“Dr. FIREfly, what on earth is FIRE? Why should I care?”
Well, I’m glad you asked!
FIRE stands for Financial Independence, Retire Early. It’s a movement centered around saving, investing, and wise spending in order to be able to retire earlier than the traditional 65. (Or, in the case of physicians, 80 and beyond. Raise your hand if you know someone who fits this category! I need more hands than two, personally).
The specific iterations of FIRE vary from person to person, as it well should. We are unique people with different goals, and the situation becomes even more individual when one factors in the partner/family network.
Consider the questions below for a moment, in connection with yourself.
- Why do I go to work/school every day?
- What would I do with my time – with my life – if I never had to worry about money again?
- When I am lying on my death bed and reflecting with serenity on the life I have led, what kind of life was it? What do I not want to regret?
These are some guiding questions to start figuring out today what direction you want your life to head in.
One of the great gifts of being in medicine is the chance to glimpse a variety of different lives led. And we experience death. This exposure to the mortality of others can trigger a range of responses from acutely uncomfortable to deeply moving. In the moment of providing care, physicians and trainees may simply compartmentalize our own responses for the sake of being able to continue moving through the day’s clinical work and continue to provide care for the other patients we are responsible for. That’s fine. I feel it is important, however, to come back to these emotions and examine them, as they provide clues to us about how we are feeling about the state of things in our own lives.
Let’s take “acutely uncomfortable” as an example. Something about this person’s process of passing is triggering an aversive response. What is it? Is it possible that, for a moment, you imagined yourself in the person’s shoes (or hospital gown, in the case of many patients), and shuddered because there is so much you have left to do and experience but no foreseeable time to do them? Or that you would hate to die under the current circumstances because there is something wrong in your life that hasn’t been addressed?
Let’s look at “deeply moving” at the other end of the spectrum. Something about this person’s process of passing is strangely beautiful. There’s an ache in your chest, but it’s not all sorrow. There’s respect, perhaps even a bit of envy, and some other complex feelings that can’t quite be vocalized. This death is a “good death.” One that we might want for ourselves. What is it about this death that is so different from the last one?
These are experiences that I had, moving through my training. And they got me thinking about questions of, “Why do I do what I do?” and “What if that were me? Today?”. “What is it that I NEVER want to regret when the time comes for me to go?”
Choosing a career that I would gladly spend most of my days in was the start. So much time in life is spent at work that I decided to do my best not to get shackled with something that I despise or feel unfulfilled in. I think I got lucky, however, and am in the minority. Even co-residents in the same field don’t necessarily feel the same degree of contentment about the specialty that I do. And, of course, if me and Mr. Sparks* switched specialties (he is in medicine as well), we would both be miserable.
Even though I spend most days feeling positive about going to work in the morning, there are still days that I wish I could just hit “dismiss” instead of “snooze” and do ANYTHING but go to work. And then there’s the paperwork. And the workplace politics (admittedly, not bad, but still – wherever there are people, there seems to be some degree of politicking). And the random things that at times almost feels purposefully thrown up as walls between me and the distant finish line of finally being a full-fledged staff physician. And as I move through the residency program into more senior years, it’s become more evident that there are still lots of not-so-fun things to wade through as a staff physician, just of a different nature from what medical students and residents have to deal with. The bright light at the end of the tunnel isn’t a train, but it IS a lamp post illuminating yet more tunnel distance.
So when I happened across the FIRE community, a fire (heh, pun intended) was lit in my heart – and under my butt. Time to get moving. FI and the concept of F-U Money were calling my name.
Here’s what I envision.
Reaching FI means that I can do whatever I want. This includes continuing to work. On my terms. If the hospital administrators tell me to do something that I don’t think is the correct course of action and I want to speak up about it, then I will. Firmly. All that paperwork? Hello medical scribe! Need more time to spend with family? No stress. Just do it.
As for the RE part of FIRE, that has possibilities too. I can’t imagine just sitting and doing nothing for longer than a month or so – in fact, I think that would be a direct ticket to developing depressive symptoms (or even its more severe counterpart). But there are so many other career possibilities out there that I never explored. Why not embark on a new journey? And this time, I won’t have to worry about money as a determining factor. Goldsmithing? Writing? Designing clothing? Non-profit work? Becoming an astronaut? (Okay, maybe not the last one – I get nauseous even with airplane flights). You get the idea.
Imagining the possibilities is frankly frightening at the beginning. That’s okay. Sit with it. The possibilities then become exciting. Kind of like when we were really little and people told us, “You can be whatever you want!” Then we put those first dreams to rest in the face of the reality of needing to make money so that we can, you know, survive. But with FIRE in the picture? Take that treasure box of dreams down from the dusty corner shelf of your mind. Blow the dust off the cover, and open it up to the shining thoughts and dreams inside. This is possible. Here are some examples of what other people are doing with FIRE:
- Traveling the world – the modern day nomad
- Writing a book
- Hosting podcasts (okay, my cool factor is pretty low – unsure if “hosting” is the wrong term. Broadcasting? Idk. There – have put in a cool acronym)
- Continuing to work in medicine
- Starting a badass business
For me, FI is non-negotiable. RE remains to be seen.
Interested? Convinced? Can’t wait to get started? Join in on the next post for how to go about doing this!
– Dr. FIREfly, MD
*Mr. Sparks = the hubby
Hey Dr. Firefly,
I reached FI just so that I could spend more time with my kids when they were little. Unoriginal I suppose.
I did not even think about RE, just FI. I thought that I would downshift from 6-7 days a week to 2 days a week. I only worked about 4 hrs/ day at clinics so working almost everyday was easy.
And FYI, I don’t think being a staff is all that much better overall. Enjoy your youth gurl. Cause you never getting that back. You can literally work FOREVER in medicine.
Hi Dr. MB!
I think spending more time with kids when they are young is a fantastic motivation, and things don’t need to be “original” to be wonderful 🙂 How are you finding 2 days a week of 4 hrs a day? What are some things you like/don’t like about it, compared to 6-7 days of it?
It is interesting; I find as I get more senior in residency, I notice more that staff life can be quite busy too. Am trying to enjoy as much as residency permits right now! Hence the most recent post on reclaiming leisure time, hehe.
Hey DFF,
Just found your site via a link from the inimitable Loonie Doctor! I’ve added you to my list of physician finance bloggers.
A belated welcome to the club. I promise to teach you the secret handshake and clubhouse password soon. Your honorary membership fez complete with tassel is in the mail.
Excited to add your voice to the cacophony/chorus of doctor money geeks looking to live more meaningful lives,
CD
Hi Crispy Doc! So excited you found my little nook of the Internet. (And even more excited for the fez with tassel). Thanks for popping by! Love your blog – it’s one of the earlier ones that came in my Internet journeys and inspired me to start writing too.