There must be something like a "sudden wealth-life crisis", comparable to a midlife crisis. My only advise is to refrain from impulsive decisions in such a situation. But that advise is late here. I hope he has an environment that can ground him. Find productive work, but nothing that puts on too much of a burden (like this ultra-political "DOGE"). Always remember: your wealth is a result of luck and/or decent leadership and OTHER PEOPLE'S WORK. Be decent, be kind and BE REALISTIC. Please don't become Elon.
I am rich and have no idea what to do
331–340 of 1001 posts
Re: I am rich and have no idea what to do
#332It's wild how a random tech millionaire can just walk into our government and start deciding how the rest of us get to live as part of a therapeutic exercise for his mid-life crisis (or whatever you call this).
The way this is written suggests there's still a little bit of self awareness left in him, but that's definitely on its way out the door. I wonder if there's a name for that phenomenon? If not, my suggestion is "Elon's Disease"
I hope if I ever reach that point that I have enough wisdom left to take my money and fuck off to an island somewhere.
Re: I am rich and have no idea what to do
#333Just as a side note because you mentioned it in relation to DOGE: the US government cannot go bankrupt in its own currency. As long as prices are kept in check, there is no reason not to create more money. The fact that the US has to pay interest on it doesn't change that. If the government decides to spend more money than it takes in, the money is simply created by the central bank (through the detour of bonds). If…
I'm far from understanding economics but my understanding is that Modern monetary theory is a somewhat fringe theory that gained some advocates especially before post pandemic inflation while Keynesian economics is although maybe a bit modified from the original largely accepted as part of the base of mainstream economics. They are very different. Also vast majority of countries have central banks and spend more then then save, it's hardly specific to the US (although the US gets cheaper rates because of its position)or a major concern (at least if the debt to GDP percentage doesn't grow too high, or if you're Japan).
Re: I am rich and have no idea what to do
#334I find it a little unsatisfying when people write these things without telling me roughly what they're worth. "Rich" can vary wildly depending who you ask. edit: according to another's comment referencing a $56m payout, it now occurs to me that his confusing mention of a $60m figure may have been exactly that
Yeah, to most of the world, I’m rich. To a significant portion of other Americans, I’m rich. Yet, my lifestyle is wholly dependent on working for somebody else. No work, no house, no car, no medical care, no fun.
“I’m so rich I’m lost” - worst humblebrag ever. Get a therapist. Or go for a long walk in the woods. Sheesh.
Re: I am rich and have no idea what to do
#335> DOGE
Was saddened to read this section in the post. You'd think that smart people would be able to see through Elon-ego-filled-bullshit; but I'm afraid many have been in that circle so long they've drunk the Kool-Aid. I'm not steeped in the wealthy SV community, but I can tell you that the few I've personally met or am acquainted with, make me want to run the other way.
On DOGE, I'm quite sure every Gov department could benefit from greater efficiency, no argument there. I'm also quite sure that it won't actually reduce the Gov budget all that much (just take a look at where most discretionary spending goes). And more importantly, would it make the lives of ordinary Americans (not rich Americans) better? Or would it just be some "achievement unlocked" type of thing. It's clear to me that Elon mostly cares about the latter.
Now if Elon were to cut our military budget in half, now __that__ could have a significant impact. Except that even if he wanted to, Congress (both parties) wouldn't let him: one does not kill sacred cows.
But you know what worries me more a lot more than government waste? The fact that the richest man in the world was able to pay $250M to sway an election. I'm not saying Elon bought the election, because maybe Trump would have won without Elon spending a dime -- but we'll never know, will we? If this were in some other country we'd be talking about "banana republic government corruption" and our "model" constitutional democracy, etc.
Re: I am rich and have no idea what to do
#336As a young(ish) man with retirement level wealth personally I don't understand this primarily I suppose because my main passions in life are not profitable. Great, so now I don't have to profitmax every single thing and can rely on my investments. That means I can study pottery, languages, learn about cars, guns, travel, spend time with my old mum, family, start a small business, whatever it is, without care for whet…
tbh it sounds much more like he wants to be viewed as a saviour than actually improve anything significant to me.
"what I actually wanted was to look like Elon" feels like he's getting very close to grasping something fundamental about himself in a way that many similar dudes are incapable of doing.
Re: I am rich and have no idea what to do
#337> I should work for Elon and Vivek at DOGE and help America get off its current crash to defaulting on its own debt I’ve got an idea: take some good economics courses so that you learn how government spending actually works.
don't worry, he's starting with physics and will invent economics from first principles on his own because he's a genius
You gotta admit, building a desktop recording app is only a few short hops away from building our civilization.
Re: I am rich and have no idea what to do
#338Sounds a lot like the guy who said I have 23 gold medals and have no idea what to do (Michael Phelps). Although it isn't a DSM recognized condition, psychologists often refer to the depression of people who obtain the pinnacle of success as “post-gold medal depression.” Here is an article about it. [0] "What shall we ever do?" -- T.S. Eliot - The Wasteland "What SHOULD we do?" -- Dr. Seuss - The Cat in the Hat "What…
"What Is To Be Done?" -- V. Lenin
Re: I am rich and have no idea what to do
#339Same situation, I truly empathise because it really does seem to take a lot of purpose out of everything. What I’ve found is that you need to replace money/salary/financial success optimisation (assuming you spent a lot of your life and energy to this point focused on these, much like I did) with something else totally unconnected with being measured in that way. For me, I am focused on proving myself as a guitarist…
Seems weird that you have to advice people that they should hide their success from people they're befriending.
Living a double life like that doesn't seem right to me. It has something to do, perhaps, with the type of people you're surrounding yourself with. If someone can't be friends with you without asking you for money why are you keeping such people around in the first place.
Re: I am rich and have no idea what to do
#340What to do? Apparently long so overqualified that unemployable so am doing a startup. If it is successful, I'll pay off some old bills and loans. Then, sure, pursue mathematical physics, maybe get a modest house with a lake, woods, and fields, hope foxes, beavers, swans, etc. have a good home there. Did too well with education and technology but still wasted nearly all my life with nonsense from in too many respects being poorly informed (about people, academics, business) and would like to help some children in the family tree avoid the waste of the nonsense and get on with a good life, at least love, home, marriage, family, and some accomplishments in business, science, etc. Made enough progress with violin (easier to carry than a piano) to play the D major part of the Bach Chaconne but would like to return to music, on a piano and play through some Richard Wagner scores and try to learn what he did.