A bit a provocative topic that I discovered in this video of Kevin O’Leary.
The basic idea is that FIRE is an idea of millennial who are fed up of the daily rat race of their career. The reality is that if you are creative in your choice, the job you get can be a good deal for your brain as well as for your bank account.
Then you can see FIRE more as the freedom to choose the job that really suits you.
I think he misses a key point of the FIRE movement:
Work defines who you are!
If you solely define yourself over work then you will undoubtably fall into a deep hole when you stop working. A phrase that I often get from around the community is something along the lines of
It’s not about what you retire from, it’s about what you retire to.
So without having a clue of what your purpose in life is, you will of course fail miserably when quitting your day job. I am not saying it is easy to find a passion and a purpose in life that sparks joy and fulfilment. Actually, this is the main reason why I think that FIRE is not for everybody. I think it requires quite some clarity and self-reflection to even start moving into the direction of FIRE, let alone pulling the trigger of quitting your corporate job for good.
That being said: I also think that you can “work” without generating any income. Think about stay-home parents, artists, writers, etc. They all put in an enormous amount of love and time into their “work” without necessarily generating any income.
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I often find that once I “disconnect” from work for a few days, my own ideas and projects are coming back to life. I need to take an extended time off to realize them however, as everyday chores and stress can drown out any spark in me.
I feel once I hit my 50% RE goal I can let go of my job and make a living from my own ideas.
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One thing to consider as well: Once you hit FIRE there is no point pursuing things that make you money anymore. So if your motivation is in things that could actually generate income then you should quit before FI
Totally agree! And as you pointed out, some of them might also generate some income over time which at that point of your FI journey is a mere luxury.
O’Leary has always came across to me as a grade-A wanker. I hadn’t realised that American networks were now hiring him, although his style does seem to be a much better fit there than it was on the CBC (the SRF/RTS equivalent in Canada)…
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