What’s up with the name?
Welcome to FIRE Me: Financial Independence for Educators.
(FIRE stands for Financial Independence Retire Early.)
This blog is designed to help teachers (and other educators) build financial intelligence and plan for their own financial independence.
Don’t get hung up on the ‘retire’ part of the acronym. While this blog will explore retirement, I don’t believe that the goal of financial independence is necessarily retirement. We’ll explore a lot of topics related to personal finance through an educator’s lens.
After some rumination, I finally landed on this title after tossing around several other ideas:
The Platinum Apple — but was concerned that Apple, the $3+ billion company, would send me a cease and desist order. Also, platinum is not as ‘shiny’ as it used to be.
Financially Schooled — cheeky and modern, but perhaps a bit arrogant? Many financial independence and FIRE blogs are already a bit too “Look at me, I’m 39 and retired!” My goal is, hopefully, to be a little more humble, realistic and/or humorous.
FIE (The Financially Independent Educator) — might be confused with FIRE. (Click for an explanation) And fie is an old English word used to express disgust or outrage. We have enough disgust and outrage these days already.
What’s up with the author?
My name is Mark. I’m a lifelong educator who lives in the Pacific Northwest. We’ll get to know each other through the posts in this blog. In the meantime, here are not just two, but four truths and a lie. (You’ll have to read the posts in FIRE Me for detail to find the lie.)
- I was a teacher librarian (a.k.a. school librarian)
- I shook hands with President Obama at the White House
- I was a Chief Digital Officer for a school district
- I currently drive a Rivian pickup
- I’ve DJed school dances and weddings
I am NOT a financial planner, tax specialist, or broker. Here’s the full disclaimer.
But I am a Financially Independent Educator. The aim of this blog is simple. I want to share information that I have learned, researched, and collected to help other educators build their financial intelligence.
At this point, I’m not trying to make money with this project. At least through advertising. So you won’t find annoying sidebars or floating promotions.
It’s a labor of love toward the educators who have been my family, friends, and colleagues for virtually all of my life.
What’s up with you?
Do any of the following describe what you do or what you did? (In no particular order.)
- Teachers
- Principals
- Counselors
- Teacher librarians
- Food service workers
- Coaches (athletic and curricular)
- Maintenance workers
- Security officers
- Paraeducators
- Transportation staff
- Office or district staff
- District administrators
- Superintendents
- I’m sorry if I’ve forgotten anyone
I’ve grown up, lived, worked, and partied with parents, family, friends, and others in the education profession pretty much since I was born.
Educators are my peeps!
Whomever you are, welcome! I genuinely hope that this blog can help you with our financial intelligence and independence.