Hi there! 32 and tired of the rat race

[nbw888]

Hello everyone! I'm 32 years old and I have been working for around 8 years now with an average of 80 hours 6-7 days a week. Over the course of that time, I've become burnt out on my job, and want to begin transitioning into retirement, which for me is doing something that I want to do, and not having to worry about the daily grind in order to pay my bills. I like to work and start business ventures, so I don't think I could hang out on a beach or golf everyday for eternity. I basically want to work because I WANT to, not because I HAVE to.

To date, I have $1 Million in silver and gold mining stocks, (give or take, depending on the day), and I save around $40,000 in an individual 401k, with another $40,000 going into taxable accounts every year.

Although I have a good retirement nest egg started, I realize that to be truly financially independent, one needs to focus on developing income streams such as rental income, royalties, etc. I'm looking forward to joining in the discussions and getting any pointers from anyone here who has experience with passive income streams. I will likewise try and offer any insight I have stock market insight I have accumulated over the last few years.

Glad to be here!

Nathaniel

 

[MasterBlaster]

Nbw888:

If you think you are burn't out now... Just wait a decade or two. That will take burn't out to a whole nuther' level.

You are doing very well for someone your age. perhaps it's time to dial back the work stuff a bit. Perhaps you could find a job where you only do 40 hours a week with perhaps lower pay but more life satisfaction.


Money isn't everything. You have to enjoy the ride.

 

[travelover]

Welcome Nathanial. You are doing very well with your saving. Are your expenses such that you could take a 6 months to a year off and rejuvenate while looking for opportunities?

I'd be uncomfortable with your asset allocation. You have worked hard to get it and it would stink to lose a good portion of it.

 

[nbw888]

Thanks for your thoughts. I definitely have realized that it is important to take time to enjoy life here and there, and I am making a point of trying to take 1 or two days off (gasp!) every weekend to get outdoors and relax. I could take some time off for a few months, but given the economy, I would rather keep working and start chipping away at a transition plan as I go.

I understand that my stock positioning is VERY aggressive, and I am not following the usual allocation that is recommended. I have concluded that precious metals and commodities in general will do very well in the future due to a weakening US dollar.

Once this trade has played its course, I plan to take those profits and buy devalued commercial real estate (since I believe that real estate has a long drop ahead of it, especially in Southern California) Let's hope it works!

 

[REWahoo]

I have concluded that precious metals and commodities in general will do very well in the future due to a weakening US dollar.

Once this trade has played its course, I plan to take those profits and buy devalued commercial real estate (since I believe that real estate has a long drop ahead of it, especially in Southern California) Let's hope it works!

One of the nice things going for you and your plan of placing everything on black (OK, on gold and silver) and spinning the wheel is your age. If it doesn't work out you'll be young enough to keep working those long hours for several more decades to catch up!

 

[brewer12345]

Nbw, start thinking about the idea that you no longer need to take such risks.

 

[FreeAtLast]

Hi Nathaniel,

Welcome! You will get very good information here. I do have to agree with the others in saying that you have too many eggs in one basket.

 

[ChadR]

Thats simply an amazing nest egg to build up in just 8 years of work. Wow.

brewer12345's comment is something to consider.

 

[robbridg]

Thats simply an amazing nest egg to build up in just 8 years of work. Wow.

Not really 8 years of work but more like 16 years given that Nate works 80 hour weeks.

NBW, I think you need to stop and smell the roses or you might be retired at 40, but with all kinds of health issues. Not to mention missing out on some great life experiences in your 20's and 30's that you can never get back.

 

[Texas Proud]

Thanks for your thoughts. I definitely have realized that it is important to take time to enjoy life here and there, and I am making a point of trying to take 1 or two days off (gasp!) every weekend to get outdoors and relax. I could take some time off for a few months, but given the economy, I would rather keep working and start chipping away at a transition plan as I go.

I understand that my stock positioning is VERY aggressive, and I am not following the usual allocation that is recommended. I have concluded that precious metals and commodities in general will do very well in the future due to a weakening US dollar.

Once this trade has played its course, I plan to take those profits and buy devalued commercial real estate (since I believe that real estate has a long drop ahead of it, especially in Southern California) Let's hope it works!

I would not call it VERY aggressive, but INSANELY aggressive.... it is like buying one company's stock and hoping that you picked right..... (or, like you just picked cable companies, or airline stocks etc. etc.. no diversity)..

Or as someone else put down.... you are betting on black... let's see where the ball lands and what you get...

 

[Texas Proud]

Not really 8 years of work but more like 16 years given that Nate works 80 hour weeks.

NBW, I think you need to stop and smell the roses or you might be retired at 40, but with all kinds of health issues. Not to mention missing out on some great life experiences in your 20's and 30's that you can never get back.

