That's certainly how I grew up, but I ask myself the same questions as you do. My father also owned a liquor store and managed to get us to the middle of the middle class. He put three boys through college, but he only owned 2 cars during my entire growing up years and he traveled abroad three times during his life (not including his deployment in the South Pacific in the Navy in WW2). I know that's more than many, but it doesn't seem that much to me now.
I shouldn't complain. I went to med school, deferred making any real money until I was in my late 30s, but I can always have a job. Like you I know contemporaries, smart and talented all of them, who are essentially penniless. I make a decent living but I doubt I will ever have a second home or fly private.
I rationalize all of this by saying my life means something. I'm a physician and I have contributed to the health and welfare of others and to society at large. The bankers, the hedge fund managers, those Wall St suits, just suck out of the system. Their annual bonuses are more than I'll make in a decade. Are they happy? Do they feel good about themselves?
I wonder if it was all worth it.
Barry K. Herman, MD, MMM
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Bob, I love your writing! I'm a country boy from the Midwest. 54 yrs old, I use to work in the biz doing music marketing and indie record promotion with the late Tony Muscolo in Granada Hills, CA in the late 80's, and then was a regional promotion manager with SBK Records in 1990 when that label was just introducing the pop trio Wilson Phillips to the world. I now live back in my hometown in the SW corner of Michigan directly across the lake from Chicago. I live from paycheck to paycheck cleaning windows for the filthy rich 2nd homeowners from Chicago. The reason I'm writing you is that your one sentence in this article "money" hit home and I've often thought the same thing. If most people KNEW how the rich/elite truly lived, I GUARANTEE there would be revolution in the streets! Unfortunately as the gap forever widens between the have and have nots, the day of revolution is right around the corner! I hope I'll have enough ammo to protect my kids and my chickens! Keep up the great writing, I'll keep reading.
David Wolnik
Three Oaks, MI
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I'm 53, worked in radio for years, made 6 figures, loved what I did. Then the Telecommunications Act of 1996 was passed and things began to change. I was able to hang on for several years and make a great living doing it, but with the advent of technology and the corporatization and commoditization of the business, and me being more on the creative side than on the business side, I slipped thru the cracks... and now I ask the same questions of myself that you are asking in this posting...
Be well.
Tom Calococci
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Bob: I spent three days this past October, staying in a corporate den of iniquity in the heart of Deer Valley. My bud and I played some records, drank some piss poor beer and spoke of what you just covered. Figuring out how to use my law degree and his State school graduate degree to keep our selves and our kids on "the inside." Maybe we never belonged on the "inside" to be gong with. As the mighty Hetfield says "fuck em all and fucking no regrets." Keep rocking and writing until you have "blood on the ivories."
Kurt Lambeth
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Dad was a school teacher. He somehow put all three of us kids trough university (private). I still don't know how he did it. After university, I dabbled in corporate life and played in a great band four/five nights a week. I was burning the candle on both ends and the middle. Then, I said it's now or never and I dove into music full time. Aced the audition, quit the day job, moved to San Francisco and joined the Yanks. Lived in a North Beach dump. Hung out at the Mab. Made records, toured, the whole shabang. But the "next level" eluded us and finally, at age 30 with my wife pregnant, I realized that it is a young man's game. I gave it up as a full time thing and started working hard to make up for lost time.
Most of my talented music friends hung in there...one more album, one more tour. Well, an album and a tour is another 18 months minimum and then maybe do it again and the next thing you know you are 40 or 45 and never had a real job, savings account, a home you own, or a 401K. You are screwed at that point. You swam out too far, way past the bouy, and there is no way back. You are working in a coffee shop with 20 year olds making MW.
Then along came Nirvana and if you were over 30, and in a Seattle band, you were toast.
I'm blessed. Made it back to shore. Had a few good breaks, and balls that bounced my way. Lived abroad on full expat packages for 15 years (that helps A LOT). Put my kids through university (and one through law school). Now, I look back and say how did I do it? BTW, life comes full circle. I can and I am playing, singing and we are booked as much as we want to work. That's funny right? I have enough money banked to be able to play music again. On FB @dennyblainemusic
so it goes
steve aliment
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All the Jewish mothers who think that their sons (and daughters) who are gonna be doctahs are going to be rolling in the bucks are stuck at their 1975 Boca Raton mah Jong tables. That idea of a comfortable life if you're a doctor is just not the way it once was.
The truth is my MD husband has worked at least two or three jobs consistently since he was an 80 hour a week working neuro resident in New Haven. Those days we literally ate beans and rice nightly for dinner, and I saved money by nursing my babies rather than buying formula, which we couldn't afford.
The people making money today are those in venture capital and high tech. Serial entrepreneurs who sell their ideas or businesses are the ones making money. And they are all working crazy long hours.
Rachel Loonin
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Bob, I gotta say it. This note reminds of something I read a few days ago. It was my father's diary 1970-71. He complained about three things. His leg hurt, his arm is weak and no money. It's choices we make in life, laced with luck, backed by delivering the goods. Don't knock the wealthy and make them the bad guys and the not so wealthy the guys who get screwed. How do you do in the world of economics? You get to go to some pretty exciting places, you seem to live a good life.
How does that work? Still love your writings. Hope to see you soon. Tom.
Tom Battista
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Omg...thank you....
I can't retire...and I make a good living...
