I know I am new to this forum, but I swear I am not a detractor to any of the principles or values held by this community. I firmly believe that our lives are better by simplifying, spending less money, spending more time, staying physically fit, taking the effort to do what feel uncomfortable but may have upside, etc. I think all of these things are absolutely crucial to living a better life.
I also love and deeply want to be financially independent. Relying on a job or someone else for your livelihood is a way to go through life, but it gives you no leverage. As everyone who's ever negotiated anything knows, leverage makes the difference. So, becoming financially independent is awesome. I love this goal. I want to get here ASAP.
This leaves us with the "RE" part of FIRE, and the reason why I cannot STAND this term. For me, "retirement" has nothing to do with leaving a job for a new opportunity, losing a job and pursuing a new opportunity, or any of permutation thereof. "Retirement" means leaving things behind. It means "retiring" from life, not just a job or a career track. When you look at it this way, hardly anyone that is financially independent and enjoying themselves would qualify as "retired." You might ask, well how do we distinguish between FI people who have left their "career" jobs and FI people that still maintain those "career" jobs. My response is, why does it matter? Just do whatever it takes to make the most of life. For people that are chained to a job to pay their expenses, well, there's a way out of that, a way to gain more leverage, principally by cutting expenses and saving more. But, when you get to that stage, you're not "retired." You're just in the position where you get to decide what, where, and how you want to spend your time.
Trying to play devil's advocate, I cannot see any virtue in the use of the term "retired early." Even if you think to yourself that "retired early" means that you can just tell your boss to "shove it," what purpose does this power ultimately serve? You're FI. Okay, so if you don't like your current job, go get a new one. Go start your own business. Go devote your time to taking care of your investments (i.e., your family, rental properties, a blog, whatever). But why call this "retired early?" For me, this is a term for the permanently disabled and handicapped. It has no positive connotations. So why do we use it? Because the financial services industry paints such a glamorous picture of retirement? That seems silly.
I vote for praising FI (and any other personal accomplishment for that matter). I vote for leaving the whole "Retired Early" business for the long-term disabled, the terminally ill, and those souls condemned to disposition by the criminal justice system.
