Will the "great reset" cause the masses to embrace FI(RE)?

[Gerbil Wheel]

I remember when Jimmy Buffett went commercial in a big way. Arenas. Parrothead tailgating. Mainstream.

I felt gutted. Buffett and I had a special relationship (in my mind). We were kindred spirits in the Caribbean lifestyle...him living it, me dreaming it.

But I quickly lost interest...as soon as the masses embraced him. They were intruders invading our space.

Ask any early die-hard Metallica fan. Same thing happened to them after the black album was released.

Well, with the "great reset" in our economy, I fear that something similar will happen. The masses will jump on this bandwagon and it will no longer feel special.

Well, to me anyway...in psychological/career tests I score high on having an independent mindset...YMMV.

 

[REWahoo]

Will the "great reset" cause the masses to embrace FI(RE)?

Only if Wile E. Coyote catches the Roadrunner....

 

[FIREd]

Becoming a fan of Jimmy Buffet and Metallica costs nothing. Everyone can do it at the drop of a hat. Becoming a fan a FIRE requires decades-long commitment, sacrifice and discipline. I doubt this will ever appeal to the masses.

 

[kumquat]

[moderator edit]: Warning: This video is not safe for work due to language.

Only if Wile E. Coyote catches the Roadrunner....

 

[Joshua]

Quick answer? I seriously doubt it. People don't widely believe it's even possible, so I doubt it will ever catch on as a popular way of life. Early retirement is something that happens to "rich" or "lucky" people (those two things being virtually synonymous in most minds).

It is, as FIREdreamer points out, something that requires effort and sacrifice - not commodities that most people like to dig up for a far future goal. Also, there are so many naysayers.

"What if you die next year? What value will your savings have then? You could have enjoyed yourself! And what if the markets tank? Society collapses? Aliens invade? Then what? You'll have denied yourself pleasure during your best years, and all for nothing!"

But no, even if such calamaties rob me of the comfortable (and early) retirement that I have set my sights upon, is it a total loss? I will have tried, which is more than most. So, go I say. Strive. Strive in the face of doubt, adversity, and low monthly payments!

Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
-- Dylan Thomas

 

[Midpack]

Unusual premise. I think RE has hit it's peak and will decline from here due to
a) fewer and fewer will be able to afford to do so (nest egg and benefits getting rarer) and
b) fewer and fewer look forward to a 30 year "life of leisure" opting instead for a second career doing something they really enjoy and/or a field that has more impact on society than most jobs.

The famous Leisure World (like Sun City) was renamed Laguna Woods a few years ago as the former name became associated with doddering old people with walkers.

I've reached FIRE, but I'm afraid I'd love RE for a few months, and then wish for something more substantial to do while I still can. Interesting book about it...

 

[RonBoyd]

I remember when Jimmy Buffett went commercial in a big way. Arenas. Parrothead tailgating. Mainstream.

I felt gutted. Buffett and I had a special relationship (in my mind). We were kindred spirits in the Caribbean lifestyle...him living it, me dreaming it.

Are you saying that JB was poorer for others (besides you) discovering him and that RE would also suffer, for the same reason. You may, IMHO, be wrong.

 

[Andre1969]

Well, with the "great reset" in our economy, I fear that something similar will happen. The masses will jump on this bandwagon and it will no longer feel special.

But are these masses going to become FIRED or just permanently unemployed, scraping by near the poverty level? For some reason, a line from "Smokey and the Bandit" is popping into my mind...
"A Legend and an out-of-work bum look an awful lot alike, Daddy"

 

[HFWR]

RE: Jimmy Buffett and/or Metallica, they're in the business of music. It's human nature to join groups. You don't think anyone dressed like a hippie, biker, headbanger, yuppie, goth, cowboy, etc. is really being original, do you? They're wearing the uniform of the group they identify with...

As for FIRE, there will always be some folks who are the proverbial "dot-com" millionaires and such who will jump off the treadmill early. But I'm not sure there are actually that many ERs, as a percentage of the total population, and don't expect that number to rise. In fact, it may drop, if it's "different" this time.

 

[aida2003]

No, I don't believe LBYM will become a new mantra in this country anytime soon.

 

[ziggy29]

It may feel like they are embracing LBYM, but in most cases that's only because the "M" will be shrinking, sometimes considerably.

 

[avengerki]

Wouldn't they just be LBYIV (Living below your ideal value) until they restore their paycheck and then most will just be right back to over consumption.

 

[Midpack]

Wouldn't they just be LBYIV (Living below your ideal value) until they restore their paycheck and then most will just be right back to over consumption.

I'd like to think it will be different this time, a lot more damage was done to the economy this time than any recession in my lifetime if not since the Depression. But you may well be right and so I wouldn't bet either way, time will tell...

 

[rescueme]

Wouldn't they just be LBYIV (Living below your ideal value) until they restore their paycheck and then most will just be right back to over consumption.

