Post: #76

(02-02-2016 08:20 AM)VolandoVengoVolandoVoy Wrote:  

(02-02-2016 12:01 AM)TheFinalEpic Wrote:  25k per day, which I truly think is possible via Internet business and a combination of investment vehicles.

25K per day? What's your lifestyle? Live in a top notch hotel suite in Paris/London/NYC? Eat steaks of critically endangered species for lunch? Travel by helicopter and private jet?

Hopefully one day, currently at about 100k/yr. The thread asked what point i'd stop working: that would be my point at which I'd stop working.

Post: #77

Volando:
Another side of the work/life balance.
If you are able to notice that your woman has a lower sex drive than you, you might be too available for her.
Artificial scarcity might revive her interest. Attend to "business" more often, e.g. loitering in a café.
Actually having some light, low-stress business to attend to would make it easier. (One reason I would keep a nominal job till the day I die.)
But as others have pointed out, her sex drive will decline; even if you revived it, it would be pouring water in a leaky bucket.

You've made your position on the age thing clear, but if I had your resources, I'd aim for a woman at least ten years younger.
The health of any future children I might have is important to me.

Post: #78

(02-02-2016 04:56 PM)dispenser Wrote:  Volando:
Another side of the work/life balance.
If you are able to notice that your woman has a lower sex drive than you, you might be too available for her.
Artificial scarcity might revive her interest. Attend to "business" more often, e.g. loitering in a café.
Actually having some light, low-stress business to attend to would make it easier. (One reason I would keep a nominal job till the day I die.)
But as others have pointed out, her sex drive will decline; even if you revived it, it would be pouring water in a leaky bucket.

You've made your position on the age thing clear, but if I had your resources, I'd aim for a woman at least ten years younger.
The health of any future children I might have is important to me.

Right now I'm taking the past of least resistance. I'm staying with her, but setting myself up for being able to easily pull high quality tail when/if I break up with her in 1-3 months. Make transition easier.

I am working really hard on being the best me possible, upgrading my wardrobe with designer clothes, taking care of my skin (products, cleanings, botox, etc) recently started a new exercise program with 5 days of personal training a week, and have been trying out new activities and experiences (goes into the general be a happy person and have a good life/vibe thing, which is very attractive to women and people in general).

And yes, the point you make about children is something that's been on my mind. I am aware of the correlation between age and birth defects. It goes for both men and women. I may even get some sperm frozen. If I go back out there, I could easily end up waiting 5 or 10 years plus to start a family.

Post: #79

(01-31-2016 05:19 PM)VolandoVengoVolandoVoy Wrote:  

(01-31-2016 04:31 PM)NASA Test Pilot Wrote:  Before I retired I found that I needed to answer 3 questions.

1. How much is enough? This had nothing to do with numbers, rather a psychological state where I needed to be at peace with what I had. This took me two years.

2. How much do I need to live? That depends on what you want to do and how you want to do it. Crunch some numbers. I had been planning since I was a 23 year old 1stLT. Debt free by 33, financially free by 43 and on the sea by 53. I made it before 53.

3. What do I want to do with my time? This was by far the most important question. After almost 10 years of retirement, I am not bored and I look forward to my adventure tomorrow. Of course numbers 2 and 3 are related.

Congrats!
I would love to hear more about your journey and how you occupy your time.

In the system that exists for most working adults it is a continuous trade of time for money. As difficult as it may be when you are younger, the sooner you realize that your time is limited to 80 years (29,000 days) plus or minus a decade in round numbers you begin to look at things differently.

One´s life must have purpose and meaning. It is not about stopping work (most people substitute their work for purpose and meaning) it is about how you express your purpose on the screen of life that gives it meaning. Of course there are economic realities in the system in which we are placed and we must each contend. One way to contend is to exit in a manner that is congruent with your purpose.

