It makes sense to take advantage of passive time by parking money in index funds if there is a tax advantage to doing so. It might make sense for an individual who doesn't have the skills or interest develop their own thing to make it their main strategy. The only problem is there is no such thing as "job security" and I would much rather bet on myself.
Yeah, I didn't get into the aspect of job security in the OP. It's interesting, that is almost an afterthought to the big graphs you see on financial sites showing stock market returns over time "if you contribute $XXX per month, for X years". It's implied that you will have steady income always, no major life catastrophes will happen, all you have to do is save.
I think that is the danger of the fully passive index idea, you are kinda locked into a path and you go on autopilot and you don't realize there are all these other amazing, fun opportunities that can help you FIRE faster, or you don't realize that you can FIRE earlier because when you are not beholden to someone else's schedule and pay grade, you CAN create your own opportunities and income relatively easily.
Exactly. So much of the strategy on this forum is purely mathematical.
There is an opportunity cost of lost time of "X years slaving away at a job".
Some might hate working on their own and doing their own thing. I get it, it's hard. And if it's not uncomfortable, then you probably aren't doing it right. However, despite this, I love every day of my life now... vs. hating most of my waking hours, 5 days a week, before.
I think the journey is more interesting down this path.