I am too pessimistic? Or are you blindly optimistic?

[Graham Chong]

"Forget what we're told
Before we get too old
Show me a garden
That's bursting into life"

Chasing Cars, Snow Patrol

People around me often think I'm being ridiculous that I want to get rich quick and retire early so that I can enjoy my younger years. That I am pessimistic and love using extreme examples. But really, am I being crazy? What if I back it up with some statistics?

While MJ loves analogy, I love statistics. Stats simply don't lie.

​

The graph is pretty self-explanatory, but here's my interpretation.

Most of us are quite aware of life expectancy, that in the developed world most of us are expected to live till our 80s. So not too bad, people still get 20 odd years after retirement.

Really?

But what's often missed out of the picture is disability-free life expectancy (DFLE), as shown in the graph.

As the title says, it is a graph showing life expectancy and disability-free life expectancy (DFLE) of people born in England from 1999-2003. If you happened to be born during that time in the most privileged neighbourhood, you get your pension at the age of 68. And guess what, on average you have 15 years more to live, but only 2 years of disability-free years left! What if you happened to be born in the average neighbourhood? Your disability-free life expectancy is actually lower than your pension age!

Now I know there's social mobility, that people can better their life by doing the right things towards the right direction.
And there are many other factors that can affect your health outcomes.

What I'm trying to say is, people often overestimate the number of healthy years they have got ahead of them, that they squandered their time away doing things they don't enjoy doing and only realizing when it's too late.

Or perhaps you prefer real life examples to cold hard statistics.

I've seen a doctor demented and crippled with Alzheimer’s disease under the age of 50!

Do you know, while Mohamed Ali and Michael J Fox are the most well known people to suffer from Parkinson’s Disease, the disease tends to affect professionals such as engineers and accountants more than any other groups in the population? The very people who think after years of slowlane hard work, they can finally retire and enjoy their lives.

Or I'm sure you have seen examples around you.

I am not sure about you - I'm dead scared of slowlane mediocrity. I have dreams, and I want to achieve most if not all of them before I am disabled or even dead.

 

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[Rickson9]

Unless you have a plan and work ethic, it's just a fantasy. Everybody around me wants to be a millionaire, but they have no plan let alone the work ethic to execute it.

 

[Graham Chong]

Thanks for the advice Rickson9!

I do admit while I can learn to make good plan from others, such as TMF , work ethics is what I have to work on. No one can help me on that part but myself.

 

[The-J]

I agree with you completely.

While living, health is the most important thing. Any cancer or AIDS patient would give all their money (and they often do) to get one step closer to health.

Therefore, I don't want to spend all my healthy days working in a dead end job that I hate. The Fastlane is my alternative.

 

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[Rickson9]

Everybody understands their plan to become an engineer, doctor, investment banker, etc. and they have no problem executing what they need to execute to get there. But when it comes to something nebulous like 'millionaire' there's no 'plan' per se so they don't even bother to start.

 

[Anthony_44]

What I'm trying to say is, people often overestimate the number of healthy years they have got ahead of them, that they squandered their time away doing things they don't enjoy doing and only realizing when it's too late.

This is very true. We count the years of life we have left but we don't really count the years that we can truly enjoy living in my opinion

 

[The-J]

Everybody understands their plan to become an engineer, doctor, investment banker, etc. and they have no problem executing what they need to execute to get there. But when it comes to something nebulous like 'millionaire' there's no 'plan' per se so they don't even bother to start.

There's a million ways to make a million dollars. Which way do you choose? It's simply too nebulous of a goal, as you said. There's only one way to become a doctor.

Im starting to think that simply making x amount of money isn't a worthy goal after all.

EDIT: If you want to be a millionaire, you can do it by becoming a doctor, engineer, or investment banker. You could be a millionaire doing a lot of things. That's the point: do what you want to do, which, as MJ said, is what the Fastlane is all about. Having the freedom to do what you want. Often that freedom comes before retirement.

 

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[MJ DeMarco]

I want to achieve most if not all of them before I am disabled or even dead.

Very telling data.

I think the important thing here is to enjoy the journey.

Happiness suffers when life becomes a routine monotony that only serves to pay the bills. Most people, sadly, only *live* on the weekends. While the errant perception might be that "Fastlaners" are rich, or soon to be rich, the fact is that they are HAPPY (broke, rich, or somewhere in the middle) -- their dream is alive, they are on the road to it's realization, and they are inspired by their future.

