Quote:
Originally Posted by sam-garcia
Is anyone out there willing to give some advice on investing/saving/earning lots of money and or sharing what you do for a living?
Excuse my naiveness, a corvette had always been my dream car since the age of 5 when my older sister pointed one out to me. At the age of 22 everyone thought I was crazy when I finally let it be known that I was 100% to buying one before I turned 23. No one supported me, not my mother, not my girlfriend at the time, family, co workers, no one. At the time, it was my last year in college and I worked at a pizza restaurant making around $600 a month.
After about a month of searching for the one I had envisioned for myself ( 5th gen, black interior and exterior, stick shift, heads up display, less than 80,000 miles and under $18,000 I finally came across it. Less than a week later, I drove it home with $6,000 down and monthly payments including gap set at $348 with a simple interest loan of 8%.
The finance guy insisted he pulled off a miracle for me as no one wanted to finance a 22 year old working at a restaurant etc etc.
Fast forward to now, I still am the proud, happy owner of my 2003 corvette 50th anniversary edition. There is days when I just stare at my car in disbelief asking myself how I pulled it off.
I joined Teach For America in 2014 and they relocated me from California to North Las Vegas, Nevada to be a middle school special education teacher. As a first year teacher, my salary is exactly $34,684 before taxes. I still owe a little over $10,000 on my car but already I have been setting my sights on the c7 corvette. On my salary I almost live paycheck to paycheck from bills and rent.
My question is if anyone out there is willing to share their story with me. What do you do for a living? Where do you invest your money? Is anyone willing to reach out and teach me how to invest, or how to earn more money by other means etc.
Thanks to everyone in advance.
|
Hey Sam, I was in your shoes maybe 10 years ago wondering about the same things. And while I'm no millionaire, I am much better off than most of my friends the same age and will probably reach a net worth of a million USD before I'm 40. (Not that I think net worth is all that important; I believe cash flow is more important.)
Even though I'm not "rich" or an "expert", I guess I can tell you some things that I wish I had known earlier in my life.
Books and mentors who are actually rich themselves are probably your best sources of information. I started reading about investing/financial freedom/etc. with "Rich Dad Poor Dad" way back when and currently am reading "Money: Master the Game". And a lot of books in between. I found that books on the topic were generally worth their money and time and I would have started reading more on the topic earlier if I had known better.
Find mentors anywhere you can. It never hurts to humbly ask for advice and wisdom from more accomplished/older people. I found that learning from books is way faster than learning from your own experience and mistakes; and learning from good mentors is even faster than learning from books.
The bulk of your free time should be devoted to either increasing your income or increasing the return from your assets. The more free time you spend doing either, the quicker you will be rich. It's obvious, but I found it is actually really hard to commit to this day in and day out. This means spending all your time getting/doing whatever it is you need in order to go to a higher pay-grade in your current field, or switching to a better paying career, or growing a business that generates income. And spending your time researching better ways to get a return on your assets. For example, I have had money in stocks, ETFs and real estate property that can consistently generate rental income due to its conditions and location. The more you research about any specific vehicle, the more it will be an actual investment rather than a blind gamble. If I were starting all over from scratch, I would start by saving my money in an index fund until I am able to spot/afford/be proficient in other things that will offer me a safer or better return.
I've also found that growing your assets is not a linear journey but a more exponential one which means it is tougher in the beginning and easier once you get the ball rolling. This helps explain why many people can not even get off the ground and wallow in bad debt, which eats at their income and continues to make it harder to get anywhere financially. If you earn like your financial peers and spend like your financial peers, you will not someday suddenly be richer than your financial peers. You need to have a hardcore mindset about making more, spending less, and growing the resulting difference. If you decide to buy a C7, for example, you have to be aware of how much it is setting you back in terms of your financial goal.
In the end, I believe it's not so much about knowing some secret formula, but more about whether you have the grit to commit the time and effort it takes to develop yourself or your business and reach your goals. And that probably applies to more things in life than just personal finance or investing.