In this little “Ask Us” segment we typically field the standard, “I’m buying a house, I need your help” type question, but this one that came across our email recently is quite extraordinary, if not bordering on spam, but somehow, we think it’s legit:
Good afternoon,
I know you are probably busy but it would be nice to receive a message back in regards to my question.
I am an Infantry soldier from the San Francisco Bay Area currently deployed. I am looking at going back to active duty and working on college when I return from this combat deployment.
I have always been a hard worker and believe strongly in being paid for my hard work. My question for you is what types of people purchase these units and other units like them. More or less how do they generally go about assuming such wealth where they can afford prices like these. I am not appalled or discouraged just curious as to where they are coming from so that one day I might be able to provide for my family in such a similar manner.
Thank you in advance for your time and assistance.
When you say “deployed”…care to elaborate a little on where you might be? Wherever you are, Hi to your fellow soldiers from all of us here. Happy Holidays to you as well.
(This all assumes your email is legitimate, and we didn’t just get spammed. [See Update Below.]
We aren’t that busy, and we’ll gladly send a message back, but we thought we could do better and post it, so maybe, just maybe, some other readers can shed some light.
Some people you might have heard of that take residence at the St. Regis: Former Vice President of the United States, Al Gore; and Former Mayor of San Francisco, Willie Brown. Our post on the buyer of one of the penthouses at Millennium Tower might help shed some light as well. Of course, these buyers are a bit extraordinary, and there are also savvy business men and women, day traders, bankers, venture capitalists, real estate developers, and the like that buy these homes as well, so don’t go thinking you need to get into politics to buy a home at the St. Regis or any other high rise luxury condominium. ;-)
[Update: The reader is legit, and had this to say in response, “Yes, I am forward deployed to a combat zone, due to the nature of the situation I can not give too much information tho. When the weather clears, hopefully soon, and we have increased bandwidth I look forward to finishing the story of Tom Perkins.”
Okay then, when the weather clears and you need some comic relief, have a look at this too. Here’s another one. Make sure to get to 2:00, so as not to miss Osama bin Manicure, and 2:39 for extra laughs. Good luck, and Happy Holidays!]
Dear Deployed,
Read the book “Outliers” by Malcolm Gladwell.
I’ll refer to myself as Deployed being appointed by Ryan. I have read one of Malcolm Gladwells books, Blink. It was a requirement in my Honors English class at Skyline College and I appreciated the literature. I will see if they have it at the PX but unfortunately I highly doubt it as their selection is highly limited.
Why do you suggest this book?
Army Infantry Out!
He goes through many aspects of how certain people achieved their extreme wealth. I believe that it applies to the non extreme wealth to a certain degree. To give a quick and dirty:
1. Ovary lottery (be born into an advantaged situation)
2. Opportunity (luck and timing)
3. Hard work
This book definitely inspired me to work harder as that is what we have control over.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outliers_%28book%29
I was just going through some of my mail from my deployment and came across this. I just wanted to give all of you an update and let you know that my entire unit returned successfully from our combat mission without losing anyone. Thank you for your suggestion on reading ” Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell “, I will be going to the library tomorrow to request it.
If anyone else has some advice and guidance for a hard working combat veteran looking to be successful for myself and my new family in this economy I am all ears… fair thee well!