[anonym29]

The trick is to rent cheap and live like a college student in SF/bay area while young, save aggressively, invest intelligently, then move somewhere comfortable but more affordable (CO's front range is lovely) for your 30s/40s.

[BobaFloutist]

Just watch you don't get overly acclimated to the weather, or you'll end up with a single-digit number of cities in the world you find comfortable

[gametorch]

I'm so so so glad I didn't spend my twenties working and saving.

I've lived a thousand lives, spent most of the time as true quality time with people I love, and I still have a few years left in this decade of my life.

And I'm still further ahead, financially speaking, than >99% of other people my age. (To those asking, I tripled down on life after getting a remote job.)

The one year I spent 9-5 in an office as a traditional SWE was by far the quickest and least eventful year of my life. Also probably the saddest.

I'm very glad I just said "no" and walked away and simply lived. It was absolutely worth the risk. I would never trade these years for the ability to buy a house in the Bay Area suburbs.

I probably will be able to do that anyways, if I want to, even though I don't.