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Don't Waste the Good Days

seths.blog

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Re: Don't Waste the Good Days

#291

Post by staticassertion »

imtringued wrote: post #229
staticassertion wrote: post #165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Lots of people I know in a generation or two above me regret not saving when they were younger. Now they're nervous about being 70 and having to retire soon but not feeling stable, or feeling that they may financially burden their children. Compounding interest on money means, as previously mentioned, money you earn at 20 will be 10x as valuable compared to money earned towards a typical retirement age. With tech hav…

Has it ever occured to you that you are getting paid off the work off your friends and family and by giving their money back they are simply back to square one?

I don't think your sentence is particularly well formed so it's not clear what you're getting at.

Re: Don't Waste the Good Days

#292

Post by staticassertion »

hericium wrote: post #259
staticassertion wrote: post #165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Lots of people I know in a generation or two above me regret not saving when they were younger. Now they're nervous about being 70 and having to retire soon but not feeling stable, or feeling that they may financially burden their children. Compounding interest on money means, as previously mentioned, money you earn at 20 will be 10x as valuable compared to money earned towards a typical retirement age. With tech hav…

> Do experiences compound? Will I enjoy an experience more at 25 than 45? Maybe, and there's always some balance, of course. No one should work themselves to death. There are experiences you may be incapable of considering later in life. Doing stupid, immature shit is fun and forms a person in many ways. Some errors are also better made earlier.

Yeah I mean I'm not advocating for some sort of monk-like isolation where you have No Fun and work 24/7. Just as I'm sure people aren't suggesting living a wild life where no consequences or future is considered.

I'm just saying that tipping the balance for a few years can be a really good tradeoff, and to counter the "deathbed" anecdote above.

Re: Don't Waste the Good Days

#293

Post by gchamonlive »

quesera wrote: post #288
bluedevil2k wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> is still privilege The guy worked hard and earned his year off, don’t dismiss it by calling it privilege. He has the skills and intelligence and hard working habits to earn the year off, this is not privilege. Successful people aren’t successful because of privilege, that’s just a label for an excuse by those who aren’t successful. You get what you earn in life.

> Successful people aren’t successful because of privilege, that’s just a label for an excuse by those who aren’t successful. You get what you earn in life. I wish there were words to convince you of how profoundly incorrect you are about this. Unfortunately, it will probably require years and pain instead. Maybe your own pain, or if you're more fortunate you will develop empathy for others. In the meantime, some peo…

Thanks for reminding me of Ayn Rand, lot of what I understand comes from philosophers I carelessly brushed over. I have to take some time to really dig into their work.

Re: Don't Waste the Good Days

#294

Post by Invictus0 »

neop1x wrote: post #286
Invictus0 wrote: post #221

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wish I could downvote this twice. Don't postpone your life indefinitely in the name of efficiency: plenty of people trying for FIRE die or become injured or diseased before retirement. Live your life. Tomorrow is not guaranteed.

The exact opposite is as bad. Spend all the money for cars, entertainment and fun and your elderly days will be miserable. In addition to health and maybe movement problems you will have trouble to afford medicine, rent or an elderly care and you will be eating cheap junk food. Don't forget that average life expectancy is rising...

Nowhere did I suggest to blow it all on cars and entertainment. If I were to make a suggestion, I would suggest that balance is key. But OP suggested that a trip to Bali was a waste of time and instead that time would be better spent working in big tech. I mean seriously, I get that this is HN but we're getting into satire territory here. A trip to Bali costs what, a few thousand dollars? Big tech salaries are 100k and up, commonly much much more. What do you think money is even for? What are you looking forward to so much in retirement that a trip to bali when you're young is a waste of time?

Re: Don't Waste the Good Days

#295

Post by rufus_foreman »

emodendroket wrote: post #175
staticassertion wrote: post #165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Lots of people I know in a generation or two above me regret not saving when they were younger. Now they're nervous about being 70 and having to retire soon but not feeling stable, or feeling that they may financially burden their children. Compounding interest on money means, as previously mentioned, money you earn at 20 will be 10x as valuable compared to money earned towards a typical retirement age. With tech hav…

If you retire when you're 40 don't you basically have to live in mortal fear of serious illness for the rest of your life?

