THIS DOCTOR RETIRED AT 45 AND THEN GOT ‘DEEPLY DEPRESSED.’ WHAT HE FINDS WRONG WITH FIRE.

But some FIRE-breathers, like Dr. Jordan Grumet of Evanston, Ill., are having second thoughts.

Read: Forget retirement, focus on financial independence

When he caught FIRE

In a way, frugality is a habit as old as time, but in the mid-2010s, the FIRE movement was hot. It was an eclectic community of people who tried to aggressively save and invest more than they spent, with the goal of being financially independent decades younger than the traditional retirement age.

Grumet became intrigued with FIRE at age 41 in 2014, when he was feeling burned out and unhappy running his concierge practice full tilt. That’s when he read the FIRE book, “The White Coat Investor,” by emergency room physician James Dahle, who retired at 38. 

“That book was life changing,” said Grumet. “It answered a question I so fervently wanted to answer: How much do I need?” Dahle wrote that if you withdraw no more than 4% a year, adjusted for inflation, from your retirement funds, you need roughly 25 times your annual expenses to reach financial independence and retire comfortably.

In 2014, annual revenue from Grumet’s 150-patient practice was in the high six figures. He and his wife, Katie, who works in HR, were already saving and investing diligently. They were parents of two young kids at the time and not big spenders. 

“But I did exactly what everyone does when they’re in the FIRE movement. You double down and start being more frugal,” Grumet said. “There was a period of time for a year or two where I was like, ‘Oh, let’s not spend on this. Let’s cut down on this.’” 

By 2018, at 45, Grumet decided he was ready to shut down his practice and start catching the FIRE life. So, he did.

But that switch led to what he calls earth-shattering anxiety. And, Grumet said, “I was kind of deeply depressed.” Recalling this time, Grumet said: “It was exhilarating for the first few moments and then terrifying for the next six to 12 months.”

Read: The FIRE movement is a hot topic — but irrelevant to most Americans

Reconsidering the FIRE precepts

Gradually, Grumet was one of the FIRE fans who started reconsidering its philosophy. He believed it put too much emphasis on piling up money and not enough on meaning and purpose.

“I made the mistake that everyone in FIRE makes, which is: ‘My goal is not to run out of money.’ We forget that money is a tool that’s supposed to serve us,” Grumet said.

Over time, he added, “I think a lot of us realized that the money is not nearly as important as the quality of life. Once you figure out the money, the deeper questions happen: Who am I and what do I want to do with myself? And what does purpose look like?”

Grumet says he’s now the happiest he has ever been because he has found purpose in a variety of ways — a portfolio of side hustles including hospice work, his Earn and Invest podcast, public speaking, blogging and book writing. 

Side hustles in retirement

Combined, these purpose-driven side hustles have also become fairly lucrative. “I’ll probably make between $80,000 and $100,000 or more every year,” Grumet said. 

Although Grumet estimates he now works 60 to 70 hours a week, “it doesn’t feel like that. I feel like I have tons of free time,” he said. “I don’t have days off and days on; I just have life.”

He’s quick to call his side hustles examples of “small p” purpose, rather than “Big P” purpose. The difference is a strong theme of the second book he just released, “The Purpose Code” (the first was “Taking Stock”).

It’s the search for “Big P” purpose with big, audacious goals, that creates anxiety for people, especially as they enter retirement, Grumet said. 

In fact, Grumet noted, he became a doctor thinking that decision would bring him “Big P” purpose, addressing his childhood trauma from the death at age 40 of his father, an oncologist. “At some point, I took on my dad’s version of purpose,” he said.

Read: Why does the early-retirement movement have so many haters?

The threat of ‘purpose anxiety’

That created purpose anxiety — the doubt and worry that can plague people when they are trying to find a sense of meaning. Researcher Larissa Rainey found that up to 91% of people have purpose anxiety at some point in life, Grumet noted. 

“Purpose anxiety frustrates them and depresses them,” he added.

When asking his hospice patients what they regretted, Grumet said, “it was almost something that was deeply important to them,” and never about money.

Grumet said he wrote his books to bring the hospice patients’ messages to the FIRE people, saying, “Hey, you’re worried about money, but let’s get past money and start thinking about what’s really important to you.”

You might find “little p” purpose through work. Or through volunteering. Or through music. Or travel. Or hobbies. “Try a bunch of things and see if anything is joyful,” Grumet advised.

Where ‘little p’ purpose can lead

Filling your life with “little p” purpose, Grumet said, leads to more, and stronger, connections. Interpersonal connections are what Grumet believes is the secret to a fulfilling retirement life.

“I now have way more friends than I ever had,” said Grumet. “It feels like a much more engaged life.” And, he added, “my goal is to do something that deeply lights me up; I think when we do those types of things, it just attracts other people.”

When trying to build purpose in your life, Grumet said, use “the art of subtraction.” Make a list of what you could stop doing that you don’t enjoy and start spending more time on what fulfills you — your purpose anchors. 

What he doesn’t love about FIRE now

Reflecting on his current view of the FIRE movement, Grumet said: “I love parts of it and I don’t love other parts. In fact, a lot of us don’t even say FIRE anymore. We just say FI or financial independence because the retire early part is really beside the point.”

FIRE, Grumet noted, has now split into FI versions such as Coast FI (earning enough early enough to invest the money allowing you to retire later when you can work less frantically) and Slow FI (incremental financial freedom gained along the journey to financial independence to live a happier, healthier life with strong relationships).

“We’re really great at worrying about running out of money,” said Grumet. “We really are horrible at worrying about running out of time.”

These days, Grumet said, he and his wife have started spending a lot more money than they ever have, including on a home renovation.

“Money is a great tool. If you happen to have that tool, you can pay someone else to do the things you don’t want to do so you can do things you do want to do,” said Grumet.