6 ms·

The best way to get ahead is to inherit wealth. The next best thing is financial services where you help people with their wealth management. After that you h

by kneel 7y ago

The best way to get ahead is to inherit wealth. The next best thing is financial services where you help people with their wealth management. After that you have to actually start working. Intelligence is key and must be applied to a STEM field or a niche trade/business. If you don't fall into any of the above things are looking grim. Careers that don't result in high yield profit are looked down upon.

ronnier 7y ago
If you are in tech and play your cards right, you can start to pull away and get yourself into a position where you can live off of investments and your net worth. The key is to work hard when you start out, save, invest, and live cheaply.
- unknown_library 7y ago
  ...and work in the Bay Area.
  - halbritt 7y ago
    This helps. The cost of living keeps a lot of people out and there's a lot of competition for the folks that are here. In smaller markets the same supply and demand exists, but there are far fewer options and possibly less willingness on the part of employers to compete for new hires. A tech business in a smaller market might be growth constrained by a lack of talent and that may be fine. Tech employers in the bay area are generally under a lot of pressure to grow.
  - swebs 7y ago
    NYC pays a bit less, but you can live wayyyyyy cheaper. Decent apartments just outside of Manhattan can be found for under $1k per month.
    - maps7 7y ago
      "...and work in the " + USA What is the commute like in NYC?
      - mancerayder 7y ago
        Centralized. Jobs are found either in midtown or downtown, and subway lines feed into both. Your commute will be dependent on how much you spend to be near work, but even a non expensive area (like eastern Bed Stuy or Crown Heights) doesn't have a commute more than 40-45m. You can also be lucky enough to be able to walk to work if you don't mind living in Manhattan, and spending more for a nearby neighborhood.
      - christiansakai 7y ago
        The MTA. It is not perfect but it is good enough. I say this as someone who experienced Singapore and Japan's subway system. My commute time is 30 - 45 mins and I pay $1100 for my room outside of Manhattan.
    - mancerayder 7y ago
      That's pretty deeply incorrect, I'm sorry. I think you mean you can rent a room in an apartment with roommates for 1K a month, which is the going rate unless you're in a luxury area.
      - swebs 7y ago
        https://www.padmapper.com/apartments/new-york-ny/under-1000?property-categories=apartment&box=-74.25556,40.49608,-73.70061,40.91541 https://www.padmapper.com/apartments/new-york-ny/under-1000?...
        mancerayder 7y ago
        Still nope. Several of the Brooklyn listings are scams: top link is a 4 BR for 900 in Bushwick, which speaks for itself. The others are NOT near Manhattan (these NJ spots like Newark, Montclair, even Bayonne are not considered close because of very long commute times). Gravesend is not anywhere near Manhattan. The list goes on, I just addressed page one. Streeteasy has more realistic listings.
  - lozaning 7y ago
    Only for as long as it takes you to build your personal network and resume so that you can demand the same pay elsewhere. Anchor your salary as high as possible as quickly as possible to establish what you're worth and then move. Bay area tech beaucoup bucks in flyover country is a recipe for early retirement.
    - mettamage 7y ago
      > Only for as long as it takes you to build your personal network and resume so that you can demand the same pay elsewhere. Anchor your salary as high as possible as quickly as possible to establish what you're worth and then move. How would I justify a Bay area salary to Dutch companies? Also, visa sponsoring is hard. Triplebyte and the like never considered me.
    - thecolorblue 7y ago
      > Bay area tech beaucoup bucks in flyover country is a recipe for early retirement. Does anyone get paid bay area rates in other areas? I have never heard of this. I work remotely for a bay area company and get paid based on local rates.
      - wasdfff 7y ago
        Seriously. Good luck arguing for 400k total comp in Kansas or wherever when there are local engineers perhaps even senior to you who’ve been happily working for upper 5 figures all their career.
3fe9a03ccd14ca5 7y ago
> The best way to get ahead is to inherit wealth. Sorry to be pedantic, but this is not “getting ahead”. It’s simply being ahead. The act of getting ahead requires work or fortune, because it implies you are behind. The act of cruising while ahead just requires discipline. The more money, the less self denial, the less discipline.
darkerside 7y ago
This is ridiculous. Those are three great ways to build wealth. There are infinite other ways, from starting a small business, to working your way into management, to simply saving and investing in a smart way. Where would you get the confidence to say these are the only three paths, and that's it?
- wasdfff 7y ago
  Sure, you could have a dusty useless ranch that produces nothing until you pound the dirt and black gold floweth, or win the lottery, but these are the most likely options today.
djrogers 7y ago
> The best way to get ahead is to inherit wealth. I think you need to define ‘best’ here. 80% of American millionaires today are first generation wealth, so if by ‘best’ you meant ‘most likely’, you’d be wrong. [1] https://www.investopedia.com/financial-edge/0810/7-millionaire-myths.aspx https://www.investopedia.com/financial-edge/0810/7-millionai...
- imesh 7y ago
  I don't think of most millionaires as being particularly wealthy. Most millionaires are simply people who can retire at 60.
  - devcpp 7y ago
    Funny, because you'd be wrong about billionaires too, 69% of them are first generation https://www.cnbc.com/2014/10/03/two-thirds-of-billionaires-made-it-themselves.html https://www.cnbc.com/2014/10/03/two-thirds-of-billionaires-m... So which is it?
    - viklove 7y ago
      Right, but how many of those billionaires started as millionaires (or were born into a millionaire family)? When you have generational wealth, it's much easier to take risks.
    - Dylan16807 7y ago
      What do you mean 'which is it'? imesh didn't say anything contradictory. But thank you for bringing some more relevant evidence. It's good that inheritance seems to be less than half at all levels. But I'd still say getting it for free is 'best'.
- jayd16 7y ago
  You're looking at this backwards. How many 2nd generation m/billionaires stay that way vs the average person becoming a first gen m/billionaire.
toohotatopic 7y ago
>The best way to get ahead is to inherit wealth. That's what has been true until how. But is it still true for the future? Interest rates are low, money is cheap. The rare resources are connections and cleverness. If you inherit wealth, it's likely that you also got some connections. But life in that rich bubble, does it prepare the heir for the future where change is happening faster than ever before? >It Is Difficult to Get a Man to Understand Something When His Salary Depends Upon His Not Understanding It It's difficult to take advantage of change when your wealth depends on maintaining the status quo.
- Ancalagon 7y ago
  Completely secure investments have low interest rates, sure. But, imo, this argument falls apart if you look at investing into any form of real estate and any semi-desirable area.
astura 7y ago
>The best way to get ahead is to inherit wealth. Not true in practice. 70% of wealthy families lose their wealth by the second generation and 90% by the third. https://www.marketwatch.com/story/heres-why-90-of-rich-people-squander-their-fortunes-2017-04-23 https://www.marketwatch.com/story/heres-why-90-of-rich-peopl...

