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

Re: Golden Rules for Making Money (1880)

#111

Post by nfriedly » Mon, Mar 25, 2019, 6:53 PM UTC

0xffff2 wrote: post #24

fartcannon wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some millennials are in their mid 30's. Isn't it time to pick on a new generation?

I mean, they're not wrong. I'm a millennial in my early thirties who actually owns several acres of rural land. I would love to make it my full-time residence, but can't because I can't get decent internet out there. I'm a software engineer whose company lets me work remotely, but only if I can actually do my job. Until I can get good enough internet/phone service to call in to meetings and reliably access various re…

I was just talking about this in a different thread; I'm a similar age to you and my house is in a rural area that has mediocre DSL as the only internet option.

So, I rent an office in the nearest town. I have a quiet space to work and 5x better internet there. It's close enough to bike in when the weather is nice, and a pleasantly short commute the rest of the time.

It really is the best of both worlds.

Re: Golden Rules for Making Money (1880)

#112

Post by pmoriarty » Mon, Mar 25, 2019, 6:56 PM UTC

dev_dull wrote: post #4

smn1234 wrote: post #2

I like how it begins with... "In the United States, where we have more land than people..."

Only people living in big cities think this isn’t still true. If you so desire, huge portions of land in the country “flyover” USA are yours to be had for very cheap. Of course it’s difficult to get internet there, so how will the millennials make it?

Couldn't you just get internet over satellite link? Of course there'll be lag, and perhaps lower bandwidth, so you might not be able to play multiplayer action games or download 4k videos, but you should be able to get the news, send email, and surf the web without too much of a problem.

Re: Golden Rules for Making Money (1880)

#113

Post by ai_ia » Mon, Mar 25, 2019, 7:00 PM UTC

billfruit wrote: post #109

One modern trick to earn a tiny bit of extra money: Use credit cards for buying/paying anything at all, never use debit cards or cash: Credit cards usually pay a small reward point for spends which can often be redeemed as a cash discount later, and also since the expenses go to the credit card, the cash in the savings account stay untouched till the day you make the credit card bill payment, which will keep earning…

Offtopic, Frank Abnegale ( Catch me if you can fame ) also says the same thing in his [1] lecture at Google. The whole lecture is also pretty interesting.

One of the best google talks I have seen.

[1]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsMydMDi3rI&t=3264s

Re: Golden Rules for Making Money (1880)

#114

Post by virtuexru » Mon, Mar 25, 2019, 7:01 PM UTC

jobu wrote: post #56

JeanMarcS wrote: post #8

> Young men starting in life should avoid running into debt. There is scarcely anything that drags a person down like debt. It is a slavish position to get in... Well, that put student debt in perspective no ?

He clarified this point it a bit in the second paragraph: "Mr. Beecher advised young men to get in debt if they could to a small amount in the purchase of land, in the country districts. “If a young man,” he says, “will only get in debt for some land and then get married, these two things will keep him straight, or nothing will.” This may be safe to a limited extent, but getting in debt for what you eat and drink and…

> In some ways, student debt is similar to land in that it can provide a return on investment that allows for paying off the debt over time.

Comparing student debt to buying land is funny.

At least with land you are guaranteed to be the owner of an asset. Something physical, a location, that other folks might at some point pay a price for (regardless of what you paid).

Student loans don't guarantee anything. :)

Re: Golden Rules for Making Money (1880)

#115

Post by pmoriarty » Mon, Mar 25, 2019, 7:06 PM UTC

deckar01 wrote: post #13

dev_dull wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Only people living in big cities think this isn’t still true. If you so desire, huge portions of land in the country “flyover” USA are yours to be had for very cheap. Of course it’s difficult to get internet there, so how will the millennials make it?

You can get satellite internet in the middle of nowhere. It's much harder to get water, power, waste management, medical services, and grocery stores.

Not to mention culture, night life and other non-home-bound entertainment, a variety of good restaurants, and perhaps real-life friends who share your outlook, experience, and interests.

Re: Golden Rules for Making Money (1880)

#116

Post by mhh__ » Mon, Mar 25, 2019, 7:13 PM UTC

billfruit wrote: post #109

One modern trick to earn a tiny bit of extra money: Use credit cards for buying/paying anything at all, never use debit cards or cash: Credit cards usually pay a small reward point for spends which can often be redeemed as a cash discount later, and also since the expenses go to the credit card, the cash in the savings account stay untouched till the day you make the credit card bill payment, which will keep earning…

And it's much easier to get your money back from a fraudulent credit card use than debit card use.

Re: Golden Rules for Making Money (1880)

#117

Post by umvi » Mon, Mar 25, 2019, 7:14 PM UTC

billfruit wrote: post #109

One modern trick to earn a tiny bit of extra money: Use credit cards for buying/paying anything at all, never use debit cards or cash: Credit cards usually pay a small reward point for spends which can often be redeemed as a cash discount later, and also since the expenses go to the credit card, the cash in the savings account stay untouched till the day you make the credit card bill payment, which will keep earning…

Didn't people abuse this one time to by buying $1 coins from the US Government with credit cards and then immediately re-depositing them into their bank accounts? They were essentially pocketing a fraction of the merchant fees the govt had to pay in order for people to buy the coins with credit cards.

Re: Golden Rules for Making Money (1880)

#118

Post by Animats » Mon, Mar 25, 2019, 7:15 PM UTC

Personally I like Benj. Franklin's maxims better. Much the same content, but pithier.

Re: Golden Rules for Making Money (1880)

#119

Post by rafiki6 » Mon, Mar 25, 2019, 7:16 PM UTC

dev_dull wrote: post #4

smn1234 wrote: post #2

I like how it begins with... "In the United States, where we have more land than people..."

Only people living in big cities think this isn’t still true. If you so desire, huge portions of land in the country “flyover” USA are yours to be had for very cheap. Of course it’s difficult to get internet there, so how will the millennials make it?

Of course it's difficult to get jobs there, so how will you buy the cheap land?

Re: Golden Rules for Making Money (1880)

#120

Post by dr_dshiv » Mon, Mar 25, 2019, 7:19 PM UTC

billfruit wrote: post #109

One modern trick to earn a tiny bit of extra money: Use credit cards for buying/paying anything at all, never use debit cards or cash: Credit cards usually pay a small reward point for spends which can often be redeemed as a cash discount later, and also since the expenses go to the credit card, the cash in the savings account stay untouched till the day you make the credit card bill payment, which will keep earning…

In the Netherlands, credit cards aren't widely accepted because the local debit card system has no transaction fee. Without 3% card fees, the consumer prices are lower, so the whole country saves extra money.