The Plan - Summary
The F+FIRE plan is to:
1.
Find, build, and contribute to an amazing friend group.
2.
We all live frugally in our 20’s,
3.
so we can buy houses in the same neighborhood in our 30’s,
4.
and retire in our late 40’s early 50’s (if we want to).
5.
Then start helpful startups, a new renaissance, and initiatives for human flourishing.
The Plan - In Detail
1. Find, connect, and cultivate an amazing friend group
1.
Collect people who share the same priorities, greatly value their friends, and are high achievers. They are exceptional at empathy, initiative, and eagerness to grow.
2.
Explore our synergistic skill sets, careers, and interests that can be used to do amazing things.
3.
Work on those things, keep up with each other, and introduce each other to the great people we know.
2. We all live frugally in our 20’s,
1.
Live frugally. Save ~30 to ~50k each year into our individual investments (S&P500, Roth IRA, Real Estate, etc)
2.
Prioritize friendship, keep up with each other, and host and contribute to events and meetups.
3.
Do this for ~10 years.
3. so we can buy houses in the same neighborhood in our 30’s,
1.
Scout out different places to live where flourishing is easy.
2.
Select the homebase city.
3.
Resume working there
4.
Buy houses, big or small, in the same neighborhood there.
5.
Work for another ~10 years in that city.
4. and retire in our ~40’s (if we choose to).
1.
If we save up ~300k to ~500k by the time we’re 35, then we’ll easily have twice that by the time we’re 49
2.
At that point we could probably retire if we wanted to. (See below on this though)
5. Then start helpful startups, a new renaissance, and contribute to global human flourishing.
1.
If we’re motivated enough to make it to this point, we will naturally find joy in working to make things better. So we will want to work on projects to make the world a better place.
2.
What this looks like is up to us. From startups to social work, from philosophy to poetry, there are so many possibilities on what we could collaborate on to make this world a better place.
Is this lifestyle for you?
This lifestyle definitely isn’t for everyone. It requires a lot of hard work and frugality up front.
Due to how much you’d have to save, it likely requires you to have a degree in STEM, the trades, or entrepreneurial experience.
It also requires exceptional frugality, especially in the first 10-15 years after graduation. Unless you’re a minimalist with a well paying job, saving 30k to 50k a year will be hard.
I’m in Engineering, would be fine living at home, and I’m a minimalist. This is practically an ideal combination for making FIRE possible.
If you want to do FIRE too, it’s important to know that:
1.
Those who retire early are also those that can’t sit still in retirement. They’ll be working on something. Business, art, philosophy, mentorship, etc.
2.
FIRE without friends is a recipe for loneliness. By the time you FIRE, unless your friends also FIRE or have high time-off jobs, it will be hard to go on trips or work on projects with them.
3.
Usually, people who do FIRE don’t have kids.
But at the same time, if you do F+FIRE then you get to retire early in good health, go on trips with friends, work on projects together, and enjoy the freedom offered by having the money part taken care of.
Is it worth it?
absolutely yes—at least for me.
But the money part is not as easy as the friends part. Society encourages you to work, find your passion, “hustle” and “grind”—but when it comes to finding great friends, society says you’re on your own. No guidance, no advice.
That’s why I’m committing myself to working to be a world class friend. It’s like being a world class athlete, intellectual, or businessperson—but much more rewarding for my goals.
So if living well looks like F+FIRE for you too, then let me know. I’d love to meet people who want to turn this plan into a reality.
Who is this a good match for?
This is a good match for people who want to make great friends, work on projects, and retire early. For this, they are glad to pay the up-front cost of investing in friendships, working hard, living frugally, and not having kids in their 20’s.
It’s for people who see the difference in priorities between F+FIRE and FIRE alone. They want to make great friends who also want to do FIRE, and are mildly terrified of the idea of neglecting friendships at the expense of making money. To them, A lonely utopia is also a depressing one.
And finally, if it comes down to it, they’d rather be middle class with great friends, than upper class with no friends.
When it comes to their friends, they’re intentional about keeping up, deliberate about planning or contributing to events, and are equally skilled in both giving and receiving constructive criticism.
As far as money is concerned, they’re mid to high level earners, frugal, and keen on putting most of their paycheck into savings and investment. They’re okay with living like a college student for another 10 years after graduation.
People who usually like this plan:
After introducing this plan to a variety of people, I’ve noticed a pattern of who usually likes it.
Most of the time, their top priorities are Health, Friends, Family, and Money. The majority of them share the sentiment that Money helps to buy freedom, but not happiness. Having money also reduces the stress of unexpected expenses, accidents, and fixing things.
When it comes to personality types, the ones most drawn to this are
•
OCEAN: High O,C,E, medium to high A, medium to low N
•
Enneagram: 3w2 or 3w4 or 2w3 or 4w3
•
Myers Briggs: ExxJ, INxJ, ENTP
Additionally, most of them often share these 10 characteristics:
1.
A frugal, high achiever, that’s intentional about contributing to great friendships.
2.
An authentic person. They have high empathy, initiative, and are very easy to talk to.
3.
Constantly working on new projects, and finishes them most of the time.
4.
Journals, self reflects, and immensely values constructive criticism.
5.
Always seeking new and creative ways to help themselves and others grow, develop, and flourish.
6.
Out of the box in some way. Their definition of success is different from society’s definition of success, or has otherwise realized that society’s pre-prescribed path won’t allow them to live their best possible life.
7.
They don’t have social media—except for their business if they happen to have one.
8.
They want their friends to succeed. A win for any of their friends is a win for them too.
9.
They don’t want kids, and although they love pets, they can find them to be a constraint on their freedom to travel.
10.
They love long walks, deep conversations, and novel ideas.
Is this you?
Interested in being a part of the F+FIRE plan? I’d love to get tea to hear your thoughts in person!