Have to ask to know. Do you have any kids or a wife to support. I make $100k/yr and don't see retiring any time soon at my age of 42. I have 3 kids and my wife stays home as I prefer her to raise the children. Between college pre-pay and health insurance ($2,000/mo.), I have little left over for mortgage $2250/mo and necessities such as food and clothing. I am blessed and have paid off debt as quickly as I can instead of investing. Both my cars are paid for and my mortgage is 15 years which helped me build lots of home equity as I want my house paid for in case anything happens to me that my wife can collect my SS $$ and live. If I was single my pockets would jingle.

 

I hope that you get your bike from some where else, because the Treasure coast HD, which is very close to your city, has an excellent customer service!
Last time, when I told them that the rear brake switch of my bike was broken, and I lost the rear brake, they immediately offered to tow the bike from my house to the dealer (17 miles away) without any charge. I only asked to give me a new switch (without charge, of course), and replaced it by myself.

 

I have a wife of 31 years that stayed at home for about 25 years and a single daughter that's a physician here in town. No student loans or debt for anyone of us. House paid for, all vehicles paid for. We all live beneath our means, which has financially disciplined us over the decades.

My point is, it doesn't matter how much you make, but how much you keep. My income comes from capital gains. Since I'm a long term investor, I've been through a few stock crashes. When that happens, at the end of the year I realize my capital losses.

Because of these losses accumulated over the years, I haven't paid any federal taxes since 2000, yet I average an unrealized profit of about $100K a year. I only draw a set amount for household expenses which is a fraction of what I profit against my accumulated losses.

This way I stay tax free federally. I do get hit with property taxes of about $5K a year. My Heath insurance for wife & I comes to $450 a month.

I know you're still wondering how I do it. Well by the age of 34 my investments grew to over the 7 figure mark, despite a salary in the mid $30K at the time. No matter how little I made, I always made sure I paid myself first. This means take the first hour of your salary every day and have it automatically taken out so you don't miss it. Have it invested in some sort of investment instrument. If your company offers a investment incentive, always max it out.

Get yourself the book, The Automatic Millionaire by David Bach it's about $10 and if you're cost conscience as myself, ask your local library to get it for you. It's an easy read that you can finish in one evening.

In the book, The Millionaire Next Door by Dr. Stanley there's a saying that has always stuck in my mind, "You can't be rich, you make too much money". Think about it.

PM me since we're hijacking my own thread if you want to further discuss finance.

 

Appreciate the advice. Thanks !!

 

I now have over 600 miles on this build, so it's finally broken in. I took it to 95 MPH earlier and it felt solid and powerful. The engine has less mechanical noise than when it was stock. It feels like it's going to be a reliable bike now.

I have a taller F4 windshield on it's way to me. Hopefully it will quiet down the wind noise since it's 3" taller than stock. Then I can put away the ear plugs for local riding and listen to my tunes at a lower volume.

I want to get past doing the oil change myself and keep any mess to a minimum. Since I now have less room to work with than on my former RK. Got the oil cooler and lowers now to contend with. Plenty of brake cleaner on the shelf.

 

I bought New Century Financial (NEW) at $41.32 and now it's worth zero, but I am part of the class action suit. I bought Cisco (CSCO) at $30.39 and it closed yesterday at $17.61. I bought Bank of America at $13, it dropped to $9 so I bought more, and it dropped to $6, so if it was a good buy at $13, it was an even better buy at $6, so I bought some more. Since I can only take $3K in losses each year, my losses are backed up longer than your CVO was at the dealer. My portfolio took a beating in 99 and I am still recovering.

 

Yep. What he said.

 

I accumulated over $600K in realized losses over the decades from stock market crashes. Presently I'm down to $350K in realized losses. This means i can realize up to $350K in profit in one year and not pay any federal or capital gain taxes. That's the cool part.

However I chose to chip away as minimal as possible against those losses so I can remain tax free year after year, while growing my portfolio. This is one of those "rich tax loopholes" that you hear about but it's available to everyone.