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Hi, I'm Kevin and I'm an attorney, sharing economy expert, and the blogger behind Financial Panther. I paid off $87,000 worth of student loans in just 2.5 years by choosing not to live like a big shot lawyer. I started this blog to share all I know about personal finance, travel hacking, and making more money by side hustling. Click here to learn more about me.
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Playing With Fire – Documentary Film Review And Thoughts

Last Updated on July 5, 2019July 3, 2019 6 Comments
This post may contain affiliate links.Financial Panther has partnered with AwardWallet and CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Financial Panther, AwardWallet, and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.

One of the unexpected benefits of pursuing FIRE (financial independence, retire early) is getting to be part of the community that has built around this movement. Going on the journey towards FIRE is great, but it’s made even better when you can learn and go on that journey with others – not to mention make some new friends in the process. It’s been interesting to see how the concept of FIRE has evolved as more and more people learn about it and impart their own views and beliefs into it.

Last week, I attended a screening of the new documentary, Playing With Fire, that was set up by our local Choose FI Twin Cities group. As a pro-tip, these Choose FI groups are definitely worth joining if you want to learn more about FIRE and become part of a community. My recommendation is to join the main Choose FI Facebook group, then also get yourself connected with your local Choose FI community, if it exists. If I hadn’t been a part of these groups, I wouldn’t have even known about this movie screening.

The movie itself was packed, with over 160 people in attendance. After the movie, a few of us met up at a bar to meet each other and learn more about what brought us towards FIRE and what we’ve been doing on our journeys. I learned about what others were doing on their path toward FIRE. And I spit some of my knowledge about all of my gig apps and how I use them in my life.

It’s always fun to learn from others and I also feel like I have some interesting things to share with people as well.

Playing With Fire: What Is It About?

Playing With Fire is a documentary that follows a young family, Scott and Taylor Rieckens and their toddler daughter, discovering the FIRE movement and setting out to change their life. Their story begins like many of our stories begin – two parents living the normal American life. A nice car. A fancy house. They seem to be doing pretty well, living a normal, upper-middle-class life. But they’re also trapped in the very life they’ve created.

Their story starts to change once they discover the FIRE movement and begin to really assess the things they value in life. Interestingly enough (as many of us probably discover), they find that their spending doesn’t really align with their values. And from there, they make the drastic move of selling everything, moving in with their parents temporarily, and figuring out what it is they are really looking for. Eventually, after learning more about FIRE and traveling across the country for a few months, they settle on a move to Bend, Oregon.

Throughout the movie, we get a sprinkling of interviews with many of the big names in the FIRE movement, including Vicki Robin, Mr. Money Mustache, JL Collins, Mad Fientist, Choose FI, and Millennial Revolution. All of them drop some knowledge, not just about FIRE and how to invest and save, but also just how to think about life. 

The film doesn’t necessarily end because it’s starting from the beginning of this young family’s FIRE journey. Along the way, we can see their struggles as they have to make that mindset shift from the typical, upper-middle-class family, to someone venturing along their own FIRE path.

It was an interesting documentary to watch, and at only 76 minutes, it won’t take up a lot of your time.

Closing Thoughts

I think Playing With Fire is a good introduction to what the FIRE movement is about and it has the advantage of using a medium that’s never been used to talk about FIRE before. Playing With Fire is the first movie about FIRE, which has the potential to introduce this way of life and thinking to an entirely new audience that wouldn’t otherwise be interested in blogs, books, podcasts, Youtube videos, or the other countless ways people consume content.

One lesson I think a lot of people could take away from this movie is that rarely are we really stuck where we are, even though we might feel that way. A lot of people get into the habit of telling themselves what is and isn’t possible – but we often forget that we have a lot more control of our lives than we think.

In this case, the Rieckens (the subjects of this movie), simply packed up everything and moved, eventually settling down in a lower-cost city that they believed made sense to them. Admittedly, they had the benefit of being able to move in with their parents while they made this move – something that isn’t available to everyone – but the general idea is still there.

There’s no exact FIRE roadmap you can follow – and that’s not what this movie is trying to do. It’s sharing an example of someone’s journey. The important thing you can take away from this movie is to remember that you have the power to make changes to your life and to do the things that really make you happy.

I suspect that at some point, Playing With Fire will probably make its way to the various streaming services, so you’ll probably be able to check it out there whenever it comes out.

In the meantime, you can catch screenings of this movie set up by different groups throughout the country. I’m not exactly sure how it works, but this website here has a list of all of the events throughout the country. You can also find more information about screenings on the Playing With Fire website.

These screenings are all grassroots, set up by someone local in the area. Amazingly, these events are filling up fast – a testament to how big this movement is becoming. (Remember to check your local Choose FI group as well if you’re trying to find a screening or want to set up a screening)

And if you can, try to meet some people and grab a drink with them afterward. You might learn something new, and for sure, you’ll be able to see different perspectives about FIRE and this whole movement. And who knows – you might even make some new friends 

financial panther

Kevin is an attorney and the blogger behind Financial Panther, a blog about personal finance, travel hacking, and side hustling using the sharing economy. He paid off $87,000 worth of student loans in just 2.5 years by choosing not to live like a big shot lawyer.

Kevin is passionate about earning money using the sharing economy and you can see all the ways he makes extra income every month in his side hustle reports.

Kevin is also big on using the latest fintech apps to improve his finances. Some of Kevin's favorite fintech apps include:

  • Personal Capital. One of best free apps you can use to monitor your portfolio and track your net worth. This is one of the apps Kevin uses to track his financial accounts.
  • SoFi Money. A really good checking account with absolutely no fees. You'll get a $50 welcome bonus if you open an account and fund it with at least $500.
  • M1 Finance. This is a great robo-advisor that has no fees and allows you to create a customized portfolio based on your risk tolerance. You also get $10 for opening an account.
  • Dobot. This is a great microsaving app that monitors the cash flow in your bank account and saves away small amounts for you each week. It's free and you'll get $5 when you use it.

Feel free to send Kevin a message here.

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Comments

  1. bob says

    July 3, 2019 at 2:25 pm

    Often, a movie like this portends the peak of a movement?

    Reply
    • Financial Panther says

      July 3, 2019 at 2:27 pm

      Could be. Don’t really know to be honest.

      Reply
  2. LukeM says

    July 4, 2019 at 2:33 pm

    I went to the screening in London, UK the other week, which sold out. One of our UK bloggers, Barney “the Escape Artist” – very nice chap – sorted it out. I enjoyed the film, and do hope it gets a wide audience. Our Financial Independence London and UK Facebook groups are very busy, and we get together quite often – we’re meeting in St James’s Park next week, for example. By the way, it’s Vicki *Robin*.

    Reply
    • Financial Panther says

      July 5, 2019 at 7:23 am

      Thanks for sharing! And ah, thanks for catching that typo!

      Reply
  3. Jerry @ Peerless Money Mentor says

    July 18, 2019 at 5:46 am

    Hello Kevin,

    It sounds like you all had a blast! I wish I could have came to the screening. Last Tuesday, I hosted a screening in my area. Since I am kind of shy, I didn’t do an introduction or Q&A.

    I wrote about my experience setting up the event here: https://www.peerlessmoneymentor.com/my-experience-marketing-a-playing-with-fire-documentary-screening/

    Take care,

    Jerry from Peerless Money

    Reply
    • Financial Panther says

      July 22, 2019 at 11:08 pm

      Awesome Jerry! Thanks for sharing your post.

      Reply

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