Saving Habit

How I Discovered Early Retirement?

GRADUATED INTO RECESSION- I graduated in computer science straight into a recession caused by the double whammy of the dot-com bust and the 9/11 attacks. My father had recently retired from his public sector job and I did not have any job offer on hand as campus hiring dried up completely. It felt like I was being tossed around by economic forces beyond my control.

Can extreme savings lead to divorce?

The FIRE community may be transparent about their finances and life goals. But they tend to sweep uncomfortable truths under the rug like for example the impact of extreme savings on relationships. A casual search on reddit FI throws up posts on divorce , breakups , regret and late realisation but the comments are mostly how FI/RE is not the main cause and the relationship would have broke down anyway.

What can you do?

Start Listening : If you’ve gotten to this point in your relationship, you have to face the reality that you’ve reached a fork in the road. To the left is marriage and to the right is your FI/RE goal. It is one or the other at this point. So start listening carefully to your spouse.

(un)Support(ive) System?

I realise that I’m one of the lucky fathers to have the flexibility to spend time with my newborn son during the daytime on weekdays. One of my friends confessed how the early years as a father was all one big blur and regretted not spending more time with his children when he was away at work morning till night.

What does this mean?

This means that Nobody is stopping you from making more money other than yourself. Also, money is not “given” to you by others with more money: You “generate” money out of thin air by giving others what they want. Money merely represents the value you’ve provided others. Money is simply the external manifestation of the potential that is already inside of you. You just have to bring out your potential as money.