The Dreams of a Solo

What does it take to be Rich?

Author's Note:  I have revised this post after realizing that I misinterpreted the data.  The statistics are mainly what I incorrectly summarized in the initial post.  It turns out the 45% of the people surveyed thought that $5 million or more meant rich, not the 78% that I initially stated.  My apologies.  That doesn't change my rant at the end though so I have left that intact.

This sort of topic always gives me rise.  It came up as I checked my feeds in Google Reader this evening and I noticed Robert Frank's post on The Wealth Report at the Wall Street Journal site titled "A Rich Person's Definition of Rich."  Forty-five percent (45%) of the "rich folk" (affluent households with greater thatn $500k in assets) said it takes $5 million to be rich.  Of those folks, twenty-five percent (25%) said that it takes $25 million to be rich.  Still yet, eight percent (8%) said it takes $100 million.  Seriously, did the Spectrem Group interview The Real Housewives of Orange County.  Forty-five percent (45%) of those interviewed said it takes more than $5 million to be rich.  I am not that old, but I still remember when a gallon of gas was under a dollar.  I must have missed the shifting paradigm of the rich.  Maybe I just view things differently than those interviewed or than the world in general.  I may never know unless I graduate to that level of the "rich" at some point in my life.  The truth is I believe it is the latter in that I just view riches differently.  That is the beauty of a subjective term such as rich.  From a monetary or asset perspective in does take a good bit of money to reach the stature of rich.  I have met rich people.  For goodness sake I represent a fair amount of rich people, some with far more and some with far less than $5 million, and I have never compared asset levels set subjective standards to determine if they are rich or not. 

Our world has evolved into the quintessential hedonistic society.  So much so that we would not think twice about using currency for toilet paper if we thought it would impress our dinner guests.  Wait, my apologies we would have to let Pottery Barn first assemble the currency on neat little rolls, stamp their logo on it, and charge us two dollars for every one before we would accept it.  That is capitalism after all.  It is time like this when I think back to a book I read in a seminar course in law school called the Monk and the Riddle by Randy Komisar.  Mr. Komisar talked about, among many other things, his concept of the American work and retirement philosophy.  I am not sure if he coined the phrase, "The Deferred Life Plan", but he used it in his book.  We work and work and work with the promise of wealth accumulation and a glorified retirement as our dangling carrot.  Many never reach the point when you can cash in the deferred life plan.  That saddens me a great deal.

I imagine that some people will interpret this post as being political in nature given the division between Democrats and Republicans on issues of taxes, especially wealth transfer taxes.  I'd like to think that I can rise above the politics to get to my intended point regarding the idea of wealth and the definition of rich.  More than anything else I am publicly venting about the mentality that so many of us here in the U.S. take when it comes to developing our work-life-retirement paradigm.  Personally, I cannot stomach deferring the more enjoyable aspects of life to a fictitious and non-guaranteed future time period commonly referred to as "retirement."  I've railed on this mindset a number of time before.  Would you take actually monetary riches ($5 million or more) for the time lost with your family, watching your kids grow up, and the memories of a life lived not worked to death?  My financial planning friends are not going to like this idea as much as I do, but the reality is I'd rather spend less time working and more of my money on trips or other educational and memory creating activities than on planning for some time in my 60s.  This isn't to say that I advise being cavalier regarding one's retirement planning.  I just think that saving an amount equal to the GDP of a small developing country is a bit much.      

What would I do if another law firm offered me a job right now?

I asked myself this question just a few minutes ago as I was winding down another work day.  This is clearly a hypothetical for me right now, other than a few off the cuff comments I have heard from colleagues currently practicing as solos or looking to leave their current firms.  However, it is not outside the realm of possibility and I am quite confident that many solo attorney have had reason to ask himself or herself the same question.   Initially when I posed the question I didn't immediately yell out an answer, but as I thought about it more the answer was crystal clear.  I'm not going anywhere.  Why would I?  I love practicing law as a solo.  I am able to observe, explore and capitalize on opportunities much more quickly than even 3 or 4 attorney firms in my area.  Work-life balance is a realistic possibility in my world.  Direct client contact is an everyday occurrence.  Earning and income potential is only limited by my desire to work, or more specifically my desire to maintain an acceptable life balance.  The trade-off, or course, is foregoing the "security" of a regular paycheck.  However, after only two months of practice that trade-off is already as close to a non-issue as possible.  I can only imagine how inconsequential that will become as we move forward.  The moral of this story is simple:  If you have a dream and a passion for that dream, do not allow insecurity to stand in your way.   

