Post: #1

New to the forum. First, I'd like to say thanks...I lurked for around a year and during that time I was able to unplug from the matrix. During that time, I:

1. Took a $9/hour job (security, so I could work on side projects or sleep) on top of my office slave job, effectively working 24 hours per day to fund an online affiliate marketing business.

2. Managed to crack the code, found a winning campaign, and banked about $500k after taxes in a few months before the campaign died. (I have not been able to get anything to work since)

3. Rolled the money into rental real estate in one of the best markets in the nation, acquiring 30 units rapidly before killing my job.

4. Did some mind-expanding traveling, reduced bodyfat from 20%+ to 8% and started a healthy lifestyle with the newfound free time and disposable income.

5. After a few months got a $200k/yr job in the oilfield with no experience thanks to Atlantic's thread. Drove to HQ and knocked on doors.

So I owe you guys a lot.

Since it appears the advice found on this forum trumps anything I can get from any other source, I have a question:

At what level of passive, or mostly passive (<5 hours / week), location independent income would you feel comfortable permanently quitting work and just traveling and knocking out bucket list items?

I ask because I was making about $5000 net a month from rental income, but decided to sacrifice any semblance of a social life by going to the oil patch because I wasn't comfortable yet. I had an awesome surplus of time, but I couldn't yet do whatever the hell I wanted.

I'm not talking about stupid luxuries like yachts, fancy cars, bottle service etc. Just the ability to pick up and travel anywhere on a whim, or buy a ticket to a concert, festival, or other event on a weekly basis. With this kind of lifestyle, I would not be able to continue to grow the real estate business at a fast enough rate to be confident that I would never need to return to work.

Within 3 years in the oil patch, I could have the rentals humming along at $250k/year net. I am thinking this may be overkill. Especially since I plan on expatriating, as I have done zero international travel and have very few cool experiences. Most of my life has been focused on work.

The other thing that concerns me is during that time frame my W-2 pay could conceivably rise to 400-500k (nice problem to have, yes) and therefore the opportunity cost of leaving, even with 250k of passive income, would be high.

I live a pretty minimalist lifestyle...I actually live in a Winnebago Rialta and I do "stealth camping." So my core expenses are less than $1000/month. But when I travel I can't stand missing out on anything or being bored. Also , if it matters, I am under 30.

I am thinking $150/year may be a better figure? This is the level of income of general practitioner doctors in the US, who can live in any city comfortably and have access to any grade of women. Although I plan on leaving the US, knowing that my options are unlimited is necessary.

Post: #2

I have a magic number in my head that says I need to top out at no less than 500K (at current USD purchasing power) a year at some point in my 30s. Do I need this much money now, in my mid 20s? No. Am I basing this number on some concrete desires or needs? No. But my expectation is that as you age and that youthful shine starts to fade, you must keep improving some fundamental aspects of your status just to prevent your station in life from backsliding. If you're already used to low six figs in your 20s, as you are, would you really want to find yourself a decade older with no improvement in your financial firepower?

Post: #3

How did you get a 200k a year job in the oilfield by knocking on an HQ's door. Because I've done the same thing and I wasn't making 200k...

You say you haven't done any international traveling after saying you did mind expanding traveling. I guess only in Canada then if your in the oil patch? Where else? BC? Montreal? The Arctic?

Your profile says you're from the US. Not easy to work in Alberta in that case, especially with zero oil patch experience.

And not one post on the forum about this incredible life journey of yours until now?

I'm very skeptical right now.

Post: #4

It sounds too good to be true. I'd like to see more details to believe it.

Post: #5

$500k after taxes in a few months off affiliate marketing then managing to leverage that into 30 rental units?

Each one cost under $100k (i.e. less than $20k down each) that turned into $5k month income immediately. With I am guessing no previous experience buying rental real estate.

$200k with no experience? Unless you married an oil CEO's daughter I don't buy this either.

This sounds on the edges of extraordinary.

Post: #6

I killed the interview and got extremely lucky. I also researched what pays the most and targeted that job only.

Shamefully, the mind expanding traveling was limited to the US. I had barely been outside of m home state in the rust belt and had basically been working my ass off for the last fifteen years with no time for anything else. Even this limited experience floored me. For instance, I am in love with the West. I can't wait to see how much better it gets beyond our borders. But I am willing to postpone it for 2-3 years while I knock this out. At my current trajectory I should still be in good condition and able to enjoy it.

Post: #7

(12-22-2014 10:25 PM)Killface Wrote:  1. Took a $9/hour job (security, so I could work on side projects or sleep) on top of my office slave job, effectively working 24 hours per day to fund an online affiliate marketing business.

2. Managed to crack the code, found a winning campaign, and banked about $500k after taxes in a few months before the campaign died. (I have not been able to get anything to work since)

3. Rolled the money into rental real estate in one of the best markets in the nation, acquiring 30 units rapidly before killing my job.

4. Did some mind-expanding traveling, reduced bodyfat from 20%+ to 8% and started a healthy lifestyle with the newfound free time and disposable income.

5. After a few months got a $200k/yr job in the oilfield with no experience thanks to Atlantic's thread. Drove to HQ and knocked on doors.

You went from a $9/hr security job to half a million dollars within a few months? And from that to a 200k/yr job with no experience? And you're asking US for advice??

Here's a passive income idea. Write an ebook on how to make $500k in a few months and get a 200k/yr job with no experience. If it's legit, you'll be a millionaire overnight.

Shit, I'll be the first one to buy it.

Post: #8

Sounds like the RVF GOD troll, a bigger version of the big baller troll.

Manages to do EVERYTHING we recommend on the forum flawlessly.

Post proof of your income and I'll eat my words.

