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> However, the death of a close friend has made me reevaluate whether I want to work until 65. Maybe retiring early or at least having the option to not work fu

> However, the death of a close friend has made me reevaluate whether I want to work until 65. Maybe retiring early or at least having the option to not work full time makes sense. I do know that you can still live a good life before you are retired, and I am guilty of "Groundhog Day" living like some of us are. After grinding for years and finally becoming financially independent, my advice to people considering the same is: don't. Instead, focus on making small improvements to your daily quality of life. From sleep, to exercise, to diet, to finding a project/team/company that is aligned with your personal enjoyment. Try things out and stick to whatever works for you at the moment. The reason for this is that becoming financially independent is not going to magically make you a happier person, it just gives you more free time. If you were bitter and joyless from years of keeping your nose to the grindstone, once you retire you will just be a bitter and joyless person with extra free time to simmer in your own misery. Happiness happens today, not some distant future.

adflux 5y ago
Love that last sentence!
ckdarby 5y ago
- Focus on quality of life improvements with existing control - Start experimenting for happiness. I only in the last two years found out how incredible I feel stopping coffee at 1 PM and waking up before 6 AM. - Financial independence can make you happier because not only does it give you more time it can also reward us by not needing to do things we don't want to do like house cleaning.
Jensson 5y ago
> After grinding for years and finally becoming financially independent, my advice to people considering the same is: don't. > Instead, focus on making small improvements to your daily quality of life. From sleep, to exercise, to diet, to finding a project/team/company that is aligned with your personal enjoyment. Try things out and stick to whatever works for you at the moment. You can do all of those while working at FANG. FANG is the best way to get peace of mind, you make lots of money for a modest amount of work so can focus on other things. If you get into a toxic team at Amazon then sure you trade stress and happiness for money, but the others aren't like that and are harder to get into for a reason.
- lolinder 5y ago
  I think they were saying "don't focus on retiring early thinking it will make you happy, because it won't" not "don't work at a FAANG".
  - Jensson 5y ago
    Having FU money is really helpful though, and you get that by working at FAANG. For example it lets you take a few years break without worrying about money etc if you feel like it. It really helps! The only reason to not care about this is if you love your job so much that you are sure you want to work all the time until you retire.
- deeviant 5y ago
  > FANG is the best way to get peace of mind You make working for a large corporation sound like a religions experience. I've worked in start ups my entire career, never once in 13 years did I worry about job security or financial issues in general, the market is just too good for competent software engineers. The last one happened to have a very successful acquisition and now I still work at my startup (one of the lucky ones whose culture and working environment survive acquisition), but it's part of a larger fortune 100 company. Now I have a start up life, a FANG salary, and mission that doesn't include cramming ads in eyeballs or invading other's privacy and I can't help but to feel that my way was the best way. This isn't to say that my way actually was the best way, but that calling out any single career path as "the best" seems likely to be wrong.
  - Jensson 5y ago
    > You make working for a large corporation sound like a religions experience. Having so much money you don't have to work is like a religious experience, it makes you revaluate life etc. Getting to that point without having to sacrifice anything is very valuable. > Now I have a start up life, a FANG salary, and mission that doesn't include cramming ads in eyeballs or hording private data and I can't help to feel that my way was the best way. Right, you got lucky. I went the reliable path where you get this every time. Start-ups is not a good way to get peace of mind, working 35 hours at FAANG is.
technological 5y ago
I know becoming financially independent does not make a person happy, however do you think in present condition money plays a important role in feeling happy ?
- derekp7 5y ago
  Financial security can play a part of it, but that doesn't exactly mean being financially independent. -- Having a job where you don't go in every day thinking that today is when they will find a reason to fire me or get laid off. -- Having a bit of surplus personal money (after retirement accounts are paid into, and other planned savings) is really good. It doesn't take much, and you don't really need extra income, just make sure your lifestyle matches slightly below your income. -- Knowing you can survive for a while without a job, if needed. To accomplish the above (without having to significantly increasing your income), make sure to avoid the trap of monthly payments as much as you can. Sure you can afford $800 a month on a car payment, but your emergency fund stretches much further if you buy a car with cash up front (or going no more than 3 years on a loan). -- Take time for yourself. Don't leave vacation days unused. Take advantage of flex time without using vacation if you can (cutting out for a couple hours for a Dr appointment, etc). Take a couple Wednesdays off per month during the summer (5 weeks vacation gets you a 4-day work week every other week for the year, or take minimum time off in the winter, take a few 3-4 day weekends, periodically take a day off that you don't have "must-do" activities scheduled so you can do personal projects such as woodworking or gardening, etc). This is what has kept me happy, and will continue to do so even if I have to work till I'm 65.
  - technological 5y ago
    Regarding “ To accomplish the above (without having to significantly increasing your income” How do you judge what is important for you and what is like luxury which you don’t need right away ? I mean let’s say iPad is nice to have and would enjoy but it is not necessary or must have . But should I not buy something I don’t need to right now but save for future which is very random or unsure . I mean let’s say I been saving all long hoping to have a nice life after retirement but all of sudden I got hit by bus and thinking I should have enjoyed all things I wished sure rather than saving when on death bed . How to balance ?
wallflower 5y ago
> Happiness happens today, not some distant future. Thank you for sharing your perspective from someone who has done it. And congratulations on becoming financially independent! I feel you have shared a lot of wisdom in that one sentence. Life is now, not later. It echoes what my brother-in-law told me when I blathered in our family WhatsApp about my (maybe) plan for 2022: "If this is driven by your friend's unexpected passing, then my suggestion is to live each day. Don't wait for retirement as life is too unpredictable. You should be able to live a good life while saving for retirement." I'm still on the fence about grinding LeetCode to get into a FAANG or equivalent. However, I am rationalizing that even if I don't go for FAANG, getting familiar with LeetCode (even if not a grind that consumes my life) could still be an invaluable skill to hone as it would make those types of interviews less of a concern and more companies are adopting CodeSignal-type online assessments as their pre-screens.

adflux 5y ago

Love that last sentence!

ckdarby 5y ago

- Focus on quality of life improvements with existing control - Start experimenting for happiness. I only in the last two years found out how incredible I feel stopping coffee at 1 PM and waking up before 6 AM. - Financial independence can make you happier because not only does it give you more time it can also reward us by not needing to do things we don't want to do like house cleaning.

