In 2020, during the heart of the COVID pandemic, I remember listening to a FIRE-focused podcast hosted by two people who claimed to be financially independent and retired early. Even though it’s been over 16 years since I first started writing about FIRE, the topic still fascinates me. The journey toward financial independence is full of twists and turns, and people’s real-life experiences are always insightful.
But one particular episode caught me off guard. The two hosts—who built their entire brand on the idea of never needing to work again—asked listeners for financial support to keep their podcast running. Soon after, I saw an email making the same plea.
I remember thinking, Wait a minute. If these folks are truly FIRE, why would they need to ask for money to keep a passion project alive? Just fund it themselves!
I wasn’t judging the need for donations itself. Creative projects cost time and money, and compensation is deserved. But the ask didn’t match the premise. If they were genuinely financially independent, surely they could afford a few thousand dollars a year to sustain their own show, especially one that was meant to showcase the freedom FIRE provides.
How Much Does a Podcast Really Cost To Produce?
I have the Financial Samurai podcast (Apple, Spotify), so I know exactly what goes into production. A decently produced, professional-sounding episode doesn’t have to break the bank. Editing an hour-long episode might cost anywhere from $100 to $600 maximum depending on the level of polish and sound add-ons.
My biggest expense is time. Recording, editing, and uploading a 45-minute show can easily consume four to five hours between my wife (editor) and me.
That’s a significant chunk of time for something that isn’t mission-critical. I’d rather spend that time writing, hanging out with my kids, or playing tennis for exercise.
Not FIRE, But An Entrepreneur Instead
Given the manageable costs and the fact that FIRE is supposed to mean “work is optional,” it struck me as odd that these podcasters were asking for financial help. The more I thought about it, the more I suspected that maybe they weren’t actually financially independent.
Maybe they were simply entrepreneurs running a small business, worried about declining revenue and grasping for ways to keep the lights on during COVID. After all, they've never shared their net worth or passive income figures, so we have no idea.
As someone who helped kickstart the modern-day FIRE movement in 2009, I often hear a common criticism: some FIRE influencers haven’t really “retired,” they’ve simply traded a day job for entrepreneurship. There's a lot of smoke and mirrors due to a lack of transparency.
I totally get it.
Podcasts don’t record themselves and articles don’t magically appear overnight. I spend about 15 hours a week writing, editing, and responding to comments and emails on Financial Samurai. To acknowledge this dynamic, I even wrote a post about being a fake retiree for 10+ years, to hang a lantern on the situation. So for the podcasters to ask money from their audience helps buttress this criticism.
For me, I love writing, connecting, and learning about personal finance. It's endlessly rewarding to create something from nothing. After working 60+ hours a week for 13 years in banking, there’s no way I could just sit around playing golf or tennis all day in retirement. I need to stay productive and mentally stimulated for a two-to-three hours a day. The rest of the time is for exercise, childcare, travel, and relaxation. That is my sweet spot.
Along the way, Financial Samurai generates supplemental retirement income, which helps keep our safe withdrawal rate low, and both my wife and me out of Corporate America since 2012 and 2015, respectively. We hope the run continues indefinitely.
To not monetize my passion would be completely irrational. Running Financial Samurai costs about $10,000 a year for the dedicated server, email services, and tech support – excluding labor. However, I'd rather not ask my readers for donations because it feels inconsistent with my FIRE philosophy. A share or a review of my podcast or books are enough.
FIRE Will Make You a Terrible Entrepreneur
Although I stopped listening regularly after that episode, the show carried on. About a year later, one of the hosts left – presumably to pursue better opportunities with his time. The remaining host kept grinding, and today the podcast is thriving. I’d bet it now generates at least $150,000 in net profits. Awesome!
And that’s exactly the point. When you’re not truly FIRE—when you still need or strongly want more money—you hustle. You create. You innovate. You do everything possible to keep the revenue flowing. You even ask your audience for donations during a global pandemic, if that’s what it takes.
The hunger to survive and grow is what fuels entrepreneurship. But if you’ve already reached a level of passive income that comfortably covers your living expenses, that hunger fades. Without that pressure, you might not push as hard. You might even, gasp, become a terrible entrepreneur.
Here are some of the things I could do to make more money:
- Create a YouTube or TikTok channel
- Hire a team of writers to publish more articles and drive more traffic
- Bring on a salesperson to secure more advertising partnerships
- Become a paid speaker at conferences after writing two national bestsellers
- Do more personal finance consulting instead of throttle it to only one a month or when a book comes out
- Publish one or two podcast episodes each week, instead one one every three weeks or so
- Spend at least an hour a day posting on social media to boost engagement and traffic
- Pitch TV producers on shows, like my idea Love Is Money
The thing is, I just can’t be bothered, which is why I've kept my cadence since 2009. I didn’t leave a job to create another one in FIRE. Managing people and constantly selling yourself is exhausting. If you want to subscribe to my newsletter and read Financial Samurai. Great! If not, also great!
