Month: September 2017

Working hard for the next generation

The other day I met up with a retired physician and his adult kids for dinner. His (the retired physician) father was also a physician as well but the kids are not. From the looks of their home, it was clear that there was a bit of generational and self-generated wealth—six acre land, fine artwork, sculptures, $200,000 piano—you get the idea. While not professionals, the children were successful in their own right. The daughter was a professional musician on tour. She was a classically trained violinist, pianist, gymnast, and held some history degree. The parents spoke of how gifted their children were like any other proud parents would.

Just like any pragmatist would, I started to wonder what factors influence how we choose our lifestyles and careers.  How much of these factors depend on family finances?  Music lessons are not cheap.  Piano lessons can run anywhere from $50 to $100+ an hour.  These lessons can recur on a weekly basis.  These activities do add up.  If this physician’s daughter went through childhood without those music and sporting lessons, she may not have even realized any potential in a career in artistry.  How do parents even know if their children will have any talent to nurture?  Maybe without those lessons she would have still carved out a career doing the same thing. We’ll never know. What is important is that this physician’s next generation was still able to carve out a successful career, albeit perhaps less financially successful than their father’s.

“I worked hard so that my son could be in a band.”

Not everyone who pursues a life in art can be financially successful.  I’ve met plenty of gifted musicians whose daily chore consists of struggles to find performance venues along with trying to write their own music.  Many of them have other blue collar jobs in order to make ends meet.  Another doctor who I work with occasionally has a son in a band. I’ve never heard of his band, but I do hear about the struggles of getting discovered by a scouts. Perhaps they will become famous one day, but it sounds like a tough job. I’m not sure how he actually makes a living.  The son drives an M5.

I’ll stop judging now.

I like to think that with proper financial decisions and continual hard work, wealth can be sustained and built upon in successive generations.  However, I can see through my colleagues why sometimes even conscientious families will have difficulty sustaining wealth.

We want the best for our children.

No, I don’t intend to blame our kids for society’s downfall.  But it is tough to withhold opportunities for our children especially if we are able to offer our time, money, or knowledge.  I know that my parents sacrificed their paychecks, savings, and time to help further my fund of knowledge.  With our children, we can often be biased to think that they are more capable than they might actually be. Who knows if your kid has the talent to be the next top professional golfer? Better start those lessons early and get the best set of clubs on the market!

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This not a parenting blog, but rather a financial and lifestyle blog for high income earners. Chances are that if you’ve stumbled onto this website you probably have enough compulsion to prevent your hard-earned wealth from ending after your generation. But many of our coworkers may have a different view of their lifestyle and could be spiraling down a path that they don’t want. I suppose that in the end, it may not matter to you anymore if the next generation struggles.

How much assistance do you offer your kids?

(Image courtesy of Flickr)

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Why it is nearly impossible for doctors to amass ultra wealth

I’ve been relatively quiet on the online frontier as of late, owing mostly to work-related insanity and also helping out family affected by the recent hurricanes. Fortunately, everyone is safe and recuperating from mother nature. It is also eye-opening to be reminded how dependent we are to electricity and modern amenities.

The online financial community tends to be a unique bunch. Very resourceful. Innovative. Self-sufficient, to say the least. Most of the modern world isn’t. Mr. Money Mustache is able to construct a fancy rental property out of materials harvested out of craigslist. The average American probably wouldn’t even think to own a generator (myself included) let alone know how to operate one.  Case in point. What happens when you lose electricity for two days? All of your food spoils. What happens when your local supermarket also loses electricity for two days? All of their perishables perish. Boy is it challenging to rebuild that infrastructure. Best of luck to those affected by the recent hurricanes…

Back to the finance world.

The curse of high income earners

High earning families can consider themselves blessed and cursed simultaneously.  High earners, by default, have a good velocity of income. Income is a good—it helps pay the mortgage, bills, vacations, and food.  Doctors, for instance, are the quintessential white-collared service worker. In exchange for a decade of subpar wages and long hours, we all will typically enjoy very comfortable wages and long hours.  I guess that this is a formula that isn’t necessarily a bad trade-off.  However, having a stable income and long hours actually prevents you from becoming wildly financially successful.

I know that we all have different ways to define success.  My view of success is more of a balance between being financially comfortable and having the health to enjoy it.  Fortunately most people in my profession will be able to achieve this.  However, we will never be able to buy this home in Malibu:

This average looking house will cost you a cool $8 million.

That’s right. How many Whipple surgeries would you have to do in order to afford this house? Answer: Not enough.

And that is the sad truth. Our level of ability ensures that we can enjoy a good living, but it also prevents us from reaching the extreme levels of wealth. No amount of hustle where your hustle translates into direct income will allow you to achieve this.

Let me reiterate.

If you have to exchange your time or expertise for money, you will never have the time or energy to amass insane amounts of wealth.

How to overcome the curse of high income earners.

There truly aren’t many secrets to success. If you want to own that chateau in Malibu, you have to come up with a plan and keep executing until you achieve it. You must also have luck (lots of it), but it’s all about creating opportunities.

  1. Motivation — You have to be motivated. The problem with motivation is that other aspects of your life will be sacrificed the more motivated you are, and the higher the goal that you wish to achieve. We’ve sacrificed a lot to become physicians, but that sacrifice actually had a clear cut timeline (medical school, residency, and fellowship). Most of us make this sacrifice in our twenties. This is a time in our lives where we might have the energy and ability to sacrifice family, friends, and health to reach those goals. Our goals may change as we get older. It’s a whole lot harder to come up with a plan to own a $22 million home in your thirties with a family to support when you earn $200,000 a year than if you were 22 years old with only a smile to your name. Think about it. The stakes are different, even though the challenges are the same. The blogger who earns over a $1 million a year probably started out with no career path. Where you start out can dictate how much motivation you can funnel into your goals.
  2. Realistic Income strategy — You have to come up with a plausible plan to hit that goal. If you want to afford an $8 million home, you won’t get there selling lemonade. You need to own a franchise of lemonade stands. Likewise, you need to develop a means for your income to be generated passively and reliably. What’s the secret to a reliable strategy? That, of course, is the million dollar question.
  3. Luck — You’ve got to have some luck. The beauty of luck is that the more frequently you put yourself out to risk, the more chances you’ll have to get that break. It all boils back down to how motivated you are to do it, and how much potential there is in your game plan.

What are your thoughts on amassing ultra wealth?