Mile High FI Podcast

Doug chats with his wife Elizabeth about her 2-year anniversary in early retirement.  Elizabeth describes why she loves not working, challenges with balancing routine vs. flexibility, and how reduced stress has improved relationships and communication.  Doug & Elizabeth also discuss budgeting with a financial advisor, differences in “fun fund” spending, the impact of market returns on retirement confidence, perceived social pressure within the FI community to retire, and not necessarily retiring “to something”.

Do you like the podcast and want to support the show?  Follow the link to find out how: https://milehighfi.com/support/

Curious to know exactly what products Doug uses?  Check out his Amazon lists below. *Affiliate links below, so if you buy something or spend money, we might earn a commission. That helps the show and doesn’t cost you anything extra. Thank you!

Guitar Accessories

Hiking & Outdoor

Essentials for Sleep

Want to order MHFI stickers/temporary tattoos or create your own custom stickers?  Of course you do!  We ALL do!  Order them here using our affiliate link so that we might earn a commission: https://www.stickermule.com/dougcunnington

Links

Elizabeth on MHFI episode 281

Leckerlee Cookies

Earn & Invest, “What’s the Point of FIRE?”

The FI Collective

Bill Perkins, “Die With Zero”

Kindle

Hardcover

Paperback

Audiobook

“Survive the 9 to 5” podcast

“The Doug Show” podcast

MHFI Facebook group

Doug’s site

Check out Producer Chris’s blog: Epic Financial Journey

—

Join the Mile High FI Club – It’s the email list!

Get MHFi Merch – It helps support the show. Get t-shirts & more

**Disclaimer: The podcast is for informational purposes. Maybe entertainment but we won’t even make such a claim. You shouldn’t take the info as financial, legal, or tax advice. We aren’t certified financial planners or advisors. We’re not qualified for much. So get advice from professionals.**

Brought To You By:

The Doug Show, aka Affiliate Marketing & Side Hustles

Email the show: [email protected]

0:00 Introduction

2:08 Leaving a full-time career

8:07 Part-time work experiment

18:36 Retirement surprises

23:03 Finding a routine

29:46 Relationship improvements

36:28 Pressure to retire

43:31 Spending & budgeting

50:30 Influence of the stock market

55:24 Retirement tips & readiness

1:00:05 Wh...

Doug and Kristen Knapp (FI Friends Travel) dive into a listener-submitted topic from Dell regarding the potential benefits of oversaving.  Doug & Kristen discuss the pros & cons of oversaving, the necessity of having a plan for “retiring to something” after work, and explore the psychological shifts that occur when you no longer need a paycheck.  They also tackle common traps in the FI community such as “One More Year Syndrome”, golden handcuffs, and identity issues tied to a career.

Do you like the podcast and want to support the show?  Follow the link to find out how: https://milehighfi.com/support/

Curious to know exactly what products Doug uses?  Check out his Amazon lists below. *Affiliate links below, so if you buy something or spend money, we might earn a commission. That helps the show and doesn’t cost you anything extra. Thank you!

Guitar Accessories

Hiking & Outdoor

Essentials for Sleep

Want to order MHFI stickers/temporary tattoos or create your own custom stickers?  Of course you do!  We ALL do!  Order them here using our affiliate link so that we might earn a commission: https://www.stickermule.com/dougcunnington

Links

FI Friends Travel

ChooseFI local groups

EconoMe Conference

CampFI

Mark Trautman/Mark’s Money Mind

Kevin Sebesta on MHFI episode 302

Morgan Housel, “The Art of Spending Money”

Kindle

Hardcover

Paperback

Audiobook

Bill Perkins, “Die With Zero”

Kindle

Hardcover

Paperback

Audiobook

MHFI Facebook group

Doug’s site

Check out Producer Chris’s blog: Epic Financial Journey

—

Join the Mile High FI Club – It’s the email list!

Get MHFi Merch – It helps support the show. Get t-shirts & more

**Disclaimer: The podcast is for informational purposes. Maybe entertainment but we won’t even make such a claim. You shouldn’t take the info as financial, legal, or tax advice. We aren’t certified financial planners or advisors. We’re not qualified for much. So get advice from professionals.**

Brought To You By:

The Doug Show, aka Affiliate Marketing & Side Hustles

Email the show: [email protected]

0:00 Introduction

4:17 D...

Please support the show if you like it! I play highlights about Die With Zero, specifically about Time Bucketing.

You can donate via Buy Me a Coffee. You get extra content and know that you’re making the show possible.

Mile High FI is listed as one of the TOP Podcast on Careers in Apple Podcasts!

Spotify is 28% of the audience, so that’s grown in 2025 and higher than I said in this episode.

If you extrapolate the Spotify year end review data to the total downloads, here is what you get…

Mile High FI is a:

Top 5 podcast for about 5,000 people!

