5 ms·

This is a nice article, but two observations: - He made a great home investment, apparently bought cheap and later was able to rent it for a lot of money. This

by eliben 15y ago

This is a nice article, but two observations: - He made a great home investment, apparently bought cheap and later was able to rent it for a lot of money. This is good for him, but somewhat lucky (or, alternative, a spark of insight into real-estate) - He made nice returns on stocks Both are fine, but not a part of "corporate programmer salary"

div 15y ago
My thoughts exactly. He used the rent from 1 house to cover the mortgages on both his rental and his own house. A typical mortgage around here is about 1/3rd of your income. So being able to basically have other people pay 2 mortgages for you is _huge_. He also mentions he bough a bunch of Cisco stock for 7$ which he later got to sell for 30$. That's more than a 300% return, so depending on how much he invested, that can easily amount to a hefty chunk of cash as well.
stevenwei 15y ago
Not to mention his wife's salary. But the HN posting title seems to have been adjusted from the original title (which doesn't mention corporate programmer salary).
- lusr 15y ago
  I'm surprised how little attention that part of the story receives, but maybe I'm in the minority as a late-20s bachelor? Earnings received by a partner and shared expenses makes a dramatic difference to wealth accumulation. Where I live, if I earn double what two people in a relationship each individually earn, the couple make an extra 12% after-tax vs. what I do because they are taxed at a lower rate on their lower individual incomes. Furthermore, while two people eat and poop twice as much as one person, the greatest expenses (living) can often be shared.
byoung2 15y ago
Exactly...a bit misleading. It's more about making smart investments and having a lot of luck with the timing. Like my parents, who had successful careers (dad was a dentist, mom was in real estate), but in the end selling the house they bought in 1975 for $87,500 (and paid off) for $950,000 in 2004 was what put them in the best shape for retirement.
brown9-2 15y ago
and in retirement he has a part-time job that earns 50k/year.
usedtolurk 15y ago
True, but his investment capital came from his IT salary (at least initially). I thought this article counter-balances some of the many startup success stories we read about here. All great success seems to involve exceptional circumstances, hard work and good luck. I guess the point is that startups aren't the ONLY way for programmers to get lucky.

by eliben 15y ago

div 15y ago

My thoughts exactly. He used the rent from 1 house to cover the mortgages on both his rental and his own house. A typical mortgage around here is about 1/3rd of your income. So being able to basically have other people pay 2 mortgages for you is _huge_. He also mentions he bough a bunch of Cisco stock for 7$ which he later got to sell for 30$. That's more than a 300% return, so depending on how much he invested, that can easily amount to a hefty chunk of cash as well.

stevenwei 15y ago

Not to mention his wife's salary. But the HN posting title seems to have been adjusted from the original title (which doesn't mention corporate programmer salary).

lusr 15y ago
I'm surprised how little attention that part of the story receives, but maybe I'm in the minority as a late-20s bachelor? Earnings received by a partner and shared expenses makes a dramatic difference to wealth accumulation. Where I live, if I earn double what two people in a relationship each individually earn, the couple make an extra 12% after-tax vs. what I do because they are taxed at a lower rate on their lower individual incomes. Furthermore, while two people eat and poop twice as much as one person, the greatest expenses (living) can often be shared.

byoung2 15y ago

Exactly...a bit misleading. It's more about making smart investments and having a lot of luck with the timing. Like my parents, who had successful careers (dad was a dentist, mom was in real estate), but in the end selling the house they bought in 1975 for $87,500 (and paid off) for $950,000 in 2004 was what put them in the best shape for retirement.

brown9-2 15y ago

and in retirement he has a part-time job that earns 50k/year.

usedtolurk 15y ago

True, but his investment capital came from his IT salary (at least initially). I thought this article counter-balances some of the many startup success stories we read about here. All great success seems to involve exceptional circumstances, hard work and good luck. I guess the point is that startups aren't the ONLY way for programmers to get lucky.