3 ms·

To be honest, I believe the trend is to only become worse. Every generation appears to become more hedonist and think less about retirement. Many of my friends

To be honest, I believe the trend is to only become worse. Every generation appears to become more hedonist and think less about retirement. Many of my friends(millennials) make six figures and barely save any money for retirement. Carpe diem is failing on people.

dudul 11y ago
"Carpe diem is failing on people." This is quite funny when you think that "Carpe Diem" originally means literally the opposite of what people use it for nowadays. The original quote is "carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero" i.e. "Seize the day, put very little trust in tomorrow (the future)". Meaning that one should do everything today to ensure a good future and be prepared.
shubhamjain 11y ago
> Every generation appears to become more hedonist and think less about retirement. Many of my friends(millennials) make six figures and barely save any money for retirement. Well, maybe I am too unimaginative but not being an American, I am curious where does all the money go. Reading Paul Graham's article about Ramen Profitability, I get the idea that a bare minimum lifestyle can burn as low as ~$1000 - 1500 / month [1]. Now a person is earning 6x this figure, how you don't end up saving something. Bars, clubs would only be fun to a certain extent. The only reasonable explanation I can think is, people buy everything that they don't need. [1]: http://www.paulgraham.com/ramenprofitable.html http://www.paulgraham.com/ramenprofitable.html
- dovereconomics 11y ago
  Unfortunately, most people don't have minimalist lives. With a 'humble' example: $3000/month SF/NYC apartment,$1000/month on clothing(specially bankers), $1500/month on food(no time to cook, so $50/day), $2000/month on entertainment($500/week), $1500/ month on a decent car +gas. That's already ~110k a year. It's really easy to go beyond that.
  - yummyfajitas 11y ago
    This example will take a lot of work to pull off. Suppose I'm dropping $3000/month on a spacious 2 bedroom east village flat. If I'm spending $1000/month on clothing, I'll very quickly run out of space to store it in my second bedroom. $50/day on food is quite a feat even eating eggs and kale on artisanal toast 3x/day. Maybe if you are eating bodybuilder type meals at only the finest restaurants? I'm trying to imagine how to do $500/month on entertainment. Fri/Sat/Sun bars with a $25 cover charge, plus 42 $10 cocktails every week? With that kind of a drinking problem, money is the least of one's worries. Spending both $3k/month on a flat in NYC and $1.5k/month on a car makes no sense (the whole point of the flat is to never drive).

dudul 11y ago

"Carpe diem is failing on people." This is quite funny when you think that "Carpe Diem" originally means literally the opposite of what people use it for nowadays. The original quote is "carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero" i.e. "Seize the day, put very little trust in tomorrow (the future)". Meaning that one should do everything today to ensure a good future and be prepared.

shubhamjain 11y ago

> Every generation appears to become more hedonist and think less about retirement. Many of my friends(millennials) make six figures and barely save any money for retirement. Well, maybe I am too unimaginative but not being an American, I am curious where does all the money go. Reading Paul Graham's article about Ramen Profitability, I get the idea that a bare minimum lifestyle can burn as low as ~$1000 - 1500 / month [1]. Now a person is earning 6x this figure, how you don't end up saving something. Bars, clubs would only be fun to a certain extent. The only reasonable explanation I can think is, people buy everything that they don't need. [1]: http://www.paulgraham.com/ramenprofitable.html http://www.paulgraham.com/ramenprofitable.html

dovereconomics 11y ago
Unfortunately, most people don't have minimalist lives. With a 'humble' example: $3000/month SF/NYC apartment,$1000/month on clothing(specially bankers), $1500/month on food(no time to cook, so $50/day), $2000/month on entertainment($500/week), $1500/ month on a decent car +gas. That's already ~110k a year. It's really easy to go beyond that.
- yummyfajitas 11y ago
  This example will take a lot of work to pull off. Suppose I'm dropping $3000/month on a spacious 2 bedroom east village flat. If I'm spending $1000/month on clothing, I'll very quickly run out of space to store it in my second bedroom. $50/day on food is quite a feat even eating eggs and kale on artisanal toast 3x/day. Maybe if you are eating bodybuilder type meals at only the finest restaurants? I'm trying to imagine how to do $500/month on entertainment. Fri/Sat/Sun bars with a $25 cover charge, plus 42 $10 cocktails every week? With that kind of a drinking problem, money is the least of one's worries. Spending both $3k/month on a flat in NYC and $1.5k/month on a car makes no sense (the whole point of the flat is to never drive).