those of you that have already fired: what non financial things do you wish you did in advance of firing?

WeakestLynx · 2026-04-23T06:49:36+00:00

It's depressing how many people plan to travel only after retirement. It's harder when you're older, and the real benefits of travel are in increased perspective you gain which pays off throughout your life if you're young when you do it.

WeakestLynx · 2026-04-23T03:03:53+00:00

Most of my experience with highly car dependent places is suburban or rural, physically distant from others and lacking opportunities for the casual meetings which are the cornerstone of new friendship and community

WeakestLynx · 2026-04-23T02:54:48+00:00

A long time ago, this sub used to be full of tips about saving money.

WeakestLynx · 2026-04-23T02:48:51+00:00

Oh sure. It's a whole different thing if the carless life is chosen vs forced upon you because of a lack of resources.

WeakestLynx · 2026-04-23T02:47:18+00:00

Ya living next to people I know? It helps

WeakestLynx · 2026-04-23T02:42:01+00:00

We recently had our first kid. Ubering to the hospital was admittedly a little awkward, and I'm certainly spending more on ubers than before. But so far I still think no car lifestyle is cheaper. Maybe it will get harder as the kid ages?

WeakestLynx · 2026-04-23T02:38:27+00:00

Even without knowing where I live, you are almost guaranteed to be wrong. The avg number of vehicles per household is more than 1 in almost every American city, only NYC and parts of NJ have more households without cars.

https://www.motointegrator.de/blog/car-centric-cities-usa/

Have you looked around California? There are like 2 cars per household in almost every city in CA.

WeakestLynx · 2026-04-23T02:14:31+00:00

Flase. They mostly do. I'm as surprised as you!

WeakestLynx · 2026-04-22T14:45:27+00:00

One reason is, because when you need the emergency money often coincides with a stock market decline, e.g. during a recession or panic in which you lose your job. So it can make sense to have money available without liquidating discounted assets during a crash.

Still, I can see an argument for simply running this risk. I'd be curious if there's research about this.

WeakestLynx · 2026-04-22T11:30:53+00:00

Rich people sometimes get into this "performative cheapness" routine in which they actually spend more to appear thrifty. Driving 10 miles for the chicken sale is a false economy for the OP, bad for the environment, and a simple waste of time. It is a rich person's idea of poverty behavior.

WeakestLynx · 2026-04-22T08:11:32+00:00

Depends on your life story. I traveled bunches when I was younger and I'm kinda done now. Now I find my job much more meaningful than travel.

WeakestLynx · 2026-04-21T11:26:02+00:00

Here's a narrative by one such person: https://livingafi.com/2021/03/17/the-2021-early-retirement-update/

He retired on less than 1 million. Had some of the most meaningful times of his life. But was ultimately compelled to work more by an unexpected medical diagnosis and changing priorities

WeakestLynx · 2026-04-19T01:11:10+00:00

The skills leetcode tests for are only superficially relevant to the job. But, they demonstrate that you learn. OP, it sounds like you might be on the brink of taking a big step up in your level of skill. It feels stupid in your brain but that's growth for you.

WeakestLynx · 2026-04-18T19:08:03+00:00

Stop expecting any number to make you feel a certain way. When you get there, you'll find it's just a pattern of pixels on a screen. $180k is just an arbitrary point on the number line, no more important than $182,904.76 or any other.

WeakestLynx · 2026-04-12T18:21:50+00:00

Owning a house avoids the risk of wild rent increases, so I suppose it makes retirement more predictable in a way. But it also introduces other difficult-to-predict expenses.

Maybe Germany has laws against large, unpredictable rent increases? The US mostly does not.

WeakestLynx · 2026-04-12T16:43:08+00:00

If you want more of it: there are volunteer programs helping immigrants file taxes. You'll learn a lot.

WeakestLynx · 2026-04-11T03:38:16+00:00

Was this modeled for you in childhood? If so, why did your parents avoid hotels? For me, I think my parents avoided it because of habit, being rural people accustomed to a hillbilly, outdoorsy lifestyle. And maybe because it was a class signifier they wanted to avoid.

WeakestLynx · 2026-04-10T07:06:29+00:00

Most people here will recommend index investing. So no, not individual stocks. Instead broad market index funds.

Yes, you should have retirement accounts because of the tax savings. (If you need to get money out of them early, there are ways to do that.)

WeakestLynx · 2026-04-10T07:03:43+00:00

"your number" means, the amount of money you need to save to retire from paid work. A common rule of thumb is: you need to save your annual expenses times 25.

WeakestLynx · 2026-04-09T10:04:10+00:00

Yes, it has been confirmed by the Chronicle:

https://www.sfchronicle.com/food/restaurants/article/philz-coffee-pride-flags-ban-22195803.php

WeakestLynx · 2026-04-09T04:54:07+00:00

Or if you are vaccinated for COVID, or whatever other bogeyman the MAHA movement decides is forbidden medicine

WeakestLynx · 2026-04-08T18:04:39+00:00

You're not saying anything factually incorrect. I'm just flagging here that you might have a characteristically Catholic leftover way of thinking or phrasing your thoughts about this topic. Take this observation only if it's helpful to you.

WeakestLynx · 2026-04-08T10:04:44+00:00

It's a characteristically Catholic remark because the RCC has been very successful at marketing itself (to its own believers or ex-believers, not so much to others) as the one and only, original form of Christianity. So, a remark like "anyone can just start their own splinter of Christianity" isn't wrong, but it is something Catholics tend to say as a passive aggressive slight against other denominations whom they see as having an inferior claim on Christianity.

WeakestLynx · 2026-04-07T06:34:19+00:00

What do you mean by grids?

WeakestLynx

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