I'm not really that concerned about financial freedom right now. I am concerned with optionality. Meaning I never want to be stuck at a job I hate. For me that means a combination of staying marketable, keeping my network fresh, and being careful about "lifestyle inflation" so I won't have to always strive for the maximum income.

It's a big stress reliever knowing that if things go bad, you can always jump ship.

Two things: 1) a good bit of cash and 2) passive income from multiple diverse sources that I can live a good lifestyle from that passive income such that I don’t need to work anymore — though I’ll work for a long time because I enjoy it, but I'll do something specifically that I want to do.

Probably of the Mr. Money Moustache flavour, r/financialindependence. Basically say 750k in index funds so that even a 3% return would net you enough to cover your basic expenses, perpetually.

I guess he means something like this: https://networthify.com/calculator/earlyretirement?income=70...

Might work if you trust index funds, earn quite well in the first place or (plan to) live in a cheap country and you are willing to do the grind for a few years.