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EY verbal offer rescinded:( Has this happened to anyone else? “We have had a change in our demand for our product team and we are having to reassess our hiring. I am placing your name on our list to follow up with once we have a better grasp on the next month or two’s availability and needs, this normally doesn’t happen once we get rolling in a hiring process however Q1 had had some changes this fiscal year”
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Switch to industry if the immediate appeal of 30-40% raise is in your favor, find MCOL, and keep saving. You’re on the right path it’s a journey, but raising your income and investments is one of the keys along with your financial discipline.
1) Did you account for salary growth over the course of your career?
2) Did you account for your spouses (potential) salary once you're married?
3) Did you account for home equity? A down payment on a home doesn't 'put you back at zero', it just shifts your cash on hand or savings into home equity. It's still YOUR money, just in a different form and much less liquid.
(4) Did you account for the value of your investments growing over time? You're young and this growth should end up accounting for a LOT of the value of your portfolio even if you still retire early.
I’ve found that FIRE is, ironically, for the rich. Like KPMG mentioned, you can be financially disciplined, but without the actual raw income, or conversing without being extremely miserly (live rent-free or hyper LCOL, low target goal) the math is against you.
It may seem obvious, but if you’re able to handle lifestyle inflation well, any additional dollar earned becomes a 1:1 dollar saved, which should accelerate your timeline exponentially.
K1 has a god point. You can't just save yourself into wealth. You have to earn more somehow. Public accounting (or maybe you're a consultant) is unfortunately a pyramid scheme and you have to stick with it to senior manager/PPMD before your earnings really start to make FIRE possible and while still being able to start a family.
I don't want to make those sacrifices either. I plan to retire at 52 (instead of maybe 45) because I don't want to work as hard as I do and not enjoy the nicer things in life while I'm younger. I want a nice place, to go on vacations with my wife and kids, spoil my kids a little, etc.
I'll take working an "extra" 7 years over being miserly for 20.
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If you are skeptical about how others make it work, there are stories (blogs, articles) abound how people with ordinary income made it work. If you're skeptical about the process or the concept of FIRE ...just don't follow it.
If you really want it to work, you will find a way.
Suppose you don't have a single penny invested right now. If you just max out your 401(k) and Roth IRA every year for the next decade and half, with a conservative estimate, you'll end up with a million dollars. Suppose your spouse does the same. Even if you are FIRE in your 40s, or 50s, you'll still be decades ahead than an overwhelming proportion of Americans.
Suppose you don't spend $15k on a wedding. Suppose you buy a home that is not more than 2x your combined annual income. Suppose you have one kid. Suppose you don't get a new car every few years.
FIRE is not for everyone. Do you want to live, save, and invest intentionally today so that you have the tools to not be chained to a paycheck tomorrow? Or do you think FIRE is a pie in the sky, a sham that is perpetrated only by the "rich"? It's your choice.
Think of it this way. Assuming the best you work 40 hours per week and you work 50 weeks per year. That's 2000 hours. After taxes, medical, retirement, and rent you are left with less than 1000 hours worth of TIME. So uncle sam took 500 hours from you. All money does is buy time. You need to find a side hustle that builds you more value for your time. Get those hours back when you're not at work.
It’s not impossible. Make more money. Strategy consulting, IB, PE, and HF will get you there.
Look at total net worth every quarter. Should always go up, even after buying a house. Eventually, you get to a point where it effortlessly snowballs. I felt like I got there at 36 last year and I started much later than you. Keep it up!
Are children an absolute must have for you? Can you live in a lower cost city?
Time is money and those 60+ hour busy seasons are going to cut into that time. Like others have said, id switch into industry and pick up a side hustle.