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Troy asked a deceptively simple question this week: "What does retirement look like to you?" And just like that, the episode spiraled into one of our favorite kinds of chats: the messy middle ground between ambition, fatherhood, and freedom.
Daniel pulled back the curtain on his 13-year blueprint to financial independence. Troy riffed on what it really means to "build" when you've got mouths to feed. And both dads landed in the same weird place a lot of us find ourselves: working hard, not because we have to, but because we want to — just not this hard forever.
Let’s unpack it.
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The Myth of Early Retirement (And Why It Needs a Rebrand)
When you hear "retire by 45," you probably imagine yachts, golf courses, or passive income bros sipping green smoothies in Bali. Cool. Also: deeply unrealistic for most of us.
But Daniel reframes it. For him, "retirement" just means owning his time. Still advising. Still building. Still working. Just not under anyone else's thumb. The target being enough financial momentum to make choices from a place of desire, not necessity.
Some key takeaways:
Retirement isn’t the absence of work. It’s the presence of freedom.
You don’t have to be rich. Just consistent.
Most of us don’t want to do nothing. We want to do something meaningful, without pressure.
So What Does the Path Look Like?
Let’s get practical. Daniel's blueprint isn’t about FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early) in the culty, all-in sense.
It’s more:
Spend less than you earn (even when earnings spike)
Let compound interest do its thing
Diversify where your energy and income go
And keep side hustles light but meaningful
They both touched on this tension between wanting to swing big vs. playing it safe for the family. And that tension is not a bug. It’s the feature. It’s what makes this whole conversation feel real.
"Go make a dollar. It'll make you realize you can make $10. Then $100. Then $10,000."
Research Backed
According to Northwestern Mutual's 2024 Planning & Progress Study, the average American thinks they'll need $1.46 million to retire comfortably—a 54% increase since 2020. Millennials and Gen Z are even more ambitious, setting their sights closer to $1.6 million+ (MarketWatch, Data Report PDF).
Yet the average U.S. adult has just $88,400 in retirement savings.
And when it comes to retirement age, Millennials expect to retire around 64, Gen Z around 60. That’s younger than Boomers (72), but still far from "early" by traditional standards.
The takeaway: goals are shifting, but preparation hasn't caught up.
Final Thought
This wasn’t a motivational episode, but it was motivating. Because instead of just talking about "grind culture" or "quitting the 9-to-5," we did something a bit different.
We sat in the tension. Owning the ambition and the responsibility.
Retiring by 45?
Maybe. Maybe not.
But showing up on your terms? That part's worth chasing.
'Til next week,
- Two Dads in Tech
P.S. Got your own version of "retirement" you're chasing? Hit reply or drop us a line. We want to feature some dad-defined visions in an upcoming issue.