I wanna be rich (1 Viewer)

[NCCommish]

Solid notebook

Borders on creepy.

Starting the same thread every year or so? I agree.

Your lovehate for me is a little weird and obsessive. Admit it.

Doesn't really have anything to do with love or hate. Search function finds your repetitive threads quite easily.

You honestly have nothing better to do with your time?

Better than using my time to post another look-at-me thread. It took less than two minutes anyways. Why do you care what I do while watching Netflix?

Not really my fight but as a guy who has had a "follower" or two I do have an opinion to offer. To be fair when it comes to O you do come off a bit stalkerish at times. And sometimes I want to ask if he stole your lunch money in school or something as you seem to have an axe to grind with him. And to turn the question back a bit what do you care what he does while he is watching Netflix? Do you have to read his posts? Send us a coded message and we'll send the cops to free you.

Personal finance and diet threads are ones I always read, regardless of original poster. They offer good insight from other FBGs. You don't really see me "stalking" Otis on any other numerous topics he posts in, because I'm not interested in those topics.

I'm not going to pretend not to remember past threads here. There is no axe to grind with Otis specifically, I'm merely pointing out someone making the same posts and mistakes over and over again.

Well like I said not my fight really. Just offering an opinion. I don't read everything he posts either. So I guess since I tend to read the same kinds of threads you do just leaves an impression when I see you responding to O. Personally I like your postings in general and you are one of the people I will normally drop in to see what you said if I notice you responded.

 

[Henry Ford]

Not hearing much college talk in here. My oldest kid is about to start his junior year of high school and college costs are staring down the gun barrel at me.

Oats, by the time your little nippers are ready for college, private colleges will run $80-100k per year. So be sure to set aside a million or so for that.

This sounds awful.

A guy I know recently advised me that you shouldn't stock up too much for college (i.e., in a 529). His view is that you can always borrow for college tuition; you can't borrow for your retirement. In any event, I've got 529s locked and loaded and on auto pilot.

There is an old rough rule of thumb that states you should save 20% of your household gross income towards retirement before saving for college. The 20% is a very rough number and could be lowered if you are expecting a pension.

Almost any kind of college savings seems almost like a pipe dream anyway. Let's say your HHI is $120,000 and following your rule of thumb, you're putting aside $24,000 for retirement (which is pretty ambitious for most folks). Now you've got $96,000. Take off another $20,000 (roughly) for taxes and you're at $76K. Following another rule of thumb in this thread, and devote 25% of your take home pay to housing - that's $19K, so now you've got $57,000 left. That's for an entire year for everything else - food, car, utilities, vacation, clothes, you name it.

The idea - that on that income - you can save any kind of appreciable money toward college tuition costs nearing $50k per year is not reasonable.

$11000 a year saved will give you about $240K in 18 years, won't it?

 

[Slapdash]

Solid notebook

Borders on creepy.

Starting the same thread every year or so? I agree.

Your lovehate for me is a little weird and obsessive. Admit it.

Doesn't really have anything to do with love or hate. Search function finds your repetitive threads quite easily.

You honestly have nothing better to do with your time?

Better than using my time to post another look-at-me thread. It took less than two minutes anyways. Why do you care what I do while watching Netflix?

I've just never understood the guys who follow other posters here so closely. I'm not sure what your beef is or why you care about me so much, but it's just a little weird. Flattering, but still weird.

I don't follow you closely, I follow certain types of topics that interest me closely. You don't see me posting in your poker adventures or whatever. I don't care about those topics.

When I'm reading threads about these topics that interest me, I'm not going to act like I haven't read the same exact points from you before. I assume they're all shtick anyways so I'm not sure what you care. It has nothing to do with a beef, I remember plenty of people's viewpoints. Am I stalking them all?

 

[Tiger Fan]

State schools FTW

 

[Slapdash]

Personal finance and diet threads are ones I always read, regardless of original poster. They offer good insight from other FBGs. You don't really see me "stalking" Otis on any other numerous topics he posts in, because I'm not interested in those topics.

