GUESS WHO PEED OUTSIDE THIS WEEKEND!
So. Liberating.
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Imagine you are a thoughtful 22-year-old college graduate who wants to make a great difference in the world. Many such people try to get a job with Oxfam, the Gates Foundation, or any number of excellent charities. That's fine. But if you don’t get that job at Oxfam, somebody just as smart and generous will get it instead. You’re probably not much better than that “next person up.” But imagine you go to work on Wall Street…
Yes, imagine you work in investment banking. You make $100,000 and give away half to charity. The “next person up” would not have done the same, so you have created $50,000 of good that wouldn’t have otherwise existed. Even better, your donation could pay for one or two workers at Oxfam—or any effective cause you chose to donate to.
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This is a little bit of a bummer in terms of career happiness but it makes a lot of sense. Although it makes me wonder how the calculus changes if instead of a prestigious but low-paying nonprofit job, you are considering a low-paying helping profession with projected shortages. At that point I suppose you are making moral decisions about who is more needy -- the recipients of your donation dollars or the recipients of your care. Probably, the donation dollar recipients, as any recipient of your care already has the privilege of living in a 1st world country (unless you travel).
For resources - William MacAskill published a book this year that I haven't had a chance to read yet (Doing Good Better) about effective altruism. Peter Singer has several well-regarded books on the topic.
I just put a hold on Doing Good Better at the library. Thanks for the rec!
It's very odd to me on this forum....saving money and living minimally is admirable if you have a boat load of debt to pay off, but if you're good to go and just amassing wealth to have more freedom later, apparently that's not so admirable, as evidenced by some of the comments in this thread as well as other threads...
Yeah, I think the criticism is a little unfounded, but then you see stories like GuitarStv's thread of a best friend with terminal cancer at 36 (!). There's certainly no guarantee. That said, I like to prepare for the most likely outcome, and the most likely outcome is that I will live until a ripe old age. My biggest risk is that I'll be hit by a car while cycling, but I'm not willing to change my life because of it.
It sounds like you absolutely love the outdoors, given your list of items. Have you considered trying a dramatic career shift? There are many jobs (which perhaps won't pay $100k/year, though) which you could do that sound like would connect much more with your life interests.
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Are you limited in your career path somehow? Would you trade working several more years (let's say 15 vs 9) if you found your job more fulfilling?
Unfortunately I am not aware of a single outdoorsy job that would pay even half of what I'm making now, which would add much more than 6 years to our FIRE plans. Please suggest some if you know of any.
It feels like you are waiting for your life to get started until you are FI. You somewhat Having a list of things to do in that time period might help avoid that, but if the things you feel passionately about doing with your life have to wait until you are FI, I think it's worthwhile to consider whether or not you want to continue waiting until that happens.
Also, another important thing to consider is that none of us have any guarantee we will actually ever get to be FI. Many people here have the majority of their FI money in investments - what if the market tanks for the next 10-15 years? We can assume things, but realistically we don't know what will happen. Will you be sad if that happens and you don't get to FIRE for another 15 years? what about 20 years? What if you die or get terminally ill?
These questions can drive one to pursue FIRE with reckless abandon, but I think it's also wise to consider how that can many years of our lives to become only a tool. Everyone can process/rationalize this differently. Some people find meaning through the process, some don't. One of the advantages to me of having thought through my mission statement as comprehensively as I have is that it makes it eas(ier) for me to identify when this is the case, or not.
FI/RE are tools to a rich and meaningful life. But they are not the only tools. It is important to not blindly pursue only FI/RE as the sole meaning to your life, if it's not really providing meaning.
I don't say this as guidance or "do this" but more just things to consider. And questions to ponder over.
I really don't feel like I am waiting for my life to begin. I do sometimes live too much in the future where I will have more flexibility, but that is basically just looking forward to a time where I get to do more of what I do now.
I will admit that sometimes I have moments at work where I am in the middle of a conversation with someone and get overwhelmed with a feeling of "I can't do this anymore."
I get where you are coming from and I realized that I may have given the same advice if I were reading this from someone else's perspective. I think that in general people have many more options than they want to admit to themselves, and that people live in a cage of their own making.
For me, though, I'm pretty happy with where I am right now. I think I have an unbelievably good life. I don't like my job but that money and flexibility let me spend lots of time doing things that I love.
The point of this post and this existential crisis is that I am trying to lay the best groundwork now for a fulfilling and meaningful life. Giving money away and volunteering a little more in my community and my city may be enough for me. This thread has also encouraged me to consider moving to a different area in my agency where I could more directly protect the most vulnerable of the people my agency serves.
I've shied away from those jobs because I'd lose most of the tasks I enjoy doing at work (quiet heads down work) and would have to do more of what I hate (meetings, arguing, managing), but I was thinking about the conversation here. The next person to take my position would more or less do my job the same way I do. It may slow our group down to lose my expertise but they would recover. It wouldn't have a lot of impact and there's a good chance the new person would be better than me at certain aspects of my job. But, if I move into the more political position and dedicate myself to serving the vulnerable -- that may be unique. Because a lot of people who work in those areas are maybe more concerned with their own career progression, which I have zero concerns about.
So maybe I can find a little more meaning there, while also having money to give away and time to spend outside. It's something I'm going to consider.