source: I lived in India and China.
Looking at what the author uses as a definition for work, he's basically implying he wants to make money a secondary goal. In other words, instead of working for the sake of earning money, find something you enjoy and find a way to earn a living doing that. The difference comes down to whether you'd enjoy doing what you do as a job even if you didn't get paid. If you'd enjoy it even without earning money, then the argument is that it's not really 'work' (I'm using that term loosely as pursuing your interests may still take up a lot of time and effort).
That seems to be the basic gist of it. I'm sure we've heard similar messages before, but it's still good to see people learn from their experiences. I wish the author well with enjoying his new path.
If that is what is called "retirement", I've been retired since I was 15! Thanks for finally opening my eyes to that! I guess I don't need those 401ks and IRAs now - I'm retired already, so no point in saving for retirement.
> If you'd enjoy it even without earning money, then the argument is that it's not really 'work'
I'm not sure redefining words to have weird meanings specific for one's argument is going to convince anybody in that argument.
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:8xTiQWh...
As someone interested in financial independence and early retirement, this blog was not what I expected.
https://www.reddit.com/r/financialindependence
Also recommend this calculator focused around early retirement, accounts for inflation, decreased spending as you age, social security, etc..
That's not really retiring. That's delegating day-to-day operational management.
Watching over a portfolio of passive income assets is basically the "job" of an Investor/Owner.
Of course this is all possible, but it's very easy to be shortsighted.
The more relevant question is to ask ourselves what our priorities are, and if possible, be able to answer, what our #1 priority is -- the one we truly want to maximize. Once we know that, then we can look at the paths we have available to maximize this, and what sort of tradeoffs with other valuable factors (like money!) it would entail, and whether it's something that makes sense in each of our lives.
It's one of the few joys of working in this lovely industry of ours.
It's possible, but it's difficult. In most cases luck ends up being a huge factor whether you want to admit it or not. For many in the Bay Area it just comes down to good timing: moved here 10 years ago, locked into a monthly payment less than $1,500/mo, spent the last few years making ~$200k. Sure, you put in the time. But someone else can put in the time today doing the same thing you did and they will have a completely different outcome. It's not reproducible, because the largest factor was good (lucky) timing.
The hardest thing to do is reduce you monthly housing expense. The best "advice" is actually playing the which-city-should-I-live-in lottery. Pick correctly and the 30% of your income that goes towards housing can increase by 200-300%. 10 years later, there's your retirement. Pick incorrectly and you'll be stuck with average gains like everyone else.
It's just a different kind of lottery. You can make a smart bet, but it's still a bet.
