Frilosofen reporting in from Sweden

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Frilosofen
Posts: 4
Joined: Mon Sep 18, 2017 12:19 pm

Frilosofen reporting in from Sweden

Post by Frilosofen »

Hello everyone,

I've been lurking around here for some time now and just recently registered for the forum. Thought I might as well introduce myself briefly, planning on starting a journal as well in the near future.

I'm a ~26 year old man residing in a large city (by Swedish measures) on the west coast of Sweden. I have been working full time now (40h/w) since the beginning of last year and about one year later I got really tired of it all, basically wondering if this is it? I guess that during that first year everything about work was still new to me (worked for 2 different companies at 4 different offices) and my energy wasn't quite drained yet. However, after that first year I started feeling tired while I also got a lot of slack time leading to me surfing about the web. I don't recall exactly how but sometime around maybe February(?) this year I found MMM and evidently ERE. So, here I am :)

Actually sitting at work typing this (again, slack time), sensing I got quite a lot to write, while trying to keep this intro short. With that said I'll dig deeper into my background once I start my journal. Since change happens gradually I'll settle with this for now. Until next time, take care all!

wolf
Posts: 1102
Joined: Fri Jan 06, 2017 5:09 pm
Location: Germany

Re: Frilosofen reporting in from Sweden

Post by wolf »

Welcome Frilosofen! I am interested in Sweden. It must have a high quality of life there. I guess when you will be FIRE'ed it must be quite nice to live in Sweden. Well, looking to read more about your ERE journey in Sweden. Take care.

Frilosofen
Posts: 4
Joined: Mon Sep 18, 2017 12:19 pm

Re: Frilosofen reporting in from Sweden

Post by Frilosofen »

MDFIRE2024 wrote:
Fri Sep 22, 2017 9:05 am
Welcome Frilosofen! I am interested in Sweden. It must have a high quality of life there. I guess when you will be FIRE'ed it must be quite nice to live in Sweden. Well, looking to read more about your ERE journey in Sweden. Take care.
Thank you MD.

Well in some respects the quality of life is good. We have almost free health care, free schooling, and lots of other perks. But since there is no such thing as a free lunch we pay for it by taxes which are among the highest in the world.

The material standard is overall good and my guess is that "poor" people in Sweden are well off compared to other countries. However, socially and culturally I would say Sweden is quite poor. Everyone mostly minds their own business and if you speak to someone you don't know without any real reason most people will consider you weird. For me as an introvert this is not really a problem other than that you don't really fell like part of the community which is kind of sad.

I will probably live here when FIRE'd yes since I have been my whole life. Overall I would say it is a nice place, mostly peaceful and quiet. But I have several years to go until then :)

wolf
Posts: 1102
Joined: Fri Jan 06, 2017 5:09 pm
Location: Germany

Re: Frilosofen reporting in from Sweden

Post by wolf »

Frilosofen wrote:
Fri Sep 22, 2017 9:56 am
MDFIRE2024 wrote:
Fri Sep 22, 2017 9:05 am
Welcome Frilosofen! I am interested in Sweden. It must have a high quality of life there. I guess when you will be FIRE'ed it must be quite nice to live in Sweden. Well, looking to read more about your ERE journey in Sweden. Take care.
Well in some respects the quality of life is good. We have almost free health care, free schooling, and lots of other perks. But since there is no such thing as a free lunch we pay for it by taxes which are among the highest in the world.
Well, Germany (where I live) has also high taxes, expecially for a single earner. We suffer the same burden :|

Frilosofen
Posts: 4
Joined: Mon Sep 18, 2017 12:19 pm

Re: Frilosofen reporting in from Sweden

Post by Frilosofen »

MDFIRE2024 wrote:
Sat Sep 23, 2017 12:26 am
Frilosofen wrote:
Fri Sep 22, 2017 9:56 am
MDFIRE2024 wrote:
Fri Sep 22, 2017 9:05 am
Welcome Frilosofen! I am interested in Sweden. It must have a high quality of life there. I guess when you will be FIRE'ed it must be quite nice to live in Sweden. Well, looking to read more about your ERE journey in Sweden. Take care.
Well in some respects the quality of life is good. We have almost free health care, free schooling, and lots of other perks. But since there is no such thing as a free lunch we pay for it by taxes which are among the highest in the world.
Well, Germany (where I live) has also high taxes, expecially for a single earner. We suffer the same burden :|
Ah! Then I guess we are dealing with pretty much the same situation in many respects, for good and for bad...

