Is FIRE next to impossible with children?

[Anonymous]

I quit my corporate job as a software engineer last year, just before turning 30. My highest corporate W2 income was $126k. If that seems low for a software engineer with 10 years of experience—yeah, but it was intentional. I was offered promotions 3 times during my long tenure at the same company and I refused each time. I needed my brainpower for my side businesses, so if it meant doing mid-tier software development work at the company—I'm all for it since I could do it on autopilot.

My personal cash pile is around $170k now, and I have one kid. I can tap into the cash flow from the business at any time, though I've barely needed to so far. My couple of businesses now make around $700k in revenue per year at roughly a 55% gross margin, and I try to reinvest as much as possible with the goal to 1.5-2x each year. It's been working out well so far.

We're burning through roughly $12k of our personal cash per month, with our only "splurges" being rent at $3,900/month for a 2-bedroom and a car at $995/month. The rest ($7k) goes mainly to Amazon for stuff, Costco for groceries, and a nanny for 12 hours a week to teach our kid a 3rd language. It still adds up, and our $170k would last only around 15 months... I'm worried about that, but I keep it all in investments. Interestingly, I had $170k when I quit my job a year ago, thanks to positions in QQQ, Treasuries, Bitcoin, and so forth. This allowed the business to grow from $400k/year to $700k/year while our personal cash pile stayed the same.

To get back to your original question—if we had one extra kid, our spending might go up another $3k/month, primarily due to the need for an extra room, making it $15k/month total. To bootstrap my businesses a few years ago, I loaned them $310k total, so in your case, you would still have $690k left. At $15k/month spend, it would last you 46 months, more than it took me to reach $700k/year from the businesses. If I chose to stop growing and just took in profits, at 55% margins that would be $385k/year, or $32k/month, which is more than the $15k/month needed.

Starting the businesses wasn't too difficult either. I was able to get them up and running while having a day job, working no more than 30 hours/week, mostly on weekends. Now that the businesses are set, I use AI and virtual assistants offshore to only spend about 1-6 hours/day on them (avg. 2hrs/day), leaving the rest of the time for my child, wife, and traveling. We just spent 3 months in Japan because why not—the yen is at an all-time low, and we're not locked to an office. Our own business means we control the rules!

At 2 hours/day on average, we're effectively FIRE with only $170k and I enjoy growing the businesses, so it's no chore either.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It'd be impossible for me. And I make seven figures. Sure I could do it but why would I want to? I like living large with my brood. Lots of beautiful vacations, a variety of activities for the kids, great food, beautiful home. A life of meagerness and penny pinching sounds wholly depressing. I enjoy my career for the most part, and am proud of the example I'm setting for my kids as a hardworking mom.

FIRE is "financial independence, retire early." Not for me.

Penny pinching is depressing for you. People are different. Don't assume that a penny pincher doesn't enjoy it. They probably enjoy it more than you enjoy your career. Working for someone else is depressing to me or even working for myself.
I don't work, I trade. I FIRED myself in mid 40s.
My kids don't need an example. They are the example.

Trading isn’t work?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I quit my corporate job as a software engineer last year, just before turning 30. My highest corporate W2 income was $126k. If that seems low for a software engineer with 10 years of experience—yeah, but it was intentional. I was offered promotions 3 times during my long tenure at the same company and I refused each time. I needed my brainpower for my side businesses, so if it meant doing mid-tier software development work at the company—I'm all for it since I could do it on autopilot.

My personal cash pile is around $170k now, and I have one kid. I can tap into the cash flow from the business at any time, though I've barely needed to so far. My couple of businesses now make around $700k in revenue per year at roughly a 55% gross margin, and I try to reinvest as much as possible with the goal to 1.5-2x each year. It's been working out well so far.

