Young SWE here, wondering why so many ppl in SWE industry chase FIRE Is it because we “can’t” work until we are 65? Im surrounded by FIRE people (yes i know i need to seek different friend groups but its hard given covid) and I genuinely dont understand the desire for FIRE - if you want to do something, why not do it now? I dont FIRE because you cant get younger (duh) and you will experience identical things differently at different ages so Id rather maximize that than saving $$$ (very generic statement but i hope you get the gist) Yoe 2, tc 260
Pays well and many of us are frugal and don’t care that much about showing off the dough.
Whats your definition of frugality? And you dont need to show off the dough to not FIRE?
Not obvious to define, but let’s say that you don’t buy stuff you don’t need, and you pay attention to cost effectiveness first. You can show off, but not to imply your actual level of wealth. Live like you had 10% of your NW kind of rule.
Your perspective is correct though, time changes us in irreversible ways, and we can’t get younger. So FIRE has its trade offs.
Because travel is goals 🧳 ✈️
Its part of a bigger problem. You will generally see 2 types of engineers in tech. One who really enjoys it, you will see the design, coding and everything will naturally come to them. They don’t have to work as hard as the rest. And then there are others who joined tech because it pays well or didn’t know any better while joining university. The second type will generally struggle and be mediocre type. Don’t get wrong lot of stuff we do is dumb implementation of apis, reading documentation and implementing. But there comes a point when you become financially stable and realize is it really what you want to do for the rest of your life? 2nd type will generally set a FIRE target and keep thinking about when can they get out.
Not true. I love coding and design but still want to FIRE so that I can do things on my own terms. Same case with many I know who are into FIRE. Few years ago I thought like you but when you make a lot of money and see the rat race for what it really is, you realize freedom, true leisure and ability to pursue creative activities of your own volition are at the very top of hierarchy of needs.
^^ If you're forced to do something you like on someone else's terms, then it becomes a job and not a hobby. Like many others, I coded for fun 10+ years before starting my actual career, but I don't necessarily want to code on a specific schedule, fix other people's crap, and don't want to work on useless tasks that will inevitably be put on your plate at any seniority level at any company. The above 3 things are examples of what makes a hobby into a job.
Cause working generally sucks the life out of you so you need some time to enjoy your money before you die.
Because many people in tech don’t have real goals in life. Easier to work toward a number than to find true purpose. By the time people meet their FIRE goals, the years they spent changing their thoughts, preferences, and actions to achieve it will have shaped them into a different person than if they had actually tried living in a directly fulfilling way. Of course this does not apply to every body, just a generalization. You’re doing it right. Having passion for what you do, enjoying life in your youth, and being an interesting person are things money can’t buy.
Well, in fairness, spending 8 hours a day looking at a screen being sedentary can’t be good for you. Given that the pay let’s you hit lean fire in 10 years, being free to do your own thing in your early to mid thirties is a huge life upgrade! Mi do think you’re over generalizing, op. Less than 1% of tech workers will give up their cushy big co jobs before 50
It's about freedom, not retiring early
Because tbh, working with 100 fad frameworks over 30 years to send the same bytes over sucks. Politics over 30 years also sucks.
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Cuz most other industries don't pay well enough, early enough for FIRE to even be an option. Also this career is shit. YOE 7 , TC 550K
Can you elaborate on why this career is shit?
Its not shit, some people do enjoy it.