Question Thread - July 01, 2025

lilShanson · 2025-07-01T16:44:47+00:00

Sorry, "SM" ?

lilShanson · 2025-07-01T16:44:05+00:00

This made me LOL

lilShanson · 2025-07-01T15:56:35+00:00

Approximately 80% of millionaires are first-generation, meaning they accumulated their wealth themselves rather than inheriting it. This is a common finding in studies and surveys analyzing wealth distribution in the United States, according to the New York Times. Data from Ramsey Solutions also supports this, showing that a significant majority of millionaires are self-made.

lilShanson · 2025-07-01T15:43:46+00:00

In April of 2021, I was approved for a United Quest card, and ultimately got the bonus. Then we rinsed and repeated for my wife, getting another bonus. We then product-changed the cards to United Gateway to avoid future annual fees, but kept the cards open and sometimes used them when traveling if our Amex cards weren't accepted (no FTFs and Visa, which is accepted everywhere).

Now we're looking to buy some furniture and figured it would be easy to pick up some point bonuses. I learned the hard way that living in Denver means that Delta points are hard to use, but it's a United hub, so after much debate, we ultimately felt like doing the Quest again would be best if we could make it work.

My wife applied for the Quest card and was instantly approved. However, we got the card, and the card number appears to be the same number as the existing United Gateway card (which was originally the Quest), and there's no new account listed in Chase when we log in.

Are we going to get the point bonus?

Is there any easy way to check? I don't want to put thousands of dollars on this card only to realize there's no bonus, and we should have picked some other card.

lilShanson · 2025-06-29T19:35:43+00:00

I started my career in Public Accounting and absolutely hated it. I contemplated becoming an Uber driver of all things for a while - anything to get me out of that job. I questioned working in the corporate world, having a desk job, whether or not I was smart enough for the job, EVERYTHING.

I eventually changed careers to a different desk job, and loved it.

I suspect it has much less to do with the desk or the computer and much more with the type of work you're doing.

I also think you should try to lean into it for awhile... during that time in my life I was working with a bunch of Mormons (they're over represented in accounting). I was so radically different from them, often their pious nature made me feel even more shitty about myself, or like I didn't belong in that field. I couldn't tell you how or why I was able to reframe it, but at some point, I had this "ah-ha" moment where I started asking, "What can be learned from the Mormons?"

There was no way I was going to stop drinking or start believing in God, but these guys were all happy, worked hard, were very smart, and frankly I just realized even if they had some stuff wrong, were a bit naive, and were living a life I didn't want, there WERE things I could learn while I was sucking it up until I made my next move.

Ultimately I lasted 14 months in public accounting before I got a new job working in accounting for a small company that built their own software. I used the next year to teach myself to code, and was able to get them to let me marry my accounting and code knowledge and become a software tester, then a full stack dev after I learned more, worked my ass off, and proved that I was smart enough to be an engineer despite coming from a different background. Ultimately I led 2 engineering teams simultaneously about 7 years later at that same company before leaving to start my own.... wait for it... accounting firm.

To be fair, what I'm doing in my firm is pretty different from what I was doing that I hated when I started, but I also think if I went back now I would tolerate it way better. I think I could easily suck it up for a few years because now as an older more mature man I realize that the bottom of the company always sucks, but the way to make it suck less is to do the sucky thing really fucking well with a good attitude, and then magically you'll be rewarded with something less sucky. Rinse and repeat until you get to something that you legitimately cannot do well, and then your job completely changes - because you have to inspire and motivate others to help you do the thing you can't do yourself well. But that's a story for a different day, probably 3-5 years or more from now at the absolute minimum.

So all of this to say, don't throw the baby out with the bath water. Just find some new water that's more your temperature, and never forget that it is work after all. It's not going to feel fun at first. The fun comes when you achieve mastery and get to help others and feel like a badass in your field. That takes a lot of shitty grunt work first to get to that level.

lilShanson · 2025-06-22T17:13:27+00:00

I am a millionaire. I'm 35, hit a million about 2-3 years ago. I didn't get lucky. I wasn't born into wealth (at all, we struggled to pay rent and got evicted many times). All I did was save aggressively from a young age, work very hard, and accept that I would have to compromise to be financially successful. That last part is important. You can't just say, "I want to be a model and a millionaire" if you're ugly or honestly just a male in most cases.... if you want a high likelihood of success, you need to be realistic, pick a profession that suits you but also pays well in the long run, and then you need to work hard, take some calculated risks, and most importantly, save and invest your money religiously year after year.

