How to get rich without getting lucky • Hacker News Board

Re: How to get rich without getting lucky

#411

Post by 20years » Fri, Jun 01, 2018, 7:58 PM UTC

skookumchuck wrote: post #397

20years wrote: post #309

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, I agree. I am not proposing spending all of your money living it up, but to find a healthy balance. It doesn't have to go in the extreme in either direction.

That's right. For example, an expensive new car isn't much better than a 3 year old used one, and the difference is a big chunk of money to invest. (And also being able to invest money rather than spend it on the interest on car payments.)

This is a perfect example. I have had the same car for 6 years which I bought used and am hoping to squeeze another 5 out of it. Cars are one of those things I hate spending money on.

Re: How to get rich without getting lucky

#412

Post by muzz » Fri, Jun 01, 2018, 7:59 PM UTC

wtvanhest wrote: post #328

muzz wrote: post #285

Earlier quoted context omitted.

College tuition has sort of switched to "sliding scale". For example, 40% of UC Berkeley undergraduate students pay zero in tuition despite the sticker price.

Berkeley is an exception. Most state schools do not offer nearly that level of aid. If you are upper middle class (i.e. parents make $70Ksh-$150ksh), and you don't have exceptional grades, you will pay the sticker price and you will leave school with $20k-$75k of debt. That is before adjusting for the rapidly rising price of college which will no doubt continue rising at 7%-10% per year over that 4 year period.

While students may be especially fortunate to live in California, my understanding is few even in other states at the $75k family income level pay sticker price. Note also that median family income in the US is around 60k. For example, at UW, CollegeSimply reports the net price for a family income of $48,001 to $75,000 is $10,231: http://www.collegesimply.com/colleges/washington/university-...

Average student debt of those who borrow is in the 20s-30s of thousands at most schools. $75k of debt for an undergraduate degree would be an outlier anywhere. https://lendedu.com/blog/student-loan-debt-statistics-by-sch...

Re: How to get rich without getting lucky

#413

Post by stcredzero » Fri, Jun 01, 2018, 8:00 PM UTC

ConfusedDog wrote: post #388

stcredzero wrote: post #331

Specific knowledge is knowledge that you cannot be trained for. If society can train you, it can train someone else, and replace you. If there is market value in a skill or knowledge, the market will find the people who can be trained in it, then train them. Perhaps a talent is required to be competitive. Corollary: Beware of fields which have artificial gatekeeping. They are in a disadvantageous market. Become the b…

Which fields have artificial gatekeeping? Do you have any examples? I'm not familiar with the term and couldn't find it online...

Which fields have artificial gatekeeping?

Massage Therapy is one. This varies state to state in the US, but you have to have a license.

Re: How to get rich without getting lucky

#414

Post by infinite8s » Fri, Jun 01, 2018, 8:00 PM UTC

segmondy wrote: post #300

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…

There are tons of people who spent their money living it up and got old and are really struggling and having difficult times with tons of regrets. I suspect more than those who saved and died young.

Probably because if you died young you by definition have no regrets.

Re: How to get rich without getting lucky

#415

Post by charlesdm » Fri, Jun 01, 2018, 8:00 PM UTC

ineptech wrote: post #401

charlesdm wrote: post #277

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 morall…

Spending a night in a hotel and then skipping out on the bill will land you jail (or at least it will get the police involved). Avoiding tax is legal and does not.

> 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?

By definition, if you pay everything you owe, aren't you paying your share?

Re: How to get rich without getting lucky

#416

Post by ineptech » Fri, Jun 01, 2018, 8:06 PM UTC

charlesdm wrote: post #415

ineptech wrote: post #401

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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 morall…

Spending a night in a hotel and then skipping out on the bill will land you jail (or at least it will get the police involved). Avoiding tax is legal and does not. > 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? By definition, if you pay everything you owe, aren't you paying your share?

I said "morally different".

edit:

> By definition, if you pay everything you owe, aren't you paying your share?

The line between tax avoidance and freeloading is debatable. Maybe you use less tax-funded things than most people. Maybe you refuse to drive on streets, cross rivers in a rowboat instead of walking on bridges, and resolutely close your eyes when walking by a beautiful piece of taxpayer-funded art. But morally, if you're enjoying nice things that other people paid for, you're freeloading (which is emphatically not a political stance, or an "unpopular opinion").

Re: How to get rich without getting lucky

#417

Post by billbrown » Fri, Jun 01, 2018, 8:13 PM UTC

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.…

Or you can just have a car?

Why is not having a car an ideal for you? Why do you have to bike? Can't you just walk places?

I don't have a car because society is telling me to have a car. I have a car because it's faster to get places I want to go; it's damn hot in the summer; and it's great for carrying around purchases and the family.

Re: How to get rich without getting lucky

#418

Post by jksmith » Fri, Jun 01, 2018, 8:18 PM UTC

I blew so much money on this young girl in 15,16,17 it put me in a hole and we aren't together anymore. Was making close to 300k/yr in an area where that's a shitload of money. I could have paid off a bunch of debt, IRS, put a chunk in retirement, lots of stuff. Would I do it again? Oh hell yes because it was an incredible experience. Money ain't shit unless it facilitates an experience you'd never, ever get otherwise. There's different motivators for making money. I've definitely found mine. Writing a new revenue generator right now and I've written so much code I definitely wouldn't have the energy to do this much work unless I had experienced what I did.

Re: How to get rich without getting lucky

#419

Post by muzz » Fri, Jun 01, 2018, 8:23 PM UTC

0xfeba wrote: post #390

graedus wrote: post #338

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Going out to party can also be fun but this becomes the difference in spending $20 at home vs $200 in one night. Agreed, but try not to be the person who refuses to ever go out because you're too focused on being frugal. A few times here and there won't really hurt you in the long run (and having fun with friends is important and worth the money), but making it a habit every night will. Just avoid the latter. > Fru…

> Americans in particular tend to buy way more car than they need, and the difference in price is on an order of magnitude that really does matter in the long run for many of us Not only that, they trade it in (sometimes with negative equity) every ~5 years. I buy old, used Lexus'. Pretty much all modern features, quiet, and a fraction of the new price. Change the oil, and the timing belt if applicable, it will last…

5 years is when maintenance and repairs start happening more regularly. Because these are labor intensive, if one lives in an area where labor is expensive, or if the opportunity cost of one's own labor/time is expensive, does this still make sense?

Also, there are some really modern features like rear-view cameras, sonar, etc., which are pretty cheap in newer cars but almost impossible to find in older ones

Re: How to get rich without getting lucky

#420

Post by eanzenberg » Fri, Jun 01, 2018, 8:28 PM UTC

thisisit wrote: post #208

I really doubt you can get rich by not being lucky. I was like Naval and thought many of my achievements were due to sheer hard work. And then I read this article about luck: http://nautil.us/blog/-the-key-to-good-luck-is-an-open-mind And I got the book mentioned in the article - The Luck Factor by Richard Wiseman. One of the exercises in the book is to think over how things have unfolded in your life - what would ha…

That's not how statistics works. "At my first job I wasn't supposed to be there for an interview but went along..." doesn't mean if you passed on this and got the next job you would be any worse or better off. Luck literally means random chance, which would mean that if you didn't take this job it would have changed your outcome vs. all the other possible outcomes if you passed on it.