Wealthy Engineers 9

[pavlik]

I haven't met many rich engineers. Principals at engineering firms are typically well paid, but that is about the extent of it. Why?

Anyone knows a rich engineer and how she/he got there?
The way I see it:
i). Open up own practice;
ii). Rise up through the ranks of an established firm, ending up with the company's shares.
iii). Get an MBA and go work for a venture capitalist firm.
vi). Get a PhD in Applied Physics/Math and go work for a hedge fund.
v). Marry rich.
iv). Patent an idea, and see item i).
iiv). Inherit estate, win money or read Trump's "How To Get Rich" book ok...maybe that wouldn't help you

I am very scared of turning 40 one day and realizing that all I am worth is a meager $75,000. Very scared...

 

[ProbaSci]

Pavlik, you are already on your way by asking "how?" and trying to develop a plan. I think that too many people just expect they will get a job and then one day be rich. Then 20yrs later they wonder why they can't make ends meet on 2 to 3x the median income.

Beware that "rich" is a moving target. Ask someone who makes 20K, 40k, 100k, 1mil what it takes to be comfortable and all way claim they need still need more than they have.

Saving (combined with compounding) is the most important aspect to financial security (doesn't sound as good as rich, does it?). It is so easy to understand and yet so difficult to do. It does get easier (perhaps even addictive) once your account is earning dividends greater than what most people are "saving" outright.

And a few tired cliches that are timeless in their truth:
-The secret to happiness is not having what you want, but wanting what you have.
-He who dies with the most toys, still dies.
-Noone on his death bed says, "I wish I had spent more time in the office"

http://www.probasci.com

-
Implantable FEA for medical device manufacturers

 

[IRstuff]

rats!! there are still 5E7 people richer than I

TTFN

 

[plasgears]

Rich sometimes is a state of mind.

I consider myself rich in:
- ideas for bettering myself and my community;
- potential for helping others not as experienced as me;
- concepts for civil aviation improvements not evident to pilots, passengers, educators, and lawmakers. (I have received a letter of interest from a charitable trust to fund the beginnings of the National Airline Academy, a concept 10 years old and long overdue.)

I have so-called rich ($$$) relatives living and working in NYC, a place I wouldn't chose to live in, even though I was born and raised there. We haven't seen the end of terrorism there yet.

 

[haggis]

We all make a pretty good living with what we do but we won't retire wealthy. Over the years, I've always kept up with salary norms but it was always eaten up with the nice home, 2.5 kids, station wagon, dog and a stay at home wife when the kids were growing up. The last part was worth every penny of the second salary. Even going out on your own does not guarantee wealth at the end of the day and oft times too much time is spent at work at the neglect of other things.

I always say I'm working on my 2nd million because I gave up on the 1st !

Haggis

 

[fndn]

Look, it is not the gross salary, or whether you're self-employed. It comes down to three variables. First, do you have savings and assets that will get you thru latter part of life. Second, have you set up investments that will pay for your lifestyle changes-say you want to take 2 yrs off and travel. For example if you can invent a product, or write books, or own rental commerical properties then you'll have cash flow coming in to finance your travels. And thirdly have you reached enough technical and credential stage, that you can obtain employment within a short period, should you miss the office politics.

So Wealthy means ability to live off of your investments or cash flows during your travels, have assets that are untouched for retiremnet, and have the skills to instantly be hired. So Plan for your lifestyle in your own method.

A Member of

http://www.civilvillage.com

 

[IRstuff]

It's interesting that so many of you have very negative outlooks on this subject, yet would have no difficulty in convincing yourself that there was a solution had this been an engineering problem.

As such, it's relatively benign engineering problem, given that you normally have nearly 45 yrs to accomplish the end result and there are no technological show-stoppers. Almost all of you are earning at least 2x to 3x the median salary. You're more intelligent than the average person and yet you expect to do no better.

If you're convinced that you'll fail, then the end result is a foregone conclusion.

Start engineering your futures. Plan the work and work the plan.

TTFN

 

[buzzp]

Rich, to me, is being satisfied. There is a song about this.
I am of the personality that I will never be satisfied until I don't have to answer to a boss everyday (just clients). I dont care about making millions.
All this talk about investing and such to make money is a good idea, if you want to be a rich old cogger. I am of the abnormal on this. I save and invest a little but most of my funds are spent to live life now, not planning on living life when I retire. Sure, maybe latter I will be living from social security check to social security check but when I am 65 years old how many of the fun things I want to do now will I want to do when I am 65?

I wish I had the personality to be content working for someone else the rest of my life but I just have not been able to adjust my personality to be satisfied with this. I envy those that can.

 

[ischgl99]

Being rich is not how much you earn, it's how much you have saved.

