Stop focusing on bullshit and address your goals. It’s time to rock in your life.
Early in my career a guy walked into my office and wanted to talk about day trading. This was in the late 1990’s when the hot new thing was buying a bunch of positions in the morning and selling them all by the market close. If you score a 1% return every session, you’ll pad your net worth significantly by the end of the year.
It sounds great in theory, doesn’t it?
Anyway, this guy comes into my office and says, “Check out this chart.”
Me: “What about it?”
Him: “Upside down teacup. This sucker’s goin’ to the moon!”
Me: “What’s an upside down teacup?”
I thought he was going to laugh me out of my own office. His face was all red, like I’d just insulted his mother. “Upside down teacup? See how on this day the stock makes a quick move up and then pulls back? That’s the handle. Now look. It’s heading up again but this time it’s gonna break through the resistance.”
Me: How much money do you need to retire?
Him: Huh? Retire? Crap, I’m gonna retire next year, using this! How the hell can you call yourself a financial advisor when you don’t know basics like the upside down teacup? Don’t you do any chart reading?”
Me: “No, not really. You have any debt?”
Him: “Debt? Who cares about debt? I’m not sure how you can help me. You don’t know the first thing about making money.”
Me: “How much money are we actually talking about here? What have you done with your stock chart strategy?”
Him: “What are you talking about? This is ridiculous. I can’t believe you don’t know this stuff.”
Me: “I’m just curious. How much money are we talking about?
Him: “I’m getting ready to start.”
Me: “You haven’t saved any money yet? How old are you?”
Him: “32.”
Me: “And you haven’t started yet?”
Him: “This will help me catch up.”
That wasn’t all. It turned out he had about $29,000 in credit card debt, too.
He didn’t want to talk about goals, the debt or tax shelters. It was all about the quick return.
People like you and I should have laughed him out of my office, shouldn’t we?
It’s sad how many people get stuck on irrelevant concepts or in fruitless arguments. We waste time and energy in places we shouldn’t be involved. Upside down teacups mean zip to someone with debt and no savings, don’t they? You and I will stick to the real issues:
– Torch your debt.
– Start building wealth NOW!
– Build defensive strategies to avoid getting burned.
…or we can use this guy’s approach and buy a lottery ticket.
Whatever. Just Focus On the Right Tree In Your Forest
I bring this up because a popular blog recently debated the semantics of early retirement. Apparently, Mr. Blogger has his panties in a bunch because somebody on the internet said he really wasn’t retired. Then follows a 1,000+ word piece retorting that, yes, in fact, Mr. Blogger really is retired. There are tons of comments and righteous outrage on the piece….comments like, “You tell them, Mr. Blogger!” People are oh, so, so angry.
…and about what?
I think the blogger’s brilliant, by the way. It’s not that he has a smart argument. It’s more that he’s built a whole blog post (and in many ways a whole blog) on an irrelevant argument (in this case his big “proof” that he’s right is because he has “the biggest blog about early retirement on the internet” … proving what again????) and the villagers are following with pitchforks and fires, ready to kill the heretics who dare cross Mr. Blogger.
It’s funny, and totally upside down teacup. It’s another play for the pedestal for Mr. Blogger. Yawn. He already has that pedestal. What about your own pedestal? What about your own dreams? Who gives a shit about whether you can live in the woods making your own furniture and still be called “retired.”
I’m going to start calling myself Superman. Does it matter what I’m called?
I hope you don’t see this as a Control Your Cash-style rant against any blogger. It isn’t. As I mentioned, I really like the dude’s considerable writing talent. If you’re striving for independence, though, let’s look at the forest and see the right tree. The correct tree has more to do with you and your goals than it has to do with anything else.
Whether Mr. Blogger wins a war about early retirement means nothing to you. Upside down teacups and ruby slippers won’t help you reach anything. Determining the steps to find and reach your own finish line is the right thing to focus on today and tomorrow.
You deserve to rock in life. Don’t get stuck holding the torch in a fight that has nothing to do with reaching your goals.
