Why is my income and my future "recession proof" ??
 

For those that don't know me I'm CD Smith, been in this business for nearly 10 years now. Why is it that even if things took a 100% downturn tomorrow I would still be solvent and in the black while others go under? The answer is simple.... from day one I planned for the future.

Instead of living the rock star lifestyle I put my extra money away, into RSP's (Retirement Savings Plans), mutual funds, and other retirement investments. I invested in rental property which pays me every month. All of it adds up to a guaranteed future income, and when I'm ready to retire in full I will be worry-free completely.

My question is, why do so many of you choose to ignore the future, blow your income as you earn it, live for today and not give a shit about what happens 10, 15, 20, 30 years from now? Start planning now and by then you'll be worry-free like me.

This busness can either kill you or make you a made man. It's up to you.

You are right, many people think that they will live forever and they don't have to worry about tomorrow. But when something happened they are in sh.. And I guess that there most people like this. Personally I know just 2 guys who really think about tomorrow and really have MANY friends. personally I think about it every day, but this is still only ideas.

And before anyone tries to argue with me ask yourself this...

what would you do if you needed $50K tomorrow?

Me, I can raise $50K any number of ways. I can take it out of my savings, or I can get a cash advance on my credit, OR I can refiinance one of my mortgages and take out $50 - $100 K any time I need it.

Can you?

If you've been in this business 5 years or more and your answer is "no"... you are doing something wrong. You are not planning for the future, you are living for today and not here for the long term. Something is wrong with your gameplan.

Start investing in your future.

The funny thing is, many of you love to run keyboard at guys like Baddog, Sleazydream, myself, etc, but these are the guys who have put money aside for their future and have their ducks in a row. Sometimes the ones talking the most "shit" are the ones who need help the most.

Do you need help?

Great post! :thumbsup
I´m still young and i dont think much about the future course i had some times in life where i didnt know if i wake up tomorrow. It pushed me even more to life for the moment and dont think about tomorrow. I know its irresponsible, but on the other side i´m lucky enough, that i cant spend all my money in just a month these days. No idea on what i should spend it, really!
I dont have any future plans yet, course i still dont know in which country i should settle down and start to grow some roots. Just a matter of time i think till everything gets in order.. :winkwink:

I am pleased to learn that you have applied your good common sense.

Walk into my office and open the safe

Years ago...a friend of mine...kept a large stash of money in a secret hiding place at home...one day his house was broken into and the only thing that was disturbed or missing was his stash. Loose lips...etc. etc.

I keep all my money buried in the back yard so that anyone who breaks into my home will not find it.

You're more than welcome to take a crack at getting through the gate, disarming my alarm system (which sends a call to the local police station) and blowing up my safe. The safe word is "GFY". Really.

My I have your address? :winkwink:

Inquire at closest strip club

People are fucking retarded thats why.

I live in the sticks. The strippers around here are missing half their teeth and are generally too ugly for amateur porn.

might be speaking from my ass here ... but gates can be climbed and alarms can easily be bypassed but cutting the phone line which is on the back of most houses in a plastic box sealed with a zip tie, and btw ... we have a home alarm too ... try setting it off once and test the response time ... about 1 hour response time for us, so plenty of time to do what you needed even with the alarm on. and one last thing ... people will do some crazy shit to take the $20 in your wallet, the real freaks come out of the wall when you talk about having $50K cash in your safe. be careful :)

Hey cdsmith I save like crazy as well.. still havent taken the plunge on rental properties.. I fund my ira's have mutual funds etc

I think I remember you from the bikiniboard :) I started with a shitty celeb site in 2000 and started with the teen sites in 2002

I thought most people invested on their future, no?

I think of my future everyday :)

This thread makes me wish I never put down that $3K deposit on spinner rims for my Chevy Cavalier this morning.
:(

Lots of people like to look like the big man and spend money on stupid shit to try and feel good about themselves.

Real alarms use cellular signal, not wire. I bet he forgot to mention the gun that will shoot anybody who climbs the gate. No need to wait for an hour, he can shoot as soon as he sees you!

I would take it out of my bank account?

A mortgage is a liability not an investment. What happens if your house value drops down to nothing and you end up owing more than your house is worth?

