We Could all use a FI friend Fix From Time To time
Today’s incarnation of the FIRE movement kicked in around 2012, when Mr Money Mustache published his legendary blog post, The Shockingly Simple Math Behind Early Retirement. It showed us all that financial independence wasn’t limited to hyper-frugal 6-figure earners, and many roads to the FIRE destination have since been carved out.
With so many beginning their journey around then, a significant number have reached FIRE or are super-close to it. And we all have one thing in common: no one in our families or friend circles really gets what we’re doing, so we just kind of…shut up. Not easy when you’re hitting milestones and getting ready to hand in that final notice.
Sadly, search engines don’t really produce anything relevant with FIRE as an acronym. I’m guessing it’s not just my personal googling skills, because all of the first-timers at EconoMe 2024 were so excited to find out about CampFI and the FinTalks cruise and the Bali retreat. I was one of those newbies in 2023, and have since been to CampFI, the FinTalks cruise, and a few other things, both in person and on Zoom.
At my first CampFI, Carl Jensen of the Mile High FI podcast remarked that a lot of people who consider themselves some form of shy or introverted don’t feel that way around other FIRE folks. That was his experience, that’s been my experience, and if you’re the shy type, I hope you feel it too.