12 ms·

Craig probably did some math and found out that even if he lives to 800 years old, he will not be able to spend it all so why go nuts? This way everything is ma

Craig probably did some math and found out that even if he lives to 800 years old, he will not be able to spend it all so why go nuts? This way everything is manageable and he doesn't need to report to anyone.

accountyaccount 9y ago
I'm surprised that more successful people don't do this? Is the drive that lead them to absurd success what leads them to continue well beyond needing to? I find it hard to imagine hitting $10 million and not just dropping everything and spending the rest of my life on random hobbies and traveling. Maybe that's why I don't have $10 million?
- ryandrake 9y ago
  I find it hard to imagine hitting $1 million and not just dropping everything for hobbies. The answer is that $N figure is different for each person.
  - accountyaccount 9y ago
    Fair point. I just don't relate to what pushes a wealthy person down the path of ludicrous wealth. Do they really just love doing what they're doing?
    - Retric 9y ago
      Upper crust jobs bring a lot of respect with them. Being the CEO of a fortune 500 or even 5,000 company get's you into a social strata well beyond having a few 10's of millions in the bank. Consider, people enjoy shopping at Neiman Marcus in part because of how the sales staff treat you. Now picture how you feel when an IBM sales team is trying to sell you over priced services.
      - imjk 9y ago
        Not arguing the social clout thing, but having sales teams hounds you on the regular, no matter how high the perks, sounds awful. To each their own.
    - SimbaOnSteroids 9y ago
      Power and influence, setting up your kids for that life, your grandkids for that life, or they just enjoy it.
      - creepydata 9y ago
        The kids blow the wealth more often than not and the grandkids spend every last dime of what the kids couldn't. http://time.com/money/3925308/rich-families-lose-wealth/ http://time.com/money/3925308/rich-families-lose-wealth/ (That's ignoring the fact that people who grow up 'set for life' tend to be truly terrible human beings)
        nunez 9y ago
        who cares what happens when you're dead
        creepydata 9y ago
        Well if your goal is to "help out the grandkids in life" you should probably know leaving them your fortune is going to do the opposite.
        nunez 9y ago
        well if i were in that situation, the way i would see it is "i did my part; my grandkids got money and i showed them how to use it." if they blow it all on cars and drugs, that's on them
    - fragmede 9y ago
      Airplane travel is a good example where you just end up chasing the dragon. You start by wanting to make enough money to take a trip every once in a while. Then the cheapest economy class tickets aren't good enough - start making more money, and you just buy a ticket, no need to spend an hour finding that perfect ticket. Then economy class isn't good enough, so you get business class seats. Then you get lounge access, then move up to first class. Then, you start time sharing a private jet but at that level that's kind of lame, and what you really want is your own private jet, but once you have one, it's so terrible when it's in the shop, so then you get a second, but you're also noticing how cramped the current one is, and go for a larger one this time...
      - hackunomatter 9y ago
        I like to say (not sure if it's original or not), "anyone who says 'money doesn't buy happiness' has never traveled First Class". I got bumped into FC once, and it. was. amazing. Especially on a long haul flight, you actively enjoy the time spent there.
        jbuzbee 9y ago
        I remember my first time in international First Class. A very spacious seat. Personal service. Continuous champagne, caviar, goose-liver pate, Godiva chocolates, etc, etc, etc. All on linen with silver silverware. Since then, I've flown first class a number of times. Most recently, a friend offered me a "free" upgrade certificate for a flight from Heathrow to Chicago. After fees and taxes, it would have cost me $100. I declined. Been there. Done that. I rationalized that after the trip was over the jet-lag was gone and the flight was just a blurred memory, I'd rather have the $100.
        imjk 9y ago
        What?! You found that international first class wasn't worth the $100 upgrade fee?
        creepydata 9y ago
        I flew first class once. It's the difference between being uncomfortable and being slightly less uncomfortable.
  - jandrese 9y ago
    I think it was Nolan Bushnell who said that business is the ultimate game. You keep score with money. Never underestimate people's drive to win, even if winning is meaningless.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
- mi100hael 9y ago
  Paul Allen spent about $200 mil on his super yacht, which one could categorize under "hobbies & traveling." I imagine once you hit 8 figures, a new class of shiny toys all of a sudden feel within reach and become a lot more tempting to a lot of people.
