Making it big..?

System

my opinion is that a lot of money isn't needed to be happy, in fact, it could cause more trouble than having not alot

lessonlearned

swizzy wrote: »

.

What would you advise?

Regards,
Swizzy

You've been given some great advice.

Mine is pretty much the same.

Don't try to run before you can walk.

Keep a tight rein on outgoings, watch the cash flow.

Save that £800 a month, aim for at least £10,000 by the end of this year.

Work hard in your career, get promoted etc.

Use your free time to set up a small sideline business or part time job.

Aim to have more than one income stream by the end of this year.

Protect your income from your main job i.e. stand alone income protection insurance - just in case.

Read some good money management books, tax guides, biographies of successful people.

Read the financial pages in the quality press.

Dress well - not flash designer stuff but always look smart and businesslike. Buy good quality business suits that will last. Save money by taking care of your clothes - don't use a "floordrobe". :rotfl:

Use your time wisely. Acquire good habits and time management skills.

Stay focussed. It's a marathon not a sprint.

Have fun on the way;)

motorguy

Im a bit bemused that all of us offering advice on how to become a millionaire arent.

So either

(a) dont follow our advice as it clearly doesnt work

or

(b) we're lazy?

lessonlearned

motorguy wrote: »

Im a bit bemused that all of us offering advice on how to become a millionaire arent.

So either

(a) dont follow our advice as it clearly doesnt work

or

(b) we're lazy?

Speak for yourself:rotfl:

lessonlearned

motorguy wrote: »

Im a bit bemused that all of us offering advice on how to become a millionaire arent.

So either

(a) dont follow our advice as it clearly doesnt work

or

(b) we're lazy?

Not rolling in money yet but I'm definitely in a better place than I was 2 years ago.

The advice I gave is exactly what I'm doing and it is working for me.

Forget the get rich quick schemes - just apply yourself and keep at it.

motorguy

lessonlearned wrote: »

Not rolling in money yet but I'm definitely in a better place than I was 2 years ago.

The advice I gave is exactly what I'm doing and it is working for me.

Forget the get rich quick schemes - just apply yourself and keep at it.

With respect, your "formula" is pretty much a formula for getting through life comfortably at best. Its not a formula to become seriously rich - which is what the O/P is asking.

lessonlearned

I agree. You are spot on.

However, you will notice that the OP is cautious and admitted that he was wary of risk, so my advice was based on that.

Given the OP's nervousness and attitude to risk then I think he would feel more comfortable taking things one step at a time. Hence my advice to the OP to get £10K under his belt and to look for more than one income stream.

We all know that no business enterprise can ever be risk free of course and that the faster we wish to grow then the more risk we have to take.

I think there is an argument that money made quickly can be lost just as quickly, whilst if you take a little time to establish good habits and good money management skills then you have a better chance of hanging on to your money.

I think that once someone has laid some good foundations down and has a reasonable contingency fund, then they can start risking some of their capital.

The OP is young so I think just taking a year to establish a good contingency fund and build up some extra income would be a sensible approach. A year is nothing.

Then he can start looking for quicker returns and rapid growth.

Just my opinion of course.;)

motorguy

lessonlearned wrote: »

Speak for yourself:rotfl:

LOL.

Given the drive that people need to become really successful, i guess there is an element of laziness in us all.

lessonlearned

motorguy wrote: »

LOL.

Given the drive that people need to become really successful, i guess there is an element of laziness in us all.

None of us is perfect;)

Actually I thought this might interest some of you.

Further to our discussion about rapid riches as opposed to slower wealth building - here is a fantastic example of what can be achieved by drive and determination, taking the slow but steady approach.

I've just read Arnold Schwarzeneggar's autobiography entitled "Total Recall". It's a bit long and he does tend to go on a bit but I did find it interesting.

Now I know he's not a billionaire and obviously not in the same league as Gates, Jobs or Branson - but Arnie is a multi-millionaire and he is a self made man with no obvious skills or talent as such.

(No matter how much we may like his action flicks he's not really an actor and he freely admits this himself. He sees himself first and foremost as a businessman).

