After discovering FIRE, I gained more practical wisdom about personal finance in a few short months than I’d amassed in the preceding 40-some-odd years. And it wasn’t like I hadn’t previously read about personal finance. I had. A lot. Probably Maybe an unhealthy amount.
Come on baby, light my FIRE
Having lapped up the Kool-Aid, I naturally wanted to spread the word to others. Or, to mix my metaphors, to enlighten people about FIRE (This is not to be confused with lighting people on fire, which, as a general rule, I frown upon). And so I did. Reactions ranged from skepticism to the mildest interest to nodding heads no doubt motivated by a burning desire to get me to just . . . stop . . . talking.
None of the dozens of people I spoke with was interested enough to look into FIRE with any enthusiasm. My PSA campaign has since gone on hiatus. And unless I really sense that someone is really interested in the subject, my big, fat yap will remain firmly shut. As to FIRE, that is. On other subjects, I’m as likely as ever to flap my gums until they’re chapped.
Hi, finance
Countless FIRE blog posts have covered this same subject. The authors almost always note that they had the same experience as me. So I know that I’m covering well-trod ground. But I decided to write about it anyway because it’s it so baffling to me. Why wouldn’t someone want to learn concepts — sometimes ones so clever as to make one wonder why he or she didn’t think of it himself or herself — that can help them make and save money, live a better life, and dictate the terms of the work they choose to do?
Let me rephrase that. After all, personal finance is my cup of tea, but maybe because I’m a super-nerd not everyone’s. So, I ask, given how unconventional the mere concept of FIRE is — bonkers even — why wouldn’t someone be intrigued enough to look into it? It’s like if someone received a treasure map and replied, “Nah. I’m good.”
I don’t have the answers. And I likely never will. But I can echo the sentiment of the other bloggers who’ve written about this and lamented their failure to make breakthroughs.
I guess I also hope that although my personal interactions and efforts have done squat, my blog might help at least one person become a super-nerd like me transform their lives for the better.
I also think that rather than the financial havoc unleashed by current efforts to address the COVID-19 pandemic killing FIRE — as many now are predicting — it actually (or its principles) will gain more currency. Pun intended. I hope people will be more receptive to the concept than they have been in the past. After all, if this moment doesn’t scare the financial daylights out of people and spur greater personal and business fiscal responsibility — and a desire to try and protect themselves against indefensible financial troubles going forward — then I don’t know what will.
Persuading anyone to make positive changes is difficult. But I’ll consider that a success if I can be half as successful in doing so as Bill Hader was in convincing me that he’s Arnold Schwarzenegger.
I don’t think there is a lot of mystery to this. FIRE requires most people to spend less money than they want to spend. They don’t get to buy the latest smartphone every year, they don’t get to lease a luxury/sports/SUV for $750 a month, they have to live in a smaller apartment or house with a longer commute than they’d like. They can’t hang out in expensive bars with their friends all the time. In short they have to drastically alter their lifestyle in a way that seems draconian to them. They lose all kinds of immediate rewards in exchange for deferred gratification. Nobody wants that, except for a few less materialistic and longer term thinkers like you, and me. People live paycheck to paycheck because they want to, as weird as that sounds to us, and there are many more of them than there are of you and me. Great post!
Thanks for the comment and compliment, Steve. You’re right, I’ve come to accept. As to the comment. The compliment probably isn’t deserved. 😉 My befuddlement stems in no small part from the fact that when I discovered FIRE, I wasn’t just mildly interested, but immediately fascinated and hooked. So I would have expected at least a few “Wait, what?!” responses. Not a one. I got one friend to show mild, but relatively passing interest. And a few others asked me for some info. I proceeded to rain it down on them, and I’m certain none of it was read. But that was it.