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Re:Early Retirement (2006) by snek_case on Wednesday August 04, 2021 @11:25AM (#28062104)
I feel like I'd be happy enough just maintaining my current lifestyle more or less, but yes, we as software developers tend to be paid relatively well, so just matching that can be quite expensive. I also feel kind of uncomfortable with the idea of retiring without a little bit of extra safety margin in case of economic turmoil. If 2M is enough to retire, I'd probably want 2.5 just to be extra safe.

My current job pays well but is very stressful, and that had me thinking more about FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early), but then I realized that on anything less than 120K a year (also have a mortgage to pay), I couldn't afford the therapist I'm seeing right now, and I'd be on the hook for dental cleaning, every other expense. My current plan is to save enough that I could technically almost retire on it, and then start prioritizing low stress jobs over income. Let the nest egg grow on its own even if I don't contribute as much with a lower paying job, and still get some benefits.

Re:Early Retirement (2006) by voidfunc on Wednesday August 04, 2021 @12:47PM (#28063219)
The low stress jobs are the key. If I have 2-3 million saved, do I really want to grind at a FAANG or equivalent? Theres low key startups and enterprise dev jobs that are much less stressful and still pay around 120-150K which keeps healthcare covered, CoL covered, and keeps your nest-egg intact.
Re:Early Retirement (2006) by Psyonic on Wednesday August 04, 2021 @05:37PM (#28066704)
IMO your view of stress at FAANG vs elsewhere is off. Some of the least stressed engineers I know work for the big names.

I'm sure there are stressed engineers there as well, but I'd be surprised if it's actually a higher %.

Re:Early Retirement (2006) by walletburst on Wednesday August 04, 2021 @01:21PM (#28063691)
Sounds like Coast FIRE would be a good approach for you:

https://walletburst.com/coast-fire-calc