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What you can do when you get rich
- docdeek 4y agoI’m not rich but I enjoy exotic fruit and have life insurance so I am surely on my way.
- jleyank 4y agoLaugh. Be an asshole without consequences. But you better put enough cash away to keep you rich cuz payback’s a b*tch. And cash flows away faster than you can imagine.
- jimhi 4y agoYou can laugh with no money.
- aqme28 4y agoHaving a lawyer on retainer is a really nice Fuck You luxury, I’ve been told.
- artistminute 4y agoOkay great, how do I get all this without selling a company? Lol cool list tho!
- pexabit 4y agoreddit.com/r/fatFIRE is a subreddit for rich people talking about rich people things and a surprisingly interesting resource.
- cesaref 4y agoWhat a depressing self centred list. I was hoping for philanthropic stuff - how to find above board charitable trusts to fund.
- huhtenberg 4y agoWith very rare exceptions that'd be a level or two up on the Maslow's pyramid from where this list is.
- jonstewart 4y agoAt elite levels, yes, sure, and then it’s still about ego. It doesn’t take that much wealth to buy some time, to network, and then focus one’s attention on local charity. Often the way to build resilience and have impact in a community is to demonstrate local leadership, so that everyone chips in. That is the sort of thing one can afford easily when one’s a millionaire (though it’s not necessary to be rich to do it).
- blaze33 4y agoIndeed, big house, fast car and lobbying to make even more money... I'd like to point out it's titled "what to do?" while it was actually an answer to "what to buy?" so the problem is more about the implied confusion between buying, doing and being. So, buy a big house if you want but maybe also some free time to work on yourself so that you have a better grasp of who you really are because if your whole life revolves around making and spending money it sure as hell can be depressing.
- theshrike79 4y ago> Full time Personal driver This is the one I don't understand why more actually rich people don't do. It doesn't cost THAT much to have someone available 24/7 who is trained in defensive driving. Zero issues with you crashing, driving drunk etc.
- layer8 4y agoPersonally I agree, but many people like driving.
- ur-whale 4y ago> why more actually rich people don't do You end having to manage personnel. Headache. Also: you now have a new family member in the sense that he knows everything about you. Also headache.
- jjav 4y ago> > Full time Personal driver > This is the one I don't understand why more actually rich people don't do. Why would you buy a Ferrari or other exotic and then hand off the keys to some stranger? Most people rich enough to do that want to then enjoy it.
- theshrike79 4y agoEnjoy it on a track, but not drunk on a crowded street.
- jjav 4y ago> Enjoy it on a track, but not drunk on a crowded street. Why jump from one extreme scenario to another? It is perfectly legit to buy an exotic car and drive it regularly on the street, not drunk.
- jack_pp 4y ago> Book out grocery stores Lol. Maybe have someone do your shopping for you instead?
- jimhi 4y agoThat one is about privacy. I heard that one from a friend who plans trips for Saudi princes when they fly into NYC.
- layer8 4y agoYou have to do it yourself if you want things get done right. ;)
- dom96 4y agoHonestly just the stuff on this list makes it seem like being rich isn't that appealing. A lot of the things there are pretty small quality of life improvements over what ordinary people can already access.
- omgsean 4y agoPlus with hedonic adaptation most people won't even feel happier or less stressed after they get used to the lifestyle (unless they're coming from levels of poverty that leave you with a high baseline level of stress at all times)
- ur-whale 4y ago> the stuff on this list makes it seem like being rich isn't that appealing. You're assuming you'd have the same lame-o pursuits as this list if you did strike it rich. You probably would not.
- nightski 4y agoI've been working to retire early and have financial security/peace of mind. All of this fluff just doesn't interest me that much.
- cactusplant7374 4y agoA lot of these list items are an agreement to be alone. Sure, you can buy a few houses in unique cities. But you probably don't have enough social engagement in those cities to spend significant time there. You will be sitting alone in your apartment or house and working on your next list.
- boardwaalk 4y agoI think people will bring their baggage with them ‘into their rich life’ as any major life change doesn’t really get you away from yourself. I certainly do okay staying lonely in a single house in a single city.
