I think freelancing is the best way for me to make money or initial capital (I'm living in Europe).
I can make maybe 100-120k per year, which comes to maybe 60k after taxes.
After living expenses, that's maybe 35k per year. Not a whole lot for investments.<p>I did get lucky this year with GME but it turns out that trading is not for me so I lost most of it.
Now even crypto is too mature so there's not that much potential left (relatively speaking).
Do I just need to continue grinding boring work for the next 10+ years to get back to previous highs or more, to finally stop doing "useless" work?
You have to be prepared to deeply invest in career in the short term to be able to retire in the medium term. I'm not at 'early retirement' stage but I have been able to hit some financial independence milestones -- some tips:<p>* Build your personal brand, blog, code open source, write a book, etc. Be known for something specific and valuable<p>* Get a great job at larger tech co, probably American based given salary differences, especially if its in your area of expertise, then you can negotiate more salary and stock<p>* Cut down a lot on your personal expenses<p>In short be prepared to invest a lot of your personal time and have a lot less fun in the near term.<p>TBH most of the people who have 'retired early' got lucky in the sense that they either joined a startup and had a great exit or joined a FAANG in the mid 2000s and worked there for 10-15 years and watched their stock grow and grow...<p>OTOH, you can just choose to work your hours, have a sustainable and fun life, disconnect and work on preventing burnout, and just roll with the tech lifestyle
Rather than trying to find some get rich quick scheme, I really recommend you find work you enjoy that pays money and prepare to work for another 10-20 years. Invest wisely and avoid risky schemes like cryptocurrency or trading.
Never forget that the boring approach of regular savings is a great reliable approach to reaching FIRE.<p>What I'd do first is max my tax-free savings account (a stocks & shares ISA in the UK). That's 20k a year. Assume that grows at the rate of the S&P 500 and you'll have just under 300k in 10 years, or 25k a year interest which covers your living expenses but doesn't take into account inflation (and assumes the market performs).<p>Now you have 15k left per year. Make sure that you're living life and not just saving away - spend some of this on hobbies and enjoy your time. Maybe you have 5k left after that, maybe 10k, who knows. Either way, depending on your risk appetite you can either invest the remaining amount into an ETF, save it as cash for a rainy day, buy individual shares, or go into crypto.<p>I have worked in crypto for several years now and I don't pretend I understand the market, it may as well be gambling, but if I was to give blanket advice I'd suggest following dollar-cost-averaging across as many coins as you can to get the best chance of success there.<p>All-in-all though, think about what you want to do when you retire. Is it to start a hobby? Spend time at the beach? Play video games? Work out why you want to retire early and see how you can improve your situation to allow yourself to do that now. It could be that freelancing half a year for 50-60k and spending half a year on your hobbies is better than living cash-strapped till 2031 so you can retire.
Unbelievable! A startup forum with few offering advice on joining a startup.<p>This is where the real wealth is created.<p>Sure, if you’re a school teacher. Slow and steady savings is the way.<p>Not when you are a software developer with skills to create wealth…<p>And you can join a more established startup, to improve your odds.<p><a href="http://www.paulgraham.com/wealth.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.paulgraham.com/wealth.html</a>
Also in Europe. Started my adult life with work and rent right before financial crisis of 2007–2008. That was extra tough time and I have been a scrappy person ever since. Not spending any money if I feel there is any chance I might be short on money ever again.<p>Felt that IT career is making me miserable so was not sure how long I can keep at it even though it pays really well.<p>Started with my own real estate so there is no rent payment and equity is built up instead.
Then got lucky with TSLA (not with GME).<p>Just retired with somewhere between few years to a decade or runway (depends on stock market)
Now I am interested in markets. Have been following markets for about 3 years and plan to test my cleverness and do more active trading/calculated gambling to get to Financial independence. Or return to work when my runway ends.<p>This channel has been a great learning source and he has a lot to say about building wealth and trading. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/c/MeetKevin" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/c/MeetKevin</a>
I think I have done it as soon as possible for me. Took a decade if not counting the financial crisis years. Good luck!
Some math to ground the discussion:<p>If you save 35k per year and have living expenses of 25k per year (60k - 35k = 25k), then you have a 58.3% savings rate (net of taxes). My math has you FI in 14 years assuming a 5% return net of inflation, or 13 years with a 7% return net of inflation.<p>If you can augment that 35k per year savings by working part time it can be even faster. Assuming the same implied hourly rate at 120k per year ($60/hr), and an extra 20 hr/wk of work, AND a 50% tax rate, that yields an extra 30k per year of savings.<p>That would bump the savings rate to 72.2%, which would drop the estimated time to retire to 9 at a 5% return net of inflation or 8 years at a 7% return net of inflation instead of 14 or 13 years. Thus saving 5 years.<p>At a 20% rate of return net of inflation, just for example, the 8 or 9 year time would drop to 6 years, so the yield on your investments probably isn't going to be a primary driver of the time until retirement. Savings rate is a much bigger driver.
It depends on what you mean by retire and your family circumstances.<p>If you are single, ok cutting your expenses and live very frugally, then you need very little money to make a living. If you are not single, check with your partner :). Kids add a lot more expense. If you can afford it, take a sabbatical and see if that works.
My strategy is to work a remote job for 4 days per week and have 32 vacation days per year, while having a livable wage. 32 vacation days on a 4 day work week equates to 8 weeks of paid time off per year.<p>I am almost there (I am at 24 vacation days) and I just am 3 years into my career.<p>I am from western europe.
There are two sides to retiring:<p>1) Make a lot of money.<p>2) Minimize your expenses.<p>People often forget just how powerful #2 can be. Don't neglect that side of the coin.
Outside doing illegal things, there is no secret. If there was a secret it wouldn't work for long as those things don't stay secret. People who say there is a secret either want attention or your money.
> Now even crypto is too mature<p>No it isn't. Who told you that? It's only just been adopted in a couple countries. We've got a long way to go. Don't let FOMO get you.<p>Get yourself a Bitcoin wallet, buy, and hold. Then see where we're at in 10 years. An no, don't mess with the rest.
You could leave Europe. Move to a low cost of living country and live on $1200/mo. Saving $36k will buy 3 years of living. Start a SaaS or other investments in your off time.<p>If I could do it all again (no wife, kids, or fear) that’s what I would do.
Negotiate a 4 day work week or compressed hours so you do 5 days over 4 days. Enjoy three day weekends immediately and see it as a step towards retirement right away. PS why do you want to retire now?