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You don't really want a million dollars

ryanwaggoner.com

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Re: You don't really want a million dollars

#81

Post by [deleted] »

tptacek wrote: post #39
Alex3917 wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The cost of raising a kid right now if you want them to have a typical upper middle class upbringing is somewhere between 800k - 1.6M (2007 dollars) from birth to age 17. The exact figure depends on whether you want to send them to private school, whether you are feeding them all organic food, and a couple other things. Even the most basic middle class (no after school sports, summer camp, etc.) upbringing costs $500…

It does not cost us anything resembling $66,000/yr (no, wait: 2 kids - $120k/year [?!]) to provide two school-age children with an absurdly privileged upbringing. I suspect college tuition is queering those numbers.

[deleted]

Re: You don't really want a million dollars

#82

Post by Alex3917 »

tptacek wrote: post #65
Alex3917 wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"The government says families in the top-third income bracket will spend $279,450 to raise a child born in 2005 through age 17 -- or about $16,000 a year." The reason that the government figures are wrong is that, to quote Parenting, Inc. again, they don't include the cost of "maternity clothes, new home purchases and moving expenses, childbirth education and newborn classes, prenatal vitamins and extra fruits and ve…

That figure is laughable. Whatever survey it came from is also laughable. You are not laughable. But those factoids? Laughable. This is a silly argument.

Good to hear, because frankly I find it terrifying even though I'm still several years from having kids. That said some of the expenses from their infographic don't look entirely unreasonable. A decade worth of footwear might not cost $1000, but I bet it costs at least $800 when you take into account soccer cleats, penny loafers, etc.

Re: You don't really want a million dollars

#83

Post by ryanwaggoner »

oz wrote: post #69

No, you don't. I'm really tired of anti-money meme. Why is it so difficult for people to admit that many things in life come down to money? This isn't about being Gordon Gekko. You could have the purest heart, but it still takes cash to care. Some are fine with minimalism. More power to them. But I don't want to exist. I want to thrive. I'm 24. I realized a few years ago that my highest value in life is autonomy. I w…

I'm 24. I realized a few years ago that my highest value in life is autonomy. I want to be able to wake up tomorrow, and say "Hey, I've never been to Sweden," and just hop on a plane, without worrying about a small matter called rent.

I'm 28, and I could do that today if I wanted to. And surprise, surprise, I don't have a million dollars. That's my point. Figure out what you want and make it a priority. Don't spend your life working for a big payoff so you can then figure out what you want. You'll never get there.

Re: You don't really want a million dollars

#84

Post by joe_the_user »

berntb wrote: post #74
simon_ wrote: post #13

I really disagree with this. Far from being more than anybody needs, a million dollars is actually not enough to secure a dignified existence in the US. Sure... a "trip to Thailand" doesn't require a million dollars, but what if you want: Not to face bankruptcy if a major health problem arises? Not to worry about the cost of college for your children? To own a small home in NYC or SF? To afford competent legal repres…

There are two levels. On the first level, you can retire, buy health insurance and not have any worries. A million would be enough. I would live on a diving boat cruising over coral reefs and code games between dives. (I'd also hire my gf to cook.) >>And that doesn't even touch the reasons people want to be rich - like private jets and angel investing and art collecting and space tourism, etc. On the second level, yo…

On the first level, you can retire, buy health insurance and not have any worries. A million would be enough. I would live on a diving boat cruising over coral reefs and code games between dives. (I'd also hire my gf to cook.)

This also contradicts the claim that someone wanting a million dollars is wanting "an usual amount of money". With a million dollars you can either:

A. Not work and live on pitance but in the location of your choosing.

B. Add your labor to the money and make whatever income your business skill allows you to make.

These both might be fine activities but neither is activity beyond one's wildest dreams.

One 10million, one can live an upper-middle class America lifestyle anyplace in the world. That would indeed be great but it pretty close to "merely" moving to the next income bracket if one raised median income in the US.

Re: You don't really want a million dollars

#85

Post by dwc »

oz wrote: post #69

No, you don't. I'm really tired of anti-money meme. Why is it so difficult for people to admit that many things in life come down to money? This isn't about being Gordon Gekko. You could have the purest heart, but it still takes cash to care. Some are fine with minimalism. More power to them. But I don't want to exist. I want to thrive. I'm 24. I realized a few years ago that my highest value in life is autonomy. I w…

"What if your boss made you miserable every day, but you can't quit because of the mortgage."

