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"Difficult" situation? (1 Viewer)

I'm not tracking. Guy surely has a comfortable middle class life and can pack away 24k a year. At 7% return until 65 that's 2.6M at retirement + SS. Dude is golden.

That was me. Guy makes 150k, can save 2k a month and has a low stress life and time with his kids.

The fact this guy calls that situation "difficult" because he won't be able to be truly "wealthy" was eye opening for me.
I am engineer and am purely a W2 worker, so in essentially the same spot. I get to do rocket science, raise my kids, take vacations, and still save for retirement. This ain't a bad outcome.


Guy says a couple of tweets later in the thread when someone commented about the 2+ million for retirement:

That is not at all significant wealth.I would guess in 25 years retirement isn't an option with $2.4 million in the bank.

Eh, that's not inflation adjusted (with inflation it will be more than 2.4M). Fact is 2.4M, inflation adjusted or not, with a pension (social security) will be a fine retirement in 30 years. Saying otherwise is pretty silly, IMO.

Agreed. I think it highlights how far expectations have drifted from what I think is a "difficult" situation.

At best, it's insulting it feels.

But I also know there a huge contingent (especially on twitter) of the wannabe billionaire bro guys all about that hustle life. This guy is in a situation that's better than 98% of all people in the world and the dude is calling that a "difficult" situation. And then mocking anyone who disagree with him as angry broke people. Wild.
He’s simply selling his “consulting”. In your OP you say he’s not one of the buy my book guys. But he’s got an agenda, just covers it up better.
 
I'm not tracking. Guy surely has a comfortable middle class life and can pack away 24k a year. At 7% return until 65 that's 2.6M at retirement + SS. Dude is golden.

That was me. Guy makes 150k, can save 2k a month and has a low stress life and time with his kids.

The fact this guy calls that situation "difficult" because he won't be able to be truly "wealthy" was eye opening for me.
Agree. No reason to attain “true” wealth, when one can be perfectly happy and fulfilled with those kind of “difficult” circumstances.
 
I get what he's saying. You're not going to become wealthy by working for a salary. $150K/yr gets you a very comfortable lifestyle and should lead to a very comfortable retirement. But when you fly to Europe for vacation, you're flying commercial like 99% of people. You have no chance of breaking into the truly wealthy set. But so what? The guy described in the OP is basically me and I sure don't consider that "difficult." I'm lucky.
 
One thing I've noticed is how little empathy is applied in many situations like financial future.

I know people who find happiness in being in the very top % of financial success. And are willing to make the sacrifices needed to get there.

I know other people who are in the situation of the guy making comfortable money, saving well for retirement, and having a stress level they're great with and time for family.

I don't presume to tell either group what will make them happy.
 
One thing I've noticed is how little empathy is applied in many situations like financial future.

I know people who find happiness in being in the very top % of financial success. And are willing to make the sacrifices needed to get there.

I know other people who are in the situation of the guy making comfortable money, saving well for retirement, and having a stress level they're great with and time for family.

I don't presume to tell either group what will make them happy.

Yup, you have to consider the audience in this, both in the twitter feed and the guy he was consulting. To these people who want "more" and are looking to start businesses and obtain massive wealth, this *is* a "difficult" situation - difficult to leave and take your shot. I personally never understood the chasing of the dollar to this extreme - that "difficult" situation sounds pretty nice to me - but they are out there.
 
mean, to me, this is a silly couple sentences. "too easy AND profitable" ...."get out of this situation" :lmao:. How many people in the US would want to be in this situation of too easy and profitable?

Get out of a too easy and profitable situation to what? Too much stress and no time to enjoy your money? But just enjoying what you have doesn't get clicks
This
 
I have my issues with scripture and some folks interpretation of it but this is one area I’ve always appreciated the teaching.

I may not agree with the ultimate conclusion of the below scripture but I think a valuable life lesson can be found here for everyone.

I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.
 