If there is such a thing as a free man (perhaps others might see it as a playboy), and I use that word with a grain of salt, it is living life on your terms, doing what you want, when you want, with whom you want, and how you want to do it. Your problems come when there is conflict with others as you are encroaching on their lives or they attempt to encroach on your life. This notion does not need to exclude family life if that is what you desire. You do not need to be married and you can choose to have multiple families on multiple continents spending your time with them as you see fit. If your paradigm is that you must be with one mate and one set of offspring continuously you will have cognitive dissonance with the previous notion.

I will send you a PM with more specifics

Post: #80

I have received a few PM´s asking me to chime in on how I keep myself mentally and physically sound into retirement. I hesitate, but I realize that it not normal for someone of my age to be where I am, so there is value.

I will give some context first. Self-mastery has been at the core of my life. I am a Stoic by nature and not an Epicurean. Virtue is sufficient for happiness. My father always taught me to understand myself before I sought to understand others as well as to live below my means and slowly raise this standard as life moved along. I have no bold desire to change mankind (rather I focus on my actions and the people with whom I interact at any given moment), nor have I any major financial limitations. If I want to rent a jet, I will. If I want someone to clean my house I will pay them. If I want to stay up all night or party until the break of dawn, so be it. The reality is that for reasons of self-discipline and lessons in humility taught by my mother, I clean my own house, etc. I understand there is a trade-off in utility in the form of time. Therefore, understanding my own values and living congruently with them is critical. I am not perfect and I make errors, I learn from them and get back on the horse like most men.

For some people having millions and millions of dollars (euros) or unlimited free time can get in the way and create a barrier between the values inside of them and what they project on the screen of life. Having said that I do not do without and I have become more hedonistic (relatively speaking) in my retirement.

I am an explorer by nature and I have touched all 7 continents and been to 156 countries. When I visit a country I enjoy staying for months rather than weeks and I explore the towns, the cities or the islands. I try to integrate with the population as if I am a member of the community. Sometimes the exploring is alone and sometimes in the company of others whether they are good male friends or a female companion.

My days are generally broken into two parts, I am more physically active when there is sunlight dominating the sky and more mentally active when there is moonlight (or less light). When someone asks me what time it is, I normally answer day-time or night-time as I really do not know or care (but I can guess in the day by the height of the sun in the sky and where I am geographically or at night by how tired I am). I do not know what day of the week it is unless I have some type of appointment and then I need to get a reference somewhere.

There are times when I wish that there were more hours in the day because I feel like a boy that is playing with his friends when his mother is calling him to come to dinner and he wants to continue doing his activities. For the last 10 years I have been sailing and surfing around the world chasing the endless summer, so there is the context of motion; as there has been for my entire life. Sometimes I sail alone, sometimes with close friends, sometimes with female companions. I have a number of houses on various continents so there are places that are less in motion relatively speaking.

If there are waves I will literally attempt to surf all day (pre-dawn to twilight) and sometimes with an occasional night surfing session when the moonlight is good and I am not in an area populated with sharks. As the years move forward, I take longer rest periods in between surfing sets and the practical reality is that there are many days when there is little surf or moderate surf. This is a passion and that is the key; I literally want to surf more at the end of the day. The second physical activity is swimming. I began swimming at age four and was competing at age six. I swam collegiately and internationally. Even in my 50´s I get in and train with the 19-27 year olds and we train weights in the morning, 2-2.5 hours swimming during morning practice, dryland training in the afternoon followed by 2-2.5 hours swimming during afternoon practice in pools around the world with various collegiate and national teams.

I have a huge network built and I metaphorically have a credit card that allows me to get in a train almost anywhere on the planet. I do it because I really love it, pushing myself, competing and just being in the water. If I am not in the water in some form for over 3 days I am literally taking 3 showers a day. Again it is a passion. Thirdly, I play 2-man sand volleyball. I played competitively domestically and internationally. Having my feet in the sand, with the sun shining down on my back and a slight ocean breeze across my face while being in rhythm with my team mate as we hammer the ball back and forth is a great feeling that I get to experience over and over in a game, a tournament or in practice. I usually play up to 2 hours per day, but while in training it is 1 hour in the morning and 1 ½ - 2 hours in the afternoon. The guys with whom I play are 95% in 20-30 years of age, and like my other activities; the youthful and playful mindset are the keys. The fourth activity is the martial arts. I have been a practitioner for over 45 years to include monastic training for a few years when I was a young boy. Congruency with the first three activities naturally leads to more game than I am capable of handling.

