The FIRE movement is an acronym for Financial Independence, Early Retirement. The goal of the FIRE movement is to allow younger individuals to retire early with financial freedom by:
- cutting expenses
- saving money
- investing wisely
This movement of retirement planning has been around since the early 2010s. It has been embraced by many people today who want to harness all in the benefits early top retirement has to offer. They want to find personal financial independence before retirement age. Lately, millennials have embraced this concept. They are looking to improve their quality of life and avoid having to work late in life. They want a retirement savings. They have retirement goals. They want to to reach financial independence. They can accept the FIRE lifestyle.
The country has an traditional retirement age of 60-65 years of age. However, many people want to find ways to retire early. They want to retire early with some stability or a cushion. Many factors are making that extremely trying or complex. The FIRE retire early strategy has been successful. Those who have included it in their financial goals encourage others to follow suit to make the process of work/life balance achievements more attainable and less taxing mentally and physically.
See Also: 10 Reasons to Start a Side Hustle
How Does the FIRE Movement Work?
Many people want to know how to retire early or join the FIRE movement. They want to know how to make the best financial decisions. The FIRE movement retire early concept is pretty simple. You save a large portion of your money and invest strategically and avoid waste. However, that is easier said than done because the financial independence retire early concept is complex. The process is daunting and takes careful calculations and strategic planning to work. It takes aggressive saving. Those who find themselves ready to retire early are usually in their mid to late thirties or even forties.
To achieve their ideal savings need to know their FIRE number. The FIRE number refers to the amount of money a person needs to have saved in order to achieve financial independence and retire early. The FIRE adherents put up to 70% of their yearly income into savings and retirement accounts. They can only withdraw around 3 to 4% yearly to cover their living expenses. It goes without saying this lifestyle requires diligence and sacrifice. Keep in mind this lifestyle isn’t for everyone. It can be stressful at times for those who want to enjoy extras in life. It can be hard if you have student loans. The philosophy behind this movement is that they plan to sacrifice now to enjoy their later years.
It is worth noting; however, the success or failure of the FIRE movement may be dependent upon the stock market and or the interest rates incurred by the investor. Any volatility or fluctuations in the savings and investments may negatively impact individuals planning to retire early, making them fall short of their goals.
See Also: 10 Best Books fort Starting a Business
Why Retire Early?
One of the main reasons people want to retire early is because work becomes more challenging as they age, and health problems can prevent them from reaching their goals. In some cases, even supporting themselves adequately. People will often plan to retire at the average age and have an occurrence – usually health or financially-related – that makes it nearly impossible.
Some of these unfortunate people end up relying on their pension, Social Security, or the charity of friends and family. This situation isn’t ideal or attractive for anyone. Having a solid plan to retire early with adequate financial security is a great way to prevent this from happening.
Another reason people wish to retire early is to spend a good portion of their lives doing the things they enjoy. Some want to live in a comfortable home and participate in activities they enjoy, such as traveling or pursuing hobbies without the stress of working or depending on another to help them meet their needs.
Additionally, those who want to retire early can also pursue other means of earning the income they can use to partake in other activities or leisure pursuits and not dip into their savings. They worked hard to stash money away over the years, after all. This method can provide good solid padding to protect them from any occurrence related to health or property that may occur. It can provide an emergency fund. The FIRE movement Retire Early concept becomes very attractive with these prospects in mind.
See Also: 10 Six Figure Jobs You Can Get Without a College Degree
The Basics of How to Retire Early
First, keep in mind that FIRE retire early is based on saving your income aggressively and avoiding excessive spending. Being extraordinarily frugal and investing money into resources providing passive income are the keys to success at the FIRE movement. However, that is just the basic idea of the FIRE movement. That isn’t all there is to it.
Keep in mind that even though the name says retire early, it’s really about financial independence. FIRE followers wish to provide themselves with the financial freedom to avoid stressful situations related to money or being able to afford necessities in life. It’s also a way to give themselves the necessary padding to carry on their life through their later years. So FIRE isn’t really about sitting by the pool drinking pina coladas – it’s about creating security and independence at any age.
The FIRE community want to break free from their typical 9-to-5 jobs and acquire independence that allows them to have free time and not work so many years like the typical American. Ideally, these individuals want to be in a situation where they can retire in their 30s or 40s. As mentioned before, this may depend on the market’s stability, the number of wise investments the person makes, and how frugal they live their lives and until retirement.
Changes Over the Years: FIRE Movement
In order to dig deeper into FIRE proponents, the idea is to change the way of thinking concerning the way people work, acquire annual expenses and how they spend their money. They want to be able not to have personal decisions dictated by their financial funds and credit card debt. Although there are some general guidelines regarding the FIRE movement, ultimately, it is up to each individual to tailor their own approach to encompass her lifestyle, career, and family size.
