Retiring Early and comfortably?- What is FIRE?

Over the course of last week, I came across many other experienced financial bloggers who wrote about this term FIRE. I have not yet came across this acronym and was a little confused as to what it implies. Some of the articles that I read were by InvestmentMoats, BULLy the BEAR and Minimalist in the city. After reading through their post, I could get a rough meaning of what FIRE stands for.

What is FIRE?

FIRE stands for financial independence, retire early meaning that you have achieved financial independence and can retire early as you are financially independent. After reading up a bit more on it, I realized that FIRE is essentially what most people would want or are aiming for. I have to admit  that when I saw this term, I was very interested in it too. Being able to retire early? Wow, I am in! Haha, even though I have not even started work.

Why do people want to achieve FIRE?

Achieving FIRE would firstly definitely provide you with more time to do things and I think this is what most people are thinking about when they think of retiring early because work takes up so much of our time that we are unable to do things that we want.

Another point on why people would want to achieve FIRE is that they feel that being able to retire early and have financial independence then there would definitely be less stress and worry. For example, work deadlines or upcoming mortgages but does it really allow less stress?




There are always reasons why people would want to retire early. But the grass always looks greener on the other side. I have relatives like my uncle who tells me he will never retire and would wok till he no longer can while there people like my mum who can't wait to retire but I know that my mum could be lost or feel bored as she doesn't really have a support group yet for example friends who have retired.Or maybe she would join one after she retires. We all have different reasons but I believe that only ourselves would know what fits us.

How to achieve FIRE?

How can you achieve FIRE then? The number one rule of to achieving FIRE is to grow your income and keep your expenses low. The main point here is definitely your savings rate as it will determine when you can retire. A higher savings rate would bring your retirement age earlier while a lower saving rate would mean a later retirement age. I guess then investing can be a pro or con in this case. If you are able to have a high saving rate and you invest as well with a good growth rate then you can significantly reduce the number of years required. On the other hand, if you invest but lose money instead then it's not going to bring your retirement age any closer to you right now.

Are we really able to do so?

Many people of course would doubt themselves if they are even able to do so. I think that you never know until you try it out. Of course, the first few years might be tough as the saving rate might not be very significant however I believe that after you have maintain a significant amount of savings, there are definitely benefits you can reap from it. I am glad to have come into contact with this term and realized that there are a huge load of things still out there for me to find out. I am definitely going to get started after my exams which will be ended on the week after next. In the meantime, I will be studying and cramping all the information into my pea-sized brain. Wish me good luck!