And I get the part of making money doesn’t make you happy and the stress that often comes with a good paying job. This guy is working 30-40 hours a week from home. That’s a pretty cake schedule. I don’t like this person at all. I would say more but I do know Joe wants us to be nice.
 
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Just trying to appeal to the generation who dreams of making a great living "on their own terms" via a "side hustle" by making the alternative ("working for the man"....even if its fully remote) look like a death sentence.

There's a whole chunk of the 20's/early 30's crowd that has been conditioned to believe that this is the way and that anyone who has a boss is a total sucker (my youngest brother is one of them).

This crew brags about the 75 countries they've visited in one breath and then complains about the fact that they can't afford to buy a house with the next. Sorry fellas....life is about choices.

Edit....obviously some people can do this. But you need an actual good idea and a market that can support it. Very very few people can become wealthy (or even comfortable) via their hobby/passion project
 
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He’s a consultant. That explains most of it.

He’s also a consultant for people looking to own a business and strike it big. He operates in a bubble and talks to people in that bubble. What he says makes sense in that bubble.

Otherwise he comes across as a ****. I deal with people like this in my job. If you don’t want to work your life away to make huge money, you’re lazy. Not everyone wants that.

I’m not going to have generational wealth. I’ll retire comfortably and baring a disaster, leave a nice amount for my kids. I’m perfectly happy about that.
 
Edit....obviously some people can do this. But you need an actual good idea and a market that can support it. Very very few people can become wealthy (or even comfortable) via their hobby/passion project
It's easier than it's ever been.
 
He’s a consultant. That explains most of it.

He’s also a consultant for people looking to own a business and strike it big. He operates in a bubble and talks to people in that bubble. What he says makes sense in that bubble.

Otherwise he comes across as a ****. I deal with people like this in my job. If you don’t want to work your life away to make huge money, you’re lazy. Not everyone wants that.

I’m not going to have generational wealth. I’ll retire comfortably and baring a disaster, leave a nice amount for my kids. I’m perfectly happy about that.
I'll stick up for this guy a little bit. The world needs people who feel "trapped" by a steady $150K/yr job. We maybe don't need a huge number of those people, but we need a few.

Consider Elon Musk. I could never achieve what he's achieved, for a whole bunch of reasons, most of them being skill issues. But one very important reason is because I have the "pick up your winnings and leave the casino while you're ahead" gene. He doesn't. If I were Musk, I would be living an anonymous life as a very wealthy man having retired in my 30s on my Paypall windfall. I would never have considered rolling that into Tesla or SpaceX. That's an extreme example of course, but it's also why I don't take the much smaller amount of wealth I've accumulated and use it to open a restaurant or whatever.

The world also needs safety-minded people like me, who are happy to work in an organization and keep things running.

This is the kind of diversity that societies benefit from.
 
Everything is about perspective.

For some, this is an ideal situation.

For some, this is a difficult situation.


I wouldn't get worked up about anyone taking either position here.

Of course. Nobody is "worked up" that I see. I do think it's an interesting discussion though.

As it hits on a big topic that I don't know gets enough discussion: How do you define "enough"? How to define happiness seems like it gets a lot of play but the offshoot of "contentedness" is in the mix somewhere as well.
 
Do you agree with the author that his consulting client is in a "difficult" situation?
This might be one of the worst takes ever. Not everyone is uber-ambitious to say nothing of the fact that there are people in difficult situations that would kill to change places with his client.
 
This is a very popular entrepreneur guy on Twitter. He's not a flake or "Look at my Lambo - buy my course so you can get one too" guy.

He's a well-respected influential entrepreneur with a large following.


I did a consulting call today with a 33 year old guy who makes $150k a year at a fully remote job.30-40 hrs a week. 2 kids + wife.

This is a really tough spot to be in.
Makes $2k a month more than he spends every month.

Zero chance at long term wealth but too easy and profitable to leave.

Golden handcuffs.It takes a serious level of ambition to get out of this situation and go buy or start a company.

