... Seeking wise words from financially successful DJ's

[European-DJ]

Hello fellow don Juan's,

I am looking for some wise words/advice/tips
From all you financially successful don Juan's.

If you could give any advice to your younger self; any tip for an ambitious young man; any advice you think is vital please share it with us.

I think financial improvement is of major importance, not necessarily the one of a billionaire, but to have a life ower mediocre.

Thanks in advance,

European-DJ

 

[HeadLightsOn]

Can I ask where you are in Europe? I spend time there each year and am interested in your demographics. That will help me formulate a reply.

 

[PrettyBoyAJ]

Check out my thread in my signature. Alot of good game, especially for the youngins.

 

[HeadLightsOn]

Hmmmm cant see it never mind.

 

[AlexLefty]

Men work for money. Smart men make money work for them.

 

[backbreaker]

i know there is about a .001% chance that you will listen to what i am about to say, but if i had to pass on any advice to a 20 year old who wants to really make money, the one thing that i would tell you to do, is to put women on the backburner for a few years.

work your ass off.. there's no going out of business sale on poon. they will be there. same girls will be in the same bars running the same game in 2013, 2018, 2023.

as a 20 year old i would be setting myself up with the end game being when i was turning 30. 30 years old is about the time that the fun really begins.

i am not sayiung dont' **** any woman.. but odn't chase them. plus the added effect is that you know you dont' need em.


as the book as a man thinkith says

Men are anxious to improve their circumstances, but are unwilling to improve themselves, they therefore remain bound.

like i said, you won't listen, no one ever does, but that's what i would suggest.

 

[Quiksilver]

My success has been up and down, my industry really got smashed by the GFC and I graduated in the middle of it.

Currently playing Frogger with my life, dodging layoffs and business contractions. Even if you are good at what you do, businesses will lay off younger employees to hire older ones for the same positions, if for no other reason than track record reliability.



My advice:

Study engineering, focus on an engineering field you can immerse yourself in for the next decade or so.

Then study hard, and even engage in extracurricular learning/experience that improves your worth in the field.

Having a broad institutional education is overrated. You're far better off specializing in either a blue collar or white collar trade.

Why?

Because currently as a younger employee, you have to be good or even great/the best at what you do. And a broad education will mean you are mediocre at everything and great/best at nothing.

If I could do it all again, I'd go into Oil & Gas engineering, and study harder.

 

[Quiksilver]

Men work for money. Smart men make money work for them.

Unless you were born with the silver spoon, you still have to work for money.

Yes, a hard working guy who doesnt want to improve his situation, will make money and spend it on toys and lifestyle purchases.

A hard working guy who wants to improve his situation, will make money and invest it both in liquid assets (markets, real estate, metals, etc) and in educational capital (ie. learning a language, acquiring a new skill, etc).


^ Both have to work for money initially, its what you do on the back end with the money you've earned, that separates the two.


Eventually, with a bit of luck and a lot of hard (and smart) work, the investor will be earning enough that he won't have to work for money, can retire and have enough wealth spinning in his investments that it can fund his lifestyle and further investments.

 

[European-DJ]

I have been thinking about cutting down on the girls, not because I haven't already done it, but I would like to cut them even more - there is too much drama anyway, and perhaps 10 FB's would be better than one girlfriend, at least the girls would one have a place in your mind after 9pm!

I am in no way totally incompetent, I am not taking an engineering degree, but I am a stud.med. though, at the current moment I have my own business and I earn enough for the rent, food, school and books, I am self supplying; the thing is though, this just doesn't do it. I am not looking for the Ferrari and Malibu beach house, but I am very ambitious creating a life that I can be proud of, and leaving a sack of money for my future kids. I would do anything, if it meant, that my kids would grow up under better circumstances than I did.

But thanks for the advice guys, keep them coming, this is a field everyone is interested in!

 

[backbreaker]

I am not looking for the Ferrari and Malibu beach house

it's funny you should say that beucase that is literally exactly what i want lol. at least the beach house, i did the exotic car thing for a while it gets old, not really me. but one of my goals is to own a house on pacific coast highway where i can take my wife and my wife's friends and my son and go outside on a friday night in the summer and be listening to the ocean in the background and be BBQing on my deck, and i can throw a rock in the ocean. that's my dream.


the thing is, it's not just time. women are ambition killers.

