But how many people really have the job flexibility to just get up and move to a lower-cost area of the country?
YOU, YOU have the job flexibility to just get up and move to a lower cost area of the country!!!
Every single retired person (like Sam Dogen) has the job flexibility to move...
Anyone who can't make ends meet on $200,000 US Dollars a year is too foolish to take financial advice from.
I still think there's a really valid conversation to be had hiding in the whiny nonsense of Samurai's content.
Relocating is a GREAT option for maintaining a nice, comfortable middle class lifestyle for much less than in HCOL regions. Everyone knows that, but it's still a decision that comes with A LOT of trade offs that need to be balanced against the alternatives, and no, it's not a reasonable option for every retiree.
For one person, relocating may be the easiest thing in the world, for another it may be a nightmare, or not even worth considering.
I have several family members who can't move to an LCOL region because of specialized healthcare needs. Some people may bail on relocating because they are really needed to help with grandkids. Or, someone just may simply not be willing to give up on the cultural experience of where they live, especially certain marginalized people who need access to a supportive community of peers.
All decisions come with trade offs, and it really is worth examining that for some people, the trade offs of FIRE really might not be worth it if they can make great money doing work they like, and they really benefit from living in an HCOL area.
Samurai seemed to think that FIRE would be some kind of panacea of happiness, but it isn't.
Samurai retired with what he thought was more than enough to support his preferred lifestyle before he had kids, and he may have been right. He may have been fine had he stayed CF. However, he had kids, his priorities changed, and suddenly the trade offs no longer hold the same value as they used to.
Retiring early comes with HUGE financial trade offs, especially for high earners, and the cost of those trades is even steeper if you don't dislike your work.
His whiny angst is worth examining and not just outright maligning. People retiring early need to be prepared that their 'stache doesn't protect them from having to continue to make trade offs in the future. Life circumstances can and do change, priorities change, plans change.
Choosing FIRE means losing a big lever for pivoting when life throws you a curve ball, so anyone leaving the work force needs to be prepared for that, needs to be prepared to make other adjustments when necessary.
For many, retiring early will be well worth it, but for some like Samurai, who seemed to be under the misapprehension that FIREing meant never compromising...it might not be.
If having kids meant that his priorities truly are private schools, staying in an HCOL region, living in a certain type of housing, and going out to restaurants...then yes, giving up a large income may have been a bad trade. For him, making more money may genuinely be less uncomfortable than making any lifestyle sacrifices to lower his spend.
Also hidden in his whining is a valid observation about just how much a "normal" middle class lifestyle can cost, and how little a massive spend can buy you when you prioritize living in certain places.
The moral of the story is that inflexibility is incredibly expensive, so people considering early retirement really need to reflect on how flexible they may be willing to be in the future if plans/circumstances change.
That said, being flexible means more than just being willing to move to a LCOL area. Some retirees actually can't leave their HCOL area either due to family or specialized medical care, etc. Those people need to then be flexible in terms of lifestyle.
The more flexibility, the more easily someone can stay FIREd and be happy about it.
Having kids has made Samurai inflexible, age also tends to make people inflexible, this is something important to consider when making plans for your future self decades in advance.
As I said, I really do see value in him sharing what he's experiencing. Meaning, if someone reading sees themselves in his writing in any way, shape or form, they should think very very carefully about how much value retiring early will bring to their life, and how flexible they may have to be in order to sustain it down the road.
I say this as someone who for medical reasons and family reasons can't move to a LCOL region, and whose household has also decided not to prioritize retiring early. Because both DH and I really enjoy our work, the benefit of retiring early just isn't there for us compared to having huge financial levers available to us in the future if we become inflexible for whatever reasons.
All-in-all, the way it's written is definitely worthy of an eyebrow raise and some ridicule, but there are some serious issues that underpin his angst that are worthy of conversation. How extreme his example is just helps magnify the issues that so many people here face with OMY and anxiety about having enough.