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Making that much money I would expect that you can take almost any career risk you could imagine. I understand that you're basically millionaire at 35 years old, you're basically set for life and can focus on doing things you find more interesting, such as learning about robotics without any monetary pressure. That's a pretty luxurious and safe situation! Maybe take some time off can help you realize how insanely far ahead you are from any other worker trying to save money.


Somehow that doesn’t work. For most people retirement money (or “can take any career risk” money) goal post keeps changing. Often involuntarily.


Lifestyle inflation is definitely a thing, especially with a partner and kids. You're not going back to living in a crappy apartment with non-related roommates if you have a choice. And you don't want to give up nice trips and meals out.

Stepping off a well-paid career trajectory is also hard to do even if you're pretty sure you have enough savings to comfortably cover your annual living expenses. It can be hard to get back on if things don't go as planned. I've definitely known people who ended up pushing semi-retirement out a bit because work wasn't getting in the way of life too much and why not stash some more money away while the stashing is good?




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