FIRE Movement Explained: How to Retire 20+ Years Early

Financial Independence, Retire Early (FIRE) isn't about quitting work — it's about making work optional. Here's exactly how the math works.

The Core Formula

Annual Expenses × 25 = Your FIRE Number. Spend $40K/year? You need $1M invested. The 4% safe withdrawal rate makes this work indefinitely.

Lean FIRE

$625K–$1M target. Live on $25–$40K/year. Frugal lifestyle, low cost-of-living area. Achievable in 10–15 years with 60%+ savings rate.

Coast FIRE

Save aggressively early, then 'coast' — stop investing and let compounding do the rest. Hit $200K by 30, retire at 60 with $2M+ at 8% returns.

Fat FIRE

$2.5M–$5M+. Live on $100K–$200K/year. Maintain pre-retirement lifestyle. Requires high income + 40%+ savings rate.

Barista FIRE

Hybrid: enough investments to cover most expenses + part-time job for healthcare and fun money. Most realistic for many.

Savings Rate Timeline

10% saved → 51 years to FIRE. 25% → 32 years. 50% → 17 years. 65% → 10 years. 75% → 7 years.

How to Boost Savings Rate

Cut the Big 3 (housing, transport, food). House hack, drive used, cook home. Then attack income — raises and side hustles uncap the ceiling.

Common Pitfalls

Lifestyle inflation, ignoring health insurance, underestimating taxes in retirement, no buffer for sequence-of-returns risk.

Get Started This Month

Calculate your FIRE number. Track every dollar for 30 days. Open a Roth IRA. Automate investments. Use the Bill Organizer app to find income streams that accelerate your timeline.