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Comment by ipaddr | Hacker News Reader

Use your envy for good. Find out how they made money and copy. Get insight into another world and use it to make your life better.

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Unfortunately this is not really specific advice. I was recently talking to a friend who wants to be a specialist nurse. There is no road to working as a specialist nurse for FAANG sized salaries.

The buying power of the middle class in the USA has been wrecked.

If Picketty (Capital in the 21st Century) is right then we will have a level of wealth inequality close to the french revolution in 9 years.

Maybe we should be looking at institutional class labor (nurse, teacher, doctor, accountant) purchasing power as a better indicator.

It's hard to duplicate luck.

The majority of wealthy people get there by starting small businesses or slowly piling up investments via a consistently high income such that they have a surplus of capital coming in regularly (eg dentist, accountant, doctor, real-estate agent, software developer, psychologist, nurse practitioner, pharmacist, veterinarian, lawyer, and dozens of other higher paying careers).

Those aren't primarily luck, even though it obviously plays a role in every path.

The luck involved in obtaining "a consistently high income" in the first place.

Definitely. I didn't know that I can earn well with programming when I chose CS for my Master's. I didn't know that in Uni either, and still didn't know that in my first job. I assumed it'll be the same as, say, electrical or chemistry major. Not really sure when that became apparent.

Or rich parents who care and have time for you. Always reminds me of the comic [1] On a plate by Toby Morris.

[1] https://digitalsynopsis.com/inspiration/privileged-kids-on-a...

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