I am excited by F.I.R.E because it offers the possibility of financial freedom using easy but well researched maths I.e. the 4% rule. However, I think the demographic it is aimed at are millennials without children who are in jobs they probably hate but pay well.

It not irresponsible at all to promote saving money. The first part of the process IS to assess things like prioritising paying off credit cards and reduce energy bills, any bills for that matter. A pension is all part of your net wealth and due to the tax advantage putting money into your pension is the best thing you can do next to having some investments. It seems like your article presents a frustration that all this is too unobtainable. However with a balanced view, a little planning and some discipline making a start is not as bad as it seems.

I think you are well on your way to FI, you mentioned you had enough equity to pay off the mortgage and you have been able to leave the corporate job and start out with your own business.

FIRE to be is a journey of financial improvements, rather than a destination. Thank you for sharing your story 🙂

What we have done is a) purchase a forever home that was at least £120k below the amount the bank would allow us to borrow (easily done as we don’t live in London) and we’re working towards paying it off in our forties (we’re currently in our late 30s). We have old iPhones and old cars. We take frugal holidays and live frugal lives. (Easily done for me as I’m also really into minimalism.) We’re going to retire in our fifties….probably doesn’t sound early to most FIRE folks, but I discovered the movement later. The upside is that if we’re made redundant in our fifties or replaced by younger/wiser workers, we can easily survive it. The downside….there is no downside: we do not consume in a greedy way and we certainly aren’t deprived: we live in a 4 br house down the street the our city’s river/green space and my kids are in one of the town’s best schools.

If the plans do wind up being unrealistic for some reason I’m not seeing, the only thing that’s going to happen is I have to scramble for more funds. But I’ll be doing that with a big financial nest egg and a paid off home. Not bad.

I think we should encourage EVERYONE to live like this.

Likewise with her 25x estimate spends – if she wasn’t paying off such a large mortgage, her amount wouldn’t be 40k a year, it would be more like 20-25k – a much more reachable sum.

So easy to slate people who don’t outspend their means as if it’s somehow wrong to do so. Classic baby-boomer.

So saying this goal is unrealistic, perhaps understandably seems odd to me!

Also rather than feel inadequate by any of the above I would hope that people would feel inspired but maybe I am just a hopeless optimist 🙂

Especially, you should not feel inadequate as you’ve actually followed a lot of what us FIRE lot are preaching any way, you quit the corporate grind for a more balanced life, so in that sense you’ve proven the point of your article here erroneous from the offset 🙂

Maybe there is a lot of confusion about definitions of FIRE and all of that, I personally think that’s all nonsense and not what we should be focusing on. The underlying advice is just the same as what any sensible finance blogger tells you:

“we should be encouraging people to start saving, encourage people to pay off expensive debt, to save money on their energy bills, to put money into a pension”

Amen to that! What people then decide to do with those savings is up to them.

*Admittedly later than most with a projected FI date when I’m about 55. But you know, part time working and starting the savings later on etc…

“Who, particularly in the south east, can afford to have their mortgage paid off by the time they are in their 40s?” – My partner (not interested in FIRE) has nearly paid off her London pad and she is not yet 40. She just doesn’t like being in debt and for many people not having a mortgage doesn’t mean scrimping and saving, it really does mean cutting down on the handbag collection.

I too live in the South East and work in London, but at 27 I was earning in the region of 22k a year. I’m now 31 with a young child at home, and while my mortgage isn’t paid off yet, my target is to be able to pay it off if I want to by 36, and be in the position to “retire” at 42.

Being on the FI path has actually meant that I’ve been happier to take lower paying jobs that are more fulfilling and haven’t had to chase that corporate pay cheque. My baseline spending is relatively low, so I know that any pay rise will only add to my savings rate, not my lifestyle. Just that knowledge alone is surprisingly liberating.