Eureka
Posts: 340
Joined: Fri Jun 10, 2016 11:03 am

Re: Frilosofen reporting in from Sweden

Post by Eureka »

Welcome from the other side of Öresund!

I guess one of the biggest challenges for retiring early here in Scandinavia is the high level of focus on "protestant work ethics"; that the purpose of adult life is to work and thus "contribute to society". That healthy and intelligent and able people's only accepted behaviour is first to take an education and then to work until an ever increasing official retirement age defined by the government.

Good luck with finding your emergency route!

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Lillailler
Posts: 67
Joined: Mon Aug 07, 2017 7:09 am

Re: Frilosofen reporting in from Sweden

Post by Lillailler »

Hej!
I too live in a Big City (by Swedish standards) on the Wet Coast of Sweden. I love the quality of life just as I hate the high taxes and wasteful government. I noticed when I came here that Swedes mind their own business but I regard that as a big plus. My experience is that if you ask for help, they will gladly help, but unless you ask, they will let you get on with things.

SandyKaryOke
Posts: 16
Joined: Tue Oct 03, 2017 2:47 am
Location: Tampa, Florida

Re: Frilosofen reporting in from Sweden

Post by SandyKaryOke »

Welcome to ERE, Frilosofen! Cheers! :)

Levafri
Posts: 1
Joined: Wed Nov 01, 2017 5:41 am

Re: Frilosofen reporting in from Sweden

Post by Levafri »

Hej på er!
Also from Sweden, living in a Big City (by Swedish standards) (in the middle of Sweden / east coast ). I'm still here in Sweden, used to think it was a good place... but I don’t know if I will be here in 10 years, since I don’t like where we heading (and are). Bad government & politics.

Dodo
Posts: 8
Joined: Sat Jan 06, 2018 4:01 am

Re: Frilosofen reporting in from Sweden

Post by Dodo »

Hey there,

how was your progress so far?
Your nickname made me curiously click this topic - is that some fancy wordplay on swedish? First i thought i read wrong since i expected it to mean "filosofem" but obviously it is chosen deliberately. Perhaps something around "philosophy of freedom" or such? Just guessing, my swedish is virtually non-existant and the two or three phrases i used on vacation there are lost in the mist of years gone by.

Funnily all of you from Sweden, who posted here, seem to live in a similar place, a "big city by swedish standards" just located differently on the map - is there something about city life that makes you long for ERE or is it more a function of economics, i. e. a question of the geographical distribution of jobs offering a high enough compensation to consider ERE?

What are your plans for after ERE? Where are you going to live, what kind of life-style?

@Levafri: Don't shatter my illusions! Otherwise i would not know, where to go after ERE: ;)
Perhaps it is an acute case of "grass is always greener on the other side" but i was under the impression that the situation in Sweden was still preferable to the downward spiral the public discourse seems to take here in Germany.
As a bonus, for introverts the more laid-back mentality in Scandinavia appears better suited to the temperament.

Another question in general out of own interest: How are the prospects of buying a piece of land in Sweden (foreigners from EU?)? What are the prices like?
Preferably with a small home upon it, maybe with a pond and/or a well close by and enough acres to do some gardening and a reservoir of wood for purposes of heating and building? Is this Thoreau-style at all viable?

Frilosofen
Posts: 4
Joined: Mon Sep 18, 2017 12:19 pm

Re: Frilosofen reporting in from Sweden

Post by Frilosofen »

Dodo wrote:
Sun Feb 25, 2018 7:04 am
Hey there,

how was your progress so far?
Your nickname made me curiously click this topic - is that some fancy wordplay on swedish? First i thought i read wrong since i expected it to mean "filosofem" but obviously it is chosen deliberately. Perhaps something around "philosophy of freedom" or such? Just guessing, my swedish is virtually non-existant and the two or three phrases i used on vacation there are lost in the mist of years gone by.

