Did you have that moment that you should have made more money?

[flyingaway]

As the title says, maybe in your FIRE life, there were some moments that you told yourself that, life might be better or easier if you had (a little bit) more money.
Then, you drank your (cheap) beer and dosed off in the shadow of a big tree by a river in a rural area of Thailand.
(You could drink your pina colada in the shadow of a palm tree on a Cancun beach, if you had more money).

[Rdy2Fire]

As the title says, maybe in your FIRE life, there were some moments that you told yourself that, life might be better or easier if you had (a little bit) more money.
Then, you drank your (cheap) beer and dosed off in the shadow of a big tree by a river in a rural area of Thailand.
(You could drink your pina colada in the shadow of a palm tree on a Cancun beach, if you had more money).

You can have a lot more beers (or insert drink here) in Thailand then you can in Cancun and it's a much more interesting place. :) Typically I would say the airfare is the larger cost but not with flight deals these days

[BrightFIRE]

As the title says, maybe in your FIRE life, there were some moments that you told yourself that, life might be better or easier if you had (a little bit) more money.
Then, you drank your (cheap) beer and dosed off in the shadow of a big tree by a river in a rural area of Thailand.
(You could drink your pina colada in the shadow of a palm tree on a Cancun beach, if you had more money).

One of my favorite travel memories is sitting on the riverbank in Chiang Mai, Thailand with my SO, sharing a charcoal-grilled sweet potato from a street vendor, watching the lanterns floating in the night sky and the local teens setting off fireworks 20 feet away (night of Loi Krathong, the lantern festival). There is literally no way that money could have improved that moment. And I'm not FIRE yet.

[flyingaway]

As the title says, maybe in your FIRE life, there were some moments that you told yourself that, life might be better or easier if you had (a little bit) more money.
Then, you drank your (cheap) beer and dosed off in the shadow of a big tree by a river in a rural area of Thailand.
(You could drink your pina colada in the shadow of a palm tree on a Cancun beach, if you had more money).

One of my favorite travel memories is sitting on the riverbank in Chiang Mai, Thailand with my SO, sharing a charcoal-grilled sweet potato from a street vendor, watching the lanterns floating in the night sky and the local teens setting off fireworks 20 feet away (night of Loi Krathong, the lantern festival). There is literally no way that money could have improved that moment. And I'm not FIRE yet.

I have been in Thailand more than 10 times and also in Chiang Mai. I could retire there now if I do not have any reservation on the money side.
In Thailand, it is very cheap to eat Thai food, especially at the places where ordinary Thais eat. However, if you want to eat western food, it will be very expensive. Those who retire there on the lean side might wish they had a little bit more money so that they could eat steaks from time to time.

This is something that bothers me constantly. Retire or not, does the 4% rule work? The backup plans for many people talking about 4% is to reduce spending or go back to work in down years. How about you really want to eat steaks and increase your spending a little bit?

[soccerluvof4]

I'd say I definitely think that way especially when I have the urge to "want" something but usually doesn't last to long when I think about work and the pain and suffering it would take me to have that want. Personally for me I think more about how I should have more money if I would of been smarter over the years than I do about will what I have work.

[Hirondelle]

As the title says, maybe in your FIRE life, there were some moments that you told yourself that, life might be better or easier if you had (a little bit) more money.
Then, you drank your (cheap) beer and dosed off in the shadow of a big tree by a river in a rural area of Thailand.
(You could drink your pina colada in the shadow of a palm tree on a Cancun beach, if you had more money).

One of my favorite travel memories is sitting on the riverbank in Chiang Mai, Thailand with my SO, sharing a charcoal-grilled sweet potato from a street vendor, watching the lanterns floating in the night sky and the local teens setting off fireworks 20 feet away (night of Loi Krathong, the lantern festival). There is literally no way that money could have improved that moment. And I'm not FIRE yet.

