Motivation: To "___" or Not to "____"

Its funny, when I officially decided to pursue self-employment, my motivation was two-fold:

- To be financially self-sufficient and to achieve at least moderate wealth
- To be able to do what I want, when I want

The second motivating factor has been a double-edged sword, for sure. If you begin self-employment with the goal of being able to do what you want, when you want - it is safe to assume that you're the type of person who already has a hard time with boundaries, procrastination and timely deliverables.

Therefore, my second motivating factor is also a pretty substantial barrier in achieving my own dreams.

Odd.

Just yesterday, I went to a matinee movie. It was wonderful, liberating and just what I've always wanted to do! However, it took up and unexpected 4 hours of my time. Prime working time. I don't really regret it, because I haven't gone on many daytime excursions since I quit my job last summer and it was a movie I really wanted to see.

But it does make me wonder how can I do whatever I want, when I want if its also going to take away from the very thing that's supposed to financially support me doing whatever I want, whenever I want?

I certainly need to achieve some balance - fortunately for me, the work that I do is endlessly entertaining to me. However, I am going to continue to work towards automation in my daily work. I want to get all of my money working for me such that I actually don't have to work daily if I don't want to. I think my conundrum is caused simply by me not achieving my first motivational goal: complete financial self-sufficiency.

Quiz: Which Billionaire Tycoon Are You?

These quizzes BuzzFeed cranks out are a dime a dozen and I usually don't bother to find out which Growing Pains star, Sandwich, Crayon Color or Gum Flavor I am. But this one, definitely made me want to share! So aspirational!

So, which Billionaire Tycoon Are You?

Is Overnight Success an Unbearable Burden?

The news of Flappy Bird's, demise has hit some fans pretty hard. The game was overnight success, much to the surprise of its designer. One of the hardest game apps on the market, the challenging nature of the game drove some users to contact the game's maker, Dong Nguyen, directly on twitter complaining of addiction. Apparently the pressure of creating a wildly popular and addictive game caused Nguyen to crack (pun intended) and take the game off the market.

Flappy Bird was reportedly earning over $50,000 a day in advertising revenue. Earning $50,000 a day in America would make one quite wealthy - just imagine what that kind of wealth equates to in Vietnam where the average annual family income is about $1800.

I can't decide what to think about his decision. Was it brave, wise or naive?

I do admire the man for knowing when he was in over his head. You have to know when to hold 'em and know when to fold 'em. Plowing onward blindly can cause far more harm than good and it seems certain that Nguyen felt out of control of his product.

If one isn't mentally prepared for success, its highly probable you could crash and burn pretty hard. With young adults claiming "affluenza" as a legitimate defense in court, one has to admire him for shying away from perhaps having too much money for one's own good.

While we don't yet know what made up his final decision to turn down such financial success, it does seem that he suffered mostly from a major moral dilemma regarding his customers' self-reported addiction to the game.

Which also makes me wonder as an aspiring inventor: Should one take responsibility for how your customers use your product? There are loads of companies that make household products that are used by drug addicts. Those companies continue on regardless of these known alternate, illicit uses. So, if you invented a game that "ruins" someone's life because they play it to their own detriment, is it your place as the maker to remove the game from the market entirely? World of Warcraft and Everquest makers certainly don't think so!

As an American Entrepreneur, constantly chasing financial freedom and success in business, I don't understand his decision to cease sales of his most profitable product. But, I do admire his restraint and arguably over-the-top empathy.

Sometimes Grit does Quit?

Investments - ETF's

I'm excited - I just added a few new Vangaurd ETF's to my Daily Paycheck Strategy in my Rollover IRA account. I saw that I was a coming up a little short in a few sectors and stock types, so I ditched a few stocks to reinvest more heavily in Small Cap funds, International stocks and the Tech sector.

The stocks I ditched were making me dividend income, but were also losing value overall. I definitely want a "Daily Paycheck," but I also want my capitol investment to stay intact. Cash, can be a smart position to hold, in my opinion.

We'll see over time if these were good moves or bad! One way or the other, I want to be an active investor and never want to look back and say, "I don't know what happened, its just gone, all gone!" Gritty Entrepreneurs watch their money closely. We don't outsource our future, am I right?

Ditched:
WTR
COP
CSCO
O

Added:
VGT
VBR
VT

Bulk Trash Pick-Up Week - The Entrepreneurs Are Out!

