5 ms·

Yea, I am sure the percentage of 20-somethings who are actually financially independent is less than .0001%. Everyone else inherited money or gave up all hope

by jophde 11y ago

Yea, I am sure the percentage of 20-somethings who are actually financially independent is less than .0001%. Everyone else inherited money or gave up all hope of finding a real job.

DINKDINK 11y ago
300e6*.0001/100 = 300 people in the USA. There's probably more than 300, 20 year olds who are living off private incomes.
- cobaltblue 11y ago
  Even worse, he said of 20-somethings (not out of the whole population, and not just 20 year olds) which leaves a start number around 45 million, or a mere 45 people in the USA. It's actually pretty easy to become financially independent before you hit 30 if you finish college on time (while you're 23) and get a 6-figure job out of college, and work for a few years with a small (sub-25k/yr) annual cost of living.
  - pc86 11y ago
    It's also "actually pretty easy to become financially independent" if you hit the lottery. Both our examples aren't really conducive to an actual discussion. 1. The number of fields allowing a new grad to get a six-figure job are very small. 2. The number of places offering the above while also allowing the new grad to live in an area where they can have a sub-$2k/mo footprint are incredibly limited. 3. Of the people who are actually able to take advantage of the above, the majority of them will have no interest in doing so. For every highly-compensated employee at Google living in a van in the parking lot there are several in houses they can't afford with credit card and student loan debt to boot. 4. Gaining financial independence for the sake of gaining financial independence is sort of a pointless goal. My guess is if you collected every person in the US who retired by the age of 30 and removed those who inherited money, won the lottery, and started a business, you could fit them in in a single large room.
    - cobaltblue 11y ago
      It's far easier to do a CS degree and get hired as a software developer (while not blowing your income on insanely high rent in San Francisco city-proper -- yeah you'll have to suck up a commute, live with roommates, or live almost anywhere else with a tech scene) than it is to win a lottery sum over $500k-600k. And there are more options than software -- just because the number of fields is small doesn't necessarily make it any harder if those fields are in high demand and you have the ability to work in them. This is actually conducive to an actual discussion, on HN, because a lot of us here have done this, are doing it (may have passed 30 though), or are still in high school and looking to do it. Re 4. it's only pointless if you foresee nothing afterwards. To me there's nothing wrong with wanting to have "fuck you" money (not just being "independent") without really knowing what you'll do when you get it, you can figure that out later and you'll have many options available to you -- a lot of us just keep working, with the added benefit of being able to drop unsatisfying jobs without any anxiety of not being able to find a new one.
      - jophde 11y ago
        You must be CS Undergraduate
        cobaltblue 11y ago
        Nope, just very close to the fully financially independent group under 30. I work for a living. Not sure that you understand that financial independence can be just as simple as a function of your total invested assets and expected future annual costs given the reasonable assumption that in the long run your investments will net you at least an average 5% return per year. Is that assumption guaranteed to hold? No, but it's reasonable, and that's what buffer room is for. My rent is $1300/mo, with utilities it's usually around $1500/mo, for a 3-floor house I share with a friend. With miscellaneous other expenses like food and entertainment I end up with living expenses in the neighborhood of $25k/yr, rent is my primary expense since I have no debt. When my investment assets reach $600k, 5% growth nets me $30k/yr (I'm ignoring taxes). So long as my average annual expenses does not exceed $25k/yr, and my average return stays at or above 5%, this is sustainable indefinitely. And this isn't the only path to financial independence, it's just really straightforward for higher-than-average earners not burning an insane amount of their income on rent. (Mortgages are a different story.)
  - jophde 11y ago
    $25k a year covers about half the rent in a place where you will get paid six figures after school. I am not sure you know what financially independent means.
    - cobaltblue 11y ago
      You can get a studio apartment in the Greater Seattle Area for as low as $700/mo, though you should probably estimate around $1000/mo to be conservative. Additionally if you have a roommate (and maybe a bigger place, up to you how much you want to save vs. how comfortable you want to live) you cut your rent in half. Look wider than San Francisco -- if you're spending $50k/yr on rent, even in San Francisco, you're insane.
      - lewisl9029 11y ago
        > if you're spending $50k/yr on rent, even in San Francisco, you're insane. Or maybe you want to live in a nice high end 1br condo in the heart of the city within walking distance to work and enjoy a higher standard of living because you can easily afford the $50k and still have plenty of money left over for living expenses and savings/investments? Or to quote your earlier sentence, shouldn't it be "up to you how much you want to save vs. how comfortable you want to live"?
        cobaltblue 11y ago
        You're right. One's sanity being in question requires many more qualifications.
- jophde 11y ago
  Seems about right. Wow this site is full of people with delusions of grandeur. It's hilarious how people wonder why others hate techies. News flash, not everyone is in software. If you are I still doubt you are actually independently wealthy. Again, unless you were born that way. Sorry for not doing a mathematical proof for those of you that think having $50k in the bank by the time you are 30 is independently wealthy when you haven't even put a down payment on a house in SF yet.
Spooky23 11y ago
In the early 20's? Plenty. I lived through my first two years of college with roommates, savings, part-time/off-book bartending/bouncing and changing my long distance service.
- jophde 11y ago
  Do you need to work again before you die?

by jophde 11y ago

Yea, I am sure the percentage of 20-somethings who are actually financially independent is less than .0001%. Everyone else inherited money or gave up all hope of finding a real job.

