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> It's always been my intention to retire early, > I'm interested in making huge money and retiring early, > I don't begrudge people with their crazy salaries b

> It's always been my intention to retire early, > I'm interested in making huge money and retiring early, > I don't begrudge people with their crazy salaries but I do get frustrated that I can't find success myself. I am shocked and surprised at the same time (knowing that I only selected quotes of a few commentators). Shocked to see the same mindset as many managing consultants and investment bankers I have met and worked with. They work a lot with the idea to stop working eventually. Not a single one of them has retired early. Not a single one of them I would call happy or satisfied (again: my bubble). “Man. Because he sacrifices his health in order to make money. Then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health. And then he is so anxious about the future that he does not enjoy the present; the result being that he does not live in the present or the future; he lives as if he is never going to die, and then dies having never really lived.” - Dalai Lama Surprised maybe because I hoped here on HN people might have a different mindset towards money and success. Or: know that there is not a strict connection between the two. To read all this "Keeping up with the Joneses" makes me sad... Choose life, not career. Find something you love doing and do it for the 'work' itself, not for some postponed happiness.

black-tea 8y ago
For me it's about security and freedom, not "keeping up with the Joneses". I earn a good salary for the UK, even if it might look small compared to the US salaries. But I've been very careful not to inflate my lifestyle too much. I don't have an expensive car. I don't go on expensive holidays. I save approximately 40% of my take home pay. I feel I need to do this because I won't necessarily be employable long past 50 and I don't feel like I can buy a house or cohabitate with a spouse.
- krn 8y ago
  > But I've been very careful not to inflate my lifestyle too much. I don't have an expensive car. I don't go on expensive holidays. That's what I noticed during my undergraduate years in the UK after growing up in continental Europe: "lifestyle" for most people in the UK from the young age is associated with spending money on material things and holidays, not pursuing life-long hobbies and interests. In much of continental Europe people seem to be enjoying their lives a way more, despite often earning 2-3x lower salaries while doing similar jobs. In my own country, even a person making 15k / year might have a second home in the countryside, where he spends every summer weekend with his friends and family.
  - monadgonad 8y ago
    > a second home in the countryside, where he spends every summer weekend So, material things and holidays? All that says is that those things are cheaper for people outside of the UK.
    - krn 8y ago
      People without big salaries often have second homes because they built them themselves as a hobby over a long period of time on a plot of land they could afford.
    - TomMarius 8y ago
      The second home is usually a hobby by itself that includes building, woodworking, gardening, some light plumbing and electrical stuff etc. It's very different than a hotel or Airbnb.
  - tonyedgecombe 8y ago
    The UK is very similar to the US, the culture is quite individualistic which leads to a consumerist outlook. You can opt out of that but you won't get much support, indeed people will mostly push you towards it. The rot set in with Thatcher and it's got steadily worse since then.
restalis 8y ago
That's one way to look at it. Another is that one uses the early retirement as a driving goal that ultimately helps one grow. Yes, you may afford to retire and live mediocre if you want, but would you now, with your newly realized potential that the journey towards your previous goals helped you discover? For many that choose to continue, I guess it's that old saying "it is better to wear out than to rust out", the difference between those who work affording to retire comfortably in any moment and those who don't is the kind of work they do. That is the real prize worth pursuing. As regarding to publicly declared goal, it's just a good enough explanation to feed the inquisitive spirits. And it's more comfortable for them hearing that you have to work in order to make it (towards a different level than they do, but still, a shared experience there) instead of bragging that you don't have to crawl any more.
- alexpetralia 8y ago
  You can grow, but you'll experience growing pains your whole life. Maybe that is a fair tradeoff.
deleted 8y ago
[deleted]
clarry 8y ago
> Find something you love doing and do it for the 'work' itself People keep repeating that advice, but finding something you love doing just for the work might be an endless chase, not unlike the chase after success and money. Some of us actually feel that it is easier to chase money than it is to find work you really love.
- setquk 8y ago
  Even worse. Doing something you love for work means you end up hating it for a lot of people. Then you spend your entire life drifting and finding nothing else you love. I do something I hate enough to walk in with a sword and fight it every day.
  - kdbg 8y ago
