I’m back on the BiggerPockets Money podcast this week with Mindy! So exciting! For me at least. I enjoy podcasting and look forward to recording more when the F.O.O.L.I.S.H. Project is over.
What FIRE People Won’t Tell You
Being financially independent is a truly stunning and incredible circumstance. It gives you autonomy:
You love your job? Great! Stay there and throw some more dollars on the pile!
You hate your job? Great! Tell your boss where they can put that job and go find something else to do with your time.
But leaving work is one of the biggest life changes you’ll ever experience. It’s up there with marriage, divorce, and children. Old men have the highest suicide rate* in America. Part of the reason is social isolation. Men tend to build their lives and identity around careers. And then they feel lost when when that career ends.
I struggled when I left work too. Life won’t just magically come to you. Even retirement takes work. This is what I talked about with Mindy on the podcast. Watch here or wherever finer podcasts are distributed:
One more thing: Almost ten years after quitting work, I’m in a great place now. There’s NO WAY I’d go back to a conventional job.
Life is great.
Note: If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. In the US, you can call or text 988 to reach the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.
I listened to the whole episode. I love the emphasis on the idea that the skills/behaviors that help you achieve early FI are sometimes the opposite of what you “need” in FI. I’ve been going through this transition myself and the “what is an hour of my time worth” framing has been quite helpful. I first calculated it out a few years ago and I try to work it into my thought process as needed. There are times when I DIY things that I know I can afford to hire out because my experience with crappy contractors gives me a fairly good sense of when I things are likely to end up leaving me annoyed at a substandard result.
However, one area where I’ve completely left the DIY behind is automotive maintenance. I have also become comfortable with outsourcing quite a lot of home-related things, but as I mentioned I still DIY some things. I hired out new gutters when I needed those, but then when I wanted to swap out the cheap wire shelving in the pantry for something sturdier, I did that one myself. But then, I also have the standard woodworking tools and I like solving puzzles (efficient maximization of space utilization generally tops my list of favorite puzzles to solve).
The next one for me is travel. When I go to Europe in a few months I’m kicking around the idea of paying for the business class upgrade. I still need to get comfortable with that one. 🙂
I also listened to this podcast and I appreciated the great points about defining purpose, identity, marriage and friendships in early retirement.
My wife and I are having to relearn how to get along now that we are FI, and I’ve entered semi retirement.
She’s always had the rule of the roost raising and homeschooling 4 kids while I earned the money in my construction business.
The kids are all out of the house, and now she’s got me to contend with, as I rediscover all the things I enjoy doing that aren’t job or income related.
It’s an adjustment to be sure and hearing that others have challenges too, helps us keep going and reaping the rewards.
Even though I like what I did (and still do at a very small scale), I can’t ever see going back to the full time grind.
Been there, done that, got the t-shirt.
Thanks for the blog, Carl. I enjoy reading it.
Aaron
Aaron, thanks for the kind comment.
“It’s an adjustment to be sure and hearing that others have challenges too, helps us keep going and reaping the rewards.”
I think half the battle is won if you just listen to the other person from a point of deep empathy. This is something I haven’t always done well. 🙁
But I think it would be weirder if you didn’t have any issues. This is a BIG change.
Anyway, I hope you’re loving your downscaled life. I look forward to living much slower once my home project is done.