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Ask HN: I made $1M - what now?

13 points by throwawayxyz ↗ HN
I'm single, in my mid-20s. For the last few years, I've worked on a variety of my own projects and managed to strike it lucky on my latest one.

I've lived very comfortably on $30K a year and I'm not interested in making any more money- I intend to invest and live off what I've made. But I haven't got a clue what to do with my life!

HN is by far the smartest and most helpful community I've ever found, and I'd love to know thoughts, ideas or suggestions any of you have - what now? What would you do?

25 comments

[ 4.9 ms ] story [ 66.7 ms ] thread
Khao
In your position, I'd either keep working or go back to college/university.

I'd keep working only on something I'm really passionate about, and do it for fun. I wouldn't do 40-hrs a week or something stressful. I'd work on something I love even if I can't make a lot of money out of it.

As for studying, I don't know what I would study but I always love learning more stuff.

dave1619
Follow what's interesting to you and hopefully that will lead you to a passion.
throwawayxyz
How could I begin to find what I'm interested in?
ewams
You seriously don't know what you like to do?
throwawayxyz
It seems crazy, but I've never properly considered it! I wanted think about every possibility, rather than just straightaway going for something I think I like.
mapster
The answer to what you love to do will come by getting involved in things, one door opens another door. Volunteer, teach, go back to school, etc.
reason
Many people don't, myself included.
revorad
Try lots of different things.
combiclickwise
I think by just being aware of it. Thats all you need. There is no further big secret "how" to it.

Tell yourself you are looking to find something that you will enjoy doing and sooner or later you will find it.

I enjoy programming, creating stuff with computers and I know how lucky I am that I get a chance to do it and also get paid for it. This passion also shows on me I think.. so when people ask me how they can find it I always tell them to just be aware of it.

I sincerely hope that helps.

spathi
This is gonna be long so I'll divide it into Longer (A) part and shorter (B) part =)

A)

I can relate on the subject from personal experience and give an example of how looking for myself worked out to making new friends from all over the world and having blast of experience along the way.

Some 6 years ago I was very passionate about some musical artists, and I've made a decision of going abroad to see them play live. That's how I discovered the scene of musical festivals(in Europe). Travelling there for the first time(and travelling abroad for first time in general) was so amazing(the vibe, meeting new people, making friendships), that upon returning back home at 5am, after a week at said festival, the first thing me and my gf did was looking up for flight tickets for another festival we read about in some flyer :)

Ever since then I began quitting my job every summer and travel for at least a month to festivals all over Europe. Needless to say I meet many remarkable people (and with most we also shared common passion about music), which lead to great friendships I hope to cherish for the rest of my life.

B) So like it's already been mentioned in the thread, look for things you'd like to do, or figure doing what could make you happy. In most cases that will lead you to groups of people that share same said interest. The outcomes would be priceless !

p.s. - In case you're a shy person and have difficulty communicating with new people, perhaps another goal to be set is to develop communication skills. Those are always valued highly :)

Hope any of this will be of help to anyone.

pilom
I am so happy I was a whitewater rafting guide in college before I ever became a tech guy. The interests that I learned there have stayed with me ever since regardless of how financially successful I become. Get a job doing something random that sounds fun.
redredraider
Take a vacation. Be frugal with your money and you should never have to work again if you can live on 30k a year.
redredraider
Learn to play an instrument. I've always found that to be a rewarding waste of time.
dstein
If you intend to retire at 25 years old with only 1 million you will need to become a very sophisticated investor (and not lose your shirt in the process).
rabble
Studying might be interesting, find a community and activity you're passionate about and can connect with people. Our jobs play a major social role in our lives. Not needing a job means you need to have that social community some other way.

Maybe try volunteering? Code for America? Geeks Corps? Try going to school and getting a phd in something which interests you. It's important to be engaged in meaningful activity to lead a rich and full life.

avstraliitski
What worked for me was travel - long term travel, working overseas. Then I became interested in the linguistics, art, geography and history of other parts of the world. I think I could pretty happily live almost anywhere now, and notice and value the good things about my environment a lot more than I used to, having gone without. Things like art galleries, museums, good cinema, interesting bars, global food.
hparra
Likewise. I was fortunate to live and travel through South America and Southeast Asia through my teenage years since my father took overseas engineering jobs. I cannot begin to express what traveling, and more importantly, immersion, will do to your vision and your priorities. It's a wonderful world out there.
turar
Why not start with telling how you made your $1M? :)
iworkforthem
In your mid 20s, made $1M.. Think you probably can take time out to write a book. And figure out what you want to do next. i.e. Build something interesting? Or invest in a startup?
guitate
if you can get a little more, do some altruism and then do whatever make u happy
T2P
If you're not interested in making more money, then asking people here what to do with may not yield many responses. ;) Congrats, btw.
volandovengo
Wow - congratulations. If you have managed to make 1 million in your 20's, you are probably a very driven person who could impact the world in a lot of ways.

I suggest doing a little bit of reflection on what you want out of life. Money is nice but in my opinion, it is only an enabler of doing other, more important things in life. So, I would suggest trying to write a list of 50 things you wish to have done before you die, doing a little bit of self reflection and to seriously consider working on something other than money making projects for a while.