Love, Superman
Really great advice here! My NY resolution was to stop putting time towards things that weren’t going to serve me-same can be said for money as well.
And I didn’t think you were ranty at all!
Thanks, LB. Putting less time toward ill-serving things will probably save you money in those areas also!
Good one Joe,
I think people make the biggest mistake with their money when they invest in things they don’t understand.
If you listen to CNBC these days they are coming up with new terms on the fly to cover the bull crap that is a market.
NOW long term doesn’t even mean a YEAR anymore it’s a QUARTER or a MONTH.
Excellent point, Darnell. There have been far too many people burned because they got into the “hot new thing” instead of focusing on what they can skillfully build.
I think I know what article you speak of. People get excited about doing things because other’s are successful at it and they want to do the same thing. It is the allure of being different. We all have to put into perspective what we want out of life and not what some other person is getting out of theirs.
Grayson, your comment reminds me of a great one liner: “we all want to be different, just like everybody else.”
Let’s face it, the majority of us won’t retire by the time we’re 40, and the majority of us won’t become overnight millionaire’s investing in the stock market, but all of us can build a solid financial future if we invest our money wisely and avoid spending more than we earn.
Great post Joe!
It’s actually pretty simple math, isn’t it, Adam? Thanks for the comment.
Oh, Superman, you’ve saved the day! :-). I have no idea which blogger/article you’re talking about, but it’s been one of those days for me again. We’re in month two of our journey to debt free and today, it sucks. I want to give up, throw in the towel and just be erratic and irresponsible like everyone else! What the hell, I’ll just pack up the hubby and kids and we’ll board a plane to Hawaii and put it all on the VISA. I GIVE UP! Thanks for bringing me down to earth and putting things back in perspective. Thanks for giving me hope. 🙂
Want to take me to Hawaii, Laurie? Better yet, take my kids….
Sure, what the heck: we’ll take you guys AND the kids! I’ll have to see how much I’ve got available on the VISA first though, LOL!
“Upside down teacups and ruby slippers won’t help you reach anything.”
You tell ’em, Joe! 🙂 Great post, as usual!
Yes – it’s not a zero sum game.
If Mr Blogger thinks of himself as ‘retired’ what is it to anyone else? Is there a finite retirement budget available for all? Nah , course not.
It’s like envy – money is not conserved. Just because one guy has billions doesn’t mean the door is closed for everyone else. It really doesn’t matter.
Get a grip, Mr Blogger… we really don’t care.
Well said, John. I’m just standing here applauding….
That post (or those two posts) soured me on Mr Bigshot. There was also a comment spat between him and a blogger I like about biking in zero degree weather. But I always love reading posts by Superman!
To me, it sounds like day trading which is way too risky for me. I suppose gambling would help him catch up too.
It was day trading. It’s a great idea until you actually do it.
Charting always felt a bit like gambling to me, too. If that’s what someone wants to do, then that’s why we live in a free country. But if he was so confident in his scheme, why was he in your office talking to you about it?
I thought it was funnier that he was 32 and uber-confident about a strategy he’d never tried AND obnoxious that I didn’t know anything about it. He was in my office because a friend had referred him to me and we were having a preliminary meeting. He thought I could “out-chart” him, I suppose.
Focusing on upside down teacups will only help him dig a deeper hole, if fund managers aren’t even able to consistently beat the market. I don’t care about what people think of my goals and don’t voice my opinion about theirs, as long as they are focused and not losing time like this guy. Being 32 he still has a long way to go but not the best start in life.
There is no shortage of clowns out there like the guy who walked in wanting to get rich quickly. Talking to a brick wall might be easier that talking to folks like that…just less interesting 🙂
The real question is have you heard of the right side up tea cup? If you short it you’ll be rich!
I love people who have no idea what they’re talking about. It is so much fun to watch the stupidity.
What happened to the podcast today?
Love this post! I made a blogger mad at me once because the blogger was supporting people who did the “some day I will…” and I called them out. I said why not start today, what says you can’t have that other career, second job, new vehicle, *insert dream here? Sort of like what you are saying with retirement and investing, why not get rid of debt and start building towards retirement now, why wait until “some day”?
