Work-Life Balance

[Ron Scott]

For those of you who are currently attempting to achieve financial independence with the plan to retire early, which of the following best matches your current approach?

1. Are you attempting to achieve financial independence as fast as possible, by working harder and working more hours—at the expense of other aspects of your life?

2. Or are you planning to delay retirement so you do not need to work as hard now—and can spend more time on family and nonwork interests?

[Kris]

My plan is to not spend a lot of time replying to forum members who do multiple drive-by posts but then disappear and basically don’t engage with the post again.

[boarder42]

none of the above ever described my approach. 

Kris hit the nail on the head probably should start treating these like Fin Sam and ignore dumb click bait with 0 value.

[Ron Scott]

My plan is to not spend a lot of time replying to forum members who do multiple drive-by posts but then disappear and basically don’t engage with the post again.

Ugh.

I stand by you completely if you choose to disagree with my observations or posts, but lying about my engagement serves more to confuse than educate. In looking over the posts I’ve started that are on the front page…4 or 5…I have responded to every one. Some have several replies.

Attacking ideas intelligently benefits all of us. Attacking individuals benefits no one.

I will be interested to find out if you can raise the bar and actually respond to the issue above instead of resorting to personal condemnation. We shall see…

[boarder42]

My plan is to not spend a lot of time replying to forum members who do multiple drive-by posts but then disappear and basically don’t engage with the post again.

Ugh.

I stand by you completely if you choose to disagree with my observations or posts, but lying about my engagement serves more to confuse than educate. In looking over the posts I’ve started that are on the front page…4 or 5…I have responded to every one. Some have several replies.

Attacking ideas intelligently benefits all of us. Attacking individuals benefits no one.

I will be interested to find out if you can raise the bar and actually respond to the issue above instead of resorting to personal condemnation. We shall see…

hahaha this guy here

[Askel]

For those of you who are currently attempting to achieve financial independence with the plan to retire early, which of the following best matches your current approach?

1. Are you attempting to achieve financial independence as fast as possible, by working harder and working more hours—at the expense of other aspects of your life?

2. Or are you planning to delay retirement so you do not need to work as hard now—and can spend more time on family and nonwork interests?

Which one is Bill doing and which one is Phillip doing? 

[Metalcat]

My plan is to not spend a lot of time replying to forum members who do multiple drive-by posts but then disappear and basically don’t engage with the post again.

Ugh.

I stand by you completely if you choose to disagree with my observations or posts, but lying about my engagement serves more to confuse than educate. In looking over the posts I’ve started that are on the front page…4 or 5…I have responded to every one. Some have several replies.

Attacking ideas intelligently benefits all of us. Attacking individuals benefits no one.

I will be interested to find out if you can raise the bar and actually respond to the issue above instead of resorting to personal condemnation. We shall see…

I understand your prickly response, but perhaps you could pause for a second and instead of getting defensive, try to take an interest as to why people are reacting to you so negatively?

That's what I did when I first started participating in forums and people seemed to be such assholes, but I took a keen interest as to *why* they were reacting that way and learned A LOT about how I was talking to people and interacting with them to trigger that kind of response.

I have to say, I have personally responded to you multiple times and often not even gotten a reply from you, despite specifically asking you clarifying questions. So I do personally react to you as if you don't really want to engage.

But here I am, trying, because I am starting to get the sense that you really don't understand what it is that you are doing that is rubbing people the wrong way.

Now, you don't need to care. There's no law that says you need to waste your time giving a shit about what strangers on the internet think of you, but you seem to be quite intent on participating here, and if that's the case, then I strongly recommend developing a keen sense of curiosity rather than defensiveness. Otherwise you will likely end up very frustrated.

To be frank, your posts have frequently come off as lecturing, as if you don't realize AND don't care that your audience is largely made up of people who are just as intelligent and successful as you are, if not moreso in many cases.

Frankly, your posts have given the impression that you seem to think a lot of us are fucking idiots, so that's a big part of what's very, very off putting.

So either that's completely inaccurate, and you have just been misunderstood, in which case, you should definitely take an interest into how your words are coming off so wrong. Or there's a kernel of truth and you do think that you somehow know better than a highly educated, highly intelligent, highly qualified community of literal subject matter experts, in which case, I invite you to spend a little time getting to know the caliber of knowledge that floats around here, because it is truly humbling, even to the many, many, many of us who are impressively educated and successful.

