re: Good article on the rich vs. the average

My Rant, as promised:

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Part of me agrees with him, part of me wants to say that's why he's working for Yahoo and not an investment company.

There are maybe 5 or 6 funds who are good enough to decipher the method to the current madness. One of which, Renaissance Technologies, stands out among the crowd. Their flagship "Medallion" fund has averaged 35% a year since its founding in 1989. That translates to just under a 100x return on each dollar invested in the fund.

On the other hand, not all of us can be military grade code breakers (that's the background of many of Renaissance's employees). So for normal investors, markets are filled with infamous "animal spirits" (an idea popularized by JM Keynes) , the kind of things that cause the Nikkei 225 to sky rocket to 100x P/E, in the face of all logic. However, those "animal spirits" are unfocused and break under the pressure of fundamentals (or, fancy formulas, as this dood called them). The best approach is to follow the fundamentals and use dislocations caused by animal spirits as excellent buying and selling opportunities.

Think of the market as a dog on a leash being walked by a human down the street. The dog might be able to dart forward, backward and side to side (short term fluctuations), but at the end of the day, the dog will follow the path and pace of the human (market fundamentals).

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This is pretty much the bottom line. Average people want to hang out, relax, play, recreate, etc. Rich people want to produce.

And I'm not calling the average people lazy, it's just time, effort and resources directed to entertain themselves rather than move ahead.

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Which is why rich people are often very unhappy people. They (at least a lot of them) are so obsessed with making money they leave no time for the things that actually matter like enjoying life, being with family, hanging out etc... What's the point of having all that money if you can't enjoy it? I know everyone is different but I'd much rather be "average" and use the money I do make to do the things I enjoy and spend time with my family etc.. than work 60+ hours a week and not get to enjoy my life until I'm in my 50s.

*Yes I know this is not the case for all rich people, but the majority it is for sure.

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Which is why rich people are often very unhappy people. They (at least a lot of them) are so obsessed with making money they leave no time for the things that actually matter like enjoying life, being with family, hanging out etc... What's the point of having all that money if you can't enjoy it? I know everyone is different but I'd much rather be "average" and use the money I do make to do the things I enjoy and spend time with my family etc.. than work 60+ hours a week and not get to enjoy my life until I'm in my 50s.

*Yes I know this is not the case for all rich people, but the majority it is for sure.

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I completely understand your viewpoint. It's completely wrong, though. Those types get true joy from their work.

People who say these things and actually mean it are the kinds of people that I really wish I was more like. However, it's become a talking point for a lot of people who underachieve and are mad about it (not pointed at you).

Most of the guys working 60 hours a week look at the I bankers working 90 hours a week and say the same thing about them.

You are probably right.

I don't personally know too many very wealthy people that well since most people I know are late 20s/early 30s. However, the ones I know that work a ton, and presumably make good money doing it, just don't seem very happy.

As someone who definitely enjoys a lot of other things outside work I guess I never really considered that a lot people really do love to work.

I don't mean to say I wouldn't enjoy making more money but I certainly wouldn't sacrifice my free time and relative lack of stress for it. As long as I can provide for my family, pay my bills, go to a few ballgames/dinners/movies etc... a couple of times a month and a couple of decent vacations a year I'm satisfied monetarily.

This comment reminds me of so many people:

"Physical, psychological, and emotional comfort is the primary goal of the middle class mindset," Siebold writes.

World class thinkers learn early on that becoming a millionaire isn't easy and the need for comfort can be devastating. They learn to be comfortable while operating in a state of ongoing uncertainty."

And no I'm not rich, but many who I see complain about there lot in life fit the first part of that quote to a T.