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Confessions of an Overnight Millionaire

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Re: Confessions of an Overnight Millionaire

#21

Post by throwawaaays »

I'm in a similar situation, but it's like 1/3 of what she'll make. And I have literally no idea what to do now. I have a good feeling for how to manage it. But not a good feeling about what it means for my life.

In the SF area, it's not enough to live with a family. Where my wife and I are from, it's enough to early-retire with average incomes (4% of 2M$ ~= 80k$/y, 40k$/y median income). But do I want to do this? Or do I keep working my job?

My job is alright, and I make pretty good money. I've been progressing along so far and doing well. But would I rather not have to attend meetings I don't feel like? Yes. But would I rather ride a bike everyday that I want? Yes. Would I rather play games for hours? Yes. Would I rather learn to machine stuff with a CNC? Yes. Would I rather learn new maths, sciences, engineering fields? Yes. Would I rather go sailing around the world? Yes.

Or at least for a while. But then I'd probably get tired of it. And then I can't do too crazy stuff because we have young kids that need to grow up. And then I couldn't afford the sustained expenses, and then want to go back to work. But then I'd have a gap in my resume and worry about having lost touch with my network and career.

We're already debt free and save a large amount of our income every pay-check. We're not interested in buying a house or living in a fancier place. Not interested in a fancier car. We don't want to flash like we're wealthy. We want to be able to hangout with our friends without making them uncomfortable.

So what do I even do with this money? I've never been taught how to be "wealthy". Before all this became reality, I thought I knew what I'd do, I had so many ideas. Now that it's there... crickets.

Re: Confessions of an Overnight Millionaire

#22

Post by lordnacho »

Cu3PO42 wrote: post #2

One thing that immediately stood out to me was the following quote at the beginning of the article: > You don’t think much about $200,000; it’s not life-changing I'm happy for the author that $200,000 isn't and wasn't a life-changing amount of money for her, but to so many people it would be incredibly life-changing. I could very comfortably live off that amount of money for 10 years. As an alternative view, that's m…

I think it's life-changing in the sense that for 99% of people they would have enough time to at least look for a better job over the course of a year. For a fair few people it would even give you enough time to get a qualification.

All depends on what you mean by life-changing though.

Re: Confessions of an Overnight Millionaire

#23

Post by ilkkao »

jxidjhdhdhdhfhf wrote: post #14

This person sounds like she should take some of that money and spend it on therapy. Talking to someone would probably be better than this navel gazing and thought-spiraling.

There is indeed some contradiction in concluding that your situation is a special enough to write an article about it to New York magazine and then say in the article that "At this point in my life, nothing is going to change"

Re: Confessions of an Overnight Millionaire

#24

Post by xwolfi »

> Being a tech worker is not like banking, where you know you’re not doing good for society

I... I work in banking and I think I'm doing good for society :D It's weird how deep this belief banks are an artificial parasite that built itself on top of normal people became. If people don't like banks and think they're really bad, they could really try removing them... it's not like I'd disobey a law or anything that says we can't work in banks anymore...

Re: Confessions of an Overnight Millionaire

#25

Post by lnsru »

My dad came to 7 digit figures in his account twice. It wasn’t really easy money, he worked both times decade long for it to happen. Both times he wasted it. I guess, one needs a decent financial literacy to be able to control such amount of money. Both times he listened to some charlatans and invested into some weird shit. I don’t think he will make it for the 3rd time, but let’s see.

On the other hand I could retire after inheriting all the assets from my mother alone. At first glance it would be really cool, I would retire to Croatia, have a small house and a boat, but after a while it would be boring for sure.

Re: Confessions of an Overnight Millionaire

#26

Post by WJW »

harryf wrote: post #11

There was a great analysis of what happens when you win the lottery on reddit some years back - https://old.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/24vo34/whats_the... > Nearly one third of multi-million dollar jackpot winners eventually declare bankruptcy. Some end up worse. Of course many of the issues related to winning the lottery are caused by the attention you suddenly receive. But a related story from someone that was…

Quite so. Money problems are nicer to have than no-money problems but they are still problems. After the initial rush of "I will never have to worry about rent anymore!" wears off, you realize that none of your previous friends can relate to your situation anymore and that you are now a target for every scammer in the country. Worse, even winning tens of millions will not make a dent in the bigger "change the world for the better" dreams you may have and there is an even bigger disappointment waiting for you when you realize you are still a small fish compared to the Bezoses and Gateses.

