Unfortunately for most people saving is hard enough, let alone trying to create wealth that gives you the walk away money you need.
In order to get the walk away money, you need to do something along the lines of:
1) starting your own profitable business
2) Seek out large liquidity events
There are other approaches. And don't do the stock market thing or playing forex. Unless you know what you are doing, even those who know what they are doing, still get their asses handed to them. I am cool with stable companies and dividend stocks, I have some in my portfolio that I have had for years and the yields are great compared to the original purchase price. Looks into DRIPS - makes it automatic.
Most businesses fail, so I actually wouldn't focus on that unless you have some sure fire winner idea.
I would seek out large liquidity events with risk control. For example, in real estate (we can set aside whether it is a good time or not to invest) you can take control of an undervalued asset for very little money - while you control it you can flip it or seek financing/partners. How you find these deals, a lot of hard work and I won't go into the details because there are many approaches and at the end of the day you need to find one that works for you. It might sound risky but it isn't if you priced it properly. You make your money on the acquisition of control not hoping that it will go up in value but that you know you got it cheap.
If you have cash, you can just begin to buy and sell stuff using your liquidity. A lot of people in life buy other people's problems/pain and make money off of it. It may not be sexy but it makes money. I don't use my MBA much in my business other than when we need to put our bios in something. In my business there are a lot of people that don't have great educations but have lots of money. Craigslist is full of dumbasses who bought stuff and now regret it. Ebay is another good place, if you know a certain product. Make money off of being an expert at something - don't try to buy and sell everything. I screwed up once (not a lot of money) trying to buy watches and fixing them for resale. Most of the time I am screwing around with throw away money because my mind enjoys the challenge of finding value where others do not.
If you are super risk adverse, it limits what you can do. And definitely, don't go listening to scammers. It is funny when people who are super cautious open their wallets to scammers. By being super conservative you accept lower yields as part of the peace of mind you get. So don't give up that piece of mind by letting someone else churn you for fees or flat out steal from you.
Living below your means is a big way of obtaining freedom. I know a lot of people here wanna be ballers but most won't ever drive the $100,00+ supercars, set foot on a yacht, etc. I have never cared about that stuff, it doesn't impress me and I don't care to impress others. What has always mattered is knowing that I could walk.
One time an old boss told me - "I want you, samsamsam, to obtain just the right level of debt so that you work hard but it doesn't crush you." LOL, asshole. That is how countries enslave other countries, through debt.
I got custom made suits, I know the difference between suspenders and braces, my custom made shirts don't have a front pocket and I don't monogram. I have flown private jets-big whoop. My life is to be enjoyed for me and not for others. That is freedom. And I prefer to wear shorts to work. I hate putting on the monkey suit.
But back to OP, if your goal is to set up for the long term - El Mechanico's idea about buying your place now is not a bad idea. As long as you are not in a market that has recovered too quickly, Banks are playing games with shadow inventory and the fed is printing money like a bitch right now. But if you just want to lock as place down and don't care about the ups and downs of property values then getting in now isn't so bad with the low rates. Especially if you are in a place where to can renegotiate property taxes as value moves down. Having someone else pay for it and you acting as a backstop works. Better yet, get a 4 plex. You can live in one and rent the others when you move there for retirement. Anything 4 units or less is considered residential real estate so you can get 30 year fixed mortgages. 5+ is commercial.
Hop into some decent dividend stocks for some yield. Not a big fan of bonds eventually rates will start to rise at some point and that will hurt. At some point we will have inflation, so having a mortgage will be to your benefit because you can jack rent but have a fixed cost.
Sorry to open this conversation into a rant about financial freedom. Fuck, I gotta finish some work.
In order to get the walk away money, you need to do something along the lines of:
1) starting your own profitable business
2) Seek out large liquidity events
There are other approaches. And don't do the stock market thing or playing forex. Unless you know what you are doing, even those who know what they are doing, still get their asses handed to them. I am cool with stable companies and dividend stocks, I have some in my portfolio that I have had for years and the yields are great compared to the original purchase price. Looks into DRIPS - makes it automatic.
Most businesses fail, so I actually wouldn't focus on that unless you have some sure fire winner idea.
I would seek out large liquidity events with risk control. For example, in real estate (we can set aside whether it is a good time or not to invest) you can take control of an undervalued asset for very little money - while you control it you can flip it or seek financing/partners. How you find these deals, a lot of hard work and I won't go into the details because there are many approaches and at the end of the day you need to find one that works for you. It might sound risky but it isn't if you priced it properly. You make your money on the acquisition of control not hoping that it will go up in value but that you know you got it cheap.
If you have cash, you can just begin to buy and sell stuff using your liquidity. A lot of people in life buy other people's problems/pain and make money off of it. It may not be sexy but it makes money. I don't use my MBA much in my business other than when we need to put our bios in something. In my business there are a lot of people that don't have great educations but have lots of money. Craigslist is full of dumbasses who bought stuff and now regret it. Ebay is another good place, if you know a certain product. Make money off of being an expert at something - don't try to buy and sell everything. I screwed up once (not a lot of money) trying to buy watches and fixing them for resale. Most of the time I am screwing around with throw away money because my mind enjoys the challenge of finding value where others do not.
If you are super risk adverse, it limits what you can do. And definitely, don't go listening to scammers. It is funny when people who are super cautious open their wallets to scammers. By being super conservative you accept lower yields as part of the peace of mind you get. So don't give up that piece of mind by letting someone else churn you for fees or flat out steal from you.
Living below your means is a big way of obtaining freedom. I know a lot of people here wanna be ballers but most won't ever drive the $100,00+ supercars, set foot on a yacht, etc. I have never cared about that stuff, it doesn't impress me and I don't care to impress others. What has always mattered is knowing that I could walk.
One time an old boss told me - "I want you, samsamsam, to obtain just the right level of debt so that you work hard but it doesn't crush you." LOL, asshole. That is how countries enslave other countries, through debt.
I got custom made suits, I know the difference between suspenders and braces, my custom made shirts don't have a front pocket and I don't monogram. I have flown private jets-big whoop. My life is to be enjoyed for me and not for others. That is freedom. And I prefer to wear shorts to work. I hate putting on the monkey suit.
But back to OP, if your goal is to set up for the long term - El Mechanico's idea about buying your place now is not a bad idea. As long as you are not in a market that has recovered too quickly, Banks are playing games with shadow inventory and the fed is printing money like a bitch right now. But if you just want to lock as place down and don't care about the ups and downs of property values then getting in now isn't so bad with the low rates. Especially if you are in a place where to can renegotiate property taxes as value moves down. Having someone else pay for it and you acting as a backstop works. Better yet, get a 4 plex. You can live in one and rent the others when you move there for retirement. Anything 4 units or less is considered residential real estate so you can get 30 year fixed mortgages. 5+ is commercial.
Hop into some decent dividend stocks for some yield. Not a big fan of bonds eventually rates will start to rise at some point and that will hurt. At some point we will have inflation, so having a mortgage will be to your benefit because you can jack rent but have a fixed cost.
Sorry to open this conversation into a rant about financial freedom. Fuck, I gotta finish some work.
