What does FIRE in Finance Mean?

FIRE stands for Financial Independence, Retire Early. Read more about how to achieve FIRE and whether it's right for you.

Sections:

+ What does FIRE in Finance mean?

+ How do you achieve FIRE?

+ How do I calculate my FIRE number?

+ Why isn't real estate counted in the FIRE number?

+ What can I do to start working towards FIRE?

What does FIRE in Finance mean?

FIRE stands for Financial Independence, Retire Early. It's a movement where individuals and couples aggressively save and invest in order to retire early. This generally involves some creativity in order to maximize savings and investments. Depending on your job, side income, expenses, where you currently live, what you want your future to look like, etc, your FIRE roadmap may look entirely different from someone else's.

There have been many articles written about couples who live very minimally - purposely never taking vacations and living extremely modestly in order to achieve FIRE at an earlier age. That sometimes also requires continuing to live modestly even after FIRE. While others I've seen do not achieve FIRE as young, but are able to live a bit more after they retire.