Ask HN: If you were financially independent in your 20s, would you be in tech?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41453296

by xyst • 2 years ago

4 11 2 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

al_borland2• 2 years ago

Maybe in some capacity at my leisure. Not anything that would leave me with a bunch of obligations or stress.

xyst2• 2 years ago

Would open source be an option on the table?

Personally, there’s something about people using code that I wrote that gives me a special feeling. Something that I will almost never feel in corp programming/swe.

al_borland2• 2 years ago

Open source was my first thought, as long as it didn’t start feeling like a job due to dealing with bug reports, feature requests, etc.

It could also be solo projects, the state of the source would be irrelevant there, ignoring any philosophical beliefs. Make something I want to exist and put it out there for people to use as-is. If they find it useful/enjoyable and want to use it, cool. If not, that’s fine too.

Personally, there’s something about people using code that I wrote that gives me a special feeling. Something that I will almost never feel in corp programming/swe.

Same. I usually like helping people solve problems. I see someone struggling, come up with an idea on how they can struggle less, then make it happen. I was able to do this in my corp job for many years, it’s how I transitions from a sys admin to a swe. It was nice, because the people I was making stuff for weren’t demanding, they appreciated the stuff I was giving them, and it was all at my own pace. I did turn stuff around fast, but the drive wasn’t their demands, it was my desire to help them.

Now they have me making stuff on insane deadlines, that makes things harder instead of easier, all feedback is negative, and suggestions to make things better are ignored or punished.

I miss that old era a lot. During those times, I used to say if I won the lotto I would keep working for quite a while. I enjoyed helping people and it was low stress. Now… ugh.

jrflowers2• 2 years ago

“Would you have a job in your 20s if you did not need a job in your 20s?” is an incredible question

xyst2• 2 years ago

I was asking if SWE/programming is just another way to fund your lifestyle; or is it a passion?

If it’s a passion, what would folks do for leisure in this industry?

jrflowers2• 2 years ago

People have high paying jobs because they are high paying jobs.

As for what people with high paying jobs do for leisure, the list of answers is very long because they can afford a wide variety of leisure activities. It is largely identical to (though possibly shorter than) the list of leisure activities that a person could enjoy if they do not need a high paying job to afford them.

GianFabien• 2 years ago

Do you mean bio-tech, geo-tech, fin-tech, climate-tech ... etc ?

I wouldn't choose computers + software as my tech. There are far more and greater opportunities in broader domains. Currently I'm dabbling with under-water robotics.

ggm• 2 years ago

Perhaps it's unfair to do this but as a 63 year old, I was financially independent in my 20s and I was in tech. I guess you meant "wealthy beyond your wildest dreams" rather than "able to earn more money than you spent, and so actually make headway on the ridiculously small mortgage which was a far smaller fraction of my net worth, than for a 20yo today looking at entering the housing market" or something.

I know some HNW people, some are nice, some are nasty. Some are lazy, some are amazingly productive. Some are in tech. Some are in arts. Some are spending their wealth on charity. Overall, I don't think being financially independent determines the best course, it's very subjective.

The best outcome for all of us, is to stop people being capable of being obscenely rich. I expect to get downvoted for that, but having thousands of multiples of net worth beyond the people around you is fundamentally a-social. The upside of job creation is massively offset by the other outcomes of the inequality.

EVa5I7bHFq9mnYK• 2 years ago

Yes. But I would be doing what I thought is meaningful (AI research). Didn't have that opportunity until retirement.

thayne• 2 years ago

Yes, but I'd be spending more time working on open source projects I care about.

bradlys• 2 years ago

No. The social status associated with it is very low. I’d pursue another career with higher social status or just stop working altogether and try to find something that would elevate my social status. Being financially independent is surprisingly low social status.

I know cause I’ve been doing the FIRE thing for about 2.5 years (starting in my early 30s) and I get shit on it all the time. It’s nuts.

Ask HN: If you were financially independent in your 20s, would you be in tech?

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