Hi guys, some of you might be interested that a movie about FI/RE is getting produced and still needs some support:
3 Likes
Awesome stuff, Iāll contribute definitely.
The documentary is out: you can watch āPlaying with FIREā for free until 11.12.2019.
To do this, simply click on this Vimeo link https://vimeo.com/374814086 and use the special code āFIREā.
I watched it and enjoyed the honest and personal approach to FIRE. The statement āDonāt let the RE be in the way of FIā is for me one of the takeaways. A lot of it is known stuff, if youāve been following the FIRE community for a while. You will meet Mr. Money Mustache himself, the MAD Fientiest, Miss Mazuma, Kristy Shen, etc.
And if you are like me and want to know what triggered filmmaker Scott Riekens into this project, then here is the Tom Ferriss podcast he mentions: https://tim.blog/2017/02/13/mr-money-mustache/
4 Likes
My husband and I watched the documentary last night and here are our thoughtsā¦
-
Our initial reaction is that anyone reading this blog is already too advanced to get much out of the documentary. There were some interesting points, especially the stats at the beginning where they detail the proportion of Americans living from paycheck to paycheck. Otherwise there was not a lot of new info. In fact, we thought that some basic concepts were not explained sufficiently and could have benefited from a few more āgeekyā number crunching, like the index fund investment option. We basically got nothing out of watching this apart from a smug feeling that we are ahead of the curve.
-
The approach that this young family took was not realistic to be convincing to usā¦ moving in with your parents to bring up your savings rate? That seems very short term and not in the spirit of fundamentally changing your lifestyle. Also for the husband to quit his job and then move away, putting all the pressure on the wife, was unrealistic for us. We would have preferred to see that they modify their existing lifestyle (e.g. move to a cheaper place, buy groceries differently, invest their money wisely, get rid of the expensive cars) while keeping their jobs, while at the same time the husband could have set up his own business at the same time as working his old job, and then quit when the new income stream was more viable.
-
As a last point, and we are not informed enough about this, we question the methodology used to calculate the years to retirement. It seemed a bit simplistic to us, and the caveats and risks are not explained enoughā¦ but this may be a specific FIRE approach that we are not following. Our approach is just basically to invest in ETFs and not to spend money on (too many) useless things.
What did you think of it?
7 Likes
Thanks for that link Dom!
Summary = itās a good introduction to FIRE
Iād say Iām an experienced FIRE-player (know the theory well enough through blogs & own experience).
Watched it with the still-unconvinced missus this eve.
It was good for her level of FIRE knowledge, which is basic. As svichy mentioned, for readers of this or similar blogs itās just a āniceā presented basic FIRE theory & story with a real-life couple with a young kid in the main role.
I didnāt learn much & the Missus is still unconvinced too. 
But weāve watched more senseless movies. And to transform to a FIRE mindset requires more than this movie, but it certainly helps, and did it in a relaxing way this Tuesday evening 
i think weāll still talk about some of the examples later, or quote a scene in a discussion.
We also found the move to the parents not sensible, as the savings rate shot up, but not in a sustainable way. As soon as they moved on, it went down again. But the ups and down of the savings rate was well incorporated into the story to give a feeling of what is possible & what affects it (strongly).
For me, methodology used for the years to FIRE was the 4% rule, described in the beginning. They focussed more on making it a story than a āhow-toā guide, which was fine IMO, since the theory is on all the websites we know well.
2 Likes
Iām absolutely sharing your opinion about the movie. It was a bit flat, and I donāt think got anything new about this. But I was also thinking about: Hmā¦ If Iād show this one of my non-frugal friendsā¦ Would they think -> this is goodā¦ OR -> this is weird, why would I do that?
Basically I have a bit similar time in my relationship, where I was trying to convince my partner to stick OUR plan TOGETHER. But at the end it screwed up, and weāre actually in the break-up phase of our relationshipā¦ 
. . . .
1 Like
sorry about that. I hope everything will be fineā¦
Mmh, being in a group like this, reading this and that blog, etc makes one sometimes forget how far from mainstream the whole thing is!
Careful who you show it toā¦ unless u donāt mind being scorned. 
I shared the link with someone else and this was their reaction (not my partner, but we have a close relationship, so be warned - itās a very open unfiltered opinion)
āWatched it, what a crock of sh*t. If we all did thatā¦ When did becoming a narcissistic lazy bum become something to look so proud about. ā Retired at 24ā 
itās called ānever had a jobā. And by the time they retire - their kid will be 16 and probably keen to move out their depressing home by the highway. Just my take on it.ā
4 Likes
Sorry to read that. Stay true to yourself!
1 Like
Thanks. It is a hard phase of your life, if youāre realizing your partner is completely not familiar with this idea. Even worse, if you try somehow gently convince her/him to stick this āplanā together, but the reaction is negative.
You think twice: am I so weird? Is my plan too much?
And no, Iām still following my way, and it is better to say goodbye now, than after a broken marriage and kids togetherā¦
Iāll still stay on my track.
4 Likes