Jensson 5y ago

> After grinding for years and finally becoming financially independent, my advice to people considering the same is: don't. > Instead, focus on making small improvements to your daily quality of life. From sleep, to exercise, to diet, to finding a project/team/company that is aligned with your personal enjoyment. Try things out and stick to whatever works for you at the moment. You can do all of those while working at FANG. FANG is the best way to get peace of mind, you make lots of money for a modest amount of work so can focus on other things. If you get into a toxic team at Amazon then sure you trade stress and happiness for money, but the others aren't like that and are harder to get into for a reason.

lolinder 5y ago
I think they were saying "don't focus on retiring early thinking it will make you happy, because it won't" not "don't work at a FAANG".
- Jensson 5y ago
  Having FU money is really helpful though, and you get that by working at FAANG. For example it lets you take a few years break without worrying about money etc if you feel like it. It really helps! The only reason to not care about this is if you love your job so much that you are sure you want to work all the time until you retire.
deeviant 5y ago
> FANG is the best way to get peace of mind You make working for a large corporation sound like a religions experience. I've worked in start ups my entire career, never once in 13 years did I worry about job security or financial issues in general, the market is just too good for competent software engineers. The last one happened to have a very successful acquisition and now I still work at my startup (one of the lucky ones whose culture and working environment survive acquisition), but it's part of a larger fortune 100 company. Now I have a start up life, a FANG salary, and mission that doesn't include cramming ads in eyeballs or invading other's privacy and I can't help but to feel that my way was the best way. This isn't to say that my way actually was the best way, but that calling out any single career path as "the best" seems likely to be wrong.
- Jensson 5y ago
  > You make working for a large corporation sound like a religions experience. Having so much money you don't have to work is like a religious experience, it makes you revaluate life etc. Getting to that point without having to sacrifice anything is very valuable. > Now I have a start up life, a FANG salary, and mission that doesn't include cramming ads in eyeballs or hording private data and I can't help to feel that my way was the best way. Right, you got lucky. I went the reliable path where you get this every time. Start-ups is not a good way to get peace of mind, working 35 hours at FAANG is.

technological 5y ago

I know becoming financially independent does not make a person happy, however do you think in present condition money plays a important role in feeling happy ?

derekp7 5y ago
Financial security can play a part of it, but that doesn't exactly mean being financially independent. -- Having a job where you don't go in every day thinking that today is when they will find a reason to fire me or get laid off. -- Having a bit of surplus personal money (after retirement accounts are paid into, and other planned savings) is really good. It doesn't take much, and you don't really need extra income, just make sure your lifestyle matches slightly below your income. -- Knowing you can survive for a while without a job, if needed. To accomplish the above (without having to significantly increasing your income), make sure to avoid the trap of monthly payments as much as you can. Sure you can afford $800 a month on a car payment, but your emergency fund stretches much further if you buy a car with cash up front (or going no more than 3 years on a loan). -- Take time for yourself. Don't leave vacation days unused. Take advantage of flex time without using vacation if you can (cutting out for a couple hours for a Dr appointment, etc). Take a couple Wednesdays off per month during the summer (5 weeks vacation gets you a 4-day work week every other week for the year, or take minimum time off in the winter, take a few 3-4 day weekends, periodically take a day off that you don't have "must-do" activities scheduled so you can do personal projects such as woodworking or gardening, etc). This is what has kept me happy, and will continue to do so even if I have to work till I'm 65.
- technological 5y ago
  Regarding “ To accomplish the above (without having to significantly increasing your income” How do you judge what is important for you and what is like luxury which you don’t need right away ? I mean let’s say iPad is nice to have and would enjoy but it is not necessary or must have . But should I not buy something I don’t need to right now but save for future which is very random or unsure . I mean let’s say I been saving all long hoping to have a nice life after retirement but all of sudden I got hit by bus and thinking I should have enjoyed all things I wished sure rather than saving when on death bed . How to balance ?

wallflower 5y ago

> Happiness happens today, not some distant future. Thank you for sharing your perspective from someone who has done it. And congratulations on becoming financially independent! I feel you have shared a lot of wisdom in that one sentence. Life is now, not later. It echoes what my brother-in-law told me when I blathered in our family WhatsApp about my (maybe) plan for 2022: "If this is driven by your friend's unexpected passing, then my suggestion is to live each day. Don't wait for retirement as life is too unpredictable. You should be able to live a good life while saving for retirement." I'm still on the fence about grinding LeetCode to get into a FAANG or equivalent. However, I am rationalizing that even if I don't go for FAANG, getting familiar with LeetCode (even if not a grind that consumes my life) could still be an invaluable skill to hone as it would make those types of interviews less of a concern and more companies are adopting CodeSignal-type online assessments as their pre-screens.