So this is about early retirement rather than investing, right? As I read the FIRE movement, no one is suggesting that you should limit yourself to sitting home and pinching pennies. The idea is to free you from the need to do meaningless work in a cubicle in order to survive, so that you can do stuff you REALLY, fervently, want to accomplish in life. What specifically is that, for you? I thought you were planning to start a sustainable building company.Pointedstick wrote: ↑Thu Nov 15, 2018 9:43 amI know the market may drop 75% tomorrow and take 40 years to recover. And I say, "so what?" I don't care. The one time I found myself living off of my investments, I hated it. I felt like a useless penny-pinching sponge. Earning money by contributing things of value to the tapestry of human existence makes me feel better in every way. I was previously afraid that if I lost my income, I wouldn't be able to regain it, because deep down I was afraid that I was an imposter who got them through an accident of fate rather than merit. What a bunch of nonsense!
I remember what my outlook was at age 31, and trust me, it's VERY different now. At 31, I wanted to go out there and put my stamp on the planet in as many ways as possible. Now, I just want to focus on the rewarding and productive parts of my career, devote time to friends & family, and tell the corporate leeches and bean counters to go f**k themselves. In order to do that, I need the confidence that stems from being financially independent and having a sustainable lifestyle. And, I can also see how I don't necessarily want to be running on this treadmill forever. The ability to get off, whether I use it or not, is priceless.
Call this fear-based if you like, but it's just plain reality. The fact is that bad stuff happens to people, and if you haven't learned that by age 31 you assuredly will as you get older. Friends and colleagues in their 40s and 50s dying of pancreatic cancer, glioblastoma, or heart attacks; elderly relatives needing expensive end of life care; kids wanting to go to colleges costing $60K/year tuition; a divorce that left my brother with zero savings apart from his business & home, and >15 years of high financial obligations. Money won't prevent those things nor is it the answer to everything, but it will make dealing with life's little surprises a lot easier.