Anyone thinking about FI too much?

[Dicey]

I thought about it often when I first focused on the MMM path. Before MMM, I was already on other frugality boards and saving a lot. MMM added a new layer of knowledge to what I previously knew, and I wanted to dive in, read, listen, and learn. That took a lot of time and energy, and I don't regret it a bit.

Eventually, I let the systems I set up do their work without my constant attention. When I increase my frequency again, the systems and dollars had done their work. They both will receive a good performance evaluation from me. =-)

Just curious @oldtoyota, what frugality boards did you follow? Any fave frugal blogs? I still enjoy them for inspiration.

[Clamdigger]

I now think it is my responsibility to teach young people, unlike my parents who had no money or investments other than a savings account.  No one talked to me about investing when I was growing up.  So I want to make sure at least my family knows about it....

All of this because a 30 year old FIREd at work and held a lunch time session.  What are you doing to teach others?

I love this so much, @Clamdigger !

I am also getting my feet wet in trying to educate others on financial literacy so that they can set themselves up on a path of their choosing.

I would love to hear more about how you’ve been setting up these sessions at work - would you be open to sharing more of your experience I if I PM you?

Sure, PM me.  My company has something they call Teaching Thursdays on the first and third Thursday of the month where people present on technical IT topics.  I used this time for my personal finance sessions.  When I had guests talking about a topic, we worked out an agenda of topics to talk about and we walked through the items in kind of an interview format.  Then we go into my regular presentation which has an outline like:
 - introduction
 - how much are you spending
 - how much are you saving
 - what is net worth
 - how much do you need to retire
 - safe withdrawal rate
 - how to invest
 - 401K, IRA, Roth
 - asset allocation
 - sources of income
 - social security
 - pension
 - Medicare and health insurance costs

I need to add content on annuities and life insurance.

[Roothy]

The biggest downsides are lowered drive to excel long-term at work (though that's not strictly about FI; also an unfair bureaucratic slap in the face I got last year during the raise cycle)...

This has been hitting me so hard lately.

I hit a point in my career where I actually don’t feel like gaining any additional responsibility. I don’t want to put in all the effort of jumping through the hoops for a career I want to end ASAP with no increased stress.

As someone who used to be highly ambitious, it’s weird to have hit a point where I would rather start practicing living the FI life now and putting more effort and energy behind the things I actually want to be spending my time on. None of those things is work.

I’m slowly morphing into someone who actually leaves work at work. It’s pretty cool.

I could have written this.  BUt I'm not at the stage of thinking it's pretty cool.  It actually still makes me feel pretty guilty.

[BeautifulDay]

The biggest downsides are lowered drive to excel long-term at work (though that's not strictly about FI; also an unfair bureaucratic slap in the face I got last year during the raise cycle)...

This has been hitting me so hard lately.

I hit a point in my career where I actually don’t feel like gaining any additional responsibility. I don’t want to put in all the effort of jumping through the hoops for a career I want to end ASAP with no increased stress.

As someone who used to be highly ambitious, it’s weird to have hit a point where I would rather start practicing living the FI life now and putting more effort and energy behind the things I actually want to be spending my time on. None of those things is work.

I’m slowly morphing into someone who actually leaves work at work. It’s pretty cool.

I could have written this.  BUt I'm not at the stage of thinking it's pretty cool.  It actually still makes me feel pretty guilty.

I hit this the first year I found MMM. Or maybe I found MMM because I hit this? But I was in bad shape. Thought about FIRE constantly and lost all work motivation.  2 yrs later and I’m in my same job, I’ve worked thru the stress (mostly) that was driving my FIRE obsession. But I still check balances daily and visit the forums sporadically. 

I’ve learned a lot about finances, so don’t have to read EVERY finance article and book I find. I can be okay with just reading some. ;)

Maybe FI has replaced FIRE in importance. I don’t want to feel trapped. I’ve had enough of that. But I also haven’t regained my former drive to excel at my career. I’m more satisfied with what I have to offer. Is this what a good work/life balance feels like?

I’m a hard working and dedicated employee who is perfectly comfortable getting off the career ladder. I don’t need to move up and add stress to achieve my FI goals.

[Clamdigger]

The post by zeli2033 got me thinking.  I am at that point where I am mentally transitioning from career growth to counting the days until I can escape work.  I tell my wife we are only working for wealth growth, not career growth.  It is liberating.  A big part of this is having no debt.  When you are able to live off a lesser amount and you have savings, there is no fear of being laid off.

I watch YouTube videos every night on investing, saving, FI, and minimalism.  Much better than normal TV.  Jazz Wealth Managers is a new favorite on YouTube.

[Tabaxus]

I'm focused too much on it, especially since despite trying in fits and starts, I really just can't get myself to cut expenses appreciably.  Some of it is that I'm in a moderately high COL area, some of it is that my spouse is not as focused on FI as I am and I'm not willing to ask my spouse to seriously cut, some of it is that we have a new kid and are a single-income household, some of it is that I work very very long hours and so I don't want to completely deprive myself.  Those aren't excuses, they're choices.  But it still results in my staring angrily at the comparatively small amount (in light of my pay, which is high) that I can invest every month, and the fact that my saving is really going to slow to a crawl once kiddo starts becoming more expensive.