Early Retirement Extreme Forums

We went back to Soylent Towers for a little coffee and cake with the new manager in the meeting room. One of the senior tenants complained bitterly that there were too many of us and that there was just too much activity in the hallway... on Sunday at noon.

Moving 'away from those people' means that the place where you decide to live is defined by 'those people'. You are at their mercy.

One of the defining characteristics of my Soylent-seniors is that they are continually adding new requirements to their safe-spaces. Money buys EREers the ability to foster this characteristic much earlier in life. It ain't gonna be pretty.

This is the opposite of resilience.

@Ego - There is a really interesting perspective.

I agree with you that having the mental and financial wherewithal to construct your "perfect" life may bring about a desire (stemming from the ability) to maintain a death grip level of control on your life. We sort of see some of that here on the forums.

On the other hand, many EREs are able to develop an appreciation of a simpler life and to adapt to environments that others may consider challenging.

I am not sure which of these factors would (generally) take precedence. My guess is it varies by individual.

Dave, I want to make sure it is clear that I wasn't commenting on your (or anyone's) plans. I focused on the meme and agreed with oldpro about the wording.

Right now we're living in the middle of the action in our city. I have to admit, it took me a few nights to get used to sleeping here with the windows open. After a month now I am sleeping like a baby. Like you, I see it as adapting to environments.

I guess that's probably the key. If we are going somewhere to BE there.... then yes, I agree. If we are going somewhere for no other reason than to be away from others then it is probably a Soylent solution.

Paul Graham did an essay about how much of the news is generated by PR firms, and how to find it.

http://www.paulgraham.com/submarine.html

I expect the meme in the OP was a product of a PR firm, and the phrasing intentional. Anything that helps a group define itself, helps marketers to sell to them.

jennypenny wrote:For a group that's often accused of living lives that are too austere, we spend an awful lot of time talking about food, booze, and sex.

Well, this is what everyone does when not at work, right?

Well, food, booze, sex, and the interwebs ...

AND/OR=XOR TPS reports ;-P

I thought the definitive answer to this was "a zig-a-zig ahh".

Riggerjack wrote:Paul Graham did an essay about how much of the news is generated by PR firms, and how to find it.

http://www.paulgraham.com/submarine.html

I expect the meme in the OP was a product of a PR firm, and the phrasing intentional. Anything that helps a group define itself, helps marketers to sell to them.

You have no idea. Be prepared to be afraid.

Nice link!

fiby41 wrote:Here's another image of 'cabin in the woods'.

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/O0T5f ... 69-h848-rw

Fixed link. Imaginary but still.

I read the Nearing book back when I was in high school and decided I wanted something like that postcard above. I had grown up in a city and didn't understand what it meant to live in a place like that but I was enchanted with the idea of building something out of stone (still am).

Once I had the opportunity to actually experience it I realized that what I had wanted was the postcard, not the reality.

I now know that I really like small spaces in big cities. Not terribly romantic, I know. Somehow the stars aligned and we were offered a position managing a building full of micro-apartments with roll-out Murphy beds in the heart of our city. These places are so small they would never pass code if the building was being built today.

I don't know, maybe I'm just lucky that somehow my brain recalibrates my wants to match what I already have.

Ego wrote:I don't know, maybe I'm just lucky that somehow my brain recalibrates my wants to match what I already have.

If so, that really is lucky. There's your privilege.

fiby41 wrote:

fiby41 wrote:Here's another image of 'cabin in the woods'.

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/O0T5f ... 69-h848-rw

Fixed link. Imaginary but still.

I find this appealing. I'll have to think about why. Maybe because I'd like to just piss off at times and have lots of quiet time.

Ego wrote:I read the Nearing book back when I was in high school and decided I wanted something like that postcard above. I had grown up in a city and didn't understand what it meant to live in a place like that but I was enchanted with the idea of building something out of stone (still am).

Once I had the opportunity to actually experience it I realized that what I had wanted was the postcard, not the reality.

I now know that I really like small spaces in big cities. Not terribly romantic, I know. Somehow the stars aligned and we were offered a position managing a building full of micro-apartments with roll-out Murphy beds in the heart of our city. These places are so small they would never pass code if the building was being built today.

I don't know, maybe I'm just lucky that somehow my brain recalibrates my wants to match what I already have.

When I was at university I had a lot of holidays. I remember living on a friends parents farm in the shed out the back. We smoked pot and surfed every day. I loved it. Its one of the best times of my life.

I also though love my life now however I'd prefer not to have to go to work.

I think I like simple stuff. All I really need is decent food, regular exercise and books to read. Now I suppose I also need the Internet to post stuff like now or get some TV shows or movies to watch. I ride my bike to the gym and one guy who I think is at uni whereas I'm 42 said geez it'd suck not being able to afford a car. I don't even want to drive a car. I prefer riding my bike.

Of course I want money. For my children and grandchildren's future, for my whims and needs, and to fulfill my goal of traveling the world! But, in reality living in a cabin in the woods or even in a tiny hut facing the beach with peace of mind is far more meaningful than having all the money in the world.

jbrown79 wrote:Of course I want money. For my children and grandchildren's future, for my whims and needs, and to fulfill my goal of traveling the world! But, in reality living in a cabin in the woods or even in a tiny hut facing the beach with peace of mind is far more meaningful than having all the money in the world.

You do realize that 'reality' and 'living in a cabin in the woods' do not necessarily connect to 'peace of mind' or whatever romantic notion people often have of things like this.

It is far harder, time consuming work, to live in a cabin with little money than it is to live in a mansion with servants. I have met quite a few people who escaped to their 'paradise' only to find that they had ended up in a less 'peace of mind' providing lifestyle than the one they left behind.

Make no mistake, money DOES buy happiness. It is what buys you freedom from things you don't like. Sure there are poor and happy people just as there are rich and unhappy people but the fact is that there are more(by %) rich and happy people than there are poor and happy people.

The ideal is to have enough money to go and live in a cabin in the woods right up until you no longer want to live there and then have the money to go and live some other way if you choose to. Being unable to afford to leave that cabin in the woods when the romance of it all wears off, is not a good idea. Riding a bicycle is fine as long as you are happy doing so and not a day longer. Being able to choose to ride a bike or drive a car is a far better position to be in.

OldPro wrote: Make no mistake, money DOES buy happiness.

No OldPro, you are wrong.

fiby41 wrote:No OldPro, you are wrong.

Yeah he's right fiby41, it does buy 'crazy-ass happiness'. I just didn't want to rub it in, so I kept it down to a simple it does buy happiness. It's not easy hearing your $10k a year income or whatever ERE plans may have a flaw.
http://fpeluso.com/wp-content/uploads/2 ... Person.jpg

What is the mechanism by which it buys "crazy-ass" happiness? I live on less than $10,000/year, and I track the factors that contribute to my daily happiness level, and discretionary spending doesn't even make the top five. Currently, it seems to be the case that my biggest limiting factors would be something like "stamina" and something like "focus" rather than "money." Also, it has become apparent to me that happiness is necessarily cyclical and relative. It makes sense that if money has been the lynch-pin limiting factor that has prevented you from having or doing something you really wanted, then it would be true that a sudden increase in finances could suddenly greatly increase your happiness, but it wouldn't necessarily or even likely be a continuous or even level improvement. OTOH, I would also, unfortunately, say that this was true for such factors as free time.