Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

What I’ve Been Doing Since Quitting My Job

mtlynch.io

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

21–30 of 128 posts

Re: What I’ve Been Doing Since Quitting My Job

#21

Post by monktastic1 »

imbusy111 wrote: post #16
mywittyname wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, I bet he has at least $1MM in liquid assets banked on top of what income he earns through his projects.

I assume you are being sarcastic. How do you put off $1M in assets with a $200k median salary in four years? $200k x 4 x 65% is just $520k without even any expenses paid such as the ~$72k you would have paid for a room in a shared apartment.

350k isn't uncommon for a senior SWE at Google. In a state with no income tax (such as WA), it's not unreasonable to estimate he takes home 250k (71%). Suppose he spends $60k a year, leaving him $190k/year to bank. Given the performance of the S&P 500 in the last four years, that could be a million today.

Re: What I’ve Been Doing Since Quitting My Job

#22

Post by icedchai »

pkaye wrote: post #19
icedchai wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm guessing you don't have any savings or investments? You might want to plan ahead more than your next pay check. Investigate financial independence / retire early (FIRE.)

Yes I guess that works as long as a sudden bout of cancer or some other chronic illness doesn't turn your world around. Suddenly all the "plan to retire in X years" come into question. Will I be still living in X years? Will I be able to continue working and investing till then? Or will I have burn through all my savings? True financial independence doesn't come till you can weather such a storm and most people are n…

Those things are obviously unfortunate, but relatively rare. It is also rare to win the lottery, or actually make a profit on startup stock options. I am not talking about these cases.

The average person in this industry makes good money, and should have the ability to save and invest some of their income.

Re: What I’ve Been Doing Since Quitting My Job

#23

Post by bitL »

mitko wrote: post #12

Kudos to Michael for keeping busy with projects. I quit my job 6 months ago. Gave myself 6 months to see if I would descend into complacent procrastination, and if so - I'd find another job. Having no job, but enough saving to rely on, has been a blessing. I've learned so many things from creative writing to deep learning, wrote a lot of personal essays, biked for 500miles, and did some side projects. Having one unsu…

Try another start up before you go back ;-)

Re: What I’ve Been Doing Since Quitting My Job

#24

Post by mitko »

mjhoy wrote: post #20
mitko wrote: post #12

Kudos to Michael for keeping busy with projects. I quit my job 6 months ago. Gave myself 6 months to see if I would descend into complacent procrastination, and if so - I'd find another job. Having no job, but enough saving to rely on, has been a blessing. I've learned so many things from creative writing to deep learning, wrote a lot of personal essays, biked for 500miles, and did some side projects. Having one unsu…

Where did you bike?

From Medford, OR to San Francisco along the coast, but skipped a section before Crescent City due to advice of it being dangerous to cycle through. I put some photos at #or2ca17

Re: What I’ve Been Doing Since Quitting My Job

#25

Post by mitko »

bitL wrote: post #23
mitko wrote: post #12

Kudos to Michael for keeping busy with projects. I quit my job 6 months ago. Gave myself 6 months to see if I would descend into complacent procrastination, and if so - I'd find another job. Having no job, but enough saving to rely on, has been a blessing. I've learned so many things from creative writing to deep learning, wrote a lot of personal essays, biked for 500miles, and did some side projects. Having one unsu…

Try another start up before you go back ;-)

Thanks, bitL - I am in fact doing so- it's a pivot on the initial idea

Re: What I’ve Been Doing Since Quitting My Job

#26

Post by clumsysmurf »

icedchai wrote: post #22
pkaye wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes I guess that works as long as a sudden bout of cancer or some other chronic illness doesn't turn your world around. Suddenly all the "plan to retire in X years" come into question. Will I be still living in X years? Will I be able to continue working and investing till then? Or will I have burn through all my savings? True financial independence doesn't come till you can weather such a storm and most people are n…

Those things are obviously unfortunate, but relatively rare. It is also rare to win the lottery, or actually make a profit on startup stock options. I am not talking about these cases. The average person in this industry makes good money, and should have the ability to save and invest some of their income.

> Those things are obviously unfortunate, but relatively rare

Not rare at all, 1 in 5 Americans is being pursued by collection agencies for being unable to pay medical bills.

Re: What I’ve Been Doing Since Quitting My Job

#27

Post by icedchai »

clumsysmurf wrote: post #26
icedchai wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Those things are obviously unfortunate, but relatively rare. It is also rare to win the lottery, or actually make a profit on startup stock options. I am not talking about these cases. The average person in this industry makes good money, and should have the ability to save and invest some of their income.

> Those things are obviously unfortunate, but relatively rare Not rare at all, 1 in 5 Americans is being pursued by collection agencies for being unable to pay medical bills.

That's good news. Since they're not paying their bills, they actually have more money to invest instead. ;)

You know what they say about lies and statistics... In all seriousness, even if this dubious statistic is true, most of those are not due to terminal or debilitating illnesses. "Unable to pay medical bills" can be for a variety of reasons, ranging from the obvious (not having the money), to confusion, to billing errors or insurance problems.

Re: What I’ve Been Doing Since Quitting My Job

#28

Post by [deleted] »

RikNieu wrote: post #17
icedchai wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's real tough getting cash in this industry, isn't it? Start investing now. In 10 years you'll have a small fortune.

Not everyone earns Valley salaries. Especially not those outside the US in third-world countries. And some, like myself had their life savings wiped out when life got cute. Anyway, glad OP has the opportunity to do what he's doing. Didn't mean to sidetrack the conversation. Just always find it amazing how we all live in vastly different worlds.

[deleted]

Re: What I’ve Been Doing Since Quitting My Job

#29

Post by grosjona »

icedchai wrote: post #22
pkaye wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes I guess that works as long as a sudden bout of cancer or some other chronic illness doesn't turn your world around. Suddenly all the "plan to retire in X years" come into question. Will I be still living in X years? Will I be able to continue working and investing till then? Or will I have burn through all my savings? True financial independence doesn't come till you can weather such a storm and most people are n…

Those things are obviously unfortunate, but relatively rare. It is also rare to win the lottery, or actually make a profit on startup stock options. I am not talking about these cases. The average person in this industry makes good money, and should have the ability to save and invest some of their income.

There aren't many good investment options available these days.

Real estate is too expensive, interest rates on cash are too low and VCs have a monopoly on the startup space and the media.

The most rational option seems to be to invest in stocks... To fuel corporations which inflate real estate prices by forcing their employees to relocate to major urban centers. The same corporations which are responsible for the low interest rate environment (through their lobbying and corruption of government agencies). The same corporations which are responsible for monopolizing the startup space by only funding and acquiring incubator and VC-backed startups.

So yeah there aren't many ethical options. That's why I invest in cryptocurrency. I'd rather risk losing all the money than fund my own (and everyone else's) enslavement.

Re: What I’ve Been Doing Since Quitting My Job

#30

Post by syndacks »

mitko wrote: post #24
mjhoy wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Where did you bike?

From Medford, OR to San Francisco along the coast, but skipped a section before Crescent City due to advice of it being dangerous to cycle through. I put some photos at #or2ca17

cool - I've done that route as well. care to expand on the 'advice of it being dangerous'?
Post reply on HN