My father was an engineer and retired early a multimillionare, working for the same company his entire career and retiring as the engineering manager. Good investing and common sense allows him and my mother to spend a couple months each winter in FL, travel the world and enjoy their life, as well as spoil the grandkids. That to me is being rich.

Oh, by the way, we never went without while growing up and had a very comfortable life so their savings plan did not prevent us from enjoying life.

 

[QuadT]

For an engineer, especially a civil engineer starting out or in early career who wants to work in extra income and avoid the pitfalls of first year start-up attrition he should consider testing the water.

What I mean and what I have done is get licensed, taken on small engneering jobs and designs, build up a good rep with contractors, architects, developers while I worked full time.

I needed liability insurance or O and E, but you can get a small scale policy for around $2500 and pay that off in two shop drawings. Which brings me to another thing. Engineers should bill more and bill frequently. Do your billings every other week and send out invoices every 30 days. Then you will know if you are working with a payer or a deadbeat. You can make say 30K a year for your self plus your salary and this money you can bank for that income you will need down the road if you want to completely strike out on your own.

 

[Blazerdog]

A few great books on the topic of becoming rich are:

1) The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas Stanley
2) The Richest Man in Babylon by George S. Clason
3) The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey

The first is a study of who the rich are in America and how they got there. The other two are very inspirational on getting out of debt and living on less than you make. They have nothing with being an engineer. Just do something that you are passionate about, stay out of debt and the money will follow.

 

[IRstuff]

"The Millionaire Next Door," describes how the majority of American millionaires are actually ordinary citizens practicing simple rules to live by:

http://moneycentral.msn.com/content/Retirementandwills/Escapetheratrace/P34219.asp

TTFN

 

[btrueblood]

As one more engineer who's made it by age 40, I agree with IRstuff's posts.

1. Read "The Millionaire Next Door". It's darn near a textbook for achieving financial independence.

2. Research, invest and manage your own money (at least until you can afford to pay for top-notch financial advice. Our current manager gets a percentage of our net gains, not the gross). Nobody else cares as much about your money than you do.

3. Don't buy toys you don't need and won't use. Analyze every purchase to determine: will I get my money's worth from this? E.g. If you don't go boating very often, don't buy a boat (rent one instead for the occasional vacation). I love skiing, and thus own my own equipment - but it was a value decision on my part.

 

[Higgler]

There is an implied assumption that becoming rich is a route to happiness. Look at all the rich and famous and miserable. Listen to some of the lyrics of songwriting millionaires. "I have it all and feel like nothing", a common theme.
Did you ever take high school or college classes on how to be happy. It's a challenge and worth thinking about.
Happiness first, wealth second, and don't marry arm candy -it'll rot your happiness and your wallet.

kch

 

[btrueblood]

Hmm. Higgler, you just changed the optimization parameters drastically.

However, from experience, money may not buy happiness, but it makes the pursuit of happiness much easier.

 

[IRstuff]

Maybe, maybe not...

I think, not speaking from personal experience, that wealth allows you to BUY more things, but there's less satisfaction in them, because, deep down, you know that you really didn't work for it.

Trump mab be a good example of that. His penthouse on "The Apprentice" is loaded with "stuff," that's there because they're "the best." It's unclear whether Trump gets any real happiness or real enjoyment out of those things. And he's certainly diving into the deep end again as far as marriage is concerned. Having to divine whether someone loves you for you or your money might make me unhappy.

TTFN

 

[EngJW]

And with all his fame and money, Elvis had to pay people to be his friends.

 

[HVAC68]

Money is not everything in life, but does having money or being wealthy ever hurt ? You can do a few things without money, but may be do a lot more with money.

HVAC68

 

[IRstuff]

It's amusing, possibly ironic, that a culture with proverbs such as "too much of a good thing is bad," and "love of money is the root of all evil," would be still so enamored with excessive amounts of money.

Then, again, "Moderation in all things is best, but it's pretty hard to get excited about it." attributed to Mason Cooley:

http://www.bartleby.com/66/3/13603.html

I don't think anyone is suggesting a life of pauperism. The problem is that many people have trouble determining when "enough" becomes "too much."

There have recently been some articles about motherhood on msn.com and how even that relatively pristine pursuit has become incredibly burdensome, what with baby masseuses and Ivy-League pre-school preps.

TTFN

 

[Latexman]

My favorite boss of all time taught me, "Life is too short to be unhappy".

From day one, I invested 10% of gross pay for retirement and enjoyed the rest. I'm not going to be rich, but I'll have >$1MM by mid-50's. I'm happy now and will be when I retire!

Good luck,
Latexman

 

[waskillywabbit]

I'm a rich poor man...as I know quite a few monetarily wealthy miserable people.

Enjoy the life you have with what you have and don't forget to live it instead of spending all your time always trying obtain something else.

Brian

http://www.mcabeeconstruction.com

Opinions expressed are my own and are not those of the company.