Author Topic: Average number of posts to FIRE/ FI-SWAMI - Senior Mustacians Please Chip In!!!  (Read 7491 times)

couponvan

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Looking at who's posting, I'm guessing it's around 1,500? Those with 1,500 posts or over seem to be FIRE'd or just about ready.  I think this is an interesting correlation - involvement in the MMM community and the achievement of certain FIRE goals.

Then again, I totally could be wrong.  Accountants frequent are! However, from my time on this forum I feel like I'm starting to see a correlation between the number of posts and the successful achievement of FIRE or FI.

MDM

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We are FIRE now and have >1500 posts, so that fits.  But we were also FIRE at post #1, so...?

Rural

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Whereas we aren't. Unless you count a bare-bones level of FI most here wouldn't contemplate, and which would assure a lifestyle I would prefer to avoid. :-)

Retired To Win

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We are FIRE now and have >1500 posts, so that fits.  But we were also FIRE at post #1, so...?

Right.  I have 500+ posts and am FIRE'd.  But like MDM, I was FIRE'd from the gitgo.

I think what you might actually have here is a set of already FIRE'd folks with a propensity to share and critique based on their experiences getting to FIRE.  And they are active posters.  So their post numbers build up.

johnny847

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Pfft. I'm at almost 1400 posts and I'm nowhere near FIRE.

Self-employed-swami

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<--

I don't know how many posts I have...  I'll be back to edit with the number in a minute.

Edit: 1082 or something like that.  Not FI/RE, but SWAMI for sure.

RootofGood

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1134 posts.  FIRE'd 1.5 years ago.

I was FIRE when I started posting here.  Probably started reading MMM 1-2 years before retiring (somewhere in 2011??)

dragoncar

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Maybe I was FIRE at 1500 posts, but since then it's been getting farther away.  My advice is to stop posting at 1500.

arebelspy

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1134 posts.  FIRE'd 1.5 years ago.

I was FIRE when I started posting here.  Probably started reading MMM 1-2 years before retiring (somewhere in 2011??)

Yeah, but how long did you read any early retirement community stuff before that?  How many posts do you have on ER forums?  ;)
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arebelspy

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Maybe I was FIRE at 1500 posts, but since then it's been getting farther away.  My advice is to stop posting at 1500.

You're just starting on FIRE round 2!

As to the OP, many of us who have been around for years have seen significant progress on our goals. Newer members may not have been around the ideas as long.

Whether that means we're FIRE'd (I am not yet) or getting much closer, that makes some sense. I'd expect a loose correlation between date of signup and closeness to FIRE.
I am a former teacher who accumulated a bunch of real estate, retired at 29, spent some time traveling the world full time and am now settled with three kids.
If you want to know more about me, this Business Insider profile tells the story pretty well.
I (rarely) blog at AdventuringAlong.com. Check out the Now page to see what I'm up to currently.

happy

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Nup , not FIREd here yet. Slow learner with an albatross. But I'm about half a mill closer than when I first found MMM and ERE.

Retired To Win

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... many of us who have been around for years have seen significant progress on our goals. Newer members may not have been around the ideas as long.

Whether that means we're FIRE'd (I am not yet) or getting much closer, that makes some sense. I'd expect a loose correlation between date of signup and closeness to FIRE.

That's a more probable correlation.  Although, in my case, I was already FIRE'd when I started posting on the Forum (July 19, 2014).

wtjbatman

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I'm closer to FIRE now than when I stopped lurking and signed up, but "closer" is relative when I'm still looking at working for another 20 years.

On the bright side, I'm more comfortable looking for a career I would enjoy, instead of one that simply provides a living. And that's thanks to a combination of paying down debt, investing a good percentage of my income, and having a solid plan for my future. The glass is definitely half full over here.

couponvan

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Thanks for the responses!  I've been registered for almost a year (which seems like it was just yesterday), and can definitely say great progress has been made at reducing monthly expenses and increasing our savings rate.  We still have a LONG way to go before I'd consider myself mustachian, but I'm WAY better than last year. 

I find the more time I spend on the MMM website, the less likely I am to go shopping/spending needlessly. That equals money saved. Mint says we've trimmed an average of $2,000/month from our spending since last year.  That's mostly because we paid off the clown cars (improvement still possible there as they are clown cars), got smart with cell phones and insurance, stopped overspending on clothing, and cut travel expenses....Now to work on dining out, my true weakness on busy nights.

