[quote name='shipwreck']Why do you need a $30,000 Lexus and a $500,000 house?[/QUOTE]
This should answer your question OP. It's called living below your means. If you don't have the money or the mental fortitude to handle that kind of expenses then it's time to reevaluate your priorities and stop blaming and bitching. You don't need a $30K Lexus when a nice cheap Honda will suffice you. After all that's the purpose of a vehicle - to transport you from point A to point B. If it looks really nice, bonus points. You're not a race car driver so there isn't a big need to have a car that runs fast. Your only consideration is fuel economy. A $500K house is only a big deal if the only means of supporting it is your sole salary. Even if your wife has a job to supplement you, then it might still not be enough. You should have multiple streams of income to support any new venture. A $1K widescreen tv is useless. Economically, it's better to buy a digital projector as you can set it to whatever size you want and project it on a wall. Starting price? $700 and up. Any and all of your possessions should be sized up and categorized into 2 different types - assets or liabilities. Assets, by definition, are things you own that give you a ROI - return of investment or more (in other words getting the money you spent to buy the asset back and a little extra). If it doesn't, it's a liability. Your car isn't an asset... at least not to you. Nor is your house. Your car is a high end instant liability as its value automatically decreases the instant you buy it and drive it off the lot. Your house is the same way and doesn't become an asset until one of 2 things happen:
You rent out portions of your house to cover your mortgage & utilities and thus allowing you to essentially live in a free house.
or
You sell it above the amount covered by your loan & initial down payment.
Your Xbox360 is an instant liability since, like the car, it loses its value the instant you buy it. The resale value of an Xbox360 when it launches may be higher than the initial price paid but it is only a temporary effect due to unbalanced demand. So ONLY for that time period is an Xbox360 an asset. But, overall it is a liability.
So what ARE assets? Like I said, things that pay for themselves and more. An $500K 2-unit apartment complex you own whose mortgage/utilities/repairs are covered by your rent is an asset as you don't put any of your own money to build equity (value of ownership in an asset) in it. Your credit card is a sign of your fiscal responsibility. Your credit score is your new 'report card'. It gives those with high scores A's and thus are worthy of receiving more funds to further invest. If you can't manage it, then it's time to cut them up and start using a debit card so it'll keep you honest.
The reason you work 50-60 hours is that you aren't willing to take chances on yourself and use your head. Doing administrative work is tedious and most jobs have a tedious nature to them. People like to work hard but they never work smart. I only work about 20 hours but my real estate company (and when I say my company, I say that as the owner, not just an employee) earns enough that all of my personal needs are covered by it (and legally, to boot). If I had kids, I would have more than enough ample time to take care of them. I've set up more than a few trust funds for my many nieces, nephews, & godchildren for their college expenses with very little money out of my own pocket.
The American Dream is more than achiveable. The problem is that people aren't willing to do the due diligence to get there. If you don't have the skill, then go to college. Working full time? Go to night school. Kids? Go online. There really isn't an excuse for bitching anymore. What skills are necessary? Learn basic accounting procedures - you'll never need to go to that accountant again. Learn basic housing laws specifc to your state/county - you'll know what your rights are as a tenant (and as a landlord if you decide to become a property owner). That's it. Don't have time to learn those skills? Hire it out. You won't be able to know every statistic or arcane knowledge so it's good to have some hired guns. What are the most basic? A good lawyer, a good CPA (not an accountant), a good financial manager. They may even be the same person.
Think it can't be done? It can. Start a company and use the company to pay for all of them. Set up your own company and use it to pay for your lawyer, CPA, etc. Use it to pay for your car, your house, and any other things relevant to your company. Funny thing about America. For all the bitching ppl have about corporations and how evil they are, it never occurs to them to actual try and utilize it. It's actually quite easy to build one and maintain. But people are afraid of failing thanks to a little statistic about how 50% of businesses fail after 5 years. So what? It's as meaningless a statistic as 4 out of 5 people die each year. Statistically, there are as many people now than ever existed on the whole planet. Those mean nothing. That statistic is misleading as they don't include the other half. So what if 50% of businessees fail after 5 years? The half full portion of the glass says that 50% of businesses succeed after 5 years and continue to thrive. They also fail to mention that no one gets things right after the first time. So, if a business failed, there's never any mention of the particular entrepreneur starting up a new business and learning from the mistakes of old. How else could Donald Trump go bankrupt and still be a rich bitch? He's a crafty old
er who knew to have more than one company so that if one breaks, the others could buy up its assets and start up a whole new one. Live, fail, learn, succeed. So stop bitching and get to work. You've got a lot to do.
