Giving Up Your 20's for Wads of Cash?

Off Topic
61

[quote]Professor X wrote:

[quote]LankyMofo wrote:

If that comes with being able to retire at 40, sign me up.

Besides, most people exaggerate the number of hours they work, I’ve seen as much in my own profession.[/quote]

Do they? I don’t even know anyone personally in this career field but I think I would notice an entire career path where everyone is partying like it’s 1999 when they hit 40.
[/quote]

Most people with the ability to retire at 40 choose not to. I know if I were making the amount of money outlined in the previous posts I’d have saved/invested enough money to retire at 40 (assuming I was good at what I was doing and was hitting my bonuses).

62

Who here would honestly want to retire at 40? If you’re in good health that leaves another 40-50 years before death. Even if you’re stinking rich, how are you going to spend all that time? Sure, golfing is fun, traveling is fun, banging sluts is fun…but to spend up to 50 years doing so, you’re GOING to get bored without some sort of challenging task or worthwhile purpose IMO.

If you plan on toning down on the hours or committing to a life of philanthropy, I can understand it, but retiring outright at such an early age has no appeal to me.

Plus, there is a pretty solid correlation between complete retirement and early death. Something about waking up without a purpose tells your body “this guy has called it quits, shut’ter down!!”

63

[quote]schultzie wrote:
I don’t even put into consideration for shit I have yet to earn. Stay on the grind and focus on the journey. So sick of seeing these 20 year old kids in business degrees talking about 6 figure salaries. The future doesn’t mean fuck all in that sense.[/quote]

+1

The important thing is what you are doing NOW, at this very moment, not what in your calculations you will end up having if you choose to do certain things. There is no security in life and nothing is granted.

64

Not sure I mentioned this, but one HUGE thing to consider that most people do not:

With professions like law, accounting (heavy tax seasons), professional sports, real estate…what do they have in common?

Periods of prolonged work hours, last minute projects, highly stressful situations.

What do they lead to?

BINGE SPENDING.

I guarantee that working a job that pays you 200K a year but requires several months at a time of 100 hr weeks, will NOT have you spending the same as a regular 40 hr a week job that pays the same amount.

The team wants to take out a client? Whiskey, wine, kobe steaks, cigars…yes, you’ll feel awesome, but your tastes will be conditioned to be fancy AND you can’t be the tightwad schmuch “out with the boys” but not engaging in the same activities. Your spending will mirror your colleagues’ spending when you’re out with them. And if a guy or manager who makes substantially more decides to spend money on a bottle of Opus One, you’ll think it’s the cool thing to do and you’ll do it next time you’re out with your friends or family.

I promise.

Bottom line: binge spending means you’ll end up with less in the bank that you think AND it makes it harder to forecast savings into the future (several years out).

Oh, and enjoy that capital gains tax on your bonuses.

65

[quote]jasmincar wrote:

[quote]schultzie wrote:
I don’t even put into consideration for shit I have yet to earn. Stay on the grind and focus on the journey. So sick of seeing these 20 year old kids in business degrees talking about 6 figure salaries. The future doesn’t mean fuck all in that sense.[/quote]

+1

The important thing is what you are doing NOW, at this very moment, not what in your calculations you will end up having if you choose to do certain things. There is no security in life and nothing is granted.[/quote]

truer words were never spoken.

66

[quote]nomorewar wrote:

[quote]jasmincar wrote:

[quote]schultzie wrote:
I don’t even put into consideration for shit I have yet to earn. Stay on the grind and focus on the journey. So sick of seeing these 20 year old kids in business degrees talking about 6 figure salaries. The future doesn’t mean fuck all in that sense.[/quote]

+1

The important thing is what you are doing NOW, at this very moment, not what in your calculations you will end up having if you choose to do certain things. There is no security in life and nothing is granted.[/quote]

truer words were never spoken.[/quote]

Horrible advice for people who want to be successful at anything on a long term basis.

[quote]PimpBot5000 wrote:
Who here would honestly want to retire at 40? If you’re in good health that leaves another 40-50 years before death. Even if you’re stinking rich, how are you going to spend all that time? Sure, golfing is fun, traveling is fun, banging sluts is fun…but to spend up to 50 years doing so, you’re GOING to get bored without some sort of challenging task or worthwhile purpose IMO.

If you plan on toning down on the hours or committing to a life of philanthropy, I can understand it, but retiring outright at such an early age has no appeal to me.

Plus, there is a pretty solid correlation between complete retirement and early death. Something about waking up without a purpose tells your body “this guy has called it quits, shut’ter down!!”[/quote]

I agree with you but I have a different definition of retired. Being retired, to me, means I have no commitments to an employer and I have enough money to live a respectable lifestyle. That doesn’t mean I won’t be taking on worthy endeavors or no longer making any money, but rather during retirement I have the option to do so at my discretion.