I'm not going to pretend not to remember past threads here. There is no axe to grind with Otis specifically, I'm merely pointing out someone making the same posts and mistakes over and over again.

Well like I said not my fight really. Just offering an opinion. I don't read everything he posts either. So I guess since I tend to read the same kinds of threads you do just leaves an impression when I see you responding to O. Personally I like your postings in general and you are one of the people I will normally drop in to see what you said if I notice you responded.

Appreciate the perspective NCC. I'll let Otis fish in peace since it apparently bothers him so much to point it out that is what he is doing:

(Aside: The best thing about these threads is the same old fish jump out of the water every. single. time. Without fail.)

Feel free to take all of this at face value for when the 2015 version comes out.

 

[The_Man]

Not hearing much college talk in here. My oldest kid is about to start his junior year of high school and college costs are staring down the gun barrel at me.

Oats, by the time your little nippers are ready for college, private colleges will run $80-100k per year. So be sure to set aside a million or so for that.

This sounds awful.

A guy I know recently advised me that you shouldn't stock up too much for college (i.e., in a 529). His view is that you can always borrow for college tuition; you can't borrow for your retirement. In any event, I've got 529s locked and loaded and on auto pilot.

There is an old rough rule of thumb that states you should save 20% of your household gross income towards retirement before saving for college. The 20% is a very rough number and could be lowered if you are expecting a pension.

Almost any kind of college savings seems almost like a pipe dream anyway. Let's say your HHI is $120,000 and following your rule of thumb, you're putting aside $24,000 for retirement (which is pretty ambitious for most folks). Now you've got $96,000. Take off another $20,000 (roughly) for taxes and you're at $76K. Following another rule of thumb in this thread, and devote 25% of your take home pay to housing - that's $19K, so now you've got $57,000 left. That's for an entire year for everything else - food, car, utilities, vacation, clothes, you name it.

The idea - that on that income - you can save any kind of appreciable money toward college tuition costs nearing $50k per year is not reasonable.

$11000 a year saved will give you about $240K in 18 years, won't it?

Unfortunately I can't go back to give myself the $1000/month I have now that I didn't have when I was 28 with a newborn.

 

[Otis]

Not hearing much college talk in here. My oldest kid is about to start his junior year of high school and college costs are staring down the gun barrel at me.

Oats, by the time your little nippers are ready for college, private colleges will run $80-100k per year. So be sure to set aside a million or so for that.

This sounds awful.

A guy I know recently advised me that you shouldn't stock up too much for college (i.e., in a 529). His view is that you can always borrow for college tuition; you can't borrow for your retirement. In any event, I've got 529s locked and loaded and on auto pilot.

There is an old rough rule of thumb that states you should save 20% of your household gross income towards retirement before saving for college. The 20% is a very rough number and could be lowered if you are expecting a pension.

Interesting, did not know this.

 

[Dentist]

Not hearing much college talk in here. My oldest kid is about to start his junior year of high school and college costs are staring down the gun barrel at me.

Oats, by the time your little nippers are ready for college, private colleges will run $80-100k per year. So be sure to set aside a million or so for that.

This sounds awful.

A guy I know recently advised me that you shouldn't stock up too much for college (i.e., in a 529). His view is that you can always borrow for college tuition; you can't borrow for your retirement. In any event, I've got 529s locked and loaded and on auto pilot.

There is an old rough rule of thumb that states you should save 20% of your household gross income towards retirement before saving for college. The 20% is a very rough number and could be lowered if you are expecting a pension.

Interesting, did not know this.

Otis, have you read one book on personal finance? Like "Making the most of your money now" or "bogleheads guide to retirement"

I ask that because if you had read at least one book you'd know that stat (although experts do vary between 15 and 20%).

Someone like you spent YEARS in college and law school just to get the type of job that makes big money... don't you owe it to yourself to spend just a few hours reading ONE book on how to properly keep and use the money?

