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Ask HN: Did you get "never have to work again rich" through software?

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Re: Ask HN: Did you get "never have to work again rich" through software?

#141

Post by mcdougle »

STRML wrote: post #118
rcvassallo wrote: post #102

> "Never have to work again rich" I'm almost there. At this point, I just resigned my full-time job and have enough cash on hand to maintain my current lifestyle for the next 10+ years before even thinking about finding a new job or withdrawing funds from my retirement accounts. > How did you do it? I worked in IT at a community bank and built a reputation for software development. After ~5 years there, I started a c…

How did you get started in real estate? In a good year, it is sometimes difficult to choose what to do with extra money - and the usual 0.05-0.10% the banks offer certainly isn't cutting it.

If you're interested in real estate, I'd suggest checking out biggerpockets.com

I'm hoping to do something similar to the guy you responded to -- launch a side-business, automate it well enough, and reinvest the proceeds into real estate and other cashflowing assets. I've learned a lot from the forums, blog posts, and podcasts on BiggerPockets.

Re: Ask HN: Did you get "never have to work again rich" through software?

#142

Post by wellboy »

gregschlom wrote: post #12

Yes > How did you do it? By not wanting to own anything, living in cheap countries, and finding things that I absolutely love doing that also happen to make some money :) > What did it feel like when you first realised it was going to be true that you would never have to work again if you didn't want to? The realization happened a couple of weeks ago and it was incredible. Seriously. It felt like pure, absolute freed…

This is an awesome lifestyle, however, it's not a lifestyle where you would "never have to work again" as it "only" allows you to travel. However, if at any point in time you want to do something outside of travel, you couldn't do it such as starting a family/sending your kids to college/anything that would require financial independence.

Re: Ask HN: Did you get "never have to work again rich" through software?

#143

Post by lisper »

hashtag wrote: post #110
lisper wrote: post #98

> How did you do it? I got extremely lucky. I got dragged kicking and screaming into being an early hire at Google. > What did it feel like when you first realised it was going to be true that you would never have to work again if you didn't want to? Kind of surreal. On the day of the IPO, one minute I was still a working stiff, and the next minute I was suddenly looking at an account with my name on it with more dig…

I'm curious on the back story of how you got dragged into working for Google

I initially turned down their offer (I had a cushy gig at JPL) but Urs Hoelzle just kept pushing me to change my mind, so finally I said, OK, I'll do it for a year. How bad could it be? (Turns out it was pretty bad, but it worked out OK :-)

Re: Ask HN: Did you get "never have to work again rich" through software?

#144

Post by lisper »

hashtag wrote: post #135
jyu wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He used to keep a blog on what it's like to work at Google from 2005-2007. In lieu of his response, it might suffice. The archive is available below: http://blog.rongarret.info/2009/12/xooglers-rises-from-ashes... http://www.flownet.com/ron/xooglers.html

Thanks. I wish there was a way to remove the comments and just straight read the story

Try searching for the string "posted by"

Re: Ask HN: Did you get "never have to work again rich" through software?

#145

Post by govindkabra31 »

haptiK wrote: post #52
diego wrote: post #18

Yes. I sold IndexTank to LinkedIn among other things. It was a gradual process for me that started with the first dot-com boom. It wasn't as big of a deal as I thought it would be. I was 41. Cashing out stock from public companies I've been at, selling consulting services before building IndexTank, selling IndexTank. I don't think there is such a thing as overall happiness. I do live in the present more than I used t…

Hi Diego, Could you elaborate more on the cashing out of stock from public companies point? You sold IndexTank for 1.6 million dollars. I don't really consider that "never work again rich" in this day in age. Were the sales of your stock significant?

people pointed out that it was probably sold for much higher amount.

even so, $1.6million is 'never work again rich'-- at modest 10% return, with capital gains taxes, you would be making enough to pay your family's expenses.

Re: Ask HN: Did you get "never have to work again rich" through software?

#146

Post by arthurpdent »

Yes, I made enough money to not work, from a software startup, at age 28. Of course this is wonderful. Does it automatically = happiness? No.

When I was a kid, my grandfather told me he "would rather be poor than be rich" and meant it literally. He was a Christian missionary overseas for 10 years. He was sure God would provide; therefore he had no worries about lack of money. And, turned out he was right: in his retirement he had a comfortable (small) house in a nice little town, etc. He had done something with his life that was important to him, and raised a nice, ethical family too.