I've learned ENORMOUS amounts here and have been astounded by the magnitude and quality of advice that literal experts dole out for free. ETA: and I'm  someone who has been paid large sums for my financial advice, and I'm regularly humbled here by how much other people here know that I don't.

This place is a literal treasure trove of resources, and despite your current experience of it, one of the most supportive and welcoming communities on the internet.

So something is going wrong with your engagement of this place, and it's your right and your choice how you respond to that. But my advice is to take an interest as to WHY.

To answer your question, I personally choose work/life balance any day. But I loved my job.

[fell-like-rain]

I plan to work 7 AM - 7 PM every day, neglecting all aspects of my life other than earning money, until I end up as a curmudgeon in my 60s making forum posts at 6 AM before work in an attempt to justify my life choices.

[Ron Scott]

My plan is to not spend a lot of time replying to forum members who do multiple drive-by posts but then disappear and basically don’t engage with the post again.

Ugh.

I stand by you completely if you choose to disagree with my observations or posts, but lying about my engagement serves more to confuse than educate. In looking over the posts I’ve started that are on the front page…4 or 5…I have responded to every one. Some have several replies.

Attacking ideas intelligently benefits all of us. Attacking individuals benefits no one.

I will be interested to find out if you can raise the bar and actually respond to the issue above instead of resorting to personal condemnation. We shall see…

I understand your prickly response, but perhaps you could pause for a second and instead of getting defensive, try to take an interest as to why people are reacting to you so negatively?

That's what I did when I first started participating in forums and people seemed to be such assholes, but I took a keen interest as to *why* they were reacting that way and learned A LOT about how I was talking to people and interacting with them to trigger that kind of response.

I have to say, I have personally responded to you multiple times and often not even gotten a reply from you, despite specifically asking you clarifying questions. So I do personally react to you as if you don't really want to engage.

But here I am, trying, because I am starting to get the sense that you really don't understand what it is that you are doing that is rubbing people the wrong way.

Now, you don't need to care. There's no law that says you need to waste your time giving a shit about what strangers on the internet think of you, but you seem to be quite intent on participating here, and if that's the case, then I strongly recommend developing a keen sense of curiosity rather than defensiveness. Otherwise you will likely end up very frustrated.

To be frank, your posts have frequently come off as lecturing, as if you don't realize AND don't care that your audience is largely made up of people who are just as intelligent and successful as you are, if not moreso in many cases.

Frankly, your posts have given the impression that you seem to think a lot of us are fucking idiots, so that's a big part of what's very, very off putting.

So either that's completely inaccurate, and you have just been misunderstood, in which case, you should definitely take an interest into how your words are coming off so wrong. Or there's a kernel of truth and you do think that you somehow know better than a highly educated, highly intelligent, highly qualified community of literal subject matter experts, in which case, I invite you to spend a little time getting to know the caliber of knowledge that floats around here, because it is truly humbling, even to the many, many, many of us who are impressively educated and successful.

I've learned ENORMOUS amounts here and have been astounded by the magnitude and quality of advice that literal experts dole out for free.

This place is a literal treasure trove of resources, and despite your current experience of it, one of the most supportive and welcoming communities on the internet.

So something is going wrong with your engagement of this place, and it's your right and your choice how you respond to that. But my advice is to take an interest as to WHY.

To answer your question, I personally choose work/life balance any day. But I loved my job.

I’ll take this as an honest critique. I am direct, perhaps to a fault. I also do not respond to every comment that is directed at one of mine. I don’t think I’m different from most people on that point.

I post to 5 boards, 3 regularly and this is the only one that generates this kind of response. Typically the in-you-face personal criticism comes from people with a long history on the board and many thousands of posts. When this is the case, as I’ve said before, forum members should beware of the echo chamber effect, where self-appointed guardians protect the common set of beliefs and attack challenges to them. There’s a little of that here IMO.

In any event, thanks…and thanks for you response to my original post.

To answer my own question: I was all-in on the job, liked it, achieved FI early,  and just could not RE as my work became a big part of my lifestyle. I retired before my 61st and never looked back. I wouldn’t change a thing if I could and I am very happy in retirement

[boarder42]

My plan is to not spend a lot of time replying to forum members who do multiple drive-by posts but then disappear and basically don’t engage with the post again.

Ugh.

I stand by you completely if you choose to disagree with my observations or posts, but lying about my engagement serves more to confuse than educate. In looking over the posts I’ve started that are on the front page…4 or 5…I have responded to every one. Some have several replies.

