They Just Might Say Yes

Gen Y Finance Guy Career 4 Comments

It still amazes me how many people don’t go after the things they really want for the fear of hearing “no,” and being rejected. When I was first learning to trade options, I remember reading some really sound advice that has stuck with me over the years. She Just Might Say Yes! In the trading scenario, this phrase related to price execution, entering a limit order to get a price that was either below or above the market depending on whether you were trying to buy or sell. But we can apply this to anything in our lives. For example, let’s say there is a girl you would love to ask out, but you don’t because you are afraid she …

CHASING FIRE INTERVIEW SERIES

FIRE Starter – 20-Somethings: Stop Worrying About Finding Your Dream Job. Instead, Do These Two Things.

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You can find all of Zach’s previous posts here. Today, Zach discusses how to set yourself up for success in your career and create your own dream job. I have done just as he describes below and it has paid off handsomely. I can attest to the fact that the more skills you acquire, the more valuable you become to employers. The more valuable you are, the more money you earn. When you earn (and save) more money, you create more optionality in your life. Creating optionality allows you to go through life in a position of strength! His post may be addressed to the 20-Somethings, but the same advice applies to those people who got a later start in …

You CAN Get Rich Working for Someone Else Because Your Career Is Worth Millions of Dollars!

Gen Y Finance Guy Career 10 Comments

I hate when I hear people say that you can’t get rich working for someone else. It is such a blanket statement that isn’t even in the realm of truth. First of all, there are jobs, and there are careers. Obviously, you’re not going to get rich working at McDonald’s as a burger flipper. But are you still working your high school minimum wage job, GYFG reader? I think not. First, I’m going to frame this discussion with the following statements: Most of my readers are college-educated (in my opinion, this is the highest probability path – but obviously not the only possible path – to a six-figure income). The average starting salary for a college graduate is $50,000 per year. …

Building a Career

Connecting The Dots Looking Backwards – Deconstructing My Career

Gen Y Finance Guy Career 17 Comments

You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. – Steve Jobs I’ve always been a big believer that every experience acts as a stepping stone to your end destination, however momentary it may be. I tend to think of the destinations as I go more like waypoints along a much longer journey. Each arrival is only a snapshot in time and after a momentary pause acts as the starting point on the way to the next waypoint. Sometimes there’s a real awareness of how decisions and experiences will connect in the future; but most of the …

High Income Earner

[Guest Post] What I Learned Working With Someone Making $1.5M a Year

Gen Y Finance Guy Career 14 Comments

Today we have a guest post from Finance Solver, the blogger over at SolvingFinance.com. He is a recent college graduate with a degree in finance and is sharing his unique path to wealth building, just like the rest of us in the personal finance blogosphere. In the guest post to follow, Finance Solver is going to share what he learned working with a CFO earning $1.5M per year. Take it away Finance Solver… The majority of people want to be a millionaire, including Mr. GYFG and myself. There’s no doubt about it. However, instead of being worth $1M, what if you could make over $1M by just working one year? That sounds like the dream. To get to that status, though, …

Career Capital

Do the Work, Get the Reward – 8 Years and Many 70-100 Hour Work Weeks – Gets you What?

Gen Y Finance Guy Career 28 Comments

Not many people are willing to put in the kind of time it takes in order to take what appear to be quantum leaps. However, for those that are willing to “do the work,” great reward is there for the taking. In this short post we will explore what is possible in short periods of time with concentrated effort, strategic long hours, and learning a valuable (and marketable) skill set. Remember that most overnight successes are the better part of 10 years in the making. If we assume that the average person works 40 hours per week, then at a very simplistic level we can see how mathematically it could be possible for someone that is motivated and ambitious to …

May 2016 Goal Checkin

Monthly Goal Check-in #5 – @ 6/1/2016

Gen Y Finance Guy Career, Goal Setting 18 Comments

One… Two… Three… Four… Five…Holy crap! That’s right, we are approaching the half way point rather quickly. May was an absolutely nutty month at work, and the call of duty had me stepping up to the plate to put in many 90+ hour work weeks. We are in the middle of a HUGE deal at work and I have been helping lead the diligence requested by potential investors. In the process I have had the pleasure of working with investment bankers (leading the transaction) and private equity folks (potential investors in our company). First, do investment bankers ever sleep? I think not! I am convinced that they have a continuous and never ending supply of cocaine and caffeine and reserve sleep for …

Reality of Overnight Success

The Reality of The Overnight Success…It’s 10 Years in the Making!

Gen Y Finance Guy Career 30 Comments

My guess is that many of you who read this blog suffer from the self-imposed belief that you always have to be “on” and “productive”. You’re a SERIAL ACHIEVER that has a hard time shutting it off and shutting it down. You always have to be learning. When you’re not learning you’re taking action and applying what you’ve learned. You’re almost always doing one of the following: You’re Producing. You’re Creating. You’re Planning. You’re Teaching. You’re Taking Massive Action. Rinse & Repeat! It’s what we know will get us everything we desire in this life. People like us realize that if you don’t go to work building your own dream, you’ll end up living your whole life building someone else’s dream. We take …

Opportunity Looks Like Hard Work

Opportunity Looks A Lot Like Hard Work

Gen Y Finance Guy Career 11 Comments

Do you have a busy season at work? If you do, do you realize how mission critical it is for the progression of your career and your financial success? For me the busy time of year is the 4th quarter. Especially in the new role. However, I also recognize that this is the time of year that it makes the most sense for me to go above and beyond to put the hard work in. For the past 6 weeks I have progressively gone from working about 50 hours a week to 90+ hours a week. This past week alone I have worked from 4am to 9pm almost every day (the week before Thanksgiving). Now let me point out that …

Climbing The Corporate Ladder

That Email That Led To ^ $60,000 In Compensation

Gen Y Finance Guy Career, Featured, Freedom Fighter, New Rules, The JOB 50 Comments

Ever since starting this blog I have been deeply introspective with regards to my career and my interests. Since graduating college with a degree in corporate finance, that’s where I have spent the majority of my career. Within that model, and being the good corporate monkey that I was taught to be, I have done everything to continue and progress my career in finance to the highest level possible. When you pursue the corporate finance career path, that highest level and ultimate destination is the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) role. In my current role, I report to the CFO. We have even had discussions about succession planning and how I fit into the plan as his successor when he eventually leaves …