Still...it's never enough...and no matter...tough to prepare for old age....
Quality of life...you paid your dues....it's an ongoing vicious circle...never ends...
I'm tired
Barbara Stevens
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What I don't understand is how so many fucking mediocre bands with horrible singers and more than sub-par songwriting have a lot of fans, and I bust my ass making good music (literally GOOD music) and no one cares. What are your suggestions for indie bands and marketing? I'd be happy if I sold ONE song from Bandcamp at $1. One. What do you recommend for smaller-level indie/hipster/underground bands, for marketing? We all are not Taylor Swifts or country pop stars. But plenty of people make a living doing indie music-- Laura Gibson, Lemolo, Beach House, Memoryhouse, Azure Ray, Maria Taylor and more.... have any thoughts, Bob?
THANKS!!!
-Chris
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"I can't tell you how many people my age I know who are nearly broke. They
made six figures in the music business and then they got too old and got
squeezed out and then Napster hit and now they're working retail jobs
without health insurance, living in rental property, just hoping that
social security will pay the bills, because they've got no 401k."
Wow, my epitaph. May my family use this when my headstone is being
engraved?
William Nollman
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So true....
Peter Wheeler
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Dear Bob, U couldn't resist taking a swing at President Trump which proves you're a HAPLESS LIBTARD. I thank God every day that HITLARY or Bern-Me aren't in the White house. Trump is the ROCK & ROLL PRESIDENT. MAGA, Mr. Melody TM
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You didn't go wrong anywhere, you're just not willing to be a scumbag and you know in your heart of hearts that money is no measure of a man.
Mike Caldarella
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Who do you think all the mega wealthy voted for? They got rich with the status quo. Income inequality created both Trump and Sanders.
http://stevenrattner.com/2015/09/morning-joe-charts-inequality-and-the-2016-race/?utm_source=phplist5792&utm_medium=email&utm_content=text&utm_campaign=Re-Money
Income inequality really began meaningfully under Clinton, expanded under Bush and was sustained under Obama. Both sides of the aisle are in the business of making the rich richer. If you believe anything else, you are not as smart as I had previously believed.
Timoth Schuler
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You do understand !
Gary
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(this was very, very well written and terribly, terribly true. Grazie)
Paolo Madeddu
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A man who has never gone to school may steal from a freight car; but if he has a university education, he may steal the whole railroad. -Theodore Roosevelt, 26th US president (27 Oct 1858-1919)
There was no poverty until money was created and or introduced.
Money, so they say
Is the root of all evil today
But if you ask for a raise it's no surprise that they're giving none away.
Victor Krag
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Holy shit Bob one of your best posts ever. The Skin issue posts were entertaining but this one hits to the core of many of us. For me personally I've got one foot on the path to success and one foot on the path to rough times... Yes soon i'll be doing the splits and falling on my face if I don't reach critical mass soon..
J.Vieira
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Jesus, I feel so good after reading this, not
Judy LaVigne
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Well put sir!
I too am just another shell shocked nobody who invested in his dream!
Steve Mather
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I always thought you made bank Bob. Speaking at conferences or writing columns. Maybe you do but it's not enough. I'm about half your aged and freaked the fuck out. Apparently, I make more than most, low six figures, but I still feel poor and I'm single. Follow your passion is bullshit. Follow the money so you can be in a position to take of yourself and those you love and care about. People following their passion are always out asking people with money to invest or donate. I'd rather be on the other side.
Toks Ogun
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At a conference I attended a few years back a fraud examiner explained how the proliferation of personal debt explains how so many have so much, and makes detecting fraud much more difficult. Most people live beyond their means. Maybe that doesn't apply to the top of the top, but I suspect it does.
Great letter.
Britton Giroux
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Long time reader.
You're only gonna see the big house go up; you're not gonna follow the story of the owner/developer when it forecloses.
95% of people who drive Range Rovers can't afford them.
I'm sure you've heard but worth repeating: "Too many people spend money they haven't earned, to buy things they don't want, to impress people they don't like." -Will Rogers
Money really doesn't mean a thing, I know we all "know this" and preach it...but most of the wealthy people I know are also the saddest.
Quit stressing, keep writing.
Leland Grant
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It hits home brother, just like you say, reality check 101. If Bernie would have won…?
R C
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I know a good songwriter when I hear my feelings in his/her lyrics.
I know a good writer when I see my feelings expressed in words.
You have done it many times, including a few sentences in this piece.
Thanks for not being afraid to say,"I don't understand it."
Jodey Smith
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Check this out:
https://workingnation.com/slope-curve-sneak-peek/?utm_source=phplist5792&utm_medium=email&utm_content=text&utm_campaign=Re-Money
Donald S. Passman
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Thank you for this.
Feeling Dazed & Confused.
Dave Weisz
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I think the term 'making an honest living' has become antiquated. The ones that do have barely enough to survive on... sure I'm not saying all well off people are bad guys, but something is seriously wrong...
tax codes are always favouring the rich... because the rich have done a great job of making people think that soon they will one of 'them'. We all know they (we) won't, but that doesn't stop the 'less than rich' from voting for leaders that don not have their better interests in mind... case in point Trump. We've reached the pinnacle in our democratic voting where people will actually buy plain bullshit being served up as 'change'. IMHO anyone who voted for that creep was/is either uninformed or just as much a monster as he is.