67

There really is no perfect career, every career has grunt work at the beginning…

Once I finish these CPA exams I will have to do two years of bitch work under a CPA to get the required work experience for the license…

My sister recently graduated from an American Dental School plus did a residency (9 years post high school!) and she currently works 40 hours between 3 different clinics at opposing ends of the city! And in serious debt.

You’re really never going to find a career that you like 100% of what’s involved.

68

i dont see why people are willing to sacrifice so much to (make a bunch of money and) live more than comfortably

69

I’m a senior in college this year, majoring in finance, and had to make the same decision.

A lot of my friends have graduated and are now working as financial analysts, investment bankers, and a few of them work on Wall Street. Like everyone else said, if you value money more than leisure time, having any sort of a relationship with a woman, and having time to do the things you love - then yes. For two of my friends, it’s been perfect. They’re so motivated by the money and the potential that they don’t care about anything else, but for the others… they’re miserable. If you have a girlfriend, want a girlfriend anytime soon, or would like to get married prior to being 30, then it’s not a good career option. I’m getting long-winded, but short story for me was no. I would be fine coming out of college and making 60k or so a year and having a good relationship, time to do the things I love, and still be able to start a business and pursue advancement in a fulfilling career.

70

[quote]Professor X wrote:

[quote]admbaum wrote:
I personally spent my 20’s on wine, women, and song and don’t regret any part of it. Your 20’s and early 30’s are the best time in your life. You have to ask yourself “is burning the best years of my life for money worth it?” [/quote]

Most of the guys I have known who did the same are now wishing they could go back to school in their late 30’s and 40’s to make up for all of that “wine women and song” due to their lack of “bill payments, rent, and groceries”.[/quote]

Those are the same guys that thought high school were the best times of their life. I’m sorry, but playing on my 30 foot boat off the shores of Key West is more like 'best times of my life." than chasing loose women, and singing karaoke in a bar.

71

[quote]jw154505 wrote:
You’re 1st year is 70k + base and you’re thinking about not taking it? I just graduated with an Engineering degree, etc and my best offer has been 60k first year. I took it only because of the money.[/quote]

Sucks for you, Jobs running at 32 hours a week for 78K as a junior in the Economics Department isn’t hard to come by.

72

[quote]nomorewar wrote:
so everybody works so they can retire and live carefree right? nothing wrong with that. The problem is that its gonna take atleast 30+ fucking years(in most cases) to get to that point. For the people that absolutely love what they do and would be doing it for free, FUCK YOU!! ASHOLES!!LOL btw, there are alot of people that say they love what they do but that doesn’t mean they would be doing it for free(. If you get paid for what you would be doing for free anyways, then you have found true happiness. I would imagine these people being basketball stars,doctors,and cops because they would be playing basketball,helping people get well,and trolling people in the streets anyways.

If you’re living your childhood dream, chances are you’re very fucking happy. If you’re not,you’re just doing your job to survive. Its that simple. I don’t care how much you try to bullshit yourself,NOBODY WANTED TO BE a regional sales manager when they were 7 years old. I’m not knocking it, I understand that you have to do what you have to do to survive. The problem with most people(me included) is that they want more income they want a more luxurious life but they’re not willing to put in the work. If they were to leverage their fucking brains and try to get better in whatever the fuck they’re doing, They would accomplish amazing things
and the feeling of knowing you did something unbelievable that only a select number of people have done,what can be better than that?

No fucking way would I work 100+ hours a week. And if thats what you’re doing, you probably love money(I love it too!!) but for godsakes, leverage your brain and come up with an idea to make that money more effortlessly so you can have time to actually enjoy that big wad of cash.

sorry for drifting off topic.

[/quote]

Why would you do anything you don’t love?

73

[quote]Ripped Fury wrote:
OP, I would suggest you read ‘The 4 Hour Work Week’ by Tim Ferris. A very interesting read that gives an entirely different perspective on what it means to be “rich”.[/quote]

Yes, working four hours a week is great if you want to live pay check by pay check. However, if you bust your ass for five years, save up the dough, and invest you’ll make out better.

74

[quote]PimpBot5000 wrote:
Who here would honestly want to retire at 40? If you’re in good health that leaves another 40-50 years before death. Even if you’re stinking rich, how are you going to spend all that time? Sure, golfing is fun, traveling is fun, banging sluts is fun…but to spend up to 50 years doing so, you’re GOING to get bored without some sort of challenging task or worthwhile purpose IMO.

If you plan on toning down on the hours or committing to a life of philanthropy, I can understand it, but retiring outright at such an early age has no appeal to me.

Plus, there is a pretty solid correlation between complete retirement and early death. Something about waking up without a purpose tells your body “this guy has called it quits, shut’ter down!!”[/quote]

I suspect he wasn’t talking in that manner, because most people that do that end up dead in a few years after shutting down.

