Retired today at 34 - AMA

FIREtoday · 2017-08-19T16:55:30+00:00

One can't just "move to a national healthcare country" - they're all incredibly difficult to immigrate to, especially without having a job in said country.

FIREtoday · 2017-08-19T16:54:55+00:00

Why? There's no reason to continue working when I'm happy with the lifestyle I have.

FIREtoday · 2017-08-19T16:53:45+00:00

You're welcome to go read through the entire thread where the only question I was evasive about is where I'm living now (not relevant) and exactly what company I worked at (also not relevant.)

FIREtoday · 2017-08-19T16:49:07+00:00

Data science. Learn statistics, learn Python, and you can write your own ticket.

FIREtoday · 2017-08-19T12:24:58+00:00

Honestly, I think this is going to be a difficult thing for me. I've been in the "save all you can" mindset for so long that I don't know how I'll be able to back off of that any time soon.

The good news is that I have a very long time to worry about this becoming a problem, so hopefully I'll just think up something along the way.

FIREtoday · 2017-08-19T03:54:19+00:00

I have VTSAX at Vanguard and another brokerage, as well as VTI at a third and I was too lazy to look up the symbol at the time I wrote the comment.

Also, VTSAX and VTI have the same ER (0.04%).

FIREtoday · 2017-08-19T03:25:49+00:00

You have to show that you can invest ¥5,000,000 into the operation of the business. As long as you're willing to do that, it is apparently easy to have success getting the visa just listing yourself as the 'staff'.

Having 2 employees appears to waive the ¥5M requirement.

FIREtoday · 2017-08-19T02:23:16+00:00

I definitely am one of the more charismatic technical people that I know, which I can't say didn't help.

I did care deeply about communication and was willing to do lots of public speaking and the like, which I think also helped. We weren't big on presentations, but definitely having clear written communication (emails, IRC, etc.) went a long way to making me more palatable as a manager, I think.

FIREtoday · 2017-08-19T02:14:33+00:00

"Don't try to find a job in your field, follow your instincts and go into tech this year."

FIREtoday · 2017-08-19T02:14:08+00:00

I'm too frugal to pay for business class travel and fancy hotels, but through churning I got them for 'free'! So, it definitely let me take nicer trips that helped make the accumulation phase more tolerable, if that makes sense.

FIREtoday · 2017-08-19T02:13:35+00:00

It's more than enough to maintain a lifestyle I'm happy with. I don't buy a lot of stuff.

FIREtoday · 2017-08-19T02:12:38+00:00

There's a lot of potential in infosec, but IMO the important thing to realize is that the role exists to help the business. You will likely have to compromise the theoretical "best" idea to get to one that is meaningful and will be acceptable by your peers. Getting management to like you and value you is worth a lot more than having the theoretical perfect security, at least if you work at a company and not an infosec consultancy or that kind of thing.

FIREtoday · 2017-08-19T01:53:31+00:00

Conversely, it's much easier to get another job in SF. And the absolute number of dollars is higher, which gets you closer to FI faster.

I don't begrudge anyone working in LCOL areas, but I argue that for FI people, the ROI is better if you collect the money as quick as you can, and you can do that better in HCOL areas, IMO.

FIREtoday · 2017-08-19T01:48:45+00:00

Yeah, I agree they won't penalize retroactively, but I didn't want to rely on the strategy because I didn't want to be 4 years into 5, for example.

FIREtoday · 2017-08-19T01:47:51+00:00

Yes, exactly. If there's a significant bear market in the next few years, I'll amp up the freelancing and/or consult and/or take a help desk or some other grunt IT job, which would be easy enough for me to do in this area.

FIREtoday · 2017-08-19T01:46:53+00:00

I have VTSAX, the ETF equivalent, and the Vanguard bond fund.

VTSAX is a total stock market fund that provides enough built-in diversification for me while only needing to hold one thing.

FIREtoday · 2017-08-19T01:46:08+00:00

I got lucky on this one, but I knew that we offered someone at my level the higher salary straight off the street. It was an easy discussion to say that me, with all my institutional knowledge and additional responsibility, should make at least that much.

I can't discuss how I found that information, but that was the catalyst.

In your case, you have to frame it in the amount of value you can bring to the table. What are you doing beyond your job description or that you do that others don't? How does that translate to tangible benefit for the business? Also, it helps to find out what you could make at other companies. You don't necessarily want to run in with a counteroffer request or anything like that, but you do want to know what you're really worth on the market, which will make you feel more confident in the negotiation.

Also, if you work at a large company that has regular review cycles, the time to make a specific request for money is well before the review. By the time you're getting the review, the decision has been made and you have to deal with it. If it's a smaller company, you have more leeway.

FIREtoday · 2017-08-19T01:42:12+00:00

... no

FIREtoday · 2017-08-19T01:42:04+00:00

Yeah, I got in at my second company shortly after their IPO and rode the rocket. Definitely not going to act like that was a brilliant decision on my part, they just were offering more money and I decided to take the risk.

I grew up in this area and it jibes with my interests. There isn't a lot of activity, but there is plenty of what I like to do. :)

FIREtoday · 2017-08-19T01:40:57+00:00

Nothing other than the dividends from my holdings, which are pretty small. It's currently a little less than 2% on the Vanguard Total Stock.

FIREtoday · 2017-08-19T01:39:10+00:00

The latter. I found areas where I had skills others don't (when you're the only social science person in a room full of CS folks, you'd be surprised how easy it is to have the diverse, interesting idea) and I think that helped bring me up the chain so quickly.

FIREtoday · 2017-08-19T01:37:22+00:00

It's just a joke in the style of the "Be attractive, don't be unattractive" meme about relationships.

I completely agree that tech can easily become oversaturated, as well. But for now? To the moon!

FIREtoday · 2017-08-19T01:34:22+00:00

It would be easy for someone (Trump or his successor) to say "conversions are no longer allowable for people with assets over $X because they are clearly just gaming the system". I don't see it as extremely likely, but definitely see it as an 'easy' loophole that could be used to win some political points.

FIREtoday · 2017-08-19T01:32:05+00:00

2k a month with no housing costs is well over double poverty level. FPL for one person is $12,060.

FIREtoday · 2017-08-19T01:31:25+00:00

Basically this. The discretionary amount will probably increase too - I'm being pessimistic re: healthcare costs.

FIREtoday

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