We're burning through roughly $12k of our personal cash per month, with our only "splurges" being rent at $3,900/month for a 2-bedroom and a car at $995/month. The rest ($7k) goes mainly to Amazon for stuff, Costco for groceries, and a nanny for 12 hours a week to teach our kid a 3rd language. It still adds up, and our $170k would last only around 15 months... I'm worried about that, but I keep it all in investments. Interestingly, I had $170k when I quit my job a year ago, thanks to positions in QQQ, Treasuries, Bitcoin, and so forth. This allowed the business to grow from $400k/year to $700k/year while our personal cash pile stayed the same.

To get back to your original question—if we had one extra kid, our spending might go up another $3k/month, primarily due to the need for an extra room, making it $15k/month total. To bootstrap my businesses a few years ago, I loaned them $310k total, so in your case, you would still have $690k left. At $15k/month spend, it would last you 46 months, more than it took me to reach $700k/year from the businesses. If I chose to stop growing and just took in profits, at 55% margins that would be $385k/year, or $32k/month, which is more than the $15k/month needed.

Starting the businesses wasn't too difficult either. I was able to get them up and running while having a day job, working no more than 30 hours/week, mostly on weekends. Now that the businesses are set, I use AI and virtual assistants offshore to only spend about 1-6 hours/day on them (avg. 2hrs/day), leaving the rest of the time for my child, wife, and traveling. We just spent 3 months in Japan because why not—the yen is at an all-time low, and we're not locked to an office. Our own business means we control the rules!

At 2 hours/day on average, we're effectively FIRE with only $170k and I enjoy growing the businesses, so it's no chore either.

That’s a lot more complicated than getting paid double or more at your main job for 10 years, growing a $million+ nest egg, and investing that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I quit my corporate job as a software engineer last year, just before turning 30. My highest corporate W2 income was $126k. If that seems low for a software engineer with 10 years of experience—yeah, but it was intentional. I was offered promotions 3 times during my long tenure at the same company and I refused each time. I needed my brainpower for my side businesses, so if it meant doing mid-tier software development work at the company—I'm all for it since I could do it on autopilot.

My personal cash pile is around $170k now, and I have one kid. I can tap into the cash flow from the business at any time, though I've barely needed to so far. My couple of businesses now make around $700k in revenue per year at roughly a 55% gross margin, and I try to reinvest as much as possible with the goal to 1.5-2x each year. It's been working out well so far.

We're burning through roughly $12k of our personal cash per month, with our only "splurges" being rent at $3,900/month for a 2-bedroom and a car at $995/month. The rest ($7k) goes mainly to Amazon for stuff, Costco for groceries, and a nanny for 12 hours a week to teach our kid a 3rd language. It still adds up, and our $170k would last only around 15 months... I'm worried about that, but I keep it all in investments. Interestingly, I had $170k when I quit my job a year ago, thanks to positions in QQQ, Treasuries, Bitcoin, and so forth. This allowed the business to grow from $400k/year to $700k/year while our personal cash pile stayed the same.

To get back to your original question—if we had one extra kid, our spending might go up another $3k/month, primarily due to the need for an extra room, making it $15k/month total. To bootstrap my businesses a few years ago, I loaned them $310k total, so in your case, you would still have $690k left. At $15k/month spend, it would last you 46 months, more than it took me to reach $700k/year from the businesses. If I chose to stop growing and just took in profits, at 55% margins that would be $385k/year, or $32k/month, which is more than the $15k/month needed.

Starting the businesses wasn't too difficult either. I was able to get them up and running while having a day job, working no more than 30 hours/week, mostly on weekends. Now that the businesses are set, I use AI and virtual assistants offshore to only spend about 1-6 hours/day on them (avg. 2hrs/day), leaving the rest of the time for my child, wife, and traveling. We just spent 3 months in Japan because why not—the yen is at an all-time low, and we're not locked to an office. Our own business means we control the rules!

At 2 hours/day on average, we're effectively FIRE with only $170k and I enjoy growing the businesses, so it's no chore either.

Wut

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I quit my corporate job as a software engineer last year, just before turning 30. My highest corporate W2 income was $126k. If that seems low for a software engineer with 10 years of experience—yeah, but it was intentional. I was offered promotions 3 times during my long tenure at the same company and I refused each time. I needed my brainpower for my side businesses, so if it meant doing mid-tier software development work at the company—I'm all for it since I could do it on autopilot.