see, women want a guy who is ambitious, but they really don't want a guy who is ambitious. better stated, they want a guy who will provide them the fruits of your ambiton, they like ambitious character traints, but i have not met a woman that would be happy to go through with me.. willingly, all the **** i went through to get where i am from start to finish. they just aren't going to do it. you need to go get a real job, you need to pay me more attention. god forbid you put on a few pounds beucdse you don't eat as lathery as you did, they the spark is gone **** your ambition. and dont' mess around and have kids, it's a wrap jack. i'm pretty well off and i'm not even as.. risky as i was 5 years ago, beucase i have a son. i'm not going to ever put myself in a position where my son is not provided for. that's just not gonna happen. now, the thing bout me is i have mad enough money where i still can take risks and still can use my own capital to do ****, but, not to the great extent as i did 5-6 years ago. if i believed in something so much that i wanted to do it 6 years ago i'd have no qualms about emptying the bank account and doing it **** my savings account. i can't/won't do that today. i won't put my son at risk like that. I don't give a **** about me i will be fine either way.


my rule of thumb is you need to have the foundation for your future already laid before you get serious about women.


another thing.. don't ever, ever, EVER, take advise from anyone on anything who is not in the position you want to be in eventually. Don't take school advice from my dad who never stepped foot in college, don't take financial advice from someone with a 500 credit score, don't take business advice from someone who tried 3 of them and flamed out on all of them. Don't take women advice on someone who can't approach a woman and talk to her. Don't take advice on buying a house on someone who lives in an apartment. Don't' take marriage advice form someone in a ****ty marriage. Don't take advice on how to save money from someone who has 300 dollars in their savings account. This will save you a lot of grief in the future. And have thick skin, believe in yourself.

 

[Rhoto]

Hello fellow don Juan's,

I am looking for some wise words/advice/tips
From all you financially successful don Juan's.

If you could give any advice to your younger self; any tip for an ambitious young man; any advice you think is vital please share it with us.

I think financial improvement is of major importance, not necessarily the one of a billionaire, but to have a life ower mediocre.

Thanks in advance,

European-DJ

Build a business that brings unique value to a specific group of people, with money. Many people say "do something you enjoy/passion" - and I cannot disagree with that, but there are much more effective ways to make 10-15k monthly, but they take time and commitment.

Ambitious is a term that gets thrown around a lot. When you say ambitious - what are you really saying? You want money? You want security? Or you want to make so much money that generations of your family will still reap the benefits of your labor? How much are you willing to sacrifice? Would you burn your ship?

And why do you want to improve your money situation? You need to have a why. A why is what will get your ass out of bed at 4:30 to be at the gym at 5, and the office at 6:30. A why is what will keep you focused on your vision, and not the complaining, doubting, and other regulation bullsh1t failures like to feed people to conform to their lifestyle.

Why do you want money? And women is never the answer. Ever.

I want money so my great grandchildren's grand kids will know who I was, and what I did for them. I've earned just under 170,000 this year after taxed and deductions (they're not fcking loopholes). Not a fortune, but I'm 26, have an applied mathematics degree from a state school and a black GTR that will rip your face off. I own my business and work on my schedule allowing me to pursue other projects, like a new start up, or helping my brother launch his label.

EuropeanDJ -In the end though it really depends on your goals. I gathered that you want to do better than you are now, may I ask you to describe your current situation? Are you working? Are you in school?

If you're looking to live comfortably, I'd say recommend getting an accounting or STEM (Science, Tech, Engineer, Mathz) degree from a school where you can intermingle with students that have solid backgrounds. They will be your connections (presuming you have or intend to develop a solid networking skill) to getting a solid position at a reputable company. This will command a better income, providing you more options for the future.


If you're more of a spartan like person, I'd do whatever you want, most jobs out there can support a simple lifestyle.

If you're a risk taker, see my opening paragraph.

Your ability to earn income is your greatest asset - constantly improve it.

Few things to keep in mind:
- Always pay yourself first. Save a little money every time you get new money.
- Keep a budget, and stick to it.
- Learn to cook, and cook 90% of your meals.
- Keep as close to a perfect credit score as you can
- Don't waste your money on stupid ****. If you don't need it, odds are it's stupid. Exception: Suits and good shoes.
- Pre-Party before going out.
- Read a fcukton of books. Seriously 1 a month.

If you have actual or specific financial questions (investments, insurance, etc.) shoot me a PM.

Hope this helps,

 

[backbreaker]

Build a business that brings unique value to a specific group of people, with money. Many people say "do something you enjoy/passion" - and I cannot disagree with that, but there are much more effective ways to make 10-15k monthly, but they take time and commitment.

