For me I personally struggle more with the what to do with the time as the kids are 14 and 16. Fun to have adventures with but too young to leave by themselves for weeks to explore away from home base. With close friends and family scattered away from the city it seems like I am time rich but independence poor for a couple more years.

I do agree friends are more fun than adventures just for the sake of spending money. Looking forward to the independence day while also not wishing away the time with the kids

I hav enjoyed you blog throughout the years so wanted to also thank you for letting us readers into your thoughts on life

I don’t know Paul, I think it’s natural to be skeptical when money is involved and each of us has to decide what to consume online, who is being authentic vs. pandering or being manipulative. However, quite the opposite, I think most of these OG maestros as you put it are actually being very authentic but are in a position that most can’t relate to. It is worth pointing out that almost none of my fellow bloggers pay their bills from blogging. While my own blog has been entirely non profit to date since I do not monetize, even a high traffic and monetized blog with 5k views per day only makes about $750 per month which is likely not enough to pay the bills. If an active blogger puts in 10hrs per week ($18.75/hr) that is not exactly a gravy train. What I can tell you is that in my experience the OG maestros in the FIRE space are mostly passionate folks that care about the community. They are financial rock stars who have created great freedom and flexibility in their lives as a result of their money savvy. However, we all fall into habits that no longer serve us. For them, loosening the purse strings as that work bears fruit may be appropriate but it is a foot note to the story for the broader audience reading or listening who aspires to create freedom in their lives. It also does not mean that FIRE people love restriction, are foolish, and are to be mocked or denigrated by a money coach for habits that created immense freedom earlier in their journey. It also doesn’t mean that one should spend 10x and/or must do so to live a truly rich and fulfilling life.

Yeah it’s a bit of inside baseball I suppose Doug. I think it’s a little more nuanced than froth from a bull market run. I think it’s a recency bias that because the hardest thing for them right now is loosening the purse strings post FI, this must be the biggest challenge to living a good life. It neglects to properly prioritize how hard, how important, and how beneficial getting to FI was. We tend to forget how hard things were to master once we’ve mastered them and place greater emphasis on our current challenges. Early in the journey, frugality was instrumental as a mindset to apply money in ways that maximize value and also to minimize spend, invest the difference, and jump start that investment compounding. Now that same strength is toxic and to be ridiculed? Let’s not throw the baby out with the bath water while trying to clean things up a bit. That’s kind of the general message here. Be well and thanks for reading 🙂

Thanks JSD, yeah it took me awhile to put my finger on it too. I hope you’ve been well and good to see that you’re still writing.

Hi Freddy good to hear from you. Those beach trips sound about perfect. Eating at the French Laundry has been on my list for about a decade and it was better than I had even hoped. I am huge into food but was worried that it might feel pretentious for my taste. Then we arrived and everyone was very relaxed and friendly. There was a 90’s rock playing softly in the background that could have been my own and it felt like being invited into a cool friends house except we had to pay a ridiculous amount of cash and our friends were suddenly food and wine geniuses. We did get the wine pairing with every course and somehow each glass was better than the last haha.

Though I miss your regular writing, I’m glad you’re out being awesome and focusing on living. Sounds like a better alternative for sure!