Golden Rules for Making Money (1880) • Hacker News Board

Re: Golden Rules for Making Money (1880)

#71

Post by sigmaprimus » Mon, Mar 25, 2019, 5:28 PM UTC

sigmaprimus wrote: post #50

Don't Blab >>> This chapter/paragraph goes against everything I believe in, the entire opensource community is based on sharing. I am an aspiring farmer with a tech addiction and if it wasn't for people sharing their successes through YouTube and a lesser extent farmers that write books, this "City Boy" wouldn't have survived my first year on the farm. I also agree Internet sucks in the country, but it's still better…

Good point, not sure why you deleted your comment. I will read the article when I get a chance. I did browse over it and found the line "there’s too many things that are important, even needed, or that fulfill us more than any profitable item, and yet are economically unsustainable." To be a sad but true statement. Sometimes I forget that I didn't get into farming to get rich, it is much more of a soul healing endeavour rather than a wealth accumulation exercise.

Re: Golden Rules for Making Money (1880)

#72

Post by asdff » Mon, Mar 25, 2019, 5:28 PM UTC

jjeaff wrote: post #31

msla wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Of course it’s difficult to get internet there, so how will the millennials make it? Difficult to get medical care and water out there, so how will the Boomers make it?

Medical care isn't usually that far. You would have to be very much in the middle of nowhere to be very far from a decent hospital with a medivac helipad. Rural water coops are very common and you can always just dig a well.

Can you get a medivac to your appointment with the specialist?

Re: Golden Rules for Making Money (1880)

#73

Post by jimbokun » Mon, Mar 25, 2019, 5:29 PM UTC

ohaideredevs wrote: post #49

I am yet to hear one concrete piece of useful advice on "how to make money." The ONLY things I can say with certainty in life, as far as productive activities go is something like "workout, eat right, sleep enough, drink enough water." That's literally it.

This guy has plenty of concrete advice:

https://www.mrmoneymustache.com/category/mmm-classics/

It is very similar to "workout, eat right, sleep enough, drink enough water", as they are things that "everyone" knows they should do, but few have the will power and self discipline to actually do them.

Budget. Get your expenses under your income. Set aside an emergency fund. Pay off your debts as quickly as possible. Then start investing for retirement, house, kids college, etc. While avoiding new debt.

That's pretty much it. Dave Ramsey and many other advisers say roughly the same thing, including the introduction to Barnum's book:

http://www.fourmilab.ch/etexts/www/barnum/moneygetting/money...

Ramsey pretty much says this stuff is simple in his course, and spends most of his time on the emotional and motivational aspects of putting the advice into practice. For example, he advocates paying off your smallest debt first, not the one with the highest interest rate. This is solely for the motivational impact, because seeing a debt disappear completely will inspire you to keep going and attack the next one, even if it's sub-optimal from an economic perspective.

Re: Golden Rules for Making Money (1880)

#74

Post by adamredwoods » Mon, Mar 25, 2019, 5:29 PM UTC

sudoaza wrote: post #46

1- Be born rich 2- ? Whatever 3- Profit

Sadly, this is to a large extent, the correct answer. Opportunities depend on income level when born. Citation:

https://www.brookings.edu/research/economic-mobility-of-fami...

https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/poverty/publication/fair-...

PT Barnum, on the other hand, makes a great case for living within one's means, which is always valuable advice.

Re: Golden Rules for Making Money (1880)

#75

Post by astura » Mon, Mar 25, 2019, 5:30 PM UTC

derekp7 wrote: post #38

SketchySeaBeast wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also mortgages.

Are mortgages really debt though? Because even though you owe, you also own as much as you owe (except during a market downturn of course). Whereas debt for a depreciating asset (like a car, or most things that go on a credit card) are what I would consider "real" debt. In other words, keep your net debt low or non existent (when looking at a balance sheet).

Yes, they certainly are a debt, but they are, in general, considered a "good debt." Educational debt and business startup debt are also, in general, considered "good debt."

https://www.investopedia.com/articles/pf/12/good-debt-bad-de...

That being said, it's a general statement, specific cases of those can be "bad debts" if they are taken out recklessly and/or without forethought and planning and budgeting.

Re: Golden Rules for Making Money (1880)

#76

Post by jmdeon » Mon, Mar 25, 2019, 5:31 PM UTC

sigmaprimus wrote: post #50

Don't Blab >>> This chapter/paragraph goes against everything I believe in, the entire opensource community is based on sharing. I am an aspiring farmer with a tech addiction and if it wasn't for people sharing their successes through YouTube and a lesser extent farmers that write books, this "City Boy" wouldn't have survived my first year on the farm. I also agree Internet sucks in the country, but it's still better…

Hey sigmaprimus I'd love to hear more about your transition from "City Boy" to farmer! I'm thinking of taking the leap in a few years after saving "enough" capital. I can put my contact info in my bio if you have time to private message.

Re: Golden Rules for Making Money (1880)

#77

Post by Balgair » Mon, Mar 25, 2019, 5:32 PM UTC

sixhobbits wrote: post #57

Funny how some of it seems like good common sense and then you get > Some men have a foolish habit of telling their business secrets. If they make money they like to tell their neighbors how it was done. Nothing is gained by this, and ofttimes much is lost. Say nothing about your profits, your hopes, your expectations, your intentions. And this should apply to letters as well as to conversation. Goethe makes Mephisto…

In The Count of Monte Cristo, the Count ruins Danglers' fortune via bond market manipulation per his revenge plans. One of the ways he keeps track of how the ruination progress is via Danglers' own words. At first, Danglers boasts loudly in parties about how much he has lost, but eventually he is cowed and no longer talks about money or his fortune. The Count keep track of his boisterousness as a barometer of his revenge and it's progress.

Its a great book and well worth the read, despite it's size.

Re: Golden Rules for Making Money (1880)

#78

Post by jimbokun » Mon, Mar 25, 2019, 5:32 PM UTC

canaus wrote: post #51

> We are all, no doubt, born for a wise purpose. I've heard and seen this time and time again and yet there's no advice on how to find that purpose. It's always easy to say, "do what you love" but how do you find what you love?

I think it's terrible advice.

Do what brings the most value to others, that you have the talents to accomplish, and that you also enjoy doing. I think the intersection of those sets is the most likely place to find one's "purpose".

There are plenty of things you might "love" to do, that will leave you destitute and unfulfilled if you devote your life to doing them.

Re: Golden Rules for Making Money (1880)

#79

Post by jimbokun » Mon, Mar 25, 2019, 5:33 PM UTC

plausibilities wrote: post #52

empath75 wrote: post #25

A good way to make money is to sell a book about how to make money.

Reminds me of that dude who made a rather impressive amount of money posting classified ads on how to make money where the "secret methodology" being sold turned out to be a set of guidelines which simply instructed the buyer to follow suit.

Sounds like an urban legend, but I hope it's true.

Re: Golden Rules for Making Money (1880)

#80

Post by asynchronous13 » Mon, Mar 25, 2019, 5:34 PM UTC

sigmaprimus wrote: post #50

Don't Blab >>> This chapter/paragraph goes against everything I believe in, the entire opensource community is based on sharing. I am an aspiring farmer with a tech addiction and if it wasn't for people sharing their successes through YouTube and a lesser extent farmers that write books, this "City Boy" wouldn't have survived my first year on the farm. I also agree Internet sucks in the country, but it's still better…

>> the entire opensource community is based on sharing

True. The primary purpose of open source is sharing, whether that is code or information. Open source is not opposed to making money, however making money is not the primary motivation for open source. It makes sense that best practices for how to make money can be different than the standard practices for open source.