5 ms·

The reason why I think these articles score poorly is because I think my reaction is like most reactions (not all, but most). I read the article, saw the salary

The reason why I think these articles score poorly is because I think my reaction is like most reactions (not all, but most). I read the article, saw the salary table, did an eyeroll, and then skimmed the rest. The article can be summed up as "get a high paying job in a career that requires technical skills, save more than you spend, and invest what you save". Did I miss anything in that summarization?

mirker 5y ago
The part where their salary wasn’t very good in the salary table; you have to play the market, which is currently favorable toward software engineering. I’m not sure what people are expecting. Eating rice and beans on $100k is still less than $100k savings.
Aeolun 5y ago
> Did I miss anything in that summarization? Have no children? Not only because they eat money, but your priorities will do a complete 180.
- rexreed 5y ago
  And also, the article says "don't buy a house". I put both of these into the principle of save more than you spend. Some of us consider those necessities in life, however, and we're willing to make the necessary tradeoffs.
  - ac29 5y ago
    The article doesn't say "don't buy a house", it says there are pros and cons to home ownership, which is true. Buying and selling homes is extremely expensive - it doesnt make sense for someone who wants to have the ability to move with little friction. Its also putting a lot of one's financial resources into a single asset. A housing market downturn could be financially ruinous, a series of expensive repairs could easily cost far more than an entire year's of rent. Property tax, maintenance, and potential HOA fees mean that even after paying off your mortgage, you're never actually free of ongoing housing expenses. However, if you have kids or other ties to an area, owning housing can help make your expenses both lower and more predictable than renting. Over long enough periods of time, the housing market also tends to go up, which means it can be a good investment.
    - deleted 5y ago
      [deleted]
- astura 5y ago
  They also advocate living with roommates. It's usually not feasible (or desirable) to live with roommates if you have children.
- fundad 5y ago
  Eat money and poop work
  - bobwaycott 5y ago
    Thanks for the laugh. Thanks for the second laugh when I thought, “What a fun dad joke” and saw your username. :)
    - fundad 5y ago
      You are pure love! It’s a joke I heard about keeping horses
andreilys 5y ago
There's some other tactical advice which is self-evident if you spend any time working in tech but for outsiders it might not be clear. For example he talks about interviewing every 3 years, and keeping your interview skills sharp. Specifically he says Practicing your interview skills is the best financial investment you can make This IMO is the best way to grow your compensation, the way companies structure their compensation is often at odds with inflation and market conditions. If you're not regularly checking your market value via interviews, you will become underpaid. Again I didn't learn anything I didn't know already, but I think this does a good job of giving tactical advice to someone unfamiliar with the concept of a achieving financial independence via high tech.
- kamaal 5y ago
  This strategy too has some limits, its not like you can keep interviewing forever. Most companies will flag you eventually if all you've done in your career is write a 100 line bash script and leave every six months, in fact if they are a serious shop they'll likely not want to touch you with a 10 foot pole. The next problem of course is ageism, you are likely to enter that issue as soon as you are in your late 30s. Of course starting a family in your late 30s, or buying a home, getting fit just keep harder and harder with age. And being known and being used to being a drifter wont help much as you get older. Let's be honest this kind of a lifestyle demands making some lifestyle priority choices and getting very lucky early life, but even that has a cost as you age and its not exactly good.
  - andreilys 5y ago
    The goal is to have enough money to retire before you hit your late 30s ;)
leetcrew 5y ago
I mean yeah, step one is almost always "make more money than most people on earth", which is obviously not an attainable goal for most people. if you're already on the right track, it's not terribly interesting to read. but being a disciplined saver and making reasonable investment choices is surprisingly uncommon even among people who do actually have the prerequisite income. something about it just doesn't click in the minds of some people. I have a buddy that's been poor (like, rice and beans and still missing rent) his whole life. yet somehow whenever he receives some sort of windfall, he spends thousands of dollars faster than I do on a >$150k salary. he finally got a good job making ~$80k and his first thought was "I'm gonna get a nice 3BR apartment". he lives by himself with no children or pets! maybe if enough articles like this popped up in his feed, he would understand the issue with his approach.

mirker 5y ago

The part where their salary wasn’t very good in the salary table; you have to play the market, which is currently favorable toward software engineering. I’m not sure what people are expecting. Eating rice and beans on $100k is still less than $100k savings.

