Good point on those not earning much. I think a lot of the FIRE community forgets that there are people living in poverty: that the advice we give to simply be frugal and you’ll reach FIRE isn’t going to work for people earning $10.50 an hour.

If you’re referencing Mr. Money Mustache, yeah, he retired with a pretty sizable nest egg at 30 but also doesn’t spend terribly much (something around $30k a year, with a paid off mortgage).

I doubt this movement will be adopted en masse, but it’s something interesting to consider.

Well put. Financial Independence allows for a wide variety of work options that might not be attractive or possible when you still need to work for money.

Agreed, and we, too are happier with the term “financial independence” rather than early retirement. But I think that at least in our case, both seem to apply.

Ha! Love it.

That’s a fantastic way of putting it.

We’re in the process of moving now, and I came across a few old journals. There is nothing quite like going through those. It’s like meeting myself all over again, and being amazed at this guy’s idealism, and painfully embarrassed by his pretentiousness, all at the same time.

I wouldn’t have guessed the data pointed to those locales. Off the hip, if I had a fixed student loan debt amount, I’d want to chase the highest salary I could to pay it off (NY, DC, Bay Area, etc.) Of course, the cost of living scales up as well and seems to eat up too much of one’s disposable income for the high COL…

Thanks so much for linking to my post, Kristin!

The catch is that humans are hardwired to seek status. It’s important to us: right near the top in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs (esteem).

Yeah, the paycheck to paycheck mentality crosses all income levels.

Coming out of college with a degree and no student loan debt is a fantastic achievement. Many students engage in the same status-competition when selecting schools, many of which are beyond their (or their parents’) means.

That’s a great comment, FIGJAM. A lot of consumers end up buying things they think will impress others, then are left with little when it comes to things that matter to them personally, but might not allow them to one up others, such as retirement savings or personal bucket list items, as you noted.

Option three, while tempting, seems a bit like market timing. I’m always wary of that. People have been saying interest rates are definitely rising this year, for the past few years.