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If You're So Rich, Why Do You Still Work?

By Dr. Steve Sjuggerud
Tuesday, December 20, 2011

I have a few friends who have "silly" wealth – more wealth than they could ever need or spend.
 
These guys are at retirement age or older... But for some reason, they work harder than just about anyone else I know...
 
Why are they working so hard? Isn't the dream to "bank" enough money so you don't have to work?
 
I called a few of these friends yesterday and asked why. The answers were interesting...
 
One wealthy friend started out with this story to explain it...
 
I had dinner with an extremely wealthy guy last week who's 71. He just retired to the desert in Palm Springs, supposedly to play some golf. I asked him how it was going...
 
"Retirement is horrible," he told me. He said, "I do NOT enjoy sitting in the desert doing nothing. I don't have a clue what I'm doing out here. I don't think I can do this. I don't need the money... But I think I'll have to go back to work."
 
My wealthy friend described the same feeling... "I love what I do," my friend told me. "I don't want to stop."
 
I asked my friends specifically what it is that keeps them working so hard...
 
One said, "Nothing in life beats the thrill of coming up with a big idea and making it a reality."
 
Another said, "I like mentoring younger people... passing on what I do and seeing them succeed at it."
 
A few more talked about the thrill of a great opportunity and the chance to increase their wealth. "I know there's no economic reason for me to work," one friend told me... "But that doesn't mean I don't like to get paid."
 
I then asked these friends if they had any advice to help people join them in the "big leagues"...
 
First, they explained, opportunity doesn't knock. You have to create it. And when opportunity is close by, you have to drop everything and pursue it. The more you make those sacrifices, the better your chances of finding financial success.
 
Second, if you KNOW MORE than everyone in the room, nobody can take advantage of you... So read a lot. Do more homework than anyone else at the table.
 
Finally, one friend told me, "Work to the task, not to the reward." Don't wash a car for the $5 payment, for example... Wash a car because that's the task at hand – and do a fantastic job. Then you'll get noticed for your work and have a chance to move up in the world.
 
So why do these "silly rich" guys still work? And how can you get there too?
 
They work because they say it keeps them "alive..."
 
"If I stop working, I'll die," one of them told me. They believe that finding success is all about recognizing, creating, and seizing opportunities.
 
You make your own luck, they say, so create opportunities for yourself as best as you can.
 
If you do that enough times in life, you'll know you're giving yourself a legitimate shot at success... at having the kind of wealth that means you're working because you love to, like my friends, not just working because you have to.
 
Good investing,
 
Steve




Further Reading:

Over the Thanksgiving holiday, DailyWealth published a series of essays from Steve covering different perspectives on "the rich life" and how to achieve it. In these classic essays, Steve introduces one of the best books he's ever read on getting rich… the key to financial freedom… seven secrets to success from one of the smartest guys he knows… how to "reboot" when the worst happens… and how one of Steve's closest friends retired with no savings.

Market Notes


CHINA IS SO WEAK, EVEN THE GREAT BAIDU IS STRUGGLING

Chinese stocks are so weak, even the mighty "Baidu" is ready to topple over...
 
Last week, we highlighted the bear market action in China's benchmark Shanghai Index... the most widely followed gauge of mainland China stocks. The index is under brutal selling pressure right now. Just last week, fears of an economic slowdown sent the index plummeting to a two-year low. The selling pressure is even hitting Baidu.
 
Most traders know Baidu as the "Google of China." The company enjoys a better-than-75% share of the country's Internet search market. Since China has more Internet users than the population of the U.S., it's a heck of a growth story. This great "story" is why Baidu skyrocketed more than 400% from mid-2009 to mid-2011. It's also why everyone on Wall Street loves the stock... and almost always bids it to "nosebleed" valuation levels. The company trades for over 15 times sales (that's sales, not earnings).
 
As you can see from today's two-and-a-half-year chart of Baidu, there's no big breakdown here yet... But the stock is looking "toppy." It has recently put in a bearish series of "lower highs and lower lows." A study of the stock's trading volume shows the "big money" is selling right now. Should the China miracle turn out to be "less of a miracle" over the next year... Baidu stock, the crowd that loves it, and its hefty valuation will be in for a big fall.
 
Baidu Looks to be Topping Out

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21.5% returns investing with one of the world's best...
 
Palm Beach Letter's Tom Dyson believes this company could be the next Berkshire Hathaway. If he's right, you could make hundreds of percent returns.
 

In The Daily Crux



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