A Few Laws of Getting Rich

Ugh. All these articles conflate the idea of “getting rich” with the kind of wealth that most people don’t know what to do with, eg billions of dollars. What about just reaching the point where you never need to work again? Can we talk about how that’s a reasonable goal for people to push for rather than accumulating the net worth of a small country?

Disappointed they landed on the hero worship bus of “there’s no way a billion dollars at 18 would have stopped Bill Gates.” Yes, it absolutely would have. Inflation-adjusted that would be nearly $10 B in cash. He might not have gone and rested on an island but he almost certainly would have done something like pump wild amounts of money into Traf-O-Data and spin out before Microsoft could become a thing.

I remember reading an article* a few years ago about how the world’s richest men, including Gates and Bezos, all had very stable marriages. That take didn’t age too well.<p>* this isn’t the article I read but it’s similar <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.ft.com&#x2F;content&#x2F;13cf5fc2-e9cb-11e4-ae1c-00144feab7de" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.ft.com&#x2F;content&#x2F;13cf5fc2-e9cb-11e4-ae1c-00144feab...</a>

I made a significant amount of money at once. It ended up destroying a few long term friendships. In hindsight, maybe that was my fault. But human nature is a funny thing, and rapid changes in social status will reap havoc on social equilibriums built over decades

&quot;Money won&#x27;t make you happy, but poverty will make you miserable&quot;

&gt; When the benefits of money are so obvious but the downsides are so subtle, the downsides you didn’t anticipate can be more jarring than the benefits you expected.<p>This is a really important aspect of seeking wealth that many people don’t understand. The jump from poverty to no longer missing bills is much more significant than the jump from middle class to upper class. It’s the reason why so many studies exist showing that past $75,000 per year (not inflation adjusted, so try $120k or so), more money doesn’t tend to make you happier. Instead, you trade freedom and happiness for the money you thought would bring you freedom and happiness. Also, trying to become a billionaire is most definitely a lonely and sad path.<p>A somewhat healthier goal would be to become “financially free,” whatever that means to you. No longer needing to work, allows you to do the work you actually love.

money makes you more of yourself<p>no one knows which drink will turn you into an alcoholic… it could be your next one<p>same with money your next or first million might the thing that will disconnect you from all that you hold dear

In point 1 where Will Smith is quoted reminded me of about the year after I graduated college. I wasn&#x27;t anywhere close to rich, but I had just achieved every goal I had set for myself: I got hired by the company I was hoping for, was living in a reasonably nice place and was in a relationship with my future (ex) wife.<p>I was in a good place, but also slightly lost while I figured out my next set of goals.

Great article.<p>One point hinted at but missed is that joy is a theistic proposition.<p>Nothing wrong or right about money as such; one&#x27;s attitude toward it is key.

People that is trying to be “rich” will fantasize and will always look at all the positives of having “lots” of money but cannot imagine it’s unavoidable downsides if you don’t prepare your mind for it.

<i>There are 13 divorces among the 10 richest men in the world. Seven of the top ten have been divorced at least once.</i><p>and over how long of a time period? compared to national average? so what<p>Money is good for solving problem which have a price tag. Is this all problems? No, but its&#x27;s a lot. Fun fact: Medicare and Medicaid exclude a lot of things, like teeth implants, hearing aids, glasses, elective procedures. having money helps in that regard.<p><i>3. The richer you become, the less likely people around you are to tell you when you’re wrong, crazy, mean, or oblivious.</i><p>Hmm..elon musk? People are always telling him how crazy he is. But maybe not the people close to him, who should have talked him out of buying Twitter for $44 billion, which was dumb.<p><i>“Because if you don’t give them the money they’ll hate you,” Charlie said.</i><p>lol Munger so old his kids gonna die before he does, so I guess that solves that problem<p><i>This is especially true when what made you rich was some form of advertising your success in a way that made others want to help and support you. When admiration turns to envy, that support dwindles, and people’s tolerance for your errors shrinks. If a no-name journalist wrote a book obliquely defending Sam Bankman-Fried, no one would care – they may have actually congratulated the author. But since Michael Lewis did, the pitchforks came out.</i><p>The pitchforks came out not because of a low-tolerance for errors, but his trying to whitewash an obvious fraud and general lack of basic understanding and rewriting of history of the FTX scam.