Things I don't like about the FIRE movement

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 The idea of FIRE (Financially independent, retire early) started up in 2018. From what I can tell it was started by bloggers who worked a lot, saved money, lived very frugally with the goal to stop working. I've learned a lot from some of them... Mr. Money Mustache, The Frugalwoods, but I've also decided FIRE isn't for me.


The frugal living ideas can't be beat. The Frugalwoods book is full of them, they really spend a lot of their lives making a game out of spending as LITTLE as possible. I love the ideas, and I think it's a responsible thing to do. When we consume less, we leave a smaller footprint on the world. We take less, waste less, we can give more.

But that reasoning is a footnote in a lot of these stories, the main driver behind their decision is their hatred of their jobs and eagerness to GET OUT of the corporate life as soon as possible. It's the "work won't love you back" mantra. And that's where I look the other way.

I think it is possible to find a job you love... at least, if it's possible to love ANYTHING you do for 40 hours a week, it's just as likely to be a job. There have been bloggers who retired early only to go back, because they felt distant from the world, didn't know how to spend their time, weren't happy. Quitting their job wasn't the magic answer.

Too many of us grow up with very defensive thoughts against the companies we work for. We're always trying to make sure "they" aren't taking more than their fair share of our time, we view every assignment as a pure transaction. I don't want to live like that.

I view my engineering job as more of a group project that I'm invited to join in on, and I'm proud of it. Have there been projects I worked TOO hard on, where I felt burnt out at the end of the days or frustrated when I wasn't getting along with the team? Sure. I'd be lying if I said it was all perfect. But there have been more projects that I was proud to participate in, more teams that taught me a ton, more experiences that I'd gladly sign up for all over again.

For me, FIRE is about living responsibly so I can give back, consume less, and support the causes I care about. I don't like this idea of dividing your life in two... working very hard at a job you don't like for a couple decades so you can retire early. That's still a couple decades! Too much time for me to not love what I'm doing. And who's to say it will pay off in the end with whatever dream you held on to that long? No one is promised tomorrow.

If I'm not enjoying the journey, it's not a journey for me, that's why you won't find a whole lot of entries on this blog about retiring early. I have no such goal. I'm letting the current carry me, and doing my best. 

Comments

  1. susandennisMarch 1, 2024 at 7:38 AM

    I never looked at retirement as a goal. I always had jobs that loved me back. Maybe not every hour of every day but most hours and most days. I actually retired kind of by accident and it took me a couple of years to get comfortable with it. (Now, I love it but I've been at it for a decade.) Letting the current carry you is a fabulous way to get there.

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  2. spiffikinsMarch 6, 2024 at 10:45 AM

    I generally like my job - and I certainly enjoy having a regular stream of income :D But I also have stuff that I want to do *outside* of my work and I don't have enough time to do them, when I'm putting in 40+ hours a week! My idea scenario is to get to a point reasonably soon, where I can go down to part time work (somehow - my current job doesn't really lend itself to that) but free up time for the other stuff I want to do!

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