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My Path to Financial Independence as a Software Engineer

software.rajivprab.com

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Re: My Path to Financial Independence as a Software Engineer

#291

Post by vkhn »

supernova87a wrote: post #109

Here's 2 questions for the "FIRE" crowd. 1) To stop working when you hit a certain number seems to me to be falling into the faulty logic illustrated in Freakonomics -- when a taxi driver works every day towards a certain $ figure, he suffers on crappy days (keeps on driving to little benefit) when fares are just not coming, and cuts off his earnings on great days where business is pouring in like crazy. Instead, you…

On thought #2, I'm with you. While I'm planning to retire early (thanks to software, I will have the money, and not much brain power left), I have yet to figure out what the heck I want to do, and I won't retire until I figure that out.

I also think the "financially independent" life has a pretty wide definition. I don't need a job for an alarmingly long time, but couldn't retire on what I have. It still gives me enough freedom to work where I want, when I want - which is what proponents of this life talk about.

Re: My Path to Financial Independence as a Software Engineer

#292

Post by andreilys »

JCM9 wrote: post #181
tiagobraw wrote: post #138

> but as someone without children this is a huge factor that influences almost every other decision he listed there: - living with roommates or renting a cheap apartment - not wanting to buy an apartment - having the time to do side hustles - even changing career paths is challenging when you have a family to take care of - saving the majority of his annual compensation I don’t want to say his advices are bad, just k…

This is the fallacy with this approach IMHO. Yes you can save a ton my living on minimal spend with no kids. That’s also not a life many/most people desire to live. I’ll all for saving and do broadly follow a similar approach. With kids I won’t be retiring in my 30s or 40s but I’m investing in life now so that when I do retire it’s a much more well rounded and wholesome experience. To each their own, but most of the…

To each their own, but most of the “I’m not gonna have kids and just save all my money” types I know say later they made a poor life choice that’s hard to fix once that realization is made.

You can make the same sweeping generalization with parents who raise kids that are ungrateful and/or complete disappointments.

I know plenty of parents that feel abandoned by their children, who only get a courtesy call once or twice a year. Or worst, children who are continuing to be a financial burden in their 20s/30s/etc.

Very few parents will admit to the fact they regret having children. But the regret is there.

Re: My Path to Financial Independence as a Software Engineer

#293

Post by KptMarchewa »

keewee7 wrote: post #42

What can we European devs do to boost tech salaries in Europe? I love my five weeks of paid holiday, 14 weeks of paid paternity leave, and free healthcare. but I would still prefer early retirement instead of working till 65.

Non-serious answer:

Kill particular countries languages, cultures and laws to create real single market. At least US Congress has sole authority to regulate interstate commerce, compared to EU.

Re: My Path to Financial Independence as a Software Engineer

#294

Post by mupuff1234 »

lotsofpulp wrote: post #230
d23 wrote: post #207

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you have any resources you can share? My understanding is it’s pretty difficult to lower your taxes meaningfully if all of it comes from wages.

Bogleheads forums or whitecoatinvestor. Even just 401k, HSA, 529, and megabackdoor roth should help bring down effective tax rate (for the $500k income being discussed). You will not get as low as someone with their own business or S corp, but the tax advantaged savings account should help.

529 and megabackdoor are post tax so they won't affect the tax on the 500k (but are nonetheless useful tax planning tools)

Re: My Path to Financial Independence as a Software Engineer

#295

Post by astura »

Aeolun wrote: post #278
rexreed wrote: post #274

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The reason why I think these articles score poorly is because I think my reaction is like most reactions (not all, but most). I read the article, saw the salary table, did an eyeroll, and then skimmed the rest. The article can be summed up as "get a high paying job in a career that requires technical skills, save more than you spend, and invest what you save". Did I miss anything in that summarization?

> Did I miss anything in that summarization? Have no children? Not only because they eat money, but your priorities will do a complete 180.

They also advocate living with roommates. It's usually not feasible (or desirable) to live with roommates if you have children.

Re: My Path to Financial Independence as a Software Engineer

#296

Post by cpursley »

malnourish wrote: post #168
CodeGlitch wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The modern "progressive" thought-process is to feel guilty about having a good education. I went to private school in the UK and the only thing I feel is infinite gratitude to my parents for forking-out the money to send me there (they were not rich, they were both teachers).

Where are people asked to feel guilty specifically about the fact they received a good education?

For similar reasons they're supposed to feel guilty for being born into a particular race.

Re: My Path to Financial Independence as a Software Engineer

#297

Post by gnfargbl »

PUSH_AX wrote: post #233
dogma1138 wrote: post #40

So rough calculation here.. $100K first job which is around £74K in the UK… you aren’t likely to get anywhere near that as a grad masters or not here but after taxes and student loan payments (which are deducted from your income in the UK) and all other deductions you’ll end up with £42,908.26 per year, that’s $56K. And this is where this breaks down for people in tech outside of the US at least. In the UK the path w…

IR35 hasn't really affected that path, you can find contracts that are outside of the legislation and as long as your working practices are also outside you're fine, there are also insurances now for these things.

There is also nothing -- literally, nothing -- to prevent you from finding a remote work contract with a US company, and billing them at a rate appropriate for the US market. From your point of view, there is no VAT chargeable on B2B services supplied to a customer located outside the EU, and you can get paid easily using a Wise account. From the client's point of view, give them a W2-BEN-E and they can effectively consider you as 1066 status.

Re: My Path to Financial Independence as a Software Engineer

#298

Post by andreilys »

supernova87a wrote: post #109

Here's 2 questions for the "FIRE" crowd. 1) To stop working when you hit a certain number seems to me to be falling into the faulty logic illustrated in Freakonomics -- when a taxi driver works every day towards a certain $ figure, he suffers on crappy days (keeps on driving to little benefit) when fares are just not coming, and cuts off his earnings on great days where business is pouring in like crazy. Instead, you…

2) In some ways I don't get the "financially independent" life. Sure, you're no longer absolutely needing to have a job. But what do you do with the rest of your life? You're just retired at 50? With what to challenge / strive for?

FI has never meant "go live on the beach and sip beer", I mean it can for some but the majority of folks I talk to have interests or career aspirations that are not economically viable.

For example, volunteering full time at a non-profit, writing a book, community organizing, etc. all this takes time and can be difficult to do when you have a full-time FANG job.

Re: My Path to Financial Independence as a Software Engineer

#299

Post by bjornsing »

Aeolun wrote: post #284
bjornsing wrote: post #51

> Disclaimer: I acknowledge that I’ve been very privileged, especially in the educational opportunities I’ve had. This might sound reasonable from a US-centric perspective, but to me it reads like utter nonsense. The main privilege here is access to the US labor market and tax policy. There are no stories like this one where I live (in Sweden). Absolutely none.

People from Sweden should have a fairly easy time emigrating to the US right?

I don’t think so. The easiest/surest path I know of is a H1B work visa.

Re: My Path to Financial Independence as a Software Engineer

#300

Post by andreilys »

KptMarchewa wrote: post #283
driverdan wrote: post #220

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Those questions reflect your life more than OP's. Is your life so meaningless and boring outside work that you'd have nothing to do when you retire? If the answer is yes you should seriously re-evaluate your approach to life. At least get some hobbies!

At least those hobbies that I would like seriously do - like D&D, in contrast to playing video games - generally require other people. I'm not the type of person that gets any satisfaction from alone tinkering with shit in the garage as that seems to be the hobby of most people talking about hating work. So, what do I gain when I stop working? My friends still will work, and I'm just going to have 8 hours in a day wh…

Find friends that are also financially independent.
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