Earlier quoted context omitted.
What is luck really? Determination + Opportunity = Luck
+ randomness
[deleted]
How to get rich without getting lucky
271–280 of 527 posts
Re: How to get rich without getting lucky
#272Earlier quoted context omitted.
Counterpoint: Your chances of dying before "making it big" and retiring are somewhere in the 1-in-10 range. Investing works mostly because of the current trend of artificially propping up the stock market. Any failure in your investment strategy leave you in the same boat as the current boomer retirees who are trying to get back in the workforce. Not to mention, your life is going to be pretty miserable if you're wor…
> Not to mention, your life is going to be pretty miserable if you're working two jobs and spending a lot of effort on living frugal. Agreed. A few follow-up points: 1. Frugality isn't a binary state. There's a balance to be struck. Some people really do waste money on frivolous things that don't actually bring them much real satisfaction, and in that sense being more frugal is definitely worth it. But once you've el…
The reason frugality is so fundamental is because everyone needs at least a little of it, no matter how much they make. Just as with the diet saying "You can't outrun your fork", lifestyle inflation will perpetually dog your every increase in income, until you learn some form of frugality.
Also, after being a small time landlord for a while, I've decided the true magic of interest is, over those ten years you didn't have to lift a finger. If you've got money to park while the rest of your life is chaos, interest is the totally-hands-free option, and I am coming to see that as magical.
Re: How to get rich without getting lucky
#273The highest probability for success for the 'everyday person': - Earn as much as you can from your own work. Take a 2nd job, change to a higher paying job, ask for more responsibility and a raise at your current job, go back to school for a more lucrative degree, ... - Spend much less than you earn. Economize, share an apartment, buy an inexpensive car, shop at Trader Joe's and Costco, .... - Learn how to invest. Thi…
Don't get sick. Don't have kids. Don't get laid off. Don't have any unplanned emergencies that wipe your meager savings out. Don't enjoy life now.
Re: How to get rich without getting lucky
#274Earlier quoted context omitted.
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 re…
Long term investment isn’t speculation. That’s why we call it investment.
Yeah, if you are dumping money into a bubble hoping to cash out at the top, you are taking a major risk. If you’re investing long term in an asset with literally centuries of history of growth, then you’re probably going to be okay.
And realistically, what’s the alternative? I guess government bonds?
Re: How to get rich without getting lucky
#275Earlier quoted context omitted.
Here is a list of reasons that "enlightened" (i.e. not scrooge) people would want to be rich: - The ability to secure the best medical care for yourself and your family in a country where this takes money to do. - The ability to walk away from abusive employment relationships without a second thought or any stress. - The ability to engage in high-level economic actions, the kind that aren't designed for your failure.…
Assuming that "rich" means "don't need to work at all, for the rest of your life, to keep a roof over your head and food on your table," none of what you listed require being rich. > The ability to secure the best medical care for yourself and your family in a country where this takes money to do. I can only speak to the US but this is much more an insurance issue than a wealth issue. When I made $30k a year I had a…
>Assuming that "rich" means "don't need to work at all, for the rest of your life, to keep a roof over your head and food on your table," none of what you listed require being rich.
Yup, I believe that's their point. If you realize the reason you want to be rich can be had for less cost than actually becoming rich, you can save yourself a lot of time and stress.
Anecdotally, I cut my salary by 60% this year to directly pursue what I wanted, instead of saving to do it years later. I suppose I may regret it some day, but at this point I'm confident it was the right choice.
Re: How to get rich without getting lucky
#276...then get lucky.
Reality: there are millions of people out there doing exactly the things listed. And they are not rich.
BTW, does anyone really think Oprah, Trump, Kanye, and Elon are "accountable?"
And then:
"Don't partner with cynics and pessimists. Their beliefs are self-fulfilling."
I see this a lot in these sorts of "pro tips", and it always makes me check to see if my pocket is being picked. Somebody needs to point out the holes in your grand scheme. But then, I'm a bitter, albeit moderately wealthy, cynic.
Re: How to get rich without getting lucky
#277Earlier quoted context omitted.
This has a flipside though. If you do manage to find success (and say, own a profitable business or have an exit), you'll be taxed into oblivion. It might not be the popular opinion on HN, but I would hate that. Make sure to structure things properly from the beginning so that you can leave when appropriate.
Sorry, but this has to be the dumbest comment in HN. The parent post was saying how living in a country with a generous welfare system can make a lot easier to have more free time and easier to take risks, and you're worried that if you take advantage of that, you might need to help pay that off if you're successful?
The fact of the matter is that, in countries where the state gives you a lot, they generally take a lot as well. The money needs to come from somewhere.
Most decent entrepreneurs manage to sustain themselves and find a way to build out something regardless of whether the state is handing out money. If I manage to get a win, I want to keep most of my winnings.
I'm European but wouldn't want to live in a country with high income taxes, high capital gains taxes, various hidden levies (luxury cars costing hundreds of thousands, gas being super expensive), high corporate and dividend taxes, and to top it off a nice annual wealth tax. Why even bother trying to achieve more than your fellow citizen in that kind of setting?
Re: How to get rich without getting lucky
#278why aspire to "have way more money than you need"? cause that's what this "how to get rich" bullshit is about.
set your focus on what you love to do, not on acquiring more than you need. that probably won't make you happy anyway.
if you chose to work in IT because you enjoy it, you're already super fucking lucky anyway. you're sought after and money's good (generally speaking).
if you feel like you need more, do the actual work to make it happen. don't listen to generic one-liners by some pretentious investment guru.
Re: How to get rich without getting lucky
#279I’m going to take a contrarian view and say: figure out why you want to be rich, first. For most people, money is a proxy for respect, status, power, security, social skills, romantic attraction from others, free time, or otherwise. If you can ignore the constant “only rich people are meaningful human beings” message that is blared 24/7 from western culture, you might find that it’s easier to just go after what you w…
Here is a list of reasons that "enlightened" (i.e. not scrooge) people would want to be rich: - The ability to secure the best medical care for yourself and your family in a country where this takes money to do. - The ability to walk away from abusive employment relationships without a second thought or any stress. - The ability to engage in high-level economic actions, the kind that aren't designed for your failure.…
It's like you know me personally...
Re: How to get rich without getting lucky
#280Earlier quoted context omitted.
Counterpoint: Your chances of dying before "making it big" and retiring are somewhere in the 1-in-10 range. Investing works mostly because of the current trend of artificially propping up the stock market. Any failure in your investment strategy leave you in the same boat as the current boomer retirees who are trying to get back in the workforce. Not to mention, your life is going to be pretty miserable if you're wor…
spending a lot of effort on living frugal. There's just something off-putting about the thought of spending decades living frugally There's a whole range there. You don't have to live on ramen. But you can be really aggressive about insurance premiums, utility bills, etc. You can learn home & auto repair & maintenance. You can make major life structure choices (Can your family live with one car?). These all can make…
> Can your family live with one car
It's really funny to read that. It's probably very american to think 2 cars per family is the norm. I think if I group the 10 adults I see the most on average, we own 2 cars together. And we are all between 30 and 55.