Interview with a Programmer Who Retired at 34

The gist of this strategy seems to boil down to: "Have very modest annual income expectations for the rest of your life, live in a place with free healthcare" It would seem that something like having kids would definitely throw a wrench in that. Unless I'm missing something?

4% is a fairly risky withdrawal rate at such a young age. But also being so young, I'd imagine one or both of them will get the itch to do something that earns more money at some point in the next few decades.

I'm 30, just graduated in a computational science field, got a baby. I could "do" FIRE just from my savings from the last 10 years, thanks to the great social system in my central European country. Due to the baby, I stayed at home almost two years, so I want to work now, fill my lifetime with something useful. I don't even plan to retire even if I'm rich -- and I don't indend to get rich. I don't get this FIRE trend....

FIRE is quite dependent on steady economic conditions (decent rate of return on investments with low capital loss, non destructive inflation rates), and for many they are trading their prime earning years placing this bet that it will continue indefinitely.<p>I wish them luck. historically over the time periods that they are potentially talking about (40-50 yrs), that is a risky bet.

I wish they would talk more about &quot;well, what then?&quot; where is meaning in life, where is purpose? what is there beyond &quot;I can afford it&quot;? Even old retirees struggle with this: what to do with all of this time? Not judging, just want to hear more.

Obamacare isn&#x27;t a bad deal (ie. free) if you can keep your taxable income below 4x the poverty level.

&gt; The biggest boosts in my salary came when I left a job. When I left Scotland I was like, Hey, I&#x27;m leaving Scotland. This has been great, thanks for everything. But they were like, Wait, wait, wait, do you wanna keep working remotely?&quot;<p>&gt; and<p>&gt; &quot;Hey, I gotta go. I&#x27;m gonna move to Vermont. I&#x27;m gonna stop working. And it was exactly the same. She said, &quot;Hey wait, wait, you can keep working remotely if you want and, by the way, here&#x27;s over a 50% raise.”<p>TL;DR:<p>1. Become indispensable at a day job.<p>2. Tell them you are quitting and moving to _INSERT_LOW_COST_OF_LIVING_PLACE_HERE ( and be ready to follow through )<p>3. Wait for counter offer for 100% remote.<p>4. Rinse and repeat every few years.<p>This story is not practical and not applicable to over 95% of us (programmers &#x2F; software engineers).<p>Kids, healthcare costs, COLA, commute, very few 100% remote jobs that pay more than the day job,<p>will all ruin your math and sh*t on your grand plans to retire early.