John Reed's Critique of Real Estate Gurus

[A-Unit]

Re":

I wouldn't normally care to reply to such posts, nor do I care to defend it because it leaves more profit...but are "success systems" meant to be a world-wide panacea??

Should we feel bad if people don't grasp the material, use it, apply it, and get results??

Most who grab the material aren't in it to change, they're in it for the quick buck. They're not committed. If they were, they'd keep plugging along, noticing what works FOR THEM, and WHAT DOES NOT.

Not every person has to follow a path of R'E to financial freedom. But some can do quite well. Warren Buffet was that way. He had nothing and now has everything, in terms of money and financial capital. He did start like us, only he ended up differently. Read any books about the Stock Market Masters, or Traders. It's committing to the ultimate goal.

The STUFF does work, but as a fact of reality, it's simple, not easy. It is simple to save 10% of your money, to seek out profitable deals, but alot of people want to maintain their CURRENT lifestyle with little change up front. You have to BELIEVE it before you can SEE it.

I think the # of posts verifying this, with their own personal achievements is testament to that.

---------------------

RDPD is just that, a financial-motivational and philosophy book. Just like "The Richest Man in Babylon", "The Wealthy Barber", or "Vade Macum". They don't impart a STRICT plan for many reasons...

1. There's no set path.
2. If there was, and everybody used it, then there'd be less profit and more competition (think of the WORK-A REGULAR-JOB-TO-RICHES, everybody follows that, and where does it get them? It buys them a lifestyle until they retire from what it is they do, but MOST people don't retire from assets accumulated from their own product).

---------------------

I know ALOT of guys who want to be successful, who want to make tons of money; I am one of them. But how committed are you to it until you make it? Many people I know say that, but what are you doing NOW. Success is something you do now. Maybe you don't know what to invest in? Well, at least begin saving 10% or more and reading alot, so when the time comes, YOU CAN ACT.

The norms of society are just social norms set as roadblocks to deter you from your TRUE goal. You don't need TV, or SPORTS, or games, or holidays. Life is whatever you make it out to be and determine for yourself. And the only way to be happy is to follow what you want and QUESTION everything as it relates to you. Don't follow people blindly into whatever it is assumed to be o.k. That's why 95% of the Public goes down the same road.

Those looking for SECRETS in RDPD won't find it, really. You might, if you've never read books before like it, but you'll learn and ingrain a new state of mind by inundating yourself with it. Most people are let down because it's now a HOW TO book, it's a philosophy, psychology, and motivational book, which to me is MORE important. I'd rather learn to be a PERSON who knows how to make money, RATHER than someone who just follows a system like some monkey.




A-Unit

 

[backbreaker]

Re: Re":

Originally posted by A-Unit
I wouldn't normally care to reply to such posts, nor do I care to defend it because it leaves more profit...but are "success systems" meant to be a world-wide panacea??

Should we feel bad if people don't grasp the material, use it, apply it, and get results??

Most who grab the material aren't in it to change, they're in it for the quick buck. They're not committed. If they were, they'd keep plugging along, noticing what works FOR THEM, and WHAT DOES NOT.

Not every person has to follow a path of R'E to financial freedom. But some can do quite well. Warren Buffet was that way. He had nothing and now has everything, in terms of money and financial capital. He did start like us, only he ended up differently. Read any books about the Stock Market Masters, or Traders. It's committing to the ultimate goal.

The STUFF does work, but as a fact of reality, it's simple, not easy. It is simple to save 10% of your money, to seek out profitable deals, but alot of people want to maintain their CURRENT lifestyle with little change up front. You have to BELIEVE it before you can SEE it.

I think the # of posts verifying this, with their own personal achievements is testament to that.

---------------------

RDPD is just that, a financial-motivational and philosophy book. Just like "The Richest Man in Babylon", "The Wealthy Barber", or "Vade Macum". They don't impart a STRICT plan for many reasons...

1. There's no set path.
2. If there was, and everybody used it, then there'd be less profit and more competition (think of the WORK-A REGULAR-JOB-TO-RICHES, everybody follows that, and where does it get them? It buys them a lifestyle until they retire from what it is they do, but MOST people don't retire from assets accumulated from their own product).

