Achieving Financial Independence On Defense Alone
Regular readers know I grew up on the seedy, crime ridden streets of Baltimore. In the 1970’s and 80’s baseball and football were basically religion in Baltimore.
We had the Orioles who were pretty much the best team in baseball from the mid 1960’s to the mid 1980’s. And we had the Baltimore Colts, who were a pretty darn good football franchise for much of that time.
The Colts moved to Indianapolis in 1983, and we didn’t get an NFL team back until 1996 with the Ravens. I didn’t warm to the Ravens right away as I was deep in the mess of my functional alcoholism at that time.
In the 2000 NFL season the Ravens won the Superbowl. More specifically their defense won the Superbowl. That year the Ravens defense set the record for the least points allowed to their opponents in a 16 game season. They allowed only 165 points in total, which comes out to 10.3 per game. The record still stands and that defensive team is regarded by most as the best ever in NFL history.
Their offense? It kinda sucked. They went five straight games without scoring an offensive touchdown – and still won the Superbowl! The 2000 Baltimore Ravens proved that defense alone can win a Superbowl.
I Hate Football Dave, Get To The Point
A while back I wrote a post about dreaming big and why everyone should do it. It’s been my most successful post this year so far and as always my wonderful readers provided some great comments.
One comment from Dave at Filled With Money stood out to me because he took a contrarian approach to the message in my post. He wrote:
You never know! By not dreaming big, you quite literally have nothing to lose. However, when you dream big, you are more prone to disappointment if you don’t reach your goals and therefore could have gotten discouraged along the way. Either way, things turned out amazing for you and you are now in a position that people would chop off their left hand to be in.
I chewed on his comment for a while. In the end, I think he’s correct in saying that someone who had little or no dreams, like me, really had nothing to lose.
While on a run a few days later I thought about it more and it occurred to me that having no dreams is akin to playing defense in life.
I couldn’t fail at dreams I didn’t have. That was a pretty good defensive strategy, albeit an unintentional one. If I were a football team as a younger person I was basically the 2000 Ravens, all defense and no offense.
Playing offense in life would be having big dreams and goals, and going for it. In football an offense strives to move the ball downfield to score points. In life that would be like dreaming of becoming a doctor, then putting in the work of med school and residency to finally cross the end zone and become one. Touchdown.
I had no offensive game. There wasn’t a quarterback anywhere to lead the team. No wide receivers to catch a pass. And no kicker to try a field goal.
But damn I played good defense.
Defense Can Work
When you’ve got nothing you’ve got nothing to lose
– From “Like a Rolling Stone”, by Bob Dylan
The 2000 Baltimore Ravens proved that a stellar defense can win a Superbowl, with virtually no offense. And I proved that playing defense in life – whether it was intentional or total happenstance – can still result in a successful life and even financial independence. I did pretty good for myself, with no dreams to shoot for.
But as I wrote in the original post, I still wonder if I under performed. I wonder if I at least tried to put an offensive team on the field and maybe kick a field goal or two how much more could I have won by?
Dave’s comment to my post isn’t wrong per se, it’s just another way of thinking about the topic of dreaming about goals in life. I still think dreaming big is better. It offers more adventure and hope. Hope is a powerful thing. And while having dreams and goals presents more risk and uncertainty, specifically the risk of being let down by failure, it’s probably a far more exciting journey to go on.
Just like a 38 – 35 football game is more exciting than a 10-3 one.
My unintentional defensive strategy in my younger years was boring (besides the crazy partying etc..). But the foundation of my defense was hard work. I always had a job, always showed up on time, and always worked hard. The persistent repetition of that strategy over time worked wonders for me.
Defense wound up delivering dreams I never dreamt.
Great football analogy for financial success. Defense can certainly win championships especially if it playing at an elite level. Similarly an elite offense can have similar results (99 rams and the greatest show on turf comes to mind).