Doubt that's going to happen, I feel a ban coming.

Post: #9

Not impossible thanks to this forum and a few other corners of the Internet. I'm a fan of biggerpockets.com, the affiliate marketing forums, the fastlane forum and a few others, but I mostly lurk. The information is out there if you're desperate enough, which I was. The affiliate success was likely mostly luck since I have never duplicated it, but I did spend months busting my ass and losing tons of money, which most people would not be able to stomach. (I initially lost about $10k and was making $50k at a crappy job)

I follow the 2% rule from biggerpockets and there are markets where this is possible. I happened to live in one. Some of mine are actually 4%, though they are in less desirable areas. The rentals are solid, though not places I would want to live for various reasons. I have been picking them up for anywhere between $15k cash, or up to $50k for the mortgaged ones (30% down necessary). If you are from a real city this seems impossible I know, but I'm from the 3rd world rust belt (NOT a Detroit type negative growth city though).

These oilfield jobs are readily available and you can get one if you read every page of the oilfield threads on this forum. It wasn't difficult.

Post: #10

Also Laurifer, I am in the US oil industry, not Canada. I would probably make more up there but that was not available to me with no experience.

I don't typically post in forums because I don't consider myself an authority on anything in particular, I am just good at assimilating information from other people.

Neo, your post cracked me up, but I don't know how I would prove my income without a serious breach of privacy. I knew this would stir some controversy, which is really why I don't post in forums in the first place, but I would like the focus to be more on the question I asked. I just figured I would provide some background, because everything is relative to an individual's experience.

Post: #11

Speakeasy, I was working a $50k office slave job. I added the $9/hour job to lessen the losses of starting the affiliate marketing company. I think I got the idea from a thread on here. I would get off of my job at 7, drive to the warehouse or wherever I was assigned to guard, work on the affiliate stuff til I passed out for a couple hours, then go back into the office job at 7am.

The ebook thing has been suggested but do those seriously make appreciable money? I also have no idea how I would tell people to duplicate what I did, since I haven't duplicated it myself. I can tell people what to do if they suddenly come into a chunk of money, but that's about it.

Yes, I am asking for advice here because this forum has changed my life

Post: #12

Quote:but I don't know how I would prove my income without a serious breach of privacy

Post: #13

Okay, explain to us what you do exactly in the oilfields where you were able to make that kind of money with no experience. While I can't say I read the entire oil field thread, I read a lot of it and did some research and it seems those guys with no specialized background are getting about 100k a year tops if they are working 12 hours a day and don't take leave.

Post: #14

Your life sounds like Forest Gump.

Way too many fucking miracles.

Post: #15

I think Neo called it.

Post: #16

You worked 24 hours straight on multiple occasions without sleep?


Okay.

Post: #17

Proving income does not matter. If you're skeptical, fine, consider me a character asking about a hypothetical situation.

I only have one legit answer so far, and there is no way I will last til I can get to 500k passive. I'd be too old to really maximize it.

Post: #18

With your luck you should just start a homemade porn site somehow by next year it will blow up into a multi billion dollar empire and you'll manage to turn out wholesome female celebrities on video.

Post: #19

Cattle Rustler: Sometimes yes. I would grab a nap during lunch. Other times, as you can read in my other posts, I slept on the job as a security guard. It was a second job, so I really didn't care if I got fired. I was this desperate. I absolutely hated my life.

speakeasy: I am not one of the rig hands. Those guys earn every penny and work insanely hard. I wouldn't cut it. There are other options if you have a degree (does not have to be oil related), as detailed in the threads on this forum. Think geosteering, mud logging, MWD, directional driller, wireline engineer etc. Not all the ones I listed can make you 200k a year but some googling will show you the ones that can.

Post: #20

Somebody who has the intelligence to earn this kind of money in such a short period of time also understands that this is not the right forum to ask this question. This is the best forum about game, but not about investments, early retirement or passive income.

Post: #21

LOL @ the porn site. I had a buddy who tried to do that and it was an utter disaster but hilarious to watch. Honestly man, I don't relate to most of the women in the US. I have had my best experiences with women from the countries that you guys, coincidentally, rave about. I am pretty much writing them off except for occasional randoms for awhile. Seems like there is a lot more marginal benefit for marginal effort elsewhere. With my financial situation I am doubly terrified of them now. I also work 24/7 in the middle of nowhere, so not much talent around. I plan to focus more on women and that kind of thing after I make my money

Post: #22

(12-22-2014 11:45 PM)Killface Wrote:  Proving income does not matter. If you're skeptical, fine, consider me a character asking about a hypothetical situation.

I only have one legit answer so far, and there is no way I will last til I can get to 500k passive. I'd be too old to really maximize it.

Have you considered professional gigolo because I assume during your glorious rise to success that your dick also grew no less than an additional 8 inches like pinnochio's nose.

Post: #23

Negative, pretty average down there

Post: #24

Brodiaga, I disagree. Go to bogleheads or one of those finance forums and all the brainwashed "slow laners" will have you socking away 10% in a 401k of index funds. This is not the way to real wealth. The real way is leveraged assets and minimizing expenses.

Some of the best bodybuilding/ health advice I got was from this forum. Should I have consulted webmd instead, or maybe the government, and eaten my 12 servings of pasta per day while avoiding fat and protein?

I don't know if you guys realize how great this forum is for advice in a wide variety of subjects, since people are not afraid to call bullshit and go against convention

Post: #25

I said in a thread along time ago at least the U.S. for game purposes if you have unlimited free time your figure of $150k a year is what I said would maximize game with the apartments, clothes, travel, and entertainment funds to go after 8s all the time before dimishing returns sets in. Anything more than that having some fame or social pre-selection in a high end venue would help more than money.