In 2020, in the heart of the Covid pandemic, I remember hearing a fire-centric podcast hosted by two people who claimed to be financially independent and retire early. Even though I’ve been writing about fire for 16 years, this topic still fascinates me. The journey to financial independence is full of twists and turns, and people’s real life experience is always insightful.
But a special plot caught me off guard. These two hosts – building the entire brand, the idea of no longer working – provide financial support to listeners to keep the podcast running. Not long after, I saw an email making the same request.
I remember thinking, Wait a moment. If these people are really fire, why do they need to ask for money to keep the passionate project alive? Just fund it yourself!
I have no judgment on the need to donate itself. Creative projects take time and money, and what they deserve. However, this question does not match the premise. If they are financially independent, they can certainly afford several thousand dollars a year to sustain their performances, especially those designed to showcase the free fire offers.
How much do podcasts really need to produce?
I have the Financial Warrior Podcast (Apple, Spotify), so I know exactly why the production is. A normal, professional plot does not have to destroy the bank. Editing an hour episode can cost anywhere from $100 to $600, depending on the level of polish and sound add-ons.
My biggest expense is time. Recording, editing and uploading 45 minutes of programs can easily consume four to five hours.
For someone like me – with my wife, trying to limit creative work to about 15 hours a week, which is a lot of time that is not a mission-critical. I would rather spend time writing, hang out with the kids or play tennis for exercise.
Not fire, but entrepreneur
Given the manageable costs and the fire should mean “work is optional”, it makes me weird because these podcasts seek financial help. The more I think about it, the more I doubt they are actually not financially independent.
Maybe they are just entrepreneurs running small businesses, worried about falling incomes and mastering the way they keep the lights. After all, they have never shared their net worth or passive income figures.
As someone who helped start the modern firefighting campaign in 2009, I often hear a common criticism: some firefighters influencers are not really “retired” and they just traded a job for entrepreneurs. Due to the lack of transparency, there is a lot of smoke and mirrors.
I totally understand.
Podcasts don’t record themselves, and articles don’t magically appear overnight. I just said that I spend about 15 hours a week writing, editing and responding to the financial warrior. To acknowledge this dynamic, I even wrote an article about becoming one Fake retirees More than ten years, lanterns are hung in this case. So, money that podcasts have to their audience helps support this criticism.
For me, I love writing, connecting and understanding personal finance. After working over 60 hours a week in banking for 13 years, I couldn’t retire all day long to play golf or tennis. I need to stay productive and be mentally stimulating for two to three hours a day.
Along the way, the Financial Warriors generated supplementary income, which helped to keep our safe evacuation rate low, and my wife and I were both comfortable leaving the U.S. company.
It would be totally unreasonable not to profit from my passion. However, I would rather not donate to my readers. My podcast or book sharing or comments are enough.
The fire will make you a terrible entrepreneur
Although I stopped listening regularly after that episode, the show continued. About a year later, one of the owners left – presumably in pursuit of better opportunities. The rest of the hosts have been grinding, and today the podcasts are booming. I bet it will generate at least $150,000 in net profit right now.
That’s the point. When you no Real Shooting – You’ll be busy when you still need or strongly want more money. You created it. You innovate. You will do everything possible to keep your income flowing. You even ask your audience for donations during a global pandemic, and they will also be hurt if needed.
Hunger that desires to survive and grow is fuel for entrepreneurial spirit. But if you have reached a passive income level that can comfortably cover your living expenses, it’s gone. Without this pressure, you may not do your best. You might even be breathless and become a terrible entrepreneur.
Here are some things I can do to make more money:
- Create a YouTube or Tiktok channel
- Hire a team of writers to post more articles and attract more traffic
- Bring sales staff to ensure more advertising partnerships
- After writing two national bestsellers, becoming a paid spokesperson at the conference
- Release one or two podcast episodes a week, rather than every three weeks or so
- Spend at least one hour a day posting on social media to increase engagement and transportation
- Tone TV producer on the show, just like what I think Love is money
The problem is, I just can’t interrupt, which is why I’ve been keeping pace since 2009. I didn’t leave work to create another one. It’s very tiring to manage and sell yourself constantly. If you want to subscribe to my newsletter and read Financial Samurai. Great! If not, it’s great!
