Occupy Wall Street

[James]

One thing I never understood was the widespread desire to become a millionaire.

I guess I can see how it would be nice. Big house, all of the new fancy electronics, and I'd personally invest in the most badass home gym in the world. But after all is said and done, how much happier will these things make me? What will they give me that I don't have now? Like the note posted below (taken from Duffy's Facebook), although a lot of it is exaggerated, making $60,000 a year to teach and getting bonuses for doing next to nothing sounds pretty good to me.

I personally don't care for a big house or an expensive car. Fact is, 10% interest on a million dollars is $100,000 per year for an hour or two a week of portfolio management. At that point, you're getting paid that salary to travel the world, read, take classes that interest you, and pick up new hobbies. I don't plan on starting a family until my early 30s, but at that point I'll not only have the money to support my children in whatever interests they want to pursue, but also the time to spend with them and watch them grow up.

Most people are told to follow their dream first, and look for a way to make money doing it second. I say do the opposite. Let your dream be your inspiration to work your ass off until you never have to work another day in your life; then you have all the time in the world to follow your dream.

I'm not saying it's the path for everyone, but that's my logic. Anyone who's happy in life is clearly doing things right, and shouldn't change a thing. It's the people who are unhappy with their situation who could benefit from a change in mindset. I think it's Einstein who said, "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." In other words, waiting for the government to solve your life's problems is not the answer.

[StarCraftSector]

Hmm? I do make that money teaching. At that time of writing, I was regularly working 12 hour days (I've since cut back on my hours to have more time to work on my own business). How many teachers who are complaining about not earning enough are willing to work 12 hour days? The thing is, I could just finish work at 4pm, and like everyone else go home and watch TV. But instead I picked up an extra 2-3 hours of private lessons per day. My school gives me two months off in the summer. Did I take a long vacation? No, I picked up two summer camps and extra private lessons for those two months.

Three years ago when I started teaching in Korea, I was making $18 an hour. Anyone with a bachelors degree can do the same. Yep, now I'm making $50 an hour. Is that supposed to disprove something? I'm making that much because I've gotten better at what I do through constant self-education, and because of the connections I've made through going out and being social. You are the sum of your actions.

Tired of making $15 an hour? Go out and teach yourself a skill that makes you more a valuable asset! It's so simple. If you're just going to walk into your job, do the minimum required to scrape by for 8 hours, then go home and play video games, you have no place complaining about your situation in life. The government can't offer low wages if it doesn't have a near endless supply of 'victims' willing to work for low wages.

My point was that you saying "I am a teacher" holds no weight as your income is not even close to representative of a US teacher's income. Your ability to start a business on your income has nothing to do with a teacher's ability to start a business on his/her starkly different income.

Even the best, most dedicated teachers I know definitely aren't making six figures.

[James]

My point was that you saying "I am a teacher" holds no weight as your income is not even close to representative of a US teacher's income. Your ability to start a business on your income has nothing to do with a teacher's ability to start a business on his/her starkly different income.

Even the best, most dedicated teachers I know definitely aren't making six figures.

I said "pre-tax equivalent" because Korean taxes are lower, and I figured if I bank $65-$70k in cash, that's equivalent to a $100k US salary minus taxes. And again, the reason I was able to boast I was earning that much was because I sought out secondary jobs and employment during the school breaks. My main job pays me around $40k per year. Korean taxes are lower, so I take around $35k of that. The other $35k would come from working camps, after school classes, and private lessons. There's nothing stopping US teachers from doing the same.

So which is it? Was I handed a silver platter full of money, or did I just work harder than other people? We all have the same number of hours in the day. Some people are looking to maximize their time, while others are looking for time to kill. "Occupy Wall Street is a people-powered movement that began on September 17, 2011..." Some people have probably been out there for the full month and a half. God damn! Imagine how much productive work they could have gotten done in that time.

As for business investments, so far I've invested a grand total of $200, and the majority of that was on books. Starting a business doesn't have to be about buying a factory and hiring your own PR team. Figure out something you know how to do that others would pay for, and put it together as a package. As you earn revenue, reinvest it back into your business and grow. Start small. Invest only pennies until you're making dollars.

[BuddyLee]

Also Duffy... would you tell me about your business model? I'd be interested in joining the project if I had some more information. Count me out on the business end, but on the designing end I'd be down to put some work in.

[warrenbuffet2]

I sympathize as I am also in the same student/jobless situation, but I refuse to let anger at the way the world is affect my judgement of what is right and rational. People overlook the fact that Wall Street was FORCED to take government money whether they needed it or not. The excess of the 80's and 90's and early 2000's won't be repeated as Dodd Frank has castrated the financial institutions responsible. Also, without the greed of the 99% for house flipping and credit fueled lavish lifestyles, the "1%" would not have had anyone to exploit. And what started the problem? Rock bottom interest rates to get out of recession caused by the same policies OWS wants back.. I see both sides, but OWS is naive in thinking regulation will fix human nature. Those who have master's degrees and work 100 hour weeks will always make more than those who work forty hour weeks and a balanced life.

[Jammku]

Starting a business doesn't have to be about buying a factory and hiring your own PR team. Figure out something you know how to do that others would pay for, and put it together as a package.

This is fine, until the Chinese swoop in, and do what you're doing, while using factories and cheap labor to run you out of business by selling your product / service at such a low cost, you can't afford to continue your business.

Such is life, I guess.

[James]

This is fine, until the Chinese swoop in, and do what you're doing, while using factories and cheap labor to run you out of business by selling your product / service at such a low cost, you can't afford to continue your business.

Such is life, I guess.

Yep. It's simply supply and demand of the labor force. If a lot of people are available who can do your job, it isn't going to pay well. You have to excel by offering something they don't. The economic bubble popped, and the days of Office Space style "show up and dick around for 7 hours" jobs are over. Now you have to actually provide real value that can't be replaced by someone willing to work for less. Such is life.

In my case, I'm going the route of consulting. Good luck to some guy in China cold-calling American businesses offering low-priced consulting That's why sales is cool. Those who spend the time to get good at it make the most money.

[Ragnarok]

This is fine, until the Chinese swoop in, and do what you're doing, while using factories and cheap labor to run you out of business by selling your product / service at such a low cost, you can't afford to continue your business.

Acquiring factories and cheap labor isn't exclusive to the Chinese. Owning Chinese factories and recruiting cheap labor from China isn't exclusive to the Chinese either.
Also, if you're in retail and your product, service, and business model are proprietary enough, you can easily license and wholesale your goodies as well for the easy road to becoming a millionaire (granted, the prerequisites are hard to obtain).

In my case, I'm going the route of consulting. Good luck to some guy in China cold-calling American businesses offering low-priced consulting That's why sales is cool. Those who spend the time to get good at it make the most money.

I like the idea of offering competitively priced consulting to up-and-coming businesses. After 2012 especially, they'll need some governance on how to budget properly around whatever new federal/state mandates come their way.
Also, if you're looking for someone to bounce some of your entrepreneurial ideas off of, let me know.

[StarCraftSector]

So which is it? Was I handed a silver platter full of money, or did I just work harder than other people?

I'm not arguing for or against either of those points. I'm saying only that you used yourself as an example of a teacher starting a business (with the intention to prove that teachers in the United States should also be able to afford to start businesses) even though your monetary situation is not even close to reflective of teachers in the United States. You aren't the example that disproves Justin's point.