Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Is getting rich worth it?

quora.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

91–100 of 145 posts

Re: Is getting rich worth it?

#91

Post by pg »

The next thing you need to understand about money is this: all of the things you picture buying, they are only worthwhile to you because you cannot afford them (or have to work really hard to acquire them).

That was one of the biggest surprises for me. I never realized the degree to which not being able to afford certain things was what was making me want them. That childhood excitement of saving up your money to buy some coveted thing is completely gone. And without it you find you covet the thing far less. When you realize you can bring it home from the store whenever you want, you're often surprised to find yourself thinking "let them keep it there for now."

Curiously, this affects people in different ways. When the excitement of e.g. buying a fancy car is diminished by 10x, some people respond by buying 10 fancy cars, and others just lose interest. I turned out to be in the latter group, and judging from what I've seen in SV, a lot of HN readers probably also would be.

It's slightly sad, in the way that losing one's appetite or sexual desire might be. On the other hand, you're arguably less of a slave to people marketing luxuries, and the other things you long for might be more worth longing for.

Re: Is getting rich worth it?

#92

Post by MojoJolo »

hmbg wrote: post #81
MojoJolo wrote: post #55

Honestly, I want to get rich. To have a stable life. To prove my self worth.

Your second reason is an interesting one. Winning the lottery may be nice, but I don't think it would impact my level of happiness in a big way. The confidence I'd get from selling my company for millions of dollars, that's another thing entirely. That's something I strive for.

You're right. Lottery is not one of my plan to get rich.

Other than money. I believe getting something you strive for is really worth it. It will give you happiness.

Re: Is getting rich worth it?

#94

Post by user24 »

haberman wrote: post #47

> First, one of the only real things being rich gives you is that you don't have to worry about money as much anymore. I disagree with this. One thing being rich gives you is the ability to make things happen. Being a benefactor of a cause or artistic organization or an investor in a startup means that you can help set into motion meaningful projects that you believe in that would not otherwise have been possible. I'…

> One thing being rich gives you is the ability to make things happen.

Money does not have exclusivity on this ability.

I'm a member of the Friends of Northampton Castle[1], a group of people interested in the heritage of my home town.

Time is far far more important than money to groups like this.

We've had an architect put together a 3D reconstruction in his spare time (which I scripted and voiced in my spare time).[2]

We've spoken with the local library to get copies of some photos of the castle to put on our website (gathering local press attention by doing so).

We've lobbied and met with various groups with huge amounts of success. Not because we're well funded but because our members are able and willing to give their time to the project.

I've given my time to blog, tweet and facebook for them, etc etc.

In large part thanks to our activities, the people in charge of redeveloping the site (now a train station) have performed an archaeological exploratory trench - and found castle walls and a saxon brooch.[3]

Don't be tempted to think that you can't make real changes without money.

[1] http://www.northamptoncastle.com I run the website, would be interested in feedback.

[2] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lp6TCRc9KVo

[3] http://www.northamptoncastle.com/posts/castle-station-evalua...

Re: Is getting rich worth it?

#95

Post by elemenohpee »

jnbiche wrote: post #85

The mere suggestion that all of us middle-class schmucks are out here dreaming of an Audi or some other bling shows how out of touch he/she is with middle class America. Maybe that's the way it was in the 1980s, but now most of us in the middle class are just desperately trying to pay rising insurance bills, electricity bills, childcare, groceries, and clawing with all our might to not fall out of the middle class. I…

> For most of us, it's just paycheck to paycheck now.

Everything is going according to plan. When you see how perfectly all of this lines up with the interests of the plutocrats you just have to wonder to what degree it is conscious collusion. What lies do they tell themselves in the pursuit of economic power and the subsequent subjugation of the population, or have they completely dispensed with even the pretense of plebeian morality?

Re: Is getting rich worth it?

#96

Post by speeder »

imissmyjuno wrote: post #84
speeder wrote: post #8

I want to get rich. But I don't want to do it because I want stuff. I don't want a Audi, or a Maserati, or a fancy home, or the newest gadget. I have a objective, a plan, for me, and for future generations, and I know how much it will cost, and doing it will require me to be rich. And I know how much problems it will attract, how much relationships it will wreck, and how much danger it will bring to my life. But I do…

What's wrong with hedonism? Or am I misreading what you're saying.

I am very much against hedonism.

It is wrong because hedonism is usually tied to individualism, and a individual pursuit of happiness, that sometimes might work in short term, or for one generation or two, but end always results in problems for the collectivity that make everyone LESS happy.

The current way of life, hoardings things, "stuff", without a purpose or objective, wanting to be in the "haves" just to not be a "have not", agressively wanting more money aiming just to pleasure yourself or be more happy, only results in people, inadvertently or not, taking things from others that needed them.

Many societies with far less money and technology were happier, because what make people happy is a question of how they are spending their time.

If you work 70 hours a week for a very long time, to buy things that make you happy, you are wasting your time, you won't get happy this way, and might make others unhappy, starting with people close to you, like abandoned family or significant other, or children, to people that you hurt without even knowing, when for example in your own pursuit for happiness you do things without noticing how evil they are, like working for a cigarrete factory for example.