Mick Dalla-Vee
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Sad, isn't it?
Alice
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We used to go to Deer Valley every winter and marvel at Johnny Carson's and Stevie Nicks's ski-in/ski-out houses. DV is a spectacular display of wealth that is pretty well hidden, not unlike the G-4's at Teterboro and the Yachts at Ft. Lauderdale. If/when the people see it, they will man the pitchforks and the torches, if they can put down their smartphones.
Jon Sinton
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Again, this is the result of too much borrowed money with not enough GDP to pay it off. Back in the 1950s, we borrowed $1.80 to generate $1 of GDP. Today we're borrowing north of $3.50 to create $1 of GDP. So there's all this unused money sloshing around at the top and its corruption has colored everything we do. The problem is not with you but with our generation that essentially said "if it feels good, do it." So we went off half-cocked borrowing money will-nilly. Our kids are paying the price.
Peter Duray-Bito
Littleton, Colorado
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Hi Bob. As Bernie Sanders says about the oligarchy in his new book:
"In 1979, the top one-tenth of 1 percent owned about 7 percent of the wealth in this country. Today it owns 22 percent." In 2000, "51 billionaires worth $480 billion" - now there are "540 billionaires worth $2.4 trillion."
Joseph Mackin
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Bob, I don't think you made any mistakes, nor are you broke down and busted.
You just missed out on that LUCKY break.
In addition, you are an exceptional writer, have a huge following by way of your emails, and seem to be enjoying the traveling and speaking you are able to do.
AND, you lived this long and are still going forward.
RICHARD ROSENBERG
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Part of it was the day and age in which you grew up Bob.
America was the only country post-world war II with a functioning economy, infrastructure, deep government investment in basic research (from military spending, let's be intellectually honest here). The US was in a prime position to collect "excess" wealth, economic rent in economic parlance, from any growth in global trade. That "economic rent" lifted ALL BOATS, but most importantly it lifted the most boats the highest in the US. In a sense, through a number of bad or merely unconscious decisions, the US has frittered away that wealth. Our tax & social policies just acted as brakes/gas pedals depending on the circumstances, in that process.
Always thought-provoking, I hope you keep at it, regardless of the naysayers and/or ass-kissers.
- Roy Liu
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excellent. I know our folks complained how life is different but this really is becoming weirdly different….to everyone.
Kathy Rowe
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Bob, Excellent stream of consciousness. I've been on this mail list for 3 years or so and I've wondered how you make your money. Why don't you do a blog and sell ads? A book of your favorite posts... I never had the gift for creating music, or engineering skills, but I've always believed that if you're going to bust your ass, and money is important to you, play where the reward is significant. Yeah, you have to get on the field but there are ways if you are persistent and resourceful. You were there. I still believe in this country you can accomplish most anything. I believe I'm proof. And if the last eight years taught us anything, if a gifted, charismatic junior senator with no apparent record can climb the highest mountain? It can still be done. I hate cliches, but I gotta throw one at you - ""Whether you think you can or whether you think you can't, you're right." - Henry Ford. Self confidence is a powerful thing. It beats getting bitter.
Jim, Castle Rock CO.
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i think you would enjoy tony robbins new book about money and how the little guy can make a ton
no bs
www.unshakeable.com
Mastin Kipp
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Great post!
Jake Udell
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A few observations regarding the newsletter below...
Wondering what the "have's" are doing to help society? Many of them are entrepreneur/business owners. That's how real wealth can be created in this world. So... they are delivering a product that consumers apparently want, and are willing to pay for at a price that allows the entrepreneur to make a profit. To get there, the entrepreneur had to give up the security of a regular paycheck. He (could be she, of course) had to hire others to help him build and deliver the product/service. The entrepreneur, as well as all his employees pay taxes, all of which contribute to the national kitty. None of his employees are slaves... all are there of their own free will. Creating and continuing to provide gainful employment for many is a worthy endeavor and helps all involved, including the government who taxes both the income as well as the spending of all the folks at the company that might not exist but for the risks, capital, and hard work the entrepreneur put into the venture.
As for the uber wealthy folks with crazy houses in Deer Valley that they don't live in full time... rest assured about one thing... The real estate taxes in Utah for property owned by folks from out of state is roughly DOUBLE that of those who live there. It's the craziest thing I ever heard of. They use very little government services (libraries, parks, schools, roads, etc), yet they PAY DOUBLE the real estate taxes. It caused me to look elsewhere when I was looking for a vacation ski home... ended up in Colorado, obviously! Maybe those folks paying double makes you feel better... not sure.
In any case, maybe we can ski together some time in the future! I ski about 20-30 days a year.
Lastly, thought you might enjoy my essay on the Health Care Conundrum. It discusses the real problem... and how I see it all ending.
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/health-care-conundrum-heres-how-end-byron-udell?utm_source=phplist5792&utm_medium=email&utm_content=text&utm_campaign=Re-Money
Byron Udell, JD, CLU, CFP, ChFC
President/CEO
AccuQuote
Saving You Money for Life™
Get insurance tips and advice: visit our blog,
follow us on Twitter or
"like" AccuQuote on Facebook
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I always enjoy your insights. You're spot on I grew up in rural Virginia and now spilt time between there and NYC. I've won a few and lost a few through working, living in conditions most my kind would not to save and invest. Things look ok for now.
There are a lot of good people out there doing the right thing and the right thing just is not good enough anymore.