---------------------

I know ALOT of guys who want to be successful, who want to make tons of money; I am one of them. But how committed are you to it until you make it? Many people I know say that, but what are you doing NOW. Success is something you do now. Maybe you don't know what to invest in? Well, at least begin saving 10% or more and reading alot, so when the time comes, YOU CAN ACT.

The norms of society are just social norms set as roadblocks to deter you from your TRUE goal. You don't need TV, or SPORTS, or games, or holidays. Life is whatever you make it out to be and determine for yourself. And the only way to be happy is to follow what you want and QUESTION everything as it relates to you. Don't follow people blindly into whatever it is assumed to be o.k. That's why 95% of the Public goes down the same road.

Those looking for SECRETS in RDPD won't find it, really. You might, if you've never read books before like it, but you'll learn and ingrain a new state of mind by inundating yourself with it. Most people are let down because it's now a HOW TO book, it's a philosophy, psychology, and motivational book, which to me is MORE important. I'd rather learn to be a PERSON who knows how to make money, RATHER than someone who just follows a system like some monkey.




A-Unit

Great reply man.

I stay out of talking about Real Estate.. because I don't know much about it, but I can talk all day about motivation.

When I decided.. hey, I want to start my own company, I had a "failproof plan" (that now that i look back on it, was actually a damn good plan if implimented like I originally planned to the T).. now of course, it didn't and we decided we needed money.

Well, more times than not, it takes money to make money, which is ironic in itself.

For about a year and a half, I was basically living off 10-12 dollars a week, besides gas. The cheapest, , crapiest food I could find is all I would eat... why I balloned from 145 to 185 in 2 years.. but I could always loose fat, I had a dream to chase.

I didn't go on a date, let alone meet a girl from the time I was 18 until 1 week after my 21st birthday. all my time was deciated to my company.

I went "out" 1 time in 3 years, to the movies. Imagine spending every friday and staturday night, as a young adult, at home working, while your friends are at frat parties, going out, doign such and such.

In a way I am still effected by that.. I am still pretty cheap, I don't over endulge in anything.. my grocery bill is never more than $40-$50 a week, and I eat pretty healthy now (but I live alone).. I have a hard time "blowing money"...

There's a way to do anything. It all comes down to how bad do you want to do it ,and that's the truth.

My mom, who runs a business as well, is 41 (I think) and struggles to run her company... I recently started spending more time with her and I see why... she has no sense of sacrifice. She has my little sister in a $500 a month private school.. which is good.. but my gosh, she is 5 years old.. I dont' think it will hurt you to cut back a little now to put in your business.

She just "HAD" to go on a cruise last month, that costs $2200.. She works 3-4 hours a day, then complains about never having any leads... She has an old laptop, that I keep begging her to get replaced becuase the motherboard is bad and can go out at any time, yet she would rather buy crap off ebay than to listen to me, but what she doesn't realize is her company is on that laptop, if it goes out, she looses valuable time which is money.

She has a perfectly good 96' accord, perfect condition, but "had" to have a new car, which she pays $400 a month for, and doesn't hardley every drive.

to put it short, she thinks to short term and not long term enough to be very successful. And she has been running her business for 10 years if not longer. She could save at least $11000 by cutting back for a year or so, put more time into getting leads for her company, and really start making some money, but she is too caught up in maintaining a certain image to everyone else.

 

[WORKEROUTER]

Well the reason I found to like Reed was that he didn't appear to be giving people false hopes.

He seems to be giving the truth about real estate investing and investing and making money in general: it can be done, but it's not easy (unlike what a lot of the infomercial gurus I've been seeing lately have been saying).

I had been watching Robert Sheet's program "No Money Down," and he was giving the usual lines of b.s. like everyone can make tons of money in real estate INSTANTLY without credit, any money, or even a job! One guy, who was unemployed before buying Sheet's program, apparently made THOUSANDS his first week. Right.

