# Any way to be wealthy besides contracting?



## xebo (Jul 6, 2014)

Just wondering if there are any paths to becoming wealthy as an electrician outside of opening your own shop. 

I wouldn't mind setting a long term goal to do my own thing, but it would be nice to know if there were other - less risky/stressful avenues out there for breaking out of the middle class.


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## Black Dog (Oct 16, 2011)

xebo said:


> Just wondering if there are any paths to becoming wealthy as an electrician outside of opening your own shop.
> 
> I wouldn't mind setting a long term goal to do my own thing, but it would be nice to know if there were other - less risky/stressful avenues out there for breaking out of the middle class.


Stock market.

Real estate.

Hire enough guys to do the work for you.

Become a member of the house of representatives and you'll be rich in no time.


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## backstay (Feb 3, 2011)

xebo said:


> Just wondering if there are any paths to becoming wealthy as an electrician outside of opening your own shop. I wouldn't mind setting a long term goal to do my own thing, but it would be nice to know if there were other - less risky/stressful avenues out there for breaking out of the middle class.


Ah yes, all the wealthy EC on ET!


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## JHFWIC (Mar 22, 2012)

So I'm supposed to become wealthy having my own shop! ( dang I knew I missed something)


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## Bad Electrician (May 20, 2014)

xebo said:


> Just wondering if there are any paths to becoming wealthy as an electrician outside of opening your own shop.
> 
> I wouldn't mind setting a long term goal to do my own thing, but it would be nice to know if there were other - less risky/stressful avenues out there for breaking out of the middle class.


Nice wife, children, living within your means, good friends and a healthy life style. 

Robin Williams had wealth but not happiness, strive to be happy


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## Bugz11B (May 12, 2013)

Honestly probably not. Harry gave some solid advice there though.


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## backstay (Feb 3, 2011)

Bad Electrician said:


> Nice wife, children, living within your means, good friends and a healthy life style.


That is wealth!


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## AllWIRES (Apr 10, 2014)

You can be "wealthy" on a first years pay. And if you can't, then it's riches you seek. In which case wealth will be very elusive. 

If you don't wake up in the morning and love what you're doing, or love the reason you're doing something you don't love then all the Monopoly money in the game isn't going to help.


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## aftershockews (Dec 22, 2012)

I am working on my second million now.:thumbsup:

I gave up on my first.


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## pjholguin (May 16, 2014)

That's is one of life's most greatest achievement!! Wealth means nothing without
a Loving & Healthy Family!

PJHolguin



Bad Electrician said:


> Nice wife, children, living within your means, good friends and a healthy life style.
> 
> Robin Williams had wealth but not happiness, strive to be happy


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## 99cents (Aug 20, 2012)

You become wealthy by being smart with money and having other people make it for you. One of the wealthiest guys I knew had a simple philosophy - It's all about timing. If you're in the right place at the right time, grab the opportunity. Of course, a smart guy will put himself in a position where opportunities will present themselves.

It's a big trade and it's up to you to decide where to use your knowledge. It doesn't have to be in contracting - you can go into sales, manufacturing or consulting.

Nothing ventured, nothing gained.


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## Black Dog (Oct 16, 2011)

aftershockews said:


> I am working on my second million now.:thumbsup:
> 
> I gave up on my first.


Think in penny's you'll get there faster....





:laughing:


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## MTW (Aug 28, 2013)

"Wealth" and "electrical contracting" are complete contradictions. :laughing:


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## Bad Electrician (May 20, 2014)

MTW said:


> "Wealth" and "electrical contracting" are complete contradictions. :laughing:


Not necessarily, read my post above and I work for plenty of electrical firms that are owned by wealthy businessmen that started out as electricians.


What is the ratio of contractors that make big bucks to those scratching out a living, who knows but wealth is only determined someones definition of wealthy.


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## manchestersparky (Mar 25, 2007)

If when you state "becoming wealthy" you are referring to becoming monetarily wealthy - you will never be there. You many earn a large amount of money and possessions, but most are never satisfied with the level of money and possessions they obtain.
GREED will grab you and you will always want more.

Now if you are looking for "true wealth" ( imho) you will develop a family with morals and values. You will make enough money to live a nice lifestyle. You will provide for your children and set them up to succeed in life.


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## 99cents (Aug 20, 2012)

I know a guy who made a killing in the contracting business. I talked to guys who worked with him when he was on the tools and they all said he was the world's worst electrician. He sure knew how to make money, though. I was having beers with him one time and his phone rang. He hung up and said, "I just made $80,000.00. He was low bidder on a job and agreed to back out and sell it to the number 2 guy.


