How I got wealthy without working too hard • Hacker News Board

Re: How I got wealthy without working too hard

#71

Post by javert » Thu, Nov 18, 2021, 4:52 PM UTC

mikeyouse wrote: post #36

echelon wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If it was stocks, you would diversify more by sector according to your risk, but in general ~10% in a broad asset class seems fine. I don't think we would question 10% of net worth in real estate.

> I don't think we would question 10% of net worth in real estate. No, but there's no chance of real estate going to zero. The global financial crisis housing bust saw US house prices decreases by something like 20%. There's a non-insignificant chance of most Crypto 'investments' losing 99% of their value. I think it's very dangerous to start talking about crypto as an "asset class". People are going to lose their sh…

There is something wrong with grouping all "crypto" together.

It's like having an asset class called "coinage" that includes gold and silver coins, copper pennies, and everything in between.

Re: How I got wealthy without working too hard

#72

Post by chefandy » Thu, Nov 18, 2021, 4:53 PM UTC

PragmaticPulp wrote: post #14

> Take a $ 500-1000 / day, full-remote job > Take 2 months for holidays in-between contracts > Do this for 7 years while investing most of your salary in a diversified portfolio. Working $1000/day contracts for 5 days per week, 10 months per year is equivalent to $217K of contractor income per year. But contractor income is not comparable to normal career income because you have to handle additional taxes and health…

a) His definition of wealthy isn't entirely financial: "My personal mantra is: 'try to get 80% of the reward with 20% of the work'. I’m not interested in giving 100% to get 100%: that is an overcrowded game."

b) It says that he reduced his living expenses and invested most of it in a diversified portfolio without too much in crypto.

c) the real missing ingredient is to do this all during a period of explosive growth in both the stock market and your chosen sector, which involves a lot of luck.

Re: How I got wealthy without working too hard

#73

Post by wonderwonder » Thu, Nov 18, 2021, 4:53 PM UTC

PragmaticPulp wrote: post #14

> Take a $ 500-1000 / day, full-remote job > Take 2 months for holidays in-between contracts > Do this for 7 years while investing most of your salary in a diversified portfolio. Working $1000/day contracts for 5 days per week, 10 months per year is equivalent to $217K of contractor income per year. But contractor income is not comparable to normal career income because you have to handle additional taxes and health…

100k invested a year at 8% return is $963k, essentially a millionaire and very wealthy in most of the world. Nothing fancy required just get standard stock market returns.

Even going slightly less aggressively, if you are self employed you can put ~52k a year into a an i401k pre-tax and then 6k into an IRA. So 58k a year makes you a millionaire after 11 years.

Run it for 20 years and you have 2.8 million and can retire relatively young. Its not driving a Rolls Royce retirement but its comfortable and you got there through low stress and got to enjoy the journey.

Re: How I got wealthy without working too hard

#74

Post by joeberon » Thu, Nov 18, 2021, 4:54 PM UTC

shiftpgdn wrote: post #29

jcroll wrote: post #2

> Work and self-actualisation can be rewarding and meaningful, but looking at the sea from an hammock and drinking too much beer with friends three times a week is also a completely respectable way of waiting for the gravitational swallowing of the planet. Part of wants to accept this from the author and the other part of me is wary. I didn't have a child because I wanted to be happy, I did it because I wanted a more…

The biggest reality check in my life was working at an engineering firm with a bunch of near retirement baby boomers with no children. They all came across ass listless, unhappy, and living a life with no greater purpose. It was unquestionably one of the ugliest things I have ever seen. As you get older and friends drift and pass away family is one of the most important things in life. I know anti-natalism is hip rig…

See, to me the fact that you can only find true meaning in your life by having children is totally bizarre. Are you somehow not aware that it is simply a biological imperative for you? I'm not having kids, and if I regret it, who cares? My personal feeling of life satisfaction, determined by the biological feeling of wanting to procreate, is not worth the stress put on both myself and the planet of having children. The idea that we must fundamentally be beholden to recreation is a disgusting relic. There are, thankfully, ways to overcome these ways that our monkey brain controls us (ask the Buddhists, for example)

Explain to me exactly how does having children give life purpose any more than drinking beer or writing a piece of music or whatever? It doesn't intrinsically, it is entirely subjective, and it is just another feeling. You can be free of being a slave to that feeling, as many millennials and gen-z, and people throughout history, have discovered.