DINKDINK 11y ago

300e6*.0001/100 = 300 people in the USA. There's probably more than 300, 20 year olds who are living off private incomes.

cobaltblue 11y ago
Even worse, he said of 20-somethings (not out of the whole population, and not just 20 year olds) which leaves a start number around 45 million, or a mere 45 people in the USA. It's actually pretty easy to become financially independent before you hit 30 if you finish college on time (while you're 23) and get a 6-figure job out of college, and work for a few years with a small (sub-25k/yr) annual cost of living.
- pc86 11y ago
  It's also "actually pretty easy to become financially independent" if you hit the lottery. Both our examples aren't really conducive to an actual discussion. 1. The number of fields allowing a new grad to get a six-figure job are very small. 2. The number of places offering the above while also allowing the new grad to live in an area where they can have a sub-$2k/mo footprint are incredibly limited. 3. Of the people who are actually able to take advantage of the above, the majority of them will have no interest in doing so. For every highly-compensated employee at Google living in a van in the parking lot there are several in houses they can't afford with credit card and student loan debt to boot. 4. Gaining financial independence for the sake of gaining financial independence is sort of a pointless goal. My guess is if you collected every person in the US who retired by the age of 30 and removed those who inherited money, won the lottery, and started a business, you could fit them in in a single large room.
  - cobaltblue 11y ago
    It's far easier to do a CS degree and get hired as a software developer (while not blowing your income on insanely high rent in San Francisco city-proper -- yeah you'll have to suck up a commute, live with roommates, or live almost anywhere else with a tech scene) than it is to win a lottery sum over $500k-600k. And there are more options than software -- just because the number of fields is small doesn't necessarily make it any harder if those fields are in high demand and you have the ability to work in them. This is actually conducive to an actual discussion, on HN, because a lot of us here have done this, are doing it (may have passed 30 though), or are still in high school and looking to do it. Re 4. it's only pointless if you foresee nothing afterwards. To me there's nothing wrong with wanting to have "fuck you" money (not just being "independent") without really knowing what you'll do when you get it, you can figure that out later and you'll have many options available to you -- a lot of us just keep working, with the added benefit of being able to drop unsatisfying jobs without any anxiety of not being able to find a new one.
    - jophde 11y ago
      You must be CS Undergraduate
      - cobaltblue 11y ago
        Nope, just very close to the fully financially independent group under 30. I work for a living. Not sure that you understand that financial independence can be just as simple as a function of your total invested assets and expected future annual costs given the reasonable assumption that in the long run your investments will net you at least an average 5% return per year. Is that assumption guaranteed to hold? No, but it's reasonable, and that's what buffer room is for. My rent is $1300/mo, with utilities it's usually around $1500/mo, for a 3-floor house I share with a friend. With miscellaneous other expenses like food and entertainment I end up with living expenses in the neighborhood of $25k/yr, rent is my primary expense since I have no debt. When my investment assets reach $600k, 5% growth nets me $30k/yr (I'm ignoring taxes). So long as my average annual expenses does not exceed $25k/yr, and my average return stays at or above 5%, this is sustainable indefinitely. And this isn't the only path to financial independence, it's just really straightforward for higher-than-average earners not burning an insane amount of their income on rent. (Mortgages are a different story.)
- jophde 11y ago
  $25k a year covers about half the rent in a place where you will get paid six figures after school. I am not sure you know what financially independent means.
  - cobaltblue 11y ago
    You can get a studio apartment in the Greater Seattle Area for as low as $700/mo, though you should probably estimate around $1000/mo to be conservative. Additionally if you have a roommate (and maybe a bigger place, up to you how much you want to save vs. how comfortable you want to live) you cut your rent in half. Look wider than San Francisco -- if you're spending $50k/yr on rent, even in San Francisco, you're insane.
    - lewisl9029 11y ago
      > if you're spending $50k/yr on rent, even in San Francisco, you're insane. Or maybe you want to live in a nice high end 1br condo in the heart of the city within walking distance to work and enjoy a higher standard of living because you can easily afford the $50k and still have plenty of money left over for living expenses and savings/investments? Or to quote your earlier sentence, shouldn't it be "up to you how much you want to save vs. how comfortable you want to live"?
      - cobaltblue 11y ago
        You're right. One's sanity being in question requires many more qualifications.
jophde 11y ago
Seems about right. Wow this site is full of people with delusions of grandeur. It's hilarious how people wonder why others hate techies. News flash, not everyone is in software. If you are I still doubt you are actually independently wealthy. Again, unless you were born that way. Sorry for not doing a mathematical proof for those of you that think having $50k in the bank by the time you are 30 is independently wealthy when you haven't even put a down payment on a house in SF yet.

Spooky23 11y ago

In the early 20's? Plenty. I lived through my first two years of college with roommates, savings, part-time/off-book bartending/bouncing and changing my long distance service.

jophde 11y ago
Do you need to work again before you die?