After these main activities I have numerous related activities. I will do most activities related to the water or air, I kite-surf, wind-surf, scuba dive, hang-glide, etc. I literally do not have enough time and I continuously look forward to my activities the next day as I am unsure as to how it will unfold even though I may have a general plan. There is normally a sense of wonder as my day unfolds. I am constantly interacting with my natural environment. Each day is different and is full of life. Sometimes there are less people and less interactions, sometimes there are more. I also am active assisting and giving back to others in all of the four activities listed above. This is a key for me as I find during the process of focusing on others, many of my internal problems fade and I have no weight on my shoulders.

At night I focus on my mental (and spiritual activities). I have always been a voracious reader. For my entire adult life I have been studying. Sometimes it was studying for degrees, but most of the time it is/was studying for the joy of learning and self-mastery. I would usually study a different subject of interest for 18-30 months, less as I have gotten older. I reach deeper into the subject until something internally says, that is enough, and I pause for a month or two and begin something different. I wish I had multiple life times to learn all of the things that I want to learn; however, this simply pushes me to prioritize. I never knew this Man-o-sphere existed, but I find the principles embodied here similar to how I have been living my adult life, so I smile at the synchronicity and truly enjoy the context. I am also continuously studying the laws and legal games of numerous nations and the various financial entities around the world as they attempt to limited and restrict my movement by attempting to take control of my ass as well as diminish and confiscate my assets.

I also have spent a significant amount of time contemplating while being retired. In the middle of the Pacific Ocean under sail at night, or anchored in some bay on a relatively uninhabited island with not a soul around and a million stars makes for some unique opportunities night after night, as does coming through a storm at the helm after not sleeping for days. I also have the opportunity to explore and practice the more deeply internal side of the martial arts. When others are onboard or I am visiting on the land, I enjoy socializing to better my communications skills, reading people and learning what they have to offer from their lifetime of experience. This last one I consider a true honor as the others are willing to share the wealth of their life with me or the small group. I find that I learn a lot about myself by listening to others and I remember one of my childhood lessons of listening twice as much as I talk as I have two ears and only one mouth.

As I alluded in another post, I am never bored and my days (evenings) are full of life. I hope this satisfies some of the PM questions as I endeavor to tread the line between sharing and conceit.

Post: #81

^^^^^

Fantastic post NASA, if I could I would rep you again. The forum is lucky to have a poster like you. Your skills have reached the point of spiritual insight. Maybe I'll get there one day.

Quote:Lee: Teacher?
Shaolin Abbott: I see your talents have gone beyond the mere physical level. Your skills are now at the point of spiritual insight. I have several questions. What is the highest technique you hope to achieve ?
Lee: To have no technique.
Shaolin Abbott: Very good. What are your thoughts when facing an opponent ?
Lee: There is no opponent.
Shaolin Abbott: And why is that ?
Lee: Because the word "I" does not exist.
Shaolin Abbott: So, continue...
Lee: A good fight should be like a small play, but played seriously. A good martial artist does not become tense, but ready. Not thinking, yet not dreaming. Ready for whatever may come. When the opponent expands, I contract. When he contracts, I expand. And when there is an opportunity, I do not hit. It hits all by itself.
Shaolin Abbott: Now, you must remember: the enemy has only images and illusions behind which he hides his true motives. Destroy the image and you will break the enemy.

Post: #82

^ NASA Test Pilot.

Fantastic post.

May I ask you what made you take the decision to join this forum?

Post: #83

NASA: Very nicely put.

Post: #84

NASA: Very nicely put.

Post: #85

(02-09-2016 08:37 AM)Chaos Wrote:  ^ NASA Test Pilot.

Fantastic post.

May I ask you what made you take the decision to join this forum?

