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Early-Retirement Update

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41–50 of 443 posts

Re: Early-Retirement Update

#41

Post by firedating »

varispeed wrote: post #23

This is something I cannot understand. Why would you want to retire so early? I think that would impact my mental health negatively. I just love to work and I couldn't care less about FI. I mean it's nice to have money, but this will sound cliche it will not buy you happiness. However, it is certainly better to cry in a luxury apartment than under a bridge to your dog.

I think most often 'retiring' is not meant literally. In other words, one does not work at an ordinary job anymore, but they pursue other endeavors. They might even 'work' more after 'retiring'. It is true that FIRE does not buy happiness, but it is a nice tool if for example you like your hobby more than the current job.

Re: Early-Retirement Update

#42

Post by afterwalk »

sidlls wrote: post #9

I always get a kick out of people who think they’re financially independent with such a small stash. Outside some regions with relatively extreme living conditions (e.g. undeveloped and underdeveloped countries), the amount he retired with was never going to be enough to sustain even minor shocks and last the rest of his life. He had a minor shock (breakup) and a major shock (health condition) and realized this error…

What interests me most about the FI community on reddit is how they split into two very different subgroups(leanfire and fatfire). Part of it is a difference in frugality, but part of it is is a fundamental difference in modeling risk.

Re: Early-Retirement Update

#43

Post by nx7487 »

dominotw wrote: post #27
boplicity wrote: post #22

In my early twenties, I had a business mostly on autopilot that let me work maybe an hour a day. I mostly spent my time writing poetry, hiking, making friends, etc. It was great. It was not sustainable, but it was perfect for a twenty something exploring the joys and freedoms of youth. Now, I work much harder, have kids, and responsibilities. That being said, I know the work I do is meaningful, and serves many people…

> A happy life is not a life of retirement, its a life of meaning. What was meaningful once (aiming for retirement), loses its meaning once it has been attained. You have to keep moving forward. you figured out the meaning of life for everyone? maybe you are rationalizing your own lack of freedom from work and responsibility as "serving others" and secret to happiness. Which is fine but its a bit weird to say that ap…

If you have a different opinion, then you're probably not looking for advice. This guy is writing a comment for people that don't know what the purpose of life is exactly, and who are looking for other people's opinions.

Re: Early-Retirement Update

#44

Post by marban »

boplicity wrote: post #22

In my early twenties, I had a business mostly on autopilot that let me work maybe an hour a day. I mostly spent my time writing poetry, hiking, making friends, etc. It was great. It was not sustainable, but it was perfect for a twenty something exploring the joys and freedoms of youth. Now, I work much harder, have kids, and responsibilities. That being said, I know the work I do is meaningful, and serves many people…

Kids, family and other obligations you opt in might define the meaning of life for you — For others it could be the exact opposite, or the beginning of the end.

Re: Early-Retirement Update

#45

Post by cashewchoo »

xwdv wrote: post #37
sidlls wrote: post #9

I always get a kick out of people who think they’re financially independent with such a small stash. Outside some regions with relatively extreme living conditions (e.g. undeveloped and underdeveloped countries), the amount he retired with was never going to be enough to sustain even minor shocks and last the rest of his life. He had a minor shock (breakup) and a major shock (health condition) and realized this error…

950k isn’t a bad stash but he’s a fool limiting himself to 4% withdrawals and a paltry $30k a year. He should build an aggressive stock portfolio of growth companies with about 60% IV each while he’s still young and going back to work is a good emergency fallback, but for primary income he could just sell OTM options against his stocks and be making about $2k to $3k a week fairly conservatively with little risk of as…

OTM options is one of those things where it works great until it doesn't and then when it doesn't it REALLY doesn't. This is almost literally how we ended up with the inverse volatility trade collapse in 2018. Look up "XIV blow up".

Betting against volatility will *never* not be "picking up pennies in front of a steamroller".

Retail investors should not touch options under any circumstances, anyway. They're hedging tools for institutions and cannon fodder for day traders.

