Every now and again, people surprise me.  One of the greatest feelings is when you want to laugh and cry at the same time.  For years I’ve had the most wonderful tenant.  Timothy, was always courteous and kind, and never more than 10 days late on rent.  When he told me in January of his plans to move back East, he did so in a hand written letter that was so kind.

Saddened by his impending departure, I wrote a post asking a basic question, “Is It Better to Rent To Males or Females?” to help deal with the preparation ahead.  Most of you mentioned you prefer females, however all of the past five tenants have been males.

WHO COMES HITHER?

I hosted four open houses altogether, and oddly enough, 75% of the new applicants were female this time around.  During the first open house, I noticed Timothy’s wall hung a framed rejection letter by a publisher.  “Thanks and we wish you the best of luck”, it said.  Poor Timothy, he was working in a relatively low paying non-profit job that he didn’t like, and he wanted to be a writer.

During the final walk through with Timothy, we began talking about his future plans.  I was somewhat expecting him to say that he was just quitting his job to move back East and live with his parents in this economy.  Instead, he told me he found a new job!  He was very modest at first, and mentioned that a publisher hired him to “do some things here and there.“  When I politely asked him to share more, he mentioned Random House hired him!  Given he was so modest, I was expecting him to say that he was going to work as an literary apprentice or something of that nature.  Instead, he said they signed him to a book deal!

Timothy began talking about how he spent the past year and a half writing two manuscripts and getting 32 agent rejection letters all the while working 50 hours a week at his day job.  At last he found an agent, and after a dozen more publisher rejections he finally landed the big one.  They flew him out to New York, took him out to Jean George’s, and slyly slid over a contract after the lemon meringue pie was served!  The contract was not for just one book, but for three books over six years!

I was overjoyed with the news and actually started to tear up.  Timothy was a good person, and a dream tenant.  Why must you leave me!  No, no, I was just overjoyed for him.  Furthermore, he wasn’t falling into the underemployed camp as I had initially feared.  Timothy persevered through years of rejection, wrote a manuscript that the biggest publishing house in the world deems noteworthy, and signed not only a book deal, but a multi-book, multi-year book deal!

ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE

Can you imagine writing a full 300-page manuscript and getting rejected by 32 different agents?  Surely most would give up.  Not Timothy.  After all the denials, he wrote a new 300-page manuscript and finally found someone who believed in him.  His advocate sold him to the very top of the publishing universe when no one else cared.  In my tiny rental lived a 26 year old writer who is fulfilling his dreams.  Anything is possible!

Readers, any out of the blue success stories you’d like to share about yourself or others you know?  Do you have the persistence to keep on going?

Happy Mother’s Day Mom!

Best,

Sam

I was driving home from grocery shopping one day when I saw this little boy in the picture holding a clipboard and smiling.  It was your typical, chilly 58 degree San Francisco day and the boy stood so patiently in his parka, saying “hello” to every passerby.  His presence filled my heart and I zipped Moose around the corner to park so I could see what he was selling.  Whatever he was selling, I was going to buy!

Little Henry was selling $1 raffle tickets to support his school choir so they could take a trip down to Los Angeles and perform.  Oh my goodness Henry, you are a star!  I pulled out my wallet and gave him my only bill and told him I’ll take 10.  His smile got even bigger as he gave me the clipboard and asked me to fill out my contact info.

“Thank you Mr!“, Henry said gleefully.  I smiled back at him asking if I could take his picture.  Of course he said yes to one of his best customers.

Henry, it is I who thanks you.  You’ve given me perhaps years of mental smiles and motivation that I so dearly need all the time.  Why do I love to blog so much?  It’s partly because of memories like this where I can capture, record, and come back to any time in the future.

THE DIFFERENCE MAKER

Everything about Henry made me want to open my wallet and support him.  As I think further, it was simply his smile that allowed every single passerby to at least acknowledge Henry and say ‘hello’ back.  I’m sure at the end of the day, Henry walked away with hundreds of dollars!

