What would you tell a current 18-year-old tax intern?

[Intrusivedude16]

@MJ DeMarco

Hi everyone,

I want to start off by saying what an amazing forum this is. I finally have a platform to share my thoughts with like-minded people trying to escape the mediocrity of the 9-5. This is truly a blessing.

Ever since I was in kindergarten, I've sought to fulfill my wildest dreams and experience the best parts of life. I don't know what it was, maybe it was the things that my mother consumed when she had me, or maybe it was the environment I grew around and the people that I had to listen to, but one thing was very clear to me: I always had the dying urge to do something with my life.

As I grew older, I accepted society's conformity. Things like going the traditional route of college and accepting a job where I would have to work for 40 years and save my money until I'm able to retire. But there were some thoughts that would have me awake at night and stressed me out. Thoughts like "wait, so I have to work for 40 years just to only enjoy 20 years left of my life until I die? There's got to be more to life than this!"

And so I seek. I seek anything that could help me stop this acceptance of mediocrity. I couldn't accept the fact that I was bound to be at the office M-F for 40 years. Hell no! So I come here today in front of my newfound like-minded brothers and ask for any advice or suggestions I should incorporate into my life. What adjustments would you recommend to me to navigate through my personal life?

Here are some things about me:

-18-year-old male
-currently an intern at a mid-size accounting firm
-My current plan is to save $25,000 in an emergency fund in case I lose my job or need to quit.
-My current expenses are housing rent, gas, food, and personal expenses that total to around $1000 a month
-Currently getting paid $800 per paycheck working 30-35hrs a week
-Currently in community college looking to transfer to a 4-year
-Current debt is at $0
-Current savings is only $2000
-Currently, have $7000 in index funds

If there is anything readers here would like to add, please do so! I want to become better. I will become better. I need to become better.

Thank you!

 

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[Robdavis]

And so I seek. I seek anything that could help me stop this acceptance of mediocrity.

Have you read MJ's books? Millionaire Fastlane , Unscripted and The Great Rat Race Escape ? If you have, try reading them again. There is a lot of guidance in those books.

Also what do you want?
Your goals mention working in a job, wanting to go to college to do a four year course and wanting to save up an emergency fund in case you lose your job. Nothing about starting your own business or fastlane entrepreneurship. Do you want to be an entrepreneur or is your vision at the moment to try to achieve your goals whilst holding down a job in an accounting firm?
Hope these ideas help you.

 

[LateStarter]

Hi everyone,

I want to start off by saying what an amazing forum this is. I finally have a platform to share my thoughts with like-minded people trying to escape the mediocrity of the 9-5. This is truly a blessing.

Ever since I was in kindergarten, I've sought to fulfill my wildest dreams and experience the best parts of life. I don't know what it was, maybe it was the things that my mother consumed when she had me, or maybe it was the environment I grew around and the people that I had to listen to, but one thing was very clear to me: I always had the dying urge to do something with my life.

As I grew older, I accepted society's conformity. Things like going the traditional route of college and accepting a job where I would have to work for 40 years and save my money until I'm able to retire. But there were some thoughts that would have me awake at night and stressed me out. Thoughts like "wait, so I have to work for 40 years just to only enjoy 20 years left of my life until I die? There's got to be more to life than this!"

And so I seek. I seek anything that could help me stop this acceptance of mediocrity. I couldn't accept the fact that I was bound to be at the office M-F for 40 years. Hell no! So I come here today in front of my newfound like-minded brothers and ask for any advice or suggestions I should incorporate into my life. What adjustments would you recommend to me to navigate through my personal life?

Here are some things about me:

-18-year-old male
-currently an intern at a mid-size accounting firm
-My current plan is to save $25,000 in an emergency fund in case I lose my job or need to quit.
-My current expenses are housing rent, gas, food, and personal expenses that total to around $1000 a month
-Currently getting paid $800 per paycheck working 30-35hrs a week
-Currently in community college looking to transfer to a 4-year
-Current debt is at $0
-Current savings is only $2000
-Currently, have $7000 in index funds

If there is anything readers here would like to add, please do so! I want to become better. I will become better. I need to become better.

Thank you!

Welcome to the forum.

What are your goals? Aside from not living in a cubicle for 40 years what is it you want for your life? You seem to want to stay in accounting and transition to a 4 year program. Establish that future vision first. Then build a plan that can realistically get you to those goals. Start working your plan and adjusting as you need to.

If you're making $800/wk, why do you feel you need to save $25k as a rainy day fund? That's more than 7 months savings based on your current salary.

Based on your current path in tax accounting, check out posts by @GlobalWealth and perhaps others relating to house hacking so you can reduce your current living expenses (@Envision for example).

 

[MJ DeMarco]

-18-year-old male
-currently an intern at a mid-size accounting firm
-My current plan is to save $25,000 in an emergency fund in case I lose my job or need to quit.
-My current expenses are housing rent, gas, food, and personal expenses that total to around $1000 a month
-Currently getting paid $800 per paycheck working 30-35hrs a week
-Currently in community college looking to transfer to a 4-year
-Current debt is at $0
-Current savings is only $2000
-Currently, have $7000 in index funds

This, while admirable, is all defensive.

You need to go on offense.

You need to get off the tricycle.

10 Fastlane strategies to end your financial stress and pave your way to real financial freedom, not lifestyle asceticism.

