Life lessons from the very wealthy • Hacker News Board

Re: Life lessons from the very wealthy

#21

Post by cheez » Sun, Jun 19, 2011, 11:23 PM UTC

arethuza wrote: post #9

taphangum wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What do you mean by little people. Curious. Literally little or small minded?

Presumably the same sense as meant by Leona Helmsley: "We don't pay taxes. Only the little people pay taxes" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leona_Helmsley#Tax_evasion_conv...

I find that most people who make their wealth through their own work don't have this kind of attitude.

Of course, I don't know any people worth a few billion, only paltry millions.

Re: Life lessons from the very wealthy

#22

Post by andymoe » Sun, Jun 19, 2011, 11:28 PM UTC

I know some wealthy people and the first three points seem pretty spot on. I wonder what the last four points were. I think I'll flag articles behind pay-walls from now on.

Re: Life lessons from the very wealthy

#23

Post by 6ren » Sun, Jun 19, 2011, 11:30 PM UTC

money can't buy accomplishments

Re: Life lessons from the very wealthy

#24

Post by thesz » Sun, Jun 19, 2011, 11:31 PM UTC

WalterSear wrote: post #2

Misses several important ones: - It's good to be the king - Money doesn't buy happiness, but carefully spent, it can buy several happiness factories. - Little people don't understand me.

Where did you get that "Little people don't understand me"?

On two pages I read I seen nothing like that.

Re: Life lessons from the very wealthy

#25

Post by wmat » Sun, Jun 19, 2011, 11:32 PM UTC

andymoe wrote: post #22

I know some wealthy people and the first three points seem pretty spot on. I wonder what the last four points were. I think I'll flag articles behind pay-walls from now on.

I just clicked the Print link and went straight to the full article:

http://goo.gl/E5FyA

Re: Life lessons from the very wealthy

#26

Post by andymoe » Sun, Jun 19, 2011, 11:37 PM UTC

wmat wrote: post #25

andymoe wrote: post #22

I know some wealthy people and the first three points seem pretty spot on. I wonder what the last four points were. I think I'll flag articles behind pay-walls from now on.

I just clicked the Print link and went straight to the full article: http://goo.gl/E5FyA

Thanks, I know how to get around them but I just don't think I will bother anymore. There is so much information out there that is just as interesting and freely available.

Re: Life lessons from the very wealthy

#27

Post by ww520 » Sun, Jun 19, 2011, 11:41 PM UTC

"4. Watch your lifestyle leverage, especially early in your career."

This is so true. Living way below your mean is so important as that's a great way to gain financial independence to have the freedom to pursue what you love to do.

Re: Life lessons from the very wealthy

#28

Post by nl » Sun, Jun 19, 2011, 11:51 PM UTC

I'm not from the US, and so I only follow this from a distance, but:

Taxes for the top 2 percent are very likely to go higher

Is this actually true? Obama couldn't get support to rollback tax cuts on the rich - is he really going to be able to increase them now? I believe Republican policy is to cut taxes on the rich (?)

In the United States, the very rich hold most of that wealth in dollars, which are worth increasingly less.

This isn't true either is it? Firstly, don't most of the rich hold their wealth in investments (eg, shares), which might be denominated in US Dollars but are relatively immune to long term changes in value of the dollar? Secondly, (despite all the talk) actually hasn't been any significant inflation in the US. (I'll happily concede that the US dollar has deprecated against other currencies, but that shouldn't effect the domestic purchasing power of the rich that much - even allowing for outsized impact due to imported luxury goods)

Re: Life lessons from the very wealthy

#29

Post by obtino » Mon, Jun 20, 2011, 1:28 AM UTC

cheez wrote: post #6

"Being smart is good but being lucky is better." This article is actually good.

"Luck is where preparation meets opportunity."

Re: Life lessons from the very wealthy

#30

Post by mattmorgan » Mon, Jun 20, 2011, 1:31 AM UTC

Money provides a different scale of experience, but doesn't actually have an effect in the intensity of happiness. True happiness is about managing your progression so you don't become adjusted to a lifestyle, no matter the scale. Humans adjust to almost anything, as a survival mechanism. The act of experiencing the present infinite moment can always offer enough richness for a human. This is why you can live a satisfying life whether you have everything or nothing. In the end, you must have power over your consciousness. You must be prepared for any situation, so you must learn to manage what you have at a small scale in order to manage what you have at a large scale. Just like in business, flexibiity and adaptability are most important.