I agree in principle, but what motivates me to be financially independent is not having to deal with all the bullshit that comes along with work. Office politics, drama, having your priorities set by someone else, etc. I also find having to care about promotions and such extremely stressful.
During periods of high stress, I find myself dreaming of FI just to stay home reading books and going to the gym. But more realistically, I’d likely continue to work my current job, with some changes.
If I were to become financially independent overnight, I’d schedule a 1:1 with my manager and explain that either I’m now working 100% on my terms, or I quit. That would allow me to just contribute to the product we’re developing, without having to deal with the bullshit. I’d then be perfectly fine staying at my current position for the rest of my career (i.e. no promos).
From a religious perspective, I think our purpose should be contributing something to the world as long as we live. Work is one of the best forms of contribution, which is why people pay for it. If I'm just sitting there living off a hoard, I might as well be dead. I would not be happy to not work.
I would be happy to work "half time" though, about 20 hours/week. I'm aiming for $25k this year or next to achieve that.
But if I didn't want to work at all, it would be at least $2M. It would make me very anxious though, with inflation and all.