For an audio version of this post, please click on the speaker icon (top left).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Welcome to this session of grand rounds, a collection of posts I have discovered in the blogosphere and have found of interest and hope you do too.

This offering of Grand Rounds looks at articles from around the web that deal with financial independence/retire early (FIRE).

 

 

The FIRE movement certainly can be portrayed wrong by mainstream media, who tend to highlight only the extremists component of the movement.

Because of this media portrayal, the general public feels that in order to achieve FIRE you need to live in extreme frugality.

In reality this is not the case.

Passive Income MD shares some things he also found were not true in, “5 Things I Got Wrong About the FIRE Movement.”

 

 

Like most things in life, the best lessons are learned by experiencing them, not just reading up about them.

I therefore feel that first-hand knowledge shared by individuals who have already undergone FIRE carries more weight.

Well someone who has been living the FIRE lifestyle for 6 years certainly qualifies as an important source of information.

Retire by 45 shares his experience in, “10 Epiphanies About the FIRE Lifestyle after 6 Years Living It.”

 

 

America is the land of the free.

Even so many people feel like they are enslaved by the 9 to 5 grind just to make ends meet.

The biggest appeal of the FIRE movement is to buy back your freedom and most precious commodity, time.

The Physician Philosopher touches on this in, “The Power of Financial Freedom.”

 

 

One popular battle cry among the younger generation is “You Only Live Once (YOLO).”

[I highly recommend watching the above parody of taking YOLO concept too far and in a completely opposite direction.]

You can seemingly justify any expenditures if you are steadfast follower of this philosophy.

Then you have those who are more focused on delayed gratification, a core principle of the FIRE movement.

So which philosophy can provide the greatest overall happiness?

Physician on FIRE tackles this in, “YOLO vs. FIRE: The Balance Between Saving and Spending.”

 

 

ESI Money created his website on the principles of Earn, Save, and Invest.

Following those 3 letters gives you the best chance of achieving financial independence and give you the ability to retire early if you choose to.

So what do you do when you financially achieve FIRE?

You just simply reverse those letters as pointed out in, “What Comes after ESI?  The ISE Phase of FIRE.”

 

 

Hope you enjoyed the reading material.

Have a great rest of the week.

 

 

Note:

If you are in search of financial help, please consider enlisting the service of any of the sponsors of this blog who I feel are part of the “good guys and gals of finance.”

Even a steadfast DIY’er can sometimes gain benefit from the occasional professional input.