30 and quitting my job! Why wait any longer...?

[eridanus]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kstronggt I first was introduced to these ideas by Phil Town, who idolizes Warren Buffett. He has a book, and now appears on a show on CNBC.

You really shouldn't get your investment advice from CNBC.

[Milton]

Oh, I don't know. CNBC is probably as good a source as any, if you think Warren Buffett's success is easily duplicated and believe in "the realm of fundamental investing, with a technical twist" (whatever that means).

[Nords]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Milton Oh, I don't know. CNBC is probably as good a source as any, if you think Warren Buffett's success is easily duplicated and believe in "the realm of fundamental investing, with a technical twist" (whatever that means).

Hey, even Buffett spent eight years on technical analysis.

And even Ben Graham missed a few tricks.

[CybrMike]

kstronggt, some tips for your new venture:

Need to fix your website for safari. Mac users are more prolific than you think. Attached is a picture of what it looks like.

Also, change the fonts on it. Probably stick with Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, Sans-serif or something similar. Looks like your using Times New Roman. That is very 1995.

Change the address of the web site to something related to building wealth and retiring early. Something like "build-wealth-retire-early.com". This is going to garner you much more search traffic than with kcsretirement.com.

This is just the beginning. Lots to learn. Check out digitalpoint.com forums and browse around for some SEO tricks.

Since the product you are selling though seems very saturated and "10 years ago", I wouldn't bank your future on it. Once you learn the skills though, you can apply it to another "real" business and actually make some money. I warn you though, hard work will be involved.

[laurence]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jclarksnakes Well darned it all. Thanks for reminding me just how poor I am. It takes me a full week to lose $30K in the market.

If it makes you feel any better, it takes me a year! My NW is only ten times this guy's! I'm so bitter!

Nords, grab me a frosty one, too!

Oh man, too funny. And don't try to deny for a minute that some of you had your mouth start watering when you saw this thread. Sometimes it's fun to hit a pinata!

To the OP. If you aren't trolling or spamming, spend some time reading threads here, you'll find a ton of self made millionaires here and a lot of aspiring ones well on their way. What do you know about fund bloat and survivor bias? A book that gets a lot of respect here is "4 pillars of investing". Not everyone agrees with it completely, but it gives a good starting point to some of the prevailing thoughts on this board.

Investment seminars, Kiyosaki etc. are pretty much anathema here. This is a bunch of old fashioned earn the money types here.

[laurence]

I never got the "FOR A LIMITED TIME ONLY!!!!" thing. What, you are going to stop selling your product after ten days? "Sorry, I know you want to give me your money, but word is bond!"

EDIT: Oh goodness, from your blog:

"Several years ago, I fell in love with the philosphies of Robert Kiyosaki and the Rich Dad, Poor Dad
philosophies. Kiyosaki has allowed me to look at work and money with a completely different perspective than most. Since then, every book I have ever read about money has only confirmed the truths that Kiyosaki teaches about money."

Dude, this guy is the biggest pile of $@%#, really. Put down the glass pipe now before it's too late!

[kstronggt]

Thanks for all of your input. I am sorry if I offended some of you with my comments about not having made it yet. You have me figured out when you say I don't know it all yet. I want to be a good member of this ER community, so I will probably not be posting anymore in this thread, at least until I have my first success or failure to tell you about. It seems that my posts have a way of stirring the pot. Maybe that's why some call me the spoon. I will post occasionally in other forums, but I will mostly sit back for a while, and see what I can learn from you.

Although, I have a hard time avoiding conflict, so I have one more comment: I'm very sorry that so many of you are losing $30K a day in the market. That doesn't sound very fun. If I ever lost $30K a day in the market, I might consider looking at a different place to put my money. Afterall, if you suffer a 50% (or 10%, or whatever) loss in your portfolio, wouldn't you then have to realize a 100% (or double your loss) gain just to break even? Just a thought...

[laurence]

People here who saw a 30k loss in the market saw that loss because of their extremely high net worth. Warren Buffet loses 30k in a minute on any trading day.

