after checking out this forum site [especially the AMG section] i've seen a lot of sweet cars, which I die to have one day. My question is, if you dont mind, is what job do you hold to own such cars like AMG's, SL's, and CL's? Right now, I'm only 18 and have the future for many career decisions. I go to school at Cal State Northridge, and hope to get a degree and make some good money to purchase these cars. Anyone with advice please post! Nothing is better than motivation from a wealthy person, lol...oh ya my main goal for now is to make enough for a C320, but my dream car is the SL55, right now i drive a VW GTI.

 

Do something you enjoy and are passionate about, that way it will be easier to make big money, because you will want to do your job well, don't go into something just for the money, a car won't make your life perfect.

Find out what you enjoy and build on it, there's more ways to make millions than I can list. You don't even have to make that much money to be rich if you make some good investments and are smart with your money.

 

Donald Trump, at one point, said that the what makes the wealthiest people is their ability to have landing institutions give them money

He, who owes the most is the wealthiest because he is WORTH more.

 

First of all, you need to know one thing: The majority of wealthy people don't own Mercedes (or any other luxury car). I forget the %'s, but pick up the book "The Millionaire Next Door". Only a small percentage of millionaires own Mercedes (especially ones purchased new). If I remembr correctly, the most common car owned by a millionaire was a Jeep Cherokee! That book will give you a good understanding of what being wealthy is really all about.
The other book is "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" by Robert Kiyosaki. It will give you ideas on how to become wealthy. I wish I had known about it at age 18...

 

I have that book, I guess I should read it.

 

Be a **** star.

I do quite well at it!

 

O.k., John Holmes aside...

It is so true about millionaires and cars. Back in college I dated a Rockefeller for a month (really, a Rockefeller). He drove an early 90s Dodge Intrepid. Actually, one of the things he said he liked least about me was that I "advertised" the fact that I came from a wealthy family. Screw that. He still owes me money for booze...

Anyway, I am always surprised to hear how many people have leased and begged/borrowed/stolen to get an MB. I just bought my 1998 E320 4matic outright, and my salesman said that I was in an extreme minority. He told me about someone whose credit was so bad that he wound up with payments of $1600/month on an E-class over 5 years. Do the math.

I have known some of the richest people in the world. When I was in grade school, I went to school with one of the princesses of Saudi Arabia. Her bodyguards drove her around in a beater Chevy wagon. Her house was another story...

Truth be told, money might buy you nice cars but really it will never buy you love or happiness. You never believe that! Do something that you enjoy and that you're good at. I chose to be a college professor. The pay isn't great by any means, but you get your summers off! And never judge somebody by the car they drive; in the beater next to you could be Bill Gates...

 

A dodge Intrepid? ug!

I can understand being understated, but that's a bit extreme.

 

Read Albert Shenckel, "The Rich Man and the Kingdom," a biography of John D. Rockefeller, Jr. (the great grandfather of the guy I dated). Playing the pauper is a big deal for that family. Plus, this guy's dad is the senator from West Virginia (talk about a joke!), so I think the American beater was a requirement....

 

lets see... Money can't buy me happiness?? I beg to differ.

Even if Mr. Rockefeller would drive a domestic beater, he still has to have his Rolex and his armani suits and if he doesn't he is a fool. The thing is, your entire life you are out to get as much pleasure and enjoy as much life as possible. If he is hiding his moeny, what enjoyment is he getting out of that money?

If I didn't spend my money on good dinners, expensive wines, a great car, a big hous and other little things that mean so much to the "quality" of life than why bother making this money?

Ask anyone in this forum to picture their dream car. Now ask them if driving that car would bring them a great deal of pleasure and joy. If it does, than buying that car, just to have a half hour of pure bliss everyday is worth it to me and should be worth it to them too!

You borrow, cheat and steal to get into MB because you LOVE the car and because it makes you happier in life. so , Yes, money does buy happiness. Further Bill Gates represents what we call "neuvo riche" and he is the epitemy of everything I despise in wealthy people. No matter how much money he has, he will always look like a scared little boy, lost in his bog brothers suit and tie that looks like it doesn't belong on him. One thing to keep in mind you can't BUY class, style and grace or societal standing.

As far as love... well its true. Moeny does not buy you that... but it does buy you many ways of expressing it! And it coincedentaly buys you many many opportunities to find it!

Buttom line is More money is better than less money and spending your hard earned money is your number one duty!

 

My daddy is rich

 

This is only true if material possessions bring you joy and happiness.

Was Mother Teresa less happy than Rockefeller? Materialism is, at the core, a little self-centered - no flames, I place myself squarely in this boat, as well!

Obviously I like having the opportunity to own a Mercedes, but I don't think I am "happier" than my friends who can't afford one!

 

Believe me rich people for the most part are happier than their poorer counterparts. They will never disclose it to you but that's how they really feel.

 

I'll have to look up the article, but I'm pretty sure I read that suicide rates go up as income increases.

 

Its not the material things that GIVE you joy, its the JOY you get from USING these things. My car alone does not give me joy, but when I slam down on the accelarator and my back gets pinned into the seat... what I feel is JOY!