by kneel 7y ago

ronnier 7y ago

If you are in tech and play your cards right, you can start to pull away and get yourself into a position where you can live off of investments and your net worth. The key is to work hard when you start out, save, invest, and live cheaply.

unknown_library 7y ago
...and work in the Bay Area.
- halbritt 7y ago
  This helps. The cost of living keeps a lot of people out and there's a lot of competition for the folks that are here. In smaller markets the same supply and demand exists, but there are far fewer options and possibly less willingness on the part of employers to compete for new hires. A tech business in a smaller market might be growth constrained by a lack of talent and that may be fine. Tech employers in the bay area are generally under a lot of pressure to grow.
- swebs 7y ago
  NYC pays a bit less, but you can live wayyyyyy cheaper. Decent apartments just outside of Manhattan can be found for under $1k per month.
  - maps7 7y ago
    "...and work in the " + USA What is the commute like in NYC?
    - mancerayder 7y ago
      Centralized. Jobs are found either in midtown or downtown, and subway lines feed into both. Your commute will be dependent on how much you spend to be near work, but even a non expensive area (like eastern Bed Stuy or Crown Heights) doesn't have a commute more than 40-45m. You can also be lucky enough to be able to walk to work if you don't mind living in Manhattan, and spending more for a nearby neighborhood.
    - christiansakai 7y ago
      The MTA. It is not perfect but it is good enough. I say this as someone who experienced Singapore and Japan's subway system. My commute time is 30 - 45 mins and I pay $1100 for my room outside of Manhattan.
  - mancerayder 7y ago
    That's pretty deeply incorrect, I'm sorry. I think you mean you can rent a room in an apartment with roommates for 1K a month, which is the going rate unless you're in a luxury area.
    - swebs 7y ago
      https://www.padmapper.com/apartments/new-york-ny/under-1000?property-categories=apartment&box=-74.25556,40.49608,-73.70061,40.91541 https://www.padmapper.com/apartments/new-york-ny/under-1000?...
      - mancerayder 7y ago
        Still nope. Several of the Brooklyn listings are scams: top link is a 4 BR for 900 in Bushwick, which speaks for itself. The others are NOT near Manhattan (these NJ spots like Newark, Montclair, even Bayonne are not considered close because of very long commute times). Gravesend is not anywhere near Manhattan. The list goes on, I just addressed page one. Streeteasy has more realistic listings.
- lozaning 7y ago
  Only for as long as it takes you to build your personal network and resume so that you can demand the same pay elsewhere. Anchor your salary as high as possible as quickly as possible to establish what you're worth and then move. Bay area tech beaucoup bucks in flyover country is a recipe for early retirement.
  - mettamage 7y ago
    > Only for as long as it takes you to build your personal network and resume so that you can demand the same pay elsewhere. Anchor your salary as high as possible as quickly as possible to establish what you're worth and then move. How would I justify a Bay area salary to Dutch companies? Also, visa sponsoring is hard. Triplebyte and the like never considered me.
  - thecolorblue 7y ago
    > Bay area tech beaucoup bucks in flyover country is a recipe for early retirement. Does anyone get paid bay area rates in other areas? I have never heard of this. I work remotely for a bay area company and get paid based on local rates.
    - wasdfff 7y ago
      Seriously. Good luck arguing for 400k total comp in Kansas or wherever when there are local engineers perhaps even senior to you who’ve been happily working for upper 5 figures all their career.