No. You buy health insurance.

Re: Don't Waste the Good Days

#296

Post by Ostrogodsky »

czbond wrote: post #122
Ostrogodsky wrote: post #55

Or you just need to work because otherwise you will starve and/or become homeless.

A lot of the responses which suggest everyone needs "endless schedule free time as a right" miss this point - either they, or someone else, is supporting their need to eat, sleep, and provide.

One of the replies suggested that everybody should "take a Sabbatical, pack your things and travel the world" haha

Re: Don't Waste the Good Days

#297

Post by bradlys »

erwincoumans wrote: post #140
ChildOfChaos wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A lot of employers still won't allow that even though it's possible. You have to be online on messaging services/contactable by email with quick response during normal hours, making it very hard to do much else in this time. Covid has meant more people working remotely, but hasn't changed working schedules that much from what i have seen here at least.

How can you get 'in the zone' with constant messaging/on-call. I'm glad not to be in such position.

You don’t. That’s kind of the point.

We still live in a world full of companies that don’t allow software engineers to work in their best environment.

Re: Don't Waste the Good Days

#298

Post by cultofmetatron »

ryandrake wrote: post #41

I feel like there is wisdom in "Make hay while the sun shines." When you're young and unencumbered by responsibility and family, when your cognitive abilities are at their peak, when your energy is endless, when your body is strong and healthy, when your knees work, and your fingers can type without arthritis: that's the optimal time to work and earn. Min-max that salary and stay healthy. Due to compounding interest,…

Yea thats what my dad did. head down, work hard. "save for retirement"

He finally retired and had a stroke a year in. Thankfully he's still with us but with limited mobility. That trip to africa to see wild animals that he was waiting for retirement to do? yea not happening now.

My parents now see the wisdom of me traveling now. Travel and LIVE while you're young enough to enjoy it.

Re: Don't Waste the Good Days

#299

Post by thenerdhead »

This feels like a common theme for videos, blogs, etc of the whole "I wasted my 20s or 30s".

You’ve probably heard the old analogy that there is an imbalance of our time, money, and energy depending on what stage we are in throughout our lives. If you haven’t, it’s the idea that when we’re young, we have no money. When we’re middle-aged, we have no time. And when we’re elderly, we have no energy.

Work will always follow Parkinson's Law which is an old adage that work will expand to fill the time allotted. If you do not choose to take control over your time, your work can take over your life.

Our time is precious. It’s the one resource we cannot replenish, yet we treat it like disposable income or energy.

Rather we should say No to more things(especially work related). It’s the single word that will give you time, money, and energy. No gives you more autonomy and allows you to consistently follow through with your routine or spur of the moment activities. This simple word is the difference between seeing your outcomes and reaching your goals yet nobody does it. Yes lives on as a commitment. No is a decision.

Re: Don't Waste the Good Days

#300

Post by onion2k »

staticassertion wrote: post #207
onion2k wrote: post #200

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Go windsurfing for a year in Ibiza after college, and you're adding 5 years to your working life--retiring at 62 instead of 57. You may have a grand plan to retire at 57, but what if you love the work you're doing then? What if you die at 56? What if your employer is ageist and fires you at 50? What if the economy collapses in 30 years time and wipes out your pension fund? What if your knees give out at 57 and you're…

What if you'd die wind surfing? What if you would have cured cancer if you'd only worked that one extra day? What if you would have met the love of your life on the train to work? Asking a bunch of hypotheticals isn't a great way to make your point. Yes, as time goes on the chance of "bad things happens" increases. But we can also make a lot of assumptions. I don't plan to die at 57, I don't plan on being expendable…

Asking a bunch of hypotheticals isn't a great way to make your point.

The hypotheticals are the point. When you're thinking about how to live your life, to windsurf or to build your savings for example, you're considering hypotheticals because you have to make a choice about which one to do. All the others are hypotheticals because you end up not doing them. Planning is all about hypotheticals.

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