On the Experience of Being Poor-Ish, for People Who Aren't

Re:On the Experience of Being Poor-Ish, for People Who Aren't by benhurmarcel on Monday March 01, 2021 @12:18PM (#26305207)

I really didn't like that book, for me it missed the point entirely. For the entire length it discusses how you accumulate more wealth by not spending it, but it never discussed why you would be accumulating all that wealth.

People want to be millionaires, not to stare at 7 digits on a webpage, but for the lifestyle it affords. This book just assumes the end goal is the number on a bank account.

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Re:On the Experience of Being Poor-Ish, for People Who Aren't by technofiend on Monday March 01, 2021 @02:14PM (#26306879)

>For the entire length it discusses how you accumulate more wealth by not spending it, but it never discussed why you would be accumulating all that wealth.

To be fair, I believe that motivation comes from the reader, not the author.

>People want to be millionaires, not to stare at 7 digits on a webpage, but for the lifestyle it affords.

Again to be fair I believe you're projecting: you may want to be a millionaire for the lifestyle it affords, whatever that means to you. The book is a recipe on ways to retain wealth and anecdotes on how people accumulated their own. It's not a self-help guide to motivate people to become millionaires. I think it's assumed if they're reading they book they're already motivated and need to know how, not why.

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Re:On the Experience of Being Poor-Ish, for People Who Aren't by benhurmarcel on Tuesday March 02, 2021 @03:17AM (#26313065)

I think there's very little value in a book telling you that your wealth accumulates much faster if you spend it the least possible. That's obvious.

The value would be discussing why you want to spend it, why you should reconsider because it wouldn't affect happiness, something like that.

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Re:On the Experience of Being Poor-Ish, for People Who Aren't by 35fbe7d3d5b9 on Monday March 01, 2021 @01:56PM (#26306618)

> People want to be millionaires, not to stare at 7 digits on a webpage, but for the lifestyle it affords

Some do. Others do not.

My boss makes ~300k a year base. He drives a ten year old Golf, carries zero debt, and plans his (very infrequent) meals out around "which restaurant is running a 'kids eat free' special today?"

His goal is to build up a sizeable savings, retire and live off interest, and provide generational wealth for each of his children.

One of his peers makes ~300k a year base and enjoys driving a Ferrari that costs more than my house. Different strokes for different folks :)

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Re:On the Experience of Being Poor-Ish, for People Who Aren't by benhurmarcel on Tuesday March 02, 2021 @03:15AM (#26313052)

Fine, but in my opinion this is what the book should discuss, at least in part. If it advocates for not spending your millions and dying with them in the bank, it should discuss that.

Currently it basically tells you that if you spend the least possible, you accumulate wealth faster. Well, wasn't that obvious.

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Re:On the Experience of Being Poor-Ish, for People Who Aren't by pwg on Monday March 01, 2021 @02:03PM (#26306715)

> but it never discussed why you would be accumulating all that wealth.

One reason is that if one accumulates that wealth, and puts that wealth to work itself making money (i.e., investing it) then one obtains an income stream that is separate and apart from the number of hours per day one can spend "working".

Accumulate enough money that is itself making money, and one can live comfortably without having to spend 40+hrs/week "working" for one's income.

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Re:On the Experience of Being Poor-Ish, for People Who Aren't by benhurmarcel on Tuesday March 02, 2021 @03:16AM (#26313057)

Right, except that book also tells you not to spend/use any of that interest, and continue working as much as possible, so that it accumulates exponentially.

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Re:On the Experience of Being Poor-Ish, for People Who Aren't by adkadskhj on Monday March 01, 2021 @12:29PM (#26305373)

The number is a goal, for me. Since the moment the goal is hit, is the moment i can live safely. If you save $X, you can retire. You have the rest of your life planned for, and that feeling is worth a lot.

I don't plan on retiring, but i'd feel so, so good if i hit $X tomorrow.

The economy could still go down, but as long as society doesn't collapse retirement-amounts can bring massive QOL, even if you don't live like you're rich.

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Re:On the Experience of Being Poor-Ish, for People Who Aren't by benhurmarcel on Tuesday March 02, 2021 @03:21AM (#26313085)

And if you're already clear that reaching a given number is your priority above your current lifestyle, do you really need a book to tell you that spending the least possible will make you reach that goal faster?

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