    I'm a bit mixed in this. I've actually had both experiences. I've turned two hobbies I loved intoy full time job. The first one (magician) went as you stated, I ended up hating it, or atleast hating it as a job. It paid pretty well, but performing because I had to instead of wanted to made a big difference. On the other hand though, I also took my hobby of hacking stuff into the my current career doing application security consulting and vuln research. Also pays quite well and I enjoy my job quite a bit, possibly even more than doing it as a hobby. So with a sample size of me, that's 50/50 odds on finding something you love working out as a job you love. Not great, but imo not reason to atleast take a shot if your passion also happens to pay well, and is feasible.
- onlyrealcuzzo 8y ago
  Yes. I am so tired of people parroting "Do what you love." Real life isn't a Disney movie. Doing what I love, I would be lucky to make $10k a year. You know what else I love beside that? Making enough money to eat. You know what I REALLY like, knowing that I'm making enough money now to GUARANTEE my dreams will come true. Not scaping pennies together as a starting artist, crossing my fingers, and hoping that one day I get my break. No, I did that for 10 years. You know what I noticed? No one ever gets a break.
mettamage 8y ago
> Choose life, not career. Find something you love doing and do it for the 'work' itself, not for some postponed happiness. Insightful story about the investment banker. Your policy about choosing life feels like good advice in light of that story. The implementation details, that’s where it always gets difficult. My story: I want to make music. I think of music all the time. Whenever I made music I was passionate about it. However: - my music training is limited - people that I know who are amazing alternate from being homeless to renting out a place. They are poor. Do I have that much passion that I want to risk 10 to 20 years of my life in poor wealth and perhaps poor family life? No. I want to live a middle class life while making music. Sounds realistic? Just follow your passion people, the invisible hand will help you. Obviously I am cynical about this, I sincerely hope you can prove me wrong, for I would love to make music.
- elbear 8y ago
  Look for the middle ground. I realized that I want to work on things I like, but I still need to eat, so I've decided to split my time. I want to work at least an hour to something I'm passionate about. That way, even if I spend more of my time working for someone else, I know I still spend some of my time doing something I love. So follow your passion, but also your survival instinct.
  - Retra 8y ago
    Then get cancer and die young.
    - mettamage 8y ago
      Hey Retra, I looked at your comment history, to see why you'd possibly be saying this. I've noticed two type of comments that you made: 1. Comments that have substantial reasoning, mostly technical but not always. These seemed to be appreciated. 2. Short comments that seemed to attack the person or a particular concept. These short comments did not have any reasoning from your side. Also, most of these comments are non-technical. My first thought was: it seems that you have a lot of technical knowledge, and people appreciate this. I know I do. Two observations on the category 2 comments you make: 1. In the comments that I skimmed, no one seemed to tell you to read the guidelines. I'll post the link [1]. Saying "then get cancer and die young" is an offensive thing to say because you're attacking the person. For some people this is obvious, but based on your comment history, I doubt whether this is obvious to you. Attacking a person is not a civil thing to do, not a nice thing to do (unless it's meant in a constructive fashion, even then it'd be debatably constructive). Regardless of that, it is in violation of the guidelines. As a technical person, I hope you'd appreciate that I'm pointing to a source appointed by Y Combinator. They make the rules on how to behave here, so then behave like that, the guidelines are reasonable. You seem to do so in most of your comments. 2. In most cases, short comments don't work quite well on Hacker News (many counter examples exist, I'm describing a trend which I observe). This is not because HN'ers dislike discussion, they dislike a discussion that does not have scientific evidence (again, a trend), most already have a problem when someone says "based on my experience". Do with this observation what you will, it's just my observation which is biased as well. I hope these two points will help you to improve your comments like these ones, because it is obvious that you have a lot of insightful things to offer. And HN would be a more fun place if we'd see more of that and less of "then get cancer and die young" type of comments. If you want a private conversation about this, you can always email me (check my profile). [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html -- read the section "In Comments"
aj_g 8y ago
Agreed. I'm at a stage in my life where my median friend probably is between 'just entering the workforce' and maybe 2 years of experience (from uni). One reoccurring idea in my mind right now is the notion of 'selling out'--what does the transition look like from "I'm happy living frugally like a college student" to prioritizing your career in your waking hours of your life? What does it look like to slowly convince yourself that just getting that next raise will finally make me happy (even though I have to sacrifice other things to do so)?
- arandr0x 8y ago
