Hi, I’m Marmot!
I’ve been working as an IT engineer for over a decade—somehow ending up in consulting, despite scoring a whopping 97% on the introvert scale in Myers-Briggs test.
Turns out, forcing yourself to survive in a communication-heavy job has side effects. I’m now in my mid-thirties and completely burnt out like a roast pig.
So I made a decision: I’m done with the 9-to-5. I want to spend my time on things I actually enjoy—drawing.
The ironic part is that the same career that burnt me out also paid well. Without any side gigs, and thanks to a pretty frugal lifestyle, my partner and I have built up over $900K across brokerage, 401(k), and IRA accounts.
According to FIRE calculators, I should be able to retire before 40 if I can contribute to these accounts for the next few years.
Too good to be true, right?
So instead of blindly trusting the tools, I’m treating my life as an experiment. I’m putting my own money on the line to test whether FIRE advice actually holds up—or if it’s just FIRE advocates pushing their own agenda to sell their books.
The plan is to move to Japan, my partner’s home country, in 3–5 years and attempt retirement using the 4% rule, all without touching the principal. Realistically, I might still work a bit here and there, but that’s part of the experiment too.
This blog is a record of that process.
Not just the numbers, but the reality—what works, what breaks, and what no one tells you.
If you’re curious whether early retirement is actually sustainable (and not just a spreadsheet fantasy), follow along.