Get Rich Slowly

I would say absolutely. You should be able to take over 5% of the total and never dip into the principal. You might be able to take 7-8% even. But it depends on your cost of living which can vary widely. Not owning your own home yet means rent, and that is usually the most expensive part. If you owned your own home with $1 mil then you should be set. But you want to do more research, so I suggest https://www.getrichslowly.org/, https://www.daveramsey.com/, and https://www.mrmoneymustache.com/blog/. These are all financially conservative resources.

If you're not wealthy and aspire to it, I'd suggest not starting with a book from somebody who uses a made-up story to explain luck, giving fundamentally flawed advice. Instead, realize that the odds are against you: http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/rich-kids-stay-rich-poor-kids-stay… And then work to acquire basic financial literacy. Which requires reading quite a few books. Here's a good starter list: http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2007/03/07/building-a-personal-finan…

Here's the only page you need to get wealthy through investing: http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2007/01/24/are-index-funds-the-best-… tldr: buy indexed funds

I was thinking along the same lines after just reading the headline. Have the dealership come to you and compete on price. I would guess that dealerships would rather not work this way. But they may see it as a good way to get buyers in the door. I would want to know there wouldn't be any bait-and-switch trickery going on. Here is an interesting take on the use of Game Theory with the technique you describe: http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2012/04/26/the-best-way-to-buy-a-new… AND http://bigthink.com/ideas/41819 Perhaps this idea can be packaged into an app.

Here's an instructive contrast to the poverty safari: http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2011/03/01/from-the-rich-to-the-poor… And GRS comments are worth reading.

A great blog post from Tim Ellis on buying vs renting: http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2007/07/16/renting-vs-buying-the-rea…

I've found J.D. Roth's personal finance blog to be one of the more well-written and interesting blogs around: http://www.getrichslowly.org

The idea that there won't be any money left is a common misperception, but it's pretty inaccurate. Since it's a pay-as-you-go system, it can't run out of money like a bank account. Instead, it will simply be taking in less than it should be paying out. The current best estimates are that Social Security will be paying out around 75% of what it should be paying out by the time that people in their 20's now retire. That's still a massive, gigantic problem, but it's a world different from there simply being no payout at all. http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2010/09/01/yes-you-will-get-social-s…

It's a great question that we should all be thinking about, especially the entrepreneurial among us. But -- even given my short time here -- I'm surprised it didn't get killed due to the liberally editorial headline. As for "Make Me Dinner" I read recently about doing on one of the "frugal" blogs that Lifehacker quotes from a lot about doing something like that. I can't recall if there was a website for it. When looking for the actual post, I didn't find it, but I did find another one that I thought might make a nice website, (and which I was going to look for next), along the same lines of your question: the Swapluck (instead of pot-luck) http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2009/04/04/start-a-swapluck-to-share…

Last time YC News was polled, most said they wanted to become rich in order to be financially independent. This assumes a Western cost of living. This article describes how you can be financially independent much more cheaply by living overseas. Say you saved up $100,000. If you then stick it all in a high interest savings account: http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2007/03/21/which-online-high-yield-s… you can withdraw about $325 a month from interest alone, which is more than enough to live in some overseas countries. So, if you are interested in retiring early, and don't have expensive tastes, this is a route to consider. Here's someone who did it, and lives on $319 a month: http://www.escapeartist.com/efam29/book.html Even if you don't want to get away from it all right now, it is good to know you can. It takes the pressure away from life.

>For things you like doing that you are good at, make that your main job. You will be effective and happy. The other outcome besides being "effective and happy" is "turning something you enjoy into something you hate because now you have to do it." Just because you love doing something doesn't mean you love being forced to do it for someone else 40 hours a week. It's pretty naïve to think that the things you enjoy in your free time are the things you enjoy doing for paid work and vise versa. I absolutely hate cleaning around my house, I hate everything about it, but I don't mind cleaning for paid work at all. There's other issues too and quite a few people I know took that route ("doing what you love") and it lead to career dissatisfaction for various reasons. Jobs have other "stuff" other than just your work, you may love X but hate working in X industry for various reasons, like work environment, salary, job prospects, etc. The things you enjoy and are good are probably not even viable paid opportunities. (Nobody's going to pay you to put together model airplanes). You don't get to "test drive" the vast majority of jobs at home first. There's something to be about not being invested in your work and, essentially, not making your work the focus of your life. http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2012/03/18/reader-story-i-quit-my-pa…

