Talk About Financial Diversity!
Mrs. FIcology and I kicked off this year’s CampFI experience at dinner. We sat at a table with three other campers. I won’t use their real names here. But over the next 45 minutes, we got to know each of them and their stories.
Jenny was a therapist who had left California to return to her home state, only to be pleasantly surprised that her patients loved her so much they continued with her remotely. Bill was a relatively young software developer who had recently FIRE’d, sold his townhome, and was now 100% nomad. He literally had all his belongings in his car and didn’t know where he was headed after the weekend. Tracy had recently worked for a large tax software company until she became tired of the corporate overhead and nonsense. She’d just retired while her husband was still working.
Wowzers! If these were the first three people we met, we could only imagine what the rest of the camp would be like!
What is CampFI?
CampFI is a three-night, all-inclusive camp for like-minded FI/FIRE people of all levels to get together, bond, and share. It’s held at numerous times and locations throughout the year. Camps often sell out months in advance. Our cost was $525 per person. Attendees include people of all ages and from all stages of the FI/FIRE journey. There were 60 campers at this event and I believe that’s the standard size for most events. You can purchase tickets and learn more here: CampFI. They also have a YouTube channel with presentations from past camps here: CampFI YouTube.
Our Experience
2026 was my second CampFI; 2025 was my first. I went by myself last year and this year I convinced Mrs. FI to go with me. She reluctantly agreed but enthusiastically tagged along. She’s a team player like that, and I’m so fortunate to have her as my partner: 004 | The Ultimate Leverage: Choosing Your Life Partner (Mrs. FIcology). It was really enjoyable having her with me this year. I’m pretty introverted and Mrs. FI is more social, so we tend to round each other out. One spouse being really FI/FIRE enthusiastic and the other being more “eh, whatever” is pretty common it turns out! So we fit in quite well.
Highlights
Day 1
We found out in the group introduction that about 50% of the campers were first-time attendees. After that we ended the night with snacks and socialization. Mrs. FI and I got to know some people more closely and hear their stories.
You don’t have to race to FIRE. Becoming financially independent instills so much confidence and opens so many doors for you.
One camper was healthily questioning the whole FIRE concept and the value of racing towards early retirement. His arguments centered on having purpose in life. He had tried retirement and found that after about eight months he had had enough. His reasons were:
- His friends still had to work so they weren’t available to do things with.
- You still have to have purpose in life; you can’t just “do nothing”.
- Earning some income can be a reassurance that you still have value.
- Since you’ll likely be driven to earn some income in retirement anyway, racing towards early retirement isn’t worth it.
As a recent retiree, I totally understand his points and agree with most of them. Where I’d push back is that FI/FIRE isn’t necessarily about racing towards retirement; that’s just one aspect (albeit a popular one). Other aspects include health, purpose, quality of life, education, raising children, travel, and so much more. You don’t have to race to FIRE. Becoming financially independent instills so much confidence and opens so many doors for you.
Day 2
Since we were in Texas and the temperatures were in the low 90s in the afternoon, we had free time in the morning while it was cool. We had breakfast, walked the campus talking with other campers, then had lunch. After lunch the sessions began.
My favorite session was with speaker David Nassief. David spoke about his journey from losing his job and being nearly broke at 63 to hitting millionaire status by age 69 and doubling that again in a few years. You’ve heard “hindsight is 20/20”; David’s hindsight was that losing his job at 63 was the best thing that ever happened to him. He’s since written a book to help others on their FI/FIRE journey. The book is titled One-Page Wealth Compass: Fired at 63 Nearly Broke – Safely a Millionaire by 69. You can find out more at David’s website.
For our Day 2 breakout session, we chose “travel hacking”. The coordinator shared a presentation he’d done for another group. He personally has 75 open credit cards he uses to earn travel and cashback rewards. He shared examples of a $35k and a $25k vacation where his out-of-pocket costs were ~$5k and ~$2k, respectively. That’s impressive! But it requires some serious effort, IMO, including reading a lot of travel-hacking blogs, keeping a spreadsheet of all your cards, and spending a lot of money through the various cards. While it’s interesting to hear, it’s not something that Mrs. FI and I want to spend the effort on. Our lean vacations, like the one in 023 | A Lean FIRE Vacation: FIRE Risk – EXTREME, are more our speed.
We ended the evening playing “Exploding Kittens” and “The Mind” (card games) with 6 to 8 other campers. There were lots of laughs and camaraderie. We got to bed about midnight and were a little tired for our 8am breakfast the next day.
