I made $15 million before I was 30, and it wasn't as awesome as you'd think

[mechan9]

So funny how everyone just takes random OP at his word.

No chit. If OP started a thread about how he banged his harem of 10/10's last night and offered no pics he'd be red and dead by now.


misc gonna misc

[AndYUKnowThis]

-Complaints? Im a go with the flow type of person. I rarely complain about anything.

-Family? My family is legitimately laidback. Being low income, they never expect much and it doesn't take much to make them happy. As the saying goes, "It's the thought that counts."

you probably know nothing about cars if you think the aventador is hnnng worthy.

What's wrong with the Aventador? Lamborghini has always been good looking. I'd understand if you said Corvette, but Lamborghini?

What is much better looking than the Aventador in your opinion?

[Sebt1890]

I've been poor my entire life, I don't even own a car right now, just a motorcycle. I really don't think money would change me. I'd share a majority of it with my family and then take me and my closest friends for camping/hiking trips all over the globe. The last thing I want is to eat fancy dinners and drive an Audi, I want to ride an Adventure motorcycle around the world, and skateboard New Zealand tip to tip, Climb everest, learn to fly airplanes....

My life is pretty amazing, other than my financial situation. I think people that can't handle the money are a bit too immature and ungrateful

Same here for me dude. I'd literally go traveling, skydiving, snowboarding and take my closest friend's with me. Hell, I'd find a girl and do it as a couple. I don't care for the huge house and ferrari's etc.

[GiveMeTheD]

Of course its true. Anyone here play runescape growing up? I did, and I remember the first few months I played I thought, if only I had 1 million GP I would be happy. Once you acquire that, you then want 10 mill, then 50 mill, then 100 mill... and I was never happier on that game when I had 100 mill, than when I was mining and had a bank of 100k.

Obviously that isn't real life, but I feel there are similarities. When I first started earning 40k a year, I was happy as phuck, now I want more and more and more.

[Slurgie]

Half of his complaints can be avoiding if you simply stop flaunting how wealthy you are.

[KratosDrake]

money baby

[98Degrees]

I'm a millionaire myself. But the feeling of knowing that you don't have to worry about not having enough money is top all those downsides.

[stevesteve12]

i have friends whose family are worth 100's of millions and they say most of the **** the article mentions have never occurred to them

OP dude sounds like all he did was bitch no matter whatever his circumstances was, dude obviously dont know how to spend money and have fun

[StUck686]

cool

[TriggerWarning]

Half of his complaints can be avoiding if you simply stop flaunting how wealthy you are.

People are always going to know your rich, just stop hanging out with jealous douche bags or only with people in the same income bracket as yourself

Half of the authors gripes could be alleviated from hanging out with other wealthy people which most of the rich people i know do to some extent, i thought this was the point of the upper tier golf/country clubs or marina's.. I am fairly certain that most people if they became r

[lucasmartin079]

Purpose driven life > Wealth


However, when you have both you're Justin Timberlake...or that Virgin CEO...or the Tesla CEO...or Bill Gates.


All pursued legit "passions" that gave them a great sense of purpose and money was a consequence of that pursuit. However, when the pursuit of money is the sole purpose of said pursuit you will be insanely disappointed at the end result.

my dad told me when he got his first 20k bonus check he expected to be over the moon, but he was miserable.
said he would do it different and give it all up if he could do it again.
fukkin money mang

[ironripped]

Ok so I want to do these things which cost a lot of money [insert anything]. How the hell am I gonna do them if I am not rich??

[lalalalakerss24]

Very good read.

[Muneyy]

People are always going to know your rich, just stop hanging out with jealous douche bags or only with people in the same income bracket as yourself

People might know you're rich, but they don't need to know how rich. Most people will view you as rich if you have a new Mercedes or BMW, but anything more than that then you MUST be filthy rich. People (and the misc) don't really have an accurate view on money and wealth.

[Luc1fer]

You don't have to be super rich to understand some of these feelings from the anonymous poster. Think about it like this:

When you were in school, you might have got a part-time job and you were just pumped if you made anything above minimum wage. Then you get used to that feeling.
When you left school, you were just excited about getting a job, nevermind the salary. Any amount of salary was huge. Then you get used to that feeling.
When you're at your job, you think you need a raise or promotion because you want more money. Once you get that raise, you get used to that feeling.

