Financial Samurai

I was driving downtown to drop my wife off at the museum when a car started drifting dangerously into my lane.  I beeped the horn to alert the driver and when I drove by, the teenage kid in the back seat flicked me off!  I didn’t have a long annoying horn, nor a machine gun type rat-ta-tat-tat beep.  All I did was beep once so we wouldn’t collide.  The father was reading a map and driving at the same time.

I have to admit that my blood started to boil and I was tempted to blast him a new one when their car stopped next to me in front of the light.  Instead, I buzzed down my window, stared intently, and told the kid, “Don’t embarrass your parents.  I beeped at you guys because you were halfway in my lane and didn’t even know it.”

The dad was still clueless as to why I was talking to his punk kid and he also rolled down his window to ask, “What’s up?” Read more…

Forbes came out with a fun article highlighting the 5 ingredients helpful for reaching billionaire status.  Shockingly, 3 of the ingredients pertain to me, yet I’m far from big bucks wealthy.  The only time I ever made a move towards Warren Buffet status was last November when he lost $9.6 billion on paper and I lost less.

Maybe I'll wear the tie on Monday.

5 Key Ingredients For Becoming A Billionaire

1) Have parents with math-related careers.

2) Born in September.

3) Dropped out of college.

4) Member of a secret society like Yale’s Skull & Bones.

5) Worked a stint at Goldman Sachs.

I remember sitting next to Steve on a plane ride from Shanghai to Hong Kong 5 years ago.  The first thing I thought was, why is he flying commercial?  The second thing I thought was, I guess he really did have a lot of acne growing up!  Sorry Steve, I’m just being honest.  He was hosting a big Forbes-sponsored conference and he started going on and on about the emergence of growth in Asia.  He gave me a pep talk and said, “FS there’s no stopping what you want to do, so just go out there and grab it!”

We exchanged business cards, his saying “CEO, Editor in Chief of Forbes Magazine,” mine saying “Waterboy At Your Service” and we went about our separate ways.  Eight months later, I get an unceremonious Christmas present in the mail with a tie that says, “Corporate Tool.” Thanks Steve, what a trip!  At least you got me thinking about your flat tax mantra that generated so many comments this past week.

There’s a 6th ingredient for becoming a billionaire Steve forgot to mention.  That’s simply to be like Steve and inherit it!

Hope everybody is having a good weekend.

Related Post:

“The Less You Have The Less You Have To Lose”

“Bank of Mom And Dad: Should We Spoil Our Children?”

Keigu,

Financial Samurai – “Slicing Through Money’s Mysteries”

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Smoking kills, but people still do it.

Why is it that the #1 re-occurring theme in the personal finance community is addressing how to eradicate debt due to overspending?  What is it that makes a rational person spend more than their income allows?

If you have $5 bucks in your hand for a Subway sandwich, how do you go to Morton’s Steakhouse and borrow $35 to buy a $40 rib-eye?  If you make $50,000 a year, why would you buy a $50,000 BMW with a $45,000 loan?  After overhearing what a father told his daughter at the Porsche dealer this weekend (it was on the way home), I have a feeling spending irrationally starts when we are kids. Read more…

Do you remember that colleague who always seemed to have the latest and most fancy clothes? She’s your same age with your similar salary and you’re slumming it with Old Navy and 5 dolla foot long subs (half of which you save for lunch tomorrow!) while she carries a Gucci bag and eats sashimi for lunch. What about that guy who drives a $50,000 BMW 335i coupe one year out of school while you still chugalug with your 10 year old Civic, or better yet, your shiny bus pass? What’s up with that you wonder.

I used to think these young folks just had nice high paying jobs and made home run investments in college, but maybe not so much anymore given the absolute armageddon we’ve seen. The older you get, the more you realize there’s a lot of smoke and mirrors. I remember going to at least 25 open houses one summer in 2004, and I swear to you that 80% of the lookers had parents looking to buy their adult child a place. “But mom, I want a view of the city from my bathroom,” said one young buck. “Oh honey, what what do you think of this nice Brazilian cherry wood?” Bleh. Go to a car dealership, and you’ll find the same scenarios. It’s not unheard of that parents will subsidize or pay completely for their children’s rent, as well as provide an allowance. “Dad, I just have to have that Rolex Yacht Master II watch!”

Should we encourage parents to support their kids after college? Why not, if their child doesn’t have a job or much money. But, how do college graduates learn about personal finance, if all they are doing is receiving hand outs from parents and splurging on wasteful crap? They don’t, because they don’t need to, and that’s fine by me because we need them to consume like mad to help get this economy moving again! At the end of the day, it’s really none of our business what other people’s parents choose to do for their kids. Heck, if you were rich, and could donate a lot of money to get your kid into Harvard, wouldn’t you? It’s just the ostentatious righteousness that may get to us.

The real question is, should we pay back our parents, and if so, when? I say yes, and whenever we have the means to do so. They put the investment in us and many have paid for our education. Why not pay our parents back at least in real terms the money they spent on us from ages 18-22? Many of us in our 30’s have parents who are retired and rely on a fixed income. How nice it would be if their kids started sending them a check for a couple hundred bucks a month for the rest of their lives. I’d sure like that little Social Security bonus when I’m retired!

The issue of Bank of Mom & Dad is that of jealousy. Instead of letting it eat you up inside, use it as motivation to get ahead.  Readers, feel free to share your thoughts on the subject!

Keigu,

Financial Samurai

“Slicing Through Money’s Mysteries”