Author Topic: What lit up the desire to FIRE in you?  (Read 37772 times)

Spartana

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Re: What lit up the desire to FIRE in you?
« Reply #100 on: July 10, 2014, 08:36:58 PM »
The combination of getting out of the coast guard  after many years (a job I loved), getting a civilian job I was bored with in comparison, getting a divorce after years of marriage (which was freeing to me),  and a very strong desire to do other things - especially physical things and sports - while younger.  So I did! 
« Last Edit: July 10, 2014, 08:41:19 PM by Spartana »

Daisy

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Re: What lit up the desire to FIRE in you?
« Reply #101 on: July 10, 2014, 09:39:00 PM »
When I am confined, I'm twitchy.  I wan to be free.  I want to think about things.  I want to explore.  I want to chase what I'm interested in.  I have so much LIFE that's just waiting to BURST OUT, and work is seriously cramping my style.

I can relate to this. I think we had an exercise once in grade school where we had to pick an animal we would like to be. I remember picking a bird and the reason I gave was that a bird had a lot of freedom to fly around wherever it wanted. The laws of gravity seem to be suspended for a bird as it gracefully glides its way through the sky. So majestic.

I've always been interested in finances and my original focus was financial security (as a single woman it seemed important). Now, I want what you mentioned. I've been working since I was 14 and am now in my mid-40s....it's time!

I'm also a night owl and this getting up early to go to work thing not only messes up my morning, but it messes up the night before when I'd rather stay up late.

A big reason too is that I don't know how I ended up in my profession in software. It was a fluke. I was almost going to go into architecture, which I think would have been a better calling. So I've always felt like an outsider at work. People actually read software and other technical books and articles and know the latest of what's going on in the industry. Not me - I gag at the thought. I've been able to do well, but honestly sometimes I feel like an imposter in a strange world.

I can't wait to FIRE and get away from it all. When I was unemployed, I started taking art classes and want to develop those talents further. And read or re-read a lot of the classics in literature. I just can't seem to do this stuff in small chunks of time. I need long stretches of unstructured time to get myself in the proper frame of mind to do these things.
« Last Edit: July 10, 2014, 10:28:28 PM by Daisy »

Trudie

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Re: What lit up the desire to FIRE in you?
« Reply #102 on: July 11, 2014, 07:54:54 AM »
My primary driver is to have more time to spend with family and friends, and I want to be healthy enough to enjoy it.  I don't want to be a person who scrimps her whole life to achieve retirement at 67, only to have my health fail and not be able to enjoy it.  My husband is older.  I want to enjoy adventures with him while we're young enough to do it.

My current job is okay, but boring.  But it pays well, has a great 401K match and bennies and I see it getting me to FIRE.  It's in accounting.  I may explore temporary assignments for a few years to help the coffers.  It is also a socially isolated job, and I have recognized this and am working on finding something that is less so.

But when I'm at work all I can daydream about is having the freedom to "putter."  I think my ideal day would involve getting up a couple of hours later, going running, running "errands" (public library, grocery), doing something for other people (probably volunteering at the library) so I can have some social interaction, puttering in my garden, making meals in my kitchen while I listen to NPR.  I also dream about going to technical college and studying landscape design.  I could spend my days puttering in gardens, talking to people about gardens, and reading about the greats.

RetireAbroadAt35

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Re: What lit up the desire to FIRE in you?
« Reply #103 on: July 11, 2014, 09:08:36 AM »
I worked myself to the bone at a soul-crushing desk job that involved a lot of travel, stress and competition.  When I had enough, I took some savings (I've always been debt averse ^ somewhat frugal) and went on a sabbatical. 

Two years later (I travelled cheap and took advantage of the kindness of friends and strangers for cheap / no-rent) I decided I really had to start saving rather than spending.  I hadn't found a new way to make a living, so I went back to work in my old field.

This time with only one burning desire - to earn & save enough to make the next sabbatical a permanent one.

Cwadda

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Re: What lit up the desire to FIRE in you?
« Reply #104 on: July 11, 2014, 09:32:38 AM »
In the past year I began and am still learning a whole lot about myself. These are two significant driving factors:

1. When I had a financial adviser I was getting charged ridiculous fees.
2. I knew that I did not want to make a full career out of my true passion - music. I realized that becoming financially independent and retiring early would allow me to do more things that I enjoy. This isn't to say I'm being deprived of my passion. I have a very good outlet for it that pays good money for my age.

