Is 'Rich' A Dirty Word?

Mike Finley

So we all have ran into 'rich' clients. There are plenty of stories here about dealing with rich people who are real, down to earth people and stories about trying rich clients who are nothing but trouble.

Is 'rich' a dirty word in America now?

Does anybody on this forum plan on getting rich themselves or are we all just out to make a decent living. Is being rich mean you can retire and actually retire from what you are doing, and if so if we are just out to make a living is their a real retirement in our future or does retirement just mean working less then you do now?

ruskent

Being 21 and in my third year of business i am sorta starting to realize that my business is going to be my life. And if its going to be my life and i am going to have to deal with the same BS for the next 50 years, i sure as hell hope i make more than just a good living.

However, i am not in business to become rich. I am in business to because i truly want to build great things and give people a good place to be employed where they can better themselves. If i stick to focusing on those two things, i should have no proablem.

dirt diggler

i have no room to complain about anything in this life ...


i think what happens is that you don't necessarily set out to "make a living" (as opposed to getting rich)

it's not even that you settle for it




i think it's just that you get tired and at the end of the day, things are what they are

do that for 14,000 days ... well that's not a long time

Magnettica

Rich means a whole lot more responsibility so that you can stay rich.

Donald Trump is rich.

He doesn't stay rich by hanging out watching television all afternoon.

He works, and never stops working.

It's called drive, and motiviation.

It's Saturday night and right now I have no drive.

And I am not rich.

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Wolverine-Eric

Sometimes when it comes to service work... contractors have problems dealing with 'rich' people. Here is why:

First, you have to consider why 'rich' people are rich.

Some are rich because they are dishonest. I am a believer in the 'what comes around goes around' theory. That means that I don't really believe that many rich people are inherently dishonest... politicians excluded (they are all crooks!). Some are rich because they inherited the money. I am a beliver in the 'easy come easy go' theory so I don't really believe that many of these people stay rich unless they inherit ungodly sums of money.

I believe that most rich people got there because they have high standards for themselves and just high standards in general. Let's face it, if you do a poor job... you get the door. If you do a good job you get poor rewards. If you do an excellent job you get good rewards. That is where the upper middle class is. However, there is a higher level. When you go all out and do an outstanding job on a consitent basis you get ALL the rewards!

So, if you have really high standards you expect more out of people than they are usually willing to give. Now, as you are ALL aware... most service people do NOT have high standards. Most are trying to get by with as little as they can get by with. So, when someone with low standards is doing a job for someone with high standards, there are going to be issues.

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plazaman

im 22 and feel the same way

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Teetorbilt

Life has it's ups and downs. Trump has had his too, if anyone remembers.

I was rich (financially) at a young age. Never had a car payment or mortgage, drove Porsches and had all of the toys. Got married, had 2 kids and Ol'#1 gets stomach cancer and dies. Lost everything (including my job) trying to keep her alive except the boat (my ace in the hole) and my Blazer. Fighting back was slow but I kept my kids in private schools, got re-married, put my daughter through an Ivy League university, got another house, am trying to keep my son in a CC for prerequ'ts and starting to think about another Porsche.

THIS is where rich takes another meaning. A beautiful wife, two good kids, home, good income..... I've had a very rich life, so far.

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tvvbsn

I totally agree, you begin to become rich when you find complete happiness in something that is not material, whatever that may be...family, spouse, higher being...etc.

nywoodwizard

Me and my guy's get more and bigger tips from people with less money,so thunbs up for the working class.

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steve-in-kville

A person has to love their job. They have to have above mentioned drive and motivation. They must have ambition. They have to take risks. If someone has the above, the money will follow.

Take all the get-rich-quick schemes out there.... people look for the money first, but have no interest in the work itself. They will fail.

steve

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thom

OK, what's rich?

One million, five million, ten million?

Is rich a lifestyle?

Is rich a full life?

Very few who are "rich" by most peoples standards would call themselves rich. They are "well off".

Bummie

A friend of mine once told me.

"I thought when I was a millionaire I would be happy!! I wasn't. So I thought that when I had 10 million I would be happy.... I wasn't. Now I'm dying of cancer and I would give it all to be healthy."

Sorry to say he died. So really what is "RICH!!" I don't have all the money that he had but I'm still here, healthy and happy!!

Gordo

Bummie....you got it right.

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Looks like some pros were here.

ProWallGuy

I don't want to be rich, I want to be wealthy.

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Teetorbilt

My first father-in-law was one of the Johnson & Johnson clan and I've yet to meet a more miserable person.

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You can't solve you're problems with the same level of thinking that created the problems.

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firemike

Am I rich?

I have:

• A wonderful wife
• 4 great kids
• 7 smart and talented grandkids
• A mortgage
• A car payment
• Probably $70 in my pocket right now

Yeah, I am rich beyond my wildest dreams!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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-Mike-

realpurty2

I'm not shy...so I'll say straight up...Absolutely! If not, why else would we go through all the hassles and stress now. If increased financial gains weren't atleast one of the goals, we'd be better off working a job that includes "do you want fries with that?" and clocking out at the end of the day with nothing else on our mind.

That's what we'll be doing on the path to getting rich.

That's the goal atleast. Retire, pass the company on to son, continuing residual income as the majority stockholder and have a bank account large enough not to have to sell the family house to pay for the inevitable cost of healthcare as a senior citizen. What I do now determines if that ever becomes a reality or not.


Everyone's retirement goals are different. Me personally... I want a house on the lake front, with no mortgage, a motor home in the driveway that allows me freedom to roam, and my only important decisions would be whether or not I want to garden for fun or go fishing for the day. (If your going to dream.. dream BIG! )

I already have a "rich" life with family, but I want financial security in my golden years to be a part of that as well so we'll keep busting tail now to make that happen.

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Wolverine-Eric

I reading these posts AND... it's like alot of you guys think that you have to make a choice between emotional happiness and money...

Money isn't the answer to all of your problems. I look at money as a magnifier. If you are an @$$ then you'll have more money to be an @$$ with. If you are generous, kind, and loving then you will have more money to be generous, kind, and loving with. etc...

The pursuit of wealth WILL make you miserable if you just don't want to excercise discipline in your life. You don't become wealthy by making alot of money... You become wealthy by systematically spending less money than you make!

I wouldn't consider myself rich if I only had $70 to my name. I also wouldn't consider myself rich if all I had was a million bucks and my family hated my guts. I consider myself rich because I have a great family life ALONG with some financial security. Obviously, there are other areas of life that must be balanced as well... but... this post has been long enough!

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Some things just shouldn't be mixed... like... Kids & Paint

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Mike Finley

I'm the exception to your rule.

I'm the hardest working lazy person you will ever meet. I have no love of contracting, no love of bathrooms, no love of any of this. I'm simply an opportunist who has always just analized a situation and exploited a niche. That's why I try to take 2-4 vacations a year, every year, life is what goes on outside of work. The most important qualification for any job my wife has had is how many weeks of vacation do you get. For me, a job or a career or a business is a means to an end. My job or business has always financed my life. For me 'my life' is defined as any moment spent away from work. I'm not going to be on my death bed wishing I had worked another day more back in 2004.

I'm not one of those people if they won the lottery would keep working. You wouldn't be able to find me with a search warrant.

POOLMANinCT

I'm 33, have a nice home, go where I want, buy what I want..... but I am a mental wreck.... I am a hustler, like finley says I don't love inground pools, in fact I have caught myself consciously avoiding eye contact with my pool on sundays.... an opportunist? must be.....
I am married to my biz.

I think you are rich in the fiscal sense when your money works for you, I work for my money.

ray

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