  In my experience, even if you stay frugal, and I did, the main change comes from the job requiring full-time hours (and some weird culture stuff). I worked part-time in college and programming hasn't changed, but then I had daylight hours to walk outside, the freedom to stay home if I felt sick, etc. I started working F/T and almost immediately, the hour+ commute and not seeing daylight in winter rewired my brain. Suddenly, my mornings were spent preparing my lunch so I could go to work, my evenings cooking dinner and recovering from work, and on the weekends, I did everything except talk about work. (In those days my partner was still a student, and it made the contrast greater). After the first year, my work had become my only source of pride; after the second, I was constantly wondering how to be better at work; three years after that, I engaged in a hobby for the first time in my adult life. It snuck up. I don't like money that much and I never made the conscious decision to prioritize my career; but it ate my life and I doubled down because it was all I had left. The fact is, for most young adults, jobs pop into their life right on cue to replace the family they're no longer seeing and the dreams that have disappointed them (around 25 where that first crisis hits). If you're 25 and lonely do not go to work happy hours. If you're bored don't take work home. When your boss tells you you're very promising and he can see you grow in this company, tell yourself you're an interesting person who's had a life full of stories that people would love to get to know. The best promises are the ones you make yourself.
- abyssin 8y ago
  It just becomes the new norm because of the people who surround you, there's no need to convince yourself. Your current norm as a student living relatively frugally is also shaped according to your context. There's a point where you realize: "My norm has changed." You might not find yourself believing the next raise will make you happy. But it might help with the feeling that you're treated unfairly.
deleted 8y ago
[deleted]
xysg 8y ago
> “Man. Because he sacrifices his health in order to make money. Then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health. And then he is so anxious about the future that he does not enjoy the present; the result being that he does not live in the present or the future; he lives as if he is never going to die, and then dies having never really lived.” - Dalai Lama I like the quote but sorry the Dalai Lama never said it: http://thedamienzone.com/2011/10/12/dalai-lama-quote-on-facebook-about-man-sacrifice-and-health-is-a-hoax/ http://thedamienzone.com/2011/10/12/dalai-lama-quote-on-face...
wasabiketchup 8y ago
I like to start doing things, just because I want to, and do not have to stress about it being "likable" by others, and thus generating money. I make some woodworking? No thinking about starting an instagram account, gathering audience, trying to sell, making a newsletter.. I travel? No need for me to publish travel hacks stuff just to fund my travelling. We work in IT, we are very fortunate to make $$$. Let's work part time, and have more time for us, really for us.
DVassallo 8y ago
This. I left my job last month while making $500K/year: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19135399 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19135399. I realized that after I attained a basic level of financial security (bills on autopay & some savings), addition income stopped mattering for my satisfaction. I don’t intend to retire. Work gives me satisfaction, but I want to work on my terms and doing things that intrinsically motivate me. Trying to find satisfaction in earning as much as possible is an unachievable thing.
jrs235 8y ago
An American investment banker was at the pier of a small coastal Mexican village when a small boat with just one fisherman docked. Inside the small boat were several large yellowfin tuna. The American complimented the Mexican on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took to catch them. The Mexican replied, “only a little while. The American then asked why didn’t he stay out longer and catch more fish? The Mexican said he had enough to support his family’s immediate needs. The American then asked, “but what do you do with the rest of your time?” The Mexican fisherman said, “I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take siestas with my wife, Maria, stroll into the village each evening where I sip wine, and play guitar with my amigos. I have a full and busy life.” The American scoffed, “I am a Harvard MBA and could help you. You should spend more time fishing and with the proceeds, buy a bigger boat. With the proceeds from the bigger boat, you could buy several boats, eventually you would have a fleet of fishing boats. Instead of selling your catch to a middleman you would sell directly to the processor, eventually opening your own cannery. You would control the product, processing, and distribution. You would need to leave this small coastal fishing village and move to Mexico City, then LA and eventually New York City, where you will run your expanding enterprise.” The Mexican fisherman asked, “But, how long will this all take?” To which the American replied, “15 – 20 years.” “But what then?” Asked the Mexican. The American laughed and said, “That’s the best part. When the time is right you would announce an IPO and sell your company stock to the public and become very rich, you would make millions!” “Millions – then what?” The American said, “Then you would retire. Move to a small coastal fishing village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take siestas with your wife, stroll to the village in the evenings where you could sip wine and play your guitar with your amigos.”
- gota 8y ago
  I can't say that I agree completely with the message from this story, but I do think the point would be stronger if the last bit was changed to: The American said, “Then you would retire. Move to an exclusive coastal tourist village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your grandkids, take strolls with your third wife, go to an expensive place in the evenings where you could sip fancy wine and watch people who remind you of your old amigos play the guitar.”
- 8y ago

