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Show HN: In a single HTML file, an app to encourage my children to invest

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Re: Show HN: In a single HTML file, an app to encourage my children to invest

#401

Post by bluGill »

com2kid wrote: post #390
dottjt wrote: post #300

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it's actually a bad thing to think about money early on. Because it adds a layer of responsibility which I think takes away from simply enjoying life and focusing on what you might be truly passionate about. One of the things I hate about my 30s is that I'm focused on money now and it feels like I'm not living the life that I want. It just feels like I'm preparing for death. Which I'm not saying isn't the sen…

> One of the things I hate about my 30s is that I'm focused on money now and it feels like I'm not living the life that I want. It just feels like I'm preparing for death. FAANG job at 22. Save up 25k a year for 4 years, that is 100k. You'll already retire at 56 with over 1.5M in the bank. It isn't perfect but it is a lot better than what most people do. Really all you need to do as a programmer is max out 401k and m…

> You'll already retire at 56 with over 1.5M in the bank

That 1.5M isn't inflation adjusted. If there is 0 inflation between now and when you die 1.5M is plenty. However the more inflation there is between now and when you die the more money you will need, the later you need to retire, or the less spending money you have. (of course we need to asking how things like social security fits into your plans as well, but this is already complex enough).

If you 22 and used to a FAANG income even with saving $25k/year every year you need more than 3M to retire retire without losing quality of life (even though most of that is luxury).

Are you willing to live on less, or will you discover with your free time you want to spend more money (hobby supplies? Now you have time to travel - maybe first class). I can't answer this question for you, but you need to think about it. Worse, your answer is likely to change over time.

Re: Show HN: In a single HTML file, an app to encourage my children to invest

#402

Post by array_key_first »

RealStickman_ wrote: post #374
array_key_first wrote: post #353

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's even worse, because the entire point of the stock market is supposed to be that investors choose where to put their money based on how the company is performing and what they're saying. I.e., you vote with your wallet, and the market therefore punishes bad behavior and rewards good behavior. If everyone is passively investing, that no longer works. Then it's not even a market. We don't even know, for sure, if…

Investors are obviously bad a choosing where to invest. See any widely overvalued company

Right but those wildly overvalued companies become that way because millions of passive investors just mindlessly dump their money into them.

If you use big index funds, you're the primary people contributing to Nvidia, Tesla, and openAI. You didn't start it, no, but you certainly propelled that ball forward like a bullet.

And, well, that's fine, because we cant expect anyone really to actively invest. The problem is we don't know if this works. This definitely has the potential to blow up. You have to realize that what we're doing here is undermining the stock market at a conceptual level.

Re: Show HN: In a single HTML file, an app to encourage my children to invest

#403

Post by a96 »

b_e_n_t_o_n wrote: post #304
bossyTeacher wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When people talk about a single plain HTML file, it implies that all markup and code is contained in the file and no libraries are being used

No it doesn't

Yes it does

Re: Show HN: In a single HTML file, an app to encourage my children to invest

#404

Post by a96 »

neilv wrote: post #317
Galanwe wrote: post #39

> I act as their investment agent, assigning realistic interest rates Author then proceeds to put 15% annual interest rate...

Where can I get 15% annualized returns, please? (I'm told to no longer bet on even averaging 7% annually, over decades, on US stock indexes.)

15% yield would be a hell of an arbitrage opportunity if you could get a sensible loan to go along with that.

Re: Show HN: In a single HTML file, an app to encourage my children to invest

#405

Post by darkwater »

whatevertrevor wrote: post #347
dottjt wrote: post #343

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> One can lead a meaningful, enjoyable life while also considering their finances. This is where I disagree. I think there's a certain amount of naivety required to pursue meaningful things. There's so much in life that makes no financial sense that creates meaning. The moment you start having to think sensibly from a financial perspective, is when so many of these things no longer make sense. Once you're plugged int…

> There's so much in life that makes no financial sense that creates meaning. The moment you start having to think sensibly from a financial perspective, is when so many of these things no longer make sense. I get the sentiment, but it implies the opposite of your conclusion. Since so many things make no sense from a financial point of view, the only sensible strategy is to break free of the financial constraints as…

Oh, the FIRE community. If you trained yourself to live looking at the money you need to save to retire, your brain will most likely be wired to that behavior, and breaking free from that will be utterly difficult. On top of that, people with the FIRE mindset have probably by default already a strong (innate? taught?) bias towards enjoying optimizing their life and making it the end goal.

Re: Show HN: In a single HTML file, an app to encourage my children to invest

#406

Post by dndn1 »

Not for the same audience but for much the same idea I made a progressive visualization of saving and compound interest in a blog post about pension saving:

https://calcwithdec.dev/posts/pictures-pensions/

I intentionally didn't include numbers at all - they are a bit more effort to interpret.

A visualization might be a nice feature for kids (but it probably depends on the kid!)

Re: Show HN: In a single HTML file, an app to encourage my children to invest

#408

Post by vasco »

simianparrot wrote: post #386
Brendinooo wrote: post #363

Earlier quoted context omitted.

More or less: yup. The great thing about saying "give 10%" is how well it scales.

Except it doesn’t. If you’re poor, 10% directly impacts your life negatively. It means less (or lesser quality) food. It means less money set aside for yourself in the case you need it — and you will. 10% for middle class is fine. That’s just one less night out. People should not give to charity if they themselves are likely to be dependent on charity.

> give what you can when you can

Re: Show HN: In a single HTML file, an app to encourage my children to invest

#409

Post by triceratops »

TeMPOraL wrote: post #378
triceratops wrote: post #185

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> the application to real life practical financial scenarios was definitely not done Of course it was. You can't teach compound interest without referring to money or banks. That's the whole point of it. Otherwise it's just multiplication.

Not only you can, I still don't see how the financial "magic of compounding" isn't bullshit for vast majority of people - you can't really make significant money this way in reasonable time spans (5 years rather than 50).

5 years isn't a reasonable timespan. Compounding over the course of a 35 year career, earning a modest wage, will fund a comfortable 20 year retirement. If that's "bullshit" for most people then too bad. Good things come to those who wait etc.

Re: Show HN: In a single HTML file, an app to encourage my children to invest

#410

Post by ryandrake »

dottjt wrote: post #366
whatevertrevor wrote: post #347

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> There's so much in life that makes no financial sense that creates meaning. The moment you start having to think sensibly from a financial perspective, is when so many of these things no longer make sense. I get the sentiment, but it implies the opposite of your conclusion. Since so many things make no sense from a financial point of view, the only sensible strategy is to break free of the financial constraints as…

> Since so many things make no sense from a financial point of view, the only sensible strategy is to break free of the financial constraints as soon as possible. Money cannot buy you happiness, but it can buy you the freedom to pursue it. So I think the reason why this doesn't make sense (in my mind) is because in a state of retirement i.e. financial independence, you're still just as conscious of money as you were…

> To me the freedom I'm referring to is similar to that of childhood - where you're not worried/concerned about "the system". You're just doing your own thing in your own world. That kind of purity no amount of money can resolve, even in an early retirement scenario.

The only ways you can live as an adult unconcerned about the system is 1. if you actually have a substantial financial backstop (trust fund, wealthy parents, etc.) and just pretend you don't, or 2. if you don't have a financial backstop, at which point "doing your own thing in the world" just means being a vagrant, drifter or bum.

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