Post: #51

(04-16-2012 07:33 PM)Scarecr0w Wrote:  50k in a savings bank account.... the thing is that the interest rate i get from those savings
is pathetic... less than 0.5% anually

Try a term investment. Usually get around 2-3 more percent if you want to leave it in the bank.

Post: #52

The subject veered from investing into entrepreneurship. I put some entrepreneurship ideas here:

/thread-1339-p...#pid196608

Post: #53

Hey "DansMedia", I knew a real scumbag called "ExtraWinner" over at BHW who used the same Avatar Pic, you wouldn't happen to be him, would you? No disrespect....

Post: #54

Nope. Google suits and picked an avatar. Youre right I have the same avatar. Why you call him that?

Post: #55

I suppose this is as good a thread as any to give a long overdue update and some general reflections on what's been going on for the past 6 months or so.

I was in the OP's position about 8-10 months ago, when I had first arrived to Thailand for my fifth long term Asia trip.

Engineer, young and single, lump sum of cash, and in search of opportunities.

I got by in Thailand for about 1K-1.5K USD per month. You can definitely get by on less, like 500-700 USD if you are really savvy.

If you want to build a web based business for yourself, a "muse" as Tim Ferriss would define it, I strongly suggest Chiang Mai, Thailand. You can live very, very comfortably for under 1000 dollars a month. It is quiet and you will not be distracted by much. This is under the assumption that you do not require an angel investment, venture capital, partners, or anything else that makes Silicon Valley a startup hub. If you are going for the blog+information products business model, I would suggest this. Chiang Mai is where 90% of my venture was built and scaled.

If you are in Asia and seeking angel investment or venture capital, I strongly suggest Singapore. The government is aggressively positioning Singapore as an Asian startup hub. Whether it is or ever will be is arguable - what is for sure is that there is a tremendous lack of talent and a lot of capital trying to find its way to opportunities.

At this point I'm seeing the fruits of my labor paying off financially. It's been a dramatic ride and I've learned a massive amount about building businesses, scouting and vetting potential partners and opportunities, product creation, marketing, consulting, SEO, social media marketing, web development, the list goes on and on.

I'm still very much a novice, though, and my learning curve has continued to be very steep.

If you replicated this and worked your ass off, you would get a better business education in 6 months than you would have in University, in my humble opinion. Take it from the guy with multiple masters degrees, that academia will never prepare you for the emotional roller coaster of being an entrepreneur.

I turned down sick job offers in two cities to grind it out on my own. It was stressful and I was constantly doubting if I was doing the right thing. I was also getting immense amounts of shit from my former colleagues and coworkers about "throwing away my education." It was a very difficult time and my health suffered as a result.

Things are rapidly moving in the right direction now. At the moment I am constantly waking up to good news, whether it's new bookings for consultations, product sales, or being featured in prominent media outlets. Using my strategic network and social media hacks, I landed a handful of prominent media features/appearances in a short period of time, which I will continue to do for a while as a PR coup.

I've said it before and I'll say it again - if you're not on linkedin, get on there pronto. You'll be amazed at how many prominent people in all industries from all over the world will be willing to connect with you. If you immediately add value to them - thank them for connecting and then send them an ebook of something that you think would be valuable to them, you've got your foot in the door. If you're in the same city or planning on going, set up a time to meet for coffee. Prepare some mental notes about what you'll say to this person, what you want from this person, and how you will add value before taking value. The results will be tremendous, believe me.

Take it with a grain of salt. I don't profess to be an entrepreneurial expert. I can only claim to be a person who started with zero experience in web related business and got himself to financial independence in about 6-12 months, depending on your definition of when I officially started.

I'm now making angel investments into startups in Asia and continuing to aggressively build my business and product line.

I am also being frugal. Discipline has been a very important thing that I completely lacked when I first arrived in Bangkok and onward to Phuket, until I got to Chiang Mai and was no longer distracted.

--------------------------------------

With 50K and about to leave a job, I would do exactly what I did this year, since that is more or less the position I was in anyway:


1 - Find a cheap locale in which to build a web based source of mobile passive or semi passive income, plan out a monthly budget and budget of capital requirements for my internet business

2 - Provide a service that can solve a problem, test my strategies out on a lot of people for free or cheap and make sure that I have a high enough success rate to confidently say that my methods work (they definitely do). Source my initial "prototype" clients from my personal network and from forums that you peruse frequently, such as RVF in my case.