#1 podcast for about 740 people!

I don’t have ads anymore so I want to cover production costs. Most of the costs are related to software and tools and hosting. Many other podcasts have sucky ads every 15 minutes. I don’t want to do that.

Producer Chris volunteers to edit and produce the show. We’re not trying to get rich doing the show, but it takes a lot of time, effort, and planning.

You can also check out the affiliate offers here, which are products that I recommend. Mile High FI usually gets a small percentage, say 1% to 15%, depending on the arrangement. It helps, but direct donations are the best.

Doug chats with Pete Adeney (Mr. Money Mustache) about various fears that some people have about early retirement.  They explore why some people may be reluctant to retire, despite being financially ready, and specifically how fear of boredom can hold people back.  They discuss “One More Year Syndrome” and the irrational fear of running out of money despite what the math says.

Do you like the podcast and want to support the show?  Follow the link to find out how: https://milehighfi.com/support/

Curious to know exactly what products Doug uses?  Check out his Amazon lists below. *Affiliate links below, so if you buy something or spend money, we might earn a commission. That helps the show and doesn’t cost you anything extra. Thank you!

Guitar Accessories

Hiking & Outdoor

Essentials for Sleep

Want to order MHFI stickers/temporary tattoos or create your own custom stickers?  Of course you do!  We ALL do!  Order them here using our affiliate link so that we might earn a commission: https://www.stickermule.com/dougcunnington

Links

Pete Adeney/Mr. Money Mustache

Pete on MHFI episode 308

Morgan Housel, “Is the F.I.R.E. Movement Dead?”

The Donegans

The FI Collective

MHFI Facebook group

Doug’s site

Check out Producer Chris’s blog: Epic Financial Journey

—

Join the Mile High FI Club – It’s the email list!

Get MHFi Merch – It helps support the show. Get t-shirts & more

**Disclaimer: The podcast is for informational purposes. Maybe entertainment but we won’t even make such a claim. You shouldn’t take the info as financial, legal, or tax advice. We aren’t certified financial planners or advisors. We’re not qualified for much. So get advice from professionals.**

Brought To You By:

The Doug Show, aka Affiliate Marketing & Side Hustles

Email the show: [email protected]

0:00 Introduction

1:51 One More Year Syndrome

5:50 Scared of boredom

10:18 Building social skills

17:22 Boring people are bored

22:03 FI Collective

25:51 Soundcheck – New house

Doug chats with Pete Adeney (Mr. Money Mustache) about evolving perspectives within the FIRE movement.  Moving beyond external critiques, they dive into a confessional-style discussion about genuine problems within the community – from the pitfalls of ultra-frugality, over-saving, over-optimizing, and “One More Year Syndrome” to the identity crisis retirees face.  They explore why FIRE isn’t a “gospel” but instead a set of ideas that should be modified in real-time based on what actually works for each individual.

Do you like the podcast and want to support the show?  Follow the link to find out how: https://milehighfi.com/support/

Curious to know exactly what products Doug uses?  Check out his Amazon lists below. *Affiliate links below, so if you buy something or spend money, we might earn a commission. That helps the show and doesn’t cost you anything extra. Thank you!

Guitar Accessories

Hiking & Outdoor

Essentials for Sleep

Want to order MHFI stickers/temporary tattoos or create your own custom stickers?  Of course you do!  We ALL do!  Order them here using our affiliate link so that we might earn a commission: https://www.stickermule.com/dougcunnington

Links

Pete Adeney/Mr. Money Mustache

Pete on MHFI episode 308

Jacob Lund Fisker/Early Retirement Extreme

Mad Fientist, “Learning How to Spend Money”

New York Times, “Freedom With a Side of Guilt: How Food Delivery Is Reshaping Mealtime”

The FI Collective

MHFI Facebook group

Doug’s site

Check out Producer Chris’s blog: Epic Financial Journey

—

Join the Mile High FI Club – It’s the email list!

Get MHFi Merch – It helps support the show. Get t-shirts & more

**Disclaimer: The podcast is for informational purposes. Maybe entertainment but we won’t even make such a claim. You shouldn’t take the info as financial, legal, or tax advice. We aren’t certified financial planners or advisors. We’re not qualified for much. So get advice from professionals.**

Brought To You By:

The Doug Show, aka Affiliate Marketing & Side Hustles

Email the show: [email protected]

0:00 Introduction

1:16 MMM persona & early FIRE ideas

8:50 Ultra-frugality

18:00 Over-saving & One More Year Syndrome

24:23 Over-optimizing in the FIRE community

29:30 DoorDash spectrum

34:24 Paying for convenience

42:21 Balancing the future & the present

48:09 MMM’s retirement spending strategies

53:49 Retiring to something meaningful

1:02:18 Soundcheck – Casa Bonita