FIRE Movement or FIRED Movement?

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If this lingo is new to you, here's the background: FIRE stands for “Financial Independence, Retire Early.” This became a popular movement in the 2010s when young people would save aggressively—like 50 to 75 percent of their earnings—so that they could retire by thirty-five or forty. Yep. Saving half your income.

If you are interested in that early retirement life, don’t forget to factor in that you’re losing some perks that you would have locked in with a later retirement. For example, when you retire, you’re going to lose any health insurance that you’re getting from your company. In most cases, you aren’t eligible to be covered by Medicare until you’re 65.

I love and downright admire the laser focus of these young people. It shows us that saving and investing aggressively is possible if that’s your biggest goal that you are determined to reach by all means necessary, even if that means eating oatmeal for every meal and rarely leaving the house. But I’m not the biggest fan of any extreme or crash diet, even of the financial variety. My financial advise always allows for small indulgences—like the latte that other financial experts yell at you for buying—because I believe that if you don’t allow yourself the occasional treat you’ll just end up binging on something else later on. It’s the equivalent of having a Hershey’s kiss instead of going on some fad diet that allows for no fun, so you don’t end up noshing on a big ol’ hunk of chocolate cake in the middle of the night because you feel so hungry and deprived. I think the same concept applies to the FIRE folks. A bunch of deprivation for a retirement promised land seems likely to, well, backFIRE.

FIRED movement

So if the FIRE movement doesn't work for you, maybe you want to go for the FIRED movement. FIRED stands for “Financial Independence, Rethink Early Deadline.” Did I just make this up? Yes. Am I proud of it? Also yes.

Interestingly, some of the richest people out there are also the ones who work the longest. Half of the people making more than $750,000 a year say they will never stop working (yours truly included).

Let's not forget about these badass Money Minute honorees:

• Oprah is sixty-eight years old

• Martha Stewart is eighty-one years old

• Warren Buffett is ninety-two years old

• Hillary Clinton is seventy-five years old

• Helen Mirren is seventy-seven years old

• Morgan Freeman is eighty-five years old

I’m not here to glorify working till the grave, but it is important to think about what your preferences are now and what money you will need if those preferences change (and they likely will) later on. If you retire at 70 instead of 67, you’ll have three more years of income to play with. Will that make a big dent in pushing you to that level of wealth you're picturing for your old retired self? Maybe!

There's an oft-quoted cliche, “Find a job you love, and it won’t feel like work.” Excuse me while I roll my eyes. Of course, all work feels like work. I am in love with what I do, it gets me out of bed every morning and excited about what’s to come. That being said: am I energized by it? Hell to the no! It takes a ton of energy. But is it the most rewarding work I could ever imagine? Hell to the yes. In my opinion, a crucial part of mastering your career is loving what you do for more than the money—because money without meaning is just paper.

xo,

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