shockingly simple math of early retirement

Shockingly simple math of early retirement update#

Similarly, people in the FIRE community (and the media that now covers it since they discovered it a couple of years ago) expect a curriculum vitae in the form of instagram-friendly bucket-list of accomplishments. (That tends to get awkward and I still don't have a clever response.) supporting people on Kiva or Patreon).Ĭareer workers who don't know me typically ask me what I do for a living, expecting an answer in the form of a job title. Being financially independent (FI), I no longer require any compensation even if I still appreciate it - if nothing else than just to keep score or divert the lucre towards more useful purposes ( e.g. I continued to follow the ERE principles in the spirit of the renaissance ideal with the goal of solving other big problems. Retiring from bloggingĮventually, I considered the problem of “How to escape the earn-buy cycle in order to live a more interesting life” solved and sufficiently “communicated”.

The benefit of that format was that others could use the ERE design principles to construct their own particular plan according to their own individual circumstances and goals instead of retracing the footsteps of one particular individual. As I didn’t really figure on a general audience - it was fairly non-existent back in 2008 - that also meant using graphs and equations when applicable. This arsenal of “renaissance skills” would then be combined into a mutually reinforcing web-of-goals, which made living more interesting and balanced - but also more cost- and resource-efficient and resilient in the face of the growing complexities and uncertainties of the 21st century.īeing a theoretical physicist by training (and remaining one in spirit) compelled me to present all of this as a theory of everything, rather than the more typical format of a light non-fiction autobiography or overview. 😛Ĭentral to my philosophy was the renaissance ideal of spending your life mastering a productive level of competence in a broad range of subjects. Starting in 2007 (and largely finishing by 2011), I formalized a philosophical alternative to consumerism in the form of a 1000+ post blog and 100,000+ word book, which I mistakenly called “Early Retirement Extreme” (or ERE in acronym form). Here, then, is Fisker's story of life after Early Retirement Extreme (and extreme early retirement).

Shockingly simple math of early retirement update#

Recently, I asked him if he'd be willing to update people on where he's been and what he's been doing for the past decade. Since then, he and I have exchanged long emails on sometimes arcane subjects. In fact, I think it's fair to say that FIRE wouldn't be what it is today with his work.įisker retired from blogging in 2011. It quickly became an influential voice for the nascent FIRE movement. Fisker founded Early Retirement Extreme in 2007. Today, I'm pleased to present a guest article from one of my favorite money bloggers of all time: Jacob Lund Fisker.