It’s hard to get excited about scraping and fixing toilets or power washing sidewalks when you make $75 an hour at your day job.

And it’s impossible to feel comfortable buying a company if you don’t start out lower and work your way up (with that stuff that isn’t exciting when you get a taste of decent money).

Difficult stuff.

Thoughts on this?

Do you agree with the author that his consulting client is in a "difficult" situation?
I didn’t read this as “life is difficult, it sucks” but more of a “Jessica Alba or Scarlett Johansson” difficult.
 
Everything is about perspective.

For some, this is an ideal situation.

For some, this is a difficult situation.


I wouldn't get worked up about anyone taking either position here.

Of course. Nobody is "worked up" that I see. I do think it's an interesting discussion though.

As it hits on a big topic that I don't know gets enough discussion: How do you define "enough"? How to define happiness seems like it gets a lot of play but the offshoot of "contentedness" is in the mix somewhere as well.

I’ve never been too fond of the phrase - “money can’t buy happiness”. I think the phrase should be “money can’t buy contentedness”. Still not totally accurate but honestly a lot of the stress and unhappiness many people experience would go away with more money.
 
Everything is about perspective.

For some, this is an ideal situation.

For some, this is a difficult situation.


I wouldn't get worked up about anyone taking either position here.

Of course. Nobody is "worked up" that I see. I do think it's an interesting discussion though.

As it hits on a big topic that I don't know gets enough discussion: How do you define "enough"? How to define happiness seems like it gets a lot of play but the offshoot of "contentedness" is in the mix somewhere as well.
I guess that begs the question - why do we need to define what is "enough"?

That you are asking the question goes back to my point - it's going to be different for everyone, and it's dangerous to pass your judgement unto someone else. What makes you happy, won't make someone else happy - and vice versa.

So, there really is not much of a discussion to be had.

If something makes you happy - great. If it does not make someone else happy - also fine.
 
Won't be popular I guess, but I'm not sure what the fuss is about. The way I read it, the guy is advising a dude on whether to leave the locked in $150k/year job and buy a company in the same line of work. And the work is scrubbing toilets and power-washing sidewalks.

So this guy is in janitorial services, which may not be super rewarding, and he's considering taking a big step by leaving the security of what he's got and building something new, which might pay off but may crash and burn.

Seems like a tough decision to me. Maybe I'm misreading something here.

It's possible to be well paid, unhappy and locked in. That is a difficult spot to be in. I know many unhappy well paid professionals.
 
I didn’t necessarily agree with him but was pretty meh until you said that he was mocking people who didn’t make :boatloads:.

Sure seems like his financial success is directly tied to other people wanting more. So people feeling content or comfortable where they are is a direct threat to him. Honestly, with a willingness to put people down with such naked self-interest, I would have a very difficult time trusting anything coming from this guy. These are the types of folks who we often see in pyramid/MLM schemes who wear fancy clothes and drive fancy cars that they can’t actually afford in an effort to capitalize on the greed of others by convincing them to invest in them and have the same “success” as them.
 
I agree the guy is in a "tough situation" ... if he wants to ever own a 60ft yacht or a G6 jet.
I currently find myself in the same situation. I might have to start a go-fund-me.
 
There’s another life lesson that can be learned from this. You need to decide what you want out of life.

I’ve talked about this before in the forum but some wise advice I read many years ago was to picture what you want your life to look like as you age and are on your death bed. Do you want to be surrounded by your wife and generations of family? Or do you want to have built an organization or charity? Made lots of money?

Picture what you’d like that to look like and work backwards from there. How do you make that happen? Frequently, this exercise will help you focus on what you find important.

Personally, I don’t care to be remembered by anyone but my friends and family. I don’t care about building generational wealth. I don’t care about being famous or inventing something that changes the world.

Not everyone will be able to easily picture what they want but many will and at that point it makes not chasing things that you don’t really care about pretty easy.
 