Like you always say It should be about: "Smiling on your brother and loving one another."
The rich and 75% of those in government don't care as long as they are getting theirs. Those benefiting from the system like many I've seen in various unions here are happy to pay lip service to the little man but darn sure not going to share a slice of their pie with those on the outside. Seems people used to get rich and go into government to do good, now it's to do good for themselves.
As always looking forward to hearing from you soon.
Justin Jones
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When you elect a novice promising change,
you have allow them more than 60 days, especially when the other party and the mainstream news media are doing there best I stop them.
The rich got filthy rich under Obama and he's getting rich too, all on the back of the little people.
Let the change happen!
Bill Jackson
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Hi Bob,hope the skiing was good.Did you have the turkey chili?I did plumbing in alot of those houses at DV.Most people don't even use the house as much as you think.They have to keep it heated,security,cleaning,plowing the driveway,making sure the hot tub is working,and everything else.And never use it.And they have other houses,beach,city,europe,and the main house.How do they do it?Stay well.Thanks Bob,Ted Keane
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I often swear you have a microphone in my home and you write your letters about the conversations I'm having with my dead father, asking where the answers, or doors, are. Then I head out and make another piece of work for someone that both a) isnt going to pay me, and b) isn't going to benefit anything more than a portfolio nobody cares about.
Are you inside my head Bob Lefsetz? Are we on the same wire, where you hear my thoughts and write the words I'm thinking right back to me? It happens so often I am starting to believe there is some sort of weird duality happening and you're really reading the thoughts I have, when I have them. Thanks for another letter ... that I should have known would be in my inbox an hour ago.
Joe Dolan
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As a parent of 2 young children your emails give me a damn panic attack when you start talking about the future. I end up feeling like I'm behind the 8 ball, and this is coming from someone who was born, raised, and still lives in in "Ground Zero, Sunnyvale, CA, Silicon Valley".
Please don't publish my name if you do.
Regards,
_____ _______
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bob:
i feel ya brother, i am a talented, poor guy watching the show I can't turn off, bewildered…
love your writing
-al quattrocchi
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Bob--Thanks, yet again. I've said out loud, more than once, that if I ever saw the guy who said "do what you love and the money will follow," I'd punch him in the throat.
Stuart Gunter
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Phenomenal email. I wonder the exact same constantly and am disheartened.
I live in New York City and have a great salary, much better than any of my music peers. More than probably 80% of the country. Yet I know what I can afford and look around constantly and see so many people going on bigger better longer vacations, driving cars that I wouldn't think to get, living in homes that I know how much cost and couldn't get myself, and I wonder.
I wonder what the fuck is it that everyone does that makes them all so fucking rich.
I feel so far away from it all. But then I feel so far from those poorer and find myself feeling guilty constantly.
Weird.
Oscar Scivier
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Bob, thanks for this true description of what the 1% is doing to the rest of us.
Being a member of a small-time Montreal hard rock/metal band at near age 60, I know I will never get rich or famous, but I really enjoy the music I'm creating for myself and only then after for others making albums in any musical direction I want in my home studio. I've been lucky enough to have guys like Don Airey of Deep Purple and Vinny Appice of Black Sabbath amongst others on a couple of my songs and isn't that really the thrill? To get the great players and have them on your songs, that blows away riches for me anytime. Look, I'm struggling and in massive debt because of a leaking roof that the insurance didn't pay for and a divorce 10 years ago! But I got remarried to a beautiful lady who is now my singer as well and gave me a beautiful little boy with perfect pitch. So we get screwed by the system as you say and I completely agree with you, but I'll take the small victories, because that's all that most of us unknown musicians will get in our lifetimes.
Thanks for your letter, as always insightful and incisive.
Best,
Jerry Fielden
AraPacis
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I love your articles because, even when they make my blood boil, you never fail to make me think.
But I have to say, it is not about left vs. right, or even rich vs. poor. It is now Establishment vs. Us. The establishment takes care of itself. It is the horrible, twisted combination of powerful business and powerful politicians. They throw red meat to the masses to get us screaming at each other while they spend us blind and leave office wealthy.
Our education system is run by the establishment, and it is run by, but more importantly, for the teachers unions. Hey, I want teachers to be paid well, but only the good ones. The unions defend the failing status quo with all they have. That has to change our our country will ultimately fail. You just have to wonder if that is all part of the plan.
Blair Schrum
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"wrist band" Paul Simon
Mark Birnbach
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Best current song on this subject: Paul Simon's "Wristband"
Robert Miranda
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That's why you buy when you can afford it, and you don't bet on paying monthly for enjoyment forever. You never know when, and if, future income will arrive or not.
The paradigm of renting, leasing, crowd sharing, streaming, etc. is solvent as long as there is constant cash flow. Give your readers a reality check. What will their lives be like if it ends?
Ron Linder, MD
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brilliantly fair assessment. As always, a pleasure to read you.
Scott El. McIntyre
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if you find a good place for that remedial education please let me know...
and i don't really even want money... just don't want to think about it
-dan yotz
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The biggest lie that I've heard all my life is that money can't buy you happiness. As if debt, constant worry, wondering every month if you can keep your head above water, trying to stay relevant in a profession that panders to the young & fickle, somehow brings light shooting through the fucking clouds joy. Sure, I'm talking about the music biz & I'll be in it til I choke to death on self doubt & regret, but I know way too many people in 'regular' jobs who have very little chance of a comfortable retirement, if they have one at all.