When I got back home, I began to really go through a myriad of emotions.  I remembered all the times I couldn’t go outside to play with friends because I hadn’t finished my homework yet.  I remember thinking as a kid how I never had enough money to buy anything the other kids had, such as a camera or a Nintendo.  I’d sulk in my room like a spoiled brat.  I then recalled a change in attitude in the 9th grade where I started taking responsibility for myself.  I got a job at McDonald’s for $3 an hour, opening up the store at 6am to bleary-eyed customers just so I could buy what I wanted.

The reason why I don’t believe in handouts and big government is because of kids like Henry who are out there working hard for what they want.  Someone had to tell Henry that if he wants to go to LA and sing in the choir that he would have to help his team raise some money.  It was apparent to me that Henry loves to sing and would do anything to make his trip a reality.

The reason why I’m so bullish on all of us is that we all have the power to make something happen.  We live in a free world where nobody is inhibiting us to go out there and achieve our goals.  I don’t have pity parties, and I certainly don’t pity anybody who complains about this problem or that problem.  Every time I hear a complaint, in my mind I think to myself, “Just try harder.“  Sometimes the thoughts get nastier such as, “STFU, you baby“, but essentially it always comes back to “just try harder“.

THANK YOU THANK YOU

Sometimes trying harder gets a little tiring, I admit it.  Burnout is an inevitable part of life.  What we need to do is try hard at something we enjoy.  We’ve also got to realize our strengths and weaknesses so we don’t go down a never ending path of failures.

The next time you feel like complaining, think about the Chilean Miners, or Henry.  These people are out there making the most of their situation and doing something about it.  They aren’t just whining about how life is unfair, or how somebody treated them poorly, or how another is gaming the system at their expense.  No.  They are focused on controlling what they can control, which are their own actions.

If you don’t want be broke, know that you can become rich.  If you don’t want to be out of shape, know that you can get in shape.  If love is what you want, know that there are millions of people out there looking for the same thing.  There is nothing we can’t do.  Thank you Henry for your inspiration!

Readers, share with us any little inspirations you might have come across.  Why do people complain so much instead of do something to improve their situation?  Does low self-esteem play a part in not allowing people to take action?  If not, what is it?

If you enjoy this post, sign up for my RSS feed.

Regards,

Sam

I can’t help it.  I just have to wake up by 6:15am every morning because life just feels too darn exciting!  In fact, I woke up this morning at 4:30am, but that was thanks to my thumping pet rabbit.  Do you remember the feeling during Christmas eve as a kid, when you were so excited you couldn’t sleep?  As a result, you’d sneak down and wait in the middle of the night to see if Santa is coming?  You even tried getting a sneak peak by pealing back a corner of the present to see what you’ve got!  That was me growing up, the constant rascal.

Somewhere in the middle of adolescence and adult hood, I lost that excitement.  Perhaps it was the constant pressure of trying to get good grades so I could get a real job and not have to go back to McDonald’s.  I recall dreading my 8am multi-variable Calculus class during college.  Surprise, surprise, I dropped the class and signed up for Golf III (advanced level baby) instead!  That was when I began to rekindle my excitement as a kid again.  I was learning something I just loved, and couldn’t get enough.

FINDING THAT DESIRE

As soon as I wake up, I can’t wait to check my e-mails and see what’s going on in the world.  Part of the reason why I’m looking to meet more people internationally is because they are up when the East Coast is sleeping.  As a result, I’ll get to interact more with people in the evenings, which is my free time.

There’s very little that makes me happier than building relationships.  In fact, dare I say nothing makes me happier than the relationships we have with our family and friends?  Money is nice, but money is even better when we can spend it on others to help make them happy.

Just the other day, I spent hours painting, caulking, and cleaning our rental apartment.  I went out and bought a new shower head, fixed some fixtures, and even got the carpets professionally cleaned.  All was worth it when my tenant came in and said, “Wow!”  She was smiling from ear to ear, and commented on how sparkly everything looked.  Now that’s gratifying!  We got to talking about her life and her aspirations.   Relationships with clients can be wonderful.

MORE TIME CAN HELP YOU SUCCEED

One of my stretch goals is to try and wake up the same time everybody wakes up on the East Coast (8am EST assumption = 5am PST), and go to bed three hours after them (assumption 12pm PST/3am EST).  In essence, I’m trying to build in 3 more hours of time into my day.  All else being equal, if you have three more hours a day than your competitors, you will undoubtedly win and run circles around them frankly.

