2745: [Part 2] The Five Types of People You’ll Meet on Your Way to FI by FIRECracker of Millennial Revolution

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[00:01:16] from Optimal Living Daily. This is Optimal Finance Daily, episode 2745. The five types of

[00:01:25] people you'll meet on your way to fi. Part two by Firecracker of millennial-revolution.com. And I'm

[00:01:33] your host and personal finance enthusiast, Diana Merriam. Today's post is actually a continuation

[00:01:39] from yesterday. So if you're new here, it'd be best to listen to yesterday's episode first.

[00:01:44] But if you're all caught up, let's hear part two and continue optimizing your life. The five types

[00:01:54] of people you'll meet on your way to fi. Part two by Firecracker of millennial-revolution.com.

[00:02:03] Number four, the closeted fire. This type of person I was genuinely surprised to find.

[00:02:10] The closeted fire has actually read all the same fire blogs as you. They know what SWR stands for.

[00:02:17] They can discuss in detail the subtleties of the 4% rule. They can rattle off their favorite low

[00:02:24] cost index ETFs, but they don't because they don't want to admit that they're also trying

[00:02:29] to jump ship from their job too. It's a feeling I know well. When you're just starting out on

[00:02:35] your fire journey, it seems like such a pipe dream way off in the future. But as you actually

[00:02:41] execute on your fire plan and get closer and closer to your early retirement date,

[00:02:46] you start going, holy crap, this actually might work. And as you're getting within a few years

[00:02:51] of pulling the trigger, you start getting a little paranoid. Mentally, you start packing your bags

[00:02:57] and start picking out all the countries you want to go visit. But physically, you have to keep

[00:03:01] working for just a little while longer. And then the challenge becomes not letting it slip that

[00:03:06] you're planning on quitting. After all, if your employer found out you had one foot out the door,

[00:03:11] you can kiss goodbye to any bonuses or raises you would have gotten.

[00:03:16] You might even get fired, which could really throw a monkey wrench into your spreadsheets.

[00:03:21] So it sometimes happens that you discover another person at your workplace also following the path

[00:03:26] to fire. And they too are desperately trying not to get found out. It can come out in subtle ways,

[00:03:33] like in lunchroom conversations when people are discussing how to invest their retirement funds,

[00:03:39] and the closeted fire will reveal they prefer low-cost index ETFs rather than mutual funds.

[00:03:46] And then you'll jump in and go, oh, you know about index investing? Do you use Vanguard?

[00:03:51] At which point the closeted fire will freeze up and say, oh, Vanguard? Nope, never heard of them.

[00:03:57] Don't know what you're talking about. I think I hear someone calling me.

[00:04:00] Or you might walk by their cubicle and see Mr. Money Mustache's blog on their screen.

[00:04:05] Oh, you know Mr. Money Mustache? You might ask innocently, at which point they'll turn

[00:04:10] beet red, stammering, Mr. Money Mustache, this was just some spam someone sent me. Never heard

[00:04:16] of it. Doesn't look interesting anyway. I think I hear someone calling me.

[00:04:19] And at this point, every interaction turns into a shifty-eyed suspicious glaring contest.

[00:04:25] Does he know about FI? Does he know I know about FI? Does he know that I know that he knows about

[00:04:30] FI? But as awkward as this phase is, once you pull the trigger and quit, the closeted

[00:04:37] fire becomes quite relieved that they can finally drop the pretense and can often become.

[00:04:43] Number five, the genuine friend. A friend who is actually happy for you.

