4 ms·

Very nice of the author (of the article) to mention Kahneman who has done so much research around this stuff (if you haven't yet read Thinking Fast and Slow I h

by comboy 8y ago

Very nice of the author (of the article) to mention Kahneman who has done so much research around this stuff (if you haven't yet read Thinking Fast and Slow I highly recommend it) Regarding the title, I'd say choose your profession in a way that you don't have to choose between work and play. You are reading HN so you're likely in a position to have many options. Life's too short to be doing things that don't feel like playing. Especially given that everything is playing whether you realize it or not because the universe, entropy and purpose but that's a whole another story. But even from purely financial point of view, it's likely that you will be better off by becoming master at what you consider to be a fun game.

eloff 8y ago
Sometimes I marvel how much people are willing to pay for me to write and debug code. I can and would do it without pay - if I could choose the problem. The trouble is a lot of what I work on is mind-numbingly boring and definitely feels like work, not play. But I think it's an acceptable tradeoff to achieve financial independence and get the freedom to pick my problems.
- comboy 8y ago
  Based on your first comment you may already have a chance to give some problems picked by you a try. And as far as I understand it, you will never achieve financial independence by amassing some fixed of money. You need a cash flow and it won't just magically appear after working hard for some time. You need to focus your interest on this specific goal, research it and work towards it. Oops, I meant play towards it ;)
  - eloff 8y ago
    If you amass some fixed amount of money and buy a house with it, or keep it in the bank - yeah it won't help you. If you amass some fixed amounts of investments, that gives you cash flow. Once that reaches a certain point depending on what your expenses are and your lifestyle choices are, you're free. "Wealth consists not in having great possessions, but in having few wants." - Epictetus If I (or more importantly my wife) had fewer wants, I'd already be financially independent.
    - deleted 8y ago
      [deleted]
  - swsieber 8y ago
    There is, in fact, an entire sub-reddit dedicated to turning amassed money into a fixed income, with the specific goal of financial independence: https://www.reddit.com/r/financialindependence/ https://www.reddit.com/r/financialindependence/ So while amassing money alone won't get you there, it can definitely facilitate it.
  - hyperpallium 8y ago
    Then you have to manage your investments. If that's fun for you, great. All it really does is leverage your time, effort and attention.
    - eloff 8y ago
      If you're doing that right it should be pretty low maintenance. I spend more time taking out the garbage in a given year than I do on my investments.
      - hyperpallium 8y ago
        Ideally. But if you're living on your investments, you tend to attend to them more. The solution to that is to have such a substantial investment income that you don't need to worry about it, at all - which means that much more effort in getting there.
        eloff 8y ago
        Or a large cash position to smooth out the rough patches, but that also means more effort in getting there.
        hyperpallium 8y ago
        "The market can stay irrational longer than you can stay solvent."
- Bekwnn 8y ago
  It takes some work to be able to work on things you enjoy and get paid for them. But it's more possible in this line of work than many others. People have jobs at places like pixar, blizzard entertainment, and robotics labs. Tons of people manage to convert passion projects into real work. I personally work in AAA games. I wouldn't work on CRUD without at least a 20k raise. You spend 40+ hours a week at work. A job you like is worth a lot.
  - matte_black 8y ago
    I wouldn’t work in AAA games without a 30k raise.
hyperpallium 8y ago
Do what you love, and you'll never need to work another day in life. Make your hobby your job, and you lose a hobby and gain a job. It's trial by cliché, choose your champion.

by comboy 8y ago

eloff 8y ago

Sometimes I marvel how much people are willing to pay for me to write and debug code. I can and would do it without pay - if I could choose the problem. The trouble is a lot of what I work on is mind-numbingly boring and definitely feels like work, not play. But I think it's an acceptable tradeoff to achieve financial independence and get the freedom to pick my problems.

comboy 8y ago
Based on your first comment you may already have a chance to give some problems picked by you a try. And as far as I understand it, you will never achieve financial independence by amassing some fixed of money. You need a cash flow and it won't just magically appear after working hard for some time. You need to focus your interest on this specific goal, research it and work towards it. Oops, I meant play towards it ;)
- eloff 8y ago
  If you amass some fixed amount of money and buy a house with it, or keep it in the bank - yeah it won't help you. If you amass some fixed amounts of investments, that gives you cash flow. Once that reaches a certain point depending on what your expenses are and your lifestyle choices are, you're free. "Wealth consists not in having great possessions, but in having few wants." - Epictetus If I (or more importantly my wife) had fewer wants, I'd already be financially independent.
  - deleted 8y ago
    [deleted]
- swsieber 8y ago
  There is, in fact, an entire sub-reddit dedicated to turning amassed money into a fixed income, with the specific goal of financial independence: https://www.reddit.com/r/financialindependence/ https://www.reddit.com/r/financialindependence/ So while amassing money alone won't get you there, it can definitely facilitate it.
- hyperpallium 8y ago
  Then you have to manage your investments. If that's fun for you, great. All it really does is leverage your time, effort and attention.
  - eloff 8y ago
    If you're doing that right it should be pretty low maintenance. I spend more time taking out the garbage in a given year than I do on my investments.
    - hyperpallium 8y ago
      Ideally. But if you're living on your investments, you tend to attend to them more. The solution to that is to have such a substantial investment income that you don't need to worry about it, at all - which means that much more effort in getting there.
      - eloff 8y ago
        Or a large cash position to smooth out the rough patches, but that also means more effort in getting there.
        hyperpallium 8y ago
        "The market can stay irrational longer than you can stay solvent."
Bekwnn 8y ago
It takes some work to be able to work on things you enjoy and get paid for them. But it's more possible in this line of work than many others. People have jobs at places like pixar, blizzard entertainment, and robotics labs. Tons of people manage to convert passion projects into real work. I personally work in AAA games. I wouldn't work on CRUD without at least a 20k raise. You spend 40+ hours a week at work. A job you like is worth a lot.
- matte_black 8y ago
  I wouldn’t work in AAA games without a 30k raise.

hyperpallium 8y ago

Do what you love, and you'll never need to work another day in life. Make your hobby your job, and you lose a hobby and gain a job. It's trial by cliché, choose your champion.