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Building a vision of life without work (2015)

livingafi.com

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Re: Building a vision of life without work (2015)

#201

Post by CleverLikeAnOx »

codesternews wrote: post #88
zoba wrote: post #67

I was 2nd employee at a unicorn startup and have been on a work-hiatus for almost a year. Now, I live amongst Amish people in the country. My biggest insight has been a mindset change. Previously my underlying approach to life looked like: "I will do X which will enable me to do Y so that I can finally do Z." I now approach my days with "What will make me happy?" This is an experiment I'm performing. A structured lif…

What are you doing on HN?

As someone in a similar boat (6 months into not working at this point), I still love hacker news. I am driven by curiosity above most else and this is the best forum on the internet by that measure (as far as I am aware).

Re: Building a vision of life without work (2015)

#202

Post by leftbrain »

legohead wrote: post #136
zoba wrote: post #67

I was 2nd employee at a unicorn startup and have been on a work-hiatus for almost a year. Now, I live amongst Amish people in the country. My biggest insight has been a mindset change. Previously my underlying approach to life looked like: "I will do X which will enable me to do Y so that I can finally do Z." I now approach my days with "What will make me happy?" This is an experiment I'm performing. A structured lif…

I know exactly what makes me happy -- playing video games, eating good food, living in a nice climate (CA or Hawaii), and traveling the world. Unfortunately my happiness comes with a price tag.

I did all that minus the video games while travelling in south and south east asia for a year and a half, and with a $20 daily budget. Gave up some of the comforts of western standard of living and got a whole lot of new friends and experiences.

I have kids now and when they are old enough to move out, I’ll quit my job (programmer, and I love it) and get back out there because “The mountains are calling and I must go”

Re: Building a vision of life without work (2015)

#203

Post by gonehome »

opportune wrote: post #197
kevinwang wrote: post #5

This person also posted an amazing, unvarnished update recently (about 5-6 years later): https://livingafi.com/2021/03/17/the-2021-early-retirement-u...

I really don’t like how he tries to diminish his partner’s feeling about “falling behind” as some mirage created by Instagram and classism. I think it’s pretty uncontroversial that most people don’t want to live on $30k/year for their entire life when they could maybe work and get more. Though maybe this is colored by the relevation that follows shortly thereafter. To me it shows an unwillingness to think critically…

It doesn't seem like a huge surprise: https://samharris.org/podcasts/254-mating-strategies-earthli...

It can come out in different ways, but I suspect it's not that divorced from the above. It's not very attractive to be unemployed and not very ambitious. Maybe the introspection of why is missing, but I suspect that's the reason.

Re: Building a vision of life without work (2015)

#204

Post by SavantIdiot »

dheera wrote: post #187
SavantIdiot wrote: post #39

I'm 52 and have 2.5MM in an IRA (200k cash) and debt of just a $200k mortgage (and this is weaksauce compared to my peers who all became VPs or C*Os). And the idea of trying to live off an IRA that is currently stocks/bonds/ETFs scares the bejeebers out of me. I think it is more about the personality than the money: do you have the risk-tolerance like this guy to say "fuck it, it will all work out," or are you like m…

How do you get 2.5M in an IRA if they only let you put in 6K a year? Can you buy dogecoin in an IRA?

I've had a 401K since I was 21 (30+ years investing) and put the max in every year following the "normal" investment strategy (balanced mutual funds). And had company matching almost every year as well. This means I invested through the tech boom of the 90's and the recovery of 2008. At one point I left jobs and rolled the 401K into a managed IRA because I didn't have a job for a brief period. Now I have another 401K with another company, but I chose not to roll my original one into the new 401K because my IRA has better investment options.

TL;DR: Start investing as soon as you can, and by "investing" I mean the Warren Buffet way on the diversified mutual fund grid (cap vs valuation), and not this memestock/crypto B.S.

Re: Building a vision of life without work (2015)

#205

Post by jbmny »

bumby wrote: post #158
mgh2 wrote: post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why is "working for the man" so bad when it gives purpose in your life? The article showed how unsatisfied his wife was when she felt as "not going anywhere", I think she was trying to say that she does not feel any sort of progress or growth on any level. As it is torture to keep someone in a room with no stimulation, it is the same with repetition and no change or progress. “Industry, thrift and self-control are no…

> she does not feel any sort of progress or growth on any level. I think the flip side of this is that many people are so focused on progress and looking forward to the next goal line that they become unable to appreciate the moment and, ironically, happiness is always one more goal away. Recently, I’ve been reading books on Buddhism (specifically how it differs from many Western value systems) and it sheds some ligh…

Any particular books you'd recommend?

Re: Building a vision of life without work (2015)

#206

Post by joshuaissac »

metalex wrote: post #145
kevinwang wrote: post #5

This person also posted an amazing, unvarnished update recently (about 5-6 years later): https://livingafi.com/2021/03/17/the-2021-early-retirement-u...

