Absolutely valid choice for some of us. Life has taught me that I'm not really all that special in any particular capacity, and more importantly to be okay with it. Being able to cover all my future expenses in a 3 or 4 bedroom place with a high quality security system would be winning at life.

I'd definitely want to pursue some hobbies, but I wouldn't expect any of them to make money or change the world. I could at least donate to nonprofits for the latter, though.

> with a high quality security system

Jeepers. I am guessing your other priorities in your life make it so you need to live in an unsafe area?

I am middle aged, and I have never lived anywhere in my hometown Christchurch that had an active security system. In more that one place the front door or back door was never locked. Probably because I just have never owned much worth stealing! Correction: my parents had a security system, but they stopped using it and it stopped working maybe 15 years ago?

I currently live in a particularly safe little area of my city, although I wouldn’t mind having a secret lockup for the few things that can’t be insured. Most rural or small-town New Zealand is even safer than living in my city.

Above said, I do believe thievery is increasing in Christchurch. My friends in Woolston had a small shed ram-raided (failed because the shed builder went overboard on big posts), and those friends have needed to add security cameras to help prevent thieves casing their home. Anecdotally theft in Lyttelton is on the rise.

> I am guessing your other priorities in your life make it so you need to live in an unsafe area?

It may not be so much you live in an area with danger, but the danger comes to your safe area looking for money (ransom).

And not just you, but those around you:

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._Paul_Getty#Kidnapping_of_gr...

See also "Lottery winner 'regretted scooping £11m' when brother hired hitman to assassinate him":

* https://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/weird-news/lottery-winner-r...

> kidnapping, hitman

These are outrageously unlikely in my country, and would guess are extremely unlikely even in the USA.

If you are worried about extreme events, then a security system is hardly going to help you. When you win the lottery, you can move or buy a good security system.

I've had a similar thought of this regarding one hit wonders. So many of them hit it big on a single song and they end up thinking that the hit was because the people like "them" when a lot of the time, it just hit the cultural zeitgeist at the right time or was used in a commercia/tiktok. I often think if that happened for me, I'd try my best to milk it and then dip. You might only have a few hundred thousand dollars but save it and go back to what you were doing before while still making music on the side.

The best example I've seen of this is chamillionaire. He had a string of 3-5 hits but diversified and has stayed wealthy while many of the people in a similar vein are broke.