16 ms·

I wish the article quoted statistics on how many rich people actually quit (and I mean really rich, not $5million, which isn't really enough to retire comfortab

I wish the article quoted statistics on how many rich people actually quit (and I mean really rich, not $5million, which isn't really enough to retire comfortable for life these days).

arithma 10y ago
Some people don't make that over a lifetime. Problem kicks in when person switches lifestyle gear all the way up and spends it all in 5 years. $200K * 20 years...
adrianN 10y ago
that would be enough for me. depends on your comfortlevel.
- gambiting 10y ago
  It would be enough for vast majority of people, but the problem is that if you suddenly get $5M, be it through inheritance or lottery or any sort of "sudden enrichment event", most people just go and spend it all in few years. There's a huge temptation to buy your way into a higher social bracket, but it only works if you have an income matching that bracket, otherwise that pot of money is going to run out sooner or later.
  - k__ 10y ago
    Haha, yes. There was a TV show once, that interviewed rich people. Some lottery winners, some who made company money, etc. One of the lottery winners made 2m and started his own business, some car workshop stuff and went bankrupt 2 years later. A couple made ... I don't now >10m and the first time they visited them, they told that they will keep working in their normal jobs because they like them. Half a year later, when they got interviewed, they both quit their jobs and were building a house and the guy was always talking about that he fears it wouldn't get big enough. One guy made big money by renting out building equipment, he had a big nice house which he let build completely to his wishes, but lost everything to bad investment. They even visited his old house and the new owner let the camera team in. The new owner also said, if he would get rich again, he would sell him his house back, which I found kinda nice. But I always have the feeling that people who got rich are simply lucky, even if they didn't get it through the lottery. So he probably knew that guy wouldn't get rich in this life again.
k__ 10y ago
If you 30 and get 5million you would have more than 5k per month even if you get 100 years old and didn't invest it somewhere. How is this not comfortable?
- devoply 10y ago
  People don't understand time and age. You are right that 5k is more than enough money to live off of, if you are wise with how you spend it. It sounds to me like Keith has problems being creative and creating meaning in his life outside of work. No one wants deadlines reviews or any of that. People want to work, but on their own terms. That's what people want. Especially creative people.
  - k__ 10y ago
    I don't understand this. I did a sabattical in 2014 and had plenty of stuff todo. I didn't even know how I could start working again, because I didn't have any free time left for work. Eventually I had to work again, because I needed money, but I tried to get it done remote at home.
- zeveb 10y ago
  After seventy years of 2% inflation, $5,000 per month would be the equivalent of $1,216 today, which isn't comfortable.
  - jogjayr 10y ago
    More accurately, $5m invested properly (low-fee index funds, real estate etc) will yield approximately %2-3 annually after inflation (assuming "normal" inflation in the %3-5 range). That works out to around $100k annually, again inflation adjusted. Nothing's certain in life but $100k/year, inflation-adjusted should probably be enough for most people. edit: formatting
johnwheeler 10y ago
If you had $5M, you could buy 87719 shares of Wells Fargo at market rates. Those would yield .38 per share quarterly or $133,333 annually. You'd likely get annual dividend increases and wind up with around $13M if you compounded at a rate of 5% for 20 years. That assumes no dividend reinvestments--and 5% is conservative. It could be as high as 10%. In that case you'd have over $33M at the end. Sure, you'd want to diversify, but I'm just making the case that it's more than enough to live off of for the rest of your life. You could also buy 4 or 5 McDonalds restaurants or 20-25 houses and watch them appreciate while living off rental income.
- gambiting 10y ago
  Sure, but that's super ultra boring, and it doesn't improve your life in any way right this second. But...you could go and buy yourself that $1M house in a nice area. And a nice car for you and your partner. And mum's house needs fixing, we can do full remodeling. A friend has a business idea, let's chuck some money his way. Or better yet, let's invest some of that money into a cupcake business you always wanted to open. Then poof, 2 years later that money is all gone. Like, I seriously doubt that my first thought after winning the lottery would be to go and talk to an investment banker.
  - hood_syntax 10y ago
    I would talk to a lawyer. And then get my investments set up, and then spend the rest on whatever I wanted.
  - Already__Taken 10y ago
    I'm pretty sure when you win the lottery they make you sit down and talk with an investment banker...
  - hnal943 10y ago
    You would be a fool not to talk to an investment banker, and many fools go broke after winning the lottery for behaving just as you describe.
- kagamine 10y ago
55555 10y ago
> $5million, which isn't really enough to retire comfortable for life these days When it comes to money, HN is often unbearably pretentious. If you can't "retire comfortably" on 5 million USD, then you've got a hole in your heart that more money won't fill.