Well, I was curious as to what magical secrets this man could possibly be offering that apparently noone else knows about, so I searched online about it. Then, I found Reed's analysis of the program:

http://www.johntreed.com/Sheets.html

This was excellent. Unlike what a lot of you guys are saying, Reed isn't just belittling these gurus' work: he's giving a thorough analysis of them. He's also telling people what's b.s. and what's not.

Here's a short excerpt from the "review on carleton sheet's program:"

"Technique # 1 on page 11-5 has you buying a $50,000 house by getting a $27,000 new mortgage from an institution like a bank and the seller taking back a second mortgage for $23,000. Does this work? No. Although Sheets says, “Simply obtain a new first mortgage for $27,000...,” it is far from simple and most likely is impossible.

Mortgage applications ask you where you are getting the down payment. If you answer, “I am not making any down payment. The seller is taking back a mortgage for the balance of the price,” your mortgage application will be rejected. Over a century of experience, mortgage lenders have learned that it is not prudent to make a mortgage loan where the borrower has no investment or equity in the property. The default rate on such mortgages is ruinously high. In general, regulated mortgage lenders are prohibited by law and/or by regulations from making such a loan. See my article on nothing down.

Sheets says also that, “Sellers have been known to join the buyer in signing a note and mortgage...” Comets have been known to pass near the earth, too, but I am not sure which is more common, comets or sellers cosigning on the buyer’s note. Actually, sellers will do that in some cases in special situations, like the buyer is their adult child. In theory, there are some other situations where it might happen. I have never seen or heard of such a deal in 31 years in real estate.

Sheets says, “Many banks, but not all ...” will not go for this deal. In fact, no bank will go for this deal. I invite Mr. Sheets to name a bank that will. A list of such banks would be worth the money Sheets charges for his course. Until he produces such a list, this “technique” is not worth the paper it is written on.

I had this same discussion with Joe Land when he and I appeared on 60 Minutes and were subsequently interviewed by Time magazine. Land said there were such banks, but refused to name any citing “privacy,” even after Time promised to keep the identity of the banks secret in its article. Robert Allen, author of the book Nothing Down, also says what Sheets says. When I dug up the documents on one of the deals where he actually used this “technique,” the lender was Bank of America. Their written policy at the time, which I have a copy of, said they would make no mortgage loans where there was any secondary financing, let alone nothing-down financing. In that deal, Allen had the second that was taken back by the seller recorded one day after the closing on the sale and the first mortgage. This is called a “silent second” and is done to reduce the chances that the first mortgage lender will find out about it. In other words, the bank making the first mortgage loan did not agree to the nothing-down second, rather they were apparently told there was none.

If you try to use Sheets’ “Technique 1,” you will be rejected by all institutional lenders. You will then be tempted to lie to a lender. If you succumb to that temptation, you could end up in jail with a felony conviction. The statute in question; Title 18 United State Code, Section 1014; is quoted just above the line where you sign your name on the mortgage application.

Sheets suggests helpfully that the recalcitrant bank might agree if you get a mortgage against equity you have in another property you own and use the proceeds of that loan as your down payment on the new purchase. I agree that they are likely to go for that. In order to do that, you would have to have an extraordinarily large percentage of equity in the other property. The lender will only loan up to about 75% for such purposes unless it is a home equity loan. But since Sheets’ course is aimed at beginners, why is he advocating a technique that can only be used by experienced, multi-property investors? Also, how is it a no down-payment deal if you borrow against a property you already own and use the proceeds as a down payment on a new property? Your overall loan-to-value ratio on all your properties combined after this “no down payment” deal would be around 80% at best. That's hardly a no-down-payment situation. Besides, did you really need an expensive infomercial course to learn that you could borrow against a property you already own to get down payment money to buy another property? If you're that ignorant of real estate finance, you should have a legal guardian appointed to take over your financial affairs.

