Why Aren’t Rich People Happy With the Money They Have? • Hacker News Board

Re: Why Aren’t Rich People Happy With the Money They Have?

#141

Post by 10122018 » Mon, Dec 10, 2018, 10:24 AM UTC

jgh wrote: post #123

CalRobert wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Am I weird? I spent a year living somewhat frugally (still enjoyed myself, still took a trip now and then) in San Diego and spent about 20,000. That was only my share tbf, my wife covered her half of expenses. We had a flat in a nice neighbourhood, shared an old but decent-condition car, took one trip to New England that year.. We had obamacare which helped a lot. I see people on HN talking about needing massive amou…

The massive amount of money basically sits in an investment account and generates dividends to live off of. That's what people are talking about. In order to have a salary they're used to they need like 20-30x the cash in the bank to generate it (preferably a bit extra to keep up with inflation too). Otherwise if you weren't using it to do that presumably you'd eventually run out of money and have to go back to work…

Yes. What has become clear to me in this discussion is that some people, when talking about being "comfortable", are talking about maintaining a much more lavish lifestyle, funded by passive income, than many people like myself, are used to or feel that they need. For many, comfort is simply feeling like they aren't at risk of starving or becoming homeless. That's the definition I'm working with, but it's clear to me that others are talking about something different, as you have articulated in your comment. Thank you.

Re: Why Aren’t Rich People Happy With the Money They Have?

#142

Post by Retric » Mon, Dec 10, 2018, 10:25 AM UTC

hueving wrote: post #95

eigenvector wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The example I thinking of is the common counterargument to "this job/industry/company is total BS": it can't be BS, because if it was no one rational would pay someone to do it. This presupposes that everything operates in a perfectly efficient market where pay corresponds directly to utility to someone, somewhere. The 2008 financial crash, for instance, arguably demonstrated that a lot of practices in the finance in…

Bear Stearns employee comp is solely about the value the employees provide to the firm. The ones making that kind of money would easily be bringing in a multiple of that in sales, etc. Just because the company got wiped out by a black swan style event means nothing about whether their employees were providing a lot of value to the firm.

No, it clearly demonstrates that these employees where not creating that much value at the firm.

Progressive betting strategies for example can appear to work in the short term, but anyone executing them is destroying value.

Re: Why Aren’t Rich People Happy With the Money They Have?

#143

Post by kaybe » Mon, Dec 10, 2018, 10:29 AM UTC

dovvdkc wrote: post #28

“For one study, Norton and his collaborator paid each respondent about 46 euros for every completed questionnaire. “You can run a survey on regular people for like a dollar,” “ Hmm I refused to give my email to a cable provider for a $100 Best Buy gift card (I was in Best Buy). At the time I thought who would trade their email address for a lousy $100? Now I know.

Do you only have one email adress? I wouldn't give out the main one, but some of the others.. or just make a new account somewhere and forward it to your main, then delete it if it ever collects spam.

Re: Why Aren’t Rich People Happy With the Money They Have?

#144

Post by abc-xyz » Mon, Dec 10, 2018, 10:37 AM UTC

lisper wrote: post #17

A while back I noticed that my HN karma was rising at a rate that would put me on the leaderboard, so I decided to make an effort to submit content and post quality comments just to see if I could crack the top 100. After a few months I did it, and kept rising up to a high of 85 (today I'm #88). Then I realized I was spending way too much time on HN, and how easy it was to fall into this trap of thinking I was doing…

Assuming link karma counts, then it seems like you could spend a couple of hours writing a Selenium script that would check the XX most upvoted HN websites for new content every minute, and then copy the title field and URL for HN submission. I suspect running that for a few hours every day would see you climb to the top very fast, and it would require very little maintenance.

Re: Why Aren’t Rich People Happy With the Money They Have?

#145

Post by have_faith » Mon, Dec 10, 2018, 10:37 AM UTC

lisper wrote: post #17

A while back I noticed that my HN karma was rising at a rate that would put me on the leaderboard, so I decided to make an effort to submit content and post quality comments just to see if I could crack the top 100. After a few months I did it, and kept rising up to a high of 85 (today I'm #88). Then I realized I was spending way too much time on HN, and how easy it was to fall into this trap of thinking I was doing…

I've downvoted you, but only because it's what you would have wanted

Re: Why Aren’t Rich People Happy With the Money They Have?

