Alternative careers and leaving the rat race

[cosmopolit]

As there are some people with a free mind on DJ forums, I was wondering if any of you guys lives an alternative, free life off the beaten track of a regular 9 to 7 job.

I'm asking because I have just graduated with a master degree in business but I absolutely don't feel like applying for a regular office job in my city or country. Instead I want to travel and see what the world has to offer. I have two freelance jobs right now which I can do from everywhere in the world, one as a freelance consultant for a software company and the other one as a ghostwriter along with some occasional speculations on the stock market. No need to mention that I have a quite irregular income - in some months I earn a lot in others nearly nothing. So that's why I am looking for additional flexible jobs or skills which will help my increase my income.

I know for example that native english speakers can get a teaching certificate which enables them to work as an english teacher all around the world but unfortunately I'm not a native speaker. An alternative could be working as a daytrader on the stockmarket or try finding a really well-paid job where I work my ass off for 3 months and then take a break for another 3 months. I also saved some money which I was thinking about investing in real estate but I don't want my capital to be tied for several years and giving it to the bank would only give me 5% interest rate or less.

Of course I could work night and weekend shifts at an assembly line in a factory (which will pay quite good) but I'm looking for some jobs where I ideally acquire skills which I can use in my future private or professional life.

So I would be very interested if any of you guys with experience in this topic or some unusual careers could share some ideas, advices or stories.

 

[Wiesman44]

An alternative could be working as a daytrader on the stockmarket QUOTE]


LOL. I've been at this for 2 years and have just started eeking out profits. You don't just 'become a daytrader' b/c you need money. B/c u will end up losing a sh#tload before you start making any.

Stick w/ real estate.

 

[cosmopolit]

I think my words led to some confusion. I don't want to work as a day trader (day trading in the sense of investing 150k and sitting in front of the computer from 6am-7pm) but I was rather pointing out that I am looking for some similar jobs where you can work indepently from a local office.

 

[Gaucho]

An alternative could be working as a daytrader on the stockmarket QUOTE]


LOL. I've been at this for 2 years and have just started eeking out profits. You don't just 'become a daytrader' b/c you need money. B/c u will end up losing a sh#tload before you start making any.

Stick w/ real estate.

Yeh, trading is definatley not really an option.

Sounds like you have no idea and really need to work it out for yourself. From trading, to real estate, to English teacher to assembley line worker in a factory..........? WTF. Think only you can help you, figuring out what YOU WANT to do.

Wiesman, which forum do you post at in regards to your trading? Hope it is going well.

 

[OzyBoy]

Ahh trading, definately an option for me but more of a side option at the moment while i learn more about it. Then one day become full time and make thousands a week. At the moment not really too concerned about what i am doing. :crackup:

 

[Gaucho]

lol, not really an option for you either by the sounds.

 

[taiyuu_otoko]

I met a brit in a bar in thailand once. He had both a scuba instructors license and was a gradute from some pretty well acclaimed chef school. He said these two skills had, so far, allowed him to live in any country he'd chosen to.

The ways to make money are only limited by your creativity.

 

[Lion]

I met a brit in a bar in thailand once. He had both a scuba instructors license and was a gradute from some pretty well acclaimed chef school. He said these two skills had, so far, allowed him to live in any country he'd chosen to.

The ways to make money are only limited by your creativity.

Scuba and cooking makes a killer combination in an exotic location.

Aside from finance, do you have any other interests or skills that you could take a teaching course in? What is holding back on the software consultancy?

 

[cosmopolit]

Scuba and cooking makes a killer combination in an exotic location.

Aside from finance, do you have any other interests or skills that you could take a teaching course in? What is holding back on the software consultancy?

The problem is that I have TOO many interests. For example I recently started playing the guitar, got into yoga and a bunch of other stuff which I am doing in my spare-time. I am also working as a dance instructor since 6 years but I lost my motivation and I don't have fun anymore in doing this.

But anyway that's a good question, I'll keep thinking about how I can turn my interests into money. A friend of mine took some massage classes and makes now good money working as a private massager. Nice side-effect is that he gets regularly explicit offers from hot milfs, but unfortunately also from gays

 

[SmoothTalker]

I can sympathise man, you're good at and interested in almost everything, but not outstanding in anything. I had the same problem.

Unforunately if you really want to succeed, you will need to focus more on something.