Also someone like you could benefit from "millionaire next door" or "the millionaire mind" more that just about anyone I know.

Could also benefit from following a blog like: Mr. Money Mustache or even though you're not a doctor... the White Coat Investor discusses things that apply to high income individuals all the time.

Do you do twitter? there are a lot of money people that are good to follow on twitter like bankrate, twocentslh , cbsmoneywatch

 

[proninja]

MMM is awesome. Wholeheartedly recommend. Face punches ftw.

 

[El Floppo]

I'm sure this was mentioned upthread, but place thousands of tiny ads... goldmine.

 

[Bruce Dickinson]

I'm sure this was mentioned upthread, but place thousands of tiny ads... goldmine.

Imagine you have one tiny ad in one newspaper, making a measly $30 a week profit. Well, guess what? You're rich! Did you know there are over ONE THOUSAND NEWSPAPERS in the country? Now take that tiny little ad, which is now a little money machine, and repeat it across one thousand newspapers.

 

[Otis]

Not hearing much college talk in here. My oldest kid is about to start his junior year of high school and college costs are staring down the gun barrel at me.

Oats, by the time your little nippers are ready for college, private colleges will run $80-100k per year. So be sure to set aside a million or so for that.

This sounds awful.

A guy I know recently advised me that you shouldn't stock up too much for college (i.e., in a 529). His view is that you can always borrow for college tuition; you can't borrow for your retirement. In any event, I've got 529s locked and loaded and on auto pilot.

There is an old rough rule of thumb that states you should save 20% of your household gross income towards retirement before saving for college. The 20% is a very rough number and could be lowered if you are expecting a pension.

Interesting, did not know this.

Otis, have you read one book on personal finance? Like "Making the most of your money now" or "bogleheads guide to retirement"

I ask that because if you had read at least one book you'd know that stat (although experts do vary between 15 and 20%).

Someone like you spent YEARS in college and law school just to get the type of job that makes big money... don't you owe it to yourself to spend just a few hours reading ONE book on how to properly keep and use the money?

Also someone like you could benefit from "millionaire next door" or "the millionaire mind" more that just about anyone I know.

Could also benefit from following a blog like: Mr. Money Mustache or even though you're not a doctor... the White Coat Investor discusses things that apply to high income individuals all the time.

Do you do twitter? there are a lot of money people that are good to follow on twitter like bankrate, twocentslh , cbsmoneywatch

I can't see myself doing all the twitter and blog stuff. But you make a good point on the books. If there are one or two at most I would read, which do you recommend?

 

[tommyGunZ]

I don't get the negativity w/re to Slapdash. Are we not supposed to post differing opinions or point it silliness when we see it? When did the FFA become theKnot.com message board? Post rainbows and skittles or else you're a "stalker"?

Zero doubt that Oats is one of the better reads on the boards - pretty sure we've all liked his work for almost a decade now. That doesn't mean he's immune from getting called out when he posts dumb ####. Hell, I'm pretty sure he'd agree.

 

[NewlyRetired]

Not hearing much college talk in here. My oldest kid is about to start his junior year of high school and college costs are staring down the gun barrel at me.

Oats, by the time your little nippers are ready for college, private colleges will run $80-100k per year. So be sure to set aside a million or so for that.

This sounds awful.

A guy I know recently advised me that you shouldn't stock up too much for college (i.e., in a 529). His view is that you can always borrow for college tuition; you can't borrow for your retirement. In any event, I've got 529s locked and loaded and on auto pilot.

There is an old rough rule of thumb that states you should save 20% of your household gross income towards retirement before saving for college. The 20% is a very rough number and could be lowered if you are expecting a pension.

Interesting, did not know this.

Otis, have you read one book on personal finance? Like "Making the most of your money now" or "bogleheads guide to retirement"

I ask that because if you had read at least one book you'd know that stat (although experts do vary between 15 and 20%).