Sheets also suggests you get a partner if the banks won’t agree. This is the universal fall-back position of all nothing-down gurus. Since partners are unregulated, they can do whatever they want. Accordingly, neither I nor anyone else can prove to you that you cannot get a partner who will agree to put up the down payment for your nothing-down deal. But I can tell you that it is very hard to find such partners. And, once again, I question why anyone would need Carleton Sheets to tell them that if they don’t have the money for a down payment, they might try getting a partner to put it up. When my mom bought her house, she didn't have enough for the down payment. She went in partners with her mother who lived with us. Carleton Sheets was 24 at the time so she did not get the idea from him. Either my mom, who worked as a secretary, was a financial genius, or you do’t need Sheets to tell you about asking someone to partner with you in a purchase."


I learned a lot about the TRUTH behind this program by Reed's truthful discussion of it.

And that's why I like this guy: he doesn't give false hopes to people. He's not trying to sell his products by saying that any moron can go make thousands of dollars their first week if they simply follow the "three easy steps."

And I respect a guy who's truthful about things.

 

[WORKEROUTER]

Re: Do-able, but VERY difficult

Originally posted by Bonhomme
Making a real estate empire from humble beginnings is do-able, but very difficult, unless you're working with a good income from your day job and/or a LOT of money and/or cheap credit straightaway. Otherwise, everybody would be doing it.

I've done some real estate investing without much money or work income of my own to work with, and it's anything but easy, unless you really have lady luck on your side.

Where the real estate gurus are dead wrong is pitching it to seem easy. But if they told the truth, they wouldn't sell so many books.

Rule #1: don't quit your day job.

Exactly. That's the message I think Reed is trying to get out to people.

Although most of you claim that anyone who would think it's easy and quick is "stupid," that's because you already KNOW BETTER!

What about all of the MILLIONS of people who really aren't stupid, but are being sucked in by these gurus' manipulation?

 

[A-Unit]

Re:

And that's just it. What you pointed out.

Even I USED to feel it. Save up, get rich, to buy things. Come on. Even the rich live below their means, but their means are so high, and their time so devoted to making the cash, they don't really have to spend it like the middle and poorer classes do.

Guys want to buy cars, trucks, rims, 'roids, lots of booze, video games, plasmas, homes. It's the mentality that makes or breaks the wealthy person, because you can get tons of cash, and blow it. Hence the "doomed" lottery winner.

I hope guys "get" it. You don't need a company, or a house, or duplexes, or to be on the apprentice, because assets come and go. As do liabilities. It's the mentality. The mentality to be able to handle 100's of thousands, or even millions of dollars in debt. Of course, you don't have to be super rich, or even wealthy, if your basics are provided for.

If you're a simple person, then your needs can be met. Even now, if you REALLY wanted financial independence YOUNG, you would have to not only sacrifice TIME, but some of your YOUTH, too. Think. If there's 24 hours in a day, you should figure where it's BEST to invest those hours. Don't look ahead like "Oh, I have years, or I have 7 days in a week." No, you have 24 hours in 1 day, and they only come 1 at a time.

We all know the passion we have for something. We set aside time we think we don't have to do it. We stay up late to finish or learn more, or research, or practice more. We do UNUSUAL things to get better or test something.

Heck, in golf, I used to swing outside in the snow, and as a result, I lost my grip in the snow and threw the club through the front door of my house some 30 feet away. I had the glass cleaned up before my parents got home. I've stayed up til 12 or 1 just swinging. Or played at the course until 8 or 9 alone, or with strangers. When offered one thing vs. the other, I took golf most times, and am above-average or better with a strong understanding of the swing. So greatness lies in our passion and doing things in an uncommon way.

----------------------

I'm not here to defend 'success' products because I own quite bit of the books, systems and products myself, and pick and choose what I like, where it works, and what I'm doing, but it REALLY comes down to execution. Alot of the R/E systems are wonderful, BUT, R/E is somewhat work intensive like anything else @ first. Once you develop the interest, passion, and momentum, it can roll with you and keep you going. But I haven't jumped into it for whatever reason. Stocks are simpler to set up, but obvious money requires money in stocks.