Three hours more a day is 90 hours more a month to work on your projects, be them personal projects or work projects.  Let’s say you can only stay awake for one more hour a day.  Don’t you think you can still do amazing things with 30 extra hours a month?  You bet your buns of steel you can!

There’s a large group of people out there who just love to sleep in, myself included!  There’s something so special about hearing the alarm clock, and knowing it’s Saturday and you don’t have to get up.  What I’m saying is that if you find something you just absolutely love to do everyday, you won’t need that alarm clock and will bounce right out of bed every single morning.

LOOK FOR THAT SOMETHING THAT HAPPENS WHILE YOU SLEEP

Practice waking up earlier for one hour a day, everyday for the next month.  You might feel a little groggy in the beginning, but that will start to fade as you focus that extra hour on doing whatever it is you love.  When you start seeing progress in your activity, you’ll discover that waking up early gets easier and easier until you just automatically get up!  Trust me on this folks, you can move mountains with just one hour extra a day for the rest of your life.

Have a fantastic Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Regards,

Sam

If you want to make six figures, know that you can if you want to.  Nothing in this world is stopping you.  Remember that $200,000 is the income level that brings maximum happiness, so even if you are already making $150,000 a year, you still have more happiness to go.

Let’s start off with some basic necessities:

* Desire. Your desire needs to be focused.  Mr. Miyagi said it best to Daniel-san, “You Karate do “yes” or Karate do “no”, you Karate do “guess so” get squished like grape.”

* Effort. Unfortunately for the lazy, you’re actually going to have to try hard at first.  Maybe you’ll wake up earlier than everyone else.  Maybe you’ll network like a mad person.  Maybe you’ll stop making excuses?  No effort, no results.

* Knowledge. The more you educate yourself, the easier things will be.  Lucky for you, you’re reading this post and likely some of the best personal finance blogs as well.

* Optimism.  Optimism is what will drive you to keep going when things turn sour.  Optimism will make you do great things because you believe things will improve.  If you have optimism, you will always find the right direction.

* Personality.  At the very minimum, it’s important to be nice.  At the maximum, your charisma will make believers out of others.  People will be drawn to you and naturally want to start helping you and doing business with you.  Be nice, but also be respectful.  There will be haters everywhere.  Embrace them.

Now that we have the basics out of the way, let’s explore the many possibilities of making over $100,000 at any age.  I truly believe anybody who wants to make more can make more.  This post isn’t meant to be controversial at all.  But, as always, feel free to share your thoughts below.

HIGH SCHOOL & COLLEGE YEARS

It’s important not to be a donkey and get mediocre grades.  If you’re just coasting with a “B” or worse, you’re going to end up going to a “B” college or worse.  At your “B” college, if you are mediocre again, well then you are going to be stuck with mediocre opportunities.

Do you really think you’re going to be able to compete with the student who gets straight A’s in high school who then gets straight A’s at Columbia for the same jobs and opportunities post graduation?  No, because as a rational employer, you’ll choose the straight A student over the B student 9 times out of 10 all else being equal.

Now that you are a terrific student, all you’ve got to do is identify industries that often pay six figures within 3 years out of school: Venture capital, investment banking, management/strategic consulting, high tech, internet.  Go apply to the top 5 companies in each field.  Here are some examples:

Venture Capital: Sequoia, Benchmark, Accel, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, and Kleiner Perkins.

Investment Banking: Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan, Barclays, Bank of America Merrill Lynch

Strategic Consulting: Bain, BCG, McKinsey, Monitor, Arthur D. Little, Booz Allen Hamilton.

Tech/Software: Apple, Oracle, Salesforce.com, Microsoft, HP.

Internet: Google, Facebook, eBay, Zynga, Paypal.

IT Consulting/Accounting: KPMG, Deloitte, Ernst & Young, PricewaterhouseCoopers (takes longer to break $100,000, but a high certainty before 30 if you start out of undergrad)

So there we have it.  Great grades, great schools, and working in particular industries will make you $100,000 a year in your 20s.  This post names 24 firms who employ thousands combined and there are many more firms out there who pay just as well.  The great thing is that if you stick it out at any of these firms for 10+ years, there’s a great chance you will be a millionaire in your 30s and multi-millionaire in your 40s.

