Monthly Archives: May 2020

FIRE.107 OShRE

Leave a reply

After spending so much time hanging out with FI geared people I feel like the Financial Independence and self-accountability strategy is common and held by many strong people. 

I’ve told my story about my FIRE day and how I gave my job to a 63-year-old co-worker who was laid off the previous year.  How they were upended in their income-generating ability from a megacorp and how they found it impossible to gain new employment at their advanced age.

I realized they are quite the opposite of fiRE.  They are now retired, but without the FI.  They are Oh Shit Retirement Early (earlier than planned).   

NOTE: I started writing this post a few months ago when I was taking stock of my interaction with cohorts.  In the past two months, the nation world has been placed on coronavirus related lockdowns.  In that time—as early as week 2—there have been thousands of news reports and articles in the US showing the disastrous impact of a (temporary) loss or lowering of income. 

There are “rent strikes” and mortgage skipping activities all over the place.  There are long lines of cars at the food bank distribution locations (see videos of nice/new/even luxury vehicles in line).  The ramifications of this disruption/disaster are far greater—and much faster impacting—than the great recession in 2008-2009.

The wondering of—did people learn from the last income/economic problem?  Did we as a whole put more money away into emergency funds?  Did we decide the great recession was so scary financially that we didn’t want to go through that stress if at all possible?  I’m seeing so many reports to the contrary.

Inserted Paragraph:  So here we are; MILLIONS of people laid off from work.  Additional MILLIONS of people with reduced income through partial furloughs/reduced hours.  There are even articles stating some/many employers will not rehire the same people once they begin rehiring workers.  Will companies try and pick the best employees looking for work?  Why wouldn’t they?  Where will this leave the “less” desirable workers?–the less-skilled, the higher paid, the older workers nearing the end of their career?  Are there tons of people about to be OShRE?

Original Paragraph:  There are a lot of articles, statistics, and podcasts sharing that many people (baby boomers) who want to (need to) work longer, to age 70 or even longer.  There are also many statistics showing this plan does not always work out as they wish.  Many people lose their jobs before they want to stop working and throw them into the Oh Shit stage of life.

My original thoughts about people thrust into retirement before they were ready (are many people never financially ready?) has turned into a shocking panic for so many:

10,000 turn 65 each day * 60+ days of this working crisis = 600,000+ people

I would love to leave this post with an idea to help—and idea to make a difference, to make something better.  It may come down to being there to help those folks:

  • Take stock in their situation. 
  • For them to understand their balance sheet and net worth statement. 
  • To understand their true historical spending each month/year. 
  • A way to know the exact position of their financial status.

Then, and only then can a plan be drafted to see how the future may lay out.  A plan showing how financial activities project over the course(s) of the future.  What is possible, and what seems not-possible.  A plan.  A goal.  Some options.  Hope.

*** Nothing in this article is to be construed as financial advice.  I am not a financial planner, nor do I pretend to be.  You should always consult your own professional when seeking advice.

FIRE.106 Quarantiners Can’t Be Choosers

Leave a reply

Oh, how life is different in the midst of a global—craziness—pandemic.  How the most superficial of our consumer activities change so drastically, causing a dramatic effect on our acquisition of goods (and services).

Are we essentially reduced to being beggars locked in our own homes?  I’ve learned to be thankful—so very thankful— that items arrive at my home for consumption.  Often the items are not my initial or primary choice, but that’s OK.  Beggars Quarantiners can’t be choosers, or can they?   

There have been times over the past four weeks of quarantine—social isolation, lockdown, introversion activation…actually, my almost normal daily lifestyle—where we’ve wanted something and it’s just not really possible to get the item or service.  We have learned to shift and pivot to make do with the available options presented to us. 

We have learned to pre-plan our purchases even more so than we normally do.  This allows us to build in the shipping/delivery delay that seemed to be significant in the first month and lessoning with recent orders.

We have learned to select a backup item, just in case the initial item is unavailable.  For example, if we want organic bananas or avocados, we add a few conventional items to the cart.  We end up with either none, one or the other, or both…quarantiners can’t be choosers.  It’s all good.  We’re happy with any items that arrived (I am now the owner of two jars of a strange-tasting Sunflower Butter product— quarantiners can’t be choosers).

I needed an outdoor spa repair.  It sounds quite superficial but sitting in hot water for a few minutes does good things for a person, for a soul.  [see: 28, 34, 59.60, 63].   Luckily, I was able to find some techs and an electrician who were working—said they were SUPER busy right now—to come over and do service calls.  They all made good money providing 6, 12, and 36 minutes of work at my home.  I was able to get service and in a few days and a trip to Lowe’s, a working 300-gallon happy zone.  I didn’t realize how much not having my standard routine of super-zen time (“commute time”) changed my daily routine.

So, this all leads me to the thought of trying to figure out a safe plan and process to help support the businesses that support me.  A way to pull together ideas to help the business that we’ve supported, and enjoyed for years and years.  

As the stay-at-home orders transition to limited-release protocols, not everyone will be in a financial position to pay for goods and services.  There have been so many salary impacting decisions that flowed so deeply into the supply chain that it will take time for everything and everyone to get back onto a balanced footing.  We are planning to do our part, to identify those businesses that we use, and get into a safe (masked) action to engage in transactions.  Interestingly, one of the first actions will be bringing my mom’s dog to the groomers for her nail trimming.  Sounds superficial, but not to the groomers, or to our “good-girl.”  This is assuming the groomers can survive their shutdown.

If you’re not already, plan, and support those who you care about, as soon as you can, safely.  If we don’t, they may not be available for us in the future and the “quarantiners can’t be choosers” may shift to a “post quarantine options may change forever.”

*** Nothing in this article is to be construed as financial advice.  I am not a financial planner, nor do I pretend to be.  You should always consult your own professional when seeking advice.