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Ask HN: What to avoid in life?
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Re: Ask HN: What to avoid in life?
#12Student loans.
I understand it’s difficult, especially when you’re conditioned to get one since the conversation about college starts when you’re young, but I took one look at it. Saw it was going to be six figure sums, and said no way. Much to the horror of my siblings, parents, friends etc.
Got a job doing help desk and within a year taught myself programming in spare time and landed a well paying job as a developer. I was paid more than the university graduates they were hiring.
I know that university is largely to force people who don’t have enough discipline to self teach AND make social connections, but is that worth hundreds of thousands in debt? No.
There’s going to be a bunch of hate replies to this by people rationalising their debt, who are largely lying to themselves about its worth because they are in too deep, but this thread is about “things to avoid” and my vote is student loans.
Nullius in Verba - think for yourself, make your own decisions
Re: Ask HN: What to avoid in life?
#13Bad managers. A bad manager will make or break your experience at a company. Doesn’t matter how great the project is, or the people you’re working with. Do your due diligence, ask around, and if you get even a hint of shenanigans run for the hills. Similarly if you find yourself with one plan an exit asap. The priority order when you find a team is: 1- manager, 2- team and 3- how closely the project as is aligns with…
To take this a step further, you really want to find great managers and avoid average ones. Managers who take the time to get to know you, know what motivates you, run teams that are collaborative, shield you from nonsense but provide visibility for you, believe in work/life balance, are fair and challenge you and your team.
Without this you may do okay but you won’t grow as quickly as you might otherwise and may find that you are spinning in place.
Re: Ask HN: What to avoid in life?
#14- Avoid borrowing money, be it in the form of credit cards or even worse, mortgage. I know this is not something you want to hear if you are on a mortgage deal already. But borrowing can limit your freedom in ways that are not immediately obvious. You trade your freedom for illusory prosperity. That said, a business loan for your business may not be such a bad idea. - If your plan is to become an entrepreneur, start…
Not borrowing money is bad advice. The best way to become rich is leveraged investment. A mortgage is simply a 5X leveraged investment in real estate. With interest rates around 3% on a 30-year fixed, tax deductible, you’re actually winding up borrowing at below inflation. Then you’re building principal too, yours and not your landlords. I wish I’d realized this sooner.
When you’re young you could even consider borrowing money to invest in the stock markets. Imagine if you’d borrowed $100K in 2010 and dropped it all into the S&P. You’d have $333K right now. If you’d done it in 1995 you’d have $650K. When you’re young it matters far less if you get wiped out, you’ve got years to recover.
Re: Ask HN: What to avoid in life?
#15Bad managers. A bad manager will make or break your experience at a company. Doesn’t matter how great the project is, or the people you’re working with. Do your due diligence, ask around, and if you get even a hint of shenanigans run for the hills. Similarly if you find yourself with one plan an exit asap. The priority order when you find a team is: 1- manager, 2- team and 3- how closely the project as is aligns with…
This.
There is no way around it more often than not. Even worse if they have befriended a mutual higher-up in which you both either now or used to report to.
Re: Ask HN: What to avoid in life?
#16Alcohol
Re: Ask HN: What to avoid in life?
#17People or programs that claim they can teach you complex things quickly, easily, or painlessly. Learning hard things worth knowing is painful and excruciating. People who try to avoid that end up not learning.*
*thats not to say there aren’t more effective ways to learn hard things. But that’s just optimizing in return per minute of pain :)
Re: Ask HN: What to avoid in life?
#18Addictive drugs
Ya I'm currently ready Beautiful Boy. The movie was amazing. The book is pretty different in my opinion but also very good. Anyway, it's all about the toll that drugs, and specifically meth, takes on their family's lives. Really heartbreaking and touching at the same time.
Re: Ask HN: What to avoid in life?
#19Cults. Learn to see what they are early on, learn what groups are considered to be cults, read Lifton's "Thought Reform and the Ideology of Totalism" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thought_Reform_and_the_Psychol...), stay away.
Re: Ask HN: What to avoid in life?
#20- Avoid borrowing money, be it in the form of credit cards or even worse, mortgage. I know this is not something you want to hear if you are on a mortgage deal already. But borrowing can limit your freedom in ways that are not immediately obvious. You trade your freedom for illusory prosperity. That said, a business loan for your business may not be such a bad idea. - If your plan is to become an entrepreneur, start…
Not borrowing money is bad advice. The best way to become rich is leveraged investment. A mortgage is simply a 5X leveraged investment in real estate. With interest rates around 3% on a 30-year fixed, tax deductible, you’re actually winding up borrowing at below inflation. Then you’re building principal too, yours and not your landlords. I wish I’d realized this sooner. When you’re young you could even consider borro…
Are you advising people to take out a loan and dump it in the stock market?