 

You can get the same or better acceleration from much less expensive cars but you, nor I, may like those. The mustang cobra is puttin down 390 ponies and weighs nothing. That will pin you to the back of the seat but I bet you have little interest in that one. There is nothing wrong with liking nice things and I will never apologize for doing it. Some people see it silly to spend so much on something that can be attained for alot less to do the same thing. If I make enough to afford my toys, then so be it. It is the fool that goes and buys those things that they cannot afford.

 

Big money means big risks. Stock market crashes do coincide with a wave of suicides, don't they? :o

 

I suppose that a similar argument can be made that a seiko watch is just as accurate as my Rolex, but I would still rather keep mine....

 

I believe that suicide rates go up as bankruptcy rates go up.

 

when you have the money, in most cases you've worked hard and earned it so why not spend it on thing[s] you like? if you like to buy boats, if you have the money...buy em. Me personally, i love cars, so if i were to be rich, id buy a handful of cars, especially Mercedes, and yes driving a different car every day of the month will bring me alot of happiness..lol

 

A little quote i like...


“Lack of money is the root of all evil.”

-George Bernard Shaw

 

Yes she was.

After she had seen all that suffering in her travels how could she not be?

Later,
Tom

P.S. "Moderation is a fatal thing, nothing succedes like excess" - Oscar Wilde

 

just saw this thread...and wanna add some experience to it..

one of my family friend in malaysia (a country in south east asia, but in middle east) has 76 cars under his names.....yet..he goes to work in a toyota camry..and mind you guys...the cost of car is more then 3 times over here in the states......

he was a poor fellow last time..selling cakes..then went into man-made distribution...then bought his retailer..and then bought his suppliers...and the rest is history....

i always remember what he say to me "whatever you do, do your best. Before you get that project, treat it like you've got it, and put all your effort into it. That way, ppl will trust u with their money/land/watever.

i cant recall all the 76 cars....but i remember theres the camry, 2 RX300 (60k usd in value), 1 911 TT (abt 300+k usd), 1 360 (abt 300k usd)....

 

As the owner of the '87 190E put it: "How can I afford a Mercedes? My Daddy's rich." I know that too. My dad's not the richest guy in the world, considering how much money he makes and the cost of living where we live, he's well off. After all we live in a $250,000 house (adjust for cost of living in a larger west or east coast city it's worth to around a half a million maybe more). We have a brand new Denali, a 99 BMW 740i, and my 95 C 280 in the garage. Now the point here is not wealth, but rather what it takes to get there sometimes, like hard work. If anyone's ever seen Good Will Hunting, they've seen where my dad came from. He came from a broken home his mother worked hard to hold up, worked his way through college and has many material posessions now. He just put my sister through college and is now putting me through college with no loans needed. He walked into the bank and asked for $44,000 to finance the BMW and they didn't blink before giving him the money. Money can buy you only a certain degree of happiness and certainly can't buy you REAL love, nor the opportunities to find REAL love. Want proof? Look at Hollywood and rich CEO's with there wife, kids, and girlfriends on the side. Think they're thrilled, probably not, and if they are, I pitty them and their respective families. Don't think I know a damn thing? I've had internships with two major oil companies and met all the upper management and seen how they live. I also live where there's oil and everyone knows where there's oil, there's money. I've gone to school with their snobby little kids and if you think public school is bad, you should see what 6th grade kids with lots of mommy and daddy's money do on weekends. 80% of the kids I went to school with from 4th to 8th grade had horrible home lives with messy divorces and drug addictions. The ones I still hear about are so screwed up they will never get anywhere no matter how much money daddy has. Now I won't lie, this is coming from a person who has many nice things, but one must learn to appreciate other things in life besides money. I am proud of my father and my grandfather for all they've accomplished and all they will leave behind for me (my grandfather too came from nothing and built his own business), but screw the inheritence I'd rather have them. I'm happy with the car I drive, my dad got it with 44,000 miles and a Starmark warranty for $18,000, but the bottom line for me is not the star on the front, it gets me from A to B and I would gladly take my '95 2-door YUKON with 110,000 miles back. And for those of you wondering, I'm only 21 years old. It's not your DUTY to spend the money you make, it's your PRIVILEDGE. It's your duty to help others and not just yourself.

 

Money equals power, status, and happiness (only to a certain degree)

Rich dad poor dad is an interesting book, but i am still a poor *** working for someone after I first read it 3 yrs ago since Robert's way of making money isn't for the avg joe (e.g. there's no way you can compete with others when buying foreclosure..you need some initial capital and you really need to know alot of insider info...also, living in the SF bay area won't help since a matchbox here cost 1/2 million)

It is extremely difficult to get into the property investment as described in the book and if you want to get rich, get your degree and network with as many ppl as you can...be friends with ppl who have rich parents and just work it...

Also, all the rich ppl are somehow involve in real estate and the stock market...that tells you what you need to major in...

Lastly, when you have enough for the c320, don't buy one! Keep in mind that it takes money to make money.