We are going to try this after the kids are done with daycare. Cars should be paid off by then too. We should be able to live on one of our salaries by then and the other will go into savings. I think we should be able to retire in 15 years if we do this the right way and don’t have any major setbacks like sickness or job loss.

https://twocents.lifehacker.com/the-basics-of-fire-financial-independence-and-early-re-1820129768

FIRE is having a moment, and it’s not hard to understand the appeal. Financial independence? Sounds great! Retiring Early? Sign me up! It’s a movement that’s quickly gaining momentum, too. We spoke with four FIRE enthusiasts and asked them to share what the movement is all about, and what it takes to achieve this elusive goal of Financial Independence/Retire Early.

What Is FIRE, Exactly?

When you think retirement age, you probably think of someone in their late 50s or 60s, and there’s a reason for that: it’s the norm. The Social Security Administration allows you to start taking benefits at age 62, for example, and you can start withdrawing money from your Individual Retirement Account without a penalty at age 59 ½.

While this is the standard age in which most people start thinking about retirement, people who strive for FIRE retire much earlier than this, usually in their 40s, 30s, and sometimes even in their 20s.

(Chances are, you’re skeptical right now. You’re probably thinking something along the lines of, “This sounds great, but what if I only make 35k a year and I’m drowning in student loan debt?” Don’t worry, we’ll get to that. Many FIRE enthusiasts wholeheartedly acknowledge the privilege of the FIRE movement.)


Early retirement is the literal definition of the FIRE movement, but there’s a much more robust meaning when you start digging into the principles behind FIRE. Namely, it’s about flexibility.

“Financial independence ultimately means that you can shape your life without taking money into consideration,” said Tanja Hester, a recent FIRE graduate and founder of the website Our Next Life. “Most of us have to consider our finances in nearly every decision we make, or maybe even make decisions solely based on money. But once we reach financial independence, we get the freedom not to be bossed around by what we earn or what we have saved.”

Contrary to our traditional view of retirement, FIRE doesn’t necessarily mean you have to quit your job, either. (The movement works on a loose, non-traditional definition of what it means to be “retired.”)

“It’s less about retiring early and more about having the freedom to pursue your dreams and ambitions,” said Deacon Hayes, author of You Can Retire Early! Hayes adds that FIRE is really about “the freedom to choose to work or not.”


In fact, the FIRE community seems to focus less on the “retire early” aspect of the movement and more on the financial independence component, “which is a powerful aspirational goal that is readily achievable if people are willing to make some small, but important, optimizations in their lives,” said Jonathan Mendonsa, co-host of the ChooseFI podcast.

Mendonsa is currently pursuing financial independence and explains there’s a concrete definition of it: when your net worth is 25x your annual expenses, you’re considered financially independent. “So if your annual expenses are $40,000, you are financially independent when your total net worth is $1,000,000,” he said.

If you have a high-paying but soul-sucking job, FIRE probably sounds pretty good right now. Hester warns against this, however:

“Retiring early because you don’t like your job is a bad reason to do it, and is a recipe for being bored or aimless when you get there,” she said. “Achieving FIRE is a big deal, and it takes a lot of focus and determination. It’s not for those who want to get rich quick, or for those who just hate their job. The better solution then is just to find a new job, or a new career path. I’m a huge believer that you can love your job and still want to retire early or just achieve financial independence! That was true for us. We loved our work, the people we worked with, and our clients, but we didn’t love the pace of it, the pressure or the constant travel.”

Hayes would agree. He says that if you’re willing to develop and stick to a plan, it really doesn’t matter whether or not you quit your job to pursue financial independence.

“Many people who achieve financial independence, do so as a W2 employee,” he says. “Also, financial independence doesn’t mean that you have to quit your job. It just means that your job needs you more than you need them. This gives you an upper hand to be able to negotiate things like your hours, vacation time, etc.”

Early retirement is less for people who hate their jobs and more for those who have a clear idea of a different lifestyle or goal they may want to pursue.

“A good reason to retire early is that you have an alternate vision for your life that you are eager to pursue, but which you can’t pursue while employed full time,” Hester said. “Achieving financial independence allowed us to leave that career chapter of our lives from a place of gratitude and appreciation, and move onto our next chapter that we’re in control of.”

...



Other investments, like rental properties and passive income streams, are a big part of achieving financial independence, too. And so is frugality. The less money you need to live, the less money you need to save in order to fund the rest of your years.

“To highlight the value of cutting expenses, for every $100 per month you can trim, it means you need $30,000 less to achieve FI ($1,200 yearly expense x 25 = $30,000),” Mendonsa said.

Thames breaks it down this way — there are three basic elements to FIRE: time, expenses, and income. The goal is to put space between expenses and income. “How much space you put is how much time it takes you,” she said.

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TBH the fact that you're even a mod here fits squarely within Jag's narrative of OK-sanctioned aggression, bullying, and toxicity. *shrug*