My personal cash pile is around $170k now, and I have one kid. I can tap into the cash flow from the business at any time, though I've barely needed to so far. My couple of businesses now make around $700k in revenue per year at roughly a 55% gross margin, and I try to reinvest as much as possible with the goal to 1.5-2x each year. It's been working out well so far.

We're burning through roughly $12k of our personal cash per month, with our only "splurges" being rent at $3,900/month for a 2-bedroom and a car at $995/month. The rest ($7k) goes mainly to Amazon for stuff, Costco for groceries, and a nanny for 12 hours a week to teach our kid a 3rd language. It still adds up, and our $170k would last only around 15 months... I'm worried about that, but I keep it all in investments. Interestingly, I had $170k when I quit my job a year ago, thanks to positions in QQQ, Treasuries, Bitcoin, and so forth. This allowed the business to grow from $400k/year to $700k/year while our personal cash pile stayed the same.

To get back to your original question—if we had one extra kid, our spending might go up another $3k/month, primarily due to the need for an extra room, making it $15k/month total. To bootstrap my businesses a few years ago, I loaned them $310k total, so in your case, you would still have $690k left. At $15k/month spend, it would last you 46 months, more than it took me to reach $700k/year from the businesses. If I chose to stop growing and just took in profits, at 55% margins that would be $385k/year, or $32k/month, which is more than the $15k/month needed.

Starting the businesses wasn't too difficult either. I was able to get them up and running while having a day job, working no more than 30 hours/week, mostly on weekends. Now that the businesses are set, I use AI and virtual assistants offshore to only spend about 1-6 hours/day on them (avg. 2hrs/day), leaving the rest of the time for my child, wife, and traveling. We just spent 3 months in Japan because why not—the yen is at an all-time low, and we're not locked to an office. Our own business means we control the rules!

At 2 hours/day on average, we're effectively FIRE with only $170k and I enjoy growing the businesses, so it's no chore either.

That’s a lot more complicated than getting paid double or more at your main job for 10 years, growing a $million+ nest egg, and investing that.

I doubt it would have been double, as it would have been end-loaded. Additionally, I would derive less enjoyment from life since my passion lies in startups and businesses. The theoretical $1 million nest egg is still not enough to achieve FIRE in the US as even with 5.5% treasuries = only $4.5k/month. My businesses can already pay me $32k/month this year, and hopefully $50-65k/month next year, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I quit my corporate job as a software engineer last year, just before turning 30. My highest corporate W2 income was $126k. If that seems low for a software engineer with 10 years of experience—yeah, but it was intentional. I was offered promotions 3 times during my long tenure at the same company and I refused each time. I needed my brainpower for my side businesses, so if it meant doing mid-tier software development work at the company—I'm all for it since I could do it on autopilot.

My personal cash pile is around $170k now, and I have one kid. I can tap into the cash flow from the business at any time, though I've barely needed to so far. My couple of businesses now make around $700k in revenue per year at roughly a 55% gross margin, and I try to reinvest as much as possible with the goal to 1.5-2x each year. It's been working out well so far.

We're burning through roughly $12k of our personal cash per month, with our only "splurges" being rent at $3,900/month for a 2-bedroom and a car at $995/month. The rest ($7k) goes mainly to Amazon for stuff, Costco for groceries, and a nanny for 12 hours a week to teach our kid a 3rd language. It still adds up, and our $170k would last only around 15 months... I'm worried about that, but I keep it all in investments. Interestingly, I had $170k when I quit my job a year ago, thanks to positions in QQQ, Treasuries, Bitcoin, and so forth. This allowed the business to grow from $400k/year to $700k/year while our personal cash pile stayed the same.

