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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

#101

Post by stcredzero »

edw519 wrote: post #98

Interesting post. Let me rephrase the question: What amount of money would it take to solve my biggest problems? Here are my biggest problems: 1. My father had a massive stroke and died. I miss him. 2. My mother has severe dementia and now acts like a toddler. I miss her too, in a strange way. 3. In the past 8 years, I have lost 5 close friends and family members including the cousin I grew up with who died very youn…

Donate: http://www.sens.org/

Likely this won't help you or me and it won't help your mom or dad, but it might help a lot of people someday.

Re: You don't really want a million dollars

#102

Post by kenjackson »

pedanticfreak wrote: post #95
kenjackson wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Honestly, what I want is a lot more than a million dollars. Any one thing may not cost a million dollars (although there are a lot of things I didn't list that I'd like, like a private piloted jet, in-home maid staff, private chefs, production and guest appearances from folks like Jay-Z for a record I'd like to produce, etc...). I've learned to settle to do things I generally "mostly" like. Like, while I like to do s…

See, you don't want to have a private jet or have a Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport. You want to fly in a private jet and drive a Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport. Both are quite a bit more affordable than owning either. People charter private jets all the time. People of very ordinary means lease and even learn to fly jets. I haven't looked into it, but I'd bet there is somewhere in Europe that will rent and insure you a Bugat…

You're right about the private jet. I probably just need one chartered for two round trips per month. But regarding the Bugatti, I want to own it. I want to go to Safeway in it. I want to drive down the freeway and just think in it. I have no interest in driving the Autobahn. But for probably a year, I want this to be mine main solo car. Next year, probably a new car. So maybe leasing a Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport. Still at least $100k/year.

I don't want a meal by a top ranked chef. I actually want a private chef. I have a couple of friends that have them and they are very different, in the sense that you have very specialized meals. While I can probably charter Mario Batali for a custom meal for $500 to $1000 a couple of times. Having him staff for two to five meals per day probably costs a fair bit.

For a reasonably-sized house decent maid service will start at $1000/year, and that's just for something like 12 cleanings per year. For live in service, expect a fair bit more.

And again, part of what I want is not having to figure out the optimal way to get a good. I don't want to spend 20 minutes price shopping online for best rates on an alarm system. My time is my non-replenishable asset and you seem to be asking me to trade it in to get a sub-optimal service that only superficially looks like what I really want.

Another thing, I want a full scale gym in my house. I hate commuting to the gym (although made slightly better with a Bugatti). I want a bigger yard, but don't want to move my primary residence. Would be nice to just buy the houses around us.

I'd like to own the Lakers and the Dodgers.

There's a lot of things, and I haven't even really thought about it, largely because its not really in play today.

Re: You don't really want a million dollars

#103

Post by eru »

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…

Just take your million and move to the UK. That will give you health insurance, if nothing else.

Re: You don't really want a million dollars

#104

Post by shock-value »

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 sorry, but you are so naive about your own nature. Allowing yourself to focus on getting money, and even worse, fantasizing about what you will do with it, just ingrains this habit deeper in your consciousness. If you keep doing this, and you are as much a slave to money as you come across as in this post, I suspect one of two things will happen to you...

One: you'll somehow get all this money you want, start spending it, and eventually wonder at how you don't feel any different, and somehow still crave even more money, fame, success, etc. Whatever insecurities you had before still subsist--you're still the same you. And whatever respect you think you have earned from the world for being successful feels hollow, if you perceive it at all (because honestly no one respects people just for being financially successful--they are either merely envious or just don't care--and why should they?).

Or two: things go a different way and you realize you don't have a path to making a lot of money (or the path you thought you had closed up), at which point you get extremely depressed and increasingly indignant at how others are "doing so much better" than you, despite how much mental energy you had put into fantasizing about your future wealth and devising ways to acquire it.

I agree that autonomy is a good value. I think for you the best starting point for acquiring that autonomy would be to stop being chained to the idea that having money will give it to you.

