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This thread is NOT referencing anyone here at the forum

Tom davies

Tie Cut
Feb 23, 2018
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3
First Name
Tom
NOTE: This thread is NOT referencing anyone here at the forum, but the idea of it evolved from the plethora of internet gurus who now use this strategy as their "PROOF" of success.

$28,500 a year.

Not a big income right?

In Arizona, that's someone who makes $13.70 an hour working 40 hours a week all year. In Arizona, minimum wage is $10.

$28,500 is certainly not big enough of an income to consider yourself "rich" -- and certainly not big enough to PROVE that you're capable or qualified to give advice about wealth, money, or finance.

If you earned $28,500 a year in the United States, you would be considered lower-middle class, near poverty, depending on your family situation.

But what if you made $35,000 a year and lived at home with your parents, had no utility bills, no student loans, and you still hung out on your parents health insurance plan?

Well $28,500/year is all you would need to lease a Lamborghini Huracan and advertise yourself as the internet's next 25 year old "I'm rich" guru.

Yup, that's how much it costs to lease a Lamborghini, roughly $2,400 a month.

Is $2,400/mo the threshold to symbolize the ultimate in freedom and wealth?

Not exactly.

It's a start.

But it's not going to move any meter, unless your meter is an exotic car used as a prop to fool people into presuming you're making $240,000/mo.

I bring this up because it now seems the litmus test for guru legitimacy is to be standing in front of an exotic car, a Ferrari, Lambo, whatever. Heck, even I did this nearly 10 years ago (although I paid cash for my Lambo).

My point is: If your guru is standing in front of an exotic car, IS PROVES NOTHING. It doesn't prove he/she's rich. It doesn't prove he's "printing money". Heck, it doesn't even prove he/she leased it. Not a day passed in public when I had strangers taking photos in front of my Lambos, as if they owned it.

So please, next time you're evaluating a guru -- please don't look at his exotic car and presume it's a symbol of "oh wow, he's rich."

If anything, it might prove that he makes less than he's projecting.

Something to think about...
 
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There's a certain automotive speaker who is sitting in his private jet seats half the time I see his photo, every time I see it I find him less credible. On the flipside, I see Gary V (who I don't love, actually) in a hoodie, tennis shoes, in a scaled down environment...and every time I find him more credible. If you need to try and remind me how successful you are, your message probably doesn't carry enough weight on its own.
 
I'm not sure what "Guru" is being referenced, but this forum has never attracted that personality type in my opinion. I think there are a few very good reasons why. Those reasons have names: @Jeff Kershner, @Alex Snyder, and @joe.pistell. The Mods here are the real "Gurus" in this industry and they have done a tremendous job over the years of encouraging this community to challenge conventional wisdom and the ideas of other participants in a respectful and professional manner. It is uniquely DealerRefresh.

This industry is prone to following the flashes in the pan at times, we like new and shiny things. It is relatively easy to look smart for a few minutes with a new buzzword or acronym, but it is much more difficult to prove you are smart over and over and over again over the course of nearly a decade. I'll give one example to make my point: Uncle Joe's first post in his makeover diary was 3/11/11... that 8 year old thread now has 39 pages of content! You can't make it here long if your knowledge consists of just an acronym and an image.

Last Thought: The mods here don't need to pose in front of a Lambo, shoot, they are smart enough to pose in Jorts and still be respected. ;)