To get back to your original question—if we had one extra kid, our spending might go up another $3k/month, primarily due to the need for an extra room, making it $15k/month total. To bootstrap my businesses a few years ago, I loaned them $310k total, so in your case, you would still have $690k left. At $15k/month spend, it would last you 46 months, more than it took me to reach $700k/year from the businesses. If I chose to stop growing and just took in profits, at 55% margins that would be $385k/year, or $32k/month, which is more than the $15k/month needed.

Starting the businesses wasn't too difficult either. I was able to get them up and running while having a day job, working no more than 30 hours/week, mostly on weekends. Now that the businesses are set, I use AI and virtual assistants offshore to only spend about 1-6 hours/day on them (avg. 2hrs/day), leaving the rest of the time for my child, wife, and traveling. We just spent 3 months in Japan because why not—the yen is at an all-time low, and we're not locked to an office. Our own business means we control the rules!

At 2 hours/day on average, we're effectively FIRE with only $170k and I enjoy growing the businesses, so it's no chore either.

Wut

Asked AI to compress it, here you go:
Quit software engineer job at 29 after 10 years, max income $126k, refused 3 promotions. Personal cash $170k, businesses $700k/year at 55% margin, reinvest to 1.5-2x annually. Spend $12k/month: $3.9k rent, $995 car, $7k misc. $170k lasts 14.17 months. Started biz with $310k loan, grew to $700k in 1 year, extra kid +$3k/month. Profit $385k/year, $32k/month. Now work 1-6 hours/day (avg. 2) using AI/assistants, 3 months in Japan. One kid, enjoys biz growth, flexible, FIRE achieved.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I quit my corporate job as a software engineer last year, just before turning 30. My highest corporate W2 income was $126k. If that seems low for a software engineer with 10 years of experience—yeah, but it was intentional. I was offered promotions 3 times during my long tenure at the same company and I refused each time. I needed my brainpower for my side businesses, so if it meant doing mid-tier software development work at the company—I'm all for it since I could do it on autopilot.

My personal cash pile is around $170k now, and I have one kid. I can tap into the cash flow from the business at any time, though I've barely needed to so far. My couple of businesses now make around $700k in revenue per year at roughly a 55% gross margin, and I try to reinvest as much as possible with the goal to 1.5-2x each year. It's been working out well so far.

We're burning through roughly $12k of our personal cash per month, with our only "splurges" being rent at $3,900/month for a 2-bedroom and a car at $995/month. The rest ($7k) goes mainly to Amazon for stuff, Costco for groceries, and a nanny for 12 hours a week to teach our kid a 3rd language. It still adds up, and our $170k would last only around 15 months... I'm worried about that, but I keep it all in investments. Interestingly, I had $170k when I quit my job a year ago, thanks to positions in QQQ, Treasuries, Bitcoin, and so forth. This allowed the business to grow from $400k/year to $700k/year while our personal cash pile stayed the same.

To get back to your original question—if we had one extra kid, our spending might go up another $3k/month, primarily due to the need for an extra room, making it $15k/month total. To bootstrap my businesses a few years ago, I loaned them $310k total, so in your case, you would still have $690k left. At $15k/month spend, it would last you 46 months, more than it took me to reach $700k/year from the businesses. If I chose to stop growing and just took in profits, at 55% margins that would be $385k/year, or $32k/month, which is more than the $15k/month needed.

Starting the businesses wasn't too difficult either. I was able to get them up and running while having a day job, working no more than 30 hours/week, mostly on weekends. Now that the businesses are set, I use AI and virtual assistants offshore to only spend about 1-6 hours/day on them (avg. 2hrs/day), leaving the rest of the time for my child, wife, and traveling. We just spent 3 months in Japan because why not—the yen is at an all-time low, and we're not locked to an office. Our own business means we control the rules!

At 2 hours/day on average, we're effectively FIRE with only $170k and I enjoy growing the businesses, so it's no chore either.

