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How to get rich without getting lucky

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Re: How to get rich without getting lucky

#71
post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But one important part of their success was to invest their income. I know too many people that use their money to consume. Investing early in your life is what makes the difference. It's very easy to spend it on little things and claim to not have anything to invest.

> I know too many people that use their money to consume. All those dumb poor people wasting their money on food.

Maybe you are misunderstanding what the term consume means?

Consuming means using resources on things that immediately loose their value. If you for example buy a house, that's not consuming since the house has inherent value.

But if you yourself the newest gaming rig, the gaming rig is consuming the money. This is what Americans mean when they talk about consumer society.

Re: How to get rich without getting lucky

#72
post #8

I know very few people that got rich without getting lucky and none of them would have been rich if they had followed this list. The majority of them simply went into finance, consulting or real estate at a young age and invested their income smartly (retrospectively!). After the first million rolls in if you're young enough compound returns will take care of the rest if you can postpone altering your life-style.

> I know very few people that got rich without getting lucky > [they] invested their income smartly (retrospectively!). This sounds like a contradiction?

Well there's the old saying that "luck is where opportunity meets preparation".

...as in "you make your own luck".

Re: How to get rich without getting lucky

#73
post #8

I know very few people that got rich without getting lucky and none of them would have been rich if they had followed this list. The majority of them simply went into finance, consulting or real estate at a young age and invested their income smartly (retrospectively!). After the first million rolls in if you're young enough compound returns will take care of the rest if you can postpone altering your life-style.

> Play iterated games. All the returns in life, whether in wealth, relationships, or knowledge, come from compound interest.

So they followed at least part of the list.

Re: How to get rich without getting lucky

#74
post #8

I know very few people that got rich without getting lucky and none of them would have been rich if they had followed this list. The majority of them simply went into finance, consulting or real estate at a young age and invested their income smartly (retrospectively!). After the first million rolls in if you're young enough compound returns will take care of the rest if you can postpone altering your life-style.

This is a forum full of hackers, and hackers want to get rich by writing code. So this comment is unhelpful.

Re: How to get rich without getting lucky

#75

"Wealth is having assets that earn while you sleep." If you are earning wealth while you sleep, it must be coming from somewhere. Either it is illusory (eg interest, which is cancelled by inflation), or it is being generated by other people working. "Understand that ethical wealth creation is possible." Thus, this statement is dubious in the context of "wealth while you sleep".

Paying people to work for you is unethical?

Re: How to get rich without getting lucky

#76
post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you have advices for young people in long term investments ?

Don't listen to risk-averse engineers. You are young, invest in high risk things you believe in. Make it an active investment if you can. Recognize who is giving you boring advice(index funds), look at the risk levels in their life, and then disregard them if they don't take chances on anything. At a young age your risky investment % should be at it's highest. The exact amount will depend on your appetite.

I like this advice, particularly the warning against risk-averse behavior. Literally anyone can give the most common answers. It takes someone with true insight to actually see what the person needs, in this case how the risk profile changes over time.

Re: How to get rich without getting lucky

#77
post #21
post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But one important part of their success was to invest their income. I know too many people that use their money to consume. Investing early in your life is what makes the difference. It's very easy to spend it on little things and claim to not have anything to invest.

Do you have advices for young people in long term investments ?

I really liked investing in companies I love to use or just want to succeed because I think they are onto something. More risky but at the same time 'supports' what I like and with more reward if it works out than index funds (which you should do in general).

Re: How to get rich without getting lucky

#78

If we define rich as not having to work, it could be achieved with a low income, but low expenses. At an extreme, perhaps, self-sufficiency, using knowledge and technology (even robots?) instead of back-breaking stope subsistence farming. You would be rich, but also poor.

This is basically my life right now and I am loving every single second of it.

Another tip here is to surround yourself with people who also love having low expenses and are adventurous and open minded.

My gf originally wanted to plan a vacation that involved a flight, hotel, and nights out on the city.

When I took her car camping on the beach 45 mins away from our job and cooked her dinner on the beach, for an all in budget (gas parking food etc) of like $27, she never looked back from her newfound hobby XDD

Re: How to get rich without getting lucky

#80
post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I know too many people that use their money to consume. All those dumb poor people wasting their money on food.

Maybe you are misunderstanding what the term consume means? Consuming means using resources on things that immediately loose their value. If you for example buy a house, that's not consuming since the house has inherent value. But if you yourself the newest gaming rig, the gaming rig is consuming the money. This is what Americans mean when they talk about consumer society.

> Consuming means using resources on things that immediately loose their value.

You mean like food ? It's literally the first definition of 'to consume' on Google.

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