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Unorthodox suggestion: build up lots of capital ASAP, so that you don’t struggle later commuting to terms with loss of vision as well as potential loss of reven

Unorthodox suggestion: build up lots of capital ASAP, so that you don’t struggle later commuting to terms with loss of vision as well as potential loss of revenue. Some approaches to consider: Algo trading , creating and selling off products, creating stuff for startups for a stake in the profits. Right now, you may want to consider all options rather than regretting not doing so later. I have seen two blind persons in my work life: one is a guru with emacs and gnome programming and today runs his own Python training and also sells an accounting package ( called GNU Khata). He was born blind. Another is an architect and advisor at a consulting company. He lost his vision to an accident. He was fortunate to have already built up capital, and used that as a buffer to take a year off to learn how to cope and to continue. Until I’d met them both, I’d thought that suicide might be the only feasible approach were I to go blind. I am now completely positive about living even after blindness, but I do understand the benefits of having a capital base and being financially independent. All the best.

dan-robertson 7y ago
I’m not sure I agree with this advice though I have no experience with being blind. Possibly creating/selling products/running a service would be a good way to have an income stream which is reasonably sustainable but I would worry about any graphical front end to any software product, and my general worry would be about loss of income because my expectation would be that finding a job while blind would be hard. I would expect working for a large tech company would have two advantages: 1. This would likely be the most reliable easiest way to actually build up a decent amount of capital; and 2. I would expect a larger company would be more accommodating of your going blind because they would be much better able to cope with a loss of productivity and adjustment period and they may be more nervous of the legal risks of not supporting you. If you run your own business or work for a company with little spare money, it will be much harder to have a loss of productivity or adjustment period.
- solarengineer 7y ago
  Building up a financial foundation as an employee can take years. The OP may not have that much time. I therefore suggested algo trading ( their programming skills come to use ), and creating and selling off products ( where they build things and sell them off, instead of building a SaaS business and getting caught up in all the business building).
sky_rw 7y ago
It's silly that this comment is being downvoted. Building up capital is good advice for anybody, if only because you may have a surprise medical condition (or, you know, global pandemic) impact your career and cashflow. In this case OP is 'fortunate' enough to have early warning. IDK if algo trading etc is the right path, but a solid savings account and investment portfolio never hurt anybody.

dan-robertson 7y ago

I’m not sure I agree with this advice though I have no experience with being blind. Possibly creating/selling products/running a service would be a good way to have an income stream which is reasonably sustainable but I would worry about any graphical front end to any software product, and my general worry would be about loss of income because my expectation would be that finding a job while blind would be hard. I would expect working for a large tech company would have two advantages: 1. This would likely be the most reliable easiest way to actually build up a decent amount of capital; and 2. I would expect a larger company would be more accommodating of your going blind because they would be much better able to cope with a loss of productivity and adjustment period and they may be more nervous of the legal risks of not supporting you. If you run your own business or work for a company with little spare money, it will be much harder to have a loss of productivity or adjustment period.

solarengineer 7y ago
Building up a financial foundation as an employee can take years. The OP may not have that much time. I therefore suggested algo trading ( their programming skills come to use ), and creating and selling off products ( where they build things and sell them off, instead of building a SaaS business and getting caught up in all the business building).

sky_rw 7y ago

It's silly that this comment is being downvoted. Building up capital is good advice for anybody, if only because you may have a surprise medical condition (or, you know, global pandemic) impact your career and cashflow. In this case OP is 'fortunate' enough to have early warning. IDK if algo trading etc is the right path, but a solid savings account and investment portfolio never hurt anybody.