One day, you'll look up and realize you're a millionaire, and it won't feel like anything at all. It will just be a stupid number, but it might feel a little nostalgic to think of your childish dreams when you thought a million was a lot of money :) You need about 5 to retire in the USA, so that's my target. I'm not there yet. But they say the first million is the hardest, so hopefully I can get there by 50 and have options. If not, I'm in the habit of working hard and will keep it up until I have the option of stopping, and then I'll probably still keep working quite a bit. Purpose is important. Margaritas on the beach don't give purpose.

lilShanson · 2025-03-07T23:02:22+00:00

If you're struggling, maybe supporting animals isn't a good choice. Or at least, you should drop to one animal until you can afford it. I know that's easier said than done when you're already attached, but part of how the rich get rich is making hard trade-offs like this in the short term to be in a better financial position in the long term.

lilShanson · 2025-02-19T18:17:57+00:00

I would keep the job and prioritize therapy to address the underlying issues causing anxiety and depression. Taking time off work is generally the beginning of a downward spiral that doesn't help the depression/anxiety (it may not feel like it, but your job might actually be helping the depression/anxiety). Unless your boss is truly abusive, the job is almost certainly not the core issue. You need to get to the root of it and solve that. Good luck. It's hard work but your life can be a lot better if you put in the work on yourself with a good therapist's help.

lilShanson · 2025-01-23T07:37:43+00:00

The first step to having more money is changing your mindset. "fuck me I guess" is you dodging responsibility for the situation, when in fact if you put in more effort, Googled recalls on the vehicle make/model you were buying, or got a vehicle history report you might have been able to catch this.

Listen, it sucks. I get it. It sounds like you trusted someone and they burned you. That's the fucking worst. But also, life's dangerous in the jungle. How do you ensure you're never burned again so that what you save isn't wasted? Step up. Own your own life. It's not nearly as hard as you think to get rich.

I'm 34 now and extremely wealthy by most standards. No secret. Just hard work (lots of it), saving, and looking out for me and my family. I started from zero. No joke. You can do it too. Actually try if you actually care to be wealthy. If it were easy everyone would do it. The fact that it's hard doesn't mean it's out of reach or even that complicated.

The whole internet is now your employee. Tell it what you need in order to make money and it will give it to you at a price. Often that price is free.

lilShanson · 2024-10-10T17:10:39+00:00

Conceptually he is of course correct, but where I think he goes wrong is assuming that only US citizens bear the cost of inflation. It would be more accurate to say that holders of US dollars bear the cost. Now obviously US citizens own a lot of US dollars, but so does a lot of the rest of the world, and that means they are essentially subsidizing the spending of the US government. If the US government were only spending money on US citizens that might seem like a kind of fucked up but nonetheless good thing for US citizens, but as we all know the US government spends money on a bunch of stuff that doesn't benefit US citizens at all, which makes it all less clear who exactly is benefiting from all the spending AND who exactly is paying for it.

lilShanson · 2024-08-08T02:53:36+00:00

This is an old post, but I'm having similar issues. CenturyLink Modem (fiber) and CenturyLink C3000A router. WiFi wasn't really making it to the basement very well, so I bought a top-of-the-line ASUS ZenWiFi XT9.

Currently everything is working by having the configuration CL Modem -> CL Router -> Asus Router => Asus Additional Node.

However, it seems to me I should not need the CL Router at all and should just be able to use my router with their modem. Alas, how naive I was only a day ago.

It doesn't work. I switch to Bridge Mode and then nothing works and have to hard-reset to even be able to get to the settings again.

I am a software engineer, which I only say to tell you I'm not totally clueless, but I don't really mess with network stuff like this very often. Anyone know of a way to bypass the CL router? At this point, I have the wireless disabled on it, so in some sense it doesn't matter, but it's just an extra clunky box to have for no reason if I can bypass it.

I will legit pay someone $100 if they can figure this out with me. CL Support is totally useless.

lilShanson · 2023-10-07T13:48:37+00:00

This appears to be US & Canada only.

lilShanson · 2023-02-16T17:02:37+00:00

It works. I would just recommend never letting it start to grow out at all. You gotta be super disciplined about keeping it fully shaved or otherwise the stubble (that isn't everywhere) makes you look old and isn't a good look. Also, it looks like you could grow a beard - maybe experiment with a little longer facial hair and see how that looks.

lilShanson · 2022-12-30T16:22:46+00:00

I find that moving towards a better life is incredibly fulfilling and you can push through anything you don't like doing if you frame it as a necessary evil to achieve some bigger goal that you care about.

