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Comment by ChuckNorris89 | Hacker News Reader

>Beyond a certain level of wealth, the numerical value of one's compensation becomes effectively meaningless.

Depends on your lifestyle inflation. Even for the high earners in the US, 49 million per year is FIRE money, but if you're used to the life of an oil sheikh with luxury clothing, jewelry, art, exotic private parties, dozens of rare supercars, private jets and yachts, McMansions/penthouses in London, Paris, Geneva, NY, Tokyo, etc., some private island where it's nice and warm, and also want to leave a similar lifestyle for your kids and their kids and their kids' kids, then 49 million per year is basically poverty money.

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I'm sorry.

Using a 3% withdrawal rate, $49m let's you safely live off $1.47m per year, far above what "high earners" are even earning. And that's just a flat $49m. You are saying $49m per year. That's a fucking ludicrous amount of money. Even if your hobby is dropping Bugattis off cliffs you won't exhaust that much income.

> 49 million per year is basically poverty money.

You'd think a quote like this, pulled out of context, would change its meaning once seen in context. It doesn't.

There's a vast difference between not being able to afford an absurd lifestyle of consumption and extravagance and being able to eat.

Someone's who's salary is cut from $100M a year to $49M a year, no matter how insane their spending was, isn't going to suffer.

If it's not clear: someone having to choose to buy a Ferrari instead of a Bugatti because of a pay cut is not the same as someone having to choose between shelter or food because of a pay cut.

I'll make sure to pour one out for our oil sheikhs tonight

Perhaps with the 49 million per year they can purchase the world's smallest violin.

Of wealth, yes, of income, maybe a level below sheiks but still can afford all of this. He is still worth like 1.7 billion USD.

check out the European Nobility for about 500 years, before the Napoleonic-era for conspicuous consumption. (some of the modern sports-moguls lack taste, from my chair). Of course, that EU Feudal system was powered by serf labor and oversea Imperialism.. think of serfdom as similar to an AWS job with a difficult boss, but with the serfs had more job security.

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