I heard a programme on the radio earlier about people who have made it big, ie, have become very rich through running their businesses. The interviewer asked them what kept them going as they could retire and live on their wealth for the rest of their lives.

What do you think their answers were? What would yours be?

I think that when people become successful in business to the extent that it has made them very rich, it becomes more of an obsession than a business.... so much so that they can't just stop and live off their success.

totster

If I became rich, I would certainly take on a much more leisurely lifestyle and make my money work for me instead of me working for my money. I would find some very safe investments that paid around 5-6 % a year and live off the interest.

People who become rich become rich as a side effect of their obsession with becoming succesful. I used to work for a man who started out working in the toy department of a department store. He eventually finished up owning stores of his own. He had a new Rolls Royce every year. He was rich enough to retire any time he wanted but he simply could not stop working. He suffered from multiple stomach ulcers and heart attacks and died from a major heart attack at the age of 56. He wasn't interested in money - he was interested in being a 'winner' and it killed him.

I think that when people become successful in business to the extent that it has made them very rich, it becomes more of an obsession than a business.... so much so that they can't just stop and live off their success.

totster

Wrong.... Tots! For some wonderful reason, the world's richest men are now devoting their wealth to the world's poor... take a look around you and report back HERE......!!!!!

I think that when people become successful in business to the extent that it has made them very rich, it becomes more of an obsession than a business.... so much so that they can't just stop and live off their success.

totster

Wrong.... Tots! For some wonderful reason, the world's richest men are now devoting their wealth to the world's poor... take a look around you and report back HERE......!!!!!

Thats great Khall... but... they are still obsessed... they can't sit back and stop w*rking, even though they have more than enough money to do so..

Why is it that when people reach a certain level of wealth they don't just stop.. enjoy the money and live out life stressless...? Because of the obsession that comes with being successful in business.

totster

It is not just the rich.

A lot of people do not have anything to do once they finnish work. Work takes up a large % of one's life, so when you stop there is a large void to fill. Unless you plan for it. As a result the average life expectancy of a person retired from a lifetime of working is 5 years.

I heard a programme on the radio earlier about people who have made it big, ie, have become very rich through running their businesses. The interviewer asked them what kept them going as they could retire and live on their wealth for the rest of their lives.

What do you think their answers were? What would yours be?

I don't think it matters. The numbers are against me greating rich, as they are for most people. The better focus is dying debt free and leaving my kids something. The odds are still stacked but not so much.

People who become rich usually have a very strong inner drive from the start . Very few people in that number have leisure as an end goal, and so they dont stop even when it would be possible to do so.

Some people just love to make a change to their environment and to other people's lives, so they can't sit back.

Other people are obsessed with doing something well. Yet others are shit scared of not being remembered when they die, so they do everything in their power to leave something lasting behind.

I don't think I would stop working if I struck it big, but I would choose my assignments more carefully, and initiate my own projects out of pure want and enjoyment, not out of money considerations...

I know a couple of multi-millionaire types. One is in construction (road building). He can't sit still. He goes to his fancy log house on the beach for a holiday, and within hours he's out landscaping or farting around on his equipment or making improvements to various things (roads, buildings).

He has had a mild heart attack already, and the doc has told him to take it easy, but he can't. He'd probably die quicker if he was forced to sit on the couch and do nothing all day.

Another couple own a successful restaurant. Their combined net worth was apparently around 8 million dollars. They won a 5 million dollar lottery prize. When asked what they would do ? Put the money in secure investments and continue working (as though they were talking about throwing 4 or 5 baht into a piggy bank).

And yes Khall, some of the richest men, er, people are donating large portions of their fortunes, but they haven't stopped working. Little Billy could do almost anything he wanted to, yet he keeps plugging away, making that fortune grow even bigger. Old Warren should have retired long ago, but what would he do, with nothing to do ? I think he's past the point where even Viagra would help.

Then there are the wage slaves who have no choice but to keep their noses to the grind and dream of "what if's"

I have an overwhelming drive to become rich enough to be able to build a multi million dollar complex that will serve as my headquarters. From there, I will orchestrate my multi billion dollar project to take over the world which would make me..........rich.

But first I have to eliminate all the people that I've wronged in the past and make sure that none of their relatives or descendents comes after me to exact revenge.

That'd be a major thwart to my plans.