Author Topic: FIRE "expert"  (Read 8306 times)

mikescepaniak

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FIRE "expert"
« on: May 27, 2019, 01:48:14 PM »
I've been asked to serve as a FIRE SME (subject matter expert)! I'm pretty tickled. The request came from the instructor of 3-day Executive Education seminars on Design Thinking at Johns Hopkins University’s Carey Business School (I live outside of Baltimore). For each seminar, she creates a challenge. For "my" seminar, it will be "reimagine retirement". I'll serve as a panelist alongside someone from AARP and most likely a social scientist. It's a Q&A format.

The instructor said that she found me at the end of a winding road through Reddit, to this forum, and ending at my blog (https://blog.michaelscepaniak.com/starting-stopping-working). Pretty nice (and unexpected!) yield for something I wrote simply for enjoyment and posterity.

I just wanted to share - and make people aware that stuff like this actually happens. :)

SwordGuy

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Re: FIRE "expert"
« Reply #1 on: May 27, 2019, 08:42:32 PM »
That's great!

ysette9

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Re: FIRE "expert"
« Reply #2 on: May 27, 2019, 09:27:29 PM »
That sounds super fun. Let us know how it goes.

Livingthedream55

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Re: FIRE "expert"
« Reply #3 on: May 29, 2019, 09:08:23 AM »
Nice blog!

UndergroundDaytimeDad

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Re: FIRE "expert"
« Reply #4 on: May 29, 2019, 10:42:09 AM »
Enjoyed your linked post! Thanks for that.

The quote, "people who have the ability, talent, motivation, and interest to become financially independent and retire early aren’t prone to feeling bored or directionless once their career ends", really resonated with me as well. 

Loren Ver

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Re: FIRE "expert"
« Reply #5 on: May 29, 2019, 04:39:17 PM »
That's too funny.  Congrats.  Do a good job and let us know how it goes when you get back.  I've to know the room makeup, attitude, and questions.

LV

mikescepaniak

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Re: FIRE "expert"
« Reply #6 on: June 03, 2019, 03:23:54 PM »
Thanks for the support and interest, everyone! I'll definitely circle back around after the seminar(s).

mikescepaniak

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Re: FIRE "expert"
« Reply #7 on: June 05, 2019, 06:16:11 AM »
This is the agenda sent out by the instructor:

Quote
Once again, thanks for agreeing to participate on the panel to help us Reimagine/Rethink/Rename Retirement. I want to introduce you to each other and provide a little more information. I’m thrilled about the breadth of knowledge you’ll bring to the topic.

Introductions first:
Angela Heath—Founder of TKC Incorporated—workforce development and mentoring http://angelaheathspeaks.com/services/
David Mercier—Integral life coach and author http://www.davidgmercier.com/
Mike Scepaniak—Software developer and FIRE blogger https://www.milestoneinc.com/   https://blog.michaelscepaniak.com/

As I said, the panel is very informal. No prep necessary. I will open the panel by asking each of you a few general questions about your experience as it relates to the subject. Questions such as:
// What path did you take to where you are today? (a way to introduce yourself)
// Have you seen the notion of retirement change, if so, how and for whom?
// In your experience, what might be barriers to an enjoyable/purposeful/satisfying later life?
// What might your crystal ball tell us about the retirement landscape in the next 5-10 years?

From there, I’ll open it to the course participants to ask questions. I highly encourage cross talk among panelists—often that’s some of the most insightful information—so feel free to build from each other. There are 36 mid-career professionals coming from a broad array of disciplines. Expect varied questioning. Your responses should be from your experience; don’t stress about being an expert.

Wednesday — 12-1pm buffet lunch, please join if you have time. The panel runs from 1:00pm-2:30pm.
Friday — 12:30-1:30 buffet lunch, please join if you have time. The presentations run from 1:30-3:00pm.

The Friday session is optional. That said, I’d be delighted to have you all return to provide feedback on the ideas generated. The presentations constitute the Testing phase in Design Thinking. Each of the six teams will “test out” their ideas seeking thoughts, comments and concerns. Panelists who return typically find this to be quite interesting. If your schedule permits, please come back!

The credentials of the other two panelists are pretty impressive! In comparison, I look pretty lackluster. From the outside looking in, the only noteworthy accomplishment I bring to the table is that I retired early. If anyone has any thoughts and/or advice, please share. Thanks!

reeshau

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Re: FIRE "expert"
« Reply #8 on: June 05, 2019, 07:38:35 AM »
The credentials of the other two panelists are pretty impressive! In comparison, I look pretty lackluster. From the outside looking in, the only noteworthy accomplishment I bring to the table is that I retired early. If anyone has any thoughts and/or advice, please share. Thanks!

So...your only qualification is that you....have actually done it?  Sounds like you might be more qualified than the others, unless those are their FIRE side hustles.