Along the way, you're always acquiring more and more materials and 'things' that are more expensive. All that happens is you get used to those things and want the newer/better/more expensive item and sometimes you might even daydream if you made just X amount of money, you could afford that stuff. Then when you make that money and you buy that thing, you get used to that feeling. And you start daydreaming about the next thing.

Pretty soon, you wake up and you realize you've spent all these years just waiting/working/daydreaming about your future and never actually appreciating your present life.

Welcome to a miserable existence.

Cliffs:
- money does not buy happiness, you just get used to whatever you make
- money is relative, nobody is ever satisfied not even the rich
- appreciate the present as much as you can

Excellent post, but I would like to add that you do have to earn a comfortable salary to fully appreciate what the OP is saying i.e. once you have enough that you don't have to worry about bills and just buy things you need without budgeting. It has been shown time and time again that increments above that tend to give diminished returns on happiness, if any.

"He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has." - Epictetus

[smallbonesjones]

bump

[levelheadedbreh]

Note: An anonymous user posted this insightful answer to the question "Is getting rich worth it?" While we can't confirm the identity of the user, the answer is definitely worth a read.

I made $15 million in my mid-20s after I sold a tech startup. I talked to a lot of people about this question, and thought a lot about how to stay the same person I was before and after making money.

Here's my answer: being rich is better than not being rich, but it's not nearly as good as you imagine it is.

The answer why is a bit more complicated.

First, one of the only real things being rich gives you is that you don't have to worry about money as much anymore. There will still be some expenses that you cannot afford (and you will wish you could), but most expenses can be made without thinking about what it costs. This is definitely better, without a doubt.

Being rich does come with some downsides, though. The first thing you are thinking reading that, is, "cry me a river". That is one of the downsides. You are not allowed to complain about anything, ever. Since most people imagine being rich as nirvana, you are no longer allowed to have any human needs or frustrations in the public eye. Yet, you are still a human being, but most people don't treat you like one.

There's the second downside. Most people now want something out of you, and it can be harder to figure out whether someone is being nice to you because they like you, or they are being nice to you because of your money. If you aren't married yet, good luck trying to figure out (and/or always having self doubt) about whether a partner is into you or your money.

Then you have friends & family. Hopefully your relationship with them doesn't sour, but it can get harder. Both can get really weird about it and start to treat you differently. They might come and ask for a loan (bad idea: if you give, always give a gift). One common problem is that they don't appreciate Christmas presents the way that they used to, and they can get unrealistic expectations for how large a present should be and be disappointed when you don't meet their unrealistic expectations. You have to start making decisions for your parents on what does and does not cost too much, and frankly, it's awkward.

Add all of these up and you can start to feel a certain sense of isolation.
You sometimes lay awake at night, wondering if you made the right investment decisions, whether it might all go away. You know that feeling standing on a tall building, the feeling you might lose your mind and jump? Sometimes you're worried that you might lose your mind and spend it all.

The next thing you need to understand about money is this: all of the things you picture buying, they are only worthwhile to you because you cannot afford them (or have to work really hard to acquire them). Maybe you have your eye on a new Audi — once you can easily afford it, it just doesn't mean as much to you anymore.

Everything is relative, and you are more or less powerless to that. Yes, the first month you drive the Audi, or eat in a fancy restaurant, you really enjoy it. But then you sort of get used to it. And then you are looking towards the next thing, the next level up. And the problem is that you have reset your expectations, and everything below that level doesn't get you quite as excited anymore.

This happens to everyone. Good people can maintain perspective, actively fight it, and stay grounded. Worse people complain about it and commit general acts of douchebaggery. But remember this: it would happen to you, too, even though you might not think so. You'll just have to trust me on this one.

Most people hold the illusion that if only they had more money, their life would be better and they would be happier. Then they get rich, and that doesn't happen, and it can throw them into a serious life crisis.

If you're part of the middle class, you have just as many opportunities to do with your life what you want of it. If you're not happy now, you won't be happy because of money.
Whether you're rich or not, make your life what you want it to be, and don't use money as an excuse. Go out there, get involved, be active, pursue your passion, and make a difference.

