Save/invest a large percentage of your income, 50+ ideally. If you're making > 650k in a year, 500k in savings doesn't actually sound all that prudent.
That's really secondary though, step one is to not have 8 kids.
That's really secondary though, step one is to not have 8 kids.
Really shows how intelligence and common sense are two different things.
Or making decisions based on emotionality and what you want.
Just because you want 8 kids (or 5 or whatever) doesn't mean it's a good idea to have that many kids.
And just because you think your passion is being a comedy writer doesn't mean it's a good idea to take that career path or take that gamble.
I mean I would imagine it would have been possible when he was offered the dream job by Tom Arnold to look at it rationality (hard but possible) and know enough about the business to realize the gamble he was taking.
As opposed to the gamble that a person fresh out of college w/o kids or a family in the same "go for the brass ring" situation.
Having 8 kids does not have to be as expensive as you think. You can get clothes for next to nothing (or free if you are really poor), rooms can be shared, hand-me-down toys and clothes.
Food is really the only expense that multiplies. But if you are making big batches of food and using raw materials (large bags of rice, pasta or beans from Costco come to mind) it really does not have to be that expensive.
The author states how important it was to them to keep the kids in the best schools. This suggests that hey had fallen into a trap that many have. They believe that their kids will be better off if they have the best of everything (clothes, schooling, food, housing). This simply is not true. Look at what happened. The family was completely split into pieces. Some of the kids became almost foster kids. The mother abandoned some of the younger ones. Is this really better than a middle class family that stays together and has a lower standard of living?
The other part of this is, parents are fooled into thinking that they should work 60hrs a week so their kids will be better off. Their kids meanwhile are being raised by some strangers most of the time (day-care, after school care). The kids would rather just have the parent around than a bunch of extra toys, clothes and video games. The worst part is, the parent is not there teaching them haw to be upstanding and respectable men and women. Teaching them work ethic, discipline, values, morality, ETC.
How foolish this man was. He deserves the life he has been relegated to. His kids don't though - and I do feel sorry for them.
Disagree with me? This man made over 10 million dollars during his life and he is only in his early fifties.