Young tech workers become obsessed with FIRE

[YVRRocketSurgery]

I think it's great that young people have picked up the concept of saving and focusing their spend instead of spending mindlessly. I regret essentially throwing away a lot of my earnings in my 20's. (What saved me and got me back on track was some key job opportunities and the fairly frugal gf now wife.)
My only caveat for the FIRE extreme crowd in their 20's and 30's is that their lives are still evolving which will correspondingly evolve their likes/dislikes, goals, interests, etc and ideally you don't want money to be a limiting factor.

 

[EvrClrx311]

One of the reddit posts referenced in a subcomment of this article hits on a major point that I think epitomizes a philisophical point reached (sometimes too late) by some of the extreme FIRE by 35 types mentioned in this article:

"I built my savings but never built my life...."

I always saved (20-30%)... but not to an extreme. I'm now 36, and recognize that in my early 30's I had a choice to double down my savings (to retire a few years earlier) or to start enjoying my life a little more for my 30's and 40's. I'm glad that instead of bumping my savings up to 50% instead I chose to expand my inner circle, cut my hours from 60 to 40 and travel and see the world. I'm still on track to FIRE, but live my life along the way. I'd rather look back and appreciate my 30's and 40's than regret it while getting to FIRE 5 years earlier.

I think if making money is your goal... then you'll be sadly disappointing when you reach the end of that goal and have to spend it down slowly... the pile of money should be a means to an end. The end is the part you need to define and keep as the goal. Which is living. Not the getting there part. If that makes sense.

 

[Chuckanut]

Plus, he self describes as a "shitty coder" but in retirement will "work pro bono for a nonprofit." !! No thanks, the homeless don't need your crappy muffin tops! (Seinfeld reference). I worked most of my career in the nonprofit world and would never accept "shitty work", whether free or otherwise. Arghh...

A huge +1 to that

As a former computer lab teacher I was always confronted by people who wanted to donate old (5+) years equipment to our school. They thought they were doing us a favor, but the cost of keeping that equipment functioning reliably in the class room - very important in a room with 26-30 young teens - was very high. Either the district paid it in wages to a tech guy, or I paid it in all the hours of unpaid overtime I worked to keep the things working properly.

Ultimately, the district realized that 'free' old computers were the most expensive ones they owned.