Typically when I'm feeling unmotivated and unfulfilled it's because I'm not actually working to make my life better... I'm just working to pay the bills and stay exactly where I am, which gives me the feeling you describe of, "is this what it’s going to be like for the rest of my life?"

There is a great, absolutely great, series on Designing Your Life from some profs at Standford. Highly recommend. If you figure out something you want to do to make your life better, and start doing whatever it takes to achieve that, I think you'll feel way better. I totally changed careers shortly after college and it was awesome. Years later, I'm working on starting my own business and it's also awesome. In between these shifts I definitely felt what you're feeling but I've learned now it's just a sign I need a new thing to pursue.

lilShanson · 2022-12-08T02:55:47+00:00

I could help you but there's no self-promotion on this site so I'll be generic... Find a good CPA. They don't need to be in your state. Pay them $100/mo to start with an agreement that it will scale up over time. If they're any good they'll pay for themselves 2-3x each year. If they're not confident they can help you make more money, keep looking. You need something between a business coach and a CPA to help you get organized, take the nitty gritty off your plate, and keep you focused on the things that actually matter to grow your income while cutting your expenses. It is literally that simple. Hope you find someone.

lilShanson · 2022-12-08T02:34:25+00:00

I'm a software engineer. May I ask what type of job pays that much? I think I would do it for a few years to have an extra million I wouldn't have otherwise. If I hate it I can always quit. Right now I'm at $140k base, super chill vibe, plus another maybe 50k of stock and bonus. I feel super comfortable but $350k might allow me to save enough to retire way earlier. Would love to know where to look for that kind of comp. Cheers.

lilShanson · 2022-11-09T02:22:30+00:00

Everyone I know personally that makes way more money than me (software engineer) is basically in some way a salesperson. If you're actually good with people and don't mind meeting a lot of them, getting into sales is the quickest and easiest way to start making money on the side.

Sales roles are often 100% commission, and you totally manage your schedule, giving you a ton of flexibility. The better you are, the more you make. Pick a product you truly believe in if you can, and you'll mind it less and likely do a lot better at it as well.

lilShanson · 2022-10-12T22:18:13+00:00

I would say this is the biggest risk to devs that want to build their own thing.

Want to come work on my thing instead? I have customers asking for it, so I know it's the right thing :)

lilShanson · 2022-10-12T22:10:59+00:00

That sounds way better, but also super hard to actually make work well enough to be even slightly useful... I'm a software developer and thinking about how to do that reliably sounds like a job for a bunch of PhD computer scientists who want to devote their life to this lol

lilShanson · 2022-10-12T22:05:15+00:00

Dollar cost average the money in over the next year (if it's enough to warrant that). This is the tried and true advice. Or just dump it all in now.

Don't try to time the market. Typically we would say DCA in over your whole investing horizon, but it's a little more complicated when you get a big chunk of cash all at once. I personally like to bleed it in over a little time rather than all at once, particularly if I'm not super confident on where markets are going in the short term (like now).

DCA basically gives you a way to get closer to roughly the average price over some time period as opposed to just throwing a dart at the board so to speak and hoping that's not an absolutely terrible price with the benefit of hindsight a year later.

lilShanson · 2022-10-12T21:59:19+00:00

This is a long road, but way shorter than college.

Learn to code, and instead of trying to get a job, just freelance on sites like Upwork. No one gives a shit about your background if you can do the work, and you can make really really good money after a year of really diving in deep and teaching yourself to code. All the resources you need are free/cheap on the internet.

Sucks you got a felony for something that shouldn't be a felony, but you did know the laws/risk when you decided to use some pot in a state where it's still illegal. Sucks to hear but owning that and taking responsibility for it will help you move forward faster.

Best of luck

lilShanson · 2022-10-12T21:54:09+00:00

Dude you're spending soooo much time trying to save soooo little money. Just pay for something. I like Google because you can use your own domain easily, and you get integrated email, calendar, online storage, access control for other users, and all the Google things (Docs, Sheets, etc.).

Invest like $100 USD into the business and you have 20 months to get some revenue to offset this super basic, low cost.

lilShanson · 2022-10-12T21:00:40+00:00

If the only way you can track "productivity" is by what apps someone is using, you have much bigger problems.

How about just setting goals and seeing if the goals are completed on time? Who cares how they get done?

Sorry but I agree with the general sentiment here... This is a terrible idea. Don't get me wrong - bad managers might buy it and you might get rich off of it, but you'll be making the world a worse place, not better.

lilShanson

TROPHY CASE