$5M Is Nothing | Hacker News Reader

$5M Is Nothing

awealthofcommonsense.com

4 pointsmakaimc10 comments

>If one of the wisest minds fell prey to the trap of more what chance do we mere mortals have? None, obviously. If the question is: How much money do you need to be happy? The answer is always going to be: More. I’ve come around to the idea that this answer is fine as long as you recognize it’s the human condition. It’s just how we’re wired.

And yet there are lots of people make it big, stop caring about getting more, and enjoy life, even withdrawing from the hustle. They're not married to their businesses, for some it was just a vehicle to get comfortambly rich, nor are they always seeking more wealth, Succession-style.

It's also more of a cultural thing, more common in Europe for example than in the US, where your whole identify is tied to your business, and hustle is considered a term of endearment.

Also, I'd like to note that no cultures of yore (and not many current ones, outside the US) would call Charlie Munger "wise". "A great business, investor, and financier", yes.

Sooner or later you'd have to convert those money in activities and if you accumulate and accumulate and postpone the conversion until end of life you'd find that the only activities availible are surgeries and experimental medical treatments.

5 millions FFS! I am quite the vehicle guy, the amount of vehicles you can buy or rent for that figure is immense.

The fastest motorcycle in the world , the Kawasaki H2R is 35.000-38.000$ on the used market.

You'll never need another bike in your life, you can buy it and spend the rest of your life trying to push her to the limit and probably you'll never quite reach it because you have not been biking professionally ever since 15 years old like those who can push her to the limit.

I knew a guy like this. He ran a small business intelligence/stock analysis shop withone assistant. He was extremely resentful that his father had only given him $1m to start off in life, because his older brother had been given $10m. My impression was that he spent a lot of mental energy mapping the $9m gap and being hyperconscious of the fact that barring a lucky strike it would probably be impossible to ever close it.

Article seems to completely disregard the high cost of living of many high income earners.

Yes, it is possible to make $160k/yr while supporting a family of 4, and feel like you’re “just getting by” in the SF Bay Area or NYC.

>Article seems to completely disregard the high cost of living of many high income earners

There's no high cost of living in their case, except a self-imposed one. More like "high cost of luxury living", because they can have all necessities, plus all kinds of middle class luxuries, with a much lower cost.

High cost of living is something you self-impose when you're loaded, and only a pragmatic barrier when you're poor: then "high cost" means "difficult to afford healthcare, rent, or even food".

They don't have to live in the expensive areas of the SF Bay Area or NYC, they don't have to have a McMansion (or more than one), and in many cases, they could even stop working entirely ($5 million in the bank is more than enough retirement money for money at 30, whether it's a family or 2, 4, or 6).

I’m talking about the part of the article which was discussing a survey of high income earners, not people with $1M/$5M/$10M in the bank. It claimed someone making $160k/yr was rich, full stop, and had no basis for claiming “they’re “just getting by.”

People working in exactly the same places (like the Bay Area) working in retail, service industries, and so, the one's preparing those $160/k year makers' lattes for $40/k year or so, would like to discuss their definition of "just getting by".

We're talking about people working in the same areas, this isn't some Somalia vs US cost of living comparison trick.

"But those $160/k makers aren't living in cheap housing like the $40/k people in the same area!"

That's on them, and it's fine, but then they don't get to complain about "just getting by".

"I make barely enough for my intended lifestyle and for how much I want to spend to maintain my status" is something that anyone could say and it be true, regardless of their income level.

"I'm just getting by", without qualification, isn't that kind of statement.

I said “supporting a family of 4.” 4x$40k=$160k, so I think we’re talking about the same level of getting by?

Huh?

Why are we supposed to multiply the $40k income times the family members, but not the $160/y income (of some software engineer or middle manager or whatever)? Is your objection covering only $160k/y earning-persons supporting a family of four by themselves alone?

Even then, a $160k/y person supporting a family of four as a single-income-earner, is not a family "just getting by". It's a family doing much much better than most.

The median household income is $74k/year, which includes tons of "2 kids" families. In California the family of 4 median income is $96k/year.

Also, a "family of 4" doesn't mean 4 wage earners, it just means the two parents working (so $80k), not their babies or 12 year olds kids. Two $40/yr earners with a family of four, would make $80k/y total, not $160/y, so it's hardly comparable: it's half.

And there are more than should be families of 4 living on $40k total. Or single-parent families of 3 doing the same. Now that's "just getting by". Especially since low end $40k/y jobs also involve a lot unemployment time, temp gigs, or uncertain income for one or two of the parents - much more than when you're in a cushier job, and with less (or no) safety deposits in the bank.

So any way one can slice it and dice it, 160k/y is not "just getting by". Not without many qualifiers for "intended lifestyle" and ignoring people making by, while working in the same city, with 1/2 to 1/4 the amount.

It looks to me like adastra22 gave a real-world illustration of the following quote from the article:

If the question is: How much money do you need to be happy? The answer is always going to be: More.

:-)

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