Ambitious is a term that gets thrown around a lot. When you say ambitious - what are you really saying? You want money? You want security? Or you want to make so much money that generations of your family will still reap the benefits of your labor? How much are you willing to sacrifice? Would you burn your ship?

And why do you want to improve your money situation? You need to have a why. A why is what will get your ass out of bed at 4:30 to be at the gym at 5, and the office at 6:30. A why is what will keep you focused on your vision, and not the complaining, doubting, and other regulation bullsh1t failures like to feed people to conform to their lifestyle.

Why do you want money? And women is never the answer. Ever.

I want money so my great grandchildren's grand kids will know who I was, and what I did for them. I've earned just under 170,000 this year after taxed and deductions (they're not fcking loopholes). Not a fortune, but I'm 26, have an applied mathematics degree from a state school and a black GTR that will rip your face off. I own my business and work on my schedule allowing me to pursue other projects, like a new start up, or helping my brother launch his label.

EuropeanDJ -In the end though it really depends on your goals. I gathered that you want to do better than you are now, may I ask you to describe your current situation? Are you working? Are you in school?

If you're looking to live comfortably, I'd say recommend getting an accounting or STEM (Science, Tech, Engineer, Mathz) degree from a school where you can intermingle with students that have solid backgrounds. They will be your connections (presuming you have or intend to develop a solid networking skill) to getting a solid position at a reputable company. This will command a better income, providing you more options for the future.


If you're more of a spartan like person, I'd do whatever you want, most jobs out there can support a simple lifestyle.

If you're a risk taker, see my opening paragraph.

Your ability to earn income is your greatest asset - constantly improve it.

Few things to keep in mind:
- Always pay yourself first. Save a little money every time you get new money.
- Keep a budget, and stick to it.
- Learn to cook, and cook 90% of your meals.
- Keep as close to a perfect credit score as you can
- Don't waste your money on stupid ****. If you don't need it, odds are it's stupid. Exception: Suits and good shoes.
- Pre-Party before going out.
- Read a fcukton of books. Seriously 1 a month.

If you have actual or specific financial questions (investments, insurance, etc.) shoot me a PM.

Hope this helps,

i generally don't like disclosing my income but i made 170k before my birthday this year (june 17th). that's chump change.

none of what you said is practical or even viable.

1.the only way that you are going to do something to make big boy money, work the hours that it requires you to make big boy money, and not be A. a miserable prick or B. An alcoholic is to do something you are passionate about. Trust me i've been there. working from 7am to 11pm for a company (that i started) but eventually grew to loathe is what drove me to start using coke.. just to make it through the day.

Donald Trump said it best “If you're interested in 'balancing' work and pleasure, stop trying to balance them. Instead make your work more pleasurable.”


2.

- Always pay yourself first. Save a little money every time you get new money.

never,ever, pay yourself first. you don't get ahead by paying yourself first. you get ahead by paying everyone around you first, and they in turn make sure you are paid. Pay other people first even if it means self sacrifice.

You're only as good as your help. IF your help knows that you give a **** about them and you want to see them be the best that they can be they will do anything that you ask of them. If your help thinks that you are a penny pincher who is greedy they will go through the motions just to earn a check.

The first company I owned the entire time I owned it, which was 3.5 years, I don't think I ever cut myself more than 5-6 pay checks. The first real pay check I ever got was when I sold it.. I bought what I needed, and by the time I sold it i wasn't poor or anything but I never paid myself, but I made sure the people who worked for me were paid, better than market value. I have a guy in india right now who I pay more than I pay my american workers.. I don't have to do that, but he's that talanted, and I know he's loyal beucase I tream him like i want him to be loyal.

Henry Ford once said

"I think that much of the advice given to young men about saving money is wrong. I never saved a cent until I was forty years old. I invested in myself - in study, in mastering my tools, in preparation. Many a man who is putting a few dollars a week into the bank would do much better to put it into himself."

Vanderbilt did not become Vanderbuilgt by paying himself first. he became Vanderbuilt by selling every thing he had and investing every penny to his name in something he believed in; railroads. before anyone else had. and this at a time when he owned the biggest boat shipping empire in the world.

you have to do what you believe in and you have to invest in yourself.


3.

- Keep as close to a perfect credit score as you can

IF you are starting a business this is a fairy tale lol. it's not possible. you're going to use your credit, you are going to **** it up. Just as the sun raises in the east and sets in the west (I think lol). Especially in this economy no one is going to bend over to give you money to help you out you have to use your own reserves.

