I would imagine the financial numbers don't look so rosy if children are present (assuming the person's in the US). Uni and post-uni tuition and fees could eat a fair bit of 1.5M.

I've also retired early after saving and keeping a simple lifestyle. I don't understand why more people in tech don't do it. My mental and physical health are both better than the last time I was working.

Sometimes I'm tempted to get another job on the basis that it would be all disposable income. But then I think, what could I buy that would be more valuable than the 40 hours a week I'd be giving up? Maybe I'm just lucky that I have no interest in fancy things.

Do you have a family and children? Not impossible but it’s much more complicated when others are involved.

Just one kid, you're right, not feeling an imperative to have a sprawling family goes a long way to making it possible.

Lifestyle creep and tech hubs have expensive real estate. I am super lucky in that I have a FAANG job in LCOL area and will most likely be FIRE by I am 40 with a fully paid off single detached home, but you cannot do that in the bay area where almost all your income will go to paying your mortgage.

I also know a co-worker who lives in a LCOL area and just bought a Porsche 911 GT3…

After buying so many things it gets boring and you figure out the few tricks you need to be satisfied. I think most people figure it out eventually.

Yes I had a landlord for 20+ years but was able to get out from under that without having a FAANG job or salary.

Congratulations! I hope you can reflect on why that might not be possible for everyone struggling to make ends meet.

Good for her, but why is this news?

Good for her, I hope she's happy. I also hope that everyone else can still afford groceries and rent through the holiday season. May we build a better world where nobody has to struggle, because we all can't work for Google. Someone still has to clean the toilets.