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America’s Professional Elite: Wealthy, Successful and Miserable

nytimes.com

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Re: America’s Professional Elite: Wealthy, Successful and Miserable

#271

Post by stuxnet79 »

malvosenior wrote: post #39

The richest people I know are definitely also some of the most miserable. We've been sold a story that careers are a path to fulfillment, self actualization and empowerment. When in reality they are a soul sucking, near pointless burden that enriches investors, founders, execs and few others. I love what I do for a living and I make a very healthy amount doing it. That being said, I see stay at home parents and think…

Century of the Self was a mind-blowing tour de force. Highly recommend. Completely transformed my views on capitalism and consumerism.

Re: America’s Professional Elite: Wealthy, Successful and Miserable

#272

Post by ariwilson »

throwaway-1283 wrote: post #256
vasilipupkin wrote: post #183

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think this type of Census data understates household incomes. I am not exactly sure why, but Atherton comes in at about 400k a year per household. That is a lot, but doesn't seem like a lot for Atherton.

What you put on your tax return every year doesn't really reflect your actual wealth. Even in tech most people top out at ~$200k-$250k base salaries but you may vest and accumulate millions in stock RSUs that you don't sell in a given year.

Stock RSU vests go on your tax returns.

Re: America’s Professional Elite: Wealthy, Successful and Miserable

#273

Post by [deleted] »

ariwilson wrote: post #272
throwaway-1283 wrote: post #256

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What you put on your tax return every year doesn't really reflect your actual wealth. Even in tech most people top out at ~$200k-$250k base salaries but you may vest and accumulate millions in stock RSUs that you don't sell in a given year.

Stock RSU vests go on your tax returns.

[deleted]

Re: America’s Professional Elite: Wealthy, Successful and Miserable

#275

Post by throwaway-1283 »

ariwilson wrote: post #272
throwaway-1283 wrote: post #256

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What you put on your tax return every year doesn't really reflect your actual wealth. Even in tech most people top out at ~$200k-$250k base salaries but you may vest and accumulate millions in stock RSUs that you don't sell in a given year.

Stock RSU vests go on your tax returns.

Ah ok - I'm thinking private shares

Re: America’s Professional Elite: Wealthy, Successful and Miserable

#276

Post by spectrum1234 »

gregorymichael wrote: post #88
toasterlovin wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So this dovetails with what I think is the most fascinating topic in evolution: the demographic transition in humans. If you're not familiar, demographic transition is the term used to describe what has happened to the demography of nations as they become developed. Which is that, rather than producing more children with their material abundance, people in rich nations have less children. This is not, at all, what bi…

As it says on the wall at Jimmy Johns, "The gap between 'more' and 'enough' never closes."

hahahaa

Re: America’s Professional Elite: Wealthy, Successful and Miserable

#277

Post by zaccus »

forrestthewoods wrote: post #262
MrMember wrote: post #160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A single person could absolutely retire on 2.5M. That's $100k a year using the 4% rule.

Is that number for 30 years? If you’re retiring early you need your nest egg to last for 40 or 50 years.

Don't think of it as a large nest egg; think of it as a modest fixed income. You can easily make 2.5MM last for the rest of your life if you're able to live on 100k. That might require downsizing a bit and moving somewhere with a lower COL, but it's certainly doable.

Re: America’s Professional Elite: Wealthy, Successful and Miserable

#278

Post by JDiculous »

seem_2211 wrote: post #255

I think we're focusing on the wrong thing here (broadly), which is mocking the guy making $1.2m a year. Yes, that's a lot of money, and almost all of us (myself included) struggle to see how to spend that money. But at the same time, I feel some empathy for that guy - he's increased his expenses proportionally and he feels trapped doing something he doesn't enjoy with no end in sight. I know I've moved my expenses up…

Most people don't have the luxury of being their own bosses. For these people, financial independence will enable them to leave their unfulfilling jobs and pursue their own passions, whether it be starting a small business like you or getting a job that pays less but is more fulfilling. Most people are living paycheck to paycheck with little savings, and thus don't have the freedom to walk away from their jobs.

Re: America’s Professional Elite: Wealthy, Successful and Miserable

#279

Post by ChuckMcM »

strikelaserclaw wrote: post #6

- He had received an offer at a start-up, and he would have loved to take it, but it paid half as much, and he felt locked into a lifestyle that made this pay cut impossible. “My wife laughed when I told her about it,” he said. Sounds like a good wife to me, and this "pay cut" is making 500k-600k instead of 1.2 million, what world are these people living in that you can't give up a job that you hate because you can't…

Contained in that question is a really interesting bit of learning.

There are many ways to go through your career and your 'wealth' cycle. What worked for me was that when ever I got a raise or "extra" money (bonus, stock vesting, etc) I always adjusted my savings rate so that my take home pay was unchanged relative to inflation. The company gave me a 10% raise and inflation was 3%? I added 7% of that raise to my savings rate. As a result, my savings grew and my lifestyle didn't change, I could always "live on" a much more modest salary than I was being paid. That gave me tremendous flexibility in being able to take jobs that had a 'pay cut' but had other aspects that made them desirable (learning something new, opportunities to develop a new skill, more fun, Etc.) And after a while the amount of money your "savings" is kicking off gets to be more and more significant. If you're lucky, then one day the number your savings is kicking off is the same amount you're paying yourself out of your own paycheck and then you can walk away at anytime, keep your life style, and never have to work again. That gives you a tremendous amount of flexibility in how you spend your time.

Re: America’s Professional Elite: Wealthy, Successful and Miserable

#280

Post by flycaliguy »

nimonian wrote: post #136
Murdoch wrote: post #17

The rich are depressed, the middle-class is shrinking and fearful, the poor are hopeless. I'm gonna take a leap here and say maybe people need some religion in their lives to give direction and meaning. I found it interesting that a person in the article who made $1.2M a year was still depressed in thinking they were wasting their lives and it was all meaningless. I ask myself, does this person have children? a famil…

> maybe people need some religion in their lives to give direction and meaning I can't just accept dogma because I'm miserable. I can't just say 2+2=5 even if it would make me feel better. Religion isn't something you can just pick up like pilates. If life is inherently without meaning or direction, I'd rather go with that and be true to myself than refract the universe through some doctrine I understand to be false.…

I picked it up in 15 minutes with a DMT trip, but results may vary.

Stoic philosophy can also float in a nice pantheist grey area. I always keep in mind that the most insightful and present religious people I’ve ever met are by no men’s dogmatic and their spiritual exploration is part of their spirituality. The journey, the acceptance of your own fallibility, mindfulness, these are all parts of faith. The word faith works better for me than religion.

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