Someone like you spent YEARS in college and law school just to get the type of job that makes big money... don't you owe it to yourself to spend just a few hours reading ONE book on how to properly keep and use the money?

Also someone like you could benefit from "millionaire next door" or "the millionaire mind" more that just about anyone I know.

Could also benefit from following a blog like: Mr. Money Mustache or even though you're not a doctor... the White Coat Investor discusses things that apply to high income individuals all the time.

Do you do twitter? there are a lot of money people that are good to follow on twitter like bankrate, twocentslh , cbsmoneywatch

I can't see myself doing all the twitter and blog stuff. But you make a good point on the books. If there are one or two at most I would read, which do you recommend?

Assuming you are really interested in the material, The Millionaire Next door is a good read. Note that it focuses on expense control, not on revenue generation.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Millionaire-Next-Door-Surprising/dp/B00493SIIA/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1404777617&sr=8-2&keywords=millionaire+next+door

 

[NCCommish]

I don't get the negativity w/re to Slapdash. Are we not supposed to post differing opinions or point it silliness when we see it? When did the FFA become theKnot.com message board? Post rainbows and skittles or else you're a "stalker"?

Zero doubt that Oats is one of the better reads on the boards - pretty sure we've all liked his work for almost a decade now. That doesn't mean he's immune from getting called out when he posts dumb ####. Hell, I'm pretty sure he'd agree.

I wasn't being negative and it appears SD knows that from his response. I was just telling him how it looks from the outside.

 

[Otis]

I don't get the negativity w/re to Slapdash. Are we not supposed to post differing opinions or point it silliness when we see it? When did the FFA become theKnot.com message board? Post rainbows and skittles or else you're a "stalker"?

Zero doubt that Oats is one of the better reads on the boards - pretty sure we've all liked his work for almost a decade now. That doesn't mean he's immune from getting called out when he posts dumb ####. Hell, I'm pretty sure he'd agree.

Yeah, Gunz, the dumb post I made is the one where I talked about wanting to be rich. THAT's the offensive stuff.

 

[Otis]

Not hearing much college talk in here. My oldest kid is about to start his junior year of high school and college costs are staring down the gun barrel at me.

Oats, by the time your little nippers are ready for college, private colleges will run $80-100k per year. So be sure to set aside a million or so for that.

This sounds awful.

A guy I know recently advised me that you shouldn't stock up too much for college (i.e., in a 529). His view is that you can always borrow for college tuition; you can't borrow for your retirement. In any event, I've got 529s locked and loaded and on auto pilot.

There is an old rough rule of thumb that states you should save 20% of your household gross income towards retirement before saving for college. The 20% is a very rough number and could be lowered if you are expecting a pension.

Interesting, did not know this.

Otis, have you read one book on personal finance? Like "Making the most of your money now" or "bogleheads guide to retirement"

I ask that because if you had read at least one book you'd know that stat (although experts do vary between 15 and 20%).

Someone like you spent YEARS in college and law school just to get the type of job that makes big money... don't you owe it to yourself to spend just a few hours reading ONE book on how to properly keep and use the money?

Also someone like you could benefit from "millionaire next door" or "the millionaire mind" more that just about anyone I know.

Could also benefit from following a blog like: Mr. Money Mustache or even though you're not a doctor... the White Coat Investor discusses things that apply to high income individuals all the time.

Do you do twitter? there are a lot of money people that are good to follow on twitter like bankrate, twocentslh , cbsmoneywatch

I can't see myself doing all the twitter and blog stuff. But you make a good point on the books. If there are one or two at most I would read, which do you recommend?

Assuming you are really interested in the material, The Millionaire Next door is a good read. Note that it focuses on expense control, not on revenue generation.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Millionaire-Next-Door-Surprising/dp/B00493SIIA/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1404777617&sr=8-2&keywords=millionaire+next+door

Looks like that was on Dentist's list too. Buying it now.

