Live data from Hacker News

Ask HN: What is your yearly passive income?

news.ycombinator.com

61–70 of 109 posts

Re: Ask HN: What is your yearly passive income?

#61

Making a throwaway for this. My annual pre-tax income from work is about $2,500,000. My annual passive pre-tax income is about $1,200,000. This is 100% derived from investment returns from an exit I had a few years ago from a startup I was with. I spend about $400,000/year (after tax) of that. Here's the kicker: Nothing makes you feel more poor than being worth about $40m in cash while you hang out with billionaires…

Spare some change?

Re: Ask HN: What is your yearly passive income?

#62
post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

you should probably check... there may be fees or other things that have happened.

Ah, yes. I forgot to mention that; the "fund controllers" take 1.25% of my portfolio. The last 5 years it seems to have increased 12,6% in average, though, so I'm not that worried. If I had controlled it myself, well, you get the idea... :)

That is a crazy high expense ratio. Schwab offers an S&P 500 index fund for 0.03%

https://investor.vanguard.com/investing/how-to-invest/impact...

http://financials.morningstar.com/fund/expense.html?t=SWPPX&...

Re: Ask HN: What is your yearly passive income?

#63

The more I explore this concept of 'passive income' the more it seems like a unicorn not unlike the Facebooks and Instagrams of the world. Sure, it's possible to generate truly passive income, without any ongoing work to sustain it, but such projects are so rare that it's impractical to pursue them. It's like saying you're going to create the next unicorn...good luck with that. 99.9% of endeavors worth doing pursuing…

It mostly seems like one of those fairy tales people eat up because they want it to be real. Who doesn't love the idea of perpetually making money for nothing?

Like people who follow the stories of all the lotto winners. One day that's gonna be me!

Back in reality, I rent a property into which I sunk a month of labor and lots of money for renovation. There's also ongoing repairs, which I mostly do myself. But sure, it's "passive" most of the time.

Re: Ask HN: What is your yearly passive income?

#64

Making a throwaway for this. My annual pre-tax income from work is about $2,500,000. My annual passive pre-tax income is about $1,200,000. This is 100% derived from investment returns from an exit I had a few years ago from a startup I was with. I spend about $400,000/year (after tax) of that. Here's the kicker: Nothing makes you feel more poor than being worth about $40m in cash while you hang out with billionaires…

Nice, that sounds pretty sweet. I'm 22 and worth What was your role in the company? How long were you with the company for and how long after its founding did you join? Was the company ever funded or 100% bootstrapped?

After you had your exit, how did you begin investing your money and why did you decide on that mode of investment?

Do you currently work a corporate job or do you work for yourself?

Any other tips or advice?

Thank you!

Re: Ask HN: What is your yearly passive income?

#68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's very easy to get passive income. Just buy high dividend mutual funds. 100k in the market should net you 4-12k per year.

I have about 50k€ on European and US stock markets. Amazingly enough, that only payed me 1128€ (after tax [I just checked my income tax form]) in dividends last year. I guess I suck at picking high-return stocks.

Are you intentionally picking dividend-focused stocks though? That is a key aspect of it if you want dividends. Most stocks are not focused as much on dividends (presumably, people buy them for the potential increased value of the stock over time instead of potential dividend payments).

Re: Ask HN: What is your yearly passive income?

#69
post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's very easy to get passive income. Just buy high dividend mutual funds. 100k in the market should net you 4-12k per year.

ah yeah, the good ol' 100k i have lying around should finally have some use for me!

You don't need 100k to open one.

Re: Ask HN: What is your yearly passive income?

#70
post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have about 50k€ on European and US stock markets. Amazingly enough, that only payed me 1128€ (after tax [I just checked my income tax form]) in dividends last year. I guess I suck at picking high-return stocks.

Are you intentionally picking dividend-focused stocks though? That is a key aspect of it if you want dividends. Most stocks are not focused as much on dividends (presumably, people buy them for the potential increased value of the stock over time instead of potential dividend payments).

> Are you intentionally picking dividend-focused stocks though?

I used to when I started, but I don't anymore. Now I just buy stocks of companies I like. Lately for instance, I bought some NVDIA shares because I like what they do. Also last year I realized I didn't own any AMZN share and I thought that was not right, without even considering the fact that they don't pay any dividend at all. Same for Netflix or Cray or Tesla.

In truth, my mindset is more of a collector than an investor :P

Post reply on HN