Attacking ideas intelligently benefits all of us. Attacking individuals benefits no one.

I will be interested to find out if you can raise the bar and actually respond to the issue above instead of resorting to personal condemnation. We shall see…

I understand your prickly response, but perhaps you could pause for a second and instead of getting defensive, try to take an interest as to why people are reacting to you so negatively?

That's what I did when I first started participating in forums and people seemed to be such assholes, but I took a keen interest as to *why* they were reacting that way and learned A LOT about how I was talking to people and interacting with them to trigger that kind of response.

I have to say, I have personally responded to you multiple times and often not even gotten a reply from you, despite specifically asking you clarifying questions. So I do personally react to you as if you don't really want to engage.

But here I am, trying, because I am starting to get the sense that you really don't understand what it is that you are doing that is rubbing people the wrong way.

Now, you don't need to care. There's no law that says you need to waste your time giving a shit about what strangers on the internet think of you, but you seem to be quite intent on participating here, and if that's the case, then I strongly recommend developing a keen sense of curiosity rather than defensiveness. Otherwise you will likely end up very frustrated.

To be frank, your posts have frequently come off as lecturing, as if you don't realize AND don't care that your audience is largely made up of people who are just as intelligent and successful as you are, if not moreso in many cases.

Frankly, your posts have given the impression that you seem to think a lot of us are fucking idiots, so that's a big part of what's very, very off putting.

So either that's completely inaccurate, and you have just been misunderstood, in which case, you should definitely take an interest into how your words are coming off so wrong. Or there's a kernel of truth and you do think that you somehow know better than a highly educated, highly intelligent, highly qualified community of literal subject matter experts, in which case, I invite you to spend a little time getting to know the caliber of knowledge that floats around here, because it is truly humbling, even to the many, many, many of us who are impressively educated and successful.

I've learned ENORMOUS amounts here and have been astounded by the magnitude and quality of advice that literal experts dole out for free.

This place is a literal treasure trove of resources, and despite your current experience of it, one of the most supportive and welcoming communities on the internet.

So something is going wrong with your engagement of this place, and it's your right and your choice how you respond to that. But my advice is to take an interest as to WHY.

To answer your question, I personally choose work/life balance any day. But I loved my job.

I’ll take this as an honest critique. I am direct, perhaps to a fault. I also do not respond to every comment that is directed at one of mine. I don’t think I’m different from most people on that point.

I post to 5 boards, 3 regularly and this is the only one that generates this kind of response. Typically the in-you-face personal criticism comes from people with a long history on the board and many thousands of posts. When this is the case, as I’ve said before, forum members should beware of the echo chamber effect, where self-appointed guardians protect the common set of beliefs and attack challenges to them. There’s a little of that here IMO.

In any event, thanks…and thanks for you response to my original post.

To answer my own question: I was all-in on the job, liked it, achieved FI early,  and just could not RE as my work became a big part of my lifestyle. I retired before my 61st and never looked back. I wouldn’t change a thing if I could and I am very happy in retirement

there is a metric shit ton of challenges to beliefs structures and analysis on these forums the simple fact that you make that statement is the problem people have with all the random shit you post.  You haven't dug into anything.  almost everything you post has been discussed here ad nauseum.  And then your threads add no value b/c you do not appear to actually care about what you're asking or saying.

[simonsez]

For those of you who are currently attempting to achieve financial independence with the plan to retire early, which of the following best matches your current approach?

1. Are you attempting to achieve financial independence as fast as possible, by working harder and working more hours—at the expense of other aspects of your life?

2. Or are you planning to delay retirement so you do not need to work as hard now—and can spend more time on family and nonwork interests?

Neither.  For me, life is too short to work harder and an inordinate number of hours at any point in time.  Life is also too short to continue working longer than I need to or to delay it in any way.  I'm happy with the current balance and tentative plans for the future.

