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Poll: Professionally, my outlook for the coming year is generally:
Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
Christopher Schröder
Christopher Schröder
United Kingdom
Member (2011)
Swedish to English
+ ...
Risk Jan 2, 2021

Jean Dimitriadis wrote:

After seeing how a few smart investment decisions have already brought enough profits to match my yearly translation revenue which has remained stable for the first time (it had been increasing with every passing year until then), I am not sure I want to step up my translation work in 2021 if I can double my income with such minimal effort.

In other words, discovering first hand how money can work for you and not just the other way around is quite a sobering experience...

I wish it to everyone.


I had a horse come in at 100-1 last week so I’m betting the house on Wishful Thinking in the 2.30 at Kempton today...

Well done and good luck, Jean, but do be careful. It’s impossible for the average investor to beat the market, and pretty hard for the good ones too, and this has been an extraordinary year.

(You do come across as the kind of person who would know that already, but I make a living from writing about how the pros nearly always make a complete mess of predicting the future* so I feel a moral obligation to point it out just in case.)

*Hello, beloved client, I didn’t mean you. Just all the others...


Liena Vijupe
P.L.F. Persio
Mervyn Henderson (X)
Jean Dimitriadis
 
Tom in London
Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 20:46
Member (2008)
Italian to English
Smarty pants Jan 2, 2021

Unlike Jean I have no smart investment decisions to boast about. And I'm not greedy. But I manage.

[Edited at 2021-01-02 11:35 GMT]


neilmac
 
Jean Dimitriadis
Jean Dimitriadis  Identity Verified
English to French
+ ...
HODL your horses Jan 2, 2021

Thanks for the cautionary advice, Chris!

If I had invested in the market (stocks and bonds), I would have indeed sought to be no more than your “average” investor, meaning adopting a long-term “buy and hold” strategy for index funds in true boglehead fashion. You can’t beat the market. You can’t beat the average. Just follow it… While avoiding active management costs and unnecessary cuts, middlemen, and the like.

My take has been a little different, but st
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Thanks for the cautionary advice, Chris!

If I had invested in the market (stocks and bonds), I would have indeed sought to be no more than your “average” investor, meaning adopting a long-term “buy and hold” strategy for index funds in true boglehead fashion. You can’t beat the market. You can’t beat the average. Just follow it… While avoiding active management costs and unnecessary cuts, middlemen, and the like.

My take has been a little different, but still mostly related to “buy and hold.” But in the crypto world, they call it HODL.

Of course, I invest (not bet) no more than what I can afford to lose, while conducting my due diligence, or DYOR to use crypto parlance (DYOR = Do Your Own Research).

I just figured that, given the opportunity, I’d rather FIRE sooner than later (FIRE = Financial Independence, Retire Early)…

sticker

PS: I don’t translate this kind of stuff. I’ve just used my translator superpowers (conducting relevant documentary research, absorbing new information and having a strong business acumen [hahaha, the last one is the odd one out, not typical to the average biz-clueless non-specialist, right?]) to brush up my financial education

PS2: Apologies if my post comes across as boastful. I am just enthusiastically humbled and sobered up, as I said before.

Anyway, I think I know why we don't learn that "you can make money work for you" at school. Occasionally, such mindset can even be labelled as "greedy".

Now, what’s the name for the haunting fear that someone somewhere is making a good buck?

[Edited at 2021-01-02 13:18 GMT]
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Christopher Schröder
P.L.F. Persio
Liena Vijupe
 
Christopher Schröder
Christopher Schröder
United Kingdom
Member (2011)
Swedish to English
+ ...
Cryptic Jan 2, 2021

Interesting stuff, Jean.

Too bad Dizzy isn't around to goggle at your impressive biz skills!

I wonder if this crypto lark would be any good for people in Brazil?


Jean Dimitriadis
P.L.F. Persio
 
Jean Dimitriadis
Jean Dimitriadis  Identity Verified
English to French
+ ...
Biz y'all Jan 2, 2021

Happy you catched the nod to Dizzy! Biz and all. I was joking, of course about my skills. It is just a breakthrough the average Joe can make.

It could definitely help in Brazil and anywhere else, but there is a catch(22). One would first have to make enough out of translation to cover their everyday needs and then some.

Without investing (hard earned) money, you can't go anywhere. After all, multiplication and compounding are only applicable to what you can chip in...... See more
Happy you catched the nod to Dizzy! Biz and all. I was joking, of course about my skills. It is just a breakthrough the average Joe can make.

It could definitely help in Brazil and anywhere else, but there is a catch(22). One would first have to make enough out of translation to cover their everyday needs and then some.

Without investing (hard earned) money, you can't go anywhere. After all, multiplication and compounding are only applicable to what you can chip in...

Catch-22: you need money to make money. (In that line of business)

[Edited at 2021-01-02 15:49 GMT]
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Christopher Schröder
Antoine Wicquart
P.L.F. Persio
 
Antoine Wicquart
Antoine Wicquart  Identity Verified
Estonia
Local time: 22:46
German to French
+ ...
Neutral to negative Jan 3, 2021

Neutral to negative for now, but I still hope that it will improve in the next weeks/months.

As a newcomer, I am still struggling to get my first orders as I refuse to work for (very) low prices. I am perservering though - Even if I am still volunteering most of the time and despite my difficulties. I enjoy the new life habits I adopted since I got started as a self-employed translator and I want to keep doing this and to keep trying to do a living out of it.

But I wil
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Neutral to negative for now, but I still hope that it will improve in the next weeks/months.

