May 2023

Lisen… I’m done apologising for being late with my posts. It's you, not me. That's right sassy blogger coming back at you for another look at life and investments.

I’ve been pontificating a question for quite some time now. The question around how hard should we work while we aim toward FIRE? The question is as old as time and a few decades ago they believed we would all be lounging around while our robots cleaned up and did all the manual chores (that would be amazing kind of…)

The question is important and a little puzzling to me. On one hand, we have a very clear number in mind with very clear goals and timelines. (Our FIRE update post next month so stay tuned for that.) So I am constantly thinking and wondering about how I can reduce the time it is going to take for us to reach FIRE. What’s wrong with that? Well, I constantly find myself looking at ‘the next thing’ rather than enjoying the moment or exactly where I am. I recently celebrated my son’s first birthday and it feels like just the other day when I announced to you all that we are having another baby. Where did all that time go?

Sorry not sorry for letting you into my personal conundrum. So on the one hand I think it's good to look at ways to save more, optimize and even work harder to reach your number or ideal goal quicker. On the other, I am weary that I am ‘wishing my life away’. I think many people suffer from this, it might just be in a different form. For many it's probably ‘how long until we get to the weekend?’

Hullabaloo aside what's the big deal?

So the great question aside, let's take a look at how it impacts a lot of things. Well firstly from many places, news, social media, and awkward Uncle Jenkins we are told that we have to have a ‘work-life balance’. Hear me out I’m not saying you should work yourself to death on 100-hour weeks, however, I think you have to look at your goals and try to optimize. In the other week's post, we took someone from a very ‘normal’ paying job and they managed to reach FIRE in x years. So you can do it but my brain for better or for worse wants things now and not later. So I am always trying to get to our magic number faster.

I think you can break it down to the future planners vs the now people.

Future Planners

AKA me. And probably a lot of you if you read this blog on a regular basis. The future planner is great at analyzing well the future. Weather it be the next event, an investment portfolio increase, spreadsheets, etc. I think future planners are great and I usually tend to be drawn to them as we get each other. They want to be wealthy, I want to be wealthy NOW, so yea it works.

Like I’ve said though I wonder how many future planners there really are? I’ve had a few conversations in the past few months where I’ve seen the opposite. One of my best friends’ brother just wants to make a few extra bucks to have a beer with his mates on a Friday. Both of us were naturally like “Wait a minute, you don’t want to invest 30 - 50 percent of your income and live as frugally as possible for a decade or more?”

Seriously though, it got me thinking! And well here today I am openly sharing these thoughts. The constant struggle of needing to live in the moment but knowing what the future looks like is gnawing at my subconscious on a daily basis.

Now People

Now people. I know some now people and you can usually spot them by their carefree attitude and relaxed demeanor. Not always but they tend to be focused on weeks and days vs months and years.   I am both envious and frustrated by these people. They have the ability to usually take advantage of the moments in front of them as they float through life not worrying much about tomorrow.

I literally can’t relate as living like this would make my skin crawl. Anyone who knows me knows I can be over-analytical and I want to plan everything… I’m not the problem, it's the KIDS!

Now people tend to not look ahead to far. That would mean they are taken out of the moment. However, it often leads to people making decisions for the NOW rather than the future. It means they never look to build wealth, plan very far ahead of have a grand vision for their lives.

Somewhere in the middle might be right

I realise that on this blog I sometimes sound like Sweden during WW2. I am never completely for or against things. I do believe that balance is key to this area as well. To keep it practical, I try to make an effort every night when I put my little ones to bed. I try to take time with them and take in every moment. I don’t always achieve it but I know that in a few years they won’t need me to sit next to them and sing them a bedtime song. sad dad noises

I definitely also see the value in continually looking at our finances and investment strategy to optimize it for the future. I need to ensure we not only reach our goal, but we reach it as fast as possible. It is ironic in the sense that when we reach our goal I need to be good at living in the moment as we won’t need to go to the next workday if we didn’t want to.

So I want to encourage you. Make sure you are living in the moment but in the back of your mind, you know that you’ve planned for the future and you are making your way to FIRE.

Cool Things

🎮Games

Hey, we ended up playing the game in the end! Last month I mentioned that I bought a Tesla share as my friend said if I bought one he would finally play Crusader Kings with me! True to his word, we did. My Tesla share however is not doing so great… Was it worth a few hours of pretending to be a medieval lord? You bet your bottom it was.

📖Book Release

My book is releasing at the end of the month (EEEK). Yes Im getting a bit excited OK. It has been such a journey with so many great people involved to help make it possible. If you wanted to follow along and be part of the journey, you can check it out here.

As always, keep on the road! Love you all and as always, thanks for the support.