Attaining Wealth

[tech/a]

I suppose it is a bit of the fear to take action and wear the failure than has held me back over the years.

My goals are pretty tame though. I just want a comfortable life. Now that I'm debt free I can live on 1K a month relatively easily for the day to day expenses, and that still lets me head out for the odd meal or movie etc.

The only large expense I have is travel, and that's the comfortable part i want to have from a passive income.

hats off to those who see the opportunity and grab it. I've had a few chances in the past but hesitated and missed out.

I'm not too worried about it, though now work has a call centre in Manila doing some of the residential work I might have a bit of an incentive to look harder for those opportunities and make use of them in the future.

I think yours is more the "norm" for just about everyone working in the western world.
I also believe that its is more achievable here than most anywhere else on the planet.

 

[See Change]

I think fear of what can go wrong is the biggest thing that holds people back , not only in achieving " wealth " but also in many aspects of life .

My father is a example . Highly intelligent , was CEO of two major companies before going in to academia later in life ( they wanted someone with real world experience ...) and retiring as an Emeritus Professor at one of the Leading Uni's Numerous times he thought of going into business for himself , but there was always a reason why not to go it . He has always been cautious and partly because he is well aware of what can go wrong , he worried about that .

Still does .

I'm contemplating moving work at the moment , and our conversation yesterday was all about the negative aspects of what could go wrong.

Cliff

 

[Gringotts Bank]

There's also fate. By this I mean the sort of life you were born into. You didn't choose it... or did you? If you did, why did you?

If you were born a negro in the southern states of the US in the early part of last century, then forget it! None of the above applies! Not all obstacles can be overcome, you know.

So who chooses if you're born into the Rockerfeller family or the Nappyhead clan? Nature... or Life, let's call it Life. Who chooses if you're born an eskimo or a Parisian? Life. What about your body, your looks, your temperament, your health, your entire genetic makeup? Maybe you'd like to claim that you made those choices yourself, but I don't think so! Life does its own thing, and this whole idea of personal control and free will and "you can do it!" gets a bit overdone I think. If you can do it, great... go big. If you can't, don't be too fussed. Life has probably already decided the day that you're gonna die, and it hasn't even had the common courtesy to tell you!

 

[tech/a]

There's also fate. By this I mean the sort of life you were born into. You didn't choose it... or did you? If you did, why did you?

If you were born a negro in the southern states of the US in the early part of last century, then forget it! None of the above applies! Not all obstacles can be overcome, you know.

So who chooses if you're born into the Rockerfeller family or the Nappyhead clan? Nature... or Life, let's call it Life. Who chooses if you're born an eskimo or a Parisian? Life. Maybe you'd like to claim that you made those choices yourself, but I don't think so! Life does its own thing, and this whole idea of personal control and free will and "you can do it!" gets a bit overdone I think. If you can do it, great... go big. If you can't, don't be too fussed. Life has probably already decided the day that you're gonna die, and it hasn't even had the common courtesy to tell you!

GB

We are here and we are now.
We know where we are and we know our CURRENT position in our life.
Now that that is a given
We all have the very same opportunity as everyone else.
Many have come from nothing and ended with everything.
Many have had everything and ended with nothing.

If you have the will
YOU WILL FIND A WAY.

 

[Gringotts Bank]

GB

We are here and we are now.
We know where we are and we know our CURRENT position in our life.
Now that that is a given
We all have the very same opportunity as everyone else.
Many have come from nothing and ended with everything.
Many have had everything and ended with nothing.

If you have the will
YOU WILL FIND A WAY.

I don't mean to sound too fatalistic, because that can lead to lassitude. It's good to utilize whatever talents one has, but such things are not equally distributed across the population. I was born into a pretty comfortable life, so I'm not complaining.

 

[prawn_86]

GB

We are here and we are now.
We know where we are and we know our CURRENT position in our life.
Now that that is a given
We all have the very same opportunity as everyone else.
Many have come from nothing and ended with everything.
Many have had everything and ended with nothing.

If you have the will
YOU WILL FIND A WAY.

I don't agree with this in red (Neither does Bill Gates). Where you are born is pretty much the biggest influencing factor on your ability to 'succeed' and the level of comfort you can achieve.

