I started this blog to document our journey toward Financial Independence and Retiring Early (FIRE). I wanted to be able to look back and say, yeah, that’s how we did it, that’s how we felt, and it was totally worth it! I also wanted to have a place where I could point people (in real life) when they were incredulous about our (crazy) plan. If I can help others along the way, that’s just bonus points!
First, some clarity: the acronym FIRE stands for Financial Independence and Retiring Early, but the biggest misconception is that you are saving all your money in order to quit your job and sit around. FIRE has evolved to mean people who are passionate about creating investment portfolios that will support them in whatever future venture they may pursue. It may not necessarily mean immediately quitting your day job, it just means the option to stay or go without monetary considerations. It also means not being stressed about money, and having the ability to be generous and live abundantly.
So my definition of FIRE mostly entails Freedom. The freedom to choose to work for someone else (or not)… the freedom to stay up late and bake cookies just because… the freedom to start a blog that perhaps no one will ever read.
The freedom and peace of mind of having “enough” is absolutely priceless.
I would say that the Hubble and I are more than halfway toward our Financial Independence goal. We’ve paid off all our debt including the mortgage, squirreled away a nice Emergency Fund, and begun to save a big portion of our income toward early retirement. We’ve saved about half of our total goal. The journey so far has taken about ten years, but that was starting from a net worth of about -$180,000 (yes that is a big fat negative). I don’t expect it will be much longer – the beginning is always the most difficult part. Just getting the wheel moving in the right direction was a long, slow slog.
But now it’s rolling right along, on its own, the interest gathering interest until eventually, our money will be making more money than we are. Ahh, the power of compounding.
I do want to address a few of the most frequent questions/arguments I hear when we talk about our goals of FIRE.
- “But I like my job. I don’t want to retire early.”
- This is my favorite. It’s the misconception that on the day you hit your magic number you will be forced at gunpoint to march into your boss’s office and tell her to take this job and shove it. Come on! Stay at your job, if you want. The point here is CHOICE. Most jobs would be infinitely more enjoyable, or at least tolerable, if you knew you could walk out at any time without fear or regret. You could take risks, only accept the projects you really wanted, move into a new more challenging industry or role. So save up a big pile of money, and keep working if you want. Best of both worlds!
- “What on earth would I do all day if I quit my job? God, I’d be so bored.”
- First of all, I think it was Abraham Lincoln who said that only boring people get bored. But second, the world is huge place that you have explored approximately none of. Get out there. Stretch yourself at yoga or try painting or something that scares you a little. Get your hands dirty. Volunteer for your favorite cause. Clean out the garage. Do the thing you said you would do if you only had the time. Remember when you were a little kid and the world was so exciting to learn about? When did we become so dependent on someone else telling us when to wake up, how to dress, and what to do for the bulk of our waking hours?
- “What about health insurance? Good luck if you break an arm.”
- So there are a lot of different health insurance options. We’re going with a medical sharing plan, but the Affordable Care Act is also really viable if you have a limited income. (As you know, health insurance in America seems to be constantly in flux so we’re keeping on eye on this unpredictable variable, but I just need the courage to change the things I can.)
- “You will definitely run out of money. Then you’ll be screwed!”
- So I mean – worst case scenario, and the market really crashes for a lot of years straight as soon as we quit our jobs, and our investments just dwindle to the point of failure. What on earth will we do?! Umm… we’ll go back to work. Which would just be the worst thing in the …. Oh wait. Actually, that would just put us right back where we started, and right back with everyone else. Except we would also have all this knowledge and probably still more savings than the average American.
There are a lot more objections that I’ve heard over the years, online and in real life. Most of them boil down to trite cliches or downright jealousy.
Have you ever had a goal so audacious that everyone thought you were crazy?