Wut

Asked AI to compress it, here you go:
Quit software engineer job at 29 after 10 years, max income $126k, refused 3 promotions. Personal cash $170k, businesses $700k/year at 55% margin, reinvest to 1.5-2x annually. Spend $12k/month: $3.9k rent, $995 car, $7k misc. $170k lasts 14.17 months. Started biz with $310k loan, grew to $700k in 1 year, extra kid +$3k/month. Profit $385k/year, $32k/month. Now work 1-6 hours/day (avg. 2) using AI/assistants, 3 months in Japan. One kid, enjoys biz growth, flexible, FIRE achieved.

Would love to know what 2 hr per day "side gigs" you are doing to earn 700k per year.

[Anonymous]

My husband used to be get into the FIRE movement before we had kids... When I got pregnant, the only way to convince him to read parenting books with me was that I agreed to read a "mr. Money mustache" article.

(Btw, MMM is now divorced, owns a Tesla, and doesn't seem to abide by his own rules anymore).

We have two kids and do not abide by a FIRE mentality, and the kids can pursue activities, we go on vacation, etc.
But all that reading shifted our thinking and we do a few things that are FIRE-ish:

We bought a house we could afford on one income (though we had two when we bought). In our case, that meant buying in a gentrifying neighborhood in DC to get a better deal.

Our house is a duplex (two apartments that are connected.) until our kids were about 5 and 8, we lived in one and rented out the other, which covered the mortgage. Now we use both and connected them. When the kids are in college, we will rent the other side again and be income-positive on the house, and soin after that our mortgage will be paid and we will have a pretty significant source of monthly income from the house.

We drive a Toyota that I bought for $9,000 in 2009. That thing is not going to die anytime soon.

We don't have any car commutes in our life -- we can all bike to work/school . This cuts down on costs tremendously and increases happiness.

Part of my husband's desire to FIRE was that he hated his job. So, he was daydreaming about early retirement. After our conversations about it, he switched to a mission-driven organization that he cares about and now he really likes his job.

[Anonymous]

I don’t wanna FIRE to watch YouTube videos all day. I like my job. I just wish I could go on a random trip on a Wednesday, go hike a mountain any day I want, or just plainly take a nap at 2 pm. I’m sure a part-time job allows me to do all that in the future

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I quit my corporate job as a software engineer last year, just before turning 30. My highest corporate W2 income was $126k. If that seems low for a software engineer with 10 years of experience—yeah, but it was intentional. I was offered promotions 3 times during my long tenure at the same company and I refused each time. I needed my brainpower for my side businesses, so if it meant doing mid-tier software development work at the company—I'm all for it since I could do it on autopilot.

My personal cash pile is around $170k now, and I have one kid. I can tap into the cash flow from the business at any time, though I've barely needed to so far. My couple of businesses now make around $700k in revenue per year at roughly a 55% gross margin, and I try to reinvest as much as possible with the goal to 1.5-2x each year. It's been working out well so far.

We're burning through roughly $12k of our personal cash per month, with our only "splurges" being rent at $3,900/month for a 2-bedroom and a car at $995/month. The rest ($7k) goes mainly to Amazon for stuff, Costco for groceries, and a nanny for 12 hours a week to teach our kid a 3rd language. It still adds up, and our $170k would last only around 15 months... I'm worried about that, but I keep it all in investments. Interestingly, I had $170k when I quit my job a year ago, thanks to positions in QQQ, Treasuries, Bitcoin, and so forth. This allowed the business to grow from $400k/year to $700k/year while our personal cash pile stayed the same.

To get back to your original question—if we had one extra kid, our spending might go up another $3k/month, primarily due to the need for an extra room, making it $15k/month total. To bootstrap my businesses a few years ago, I loaned them $310k total, so in your case, you would still have $690k left. At $15k/month spend, it would last you 46 months, more than it took me to reach $700k/year from the businesses. If I chose to stop growing and just took in profits, at 55% margins that would be $385k/year, or $32k/month, which is more than the $15k/month needed.