Arnie came from a very modest background and slowly, very slowly, worked his way to stardom and riches. He has had 4 very successful careers, starting with bodybuilding, then property development, movies and finally as "The Governator".

Whilst he was bodybuilding he was also trying to get an education, so he would spend hours and hours training and working out whilst at the same time fitting in his studies in business and trying to learn English, always with his eyes on the prize - his goal to become a movie star.

The property development apparently started out as a sideline business to finance himself until he could make it big in the movies, although he did end up making millions in property. He used the prize money from body building to start his property business.

All of this was actually relatively low risk but it did take years.

Arnie took the slow approach - his eyes fixed firmly on the prize - taking it one step at a time.

As far as I can tell he has no special talent or skills other than his intelligence and his capacity for self discipline. He got where he is through hard work, commitment and dedication to his goals. He was cool, calm and calculating. He admits in the book that there were set backs - losing the Mr Olympia competition when he was the favourite to win. He blamed himself for being complacent and not training enough and vowed never to let it happen again. It didn't. He won 7 times.

From a thin scrawny kid he built his body to become a world champion body builder. He used that as a spring board to further wealth by investing in property. At the same time he put himself through college, learned English and found the time to take acting lessons (some might say you'd never guess:D). However, each activity was a step towards his goal of movie stardom and riches.

Of course the Planet Hollywood Restaurants did fail and he lost a lot of money on those. However, because he had built wealth slowly and had several irons in the fire he was able to take the hit and not lose everything.

I found his life story very interesting and quite inspiring. It shows that hard work, optimism, commitment, and a few sacrifices on the way will pay off.

I think to be successful, to make money and more importantly hang on to it, takes time, effort and self belief. You need confidence in yourself and you need to keep your eyes on the prize.

I speak as someone who two years ago stared bankruptcy in the face and was at risk of losing my home. (Long story but basically our financial hardships have been caused by husband's long illness). Up until then we were "comfortable".

I've picked myself up and set to and am slowly rebuilding my finances.

I have reached the stage where I have sufficient passive income to cover my day to day needs and enough capital to relaunch myself.

I'm 62 so am fairly cautious. I have used approx 2/3 of my capital to start a property development business with my sons and kept a third back for contingency. I also have a couple of sideline hobby type businesses - antique dealing and furniture restoration which don't bring in a fortune but keep things ticking along nicely. I can keep those on the back burner or fire them up as the mood takes me.

I am of course always on the look-out for new opportunities and ways to add other income streams.:rotfl:

As a matter of interest one of my sons wants to keep up his career as a research engineer and just add his tuppence worth to the business as and when, which is fine by me. The other one wants to become a full time property developer. He is 27 and has set himself a target of giving up the day job when he is 30 so he can fully concentrate of "making it big". :rotfl:

My advice - for what it's worth - is learn as much as you can.

In addition to my studying and reading I've also had the good fortune of working for a couple of multi-millionaires. One of them had been made bankrupt 3 times before he finally got it together and became successful. I watched them in action and learned a lot from both of them.

I would also advise anyone who wants to be successful to get themselves a couple of mentors, to guide and advise. I have several - all with different areas of expertise.

Gosh - didn't mean this to be an essay. Time for a cuppa!

motorguy

Oh aye. But for every Arnie (of which there are very few) there are probably a million people who dont make it (assuming there have been at least a million immigrants into the US?) - yet probably fundamentally followed the same method.

"Wanting" to be a millionaire does not equal to "going to become" a millionaire.

Those who make it to the very top in any field - whether it be in your own business, in corporate life, in sport, etc - are very driven people.

I would also say most of those people have a drive to succeed, not a drive to be exceptionally rich. Exceptionally rich probably has come as a consequence of being exceptionally good at what they do.

Did, for example, Alan Sugar decide at 16 that he wanted to be a multi millionaire OR that he wanted to be successful at selling?

I think its actually quite a sad "aspiration" to have - to be very rich.

Apart from anything, its practically unattainable for 99.999% of people. So in reality you're setting yourself up for failure.

I would rather a young person had an aspiration to be successful at what they do and be happy.

Certainly that is what i have learned in life and its what i have tried to instill in my son.