JCfire

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Re: What lit up the desire to FIRE in you?
« Reply #105 on: July 11, 2014, 11:00:31 AM »
Within the last two years, a bunch of events contributed.  I turned 30, my first child was born, my mother-in-law passed away, I got a big raise that allowed a much higher savings rate.  But oddly enough, what got me focused on FIRE was buying my dream house.  My financial goals up until then had been taking advantage of tax-advantaged savings and building up cash for a 20% downpayment.  With my biggest savings target achieved, I realized that my next big financial goals are likely my last ones -- becoming financially independent and providing for my children's college expenses (which I intend to pay fully).

JC

Lyssa

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Re: What lit up the desire to FIRE in you?
« Reply #106 on: July 12, 2014, 05:05:11 AM »
The deep and philosophical reason: realizing that my time is finite.

The nice and pleasant reason: Wanting to spend such finite time on projects of my own choosing. Be it reading, academic courses in whatever outlandish subject I choose, refining my cooking skills, learning archery, exercising more, you name it.

The not so nice and pleasant reson: I really, really like being left alone and I like being able to tell people to go fuck themselves. This leads to a quite and constant satisfaction I derive just from knowing that I work on FI and that it is going well. During a shitty day at work I almost feel like a double agent. I can put up with nodding my head and smiling to complete and utter bullshit, knowing of my secret identity as someone who has partly figured out and partly stumbled upon how to beat the system. Insert your favorite super villain giggle here. :-)

MandyM

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Re: What lit up the desire to FIRE in you?
« Reply #107 on: July 16, 2014, 12:51:09 PM »

v10viperbox

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Re: What lit up the desire to FIRE in you?
« Reply #108 on: July 16, 2014, 01:53:28 PM »
FIRE allows me to do my job better then anyone else, so I make more money because of it. I like to work currently and while I have a FIRE portfolio it would not produce enough for me to travel extensively later on or weather a major market collapse. Plus I am 33. 

So when you want someone to rip your engineering plans to shreds, tell your code guys whats wrong, or call you out on bad cost estimates or just be a nasty devils advocate I get called. Very few people living month to month typically have the stones to call a spade a spade.

neo von retorch

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Re: What lit up the desire to FIRE in you?
« Reply #109 on: July 16, 2014, 02:01:43 PM »
I'm also a night owl and this getting up early to go to work thing not only messes up my morning, but it messes up the night before when I'd rather stay up late.

A big reason too is that I don't know how I ended up in my profession in software. It was a fluke. I was almost going to go into architecture, which I think would have been a better calling...

I can't wait to FIRE and get away from it all... And read or re-read a lot of the classics in literature. I just can't seem to do this stuff in small chunks of time. I need long stretches of unstructured time to get myself in the proper frame of mind to do these things.

I relate to much of what you said here. I'm not actually against being a software developer, but I don't live and breathe it or keep up to date on everything possible. I used to enjoy doing it for fun and for freelance clients, but now I'm done with it before I even get done with my work... I want to switch from being pushed across the hot coals trying to program to doing what actually interests me. To mastering the skills I care about rather than the ones that just get this one tedious task completed.

Cassie

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Re: What lit up the desire to FIRE in you?
« Reply #110 on: July 16, 2014, 02:41:04 PM »
I was not sick of working-just the 9-5 gig. I also no longer wanted to work f.t. or for someone else. Now I work from home p.t. which is the best of both worlds for me.

boarder42

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Re: What lit up the desire to FIRE in you?
« Reply #111 on: July 16, 2014, 03:07:03 PM »
i really have been a saver my whole life ( all of 3.5 working years before finding MMM) saved probably 35-40% before finding this blog.  Always wanted to know the relationship between saving and when you could retire.  All the retirement calculators were for 40 or 50 year olds. and i planned on being done by 45 or 50.  So i stumbled across his Shockingly simple math behind early retirement.  And sent it to a friend and she said have you read anything else on this blog.  and i started reading ... and reading ... and reading.  Then I was hooked.  Mostly b/c my personality is to go against the grain and prove people wrong.  and there is nothing more glaring to some than being a 30 something and retired and getting those looks like he must be a rich kid ... or you inherited something or won the lottery.  Nope i just took the simple saying from Franklin to heart at a young age.  "a penny SAVED is a penny earned"

Think how different our society would be if people thought this way.  Since we tend to hang around friends in similar gross income classes.  If the topic wasnt how much did you make and/or buy this year it was how much did you SAVE this year. 

what a different world that would be.  I love the i cant take it with me when i die statement.  well you can lead a pretty baller life and FIRE esp. my friends we're all engineers.  (this is gonna sound like a brag but all of this is done frugally)  I have a boat tour the country on vacations each year and save 65% of what we make.   You can stretch dollars very far when you use them appropriately. 