I should add that I did read that before posting. And that's part of my point: you seem to have developed the tip amount framework without any regard to the larger market. My point is that the fact that many people gladly tip their bartenders > $1/week is relevant to your project. In the real world, $0.25 is not a tip, it's pocket change. (Here's a list of suggested tips, note the conspicuous lack of tips under a dollar: http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2006/10/12/basic-tips-on-tipping-how… The other gripe I have is that you match expected tips for a "top open-source programmer" with an average salary for a "mid-career engineer". Why shouldn't a top open-source programmer be able to make top engineer money (read: a lot more that $160k) with Gittip? And why is there a max tip amount? What if my business wants to "tip" someone more than $100/mo? (I know, it's insane to think that code would be worth that much but to some it may be.) So I guess I would ask you to reconsider: 1) The signaling issues around the idea that a quarter or a dollar is a reasonable amount to contribute for good programming. How do you explain to non-techies why your work is worth so much more than that? 2) The expected top end of the range for super-successful devs probably shouldn't be in the range of what recent grads are making at top firms. Again, I'm trying to be constructive, and I think that if you want to meet your goals of helping programmers find a living building open…

CHEAP TRICK: Buy staple foods that'll keep. Pasta, canned tuna, canned veggies, tomatoes, beans and rice rarely go bad. For good cheap protein, try preparing eggs (not only scrambled or hard-boiled, but use them in egg salads, green salads or in pasta recipes.) Also, check out: http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2007/07/30/16-ways-to-eat-healthy-wh… CHEAP DINNER: Because I have no patience and often forget to eat, I've figured out a cheap, filling lasagna-type 1) Prepare favorite pasta (penne works well) 2)Heat some marinara sauce, can or jar is fine. 3)Once the sauce starts to boil, reduce heat and add 1/2 C to 3/4 C cottage cheese to sauce (works like ricotta). 4)If you prefer, spoon cottage cheese over hot pasta and cover with heated marinara, then microwave or bake briefly to warm cheese. This adds a nice layer of melty cheese. (Cover plate of pasta, cheese and marinara with shredded mozzarella and bake at 425 for 9-12 min. if you want to be fancy and cheap.)

People have been complaining on HN that "houses are too expensive to buy" almost since it started 15 years ago. Yet 65% of Americans currently own their own homes. This is not as high as the peak in 2005 of 69%, but higher than the low in 2016 of 63% [1]. And IIRC, home ownership rates are near historical highs. Home ownership rate was almost always below 50% before ww2 and rarely exceeded 65% until the housing bubble of 2000-2010 [2]. The simple fact, as unpalatable as it may be, is that buying a home is always "expensive". In the US anyway, the price seems to be set by people's income. That is, their ability to pay. What does change is the size and quality of the homes. [1] https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/RHORUSQ156N [2] https://www.getrichslowly.org/homeownership/

This author is comparing bottom-of-the-barrel chinesium walmart garbage, with high quality boutique merchandise. Sure, you can cheap out on ___, but you'll replace it soon enough. If you need it once, this might not be a bad idea. But if you use it regularly, this is just a terrible way to burn money up. But then we have https://www.getrichslowly.org/boots-theory-of-socioeconomic-unfairness…

Total SALT paid as a % of income actually _decreases_ the wealthier you are, since sales and vehicle taxes tend to be regressive. It varies by state, but on average for the top 1%, it looks like average effective tax rate in the US comes out to around 38-39% https://www.visualcapitalist.com/unequal-state-tax-burdens/ https://www.getrichslowly.org/effective-tax-rates/ I’m not sure how to get 50% - 60%… maybe that’s referring to your top marginal tax bracket?

There is a conflict of interests: -- as a society we should strive for what Warren buffet calls "lottery of birth" [1]. Egalitarian society will better maximize utility of it's gifted population. -- as individuals we try to game the system in order to give our children & filmy, friends a lag up. So we want meritocracy and egalitarianism from everyone while practicing nepotism for our close ones. [1] https://www.getrichslowly.org/warren-buffett-on-the-lottery-of-birth/