Don't' be so concerned with your credit score that you don't do what needs to be done. When I sold my company credit score was about 520. Now it's about 750, as i went back and cleaned up a lot of the stuff that had to be cleaned up and was finally able to start paying bills on time. But don't worry about your credit score.. making money is like making a good meal in the kitchen don't be afraid to get the kitchen dirty, as long as you clean it up when you are done.



4.

- Don't waste your money on stupid ****. If you don't need it, odds are it's stupid. Exception: Suits and good shoes.

again this isn't practical.

tell a guy who isn't getting laid often, who doesn't have the social life he wants to have, and is putting everything off that he cant' EVER do **** for himself is just not practical nor good advice. Make no mistake you should be using your money to advance yourself but you have to do **** for your own sanity as well. Take yourself out once a week, buy a DVD player/PlayStation 3 and a few games so you can unwind after you have worked freaking 12 hours and dont' have a woman to come home to. Have a TV show that you don't miss. This is the only way you are going to make it to the other side and not be ****ed up beyond repair.

- Read a fcukton of books. Seriously 1 a month.

5. I don't agree with this. This coming from someone who to this day is a book worm, I read a chapter of something a day, and have since i was in high school. I read a lot of business books but nothing you read can prepare you for the **** out there you got to roll up your sleeves and figure the **** out.

your time is better used working than reading IMHO. it's a lot like this forum. this forum is built on the premise that we are all acting / working. We use this as a reference but we shoudl be all about action. Business is no different, reading a book is going to take you about what.. somewhere between 10 to 20 hours. That's 10 to 20 hours of experience you aren't getting.

 

[AAAgent]

@ the OP

I've just done what your looking to do and I have provided my insight below.

I'm not to far removed from your age group and I recently graduated during the worst part of the financial crisis. I make about 70k now (started at 28k) and am trying to move into the 100k range in the next few months. It wasn't easy and everyone laughed at me saying i was over reaching but i just ignored them.

The most important things to know about climbing the corporate ladder are (this is once you get a job)

Intelligence
conversational skills
knowing how to not step on anyone's toes and handle confrontation

Those are probably the 3 most important things you need to know as everything is very political when you start working outside of your own business. People will try to bring you down in order to make themselves look good, people will not do their work which may affect you, don't proactively help people as they will see this as making them look bad, etc. but i digress as this doesn't help you get to where you need to start.

figuring out what you need to do to get you to where you want to be is one of the hardest things. how i would view what i needed to get done was to imagine where/who i wanted to be. Lets say I want to be an investment banker (which i did). I would look at what investment bankers did to get to their current role.

These are the credentials of most IBanker analyst straight out of college.

Ivy League college with 3+GPA or 3.5GPA or better from other schools.
Business, Econ, Marketing, Mathematics, or Engineering Major (strong math aptitude)
Study abroad and good extra curricular/sports
Either previous internship with an Ibanking division or good business internships

Obviously someone with a bad gpa from a mediocre school and unrelated major doesn't have a shot in the world (which was me). So i worked everyday to make-up for my shortcomings. I finaled in my university's business competition after i graduated by partnering with a current student. I turned down a dead end FT accounting job at a Gym chain for 35k to take a contract job at at a major Financial Information provider. I was probably making about 28k with the hourly wage they paid but the name and experience we well worth it. With that job, i managed to get an interview at a smaller competitor and hopped over there as a FT Analyst for about 40k. I moved out on my own. I hauled ass and worked hard and kept quiet. I asked around and eventually had an opportunity to interview for an Account Manager role. I got the job after 4 months and had to interview twice. In my AM role, i've won all my sales lead competitions and this year my gross income will be around 70k. I've realized that if i still want to break into banking and not take a backward step is to get my MBA (at this point i probably don't want to be a banker anymore from what i've learned). Now i'm going for my MBA and studying my ass off and people are still telling me i can't do it but fvck em.

So i wanted to be a banker when i started but i decided along the way to change my career direction, but one thing i always focused on doing was to make sure i HAVE something to LEARN from each job i take. I took the analyst role to get better at research and build upon my weak mathematical foundation, I took on the AM role to get better at cold calls, socializing, planning meetings, and now im moving into sales to get better at generating money and convincing people of my beliefs and how I can help them. I targeted jobs that would give me the skills i needed to be successful in life, i did not target jobs for the money.

Out of all my friends that had amazing grades and went to decent schools, i'm making more than most of them (granted since college i worked about 60 hours a week at the office and came home to read, study, and research some more). some of them even have really sh1tty jobs because they don't have the desire/balls to go after what they want like i do. Work hard, read, outline and plan out where you want to go and don't stop till you get there. Before you know it, your alot further along then you'd ever imagine.