I have been in Thailand more than 10 times and also in Chiang Mai. I could retire there now if I do not have any reservation on the money side.
In Thailand, it is very cheap to eat Thai food, especially at the places where ordinary Thais eat. However, if you want to eat western food, it will be very expensive. Those who retire there on the lean side might wish they had a little bit more money so that they could eat steaks from time to time.

This is something that bothers me constantly. Retire or not, does the 4% rule work? The backup plans for many people talking about 4% is to reduce spending or go back to work in down years. How about you really want to eat steaks and increase your spending a little bit?

I think knowing whether you're one of those steak people or not is key. If I had all the Thai food in the world to choose from (yes, have been to Thailand) I cannot imagine ever wanting to eat a steak instead of curry or pad thai. Now I wouldn't base my food budget around 30 baht pad thais for the rest of my life either, but that's the whole difference between leanFIRE, fatFIRE and everything in between.

[MasterStache]

I'd say I definitely think that way especially when I have the urge to "want" something but usually doesn't last to long when I think about work and the pain and suffering it would take me to have that want. Personally for me I think more about how I should have more money if I would of been smarter over the years than I do about will what I have work.

+1

[Parizade]

Just before I FIRED my son accepted a job at Microsoft and moved his family to Seattle. I'm staying with them for the summer and realizing I could not afford to move here to be close to them unless I went back to work.

Which is a shame because, you know, building my life around following my kids and grandkids wherever they go would be such an emotionally healthy option ;-D

[Ozlady]

http://paulocoelhoblog.com/2015/09/04/the-fisherman-and-the-businessman/

[Mr. Green]

Definitely. I walked away from my job with $1 million liquid and continuing to work would add 200-250k a year but I just hated it. There have been times when I get the pang for a waterfront home or an expensive Jamaican vacation because I know I could have had that if I was still working but then I think about all the little bullshit with work.

Drive 45 minutes one way. Get cut off by asshole drivers. Sit in traffic. Walk 20 minutes in the heat across the parking lot to my building. Deal with stupid work politics. Realize I have to sit through 7 more hours of thinking about making it to the end of the day. Procrastinate at lunch because I don't want to go back to the office.

After I'm done thinking about all that, and the shiver has finished rolling down my spine, the urge is gone and I'm damn happy to have chosen freedom.

[RWD]

I'd say I definitely think that way especially when I have the urge to "want" something but usually doesn't last to long when I think about work and the pain and suffering it would take me to have that want. Personally for me I think more about how I should have more money if I would of been smarter over the years than I do about will what I have work.

+1

+2. I have definitely made multiple 6-figure mistakes (when considering long term compounding).

Walk 20 minutes in the heat across the parking lot to my building.

That sounds like quite the impressive parking lot.

[Mr. Green]

I'd say I definitely think that way especially when I have the urge to "want" something but usually doesn't last to long when I think about work and the pain and suffering it would take me to have that want. Personally for me I think more about how I should have more money if I would of been smarter over the years than I do about will what I have work.

+1

+2. I have definitely made multiple 6-figure mistakes (when considering long term compounding).

Walk 20 minutes in the heat across the parking lot to my building.

That sounds like quite the impressive parking lot.

It was. A string of parking lots actually. One mile from my car to my desk in the Mid-Atlantic summer. Sucked.

[deborah]

You choose how much stash you require for retirement. You choose whether to have fat FIRE or lean FIRE or even, not to retire at all. Why would you choose a lean FIRE when you really wanted a fat FIRE? Why would OP end up in the situation he describes?

Thailand isn’t my scene, and it doesn’t have to be.

There’s a balance between what you want and how much you need to save to afford it. MMM tackles this from both ends - do you REALLY want this expense, or is a cheaper thing (or nothing) actually what you really want AND how can you make your savings work hard for you.

[MasterStache]

Definitely. I walked away from my job with $1 million liquid and continuing to work would add 200-250k a year but I just hated it. There have been times when I get the pang for a waterfront home or an expensive Jamaican vacation because I know I could have had that if I was still working but then I think about all the little bullshit with work.

