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How I got wealthy without working too hard

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Re: How I got wealthy without working too hard

#221

Post by GDC7 »

jfk13 wrote: post #202
GDC7 wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And none of that happens anywhere basically (except maybe some barrios in El Salvador or Venezuela) Besides, in this world the shit is everywhere it's just the color that changes and the window dressing that makes people believe otherwise. I'd rather deal with impoverished people and deal personally with my security than some scum of Silicon Valley such as Elizabeth Holmes or Elon Musk.

Have you personally tried moving from a stable, developed country to somewhere with much lower cost of living? I lived for some years in a "good" suburb of a pretty well-known third-world city. Everyone had security bars on the windows and razor wire (or similar) atop their walls. Many of our neighbours employed round-the-clock armed guards. I personally witnessed a police-vs-robbers shootout (leaving at least one de…

> I personally witnessed a police-vs-robbers shootout

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Hollywood_shootout

Present day Lagos is not that much unlike the Los Angeles of the 1990s or the NYC of the 1970s and 80s.

Problem , of course there'll always be a safer place, by the same token people who live in present day LA or NYC are suicidal considering they could live in Montana or Utah, or Zurich.

Where nothing ever happens (good or bad)

Re: How I got wealthy without working too hard

#222

Post by EVa5I7bHFq9mnYK »

hsn915 wrote: post #107
shiftpgdn wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The biggest reality check in my life was working at an engineering firm with a bunch of near retirement baby boomers with no children. They all came across ass listless, unhappy, and living a life with no greater purpose. It was unquestionably one of the ugliest things I have ever seen. As you get older and friends drift and pass away family is one of the most important things in life. I know anti-natalism is hip rig…

All the old but happy people I know have children (and grand children). The more, the happier. All the grumpy old people I know have no children, or just one. On a day to day bases, it might feel like taking care of children is plenty stressful, but in the long run it's the ultimate form of joy/happiness.

Maybe it's the other way around? Grumpy people don't fxxc.

Re: How I got wealthy without working too hard

#223

Post by influx »

handrous wrote: post #195
marktangotango wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I once shared this outlook, but when one considers their own ideas about the lifestyle "wealthy" entails, and run some numbers, specifically determine the annual spend for that lifestyle, one will quickly realize the truth. A million can be blown in a year, or SWR'd (safe withdrawal rate) at $40k a year indefinitely. Can you retire on $40k a year? Would you want that level of income and lifestyle? Of course this depe…

> Can you retire on $40k a year? Maybe in Europe. No, in the US. Not even close. Even with a paid-off house. Certainly not before "retirement age". Health care is the reason.

Obamacare subsidies are based on income. You are likely getting subsidies at this level of income. Will it exist for the next 40 years, who knows?

Re: How I got wealthy without working too hard

#224

Post by wilkommen »

jandrewrogers wrote: post #164
demygale wrote: post #11

Being a contractor would require me to spend about $10,000 more for health insurance above what my workplace premiums are. US, obvi. When I was a contractor fifteen years ago, I billed at $1,000 a day ($125/hr) in the US, not remote. Seems like wage stagnation has hit the software market as well. Really enjoyed the story. I love seeing the personal histories of people in my profession.

You can bill several times that amount both in the US and Europe. Companies think nothing of it if you have the right skill sets.

What are some examples of the right skill sets? I think I could get pretty good at anything I put my mind to, but I don't have knowledge of what kinds of things businesses consider important enough to spend that kind of money on to know what I should study.

Re: How I got wealthy without working too hard

#225

Post by nightski »

PragmaticPulp wrote: post #144
FpUser wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You could get up to 10% on 1M investment annually (that is what my friend has). Sure he does not have private yacht but one can live quite comfy on 100K without lifting a finger and that is what he does.

> You could get up to 10% on 1M investment annually (that is what my friend has) We have a hundred years of investment data in the United States that says this isn’t true. A 10% withdrawal rate will lead to portfolio failure 50% of the time after about 14 years. You can calculate using historical data here: https://engaging-data.com/will-money-last-retire-early/ There are mountains of research showing the safe withdr…

On average. But if you are lucky enough to invest your first few years with extraordinary returns (say the past two years with 40%+ in index funds) that can greatly skew the outcome due to compounding.

Re: How I got wealthy without working too hard

#226

Post by jamil7 »

ericmcer wrote: post #193

Anyone who has been making software engineer level money, but living frugally and dumping it all in stocks and crypto for the last 7 years is probably close to retirement. I guess his hack? is that he contracts and doesn't work very hard. I always found contracting more difficult due to the huge amount of hustle and bookkeeping you take on in addition to the actual work.

I’ve contracted full-time off and on throughout my career and am in an ‘on’ period at the moment. It gets easier with time, you get better at it like anything else and learn to outsource and delegate to other small businesses and freelancers as well as build up steady recurring work.

Re: How I got wealthy without working too hard

#227

Post by jokethrowaway »

nickpp wrote: post #203
Mikeb85 wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Working a $150K job for 7 years isn’t really a recipe for getting “wealthy” It definitely is if you live in a LCOL area of an EU country. The author mentions he's Italian. So he gets health care and shit for free while being based in a country where it's very easy to live cheaply if you stay out of the big cities. Definitely possible to save a ton of money while living well in those conditions.

> he gets health care and shit for free Not free - he's (probably) paying taxes on that remote income, and the maximal rate is rather high in those "shit for free" countries.

Taxes in Italy are absolutely insane.

You'd be better off moving to some other country with lower taxes, shitty public healthcare and then pay for a good private healthcare.

The cost will be a fraction of a good US private healthcare (the high cost is the main problem of US healthcare, not who's financing it).

Re: How I got wealthy without working too hard

#228

Post by handrous »

influx wrote: post #223
handrous wrote: post #195

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Can you retire on $40k a year? Maybe in Europe. No, in the US. Not even close. Even with a paid-off house. Certainly not before "retirement age". Health care is the reason.

Obamacare subsidies are based on income. You are likely getting subsidies at this level of income. Will it exist for the next 40 years, who knows?

A couple years of serious illness for you or anyone you're responsible for (spouse, children) will still ruin your retirement plans, if you try to retire early on $40,000/yr in income. A "Silver" exchange plan, even if the premium were $0/m, would still expose you to so much financial risk ("max out-of-pocket") that you'd be rolling some not-very-friendly dice, trying to retire early.

Re: How I got wealthy without working too hard

#229

Post by moolcool »

LegitShady wrote: post #212
nostrademons wrote: post #196

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Article said "don't live in a major city". Besides, my understanding is that prices are still reasonable in smaller cities like Quebec City, Kingston, Halifax, Edmonton, Calgary, Winnipeg, etc.

Prices in all of these cities have gone up. Halifax average sale went from $330k to $370k from 2019 to 2020. People see if they don't buy in now, they may never be able to buy in, and are buying in, driving prices up further, causing more people to panic buy, etc. It also leads speculators to buy houses because they see property giving incredible returns. Pay in many of these cities, or employment opportunities that…

Halifax is still livable/affordable as a remote dev-- far more affordable than places like NYC or SF. On remote engineer salary the increases in cost of living aren't so much the killer as the insane income tax is.

Re: How I got wealthy without working too hard

#230

Post by willio58 »

yayitswei wrote: post #214

Lots of posts saying $1M isn't much. What amount would you consider truly wealthy?

It’s all perspective. In some parts of the Bay Area 1M buys you little more than a shack to live in. 1M where I live would buy me a great quality home on an adequate plot of land.
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