We just celebrated 4th of July and put an end to the first, merciless half of 2020. The litany of events reads like a decade of incredible crises crammed into only 6 months. We’ve somehow survived a standoff with Iran, the impeachment and acquittal of an American president, civil unrest and protests (Hong Kong —these are still ongoing!– and of course the subsequent Black Lives Matter protests in the US), the death of Kobe Bryant, and Bernie Sanders dropping out of the Democratic presidential primary. Oh, and that was only through April. Then…..COVID-19.
As of this writing, more than 3 million Americans have contracted the virus while –tragically– 130,000+ of our citizens have succumbed to it. This is to say nothing of the mass unemployment, stock market turmoil, and complete confusion and chaos from our botched government response to the coronavirus. The past week has been a challenging one for me, mentally. The realization that this recovery is going to be long and uncertain. The recognition that our elected officials are ill-equipped to handle this crisis, ambivalent towards it, or have (worse) politicized the health and well-being of our fellow countrymen has sadly sunk in. More close-to-home, the fact that our kids will likely not go back to school or (if they do) it will be short-lived at best and that summer as we know it is unofficially “over” has been a particularly tough pill to swallow. What will the next year look like if I’m responsible for not only my job responsibilities but also the education of my kids? How can we juggle this indefinitely? How does my job even work if I can’t meet with people face-to-face for the next 6-12 months? Will I have a job if this persists? How will I stay sane and keep my family safe and healthy if this extends indefinitely? Like many of you, I’ve felt a bit of everything over the past week: depression, ennui, sadness, and a lack of hope.
AND YET….
I write this with a heart full of gratitude and peace. My family and I –thankfully– remain healthy and secure in the confines of our home. Unlike so many others, we are not confined to a small apartment and have a yard available and parks nearby to get some fresh air or to clear our heads. My kids have been fantastic – total troopers and willing to go with the flow and to take this thing on day-by-day. My wife has been an absolute rock – steady and focused in the eye of a hurricane. As we say in the D’Amico household:
“Who’s got it better than us?”
“NOBODY!”
….we are indeed the luckiest, most grateful people in the world.
BUT WHAT DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH FIRE?
A huge part of my piece-of-mind is knowing that we have a plan. There are bigger things driving us forward and major goals that we will be achieving over the next 18 months, with or without COVID-19. Some of these are personal, but a lot of them are financial. By keeping our eye on the prize, we can avoid the everyday monotony and frustration of quarantine and instead stay focused on the big picture.
While we’re not quite there yet, we are very close to true financial independence that will unshackle us from the confines of standard employment and the restrictions that go along with it. Truth be told, if we were willing to accept a lesser lifestyle, we would already be there, but instead we’ve chosen the FatFIRE path –a life of abundance and limited compromises– on our terms.
Knowing that we are on the precipice of a new lifestyle with tons of flexibility (that should hopefully coincide with the return to normalcy post-COVID-19) is hugely encouraging. For me, it provides something of value to work on and refine every day. Better yet, it provides us a tremendous sense of calm to know that we are on sound financial footing during uncertain times. Should one of (or, god forbid, both of) us lose our jobs in this environment, we would survive. Unlike so many American families living paycheck-to-paycheck, we would be able to meet our financial obligations for months without any serious repercussions. It would not be ideal and it certainly would cause us to reprioritize things and push back many of our goals, but we would survive. FIRE would give us what so many crave: options.
WHY NOW?
I don’t say any of this as a slap in the face to the many people that are working so hard just to stay afloat right now. This is not a humble-brag. Instead I want this to be an inspiration to people who are interested in the FIRE lifestyle. While things seem terrible right now in the world writ large, this is not our first crisis, nor will it be our last.
Our family is currently benefitting from the seeds we planted years ago. It’s taken a lot of hard work and focus to get where we are. That said, I wouldn’t change anything. We’re on the cusp of huge things because of the sacrifices we’ve made and the path we’ve chosen. So I ask you:
- is the FIRE lifestyle right for you?
- if so, what is holding you back from starting your FIRE journey?
- what steps (even small ones) can you make right now –in the toughest of times– to make the next crisis easier to weather?
There is no better time than now. Or in the words of one of my favorite quotes:
“The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.”
–ancient Chinese proverb
