Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Ask HN: What to avoid in life?

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

81–90 of 90 posts

Re: Ask HN: What to avoid in life?

#81

Post by rcarmo »

Sales.

As an engineer by training (and vocation), exposure to a cesspool of over-excited sales teams with overinflated egos, impossible targets, zero alignment with reality and the “always be closing” mentality nearly drove me insane, especially when I was called in to bring “technical credibility” to stuff that defied logic or when I was told I was “a negative influence” by pointing out (internally) that the sales pitch had the solidity of warm, brown fudge.

Toxicity usually escalates very quickly from then on.

Proper consulting (which also involves _pre_-sales, but which has to be grounded in reality because you’re gauging commitment and risks to all parties) is much saner in comparison - the rule of thumb here is to never work in a customer-facing position with people who will vanish from sight the moment a deal is signed.

Re: Ask HN: What to avoid in life?

#82

Post by glofish »

CM30 wrote: post #80

Renting. Okay, I know that's not possible for everything. Renting a home is virtually a must in places with high housing prices, and a mortgsge is often needed when buying a house. But in 95% of cases, renting something is a worse deal than buying it outright, and will leave you worse off as a result. 1. It's more expensive, especially in the long run. There's a reason so many companies have gone with the whole 'SaaS…

This advice is not universally valid.

There are plenty of situations where renting is greatly advantageous.

Being dogmatic is what everyone needs to avoid. Being preconditioned to the idea that buying is automatically a good decision is to be avoided as well - when you take out huge loans with little equity you end up paying twice or more for the property - not to mention the massive costs of owning a home: from taxes to crippingly expensive home repairs. You can easily end up paying three or four times more than renting. Had you invested just the difference, in thirty years you'd be a million dollars ahead.

As always weigh the options and choose the one where the long-term math checks out.

Re: Ask HN: What to avoid in life?

#83

Post by glofish »

malux85 wrote: post #12

Student 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 develope…

As always the problem is not so much the debt but the size of the debt.

Don't take on debts that you cannot readily pay back.

Re: Ask HN: What to avoid in life?

#84

Post by glofish »

baron816 wrote: post #57
malux85 wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was very interested in chemistry, and thought I would study that - because you can’t be an organic chemist without a degree. Then I saw the loans, and switched interest to computer science and programming. Nobody is forcing you into a particular career, just switch, the definition of intelligence is general adaptability. Shouldering yourself with hundreds of thousands in debt when you’ve never even had a job before…

OK, don't take out hundreds of thousands of dollars in student debt. Very few people will ever be forced to consider doing that because 1) they can choose to go to a cheaper school or 2) even very "expensive" private schools offer generous financial aid packages that should make debt manageable. If you choices are 1) take $30K in student loans to pursue a career you're interested in/go to a school that will set you u…

Correct,

it is not the debt itself but the size of it and expected payoffs.

If you were coming from an average financial background in America then

a 30K student loan to go to an excellent school that sets you up for life would be most certainly worth it, 300K would most likely not

Re: Ask HN: What to avoid in life?

#85

Post by glofish »

stanferder wrote: post #36
arcticbull wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

If these investments of yours were as much of a sure bet (or adequately sure bet) as you're suggesting, banks would simply cut out the middle-person (i.e. the borrower) and invest in these things directly.

I think banks make their money not on interest rates but on various fees and overheads: each person getting a mortgage pays 10K (or more) to the bank right away. That is huge upfront money in addition to the interest rate.

Same with late fees etc. Huge business.

Re: Ask HN: What to avoid in life?

#86

Post by glofish »

arcticbull wrote: post #33
mojuba wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Like I said borrowing for business is a bit different, so yes you can borrow to invest. However, a personal 30-year loan if you have nothing else but a mediocre salary may not be such a great idea. Essentially you will be tied to one place for up to 30 years or less if you are lucky.

Not really, for 3-4 years maybe, at that point you’d break even on a resale taking into account broker fees. At that point you could always rent it out, too, yielding potentially free cash flow.

I would strongly caution against this sort of mindset.

Renting is not nearly as pain-free and simple experience as you make it sound. All it takes one bad tenant, longer vacancy, or an expensive home repair to you set back for a decade.

Nor is home appreciation a sure thing. Selling a home costs 6% + closing fees which run at least another 2%. Home taxes are often quite a burden typically add another 1% cost per year and say 3% paid as interest. Factor in all the costs, selling 3-4 years later you are barely breaking even, do the math, you'd have to sell for 6% + 4% + 6% + 3% you would need a 18% appreciation just to break even!!! Of course, most people are bad at keeping track of all their costs and will only tell you about the awesome deal they made: Look Ma, I sold three years later for 15% more - yet overall they lost money on it.

Have you heard of the rule of 1%? It is widely considered the benchmark to renting, you got to rent for least at 1% of the total cost you are paying. And you're real income, that you can assign to the mortgage will be more like 0.5% of the rental. Very few homes in America are even close to that. Then being a landlord is a job as well. You're not just sitting back having money coming as "free cashflow", there are always things that need to be dealt with - many times with expenses.

Hoping to break even after 3-4 years is incredibly naive. Yes there are people that luck out, but then so is playing the lottery, there are many more that don't. More likely 10 years when you get to see a real return if all goes well. had you invested that, you would be far ahead.

Re: Ask HN: What to avoid in life?

#87

Post by arcticbull »

glofish wrote: post #85
stanferder wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If these investments of yours were as much of a sure bet (or adequately sure bet) as you're suggesting, banks would simply cut out the middle-person (i.e. the borrower) and invest in these things directly.

I think banks make their money not on interest rates but on various fees and overheads: each person getting a mortgage pays 10K (or more) to the bank right away. That is huge upfront money in addition to the interest rate. Same with late fees etc. Huge business.

also folks on average refinance or sell their property every 10 years meaning folks on a 30 year restart, paying new origination fees and once more the bulk of their payments are interest.

Re: Ask HN: What to avoid in life?

#88

Post by bluewalt »

Following social conventions. The more I grow up, the more I have the feeling this lead people to the wrong path to happiness. Having the ability to be and act different is harder than it seems to. But when you know deep inside how you should do something, do no let society tell you how to do it.

Recently I found out that some people are truly happy being single. They're not acting. The only problem for them, is how people treat them in a condescending way: "Don't worry, love is coming for you, you'll be lucky too".

Re: Ask HN: What to avoid in life?

#89

Post by c0restraint »

dehrmann wrote: post #69
koolba wrote: post #42

Avoid increasing your expenses in line with increases of your income. It’s an easy to fall into the trap on the way up, and a difficult one to escape.

Any fly "premium" economy to Europe? The horror.

Premium economy between Western Europe & the States is short enough that it isn't really worth it to me, but the States to Asia Pacific is generally worth it. 14-28 hour travel is much more awful.

Re: Ask HN: What to avoid in life?

#90

Post by kangnkodos »

morninglight wrote: post #76

Avoid taking "advice" from anonymous people on the internet. For example, let's say someone told you that coronavirus can survive for extended periods outside of a living body, and therefore, any packages you receive from China could be a health risk. Should you filter out this "advice"? Well, if it is just "advice", then you should look for substantiation. Without proof, it has little or no value. Now can someone te…

Don't take advice from this anonymous person on the internet. SARS virus could last 6 days on surfaces. No one knows how long coronavirus lasts yet.

https://foundation.chestnet.org/patient-education-resources/...

Post reply on HN