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I am rich and have no idea what to do

vinay.sh

431–440 of 1001 posts

Re: I am rich and have no idea what to do

#431
post #322

Just a thought I’d like to share: the finish line to “Fuck you money” (FUM) isn’t even remotely close to the $60m mark. It’s not even beyond $100,000. Once you have no debts nor a mortgage, and you have $100k in savings, you have FUM, because suddenly you need $25k a year to live well. I say this as a member of this community, who are (generally speaking) relatively well paid folk in IT. If you have a partner in life…

i think that would be more accurately labeled as financial independence rather than FU money. im not sure FU money really exists

Re: I am rich and have no idea what to do

#433

Not to judge or sound condescending, but it seems like you’re lacking empathy and a community. I know exactly what I’d do in your situation: help others. I live in a small city, and it has some problems and some opportunities. Even lacking funds I still do what I can to help the community around me. Spend some time with people who aren’t all in tech or on the beach and go find some reality. People like elon preaching…

This guy perfectly represents Silicon Valley as a whole. I have no doubt that 70%+ of techies here would follow a similar path (call coworkers NPCs, break up with GF, live out Elon fantasy, pretend to do important/smart things but give up and move on to the next every few weeks) if given unlimited money.

Re: I am rich and have no idea what to do

#434
post #3

Same 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…

That last point is salient. I grew very rich in the last 3 - 4 years and I funded a bunch of my friend's startup ideas. Now I cannot bear myself to reply to their happy new year wishes because how the relationships have soured.

Are any of your friends the type that is blunt/honest regardless of how things are going?

Personally I've found the problematic ones to be those who feel like they're obliged to act deferrentially once money is involved.

The blunt/honest ones that don't change their personality like that still seem ok.

Re: I am rich and have no idea what to do

#437
Although I've done quite well for myself, I'm not remotely near this level of wealth, so my insight and advice is likely just plain wrong.

Building on an analogy you used, you've let society dictate your "unattainable main quest", but then actually managed to attain it, losing your core sense of purpose in the process.

So pick a new unattainable main quest and internalize it, before proceeding with your life.

Easier said than done of course. You're fighting to replace a goal that was repeatedly forced into you from the early days of your conscious existence. How hard this will be comes down to your individual mental composition. It might be impossible. It might be easy and just require willful thought on your part. There are probably therapists that specialize in exactly this kind of situation.

Good luck!

Re: I am rich and have no idea what to do

#438

I am hearing you say “why can’t I be normal and do insignificant things” while calling the people who do “NPC coworkers” And that is your internal struggle my friend

Yeah this is the part that makes him sound like an out-of-touch asshole. I think it’s impossible to be happy if you hate ordinary people this much.

Maybe go meditate or hike and disconnect from twitter for a couple months, then take a volunteer position at a local food bank.

Re: I am rich and have no idea what to do

#440
post #106

I don't think you have to have Fuck You Money to get to this point. Most people eventually become disillusioned with work enough that they reevaluate what matters to them. Getting a very profitable exit is just one way to trigger that experience. In my experience, a lot of people who get into this state start self-sabotaging hard as a way of rejecting what feels, ironically, like losing control. Sudden freedom can fe…

> Something I did not read in this essay is how he grew closer to anyone (in fact, I read the opposite).

Yeah. The entire blog post (to me) gives the strong impression that the author is an extremely self centred, selfish... er... prick.

Maybe they'll learn to be less that way over time, and hopefully their ex-girlfriend learns to avoid ungrateful people.

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