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I Feel Like I Have No Real Interests; My Only Interest Is Making Money

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Re: I Feel Like I Have No Real Interests; My Only Interest Is Making Money

#141

Post by rv-de »

mstipetic wrote: post #44
artemonster wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

how is it possible to save 2.5 mil from salary? I am from upper 5% in germany in terms of salary, and I can only manage to save ~10kEur/year, while maintaining decent lifestyle. An order of magnitude lower than you'd need to retire with such a sum after 20 years or so. How do you do that? Genuine question

Germany is not set up to have people get rich from a salary. Everyone has a comfortable life, but it's very hard to get "rich." That's one of the reasons I left Germany

When you're settling down you can still come back to Germany enjoying a mostly functioning society and reasonable expenses. You'll just need to figure out a way to evade taxes.

Re: I Feel Like I Have No Real Interests; My Only Interest Is Making Money

#142

Post by mstipetic »

rv-de wrote: post #141
mstipetic wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Germany is not set up to have people get rich from a salary. Everyone has a comfortable life, but it's very hard to get "rich." That's one of the reasons I left Germany

When you're settling down you can still come back to Germany enjoying a mostly functioning society and reasonable expenses. You'll just need to figure out a way to evade taxes.

I have no reason to be there. Came there for the "startup scene" but realised after a while how weak, unoriginal and underpaid most of it is

Re: I Feel Like I Have No Real Interests; My Only Interest Is Making Money

#144

Post by bumby »

pc86 wrote: post #137
bumby wrote: post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Except we mere mortal humans have the added constraint of limited time. Meaning if you were planning on retiring during one of the long sideways or downturns your required "time in the market" may have just been extended by a decade. The impact of that depends on the unique time constraints of the individual and how well they addressed risk exposure. Add to that, most economists don't think the long-term market retur…

Future returns could certainly be less. But all we have to go on is what's happened so far. In the past even the worst entry+exit points are acceptable for retirement if not astounding, if you've saved something like 15% of your income for age 30-65 (I forget the exact numbers but that's more-or-less close to it). Yes, some people have to choose between cutting their standard of living and retiring on time, and retir…

Your point is well taken on future returns and how starting the compound interest cycle is a major contributor to success.

>that has never happened

This is the part that I disagree with. Talk with anyone who planned on retiring around 2008-ish. As a hypothetical, if the market is the proxy measure they lost around 5-8 years of retirement because they had to have "more time in the market" to re-coup losses. If they actually retired and were drawing down their money, it's even worse. Granted, the hypothetical is biased because someone of retirement age shouldn't have that much market exposure, but the point still stands that, while true at the population level, waiting for the market to recover doesn't always work out well at the individual level. I tend to think the people who tout long-term averages of market returns tend to ignore the long periods of sideways or downward movement that may align with an individual's specific circumstances.

Re: I Feel Like I Have No Real Interests; My Only Interest Is Making Money

#145

Post by floor2 »

mewpmewp2 wrote: post #133
piva00 wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I think while you don't have "FU money" it's important for money to be the main focus of your life. You don't have freedom if you don't have a lot of money and you can't be 100% happy without freedom, at least in my experience, though I know opinions vary here. The thing is that not everyone can or will achieve that. If we know that, what's the main drive for others to do that? We don't live in a system where this…

That would be an extremely sad thing for me at least. Knowing that I would have no way to become truly free. Free as in I don't owe anyone my time. Maybe others can accept it or are forced to accept it. I just can't. But people of course are different. Currently I just can't wait to reach that state. Sometimes I'm counting days even. I could never be happy/relaxed as long as I am forced to work, or forced to work und…

If you had millions of dollars, you'd still need to brush your teeth. And sleep and eat and shower and use the toilet. Would those things mean you're not truly free?

You'll always be 'forced to work' even if that work is just keeping your body alive and well. Perhaps it would be worth trying to find happiness now, rather than hoping it's hidden behind the next achievement.

Re: I Feel Like I Have No Real Interests; My Only Interest Is Making Money

#146

Post by majewsky »

rv-de wrote: post #141
mstipetic wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Germany is not set up to have people get rich from a salary. Everyone has a comfortable life, but it's very hard to get "rich." That's one of the reasons I left Germany

When you're settling down you can still come back to Germany enjoying a mostly functioning society and reasonable expenses. You'll just need to figure out a way to evade taxes.

