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I guess I should have added I am married and have kids, one college bound. My wife earns enough to fully support the family. Which means, within limits, I have

I guess I should have added I am married and have kids, one college bound. My wife earns enough to fully support the family. Which means, within limits, I have complete freedom to do as I wish. I can earn a good salary under normal circumstances. This was a case of what I call a "lock-in-key" contract where my skill set matched the problem so well that I was able to negotiate triple normal rates to get things done (electrical, mechanical and software dev). This was one of those opportunities that rarely present themselves and I don't expect to see this happen again. I've been looking at Vanguard as an idea. I need to do more research. It seems like a good option. One of the things this highlighted was the need for more security. There was a recent thread on HN about hackers hijacking phone numbers to gain access to bank accounts, etc. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14533116 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14533116 That's terrifying when you have money that could very well ensure a comfortable retirement. I noticed you didn't mention real estate. Any thoughts on that?

danielvf 9y ago
Congrats! I didn't mention real estate because I assumed you were young. But I personally don't invest there. - You can buy houses, rent them to others, and make a living - I have neighbors who do this and friends and family who have done it, but it ends up taking a lot of your time and adding stress and aggravation to your life. - You can pay off your mortgage, but interest rates are so crazy low now that this doesn't seem to make much sense. - You can buy a bigger house than you need, and hope that it appreciates in value. I know a lot of people who are selling now in the Bay Area and making silly money from what they paid for their houses originally. But Bay Area housing seems quite overpriced currently. While I wouldn't expect it to crash soon, it doesn't seeem like it has room to double again. Other areas of the country have slower growth but more room to grow. I personally just have a small, comfortable house and don't spend much there. I guess the sure things in real estate tend to be either a lot of work, or a long, slow return. Nothing wrong with those, they just don't fit what I'm looking for.

danielvf 9y ago

Congrats! I didn't mention real estate because I assumed you were young. But I personally don't invest there. - You can buy houses, rent them to others, and make a living - I have neighbors who do this and friends and family who have done it, but it ends up taking a lot of your time and adding stress and aggravation to your life. - You can pay off your mortgage, but interest rates are so crazy low now that this doesn't seem to make much sense. - You can buy a bigger house than you need, and hope that it appreciates in value. I know a lot of people who are selling now in the Bay Area and making silly money from what they paid for their houses originally. But Bay Area housing seems quite overpriced currently. While I wouldn't expect it to crash soon, it doesn't seeem like it has room to double again. Other areas of the country have slower growth but more room to grow. I personally just have a small, comfortable house and don't spend much there. I guess the sure things in real estate tend to be either a lot of work, or a long, slow return. Nothing wrong with those, they just don't fit what I'm looking for.