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And on to the show notes!!

We spend a lot of our lives chasing financial milestones.

A six-figure salary. Coast FIRE. Retirement. The next big achievement.

But what if those milestones were never meant to make us feel complete?

In this episode, Tyler steps away from spreadsheets and investment strategies to explore what literature can teach us about money, ambition, and the illusion that one more milestone will finally make everything click.

Drawing on works by C.P. Cavafy, Samuel Johnson, Kazuo Ishiguro, and David Foster Wallace, Tyler reflects on why so many financial goals feel strangely empty once we reach them—and what that means for how we should build our lives.

In this episode, Tyler explores:

Why a six-figure salary often changes less than we expect

What Coast FIRE really gives us—and what it doesn't

The hidden myth at the heart of retirement planning

Why major achievements rarely deliver lasting fulfillment

The importance of always having another "Ithaca" on the horizon

The one financial milestone that genuinely does transform people's lives: getting out of high-interest debt

The core idea:

Financial milestones matter—but not because they complete us.

They give us direction.

The real value isn't in arriving.

It's in the person you become on the way there.

If the show's been helpful, leaving a quick review on Apple or Spotify genuinely helps.

Hope this gives you something to think about this week.

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