I believe everyone has a different set of circumstances, and never the same path, but it's great to be able to see people writing under this topic about the pat

I believe everyone has a different set of circumstances, and never the same path, but it's great to be able to see people writing under this topic about the paths they took, just to be able to know I'm sane. I'm unmarried... spent most of my younger life driven to make money and buy a house. It's been the best decision for me to buy a house when I'm working because of the tax deductions. That being said I've always wanted to be a musician, and an independent thinker. Working for others served to pay bills, but also served to burn valuable years off of my life... Because I'm not married and have no kids, I'm able though to be a bit less cautious, and have taken time off of work in small cycles (3-6 months at a time). I have always planned a point of retirement, but I'm not there because it's impossible to know how good my savings need to be, and how the economy will go into the future, and I don't want to have to go back to working, after years off, when I'm much older in a future where jobs may not be available to someone like me. I have no shortage of things to do in retirement, but most of it depends on being well funded, and in today's world, financial, time without income, and investment risks are much scarier than it used to be. But the truth has always been the same - No risk, no reward.