  - Fjolsvith 9y ago
    Hobbies do scale upwards.
  - amorphid 9y ago
    For sure. At 20 billion USD, Paul Allen is in the 11 digit club (googled "paul allen net worth"). If that is mostly Microsoft stock a 2.25% divivend [1] is gonna throw off like $450 million a year in cash. I would have to get real creative to spend a fraction of the wealth. [1] https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/MSFT/ https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/MSFT/
  - creepydata 9y ago
    That's called "lifestyle inflation," and it's real. Your lifestyle inflates to your income. People tend to spend $40k a year if their salary is $40k a year and spend $500k a year if their salary is $500k a year.
- YCode 9y ago
  I imagine many do, you just don't hear about them. For example I know a few people who are millionaires but you wouldn't know it to talk to them. They don't live overly extravagant lives. They have a nice house, some hobbies (e.g. a very nice car(s), a private plane, an art collection), a job they enjoy and friends they spend time with. At least for those I know didn't strike it rich with some novel idea, they ran a small business or their own finances well and put away what they could for decades.
  - fivestar 9y ago
    That's because that's basically all you can do with only $1M these days! The US is nothing but a grievous lie--we have allowed a tiny few to extract all the wealth to the tippy tippy top. I can't even believe people work for like $50K in most places anymore, they should be taking up arms at this point.
    - mostlyskeptical 9y ago
      In most places in the US you can live extremely comfortably, even with a couple of moderately expensive hobbies, on 50k. Get out of the big cities.
      - itchyouch 9y ago
        That's like 3k/month after taxes. Great for a single person, but seems tight for a family even in a super low cost of living area. I'm imagining spending around 1k/mo for a 3br place + utils, and another ~1k easily burned on groceries, 2 cars + car insurance. 1k remaining to be split amongst family member needs seems very tight.
    - creepydata 9y ago
      $50k is a plenty comfortable life in 99% of the US. Hell, probably 99% of the world
    - dang 9y ago
      > The US is nothing but a grievous lie Please don't post political or ideological rants to HN, regardless of which flavor. It's not what this site is for and we eventually ban accounts that do it.
- duck 9y ago
  I think for most people in that situation, working is easier than relaxing.
- fivestar 9y ago
  Hell, I have just over 1/10th and I'm trying to extract myself from the workaday life. What is truly ridiculous is that I can't yet do so, largely due to the high cost of buying health insurance yourself. It's like the whole US is designed around debt slavery and moving the goalposts further and further out. $5-10M is probably the low bar for living a kick-ass non-tied-to-employment lifestyle in the US. Certainly people are doing it on less, but I'm not talking trailer park or RV , I'm talking decent house in a decent neighborhood, with few compromises on travel and doing what you want.
  - njarboe 9y ago
    I imagine you have heard of the Mr Money Mustache and his wife who became financially independent at age ~30 with both of them just working regular tech jobs. You should check out his blog[1] if you haven't. His philosophy is low spending while still having "kick-ass life". Offspring, travel, great food, etc. They own their house and spend about $25,000 per year. [1] http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/ http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/
    - hackunomatter 9y ago
      > They own their house and spend about $25,000 per year In the Bay Area, this is a multi-million-dollar ordeal in itself :-(
      - elihu 9y ago
        I get that the Bay Area is nice, but a lot of expensive housing is expensive because of its proximity to high-paying jobs. If you don't need one of those, you can live more cheaply. (Unfortunately, proximity to smart, creative people also seems to correlate with housing costs. I wonder what US cities have the best "proximity to interesting people to living expense" ratio?) I think Mr. Money Mustache lives in some Colorado suburb, and he was able to buy a nicer house for less money specifically because it's not in the immediate vicinity of a major economic hub.
        9y ago
- Mz 9y ago
  For one thing, if you stop working, your are unlikely to be able to step back in the game at that same level. There are people who work less and just keep a toe in, so to speak, but if you just completely stop and let all your connections dry up, you may be unable to make money like that again if you should need it for some reason. For another, inflation. What used to be a LOT of money isn't anymore. What is currently a LOT of money won't be in a few more years. And the beat goes on. There are other reasons, but from a practical standpoint, those two are biggies.