black-tea 8y ago

For me it's about security and freedom, not "keeping up with the Joneses". I earn a good salary for the UK, even if it might look small compared to the US salaries. But I've been very careful not to inflate my lifestyle too much. I don't have an expensive car. I don't go on expensive holidays. I save approximately 40% of my take home pay. I feel I need to do this because I won't necessarily be employable long past 50 and I don't feel like I can buy a house or cohabitate with a spouse.

krn 8y ago
> But I've been very careful not to inflate my lifestyle too much. I don't have an expensive car. I don't go on expensive holidays. That's what I noticed during my undergraduate years in the UK after growing up in continental Europe: "lifestyle" for most people in the UK from the young age is associated with spending money on material things and holidays, not pursuing life-long hobbies and interests. In much of continental Europe people seem to be enjoying their lives a way more, despite often earning 2-3x lower salaries while doing similar jobs. In my own country, even a person making 15k / year might have a second home in the countryside, where he spends every summer weekend with his friends and family.
- monadgonad 8y ago
  > a second home in the countryside, where he spends every summer weekend So, material things and holidays? All that says is that those things are cheaper for people outside of the UK.
  - krn 8y ago
    People without big salaries often have second homes because they built them themselves as a hobby over a long period of time on a plot of land they could afford.
  - TomMarius 8y ago
    The second home is usually a hobby by itself that includes building, woodworking, gardening, some light plumbing and electrical stuff etc. It's very different than a hotel or Airbnb.
- tonyedgecombe 8y ago
  The UK is very similar to the US, the culture is quite individualistic which leads to a consumerist outlook. You can opt out of that but you won't get much support, indeed people will mostly push you towards it. The rot set in with Thatcher and it's got steadily worse since then.

restalis 8y ago

That's one way to look at it. Another is that one uses the early retirement as a driving goal that ultimately helps one grow. Yes, you may afford to retire and live mediocre if you want, but would you now, with your newly realized potential that the journey towards your previous goals helped you discover? For many that choose to continue, I guess it's that old saying "it is better to wear out than to rust out", the difference between those who work affording to retire comfortably in any moment and those who don't is the kind of work they do. That is the real prize worth pursuing. As regarding to publicly declared goal, it's just a good enough explanation to feed the inquisitive spirits. And it's more comfortable for them hearing that you have to work in order to make it (towards a different level than they do, but still, a shared experience there) instead of bragging that you don't have to crawl any more.

alexpetralia 8y ago
You can grow, but you'll experience growing pains your whole life. Maybe that is a fair tradeoff.

deleted 8y ago

[deleted]

clarry 8y ago

> Find something you love doing and do it for the 'work' itself People keep repeating that advice, but finding something you love doing just for the work might be an endless chase, not unlike the chase after success and money. Some of us actually feel that it is easier to chase money than it is to find work you really love.

setquk 8y ago
Even worse. Doing something you love for work means you end up hating it for a lot of people. Then you spend your entire life drifting and finding nothing else you love. I do something I hate enough to walk in with a sword and fight it every day.
- kdbg 8y ago
  I'm a bit mixed in this. I've actually had both experiences. I've turned two hobbies I loved intoy full time job. The first one (magician) went as you stated, I ended up hating it, or atleast hating it as a job. It paid pretty well, but performing because I had to instead of wanted to made a big difference. On the other hand though, I also took my hobby of hacking stuff into the my current career doing application security consulting and vuln research. Also pays quite well and I enjoy my job quite a bit, possibly even more than doing it as a hobby. So with a sample size of me, that's 50/50 odds on finding something you love working out as a job you love. Not great, but imo not reason to atleast take a shot if your passion also happens to pay well, and is feasible.
onlyrealcuzzo 8y ago
Yes. I am so tired of people parroting "Do what you love." Real life isn't a Disney movie. Doing what I love, I would be lucky to make $10k a year. You know what else I love beside that? Making enough money to eat. You know what I REALLY like, knowing that I'm making enough money now to GUARANTEE my dreams will come true. Not scaping pennies together as a starting artist, crossing my fingers, and hoping that one day I get my break. No, I did that for 10 years. You know what I noticed? No one ever gets a break.

