The Amazing Race

I recently read the (as of this writing) latest post on the Bitches Get Riches blog. First, some background. The blog is authored by two bitches (their words, not mine) hilarious and terrific writers whose noms de plume are Kitty and Piggy. Kitty announced last year that she soon would FIRE. She was then 35. So, you know, pretty young.

Slow down, you move too fast

Kitty’s since followed through with that plan. In her recent post, she reveals that things . . . uuummm . . . haven’t exactly gone according to plan. In fact, until recently it’s been a difficult year. 

Having come away with some hard-learned lessons, Kitty imparts advice. She says that had she had the chance to do things over again, she’d have slowed her roll in pursuing FIRE. Slowed it bigly, too. Kitty writes, “In retrospect, much of the sadness and frustration I’ve felt in the past six months could’ve been mitigated if I’d slowed the [flute] down. Cut myself more breaks. Let go of the allure of making just a bit more money.”

This all reminded me of maybe the most oft cited/referenced blog post detailing regrets about pursuing FIRE far too aggressively: Mr. 1500’s “My Death March to Financial Independence.” Many in the FIRE community have expressed sentiments similar to Mr. 1500 and Kitty. 

Faster pussycat

Those sentiments are understandable. But, Dear Reader, I’m going to present an alternative perspective. 

I think that many people pursuing FIRE—Kitty and Mr. 1500 and your humble blogger among them—do so because they find themselves in a bad place. Maybe a bad job and/or employer, or burnout that may be related to a bad job and/or employer, or may just be the result of years of “the grind.” Or maybe a lack of ability to give oneself and/or one’s family the attention they need because work and/or a lack of adequate financial resources are blocking the way. Or maybe myriad other reasons.

Now, it may be that coast FIRE, a miniretirement, or something short of a full-on, multiyear grind to FIRE can allow these types of people to have their cake and eat it, too. For those who come to this conclusion—and I’ve read or heard about many—that can be a great solution. 

I think that its wisdom can only be evaluated in retrospect. After all, how can you know if you went at the right pace until all is said and done? Before that, it’s an educated guess. 

For those in and motivated by being in a bad place pre-FIREing, getting out of that place by FIREing can seem pretty appealing. And for good reason. If the law of holes states: “if you find yourself in a hole, stop digging,” then surely its corollary is “once you’ve stopped digging that hole, start filling it in.” I think there’s logic in adding to that, “and do it as fast as possible.”

I don’t suggest that FIREing solves all of one’s problems, or even all of those related to the bad place. It doesn’t. But it sure as heck can be effective in resolving or helping resolve ones like those that I outlined above. And that ain’t nothing. 

So, yeah, problems like Kitty’s faced this year may have been avoided had she slowed her pace. But as she admits, having FIREd before the issues giving rise to those problems occurred, she had the time and ability to provide critical help to her partner. Pre-FIRE, that’d have been a far more difficult, complicated, and costly thing to have done. I suspect that had Kitty not already FIREd, she might’ve wished she’d have done so before those problems arose.

As for Mr. 1500, yes, his “death march” sounds like it was miserable doesn’t sound like it was fun. And given that he and his family have a net worth that’s multiples higher than his original stated FIRE number and that, at some point along the journey, he probably realized that his family would have income streams on top of their investments coming in post-FIRE (blog income and Mrs. 1500’s job to name two), thus meaning that he could withdraw from his investments at a less than 4% safe-withdrawal rate, he could have slowed way down and been no worse off (and maybe even better off) than he aimed to be when he set his goal. 

But, first, how could he have known that when he set his goal he was in the heart of an epic bull market that’d not only last until the time he FIREd, but for years after? For all he knew, his investments were going to take an immediate hammering. And, while he might’ve suspected that Mrs. 1500 would be working after he called it a day, nothing’s a certainty. Also, as Mr. 1500 has often noted, he was in a bad place at work when he set his goal. He was constantly stressed and, I think, unhappy with his work life. Getting out of that toxic place must’ve, understandably, seemed pretty darned appealing. 

If you’ve followed Mr. 1500 since he FIREd, you know that he’s (now) a pretty happy guy. He’s said as much many times. Having met this fine fellow, I also can personally attest that if he’s not genuinely happy (or far happier than when he was in his later working days), then he’s doing a fantastic acting job. 

So, while Mr. 1500 beats himself up about his death march, I contend that he at least didn’t sacrifice in vain. And maybe he made the undeniably right decision on balance. 

Pace setter

As for your humble blogger, I admit that I may have pursued FIRE too rapidly. And while I have some regrets related to my pace, I don’t think that I made the wrong decision. 

Having experienced burnout about 25 years ago, I had the benefit of knowing what it felt like. Spoiler alert: it’s not fun. In the last few years before I FIREd, those old feelings crept back. And grew. Even though my life outside work was great and my clients were satisfied with my work product, I could tell that my working life and work satisfaction level were headed in the wrong direction. 

But unlike my earlier bout of burnout, when I had all but zero appealing solutions (mostly because of financial limitations), this time was altogether different. All because I’d built a solid financial fortress that gave me options. Lotsa options. The biggest of which was being in a financial position to FIRE. 

Understanding and appreciating that the lesser-but-still-good options such as coast and barista FIRE, for example, could have been good and effective solutions for me, I don’t regret my decision. For one, there’s that “could have.” Maybe something short of full-on FIREing would have done the trick. But maybe not. Full-on FIREing tho? That worked. 

Fringe benefits

And there are more major benefits. As I explained in my “Money, Man” series of posts, I’ve known job uncertainty. And I did not like it, Sam I am. I also have written about the motivating power of fear. Achieving financial security, and getting to FI, went a long way to mitigating the financial damage that could come from any (work-related) ruction. And I certainly knew and appreciated that. But for me, regardless of the financial repercussions, there’s the mental toll that such ructions or work-related instability causes nonetheless. And I hhhaaated that. FIREing put paid to that possibility in its entirety. 

Relatedly, life can throw curveballs at you. Kitty’s situation is a perfect case in point. I certainly know that. And I know that neither I nor The Missus are no spring chickens. While we thankfully enjoy relatively good health today, who knows what tomorrow brings. As time passes, I know that the possibility of an adverse health issue demanding much or all of our time and attention increases. There’s also the possibility of an issue with Thing One (The Elder) and Thing Two (The Younger) demanding much or all of our time and attention. I thankfully don’t see anything like that on the horizon. But, see “curveballs” above. 

FIREing gives me the luxury not only of being able to devote as much time and attention to any such issue as I need, but to do so immediately. No complicated and/or messy issues with severing a relationship with an employer or client, such as wrapping up projects or giving a few weeks’ notice. 

In short, FIREing insulates me and The Family from a lot of potential problems. Having FIREd faster than I would have had I slowed my roll, I’ve also been able to put those potential benefits in my back pocket earlier, too. 

So, while I appreciate the sentiments of Kitty, Mr. 1500, and others who’ve come to similar conclusions in retrospect—and grant that for them a slower pace might’ve been better for them—I humbly suggest that their advice to go more slowly be taken with my alternative perspective. 

And in the end . . . 

I really enjoyed reading Kitty’s blog post. And while I’m sorry that she and her partner have had a rough year, it’s great to read that she (and he) might be back in a good place.