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pyrrhotech

I haven't had a job in over 2 years. What I do:

- building an algorithmic trading bot

- play video games, mostly strategy with a few RPGs and platformers

- exercise for 30 min - 1 hour every day

- do all my own cooking, house work, take on DIY projects

- read books, mostly fantasy, sci-fi and science text books for pleasure

I'm much, much happier than when I was employed as a software engineer. I highly recommend people to save money and leave the workforce and instead live a life of leisure as a capitalist and independent scientist.

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I did the same, but I moved to Latin America, where its so cheap I can live off side hustle money. I can't imagine ever going back to work in the US or EU, that rat race is NOT worth it IMHO. I'd rather stay right here and make 20% what I made there and live just as comfortably, but with basically all my free time intact.

Where did you go specifically?

Ecuador. I used to live in Denmark and paid $1500 a month for substantially less space than I have now for $160 (and the bathroom in my Danish place was terrible). My whole family can live on about 300 to 400 a month here. I cannot even begin to describe how much better I feel being able to live like a semi-retired person. I don't need to worry about going in to a 9-5 anymore, can take interesting projects on as I like, and no idiotic coworkers who try to convince me that 1500 is actually a good price for a shitty little apartment in downtown Copenhagen (cause I guess someone told them it was).

You actually Danish? Or did you move there and then on to Ecuador? Did you learn a new language twice? Just curious whether you were born into it or moved several times for QoL.

No, I'm US, I moved to Europe for QoL, then went to South America for the same. After Trump got elected, I felt pretty vindicated on the decision and have no plans to go back to the US. Also, I didn't learn Danish, it's really hard (3+ years to be any sort of good at it, usually) and you can only speak to 5M people once you learn it anyway. Plus all the educated Danes speak flawless English, they watch our TV from birth. I'm working on Spanish right now since its much easier and you actually need it in SA. If you're giving any thought to it, I stringly recommend moving abroad, even for a short time, you will grow more than you can imagine and get exposed to so much that you just can't get in your home country.

How do you plan to get back to work-force after the money you saved up run dry?

Majority of software engineers are able to save up for few years forth of expenses by not going into any major investments.

To give an example - I can stop working for 3 years now, but Ill have huge issues explaining that afterwards. And if I plan to build a house - there is no option for me to stop working for the next 10 years.

Not everyone is in so proviliged place.

True, but a few of us are - it’s definitely possible to save enough to never have to work again.

Here in Lisbon, you can live a perfectly comfortable life forever if you hit around 300-400k € in equity. That’s money, but nothing impossible.

> Here in Lisbon, you can live a perfectly comfortable life forever if you hit around 300-400k € in equity.

Is that assuming single with no dependents?

If I were single, I could definitely see that working. But with a wife and three kids, it seems less possible.

Well that’s definitely a life choice I haven’t made. But assuming your wife brings her own 300-400k to the party (only fair) then it’s completely doable.

Well, since my wife stays home with the kids, I guess I'll have to keep saving a while.

600-800k isn't all that far off in the grand scheme of things.

Well, being pragmatic you could still retire on 400k with a family of four in Portugal, especially outside the capital, and on a very reasonable standard of living. I just prefer to assume a per-adult-capita amount. Sorry if that was unclear originally.

I've drunk the Mr Money Mustache [1] / FIRE koolaid to some extent. Mostly just looking to start a conversation since it's a topic I'm interested in.

[1] https://www.mrmoneymustache.com/

what needs to be explained?

If you're good, employers don't really care if you take time off to do other stuff.

Few years without side projects can really put you out of business in IT if you dont have a very specialized knowledge. Im not gonna talk about management path because „few years adventure to seek out true self” can be seen as „brave” and „what a true leader would do” yada yada

I'm very frugal, it would be difficult for my stash to be depleted. My conservative long term investments provide more than enough cash flow for my basic necessities - I only put extra in the algo for now, though the algo is less volatile so far than my long term investments.

I’ve struggled with the same transition. Do you have any trouble with feeling a lack of purpose? Restlessness?

Many days when I should be perfectly happy and content,instead I feel like I’m waiting for something to go wrong and piss me off. It feels really stupid to be anxious about nothing.

Are you spending a lot of time on forums/social media?

Not that much honestly. Lots on youtube and books.

Yes, the anxiety at the beginning and lack of purpose was strong, but over time it has faded and now I am used to the lifestyle and make my own purpose. I do plan to contribute more to society in the long term. I want to eventually start my own research institution (if algo goes bonkers). Algos do add liquidity to financial markets and help prevent bubbles like 2000 and 2007 from forming through greater market efficiency as well. However, right now I'm still enjoying my "rest" phase as the 8 years before that were not fun, long hours, long commute, so I don't feel bad about getting some break.

Thanks man. Very similar plans as you :) My plan is to eventually start a small fund dedicated to giving a few semi-random individuals a perpetual basic income.

I’m guessing many people on HN could afford a 2-3 year break from work (at least those without kids), but what is your plan for 20 years out?

I plan to get wealthier during this "break" if the algo performs anywhere near as well as the backtest, 28% with 10% max drawdown. If all goes to plan, in 20 years I will be running my own research institution part time, but I hope to always have plenty of leisure time in the future. The 8 years before I quit were hell in comparison to my life now and I don't want to ever go back to that way of living

Did you run algos professionally before you quit? I’m trying to get some kind of chat forum going for people doing what you (and I) are trying, not sure how to gather up a sensible sized posse.

I didn't, but always been interested in the financial markets from a young age. I frequent /r/algotrading and sometimes seeking alpha, sometimes useful stuff posted. I'm not doing HFT though, my algo holds on average for about 20 days

Any income besides algo? How well does it perform?

I'm a frugal guy, have enough dividends/interest from the conservative long term holdings to cover my basics, algo for providing long term prosperity and luxuries only. So far in the backtest it performs at 28% ROI with 10% max drawdown in the testing period of april 2009 - april 2020 vs. 11.5% ROI for SPX and 36% drawdown

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