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## chicken steve (Mar 22, 2011)

Self cleaning chickens

our R&D dept was just on the verge of a major breakthrough 

but it all blew up in our faces! 


~CS~


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## jbrookers (Dec 7, 2008)

xebo said:


> Just wondering if there are any paths to becoming wealthy as an electrician outside of opening your own shop. I wouldn't mind setting a long term goal to do my own thing, but it would be nice to know if there were other - less risky/stressful avenues out there for breaking out of the middle class.


 1. Work at a job that pays on performance. Pocket 90k-140k a year. Invest in stocks, real estate, and other income producing assets. If you work hard, live cheap, and invest wisely, you can have 1 million in net-worth in 10-15 years. 

2. Work at any job that pays well enough to save money and invest in income producing assets. 

3. Work as an electrician and develop products and tools for your industry. Transition to that new business when you find the right product. 

4. Find a sales job in the electrical field that pays commissions and follow the advice above.


The long and short of is you can be wealthy in any field as long as you are earning enough to save and invest (90k plus). And, you have enough time. Many of my customers would be surprised by the net worth of some of my top electricians. You can make well over a typical middle class income as an electrician and if you reinvest your networth will grow. Eventually, you will be rich. The key us to start now. 

If you want to get rich quick start burning the midnight oil dreaming up business ideas (make sure electrical contracting is not one of them...lol).


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## xebo (Jul 6, 2014)

@99 cents: good responses. Thanks.
@jbrookers: interesting stuff. Thanks for the input.

Kind of put off by the comments about having a loving family equating to wealth. Yeah, you're right, but anyone in any line of business could claim they're wealthy because of job satisfaction or love/family. It has nothing to do with electrical work.

It just reminds me of beer ads that overemphasize how cold their product is. "Have an ice cold bud light". It's a sales tactic that side steps the issue of beer being nothing but bitter and undrinkable while warm. 

Since that's the preferred argument for electrical work here...I'm enjoying the implications of the electrician profession being also bitter and undrinkable. Joking aside...

I figured most of the other answers would be vage and ambiguous. If a path to being wealthy (Yes, monetarily wealthy of course) were straight forward, definable, and achievable, then everyone would be rich (which would men no one would be rich). I didn't expect to get a solid answer when making this post, but I'm not disappointed. Guess I'll keep my head on a swivel, wait for my moment, and take the leap if/when I see it. It would be nice to have a path to success, but I guess it was unreasonable to expect it to already be laid out for people to follow.


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## Bootss (Dec 30, 2011)

buy a small ranch and be an electrical contractor at the same time you'll make lots of money.
maybe have a couple other small ventures hopefully one of them will hit it big


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## dronai (Apr 11, 2011)

xebo said:


> Just wondering if there are any paths to becoming wealthy as an electrician outside of opening your own shop.
> 
> I wouldn't mind setting a long term goal to do my own thing, but it would be nice to know if there were other - less risky/stressful avenues out there for breaking out of the middle class.


Marry a woman with money


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## macmikeman (Jan 23, 2007)

Create a website aimed at pre-teens and 30 yr old females in the work force sitting behind desks all day long with nothing to do. Before you know it you will be in the top ten richest of all time list, and then you can lobby congress to dissolve the borders so we can be overrun and make the middle class disappear. Trust me, this method works. I can prove it. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Zuckerberg


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## Bad Electrician (May 20, 2014)

xebo said:


> @99 cents: good responses. Thanks.
> @jbrookers: interesting stuff. Thanks for the input.
> 
> Kind of put off by the comments about having a loving family equating to wealth. Yeah, you're right, but anyone in any line of business could claim they're wealthy because of job satisfaction or love/family. It has nothing to do with electrical work..



All the money in the world does not always lead to happiness and if you are put off by my comments, it would seem you may need to stop and take a breath and see what is really important in life.


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## farlsincharge (Dec 31, 2010)

dronai said:


> Marry a woman with money


She'll make you earn every penny.


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## chicken steve (Mar 22, 2011)

xebo said:


> If a path to being wealthy (Yes, monetarily wealthy of course) were straight forward, definable, and achievable, then everyone would be rich (which would men no one would be rich). I didn't expect to get a solid answer when making this post, but I'm not disappointed. Guess I'll keep my head on a swivel, wait for my moment, and take the leap if/when I see it. It would be nice to have a path to success, but I guess it was unreasonable to expect it to already be laid out for people to follow.


The problem most people have a hard time grasping is, we do not exist in a meritocracy

Once you get your head around this , you'll be about step 3 in a total of 12 to being the misanthropist i am

~CS~


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## chicken steve (Mar 22, 2011)

Bad Electrician said:


> All the money in the world does not always lead to happiness and if you are put off by my comments, it would seem you may need to stop and take a breath and see what is really important in life.


