The FIRE Movement
In the 2010s, experienced increased popularity of the FIRE movement among millennial through significant coverage in mainstream media and online communities on social media. The following essay derbies what the FIRE stands for and the benefits of early retirement. It also includes an explanation of the things I am taking away from the movement.
The FIRE in the Fire movement stands for Financial Independence, Retire Early (FIRE). Thus, FIRE deducts up to 70% of the proponents’ income to savings offering them the financial independence to retire earlier than traditional retirement plans and budgets. Thus,after retirement, proponents can live off small withdrawals from accumulated funds.
Early retirement is beneficial for health and family. Working is associated with unhealthy behaviours such as the lack of sleep, poor diet, less movement, and stress. A study of American civil servants found that retiring before 65 increases mental health and overall health. The reason is that early retirement eliminates work-related stress and allows individuals to get out more often. With early retirement, individuals have more time to spend with family. Spending real quality time with the family builds better family relationships. While working, people go for months without interacting with their children and spouses.
The two things I am taking away from learning about the FIRE movement are on the importance of starting saving for retirement early and that retired does not mean not earning. Concerning saving for retirement, the earlier one starts saving and investing the better, thanks to the power of compound interest. Thus, investing in my retirement earlier in my career will result in my funds growing overtime creating a substantial adequate fund that can allow me to retire early. FIRE acolytes are making money from part-time jobs implying that they are only retired from corporate careers and the conventional workday schedule and not withdrawn in the traditional sense.