At the time, I thought my grandfather was being stupid: if you didn't like being rich, you could just give everything away, right? But he was talking about how you can get trapped by your money and/or corrupted by the pursuit of it. These are real dangers. (You can screw up your kids with too much money, too. I would honestly rather be poor, than be rich, the money having screwed up my kids. But, then it would be too late!)

If you can make a decent living & do something you find rewarding, you're winning. To do something I hate (for more than a limited time), or screw up my kids, just to drive a Tesla? (I actually drive a Tesla.) Not worth it.

I initially did not work & traveled for 2 years; eventually got boring. Now I am doing another startup. I love (much of) it. It's challenging for sure, and maybe you get to "make a dent in the universe". This is a special time in history for people with hacking talent.

Re: Ask HN: Did you get "never have to work again rich" through software?

#147

Post by jameshk »

dang wrote: post #120
iretired wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[Thanks, japhyr, for pointing that out although we obviously disagree] Actually, I've already figured that out. This guy is going to be my friend for the rest of my life even though I've only known him for a year. Several times it's happened that we both make excuses to ditch our respective girlfriends to just hang out alone together, drink wine and talk about life. Women have almost no intellectual curiosity. It is…

> Women have almost no intellectual curiosity. It is just how they are wired. If you want to have great conversations about anything meaningful, you must find a man. It makes me burn with shame to see such horseshit on Hacker News. This account is banned as a troll. Do not post anything like this again, and kindly keep the douchey Maxim-magazine pastiche off this site as well.

dang strikes again!

Re: Ask HN: Did you get "never have to work again rich" through software?

#148

Post by throwaway1212 »

iretired wrote: post #34

I feel obliged to comment, although not with my normal HN username. I’m 41. I retired two years ago at the age of 39. I spent 18 years working in Silicon Valley at four different companies of various sizes. At 29 I was promoted to a first-level manager. Two of the companies I worked for were successful while I was there, although not spectacularly so. Mostly I minimized my costs. For the last five years of my career,…

Thank you for posting this. As an a guy who's about to turn 27, it's very interesting and useful to hear about possible life paths.

Is there a way to contact you via message that you could share (perhaps a throwaway email)? I'd like to ask a few follow up advice questions that may not be appropriate to put publicly.

Re: Ask HN: Did you get "never have to work again rich" through software?

#149

Post by 001sky »

dqmdm2 wrote: post #36
gregschlom wrote: post #12

Yes > How did you do it? By not wanting to own anything, living in cheap countries, and finding things that I absolutely love doing that also happen to make some money :) > What did it feel like when you first realised it was going to be true that you would never have to work again if you didn't want to? The realization happened a couple of weeks ago and it was incredible. Seriously. It felt like pure, absolute freed…

So you are not "never have to work again rich" through software? If you have to work on small projects to sustain your lifestyle, that is working. Work is work even if you like it. But thanks for sharing.

This is not quite on point. But thanks for sharing.

Re: Ask HN: Did you get "never have to work again rich" through software?

#150

Post by graeme »

rokhayakebe wrote: post #125
graeme wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Women have almost no intellectual curiosity. It is just how they are wired. If you want to have great conversations about anything meaningful, you must find a man. This sounds like selection bias. From what you wrote, it sounds like two things are true of the women you meet. 1. You're selecting them based on looks 2. Your intention is, in most cases, to sleep with them I'm not saying that no attractive women are int…

I'm not saying that no attractive women are intelligent, of course. What I am saying is that if you are selecting based on looks (and interest in clubs) then you're less likely to find intelligence. I know you mean well, but somehow your second sentence contradicts your first statement.

I wasn't clear. I couldn't figure out how to express my full point concisely, so I left it short and potentially misleading. I had hoped the meaning was implied, but I see now it wasn't. Thanks for pointing that out – I definitely didn't mean to say attractive women are less intelligent!

When I said "less likely" I meant "less likely than if you were looking for intelligence specifically".

So maybe, odds of intelligence when looking for it = 25% Odds of intelligence in general population = 10% Odds of intelligence when searching by attractiveness = 10%

I didn't mean attractive women are less intelligent. I meant that by searching for attraction he's less likely to find intelligence than if he were searching specifically for intelligence.

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