- cactusplant7374 4y agoLong term isolation always causes problems. I would be really surprised if a study exists showing the opposite.
- davidguetta 4y agoHookers and coke godamm it.. what is this disney channel ?
- ccn0p 4y agoshhhh... first rule of fight club.
- toomuchtodo 4y agoTo Colombia my friend. The future can be today!
- jimhi 4y agoUpdated at the bottom for you
- dfxm12 4y ago"Rich" has a surprisingly poorly agreed upon meaning. I find that most people define it as "more wealthy than I can foresee myself becoming". That said, it is pretty funny that "eat exotic fruits" and "change laws to make myself richer" are both listed along side each other as things reserved for the "rich". Personally, in my neighborhood (median income of $28,368 - far from rich), I can buy rambutan. I can't buy politicians. (Maybe the threshold for "exotic" fruit is also fuzzy)
- layer8 4y agoI can buy exotic fruit, but not at native quality, they don’t have much flavor. There’s probably some rich-people service to fly in full-flavored fruit from wherever.
- pavlov 4y ago> "Personally, in my neighborhood (median income of $28,368 - far from rich), I can buy rambutan. I can't buy politicians." Have you tried? Influence with your local politicians may be much cheaper than you assume. The guy running for city council and projected to win may be broke.
- cactusplant7374 4y agoPoliticians are more likely to help long term donors. I have a friend that received some incredible help with a visa for a family member.
- jack_pp 4y agoThis feels like a list for 9 or 10 figures or for moderately rich famous people. I don't see myself doing even half of those things if I had even 7 figures or low 8 figures.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- laichzeit0 4y agoMy wishlist would include: Learning - Throwing money at experts in a field to tutor you on any subject you're interested in such as languages, mathematics, physics, philosophy, guitar, etc. would probably speed up anything you're trying to learn by an order of magnitude.
- jmkd 4y agoHow about: - help your family and friends out - start businesses for fun or pure experimentation - invest in your hometown (public services and local businesses) - sponsor awards in your old school / college / university - make art etc
- jimhi 4y agoThese are good, I will add.
- ccn0p 4y agoWhere's "Go to Davos and pretend to be God"
- ur-whale 4y agoThis reads like "how to be the perfect asshole" list. Very little in common with what I would do if I made it to 8/9 figures wealth. "On stage with your favorite artist, dj, etc during a show " Why in heavens name would you want to do something like this? Prove to the entire audience of the show how big of a dick you are?
- hbrav 4y agoI've been to EDM acts where there were a few people chilling on the stage with the performer. They didn't really detract much. There's definitely things on this list I find more obnoxious. And also just odd. The personal chef one I don't really get. Does no one else enjoy a kind of meditative pleasure in cooking?
- NineStarPoint 4y agoPersonal Chef, Personal Driver, and Personal Assistant (if I planned to keep working) have to be the trifecta of things I would want if I was rich enough to give a good salary to competent people entirely off my investments. The difference between a 7 and 8 figure exit can’t be understated though, assuming you want to make sure the money never runs dry. A 7 figure exit leaves you set for life, but not rich in the sense of “can do things that a good tech salary doesn’t already let you do”. At 8 figures you enter the territory of being able to sustain lifestyles inaccessible to those without so much money indefinitely.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- jjav 4y ago> A 7 figure exit leaves you set for life, but not rich in the sense of “can do things that a good tech salary doesn’t already let you do”. Perhaps stating the obvious but that's far from true. In terms of buying things and experiences, that is true. But a good tech salary brings with it a complete lack of free time to enjoy any of the things you could afford, having to work >>40hrs a week. A 7 figure exit lets you have mostly the same stuff you could afford on the tech salary, but then you have all the time in the world to actually enjoy it.
- xnx 4y ago> Personal Chef, Personal Driver, and Personal Assistant It's amazing how close we are to this level of luxury being available to the middle class in the form of Doordash, Waymo, and Google Assistant. The rich are richer than they've ever been, but in other ways the gap is closing. The richest billionaires can afford much nicer boats, but their phones aren't any better than ours.
