You mean the grants or the stock? If you kept all this stock for 9 years it’s more of a stock picking bet that went (very) well.
I was forced to hold it for a quite a long time – but yes, picking the right employer was effectively my form of stock picking. So luck played a major role in this outcome. I could have worked just as hard somewhere else and still work for another 10-15 years.
Thanks for sharing. So, finally the FIREd people slowly emerge in this forum. I think we didn’t have many success stories so far. Being able to live off 2% of your portfolio: great stuff. Probably in 10 years this “2%” will be a much bigger 2% than the current 2% 
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Thanks @Bojack. I learned a lot here and from the FatFired Reddit forum – so happy to share back some learnings.
Yes, I told myself to revisit my SWR in 2-3 years or so. If things look well (maybe a major bull run from here?) I might double my SWR, which would probably mean a major life upgrade / donating money / etc.
Great achievement - congratulations! With that numbers and such a low withdrawal rate there’s a big change you will become very wealthy. Still a long way to go for me to reach this and I’m not sure if I’m willing to do that.
Have you been working for an American company in Switzerland?
I always fear that people read this forum and get intimidated by such immense success stories, because let’s face it - that’s nothing you can plan for.
So guys take this as a great outcome that can happen if you are diligent, disciplined and take risks, but even 10% of what IdleThought did would be a great success.
Thanks @Alvo. Everybody has a different risk preference and moving to the right place, etc can also help to get to FI a lot earlier.
Yes, that is exactly right. Equity grants are typical for US tech companies … much less so elsewhere.
I realized that Reddit (given its US focus) has actually many much more extreme outcomes: https://www.reddit.com/r/fatFIRE/
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@Alvo , congrats! Enjoy it in great health!
Hi, would it be ok to share a bit more? Are these contracts made or redefined every year?
I’m not really an expert in this topic. From experience I can say, that banks have a certain portion of budget allocated for external resources and they will usually offer a yearly contract with a budget ceiling. In November/December they give you a new offer. But the price never goes up, because why should it? If you don’t like it then they don’t extend your contract. So the price sticks until you’re gone and they notice “hey, we actually need that guy, he was doing a good job”. So when they want you back, you can ask for a new rate.
Smaller assignments (like 20 person-days) come with a higher daily rate and can be negotiated.
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Thanks! Sound quite interesting to be at contract lifestyle!
Hi! Great post.
When you refer to contract lifestyle etc do you mean work as independant ?
I have my employer work but I would like do more… Work and get an extra income.
My Fire number is too long… And I can’t wait
@Alvo, I think you did really really good. I have been working since 2006, and I am just slightly above you in term of net wealth. I didn’t invest until 2016 though as I didn’t knew better. Congratulations!
What? What kind of salary do you have to pay that much? Insane 
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I think there is no simple shortcut. Probably the “easiest” way for you is to start a business, but of course this is pretty risky and usually unpredictable. But no matter what your desired number is, you can reach it in a few years and don’t have the feeling to just sit there and wait.
Thank you, but a big part of it was just luck. 
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