Having spent about half of my life growing up in Southern California in the 90's and early 2000's, I was exposed to a lot of people who gave very oversimplified financial advice, such as "you will only make good money if you get a college degree and work hard". Or they were simply arrogant about their business savvy and know how.
Many other people I knew were very secretive about how much they earned, or even how they actually earn their money. It seemed like you either had to step into your parents business or be an attorney, real estate broker, real estate investor, a plastic surgeon, architect, or a drug dealer to afford the nice house in a beach community. Otherwise $20/hr was considered a "good wage" to be able to afford just enough to keep living at home or room-mate up with a few other people crammed in a studio or 900sq ft apartment.
Maybe it's just my perception but it seemed like everyone wanted to prove how much “awesomer” they were at everything than everyone else.
My brother and sister and I were fortunate enough that our grandfather made decisions when he was a young man to work hard to become a doctor, and buy a home close to the beach where he and my grandmother resided for nearly 60 years and conservatively raised their family.
I believe that if it wasn’t for him that we would not have spent as many long days on the beach as we did, or enabled as many days surfing as my brother and I enjoyed.
However, neither my grandparents or my parents were ever what would be considered rich. Discussions about money were always a source of frustration. We were never hungry, but keeping up in Orange County definitely created pressure.
My Dad has many stories about when he was growing up, how my Grandfather worked very long hours, always on call, and was hardly ever home.
And my grandfather on my Mom’s side was a police lieutenant for many years, and would work double shifts just to put his money back into building up a bus Tour Business that he later retired into after over 30 years as a police officer.
My own Dad has worked many different jobs throughout his life as a rancher, deep sea fisherman, snowplow and road grader operator, drilling truck operator, underwater boat hull cleaner and more. And my Mom worked for nearly 30 years as an school office administrator.
They each did this just to survive and take care of their families. They worked hard at their jobs to provide, yet were never able to reach financial independence.
The saying “too busy working to make any money” perfectly describes this circumstance.
So, why am I sharing this? Because it brings me to a point that I would like to make about people who give you oversimplified advice about careers and building your wealth.
What I’ve noticed is that these “easy money” advice givers typically come from 4 circumstances...
1 They were born to parents who already had money or achieved financial success. And therefore have access to...
- Real assets
- Seed money or startup capital
- Business connections or systems
- Trade secrets
- Direct financial support
2 They married someone who had already achieved financial success or who’s parents had money. And therefore have access to...
- A lifestyle allowance
- Funds for their hobby businesses
- Margin to be charitable
- Access to influential people
3 They made their money from getting really lucky. Such as winning the lottery, a bet, or investing in a speculative company or stock. These are often risky strategies such as...
- Crypto currency
- Penny stocks
- Winning ticket
- Right business, right time
4 They have already made their money, but somewhere along their journey they forgot how they got started and what exact steps they went through to get there.
Now they are...
- too busy
- too impatient
- too forgetful
- too embarrassed
- too scared of competition
- Or too arrogant…
…To share the exact steps about how they got to where they are.
You know that type, usually a Baby Boomer or older GenX who will snap or grunt some one liner like… “I just worked hard.”
Or maybe it’s true that they just don’t know. And couldn’t tell you, because there really is not a cookie cutter path to success that will work for everyone.
The truth is, without some of those circumstances that I mentioned above - It takes a lot of personal work, consistent persistence, timing, connections, and some luck to reach and maintain any level of financial success.
Most of those “it’s easy just do it” money advice type people would not be able to start over from scratch, and duplicate their same success.
We live in an age where anyone can pose as an expert or come off like they have all of the answers by using oversimplified statements or ivory tower language.
Don’t be a business in a box type guy. Making money, by teaching others how to make money by teaching others how to make money with a “how to make money program” is not a business.
I guess what I’m reinforcing here is that you can’t really depend on others for all of the answers all of the time.
A good place to start your own hard work is by studying to learn and gain an awareness of what is going around you and in your own life. Otherwise you are just going to fall victim as someone else’s fool because at the minimum you don’t understand your own numbers, are naive about how the world works.
There are no easy buttons.
So when someone has some Yoda-like ‘ism summed up in 2-3 sentences that leaves you thinking “Wow! This person must know something that I don’t!” ....
Just realize that it’s either bullshit, or they don’t have any real world experience to back it up. It’s just marketing.