 

[Otis]

I don't get the negativity w/re to Slapdash. Are we not supposed to post differing opinions or point it silliness when we see it? When did the FFA become theKnot.com message board? Post rainbows and skittles or else you're a "stalker"?

Zero doubt that Oats is one of the better reads on the boards - pretty sure we've all liked his work for almost a decade now. That doesn't mean he's immune from getting called out when he posts dumb ####. Hell, I'm pretty sure he'd agree.

I wasn't being negative and it appears SD knows that from his response. I was just telling him how it looks from the outside.

He follows me around in lots of threads. It's just weird. I have no problem with folks calling folks out for stuff, that's half the fun of this place. And I also have no problem with him. It's like it always has been -- since day 1 I've had a handful of stalkers who seem to follow me around without any discernable reason. Often times, like here, it's a guy who I literally know nothing about -- they're that uninteresting to me. Just weird to me that I wouldn't know them or their views or their threads from a hole in the wall, and yet they've got detailed notes on my contributions, and pull up search results all the time. I can't imagine caring enough about any of them to ever spend the seconds. But I guess we're all different.

Can we go back to talking about getting rich?

 

[NCCommish]

I don't get the negativity w/re to Slapdash. Are we not supposed to post differing opinions or point it silliness when we see it? When did the FFA become theKnot.com message board? Post rainbows and skittles or else you're a "stalker"?

Zero doubt that Oats is one of the better reads on the boards - pretty sure we've all liked his work for almost a decade now. That doesn't mean he's immune from getting called out when he posts dumb ####. Hell, I'm pretty sure he'd agree.

I wasn't being negative and it appears SD knows that from his response. I was just telling him how it looks from the outside.

He follows me around in lots of threads. It's just weird. I have no problem with folks calling folks out for stuff, that's half the fun of this place. And I also have no problem with him. It's like it always has been -- since day 1 I've had a handful of stalkers who seem to follow me around without any discernable reason. Often times, like here, it's a guy who I literally know nothing about -- they're that uninteresting to me. Just weird to me that I wouldn't know them or their views or their threads from a hole in the wall, and yet they've got detailed notes on my contributions, and pull up search results all the time. I can't imagine caring enough about any of them to ever spend the seconds. But I guess we're all different.

Can we go back to talking about getting rich?

Apparently you can charge people 200.00 an hour to help their 4 year old test well enough to get into kindergarten. Got to be some gold there.

 

[humpback]

I can't see myself doing all the twitter and blog stuff. But you make a good point on the books. If there are one or two at most I would read, which do you recommend?

Assuming you are really interested in the material, The Millionaire Next door is a good read. Note that it focuses on expense control, not on revenue generation.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Millionaire-Next-Door-Surprising/dp/B00493SIIA/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1404777617&sr=8-2&keywords=millionaire+next+door

Looks like that was on Dentist's list too. Buying it now.

Dentist is probably going to freak out on you for not borrowing it from the library instead....

 

[Dentist]

I can't see myself doing all the twitter and blog stuff. But you make a good point on the books. If there are one or two at most I would read, which do you recommend?

Assuming you are really interested in the material, The Millionaire Next door is a good read. Note that it focuses on expense control, not on revenue generation.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Millionaire-Next-Door-Surprising/dp/B00493SIIA/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1404777617&sr=8-2&keywords=millionaire+next+door

Looks like that was on Dentist's list too. Buying it now.

Dentist is probably going to freak out on you for not borrowing it from the library instead....

wow.. you nailed it.

i was going to do otis one better and e-mail him an .epub version of it to read on his tablet or something... but he probably already bought it.

If I could only suggest one book it would've been "making the most of your money now" but the book is hella thick (like 600+ pages) and it probably would've turned Otis off.

Another great one is Jim Cramer's Stay Mad for Life (although skip all the investment advice..the book is too old)... Otis would make it through a Cramer book and he has a good style of writing... it's cramer's definitive personal finance book.