Sure Chaos, it was totally by accident. One of my last subjects of study was social psychology and anthropology and as I was sailing down the Caribbean Island chain in December when I received an e-mail from an old British friend and he was talking about the Man-O-Sphere and how I reminded him of it. I was unsure of what he meant, so I looked it up. One thing led to another and I happened to read an article by Roosh and that led me to this site. I was in port with some friends on Christmas day and I signed. I continued sailing and then when I was in port again a few weeks later, I decided to dig in and contribute. Now here I am, learning some great details and sharing a little bit of my experiences. I have said it before, this is a really great thing here and I am proud to be a part of the forum.

Post: #86

(02-10-2016 02:13 AM)NASA Test Pilot Wrote:  Sure Chaos, it was totally by accident. One of my last subjects of study was social psychology and anthropology and as I was sailing down the Caribbean Island chain in December when I received an e-mail from an old British friend and he was talking about the Man-O-Sphere and how I reminded him of it. I was unsure of what he meant, so I looked it up. One thing led to another and I happened to read an article by Roosh and that led me to this site. I was in port with some friends on Christmas day and I signed. I continued sailing and then when I was in port again a few weeks later, I decided to dig in and contribute. Now here I am, learning some great details and sharing a little bit of my experiences. I have said it before, this is a really great thing here and I am proud to be a part of the forum.

Funny how things work out. I found RVF a couple years ago when I was doing google searches related to hunting gash in Brazil.

Just curious, do you have satellite internet, or rely on Marina wifi when in port?

Post: #87

Normally WIFI on a piggy back arrangement on the (nearby) island, or I go to an internet café. I like hard lines.

Post: #88

First I would like to say NASA Test Pilot is my idol already, I hope to be like him when I'm in my 50s. Read his posts about Venezuela, people would pay big money for the information he is giving out here. Amazing value he is adding to the forum.

Regarding how much is enough to stop working, it depends on the region and your responsibilities. Do you have a kid? Family? You have to answer to these questions first. I have hobbies, I'm into sports cars as you can see from my nickname. You can laugh but I also collect rare Pokemon cards and comics. The income should be enough to aid my hobbies. If I can't pursue my hobbies then it's not worth retiring for.

Similar to NASA I found RVF while doing a google search about nightlife in Thailand, then had a look at the other parts of the forum and realized I found people who shared the very similar values as me. I didn't know before that such a thing called manosphere existed. I've been ridiculed about my political views. Anyway I lurked around for a year before deciding to create an account. Slowly grasped new words, like SJW, never heard of this term before RVF.

The lifestyle section of this forum is the biggest gem, contributors like Satoshi, Scotian, NASA Test Pilot add amazing value. I subscribed to paid investment newsletters before, and trust me none of the content there is comparable to this forum. I was a pro member at SeekingAlpha.com at one time, it was huge waste of money. The content here is far superior not to mention free.

Post: #89

Very nice summary on the business of real estate. I've been doing it for almost 10 years now, but unfortunately still not so experienced. Current price point is just too prohibitively high for me to acquire many properties. I am ok with 4 of the 5 pillars, but as I gradually move into the phase of renovation I will run into some challenges. I may get luck and find good contractors or I may get beat up pretty badly getting scammed for construction cost.

Perhaps I will pm you for some advice.

(01-31-2016 10:18 PM)Pyrrhic victory Wrote:  160k/4m

Real estate combined with aggressive savings worked for me. I am in my mid 30s and am at this level Now and am contemplating an early retirement. I live a very simple life and drive a used pickup with minimal expenses. I eat out twice a week , pack my own lunch and don't give a damn about what anyone says or thinks.

The whole reason of getting into real estate was My family Purchased a couple of properties in NYC 30 years ago. I would help them while I was young with cleaning the properties , painting and collecting rent. I took an immediate liking to real estate and memorized the art of the deal by trump at a young age.

The NYC market in mid 90s was shit. And if you were sitting on capital could have purchased properties for 5 to 10 percent of what the market price is now.

The key is to talk to the old timers about the ups and downs of the business cycles they experienced in addition to market research. Talk to people who live and own businesses in the area you are looking to invest. I make it a point to only eat and shop in areas where I'm looking to invest. I talk to the cashiers , janitors To get real time street knowledge. I want to know about families , school performance , police Etc.

