Hi there! I’ve been thinking of saying hello for quite a time, but never had time for this. I’m not good at blogging so every time I start my mind immediately yells at me “don’t waste time on this” 
I’m Polish, at the time I was living there the country was still a great wasteland. Nonetheless I achieved FI at the age of 36. It wasn’t a true FI, but a freedom and safety not to live in fear anymore, something a typical graduate would achieve in 2-5 years in the western world. By the time I had my own apartment, savings which would allow me to live without income for another 20+ years. On top of that a monthly salary in IT could cover 4-5 months of comfortable mustachian living back then. So I quit with the intention to engage in IT contract every few years, but not to get back to full time job ever. IT was still my passion. I finally had time to play with whatever caught my interest instead of doing what my employer wanted me to do.
Soon I got a bit bored and curious about living in the Western world, therefore I decided to take the plunge, use my tech skills to pay for such “exploration” as using my wealth seemed a too big stretch. I didn’t look much at the salary but rather at the locations.
I eventually landed in Switzerland, engaging with some startup which paid me ~120k. I had a great time, 2 nice years have passed before the startup collapsed.
I had ~200k CHF wealth, amount which can be burned in 5 years here, and I’ve just learned how hard it is to get a job in Switzerland despite plethora of job ads in IT field. Nonetheless I managed to get something rolling within the 2 years period of living on unemployment insurance income, then it collapsed again, rinse repeat… I’ve been earning ~100k on average through the time. I always kept the idea of going back “home” so it didn’t bother me at all. The basic principle was not to burn my wealth whilst having fun here. One day however I woke up realizing that Poland had developed a lot so I wasn’t sure how much FI I would be moving back. I revisited my situation and decided to crunk up the wealth. I’ve spent again few months hard working, think 24/7, to land a job in big tech in Zurich.
So here I am, 4 years have passed already in a well-paid job, ~250k CHF total compensation. Truth be told I completely lost the appetite to follow ever changing tech landscape. I guess I’m too old for the profession everything seems the same, a wheel reinvented for no reason. Just buzzwords everywhere I like my current job actually, but I plan not to engage in another one. Fingers crossed I won’t get hit by layoffs anytime soon, so I’ll have enough time to properly plan and execute for FI life.
My wealth amounts to ~700k CHF at the moment. In the next few years, I aim to double it by savings alone and learn enough how to manage it better than “safe” allocations. In other words, it’s time to stop chasing IT, it’s time to start managing wealth. I’m great at practicing frugal lifestyle but managing wealth to beat inflation is rather new to me. I’ve always built my wealth by chasing the best paying jobs. On its own, the strategy worked well for me, I’m satisfied.
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