Also because you will click my sig and sign up...with all the extra cash you make from Ass Smoothie life will be GRAND

I prefer to take the middle road - what use is life if you don't live it? As long as you live it within your means. On the other hand, blowing it all and finding yourself broke when bad times hit isn't smart either.

As a wise man once said, enjoy life but in moderation.

:)

And consider the suckers that have 25 and 30 year mortgages. Just do the math on how much that home will end up costing you? It's robbery.

Smart people don't go and get a $500K / 25-year mortgage just because the bank pre-approves them for that much. They get something more reasonable instead, save up a significant down payment and then getter a shorter-term mortgage and pay off their home sooner = total cost of ownership is FAR less (again, do the math).

I have a fifteen inch dick - and I'm white. Microniche, ahoy!

HA! I'm going to marry you and spend all your money on pugs :1orglaugh

So you are happy earning 4% interest? That barely covers the cost of inflation, so in effect each year you have more money, but your buying power stays the same...

I went with a longer term mortgage that allows various faster prepayment options that I can use if I want to. That way I am locked into the lesser payments in case I am short on cash or have a bad year, but I can pay off my mortgage much quicker when I have extra money lying around.

For instance, I can increase my weekly payments by up to 20%, and can also pay lump sums of up to 20% of my mortgage total per year without any type of penalty.

It's nice to be able to log onto my internet banking account and pay off a huge chunk of my mortgage without even having to talk to a banker.

Weekly payments are also the best choice for anyone considering a mortgage. Right away that says you money on interest compared to monthly payments.

Sure, a mortgage is a liability and a house is an asset. I've never considered my home a "investment" but ... You have $50k in the bank and rent?

Nice, but you're earning no interest.


I did say I have three ways of raising that amount did I not? One being withdrawing from savings which is at my bank. Actually four, I forgot about the low interest line of credit. But it was meant as an example only, because it seems that a lot of guys (even a few long-termers) can't come up with even a grand, or in some cases even a few hundred bucks when they need it.

We as independant webmasters have no benefits package, no company-matched retirement fund, nothing. We have to provide that for ourselves, and I just wonder how many are actually thinking in the long term.

Finally a woman that's not hard to please. "What shall I lavish you with dear... Diamonds? Fur? A new car?"
"Dogs. I want more dogs."


:D

They don't call you "CD" for nothing.

I think there are risks - especially in this business - worth keeping some cash on hand. I think of it as part of a well diversified portfolio. There's more than just investment, economic and inflation risk. How about legal risk?

Hehe - I always laugh at women who get bitchy unless they get $30K+ engagement rings. Buy me some property and a gold band if you really want to spend that kind of money! :)

One of the few good things about us old chicks - we're practical :thumbsup

There are ways to shelter money and still earn interest on it.

This happens every day of the week. I've seen it happen to people I know and have to say it is not always because of "loose lips" - your average joe house fuckerover these days does not go for the 50 inch tv or huge whatever type good he sees in front of him,,, he KNOWS that most even moderately successful households will have at least some of amount of cash stashed in that secret place "that nobody will EVER find" - trouble is these fuckers are BRILLIANT at finding those secret places - sometimes it's a couple of hundred bucks they score, sometimes a couple of thousands, and sometimes a lot lot more..

And then what? You can't haul off the safe. You better stick to jacking cars.

What if you live in an area where the houses are overpriced and you can rent for LOT less than you can buy? When I was visiting someone in OC once, the house next to them was on the market for $750K but you could rent a house in their neighborhood for $2K. Had someone renting bought that $750K house, not only would their monthly payment have skyrocketed but right now the house is probably selling for $500-600KK so you would have taken a total shit hit just to say you weren't renting.

Plus having it in a MM while not paying great interest is at least FDIC insurance in these days of shakiness AND easily accessible.

The BIG problem is when people are renting AND don't have $50K in the bank. That's when we go to the "poverty" thread here. :winkwink:

I guess there are different perspectives to life.

To answer the $50k question, why would you need $50k tomorrow? I can't think of any reason why that would happen based on my situation and where I live. In fact, I'm almost at the point where I could stop working today (I am 26) and live an average comfy life until I'm 80 without working another day (including investment interest, rebills, residual traffic signups, etc). A lot of this has to do with the economy where I live. I understand where you're coming from with this thread, but the "what if" question with the $50k number is pretty silly imo.

