i have a real big stickingpoint when it comes to talking about my job, which you obviuosly get asked about quite often & early.

i am quite young (24) and more than successful in business, started my own business, which runs more than perfect. so i travel around the world a lot and cant complain about money anymore, think that i'll get enough for the rest of my life.

so there are two situations that are kinda hard for me, the first time when an HB asks about my job i normally give here some cocky funny joke line, but the second time should be an honest answer (at least thats what most people told me and thats what i read & heard)

so situation 1, she's a total stranger to me:
what do i tell her?

situation 2 is meeting someone from maybe the same hometown or an old classmate, to who i didnt talk for about 5 years
normally the word spreads around quite fast and i often get directly asked something like:
"hey i heard you do xyz for a living?"
and normally when they asked this, i expect them to know that i got some money
some harder example would be some direct line from her
"hey heard you already saw the whole world and are a selfmade millionair?"

how do i answers those questions?
basically i dont want to lie, i want to dhv, but not to brag

Drop something that hints at a DHV and then change the subject. Like you could say, "Oh I have my own business. But enough about that, what I want to know is how come you're so short?" Or "I started my own business doing X a few years ago. But enough about that.." I think the key here is to give her just enough to make her wonder about your business and whether or not it makes good money. If she knows anything about entrepreneurship then she probably knows that most businesses fail in the first year, so if you say something like "I've had my own business for four years" then she will realize you're a successful business man without it sounding like you're bragging about your success. Changing the subject quickly will make it seem like you aren't trying to brag too.

Edit: oh yeah, if she specifically asks if you are a millionaire, disqualify her with something like "yeah, too bad for you though because I don't date gold diggers." Well, try to make it funnier than that though.

So here's a question: Why don't you want to lie to them? You don't even have to lie, just tell an incomplete truth. Just tell them something normal, like you're an office worker or manager. That way, you know and they know that they didn't just want you for your money.

Afterwards, if things go well, you can tell them the complete truth, and that would certainly help your cause a great deal at that point ("Oh my god I've been dating a millionaire and I didn't even know it"). If they accuse you of lying, you can just say "Hey, a CEO is an office worker, I didn't lie", which is also true.

I used to have a somewhat similar situation: In my home town, everybody knew me because of some sports medals I had won. (That's probably part of why I became so bad at approaching & meeting girls: I got used to just riding the fame, used to having girls I didn't know get excited when they saw me, which didn't come with me when I left town.) I used to never tell girls (or even guys for that matter) about my international competitions, until after they knew me pretty well, at which point they would think I'm so awesome for being so down-to-earth and not going around bragging about it. (I kind of blew it with you guys though, I'm sorry! But I hope you understand I was trying to make a point here.)

Basically, I'm saying that the moment that they find out, afterwards, is a huge DHV for you, and the longer you wait, the bigger. And at the end of the day, you shouldn't need to play a card like fame or money in order to attract people you've just met.

By the way, if you don't mind me asking, would you be willing to say what sort of business you started? I'm just curious, as I'm saving up to start my own business as well.

Hor:

I am in the same boat...and do what Fireball suggested; "not the whole truth."

I know kind of AFC, but I am modest. I got involved with a start-up IT business while in college, and its blown up...big. I am an owner and VP of Operations. Its not that I am not proud of all my hard work paying off, but its weird to have that, at 24.

So for me, when the job situation comes up, I play it by ear. If I feel that it will be a solid DHV, I will start with how it was my passion, did it in college, took risks, they paid off big, etc. If I am not feeling it, I will just say I work in operations, and change the subject to something else.