Thread

1. vasco · 1790226601 · focus · HN ↗

   How much money do you need to allow yourself to be happy and start experiencing life?

   How can people not see FIRE is just a way to make you postpone what you want to do? Who cares what you can do when you're old and full of pains?

   1. skybrian · 1790227245 · focus · HN ↗

      Why not both? Depending on what you make, it’s often possible to enjoy life and also spend less than you earn. You are enjoying life like someone with a lower salary would.

      1. globular-toast · 1790237222 · focus · HN ↗

         Yeah, but money is a hell of a drug and the advertising industry is doing everything it can to tell you how unhappy you are and keep you as a wage slave.

         The actual list of things you need is quite small: water, food, shelter, clothes, company. But if you talk to your average wage slave the list of things is huge: massive house, smart dishwasher, new car, all-inclusive holidays, dog etc. And this is before you even get to things you want!

         It's very hard to resist the hedonic treadmill. Ad blocking is a key, and that includes any media with subtle advertising in it like car and tech channels etc. If you can avoid this stuff, you can definitely be happy with a fraction of what a lot of people think they can't live without.

      2. vasco · 1790244583 · focus · HN ↗

         Yeah but that's just what most people do. FIRE extends into visions of grandeur and too much focus on the money. The hobby becomes getting to FIRE. And then what?

         1. skybrian · 1790256923 · focus · HN ↗

            There are people who don’t save money at all and people who save a lot more than average, which is a whole lot easier with a high income. With the right mindset, it’s not much of a hardship.
   2. globular-toast · 1790227733 · focus · HN ↗

      Well, FIRE is about retiring before you're old. But really this is an idea for people with insanely high salaries that you commonly see in the US. It's for when you're earning several multiples more than you need to "be happy". All it's really saying is if you resist lifestyle inflation and the hedonic treadmill you can still be happy your whole life but be financially independent much earlier. It's not really about people earning close to median and living in poverty their whole life so they can retire.

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