Actually, I would say more.... since he is working all the time his expenses are less than normal and this might be like 20 to 24 years of 'salary equivilent'...

 

[rescueme]

I'm 32 years old and, and want to begin transitioning into retirement...

...

Just my simple response/POV...

Hell, I'm 63 - forgive me if I don't understand the question ...

Based upon his singular way of "investing", he may be in for a big fall. Of course, I've been wrong in the past...

Heck - I'm the type of person who goes to a casino (rarely) and if I hit a "pot' beyond my original "investment", I leave....

 

[nbw888]

Thanks for your comments everyone.

I definitely do take time out to enjoy life as much as I can, because I agree that money isn't everything in life. I do believe in both enjoying as well as saving money though. What's the point in working hard if you don't play hard as well, right?

Lately, I've been trying to scale back a bit, but I'm self employed, and it's very hard to slow down my consulting business. It has taken on a life of it's own, and I'm almost a slave to it now!!

As for my investing style, I understand that it is not for most people. I will maintain, though, that it is not gambling.

I began investing with an adviser right before the market crashed in 2008. I took her advice to put my money in a variety of growth funds and some international funds...a diversified account. A few months later, the market crashed and I lost half of my money. I felt that an advisor should have understood the underlying economic issues of the time, and advised me to hold off for a market correction.

From that day forward, I decided that it was in my best interest to be my own advisor, and to learn as much as I could about the world's economy and the economic trends that are occurring today. I read and read, and then read some more. I explored all of the sectors available to invest in, and thus decided on commodities and specifically precious metals. When the market bottomed out in March, I began piling money into very undervalued companies that would give me maximum leverage to the commodities they were producing. As long as the governments of the world continue to devalue their currencies through monetary stimulus and perpetual debt creation, I will continue to invest in sectors that will benefit.

I expect the US to go into a severe depression in the coming years, and i expect the FED to do everything in their power to try to stop it from happening. (i.e. stimulus in perpetuity via treasury purchasing to keep interest rates low). Thus, precious metals will continue to benefit.

 

[brewer12345]

Nbw, what if you are wrong? I like commodity producers, too (especially energy), but anyone investing in such companies must always remember that they are leveraged to the price of the underlying.

 

[MasterBlaster]

Nbw, what if you are wrong? I like commodity producers, too (especially energy), but anyone investing in such companies must always remember that they are leveraged to the price of the underlying.

I concur. The OP is "betting the farm" here.

 

[REWahoo]

I expect the US to go into a severe depression in the coming years...

...i expect the FED to do everything in their power to try to stop it from happening.

As brewer says, what if you are wrong? Even though you're sure you aren't, just like those folks who were sure the world was ending last month, quit their jobs, spent their life savings and now....?

The future is easy to predict. Getting it right is considerably more difficult.

 

[nbw888]

Brewer, I am definitely aware of the risks involved, but I honestly trust my research and reasoning behind my investments, and I have full confidence in my decision. I never make rash decisions involving money, but once I feel confident in a decision, I'm willing to take what to some are big risks, because they don't feel like big risks to me anymore. I trust my research fully.

I honestly don't see any realistic scenario that can get the government and our currency out of the mess it is in.

I think you're definitely right about energy (oil I presume), as it is vital to the world's current infrastructure, and will be for the foreseeable future.

 

[brewer12345]

Actually, I like natural gas and the world's largest producer of methanol (they effectively convert nat gas to diesel fuel).

I understand that you have confidence in your research. But even if you were a phd economist with access to beaucoup insider info (I work with some), you would be amazingly lucky/good/blessed/recipient of alien anal probes to get it right 2/3 of the time. I have worked for or dealt with many very seasoned, smart and aggressive investors thus far in my career. The ones who are successful do own of two things (sometimes both): hedge their downside or diversify to multiple (ideally uncorrelated) bets.

If you were just starting to accumulate a nest egg, I would say go ahead and bet big. But you are not. You have a material amount of wealth and do not need to be making concentrated bets.

If you don't diversify, at least hedge. Go buy some long dated puts on GDX or some individual names in the sector. If they expire worthless you are doing well. If they become very valuable, you will be thanking your lucky stars.

 

[Texas Proud]

Brewer, I am definitely aware of the risks involved, but I honestly trust my research and reasoning behind my investments, and I have full confidence in my decision. I never make rash decisions involving money, but once I feel confident in a decision, I'm willing to take what to some are big risks, because they don't feel like big risks to me anymore. I trust my research fully.

I honestly don't see any realistic scenario that can get the government and our currency out of the mess it is in.