[Leonidas]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kstronggt Although, I have a hard time avoiding conflict, so I have one more comment: I'm very sorry that so many of you are losing $30K a day in the market. That doesn't sound very fun. If I ever lost $30K a day in the market, I might consider looking at a different place to put my money. Afterall, if you suffer a 50% (or 10%, or whatever) loss in your portfolio, wouldn't you then have to realize a 100% (or double your loss) gain just to break even? Just a thought...

If you ever take a chart apart and look at the daily trading you will see that what appears as a neat line curving up to the right over the long term is made up of a lot of little (and some not so little) jumps up and down. It is the nature of the beast, investments don't just go up forever without taking a break every now and again. Until you cash out, all your profits and losses are just numbers on the monitor.

If you take a hit on one day because Mr. Market decided that was the day to do something silly, yanking your dough and heading for the hills is a good way to lock in a potential loss. It's how big piles of money become little piles of money. You just have to know the difference between when Mr. Market is playing with you and when you're holding a bad hand that's not getting any better.

Quote:

Originally Posted by laurencewill People here who saw a 30k loss in the market saw that loss because of their extremely high net worth. Warren Buffet loses 30k in a minute on any trading day.

Heck, I figure Warren can lose $3 Million before lunch and his biggest worry is if he's going to have Salisbury Steak or the Chef Salad for lunch.

Oh, btw Kstronggt, the whole "you're just bitter because you guys haven't made it yet" thing? Well, you might want to check yourself before you toot on that horn some more and do a little reading on the other posters. At least two of those who have commented here so far might have about $30K just in loose change in their sofa cushions.

[rs0460a]

Quote:

Originally Posted by laurencewill People here who saw a 30k loss in the market saw that loss because of their extremely high net worth.

Confirmed (although I won't speak specific "numbers" on a public forum )...

BTW - as long as the "up" days exceed the "down" days, it really dosen't matter. I only refill my annual income "cash bucket" once a year (assuming the current year shows a gain). If I don't see that gain for 3-5 years, I don't worry about it. That's why I keep a large cash position - so the "market flux" dosen't mean much year to year.

Of course, being retired (and already having achieving financial security - for my/DW's lifestyle), I can afford to be more conserative. I understand the "young folks" who need to be a bit "more creative" to make their money work in order to achieve their financial goals. Hey - even I was "young" at one time and took more risks. Of course, during those early days, I had much less to lose.

- Ron

[rs0460a]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jclarksnakes Well darned it all. Thanks for reminding me just how poor I am. It takes me a full week to lose $30K in the market.

It all depends how old you are, and how far you are in your "financial plan". You can't look at "X" dollars. You have to look at the percentage gain/loss, regardless of dollar amount of retirement investment/assets.

For some, $30k may represent 10% (or more) of their portfolio. For others, $30k may be a fraction of 1%.

Percentage (plus/minus) count. Dollar amounts (while entertaining) don't.

- Ron

[Rich_by_the_Bay]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kstronggt Although, I have a hard time avoiding conflict, so I have one more comment: I'm very sorry that so many of you are losing $30K a day in the market. That doesn't sound very fun. If I ever lost $30K a day in the market, I might consider looking at a different place to put my money. Afterall, if you suffer a 50% (or 10%, or whatever) loss in your portfolio, wouldn't you then have to realize a 100% (or double your loss) gain just to break even? Just a thought...

Ken, you realize of course that the point people are making about losing $30k in a day is that they have a lot of money as their denominator, right? A $2mm nest egg that loses (along with the entire market) 1.5% in a day will lose $30k that day. Almost qualifies as background noise.

[Texas Proud]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kstronggt Although, I have a hard time avoiding conflict, so I have one more comment: I'm very sorry that so many of you are losing $30K a day in the market. That doesn't sound very fun. If I ever lost $30K a day in the market, I might consider looking at a different place to put my money. Afterall, if you suffer a 50% (or 10%, or whatever) loss in your portfolio, wouldn't you then have to realize a 100% (or double your loss) gain just to break even? Just a thought...

