So, after extensively reading through the articles, I began to understand a lot of the principles being applied. However, one thing that keeps coming up in question is the following:
How much freedom do I really have after "retired?"
Let's say I live under the gun of not having the luxuries that most people spend their money on. I move closer to work, I bike to work, I get rid of my awesome cool phone and get a $19/mo plan. Once I retire in 10 years...with $500,000 put away, am I supposed to continue living this way, or is there something that hasn't clicked for me? Do you live off the interest that money earns you? Do you purchase a company and invest in someone else to gain your monthly income to cover bills? Should one continue living the lifestyle of no luxuries until death?
I would love to struggle and put in my time for the next 7 years living on basically nothing and putting away 75% of my income. The problem is, I don't want to have to live that way forever. I don't like having to go to work day in and day out 9-5, but I want to be able to play video games, go fishing, etc. that costs money to take up your time while not working. If it means I get to buy a boat and take my son water skiing, go on vacations, and travel the world, then I don't mind working the 9-5 to pay for all of that.
The way I see it, if I saved $52.5K/year in a $70K/year job (75%), for 10 years, I would have $525,000. If I only spent $20K/year, that $525,000 would get me 26.25 years. While that is a lot of time, that is no where near the amount it would take to survive through your ages, unless I was 60 already. I would have to go back to work, and have to work twice as hard to get back to where I left off, and work through my 60's to get back to retirement. It just doesn't seem like something that would work, from the outside.
Please help me realize that my mind is just set in a way that keeps me locked into a rat race and how to turn that though around.