If you're interested in making money, it can be done in almost any field if you're close to the best. As for real estate/ stock market, I'd wait at least a few more months for real estate to drop some more, but the crazy bubble of the last decade is finished. Even when prices start rising again, it will mostly be to keep pace with inflation, not 20% gains per year. We can all forget about that.

There are some great LONG TERM bargains in the stock market right now, but if you don't know what you're doing, I would stay away from day trading for now. The current volatility is pretty much unprecedented, we're seeing 10% swings in INDEXES on a daily basis sometimes, which is just insane. You can make a ton of money, but also get cleaned out in a matter of days.

PS: Stay the hell away from US bonds, it will be the next bubble to burst. Why the hell would you loan the government your money for 30 years, at less than 4 percent per year, or for 3 months for pretty much 0?? When things stop making all rational sense, you can safely assume its only a matter of time before everybody else realizes it doesn't make sense.

 

[Gaucho]

PS: Stay the hell away from US bonds, it will be the next bubble to burst. Why the hell would you loan the government your money for 30 years, at less than 4 percent per year, or for 3 months for pretty much 0?? When things stop making all rational sense, you can safely assume its only a matter of time before everybody else realizes it doesn't make sense.

That's because the current bet, is on a deflationary period, so a 0% coupon, actually turns into a positive yield dependent on the actual rate of deflation.

Understand something, and it will make rational sense. If you don't understand, ask a question, don't go telling people what to do like you actually understand.

But I agree with the rest of what you said, good advice. Find what you love, and do it. Sound cliche? It is for a reason.

 

[Drum&Bass]

Im a personal trainer, I make my own hours love my job, and hook up with hot women. I'm eventually going to leave training and become a full time illustrator.

 

[SmoothTalker]

I have to disagree Gaucho.

If these people are so sure we're going into deflation, dump it into a savings account. They pay more than 0%, and are insured by the government, and redeemable whenever.

People always manage to come up with justifications for bubbles no matter how insane they are - the tech bubble wasn't a bubble, its just how great the economy will be with all this new technology. Real estate isn't overvalued - it always goes up forever. Oil isn't overpriced, we just don't have enough!

These all sounded like convincing, rational reasons at the time too. Doesn't mean they were.

Regardless, people have gone overboard in the whole seeking safety thing. Why US bonds anyway? Plenty of other major economies, many in better fiscal shape then the US (smaller, yes, but healthier), paying double the yields if not more.

Obviously nobody knows the future, but I will be very surprised if T-bills and USD don't start dropping significantly within a year at the max, probably much sooner.

 

[Gaucho]

Ah k, sorry, I misunderstood what you meant.

Yes, you are talking about fundamental analysis.

I have switched between this and technical (the reason, perceptions, for everything) for years now, debating with myself (and others) the limitations and successes of each.

I've actually had quite some success with both.

Just have to make it work for you.

But the question is, did you short the tech boom? Did you short oil? Did you short property indices? Are you shorting US bonds?

 

[SmoothTalker]

I am still a university student, so my funds are somewhat limited, so I'm not as active as I plan to be when I start work full time. I am also paranoid about shorting at the moment because a sudden bounce can cost you a lot of money, and I just don't have the funds for that kind of risk.

However while I didn't short those bubbles, I really did spot them near their peaks. My family was first looking to get into rental properties, but after searching for a few months, even though everybody was saying these prices are great and get in before they really take off, we knew they were way overvalued and stayed away. Most of those people are now bankrupt.

A year or so later, we were looking at getting a new house for ourselves, but me and my dad agreed it was still stupidly expensive. Not even a year later we could buy the same house for 10% less. But keep in mind in Canada the real estate bubble was a bit later, so this is just the beginning. Its fun to see the RE agents panic and try to scare people into buying now as the market prepares to collapse. Several weeks in a row now they're taking full page ads in the paper telling people to buy now before prices really take off. Funny, they didn't have to do that when they were actually rising.

As for oil - no I didn't short, but again I waited till oil dropped by almost half before looking at Oil stocks. Granted I was still wrong, it's almost fallen by a half again since then, but nonetheless.

On a side note I really should look into technicals, has some potential.

PS: I'm not necessarily saying short treasuries, because its hard to say when the decline will come. I was just saying if you're looking for a good investment, I don't think they currently are.