This article makes me really sad. I know this is just my perspective, but this person isn't living -- they're just existing. What are they striving for? Consuming media?

In the article, he writes about what he is striving for: to be able to do things that he wants to do rather than what his employer wants him to do. So from his perspective, he would be living his life while others just work instead of living.

Re: Building a vision of life without work (2015)

#207

Post by chrisweekly »

I saw "FIRE" in several comments, had to look it up:

> "Financial Independence, Retire Early (FIRE) Definition

https://www.investopedia.com/terms/f/financial-independence-...

Followers of FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early) plan to retire before the traditional retirement age of 65 by dedicating up to 70% of income to savings while still in the workforce."

Re: Building a vision of life without work (2015)

#208

Post by opportune »

gonehome wrote: post #203
opportune wrote: post #197

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I really don’t like how he tries to diminish his partner’s feeling about “falling behind” as some mirage created by Instagram and classism. I think it’s pretty uncontroversial that most people don’t want to live on $30k/year for their entire life when they could maybe work and get more. Though maybe this is colored by the relevation that follows shortly thereafter. To me it shows an unwillingness to think critically…

It doesn't seem like a huge surprise: https://samharris.org/podcasts/254-mating-strategies-earthli... It can come out in different ways, but I suspect it's not that divorced from the above. It's not very attractive to be unemployed and not very ambitious. Maybe the introspection of why is missing, but I suspect that's the reason.

See this is still blaming the problem on some kind of externalized illogical other you aren’t willing to understand (just replace “partner falling for Instagram lies” with neckbeardy EvPsych) rather than empathizing with the other person’s opinion.

Like if your partner directly tells you they are unhappy because of XYZ, rather than thinking it’s stupid/some part of how the woman brain works (eye roll), it seems pretty clear that not doing anything to fix XYZ - in this case working again and living more luxuriously - is being a bad partner. Doesn’t matter what the genders are or what XYZ is.

Re: Building a vision of life without work (2015)

#209

Post by olah_1 »

opportune wrote: post #197
kevinwang wrote: post #5

This person also posted an amazing, unvarnished update recently (about 5-6 years later): https://livingafi.com/2021/03/17/the-2021-early-retirement-u...

I really don’t like how he tries to diminish his partner’s feeling about “falling behind” as some mirage created by Instagram and classism. I think it’s pretty uncontroversial that most people don’t want to live on $30k/year for their entire life when they could maybe work and get more. Though maybe this is colored by the relevation that follows shortly thereafter. To me it shows an unwillingness to think critically…

Yeah, this line:

> And she wasn’t trying that hard anyway, because she had acquired, somehow, New Life Dreams, which had to do with Conspicuous Consumption and Keeping Up and being Visibly Awesome — dreams which are at odds with my own.

The desire to be seen and take part in society is fundamentally human. Yes, you can overdo it, but you can also underdo it. There is nothing wrong with going to nice restaurants, posting about it, discussing it with your friends, etc.

My guess is that they simply stopped having a social life with their peers (he hinted at such). That sounds horrible to me.

There is a reason that retirement communities exist. Just because you retire, that doesn't mean you exit from community.

Re: Building a vision of life without work (2015)

#210

Post by BayAreaEscapee »

I did it: I retired at age 40 with a net worth of about $5M. That was eight years ago. I diversified most of it, but I made two concentrated bets with a fraction and both of them were home runs. Now I'm above $5M. I have enough money to do whatever I want and my withdrawal rate is less than 1% annually. (I don't have expensive or flasy taste.)

One of the things that I didn't expect (but that this article and some other sources hint at) is that I would fall into a trap of consuming a lot of alcohol. I recognized my problem and dealt with it. Now almost every day is alcohol-free, and I only drink when with other people who are also drinking. (For anyone struggling with a drinking problem, I urge you to try something called the Sinclair Method, which involves taking naltrexone or nalmefene. [1][2])

I don't really have much of a fixed address and spend 95% of my time abroad. I usually like to stay in a place for several months or more at a time. This sometimes involves long-term visas. Throwing money at immigration attorneys will solve a lot of those kinds of problems. Many countries have visa programs for self-employed or self-sufficient people. If not, you can always enroll in a language program and get a student visa to study the language of your host country.

I also spend several months a year just traveling around to new places and visiting old friends.

I enjoy my life. Sometimes at moments I miss my job in Silicon Valley. Then I realize how much grief and pressure it was, and I'm thankful for the life I have.

At this article's author states: you have to know what you are going to fill your life with once you leave the working world. If you don't fill it with something positive, negative things will fill in.

[1] https://www.amazon.com/Cure-Alcoholism-Medically-Eliminate-A... [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6EghiY_s2ts

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