Thoughts from somebody who did wait until financial independence to come out.

Hi. I'm 24 years old, and I'm a gay male living in the US. It is common advice to give to gay youth that they should wait until financial independence to come out. I still agree that this is often the best choice for many gay kids as it ensures their safety and well-being. However, I don't think it's a strategy that should be applied liberally to every lgbteen, and I would like to advocate for taking some risk.I subscribed to this advice when I was younger, citing my safety and education as reasons to stay in. However, I was lying to myself, partially. I was mostly scared to come out and open myself to the possibility of being rejected by friends and family. I now see that, while life may have been awkward or challenging during the time it took for people to get used to me being gay, my parents never really would have thrown me out. Life may have been more difficult for me, but that would have forced growth within me. By making the decision I made, I remained stagnant throughout my late teens and early twenties. I regret that alot.I wish I could have been braver when I was younger, as now, as I'm about to take my first professional job after school, I feel like I let life pass me by a bit. I still have alot to look forward to, as I have some youth left still, but I'm going to be going through an awkward second puberty in my mid twenties that could have been avoided.I understand I'm lucky, and many people very well should stay in the closet. However, I would really urge you to examine the real reason you're in the closet, and if 'waiting for financial independence' is just an excuse to maintain the status quo, please reconsider.I hope this helps someone, but it's mostly just therapy for me to write it out.