I made about 23 mill by my 29th birthday. I disagree w/ almost everything you wrote, but the bolded stood out as particularly lulzy.


Just as many opportunities? I know tons of idiots who got rich so I'm not accusing you of lying, but that line makes me really wonder whether you're just legitimately retarded.... or full of chit.

When I was middle class, I had no freedom. I woke up at 8 AM, went to work, drove to the gym from work, and got home from the gym 8 PM. Had two hours of freedom, then went to bed.

Now that I'm rich, my time is 110% my own. I wake up and do whatever I want literally every day of my life.

To compare that with the happiness and freedom attainable with middle class life is so delusional it makes me question not just your intelligence but indeed, your mental health.

[DaFucc]

K...

[bigdogfarmhand]

My father is very wealthy.

20 years ago he was such a nice caring person.


Now because of all the fake and user people he is bitter and un trusting.


I have never Excepted things or money from him and won't.

What op said about people expectations is very real, I don't talk to my brothers because they all resent my father

Because they expect a free house or something and resent him

It happens fast and tears family apart

Idk if op is real, but what he says sounds spot on and I feel bad for him

[Zerafian]

we always try to live beyond our means...I remember going from $35k/year to $120k/year, I did just that and it came back to bite me in the ass 2 years later.

[levelheadedbreh]

My father is very wealthy.

20 years ago he was such a nice caring person.


Now because of all the fake and user people he is bitter and un trusting.


I have never Excepted things or money from him and won't.

What op said about people expectations is very real, I don't talk to my brothers because they all resent my father

Because they expect a free house or something and resent him

It happens fast and tears family apart

Idk if op is real, but what he says sounds spot on and I feel bad for him

All due respect, you can't blame money for any of that. Everything you just described represents emotional problems that your father has regarding human nature.

If it wasn't about money it would be about something. Money didn't make him bitter, his mental health did.

All due respect.

I had an aunt who tried to accuse me of everything from intellectual theft in court to physical and emotional abuse. Made it all up bc she wasn't happy w/ the taste I gave her.

That's the way it goes.

[Mr Beer]

I have a friend who is young and on six figures time. The stories he tells of dates are hilarious. Literally he had one girl on the first date "I want to live in a really big house.." she starts rattling off a laundry list of what she expects out of marriage. Solid 7/10 entitlement.

Would be funny to go talk up her list for a few minutes "Yeah I would totally expect to provide that for anyone I married! What about a car, I would expect to buy her a Mercedes, what do you think?!" and once her gold digging little ass is hooked, talk about your requirements in a wife.

Start with "she'd have to be open sexually", then see how far you could take it. After you've covered vanilla, a bit kinky, S&M, be all "and yeah, pissing midgets! She'd have to be willing to let a midget piss all over her face!"

[MancChap]

That doesn't happen...that have to announce you publicly if you did...Read the rules or w/e...I know you can't keep a secret though.

You can. At least here. But you get money from the newspapers and stuff if you come out with it.

[Wh1teDyn0mite]

This. I'd probably still spend most of my time playing games and stuff if i had millions. I enjoy freedom, and with money/not having to work again you get freedom. I'd like to wake up in a morning and decide what i fancy doing today without having to worry about paying a bill or if i can afford steak for tea.

This or if your boss is in a good mood.

[NYG92]

http://instagram.com/danbilzerian

[LurkoLantern]

Johnny Cash had a good quote about this:

"Success is having to worry about every damn thing in the world, except money"

[TreFo]

negative mentality------->negative mentality
positive mentality-------->positive mentality


If I had $15m I'd try to complete my bucket list and secretly, hand-donate $$$ to poor, hard-working individuals

[HomerJThompson]

Money would allow me not to go to work, so would be worth all the headache.

[levelheadedbreh]

Very good read.

Honestly there is zero chance you're an intelligent person if you think that.

It was an embarrassingly stupid post.

[VelosiT]

great read. loved the OP. i agree 100%. if i ever get rich i won't tell a soul, and ill move out to Africa and find myself one of these beauties


i'll walk everywhere on foot, and travel 3 miles everyday with a bucket just for some clean water.
money just brings problems.

who needs money amirite?