In a growing number of career paths we professionals are aging in dog years.
By time we are in our 50s, too often we sit at our desks and daydream about how we can retire.
Yet, the cool new way of doing that - FIRE (financial independence, retire early) - seems beyond our grasp. We assume it's too late to get FIREd up.
Wrong.
Radical savings can produce, within a few years, the option to shift to no work, a different type of work, or the same work but according to our own terms and conditions. The big misunderstanding is that FIRE indicates stopping working entirely. It may or may not.
More good news is that there is no one way to get FIREd up. After all, we are all different. And where we can adopt extreme frugality is therefore different for each of us.
One lawyer I coached after he was released from prison launched an online business off the grid in a cabin in Oregon. The only concessions to the modern age have been the electricity for the digital devices and what it takes for internet access.
Me? My version of FIRE involved first paying down six-figure debt. The universe was smiling on me. It was before the real estate and global financial crashes. The house in West Hartford, Connecticut sold for a nice profit. High paying work came my way.
The debt out of the way, I had the option to go totally FIRE.
The dog and I took the I-95 ramp out of expensive CT to the dirt-cheap desert of Arizona. That was after we donated all our worldly goods, including his boxes of toys, to charity. That enabled me to choose what assignments I would accept - telecommuting, of course.
Soon enough I had saved enough to return as far east as I was willing to pay for. That has been Ohio. I missed the four seasons.
The next phase of FIRE will be to migrate next fall to a U.S. town on the border of Mexico.
My rent will be a third-less of what I pony up now.
Also my choice of assignments will expand because I will have access to all the western states (time zones matter) as well as enterprises in Mexico.
There, I can cross the border to Nogales, Mexico for dental tourism. Replacing any of my aging crowns will cost about a third what U.S dentists charge.
Recreationally, I can see the U.S. in my (2010) Chevrolet. I hate airplanes, which also seem unduly expensive.
However, you may not want to embrace FIRE.
It's not for everyone.
One 50-something vice president of whatever I coached continues to spend lavishly on his avocation - classic cars. So far, he has been able to do that without destroying his health or his marriage. But, no, he doesn't like his job. That he can blow off.
We are all different. I couldn't shake off doing assignments I didn't find stimulating.
Coaching and Thought Leadership Ghostwriting about Issues Associated with Aging.
Complimentary consultation, sliding scale fees. Please contact Jane Genova at janegenova374@gamil.com.
Comments