Forcibly changing economic class without taking care to also change social class can be really tough psychologically, something that you frequently see in those Reddit topics.

Re: Confessions of an Overnight Millionaire

#27

Post by philangist »

amelius wrote: post #18

> I’ve been obsessed with men who are smarter than me. (Even when I was younger, at sleepaway camp, I was fixated on the boys who went to the magnet public schools, because I knew they were hard to get into.) Part of it comes from an obsession that my kid has to be intelligent, but part of it is about earning potential, because smart men tend to earn a lot of money. Ugh.

Said with zero self-awareness several paragraphs after humblebragging about how frugal and low maintenance of a person she is. The entire article is so myopic but I think her transactional view of relationships, and framing of them entirely in terms of competition and power dynamics was the saddest part.

> My mom has gotten bitter. She said, “You’re going to have more money than your dad and I combined, and we’ve worked all our lives.”

I guess her thinking comes from somewhere

Re: Confessions of an Overnight Millionaire

#28

Post by sumtechguy »

ilkkao wrote: post #8
McScroogy wrote: post #4

Is that person even real? The ending made me doubt it, as it was just a list of things leftists want rich people to do with their money. Like donate it all somehow, and under no circumstances give anything to their kids. Wtf? I worry so much about the world my kids are going to grow up them, that I am trying to give them as much of a financial head start as possible. I don't want them to have to suffer through discri…

Got the similar feeling. At least the author is not far yet with her thinking process. If it's 6 million after taxes, there are so many possibilities. No mention of considering stop working and doing what she truly likes to do.

I got from the article that she does not really know. She had been so set on the particular career and 'getting to know the right' people she did not think through what happens when you are 'the man'.

Now 6 mil sounds like a lot (it is). But it is also easy to get in a habit of 'not worrying about money'. It sounds like she is setting herself up for that too (the cheese thing). It is ok to splurge but doing it every time and you will quickly find that money depleting. One lady I know got 15,000. In her social circles that was life changing. Along the lines of not worrying about many bills for a few years. It was gone in 3 weeks. I also feel that ladies assessment of wealth managers. Many are fairly weak at it.

My advice to the young new millionaire. Do nothing yet. Finding people to help manage your new burden is going to take time. Also watch out for the richer sharks. Many of them realized the best place to get money is from the newly rich with schemes of investing. Many investment advisors seem really fixated on what % of your money they are going to get per year. All the while telling you how they will grow it. Then drop you into index funds (that they get a kickback on). You could also think 'i know i will donate it' well that is an option. But take the time and evaluate them like the wealth management people. You will find the same people there. Ask around wait and see, do not let the money burn a hole in your pocket, evaluate. The best way to grow your own wealth and help out is to build things. Start a business. Maybe become a landlord that specializes in low income? Help create jobs in that segment? Instead of dumping it into some wealth management fund who is trying to build yet another 5k per unit per month condo building. Creating jobs and helping people level up is the best thing you can do with your money social wise. Giving it to someone else and hoping they get it right may or may not work.

Re: Confessions of an Overnight Millionaire

#29

Post by supportlocal4h »

partisan wrote: post #6
Cu3PO42 wrote: post #2

One thing that immediately stood out to me was the following quote at the beginning of the article: > You don’t think much about $200,000; it’s not life-changing I'm happy for the author that $200,000 isn't and wasn't a life-changing amount of money for her, but to so many people it would be incredibly life-changing. I could very comfortably live off that amount of money for 10 years. As an alternative view, that's m…

For your life circumstances, is there an amount of money that is large enough to celebrate, but not so large as to be life changing? If so, then you can relate to the author's point, but for a different value of N. The author is speaking from their experience. I think if they were to caveat every point like this, it would be a much longer read and one would get tired of reading the disclaimers. In the past few years,…

I would say that the money did change your life. It's tempting to say that you just didn't recognize it, but clearly you did. By your own account, your life changed and your attitude has changed.

I hope that you are helping to make other lives better. I wish you well.

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