Little backstory on me,
I started reading MMM around 2013-2014 and I was only a few years into my career at the young age of 23(ish). I had a great income for the time but had a genuine interest in "getting rich", pretty typical for that age I think.
I started to really read and understand what money could do for me, or rather what it SHOULD do for me. I was fortunate to be in tech, and by that time I was already closing down my "debt" era by myself without outside influences, it just seemed like annoying baggage.
Come 2015 I got active into the forum, posting quite a bit, the forum had an "edge" to it back then that it somewhat lacks now, and I responded well to that. Getting face-punched for buying coffee is quite the motivator, even if it was self imposed.
So I saved money, life was good, we traveled on the cheap(ish) and any time I wasn't frugal my outsized income to my peers saved me. I was "lucky" or "smart" in that regard.
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Come 2020, my DW and I started to become less frugal, I was turning 30, we wanted a bigger house, faster cars, more travel, and all at the expense of our FIRE timeline. No longer could I FIRE at 35, but now it's going to be 38-39, the HORROR. Simply by NOT doing this for 6-9 years changed my entire life.
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So what's the point of this post besides the random ramblings of a
madman? Along the 'journey' I've seen so much that reinforced my choice to pursue FIRE that it's almost depressing at times. So I am just going to list some, hopefully others have input, and if not, let this thread die an early death!
1. I browse reddit occasionally and see heartbreaking stories of layoffs, how are you going to keep the house? Pay the rent? It might seem heartless but, I can't help but put myself in their shoes and ask why they didn't get their financial house in order FIRST. Life is challenging and has a pile of avenues but the choices people make financially CONSTANTLY make me so un-surprised when "emergency" strikes them.
2. The options I have NOW in my 30s because I "got rich in my 20s" put me in a new league of person, financially at least, which directly effects who I am and what I can do. I don't have to stress about a single thing the average person does. Was it my income? Luck? Planning? Consciously picking a good career? It was some mixture of that, but ultimately focus on FIRE put me here.
https://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2015/09/29/if-youre-not-getting-rich-in-your-20s-youre-doing-it-wrong/3. The general online doomer mentality of working until you die. This isn't a specific story but I don't know how people live with the unknown and do NOTHING about it. FIRE is an active goal, but just HAVING THE GOAL is so refreshing that it's a mystery why most don't. When I read comment threads its downright depressing, and sometimes you'll gleam enough to learn that these are people who have good incomes but will still end up "meh"
4. The control and frankly power over my life I have now is very freeing, in a way, I am not "rich" but rather "nearly free" and it's hard to not see the average people, who seem to be doing nothing to better themselves (true or not) as cogs in the machine. This might be "main character syndrome" or whatever new term for it is, but the reality is, going for FIRE legitimately puts you in a position of power over your life.
I think this thread is somewhat aimless, but it's a topic I've been mulling over for a while and it's really hard to nail down these thoughts into a singular thought. What motivates you to go down this path? Why? What benefits does it give you? Going for FIRE EARLY to me was borderline the ONLY way to reach freedom, I had the energy, income and knowledge to go for it. The truth is, folks who skip that "step" are likely screwed, for life. While I am not FIRE yet, just being on the path gives me a whole perspective on life that most will never see, it keeps life with a spice of hope and optimism for the future. . . something lacking from 90% of my generation and younger.