They are on to us. FIRE is going mainstream

[Bir48die]

I'm glad I waited until 60. Never thought of retiring in my 50's. As a previous poster stated the 50's were huge earning years and probably allowed me to put easily another $500k in the bank plus ride the market up.

By 60, the BS had hit a perfect level for me to want to leave.

 

[GravitySucks]

We are about to see the largest transfer of wealth between generations that has ever occured.

It will be interesting to look back in 30 years and see what they did with the capitial. Whether it was squandered or how it was invested in order to pass it down to the next generation.

I hope that leaving what's left to my daughter's get squandered away on early retirements, great travel, and best foods, beers, and wines by my heirs. Just like I'm doing.

 

[Midpack]

I'm not at all worried about people 'catching on to us' or 'FIRE going mainstream' as we're bombarded by materialism and decadence ALL THE TIME - now more than ever. If Your Money or Your Life (1992) and The Millionaire Next Door (1995) didn't move the needle for 99% of the population, a couple of USA Today or Money magazine articles aren't going to.

I had lots of co-workers who asked me about FI over the last 25 years, and I shared the LBYM tenets (largely from the books above) and told them it was "simple, but not easy." A few of them changed their behavior for a few weeks or months, but I didn't convert a single person! Almost anyone CAN do it, but few choose to.

DW and I have an above average nest egg. We just got done recycling clothes hangers, most of my friends would think that's crazy.

This community is still (happy) outliers...

 

[gauss]

I keep this prominently displayed on my financial spreadsheet:

Love it!

I always knew in my gut that 'easy' monthly expenses would slowly eat you alive over time. This chart crystallizes this quite well.

-gauss

 

[gauss]

I'm not at all worried about people 'catching on to us' or 'FIRE going mainstream' as we're bombarded by materialism and decadence ALL THE TIME - now more than ever. If Your Money or Your Life (1992) and The Millionaire Next Door (1995) didn't move the needle for 99% of the population, a couple of USA Today or Money magazine articles aren't going to.

I had lots of co-workers who asked me about FI over the last 25 years, and I shared the LBYM tenets (largely from the books above) and told them it was "simple, but not easy." A few of them changed their behavior for a few weeks or months, but I didn't convert a single person! Almost anyone CAN do it, but few choose to.

DW and I have an above average nest egg. We just got done recycling clothes hangers, most of my friends would think that's crazy.

This community is still (happy) outliers...

People don't like to be outside the norm -- especially socially IMHO. This is why a forum like this is so important.

 

[ponyboy]

Never thought of it that way, but great point. The millennial generation will never FIRE, they aren't focused on work at all and love to spend.

My wife and I are both millennials. If we have to work past age 52...something horrible went wrong with the global markets. My friends spending vs those who save in the millennial range are about half/half. Some are absolutely terrible and are in debt up to their eyeballs...while the other half are all really successful and save a lot. I dont know any of them who want to retire early though.

 

[gauss]

I'm glad I waited until 60. Never thought of retiring in my 50's. As a previous poster stated the 50's were huge earning years and probably allowed me to put easily another $500k in the bank plus ride the market up.

By 60, the BS had hit a perfect level for me to want to leave.

I had a lot of BS in my mid-40s. Corporate Bankruptcy. Pensions froze Retiree Medical froze. Also had increasing committments to aging parents. I ended up resigning right around my 48th birthday and have not sought paid employment since. DW joined me in retirement this year too (6 years later) once she hit the magic age for her employers retirement benefits and her personal family commitments also took a big up tick.

We have been truly living the dream.

Early financial Independence has been a goal for me since age 25 or so. I came of age in the 1970s when there was much fear and uncertainty in the US economy.

-gauss

 

[Dean56]

By 60, the BS had hit a perfect level for me to want to leave.

This is so true. I have been told this very same statement by many of my co-workers who have retired early.

MegaCorp constantly demands more and more.......until the workers say "I've had enough".

