Anyone doing FIRE? How's it going?

[BigTittyLife]

I'm aiming for a fat FIRE at 48. We're 38.
We're hoping to have a £1m pot by that age spread across different investments - some accessible at 48, others tied up until later on. On top of those investments, we have a house worth about £340K which we've paid off. We also have shares in a company which may or may not sell for a decent price at some point.

I wouldn't say we're particularly frugal and we certainly don't go to the extents of some FIRE people. I guess our biggest savings compared to others are that we don't go on holiday at the moment because of our elderly dog, and that we don't have housing costs because we live in a modest house that we've fully paid off.

We're currently putting away about 79% of our income without trying too hard.

We're invested mostly in shares-based retirement tracker funds. We're dabbling in higher risk investments but only amounts that we can afford to lose. We have private pension pots but we don't put a huge amount into those. We both have decent-ish workplace pensions which will give an income of some size at some point.

Is anyone else doing FIRE? I'm on some FIRE forums but they're quite US-dominated and can be a bit weird. I'm wondering if any MNers are FIRE-ing?

This is a ridiculous statement. Yes, it’s extremely difficult to accrue a large amount of assets/wealth on a small salary, but the concept of consistent savings, living below your means and the benefits of investing and compounding are applicable to everyone. So many people, particularly women, are not financially knowledgable and a narrative of dismissing basic financial concepts as ‘snake oil’ because you don’t understand them is unhelpful.

OK Fair enough. DH have been doing just that for 30 years, and jointly have (nearly) a million to our names, if you count our house and savings. But we just called it not having a car (we're green anyhow), or uber expensive holidays, or 60 inch tellies, or every latest gadget, and saving what was left over. Don;t get me wrong, we have a nice life, and nice things. But we live (well) within our means as retired NHS/Civil Service staff. I guess my point is that a scheme with a 'name' or a 'brand' like 'FIRE' just makes me sceptical.

Understand your financial position and goals, spend less than you earn, and invest the surplus in a sensible and tax-efficient manner? Yep, sure sounds like snake oil to me.

(Started investing at 14 before FIRE had been invented, paid off mortgage at 30, retired at 50 with no drop in net income, haven't scrimped along the way or paid a penny to a FIRE 'scheme'.)

The original FIRE was characterized by extreme frugality - hence the marketing about 'anybody' being able to do it. Of course, living off 50% of a 100K income is very different to 50% of 30K.
I don't think many of the posters on this thread are that extreme.

Just as the start of our journey OP but my husband and I have a joint income just over 100K in a cheap area of the country. Early 30's, planning to halve our mortgage before kids. Looking into investments etc as @nannynick said it's a big leap to take if you're used to ISAs.

Not sure what type of FIRE it is but I don't think we'll ever 'retire' just work less, or be picky. Our fields have a lot of potential for lucrative short term contracts so the idea is to have a buffer, work for 6 months to a year and then have a big gap in between contracts.

Thank you for describing that @FeFiFoFumretiree , it's very helpful to hear from someone on the "other side"! I like the sound of the spreadsheet.

Congratulations, you've done Accidental FIRE 😁

It's not a scheme, just a description of a goal to become financially independent, so you can retire early (if you wish).

Many ways to achieve it but they all boil down to spending less than you earn and being sensible about managing your money.

People like to slap labels on things, but you can ignore that, or make up your own.

I've been working towards a version of it. I have good employer pensions to come when I'm 60, but also have savings and investments that mean I could retire now (at 53).

There's plenty, I could "pay" myself my current salary for 15 years and my pensions equate to more than my current salary (because I had a career change after 25 years), but it still feels like a big risk to start spending them without a way to replace them.

I was doing FIRE in my early to mid 30s. We earned well enough, have a frugal mindset anyway and even DC didn't make it impossible.

But once DC were a bit older I realised I'd rather go part time at work and enjoy my free time than put lots of money away for a future that I might not see.

We still don't spend much but earn less and I'm happy the way things are going. I'm 50 and could retire at 55 when some pensions kick in but actually working 3 days a week is a lazy way to provide structure and challenge to life.

How does anyone to this in this day and age unless they are earning 6 figs & don’t have dc 😆

I certainly think trying to start now would be harder. But unless you look at the numbers and do the maths, you'll never know.

Not going to give details online but DH and I have effectively done this without giving it a label. We have always been frugal with day to day expenses and look for good deals. However we do spend on things important to us. We both cycle and have bought and maintained good bikes. We have had nice easy holidays with DC when they were young and a big blow out holiday every 5 years.

The key for me was paying off our mortgage early by using a 'secured overdraft' type arrangement which virgin money offered many years ago. Basically all my money and some of DH's went into keeping the balance low (when interest rates were relatively high) and we paid it off in our 30's. Borrowed again to do a big extension when DC arrived and then paid it off again all without needing to remortgage. These types of accounts don't seem to be widely available now. They worked because whilst the interest rate was relatively high, it was applied to a lower balance. It also encouraged me to be more frugal at the time as I could see my interest and balance reducing quickly but I dont think they worked for everyone as you needed a certain financial mindset to be disciplined enough.

Since then excess cash has gone into pensions. We are now mid to late 50's, I work PT and DH currently still FT but waiting for VR. We could retire if we wanted to but still have 2 DC approaching Uni age so choose not to just yet.
The result of our frugality in day to day living is much wider choices now we are older and the ability to weather any storms which come our way without financial burdens.

