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Rethinking 'Fuck You' money

tonywright.com

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Re: Rethinking 'Fuck You' money

#81

Post by istari »

hugh3 wrote: post #63
istari wrote: post #60

People who think 6-10% returns are unrealistic are sheep, and know nothing about real estate. A friend of mine, a complete novice, was able to buy a multifamily unit in downtown San Jose for 500K and rent it out for 5000 a month. His down payment is 100K. His expenses(400K mortgage, insurance, taxes, etc) is 2500 a month. His rate of return is (5000-2500)x12/100K = 30% or so. He did this while violating the #1 rule o…

So because your friend managed to get a crazy-good deal on one property, everyone else is sheep? Arbitrage opportunities do exist in the current market due to the current craziness, but the present foreclosure pace can't last forever. I don't know how long "70% of MLS" has been "the #1 rule of real estate investing", but how easy was it to snap up properties for those prices in 2005?

My point isn't that my friend got a crazy good deal. My point is that arbitraging 12% rental income against a 5% mortgage rate is so easy right now you can do it by buying right off the MLS at market rates, in one of the most expensive(price to rent wise) cities in the US.

The original poster was moaning about how hard it was in TODAY's environment to make money off of several million dollars in cash(!). I wanted to provide a counterpoint to that attitude.

Re: Rethinking 'Fuck You' money

#82

Post by jacquesm »

startuprules wrote: post #79
jacquesm wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I get sick & tired of all this doom talk about a worldwide depression. It's depressing. If you play it smart then this 'depression' is an opportunity in disguise, more of a correction than a true depression. The 1929 stock market crash set the stage for World War II, and it took until well after World War II before the world had finally recovered from it. That was a depression. The current situation is, compared to t…

"all this doom talk about a worldwide depression." Pretty sure I'm one of the only few posters here that would say the words 'great depression'. and 'voldemort'. "It's depressing" I know it is. But we as a population have to realize we are in a depression, not just a run of the mill recession like the mass media would have you believe, so we can react accordingly and not doom our future offsprings to even greater suf…

It's not as if the normal conditions are 0% unemployment.

Also, society as a whole is so much richer now than it was in the last 'great depression' that even those that are down on their luck have it comparatively easy compared with 80 years ago. It's a world of a difference.

That doesn't mean there aren't individuals that are on really hard times, but there are only more of them, it's not like the phenomenon is unique to 2010.

Re: Rethinking 'Fuck You' money

#83

Post by vaksel »

lsc wrote: post #69
vaksel wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

because a lot of these niche $100K/yr products...hit the ceiling at 150-200K. So you have no security like you do when you have 5-6 million in the bank. Anything can happen...Google might slap your adwords account, someone might release a competing product etc. And starting a lifestyle business with FU money, means that you can tough it out as it grows from 1 sale every other day, to 1-2-3-4-5-6 sales a day.

If you can build a $100K/year product, why not do that, and then use that money as your runway while you build your five million dollar product? building a company is /much/ easier if you don't have to worry about where rent is coming from three months from now.

because at that point it's very easy to get complacent...and building up to $100K for a niche business still takes time and money.

Re: Rethinking 'Fuck You' money

#84

Post by vaksel »

apphacker wrote: post #25
Super_Jambo wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you are not fucking terrified at the moment you're not paying attention.

There's nothing to be terrified of. Just live your life and do your best. If you're going to live your entire life with fear about retirement or debt, then by the time you reach retirement age you'll have lived most of your life in fear. Which is worse? Working during retirement age or living the vast majority of your life in fear? If things get really really bad you can always put a hole in your head or jump off a b…

yeah live your life at the fullest,,,everything eventually works out.

And if worse case scenario it doesn't...and you are broke at 55-60....go rob a bank. If you succeed you get some cash...if you fail you get free room, food and health care.

Re: Rethinking 'Fuck You' money

#85

Post by jacquesm »

Super_Jambo wrote: post #6
troygoode wrote: post #2

The first 3/4 of this article is fucking terrifying .

If you are not fucking terrified at the moment you're not paying attention.

Terrified of what? The bogeyman? Everybody reading this still has internet access, which is not exactly one of the prime requirements for living.

You've got very little to be terrified of, other than your lack of self confidence in your ability to make the best of a mediocre situation.

