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Independently Poor: A Twist on FU Money – a.k.a. “FU, Money”

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141–150 of 160 posts

Re: Independently Poor: A Twist on FU Money – a.k.a. “FU, Money”

#141
post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You don't even have to go to Thailand, there are plenty of minor towns in western countries that are very cheap (usually because there aren't any good local jobs).

I wonder when it'll shift that people that can do remote work move to these towns specifically for the lower cost of living. In my circle of friends who do usually work remote, there are a few that want to move to more rural areas. The number one concern is availability of broadband, which is just terrible in Germany. Further down is friends/family not being close and possibly sticking out very much. I don't think re…

Hah go to a rural area and find bidirectional gigabit fiber optic internet for $60/mo and a decent house for $200,000.

Re: Independently Poor: A Twist on FU Money – a.k.a. “FU, Money”

#142
>>In other words, I had a degree of independence and agency that you normally only see in the Jet Set -- people who get called independently wealthy -- or comfortably well-off retirees. I had more control over my time and my life than your typical working stiff.

No offense, but I would not attribute any sense of freedom or higher degree of control in one's life to receiving alimony. What happens if/when the ex-spouse prematurely dies or has their bank account hacked?

Re: Independently Poor: A Twist on FU Money – a.k.a. “FU, Money”

#143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> There were two big problems. One is that you feel disconnected from society. This is hard to explain but being outside of normal social structures you lose a sense of context and meaning to your actions. Second is that when you don't have any social or financial pressures it's hard to avoid the path of least resistance. It's very easy to fall into bad habits, just watching youtube, reading reddit, bad diet, etc. Th…

it’s true it indicates a failure of imagination, but i wouldn’t be so quick to make a personal indictment. i, too, have been financially independent for the past year. past employer IPO. modest take. for the past couple months, i’ve struggled with the same issue described by the OP. for me, it’s a challenge of community. i spent so long living the silicon valley engineer lifestyle, along with others on that same trac…

This is a rough time for those without a strong community. I feel for you, good luck

Re: Independently Poor: A Twist on FU Money – a.k.a. “FU, Money”

#144
post #94

I'm 31 and have never had a job. I started freelancing when I was 18 - more by necessity than by choice - and continued doing that throughout my six years of college. There is something to be said about having "unordinary" experiences - it cuts you off from your peer group. My part-time freelancing through college meant that I was often too busy to do the things college kids do - party, join bands, etc. Later, when I…

If a job is the only thing holding your diet, habits, and exercise in place what will happen when you retire?

Great question, this is why many men die shortly after retirement (in the first year even!)

Re: Independently Poor: A Twist on FU Money – a.k.a. “FU, Money”

#145
post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

First-class men were about twice as likely to survive as third-class men, and first-class women were about twice as likely to survive as third-class women.

For those that are interested, here are the survival rates, broken down by men/women/children in first/second/third-class/crew: https://www.anesi.com/titanic.htm

Amazing stats!

This is our cultural response now: https://youtu.be/Qsqlmis2FDA

Re: Independently Poor: A Twist on FU Money – a.k.a. “FU, Money”

#146
post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sounds like old age medical expenses is the biggest fear - have you all considered emigrating to a country with govt provides healthcare to address that possibility?

Yes. We plan on retiring outside of the U.S. primarily due to the medical nonsense making our expected cost of living much lower in old age.

Where do you plan on retiring? Which countries are good for this?

Re: Independently Poor: A Twist on FU Money – a.k.a. “FU, Money”

#147
post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes. We plan on retiring outside of the U.S. primarily due to the medical nonsense making our expected cost of living much lower in old age.

Where do you plan on retiring? Which countries are good for this?

Due to family (wife and in-laws), probably South Korea. As per the recent COVID-19 situation, and some minor personal experience, their health care system is quite good and efficient. Housing isn't unreasonable by our standards (but it can be expensive for some people), food, transportation, internet access, etc. are all relatively cheap, high quality, and plentiful. We also have a built in network of family and friends there so we could get situated quickly.

Spain is in consideration as well due to universal health care, low cost of living, great food and climate, and a big expat English speaking community. However, it's generally harder to get some Korean food stuffs that my wife and I would enjoy and we don't know the language, culture or territory as well.

Re: Independently Poor: A Twist on FU Money – a.k.a. “FU, Money”

#148
post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes. We plan on retiring outside of the U.S. primarily due to the medical nonsense making our expected cost of living much lower in old age.

Do you plan on living and paying taxes for a substantial amount of time in your target country?

Yes. As well as patriating most/all of our savings into the local economy via real estate, etc.

Re: Independently Poor: A Twist on FU Money – a.k.a. “FU, Money”

#149
post #24

Coming at it from a different perspective, I did something similar to this by saving money on a US salary and then moving to a low cost of living country. I spent years at a time not working or even thinking about how to make money. I think almost everyone has felt the pain of financial and social obligation, but very few people have experience a total lack of such obligations for years at a time which leads to thing…

> There were two big problems. One is that you feel disconnected from society. This is hard to explain but being outside of normal social structures you lose a sense of context and meaning to your actions. Second is that when you don't have any social or financial pressures it's hard to avoid the path of least resistance. It's very easy to fall into bad habits, just watching youtube, reading reddit, bad diet, etc. Th…

It may be a failure of imagination but it is far from extraordinary unfortunately. It is a rare situation which receives little training, thought, or societal institutions. For millenia following was largely the only viable defeat essentially. Even nobility who became divorced from occupying duties had the same issues with use of idle time. The "Gentleman Scientest" or successful activist/reformer or similiar people who used their time wisely were the extraordinary ones even among the already extraordinary very small pool of privledged idle rich.

I can only conclude that failure of imagination is unfortunately not only ordinary but the default.

Re: Independently Poor: A Twist on FU Money – a.k.a. “FU, Money”

#150
post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or a big EU country, just not a in a city. In Spain(/Portugal) you can live like a king (villa, swimming pool, huge garden, cars etc) on 3-4k/mo. And if you are an 'ok' coder, 3-4k/mo is not very hard to get remotely.

Would yo mind helping someone find that? I think I might be an OK coder... Maybe I'm not that good, but would love to find a remote job paying 3-4k...

Send me an email (see my profile on HN) and let’s see. But for anyone else ; reliability is a huge issue. People do resume driven dev and job-hop; as a company you really do not want people like that. I would like people who want to work for some amount corrected with inflation for 20+ years. And the people who want that really have no issues finding work. The depressing ghosting when someone finds something for $1 more is the reason why most people think it is hard. I do not want those people and never did (company running for over 25 years).
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