Day 3
Just like Day 2, we had breakfast, free time, and lunch, with sessions in the afternoon. My favorite session was by a leader of a local ChooseFI group. He spoke about purpose after retirement. He briefly shared his FIRE journey and retirement at 44. Once he retired he had time for the things that mattered to him. He began focusing on his physical health. Through regular workouts and nutrition, he was able to lose significant body weight. He was also able to pursue his passion of being a financial coach and help others on their financial journey. And most importantly, he was able to focus on his family. This included driving his kids to school, attending all their extracurricular activities, and one-on-one trips & activities. His son, a 19-year-old college sophomore, was present at the camp. During Q&A, someone asked his son to describe life before and after his dad’s retirement. He started by saying how loving his dad has always been. But after retirement they had so much more time together. He described how important that extra time with his dad has been to him. I don’t think there was a dry eye in the place!
We broke for dinner and then came back for a breakout session. We chose “purpose after retirement”. This one hit home, since finding purpose has been a challenge for me, as I wrote about in 018 | Life After FI: Six Months In – Happier, Anxious, and Still Figuring It Out. Multiple campers shared their experiences and some common themes bubbled up:
- Retire TO something, not FROM something. Basically, have a plan before you retire.
- Earning in retirement is perfectly acceptable – bonus if it’s something you’re passionate about.
- Retirement means different things for different people. Some have aging parents that need care. Others want to focus on family/children. Still others want to travel extensively. It’s a personal journey.
Ironically, this session’s coordinator was the skeptic from Day 1. He did a great job, and I think he walked away with some new perspective.
The last session was case studies. Five campers shared their numbers with a panel of three senior FI/FIRE campers for review and questions. This was done in front of the group, but only the panel was allowed to interact with and advise each volunteer. This takes some real transparency to get up in front of 60 people and share all your financial numbers. Mrs. FI and I did not do this, but I admire that about the FIRE community and try to model that same transparency in this blog.
We wrapped up the night socializing. Mrs. FI and I decided to turn in a little earlier that night.
Day 4
Sunday was just breakfast and goodbyes. Mrs. FI and I packed up our room and went to the last meal with our new friends. We sat with other campers we hadn’t yet eaten with and got to know them. Then we said goodbye to everyone, packed up the car, and headed home. We were a little tired but felt fulfilled from our time at CampFI.
What to Expect If You Go
Unlike many conferences, CampFI is really laid-back. It’s not 8 hours a day of having content shoved down your throat (not that I don’t appreciate that format too). There is a lot of downtime for activities, socializing, napping, whatever you want to do. It’s more like a weekend resort with learning activities. The exact schedule will vary by location, but you can roughly expect the following:
Sessions
- Group Introduction – a fun group activity followed by each camper doing one-minute self-introductions.
- Four Scheduled Speaker Sessions with Q&A – speakers vary and range from experts to podcasters to people with FI/FIRE life experiences to share.
- Breakout Sessions (choose two of four total available) – campers nominate discussion topics and then break into round table discussions sharing thoughts, ideas, and experiences.
- Case Studies – campers volunteer to share their numbers with a panel.
Meals & Fun
- Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner – all meals are provided and each meal is an opportunity to eat together and get to know each other.
- Outdoor Activities – there’s a lot of free time to hang out and bond with other campers at various activities like walking, Putt-Putt golf, volleyball, and campfires.
- Indoor Activities – repeat campers often bring games and puzzles to enjoy in the evenings.
- Snacks! Lots of Snacks! – campers all bring snacks to share with each other. We never went hungry!
Wrap Up
Like I mentioned above, this was my second CampFI, so I knew what to expect. But I was worried that Mrs. FI wouldn’t like it. Fortunately, I think she really enjoyed it. By the end she was saying: “We need to get FI girl & FI boy to come to one of these”. I agree. CampFI is a nice mix of learning, sharing, and socialization. It’s like a mini-vacation where you learn and make new friends.
Here’s how I’d answer someone asking about the overall experience: DON’T expect to be loaded with all the information you need to achieve financial independence. DO expect to be around enthusiastic, like-minded people who are at all stages of the FI journey. Expect to make new friends who are not just friendly, but eager to learn and excited to share their own knowledge and experiences.
I highly recommend trying a CampFI at least once. You’ll definitely walk away with some new information. More importantly, you’ll leave with fond memories and new friends. Those memories keep paying what Die With Zero author Bill Perkins calls “memory dividends”. And we know how important friends and community are: 009 | Community: Life or Death / Boom or Bust.
What FI/FIRE events have you attended? Let me know in the comments.
That’s a wrap! Check out the FI calculator while you’re here. And if you like this, please share with a friend and follow us on Facebook.
Thank you for reading. There’s a lot of information on the internet and it’s an honor that you chose to spend some of your time here. I love you, my FI friend! See you next time! ♥️
-The Professor