10 wealth-building strategies to end your financial stress and pave your way to real financial freedom and early retirement, not lifestyle asceticism as now widely promoted by FIRE acolytes.

www.themillionairefastlane.com

 

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[Intrusivedude16]

@MJ DeMarco @LateStarter @Robdavis

Hey Guys,

First off I want to thank you guys for the replies. I know my post didn't get a lot of smash but your comments meant a lot. After cringing through my post and reading what you guys had to say about me, I realized I was acting like a straight bitch with no plan.

My goal in life is to be free of life's bullshit and not have to worry about any sort of bills. Meaning, I want to own a house where I can detail my car 3 times a week like a madman with the pressure washer(selfish and boring I know, but that's my real hobby and really the only thing I look forward to).

Thinking about my current occupation and figuring out how I'm going to evolve from my tax firm. I'm going to spend time learning how to trade options. My significant advantage from all the other 18 year olds trying to trade options is that I'm constantly learning how to read and interpret financial statements at my job. It will only be a matter of time before I learn how to apply that into trading.

Getting into trading technicals, I've read a few books on options trading in the past so I have some ideas how to dive in and not go broke in 1 week. The plan is 2% of account value per trade/options. This means if I have $10,000 on my ThinkOrSwim Account, I CANNOT pick up a call/put contract valued higher than $200. With my stop loss at 15-25%, I can save myself there from immense losses. So far that is what i have in my mind, as time goes by and I learn more from books/Youtube/any resources I will develop this strategy and learn options.

Trading has been greatly proven in the past to create millionaires in a SHORT amount of time, now it is my duty to learn how they did it.

Now let me ask you fellas this, DOES THIS SOUND LIKE A REAL F*ckING PLAN NOW? I want to thank you guys again for calling me out, I needed it. Hell, before I made this post I myself didn't even know what I wanted. Obviously, I don't have everything figured out just yet, but I'm enthusiastic in the fact that I'm young (18) and ready to take immense risks for an immense lifestyle. No more accepting that mediocre lifestyle.

Thank you fellas, I hope to hear from you guys soon. Please offer any other advice you may think I need.

 

[LateStarter]

@MJ DeMarco @LateStarter @Robdavis
Now let me ask you fellas this, DOES THIS SOUND LIKE A REAL F*ckING PLAN NOW?

Honestly? No.

I'm not heavily invested in the market so I'm sure there are others out there better qualified to comment on this idea than me, but am I understanding it correctly? Your "fastlane" path is to be be a day trader in options using your own money?

Have you read the book? Do you remember that CENTS thing?

Control - You really don't have a lot of control here other than trying to manage your downside risk. The market does what the market does.
Entry - Not much of barrier here.
Need - Other than money for you, what's the real need?
Time - Nope.
Scale - While the potential upside does bring some scale through leverage, the same is true for the downside. You're also using your own money, which doesn't scale unless your trades end up more for the good than the bad. With each bad trade you need to put in more of your 9-5 money to recover.

Your 'plan' sounds more like a 'job' to me.

Oh look! It IS a job!

https://www.linkedin.com/jobs/view/...cE8kgxQ==&trackingId=DhTp+sTZmo8hEn7rdIOwmw==

And they start with $25k of other peoples money AND keep 70-80% of the profits...hmm... more leverage with limited risk.

Honestly, this job sounds better than your plan.

Keep trying. You'll figure out something that will work for you, but I don't think this is it.
Or maybe fastlane just isn't for you, which is fine. There are a number of jobs where you can make decent money. Entrepreneurship isn't for everyone.

 

[Kevin88660]

@MJ DeMarco @LateStarter @Robdavis

Hey Guys,

First off I want to thank you guys for the replies. I know my post didn't get a lot of smash but your comments meant a lot. After cringing through my post and reading what you guys had to say about me, I realized I was acting like a straight bitch with no plan.

My goal in life is to be free of life's bullshit and not have to worry about any sort of bills. Meaning, I want to own a house where I can detail my car 3 times a week like a madman with the pressure washer(selfish and boring I know, but that's my real hobby and really the only thing I look forward to).

Thinking about my current occupation and figuring out how I'm going to evolve from my tax firm. I'm going to spend time learning how to trade options. My significant advantage from all the other 18 year olds trying to trade options is that I'm constantly learning how to read and interpret financial statements at my job. It will only be a matter of time before I learn how to apply that into trading.

Getting into trading technicals, I've read a few books on options trading in the past so I have some ideas how to dive in and not go broke in 1 week. The plan is 2% of account value per trade/options. This means if I have $10,000 on my ThinkOrSwim Account, I CANNOT pick up a call/put contract valued higher than $200. With my stop loss at 15-25%, I can save myself there from immense losses. So far that is what i have in my mind, as time goes by and I learn more from books/Youtube/any resources I will develop this strategy and learn options.

Trading has been greatly proven in the past to create millionaires in a SHORT amount of time, now it is my duty to learn how they did it.

Now let me ask you fellas this, DOES THIS SOUND LIKE A REAL F*ckING PLAN NOW? I want to thank you guys again for calling me out, I needed it. Hell, before I made this post I myself didn't even know what I wanted. Obviously, I don't have everything figured out just yet, but I'm enthusiastic in the fact that I'm young (18) and ready to take immense risks for an immense lifestyle. No more accepting that mediocre lifestyle.

Thank you fellas, I hope to hear from you guys soon. Please offer any other advice you may think I need.

If you are interested in trading go get a phd in math and computing science, learning coding skills to backtest strategies. But that is not business or entrepreneurship. The bar is very high now. You are either a scientist/engineer familiar with the latest machine learning technique or you are a wannabe who eventually sell trading course via youtube ads to scam out a living.

 

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