“Fire and brimstone coming down from the skies! Rivers and seas boiling!”
“Forty years of darkness! Earthquakes, volcanoes…”
“The dead rising from the grave!”
“Human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together… mass hysteria!”
– The Ghostbusters
We all like to think glowingly about our future. Raising our families, fun vacations, memorable meals, and retirement, of course! We spend a great deal of time thinking and planning about what fun things we are going to do and how we will go about doing them. In the Financial Independence Retire Early (FIRE) community, we use high savings rates to reach Financial Independence (FI) much quicker than our non-FIRE peers.
But unfortunately, S^&T happens, and our best-laid plans could go up in smoke. However, the same skills you use to propel yourself on the path to FI can serve you well when everything that can go wrong, does go wrong.
Can you take cues from a rocket launch to enjoy the benefits of F.I.R.E. on an accelerated timeline? 
We’ve all heard the phrase “Keeping up with the Joneses”. That is the arms race of measuring one’s worth by comparing one’s possessions and status with one’s peers. It means acquiring the biggest, the best, the newest, and the most expensive things. You look down the street and see the family with the new car and you set your sights to figuring out how you can buy one yourself. A friend gets a new job or promotion and you feel the pressure to improve your own career standing. You have to be the first among your friends to buy the newest iPhone model. It is an insatiable pursuit of more and better. If you look around, it appears that we are surrounded by the Joneses. Do we have to keep up with the Joneses? Is there another way?