I have a job that I enjoy and provides satisfaction, am paid a wage that works for my household, have a great ratio in terms of $:stress, have a very flexible work schedule, no complaints about the benefits, more leave/vacation than I know what to do with as it is, and an excellent work-life balance.  I'll continually reassess as I get older and check in with how my wife feels about her career and how our health and parent's health goes but for now I'm/we're not in a hurry but also not looking to delay.  We're on the same page and want to retire around the same time in our mid 50s.  We both have pensions and there is a little aspect of golden handcuffs although it's not that strong.  As mentioned, our timeline is subject to change but that's the plan for now - so about a decade earlier than normal and perhaps a little later than average in terms of people interested in FIRE.  YMMV

I largely do what I want now and retirement wouldn't be that much different but do admit I'm naive on this front and this is just guesswork.  I require a decent amount of structure and my job provides that - when retired I will have other structures in place to similarly occupy my time albeit with even more freedom and little or no consequences.  We live in a spot that works for us in terms of walkability and proximity to family and friends.  I maximize my summers (married to an educator) and weekends now as much as possible.  When retired, I can see that being less of a constraint and will be more flexible but that's mostly pertaining to travel plans.  But I don't expect my activities and hobbies to drastically change when I retire. 

[MrThatsDifferent]

For those of you who are currently attempting to achieve financial independence with the plan to retire early, which of the following best matches your current approach?

1. Are you attempting to achieve financial independence as fast as possible, by working harder and working more hours—at the expense of other aspects of your life?

2. Or are you planning to delay retirement so you do not need to work as hard now—and can spend more time on family and nonwork interests?

Which one is Bill doing and which one is Phillip doing?

LOL

[MrThatsDifferent]

There’s a 3rd option: design your current life with as much work/life balance as you’re happy with, while moving to whatever FI goals you have to fuel whatever you want to do with your working career, however you want to define that career. It’s about living in the present, and preparing for your future, while learning from your past.

[chemistk]

For those of you who are currently attempting to achieve financial independence with the plan to retire early, which of the following best matches your current approach?

1. Are you attempting to achieve financial independence as fast as possible, by working harder and working more hours—at the expense of other aspects of your life?

2. Or are you planning to delay retirement so you do not need to work as hard now—and can spend more time on family and nonwork interests?

Everything else aside, the binary you're presenting does not match the intentions of your primary question.

Only choice one matches the FI/RE ethos, and poorly at that. Not even Pete would have put himself into this bucket and those who can best be described by this choice are often the strawmen in the media for why FI/RE is unhealthy.

Choice two is........not FI/RE. Not unless you clarified it to say: "Or are you planning to delay retirement a couple years and not work so hard now so you can spend more time on family and nonwork interests?"

And even if you clarified it, it's not like that's the ONLY other descriptor of something that's akin to Fat FI/RE or BaristaFI.

On the continuum between work and leisure, there are far more descriptors than the two you've chosen and having witnessed many on this forum, most cannot be accurately described by either of the choices you have presented.

-----

I'll bite, though.

By definitions of this forum I will not be truly 'FI/RE'. Had I doubled down a couple years ago and avoided having kids, my wife and I could absolutely been on track to be fully retired before 40. But that's not the path that life gave me.

And yet, I'll still be FI/RE compared to the rest of society. Depending on a couple factors, 48-53 seems to be the ideal window for me. My youngest will be graduating college (if he chooses to go) and if we have one more child, they'd be graduating high school around then.

I will absolutely be LeanFI years before that, but my wife and I have plans that make Fat FI/RE much more ideal and so I'll be working FT until we get there.

So I don't really fit your binary. I'd gladly work more if I had the opportunity but I don't. But I also don't want to neglect my family, so I won't. I won't be paying for my kids' school, they're never going to get a new car as a gift, we won't ever be living in a house bigger than the one we have now, and I'm never going to be a truly high earner. But we're not deprived, and so long as we get to keep basking in the warm glow of good fortune with a little bit of hard work thrown in, we'll be able to spend a few decades living our lives unencumbered by others' needs and wants.

[Blackeagle]

I post to 5 boards, 3 regularly and this is the only one that generates this kind of response.

I wonder if the bolded bit may be part of the issue.  Are the threads you start things you cross-post on multiple forums?  I ask because sometimes they don't quite seem to fit the culture of this site. 

This sort of thing is hard to put a finger on, but I'll give it a try using this post as an example.  You ask this question in a very abstract way.  Just clicking on a bunch of threads on the first page of Welcome and General Discussion, most of them come across as much more personal.  "I have this problem, how can I solve it?"  "I'm doing this thing, for these reasons."  "I found this cool thing and this is what I think about it."  This post seems like you're trying to start a discussion without really having any skin in the game. 

In contrast, I think the very first topic you started back in 2016 was a much better fit for the culture of this forum.  Ironically enough, the subject matter isn't too different from this thread, but look how much more of you as a person comes through in the 2016 topic (and how different a reaction you got). 