Of course everyone should plan for the future and use long term thinking, but I don't think throwing all your money into RSPs and mutual funds is the be all and end all. I'm young, I'm smart, I have a shitload of technical skills and I can adapt. If adult goes down tomorrow, I'll find another way to make money pretty quickly. The internet isn't going anywhere, and there'll always be ways to make money. "Recessions" do not affect people willing to work hard and smart.

I'm not saying it a bad idea to rent, Peaches. I just find it to be quite rare. I can't say I know anyone with any kind of net worth at all that rents.

Post I agree with the most :thumbsup

BTW, for everyone condemning Colin... I guess you've never been in the position (bank error or otherwise) where you were physically unable to use any debit cards or go to your bank for a few days or even weeks... Emergency cash is always nice to have.

I keep cash in the house - probably more than I should but I sleep better at night. And yes, I have needed to tap into it - just recently to give as a gift to someone who I knew wouldn't cash a check if I gave them a check and I had just gotten out of the hospital, couldn't drive and had no other way of getting cash.

I like the middle road too and live that way.

I wrote this in 1999 and still live by it ...

"I've known people with frozen bank accounts before I stand firmly by Lee and Webfather in their analysis that the government is a very real threat to YOUR business and that you should not be naive in thinking it could not happen to you. For pretty close to no reason at all, you can be thrown in jail and prosecuted facing a further prison sentence, seizure of your assets, closing down of your operation, and a frozen bank account.

I know many in the industry that have been around long enough that keep a considerable amount of cash handy in the event their assets are frozen. I highly recommend this. Maybe you'll win the court case (maybe not) but it is very difficult to survive with no money, your business frozen, server turned off, and so on.

So, even though historically the odds of being prosecuted under obscenity laws have been low for any individual in particular I believe that when tied in with the risk/reward analysis given by expected return it must be taken very seriously. "

Funny thing is you and I both know people who have been in this business (porn in general) for 15+ years who keep tens of thousands in cash in less safe places than my safe.
I know two for certain.

hahah I saw spinners on a Kia Rio the other day. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

Not silly at all if you put some thought behind it. For example, a person living in the US might have something happen to their health that isn't fully covered by medical insurance. That could eat up $50K right there easily.

Someone in your family could come to you with a sob story and needing that amount for any number of things.

It was meant as an example, to further a point, not to be dwelled upon and taken too literally. The point is that someone who hasn't planned for their future and is living paycheque to paycheque only won't be able to come up with that kind of money. And being able to raise that much cash and actually doing it are two different things. Just because one can doesn't mean one should. Leave it invested, obviously.

For the sake of clarity here I never said they were. I mentioned them only because they're a good start, but any good investment adviser worth their salt would have you better invested than just that. I'm happy to say I am more diversified than that, but I'm not about to lay out all my investments here. It's a pearls before swine thing, you understand. :D


You're probably right but of course there are no guarantees on that. I'll say this though... if I had thought this way when I was in my 20's I would have a lot (and mean a LOT) more than I do now. By what you said earlier in your post it sounds like you're on the right track, which is great. There's a lot of money to be made in this business, opportunity everywhere like you said. But it's what you do with that money that matters. I've seen way too many in adult who made a killing in their early years and are now flat broke.

Mine's not in a safe. I figure a safe is the first place they're going to look and this house is too small to get a decent sized safe that can't be carried out (Wig's had to be placed into his house with a crane!). I have $$, metals and jewelry but not all in one place. If someone steals it, they steal it. They just better hope I'm not home :thumbsup

I started keeping several thousand in cash when the kid was growing up as "bail money" cuz you just never know....and just got into the habit of having it around. I even move it around every year or so.

That worked great for Tony until Carmela found it :1orglaugh

I'm not sure why anyone would be physically unable to use a debit card but able to use cash. Give me a for-instance.

I've ordered food and paid at the door with my debit card. I keep a few hundred bucks on me for pocket money, but I've never seen the need to keep more than that laying around, or in a safe. Unless of course one wants the ability at all times to make purchases and go places without leaving a paper trail. :D

In theory it's possible that you might get busted for something, and your assets could get frozen... and so your debit cards, etc won't work, but this is more of a concern for those engaging in illegal or borderline shady activities...