I’ve found a sweet spot – creating and interacting between 6 am – 7:45 am, then again for an hour after the kids go to bed – where I feel the most fulfilled and happy. Anything much beyond 20 hours starts to feel like a J O B.
I respect the grindcore hustle, but I simply don’t have the same drive at my age. Financial independence has sapped my entrepreneurial edge.
But if I was desperate for money for whatever reason, hell yeah I'd try out these new initiatives! I'm not too proud to work a minimum wage service job to provide for my family. I'll do whatever it takes to ensure they are secure.
The Enthusiasm to Grind At Work Naturally Fades
Once you’ve reached the Minimum Investment Threshold where work becomes optional, the thrill of going above and beyond at a day job starts to wane. Coming in early or staying late feels pointless. Meetings get skipped, after-work drinks declined, and weekend boondoggles replaced with family time. Even that once-exciting business trip to New York loses its shine.
For entrepreneurs, the drop in motivation can be even steeper. Unlike employees, there’s no boss dictating the day. You have to be a relentless self-starter while wearing every hat—creator, marketer, accountant, PR rep, and business development lead.
Forcing yourself to build and grow a business when you already have enough passive income is a tall order. Entrepreneurship is way harder than being an employee.
As a result, you may have to resort to mind games to help keep that motivation to create alive.
When My Desire to Earn Returned
My drive to earn spiked twice recently: when my daughter was born in December 2019 and after buying a new house in 2023.
Lockdowns made entrepreneurship from home a logical focus. If the government was going to take away my freedom, I sure as hell was going to make the most of being online! Then the house purchase cut my passive income enough to reignite the urge to rebuild it.
But after two strong years of stock market gains and a rebound in San Francisco home prices, I’m back to sleeping in and caring less about revenue optimization. Our finances now depend far more on market performance than on entrepreneurial income. Maintaining the right asset allocation matters more than squeezing out extra business profits. Go bull market!
This lull is exactly why parents should never give their kids money for nothing. If they want spending power, they need to earn it. No matter how wealthy we become, showing at least a baseline level of hustle is essential so our kids develop a strong work ethic when they have nothing. Just say no to entitlement mentality!
The Comfortable Path Pays Less
Here lies the paradox of FIRE: you escape the rat race, but you also lose the urgency that drives extraordinary entrepreneurial success. When you no longer need to make money, you’re less inclined to chase every opportunity or sell your business for top dollar.
That’s not necessarily bad. It’s freeing. But to thrive as an entrepreneur without a profit motive, you need to be extremely greedy, deeply mission-driven, or truly love your product. Without that internal fire, long hours and relentless growth simply won’t happen.
Creative Longevity: FIRE’s Hidden Gift
If FIRE makes you a bad entrepreneur, at least it can also make you a longer-lasting one. Because I’m not burning out chasing revenue, Financial Samurai has endured since 2009, a lifetime in internet years. Many flashier sites scaled fast, burned hot, and disappeared when founders lost interest or ad dollars dried up.
My slower, steadier approach may never produce a headline-grabbing exit, but it delivers something equally valuable: staying power. I can keep writing, podcasting, and engaging for years because I genuinely enjoy the work. Enjoyment, not maximization, is what keeps a project alive.
Financial independence has made me a less aggressive entrepreneur but a happier human. It also gives me time to set an example for my kids. I want them to see the value of curiosity and discipline, and if I can keep this site running until 2040, maybe I can even provide a form of career insurance if they struggle after college.
For now, I’m content not to maximize revenue because we already have enough. But if the day comes when my family needs me to earn more, I will. That responsibility as a father never goes away, even if the urgency to chase dollars does.
What are your thoughts on how being truly FIRE affects an entrepreneur’s path? Could it be that when you no longer need money to survive, you’re actually free to become a better entrepreneur because you can focus entirely on creating the best product possible? And do you find it strange when a FIRE influencer asks their audience for donations?
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Do I find it out of place that a FI podcast of that nature would ask for general donations? Yeah that’s a bit awkward and counterintuitive to their whole thesis. If they were selling t-shirts or something like that to spread brand awareness and make a little profit on the sales I could see that. But promoting themselves as financially independent and then blatantly asking people to donate to their show sounds rather scammy.
Speaking of scams, there are so many out there today it raises my blood pressure if I think about them too much. My mother is like a magnet to elder scams too. We all need to be wary about how we spend and whom we pay.
Lol did you just call out the mile high fi podcast?
Never heard of it. Should I check it out? And will I be asked to donate money to them as they share thoughts about their fabulously FIRE lives? If so, could be great!