I would agree. People have shown that they have very short attention spans (just look at politics) and they will revert to their "old" spending habits (be it spending or saving). Those that had an LBYM lifestyle before, with continue to do the same after.

For the folks that spend 100% (or more) of their income? They probably will breathe a sigh of relief that the "bad times" are finally over, and start their spending anew.

Anyway - that's my opinion, FWIW.

 

[ziggy29]

I would agree. People have shown that they have very short attention spans (just look at politics) and they will revert to their "old" spending habits (be it spending or saving). Those that had an LBYM lifestyle before, with continue to do the same after.

Folks didn't have a short attention span after the Great Depression. Most of the older folks I've known who lived with it learned financial lessons that stuck with them for a lifetime, such as thrift, saving for a rainy day and aversion to the stock market (which many of them thought of as "gambling" with the odds stacked in favor of the House).

So what's different? Just a more sound-bite society with marketing and advertising?

 

[aida2003]

I'd like to think it will be different this time, a lot more damage was done to the economy this time than any recession in my lifetime if not since the Depression. But you may well be right and so I wouldn't bet either way, time will tell...

I also would like to think it will stick this time, but I don't believe it will because it was not as painful as the Great Depression. I don't have any personal experience of the GD and I hope we'll never will, but there will be many people who will not resist the next smartphone and say it's a NEED to have it vs. a WANT.

 

[avengerki]

Kids today have gotten used to getting what they want and I have seen parents tripping over themselves to give their kids what they want even though they can't make ends meet just so that their kids can have a "better life then what they had lived" which is just bs. So I only see things getting worse or back to what lead us here. The kids have gotten so wrapped up in technology and me me me that they don't care about anyone else.

 

[ziggy29]

I have seen parents tripping over themselves to give their kids what they want even though they can't make ends meet just so that their kids can have a "better life then what they had lived" which is just bs.

Too bad that hasn't been true, IMO, for people born within the last 50-60 years or so.

 

[haha]

This thread is stranger than the usual run of threads, and that is no small feat.

Maybe the end of summer coming has folks in a funny place?

Ha

 

[travelover]

Kids today have gotten used to getting what they want and I have seen parents tripping over themselves to give their kids what they want even though they can't make ends meet just so that their kids can have a "better life then what they had lived" which is just bs. So I only see things getting worse or back to what lead us here. The kids have gotten so wrapped up in technology and me me me that they don't care about anyone else.

Good point. My 9 year old grandson doesn't have health insurance, but he has an ITouch.

 

[brewer12345]

This thread is stranger than the usual run of threads, and that is no small feat.

Maybe the end of summer coming has folks in a funny place?

Ha

At one of my old jobs, we used to explain the more bizarre pronouncements floating down from above as products of the "corner office bong."

Presumably as this site gets more traffic we will attract possums, radishes, and space aliens in addition to the usual collection of cats and dogs.

 

[growing_older]

My crystal ball has been out of whack recently, but the last fuzzy image was prolonged financial difficulties wring much of the wretched excess out of people's finances, and LBYM becomes more common, though much more difficult to do enough of it to FIRE. Instead, children/grandchildren of LBYM FIREEs do just enough LBYM to stay solvent long enough get their inheritance - which then makes them FIRE. Their children likewise. Folks unfortunate in their choice of parents cannot save enough to FIRE in the new economy and some of them are able to save enough to push their children into FIRE. Self made fortunes through thrift in saving ordinary salaries takes more than one generation going forward.

 

[landonew]

My crystal ball has been out of whack recently, but the last fuzzy image was prolonged financial difficulties wring much of the wretched excess out of people's finances, and LBYM becomes more common, though much more difficult to do enough of it to FIRE. Instead, children/grandchildren of LBYM FIREEs do just enough LBYM to stay solvent long enough get their inheritance - which then makes them FIRE. Their children likewise. Folks unfortunate in their choice of parents cannot save enough to FIRE in the new economy and some of them are able to save enough to push their children into FIRE. Self made fortunes through thrift in saving ordinary salaries takes more than one generation going forward.

The capable and driven will always find success (whether it be in FIRE, or another endevor), it may just take them a little longer. I don't see this country turning into a post-cold-war Russia (but, I've been wrong before).

 

[growing_older]

My "crystal ball" description was only meant as a broad generalization - and not even as a certain prediction at that. Yes, there will always be a few very determined (and a few very lucky) individuals who can do well even in very trying circumstances. What I was trying to describe was a possible outcome for the great middling group who will try somewhat hard but also deal with the usual issues and setbacks. This is the group I consider myself to be part of, and likely my kids as well. I've done well for myself and maybe a possible FIRE, but I think the methods I used (mostly LBYM and muddling through) will likely be much less effective for the next few generations.

 

[Gworker]

Well, with the "great reset" in our economy, I fear that something similar will happen. The masses will jump on this bandwagon and it will no longer feel special.

Will you go back to work then since being retired will no longer be cool? Maybe you could get 2 or 3 jobs to be really different.