When you SURROUND yourself in a positive environment, sort of like a library, you have no choice but to continuously read it, and see how that material is a bridge to what it is you want to accomplish in life. Your ultimate goal might be a business, or investing, or just getting promotions @ work to get paid more to invest/save more, regardless, the material becomes you, so you realize and recognize how to work better. That's what I don't get.

Even if you're locked to corporate America, which is ok because the major companies need GOOD CEO's...there is a ladder to get there, and progressive companies promote from within the best employees for the role. The only person getting screwed by one's lack of reading and self-investment is you.

As Jim Rohn said, "This isn't all the company pays, it's all the company pays YOU."



A-Unit

 

[Duke]

Originally posted by Derek Flint
Sounds like Ross Jeffries.

Was about to say the same thing.

 

[STR8UP]

Re: Re: Do-able, but VERY difficult

Originally posted by WORKEROUTER
What about all of the MILLIONS of people who really aren't stupid, but are being sucked in by these gurus' manipulation?

You have to understand the difference between manipulation and carefully crafted marketing.

Sometimes there is a fine line between the two, but overall they are NOT being dishonest or deceptive in their sales pitch, they are simply playing up the good and not focusing on the bad. It's the same with ANY product.

Most of these guys (I can't say all because I haven't reviewed them all) have EXCELLENT material that if used properly WILL help you achieve wealth. I can attest to this firsthand. But what you have to understand is that:

1) The information they provide is going to be primarily a guideline for you to use to develop YOUR OWN startegies. There is no such thing as a COMPLETE how-to book. You will have to study several methods to figure out what will work best for you. And it isn't something that happens overnight....I haven't seen anyone claim that.

2) If they played up the fact that it takes YEARS of dedication to make progress, NO ONE would buy their products. It IS NOT the fault of the materials or the marketing, it is the fault of the individual who is greedy enough to really think that you snap your fingers and get rich overnight.

Fact is, MOST people who buy these courses DON'T have what it takes to make it happen. They have the "lottery" mentality and want a quick, easy, and painless way out.

When you go to buy a used car, you read the ad in the paper that says "Clean one owner Chevy Tahoe low miles runs great". When you get there the car is definitely "clean" but has a few scratches and dents and needs a new headlight. Of course all of the flaws weren't in the ad, you have to investigate for yourself. You expect full disclosure from a "guru", but not from any other form of advertising? That makes no sense. LEARN TO THINK FOR YOURSELF!

People REALLY need to learn to think for themselves and be a little smarter than to only rely on the positive marketing message to fuel their buying decisions. Once again, it ISN'T the fault of the guru's, it's the greed of most of the guru's customers.

 

[sifer]

Analogy :

College kids going to school thinking they'll come out making $100,000+ and an upward or more.

College kids graduate making $30,000-$40,000 in sorrow and anger because they didn't make what they were told they would make by their counselor and college school board counselor and parents.

Guru teaching they can teach you to make money with RE. People buy it thinking they'll get rich overnight.

People learn it and finally realize the work it takes to make it. Sadly, they dropout of it and say "**** it I can't do it, this is tiring". And they leave thinking they were fooled just as when they got a job, it would be the same. 99.9% of the people complain about their job.

That's why I always discourage people from going the RE path. Don't invest in RE. Don't invest because that's for me, not you. Don't bother at all, except to live in there.


Another analogy.

Imagine this. You were young (again if you're not young). You see your friend with a cute little doggie (hell I have one, so yes to those who don't have one, get one). You pet it, it's fun, it licks you, it's just damn fun to have a dog tug your foot so you could play with it. Dog are God's gift to men.

So you beg your parents to get you one. "C'mon dad, please? Mom, I want one doggie!"

After one week of complaining and begging and whining, they finally get you one.

Then you get it. The anticipation is gone. w00t.. not.

You get tired. You gotta take care of it. You gotta clean its bathroom break. You gotta feed it and walk it. You gotta teach it some tricks and respect. You gotta love it.

And you know what? Like real estate, you see someone who got very rich off of it, you admire him. And the idea is the same, you decide to do the same, you learn it and employ the tricks. Now you're tired because of the work involved.