I suppose we kind of did and are doing this but apart from the last four years have gone overseas on decent holidays every year and go out for dinner or lunch almost every Saturday. Holidayed in the UK over the last four years. So not an entirely miser lifestyle.

We don’t replace things purely for aesthetic purposes they need to wear out.
I am ok and DH is an absolute whizz at working out how to do stuff, I scratched
the side of my car, he watched some YouTube videos and instead of £500 it was £50 to do. I remember thinking fuck paying an emergency plumber on a Sunday and repaired the kitchen sink. I also despise shopping as does he so we never shop for pleasure.

We have decent DB pensions and paid off our mortgage mid thirties. We also invested successfully. We both worked in education so decent salaries but not huge. We both started investing as teenagers.

@FeFiFoFumretiree we also have a spreadsheet like that but worked it out with us living till 85.

I have never gone to stuff I don’t want to that has a financial outlay. I see poeople wringing their hands on if they should go to events on posts on MN. It’s a simple cost benefit analysis on how much will I enjoy it versus financial outlay. We went to the Olympics in 2012 and went to two events, if we had won all ballots we put in for it would have been a hefty outlay but worth it.

My friend is doing a variation on this. He and his wife live extremely frugally (no DC helps...) and as a result had a paid off mortgage by 30 and now in their mid-30s, they both work only part time and also take extended travel leave each year to see the world. So it's not that they are stretching to fully retire early, but rather to work as little as possible while having a life that they love and spending money and time only on the things they value. I think this can be a pretty good approach as it's quite a balanced approach over the course of their lives.

BUT it has caused a bit of ill feeling in the friendship group at events like parties and shared meals, because they will contribute the bare minimum (a pack of Lidl crisps and a jar of salsa) in order to save money, while happily eating and drinking their way through the meats / salads/ drinks that are brought by others. So essentially it feels like the rest of the group helps to fund their amazing lifestyle, and my friend and his wife just seem to see that as being frugal rather than as sponging off others. Which is not an approach I'd feel comfortable with personally as I think you do need to pay your way fairly through life. But I think there can be a balance there as well - it just wasn't well achieved in this case.

I certainly think trying to start now would be harder. But unless you look at the numbers and do the maths, you'll never know.

I am looking at the numbers though, how can most of todays 30 yr olds be mortgage free by being frugal? Most aren’t even on the ladder yet. And look at pensions, even if you manage to get a DB one the schemes are less favourable now eg average as opposed to final salary & you need to pay in for decades.

They sound like selfish tight arses.

DB schemes make it easier. We aren’t on them sadly.

Re doing it today, it’s about saving when they are teens, rather than spending what they have as soon as they have it. The money saved early masses quickly. Use all the various schemes for kids.

It was DS 24 who introduced us to the concept of FIRE. We had just aimed to get our mortgage paid off.

Avoiding building debt as students, don’t move out for the sake of moving out. Don’t pay rent if you don’t have to, and don’t waste the excess money you have when you work but don’t rent!

We bought when we were 24.

Don't have kids until you can afford them- and so on.

It’s an awful lot of delayed gratification. People tend to spend to their income, or earn to their expenditure. You need to save early and hard- but also you can have lighter stretches if you need them. I had a couple of years of illness where I couldn’t contribute at all. We had the odd amazing holiday.

It’s not all or nothing. Everything helps, even if you don’t manage much. But crucially don’t give up and don’t spend it for the sake of it in frustration. And be on board as a couple, if you have a partner.

As a PP on here pointed out, if you already live off a low salary, you won’t need a higher one when you reduce your hours.

I think balance is important but op is getting it right. A few people I know have died or become unwell in their 50s so won't get to enjoy their retirement. I hope they enjoyed their younger years and didn't scrimp too much.

@LabradorPacMan I agree FI/RE is like a dirty secret and its hard to talk about IRL. People do get defensive and can be a bit thick - to me it's pretty obvious that two high earners without children (me and DP) would be retiring early but people get completely confused about it could ever possibly happen 🤔

@MsCactus I'm feeling my way in the dark a bit too so also here for tips 😅 I'm not sure of the returns on property, it's not something I'd ever invest in

My DH and I retired at 52 and 55 so earlish but not as early as you are planning to. We had 1.5 million in pension pots when we retired 3 years ago. We prioritised pension rather than saving, a 700k home with no mortgage, a buy to let flat with 50% equity and half another flat we let out with no mortgage plus about 150k mainly in various ISAs.

Paying additional money into pensions was worked for us, even now the amount it grows does not compare with savings.

I am holiday mad so didn’t ever sacrifice and holidays to retire early.

I would concentrate on how you invest so you don’t end up having a miserable life now, you could still end up with the same outcome by putting less money away.

I absolutely appreciate everyone's POV but, for me, the RE part is really important. I want to flounce away from my job at Christmas 2025 and never look back 😂

Thank you whoever it was for the point towards Rebel Finance School - it looks great.

Yeah, "Freeloader Fire"- definitely not cool. The right thing would be to contribute generously, while reflecting that it's still pretty frugal compared with eating out in a restaurant.

I fantasise about my flounce 😂

Or at least, not stuff their faces.

'Freeloader Fire' 🤣🤣🤣 I love it