I don’t mean to be intrusive and wish to congratulate all you luckly people who have the resources to afford a Cirrus…but what are you all doing in life that makes you so successful? (and owners of a beautiful aircraft!)
I dream about it, but I also dream about Eclipse jets!
Well you work hard at what you do best for half your life,you raise your kids and you save. Then some get loans and some save for many years. But there is one thing for sure good things come to those that go after them with gusto. Many of us have business we started many years ago for me 27 years and sometimes go without alot then it all comes together and one day you are somwhat there. You to can do it if you try and live a good life and give some back as you go along and help others. From Don
Think. Read. Think. Use your native intelligence to its maximum potential; most people are intellectually lazy, but the winners are not. Think. Focus on your goals and objectives with razor sharp precision. Think. Pay attention to details - the Devil is in them, and you have to get rid of him. Think. Work twice as hard as anyone else. Think. Find a gray haired mentor or three, and draw upon their experience - ain’t nuttin’ like experience to make things go right. Think. While shrugging off failure (and it WILL happen - more than once) stop to learn its lessons by thinking. Think. Differentiate the unimportant from the important, and don’t waste time on the unimportant or irrelevant. Think. Hire only the best people, and quickly get rid of the underperformers; then motivate the achievers so they, too, can afford to buy that Eclipse. Think. It’s 90% sweat and 10% brains, and even good thinking takes sweat effort - don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. Think. ALWAYS understand the other guy’s motivations; they will be different than yours, and you must know what they are. Think. Don’t assume - remember the old adage: when you “ass u me” you make an “ass” out of “u” and “me”. Think. Question the details of every legal agreement you enter into until you thoroughly understand its totallity. Think. Remember: there’s no free lunch, and if a deal looks too good to be true, it most likely is. Think. Keep your personal life in order, stable and balanced - personal problems get in the way of wealth creation. Think. Shun time wasters; they care not one wit for you. Think. Forever stay alert for opportunities - the world is a huge bread basket absolutely loaded with opportunities. Think. While focusing on the positives of opportunities, always understand the elements of the downsides, and take necessary steps to minimize or eliminate them. Think. Only engage in business deals where you and the other party(ies) have parallel economic interests where everybody wins or loses together. Think. Or, marry a rich girl, but think about it first.
And above all else, character counts. Think about it.
Love that Eclipse - Cirrus, too!
I don’t mean to be intrusive and wish to congratulate all you lucky people who have the resources to afford a Cirrus… but what are you all doing in life that makes you so successful?
You certainly don’t have to be a captain of industry, although it doesn’t hurt. My airplane partner and I are both university faculty with modest salaries by academic standards (and most certainly modest by industrial standards). Moral: You can work for wages and own an airplane.
I thought Butch Casidy had an effective occupation. All of his money was tax free and he was famous to boot!!!
All of the posts below are good advice and wisdom well worth heeding. I would add an additional consideration…life is about choices and priorities. Few people can afford to write checks for any and all things they would like to have or do. Most of us–myself included–make considered adjustments in the rest of our lives in order to fly. Buy a less expensive house. Don’t drive fancy cars. Don’t take expensive vacations to exotic locales. Educate yourself and be dispassionate & vigilant about your investments. Stay in Days Inn, Super 8 or Motel 6, not the Hilton (my joke: “I never had $200 worth of sleep in one night, at least not by myself”). Go out to dinner less often and to less fancy places–Austin’s Barbecue, not California Cafe. If you can afford to even think about buying a vacation home, save the money towards an airplane purchase instead. Buy an aircraft (or a share of one) that the market says will have a chance to appreciate rather than depreciate, even if it’s not your fantasy airplane. Over the years, these things add up, and moreover they cultivate useful habits and a degree of introspection about how you allocate your time and resources that are beneficial to both home life and career. Alan Klapmeier (spelling?–sorry!) has said that the real cost of owning a $250K airplane over the years is comparable to owning a $50-60K luxury automobile. WHile I haven’t run the numbers myself to verify this, it wouldn’t surprise me if it’s true. A $60K purchase is an expensive proposition but within the reach of a surprisingly large number of people if they make it (or some other expensive choice/priority) a goal and adjust other things in their lives to achieve it.
Partnerships or more recently, managed fractional ownerships (OurPLANE, Airshares Elite) all offer far less capital-intensive alternatives to sole ownership for flying new aircraft.
All of this really falls under the heading of “Think!” as discussed elsewhere in this thread. With a little creativity and flexibility, you would be surprised what you can work out.
There were some good responses by others to this posting, just want to offer some data points. Firstly, I don’t own a Cirrus outright - I am one member of a 5 person syndicate that shares an SR20. For me, that works well, I do about 100-150 hours/year, so between the five of us, the plane is kept busy, but it’s always been available enough for my needs. And that brings the cost per person well within reach of most people - depending on your priorities.
One of the members of our group is a plumber, I run a software business. The only common denominator is that we all run our own businesses.
That is some of the best advice I have heard. Hope he prints it and rereads it from time to time, like I will.
Thanks,
Greg
I could not have said it better. I don’t know who you are but I had the good fortune to meet someone like you when I was in my twenties, and he encouraged me to THINK. Think differently. I really didn’t get it at first, but then I paid closer attention to this man. Ever so slowly it began to gel. Its how you THINK. If you THINK you can, you probably can. If you THINK you can’t…
Mike C
A VERY profound statement indeed.