Short Takes: Mortgage Deferrals, Financial Optimism, and more

I wrote one post in the past two weeks in the form of a quiz:

A Quiz on the 4% Rule

Here are some short takes and some weekend reading:

Rate Spy has some statistics about Canadian mortgage deferrers who are soon to have to start making payments again.  How much this will affect the housing market is anyone’s guess.

Morgan Housel explains why we should save like pessimists and invest like optimists.  I would add that we should avoid debt like pessimists as well.

Robb Engen at Boomer and Echo asks whether he has already achieved FIRE (Financial Independence Retire Early).  FIRE gets used to mean so many different things that it’s hard to say.  To me, financial independence means not needing income from work ever again.  So, Robb doesn’t pass this test.  I define retirement as being free from demands on my time that I can’t ignore because I need the money.  Robb doesn’t pass this test either.  However, to many people FIRE means quitting the job they don’t like to work at something they much prefer.  Robb does pass this test.