I found a best location – creating and interacting between 6am-7:30am and then creating and interacting again from 9pm to 10pm-I felt the most fulfilling and happiest. Everything for more than 20 hours is like Jo B.
I respect the hustle and bustle of Grindcore, but at my age, I simply didn’t have the same motivation. Financial independence weakens my entrepreneurial advantage.
But if I’m craving money for any reason, yes, I’ll try these new plans! I am not very proud to work and provide minimum wage services to my family. I will do everything I can to make sure they are safe.
Grind natural fading passion
Once arrived Minimum investment threshold Where work becomes optional, the stimulation of transcendence and transcendence of a day’s efforts begins to weaken. It feels meaningless to come early or be late. Meetings were skipped, drinks dropped after get off work, and weekend idiots were replaced by family time. Even the business trip that once caused New York lost its brilliance.
For entrepreneurs, the decline in motivation may be even steeper. Unlike employees, no boss decides on this day. You have to be a ruthless self-start while wearing every hat (creator, marketer, accountant, PR representative and business development leader). Force yourself to build and grow your business is a difficult task when you already have enough passive income.
When I’m eager to make money
The motivation for my last two paychecks: when my daughter was born in December 2019 and after buying a new home in 2023.
Locking makes entrepreneurs a logical focus. If the government wants to deprive me of my freedom, I will definitely make the most of the online! Then, the home purchase was enough to reduce my passive income to restart the urge to rebuild it.
But after two years of strong stock market growth and a rebound in San Francisco’s housing prices, I’m back to sleep and don’t care about revenue optimization. Now, our finances depend on market performance, not on startup income. Maintaining the right asset allocation is more important than squeezing out additional business profits. Go to a bull market!
This is exactly what parents should Never give children nothing to money. If they want the ability to spend, they need to earn it. No matter how wealthy we become, at least the noise at the baseline is essential, so our children have nothing to do and they develop a strong work ethic. As long as you say no to the mentality of power!
Comfortable road less
This is the paradox of fire: you escaped the rat race, but you also lose the urgency to drive the success of extraordinary entrepreneurs. When you no longer need To make money, you are less willing to pursue every opportunity or sell your business at the highest dollar.
That doesn’t have to be bad. This is free. But to be an entrepreneur without profit motivation, you need to become very greedy, task-oriented or truly like your product. Without that kind of internal fire, long-term and ruthless growth would not have happened.
Creative Longevity: The Hidden Gift of Fire
If a fire makes you a bad entrepreneur, it will also make you longer. Because I didn’t burn the pursuit of income, Financial Warrior It has been a lifetime since 2009. When the founder loses interest or ads are injected, many of the shiner places zoom, burn, burn, and disappear.
My slower, more stable approach may never produce a compelling outlet, but it offers something more valuable: keeping power. I can continue writing, podcasting and participating for years because I really like the work. Enjoy rather than maximizing is what keeps the project alive.
Financial independence has made me a less active entrepreneur, but a happier person. I focus on creativity and connection, writing as inspiration strikes and share ideas inspire conversations. This intrinsic motivation is hard to defeat.
It also gives me time to set an example for my children. I hope they see the value of curiosity and discipline, if I can keep the site running until 2040, maybe if they struggle after college, I can even offer a kind of career insurance.
Currently, I am content to maximize income because we already have enough income. But if my family needs me to earn more day to come, I will. The responsibility of being a father will never fade, even the urgency of chasing the dollar.
What do you think about how real fire affects entrepreneurs’ path? When you no longer need money to survive, you are actually free to be a better entrepreneur because you can be completely focused on creating the best product? Do you find this strange when firefighters donate to listeners?
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