Financial Independence, Retire Early - or FIRE for short - is a movement that exploded from American blogs in the early 2010s, promising that you can “retire” decades before traditional pension age - if you save aggressively and invest smartly - ultimately achieving Financial Freedom.

The FIRE movement prioritizes greater financial independence through a lifestyle of extreme frugality, aggressive investment, and growing your income with the goal that individuals can take control of their life back, rather than relying on the typical office grind to support them and their family.

The Simple Math

FIRE proposes that all you need is 25x your annual expenses and you should be all set for your retirement lifestyle - as long as you withdraw at a consistent rate of 4% of your portfolio. This 4% Rule is largely accepted and shows a 95%+ success over 30 years through any market condition.

In recent years, FIRE coverage has only increased in media - from Blogs to Podcasts and Netflix documentaries. However, only a small percentage of people achieve the early retirement part of the equation. While only a small percentage of people actually achieve early retirement, the pursuit of financial independence remains strong. After all, building enough wealth to live life on your terms is a goal nearly everyone can relate to.