[Morning Glory]

My plan is to not spend a lot of time replying to forum members who do multiple drive-by posts but then disappear and basically don’t engage with the post again.

Ugh.

I stand by you completely if you choose to disagree with my observations or posts, but lying about my engagement serves more to confuse than educate. In looking over the posts I’ve started that are on the front page…4 or 5…I have responded to every one. Some have several replies.

Attacking ideas intelligently benefits all of us. Attacking individuals benefits no one.

I will be interested to find out if you can raise the bar and actually respond to the issue above instead of resorting to personal condemnation. We shall see…

I understand your prickly response, but perhaps you could pause for a second and instead of getting defensive, try to take an interest as to why people are reacting to you so negatively?

That's what I did when I first started participating in forums and people seemed to be such assholes, but I took a keen interest as to *why* they were reacting that way and learned A LOT about how I was talking to people and interacting with them to trigger that kind of response.

I have to say, I have personally responded to you multiple times and often not even gotten a reply from you, despite specifically asking you clarifying questions. So I do personally react to you as if you don't really want to engage.

But here I am, trying, because I am starting to get the sense that you really don't understand what it is that you are doing that is rubbing people the wrong way.

Now, you don't need to care. There's no law that says you need to waste your time giving a shit about what strangers on the internet think of you, but you seem to be quite intent on participating here, and if that's the case, then I strongly recommend developing a keen sense of curiosity rather than defensiveness. Otherwise you will likely end up very frustrated.

To be frank, your posts have frequently come off as lecturing, as if you don't realize AND don't care that your audience is largely made up of people who are just as intelligent and successful as you are, if not moreso in many cases.

Frankly, your posts have given the impression that you seem to think a lot of us are fucking idiots, so that's a big part of what's very, very off putting.

So either that's completely inaccurate, and you have just been misunderstood, in which case, you should definitely take an interest into how your words are coming off so wrong. Or there's a kernel of truth and you do think that you somehow know better than a highly educated, highly intelligent, highly qualified community of literal subject matter experts, in which case, I invite you to spend a little time getting to know the caliber of knowledge that floats around here, because it is truly humbling, even to the many, many, many of us who are impressively educated and successful.

I've learned ENORMOUS amounts here and have been astounded by the magnitude and quality of advice that literal experts dole out for free.

This place is a literal treasure trove of resources, and despite your current experience of it, one of the most supportive and welcoming communities on the internet.

So something is going wrong with your engagement of this place, and it's your right and your choice how you respond to that. But my advice is to take an interest as to WHY.

To answer your question, I personally choose work/life balance any day. But I loved my job.

I’ll take this as an honest critique. I am direct, perhaps to a fault. I also do not respond to every comment that is directed at one of mine. I don’t think I’m different from most people on that point.

I post to 5 boards, 3 regularly and this is the only one that generates this kind of response. Typically the in-you-face personal criticism comes from people with a long history on the board and many thousands of posts. When this is the case, as I’ve said before, forum members should beware of the echo chamber effect, where self-appointed guardians protect the common set of beliefs and attack challenges to them. There’s a little of that here IMO.

In any event, thanks…and thanks for you response to my original post.

To answer my own question: I was all-in on the job, liked it, achieved FI early,  and just could not RE as my work became a big part of my lifestyle. I retired before my 61st and never looked back. I wouldn’t change a thing if I could and I am very happy in retirement

there is a metric shit ton of challenges to beliefs structures and analysis on these forums the simple fact that you make that statement is the problem people have with all the random shit you post.  You haven't dug into anything.  almost everything you post has been discussed here ad nauseum.  And then your threads add no value b/c you do not appear to actually care about what you're asking or saying.

The fact that he felt the need to explain what an echo chamber is says it all.

[yachi]

For those of you who are currently attempting to achieve financial independence with the plan to retire early, which of the following best matches your current approach?

1. Are you attempting to achieve financial independence as fast as possible, by working harder and working more hours—at the expense of other aspects of your life?

2. Or are you planning to delay retirement so you do not need to work as hard now—and can spend more time on family and nonwork interests?

LOL @ #2:
I've generally found the ones who delay retirement are not doing so in order to spend more time on family and nonwork interests.  I worked with a supervisor in his mid to late 70's who was still coming into work because he wanted time away from wife.  Shoot, look at Financial Samurai who unFIREd in order to make more money so he could get his kids out of the house to daycare.  You don't make those decisions because you want to spend *more* time with family.