:thumbup:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00n5GoYWEa0

~CS~


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## chicken steve (Mar 22, 2011)

macmikeman said:


> Create a website aimed at pre-teens and 30 yr old females in the work force sitting behind desks all day long with nothing to do. Before you know it you will be in the top ten richest of all time list, and then you can lobby congress to dissolve the borders so we can be overrun and make the middle class disappear. Trust me, this method works. I can prove it.
> 
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Zuckerberg


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4yqbLHYbcI

:laughing:
~CS~


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## chicken steve (Mar 22, 2011)

Lep said:


> buy a small ranch and be an electrical contractor at the same time you'll make lots of money.
> maybe have a couple other small ventures hopefully one of them will hit it big


I went into McD's for a coffee yesterday saw folks bigger than buicks suckin' down more grease and industrial waste than BP's gulf debauchery

So i'm going to invent the _semi-automatic fork_

~C(hold my calls)S~


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## Southeast Power (Jan 18, 2009)

xebo said:


> Just wondering if there are any paths to becoming wealthy as an electrician outside of opening your own shop.
> 
> I wouldn't mind setting a long term goal to do my own thing, but it would be nice to know if there were other - less risky/stressful avenues out there for breaking out of the middle class.


What about the oil business?


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## chicken steve (Mar 22, 2011)

Now yer talkin'........:thumbsup:~CS~


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## TOOL_5150 (Aug 27, 2007)

So, contracting makes you wealthy huh? When do I get a turn??:laughing::laughing:


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## Bad Electrician (May 20, 2014)

TOOL_5150 said:


> So, contracting makes you wealthy huh? When do I get a turn??:laughing::laughing:


It can but it takes more than being an electrician, good salesman, good businessman and good contacts, I have seem many electricians make a better than electrician wage.


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## Captain_obvious (Aug 5, 2014)

TOOL_5150 said:


> So, contracting makes you wealthy huh? When do I get a turn??:laughing::laughing:


My bank account disagrees with the OP!


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## Wirenuting (Sep 12, 2010)

I like to counterfeit $100 bills, FPE breakers & I give surgical advice on their DIY site. 
After winning 3 lotteries in a row, I gave up doing anything at work beyond cheating the tax payers. 

1 more week of vacation to go..


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## chicken steve (Mar 22, 2011)

I'm voting for you W/nuting...:thumbup:~CS~


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## chicken steve (Mar 22, 2011)

TOOL_5150 said:


> So, contracting makes you wealthy huh? When do I get a turn??:laughing::laughing:


Right after we take you out, get you snotty drunk, and drop you on your head Tool......:jester:

~CS~


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## Galt (Sep 11, 2013)

I'm rich I know where the walleyes are biting.


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## AllWIRES (Apr 10, 2014)

xebo said:


> @99 cents: good responses. Thanks. @jbrookers: interesting stuff. Thanks for the input. Kind of put off by the comments about having a loving family equating to wealth. Yeah, you're right, but anyone in any line of business could claim they're wealthy because of job satisfaction or love/family. It has nothing to do with electrical work. It just reminds me of beer ads that overemphasize how cold their product is. "Have an ice cold bud light". It's a sales tactic that side steps the issue of beer being nothing but bitter and undrinkable while warm. Since that's the preferred argument for electrical work here...I'm enjoying the implications of the electrician profession being also bitter and undrinkable. Joking aside... I figured most of the other answers would be vage and ambiguous. If a path to being wealthy (Yes, monetarily wealthy of course) were straight forward, definable, and achievable, then everyone would be rich (which would men no one would be rich). I didn't expect to get a solid answer when making this post, but I'm not disappointed. Guess I'll keep my head on a swivel, wait for my moment, and take the leap if/when I see it. It would be nice to have a path to success, but I guess it was unreasonable to expect it to already be laid out for people to follow.


I'm a tool for the hypocritical fascism that is cash money.


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## flyboy (Jun 13, 2011)

xebo said:


> Just wondering if there are any paths to becoming wealthy as an electrician outside of opening your own shop.
> 
> I wouldn't mind setting a long term goal to do my own thing, but it would be nice to know if there were other - less risky/stressful avenues out there for breaking out of the middle class.


What is your definition of wealthy?


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## TOOL_5150 (Aug 27, 2007)

chicken steve said:


> Right after we take you out, get you snotty drunk, and drop you on your head Tool......:jester:
> 
> ~CS~


id never get drunk with/around you. thanks.


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