How I Retired with Over $20 Million by Age 31

TL;DR

A speaker describes retiring at age 31 with over $20 million using the Fat FIRE philosophy (financially independent, retire early with a "fat" lifestyle). He set the goal at age 19-20 after learning a rich person spent $60k/month, then used a 3% withdrawal rate on $20M to get $600k/year.

Key insights

• The Fat FIRE subreddit (r/fatFIRE) verifies users' net worth through mods to prevent false claims, and hosts a verified series called "Confessions of a Hectomillionaire" by a user worth north of $100
• The speaker's goal of $20 million by age 30 was derived by asking a wealthy acquaintance about monthly spend ($60k) and applying a 3% safe withdrawal rate to cover that burn rate while preserving prin
• He lived like a poor person during the build phase: paid himself $20k year one, $40k for two years, then $70k, and $300k in the sale year; his rent was $400/month in San Francisco by renting a $4,500