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I "retired" at 33 after working in tech for 12 years and saving a ton of money. With my free time I run a fun hobby business teaching kayaking which is way more

by pilom 6y ago

I "retired" at 33 after working in tech for 12 years and saving a ton of money. With my free time I run a fun hobby business teaching kayaking which is way more fun and brings me way more happiness than anything I did in 2019 or before.

yurishimo 6y ago
I just wanted to say you’re awesome and I’m so happy you’re doing something you enjoy. I’m also glad you’re still hanging out around HN too. :)
sethammons 6y ago
What do you do for health insurance?
- loloquwowndueo 6y ago
  Go read https://www.mrmoneymustache.com/blog/ https://www.mrmoneymustache.com/blog/ if you filter out the snarky “I’m so badass” posts there’s actually good advice in a ton of topics such as health insurance / coverage, investments, and how not to be a wasteful person mostly :)
  - gpanders 6y ago
    Seconded MMM, that blog changed my life.
- loeg 6y ago
  Buy it on the ACA exchanges? Depending on your income, you may qualify for significant subsidies. Taxable retirement income for a given lifestyle is lower than most people seem to think -- dividends and LTCG have a lower tax rate than income; you don't pay taxes on the cost basis; you don't pay taxes on withdrawals from Roth accounts at all; and you don't need surplus income to save for retirement. If you live in a paid-off house, that can cut Cost of Living (CoL) needs substantially (e.g., the mortgage is something like 75% of my pre-retirement spending in a High CoL city).
- pilom 6y ago
  Like what is stated elsewhere, when my wife wasn't working, we were on the ACA exchange. She's now working for fun again at a company that offers it as a benefit and so I'm on hers as it's a slightly better plan at a similar price to an unsubsidized ACA plan.
satysin 6y ago
I’m 36 and followed a similar path “retiring” a few years ago to be a stay at home dad. I missed out on my daughters early years due to being a workaholic and didn’t want to do the same with my son. I failed to realise when I was young I can earn more money but never more time and memories built from a phone video suck. I enjoy spending time doing work on the house and since we moved to France in 2018 I do a few small volunteer jobs such as teaching IT, programming, and helping people improve their conversational English at coffee meet-ups or picnics in the park. Nothing special as I’m not properly trained but it keeps me active and social. I should probably look at making some money from it but I also don’t really care and like how it’s something I want to do rather than have to do because money is involved.
- break_the_bank 6y ago
  I am far away from being a dad but curious, how do you balance "providing for your kid" and "being there for your kid"?
  - _spoonman 6y ago
    The two aren’t mutually exclusive and the roles change as the kid gets older. When they’re newborns you are focused totally on providing: they can’t feed themselves, change their diapers, or bathe themselves. When they get older they can do those things but then start having questions about the world and girls and faith. That’s when it really gets fun because you strengthen the bond. So you’re always providing for the kid. Being there is the tougher part.
    - giantg2 6y ago
      Any two things involving time that can't be done simultaneously are, to a degree, mutually exclusive. You can't be running a code review and chasing a two year old around the house.
  - giantg2 6y ago
    In my experience, you have to make sacrifices. Everything in life is a trade-off in one eaybor another. I gave up my nice car and doing track days. Many of my time consuming hobbies that involved going somewhere have been greatly reduced or eliminated. I tried replacing them with smaller hobbies at home while I can watch the kid - like small batch beer brewing or learning bass guitar. Career-wise I have accepted that I will not be promoted and will remain an average midlevel dev for the foreseeable future, mostly due to the cultural expectation that you have to put in more hours to be higher level (and some past decisions still dragging me down). I also acknowledge that I can't afford to changes jobs, eventhough I hate my current job. I need the money to support my family. The responsibilities that come with marriage and kids is vastly understated - it can be absolutely crushing. If it weren't for these responsibilities, I would have changed jobs, been a senior dev or tech lead, made and saved more money, and likely would have been able to move to a lower cost area to retire early.
mettamage 6y ago
I wish I could do that but I only think this is possible by getting a job in the US or Switzerland. They’re both not easy to get if you’re not a citizen there. There was even this Swiss recruiter that scours HN, but after he finds out you’re a recent college grad he vanishes. At least, in my case. Maybe not in other cases.
- giantg2 6y ago
  This isn't even that common in the US. Sure, there's a chance of retiring early. For most of us, that won't happen prior to age 50, if at all.
  - swimfar 6y ago
    It's not common at all, but it's very achievable for most engineers in the US if they're willing to live below their means. Engineers in the US make 2-3x the median income. The difference in disposable income is even greater when you subtract off the costs of necessities. And yet, those other people aren't working 2-3x as many years. It may mean not going out to eat all the time, not buying a fancy new car all the time, not having a fancy house in the most prestigious neighborhood, etc. I'm not saying it's bad to buy or want these things, but they are luxuries you pay for with hours in the office. Early retirement is even easier if retire doesn't mean, "never work for money again", and instead means, "I don't have to take salary into consideration when deciding when/where to work". I'm an engineer living in the SF Bay area who doesn't make tech money and I'll still be able to retire after 15-20 years, easily, while still having waaaay more than my parents did when I was growing up.
    - giantg2 6y ago
      "it's very achievable for most engineers in the US" I feel like this isn't true at all for retiring prior to age 50. You have to adjust for cost of living and the area's median income. The median income in my state is $60k-65k and my salary is about $85k. I'm a midlevel dev in the industry for 9 years (no way could I retire at 15-20 years, even for a lower paying job). I also have a family to support. I do live within my means, but that doesn't mean much with the moderately high cost of living in this area.