WHAT IF YOUR GRADES SUCKED AND YOU’RE OLDER?

Let’s say you’ve got some work experience under your belt and you just aren’t satisfied with your career or your profession.  You didn’t do particularly well is school and read this post a little too late.

You’ve got a second chance by simply going to business school.  Again, you can’t just go to any business school, you’ve got to go to one of the top 15 or 20 business schools given the competition, supply, and cost.  Lucky for you, the top 20 business schools let in thousands of students a year, so no worries!

Top 15 Business Schools: Harvard, Stanford, Wharton, MIT, Penn, Columbia, Dartmouth, Berkeley, Chicago, Northwestern, Michigan, Virginia, Yale, Duke, and Cornell.

Get in any of the above schools, and enter any of the five industries I mentioned and you’ll likely make a median total pay package of $120,000 your very first year.  Five years out, you’ll probably make double.  You can attend business school at 25 or 55 and so long as you go to one of the best schools, the vast majority will make well over $100,000 a year upon graduation.  Even if you don’t go into one of the aforementioned fields, you will still probably make six figures in the fast moving consumer goods (FMCG like Procter & Gamble and Coca-Cola), retail, and hospitality industries.

OTHER OPTIONS ABOUND

There are plenty of different avenues you can take to breach that magical six figure mark.  Doctors and lawyers routinely make multiple six figures.  Longshoremen (dockworker) average $120,000 a year as we discovered during the Oakland longshoremen strike in 2001.  After 20 years on the police force and fire department, the majority of our brave men and women make $100,000+.  Not only that, their capitalized pensions are worth millions!

Marrying for money sometimes works, but you’ll have to often sleep with a less than desirable looking spouse.  Furthermore, you can start your own business or work two jobs.  Making an online income seems particularly trendy nowadays.  Don’t forget you can always join the federal government and rake it in after a while too!  Nothing is stopping you from breaching the magical $100,000 a year mark except for your own desire, effort, knowledge, personality, and optimism.

If you are happy with making $99,999 a year, more power to you.  Just remember that your happiness, as measured by income will continue to grow until $200,000 and then stop because of government persecution and the bitter populace who want to keep you down.  After you break $200,000 you need to start going into hiding.  So if you discover after taking my advice that you are on pace to blow by $200,000 a year, don’t forget to create an exit strategy!

Readers, do you believe it’s easy or hard to make over $100,000 per person?  If you believe it is easy to make $100,000 a year, why don’t more people do it than the stated ~5% of the American population?

Do you think a large reason why people don’t make over $100,000 is simply due to lack of desire and being happy with what they are already making?

Best,

Sam

“Breathe,” Telepopmusik.

Well, well, well.  Not everyday does a $300 million dollar mega yacht stop by the San Francisco Bay Area!  The creatively named “A” yacht is owned by 38 year old Russian billionaire Andrey Melnichenko and his lovely supermodel wife Aleksandra!  Andrey made his money in fertilizer, banking, and energy and is worth a reported $4.4 billion dollars.  Interest alone on $4.4 billion at 4% is over $178 million a year!

The “A” looks like something out of a James Bond movie.  Can you imagine all the crazy parties on this bad boy?  Wow!  I rode my bike to the very north end of San Francisco to take a look and boy oh boy is it big.

Some nice mouth watering yacht stats for all you billionaire wannabes out there!

* 25,000 square feet of total living space

* 2,500 square foot master bedroom suite

* 160 foot long main hallway

* 62 feet wide

* 6 cabins in addition to the owner’s master bedroom suite

* 3 speed boats

* 3 mini swimming pools

* A crew of 37 and staff of 5

* Can outrun pirates (or the Russian IRS) with a top speed of 24 knots

* Costs $500,000 to fill up the tank of gas

* Costs $20 million a year to operate

* A secret escape pod to outrun the pirates or the Russian IRS

* A secret “nookie” room for indiscretions with other super models

TOTAL INSPIRATION

Some people might say this $300 million yacht is an absolute monstrosity and that $300 million could have been spent helping save the world.  Yes, Andrey could have spent the $300 million on someone else, but shouldn’t he have the right to occasionally indulge?  Andrey already donates millions of dollars a year to charity and he’s living the dream because he can.

