How to get rich without getting lucky • Hacker News Board

Re: How to get rich without getting lucky

#251

Post by falcolas » Fri, Jun 01, 2018, 2:50 PM UTC

toomuchtodo wrote: post #237

rdiddly wrote: post #235

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If I recall right, Mr. M.M. defines retirement basically as financial independence, regardless of how you spend your time. Working because you want to is very different from working because you have to, so I'll buy it. And as far as I know, he and his wife earned their money in tech jobs. The math is believable: let's say your household makes $130,000 a year (which I haven't done), and lives on $30,000 a year (which…

To live off of $30k/year, you only need $750k saved, not $1MM (@ 4% annual withdrawal rate).

Don't forget to include the percentage required to offset inflation.

EDIT: Missed that this was for a fixed period of time - 30 years.

But... what happens if you live more than 30 years past your retirement? It would really suck to retire on $750,000 (or $1M) savings at 45, and live to be 100.

Re: How to get rich without getting lucky

#252

Post by toomuchtodo » Fri, Jun 01, 2018, 2:50 PM UTC

falcolas wrote: post #251

toomuchtodo wrote: post #237

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To live off of $30k/year, you only need $750k saved, not $1MM (@ 4% annual withdrawal rate).

Don't forget to include the percentage required to offset inflation. EDIT: Missed that this was for a fixed period of time - 30 years. But... what happens if you live more than 30 years past your retirement? It would really suck to retire on $750,000 (or $1M) savings at 45, and live to be 100.

Included in the rate I quoted, per the trinity study, although you might need to reduce your withdrawal rate below that some years depending on your asset holdings (see below for detailed info).

EDIT: Again, the rate quoted is for withdrawals in perpetuity. It doesn't guarantee your savings will outlive you, but it's highly confident it will.

https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Trinity_study_update

Re: How to get rich without getting lucky

#253

Post by zeth___ » Fri, Jun 01, 2018, 2:50 PM UTC

bitcoinmoney wrote: post #225

zeth___ wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Change jobs every 6 months or less, insist on a raise between each one. I'm earning just shy of 300k now. I don't see it stopping in the next decade either.

What job? If I do this I’ll run out companies to apply to.

Whatever they hire me for. Currently I'm doing network architecture for a telco, the project is pure vanity and will end in tears. But everyone is happy because until it does it will make them seem like they know what they are doing, which they don't.

Re: How to get rich without getting lucky

#254

Post by cryptozeus » Fri, Jun 01, 2018, 2:53 PM UTC

internetman55 wrote: post #240

I don't know why people can't be normal and just have a reasonable career plan with reasonable savings & investment plan for retirement. Seems like people who write on websites don't give a shit or want to work 80hours a week so they can retire at 38

Yes what's wrong with that

Re: How to get rich without getting lucky

#255

Post by zeth___ » Fri, Jun 01, 2018, 2:53 PM UTC

netsharc wrote: post #239

mmcconnell1618 wrote: post #161

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree with the strategy that hopping jobs results in faster income increase than staying put. I'm just saying that in my experience, there is a cap on how much you can make in any salaried job unless you are a very rare person. You may find it difficult to continue to raise your income by job hopping. You may need to think about selling value rather than time to exceed your current pay.

I remember reading someone's observation about web dev/tech but using human flight as an example. In the 70's, people thought because they went from the Wright brothers to the moon within 66 years, by the year 2000 we'd have Mach 5 passenger planes and trips to other planets. But, what do we have nowadays? Passenger jumbo jet speeds have remained steady since.. the 70's/80's? What he's trying to say is that the growt…

>What he's trying to say is that the growth will usually reach a plateau, but people think it'll be exponential. IMO, Mr. Millionaire upthread is living the Bubble 2.0 demand for tech workers, and thinks the bubble will go on and he's going to the stratosphere...

And when it pops I will only have the million dollars I've earned before 30. Woe is me.

Life is there for the taking. Stop making up excuses why being poor in a box is good for you.

Re: How to get rich without getting lucky

#256

Post by cryptozeus » Fri, Jun 01, 2018, 2:54 PM UTC

I have already reached this but still not rich "When you're finally wealthy, you'll realize that it wasn't what you were seeking in the first place. But that's for another day."

Re: How to get rich without getting lucky

#257

Post by falcolas » Fri, Jun 01, 2018, 2:55 PM UTC

frockington wrote: post #232

y4mi wrote: post #214

Earlier quoted context omitted.

it can also save him from wasting even more.

Just like there "could" be dinosaurs living underneath the earth's crust plotting for revenge against all mamals

I, within the last decade, watched a housing boom in my hometown go bust. I watched hundreds of houses stay vacant for many years. And it wasn't just houses going vacant, it was even many more houses being vacated because they were bought by people who built houses.

Watching something that once was a "sure bet" go bust is very humbling. Watching those speculators go bankrupt by the hundreds is very sad. It made me realize that this particular dinosaur could be very real.

Re: How to get rich without getting lucky

#258

Post by Someone1234 » Fri, Jun 01, 2018, 2:59 PM UTC

ethagnawl wrote: post #247

Someone1234 wrote: post #176

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> shop at Trader Joe's and Costco Huh? Was that trying to say save money at the supermarket? Because those are two stores I don't associate with saving money, they're stores that offer premium products at reasonable prices, but they aren't going to compete with actual discount retailers. It is just really odd examples/usage in that context...

N=1, but shopping at Trader Joe's in NYC will save you money -- if you can bear the crowds.

NYC is definitely an N=1, most other places in the country Trader Joe's is quite expensive. The food is high quality (and value good) but in absolute terms, more expensive than discount supermarkets.

Re: How to get rich without getting lucky

#259

Post by brlewis » Fri, Jun 01, 2018, 2:59 PM UTC

Radle wrote: post #71

Aaargh20318 wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I know too many people that use their money to consume. All those dumb poor people wasting their money on food.

Maybe you are misunderstanding what the term consume means? Consuming means using resources on things that immediately loose their value. If you for example buy a house, that's not consuming since the house has inherent value. But if you yourself the newest gaming rig, the gaming rig is consuming the money. This is what Americans mean when they talk about consumer society.

As a side note, a house also has inherent cost. If you're thinking of a house as an investment, you have to factor maintenance in, which can be hard to calculate in advance.

Re: How to get rich without getting lucky

#260

Post by wilsonnb » Fri, Jun 01, 2018, 3:04 PM UTC

frockington wrote: post #250

wilsonnb wrote: post #182

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Having some talent at hiring and managing people helped. Luck. > Spending my teenage years writing clever little programs in 6502 assembly language on my Commodore 64 instead of smoking weed and partying helped. Lucky enough to grow up with access to a computer in a time when that wasn't common. > Having a strong knack for math and computer science helped. Luck again.

All of those are skills and trait the poster has, not luck. Your logic is concluding that the poster drinking enough water to survive is luck

My logic concludes no such thing.

Assuming you believe that genetics plays a role in our skills and traits, then luck also plays a role. A person has no control over their genetics.

A person also has no control over the economic status of their parents, the area of the world they are born in, whether they receive proper nutrition as a child, what kind of education they get as a child, and an infinite number of other factors that contribute to whether they will end up rich or poor.

Yes, hard work is important to becoming wealthy in most cases, but there are so many factors that people dismiss when they say that luck has a small role.