My maternal grandfather died when I was an infant. So you could say that while he knew me, I really never knew him. But one of the things he is alleged to have said is, “It’s OK to be dumb. Just don’t be stupid.” Put another way, “Ignorance is excusable, but consciously hurting yourself and/or others — physically, mentally, or even financially — isn’t.”
Dumb luck
While I’ve generally not been bad with money at any point in my life, I can say that before I discovered FIRE I wasn’t necessarily good it it. In short, I was dumb. Exquisitely dumb. But still.
Post-discovery, had we continued on our existing path, We’d have been stupid. Even I knew that that would not do. And so we made positive changes.
I can’t say all of our changes have been the wisest, but they’ve been informed. I also can’t say we’ve made all the changes we ought to (we have some more potential, shall we say). But I do know a lot of the available options. And our decision not to act on them is mindful and at least somewhat rational.
I’ve tried to live my life by my grandfather’s bon mot. And I’m a better person for having done so. I hope that now, you are, too.
I hope you don’t find that your brain hurts too much after having read this post. But it probably does.