I will make it everytime and their hate only fuels my desire.

 

[goundra]

you are a fool to work for others for very long. they pay you at most 20% of what they make off of your work. You only need 50k or so to get started at something that will retire you in 2-3 years, and you can get 50k in 2-3 years, if you go at it right, with school loans, building credit, getting an Asian girl who'll work on redtube.com here in the US working and giving you half of the 50k a year that she can AVERAGE clearing, after tax, over a 5 year span, before she becomes a full US citizen. So you can be all set in 5 years, if you pay attention. No bosses, no worries. But you do have to know what to do, and how to go at it.

 

[5string]

Gonna spin this a bit.

Good grades are fine. They help. I was everywhere from a 2.0 to a 3.8 in college depending on how much I was working. After graduating, nobody seemed to care what my GPA was. The only thing that concerned them was if I hung in there and got the degree. That got my foot in the door and off I went. Since then, there has been alot of continuing ed.

I deal with alot of attorneys at work. One told me that if he were to hire another lawyer at his firm, he would not hire one who was in the top 10% of his class as they seem to be book smart but common sense deficient. I agree with this.

Ultimately what matters, at least in my business are people skills, common sense and most importantly, decision making ability.

 

[AAAgent]

Gonna spin this a bit.

Good grades are fine. They help. I was everywhere from a 2.0 to a 3.8 in college depending on how much I was working. After graduating, nobody seemed to care what my GPA was. The only thing that concerned them was if I hung in there and got the degree. That got my foot in the door and off I went. Since then, there has been alot of continuing ed.

I deal with alot of attorneys at work. One told me that if he were to hire another lawyer at his firm, he would not hire one who was in the top 10% of his class as they seem to be book smart but common sense deficient. I agree with this.

Ultimately what matters, at least in my business are people skills, common sense and most importantly, decision making ability.

Nowadays, you can't even apply for majority of jobs that pay 40k+ unless you have a degree. Even if you do have a degree, probably about a quarter of those jobs require you to have a GPA minimum. Plus making 40k a year and having to pay student loans, you'll barely be able to survive or maybe still even forced to live at home. I was living in a 3br w/4 people and still am to save money.

Here's an example of a normal accounting job that's looking for recent grads that requires a 3.0 GPA.

http://www.careerbuilder.com/JobSee....0.0&job_did=JHM56Z5ZJ5M264ZMQCG&IPath=JRKV0A

Not sure how law school works but with this saturated legal market its almost impossible to get a job at a corporate law firm unless you go to a top-14 law school. Other jobs probably aren't worth the investment of paying for 3 years of lawschool unless you get a deal. In order to get into these top law schools you "will" need a 3.0 GPA, now after you get into law school im sure it's different as the name of your school counts for alot.

Most top 20 business schools don't even have GPA's or class ranks. If you get into the school your set and your paying 200k for Harvard, NYU, Stanford, Northwestern names, etc. But once again, you can't or will have a horribly difficult time getting into these schools unless you have a good GPA or some crazy achievements(my predicament).

I didn't have a good gpa or come from a good school, what i did do was work hard, get relevant experience to help me progress in my fields and get good at talking to people so i could get into sales. Hey, if you don't have good grades and don't want to be stuck getting $35k a year growing your annual salary at a snails pace, gotta work with what you have (had an unrelated degree to anything and couldn't get a job in anything business related, assistant jobs, engineering jobs, etc.). I was great at talking to people, being confident, and working hard/being persistent.

Know your strengths and weaknesses. After enough research and job searching in your industry, you'll know what their looking for and how far you are from it. Take contract/temp jobs when possible to build experience. I chose a temp job with a huge company that has a great brand name over a full time job i was offered. It got me where i am today making around 70k. I most definitely would not be making that right now with the job i was offered.

 

[goundra]

40k a year is NOTHING, unless there's the oppurtunity for MAJOR bonuses, overtime, or SWIFT advancement. a real job pays 100k a year, cause taxes and ss take 40k of that, guys. Unless your wife ALSO makes 60k a year, your 60k a year doens't mean diddly, unless you are single, intend to stay that way and have had a vasectomy. better add a sideline biz if your job doesn't pay that well, because if you don't and it doesn't, you are one accident, one injury, one illness away from disaster.

 

[Vantagepoint34]

Buy stock in Facebook Shares. Have fun.