Merry Christmas: Parallel’s with Scrooge and The FIRE Community

For the purpose of this article, we watched the 1951 version with Alastair Sim, the 1984 version with George C Scott, and the 1938 version with Reginald Owens (see links below to watch these movies as well as many more). Despite being written in 1843, Charles Dickins’ message is surprisingly relevant in many ways to the lifestyle of those in the FIRE Community.

• Scrooge led an unhappy life stressed about money.
• Financial Independence was a focus for Scrooge.
• He lived life carefully watching how his money was spent.
• Once liberated from the focus of money, he prioritized his life around love and happiness.

Ebenezer Scrooge Investments:

Like many in the FIRE community, Ebenezer Scrooge, in his early life, prioritized his investments around the strategy of accumulation and savings, often focused on the discipline of frugality. In his own way, he searched for happiness in his savings over spending money on material items. A twist, of course, around the FIRE movement is the savings he earned by managing the fire with less coal.

In the 1984 version, it is clear as a financier that Scrooge made his money in a financial service business that was reportedly involved in commodities, aka corn. This is relevant because Bitcoin is sometimes referenced as “corn,” but regardless it is clear that Scrooge was a savvy investor and would have diversified into alternatives. It is estimated that in present dollars, Scrooge’s net worth would easily be in the billions. Lastly, it seems evident that Scrooge was also a banker to the “unbanked,” which probably would have earned him hefty interest rates.

How would Scrooge invest in today’s world? Scrooge undoubtedly would have been a conservative cynical investor in today’s market conditions. Today, as bond investor and a lender to the people, he would be very concerned that the last time the U.S. had a balanced budget was in 2001 and that interest on U.S. debt now is the third largest line item, only exceeded by Social Security and Medicare. He would be careful about paying others high fees, but also probably would have built his business around the hedge fund model over the ETF model. As a lender to the people, he arguably served the role of the modern-day credit card, “Buy-Now, Pay Later” (BNPL), and/or pawnshops pay-now companies.

Scrooge’s View on Bitcoin:

Would Scrooge be bought into the Bitcoin culture? Michael Saylor, Chairman and Founder of MicroStrategy, believes that Bitcoin represents “hope.” Vanguard believes that savings and accumulation of wealth can be achieved without Bitcoin, but their ownership as the second largest outside owner of MicroStrategy contradicts such a statement. We believe Scrooge as a practical and savvy man would have an allocation to Bitcoin as a commodity, if only because its principle also aligns with his disciplined business practices and laser-focus on proper bookkeeping and mathematics.      

Happiness for Ebenezer Scrooge:

The message is clear that on Christmas Day, Ebenezer Scrooge takes a new view on social issues. Previously, he was cold and defiant about prisons and workhouses as places for the poor, but when he woke, Scrooge seemed happy and far more generous and motivated to solve social issues. He was inspired to help Tiny Tim to get strong and healthy and give generously to charity. 

In his youth, a happy Scrooge almost married for love, but because money became toxic to his heart, he gave up on his fiancé Belle who he loved deeply. Watchers will recall her statement that she set him free to be with his only love, “money.”

Fran Ebenezer, Scrooge’s sister, also gave him moments of happiness. She was a loving and delicate child who showed him warmth and kindness when she brought him home from boarding school. Sadly, her death as a child removed Scrooge’s only source of compassion. Of course, a healthy family life could prevented Scrooge’s path toward obsession with money. Arguably, the reason why he gets a second chance in life is because the ghost sees his soul as worth saving because his life choices were heavily influenced by the circumstances Scrooge endured when his father blamed him for his mother’s death. This, however, is for the psychologists and therapists to decide (see riddle at the end).

Summary:

Scrooge’s transformation on Christmas Eve is a story for all ages. It is a lesson that, 181 years later, we can still learn from and certainly enjoy. Hence, the reason why there are some many adaptions of Charles Dickins’ A Christmas Carol. Building a healthy relationship with money is a challenge best conquered early in life. It helps define us and, arguably, if done right, should give a person the freedom to embrace life with less pressure and more happiness.

Merry Christmas to all!  Remember to give some time and kindness to all in need, including those who say “Humbug!”