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Early-Retirement Update

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Re: Early-Retirement Update

#231

Post by koonsolo »

z77dj3kl wrote: post #222
koonsolo wrote: post #193

Here is some relationship advice to all the young guys here. It is not only some theory, this is painful experience of real life. If there would be no women, we would all still be hunter gatherers. Hunting for a small bit of the day, and for the rest doing nothing and sitting in the tree. If you put women into the equation, they want a roof over their head. So they pick a partner who can provide that. So now we all w…

This would probably come across better if you didn't phrase it in terms of genders (assuming you believe it's not a gendered phenomenon). I'm sure a majority of people choose a partner largely based on their status and achievements (whatever metrics they use for that).

My wife is a relationship coach, and what women want in a partner is very different than what men want.

To keep it short, men want "pretty", women want "successful".

You cannot just discard evolution and biological differences when it comes down to partner preferences. I believe in gender equality, and gender differences. Both can coexist.

Re: Early-Retirement Update

#232

Post by mathgladiator »

hw_tw_03_22 wrote: post #205
mathgladiator wrote: post #93

The sad thing was the status grind on his partner; that's unfortunate but all too common. It seems he ended up with a more compatible partner in the end, so I'm happy for him. I recently learned there is this term called "Sigma male" where status is not interesting. Now, I don't know if it is real or just some label, but I do know people that don't care. I personally don't care, but this is after testing the waters o…

>I've come to the realization that most of my ideas are going to be seen harshly from many technical people, and they will not be taken seriously at first. No, I think your ideas on fatFIRE are right and should be copied by everyone who can.

Well, the ideas I was referring to was my programming language ... for board games:

http://www.adama-lang.org/

I imagine that I have a few years until I see some of my ideas being more mainstream. There are a few database offerings (like firebase) which are similar to the infrastructure that I am going to build, but I am targeting a completely new data stack.

Such a build doesn't make sense without products, and I'm limiting myself to board games because... that's what I want to ship.

If I push my ideas out as a replacement for... mongo or mysql, then I'm going to get a lot of push-back. IF, instead, I push my ideas out via new products like a deck builder for married couples, then I just took an eccentric path.

Re: Early-Retirement Update

#233

Post by lutorm »

pinkybanana wrote: post #84
lutorm wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Except "retirement" simply means "not having to work to survive". It doesn't mean doing nothing, it means having the freedom to choose to do things that are meaningful to you.

In common language it doesn't. Many people who choose to work don't need the job to survive. I know ridiculously wealthy people who just keep working the usual way. No one says those people are retired. While retirement is cool, I think life goes better without thinking too much about it. Try to work at a job that doesn't suck ass, try to have hobbies and free time, focus on family etc, invest your savings, don't buy…

In common language it might not, but in this "FIRE" context, it most certainly does. Arguing that FIRE is misguided because "why would anyone want to sit on their ass for 30 years" is a strawman.

Re: Early-Retirement Update

#234

Post by RankingMember »

eagsalazar2 wrote: post #120
dimmke wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've had friends with trust funds, who just seem to dither around in life. "Making music" they never release. Picking up little "pass the time" jobs. And these are people that aren't living "leanFIRE" It seems like such a nihilistic way to live. You're just floating along the stream of life. Things worked out for you, but you have no further passion or inclination to improve the world? No problems you could set yours…

Not just FIRE people, but 99% of all retirees at any age end up doing nothing of note with their time. But, and I think you aren't saying otherwise, this is also true of everyone who still has to work, while they are working. Your job is just the thing you have to do (if you are lucky you actually enjoy it). Bottom line, most people don't actually have a purpose or strong passions in their lives. Being retired young…

> Not just FIRE people, but 99% of all retirees at any age end up doing nothing of note with their time.

This is exactly why I think FIRE is a great thought exercise even if you don't actually care to do it. Given enough money to live for the rest of your life without the need for a job, what would you do with your time?

Re: Early-Retirement Update

#235

Post by npsimons »

adkadskhj wrote: post #155
GordonS wrote: post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Not just FIRE people, but 99% of all retirees at any age end up doing nothing of note with their time. If you spend some years just chilling and and are actually happy, then sure, why not. But there are so many retired people who do nothing, and are not happy. For example, my mother, my mother and father in law, my other father in law, my grandmother - all retired, and all do absolutely nothing but watch TV and moa…

I think it depends on who you are. I can't fathom not doing something. I want to retire, asap, though not FIRE-levels, but i know what i want to do. I want to do exactly what i do in my current off hours, which looks a lot like work. Because it is work. I want to work, when i retire. I just want to work on whatever i want to work on. Which is the rub. Passionate people will be busy, all the time. Without it.. well, i…

> I just want to work on whatever i want to work on.

