Hi All!
It's time for me to transition from lurker to contributor.
I became a FIREbug back in the early early 90s with YMOYL, and paid off my first home in 50 months in the hometown of Mustachianism. That accomplishment awakened me to the power of intensely directed saving and investing.
Like MMM, I realized I made a ridiculously high income as a techie, and I didn't need much in the way of material goods to be happy in life. I'm at my happiest with a backpack and a long trail ahead of me. (Over 14,000 miles under my hipbelt.)
Since paying off my first house, I have been stashing at least 50% of my after-tax income, and choosing to take long periods off paid employment for travel and adventure. I have worked less than 50% of the time since 1998 as either an employee or consultant / contractor. Additionally, a good portion my stash has come from real estate "slow live-in fix & flips," utilizing the $250,000 capital gains exclusion to shield the profit from taxes.
While I have been truly FI since the early-2000s, I have subjected myself to full time employment at times to maintain access to health insurance, which is a must given my Rx bills costs were over $1,000/m (legacy from cancer in my 20s). While I hated paying $400-600/m for insurance on COBRA, it was the price for freedom. Now I am on an ACA HSA plan (~$450/m), all my meds are generic, and the monthly Rx cost is about $130/m. I had never considered “full retirement” before Medicare eligibility an option due to the pre-existing conditions issue, but the ACA has allowed me to be self-(un)employed for longer than in the past.
Every time I plan to "fully" retire from tech, an interesting opportunity crosses my path. For the past 2 years, I have been maintaining trailing edge tech for former clients and employers, netting me about $85/hr for 600 hours work a year. At present, I enjoy the work, and I like the high return on my time with no capital investment risk when compared to real estate.
My strategy has always been "Adapt and Thrive!" For me the core to the FIRE / YMOYL / MMM lifestyle has been to find niches that I enjoy and exploit the opportunities. My exact path is not your template for success, but the basic philosophy will carry you far.
Particulars: single gay white male, early 50s, 2016 personal expenses: $22,800; paid off condo in Denver; stash ~$1.2m.
Cheers,
EarthSurfer