[Metalcat]

For those of you who are currently attempting to achieve financial independence with the plan to retire early, which of the following best matches your current approach?

1. Are you attempting to achieve financial independence as fast as possible, by working harder and working more hours—at the expense of other aspects of your life?

2. Or are you planning to delay retirement so you do not need to work as hard now—and can spend more time on family and nonwork interests?

LOL @ #2:
I've generally found the ones who delay retirement are not doing so in order to spend more time on family and nonwork interests.  I worked with a supervisor in his mid to late 70's who was still coming into work because he wanted time away from wife.  Shoot, look at Financial Samurai who unFIREd in order to make more money so he could get his kids out of the house to daycare.  You don't make those decisions because you want to spend *more* time with family.

I don't necessarily agree.

There are many many people who have posted here who have downshifted or taken less demanding jobs for the sake of better life balance, especially those with young kids. It's not at all uncommon.

[FIRE Artist]

I just don’t understand why someone who isn’t seeking FIRE through using the tools shared by MMM would be posting on this forum. 

Why does OP care what the work life balance of random internet strangers is when he is already retired at a very conventional age, with what I assume is a large portfolio? 

[Kris]

I just don’t understand why someone who isn’t seeking FIRE through using the tools shared by MMM would be posting on this forum. 

Why does OP care what the work life balance of random internet strangers is when he is already retired at a very conventional age, with what I assume is a large portfolio?

I sense that he doesn't. Otherwise, he would actually be participating in the conversation.

[soulpatchmike]

For those of you who are currently attempting to achieve financial independence with the plan to retire early, which of the following best matches your current approach?

1. Are you attempting to achieve financial independence as fast as possible, by working harder and working more hours—at the expense of other aspects of your life?

2. Or are you planning to delay retirement so you do not need to work as hard now—and can spend more time on family and nonwork interests?

Part of my requirement for retirement is having an 'unencumbered ability to travel'.  With kids in school, we are encumbered by school and our teen's independent lives. We take as much vacation as we want to with school being the ultimate limitation.  From a planning perspective it just so happens that I can coast into FIRE at age 53-54 when my last daughter graduates HS.  I work as little as possible(40hr/wk) while attempting to achieve FIRE as fast as possible(limited more by kids/school than finances) while enjoying my friends and family through the process.  Maybe it means number 2 to some but I think 53-54 is pretty early retirement.

[Zikoris]

Neither? I focus on living in an ethical way, which naturally eliminates the vast majority of things people spend money on. This means that even on a receptionist salary, I have zero difficulty saving 60-70% of my income every year. My financials are all automated. I work an extremely chill and low stress job with no weird hours and a short walking commute.

I wouldn't say I work hard towards FIRE or even put any effort at all into it, since in my case it is solely a question of living my daily life in line with my beliefs and letting the automated FIRE-machine work its magic in my sleep. I'm 35 and FI according to my chart, though I'm still working for now since I don't want to retire until I can do all the fun stuff again.

[Virtus3]

For those of you who are currently attempting to achieve financial independence with the plan to retire early, which of the following best matches your current approach?

1. Are you attempting to achieve financial independence as fast as possible, by working harder and working more hours—at the expense of other aspects of your life?

2. Or are you planning to delay retirement so you do not need to work as hard now—and can spend more time on family and nonwork interests?

Part of my requirement for retirement is having an 'unencumbered ability to travel'.  With kids in school, we are encumbered by school and our teen's independent lives. We take as much vacation as we want to with school being the ultimate limitation.  From a planning perspective it just so happens that I can coast into FIRE at age 53-54 when my last daughter graduates HS.  I work as little as possible(40hr/wk) while attempting to achieve FIRE as fast as possible(limited more by kids/school than finances) while enjoying my friends and family through the process.  Maybe it means number 2 to some but I think 53-54 is pretty early retirement.

This is basically my new goal right now as well; at 53-54 both of my girls will be done or close to being done with undergrad.

[boarder42]

For those of you who are currently attempting to achieve financial independence with the plan to retire early, which of the following best matches your current approach?

1. Are you attempting to achieve financial independence as fast as possible, by working harder and working more hours—at the expense of other aspects of your life?

2. Or are you planning to delay retirement so you do not need to work as hard now—and can spend more time on family and nonwork interests?