I really enjoyed the Millionaire Next Door.. my only beef with it is that he's all about telling you the types of moves it takes to get rich... but he's not a guy celebrating early retirement... he's obsessed with people who generate a ton of money and leave a legacy of sorts.. true accumulators who don't even use the money they make.. while at the same time discussing how the children of these rich parents are ultimately failures due to the parents sheltering the kids from the hard work they themselves had to put in to succeed in the first place.

Basically every personal finance guy ultimately has some sort of schtick or agenda they are ultimately pushing:

Cramer: Wealth gained through stocks is the best way

Millionaire Next door: Wealth gained through owning your own business is the best way and building a legacy is what is important

Mr. Money Mustache: Leaning how to shun most modern conveniences and reducing your lifestyle to bare bones is the pathway to freedom and enlightenment.... sweat equity = king

Dave Ramsey: All debt is evil... the pathway to freedom is through debt elimination.... and Jesus confirms it

Suze Orman: Don't spend any money ever... unless it's for something super cute and adorable that lesbians are into.. and god forbid bond funds or target funds

It's one of the reasons I liked Jane Bryant Quinn - she ultimately provided a system for nearly every situation imaginable... and seemed to be pushing the least amount of agenda. Her only weakness is that the book doesn't cover high earners particularly well... which is why I like the White Coat Investor... he fits my schtick the best... earn a good chunk.. spend as little as possible of that chunk but embrace experiences and modern convenience unlike Mr. Money Mustache

 

[Dentist]

Can we go back to talking about getting rich?

Oats.. you make plenty of money to get rich. Now i realize you live in a high cost area which hurts.. and i realize that at some level you're not going to be the big shot lawyer who drives a 10 year old Kia and vacations to state parks and drink blended scotch.. but you are spending like a guy who's already a high net worth rich guy... and from what i can tell you're still in the red on your net worth statement. Plug the leaks, bro.

Getting rich is no different than losing weight:

Lose weight: calories in < calories out

get rich: money out << money in (when you have a high income like yours)

 

[bigbottom]

Not hearing much college talk in here. My oldest kid is about to start his junior year of high school and college costs are staring down the gun barrel at me.

Oats, by the time your little nippers are ready for college, private colleges will run $80-100k per year. So be sure to set aside a million or so for that.

This sounds awful.

A guy I know recently advised me that you shouldn't stock up too much for college (i.e., in a 529). His view is that you can always borrow for college tuition; you can't borrow for your retirement. In any event, I've got 529s locked and loaded and on auto pilot.

There is an old rough rule of thumb that states you should save 20% of your household gross income towards retirement before saving for college. The 20% is a very rough number and could be lowered if you are expecting a pension.

Interesting, did not know this.

Otis, have you read one book on personal finance? Like "Making the most of your money now" or "bogleheads guide to retirement"

I ask that because if you had read at least one book you'd know that stat (although experts do vary between 15 and 20%).

Someone like you spent YEARS in college and law school just to get the type of job that makes big money... don't you owe it to yourself to spend just a few hours reading ONE book on how to properly keep and use the money?

Also someone like you could benefit from "millionaire next door" or "the millionaire mind" more that just about anyone I know.

Could also benefit from following a blog like: Mr. Money Mustache or even though you're not a doctor... the White Coat Investor discusses things that apply to high income individuals all the time.

Do you do twitter? there are a lot of money people that are good to follow on twitter like bankrate, twocentslh , cbsmoneywatch

I can't see myself doing all the twitter and blog stuff. But you make a good point on the books. If there are one or two at most I would read, which do you recommend?

Assuming you are really interested in the material, The Millionaire Next door is a good read. Note that it focuses on expense control, not on revenue generation.http://www.amazon.com/The-Millionaire-Next-Door-Surprising/dp/B00493SIIA/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1404777617&sr=8-2&keywords=millionaire+next+door

Looks like that was on Dentist's list too. Buying it now.

