Ask HN: Best Investment Is in Ourselves? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Best Investment Is in Ourselves?

I am a software engineer that makes around $20K/month, I am spending ~$2k on mentors from big corporations, $2-3K on courses, $1k on books (some of them rare) and $500 on my diet and nutrition. I decided that the best investment is in ourselves rather than in bonds, etc.. Is this the best way to go at it or am I just not connected to reality any more?

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You claim to be spending >$5.5k/mo on self-investments. What are you hoping to improve from these investments? Do you think your skills need improvement? I am highly highly skilled, but I've found the world is far more concerned about perception & position & being in the right spot at the right time. Good work, smarts, competence is not rewarded. Work attached to high profile efforts are rewarded. What kind of coaching/mentorship are you getting out of your $2k/mo? Technical or tactical/political? Have you found it helpful?

I get mentors from different websites that come from Google, Amazon, Facebook, SpaceX etc... that can guide me in leading teams, starting my own startup and also help me in technical issues I am facing. I have found it beneficial in some way or maybe just a placebo effect. I think books are the best investments since they have completely changed my mindset about everything and how I move in life. The diet has also been beneficial since I have been gaining some weight due to work and stupid cravings.

> ~$2k on mentors from big corporations, $2-3K on courses, $1k on books (some of them rare) and $500 on my diet and nutrition.

These numbers are crazy. The diet and nutrition is the only one that seems reasonable. Are you paying people $2k a month to just talk to you? What kind of courses cost $2-3k a month every month? You're not going through $1k worth of books in a month either.

I kind of doubt that you're getting a good return. Maybe as a general statement investing in yourself is sensible and of course it's your money to spend but all of this seems a bit out there.

Each mentor is around 400 USD and I have currently 4 (used to have 5). I purchase around 20-30 books a month to my library (but that will slow down eventually) that I ofcourse do not read but like to keep my library full. I read about 5 a month. Sometimes less. Courses are university courses with certifications that cost ~1K each.

Can you expand on what you mean by "investment is IN ourselves" ...

So you would put 50-75% of your income (or how comfortable you are investing) in yourself rather than in bonds/stocks/etc...

I dunno, man. It's not a great analogy. You're assuming people have a near-infinite amount of time to learn outside of what they normally do. I'm not buying it.

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