EDIT: I missed that the OP was saying to sell options for stocks already in your portfolio. I'll address that now:

I feel like this makes it even less worthwhile? Remember, black swan events happen once a month in trading. I think people would be really surprised at how far OTM they need to go to truly get to a "minimal" risk of their options being assigned. At which point the premiums are going to truly be pennies. If you're making any interesting amount of money off of a covered trade like this, it's because you're taking on an interesting amount of risk.

Re: Early-Retirement Update

#46

Post by eric_b »

I really struggled with the author's tone. It dripped of condescension towards those who live a "normal" lifestyle.

I enjoy working. I find purpose and meaning it. I do not let it dominate my life, but without it I would feel incomplete. I run my own business now, and that is very satisfying - but even when I was a corporate consultant I found a lot of enjoyment from spending time with my coworkers, solving problems, and having something to do every day.

For me anyways, a nice salary is also a form of validation and affirmation. That the effort you're expending is valued - at least by someone.

Re: Early-Retirement Update

#47

Post by leetcrew »

varispeed wrote: post #23

This is something I cannot understand. Why would you want to retire so early? I think that would impact my mental health negatively. I just love to work and I couldn't care less about FI. I mean it's nice to have money, but this will sound cliche it will not buy you happiness. However, it is certainly better to cry in a luxury apartment than under a bridge to your dog.

the simple answer is that not everyone loves to work. personally I hate doing anything (including stuff I would otherwise enjoy) that has to be completed according to a schedule and evaluated by other people.

but even if you do enjoy working, it's still great to be FI. you can choose the most interesting job and ignore the salary.

Re: Early-Retirement Update

#48

Post by sokoloff »

hogFeast wrote: post #19
sidlls wrote: post #9

I always get a kick out of people who think they’re financially independent with such a small stash. Outside some regions with relatively extreme living conditions (e.g. undeveloped and underdeveloped countries), the amount he retired with was never going to be enough to sustain even minor shocks and last the rest of his life. He had a minor shock (breakup) and a major shock (health condition) and realized this error…

I used to work in financial services. I wasn't client-facing but because I had experience with financial modelling so I got roped into these discussions...in my experience, everyone gets this wrong. Advisers get it less wrong but I have still seen comical errors from people who should know better. But most people significantly overstate future returns (particularly now), they significantly understate the effect that…

Tools like cFireSim get this much more correct than what you describe above and takes literally just a few minutes to do basic modeling. They're still limited by historical returns, which is both good and bad, but certainly model very prominently the risk-of-ruin.

https://www.cfiresim.com/ (no connection, other than very occasional user)

Re: Early-Retirement Update

#50

Post by neogodless »

ericmay wrote: post #13

To me the emphasis on the FIRE community should be on the FI part of the equation. For many people in many countries, there is no concept of "retirement". It seems so silly to me that people would go and say "I'll work really hard and do all this stuff for 40 years so I can sit around and do nothing for another 30 years". What's the point? It's unsustainable. It's like doing a crash diet - it may work for a minute, b…

What surprises me is the lack of creativity that comes from people planning to work into their 60s. To be sure, in this year of a pandemic, not working but also having a lot of other options outlawed or discouraged made for a less than ideal lifestyle. (Source: I was unemployed for six months.)

Even so, the freedom to... saw/split/stack firewood when the weather was perfect, build a movie nook for my wife, go on bike rides on a Tuesday afternoon in a warm breeze, take our dog on a long, leisurely walk at a local park, read a book in the shade out on the deck...

...or pre/post-pandemic visit a brewery or winery on a slow Thursday (and all other forms of travel that are less ideal right now.)

But also FIRE doesn't demand that you "work extra hard" during the accumulation phase. At least, I have been fortunate enough to avoid that fate. I've rarely worked overtime in my entire life as a software developer. And of course, given this career and income, living within my means (actually well below them) doesn't mean horrible deprivation, either. Sure, I can't go on a $20k weekend trip on a whim (at least not regularly!), and we have to research our options for vacation so we don't blow a lot of money, but again - it doesn't take much creativity to have a really rewarding life that doesn't necessitate spending at or above your means. (Again some of this assumes you have a "good" income. There are stories of those with lower income making it work, but the challenges change!)

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