It’s a raging bull market, and I’ll confess, I’m just a little irritated I don’t have a big paycheck anymore to reap the benefits of extra funding alternatives. Each day, I see individuals with regular W-2 revenue are funneling hundreds into shares, actual property, and personal offers. In the meantime, I’m sitting right here, asset wealthy however money circulate constrained.
In a earlier submit, we mentioned how liquidity is the primary distinction between feeling like a poor versus a rich millionaire. For these of us who enjoy investing more than spending, not having a paycheck – particularly once we’re already all-in – creates a sense of deprivation. You wish to make investments, however you merely haven’t got the money circulate to take action.
When you have a job, particularly one which pays nicely, don’t take it as a right! Save and make investments as a lot as you may whereas occasions are good. In the future, the revenue will sluggish or cease, and also you’ll want you had invested extra if you had the possibility.
Since writing about FIRE again in 2009, I’ve at all times tried to share each the highs and lows of monetary independence. Escaping a job you dislike to do no matter you need is superb. Nevertheless it’s not at all times sushi and snowboarding in Niseko.
Being cash-strapped throughout a bull market is among the tougher realities of FIRE. It’s essential to be taught to be comfy falling behind, or not less than not operating up the rating.
When You Don’t Have Sufficient Earnings to Spend money on Alternatives
Proper now, my household faces two existential challenges:
- The potential decline of impartial on-line media platforms attributable to AI disruption.
- The danger that AI will get rid of hundreds of thousands of jobs – so by the point my youngsters graduate in 2040 and 2043, there is probably not sufficient well-paying alternatives for them to reside independently.
Given these two traits, my plan is easy: make investments aggressively and educate my youngsters all the things I can about life. I’ll create a partnership with their faculty lecturers, as an alternative of simply outsourcing 100% of my youngsters’s training to them.
The world is altering too rapidly, and the teachings that can matter most – resilience, creativity, emotional intelligence, and monetary literacy – should come from dwelling.
This submit will delve into the emotional facet of cash and FIRE. As a result of even when you suppose you’ve gotten sufficient, you could lengthy for extra, particularly in case you have individuals relying on you.
Did not Have Sufficient Money Circulate To Make investments Extra In Google
I’ve acknowledged Google’s dominance within the “new media” panorama for nicely over a decade. It’s change into a close to monopoly in search, and as a capitalist, I wish to invest in monopolies that generate outsized profits. On the identical time, I’ve seen how one algorithm change could make or break a media enterprise in a single day. Proudly owning Google inventory was my method to hedge towards that threat.
I’d been steadily shopping for shares all year long however slowed down as soon as the worth hit $250 in September 2025. Valuations had been beginning to make me nervous. The inventory ultimately dipped to $239 on October 9, so I made my closing buy of the yr the following day.
Although I remained bullish, a part of me puzzled if the decline from $250 was the beginning of a deeper correction. The actual cause I finished shopping for, although, was easy. I used to be operating low on money and had taxes due by October 15. With out a huge paycheck coming in anymore, I couldn’t preserve including to my place.
My obligation is to pay revenue taxes to assist fund the federal government companies that about 40% of People don’t contribute to immediately, since they do not pay revenue taxes. It is the identical philosophy of figuring out and consuming proper to pay huge healthcare subsidies for many who can not. Go USA!
Missed The Subsequent Ramp Increased
Then, on October 21, one thing attention-grabbing occurred. ChatGPT, one other firm I personal shares in by way of Fundrise Venture, introduced the launch of Atlas, an AI-powered internet browser designed to compete immediately with Google.
The information despatched Google’s inventory tumbling from up on the day to down sharply. I needed to purchase the dip as a result of it felt like an overreaction, particularly since reviews confirmed Google’s search market share had really began to rebound.
However I didn’t purchase. With out regular money circulate mid-month, like most individuals with day jobs have, I needed to wait till the tip of the month for passive revenue from bonds, dividends, and rental properties. Then, on October 29, Google reported stellar earnings after the shut, and the inventory shot increased.