[00:04:50] Once they found out you're retiring, they became generally interested in how you got there

[00:04:54] and want to learn about how this whole investing thing works. If they were closeted firers before,

[00:05:00] they'll finally have someone to talk to about their own journey and will be grateful for

[00:05:04] your friendship as well. If they're anything like you, their family and friends also thought

[00:05:09] they were crazy. Their coworkers were also head-bashingly obsessed with houses and they

[00:05:14] probably felt alone in their journey as well. These are exceptional friends that you'll want

[00:05:20] to keep for life because these people, whether naturally a number five or a number four that

[00:05:25] graduated to a number five, are rarer than purple unicorns. These are your village and you'll need

[00:05:32] them as you embark on the next part of your journey. Obviously, number five, the genuine

[00:05:38] friend is the best but rarest type of all. We've met each of these five types of people on our path

[00:05:45] and whenever we actually meet a genuine friend, we're pretty shocked. Genuine friends are the

[00:05:50] best type of friends because they're the people who are happy with their lives and aren't trying

[00:05:55] to compete with you. Your happiness and success do not take away from theirs. Also, it's much easier

[00:06:01] to be a genuine friend yourself once you're happy and living a fulfilling life. That being said,

[00:06:07] I get that to some extent as human beings, it's hard for us not to be scared of something new.

[00:06:13] It's been around ever since our first caveman ancestors emerged from the woods with a flaming

[00:06:18] torch having mastered fire. Yeah, that fire seems okay, his fellow caveman would say,

[00:06:24] but I like being cold. Is he too good to be cold like me? He thinks he's so great with that fire,

[00:06:31] another caveman would chime in, but he doesn't know that the greatest joy in life is piles of

[00:06:36] rocks. I have more piles of rocks than him and that makes me a better caveman. His fire is stupid

[00:06:42] and pointless. You have piles of rocks, I want piles of rocks, can I buy your piles of rocks?

[00:06:49] Caveman real estate agent, I'm sorry, we will not be accepting offers for this pile of rocks

[00:06:54] until Wednesday. Please come prepared with your best offer and a certified check from

[00:06:58] caveman imperial bank of caveman. Hordes of cavemen with certified checks. So yes,

[00:07:07] on your way to fi, you will get haters, lots and lots of haters. Whether they're frenemies,

[00:07:12] whiners or hypocrites, they all secretly want you to fail and stay mediocre in order to justify

[00:07:19] their own mediocrity. Don't let that happen. Stick with the closeted firers and genuine friends.

[00:07:26] They are the ones who will lift you up, help you grow and applaud you when you become unstoppable.

[00:07:32] And the haters? Well, I have a very nice pile of rocks with their names on it.

[00:07:41] You just listened to part two of the post titled, The Five Types of People You'll Meet

[00:07:45] On Your Way To Fi by Firecracker of millennial-revolution.com and I'll be right back with

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[00:09:12] Looking to part ways with complicated, expensive, and uncertain shipping? Then give your business

[00:09:18] the edge it needs with USPS Ground Advantage shipping from the United States Postal Service.

[00:09:25] Keep everything simple with clear upfront pricing and no unexpected surcharges. Keep things

[00:09:31] affordable with some of the lowest prices out there, and keep it all reliable with on-time

[00:09:37] ground shipments. It's time to turn shipping to your advantage. Learn how at usps.com slash

[00:09:45] advantage. USPS Ground Advantage. Simple, affordable, reliable.

[00:09:52] I think genuine friends on the path to FI is a real game changer. This is why I created the

[00:09:58] Economy Conference, an annual gathering of hundreds of FIRE enthusiasts. I find that

[00:10:04] there's an instant sense of camaraderie that forms between people headed towards a common goal,

[00:10:10] and it makes the whole experience more fun. And it's incredibly rewarding for me as the organizer

[00:10:16] to watch these friendships form. Every single time I gather with FIRE friends, I leave with

[00:10:22] new ideas. It's like a shot of inspiration and human connection that I can't get anywhere else.

[00:10:28] And that's not to say we only talk about money all day. I find that typically money is just

[00:10:33] the tip of the iceberg of the other things we have in common. These events attract people who have

[00:10:39] expansive mindsets and are bent on living their best lives. Meeting them has helped me completely

[00:10:45] reimagine my path to financial independence, and they inspired the tagline for the Economy Conference,

[00:10:51] FI is better with friends. Well, that will do it for another episode of Optimal Finance Daily.

[00:10:58] I'll be back with more for you tomorrow. So have a great rest of your day,

[00:11:01] and I'll catch you on the Sunday show where your optimal life awaits.