At the end of Part 2, I had roughly $1,100,000($1,377,921 in 2024) invested at 33 years old, but still far from my FI goal.
Enter a much older, tired, me.
My salary has stayed stagnant, or even decreased, for quite a few years. At 36 I'm still earning $156,000($185,077 in 2024) and saving roughly $60,000($71,183 in 2024). I'm also earning more private equity in startups that may or may not payoff at some point in the future. I start to become a little disillusioned with startups and tech companies in general. They're fun and exciting when they're small, but then inevitably they grow (or die) and little annoyances creep in. They also take a lot of time and effort, increasingly scarce resources that I'd rather spend on myself and those close to me.
Suddenly, without even realizing it, I pass the $2,150,000($2,550,740 in 2024) milestone (remember to adjust your FI number each year for inflation!). Compound interest, extraordinary gains in the market, and steady contributions add up quickly during this time. I did it! I'm financially independent at 37, time to retire!
...but then, I messed everything up and got married1. My wife was already following the financial independence path, but didn't know about the concept of financial independence. She was onboard after a quick explanation, but hedged on whether she would stop working any time soon. With our combined spending, we calculated our new financial independence number: $3,500,000. Luckily, with our combined investments, we hit that milestone a couple years later. Time for me to retire?
...but we also want kids. Kids means bigger house, school, healthcare, food, etc. More calculating and planning. Our goal post moves yet again, to $4,500,000.
Last stretch
And thus starts the final_final_latest_v4.psd stretch of our mandatory work-lives. The closer we get, the longer the journey feels. It's exciting and scary to be so close. While the future is unknowable, at some point our saftey net will be so large that my fear will be as small as it can be. In reality, we are probably already there, especially since we plan on earning some type of income at some point by following our passions without schedules.
When it comes time toss my job into Mt Doom, I'm sure I'll hesitate like Frodo. My job is highly desirable, even seductive, with its' benefits and compensation. Many people covet such a precious thing. And yet, my goal is to throw it away at the end of my journey. I know I'll be happier without it. I am writing this all out to the void to help overcome any hesitation. Where is Gollum when you need him? I wish he'd jump out of nowhere, kill the interview, and steal my job from me when the time comes.