Ugh. For an investor, few issues are extra painful than having the fitting funding thesis however failing to execute. But once more, a prickly reminder that chance typically favors these with regular revenue and ample liquidity.
Diversifying Personal AI Investments
Now for the following case research on why having a pleasant huge paycheck throughout a bull market is most popular.
Public market investments are my bread and butter for investing since it is simple to do. Nonetheless, I’ve been targeted on constructing more private AI investment exposure for my children. The bull market has been variety to oldsters who make investments, however the future is unsure for his or her offspring. So I see investing for them now as a type of safety.
Thus far, I’ve allotted $193,100 to my youngsters’s Fundrise venture account, with publicity to non-public AI firms like OpenAI, Databricks, Anduril, and Anthropic. My objective is to contribute a complete of $300,000 over the following two years by way of dollar-cost averaging because the funding minimal is barely $10. Nonetheless, attributable to my lack of money circulate, I really feel like I am too sluggish to catch the prepare.
However Fundrise, which invests in later-stage non-public progress firms, isn’t my solely enterprise publicity. Inside the enterprise house, I wish to diversify throughout the corporate lifecycle, from pre-seed to later levels. The sooner the funding stage, the higher the danger, however the higher the reward.
The Temptation to Hold Diversifying My Personal Investments
An present VC agency the place I’m an LP is launching one other fund that focuses on seed and Sequence A rounds. They only employed a brand new GP who I personally know and suppose he is very good, and I’d like to again them. However the minimal funding is $500,000, and even with a loyal LP low cost, I’d nonetheless have to commit $250,000.
Then there’s a fellow faculty dad elevating a cybersecurity fund. He bought his final startup to a significant public firm and now needs to spend money on pre-seed and seed-stage safety startups. He’s well-connected, good, and genuinely likable. Supporting good individuals is at all times a pleasure. And his minimal funding is $100,000, which is rather more palatable.
Nonetheless, investing in each would require not less than $350,000 in commitments, cash I merely don’t have until I dump different belongings or return to buying and selling my time for cash. Then, in fact, I wish to proceed buying the dip in the S&P 500 and different particular person tech shares in the event that they do dump. If solely I had a giant paycheck once more. I might spend money on all three funds with ease.
Capital Calls and Actuality Checks
Good factor capital commitments aren’t drawn instantly. Sometimes, funds name capital over a 3–4 yr interval. The cybersecurity fund, for instance, will name 25% upfront, then the remaining 75% over three years. Which means I’d have to plan for about $35,000 a yr in capital outlay.
If I had been nonetheless incomes a number of six figures, this wouldn’t be a giant difficulty. My passive revenue already covers our primary dwelling bills. However as dual unemployed parents, an additional $75,000–$100,000 a yr in enterprise commitments, if I spend money on the opposite fund as nicely, is a stretch. Our passive revenue would not have a big sufficient cushion.
Writing books doesn’t pay a lot (although it’s deeply fulfilling). I’ve deliberately restricted my consulting work to only one shopper a month. And I actually do not wish to get a job. The tradeoff is peace and adaptability, however the draw back is much less dry powder to speculate.
So as an alternative, I’ll have to reallocate capital, possible from expiring Treasury payments moderately than promoting appreciated shares and paying capital good points tax. However doing so shifts a few of my threat profile from ultra-safe to speculative, which might be harmful if we’re coming into a late-stage 1999-like market. Simply have a look at Meta’s inventory drop 14% up to now after 3Q2025 outcomes. However I wish to purchase a few of that inventory too.
These late-cycle portfolio shifts towards extra threat are sometimes what result in bother as soon as the following bear market hits. Then once more, if we’re nearer to 1994 than 1999, perhaps going all-in isn’t so loopy in any case.
Takeaways Of Incomes And Not Incomes Throughout A Bull Market
I’ve shared two funding case research – one public, one non-public – illustrating how missing lively revenue throughout a bull market might be suboptimal. Listed below are some takeaways for these of you lucky sufficient to have well-paying jobs.
1) In the event you’re working, double down on saving and investing now.
