Ask HN: What 60 folks can give career and general life advice for 40 folks • Hacker News Board

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

#81

Post by roland35 » Tue, May 16, 2023, 10:24 AM UTC

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…

I wasn't trying to make any larger point about income inequality - just saying that employer matches do not contribute to your individual 401k limits :)

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

#82

Post by maerF0x0 » Tue, May 16, 2023, 3:29 PM UTC

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…

The grass is always greener.

The flip side of this is you save/invest a lot, thinking it will get you to passive income, and the overspending masses vote a new tax raise on the "rich" only for your delayed gratification to never come true.

Case in point, those who paid off their student debt are in the minority. Those who don't vote for student debt forgiveness. The minority did the "right thing" by paying it off and lose out on gratification.

Be careful overfitting as if the rules of the game can't be rewritten to your detriment at any given moment by the dumbest 51% of the population.

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

#83

Post by maerF0x0 » Tue, May 16, 2023, 4:20 PM UTC

codethief wrote: post #61

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…

> Money spent now is worth more than money spent later in more ways than one. On the other hand, money saved & invested now will (quite literally) be worth more than money saved later.

The older you get the less time remaining for investments to compound (or rectify, if there's a downturn). The probability that it's worth delaying gratification declines because the future value is lower, and the odds of you seeing that future is also much lower . The odds of you dying this year doubles from 30-50, and doubles again from 50-60. That information means you should gradually save less and start doing more of your top bucket list items by (before) 50.

https://www.ssa.gov/oact/STATS/table4c6.html

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

#84

Post by PhilAT » Fri, May 19, 2023, 1:49 PM UTC

haspok wrote: post #34

gigatexal wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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!)

I'm 47 and although currently feeling a little burnt out (I've been here before. I'll be finishing my current contract in a few weeks for a well earned break), I know I love coding and pretty sure I always will having spent the last 40 years coding. I've done a bit of management, led teams etc, and I'm actually pretty good but I can't get excited about it. Maybe in 10 years I'll feel differently but I know I'm still a coder because I want to be not because I fear doing something different.

If you want to change your path and you feel fear then that's probably what you should be doing. A little fear/excitement keeps the motivation.

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

#85

Post by tskupinski » Fri, May 19, 2023, 2:30 PM UTC

paologiacometti wrote: post #63

my two cents, even if I am not 60 but nearly. Do not underestimate the role of chance and fortune in all the decision you made. Don't even think for a moment that all the efforts you put in your job/career, relations and to stay health will somehow led to a positive (for you) outcome. The mantra "if you dream of it you can have it" leave to the posters because it's totally wrong and it can bring you to mental problem…

There is a simple way to counter this effect - focus on road, not on the destination. If you enjoy what you are doing, you won't get disappointed even if it doesn't work out in a long run for different reasons.