I think you're definitely right about energy (oil I presume), as it is vital to the world's current infrastructure, and will be for the foreseeable future.

The people who worked for Enron had full confidence in their decisions to put all their money in Enron... just like you, fully researched and all...

And there is also Citi, Lehmans, WAMU, Worldcom, GM, etc. etc....

You sound a lot like my boss... who says that the dollar is going to 'tank' and be devalued.... and I say... against what true, you are saying against commodities, but I bet that mostly you are in gold and silver or the companies that mine gold and silver and are not that diversified in many different commodities...

So, if this is true, then you are gambling and not investing... I am not saying your gamble will not pay off... just let's keep the definition correct on what you are doing...

 

[dtbach]

Just remember, pigs eventually go to slaughter. . . . .

 

[nbw888]

I appreciate everyone's concern and viewpoints, thank you.

Brewer--yes, I have core positions, and I also have trading positions where I use puts or short etfs to hedge for shorter term movements. Thank you for that sound advice!

Texas--Yes I am mostly invested in number of silver miners due to the increased upside potential over gold. I was involved in agricultural commodities and rare earth elements, but have pulled out of those sectors at the moment to invest in undervalued comanies within the precious metals sector. I'm currently looking into microbial oil recovery companies.

I maintain that gambling is blindly guessing, which is not what I'm doing. Under your definition, all stocks would be gambling, since any company could be an Enron that is hiding a dark secret. Maybe you look at it that way though, which I understand.

 

[Texas Proud]

I appreciate everyone's concern and viewpoints, thank you.

Brewer--yes, I have core positions, and I also have trading positions where I use puts or short etfs to hedge for shorter term movements. Thank you for that sound advice!

Texas--Yes I am mostly invested in number of silver miners due to the increased upside potential over gold. I was involved in agricultural commodities and rare earth elements, but have pulled out of those sectors at the moment to invest in undervalued comanies within the precious metals sector. I'm currently looking into microbial oil recovery companies.

I maintain that gambling is blindly guessing, which is not what I'm doing. Under your definition, all stocks would be gambling, since any company could be an Enron that is hiding a dark secret. Maybe you look at it that way though, which I understand.

Gambling is not blindly guessing, so I would say right there we have a failure to communicate...

"to stake or risk money, or anything of value, on the outcome of something involving chance: to gamble on a toss of the dice. "


There are people who make a lot of mony gambling, because they can figure out the odds of a bet... they bet on horse 'A' because horse 'A' wins 80% of the time and the payoff of a win is better than another horse...


True, this is not a heads I win, tails I lose gamble... but IMO you are looking around and saying 'everything is going to he## in a handbasket'... where can I put my money so I can make money.... HEY, silver looks like it is cheap compared with the historical ratio with the price of gold... I bet that silver will go up... there is no fundamental shortage of silver right now.... most of the price increase is being fueled by the gloom and doom people... and believe me, I bet some money on silver to go up and won.... (I also shorted it when it got high and won on that bet also)..

But calling it investing is a stretch....

My point with the companies is that putting all your money in one basket (or as you are doing, one industry) is a way to get clobbered quickly.... if you spread your investment over many industries and even countries, you usually have winners and loser, but the trend is upward.... that is investing...


PS... there are some out there saying that silver could drop another 40% or more from where it is now based on historical trends... I don't think so, which is why I am back to being long on my silver bet.... I hope to win this one also... but am prepared to get out quickly if it looks like I am wrong...

 

[arebelspy]

EDIT: Texas Proud beat me to it. Here's my post anyways.

I maintain that gambling is blindly guessing, which is not what I'm doing.

I take a deck of cards, flip over a black ace and throw it away. Then I let you bet on the next card to come up. Odds are slightly better it will be red than black. So you pick red. You aren't "blindly guessing," but, IMO, you are still gambling.

It seems to me that even with research, etc. there is still that element of risk which makes it gambling.

We are all gambling the world won't end tomorrow from a meteor strike, etc. It's not a blind guess because the odds on it happening are super slim, so it's probably a smart gamble.

Most of us would think your gamble is riskier than you do, but either way it's still gambling.

 

[nbw888]

Yes, it is all a risk, thus all a gamble in essence! Diversification is no more of an "investment" then. It is just a safer bet. We are simply comparing focused gambling vs. diversified gambling!

 

[arebelspy]

Yes, it is all a risk, thus all a gamble in essence! Diversification is no more of an "investment" then. It is just a safer bet. We are simply comparing focused gambling vs. diversified gambling!

Right, that's all anyone is saying here. Your increased risk makes it more towards the gambling end of the spectrum, but basically all "investing" is a form of gambling. Your lack of diversity adds more risk. It's your money though, so good luck.