Are we assuming the $2k a month is the guy's only savings? Or is there a 401k or 403b or SEP or anything else part of it?
No, we are assuming he's going to be able to keep his remote job for the next 30 years. :whistle:
I don't understand why we're hung up on this. There are lots of steady jobs that pay this sort of salary. They're well above the national average of course, but earning $150K isn't that special. There are certainly way more of those jobs than there are "hustle your way to a private yacht" jobs.
 
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Everything is about perspective.

For some, this is an ideal situation.

For some, this is a difficult situation.


I wouldn't get worked up about anyone taking either position here.

Of course. Nobody is "worked up" that I see. I do think it's an interesting discussion though.

As it hits on a big topic that I don't know gets enough discussion: How do you define "enough"? How to define happiness seems like it gets a lot of play but the offshoot of "contentedness" is in the mix somewhere as well.
I guess that begs the question - why do we need to define what is "enough"?

That you are asking the question goes back to my point - it's going to be different for everyone, and it's dangerous to pass your judgement unto someone else. What makes you happy, won't make someone else happy - and vice versa.

So, there really is not much of a discussion to be had.

If something makes you happy - great. If it does not make someone else happy - also fine.

For defining what's enough, I think the obvious answer is I see folks who are unhappy and sometimes they can find more happiness if they re-evaluate what is "enough".

And of course it's up to them. No judgement to be passed. As I said above:

One thing I've noticed is how little empathy is applied in many situations like financial future.

I know people who find happiness in being in the very top % of financial success. And are willing to make the sacrifices needed to get there.

I know other people who are in the situation of the guy making comfortable money, saving well for retirement, and having a stress level they're great with and time for family.

I don't presume to tell either group what will make them happy.

I disagree if you don't think there's much to discuss there as I think that can be an excellent discussion. I see lots of people simply falling in line with peer pressure and the "keeping up with" thing thinking that will bring happiness. And sometimes after thought and discussion and introspection there can be new understandings.. So I think there's a discussion to be had for those interested. Your mileage may vary of course.
 
Seems like a tough decision to me.

Understanding what I think the consulting guy was trying to say, I think it's this. Tough decision.

That's wildly different than a tough situation. I know people (as I'm sure everyone else here does) that are in tough situations that are not in the same universe of "Do I leave this cushy 150k a year job and try for something bigger?".
 
I don't understand why we're hung up on this. There are lots of steady jobs that pay this sort of salary. They're well above the national average of course, but earning $150K isn't that special. There are certainly way more of those jobs than there are "hustle your way to a private yacht" jobs
How many have multi decade job security?

I didn't say these jobs don't exist. But how many people with these jobs are one merger away from job hunting?
 
Edit....obviously some people can do this. But you need an actual good idea and a market that can support it. Very very few people can become wealthy (or even comfortable) via their hobby/passion project
It's easier than it's ever been.

Yes and no, for the same reason - the barrier to entry is almost non-existent. This can make it easier to "hit", but it also makes sustaining it very, very hard as the competition for everything is relentless and unending. Plus, the rules are constantly changing - one tweak of the algorithm, and you could be sunk.
 
There’s another life lesson that can be learned from this. You need to decide what you want out of life.

I was sort of faced with this in 2007 or so. My copywriting biz was rolling, and I had some big projects for some big companies. I hired more freelancers and was well on my way to leading an agency. And I was hating it... I hate having people under me. I don't like "leading" in the classic job sense.

So I put the brakes on. Went back to solopreneur, and have happily been there ever since. It limits me monetarily, but I'm ok with that. I make enough.
 
Seems like a tough decision to me.

Understanding what I think the consulting guy was trying to say, I think it's this. Tough decision.

That's wildly different than a tough situation. I know people (as I'm sure everyone else here does) that are in tough situations that are not in the same universe of "Do I leave this cushy 150k a year job and try for something bigger?".
Yeah I won't speak for the twitter guy, but I'd bet he meant tough decision, not situation. Might even be a bit pedantic to argue one vs. other, particularly since it was a tweet and folks are looser with word choice. But you're right, the guy's situation is not difficult. He's even fortunate to be in the situation to consider those options.

