I applaud their drive and commitment to LBYM and become FI but in a way I find it a little sad.
Disclaimer: I'm 34, sort of FI (as in, 4% rule FI).
It depends on motivation, don't feel sad. I've always LBYM for as long as I can remember, even as a kid I didn't even spend my pocket money (necessities were taken care of by parents). Didn't feel like I was missing out. The more things I have, the less happy I am.
The monetary "sacrifices" I made in my view therefore weren't big, certainly not in relation to the outcome. In fact, the more frugal I become the happier I seem to become
What's wrong with happy? Very few wants, easy to meet, and a simple life. That said, I do splurge on targeted expenses (traveling comes to mind). And if a friend wants to have lunch, I go without thinking and pay my share (or pick up the bill).
And I will certainly run into frugality trouble should I meet a nice female to share my life with.
.. but I feel bad for someone in their 20's who hates their job or just doesn't want to work.
Feel bad for
all the people who would prefer to not do their job if the monetary reward was taken away. Depending on the survey that's easily 80%+ of the workforce, could easily be 95%.
Much of the working world is organized in a sad way. Even those that love their job wish they could have more flexibility, do less of it or in a more leisurely pace. I didn't "hate" my job all the time, some days I loved it, the amount of stressful and bad days do add up though.
There's time to re-group!
I realize you are talking about savings, but just want to put this out there for the 20-somethings who start out by 'having some fun and exploring' in the early years career wise.
In truth in my view for most lucrative careers, there hardly is time to re-group these days. Your peers who didn't need to regroup are pulling ahead with every year, sometimes even quarter, lost. They get tenure, research grants, specializiation opportunities, a promotion fast-track, MBA, early IPO shares, investment capital, you name it.
Of course there are exceptions everywhere for most career tracks (running your own company especially), but you better not get sidelined early or for too long, before you know it you are too old to get a shot at the big leagues.
Therefore, regrouping is best done when monetary rewards are not a high priority!
That said, I do agree with you that FI shouldn't mean RE. But frankly, what does RE mean in any case? Yes, I have retired from my academic career, my corporate career and (recently) my entrepreneurial career. All of them were kind of short-lived and currently no-one pays my for anything, that may change.
For young-uns early retirement is just a handy ph(r)ase that gives us the freedom to explore.
But not because I have to. I think I am a typical case - you putter around a bit and frequently you'll end up getting paid for it. Or not. As FI we can all choose what to do free of many financial constraints.
What's wrong with that? And why is it fine for older people but not young-uns? Aren't you missing out as well
Not to mention all that excess cash you will leave to your heirs
Go buy/do that stupid thing you've dreamed of; yeah, it's a waste of money but you have 20-30 years to make back that $10K you blew and in the end it doesn't change your financials one bit after those years.
Realizing one's happiness cannot be bought saves the $10k. Life lessons can fortunately also be learned from other people's failures and successes
Yes the $10k wouldn't make any significant difference, but the overall attitude it implies would have cost me much much more. Where do you draw the line? Every one has a different one, and that's ok. I have many times not spent that $10k, and that's a big reason why I am where I am today. Once or twice I did spend the $10k, no regrets.
How sad to see a 25 year old, saying "no, I'm not going to go to backpack through Europe with my friends, I'm going to stay home and watch TV and save that $3000 instead for my retirement (20 years from now) because I hate my job."
It's more like 10 years for starters
But if that's the trade-off, I agree. What I did however was instead of traveling for a year start a very lucrative entry-level management consulting job which got me FI today. You know why I did that? Because I realized that 1) wherever you go, you always take yourself with you and that determines 80% of your happiness and 2) you can always take that year off, but once you miss the boat on your career it will be really hard to get back on.
And guess what: I can take as much travel as I want now, with a bit more style too, but it just isn't that high a priority anymore. Meanwhile on that job I learned things that make my life today so much better. Being productive teaches you stuff in real life, and builds character. And it made a bundle too.
It seems they're doing the right things for the wrong reasons.
Look deeper at underlying motivation, you may find there is more thought put in there and your feelings of sadness may evaporate
Better keep focusing on the happiness that at least some people have such strong willpower and determination to go for what they want, and cheer them on their way to financial bliss
And yes, as others have said. Balancing future me with present me is a tough call to make every day. But that goes for every OMY person out there and underspender (vs. savings) too, plenty of those around here.
All I can say is present me is really thankful for past me, and thinks he made mostly the right choices.
