Hello Fastlane Forum - Allow me to introduce myself.
I'm in my early thirties, and I've been living somewhere between the sidewalk and the slow lane.
It hurts to admit all this, but maybe getting it out there will really set me free of the burdens - clearing the path to success...
I'm a successful guy by all outward appearances. I have a job in IT that pays in the low 6 figures. I have a nice house with a pool in the back yard, a wife who loves me, 2 kids, and I drive a BMW.
When I got to the part in the book about being trapped by your possessions, I literally cried. We took out a second mortgage to put in the pool and finish our basement. I own the car outright, but that's about it. I've probably got 50K in credit card debt from excess spending on crap in my 20's. We are probably upside down on our house - we bought it at the peak of the real estate bubble 6 years ago with 20% down - but I'm sure it's lost more than 20% of its value since the real estate crash.
The good news is that about 3 years ago, my wife and I realized this HAD to stop. We now spend less than I earn, and we're paying off the credit cards. Probably not as quickly as we could if we really applied ourselves, but we're taking baby steps. It's hard to go from caviar straight to ramen noodles.
I have always had an entrepreneurial spirit - but I've never really taken action on any of my ideas. Though I've owned or co-owned two official, registered businesses, I don't think they even really count, because I've never been dedicated to making them work.
This changes now. My goal is 2.5 million in the bank. With that I can stop working and maintain the exact standard of living I have today by living off 5% returns. When I get to 2.5, then I will decide if the Ferrari (sorry MJ) lifestyle is worth additional work, or if I'd rather spend the time watching my kids grow up.
My only constraint is that I can't quit my current job for 1.5 years. They paid 100% of my tuition costs for me to get my Bachelor's degree, but attached to that is a condition that if I leave or are fired for cause, I have to repay them the full cost of my degree. That servitude has a little over 18 months left.
Now, FORWARD!
I'm in my early thirties, and I've been living somewhere between the sidewalk and the slow lane.
It hurts to admit all this, but maybe getting it out there will really set me free of the burdens - clearing the path to success...
I'm a successful guy by all outward appearances. I have a job in IT that pays in the low 6 figures. I have a nice house with a pool in the back yard, a wife who loves me, 2 kids, and I drive a BMW.
When I got to the part in the book about being trapped by your possessions, I literally cried. We took out a second mortgage to put in the pool and finish our basement. I own the car outright, but that's about it. I've probably got 50K in credit card debt from excess spending on crap in my 20's. We are probably upside down on our house - we bought it at the peak of the real estate bubble 6 years ago with 20% down - but I'm sure it's lost more than 20% of its value since the real estate crash.
The good news is that about 3 years ago, my wife and I realized this HAD to stop. We now spend less than I earn, and we're paying off the credit cards. Probably not as quickly as we could if we really applied ourselves, but we're taking baby steps. It's hard to go from caviar straight to ramen noodles.
I have always had an entrepreneurial spirit - but I've never really taken action on any of my ideas. Though I've owned or co-owned two official, registered businesses, I don't think they even really count, because I've never been dedicated to making them work.
This changes now. My goal is 2.5 million in the bank. With that I can stop working and maintain the exact standard of living I have today by living off 5% returns. When I get to 2.5, then I will decide if the Ferrari (sorry MJ) lifestyle is worth additional work, or if I'd rather spend the time watching my kids grow up.
My only constraint is that I can't quit my current job for 1.5 years. They paid 100% of my tuition costs for me to get my Bachelor's degree, but attached to that is a condition that if I leave or are fired for cause, I have to repay them the full cost of my degree. That servitude has a little over 18 months left.
Now, FORWARD!
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