3fe9a03ccd14ca5 7y ago

> The best way to get ahead is to inherit wealth. Sorry to be pedantic, but this is not “getting ahead”. It’s simply being ahead. The act of getting ahead requires work or fortune, because it implies you are behind. The act of cruising while ahead just requires discipline. The more money, the less self denial, the less discipline.

darkerside 7y ago

This is ridiculous. Those are three great ways to build wealth. There are infinite other ways, from starting a small business, to working your way into management, to simply saving and investing in a smart way. Where would you get the confidence to say these are the only three paths, and that's it?

wasdfff 7y ago
Sure, you could have a dusty useless ranch that produces nothing until you pound the dirt and black gold floweth, or win the lottery, but these are the most likely options today.

djrogers 7y ago

> The best way to get ahead is to inherit wealth. I think you need to define ‘best’ here. 80% of American millionaires today are first generation wealth, so if by ‘best’ you meant ‘most likely’, you’d be wrong. [1] https://www.investopedia.com/financial-edge/0810/7-millionaire-myths.aspx https://www.investopedia.com/financial-edge/0810/7-millionai...

imesh 7y ago
I don't think of most millionaires as being particularly wealthy. Most millionaires are simply people who can retire at 60.
- devcpp 7y ago
  Funny, because you'd be wrong about billionaires too, 69% of them are first generation https://www.cnbc.com/2014/10/03/two-thirds-of-billionaires-made-it-themselves.html https://www.cnbc.com/2014/10/03/two-thirds-of-billionaires-m... So which is it?
  - viklove 7y ago
    Right, but how many of those billionaires started as millionaires (or were born into a millionaire family)? When you have generational wealth, it's much easier to take risks.
  - Dylan16807 7y ago
    What do you mean 'which is it'? imesh didn't say anything contradictory. But thank you for bringing some more relevant evidence. It's good that inheritance seems to be less than half at all levels. But I'd still say getting it for free is 'best'.
jayd16 7y ago
You're looking at this backwards. How many 2nd generation m/billionaires stay that way vs the average person becoming a first gen m/billionaire.

toohotatopic 7y ago

>The best way to get ahead is to inherit wealth. That's what has been true until how. But is it still true for the future? Interest rates are low, money is cheap. The rare resources are connections and cleverness. If you inherit wealth, it's likely that you also got some connections. But life in that rich bubble, does it prepare the heir for the future where change is happening faster than ever before? >It Is Difficult to Get a Man to Understand Something When His Salary Depends Upon His Not Understanding It It's difficult to take advantage of change when your wealth depends on maintaining the status quo.

Ancalagon 7y ago
Completely secure investments have low interest rates, sure. But, imo, this argument falls apart if you look at investing into any form of real estate and any semi-desirable area.

astura 7y ago

>The best way to get ahead is to inherit wealth. Not true in practice. 70% of wealthy families lose their wealth by the second generation and 90% by the third. https://www.marketwatch.com/story/heres-why-90-of-rich-people-squander-their-fortunes-2017-04-23 https://www.marketwatch.com/story/heres-why-90-of-rich-peopl...