That’s interesting. I’ll have to check it out. FI sounds so similar to MLM! They are both promoting the same lifestyle. Living a life that’s enjoyable, laid back and care free. And with the good comes the bad. There are plenty of people trying to hawk products that really won’t help people. A lot of the information for FI/FIRE can be found for free. I think it’s helpful for readers to search through the free stuff, before paying for information they really don’t need to pay for.

Coming off like that is easily one of my worst fears when writing about FIRE. I have a feeling the MarketWatch/mainstream news articles are much more likely to appear that way – especially for people who just read the headlines.

Ha. I think it’s fine to share information and to make money doing so. As long as you sell what you believe in or put disclaimers in those things you don’t. MLM is all about selling the “hope for a better life” but in the end you are left with nothing but empty promises.

I think that’s really what makes MLMs so insidious though – they are selling a real hope for a better life, but what they’re selling to get there is just air at best and a nightmare that plunges you in debt and severs your friendships at worst.

That is so eloquently stated and so very true. It’s so easy to be swayed by big ideas of who you will be once you have money, but the important thing is to be who you want to be right now. If you can find happiness now why wait until you have money?

As I get older I place so much more importance on the parts of my life that have little to nothing to do with money. Like holding the door open for someone. Saying thank you when someone holds the door open for me. Talking to the little old lady who seems lonely and sad at the bus stop or in line at the grocery store. Picking up the trash that I come across on the street. Sometimes we strive for the big moments while completely missing the small ones along the way. Happiness, gratitude, kindness and so many other attributes of life can be had right now. There is no need to wait for the future to receive them.

Thank you for such a beautiful reminder.

I’m so thankful they aren’t the same. I started this blog in 2006, but I stopped awhile back. I kept in touch with a few bloggers over the years, but now that I’m writing again I realize just how much I missed the camaraderie of personal finance nerds out there supporting one another. I wish the rest of the world was as supportive of one another. Friendship should be based on many things, but how much I can sell to make another person rich shouldn’t be one of them. Thanks for the comment!