Steven

I stole that from an author named Ramit Sethi. He's a very well-known author. And he says, too many people ask $3 questions when they should be asking $30,000 questions. What he means by that are when people say, how can I save more money? They say, I should stop drinking coffee. That's a $3 question. And that does not make any difference to you.

I stole that from an author named Ramit Sethi. He's a very well-known author. And he says, too many people ask $3 questions when they should be asking $30,000 questions. What he means by that are when people say, how can I save more money? They say, I should stop drinking coffee. That's a $3 question. And that does not make any difference to you.

What you should be asking are $30,000 questions like, where should I go to college? Should I go to the cheap school or the expensive school? Where should I live? The cheap city or the expensive city? Should I rent or should I buy? Those are $30,000 questions. And we spend a lot of mental energy on $3 questions that actually don't move the needle that much in our finances.

What you should be asking are $30,000 questions like, where should I go to college? Should I go to the cheap school or the expensive school? Where should I live? The cheap city or the expensive city? Should I rent or should I buy? Those are $30,000 questions. And we spend a lot of mental energy on $3 questions that actually don't move the needle that much in our finances.

For most people, there are only a couple of expense items that actually matter to your finances. That is your housing payment, either rent or mortgage, your car payment, child care, health care. And that's pretty much it. And yes, you're going to spend money on other things, but those four, that's the vast majority of what people spend money on.

For most people, there are only a couple of expense items that actually matter to your finances. That is your housing payment, either rent or mortgage, your car payment, child care, health care. And that's pretty much it. And yes, you're going to spend money on other things, but those four, that's the vast majority of what people spend money on.

But when you hear people talk about how do you save money, it's like, oh, well, stop going to Starbucks. You can pack your own lunch to work. It doesn't make that much of a difference. It's those big four things.

But when you hear people talk about how do you save money, it's like, oh, well, stop going to Starbucks. You can pack your own lunch to work. It doesn't make that much of a difference. It's those big four things.

I think those are what you are most likely to end up regretting.

I think those are what you are most likely to end up regretting.

There are a lot of people in the FIRE movement. FIRE stands for Financial Independence Retire Early. It's this big movement started 10 or 15 years ago of people who are like, I'm going to save as much money as I can in my 20s, learn how to live as cheaply and frugally as I can, and retire at age 27 with $600,000 in the bank. And I'm going to retire off of that. And it was a huge movement.

There are a lot of people in the FIRE movement. FIRE stands for Financial Independence Retire Early. It's this big movement started 10 or 15 years ago of people who are like, I'm going to save as much money as I can in my 20s, learn how to live as cheaply and frugally as I can, and retire at age 27 with $600,000 in the bank. And I'm going to retire off of that. And it was a huge movement.

So many of those people ended up regretting it because they retired at 27. And six months later, they were bored out of their mind, if not depressed. Because they wake up and they're like, what do I do now? Do I just go play golf or something? All my friends are out working. What do I do now? And so I think the extreme ends of like, oh, YOLO. I'm just going to spend all – like live for today.

So many of those people ended up regretting it because they retired at 27. And six months later, they were bored out of their mind, if not depressed. Because they wake up and they're like, what do I do now? Do I just go play golf or something? All my friends are out working. What do I do now? And so I think the extreme ends of like, oh, YOLO. I'm just going to spend all – like live for today.

I'm going to spend it all. I'm going to go party and travel and whatnot. There's somewhat of a chance that you're going to end up regretting that because you didn't save enough for a time in your life when you want to retire and you can't.

I'm going to spend it all. I'm going to go party and travel and whatnot. There's somewhat of a chance that you're going to end up regretting that because you didn't save enough for a time in your life when you want to retire and you can't.

My dad, I think, retired and went back to work three different times. We eventually had to tell him, no more retirement parties. You only get one. But he would retire. And then a month later, he'd be like, man, I really miss work. And in his line of work, he could go back. He could go back part time and whatnot. So it worked out for him.

My dad, I think, retired and went back to work three different times. We eventually had to tell him, no more retirement parties. You only get one. But he would retire. And then a month later, he'd be like, man, I really miss work. And in his line of work, he could go back. He could go back part time and whatnot. So it worked out for him.

But I think he starkly saw what a lot of people overlook, which is how much of his identity was his job. And how much – like when he retired the first time and he like woke up and looked in the mirror and said, I'm not the person who I used to be. I used to be a this, but I'm not anymore. And he didn't like it.

But I think he starkly saw what a lot of people overlook, which is how much of his identity was his job. And how much – like when he retired the first time and he like woke up and looked in the mirror and said, I'm not the person who I used to be. I used to be a this, but I'm not anymore. And he didn't like it.