I recently saw an interesting article on a blog asking the question: "How did you become a millionaire?". Lots of people wrote in with their stories, many of which were interesting, some a little too interesting. My post was more about how I got to the point where I could consider a second career:
- Got a good practical degree in Engineering
- Started saving 10% of income in my mid-20's
- Saved 80% of my bonuses from employers, spent the other 20%
- Took advantage of employers' retirement plans (401K, pension..)
- Saved in tax advantaged accounts whenever possible
- Bought affordable houses and paid off mortgages quickly
- Bought affordable cars (this does not mean crappy cars, just affordable based on my income)
- Never had a credit card balance
- Always had a family budget that we followed
- Bought index funds for investments through Vanguard.com, kept a diversified stock and bond portfolio
- Had some luck
- Retired at 57 and pursuing second career
Some of the more interesting answers:
- blackjack
- took half of my savings and invested it in low risk mutual funds and then took the other half over to my friend Asadulah who works in securities
- money laundering and arms dealing
- My uncle was a drug dealer for over 20+ years and he just got caught 2 years ago
- I sent a check for 5k to this nigerian prince I met online
- embezzled $1M from my company
- Started out as a stripper a long time ago
- Sold tin foil hats at the delzy family reunion
- Started making prepacked food (2 items) at home (an apartment) for a niche community. Made some profits and bought a store to make food there and to make everything legal about 2 years later. About 1 year after that, introduced a third item, which made big profits. Bought a $600,000 in cash 3 years after that.
- Crown Vic salesman
- Publishers Clearing House
- I met Howard Hughes back in the 70's at a 7-11 when he was buying some beef jerky
No comments:
Post a Comment
Comments are not moderated prior to posting. Mark