I’m not saving ninety percent of my income for myself • Hacker News Board

Re: I’m not saving ninety percent of my income for myself

#141

Post by skinnymuch » Sat, Jun 08, 2019, 6:56 PM UTC

elamje wrote: post #97

cercatrova wrote: post #3

When I read stories like this, I always think of the systemic factors that are creating this behavior; that America, and indeed many countries in the world, do not have the social safety nets to take care of its own people when they can't work anymore. It would be better and more efficient for a nation as a whole to take care of its children so that they can choose their own avenues of success rather than needing to…

I like the idea of those things. However, this is HN, and full of people that would try to be productive/creative for society if they had a safety net that allowed them to pursue awesome endeavors. Many people work to earn money, not to free up time so pursue their passions and hobbies. There are a significant amount of Americans that would enjoy the safety net by watching Netflix, eating, gambling, etc. There is not…

I’ve been unemployed for a significant time period. The pressure to work is huge. I’d bet with a safety net, most people would still be working a similar amount of time.

Re: I’m not saving ninety percent of my income for myself

#142

Post by tantalor » Sat, Jun 08, 2019, 7:02 PM UTC

throwaway2019Z wrote: post #79

tantalor wrote: post #58

> A lot of Chinese people know this: It takes more than one generation to build stability A lot of every people know this. It's called "the American dream". You may have heard of it.

The American Dream is the polar opposite of relying multiple generations to achieve stability. The general interpretation of the American Dream is the notion that any one person can achieve success by working hard enough.

"Success" is subjective; for many it is providing opportunity for your kids you didn't have, e.g. first generation college.

Plus you don't work in a vacuum by yourself; mutual success is more likely if you have close relationships with friends and family.

Re: I’m not saving ninety percent of my income for myself

#143

Post by acjohnson55 » Sat, Jun 08, 2019, 7:03 PM UTC

dheera wrote: post #137

xenihn wrote: post #12

I'm honestly so jealous of the husband's situation. 7-figure networth before hitting 30, a 4-bedroom home in a major tech hub, and a compulsively frugal wife who is obsessed with financial planning and amplifying your shared incomes/networths. The dream. This article just feels like a vector to drive traffic towards her sites, though.

I would LOVE to save 90% of my income, but I live in the bay area and 30% of my income goes to rent, 6-10% goes to food, 8-10% goes to transportation, 5-7% on utilities, none of which I'm splurging on, so these aren't exactly negotiable. I also budget about 10% toward educational purchases (equipment and services, mostly tech) for personal projects and learning, which I think will financially benefit me long term eve…

As Paula Pant of Afford Anything [1] would say, you can afford anything, but not everything. The author here is house-hacking [2], which certainly isn't everyone's cup of tea, but it is one way to get around high housing costs.

I've listened to enough financial independence podcasts to know that it's absolutely possible to hit a 90% savings rate. There are guests on the show who have done it on much less income than my family, and we'll be lucky if we hit 40%. It just depends on what assumptions of necessity you're willing to give up to do it.

[1] https://affordanything.com/

[2] https://www.coachcarson.com/house-hacking-guide/

Re: I’m not saving ninety percent of my income for myself

#144

Post by ademup » Sat, Jun 08, 2019, 7:05 PM UTC

Retric wrote: post #134

arkades wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As marginal utility goes, though, it sounds like “spending more money” in this story includes things like “having more than one room to live in.” And, admittedly this was an inference rather than baldly stated, “nice vacations.” Money doesn’t just buy a different grade of items. It also buys a whole slew of novel experiences, of which you only get so many in your life. Yeah, some amount of spending can make you happi…

The ROI from vacations when your younger vs much earlier retirement seems to favor early retirement.

I emphatically disagree. If your job has high stress, then relaxing and checking out can pay huge dividends; up to and including the ability to maintain your high stress job. Additionally, for those of us who take more exploration-learning-bucket-list style vacations, the memories and knowledge offer more value the earlier in life you take them, as they contribute to lifelong education. Finally, the vacations provide networking opportunities, opening doors due to shared experiences leading to new friendships and possibly new jobs or clients.

Re: I’m not saving ninety percent of my income for myself

#145

Post by acjohnson55 » Sat, Jun 08, 2019, 7:05 PM UTC

em500 wrote: post #61

xenocyon wrote: post #37

I think about this a lot, as another frugal but high-earning household that earns way more than we spend, even after maxing out 401(k) contributions. Most people in our position save more than they need partly as a means of hedging personal risk (higher-than-typical retirement and medical expenses, children who grow up unable to financially self-suffice), and partly (IMHO) just because they gain some satisfaction fro…

> Some people also save with the thought of giving away a ton of money at death, but this again holds money out of useful purposes until decades away. What makes you believe that? The overwhelming majority of savings are held in bonds, stocks and real estate, not in paper notes in a vault. You might quible over the usefulness of savings and investments vs other allocations, but assuming is useless is pretty extreme.

