Working for a traditional tech firm, I went to lunch or happy hour every week with my more adventurous former peers who had moved to dotcomland. Since I could n

Working for a traditional tech firm, I went to lunch or happy hour every week with my more adventurous former peers who had moved to dotcomland. Since I could never “get it” (whatever it was they were doing, or how it was ever going to make money), I just took the salary increases old tech made to stay competitive. Post dotcom bust, moved to CA and got a rent controlled apt and stayed with old tech. Researched how to short the housing market but never managed to find Michael Burrey. 401k / investments were highly defensive by 2007, took a 10% hit. People need to look for something beyond changing the world through their jerbs and start living well below what their lifestyle can afford. Perhaps it’s having Depression-era relatives, or going to school with boom-and-bust oil kids who got a corvette from daddy and then had to drop out of SMU when daddy went bankrupt. The cycles are like spring and fall. Whether you or Wall Street see it or not, it will always come. Always. Squirrel away those acorns and good luck.