75

[quote]PonceDeLeon wrote:
Not sure I mentioned this, but one HUGE thing to consider that most people do not:

With professions like law, accounting (heavy tax seasons), professional sports, real estate…what do they have in common?

Periods of prolonged work hours, last minute projects, highly stressful situations.

What do they lead to?

BINGE SPENDING.

I guarantee that working a job that pays you 200K a year but requires several months at a time of 100 hr weeks, will NOT have you spending the same as a regular 40 hr a week job that pays the same amount.

The team wants to take out a client? Whiskey, wine, kobe steaks, cigars…yes, you’ll feel awesome, but your tastes will be conditioned to be fancy AND you can’t be the tightwad schmuch “out with the boys” but not engaging in the same activities. Your spending will mirror your colleagues’ spending when you’re out with them. And if a guy or manager who makes substantially more decides to spend money on a bottle of Opus One, you’ll think it’s the cool thing to do and you’ll do it next time you’re out with your friends or family.

I promise.

Bottom line: binge spending means you’ll end up with less in the bank that you think AND it makes it harder to forecast savings into the future (several years out).

Oh, and enjoy that capital gains tax on your bonuses.

[/quote]

Okay, well that is if you have no discipline. Seems like you think everyone has no discipline, but talk for yourself.

76

[quote]Brother Chris wrote:

[quote]PonceDeLeon wrote:
Not sure I mentioned this, but one HUGE thing to consider that most people do not:

With professions like law, accounting (heavy tax seasons), professional sports, real estate…what do they have in common?

Periods of prolonged work hours, last minute projects, highly stressful situations.

What do they lead to?

BINGE SPENDING.

I guarantee that working a job that pays you 200K a year but requires several months at a time of 100 hr weeks, will NOT have you spending the same as a regular 40 hr a week job that pays the same amount.

The team wants to take out a client? Whiskey, wine, kobe steaks, cigars…yes, you’ll feel awesome, but your tastes will be conditioned to be fancy AND you can’t be the tightwad schmuch “out with the boys” but not engaging in the same activities. Your spending will mirror your colleagues’ spending when you’re out with them. And if a guy or manager who makes substantially more decides to spend money on a bottle of Opus One, you’ll think it’s the cool thing to do and you’ll do it next time you’re out with your friends or family.

I promise.

Bottom line: binge spending means you’ll end up with less in the bank that you think AND it makes it harder to forecast savings into the future (several years out).

Oh, and enjoy that capital gains tax on your bonuses.

[/quote]

Okay, well that is if you have no discipline. Seems like you think everyone has no discipline, but talk for yourself.[/quote]

Get the sand out of your vagina before you respond to posts.

It’s not just about discipline but also the propensity for addictive behavior. You can have discipline, but once you start hanging out with people who act like that (binge spend), you are much more likely to act the same way.

A kid whose first job will be one where he makes substantially more than the average graduate? Come on. That’s a recipe for what I just explained.

77

[quote]Brother Chris wrote:

[quote]jw154505 wrote:
You’re 1st year is 70k + base and you’re thinking about not taking it? I just graduated with an Engineering degree, etc and my best offer has been 60k first year. I took it only because of the money.[/quote]

Sucks for you, Jobs running at 32 hours a week for 78K as a junior in the Economics Department isn’t hard to come by.[/quote]

Sure, in a decent economy, which is, like, not the economy we are currently in.

78

I was told that even though you earn an awful lot of money, you have to spend a large amount of it just to keep your job. That means entertaining clients, buying rounds, wearing expensive suits, driving the right car and so on. And then there’s what everyone else has mentioned, the backstabbing, lack of free time, poor health…

79

[quote]LankyMofo wrote:
I agree with you but I have a different definition of retired. Being retired, to me, means I have no commitments to an employer and I have enough money to live a respectable lifestyle. That doesn’t mean I won’t be taking on worthy endeavors or no longer making any money, but rather during retirement I have the option to do so at my discretion.[/quote]

I see where you’re coming from. This is a much healthier definition of retirement. I know a guy who is getting ready for early retirement, and from the sounds of it his long-term goal is to drink margaritas on a beach. He has no plans to work in a different capacity, volunteer in any way, or do much of anything aside from getting drunk under a beach umbrella. I hope he changes his outlook…I figure boredom will set in and he’ll have to.

80

[quote]Rational Gaze wrote:
I was told that even though you earn an awful lot of money, you have to spend a large amount of it just to keep your job. That means entertaining clients, buying rounds, wearing expensive suits, driving the right car and so on. And then there’s what everyone else has mentioned, the backstabbing, lack of free time, poor health…[/quote]

Very true. This, in my opinion, is what American Psycho dwelled heavily on. You HAVE to buy the Armani Suits, the flashy business cards, the nice car so clients know you are successful. These things are UNAVOIDABLE if you plan on being one of the few who actually makes it to those higher earning positions.