> One of the other underlying pillars of this dream was the concept of Never Having To Work Again. Like somehow an eternity of leisure was going to provide the existential bliss I had been longing for all along. I thought about that a lot. I did all the math: Hey, if I stuff all the money in a prudent mix of stock and bonds, I should be able to live a comfortable, if not extravagant, lifestyle until the end of my days without lifting another finger.
> [...] What kept moving the needle, though, was programming Ruby, building Basecamp, writing for Signal v Noise, taking pictures, and enjoying all the same avenues of learning and entertainment my already privileged lifestyle had afforded me for years in advance.
Or PG, even [1]:
> If you work hard at being a bond trader for ten years, thinking that you'll quit and write novels when you have enough money, what happens when you quit and then discover that you don't actually like writing novels?
Why would I live frugally and work at a job I dislike for a considerable chunk of my best years just so that I can then live frugally and have no idea what else to do? (if I didn't dislike it, I wouldn't want to stop doing it).
[0] https://m.signalvnoise.com/the-day-i-became-a-millionaire-55...