Starting the businesses wasn't too difficult either. I was able to get them up and running while having a day job, working no more than 30 hours/week, mostly on weekends. Now that the businesses are set, I use AI and virtual assistants offshore to only spend about 1-6 hours/day on them (avg. 2hrs/day), leaving the rest of the time for my child, wife, and traveling. We just spent 3 months in Japan because why not—the yen is at an all-time low, and we're not locked to an office. Our own business means we control the rules!

At 2 hours/day on average, we're effectively FIRE with only $170k and I enjoy growing the businesses, so it's no chore either.

I have three kids. I can’t imagine murdering two of my unborn children for a trip to Japan.

[Anonymous]

🤣

It's much better than a one week trip. First 3-4 days is tantrum central with time zone changed and new crib/bed.

[Anonymous]

It works great for the colleges. They are happy to take that nest egg that you've put in taxable accounts. If you have a million saved to retire early, they don't care that the HHI is 100k, you're full pay

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My husband used to be get into the FIRE movement before we had kids... When I got pregnant, the only way to convince him to read parenting books with me was that I agreed to read a "mr. Money mustache" article.

(Btw, MMM is now divorced, owns a Tesla, and doesn't seem to abide by his own rules anymore).

We have two kids and do not abide by a FIRE mentality, and the kids can pursue activities, we go on vacation, etc.
But all that reading shifted our thinking and we do a few things that are FIRE-ish:

We bought a house we could afford on one income (though we had two when we bought). In our case, that meant buying in a gentrifying neighborhood in DC to get a better deal.

Our house is a duplex (two apartments that are connected.) until our kids were about 5 and 8, we lived in one and rented out the other, which covered the mortgage. Now we use both and connected them. When the kids are in college, we will rent the other side again and be income-positive on the house, and soin after that our mortgage will be paid and we will have a pretty significant source of monthly income from the house.

We drive a Toyota that I bought for $9,000 in 2009. That thing is not going to die anytime soon.

We don't have any car commutes in our life -- we can all bike to work/school . This cuts down on costs tremendously and increases happiness.

Part of my husband's desire to FIRE was that he hated his job. So, he was daydreaming about early retirement. After our conversations about it, he switched to a mission-driven organization that he cares about and now he really likes his job.

Another FIRE ish family here. We have a lot in common with this PP, except their duplex move was genius. We wish we'd thought to do that (we did buy in a market when that would have been easier than it is now, we just didn't think ahead to renting out). Acknowledging here that so much of financial success is luck and timing.

It's also a sense of gratitude and abundance. I come to this site for specific advice but often end up feeling inadequate based on the wealth and lifestyle posts. Overall I try to stay grounded and grateful for everything we have - the community we have built in this area, not many vacations but we do have living (and loving) relatives we frequently visit, and all of DC to explore and enjoy for free.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I quit my corporate job as a software engineer last year, just before turning 30. My highest corporate W2 income was $126k. If that seems low for a software engineer with 10 years of experience—yeah, but it was intentional. I was offered promotions 3 times during my long tenure at the same company and I refused each time. I needed my brainpower for my side businesses, so if it meant doing mid-tier software development work at the company—I'm all for it since I could do it on autopilot.

My personal cash pile is around $170k now, and I have one kid. I can tap into the cash flow from the business at any time, though I've barely needed to so far. My couple of businesses now make around $700k in revenue per year at roughly a 55% gross margin, and I try to reinvest as much as possible with the goal to 1.5-2x each year. It's been working out well so far.

We're burning through roughly $12k of our personal cash per month, with our only "splurges" being rent at $3,900/month for a 2-bedroom and a car at $995/month. The rest ($7k) goes mainly to Amazon for stuff, Costco for groceries, and a nanny for 12 hours a week to teach our kid a 3rd language. It still adds up, and our $170k would last only around 15 months... I'm worried about that, but I keep it all in investments. Interestingly, I had $170k when I quit my job a year ago, thanks to positions in QQQ, Treasuries, Bitcoin, and so forth. This allowed the business to grow from $400k/year to $700k/year while our personal cash pile stayed the same.