Living off capital gains is the easiest tax dodge in Germany. You pay ~50% on income, but only ~25% on dividends etc. (and that's before your financial adviser gets creative).

Re: I Feel Like I Have No Real Interests; My Only Interest Is Making Money

#147

Post by dm319 »

torben-friis wrote: post #43

The post leaves a question unanswered: Are you displeased of not having passions because you think it would be a nice, healthy thing to have? Or is it because you have the impression that people that are passionate about something have an easier time monetizing it, and your ventures are failing because of it? Also, are you sharing this to get some thoughts on the matter? Or to get views for the post and potentially g…

Yes it's not clear is it? And I suspect that it probably isn't clear in the author's mind either.

Re: I Feel Like I Have No Real Interests; My Only Interest Is Making Money

#148

Post by dorkwood »

To me, what he seems to enjoy most isn't the act of making money itself, but the act of getting better at making money. The great thing about having "making money" as your hobby is that the feedback for performing competently is very clear: if you're getting better, your numbers will go up.

The problem with this hobby, and I suspect this is what the author may be sensing, is that the motivation is extrinsic. The rewards come from outside himself. He is forever reliant on an external force for his own satisfaction.

I think the best fit for this guy would be a hobby that is, like his current hobby, based around the mastery of a skill -- something he can practice and see himself getting better at -- but which doesn't require an external rewards system.

The good news is that almost any creative hobby can satisfy these requirements. As for which one to pick? I've found that looking back to one's childhood can be immensely helpful. What amazed you as a kid? What's something you really tried to be good at, but you couldn't quite make it work? It doesn't have to feel like passion yet. It just needs to be a seed. A tiny hint at an activity you might find satisfying eventually. If you give yourself enough time and room to play with that thing, you may get to experience that passion taking hold.

Re: I Feel Like I Have No Real Interests; My Only Interest Is Making Money

#149

Post by dm319 »

mstipetic wrote: post #44
artemonster wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

how is it possible to save 2.5 mil from salary? I am from upper 5% in germany in terms of salary, and I can only manage to save ~10kEur/year, while maintaining decent lifestyle. An order of magnitude lower than you'd need to retire with such a sum after 20 years or so. How do you do that? Genuine question

Germany is not set up to have people get rich from a salary. Everyone has a comfortable life, but it's very hard to get "rich." That's one of the reasons I left Germany

I suspect people who grow up in (basically) a socialist country like Germany, France, Scandinavia etc will have far less impetus to 'get rich'.

If you feel secure in being able to maintain an income where you can enjoy both the basic and leisurely aspects of life. That you won't be made bankrupt by illness, or by unfair illegal/legal proceedings. In these circumstances the drive to sit on top of 2.5M to feel relaxed about your financial situation will likely fade away.

Re: I Feel Like I Have No Real Interests; My Only Interest Is Making Money

#150

Post by mewpmewp2 »

floor2 wrote: post #145
mewpmewp2 wrote: post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That would be an extremely sad thing for me at least. Knowing that I would have no way to become truly free. Free as in I don't owe anyone my time. Maybe others can accept it or are forced to accept it. I just can't. But people of course are different. Currently I just can't wait to reach that state. Sometimes I'm counting days even. I could never be happy/relaxed as long as I am forced to work, or forced to work und…

If you had millions of dollars, you'd still need to brush your teeth. And sleep and eat and shower and use the toilet. Would those things mean you're not truly free? You'll always be 'forced to work' even if that work is just keeping your body alive and well. Perhaps it would be worth trying to find happiness now, rather than hoping it's hidden behind the next achievement.

There's a big difference for me between 8 hours of mandatory work vs 1 hour of self care/other misc activities. I would still consider myself free in this case.

I just don't see how I can find happiness when I have to give away 8 hours of my prime mental resources 5 days out of 7 while having stress of needing to meet expectations and impressing others. I just don't see how.

I just need to be able to do things when I feel like doing them as opposed to confirming with someone else's set routine and answering to them. Otherwise I won't be satisfied/happy.

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