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I was raised by a carpenter. This is still a lot of work.
10 years of work equaling retirement or 40 years and maybe get to retire? I am shooting for 10 years.
While managing houses and fixing them up is work, it is work for me. I am reaping all the rewards, not sharing them with a boss and corporate people and shareholders etc. In 10 years my son will be 16 and my daughter will be 21. I will teach them the business and let them take over and build it further if they want.
If not I can always hire a property management company or do it all myself. I am ok with any of those options. They all beat punching a time clock letting someone else dictate when I can eat, when I can leave, and how much I make.
I created my own job as a consultant where I work my own hours from anywhere I want. I work maybe 15 days a month total.
That's what 30 years of paying your dues and perfecting your craft can do.
Nice! Would you be interested in sharing what your area of expertise is? Also, are you making a living at consulting or are you retired and doing this for extra money?
Being a landlord and dealing with renters for $36k a year, while living in the desert, and calling life good because "you don't have to work for the man", while the only fruits of your labor are Having to eat, shop and dress like a generic Walmart clone is just your version of finding your satisfactory place and a low enough level of satisfaction with your life. In a billion years I would never trade working everyday and climbing the lader of success for the "feedom" you think you have. I come from a family of builders, and yes, buying a fixer upper and profiting from sweat equity is a great gig when things are great. But after 4 or 5 homes of doing that, while employed in a job that maxed out my SS contributions and built on a pension, I was through, so I now basically just save, enjoy life now, and live below my means, while enjoying the fruits of my successful career.mYou won't be sipping many drinks on exotic beaches on $36k a year, when you have a few rentals that always need something fixed, tenants to deal with, etc, etc. Face it..if it was THAT easy everyone would do it. I also do t havr to worry about health insurance costs, and life threatening or crippling accidents that occur far more easily when dealing with manual labor like that.
Ironically, the best advice is actually a version of what you describe: to always persue a career that you enjoy, and pays well enough to allow you to save and live the way and where you want, while letting time and compounding of savings do the heavy lifting for when the time comes when you can indeed absolutely do what ever want whenever you want. I plan to retire at 62, and am perfectly content with my life and level of success. I could have retired 15 years ago easy, with a fixed income of $45k a year, COLA,mif I chose to live the rest of my life based on your description of deprivation. No way and no thanks!
10 years of work equaling retirement or 40 years and maybe get to retire? I am shooting for 10 years.
While managing houses and fixing them up is work, it is work for me. I am reaping all the rewards, not sharing them with a boss and corporate people and shareholders etc. In 10 years my son will be 16 and my daughter will be 21. I will teach them the business and let them take over and build it further if they want.
If not I can always hire a property management company or do it all myself. I am ok with any of those options. They all beat punching a time clock letting someone else dictate when I can eat, when I can leave, and how much I make.
Could be. Still work, responsibility, and obligation, though.
Which is what the OP is complaining about. When you're doing drywall repairs at a rental home, dealing with tenants and/or what they did to your property, handling management company issues (and handing them a hefty portion of your income), you're still not out riding bikes with your kids and footloose and fancy free, etc.
Doesn't matter if you're beholden to a corporation, to your customers if you're a small business owner, your creditors if you're self employed, etc. Work is work.
Here I sit at work today after taking the day off yesterday with a migraine. Yesterday blew by so fast. Today the hours are creeping by in slow motion.
It is not like I dislike my job. I have great hours, good commute and overall a good work environment. The problem is I could think of a 1001 things I would rather be doing today. I could take the kids on a hike, go for a bike ride, play mini golf, volunteer in my sons preschool class, take the kids to a museum, the playground, visit a water park, travel the world...
I hate having to go to work when the weather is so nice. I need more time off so I can spend it having fun and actually living. Who are these people that love going to work? Is it that I just enjoy playing way more than working?
Maybe the answer is more lottery tickets. Because working 5 days a week so I can enjoy 2 days is not allowing me enough time to live life to the fullest.
Anyone else feel the same way?
Undoubtedly, many people do feel the same way. I don't. I view work as not simply a means to live, but as something that allows me to develop intellectually. Its a means to meet new people and most importantly, its a means to resolve the problems and difficulties of others for which I receive remuneration. I am a lawyer.
Not everyone is fortunate enough to have a job they like and I feel sorry for those people. If the issue is that the individual is just in a bad job--he/she has my sympathy. Bad jobs and bad employers abound and that is particularly true in a weak economy. Ideally, such people would improve their job skills and find a job that, if not happy, they are at least satisfied with. Society could do a better job helping people obtain the job skills that match employment opportunities currently in this economy.
What I don't have sympathy for are people who just don't want to work. If you view life as simply a playground where you ought to be perpetually eight years old and be able to goof off 24/7 you don't have my respect. Without work we would be unable to have food, shelter, clothing, transportation, and certainly no luxury items. People who don't want to work seem to think that others have a duty to provide these things for them.