by pilom 6y ago

yurishimo 6y ago

I just wanted to say you’re awesome and I’m so happy you’re doing something you enjoy. I’m also glad you’re still hanging out around HN too. :)

sethammons 6y ago

What do you do for health insurance?

loloquwowndueo 6y ago
Go read https://www.mrmoneymustache.com/blog/ https://www.mrmoneymustache.com/blog/ if you filter out the snarky “I’m so badass” posts there’s actually good advice in a ton of topics such as health insurance / coverage, investments, and how not to be a wasteful person mostly :)
- gpanders 6y ago
  Seconded MMM, that blog changed my life.
loeg 6y ago
Buy it on the ACA exchanges? Depending on your income, you may qualify for significant subsidies. Taxable retirement income for a given lifestyle is lower than most people seem to think -- dividends and LTCG have a lower tax rate than income; you don't pay taxes on the cost basis; you don't pay taxes on withdrawals from Roth accounts at all; and you don't need surplus income to save for retirement. If you live in a paid-off house, that can cut Cost of Living (CoL) needs substantially (e.g., the mortgage is something like 75% of my pre-retirement spending in a High CoL city).
pilom 6y ago
Like what is stated elsewhere, when my wife wasn't working, we were on the ACA exchange. She's now working for fun again at a company that offers it as a benefit and so I'm on hers as it's a slightly better plan at a similar price to an unsubsidized ACA plan.

satysin 6y ago

I’m 36 and followed a similar path “retiring” a few years ago to be a stay at home dad. I missed out on my daughters early years due to being a workaholic and didn’t want to do the same with my son. I failed to realise when I was young I can earn more money but never more time and memories built from a phone video suck. I enjoy spending time doing work on the house and since we moved to France in 2018 I do a few small volunteer jobs such as teaching IT, programming, and helping people improve their conversational English at coffee meet-ups or picnics in the park. Nothing special as I’m not properly trained but it keeps me active and social. I should probably look at making some money from it but I also don’t really care and like how it’s something I want to do rather than have to do because money is involved.

break_the_bank 6y ago
I am far away from being a dad but curious, how do you balance "providing for your kid" and "being there for your kid"?
- _spoonman 6y ago
  The two aren’t mutually exclusive and the roles change as the kid gets older. When they’re newborns you are focused totally on providing: they can’t feed themselves, change their diapers, or bathe themselves. When they get older they can do those things but then start having questions about the world and girls and faith. That’s when it really gets fun because you strengthen the bond. So you’re always providing for the kid. Being there is the tougher part.
  - giantg2 6y ago
    Any two things involving time that can't be done simultaneously are, to a degree, mutually exclusive. You can't be running a code review and chasing a two year old around the house.
- giantg2 6y ago
  In my experience, you have to make sacrifices. Everything in life is a trade-off in one eaybor another. I gave up my nice car and doing track days. Many of my time consuming hobbies that involved going somewhere have been greatly reduced or eliminated. I tried replacing them with smaller hobbies at home while I can watch the kid - like small batch beer brewing or learning bass guitar. Career-wise I have accepted that I will not be promoted and will remain an average midlevel dev for the foreseeable future, mostly due to the cultural expectation that you have to put in more hours to be higher level (and some past decisions still dragging me down). I also acknowledge that I can't afford to changes jobs, eventhough I hate my current job. I need the money to support my family. The responsibilities that come with marriage and kids is vastly understated - it can be absolutely crushing. If it weren't for these responsibilities, I would have changed jobs, been a senior dev or tech lead, made and saved more money, and likely would have been able to move to a lower cost area to retire early.

mettamage 6y ago

I wish I could do that but I only think this is possible by getting a job in the US or Switzerland. They’re both not easy to get if you’re not a citizen there. There was even this Swiss recruiter that scours HN, but after he finds out you’re a recent college grad he vanishes. At least, in my case. Maybe not in other cases.

giantg2 6y ago
This isn't even that common in the US. Sure, there's a chance of retiring early. For most of us, that won't happen prior to age 50, if at all.
- swimfar 6y ago
  It's not common at all, but it's very achievable for most engineers in the US if they're willing to live below their means. Engineers in the US make 2-3x the median income. The difference in disposable income is even greater when you subtract off the costs of necessities. And yet, those other people aren't working 2-3x as many years. It may mean not going out to eat all the time, not buying a fancy new car all the time, not having a fancy house in the most prestigious neighborhood, etc. I'm not saying it's bad to buy or want these things, but they are luxuries you pay for with hours in the office. Early retirement is even easier if retire doesn't mean, "never work for money again", and instead means, "I don't have to take salary into consideration when deciding when/where to work". I'm an engineer living in the SF Bay area who doesn't make tech money and I'll still be able to retire after 15-20 years, easily, while still having waaaay more than my parents did when I was growing up.
  - giantg2 6y ago
    "it's very achievable for most engineers in the US" I feel like this isn't true at all for retiring prior to age 50. You have to adjust for cost of living and the area's median income. The median income in my state is $60k-65k and my salary is about $85k. I'm a midlevel dev in the industry for 9 years (no way could I retire at 15-20 years, even for a lower paying job). I also have a family to support. I do live within my means, but that doesn't mean much with the moderately high cost of living in this area.