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Ask HN: What 60 folks can give career and general life advice for 40 folks

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Re: Ask HN: What 60 folks can give career and general life advice for 40 folks

#31

Post by chalcolithic »

jowdones wrote: post #27
WalterBright wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All my investments are in stocks. People tell me "what if the stock market goes to zero?" Well, then I'd lose everything. But consider this - if the stock market goes to zero, so does the bond market, so does the real estate market, so do hog futures, your NFTs, your collector car, etc. The only thing that goes up is ammunition. So sure, it could happen, but I'm not going to diversify, because that won't work, either…

Nah, you're wrong. Japan's stock market dropped 90%. For 15 years straight, and never recovered above 80% of it's peak. US is only "special" until it isn't. This didn't mean society collapsed and they started living in a Mad Max universe as people defending "stocks can't go to zero" argue. Stocks industry is just a massive gambling machine. It can and will wipe out all your capital in completely unpredictable ways. B…

It's very interesting, thank you. Retrospectively what alternatives to the stock market (aside from stock markets outside the country) would be a good investment in just-before-the-crash Japan?

Re: Ask HN: What 60 folks can give career and general life advice for 40 folks

#32

Post by ianai »

dmoo wrote: post #26
emodendroket wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, tomorrow is Mother's Day, anyway.

Cool, did not know that as I am in Ireland and we have different dates but as a general piece of advice for those in their 40’s I would recommend making the effort to keep in touch with your parents. Equally if you have teenagers, remember this phase will pass so try and stay connected with them because pretty much the only thing that matters are the small few people you really care about.

Unless those parents are harmful or abusive. But yes, identify those who care for you and care for them back. Such people are very, truly rare.

Re: Ask HN: What 60 folks can give career and general life advice for 40 folks

#34

Post by haspok »

gigatexal wrote: post #8
PreInternet01 wrote: post #6

Not quite in my 60s just yet, but close. Anyway: Work: find your niche. Accept that you're not going to be a hotshot coder/consultant/whatever forever. However, outside of 'fashionable tech' there is an entire world where you can make a comfortable living and nobody cares about your age. That doesn't mean you can stop learning: remaining up-to-date on relevant skills is important, but 'relevant' does a lot of heavy l…

This should probably be enshrined on tablets somewhere. I too am worried about either moving into management or starting my own company or something else because there’s no way I’m going to be a worthwhile IC into my 50s. I need to do something more.

Some people do like coding until retirement and are / were quite happy about it. (Recommended reading is thecodist.com - who recently started blogging again!)

Re: Ask HN: What 60 folks can give career and general life advice for 40 folks

#35

Post by sgillen »

ksaj wrote: post #20
WalterBright wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All my investments are in stocks. People tell me "what if the stock market goes to zero?" Well, then I'd lose everything. But consider this - if the stock market goes to zero, so does the bond market, so does the real estate market, so do hog futures, your NFTs, your collector car, etc. The only thing that goes up is ammunition. So sure, it could happen, but I'm not going to diversify, because that won't work, either…

This is a good way to frame it. The stock market going to zero means everybody has stopped valuing companies, and presumably the companies themselves are not creating value anyone can buy into. That puts us back to pre-industrial planet. Is that going to happen in this generation? I wouldn't worry too much about the stock market disappearing and taking all your money with it then. Diversifying mainly means not puttin…

People definitely use the word “diversify” to include things like real estate or gold, not just stocks in different industries.

Re: Ask HN: What 60 folks can give career and general life advice for 40 folks

#36

Post by dmarchand90 »

jowdones wrote: post #27
WalterBright wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All my investments are in stocks. People tell me "what if the stock market goes to zero?" Well, then I'd lose everything. But consider this - if the stock market goes to zero, so does the bond market, so does the real estate market, so do hog futures, your NFTs, your collector car, etc. The only thing that goes up is ammunition. So sure, it could happen, but I'm not going to diversify, because that won't work, either…

Nah, you're wrong. Japan's stock market dropped 90%. For 15 years straight, and never recovered above 80% of it's peak. US is only "special" until it isn't. This didn't mean society collapsed and they started living in a Mad Max universe as people defending "stocks can't go to zero" argue. Stocks industry is just a massive gambling machine. It can and will wipe out all your capital in completely unpredictable ways. B…

Japan is a bit tricky to analyze because they tend to have higher dividends than US stocks. And yes even though their total returns have been bad the point is you wouldn't lose all your savings. (Though you certainly would have been better putting your money elsewhere)

Re: Ask HN: What 60 folks can give career and general life advice for 40 folks

#37

Post by eliasmacpherson »

Overpower0416 wrote: post #25
GianFabien wrote: post #9

For me the biggest factor has been understanding how the hedonistic trap limited my options. It works like this: you start a new job with a nice big bump in salary. You buy a new car, go to fancier restaurants, take dates to "in places", move into a nicer apartment. With each increment of income, expenses increase. Pretty soon you are trapped in an awful job but the pay is too good and you have no savings. Getting of…

I am 27 and I feel like I am at that stage of my life. Only recently I started becoming self aware of my hedonism way of living. I get that high from getting the next shiny thing and after a week, I start seeking the next material thing I want to get. I feel lost and unfulfilled

A typo has misled you, hedonism and the hedonic treadmill are separate concepts: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hedonic_treadmill

Re: Ask HN: What 60 folks can give career and general life advice for 40 folks

#39

Post by Temporary_31337 »

Overpower0416 wrote: post #25
GianFabien wrote: post #9

For me the biggest factor has been understanding how the hedonistic trap limited my options. It works like this: you start a new job with a nice big bump in salary. You buy a new car, go to fancier restaurants, take dates to "in places", move into a nicer apartment. With each increment of income, expenses increase. Pretty soon you are trapped in an awful job but the pay is too good and you have no savings. Getting of…

I am 27 and I feel like I am at that stage of my life. Only recently I started becoming self aware of my hedonism way of living. I get that high from getting the next shiny thing and after a week, I start seeking the next material thing I want to get. I feel lost and unfulfilled

Another way to look at it is how much money can you set aside for any situation. Be it SV but living in a tiny apartment or elsewhere, make sure to save money no matter what so you can always have the freedom to move out of a bad situation

Re: Ask HN: What 60 folks can give career and general life advice for 40 folks

#40

Post by anonyfox »

WalterBright wrote: post #12
p-e-w wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Assuming that there will be any actual money in those accounts by the time you get to retire is incredibly optimistic. With the way things are developing, everything being wiped out by some event in the next 20 years seems far more likely. The list of potential causes is long: Bank and government failures, demographic collapse, AI, climate change, war, inflation. Or, some future government might simply decide that th…

All my investments are in stocks. People tell me "what if the stock market goes to zero?" Well, then I'd lose everything. But consider this - if the stock market goes to zero, so does the bond market, so does the real estate market, so do hog futures, your NFTs, your collector car, etc. The only thing that goes up is ammunition. So sure, it could happen, but I'm not going to diversify, because that won't work, either…

If the stock market goes to _zero_, your money won’t be a problem worth thinking about. This would probably mean anarchy and other pressing issues to deal with
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