Either way, I wanted to make it on my own and went through the 80 - 90 hour work weeks to accomplish it. I don't count my families money as mine as I did not work for it. Therefore, I will not spend it while I can work.

I worked in finance for about 10 years and saved a large percentage of my earnings while cutting back on expenses. I then purchased small apartment complexes in blue collar areas that rent roll with reasonable returns to qualified cash tenants or subsidized / low income housing.

The learning curve was building a good team while setting up acquisitions / renovations. That has been the most arduous task I have ever accomplished. There is a balance point that is necessary in order to scale the business accordingly. It is a very fine line that can easily be overlooked. You may encounter great property value but not have the resources to renovate them quickly and enough staff to handle the back end.

Over the last few years I have build a very tough office management and field personnel team. I pay them well to help coordinate repairs , rentals , collections Etc.

If you are a newbie with real estate you must be very careful as this is what I call a standard 5 facet business. If one of these pillars is compromised the whole damn thing will collapse.

5 facets:
Acquisition
Renovation / maintenance
Tenant placement
Collection
Filing tax returns properly

Example 1:
You could be the guy who finds the best deals and have Holmes on homes quality renovations but end up renting to the wrong tenants and not having an aggressive collection team and you will fail.

Example 2:
You are great with paperwork and can harass people to collect money but don't have the construction knowledge to know driveway , electric , plumbing repairs / price points.
You end up getting overcharged on renovation cost and may even get persuaded to buy a home in an area that renters do not like by the typical pushy realtor looking for a commission

Example 3:
Slumlord scenario. Push for money and rent out units that are not in good condition while avoiding maintenance. Then deal with the turnover and garbage tenants that a dilapidated property only seems to attract. Maybe you are a total shit landlord and cover up a bunch of black mold with new dryeall and the tenants then get sick exposing you to lawsuits.

Either way , real estate is not for everyone.
Just like I never touched the stock market. I like the feeling of upside. The feeling of buying an undervalued asset that sold for 3x or 4x what i paid for it several years ago.

I want to build something and see a level of progression. I also prefer a steady drop in the bucket that has the potential to build up into a waterfall versus the one big inconsistent payout.

That is why I am contemplating an early retirement that may only last a couple of months before Boredom and lack of accomplishment despair sets in.

Post: #90

Appreciate your honesty about family money, and at the same time I also respect your opinion. People who come from money, who is not stupid, often have spent a lot of time learning investment.

Having invested both in real estate and Index fund, I am still not convinced one is better than the other. One thing I can say is that real estate can potentially yield a better return than index fund, but it won't be passive income.

All the talk of buying distressed property, getting below market deal, as if you will get first dib on those properties. Seasoned investors, brokers, realtors goggle those up and the newbie investors get the left overs. Especially in the current market. Sure 8 years ago, there's foreclosure every corner.

People getting 8% rental income in the midwest is doing pretty good. But that is equivalent to 6% stock growth + 2% dividend. Middle of the country properties usually don't appreciate too much, and housed fall apart and it cost a lot to repair.

Good investors in NYC, SF, LA do better than the stock market. Housing appreciate at a slightly higher rate than the stock market. And being a seasoned investors you can get better deals yielding 4-5% post expense rental income. I personally know real state investors churning out 7 figures a year with a 8 figure portfolio. They are making 10% return (appreciation+rental). But this is the culmination of 20+ years of experience, network with banks and builders. And it's a full time job.

Personally I am going to build up a bigger stock portfolio now given I am too heavily weighted in real estate.

(01-31-2016 05:16 PM)VolandoVengoVolandoVoy Wrote:  

(01-31-2016 04:15 PM)captain_shane Wrote:  It's not really that hard to achieve 6% returns in real estate. I was actually being pretty conservative. Find distressed houses at low prices and buy them for cash, fix them up and rent them out.

A buddy of mine recently bought a place for 40k, put in 40k fixing it up and rents it out for 1k a month. 12K gross - 40/50% in costs is 6k a year profit. 7.5% returns.

