amazing piece, Raymond! really enjoyed learning about time freedom. "In other words, it’s not time that’s the root of most problems. It’s our lack of initiative to improve ourselves." THIS is my mantra. will read the modern love piece you shared as well. thank you for giving me an arsenal of financial strategies and modes of thinking for when I see my parents this weekend and inevitably have the talk on money :/
Wow, very thoughtful and well-researched. But I would argue that the optimal amount of work for others is definitely < 40 hrs. Maybe for many, FIRE is a way to only have to work 10 or 20 hrs, as a bartender etc.
I actually ended up getting deep into the weeds of the FIRE universe and learned about variants like Coast FIRE, Lean FIRE, and to your point about being a bartender, even Barista FIRE. These are less-intense alternatives to going all-in on FIRE.
Yup, I enjoy your posts. Substacks are a great, slower, longer-form alternative to traditional social media, so I'm trying to find some to read regularly. Just wish more people from Gen Z were on it!
Overall a great read, I like how you synthesized your readings when crafting your case against FIRE.
"at age 40, you are forced to live out the plans you made for yourself two decades ago. Who knows if those plans will still align with your values and desires after 20 years of life experience and change?" This is so true, especially because in your early 20s, you can change so much even within a single year since your life is changing as well.
The FIRE solution to retirement seems like the other extreme of never being able to retire (which isn't actually a solution but retiring in your 40s doesn't sound like an ideal solution either). From what I've heard, many people past retirement age would like to keep working at least on a part time basis and ideally not out of extreme necessity.
Last line is so true. I'd argue that for many people, the inaction regrets outweigh the action regrets early on. We'd do better to take those risks and maximize our opportunities.
Thanks Ame! One of the points I was going to make (but decided to scrap) was how FIRE isn't a binary choice; you can engage with it to the extent that you feel comfortable. From what I've read online, it seems like a lot of people are proponents of Coast FIRE, which attempts at guaranteeing retirement in your 60s.
I can totally see myself on that boat: working and growing my career early on in life, but as my priorities change (mainly family-related), I'd like to take the foot off the gas a bit. Maybe I'm over-romanticizing the good parts, but working at a cafe, library, antique shop, etc. sounds like a wonderful post-retirement activity.
Have you thought about what you'd like to take on as a part-time job after you retire?
That's really interesting, I had no idea that there were different versions of FIRE. Coastal FIRE definitely sounds like something I'd be into too.
Honestly, I haven't really thought about what I'd like to be doing in my 60s yet. I spend most of my time thinking about my 20s and then I have a hazy idea of my 30s based on that but the plan is to grow with the flow, wherever that takes me. I kinda like the fact that I have no idea what my 30s are going to look like yet.
I think working at a bookshop post-retirement would be really nice. I'd also want to keep engaging with my creative side and be part of the local community.
amazing piece, Raymond! really enjoyed learning about time freedom. "In other words, it’s not time that’s the root of most problems. It’s our lack of initiative to improve ourselves." THIS is my mantra. will read the modern love piece you shared as well. thank you for giving me an arsenal of financial strategies and modes of thinking for when I see my parents this weekend and inevitably have the talk on money :/
Thanks Kayla! That's a great mantra to live by. Hope the conversation with your parents was productive!
This piece is fire. I can’t believe that guys name is Scantron
Haha I see what you did there. Scantron's a beast, would recommend checking out his stuff!
Wow, very thoughtful and well-researched. But I would argue that the optimal amount of work for others is definitely < 40 hrs. Maybe for many, FIRE is a way to only have to work 10 or 20 hrs, as a bartender etc.
I actually ended up getting deep into the weeds of the FIRE universe and learned about variants like Coast FIRE, Lean FIRE, and to your point about being a bartender, even Barista FIRE. These are less-intense alternatives to going all-in on FIRE.
Appreciate you reading Victor!
Yup, I enjoy your posts. Substacks are a great, slower, longer-form alternative to traditional social media, so I'm trying to find some to read regularly. Just wish more people from Gen Z were on it!
Overall a great read, I like how you synthesized your readings when crafting your case against FIRE.
"at age 40, you are forced to live out the plans you made for yourself two decades ago. Who knows if those plans will still align with your values and desires after 20 years of life experience and change?" This is so true, especially because in your early 20s, you can change so much even within a single year since your life is changing as well.
The FIRE solution to retirement seems like the other extreme of never being able to retire (which isn't actually a solution but retiring in your 40s doesn't sound like an ideal solution either). From what I've heard, many people past retirement age would like to keep working at least on a part time basis and ideally not out of extreme necessity.
Last line is so true. I'd argue that for many people, the inaction regrets outweigh the action regrets early on. We'd do better to take those risks and maximize our opportunities.
Thanks Ame! One of the points I was going to make (but decided to scrap) was how FIRE isn't a binary choice; you can engage with it to the extent that you feel comfortable. From what I've read online, it seems like a lot of people are proponents of Coast FIRE, which attempts at guaranteeing retirement in your 60s.
I can totally see myself on that boat: working and growing my career early on in life, but as my priorities change (mainly family-related), I'd like to take the foot off the gas a bit. Maybe I'm over-romanticizing the good parts, but working at a cafe, library, antique shop, etc. sounds like a wonderful post-retirement activity.
Have you thought about what you'd like to take on as a part-time job after you retire?
That's really interesting, I had no idea that there were different versions of FIRE. Coastal FIRE definitely sounds like something I'd be into too.
Honestly, I haven't really thought about what I'd like to be doing in my 60s yet. I spend most of my time thinking about my 20s and then I have a hazy idea of my 30s based on that but the plan is to grow with the flow, wherever that takes me. I kinda like the fact that I have no idea what my 30s are going to look like yet.
I think working at a bookshop post-retirement would be really nice. I'd also want to keep engaging with my creative side and be part of the local community.