As a newcomer, I am still struggling to get my first orders as I refuse to work for (very) low prices. I am perservering though - Even if I am still volunteering most of the time and despite my difficulties. I enjoy the new life habits I adopted since I got started as a self-employed translator and I want to keep doing this and to keep trying to do a living out of it.

But I will definitely have to find a job this month to fill the fridge. Especially since my laptop decided to pass away the 1st of January and since my backup laptop is a bit too old to support some softwares.
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P.L.F. Persio
Andreas Giglberger
Josephine Cassar
 
Tom in London
Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 20:46
Member (2008)
Italian to English
Bah Jan 3, 2021

Retirement is for people who have spent their life working at things they didn't want to do.

Vi Pukite
Matthias Brombach
Beatriz Ramírez de Haro
Paul van Zijll
Antoine Wicquart
Becca Resnik
Agneta Pallinder
 
Gibril Koroma
Gibril Koroma  Identity Verified
Canada
Local time: 16:46
French to English
+ ...
Positive Jan 3, 2021

This year is going to be very positive for me because I have a very positive view of life.

Tom in London
Beatriz Ramírez de Haro
Mervyn Henderson (X)
Aline Amorim
 
Yolande Hivart
Yolande Hivart
Austria
Local time: 21:46
Member (2016)
German to French
Positive Jan 3, 2021

From the few prospects I had in the last days of the past year, this is going to be a very good year for me or at least better than the past two years; I took a lot of time aside to learn and improve and I see people noticing it and asking for more.

Kaisa I
 
Mario Freitas
Mario Freitas  Identity Verified
Brazil
Local time: 17:46
Member (2014)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
Positive Jan 4, 2021

It worked very well last year, surprisingly.
Negative thoughs and expectations will only lead to negative results. Positive ones MAY lead to positive results, but even if they don't, the outcomes will be a lot lighter if you keep positive thinking.


Dan Lucas
Felipe Tomasi
Becca Resnik
Sabrina Bruna
Gibril Koroma
Aline Amorim
 
Felipe Tomasi
Felipe Tomasi  Identity Verified
Brazil
Local time: 17:46
Member
English to Portuguese
+ ...
Positive Jan 5, 2021

It is a matter of health. Tons of studies showing that positive thinking and a good mood reduce stress and improve health. And it is for free. Why not?

Gibril Koroma
Aline Amorim
 
Joao Correia
Joao Correia  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 20:46
English to Portuguese
+ ...
Miserable Jan 8, 2021

Not sure how 2020 went by to most of you, all I can say is that in 5 months I barely made 75 euros, it was that good, so much so that I will not be renewing this year's Proz.com annuity, it makes no sense to pay a full year and work 4 or 5 months out of 12 if that many. Meanwhile, Proz.com's silence on the matter is what I expected, which is another reason to rethink paying a subscription here.

Not everything was related to Covid-19 (my pairs and culture don't help to begin with),
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Not sure how 2020 went by to most of you, all I can say is that in 5 months I barely made 75 euros, it was that good, so much so that I will not be renewing this year's Proz.com annuity, it makes no sense to pay a full year and work 4 or 5 months out of 12 if that many. Meanwhile, Proz.com's silence on the matter is what I expected, which is another reason to rethink paying a subscription here.

Not everything was related to Covid-19 (my pairs and culture don't help to begin with), but the pandemic did put a halt to business. I expect 2021 to be miserable in professional terms and have even considered changing careers due to all three issues. It's still too early to ascertain, but toxic positivity or a happy-go-lucky stand in life are really not my way of doing things. In any case, have a great year and I hope all goes according to your plans.
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Dan Lucas
Dan Lucas  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 20:46
Member (2014)
Japanese to English
I agree, perhaps a change is in order Jan 8, 2021

Joao Correia wrote:
I expect 2021 to be miserable in professional terms and have even considered changing careers due to all three issues.

If you only earned 75 euro in five months then either you are living off your savings, or you are being supported by somebody else, or you already have another source of professional income. Which is fine. Better to do any work than go hungry, right?

If you cannot make it in translation with your current skill set and client base, there is no shame in doing a side job while you reconsider your approach, or in changing careers completely. If I needed money to feed myself and my family I'd cheerfully stack shelves at my local supermarket while I regrouped and worked out a plan for moving forward.

(Admittedly my bar for "acceptable work" may be rather low, as for three consecutive summers as a teenager I cleaned geriatric wards at my local general hospital, and these included a lot of time spent in toilets used by patients who were, in many cases, incontinent. After that, every job seemed like an upgrade.)

Regards,
Dan


P.L.F. Persio
Beatriz Ramírez de Haro
 
Veronica Montserrat
Veronica Montserrat
France
Local time: 21:46
Member (2020)
English to French
+ ...
Positive Jan 8, 2021

2020 was great and 2021 started well too. And generally speaking I tend to have a positive outlook on life. I'm always hoping for the best and doing everything in my power to make it happen.

Dan Lucas
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Gibril Koroma
Aline Amorim
 
maria jose doiny
maria jose doiny
Argentina
Local time: 17:46
English to Spanish
+ ...
Hopefully better (fingers crossed) than last year Jan 8, 2021

Though diversification is always necessary as a freelance translator, building my own vegetable garden and growing and trying to sell native plants this past year felt a little too far from what´s been my main line of business for the last fifteen years – translating, proofreading and transcribing. And I must say the Covid-dominated 2020 has not been that an extraordinary year, in terms of negative financial balances, compared with Covid-free past couple of years.

 
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Poll: Professionally, my outlook for the coming year is generally:






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