mettamage 8y ago

> Choose life, not career. Find something you love doing and do it for the 'work' itself, not for some postponed happiness. Insightful story about the investment banker. Your policy about choosing life feels like good advice in light of that story. The implementation details, that’s where it always gets difficult. My story: I want to make music. I think of music all the time. Whenever I made music I was passionate about it. However: - my music training is limited - people that I know who are amazing alternate from being homeless to renting out a place. They are poor. Do I have that much passion that I want to risk 10 to 20 years of my life in poor wealth and perhaps poor family life? No. I want to live a middle class life while making music. Sounds realistic? Just follow your passion people, the invisible hand will help you. Obviously I am cynical about this, I sincerely hope you can prove me wrong, for I would love to make music.

elbear 8y ago
Look for the middle ground. I realized that I want to work on things I like, but I still need to eat, so I've decided to split my time. I want to work at least an hour to something I'm passionate about. That way, even if I spend more of my time working for someone else, I know I still spend some of my time doing something I love. So follow your passion, but also your survival instinct.
- Retra 8y ago
  Then get cancer and die young.
  - mettamage 8y ago
    Hey Retra, I looked at your comment history, to see why you'd possibly be saying this. I've noticed two type of comments that you made: 1. Comments that have substantial reasoning, mostly technical but not always. These seemed to be appreciated. 2. Short comments that seemed to attack the person or a particular concept. These short comments did not have any reasoning from your side. Also, most of these comments are non-technical. My first thought was: it seems that you have a lot of technical knowledge, and people appreciate this. I know I do. Two observations on the category 2 comments you make: 1. In the comments that I skimmed, no one seemed to tell you to read the guidelines. I'll post the link [1]. Saying "then get cancer and die young" is an offensive thing to say because you're attacking the person. For some people this is obvious, but based on your comment history, I doubt whether this is obvious to you. Attacking a person is not a civil thing to do, not a nice thing to do (unless it's meant in a constructive fashion, even then it'd be debatably constructive). Regardless of that, it is in violation of the guidelines. As a technical person, I hope you'd appreciate that I'm pointing to a source appointed by Y Combinator. They make the rules on how to behave here, so then behave like that, the guidelines are reasonable. You seem to do so in most of your comments. 2. In most cases, short comments don't work quite well on Hacker News (many counter examples exist, I'm describing a trend which I observe). This is not because HN'ers dislike discussion, they dislike a discussion that does not have scientific evidence (again, a trend), most already have a problem when someone says "based on my experience". Do with this observation what you will, it's just my observation which is biased as well. I hope these two points will help you to improve your comments like these ones, because it is obvious that you have a lot of insightful things to offer. And HN would be a more fun place if we'd see more of that and less of "then get cancer and die young" type of comments. If you want a private conversation about this, you can always email me (check my profile). [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html -- read the section "In Comments"

aj_g 8y ago

Agreed. I'm at a stage in my life where my median friend probably is between 'just entering the workforce' and maybe 2 years of experience (from uni). One reoccurring idea in my mind right now is the notion of 'selling out'--what does the transition look like from "I'm happy living frugally like a college student" to prioritizing your career in your waking hours of your life? What does it look like to slowly convince yourself that just getting that next raise will finally make me happy (even though I have to sacrifice other things to do so)?

