21–30 of 93 posts
Either way, I don't really understand your dilemma - you've clearly got enough cash to start a business. If you don't have any ideas of your own, fund someone else or buy into a franchise. Most of the multi/decamillionaires I know made their money over time doing boring, normal things.
WHAT? I would consider that hideously rich, I've never met anyone with that much money before. A million dollars? Speechless.
I mean, just a little perspective, The average (median) US household income as of 2011 is $50,000. Inflation adjusted, it's never passed $60,000 1980-2011. [0]
You make more in passive income than most families make from actively working. Oh, and $160,000 puts you firmly in the top 10%, again as of 2011. Maybe you don't see yourself as rich, but you really are doing well.
If the average US worker works 45 years at $50,000, they can earn about $2.25million. You already have half of that over 8 years, in savings. You are miles ahead of the curve here. Most people will never see $1million in their bank account. If I have the equivalent of $1million 8 years after graduation, I imagine that would be a sign I was doing well - why isn't it? Oh, and your average of $125,000 saved per year would put you in the top 15% if it were your entire earnings.
Sorry, my point is, I don't think this is about money. I don't think you're greedy, it's something else. "crashing and burning, becoming homeless or committing suicide" would be the worst possible outcomes, and you can, and deserve to do better than that.
Please talk to somebody more qualified about this because statistically speaking you're doing incredibly so far.
[0] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Household_income_in_the_United_...
I'd recommend taking a look at this short list of "The Ten Forms of Twisted Thinking": http://cnysearch.com/twist.htm It might help you see the holes in your thinking. Although it may be distasteful, a psychologist may also be able to help you find which ideas are twisting your perspective so negatively.
If you were rich enough to have a jet to fly to Vegas you might just shift perception, and be jealous of the people building space craft or deep sea vessels or hyperloops. There's always going to be people richer than you. To me, $1m is a fantastic amount of money. If you want to give 0.1% of it away send me an email - it would be very very useful to me and my son. There are almost certainly local groups who need vol…
This is the appropriate response to this post and it is worth repeating in order to help it be viewed by the poster.
Hmmm. Given your financial situation I don't think your problem really has anything to do with 'not being rich'. It just sounds like you're depressed about something. Why not consider donating a portion to a charity? If anything it may absolve yourself of some responsibility regarding your cynical outlook? Be the change you seek :)
It really has everything to do with not being rich. A million dollars is not rich. 100 million is. When you have a million, you make passive income of 60-70k per year. When you have 100 million, you make passive income of 7 million per year (but probably much more), which gives you almost 600k per month. You can do anything and you really don't care about saving money at this point, so you can spend all of it. As opp…
Sounds like you want the luxury of going into a store and buying whatever you want - that might not happen. The reason it's bothering you is psychological, not financial. Would you rather be Steve Jobs? rich ... but he can't buy anything now.
You sound young, based on 4 years in college and 8 years working, so as an introvert keep that in mind, and realize that your mind is playing tricks on you, and making things seem bad even though you are doing great or at least good. It's hard to self-inspect, but as an introvert you should be able to question your thoughts. Question them in a quite room, because you may just start to laugh.
My suggestion - don't waste your 30's, 40's and 50's chasing big score. Prioritize - get family, that's a lot harder later in life (I would assume chasing a toddler at 45 is different than at 30, and maybe biological impossible at 50). You can keep doing things on the side, so look for a supportive spouse.
Hmmm. Given your financial situation I don't think your problem really has anything to do with 'not being rich'. It just sounds like you're depressed about something. Why not consider donating a portion to a charity? If anything it may absolve yourself of some responsibility regarding your cynical outlook? Be the change you seek :)
It really has everything to do with not being rich. A million dollars is not rich. 100 million is. When you have a million, you make passive income of 60-70k per year. When you have 100 million, you make passive income of 7 million per year (but probably much more), which gives you almost 600k per month. You can do anything and you really don't care about saving money at this point, so you can spend all of it. As opp…
Try investing part of that money not in savings, but in psychotherapy; improving on all that anxiety will make you much happier and you'll have an easier time making decisions about your financial goals after that.
Right now you're rich. Your objective is to become super rich. Ok, fine. Make a plan to get there and execute it.
Luckily, you're in a perfect position to turn your million into a hundred million, as you've got a runway of at least 10 years, potentially more if you already have a reliable passive income stream and don't need to dip into your principal. This lets you try out multiple ideas with no immediate need to monetize them. Apply to YC / go to San Francisco, build a team of top engineers, and try to build the next Facebook/Instagram/Twitter. You've obviously got basic needs covered, so there's no reason not to go for the big win. Billionaires are usually made from the big acquisition / IPO, not the little guy chugging along (in tech at least).