FIRE Starters (Financial Independence, Retire Early)

Discussion in 'Financial Independence, Retire Early (FIRE)' started by Redwing, 21st Feb, 2020.

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  1. Lacrim

    Lacrim Well-Known Member

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    Is he going to be working for you?:D
     
  2. Jess Peletier

    Jess Peletier Mortgage Broker & Finance Strategy, Aus Wide! Business Member

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    I'm going to be working for him - I've promoted him to boss-man ;)
     
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  3. PKFFW

    PKFFW Well-Known Member

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    Or you could take the message of the blog to heart and choose to do what interests and motivates you. Live life on your terms and all that jazz.

    Apologies if starting a blog is what motivates you and I've misinterpreted your post.
     
  4. Jess Peletier

    Jess Peletier Mortgage Broker & Finance Strategy, Aus Wide! Business Member

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    I did actually used to write a blog on share trading - it did really well in the US until I accidentally let the domain name lapse and a dentist stole it. (Bizarre but true haha!)

    That's exactly what we're going to do - live life on our own terms and all that jazz :) A bit more work/life balance will be nice - I'm a bit obsessive with work left to my own devices so he'll balance me out a bit.

    Planning to travel Australia for a year and work on the road in 2023. Can't wait. The beauty of a location independant business.
     
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  5. Redwing

    Redwing Well-Known Member

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    I'm interested in what the name was i.e. something like "Mouthing Off" :D
     
  6. Jess Peletier

    Jess Peletier Mortgage Broker & Finance Strategy, Aus Wide! Business Member

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    Nothing like it! RogueTraderette - have zero idea why they thought it would be worth stealing, other than lots of wealthy share traders visited it?
     
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  7. geoffw

    geoffw Moderator Staff Member

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  8. MTR

    MTR Well-Known Member

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    Well done
    All the best
     
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  9. Jess Peletier

    Jess Peletier Mortgage Broker & Finance Strategy, Aus Wide! Business Member

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  10. Piston_Broke

    Piston_Broke Well-Known Member

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    They buy exppired domain and link to sites to rank better in google.
    If it's there then somone is hosting and somone had to pay the ISP.
    You still hold the copyright to your content which means you should send a take down notice.
     
  11. Zenith Chaos

    Zenith Chaos Well-Known Member

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    I have been planning for FIRE for ages now, but realise there are some big risks:
    1. You get bored after a year of watching Netflix etc, and getting back into the workforce is not as easy as you imagined. Mitigate by doing part time or casual work in your area of expertise, or having a plan for things to achieve.
    2. Your partner gets frustrated with your new life or FIRE changes your relationship. Mitigate by communication.
    3. You quit your job at peak earning potential. Mitigate with some difficulty, but working a bit longer or part time.
    4. You run out of money. Mitigate by managing portfolio volatility, bond tent, having contingency options, being prepared to spend less, etc.

    Find something you enjoy to do for money. Live each day.
     
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  12. PKFFW

    PKFFW Well-Known Member

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    I agree there are risks. That's not much different to anything else in life though is it? As your post alludes to, considering FIRE is a choice, and one that take significant planning, those risks can be identified, planned for, and mitigated almost completely, if not entirely. My mitigation strategies may be a little different to yours but that's just one great thing about the concept, each person can make it work however they like.

    1: Definitely need to have plans for doing things that actually interest you and not simply sitting around watching Netflix. Personally, I don't think a mitigation strategy needs to include working part time (eg: working for an employer for pay as opposed to working in your shed on a project you enjoy just for yourself and not involving any payment) unless someone wants to do whatever the work involves. What's important in the pursuit of FIRE is that, IMHO anyway, it should ideally be something one is working towards rather than something one is working to get away from. Work towards creating a lifestyle you want rather than simply working towards not having to go to your job anymore.
    2: No different to any big change in life except this one is planned and therefore has a much better chance of having the change be a positive rather than a negative.
    3: Retiring at peak earning age is only a "risk" if earning more money is important to you.
    4: Definitely a risk, but as you mention, many plans and contingencies can be put in place to manage it.

    Last comment might be better phrased as....
    Create a lifestyle that makes you happy. Live each day.
     
  13. Piston_Broke

    Piston_Broke Well-Known Member

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    You can't "mitigate" for someone else.
    And it's only a matter of time for this to become an issue with what people call "lean fire".
     
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  14. Redwing

    Redwing Well-Known Member

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    'My main focus is financial independence, not early retirement'

    NAME: Jason*, 48
    AIM: Retire in 15 months
    INCOME NEEDED: $90,500
    INVESTMENT STRATEGY: Vanguard

    Jason has been on the retire-early journey for 20 years and is on the verge of deciding whether to leave his well-paid corporate job. He is in his late 40s.

    In just over a year he estimates his investments and savings will reach $2.58 million, which will give him a healthy income of $90,500 a year, based on a conservative 3.5% yield, reduced from 4% in 2018.

    Four years ago Jason reached a "lean" retirement target based on the average income (which includes part-time workers) but he decided to keep working to reach around the mean average full-time ordinary earnings of $90,500 a year.

    [​IMG]

    "I personally define FIRE more as reaching the point where income generated from a portfolio of passive investments can meet my current normal living expenses, giving greater choice about how - or even whether - to work," he says.

    "Just like many pursuing FIRE, my main focus is on the financial independence element, more than the retire early part."

    Exploring different paths and investments is what Jason's popular and enlightening blog, thefiexplorer.com covers
     
  15. Redwing

    Redwing Well-Known Member

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    How Much Do You Need to Be Financially Independent?

    by Nick Maggiulli

     
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  16. Redwing

    Redwing Well-Known Member

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    We need to remember that smart retirement is about everything other than money

    Mike Drak is the author of Retirement Heaven and Hell. As with his previous book, Victory Lap Retirement, his new book takes a less common approach to planning.

    Drak is more focused on lifestyle planning, so retirees can actually enjoy themselves. It’s not, he reminds us, all about money (though it helps to have it as well).In some ways, Drak’s approach shares a lot with the FIRE (financial independence, retire early) movement. But as he explains, following the ‘RE’ part can get you way off course and even make you miserable. It turns out the best mix for most of us is to retire and keep working.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: 28th Jun, 2021
  17. Anne11

    Anne11 Well-Known Member

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    I read his book, it was good but nothing that we don’t already know about
     
    Last edited by a moderator: 28th Jun, 2021
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  18. Zenith Chaos

    Zenith Chaos Well-Known Member

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    The fundamental FIRE discussion is based on not knowing how long we will live and how much we will spend.

    1. The 4% (3.5 for some) safe withdrawal rate means a big nest egg for someone. It is designed so that in the worst historical market situation, you still won't run out. The chance of that happening is very low and there is actually a bigger likelihood that the nest egg will be bigger than when you retired. My preference is to eat into the nest egg without ever worrying about running out. For their own sake, my kids need to find their own way. Anything passed down should be considered a bonus.

    2. The aged pension may be considered a safety net given spending after a certain age will decrease significantly. What is that age? What kind of money do people need at 80, 90, 100? That may be more of a pertinent question than assuming spending is linear inflation adjusted forever, which is just wrong.

    Unfortunately the answers are unknown and we (demographic of readers participating in this forum) will probably over estimate what we need.
     
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  19. Terry_w

    Terry_w Lawyer, Tax Adviser and Mortgage broker in Sydney Business Member

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    and over estimating can delay retirement many years.
     
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  20. Anne11

    Anne11 Well-Known Member

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