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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

#71

Post by roland35 »

robga wrote: post #46
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…

Exactly. When I realised a $4 coffee is actually $14 dollars in todays money if I put it in a boring index tracker and leave it 30 years until I’d need to spend it, that was a massive mental switch in my head. I’m always aware of balancing hedonism/asceticism.

While that is true, I think it's also important to focus on the $100k ticket items and not worry about the $4 things in life. Getting a promotion has impacted my life more than any amount of frugality has. Also investing in low cost indexing is a huge win!

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

#73

Post by roland35 »

WalterBright wrote: post #70
ianai wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That actually assumes quite a high income unless you’re just telling 40 somethings to live very austere.

401k often comes with employer contributions, as well as your contribution is tax deductible. If you do only one, that's it. The IRA and the HSA are also tax deductible. Spend your health care expenses with the HSA, making them cheaper for you. I'm not a tax accountant, and if you want accurate advice consult with a CPA.

The 401k limit doesn't include money your employers match - so if they contribute $10k you can still put in $22.5k (2023)

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

#74

Post by emodendroket »

gigatexal wrote: post #57
emodendroket wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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'm curious why you say this.

I’m not sure I’ll be able to keep up but also worried I might not be able to compete with the young guns and make the kind of money I’ll need to put away so I don’t retire destitute.

I'm only 35 so I'm comparatively young but still older than a lot of my colleagues... I probably do not have the same energy or drive I used to, especially having a young kid at home, but I think in a lot of ways that's compensated for by having more experience to draw on. My hope is that holds up in the future.

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

#75

Post by esel2k »

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…

How do you niche down would be my question here.

I am 40 next year and have missed the opportunity to niche down - I work as Tech Product Manager and enjoy my job but find very little opportunity to really focus on something I truly enjoyed. Either the startup run out of money, the project in the large org got cancelled or there was simply not product role available.

I'd be glad to know if somebody has an advice on how to niche down (technology, domain, personality, branding etc.) Thank you

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

#76

Post by JohnFen »

gigatexal wrote: post #57
emodendroket wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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'm curious why you say this.

I’m not sure I’ll be able to keep up but also worried I might not be able to compete with the young guns and make the kind of money I’ll need to put away so I don’t retire destitute.

There's nothing inherent about getting older that will keep you from being able to keep up with the young guns. It's just a matter of interest, as it is at any age.

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

#77

Post by ianai »

roland35 wrote: post #73
WalterBright wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

401k often comes with employer contributions, as well as your contribution is tax deductible. If you do only one, that's it. The IRA and the HSA are also tax deductible. Spend your health care expenses with the HSA, making them cheaper for you. I'm not a tax accountant, and if you want accurate advice consult with a CPA.

The 401k limit doesn't include money your employers match - so if they contribute $10k you can still put in $22.5k (2023)

Yes and if you’re assuming that’s less than a quarter of the persons income then that’s an income north of 90k. That’s actually far above statistically important incomes even if it doesn’t sound like much to this crowd. Just looking to add some context.

And simply telling such people to go find better paying work is also clearly not going to work for everyone.

Context is important. I suppose I’d rather suggest that people be saving, sure, and doing everything they can to live below their means-knowing full well that’s still a high bar. Things like having roommates, always driving a paid off used car (10-20 years old), not having a car, etc. Manage the ego against hoping on the hedonic treadmill, as others pointed out.

A still better solution would be treating each other better and demanding it from our institutions and representatives. Doesn’t mean everyone should live like a king, but we can do better than the current.

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

#78

Post by WalterBright »

ianai wrote: post #77
roland35 wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The 401k limit doesn't include money your employers match - so if they contribute $10k you can still put in $22.5k (2023)

Yes and if you’re assuming that’s less than a quarter of the persons income then that’s an income north of 90k. That’s actually far above statistically important incomes even if it doesn’t sound like much to this crowd. Just looking to add some context. And simply telling such people to go find better paying work is also clearly not going to work for everyone. Context is important. I suppose I’d rather suggest that p…

America's poor live better than medieval kings.

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

#79

Post by jaybrendansmith »

HardwareLust wrote: post #59
jaybrendansmith wrote: post #58

- The amount of calories you need after 50 drops almost in half. You slowly become allergic to many foods. Regulate your diet better. - Use it or lose it. That means the ability to climb stairs, walk, run, pushups, jumping jacks, but also play an instrument, type, write, do math. Go out of your way to keep doing these things. Get a personal trainer if you can afford it. - Travel as much as you can now. It's more fun…

>You slowly become allergic to many foods. You got a source on that?

Just observing myself and my friends and family. It makes sense, that repeated exposure causes more allergic reactions as my immune system is exposed to more and more allergens, and gets more incoherent.

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

#80

Post by epicureanideal »

KyeRussell wrote: post #22
epicureanideal wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I sure hope I have a big exit sometime before 60 (20 years from now), because the cost of living in the Bay Area is crazy. It would be awful to work as a "well paid" (but most of it goes to living expenses and raising kids) software engineer for many years, and then need to retire in some rural area on social security, with bare minimum quality of life...

Bay Area life is hardly necessary and shouldn’t be taken as a given. You’re making an active decision to take the gamble on earning a lot on paper but being in a super HCOL area. I earn a comfortable amount and am likely going to retire comfortably, though I certainly earn less than you. You’ve decided to take the risk. Own it or change.

I'm not really sure there are other good options. Sure, high cost of living, but high income. Moving would reduce both, and in any case the different in savings would be insignificant compared to inherited assets.
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