Man.... it is amazing the stupidity inexperience of some....

Go do some research... Sam Walton was the first person to ever lose $1 BILLION dollars in one day... (at least in the US stock market)... It was during the '87 crash... IIRC, someone asked him how if felt to lose a billion.... he said something like... "I didn't lose a thing... I still have my store, I still have my truck..." and he drove an old beat up pickup..

[Milton]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kstronggt Although, I have a hard time avoiding conflict, so I have one more comment: I'm very sorry that so many of you are losing $30K a day in the market. That doesn't sound very fun. If I ever lost $30K a day in the market, I might consider looking at a different place to put my money.

I smell a troll (he can't be that ignorant!). Enough is enough.

[RunningBum]

Nords, I'm ready for that cold one now!

[retire@40]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Milton I smell a troll (he can't be that ignorant!). Enough is enough.

Don't forget, he only has $30K saved up. This is all new to him.

My kid is concerned with spending $5 he earned while doing some yardwork at his uncle's house. He told me that even if he only spends $2, there goes 40% of what he earned that day, so he banks it instead and knows that Dad will buy him the ice cream.

Some of these "small" numbers can be very troubling to a beginner.

It's all relative.

[armor99]

Perhaps he is hoping to make his money off of this forum in tips for his entertainment..... come on now.... pass the cup around for this guy!!! We should pay something for this level of entertainment right?

[citrine]

kstrongt: welcome to the board....you will learn a lot here, if you are willing to listen.
BTW...how does your wife feel about you leaving work and playing the stock market with all of your savings? Will she be working while you do this?
I have the same dream of retirining early, but I need to work for the next 12 years to amass enough of a safety net to semi-retire. Have you thought about the impact on your kids? Is there any way for you to do this business venture on the side while you still retain your full time job?

[jclarksnakes]

Quote:

Originally Posted by rs0460a It all depends how old you are, and how far you are in your "financial plan". You can't look at "X" dollars. You have to look at the percentage gain/loss, regardless of dollar amount of retirement investment/assets. For some, $30k may represent 10% (or more) of their portfolio. For others, $30k may be a fraction of 1%. Percentage (plus/minus) count. Dollar amounts (while entertaining) don't. - Ron

Ron,
...I am somewhere between those percentages in your example. I lose it one week and make it back the next. No problem. We will be able to live on the pensions without actually needing any of the portfolio so it is all good from my viewpoint. I guess my admittedly strange sense of humor does not always come through (or play very well) over the internet.
Jeff

[NW-Bound]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jclarksnakes Ron, ...I am somewhere between those percentages in your example. I lose it one week and make it back the next. No problem. We will be able to live on the pensions without actually needing any of the portfolio so it is all good from my viewpoint. I guess my admittedly strange sense of humor does not always come through (or play very well) over the internet. Jeff

I remember very clearly a day in March 2000. I became $40K richer that single day. That would not be significant, except that I always thought of myself as a conservative guy. Sure, I had a seven-figure portfolio, but I was still holding 30% cash, with some conservative MFs. But the stars in the mix were the high techs of my own choice. I had no dotcoms, but a bunch of semiconductor companies, internet infrastructures, all kind of high techs. Was I brilliant or what?

Whatever I bought turned into gold. That did not feel right. So, the next day, I got scared and sold some, about $80K worth. Then, the day after, I saw that those $80K would have become $100K if I didn't sell. Fear turned back to greed. Then greed turned into fear. Back and forth several times a day.

I was so rich - on paper anyway - yet I lost sleep. I was tormented. I read Malkiel's "Random Walk" again and again, looking for an explanation. It was in there, called BUBBLE, but I wondered if it were different this time.

Well, I should have sold all, but didn't. Over the next 2 years, I became $600K poorer. Oh, I missed the "stock mania" of a lifetime. Of course, I was not that dumb to get sucked into the next housing bubble. I kept shaking my head over the climb of house prices. But I did not think of shorting home builders and subprime lenders. Oh well, maybe the next bubble...