Anonymous wrote:I think total financial independence by 40 is unrealistic especially if you have dependent children.
However I do think advising your kids to set up their lives so that they or their partner can work part time or not work (or both partners work flexible jobs) by 40 that is good advice -- it is really hard to have a dual income couple with regular 9-5 jobs plus kids and feel sane. Relying on dual income at that stage is just really tough on people and I think my generation (I'm an Xennial) got sold a bill of goods about pursuing careers and having kids that was just not realistic.
But that does't mean being financially independent by 40. We are mid 40s and very much still working but DH is working towards retirement at 52 and I work 30 hours a week in a consulting job that I will happily do in some capacity well into my 50s for even 60s (flexible WFH and I like my job and it's realistic for me to be able to reduce my hours or take time off because I can pick and choose projects). At 38 we were both still working regular full time jobs and with kids it became untenable and we made choices to fix that so that we could enjoy our life and also actually enjoy seeing our kids grow up and also not tie ourselves to jobs until we're 65.
If your DH is retiring at 52 and you were part time for a decade, you certainly had financial means to be independent in your 40s.
What did your DH do for career?