The Millennials are pissed that the Boomers won't retire & the Boomers are pissed that the Millennials are threatening their jobs & usefulness, but at the end of the day they both, we all, have a common foe. And neither seems to see that. Just like the pro & anti Trumpers.
Wade Mosher
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Eloquently put.
You're on a roll lately.
RIk Shafer
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You have an enormous audience. You are a celebrated maven. I find it incredible that you can't monetize this.
Of course, you do live in one of the most expensive cities on earth.
Get someone to sponsor your newsletter?
Do a Kickstarter campaign to compile your scriptures into a book?
Whatever, you have an enormous audience. Seems like there must be SOME way to draw money from it. Charge some pittance for your newsletter. Like a dollar a week or maybe $45 per year? I would pay it to support you
Richard Sales
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Unfortunately, amen, dude
Alan Fenton
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It was a record year for the richest people on earth, as the number of billionaires jumped 13% to 2,043 from 1,810 last year, the first time ever that Forbes has pinned down more than 2,000 ten-figure-fortunes. Their total net worth rose by 18% to $7.67 trillion, also a record. The change in the number of billionaires — up 233 since the 2016 list — was the biggest in the 31 years that Forbes has been tracking billionaires globally. Gainers since last year's list outnumbered losers by more than three to one.
https://goo.gl/5ejxIH?utm_source=phplist5792&utm_medium=email&utm_content=text&utm_campaign=Re-Money
Levi Pervin
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I understand what you're saying, and I can't argue.
There's a 'secret' in the tech world though, that the best people will work for little or possibly no money if they have to.
This is what happens when people are on a mission to prove something - to others, and to themselves.
They don't want to be a 'part' of whatever is setting the world on fire, they see themselves as being the ones pouring the fuel on!
Most tech people don't learn Excel because they want to - I'm pretty sure you could drive it if you needed to ;)
Evan Linwood
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I know Excel like the back of my hand, can draw up a business plan in a couple of days, and worked until I couldn't keep my eyes open. But your right. I wasn't willing to screw others over, didn't brown nose the He-men, or shell out six figures for my education and ended up getting squeezed out. But I'll be damned if I end up "working retail jobs without health insurance, living in rental property, just hoping that social security will pay the bill."
As silly as it may seem I do still want in. The only difference is nowadays when you can't find an open door, you tear down a wall and make your own. Know your worth and others will see it too.
Busted by the side of the road but still willing to change a tire,
Jackie Agor
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Have you watched the British documentary called 'Money Matters?'
It may help you to understand.
Kevin
Kevin Canning
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Oh, Bob Lefsetz.
My heart is broke, and there's an asterisk over my head.
Yrs,
Britt Speakman
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I hear you, Bob
how many people are making good money, and doing something beneficial for humanity.
Sure there must be some - the likes of Elon Musk.
But the rest? Creating social apps that make us less social, and new software programs where no one got the first version (I am with you on Excel), or a new drug that lowers your blood pressure, but causes all sorts of other issues.
Somewhere it all became about survival... not just making a living, making a life.
Back in the day, the fisherman traded with the chap who had chickens.
These days, everyone is trying to tell you you need 100 things to go with the fish or the chicken... but they just trying to survive.
For most, surviving means building up a huge bank account, because we have all learned how fickle wealth is, and quickly it, and your value, can disappear.
The problem? Too many people, not enough seats.
Shaun Booysen
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Event zero:
Repeal of the fairness doctrine.
Irony or accuracy in a name?
Jack Morer
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Enough
You may not have made 90 gazillion bucks but you've done well.
And you made the choices, not 'the man'.
But the hard truth is that anyone, let me repeat that, anyone can
in fact make it if they possess the willingness to think about what
product or service folks need and then work their ass off to provide it.
And there will be a bunch of failures along the way, but for those that
learn from their mistakes, adjust their enterprises, tweak success will come.
I've started any number of businesses, from tech to the mundane, and along
the way have hired all sorts of folks, and many of them have gone on
to be incredibly successful.
It's not whom you know, although that can help; it's how hard you work
how hard you refuse to fail.
Enough lamentations on the fact that you feel you didn't make it. Guess what Bob,
You did make it.
Joe Vitka
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This made me think-no matter what class you come from or get to, it's not what or how much you make, it's how much you save. No one will be there for us so we have to do it ourselves!
Mommy and Daddy aren't forever so it's up to each person. Nothing is owed. We may feel entitled but the fact is we are entitled to only what we make/create and nothing else.
The facts don't care about our feelings as Ben Shapiro says and that's very true
All the best!!
Jeff Harris
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Been meaning to hit reply a few times, but thought I'd quickly say that the real gap is between destitute and OK. From OK to filthy rich isn't that big a gap, whatever the salary multiple involved. So someone owns an olympic-size swimming pool; if I can save up the change to go swimming in a public pool, their swimming experience is pretty much the same as mine. Hell, I might listen to Peter Kafka's podcast on the way there and hear about your newsletter. Thanks for your work; it's very much appreciated.
Cheers,
Gerald Schmidt
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Money is the reason everything is cheaply made and the world is bad. We literally torture animals for the bottom line. It's the reason pop music sucks. A sad, unenlightened world, it is.
