Only freedom will do

Karmacat

I can talk very openly with my business partner about money, and a little bit with my immediate family - I wouldn't even try with anyone else, to be honest. I'm surprised you got such an *aggressive* reaction turtlemoose, that must have been very unpleasant good for you for coming back on here tho, to get your head straight again :j:j:j

Ed - I've finally answered the scanning question on my thread

SuperSecretSquirrel

turtlemoose wrote: »

Well I made a mistake yesterday, idly asking a group of friends if they were aware of the concept of FIRE. The responses bordered on aggressive ..... It won't work, the maths make too many assumptions, you'd lose a sense of purpose if you had no job at 50 then lived for another 30 years, nobody can predict your mortality so how can you know the sums are right, I work hard and I like my *insert treat here* so why should I give it up, I'm not letting my child go without just so I can retire early, and I'm not scrimping every penny because I could drop dead at 50, it's all well and good managing and balancing your financials at 60 but what about when you're 95 and senile......etc!

I was very surprised at the strength of the reaction to what I thought was just a casual question. Has anyone else received a strong reaction when talking mfw or fi? I just thought they'd all go "hmm interesting but I can't afford it" or "hmm interesting I'd like to find out more". But clearly not!

Some people can't stand having their reality thrown into question. The realisation that not everyone is willing to stay on the hamster wheel til old age probably unnerves them. Fooling themselves into thinking it's impossible means they are ok to carry on as they are.

What's amazing is that you don't have to earn a ridiculous salary or live a life of insufferable austerity to make this happen, you just need to opt out of some of the consumerist norms in our society. Your friends could make it happen, but they don't want to hear it.

Personally, we tend to keep all this kind of thing close to our chests. From people that would react in just as hostile a manner, to others that would be after handouts, it's just not worth it. I fully expect that if we manage to retire early that there will be comments along the lines of us being "lucky", and no doubt whisperings that it was achieved by winning some money on the lottery or from an old aunt's inheritance or something. Truth is we're making this happen slowly through planning ahead and spending a less than we earn. Some people can't stand the idea of spending less than they earn. We could certainly live a much more lavish lifestyle if we wished, but I'd rather have a simple life of security and leisure. I can't imagine much worse than having a high income, high spending, low net worth, high stress lifestyle!

gallygirl

I can honestly say I have no friends in real life I could discuss FIRE with. That's [STRIKE]the only reason I got friendly with Tilly[/STRIKE] why Tilly and I get on so well . Strange that people think you're 'weird' because you're thinking outside the box. Good luck to them, I know where I'd sooner be :T.

edinburgher

I completely agree with SSS (strewth, there's a turnup for the books, this has become confirmation bias central)!

I don't share my plan with anyone other than Mrs E, most people find the idea of saving a wee bit threatening

I learned my lesson after trying to explain MB to a few people - reactions varied from eyes glazed over to panic as they tried to wrap their head around it...

Greying_Pilgrim

Hi Ed!

I'd been meaning to pop in for a while to say a big THANK YOU to you for being (mostly) responsible for me finally getting my rear into gear and sorting out a little investment action for 'Team Greying'.

Whilst I've sufficient common sense to know that I *should* have been doing *more*, *sooner*. I'll freely admit that procrastination and not a little bit of 'fear of getting it wrong' had taken hold.

But then Alchemilla asked her question, to which your post seemed to lift the fog of financial jargon, simplified the 'process' and made it realistic that 'ordinary' folk can, in fact, make some headway with their own financial arrangements.

One of your great skills Ed, is to be able to take 'bumpf' and distill it down to the essence. And whilst I believe that we are all in charge of our own destinies, and we must make sure we understand what we're getting into/understand certain jargon etc, I do think that all comes together and becomes easier, once you have got started. Your 'basic points' post gave me the confidence to look into investments with a new vigour, and by understanding the basics, I have been able to know 'what I didn't know' and seek out that information accordingly.

We're adults at Greying Towers, and always take full responsibility for our actions, so if it all goes down the pan, then it's our fault, as we made all the final decisions ourselves, based on our individual circumstances. However, I do know that there is the possibility that in the decades to come, we may well have a bit more cash to our name because of something that I read on your thread. THANK YOU, Ed :A



Should I ever find myself in the metropolis of EdinburgherGlow I owe you a [STRIKE]dram[/STRIKE] bucket of yer fave tipple :D

Hope your goodself, MrsE and lil'J have a super weekend.

Greying x

chickadee

Re: the response to Turtlemoose's question about FIRE, I once mentioned that I was overpaying my mortgage at work and got a similar response. 'You only live once', 'There are no pockets in shrouds' are among the most common ones. I now have a car loan which should be paid off next year, but no mortgage and a small but growing sum in a S&S ISA with HL. I set this up before I was aware of platform fees, etc. but I really like all of the information on the website so for now I'm happy to leave it there. Trying now to persuade DH to invest in a S&S ISA. He's very stubborn and I need to plant the seed and let him think he thought of it. He has a 5-figure sum in a Halifax cash ISA at the moment, earning 1.5%. He'll need some of that soon for a little project but I think he would be better off with something like the Vanguard LS type of investment. Mine are in a HL master portfolio based on my approach to risk and the amount I am investing. This is all monthly investments - it is surprising how fast it accumulates. I also got some salary arrears and put that in a CF Woodford fund, and my only punt on shares was the TSB launch, which I put the maximum £750 into and is now in the process of being bought out. I'll need to wait until the end of June to find out what is going on with these. So far I'm happy with the way my little portfolio is performing.

in_need_of_direction

Hey Greying, have you heard how expensive his dram related tastes are?

Greying_Pilgrim

in_need_of_direction wrote: »

Hey Greying, have you heard how expensive his dram related tastes are?

Ay :rotfl:

Greying x

edinburgher

Cracking discussion as always, and I'm glad to have made myself useful

I fully admit that my whisky purchases have got a wee bit outlandish of late, I have reined it in and haven't bought any since Thursday or thereabouts

Karmacat

Out-loud-chuckling going on here ... Thursday :D:D