7 ms·

That's precisely my point regarding the rat race - what is one trying to catch up to? Is there economic or social anxiety at 350k/yr which evaporates at 400k/yr

That's precisely my point regarding the rat race - what is one trying to catch up to? Is there economic or social anxiety at 350k/yr which evaporates at 400k/yr?

akhilcacharya 7y ago
Absolutely. Purchasing real estate (or even a Tesla, etc) is out of reach for people like me, and likely will be for 10+ years from now. Say someone makes 150% or more of what I make (ergo are valued 150% superior in a fair labor market) and they can save far more and build a their net worth significantly faster even with a more luxurious lifestyle.
- goatinaboat 7y ago
  Say someone makes 150% or more of what I make (ergo are valued 150% superior in a fair labor market) and they can save far more and build a their net worth significantly faster even with a more luxurious lifestyle That person thinks the same way about someone who earns 150% more than them... this cycle never stops
  - arethuza 7y ago
    If anything it seems to get worse the further up the pyramid you are....
    - 6510 7y ago
      I probably make < 10%, I'm just fine here. My mind is my own. >Nobody cares if you can make pasta from scratch and it’s not going to make any money I don't live up to other peoples expectations, their expectations are irrelevant to me. I have my own expectations. I did learn to make the macaroni and perfect it. Since perfection is personal preference it's better than the fancy restaurant. The horse is behind the cart. We make the money to buy the macaroni. I go straight for the macaroni. There is no money in learning to tie your own shoes or make your own bed? ha-ha
- astuyvenberg 7y ago
  But the person earning 150% more than _them_ isn't purchasing a Tesla. It's a Lamborghini or a Bugatti. It's not a 3br home in SF - it's a summer home in Napa, or a chalet in Tahoe. The person earning 150% more than _them_ is coveting the latest Bell Jetranger, or Gulfstream G700. The obsession for more is the same at all levels.
  - huffmsa 7y ago
    Ooo I hadn't seen that they'd announced the 700. Been holding off on the 650 waiting for a refresh.
  - akhilcacharya 7y ago
    Strictly in my case, even 4 or 5 levels of these jumps is still FAANG total compensation, so no Lamborghinis or Summer homes. Ultimately the super-rich that can afford those things are still orders of magnitude richer than people that just save/conservatively invest.
    - theFeller00 7y ago
      A huracan seems like an achievable car after a number of years at a job like that. A Bugatti does not.
    - bsanr2 7y ago
      Depends on where the home is. With admonishments from every corner for my not squirreling away $100/month out of my ~$1800 take-home pay, someone making $250k a year should be able to easily put away the linear equivalent of $10k a year. 5 years of that is a down payment on something decent, somewhere decent. Of course, my bread costs about as much as their bread, so they could probably getaway with a bit more. It's all about making good financial decisions, right?
      - Consultant32452 7y ago
        Just to toss out another example. I make about $150k. I'm a single father. I put the legal maximum into my retirement account every year, which I think is $19k this year. I have 6 months of expenses saved up in my emergency fund. We take a nice vacation every year and have luxuries like season passes to Broadway. Yes, I think it's all about making good financial decisions.
- pjc50 7y ago
  > valued 150% superior in a fair labor market Dropping all this nonsense about the labour market being "fair" will help you deal with the reality of it. Interviews have a huge arbitrary element in them of personal preference, and end up selecting for "looks and sounds like the interviewer" or "went to the right school" far more often than they would like. And remember the era of noncompete agreements?
- saiya-jin 7y ago
  Lol that's not how getting rich actually works. People get quickly used to new income, a bit better phones, clothing, cars, vacations etc. Plus 50% increase doesn't actually translate to 50% net income, taxes % go up in most western world pretty steeply, so the jump is not that big. This isn't valid for 100% of the folks obviously, but say 95% fall into this trap one way or the other. It is paradoxically easiest for folks already burdened with ie mortgage, because usually the motivation to pay it back sooner trumps the need for some extra gadgets and to show off. You know what's funny? Their overall long term happiness and life satisfaction doesn't improve a bit. In fact, in many cases it goes down due to ie extra worries about good investments.
