noble intent. I'm hoping to use my wealth to fund inner city catholic schools k-12. Staff them with the best teachers, make them green, integrate urban farming with them, catholic worker houses etc. Probably a little pie in the sky i'd say but something i've been planning for quite a while.
I'm going to help Children all over the world. The money is not going to filter through any government or parents hands, it's straight to the kids in the form of Biblical education, psychological and spiritual counseling, clothing and nutrition... I worked in a church food giveaway program. What I learned is that 9 of 10 that were getting free food, well, getting freebies was their whole way of life.. so I learned not to give to adults that much, and not to let them step in front of the aid that the kids need...
Simple formula: Once you are making a lot of money, take your after tax profits and divide it into thirds. Live on one third, save one third, and give away one third. You will live well and sleep soundly.
You plan your legitimate tax avoidance at every stage. I do not mean evasion or forms of evasion. I mean legal tax avoidance for your trading arrangements. I will pay taxes where of course they are indirect: sales tax and various federal and state levies of which there are many. But I want to pay little or no income or corporation tax. I arranged my financial affairs very carefully and very seriously to achieve exactly that result.
Spent 20 years in Detroit metro area. Know 8 Mile and know 6 and Woodward. Unfortunate to what's become of Detroit today given the demise of the auto industry. To those who want to help kids --- I've not yet reached the point of having excess $$$$. But I can tell you that working with the kids in an inner city area, can be as rewarding as giving a lot of $$$ to a school. The look of the kids as they "get it" (math or whatever) is "priceless". I've volunteered the past 9 years (trading full time 14 years) at schools and the gratification I've received from working the disadvantaged is not something dollars can measure.
Not to pull it back to selfish thoughts, but... Ok, regarding charity...I'd give. I've made a deal with God. I'd like to start a foundation that would help the poor with a temporary place to live to get a footing. That being said, i think I've found something (T.A.) that works and backtests well last week. It made me start day dreaming about what things will be like if it does work. In my mind, what I really have trouble with is my car club. I'm in a local car club, and we restore VWs. Yeah, old VWs. I'm a car nut, but I can see that if I had some serious coin, and I started buying the cars I'd like to have (rarer VWs, old Porsches), I think I'd lose my friends out of jealousy issues. But there isn't really a feasible way to "hide" that kind of success. My dream is a big garage filled with cool cars I can tinker with...not (necessarily) a big house and definitely not an airplane, jet, or a big boat (though a little sailboat and some first class airline tickets overseas would be kind of cool)...I have pedestrian tastes. So how did it work for you people who have hobbies? When you began plowing cash into your hobbies, did that cause problems from other hobbiests? SM
reading this just made my sunday glad to know that behind all the aim to profit in trading, traders also do think of others specially those who are in need.
especially if there is almost no limit to your scalability- i've done quite well and it hasn't really effected my real life too much as i leave all of my money in my bankroll for trading. i figure i'll count it as mine when i finally take it all out, until then i risk it day in and day out- so better not to count your sheep too early
Today's wealthy is not like yesterday's wealthy. In the 80s and 90s, the market had much larger swings. From 1980 to 2000, 20 years, the market went from 100 to 1500. Anyone who put money in the market through any investment vehicle was rewarded. Some folks who worked for names like Southwest, AIG and Walmart became wealthy just from investing in the company's employee stock program. In the early 90s, employment was in higher demand and salaries generous. A college graduate going up to the Bay Area could easily fetch a salary of 75k or more. Everything was much cheaper back then like houses, cars, food and energy. However, throughout the 00s, salaries have degenerated and expenses have gone wildly higher. During the 90s, everyone desired a six figure salary and a lot of them eventually got there. Employers eventually gave them what they wanted along with generous benefits packages. Every job I knew of had a year-end bonus. Everyone went home getting paid. I can see where some might find it hard to imagine large amounts of money today seeing that low salaries and high expenses is the new normal. However, yes, there was a time when someone was able to make tens of thousands in a few days jumping on an uptrending tech stock using less then 100k. There was a time when someone did not have to use a million dollars to make 5000 dollars. There was a time where a college graduate walked off the street of an employer and got a job for 75k while a decent house cost only 200k. Sadly those times are gone...I can imagine if someone got a large amount of cash today then they would not spend it. The new generation of people knows what its like to do without. The generation of the 90s spent where as today's generation hoards. The new generation does not measure a job in terms of salary, but in terms of happyness. They know most jobs wont give them what they want so they look for other reasons to be employed. Even though housing has come down some, its still at much higher levels then in 2000 and salaries seem to have further degenerated from year 2000. I wonder if and when the days of easy money will be back...maybe not in my lifetime.