Dennis Vymer

It's hard to predict how I'll think in seven years. If I were already at the finish line today, I'd probably move to 0.8 FTE on a 2+2 work pattern. And somewhere between 35 and 40, I'd love to teach math and physics at a high school near where I live — it's an undervalued profession that, done well, changes a lot of lives.

I'm not aiming for full FIRE at 40 for one straightforward reason: kids. Once they're 18+, my wife and I get a ten-year window of pure choice. Keep working for the biggest paycheck, just cover costs, or any mix in between depending on what the year demands. Coast FIRE to 50 buys that optionality.

Two reasons that reinforce each other. First, time plus compound interest is the most magical force in personal finance — front-loading aggressive saving in your 20s and 30s means the portfolio does the heavy lifting for the next twenty years whether you contribute or not.

Second, we haven't gotten used to luxury yet. No expensive holidays, no expensive cars, no lifestyle creep. Saving 40–60% feels normal because we never adjusted our spending to match our income. By 40 we'll have a real choice: money or peace, freely selectable depending on the kids, the year, anything. More or less, FIRE will already be there — it'll just look like lean FIRE.

Both my wife and I pushed hard to earn a big income early in our careers. The biggest unlock isn't a savings hack — it's that income grew while expenses stayed roughly the same. That gap is the savings rate.

My strongest advice to anyone in their 20s: forget the side-hustle hype for a minute and invest in yourself first. Skills, education, building things. The return is 10× anything the market will ever give you. Only once you've maxed your earning power does it make sense to start optimizing the savings rate.

Maximum return is always coupled with risk. Some people feel adrenaline from risk; I feel anxiety. So I optimize for a system I can hold for thirty years, not the highest possible peak in any single year. Day-trading, options, forex — I could go there. Why would I? I'm young, I have time, and time is the most magical variable in investing.

Boring global ETFs plus monthly contributions plus twenty years of compound interest beats almost anything I'd cook up trying to be clever. Crypto sits in a tiny corner of the portfolio under the label 'money I'm willing to fully lose.' I understand its appeal; I just don't see what value it actually adds.

Two big shifts. First, we cut Wants aggressively — fewer fancy restaurant dates, fewer 'life improvement' purchases. We replaced them with smaller family outings, which actually fit our new chapter better anyway.

Second, I sat down one Saturday and audited every single Need we pay monthly: insurance, mandatory liability, electricity, gas, internet — every line, in detail. By re-shopping everything I freed up almost 4,000 CZK a month with zero lifestyle impact. That's the cheapest 4,000 CZK we'll ever earn.