Uh-oh. From an article titled the Nine Lessons in Wealth Building from the Millionaire Next Door:

Lesson #6: Love the Home Youre With

Your choice of home and how often you choose a new one will determine your ability to accumulate wealth. According to The Millionaire Next Door, that wealthy family has been next door for quite a while. Half of millionaires have lived in the same house for more than 20 years.

In Stop Acting Rich, Thomas Stanley digs deeper into how your address affects your spending, writing:

Nothing has a greater impact on your wealth and your consumption than your choices of house and neighborhood. If you live in a high-price home in an exclusive community, you will spend more than you should and your ability to save and build wealth will be compromised. [P]eople who live in million-dollar homes are not millionaires. They may be high-income producers but, by trying to emulate glittering rich millionaires, they are living a treadmill existence.

He cites several statistics to back this up, including:

Ninety percent of millionaires live in homes valued below $1 million; 28.3% live in homes valued at $300,000 or less.

On average, millionaires have a mortgage that is less than one-third of the value of their homes.

If you really want to reduce your housing bill, join the 67,000 millionaires who live in mobile homes.

 

[bigbottom]

Otis, have you read one book on personal finance? Like "Making the most of your money now" or "bogleheads guide to retirement"

I ask that because if you had read at least one book you'd know that stat (although experts do vary between 15 and 20%).

Someone like you spent YEARS in college and law school just to get the type of job that makes big money... don't you owe it to yourself to spend just a few hours reading ONE book on how to properly keep and use the money?

Also someone like you could benefit from "millionaire next door" or "the millionaire mind" more that just about anyone I know.

Could also benefit from following a blog like: Mr. Money Mustache or even though you're not a doctor... the White Coat Investor discusses things that apply to high income individuals all the time.

Do you do twitter? there are a lot of money people that are good to follow on twitter like bankrate, twocentslh , cbsmoneywatch

I can't see myself doing all the twitter and blog stuff. But you make a good point on the books. If there are one or two at most I would read, which do you recommend?

From the same article:

Lesson #5: Time Is Money

All this budgeting and goaling takes time, but millionaires are willing to spend it. Prodigious accumulators of wealth spend nearly twice as many hours per month planning their investments as under accumulators of wealth. The majority of PAWs agreed with the following statements, while the majority of UAWs did not:

I spend a lot of time planning my financial future.

Usually, I have sufficient time to handle my investments properly.

When it comes to the allocation of my time, I place the management of my assets before my other activities.

You dont have to earn a big six-figure salary for planning to pay off. In a survey of 854 middle-income workers, Danko and Stanley found a strong positive correlation between investment planning and wealth accumulation. This extra planning doesnt just happen. According to the authors, Most PAWs have a regimented planning schedule. Each week, each month, each year, they plan their investments.

 

[Ilov80s]

Every time I see this thread, I think of the song.

 

[bigbottom]

One thing you may consider O if you don't have the inclination to spend a ton of time on this stuff (I don't) or if you are unsure of your competence level (as I am) is to engage a financial advisor/planner to help you manage your investments.

 

[Bruce Dickinson]

I don't get the negativity w/re to Slapdash. Are we not supposed to post differing opinions or point it silliness when we see it? When did the FFA become theKnot.com message board? Post rainbows and skittles or else you're a "stalker"?

Zero doubt that Oats is one of the better reads on the boards - pretty sure we've all liked his work for almost a decade now. That doesn't mean he's immune from getting called out when he posts dumb ####. Hell, I'm pretty sure he'd agree.

He got enough negative feedback in this thread to claim he's fishing. So there's that. If he'd followed just the best 25-30% of the good advice in all the other woe-is-me threads he's started over the years, he would already have the wealth he desires according in the OP, so any claim about his threads being full of haters and/or not helping him is absurd. I'm probably pretty close to Otis's age, and thanks to advice and resources recommended/endorsed by this board, I don't have to work full-time any more to reach financial goals, and I've never worked a job as glorious as big-city bigshot lawyer. But come on - we know there isn't a specific dollar figure that would satisfy Otis.

