Essays
All essays
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Why $1M Is Both Too Much and Too Little
A million dollars is the default FIRE number because a million dollars is a round number. For some readers it is too much. For others, dramatically too little. Both errors come from the same mistake.
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Hedonic Adaptation Cuts Both Ways
The same psychological mechanism that makes you tire of your new car will, very quickly, make you stop missing your old salary. Why this matters for the FIRE plan.
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Geographic Arbitrage: Four Cities Where $20K/Year Buys a Real Life
In Chiang Mai, a one-bedroom with a pool, a maid, and a 15-minute walk to a world-class hospital costs $420 a month. Four cities, four real budgets, what each one trades.
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The Five Regrets of the Dying, Re-examined
Bronnie Ware spent eight years as a palliative care nurse and identified the five regrets patients voiced most. The list is famous. Here is what it actually says when you read it carefully.
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How to Quit Your Job in 90 Days Without Losing Your Mind
A concrete 90-day timeline from ‘I want out’ to ‘I am out.’ Week-by-week, no fluff. Most people sit with the desire for years; the actual exit takes three months.
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Die With Zero: A Critical Reading of Bill Perkins
Bill Perkins’s Die With Zero (2020) is the closest mainstream argument to Memento FIRE. A serious reading: what Perkins gets right, what he gets wrong, and the move he can not quite make.
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The Resignation Letter That Doesn’t Burn Bridges
The resignation letter is the artifact of the actual decision. It does not need to be a manifesto. Here is a template that closes the door without slamming it.
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Healthcare Without a Job: Honest 2026 Numbers for US Early Retirees
Every SuicideFIRE conversation hits the same wall around the third drink: ‘But what about health insurance?’ Here are the actual 2026 numbers most people don’t know.
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Why Your 75-Year-Old Self Is a Stranger You’re Paying For
Derek Parfit’s 1984 argument about personal identity over time has a brutal implication for retirement planning: the person you are saving for is mostly a stranger. Here is what that means for the math.