How can you accelerate the boring middle on the path to reaching your financial independence goals? Online FIRE communities are full of posts talking about the challenges of “the messy middle” and, “the long boring middle.” Eric and Jason discuss the topic from their pre- and post-FI viewpoints, sharing their own experiences.
Show notes may be found below the video
Show Notes
Essential Background:
- Every FIRE journey is different. In this episode, we talked about we came to this community later in our careers. For more on that, our financial backgrounds, and much more, you’ll definitely want to watch these two early episodes: Our Financial Past and Our FIRE Present and Two Careers, Two Paths to Financial Independence.
- Are you up to speed on Jason’s post-FIRE experiences? If not, check out our episodes centered on his milestones to date: What I Learned in My First Year of “Early Retirement (1 year), My New Life: Two Years After Early Retirement (2 years), and Finding My Way in Early Retirement: A 30 Month Check-In (2.5 years).
We referenced several Reddit posts in this episode. For more on that, check out these links – and don’t forget to see the comments, where you’ll often find good value in the many different viewpoints in our community:
- Tips for getting through the boring middle
- Anything else I can do to accelerate the boring middle?
- What are your FI milestones? Let’s make the boring middle less boring
If you DO like tracking FI milestones, free resources like Empower (formerly Personal Capital) can make that a lot easier. We both use and really like this free tool for tracking investment accounts, understanding asset allocation + rebalancing opportunities, and monitoring net worth. Empower employs a simple account linking process to make it a more automated experience. Give it a try risk-free! (affiliate link; free program )
The Tail End is the great Wait But Why post that we discussed in this episode. We wholeheartedly recommend it as a must-read for anyone – but be prepared for some thought provoking stuff!
Die with Zero: Getting All You Can from Your Money and Your Life by Bill Perkins – which Jason did end up reading! – is discussed often in the FIRE community, so no surprise it came up in this episode. It’s intended as a “practical guide on how to get the most out of your money—and out of your life”. If you like the aim of prioritizing memorable experiences far ahead of simply accumulating money for later in life, you’ll definitely want to check it out.
Have you checked out the Two Sides of FI Discord server? If you’re not familiar, this is an instant messaging social network. Ours is meant to be a community for viewers of our show, as well as a space to discuss all things relation to FIRE. It’s totally open, free of charge, and is anonymous as you’d like. This makes it a safe space to talk about financial topics you might otherwise be sensitive about sharing. Come check it out and see if it fits your interests! There are both desktop and mobile apps available.
Did you know Jason resumed blogging? To be notified of his future posts, please consider subscribing here. He’s also archived his old blog, which documents the first 1.5 years after he retired from his career, and started even before Two Sides of FI began. Get more information on those archived posts here.
You can find information on the tools we mention in each episode along with additional information in the Resources section of this site.
- Eric’s business: 30X40 Design Workshop
- Jason’s blog: the next phase is now
- Eric’s YouTube Channel
- Our podcast