Gary Wilson
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"I don't understand it."
Fuck yeah. Me neither. But I'm convinced I'm happier not being obsessed with it.
Glen Burtnik
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What I find insulting is the amount of freebies the richie riches keep getting in addition to all the kiss ass. They are the ones who can afford all the extras in life yet much of it is basically handed to them on a gold platter. It's ridiculous....
M 1
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Bob, I like this piece! It triggers a lot of thoughts about my own life. Keep in mind people voted for Trump INSTEAD of Hillary. Now look at how the Clinton's made bank.. The Clinton Foundation is HISTORY, with no influence to peddle. Me? I just invested in the wrong kind of CDs. I should have bought certificates of deposit instead of compact discs!
Lavon Pagan
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What Americans want is cradle to grave welfare that they pay for themselves plus the possibility of winning the lottery of life. So give it to em and take the rest.
Iman Lababedi
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from 'citizen kane'
https://youtu.be/87indycxudo?utm_source=phplist5792&utm_medium=email&utm_content=text&utm_campaign=Re-Money
Sandy McKnight
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It's all about cutting corners.
There is a very small minority who got rich, who have valid arguments on how they got rich without taking short-cuts. They do exist, but they are far and few between. Perhaps some inventors might make claim to this. A pure intellect thing.
But for business people and a lot of professionals, it's about selling, and selling is largely about glossing over the truth to persuade a customer to buy something they otherwise don't need or understand. Whether you are a dermatologist or a dancing school, this MO will always put extra bucks in your pocket. America knows this better than any other country on the planet.
But the really big wins are the cons, where the perpetrator misleads and manipulates his/her audience for the big kill. Bernie Madoff was a maestro, as just one example.
Even the POTUS is a master of deception. He has a history of taking things which didn't belong to him. Short cuts are the fastest way to grabbing the loot.
So there you have it Bob, some people are well equipped at cutting corners, and some people are not. I suspect you are in the latter category.
We are who we are. Nothing much changes.
Cheers
Pete Meehan
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I'm an Orthodox Jewish attorney (idk, felt like mentioning) and I look forward to your writings every day :)
Keep it up and thank you for contributing to the world.
- Julian Maxwell
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...hi bob......a sad commentary, but true...........i have a simple theory i call 3 UP, 3 DOWN.....it goes something like this:......the barrier to entry for a good life is money, brains, or talent(3 up)........money is king because it can BUY brains and talent, but brains ant talent can EARN........if you don't fall into those categories, your options are low income job, the military, or prison(3 down)...........there are exceptions of course, but in broad strokes, here we are, slaves, circus performers and whores.......................the first 100 pages of howard zinn's "a peoples history of the united states" illustrates exactly why we are at this point..........human nature: ain't it a bitch............
Tommy Allen
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dark Bob, darker than usual when you go dark...
I'm 51 and we're speaking with financial managers/advisors to put the assets in line for retirement in the next 15 years. He foresees fewer and fewer people owning more and more of the homes in LA because fewer and fewer 30 somethings can come up with cash to purchase a house that seems to be eternally going up in value. So what is the business he suggests to become part of: Property Management...
that's as dark as I can go today.
- Dan Gellert
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Bob, you have a permanent and all time focus on big money. Typical American I guess. You just have been skiing for 2 days so there's nothing to complain about. Free time is priceless.
And don't visit the big expensive music shows cause in most cases sound quality sucks.
Next thursday we will visit a live show of Eric Bibb at Bird (small jazz cafe) in Rotterdam. Tickets were only Eur 15,-
Looking forward to it!
I am just a retired John Doe with average income and love being saved of clueless managers only creating share holder value, foolish team building sessions, 7 ? 24 responsibilities for IT services etc.
Perfectly happy in my average comfortable 200 k home in a row and free of any mortgage. Probably you would complain that this simple house does not provide any status. Now, who cares?
You do not need much money to be happy.
On the other hand if you purchase an Apple laptop of 4k dollars you are just stupid. This shows you have to much money and lost your skills to evaluate financial deals and to do your own financial planning.
Try to use Youtube in your advantage! Yesterday I repaired the autofocus function of my wife's Canon IS 18-55 zoomlens. I needed to replace a broken flat cable and Youtube showed me how! It did cost me an afternoon and it works perfectly OK again. Nothing more satisfying... And of course I ordered the cable in China via Aliexpress. Cost ca 2 dollars for 2 cables so I still have 1 spare. In NL the same cable would cost me ca 25 dollars for 1 cable. Besides I saved a lens from the garbage dump! With the help of Youtube I also repaired receivers/amplifiers, electrostatic headphones and speakers etc etc.
There is so much to enjoy and like you I am 'to old to die young' as you stated some days ago!
Best regards,
Nico Aarts (the Netherlands)
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Much of what you write here is true. But what one often trades in for stability - or in the case of the ultra elite, a much higher income - they lose in peace of mind, in feeling fulfilled, in living an interesting, thoughtful, redeeming kind of life.
True, with education, connections, maybe even a little hard work, you can become one of the lucky ones, fly on the private jet and buy the 30,000 square foot house you only step inside of three times a year, though you may still find yourself awake at night, tossing and turning, wondering how much better things would be had you made some different decisions with your life.