Can the average person say this?

Not a chance. That to me is what Fastlane (and entrepreneurship) is about.

In the "Calling All Fastlaners" thread, Likwid is asking people to vote at QVC for a product that HE created.

I can't imagine how exciting that is to witness... to have your creation out there in the wild, consumable by the world.

Regardless of the outcome, it truly is exhilarating. Not many would even try, much less get to a prototype stage.

This to me, is what "Fastlane" and "living the dream" is all about.

 

[santa]

Graham SPEED +.
Its often hard to have this vision unless you have been through this first hand via yourself or seen someone go through it on a personal level (and even then most somehow dismiss it).
The point you make is so valid and actually one of my motivations to have greater monetary freedoms (to improve my % of avoiding or limiting future declines inthe body).
I'm actually in the situation you talk about currently and it has been eye opening. What one took for granted and cannot do anymore. And how resources like $ can really make things so much easier

The point MJ makes is so true too, though I wonder how many of us actually truly grasp this. At different levels we're often exposed to hard work = suffering/pain/lack of satisfaction- and though their may be times of this, we also forget the pride and satisfaction (and pleasure) that can come from following our journey too.
Often its easy to confuse this or Zen or eastern type philosophies with inaction e.g. "what so if I'm just happy and content I won't do anything, I'll have no motivation". My experience has been when I've truly tapped into this mental state, my clarity of the situation around me, and the quality of my decisions and actions are improved 10-fold.

What you're saying Graham could also be applied to health too. Look at JAck Lalanne, some say well he "only" lived to 95 (and died of something that may have been avoided too arguably), but my point about him was two fold- he died with more physical mobility than most 30 year olds. Secondly, it seemed he was very happy in his lifestyle, "in his journey" as MJ might say.

 

[Graham Chong]

Everybody understands their plan to become an engineer, doctor, investment banker, etc. and they have no problem executing what they need to execute to get there. But when it comes to something nebulous like 'millionaire' there's no 'plan' per se so they don't even bother to start.

Well said Rickson9!

EDIT: If you want to be a millionaire, you can do it by becoming a doctor, engineer, or investment banker. You could be a millionaire doing a lot of things. That's the point: do what you want to do, which, as MJ said, is what the Fastlane is all about. Having the freedom to do what you want. Often that freedom comes before retirement.

Many do think becoming a doctor can make you a millionaire. While I do not dismiss the likelihood of it, it is certainly a painful and dull journey if money is your primary motivation. I remember a consultant physician telling us that we should have new hobbies or try doing something different every 5 years or so once we qualify, or risk ending up dead bored. Well, he's a dermatologist, can you imagine looking at skin problems for 30 years? He is probably bored but cannot quit for it may be his only main income stream.

That to me, is one of the main differences when it comes to slowlane vs fastlane. A slowlaner may have the freedom to do one or two or three major things he or she truly wants in life, but a fastlaner can do more than that.

I think the important thing here is to enjoy the journey.

Happiness suffers when life becomes a routine monotony that only serves to pay the bills. Most people, sadly, only *live* on the weekends. While the errant perception might be that "Fastlaners" are rich, or soon to be rich, the fact is that they are HAPPY (broke, rich, or somewhere in the middle) -- their dream is alive, they are on the road to it's realization, and they are inspired by their future.

Thanks MJ! I certainly appreciate your input! Some people tell me that they enjoy their careers and it is the only thing they want to do in life, yet moan about the long working hours and sacrifices blah blah blah, and always look forward to weekends and holidays. The saddest thing is that they have to lie to themselves to cover up for their mediocrity.

Its often hard to have this vision unless you have been through this first hand via yourself or seen someone go through it on a personal level (and even then most somehow dismiss it).

Thanks for the SPEED +! I agree. I have this minor niggling chronic health problem since I was 18. While it is not life threatening, it does limit my ability to 100% enjoy doing certain things. Sometimes I think it might be a blessing in disguise that led me to my realization.

What you're saying Graham could also be applied to health too. Look at JAck Lalanne

Thanks for introducing. Hats off Jack LaLanne! Truly inspiring!

And thank you guys for your inputs! I now have more points in my arsenal when I have to justify my fastlane journey every now and again.

 

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