3 - Launch a website based around my consulting services, set up a wordpress site/blog, outsource 20 or more pillar content articles for terms I want to rank for

4 - Aggressively expand my network in the media, bloggers, print media, television, anything. Find decision makers within these organizations and approach them with gifts and value. Convince them to feature me or include me in features in their upcoming publications and blog posts. This points links at me and gains me credibility in the public eye. My consultation requests exploded after being featured in a prominent Men's Health magazine.

5 (I am here now)- Simultaneously raise the price of my consultations as I build more and more products, in order to completely turn my business into an entirely passive income business

6 - Continue to live frugally and invest my capital into angel investments and self-capitalize a high-risk startup, knowing that if this venture crashes and burns, I have my initial web business to support my lifestyle and savings.





My two cents. Hopefully this helps out.


Opportunities multiply as they are seized.




----

Post: #56

That was a sick post YMG. It perfectly shows how one can be successful if he becomes persistent and works hard to attain his goals.

Today i was thinking of going back to the job route because is more secure and things can become more predictable. Then i read your post and it shows that true persistence in business can bring huge benefits.

Today was a very confusing day, it was nice to come on here and read your enlightening post. Hopefully you write more posts on here, you have been away from most of discussions on here lately.

Post: #57

Thanks Pitt. I dont know what's happening in your personal life, but it was very important to me that the following conditions were met before I did this:

1. Debt free

2. No girlfriend

3. Family all safe, healthy, and secure and I'm not needed for anything

4. Enough capital to support myself, finance the venture, and still have some left for savings

I'm not telling anyone to go do what I did. I'm only saying what I have done and what I would do, again, if I was in that situation. Entrepreneurship is risky and it is a matter of fact that most of the time, ventures will fail.

I can say with confidence that you need to have your personal life in order before embarking on this.

Post: #58

I've said this elsewhere on RVF and I'll say it again:

Don't take advice from people you've never met, with no track record, who have nothing to lose if you crash and burn and become homeless.

This includes internet forums. Thus, don't take my advice to heart, take it with a grain of salt. The vast majority of you I do not know personally. Simultaneously, you don't really know me either.

I have no right to assert what is right or wrong in your life or how to live - I can only make observations about what worked for me in the specific situations I have faced.

Post: #59

(04-16-2012 09:53 AM)Scarecr0w Wrote:  Hi guys

I have been working my ass off the last year and i have achieved saving 50K dollars.
Now i would like to make that amount bigger...
any ideas of what to do with that??

Thanks!

You need to do a research on profitable businesses you can invest in.

Post: #60

OK DUDES!!!
Some will see this post and will actually ignore the B.S. and red tape surrounding it. However most will completely ignore this post and not think twice about it. But I will tell you very directly, with 50K in the options market. You can very easily earn a residual income of 900 dollars a week give or take. Covered calls and Naked puts!!! Check them out, and don't listen to the propaganda scaring the public out of it. We all know its how the rich stay rich and the poor stay poor.
Check out TNA... its a great ETF to start with. You can practice with an options express paper account(fake money) for a month or two paper trading to get your skills ad understanding up. It is not as hard or risky as you think....

Post: #61

(04-24-2012 05:12 AM)elabayarde Wrote:  OK DUDES!!!
Some will see this post and will actually ignore the B.S. and red tape surrounding it. However most will completely ignore this post and not think twice about it. But I will tell you very directly, with 50K in the options market. You can very easily earn a residual income of 900 dollars a week give or take. Covered calls and Naked puts!!! Check them out, and don't listen to the propaganda scaring the public out of it. We all know its how the rich stay rich and the poor stay poor.
Check out TNA... its a great ETF to start with. You can practice with an options express paper account(fake money) for a month or two paper trading to get your skills ad understanding up. It is not as hard or risky as you think....

How many hours of education would it take before starting, and then how many hours per week to do the investing?

And what is the risk level? If it's low, can I just outsource the investment work to some skilled investor?

And if there is some skilled investor who can consistently make such returns, why isn't he famous?

Post: #62

Well,

Q: How many hours of education would it take before starting, and then how many hours per week to do the investing?

A: I'm an engineer and I think the OP is also... So I assume a certain amount of Brain power is present. I think in 20-40 hours of reading and studying you can have the two basic methods down, I mentioned.

After being spun up, you can evaluate the numbers on a company (in like 5 min) or you can program the algorithm, in matlab or even excel..lol and take 20 secs.

