Hey friends

I am a huge fan of the FIRE movement. Financial Independence, Retire Early. I first found about it perhaps 10 years ago and it shaped the way I think about my life and finances. That and The Four Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss. I knew I didn't want to work a full-time job forever. I wanted to work part time and give some of my free time to charities that I love. Those working with children and animals.

So why am I bringing this up?

Well, I have not reached FIRE (yet) but I would love to introduce you to it. I believe it can change your life. It's not perfect, and nothing ever is, but its so much better than the alternative.

The Big Idea

(I've been told to tell you that this is not financial advice, it's my opinion. But I think it's a good one 😎)

Have you ever looked at your bank account and wondered where all your money went? Or felt stressed about whether you'll have enough saved for retirement in 30 years? Most project managers are great at planning complex deliverables but terrible at planning their financial future. We budget for project risks but not life risks. FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early) isn't about quitting work tomorrow but it's about taking control of your money so work becomes a choice, not a necessity.

Think of it as the ultimate project: Project You.

FIRE followers typically save 25-50% of their income by cutting unnecessary expenses and investing wisely. The goal? Build enough wealth so your investments cover your living expenses. But here's what most people miss: FIRE isn't really about retiring early. It's about having options. When you're financially independent, you can take that risky startup job, negotiate better terms, or work part-time without panic. You become the project manager of your own life.

Here's how FIRE transforms your career: First, track every expense like you track project costs; because you can't optimize what you don't measure. Second, automate your savings the same way you automate project reporting. Make it systematic, not emotional. Third, invest consistently in low-cost funds instead of trying to time the market. Finally, focus on increasing your income through skills and negotiation, not just cutting costs. It's like having multiple revenue streams in a project portfolio. The math is simple: if you need $50,000 per year to live, you need $1.25 million invested (using the 4% rule). Sounds impossible? A project manager earning $80,000 who saves $30,000 annually could reach this in about 20 years.

Takeaways

• FIRE gives you career options by removing financial desperation from job decisions
• Most people can save 25-50% by tracking expenses and cutting waste, not income
• Financial independence takes 15-25 years of consistent saving and investing
• You don't have to retire early - you just get the freedom to choose
• The 4% rule means you need 25x your annual expenses invested to be financially free

Try This:

• Track every expense for one month using an app (or just pen and paper)
• Calculate your "FI number" - multiply your annual expenses by 25
• Set up automatic transfers to move 20% of each paycheck to savings/investments
• Read "The Simple Path to Wealth" by JL Collins this month
• Find one subscription or recurring expense you can cancel today and invest that money instead

Deep Dive

Do This to Achieve Financial Independence as a Project Manager You can create the freedom you want... ​Read full story →​

From my Toolkit

The more emails I get, the less I actually use email. Sounds backwards, right? But drowning in my inbox taught me that most "urgent" emails aren't actually urgent at all. They're just the default way we communicate because it feels professional. Now I've built a simple system that cuts my email volume by about 60% while making my communication way more effective.

My communication hierarchy is simple: immediate team stuff gets a text or Slack DM, project updates go in dedicated channels, and only formal decisions or external stakeholders get emails.

Here's my rule of thumb: if it needs a response in the next 2 hours, it's a work-channel-text (like Slack or Teams). If it needs documentation for later, it's an email. Everything else is a quick call or text message.

And here's something cool: Texts with my immediate team don't need perfect grammar or formal signatures. I can say "meeting moved to 3pm" instead of "Dear John, I hope this email finds you well. I wanted to reach out regarding our previously scheduled meeting..." Save the impressive writing for reports, not daily coordination.

For follow-ups, I use a simple 3-2-1 rule: first follow-up after 3 days via the same channel, second follow-up after 2 days but switch channels (email to text, text to call), final follow-up after 1 day with a clear deadline or "I'll assume we're not moving forward." I use scheduling in my mailbox calendar tool eliminate the "when are you free?" email chains, and I use voice messages for anything that would take more than 3 sentences to type.

• 📱 Text/DM: Immediate team coordination, skip the formalities
• 📧 Email: External stakeholders, decisions that need documentation
• 📞 Call: Complex discussions, relationship building, anything over 3 back-and-forth messages
• ⏰ 3-2-1 Follow-up: Three days same channel, two days different channel, one day with deadline

Let me know what you thought of this email. I read every reply.

Have a great week ahead.

Jonathan