Today’s modern fire movement has changed and grown into several modified versions of the original movement. This lifestyle has become incredibly popular and even has social media platforms dedicated to discussing this endeavor and connecting with other individuals interested in becoming financially independent and or retiring early. For example, there is a group for financial independence retire early Reddit or sub- Reddit.
Many Versions of FIRE
Today there are a few variations of the original FIRE movement. Most notably, three different varieties have more from the original concept to encompass specific groups or ideal goals for retirement plans. Consider the following variations of the original FIRE movement that are commonly found across the country. A financial planner might help with any of these financial decisions.
Lean FIRE
As the name may imply, lean FIRE is centered around a lean way of living one’s lifestyle and avoiding spending money. This style of FIRE movement is a tenant for the individuals to retire as soon as they can, living on only a very basic income. This is a very minimalist approach to the FIRE movement and requires those who choose to take this path to avoid any unnecessary spending, vacations, frugality, or luxury items. Individuals hoping to retire early through lean FIRE would ideally be able to retire much sooner than any other type of FIRE movement.
Fat FIRE
That FIRE refers a variation on the FIRE movement that doesn’t require as much frugality through the years. These individuals still save the vast majority of their income and put into savings and wise investments that offer a profitable return. These people will live off their returns but are less likely to avoid spending and forgo many luxuries throughout the years. Although this FIRE move may be more popular, the individuals who embrace this lifestyle will retire in a longer time frame than those following the lean FIRE approach.
Barista FIRE
The barista FIRE movement has a slightly different approach than the previously mentioned FIRE movements. This particular concept relies on an individual following a medium-style FIRE approach but then working part-time or freelancing doing something they enjoy later years. Perhaps they will own real estate or start a side hustle. The concept is to work and save as much amount of money as possible early in life and then not work so hard until their retirement years.
Coast FIRE
This concept revolves around saving up enough money early in the process to live off the interest on those investments then, thus leaving plenty of room to have more time. This option became very attractive to many because it wasn’t necessarily a new concept; however, it required the investor to have more patience and diligence than those who had more substantial means or came into large sums of money early in their life. For example, this might be a strategy someone who inherited a large sum of money would take if they wanted to be financially savvy and ensure they had a nice cushion to live on in the future instead of spending all the money early in life.
Getting Started With the FIRE Movement
Getting started with the FIRE movement requires some intense planning and goal assessment. The first step is to determine what your retirement and financial independence goals are and then choosing which steps to take to accomplish your goal. To begin, you’ll need to take a thorough assessment of your:
- current finances
- annual income
- extra money
You’ll need to lay out your debt and a common-sense approach to relieving that debt and becoming current on all bills and credit. Once you accomplish the process of eliminating your debt, do you want to devise a FIRE plan to allow you to achieve either the goal of financial independence, financial independence, retire early, or financial independence and work part-time until retirement age?
Access Your Finances and Determine Your Goals
Before you implement your FIRE retire early plan and extreme savings, it’s a wise idea to consult a credit and debt specialist as well as a licensed financial advisor. The financial advisor will become an essential tool for executing the right type of investments to secure your financial future. You can have help with your investment portfolio.
Although some individuals choose to invest on their own. These people tend to have a solid background in money and finance. If you’re unsure about how to invest your money to accomplish your goal, you want a professional on your side to provide insight and support throughout the process. They can offer investment strategies for your retirement account. Some things to determine about your finances and goals can include the following.
- How to save enough to retire
- How long will it take to eliminate debt
- How to make sound investments and where
- Which FIRE movement works best for your needs
Next, you’ll need to calculate your total income and determine which percentage, usually around 70%, will need to be invested or saved. Alternate strategies for investments allow the individual to live off earnings or interest accrued from these efforts.
It is also a wise idea to work with a financial professional to help determine if your plan is achievable, which factors would hinder the process and goals, and whether your current situation allows you to meet certain goals for the future. It’s like an extra set of eyes to ensure you haven’t made errors in your projections and ensure you have a solid plan that’s achievable.
How to Access Your Overall Debt
Once you determine to embrace the FIRE financial movement, you’ll want to take a close look at all your debt, as mentioned. Not only do you need to access debt, but you’ll also need to make notes of other items such as the following.
- Debt balances
- Minimum payments
- Loan terms
- How long it takes to pay off debt
- Fees and rates
Experts suggest separating debts into columns and then adding them up along with fees and interest for each debt. Once you have the total for each debt, you’ll be able to start working on your endeavor. One thing to mention, however, is that you need to ensure you’ve included not only current debt but future debt, too, because obligations can vary over time. It’s essential to account for fluctuations in the future. Also, try financial independence retire early calculator to get an accurate picture.
Reduce Your Spending
One of the first steps to take when undertaking the FIRE movement is to reduce your spending. This means taking inventory of how you spend your money and cutting out unnecessary spending. It may mean living a minimalist lifestyle. For example, if you love to eat our or order delivery food a few times per week, you’ll need to cut that out altogether. You would need to buy groceries with spending in mind and cook meals at home.