One of the (few) things that I took away from Tim Ferris' 4 hour work week was his concept of "mini retirements" [1] where every few years you "retire" and do something for an extended period of time before coming back into the workforce. There are absolutely things that you can do when you are younger that you cannot (or are much more difficult) when you are older. It doesn't make then necessarily any more or less "interesting", however - that's completely up to you to decide. [1] https://www.getrichslowly.org/how-to-take-a-mini-retirement-tips-and-t…

from a financial perspective, neither renting nor buying is inherently better than the other. in a particular locale, one or the other might be better based on the price-to-rent ratio. so the decision of whether to rent or buy similar properties in a particular locale comes down to the local market, how long you can commit to staying, and your tolerance for different risks (rent increase, home repairs, suddenly needing to sell early). you're not really deciding whether to rent or buy though, you're deciding whether to live in the city or move to the suburbs, which is ultimately a personal decision. for the financial aspect, these articles might be helpful: https://affordanything.com/is-renting-better-than-buying-should-i-rent… https://www.getrichslowly.org/rent-or-buy/

You mean like this guy? :) http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2006/07/29/the-credit-card-prank-cra…

Reminds me of a post I saw on Get Rich Slowly awhile back on ditching a dream job for a boring one. Interesting perspective. Emotional investment can be taxing in its own way. I started in a job with very interesting problems but lacked meaning, then moved to a job with much more meaning but with less interesting problems (that eventually turned into boring, frustrating, and stupid problems). I've since found one that's more balanced, with interesting problems that I care about to a moderate degree. http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2012/03/18/reader-story-i-quit-my-pa…

> Now, checking "signature" instead of chip&pin, now that's an example of blind trust. If even. I cannot find the original report, but there was a guy who tried all kinds of weird signatures including "I STOLE THIS CARD" and it only took purchasing 3 most expensive TVs and signing "NOT AUTHORIZED" for someone to question him. Unoriginal report: http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2006/07/29/the-credit-card-prank-cra…

I used to really enjoy this blog, but it's been sold to a corp and lost some of its appeal. Similar post from the original owner: http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2007/11/11/quitting-the-day-job-find…

Other resources in similar vein but modernized are the Get Rich Slowly and I Will Teach you to be Rich websites. In particular, Get Rich Slowly definitely resonates with me. The blog is not well organized for someone who just jumps in, but Forbes has a good getting-started reading list: http://www.forbes.com/sites/moneybuilder/2012/04/19/six-years-of-get-r… The site: http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/ Start with this article: http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2009/09/28/money-is-more-about-mind-… Disclaimer: I'm not rich and I don't apply most of the tenets above !!! but at least I'm self-aware (which I guess is a step 1 to recover, I hope).

Good point. Check this list of the top hundred richest people in US history, ranked by their wealth as a portion of GNP: http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2006/07/29/the-wealthy-100-a-ranking… A. T. Stewart, anybody? Frederick Weyerhaeuser? William Weightman? John I. Blair? Mind you, you don't have to be a big-name philanthropist to be on that list and remembered. Rockefeller was so goddamn rich that he's famous just for being incredibly rich. Howard Hughes is remembered for his eccentricities. Samuel Colt is remembered because he invented something. And then there's George Washington...

You asserted that it was “a non-solution for a non-problem” - the onus is on you to explain why the stated problems aren't real or how the Nest doesn't solve them. As for the promise of saving energy, either reading Nest's citations or spending a second or two on Google might prove educational as to the current gap between what is technically possible and what people actually do: http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2011/03/21/do-programmable-thermosta…

5% is pretty conservative, especially if you're in it for the long haul. If you look at any 30 year average pretty much since 1920, it tends to be 9% or more: http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2008/12/16/how-much-does-the-stock-m…

With the standard caveat that past performance does not guarantee future results, the historical average real return on the stock market has been >~7% [1, 2, 3, 4]. Assuming someone starts saving for retirement at a young age (say, early 20s), assuming that the average return will be close to the historical average is not unreasonable. [1] http://www.simplestockinvesting.com/SP500-historical-real-total-return… [2] http://www.istockanalyst.com/article/viewarticle/articleid/2803347 [3] http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2008/12/16/how-much-does-the-stock-m… [4] www.ssab.gov/publications/financing/estimated%20rate%20of%20return.pdf

This does happen, and it's probably the default. But it is possible to notice it's happening, and reverse the process: http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2006/12/27/how-to-protect-yourself-f… This is pretty much what I did when starting up, realising I wanted as much runway as possible. Have to say I also guffawed at $25k being "no personal savings".

This post is about how he allocates money to his investment accounts, which was not interesting to me. If you want to know how he actually invests his money, that's discussed in this post of his: http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2011/04/20/rebalancing-in-real-life/