You can do a lot better than that in the midwest. My dad's probably going to pick up a place in the next 2 weeks which is 8K, probably needs 35k in repairs. Rent it out for 600 a month and you're looking at 8.5% returns.

Real Estate is way safer then Index funds. Just don't buy houses at retail.

I don't think real estate is safer than index funds.

I also think there is a lot of work and risk involved in purchasing, rehabbing, and renting out a property.

Also work involved in maintaining it and collecting rent.

And risk at both stages - the rehab work might be more expensive than you thought, there could be tax or regulatory issues, you could have a problem tenant, legal expenses, etc etc etc.

I've heard some people on this forum say stuff like if I had 2 million dollars I would build a 10 unit development and sell each unit for 400K and make 100% profit! As if it is easy to build, nothing unexpected happens, and every unit sells at full price with minimal hassle, and you never get sued or need to pay a lawyer or anything.

Post: #91

(01-31-2016 10:24 PM)WestIndianArchie Wrote:  

(01-30-2016 03:09 PM)The Black Knight Wrote:  I much rather be 35 living on 60k/year (or whatever 120k USA equivalent is) surrounded by hot latinas and maybe even starting a family somewhere in South America or doing whatever I want pursuing a purpose vs being 55 but having 3.5 million/year but having lost a lot of younger years to simply chasing money.

Agreed with all of the above.

Unless, I was trying to "save the planet", I wouldn't need much more.

....But part of me wants to save the planet.

WIA

WIA , Would you kindly shed some light on what do you mean by "Save the Planet"

Do you mean you would want to do some charitable work ? or something else ?

Post: #92

(02-16-2016 08:13 PM)Lothario Wrote:  

(01-31-2016 10:24 PM)WestIndianArchie Wrote:  

(01-30-2016 03:09 PM)The Black Knight Wrote:  I much rather be 35 living on 60k/year (or whatever 120k USA equivalent is) surrounded by hot latinas and maybe even starting a family somewhere in South America or doing whatever I want pursuing a purpose vs being 55 but having 3.5 million/year but having lost a lot of younger years to simply chasing money.

Agreed with all of the above.

Unless, I was trying to "save the planet", I wouldn't need much more.

....But part of me wants to save the planet.

WIA

WIA , Would you kindly shed some light on what do you mean by "Save the Planet"

Do you mean you would want to do some charitable work ? or something else ?

We all have different notions of what needs saving, but I've seen plenty of things where a change in institutions/culture would make life a magnitude/easier or better.

Never charity. I don't want to use the phrase "market driven solution", but there needs to be real tangible and immediate incentives to any solving problems. The world over, everyone asks the question, "If I do this thing, what's in it for me?"

WIA

Post: #93

After spending the last couple of months in the unemployment line doing absolutely nothing, I've come to the conclusion that there is no passive income that would make me stop working permanently once I find a career worth doing. It's depressing stuff when the rest of the world is busy at work and you're sitting on your ass somewhere with nothing to do BECAUSE everyone else is working. Only having to worry about surfing the internet, doing generic daily errands, laying on the beach with a beer, and going to the gym every day sounds like heaven...until you do it for 2-3 moths straight. No amount of passive income can save you from the depression that comes with that.

Post: #94

(02-17-2016 01:50 AM)Adrenaline Wrote:  After spending the last couple of months in the unemployment line doing absolutely nothing, I've come to the conclusion that there is no passive income that would make me stop working permanently once I find a career worth doing. It's depressing stuff when the rest of the world is busy at work and you're sitting on your ass somewhere with nothing to do BECAUSE everyone else is working. Only having to worry about surfing the internet, doing generic daily errands, laying on the beach with a beer, and going to the gym every day sounds like heaven...until you do it for 2-3 moths straight. No amount of passive income can save you from the depression that comes with that.

I did it for more than a year straight and I was truly happy. However that doesn't mean that you won't do absolutely anything, you can always write a book, create your own blog, learn a new language, take acting classes, etc, I agree that if you do absolutely nothing, you will be depressed.