It may be what you’re ultimately striving for, it may not: here’s why.
There is a lot of recent attention given to this laudable goal of reaching FIRE: Financial Independence Retire Early movement. I guess on the one hand retiring at age 35 or 45 does sound dreamy, but is it, really?
Maybe because I genuinely enjoy work and find a tremendous amount of fulfillment and purpose in my career, the idea of retiring early doesn’t exactly entice me. Most of my clients aren’t eager to quit the workforce early either (although some really are!). My hope is that enjoying your career can be the outcome when you construct your life in alignment with your values and financial goals.
That said, it’s fair to say many of my high-powered and high-earning (read: over-worked?) Silicon Valley tech employees are often talking about either down-shifting their work intensity or aiming for FIRE altogether.
After all, if your life was exactly what you wanted it to be right now, while you’re working, would you still want to retire early? Of course this is that deep personal question only you can answer, but certainly be thinking about that as you read on.
While I’m not pursuing FIRE personally, as a fiduciary financial advisor, I am very enthusiastic about proper financial preparation. And if there is one thing the FIRE Movement demonstrates very well is how financial planning and discipline can help you manifest meaningful financial results in your life! From my experience, you can achieve the same things in life that the FIRE Movement offers without prematurely concluding your time in the workforce, unless of course you’re sure that’s the route you need to go to maximize your own quality of life.
Should you pursue FIRE? Ultimately, that is completely up to you. Here are a few points to consider as you contemplate your financial direction.