Work less for more pay (NOT get rich quick)

[cellodude]

Some of us folks on PF are a little older than others and we have responsibilities like a full time job, children, a house and car to pay off, etc. But we got bitten by the piano bug and desparately need to feed this addiction.

So we struggle trying to balance time and money with practice. Lately (last couple of years), I've been thinking hard about other ways of making money (other than being tied to a 8-10 hour a day job) so that I can be a responsible father/husband and still feed my addiction.

I would like to hear from others who are thinking along this line on how they are going about it. I am going to start with a couple of things I am trying.

One is AMWAY the other is the stock market.

AMWAY. Good if you start young. Many (professinal) musicians have done well selling AMWAY on the side in the US. If you do well in the early years money pours in literally in the later years without too much effort. I personally know a few very successful AMWAY people. The problem for me is that it requires too much effort and time to start off because of my age and also other responsibilities (see above).

Stock market. I am working on this right now and don't mind going into specifics if others are interested. Visit here http://www.investopedia.com to get started. I think this is the best option for me now.

If I can make as much money on the market as I am making in my day job, I'll dump my day job. Ideally, we should only need to put in 4 - 6 hours a day picking stocks and executing the buy or sell transaction. That gives me an extra 2 to 3 hours a day!

If there are other ideas worth trying please share but remember no get-rich-quick schemes. This is serious stuff.

dennis lee

[Clare]

I'm a grown-up with rent and a car and all that and have just gone from being a full-time architect to doing piano at university (second week now, part time).
I've thought a lot about how I'm going to live and aren't sure if the ends are actually going to meet.
I'd love to find out some ways of getting a little money on the side but at the moment I'm just being ruthlessly frugal.
So, I'm going to keep an eye on this thread!

[bitus]

dennis lee,
the stock market idea is very good, but also very risky. It might bring you money, but you cannot rely on it unless you are very god at it, and many times is based on luck. I have friends that are bussiness major and they really know all the details about stock, etc. So, you will be facing this kind of people, that could, at least partialy, see the future of stocks. Think abou it... if it was such a sure thing, then everybody would do it... I was very tempted to go into this field myself.

See this topic related to making money piano-related:
https://www.pianoforum.net/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=misc;action=display;num=1078804348

This might sound awkward, but if you live next to a university (the smaller, the better), you could try to get a job as a security. They are looking for older people to work the night, or partial night shift, and they pay very good, plus you don't have to do anything, but drive a nice car and listen to piano-music  
Clare, if you are an arhitect, try to:
buy and rent complexes... might be tough for few months, but after that it's a piece of cake; or,
buy old houses, invest in refurbishing, and you can sell them at least double-price. (romanians are well know for doing this around the big cities .
I'm not sure this is what you wanted, but i hope it helps.
The Bitus.

[Hmoll]

Whatever you do, you should love it. If you sell Amway, you should absolutely love both the products, and the process of selling. If you want to day trade, you have to love doing the research, assuming the risk, etc. If you don't, then find something else you love. If you love piano, then try to find something related to that.

The stock market is a very difficult way to make money. Your competition is in several tiers. The top tier is traders and arbatrageurs at investment banks with nerves of steel, incredible memories, mathematical minds, who do not mind losing millions at a throw of the dice. Add to the mix that their information is much more up to date, and of more quality than any information you would have access to.
The second tier is traders at institutional investors - pension funds, insurance companies, etc. who are also talented, smart, and have better access to information than you.
A few tiers down from that are day traders, which is what you are talking about. Some of them make money, but most do not.

Another alternative would be to work part time - making sure you have benefits at that job - and the rest of your work could be something you love to do.

Best of luck

[trunks]

. . . One is AMWAY the other is the stock market.

AMWAY. Good if you start young. . . The problem for me is that it requires too much effort and time to start off because of my age and also other responsibilities . . .

Hey Dennis,
Not quite. Only the mediocre - in terms of either products or commission plan - require one to start young. For good network marketing companies literally anybody who is determined to succeed can succeed. Determination and attitude rule in this type of business. By 'good' I mean both the products and the commission plan must be outstanding.

Hmoll is absolutely right that a network marketer must love his products from the inside-out and is proud to share them with anybody around him.

I used to be a secondary school (high school) teacher for 12 years with decent pay but downright negative job satisfaction. I totally lost my health from this loathsome, dreadfully frustrating job and finally made the hard decision to quit.

Now I am a happy network marketer, my health completely restored, and I took up part-time piano tuition and my missed-for-years daily piano practice. I am in complete control of my working hours. I even have free time preparing for a recital. Current target is an all-Liszt. Coming targets would be all-Chopin and all-Beethoven.