accountyaccount 9y ago

I'm surprised that more successful people don't do this? Is the drive that lead them to absurd success what leads them to continue well beyond needing to? I find it hard to imagine hitting $10 million and not just dropping everything and spending the rest of my life on random hobbies and traveling. Maybe that's why I don't have $10 million?

ryandrake 9y ago
I find it hard to imagine hitting $1 million and not just dropping everything for hobbies. The answer is that $N figure is different for each person.
- accountyaccount 9y ago
  Fair point. I just don't relate to what pushes a wealthy person down the path of ludicrous wealth. Do they really just love doing what they're doing?
  - Retric 9y ago
    Upper crust jobs bring a lot of respect with them. Being the CEO of a fortune 500 or even 5,000 company get's you into a social strata well beyond having a few 10's of millions in the bank. Consider, people enjoy shopping at Neiman Marcus in part because of how the sales staff treat you. Now picture how you feel when an IBM sales team is trying to sell you over priced services.
    - imjk 9y ago
      Not arguing the social clout thing, but having sales teams hounds you on the regular, no matter how high the perks, sounds awful. To each their own.
  - SimbaOnSteroids 9y ago
    Power and influence, setting up your kids for that life, your grandkids for that life, or they just enjoy it.
    - creepydata 9y ago
      The kids blow the wealth more often than not and the grandkids spend every last dime of what the kids couldn't. http://time.com/money/3925308/rich-families-lose-wealth/ http://time.com/money/3925308/rich-families-lose-wealth/ (That's ignoring the fact that people who grow up 'set for life' tend to be truly terrible human beings)
      - nunez 9y ago
        who cares what happens when you're dead
        creepydata 9y ago
        Well if your goal is to "help out the grandkids in life" you should probably know leaving them your fortune is going to do the opposite.
        nunez 9y ago
        well if i were in that situation, the way i would see it is "i did my part; my grandkids got money and i showed them how to use it." if they blow it all on cars and drugs, that's on them
  - fragmede 9y ago
    Airplane travel is a good example where you just end up chasing the dragon. You start by wanting to make enough money to take a trip every once in a while. Then the cheapest economy class tickets aren't good enough - start making more money, and you just buy a ticket, no need to spend an hour finding that perfect ticket. Then economy class isn't good enough, so you get business class seats. Then you get lounge access, then move up to first class. Then, you start time sharing a private jet but at that level that's kind of lame, and what you really want is your own private jet, but once you have one, it's so terrible when it's in the shop, so then you get a second, but you're also noticing how cramped the current one is, and go for a larger one this time...
    - hackunomatter 9y ago
      I like to say (not sure if it's original or not), "anyone who says 'money doesn't buy happiness' has never traveled First Class". I got bumped into FC once, and it. was. amazing. Especially on a long haul flight, you actively enjoy the time spent there.
      - jbuzbee 9y ago
        I remember my first time in international First Class. A very spacious seat. Personal service. Continuous champagne, caviar, goose-liver pate, Godiva chocolates, etc, etc, etc. All on linen with silver silverware. Since then, I've flown first class a number of times. Most recently, a friend offered me a "free" upgrade certificate for a flight from Heathrow to Chicago. After fees and taxes, it would have cost me $100. I declined. Been there. Done that. I rationalized that after the trip was over the jet-lag was gone and the flight was just a blurred memory, I'd rather have the $100.
        imjk 9y ago
        What?! You found that international first class wasn't worth the $100 upgrade fee?
      - creepydata 9y ago
        I flew first class once. It's the difference between being uncomfortable and being slightly less uncomfortable.
- jandrese 9y ago
  I think it was Nolan Bushnell who said that business is the ultimate game. You keep score with money. Never underestimate people's drive to win, even if winning is meaningless.
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
mi100hael 9y ago
Paul Allen spent about $200 mil on his super yacht, which one could categorize under "hobbies & traveling." I imagine once you hit 8 figures, a new class of shiny toys all of a sudden feel within reach and become a lot more tempting to a lot of people.
