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> it’s more accessible than most realise > I am only marginally wealthy, high 7/low 8 figures We must have a very different definition of "accessibility"

rwmj 1y ago
Anyone on a programmer's salary should be able to get to low 7 figures in a decade, and better in 2 decades. In fact I'd go further and say that if you're on a six-figure salary you really must do it. We can't be sure our privileged position will continue for too much longer.
- lm28469 1y ago
  lol, lmao even... Most devs aren't even making 100k a year, even in the US the median is at like 120k. Let's say you make 100k a year in Berlin, you're already in the top 1% so "accessibility" is out of the equation at that point, that's 4.8k net. Let's say you manage to invest ~60% of your salary, that's about 3k a month, 36k a year. Now let's say you get 8% return per year (which you won't), you're barely above 500k after 10 years. So yeah sure, if you're in the top 1% to begin with, and live on what basically amounts to your local minimum wage while investing everything else, you can get to 1 million after 15 years or so... Ah, and don't forget the tax man, he'll take his 20-30% cut on your million.
  - rwmj 1y ago
    [flagged]
    - lm28469 1y ago
      > £100k/year Well first off £100 != $100 != €100 Sorry but you're completely delusional if you think literally "anyone on a programmer's salary" can make 1 million in 10 years. I'm not saying it doesn't happen, I'm not saying you didn't do it, I'm just saying it's not "accessible", nor the norm, nor representative of the vast majority of devs. https://www.levels.fyi/heatmap/europe/ https://www.levels.fyi/heatmap/europe/ The median software engineer salary in Europe is under 60k euros, which is £50k. Show me how you make 1m on a 60k euros salary in 10 years, even if you paid 0 income tax and invested every single cent with an average 8% annual return you'd still be under 1m. > Anyway, stay poor, I literally don't care. Looks like you can't buy your way out of arrogance
      - madaxe_again 1y ago
        8% is an awful return in today’s markets. 30% is eminently achievable with foresight and an appetite for risk. I started investing a decade ago with about £100k, as that was all I could afford to risk, and have a return of between 20% and 200% year to year. Shit, you’ll get 15-20% cash-on-cash just running an Airbnb, which is what provides our day-to-day living income.
        lm28469 1y ago
        Cool, do you know about statistics and survivor bias ? If it was that easy why isn't everyone a millionaire ? Why doesn't everyone make 20-200% per year ? If you can guarantee 20-200% of return per year consistently over 10-20 years go to wall street they'll pay you millionS per year to work for them There is a big gap between "I'm in the top 1% earners and lucked out in the market" and "Literally every software engineer can make 1m in 10 years".
        rwmj 1y ago
        People on huge salaries live paycheck to paycheck, spend money on ridiculous cars, and live in huge houses full of junk that they bought stuff on credit. What we're saying is, instead of that, save a large proportion of your salary so you can retire early, and even if you don't choose to do that, be in control of your future.
        madaxe_again 1y ago
        Yes, I understand statistics and survivorship bias - I’m a mathematical physicist by training. I’m also a pretty average schlub. Most people aren’t wealthy because they don’t even try, and instead run on a treadmill until they drop dead. I have no interest in going to work on Wall Street or anything similar. My entire investing philosophy is basically based on this site. There is constant signal here on what will be big in 5-10 years, and all that’s required is that you get in before the press start talking about it, too. A $10k investment in NVDA 10 years ago is worth $2.6M now - and if you were paying attention 10 years ago, when CUDA was fairly new and shiny and rapidly gaining mindshare, you would have noticed that they were inevitably going to own the ML/AI space, and that this shit was going to be huge. This is also why I said $1M, not $100k - because I have managed exceptional returns - but with 10x the starting capital even moderately good returns can grow rapidly. I’ve also bet on some absolute lemons where I’ve lost every last red cent. Either way, it seems that many would sooner be bitter than do something to improve their situation, which is sadly very common, and again, why not everybody is a millionaire.

rwmj 1y ago

Anyone on a programmer's salary should be able to get to low 7 figures in a decade, and better in 2 decades. In fact I'd go further and say that if you're on a six-figure salary you really must do it. We can't be sure our privileged position will continue for too much longer.

lm28469 1y ago
lol, lmao even... Most devs aren't even making 100k a year, even in the US the median is at like 120k. Let's say you make 100k a year in Berlin, you're already in the top 1% so "accessibility" is out of the equation at that point, that's 4.8k net. Let's say you manage to invest ~60% of your salary, that's about 3k a month, 36k a year. Now let's say you get 8% return per year (which you won't), you're barely above 500k after 10 years. So yeah sure, if you're in the top 1% to begin with, and live on what basically amounts to your local minimum wage while investing everything else, you can get to 1 million after 15 years or so... Ah, and don't forget the tax man, he'll take his 20-30% cut on your million.
- rwmj 1y ago
  [flagged]
  - lm28469 1y ago
    > £100k/year Well first off £100 != $100 != €100 Sorry but you're completely delusional if you think literally "anyone on a programmer's salary" can make 1 million in 10 years. I'm not saying it doesn't happen, I'm not saying you didn't do it, I'm just saying it's not "accessible", nor the norm, nor representative of the vast majority of devs. https://www.levels.fyi/heatmap/europe/ https://www.levels.fyi/heatmap/europe/ The median software engineer salary in Europe is under 60k euros, which is £50k. Show me how you make 1m on a 60k euros salary in 10 years, even if you paid 0 income tax and invested every single cent with an average 8% annual return you'd still be under 1m. > Anyway, stay poor, I literally don't care. Looks like you can't buy your way out of arrogance
    - madaxe_again 1y ago
      8% is an awful return in today’s markets. 30% is eminently achievable with foresight and an appetite for risk. I started investing a decade ago with about £100k, as that was all I could afford to risk, and have a return of between 20% and 200% year to year. Shit, you’ll get 15-20% cash-on-cash just running an Airbnb, which is what provides our day-to-day living income.
      - lm28469 1y ago
        Cool, do you know about statistics and survivor bias ? If it was that easy why isn't everyone a millionaire ? Why doesn't everyone make 20-200% per year ? If you can guarantee 20-200% of return per year consistently over 10-20 years go to wall street they'll pay you millionS per year to work for them There is a big gap between "I'm in the top 1% earners and lucked out in the market" and "Literally every software engineer can make 1m in 10 years".
        rwmj 1y ago
        People on huge salaries live paycheck to paycheck, spend money on ridiculous cars, and live in huge houses full of junk that they bought stuff on credit. What we're saying is, instead of that, save a large proportion of your salary so you can retire early, and even if you don't choose to do that, be in control of your future.
        madaxe_again 1y ago
        Yes, I understand statistics and survivorship bias - I’m a mathematical physicist by training. I’m also a pretty average schlub. Most people aren’t wealthy because they don’t even try, and instead run on a treadmill until they drop dead. I have no interest in going to work on Wall Street or anything similar. My entire investing philosophy is basically based on this site. There is constant signal here on what will be big in 5-10 years, and all that’s required is that you get in before the press start talking about it, too. A $10k investment in NVDA 10 years ago is worth $2.6M now - and if you were paying attention 10 years ago, when CUDA was fairly new and shiny and rapidly gaining mindshare, you would have noticed that they were inevitably going to own the ML/AI space, and that this shit was going to be huge. This is also why I said $1M, not $100k - because I have managed exceptional returns - but with 10x the starting capital even moderately good returns can grow rapidly. I’ve also bet on some absolute lemons where I’ve lost every last red cent. Either way, it seems that many would sooner be bitter than do something to improve their situation, which is sadly very common, and again, why not everybody is a millionaire.