FIRE - The Unconventional Route, Especially If You Sense You Won't Be Able to Do the Work Thing Much Longer

When we Boomers were doctoral students in the late 1960s we mocked an outlier classmate who actually ate dog food instead of traditional fare. He invested his money in building a small export rug business. Long story short, he did a FIRE (Financial Independence Retire Early). Meanwhile, the rest of us struggled in the work world for raises/promotions and were throw into a tizzy if the boss seemed distant.

Currently, with jobs becoming so much more demanding and hard to get FIRE is on a lot of minds. And not as an aberration or fantasy. Those most in the know, such as the knocked-around techies on professional anonymous network Blind, discuss offbeat ways to do a FIRE.

For example, in this Blind post they recommend, like the doctoral student eating dog food, non-conventional types of living. They range from:

"Being homelessness is the new FIRE recipe."

to

"Live in your car and invest the surplus you save on rent in stonks. Better yet ditch the car and live under a bridge to save even more and invest even smarter. That’s the way geniuses do it."

In 2014, I didn't exactly want to put together a FIRE. Instead I needed - emotionally, physically and spiritually - a less demanding way to earn a good living when self-employed. What I did was perceived by some as radical. That is, I moved from a comfortable lifestyle in the New York Metro area to an efficiency apartment in what was then nowhere Tucson, Arizona. 

The cost of doing business as well as living fixed costs was peanuts. Eventually I was liberated from hustling to land clients for content-creation assignments to taking up the "family business" of being a faith-healer. For three years now I have been doing intuitive coaching and tarot reading. The pressure is low, the satisfaction high. I drive a Smart Car, which I bought with cash.

When AZ became more expensive I moved everything to the still-affordable Midwest. 

Admittedly it could seem almost impossible to those professionals lamenting on Reddit and Fishbowl about not being able to eventually fund an early way out because of the high cost of living in, for example, New York City. 

But the determined can and do pull it off. Remember the pile-on of roommates in college? Peanut button sandwiches? Gaining expertise in purchasing work-attire brands in used-clothing stores? 

They could also relocate, after they establish their credentials, to a geographical location where they can rent in a low-cost apartment complex and minimize other expenses. 

That is the whole LCOL (low-cost of living) strategy. Here is an article I published in O'Dwyer's on the pros and cons of that. For example, there are the possible tradeoffs, ranging from loss of prestige to overall reduced employment mobility. 

The hyper-achievers probably aim to get into a position where they never have to give up working.

Bob Iger tried retiring after the job of CEO was over at Disney. Then he got himself back in. Although law firm Paul Weiss is reported to have been considering who will take the job of chair after 64-year-old leader Brad Karp finishes out his contract, no watchers anticipate he will even go on to have a gap in his work history, the way Iger did. There will probably be a second and third career path.

 Although the titles are gone, the 90-somethings Rupert Murdoch and Warren Buffett still operate the levers of power and influence in business.

But, that's them. That might not be you. 

You might need an exit, the sooner the better. As with so many techies who have endured serial layoffs, all you might require is a bit of adversity to get serious about arranging a FIRE.

Rattled, maybe the first time since you started working? Faith-based Coaching. Special expertise with transitions, reskilling and aging. Psychic/tarot readings, upon request. Complimentary consultation with Jane Genova (Text 203-468-8579, janegenova374@gmail.com). Yes, test out the chemistry.