Re: How I got wealthy without working too hard

#75

Post by [deleted] » Thu, Nov 18, 2021, 4:54 PM UTC

moonchrome wrote: post #57

PragmaticPulp wrote: post #14

> Take a $ 500-1000 / day, full-remote job > Take 2 months for holidays in-between contracts > Do this for 7 years while investing most of your salary in a diversified portfolio. Working $1000/day contracts for 5 days per week, 10 months per year is equivalent to $217K of contractor income per year. But contractor income is not comparable to normal career income because you have to handle additional taxes and health…

> But contractor income is not comparable to normal career income because you have to handle additional taxes and health insurance, so this is more like a $150K (plus or minus) full time job once you subtract self-employment taxes and pay for health insurance. What ? I've never heard of a scenario where you get less money after tax as a contractor vs employee, even without doing things like claiming a bunch of everyd…

[deleted]

Re: How I got wealthy without working too hard

#76

Post by joeberon » Thu, Nov 18, 2021, 4:54 PM UTC

yoyohello13 wrote: post #49

shiftpgdn wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The biggest reality check in my life was working at an engineering firm with a bunch of near retirement baby boomers with no children. They all came across ass listless, unhappy, and living a life with no greater purpose. It was unquestionably one of the ugliest things I have ever seen. As you get older and friends drift and pass away family is one of the most important things in life. I know anti-natalism is hip rig…

I think this is dependent on the people. I’ve also seen many couples who couldn’t have kids that have very fulfilling lives. They volunteer, are active in and well liked by the community. I think meaning can come from many places. Kids are an almost guaranteed source but you can find meaning without children if you look for it. This might just be wishful thinking on my part since I’m unable to have kids, but I’d like…

I've also seen many people who have had kids who have flown the nest who now do not have fulfilling lives.

Re: How I got wealthy without working too hard

#77

Post by wonderwonder » Thu, Nov 18, 2021, 4:55 PM UTC

anm89 wrote: post #52

PragmaticPulp wrote: post #14

> Take a $ 500-1000 / day, full-remote job > Take 2 months for holidays in-between contracts > Do this for 7 years while investing most of your salary in a diversified portfolio. Working $1000/day contracts for 5 days per week, 10 months per year is equivalent to $217K of contractor income per year. But contractor income is not comparable to normal career income because you have to handle additional taxes and health…

Working 1099 should be preferable from a tax perspective (if through an s corp) and from a liquidity standpoint (money is cash, not 401k contorbutions), not worse, I would think. You do have to pay health insurance monthly but for a young single person I'm at 250 a month so nothing that really changes things.

Even better, if you are married, your spouse can have a job that provides health insurance and you work as a contractor.

Re: How I got wealthy without working too hard

#78

Post by marktangotango » Thu, Nov 18, 2021, 4:55 PM UTC

stagger87 wrote: post #70

PragmaticPulp wrote: post #14

> Take a $ 500-1000 / day, full-remote job > Take 2 months for holidays in-between contracts > Do this for 7 years while investing most of your salary in a diversified portfolio. Working $1000/day contracts for 5 days per week, 10 months per year is equivalent to $217K of contractor income per year. But contractor income is not comparable to normal career income because you have to handle additional taxes and health…

> So there’s a lot missing from this blog post. I suspect maybe the author got lucky with some outlier investments, but that’s not something that can be conveyed in a “how to” blog post. Why do you think that? All the numbers work out. Even in your hypothetical scenario, investing 100k for 7 years, especially in the last 7 years, would easily bring you 1M total investments. > FIRE type wealth trajectories are possibl…

> would easily bring you 1M total investments.

I think this is the disconnect with GP, $1M isn't what anyone can really call "wealthy" nowadays. Yes, it's a lot of money, but does not allow one to live what most people consider to be a rich lifestyle.

Re: How I got wealthy without working too hard

#79

Post by abfan1127 » Thu, Nov 18, 2021, 4:56 PM UTC

wavefunction wrote: post #67

shiftpgdn wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The biggest reality check in my life was working at an engineering firm with a bunch of near retirement baby boomers with no children. They all came across ass listless, unhappy, and living a life with no greater purpose. It was unquestionably one of the ugliest things I have ever seen. As you get older and friends drift and pass away family is one of the most important things in life. I know anti-natalism is hip rig…

Life has whatever purpose you give to it. That's it.

while true, I think many people struggle to give as deep a purpose to (hiking, being a foodie, knitting) as investing in another person. Not that it isn't possible. Its just a challenge. Not that being a parent isn't a challenge either.

Re: How I got wealthy without working too hard

#80

Post by dbrueck » Thu, Nov 18, 2021, 4:57 PM UTC

gab007 wrote: post #35

> "Meetings are the mind-killer" Could not agree more. They're big-corp specific and if you can avoid them - that would be a big plus for you. I can't. They lack value while being a complete waste of time. You may think it's no biggie - "but I'm getting paid for the meetig time". True, however - they can wear you down in time, if three-four times a day... and you are still expected to deliver, regardless the time spe…

Too many stupid meetings is the #1 reasons why I left and started something on my own. At my current company we have one official meeting per week, and it's unusual if it lasts more than 20 minutes. It's wonderful.