January 13, 2026
Take this job and fund it
Ask HN: If you had $10M in the bank, would you still show up to your job?
Got $10M—still going to work? Crowd screams "no" and debates hobbies vs index funds
TLDR: A viral thread asked if you’d keep working with $10M; most said they’d quit the corporate grind for personal projects, while a few would keep working on meaningful stuff. The comments veered into simple investing plans and existential musings, showing how money reshapes career choices.
Ask HN just dropped the life-question bomb: if $10M wired into your account, would you still clock in? The comment section turned into a confessional—and a comedy club. The loudest chorus was a blunt “no”, with folks swearing off meetings, office politics, and “inept colleagues,” dreaming of tinkering 10 hours a week on passion projects and fonts, not standups. One romantic quit fantasy read like a cozy montage: wrenching on a Jeep, learning math, walking dogs, and—ultimate luxury—paying $50/month for extra soccer matches.
But the drama had layers. One user insisted they’d still do a job, just one that mattered personally. Another pulled the thread into philosophical territory, warning the idle brain will spiral into “dark existential stuff” unless you set goals. Practical minds crashed the party with a how-to guide: stuff half into VOO (a big stock index fund) and half into VTEB or BND (bond funds), collect around $200k/year, and don’t forget an umbrella insurance policy. FDIC? That’s the bank’s deposit insurance cap—yes, someone explained it like a pro.
The vibe: quit the grind, keep the meaning. The funniest bit? One commenter flexed about being rich… and still too cheap to replace a dead-pixel phone. Peek the thread for the full spectacle: here.
Key Points
- •Respondents largely state they would stop traditional employment if they had $10 million, shifting to self-directed work or personal projects.
- •One plan involves forming a single-member LLC, working ~10 hours per week, and focusing on enjoyable product-building tasks without financial pressure.
- •Dislike of workplace politics and meetings versus enjoyment of technical problem-solving drives the decision for some to leave their jobs.
- •Even a respondent who loves their current systems programming role would wind down to occasional consulting and focus on personal pursuits and learning.
- •A proposed investment strategy splits $10M between VOO and VTEB or BND to generate roughly $200k/year in dividends, with attention to FDIC limits, taxes, and umbrella insurance.