Early Retirement (2006) • Hacker News Board

Re: Early Retirement (2006)

#291

Post by nly » Thu, Aug 05, 2021, 7:53 AM UTC

brianwawok wrote: post #102

rubicon33 wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a mid-30s software developer who is trying to save as much as possible, with the hopes of retiring before I'm old and deprecate, this really sucks to read. $2 million in investments AND a payed off mortgage and still, it doesn't pencil out to retire? Seems like over the past decade+ the 'value' of even $1 million has become more and more diluted. To support even just a middle class, to upper middle class lifestyle…

The "Safe withdraw rate" is something like 4%. 1 million saved = 40k per year, adjusting with inflation. 2 million saved = 80k per year, adjusting for inflation. If you can live a life you want for 80k a year, then sure - 2 million can do it. And yes, there will always be a "what if the economy collapses etc. etc", but retiring doesn't mean you can never ever for any reason hold a job again or make money.

Fortunately house wealth can help via equity release / a lifetime mortgage. Of you don't want to pass it on to your kids that is.

Re: Early Retirement (2006)

#292

Post by nly » Thu, Aug 05, 2021, 7:59 AM UTC

toomuchtodo wrote: post #245

spacedcowboy wrote: post #241

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But... I won't be ? I'm a Brit. I have lots of family in the UK. My wife doesn't have any siblings, her mother lives in Costa Rica, and her father lives in Southern CA but hasn't visited in the 10 years we've been married (we've been there). Perhaps it wasn't clear, but I was expecting the kid (man, at that point, I guess) to come with - there's plenty of excellent universities in the UK, and he'll even be legally ab…

Some might say you're giving your son a gift having citizenship in both the US and the UK. Options are freedom.

Must be raging that that doesn't include EU citizenship now

Re: Early Retirement (2006)

#293

Post by nly » Thu, Aug 05, 2021, 8:06 AM UTC

defaultname wrote: post #37

dagw wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe, but I don’t know anyone who’s less happy being retired. I've known lots of people who spiraled into various levels of depression after retirement. It's even more likely if the retirement wasn't voluntary.

Retirement is such a loaded word because to many it means "wealthy enough to do whatever they want", whereas traditionally it meant "no longer useful to employers". In the former case we have stories of 20-somethings "retiring", the word repurposed into just a meaningless boast. In the no longer useful to employers vein, in the working class town I grew up in there was a common observation that retirement was a harbi…

I prefer the term "financially independent". Just knowing you can walk away at any time without ending up homeless or in poverty.

Re: Early Retirement (2006)

#294

Post by nly » Thu, Aug 05, 2021, 8:30 AM UTC

300bps wrote: post #103

2sk21 wrote: post #75

I retired early recently - I am in my mid 50s. It's not anywhere as hard as people seem to think. With a disciplined approach to investing, I think that it's very much possible to reach financial independence with a typical tech salary in the US. I achieved FI without an extraordinarily high salary, stock grants or participating in an IPO. There is a treasure trove of information in the Bogleheads wiki: https://www.b…

Lots of people are able to say, “it’s very much possible to reach financial independence” when the DOW has more than tripled in the last ten years. The Boglehead philosophy is perfect for these conditions (and many others). If the stock market reverts to the mean over the next ten years, it won’t seem quite as possible though.

What's the alternative?

Stock market returns may be muted and uncertain but cash pays nothing for sure.

The property market in the UK is at record highs in terms of price:income ratios, but it can still make sense to buy rather than rent due to record low interest rates (Gross rental yields being 4-6% and interest rates 1.5-4%), and the certainty it gives you (Investing your 20-25% deposit won't do you much good if house prices and rents outstrip the stock market in the 20-30 years before you retire)

Re: Early Retirement (2006)

#295

Post by zemvpferreira » Thu, Aug 05, 2021, 10:28 AM UTC

baobaba wrote: post #139

> Retirement forces you to stop thinking that it is your job that holds you back. For most people the depressing truth is that they aren't that organized, disciplined, or motivated. This resonates. I took a 1-year sabbatical after 12 years in the tech industry. I kept a big text file with all the things I wanted to do once I had the time. When I finally did, I realized I only wanted to do one thing from that list (of…

Don't blame yourself, one year is barely enough to decompress after a decade of work. Who knows how productively happy you could be after getting all the tiredness out of your system?