BTW I know which blogger you are talking about, I had to unsubscribe after his rant because it was about 1000 words of telling his followers off. Who cares if people do or don’t like your idea of “retirement” they are followers and treat them like customers. I don’t know maybe I am just too business minded and hate all the drama.
This post made me giggle.
I literally put my head in my hands at the beginning of this post. I’ve experienced the same exact thing when I tell someone I invest. Somewhere in the conversation, usually one of the first 3 questions they ask me “How much money have you made.” As I always a slight grin appears on my face as I tell them I have a long term strategy using low risk option strategies but do considerably well, about 12-14% on my portfolio. Then the scoffs ensue, “you can’t retire with that strategy!” It blows my mind every time, people want to hear about commodity or FOREX trading when it comes to investing. So sad, I just shake my head. They’ll lose it all eventually, because they have no idea what asset allocation is or how to value a company.
Thanks, Superman! The basics are so important. Arguments beyond that are interesting, but if those basic aren’t taken care of….who cares? And even if they are, I probably only care about 25% of the time.
You’re welcome, Wonder Woman!
This kind of reminds me of David Bach books when he talks about his seminars and how the most noisy and doubtful participants are the ones who are broke and looking for schemes, while the guy sitting in the back that looks like the janitor is worth $2 million because he used the old fashioned rules of living below his means and saving a large percentage of income. I think if you’re Superman, I want to be The Lorax.
Obviously, my popularity was nothing compared to David Bach’s, but I had the same experience. It was always the broke guys who had the biggest reasons why time-tested results were going to fail.
I have auto-deductions going into my 401k, but I always feel like I should be doing more for retirement. Since I’m in my 20s, I think increasing my earnings potential may be the most important thing to focus on. Funny how it gets easier to save for retirement when you make more money…
Excellent post! I’ll be sire to vigilantly look for the upside down teacup, I would hate to miss an opportunity like that should it come along! :p I did get a nice chuckle about the villagers with pitchforks and fires defending Mr Blogger. I do have one opinion on that. Although I’m new to blogging I’ve come to one realization, It’s not easy and it takes a lot of work. If Mr Blogger thinks he’s retired because he has a successful blog, he’s wrong. That’s just his new job.
Ha! Yeah, Jose. It’s your key to success…that teacup. Funny.
On Mr. Blogger, I think the opposite. He is retired because he can call himself whatever the heck he wants. I had plenty of clients who were bus drivers, volunteers, store workers…it’s all semantics. It’s irrelevant. “Retirement” is whatever you choose for it to be. That’s why I thought the argument was funny. Sure, he’s retired…and I’m Superman. His goal is to make furniture and blog, and he’s doing it. My goal is to dress in underwear and wear a cape. Thank goodness there’s no video camera, huh?
Great post Joe. Sometimes it’s hard to tell someone that they need to take the “Rose coloured Goggles” off because they one see and hear what they want to. When someone has a destination or scenario already in fast forward motion in their brains sometimes there is nothing that will stop them. Sounds to me like the 32 yr old teacup bloke… has a lot to learn and hopefully not the hard way.
Edit: because they one (only) see
This guy was clearly going to be rich about five or six days after he left my office. I’m surprised I haven’t heard of him and his teacups since (I actually have read more about the upside down teacup, and it’s pretty cool….but not for me. If I chart at all, I’m looking at MACD, volume and trend only on a stock I plan to buy and hold for a long period of time).
I think it’s a lot like choosing a career path. College is right for some, not for others. And even if you choose college, then there are different majors. Not everyone should be an engineer or a nurse. We do need some historians and english lit majors.
There are multiple paths to a career, to retirement, and to living the life you want to lead. I read blogs of people who have “retired” early. Some have retired, some are freelance, and others really are self-employed, whether they want to admit it or not.
Of course, it doesn’t matter if you’re working for a paycheck, for your own profits, or not working at all, as long as you’re living the life you want. As a writer and a speaker, I know semantics can be very important, but in this case, all that really matters is that you are happy with where you are. The words used to describe don’t really matter.