The most happy societies were ones that people worked 40 hours a week, period, no more chores, if the men were working 40 hours outside home, women worked 40 inside home, but both worked 40 hours, nothing more, our society people started to take increasingly burdens pursuing more money, and don't noticed that most people now work way more than 40 hours, and have long commuting times, and have few time to do what they enjoy, or to improve themselves and others.

My uncle once told me, that he noticed how pointless it was how much he was working, when he finally could buy a big TV and a PS3 (those are absurdly expensive here in Brazil, and people have much less income too, so they are absolute luxuries) and noticed he did not had time to enjoy it, he bought his dream videogame, and his dream game (Gran Turismo 5), and just could not play it, then he realized, what was the point?

Re: Is getting rich worth it?

#97

Post by speeder »

edraferi wrote: post #88
speeder wrote: post #8

I want to get rich. But I don't want to do it because I want stuff. I don't want a Audi, or a Maserati, or a fancy home, or the newest gadget. I have a objective, a plan, for me, and for future generations, and I know how much it will cost, and doing it will require me to be rich. And I know how much problems it will attract, how much relationships it will wreck, and how much danger it will bring to my life. But I do…

It's very possible that you are right. Some things are too far out for the mainstream economy to support. However, if you see a real need, then there should be a way to finance a solution. What can you do for your dream before making your first kajillion? You can develop the proper skills, research the problem, form a plan. You can find people who agree with you, raise funds. Start small and switch to it full time wh…

Before the rise of the ideal of the "self made man", the nobility was popular, not because they were rich or nobles, but because their self-sustaining income meant they could engage in things society needed but were not profitable at the time, like science, art, culture, defensive military (of course, being a mercenary, or a plunderer, is quite profitable), and so on.

When the industrial revolution happened, the necessity for workers, in all levels, including managers, directors, and so on, made necessary for society to invent a reason for people to do those jobs, to change their old ways, then it became honorable to be a self made man, a guy that would use hard work to earn his income, instead of being a noble.

It was that time, that then being a noble became a thing to be derided for, and of course, the behaviour of many nobles did not helped things for them.

But originally what made a noble, "noble", was being to sacrifice himself, and do what needed to be done, without expecting payment, and he could do that because he already had income (usually in the form of some contract with people that farmed his land, be taxing them, or loaning the land to them, or something else).

Re: Is getting rich worth it?

#98

Post by rdouble »

speeder wrote: post #96
imissmyjuno wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's wrong with hedonism? Or am I misreading what you're saying.

I am very much against hedonism. It is wrong because hedonism is usually tied to individualism, and a individual pursuit of happiness, that sometimes might work in short term, or for one generation or two, but end always results in problems for the collectivity that make everyone LESS happy. The current way of life, hoardings things, "stuff", without a purpose or objective, wanting to be in the "haves" just to not be…

Hedonism isn't about hoarding stuff. Working more hours to buy more stuff is the opposite of hedonism. Contemporary hedonism implies something like partying at Ibiza 24/7, but the original meaning was more like the enlightened dad spending more time at home cooking organic meals for his family.

Re: Is getting rich worth it?

#99

Post by willholloway »

purplelobster wrote: post #75
willholloway wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree that that point is a valid complaint, but a complaint is all it is. If the money was really bringing someone down so much, the problem could be dispensed with by writing one check to a charity of their choice. The fact that wealthy people do not give all of their money away is proof that having it is better than not having it.

I don't think it's that simple. It's possible that you don't like what your life has become, but still wouldn't give your money away because that would make you even more unhappy. It's a nice problem to have, but we shouldn't trivialize the human psychology, just try to understand it. Nobody is completely rational, and even if part of them is rational, they will always have an emotional part. Choosing to be childless…

I completely agree, that is what I meant by saying that it is a valid complaint.

My disagreement with the article is simply that saying its better to be rich than not is understating it.

Of course wealth is not a panacea to the human condition. It is however a better way of living by at least an order of magnitude than the average middle class life in the harsh, socially atomized globalized economy of the developed world. At median income levels in a nation such as the US, essentials like proper health care, education and marital stability are difficult to grasp.

Re: Is getting rich worth it?

#100

Post by speeder »

pg wrote: post #91

The next thing you need to understand about money is this: all of the things you picture buying, they are only worthwhile to you because you cannot afford them (or have to work really hard to acquire them). That was one of the biggest surprises for me. I never realized the degree to which not being able to afford certain things was what was making me want them. That childhood excitement of saving up your money to buy…

In 2011 my income was 30k USD.

This is a truckload of money in Brazil, it is harder to get more money than that, I was a "Solutions Architect" and R&D head of a medium mobile solutions company.

To me, I was bloody rich, I mean, I never had this kind of money before, my whole extended family were envious and made lots of really mean jokes (and people made lots of "jokes" asking things, obviously expecting that maybe you will buy it for them).

I noticed then that many things I wanted, I decided to buy them later, for example I still don't own a single game console, because I thought: "Aaah, I will only buy PS3, and I will do it when Final Fantasy Versus get released".

The most expensive thing I bought, were my glasses, because since I need them every day, it made sense to expend some more money seeking quality (I hired a good custom lensmaker and all).

In fact, I did not knew what to do with my money, so I ended throwing good part of it at bitcoins (and losing it doing crazy leveraged trading).

It was a time that I worked because I liked the job (by the way: when I sent the resume, I asked for 18k, I got 30k because THEY offered it, it was not me that asked!)

Post reply on HN