FIRE | Financial independence Retire early | Fidelity

Retired at 44 to pursue her passions

Ramat Oyetunji credits her early failures trading stocks in the early 2000s as the beginning of her financial journey. After being laid off after 9/11, she went to grad school and began saving $100 a month. She used that money to start investing for the long term.

The habit snowballed and helped set Ramat up for success later on. “I drove my old car for the longest time. I started saving more as soon as I could contribute to my 401(k) and before that, I at least contributed to an investment account—putting money away bit by bit,” she says.

Later on, after she was married, post-financial crisis, “We ended up buying a duplex, which my husband renovated. We lived on one side and got rent from the other side. Friends would ask, ‘Why are you living in an apartment?’ These were the choices I made to get me to where I am now,” she says.

Her husband isn’t as enthusiastic about FIRE but they agree on their joint goals. Ramat manages her own money and their joint household money while her husband manages his money himself.

“I wanted to get into real estate together, but it meant a lot of work that he didn’t have time for because of his challenging job,” Ramat says. “I went into it by myself and chose properties that didn’t need much work or factored the cost into my return to know if they were good investments.”

Her passion now is teaching her daughter about finances as well as other women. Her company, The FI-Woman, is geared toward helping women achieve financial independence.

“Financial independence is important for everyone, but for women especially, it gives you options— for example, the option to walk away from a bad relationship or a bad situation,” Ramat says.

Though she has given up some things along the way, “I have not felt they were sacrifices because I value having financial freedom and spending on things that are important to me,” she says.