#146

Post by golergka » Mon, Dec 10, 2018, 10:40 AM UTC

mmsimanga wrote: post #139

golergka wrote: post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Regardless of what other people are trying to get your to do, unless they actually force you, you're the only one responsible for your decisions. Stop trying to find a scrapegoat.

Look I agree with you. Everyman should make their their own decisions and do what is right for them. However advertising has had a massive impact on how we see the world. You only need read about how de Beers the world's largest diamond producer changed our perception of diamonds [1]. There all manner of adverts designed to make you feel incomplete. I don't have links now but there have been a few stories here on HN…

Yes, people try to manipulate you all the time. My point is - it's fair game. It's exactly the game that all of us are playing all the time, it's pretty fun, it's challenging, and I see no point in painting someone as immoral just because they're winning at it.

Re: Why Aren’t Rich People Happy With the Money They Have?

#147

Post by keiferski » Mon, Dec 10, 2018, 10:44 AM UTC

Applejinx wrote: post #125

JamesBarney wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If somebody were to give me a hundred thousand dollars to invest, I am quite certain I could live comfortably for the rest of my life This shows a pretty big disconnect. And is something no one in their 30s+ would say. The common rule of thumb is you can live off of an investment at 4% indefinitely(assuming 6% return and 2% inflation). This gives you $4,000 a year. Crappy insurance: $4,200 a year. Crappy 300 sq ft…

This seems like a hidden assumption. Why would you not work doing whatever it is you do as an avocation, or if you like, a hobby or dream job? If it's what you love and what fascinates you, why would that not lead to income across your whole life? Granted, it'd take years to get to the point where it's sustainable, but surely there is tangible value in this? I do not understand a mindset of 'My only purpose is to ama…

There's no need for a dichotomy between "meaningful poorly-paid work" and "unethical pointless well-paid work." It's perfectly possible to work at a nonprofit that is "beneficial to society" while simultaneously optimizing your own personal financial position.

Re: Why Aren’t Rich People Happy With the Money They Have?

#148

Post by drjesusphd » Mon, Dec 10, 2018, 10:46 AM UTC

10122018 wrote: post #46

antognini wrote: post #32

There was a well written comment on Reddit a few years back about how your life changes at different levels of wealth: https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/2s9u0s/what_do_i... The main gist was that in the $10-30 million range you can live a comfortable life without having to worry about finances again. In the $30-100 million range you can start doing "rich people" things like have a private jet (though this m…

> in the $10-30 million range you can live a comfortable life without having to worry about finances again This statement strikes me as very disconnected from the reality that the vast majority of people on this planet live in, and honestly, a little bit irritating. I'm well aware that many here on HN would be millionaires, but as somebody who grew up in poverty and is now a full-time uni student with no savings in t…

I think yours is the comment disconnected from reality. But I will say that westerners tend to over-estimate what is required to live "comfortably", but $100k in savings won't get you very far, even below the poverty level.

$1 million will provide you with enough money to live comfortably. You'd still need to be somewhat frugal and be mindful of the hedonic treadmill. But that's not "never worrying about finances again". $10M will get you there. $100k when you're young is a good start to retirement savings, a hefty real estate down payment, or temporary living money while you spend several years chasing a dream. But that's about it.

Re: Why Aren’t Rich People Happy With the Money They Have?

#149

Post by themusicgod1 » Mon, Dec 10, 2018, 10:47 AM UTC

Well, for starters, volatility.

I know, very well, know how quickly this pile of cash can evaporate. To keep from starving again I'd rather have a significant (like orders of magnitude at this point) chunk dedicated to buffering me from that outcome. I do not trust the market to remain stable - I will go out and make more.

I've lost fortunes some of you youngins can only dream of, but came out OK because I was not content to sit on my laurels.

Re: Why Aren’t Rich People Happy With the Money They Have?

#150

Post by feiss » Mon, Dec 10, 2018, 10:48 AM UTC

lisper wrote: post #17

A while back I noticed that my HN karma was rising at a rate that would put me on the leaderboard, so I decided to make an effort to submit content and post quality comments just to see if I could crack the top 100. After a few months I did it, and kept rising up to a high of 85 (today I'm #88). Then I realized I was spending way too much time on HN, and how easy it was to fall into this trap of thinking I was doing…

Something similar happens with school grades . You get labeled as an A kid, a B kid, you define yourself like that, and a good part of your life is spent fulfilling the spectations of that grade.