One of my friends does covered calls weekly and says he's gonna write a book called the 4 min work weeks...LOL
But, he is really quick, though.

Q:And what is the risk level? If it's low, can I just outsource the investment work to some skilled investor?

A: Its much safer than just straight trading(buying and selling securities).... much safer. Specifically, Covered call contracts sold on ETF's (bunch of different stocks lumped together) is very safe... At lease safer than giving your money to a mutual fund manager.
Also, the rate of return on most "investment accounts" is beat by inflation. So your actually loosing value in most situations.

And if there is some skilled investor who can consistently make such returns, why isn't he famous?
Investors(mostly) aren't in the market to make you money... there trying to make there company or themselves money.

I can give you a list of books to teach you and people are famous but usually they do it for them self. They all say the same answers to your questions. The banks take your money and make 4-6(or more) percent a month doing this. Then give you 2% percent per year. Its laughable once you learn about it.
You give that money to a "skilled investor" they will move your money around in circles to look busy... and charge transaction fees for each move. No one will invest your money like YOU.

I will send you some books and resources if your interested. But I really think you should learn yourself and do it for your self

Post: #63

(04-24-2012 03:22 PM)elabayarde Wrote:  Well,

Q: How many hours of education would it take before starting, and then how many hours per week to do the investing?

A: I'm an engineer and I think the OP is also... So I assume a certain amount of Brain power is present. I think in 20-40 hours of reading and studying you can have the two basic methods down, I mentioned.

After being spun up, you can evaluate the numbers on a company (in like 5 min) or you can program the algorithm, in matlab or even excel..lol and take 20 secs.

One of my friends does covered calls weekly and says he's gonna write a book called the 4 min work weeks...LOL
But, he is really quick, though.

Q:And what is the risk level? If it's low, can I just outsource the investment work to some skilled investor?

A: Its much safer than just straight trading(buying and selling securities).... much safer. Specifically, Covered call contracts sold on ETF's (bunch of different stocks lumped together) is very safe... At lease safer than giving your money to a mutual fund manager.
Also, the rate of return on most "investment accounts" is beat by inflation. So your actually loosing value in most situations.

And if there is some skilled investor who can consistently make such returns, why isn't he famous?
Investors(mostly) aren't in the market to make you money... there trying to make there company or themselves money.

I can give you a list of books to teach you and people are famous but usually they do it for them self. They all say the same answers to your questions. The banks take your money and make 4-6(or more) percent a month doing this. Then give you 2% percent per year. Its laughable once you learn about it.
You give that money to a "skilled investor" they will move your money around in circles to look busy... and charge transaction fees for each move. No one will invest your money like YOU.

I will send you some books and resources if your interested. But I really think you should learn yourself and do it for your self

so you average almost 100% return on your investments annually? how long have you been doing this and whats your record?

Post: #64

(04-24-2012 03:22 PM)elabayarde Wrote:  Well,

Q: How many hours of education would it take before starting, and then how many hours per week to do the investing?

A: I'm an engineer and I think the OP is also... So I assume a certain amount of Brain power is present. I think in 20-40 hours of reading and studying you can have the two basic methods down, I mentioned.

After being spun up, you can evaluate the numbers on a company (in like 5 min) or you can program the algorithm, in matlab or even excel..lol and take 20 secs.

One of my friends does covered calls weekly and says he's gonna write a book called the 4 min work weeks...LOL
But, he is really quick, though.

Q:And what is the risk level? If it's low, can I just outsource the investment work to some skilled investor?

A: Its much safer than just straight trading(buying and selling securities).... much safer. Specifically, Covered call contracts sold on ETF's (bunch of different stocks lumped together) is very safe... At lease safer than giving your money to a mutual fund manager.
Also, the rate of return on most "investment accounts" is beat by inflation. So your actually loosing value in most situations.

And if there is some skilled investor who can consistently make such returns, why isn't he famous?
Investors(mostly) aren't in the market to make you money... there trying to make there company or themselves money.

I can give you a list of books to teach you and people are famous but usually they do it for them self. They all say the same answers to your questions. The banks take your money and make 4-6(or more) percent a month doing this. Then give you 2% percent per year. Its laughable once you learn about it.
You give that money to a "skilled investor" they will move your money around in circles to look busy... and charge transaction fees for each move. No one will invest your money like YOU.