Drive 45 minutes one way. Get cut off by asshole drivers. Sit in traffic. Walk 20 minutes in the heat across the parking lot to my building. Deal with stupid work politics. Realize I have to sit through 7 more hours of thinking about making it to the end of the day. Procrastinate at lunch because I don't want to go back to the office.

After I'm done thinking about all that, and the shiver has finished rolling down my spine, the urge is gone and I'm damn happy to have chosen freedom.

This is another factor that I think about. Basically an hour out of everyday day was spent in a car. Yeah yeah I know the whole live closer to work thing. Not that simple for me. In the span of the decade I drove back and forth to my job, I managed to avoid multiple accidents on the interstate that literally unfolded right in front of me. Still remember this one. Took me 3 hours to drive home one day as the interstate was closed due to an accident on a major bridge I was literally 2 minutes from crossing over. Turns out a semi plowed into the back of some stopped cars sitting in traffic and knocked one up over the bridge embankment about 100' into the river below killing the driver. 

[FreeBear]

Definitely. I walked away from my job with $1 million liquid and continuing to work would add 200-250k a year but I just hated it. There have been times when I get the pang for a waterfront home or an expensive Jamaican vacation because I know I could have had that if I was still working but then I think about all the little bullshit with work.

Drive 45 minutes one way. Get cut off by asshole drivers. Sit in traffic. Walk 20 minutes in the heat across the parking lot to my building. Deal with stupid work politics. Realize I have to sit through 7 more hours of thinking about making it to the end of the day. Procrastinate at lunch because I don't want to go back to the office.

After I'm done thinking about all that, and the shiver has finished rolling down my spine, the urge is gone and I'm damn happy to have chosen freedom.

Wow, you were saving a quarter mil a year and still bailed out.  Impressive!  I was “only” saving a tenth of that each year when I fired.  Like you I wAs just do me done with the craft.  Mainly office politics and wanting to get on with my life.

[Mr. Green]

Definitely. I walked away from my job with $1 million liquid and continuing to work would add 200-250k a year but I just hated it. There have been times when I get the pang for a waterfront home or an expensive Jamaican vacation because I know I could have had that if I was still working but then I think about all the little bullshit with work.

Drive 45 minutes one way. Get cut off by asshole drivers. Sit in traffic. Walk 20 minutes in the heat across the parking lot to my building. Deal with stupid work politics. Realize I have to sit through 7 more hours of thinking about making it to the end of the day. Procrastinate at lunch because I don't want to go back to the office.

After I'm done thinking about all that, and the shiver has finished rolling down my spine, the urge is gone and I'm damn happy to have chosen freedom.

Wow, you were saving a quarter mil a year and still bailed out.  Impressive!  I was “only” saving a tenth of that each year when I fired.  Like you I wAs just do me done with the craft.  Mainly office politics and wanting to get on with my life.

My income really exploded those last couple years but I just couldn't hold out any longer. When you grapple with making it through an 8 hour day every day, you are officially miserable. It felt like if I didn't quit, there would be nothing left of my soul to save.

[stoaX]

I have a whopping 24 days of retired early experience under my belt and so far the answer is yes, I have had a few moments where I second guessed my decision.  Not so much that life would be easier / better if I had worked a little longer but that the retirement might be more financially secure if I had another year's worth of savings in the bank. 

Fortunately these are just moments, not worries that consume me.  I remind myself that the job I had was stressful and that wasn't good for my health, and my health is more important than the extra money.

[BicycleB]

It felt like if I didn't quit, there would be nothing left of my soul to save.

Ohhhh, Mr. Green (not sure why I can't bat signal that name) - I literally did laugh out loud at that one.

Good move, my friend. #SoulPreservation

[RWD]

Mr. Green (not sure why I can't bat signal that name)

The forum software autocomplete must not like the period. Can still do it manually... @Mr. Green