Funnily all of you from Sweden, who posted here, seem to live in a similar place, a "big city by swedish standards" just located differently on the map - is there something about city life that makes you long for ERE or is it more a function of economics, i. e. a question of the geographical distribution of jobs offering a high enough compensation to consider ERE?

What are your plans for after ERE? Where are you going to live, what kind of life-style?

Another question in general out of own interest: How are the prospects of buying a piece of land in Sweden (foreigners from EU?)? What are the prices like?
Preferably with a small home upon it, maybe with a pond and/or a well close by and enough acres to do some gardening and a reservoir of wood for purposes of heating and building? Is this Thoreau-style at all viable?
Hey! Excuse my late response, many things going on in life and haven't been on this board for some time now.

I guess my progress so far is pretty OK. Last year I managed a savings rate of just over 50%, this year so far I'm above 70. As long as I keep this pace up things should sort themselves out.

Hehe yes, a fancy wordplay it is. Frilosofen basically means "the Freelosopher".

That's indeed very interesting! Perhaps it has something to do with the pursuit of something more? Earlier, perhaps this lead to studying which for me at least menat moving to a bigger city. Then the studies finished and work commenced and this search for something more is still present. Just a quick thought, might be a coincidence as well, who knows :)

I'm not really set in my plans for ERE yet. Right now I enjoy living in the city because I can bike or walk pretty much everywhere, I have no need for a car. Library is close by as is all other things I could want except nature. However, growing up in a house pretty much in the countryside I will always want this for my family as well. However, this will need a larger nest egg. And since I have quite a lot of years to go (I'm aiming at max 8), I don't really need to decide this right now. Will see what happens in the future!

Life-style will be a calm life where I take my time to do the things I want and spend time with my family and friends.

You can definitely get a cheap house with some land if you look in the right areas. Prices can vary a lot depending on location. But you can definitely find a house with land for 100k euros!

Dodo
Posts: 8
Joined: Sat Jan 06, 2018 4:01 am

Re: Frilosofen reporting in from Sweden

Post by Dodo »

Hej Frilosofen,

thanks for replying. The phenomenon of life coming in between forum-posts is very well known nowadays, as you can see from the gap between your last post and this answer. Congratulations on your progress towards F.I. - your advancement and optimization of life-style and savings-rate is highly commendable. When i started, the results were similar: At first 50 % SR appears like a huge upheaval, turning your used life upside down, but once you settle in and internalize the strategies, measurements and goals of what is helpful in your quest for F.I., it not only gets easier, you also start seeing more opportunities for further optimization - i find this process highly fascinating.

Regarding your pseudonym: i like it - my uneducated guess was not so far off at all than. Nice. :)

On another note, i think your explanation, that the academical education and its institutional representation in bigger cities leads to a certain accumulation of independant-minded individuals , makes sense. Funnily, this in turn breeds the paradoxical effects that at least some of those develop a certain contempt for and become pushed away by the mass-culture of those very places they learnt and work at. Could have something to do with a certain propensity of introverts of the more thinking kind - always on the lookout for the "whys?" and "hows?" and "what fors"..

Having spent the greater part of my childhood and youth in a village at the countrysisde i share your sentiments regarding the pros and cons of living in a city versus living far outside. After moving to a bigger city couple of years ago i was able to completely eliminate the need for owning a car and sold it, thus reducing fixed expenses significantly, something that would appeared more difficult if i still lived in a tiny village.

On the other hand your desire for a family life in a harmonious and peaceful environment seems to be inherent in many people and echoes some of my own preferenes, so good luck with that! 100k for an own home with a nice plot of earths seems reasonable, considering the otherwise rather high costs in Sweden. You appear to be on a promising route, keep it up and keep us informed.

Have a nice one,

D.

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