If you are born in a 3rd World country, no matter how smart you have the potential to be the odds are stacked against you. If you need to spend hours a day just walking to get food/water then the best you can hope for is a lot less than the best someone born in a Western country can

 

[galumay]

You guys are correct, obviously we dont all have the same opportunity.

One point i think the duck quacks correctly on, there are few places in the world with better opportunities than this country.

 

[McLovin]

I don't agree with this in red (Neither does Bill Gates). Where you are born is pretty much the biggest influencing factor on your ability to 'succeed' and the level of comfort you can achieve.

If you are born in a 3rd World country, no matter how smart you have the potential to be the odds are stacked against you. If you need to spend hours a day just walking to get food/water then the best you can hope for is a lot less than the best someone born in a Western country can

+1

Even being born in a country like Australia not everyone will have the same opportunities.

 

[See Change]

While fate does come into it , personally I've found the harder I work , the luckier I get . Some of that work is spending time on the internet seeing what every one else thinks about what is happening , or is going to happen

I don't classify us as wealthy, though in middle class standards , we are well off .

Cliff

 

[tech/a]

GB

We are here and we are now.
We know where we are and we know our CURRENT position in our life.
Now that that is a given
We all have the very same opportunity as everyone else.
Many have come from nothing and ended with everything.
Many have had everything and ended with nothing.

If you have the will
YOU WILL FIND A WAY.

I don't agree with this in red (Neither does Bill Gates). Where you are born is pretty much the biggest influencing factor on your ability to 'succeed' and the level of comfort you can achieve.

If you are born in a 3rd World country, no matter how smart you have the potential to be the odds are stacked against you. If you need to spend hours a day just walking to get food/water then the best you can hope for is a lot less than the best someone born in a Western country can

The Blue was directed at US--- those on this site---NOT the whole world!

I would argue that pretty well all of those reading the posts were born NAKED and PENNILESS and UN EDUCATED
regardless of parental wealth.
So If your in a country other than a Third world country then---- if you have the will
you'll find a way.

I strongly disagree Mc Lovin

If you don't take up the opportunities that ABOUND in a country like Australia
Then you only have yourself to blame!
I've seen guys with no arms and legs thrive
In a Third World country they certainly wouldn't!

 

[Julia]

I don't agree with this in red (Neither does Bill Gates). Where you are born is pretty much the biggest influencing factor on your ability to 'succeed' and the level of comfort you can achieve.

If you are born in a 3rd World country, no matter how smart you have the potential to be the odds are stacked against you. If you need to spend hours a day just walking to get food/water then the best you can hope for is a lot less than the best someone born in a Western country can

The Blue was directed at US--- those on this site---NOT the whole world!

I would argue that pretty well all of those reading the posts were born NAKED and PENNILESS and UN EDUCATED
regardless of parental wealth.
So If your in a country other than a Third world country then---- if you have the will
you'll find a way.

I strongly disagree Mc Lovin

If you don't take up the opportunities that ABOUND in a country like Australia
Then you only have yourself to blame!
I've seen guys with no arms and legs thrive
In a Third World country they certainly wouldn't!

I don't think the qualifiers are just the country in which you were born. You can be born in Australia and still be inherently disadvantaged via your genes, the behaviour that was modelled to you as a child, etc.

Also, as GB has suggested, not everyone aspires to incredible wealth. There are plenty of pretty happy people out there living what to most of us might seem like dull and boring lives, earning not much.

Much of our life outcomes go back to the level of inherent desire or drive.

 

[McLovin]

I don't think the qualifiers are just the country in which you were born. You can be born in Australia and still be inherently disadvantaged via your genes, the behaviour that was modelled to you as a child, etc.

Yes, that is my point. And on the flipside, you be advantaged by those factors too. There was a Four Corners episode last year, I think, that showed the inter-generational poverty in south-west Sydney. It's pretty heartbreaking to see kids at 12 who have basically had it drummed into them that they will never amount to anything in life and are already skipping school for days at a time.

NB: I'm not saying that poverty creates a lack of drive but that in that instance a lack of drive was surely a causal factor in the poverty.

