FIRE is easy - FIREstarters blog

Thanks for sharing your experience @ma0 Much appreciated!
I agree that there might be a point where you don’t know what to post anymore. I hope this day is still in the distant future for me :slightly_smiling_face:

The thing is: I registered the domain more than a year ago. Now when I look at the name today, the thing which bugs me a bit is the word FIRE in the domain. Which somehow gives it a vibe of mainly being focused on finances - which I don’t plan to restrict myself to. So I’ll see where it goes. The good thing for me is that I have a lot of different interests, so as of right now I don’t think I’ll run out of topics. But that can only be me just being naive at the moment.

I have a waterproof solution, but that solution is not for free. We’re talking roughly 2k per year. Which doesn’t make sense to set up if you don’t plan to monetize the blog - unless you want to pay the 2k per year to have peace of mind when it comes to someone sueing you.

sorry, misunderstanding about feedback, what I meant was, I have no actual/particular feedback at this time, except the “general” feedback I gave via my comment above.

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You can have a look here to get an idea (even though it’s just a general “expenses” category).
Infrastructure costs are rather negligible when you start. 10$ per month should be fine - you might even get some cheaper options as well.

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@CHRad and @Patron thanks for the discussion and the input guys! I can understand both sides.

Personally, I also don’t like to pay for something if that person is just copying & pasting information which is common knowledge, and then puts a price on it which is not justified. On the other hand, it’s a very personal decision to judge what is justified and what is not. People in this forum/community are usually very sensitive when it comes to costs, which is ok. Still, there might be other people out there who are just starting and those might be happy to pay a small amount for information they would have to search for in different places. So in the end it’s about: is there demand for your offers out there, and are people willing to pay for it?

I think the hard part is to differentiate between our own opinion and values compared to others peoples values. Yes, Mustachians might not be the primary target for people like Sparkojote. But he’s clearly serving a demand, otherwise he wouldn’t be as successful as he is. He’s doing it full time, and he can live from it. That’s something which is inspiring, at least for me. I mean who has the better life: the person who’s still working as an employee, not really being satisfied while complaining about Influencers not providing any value (which most of them don’t - don’t get me wrong), or the person who is doing what he/she loves while earning money with it. Of course we shouldn’t forget morals, but that’s a topic for another day.

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Yes of course - it is a subjective statement from a reference group with n=1 (me) :slightly_smiling_face:
And I agree it’s the economic system which decides if something brings value or not - in this case value in terms of money. Even though: some people are selling their farts or their bathtub water successfully. Value can be discussed for those ones - but if someone gets a joy out of it: why not?

I don’t fully agree with your statement (I am interested in what you, Patron or others in here think), but I know what you mean.

Same here! Do what you like and stay true to yourself, all the best! It’s just my very personal opinion: The internet is oversaturated with commercialized influencer BS. Basically, the internet consists of more or less elaborate advertisement, and porn. I’m sure you won’t contribute BS, so I salute you :clap:

Oh and regarding monetizing farts: natural gas is in high demand these days I hear. Thinking of my own business idea here: Why should we let our farts go to waste :crazy_face:?

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So what… I don’t have stupid cookie banners nor an imprint on my page. Didn’t bother anyone so far. Just because some old people that barely know how to use a computer believe it’s a good idea to have a mailbox like imprint on each page doesn’t mean it’s a good law or one that I’m willing to follow.

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I honestly find it difficult to fault him for recommending a domestic broker (rather than a foreign one). Especially if you consider his target audience, which, I think, seems to differ quite a bit from mustachianpost - and especially this forum.

For various reasons, among them language, taxation (we’ve had enough discussion about that), insurance/investor protection schemes, jurisdiction. Different (in)ability of readers to do their own due diligence on brokers and file their own tax returns. And lastly the broker’s own choice of primary target audience and learning curve for customers.

I have enough friends to whom I’d recommend Swissquote rather than send them to an foreign/offshore broker like IBKR. Not even if they’re looking for an affordable broker.

