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Welcome to this session of grand rounds, a collection of posts I have discovered in the blogosphere and have found of interest and hope you do too.

This offering of Grand Rounds looks at articles from around the web that deal with some of the potential downsides of pursuing FIRE (Financial Independence/Retire Early).

It is good to find opposing views of any ideology/philosophy so that you can truly have all the information available to make an informed personal decision.

It is only natural to want to share information with your friends and colleagues when you discover something beneficial.

However there can be a dark side that emerges with this practice as you may find that instead of gratitude you will draw their ire.

The Physician Philosopher classifies several groups of individuals where perhaps it is indeed best to hold this information close to your chest in, “Flash FIRE Warning: When FIRE Chasers Become FIRE Fighters.”

You have hit “your number.”

Perhaps even decades before the traditional retirement age.

Before you burn every bridge at your workplace (by the way I don’t recommend this even if you do end up retiring early), you might want to first read this MarketWatch article, “Here’s Why You Shouldn’t Retire Super Early- Even If You Can.”

Being stuck in an echo chamber can make you miss some of the pitfalls of a particular ideology.

If all you hear is affirmative viewpoints, you may be setup for quite the fall when things do not go according to plan.

That is why it is always important to pay attention to those who speak out against an ideology you believe in so that you are at least kept apprise of potential shortcomings.

Wealthy Accountant gives us one such post, “A Critical View Of The FIRE Community,” so that you don’t find yourself in an Emperor’s New Clothes situation.

With the FIRE movement in its relative infancy, there are somethings that are difficult to predict until the first set of guinea pigs can provide examples.

Millennials especially may be pushing the envelope too far with people choosing to retire in their early 20s.

It can be complete guess work when trying to estimate a nest egg that is supposed to support a 50, 60, or even 70+ year retirement.

Continuing the theme of warnings about the FIRE movement, Investment News demonstrates these concerns in, “Advisers Throw Cold Water On Fire Movement.”

We often hear inflation is what retirees, early or not, have to look out for.

One term that is thrown about far less often is deflation.

Deflation may trump everything else in the list of things that could reek havoc on your retirement.

Gasem does a great post on the concept of deflation in, “Demographics.”

Hope you enjoyed the reading material.

Have a great rest of the week.

Note:

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Even a steadfast DIY’er can sometimes gain benefit from the occasional professional input.