I do think the course is harder for the elite defense path but you definitely have proven it can work
Ah the greatest show on turf, I remember that. Yes it’s harder for a defense-focused team with no offense, but it’s been done
As a football fan, I like the analogy. I do think not having dreams and therefore having nothing to lose is like going through life without a plan or any goals. People would just be drifting through life without any control or direction. To me, it’s better to reach high and miss than to never reach at all. Second place is much better than 🤷♂️ in my opinion.
I’ll take second place any day of the week. assuming there’s more than 2 people playing 🙂
knowing a good bit of your history, dave, i would say that you getting an early and consistent start in saving/investing made it easy to win with defense. had you gotten your money act together much later like some you might have needed at least a few field goals on the yellow brick road to financial freedom. i’m glad you didn’t need it.
i felt like we needed it in my house with our later start. offense for us was taking on some individual stock risk in order to boost returns for a few years. we needed to be dan marino for a few years and thankfully it worked out well. i think it would have been a more relaxing journey to do it your way but you can’t go back and do your 20’s and early 30’s over!
Love it dude, you ran with the analogy. I agree, had I not started investing early a defensive strategy would have been very detrimental. You’ve been running a high-octane offense after a late start, with some hurry-up, razzle-dazzle, and trick plays thrown in. A flea flicker back to Marino is probably a devastating play guaranteed to get the ball downfield.
Like a pitching duel in baseball, not as much fun but equally effective.
#GoBraves
Yep, I kind of enjoy low scoring football games with great defense or pitchers duels in baseball for the sheer skill involved. But I’m not gonna say they’re more exciting
Fritz, I am not a Braves fan. Cubs are my team. But I do thank Atlanta deeply for eliminating the Dodgers. And since I hold it against the Astros for their sign stealing a few seasons ago….I am pulling for your Braves. 1/4 towards their goal! 🙂 Have a great time building dog houses…are you taking wifey on any fall RV camping trips?
I definitely had ambition and a goal when it came to my career. And I achieved exactly what I wanted and the nice income that came along with it. But we were also fairly frugal and controlled the costs of big expenses like a house, education and cars. I think having what was, for me, a big dream definitely helped me achieve it and made my life and my family’s better for it. Or maybe not, maybe I’d be just as happy without the career success. You only get to live life once, it is really hard to know how it would have worked out if you took a different path.
You’re a classic case of a big dreamer who went on to achieve and reap the rewards. Well done dude!
You know what they say – offense wins games defense win championships. It’s harder to maintain good offense all the time. Income can fluctuate and it will go down when you’re older. But you can keep being frugal.
I don’t have big dreams. I guess it’s just my personality, but I don’t think I’m missing much. I’d rather enjoy the little things in life.
“offense wins games defense win championships” I should have remembered that phrase for this post, thanks Joe!
I never really thought about it that way, but it makes sense and I’m doing something similar. I don’t really have huge career ambitions, I just like to do science in the lab. Keeping a low profile, showing up, doing the work seems like a winning strategy. It reminds me of the story of that janitor who retired with millions because he just kept investing his whole life.
Yeah, defense is really important in football and in life. The 2019 Ravens were awesome, until they weren’t… you can go your whole career killing it just to strike out at the end and be left with nothing if you didn’t save.
Ah yes, that first season with Lamar. They were 14-2 if I recall and a powerhouse going into the playoffs. Until they weren’t, as you said. This year they look great again but I think their defense could use some tightening up.
As for your career, sounds like a winning strategy to me. Just keep showing up and as Cal Newport says, be so good they can’t ignore you. Thanks for stopping by Dom!
Yeah, isn’t saving and investing the ultimate defense to life? FIRE is pretty much a defensive game, obviously we need the luck of a bull market, but minimizing unneeded expenses and optimizing the household finances are a recipe for success in themselves. Good offense takes a bit of luck to come out on top, the ball bouncing your way, staying healthy, etc. Your post has me thinking of my Niners in recent years, I think I’d rather take the defensive Harbaugh Niners over this sporadic Shanahan offensive trickery any day.