Re: Early Retirement (2006)

#296

Post by trashface » Thu, Aug 05, 2021, 12:35 PM UTC

burntsushi wrote: post #123

isthis129283 wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You should subtract capital gains. Unless you know of a way to put $84k/year into a roth account.

If your retirement income comes entirely from long term capital gains, then the first $80K you sell per year is tax free.

80K is for married, for single filers its 40K.

Re: Early Retirement (2006)

#297

Post by jaybe1234 » Thu, Aug 05, 2021, 1:52 PM UTC

_k9eq wrote: post #131

ok2938 wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My problem is, I'm kind of anti-capitalist, to make it short. Labor and capital and not just production factors, but they constitute a power relationship (and often a quite asymmetric one). I cannot bring myself to "invest" in something or believe that "my money works for me" - that's delusional. Money does not "work". People get all upset about the stance, but all I am saying is that everyone wants to profit off som…

Unless your opposition to capitalism is based on idealistic notions of morality, you have to accept that it is the predominant mode of production that society involuntarily finds itself in. Marx was financed by Engels, a factory owner and capitalist, and if he had refused to do so on principle, he would have probably never gotten around to write any of his theory (regardless of what one things of it). Money disassoci…

Capitalism by it's nature is exploitative. You work for me and I pay you less than your labor is worth so I make a profit. It's a system built on greed and profit and is most certainly unethical.

The system privileges the top unconditionally. Think what you want, but let's not pretend that capitalism is an ethical system where the laborer isn't exploited.

Re: Early Retirement (2006)

#298

Post by renerthr » Thu, Aug 05, 2021, 2:27 PM UTC

dagw wrote: post #15

MattGaiser wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Both my grandfathers have repeatedly tried to retire and within 3 weeks went back to work until in the case of one his boss changed and in the case of the other, at 77 he is still working. For many their work is very core to their identity and without it, they have little to do.

I think easing out of work is important. My dad 'retired' at 67 and instantly got hired back as a consultant on an hourly basis. He then spent the next 3 or so years slowly cutting down his hours until he was only working ~20-30% at which point he felt ready quit.

Newbie here. What is a consultant? What are the education or job experience reqs to be able to properly call yourself a consultant?

Re: Early Retirement (2006)

#299

Post by aidenn0 » Thu, Aug 05, 2021, 2:28 PM UTC

awb wrote: post #272

aidenn0 wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've tried that. Things that compel me to move: Food, water, bathroom, pain. Perhaps I lack dreams.

I think they’d say, “Keep sitting”

It's been a while since I had the luxury of sitting, but when I did, I confirmed that "days" was insufficiently long.

Re: Early Retirement (2006)

#300

Post by dagw » Thu, Aug 05, 2021, 2:57 PM UTC

renerthr wrote: post #298

dagw wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think easing out of work is important. My dad 'retired' at 67 and instantly got hired back as a consultant on an hourly basis. He then spent the next 3 or so years slowly cutting down his hours until he was only working ~20-30% at which point he felt ready quit.

Newbie here. What is a consultant? What are the education or job experience reqs to be able to properly call yourself a consultant?

A consultant is basically anyone who is paid by the hour/day to works on projects and isn't employed by the company whose project they're working on.

Generally the difference between a consultant and a contractor is kind of diffuse, but basically a consultant has more autonomy and is expected to offer advice and guidance based on their experience, while a contractor is expected more to just implement a plan given to them. But as I said it's very diffuse and many people use the term contractor and consultant interchangeably.

As to what it requires, literally just that you can convince someone to pay you money for you to give them advice. Often a consultant will have a lot of experience in a specific area and will be brought on by companies that need help and expertise in that area for a specific project, but don't want to hire an expert full time.

There are also consulting companies that employ people and hire them out to other companies as consultants. At which point you just get a regular salary from your employer and the company you are hired out to pays your employer for the hours you work.