re: Anyone here familiar with the FIRE movement toward early retirement?

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They “plan” on doing this, but how many actually do it?

They are single and living with their parents and think “when I get out of school and make $125,000/yr., I’ll be able to put away $100,00/year and retire at 40.”

Then suddenly they are 35 and married with 2 kids and buying a house and going on vacations and paying for private schools and realize they can’t do all this by spending only $25K of their $125K/yr.

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I do agree that its one of those things that people talk about and don't actually follow through.

However, the profile is closer to making $200-300k and saving half of it.

Also, people who do it don't tell others they are doing it b.c it fricking pisses them off. I know when the wife and I pull the trigger, we are going to spin a story for our friends. Yeah, my best friend will know what is going on, but the rest will think we are working.

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In retirement, Mr. Jensen and his wife and two daughters plan to live on roughly $40,000 a year generated from investments.

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Yeah, no thanks. Even $80,000, no thanks. I don't call that "retired", I call it "poor."

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I could easily live off of 40k with housing paid off

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I could easily be comfortable, but it wouldn't be the kind of lifestyle I would want to have as a younger, able-bodied person with nothing but time on my hands.

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quote: I could easily live off of 40k with housing paid off

I could easily be comfortable, but it wouldn't be the kind of lifestyle I would want to have as a younger, able-bodied person with nothing but time on my hands.

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This.

I had the privilege to be invited to a family friends house in the Bahmas . We flew in his plane over there. He = OT baller. Me = OT poor. Yes, I could "retire". Echoing the other poster, $40k to me would not be an enjoyable life. But, to each his own.

I see an assumption that someone must be materially sacrificing their lifestyle or their family’s to find financial independence early in life.

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I see an assumption that someone must be materially sacrificing their lifestyle or their family’s to find financial independence early in life.

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Well they generally are unless they are making several hundred thousand dollars. And if they are making that much, of course they can still live well and save enough to retire. But then we’re talking about 1-2% of the population, so it’s not a significant enough group of people to even make this a “thing”.

To live even a moderately upper-middle class lifestyle, your household gross has to be around $175-200K, which already puts you in the top 6%. And most people making that income are at their peak earning years (already in their 40s or 50s), not 20somethings or early 30s. So the percentage of people earning enough to not make significants lifestyle sacrifices yet stil save enough to retire in their 40s is a very, very small number.

You can rule out high earners such as physicians, because they are around 30 before they even start practicing and earning big money, then they generally have a boatload of student loan debt. So they aren’t retiring in their 40s if they have a family. I can think of literally only one couple I know personally who could retire young - a friend’s son is an engineer and got hired by Shell right out of school. Started off making 6 figures. Met his wife at Shell - also an engineer making 6 figures. So together they are banking $250K+ in their mid to late 20s. However, once they started having children she stopped working, so there goes early retirement.

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What’s the point of life if it isn’t raising a family and actually enjoying life?

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youre missing their point. Some people don’t have to spend money to be happy or enjoy life. You can sure. But you don’t have to.

ETA: Jumping on the train that FIRE is unreasonable and and unattainable.

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lynxcat

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Typical lynx...

I’m nowhere near being able to retire early, but I appreciate the core “less is more” concepts of FIRE & valuing time over money.

I’m struck by a couple posts on this thread that seem to equate good/enjoyable parenting/family life with fairly expensive extra-curriculars (motocross & dance are the two cited). How many posters on this board did not have materially luxurious childhoods but enjoyed those (perhaps simpler) childhoods greatly & in hindsight, wouldn’t trade those years for someone else’s kid life full of stuff? Fishing, crabbing, hanging out in the neighborhood treehouse, putting on backyard plays, etc etc. I’m super glad my 70s/80s childhood was of the free-range/unstructured variety. A non-materialistic childhood I does not mean a deprived one.

How many middle/upper middle (for Louisiana, anyway) parents substitute busy, expensive children’s activities in place of living their own lives or developing their own personalities and interests? Youth sports & activities do not have to be all consuming and stupidly expensive: it’s parents who turn games and fun into competitive travel sports and “competition” dance. Neither is helping your kid get ahead in an increasingly competitive world, and both are causing you to spend money. A childhood of outdoor activities, free events, public libraries, creative free play, art, etc is far from being deprived. And a childhood spent on diverse activities, rather than weekends tied up in repeat activities requiring expensive travel, equipment, or lessons, arguably creates a better rounded psyche.

RE: nice vacation home, oh hell no. Who wants to pay additional insurance and property taxes? Not me. A vacation home means you’re stuck visiting the same location year after year. Far more economical, fun, and less stressful to actually travel, rather than simply go to the.same.damn.place every time you leave town.