The "lottery ticket mentality" is equally bad. Its the idea that you sit around day after day dreaming of what it would be like to win the lottery and be rich rather than putting your effort into work. Essentially, its a philosophy that there is "something for nothing" in this world. Lottery winnings represent dollars paid into a pool by suckers who believe that there is a realistic chance they can win a $1,000,000 or more. The odds are heavily against this. You are probably more likely to die in a car accident than to win this kind of jackpot in a lottery. Idle dreamers don't go far in this world. The people who go far are those who make plans and try to stick with them.
Work can be as pleasant or as hard as you want it to be. If you refuse to develop skills and meet new people its probably not going to be very pleasant. Ultimately, there is plenty of choice to be made. Lazy people and idle dreamers are not going to go far in this world.
Last edited by markg91359; 04-22-2016 at 08:53 AM..
^^^^^Wait a minute Mark.....
Lazy people & idle dreamers on welfare have it pretty easy these days.
I don't think it's ever been easier for lazy people & idle dreamers actually.
I love what I do....
Honestly my craft is an art & I constantly study, & incorporate new things into what I do.....
Work-to me- shouldn't be miserable.
I deliberately went into this field knowing
it was extremely tough-
the competition is tough, the toll it
takes physically is tough.....
But the pay, the perks & the rewards
are extraordinary.......
Here I sit at work today after taking the day off yesterday with a migraine. Yesterday blew by so fast. Today the hours are creeping by in slow motion.
It is not like I dislike my job. I have great hours, good commute and overall a good work environment. The problem is I could think of a 1001 things I would rather be doing today. I could take the kids on a hike, go for a bike ride, play mini golf, volunteer in my sons preschool class, take the kids to a museum, the playground, visit a water park, travel the world...
I hate having to go to work when the weather is so nice. I need more time off so I can spend it having fun and actually living. Who are these people that love going to work? Is it that I just enjoy playing way more than working?
Maybe the answer is more lottery tickets. Because working 5 days a week so I can enjoy 2 days is not allowing me enough time to live life to the fullest.
Anyone else feel the same way?
Sounds like you have a HORRIBLE existence, poor thing.
It is not like I dislike my job. I have great hours, good commute and overall a good work environment.
Make a gratitude list of ALL THE THINGS YOU HAVE and can do and enjoy because of your job.
Many people have awful working condition, low pay and spend hours getting to and from work... and here you are complaining.
I travel throughout the day for my job, so I am outdoors a lot, so it really doesn't bother me a lot. I jam out and enjoy the scenery (except Balt/DC) and just make a day of it. The way I look at it, they pay me to ride around and as part of that I accomplish my mission. I would probably feel differently if I was cooped up all day. I get lots of vacation so when the mood strikes, I take off. No big deal here.
I have four weeks a year plus holidays, so it would seem like I should have enough time off.
That's just one path. You can still buy homes cheaper than market value and rent them for income. Once you have a couple homes and steady income from it, you can start looking for cheaper houses that need work. Find a carpenter in your area that is laid off or wants side work and work out a deal with him.
One of the guys I work with has a pretty good side gig going with a property manager. They have him fix all the properties they manage.
Find the right guy and he'll come fix whatever in a reasonable time for a reasonable price. It's a better alternative than trying to find a contractor who will overcharge. It will cost more than doing it yourself but you'll still come out ahead.
Another option is multi family properties. Like a duplex or a house converted into apartments. There's not a lot of those here in Vegas, but back east they are all over. Instead of one income stream from a house, you get however many units you have.
There are other ways to invest as well. Try to think about it this way, you want your money to make more money.
A new bmw is not going to make you money. It will only cost you money.
The 100,000 you were going to spend on the bmw in mutual funds will return money to you.
Eating out all year won't bring you any money, but a vending machine or 3 will.
Start looking at ways to make money instead of saving to buy something you don't really need. Like a new 55inch tv. Do you need it? Nope. That 800 in an investment will pay for itself over time where the tv will be practically worthless as soon as you open the box.
I own multiple houses, including one rental. I did but them cheap for our area, but they are far from being worth $150k. Lol. But I get your point. I am frugal in all other areas because I chose to spend more money living in a good area. I bought a foreclosure last year for $290k. When done it will sell for over $400k. I just work slow. I am in the prices of selling my rental to my tenant and will roll that equity into my new house to lower my expenses.
It sounds like you don't really enjoy your work or find it fulfilling. If you love your work and are focused on it, you wouldn't be daydreaming and looking out the proverbial window.
I am retired. One day you will be, too. You may look back on your working days and realize how much it contributed to your happiness and sense of self worth and sense of accomplishment (if you're good at what you do).
I believe that one of the joys in life is to find something you're good at, get something out of, and get paid decently or even well for it. If you find such work, you will miss it, when you retire.
But maybe you just need a vacation or a day off to go play and recharge.
I have a really cool job, and it almost always is a big conversation topic, but by nature I am not into work. I was the same way as a student. I think I was in first grade, when I cut school during free play and went home.
I still like a life of leisure, living for the moment and just doing whatever I want, when I want.
I don't think I am disciplined enough to work for myself. I would always find something better to do than actual work. Evident by how long repairs take on my foreclosure. Right now I am in the five year plan. I paint one room a month.
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