Earlier quoted context omitted.
People say money can't buy happiness, but it can buy a jet ski. Have you ever seen an unhappy person on a jet ski?
Only once, and it was very very depressing to witness.
Please do elaborate :-)
If You’re So Successful, Why Are You Still Working 70 Hours a Week?
191–200 of 275 posts
Re: If You’re So Successful, Why Are You Still Working 70 Hours a Week?
#192Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Having a high wage but not enough stored wealth to feel invincible against an increasingly uncertain future Hate to be the one to tell you this, but there is no guarantee on what the future may bring, money can't fix everything, and true security is a lie. Live your life in the here and now, before you regret wasting it.
Exactly. If society were to fall apart, the number in your bank account will matter very little, if it even exists anymore...
If I look at various social collapses that people around me have seen in the last century and a half (and there have been many!), then it's clear that while the number in your bank account was not always useful, it did often provide options to protect you from the worst of society falling apart. Other things being equal (of course, often they were not equal) having resources during collapse did matter - sure, it might turn out that some class of your resources became worthless overnight, but generally it wasn't all resources at once; in collapses where land was confiscated by a invading nation, having some gold watches to trade for a way out on a ship were life-saving; in economic collapses where money and stock became near-worthless, having a spare farmhouse was a great benefit, etc.
You do need to diversify to something more than a number at a single institution, but in general, I'd say that it's the other way around - when everything is fine in society, then life is okay even if you're a bit lacking, but when things become hard and not everyone is going to make it, then the have-nots will suffer even more due to lack of options caused by lack of resources. For a crude example, think about the difference between 1930s European Jews who could or could not afford to travel overseas (which was a much more serious expense than now) when things started to become threatening.
Re: If You’re So Successful, Why Are You Still Working 70 Hours a Week?
#193Earlier quoted context omitted.
It is if you own a house mortgage-free. Dividend income on let’s say $1.5 million would be around $60,000/year. That’s pretty comfortable if your expenses don’t include shelter. That’s why my advice to young people is always to do what you have to in order to establish working credentials, then move somewhere cheap, buy a house and work remotely as much as you can. You’ll get it paid off in no time and that level of…
> On the downside, you’ll probably be living somewhere small and uncool and that may not be enough incentive to leave the bright lights of the city. This seems like social life suicide. I'm in my 30s, single, and omitted dating much in my 20s (because -- surprise surprise -- I was working way too much). I can't really move to the middle of nowhere where the dating pool is non-existent.
Online dating has changed this and you now can find decent sized dating pools anywhere you go. Unless you're very picky of course. You can also increase your matches to say 100 miles. Chances are your match will move in with you because you're already on top of your finances
Or you can date where you are, and then move somewhere cheap together
Re: If You’re So Successful, Why Are You Still Working 70 Hours a Week?
#194Wages for professionals, such as law, medicine, tech, finance, consulting, etc., have really ballooned over the past decade, since 2008 especially, even after accounting for student loan debt and inflation. This makes working long hours more attractive, as the financial payoff is so great both in terms of wages but also by investing one's income in rapidly appreciating assets such as stocks and real estate (the post-…
> Putting in long hours in your 20s and 30s to have a massive nest egg that will last you the rest of your life by your 40s seems like a good trade-off. Even amassing 7 figures by your late 20s/30s (very difficult to do reliably, also implies no debt, no adverse life events, etc.), is not remotely enough to make a "comfortable" living for the next ~5 decades of your life.
It depends on what other choices you make in terms of costs.
If you are STUPID, you insist on living in hell-holes like California (LA or SF areas) and you lock yourself into foolish costs you can easily avoid. FOMO is an excellent and primary way to make you last statement a 100% certainty.
Re: If You’re So Successful, Why Are You Still Working 70 Hours a Week?
#195Why do you suppose that people don't enjoy working 70 hours a week? My dad regularly worked 70 hour weeks - had multiple careers doctor/businessman/public figure. But he had a ton of help - manager, personal assistant, chauffeur. Everything on the home front was outsourced. He loved it. But he had a lot of control. Most people, I observe who burn out, do because of other reasons - work politics, poor health and ultim…
Most people don't enjoy working 70 hours a week.
I understand that's certainly true for most.
It's just not true for ALL. And yes, that minority are those who:
* have higher IQ or higher motivation/grit/work ethic or both
* have a marketable set of skills - both hard and soft
* do not fall into simplistic life memes that induce FOMO - they make their own success rather than rely on others to define what success must be and how it must be done
Re: If You’re So Successful, Why Are You Still Working 70 Hours a Week?