Re: You don't really want a million dollars

#105

Post by roadnottaken »

"A young man without power or money is completely free. He has nothing, but he also has everything. He can travel, he can drift. He can make new acquaintances every day, and try to soak up the infinite variety of life. He can seduce and be seduced, start an enterprise and abandon it, join an army or flee a nation, fight to preserve an existing system or plot a revolution. He can reinvent himself daily, according to the discoveries he makes about the world and himself. But if he prospers through the choices he makes, if he acquires a wife, children, wealth, land, and power, his options gradually and inevitably diminish. Responsibility and commitment limit his moves. One might think that the most powerful man has the most choices, but in reality he has the fewest. Too much depends on his every move."

--Mark Bowden, from Tales of the Tyrant: http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/print/2002/05/tales-of-t...

Re: You don't really want a million dollars

#106

Post by kenjackson »

shock-value wrote: post #87
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 things I want to do aren't expensive, but they weren't supposed to be. But they're things that would prevent me from making money, which means that I need some other way to pay for the other things that I'm paying for now that I want.

And while you argue that I'm clueless about human nature, I'd argue that you are. It's human nature to want more, even if it is only temporary. In fact most things I want to do provide only short-term satisfaction. I know that and I'm fine with that. The things that give long-term satisfaction are generally free, but those aren't the things I want money for.

Re: You don't really want a million dollars

#107

Post by shock-value »

kenjackson wrote: post #102
pedanticfreak wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

See, you don't want to have a private jet or have a Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport. You want to fly in a private jet and drive a Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport. Both are quite a bit more affordable than owning either. People charter private jets all the time. People of very ordinary means lease and even learn to fly jets. I haven't looked into it, but I'd bet there is somewhere in Europe that will rent and insure you a Bugat…

You're right about the private jet. I probably just need one chartered for two round trips per month. But regarding the Bugatti, I want to own it. I want to go to Safeway in it. I want to drive down the freeway and just think in it. I have no interest in driving the Autobahn. But for probably a year, I want this to be mine main solo car. Next year, probably a new car. So maybe leasing a Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport. St…

>I haven't even really thought about it

I hope that is the case, and I hope your posts aren't indicative of your mindset and worldview, because you come across as very whimsical and insecure--two qualities that I can assure you are not conducive to actually generating the kind of wealth you apparently desire.

Re: You don't really want a million dollars

#108

Post by kenjackson »

shock-value wrote: post #107
kenjackson wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're right about the private jet. I probably just need one chartered for two round trips per month. But regarding the Bugatti, I want to own it. I want to go to Safeway in it. I want to drive down the freeway and just think in it. I have no interest in driving the Autobahn. But for probably a year, I want this to be mine main solo car. Next year, probably a new car. So maybe leasing a Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport. St…

>I haven't even really thought about it I hope that is the case, and I hope your posts aren't indicative of your mindset and worldview, because you come across as very whimsical and insecure--two qualities that I can assure you are not conducive to actually generating the kind of wealth you apparently desire.

I hope your posts aren't indicative of your mindset and worldview, because you come across as very whimsical and insecure

Sorry, they are. Am I insecure? Of course, I need more money to buy some security!

Re: You don't really want a million dollars

#109

Post by runT1ME »

edw519 wrote: post #98

Interesting post. Let me rephrase the question: What amount of money would it take to solve my biggest problems? Here are my biggest problems: 1. My father had a massive stroke and died. I miss him. 2. My mother has severe dementia and now acts like a toddler. I miss her too, in a strange way. 3. In the past 8 years, I have lost 5 close friends and family members including the cousin I grew up with who died very youn…

Why don't you apply to work for a software company that intersects with the health industry. I really think they need all the help they can get from smart tech people.

First one that came to mind: http://www.pictureofhealth.com/

Re: You don't really want a million dollars

#110

Post by krschultz »

edw519 wrote: post #98

Interesting post. Let me rephrase the question: What amount of money would it take to solve my biggest problems? Here are my biggest problems: 1. My father had a massive stroke and died. I miss him. 2. My mother has severe dementia and now acts like a toddler. I miss her too, in a strange way. 3. In the past 8 years, I have lost 5 close friends and family members including the cousin I grew up with who died very youn…

Well for #2, I can think of one solution having dealt with it myself. Generally for every person suffering dementia there is a family member taking care of them that is under a massive amount of stres. Sometimes having someone else to lend a hand, for even a few hours a week, is a huge difference. That person could either be a volunteer or paid, but having $$$ would always help the situation. If you find the organizations near you and donate to them, that would be a good use of (a portion of) a million dollars to help other people currently going through #2.
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