Here, in our neighborhood, the bulk trash is picked up once a month. This week is pick-up week. Looking out my front office window, I saw that same Gritty Entrepreneur from a few months back! I was reminded of my past post about this guy and how I admired his grit.

This week he had quite the haul - looks like he hit the "junker" jackpot! Sometimes I envy the simplicity of his business structure as I stare at the multi-page tax packet my CPA just sent along. Sometimes, I'd rather sort through other people's trash than complete my taxes. Just going to have to "grit" and bear it, I suppose.

Retirement and the Magic Number

I want to talk about a topic that's been rolling around in my head since my post last week on earning the first million dollars. When an idea strikes, I mull it around a bit in my head and come up with a few tenants of my main argument and then set to writing it all down. At first, I had planned on writing about planning for retirement and the magic number one will need, which then leads into the magic number one still needs to earn and save before the golden years sneak upon us all.

But, having just spent several days with my folks, I wonder how many baby boomers like my parents are approaching retirement without a real idea of what it takes to retire. Which of course, begs the question, do they have even a fraction of what they need now with retirement only 10 - 15 years out?

I'm fortunate in that my parents do talk about retirement with my sister and I. But, I always leave the conversation having distilled and contemplated their version of things thinking, "I don't think that's quite right." So, when I got my first job at 22, I went to the Bank of America homepage and started clicking around, looking at the retirement calculators and savings charts. I was shocked at what it told me. If I continued to make $30,000 annually and wanted to maintain my current lifestyle I needed to save a minimum of 1.5 million dollars.

Bank of America Retirement Calculator

This kind of cash was not at all what was being thrown around in conversations with my parents. I realized then, that they didn't know how much cash it took to retire on schedule, between 62 and 70 years of age. From what we had discussed, I figured that what they had saved was probably going to run dry about five years in to their retirement or they'd never be able to retire.

That's probably about the time the entrepreneur lightbulb went off in my head. My parents did it "right." My dad has been a hard-working employee his whole life and my mom was a stay-at-home-mom that made some money on the side while my sister and I were growing up. Then, once we learned to drive she was employed for some years at a local university. Even still, taking the prescribed course in life, they're having a hard time saving and earning enough to retire.

It occurred to me then that retirement can mean something else entirely when you're an entrepreneur.

I still have a goal of saving a minimum of 1.5 million dollars by the time I'm 65. There's no argument for how great that would be for one's peace of mind. However, if I'm living on passive income, investment income and I own a variety of income producing business ventures - 65 is just a number.  I won't stop earning at 65 like an employee does, therefore there's not a deadline to have earned my "retirement."

My dad, very smartly, went to a financial planner a few years back. Unfortunately, he received a rather nasty shock. He was told in no uncertain terms that technically speaking, they don't have a retirement nest egg. I know my parents aren't the only ones with this mindset; thinking that the act of saving any sum of money in a traditional retirement account constitutes having adequately prepared for their non-working years.

My friend's father lost his job a few years back as a real estate broker. Her father is a few years older than mine, meaning he was truly staring down the barrel of retirement. Her parents were panicked to say the least. My friend was considering relocating so that she could purchase their house from under them to bulk up their savings. If one is just a few years out, wouldn't it be a reasonable assumption that perhaps they could economize a tad each year and still make their retirement funds stretch? It was such a shame that a couple so close to retirement didn't have the resources to simply adjust their plan and slide into an early retirement.

I think the baby boomers are at a strange disadvantage in terms of their retirement mindset. I recall my dad telling me when I was younger who of his friends would have a pension when they retired. Even though he knew pensions were dying out, I think it was still common to think that your employer had your back. Now, instead Bank of America suggests thinking about what you can do in your "second career" as a semi-retired person. Why not be an entrepreneur? That's what my parents did!

-Grit Don't Quit, folks.

Great Forbes Article: "5 Warning Signs You May Have Entrepreneurialism"

This is the best, comical article on the disease sweeping the nation: Entrepreneurialism Disease. I found this piece to be spot on! Gosh, the constant urge to work for oneself coupled with all of these crippling symptoms really does feel like a disease sometimes! I thought the author showed a great deal of insight. I love that moment when all of things you've been feeling are finally capture perfectly!

I particularly liked this happy quote:

"A natural optimism and a cheery, cooperative personality could, unfortunately, spell entrepreneurial success as you age."

The only cure to ED… start your own business. Plain and simple folks!

Enjoy!

5 Warning Signs You May Have Entrepreneurialism

- Stay Gritty