What most people don't see is this, after you love the dog, feed it and take care of it, the love the dog gives you, the companionship and the presence of him being there brings you up, the dog waiting for you at the door when you come home from work, the dog sleeping with you and waking you up, the dog inspiring you and being just funny by stealing your bacons and eating under your sofa.

They often look negatively, "who wants to take care of the dog? (or in this case who wants to take care of the toilet) or "who wants to feed this dog?" (or in this case who wants to learn taxing).

The reward is nice for people who know how to utilize life and do it efficiently. Most people aren't good at that and I will say this (as I have in my guide and my posts), most people aren't willing to learn. It's hellish but most of all, the experience gain in it is the best reward.

Remember, getting a job is actually worse, because the only reward in hard work is the hard work in itself. So yea, get a job.


Oh and I realized there might be... a seemingly contradiction. I'm just trying to say don't invest in RE unless you're doing it because it's your passion. It's much easier to do something for the rest of your life knowing you probably won't make a dime than it is to do something you hate and despise and will probably hate yourself for the rest of your life and make a million dollars.

Think this, would you take a **** up your anal tunnel for one million? Most people especially guys would immediately say "no!"

Same concept in this.



Another way I can put this entire post is this :

If you believe what you believe, if you develop yourself in ways which Pook has described, in ways that passions, integrity, love, and so on will give you and mold you in, you will be happiest at that. Life and how you live it is in the eye of the beholder. Really! No matter how hard your life is, don't take people's word for it. Do your own research and pursue your passion 110%.

I'm Asian so I'll give this proverb known by Asian guys here (I hope so, you better know your root ):

If you're going to bow anyway, bow all the way and bow low.

Don't do it half-assed. It not only gives you no result, it makes you look like an idiot complaining about "it's not working, he's a fraud!!!"

 

[WORKEROUTER]

Well yeah, I understand that these gurus' lines are crafted specially to pander to a huge number of greedy, lazy, and ignorant masses, but that's not the point.

They KNOW that they're propogating lies and false hopes to people, and I simply can't respect someone like that, let alone buy their product.

For instance, in Reed's analysis of Carleton's Sheet's No-Money-Down "techniques," you realize that they are either totally ridiculous in actually utilizing, just plain wrong, or just a regurgitation of the same old sh*t that has been spouted off before.

A lot of people are saying that Reed is a scammer trying to sell his own products (well obviously he's trying to sell his own products), but I'm more apt to trust someone when he reccomends understanding the fundamentals and basics of real estate and also tells the truth about it--that it's not a miracle in which you'll get rich over night--than someone who's just spitting out abunch of lies.

 

[Shiftkey]

If you want to learn the fundimentals, go here:

http://www.creonline.com/

Completely free, unless you want to buy something from a guru.

Also, CS was one of the original gurus. Anything that's regurgitated was probably taken from him first.

 

[STR8UP]

Originally posted by WORKEROUTER
They KNOW that they're propogating lies and false hopes to people, and I simply can't respect someone like that, let alone buy their product.

They are no better or worse than any other product being advertised. The only difference is, their products can actually make you money, whereas the toothpaste commercial that shows the model with sparkling white teeth isn't even going to give that kind of smile let alone teach you how to become a millionaire. See the logic?

For instance, in Reed's analysis of Carleton's Sheet's No-Money-Down "techniques," you realize that they are either totally ridiculous in actually utilizing, just plain wrong, or just a regurgitation of the same old sh*t that has been spouted off before.

You take for granted that this Reed character knows what he is talking about.

What basis do you have for determining that what Reed says is credible? If you have no experience, how do you know who is right and who is wrong? You are simply basing your assumption on the fact that you grew up being taught the standard mumbo jumbo that keeps people poor or middle class their entire lives.

I have read through his website and found it rather amusing. It's funny to read his criticism of techniques that I KNOW FOR A FACT can make you money.

Go to http://www.richdad.com. Read the message boards. You will see quite a few successful people posting about success they have had with this information that you are discounting. There are also plenty of threads about Reed over there that might paint a little bit more accurate picture of him.

