haha. good post indeed! I'm the same way anytime I use a coupon...Always order above and beyond just because the coupon is helping me take the hit.
Great post! I LOVED the Millionaire Next Door. Especially the opening, where they assemble a table full of fancy food and single malt scotches, and the first little old millionaire shows up in a cheap suit and wants to know where the hell the Budweiser is. The poor people think the rich people have it easy. The rich people are saving, never thinking that they've got it made in the shade. I think it's something like weight. People who are heavy are always saying to me that I do not have to worry about what I eat. The fact is that I'm thin because I do worry about it, all the time. I watch my calories and exercise. But there is no sense in trying to enlighten them. Disclaimer--I'm admitting that I'm one of the people like those in the book. Yes, driving around in a dirty old Toyota, sitting on a 20 year old couch and buying clothes from the Lands End catalog. I think that any of my friends would be shocked to know what my bank account looks like. Once again, no need to enlighten them! And yes, when the pizza guy comes to the door I do have a coupon (and a very nice tip) all ready.
I know plenty of frugal, successful traders. I like to think that I'm one of them...most of the time anyway. The Millionaire Next Door is a great read BTW. I read it in college. I still flip through it every now and again.
This is very true. One of the people that invests with me is a millionaire and every time I meet with him he looks like he just got off work on an assembly line. He also has an older truck that has a dented fender and he refuses to fix it because he says, "It still drives fine and plus it reminds me to be more careful". His wife hates it. lol I hope he doesn't ever read these forums, if so, he should know that I think it is fine and adds character to him.
They are really dumb? Interesting that you think that people from the ghetto would have money to even purchase internet services. It's pretty dumb that you can't spell hardly properly. They're used to bitching about everything? Which one of the 3 things that you feel like saying to them would NOT be considered bitching? You feel guilty using a coupon to get something for free so you spend money? Makes no sense to me at all. Do you buy a drink on SouthWest Airlines when you turn in a free drink ticket because you feel guilty? Even though I can understand where you are trying to go with your post and I agree with your underlying reasoning (I don't feel it was articulated very well at all), I disagree wholeheartedly with your blanket generalizations of the reasoning abilities of the different economic classes. I find what you said very condescending and closed-minded -- especially for a pizza delivery man or a caddy. The idea that any type of class of people all act the same way is just flat out incredibly, emphatically wrong! Judging from your present career situation, I'm guessing that you didn't come from one of the best economic upbringings as a child. It seems like you should understand that the socio-economic factors that cause people to be in dire financial circumstances are, in many cases, beyond their control. Some of these school kids cannot even take their school books home because the school won't allow them to do it! I've watched parents check their kids math homework (they're making an effort to help at least) and they have no idea what they're doing! I'm not letting people off of the hook here and saying that people aren't responsible for their results, but a little understanding goes a long way. I've had to accept this, especially after mentoring a few young children from "the ghetto", as you call it. I'm an Ralph Waldo Emerson, self-reliant, bootstrapper, that believes if you commit yourself to something you can do anything. At the same time, I realize that I was brought up by parents that hammered that home to me my entire life and that made it a second nature of thinking for me. My parents are from that "ghetto" that you speak of. They made great successes of themselves. They are the outlier. They had parents that worked hard everyday and hammered that home to them and they passed it on to me -- again, they are the outlier. Many of these people were raised in situations where they don't have two parents that try to engender the principles of hard work, goal-setting and the importance of education. Many times they don't have two parents at all, and the one they do have doesn't set a very good example anyway! All I'm saying is that during my life I've had to deal with obstacles. We all have had obstacles in life -- especially in becoming a profitable trader (7 months of obstacles for me)! But the obstacles I had as a kid pale...PALE in comparison to what some of the people in lower income brackets were forced to face, and in some cases overcome. Be grateful that you are blessed with the opportunity to see both sides of the tracks and that you can learn from each of them accordingly.
I think a good book is the richest man in Babylon. It is simple enough to start young teenagers and fairly unsophisticated people on.
While you can never make blanket generalizations to anything, as there is always an exception to the rule, there is a difference between a 'poor' and 'rich' mindset. Those of us who succumb to our animal desires, live impulsively and without consideration, go nowhere. That's philosophy 101, folks. To control our emotions and use reason to make rational decisions based upon likely outcomes is a mindset that promotes success. It does not guarantee it, but does promote it. Few comments: #1. Agree with above poster regarding choosing a high earning profession for which they can bank it for 5-10 years to assure their wealth and future success. Thereafter, whatever happens, fine. You can reinvent yourself if you need to. If its status quo and good going for 30 years, you can chuckle over it to yourself after your 2nd bottle of '89 Haut Brion. #2. To the poster offended by the 'ghetto thinking' - your parents didn't stay there, correct? And you're not likely to return there. And your high earning ivy league educated children won't want to have anything to do with the ghetto, except to improve it through philanthrophy. #3. Millionaire next door is a good book to read - basically its easy - get educated, choose a good profession, spend way less than you earn, live in a good area to profit from real estate appreciation, and don't get divorced or marry a spender. 2 second executive summary. My wife's family comes from modest means. She's reasonably frugal like me, so its a good match. One of the nieces the other day wanted to try to win one of the cheapie stuffed animals in one of the 'crane' type amusement games. 50c a try, after two tries no prize. She turned to me and asked me for more money to try and I gave her a big lecture about how if she kept putting money into that machine she would never be rich. Killjoy, I'm sure, but it starts with small change.
I know several successful private professional traders/ speculators that are as tight as fishes ar--holes! They have busted out in the past and don't intend ending up there again. So some do exist! Regards Johno
Isn't all this just about the moral hazard side-effect of providing social safety nets? If you know that you will always get bailed out when/if you run out of resources in the future, why deny yourself creature comforts and not consume in the present.