This piece is so good. So much of it rings true to someone who has followed financial advice, blogs and influencers for years. The point about “you’re not retired, you are an entrepreneur” reminds me of trad wives who aren’t SAH but actually content creators profiting off their lifestyle. What’s not often said is that retirement is notoriously identity-crises inducing. And that money will always be spent; the question is just who and when and on what. Similarly the preaching of FIRE always felt off because these were often skilled professionals earning six figures. There’s only so much lifestyle costs you can cut earning $40K a year. Ramit Sethi’s “rich life” motto resonates given the focus on enjoying your life now while also saving and investing for future (though prob more than he states). We are currently living a dream saving/investing about 40% of our AGI while also having a great life and not “wanting” for much. Maybe we can’t keep up the ratio forever but we will have a built up a good cushion. Anyway your piece was excellent.
I'm well on my way to FIRE, and this post accurately describes both the benefits of chasing FIRE and the pitfalls of blindly chasing FIRE.
Several years ago, ChooseFI had a few guests who expressed regret at their single-minded pursuit of FIRE and wished that they had stopped to smell the roses along the way.
I think so, I changed my goal from retiring very early to retiring slightly early if at all. Instead of working extra to accumulate enough of an investment to retire on ASAP, I'm letting it grow over time. This gives me more time and money to spend now on whatever I want without stressing about missing ambitious savings goals.
Great perspective, thank you for sharing. Retirement is such an illusive concept to strive for because we don't really know how we'll feel when we get closer to our goal. Working towards not feeling stressed about living the life you want sounds like a pretty great goal.
After a lifetime of living modestly and saving whatever we could, we retired. We have enough in the bank to feel confident and secure, but man is it hard learning how to to spend.
I overthink everything. Is it a want or is it a need? I have “trouble” with home decor, large home improvement projects, impulse purchases over $100, etc. Instead of just buying what I want in the grocery store, I’m looking at price comparison. My husband used to do all the home-improvement projects and now that I’m a widow it’s very hard to pay someone else. I overthink it and debate myself about whether to spend over $4000 on a vacation. Basically anything that I have to pay for from savings instead of monthly income makes me a little nervous.
Thanks for sharing that - sounds like you want to make certain things easier but might have a fear of running out of money? Do you have a financial planner you could talk to? Sometimes I find that just looking at the numbers once a year can provide some sense of comfort. Sometimes getting a “professional” to tell you it’s OKAY to spend a little extra this year to go on vacation can make all the difference in the world.
Yes to this! "Relationships are an asset class too—just harder to rebalance." Love this whole piece. Said another way by Michael Melcher in his terrific book YOUR INVISIBLE NETWORK, "Relationships are a form of wealth." Coincidentally, a Q&A I did recently came out today with this quote as the title. Take a look, if you like: https://open.substack.com/pub/shiragill/p/relationships-are-a-form-of-wealth
It seems to me that the FIRE folks also got diversification wrong. They tied their investment wealth to growth ETFs. When markets turned down, they still needed to sell shares for income. Then they started making blogs and Youtube channels to try and juice their incomes. Had they also had some portion of their portfolios in true income generating stocks like CEFs & BDCs, they could have more easily weathered down-turns and continued to get paid....
No matter when you leave the traditional workforce there has to be a plan for what’s next. Human nature likes pursuit of goals. The genius of the FIRE movement is about the FI not the RE. If you make it to financial independence then you get to set your own rules for what is next.
This piece is so good. So much of it rings true to someone who has followed financial advice, blogs and influencers for years. The point about “you’re not retired, you are an entrepreneur” reminds me of trad wives who aren’t SAH but actually content creators profiting off their lifestyle. What’s not often said is that retirement is notoriously identity-crises inducing. And that money will always be spent; the question is just who and when and on what. Similarly the preaching of FIRE always felt off because these were often skilled professionals earning six figures. There’s only so much lifestyle costs you can cut earning $40K a year. Ramit Sethi’s “rich life” motto resonates given the focus on enjoying your life now while also saving and investing for future (though prob more than he states). We are currently living a dream saving/investing about 40% of our AGI while also having a great life and not “wanting” for much. Maybe we can’t keep up the ratio forever but we will have a built up a good cushion. Anyway your piece was excellent.
Thanks for your kind words. That’s a good point about influencers too. It’s expensive to not work or generate income!
I'm well on my way to FIRE, and this post accurately describes both the benefits of chasing FIRE and the pitfalls of blindly chasing FIRE.
Several years ago, ChooseFI had a few guests who expressed regret at their single-minded pursuit of FIRE and wished that they had stopped to smell the roses along the way.
Moderation is so hard to pull off when you’re singularly focused (I might say obsessed) with one specific number goal.
Do you feel like you've been able to "stop and smell the roses" in your own pursuit of FIRE?
I think so, I changed my goal from retiring very early to retiring slightly early if at all. Instead of working extra to accumulate enough of an investment to retire on ASAP, I'm letting it grow over time. This gives me more time and money to spend now on whatever I want without stressing about missing ambitious savings goals.
Great perspective, thank you for sharing. Retirement is such an illusive concept to strive for because we don't really know how we'll feel when we get closer to our goal. Working towards not feeling stressed about living the life you want sounds like a pretty great goal.
Exactly - it's so abstract and illusive. Don't forget to enjoy freedom along the way.
After a lifetime of living modestly and saving whatever we could, we retired. We have enough in the bank to feel confident and secure, but man is it hard learning how to to spend.
I hear that! Do you find yourself nervous to spend? Are there specific things you want that you're not purchasing?
I overthink everything. Is it a want or is it a need? I have “trouble” with home decor, large home improvement projects, impulse purchases over $100, etc. Instead of just buying what I want in the grocery store, I’m looking at price comparison. My husband used to do all the home-improvement projects and now that I’m a widow it’s very hard to pay someone else. I overthink it and debate myself about whether to spend over $4000 on a vacation. Basically anything that I have to pay for from savings instead of monthly income makes me a little nervous.
Thanks for sharing that - sounds like you want to make certain things easier but might have a fear of running out of money? Do you have a financial planner you could talk to? Sometimes I find that just looking at the numbers once a year can provide some sense of comfort. Sometimes getting a “professional” to tell you it’s OKAY to spend a little extra this year to go on vacation can make all the difference in the world.
Yes to this! "Relationships are an asset class too—just harder to rebalance." Love this whole piece. Said another way by Michael Melcher in his terrific book YOUR INVISIBLE NETWORK, "Relationships are a form of wealth." Coincidentally, a Q&A I did recently came out today with this quote as the title. Take a look, if you like: https://open.substack.com/pub/shiragill/p/relationships-are-a-form-of-wealth
It seems to me that the FIRE folks also got diversification wrong. They tied their investment wealth to growth ETFs. When markets turned down, they still needed to sell shares for income. Then they started making blogs and Youtube channels to try and juice their incomes. Had they also had some portion of their portfolios in true income generating stocks like CEFs & BDCs, they could have more easily weathered down-turns and continued to get paid....
No matter when you leave the traditional workforce there has to be a plan for what’s next. Human nature likes pursuit of goals. The genius of the FIRE movement is about the FI not the RE. If you make it to financial independence then you get to set your own rules for what is next.
love this!