Has anyone actually coast fired?

I have. I was forced into it a bit, by declining work in my own consultancy. I have a little over $1MM investible, and a paid off house. I could collect SS in the next decade. I worked hard, went to top schools, and after being laid off in 2008 made the decision to go out on my own. It worked at first, but later I was making less than in my corporate life. But it gave me incredible autonomy. I have not had set office hours since 2008, and travel all the time because I can work virtually. I should be making 3X what I am making--but at what cost? I could try to find a corporate job, or hustle 24/7 for new clients, but that would mean kissing my autonomy good-bye. Life is too short for that (my sister dying at 51 probably sealed that thought for me).

I struggle at times with feeling like a failure. I'm happier and healthier than most people my age (53). I'm a 53-year old man, and my doctor told me I had the blood profile of a young japanese woman (that's good--my dad was told he had the blood of an 80 year-old dairy farmer). I have zero stress and am completely in control of my schedule. But I've also achieved less on the corporate ladder than people I used to work with, and they have sweet summer homes that I'll never have.

It takes a lot to decide you are going to live by how you define success. This is what you need to come to terms with, IMHO. To paraphrase Eleanor Roosevelt, no one can make you feel like a failure without your consent. I still struggle with it sometimes, but seeing how quickly life can be taken away--and how we decline physically, I realize that we need to enjoy life while we can if we can do so responsibly. And I do--I enjoy the city I live in and my friends. Work is no way to live. There's a reason they call it "the rat race" and not the "teddy-bear love in".

/r/financialindependence Thread