These are your golden years, a uncommon overlap of regular revenue and booming markets. Don’t squander it. Each additional greenback invested throughout a bull run compounds sooner and units you up for when the inevitable downturn comes. The window of opportunity by no means stays open without end.
Automate your contributions, front-load your retirement accounts, and reap the benefits of employer matches whilst you can. In the future, you’ll look again at this era as “the simple mode” of wealth constructing.
2) In the event you’re FIRE, embrace enoughness.
You gained’t be capable to spend money on each sizzling alternative, be taught to be OK with it. You have already got investments which are compounding within the background. The very last thing you need is a liquidity crunch that forces you to promote belongings or, worse, stress about cash if you’re imagined to be free and relaxed.
It’s disappointing to really feel left behind when markets roar and your revenue is little or zero. However remind your self that you simply’ve already gained a special sport, one the place freedom and autonomy matter greater than W-2 earnings. Your present investments are already doing nicely in a bull market.
Enoughness means figuring out you may take pleasure in a slower morning, a late-morning tennis match, or a noon nap with no need anybody’s permission. Your wealth is not simply monetary; it’s measured in time and selection.
And when you proceed having bother embracing enoughness, then the one resolution is to build up your passive income giant sufficient to have a much bigger weekly money circulate buffer.
3) Don’t chase each shiny deal as a result of many will not work out.
You’ll at all times see somebody making a killing in some funding. Allow them to. Chasing yield or FOMO-driven investments typically results in self-inflicted ache. Hold your powder dry in order that when true alternatives come up, you’ll have the arrogance and money to behave calmly.
The truth is that virtually each funding appears superb in a bull market. However not each funding will work out. Early-stage enterprise, particularly, has a brutal mortality charge (~90%). That’s why I choose diversifying by way of venture capital funds moderately than particular person startups.
If you wish to be an angel investor, you want sufficient capital to unfold throughout not less than 20–50 firms, plus the abdomen for a lot of of them to fail. The minimal examine sizes are normally $25,000 – $50,000, which poses one other hurdle for many traders who wish to construct a diversified portfolio.
4) At all times steadiness threat with psychological freedom.
It’s simple to overlook that peace of thoughts can be a return on funding. The objective isn’t to die with the most important portfolio; it’s to reside the richest life attainable with the assets you’ve gotten.
In case your portfolio provides you nervousness, you’ve gone too far out on the risk curve. If it makes you complacent, perhaps you’ve gone too far the opposite method. The candy spot is the place your cash works laborious sufficient so that you can sleep nicely at night time—and get up excited for the day.
5) The irony of FIRE in a bull market can result in hazard.
Being FIRE in a bull market, paradoxically, you could find yourself taking extra threat to attempt to sustain. Standard knowledge says retirees ought to dial down threat as soon as their paycheck stops. But, as you noticed with my IRA financial professional review, I’ve 99% of my IRA in shares. Partly, that’s as a result of it’s cash I gained’t contact till I’m 60+. However the larger cause is psychological. I don’t wish to really feel like I’m falling too far behind.
Since my outdated 401(okay) not receives firm revenue sharing, I went all-in on equities after leaving work in 2012. It’s a wierd irony: the much less you earn, the extra aggressive you may really feel compelled to be, simply to remain even. Watch out because the downturns will likely be extra painful with an absence of revenue and a severely underperforming portfolio.
In The Finish, Investing is About Tradeoffs
In some unspecified time in the future, you understand wealth isn’t about chasing each sizzling funding, it is about constructing sufficient wealth the place you may push cash into the background so you may reside your life freely. Whether or not you’re incomes or not, the hot button is to align your cash together with your values, shield your time, and make peace with the truth that you’ll by no means seize each alternative.
Freedom, in any case, is the last word dividend.
Every other retirees or FIRE people really feel a twinge of envy watching this bull market roar and not using a paycheck to feed it? It’s unusual to have achieved monetary freedom, but nonetheless really feel a touch of FOMO when new alternatives seem. How do you handle the urge to chase, or the sense that you simply’re falling behind—despite the fact that, technically, you’ve already gained the sport?
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