A trend I have seen on the forums and seems to match MMM's scenario is working a full time job, saving a crapton percentage-wise and then heading towards financial freedom and retirement.
I just quit my job. I'm moving into working for myself, have a solid chunk of savings in operating expenses (9 mo - 1.5 years depending on scenario), have a couple different revenue streams that gets me close to my old salary + benefits (in absolute dollars) and seems like I'll have more time to be more flexible (can wait longer for services, negotiate based on how soon something needs to get done, can work on the house in the middle of the day during lunch breaks, etc). I also had a mentor whose words always stuck with me, "You'll never make as much working for someone else as you will working for yourself". The results of that are yet to be seen. To be honest, simply moving away from needing to be somewhere 8 hours a day (even if it means I chose to work somewhere else 12 hours) already feels pretty good.
I'm curious how many others are on their way towards FIRE, but using self employment vs a traditional employer? Is there anything I should be doing differently in terms of savings/retirement/tax optimization?