are basketcases.
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You’re not the only one but one of relatively few people. Most people cannot handle all that either because they don’t want to or can’t.
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Hey buddy, I’m an old man of 61. Avid recreational lifter and I have a story related to this. I was a lazy drunk and pothead kid. I did a little lifting and looked pretty good as a senior in high school, then I went to two years of college and didn’t do very well because of my bad habits. Got my girlfriend pregnant and then I got really serious about things, married her and begin working two full-time jobs in a part-time job for almost 4 years. I barely slept, except for weekends. I pushed myself to the limit using whatever I could purchase legally to stay awake and stay alert. I ended up driving the company van into a ditch one night. Was able to keep the job but then went in to an air conditioned room on a hot summer night and fell asleep at the lunch table and my boss caught me. He fired me and then rehire me in the same sentence. During this time my second kid was born with cerebral palsy spastic I plegia and other related problems that preemie baby will have. I kept working and jamming on all three jobs. I began to hallucinate at the end of my shifts. Once I saw a little gray man look around the corner at me at the gym. it was about 3:00 in the morning and I ran at him with an iron bar only to find out he was a figment of my imagination even though he looked physically real. It was then I realized I was just pushing too hard. So I quit the extra jobs and we found something for my wife to do that would be flexible for her to make money. But now I’m in my '60s and I’m suffering the side effects of massive caffeine consumption as well as abuse of ibuprofen. I didn’t realize that the lack of sleep was actually damaging my DNA. We now have studies that show that sleep deprivation damages DNA irreparably. Irreparably. It cannot be undone. Once your DNA is damaged it’s only a matter of time before that damage manifests as an illness or some other form of poor health or a condition. My left hip fell out of the socket while exercising when I was in my mid-20s and they made me wait to get a hip replacement. I was just too young. I became known as the guy who limps because I drug my left leg behind me it was pretty much only good for holding me up right while standing still. That was the beginning of the osteoarthritis which was diagnosed as moderate severe. So all that said, pushing yourself as you are comes with a price much later in life. You should really prioritize what your goals in life are and just focus on that. It’s not about the money that’s for sure. I don’t have a lot these days because I meet my deductible every year as well as having to pay for my health insurance through work. Mighty deductible is $4,000 per year and I spend that plus the price of the insurance nearly every year. So I have probably shortened my life by 10 to 15 years by pushing so hard to get out of poverty. If it wasn’t for the farm home administration I never would have been able to purchase a house, and I also lived in subsidized apartment housing for some time while we were in poverty. I make just slightly over six figures now but I am a mess on the inside. The bright side is because I’m a recreational lifter and have been for years I look pretty good on the outside lol. I spend a couple hundred bucks a month on over-the-counter supplements and herbs and other remedies, but despite that I am on about eight different medications, for my heart, my kidney and other things. Focus on the low hanging fruit and get really good financial advice so that you don’t feel you have to push so hard, and I think you might find balance. But from my perspective, and just mine, it was worth it in some ways but now I’m paying the price. I wish my parents had been more adamant about my discipline when it came to school, I would have been a lot better off today if I had been more disciplined and less of a partier and less of an overworker than after that. My wife says I’m an extremist. I’m either full in, full throttle or want nothing to do with it. I have a psychologist who’s helping me with that now because that’s covered by insurance. 
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Where you finding Surge? I would like one just for a taste of the 90s.
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Your version getting more/being happy with what you have may be under this threshold. I suppose as long as basic needs are met plus a sense of happiness, it’s all good to find satisfaction.
In general and to the major point of the thread, it’s understandable to continue wanting more, and there are definitely different thresholds.
The thing is that once a certain amount of wealth, or equity ownership generating revenue is achieved, your paradigms will shift.
As a generalized scenario, you go from working overtime or an extra gig to get by to a promotion with a raise allowing a 40 hour week, then another promotion that buys security and or toys et cetera. Maybe you’re self-satisfied at this point, and that’s great.
Maybe you’re like the OP and want to keep climbing the ladder, which never ends. There is always another step. Even if you hit CEO, there are bigger companies, more complex channels et cetera. You will never find satisfaction of being at the top of a profession and income bracket is your goal.