To get back to your original question—if we had one extra kid, our spending might go up another $3k/month, primarily due to the need for an extra room, making it $15k/month total. To bootstrap my businesses a few years ago, I loaned them $310k total, so in your case, you would still have $690k left. At $15k/month spend, it would last you 46 months, more than it took me to reach $700k/year from the businesses. If I chose to stop growing and just took in profits, at 55% margins that would be $385k/year, or $32k/month, which is more than the $15k/month needed.

Starting the businesses wasn't too difficult either. I was able to get them up and running while having a day job, working no more than 30 hours/week, mostly on weekends. Now that the businesses are set, I use AI and virtual assistants offshore to only spend about 1-6 hours/day on them (avg. 2hrs/day), leaving the rest of the time for my child, wife, and traveling. We just spent 3 months in Japan because why not—the yen is at an all-time low, and we're not locked to an office. Our own business means we control the rules!

At 2 hours/day on average, we're effectively FIRE with only $170k and I enjoy growing the businesses, so it's no chore either.

That’s a lot more complicated than getting paid double or more at your main job for 10 years, growing a $million+ nest egg, and investing that.

I doubt it would have been double, as it would have been end-loaded. Additionally, I would derive less enjoyment from life since my passion lies in startups and businesses. The theoretical $1 million nest egg is still not enough to achieve FIRE in the US as even with 5.5% treasuries = only $4.5k/month. My businesses can already pay me $32k/month this year, and hopefully $50-65k/month next year, etc.

If you’re dependent upon a business for income, you’re missing the “independence” part of “financial independence.”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I quit my corporate job as a software engineer last year, just before turning 30. My highest corporate W2 income was $126k. If that seems low for a software engineer with 10 years of experience—yeah, but it was intentional. I was offered promotions 3 times during my long tenure at the same company and I refused each time. I needed my brainpower for my side businesses, so if it meant doing mid-tier software development work at the company—I'm all for it since I could do it on autopilot.

My personal cash pile is around $170k now, and I have one kid. I can tap into the cash flow from the business at any time, though I've barely needed to so far. My couple of businesses now make around $700k in revenue per year at roughly a 55% gross margin, and I try to reinvest as much as possible with the goal to 1.5-2x each year. It's been working out well so far.

We're burning through roughly $12k of our personal cash per month, with our only "splurges" being rent at $3,900/month for a 2-bedroom and a car at $995/month. The rest ($7k) goes mainly to Amazon for stuff, Costco for groceries, and a nanny for 12 hours a week to teach our kid a 3rd language. It still adds up, and our $170k would last only around 15 months... I'm worried about that, but I keep it all in investments. Interestingly, I had $170k when I quit my job a year ago, thanks to positions in QQQ, Treasuries, Bitcoin, and so forth. This allowed the business to grow from $400k/year to $700k/year while our personal cash pile stayed the same.

To get back to your original question—if we had one extra kid, our spending might go up another $3k/month, primarily due to the need for an extra room, making it $15k/month total. To bootstrap my businesses a few years ago, I loaned them $310k total, so in your case, you would still have $690k left. At $15k/month spend, it would last you 46 months, more than it took me to reach $700k/year from the businesses. If I chose to stop growing and just took in profits, at 55% margins that would be $385k/year, or $32k/month, which is more than the $15k/month needed.

Starting the businesses wasn't too difficult either. I was able to get them up and running while having a day job, working no more than 30 hours/week, mostly on weekends. Now that the businesses are set, I use AI and virtual assistants offshore to only spend about 1-6 hours/day on them (avg. 2hrs/day), leaving the rest of the time for my child, wife, and traveling. We just spent 3 months in Japan because why not—the yen is at an all-time low, and we're not locked to an office. Our own business means we control the rules!

At 2 hours/day on average, we're effectively FIRE with only $170k and I enjoy growing the businesses, so it's no chore either.

I have three kids. I can’t imagine murdering two of my unborn children for a trip to Japan.

Huh? I’m pretty sure this poster did not murder children. Having one child allows for my financial independence. Seems like this poster is doing a lot of things right!