FIRE. If you’re working in American tech, especially in the VHCOL areas, there’s absolutely no excuse to not be saving and investing a significant (arbitrarily

FIRE. If you’re working in American tech, especially in the VHCOL areas, there’s absolutely no excuse to not be saving and investing a significant (arbitrarily >>30% of gross pay) amount of your income. Don’t go overboard on the spending and lifestyle inflation. None of this means you have to live a miserly life; instead, you’re preparing ahead such that you don’t have to worry about being solely dependent on whatever future government handout (UBI, SS, etc.) exists along with everyone else. And hey, if this whole AI thing doesn’t pan out and we’re all still working, then your life is all the better anyway being financially independent. Perhaps the one counter to this is that a future where AI can displace large swaths of knowledge workers is one where the economy and, by extension, your investments become disrupted in a negative way. But that seems unlikely.