/biz/ - Business & Finance

>tfw was always considered "the smart kid" through most of school
>always top of the class
>teachers would talk to parents and say things like "gifted" and "talented"
>parents would say that I had the potential to do anything I wanted
>got to about 14/15 and then boom, suddenly it was like everyone else had caught up and I was no longer the smart kid
>didn't really have to study to get good grades but could no longer 100% an exam without effort
>graduated high school with a rank well into the top 10% but not good enough for medicine or law
>now have a relatively stable government job with pay in low 100s but am nowhere near as successful as I was led to believe I could have been
Does anyone else know this feel?

I tried starting an engineering degree at the beginning of this year part time and was going to try and work it around the schedule of my job. Man, the introductory mathematics just about broke me, I was extremely out of my depth and couldn't remember half the shit that I should have been able to recall from Year 12. Ended up swiftly dropping it due to a number of factors but in all honesty the fear of not being able to keep up weighed on my mind a lot. It's bizarre because I've had my IQ formally tested and came out to 133 so I should be somewhat intelligent (probably below average for /biz/) but holy shit mates I actually feel like a straight up fucking dumbass these days.

>>55874357
Good stuff thanks for laying it out for me man. Makes more sense now.

Yeah going to an accountant seems essential once you're dealing with a high enough amount for this route to give you a significant advantage. Definitely don't think I'm at that point yet.

>>55874651
Ah gotcha, now I know exactly what not to do. I'll do my best to avoid watching that video as well, that sort of knowledge isn't worth knowing.

>>55290336
From all objective standpoints he's got a pretty enviable life, at least from my perspective. He has his own place, keeps it clean and tidy, eats decent food, goes to the gym and maintains a modicum of fitness, has a car.

My life:
>27 years old
>drive trains for a living and do shift work in two week blocks
>don't own a house or even an apartment, share a two bedroom rental with someone else
>drive an absolute shitbox car
>no degree
>have to fit either a run or a visit to the gym around the weird hours that I work and sleep
>work as much overtime as possible in order to savemax so I can put a deposit down on my own place
>because of all the overtime I have basically no hobbies anymore, nor can I really justify the cost
>if I want a better career, need to start all over again and potentially go to university
is less *routine* but objectively far worse. I would take this man's place in life without a second thought.

>didn't go to university or do a (good) trade
>somehow kinda lucked out and now make $120k/year or thereabouts driving trains, but no career progression, public wants us automated ASAP and hates how unionised the workforce is, and collective bargaining in modern era is unproductive
>$120k in Sydney isn't really a lot of money nowadays, and doing shift + weekend work means any friends I did have drifted away because I was never able to go out when everyone else was free
>slowly coming to the realisation that I should go to university, complete a degree, and get a *real* job
>would provide other benefits like being eligible for skilled work visas and eventual residency in other countries because it's effectively impossible without a skilled occupation
Still just really don't know what the fuck to study desu. It's not an easy choice because there's not really anything I'm naturally "good at" or particularly interested in. I mean... I'm good at driving trains, one of the best in the business. But it's not a skill that's useful anywhere else.

I don't want megabucks, I'd be pretty content with about $180k/year if I didn't have to live in a major city. Maybe computer science and then try and get some sort of remote job?

>>50811903
>26 years old
>couple of BTC, about 550 stinkies and still accumulating
>about $100k AUD in ETFs and boomer dividend paying stocks
>$22k sitting in a bank account
>made $126k AUD before tax last financial year, doesn't really go all that far though because I live in Sydney
>daily driver is a 22 year old Honda Accord
>just broke up with girlfriend of two years a couple of weeks ago
Honestly don't really know where I screwed up so badly.

>>50546929
>how 28 year old train driver became multi-millionaire property investor
I drive trains. I honestly don't see why people shit on it so much, it's not a bad job. Sure it's not a $200k/year software engineering job, but it's decent coin for the little work you actually have to do.

>>49288466
>26
>no degree
>$120k AUD/year
>$85k AUD in boomer stocks, $93k in crypto, $81k in superannuation (though I guess that doesn't really count does it?)