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Tell HN: My advice to my kids: do not get a job/career, be a property investor

3 points by hoodoof 10y ago

It seems that whilst those of us bashed away at keyboards for someone else for a yearly salary, the smart people were doing everything they could to accumulate properties, just like a big game of monopoly. I have concluded that having a job is a mugs game, just a way of serving the rich and helping them to get richer. My advice to my kids - forget job and career, do everything you can to spend a lifetime playing the monopoly game, buy property after property and you'll be rich and never work for the man like all the suckers.

gaspoweredcat 10y ago
which is all well and good if oyu can afford to buy those properties, many of us struggle to rent let alone buy
pimterry 10y ago
Generally, if you have a lot of cash to start with, this is not a terrible idea. It doesn't need to be property though. Investing in the stock market is almost as profitable (10% avg annual return, vs 11%) but less volatile (http://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/052015/which-has-performed-better-historically-stock-market-or-real-estate.asp http://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/052015/which-has-per...). Stocks also have a drastically lower barrier to entry, and are far quicker to buy/sell. There's a reason that investment funds and big banking aren't primarily buying up all the housing in the world - it's typically not the most efficient return on investment. The maths is fun though. How much do you need to make a year? Let's say $60k (approx US household average). Times by 10 (assuming the average 10% annual return) to get the investments you need for that return (so $600,000). If you can get that much capital, you can make that salary just from investment alone (bearing in mind that this is an average: it's not reliable, but if you've got a buffer you're _probably_ ok). In the long-term you'll want a bit more to keep up with inflation, but it's a reasonable ballpark. This is obviously passive income, so you've then got the rest of your time to earn extra in whatever form you'd like, with a lot of freedom and no pressure. The hard part is having the upfront cash... (Obviously this isn't real financial advice. Don't make life decisions based on HN comments)

3 points by hoodoof 10y ago

gaspoweredcat 10y ago

which is all well and good if oyu can afford to buy those properties, many of us struggle to rent let alone buy

pimterry 10y ago

Generally, if you have a lot of cash to start with, this is not a terrible idea. It doesn't need to be property though. Investing in the stock market is almost as profitable (10% avg annual return, vs 11%) but less volatile (http://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/052015/which-has-performed-better-historically-stock-market-or-real-estate.asp http://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/052015/which-has-per...). Stocks also have a drastically lower barrier to entry, and are far quicker to buy/sell. There's a reason that investment funds and big banking aren't primarily buying up all the housing in the world - it's typically not the most efficient return on investment. The maths is fun though. How much do you need to make a year? Let's say $60k (approx US household average). Times by 10 (assuming the average 10% annual return) to get the investments you need for that return (so $600,000). If you can get that much capital, you can make that salary just from investment alone (bearing in mind that this is an average: it's not reliable, but if you've got a buffer you're _probably_ ok). In the long-term you'll want a bit more to keep up with inflation, but it's a reasonable ballpark. This is obviously passive income, so you've then got the rest of your time to earn extra in whatever form you'd like, with a lot of freedom and no pressure. The hard part is having the upfront cash... (Obviously this isn't real financial advice. Don't make life decisions based on HN comments)