I am sure that some of us have thought of when we might be able to retire from active employment before. So, this conversation with a reader might be of interest to some: Hi AK I am sure you got tons of emails to reply, so you wouldn't mind adding one more. :) I am 32 this year and I planned to achieve financial independence by 40. I actually realised it is easier to achieve lump sum cumulative retirement fund than passive income > expenses. Few reasons: 1) returns are ups and downs ......