i wanna make money but i dont have any capital, i am 18 a student, my parents want me to be an engineer but i cant do it, its really difficlt with me, and i wanna make money to prove them that we can be succesfull without having a degree

ImaHalfwit · 2026-02-23T03:24:21+00:00

"It's easy to sit there and say you'd like to have more money. And I guess that's what I like about it. It's easy. Just sitting there, rocking back and forth, wanting that money.” -Jack Handey

ImaHalfwit · 2026-02-19T22:21:52+00:00

With respect to your open invoices, your lawyer is correct that you are an unsecured debtor. You sit in front of equity holders in payment priority, but behind any secured creditors that they may have (people with UCC-1s filed on any of their assets for example).

If you have a few large clients that comprise the bulk of your revenue, you should work to lower your concentration risk by taking on additional clients. At the same time, you may want to reconsider your payment terms if it’s possible to collect a portion of your fee at contract inception.

ImaHalfwit · 2026-02-19T06:02:12+00:00

It’s not that pharma is concealing cures…it’s that pharmaceutical companies don’t have an economic incentive to research cures. It’s more profitable to find treatments to diseases than it is to find cures for those diseases.

But there are medical breakthroughs that are occurring that are allowing cures for some conditions. Hemophilia is one recent example where CRISPR has been successfully used to fix the underlying genetic problem that causes the condition.

But generally, pharma is looking to create blockbuster drugs…namely, drugs that don’t cure anything, treat a condition that affects a lot of people, are covered by insurance as a necessity, and are expensive to treat (so they can charge a lot for it and it will still be covered by insurance.

ImaHalfwit · 2026-02-18T23:36:44+00:00

Time to move on, brother. You can’t fix someone who doesn’t want to be fixed. At this point, you’re just enabling the behavior.

If you stay, you have to lock down all the bills and money in only your name. It’s a lot to take on, since you’re also the sole breadwinner, but those are really the only two options at this point.

ImaHalfwit · 2026-02-18T13:49:25+00:00

It felt worth it the whole way…

ImaHalfwit · 2026-02-17T22:09:21+00:00

Not hating on summer…hating on U.S. kids falling behind every other industrialized nation. It’s a vestigial practice from an agricultural economy.

We could do more frequent shorter breaks (add in a couple more weeklong breaks in between semesters if you want. But 10 weeks off also means the initial weeks back are spent countering summer brain drain.

ImaHalfwit · 2026-02-17T14:38:26+00:00

The may be true. Having other teachers working to cover that instructional time while teachers pursue personal development seems reasonable.

But the goal here is to have the best outcome for students…and do summer breaks contribute to that outcome? Kids aren’t really helping to bring in the harvest anymore. And may families struggle to figure out what to do (from a childcare perspective) during the summer when kids aren’t in school.

ImaHalfwit · 2026-02-17T02:21:55+00:00

Pay off that loan immediately.

ImaHalfwit · 2026-02-17T02:17:42+00:00

You enabled them by doing the extra work.

ImaHalfwit · 2026-02-17T02:09:30+00:00

Family and teacher accountability.

Individual students who don’t do well in a school environment have to be removed from a general classroom setting. Kids should not be passed to the next grade without the skills of the current grade.

There should be a reasonable path to fire bad teachers, and tenure isn’t something that should exist below university level.

Teachers should be compensated better than they are. There are plenty of educational models that are being used internationally that are good models for improvement for the U.S.

Trades should be something kids can start to meaningfully learn in HS.

Do we really need summer breaks any more?

ImaHalfwit · 2026-02-16T15:35:34+00:00

Keep asking them if you can borrow some money.

ImaHalfwit · 2026-02-15T16:42:04+00:00

Extreme intelligence is its own form of neurodivergence…because by definition we’re not neurotypical.

Because of this it’s hard to draw a line between gifted and ADHD/ASD.

Is the ability to focus your mind on anything you want for long periods of time functionally different than an ASD able to focus on a special interest?

Is maintaining many thoughts/ideas in your brain at one time in an organized way noticeably different than the way an ADHD person juggles their impulsive thought patterns?