I used to drive to the toniest of neighborhoods in San Francisco and walk around the neighborhood just admiring the mansions.  Whenever I felt down and out, these mansions would pick me up.  If you happen to be in San Francisco, tell the cab driver to drop you off at Broadway St. and Lyon.  Bring your running shoes too as you’ll arrive at one of San Francisco’s most popular workout routine.

The street is littered with $25-50 million houses and I just gawk in amazement.  Do I envy these mega millionaires?  Not at all.  They give me inspiration to work harder and make it on my own.

YOU KNOW YOU WOULD TO

I don’t know about you, but if I was worth $4.4 billion dollars I’d happily own this mega yacht as well.  Furthermore, I’d probably own 20 different properties around the world where I’d sail to for 6 months of the year.  Of course, for the other 6 months of the year I’d be building my online blogging endeavors so I can diversify my income stream (I kid)!

Oh yeah, I forgot one thing.  If I were a billionaire and owned this mega yacht, I’d immediately fly over all the members of The Yakezie Network and party it up all weekend long!  OK, all month long!

Readers, if you were a billionaire, what kind of indulgences would you splurge on?  What are some of the things the rich do to inspire you?  To look at more pictures of the “A” yacht, check out the WSJ’s feature!

Regards,

Sam @ Financial Samurai – “Slicing Through Money’s Mysteries”

Follow on Twitter @FinancialSamura and subscribe to our RSS or E-mail feed.

Even at 7:30pm the night is hot.  That’s what happens when you go barbecuing somewhere in the South Pacific in the middle of summer.  You can almost taste the grilled chicken from the remnant fumes simmering off the grill.  Dinner is served!

The family gathers around the picnic table.  We take a deep breath and begin to eat.  In just the first bite, my father freezes, tries to swallow and let’s out a little gag.  We ask him what’s wrong, and he shakes his head not knowing.  One of us gives him a glass of water, and still, no change.  My father raises up his hand, excuses himself and says that he has to go to the emergency room.

DOUBT AND CONFUSION

Is it really that bad I think to myself?  It’s not like he was convulsing or anything.  “Shall I drive Dad?” I ask.

“Nahh,” he responds and tells me to enjoy my meal.  Dad lumbers to the car and drives his usual slow self away, careful not to run any stop signs.

Five hours later at about 12:30am I hear a car pull up to the driveway with a loud car door thud seconds later.  The brakes, oh how those brakes squeak, reminding us to replace.  I rush downstairs and ask Dad if everything is OK.  He pulls out a little plastic vile, starts to jiggle it back and forth, and reveals a prideful grin.

“What’s that Dad?” I ask incredulously.

“This son, is a site to see!” as he opens up the vile and pulls out a piece of gauze.  “Come look closer.” As I inched my way closer to the vile I noticed something long and grey.  “This son is a once inch steel bristle from the steel brush we used to clean the grill!  It was lodged in my throat!”

“Holy sh*t Dad!  You weren’t kidding when you said you needed to go to the ER.”

“Nope.” My dad then proceeded to carefully lay the metal bristle back on the cotton gauze, and back into the vile.  Like saving a bullet from a bullet wound, Dad will always save this thorn.

INDEPENDENCE

Many of us really thought he was faking his injury because of his demeanor.  It was almost surreal how calmly he excused himself from the picnic table.  If you had an inch long metal bristle piercing the front side of your throat, and couldn’t swallow, what would you do?  I’ve had contact lenses disappear into the back or the bottom of my eye sockets and I’m in a frenzy.

Dad would be the perfect candidate to shoot a real life Animal Planet commercial on what TO DO when a grizzly bear attacks.  Without witnessing countless examples of his Zen-like responses, I’d be less balanced.  My face would probably contort more when people are late, and I’d probably panic more at things outside of my control.  For this, I’m thankful.

Of all things, independence is what I’ve learned most from my father.  He gave me the leeway to do whatever I wanted in life, all the while exposing me to a myriad of his interests, so that perhaps some would rub off on me one day.  He never forced me to choose, but instead gave me the freedom to make the right choices.  He showed me not to count on handouts and to believe in myself.  When he drove himself to the emergency room and waved us off, I was reminded of independence once again.

