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Redditors who are rich (net worth $1 million+) - how did you get rich?
71–80 of 185 posts
Re: Redditors who are rich (net worth $1 million+) - how did you get rich?
#72Entrepreneurism seems under-represented: most of the responses seem to be inheritance or stock investments. I'm wondering if that reflects on the reddit community makeup, the type of people who would answer this question, or just that growing a successful startup is really hard / rare.
You know the saying? Lottery is for people who are bad at math. Well, same for startups. The odds are so against you you might as well play the lottery.
Re: Redditors who are rich (net worth $1 million+) - how did you get rich?
#73Earlier quoted context omitted.
Anecdata: Walk down a main commercial street in any large metropolis and count the number of completely unviable businesses (these are the ones that turn over their real estate every few months). These are further polluting the statistics.
I am not knowledgeable enough to know whether or not a business is viable just from looking in the storefront. Though I would argue that as the owner of two retail locations, I am probably better equipped to make that judgement than most. In my experience, most retail leases are for 5 year terms. I can't imagine that the default rate on those is anywhere near 50%. Most business "failures" likely never got far enough…
My gist was you don't have to be able to know, just walk down the street, then walk down the same street 6 months later, and many of the shops will have changed.
Re: Redditors who are rich (net worth $1 million+) - how did you get rich?
#74There's a sad undercurrent to this, as some redditors respond that they find this depressing. While I understand their plight, I do not understand the sustained pessimism for most of the depressed ones. I went to work right out of high school at menial jobs. No college, no big family business. Paycheck-to-paycheck, and any minor emergency like a dead car battery was a financial crisis. I did not "get lucky" on stocks…
I am really glad someone else has noticed this and feels the same way. This quote from that thread pissed me off all morning: "If you told the common man any time in history other than the baby boomer generation, that the way to get rich was 'hard work' and 'Budgeting' they would die of laughter." Every day I feel more and more alienated by the victim mentality on Reddit. It seems to be the only tangible by-product o…
I'm not sure why you would find that quote so offensive, but to be fair, the disillusioned youth on Reddit are probably just as sensitive to the "anyone can pull themselves up by their own bootstraps" assertions by smug boomers (like the GP). Such a world-view is increasingly at odds with an economic reality in which income inequality is higher than its been in decades, and growing.
Re: Redditors who are rich (net worth $1 million+) - how did you get rich?
#75The #1 expense over your lifetime won't be your house, your entertainment, or your cars. It will be TAXES. If you build a career path that can take advantage of tax breaks you wind up with a huge advantage from the start. For tech entrepreneurs - focus on building your enterprise value. Reinvest profits into GROWTH so that you wind up paying the bulk of your taxes in capital gains vs. personal income tax. On $1m or 2…
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Re: Redditors who are rich (net worth $1 million+) - how did you get rich?
#76The #1 expense over your lifetime won't be your house, your entertainment, or your cars. It will be TAXES. If you build a career path that can take advantage of tax breaks you wind up with a huge advantage from the start. For tech entrepreneurs - focus on building your enterprise value. Reinvest profits into GROWTH so that you wind up paying the bulk of your taxes in capital gains vs. personal income tax. On $1m or 2…
What you're describing is the distorted landscape created by corrupt tax policy... it's not a good thing, but I suppose someone has to exploit it.
To my knowledge single employee S-Corps are more and more risky (likely to result in an audit).
Re: Redditors who are rich (net worth $1 million+) - how did you get rich?
#77Earlier quoted context omitted.
There lies the difference between Eastern(H. Karthik) and Western(Mike Ryan)approach to personal finances.
Just FYI, my family immigrated to the US when I was an infant and I've lived in the different parts of the US since then. So while I had a mostly eastern upbringing, I still grew up in the suburbs, went to public schools, and lived a typical American life.
Such is the influence of South Indian upbringing ;)
Re: Redditors who are rich (net worth $1 million+) - how did you get rich?
#78Earlier quoted context omitted.
I am really glad someone else has noticed this and feels the same way. This quote from that thread pissed me off all morning: "If you told the common man any time in history other than the baby boomer generation, that the way to get rich was 'hard work' and 'Budgeting' they would die of laughter." Every day I feel more and more alienated by the victim mentality on Reddit. It seems to be the only tangible by-product o…
I'm not sure why you would find that quote so offensive, but to be fair, the disillusioned youth on Reddit are probably just as sensitive to the "anyone can pull themselves up by their own bootstraps" assertions by smug boomers (like the GP). Such a world-view is increasingly at odds with an economic reality in which income inequality is higher than its been in decades, and growing.
High income inequality is not at odds with the ability for folks lift themselves out of poverty or social mobility in general.
Re: Redditors who are rich (net worth $1 million+) - how did you get rich?
#79Earlier quoted context omitted.
kids are an investment...they are your safety net...worse comes to worst, you can rely on them to support you in your late days if things go terribly wrong. its a good way to avoid ending up on the street...you'll always be able to get room and board with your kids. Since our generation won't get any social security or pensions to live off, we are going to need all the help we can get if things go south.
Maybe in Asia, this "taking care of elderly" mentality is strong. Here in States, I actually think that you are on your own is more true. You can't depend on your kids to take care of you. If you do, you can still end up being on the street. In my view, kids are not investment. They take out much resources from you, and you do so willingly because you love them. As they get older, they may or may not show appreciatio…
I think that's been true in the past, but it's going to change as more and more college students end up moving back in with their parents after college.
Re: Redditors who are rich (net worth $1 million+) - how did you get rich?
#80Our path to be on track for a net worth of $1 mil: 1) Two good incomes on the professional track. We both have good degrees from universities and don't plan on taking any breaks in employment. Even with kids, there are plenty of great childcare options available. Living near family helps too. 2) Drive paid off cars. Buy new cars if you want, but structure your costs so you can pay them off in 2-3 years max and then d…
This is a joke. What's the point of saving up $1M while living in a shitty cheap area, cheap shitty house, no going out, no fun hobbies. Even if you do make six figures (and most people don't), it will take you decades to get $1M, and by then it will not be worth that much. Inflation is a bitch.
...and then you're dead.