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I was able to gain about 300k in the span of about the last 5 years of working, saving, investing, and buying a home. I've also seen my income double or so. I'm in my early 30s. That 300k doubles roughly every 10 years (7% annual ROI). And so those 5 years set me up for 600k, 1.2m and 2.4m respectively at 40, 50 and 60yo. I've certainly had my fair share of fun, multiple significant relationships, travelled to each continent, great friendships, an active life with sports and cultural activities. But I never had the sabbatical lifestyle where I'd travel the world for half a year or more, 'fun' was always organized around studying and later work life, measured in hours, evenings, weekends or weeks of holidays. I often doubt whether I made the right choice to spend these years working (sometimes more than) full time, I'll never know. ROI amplifies money, making these conclusions even harder. A dollar today at 30 is 8 dollars at 60. But I also find the return of money measured in fun goes down as I age. At 16 traveling to Paris by train and staying in a cheap hostel sleeping in dorms and drinking 2 euro supermarket wines with strangers on the street on a summer night was amazing, now I can't get the same pleasure on that budget. Partly because I don't want to 'rough it' anymore, partly because I've already done it, and partly because it feels like I wouldn't belong with those kids in the hostel like I once did. Anyway, fully agreed that the financial cost would've been way more than my expenses. With a 100k a year job the opportunity costs go up quite a bit, especially with ROI over time factored in. Earning 2 years of 100k at age 28 turns into close to a million at age 40, on average. That's a big opportunity cost... |