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Before you get to the point of scouting for deal you need to be able to show bank records proving you've grossed $200k/year (or $300k/year if you're married) for the previous two years, or have over $1m in assets. This is because our great grandparents got bilked, and as usual, we're paying for the sins of people who died before we were born.

These numbers were set by old white men in 1982 to make sure the only other old white men could invest in this manner. The same rich old white men, and their rich white children are now trying to adjust that for inflation, which would mean something like $450k/year in gross income or $2.5m in assets.

Look up Rule 501 of SEC's regulation D. Then smash something. I did.