Good luck to all on your journey to FI.


RyanHesson

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Re: What lit up the desire to FIRE in you?
« Reply #112 on: July 16, 2014, 03:15:43 PM »
I'll go first.

I am lazy. I hate working. But I LOVE that working gives me money. I love money. So I work.

This is basically it for me.

Daisy

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Re: What lit up the desire to FIRE in you?
« Reply #113 on: July 16, 2014, 10:01:37 PM »
I'm also a night owl and this getting up early to go to work thing not only messes up my morning, but it messes up the night before when I'd rather stay up late.

A big reason too is that I don't know how I ended up in my profession in software. It was a fluke. I was almost going to go into architecture, which I think would have been a better calling...

I can't wait to FIRE and get away from it all... And read or re-read a lot of the classics in literature. I just can't seem to do this stuff in small chunks of time. I need long stretches of unstructured time to get myself in the proper frame of mind to do these things.

I relate to much of what you said here. I'm not actually against being a software developer, but I don't live and breathe it or keep up to date on everything possible. I used to enjoy doing it for fun and for freelance clients, but now I'm done with it before I even get done with my work... I want to switch from being pushed across the hot coals trying to program to doing what actually interests me. To mastering the skills I care about rather than the ones that just get this one tedious task completed.

After I posted this, the next day someone started a thread on coding languages to learn. A link on that thread led me to an article talking about software people commonly feeling like imposters in their field. I couldn't believe it! I had never used that term before for myself. Anyways, I ended up searching "Imposter Syndrome". I linked to an article in that thread but can't link to it here. You should check it out. Our field changes so much that at some point I think you just get tired of having to keep up.

My major wasn't even in software. It really was a fluke. It was enjoyable for a while, since you are able to design things, bring them to life, and see them in action in your products. But the thrill is gone...

MsRichLife

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Re: What lit up the desire to FIRE in you?
« Reply #114 on: July 16, 2014, 11:02:27 PM »
But what actually STARTED me down this path was growing up without financial security.  I knew I wanted to live differently.

+1

I grew up in a household where money (or lack of it) was a very big source of stress. I started working at 12 and investing at 16 because I knew then that I did not want my life to continue like that.

At 22 I realised that although I didn't mind working, I hated having to continue to impress a 'boss'. At that point I decided I wanted to be financially free. It was then that I really started to look into how to retire early and I set a goal to be retired by 40.

A lot of things have changed along the way, and I had almost forgotten that goal of early retirement, but lately it's dawned on me that we've achieved all the goals we've set over the last decade and started asking 'what's next?' That's when I discovered MMM and have now reconfirmed that retirement at 40 is possible. I just need to be brave and make the decision to do it!

MRL

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Re: What lit up the desire to FIRE in you?
« Reply #115 on: July 17, 2014, 12:11:32 PM »
I like my line of work (Finance) but I don't like the structure (come in every weekday from xxx am to yyy pm with Z vacation days every year.)

I also later realized, the hard way, that your boss has so much power over you when he/she can fire you at will, preventing you from paying your bills.  When growing up, my dad had this saying that "your boss is your lifeline and you have to do everything you can to please him so this lifeline will not be cut." 

To me, living a life where you must please the whims of a particular person or else you'll be in serious trouble is too bleak to be living.  I sought to attain a financial "cushion" so that I can decline unreasonable requests at work (like having to come in on the weekend to finish the work my boss had to finish but didn't because he was playing games all day or being asked to do something illegal or unethical like cooking the numbers in reports to clients.)

Eventually, I realized that with a large enough "cushion" invested in productive and diversified assets, this cushion can replace the income from my day job and I would never have to work again.  Well, I'm still years (maybe decades) away from this goal but having the freedom to say "No" every once in a while to unreasonable requests without serious financial repercussions is a HUGE relief.  Then again, maybe I should find a less dysfunctional workplace (but that's a topic for another day.)

soccerluvof4

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Re: What lit up the desire to FIRE in you?
« Reply #116 on: July 17, 2014, 12:19:22 PM »
I like peace and quiet in its simplest form and hate the rat race. I want to spend time with family and friends on my terms and realized it wasnt going to happen on its own so I had to make changes. Things have become quieter and I spend alot more time with my friends and family when I WANT!