And the good times for those people, the good times that seem never-ending, they don't always last. We need to only look back ten years - this time, 2007 - when the economy began to crater, and suddenly, people who seemed to have it all figured out, were forced to confront their dark night of the soul, their 'come-to-jesus- moment, when they lost their homes, lost their families, lost themselves.
We are no doubt living in a golden age of commerce and capitalism; yes, a few - actually, much more than a few - have become and are continuing to become extremely wealthy, ultra-wealthy, super-wealthy. But a massive corrective is likely to hit at some point soon, as it did then, and as it did five years before that, and will make these people, and others aspiring to be like them, wonder if they made the right decisions.
It is moments like those when people turn inward, and ask themselves whether that big house and that expensive car and that beautiful wife really matter. Or is what matters something else, something that people like you, and I and many others who read this newsletter, have been doing all along?
Paul Cantor
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bob -
this is all true only if you buy into the current mindset that you've gotta be a "have," which means having too much.
i'm your age. i've been a recording engineer for over 30 years, mostly making records of acoustic music and jazz. not particularly lucrative, but very satisfying, with 5 grammy nominations along the way, if they matter (not much, right?).
so i don't fly private. i don't have 4 houses, or a tesla, or any of that other pricey stuff. i have a wife i love, 2 great kids who are making their way in the world, and a long career that has always given me happiness. i drive a 12-year-old car, and have lived in the same small house we stretched to buy in 1983. am i lucky? you bet! and the longer i live, the more lucky i realize i am.
and a big reason i'm a happy guy is that i don't yearn for "stuff." i've got what i need, and what i've done has given back to me: i've helped musicians create recordings of performances that move people (often including me). so yeah, i bought into the 60's mentality, and it's served me well.
my advice to you is to think back on how you viewed the world when you were younger. did you want to own huge vacation houses? fly private? hang with rich people who you have nothing in common with? from reading your blog, it sounds like you have it pretty good! you travel the world, you are sought out as a pundit on the music biz, and tens of thousands of people listen to your opinions every week.
you're a success. appreciate it, and let those who need more crap chase it.
-gary mankin
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How can you possibly write this? "But the rest of us are dazed and confused, broke down and busted by the side of the road, wondering what the hell happened". Is this really who you are?
I'm very confused. You ski the finest resorts, you attend great events with movers and shakers, people pay you to speak, you travel the world. Your life is centered on the one thing that drives you, music. You live in Santa Monica, a liberal's paradise, where the weather is amazing and every day offers the promise and opportunity of living in one of the world's truly great metropolises, Los Angeles. So, What's the problem?
Your obsession with extreme wealth and flying private seems to be destroying your ability to enjoy what really matters in life. The joys that come from good friends and a loving family, and knowing that you, among the seven billion on the planet, are one of the lucky ones. That you are free to pursue your dreams, whatever they may be.
Compare your life to those living in Taliban controlled Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Somalia, Brazil, etc., where everyday people struggle to just survive to the next day, and your whining is inexplicable.
Much of life is a lottery. Yes, some people win the jackpot, but look around. Most people live lives of quiet desperation, unaware even of why their dreams will never be fulfilled. They work hard, really hard, yet there is little reward. And there, but for the grace of god, could have gone you. You are blessed. What's sad is that you don't seem to know it; and this is very much to your personal detriment. Otherwise, how could you write today's rant.
I once asked a group of my warehouse employees what their plans for the future were, not one of them had an answer. They were too busy just trying to survive. Or, were so settled in accepting their circumstances that they fully expected that great wealth, or big success, would never be theirs. Most interesting was that they truly liked and found satisfaction with their jobs. Jobs that you and I would never consider doing. But the real lesson I learned from them is that these people were tremendously HAPPY! Happy to have good friends and big families that were the center of their lives. Their focus was not on flying private, but thinking about the new baby in the family and their kids doing well in school, and looking forward to the next holiday and sharing it with family. Ever notice how many big families are at the parks of the poorer neighborhoods of LA enjoying themselves on weekends. I never see this in West LA where everyone seems to have an endless supply of money.
Simple pleasures are the best.
You yourself have stated many times that fame and fortune does not solve life's problems. True happiness and satisfaction with one's life comes from within one's self. It's something that flying private, or living behind gates, or being a billionaire can't buy.
Open your eyes, Bob. You are one of the lucky ones. Be thankful for what you have, because you seem to have a lot to be thankful for. Most of the world would trade places with you in a heartbeat.
Frank A. Gagliano
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Bob, Take a deep breath, sit down and take your meds(uppers). You go skiing every other week at all the hot spots and then come back to LALA land and feel inadequate. How many times do you have to go through this syndrome? Face it, you made life choices that didn't take you down the yellow brick road. Your Dad was actually a great role model, you must have fashioned yourself after your mother. (Nothing wrong with that, just didn't pay the trifecta).
Some guy (90 years old) responded to your "skin" column, " celebrate how lucky you are to still be young at 63 and smarter than you were at 35"! You need to hang out with a different crowd. Your constant reversion to the sin of "envy" is not only boring, but totally non productive. You want big bucks, "find a need and fill it". It's no harder than that. It has nothing to do with who you knew in kindergarten or even at Harvard MBA school. What you don't understand is that the guys graduating from Harvard and all the other fancy pants school are taught how to steer the Ship without deviating more than one degree to either starboard or port, dead north. The guys from those schools are always looking for an outlier that will produce and develop into home run deals. They very rarely are the thought leaders or originators of game changing, disruptor technologies or even low tech deals. Think I am wrong, look at who is really rich from franchising; Chick a filet, a right wing religious nut ( now dead)who hates gays. Dominos Pizza, a radical Catholic who will defend outlaw priests etc. Jewish real estate radical Zionists like Sheldon Adelman, who borrowed money in huge swathes to build casinos. There are hundreds of rich guys that I know who are simply of average intelligence, but had focus and/or luck ( often supported by inflation from 1970-2000) or they married money!