I will send you some books and resources if your interested. But I really think you should learn yourself and do it for your self

I#m not recommeding anyone do this, of course.

But I'm interested. Could you hook me up with a PM with some resources. Always interested in potentially making more money.

Post: #65

Buy a blimp.

Post: #66

(04-24-2012 04:55 PM)Kitsune Wrote:  

(04-24-2012 03:22 PM)elabayarde Wrote:  Well,

Q: How many hours of education would it take before starting, and then how many hours per week to do the investing?

A: I'm an engineer and I think the OP is also... So I assume a certain amount of Brain power is present. I think in 20-40 hours of reading and studying you can have the two basic methods down, I mentioned.

After being spun up, you can evaluate the numbers on a company (in like 5 min) or you can program the algorithm, in matlab or even excel..lol and take 20 secs.

One of my friends does covered calls weekly and says he's gonna write a book called the 4 min work weeks...LOL
But, he is really quick, though.

Q:And what is the risk level? If it's low, can I just outsource the investment work to some skilled investor?

A: Its much safer than just straight trading(buying and selling securities).... much safer. Specifically, Covered call contracts sold on ETF's (bunch of different stocks lumped together) is very safe... At lease safer than giving your money to a mutual fund manager.
Also, the rate of return on most "investment accounts" is beat by inflation. So your actually loosing value in most situations.

And if there is some skilled investor who can consistently make such returns, why isn't he famous?
Investors(mostly) aren't in the market to make you money... there trying to make there company or themselves money.

I can give you a list of books to teach you and people are famous but usually they do it for them self. They all say the same answers to your questions. The banks take your money and make 4-6(or more) percent a month doing this. Then give you 2% percent per year. Its laughable once you learn about it.
You give that money to a "skilled investor" they will move your money around in circles to look busy... and charge transaction fees for each move. No one will invest your money like YOU.

I will send you some books and resources if your interested. But I really think you should learn yourself and do it for your self

I#m not recommeding anyone do this, of course.

But I'm interested. Could you hook me up with a PM with some resources. Always interested in potentially making more money.

Yes absolutely... Also, what I will do in a month or two, is start a thread... and start a portfolio from scratch(as long as roosh says its cool). This will be based off of a trust, so i will be able to give some details about that, so everyone can open a paper account and follow along. However, I am not going to disclose ANY personal info.... that would be stupid so don't ask. What I will do is give info, and details about this portfolio. However, PM me and I will gather a list of info and resources, send it to whoever is interested.

Post: #67

(04-24-2012 07:20 PM)elabayarde Wrote:  

(04-24-2012 04:55 PM)Kitsune Wrote:  

(04-24-2012 03:22 PM)elabayarde Wrote:  Well,

Q: How many hours of education would it take before starting, and then how many hours per week to do the investing?

A: I'm an engineer and I think the OP is also... So I assume a certain amount of Brain power is present. I think in 20-40 hours of reading and studying you can have the two basic methods down, I mentioned.

After being spun up, you can evaluate the numbers on a company (in like 5 min) or you can program the algorithm, in matlab or even excel..lol and take 20 secs.

One of my friends does covered calls weekly and says he's gonna write a book called the 4 min work weeks...LOL
But, he is really quick, though.

Q:And what is the risk level? If it's low, can I just outsource the investment work to some skilled investor?

A: Its much safer than just straight trading(buying and selling securities).... much safer. Specifically, Covered call contracts sold on ETF's (bunch of different stocks lumped together) is very safe... At lease safer than giving your money to a mutual fund manager.
Also, the rate of return on most "investment accounts" is beat by inflation. So your actually loosing value in most situations.

And if there is some skilled investor who can consistently make such returns, why isn't he famous?
Investors(mostly) aren't in the market to make you money... there trying to make there company or themselves money.

I can give you a list of books to teach you and people are famous but usually they do it for them self. They all say the same answers to your questions. The banks take your money and make 4-6(or more) percent a month doing this. Then give you 2% percent per year. Its laughable once you learn about it.
You give that money to a "skilled investor" they will move your money around in circles to look busy... and charge transaction fees for each move. No one will invest your money like YOU.

I will send you some books and resources if your interested. But I really think you should learn yourself and do it for your self

I#m not recommeding anyone do this, of course.

But I'm interested. Could you hook me up with a PM with some resources. Always interested in potentially making more money.