Dicey

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I doubt that there's much correlation. Yesterday, I was perusing the "Welcome and Introduce Yourself" thread and was struck by the number of newbs who are FI or FIRE.

I loved the blog for years before I checked out the forums. I was also devoted to a number of other financial and retirement blogs before Pete got MMM started. Most of them have become far less relevant, since over time they've been sold or simply become less badass than this forum.

I remember that getting to 1K posts was a goal I worked dilligently at because I love the message and I want to encourage others in their journeys. If I'd had access to this information at an earlier age, even just to know I wasn't alone or a freak for thinking the way I did, I am sure I could have FIRE'd much earlier in life.

Will I ever get to 1500? Dunno. I'm too busy being FIRE to hang out here as often as I used to. I just realized that I NEVER play games on my computer or phone any more. It was a bad habit during my working years. Now that my time is my own, I don't want to waste any of it. Hanging out here periodically = valuable use of time. Computer games = waste of time. I never thought the habit would be so easy to break. Another unexpected benefit of FIRE, lol.

arebelspy

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I loved the blog for years before I checked out the forums.

The blog was only around for 1 year before you joined the forums.  And the forums themselves didn't start for almost a year (so you joined them only two months after they opened).  :)

I hear you on spending less time after FIRE.  I anticipate the same.
I am a former teacher who accumulated a bunch of real estate, retired at 29, spent some time traveling the world full time and am now settled with three kids.
If you want to know more about me, this Business Insider profile tells the story pretty well.
I (rarely) blog at AdventuringAlong.com. Check out the Now page to see what I'm up to currently.

JLee

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lol, not even close....I'm sure I'll be past 1500 well before I am FI.

RootofGood

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1134 posts.  FIRE'd 1.5 years ago.

I was FIRE when I started posting here.  Probably started reading MMM 1-2 years before retiring (somewhere in 2011??)

Yeah, but how long did you read any early retirement community stuff before that?  How many posts do you have on ER forums?  ;)

My registration date at ER.org was 10 years ago but I lurked for a while before that.  10,000+ posts between the 2 accounts I had at ER.org.  :) 

I found the online early retirement communities right after I started working full time after college.  There's definitely a 1:1 correlation between full time office work (and it's soul-destroying nature) and my searching out early retirement options.  :) 

marty998

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Yeah long way off from FIRE...if such a thing is even achievable for a millennial in Sydney. Seems the entire city is set up specifically to empty your wallet in as many ways as possible.

I reckon I might get there at around post 10,000.

ender

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I wish post count correlated to time to FIRE :P

Dicey

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I loved the blog for years before I checked out the forums.

The blog was only around for 1 year before you joined the forums.  And the forums themselves didn't start for almost a year (so you joined them only two months after they opened).  :)

I hear you on spending less time after FIRE.  I anticipate the same.

Wow! By the time I discovered the forums there was so much material that I assumed I was way late to the party. Kinda like the way I just figured out there was a Post-Fire sub-forum last week. Oh, well. I found them both eventually and my post-FIRE life is better for the experience.

kpd905

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I am at least 10 years out, so looks like I should limit myself to roughly two posts a week until then.

nereo

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I think it's a very weak correlation at best.  Many of the top posters (thegoblinchief, arebelspy, Sol, myself and quite a few others) haven't hit FIRE yet.  On the other hand I keep coming across people who have under 500 posts who are FIRE.

That said, I was a natural saver to begin with but each year I'm hear I've financially optimized my life a bit more. 

couponvan

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Accountants just love to distort numbers. ;-)

I was rationalizing the over 100 post status with the $100k increase in NW, and the creeping up to FI based on such numbers.  Of course DH came home and said "what if I quit my job" tonight - umm well of we moved to the retirement home and rented the current home - OK.  Weird how belonging to these forums gives you the ability to see different possibilities. I think he's bluffing as it is April Fools, but he was really surprised I would be on board with such a move!

nereo

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Accountants just love to distort numbers. ;-)
sorry, I'm not an accountant.  Just a geek who likes numbers :-)

Glad to hear you and your husband are at least looking at different possibilities. 

deborah

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FIRE YEARS before I read any posts about early retirement - MMM was the first - I'm obviously a late developer!

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!