This situation and others like it are more common with people who put too much importance on money. You can't ignore money, but giving it more weight than its due can actually get you into situations where you're held hostage by it.

Autonomy comes from taking control of your life, not from a certain income. An autonomous person can make the income happen. I know people who make far, FAR more that I but they are shackled to their jobs in exactly the way you describe in the quote above. Does that make me smart and them stupid? Well, yes, it does. Or maybe not stupid, but so lazy they can't be bothered to think about how to get what they really want, which is autonomy.

Re: You don't really want a million dollars

#87

Post by shock-value »

kenjackson wrote: post #22

I think Ryan misses the point for most people. I do want a "million" dollars for freedom, but it's not just to go to Thailand. In fact I don't really like traveling, but I'd pay a lot if you could teleport me instantly. I want the freedom to work on what I want to work on AND to buy what I want. I'm tired of saying, "I won't get that TV now, because in 12 months that TV is coming out". Or "lets wait 8 months for the…

What? Building an OS is just the cost of a laptop and test device (~$1000 at most), playing Madden costs you $60 + $200 console, the puzzle is just the cost of the newspaper, and depending on what you mean by "rewiring" and your level of know-how, that project shouldn't be out-of-this-world expensive either. Not anything like a million dollars, or even $15k for that matter.

To be honest, I think your post illustrates the premise of the article. You can do these things without a vast sum of money just as easily as if you had a big wad of cash.

And if your point is that being able to do those projects and ALSO "buy what you want" (e.g. nicer TV and car) will give you much greater satisfaction from your life, you are clueless about human nature. You might get a thrill from these items in the short term, but eventually you'll just want more and better ones. You'll be in the same place (psychologically) as where you started.

Re: You don't really want a million dollars

#88

Post by abstractbill »

ryanwaggoner wrote: post #83
oz wrote: post #69

No, you don't. I'm really tired of anti-money meme. Why is it so difficult for people to admit that many things in life come down to money? This isn't about being Gordon Gekko. You could have the purest heart, but it still takes cash to care. Some are fine with minimalism. More power to them. But I don't want to exist. I want to thrive. I'm 24. I realized a few years ago that my highest value in life is autonomy. I w…

I'm 24. I realized a few years ago that my highest value in life is autonomy. I want to be able to wake up tomorrow, and say "Hey, I've never been to Sweden," and just hop on a plane, without worrying about a small matter called rent. I'm 28, and I could do that today if I wanted to. And surprise, surprise, I don't have a million dollars. That's my point. Figure out what you want and make it a priority. Don't spend y…

Figure out what you want and make it a priority.

I want more things out of life than can be easily prioritized. A million dollars would go a long way towards making it so I wouldn't have to make just one thing my priority.

Re: You don't really want a million dollars

#90

Post by Alex3917 »

yummyfajitas wrote: post #79
Alex3917 wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"The government says families in the top-third income bracket will spend $279,450 to raise a child born in 2005 through age 17 -- or about $16,000 a year." The reason that the government figures are wrong is that, to quote Parenting, Inc. again, they don't include the cost of "maternity clothes, new home purchases and moving expenses, childbirth education and newborn classes, prenatal vitamins and extra fruits and ve…

Very true. Government figures don't include the cost of vacations that parents take before the baby is born (I had to google just to figure out WTF a "babymoon" is). They also leave out the cost of booze to lower the mother-to-be's inhibitions and the cost of the backseat of the car where conception occurred! Alex, do you have any idea how the bottom 95% live?

"Alex, do you have any idea how the bottom 95% live?"

Statistically or qualitatively?

In all seriousness though, I have no aspirations of living the elite-NYC-preschool lifestyle. That being said, life is about tradeoffs and while some of the expenses might seem patently absurd, others seem like things that anyone might reasonably want for their children: to play sports, go to summer camp, to be able to get a chemistry tutor if they needed one, etc.

That's not to say that all of these expenses are necessary or that your kids can't have just as good of a childhood without them, but at some level enough of these expenses do have merit that there is a tradeoff.

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