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Ask PG & other successful folks: how did your life change after FU money?

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Re: Ask PG & other successful folks: how did your life change after FU money?

#121

Post by robryan »

jaxn wrote: post #47
DanielBMarkham wrote: post #26

The more I think about this -- really think about it -- the more I become convinced that anonymity and a small amount of recurring income, along with a reasonably-frugal life, is probably the best outcome in life. EDIT: Just to clarify, I'm not saying to be poor. I'm saying that the more your income becomes visible -- past just having a low-key life -- the more it gets in the way of things, both for you and your fami…

As long as you are content there forever. Like the research says, once you take the worry about money out of the equation, money no longer becomes much of a motivator. Kind of makes it hard to work or do other ventures.

If money was you only motivator in the first place.

Re: Ask PG & other successful folks: how did your life change after FU money?

#122

Post by alextp »

sailormoon wrote: post #34
DanielBMarkham wrote: post #26

The more I think about this -- really think about it -- the more I become convinced that anonymity and a small amount of recurring income, along with a reasonably-frugal life, is probably the best outcome in life. EDIT: Just to clarify, I'm not saying to be poor. I'm saying that the more your income becomes visible -- past just having a low-key life -- the more it gets in the way of things, both for you and your fami…

A room of one's own and GBP£500 a year? Now where have I heard that before.

That's a very good book to read, even as a man from a completely different time and circumstance than Virginia Woolf's when she wrote it.

Re: Ask PG & other successful folks: how did your life change after FU money?

#123

Post by dedward »

Using the term loosely (some of my friends would consider me someone with "FU" money - but I'm not in the "go out and buy a porsche for every day of the week cause I like it" territory")

1) I view money differently than I did before. Not because I don't have to care about it, because I absolutely do, or it wouldn't last long, but everyday worries around "how can we pay bill X" go away, and are replaced by worries about long term strategy and, at least in my case, not getting caught up in long term strategy. Life goes on.

2) It takes some effort to adjust your thought process with regards to how to treat others. Talking about my exciting trip to europe with my friends comes across to some people as bragging or showing off - and while it's absolutely NOT - it's just me being happy and sharing it with friends - after some time you learn to read people and pick up on this - and remember that money isn't the same thing for everyone, and can be a sensitive topic.

- FU money is no more or less than what you make of it... and it can run out as fast as it came if you aren't careful. Plenty of people are in the "FU" financial stage and don't even realize it, and plenty of people who wish they were there wouldn't do any better - your financial practices largely dictate your long term financial well being - whether you have a little or a lot.

I know a number of people well further into the FU money than me - and I'd say they're an even mix of people who became happier, struggled and are still unhappy, or even worse, or who pretty much just stayed exactly the same (as far as I can tell).

Remember, when most people say they wish they were rich, what they mean is they want the lifestyle they think rich people have - which isn't, in reality, what they envision it to be. (Rap stars on MTV don't sit around smokin blunts surrounded by hotties 24/7 and driving sports cars - they spend time working on new albums, hanging out with friends, and doing the scene)

Re: Ask PG & other successful folks: how did your life change after FU money?

#124

Post by dedward »

umjames wrote: post #110
frisco wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

These largely seem like the exact things you shouldn't do with FU money. Fly private? Bury your own fiber lines? Randomly give out $50 when the spot in line isn't really worth that? These sound like great ways to quickly end up without money again.

I choose to look at it this way: the true benefit of having money is the freedom of choice it can buy you, not the material items/services themselves. The freedom to choose not to spend your time doing things you don't like or find tedious sounds pretty good to me.

Bingo - time, your time, is the one thing you can't buy more of later.

Having money makes you realize you actually didn't need as much of it as you thought you did.

Re: Ask PG & other successful folks: how did your life change after FU money?

#125

Post by dedward »

d_r wrote: post #16
ttol wrote: post #7

Be prepared for it mentally and emotionally before getting FU money. It's not dissimilar to winning the lottery. Most of you reading this site is either working extremely hard to get FU money or has it already. If you're not prepared for it, it will just amplify your worst nightmares and habits, and there's a good chance the meaning of many things in life, including life itself, will disappear. Plan for a use/purpose…

I'm not sure why someone would downvote you. Having a journey _is_ key, and this is why "FU money" would be useful. Given a lucky $5,000,000 lottery win, many people on HN would probably have a chance to leave the day job and finally take a shot at accomplishing their dream (perhaps building the next amazing geo-tagging-social-network, or opening a store, or whatever it might be.) Without a dream, people will just sp…

You just said something really interesting in there...... that perhaps it would be building the next geo-tagging-social network.

That's the problem - assuming the readers are techies.... if I suddenly had my FU money - the last thing I'd want to do is start a technology company, unless it was something I was really super passionate about.