Thanks Dad and Happy Father’s Day!

Readers, what are some of the things your father have taught you in a direct or indirect way?

Regards,

Sam @ Financial Samurai – “Slicing Through Money’s Mysteries”

Follow on Twitter @FinancialSamura and subscribe to our RSS or E-mail feed.

One of my best friends is blessed with skinny genes.  At 5′ 3″ tall, she weighs all of 105 pounds.  When we go out to eat, she doesn’t just order a glass of iced tea and salad with dressing on the side.  She goes all out with mash potatoes, creamed spinach, BBQ oysters and then a nice juicy ribeye for a main course!  I gawk in amazement at her appetite while secretly groaning at trying to keep up towards the end.  After all, shouldn’t she eat 40% less than me if she weighs 40% less?  Guess not!

Despite my friend’s envious genetics, she isn’t exactly iron woman when it comes to sports and outdoor activities.  After three miles on a 10 mile bike ride, she’s pooped and waves at me to take a break.  Meanwhile, I’m going “lah, lah, lah” in my head, not even breaking a sweat as I soak in the glorious views of the Bay.  I let her catch up and we take a five minute pit-stop where she catches her breath as I go do some stretches and sit-ups.

THE GIMMICK

One day my friend tells me about a great incentive program at our local gym.  I kid her often because despite her $100/month membership, she never goes.  She comes up to show me a gleaming new card which says, “BURN TO EARN!”  Hmmm, what’s that I ask her?  She tells me that if she goes to the gym 20X in the next two months, she will be entered for a chance to win a free t-shirt, socks, swimming goggles, a weekend in Napa, or two rounds of golf which she does not play at some country club somewhere.

Suddenly,  I notice a transformation.  From going maybe once a month, my friend starts going 3-4X a week!  All for what?  A chance to win a simple T-shirt?  Needless to say, after two months, she was absolutely ripped.  We’re talking Madonna-like abs, and thankfully not Modonna-like arms, because that’s just scary.  When the time for the drawing came, she gleefully whipped out her BURN TO EARN card and gave it one good luck kiss.

As fortune would have it she won absolutely diddily squat in the first round.  Luckily, there was a consolidation round and there she heard, “And the winner of  a brand new pair of tubular socks is….. Lisa!“  A shrill of joy belched out of her little frame as she jumped up and down “I won!  I won!  Wheeee!“  I think I rolled my eyes because I didn’t win anything and couldn’t believe her luck.  New tubular socks.  Sweet!

CONCLUSION

By just administering a small rewards program, our health club was able to get a notoriously great client (one who pays on time and never goes) the motivation to go 15X more than normal.  I go 10X+ a month anyway, so it wasn’t a big deal.  But for Lisa, it was like watching a new person altogether.  The lesson learned is that the next time you want to get someone to do anything, tempt them with cotton that warms the feet!

Regards,

Sam @ Financial Samurai – “Slicing Through Money’s Mysteries”

Follow on Twitter @FinancialSamura and subscribe to our RSS or E-mail feed.

Nick Vujicic was born with no arms and no legs.  He admits to us there were plenty of times when all he wanted to do was give up.  Nick didn’t understand the point to his life and therefore wanted to end it.  Thank goodness he’s alive because he’s shared his story with millions of people around the world, inspiring them to keep on going.

Just the other day, someone forwarded me an article about this young woman venting because everybody is a workaholic at her office.  She tells us how incredibly amazing it is that she gets in at 8am and works until 6:30pm everyday.  In other words, she’s asking for praise and sympathy for working normal hours.  The kicker?  She was unemployed for over half a year and just started this job!

Whenever I feel like complaining about how unfair life is, I stop and think about people like Nick who have it just a little bit harder.  Is he complaining?  No.  He is trying harder, and so shall I.  Perhaps so shall we all!  Let’s eradicate the sense of entitlement that lingers among everyone of us; some more than others.  We shall not whine about our jobs or complain why our love lives crumble.  Let’s take ownership of our own actions.  If you are a complainer, please go somewhere else!

Readers,  who inspires you to keep on going?

Regards,

Sam @ Financial Samurai – “Slicing Through Money’s Mysteries”

Follow on Twitter @FinancialSamura and subscribe to our RSS or E-mail feed.