
Ask HN: How to escape the rat race? - koejoelo
What are your thoughts on achieving financial independence? Is doing startup worth it if you have 50k in savings by 31?
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itamarst
A startup is a toss up. The key to financial independence is _lowering your
living expenses_.

Read [http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2012/01/13/the-shockingly-
sim...](http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2012/01/13/the-shockingly-simple-math-
behind-early-retirement/) to see why, then start at
[http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2013/02/22/getting-rich-
from-...](http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2013/02/22/getting-rich-from-zero-to-
hero-in-one-blog-post/)

For a programmer-oriented guide that talks a little about financial
independence (and eventually a book with much more info):
[https://codewithoutrules.com/saneworkweek/](https://codewithoutrules.com/saneworkweek/)

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smt88
Doing a startup is gambling, and it's gambling in a particularly high-risk
way. If all you have is $50k in savings, you should not put that money
anywhere near a startup. The money that isn't in your immediate checking
account should be in a low-fee index fund, especially if $50k is all you have.

~~~
brianwawok
Startups are are terrible way to retire. Work a boring job for 10 years and
save a lot and you are done. Many many many people in startups never make as
much as people in boring jobs.

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imaginenore
If you're in the US, and are a programmer, your savings are way way too low
for your age. It means you either haven't been changing jobs often enough,
getting massive raises every time, or you spend too much.

If you're a US citizen, consider finding a well paid hourly remote job, and
move somewhere cheap. You can reduce your work hours to literally 1-2 per
week, enough to sustain yourself. Europe is quite cheap if you avoid big
cities, Switzerland, and Norway. Most of Asia is very cheap except Singapore
and Japan. There's also Africa, South America, and a gazillion island nations.

~~~
android521
How much should a programmer have saved by 31?

~~~
dev-ious
I have 200k at 24...

~~~
soulchild37
I have just 5k at 23... I live in a third world country where USD 2k monthly
salary for programmer is considered top-tier level...

~~~
smt88
Whether or not you have saved enough should be a function of living expenses,
not wages.

If you have $5k and can live on $600/month, that's great. If you need
$1k/month in expenses, then it's not great at all.

As soon as possible, you need to have enough saved to cover an unexpected,
large expense (car/home repair, medical emergency, moving to a new place,
etc.) and at least 6 months of living expenses. I personally have at least 12
months of living expenses at any given time.

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amorphid
One reason it's worth doing a startup if you know something other people
don't. For example, you've been working in an industry, have some knowledge of
that industry's inefficiencies, and can efficiently tackle those
inefficiencies with technology.

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allfou
A college kid with zero savings can become billionaire. An old rich
billionaire can spend millions of dollars trying to build 100 products people
don't want. There's no right answer to your question. The only advice I heard
that made sense to me was:

%99 of the people are looking for: security, then comfort, then becoming rich

%1 of the people are looking to becoming rich, then comfort, then security

"Simply" re-order your priorities.

