5 ms·

Being a worker in the tech industry during 2022, I can relate and agree that not having a constant source of income or even the fear of losing one's job can pro

by 1-6 4y ago

Being a worker in the tech industry during 2022, I can relate and agree that not having a constant source of income or even the fear of losing one's job can probably lead to poor health outcomes.

itake 4y ago
I admit this isn't for everyone, but having multiple sources of income really helps smooth over bumps. Especially if that income is 1099, where there is no withholding (and you have slightly more control over when the taxes are paid).
- hinkley 4y ago
  I’m at a point in my life where I’d like to be semi retired. I’ve got hobbies with social implications and I’d love to be spending 15+ hours a week on them instead of 5+. But my retirement is not quite big enough and I will need boosters to fight inflation. Also my family does not do well with retirement. If someone would pay 70 year old me for 20 hours a week I’ll probably do it.
  - e40 4y ago
    > Also my family does not do well with retirement. Curious what that means.
    - hinkley 4y ago
      It means when old men in my family retire they tend to get themselves into trouble not having enough to do. My grandfather developed insomnia and started to have health problems from sitting in front of the TV all day. He ended up digging himself out of a depression cycle by building a garage and adding an enclosed porch onto the house. After that he started working part time at a hardware store in walking distance as the resident home improvement sage. People missed him on his day off, and it easily added 5 years onto his life.
  - itake 4y ago
    > pay 70 year old me for 20 hours a week There are many "startups" that have only have enough revenue to cover 20 hours per week of labor [0]. Basically, you keep the lights on and ship 0-3 features per month. The pay can be as high as $130+/hr usd ($10k/mo). You'd be on your own for health insurance, but I probably would do this for my retirement. [0] - Like a 5 year old SaaS app that never grew beyond $20k/mo revenue and the owner doesn't want to work on it any more.
hinkley 4y ago
When I was young and in debt my partner and I did austerity for a while but it was difficult and sucked all the fun out of life. We agreed to two things to alleviate that, one of which was particularly relevant here. Both were patterned on a notion of honoring any increase in cash flow by spending only part of it. We agreed that half of each raise would go to savings. We still got a little more spending money from each bonus or raise, but our effective savings rate went up each year, which helped immeasurably, both with our nest egg and in reining in our standard of living. The reason we got in debt in the first place was overspending any new income. Our debt was mostly proportional to our income (or at least until we started planning a wedding, then it was Intervention Time). It wasn’t just the money as we found out. Once we had a nest egg we no longer felt trapped in our jobs. That’s it a powerful force for good in your life and I recommend it for anyone. The reason contractors charge twice as much as hourly employees is sane. You have higher taxes, you have an expectation of dry spells so you need to annualize your income, you are putting away a nest egg for unexpected dry spells (and ethical conundrums). You’re also doubling down on a narrow discipline and you should rake it in while you can because it is probably not sustainable. I’ve alternated between FTE and subcontracting for most of my career. Paradoxically I’ve had more learning opportunities while contracting than working salary, but you need a break sometimes.

by 1-6 4y ago

Being a worker in the tech industry during 2022, I can relate and agree that not having a constant source of income or even the fear of losing one's job can probably lead to poor health outcomes.

itake 4y ago

I admit this isn't for everyone, but having multiple sources of income really helps smooth over bumps. Especially if that income is 1099, where there is no withholding (and you have slightly more control over when the taxes are paid).

hinkley 4y ago
I’m at a point in my life where I’d like to be semi retired. I’ve got hobbies with social implications and I’d love to be spending 15+ hours a week on them instead of 5+. But my retirement is not quite big enough and I will need boosters to fight inflation. Also my family does not do well with retirement. If someone would pay 70 year old me for 20 hours a week I’ll probably do it.
- e40 4y ago
  > Also my family does not do well with retirement. Curious what that means.
  - hinkley 4y ago
    It means when old men in my family retire they tend to get themselves into trouble not having enough to do. My grandfather developed insomnia and started to have health problems from sitting in front of the TV all day. He ended up digging himself out of a depression cycle by building a garage and adding an enclosed porch onto the house. After that he started working part time at a hardware store in walking distance as the resident home improvement sage. People missed him on his day off, and it easily added 5 years onto his life.
- itake 4y ago
  > pay 70 year old me for 20 hours a week There are many "startups" that have only have enough revenue to cover 20 hours per week of labor [0]. Basically, you keep the lights on and ship 0-3 features per month. The pay can be as high as $130+/hr usd ($10k/mo). You'd be on your own for health insurance, but I probably would do this for my retirement. [0] - Like a 5 year old SaaS app that never grew beyond $20k/mo revenue and the owner doesn't want to work on it any more.

hinkley 4y ago

When I was young and in debt my partner and I did austerity for a while but it was difficult and sucked all the fun out of life. We agreed to two things to alleviate that, one of which was particularly relevant here. Both were patterned on a notion of honoring any increase in cash flow by spending only part of it. We agreed that half of each raise would go to savings. We still got a little more spending money from each bonus or raise, but our effective savings rate went up each year, which helped immeasurably, both with our nest egg and in reining in our standard of living. The reason we got in debt in the first place was overspending any new income. Our debt was mostly proportional to our income (or at least until we started planning a wedding, then it was Intervention Time). It wasn’t just the money as we found out. Once we had a nest egg we no longer felt trapped in our jobs. That’s it a powerful force for good in your life and I recommend it for anyone. The reason contractors charge twice as much as hourly employees is sane. You have higher taxes, you have an expectation of dry spells so you need to annualize your income, you are putting away a nest egg for unexpected dry spells (and ethical conundrums). You’re also doubling down on a narrow discipline and you should rake it in while you can because it is probably not sustainable. I’ve alternated between FTE and subcontracting for most of my career. Paradoxically I’ve had more learning opportunities while contracting than working salary, but you need a break sometimes.