Given that they do seem to be "industry" speakers, the only thing I would suggest is that you have some statistics to mind, or with you for quick reference.  Maybe have a couple scenarios from the Shockingly Simple post to throw out as potentials.  Or count the number of members on this board for a shortcut on community size, etc.  If the attendees are thinking on their own careers, rather than HR professionals, maybe you could throw out your favorite tools (cfiresim, etc.)

mikescepaniak

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Re: FIRE "expert"
« Reply #9 on: June 10, 2019, 07:28:16 PM »
Given that they do seem to be "industry" speakers, the only thing I would suggest is that you have some statistics to mind, or with you for quick reference.  Maybe have a couple scenarios from the Shockingly Simple post to throw out as potentials.  Or count the number of members on this board for a shortcut on community size, etc.  If the attendees are thinking on their own careers, rather than HR professionals, maybe you could throw out your favorite tools (cfiresim, etc.)

Thanks for the ideas! I appreciate it.

ysette9

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Re: FIRE "expert"
« Reply #10 on: June 10, 2019, 07:43:19 PM »
It might be must me, but if I were in the mindset to be interested in early retirement, then hearing from someone who has achieved my goal is a damn good credential in my mind.

mikescepaniak

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Re: FIRE "expert"
« Reply #11 on: June 12, 2019, 06:44:50 AM »
It might be must me, but if I were in the mindset to be interested in early retirement, then hearing from someone who has achieved my goal is a damn good credential in my mind.

Thanks for the support. But, keep in mind that the topic of the overall course is design thinking, not early retirement. The instructor simply chose retirement as a theme for one specific week of the course. Just because a math course asks problems centered around trains doesn't mean the students necessarily need to be interested in trains.

“At 10:00 AM train A left the station and an hour later train B left the same station on a parallel track. If train A traveled at a constant speed of 60 miles per hour..."

Of course, if I can stoke an interest in FIRE with this panel discussion, that'd be great.

mikescepaniak

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Re: FIRE "expert"
« Reply #12 on: July 24, 2019, 07:22:27 AM »
Circling back around on this. The panel discussion went great and I'm happy to say that I held my own! Fortunately, my S.O. and a friend were there to confirm. My S.O. also took photos and videos. For more details, read my write-up - https://blog.michaelscepaniak.com/early-retirement-expert

Given that the students were all "mid-career" professionals who were attending (at the cost of many thousands of dollars) to, presumably, advance their careers, I wasn't expecting a ton of uptake. But, they were definitely interested in the topic, if the tone and volume of questions are any indication. Unfortunately, I'm not able to recall any of the specific questions - other than the one captured in the second video in my article.

Loren Ver

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Re: FIRE "expert"
« Reply #13 on: July 24, 2019, 08:26:51 AM »
Good job!  I am glad it went so well.

Self employed vs retired, it is a hard one :).

DadJokes

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Re: FIRE "expert"
« Reply #14 on: July 24, 2019, 08:54:46 AM »
That was really cool, thanks for sharing.

BicycleB

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Re: FIRE "expert"
« Reply #15 on: July 29, 2019, 06:41:00 PM »
Well done!

soccerluvof4

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Re: FIRE "expert"
« Reply #16 on: August 01, 2019, 03:52:27 AM »
Congrats... Would be fun to do something like that!

Rosy

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Re: FIRE "expert"
« Reply #17 on: August 01, 2019, 07:22:54 AM »
Congrats - you presented well:)
You might look into other opportunities to present and discuss FIRE. I'm sure it was an intriguing concept for the students.

A Fella from Stella

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Re: FIRE "expert"
« Reply #18 on: August 02, 2019, 01:02:14 PM »
It might be must me, but if I were in the mindset to be interested in early retirement, then hearing from someone who has achieved my goal is a damn good credential in my mind.

Yup.

Michael, this sounds really cool, and I'd do it if offered.

bmjohnson35

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Re: FIRE "expert"
« Reply #19 on: August 08, 2019, 07:30:57 PM »
That's great!

i just read your blog.  I wish I could transition to part-time prior to FIRE.  Much of the content in the financial prep section is personally so familiar.  If you use the ACA, this is yet another reason to closely manage your risk of too much income.  Your comments about investing into an IRA is so obvious, yet I never thought about it.  I will add this to my post FIRE income management strategy.

BJ
   

stoaX

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Re: FIRE "expert"
« Reply #20 on: August 23, 2019, 02:34:21 PM »
Thanks for posting.   It is encouraging to see that "stuff like this actually happens"!

mikescepaniak

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Re: FIRE "expert"
« Reply #21 on: September 26, 2019, 12:53:20 PM »
i just read your blog.  I wish I could transition to part-time prior to FIRE.  Much of the content in the financial prep section is personally so familiar.  If you use the ACA, this is yet another reason to closely manage your risk of too much income.  Your comments about investing into an IRA is so obvious, yet I never thought about it.  I will add this to my post FIRE income management strategy.

BJ
 

Thank you for reading! I really appreciate the feedback. I don't post a ton, but I try to make what I post useful.

Thanks for posting.   It is encouraging to see that "stuff like this actually happens"!

:) Completely agree.

 

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