 

[Midpack]

My wife and I are both millennials. If we have to work past age 52...something horrible went wrong with the global markets. My friends spending vs those who save in the millennial range are about half/half. Some are absolutely terrible and are in debt up to their eyeballs...while the other half are all really successful and save a lot. I dont know any of them who want to retire early though.

I had a 35 year career, and I really enjoyed the first 33 years, absolutely loved what I did for the first 25 years and gladly worked 60-80 hour weeks. Fortunately I subscribed to the FI concept LONG before I even considered retirement, so I had options none of my peers had.

Hopefully you'll enjoy your career longer than most of us...

I'm glad I waited until 60. Never thought of retiring in my 50's. As a previous poster stated the 50's were huge earning years and probably allowed me to put easily another $500k in the bank plus ride the market up.

By 60, the BS had hit a perfect level for me to want to leave.

I had a lot of BS in my mid-40s. Corporate Bankruptcy. Pensions froze Retiree Medical froze. Also had increasing committments to aging parents. I ended up resigning right around my 48th birthday and have not sought paid employment since. DW joined me in retirement this year too (6 years later) once she hit the magic age for her employers retirement benefits and her personal family commitments also took a big up tick.

We have been truly living the dream.

Early financial Independence has been a goal for me since age 25 or so. I came of age in the 1970s when there was much fear and uncertainty in the US economy.

-gauss

This is so true. I have been told this very same statement by many of my co-workers who have retired early.

MegaCorp constantly demands more and more.......until the workers say "I've had enough".

 

[daylatedollarshort]

There are many young adults on Reddit's FIRE, Lean FIRE and Fat FIRE subreddits working on ER. Except for our ages, from a spending and lifestyle perspective we probably are more like the FIRE Redditors - low consumption and sustainable living oriented.

We retired in our 50s and it has been great. If we'd had optimized our expenses better, it could have been in our 40s.

 

[kimcdougc]

Never thought of it that way, but great point. The millennial generation will never FIRE, they aren't focused on work at all and love to spend.

I must say I am very proud of my millennial daughter and her spouse. She just turned 30 and her SO is 31. They are educated (paid for by both their parents) but they are earning around $190,000 per year together. They have a balanced life. Save, save, and still have vacations etc. They should be able to retire by 45 if all goes well.

So not all millennial's are like the above mentioned.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[scrabbler1]

I keep this prominently displayed on my financial spreadsheet:

Wouldn't the monthly expenses depend on how many months it applies to? How many months, or more broadly, at what age the additional expense begins, does this apply to?

 

[Maenad]

One of the bad aspects of FIRE becoming well-known is that the get rich quick scam artists have latched onto it. Various MLMs are using the "FIRE by 30" shtick to reel in their victims.

 

[corn18]

Wouldn't the monthly expenses depend on how many months it applies to? How many months, or more broadly, at what age the additional expense begins, does this apply to?

That is correct. This chart was made specifically for me assuming I retire @ 55. Everyone's numbers will be different.

For me, it is quite different to talk about how much time will this cost me to buy a new BMW X3 vs a used Hyundai. Our vacation this year (30th anniversary + honeymoon we never took) will cost me 3 more months of work. I hope it's worth it.

 

[SpinDoctorTX]

We are about to see the largest transfer of wealth between generations that has ever occured.

It will be interesting to look back in 30 years and see what they did with the capitial. Whether it was squandered or how it was invested in order to pass it down to the next generation.

We missed out on my dad's huge estate as everything went to his second wife/ family. Knowing that all along, it had me buckling down managing my finances in my 30s once I started making real bank.

With no kids of my own, I have my DH's sons & my siblings/ progeny who'll get whatever is left after I squander as much as possible on me & Hubs. So, they'll probably get to figure out how to split the house after sale- a modest home worth about 250k now (so not much).