Re: Rethinking 'Fuck You' money

#86

Post by Eliezer »

nostrademons wrote: post #55
pg wrote: post #41

Does the rule that you should get out of the stock market when random people tell you stocks are sure to go up apply in reverse? If so, this is a pretty encouraging sign.

Top money manager at major Wall Street firm != random people. It doesn't necessarily mean stocks are about to go down either (Wall Street has certainly been wrong too, eg. 2000 or 2007), but it's a far cry from having a shoe-shine boy tell you to buy stocks.

No, I think "top money manager at a major Wall Street firm" and otherwise unattributed actually is random people.

Re: Rethinking 'Fuck You' money

#87

Post by die_sekte »

megablast wrote: post #74
mixmax wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm from Copenhagen, a rather expensive city, so maybe I'm biased.

I have found Germany to be one of the most expensive places in Europe, certainly much more expensive than the US. It seems the further south you head, and the further east you head, Europe gets cheaper, with a few exceptions. Curious to know what is cheaper in Berlin compared with Copenhagen, I am surprised there is much difference. Did not find much difference in Denmark when I passed through, and spent quite a bit…

The Nordic countries are quite a bit more expensive than Germany (and have worse bread). Which stems from the slightly lower VAT in Germany, less regulations and taxes on the sale of alcoholic beverages and the fact that Germany has Aldi, Lidl, Penny, Plus, Netto, etc. (all of them competing discount stores).

Re: Rethinking 'Fuck You' money

#88

Post by betterlabs »

I know of a couple of entrepreneurs who made a good few mil by selling their startup and were looking to start a business as a lifestyle cashflow only business. When I asked him why, he said they did not want to dip into their savings for daily expenses and wanted to have a business that was sure to make them just enough money without way too much effort. I think this is not a bad strategy unless you just don't want to work, which I think is rare.

In terms of growth, I think its wiser to invest in BRIC where the core domestic markets are getting stronger and the stock market returns are a lot better, though choppy. Also if you diversify into real estate (recurring income), CDs (monthly income), and such other opportunities, then you can strike a balance for yourself.

Influence is VERY tough though. I wouldn't count on it as an indefinite opportunity to earn money when needed, assuming you are able to cut through the noise and build credibility (which itself may be tougher than having a decent exit. Plus it is not for everyone). New influencers constantly displace current influencers and it would take a lot more work to maintain it unless you founded Google or something.

Re: Rethinking 'Fuck You' money

#89

Post by Eliezer »

istari wrote: post #81
hugh3 wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So because your friend managed to get a crazy-good deal on one property, everyone else is sheep? Arbitrage opportunities do exist in the current market due to the current craziness, but the present foreclosure pace can't last forever. I don't know how long "70% of MLS" has been "the #1 rule of real estate investing", but how easy was it to snap up properties for those prices in 2005?

My point isn't that my friend got a crazy good deal. My point is that arbitraging 12% rental income against a 5% mortgage rate is so easy right now you can do it by buying right off the MLS at market rates, in one of the most expensive(price to rent wise) cities in the US. The original poster was moaning about how hard it was in TODAY's environment to make money off of several million dollars in cash(!). I wanted to…

If what you say is true, why is all this free money still lying around? Is there some systematic reason for why hedge funds don't do it, or why too few people bid on courthouse auctions?

Re: Rethinking 'Fuck You' money

#90

Post by jbooth »

jacquesm wrote: post #82
startuprules wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"all this doom talk about a worldwide depression." Pretty sure I'm one of the only few posters here that would say the words 'great depression'. and 'voldemort'. "It's depressing" I know it is. But we as a population have to realize we are in a depression, not just a run of the mill recession like the mass media would have you believe, so we can react accordingly and not doom our future offsprings to even greater suf…

It's not as if the normal conditions are 0% unemployment. Also, society as a whole is so much richer now than it was in the last 'great depression' that even those that are down on their luck have it comparatively easy compared with 80 years ago. It's a world of a difference. That doesn't mean there aren't individuals that are on really hard times, but there are only more of them, it's not like the phenomenon is uniq…

No, it's not, but the current situation smacks of systemic job loss rather than cyclical job loss. It's a problem. What happens when people absolutely can't find new jobs? Self-feeding demand destruction?
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