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Comment by coffeebeqn | Hacker News Reader

I’m quite senior so I do the same. We meet every two weeks but about half the time cancel because there’s really nothing to talk about. I’ve made it clear that I’m happy with my current level and don’t want to “progress” to another level where I’m a professional meeting attender. So there’s not much to talk about- I’m fairly happy and my long term goal is to retire in my 40s and work at a fairly chill place until then.

When I do have an actual topic it’s to ask about company politics- I need X, who can make that happen - or something like when I wanted to transition to fully remote

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Good luck on retiring in your 40s, that’s currently almost entirely up to external factors like demographics and the federal government. Maker and destroyer of wealth. Baby boomers retiring in mass are about to hit the economy hard. They need their investments to live off of and they will be spending in an economy they aren’t producing for. Inflation will be crazy so the way to compensate will be to stay employed.

Do downvotes mean I’m wrong or that I upset someone?

Luckily people in their 20s today tend to live at home and rarely go out, if this is how you are living and you are happy with it, working a well paid job until you are 40 and then retiring is doable.

I know this is a glib take, and it's somewhat tongue in cheek but tech jobs in general are well paid enough to at least make a plan to retire in your 40s. I don't think you'll necessarily get there with a "chill" approach, you'll need to be ambitious and smart with investments to make the most of it.

Something else to think about; retiring in your 40s means you are not necessarily even half way through your life these days, so you'll need to work hard enough to pay for the second half of your life. That means you may never make big purchases beyond a home, may not have money for hobbies, or vacations. I mean, life is expensive for the average person, even if you are bringing in $200k+ right now. I feel like we may see early retirees from the 2020s looking for work again in 20 years time.

Investing well is critical, but also a gamble. I know people who have been saving their whole lives into a pension plan only to have it wiped out later in life.

> Do downvotes mean I’m wrong or that I upset someone?

I did not downvote, but I think the FUD in your message overshadowed the point you were trying to make.

You're being downvoted because, in software engineering, retiring in your 40s isn't an unrealistic goal for many. We may be going into tough times, but tough times for those making 200k+ a year is still far better times than most in normal times.

Or even household income of 900k a year.

>Do downvotes mean I’m wrong or that I upset someone?

Both likely. It comes off authoritative, without much backup. And if you are going to retire in your 40s' being in tech is certainly going to help and most members are in that field. I also think a lot of people in tech have a similar plan.

I suspect the downvotes are because the comment isn't really related to the topic.

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