Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

How to get rich without getting lucky

threadreaderapp.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

401–410 of 527 posts

Re: How to get rich without getting lucky

#401

Post by ineptech »

charlesdm wrote: post #277
mrlinx wrote: post #264

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 h…

> 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.

The state gives a lot to you, when you're poor, and it takes a lot from you, later on after you're not poor anymore. Why do you think you should get to live in a nice place full of nice things paid for by other people, and not pay your own share? How is that morally different from spending the night in a hotel and then skipping out on the bill?

Re: How to get rich without getting lucky

#402

Post by skookumchuck »

rdiddly wrote: post #235
falcolas wrote: post #187

Earlier 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…

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…

> You're saving $100,000 a year. In about 10 years you're a millionaire

Much quicker than that if you invest it at 7% (average real return on the S&P 500).

Re: How to get rich without getting lucky

#403

Post by rich-and-poor »

superjisan wrote: post #398

This ignores most poor people who are too busy trying to feed their family in the short term and our society's inability to properly give them a safety net for them to learn new skills/ get ahead in life.

Society is a privelege and not a right, without "our society" and it's shortcomings you're back to hunting for food and succeeding, or perishing

Re: How to get rich without getting lucky

#404

Post by notyourwork »

sametmax wrote: post #299
notyourwork wrote: post #291

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This depends on where you live though. Midwest basically required a car, living in Seattle and SF my wife and I never need a car. It’s not always as simple as grouping a population. America is big and diverse.

I just came back from the valley, and I get that the american society and infrastructure is encouraging the to use a car. Like Australia. I also get that, living in a city in France, it's easier to avoid having a car. yet I note that you could have a motorbike. You could not have kids. You could move close to your work. You could move in an area requiring less car. You could change your job to one not needing a car.…

I guess you are convinced your generalization is sound in basis. Not everyone can afford to move closer to work, that’s a silly assumption. Big cities that lend well to public transportation are not affordable for everyone. You can’t always move closer to work, what if your spouse and you work on opposite parts of a region? I suppose next solution is one finds a new job or quits. Life’s not as simple as your naive point of view indicates.

Re: How to get rich without getting lucky

#405

Post by skookumchuck »

mcguire wrote: post #283
y4mi wrote: post #214

Earlier quoted context omitted.

it can also save him from wasting even more.

If so, it's likely we are all so far screwed as to not make it worth planning for. Global economic collapse is not much better than giant asteroids. This is not to say I don't think we are in a large bubble.

I regularly hear "what if the stock market goes down 80%?" Then I'm totally screwed anyway, whether I'm in the market or not, because everything else will collapse as well.

So there's no point in worrying about such scenarios.

Re: How to get rich without getting lucky

#406

Post by ramen-san »

falcolas wrote: post #187
11thEarlOfMar wrote: post #158

The 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…

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…

The reality is you need to increase your top line earning power. Working for decades earning average compensation for your location will get you an average outcome (which means a late in life, short retirement, at best). You need to super charge your earnings and savings for a number of years. Ideally through doing higher value work, as opposed to simply working more hours.

If you’re not making enough, and having financial flexibility is important to you, then considering a career change is in order. You might need to go down before you go up. Invest in yourself through education and experience and leverage that to get into a higher paying path (see more on this here: https://ramenretirement.com/2018/04/30/wealth/)

Once you have some real savings and wealth, then it’s all about investing it properly to generate inflation protected passive income (IPPI). I prefer real estate for this (see here for more on RE investing: https://ramenretirement.com/2018/03/18/ultimate-guide-to-rea...). I don’t think enough people consider alternative investments. Putting all your eggs in public markets is a low cash flow proposition, along with lower long term returns (see how returns compare here: https://ramenretirement.com/2018/03/18/ultimate-guide-to-rea...). If you have excess savings, you don’t need all that liquidity and should consider less liquid investments that might have higher returns: https://ramenretirement.com/2018/02/23/youre-too-liquid/

Lastly, people talk about the 4% rule, but that’s bullshit for a whole host of reasons: https://ramenretirement.com/2018/01/21/4-percent-rule/

Save money. Build wealth. Invest it wisely, considering alternatives other than the stock market. That’s the path. Simple, but not necessarily easy.

Re: How to get rich without getting lucky

#407

Post by mattm »

20years wrote: post #236
falcolas wrote: post #187

Earlier 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…

This is a good counterpoint and something my Dad points out often. He was very frugal, worked long hours and saved as much as he could so him and my mom could have a good retirement. She passed away at 42, so that never happened. He has so many regrets and wishes he invested more of his money & time in experiences with her while she was alive. I think there needs to be a balance. The trend of working crazy hours to s…

For the misers out there (like me) who don't like spending money, the way I avoid this is set X% to be automatically transferred to a savings account that is my fun money. It helps a lot because mentally I've written off the money immediately and I can enjoy spending it without worry.

Re: How to get rich without getting lucky

#408

Post by wrycoder »

moate wrote: post #359
HeyLaughingBoy wrote: post #302

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Norm" is probably more than two cars. I have a 17 year-old. When he gets his license, we have a car waiting for him (OK: it needs a bunch of repairs, but whatever). Right now, it's a pain in the ass to drive him places (like to & from work). In my neck of the woods, the average is probably 4-6 cars per family.

National statistics disagree with you. IDK what your neck of the woods is, but there's millions of people who live in urban areas in which car ownership is completely foreign that bring those averages down. http://www.nationmaster.com/country-info/profiles/United-Sta...

And tens of millions out here in the tules who need a car to get around. Otherwise, it’s back to the horse and wagon. There’s no public transportation, and there won’t be any until the tules are gone.

Re: How to get rich without getting lucky

#409

Post by 20years »

mattm wrote: post #407
20years wrote: post #236

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a good counterpoint and something my Dad points out often. He was very frugal, worked long hours and saved as much as he could so him and my mom could have a good retirement. She passed away at 42, so that never happened. He has so many regrets and wishes he invested more of his money & time in experiences with her while she was alive. I think there needs to be a balance. The trend of working crazy hours to s…

For the misers out there (like me) who don't like spending money, the way I avoid this is set X% to be automatically transferred to a savings account that is my fun money. It helps a lot because mentally I've written off the money immediately and I can enjoy spending it without worry.

I like this!

Re: How to get rich without getting lucky

#410

Post by j2bax »

mmcconnell1618 wrote: post #98
keiferski wrote: post #33

I’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…

I read the article as pro-wealth, not pro-money. The author says that wealth is ownership of assets that generate money while you sleep. Ultimately, I see wealth as freedom of time. But there are two other big categories of wealth: health and social network. If you have FU money but also brain cancer or live on a planet by yourself, the money doesn’t mean much.

If you have FU money but also brain cancer or live on a planet by yourself, the money doesn’t mean much.

Definitely a sobering thought. How rich I really am...

Post reply on HN