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The Company Men

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Tyler Durden

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Spoilers alert if you haven't seen the movie.

-------------------------

Ben Affleck plays Bobby Walker, a white collar employee on a 6 figure salary, with a nice house, a couple of cars (including a porsche), a wife and two kids, who loses his job when his company downsizes in the middle of a recession. Another, older employee "pushing 60" is also later made redundant.

The movie tracks their lives after leaving the company, showing their financial struggles, and in particular, their inability to make their mortgage payments.

Maybe it's just me, but when I see people driving nice cars on 6 figure salaries, I would have assumed that they had enough IQ to put away significant sums for a rainy day and had the smarts to make some passive income on the side (ie. from shares). Or are they perhaps just like any other "ordinary" people who generally live day to day, because their expenditure, relatively speaking, is the same percentage as people who make less money?

Just wanted to know what others thought
 

So is the movie any good?

Never ever assume that rich people are smart, and i think there is a difference when they come from money and come into money, however most rich people ive met got rich by accident, brought a house in (any Aussie capital) back in the 60's and 70's and then brought at least 1 investment property in the 70's or 80's ~ couple that with no divorce and conservative living and bingo your rich in the late 00's and beyond.

Funny thing is most of them don't even realise there rich..they just lived there lives, didn't win the lotto.
 

I thought exactly the same thing when I saw this movie. At one point I think he states he made 120k plus bonuses at his old job. I fail to see how 120 puts a porsche in the driveway of the house he went home to. Unless he is like everyone else as you say and is upto his eye balls in debt and has been since he was 20, he also probably bought a house before prices increased astronomically. And then there's the fact that it's a movie, and is probably in no way accurate apart from the fact that there was a downturn?
 
young-gun said:
At one point I think he states he made 120k plus bonuses at his old job. I fail to see how 120 puts a porsche in the driveway of the house he went home to.
Click to expand...

Exactly...I've been a salary man all my life...worked my way up the hard way...hard work, no brown nosing, honest candor and good ole common sense with a strong belief in surrounding yourself with talent. Had the 6 figure plus bonus salaries and only ever had a company car while doing so!

CanOz
 

I've often wondered about this myself and I've come to the conclusion that they must just simply get seduced by the lifestyle that goes along wth the big salary. If everyone else is buying a bigger house and a faster car than they're going to have those things too at the expense of savings and investments. It's a bit ike those people that win millions in Tattslotto and then a few years later they've spent it all.
 

Cars are cheap in America, actually cars are cheap everywhere except Australia. A 911 starts at about $80k in the US.

I have a cousin who started a company and is doing pretty well (he has two private jets) but has put away barely anything. The worst thing is that he has essentially one customer. I'm sure it will eventually bite him in the backside. He's not that smart he's just a very good salesman.
 

Yikes!

These things are very expensive to run. My previous company had two and i recall when i worked in payables how much they cost to run!

Many companies are leasing time on jets now to save the cost of running them.

I laugh here, as you see many locals buying expensive cars but they don't like the cost of maintaining them... parts and service for the Bentley's, Porches, BMWs, and Maserati's are bloody expensive too so they just don't maintain them! Here the tax is almost 100% of the cost as well. All for a little more face.

CanOz
 

They're both leased. He got the first one then decided that he could rent that one out and use the proceeds to get a bigger one. He has a whirly bird too. All leased.
 
McLovin said:
Cars are cheap in America, actually cars are cheap everywhere except Australia. A 911 starts at about $80k in the US.
Click to expand...

$80K for a car is not cheap by my standards, the most I'v ever spent on a car is $7K and I still have that car ten years later. Yes, I am living the high life
 
Miss Hale said:
$80K for a car is not cheap by my standards, the most I'v ever spent on a car is $7K and I still have that car ten years later. Yes, I am living the high life
Click to expand...

To me, if your doing it all debt free, then IT IS the high life. The peace of mind that comes from owning everything, and owing nothing is priceless IMO.

CanOz
 
CanOz said:
To me, if your doing it all debt free, then IT IS the high life. The peace of mind that comes from owning everything, and owing nothing is priceless IMO.

CanOz
Click to expand...

Very true. I am pretty allergic to debt, gives me a bad feeling inside, so no car loans for me.
 
Not a bad movie, margin call is another good one.

I like it when they sack the whole bunch of people and keep on a handful of employee

those guys we just let go they are good, very good at what they do but you are better
 
ROE said:
Not a bad movie, margin call is another good one.

I like it when they sack the whole bunch of people and keep on a handful of employee

those guys we just let go they are good, very good at what they do but you are better
Click to expand...

Yes I have seen that as well, I was going to make a thread about it but forgot my questions!
I will need to go through it again.
 
Miss Hale said:
Very true. I am pretty allergic to debt, gives me a bad feeling inside, so no car loans for me.
Click to expand...
My kind of chick,LOL.
Just joking, but for a large portion of my life, while I was investing everything and we were doing without. Everyone including my better half was saying I had lost the plot.
Now everyone is saying it's ok or you, you have money. WTF
In my opinion you can do without and save early, or you can have a party when your young and worry about it later. You can't do both, unless you are blessed and become a CEO
 

Well said mate, and i really wish i had done this from the get go, as i really believe life begins at 40! Good on ya for sticking to your guns. You and your family can now reap the rewards.

CanOz
 
CanOz said:
Well said mate, and i really wish i had done this from the get go, as i really believe life begins at 40! Good on ya for sticking to your guns. You and your family can now reap the rewards.

CanOz
Click to expand...

Yes it has worked out well, but it takes a lot of self discipline and belief, everyone around you is critical. But now it is all good, the other half says we made the right choices and the kids say it was easier for you.LOL

I guess I was fortunate enough to grow up in a family that had nothing and decided that wasn't for me.
 
If there's one thing I've learned thus far in life is that whatever circumstances exist at present, they WILL change.

That goes for just about everything. Cars, businesses, technology, fashion, relationships. The vast majority will disappear, usually when you are least expecting / wanting it to happen. That applies to everything from airlines to music festivals to big factories to nightclubs to government departments. Sooner or later it either radically transforms or disappears altogether. For every one that survives there are dozens more that don't.

Sometimes the change is foreseeable but often it isn't. Few would have expected 30 years ago that in 2012 Newcastle would not have a steel works and Burnie would not have the Pulp. Even fewer would have foreseen the demise of Ansett or the privatisation of everything from Telecom (now Telstra) to what used to be known as the CES.

If you're earning big $ now as an employee then it's wise to realise that it WILL end, the only questions being when and under what circumstances.
 
sptrawler said:
In my opinion you can do without and save early, or you can have a party when your young and worry about it later. You can't do both, unless you are blessed and become a CEO
Click to expand...
I'm not sure about this. I expect some youngsters from a wealthy family can party hard and still inherit millions.
But my experience has been as yours, i.e. that much sacrifice and doing it hard while saving was what has made early retirement possible.
For some people, though, this will be the wrong choice. I've seen many people who have denied themselves in their early life, with the target of a comfortable retirement, become ill and die early.

Probably there's some sort of reasonable balance between the two extremes.
 
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