Forget FIRE; Why I Embraced FISE Instead

My buddy Mark over at My Own Advisor made it official this week, announcing to everyone that he’s transitioning away from full-time work. He’ll work a part-time schedule through October, and then figure out where life takes him after that.

Mark has been working hard towards his goal of FIWOOT for years, and I’m thrilled that he’s finally able to experience a life without the stress of full-time work. Part-time work just hits different; there’s something freeing about knowing that you can just walk away. That doesn’t exist with full-time work, at least not in my experience.

I’ve spent some time discussing the whole FIRE movement with Mark (and countless others) over the last decade or so, and my thinking has changed quite a bit over the years.

In today’s edition of the newsletter let’s discuss that further, including why I embraced FIRE after years of skepticism and why I prefer FISE instead.

Introduction to FIRE

I was introduced to FIRE at the same time as most everyone else who was interested in personal finance.

It was the early 2010s, and North America was still reeling from the 2008-09 financial crisis. Stock markets were recovering, but still on shaky ground. Unemployment was improving, but most folks didn’t really feel secure their jobs would be there in a few years. Governments were starting to embrace austerity after bailing out so many.

In hindsight it was a terrific time to invest, but it sure didn’t feel like it at the time.

My introduction to FIRE was two-fold. I, like everyone else, was first introduced to the concept by Mr. Money Mustache, a Colorado-based blogger who saved aggressively, invested in a combination of index funds and real estate, and parlayed a lucrative tech career into something approaching a $1M net worth.

That was enough, he decided, and so he hung up the ol’ skates. Instead he’d dabble in other interesting projects, maybe build a house or three, and teach people exactly how he did it.

Around that same time I read Early Retirement Extreme by Jacob Lund Fisker. Fisker retired in his late-20s to a lifestyle where he spent less than $10,000 per year. The sacrifices Fisker made to become “financially independent” were laughable, since the existence he advocated for in ERE was barely better than experiencing homelessness. Suggestions he made (with a straight face, too) included pitching a tent in your living room to avoid using central heat, washing your clothes in a bucket, and using baking soda as toothpaste. And those were the best parts too; the rest was the author arguing that modern day living has made us all soft. He also said that beating the S&P 500 was so easy that anyone could figure out how to do it, but didn’t elaborate any further.

In short, my first exposure to FIRE consisted of a person who was clearly still working — negating the RE part of FIRE — and a person who was so desperate for independence he was willing to live like a hobo. No wonder I didn’t care for it.

The FIRE movement goes mainstream

Encouraged by the success of the Mr. Money Mustache blog, dozens of other “early retirees” decided to share their own journey on the internet.

These folks almost always had a similar story. When you really dug into the meat of the potato, you discovered that they weren’t financially independent at all. These folks had simply changed careers and now blogging was responsible for a large portion of their monthly income.

(It was ridiculously easy to make money blogging in the early 2010s. I turned my personal finance blog into a decent part-time income source while not taking it seriously at all)

I had nothing against folks trying to make a little bit of extra money online. Hell, I was doing the same thing. What I disliked was how it was very clear these folks weren’t actually retired. They had simply changed careers, and were now slaves to a different master. Instead of pleasing a boss, these folks were controlled by Google’s algorithm, a piece of software that decided where their website would rank.

I remember my least favourite was (name withheld), a stay-at-home parent who decided they were retired even though their spouse continued to work. I lacked the flexibility to see anything but the worst interpretation of this situation, and made a blanket declaration that all FIRE bloggers were frauds. Especially this person.

At this point I still enjoyed work. I had pivoted away from a traditional career and was making a living as a freelance writer. Demand exceeded supply in the space back then, and I was busy — but I still had the flexibility to control my own schedule. Why would I ever want to retire from this, I thought. This is pretty sweet.

I loved the FI part of the FIRE movement. I just didn’t get the RE part, especially when so many people who embraced the movement didn’t actually retire.

Nelly sees the light

Fast-forward to a few years ago, and my life had changed a little bit.

My wife and I moved from a small town to a much larger city. I had taken a regular job with more responsibility than freelance writing, which included a lot more rigid schedule. It started off great, but I pushed myself too hard and burned out.

