121–128 of 128 posts
There are jobs. There are growth areas. MOVE THERE. Sure, South Dakota may not seem desirable, but survival comes first and even McDonalds there is paying hiring bonuses. Too much of society believes the prolific promises happiness and comfort without effort (and vote accordingly). Reality doesn't work that way; figure it out fast or a world of hurt will arrive.
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> Let's face it, being an entrepreneur is not for everyone. > It's a lot of work and responsibility; something the > majority of 20-somethings can't handle. It's easy to forget that software is probably the least capital intensive industry that's open to a lone entrepreneur. Think about someone wanting to start, say, a basic small bakery operation. My wife did this, and the capital costs necessary to just get started…
How about dog walking? Lawn care? Those are just unskilled examples. There are all kinds of small business that you could do without significant investment, so long as you are willing to grow the business out of your earnings.
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I assume you are aware that software is currently a booming industry, unlike most of the rest of the economy (other notable exceptions being finance and medicine).
Yes I am aware. I also noted that I am paid decently, maybe I should have made it clearer that I am paid decently for FL which is most certainly not the same in NY.
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"I was careful to say you "need a plan" for the real world when it comes to college." The problem is that we've been told all of our lives to "follow our dreams," because "being happy with what you're doing is more important than financial gain." It's a nice sentiment, but when you're 18, you've never lived in the real world and you simply cannot appreciate the trade-off you're making. This is to say nothing of stude…
> Before you can sign a lease, very often you need two months' rent and a security deposit. And why exactly do you need a whole house/apartment? Sublet. Find a room on craigslist. These options require far fewer upfront costs and are far more flexible (you tend to be able to leave with notice from a few days to a few weeks). > Maybe NYC is the exception to the rule I would say that for American cities it is. You can…
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Cutting a check is pretty difficult when you stop receiving a salary. The logic of the US system is incredible: Pay a few hundred dollars a month while employed for coverage from your employer, or if they lay you off, you have the opportunity of picking up COBRA coverage by paying both the employee and employer portion for over a thousand dollars a month. In what other first world country do the newly unemployed pay…
I was talking about private insurance, not COBRA (which is crazy expensive). This was the single largest factor keeping me from quitting the corporate world for my own business, but only due to my own ignorance. Once I looked for a high deductible catastrophic plan for my family, I discovered how easy and affordable it was. HR departments do a good job of brainwashing us into thinking that they are the gatekeepers to…
Private insurance is cheaper than group coverage for a reason. The insurance company has no intention of paying benefits for e.g. cancer patients, and they'll drag out the process in the hope that you'll just die first. Assuming you live long enough, you'll probably have to sue them to get anything out of them.
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Amen. The trait of rich people that I try to emulate (not always successfully) is that they tend to purchase assets that appreciate in value. Toys are paid for with highly disposable money and not the nest egg. The trait of poor people that I try to avoid is purchasing depreciating assets, usually on credit ensuring that you'll be poor until that lotto ticket hits big (i.e. forever).
What can a normal person buy right now that appreciates in value at any reasonable rate? Not savings accounts, not stocks (on average), not houses... Most of us don't have the money or connections to invest anything other than some time in hits-driven businesses like startups.
???
My (non-retirement) portfolio began with $1000 weeks before the 2008 crash. Despite the horrific timing, those shares are now up 6%.
Overall (with continued intermittent investments and zero attempt to time the market, though a couple times I got a little lucky), my shares in a couple mutual funds and a few individual stocks are up almost 34%.
This doesn't count dividends, which I automatically plow back in to purchasing more shares, and which have basically added ~12% to the overall value of my portfolio.
Any idiot with $1000 could start doing the same thing I did. Sign up with an online broker, and pick an S&P 500 index fund to dump some money into. If you can afford a little more, put some of it into a reputable small cap mutual fund.
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Doing what you like is a luxury. Most people need to just do what pays.
Are companies going to hire employees, then, who won't love their jobs with a burning passion? Didn't think so.
This is the trend I've seen from my friends (even before Gen Y)
Parents came from middle class, work their ass off to provide for their kids. The idea is to give their kids the opportunity to do what they love instead of having to run the rat race.
For the parents that succeed, their kids end up picking something they love, but pay absolutely crap. But they're happy right? Well, not really. So now the friends' kids are growing up in a family where money IS an issue, and they learn to work hard for things. They don't necessarily get to do what they love, but they'll work for pay. One day they'll grow up and provide for their kids so their kids can do what they love.
This ends up being a moving sine wave where each generation repeats what their grandparents did. I'm not really sure if there is a better way.
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Are companies going to hire employees, then, who won't love their jobs with a burning passion? Didn't think so.
Companies have been doing that for years. You think factory workers or fast food employees all love their jobs (without being a little brainwashed)? This is the trend I've seen from my friends (even before Gen Y) Parents came from middle class, work their ass off to provide for their kids. The idea is to give their kids the opportunity to do what they love instead of having to run the rat race. For the parents that s…
>You think factory workers or fast food employees all love their jobs (without being a little brainwashed)?
They are all trained and required to act as though they enjoy their jobs when on-the-clock, yes. In current days, they are often not hired without showing some enthusiasm for the prospects, yes.
Strangely, it gets even worse when you move into well-paying fields like software, engineering, finance, etc. "Passion" is the hiring watchword.
Kid enjoys something that pays well? You'd think it would be the best of both words, until you realize the companies are filtering for passion for the company mission, a quality not usually found in actual human workers anywhere.