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Comment by spideymans | Hacker News Reader

More succinctly, why work when we have nothing to work for?

Anecdotally, I just graduated from university and am gainfully employed. I'm really happy to be employed, yet I quickly realized that I have no idea what I want to do with all this money. I'm never going to be able to buy a house. I'm not particularly enthusiastic about having kids, and don't think I can afford children in the first place. I have no major life milestones to look forward to other than retirement. So why am I working? What do I do with all this money, other than dumping it in investments and generally hoarding the wealth? I've yet to find an answer.

Who knows, maybe I'll end up retiring before my 40th birthday.

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Why do you say that you're never going to be able to buy a house, but maybe will end up retiring before you're 40?

Sounds like, in lieu of anything else, you should try and buy a rental property or two. Start slow, eventually FIRE, that whole thing.

That said, yeah, the same sentence could then be applied but with time: "why retire when I have nothing to do with my time?"

I'm 30 and still don't have a great answer for either, whether it be time or money.

>Why do you say that you're never going to be able to buy a house, but maybe will end up retiring before you're 40?

It's not necessarily about being able to afford a house, but rather about whether home ownership is the best option financially when compared to other options. 20 years ago, homes were so cheap that I'd be willing to buy a home just for the sake of being a homeowner and enjoying the security that entailed. However, nowadays with sky high housing prices, home ownership would need to provide concrete financial benefits when compared to other investments.

Admittedly I'd likely be more motivated to look into buying a house if I wanted children.

>Sounds like, in lieu of anything else, you should try and buy a rental property or two. Start slow, eventually FIRE, that whole thing.

Yes this is the path I am most likely to go down. Buying some rental properties and retiring relatively young is an attractive option.

In a market with rapidly escalating home prices, assuming you're interested in living in the same area for a long time (>5 years probably, depends) buying a house can be a good bit of a hedge against real estate inflation. Home prices going up (usually) drive up apartment prices. My mortgage won't change, maintenance costs won't change, property taxes might. But if my property taxes go up, you can bet rent prices are going to go up by at least that much, probably more. How many apartment complexes rent 5 year leases?

Parent means the BTC returns cover that no problem.

> Ownership would need to provide concrete financial benefits when compared to other investment

And

> retiring before my 40th birthday.

Are quite the Freudian slips

I had a long conversation with my brother, who never wanted to retire ever, and his reason was basically "what would I even do with all the time I have". My inability to answer that haunts me every day. I still don't know.

Travel? Hobbies?

I don't think both of those combined would fill my time from when I'm 40 until I die. I'd have to find something that really occupies me (like maybe I start a big open source project or something) but at that point I'm just finding work that I don't get paid for.

In my country people living with the minimum wage will never be able to go "FIRE" or even retire. They earn about 10 usd a day or about 260 a month have to commute for about 2 hours each way and have one day off each two weeks.

Even I a young tech worker know I will never get a pension and I will never own a "proper house" the closest I will get to that will be more like a caged house in Taiwan.

You are asking the great question of what the purpose of life is. Wealth? Knowledge? Family and friends? If you were to ask Goethe it is the struggle, the striving and toiling that gives life meaning. Essentially it is the journey not the destination because ultimately we all end up in the same place. Enjoy the moments of life.

As for what to do with the money. Invest it, retire early if you want and if nothing else give yourself the freedom to make work whatever you want it to be.

I'm few years into similar reasoning. I'm just hoarding in hope that I'll find something to do in life later.

You can retire before 40 but cant afford a house? That doesn't add up.

Also do you realize that billions of people on this planet have a far worse life than you? You have the luxury of having problems like these. However purpose and meaning don't just appear out of nowhere, you have to actively go find them.

Heh, I have enough income to retire in my 30s, but not enough to buy a house in the neighborhood I rent in where home prices have gone up 500% in the last 10 years.

You need wealth to retire, not income. Can you stop working and still have that income? And if you can stop working, then why can't you buy elsewhere?

Yes, I can stop working and have a decent life. The income isn't tied to work.

> why can't you buy elsewhere?

If you could see the view from my bedroom window, you'd understand. :)

Do you have any stock picks you can share? You sound very confident you know how the next 20 years are going to unfold, so I wanted to check.

I felt the same way as you did, but eventually my wife decided we need a home and it turned out to be a good financial choice.

That being said you can buy a house right more at negative real interest rates. If your salary keeps up with inflation you will be making money on it

>I'm never going to be able to buy a house. I'm not particularly enthusiastic about having kids, and don't think I can afford children in the first place

>Who knows, maybe I'll end up retiring before my 40th birthday.

Does not compute

Go on a nice vacation with friends once the pandemic winds down.

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