I know it's tough for a newbie to know what's good and what's bad info, but I've been doing this for over 10 years and I can assure you that you will learn more to help you build wealth from Kiyosaki, Allen, Sheets, and others than you will from Reed.

A lot of people are saying that Reed is a scammer trying to sell his own products (well obviously he's trying to sell his own products), but I'm more apt to trust someone when he reccomends understanding the fundamentals and basics of real estate and also tells the truth about it--that it's not a miracle in which you'll get rich over night--than someone who's just spitting out abunch of lies.

You should NEVER trust someone whose sales pitch is based upon criticising their comtetition. That's a pretty sure sign that their product is inferior. If a product doesn't have it's own legs to stand on you shouldn't be buying it.

The fundamentals and basics of real estate are all good and fine, but you have to go beyond that and study the creative and unconventional ways to acquire assets in order to increase your net worth QUICKLY.

Thats the key....if you want to become wealthy in 5-10 or even 15 years starting with little or nothing, you can't do it simply by understanding the fundamentals of real estate. It's a little more complicated than that.

 

[STR8UP]

Originally posted by Shiftkey
If you want to learn the fundimentals, go here:

http://www.creonline.com/

Completely free, unless you want to buy something from a guru.

Also, CS was one of the original gurus. Anything that's regurgitated was probably taken from him first.

That's a good site.

Sheets was one of the first to be seen all over t.v., but rest assured he wasn't the first to put the stuff into action. Allen has been around for awhile as well.

 

[diplomatic_lies]

I can't really agree with the "save every penny" mentality, because sacrificing everything so you can enjoy life at 40 isn't really my thing.

I'd rather be spending my time thinking of more efficient ways of making money than how to skimp on life. Or working out more ways of making money with my hobbies. Or nurturing my talents so I can make more money.

I'm a big spender and live an extravagant lifestyle (at least for my age group). However, while my friends are eating crappy food and driving Crapmobiles, I've already saved twice that money by bargaining with the bored teenage store clerk.

Because at the end of the day, we all die. I'd rather die knowing I was happy ALL my life, rather than the last 20 years.

 

[A-Unit]

Re:

That's just it. It comes to WHAT makes you happy. Things or experiences. Usually it's a combination of both. Things enable experiences to be more fulfilling.

Belief drives this process. What makes life more fulfilling? Buying more things? Owning more things? Is it having the capacity to BuY things or is it actually owning them?

There is NO -right- or -wrong- answer here. Me, I'm a person who does well living for a purpose, an aim, and focusing my resources there. The entrepreneur who suffers doesn't see it that way. Nor does the bodybuilder who eats healthy food, lifts many times a week forsaking his partying years. If he/she died in the process, they wouldn't feel any less fulfilled, because they were living their process.

That's the point. People working jobs they don't like to buy things they don't and saving for a future that hasn't come is, in my opinion, wasteful. However, my aim has always personally to amass sizeable capital and become a professional investor, so no job would bother me entirely.

This is the point even Fight Club made that is repeated so often. What's your TRUE happiness? if you get down to 1 basic fundamental aim, all else can blossom from that. To me, if I work what it is I love, all the -things- out there and the -experiences- are just icing on the cake. Those things don't enhance my life; it's already good. But I can now enjoy them without having to overextend myself to get them.

But again, that's my philosophy, which is why I like saving. I like investing. The Asset is had forever. Things make their way to the trash in about a year and lose their value upon purchase. Our credit ridden economy has enabled people to get their value NOW out of their future, rather than learn to enhance their value in the PRESENT. People can work the same job, borrow against future income, never change their occupation, and live better today.

You can have BOTH, a good future, and a good today. The benefit of time for those young-ones enables the high rates of return possible on investing to benefit in lower savings. $100, 200, or even 400/month can add up to significant wealth in the future, while still enjoying today. Time value of money. The thing is, we don't need as much stuff as we think. We overbuy as it is. Cars don't retain value. Clothes come and go. You're buying a lifestyle, not just clothing.

I've met all sorts of people, AND most would like their poorly spent cash back, but it serves as a reminded of what to do and not to do.


A-Unit