Dave @ Accidental FIRE
I reached financial independence and semi-retired in my mid-40's through hard work, smart living, and investing. This blog chronicles my journey and explores many aspects of personal finance including the psychological and behavioral factors that drive our habits.
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2024 Activity Tracker
Cycling: 5039 Miles
Running: 314 Miles
Hiking: 46 Miles
Paddling: 86 Miles
Climbing Days: 1
2023 Activity Tracker
Cycling: 5400 Miles
Running: 472 Miles
Hiking: 37 Miles
Paddling: 96 Miles
Climbing Days: 6
2022 Activity Tracker
Cycling: 5408 Miles
Running: 321 Miles
Hiking: 43 Miles
Paddling: 40 Miles
Climbing Days: 7
Turnip FIRE! Disclaimer:
Turnip FIRE! is like, real fake news. I mean, there’s fake news that’s meant to be real, and then fake news that’s meant to be fake. The fake news that’s meant to be real is like, actual fake news. Turnip FIRE! is fake fake news…. okay now I’m confused…. Anyhoo, don’t take any Turnip FIRE! stories seriously. Just don’t.
i still get my jollies several times every month. i guess the jollies are sort of like happiness. once a week a get a paycheck. 3 times a month some preferred stock ETF’s puke up some cash. ally interest lands around the 21st. chase points show up around the 2nd. they’re pretty well spread out with at least something to look forward to. then the dividends hit at times unknown and that’s a little surprise party.
Those two little blips on the right side are my occasional jollies 😉
Those two little jollies on the right probably had nothing to do with being FI. 😆 just saying…
Yes, the blips are when I remind myself I don’t have to worry about money. Good for a blip, but happiness is more than money. Thanks for stopping by!
Not buying it. I can’t see how being FI couldn’t or wouldn’t boost happiness more than that graph is showing. Seems to me like there are a lot of people out there who enjoy being miserable.
Well if you look close I have the “after-FI” line a wee bit higher. The point being, in my experience it makes me a little bit happier, but since money is not the focus of life, most of the missing happiness is non-monetary. I have lots to work on regarding family, relationships, charity, giving back, etc.
Thanks for stopping by!
I could see that. We all return our baseline of happiness…this is science! They say no matter how many good events or bad events you’ve been through, you will normalize, however, they do say that you can increase your happiness baseline. Honestly, that’s what I’m working on. 🙂
Me too Tonya, me too
Okay, just like Friday, I have to disagree for several reasons:
1) You became FI “accidentally”. So did your graph peak and you didn’t notice?
2) Most people actually don’t know when they become FI. That’s why there is so much discussion of safe withdrawal rates and “one more year” syndromes.
3) I think your graph is possibly true for another milestone, which is crossing the 1 Million dollar mark. I remember when we passed it, I told my husband to brace himself and not celebrate too much, because we would most likely cross that line over and over again, which we did. Hence the quick downturn on that graph!
4) And finally, Friday’s post was about summits, and happiness was implied. Is FI a false summit? I argued that is is a true summit. I believe ALL of our summits have a graph as you’ve drawn above. The happiness of any achievement fades quickly and we need to invent our next challenge! Yeah!
You’ve been ornery lately 🙂
To answer #1, my graph peaked when I found out I was FI, so technically “Reach FI” and “Find out you’re FI” are different but they were about the same $ amount. True that most don’t know when, but most also seem to be following the robotic 4%, so let’s use that 🙂
I think FI is a true “Money Summit”, but a false “Life Summit”. We can discuss at FINCON 😉
This is about right. FI didn’t make much difference to me. However, RE gave me a huge step up. Life is a ton better than before RE. Anyway, I think you need to make one for RE or add an RE point in the chart.
You’re right Joe, for those who do seek to retire from their w2 job it would be a much different graph. Even for me having just gone part time and semi-retired I’m much happier in that respect.
Much smaller scale, but this was definitely the case for my student loan payoff. Though I’d say the right side is a bit higher because the stress part is reduced.
Less stress should indeed create more happiness. I find it true most of the time but not always, weirdly.
Maybe FI doesn’t matter on its own,. Money in the bank doesn’t make someone happier.
But FI and RE definitely happier,
Definitely there are fewer dips or unhappy events like sleeping in until you get enough rest. Not driving in rush hour and not selling your time.
Then once you have enough FI, shopping without checking the price of things.
FI and RE (from a W2 job) should indeed make more happiness. If not then the RE part is probably the broken piece
FI is just a bunch of numbers. Can your assets now cover your expenses? Yes. Then congratulations you’ve reached FI, but this doesn’t change anything about your day to day life. I don’t even know what day my husband and I reached FI or became millionaires for that matter. FI will only make a difference if you take actions to change your life. Otherwise, in my opinion, it’s all just money in the bank and that in and of itself won’t make you any happier.
Singing “Can’t buy me love” from the Beatles right now… 🙂
Singing “Money” from Pink Floyd right now, just because I like it.
Great song!
Are you a millionaire if you have a million and a spouse? Would you need 2 million for that?
Ha – interesting question!
So…. does this mean that we should reach FI, then go back into debt again. Reach FI again, go back into debt again?
I want to keep getting the high of reaching FI 🙂
I was never in debt, ever 🙂 But no, I would not recommend that
Nice graph! I’m expecting to be excited when I reach FI, then I imagine things will return to normal not long after. I’m generally pretty happy anyway, so I don’t expect monumental changes. If this graph reflected the before and after of rescuing a dog, it’d look different — at least for me! 😉
Great idea – before and after rescue dog!
I’m FI and I have good days and bad day’s ad if before. I do get more stressed out from do many people asking for money. But with that said, the journey of investing in making good and bad decisions along the way was a fun ride. but if you wanted to really know what happiness is ,it’s to know you’re not always going to be happy.
great quote. kind of like one of my shirts – “the shortcut is: there is no shortcut”
Life is “hevel” you have to accept that its like chasing the wind if you want to control life you are bound to fail…simply celebrate the moment and life small daily victories and you will be happier …only death will free you from your unending chase…trust in the lord its the right thing to do…
Well said!
Being FI removes the day to day stress. But after reaching FI, I can attest that it becomes the new normal. Humans are remarkable at adaptations. Any positive or negative aspect become part of daily life. I often catchup with former coworkers to remind myself of the life I do not miss 🙂
So true, we can adapt to pretty much anything