  - kangnkodos 7y ago
    Nah. That's just sour grapes. Saying that more money leads to less long term happiness and life satisfaction. It's not true. It's not hard at at all to find good investments. If you have some money, and are willing to take some risks, your investments will grow. The rich get richer. It's a law of nature.
- saiya-jin 7y ago
  Lol that's not how getting rich actually works. People get quickly used to new income, a bit better phones, clothing, cars, vacations etc. Plus 50% increase doesn't actually translate to 50% net income, taxes % go up in most western world pretty steeply, so the jump is not that big. This isn't valid for 100% of the folks obviously, but say 90% fall into this trap one way or the other. It is paradoxically easiest for folks already burdened with ie mortgage, because usually the motivation to pay it back sooner trumps the need for some extra gadgets and to show off. You know what's funny? Their overall long term happiness and life satisfaction doesn't improve a bit. In fact, in many cases it goes down due to ie extra worries about good investments, plus you earn cash by doing extra work. Myself I increased my net income compared to my first full time IT job more than 20x in last 15 years, and I can tell you happiness comes from different place. Money just help a tiny bit on the path to it, that's all. Some folks, especially those competitive that article talks about, will never be truly happy. Of course is you live in like US with utterly broken healthcare, in some cases money can actually mean saved/improved life, but that's a bit special use case.
  - theFeller00 7y ago
    Unless you're just doing the passive index fund thing, which there is obviously nothing wrong with, I don't think many understand the stress levels that come from trading. Insane highs. Insane lows. Lows you will eat at you for years.
    - saiya-jin 7y ago
      Nothing with trading, I don't have mentality to thrive there. Still doing IT, still +- same job, just started low and gradually moved to much better place. Plus (I would like to think that) I know how to negotiate salary during hiring. Or maybe just luck, can't really say. Not even self-employed, which is great but goes opposite to stability, and some goals I have in life are not financial.
  - AnimalMuppet 7y ago
    I think there's another thing going on. Let's say that I'm getting by, but only just. There's things I'd like to do - take a vacation, or replace the carpet, or trade up to a better car - but I don't bother thinking much about them, because there's no point. Those things I can't do bother me a bit, but I don't dwell on them very much. Now my circumstances improve. Now I can take that vacation, or replace the carpet, or trade up to a better car. But note that I said "or", not "and". I can do one of the things I want, but only one. Now each of those things is realistically possible, and I can seriously consider doing it. But in the end, I can only do one of them. In this way, it's possible to have more money, and therefore more options, and still feel worse about the things you can't do because you don't have enough money.
- turk73 7y ago
  You working for minimum wage or in the Bay Area or what? Teslas are just status symbol cars, nothing more. Move on. As far as property goes, there are other places in the country that aren't so high cost.
- mcguire 7y ago
  Weirdly, I've never made more than about $130k/year, didn't inherit that much, have more real estate than I strictly need, don't particularly want a Tesla (although I've been considering a 5 or 6-year old luxury car lately, as I'm old and fat and tired of crawling in and out of the 2004 Corvette) and I find the "I have to have an initial offer $400k/year or I'll never be able to afford a car or a house" completely inexplicable. Pro tip: I am a negative example; don't do what I did. If you are success and prestige oriented, do not chase hard problems. Go after easy problems that are well compensated. Hard problems run the risk of failure, from which it is difficult to "catch up", and typically aren't all that well paid.

