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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?

#71

Post by gregschlom »

ar7hur wrote: post #29
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…

I'm absolutely fine with your lifestyle and understand your happiness, but you have to realize that the 3 assumptions it's based on, that you have to be "young, healthy, and single", are all highly mutable.

Which is why I'm doing this now that I can :)

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

#72

Post by gregschlom »

zerooneinfinity wrote: post #27
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…

How much savings did you have when you started this.

I'd rather not share publicly (maybe it's just my european mindset, I know americans are supposed to be more open about this) but feel free to email me if you want

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

#73

Post by pessimizer »

seren wrote: post #19
throwaway481550 wrote: post #15

I don't fall into the "never have to work again" category, but I can speak from some experience. I am 24, and the company I work for was acquired for a very large sum of money. Being one of the very early developers, the stock option payout was substantial. To be honest, it was all luck. I lucked into the job, as my first one out of college, and it happened to be successful. Some days I like to think I contributed to…

This is an example of the Hedonic Treadmill [0]. At first glance, winning the lottery should increase your happiness compared to becoming paraplegic but after a few months the happiness level seems to go back to the baseline in both case anyway. [0] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hedonic_treadmill

http://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/72663/1/cesifo_wp4222...

Subjective Well-Being and Income: Is there any Evidence of Satiation?

"Many scholars have argued that once 'basic needs' have been met, higher income is no longer associated with higher in subjective well-being. We assess the validity of this claim in comparisons of both rich and poor countries, and also of rich and poor people within a country. Analyzing multiple datasets, multiple definitions of 'basic needs' and multiple questions about well-being, we find no support for this claim. The relationship between well-being and income is roughly linear-log and does not diminish as incomes rise. If there is a satiation point, we are yet to reach it."

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

#74

Post by imjk »

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?

I haven't seen any public records on the sale of IndexTank, but I'm pretty sure they didn't sell for $1.6MM. I think you're reading the amount of funding they received before the sale.

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

#75

Post by dllthomas »

pessimizer wrote: post #73
seren wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is an example of the Hedonic Treadmill [0]. At first glance, winning the lottery should increase your happiness compared to becoming paraplegic but after a few months the happiness level seems to go back to the baseline in both case anyway. [0] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hedonic_treadmill

http://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/72663/1/cesifo_wp4222... Subjective Well-Being and Income: Is there any Evidence of Satiation? "Many scholars have argued that once 'basic needs' have been met, higher income is no longer associated with higher in subjective well-being. We assess the validity of this claim in comparisons of both rich and poor countries, and also of rich and poor people within a country. Analyzin…

"is roughly linear-log and does not diminish as incomes rise"

That is inconsistent. What I believe they are trying to say is that there is no sharp cut-off. If the relationship is always roughly linear-log, then it always diminishes as incomes rise.

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

#76

Post by jbernier »

japhyr wrote: post #67

No. But I found a pretty good approach to making a satisfying life without having to "make it rich". In my twenties, I moved to the part of the world where I most enjoyed vacationing, and built my life there. Now every day on my way to work, I look around and couldn't be happier with where I am. Even on the hard days, I have almost everything I really want in life pretty close by, and that pretty consistently helps m…

Where are you if you don't mind me asking?

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

#77

Post by brownian79 »

Yes. "Retired" when I was 33 with about $4.5m (now 35). Posting under a throwaway account, because I'm a private guy.

Made money off being the 100th engineer at a company which had a huge IPO ($2m+), and some good real estate transactions ($1m+). Plus my wife is very successful in her own right and added a fair bit.

Just to put it in context, I wasn't a total lottery winner. I spent 80 hrs/week working throughout my 20s, and had extremely challenging positions at some top companies. The company that IPO'd recruited me, and I was able to get a relatively healthy equity package, plus about $250k annual comp.

It felt good, though it only became real once the IPO lockup ended, and I saw my brokerage balance.

I'm very happy. I have a much quieter life than before I had money. I spend a lot of time with my kids and wife, as well as do almost all the cooking and some house chores (my wife still works). I get to spend about 3 work days a week coding stuff I want to build with some moderate success so far.

Once my kids are a bit older, I will startup.

In contrast to one of the other answers here, I really haven't been to a bar or club since I made money. But this may also coincide with me having children around that time.

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

#78

Post by pessimizer »

steve918 wrote: post #26

For people who have their basic needs met money is generally a non-factor in baseline happiness. Relationships have a much more profound effect on happiness and to have great relationships you will never reach a peak where you won't have to continually work for those relationships. Also people who involve themselves in humanitarian acts tend to be happier, even when surrounded with tragedy. The best way to be happy i…

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7978474

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

#80

Post by Eyas »

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,…

Reading this post was very uncomfortable, especially the follow-ups describing women as having "no intellectual curiosity", but also the general tone. I was also perplexed at how many others described this as an ideal life -- perhaps they were just referring to the raw facts (lots of fun, dating, throwing good parties, etc.) and not actually adopting many of the implicit attitudes in there.

Still, I couldn't help but read this post in the voice of a ~19 year old college "douche"[1] type, which felt very weird coming out of a 41 year old.

Perhaps the real lesson in here for young HNers is to live their lives fully, to grow, mature, and develop our emotional maturity, so that we don't sound like that at the respectable age of 41.

--

[1] - couldn't find a better word; is there an alternative with less negative connotations, but carrying the same denotation?

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