- NineStarPoint 4y agoI would argue the benefit of the personal chef isn’t in being able to obtain made food for money (that is indeed quite accessible) but in being able to have someone that can tailor food to your nutritional desires. Even in large cities, finding a reasonable variety of pre-made food that isn’t awful for your health isn’t easy. Very fair point on everything else though.
- captn3m0 4y ago“when you get rich in the US”. A lot of these are more accessible in lower-income countries (full-time driver for eg), and a few have a much higher bar (citizenship changes, nomad lifestyle - which don’t work with a weaker passport).
- pavlov 4y ago> "Citizenship to EU through Monaco" I believe Cyprus and Malta are the more affordable options for gaining EU citizenship through a national investor program. Supposedly bringing about $2 million into Cyprus will get you the passport.
- jillesvangurp 4y agoI've done some reflecting on this lately. I might actually get lucky with my startup (actually looks like there's a very decent chance) but the reality is that I've not been earning a lot or saving a lot in the last ten years and this thing could go side ways just as easily. The getting lucky part is not the primary reason I'm doing this. If I wanted money and financial safety, I should have kept the nice corporate job I had, got myself a mortage, some pension savings, etc. And corporate jobs are not even that horribly soul crushing. At least they don't have to be. So, no shame in doing that and I'd be all set to retire in 20-30 years. If that's your life and you are happy, good for you. Don't change it. But for me it would be a compromise so that one day, I might retire to enjoy the few years I have left while I'm still healthy enough to enjoy that life. For most people that's 10-15 years on average. Some people stretch it a bit further. Except your life is not defined by how it ends but how you live it generally. And most of the memorable bits tend to be at the beginning way before you retire, not after. So, instead, I'm enjoying life now with a decent chance to level up the level of enjoyment at some point and a risk of losing some of what I have. I work hard but only on stuff I genuinely care about. What matters to me is doing things I like doing now exactly the way I want those things to be done so I can look back on those things with no regrets (other than having missed opportunities to do them even better). I'm not postponing enjoying life until I'm too old, broken, and miserable to enjoy any of that. I don't actually need a lot of expensive stuff in my life. I'm not even sure I'd actually want to change a whole lot if I suddenly got a lot of money. I might do a few decadent and frivolous things and I might even enjoy those things. I'd probably get a nicer place to live in (or several even) and a few other things. But I can't honestly say I really miss or crave these things right now. I'm more interested in securing the life I have than having a better life. Life is a journey, not a destination. You can't take any of the materialistic stuff with you in the end.
- dennis_jeeves1 4y agoAs far as I go, I will fund curing diseases (for my sake not others) and 'curing' old age. (Other stuff is obvious - like securing one's existing finances, though I have no easy solution to this )
- tennisflyi 4y agoEh. Some are. Some aren't. What does this mean? > Write off expenses > Influencer style business so most living expenses are written off
- seba_dos1 4y agoIs this list supposed to be tongue-in-cheek? It's pretty sad if it's not. It does have a bunch of redeeming entries, but all of those were suggested in this very HN thread and added later...
- nunez 4y ago> Virtual mailbox to hide address This costs $9.95/mo with iPostal. I have one. Amazing service.
- jacknews 4y agoObviously donating to orphanages etc is a good choice, but maybe the #1 thing you can do, selfishly, is travel. You don't necessarily need to be rich for that, but it certainly smooths out some problems, and allows you to actually choose between 'short flight' or '10 hour bus trip'. When you're traveling for leisure, often the bus is the better experience as you meet people, see the country, etc, but sometimes really not. Maybe also studying something just because you want to, without any requirement that it'll lead to a job etc.
- jacknews 4y agoI used to co-run a hackerspace, but we were always broke, and most attendees were heads-down co-working (that's how we funded it), and hardly any hackers because very little equipment. If I were rich enough, I'd fund a free one, and just hang out there. Free, in exchange for you have to spend 30 minutes telling everyone else what project you're working on, or some other interesting talk every few weeks.