That's precisely my point regarding the rat race - what is one trying to catch up to? Is there economic or social anxiety at 350k/yr which evaporates at 400k/yr?

akhilcacharya 7y ago

Absolutely. Purchasing real estate (or even a Tesla, etc) is out of reach for people like me, and likely will be for 10+ years from now. Say someone makes 150% or more of what I make (ergo are valued 150% superior in a fair labor market) and they can save far more and build a their net worth significantly faster even with a more luxurious lifestyle.

goatinaboat 7y ago
Say someone makes 150% or more of what I make (ergo are valued 150% superior in a fair labor market) and they can save far more and build a their net worth significantly faster even with a more luxurious lifestyle That person thinks the same way about someone who earns 150% more than them... this cycle never stops
- arethuza 7y ago
  If anything it seems to get worse the further up the pyramid you are....
  - 6510 7y ago
    I probably make < 10%, I'm just fine here. My mind is my own. >Nobody cares if you can make pasta from scratch and it’s not going to make any money I don't live up to other peoples expectations, their expectations are irrelevant to me. I have my own expectations. I did learn to make the macaroni and perfect it. Since perfection is personal preference it's better than the fancy restaurant. The horse is behind the cart. We make the money to buy the macaroni. I go straight for the macaroni. There is no money in learning to tie your own shoes or make your own bed? ha-ha
astuyvenberg 7y ago
But the person earning 150% more than _them_ isn't purchasing a Tesla. It's a Lamborghini or a Bugatti. It's not a 3br home in SF - it's a summer home in Napa, or a chalet in Tahoe. The person earning 150% more than _them_ is coveting the latest Bell Jetranger, or Gulfstream G700. The obsession for more is the same at all levels.
- huffmsa 7y ago
  Ooo I hadn't seen that they'd announced the 700. Been holding off on the 650 waiting for a refresh.
- akhilcacharya 7y ago
  Strictly in my case, even 4 or 5 levels of these jumps is still FAANG total compensation, so no Lamborghinis or Summer homes. Ultimately the super-rich that can afford those things are still orders of magnitude richer than people that just save/conservatively invest.
  - theFeller00 7y ago
    A huracan seems like an achievable car after a number of years at a job like that. A Bugatti does not.
  - bsanr2 7y ago
    Depends on where the home is. With admonishments from every corner for my not squirreling away $100/month out of my ~$1800 take-home pay, someone making $250k a year should be able to easily put away the linear equivalent of $10k a year. 5 years of that is a down payment on something decent, somewhere decent. Of course, my bread costs about as much as their bread, so they could probably getaway with a bit more. It's all about making good financial decisions, right?
    - Consultant32452 7y ago
      Just to toss out another example. I make about $150k. I'm a single father. I put the legal maximum into my retirement account every year, which I think is $19k this year. I have 6 months of expenses saved up in my emergency fund. We take a nice vacation every year and have luxuries like season passes to Broadway. Yes, I think it's all about making good financial decisions.
pjc50 7y ago
> valued 150% superior in a fair labor market Dropping all this nonsense about the labour market being "fair" will help you deal with the reality of it. Interviews have a huge arbitrary element in them of personal preference, and end up selecting for "looks and sounds like the interviewer" or "went to the right school" far more often than they would like. And remember the era of noncompete agreements?
saiya-jin 7y ago
Lol that's not how getting rich actually works. People get quickly used to new income, a bit better phones, clothing, cars, vacations etc. Plus 50% increase doesn't actually translate to 50% net income, taxes % go up in most western world pretty steeply, so the jump is not that big. This isn't valid for 100% of the folks obviously, but say 95% fall into this trap one way or the other. It is paradoxically easiest for folks already burdened with ie mortgage, because usually the motivation to pay it back sooner trumps the need for some extra gadgets and to show off. You know what's funny? Their overall long term happiness and life satisfaction doesn't improve a bit. In fact, in many cases it goes down due to ie extra worries about good investments.
- kangnkodos 7y ago
  Nah. That's just sour grapes. Saying that more money leads to less long term happiness and life satisfaction. It's not true. It's not hard at at all to find good investments. If you have some money, and are willing to take some risks, your investments will grow. The rich get richer. It's a law of nature.
saiya-jin 7y ago
Lol that's not how getting rich actually works. People get quickly used to new income, a bit better phones, clothing, cars, vacations etc. Plus 50% increase doesn't actually translate to 50% net income, taxes % go up in most western world pretty steeply, so the jump is not that big. This isn't valid for 100% of the folks obviously, but say 90% fall into this trap one way or the other. It is paradoxically easiest for folks already burdened with ie mortgage, because usually the motivation to pay it back sooner trumps the need for some extra gadgets and to show off. You know what's funny? Their overall long term happiness and life satisfaction doesn't improve a bit. In fact, in many cases it goes down due to ie extra worries about good investments, plus you earn cash by doing extra work. Myself I increased my net income compared to my first full time IT job more than 20x in last 15 years, and I can tell you happiness comes from different place. Money just help a tiny bit on the path to it, that's all. Some folks, especially those competitive that article talks about, will never be truly happy. Of course is you live in like US with utterly broken healthcare, in some cases money can actually mean saved/improved life, but that's a bit special use case.
- theFeller00 7y ago
  Unless you're just doing the passive index fund thing, which there is obviously nothing wrong with, I don't think many understand the stress levels that come from trading. Insane highs. Insane lows. Lows you will eat at you for years.
  - saiya-jin 7y ago
    Nothing with trading, I don't have mentality to thrive there. Still doing IT, still +- same job, just started low and gradually moved to much better place. Plus (I would like to think that) I know how to negotiate salary during hiring. Or maybe just luck, can't really say. Not even self-employed, which is great but goes opposite to stability, and some goals I have in life are not financial.
- AnimalMuppet 7y ago
  I think there's another thing going on. Let's say that I'm getting by, but only just. There's things I'd like to do - take a vacation, or replace the carpet, or trade up to a better car - but I don't bother thinking much about them, because there's no point. Those things I can't do bother me a bit, but I don't dwell on them very much. Now my circumstances improve. Now I can take that vacation, or replace the carpet, or trade up to a better car. But note that I said "or", not "and". I can do one of the things I want, but only one. Now each of those things is realistically possible, and I can seriously consider doing it. But in the end, I can only do one of them. In this way, it's possible to have more money, and therefore more options, and still feel worse about the things you can't do because you don't have enough money.
turk73 7y ago
You working for minimum wage or in the Bay Area or what? Teslas are just status symbol cars, nothing more. Move on. As far as property goes, there are other places in the country that aren't so high cost.
mcguire 7y ago
Weirdly, I've never made more than about $130k/year, didn't inherit that much, have more real estate than I strictly need, don't particularly want a Tesla (although I've been considering a 5 or 6-year old luxury car lately, as I'm old and fat and tired of crawling in and out of the 2004 Corvette) and I find the "I have to have an initial offer $400k/year or I'll never be able to afford a car or a house" completely inexplicable. Pro tip: I am a negative example; don't do what I did. If you are success and prestige oriented, do not chase hard problems. Go after easy problems that are well compensated. Hard problems run the risk of failure, from which it is difficult to "catch up", and typically aren't all that well paid.