To do that, you have to create or own. Like Bill Gates, Musk, Bezos et cetera. And the vast majority will never reach their level.
But you can certainly get to $48k per month. Tradesmen who successfully venture on their own do this, service companies, insurance and real estate brokerages et cetera.
The thing is, you hire people to do the work itself.
So now you have money and free time. Maybe you work 15 hours a week consulting hired management, your CPA or lawyer et cetera. Then what? Watch TV all day and drive a Corolla to grab some moderately priced Chinese take-out for lunch? Unlikely.
You will begin to see time and money differently from a new paradigm beyond wage slaving with a few evening hours to kill. Like a career ladder climber, this can go on forever too. Optimization, expansion, lateral acquisitions, vertical mergers et cetera. And each new step will open more doors to explore with your time.
So this is why I suggest finding the true amount of happiness money/career brings you and your family, then finding outlets for your energy/desire to grow in a way that fertilizes other areas of your life in a meaningful way too. (And if that’s a common job with a common salary, mortgage and yard to mow, that’s great, but not in the same vein as the OP.)
Otherwise, you will always be chasing the dragons tail in a circle.
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…?
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I thought he was talking about this.
Not that I’d drink a ton of it, but I remember liking the stuff as a kid. I think it made a brief comeback about 10 years ago, but I don’t think you can buy it anymore.
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There will always be things I desire haha. I just try to put a bit of effort into exploring why I want those things. I think often times things we want appear to have a purpose other than increasing status, but upon further examination increasing status is baked into the desire. Then, the satisfaction from obtaining the item is usually a lot shorter lived than expected.
It’s quite possible I am a total odd ball too. I don’t think I value status or appearance of status very much. I have friends / family that are more materialistic. When they stretch their budgets to buy a new luxury vehicle for example, I feel sorry for them. I don’t envy them. I don’t say anything about that, actually the opposite. I say how nice it is, but I don’t really care. I see them as the same as before they got whatever it is they wanted, but now more financially stretched.
If someone really is loaded, and can really afford those things, I think that is fine. I just think a lot of people make themselves worse off in the pursuit of more. What percent of the US population is living pay check to pay check? What percent of those people self imposed that?
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I think I missed something here, @unreal24278 deleted the post before I read it.
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My message to you was slightly off topic
But more/less i’ve travelled extensively… moved constantly growing up and spent a good amount of time drifting around after I graduated high school
It’s not all it’s cut out to be. If you are moving around yet you aren’t on vacation (i.e doing humanitarian style work)… you might wind up seeing things that you can’t unsee
Drifting around is a lonely existance. I have a dog, she is my world… my frooblyshmongus… my big fluffy teddy bear…
Get the dog. Outside of vacations, I can’t recommend the world travel schpiel if you are alone and/or have responsibilities.
It can be suprisingly isolating.
If it weren’t for that dog, I might not even be in Aus. I love that dog so much that it has kept me stable in terms of where I live.
This whole post seems misplaced and more about YOU than the person you’re speaking to.
I’m sorry you lost your dog, but it is still just a dog.
Huh? I never lost my dog. If I did I’d never be able to step foot in the house I live in because I’d be so heartbroken
A lot of people wish to travel around to find themselves
The truth is… very little character development occurs over 6-12-18 months for the most part. Chances are you won’t ‘find yourself’.
All travelling around really entails is a break/escape from reality. Unless you feel like an outcast, and are searching for an alternate cultural archetype (good luck)… all travelling does is prolong the time required to eventuate the same outcome in the end
Op didn’t want to get a dog so she could galavant around the world. My recommendation is to go on a say…
One month vacation to satiate that desire and get the dog as opposed to prolonged globetrotting.
people who do this are literally setting themselves up for failure. It’s not a secret that the lifespan of dogs is significantly shorter than ours… love your dog, but it is truly just a dog.
Unicorns travels pretty much weekly. Her training log is filled with pictures of her nature travels, if you ever ventured out of off topic/pwi/combat. That is all she was referring to.
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