Yes – the defensive Harbaugh niners were pretty damn good, great comment!
You met your financial goals in a somewhat happy-go-lucky, roundabout, serendipitous and “accidental” way, but is there anything else you want out of life? At least you admit you don’t truly pursue your dreams, because that might imply failure. Ouch.
I didn’t say that I didn’t pursue my dreams, I said I didn’t have any dreams – very different. And yes I’m gearing up for my second act in life, and when I do have dreams, believe me I pursue them!
Love the Dylan quote. While not a big football fan this is a very nice analogy for “Defensive FI”. It actually poses and interesting question – If it was forced choice between offensive or defensive, which would be the better/more effective strategy for FI? I’d actually go with defensive. In any event, stoked that you made it to your current, awesome place in life.
I think the better strategy would be dependent on the person. Mine clearly worked for me but as I wrote, I’m not sure how my offensive team would have done had I had one
The best teams are typically those that excel at both offense and defense. You can clearly win either way, the Ravens proved that. There have been many years that great Offenses. Recently the Saints, Packers, and Chiefs come to mind. But man if you can channel both, that is where it is at. And football aside, I try to find that balance in life. I’ve taken big shots and had big dreams, my offense. But I am also perfectly fine to play defense when I need to – FIRE is just that – I agree with Noel and Mr. Fate that FIRE is defense, and you can and certainly have won playing that game. Cheers!
Yes it’s best to have a strong team on both sides, that’s a guaranteed win
The concept of life offense vs defense is curious.
I’m relatively defensive. Went to school, worked hard, finished grad school, got a (very lucrative but normal) salaried job, saved all my money, bought a house I could easily afford, drove used cars.
My friend is a serial entrepreneur trying to be the next Elon Musk. Brilliant, started multiple companies, works tirelessly.
He’s going paycheck to paycheck off the same salary as me and I’m internet-FI, but if and when one of his companies gets acquired or goes public he’ll do well very well.
Would I do anything differently? Probably not. My quality of life is higher. His success is not assured and will continue to be a wild ride. Do I sometimes wish I went bigger? Sure. But so far, lottery mentalities only occasionally pay off. Good defensive strategies pay off almost immediately.
Overall, I think everybody should have a good defense. It limits life tail events. Most people should also dream bigger, but personalities vary and not everybody can start the next Amazon. Being average in the FI space makes you a positive outlier in society.
Wow what a comment Bob! “Being average in the FI space makes you a positive outlier in society.” – that’s a mic drop line and I agree fully! And thanks for the example of your friend, it sounds like what he’s doing fits his personality, but as you say your quality of life is better, and ultimately that what it comes down to. Cheers, and keep playing defense!
Defense wins SuperBowls but it does not get you there.
True, but in the case of the 2000 Ravens their defense was so dominant it both got them there and won it!
Good points made about if you don’t dream big you can’t be disappointed, but I think if you set the goals and still don’t achieve them, you still learn. And learning is what a lot of people find fulfilling in life. Kind of like in the Psychology of Money, they talk about saving like a pessimist but investing like an optimist. I’m not about the hustle to always be looking for the next win, but some people get a thrill out of that, and that mentality is what’s given us a lot of great things in society.
Very true Gary, great point. Failure should lead to learning and lessons, and thus wisdom. And those same folks do create some of the big breakthroughs in the world, I’m glad those folks exist!
As a competitive tennis player, I generally play defense about 70% of the time to keep the ball in the court. And then I patiently wait for my moment to strike. That short return gets punished. Or that terrible lob gets put away at the net. Their opportunities are always there. You just have to be patient. That’s what I teach my high school kids as a high school tennis coach as well.
Sooner or later, you’ve got to play some offense and take the chance!
Sam
Great comment Sam, I like the tennis link. I feel I’m now making moves to takes chances on offense with my business and shift to the creative arts, but I needed that huge defensive edge first to feel secure about it.