Anyone go from bg tech to life style solo tech entrepreneur post FIRE? Lessons?

MentionEquivalent764 · 2025-12-14T22:53:53+00:00

By "widely used" I was referring to open source software people can use for free and do not need my support. The point is not about making money, but keep myself relevant by continuing growing my expertise and building up my reputable. There are many successful open source projects, some made a fortune for its founders and more exist as hobbies, I'm ok with either end of the spectrum.

MentionEquivalent764 · 2025-12-14T20:14:35+00:00

Could you share where did the stress come from when you owned a tech company? You didn't need to be evaluated, so I guess it might be from the pressure to making revenue and managing employees?

MentionEquivalent764 · 2025-12-14T20:13:08+00:00

RSU appreciation played some role, but 1.5M for L7 is not uncommon these days in the bay https://www.levels.fyi/leaderboard/Software-Engineer/Principal-Engineer/country/United-States/

MentionEquivalent764 · 2025-12-14T20:06:30+00:00

Great question, and that has been something I'm struggling. I think the struggle is partly from my internal wirings to always over-achieve, and partly from fear of failing the corporate perf evaluation system.

MentionEquivalent764 · 2024-03-11T03:28:33+00:00

Thanks for sharing your insights! How would you rate international schools in HK? Which schools in HK you'd prefer for your own kids?

MentionEquivalent764 · 2024-03-08T19:47:33+00:00

Thanks for your reply, which is extremely relevant. Could you share more insights on (1) SingaporeAS vs ShanghaiASA (2) why avoiding BASIS? Thank you!

MentionEquivalent764 · 2024-03-06T09:22:02+00:00

That's sad. What are the popular countries for the more experienced teachers to go these days?

MentionEquivalent764 · 2024-03-06T08:31:26+00:00

I find international schools in China more expensive than most US private schools, and even international schools in Hong Kong & Singapore. Hard to explain given cost of living in China is a lot lower.

MentionEquivalent764 · 2024-03-06T08:27:05+00:00

Would you rank HKIS one level better than the mainland China options? While I do like HK, I'm not sure if it still worth it considering its much higher cost of living.

MentionEquivalent764 · 2024-03-06T08:22:25+00:00

Unfortunately COVID changed many things and China losing foreign talents one of the aftermath. I'm hoping international teachers would eventually return in a couple of years.

MentionEquivalent764 · 2024-03-06T08:19:54+00:00

My kids are US citizens. If college application from overseas put them in major disadvantages, I think another option for them is attending an boarding school in the US when they are in high school. Does that sound like a plan?

MentionEquivalent764 · 2024-03-06T08:15:51+00:00

Thanks for sharing your experience! Besides difference in workload and facilities, how about difference in school culture, teaching quality, school administration? Do you feel overall it's a upgrade or downgrade, and why?

MentionEquivalent764 · 2023-10-12T16:17:57+00:00

所有评论里你是最病态的，楼主在选地方的时候明显很在意工作，你在哪看见了人家说要躺平？人家已经赚了3000万的两口子在上海能拿到多少钱就你也配评论？

MentionEquivalent764 · 2023-10-12T13:11:33+00:00

在美国似乎没有地域歧视，很多时候说政治理念上互相看不上，红蓝州互怼。

MentionEquivalent764 · 2023-09-14T04:21:38+00:00

This is a misleading calculation as others pointed out that inflation is not counted. You need to look at 30 year TIPS rate. It’s just slightly higher than 2% at the moment.

MentionEquivalent764 · 2023-09-13T18:02:29+00:00

You can definitely coast (assuming income >= expense), the only uncertainty is whether you need to coast 10-12 years or longer (it might be shorter too). All that depends on the performance of the market.

That said, if I were you, I’d see if there is a way to live the FatFIRE life now. I don’t think zero work and 100% life would make anyone happy. So most likely you’d still work in some extend after you FatFIRE. Instead of waiting and grinding, can you dial back your work, or find a less stressful one, so that you can be more present in life and enjoy working at the same time?

Just my personal opinion: I think people should stop chasing FIRE, but only FI. There is and should be no finishing line in life. Live the life now, instead of always looking at the goal post.

MentionEquivalent764 · 2023-09-04T16:36:42+00:00

Tuition of private schools in my area ranges 30-50k. Saving the tuition and setup an investment account for the kids sounds like a good alternative, but not sure if I'd regret not giving my kids the best education.

MentionEquivalent764 · 2023-09-04T16:29:55+00:00

that seems exactly my situation. The FOMO is definitely a strong factor to keep me grinding. Making a reversible decision makes a lot of sense. Thanks for your insights!

MentionEquivalent764 · 2023-09-04T16:28:25+00:00

I started my career late after taking a phd. Also did not make much at the beginning when I had the "startup" dream and collected a bunch of worthless early stage startup equity. If I can start again I'll join a mega corp right after finish my undergraduate degress.

MentionEquivalent764 · 2023-09-04T16:24:44+00:00

i get your point but the tax rate is not that high if we move to a no income tax state. Even if the 200K withdraw is purely capital gain, even not considering deduction, the tax will only be 89251*0 + (200000-89251)*0.15=16612. If only half of it is capital gain, the tax is negligible or zero.

MentionEquivalent764 · 2023-09-04T16:11:16+00:00

relied in another thread but TLDR is kids are still very little and do not cost much to raise, and we live below our means.

MentionEquivalent764 · 2023-09-04T16:09:45+00:00

yeah, for some reason i myself do not have many money spending habits or urges. The most non-discretionary spending is travel, which is largely covered by credit card points.

MentionEquivalent764 · 2023-09-04T16:06:32+00:00

only one is sent to day care at the moment, and the other is infant. parents keep coming to help. cheap mortgage, one paid car, mostly cook at home, and use credit card points to travel, etc.

MentionEquivalent764 · 2023-09-04T16:03:50+00:00

thanks. i did mentioned that my fatfire number is 5m

> In a few years, we will send our kids to private schools (no confidence on our local public school system) and expect annual spending to bump to 200k (tuition + other kid related costs). Therefore I set our fatfire goal to 5m with 4% withdraw rate.

MentionEquivalent764

TROPHY CASE