I'd personally rather go back to having my computers as my hobby, and work on my family, other hobbies, travel, maybe learn to write better.... and work on long term financial managemnet so I'll be set for good, as well as my family. And yeha, maybe a fancy-ish car or two - but the money buys my personal time back- the last thing I'd want to do is dump it into work again...

Re: Ask PG & other successful folks: how did your life change after FU money?

#126

Post by gamble »

dstorrs wrote: post #101
dwwoelfel wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What kind of schleps have you bought yourself out of? If you prefer a less personal question, what kind of schleps could one buy oneself out of?

Here are some "trading money for time / convenience" options that I'd love to be able to afford: 1) Shopping. For a few extra bucks, most large grocery stores will deliver. 2) Laundry. Pay a service to pick up / clean / drop off your clothes. 3) Travel. For long distances, fly first class (far more comfortable), or charter a plane (no TSA experience!). For in-city, take a cab. 4) Dining. Not in the mood to cook? Eat…

Opportunity #2 isn't necessarily a win, if you're not careful. There is an industry out there ready to separate the newly wealthy from their wealth - the same one that convinces average people to dump their money into mutual funds with outrageous fees, but since you're rich they can afford to apply the personal attention and salesmanship of a luxury car dealership.

Re: Ask PG & other successful folks: how did your life change after FU money?

#127

Post by wake_up_sticky »

dedward wrote: post #123

Using the term loosely (some of my friends would consider me someone with "FU" money - but I'm not in the "go out and buy a porsche for every day of the week cause I like it" territory") 1) I view money differently than I did before. Not because I don't have to care about it, because I absolutely do, or it wouldn't last long, but everyday worries around "how can we pay bill X" go away, and are replaced by worries abo…

"FU money is no more or less than what you make of it... and it can run out as fast as it came if you aren't careful. Plenty of people are in the "FU" financial stage and don't even realize it, and plenty of people who wish they were there wouldn't do any better - your financial practices largely dictate your long term financial well being - whether you have a little or a lot."

Eh, this just doesn't ring true to me. I'm pretty sure that everyone I know would do much better with an extra $10M, not the same or worse.

Re: Ask PG & other successful folks: how did your life change after FU money?

#128

Post by nandemo »

dstorrs wrote: post #101
dwwoelfel wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What kind of schleps have you bought yourself out of? If you prefer a less personal question, what kind of schleps could one buy oneself out of?

Here are some "trading money for time / convenience" options that I'd love to be able to afford: 1) Shopping. For a few extra bucks, most large grocery stores will deliver. 2) Laundry. Pay a service to pick up / clean / drop off your clothes. 3) Travel. For long distances, fly first class (far more comfortable), or charter a plane (no TSA experience!). For in-city, take a cab. 4) Dining. Not in the mood to cook? Eat…

1) Shopping. For a few extra bucks, most large grocery stores will deliver.

Here in Tokyo a supermarket will charge about U$5 for delivery. I imagine the fee wouldn't be very different in North America. Hardly FU money. (Actually the delivery fee is waived for purchases over $50, so I buy groceries once a week and never pay for delivery.)

2) Laundry. Pay a service to pick up / clean / drop off your clothes.

6) Housecleaning. Hire a service.

These are very cheap in the Third World. You can make a living as a remote freelancer out of Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Thai, etc. Of course most people don't want to move to Third World countries buy hey, it's way easier than ever getting FU money. ;-)

4) Dining. Not in the mood to cook? Eat out whenever you want.

I don't cook and I spend less than $22 a day for food. Not very frugal but again not even close to FU money.

5) Taxes. Pay someone else.

Filling my taxes used to take 5 minutes per year. Now that my name and address are pre-printed on the form, it takes me about 1. Everything else is done by my company.

Re: Ask PG & other successful folks: how did your life change after FU money?

#129

Post by MisterWebz »

statictype wrote: post #24
[deleted] wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[deleted]

A person's life after getting FU money could very well depend on their financial state (and relatedly, their experiences and outlook in life) before getting rich. Seems like a valid question to me.

Exactly. Too bad no one here mentioned it, i was really curious.

Re: Ask PG & other successful folks: how did your life change after FU money?

#130

Post by robryan »

bsnss-mn-cdr wrote: post #109
jeb wrote: post #2

Pretty much the same life, the toys are just a bit bigger. One thing I've found though - girls don't care about the money in the bank. Maybe they care about if you drive a big car or something, but just spending a lot does not seem to result in the ladies being significantly more impressed. Interaction with other people is more of a i-don't-give-a-shit-who-you-are anymore. Take it or leave it is much easier. Life is…

There are two types of people ( not just women but I see it more with women because I pay more attention to them... ) those who want to have nice material things more than anything else and those that don't. The women who genuinely do not care about material things in life will most likely not be 'impressed' by what you have or how you spend your money. On the other side however the women who do care will be signific…

There is a lot of middle ground here, my girlfriend isn't going to leave me if I don't have a high paying job or company but she sure wouldn't object if I did come into money and gave her expensive gifts.
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