 

[Dtail]

There are many young adults on Reddit's FIRE, Lean FIRE and Fat FIRE subreddits working on ER. Except for our ages, from a spending and lifestyle perspective we probably are more like the FIRE Redditors - low consumption and sustainable living oriented.

We retired in our 50s and it has been great. If we'd had optimized our expenses better, it could have been in our 40s.

Retired at 57 y.o.
If I discovered this site at the get go, probably could have shaved off 2 more years.
Still living the dream.

 

[PoF]

I like how the article turned out. I'm not sure how I got asked for a quote as the "ordinary American" who made FIRE a possibility on $400,000 a year. I did refer the author to Jillian a.k.a. Ms. Montana, who is far more photogenic than I.

I'm the guy with the monkey on his back and the second best looking primate in the picture.

Cheers!
-PoF

 

[cusetownusa]

My wife and I are both millennials. If we have to work past age 52...something horrible went wrong with the global markets. My friends spending vs those who save in the millennial range are about half/half. Some are absolutely terrible and are in debt up to their eyeballs...while the other half are all really successful and save a lot. I dont know any of them who want to retire early though.

Sounds like every other generation.

 

[Rianne]

Shabby
- Live below your means
- Stay out of debt
- Save all you can
- Buy used cars
- Focus on your end goal


This message should be plastered on every Generation Z refrigerator. Should be their mantra everyday. I don't know a single Gen Z who thinks this way.

 

[Mr._Graybeard]

DW and I probably had the wherewithal to retire at 52, but we liked what we were doing and felt like it was meaningful work. So we splurged that year on a couple of trips abroad. To me, forgoing travel experiences like that would have diminished the quality of our lives at that point. And hey, we could afford it.

One point the article glosses over quickly is the cost of transportation. I've always made sure DW has had a safe, reliable vehicle to drive, but I've never paid more than $9,000 for any car/truck for myself. My most recent daily, a '95 BMW station wagon, I got for $2800. And I go for years without paying a mechanic to do any work other than tires.

The bimmer isn't getting too much work these days, but I used to commute over 20,000 miles a year. I didn't want to buy new iron just to run the value out of it on the highway.

 

[snowboarder]

I don't try to change people's minds about FI/RE. We still need those consumer types to add value to our stocks/index funds that we buy. I actually encourage people who annoy me, to buy the latest and greatest iPhones, cars etc. so that we can keep our movement going

 

[Rianne]

I don't try to change people's minds about FI/RE. We still need those consumer types to add value to our stocks/index funds that we buy. I actually encourage people who annoy me, to buy the latest and greatest iPhones, cars etc. so that we can keep our movement going

Hopefully, I'll be long gone before that lifestyle bites them in the ass.

 

[sengsational]

I went looking on the internet for something that fit my situation. That's how I found this board/group.

Same here. I remember when I didn't know what "FIRE" stood for.

I was told by a member of this board that FIRE meant "F*** It!, Retire Early". I don't recall how long I actually believed that (might have been just minutes), but I still think that's kinda what it means, still.

 

[Shabby]

FIRE meant "F*** It!, Retire Early". I don't recall how long I actually believed that (might have been just minutes), but I still think that's kinda what it means, still.

That's how I read it every time.

36 Days left. (I will have just turned 52)

 

[Chuckanut]

I keep this prominently displayed on my financial spreadsheet:

+1

It's a great reminder.

I had the habit of converting the price of things into hours and days worked as a way to see if I really wanted/needed something. I would ask myself "Am I willing to work a day in order to buy this thing?" If the answer was no, I did not buy it. Of course, I still worked the same hours whether I bought it or not. But, it kept the mind focused on reducing frivolous expenditures. Your reminder is an excellent way to go beyond my simple estimations I was doing.

FWIW, I did not retire as early as many here, but I was able to switch into a lower paying profession (teaching) in my 40's that gave me far more time off than the two to three weeks a year MegaCorp did. Sort of a minor version of early retirement. And I still bailed before I was eligible for SS at 62.