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Tuesday, July 8, 2014

How Did I Retire or Start Second Career at 57?

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

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