This is exactly why I'm pursuing leanFIRE. Even if I hit the jackpot, I would still be toodling on personal software projects for the rest of my life. Not saying I'm any Michelangelo, but I would have to be trained not to write software. I'm just aiming to set my own priorities instead of working on things I'm not passionate about because I simply need the money.

I keep wondering if I shouldn't quit the day job and start a software shop, but even that sounds an awful lot like work where you trade one relentless taskmaster for another. I sure as shit don't want to have to worry about market share, I just want to make cool (to me) software.

Re: Early-Retirement Update

#236

Post by stocknoob »

cashewchoo wrote: post #209
stocknoob wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Selling cash-secured puts and covered calls is one of the safest things you can do. You take on less risk (and less reward).

Ah I missed that he was selling calls for stocks he owns. That makes it even less interesting IMO? The premiums on these options are small enough and now you're also capping upside on stocks you already own. And remember that black swan events happen once a month in finance, so I think people would be surprised how far OTM they need to go to actually get to a "minimal" risk of them being ITM.

Normally you'd wait until the volatility is a bit higher, sell a few covered calls against 5-10% of your shares. If the market jumps up, roll the calls out and sell more.

If you get assigned, that's great, immediately sell a put. I've been able to do this against SPY/QQQ, rolling and never getting assigned. So it's all gravy on top of the existing market returns.

You can eke out a few pct a year this way, but from a SWR perspective it's like doubling your hoard.

Re: Early-Retirement Update

#237

Post by koonsolo »

istjohn wrote: post #224
koonsolo wrote: post #193

Here is some relationship advice to all the young guys here. It is not only some theory, this is painful experience of real life. If there would be no women, we would all still be hunter gatherers. Hunting for a small bit of the day, and for the rest doing nothing and sitting in the tree. If you put women into the equation, they want a roof over their head. So they pick a partner who can provide that. So now we all w…

The world isn't that simple. It also seems a little self-serving to lay the blame for materialism at the feet of women. Someone else might argue capitalism is just a testosterone fueled pissing contest, men competing to see who has the largest...bank account. Both accounts are reductive and wrong.

You are right that I painted an extreme view here, and reality is definitely more nuanced.

But I hope I made my point that women are attracted to successful men. And if you don't belong in that group (anymore), they will quickly lose interest.

Re: Early-Retirement Update

#238

Post by paisawalla »

nightski wrote: post #226
paisawalla wrote: post #196

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This isn't an isolated view, but in my view, it does miss a lot. Most people have an idea of what they would ideally do if given unlimited amounts of time. The reality is, in my experience, that most people cannot put the same level of work, focus, and dedication into their own projects that they can into the projects an employer pays them to work on. For whatever reason, most people need the structure, constraint, j…

Who is advocating that most people should FIRE? It's an individual choice and we shouldn't be telling someone they can't do it because, well, "averages".

Nobody is saying "you can't do it." But "averages" is 100% a valid reason to consider why you shouldn't do something, particularly something unknown to most humans.

Re: Early-Retirement Update

#239

Post by foogazi »

labcomputer wrote: post #201
psychiatrist24 wrote: post #149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You mean MMM or the author here? How do you know he "got lucky", since he doesn't mention how he got his nest egg? (Yes in a wider sense lucky to be born smart enough for a good job, in a country with good jobs and so on, but that applies to many people). Maybe he took those FI blogs seriously and dedicated himself to reaching that goal, and he did. And then people who never tried say "he got lucky".

> Maybe he took those FI blogs seriously and dedicated himself to reaching that goal, and he did. And then people who never tried say "he got lucky". My problem with most of the advice from FI and FIRE blogosphere is that it essentially boils down to "be the 1% (where you live) and live frugally". It's not wrong , per se, but it isn't actionable advice for 99% of the population[1]. In particular, while anyone could b…

> but it isn't actionable advice for 99% of the population

Should we stop giving advice unless it’s actionable for 100% of the world’s population?

Re: Early-Retirement Update

#240

Post by pcglue »

ben7799 wrote: post #214
pcglue wrote: post #184

2.8M nut, about 50/50 in regular/retirement accounts. I'm mid 40's, married with two pre-teen kids, annual expenses of $80K, live in HCOL area (Southern California). Would you FIRE in this situation? Would you take a year long hiatus? As much as I would like to FIRE, I can't/won't, even though the "numbers" say I probably could. But seriously considering a months to year long career break/sabbatical/hiatus, because I…

It's a good question for your financial advisor assuming you have one. One of their jobs is crunching the numbers to answer the exact question you're asking. We recently went through this with our financial advisor. We're the same age, only have one kid, east coast HCOL area, live well below our means, very similar savings as you. Rough answer was we could do a normal retirement in our early 50s if we could get close…

No, don't have a financial advisor, but considering one now. Before I burnt out, I was also planning to early retire around 50, when my nest egg should be at least $5M. Thanks for your insights. What kind of financial advisor did you use? Fee-only CFP/CFA?
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