Yes absolutely... Also, what I will do in a month or two, is start a thread... and start a portfolio from scratch(as long as roosh says its cool). This will be based off of a trust, so i will be able to give some details about that, so everyone can open a paper account and follow along. However, I am not going to disclose ANY personal info.... that would be stupid so don't ask. What I will do is give info, and details about this portfolio. However, PM me and I will gather a list of info and resources, send it to whoever is interested.

Hey really interested in the covered call strategy If you intend to start a portfolio we can follow why not use profitly.com We can all track it and the trades are verified .

Post: #68

(04-24-2012 05:12 AM)elabayarde Wrote:  OK DUDES!!!
Some will see this post and will actually ignore the B.S. and red tape surrounding it. However most will completely ignore this post and not think twice about it. But I will tell you very directly, with 50K in the options market. You can very easily earn a residual income of 900 dollars a week give or take. Covered calls and Naked puts!!! Check them out, and don't listen to the propaganda scaring the public out of it. We all know its how the rich stay rich and the poor stay poor.
Check out TNA... its a great ETF to start with. You can practice with an options express paper account(fake money) for a month or two paper trading to get your skills ad understanding up. It is not as hard or risky as you think....

Post: #69

the ultimate contrarian investment play right now...

go long natural gas / natural gas producing companies

If you don't follow commodities trading, the price of natural gas has been beaten down due to increasing supply and undeveloped demand. However, it has a very bright future as the alternative to oil. In terms of reserves, the US is the Saudi Arabia of natural gas. The US natural gas industry is undergoing tremendous growing pains. In the future, I predict the US to be the number one exporter of natural gas to the EU and other nations. And I predict, like in Europe today, natural gas will be sold at every gas station in America.

Post: #70

(04-27-2012 08:56 PM)rozayINTL Wrote:  

I gather you don't like the suggestion. ha

What would you suggest?

Post: #71

(04-24-2012 05:32 PM)kickboxer Wrote:  Buy a blimp.

Can you imagine how much pussy you'd get from having a blimp!

"What's up girl, want to take a ride in my blimp?"

Who's gonna say no to that? It's a motherfucking blimp!

Blimp game. Kickboxer you're a genius!

Post: #72

I'm about to invest some money and I'll buy a house that I'll be renting out. I don't know about your countries, but I don't have too much faith in my currency right now. So even if everything goes wrong, I'll have a place to live in. If everything goes well, I'll have a side income and tax benefits from it.

Post: #73

Read "Think and Grow Rich" by Napolean Hill, then make your own decision.

Post: #74

heres what I would do If I was handed 50k cash.

15 grand in personal moves: couple new suits, take a vacation, motorcycle with side car, pet pig, a nice hookah, fix up an old jet ski, build a wet bar.
5 grand to the rainy day emergency fund
10 grand to finance start-up project A
10 grand to finance start-up project B
10 grand in reserve to continue whichever start-up was more promising, then seek additional funds through investors or loans. Sell off other project is possible, or keep on backburner.

Post: #75

Nice breakdown AntiTrace, we think a lot alike. I'm keeping 5K reserved for my "oh shit" fund. If everything goes south, I can use that to chill in the DR or C. America for a few months until I get back on track. Nothings worse than being busted and stuck in the states. Been there, done that.

I want to stay at work a little longer to bank an extra $20K for total fuckoff money, but am chomping at the bit to get the next chapter of my life started. I'm going to see how much more college I need to finish, which I estimate to be about a year. That would be a good investment.

Emech is trying to get me down to his stomping grounds to set up some biz ops, which I just may do at the end of the year. I gotta stay outta country till the end of the year though to make the tax break. Running 3 cabs and hustling used tires could bring in some easy cash. It might bring in some employment opportunities for forum members that wanted to get their foot in the door down in the Tampa area. They could drive or hang tires part time. And hang with us and chase pussy.

I'd be pecking at the bank for a loan though, to keep money for other investments. Like starting a little bar. I would project a small investment could start bringing in $400-500 per day, without working too hard. Running cabs and a small bar would give access to pussy without having to spend time chasing it down. Very efficient. I'm just worried about how much the tax man is gonna take. That's the kicker with a biz. A low profit margin, and a high tax bracket can kill you. Seen it happen too many times.

I grew up in a family biz, and know what it takes to keep one running. Spent years working in bars, and know that as well. The only downside is your tied to it, and that detracts from international travel.

Just throwing out some of my ideas. Worse case there's always N. Dakota. I can always drive up there and bank some quick cash to start again.