So...I followed through on this comment from October.
I retire in 10 days.
It feels surreal to be doing this after only 6 years of engineering work, and before even buying my first house or car. All my material possessions can be packed up to move in one day. I am very glad I decided to use most of my income to buy peace of mind and freedom. It feels like I found a loophole in society.
@farzyness has shared in some recent YouTube videos his desire to use the TSLA abundance to take time off to explore and find out what being a human is really about before attacking the next phase of his life. I feel the same way, except for me that adventure may end with a new beginning at Tesla or Boring Co. On the other hand, maybe I'll want to start my own business finally, or step away from the Musk world for a while and get a job somewhere else. Honestly, I don't know right now and I would appreciate any advice from those older and wiser than I, especially those like
@Artful Dodger who have given a middle finger to the rat race early in life, or those like
@Discoducky who have worked at Tesla.
I wanted to share this here today for a several reasons:
1) Contributing to our community's current camaraderie and euphoria.
2) Inspiring others here to go hardcore with shoveling as much of their capital as possible into investments to build a brighter future for themselves and all of humankind, especially those who are still young enough to do this before the encumbrances of marriage or kids.
3) Asking for advice, as mentioned above.
4) Offering advice for anyone who wants tactics, frameworks and mindsets to save this much this quickly while maintaining a better-than-average standard of living.
5) Inviting American TMC members who might like to meet up to consider sending me a DM, because in a few months, I'll be slowly travelling all around the USA. I've already penciled in a plan with one member in New Orleans. I also intend to spend the summer of 2023 in France if the pandemic has completed by then, and I would enjoy organizing a Euro TMC party.
I love you all.
(Technically I'm not retiring yet; my manager and I set up an unpaid leave of absence for 6 months so I can come back in July if I want to. Something to consider for anyone else considering quitting early but feeling nervous about the finality of terminating employment at their company.)
I'm nowhere close to being the oldest nor the wisest TMC member, but here are my two cents.
Early in my adult life (10-15 years ago), I was big on movies and loved movies that suggested there may be more to life than meets the eye, such as I Origins, Mr. Nobody, Interstellar, Arrival, etc. I had been raised a Christian, but had come to the conclusion that religions were made up and were not for me, so some of these movies amended my world view (perhaps there are things beyond what we know) and gave life more meaning that way.
Another movie that I liked a lot, but whose view on life & meaning I did not like at the time, was The Matrix. The Matrix trilogy basically concludes that objectively there is no meaning to life and that all we can do is make up our own meaning (Why do you fight Mr. Anderson => Because I chose to). Over time, this view really grew on me though, and now it's exactly how I view life & meaning. There is none, but each and every one of us is free to choose whichever meaning he/she pleases.
However, in my opinion humans do have some built-in 'meaning' in that all of us are programmed to seek and avoid a number of things, or else we'll suffer, which I don't believe any human desires. Most of these are common knowledge and primary needs such as oxygen, water, food, shelter, etc. Most people have to work in order to be able to meet these needs and survive, but some people, be it through TSLA or other means, are lucky enough that they will never have to worry about these again. This frees up a lot of time.
There are a few other things that I'd add to this list, that in my opinion are just as important, but many people tend to neglect them because they don't realise they're just as important, because there's a larger time-gap between neglecting them and having to deal with the consequences, or because people simply don't have the time to attend to them. The most important ones are: physical health, mental health, and relationships.
I don't think anyone would prefer to be sick over healthy, but exercise and eating healthy take up a lot of time. Furthermore, many health choices (e.g. eating tons of processed food that increase the risk of cancer) won't be noticeable until much later in life after it is too late.
Healthy, fulfilling relationships are also extremely important to one's wellbeing. Neglecting relationships usually doesn't mean facing immediate consequences, but long term investing time and effort into relationships will pay off.
It's hard to go through life entirely unscathed, so most people will go through some very unpleasant experiences (bullying, abuse, death of loved one, etc.) at some point in their life. Properly processing experiences like this takes a lot of time, energy, focus, and in some cases money (therapy), so most people neglect doing so. There's also the effect society has on just about anyone. Most men are taught to suppress their emotions to some extent, many women are affected by unhealthy beauty standards, various races grow up affected by stereotypes, many people are affected by expectations of parents/friends, etc. These often cause people to lose touch with themselves, who they really are, and what they themselves believe in.
Considering all this, I personally think it's very important for someone who recently gained financial freedom to really take inventory of where their life is at. You may no longer have to invest time & energy into work in order to survive, there are a number of other important things that money cannot buy. It may make sense to start dedicating some time and focus to these areas of one's life first and foremost.
Once these things are in order (or if they already are), one can ponder what they find meaningful and want to dedicate their time and energy to. Each individual will come up with a different answer as to what they find meaningful in life, but that's what makes humans so interesting and diverse.
Personally I derive most meaning from helping others, but just like you have to put on your own oxygen mask in an airplane before helping others, don't forget to take care of your own wellbeing first.