I’ve spent some time trying to figure out whether ERE (as the philosophy described in the book/as the common traits of people in the forums) could be easily matched to other subcultures. This would make it easier for me to describe it in one word and it would also make it easier to find others to identify with. There are bohemians, hippies, beatniks, and even transcendentalists. However, the closest subculture is “simple living“.

However, all of these seem to completely ignore or even oppose the FI/capitalist aspects of ERE(*) (perhaps especially “simple living” people who are more into relationship/community/paycheck-to-paycheck based personal finance) which in a sense are very close to Randian (objectivism) almost in an Atlas Shrugged (I don’t know about you guys but I am definitely sympathetic to the concept of retiring as a form of protest towards the current system), so nothing really matches 100%.

(*) Your Money Or Your Life is the first/oldest book I’m aware off that actively includes financial independence from investing as a major ingredient in its philosophy. Previous books all propose that the lowering of expenses are matched by lowering one’s earned income. If you’re aware of earlier works, please let me know.

But hey, maybe one day, ERE will get its own wiki—that’ll make it official πŸ™‚


Originally posted 2011-10-07 10:56:28.