LOL @ #2:
I've generally found the ones who delay retirement are not doing so in order to spend more time on family and nonwork interests.  I worked with a supervisor in his mid to late 70's who was still coming into work because he wanted time away from wife.  Shoot, look at Financial Samurai who unFIREd in order to make more money so he could get his kids out of the house to daycare.  You don't make those decisions because you want to spend *more* time with family.

I don't necessarily agree.

There are many many people who have posted here who have downshifted or taken less demanding jobs for the sake of better life balance, especially those with young kids. It's not at all uncommon.

There is a point in your FIRE journey where extra dollars flowing into accounts don't really out weigh the returns and you're much more reliant on future returns than future contributions.  I downshifted in 2018 and took a 10% pay cut at the time.  Its sense been replaced and then some.  I calculated it would add 1 or 2 years to our FI timeline but would result in me working less days over all.  this coincided with the birth of our oldest kid.  In the end it didn't change our time to FIRE, in reality all work/life decisions that we have made didn't effect it or actually accelerated our time to FIRE, do to good markets and cashing in our great purchase at the right time on our house to consistently refi and invest. 

After taking FMLA for the summer and spending more time with lots of family I think my view was a bit misconstrued as to the type of family I'd have more time for.  In reality our kids will be in school but it allows for us to not be exhausted when they get home and I can have dinner ready and all chores done.  But the real huge addition I overlooked with respect to Family/Downshifting/FIRE etc. was the extended family who may have less time left on earth we get to spend ALOT more time with.  So quality of time with kids went up and we get to spend a lot more time with my parents/my wife's parents/grandparents etc.

[JoePublic3.14]

Ah, a thread that shows how useful the ignore user feature is.

I am definitely not in #1, though early on I did work some long hours, but that was before I knew much about how the world works (late 90s.)

I am more in between. Due to some good habits, some good education, and some fortunate decisions, I am in a favorable position. Already getting into coast mode and not looking for more advancement, just trying to enjoy life and wait a couple more years before hanging up my slide rule.

[Freedomin5]

The questions OP posts seem to be more relevant for people just starting their FIRE journey, and not for old Mustachians with thousands of posts.

My answer to OP’s question is “Option 3” - downshift/optimize my job so that I can work fewer hours,  while making more money, thereby achieving financial independence as fast as possible while not working as hard - allowing me to spend more time on family and non work interests.

[boarder42]

The questions OP posts seem to be more relevant for people just starting their FIRE journey, and not for old Mustachians with thousands of posts.

My answer to OP’s question is “Option 3” - downshift/optimize my job so that I can work fewer hours,  while making more money, thereby achieving financial independence as fast as possible while not working as hard - allowing me to spend more time on family and non work interests.

most of OPs post have tended to attempt to target new people as opposed to people who have been here forever and address issues covered in great detail in the forums its likely why they get the response they do. Also most post tend to focus on a very black and white nature of things like 2 options for life proposed here. or phil and bill and even then its factually incorrect so it just raises more WTF you doing.

To me they come off like someone trying to attempt to leave a lasting impression in a space they never were a part of

[Chris Pascale]

My plan is to not spend a lot of time replying to forum members who do multiple drive-by posts but then disappear and basically don’t engage with the post again.

.................lying about my engagement serves more to confuse than educate.....

Serious question, is that your objective? To educate?

Edited to add
ANSWER TO YOUR Q:
I'm somewhere in the middle. Retirement is very important to me, but I'm a full-time federal and part-time state employee with 4 kids. Thankfully, I had my kids very young (all before 30) and they are all very healthy, so - so far - it looks like I could potentially leave the full-time workforce in under 10 years, and definitely in my 50's.

My approaches involve:
 - Not replacing my car - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_AcsPdA_Dg&t=192s
 - "pension stacking": https://oldpodcast.com/defined-benefit-pension-hacking/
 - Teaching the kids about FIRE - https://oldpodcast.com/kids-financial-independence/
 - Having my wife on board - https://oldpodcast.com/wife-on-fire/
 - Hacking tuition - https://oldpodcast.com/tuition-hacks/
 - Keeping my housing in check - https://grumpusmaximus.com/worth-vs-worth-it-homeownership/
 - Eliminating materialism - https://grumpusmaximus.com/worth-your-life/

This has evolved over the past few years since finding the FIRE community, writing out my ideas, and engaging here.

A big recent change is that my wife and I are now budgeting. We honestly never did before, but I have a 2nd one heading to college, so it's time.