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I am retiring from tech to live offline

openpath.quest

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Re: I am retiring from tech to live offline

#511

Post by UncleOxidant »

throwfaraway4 wrote: post #368
reachableceo wrote: post #331

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why not check out now? Why after this year ? You supposedly have the means to do so now , so why not exit now? You won’t exit after this year. You’ll keep pushing it out.

As you can imagine, it's a planning heavy decision. I came off parental leave earlier this year and prior to that my wife and I talked about me not going back. However, we decided to delay until my next vesting later this year and to see how the midterms play out with this clown car of an administration and the potential impacts on healthcare. Barring anything catastrophic, it's happening this year. Parental leave al…

> potential impacts on healthcare

Healthcare is the item that most FIRE folks underestimate. It was actually pretty tenable when the Obamacare subsidies were more fully in effect. Now that those are mostly gone it's a much larger line item in the household budget. I've only got a couple of years until Medicare kicks in so I'm not too concerned - unless they mess that up too - but for folks thinking of FIRE'ing in their 40s & 50s with kids still at home it's probably not advisable now.

Re: I am retiring from tech to live offline

#512

Post by sph »

drnick1 wrote: post #427
sph wrote: post #346

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People in tech, especially from US, are so accustomed to spending $5,000/mo just to survive, that they cannot fathom one is able to live without having a tech job in San Francisco. It's a pretty sad state of affairs. I live in a first-world European country where the average salary is about €25,000 per year. My mortgage estimate is less than €300/mo. I'm not that afraid of having to supplement my income if I need to.…

> People in tech, especially from US, are so accustomed to spending $5,000/mo just to survive, that they cannot fathom one is able to live without having a tech job in San Francisco. It's a pretty sad state of affairs. Quality of life in suburban America is incredibly high relative to a "first world" country with such a low average income. From what I have seen, most families in the "European periphery" still live in…

First time I heard Northern Italy compared to Soviet Russia, but my fault for discussing this stuff with Americans, trying to pass people as poor because they only have one car.

Did you know that life expectancy in US is 5-7 years lower than Western Europe? But sure, do go on about "first world" countries.

Re: I am retiring from tech to live offline

#513

Post by jebarker »

beej71 wrote: post #483
jebarker wrote: post #296

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How did you transition from tech to teaching?

It was a bunch of factors, some forced. I had a company I'd co-founded with a friend of mine, and Google would feed us work (in advertising, of course). It was getting old, and then Google terminated the program we were working under. I just couldn't get enthusiastic about searching for more clients in that field, so I floated for a bit. During that time, I started doing ad-hoc free classes as part of a local meetup.…

Thanks for the great answer and practical steps involved in the transition.

Re: I am retiring from tech to live offline

#515

Post by simgt »

SlightlyLeftPad wrote: post #69
pyrophane wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, I've realized that the things I don't like in tech have everything to do with the culture and politics. When I've been able to work with a small team of people I really like and respect, I've generally been quite content.

Any tips on finding this again? I had a great situation turn sour in exactly this way once growth and leadership change came.

Same here, it has always been a state transition. There's always that snake showing up who forces everyone to watch their back and eventually disband. A tech coop seems like a good option, but it's almost exclusively web dev.

Re: I am retiring from tech to live offline

#516

Post by siren2026 »

tikhonj wrote: post #465
siren2026 wrote: post #237

I have been at it for 20 years now and have started to feel my time is up as well As a lot of comments here highlights, the issue is not so much the tech but the politics, constant perf reviews, re-orgs, nonsense BS that is pushed top-down. This industry is taking a toll on you. My advice for anyone reading this that is starting your career: Live simply and save a lot. When I started my career I thought I would love…

I broadly agree, but expensive homes are an odd example because, like, you can just sell the house later. There might be some opportunity cost relative to investing in a broad market ETF or whatever, but that's not the sort of difference that makes or breaks your early retirement strategy. It's a bit odd to get moralistic over saving/spending money in general, but that's especially true around expensive homes.

why would it be especially true around expensive houses? When you own a house, you are still paying an implicit rent to live in it (the opportunity cost of the rent that someone else could pay you instead).

Given that in almost all locales it is so much better financially to rent than to buy right now, Buying a 5m$ house is probably one of the least financially responsible things you could do in the current climate (And especially in the Bay area where the buy-to-rent ratio is all time high)

Re: I am retiring from tech to live offline

#517

Post by siren2026 »

foobarchu wrote: post #469
tikhonj wrote: post #465

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I broadly agree, but expensive homes are an odd example because, like, you can just sell the house later. There might be some opportunity cost relative to investing in a broad market ETF or whatever, but that's not the sort of difference that makes or breaks your early retirement strategy. It's a bit odd to get moralistic over saving/spending money in general, but that's especially true around expensive homes.

Yeah I'm more worried for people spending all their income on high rent apartments or quickly depreciating cars.

All projections currently show it is better to pay rent on an apartment than buying the similar apartment. Especially in tech cities. Do the math.

I agree the ideal thing to do is to probably rent a cheaper apartment to start with.

Re: I am retiring from tech to live offline

#518

Post by tamimio »

I am planning this next, not entirely, I would still do my own techie stuff, offline, because I love tech. But career wise, I am just getting at the fed up point, with so much added shenanigans, the juice isn’t worth the squeeze any more, and the fun exciting part was killed by big corps and greed. The issue is what other career alternatives, I was thinking becoming a pilot, but the regulations around that and lifestyle probably will kill the joy, or maybe a carpenter, living off grid, in the woods, and every once in a while you take whatever you did and sell it, chill and joyful, who knows!

Re: I am retiring from tech to live offline

#519

Post by sph »

vankusss wrote: post #486
sph wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe I know what you mean: after burning out 6 years ago, I have managed to dedicate 3-4h per day to work, and I didn’t know what to do with all the free time I had. It was excruciating. It made my recovery longer than it had to be. After reading a lot of philosophy and being patient with myself, I have found a source of creativity within me that regular office hours had completely eradicated in my adult years. All…

Your last sentence resonates deeply with my current experience. Would you care to expand a bit more on what helped you find a way to self direct and find meaning within yourself?

I hoped no one asked because I'm not sure I have an easy answer. When I'm saying it's taken me 6 years to get out of burn out, I'm not joking. That, which includes 2 years sabbatical and as many years in therapy.

My only advice is: if you burn out, go through the entire process. You only get one chance to figure out what actually is meaningful to you, and the answer will most likely require you to upend you life (or you wouldn't have burned out in the first place). Read Carl Jung: he did a lot of research on midlife crises, and the enormous significance of middle age (the 30-40 years old range) in our quest for meaning.

In my very personal case, meaning was figuring out I'm meant to build things, on my own, at my own pace, and I owe the world to gift it with the vision that only I possess. Meaning for me happens to be one part about becoming a fully creative person, and one part about being selfless with my work, for I am not entitled to the result (see karma yoga). Your mileage might certainly vary.

Feel free to send me an email if you want to talk more about it.

Re: I am retiring from tech to live offline

#520

Post by salutis »

beached_whale wrote: post #489
bluGill wrote: post #406

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We have long ago learned as an industry that code tends to live for a long time and so maintainable code is important. However for individuals your stance is just fine.

Some code definitely does, but it isn't the product. People, outside the devs making it, don't value how good the code is, but how well it solves the problem.

But there is no dichotomy, is there? Good code is code that solves the problem well. Today and sustainably into the future. What else would "good code" even mean in general context?
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