Aeolun 5y ago

> Did I miss anything in that summarization? Have no children? Not only because they eat money, but your priorities will do a complete 180.

rexreed 5y ago
And also, the article says "don't buy a house". I put both of these into the principle of save more than you spend. Some of us consider those necessities in life, however, and we're willing to make the necessary tradeoffs.
- ac29 5y ago
  The article doesn't say "don't buy a house", it says there are pros and cons to home ownership, which is true. Buying and selling homes is extremely expensive - it doesnt make sense for someone who wants to have the ability to move with little friction. Its also putting a lot of one's financial resources into a single asset. A housing market downturn could be financially ruinous, a series of expensive repairs could easily cost far more than an entire year's of rent. Property tax, maintenance, and potential HOA fees mean that even after paying off your mortgage, you're never actually free of ongoing housing expenses. However, if you have kids or other ties to an area, owning housing can help make your expenses both lower and more predictable than renting. Over long enough periods of time, the housing market also tends to go up, which means it can be a good investment.
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
astura 5y ago
They also advocate living with roommates. It's usually not feasible (or desirable) to live with roommates if you have children.
fundad 5y ago
Eat money and poop work
- bobwaycott 5y ago
  Thanks for the laugh. Thanks for the second laugh when I thought, “What a fun dad joke” and saw your username. :)
  - fundad 5y ago
    You are pure love! It’s a joke I heard about keeping horses

andreilys 5y ago

There's some other tactical advice which is self-evident if you spend any time working in tech but for outsiders it might not be clear. For example he talks about interviewing every 3 years, and keeping your interview skills sharp. Specifically he says Practicing your interview skills is the best financial investment you can make This IMO is the best way to grow your compensation, the way companies structure their compensation is often at odds with inflation and market conditions. If you're not regularly checking your market value via interviews, you will become underpaid. Again I didn't learn anything I didn't know already, but I think this does a good job of giving tactical advice to someone unfamiliar with the concept of a achieving financial independence via high tech.

kamaal 5y ago
This strategy too has some limits, its not like you can keep interviewing forever. Most companies will flag you eventually if all you've done in your career is write a 100 line bash script and leave every six months, in fact if they are a serious shop they'll likely not want to touch you with a 10 foot pole. The next problem of course is ageism, you are likely to enter that issue as soon as you are in your late 30s. Of course starting a family in your late 30s, or buying a home, getting fit just keep harder and harder with age. And being known and being used to being a drifter wont help much as you get older. Let's be honest this kind of a lifestyle demands making some lifestyle priority choices and getting very lucky early life, but even that has a cost as you age and its not exactly good.
- andreilys 5y ago
  The goal is to have enough money to retire before you hit your late 30s ;)

leetcrew 5y ago

I mean yeah, step one is almost always "make more money than most people on earth", which is obviously not an attainable goal for most people. if you're already on the right track, it's not terribly interesting to read. but being a disciplined saver and making reasonable investment choices is surprisingly uncommon even among people who do actually have the prerequisite income. something about it just doesn't click in the minds of some people. I have a buddy that's been poor (like, rice and beans and still missing rent) his whole life. yet somehow whenever he receives some sort of windfall, he spends thousands of dollars faster than I do on a >$150k salary. he finally got a good job making ~$80k and his first thought was "I'm gonna get a nice 3BR apartment". he lives by himself with no children or pets! maybe if enough articles like this popped up in his feed, he would understand the issue with his approach.