Well, the only gate from $500k a year to financially independent is spending. In my current situation, if I made that much I would happily retire with an improv

Well, the only gate from $500k a year to financially independent is spending. In my current situation, if I made that much I would happily retire with an improved standard of living in about a year. But I also value financial independence above most other things, so I'm spending less than 1/10th of that per year.