This post likely won’t impact retirees/almost retirees, but it may very well shed light on the future of their children and grand children, so it might be worth one’s time to learn about the FIRE Movement.
FIRE stands for Financially Independent, Retire Early. During related conversations you may hear reference to just “FI”. As Millennialists, Generations X, Y and Z move into their professional careers with real paychecks and start to save, spend, buy houses, etc., many of them don’t expect to take the same path to retirement as we did. Instead, this movement looks for ways to 1.) aggressively cut spending and increase savings efforts early in their work career and 2.) pursue additional means of income in order to become financially independent at a much earlier age. Financial Independence doesn’t necessarily result in early retirement, but it gives families the means to pursue life objectives before reaching “traditional retirement age” or without being restricted by financial limitations. If a Financially Independent family wants to take a year off from the work force to travel, pursue a hobby, or work for a non-profit, those paths are within their reach at a much earlier age. Here’s one reference to learn more about this movement:
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/f/financial-independence-retire-early-fire.asp
A more enjoyable read about FIRE can be found here:
https://www.kiplinger.com/retirement/604262/the-fire-movement-is-alive-and-well
There are several outlets focused on FIRE. As one might expect, blogs and podcasts lead the way. I find my long car drives a great time to take in podcasts, and have listened to dozens via Spotify (granted, I am a financial planning nerd). One can follow these venues on Youtube or listen/read through their websites, Twitter, etc.
The movement’s grown a number of their own rock stars with huge followings. Number One on the list is a guy known as Mr. Money Mustache. Someone else gave him that moniker, but he embraced it and has a blog following of almost three million (OK, so I’m not the only financial planning nerd). I don’t agree with all aspects of his approach, but find his unselfish approach to life well worth the time to absorb:
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My favorite FIRE-related podcast is called Bigger Pockets, hosted by “Mindy and Scott”. Their episodes tend to be longer- 60 to 80 minutes- but they use an entertaining interview style with their guests to address various FIRE situations. I find the conversations fascinating as they provide insight into younger generations’ priorities and how it impacts their family financial planning. The hosts are not fiduciaries, so they don’t offer information on specific investments. But their website is amazing and clearly appeals to the younger generations’ interest in financial planning.
There are 300+ Bigger Pockets podcast episodes from the past three years available on Spotify or through their website. Here are other FIRE podcast references I enjoy:
Paula Pant’s Afford Anything https://affordanything.com/
Mad Fientist https://www.madfientist.com/
Stacking Benjamins https://www.stackingbenjamins.com/
Mile High FI https://milehighfi.com
Finally, it might be appropriate to acknowledge the role Dave Ramsey has had in linking our generation’s financial pursuits with those of following generations. Many of you know Dave as the media personality who successfully injected entertainment into financial planning conversations for at least the last 25 years and has helped thousands (from all generations) get on the right financial planning track. His radio show is probably bigger now than it’s ever been, and shows no signs of slowing down.
https://www.ramseysolutions.com/retirement/what-is-the-fire-movement
While Dave’s approach has many similarities to the FIRE Movement (save more than you spend, pay off all debt quickly, etc.), Dave’s not fully on board with some of the FIRE methodologies. For me, it was important to to gain an understanding of this FIRE Movement, and I continue to learn from listening to these popular generational spokespersons.