For Otis, the juice is being able to compare himself favorably to others. He likes how far his commute is, how hot others think his wife is, how long his work hours are, how big his mortgage is, how big the metro area he lives in is, how much he spends on consumable goods, how much attention his threads get on FBG. All that #### shows how important he is to his world. That's how he keeps score, and keeping score is what makes him happy. He's not looking for advice on how to change or improve. He's looking for new ways to demonstrate how he is better than others.

 

[Otis]

I don't get the negativity w/re to Slapdash. Are we not supposed to post differing opinions or point it silliness when we see it? When did the FFA become theKnot.com message board? Post rainbows and skittles or else you're a "stalker"?

Zero doubt that Oats is one of the better reads on the boards - pretty sure we've all liked his work for almost a decade now. That doesn't mean he's immune from getting called out when he posts dumb ####. Hell, I'm pretty sure he'd agree.

He got enough negative feedback in this thread to claim he's fishing. So there's that. If he'd followed just the best 25-30% of the good advice in all the other woe-is-me threads he's started over the years, he would already have the wealth he desires according in the OP, so any claim about his threads being full of haters and/or not helping him is absurd. I'm probably pretty close to Otis's age, and thanks to advice and resources recommended/endorsed by this board, I don't have to work full-time any more to reach financial goals, and I've never worked a job as glorious as big-city bigshot lawyer. But come on - we know there isn't a specific dollar figure that would satisfy Otis.

For Otis, the juice is being able to compare himself favorably to others. He likes how far his commute is, how hot others think his wife is, how long his work hours are, how big his mortgage is, how big the metro area he lives in is, how much he spends on consumable goods, how much attention his threads get on FBG. All that #### shows how important he is to his world. That's how he keeps score, and keeping score is what makes him happy. He's not looking for advice on how to change or improve. He's looking for new ways to demonstrate how he is better than others.

Bruce finally nailed it. Mods, we can shut this one down, we are all set.

 

[otello]

Not hearing much college talk in here. My oldest kid is about to start his junior year of high school and college costs are staring down the gun barrel at me.

Oats, by the time your little nippers are ready for college, private colleges will run $80-100k per year. So be sure to set aside a million or so for that.

This sounds awful.

A guy I know recently advised me that you shouldn't stock up too much for college (i.e., in a 529). His view is that you can always borrow for college tuition; you can't borrow for your retirement. In any event, I've got 529s locked and loaded and on auto pilot.

There is an old rough rule of thumb that states you should save 20% of your household gross income towards retirement before saving for college. The 20% is a very rough number and could be lowered if you are expecting a pension.

Interesting, did not know this.

Otis, have you read one book on personal finance? Like "Making the most of your money now" or "bogleheads guide to retirement"

I ask that because if you had read at least one book you'd know that stat (although experts do vary between 15 and 20%).

Someone like you spent YEARS in college and law school just to get the type of job that makes big money... don't you owe it to yourself to spend just a few hours reading ONE book on how to properly keep and use the money?

Also someone like you could benefit from "millionaire next door" or "the millionaire mind" more that just about anyone I know.

Could also benefit from following a blog like: Mr. Money Mustache or even though you're not a doctor... the White Coat Investor discusses things that apply to high income individuals all the time.

Do you do twitter? there are a lot of money people that are good to follow on twitter like bankrate, twocentslh , cbsmoneywatch

I can't see myself doing all the twitter and blog stuff. But you make a good point on the books. If there are one or two at most I would read, which do you recommend?

Assuming you are really interested in the material, The Millionaire Next door is a good read. Note that it focuses on expense control, not on revenue generation.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Millionaire-Next-Door-Surprising/dp/B00493SIIA/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1404777617&sr=8-2&keywords=millionaire+next+door

Looks like that was on Dentist's list too. Buying it now.

What did we say about impulse buying?????

 

[Otis]

was so expecting that