Another question some have touched on, though. $150k does not seem like a lot of $. Granted, I live in the Bay Area so my perspective is skewed.

And I think the guy should go for it. He's 33. Plenty of time to take a chance and recover if it doesn't work out.
 
Seems like a tough decision to me.

Understanding what I think the consulting guy was trying to say, I think it's this. Tough decision.

That's wildly different than a tough situation. I know people (as I'm sure everyone else here does) that are in tough situations that are not in the same universe of "Do I leave this cushy 150k a year job and try for something bigger?".
Yeah I won't speak for the twitter guy, but I'd bet he meant tough decision, not situation. Might even be a bit pedantic to argue one vs. other, particularly since it was a tweet and folks are looser with word choice. But you're right, the guy's situation is not difficult. He's even fortunate to be in the situation to consider those options.

Another question some have touched on, though. $150k does not seem like a lot of $. Granted, I live in the Bay Area so my perspective is skewed.

And I think the guy should go for it. He's 33. Plenty of time to take a chance and recover if it doesn't work out.

150k in the US I think is still top 20% salary.
 
If the only way to have a decent life is for everyone to own their own business, then who is left to be the employees?

Just sounds like content bait from another Twitter grifter.
 
Another question some have touched on, though. $150k does not seem like a lot of $. Granted, I live in the Bay Area so my perspective is skewed.

Understood. Salary can for sure mean different things in different areas. That's why I thought it was helpful that the OP identified he was was able to save 2k per year. That's a key part of the equation.
 
There’s another life lesson that can be learned from this. You need to decide what you want out of life.

I was sort of faced with this in 2007 or so. My copywriting biz was rolling, and I had some big projects for some big companies. I hired more freelancers and was well on my way to leading an agency. And I was hating it... I hate having people under me. I don't like "leading" in the classic job sense.

So I put the brakes on. Went back to solopreneur, and have happily been there ever since. It limits me monetarily, but I'm ok with that. I make enough.

Excellent. Back to the "figure out what works for you" part of it. Good for you.
 
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I'm not tracking. Guy surely has a comfortable middle class life and can pack away 24k a year. At 7% return until 65 that's 2.6M at retirement + SS. Dude is golden.
Yeah what's wrong with that?
The four decades in a job you don't like part of it.
Yeah I was looking at the end result.

40 years in a job you don't like? Who's fault is that?

You reap what you sow.
 
If the only way to have a decent life is for everyone to own their own business, then who is left to be the employees?

Just sounds like content bait from another Twitter grifter.
Right....people need to figure out what they want outta life.

And another reason I am not on twitter or reddit.

"I don't effing care"
 
I mean, I don't like my job, but it's stable and cushy. It pays "well" but it's not going to make me "wealthy." Due to my family situation, walking away to pursue a risky, consuming, entrepreneurial dream, or even something that felt rewarding but required double the hours, would be really hard. I could probably understand someone with different priorities describing my current position as "difficult."
 
I don't understand why we're hung up on this. There are lots of steady jobs that pay this sort of salary. They're well above the national average of course, but earning $150K isn't that special. There are certainly way more of those jobs than there are "hustle your way to a private yacht" jobs
How many have multi decade job security?

I didn't say these jobs don't exist. But how many people with these jobs are one merger away from job hunting?
"Most jobs don't have multi-decade job security. Therefore, it's reasonable to bail on one of those jobs to chase that wild goose over there."

By all means, go be an entrepreneur if that's what you want to do. I've never met an entrepreneur, not a single one, who cited "job security" as a reason why they chose that route.
 
It's possible to be well paid, unhappy and locked in. That is a difficult spot to be in. I know many unhappy well paid professionals.
I may have missed it, but I didn’t see anything in the OP about Mr. $150K being unhappy.

And, once one reaches “comfortable” wealth, every extra dollar earned has diminishing returns in optimizing happiness, or worse, may decrease quality of life.
 

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