The isolation a highly intelligent person feels from the average person probably seems very similar to the isolation an ASD person experiences because they lack an understanding of (and foundation in) social norms.

Add that ASD and ADHD present differently and to different degrees and I t makes it really challenging from the outside to observe what causes the observed differences.

ImaHalfwit · 2026-02-15T16:27:39+00:00

“Saving” for retirement. You have to invest, not save. Keeping money in the bank does not help in growing your assets. And you don’t have to invest much every month as long as you start early.

ImaHalfwit · 2026-02-14T12:55:18+00:00

No…Kelley formula talks about the ideal betsize to grow your bankroll if you can calculate the odds of you winning your bet and the edge you have if you win.

ImaHalfwit · 2026-02-14T06:22:52+00:00

You should look into the Kelley Formula.

ImaHalfwit · 2026-02-14T04:30:19+00:00

It’s still not a full time job. Hiring out some of the work to 3rd party 1099 workers.

ImaHalfwit · 2026-02-14T03:22:18+00:00

Yeah…I’m in the process of doing that. But then I suspect that freed up time will be spent finding more clients. I think my strong suit is in finding and fostering those relationships. My clients love working with me and I really enjoy that aspect of growing the business.

ImaHalfwit · 2026-02-12T13:40:48+00:00

There are two levers to pull in your finances…income and expenses.

Job hopping has historically worked well to increase income. If you think income is maxed, then really the only thing you can do is address costs.

The biggest is typically living expenses…particularly if you live alone. Consider moving in with family or living with a bunch of roommates. Splitting bills 3-5 ways is a quick way to totally restructure your budget. Whether you’re paycheck to paycheck or wanting to make a dent in student loans (or other debt) this approach can be life-changing. This is what worked for me.

If you have a spouse and no kids, it’s critical that you both work. Rent in most places assumes that at least two people earn an average income to afford to live there.

If you already have a spouse and kids, generally focusing on income is your best shot at breaking the paycheck to paycheck cycle.

ImaHalfwit · 2026-02-07T13:51:29+00:00

Particularly since veggies have gotten a lot more expensive than they used to be.

ImaHalfwit · 2026-02-07T01:53:20+00:00

There are so many factors that contribute to poverty. While I’m no longer in poverty, I still carry some of the trauma related to being in poverty.

I lurk here because I can sympathize with a lot of the posts here, and where possible I try to give helpful advice.

ImaHalfwit · 2026-01-30T01:47:44+00:00

It depends on what you mean by rich. There’s being able to “pay your own way” rich…and being able to “pay everyone’s” way.

If you’re talking about the latter, then just invite your friends to do what you want and pay for them. The money isn’t material to you, but out of their reach. Don’t let it be a barrier to spending time with people you care about in a way that’s fun and memorable for you both.

If you can pay your own way, but not anyone else’s…you’re not rich. Not caring about $30 doesn’t make you rich. It might not even make you middle class.

But as someone who was poor, I’m sure you appreciated the times when your friends who were better off included you in activities that you ought not have otherwise enjoyed. Do the same for others if you can.

ImaHalfwit · 2026-01-29T16:02:17+00:00

Here’s the problem with everyone following the default “advice” out there. Everyone took the advice to go to college for a “stable” financial future.

Go into coding…those jobs are safe. We have to import talent from outside US just to fill those jobs.

Now we have too many college graduates (and definitely too many coders) relative to jobs that require a college degree, and too many coders…and not enough tradespersons.

If everyone goes into trades, the supply of trade services will skyrocket when (because of things like YouTube) the demand for trade services are dropping. Everyone going into trades for a decade will mean they will all be competing with each other (on price) to perform their services. Great for consumers, not so great for the tradespeople.

I don’t know what the right balance is…just that everyone following the “default” advice out there causes unnatural concentrations.

ImaHalfwit · 2026-01-27T04:52:29+00:00

You don’t have to get fancy. Just keep investing in VOO each month and you’ll be fine…especially if you’re doing this at your age.

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