 

[ROE]

Yes, that is my point. And on the flipside, you be advantaged by those factors too. There was a Four Corners episode last year, I think, that showed the inter-generational poverty in south-west Sydney. It's pretty heartbreaking to see kids at 12 who have basically had it drummed into them that they will never amount to anything in life and are already skipping school for days at a time.

NB: I'm not saying that poverty creates a lack of drive but that in that instance a lack of drive was surely a causal factor in the poverty.

You can see the one that break out of these cycles are the one that take the initiative to break away from this environment... Environment is one of the biggest factor influence a child....parents of these kids need to take the imitative to move away from these places...

Who keeps company with the wolf will learn to howl
Those who sleep with dogs will rise with fleas ...

 

[tech/a]

I don't think the qualifiers are just the country in which you were born. You can be born in Australia and still be inherently disadvantaged via your genes, the behaviour that was modelled to you as a child, etc.

Also, as GB has suggested, not everyone aspires to incredible wealth. There are plenty of pretty happy people out there living what to most of us might seem like dull and boring lives, earning not much.

Much of our life outcomes go back to the level of inherent desire or drive.

Julia

I've not mentioned or expected my comments to be taken as
we have equal opportunity to have incredible wealth.

My point is and was that we are lucky in where we live and opportunities big and small abound
If we don't take them then we are to blame.

 

[McLovin]

My point is and was that we are lucky in where we live and opportunities big and small abound
If we don't take them then we are to blame.

tech

Without going around in circles, I strongly disagree that it's that simple. If you've come from a stable home life, with a good education and a decent work ethic then it's a lot easier than coming from a broken, abusive home where everyone you grow up around doesn't or has never worked. A child who grows up in that environment faces far more difficulties than someone who grows up in a leafy suburban middle class family. A warm bed, loving family and full stomach go along way.

That's not say it can't be done, but it's like saying the guy who starts with $10,000 can become a millionaire as easily as the guy who starts with $500k.

 

[tech/a]

OK
We won't go in circles but perhaps give different views.

(1) Many with the hard start you point out use it as a catalyst to better themselves rather than a hinderance.
(2) unless your born with a sliver spoon ---- the guy with $500k was once the guy with $10k.

Look I see your points
But no matter how big or how often opportunity presents itself

If there is no will then there will be NO WAY.

 

[doctorj]

OK
We won't go in circles but perhaps give different views.

(1) Many with the hard start you point out use it as a catalyst to better themselves rather than a hinderance.
(2) unless your born with a sliver spoon ---- the guy with $500k was once the guy with $10k.

Look I see your points
But no matter how big or how often opportunity presents itself

If there is no will then there will be NO WAY.

Interesting thoughts. The way I look at is that achieving exceptional wealth is a statistical outlier. The odds of everything working out and building hundreds of millions or even billions of wealth are incredibly small. You’d have to be way out in the tail somewhere. Therefore with odds that low, even if starting with half as much makes it twice as hard, whether you have a 0.0001% chance or a 0.0002% chance doesn’t make a lot of difference…

 

[MrBurns]

Wealth comes to those who are willing to put it all on the line, bankruptcy comes from that as well.

Some get rich from being purely reckless like gambling, they usually lose it all eventually, others are bold but with a plan well thought through.

Everyone's different and will attain wealth by different methods, thinking big is a common denominator.

 

[Gringotts Bank]

The way I look at is that achieving exceptional wealth is a statistical outlier.

Same here, but I don't think luck or random chance has any part in it.

There's an extremely high chance that if you grew up with people who have a certain level of wealth and lifestyle, that you will tend towards that very same level of wealth and lifestyle. It's not all about one's parents however. Childhood peer group plays a huge part also. One or the other will predict your trajectory with a very high degree of accuracy. And as you say, occasionally an outlier occurs, maybe through chance and sometimes through sheer bloody-minded effort.

Regarding the OPs comments on fear, I agree. But fear (or lack of it) is determined through early childhood experiences modeled through the parents and also through genetics! ...so once again a lot of this stuff is set early in life. Those who do manage to break free of their early learning are to be applauded. The odds of this are very much stacked against you, however.

 

[McLovin]

If there is no will then there will be NO WAY.

On that I agree.