Playing with FIRE

An upcoming Documentary for those who maybe interested



Playing with FIRE follows 35 year old Scott Rieckens, his wife Taylor, and their toddler Jovie as they embark on a year-long odyssey to understand the rules of this sub-culture and test their willingness to reject the standard narrative of adult life, which basically prescribes: “go to college, take out tons of student loans, buy a new car, take on a mortgage, buy another car and lots more stuff you don’t need, then work for 40+ years to pay for it all. If you’re lucky you might be able to retire at 65 and not have to live on cat food.”

 

In theory sone of thats a good idea.

So my understanding of that is that they both working hardto have everything and not getting enough family time.
So quit there jobs and went from buying brand item to buying no name stuff to save money.

A few comments in there about % of people living pay check to pay check and amount of savings in the bank near $1000.
And then a comment of people should save half there income and retire 20 years earlier wouldn't apply to middle to low income earners and these people probably don't buy top end stuff.

Just my opinion

 

I gave up a high paying partnership job in 2012 and moved to south east asia. I saw and met many people who had got off the hamster wheel.

My facebook feed contains snippets of their lives each day. Diving in bohol, having a beer in the mountains of chiang mai, just chilling with their gf by the local resort pool.

None of them have much money but all are fulfilled.

I know many in Australia who have lived a life full of wealth but must be some of the most boring people to talk to as their life experience is bland. I could write a book on the all weird and wonderful stuff ive seen and done. But alas this books waits until my death bed so the innocent are protected. And when it is published it will probably end up in fiction.

The point live. Really live. Like you have 3 months to live. Then you truly do love life.

 

How to retire early – very early

The Aussie FIRE movement seems to be taking off also financial independence Australia Reddit page

Plus there's @Snowball Strong Money Australia and several members here already at their destination

 

Dont even need to retire. Just work elsewhere. As you know i ran a small accounting firm from the philippines and consulted for 4 years when i sold it.

In fact i would avoid retiring young as many get bored. Dont retire. Just work doing what you want when you want. Ive been confused when a 35 yr old says im retired. Dont you mean you work when you want where you want. Thats not retirement. Its freedom.

Ive met heaps of digital nomads with some cool experiences and i went to places thanks to their recommendations. I would never have gone to Siquijor in the Philippines if i hadnt met a digital nomad. It ended up being one of my gf and i favourite places to go. Witch island. Check it out.

 

Can you please give me a code name in that book.

 

For many there is no possibility of being a "digital nomad" or just working elsewhere. I'm employed as a fire fighter and I enjoy my job. However, it's not the kind of job I can do digitally while wandering the world. You sort of need to be there in person to put the wet stuff on the red stuff. I imagine lots of jobs are like that. Due to legislation, techniques, equipment, language, etc it also simply isn't possible for me to up roots, move to another country and pick up where I left off in a brand new fire service. I'm not complaining though, like I said, I enjoy my job. I just wanted to point out that the idea of "just work elsewhere" or the just as common "do what you love" just isn't all that practical or workable in reality. It's a nice idea and depending on one's circumstances some few can make it happen. The vast majority not so much.

As for being bored if one retired young, I just don't understand that. Like I said, I'm employed as a fire fighter and I enjoy it. I can think of plenty of other things to do that I would equally enjoy or enjoy even more. If one can't think of plenty to do other than "work" to fill their days I often think they must lack imagination.

 

Agreed some jobs require you to be on the ground and if you love your job then i believe you have freedom already.

Im back in australia working for a firm again because i wanted a new challenge. I dont need to work there but choose to. Thats freedom.

Its those working in a job they hate and not finding alternatives. Just recently i offerred someone the opportunity to live and teach in asia. I even had a friend offer to train them for the online company they work for. Heard nothing.

Many want to complain and not look for alternatives. You dont need to as you have freedom already doing a job you love where you want. You are at where others want to be. And that is a blessing.

 

We are being manipulated by government and corporation. It is modern day slavery. High rise sweat shops. Congested roads.

We need proper unionism to swing the pendulum back the other way. We don't want Shorten. We want someone with a set to tackle the real industrial problems.

 

Unionism isnt going to help much anymore with advances in robotic technology and AI. Those days are long gone.

Everyone has adopted swipe and go at woolies and coles no problem at all. And all the checkout people jobs that went with it.

 

But it's still a long way before AI rules the roost. A lot of work still performed by personal exertion. Checkout chicks still at the supermarket. Shelf stackers still there also. Although their working conditions and pay are diminishing.

 

Agreed. The problem is if wages are improved then corporations will merely increase prices and make the middle and lower class worse off.

Then to keep pricing down they employ a few highly paid specialists to work out how to remove workers even more. Maybe have rfid chips in everything and you just pass through a scanner without scanning anything.

If wages go up corporations will find ways to then reduce their largest overhead. Wages. It happened exactly like that the past 15 years.

Wish there was an easy solution. But neither party has one.

 

Much as I enjoy my job I wouldn't say I have freedom. If I began to hate it tomorrow I'd still have bills to pay. I have the freedom to find other work just like anyone else. However, freedom to choose one's chains is the illusion of freedom only.

 

Been going on for more than 15 years. I started work in IT in 1977 (nearly 42 years ago).

Even way back then, part of the justification for a new computer system was how many staff the organisation could get rid of.

I would suggest the first business case ever written (no idea when that was) noted the savings in wages/salaries as part of the justification and it has been happening ever since (maybe even before).

Why would any organisation approve a proposal where their net cost increased as a result of that proposal?

 

Actually this is a big part of the FIRE movement, it doesn't matter what your income is, it is your savings rate that matters. Plenty of FIRE types spending less that $15kpa in Aus.

 

Do you mean that everyone got ADOs - but only you (and other admin staff) had to work the extra time needed to accumulate them?

 

That’s private enterprise for you!