I had saved and invested aggressively for decades at this point, mostly fueled by two things. Firstly, I loved it. Analyzing investments was fun, and I would’ve happily buried my nose in annual reports all day. It was a puzzle, but a puzzle with a nearly infinite number of solutions.

Secondly, it was just what you were supposed to do. You saved and invested to get ahead, so you could afford to retire one day. I never thought about what would happen once I became financially independent. First it was this lofty goal that remained out of reach. And once I got closer, I brushed it off. Why should I worry about this, I thought. I’m enjoying work.

Until one day when I really wasn’t.

Suddenly, early retirement seemed like a realistic outcome. I tracked my dividend income religiously, and I knew I had enough passive income for a comfortable retirement. Having so much of my portfolio in dividend growth stocks virtually guaranteed that my passive income would grow faster than inflation over time, and I could easily put in other safeguards as well.

At this point I allowed my mind to finally wander. I started thinking a lot about what an early retirement would look like, and I realized something. I didn’t hate work; I hated work on someone else’s terms. Suddenly the FIRE movement made more sense to me. These folks weren’t running away from work, they were running away from overtime, working weekends, or office politics. I was one of them now.

Embracing FISE

Mark figured this out years earlier than I did, and he came up with a solution. He invented FIWOOT, which is Financial Independence Work on Own Terms.

It’s a great concept I agree with wholeheartedly. Rather than refusing to work at all during “retirement”, FIWOOT allows someone to become financially independent and still work some during their golden years.

What it really does is give someone permission to pursue a passion project with a massive safety net to fall back on. Canadian Dividend Investing is such a project, and it would look very different if I was trying to maximize revenue. For instance, you’ll notice that this newsletter doesn’t have a single ad. There are no affiliate links inserted into posts, either.

Basically, I’m able to create exactly what I want because I waited to become financially independent before embarking on this passion project. If it doesn’t work out as a business, who cares. I’m more interested in being able to build exactly what I want, with zero pressure to cave to what I view as unreasonable demands.

I wanted to put a label on that feeling, and Mark already came up with FIWOOT. So I choose FISE instead, which stands for Financial Independence Selfish Employment.

I love the term selfish employment, and I think it suits what I’m doing to a T. I’m building something, for myself, and I’ll continue to do so until I’m no longer enjoying it. But the real beauty is I can step away for weeks at a time if I’d like.

I think it’s important to meet the commitment I’ve made to the 3,000+ subscribers to this site and put out a Sunday newsletter each week. But that can be planned in advance. I also take time away from social media when I find it’s getting a little too toxic.

It’s a terrific way to build a business, and I highly recommend it.

The bottom line

I admit it. I was too rigid on FIRE.

FIRE means different things to different people, and I realize that now. There’s no need to sic the Internet Retirement Police on me, I’m a believer.

But I do think FIRE needs a bit of a makeover. The acronym puts too much emphasis on the retire early part, and not enough on the FI part. FI was the big driver for me. It creates options that people who work for a living just don’t have. The RE part was less important, especially when I realized I didn’t necessarily hate work. I just hated work for other people, on their schedule, and in their very precise way.

I humbly propose we replace FIRE with FISE. Or FIWOOT. Or whatever else someone more clever than me can come up with. A better message would’ve converted me years ago, and it does a better job explaining what financial independence is all about — the freedom to do whatever you want, even if that does include some work.

One more thing

Canadian Dividend Investing specializes in researching forgotten Canadian dividend stocks, scouring the market for opportunities hidden in obscure corners.

In the next few weeks we’ll cover stocks like:

• Sagicor Financial (TSX:SFC), a specialty insurer offering a 4%+ yield and that trades at under 7x forward earnings

• Dream Industrial REIT (TSX:DIR.un), one of Canada’s largest industrial REITs with a nice balance sheet, a low payout ratio, and a portfolio which spans Canada, the United States, and Europe

• Freehold Royalties (TSX:FRU), an oil and natural gas royalty company that offers an 8%+ yield

Besides the Tuesday deep dives into a specific company, we also cover multiple companies each Friday in the weekly roundup. Like last Friday, where we dove into:

• Dollarama’s recent acquisition

• My favourite railway stock

• An update on a little-followed utility trading at < 5x FCF

• Nelson’s most recent portfolio move

• And much, much more

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