The good news is, it's not too late to get rich. The problem is your envy has put dark shades over your vision of what is really a BIG opportunity. Look what Wolfgang PUCk did with a few new ingredients on an oven baked pizza. Who ever imagined paying $26 for an eight inch pie?
You want instant gratification, not gonna happen. Here's a hint, look for something that is being produced as a by product of a high demand consumer good and invent a new use. Example, when we grew up we ate bacon. Then a few farmers ate " side pork" (unsmoked bacon) , now go to the Asian market and see how much pork belly sells for and how many restaurants buy it and feature it.
Too low tech for your? Look up Organogenesis on Google. They make artificial skin for burn victims. Find out how they grow that skin. The company has been for sale for two years. Get some rich broke friends and buy it. The applications for diabetic patients is huge.
Good luck, go to bed earlier and spend less time wandering around in the wee hours. All the smart guys are sleeping, getting ready for opening bell at 4:30 am.
Thomas Geimer
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Preach man. Thanks for saying all that. Helps me feel less crazy for feeling like the money is all locked up where the new artists can't get it—unless you're willing to march to the right beat.
I've always admired C.S. Lewis's thoughts as to how it got like this:
"Nearly all those evils in the world that people put down to greed or selfishness are really far more the result of Pride.
Take it with money. Greed will certainly make a man want money, for the sake of a better house, better holidays, better things to eat and drink. But only up to a point. What is it that makes a man with 10,000 pounds a year anxious to get 20,000 a year? It is not the greed for more pleasure. 10,000 pounds will give all the luxuries that any man can really enjoy. It is Pride - the wish to be richer than some other rich man, and (still more) the wish for power. For, of course, power is what Pride really enjoys: there is nothing makes a man feel so superior to others as being able to move them about like toy soldiers.
Pride is competitive by its very nature: that is why it goes on and on. If I am a proud man, then, as long as there is one man in the whole world more powerful, or richer, or cleverer than I, he is my rival and my enemy. The Christians are right: it is Pride which has been the chief cause of misery in every nation and every family since the world began. Other vices may sometimes bring people together: you may find good fellowship and jokes and friendliness among drunken people or unchaste people. But Pride always means enmity – it is enmity. And not only enmity between man and man, but enmity to God."
Read the chapter called "The Great Sin" in "Mere Christianity" if you want more. Marvellous book on the way of the world, and an especially poignant chapter.
Thanks for doing your thing Bob,
Chris Pulsifer
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Are none of those artists enabled by Daniel Ek a part of the middle class? Are only 1 percenters "rich?" Do you consider yourself middle class? If you don't qualify as rich by your standards, well, I'm sure you do by the standards of the "have nots" (You are skiing at Deer Valley in the middle of the week, after all, and I assume that, unlike many of your generation, you live within your means).
We know how society's upper echelon spend their time and money...we have Google. And Facebook. And Instagram. And Twitter. And Snapchat. And, these platforms have opened up all kinds of jealousy-laden looks into the lives of both those who are rich and those who act like they're rich (see: a large percentage of Los Angeles). This window into the "other half" is absolutely part of the populist Brexit/Trump/Bernie origin story, even if the reaction doesn't strike the establishment as logical, equal, or opposite to the impetus.
And, come on now, don't feign ignorance about making money when "how to" has become your mantra: Write a hit song. Start a tech company. Work on Wall Street. We all make choices. We all have our talents. We all have our opportunities. Some make more of what they have than others, and some have to do a lot less than others to reach the top. Regardless, keeping score only with bank accounts and trophy properties and assorted luxuries is a sad and vacuous approach to life.
eric behrns
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"America is the wealthiest nation on Earth, but its people are mainly poor, and poor Americans are urged to hate themselves. To quote the American humorist Kin Hubbard, 'It ain't no disgrace to be poor, but it might as well be.' It is in fact a crime for an American to be poor, even though America is a nation of poor. Every other nation has folk traditions of men who were poor but extremely wise and virtuous, and therefore more estimable than anyone with power and gold. No such tales are told by the American poor. They mock themselves and glorify their betters. The meanest eating or drinking establishment, owned by a man who is himself poor, is very likely to have a sign on its wall asking this cruel question: 'if you're so smart, why ain't you rich?' There will also be an American flag no larger than a child's hand - glued to a lollipop stick and flying from the cash register.
Americans, like human beings everywhere, believe many things that are obviously untrue. Their most destructive untruth is that it is very easy for any American to make money. They will not acknowledge how in fact hard money is to come by, and, therefore, those who have no money blame and blame and blame themselves. This inward blame has been a treasure for the rich and powerful, who have had to do less for their poor, publicly and privately, than any other ruling class since, say Napoleonic times. Many novelties have come from America. The most startling of these, a thing without precedent, is a mass of undignified poor. They do not love one another because they do not love themselves."
? Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse-Five
(via Ali Shakeri)
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