arandr0x 8y ago
In my experience, even if you stay frugal, and I did, the main change comes from the job requiring full-time hours (and some weird culture stuff). I worked part-time in college and programming hasn't changed, but then I had daylight hours to walk outside, the freedom to stay home if I felt sick, etc. I started working F/T and almost immediately, the hour+ commute and not seeing daylight in winter rewired my brain. Suddenly, my mornings were spent preparing my lunch so I could go to work, my evenings cooking dinner and recovering from work, and on the weekends, I did everything except talk about work. (In those days my partner was still a student, and it made the contrast greater). After the first year, my work had become my only source of pride; after the second, I was constantly wondering how to be better at work; three years after that, I engaged in a hobby for the first time in my adult life. It snuck up. I don't like money that much and I never made the conscious decision to prioritize my career; but it ate my life and I doubled down because it was all I had left. The fact is, for most young adults, jobs pop into their life right on cue to replace the family they're no longer seeing and the dreams that have disappointed them (around 25 where that first crisis hits). If you're 25 and lonely do not go to work happy hours. If you're bored don't take work home. When your boss tells you you're very promising and he can see you grow in this company, tell yourself you're an interesting person who's had a life full of stories that people would love to get to know. The best promises are the ones you make yourself.
abyssin 8y ago
It just becomes the new norm because of the people who surround you, there's no need to convince yourself. Your current norm as a student living relatively frugally is also shaped according to your context. There's a point where you realize: "My norm has changed." You might not find yourself believing the next raise will make you happy. But it might help with the feeling that you're treated unfairly.

deleted 8y ago

[deleted]

xysg 8y ago

> “Man. Because he sacrifices his health in order to make money. Then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health. And then he is so anxious about the future that he does not enjoy the present; the result being that he does not live in the present or the future; he lives as if he is never going to die, and then dies having never really lived.” - Dalai Lama I like the quote but sorry the Dalai Lama never said it: http://thedamienzone.com/2011/10/12/dalai-lama-quote-on-facebook-about-man-sacrifice-and-health-is-a-hoax/ http://thedamienzone.com/2011/10/12/dalai-lama-quote-on-face...

wasabiketchup 8y ago

I like to start doing things, just because I want to, and do not have to stress about it being "likable" by others, and thus generating money. I make some woodworking? No thinking about starting an instagram account, gathering audience, trying to sell, making a newsletter.. I travel? No need for me to publish travel hacks stuff just to fund my travelling. We work in IT, we are very fortunate to make $$$. Let's work part time, and have more time for us, really for us.

DVassallo 8y ago

This. I left my job last month while making $500K/year: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19135399 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19135399. I realized that after I attained a basic level of financial security (bills on autopay & some savings), addition income stopped mattering for my satisfaction. I don’t intend to retire. Work gives me satisfaction, but I want to work on my terms and doing things that intrinsically motivate me. Trying to find satisfaction in earning as much as possible is an unachievable thing.

jrs235 8y ago

An American investment banker was at the pier of a small coastal Mexican village when a small boat with just one fisherman docked. Inside the small boat were several large yellowfin tuna. The American complimented the Mexican on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took to catch them. The Mexican replied, “only a little while. The American then asked why didn’t he stay out longer and catch more fish? The Mexican said he had enough to support his family’s immediate needs. The American then asked, “but what do you do with the rest of your time?” The Mexican fisherman said, “I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take siestas with my wife, Maria, stroll into the village each evening where I sip wine, and play guitar with my amigos. I have a full and busy life.” The American scoffed, “I am a Harvard MBA and could help you. You should spend more time fishing and with the proceeds, buy a bigger boat. With the proceeds from the bigger boat, you could buy several boats, eventually you would have a fleet of fishing boats. Instead of selling your catch to a middleman you would sell directly to the processor, eventually opening your own cannery. You would control the product, processing, and distribution. You would need to leave this small coastal fishing village and move to Mexico City, then LA and eventually New York City, where you will run your expanding enterprise.” The Mexican fisherman asked, “But, how long will this all take?” To which the American replied, “15 – 20 years.” “But what then?” Asked the Mexican. The American laughed and said, “That’s the best part. When the time is right you would announce an IPO and sell your company stock to the public and become very rich, you would make millions!” “Millions – then what?” The American said, “Then you would retire. Move to a small coastal fishing village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take siestas with your wife, stroll to the village in the evenings where you could sip wine and play your guitar with your amigos.”

gota 8y ago
I can't say that I agree completely with the message from this story, but I do think the point would be stronger if the last bit was changed to: The American said, “Then you would retire. Move to an exclusive coastal tourist village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your grandkids, take strolls with your third wife, go to an expensive place in the evenings where you could sip fancy wine and watch people who remind you of your old amigos play the guitar.”
8y ago