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Ask HN: I made $24k over the last month. Now what?

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Re: Ask HN: I made $24k over the last month. Now what?

#111

Post by nandemo »

mechanical_fish wrote: post #80
patio11 wrote: post #25

Hire people to do the things you do which have the worst tradeoff of hours expended per unit of value added. Alternately, hire people to automate those things. And I'd SERIOUSLY consider at the very least a) setting yourself up a SEP-IRA and b) socking away the maximum in an index fund. It is essentially monopoly money to you anyhow at the moment, right? Trust me, you won't regret having 30 years of appreciation on y…

Yes, listen to patio11. I do NOT want to invest in the stock market, or invest in anything long term like bonds or property. I want to somehow use the money to make more money quickly (within a 2 year time span). Excuse me if I'm too harsh, but you should spend some of the money on a membership in Gamblers' Anonymous. Because you talk like a bad gambler. The hallmark of bad gamblers is that, if ever they get ahead, t…

I disagree. Investing in the stock market is far from safe. Not even an index fund over a 30-year period; we don't know what will happen in the next 30 years.

Re: Ask HN: I made $24k over the last month. Now what?

#112

Post by mschy »

1) I'd set aside enough money to live for a year in something that's boring, low-return and dead safe. And I wouldn't touch it. This will give you enormous flexibility when deciding what to do with your life and career.

2) I'd talk to financial professionals to figure out how to structure things for maximum gain (e.g. what can you legally write off? can you create retirement programs for yourself? etc.)

3) I'd take classes in my areas of weakness, so I'm better prepared for the Next Big Thing.

Re: Ask HN: I made $24k over the last month. Now what?

#113

Post by msg »

nandemo wrote: post #111
mechanical_fish wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, listen to patio11. I do NOT want to invest in the stock market, or invest in anything long term like bonds or property. I want to somehow use the money to make more money quickly (within a 2 year time span). Excuse me if I'm too harsh, but you should spend some of the money on a membership in Gamblers' Anonymous. Because you talk like a bad gambler. The hallmark of bad gamblers is that, if ever they get ahead, t…

I disagree. Investing in the stock market is far from safe. Not even an index fund over a 30-year period; we don't know what will happen in the next 30 years.

It doesn't have to be safe. It just has to be safer.

You wouldn't tell this guy to learn to day trade or go into real estate. He's not going to buy savings bonds or open a money market account. He's not going to put it all down on gold.

So what is he going to do with his money?

Re: Ask HN: I made $24k over the last month. Now what?

#114

Post by electromagnetic »

portman wrote: post #92
wmeredith wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Incorporate to soften this blow.

If the OP is a sole proprietor in the United States, then incorporation won't alter the tax burden. Incorporation is still a good idea, for other reasons (simplified banking, limited liability, etc).

Limited liability is a very good reason to incorporate, even if it costs you a bit!

Luckily for the OP he is likely in a relatively safe position. If his app store money fails, he likely has the talent to quickly jump into a development job somewhere else, and not have any capital tied up. So long as he keeps well away from debt, incorporation isn't a big deal. However, as he stated he wants to make more, which tends to incur risk-taking, which limited liability is ideal for.

I've seen several horror stories of genuine hard-working people lose almost everything because they were fully liable. Yet I've seen some very lazy, non-talented people lose virtually nothing because they incorporated. I know of one guy who lost hundreds of thousands, and still managed to retain control of his business after the banks stepped in. They now own ~40% of his company, but he's still earning the same wage.

Re: Ask HN: I made $24k over the last month. Now what?

#115

Post by iamelgringo »

Expand, grow, conquer.

- Hire a few contractors to grow your stable of apps. You seem to know what works. Expand on what you're doing so you can do more of the same.

- Build your brand, that way you can use the market you've built to transfer interest from one app to other apps, (as you've been doing on line with your excellent blog posts).

- Figure out a way to diversify your revenue stream. You're already concerned about the app store closing or changing. Hire someone to port the apps to Android. I think that's a long term play, but if Android takes off, I think there's a large upside potential.

Re: Ask HN: I made $24k over the last month. Now what?

#116

Post by drawkbox »

Like others mentioned, keep in mind you owe about 45% taxes. 30% ish for actual taxes then 15% for self-employment tax. SO that 24K is really about 14K.

Also keep in mind that was during the holidays it seems or maybe after a few game launches that did well. You won't see the same level of revenue steadily unless you keep releasing and have good pricing strategies.

My advice, save it up or use it to reinvest in your own company for now.

Re: Ask HN: I made $24k over the last month. Now what?

#117

Post by joshu »

portman wrote: post #91

"What I know how to do best is the app store" Set yourself up as an _angel investor for iPhone apps_. Like a mini-mini-mini YCombinator. Based on your experience, you should be very good at evaluating an individual's chances of creating a successful app. Solicit pitches (HN would be a great source) and make 5 small investments of $5k each. If you make another $25k next month, do another 5 investments. Rinse and repea…

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accredited_investor

Re: Ask HN: I made $24k over the last month. Now what?

#118

Post by eru »

maxklein wrote: post #98
hedgehog wrote: post #79

Market yourself. Write a book & give talks about your process for making winners. Lots of people want to know how to make money in the App Store. There might be a higher-priced corporate training market for how to make popular apps for marketing purposes (think packaged food or sports apparel industry). On reading your blog it looks like you're already going down this road?

Ehh, anyone who bothered to email me has gotten the stuff I know for free. I don't want to give any talks or write a book. It's easier and less stressful to just make the apps.

Yes. Just make sure you also publish on your blog or so the stuff you send out in emails. That helps build a reputation, in case you need to resort to writing a book or giving talks (or doing some other corporate training as a consultant) later.

You might also use some of your money to pay another guy to polish your writing. Or to compile it into a book.

Re: Ask HN: I made $24k over the last month. Now what?

#120

Post by Readmore »

patio11 wrote: post #25

Hire people to do the things you do which have the worst tradeoff of hours expended per unit of value added. Alternately, hire people to automate those things. And I'd SERIOUSLY consider at the very least a) setting yourself up a SEP-IRA and b) socking away the maximum in an index fund. It is essentially monopoly money to you anyhow at the moment, right? Trust me, you won't regret having 30 years of appreciation on y…

I know you said 'no stock market' but it really could be a great move for you. I perfer stocks that pay a dividend because even if the market moves downward you're still throwing off cash every quarter. AT&T pays a nice dividend, so do Verizon and DT because of their long term phone contracts. Other good choices are Kraft and Johnson & Johnson, these are consumer staples that aren't going anywhere and that will pay you to own their stock whether it goes up or down in price.

It's not a '2 year high return' but like some of the other commenters have said, you're not going to find that.

Congrats on the app store success, I'd love to pick your brain. I'm currently working on some games for the app store , what type of apps have your written?

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