- Fjolsvith 9y ago
  Hobbies do scale upwards.
- amorphid 9y ago
  For sure. At 20 billion USD, Paul Allen is in the 11 digit club (googled "paul allen net worth"). If that is mostly Microsoft stock a 2.25% divivend [1] is gonna throw off like $450 million a year in cash. I would have to get real creative to spend a fraction of the wealth. [1] https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/MSFT/ https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/MSFT/
- creepydata 9y ago
  That's called "lifestyle inflation," and it's real. Your lifestyle inflates to your income. People tend to spend $40k a year if their salary is $40k a year and spend $500k a year if their salary is $500k a year.
YCode 9y ago
I imagine many do, you just don't hear about them. For example I know a few people who are millionaires but you wouldn't know it to talk to them. They don't live overly extravagant lives. They have a nice house, some hobbies (e.g. a very nice car(s), a private plane, an art collection), a job they enjoy and friends they spend time with. At least for those I know didn't strike it rich with some novel idea, they ran a small business or their own finances well and put away what they could for decades.
- fivestar 9y ago
  That's because that's basically all you can do with only $1M these days! The US is nothing but a grievous lie--we have allowed a tiny few to extract all the wealth to the tippy tippy top. I can't even believe people work for like $50K in most places anymore, they should be taking up arms at this point.
  - mostlyskeptical 9y ago
    In most places in the US you can live extremely comfortably, even with a couple of moderately expensive hobbies, on 50k. Get out of the big cities.
    - itchyouch 9y ago
      That's like 3k/month after taxes. Great for a single person, but seems tight for a family even in a super low cost of living area. I'm imagining spending around 1k/mo for a 3br place + utils, and another ~1k easily burned on groceries, 2 cars + car insurance. 1k remaining to be split amongst family member needs seems very tight.
  - creepydata 9y ago
    $50k is a plenty comfortable life in 99% of the US. Hell, probably 99% of the world
  - dang 9y ago
    > The US is nothing but a grievous lie Please don't post political or ideological rants to HN, regardless of which flavor. It's not what this site is for and we eventually ban accounts that do it.
duck 9y ago
I think for most people in that situation, working is easier than relaxing.
fivestar 9y ago
Hell, I have just over 1/10th and I'm trying to extract myself from the workaday life. What is truly ridiculous is that I can't yet do so, largely due to the high cost of buying health insurance yourself. It's like the whole US is designed around debt slavery and moving the goalposts further and further out. $5-10M is probably the low bar for living a kick-ass non-tied-to-employment lifestyle in the US. Certainly people are doing it on less, but I'm not talking trailer park or RV , I'm talking decent house in a decent neighborhood, with few compromises on travel and doing what you want.
- njarboe 9y ago
  I imagine you have heard of the Mr Money Mustache and his wife who became financially independent at age ~30 with both of them just working regular tech jobs. You should check out his blog[1] if you haven't. His philosophy is low spending while still having "kick-ass life". Offspring, travel, great food, etc. They own their house and spend about $25,000 per year. [1] http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/ http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/
  - hackunomatter 9y ago
    > They own their house and spend about $25,000 per year In the Bay Area, this is a multi-million-dollar ordeal in itself :-(
    - elihu 9y ago
      I get that the Bay Area is nice, but a lot of expensive housing is expensive because of its proximity to high-paying jobs. If you don't need one of those, you can live more cheaply. (Unfortunately, proximity to smart, creative people also seems to correlate with housing costs. I wonder what US cities have the best "proximity to interesting people to living expense" ratio?) I think Mr. Money Mustache lives in some Colorado suburb, and he was able to buy a nicer house for less money specifically because it's not in the immediate vicinity of a major economic hub.
      - 9y ago
Mz 9y ago
For one thing, if you stop working, your are unlikely to be able to step back in the game at that same level. There are people who work less and just keep a toe in, so to speak, but if you just completely stop and let all your connections dry up, you may be unable to make money like that again if you should need it for some reason. For another, inflation. What used to be a LOT of money isn't anymore. What is currently a LOT of money won't be in a few more years. And the beat goes on. There are other reasons, but from a practical standpoint, those two are biggies.