Yet, many don't start anything, despite wanting to.
Financial "success" brings with it a problem. Suddenly there's more to lose than to gain. Once you realize you've "won the lottery" and you find yourself with a nice nest egg, you start worrying more about losing it, than about using it to gain some benefit.
It took me quite a bit of mental effort to break out of that myself. My approach was to mentally write off everything that wasn't super important to me. This helped me to stop worrying about losing my nest egg (and my career), and start taking speculative risks with it.
> Yet, many don't start anything, despite wanting to.
That's a pretty tone deaf response. Many people don't start something, anything, because they don't have $1.5m in liquid assets sitting around, mate.
I have my own business. I'm writing this from the office we hire. I have tens of thousands in business bank account, not $500k. I have tens of thousands in personal savings, not $500k. You don't need a lot to start, in my opinion, but when you have $500k it's really not a hard decision to start at all.
With $500k you can start, then start, then start, and keep starting and failing over and over, easily, for 5-10 years with that kind of cash.
> Suddenly there's more to lose than to gain. Once you realize you've "won the lottery" and you find yourself with a nice nest egg, you start worrying more about losing it, than about using it to gain some benefit.
I believe this is a sign of a deeper problem, Daniel.
If you can maintain a happy lifestyle on (for example) $50k per year, there's no reason you shouldn't be able to maintain the same lifestyle should you "win the lottery" and find your self with $1.5m in the bank... you simply keep living off of $50k. The lottery winnings are just a bonus you can grow on the side.
Worrying about losing it is, essentially, worrying about being poor. And that's a valid concern for some, but it's not a valid concern for you, sorry.
I think you have misunderstood me. I see it the same way as you do. I’m ready to spend it all while trying, trying, trying... But people in a similar situation as mine keep telling me that I’m bold for taking such a big risk, that they admire my courage, and that they don’t have the same risk appetite as I have. What I’m trying to communicate though is that what I’m doing is not risky or bold. I’m not risking anything consequential, even if I lose 90% of my wealth.
From my own anecdotal observations, people with little to lose (no wealth, early career) are much more willing to start their own business than someone with a successful career and $1M in the bank. This was the point of that paragraph you quoted.
I think you're right. A lot of people are afraid of being poor. Of losing everything and being on the street. They forget that they can just get a job and start again, really. They're lowest point is a $100k+ job, right?
I really do hope young people are taking bigger risks and starting something for themselves. I'm 34 but my brother-in-law is 24. I'm bringing him into my business because I need him to understand that selling his time for money is a bad investment, among other things.
Financial "success" brings with it a problem. Suddenly there's more to lose than to gain. Once you realize you've "won the lottery" and you find yourself with a nice nest egg, you start worrying more about losing it, than about using it to gain some benefit.
It took me quite a bit of mental effort to break out of that myself. My approach was to mentally write off everything that wasn't super important to me. This helped me to stop worrying about losing my nest egg (and my career), and start taking speculative risks with it.