Additionally, you’ll need to cut out expensive hobbies such as collecting items, gold, horseback riding, and expensive computer games and switch to activities that don’t cost money or perhaps even help you make money for your savings. This will save a lot of money. Essentially, go out to get drinks, dinner, movies, and frivolous shopping trips are off the table. It’s a real sacrifice for many who become accustomed to their lifestyle and luxuries.
Increase Your Income
Although increasing your income seems obvious, it can become a challenge for many, especially those demanding full-time jobs with little free time for other financial pursuits. If you have limited upward mobility in your career field, you’ll need to resort to a side hustle to increase your income. Some choose to provide a service, while others opt to resort to online sales or even blog and other activities that make working from home in their spare time easier.
Increasing income works for many who have interests that can pay in their downtime, but those who don’t know where to start will have a real challenge and may need some perspective from others who managed to increase their earnings. You will need a savings goal.
Who Started the FIRE Movement?
This retire early movement was started by the book authors Vicki Robin and Joe Dominguez. They authored the 1992 book Your Money or Your Life. The book encouraged people to enjoy their life more fully by taking part in their hobbies, spending time with family, and doing the things they enjoy rather than working their life away. This concept was highly attractive to many people dreading this possibility.
FIRE really took off when the former software engineer Peter Adeney started his blog, Mr Money Mustache, detailing how he and his wife retired at the age of 30 year old. Making only around $67,000 each, the Adeneys lived on only $25,000 a year, investing the remainder. His devoted followers, calling themselves Mustachians, spread the FIRE concept well beyond the small niche.
Eventually, this movement took on a life of its own and began to spread across the country and then morph into some specific movements with the same basic concept but using varying strategies.
Tools and Options for Early Retirement
There are many tools and options people can use to help them retire early, long before you are eligible for social security benefits. Of course, the primary strategy is to build your savings account. Save the majority of earnings over time. However, most people need to invest wisely and use other tools to accomplish this feat. One of the primary ways to retire early besides saving money is investing in the stock market and bonds.
If you work with a licensed financial advisor, especially one with previous experience working with people wanting to retire early, it will help immensely. They can take an assembly of your finances and your projected goals and create a short-term and long-term strategy that works for your individual needs.
For example, they can determine how to diversify your portfolios using both low-risk and high-risk investments. The idea is to create stability while also allowing for some potential higher returns to assist with living expenses and necessary purchases along the way.
Your financial advisor or manager may advise you to play it safe; however, if the market is volatile, change the strategy when the financial sector stabilizes, and the stock market is sound. Keep in mind that those individuals with more money to invest may want to make a few potentially risky investments to see a greater possible return, while others with less to invest may need to play it safe for the time.
Other Investments
Another potential FIRE investment strategy is a Roth IRA or a CD from their bank. Although this is a sound investment, the CD only gets a low percentage of interest. In contrast, the ROTH IRA or other IRA will produce up to 11% in interest depending on the overall financial climate over time.
Another handy tool to have when saving money and living off interest is by using a credit card. Some credit cards offer cashback on certain items such as gas and groceries, which can prove helpful. This is also ideal for those with excellent credit who suddenly have expenses and want to cushion the blow to their savings or available cash.
Best Way To Use A Credit Card For FIRE Movement
There are some strategies to consider when using your credit cards for the FIRE movement. The best way to use a credit card is to only use those with the best rates and fewer fees and use them to buy necessities. The trick is to use the credit card if it offers cashback on certain purchases. This strategy helps you save money and prevent you from stretching your resources.
Related: The Best Furniture Credit Card Options
FIRE Flaws
The FIRE movement isn’t without its flaws. For example, some say this is an unrealistic solution for many who experience many fluctuations in their finance over time and doesn’t account for:
- emergencies
- medical problems
- issues with their investments
- savings rate
Others also argue that you must give up some things that make life exciting and memorable instead of saving money to leave meagerly later in life. They claim this movement takes the joy out of the most enjoyable part of life and encourages people to forego living their dreams and experiencing all life has to offer them.
Another issue people have with the FIRE movement is that it doesn’t allow earners who live paycheck to paycheck to participate. Student debt can be crippling. While this may be true, it hasn’t dampened the enthusiasm of those who heavily support the process.
FIRE Considerations
Although the FIRE movement has plenty of steam currently, that may depend on the financial climate and the stock market’s volatility. Keep in mind that recession and crashes drastically affect the finances of those participating in the movement. While they may make progress and seem on track, something can happen to create devastating losses which undo all they have done over time. It’s a huge risk to take, in a sense, and one reason many have not turned to attempt this method to achieve their financial independence.
If you’re planning to join the FIRE movement or have considered it, you’ll want to access the risk versus the reward. Those with families stand to lose the most if something goes wrong in the process. The best way to determine if it’s the right move for your needs is to consult a financial advisor and find out all the details and strategies along with the potential risks. There may be avenues to take that would lessen the impacts of unexpected losses in the future.
Related: