the greatest secret of billionaires, 95 year old attorneys, and the retirement myth

8/14/2019 The Greatest Secret of Billionaires, 95 Year Old Attorneys, and the Retirement Myth

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The Greatest Secret Of Billionaires


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I Have Been In Las Vegas This Week

And at least 5 or 6 times, I have heard variouspeople talk about how Steve Wynn did this, or Steve Wynndoes that. There is absolutely no question that Wynn is a

successful guy, and I would love to go over and see his newcasino to see what it is all about. From what I understand, itis incredible.


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Everywhere I Go, I Am Hearing Stories About Different Men Who

Have reached the pinnacle ofsuccess. Because a reallygood biography just cameout about Warren Buffet, I

have been hearing atremendous amount about

him lately, as well.


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There are surely lots of stories in Omaha about Warren Buffet.

There are stories in Los Angeles about various tycoons like KirkKerkorian, David Geffen and Summer Redstone.

There are stories in New York about tycoons like Donald Trump,

George Soros and Michael Bloomberg.

There are stories in Detroit about Mike Ilich and Bill Davidson.

There are stories in Chicago about William Wrigley, Jr. and OprahWinfrey.

There are stories in Seattle about Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates and Paul Allen.

There are stories in all of Arkansas about the Waltons

There are stories in San Francisco about Segey Brin and Larry Page.

There are stories in Dallas about Ross Perot.


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I Am Sure One Of The First Things You Are Likely To Say

And that anyone would sayis that they

are rich. Yes, every single one of thesepeople is extraordinarily rich andamong the wealthiest people in theworld. Conventional wisdom would saythat these people are so wealthy theynow have the good life and can do

whatever they want.


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For Example

They could certainly spend their time relaxing on a beach if theywanted to for the rest of their lives, with no care in the world.

They all could sip Mai Tais until they went to sleep, be waited onhand over foot and walk around giant compounds with no care inthe world.


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When You Look At These People, You Might Be A Tad Jealous Or

Envious

After all, they are some of the wealthiest people onthe planet and have achieved so much. However,this is not how I look at them. The way I see each ofthese men and women is that they are all stillworking.


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Thats Right, Each Of These People Is Still Working

They have not stopped working, and Iam sure they never will stop working.Summer Redstone looks 100 years old

and is still working.

I cannot believe DonaldTrumps hair is still real, and

he is still working.

None of these people stopped workingwhen they got their first 10, 20, 50,100 or 250 million dollars, and youcan better believe they never will.

When we look at these people, we cantell that they love working and are

committed to it.


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Warren Buffet Does Not Appear To Even Have A Succession

Strategy

According to many observers.

Perhaps he thinks he will never die and will be able to work forever.

All of these people are still working day after day. Each day, thesepeople get up and work and face various problems. The market maychange and they may lose millions of dollars. Donald Trump, forexample, has been being sued a lot recently over condo deals gonebad and one of his casinos just filed for bankruptcy.


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In Fact, It Seems As These People Get Older

We keep hearing more and more about them. They keepshowing up in the papers more and more, and they keep

doing more and more things.

Bill Gates is now working oneradicating disease in Africa...


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Bezos is busy

expanding Amazon.


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Bloomberg was rumored to be interested inrunning for President the last election.


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Do You Think These People Do Not Have Problems?

Do you think these people do not haveproblems in their careers?

You had better believe they have problems in their careers.They have huge problems, and these problems happen day

after day. They are the subject of rumors and all sorts ofother issues in the media. People question their judgmentand say they are washed up. But these people all keep

going.


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The Point I Want To Make To You Is That These Men Are Still

Working

They do not quit working.Kirk Kerkorian is 92 years old! A couple of years ago, he

purchased a huge chunk of General Motors and tried to get

them to merge with Nissan. He still plays tennis all the time.

Do you think a guy like Kerkorian was worried about retiring37 years ago when he was in his mid-50s? I am sure he was

not. Kerkorian is still working


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In Order For These Tycoons To Continue Working

You better believe that theyabsolutely love what they do.

They could not continue workingFOREVER unless they did.

However, the important pointabout all of this is how it relates

to you. What this means issomething about your career,your life, and what is going tohappen to you right now. Not

later. Right now!


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Several Years Ago

I got divorced after a very short marriage where my wife had lived athome for not more than six months. I remember that when I foundout that my wife was divorcing me, she hired the meanest and most

brutal lawyer possible in Los Angeles. Her lawyers web page talkedabout how the lawyer had crushed various other sides in divorces andso forth.


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The Lawyer Even Sent A Process Server Right Into My Office

The lawyer even sent a process

server right into my office to serveme with papers in front of all of myemployees, despite being asked bymy wife not to. The lawyer had agiant list of celebrity divorces and soforth that she had done, and it was

really remarkable.


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I Was Only 31 Years Old

Had been married a very short time and did not have a lotof money. I did have some businesses, though, and mywifes lawyer had gotten the ball rolling to freeze various

assets and so forth.


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I Did Not Know What Was Going On; However

I will confess to you that mywifes lawyer scared the heckout of meand I am anattorney. This was severalyears ago, and everything I

read about this woman mademe want to crawl under a rockand disappear.


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At First

I decided that I would respond in kind andI found my lawyer on CNN. I was

watching CNN one day and I saw awoman who had represented Meg Ryanand all of these people and seemed toreally know what she was doing. I calledher up on the phone, and she told me tocome by her office and bring with me

$50,000 or something like that. She wasequally vicious to my wifes lawyer andpromised a long and drawn out fight.


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Were going to stick up against these son-of-a-bitches!

she told me on the phone almost sounding like she wassalivating for a fight.

Ill claw her eyes out personally if they try and freeze yourassets! she told me, referring to my wifes lawyer.


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When he took notes, his handshook. He had someone helping himaround the office. He blew his nose

every few minutes. His office smelledlike mold. I had to repeat everythingtwice.


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Now, I Need To Confess

That I have practiced law with someof the best and biggest law firms inthe world. When I read the WallStreet Journal every morning, I am

always reading about attorneys Iused to work with personally who areexceptional attorneys. Here, in myown divorce, I was up againstsomeone who was trying to destroyme on the other side and take awaymy companies. But I decided thebest solution to this was to hit thesituation with the biggest weaknessimaginable. Sometimes it is in yourbest interest to be weak.


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Why Is It In Your Best Interest To Be Weak?

The reason it is important to be weak sometimes is because, in thissituation, all that would have happened is that the lawyers wouldhave taken everything. My wife would have been left with nothing

and everything would have been consumed in a fight.


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I Married My Ex-Wife For Many Reasons

And the last thing I wanted wasfor her to be harmed emotionally

and financially by a divorce. I alsoknew that fighting this thing

would create a life-time enemyand cost me very dearly

financially and emotionally.


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I realized that no one in their right mind wouldwant to fight a 95-year old man in court. It would

be like kicking a baby.


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The Entire Divorce

from start to finish with thisguy, cost me a couple of thousanddollars. Everything was done out ofcourt and was fair to both sides. Nofighting, nothing. When my ex-wifemet him, she literally started crying.He was the sweetest old man you canimagine. A few weeks after thedivorce was finalized, I think he died.I drove by, and his office wasabandoned, and there was a sign upannouncing an auction of the contentsof the office, so I am assuming hedied. Maybe he is still aroundI do notknow.


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Why Do I Tell You About This?

I tell you about this to show you thatyou can still work until you are wellinto your 90s. People continueworking because work gives theirlives meaning. Even in your mid-90s, you will have a purpose in theworld and can do great work.


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This Particular Attorney Was Working For A Reason

And he was still working because he lovedwhat he did. He was not working for the

money at that pointjust as all of the tycoonsI discussed above could have retired a long,

long time ago.


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I Would Submit To You That The Most Successful People Out

There,Those people that everyone seems so interested in and thateveryone talks about, are successful not because they aresmarter than you. In fact, the chances are probably very goodthat you are smarter than many of these people. The reasonthese people are so successful is because they love what they

are doing, and it is a part of their life and who they are.

There is no separation for them between workand pleasure.

They are, instead, people who live their work and in the processof living their work, they also enjoy what they do immensely.

They will be working at what they do as long as they are aroundand until the die.


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I Want Nothing More Than For You To Be Incredibly

Successful and to get the career and life that youdeserve. Your life can change when your job becomespart of who you are, and you start to love what you do.You need to love what you do and this needs to be partof who you are. And you need to incorporate it into your

identity and everything else in your life.

If you are not doing something that youimagine you could be doing in your mid-

90s, then you are probably in the wrong


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Let Me Repeat This:

If you are not doing something you canimagine yourself doing in your mid-90s, thenyou are probably in the wrong profession.

If you are a professional athlete, you should love your sport.You could imagine yourself as a coach. If you are in anything,

then you should imagine yourself as doing this forever. Canyou imagine this? You should be able to. If you cannotimagine yourself doing something forever, then this is

extremely problematical and you need to ask yourself why you

are doing something at all.


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When I Was Younger I Worked In New York City

During that time, I got to meet a lot ofbankers and other people who were veryinterested in becoming incrediblywealthy. That was around 15 years ago. Ican honestly say that the people I canremember who were interested inbecoming wealthy and retiring with abunch of money at an early age neverdid. They also never made it in banking.


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The People That I Know Of Who Make It In Every Profession

They do not think about getting inand getting out. They fall in love

with what they are doing and wantto always be doing what they aredoing.

Are the people who really

seem to love what theyare doing.


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This Brings Me Back To All Of These Tycoons

Do you think a guy like Warren Buffett wanted to make acouple of million dollars and then retire in Omaha?

Can you imagine this guy on Wall Street saying how muchhe wanted to make money and having incredibleenthusiasm for this?

No.


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He Was Someone Who Was Passionate About Investing

He loved the work and not what came after it. It is the samething with everyone who is good at anything. They love theirjobs, and they can never imagine retiring. Donald Trumpsfather was in real estate and Trump, Jr. loved real estatefrom a young age. He will always love it.

and really, reallyinterested in thisfrom a youngage.


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The People We Really Respect

The people who areachieving the most outthere, are also people wholove what they are doing to

such an extent that they willnever retire. If you do onething with your life that is goingto make the greatest differencein the quality of your lifebetween today and going

forward, it is this:

Do something youwill never want to

ti f d i

the greatest secret of billionaires, 95 year old attorneys, and the retirement myth

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