I wish the article quoted statistics on how many rich people actually quit (and I mean really rich, not $5million, which isn't really enough to retire comfortable for life these days).

arithma 10y ago

Some people don't make that over a lifetime. Problem kicks in when person switches lifestyle gear all the way up and spends it all in 5 years. $200K * 20 years...

adrianN 10y ago

that would be enough for me. depends on your comfortlevel.

gambiting 10y ago
It would be enough for vast majority of people, but the problem is that if you suddenly get $5M, be it through inheritance or lottery or any sort of "sudden enrichment event", most people just go and spend it all in few years. There's a huge temptation to buy your way into a higher social bracket, but it only works if you have an income matching that bracket, otherwise that pot of money is going to run out sooner or later.
- k__ 10y ago
  Haha, yes. There was a TV show once, that interviewed rich people. Some lottery winners, some who made company money, etc. One of the lottery winners made 2m and started his own business, some car workshop stuff and went bankrupt 2 years later. A couple made ... I don't now >10m and the first time they visited them, they told that they will keep working in their normal jobs because they like them. Half a year later, when they got interviewed, they both quit their jobs and were building a house and the guy was always talking about that he fears it wouldn't get big enough. One guy made big money by renting out building equipment, he had a big nice house which he let build completely to his wishes, but lost everything to bad investment. They even visited his old house and the new owner let the camera team in. The new owner also said, if he would get rich again, he would sell him his house back, which I found kinda nice. But I always have the feeling that people who got rich are simply lucky, even if they didn't get it through the lottery. So he probably knew that guy wouldn't get rich in this life again.

k__ 10y ago

If you 30 and get 5million you would have more than 5k per month even if you get 100 years old and didn't invest it somewhere. How is this not comfortable?

devoply 10y ago
People don't understand time and age. You are right that 5k is more than enough money to live off of, if you are wise with how you spend it. It sounds to me like Keith has problems being creative and creating meaning in his life outside of work. No one wants deadlines reviews or any of that. People want to work, but on their own terms. That's what people want. Especially creative people.
- k__ 10y ago
  I don't understand this. I did a sabattical in 2014 and had plenty of stuff todo. I didn't even know how I could start working again, because I didn't have any free time left for work. Eventually I had to work again, because I needed money, but I tried to get it done remote at home.
zeveb 10y ago
After seventy years of 2% inflation, $5,000 per month would be the equivalent of $1,216 today, which isn't comfortable.
- jogjayr 10y ago
  More accurately, $5m invested properly (low-fee index funds, real estate etc) will yield approximately %2-3 annually after inflation (assuming "normal" inflation in the %3-5 range). That works out to around $100k annually, again inflation adjusted. Nothing's certain in life but $100k/year, inflation-adjusted should probably be enough for most people. edit: formatting

johnwheeler 10y ago

If you had $5M, you could buy 87719 shares of Wells Fargo at market rates. Those would yield .38 per share quarterly or $133,333 annually. You'd likely get annual dividend increases and wind up with around $13M if you compounded at a rate of 5% for 20 years. That assumes no dividend reinvestments--and 5% is conservative. It could be as high as 10%. In that case you'd have over $33M at the end. Sure, you'd want to diversify, but I'm just making the case that it's more than enough to live off of for the rest of your life. You could also buy 4 or 5 McDonalds restaurants or 20-25 houses and watch them appreciate while living off rental income.

gambiting 10y ago
Sure, but that's super ultra boring, and it doesn't improve your life in any way right this second. But...you could go and buy yourself that $1M house in a nice area. And a nice car for you and your partner. And mum's house needs fixing, we can do full remodeling. A friend has a business idea, let's chuck some money his way. Or better yet, let's invest some of that money into a cupcake business you always wanted to open. Then poof, 2 years later that money is all gone. Like, I seriously doubt that my first thought after winning the lottery would be to go and talk to an investment banker.
- hood_syntax 10y ago
  I would talk to a lawyer. And then get my investments set up, and then spend the rest on whatever I wanted.
- Already__Taken 10y ago
  I'm pretty sure when you win the lottery they make you sit down and talk with an investment banker...
- hnal943 10y ago
  You would be a fool not to talk to an investment banker, and many fools go broke after winning the lottery for behaving just as you describe.
kagamine 10y ago

55555 10y ago

> $5million, which isn't really enough to retire comfortable for life these days When it comes to money, HN is often unbearably pretentious. If you can't "retire comfortably" on 5 million USD, then you've got a hole in your heart that more money won't fill.