Different interface, different pricing and minimums.

Hi guys. You can find my latest blog post here: And the best Swiss canton is…

Happy reading

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Some small technical feedback, please come up with a logo and update that default Wordpress Favicon in your blog.

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Cheers. I changed it. Need to also come up with some logo for the title itself - progress over perfection :slightly_smiling_face:

I also still need to figure out why the images are looking crappy. Most probably Wordpress is doing some compression. As a workaround, I linked to the original screenshot.

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New week, new post: Are you happy at work?

I’m open to feedback or things which I could improve.

I guess the question is: how toxic is your work environment? If it seriously affects your health, it’s not worth the bigger amount of money. I mean what’s the point if you get a burn-out, but you get paid well? Of course I don’t know your details, but being in an environment you hate is not good (from my humble point of view). Did you try to change to a different team or role with your current employer?

I guess even if you want to leave the workforce asap, then risking your health is not a valid option. As I said above: what’s the point of getting more money / being able to retire earlier, if your health has suffered big time? Imagine finally being FI, and the next day you have a heart attack and die. Was it really worth it?

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If your road to FI brought you joy - why should you quit? :slightly_smiling_face:

I guess for most people FI means having enough FU money do not do your current job anymore. Which is in the lines of “getting away” from something you don’t really love. I guess it would be much better if you are doing something you love AND you make a lot of money.

What do you enjoy most? What would you do even if you don’t get paid? I’m sure there are people who are doing the things you enjoy most and get paid for it. You just need to find those jobs (I know, easier said than done)

What you described is the case for most larger companies. I’ve worked for several enterprises (both as an employee as well as a freelancer), and the description you gave would fit 90% of those companies. Those companies are simply too large and have too much middle management - plus they have a lot of bullshit jobs (people working but actually not achieving anything positive for the company as a whole).

I totally understand that it can take a toll on your emotional and mental well being, working in such an environment. Still, you will find ways to arrange (as you said, working 8.4 hours doing your job). And as you also said correctly: it’s complaining on a high level. Taking in account what you shared, you already tried to change, but then came back because of the money. Which is ok - even if you don’t feel satisfied on a personal and mental level. It’s hard to give you advice here - I guess your main driver is the FI part, and being able to reach it earlier while staying in your current job.

That might be true, but those 1-5% of jobs exist. If you exclude the possibilities from the beginning, it will be harder to find those jobs. The true sweet spot is to find a job you enjoy and which also pays well.

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Sounds a lot like a company I know. May I ask how much you were making then?

Mindfulness is a great tool, as well as meditation. I have been medidating every morning for almost 2 years - unfortunately I stopped some weeks ago. I definitely need to start again. It helps you to get more centered and not be influenced as much by the outside world anymore.

That’s a statement I would like to oppose. Historically, it’s rooted in Christian protestantism. I also believed that statement for a long time (due to how I was raised), but I think it’s not necessarily true. How do you define “deserved”? Does the 20y old Youtube or TikTop influencer deserve the money he or she makes? Deserve is a judgement of others, seen through our point of view of the world.

I also worked hard in my 20s and early 30s (and I am still working hard), but I’m sure if I would have spend more time on thinking about how to work smarter, I would be much further. Working hard is usually not equivalent with working smart. The real leverage in capitalism is to have others working for you.

Some years ago, I was also in favor of UBI. But my view on UBI has changed. Someone has to pay for the costs, and I will be one of the people who will be taxed for it. I’m ok with paying taxes for the state (to keep it safe, for roads, infrastructure), but I’m definitely not ok with a redistribution of my money to someone who is just “chilling”. UBI has some communist vibes attached to it - and I guess nobody of us wants to have that.

I can relate to this, and for me the key is simply… do not give a fuck. But really, internalize it, not imposted. To the point you will take pride even if they fire you. Do the minimum and avoid direct confrontation. And surprisingly… it works. But it needs training.

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