Coming Back From Vacation

My recent silence on this blog has been by design because my wife and I took our traditional, early August vacation last week.  The idea of taking an actual vacation was a foreign concept to me until I met my wife five years ago.  While I was growing up my family really did not take family vacations.  I am not really sure why, all I know is that we didn't.  Now each year in the end of July or early August my wife's family spends two weeks on the Michigan side of Lake Michigan at a Lutheran bible camp in Arcadia, Michigan.  I'm not sure if I could have possibly used Michigan any more in that last sentence, but it was worth a shot.

The details of the trip are unimportant for the purposes of this blog post, but I did want to share my thoughts and feelings regarding leaving my law firm for 4 business days after being open for only 6 weeks.  The truth is I felt the two conflicting emotions that one would expect of a small business owner about to embark on a first vacation.  I was excited to get the chance to relax and hang out with family.  I was also feeling a bit of stress knowing that my time spent away would mean I would not be making any money.  I am extremely happy to say that the excitement of getting away ending up carrying the day, which made the vacation an absolutely perfect time.  In my mind I analogize these conflicting emotions to the feelings I used to get while playing competitive golf.  By that I mean when I would stand over a five foot putt for birdie or to win the whole in match play I would have two different thoughts randomly bouncing around in my head.  First, if I make it I win the match or I go one under par.  Second, if I miss it I'll extend the match or stay at even par.  Both of the latter results are negative thoughts in case that isn't clear on its face.  I am not saying that it is completely counterproductive to be aware of the negative elements of any action.  What I am saying is that it IS a lot more difficult to realize and attain the positive results if you focus too much on the bad.  As a wise and long-time golf partner used to say, "Its hard to make a putt or hit a golf shot with both hands around your neck."  I couldn't agree more.

So now I am back after a short, yet perfect vacation and I am picking up right where I was before I left.  My experiences lead me to believe that the flexibility of schedule that many seek in going solo is in fact a very real possibility.  I was upfront with my clients, office mates and contacts in regards to my vacation and as a result all the feedback has been great.  More than anything else I have learned again and again that communication is key.  I didn't have a partner looking at my billable time for the last week wondering how I would make up for that lost time.  I didn't have clients calling with numerous fires to put out.  I just left, enjoyed myself, and now I am back.  As the sign in my kitchen says, "Life is simple, it's just not easy."  My  advise take a vacation and leave the office behind for a few days.  It will still be there when you get back.

Another Article Specific to the Gen Y's Work Makeup

I came across this National Law Journal article through Prof. Paul Caron's TaxProf Blog and couldn't help but provide the link and my reaction. The article, Gen Y at Work: The Changing Landscape, was written by Amy McMaster.  In this article Ms. McMaster mentions a couple different things that I have seen for myself in practice.  When I started working for a law firm during my third year of law school, now almost four years ago, I was told to use dictation to prepare letters, briefs, etc.  I immediately found it to be a very inefficient way for me to write anything.  I am not the worlds fastest person on the keyboard but I can certainly hold my own.  Not to mention that fact that dictation is a completely foreign process for someone who has never done it before.  To cut to the chase, I didn't use it, I still don't use it, and I don't plan on using it.

Aside from easing the burdens of administrative assistants, the Gen Y work landscape includes multitasking according the Ms. McMaster.  Again I can agree with her on this point.  I often have music playing or the ballgame on while I work.  I can also be found with an instant messaging screen open to chat with an occassional friend during the work day.  I have no doubt that older generations find these activities to be distractions that inhibit efficiency, but I view them in just the opposite way.  Come to think of it my current firm blocks certain websites such as ESPN.com.  This leaves me with two options while I am at work.  Either I spend the time figuring out a way around the website blocker or I can go to CBS.Sportsline.com or any number of other sites out there to catch the game stats.

I would love to stand on a soap box and declare to the world that the Gen Y work approach is the best thing ever, but I obviously cannot do that since it is not completely true.  As Ms. McMaster's states in her article, each generation is different and we each add something unique to the overall work environment.  No generation is perfect, but from my perspective we definitely can learn things from each other.