An early attempt at F.I.R.E.? On Friday afternoon in 1969 a 20 year old bank teller walked out of the bank vault where he worked with $215,000 ($1.7 million in 2021 dollars). By Monday morning when they realized that he and the money were missing, he had a 2 day head start. He assumed a new identity, married, had a child, worked as golf pro and selling luxury cars. Eventually he got into money trouble and declared bankruptcy. On his deathbed he confessed to his family. The FBI never caught up with him.
One particular agent was obsessed with finding him. His son, on posthumously identifying the man said “I feel good for my father …this was the No. 1 case in his life. We talked about it at the dinner table all the time when I was a kid. He always said he was going to find [Conrad]. I just wish he was still here to see this.”
One guy stole the money and never looked back. He had a great life, was loved by family and neighbors, and another worked his whole life and was obsessed with finding him. He died never catching the man. He was thwarted. Who had the better life?
We didn’t know about the principles of F.I.R.E. in 1969. If we had, maybe Mr. Conrad would’ve had enough to last him a lifetime without ever having to work. The first index fund didn’t exist until 1976. Using the common 4% rule of thumb for spending that is favored by F.I.R.E. adherents, if he had stolen that money today and invested that money in an S&P 500 index fund, he should be able to spend $68,000 a year and never run out of money. He wouldn’t have to work.
https://www.cleveland.com/crime/2021/11/mystery-solved-theodore-conrad-vanished-after-robbing-cleveland-bank-where-he-worked-in-1969-marshals-traced-him-to-boston-suburb.html