Ask HN: How to earn 1 million in 5 years without working for a startup? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: How to earn 1 million in 5 years without working for a startup?

10 pointsyr19 comments

There are many constraints for people in joining startups like family, non-immigrant status etc. What is the best way to retire in 5 years if you are a great programmer.

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Write something people want.

And don't forget: want to pay for :)

I wish I had something witty to add here, but it really comes down to this.

Upvote.

I'd buy that for a dollar.

If you are a top Java/C++ coder, you could probably make that much working for a big investment bank. Many of them are upgrading their FX trading systems to allow low latency trading and are prepared to pay top bucks to get the right people.

Alternatively, if you have a strong quantitative background (ie. Maths / Physics) you could go into quant development which would pay handsomely as well.

Making $1m of gross income and making $1m of savings are two very different things.

You probably won't sock away $1m working for a bank.

I got called by a recruiter a few weeks ago pitching lead FX dev role at a day rate of £1000 GBP, which works out to around an annual salary of $350k USD. That's definitely at the high end of the scale but it shows it's not infeasible (£600-£750 is a more typical rate).

You still won't save that much because you will usually live the lifestyle of your peers which will be very expensive.

Not really. People tend to spend more on their hobbies (holidays, geek toys, etc) but it's not as if everyone's expected to spend their evenings snorting coke off expensive strippers.

From my experience people working in the financial sector are much more likely to be putting money into savings or investments than people outside the sector.

Presumably if your objective is to save money and you have some self control then it should not be too big an issue.

Though it is possible to get $1m in 5 years, if you are an workaholic with a quant. PhD:

http://www.quantfinancejobs.com/jobs/quant-trader.asp

can you please give more info about this: "FX trading systems to allow low latency trading" what is it ?

Systems that are used to carry out trades of foreign currencies and related securities. These markets are extremely liquid and a delay of a few milliseconds can mean that you don't get the deal at the price you want. Therefore the banks need to make sure that they can execute the transactions as quickly as possible to ensure they have a competitive advantage over their competitors.

Here is basic overview : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Low_latency_%28capital_markets%...

Hmm... individuals or small groups who have made over $1 million lately.

* Pocket God - 2 people

* Doodle Jump - 2 people

* Minecraft - 1 person (?)

If you are a great programmer, your best bet is to sell your own apps. The app ecosystem has the biggest momentum.

It's not going to be easy, and it's going to take a lot of time. But it's there for the taking.

1) Take your income from programming and save as much as possible. Depending in your income & lifestyle you can probably save up several hundred thousand in a few years.

2) learn to trade the stock market. Continually invest, and re-invest in high risk/reward stocks

3) As soon as you are able to sustain yourself indefinitely you quit your day job and begin coding full-time for yourself

You'll need a lot more money, or to live very frugally/not in the West. A 1% post-inflation post-taxes return would only give you $10 000 a year, and even then a single bad year could make it impossible to live off interest alone - and a million dollars won't last a lifetime if you're actually spending it (20 years?)

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1447428

http://jasonlbaptiste.com/startups/how-to-become-a-millionai...

you probably won't retire in five years if you have that mentality.

the ones that succeed the post have a passion about what they are building. that passion doesn't go away.

they may have a lot more freedom, but many jump right back into the game.

Passion and a plan.

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