Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

If You’re So Successful, Why Are You Still Working 70 Hours a Week?

hbr.org

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

221–230 of 275 posts

Re: If You’re So Successful, Why Are You Still Working 70 Hours a Week?

#221

Post by mgkimsal »

bcrosby95 wrote: post #112
pb7 wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

$1M at 30 without any further contributions will be worth (after inflation) nearly $4M at 50, and nearly $8M at 60. If you're not "comfortable" spending every single penny you make while your nest egg grows, you have a spending problem.

> that will last you the rest of your life by your 40s seems like a good trade-off. I read that to mean "retire at 40". If you retire at 40, your $1M isn't going to grow to $4M at 50.

sure but if you keep spending moderate, it may grow to $2.5M-$3M, as it would probably already be around $2M in those 10 years. Instead of $8M at 60, perhaps you've spent along the way and only end up with $3M at 60?

Re: If You’re So Successful, Why Are You Still Working 70 Hours a Week?

#222

Post by thisismeme »

In Germany, the state will punish you if you work more than 32 hours per week by very high taxes. Germany has the highest average tax level for single persons (don't confuse with highest possible tax):

https://stats.oecd.org/Index.aspx?DataSetCode=TABLE_I6

Re: If You’re So Successful, Why Are You Still Working 70 Hours a Week?

#223

Post by mywittyname »

echelon wrote: post #185
mywittyname wrote: post #177

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Realistically though, 1.5MM brings in much more than $60k a year most of the time (an aggressive portfolio could return that much in a month, on occasion). So one could buy a place in a cool area with a cheap 30 year loan immediately before quitting. Live there for as long as you want, then sell it if you get the urge for a cheaper, less exciting lifestyle. Even if one overspends a little extra in those initial years…

> Realistically though, 1.5MM brings in much more than $60k a year most of the time. How are you employing it? [personal details removed]

A handful of Vanguard funds (VIGAX, VITAX, VFIAX, VWNDX) and the like.

The GP was talking solely about dividends, but most funds will re-balance and distribute long-term capital gains to you if you wish. If, in 2020, you held $1.5MM in a mix of those funds and instead of reinvesting dividends, long-term, & short-term capital gains, and instead redirected them to your bank account. You'd have something like $80k distributed and your market value would have increased to like 1.7-1.8MM.

Not that 2020 was a typical year or anything. But the past 8 or so years have told a similar story.

Re: If You’re So Successful, Why Are You Still Working 70 Hours a Week?

#224

Post by at_compile_time »

cblconfederate wrote: post #183
whytaka wrote: post #32

Because I'm not nearly as good at any hobbies as much as I'm good at my job and being good at something is what gives me day-to-day satisfaction. Having a high wage but not enough stored wealth to feel invincible against an increasingly uncertain future, I'm spending more time feeling good about work than finding and investing in a hobby that'll make me truly happy.

america seems to be very ahead economically -- many americans could retire in other parts of the world

Many Americans do.

Re: If You’re So Successful, Why Are You Still Working 70 Hours a Week?

#225

Post by cgh »

walletburst wrote: post #186
cgh wrote: post #119

Earlier 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…

If by "affordable" you mean $200 - $300k for a decent house, there are A LOT of places in the USA that are NOT small and uncool where you can buy an affordable house.

Yeah true. I’m Canadian and the situation here is different, ie worse.

Re: If You’re So Successful, Why Are You Still Working 70 Hours a Week?

#226

Post by willcipriano »

jpindar wrote: post #206
FractalHQ wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder what the EV RV industry is looking like..

The Ford F150 Lightning has a number of features made for pulling a trailer. https://www.ford.com/trucks/f150/f150-lightning/2022/#towing...

That and a truck camper[0] is probably the way I would go.

[0]https://www.lancecamper.com/truck-campers/

Re: If You’re So Successful, Why Are You Still Working 70 Hours a Week?

#227

Post by [deleted] »

mywittyname wrote: post #177
dvt wrote: post #128

Earlier 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.

Realistically though, 1.5MM brings in much more than $60k a year most of the time (an aggressive portfolio could return that much in a month, on occasion). So one could buy a place in a cool area with a cheap 30 year loan immediately before quitting. Live there for as long as you want, then sell it if you get the urge for a cheaper, less exciting lifestyle. Even if one overspends a little extra in those initial years…

[deleted]

Re: If You’re So Successful, Why Are You Still Working 70 Hours a Week?

#228

Post by klyrs »

ActorNightly wrote: post #209
JTbane wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>going with a RV route is looking more like the best possible option for the future, cause you can just pick up and leave when bad weather comes what's the plan when fuel shortages start happening and your RV can't be kept rolling?

Then you basically are in the same situation functionally as having a house, no different from other people. Maybe even better considering that you spent less money. But realistically, hybrid powertrains, or even simple multi-fuel generator charging will make this a non issue.

> Then you basically are in the same situation functionally as having a house...

Provided you're lucky enough to run out of gas in a location that your RV won't be a nuisance. And if you're in hurricane territory, an RV is not functionally equivalent to a house.

Re: If You’re So Successful, Why Are You Still Working 70 Hours a Week?

#229

Post by effingwewt »

jw433 wrote: post #216
effingwewt wrote: post #205

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This all still skirts the main issue. Why does the janitor get paid so much less for a shitty job almost no one wants to do? Why do we have damn near minimum wage construction jobs? Many jobs are important, all should be paid accordingly. Failing that, shouldn't the most labor intensive jobs therefore pay the best? The incentives are so skewed in society now. And I say that as someone who has done all kinds of crazy…

Skills. What % of software engineers could competently perform a janitorial job, preferences aside? What % of janitors could competently perform a software engineering job?

6 week coding bootcamps would beg to differ with 'skills'.

Re: If You’re So Successful, Why Are You Still Working 70 Hours a Week?

#230

Post by oh_sigh »

echelon wrote: post #185
mywittyname wrote: post #177

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Realistically though, 1.5MM brings in much more than $60k a year most of the time (an aggressive portfolio could return that much in a month, on occasion). So one could buy a place in a cool area with a cheap 30 year loan immediately before quitting. Live there for as long as you want, then sell it if you get the urge for a cheaper, less exciting lifestyle. Even if one overspends a little extra in those initial years…

> Realistically though, 1.5MM brings in much more than $60k a year most of the time. How are you employing it? [personal details removed]

If you have $6M, you can live the next 60 years on $100k/yr by simply storing it under your mattress. You should talk to a financial advisor, you almost certainly can retire now if you want to, even if you're 18 years old.
Post reply on HN