3 ms·

1) who is getting 6% annual return on small amounts of money and where? 2) casually investing half of your salary before tax. That works out to around 65% of yo

1) who is getting 6% annual return on small amounts of money and where? 2) casually investing half of your salary before tax. That works out to around 65% of your money after tax if we're being conservative. If you were able to do that, I say spend that 65% of income that is just free income presumably if it's not going to rent or food. 45 years of massively more comfortable during the prime of your health and brain function is probably worth it over eventually being very rich in your later years

Simon_says 8y ago
To answer question 1: Everybody who invested in the US stock market over the last 140 years.
prepend 8y ago
It’s not convenient, and certainly not casual, but there are many doing this in a variety of configurations. Check out the Financially Independent, Retire Early folks. Wouldn’t it be super strange if it was casually easy for everyone to earn $10M. Comically, if it was, then we’d have hyper inflation until it got hard again. I provided a link to the s&p history. Check it out. Anyone who can open a vanguard account can buy an s&p index. Of course maybe you’re wondering who is getting 6% risk-free and the answer is no one. Past performance doesn’t guarantee future returns, but it’s a good idea anyway. Check out Buffet’s bet on whether index funds will beat the professional hedge fund managers in a 10 year period [0]. My point is that while very difficult due to discipline and with some risk, it is possible if you set your mind to it. As opposed to say, winning the lotto which has no reasonable way for a hard working person to pay out. So if you want to join the inner circle, it’s better to just get training and work hard for 45 years than to win the lotto. You can certainly trade this for being “massively more comfortable” if that’s your preference. Most people do. Every time I look at my Netflix viewing history over long periods I kind of wish I hadn’t traded hard work for “massive comfort.” [0] http://blog.longnow.org/02018/02/09/warren-buffett-wins-million-dollar-long-bet/ http://blog.longnow.org/02018/02/09/warren-buffett-wins-mill...

Simon_says 8y ago

To answer question 1: Everybody who invested in the US stock market over the last 140 years.

prepend 8y ago

It’s not convenient, and certainly not casual, but there are many doing this in a variety of configurations. Check out the Financially Independent, Retire Early folks. Wouldn’t it be super strange if it was casually easy for everyone to earn $10M. Comically, if it was, then we’d have hyper inflation until it got hard again. I provided a link to the s&p history. Check it out. Anyone who can open a vanguard account can buy an s&p index. Of course maybe you’re wondering who is getting 6% risk-free and the answer is no one. Past performance doesn’t guarantee future returns, but it’s a good idea anyway. Check out Buffet’s bet on whether index funds will beat the professional hedge fund managers in a 10 year period [0]. My point is that while very difficult due to discipline and with some risk, it is possible if you set your mind to it. As opposed to say, winning the lotto which has no reasonable way for a hard working person to pay out. So if you want to join the inner circle, it’s better to just get training and work hard for 45 years than to win the lotto. You can certainly trade this for being “massively more comfortable” if that’s your preference. Most people do. Every time I look at my Netflix viewing history over long periods I kind of wish I hadn’t traded hard work for “massive comfort.” [0] http://blog.longnow.org/02018/02/09/warren-buffett-wins-million-dollar-long-bet/ http://blog.longnow.org/02018/02/09/warren-buffett-wins-mill...