And even money in "sitting" in deposit accounts is, in reality, loaned out to be put to productive purposes.

Re: I’m not saving ninety percent of my income for myself

#146

Post by vangelis » Sat, Jun 08, 2019, 7:06 PM UTC

jrobn wrote: post #29

If you look back at any wealthy family’s history they all have this story, especially in the USA. The story basically goes like this: “A long time ago our great great grandfather lived in a dirt floor home and the family worked really hard and was frugal and did without and eventually luck came their way and they made good investments, or happened to be in the right place at the right for a resource boom, and made a…

The car thing is really a symptom of American urban planning and car culture.

Re: I’m not saving ninety percent of my income for myself

#147

Post by turk73 » Sat, Jun 08, 2019, 7:06 PM UTC

badpun wrote: post #125

wayoutthere wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I mean, I’m in a similar boat. I did the whole “make it rain” thing for a few years by dripping in designer clothes, fancy restaurants, etc. But that lifestyle made me way more anxious as impostor syndrome kicked in. Having money doesn’t really solve problems; there’s always someone with more who will make you feel poor. Buy a Gucci bag and it’ll feel like half the world is dripping bespoke Hermès. You can’t win. I l…

> Buy a Gucci bag and it’ll feel like half the world is dripping bespoke Hermès. You can’t win. This is fascinating. I suspect 99% of people simply don't care and can't even tell a $50 purse from $5000 one, and this Gucci vs Hermes rivarvly is only relevant for a tiny minority of sad snobs. Like the other poster said, good for you for ditching this.

Yeah, I have zero clue what handbag you have nor could I care less. You are not your khakis.

Re: I’m not saving ninety percent of my income for myself

#148

Post by gigatexal » Sat, Jun 08, 2019, 7:09 PM UTC

I’m still trying to make up for studying economics and not CS so 5 years in (too much time spent in ops) I’m still a very junior dev making a junior dev salary.

Mad props to them for sure!

Re: I’m not saving ninety percent of my income for myself

#149

Post by luckylion » Sat, Jun 08, 2019, 7:09 PM UTC

sebst wrote: post #123

luckylion wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've never really understood fashion, so I can't comment on that (Whoever makes the models wear the most ridiculous outfit wins?). However, why isn't France going to Mars? Where is France (or Germany, or Sweden etc for that matter) creating the Internet, or GPS, or Hip-Hop, or Jazz, or doing cutting edge medical research? It's not that they don't do that at all - it just, that, if the safety net was such a strong dri…

While I hear your point that the explosion of cultural proceedings is below the utopia mentioned here, it may be worth noting that the WWW was invented by a guy born in London working partly for the French government. That was Tim Berners-Lee ;)

Yeah, I'm not arguing that nothing happens in Europe, just that it's not overwhelming - which it would have to be if the social safety nets were a deciding factor.

I don't that social safety nets play a large role - for most academics, researchers, engineers, artists, there's a de facto social safety net (via tenure, high income, patents, equity, stock options, grants, strong job security etc), so a general safety net doesn't improve their situation and output. And having a general safety net also doesn't by itself increase the amount of people of exceptional skill and/or ability.

I'm not against safety nets (though I do believe that we've gone too far and have created strong negative incentives), but I do believe that "our society will be like Star Trek" doesn't hold water. We have them, and our societies aren't like Star Trek.

Re: I’m not saving ninety percent of my income for myself

#150

Post by rhacker » Sat, Jun 08, 2019, 7:10 PM UTC

mpeg wrote: post #42

xenihn wrote: post #12

I'm honestly so jealous of the husband's situation. 7-figure networth before hitting 30, a 4-bedroom home in a major tech hub, and a compulsively frugal wife who is obsessed with financial planning and amplifying your shared incomes/networths. The dream. This article just feels like a vector to drive traffic towards her sites, though.

It feels like a recipe for marital disaster that she's living this extremely frugal lifestyle despite him making good money and he "goes along with it" (her words)

Wow, I can't count the number of men I've met that would want a wife that is extremely frugal. Also you're reading into the "goes along with it" a little bit too much - Literally inventing a whole relationship drama from 4 words is a bit insane.