#196Earlier quoted context omitted.
As an impoverished 30 year old I wish I was more focused in building and cultivating a career path. What I did instead was "a 9-5 on something I'm good at" (not coding as I'm career switching). Guess what followed after that: Odd jobs. Yes, they pay the bills but they don't build career progression. You cannot sell yourself to someone to hire you for your 1 year experience in 8 different things. This is why consideri…
> You cannot sell yourself to someone to hire you for your 1 year experience in 8 different things. It heavily depends on what those things are. If you have one year of legitimate experience in cyber security right now, you've got a job almost anytime you want it. The same goes for many in-demand programming languages at present. That level of experience will not initially net you a very high paying tech job, however…
Yeah, but you can somewhat connect those. I mentioned "odd jobs" and I wouldn't call any of those you mentioned as such.
Re: If You’re So Successful, Why Are You Still Working 70 Hours a Week?
#197Earlier quoted context omitted.
Interesting. A lot of the "so successful" have a TON of help. At the home front things are covered - stay at home wife, cleaners etc. You come home, home cooked meal, wife happy to hang out go on a walk do whatever, kids taken care of. You go to work, you have the parking spot, the assistant with a schedule. Strong managers. Again, these are the "so successful" folks. The 70 hours of work is mostly meetings, strategy…
> You come home, home cooked meal, wife happy to hang out go on a walk do whatever That also feels outdated. I don't know many people who are happy to sit at home, prepare meals for their absent spouse, and then smile and be happy to do whatever that spouse wants to do when they get home. That feels like an image from the 50s, not 2021.
It sounds outdated but that's because "modern ideas" have tried to replace them. The fact is, you will be more successful if you can manage to have a more traditional relationship and home life - 50 millennia of human history will always trump 50 years of post-modernist clap-trap ideas and ideologies. Biology is real and trumps politics. Just ask most women over 30-40 who aren't married or drugged into a happy coma!
Re: If You’re So Successful, Why Are You Still Working 70 Hours a Week?
#198Earlier quoted context omitted.
It is if you own a house mortgage-free. Dividend income on let’s say $1.5 million would be around $60,000/year. That’s pretty comfortable if your expenses don’t include shelter. That’s why my advice to young people is always to do what you have to in order to establish working credentials, then move somewhere cheap, buy a house and work remotely as much as you can. You’ll get it paid off in no time and that level of…
> On the downside, you’ll probably be living somewhere small and uncool and that may not be enough incentive to leave the bright lights of the city. This seems like social life suicide. I'm in my 30s, single, and omitted dating much in my 20s (because -- surprise surprise -- I was working way too much). I can't really move to the middle of nowhere where the dating pool is non-existent.
Take the red pill.
Re: If You’re So Successful, Why Are You Still Working 70 Hours a Week?
#199Earlier quoted context omitted.
> You come home, home cooked meal, wife happy to hang out go on a walk do whatever That also feels outdated. I don't know many people who are happy to sit at home, prepare meals for their absent spouse, and then smile and be happy to do whatever that spouse wants to do when they get home. That feels like an image from the 50s, not 2021.
You just pay a cook to do it for you. If you're making mid six figures it's ultimately much cheaper than a spouse.
Sadly true with modern family courts in divorce... that's why MGTOW exists and is radically growing.
Re: If You’re So Successful, Why Are You Still Working 70 Hours a Week?
#200Earlier quoted context omitted.
> On the downside, you’ll probably be living somewhere small and uncool and that may not be enough incentive to leave the bright lights of the city. This seems like social life suicide. I'm in my 30s, single, and omitted dating much in my 20s (because -- surprise surprise -- I was working way too much). I can't really move to the middle of nowhere where the dating pool is non-existent.
Online dating has changed this and you now can find decent sized dating pools anywhere you go. Unless you're very picky of course. You can also increase your matches to say 100 miles. Chances are your match will move in with you because you're already on top of your finances Or you can date where you are, and then move somewhere cheap together
> Online dating has changed this and you now can find decent sized dating pools anywhere you go
This is a dubious claim, but I don't want to get into it, because I've debated this on HN ad nauseum.
> Or you can date where you are, and then move somewhere cheap together
What attractive, educated, socially-active woman in her 20s will want to move to the middle of nowhere once you get together or marry? I want to be around friends, family, alumni, and I'd wager so would she.